RP: The Silent Horizon Mission 1.0 - Ghost Ship

[Andrew]

RP Date

YE 47.1

RP Location

UNN Alyelume

UNN Alyelume - Bridge​

Njord System, Kikyo Sector

In the vast corridors of the Alyelume, briefings typically occurred in designated conference rooms or alcoves, specifically tailored for such purposes. However, given the limited crew aboard the immense vessel, such formalities had become impractical. The ship's mindhives efficiently managed most of the vessel’s operations, compensating for the shortage of hands, which allowed the small group of personnel to become increasingly familiar with the nuances of their floating fortress. With only a skeleton crew to man the extensive systems, the atmosphere aboard had grown unusually informal, a condition that Aphelion found mildly disconcerting yet necessary under the circumstances.

After concluding a communication with Vaedum, who had outlined the small crew's first official mission, Aphelion was ready to relay these new orders. The Alyelume was back under the command of the United Norian Navy, freshly reinstated with standard uniforms and kits distributed among the crew, transforming a group of once-strangers into a unified team.

Standing at the operations console, Aphelion pressed the controls to activate the ship's internal communications system. Her voice resonated through the ship's corridors with a crisp, authoritative tone. "You are required on the bridge for a briefing," she announced, her voice carrying the weight of impending duty. "Our first mission has been given by Naval Command." With a flick of her finger, she closed the channel and turned her attention to the mission package data now splayed before her.

Above the operations table, the stellar cartography of an unfamiliar region of space materialized in volumetric projections, interspersed with initial probe data. Aphelion meticulously reviewed the details, her fingers gliding over the projections, shifting and expanding the images as needed. A look of mild confusion crossed her face as she examined the still images embedded within the data, her mind racing to piece together the strategic implications. As she awaited the arrival of Adrin and the others summoned to the briefing, the dimly lit bridge felt larger and more imposing than usual.

Spoiler: OOC

All player characters have been called to the briefing on the bridge

 

[GingerGlitch]

UNN Alyelume

Quietly entering the bridge Ryllae stopped briefly, rendering a sharp salute to Aphelion before proceeding to her spot at the operations table. Donned in the new white duty uniform, she stood silently observing what all was displayed before her. Not a strand of hair was out of place as her gaze flicked up briefly to look around the otherwise empty bridge then right back to the projections. She stood there with her arms crossed loosely taking the time before things got started to ponder over a few thoughts tumbling around in her mind.

 

[Charaa]

Ilae sat cross-legged inside one of the narrow junction tubes aboard the UNN Alyelume. The tube was dimly lit, the glow from the ship’s status lights casting soft pulses of blue and gold against the curved metallic walls. The spot had been carefully chosen—its acoustic properties amplified and enriched sound like a natural amphitheater, turning the confined space into a cocoon of resonant melodies. Each note seemed to linger in the air, swirling around her before fading gently into silence, as though the ship itself was listening.

In her arms, Ilae cradled her Zol’rausir, her lips pressed to the mouthpiece, exhaling a steady, controlled breath that brought the instrument to life. Her fingers danced deftly across the taut strings stretched over its curved body, plucking and strumming with a precision born of years of practice. The sound that emerged was otherworldly, an intricate tapestry of tones both deep and ethereal. The low, throaty hum from the strings intertwined with the clear, mournful notes produced by her breath. Together, they wove a melody that was haunting yet comforting, like the memories of distant stars calling across the void. Ilae closed her eyes, letting herself become the vessel for the music, her body swaying gently with the rhythm.

Unfortunately, her music was interrupted by Aphelion, forcing her to stop, and she put her instrument back into its case and carried it on her back as she made her way to the bridge, where the ship mama, Ryllae was. She too wore her new duty uniform, it felt odd to her, but she knew she had no choice.

 

[Sosina]

Nola had been working on the Coin and parchment working on dating them to figure out exactly how old they were, as well as scanning the coin to see the wear pattern for the writing since the wording on it would wear differently then the rest of the coin so she could remake the words in that manner. So far the work was going well. As for the Dagger she had started to keep on her at all times now, she wasn't sure why it was given to her but she was told it might be a form of protection so she decided to keep it on herself.

Unlike everyone else she hadn't put on the uniform, she was still in her normal clothing and slightly overly large lab coat, She didn't exactly want to wear the uniform, she never liked them and she had her issues with military structure. then the all hands call came in and she let out an annoyed sigh and she put the one coin she was studying and the parchment sample away stowing them in her private duffle bag before leaving her lab and heading to where she was told to go.

Nola wasn't really looking forward the meeting but basically all hands were called to go there, and likely as their only specialist for Leviathan and other tech she likely would be needed for a bit. Walking into the room she looked around and then moved over to the side of the room staying silent all the while.

 

[iaincarter]

Passageways, UNN Alyelume
Njord System, Kikyo Sector

As he strode through the ship towards the nearest bridge access, Atae reflected on the feverish activity that had pretty much become the norm for the skeleton crew of the Alyelume during the time they had spent in the Njord system. In retrospect a lot of the work they had done in those early days to prepare for operating the ship independently had been rendered moot when they had re-joined the Navy but there had been no way to predict that outcome at the time. As much as he had relished the challenges involved in setting up their own logistical and intelligence chains, the analyst had to admit that there was just something reassuring about being back in the Service.

Although he still wasn't sold on the change from the pre-war black duty uniforms to the new white version. Sure, it looked sharp enough he supposed but there was just something off about it. Maybe it was just because it was new? Atae was certain he would adapt to it soon enough though. Everyone else seemed to have had a positive reaction to being back in the Service and the new uniforms, which boded well for the immediate future. It certainly hadn't taken Atae long at all to fall back into the old habits from his time in active service before he had joined the Yaducath Intelligence Agency.

Turning a corner, Atae spotted the white-haired form of his sister and lengthened his pace to catch up to her. "Ah, my dear Moraes, come on!" The analyst reached out to grab one of his sister's hands and pulled her along behind him as he strode towards the bridge.

Bridge, UNN Alyelume

He entered the dimly-lit bridge and crossed to the operations table, still pulling his sister along behind him. Atae had to let his sister's hand go though so he could salute Aphelion, who was the acting duty officer. Then he turned and nodded to the First Officer. "XO." Oh, certainly he had just violated about three different naval regulations by not saluting a superior officer when in uniform, but things were running a little more informal aboard the Alyelume right now so he wasn't terribly concerned about being summoned to a Captain's Mast over it. If Ryllae had a problem with his somewhat lax acknowledgement, she'd more than likely let him know by being rougher than usual the next time they met up to work out or spar.

Atae turned and offered a smile for his sister before standing at ease and awaiting the rest of the command crew and the Captain.

 

[Commissar Farzi]

Balruc sighed as he approached the entrance to the bridge, the tiny thurok in tow-at least the crew had the good sense not to go near it-might've had to do with someone getting eaten despite their warnings. Go to the briefing the Sergeant said, see what the Norians want the Sergeant said. Resisting the urge to simply sod off, he gave the two ratings a nod as the door thrummed open.

He saddled up next to Atae, making sure the tiny reptilian war beast was obediently sitting with a solid push on the tail with a short rod ending in a pair of strong prongs meant to hold her in place should she turn violent. "Junior Yeoman Steady-Handed reporting." He said with a salute-his voice was neutral, but he'd really rather be anywhere else but sitting here yapping to some officer.

Oh well, at least if one of them was stupid enough to tease the pup he wouldn't have to feed her later.

 

[Andrew]

Bridge​

Admiral Aphelion stood at the head of the operations table, her piercing gaze sweeping over the assembled team. Her blue hair glinted faintly in the dim light as she spoke with authority. "Alright, gather around," she began, her voice steady but carrying the weight of the mission's importance. "We’re going to go over this operation. Adrin won’t be joining you for this one, so make sure you fully understand the material. UNN Naval Command has declared this mission high priority and compartmentalized. Regardless of the outcome, you are not to discuss it with anyone outside this unit."

The announcement of Adrin’s absence brought murmurs of surprise, but Aphelion offered no further explanation. Whatever had pulled him away wasn’t her place to share, and her expression made it clear there would be no discussion.

With a gesture, she activated the volumetric display. A three-dimensional map of the Tylorynthae Shroud, located in the Kosuke Sector Grid 0302, materialized above the table. "This is the system in question," she said, her voice crisp. "One of our recon probes, tasked with scouting potential colonization sites, detected heavy weapons discharges and was redirected to investigate."

The map zoomed in, showing the aftermath of the battle. Aphelion paused, allowing the team to absorb the image before continuing.

"By the time the probe arrived, one of the parties had already fled into hyperspace," she explained. "The Star Army has no operations this far galactic south, and we’ve ruled out both the squids and the bugs we encountered at Becurn. That leaves us with no clear idea who was involved, but this is what they left behind."

With a flick of her fingers, the image shifted, and the form of a massive Craethel Hulk dominated the display. The ship's battered and scorched hull was eerily intact, its usual self-destruct mechanism apparently bypassed or disabled.

"As you all know," she said, glancing around the room, "we’ve never been able to disable a Craethel ship without triggering its auto-destruct. Whoever did this managed the impossible, and we’re not about to let this opportunity go to waste."

Several optical stills and sensor scans appeared alongside the holographic model, showing intricate details of the Hulk’s surface. Aphelion’s tone hardened. "Normally, this mission would go to the Planetary Marines, but with so many deployed in the Denau System and defending the homefront, we’ve been tasked to handle it. And let me be clear: we have no idea what’s waiting for you inside that ship."

Her gaze landed on Nola. "You’re going on this mission as well. If there’s mindhive technology aboard, we’ll need your expertise. Time to earn your keep."

Turning back to the group, Aphelion outlined the objectives with precision. "Your mission is straightforward in concept but complex in execution due to our lack of intel on the interior of those ships. First, you’ll gather everything you can about the ship’s systems and the Craethel. Second, you’ll try to uncover who attacked it. It seems we have an ally out there that we’re unaware of."

She gestured to a schematic of the Hulk that highlighted a stern airlock near what appeared to be its engineering section. "It will take us a couple of days to get out there. You’ll be inserted via shuttle. We’ve identified an airlock that our universal system should be able to secure. Once your objectives are complete, you’ll return to the shuttle and make your way back to the ship. Understood? Any questions?"

Spoiler: OOC

Everyone - After any questions or clarifications, there will be a time skip 2 days to get us there.

 

[GingerGlitch]

Bridge

The implications of what lay before them were not lost on Ryllae. Though what those projections implicated were unfathomable, for now. When Nola entered the bridge Ryllae's eyes flicked up briefly from the operations table, noting that their leviathan tech had chosen to stand over to the side of the bridge silently. That momentary observation was merely that, an unemotional and analytic observance of one's chosen actions. Ryllae's gaze went back forwards until Atae and Ilae arrived as they slipped into their spots. Atae's greeting elicited a silent nod of acknowledgement, things were a bit out of the norm due to their situation. Then Balruc's entrance with his little reptilian companion ripped her attention, she returned his salute sharply. An interesting ensemble for sure, but not her first time with such varied company. Hopefully no one was dumb enough to try and pet the yeoman's war beast.

Aphelion's opening statement signaled that business was getting started. Ryllae paid rapt attention to what was said, though she betrayed no outward sign when Adrin's absence was mentioned. It was normal, at least in her experience, for one in a position such as him to not participate in all field missions. Which meant she would be responsible for getting this rag tag band of personnel through whatever they were about to be informed of. Ryllae absorbed every word, every detail and began mentally preparing for the task at hand. Ilae had just begun her training as a medic, they would need another just for this first mission. "Understood, Tal'Kryso. No questions from me." Ryllae said in a very professional tone as she glanced around towards others present to see if they had any questions.

 

[Sosina]

Bridge

Nola stayed off to the side watching the others arrive, when the man with a reptilian walked in Nola's eyes darted to the creature and she seemed to study it a moment. Looking it over as an Idea went through her mind, she would need to ask him about the beast later, if she was going to be doing experiments she would need some test data and that creature could help with that. Leaving that behind though her attention returned to the briefing.

It seemed they would have the chance to board a Craethel Hulk, and the look on Nola's face changed from bored and uninterested to laser focused on the information, she even took out a data pad from her lad coat and started to rapidly take notes, though her eyes never left the projection. when addressed she did spare a look to Aphelion and replied "Makes sense, this is something that would fall into my area of specialization" she then fell silent again to allow the woman to continue her briefing.

as it came to an end and questions were prompted Nola spoke up "I will need some specimen containers, and some of my equipment cannot be easily moved by one people, Could you put out a request to crewmembers willing to help move and guard the supplies and equipment? also how much information are you hope for me to gather? I could bring any thing from a mobile lab set up if I have the aid required, or I can simply get some of my more basic scanning equipment and smaller specimen vails to bring back to the Alyelume for more thorough testing with her permission of course. Though we are unsure if just the presence of Biomatter if any from the hulk has a negative effect on the Leviathan's. Due to that I would suggest we take a partially mobile lab set up, for that I can do some preliminary tests on the hulk as needed, but I would still require supporters for moving and protection" she finished.

she also looked to the person with the Lizard "Also I would like to speak to you about the creature you have with you if possible" she added as she looked back to the briefing information. anyone that had heard her speak before would notice her usual tired and bored tone had not been present this time, and instead she seemed focused and alert.

 

[Charaa]

Bridge

Ilae smiled at her big brother as she walked into step with him “I’m coming” she said in her usual soft tone of voice. “by the way.. um, Atae, is Ryllae going to be my sister-in-law...” She said, her breath still carrying the remnants of the haunting melody she had crafted only moments prior. Before they arrived, and Ilae walked in, and she began listening to the breifing which may help to distract her from more questions. Like Ryllae she paid attention but as Adrin’s absence was acknowledged, she frowned hoping her grandfather was alright and nothing bad happened to him. Finally, she spoke “oki dokie, Tal'Kryso. No questions from me." She said though there were questions and things she wanted to say to Ryllae, but now probably wasn’t the time.