Project Nebula: The Second Wind

An interactive lore series for Project Nebula Beta Testers

Episode 1: As the Second Wind arrives into the new galaxy, the situation seems calm. The trek through The Gateway was a success, but it doesn’t take long before the Captain’s Aide reports something odd.

“Cap, nearby vessels are sharing data regarding their passage through the Gateway — noticed something strange.

Julian isn’t some freak accident. Several other vessels have people falling into weird, repeated trances. The trance-fallen are describing it as the same endless, looping line of thought. Calling it mindloop. Regular medscanners aren’t picking up much.

This could possibly develop into something much more serious; it could even be endangering the entire crew. Maybe one of the megacorps could provide answers, or even a cure, but it’s also a possibility that this is as bad as it gets. In that case, we’d be wasting a lot of time looking for answers to a non-existent problem.

What should we do?"

Episode 2: The Martian-made Second Wind begins to move out of instant comms range as a message from the Farseer crackles through the speaker:

“All I’m saying is, it’s a real funny coincidence the only vessel not affected by this mental thing is the Terran one. If they don’t have nothing to hide, jus…[static]…”

The Captain’s Aide pipes up, “By the sounds of it, they were still arguing over who to blame for this unforeseen mindloop breakout and what to do next. I guess interfactional colonists don’t automatically start working together post-Gateway as some extreme optimists hoped.”

The Second Wind’s crew returns to their duties and pilots the ship onwards, eventually arriving in the new sector at the megacorp fleet’s last known coordinates. An immediate wave of disappointment spreads out among them — no sign of the massive corp-fleet. Yet, the system is not completely quiet as active signals emit from a nearby asteroid belt. A small mining station and vessel seem to be the last remnants of a passing fleet.

An alarm suddenly breaks the murmurs of the crew. Another vessel arrives, rapidly following the Second Wind’s path.

As the ship comes within visual range, crewmember Pryorlik proclaims loudly, “That’s the Farseer! It’s nearly destroyed — hull torn to shreds. Can anyone actually survive on a wreck like that?”

Correcting its course, the shattered Fareseer begins to accelerate rapidly toward the Second Wind.

“What should we do, Captain!?”

Episode 3: “Course set, heading toward the Farseer, Captain!”

The call is made. A few clenched jaws — not all agreeing with this risky rescue.

The crew holds in their collective breaths as the two vessels propel toward each other. The Farseer rushes in, altering its course and speed drastically at the last possible moment. The battered vessel scrapes along the surface of the Second Wind, yet seems to take the brunt of the damage on its own hull.

Manoeuvring thrusters work fiercely to stabilize both vessels, calculating all momentum before a human could even react.

“Initiating emergency atmo-extrac…!” cries a crewmember before being cut off abruptly.

Pryorlik yells out “No! Wait! They’re trying to climb aboard with their vac-suits! They’re either insane or extremely desperate.”

“Open up the nearest airlock and send some guards immediately!” commands the Captain.

The thinned-out remains of the Farseer’s crew float toward the airlock, bumbling with several motionless bodies. Moments after being washed in oxygen, their helmets come off, lungs gasping for air — empty handed, besides the limp crewmembers carried in with them.

“T-t-thank the s-stars you decided to help, m-m-most’ve our systems were completely wrecked, life support included. W-we’d nothing left.”

Pryorlik rushes to the airlock and questions the ragged crew. “What exactly was it that happened to you? No vessel coming through the Gateway should have any firepower!”

“Those bastards! It was all a trap. The whole group that stayed back there to argue…they were waiting for everyone to get out of the sector so they could jump on the last vessel remaining. The instant you left, they attacked. No professional-grade weaponry, just some barely functioning slugthrowers. They got cocky, though. Didn’t expect us to fight back.”

“Meaning you’re also armed…” Pryorlik exclaims.

“We had a little something that could punch back. Emphasis on the word ‘had.’ It got destroyed, like most things on the ship. We know the Peaceful Pathfinder decree and all that, but it’s a dangerous new galaxy! We had to protect ourselves! Technically we traversed the Gateway unarmed, just with some odd leftover parts here and there!”

The Aide, watching all of this from a screen alongside the Captain, voices his thoughts, “I recommend we let them recover for a while then put them to work as temporary crew — under supervision, of course. Anti-vessel weaponry is prohibited, but it couldn’t hurt to have someone with that particular skillset aboard. And if they turn out to be troublemakers, we could deposit them on any relatively populated station we come across.”

The Captain agrees as the Second Wind detaches itself from the mangled Farseer and heads out toward the mining station, receiving a message as it enters instant comms range.

“That was some crazy stunt you pulled out there at the rim! Not many vessels would have risked themselves for a rescue like that.”

The Aide responds with a sigh of relief, “We’re all a little banged up. Looking for the corp-fleet that was here before we arrived. You seen ‘em?”

“You seem like good folks. Be careful dealing with that fleet. VagaBand Medical is ruthless and pretty cutthroat in its dealings. Not a lot of room for anything…humane in their contracts. We’re living proof — positioned here for the next twelve years.

Eager eyes turn to caution as the two listen on.

“As for reaching them? I can point you in the right direction. But there’re dangerous things swimming in the wake of the fleet: scavengers preying on the weak and those lingering behind. You could go the long route, try to get in front of the main fleet. No idea what’s in those sectors though, not public information. You should be able to catch up regardless. Either way, stay safe. This galaxy needs crews like you…”

The Aide looks back over his shoulder and ponders a bit.

“Well, Captain. What do you think?”

Episode 4: The Captain considers his options for a moment before confidently relaying his decision to the crew.

“We have time. Let’s play it safe and avoid any possible trouble.”

Tension washes away and days pass by as the Second Wind safely carves its path among the stars. Dealing with the Farseer was stressful enough. Going through scavenger-infested sectors might have been too much. The passing corp-fleet has certainly affected these nearby sectors, however: a trail of public relays, automated stations, even a smaller vessel setting up a habitat are left behind.

As the crew works in an efficient rhythm, Pryorlik turns to the ship’s sensor station.

“How’s it looking, Vihkonenn? Anything remotely interesting? You’ve been quiet for a while now….

Vihk?”

Pryorlik steps towards the officer’s station, his eyes growing wide as he curses under his breath. Vihkonenn sits perfectly still, eyes unblinking, empty, staring trancedly at her screens.

Pryorlik worriedly turns to his superior, “Cap, we have a problem. I think it’s spreading.”

The medical officer rushes in and carefully checks over the incapacitated crewmember. “Julian’s trances are getting worse. If it’s spreading….Captain, we need to find the corp-fleet and pray that we get answers.”

The tense silence on the bridge is cut off suddenly as someone hails the vessel.

“Greetings! Sorry to say, our experimental Annihilator has gone a bit…haywire. Unfortunately you’ve flown right into its test range. It’s deemed you a possible threat. This may take a long while to fix; if you can, please keep your ship as still as possible and don’t do anything remotely provoking. A prayer towards the Greater Intelligence wouldn’t hurt, either.”

Pryorlik looks up at Vihkonenn’s screens and stares at several blinking alerts. “Damn it all to dust, something’s been approaching us for a while now. We’re right in its sights. Captain, it seems a Tech-Pious design.”

The Aide looks at the data worryingly, “If that’s Pious design, it could very easily be hiding a readied weapon from our baseline scanners.”

Pryorlik bursts out, “We don’t have time to sit around! You all saw what happened to Vihkonenn. Are we to trust some weaponized cultists who can’t even install a kill switch for an experimental weapon?! They’re either incompetent or insane! We need to take control and act! Besides, you heard what these lunatics said; it’s malfunctioning. Odds are it isn’t even capable of hurting us!”

The Aide thinks for a moment before replying, “We can’t afford to take the chance, Pryorlik. We have no intel about this things capabilities and it’s aiming right at us. There are munitions capable people onboard, if you recall. The Farseer survivors. I suggest we bring them into this.”

The Captain falls into concentrated thought momentarily before deciding to…

Episode 5: “Call the Farseer leader to the bridge,“ exclaims the Captain.

A minute later, with screens still showing the ominous Tech-Pious weaponry aimed towards the ship, two members of the Farseer crew arrive.

The leader listens with a deep frown as the Aide explains the situation.

“Something feels off,” he states nervously, “Could be we’re dealing with a Pious splinter cult. Dangerous people — no morals, no conscience. What do you think, Yrena?” he inquires, turning to look at the woman standing next to him.

“I’ve got some schematics saved on my datapad that could help. I think we can deal with this platform if you give us access to your matterprinters and some other resources.” She nods thoughtfully as she swipes through the holographic schematics.

Under the watchful gaze of several guards, the survivors are rushed to the fabrication room and get to work. They quickly engineer a simple drone and affix a, hopefully appropriate, amount of explosives from the ship’s asteroid mining cache.

“Hope this experiment doesn’t have any defensive weaponry,” Yrena murmurs.

Back at the bridge, the Aide gives out a nervous warning, “This weapon’s emitting a weak power reading, but it’s steadily growing in strength.”

“Yeah, whatever that is, it ain’t great for anyone on this vessel. We need to do this NOW!” yells the Farseer leader as they rush to release the drone. As it’s thrown into the airlock, it takes off, detects the surging energy readings and begins flying towards the weapon.

A moment later, a new message arrives from the Tech-Pious.

“Our sensors show you released something out of your vessel. Could y-”

The voice cuts out as the platform starts to react to the approaching drone. A small part of its outer shell slides aside and its power readings explode. It fires, not at the drone, but at the Second Wind.

The pilot reacts quickly and blasts off with as many Gs as a human body could handle, but too late. A blast crashes into the hull of the Second Wind with sickening force as powerful tremors resonate across the vessel. The Aide screams out the damage report panickedly over the blaring alarms.

“Captain, we have a hull breach! The airlock and connected compartments are exposed! No visuals, we’re losing pressure! Internal blast doors closing!”

“It’s preparing to fire again!” yells Pryorlik, watching the energy levels spike once more. His eyes catch the visual feed just as the drone crashes into the Tech-Pious weapon. A flash of light erupts as the explosive charge triggers and the weapon is ripped to shreds.

Yrena’s voice comes through the intercom, “Could use some help near the airlock. My crew’s pretty much minced meat here, I’m messed up as well. Got lucky. Managed to,” she grunts painfully, “managed to seal the hull breach somewhat. Pulled one of yours away from the leak, nametag says “Mike.”

“It’s pronounced Moika.”

“Sorry, Moika,” she says sarcastically and slightly annoyed, “still losing oxygen…and blood. Would be nice if you’d hurry up.”

The Captain’s Aide takes the news with an empty look in his eyes. “The whole section wiped out with a single shot. Captain, I’m so sorry.”

Pryorlik grimly comments as the Second Wind retreats and the repair team clambers to work, “Captain, the Wind requires repairs and we have many wounded. Staying in this sector with the Pious might be dangerous, but so is leaving with the ship this banged up. This isn’t an easy call to make…

What do we do?”

Episode 6: “Seems like we’ll be staying in this sector for a little while at least,” says Pryorlik as he steps into the reclusive corner of the medbay. He sees Yrena hooked up to several larger medical devices, and approaches her. “Thought I’d pop in to check on you and say thanks for saving one of ours. Speaking of him, where’s Moika?”

Yrena, concentratedly editing a holo-schematic with her one, still mobile arm, responds, “He should be resting here, at least that’s what the doc said, but he was already moving around half an hour ago.”

Unsatisfied with the end result of the schematic, she closes it with a frustrated wave and looks at Pryorlik. “Seems like a good kid. Not meant for combat though, he’ll be having nightmares for a while I bet.”

“Moika won’t be the only one,” responds Pryorlik solemnly, “we’ve all done some simulation training, but this…there’s a lot of good, experienced people on the Wind, but we’re not some band of warriors on a battle barge. Our Captain’s Aide pretty much snapped from the mental strain, was forcefully removed from the bridge. Thinks all of this is his fault. He’ll be out for a while.”

“….shame to hear, seeing as how I’m the one who put a drone into that platform’s trajectory. Stand by it though. Blew the void-damned thing to bits. Just cost me 1, 2…an entire crew,” laughs Yrena with a comically placed grin and a thousand yard stare.

“Well, look. If you’re healed up and want to keep your mind busy, we have some offers. Fact is, we’ve lost crew members to this incident, have several wounded and two under quarantine. Even though this plan went less than perfectly, your drone still worked and took out their weapon. We couldn’t have known how fast the platform would react. It’s pretty obvious you know what you’re doing.”

“Trying to recruit someone who just went through a scarring, horrible, near-death incident and is currently hopped up on all sorts of chems? You sure this isn’t a megacorp vessel?” she inquires with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

“Think about it, Yrena. Soon enough you’ll find yourself bored out of your mind laying around here.” With the swipe of a hand, he sends a packet of information over to her datapad. “Read it through when you’re off the chems,” he suggests with a grin.

As Pryorlik turns to leave, Yrena glances down at the information for only a moment.

“Hey! Pryorlik. Thanks, but I don’t need to think about this too much.

I’d love to take the…

Episode 7: “Happy to see you’re up and ready for duty, Yrena. What’s your first official course of action as our newly appointed weapons specialist?” Pryorlik asks as she arrives at the bridge.

“Well, seeing as the vessel currently has no active weaponry…I’m going to make some! But it’ll have to be something easy to hide. Can’t be breaking the Peaceful Pathfinder accord in public starlight, right?” she responds with a grin. A slight grimace of pain appears on her face as she settles down. “How’s the time table looking on getting us near the corp-fleet?”

“Should be in range any moment now…I think. Blast it! How does Vihkonenn work this station as fast as she does?” Pryorlik swears as he stares at the sensory data. “Feels like I’m stumbling blind, trying to figure out what all this gibberish mea-…wait a sec…”

A small symbol pops up on one of the screens, then another, as dozens more begin to appear.

“We’re already this close? We…we’ve actually caught up! Stars, look at that…”

The mood in the bridge changes from jubilation to nervousness as more visuals appear on the screen. Dozens of different vessels hover around the capital station’s metallic, monolith of a hull. Emblazoned across its side in bone-white letters are the words VAGABAND MEDICAL. The massive name looms over the nearby vessels, several of them obviously armed.

Yrena breaks the silence, “Gray and oppressive. That’s a megacorp alright. Guess the whole “hide your weapons” thing is already out the airlock in this sector.”

Pryorlik muses, “It’s both reassuring and worrying that they brought all that through the Gateway. VagaBand’s going all in on this new galaxy business.”

“Whatever the case, I don’t trust megacorps. But I do recognize several of the vessels around here. Ruffians all, but better to deal with the thieves you know than the thieves you don’t. I can hit the dens on the station, ask around. I’m sure I could find some info on your mindloop problem without having to make binding deals with corporate scum.”

Pryorlik thinks on this for a moment then responds, “I think the safer bet would be to play it by the book, Yrena. We need information, or better yet, a cure for this mindloop problem. The cost could end up being high, but I think we’ll have a greater chance of reaching our end goal by legal channels. Or whatever legal even means here.”

Captain?

Episode 8: “Is it just me, or does this station have an absurd amount of shady bars?” Pryorlik mutters, chin resting on his hand as he stirs the remains of his drink.

“You‘ve clearly never been to a megacorp station — especially VagaBand,” Yrena responds, staring at the multicolored, hypnotic vapors of a chem cocktail in front of her. “At least this dump serves up something interesting. I was getting accustomed to the tasteless sludge the last three bars served us.”

“Well, hopefully this friend of yours gives us something useful. I wasn’t planning on a pub crawl. Speaking of, is that her?” He points a tastelessly colorful straw toward the entrance as a lanky woman with broad shoulders and a horribly tired look in her eyes enters the establishment.

“Hey, Vilac!” she raises her voice enough to make the woman flinch, lower her head and move closer with hastened steps.

“Keep your voice down. We’re not on the main grid, but that don’t mean the corp-folk are blind and deaf.” She takes a seat on the table, shooting a nervous glimpse behind her.

“Happy to see you too, Vilac.”

“I don’t have much time, but I am sorry to hear about the Farseer, Yrena; a good vessel and crew. Such a damn waste.” A solemn look covers her face. “A quick and violent end is better than many get this side of The Gateway, myself included. Now I’m chained down to these VagaBand bastards like a dog — chipped and ordered around. These corp folks get one bite of ya and they’ll never let go. I say screw ‘em,” she whispers, only raising her voice to order a drink before downing it instantly.

“So…mindloop. It ain’t spreadable and it doesn’t really get worse. Only a small handful of people get it and only when traversing the Gateway. It’s a secret these corp bastards don’t want folks knowin’. They’re developing some equipment to help wealthy people deal with it, but they’d prefer to lie to you, scam you out of everything you have. If word gets out I told you this…” She throws another glance across the bar.

“Understood,” replies Yrena with a slow nod.

Vilac slides a small datachip across the table to Yrena. “These are the coordinates to a planet we found orbiting a neutron star. Couldn’t claim it for ourselves, doubt we’ll ever get the chance. I’d hate to see it fall into VagaBand’s grasp.”

“A neutron star? No wonder it hasn’t been picked up yet,” Pryorlik chimes in.

“I’d hurry if I was you,” Vilac responds with a nod, “VagaBand’s got a lot of vessels doing sweeps — certain to stumble on it soon enough, hidden or not.”

As they rise from the table to move out, Yrena stops. “Thanks, Vilac. I won’t forget this.”

Pryorlik looks at Yrena as the two head back towards the shuttle. “Stars, I’m glad Cap decided to go with your plan. We’d have been creditless, or even worse, working for VagaBand.”

“Don’t go getting all weepy-eyed on me, Pryorlik. Let’s go find ourselves a planet.”

Series Finale: “Hey buddy, you alive there?” asks Pryorlik as he takes a seat next to a semi-conscious Moika.

A whimpering groan is the only response to his question as Moika buries his head in his arms.

“Hang in there. Wouldn’t want to die from a hangover before seeing our first neutron star, right?”

“He’ll be fine. May need a new liver, is all.” Yrena comments from the other side of the table. “I warned him; when I concoct something, it’s going to be strong.” She turns towards Pryorlik. “I really didn’t expect such a serious, professional ship to celebrate like that. I respect a crew that knows how to relax.”

Pryorlik looks at several others around him trying to cure a headache. “I figure most of us really needed this. Happy our captain went along with it. It’s been non-stop stress ever since we went through the Gateway. I don’t know about your crew, but we all came here as explorers. What we’ve done until now has felt more like…panicked scrambling.”

“Panicked scrambling was actually the first mission on the Farseer’s docket, but yeah…I get what you mean.” she winks.

“All jokes aside, we’re now actually doing what we came here for. Stars, even thinking about seeing this planet makes my heart race. And seeing our first neutron star! Racing to the next sector! Whatever it is, I want to go there, to see the new galaxy and explore! I want to-”

A much louder groan from Moika shakes him out of whatever speech he was about to muster.

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

As Pryorlik tries continuing in a quieter tone, a loud voice booms throughout the vessel.

“We’re within scan range of our destination! This is it, people!”

Cheers begin echoing across the hall as the crew flinches from their hungover stupors and snap into action.

Moika groans.

“Wait, what’s going on? I should be on the sensors for this, why haven’t they called me in?” Pryorlik rises in a rush, heading towards the bridge, with Yrena keeping a close pace behind him.

He quickly arrives at the sensor station, but finds it surprisingly occupied by a tired and excited Vihkonenn. Seeing Pryorlik approach, she smiles, “Heard you could use some help handling my station. Don’t worry, I’ve got it under control. The doc gave me the all clear. Might need a nudge every now and then, though. Doc’s orders!” She rises, pretending to salute Pryorlik before throwing her arms around him.

Vihkonenn releases her friend from a massive bear hug and points at her screen enthusiastically. “Check this out, our very first neutron star. Unimaginably dense, almost 500 rotations per second. Insane! And the planet orbiting it…take a gander, Pryorlik. One hell of a catch! Oh, and look who else is back in action!”

She points over to the Captain’s Aide, his eyes fixated on the nearest screen, analyzing the planet’s data and moving his mouth soundlessly. The Aide’s expression changes rapidly as his veneer of professionalism falls apart. He turns towards the Captain with a silly grin and proclaims “No signs of any settlement or activity! Looks like we made it here first.”

The Captain stares intensely at the large projection of the planet.

“This moment…right here. This is the true beginning of the Second Wind carving it’s path among the stars. Our starting point in this new galaxy. All this limitless potential from a single reddish-brown orb. It’s a perfect start, this beautiful planet. Initiate claiming protocols immediately…”

The bridge falls quiet as the Captain takes a moment to think, nods and says “…and more importantly…she needs a beautiful name.

What do ya think, crew?”

The Second Wind was an interactive lore series offered to Beta-test signups. The story choices were voted on weekly over 10 weeks. The story will be minted into an NFT and offered in-game to those who registered bravely before the Project Nebula launch in Summer 2021!

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