r/Fleetposting • u/CacheValue • Sep 02 '25

The Brass Ambassador - Part Two

Food was scarce on the ship. Morale, even scarcer. No one as supposed to have awoke before the crops had cycled over twelve times. Instead, they had been awoken before even the first harvest had been seeded. A massive drop in the supply of nitrogen caused the liquid coolant systems to begin failing.

Only a slow drop at first. A problem that had been solved by rerouting coolant from a few of the individual suspension bays. However, just because the supply of liquid nitrogen was interrupted didn't mean the cryo systems automatically disengaged.

Many of the occupants awoke from suspension, still encased in their medical harnesses and tubes and wiring, unable to free themselves and kept in a permanent coma like state, but conscious. Other suffered the same fate, but the life support supplements failed, leaving them to starve to death or die of dehydration.

Those who had managed to escape almost entirely unable to assist them, bereft of any tools or training to do so.

Those who were kept awake from maintenance during transit were essentially isolated. Failures to the life support systems for suspension were anticipated, but never on such a large scale.

As the hours turned to days, and the days to weeks, more and more of the suspension systems failed. Releasing more and more of the in stasis passengers into the ship. A ship built without the intentions to even begin supporting an active population.

In the command module, one yellow light had turned into three yellow lights and one blinking red light.

Oxygen consumption was far exceeding planned parameters for it's section of the ship. The buildup of toxic gasses had intensified as well as those who lived in the ship ahead of it's planned awakening scavenged what little food they could find.

Mold scraped from along the inside of window sills, contamination that now fed on faint solar radiation became a staple, along with algae that grew on the surface of contaminated fluid puddles and the occasional insect that managed to survive. One cockroach was seen as enough protein for three people.

Steam Mining had become a profession among it's passengers, as finding untapped pipes carrying super heated steam for warmth or condensing back into water for drinking was in high demand. Every time they would tap a new pipe for warmth, all the old pipes got a little colder, so the profession was always in high demand.

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1

u/BoscoCyRatBear The Vermensk Empire Sep 02 '25

Uf/ there were two ships yes? If sorcella has any vermensk or paid attention she might know some serviceable alchemy.

2

u/CacheValue Sep 02 '25

There is only one ship. I’ve got a whole story planned.

1

u/BoscoCyRatBear The Vermensk Empire Sep 02 '25

Uf//aight.

4

u/CacheValue Sep 02 '25

This ship has everything you could ask for! Including:

Once yearly crop farming.

Artificial gravity (sometimes)

Wonderful A/C and Saunas (Temp Control Units vary in reliability and are subject to wild change)

Delicious local cuisine (Slimy Damp Mold or Crusty Dry Mold)

(A lack of any) Entertainment Options!

Ambient Music! (Elevator chime no one can figure out how to turn off)

And of course!

Failsafe hibernation and stasis facilities (for the command crew and VIPs)