Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter. And a Happy New Year to everybody.

Also, just to confirm something for those nerds out there. The Hood, and the entire Repulse-class, uses a hypermatter reactor, which requires more frequent refuelling, but in this universe is a bit more efficient than a similarly sized nuclear reactor and works better with a hyperdrive. That's why I talk about the Hood needing to refuel its reactor.

Let's get to it.

Chapter 7- A New World

(May 23, 2025)

The stars of the Unknown Regions twinkle brightly as they decorate the blackness of space. As they twinkle brightly, some of them are blotted out as the massive hull of the TAS Hood moves through space, continuing on its journey through the Unknown Regions.

On the bridge, Admiral Pellaeon is currently studying a star map, going back over what the Hood has mapped of the Unknown Regions, trying to figure out their next move. He knows he only has a limited amount of time left before they end up in another desperate situation.

It's been over 2 years since the Hood left Zallin behind to try and find the way back to known space. Unfortunately, with only the most basic maps of the galaxy left, finding a way home was not at all simple.

The problem also came with the issue of not having maps of the regions, meaning hyperspace travel was extremely dangerous. For that reason, Pellaeon had decided on a new tactic. Instead of trying to make long journeys through hyperspace, the Hood resorted to multiple, super quick hyperspace jumps, with each jump lasting less than a minute. Each jump would be in a direction carefully planned out that according to extensive sight surveying was relatively clear. After each jump, the ship's astronomers and technicians would map out the surrounding areas. They also frequently had a fighter capable of hyperspace stay behind in order to measure how far they had travelled, with the fighter catching up with them later.

Using these tactics, the Hood's crew had slowly managed to start building a map of the Unknown Regions. Of course, they could not yet compare it to general maps of the Andromeda Galaxy due to the fact that they had not yet come across any known planets in the Unknown Regions.

Over the last two years, the Hood had been trying to map out what they could of the Unknown Regions while trying to find a way home. While they failed in the second part, they had managed to map out a decent part of the Unknown Regions. In addition, they had also twice discovered a planet that carried the necessary materials to refuel the hyperdrive and replenish their food stocks. Neither had been inhabited by sentient life, which made the resources in question easier to acquire.

However, the Hood was now in a difficult situation. Her hyperdrive is almost out of fuel, and estimates showed it was unlikely, given the distance involved, for the ship to make it back to the nearest mapped planet with the resources needed to refuel the hyperdrive. They had discovered a planet a short time ago that they thought would have the resources they would need, but their assumption had proved wrong. Now, the ship has a limited amount of time to find a planet that can either provide the fuel they need for the hyperdrive, or where they can survive for the foreseeable future.

Pellaeon is a relative expert at mathematics, and is currently using the map laid out before him, with a marker to represent the Hood's location, to try and calculate the distance to any inhabitable planets. So far, as far as his calculations show, only one inhabitable planet is within range. However, it's right on the fringes of the Hood's fuel range, and there's questions among some of the officers as to how well it could actually sustain the ship and its crew. In addition, it would deplete the ship's remaining hypermatter fuel and leave it stranded there permanently. Pellaeon's preference would be to find a planet they could make it to with some fuel left over, just in case.

So far, he's been frustrated in his goals. He's even proposed a few planets much closer to them, but officers have assured him that those planets could not support the crew. So, he's still trying to find a habitable planet that they could maybe make it to with some fuel left while the astronomers aboard are trying to find a new planet with their surveillance equipment that might be able to support the crew.

As Pellaeon is running his calculations again, Ronen comes up and sits down next to him. Pellaeon sets down his ruler and protractor and looks at Ronen. "How are the crew doing?" Pellaeon asks.

"Pretty well, all things considered. Thankfully, they don't yet know the full scope of the situation, just that things are tight with fuel," Ronen says.

"Morale is still good?" Pellaeon asks.

"Overall, yes. But, give it a few weeks to when we can't really hide this anymore, and it probably won't be so good anymore," Ronen says.

Pellaeon nods. Although he would never share the full extent of his worry, the mood and state of the crew worries him. The Hood has been missing from the rest of the galaxy for 6 years. Six years where the crew had no way of getting home, no way of knowing what was happening back home, and no guarantee they would ever see home again. Even the three years on Zallin only did so much to help them. Another serious situation like this would devastate the crew. This keeps him up at night a lot lately.

"Do you think we can do it?" Pellaeon asks.

Ronen is quiet for a moment before he slowly nods. "I have a good feeling. We'll find somewhere to take refuge soon. And I think it will be a great change to our lives," Ronen says.

"I hope that you're right, Major," Pellaeon says, looking back down at the map intently.

(May 26, 2025)

In the observatory aboard the Hood, the ship's astronomers are hard at work. For the last two weeks, they've been under orders from Admiral Pellaeon to try and find a planet within close range where they can take refuge.

So far, they haven't had luck. At least, until today. Maybe an hour ago, they had spotted a planet in a star system relatively close using the telescope aboard the ship. It's only a few parsecs away. Travel to it would be relatively easy. However, they don't yet know if the planet will be inhabitable. That's what they're working on now.

The process is lengthy. They first had to use the telescope to take more detailed pictures of the planet in particular. Now, they are waiting on their computers to finish analyzing the images that had been captured and develop high quality images that they can use to try and determine the planet's viability.

While they've been waiting, they've measured what details they can measure without the images. It turns out that the star it is orbiting is a yellow dwarf star, just like the Sun, but about 30 percent larger. The planet is also at the perfect distance to host an Earth-like climate. In addition, the planet seems to be relatively similar in size to Earth. Everything is looking good so far. Now they just need the images.

Finally, after what feels like an agonizing wait, the guy watching the computer calls out, "Images are ready! Printing now."

Soon enough, printouts of the images come up as the guy who spoke pulls up the images on other screens in the observatory. The astronomers quickly get to work examining the planet, knowing they have to make their decision so that Pellaeon can order to make for the planet.

As they examine the images captured, smiles begin to break out on the faces of the astronomers. At first glance, it looks promising. The true color images show an abundance of green on the planet, with a promising amount of blue as well. As they continue their examination of the images, it's clear that the green takes up a slight majority of the planet, but there is still plenty of blue, suggesting liquid water. In addition, it does not appear that the planet has polar ice caps.

After a few hours of examination, the astronomers feel relatively confident in their opinion. The astronomer in charge gathers up printouts of the images and of the data collected regarding its position and says, "Alright, I'm taking this to the admiral." He then sprints out of the observatory, papers in hand.

The head astronomer heads up to the bridge, where Admiral Pellaeon has just returned from lunch. As he bursts onto the bridge, Admiral Pellaeon and Captain Moorhouse both turn to look at him.

"Admiral!" the man says as he rushes up to Pellaeon.

"Yes, COmmander?" Pellaeon asks.

"Admiral, we think we found a habitable planet not far from here," the man says.

"Show me," Pellaeon orders.

The astronomer shows them over to the holotable and spread his papers out in front of them. "We were able to capture these images with the telescope. As you can see, about half of the planet is covered in greenery, the rest covered by water. It looks like this may be a perfect planet to try and set up a settlement," the man says.

Pellaeon and Moorhouse examine the images. After a few moments, Pellaeon looks at the man. "How close is it?"

"Maybe 2 and a half parsecs, Admiral. It'll use up most of our remaining hyperdrive fuel, but not all of it. I think it's worth a try, Admiral," the astronomer says.

Pellaeon and Moorhouse look at each other, having a silent conversation. After a few moments, Pellaeon says to Moorhouse, "Captain, give these coordinates to the air boss. Send a fighter out to survey the planet. I want to confirm this planet will work for us to take shelter."

"Yes, sir," Moorhouse says with a smile before he walks off to issue the orders.

(May 27, 2025)

Looking out from the viewport of the Hood, Admiral Pellaeon looks down with a smile at the planet below. After the planet was identified, the fighter sent by Pellaeon to examine the planet had determined that it would in fact be viable to try and take shelter on the planet. Today, the Hood had used what fuel it had left in the hyperdrive to make a jump to the system.

Sadly, when they arrived in the system, one of their hopes were dashed. Scientists aboard were able to confirm that there were negligible chances of there being any source of fuel for the engines and hyperdrive. That meant that the Hood was stranded in this system. Perhaps, as time passed, they could find other nearby planets that might be the home of the resources they needed. But for now, they weren't going anywhere.

However, the bright side is that there is planet that seems very capable of sustaining the crew, and it seems that there is sentient life based on the reading they're getting on some of their detection systems.

Pellaeon finally turns away from the viewport and looks towards Moorhouse. "Captain, I'm heading down to the hangar. Send the orders down to ready the expedition force," he says. Pellaeon then heads down to the hangar, ready to explore this planet and see what there is to be discovered on this planet.

And, I'll end the chapter there.

So, the Hood is kind of stranded again. Yes, I know, this is happening to them a fair bit. I will say they'll be spending a lot more time here than they did on Zallin.

Next chapter will be up soon. Until then, please leave a review, and stay tuned!