September 5th, 8252

You watch CWO Fish Drop the Night Horse back into reality on the edge of the Tumul system with precision and panache.

“Revision complete! Translation accuracy... seventy percent. I guess I still have some rust to knock off.”

You grin at the back of her mechanical head. “Less then you might think CWO Fish. The autopilot only ever managed seventy three percent and never managed to dodge a warp jump disturbance.”

“I'll keep that in active memory Sir. What's protocol here? I've never been on a survey operation before?”

“Care to answer that question Midshipman Engel?”

“Aff Sir. Per the regulations we would set a course for the primary system star on silent running to gather as much passive data as we could in one sweep before spiraling back out and performing detailed sensor weeps on each object of interest.”

“Very good. Now it's time to supersize that burgeoning officer's brain of yours. Is following the book a good idea in this system?”

CWO Fish leans back and casually crosses her arms behind her head. You can see the reflection of her holographic smile on the bridge view screens.

“Neg Sir. We already have the passive scans on record for this system, so we can plot a more efficient course across the system to perform the detailed sensor sweeps.”

“Half right midshipman. Care to fill in the gaps CWO Fish?”

“With pleasure. Firstly we don't have up to date passive scans on the Tumul system. The best set we have are from twenty one years ago when the pirates wrecked the system infrastructure. Which means we need to re-do them anyways. Second we do know this system is rife with gravity riptides even all the way out here in the outer system. That about cover it Sir?”

“That's what I had in mind. Second attempt Midshipman?”

“Aff Sir. Keeping that in mind I can see two options. One is to follow the usual run in system and spiral out pattern but give up on the silent running part in favor of keeping the thrusters hot in case they are needed in a hurry. The other is to run the usual course but in reverse and work from the outer system in and try to pick up the gravity riptides before we encounter them. I would be in favor of the latter as it would also let us check for any pirates that may still be in system.”

“A pirate threat is of low concern given the time elapsed since the system infrastructure was wrecked. If they were still here, or of the Navy had somehow missed one, we'd have something on sensors by now. CWO Fish, how hot do you feel on the stick?”

“Quite hot Sir.”

“Honest answer time. The old scans show five zones that are prone to gravity riptides. Including pretty much the entire inner cauldron region.”

“A little less hot Sir, but the old charts will help us avoid the worst of it.”

“Right then, set a course for the primary star at best comfortable speed. We'll start in the middle and work our way back out to the edges. Midshipman Engel, get with Midshipman Huckle and come up with some sort of system for who leads the next boarding mission. We may have wrecks to explore.

“Aye aye Sir.”

“Aff Sir. Aye aye.”

September 25th, 8252

TO: SURVEYOR'S CORPS (Celesmore System) and HIS MAJESTY'S NAVY (Celesmore System)

STAR SYSTEM: TUMUL

PIRMARY STAR:

The star of the Tumul system is a G4II 'bright giant' with sufficient instability. It could be described as 'quite vigorous' were it not for the fact that this instability results in frequent solar flares and stellar ejecta. This of course means that great care must be taken when navigating this system.

INNER CAULDRON:

In addition to the frequent radiation bursts and two zones notable for frequent gravity riptides the inner cauldron of the Tumul system is home to a single planet. Tumul 1 is an inhospitable rock despite possessing a thin atmosphere. It's low gravity, lack of water, and constant bombardment by radiation have rendered it into a 'burning world' with an estimated surface temperature of three hundred and nineteen degrees Celsius. Any workers on the surface will need to wear sufficient environmental protective equipment to avoid the wick effect. Surface scans indicate significant deposits of industrial metals, limited quantities of ornamental materials, minimal usable deposits of radioactive isotopes, and sustainable amounts of exotic materials, mostly related to high-temperature plasma impact events. There are also significant ruins of unknown origins. A planet side expedition to gather more information has been deemed not viable on the grounds of insufficient availability of equipment rated for prolonged operation in the temperatures present on the surface of Tumul 1.

PRIMARY BIOSPHERE:

The inner edge of the primary biosphere of the Tumul system has two further areas where gravity riptides have been frequently observed.

The remnants of a Solitude class Void Battery (Guided) watch station, presumably VBG 82 Kaerndal per historical record, sits in stable orbit. It is largely intact according to external scans, but shows some signs of battle damage and boarding actions. Of note is that all four of the point defense stations and the two primary missile battery emplacements have been reduced to craters. Damage analysis scans indicate the explosions were internal in source. This in turn indicates the station was taken by storm. No life signs or power sources are present per external scans.

The wreckage from the battle of Tumul trails the wreckage of VBG Kaerndal. Much of it has been reduced to debris and minuscule fragments of ship. Six wrecks are sufficiently intact to allow for at least identification of class: two Thunderer class pirate cruisers, a Savage class pirate light cruiser, the HMNS Dawson's Christian (DD 8797, Wolfpack class destroyer ), the HMS Dragon (FF 624, Spatha class frigate), and a Royal Marines Symphony class troop transport (LSV 4394, HMRMS Lincoln District). Exploratory boarding operations are planned where possible.

Tumul 2 is a large planet in a semi erratic orbit due to the fact that it routinely passes close to both gravity riptide zones in the primary biosphere. Despite this it's high gravity (1.16g) manages to hold onto an atmosphere with only marginally above Terran normal pressure and is human breathable. The presence of liquid water and absence of major organic life forms makes Tumul 2 ripe for a terraforming effort if the local stellar conditions can be mitigated or worked around. Orbital scans have picked out sustainable deposits of industrial metals, ornamental stone types, and exotic materials produced when the planet was caught in a gravity riptide.

Tumul 3 orbits on the outer edge of the primary biosphere. Despite its stable orbit away from all known gravity riptide zones it is utterly unsuitable for colonization or terraforming efforts. It is larger then average but possesses only average gravity (0.989g). in spite of this it has managed to gather an atmosphere four times as dense as normal and composed primarily (89.4%) of acidic sulfur compounds. If there is any water present it is trapped in the form of sulfuric acid. Despite all this Tumul 3 has sufficient mineral resources to be worth an extraction operation of some sort and more. Major deposits of industrial metals and sustainable deposits of ornamental materials (lapis lazuli predominantly), Radio active isotopes, and exotic materials (35S in large quantities) are present. Additionally multiple subterranean caves have been identified, some of which appear shaped or carved due to their polyhedral appearance. Investigation may be warranted as several cave closely match the size of Star Empire and pirate escort class ships. The possibility that a ship, or several ships, attempted either an emergency warp jump or attempted to use a dangerous pirate point and wound up embedded inside of Tumul 3 is hard to ignore.

Tumul 3-1 orbits Tumul 3 with an orbital interval of only 11 hours. There is nothing else remarkable about this rocky moonlet.

OUTER REACHES:

The fifth and final zone in which gravity riptides frequently occur forms a narrow band around the orbital ecliptic region just beyond the primary biosphere. Of note is that this region encompass the entire ecliptic from the edge of the primary biosphere to a distance of, on average, thirty thousand kilometers beyond that point. If there is a pattern to the gravity riptides within this zone to explain the unusually broad area the HMSCS Night Horse has not been able to spot it.

Tumul 4 orbits a mere six thousand kilometers outside of the aforementioned 'gravity riptide belt'. Despite being tidally locked to Tumul the star it is an uninhabitable ball of carbon monoxide ice. It lacks any sort of atmosphere due to its small size and very low gravity (0.27g). Limited supplies of industrial metals, radioactive isotopes, and exotic materials are present in addition to minimal ornamental materials.

Tumul 5 is another small, tidally locked, low gravity (0.31g) ball of ice in a stable orbit near the outermost fringes of the Tumul system. The ices present are mixed, but do not contain water ice and are rich in industrial metals. This makes for an exotic visual display, a minimal supply of ornamental compounds (the venerable Prussian blue among others), and a limited source of exotic forms of copper and iron. Tumul 5 has also acquired a far scattering of ship debris from the battle of Tumul.

COMMENTS:

Extreme care must be taken when navigating the Tumul system. It may also be useful for training Navy aerospace pilots due to the frequency and relative predictability of gravity riptides. Salvage operations may prove valuable, despite the relative ages of the hulls, in terms of scrap value if nothing else. Two cruisers, a light cruiser, two escorts, and a cargo hauler represent quite a substantial amount of tonnage. Preliminary external surveys indicate that both the Spatha class and one of the Thunderer class may be sufficiently intact as to be brought back into service. The final decision on this is, of course, in the hands of the Navy.

SIGNED: CAPT Lawrence Warde, Commanding, HMSCS Night Horse.