The Mendicant Light dropped out of hyperspace some ten kilometers from the target. March worked the controls, and the Gozanti-class cruiser’s engines fired up. Directional thrusters oriented the ship in the void and brought the target vessel into view through the fore viewport. March turned on the comms, and the distress signal echoed through the bridge.
“This is Gareda-class transport All Possible Worlds, requesting immediate assistance from any available ships. 22111. This is Gareda-class transport All Possible Worlds, requesting immediate assistance from any available ships. 22112. This is Gareda-class transport All Possible Worlds, requesting immediate assistance from any available ships. 22113. This is Gareda-class transport All Possible Worlds . . ."
“March, how long has that signal been transmitting?” Decker asked as he stepped through the door to join his pilot on the bridge.
“Ah, so it seems like it’s looping, Captain. That number on the end, right? I think that’s the number of times the signal’s been transmitted. It goes up by one every time it comes through.”
“. . . requesting immediate assistance from any available ships. 22116. This is Gareda-class transport . . .”
“Twenty-two thousand?”
“Yeah, so the message is about thirteen seconds in length, right? The message lasts about seven, and then there’s a six second pause before the signal transmits again. So we’re looking at,” March said, pausing mid-sentence to do some mental arithmetic, “yeah, about three days. Maybe three and a half.”
“That’s a long time to be drifting out here.”
“Yeah, not a lot of traffic in these parts. Could be we’re the only ones on this route.”
“Can’t imagine why,” Decker said, looking out into the void. They were in the middle of nowhere. Deadspace. No star, rock, moon, station, anything. Just the void, and the Gareda-class transport some eight kilometers out. The emptiness was unsettling. “The hell is a Gareda, anyway?”
“Local design, maybe? Never heard of it,” March answered. “It’s got universal docking, though. Pretty much all we need to know.”
“Let’s hail them, then.” Decker pressed a button on the command console. “All Possible Worlds, this is Mendicant Light. We are responding to your distress call, please advise on your situation.” He removed his finger from the button and waited. March looked at him. After a minute had passed, and the Gareda-class grew larger in the viewport, he pressed the button again. “All Possible Worlds, this is Mendicant Light, responding to your distress call, come in.”
“No one home, Captain?” March asked.
“Could be.” Decker pursed his lips as he thought. He took a closer look at the readout on the ship. “See if you can scan for life forms. They have life support online.” He pressed the button again. “All Possible Worlds, we are coming aboard to investigate.” Decker pressed another button, this one to address the crew of the Mendicant Light over the intercom. “This is your captain speaking, prepare to board.”
* * *
I’m interested in testing out a tabletop game in the play-by-post format here, using Final Fantasy Games’s Star Wars: Edge of the Empire system. My idea is to run a short one-shot that would serve as a prequel for a follow-up campaign if this goes smoothly enough to warrant a sequel. Like a proof of concept.
The game would use only the core rule book for Edge of the Empire. The players will play a boarding party from the Mendicant Light, investigating a mysterious distress call on a derelict vessel in the depths of space.
Let me know if you're interested. I've also a Discord server for this, feel free to join the #allpossibleworlds channel there to discuss further.
Discord