Forums » Sci-Fi Roleplay » The Dalphonic Expanse(OPEN)

For hundreds of years, when the first species launched itself into the stars, there was a large area, known as the Dalphonic Expanse, that alluded many governments attempts to colonize it. Dozens of colony, scientific, and exploratory ships pass through the strange nebula that surronds the parameter of the expanse, but they were never heard from again.

There are many theories regarding the expanse. Some say that it is controlled by a xenophobic empire that annihilates anything that enters. Other advocate that the Expanse is simply an unstable part of the Space-Time Continuum and it home to an abundance of spacial and temporal anomalies.

Either way, the various interstellar governments of the Milky Way have decided that enough is enough, and has still exploratory/military forces into the expanse, aiming to determine once and for all what exactly is within.

The only question is: Will any of these brave men and women return alive?

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Terminus' hand gripped the armrests of the command chair as the United Coalition Ship Constantine lurch aburptly again. The entire ship was on Red Alert, trying to find a way out of the mysterious graviton well that had randomly formed around the starship. This had baffled his entire science department, who claimed that the abrupt and random formation of the well was supposedly impossible.

The ship lurched again, and the Human gritted his teeth in frustration. He could almost hear the groaning of his ships engines, trying to get the Constantine from falling deeper into the well.

"Lieutenant, is our distress call even breakthrough the well?" He asked his comm officer as the ship lurched.

"I cannot determine that at this time, sir." The officer replied, smartly.

If possible, the Captain's mood worsened. Without outside help, the Starship would be lost within the well, and it's name will be added to the many vessels lost in the god-forsaken Expanse.

"Continue broadcasting." The captain muttered, preparing for the next lurch.

A grainy voice came through the radio, clearly in distress. Liz was one of the only loner scouts out here, preferring to be alone so nobody would get in her way. Must be in the well. She rolled her eyes at the thought, having had so many people die in the well that surrounded their small planet. Turning up her radio, she did a u-turn and headed towards the signal. Her ship was in great shape, one of the better ships since the revolution.

She reached the part of the well where the signal was coming from, putting the ship on hover mode where the pull was the weakest. "This is Captain Elizabeth from Archek Nations, Are you still hanging on?" She called through the radio, hoping that they hadn't traveled deeper into the well.

"Sir! We're receiving a commnication!" The comm officer's excited force alerted Terminus.

"What? Play it!" The Captain ordered. It seemed like the Constantine and her crew would make it out of this alive. He listened to the communications, feeling elated. "Is the channel open?" He asked the comm officer. "Yes, sir." Terminus nodded.

"This is Captain Augustus Terminus of the United Coalition of Planets. We are indeed hanging on. Do you know how to get my ship out of this?" He asked. Just then, the ship gave a massive shudder and Terminus's combadge, a small badge on his left chest that functioned as a short range communicator, chimed. He pressed it and the voice of the ship's Chief Engineer came through. "Sir! The Engines can't keep this up! They're being torn apart by the hull stress! We need to get out of this thing quick!" His voice was spiked with anxiety.

"Roger that, Cheif, I'm working on it."

"Attention Captain, but if you do know of a way out, I need to know of it immediately, my ship's engines are about to go critical."

Liz listened to the commotion on the other side, worried that she might not be able to help them. "Indeed Sir, I do know a way to get you out. Prepare your engines to go full thrust for a couple seconds while I pull you out." She explained, headed to the back of the ship. She put on her helmet and grabbed a long but sturdy rope, designed to pull ships out of the well.

Going back to the front of the ship, she called through the radio once more, making sure they knew the plan. "Ok, I'm going to jump to your ship and hook something to the front. Then I'll climb back to my ship and start pulling you out, once you feel me pull you out I need you to hit the thrust. It will only be on for a couple of seconds at a time so you won't blow the engine. Are you ready?" She asked, the helmet muffling her voice a bit and making it sound male.

"Affirmative." Terminus responded. "All stations secure! Standby for rapid acceleration!"

The bridge crew began to work rapidly as Terminus barked out orders. "Shutdown all nonessential systems and divert all power to the impulse engines!"

"Yes, sir!"

"All stations report secure."

"Good," Terminus said. "Begin rapid acceleration on my mark."
He then spoke into the comm. "Alright Captain, ready when you are."

Liz nodded to herself, forgetting that they couldn't see her nod. "Ready." She said, opening the hatch and tying one end of the rope to the side of the ship. Once the rope was secure she jumped into the well, hoping she didn't die.

Oh, god. Why couldn't I let them die? The same thought went through her head over and over relentlessly as she plunged towards the other ship, the rope trailing behind her. She hit the second ship feet first with a slight thud, landing on the nose. Liz gave a slight chuckle at the thought of the faces of the crew and got right back to work, tying the rope to a part of the nose that stuck out. Smiling to herself, she grabbed ahold of the rope and climbed back to her ship.

When Liz finally got back into her ship, she grabbed ahold of the radio again and gave the go ahead. "Ready." She declared, turning off the hover mode for her ship and thrusting forward.

Terminus heard her. "Mark!"

The Constantine's great engines roared to life and slowly but surely began to move the ship with the assistance of Elizabeth's vessel. However, the burdt could only be sustained for a few seconds before the engines died down as not to cause severe damage. On the plus side, however, the ship had moved further away from the inside of the well. "Alright, Captain, give me a minute for the engines to cool down, then we'll try again."

Liz nodded to herself, forgetting again that they couldn't hear her. "Alright, I'll keep pulling to maintain your position." She declared, thrusting forward again with her ship. Her hovership could sustain large amounts of thrust without her engines blowing out because it was only a one man ship.

A couple minutes later Liz called through the radio again. "How's the engine?" She asked, her helmet still muffling her voice a bit.

Terminus tapped his combadge. "Engineering, what is the status on our engines." The Cheif Engineer's voice replied. "They're cool enough for another run, sir."

"Alright, Terminus out" He tapped the combadge again, closing the communication.

"We're ready to try again." Terminus he said to Elizabeth. "Accelerate, he barked to the helmsman.

"Aye." The helmsman increased the power to the engines and for a second time the engines burst with fearsome power and continued to propel the ship forward. Another dozen seconds and hen the engines cut out.

Liz thrust her own ship forward as they thrust theirs forward, pausing when the engines cut out again. They were almost out of the well now, one more good thrust and they would be out.

Liz picked up the radio and told them the good news. "I've almost gotten you out of the well, one more good thrust and you will be out. Give me the signal when you are ready again."

She laid back in her seat and checked her ship's stats, making sure she wasn't over exerting the engines.

"Ready." Terminus said through the comm. The Constantine's impulse engines flared to life for the third and continued to push the starship out of the well, shuddering as they fought the grip of the well. Slowly, the ship's bow broke out of the well, the rest of the ship following shortly after. No longer held back by the well, and with engines still running at full power the ship jolted forwards rapidly.

"Slow us down!" Terminus ordered and a few seconds later the ship decelerated. He contacted Elizabeth again. "Captain, we made it out of the well, thanks to you. I hate to think what would have happened if you hadn't found us."

Liz thrust her engine once more, pulling both of them out of the wells range. She smiled and stopped her engine, putting it in hover mode once again. Hearing the Captian's voice in the radio, she smiled and picked it up.

"Not a problem. Now I just have to get the rope off." She said with a laugh, opening the hatch again and propelling herself to the other ship. She landed on the nose with a slight thud, cutting the rope loose with a small pocket knife. Sticking her thumbs up to show it was ok, she used the rope to climb back to her own ship.