Faction Stare Long Enough Into the Zavian Abyss (RTL, SG)

[Aeshi Tillian]

ZAVIAN ABYSS

Space was bizarre and terrifying. That was something so many failed to recognize, especially those who mainly stuck to well traveled and well charged routes near the heart of the galaxy. Space travel was easy in such places and commonplace. Leave orbit, punch in some coordinates, and be there in a couple days.

Aeshi had spent too long scouting out routes along the edge of the galaxy and traveling tbe Kathol Sector to believe that.

And the Zavian Abyss proved that there were such places more inwards than the Outer Rim. Graveyard of ships. Devoured of fleets. Haunted. Home of the starweirds. She’d heard all sorts of stories about this place and none of them were even close to the mark of what she saw now.

Her hands tightened on the controls, the service whirring and the leather of her glove creaking. Her copilot flapped his wings uncomfortably.

“Yeah, I feel you pal,” Aeshi agreed, activating the comma to speak to the rest of the expedition. “Aeshi here. We’re on location from the coordinates the old drunk gave us. Keep your eyes out and your reflexes fast. Things move around a lot here and the treasure ship he was talking about could be anywhere. And keep an eye out for other wrecks. The League will pay us top credit for any old warship hulls we can salvage mostly intact.”

Tbe treasure ship was an old Galactic Republic that had fled the One Sith and been lost in the abyss, rumored to be carrying huge deposits of bullion and currency seized in Lasedri’s revolt. Who it originally belonged to, if it existed, was unknown, and by now, salvage law applied. The IMCG laws and bylaws agreed.

Which meant it was fair game. But Aeshi was more interested in the wrecked warship hulls. She didn’t believe rumors bought off cantina drunks, as a rule, but the place was known to have annihilated war fleets whose commanders were overbold. And those should be easier to get hold of and retrieve.

 

[Stenn Kasiter]

Gazing out the front viewport of the Wayward Dray, Stenn Kasiter let a low whistle escape his lips. He knew he was grinning like an idiot, like a schoolboy opening presents on Life Day, but he couldn't help himself. He'd already seen a thousand beautiful things since he'd left Azbrian, but the Zavian Abyss might just top the list for the level of wonder and awe he'd felt. Huge asteroids, shot through with veins of bright cyan ore, drifted through a haze of purple fog. Flashes of lightning from the eternal electrical storm constantly lit up the scene from new angles.

The maw of the abyss was an ever-churning tunnel of soft purples, whites, and blues. He could've stared into it all day.

Of course, this beautiful phenomenon was also extremely dangerous; it wouldn't have become a graveyard of starships otherwise. Entering the fog that formed the walls of the tunnel would mean instantly frying everything in the ship - pilot included - with lethal stellar radiation, and possibly being eaten by massive voidborne organisms that lived in the clouds; Stenn wasn't sure whether he should believe that particular spacer legend, but he certainly could. Staying within the misty walls was only a little safer; those asteroids could easily smash a ship.

Stenn knew he ought to be terrified. He was still pretty knew at being a freighter captain, and had certainly never navigated anything like the abyss. But it was this sense of wonder and freedom that he'd left the Core Worlds to chase, and it felt like a dream coming true to actually be there. Besides, it wasn't like he was out there alone. He was part of an expedition, and one led by the veteran captain Aeshi Tillian at that. They'd all look out for each other; that was what the Rimward Trade League was all about, mutual aid and pursuing the common good.

"Copy that," Stenn replied, bringing the Dray into formation. This would be his first salvage mission, though he'd worked on enough ships on the ground that he was familiar with what to look for. The idea of a treasure ship was certainly exciting, the kind of thing he'd loved to watch holodramas about as a kid... and as an adult, to be honest. But it was just as exciting to him to dive into the real work of being an Outer Rim free trader. He didn't have to get rich on lost Republic treasure to call this a successful day; he was along to experience and to learn.

"Here we go," he whispered, still unable to wipe that grin from his face. Feth it, this was the most exciting thing he'd ever done.

 

[Aeshi Tillian]

Stenn Kasiter

"Remember to keep your controls light, Kasiter," Aeshi said after getting the response back from one of the newest captains in the Rim. Straight from the Core and with a big loan to pay off on his first ship. She remembered those days. At least, some of them. She didn't quite technically have legal ownership of her first ship, but she had the loans to pay off the previous owner's debts. She didn't miss being a greenhorn and while this wasn't the kind of expedition she would have chosen for greenhorns, she also figured there was no better way to learn the type of flying they were going to need than in the Abyss.

Sink or swim, right?

"Hold them too tight and you won't be able to absorb any sudden interference or notice the subtle shifts in velocity that can quickly become extreme." While she was mostly talking to Kasiter, it went for the rest of the captains, most of whom had never flown in this sort of environment before. It was, after all, a long way from the hyperlanes that many spacers spent the bulk of their career following.

Aeshi rolled her neck and rested her hands lightly on the controls, half-closing her eyes as she started speaking to her co-pilot. The gruff Imyni squawked at her in his avian language and she nodded. "You got that right."

One hand shifted over and pushed a button. "Sensor scans at full-power. Relay your readings through the beacon we dropped once out of hyperspace. It'll collate the data and rebroadcast it in near real-time to everyone here. And keep your eyes sharp on those scanners. There's a whole lotta of debris and rock drifting this way and last thing I want to do is haul you in through the airlock."

 

[Vera Tillian]

RRS FRONTIER'S HOPE
================

"All hands, stand by for rescue actions," Vera said through the comm in her helmet. While this was originally an unofficial expedition, the Service had sent three of the smaller picket ships along with the assortment of freighters and salvagers, just in case. They weren't interested in the treasure ship, per se, except that it would chalk up some points for the Merchant-Marine's reputation, but they also didn't want to lose the pride of their merchant-marine to an accident in a region of space infamous for eating fleets.

Which, when looked at in that way, made their three 80-meter picket ships seem entirely inadequate to the possible disaster that was likely about to happen. "All ships to general quarters," Vera added through the Service-only channels.

Around her, the siren alarms blared through the vessel as the crew hurried to their stations- firefighting, damage control, hull repair, tractor beams, and weapons in case they needed to shoot their way through any massive asteroids.

As the bustle of going to quarters faded away, a heavy silence filled the ship in every corridor. Waiting. That was the hardest part in this situation. It wasn't thinking about if something was about to go wrong, but when. And where.

By all logical decision making, nobody should ever cruise through the abyss. They should just mark it off on the map as 'Danger-Do Not Enter' but if there was one thing that made a bunch of freighter captains and salvage captains race each other, it was to mark something with a 'Do Not Enter' sign. It was like an invitation.

So that was why they were here. If you can't beat 'em, you can at least join them and make sure they don't blow themselves up in the process.

 

[Stenn Kasiter]

"Copy that," Stenn replied, forcing his fingers to uncurl from their white-knuckled grip on the controls. "Thanks." Was it a little embarrassing to be called out as a greenhorn in front of the whole expedition? Sure. But he was a greenhorn, and when he was going into a situation this dangerous, he'd take all the advice he could get. He wasn't as scared as he probably should have been, as he was much too busy being lost in wonder, but he still had to consciously keep himself from clamping down hard on the yoke again.

The newly-minted captain had to admit that he was glad the Rescue Service had sent a few of their ships along, just in case.

At Aeshi Tillian 's instruction, Stenn transferred powder to sensors, ensuring that they were operating at maximum levels. Given all the stellar radiation and dense, ever-drifting rock around them, full operation was necessary to even begin to cut through all the interference. That was where the beacon, and Aeshi's analytical ability, would come in handy. Multiple vessels in different positions, each sending data to be compiled on Aeshi's terminal, would allow them to paint a picture of their surroundings despite the interference.

It was like using directional sonar from different positions, finding out what bounced back from each spot to complete the image.

A yellow alert - not yet red - popped up on the Dray's instrument panel as tiny asteroid shards began pinging off the deflectors, the first layer of detritus the ships would have to pass through. Stenn forced himself to breathe, slowly in, slowly out. Wonder was still there, but stress was setting in. And then the red alert kicked up: incoming collision risk. The greenhorn captain felt his chest seize up in surprise and panic, then forced it down. "Taking evasive action," he ground out, then flipped the Dray in a wide corkscrew spin. The object whistled past.

Stenn slowly let out the breath he'd been holding, then managed a wan smile. The first real threat he'd faced, and he'd come through it okay. He directed his scanners at the object, trying to figure out what had narrowly missed him, and then froze again. It was an old Republic R44 snubfighter, one of those early designs they'd relied on after the Incom partnership had fallen through. The nose was smashed. "Got something here," he transmitted. "Post-darkness Republic starfighter. Hyperdrive-equipped, so it might've been alone..."

"... but probably not." The fighter itself probably wasn't worth salvaging, but it might mean bigger ships were nearby.

 

[Aeshi Tillian]

Stenn Kasiter

“No problem,” Aeshi said in answer, already swinging her chair around to tabulate the incoming oceans of sensor data. “It’s instinct to try and stay tight as possible. Gives more feeling of control.” She stood and leaned back, rerouting the power from the weapons to the sensor computer. “But like most things, trying to control ‘em will just shatter things.”


An alarm pinged on her console and her co-pilot hustled over, adjusting the controls, squawking in desperate Imyni. Aeshi staggered as the ship shifted beneath her but caught herself on the console.

“Good dodge, Kasiter. And good find. I’ll tag it so we all know what it is.” Her fingers darted across the consoles and the item was tagged with a label for the rest of the salvagers and explorers to pick up. “You found it, you get first claim on it. Might make some decent creds from the scrap metal.”

Other pings indicated new findings as the combined sensors scouted the maelstrom that surrounded them. She stared at one and adjusted the focus.

“Large target, 400 meters length. Durasteel. Fifteen thousand meters out, bearing Mark Three-Zero-One.”

That she tagged as well, but left it alone for now.

 

[Stenn Kasiter]

The tags and sensor pings trickled in, each data point tracing the outlines of the vast debris field drifting through the void. It reminded Stenn of holos he'd seen of bioluminescent deep sea creatures, their lights gradually revealing the seafloor as they drifted through otherwise perfect darkness. His exhilaration hadn't faded, but his nerves had grown to match it. One false twist of the yoke could easily see him smash into something big enough to rip the Dray apart, and then he'd be yet another ghost hulk out in this mess.

Still, there was a fresh thrill - and a real sense of satisfaction - in getting his first salvage claim. The fighter was small, sure, and in its current state it might not even be worth enough to cover the cost of flying out here. But it was a start, and it was something he'd found, all on his own. That felt better good, a hell of a lot better than the life of drudgery he'd left behind. He wondered if the fighter pilot had also felt the thrill of an exciting life. What was his story (hers?) and why had it ended all the way out here, so far from anyone's home?

Maybe he'd find some logs in the cockpit. He'd like to know, if he got the chance.

A blip on his sensors drew his attention back to the present, which was good; getting distracted was likely to get him killed in a place as dangerous as this. Stenn stared at it, then frowned, wiping at the screen with his jacket sleeve. Something long and sleek was moving through the gap between two asteroids ahead, not fast but steady. It was giving off strange readings... life signs? Energy spikes? He couldn't tell. Despite the rumors, he didn't know of any confirmed sightings of spaceborne organisms in the abyss... so what was it?

"Tagging another mobile object," Stenn transmitted, then leaned on the yoke. Time to take the Dray in closer, to see if he could get a better reading. The theories kept spiraling through his head. An ionite-laden asteroid might cause interference that would bring about those readings... or a military-grade craft covered in sensor baffling material. It was hard to see through the purple-blue haze, so visual scanning was only so effective. "Something strange here. I could use another pair of eyes."

Force, he thought, I hope I don't get right on top of it only to find out it's a summa-verminoth or something.

Aeshi Tillian ​

 

[Aeshi Tillian]

Stenn Kasiter

This was getting perhaps a bit too much for to keep track of personally. Maybe she should consider investing in more crew, and maybe even a proper sensor technician or analyst. She was darting between consoles adjusting power flow, computer links, and data relays. Her co-pilot was keeping the ship steady and evading any of the debris or salvage that was starting to hurtle their direction. Contacts were relayed faster than even her Force-enhanced reflexes could keep track of.

"I read you, Kasiter," Aeshi said, taking back over at the controls as she and her co-pilot switched places, despite the Imyni's inability to speak Basic. His translator was working well enough. "Location marked."

This was what she was properly good at. Flying in terrible conditions. Blockades, asteroid belts, mass set-piece space battles, she'd flown through them all. Aeshi leaned back and rolled her neck for a moment, hands resting lightly on the controls as she nudged the throttles forward, sending the ship sliding forward and crabbing its way forward on a diagonal.

"I'm picking up the reading. It's a strange one, alright," Aeshi said, toggling through all the filters she could manage. "What are you seeing yet?"