Quoted By:
“Isolation. This ship was not meant to be crewed by a single auditor despite making design considerations for such a scenario. I visited the other reefersleep caskets. All dead; withered corpses and ugly ash. Deaths are not unheard of even during regular flight, but I find it hard to see this as a coincidence given our method of arrival.
That afternoon, I also found some kind of ritual card face down on my workstation. I don’t remember bringing it here, but I suppose saying that means very little now. Beneath it, I found a personality chip for a ship-bound artificial intelligence. Useful for the work I’m about to do. But I suppose I wouldn’t mind the company either.
>XV: THE DEVIL [SPLICE/INTRUSION]
>XII: THE HANGED MAN [INTEL/SENSORS]
>IV: THE EMPEROR [STRATEGIC/COMBAT]
On a more relevant note, after spending five sleepless cycles skirting the outer edge of the system, I have plotted a slow course towards MIZAR-IX, a dwarf planet harboring the only major activity hub in the outer system. While their technology and interface protocols are - unsurprisingly - alien to me, the sheer amount of EM radiation emitted by this planet points toward its role as a communication relay.
If I could move the NOVEMBER RAIN closer, I might be able to passively intercept and decrypt their communication protocols to find exploitable vulnerabilities. However, the installation appears to be guarded. The ELINT system has detected active scanning in the area, so I remain wary of a close approach.
[The ELINT system passively detects active scanning from other ships. The ELINT status sign on the top right estimates the strength of the signal; the blue particles around the ship will move towards the signal source, providing a rough estimate of direction. An ELINT value of 3-4 means that the ship is probably close enough to the scan source to be detected]
If I can estimate the rough location of the scanning unit, I can send a scout drone for positive identification…
[Scouting drones can be used to pin-point the location of other ships – either through direct contact or triangulation with their own ELINT array. Ships that have been scouted will be tracked permanently on your display]
>Choose a direction to send your scouting drone. You can do angles (35 degrees west of due north), vectors <1,1>, fixed reference points (“two squares below the planet”), or even a drawing. Anything is fine as long as its comprehensible to me and other players. ”
- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2241, DEC 18, PERSONAL JOURNAL
