DTI Starhopper - Current Mission - Investigate Anomalous readings in Sector X87

"Good morning sir! The galactic time is 0800. We are set to arrive in Sector X87 in a few hours. I suggest you wake up and get ready."

The greeting I had been expecting for weeks had finally come. After 3 weeks of traveling on Ion thrust after our WarpDrive started to display issues from the anomaly even so far out, we have finally arrived. Sitting up in bed I swung my digitigrade legs over the side of my bed and stepped onto the cold metal floor. "Thanks for the wakeup call Ziggy. Get the Coffee brewing and the suit charging, I've got a feeling I'm gonna need it."

"Of course sir! Coffee is brewing and will be waiting for you in the cafeteria. Your suit has been activated, I'm prepping its Operating System now."

Ok time to start the day, Walking over to my Wardrobe I pulled out the standard-issue jumpsuit that they give ships like this. Unfortunately, since the jumpsuit was designed to fit underneath the spacesuit it is incredibly tight. Like form-fitting skin tight. The suit is white and blue, with the letters D,T,I plastered across the chest. To compensate for the skin tightness I brought along several pairs of black cargo shorts. Slipping on a pair of shorts I felt my tail pop through the hole I had to cut in the back. Unfortunately with most of the company being humans none of the clothes were designed with my anatomy in mind, so I had to make some edits to the design. And by edits I mean I straight took a knife to the back end of all my clothes.

Walking over to the bathroom I brushed my teeth and rinsed out the hair on my head. Normally I'd take a long shower but I've started to run out of water. Looking in the mirror I saw the familiar form of me, A tall red fox with black arms and paws, The pads on my paws were a black color. My amber eyes with white sclera and my dark red hair that reaches down to my shoulders. I usually like to keep it short but I haven't been to a barber in weeks. My long digitigrade legs that allow me to move at speeds humans couldn't dream of. And my big fluffy ears that hear all.

Opening the mirror cabinet I pulled out my Mechanics Goggles and put them on around my neck. Though I don't remember where I got the goggles they've been with me my whole life, so I take them everywhere I go. To the point that if I don't have them on then the other people at DTI get worried and ask me where my goggles are. Turning I opened the door to the bathroom and proceeded out of my quarters and to the Cafeteria. As I came up to the door It slid open automatically.

And of course, as I walked in the Coffee was already ready. "Thanks, Ziggy, Don't know what I'd do without you." Taking the cup I downed It in one swig and proceeded to the stairwell.

"Are you sure you don't wanna eat something? You still have time."

"I do have time, yes, but I wanna spend that time readying the pod. Now that we are closer I want to update the shielding to the latest scanner data from the anomaly. Also, I want to do Preflight checks."

"Understood sir, I'll begin gathering the relevant data."

Upon reaching the bottom floor I turned toward the Airlock. Walking into the suit storage area I saw my Orange MiningSuit charged and ready to go. Now before you question why I brought a MiningSuit here Just know that suits are expensive and This ship is usually sent to rim worlds to mine resources and bring them back. But no matter how many times I told DTI that the Starhopper was never designed for this kind of thing they just didn't listen. Kept saying all their other ships were busy. When I reported that the jump drive had become scrambled by the anomaly they just told me to fly here on Ion Thrust.

Well, no time to complain now. Taking off my shorts I slid them into a locker and began to disassemble the suit so that I may put it on. After removing the jetpack/oxygen tank I removed the helmet and slid the suit off of the port. Unzipping the back I slipped into it and zipped it back up. Luckily THIS suit had me in mind, and it had an extension for the tail. after that, I put on the Jetpack/Oxygen tank and attached all of the tubes. And lastly, I put on the helmet, and immediately my HUD began to boot up. "Alrighty Ziggy, Begin Suit Checklist."

"You got it, sir! Oxygen Levels?"
"100%"
"HydrogenFuel Levels?"
"100%"
"Suit Battery Percentage?"
"100%"
"Suit Communications Antenna"
"Operating Normally, At least inside the ship."
"Suit Spotlights?"
The spotlights attached to the Ear Portion of the helmet lit up the entire room for a few seconds before clicking off.
"Operational"

"Suit checklist complete, you are clear to begin your workday."
"Thanks, Ziggy, Get that scanner data to my suit's PDA."
"Will do!"
And with that, I walked into the airlock that lead into the main vehicle bay. Walking out of the other side I once again took note of the 2 vehicles in the bay. The SurvivalTruck that I designed to assist with mining missions. While Ziggy flew the ship she would bring us above a drop zone, from there I would climb into the truck and drop out the bottom door. The parachutes were designed to bring it to a gentle landing, even at full cargo capacity. The second vehicle in the room is the only vehicle in this sector NOT designed by me. It's a Surveyor Probe, Designed for scanning the anomaly and beaming the info back to the Main Ship via Laser Antenna.

Walking up to the probe I pulled up my PDA on my left are to view the new Data, only to find none. "Ziggy?"
"I'm sorry sir, sensors are completely scrambled. We've got no eyes outside the ship."
"Ziggy! this is something you tell me! you are flying the ship and without sensors, YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW CLOSE WE ARE!!!!" Rushing towards the bridge I burst through the door and strapped myself into the helm. Opening the blast doors covering the viewport I almost shit myself.

There in front of the Starhopper was the biggest vortex I've ever seen. It looks like a portal but I don't want to find out the hard way. "ZIGGY FIRE RETRO ROCKETS!!!" And with that, the blast of the Starhoppers RetroRockets filled my ears with a mighty roar. But it did nothing. "Ziggy report!"
"We're caught in the gravity well, sir! We don't have the thrust to escape!"
"Seriously? I told them this ship wasn't designed for this! Beam out a distress signal!"
"Communications are down sir!"

I was about to respond when suddenly an explosion rocked the ship and the thrusters stopped making noise. "Ziggy report!"

"That was the engines overheating and exploding! We're being pulled in!"
Well that's it then, Only one thing to do now. "Ziggy! Activate Seige mode!"

"Seige mode activated! Blast doors closing, Diverting all power to energy shields!"
The blast doors in front of me slammed shut and a barrier of blue hexagonal shapes formed over the exterior of the ship. The next thing I heard was "Its been an honor sir" from Ziggy before my vision went dark.

Author's Note

Hello friends and foes! how has your night been? mine's been great! Just pumped out a new chapter for a whole new story which I HOPE can live up to the old ones that I lost. Unfortunately, the old ones do seem to be lost for good. So I hope you enjoy this new one! See you guys in the next one!

-FixerFox