Survey log 2: First steps
It had taken a few hours of troubleshooting and emergency repairs to get some of what he deemed to be vital systems back to a somewhat functional state, the mass spectrometers which finally alerted him that the exterior atmosphere was actually breathable was probably the one he was looking forward to the most. After all oxygen masks got so hot and itchy during prolonged use, what couldn't be fixed immediately by him be it due to lack of parts or just the damage being so severe as in the case with the ship's long range scanners were to be looked at by the repair nanites and manufacturerd by the on board fabricator. Both of which would take days if not weeks to fix the least extensive of damages, not including the hole from where the port wing was torn off. No that took three hours of welding various pieces of scrap into a makeshift plug.
Still this mad flurry of activity was preferable to the situation he found himself in. He was now face to face with the second of humanity's greatest enemies. Boredom.
Yes he had tv shows and movies downloaded in case of long periods of inactivity like during the month long or longer hyperlane transits that were so common in the Confederation, sure he had music he could listen to as he idled away at some menial calibration or other maintenance. But realistically how long would that last for? Moreover inactivity led often to intrusive thoughts, and if he wanted to stay alive and sane he needed to be distracted and not focused on his certain death.
So what were his options? A cursorary glance at the main console notified him that at the earliest the fabricator would take another ten hours to assemble the circuit cards required to repair the ship's solar mapper which would help him triangulate his galactic position. The repair nanites had about another hour before entering their eight hour recharge cycle, which means at this rate the ship's long range radar would take roughly three days to become operational. As of now the Morning star was unable to connect with any Confederation communication buoys, and while yes the emergency beacon was running it could take decades until it was heard and tracked back to…wherever here was.
He snorted to himself as he leaned back on the pilot chair tossing a small Earth shaped stress ball into the air. If he was the only human here and the Confederation itself hasn't noticed this system, couldn't he claim that by rights he should name the planet? The ball landed in his hand with a soft thump, well food for thought at least. More important things to worry about at the moment he supposed, he threw the ball once more mentally counting the seconds it took to fall. Sure he could ask Evia to compare the gravity of the area to Earth's but it's at least a bit of a time killer. Another soft thump and by his rough estimate, this planet's gravity was similar to Earth's maybe a little less. He sighed and looked at the console again, his eyes looking at the blinking notification regarding the status of the Hermès five suit. He had asked Evia to prep it in case he'd needed it as a portable oxygen tank in the event the atmosphere was toxic, bit useless now yet he couldn't tear his eyes off the notification.
Logically he knew that his job was to explore the surface of planets and report his findings back to the Confederation scientists and administrators for further analysis and eventual assimilation. He threw the ball again looking at the status of the repairs, almost groaning in pain at the lack of progress. His eyes wandered back to his suit status, he could theoretically put it on and begin exploring the area around the ship, probably a better way to kill time than just sitting around.
He stood making his way towards the suit capsule. "Evia I'm heading out in the Hermès three."
"Understood, would you like me to prepare the rest of your gear Specialist Conner?"
"Prep the jump pack and the SRP-15. Evia short range radar is currently running correct?" He asked as he began the process of putting on the pressurized black body glove that went underneath the armor proper, the heating and cooling pipes that were built into it pressing against his skin.
"Correct, five mile radar scanning is currently being conducted."
He nodded zipping up the body glove. "Perfect, transmit all radar scan results to the exporator suit." He then moved towards the arming square. "Are any AARD units ready for launch?"
"Units one through three are available, the others were damaged during the crash."
He nodded, a shame those drones were really convienient. "Launch one of the units out, I'd like it if they were set to fly at a five mile circular perimeter around the ship. Set the unit camera to record on all spectrums. Initiate suit arming sequence please Evia."
"Complying." From the ceiling and floor calming the whirring and whizzing sounds of metallic arms moving each holding a piece of his armor, first the legs being clasped tight before screwed on, followed by his arms at which point he wiggled his fingers in his own semi function check of the gauntlets. Next came his chest and back armor pieces both of which were screwed tight onto his body and then finally in the first phase the neck gorget where his helmet would seal onto. Each piece magnetically locking onto his body glove, at which point he moved his arms and legs verifying that nothing had locked into place and his mobility was intact. He nodded his satisfaction and spoke. "Evia please start phase two of the sequence."
"Complying." Once more from the ceiling came a mechanical arm holding the fission pack the locked on to his armor, once it did the power indicators across his armor began to glow. Even his body glove's built in temperature systems began their start up process. He then brought his left arm up and checked the touch pad on his forearm ensuring all its systems were up and working. From the suit's built in scanner, it's connection to the ship, and even his biometric scanner everything was running smoothly.
"Phase three please."
"Complying." Finally the mechanical arm slid his helmet on, it hissed as it created a pressure seal with the rest of the suit and soon enough it's HUD lit up as it began its boot up process. "Connection established to Hermès three suit. Transmitting all exterior reading to Hermès three." At that came a five mile topographical map of the area, gravitic and atmospheric pressure readings, atmospheric make up reading etc. He idly flicked the camera modes verifying each worked as his jump pack was attached on. "Establishing connection to AARD unit one." In the top left of his hud came a live feed in a bird's eye view of the forest surrounding the area.
"Thank you Evia." He began to move forward when he heard another arm approach on it was his standard issued pistol.
"You almost forgot this."
He snorted reaching out for it, a notification popped up as the suit recognized his SRP-15 and took its data from ammunition count to computerized targeting assistance. "Thank you Evia you're too kind to me."
"I'm programmed to serve."
"I guess so." He then turned towards the nearby airlock. "Can you open up the airlock for me?"
"Complying." With a hiss the airlock slid open revealing the bright white light of the outside world.
His heart was beating a bit quicker now, was it anxiety he wondered? Was this how astronauts of the old twentfirst felt before they landed on Mars? After all every other time he did this he had a mother ship he could fall back to, people to call for help. There were advanced scans they took to gather what information they could. Here he had nothing just himself, Evia and a high tech suit and pistol. Even in the best circumstances surveying was a dangerous task, secret from pirate bases to hostile wildlife the amount of surveyors that've died wasn't something to sneeze at, and he didn't have any of the advantages that he normally would've had. With a breath he forced himself to move forward onto the surface of the planet.
For a second the helmet camera blinded him as it adjusted to the natural light of the planet, causing him to instinctively blink his eyes for a second. When he finally adjusted his sight it was to a almost alpine like view of great trees with a indigo and violet canopy overhead and around him. White snow softly fell around him as a pale bluish white sky with white clouds hung over head. The helmet was alive as the suit took countless readings displaying it all in his HUD, from the ambient temperature and humidity to even his heart rate. Each reading taking up a small corner of the HUD, small fragments that made a picture of what he was going through and where he was.
He knelt down pushing a small amount of snow out of the way, mentally remarking that even the grass appeared to be a smililar indigo color to the leafs on the trees here. He brought out his wrist scanner and opened a small slot in it as he placed a few grounds of dirt in it, after a few seconds the results of the analysis came back with little to nothing of real note. By all current readings this was just another Earthlike world, from its gravitational pressure, it's atmosphere to even it's dirt. He then stood and began to walk forward, a small camera feed from the AARD played at the bottom right of the HUD proving that for miles around him was just mountainous alpine forest. All pristine save for the gash that the Morningstar left in its catastrophic fall.
The only sounds that accompanied him were his footsteps and the strange yet familiar melodic songs of nearby birds, which he recorded for the the zenological records. A rustling in the treetops caught his attention compelling him to look up drawing his SRP pistol. One could after all never be too careful.
Thankfully erring so heavily on caution this time was a bit ridiculous as he caught what was a pack of small almost peridactyl like birds taking flight, their radiant feathers every shade of purple and blue even pink stole his breath as he recorded their flight. He idly wondered about their diet as he watched them fly, perhaps they ate mostly insects with their long beaks? Or perhaps some sort of native fruit? So many possibilities. There was a theory that proposed that if the goal of all life was to multiply itself, then on Earthlike worlds evolution must take on similar paths as it did on Earth. Perhaps that was the case he couldn't determine but he liked to think it was. He winced as the path of the strange birds flew them towards the light of the pale yellowish sun, as the cameras adjusted their dimness he mused that he had no real way to compare the time. Even how the sun rose and fell were a mystery to him here, for all he knew it could be early morning or late evening. Perhaps it was time to rectify that.
"Evia mark the current location of the sun in the sky and start a timer for when it returns there please. I'd like to know they day night cycle here."
"Complying"
"Thank you." He took another breath imagining how crisp and refreshing it would have felt and smiled as he pushed on. "Evia play something upbeat please."
A familiar old instrumental song began to play and he continued his walk into the unknown.
