StarDestroyer.Net BBS

This chapter is only short, but this is sort of intentional. As an introduction to the story, there will be more material, and excitement in the following chapters.




Our mythology writes of the day that fire rained down from the sky, scorching the land and destroying a once proud civilisation, a civilisation that was being punished for daring to stand against the Gods. The story was considered to be purely fantasy by recent generations as, embellishments designed to scare those who dared to be different. Written in a language no longer spoken on our planet, except by the priests who followed the codes laid down and now the academics who study the ancient texts, looking for clues as to what really happened that day. A dark era of poverty and ignorance followed for my people lasting nearly 10,000 years.

600 years ago found the resurgence of logical thinking, men who were not afraid of the warnings about advancement and knowledge and a glorious new age began, an age of rapid development up until a point where we hit a bottleneck. We wanted to explore the stars, cheaply and efficiently… and quickly. We had no knowledge of how to accomplish this, no knowledge that is until 50 years ago. With a chance discovery by a geological surveyor on the desolate southern continent our destiny was changed for ever.

The southern continent of my home planet is a desolate location nobody lives there, except for at the coast, where the lands fertility was restored by the tide, there’s no plant of any kind. There are many theories as to what happened, the land is entirely infertile and it was the belief of scientists at the time that some sort of catastrophe had afflicted the continent in the recent past, a catastrophe the continent has yet to recover from. The only problem was that they could find no evidence of any natural disasters, at least not yet. The continent had not been fully explored 50 years ago; the endless barren desert didn’t provide much incentive for anyone to take a close look, doing just that became the job of my Grandfather. This is his story.


50 years ago.

Looking out across desert which was his job to explore, with the aid of government grants and several students from a prominent university, Jared marvelled at the way the sunlight reflected off the various dune formations in the early morning. Whatever calamity had been suffered here, it had not managed to destroy the natural beauty that years of erosion have crafted.

Jared Sanson had been working on this geological survey, contracted out by the central government, for three years. Many had argued it as a pointless endeavour, nothing of interest had been found before or since Jared’s three years on the project. As far as anyone knew the continent was dead, many felt that’s all they needed to know, for fear of uncovering the wrath of the Gods who punished them in the first place. Theories range from the continent being the location of the destruction described in the ancient texts to an asteroid impact. Due to the lack of the knowledge of the continent there’s no evidence for either. Jared does not think like this, the continents dead that much is obvious too him, but since achieving the grant for this expedition his life has been dedicated to uncovering what really happened here all those years ago. A whole continent, nothing living there but the rest of the planet rich with life, such an anomaly goes against all that Jared understands about the natural world.

As Jared’s van travelled across the desert in the early morning, the sunrise over his left shoulder he could see his target in the distance, a hill, three kilometres long but only 400 metres in height tapering down to the east from its summit. It appears to Jared to be just any other hill; however something he can’t quite place about it fascinates him. When scientists looked at the location using satellite photography the hill is tailed by a massive scar in the ground invisible from sea level, leading many to believe this to be the most likely location of any impact asteroid type impact.

Drawing close to the hill Jared’s gut filled with anticipation, he couldn’t explain it but whenever he got this feeling he knew something big was about to happen, He felt it just before his wife, Saran, went into labour and the day that the probes sent out in the furthest reaches of the solar system discovered the wreckage of some sort of ancient space structure, destroyed beyond the point any useful information could be ascertained from it. Jared had reached his destination; he slowed the van to a stop and went to get his gear. First on his order of business was to scan the ground using Ground Penetrating Radar, in order get an idea of the composition of the hill. Before that however, he had to trek up to summit.

Jared walked up the hill stooped under the weight of his gear thoughts started entering his head, visions of men in Battle, men dying and one man wielding a weapon like nothing he’d ever seen before a sword glowing from the hilt to the tip his face currently obscured by smoke, the others using technology like nothing he’d seen before, guns that looked like everyday military issue weapons except they fired lasers out of the tip, not bullets.
“You need to stop reading those science-fiction novels Jared” He said to himself, but still the vision persisted.
The man with the glowing sword started shouting orders to those around him and as he did the face of the man became clearer, that can’t be right he thought. He had the same proud features and rugged face, the man he was looking at was Jared Sanson. Or, very nearly, without the wear of age on his features it soon became clear to Jared he was not looking at himself. At 40 Jared was certainly no old man, but he no longer possessed the youthful vigour in the vision.
“Just my imagination, it doesn’t mean anything” but it seemed so real.
Jared reached the summit of the hill and placed the three legged monitor on the ground. The previous day Jared had placed sensors at various key locations over the hill, upon activation these sensors nodes would scan the area and then within about 10 minutes Jared would have his results. He reached for the activation switch, as he did so the feeling in his gut grew stronger. Something big was about to happen something that would change his life, and the lives of those around him forever, somehow, he just knew it.

No response, hmm. Hopefully thats not a bad sign.

Anywhere, here's chapter 2. As promised its longer.




Turning Point: - The Game

No one would have expected us to get this far this quickly, but what my grandfather discovered this day was of such monumental importance that it changed the way we look at the world around us. No longer did we feel confined to this one location the stars were finally within our grasp. You see, what my grandfather discovered that day was a Space Ship. Buried within that hill was an intact, but severely damaged ship of immense size, the ship itself just over a kilometre long but buried under several thousand tons of rubble. It’s impossible to calculate exactly how long it had been buried there, but the guesses date it from before what the ancient texts describe as the great collapse. Over ten thousand years old, yet featuring technologies that even after 50 years of study we have only just started to truly understand. The government spent billions getting that ship out of the ground, and billions more taking it apart piece by piece in an attempt to understand its grand technologies. Bit by bit we managed to build a ship of our own, some technologies ripped off directly from the alien ship others reengineered to our uses. The reason we managed to accomplish this was due to the most shocking fact of all, the language used by all the ships computers was exactly the same as that the ancient texts and prophecies are written in, giving credence to the theory that, somehow, whatever happened 10,000 years ago this ship was involved. Without any need to try to interpret this “alien” language, an endeavour which could have easily taken 50 years itself if not for the fact there was a portion of the population already fluent, the government set to work assigning personnel to the task of uncovering the secrets held within the ships vaults.

One of the first accomplishments made by the scientists involved the discovery of a substance called Bacta, made up of a combination of two compounds called Alazhi and a synthetic liquid chemical called Kavam. The ships library contained the exact chemical mixture required to make these compounds and within 5 years we were able to cure any known ailment and speed recovery time for physical injuries by 50% it simply revolutionised the field of Medicine.

The ships library was immense it would take us centuries to get through, and understand, it all. But as a priority the president was interested in two things, building a ship of our own and powering it. We accomplished both these feats within 30 years. The power source used by the ship we were unable to reproduce, but it was discovered that the reason it needs such an immense system is to power the ships shields and weapons particularly the weapons as we appeared to lack a particularly important substance called “Tibanna” which was involved in powering the weapons. As we still don’t know how to even approach understanding what would be involved in creating, let alone powering, those systems it was calculated that using the cold fusion technology we had already attained we would be able to give a ship of about 200 metres enough power to use and activate what the library called “Repulsorlifts” to achieve antigravity flight and get into orbit. This was our first accomplishment, made within ten years, With 5 teams working simultaneously and all our efforts we had a working test craft built 2 years later regularly going to and from our sister planet in under 3 days and with finer tuning of the ship Ion engines that was cut too 24 hours within 6 months, baby steps compared to what we can do now, but a major accomplishment considering how fast it came about. The most exciting thing and what we were learning more and more everyday, was that these technologies although seeming grand were incredibly simple to produce. Almost impossibly so. Whoever created this ship, they had space travel down to a T.
With sub light travel accomplished our sights turned full strength on the Faster than light drive, so we could stretch our knowledge of space out beyond our solar system.

It was discovered the life support technologies and anti gravity technologies we could rip directly off from the alien vessel. So research on this was put on the back burner until we had what the library called the Hyperdrive and the related systems. The ability to send our ship into hyperspace itself was fairly simple based on the model in the ship, we just copied that piece for piece improvising when we encountered materials we could not reproduce the exact device, hoping it still worked. Thankfully, it did. The first tests on the drive 5 years ago put our test craft to the edge of the solar system with 2 minutes.

This rapid development is the reason I am here, like my Grandfather in charge of yet another exhibition. Unlike my Grandfather I didn’t discover the ship in this exhibition; I didn’t even design it that was done by galactica systems. The company that set themselves up 10 years after my grandfather’s discovery for the expressed purpose of building a fleet that at the time no one even knew would be possible. I’m on board the first of its kind, the Discovery the first in a series of ships who’s expressed purpose is the uncover the secrets of our past.
“your deal Sanson” Daric Janns cut through my musings, I studied his youthful features. Eyes, blazing blue, watching me closely, his blonde hair ruffled from the constant manipulation of his hands as he nervously waited for my choice. I felt the familiar twinge of intuition, he’s bluffing. Checking my hand, it’s strong, I knew my next move.
“okay” I placed my chips down on the table “I call your bet” Janns gave me a wary look, and with a sly grin placed more chips on the table.
“Raise ten”
I felt a slight twinge of waryness, but as my grandfather had once told me,
Always trust your trust your instincts kid, do that and one day, you will be something truly special, and then with a wink, trust me. He told me that the day before he died, that was 5 years ago and I was 19. Ever since then, when I’ve felt the pull of my instinct towards a goal I’ve taken it, this would no different.
I sighed “again, I’ll call your bet” I looked him in the eye, my features blank. The 3 others who’d already folded out sat around the table. Jon Gard, ships mechanic, in his 40’s his craggy features peaked with interest leaned forward in his seat. Whilst the young navigator Kelso, I never did quite get his first name, was slouched in his seat from too much ale, watching the game through tired eyes the top few buttons of his military issue jacket undone worn for warmth in the ships cold climate, revealing his civilian clothes underneath hair usually worn short but at this time hidden beneath a hat bearing the navy’s badge. Whilst lieutenant Kitch, the second highest ranking officer of the marine regiment, assigned to the Discovery as a just in case measurement, was busy animatedly talking to one of the many female scientists assigned to the ship, she giggled at a joke of his, his interest long gone from the game and aimed directly at her bed.
“What’s your game Sanson” Janns cut in, looking at me warily. “You’re awfully coy tonight” I knew what he was doing; trying to get me to raise my bet, fall for his trap. As he spoke I felt yet another pull, He’s trying to double bluff you, no one specifically said it but I knew it was right, I just smiled at him.
At that moment a call came through the intercom “Sanson, this is captain Olverton, could you report to the bridge ASAP”
Looking up to the speaker I said non-chalently “Tell you what” looking now, at Janns “let’s make this interesting. All or nothing right now, I put all my chips in you put all yours. The one with the best hand wins.”
Janns smirked “you’re joking right?”
“Not at all, either way I have to pull out of the game and I’m feeling lucky” He looked me up and down incredulously, I gave him no sign I knew his game. Throughout the match he’d been playing as if he had a strong hand, I knew otherwise but the other players didn’t. He looked at the Jon and Kelso weighing up his options fold now and lose only what was on the table or risk that I was double bluffing and win everything. To be honest there wasn’t that much at stake for him I’d already goaded him into placing most of his chips on the table, but he at least wouldn’t lose all of his money.
To my surprise he replied, nervously “okay, I’ll do it” He pushed the rest of his chips into the centre of the table. I did the same. Slowly he placed his cards down on the table, face down, delaying the inevitable as long as possible.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jon lean even further forward if it was possible, engrossed in the game
“You first Janns” I said. Reluctantly he reached down and one by one turned his cards, once again my instincts proved true. He had a pair of 10’s. I turned my cards over, Straight Run. I smiled at my victory, and winked at Janns who sat back dumbstruck in his seat.
Jon gave me a toothy grin, pleased that Janns had been put in his place. Until I’d joined the game Janns was on the verge of clearing everybody out. He was obviously a good player, lucky for me, I was just better. “How do you do it kid” Jon asked, genuinely curious.
“Just followed my instincts” I replied. I cleared up my winnings into my pack and my way to the bridge to see what captain Olverton wanted.

Leaving the mess and walking out onto the main deck I studied the various peoples who made up the crew of the Discovery, people of all shapes and sizes, the majority scientists but with the occasional military officer who actually operates the ship. One such military officer fell in line with me as I made my way to the bridge. Commander Ishi, Executive Officer on board the Discovery in her mid 30’s with Auburn hair worn shoulder length. As with most military officers she keeps herself fit and despite being a nearly a decade older than myself I can not deny I still found her to be very attractive.
“Hi Sarah” I said, hoping to start an informal conversation
“Sanson, do you have any idea what this is about? He wouldn’t even tell me” She replied, Business as usual then.
“No actually, I didn’t bother to ask. Was busy cleaning out Lieutenant Janns” She gave me a sideways glance at this.
“Gambling?” she said “I’d have thought our head of security would have been out to set an example.”
I grinned and replied “oh he set an example alright”
“Watch yourself Sanson” She warned “Janns could make life difficult for you here, if you alienate him too much”
“It was a just a friendly game of Saav” I replied “I doubt that he took too much offence, I mean he at least tried to give as good as he was getting” with the turn of a corner we were at the lift to the bridge.
“Okay Sanson, just a friendly reminder, we’re probably going to be out here for a while, you don’t want to too make too many enemies. Not like you did back home.” She pushed the button to call the elevator.
“What do you mean?” I asked
“You know exactly what I mean, you push people away, think you can do everything yourself” Her expression took on a concerned look “and what’s worse is you don’t seem to trust anyone”
I sighed, I knew she was right. I don’t trust anyone; if I ignore my own feelings and put my trust in someone else things go badly for me. I learnt early on, when push comes to shove the only person I can trust is myself.

The Elevator arrived and we both stepped in, Commander Ishi pushed the button for the bridge, the journey was made in silence.

The door to the elevator opened and Commander Ishi strode out onto the bridge and over to the captains chair where Captain Tev Overton sat looking out into the blue expanse that represented the make up of the galaxy from the Tacyonic viewpoint. At least, that’s as far as the greatest minds my people can ascertain, we may have managed to copy this technology but we are still trying to work out exactly how it works.
As Sarah Ishi took her place to the captains right he said “good evening Sarah, sorry to get you up here this late.”
“That’s not a problem Sir, what’s going on?” She asked as she surveyed the deck checking to see who was on duty.
“We received a transmission from central government about 3 hours ago,” He said “it came though the last time we dropped out of hyperspace, redirecting us to our current destination. I wasn’t given any information. But there was an attachment for Mr Sanson, which I imagine had the details. He neglected to share it with me though.” He looked in my direction expectantly, I had received the message but the security seal on the file prevented me from opening it at the time, which was when I decided to go join the Saav game in the mess, to pass the time until I could.
“Sorry Captain” I said “but my hands were tied, when the message came through it had a time lock seal on it, I’d forgotten about it until just now.” I pulled my tablet computer out of my pack and loaded up the file, the seal of the Central Government popped up, followed by a short message from my father, a leading politician, which I skipped over, I wasn’t interested in anything he had to say to me. I found the mission profile.
”Okay, lets see, it seems that the team in charge of looking through the ships library uncovered some sort of Navigation Map of the galaxy. It charts almost the entire galaxy, including the two neighbouring galaxies discovered a few years ago. The attachment sent to me was a copy of this map I’m too upload it into the ships memory” With a few clicks of the keypad and the entry of my supervisors password I did just that, and sent a copy to the captains own tablet.
“I can see why they are reassigning us” said Commander Ishi, commenting on the map. Our primary objective on this cruise was to map all neighbouring systems, in addition to various scientific experiments. If this is accurate map makes that mission obsolete”
“We’re to proceed immediately to the system labelled Coruscant” I continued “and report back our findings. I guess that’s the coordinates you were given, Captain”
“Does it say whats so special about this Coruscant that Central Government feels is so important about this particular system, its not the closest major system to us?” asked Olverton.
“Nothing detailed, apparently its some sort of ancient capital, from before.” I scanned further down the document “They seem to think we might find some very interesting finds there.”
Captain Olverton raised an eyebrow at me “Well, I guess that settles it then. To Coruscant it is, these coordinates are about 2 days travel from our current location, further towards the centre of the galaxy and these charts show the journey to be empty of any gravity anomalies, so we shouldn’t need to drop out of hyperspace.” He said. “For now I suggest everyone gets some sleep, things could get very busy for us in a couple of days” With that Olverton turned to the look out the forward view port, a sign of dismissal. I guess when he said everyone, that didn’t include himself. I made my way off the bridge and to my quarters. The captain was right, it was late, and I had a lot of reading to do in preparation for two days time.

The figure in front of me was disguised by the light behind him, beckoning me forward, beckoning me towards my destiny. As I drew closer he pointed off to his left, I saw a four spire temple boxy in shape but grand in size surrounded by buildings that resembled skyscrapers many kilometres high. Obviously a city, but like nothing I’d ever seen before. There was a cry from the figure and the light which previously surrounded had turned into a gaping darkness that swallowed him whole. For a split second I could see his face, but he was not familiar to me, again he pointed towards to temple, but this time with more urgency. What was once an proud and strong city was now a burning ruin, destroyed by some unseen. The darkness that had swallowed the figure suddenly lurched in my direction.

I awoke with a start, what the hell was that.

Interesting, I would like to see more. However...

If this is accurate map makes that mission obsolete

You do need to clean up a few things but over all I'm facinated.

Setesh wrote:Interesting, I would like to see more. However...

If this is accurate map makes that mission obsolete

You do need to clean up a few things but over all I'm facinated.

Sorry, i wrote that second chapter so fast, i was so excited i forgot it needed proof reading lol.

I'll fix it when i have some free time later.

Okay, i haven't forgotten about this. I've just been busy with assignments and the like at uni.

I'll post the next chapter tomorrow most likely.

I really like it! A very unique spin on things and, well, I'm looking forward to more

This really is an interesting story thus far, aside from some errors, I would to read more.

Word of advice though. Space the lines in those paragraphs filled with conversations, to improve reading...