A Dark Frontier [8 Oct 23, 19:00 UTC]

[jammi]

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A Dark Frontier
UNKNOWN

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Overview

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In mid 831 AS, Sirius would be thrown into chaos by an event known as the Blackout. All across the sector, Jump Gates shut down and became unresponsive for a period of 31 hours. Affecting both Ageira and EFL manufactured gates, the event was unprecedented and inexplicable in equal measure. The Houses each immediately set to investigating, concerned that a rival power - or the Nomads - may have developed a potentially devastating weapon.

Only two clues seemed to offer a hint as to the cause. The Mollys had destroyed Dublin's New London Jump Gate while the Battleship Essex's battlegroup retreated through. Could the detonation of an active connection have led to unforeseen consequences? Additionally, observatories tuned to monitor subspace frequencies had detected an enormous blast of energy immediately prior to the Blackout. This Pulse was the single most energetic subspace event ever recorded, and outright destroyed many of the sensors that were calibrated to detect it. The 'Pulse' was detected at all these observatories simultaneously.

A breakthrough would first be achieved by Kishiro scientists at Kansai Research Institute in late 832 AS. While field trialling a revolutionary Jump Drive prototype, the Battlecruiser Niyodo successfully ripped open an artificial jump hole. Rather than rematerializing at the intended target of Hokkaido, the Niyodo and its auxiliary fuel ship Yamafaku Maru passed into the rift and simply vanished. Cross-referencing the data captured from the experiment with Pulse readings revealed an unexpected result. The Pulse did indeed have an origin source, obfuscated to the point that only a stoke of genius had unmasked it.

Simultaneously, Ageira researchers in Liberty were advancing towards the same result. Detailed analysis of the same Pulse data at Prudhoe Skunkworks had led to the inference of a pocket of stable subspace outside the Sirius sector... seemingly in defiance of the typical rules of reality itself. With LSF authorisation, the researchers attempted to use the newly reconfigured Alaska Supergate to 'ping' the area. This is the process by which Jump Gates reach out to establish a stable jump tunnel with a configured terminal. Expecting a failure that would gather telemetry data, the pocket instead returned a gate 'handshake'. With horror they realised thaat something was there, and had accepted the connection.

In Kusari, the second field trial of the Kishiro Drive in 833 AS would meet with resounding success. The pocket appeared to be responsible for the Niyodo's disappearing, exerting a 'pull' on drive jumps. It was believed that the pocket's influence had redirected the Niyodo and sent it to the Pulse's strange source, with the data from this failure allowing Kusari to develop ingenious 'counter-weighting' algorithms for jump calculations. Kusari has begun assembling plans to mount a rescue expedition. Meanwhile, Liberty has assembled an expeditionary force of its own, and prepared to activate the supergate once more.

It is unclear what awaits them, and whether it holds hostile intent. A dark frontier awaits.

Event Details

Sunday 8th October, 19:00 UTC.

• The Alaska Supergate will connect to a new and mysterious destination. A joint Liberty Navy and LSF taskforce will assemble to explore the other side, and defend Liberty's interests.
  
• Near Kansai Research Institute, the Battlecruiser Shimokita's prototype Jump Drive will rip open an artificial Jump Hole to a mysterious destination. A Kusari expedition will assemble to explore the other side, and attempt to rescue the lost Niyodo.
  
• Jump Drives will gain new functionality when using the 'blind jump' feature.

Event Outcome

Expeditionary fleets from Kusari and Liberty separately venture into the unknown perils of a new frontier.

While the surroundings are alien and hostile, human nature is all too familiar. Lust for power and fears that a rival Houses may secure the sector's strange resources for themselves quickly led to violence.

Notes

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This is the first official event of Discovery 5.0: Fire and Fortune, and is intended to introduce some of the update's new content. Anyone is welcome to participate. We can't stop you spoiling the content for yourself in the mean time, but it'd be fun if you didn't.

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News article library, feedback and content requests.

[Chenzo-]

This sounds absolutely Epic.

Can't wait.

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[TheKusari]

Well alrighty then. Guess I have some work to do

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Discovery's Best Faction:  Starfliers
Second Best: Liberty Navy 46th Fleet

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[Aingar]

Do note that Alaska is now... relatively hard to navigate for people not strictly expected to be there :]
Honshu side however, might be more welcoming.

[jammi]

Do note that Alaska is now... relatively hard to navigate for people not strictly expected to be there :]
Honshu side however, might be more welcoming.

There's also a third route in for folks with a jump drive and a certain reckless attitude when it comes to inputting destinations.

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News article library, feedback and content requests.

[The_Godslayer]

There's also a third route in for folks with a jump drive and a certain reckless attitude when it comes to inputting destinations.

How much would it take to get event coordinates featuring the funny numbers of history? I desperately need to jump drive to 1337;69;420. It is a life or death situation. I beg you.

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I'll do something about my superiority complex when I cease to be superior.

"Whatever happened to catchin' a good old-fashioned passionate ass-whoopin and gettin' your shoes, coat, and your hat tooken?"

[jammi]

How much would it take to get event coordinates featuring the funny numbers of history? I desperately need to jump drive to 1337;69;420. It is a life or death situation. I beg you.

JDs don't use coordinates any more - in this case, you'll just want to close your eyes and let fate take you where it will.

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News article library, feedback and content requests.

[Egon Bigmemes]

oh the funny system where you sent deleted systems to

[Aingar]

How much would it take to get event coordinates featuring the funny numbers of history? I desperately need to jump drive to 1337;69;420. It is a life or death situation. I beg you.

JDs don't use coordinates any more - in this case, you'll just want to close your eyes and let fate take you where it will.

Unfortunately the third way will only be available after the restart the day after the event. The Honshu rift tomorrow will remain open for quite some time, however :]

[TheSauron]

How much would it take to get event coordinates featuring the funny numbers of history? I desperately need to jump drive to 1337;69;420. It is a life or death situation. I beg you.

JDs don't use coordinates any more - in this case, you'll just want to close your eyes and let fate take you where it will.

Unfortunately the third way will only be available after the restart the day after the event. The Honshu rift tomorrow will remain open for quite some time, however :]

How will ZoI rules be handled during/after the event? Does everyone get to consider the spooky place as part of their ZoI for as long as the Honshu rift is there?

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One MD Admiral