Crashing. That is what we are now doing. Felt it a few days ago, a gentle pull on things. Really should have looked out all the windows, but we were so focused on trying to get back to the rest of the ship. Focused on trying to get systems like the drives, computers, and sensors, to come back online and stay that way. Arl saw it first from the command module when sensors finally came online. The proximity warning our first indication that the sensors were finally coming online and that what he had tried, worked. Just our luck to have a planet in our path of travel.
I suppose we should be thankful the sensors came back when they did. At least we got some warning. We have all worked very hard to make sure that the shields are running with as much power as we can give them. It is going to be a rough ride, but the engines and drives in all the modules, even the actual Drive module, are still not working. The sensors that are working, are very basic. Mostly optical scanning and some basic radar, which is what triggered the proximity alert.
They did give us the assurance that the planet is habitable, at least it appears to be. Not picking up any dangerous substances in the atmosphere, pressure doesn't seems crazy like that one Void System world, and there is ample water. That is however, all we know.
I am hoping that after we actually get into the atmosphere of this world, that the atmospheric flight systems will work and we can control our decent, landing safely, after crashing into the planets atmosphere. We tried to slow down, tried to turn and slip into orbit. Just cannot seem to get the systems running, and the AI's are still not operational. They came up for a few minutes, experienced a failure, and shut down. Only the Viteză Furie's original systems are working, and even then, not all of them.
At least the thrust of the probes got us closer together. I can see the rest of the ship as a brilliant star in the distance.
There is no telling how strong the gravity is on this world. We are still quite far from each other, and we are both going to crash into it, so it is not a small world. I only hope that the surface gravity isn't crushing, or this crash will be our final destination. We will be separated, but I hope that it won't be by so much as to make communication impossible.
We cannot stop, but the probes can, and so we are having the probes fall into high orbit in hopes that, if nothing else and we end up on distant sides of this world, the probes can act as relays. Though again, this assumes we survive making it to the surface, and the surface doesn't kill us outright once there. I really wish we were not as crippled as we are. At least the shields are running, so we will survive the initial impact with the atmosphere. What happens from there remains to be seen.
There is nothing for me to do, nothing for us to do but hang on. I've quadruple checked that everything is locked down, tied down, and secure. I've gone over the power overrides, and everything is routed into the shields. Confirmed it for Arl, and Liss remotely as well. They have the autopilot, and it seems to be working, so they are going to try and use that to get them to the ground as close to me as possible. I don't have that option, so I'm going to be flying the Lounge, to the best of my ability, using my implants. The fly-by-wire functionality seems to be working, but the manual controls appear frozen, might have a cable severed. I'm guessing here, however. If we survive making it to the surface, without too much damage, I will try and figure it out.
I'm really hoping that the atmospheric flight systems work, and I can pilot us to be near the rest of the ship. There are so many things in play, and I can do nothing for now but watch as the planet looms ever larger. We don't even have time for me to do a space-walk and make sure that the flight control surfaces will deploy. We just have to hope they work.
It is rather funny to me now, as I sit here in the lounge, strapped down to the couch, along with Jen and Edix. We are watching the forward cameras, waiting for the tell tail signs of us touching the upper layers of the planets atmosphere. I mean. I have so many puzzles, so many questions unanswered from back home. From the hostile species that I ran into several times, in several different universes, to the question of who created the Speaker constructs, and why.
So many questions, and not one of them matters right now as I can only hang on and hope for the best. Hope that the shields hold. Hope that the flight systems work once in the atmosphere. Hope that we make it to the surface in one piece, and that it is not under crushing gravity, poisonous atmosphere, or both. Arl and Liss have strapped themselves into the command chair. I can see their fear on the cameras, and I cannot blame them. I have tried to be reassuring, but I feel just as much fear as they do in this moment.
We are crashing. There is no way around that now. The drive systems have refused to function. I wonder if there are any gods in this reality bubble that might listen to the prayer of someone from a different one. I am certain now that this is a different one, and not the reality bubble we came from. It is the issues we have been having with the systems. There is something just ever so slightly different here. Just enough to make some of the more complex systems not work, or not work well. Until we figure out what that difference is, we won't be able to get things really working right or well.
Instead, I am trying to put on a brave, confident face, for my companions holding onto each other, strapped to the command chair. I hold my other companions here in the Lounge with me tight, knowing I cannot do anything to protect them, and my ability to keep us from harm has all but evaporated.
I have dumped the entirety of the Logs, all the data I have, onto three different probes. Two are traveling off into deep space, in different directions, the other orbiting the planet with the other probes. If we don't survive, there will at least be that record