It was the muffled sound of an explosion that woke me up.
It was too soon – I was waking up too soon. Our ship had hit something, it seemed, and the modular build of our ship had snapped our branch off from the rest of it. The rest of the colony drifted off blissfully outside the portside window, the AI core glittering like diamonds as shards danced off it. Cursing, I move through the red and black flashing lights, trying to remain in control on the ship as I made my way to the console. The gravity generators were gone – And any air I had was limited. It was a clean break, thankfully, but much of the ship was crushed and damaged, including four of the pods.
I quickly tap the computer.
POWER LOW ALERT: POD 1 NOT RESPONDING ALERT: LIFE SIGNS IN POD 1 CRITICAL ALERT: POD 3 NOT RESPONDING ALERT: LIFE SIGNS IN POD 3 CRITICAL ALERT: POD 5 NOT RESPONDING ALERT: LIFE SIGNS IN POD 5 CRITICAL ALERT: POD 7 NOT RESPONDING ALERT: LIFE SIGNS IN POD 7 CRITICAL TRAGECTORY: DEEP SPACE LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS: 6%, REMAINING TIME: 17 SECONDS
Nothing about that was good. The other three pods (and mine) were intact, though theirs were still active, still flooded. If the ship went into deep space, it'd lose power, and...
I quickly tap on the screen, and with a quickly-silenced hiss, the pods holding the frozen corpses were jettisoned, the force enough to knock our little group off-course, and into a terminal impact with some wasteland of a planet. The computer spits up a quick scan of the planet – If I aim it right, I can make it somewhere hospitable...
1.jpg
The computer labels it as Altarf Nunki, though the locals called it Procyon Minutus – Information that wasn't helpful to me, as I began to breathe faster, more desperate for each gasp. Sweat flicks around me – With no gravity, it's forced to move with my shaking body, flitting off of me as I hastily type, waiting for the right moment to launch the last coffin. Three seconds... Two... Now!
Another hiss, and the computer confirms our landing location, feeding me frankly useless information – The mountains worry me, as they'll make for a harsh landing, but... Maybe this will be like the New Gaia they were promised. Maybe I can still...
2.jpg
WARNING: LIFE SIGNS OF CAPTAIN NOVIUS CRITICAL
I'd only really seen them once.
They were those I'd seen in my dreams; the MMI around my head allowing us to talk in the paradise offered to us. Cryo-sleep was a long, involved process, and being left alone in one's mind was enough to drive anyone to madness. So, as a solution, OmniCorp had developed a shortwave communication device, allowing us to experience a virtual world during our trip, where we could talk and be offered lessons on how to use the modules to turn our planet into a blossoming system with a robust economy. I talked with the other colonists; their smiling faces reminding me that everything was going to be fine.
I had always been good with a knife, and this was finally my chance to start my own medical firm on the fairly cheap. Sure, the Glitterworlds were beautiful expanses of buildings, but... I wanted to retire with my own staff under me. I wanted to be in charge. I dreamed of letting my children (I had a few samples stored in stasis elsewhere) inherit my business.
Parakirby.jpg
I would have preferred to stay asleep.
Parakirby was my handle, and there were dozens of others... I wish I had gotten to know them more. I only gleamed information about them while my nose was buried in rudimentary battery creation.
AlmightyH always seemed like too much of a free spirit to be so rude – I always gave him space, as he seemed to mostly spend time complaining about his missing gun.
AlmightyH.jpg
Bylem, meanwhile, was much more approachable. He was much more excited for this new world, this new opportunity to expand, grow, and learn.
Bylem.jpg
When I awoke, it wasn't gentle – My pod slammed and bounced as the cryofluid drained – No, leaked, as the tempered plastic broke and shattered around me. Once the cacophony of thuds and crashes stopped, only then I was able to open the pod, the metal complaining but eventually hissing free.
3.jpg
The local area was wooded, with a small pond nearby. My legs shook as I got up out of my pod, looking over to the other two, looking just as confused and bewildered as me.
“Where are we? Is this it? Where are all the modules?”
They stared at me and shrugged; Bylem motioned to the smaller pods, containing some emergency supplies. A gun? Why would we...
I looked around at the shreds of metal on the ground, and my heart sank.
Abandoned. We were... All alone. And the ship... All those other colonists... Gone.
“...I think we're stuck here.”
“Someone's bound to notice us missing.” muttered Almighty. “Guess we should set up camp and wait. Might be some time, so food's a good idea.”
MAY
We decided to build nearby – The natural – And unnatural – wall provided decent protection. We made some rudimentary picks from sticks and used those to carve ourselves a home in the nearby cliff face. It wasn't perfect – The stones were rough under my feet, and it was dark, but at least we wouldn't be rained on.
I started a small rice field – Since we don't have a fridge to store food in, we need something that lasts, just in case. Also, some Xerigium – A wonderful, natural antiseptic, much like the aloe plants of Earth.
Belem, meanwhile, constructed a solar panel near our walls – Although I argued the shade from the cliffs would reduce power, he didn't listen. Still, electricity, and soon, was a wise idea.
5.jpg
It was taking longer than expected. Belem and I were older – We just couldn't work as fast as H. Still, it was progress. We were all exhausted – Our 'beds' were little more than moss on top of pebbles. Still, I held out hope a rescue party would be coming any day now.
I assembled a small room for us to sleep in – This was all temporary, of course, and the beds were going to be slapdash, but... It was better than the floor, at least.
7.jpg
We decided since it was what we did all goddamn day, we would call this place Minetown – Though it was hard to figure out who suggested it in the darkness.
We made our first bed in the middle of the month, and my old bones cried out in joy when I rested them on something that wasn't stone. For the first time since arrival, I really SLEPT – Any guilt I felt about letting the other two rest in what we decided was a fridge washed away as I dreamed of places better than this. Places with actual food, of regular medicine – We'd been careful so far, but who knew when the locals, animals or... Otherwise, decided we shouldn't be here?
Our little home was coming along nicely – It was starting to feel like a proper settlement. Maybe not... My ideal settlement, but we had beds, and a source of food. What could go wrong?
8.jpg
AlmightyH seems to have designated himself our chief engineer and security chief – Not that Bylem or I can really complain. He's built up automated turrets – Wonderful things, really. They automatically shoot scratched-together slugs at things it designates as targets, and the smart computer system he's cobbled together is thankfully aware we're not it's enemies.
We've also started growing other plants – It's not healthy to eat the same thing over and over, after all! We also had some visitors from the nearby town – They, too, are outcasts, and with every day it seemed less and less likely a rescue was ever going to come. They told us this area was full of pirates, and to expect anything less than outright hostility from anyone else was laughable. Still, they seemed friendly enough, so we let them stay (after briefly configuring the guns to not fire at them – Almighty had the foresight, thank goodness) until they had to leave. Their situation, it sounded like, wasn't much better than ours.
Worrisome.
AlmightyH suggested we extend our defensive capabilities – Two turrets and some rocks, he explained, would not hold up against a continued assault. Although wood was laughably basic, there was plenty of it to use as walls, and creating fake walls would do well to 'keep Parakirby's fragile behind alive'. I did not appreciate the sentiment, but his point was made. Still, the food situation worried me – We still had plenty of survival kids, but the vegetables were growing slowly. Maybe I'll ask AlmightyH to go take that rifle he got from our supplies to bring in some meat to cook with.
9.jpg
On the 10th, we had an unexpected visitor.
A loud crash broke our usual preperations; a pod had sailed through the sky and landed outside our base. Almost immediately, I ran towards it – For all we knew, it was the salvation we had been waiting for, a chance to break free.
I did not expect it to be a naked, bleeding boy, laying among the scraps of the ship.
10.jpg
When I brought him in, there was an argument what to do with him – After all, he wasn't a rescue party, he wasn't one of us. AlmightyH suggested we throw him out, naked and all, but Belem protested. He was right – We weren't that sort of people. We had medicine, and food – 'but for how long?' - and it was our duty to at least offer a bit of shelter.
We made him a separate room to let him heal. Thankfully, despite the trauma of my pick against stone, my hands were steady enough to treat his wounds.
11.jpg
The shelter was far from perfect. Dark, one slapped together bed – We'd even used metal from our ship to slap together some crude walls. But he did have protection from the torrent of rain. Our new pris... Er, recruit was a drain on our food – He hardly could use his hands while locked up in there, after all, so we redoubled our focus on procuring some proper meals.
July
June had arrived, and with it, Mrs_Brisby. That was their name – The nametag on their pants was their 'born' name, they announced, and they finally understood – Going out alone, unarmed, unprepared would be suicide, and our colony could use as many young hands as it could get. We could make it great – Our own colony, with blackjack and hookers! Okay, maybe not hookers, but... We could make it a real utopia.
Probably shouldn't say that in front of 'Mrs'_Brisby – His birthday was today, so he got second helpings of rice.
It wasn't until after AlmightyH brought in six deer did we realize none of us knew how to butcher them. I guess it can't be that different from surgery?
Update: It's very different from surgery.
Right now, our settlement seems to be doing pretty well. I think sharing all one room is a little bit... AlmightyH called it gay, but I called it socialist. Either way, no one really likes sleeping like this. We'll have to figure something out.
12.jpg
We had some visitors today – It's becoming routine, really. Some nice people from Diplomat's Cliff were passing by to visit the north, a fertile hunting ground, and some people from Berro Berro, were heading south.
We didn't know they would open fire on each other, and the tribesperson seemed just as surprised as I was when Pearl opened point-blank fire with her shotgun. The tribesman shot with his arrow, catching Pearl in her right side – But it was worthless compared to a shotgun. I was speechless – Weren't we supposed to be better than this? The rest of his tribe fled, so... We buried Rego, their friend, nearby.
13.jpg
Also, we soon hit a geyser in our home – Which is mixed news, as it immediately made our cavehome very, very hot.We sealed it shortly, of course, but it could come in handy... That gives me an idea.
14.jpg
Life was starting to normalize here; no one had attacked us yet, a fact I'm thankful for. There were pirates in the region, sure, but we'd been lucky enough to avoid any conflict yet. I thought I could get a chance to study the old methods of harnessing the spout for power – Something we were starting to run low on, as the three solar panels just weren't keeping up with our ever-growing demand.
15.jpg
Our food problems have mostly been solved – And our defense is robust, as long as we can keep power up. The only threat we've faced, mad animals, seem to be utterly destroyed by the blind walls – Five turrets were a serious match for any creature's tusks.
[July in comments!]
Nincsenek megjegyzések:
Megjegyzés küldése