Board Thread:Random RP/@comment-26084195-20160413054226/@comment-26084195-20160414050142

On Aaru, in the Neo-Babylon Institute of Technology...

Dr. Alexander Ichabod was where he normally was: staring through the observatory telescope.

"Philiss, make a note. Sector 1121-J has come up negative."

"Yes, sir." The computer nearby typed the words onto an electronic document all by itself. "Would you like me to E-mail that to the others?"

"Nah, not yet." He kept looking. Privately, he was thinking about how bored he was. Not too long ago he was making exciting leaps and bounds in science. Now he was reduced to being a politician as his full time job and staring constantly through a telescope on the side. Ugh.

But then he noticed something, something that got his attention immediately. "Could that be..."

Meanwhile, in the nearby chemistry lab, Dr. Reed was observing a mixture to see exactly what would happen and how long it would take. Until, that is, Dr. Ichabod burst in.

"Spencer! I've finally managed to find one!" He yelled.

"Woah, Alex, slow down. One what?"

"Another planet!"

"So? The odds of it being habitable are--"

"Oh please, I know the odds. But I've finally found something to break myself out of the monotony!"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to go and explore it myself. I'll take the Aaru's Grace."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, one way or another it's going to be fun to take a ride through through the stars again. And imagine if I do find something worthwhile."

"Yeah, you'll have even more things to your name. How many patents do you hold, again?"

"Yeah, ha-ha. I'm going."

"Well alright. Me and the guys will be waiting for your communications."

Dr. Ichabod hopped in his private VTOL and made his way up through the caves of Aaru, toward the nearest spaceport. There he boarded a flight to the geo-synchronous station where his vessel, Aaru's Grace, was docked.

"Morning officer Smith!" He said as he ran past the policeman. He jogged to his vessel's docking bay, put on his pressure suit and entered. The Aaru's Grace detached from the station, firing its engines to bring itself around to the center of the station, where the Alexander Gate was. The gate activated, and Dr. Ichabod activated his drive. Within an instant, the galaxy's first lighter once again shot off into infinity.

3 weeks and two days later...

The Aaru Council as well as all of Dr. Ichabod's friends from the lab were assembled around the computer. They were due to recieve the first communications from Dr. Ichabod any second now.

"Do you read me?" Read the text transmission.

"We read you."

"I have entered the system. I'm reading two planets. One of about Earth size, a bit smaller. Two moons, well within the goldilocks zone. The other is well beyond the zone, and it's about as interesting as pluto from what I can see. Moving in on the first planet."

"Roger that."

"I'm reading an atmosphere similar to that of Earth, but with a higher oxygen content. There appears to be quite a lot of plant life, I'm also reading many life forms."

"Sentient?"

"Unclear. There are no indications of a technologically advanced civilization, so if there are sentient beings I would guess that they are tribal. I am going in to investigate myself."

"Negative! It could be dangerous."

"I'll be fine. I'm staying near the ship, and I have protection."

There was no communication from the doc for a long while. Until eventually he came back to the ship. "This place is unbelievable! This is the most verdant paradise I've ever seen! Nothing on Earth or Aaru compares! Flower groves as tall as redwoods! Mile high sapphire cascades! Fauna that was seemingly designed to be harmless yet eye-catching! If there is a heaven, this place is it. I'm going to call this planet Shangri-La. And I'm leaving a beacon here so we can find it again. Send some people to set up an outpost! Oh, and don't tell anyone outside of the Covenant about this."

Dr. Edwards shifted about uncomfortably. "Oops."

"What's wrong?"

"There might be this friend in the UNE I already told..."

Back at UNE Space Command HQ...

Lieutenant-General Luciana Cato knocked on Peter's door.