YSS Kasa-Obake
Approaching the Scoths-Habeid System, Kactist Sector
YE 46.2.10
Time passed as the Fuji-class gunship
Kasa-Obake shot through the space of the Kactist Sector, leaving Ussae's dense nebula far behind. Crossing more than two light years every hour, the vessel passed by the edge of explored Kactist space, and soon entered truly uncharted territory. Navigation had calculated a rather direct flight path to the mission area, deviating little despite the presence of as-yet unscanned systems and phenomena that were passed along the way. The
Kasa-Obake conducted scans as it flew, but at its cruising pace, only cursory mapping efforts were possible.
Subaru would have almost two weeks to begin to familiarize herself with the ship and her crew, including the infantry Nekos subordinate to her. After giving Subaru the first day to set her own pace, Captain Takara Gasai directed the acting Chief of Security to report to First Officer Shosa Izetta. Izetta was curious to know; how would Subaru spend these weeks of travel time? Did she explore the ship? Issue orders to her Neko subordinates? Was she social, or withdrawn? There was a great deal of curiosity about Subaru, and some of the other Nekos on the ship seemed to suspect that she was different in some way, but they couldn't quite understand why they felt that way.
In due time, the Kasa-Obake reached a system neighboring Scoths-Habeid, and which happened to fall within the direct-line path the ship had taken to get there. Even from a distance, the signs detected by the vessel's Omnidirectional Sensors were worrying enough to cause Gasai to slow the vessel's speed. At what must've been a wirelessly-transmitted prompting from the Captain, First Officer rose from her XO's station to stand near the Science and Sensor's station. Subaru, seated at the weapons station on the uppermost Level 1 of the
bridge, could see that the science officer currently manning the station was a Phod, purple-feathered and surprisingly large in stature; most Phods were perhaps one-and-a-half meters tall, but this one was taller than that, and heavily-built. At the First Officer's verbal prompting, the Phod spoke out to the bridge, her voice clear and her Yamataigo carrying only the slightest hint of an '
Oharan' accent.
"We're seeing quite a few signs of battles new and old in this system, Captain." she began. The volumetric screens now displayed the general system's layout. Its working name was the 'Reeksy System'. The Phod began to describe what was being seen.
"The star is a subgiant, decently hot, surrounded by three distinct astral bodies, none of which are currently habitable." The visual displayed one tiny, blue-colored and meteor-battered world close to the sun, then a dull gray world at the mid-point, and an ice-ringed gas giant on the further reaches. There were more details, but it wasn't the sun or the planets that was worriying. It was the
debris.
"On the surface of the middle world here, you can see the remnants of what may have been a space station which was brought down on onto the planet's surface. We're seeing signs of a globe-like original shape, structures that resemble radar dishes, and other design clues that..." She paused, snorting through her porcine nose as she struggling to find the words.
"The computer concurs, essentially. We have a reconstruction model here."
The volumetric screens displayed a reconstructed model of the shattered space sation. It exhibited a utilitarian design of an orbital space station. It featured a significant number of the radar dishes the Phod had spoken of, as well as a number of missile batteries and energy weapons. Hangar bays could be seen, as well as small, cramped personnel quarters.
"What we believed was an asteroid belt between the middle world and the gas giant is largely debris, ma'am, collected there by the flow of gravity in the system. We're still analyzing its contents, but there are quite a few signs that there are destroyed starships within that ring. The first and second planets have crashed vessels as well. Without collecting some of the fragments, we can still estimate from the sensor readings that these starships have varying construction years, ma'am. Some were built very recently, and some debris on the planet has been down there for... perhaps fifty years or more. They all appear to be of similar make."
The Captain lifted her cap, running a hand over her hairless pate. Mission Ops took its turn to share information, the Ittô Heisho Nekovalkyrja at the station bearing the Technician Red coloration on her uniform. The red clashed horribly with her bright magenta hair, making her almost difficult to look at!
"Within the asteroid belt are at least three active listening devices, Captain. They're essentially satellites, but with a scanning range quite inferior to what we are capable of. We are far outside of their range. Sensors indicate that all three satellites are broadcasting a report signal toward the Scoths-Habeid System. Our Electronic Warfare capabilities could jam them entirely, easily." She grinned, a little aggressively, and then wiped the expression from her face once she seemed to realize its presence.
"We could also simply prevent them from detecting our presence, if you prefer. Looking at the way their scanner technology operates... I think we can simply..." She went on to briefly describe a very technical means of fooling the satellite sensors. The Phod at the Science station concurred that such an act was possible.
Captain Gasai was thoughtful. A crashed space station... Debris of starships and weapons... A trio of spy satellites reporting back to their destination system...
She threw one leg over the other, leaning back in her command chair with a thoughtful smirk splaying across her features.
"Let's hear some thoughts, then." she proposed.
"Further analyses, recommendations. We could spend some time here, study the clues in this system further, or press on to our destination as quickly as possible. What to do about these satellites is another matter I'd like some opinions on."
