Sci-Fi Apocalypse - M lf F

Started by Lrrr, May 30, 2017, 02:32:51 PM

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Lrrr

I began writing an RP with a wonderful partner quite a while ago, and it ended for various reasons as many stories do here on E.  But the idea never left my head and I'd like to try it again if I can find an interested writing partner.  The plot is quite open, with only the starting point and a general idea of where I'd like to have the story lead for guidance at this point.

Nilos is one of the largest human/humanoid settlement planets other than Earth.  Four major cities have been established and the infrastructure has been in place for decades now.  The planet is mostly desert, but there are two oceans and a number of places that receive enough rain to be habitable.

Our characters have been sent to Nilos for different reasons.  Mine is an engineer who was sent to upgrade/repair the main reactor on the planet, and you may choose whatever reason suits you for your character being on the transport.  Because of the time required to travel the vast interstellar spaces, they've been in cryosleep during the journey.  The starting post below lays out the initial situation.

So far as where the story goes, the original intent was to have our characters establish a relatively safe area as best they can.  MC is an engineer and mostly works on getting power systems, communications, etc. back online, but he's not afraid to use a weapon when required.  YC can have whatever skills you wish, with the proviso that she's not an expert at everything the two of them need to accomplish.  I.e. - no superwoman characters who magically know how to fix everything in the city.

And with that, here is the original starting post - subject to change of course!


This was idiotic!  He was Max Huller, a 32 year old Specialist Engineer, rank E-14.  He had over ten years experience and he'd been assigned to Nilos to repair and upgrade their main fusion reactor and all associated facilities.

Now he found himself stuck in a cryotube for five hours after he was automatically woken.  He knew he was on an automated transport, but where were the techs to help him recover from two years of sleep?  And why wasn't there any sound of the ship being unloaded?  The cargo contained quite a few critical items, including some he needed to upgrade the reactor.  It should have taken only ten minutes for the dock crews to get the hatches open and the loaders going.

Shit!  Pounding on the polycarbonate cover would be useless.  But there was another option.  He had to arch his back - hard.  Reaching beneath the tilted platform he lay on, his fingers first found the small cover, then the small notch meant to be a receptacle for an N313 square head retractor.  His fingers weren't square, but he was willing to apply enough pressure to force some tissue into the recess.  It would make him bleed and would hurt like hell, but it would also cause the panel to tilt inward and provide access to the control circuit.

Working behind his arched back and from memory made for slow progress, but after an hour he was ready to try.  The electric arc caused his entire body to jerk, but the small whoosh as the cover opened and the slight pressure difference equalized elicited a small cry of "Yes!".

He couldn't walk at all, so he fell to his hands and knees.  Trying to get to the forward hatch, he felt his hands being scraped by the decking, finally noticing it was badly corroded.  What the hell?  Looking around, everything was badly corroded and much of it looked as if it hadn't been touched in a long time.  A very long time.  There was still some power, but the emergency lighting was the only thing active and it barely glowed a dull amber.

His face felt dry and itchy and rubbing it revealed why.  He'd expected some stubble, but not a full beard.  It was clear he'd been in cryosleep far longer than the two years the trip had taken.

The hatch controls had no power and to get it open he had to operate the manual ratchet until what little strength he had was exhausted.  If he hadn't been a such a big man at 6'4" and 230 lbs, he'd never have gotten it open.

He didn't know how long he had been resting to regain his strength, but it didn't matter.  With the hatch open, he was in the gangway leading to the bridge, and in a few minutes he'd traversed it and fallen into the captain's chair.

There was no power, no activity, nothing at all happening on the ship.  The chronometer was dead, so no idea of the date and time there.  Staggering to the airlock, another agonizing effort with the manual mechanism got the latches retracted.  Now it was only a matter of pulling it inward and open.

The view was shattering.  The walkway wasn't there.  Hell, the terminal was barely there - only a few disintegrating walls and whatever massive items had been in the building.  The rest of the view was just as desolate - a dead city.  A long dead city.  What the hell was going on?

His legs hung from the lower edge of the hatch, some fifty meters above the ground.  His head hung from his shoulders, barely a half meter above the deck.  It was all gone and there was no hope of bringing it back.  It had taken many years for the ship and city to reach this state, and since nobody had come to aid its inhabitants, the other three cities on the planet were probably in the same condition.  He was likely the only living person left on Nilos.

The thought of spending the rest of his life alone had terrified him at first, then he simply became numb.  He could try to find food and water, but what was the point?  He'd wander this planet alone and how long would it take to lose his sanity?  He sat without thinking, the twin moons slowly rising and then setting.  He wasn't tired - he'd slept enough for the rest of his life it seemed, although he wondered just how long that would be.

If I've been online here on E but I haven't replied to your post or message, there are several possible reasons - none of which involve ignoring you.  Be patient - I'm worth it.
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