[Chapter's Two and Three will be coming within this week with Chapter four and five coming in the same fashion next week; Two chapter minimum on a release quota every week: Any requests for stories you want written/rewritten in the style I write will also be accept as long as they are yours or someone you have receive permission from; moreover, if you'd like me to write in certain character to this story, I will so long as you message me about it, no promises when or if they get added but I am opened to creating a story with ideas sourced from the community; as always, please give me feedback on this story by commenting below: support keeps it alive]
Prologue
Rimworld systems are never easy please to live, the final children of ancient and usually long since departed terraforming machines. Such systems were more isolated than any other system in the entirety of the Milky Way. Nothing was in these places but the echoes of the void singing long forgotten songs and empty promises of these often long forgotten places...and yet, as this world stood resolute against the darkest void of space, a carriage of life came tumbling towards at sub-luminal speeds.
The ark-ship "Cremare's Redoubt" orbited haplessly in shambles, its debris field all that remained of a once proud colonial seeding vessel. It hanged there, its artificial intelligence still trying to gain some semblance of control over the meager systems that remained. The Cremare's AGI-3357Y studied the situation, and realized that heat dispersion had failed in sections of the ship that it had previously overlooked before the vessel had entered the system.
It recognized this had caused cascades of ship wide failures. The compromised compartments overheated, resulting in a pressurized oxygen explosion, which punctured a hole in the hull causing large sections of the ship to lose pressurization, which ripped larger holes than the initial explosions. The AGI pondered for moment why however the rest of the ship damage had occurred and then ultimately deduced that the cascade followed this was that the exposed sections allowed micro meteors to puncture large holes in a fuel line, which ignited and detonated the emergency power and fuel, which unfortunately resulted in fires spreading to the remaining, oxygen rich areas of the ship.
The AGI had managed to use its fire suppression systems to contain the fires and mechanoid savants to repair essential systems but ultimately it knew that the ship could not land in its current state as it would result in substantial risk to the crew and could not awaken them as the ship was largely depressurized now and with little oxygen in places it was.
It studied the situation and ultimately deduced the best course of action was to seed the surface as optimal positions on the surface were located. It deduced that structural integrity of the hull was compromised and recognized that attempting to adjust rotational angles would result in the ship tearing its self apart if done too quickly.
It ultimately settled on a mitigated plan of attack, slowly seeding the planet with the crew at optimal locations as per according to its sensors, while rotating the ship by mere centimeters to account for the compromised integrity restraint as well as limited RCS capacity. It had done this.
Slowly it orbited, shepherding its precious cargo to the surface of the planet, whether they were to become vicious pirates, forgetful and proud tribals or hopeful outlanders was of ultimately of no true consequence to it, it cared only for their safety. With each passing decade it emptied its holds, safely they went to the surface. Until only a single group remained. It studied them for a moment.
They represented the final pieces of its plan, after over a century had passed since its arrival to this world, after all it had strived to slowly bring the lives it had been entrusted to bring to the surface of this world, it knew in its thoughts, that these Humans were the final message that it could to world below where it's; Children,yes, it thought, Children... its children below prospered, long since forgetting it had ever existed, but ever watchful a parent it was and so it studied them.
Such frail creatures, so afraid will they be when they arrive, afraid, and bare, as it seems they were not issued any sort of clothing before entering the ships cryptosleep pods. Odd, it thought, it would have to study its manifest to see why that was a curious oversight it could perhaps ponder. Its thoughts however came back to these final souls, their names did not matter nor their past, only they were finally were going to live again.
It began the procedure, awakening them slowly, they stirred inside their pods, some lazily opening their eyes, some tried to open their pods, and screamed when they wouldn't open. Finally, the AGI studied them for moment and then it issued its final command. They were loaded into the Atmospheric Return Vehicles and then the AGI launched them; first a whoosh, and then and nine pods flew away from the Cremare, hurtling towards the Rimworld below.
Chapter 1 � Hard Landing
Dallas was something of an expert crytosleeping. He had been to countless worlds as a pioneer and explorer, spending so much of his existence, his life, in those pods, watched and tended to by AGI until the time came to awaken them in their new home. Never in his life did he ever feel the terror though he did now.
He had just woken up in his pod and as he did looking through he saw the AGI observer adjutant hanging from the ceiling looking over him and the other colonists. He was puzzled as to why his capsule hadn�t opened, it should have opened he thought, why it wasn't opening and more panicking thoughts came.
He banged on the capsule, and yelled and screamed and begged the AGI to let him out already; it glanced over to him, and then suddenly, he felt it. His pod, indeed, all the pods in the room, were being loaded into ARVs to be launched down to the surface. He felt the explosive bolts that kept the pod to the ground blow. Then it happened, he felt the motors hum as he was loaded down the pod chute into the ARV, and then it was dark.
Then he felt himself sliding and finally, he was away from the ship. He could feel the rattling of the pod as he slowly drifted from the ship, rolling gently all the same while watching other pods with other people, some awake, pounding on the glass of their pods. He had never had ever had such a thing happen to him. It only took him a moment outside the ship to see why however.
He could see the tattered remains of the bow and starboard side were in ruins. He caught that in glance and then it happened, the ARV�s retrorockets kicked in. It surprised Dallas, caught him off guard so much he screamed and clanged to the bed of the pod for control of what he thought might well be his end. He panicked more though as a blast door closed over his only window to the outside.
Now he was alone in the dark of his pod, oblivious to everything besides the rumblings of his own ARVs motions; He knew the rockets of the other pods ignited shortly thereafter, sending them all burning towards atmospheric reentry. He held for dear life to the bed for what felt like an hour but in reality was only a few minutes and then he felt a hard impact as the ARVs hull hit the atmosphere of the planet. He felt only the motions, as the blast door obscured only hope he had of seeing what was happening; but then he realized, perhaps it was best he didn't know.
He felt the pod rumble as it hit thicker atmosphere, and then finally, the retrorockets stopped firing, and he heard a small explosion as it�s the bolts that held it fell away and the side containers deployed the drogue shoots to slow the decent into atmosphere. Dallas could only guess and hope that was the case. But he could fell it, something pulling taunt the ARV to and aside.
Then finally, he felt it catch more air as it tugged hard on the ARVs hull, slowing it down to a safe enough speed to finally deploy the main chutes. He heard the bolts blow, the sound of fabric brushing against itself, and finally he felt them deploy as the ARV went to the surface slower and then finally, he felt himself gently coursing to the ground.
Dallas let out the surest of sighs as he finally relaxed as the ARV gently went to the ground briskly and safely and then finally, after but moment, he felt a thump, then three more, then more and finally, explosions, one after another and then it was finally his turn.
First a whoosh, and then finally, he felt the sun on his, shielding his eyes as he took his first step into the cold. He looked around him and counted a handful of other people wondering them same thing as he was, he was sure of that; how were they going to survive here.