[b]COMMAND CENTER: SHADOW STAR[/b] [i]Hasrya System, shortly after Covenant Marking[/i] [i]System reboot complete. Sensors online. Shields online. Propulsion online. Drives online. Initializing sensor network. . .. .. ..... ... .. . Configuration failed ERR 23387: Bad Transmission Initializing sensor network (Atmp 2) ... ... .. .. . . ..... . Configuration failed ERR 23387: Bad Transmission Diagnosis started. ETC 24:44:20 ------------------------------------- Diagnosis complete (24:42:57) Probable cause: external transmission, bad translation Logged raw data to memloc 000C8A, bank 07[/i] The holoscreen flickered in the air next to the sensor console, the blue text of the system log in one corner of the terminal. One eye watched the display, the other closed in a futile attempt to make up for the long shift. Artenan leaned back in his seat, frowning slightly at the last message as it popped into view. He opened both eyes, watching the terminal for any further updates, but the ship continued its reboot with no further errors. Curious, he sat up and accessed the memory location listed, inspecting the data it contained. It was approximately forty seconds long, containing a lot of white noise in quanta that the sensors were not generally rigged to detect. He shrugged, deciding to play it over the audio system. As he suspected, there was a loud crackling from the speakers, with periods of silence stretching out for several seconds mixed in. Until the last 7 seconds, where the sensor operator could have [i]sworn[/i] he had heard voices amongst the noise. Artenan paused the recording, playing it again from the last 10 seconds. It wasn't a fluke, there were definitely words in there, although they weren't in any language known by the Coalition. Deftly his hands worked the console, cleaning up the broadcast with over a decade's worth of audio training. Minutes later he had an undeniable sample of alien language, sounding quite distressed, along with a rough approximation of the coordinates of the broadcast. Nearly seven hundred lightyears away.... quite a journey, which explained the terrible receiving quality. He pushed the processed and original transmission out on a channel to [i]Archangel[/i], hoping for an advisement. He knew it would be unlikely at this hour to receive an official order, but [i]somebody[/i] would be at the station to take the call. He didn't expect the somebody who answered. [i]"CCL-31, transmission recieved. Commander Kel'ar requesting open channel at soonest discretion."[/i] Artenan sat bolt upright, barely suppressing the urge to salute. He fumbled slightly with the comms, opening a channel to the flagship's captain, before responding. "SCR-1, channel open, Officer Nychols on duty." [i]"Ah, Nychols, excellent. I expected your handiwork. These coordinates, they are accurate? A broadcast from the Core?"[/i] "Aye, as best I can make out. The ship caught them while the sensors were initializing, they would have slipped right past our noise gates otherwise." [i]"Lucky find, then. I've submitted a request to high command that this be investigated immediately."[/i] The commander chuckled, and Artenan could feel her shaking her head. [i]"What are the odds, Nychols, of both you and your grandfather establishing our only recorded first contacts?"[/i] "I would say very slim, ma'am. It may be a bogus reading from one of the surface bases. But it is extremely interesting, and may be worth an investigation." [i]"Precisely. Stay on the line, but no need to rouse your ship just yet. I will be receiving word shortly."[/i] -------------------------------------------- Arelya felt a slight whine in her ears through the fog of sleep, her face's features drawing together in displeasure as she tried to bury her head beneath the cover of her wing. The tone was specifically engineered to interrupt sleep, however, so within a minute the kyrian was staring blearily at the speaker mounted by the door to her quarters. [i]What in Lyveck's name... it's oh-fifteen?![/i] She sent out a short blip with her radio, acknowledging that she was awake, and the awful sound ceased. With a sigh she pulled herself off of the bed and checked her insignia bands, before heading up to the command deck to answer the bridge call. Half the crew was already there, Lyra nodding to Rel as she entered the room. The weapon officer saluted back to the ship's captain and moved to her post. The clock read 0021 hours when the full crew had arrived, and the briefing began. High Command had designated [i]Shadow Star[/i] and her crew to investigate the potential transmission. The journey would take four hours, with the first leg being propelled by Gate One. They were to avoid contact unless explicitly ordered to, or engaged, and would act as a listening post for the Corps to take further action on. [i]Shadow Star[/i] peeled away from the dock, its engines beginning to glow softly as it began to accelerate to departure distance. A short cruise under Drive power, the ship entered the launch catapult of Gate One, the crew strapped down and gravity generators primed to lessen the impact. Minutes later, with a shudder, the ship was pushed into the warp fields and released, vanishing with a large distortion.