Home was once promised to the decadent for the depraved. Its demise was no less opulent a spectacle.
The seas evaporated in an instant, changing the structure's surface to a rose gold patina. Forests raged with fire. In seconds, the atmosphere was set ablaze.
Asteroids, large and small, appeared out of space. In the dark they were invisible, Home's dying hue catching them in flight just before impact.
From a far, it was almost comical to watch the very visible orbital ring be batted around. Through a small observation window, it looked like a classical display of Brownian motion; where a larger object was knocked about by something impermissible to the eye. Mere seconds felt like minutes, as the orbital ring began to shatter, falling into the gravity well of the structure that seemed to be rippling across the surface.
Some of these asteroids were very big. Big enough to collide with Home, but had the sheer momentum to glance off the surface of their targets. These asteroids collided with other things. Other asteroids, passenger ships, each collision leaving a small cloud of debris that expanded randomly.
The structure began to bruise. Then it started to bleed. The welts drove the cuts deeper and deeper. Whatever materials that held the internal guts of Home spilled forth from its wounds like arteries flayed open with a dull instrument, applied with terrible force. Home began to crumble, engulfed by its own innards.
There was no sound in space. But the cruelty of Home's death could be felt beyond mere sight and sound.
Whoever did this wanted attention. They have brought back stoning as punishment, and they invited the neighborhood to watch.
---
Kibiko heaved and whinged helplessly. Devoted to the very until the very end, this would be the lumbering machine's last journey.
The debris field thinned as it expanded. Kibiko limped away just in time. In hyper space, the outside world blurred. The crew would be reliant on the sensors onboard the Kibiko to navigate, which was a miracle they still functioned after the heavy punishment that the ship suffered.
Zilch gradually thumbed his way around the menu of the sensor suite. He had a good command of what menu options are located, but didn't quite grasp what exactly what these functions did. In time, with correct guidance, terms such as 'DME' and 'azimuth' would make sense. He did however figure out the options to pick preferred units of measurement. He could select between radians and degrees, switch back and forth between light years, parsecs and with a legacy toggle, something called 'Astronomical Units'. Whilst rummaging through the options, he found an instruction manual, which introduced him some of the terms and jargon. However, the manual expected the operator to have a baseline understanding of inter-system and celestial navigation. There seemed to be an assumption that sensors optimal for detection and navigation, sublight and FTL travel, are to work in conjunction. And it was up to the operator to figure out how. Also, there was a whole slew of navigation within a civilized system that demands using beacons and radio signals from starpoints for guidance, all of this information obtainable from the sensor suite. There was literally so much to learn, so much to digest. Once Zilch had finished playing with the sensor suite, he explored the star ship, only to find much of the common area and the barracks of the ship to be burned to slag from the last fight. There are still rooms per se, he can find a place to lie down, but this ship would likely be condemned in the near future.
All the while, Bert the Machine laid passed out from exhaustion, only to wake up two hours later to find that everyone was still safe, they are on course, nobody had been killed or consumed.
Ashrak and Rend continued their banter, smiling between threats of violence.
Vinny tended to her armor, but with neither a repair kit or suitable substitute, the scorch marks and dents in her armor cannot be readily remedied. Her efforts in vain, her armor gently chided her: "
We almost came away scot free. It's okay. I know you tried. You'll do better next time."
Much of Dr. White's equipment in his lab had been knocked over. Things stored in glass or similar containers laid on the floor. The samples useless for future endeavor. Whatever reference value these samples contained were now lost. Fortunately, while the explosive blasts have melted and moved the corridor walls on the way to his room, his weapons remained mostly in tact.
(OOC: Just as in aside, whatever is on your sheet is still there and miraculously in good health. While the barracks are gone, none of you trust your crew mates well enough to store belongings in a common sleeping area. They have been hidden around the ship and everyone so far has had the good sense to keep their hands to themselves *GM HAND WAVE*)
MOD set forth eir hippo on a course to GEO. Ey is working Eir sensors diligently. Approaching 3ish c, Kibiko picked up a dark shape that was moving laconically between systems. In visual mode, the grey object looked like a cocoon.
(OOC: model borrowed from here.
https://www.behance.net/gallery/3428799 ... h-Starship)
Initially, it did not seem like the object was moving beyond its own momentum. After all, the object was barely exhibiting any power signature. There does not seem to be lifesigns registered and there are no shields protecting this metallic
thing. However, closer inspection would find that the object had a large bay door open on starboard. It was leaking, in fact, spewing atmosphere and condensation. A casual observation would note that the displacement would have caused the aimless object to drift laterally, albeit very slowly, as well. However, it was travelling in a straight line.
What are your intentions?
