Exploration Date: Month 6, Day 17, 09:34

Location: Skylark’s Bridge

     The massive ship lurched heavily, its engines reverting back to cruise mode after having worked overtime for almost an hour. The Skylark had just exited its Warp Mode, slowing down to almost a stop just out of orbit of a never before seen planet. The sword-shaped spacecraft was enormous in size, powered solely by its tearium core. Hardly any time had really passed since the quest to search for either a new home or for a powerful energy source began, and already the Spiral Knights had found a lead.

     “Captain Ozlo!” Along the floor of the bridge, rows of varying displays of the Skylark flashed on screens. Technicians sat in front of each monitor, pressing buttons and typing out commands on the control consoles in front of them. Above them, on a slightly raised platform with a larger custom chair in the middle, Ozlo sat dozing off. Upon hearing his name, he pulled his captain’s hat off his face and sat up in his seat. It took a second for his glowing purple eyes to find the owner of the voice he’d heard: in the second row, third seat, a technician was standing at attention. “Sir, the Skylark has reached the location of the powerful energy signature. Its origins seem to be resonating deep under the surface of the planet itself.” The captain nodded, and turned his gaze out towards the planet.

     It was easily twice the size of Isora. Soft white clouds created a thin veil over part of the planet. The surface itself looked to be a mishmash of hexagonal and octagonal puzzle pieces forced together, not quite fitting just right to be whole, but enough to create continuous masses of land. Each piece varied in shades of green and brown, most of them likely covered in fields and forests or deserts. The northern pole of the planet had dozens of tan and gray mountains, some large enough that they must have neared the atmosphere itself. Just south of the mountain ranges, a massive chasm ran down a third of the planet’s longitude. There was nothing there: no ocean, no land, just what seemed to be a hollow area on the planet’s surface, as if pieces of land had been ripped out.

     The Skylark was positioned too far north to get a glimpse of the southern pole. Ozlo wasn’t exactly sure which poles were north or south; he could have them swapped and be none the wiser. But he was sure those were indeed the planet’s poles. The massive, golden spire protruding from the top of the planet was a giveaway, and it had an even larger golden arm stretching its way around to the other side of the planet. The arch seemed to reach outside of the planet’s atmosphere, but what its purpose could possibly be was not as obvious as the structure itself.

     “Well, I can’t imagine we’re the first sentient beings to have come across this planet…” the captain mumbled to himself, stroking his long grey beard. He stood up from his chair and called out a name: “Kora!”

Immediately, a short figure ran up from the rows of consoles below him. “Yes, Captain Ozlo?” Kora adjusted her round glasses to keep them from slipping away from her glowing amber eyes. She saluted before stealing a glance at the brand new world just beyond the ship’s windows. Ozlo chuckled, and returned to his seat.

     “At ease, Kora.” The captain gestured to the planet. “It’s incredible, isn’t it? In almost no time at all, and we’ve found a potential source of power for Isora.” The captain let out a soft sigh and smiled to himself. “To think my time running this ship might come to an end far sooner than I’d imagined. And this chair is so comfy too.” He muttered the last part to himself mostly, shifting in his seat. He glanced over at Kora, who was trying to hide a smile.

     “I’m afraid I wouldn’t know, sir. As many times as you’ve called me over for various reports these past few months, you have yet to give me a chance to relax in it.”

     “Ah, well, you know I’m not the best at sharing. Just one of the reasons I wanted to be the sole member of the Spiral Order sent on this quest.” He reached into his right pocket and pulled out one of his last two cigars. Kora rolled her eyes.

     “Do we have to do this again, Captain Ozlo? You know smoking is prohibited on the flight deck and bridge per Spiral Order-”

     “Oh bite me!” the captain shouted, reaching into his other pocket for a small box. Kora looked across the vast array of monitors and the knights sitting in front of them. Not one set of eyes looked away from their screens. Ozlo raised the silver box to the cigar in his mouth, clicked a button on it and a short flame burst forth, singeing the edge and lighting it. “That’s another reason I wanted to be the only Spiral Order member on this ship. So I wouldn’t be hounded for breaking some small rules here and there. You know by now how ‘lax I take things. Life isn’t all about following the book and regulations. Although being towards the top of your class from Isora’s best university, I can’t imagine you’d really agree with that ideology, huh?"

     Despite not being very capable on the battlefield, Kora had been recommended as an assisting officer to Captain Ozlo by some of the best knights he had ever met. With her tactical skills and reasoning capabilities, Kora had become a well respected Intelligence Agent, and was just as well known for being a stickler for the rules. Contrastly, Captain Ozlo, despite being the oldest member on board the Skylark, refused to be held back by traditions and guidelines. Life was too short a journey to follow every rule out there. And one way or another, Ozlo was sure he would be reaching his destination soon.

     “Anywho,” the captain continued, waving his arm, cigar in hand, gesturing to nothing in particular. “What’s your take on all this?”

     “For the crew, you mean? Or the ship? The planet itself? Or…? ” she left the question hanging, unsure how to respond.

     “Aye,” the captain replied, grinning. The Intel Agent sighed, and brought around a small tablet from her belt. It gave off a yellow projection into the air, just a foot away from it. It was a bullet list. A long one.

     “Well, since you asked... “ Kora said, clearing her throat. Ozlo let out a heavy sigh as he slumped in his captain’s chair. He motioned for her to continue. He'd asked for it, and Kora enjoyed talking about scientific data and research findings just as much as he enjoyed taking things easy and overly casual. “The ship is in tip top shape; engines are cooling nicely and the tearium core is still fully functional after the warp jump. The crew is continuing maintenance on levels 7 to 9, just to be safe, and most of the recruits' training has already been overseen by Euclid and Parma. As for this new discovery... “ Kora’s voice trailed off again as she gazed back out the windows. “To be entirely honest sir, it’s almost a miracle to have found any major energy sources at all at this point. Even with such long range scanners on the Skylark and our Warp Drive capabilities, with how long we’ve been searching, the chances of us finding anything this powerful are slim to none. About one in-”

     “Okay, but how powerful are we talking, exactly?” the captain interjected, trying to spare himself any amount of excess information he didn’t find relevant. Kora rolled her eyes again and swiped up on her tablet, bringing up more data.

     "More than enough, that's for sure." She walked up a few steps and handed the tablet over to her superior, and continued. "The Skylarks scanners can cover a wide range of energy signatures, but whatever the source of this energy signal is, it's emitting more energy than the ship is able to gauge, and we cannot verify what type of energy it is: nuclear, solar, or anything of the sort. It could be a brand new form of energy for all we know. Also," Kora continued, leaning towards the captain and lowering her voice, "we aren't able to confirm this theory without an actual investigation, but several of our geologists are suggesting that while there appear to be pockets of energy throughout the planet, the core of the planet itself or something very close to it is the source for said unknown energy." The captain glanced up from the tablet, eyebrow raised.

     "The core, you say? I hope we brought enough shovels then," he chuckled. He took a final glance over the data on the tablet before handing it back and stood up. "ALL HANDS!" his voice boomed. Everyone on the deck quickly stood at attention, turning to salute their captain. "The Skylark has identified a potential power source that could be used to save our homeworld. Prepare yourselves! We know not what waits for us upon the surface of this new planet." He stopped and turned to the knight still at his side. "Kora, tell your old pal Parma to get ready; Alpha squad will be leading the expedition. And alert the recruits, tell them their training is about to pay off.” Kora nodded and headed back to her post. “Now," the captain continued, turning his attention to the planet, "begin preparations for descent! Whatever happens, we must find a way to harness this power-"

     BWOOP, BWOOP, BWOOP. The captain's orders were interrupted by the sound of an alarm and red lights going off, and several screens on the deck started flashing various colors. Ozlo sighed and collapsed in his chair again. "Of course it wouldn't be so simple," he muttered to himself. "Somebody, give me a sit-rep! What's got the alarms going off?" Hands were already flying frantically across keyboards and monitors, with the alarm still blaring. The captain took his cigar out of his mouth and smashed it into the ashtray attached to the left arm of his chair. He sat forward, trying to catch any bit of info from the chatter among the room. Tearium core and all engines were stable… unless there was an issue that got overlooked, it must be an external issue then?

     As Ozlo sat, gazing over the flight deck and his crew working desperately, he noticed a dot of pink light on the window. He squinted, trying to decide if it were a reflection or if the light was originating from the planet below them. It hadn’t been there a minute ago, so where could it have come from? "Captain! Energy signatures are shifting!" A crew member's voice rang out, but Ozlo didn't turn away from the light. "Captain? What should… wait, it's gone? Sir, the energy signatures are shifting again! I’ve never seen anything like-" As soon as the words reached his ears, Ozlo noticed a faint twinkling in the light he was staring at. Then it seemed to grow brighter. And brighter. The captain brought his fist down on a large yellow button on the right arm of his chair.

     "ALL HANDS, BRACE FOR IMPACT!" The command had barely been ordered when the window was suddenly engulfed in pink.