The Rogue Officer

[Deneth Aleski]

"Junk?", the Ensign snapped after a prolonged period of silence. "Nothing Rheinland produces qualifies as junk."

He revised his statement, knowing all too well that wasn't exactly true. "Well, almost nothing."

Feeling as if he had overstayed his stay in that conversation, Deneth quickly retreated to one of the rooms located on the platform's main level. The effects of abandonment were prevalent and took a toll on the overall structure. Humidity and cold weather obviously didn't help preserve the centuries old edifice, or the electronic components inside it. The large windows were permanently stained by the oceanic salt hanging in the air, keeping the room dimly lit for decades.

Aleski had all but forgotten the initial reason he entered the room in the first place, choosing to investigate the relics of a past era instead. The metallic floor was littered with various objects and contraptions, a sign that the previous occupants left in a hurry. On the wall to the left lied a small calendar, still hanging. The last date crossed off was March 4th, 589 A.S., just a few days after the beginning of the 80 Years War. Written prominently on top of the page, in orange and green font, was one of Kruger's famous slogans while the company was at its apex : "Kruger Mineralien: Mining a better future for Rheinland".

Moving along, he came across several other objects of varying interest. Data disks, books, tools, corporate memos and various assorted personal belongings. The walls seemed to extend to a portion of the room that light simply could not reach. Aleski reached for his PDA, turned it on and used the glow of it's screen as a guiding light.

Carefully treading through the sea of junk, with one hand continuously touching the wall to his left, he examined the area plunged by obscurity until something caught his attention. At the room's end lied several consoles, all completely deteriorated beyond any use. Next to them, however, were several switch boards lined up with old-style switches with one large, red switch beneath them. The bigger switch was surrounded by yellow and black diagonal stripes, probably indicating it affected a critical system.

"Could this be... the electrical system override?", he muttered to himself while examining the larger switch. He then shrugged, wrapped his right hand on it and pushed it to it's upward position, making a large clanging noise in the process.

"Here goes nothing."

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Wilhelm D. Aleski || Paul Speer