Oct 9, 2023
So my ship has 3 supercharged slots in an upside-down L-shape, and I put my Infra-Knife and some upgrades in there...let's just say that dreadnoughts aren't a problem anymore.
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So my ship has 3 supercharged slots in an upside-down L-shape, and I put my Infra-Knife and some upgrades in there...let's just say that dreadnoughts aren't a problem anymore.
[A captioned image.]
Putting the Sentinels where they belong.
[LIVE TRANSMISSION RECEIVED // VIDEO CONNECTED: Iteration Flicker]
The screen begins to glitch, striping itself with vibrant colours. The speakers hiss as noise flows through them, and the video kicks in - Flicker is crouching in front of the camera, partially obscuring it with his hand as he adjusts something. " - kzzt - okay - there we go!" he exclaims, the audio crackling with stray interference. "Is it working? Hello? Can anyone hear me? Am I..."
The string of thoughts dissipates into breathlessness. Lights and colours sparkle, reflected in of Flicker's visor as he touches the terminal, scrolling through something. "...whoa! I think- I think it's working! Oh wow, there's so many of you..."
Flicker shakes his head, returning his attention to the camera. "I should probably explain all this. When I got this journal recorder thingy, I thought it was for storing data and didn't have any long-range signal capability. But the other day I got a transmission of some sort from a couple other Travellers. Took a look inside - turns out there was some sort of broadcasting contraption wired to the journal, and it had been sending a signal this whole time. After some reverse engineering I identified the frequency you guys were transmitting on, and I found...this! A whole network of Travellers, all communicating...this is so cool!" Flicker's hands wave around his face. "Now I can finally communicate with you guys...if you don't mind, that is. This is so exciting!"
Flicker shifted, sitting down. "Still haven't figured out what the transmitter was installed for, though. No malicious connections have been identified, but I'll be keeping a close eye on it for a while. Knew that trader I got it from was a little shady...but anyways, it's worked in my favour! I'll see you guys around, for real this time! Flicker out!"
[Transmission Ended]
[Untitled Video Recording]
Flicker is breathing heavily, static coursing through the speakers with each exhale. The blue lights of the space station filtering through their cockpit are deceptively calm. Flicker himself is sitting tensely: visor stained with soot, gloves clutching the sides of the seat.
There is a long moment.
"AAAAAARGH!" he screams, burying his head in his hands. "WHY?! What is wrong with me? What is-" the exclamation collapses into pained mumblings as he shakes his head erratically, staring down at his knees. "It just...blew up...I let them get away..."
The outburst slowly subsides as Flicker leans back, letting the chair support their upwards-tilted head. "Damn Explorer...why was I in an Explorer? Ugh, they got my hyperdrive...damn expedition..."
They stare down dejectedly at the terminal the video was recording from, placing a hand on the screen. "Why did I turn this on?" he mutters.
He exhales slowly. "I- I'm sorry. It was just - when I warped just then, it threw me into the middle of a big battle...there was a whole freighter, attacking another one. I wasn't ready- I didn't know what to do- agh. Last time this happened, I swore that if I ran into another pirate freighter, I would blow it up myself...but I failed. Again. Just like that." He turns away, fingers drumming the terminal.
"I- It wasn't fair! I was in an Explorer with zero weaponry! I couldn't- it was-" he breaks off. "...no use trying to justify it. Things happen, I guess. The Atlas does what it does."
He looks off into the distance, making a feeble attempt at wiping the soot from his visor.
"Last time, when the freighter blew up...I didn't see the explosion. I was looking the wrong way. This time, I saw it. And it was so...underwhelming. When the Sentinel freighters go out, you can hear them so clearly, and you feel the vibrations as the whole structure shakes and erupts and destroys itself - but this one wasn't like that. It was hit for the last time, then bam, a bit of a flash, and the whole thing was gone. Just disintegrated." His voice is shaking a little.
"It's making me think...is that how small we are? All of the crew on that ship, everywhere it has been and everything it has seen - does it matter so little that it can just be erased like that, nothing special? Just a little flash like a dying firefly? Is that all we get?"
Flicker is not sure what to say next.
His voice is as muted as the cockpit's dim interior. "...Flicker out," he says, and the transmission ends.
[A captioned dataset.]
OOEY.
[An image file with a caption.]
Found green frog Interceptor ribbit
[Untitled Video Recording]
The camera shakes as Flicker fumbles with it, pointing it at himself as he walks down a dimly lit hallway. "Uh, hi. So I'm on my freighter - kzzt - power's slowly coming back so we just got a connection with frigate captains and - kzzt - look at this." He turns the camera to point at a screen on the freighter's terminal, where a frigate report is displaying. Several of the frigate names are outlined in red. "The first mission in quite a while -kzzt - and we somehow managed to - kzzt - damage both of our industrial frigates. And our support frigate. Are you - kzzt - serious? I need to have a word with the captains once everything's back online..."
He turns the camera back towards himself. "I should go start repairs. But also..." He looks around to check if anyone's watching. "... - kzzt - I could do it later..."He steps over to the teleporter to return to his starship. "I am a terrible procrastinator. Flicker out."
[Text entry with 1 attachment.]
Settlements are funny. I run a Korvax settlement called Amlingville on the planet Ehem XIII (one letter away! nooooo!) and I found this weird room in it. It's literally a building that's just one tiny square room, with one wall of these. Is this the Korvax server room or something?