[Breaking] Sensational Message Received From Deep Space Explorer

Sensational Message Received From Deep Space Explorer

The Thessian Observer

SYNFONIX/THESSIA – Two days ago, a long-range reconnaissance outpost on the rim of Asari space reported a strange signal from the Mankina Cluster. This large yet unexplored region of stars beyond relay travel is mostly known for its high density of radio stars which hinder detailed reconnaissance and measurements from explored space. As more details were accumulated, Space Patrol today held a press conference to present an astonishing discovery: after hours of detailed measurements in front of the intense background noise, the signal could be identified as a radio beacon carrier wave originating from a space vessel nearing Asari space.

A local alert was issued at 18:00 GST, sending a wing of fighters to the undisclosed station, but as time went on, the signal became clear enough to establish a connection on the carrier wave. By 1:00 GST, an initial text message could be received, reading “Asari ship Star of Athame requesting permission to approach. Crew and ship is safe, mission accomplished. Signed: Captain Sindi,” followed by the ship’s registration code.

The result has been nothing less than a sensation, as the Star of Athame was a deep space exploration vessel that set out into the cluster 324 standard years ago under the Command of Captain Lir Sindi and the scientific leadership of Doctor Askessa T’Vell. Contact with the vessel was lost three years after its initial exploration, and after a period of 50 years the mission was declared MIA. The ship’s return marks a new record for deep space vessels reappearing after radio silence.

Having established text-based contact with the Star of Athame, authorities expect that the ship will reach stable holotransmission distance within days. However, declassified transmissions revealed by Space Patrol have already drawn a fascinating time capsule, including nine crew member losses, three newborns, 196 mapped planetary systems, 122 explored planetary surfaces, and 34 garden worlds (three of which may have once been occupied by sentient life). The mission has also recovered a 35,000-year-old space probe of unknown origin.

The end of the transmission read: “And what’s new in C-Space? Signed: Cpt. Sindi, Dr. T’Vell”

Space Patrol has not disclosed their reply, but state that the ship and her crew shall be briefed by Matriarch historians about events which have changed the face of the galaxy. The organization has also confirmed that the crew aboard the ship had neither encountered Reapers nor even knew of their existence. The Star of Athame itself has been redirected to a secure, undisclosed facility for quarantine and psychological treatment.

Someone's in for a bit of a surprise, it seems.

Wow... So much to tell us... And they have so much to learn too... It's amazing.

The geth, humans, reapers... yeah they are in for a few surprises, but so are we. I can only imagine the amount of data they brought back and this probe? Fascinating.

Hmm, reminds me of when they found the survivors of the Manswell expedition a couple years back.

Can't imagine what it must be like to cut off from the galaxy for nearly three centuries, especially with the events of the past year.

Imagine, when they come back the relays are broken, the Citadel's over a specie they never heard about's planet, we're suddenly buddies with an AI species, the quarians are in suits, Thessia's in ruins...

That is kind of taking the big break from society.
They must have seen wonders. Maybe some of their findings will be disclosed.
A completely unexplored region of space. Imagine that!

some shit got fucked up.

not hard to explain at all.

My god that's a long time to be stuck out there.

They should ask you to debrief them, you seem to know how to keep it concise and to the point :)

fucking seriously.

It's like being stuck next to that one guy that won't shut the fuck up. Except for 324 years. Fuck. I'm surprised they didn't just kill each other.

This one believes it is beginning to develop a new appreciation for how the asari lifespan must inform their worldview. This one must also admit to feeling both a little envy and a little sorrow regarding the reapperance of the vessel and those aboard. The former because the crew of this ship avoided the dreadful days of the Darkening, and while ignorance is at odds with Enkindler virtues and these ones' purpose as thinking beings, that cannot help but seem to this one a boon regardless. Sorrow, because so much of what the others on this ship knew is lost or in disrepair, and they did not experience the tempest that made it thus and have no context of experience for dealing with the current state of things. This one hopes that the crew will not be unmoored.

Here's hoping their reintegration into modern society goes well. If they missed out on the Reapers, then they missed out on the worst part of it by far, but they're going to have one mountain of culture shock to climb.

I guess at one time pretty early on without communication they had to make a decision. Being overly curious asari, they just took the dive and went in all the way. That was why they set out in the first place anyway. I guess wen can hardly imagine what wonders hey must have seen so they didn't turn around earlier!

And I think, when you just explored unknown space for a couple centuries you might be able to deal with rediscovering the known galaxy as well. I hope we hear more from them.

Goddess, incredible... It's difficult, of course, not to think how overwhelming recent history will no doubt be for the Star's crew, how much they have to catch up on.

But I was wondering, too, mightn't it work both ways? We, all of us, have a lot of their experiences, what they've discovered, to 'catch up on' - not the stars and planets they've mapped (although that's monumental enough), but the lives they've lived and the people they are. We all lived through the war, through the fall of Thessia - I don't mean to trivialise any of the other tragedies, but that was such a colossal blow to, to how we think about who we are, as a species. We were wrong - arrogant, to think we had a home that would always be safe, no matter what - but realising such a fundamental error can shake your faith in a lot of things, make it difficult to believe in anything. These people will have to cope with so much, but perhaps having escaped that - not the knowledge of what happened, but the moment where it seemed Thessia may be lost forever - will temper their grief, seeing the rebuilding, not the fall. Perhaps history will look back on the Star's crew as emissaries of the asari we were, and want to be, when a lot of us are having trouble feeling certain that we still can be.

I have to say I was expecting an insult or something.

Speaking of space explorers, anybody heard from that turian guy who was posting here?

This one does not envy the crew of the Star of Athame. To suddenly have all of one's certainties undone is a terrible experience.