Mission 1: Past Echoes

The headquarters of the NOPEA is fairly hard to judge. There is a large number of buildings that cluster together, where some serves to be open to the public, and others are highly secured, such as the research centres and the launchpads of the rockets. The meeting point is one of several pristine glass buildings, which appear to mainly serve as office for administrative purposes.

As Jerome and Zakk enters into the main lobby, they speak with the counter lady regarding seeing a Mr M, or Murphy, in his office. The lady examines their IDs before calling for a security guard to guide them into the building.

As for Matsuki, she arrives to the back of the building, where she is brought out of the van and towards the loading bay elevator by 2 burly guards and Mr M himself.

---

One by one, they are brought into a basement level room that looks like a small white class room with a projector on the ceiling. Once everyone has gathered, Mr M instructs for Matsuki's handcuffs to be removed, for his bodyguards to remain on standby.

"It's been a while since we last saw each other. I would like to introduce you three to your team mates. If you like, you can give your introductions. Don't make it too long, you can get to know each other even better along the way."

While introductions are under way, the man called Mr M strolls over to the computer on a desk at the front of the room. He types away on it.

Eventually, Mr M was able to turn the projector on. It beams out an image of the DOPEA's logo on the screen. He then clears his throat.
"Ah hum! Well, you all must be curious why an assortment of civilians are brought together to take part in a secret mission! Well not exactly going to be much of a secret, with Mr Wylde here. I am just gonna say that I'm killing 2 birds with 1 stone. Or more like a shot gun at a flock. I'm referring to the potential goals your group could accomplish, not that you are the killed birds in the metaphor.

Anyways, regarding our rockstar's questions, yes we could install a mount to your suit for your camera. However, your camera may block your vision by quite a bit when mounted. Also, it should be able to withstand the Gs while filming during launch. Nothing short of significant damage to the camera might cause it to be loose."

"Indeed, you all have different backgrounds. This is because you have your individual duties.

Jerome, you are the spiritual counsellor. There is something that has been troubling the colonists, and it is hoped that a priest may help.

For Zakk, he will be the field recorder and promoter of our space colonising project. We previously had concerns about unfavourable images of our space workers. You know, possible unprofessionalism and dangerous conditions. But so far, it has reached a point where some colonies want to become independent, both in terms of sustainability and politically. Since our efforts are accelerating, might as well publicise to the mainstream how its like.

And as for Suki, your duty would be harder to explain. But since you mentioned it, it would be good if you keep your eyes and ears to any anti-UA talk. The staff at the colony you will be going to is from the UA, but there is a probability of rivals there. Be it the IA or the Union, it would be bad if they had any influence there.

Before I explain the common mission, I should describe your destination. You will be heading to the neighbouring planet of Mersk. There, you will port at colony Beta. The trip shall take approximately a few weeks. They should be expecting you by the time you arrive.


The projector now shows an image of Mersk, a grey planet with cloudy looking terrain.

He continues. "Mersk's atmosphere is not completely fatal, though breathing the air too long can cause poisoning. It is believed that our ancestors have partially terraformed the planet, and was mainly used for mining, as there is plenty of man-made excavated pits. The whatever machines and structures they used to have there has now either disappeared, or only scraps and debris is left. Leading hypothesis is that some meddling aliens was the culprit of this mass theft and destruction. So far, there is no detectable signs of life, other than our fellow colonists. Lastly, the gravity is lower than on Darst, so mobility should be easier.

And now, I will go over the primary mission. You will see on this slide, there is an image taken from a sattelite that was recently launched to orbit around Mersk. Warning, it may be disturbing."

As he pause for a moment, Mr M taps a key, and the image comes up...

Jerome sees something that looks like terrain casting shadows to form the illusion of a face. Perhaps it's his preparation, or that he is not spooked as easily as others, but he didn't experience the initial shock that others felt.

Mr M finally speaks up. "As you can see, this surface structure have caused the colonists to freak out. It is miles away from the base, but it still is too close for comfort. This may very well mean nothing, but you might also see some specks on this shadow face. Those look like pillars, as they cast a shadow across this large pit that isn't as deep as the old excavated pits. This made even the more skeptical members to believe that this is still a site worth investigating.

Also, I hope you understand now why we kept this hushed. This can cause panic if this picture is leaked to the general public. Our opponents in the Maker's Church and the Union will take this as fuel for their propaganda against us. And I repeat again, we put our weight on the probability that the face is just a coincidence. However, if ever you observe that something is wrong when you get there, do return to the base immediately and give your report. You are just scouts, but if you feel like you have the skill to investigate further, you might as well. The better the results, the better your compensation."

Mr M switch the image to depict the vacsuits.

"Let's not look at the site for much longer. As you may see, we will be providing you with Vacsuits. These will be required for you to wear when you board the ship that you will travel in. It may be a little heavy, but it protects you and supplies you with oxygen when you have to step out into space or the atmosphere of Mersk. You will be given a bag where you can store your items you wish to carry. You may notice that some of you have different number of O2 Cannisters. You can decide how to share it amongst yourselves when the time comes. Zakk's vacsuit, as mentioned, will be a little different, with a mount for the camera near the helmet's connection to the suit, and a supporting mount at his waist to support the gatling gun he will be provided with."

He then switches the slide to the image of a rocket ship.

"This here will be your transport. As you know, we still need the power to lift up a very heavy construct that is a rocket in order to escape Darst's gravity. But once you reach a point in orbit, the shuttle will detach from the rocket fuel tanks. Don't worry about piloting the spacecraft, there will be 3 staff appointed to you, and also there is an onboard AI. I don't suggest chatting with the AI, you may confuse it. Also, you may have heard about the recent-ish invention and implementation of the Accelerator Engine. It is the reason why we have successfully made Exploration Ships reach and set base in 2 other star systems other than our own.

So, that seems about all you should know. Any questions?

It should take roughly 7 weeks to reach Mersk. Originally, before the invention of the Accelerator Engine, it would take about 7 months of travel. Back then, our ships couldn't handle supporting humans to live for 7 months during space travel. And with developments in the sciences of Cryo-Sleep, now our explorers can visit other star systems! We can only thank our government and the scientists for pushing out technology at such a breakneck speed! Oh, and the patented designs for them are still kept highly secret!
Mr M winks at Matsuki.

With no further questions, the newly made party of Spacers are presented with their Vacsuits. Once they wear the bulky suit and bag, they are lead out to of the building and onto a waiting bus. The walk was a bit troublesome due to the weight, but eventually wearing the vacsuit isn't too uncomfortable.

The bus drove the party away from the city, and dropped them off at a heavily secured compound where a rocket ship is standing, ready for launch. Taking a ride on the lift, the party ascends up to the entrance of the ship. Climbing in, the interior can be seen to be orientated vertically.

Inside, there are already 3 men wearing vacsuits as well. They introduce themselves as the supporting staff of the ship. Two of them, Thompson and Bob, have experience in repairing the ship, and one, Jake, will be the pilot. When the party leaves for their mission, they will remain in the ship to look after it. If needed, they can transport them from the colony. Their duty is to take care of the ship, but they are also told to follow the Spacers' instructions within reason.

They then told everyone to prepare for launch by taking their seats and securing the seat belts. Once Jake the pilot confirmed ready for launch to ground control, the count down begins.

"5...
4...
3...
2...
1...
Lift Off!"

The rocket cylinders thrusts powerfully as everyone felt a jerk and the whole ship accelerating. Higher and higher, the rockets take the vessel into the blue and white skies...

Soon the day sky turns into the night of outerspace. The sensation of the Gs have begun to reduce over time.

"Detaching Fuel Compartment. Accelerator Engine now activating... Fully activated. Adjusting trajectory route... Route aligned, turning autopilot on..." The pilot speaks aloud to the dashboard mic as he push buttons and flicks switches. Eventually he removes his seat belt, and gestures for everyone else that it's safe to do so too.

With the spacecraft now in autopilot, the 3 staff go about the ship acting busy with examining that the ship is running properly. If the others wish to explore, there are a few rooms to be found.

There is the Cockpit, where a seat is for the main pilot to sit at, two seats for the sub-pilots to compute additional ship functions, and four seats for additional crew to observe the outside.
There is the Main Body, where there is an entrance that is built with connectors to allow docking between ships. This connects to the Cockpit, and all the others rooms. This chamber has additional storage compartments for tools and other miscellaneous equipment.
Sleeping Room has Cryo-pods that can be optionally used. The ship has limited cryo-sleep usages, and so its best used when everybody is ready.
There is the Accelerator Engine House, where only Bob and Thompson has the access keys to.
There is a Meal Room, where a large cabinet stores enough food for about 2 months of travel. A small table and 2 chairs are also there.

Matsuki looks over the controls. While there is an assortment of buttons of which function isn't exactly clear, she is able to tell at most how to steer the spacecraft, and the way to power on or off sections of the ship and its doors.

---

Zakk checks out the cryo-pods. There is an instruction manual on operating one in a cabinet along with a number of blue coloured canisters with chemical hazard warnings. Apparently, the Pods are ergonomically cushioned, and there are straps to tie the body down. A number of buttons line the outside of each Pod, clearly for keying in its activation and setting the duration time for cryo-sleep.

---

The 3 onboard staff crew answers Jerome about their experience. They had been working for about 10 or 20 years now, on and off of space crafts. Indeed, their first experience of being launched to space was thrilling, but now it has become like having to fly on a plane, except a much more expensive one.

Jake says he had flown 5 different ships before. It was mostly resource transportation to the different growing colonies. He had also transported passengers too, but they were clearly engineers and scientists, instead of seemingly random civilians.

Zakk finds a sharpie in one of the lockers in the sleeping chamber, along with a clipboard with unused papers. He uses the marker to draw a number of skulls and other cool looking images. No one caught him doing so. And even if one of the ship staff were to check on the chamber, they don't have much reaction to the graffiti.

---

Jerome is assured that cryo-stasis is safe by the crew. However, they understand that the risk of no malfunctions or other complications occuring is not zero, so if Jerome is still hesitant, he can remain not placed into stasis for the rest of the journey. For safety reasons, one of the ship crew will remain awake with such a passenger, to keep watch on them not to accidentally endanger themself or the spacecraft.

As Zakk fiddled with the controls, he hit the enter key, and the small screen says to enter the pod and shut the door.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Thompson barks from the sleeping chamber doorway.

Thompson narrows his eyes and walks over to the control pad. With a couple button presses, he cancels the program.

"Looks like you almost wasted one use of the stasis-fluid. You were set to waking up 1 week. Unless that is what you want, I suggest that we handle the inputting of the equipment commands for you folks for now. Also, I had thought you were doing something worst. You could have sabotaged a Sleeping Pod, accidentally or not."

The engineer gave a look of silent concern before speaking. "That does sound disturbing already. I doubt that you could have caused an explosion from misuse, but on second thoughts, if there was a short circuit and the... Well, the worst-case scenario during space flight is the ship itself exploding, so I can't fault your macabre choice of description. I don't know about you, but I prefer my music to relax me instead of being disturbing.

But sure, I'll key in the order for your pod. It seems that your friends are also ready to tuck in for the night."

Thompson seemed hesitant to give a full explanation of the probability of an explosion. He proceeds to set the time to wake up to be when the ship is nearing the destination. This will also be the same for the others when they are ready.

Thompson scratches his beard in hesitancy. "Well... technically yes. I have heard of a case before of something similar. Only that it was the oven in a ship's kitchen that caused the explosion. Someone must have fiddled with the wiring to have caused half of the ship to be completely destroyed. The only survivor left of that catastrophe is someone that was already wearing their vacsuit while in the left wing. They sent an SOS from the cockpit and that's why we knew of it...

As for the Cryo-stasis Pods, they are a roughly recent invention. However, I trust the scientists and manufacturers to design it such that they are safe for use in all spacecraft. The worst that can happen is that the cryo-gas canisters could leak and freeze your limbs off. But it is only fools who don't check if all the connectors and cables are well secured before initiating a cryo-sleep."

Zakk took the explanation well. Perhaps he truly doesn't mind dying from an explosion in space. YOLO and all that.

Matsuki felt a slight chill as she considers the dangers of space flight. She doesn't show her fear, but cooly does extra checks on the pod herself.

Jerome gave a soft groan as he envisions such an accident taking place. With deep breaths, he steadies himself before entering his hopefully-not-coffin.With everyone dressed in their non-bulky clothes and enters their pods, the engineers and the pilot also do additional checks and set the programs for the cryo-sleep. Once ready, they also help to strap on a mouthpiece with a tube connected to the inside of the vessel. Gas will slowly fill the lungs, causing drowsiness. Then the occupants' bodies are tied down with a belt, to avoid excessive movements. While the insides of the pod are ergonomically cushioned, it doesn't help much if there are sudden changes of motion like crash landings.

A transparent fluid begins to fill the sealed chamber, and before it fully fills up, the sleeper is already knocked out. Then a chemical is released, causing the fluid and the occupant to freeze in a slow manner...

---

Then there is nothingness...
Not even dreams, for the brain is also frozen.

---

Slowly, thoughts begin to flow again. Something like dreams are being formed. Or nightmares...

That's when he wakes up, his nerves slowly returning their senses.

---

She finds herself waking up with shock while a clear fluid is drained away from her pod.

---

Zakk had visions of bright exploding colours and blaring metal music. As the smoke clears, he sees himself flying through a sea of stars before colliding into a fiery star.

That's when he wakes up to realising he is within the pod and the engineers are going around outside checking the pods.

"Alright, we are still on the right course, and are just 1 day away from arrival. How are you folks feeling?" Jake the pilot asks as everyone is removed from their stasis.

The remaining time before the ship touches down on the incoming planet allows for contemplation. Could the dreams mean anything for the future, or is it merely a jumble of memories and thoughts? For Zakk, his visions just made him more hyperactive than before, as he films candid shots of him jumping, floating and screaming about, much to the annoyance to others onboard.

---

In no time at all, the surface of the grey world of Mersk grows clearer. Shifting pale clouds shows that there is an atmosphere and weather. The Accelerator Engine is announced to be turned off, and manual landing is performed. Jets under the spacecraft wings slow its decent as it pass through the thin clouds, and clusters of huge glass and metal domes are seen on the ground below. It lands on a landing strip that leads into a bay structure that has its retractable door open to welcome the new arrival. As the door shuts close, people in vacsuits begin to approach the parked craft. As the shuttle crew opens the side door, the ground crew brings forth a step ladder for the passengers. After checking a device on hand, the ground crew remove their helmets, before coughing a little.

A woman from amongst the 4 ground crew speaks up. "Greetings! I believe you three are the new Spacers. My name is Samantha O'Reilly. I will be your guide and representative in our station. You can ask others for help, but I am mainly tasked to get you ready for your mission here. Though I admit me and the others are hoping for more help, I understand that HQ on Darst is only willing to provide a certain amount of resources for our minor issue. Minor to them, but not to us. But before we go into business, let's have you be familiarised with our base.

Here is the Ship Hanger. It is where our collection of spacecrafts are docked and maintained for later take off. Technically, the air of this planet is safe to breathe, but it can cause irritation and smells bad. We are slowly adapting our lungs to handle the air, so as to reduce our usage of oxygen canisters. That's why- cough! That's why we don't use airlocks here.

We will now be entering the main body of our Colony. There, you will find an assortment of hubs. There are some for warehousing equipment and tools. Some of the technicians like to leave their tools on the floor, so watch your step. There are also common areas where stores are open for selling cooked food and general items. We are paid for our logged work, so make sure you have your Credit Account with you here. And lastly, there are the sleeping quarters. We will provide you with rooms, though if you are staying here for longer than a month, then we shall charge your occupancy. So while we are a research base, we are also like a company town, so you can always find some work here. There are other buildings, like the Excavator Workshops, but they are mostly none of your concern.

One last thing, don't cause too much of a disturbance here. A few of our men are, how should I put this, becoming more easily irritated. While they are still hardworking, they have been sharing certain things about The Face, like how it is built there to watch us. It didn't help that one of the janitors have become a self-declared prophet of it. While we keep ourselves distracted with our work, morale has been dropping since the discovery of The Face."

Samantha, the guide lady, listens in on the discussion while giving quick glances to the working staff.

"Yes, I can bring you three to his Janitorial Closet. He opted to sleep in there instead of renting a room due to his low salary. But I also should mention that he has gained himself a following, or as you may call it, a cult. There had been a couple cases of quarrels and threats of violence, but so far no fighting have broke out. I'm not sure how much influence this Face Prophet has with our community, but I know a few have grown very defensive about their opinion on the Face's intention. What it is that Mr Petrov preaches about, I'll leave that to you to understand.

And when I said don't cause disturbance, I mean that don't try to start a fight. Everyone has become pretty tense, and everyone here is armed for self defense at some level."

With that, she leads the way from the Hanger, and through the Hubs. Carts and cables are strewn about the corridors of the first Hub as men and women in yellow hard hats go about the place. The next dome has a small fountain with palm trees and benches in the central area, with an assortment of stores. All the while, eyes can be felt looking at the new arrivals as they pass through. As the party enter the Canteen, a table along a wall has a pair of men in overalls and arms full of tattoos. They can be clearly seen to be scowling murderously and breathing heavily at the passing newcomers.

Zakk takes a mental picture of the tattoos before the party moves on from the canteen. It looks to be skulls, rose thorns and blazing suns. There are other images he can't understand. It looks like a cluster of balloons...
The next connected structure has a couple of residential rooms and office spaces. Samantha makes a turn into a corridor that leads into the Bathrooms, and the Janitor Closet. The door of the closet seems to be graffitied with unknown stains. It reads "Shrine of the Watcher", with a messily drawn grinning face.

"Alright, here it is. He is either resting in there, or he is somewhere doing his rounds. I don't have spare maintenance keys with me right now, but I think it should be fine for you to do your own investigations now. I will have to leave for a moment as well to fetch things for you from my office. I would like to let you know that there is an actual mission task for you here on Mersk, and that this cult investigation is a side job. If you can somehow make the situation here less tense, I will be sure to compensate you with Credits, or a favour if possible. When you are ready for the mission briefing, do come to my office. I am the Assistant Communications Officer, and I am the actual advocator for reinforcements like you three to come. My senior is too stuborn to see that there is a growing issue, and so I have made it that you are my personal responsibility."

Zakk processes the balloon imagery. There is what looks to be grinning cartoon faces on the balloons. Or perhaps its like a tree with branches ending with faces. This is less creepy and more funny. Whoever did it, it is clearly more sloppily done than the other tattoos.

---

As the lady leaves, Jerome knocks on the door. When he does so, he noticed that the door moves outwards slightly from the knocking. It appears to not be properly locked. Also, after waiting for a while, there are no responses from inside.

The door opens up to reveal a fairly small room. There are the usual shelves and cabinets full of cleaning related equipment and liquids. There is also a moldy pillow and blanket, probably the bed for this janitor. But the abnormal thing that stands out immediately is that there are scribbles and drawings on the walls in red...

After recovering from the bizarre experience, Matsuki discovers a journal under the pillow. The cover is also covered by the same script. She can tell without opening it that there will be more, perhaps worst inside.Zakk notices the vent near the ceiling. If he was a mad man keeping secrets, he would hide things there. With his daredevil courage, and surprising dexterity, he manages to climb up the shelves as steps, and remove the vent cover to reveal... a skull with bits of mold on it?!

---

As Jerome kept watch in the main hallway, he looked at the surroundings. There are 3 levels of rooms and offices overlooking the hallway, along with a number of lockers. Once or twice, a worker can be seen passing through.

Matsuki flips through the book, and sees that the earlier half of the pages are written in black, looking like a log of sorts, then the later parts starts to grow more disheveled before the writing turns into red and the same alien imagery starts showing up.

Zakk, after closer examination of the blood writings, realises that it is not blood, but red marker ink that has a dripping effect from moisture. Looking at the skull also reveal that the icon of an eye is drawn on the skull's top with the same red marker.

---
As Zakk steps out with the bucket, Jerome can see the door to this hallway is opening again. This time, it is the 2 angry tattooed men, who are carrying a wrench and metal pipe...

The men's eyes seem to grow bloodshot as they hear what Jerome said.
"What?! You want to go against the divine teachings of the Prophet, huh?! You outsiders will have to learn that we don't want anyone to stop our goal of appeasing the Watcher!"

Meanwhile, Zakk comes up next to Jerome and starts taunting the two men. "Balloon Boy" is the one with the pipe, and "Side Kick" is the one with a wrench.

Matsuki tried to sneak away. Somehow, there is a trail of water on the floor, probably from a worker who showered but didn't dry themselves off, that Matsuki didn't notice. She slipped on it, and fell over backwards, her head hitting the hard ground.

All of this distracted everyone for a moment, but then the brutish workers start to raise their blunt weapons...

Zakk grabs the stomach of the pipe-wielder, grappling him. The wrench-wielder goes after Zakk, striking with the tool in his hands. However, the padding of his Vacsuit absorbs the blow fully.The pipe-wielder growls at Jerome. "The Maker of All has no presence here! The Watcher is the real god that speaks to us!"

I'll discontinue this thread, as to show that there is some time skip happening, and that I want to see if I can try to not create many pages on a thread.