Alternate Objective

Journal Entry

Captain Nathan C. Jackson
Day 16

Asteri's and Tara's fixation on Stella's data core has still not worn off. They are still going at it like a cat would at a laser dot, minus all the hissing, cat fur, and scraping. Well, to be fair, I cannot fault them for trying. The data core is locked, which is a not-so-fancy way of saying it no longer responds to commands it receives or the data it is provided. So, it would have actually survived the data wipe, having never responded to the order to do so, assuming the order came after it locked, of course. So any data in there would be very valuable to everyone on board. It could tell us something about what happened during the advance team's missions and that would give us clues to what the hell is going on on the surface right now.

In other news, it seems our lack of situational awareness over Beta II is no longer bothering only me. Asteri has been a little bit grumpy ever since losing the signal in the middle of tracking it. But his frustration is not misplaced. Our enemy has control over the whole planet's surface (minus a few square kilometres, thanks to the efforts of some wayward pilot and two computer programs), and to track us, all they have to do is look up. Transcender was not exactly built to be a stealthy craft, not when it can literally twinkle in the night sky by how much light it reflects. And at the distance, we are orbiting... you don't even need binoculars to tell that something is in the sky. Bottom line... if we were trying to be subtle, we are not using the right ship for the job. As for the enemy, they have the whole planet to hide. Sure, Transcender's radio equipment can catch and listen to signals on the other side of the planet, but all that will tell us is that something is happening on that side of the planet. We will not be able to see anything.

Fortunately, the cargo hold has something to help out on that front: satellites. Now that might not sound like an exciting solution but hey, it is a solution. The satellites themselves are nothing special, they are just weather-tracking satellites. But the great thing about them is that they have a camera that can view the infrared spectrum. So that gives us rudimentary spy satellites. Today was the day we started launching them. The first batch should activate in another six hours or so after they calibrate their orbits. So it will be nice to finally look at what is transmitting those signals for once.

However, there is something else about the satellites. They should have been one of the first things that the advance team set up when they began their mission. To be fair, the satellite array is not exactly critical to anything in a way that it would have to be done immediately. The first few missions would be done close to the Transcender, so it would fulfil the duties of overwatch. However, the array is still an important element in the advance team's mission as a whole. So the fact that it was sitting in the cargo hold was not the best of signs. Just how quickly did everything screw up?

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Audio/Video Transcript

Location: The Bridge

Time: Mission Day 16, 2223

Cptn. Jackson enters the bridge. Central console illuminated, Asteri and Tara forms projected.

Cptn. Jackson: You guys wanted to talk?

Asteri: Yes, we did. We might be in trouble.
Cptn. Jackson: How so?
Tara: Our bases are not producing enough material to support themselves. Letting them stand and constantly repairing them is starting to eat away at our resources.
Asteri: At this rate, all our progress on the surface will be for nothing, and we won't have the resources to start over.
Cptn. Jackson: So you guys have a solution?
Asteri: We have two, both long-term.
Tara: The first option is to take the loss of some of the base sites and fortify others on the surface and make them self-sufficient.
Cptn. Jackson: That would mean surrendering most of the ground equipment as well, that is unless we decide to destroy the site.
Asteri: An undesirable outcome in both cases, as we lose a sizable amount of resources either way.
Tara: The second option is to keep pushing ahead and capture more territory on the ground and secure more locations to produce more resources.
Cptn. Jackson: That just increases the number of resources we use.
Asteri: We have to take a hit somewhere.
Cptn. Jackson: So, we can throw away a bunch of resources right now or we can throw them away slowly over a couple of weeks... These struck you two as good ideas?
Asteri: Admittedly, they are both terrible options... but they are the best options we have. They are actually meant to be stop-gap measures while we can finish working on the remote technology the bases need to function with complete autonomy.

Cptn. Jackson sighs, looks down at the console. He squints at it.

Cptn. Jackson: Wait... What if we didn't need to fight for the extra resources?
Tara: What do you mean?
Cptn. Jackson: Asteri, retrieve the data on the astronomical scan of this star system.
Asteri: Uh... Sure... Data retrieved.
Cptn. Jackson: Does this system have an asteroid belt?
Asteri: Yes.
Cptn. Jackson: Do the neighbouring planets have moons?
Asteri: Yes. Captain, what are you getting at?
Cptn. Jackson: (chuckles) We have been so enthralled by Beta II being the mission world that we forgot we had other choices.
Tara: But we don't do we? Beta II is the only one in the system with an atmosphere that can be breathable for a human, even if the oxygen level is slightly lower than optimal.
Asteri: And why are you suggesting that the asteroid system is a valid target?
Cptn. Jackson: Effectively being the most intelligent beings on the ship, it's funny how you guys are still pretty narrow-minded. I'm not talking about switching our mission world...

Asteri and Tara continue to ponder the situation.

Asteri: Wait... wait... no, that's genius!
Tara: What is? I still don't understand how this connects to getting more resources- Oh... oh! I get it now!
Cptn. Jackson: Can the base pods make that kind of trip from here? Moving Transcender would not be ideal.
Asteri: They should be able to. Only one problem, that kind of trip would be one way for the base pods. We can set up a transit system to ferry resources back to Transcender. But nothing we can jerry-rig now will have the power to ferry base pods back and forth between worlds in an appreciable amount of time. And to ferry resources using the base pods themselves is sub-optimal anyway.
Cptn. Jackson: It definitely is not ideal, but it is a hell of a lot less risky on our resources being rendered completely unusable. Asteri, how quickly can you set up a couple of missions to run?
Asteri: I can be done by tomorrow. I can handle it autonomously as well so there is no need to-
Cptn. Jackson: I'm going out on one.
Asteri: -have you involved. (Blinks and sighs to show frustration) All right, we can pull out one of the Pioneer shuttles for you to travel in. As always Tara will accompany you.
Cptn. Jackson: Of course. Well, I'll leave the two of you to work out the particulars then.

Cptn. Jackson starts to leave.

Cptn. Jackson: You know, it's funny.
Tara: What is?
Cptn. Jackson: How a mission to the world that is safest is riskier than a mission to a world that is inhospitable.

Cptn. Jackson leaves the bridge, Asteri and Tara forms disappear.