#warplife

MORE THAN JUST WEALTH...

CAPTAINS LOG:

The StarDate is 2016:0904. The journey of the Atlas is long. I know the journey is true and with it comes more experience than knowledge. But it is an arduous task. I fly from planet to planet, from system to system searching for my next step to what I believe to be the Galactic Core. 

The closer I get the more dangerous my journey becomes. The further I come the more I feel that I am being followed. Space Pirates haunt my presence in open space, The Phurba is strong and it can pack a punch, but for how long? I worry that they may club together to form a larger hunting party and then there would be no hope. In open space there is no rescue, there is no shelter. It is more baron than the open plains, it is more consuming than the most toxic of planets. It scares me still.

I have recently upgraded my Warp Reactor using the Theta blueprint provided to me by a portly, beaked Gek creature aboard a Space Station. Its advanced Warp abilities meant that my reach has significantly grown, I can go further than I thought possible, to systems that had not appeared before. The Gek merchant had also babbled something about the access to wealth after I had snapped it up. Were these new systems where I find this wealth? If I was to continue making a stand against the Pirates then I could do with an increase in my standing wealth, I knew that with this I could trade for the precious goods needed to better my shields and photon cannon.

I aim for the Class E8f system called Bertuinlaa-Ihi, made up of 4 planets and a singular moon all orbiting an impressive Green SunStar. Even though I don’t really believe in luck I stiffly cross my fingers as I hurtle towards the planet Bionestojol on the orbits edge. With a SunStar that big I didn’t want to take my chances and land atop a blazing hot planet and melt the Phurbas engine on the descent.      

Bionestojol is a cold planet, its lands are coated in a layer of gleaming white snow. A topographical survey of the planet reveals that during its daytime it is habitable, even for a life form such as myself. However, the night chill sends the atmosphere to a beyond shivering -77.00 degrees Celsius. The planet’s colour is fair, mostly white but it is littered with trees boasting light pink leaves and turquoise fungus.

I set down the Phurba next to a Centre of Operations base to see if I can spot anything that might boast a high selling price. At first it appears like any other average planet, soft ground, vegetation and glowing caverns. But I quickly notice something that doesn’t seem to fit in. I operate the Multi-Tool’s Analysis Visor and I spot a miniature stone pyramid with a squared off top. Floating upon its summit is a rotating cube, giving off a deep red glow not too dissimilar through all my run ins with the Atlas. Had the path led me here? I veered from what I believed to be the path in order to build my wealth before continuing. Was this train of thought actually just another stepping stone on my path to the centre. Did the Atlas anticipate my need for further wealth and point me in this direction?

I approach the small monument, it is not natural, this must have been made or built. I analyse the cube and it is revealed to called a Vortex Cube. I had seen this before when I had traded with the Korvax in the past, it had aroused my curiosity but at the price he was trying to sell it for it remained a curiosity. My hands grasped each side of the cube and I was able to take it stored in my pack. This would be where I acquire my wealth, it would fetch me around 25,000 units depending on the buyer. I store it in my Exo-Suit and ready myself to move on but I notice another scarlet glint in the distance, another cube perhaps?  

I reach the cube, look around and notice another sat on the cusp of a cavern omitting a blue glow, and then another, with each cube I find another becomes apparent like I’m being led along a path to more and more. I continue this chain until I have just as much as I can carry. My suits internal system bleeps and breaks my path of concentration. It warns me that nightfall is but a Sol away and that the temperature is starting to fall. My suit can handle the frost but on this planet I can’t be sure for how long. Much below - 50.00 degree and I would begin to slow down and my jet pack would start to freeze up and then shortly after that my life support would begin to buckle.                   

I decided I had horded enough, I would make my way back to the Phurba before I become a fossil on this planet. I skip across the surface half running, half using the thrusters on my jet pack, I’m eager to return to the nearby space station so I can unload my stash.

Night is quickly upon me and the planet quickly changes. The night sky paints the planets surface a deep purple and the once pink trees become a soft blue. The night sky is made up of a startling mix of neon colours, pinks, oranges, purples and blues. It’s beautiful. The Hazard Protection on my Exo-Suit blinks and bleeps at me, it warns me that time is of the essence and that I should seek shelter. But I can’t move. I’m fixated on a view that boasts a greater wealth than I came here to acquire. I settle for a moment a gasp at my surroundings.

Before I freeze over completely I climb atop the Phurba and into it’s cockpit. I sit a moment longer appreciating what I’ve seen before carrying with me further experience and further knowing to the Off-Planet Space Station in order to find my fortune.

The Atlas has rewarded my travel. Rewarded me with a wealth of economy and a wealth of aesthetic beauty. The Atlas provides.

: CAPTAIN OUT 

But their treasure wasn't gold. It was knowledge. Knowledge was their treasure.

WHAT’S THE QUICKEST WAY FROM POINT A TO POINT B?

A DAMAGED SHIP AT DAWN...

CAPTAINS LOG:

The StarDate is 2016:0814. I had set down the Starship Phurba on a planet shrouded in night sky. A striking violet shone from the depths of the caverns littered throughout the surface. Rich in rare minerals which could help my cause. 

As I passed through this fairy tale-esque grotto of goods, my Multi-Tool alerted me to a landmark nearby. I needed to find somewhere to set my finds down, hopefully to sell them via the Galactic Trade Terminals or to another hungry traveller. 

The cavern opened up and I looked through the vegetation to see a shelter. I barged into the metal room, initially disappointed to see its only inhabitant to be a short beaked being of the Gek race. The only thing I understood from this being was the direction in which he pointed his short arms. A terminal. Feeding my own curiosity I approached the terminal. Sensing my approach, a hologram screen appeared and administered a scan of the surrounding area and picked up a distress signal from a downed ship nearby.

‘A ship!’ I exclaimed from within. I needed a new ship, a ship that could help me convoy my finds to and from the Space Stations in orbit in order to make my fortune. This was my chance to start stepping up in the world. I was on the up!

I raced back to the Phurba and thrust into motion, skimming the horizon, closing in on the signal ahead. 

A crater came into view. I set the Phurba down on the edge of the crater and made my way down into the thick beige grass that lined its base. The light from the nearest Sun began to rise behind me, filling the crater with an almost luminescent light, setting a stage for my investigation of the crash site. I waded my way through the blades of grass headed for the ships black box. I needed to know its story, where it came from, how long it had been there and what might have caused its demise. The technology whirred into motion....

“The cockpit is pristine, devoid of damage save for that caused by the deceased pilot’s impact against the control panel. Its data banks, however, look as if they could be brought back online.

Lights intermittently flash around me. Some systems clearly remain operative. one of which appears to be a sophisticated security sensor and camera array.”

I was torn. Should I go for the ship’s databanks or just loot its functioning technology? I knew there could be a risk, not choosing the databanks could provide me with technology that I had not even imagined of acquiring but the story of the lost ship and its pilot consumed me. 

Curiosity got the better of me, I went for the databanks. My arm stretched forward towards the damaged control panel, sparks flew out from its core but I was able to operate it. Almost immediately a scarlet light filled the crater and an alarming honk came from the ship. The security sensor had acknowledged my presence. The ships tech and databank fizzed and fried as it self destructed beneath me. 

Curiosity killed the crash site. I left the ship empty handed, and with only a story to tell anyone who would listen to my ramblings at the nearest trade post. Better luck next time. 

:CAPTAIN OUT

                                                  #WARPLIFE