Timeline: 125-1143 to 127-1143

Emergency warnings sounded throughout the ship: the Rocinante had emerged from Jump 180 million klicks from a pulsar – the superdense remains of a supernova, with the most powerful magnetic field encountered by humankind. Captain Franklin ordered the ship to move away at full burn. Any closer and the ship would be subject exotic physics: the kind that turned hydrogen atoms into nano-scale spaghetti. The rest of the system was no less...interesting. A planetary nebula – the remains of the supernova explosion – filled most of the parsec and was interfering with sensors and communications. There was an asteroid belt, then two gas giants – the first with a belt and two satellites, the second with four moons. And between the pulsar’s ‘danger zone’ and the asteroid belt was an astrophysical anomaly – a hole in space-time indecipherable by the ship’s sensors.

Captain Franklin took the ship over the plane of the asteroid belt towards the far gas giant to refuel, scanning what she could of the near gas giant en route. Both moons were cold and small, with no sign of life or technology, however one had both water and a breathable atmosphere. The real surprise was the gas giant’s belt – composed of countless stricken starships and their debris. Cautious of the implications of this, the captain decided to keep on for the outer system. On the way, Neel took stock of the Rocinante’s damage: the ship’s heavy armour would need repairing in port, but was still spaceworthy. The Jump drive, however, needed replacement zuchai crystals, a new energy converter and an astrogation module. The ship arrived at the far gas giant and began wilderness refuelling while Karl scanned the nearby satellites: small, cold, barren and lifeless.

Not wanting to risk Jumping in such a hostile environment – and with a damaged drive – the captain decided to check out the derelict belt with a view to scavenging spare parts, food and perhaps some cryo pods in case they needed to stay in the system for a very long time. On the way, Neel and Walken recalibrated the ship’s probe to pick up comms signals within the nebula. The captain held the Rocinante 100,000 km from the belt, using the inner satellite as a half-way point, and launched the probe.

They had been particularly interested in one of the many vessels still broadcasting Signal GK via auto-transponder: Pardon My Vilani, the newest human vessel in the belt. The probe sent back disturbing images of a ship missing its entire engine assemblage. It also picked up short-range comms chatter – a melange of Galanglic, Gvegh, Vilani, Zdetl, Trokh and unknown tongues. Then the probe stopped communicating.

Sensors showed starships from the length and breadth of Charted Space – and beyond. Fossilised Hiver ships, cannibalised battleship hulks from the 4^th Frontier War, Aslan colonisation vessels and strange, alien designs hundreds – perhaps thousands – of years more advanced than anything the crew had seen littered the gas giant’s orbit. Among them, small vessels, perhaps at best no bigger than the Rocinante, flitted among the flotsam.

The captain, resolved to begin the salvage mission, chose her first target; a 1,200dT Imperial cargo vessel called Diamond Sun. The Rocinante docked via pressurised umbilical and Neel hacked the airlock – rather easily. Inside there was atmosphere, but no light or heat. Neel, Kemp and Karl entered while Jesus guarded the Rocinante’s airlock. Neel and Kemp headed through the silent darkness to the engineering deck while Karl went to find the bridge. There was a body in the co-pilot’s acceleration chair; decayed, fragile – neck snapped like a twig. The bridge’s weapons locker was empty, as was the armoury. Karl tried the ship’s mess: signs of struggle, energy weapon discharge – no bodies. Kemp searched the cargo hold: empty. Engineering was quiet as a grave. Neel got the auxiliary power plant running so Karl could access the ship’s log, then started to take apart the Jump drive with a ballpeen hammer. Two pristine zuchai crystals: paydirt. Walken ran a hardline into the Diamond Sun’s computer, but everything had been wiped. Karl had better luck in crew quarters, finding some old data pads containing personal entries. The Sun had been plying the Dagudashaag Main and misjumped – in 828 Imperial, 315 years ago. Neel found a passable five tonne energy converter and set about transferring it to the Rocinante. He jettisoned a rescue ball from the Sun, sealed the engineering section and opened it to space via the escape hatch. He then returned to the Rocinante and took the waldo EVA to retrieve the converter, using the entry he’d made.

Captain Franklin identified a more modern vessel to try for the remaining parts: a 200dT express boat called Friday. They docked as before, but found the lights on inside. Nobody was home. The bridge, cargo hold, data banks – empty. Neel and Kemp went to engineering – but Neel had unwisely taken off his vacc suit helmet. The floor was covered in fine crystals, with patches of larger – glowing - crystal seemingly having grown out of control panels and machinery. Neel’s head exploded in pain and he blacked-out. Kemp picked him up and ran for the airlock.

Simultaneously, a massive vessels appeared beside the Rocinante – out of nowhere. It was impossible for sensors not to detect something that large. Worse, the Rocinante was enveloped in an unknown type of energy field, and was moving. The away team ran for the umbilical, making it aboard the Rocinante just before it ripped away from the Friday. The Rocinante was drawn slowly into a giant bay. Captain Franklin recalled a tale told to her when she was younger...the story of the Hephaestus, the largest Solomani vessel ever constructed – one million tonnes’ displacement – designed to explore to the very edge of the galaxy. An enterprise so ambitious it destroyed the economy of an entire subsector and brought down a megacorporation. The Hephaestus went missing more than 3,000 years ago...

The mighty bay doors closed. A single transmission – Galanglic – was received: “Prepare to be boarded.” A squad of humanoids in Imperial battle dress approached the airlock. Dr. Hendricks brought Neel round, suspecting psionic assault. The captain ordered her crew to surrender and opened the door, whereupon the leader of their captors took of his helmet and asked if the crew cared for some dinner – fresh chicken, broccoli and broad beans. The man led the crew to a train running lateral the ship. Moments later, he led them past what appeared to be hydroponic farms to a large set of doors. Inside was a long wooden table and a man surveying a holo-display of something astrophysical, probably within the system. He turned around. “Welcome. My name is William Nine.”

Walken turned white.