Theta project was
complete and ready to roll out, but we were interrupted. The Sisters
had been having prophecies for some time about something profound
entering our area of time and space. Finally, it seemed the time was
at hand. Several Arcalian scientists were in pursuit of six
unidentified… somethings... through the SL-Space Time and Space
Vortex.
They couldn't keep
up, so Deimos was summoned by Temporal Control to pursue in
Implacable, the experimental Agency Capsule that already contained
much of the technology incorporated into the Theta Protocol. The
objects seemed to be in a spiraling orbit around Gallifrey, moving
outwards at a rate unprecedented before in SL-Space. Temporal
Control realized the objects were headed for an anomalous area of
space that we had been scanning for some time, an area which appeared
to have just ruptured into a Charged Vacuum Emboitment (CVE) into
another universe.
While Implacable is
fast, its standard issue plasmic shell can not withstand crossing out
of SL-Space without unacceptable risk. We quickly concocted a plan
where I would land the SASTAP aboard Implacable as it passed on the
interior apex of its orbit around New Gallifrey, and Implacable would
then slingshot the materialized SASTAP out of its interior as it
passed close to the CVE. The plan worked. Rowan had been assisting
with navigation and accompanied me. We landed close to the CVE and
stepped into an oxygen shield generated by the SASTAP. We weren't
sure what we were looking at, but we were close enough to place a
navigational beacon that would assist science Capsules from the
Arcalians in returning later.
The slingshot
maneuver had seriously damaged the SASTAP, and we discovered a newly
rebuilt console room upon reentering from the oxygen shield. A
default type Theta desktop theme. Sen had apparently gotten the
memo. Now that one established Capsule had the Theta, it could be
communicated between all the Hearts automatically. While the look
itself is, as always, superfluous, the enhancements to the mechanics
are vital.
Evidently, the
SASTAP had clipped the inner shell of Implacable on our slingshot
out. We returned to the Citadel to evacuation alarms as Temporal
Control was broadcasting that Implacable had materialized just below
the Transduction Barriers and was screaming in like a missile towards
the Citadel. Deimos is a better pilot than that though, and
Implacable plunged itself into the hillside just outside the Silver
Forest.
There sat Implacable
smoldering in the hillside. It's door welded shut by the impact, and
Deimos still inside. Alive, we hoped.
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