Sitting down in a chair, Isaac punched a button located on the panel, sending the ship on a superluminal journey. The hyperdrive, called the shock engine, began to compress space in front and at the same time stretch it from behind, forming a kind of bubble of reality around the ship, which moved it much faster than the speed of light. The formed tunnel of bright blue color rippled with blue circles, which were actually traces of compressed space. Isaac gripped the armrests, fighting the violent shaking and hoped that the ship would not be blown to pieces by such a maneuver. After all, overloading a nuclear reactor was a risky idea, but still the only one. Later a few seconds, the ship stabilized and flew calmly. At that time, the engineer was clicking on the panel display, checking the functionality of the ship's main systems. When making sure that the jump was proceeding normally, he allowed himself to lean back on the chair, lifting his head up.
- I can't believe we were able to get out of that hole,- Carver said with relief, - and even in this rattletrap.
Isaac just looked up, simultaneously injecting drugs into the blood through the microneedles inside the suit. The body, which had gone through many fights and falls, made itself felt and required rest.
- I agree. - he replied with a pause.
- When will we arrive in the solar system approximately? - The sergeant asked.
- In about an...,- quickly running his fingers over the panel to calculate the path, Isaac replied, - eight hours.
- Isn't that too long? Last time we flew here much faster.
- It's a two-hundred-year-old ship, John. The shock engine here is not as "nimble" as on current ships.- as if saying the obvious, the engineer answers.
The rest of the way passed in silence, as both were decently tired during their adventures on Tau Volantis. Endless hordes of necromorphs, fanatics, the battle with the blood moon and their subsequent, unexpected for them, survival took a lot of strength, both physical and emotional. Carver was already snoring in the next chair, and Isaac was busy putting off the suit's systems and repairing it on the workbench at the same time - he also got a lot, and it's better to be ready for everything that awaits them upon arrival in the Solar System. Perhaps now the Earth is already fighting off outbreaks of necromorphs. "And perhaps Earth is no longer there." - flashed through the engineer's mind. Shaking his head to clear away unnecessary thoughts, he concentrated back on the suit. Having finished with the repairs, he decided to check the weapons and ammunition. Taking out the weapon actually made, where the upper barrel was laid out into a laser pistol, and the lower one into a pulse rifle, Isaac looked at the main components and details, thinking how to improve the characteristics of the weapon. "During all this time, starting with Ishimura, I became a weapons engineer. If we repel the invasion of the moons, then i can try to get a job in some kind of weapons company." - he chuckled to himself. After calibrating the energy supply to the plasma capsule and increasing the gravitational thrust in the pulse rifle to give even greater projectile velocity, Isaac sat back in the chair and turned on autopilot mode and allowed himself to lean back. Sleep overtook him as soon as he closed his eyes.
Rest was not easy for the engineer. Nightmares where necromorphs ravaged the Earth and assimilated the entire population for the birth of a new blood moon haunted his mind. The sound under the helmet brought Isaac out of sleep, freeing him from the terrible pictures. Straightening his stiff shoulders, he glanced at the panel display, which said that there were a couple of minutes left to fly.
- Carver, hey, Carver.- he began to wake up his friend. - We have arrived.
- Did we manage?- the sergeant answers sleepily.
- Yes. - Isaac smiled broadly.
- I don't believe it. - John whispered in relief.
- Entrance to near-Earth space in 3..2..1. - the mechanical voice of the computer notified.
The blue tunnel was interrupted, revealing to the two of them a view of the moon, against which the Earth loomed. Isaac turned on the transmitter to send a message to the dispatcher:
- Earth. Orbital Control, this is Isaac Clark from aboard the CMS Terra Nova, requesting permission to enter. Reception.- he waits for an answer, but only static is heard.
- Are you sure you chose that channel? This car is more than two hundred years old, - Carver said, coming up to him.
- Trust me, I've set everything up correctly. Everything has to be right.
- Let me try, - the sergeant sets the frequency used by the Earth military in the settings, - EarthGov Command, says Sergeant John Carver, as heard. Is there anyone there?
- It's stran..-, Isaac does not have time to speak, as a scream comes from the speakers, or rather the screams of people and necromorphs. The surprised comrades look at each other with a startled look before seeing a truly terrifying sight - a Blood Moon appears behind the Earth. And she was not alone, but in the company of her brothers.
- Oh, no.- the engineer says in a dead voice, when the fourth moon appears right in front of their ship.
They both cry out from the visions sent at them. Symbols, the destroyed Earth, the death of humanity. Isaac, through the already familiar headache and hallucinations, grabs the steering wheel and takes the ship sharply down. It doesn't matter that ship, two and a half kilometers long, can fall apart from such a maneuver. It's better than crashing into a mutated celestial body. Fortunately, the transporter, gritting its insides, successfully evades and, finding itself under a huge necromorph, bypasses it. Flying away from the moon, Isaac directed the ship forward, in an attempt to escape from the giant tentacles of the monster, but at the last moment, the ship jerked sharply to the side from a blow to the rear of the ship. Both pilots were violently shaken, hitting them on the side of the seat.
- Attention! Holes in the reactor compartment. A malfunction of the shock engine and the loss of one of the nozzles was detected. It is recommended to turn off the ship's systems and carry out repairs.- the voice of the ship's computer sounded.
Isaac was frantically thinking what to do. If everything went on like this, the tentacles would simply tear the ship apart or simply leave them without engines, which also doomed them to death. Suddenly, a crazy thought came to him. Quickly pressing the necessary combination on the keyboard, he gave the activation of a hyper-jump to another system. He didn't want to leave Earth and throw it to the necromorphs, but he had no other choice. Either they will try to escape, or they will die before reaching the Ground. The computer immediately responded to this command with a list of warnings. Ignoring them, he finally confirmed the activation of the shock engine, hoping that the ship would not be blown apart by the explosion, unless, of course, the tentacle had time to kill them first. A tremor and vibration passed through the exhausted hull of the ship, foreshadowing a jump. Space began to shrink, turning into a blue light in front of the cockpit windshield. And then in dark blue.
- Isaac, what's going on? - Carver shouted from the side.- Why is the passage getting dark?
- I am...I don't know.
"Why is the color of the tunnel dark blue?" - the engineer thought. Suddenly, it turned completely black, as if absorbing all the light. This metamorphosis made him understand what was going on. The shock engine, due to damage, compressed the space in front of it so much that it punched a hole in reality. It was the only reasonable explanation he could give. Isaac shrank into a chair in despair, looking in horror at the breakdown of the fabric of the universe. The next second, the ship fell into it, and both pilots lost consciousness.
Through the boundless emptiness of space, an elegantly shaped ship of small white-and-blue coloring flew. Now, having arrived in the right system, the frigate was conducting a preliminary scan for the presence of unknown vessels. The chief pilot, Joker, was sitting in a chair, looking at the holographic display, and lazily swiped lines of information and data. They came to this system to search for minerals. Sometimes circumstances may develop in such a way that there may not be enough fuel. In this case, probes came to the rescue to find the necessary resources.
- Joker, do we have the materials we need in the system? - A female Commander's voice was heard.
- Judging by the database, there are a couple of planets in this system with quite rich deposits of iridium.
- Ok. As soon as you replenish your supplies, fly to the repeater, we are heading to the Citadel.
- Got it, Cap.
After sending probes to the planets and waiting for their return arrival, he began entering
the necessary coordinates to make a short FTL jump, but at the last moment EDI interrupted the procedure:
- I'm registering an unusual spatial anomaly, near the fourth planet. I recommend conducting a study.
The pilot glanced quickly at the display, surprised by the readings
- Scanners are just going crazy. Have we stumbled upon a black hole?- The Joker commented.- We should inform Shepard about this.- Turning on the transmitter, he began to report. - Commander, our instruments have just detected a strange anomaly near one of the planets.
- What kind of anomaly? Tell me in more detail. - the captain's voice sounded a little dissatisfied because of the repeated call.
-A strong bending of space and time was recorded up to the rupture. - the pilot replied.
- Um, doesn't that sound like a description of a black hole? - Shepard asked.
- It looks like it, but now the disturbances of gravitational waves have already stopped. - EDI said.
- What are we going to do, Cap? Are we flying further or are we going there quickly?
Shepard was silent for a while. Is it worth spending time on this and won't it take a long time, she thought. She already had her own problems, but on the other hand, maybe they will find something interesting.
- Joker, we're flying to the planet - the commander made her decision and added, - I'll be there soon. If I don't have time to come, tell me what was found there by communication.
Shepard was lying on the bed and looking through the collectors' summary on the tablet, intending to take a nap later. Just when she wanted to rest, this anomaly was found out of the blue, because of which she was knocked off sleep. Getting out of bed, she went to the mirror to put herself in a proper look. The reflection showed a tall figure six feet tall with long legs and attractive shapes in the right places, which were the subject of her pride. The face, dotted with a small number of freckles, was pretty, with regular features, and the eyes were gray-blue. Thanks to Miranda that they restored her body in the proper form. After combing her brown hair and putting on a Cerberus uniform, she moved to the CIC. After going down in the elevator, Catherine went towards the cockpit, but after going halfway, the Joker contacted her.
- Cap, you have to see this. - The Joker sounded stunned.
- I'm almost there, you don't have to tell me what's there. I'll see for myself.
I wonder what could have been there, since it caused the Joker such a reaction." Did he find a collection of all adult films?" - The commander chuckled to herself. However, when she came to the place, all the fun left her and amazement came. With her eyes wide open, she stared at the gigantic ship hanging in the void of space next to the icy planet. Longitudinal shape in front, with metal protruding structures in the middle, resembling ribs, and ending in cross-shaped flat compartments.
- What kind of ship is this? - having recovered, the captain asked.
- We don't know, Cap, but he looks impressive. EDI and I couldn't relate it to any class of ships. It's just not in the database.
- What is its length?
- The scan showed about two and a half kilometers. A real monster.
Shepard looked at the space wanderer with admiration once again and thought who is the creator of this monster. The largest ships of the galaxy - dreadnoughts, reached a length of 800 to 1000 meters. Of course, in theory, you can try to build a ship of the same size that they found, but given how many zero elements would be required, it would hardly be feasible in practice. To build such a colossus for humanity now was an impossible task. Is it possible that this ship belongs to the race of the last cycle, miraculously survived the extermination? Maybe they can even find new technologies to fight the reapers.
- I wonder which race built it. Maybe it's some kind of top-secret Salarian ship, like the latest development.- suggested the pilot.
- Hardly. Take a look at its architecture and design in general. No one in the galaxy builds ships with such an appearance. - Shepard refuted the hypothesis.
- It's a human ship. - EDI sounded.
Shepard looked at her skeptically and asked:
- What makes you think that?
- Name. - AI answered shortly.
Zooming in on the camera image, she pointed to the side of the ship where the name was written. "CMS Terra Nova" in black English letters.
- But how -, the Joker whispered in a disbelieving voice, - he doesn't look like one of the Alliance ships or Cerberus at all. And what does "CMS" mean?
- Maybe an abbreviation.- voiced the EDI guess.
- What else did the scan give? - The captain asked.- What is his condition?
- There are dents and holes on the engines and the hull in the tail section. One of the nozzles is completely destroyed. I'm detecting radiation in the rear compartment, it looks like there's been a malfunction in their power source, I assume a nuclear reactor is being used there. The main systems of the ship are more or less working, but it will not hurt to repair. To tell the truth, he looks somehow..., - the Joker took a pause to find the right word, - archaic or something. It's like he's two or three hundred years old. The design is a bit rough in my opinion.
- Have you tried to contact them?
- We tried, but they don't answer. And, by the way, there is another oddity with this big guy.
- Which one?
- It doesn't have a zero element. Not at all.
- What do you mean, no? - The Commander frowned.
- Literally. The scanners couldn't pick up any radiation from him. Even if the core is deactivated, cut out or destroyed, at least some traces should remain, but there are none.
As far as she knew, almost every ship was equipped with a zero element core to make short FTL jumps between systems and maintain gravity on the ship. How he ended up here without the FTL engines was a mystery. All this vessel was one big secret and generated a considerable number of questions. Now she was thinking what to do first: contact Anderson or first conduct a sortie herself.
-Keep him under surveillance and try to contact him again, in case of anything, inform me. - Catherine gave the order as she left. - EDI, send a request to the Citadel, tell them I need Anderson. Urgently.
- Yes, Commander.
She decided to find out the true origin of the unidentified object from her former commander. She had a couple of suspicions about the Alliance. On her way to the communications room, she gave the order for the team to be on alert. After waiting, she heard EDI voice:
- Commander, the assistant Adviser is ready to listen to you.
- Turn it on.
A hologram of a man dressed in an elegant suit appeared in front of her, in which, apparently, he felt uncomfortable. However, the life of a politician forces you to comply with the dress code.
- Commander Shepard. - he greeted.
- Admiral.
He looked a little tired. It can be seen that constant communication with politicians and presence in an unusual environment for him made him uncomfortable
- I was informed that you requested an urgent meeting for a good reason. Can I hear her?
- Here ... is a rather unusual case. Our scanners have detected an anomaly in one of the systems. Spatial judging by the readings of the sensors. Upon arrival, we found... this. - When she finished speaking, she sent a data packet of the found object. Better let him see for himself.
After a few seconds, the admiral took the tablet and began to study all the information collected. After reading some part of the brief report, he looked at Shepard.
- Commander, did you call me just because you found a ship drifting in space? - Anderson looked at her a little puzzled
- Please read on. - Catherine replied neutrally.
David buried his face in the tablet, but as he read, his expression became more and more surprised.
- Two and a half kilometers in length? It is three times longer than our Dreadnoughts! And also the complete absence of the zero element.
- Yes, our sensors could not detect at least some traces of radiation. - after a pause, Shepard continued, -this is a secret development of the Alliance, right?
- Why such thoughts? The Alliance does not have ships of this size..
- Scroll down to the last photo.
- CMS Terra Nova? So this is a human ship. - a disbelieving voice sounded.
- That's exactly why I turned to you.
Anderson stared at the images for a while and replied:
- No, Commander, this ship does not belong to the Alliance. Although our scientific department was engaged in the creation of a new class of dreadnoughts, however, their estimated size is much smaller. I'm not even talking about the shape and architecture of the ship, which are completely out of character for ours. - The Admiral once again looked at the photo of leviathan and thoughtfully continued, -Hmm, and who did build this giant?
- I was planning to make a sortie to study it in more detail. I might even be able to find a carriage.
- I take it Cerberus gets the ship?
- I am...- Shepard hesitated, - I haven't decided what to do with him yet.- she avoided a direct answer.
- I understand you, Commander. - David replied, a little disappointed.
- See you later, Shepard.
With a nod of farewell, she waited until the hologram turned off, and gave the command to EDI to call everyone into the meeting room. It's time to finally find out where the alien came from.
