Ask DECS Pathfinder Uncharted No More

[Dismas Zaa Fenn]

The navigation room onboard the DECS Pathfinger -a Geophysic Class Science Cruiser- was more sophisticated and advanced than Dismas had ever had the pleasure to work with on cartel or pirate vessels. Antiquated navicomputers had been the norm, punching coordinates with endless repetition because the computer wasn't capable of storing pre-calculated journeys and the details on which nomadic space-creature frequented which hyperlane. During times of war it was most difficult to store the known location of wrecks and debris and many pirates and cartel ships were forced to keep the coordinates on a separate datapad. Not the Pathfinder, though, Dismas had found out to his utter delight. The navicomputer on this ship allowed him to prepare routes almost a week in advance and this allowed him to focus mostly on looking outside.

Looking outside for a navigator concerned with drawing maps had nothing to do with leisure, mind you, but Dismas walked the bridge with a magnifier so he could discover objects in space and add it to the advanced navicomputer he used to create usable charts for these uncharted parts of space. The group of migrating Spellies was the most recent and useful addition to his chart, for only when the giant jellyfish' migrating patterns were sufficiently mapped could they start with preparing hyperlane routes. Dismas, like everyone else on board, hoped they would eventually find planets with resources a plenty that had to be colonized in order to extract them. A succesful business model, if he had ever heard of one, but secretly Dismas hoped for something more...

..he hoped to find long lost pirate vessels. Ships laden with peggats, credits, artwork, golden statues and kyber of the numerous pirates that were rumored to have escaped Republic and FWA persecution through the unknown regions of space. This was a personal goal for him and so tonight, like every other night, he was working hard in the special nagivation room just a door away from the Pathfinder's bridge.

His request with the Captain to launch some of the probe droids to investigate objects he had spotted on the long-range sensors had yet to go unanswered. So he was hunched over his main computer screen and trying to sneak in a few drops of glitterryll -that he kept in a small flask he hid under his tunic- into his thermoflask of caf.


@The Good Doctor

 

[Lance Priam]

The Captain, wearing his white Corps officer's uniform would go into the Pathfinder's navigation cabin. That sure was a whole ordeal with those spellifish. Things were much less tense with time removed. Lance knew the expedition could be perilous but he was surprised that the ship and the crew had it's mettle tested so early. Giant jellyfish was also very surprising. He heard space-borne lifeforms, but jellyfish? Fortunately the Pathfinder and crew fended them off and areable to repair/heal damage caused.

Lance would then see the astro-navigator at the computer, hunched over, clearly hard at work he sees. Navigator Dolan said he found some objects that he recommends investigating and the Captain was here to follow up on that, any leads they can investigate from afar would be great.

He would stride inside the room, he didn't say anything yet as he didn't want to interrupt the navigator working and break his concentration, yet his footsteps on deck would let Dismas someone is here.

@Eccles

 

[Dismas Zaa Fenn]

The footsteps betrayed Lance Priam's arrival, so Dismas swiveled his chair around towards the Lance Priam and kept a casual attitude about him. "Ah, Captain-" they were both from completely different worlds. While Dismas had spend some time at the Eriadu Naval Academy, where he learned the basics of astro-mapping, the contrast of a militaristic style spaceship and crew compared to that of the cartel-controlled various pirate ships was immense. Night and day, even. Dismas knew that Captain Priam had been in the Republic Navy before going corporate and he was testing the waters to see if corporate crews had a culture more like that of pirates, or more like the militaristic vessels the Captain had served on.

"-come look at this," he swiveled back towards his holo-screen and zoomed into a blurry object about twenty parsecs away. The holomap also showed the ship's location and direction, making it evident to the Captain that they were not getting any closer to this unidentified space object on their current course. "I think it's an old Republic-era probe," Dismas explained, but while try as he might he could net get the images clear enough to confirm.

"It's not the first one I've seen at similar distances," the astronavigator continued, "and I think they can hold historical data, perhaps even the migrating patterns of those jellyfish if they pass this way." mapping dangers that could pull a ship of their size out of hyperspeed was of vital importance to their mission. Without it their corporate moneylenders would never greenlight sending a colony ship into newly charted territory. "So I want to send probe droids to go scan them, retrieve possible data, but-" he swiveled back to look the captain in the eyes, "We'll need to drop out of hyperspace for about an hour total each time. It'll slow progress, but I'm sure it'll be worth it."


@The Good Doctor

 

[Lance Priam]

Lance would nod and smile as Dismas looked towards and invited him to come closer, he would take a look at the holoscreen. An old Republic era probe? That was interesting. He would keep examining the object as Dismas continued to explain. Then there is more of them. The probes could be thousands years old for all they know.

"Good work. Good eyes." he said, smiling and nodding, giving a friendly pat on the pack for his navigator. This was a good find, definitely worth looking into Even a small amount of data could give the expedition an edge and perhaps move safely.

"We can make time for that. We should investigate" he said. "We have a number of probe droids onboard to use." The Corps made sure the Pathfinder was adequately stocked, and probe droids - more specifically the Viper-class - were one of those things, in addition to other nessicities such as extra fuel and nourishment. "Maybe those probes have some interesting intel." he said

"Was was there anything else you were able to pick up?' he asked on the off-chance. If there were any other objects he picked up or potential obstacles

@Eccles

 

[Dismas Zaa Fenn]

To Dismas' pleasure, the Captain seemed to agree with his line of thought and voiced is approval. "Perfect, we can send one of the drones in-" he send a message to one of the drone operators he had already filled in and put on standby in case the Captain would agree, "-five minutes." He had been toying with the idea to send one of the drones anyway, even if the Captain disagreed and forbade it. It would've meant an unsanctioned delay of their next hyperspace jump and the consequences.. Dismas could almost see himself rotting away in the brig..

Luckily none of that was necessary, for he had received the explicit permission that he had sought to get.

The Captain asked for more discoveries, which Dismas didn't have this early into their journey. As if on cue, however, their long range sensor suddenly bleeped to show another unidentified object. The navigator turned towards his screen, selected the object and read whatever intel the sensor had been able to pick-up; "Distance is twenty parsecs. Size is-" he did a quick calculation using the Pathfinder as reference, "-400 meters. That's not a probe, captain." Dismas gasped at the realization that this could very well be one of the storied vessels that had disappeared into unknown space.

"We should send drones to it," the instantly excited navigator beamed, "it must be a ship and if its unmoving," which it was, but just in case Dismas did check the sensor's readout against the Pathfinder's own speed and course. The unidentified object had the size of a capital-class starship and was dead in space.

@The Good Doctor