COMMENCING MANEUVER NODE 354 OF 354. TURNING TO HEADING 102 FOR 67.43 METER PER SECOND DELTV CHANGE…..BURN COMPLETEALL MANEUVERS COMPLETE. ATMOSPHERIC ENTRY IN 104 CYCLES.
The cruiser Omeg7 had now completed most of its 95 year long journey to the nearest star, with its only remaining survivor onboard, the onboard AI was now busy working out how to secure the survival of the last crewmember…
ATMOSPHERIC ENTRY IN 0.2 CYCLES.
RUNNING SIMULATION #999994312325…. FAILURE: SUBJECT FATALITY DUE TO REENTRY HEATING
RUNNING SIMULATION #999994312326…. FAILURE: SUBJECT FATALITY DUE TO REENTRY HEATING
RUNNING SIMULATION #999994312327…. FAILURE: SUBJECT FATALITY DUE TO REENTRY HEATING
Running through millions of simulations a second on how to make a successful reentry without the death of the last person that could comand it, the AI seemingly tried to outrun the ever larger planet. Over the last weeks the AI had gradually slowed the speed Omeg7 was heading towards the planet by firing the now last operational thruster away from the planet so the s.h.i.+p would hit the atmosphere at a correct angel, too high and the s.h.i.+p might not slow down enough and just miss the planet, too low and the s.h.i.+p might hit the surface too fast, killing Dax in the progress.
ATMOSPHERIC ENTRY IN 0.1 CYCLES.
RUNNING SIMULATION #999999999537…. SUCCESS: CRUISER OMEG7 CONSIDERED A LOWER PRIORITY THAN COMMANDER DAX. ACTIVATING ALL NAn.o.bOTS FOR EMERGENCY RETROFIT…..COMPLETE: TIME TO ATMOSPHERIC ENTRY: 2 HOURS AND 14 MINUTES
TIME TO RETROFIT: 2 HOURS AND 10 MINUTES
CALCULATING SURVIVAL OF COMMANDER DAX: 97.4%...SYNCHRONIZING INTEL WITH DAX INTEGRATED AI DESIGNATION: INTEGRATED COMBAT INTELLIGENCE V20.5 "OMEGA"....SUCCESS
SHUTTING DOWN HIGHER FUNCTIONS TO ACCELERATE RETROFIT
ICI V7.45 ALL FUNCTIONS COMPLETE….G.o.dSPEED
Omeg7 getting ever closer to the planet now started to change, the black hull was slowly covered in a grey mist and large pieces of hull started to be ejected from the mist, the onboard AI had reached the conclusion to sacrifice the s.h.i.+p to save Dax.
The first large part to separate from the s.h.i.+p was the propulsion unit comprised of the huge array of now silent thrusters and the main reactor with its s.h.i.+elding and cooling systems surrounding it. After separation several cold gas thrusters on the propulsion unit lit up, turning the whole thing sideways before the last operational thruster completed its final a.s.signment: to move the reactor as far away from Dax as possible, in the event that the landing or reentry heating would set it off. It didn"t make it far however, as only a few seconds after reaching full output the last remaining main thruster exploded, likely because of a error in the fuel lines as a result of the long duration without maintenance. Still it managed to separate a little, and the distance only grew as time pa.s.sed.
The next part to go was the hangar and storage, inside the hangar the last operational light transports and guns.h.i.+ps were being covered in a thick layer grey layer of nan.o.bots, seemingly in an effort to work as shock absorbers. Inside the storage area the same thing was happening to large parts to the armory and the drone storage, as the AI had decided that these things would increase Dax"s changes of survival. Inside and around the fire control room where Dax was located was the place the largest change was happening, as everything other than Dax, the chair he was fixed to and the armor surrounding the fire control room was being reclaimed for his survival.
The nan.o.bots broke down everything from control panels to the deceased crew and used it to plug and reinforce the damaged armor plating before spreading throughout the now empty fire control room, and turning into a foam-like substance.
Omeg7 had now completed the most aggressive retrofit in galactic history, and only the propulsion unit had somewhat retained its shape, and was slowly moving away from the rest of the debri field. The rest of the remaining s.h.i.+p where now etier floating around in small cl.u.s.ters or cannibalized for heat s.h.i.+elding of more vital components, and several large gray and black b.a.l.l.s made from parts of hull and nan.o.bots where the only ones left.
The several "orbs" and the propulsion unit where now only minutes from hitting the outer layers of the atmosphere, and as they did slowly a layer of magnetic plasma formed outside the orbs as the high amount of friction broke up, charged, and compressed the surrounding air molecules. Some of the orbs could however not take the high amount of heat and broke up, while others outright exploded as they ether had held fuel or explosive munitions that had heated up past their ignition point. The orb Dax was inside didn"t break op or explore as several layers of reclaimed hull and nan.o.bot foam worked as a ablative heat s.h.i.+eld, transferring the excess heat away from the orb as it slowly broke up in a controlled manner. About 5 minutes into the reentry, the plasma flares surrounding the surviving orbs subsided and were replaced by shockwaves as they had now slowed down to supersonic speeds by the lower, denser, parts of the atmosphere. Then came impact, or lithobraking as the AI would have labeled it, about 30 seconds before the orbs impacted with the surface the outer part of nan.o.bots that survived reentry heating, all changed into the foam like state, tripling the size of the surviving orbs to act like a airbag and short lived drogue chute. The orb made from the former fire control room where Dax was located landed in a dense forest, carbonising the nearby trees, and even turning some of the dirt and sand to gla.s.s, leaving a several kilometer long trail of carnage before finally stopping.
inside the orb the cybernetic parts of Dax started to power on, and the HUD on his visor displayed a single message
PLANET FALL SUCCESSFUL. SUSPENDING CRYOGEN AND MOVING TO REANIMATION SEQUENCES. INITIALISERING INTEGRATED AI: ICI V20.5 "OMEGA".