UNCLAIMED SPACE- EDGE OF THE UNK322 SYSTEM

"Report!!!" John commanded as it felt like the Riptide got kicked in the guts. They had just transitioned into UNK322 and we were already in trouble.

"We have what remains of a micro-singularity off the starboard-aft side sir. It is not steady otherwise we would be dead already, it is in between collapsing and staying stable." Ensign Daniels called out from the Comm/Sensor station.

"Lt O'Hansen can you please try and get us out of here. Chief Letts, I apologize for the trouble but we are going to need everything you can give us from the engines. Tactical cut the stealth and put everything that isn't going to engines into the shields, please. Kate sound G.Q. and update the XO immediately." John commanded rapid fire. Micro-singularities (i.e. very small black holes) could not be picked up from deep space scans and was a bane for exploration ships like his.

"Sir, I have a crazy idea that will either kill us or save us. At the rate we are going we cannot pull away from the singularity, the ship will rip apart before we can do that. We can try to slingshot along the edge of it the next time it flickers out and try to pull away." O'Hansen came back.

John thought about it, the Lieutenant was not wrong. It was an insane risk, but it was the only one that might see them survive. "Do it. On your count Lieutenant"

5 Minutes later, the Riptide was away from the singularity and damaged but alive. 'Kate let Chief Letts know I want a damage report ASAP and an ETA for repairs. Keep all Engineer crews on until all critical systems are repaired and tell the Chief to pull anyone he needs to to get the Riptide up and running'

Ship Status-Riptide

Shields- 20%

Hull Status- 55%

Engines- Standby Mode (Damaged)

Warp Engine- Cooling Down (ETA 45 min, Damaged)

Fore Missile Tubes- Unarmed/Loaded (Damaged)

Aft Missile Tubes- Unarmed/Loaded (Damaged)

Pulse Cannons- Standby Mode (Damaged)

Point Defense Cannons- 50% Manned/Standby Mode

Stealth Suite- Standby Mode (Damaged)

Fusion Generator- 50% (Damaged)

So in other words, if they got into trouble they were fucked!!! "Ensign Daniels go active on the sensors, I want to know what is out there at all times and figure out if we have any more micro-singularities out there and work with Lt O'Hansen on plotting them. Get me your initial report ASAP. Jeeves help her out I am sure Kate is a little busy and won't mind the help. Lieutenant Johnson power down any weapons we don't need and get those missile tubes unloaded. I don't want any of them accidentally going off and gutting us. Launch the scout drones and have them start mapping this portion of UNK322." The bridge crew scrambled to get things done.

John pulled up both the tactical and system analysis that was starting to come in. Three, that's how many singularities they were picking up within a five-km radius. How the hell did the deep space scans miss this, they were spaced out enough to allow safe corridors though. "Sir, as you know Titan level class weapons have side effects. The micro-singularities are an effect of Phoenix missiles and will dissipate given time. We are picking up eight micro-singularities within ten Light Minutes but from initial scans and what we are picking up from the drones, they dissipate sun word. Due to the interference, we cannot say how many planets are in the system." Ensign Daniels reported.

'Chief Letts would like to see you as soon as possible Captain' Kate said.

"O'Hansen I have to go to Engineering. If you need me, let me know. The XO is on the secondary bridge and should be helping coordinate the repair work." John called out as he left the bridge.

Ten minutes later he walked into the Engineering section of the ship. It looked similar if a bomb had gone off...Chief Letts was pissed, to say the least, "Captain, as you can see we are in a little trouble down here. I need your permission to shut down the Fusion Generators to repair them. We will stagger the shut down so power will be a problem so we need to shut down everything we can. The repairs should take about two hours. Now the Pulse Engines are slightly out of alignment but we have repaired two of them so we can get moving at no more than ten percent speed. Once the Fusion Generators are repaired we can finish the repairs on the other Pulse Engines and we can start the repairs on the Warp Drive. Our initial assessment is that the warp drive will take five hours to repair, so in seven hours we will be able to make a jump. I would highly advise making all repairs before leaving this system." Chief Letts reported.

John nodded his head "We will be staying here until all repairs have been completed. I have standing orders to have all your Engineers on shift until all critical repairs have been completed and if you need to pull anyone else from other departments to assist with repairs let us know and we will get you the bodies." The Chief nodded and started barking orders to start powering down one of the Fusion generators.

As John walked on the bridge his XO looked up from her display showing an in-depth damage report of the Riptide. "I have already talked to the Chief, so I know it will be seven hours before we can leave. How is everything else?"

Lt. Commander Stein scowled "In all honesty, if we had a repair yard within one jump I would say put us in there to make repairs but we are too far away. the only thing that isn't broke in some way is atmosphere control. Almost all of our weapons have been pulled out of alignment. We are having to manually unload the missile launch tubes, we are leaking atmosphere, and we have micro fissures over half our hull. We have people working EVA to seal all the major leaks and that should be completed within four hours. Currently, all repairs should be completed within twenty-four to thirty-six hours max. The Marines are helping with that. We have twelve people in medical, four are critical but stable conditions."

John nodded at what she said and considered what orders he would give. "Ok in four hours make sure third shift is back in their racks, they will have six hours off. In six hours second shift will follow. Engineers will be exempt from those orders until Chief Letts says otherwise or I do. That includes you, Rebecca." She nodded and snapped a salute before activating her display again.

John headed to the bridge and took his station again "Lt O'Hansen coordinate with the XO, as soon as they finish critical repairs on the hull we will move out. When we due, do not increase speed over ten percent. I want to give the Chief as much time as we can to repair the engines. Lieutenant Johnson make sure our shields stay up, we got people working on the hull and I don't want anything hurting them. Ensign Daniels, I want a path mapped out so when we can move again I want us moved out of this field. Also, I want the edge of the system mapped out so we can leave without tearing our ship apart due to a micro-singularity. As soon as we are clear of this micro-singularity field I want the Comm-buoy deployed and update Fleet Command with what we found here and until we map out all the micro-singularities are mapped this system is on the NO-GO list for visiting or development."

6 Hours Later...

"We are clearing the micro-singularity field, engines are working well and at 10% of max propulsion. Initial scans of the inner system are coming up and you should be able to see them, Captain. Based on the Outer system and once we get some scans of the Inner System I think I will be able to tell you the full story of what happened here." Lt O'Hansen called out.

John pulled up his system display, Sun-Late Yellow age, 3 intact planets one of them being a Gas Giant, what appears to be a fragmented planet between planets two and three. The Scout drones were out and mapping the Outer system finding safe zones to drop into the system and pathways through the singularity fields. He brought up the Ship status to see how the repairs were going..

Ship Status-Riptide

Shields- 30% (ETA on Repairs 4 Hours until completion)

Hull Status- 75% (ETA on Repairs 10 Hours until completion)

Engines- Running 10% Capacity

Warp Engine- Standby Mode (ETA of Repair completion 1 hour)

Fore Missile Tubes- Unarmed/Unloaded (Damaged, ETA on Repairs 4 Hours until completion)

Aft Missile Tubes- Unarmed/Unloaded (Damaged, ETA on Repairs 4 Hours until completion)

Pulse Cannons- Standby Mode (50% Damaged, ETA on Repairs 4 Hours until completion)

Point Defense Cannons- 50% Manned/Standby Mode (30% Damaged, ETA on Repairs 6 Hours until completion)

Stealth Suite- Standby Mode (Damaged, ETA on Repairs 3 Hours until completion)

Fusion Generator- Online/Operating 40% Capacity

"Ok Lt O'Hansen set us on a course for the inner system if the Chief agrees, increase the speed I want to put us in orbit around the gas giant so we can finish repairs to the hull. I want as many repairs as completed as quickly as we can but we are not going anywhere until all repairs are completed, people. In three hours, first shift will be relieved by the second shift, we will be down for six hours before coming back on and reporting for repair duties people. So make sure all your department reports are updated I am sure you have a lot of information to leave for the next shift and will take some time to update so let's get to work. Ensign Daniels, I want a report on those planetary remains as soon as you can." John commanded.

Four Hours later John was in his quarters reading through the report on the system, it was a grim testament of what happened here. The Comm-buoy had been deployed and FleetComm had been updated with what had happened and the initial maps of the outer system had been sent.

INITIAL REPORT ON UNK322...

UNK322: Sun is yellow in the late stages and within the next thousand years should turn into a Red Dwarf star

UNK322-1: This planet shows former mining operations and still has large deposits of exotic materials usually not seen on planets, former mining operations have been destroyed by orbital bombardment

UNK322-2: This planet has no significant mineral deposits and very little atmosphere if an atmosphere could be developed this planet could be settled

UNK322 Planet Remains: This planet was in the Green Zone, three continents and based on scans was heavily developed with 23 known major population centers (Population estimate 1.3 Billion minimum AT LEAST!!!), satellite facilities included orbital habitats and minor shipbuilding/repair facilities. Based on lack of radiation or singularities and the damage from the intact planetary parts it was likely destroyed by a Plasma Lance Titan Weapon (Focused Energy Beam that superheats a planetary core until it breaks the planet apart)

UNK322-3: Gas Giant with Helium 3 present, former processing facility remains are located in orbit

UNK322 System Notes: Micro-Singularities are located throughout the Outer System of UNK322, results of using Phoenix missiles throughout the outer system. Small corridors exist that are safe to travel and the Outer System does contain some safe areas that can be used to drop out of warp. The third planet was destroyed during the Thrax Rebellion with over 1 billion lives lost.

Time for some sleep, they still had plenty of repairs to do tomorrow.