Shattered
Author: Rhavas
Original post: https://interstellarprivateer.wordpress.com/2010/09/25/shattered-part-1-research/
Entry for the YC114 Pod and Planet Fiction Contest in the Eight Thousand Suns but not elegible for prizes.
Part 1: Research
Aboard Wraith, Hagliur, Metropolis
It wasn’t unusual to get a panicked comm call from her.
Rhavas’ time spent working on contract for Boundless Creation had begun opening various doors within the company, and he had found someone willing to give him a little more background and detail on Minmatar Starship Engineering. It wasn’t a formal education, but enough to get him by.
Widolden had finally told him about datacores, and their value. For Rhavas, it was another chance to parlay some of his knowledge to make money. She had referred him to one of her friends in R&D, Andur Oaldald.
Oaldald wasn’t known in capsuleer circles for reacting well to setbacks in her research. The downside you never heard about datacore work was that the scientists you worked with were a panicky lot that thought capsuleers were basically glorified errand-boys.
So, it had been no surprise when Oaldald called him for the fourth time that day.
What had bothered him was that she had specifically said she wanted him to meet someone. That wasn’t normal.
Upon landing and going through the usual rigamarole to exit the capsule, he dressed and went to meet her. As he opened the door to her office, he saw her standing nervously behind it, unconsciously wringing her hands.
Beside her stood a tall, pale Sebiestor man with sharp features and a severe gaze. He seemed more taskmaster than scientist. The man held out a hand. “Agar Edonbald. You’re Rhavas?” When Rhavas didn’t reach out to shake, Edonbald continued. “I’m Andur’s boss. Please, sit down. I have something we need your help with.”
Rhavas then did shake his hand briefly, and sat. “I’m listening.”
Edonbald hefted a neocom tablet in one hand while he gestured with the other. “You are of course familiar with the Seyllin incident. And with the inexplicable defeat of the Thukker fleets at Mekhios, possibly with some sort of superweapon. And with the Sansha incursions into New Eden – rumors even of Jovian involvement. And our files show you worked with the Sisters of Eve on some of the rogue drone incursions and have been doing some wormhole work, and so are familiar with the Sleepers within. Plus I saw the ship you came in – not one of ours, but a useful ship nonetheless.”
Rhavas waited.
“What you might not know is that it is possible – even probable – that all of these things are related.”
Now Rhavas raised an eyebrow. “Even for New Eden, that’s a bit of a paranoid conspiracy theory, Mr. Edonbald.”
Edonbald nodded. “I know. That’s why I need you – to either prove or disprove some theories. You’ll be paid for your services, of course.” He looked across the desk at Rhavas with a hopeful expression.
“Fine,” Rhavas said. “What specifically do you need done?”
The Sebiestor smiled for the first time. “Excellent, excellent. Now, the other thing you may not know is that Seyllin I wasn’t the only planet destroyed that day. Six other planets were destroyed across New Eden, and there are rumors that there are some similarly scorched in wormhole systems. We’ve come to the conclusion that we think the Eve Gate is somehow tied to all of it as well – we believe it may be at the center of a circle of the shattered planets. What I need from you is for you to go and map them out. Take pictures. Take measurements. Try to find the place at the center.”
Edonbald lowered his voice. “I think there may also be some … darker implications around their placement. You see, where they are implicates our old enemies.”
Rhavas was not much of a political creature, and his family was fairly removed from the Amarr slavery issue for a Minmatar. But he took Edonbald’s point. “So you want me to look for possible involvements there, too.”
Edonbald nodded. “Yes.” He handed the neocomm over. “Here is what we have so far. It’s not much – just the list of systems, plus the fact that we know the planets are all the first planet of an A0-class blue sun.”
Rhavas flipped silently through the very bare data files. Other than Seyllin and New Eden, the planets and systems had almost no information other than their location.
“There’s only one complication,” Rhavas said as he stood and turned to the door. “I’ve applied for a new job, and that employer is very concerned about maintaining neutrality. That means I’ll be effectively banned from solo efforts in alliance nullsec if I’m accepted.”
Edonbald frowned. “That’s unfortunate. But we have plenty for you to do in empire with this as well. Find the ring’s center. Find out if there are other differences in those planets. Find the superweapon. Find evidence of empire involvement.”
Rhavas nodded.
Edonbald waved a hand to shoo him out the door. “Go. Time is of the essence.”
Part 2: Gates
Aboard Wraith, New Eden System, Genesis
As he traveled, Rhavas had taken advantage of the long flight time to review all the data behind the seeming fool’s errand Edonbald had set him on. There was an enormous amount of material.
He scanned through the catalog for the hundredth time.
Pre-Seyllin account of Sisters of Eve researcher Account of what SoE found at site Recording of Blood Raider activities prior to Seyllin Incident Account of the Seyllin Incident Account of events at Vitrauze Follow-on to Vitrauze events Intergalactic Summit review of recent Sansha attacks Speculative public scientists’ discussion on sleepers and rogue drones. Speculative public scientists’ discussion on analysis of wormholes. As he neared the end of the list, the comm channel caught his attention. It was Edonbald.
“Are you done at the Eve Gate yet?” he asked. “What did you find?”
“It’s not quite what I expected,” Rhavas commented. “But I’ve completed my observations here. Ready for transmit.”
In his mind’s eye, Rhavas saw Edonbald shake his head. “No, I don’t trust comm channels. Bring it back personally, please.”
“Very well, on my way now. See you in a while.”
Wraith Capsuleer Log Entry 100902, New Eden, Genesis
The system known as New Eden, home of the Eve Gate, lies down a long, dead-end low sec corridor. A Covert Ops frigate was certainly the right choice for the trip.
New Eden Blood Raider Compound Blood Raider Headquarters in New Eden. Click to enlarge.
The corridor is littered with the remains of old Amarrian technology, overrun long ago by pirates and Blood Raiders who still roam on their patrols. It is disappointing to report that the New Eden system, the cradle of civilization, is run primarily by Blood Raider criminals.
The New Eden system itself is a strange and unique one. There is only one planet orbiting its K3-class yellow sun. When I made this pilgrimage to the origin of our species, I expected to find something much different. Maybe a cold, dark sleeper-built gate. Maybe a giant opening of ancient and rusty metallic substances. Maybe a gate cored out of some huge planet. What I certainly did not expect is what I actually found.
Star and Gate Wraith near New Eden’s star (foreground) and the Eve Gate (background). Click to enlarge.
The Eve Gate, I thought, would be something solid and tangible, something you could fly up to, look at, reach out and touch if you could somehow exit your pod without dying in the sucking vacuum of space. In reality, while this might be what it is if you could easily get to it as old legends say, at its distance from the system the “gate” does not appear to be a gate as you and I might conceive it – a portal that ships pass through from system to system. Instead, it looks from this distance to be a horrifically huge tear in space-time, and is so far away from the core system itself that it’s a wonder our ancestors ever got here.
Records I found suggested it is three light years away, yet shines as brightly or brighter than the system’s sun, so that the light here is as though from a very widely-centered double star. The gate sends out waves of radiation and energy, which are somewhat visible in a still picture but have to be seen in person or in video feed to truly be appreciated. Yet strangely, none of this obvious radiation is picked up by standard sensors, and I felt no ill effects of its presence.
I did the measurements that Edonbald had requested, and the one thing I can say for certain is that New Eden is not the center of the ring of shattered planets, as the distances from them vary quite widely, between 13 and 34 light years away, with an average distance of 26.18 LY and a standard deviation of 7.67. I also did not find a single wormhole in the system, which I’ve come to regard as almost unusual these days.
The Monolith The Monolith in Dead End. Click to enlarge.
I also made a brief stop in one of the side systems, known as “Dead End”, appropriately enough. This system is home to a strange artifact, a black monolith of unknown material. It spins slowly in place reflecting the system’s star. I was unable, however, to gather any useful intel from observing it, and it was unresponsive to any of my probing or scanning techniques.
I will be heading home with a stop in Vitrauze to visit the home of the first known wormhole.
Wraith Capsuleer Log Entry 100903, Vitrauze, Essence
Frankly, Vitrauze is a disappointment, but maybe I shouldn’t be disappointed after so much time has passed since the Seyllin incident. Of course the original wormhole, as these things go, would have long ago faded away.
Sleeper Site Sleeper Site in J140322, off Vitrauze wormhole. Click to enlarge.
I did indeed find a wormhole here. I jumped through and spent a little time exploring around the system transponder-designated as J140332. I was able to get remarkably close to the structures mentioned in the scientists’ reports and news discussions and engaged the imaging drones. The Sleeper construct was remarkably similar to rogue drone sites I have seen before. There has been some discussion of this connection and I think it has some believability.
But other than that, there wasn’t much to recommend the birthplace of the wormhole. Being a pirate haven, it was hardly unsurprising that what I mostly found was Serpentis hideaways.
This system is also definitely not the center of the shattered planet ring. It is actually remarkably close to Seyllin, which automatically makes it far from the majority of the others. I plan to do a good deal more analysis when I return and give the Boundless team my initial data. I find that I am getting more and more sucked in to the paranoia Edonbald is peddling – my initial discoveries show far too many Amarrian coincidences, and not nearly enough “scary Sleeper/Sansha invasion” data to make me comfortable.
More on that later.