kermit Posted Thursday at 21:16 Posted Thursday at 21:16 Unidentified Object Scanned in Northern Reaches Article 6 of Shake-ups and Break-ups, Pt. 1 On the 4th of June, a freighter sighted what they claimed to be a ‘ghost ship’ in the Northern Reaches. The IFV Drink Up Thee Scrumpy, a small, independent freighter transporting cargo from Ganymede to Lhokgon, was using a series of warp lanes between the Nueva Patria and New Peoria systems. At 17:22 Galactic Standard Time, after entering the system of New Peoria, The IFV Drink Up Thee Scrumpy performed a sensor scan that our experts say was timed ‘just right’ to capture an unidentified object transiting the system’s star. Video: Spoiler The video opens to a gaggle of rugged, ungroomed freighter crew who are huddled around their sensor console. Everyone seems quite giddy with the discovery they’ve made, bumping and stepping on one another as they each try to squint at the small, sensor terminal’s screens. It results in a rather unsteady view for the viewer, unfortunately — the screens keep blurring. “That’s a fuckin’ whale, aye, a spaaace whale! I ain’t never seen me a space whale before,” a burly fellow says, pointing over the navigator’s shoulder at the console. “Wellaaah’o’n’ know ‘bou’ tha’, whales’re miff, eh? Thazza gho’ship, says I,” another older man rasps with an even thicker regional accent, bordering on incomprehensible. The camera operator finally weasels in, holding a steady view of the sensor console’s screens for a few moments: a zoomed in, low resolution image of a black, angular mass is imposed over a white one filling the screen — the star, presumably — is captured. The sensor console suddenly pings! “Oh, shit. Here we go, comprehensive scan report’s complete. Let’s see here,” the sensor operator muses aloud. He hits a button and the terminal’s printer whines, then splutters out a print out into his hands. It is promptly snatched! “Oi, give that back!” “Nah, I’m checkin’ it out,” the burly man says, reading from the print out as he pushes back the sensor operator. “It’s a fuckin’ derelict — lad, siddown, I’ll give it back! — ‘s a derelict. Looking like no heat, no life, no thrusters.” The sensor console pings again, then the screens go white. The person behind the camera focuses on them for a moment. “The fuck? Okay, if it’s derelict, how’s it just cleared the star? Shipwrecks don’t suddenly accelerate— okay, gimmie the fucking print out, please!” “Izza fuckin’ ghos’ship like’ah say. Like’ah fuckin’ say, kid. No ‘eat ‘cuzza crew’re ghosts ‘n frusters’re slag, ain’nat right, Mike? Gurt big gho’ship froma war witha League’a Lefties — they’s comin’ ba' f’more our merchan' blood. Ain’nat right, Mike, what y'fink?” “Shut up, Reg. ‘S a space whale, I know it.” “Could just be an asteroid…” the camera operator mumbles, but goes ignored. “What’s he even bloody saying, Mike — translate?” “Saying it’s a League ghost ship back for our merchant blood, and there’s no heat ‘cause the crew’re ghosts and the systems dead,” the burly man — Mike — flatly translates, a hint of amusement to his voice. “Oh, for fuck’s sake! I can’t. It’s not a ghost ship or a whale— or a fucking asteroid. GIVE ME THE REPORT, please!” the navigator raises his voice, lurching at the report. He misses, his face landing in Mike’s hand, who smothers the navigator’s face and laughs. The older man, Reg, can be heard cackling and wheezing, and the camera operator lets out a heavy sigh. “Calm yooour tits, mista,” Mike mocks. ”You’ll wake the good cap’n from his nap!” With the navigator unseated, the crewman behind the camera sits at the console, now getting a proper view of what sensor report information remains on the console screen. The others continue to scrap in the background, grunting and crashing about. The briefly scanned object was certainly an artificial structure — most likely a small ship, based on its size in the visual imaging, or a fragment of a station. It seemingly has no heat signature, neither from ship systems or any lifeforms onboard, which lends some credence to the object being a derelict. However, that doesn’t explain the sudden change in velocity when it disappeared. Especially as no thermal thrust signature was detected, nor a warp or bluespace disturbance — the object can’t have any kind of chemical or nuclear propulsion, which leaves photon or magnetic propulsion. Most likely the latter, considering the object had no expansive, opaque sail. The radar — now reporting empty, immediate surroundings — reports a recent, external sensor ping which, if traced, leads back to where the object was originally positioned. Thirty seconds ago, before the object disappeared… Of course, the camera operator fails to correctly interpret this. “It’s actually a fucking ghost ship!” He shouts. “Or first contact with the Precursors!” He clicks off the video to join the fight over the comprehensive scan print out. While our experts contest that this is a supernatural ghost ship, this is still an interesting discovery that we are looking to get to the bottom of. It is currently hypothesised to range from a derelict vessel colliding with debris, explaining the sudden change in velocity, to a recorded sighting of a military stealth ship. Our attempts to request a copy of scan data have not been replied to. However, Truth Finder has been able to verify that the IFV Drink Up Thee Scrumpy is an authentic freighter vessel that was operating between Nueva Patria and New Peoria during the time it claimed to be within the region of space. If you have any information on this sighting of an unidentified vessel in the New Peoria system, please contact Truth Finder.
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