//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Scientific Pursuits // Story: The Copernicus Incident // by Rocktavia //------------------------------// "When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been murderers and tyrants, and for a time they can seem invincible. But in the end they always fall." — Mahatmas Gandhi 3 months in space can wear heavily on the body. I'm not talking about zero-g muscle atrophy; after all, we can configure our Symbiotes to compensate for that. I'm talking about the strain on the mind. Being in extremely close quarters with the same people day in and day out can tear through sanity faster than a botched neural mod. Nanostasis mitigates this, but the ship I was on didn't have any Nanostasis facilities. They were removed to free up power for stealth technology. As I shave, I can get a good look at my tired face. My father used to say that I was the spitting image of my Grandfather. Apparently I get my dark brown eyes, simultaneously piercing and kindly, from him. My jet black hair and oval face was also a gift from him. Unfortunately, I also got his genetic affinity for fast-growing and extremely profound hair. I cleaned my glasses, propped them back onto my nose and sighed. Let me put it this way: I would be happy to go to hell after these three months. Ironically enough, that's more or less where I'm going. ////\\\\ Mid-September, 2529 Undisclosed Location on Macintosh I Sand. The beige wasteland stretched on for miles and miles. The orbit of the Chrysalis unfortunately didn't take it over the base, and I had to take a shuttle to the surface. The Ground to Orbit Atmospheric Transport or GOAT could easily fit 10 people in it. And yet, I was the only one in here. Except the pilot, that is. He was a red-haired fellow of Irish descent with a serious demeanor when at the controls of a shuttle. Spades is a good man, if a bit of a snide jerk when not in the pilot's chair. He's a damn good pilot, though. Apparently, he comes from a long line of skilled and snide pilots of Irish descent. Spades' thickly Irish voice chimed in from the cockpit. "ETA five minutes to Copernicus Base. Beginning descent." I closed my digital copy of Nikola Tesla: The Man Who Built The World. The holographic tome faded into nonexistence as my Xenopad stopped rendering it. I hacked my E-Reader program to create an actual book instead of just a flat display. I'm nostalgic like that. "So... What is Project Copernicus?" "Truly? I don't know. I just ferry folks to the Base. I never actually see whatever they're building. I do know that whatever they've got goin' on down there, it has ludicrous security standards. I seen little metal blisters on the surface around the base. You know what those are?" "Yeah, they're Pop-up Railguns. Any unauthorized ships get close, and they get blasted to bits before they know what hit 'em. They're largely undetectable from orbit." "Well, Oi guess it's a goot thing I'm authorized, then." From here, I could see Spades opening an encrypted link to Copernicus Base and relayed his access codes. A female synthetic voice responded, clearly the base's artificial intelligence, Maria. "Access Codes Verified. you are cleared for landing at pad Delta-Four. Nice to see you again, Spades." "Friend of yours?" I asked. "Naw, more like wife." He spat back at me sarcastically. "Hah! You wish." Maria responded. ////\\\\ Project Copernicus Facility, Northern Hemisphere of Macintosh I Finally, the endless miles of sand in the window gave way to a sprawling industrial complex the size of a small city. A maze of concrete and steel rolled out before me. Spades descended into the mechanical abyss, weaving between buildings and avoiding the occasional industrial bot or cargo hauler with incredible skill. Finally, Landing Pad D-5 came into view. The Irish pilot set the brick of a shuttle down onto the pad so softly that if I didn't know any better, we hadn't landed at all. The hatch beside me swept open, collapsing into the frame. "Thank you for flying Spades Airlines, please make sure you have all your luggage and limbs before departing the craft. We are not responsible for any blood loss or nausea that may have occurred during the trip. Have a nice day." Saying nothing, I unhooked my crash harness and grabbed the Gear Roll I stashed under my seat, slinging it over my shoulder with no effort at all, despite the fact that 50 pounds of matter is inside of it. Gotta love those Anti-Gravity Discs. "I'm supposed to tell you that you're to head straight to the command center. Doctor Braun wants to see you in person. He'll be giving you your deployment orders. An escort is waiting for you just off the landing pad." Maria said in her sultry yet simultaneously fake voice. I stepped out of the shuttle and found a human-shaped combat robot with an orange paint job waiting for me. Its head was rectangular and it didn't have anything in the way of identifying features. The faceplate was jet black and held its sensor suite. It immediately perked up and spoke in a metallic voice, even more artificial than Maria's. It was just a nonsentient drone, after all. "THIS PLATFORM HAS BEEN ASSIGNED TO ESCORT YOU TO COMMAND CENTER OMEGA-FIVE. DO NOT DEVIATE FROM THE ASSIGNED PATH OR YOU WILL BE SUBJECT TO SUMMARY EXECUTION." The drone made an about-face and started walking, its legs clanking along the concrete pad. Not exactly rolling out the red carpet, are they? I followed the robot, making sure to not fall too far behind. Luckily, it kept a slow and steady pace. ////\\\\ The "Command Center" was actually just a tiny conference room with a holographic display in the center of the room. Various bits of data floated about while the two occupants of the room bickered, exchanging statistics and scientific formula. A heavily decorated member of the Imperial Guard stood in front of an older fellow with grey hair and a stout build who spoke with a thick German accent. "The Element you need need simply doesn't exist, Doctor!" "My information says otherwise, General. The only barrier is that it only exists naturally in extremely small quantities. Luckily, we only need 1.2 Micrograms of the element for each trip, 2.4 in total. Mining swarms have already acquired 1.6 Micrograms of our requirement." "I see... from these calculations you gave me, the element clearly requires large amounts of energy to mine. I didn't think they'd noticed my arrival until the scientist focused his eyes on me. "Ah, Commander Lozo. I trust your journey was safe?" "Safe enough, I suppose. What're you two arguing about?" I said. "Science," The General said, folding his arms. "... That's... informative." I deadpanned. "Welcome." He said cryptically. The white-haired scientist just rolled his eyes at this. "Well, now zat we have exchanged pleasantries, I believe introductions are in order. My name is Doctor Herrmann Braun, Project Lead for Copernicus. This is General O'Neill of the Imperial Guard, who, I believe, was just leaving." General O'Neill vacated the room quickly. I have never seen a civilian order around an Imperial Guard, much less a General and get away with it. Just another question to put on the list, I guess. "Now, I have something to show you, Commander." He walked over to a window that was covered with vertical metallic slats and poised his hand over a large blue button as I followed closely behind. "Meet Copernicus." He said as he pressed the button down. Immediately responding to the whim of their master, the individual slats rotated about 90 degrees and merged into a metallic brick that slid into the wall, revealing what he wanted to show me. "What the..." What I saw was one of the largest starships I had ever seen. It appeared to be a carrier at first glance, but a number of the fighter bays were replaced by some sort of field emitters. It had a number of living domes that could be found on colony ships, but also had heavy weaponry - from here I could make out at least two oversized Railguns taking up the spine of the vessel and numerous ship-to-ship weapons and point defense turrets dotting the surface. Orange-colored Construction Drones fluttered about the surface. It appeared the ship was about 90% complete. Like most other ESE ships, its design aesthetic leaned toward a rectangular, utilitarian appearance. One doesn't bother much with streamlining when Anti-Gravity technology and Fusion Engines can effortlessly propel a ship out of the atmosphere. Also, I have to admit that they do look pretty damn cool. "This is the ESES Copernicus. It is a test bed for a prototype device called the Einstein-Rosenberg Bridge Drive or ERBD. It is able to traverse vast interstellar distances in the blink of an eye through the folding of spacetime. Of course, that is an overly simplistic explanation." "Sounds like that would be useful. But I don't understand why you need me." "Well, it's due for a shakedown cruise. Needs a captain." "... You do realize I'm just a Commander, right?" "Actually, as of roughly..." He checked the Xenopad on his wrist, bringing up the screen without activating the holographic functions. "... Eh, Five minutes ago, your pay grade has just been increased from O-5 to O-6. Your rank is currently Captain, with all the authority and responsibility that entails. Congratulations on your promotion, Captain Lozo." "Well, that's n- SAY WHAAAAT?" Doctor Braun continued his monologue, ignoring me and not missing a beat. "Furthermore, your new posting is the ESES Copernicus for her Maiden Voyage to the distant Ensnare Nexus to set up a remote colony on the surface of a habitable planet. Until the vessel is spaceworthy, you are to coordinate final construction and crew assignments." I've got a good feeling about this.