[u]Janurary 2nd, 12:30 AM(Greenwich Mean Time) The Rock Dragoon, somewhere just beyond lunar orbit Status: Barely functional, weapons compromised, shields offline. Life support running on fumes.[/u] [i]Day Fifteen, Food ran out this morning, the replicator stopped working, and with access to the magic pizza box either impossible due to sealed sections of the ship, or just gone completely, and with god knows what else is missing, things are going to be tight. Water is due to run out in about three days. Oxygen is predicted to run out within two or so days after that. Engines are still not functioning, and the power plants are barely working as it is. Of course, hyperdrive is totaled, that's what got me into this mess. Even with emergency power, I think the heating and cooling have failed in most of the ship, Drake has been rerouting power, but even with cannibalizing non-essential systems for parts to repair other systems, there's just too much to fix. Far more than I can do on my own, let alone even if I had the parts needed. Skymother damn it all, I got too cocky. I thought I'd be fine, that I wouldn't need too many spare parts, but look where I am. Stranded Earthfather knows how many universes from home, Oceanfather above, this is terrible. Whatever we hit during transit would have made the Flamemother excited, that's for sure. Damn it all again. We were able to stop leaking atmosphere by sealing off engineering, I've only gone in with my space suit, and while we were able to patch that area up, the engines are going to need dry dock in space, or a planet's atmosphere, before I can do proper repairs. Maybe, just maybe I'm lucky, and what happened is that I was just thrown back into the universe I left, but that's unlikely, I'm pretty sure that before the explosion hit, we were between a different set of universes. And according to long range sensors before we lost them...Drake and I think that's a class M planet, so probably habitable, and even if there's no intelligent life, I can make do with a hunter gatherer life style until I can fix parts of the ship, and maybe if I'm lucky, I can find parts for the hyperdrive. Juryrigging that was a mistake... Either way, the ship should pass lunar orbit in the next few hours, and if emergency thrusters can bleed off enough speed, reentry shouldn't be...too bad? Who am I kidding, for all I know, we could start breaking up on the way down, nice fireball, not a good time for me. Alright, I guess I should probably head to the bridge one last time, before we have to seal that part of the ship off to conserve oxygen. Check on the SOS beacon, see if anything is approaching the ship, like an asteroid or something... No one is probably ever going to read this data file, but Alex, if you ever find this, just know I'm sorry, and that I'm still searching for a way home. If home still exists. I hope, that if you're out there, you're well. [/i] A hand reached forward, disabling the recording function, the helm that sat on the ground powering down again, returning the room to dimness. Sitting legs crossed, a few long moments passed, then a breath was slowly pushed out from between lips cast down in a frown, manifesting as a drawn out sigh. Slowly, groaning as the numbed legs complained, the former speaker got back to her feet, breath hissing out into a mist as she once more breathed in and out. Fifteen days of the same routine. Wake up, check systems from her quarters, traverse the ship to damaged sections, run diagnosis, fix what she could, salvage what wasn't needed and use elsewhere. Eat and drink as needed. Run a final set of reports, file a message, then go look at the stars for a bit. Before finally, getting ready to sleep, and hoping that when she woke up, it wouldn't be in the afterlife. One gloved hand reached up, massaging her forehead, the alien known simply as Serene groaning, wondering if the brief headache was just a moment, or something worse. She'd spent most of the day working on the power systems, trying to squeeze just a bit more out of them. Perhaps tomorrow, she'd take a look at the oxygen scrubbers, try to wring some more time. Anything to buy her time to reach a planet with breathable air. She heard a sound, and lifted her head, glancing around her quarters, before realizing it was just the creak of the ship. Not one of her loneliness driven hallucinations brought on by what was borderline cabin fever. Even in a ship as massive as this, when the halls are dark, and you swear you're alone, any sound is enough to put one on edge. Walking to her door, a hand was placed on it, pulling it open, or well, moreso she slid it sideways, and stepped out into the darkened corridor, lights flickering overhead now and again. She left the door open for the moment, glancing left, then right, before sliding the door shut behind her. She left, walking through the halls and spaces of the ship until she found her way through the twists and turns to the bridge. The doors had to be manually opened, due to a number of reasons. She strained, muscles bulging in her arms underneath the surface of her environmental suit, before they stopped jamming, and opened enough that she could slip through. She grunted in relief, and strode onto the bridge, looking over at the silent navigation bot, him turning to look at her, before returning to look outside. Taking a seat in the captain's chair, she gazed out into space. It was vast, mostly empty, but the tapestry of stars was beautiful, if stark in its beauty. There could be a million stars going supernova out there, a dozen turning into black holes, and she'd never know. Some would have been distressed at being a speck of dust amid the cosmos, but to her, it was merely natural. Her gaze flickered to the orb growing in the distance, and its even smaller moon, breath once more misting into the air. Maybe they were lucky, and it was indeed a version of Earth. Or perhaps a world just like the one she'd been born on, but without that vile mad man who had ruined so many countless lives. Anything where she could rest and recover would be preferable to drifting aimlessly through space. Less than a day before it was all over, and she either made it to the surface, or went out in a blaze of glory. [i]"Going to update the SOS, at this point, they'd have to be deaf, blind, and dumb to be unable to do anything."[/i] No response was given, there was no need. Pulling up a monitor, power briefly surged, to allow her to record something. [i]"To anyone who might be listening, this is Serene the Rockwoman, of the HMS Rock-Dragoon, we are in dire need of assistance. Our food supply has run out, and despite my best efforts, many systems teeter on the brink of failing. Oxygen and water are running out. If anyone can hear me, please, send relief, I don't know how much longer I have. If you can understand English of course."[/i] She took in a breath, then let it out. Hitting the end, she nodded, and on multiple frequencies, the signal would begin broadcasting once more, replacing the fourteen prior distress calls, which to those able to detect, would have provided a running report of the slowly failing ship. Now, she could have gone back to her cabin, and sleep, but truth be told, she didn't want to miss anything. After all, only hours remained before entry, it would be a shame to miss a rescue. Or a fiery re-entry of the atmosphere. Either was interesting. Leaning back in her control chair, she gazed out the bridge, feeling a brief chill go down her spine. Come to think of it, it was odd, she could have sworn she'd seen two bodies orbiting the planet before, but could only see one currently. Perhaps she had been hallucinating again? It was possible. For now though, she had to keep the despair at bay, another curse to be had that she'd run out of the anti-depressants a month back and had never bothered to restock. Too risky. So onward the star ship drifted, massive in its size, but still smaller than Luna of Terra. Its sole living occupant clueless to the larger forces at work, and the outside world...Well... ...This ain't E.T. coming to visit.