What follows are transcripts of video log recordings of Captain Tara Scorch following the first successful test of the Oxra's Transition Portal distortion weapon, which resulting in the loss of the 2nd Gen Star Frigate Gaffney

7th July 2102 – 6th Galactic Step

2nd Gen Star Frigate Gaffney

Deep Space

Near CLN-357-4 System

Personal Log Entry 3567.1

Curse the Oxra and their distortions! Never had I thought, that after I was promoted to Captain of the Gaffney, that I'd be stuck in deep space, stranded, and floating aimlessly. One second, we were cruising down the Transition Portal, admiring its rainbow hues and star streaks, then suddenly the darkness cracked open the walls of the wormhole and spat out the Gaffney into the empty void. It was the howl of pain though that startled me the most though, like the very veins of the universe were being slit and she cried out in terror. We had always known the Oxra could mess with space, but I had not considered that they could collapse a whole fricking Transition Portal. I can just imagine those snooty nerds back at Century space station, gulping and spitting out their drinks as the tunnel collapsed before their eyes. Maybe even wizened old Doctor Shenka might miss a beat and actually look shocked for once in his damn life. Makes me so angry, angry and...

Even the No-Win practice scenario back at the academy wasn't so depressing and hard as dealing with this accursed situation. While I was nervous of that test, at least I knew it wasn't real and having my ship blasted to bits by a fleet of Draknai Cruisers didn't give me the feeling of desperation I'm having now.

To be honest, I'm scared to my very core. The Gaffney was not supposed to handle deep space travel and the G-force couches can only sustain high G moves for short periods of combat, not the prolonged burn that we need to even get close to the nearest star. Second Lieutenant Sorenson, head of science seems to think we can make it to the dull red star called CLN-357-4 in about eight weeks, but I just don't think the ship can take it. Or if the ship can make it, the crew will surely go insane from all the inactivity and desperation and ever dwindling food rations. I sense unease in them at every exchange and see the fire of mutiny burn in their eyes, knowing that less people can make food and drink go much further. My own personal bottle of bourbon is running low, and I can feel the stress and burden of command push my hand to pour a third cup this night. A last salute to the Gaffney as she sails off into the darkness forever. [Sounds of clinking are heard as Captain Scorch pours another drink and salutes the camera.]

8th July 2102 – 6th Galactic Step

2nd Gen Star Frigate Gaffney

Deep Space

Near CLN-357-4 System

Personal Log Entry 3568.1

Had to put down a mutiny today, God only knows what they thought they'd achieve from trying to take over the ship. Even if they'd been successful, they'd still be stranded out here in deep space, flying blindly towards a blinking little star that may, or may not have a habitable planet in orbit. Sorenson thinks he's been able to detect something orbiting the star, but we're too far away to determine what it is. I feel like I'm blindly leading my crew to their deaths, and it makes me sick, maybe the mutineers should have shot me and then they could deal with this situation instead of me.

Talking of situations, I've thrown Janus and his small band of mutineers into the brig, but it irritates me so bad, that I must keep them in there, and feed them and waste resources on their upkeep, that I could be using to keep the loyal crew alive until we get to... get to wherever we're going. My second in command Lieutenant Stevens thinks I should just space them all and call it a court martial, because it's unlikely we'll ever get back the shipyards at St. Christopher again. So, his argument is, nobody back home will ever know they're gone and how it happened, which part of me agrees with, yet it goes against the code... The damn code that I swore to uphold when I signed up for this job, to keep my people alive through thick and thin, and do what's best for my brothers and sisters so that humanity may survive and prosper.

I said I'd sleep on the decision of what to do with the mutineers, but sleep is the last thing on my mind right now. I'm exhausted, sure my black ringed eyes look like time itself has been beating me up. Maybe the last of the bourbon will... [There is sudden bang and commotion, Captain Scorch jumps off camera, reaching for her sidearm.] How did you get out, I'll... [The sounds of multiple gunshots are heard before the screen goes blank.]

14th July 2102 – 6th Galactic Step

2nd Gen Star Frigate Gaffney

Deep Space

Near CLN-357-4 System

Personal Log Entry 3574.1

Well, much to the disappointment of my late assassins, I'm alive. Doc Alonso says I'm lucky to be alive, apparently the bullet from Janus's pistol bruised my skull. [Captain Scorch indicates her bandaged head]. More annoyingly for me is the damn doctor had to shave half my head, only privilege of being a Captain, is being able to have a full head of hair. I miss my dark locks...

Anyway, Janus convinced the brig guard to side with him, then the mutineers turned assassins, stalked the corridors trying to take me and Stevens out, then ultimately run the ship. Just fortunate I hadn't put my sidearm away that night, guess my sloppiness saved my life. The mutiny was foiled, but now a quarter of the crew are dead, this shouldn't affect its performance too much, as most of the insurgents were either security guards or minor technicians.

Surprisingly, the Gaffney is holding together nicely, while she was only really designed to fight and has an operational time between refuelling of three months, she's very likely to get us at least into the CLN-357-4 system, and maybe even to the thing Sorenson thinks is a planet. We need to find a better name for this star system, CLN-357-4 is far too long and bulky to use in simple conversation. Maybe the crew can come up with a better name...

One benefit of the death of the assassins, although I do truly mourn their loss, is that we got to empty their quarters, and this turned up. [Captain Scorch raises a fresh unopened bottle of bourbon, opens it, and pours a small glass, which she sips slowly and makes a sour face]. God damn, that's rough stuff, but better than nothing. Many thanks Janus.

20th August 2102 – 6th Galactic Step

2nd Gen Star Frigate Gaffney

Deep Space

Orbiting Planet Clanesta

Personal Log Entry 3580.2

It's a miracle, was what I said on the bridge earlier when Sorensen got a clear view of the planet, and even now I'm amazed and feeling so very lucky. That rich looking blue-brown world with its Saturn like rings of every colour seems like a dream, but its real, real and within our grasp. A new home that could be our very own kingdom to build and mould into a new society, as its doubtful any other humans will ever come out this way looking for us...

It has a name too. I asked to crew to name the world, and while most of the names were ridiculously cliché like New Earth, Terra Two, Sanctuary and Haven, I liked Sorensen's suggestion most of all. Clanesta is what we have chosen, using the systems CLN-357-4 designation, and changing the numbers to the letters they resemble to make CLN-EST-A, then simply adding an extra A, gives us our name. It sounds pretty and crisp to me and if we're lucky it will be as beautiful as its name. Or at least as mesmerising as those rings, never seen rainbow-coloured rings round a planet before, that's got to be something special right?

There is of course an issue, and that's to do with fuel, the calculations say we have just barely enough to get there, which is fine. However, the Gaffney was never designed to land on a planet, she's rigged for space flight only. God only knows how she'll handle atmosphere and if we'll be able to land her on the surface, but I guess we'll just have to try. Would be a terrible shame if we got all that way just to end up a burnt ugly smear on the side of a magnificent world...

3rdSeptember 2102 – 6th Galactic Step

2nd Gen Star Frigate Gaffney

Ithor Thunder Plains

Clanesta

Personal Log Entry 3583.1

The Gaffney is down, but she'll never fly again. We ran out of fuel during the descent and fell much like a brick towards the planet. We were pummelled constantly by the winds, lightning, and other harsh elements until eventually we crashed down into a sea of grey desert sand. The old Frigate is pretty much torn in two now and only nine of us survived the crash. Sorenson says that's enough to repopulate a planet, using gene manipulation, but I'm not too sure, being one of five living females on board...

Clanesta however is a strange planet, science says she's a mistake, an impossibility, a planet made from two crashed and smooshed together bodies. Some sort of large comet or astral body smashed into the larger part of the planet and somehow, they coalesced together to build a single ecosystem. Sorenson says both the planet and our arrival were born of a calamity of mistakes, but I just like to think of it as the end of the line. Luckily there's air here, it is very sweet oxygen, makes me lightheaded after a few hours, but at least we don't have to wear cumbersome suits or respirators.

We've bedded down inside the ship's cargo bay for the moment because the outside sand dunes look empty and wet with all that torrential rain. The craggy grey peaks nearby also seem slick and inhospitable, yet I want to get a closer look at the crystals. Great hulking shards of violet and magenta quartz are everywhere out there, and they glow so prettily, especially at night, when the rain stops.

Yes, the weather is terrible here, it's either wet and stormy, or dry and cloudy, not the great green beauty that I had hoped for. Sorenson is fascinated by the thunder and lightning here; he says it breaks the natural laws of physics... So many times, has he said 'IF thunder OR lightning, but not always both' that we've even started calling the place the Ithor Thunder Plains. Strange name for a strange place, I guess. Maybe tomorrow we'll explore further...

[A hand appears on Tara Scorch's shoulder and a male voice is heard saying 'Why are you bothering with that old recording device, come to bed.' Tara looks embarrassed at the camera, then at the unknown male, then she laughs and switches the log recorder off]

30thSepember 2102 – 6th Galactic Step

2nd Gen Star Frigate Gaffney

Ithor Thunder Plains

Clanesta

Personal Log Entry 3591.1

And so, conflict returns to us, even here on this distant world, far from the Colony Wars and war-torn earth, still we are forced to fight...

We're not alone on Clanesta, the wildlife that seems to flourish here is extremely hostile to us. It's such a varied ecosystem of strange creatures, all possessing unbelievable abilities that remind me of the comic book heroes of old. Just yesterday a bunch of large beetle-like monsters broke through the perimeter. Now I know you're thinking... beetles, they're not that tough... but these ones were made of rock, brown and hard, twenty times the size of Earth beetles and unstoppable it seemed. Our rifles and ballistic weapons were totally ineffective, only the larger lasers could stop them, but we only have so many battery packs left for those weapons. Ten beetles nearly brought our little hovel down...

I dread to think what would have happened if some of the bigger creatures we've seen out there came our way. So far Sorenson has catalogued over thirty different species out on the plains, walkers, flyers, crawlers and slither'ers... [Tara makes a distasteful face and sighs, placing a hand on her stomach] Certainly no place to raise a family...

The most remarkable thing about these creatures though, is what happens when they die, they shatter, and break into large clusters of cracked crystal. Apparently, all the beasts here have a base crystalline form like the big blocks of glowing crystal that we've discovered. Their colouration also seems to denote their abilities, the violet and magenta crystals create thunder and lightning monsters, while the brown and silver crystals make rock and steel beings. It just seems so fantastical to me, like it's all some sort of crazed dream, but I just can't wake up.

[Red lights suddenly flash, and a siren is heard in the distance, and Captain Tara Scorch retrieves her firearm hastily from her drawer and shuts off the recorder.]

18th October 2102 – 6th Galactic Step

2nd Gen Star Frigate Gaffney

Ithor Thunder Plains

Clanesta

Personal Log Entry 3601.1

[A bedraggled looking Tara Scorch appears on screen, red marks round her eyes and her black hair messed and out of place.]

We have main power back now fortunately, but the wars with the crystal beasts have intensified and while Sorenson assures me that using the electrical crystals as an energy source is unstable and could blow out all the ships capacitors at any time, it seems the only way to make power here. Just in case I'll make this entry brief.

We have now just started the reanimation growth cycle of the final embryos from the basic unit coloniser that was installed when the Gaffney was constructed. As a result of the Colony Wars, all 2nd Gen star crafts had to contain a basic coloniser unit, fitted with a chem lab for the growth of domestic plants and animals, plus schematics and recipes for anything that may need to be constructed on a potentially life supporting world. After the crash landing, we manged to convert part of the cargo bay into a green house and grew some basic quick crops in some soil samples that one of the recon teams managed to acquire from the jungles to the south of Ithor Thunder Plains. We have also manged to birth twelve chickens, four cows, eight pigs and six sheep to start providing us with the resources necessary for humans to thrive on this world.

Of course, our whole production was cut short with the arrival of the herd of lightning stallions, that just decided to trample throughout our camp after my last report, blowing up our remaining battery stores and killing my... my beloved partner Lieutenant Knox Stevens, the father of my... [Tara Scorch becomes suddenly overcome with sadness and openly cries, while holding a hand to the slight bump in her abdomen] our... our unborn child.

13th June 2103 – 6th Galactic Step

2nd Gen Star Frigate Gaffney

Ithor Thunder Plains

Clanesta

Personal Log Entry 3723.1

[Tara Scorch appears on screen, looking heavily pregnant and somewhat medicated].

I can't believe you still work after all these months Mister recorder... It's just been so busy here, it seems as if the attacks of the monsters comes daily now, almost as if they know we're using their crystals as a power source and seek to take them back by force.

However, I just wanted to use this device to record a message to my son, should anything happen to me during the birth that must be coming soon, judging by how active he is in there. Luckily, we still had some strong painkillers on hand for the Braxton Hicks false contractions that I'm having at present, I don't think he's going to stay in there until his due date of the 29th of June, of the old Earth calendar.

I'm going to name him... I mean you... [said aside] as this message is for you after all... You're going to be named Karna. A strong name I think, and the name of your grandfather and like your father's name Knox. Your father was a good man, he helped me through a difficult time here after we crash landed, and he never deserved to die under the hooves of those monsters. Hopefully you'll be just as brave and strong and courageous as he was, and of course you'll get your mothers good looks... [Tara swishes her now long black hair and blows the camera a kiss, a little unsteady]. You're going to be the first human to be born on Clanesta and hopefully the first to help start our colony here grow and prosper. We may never know peace with all these violent creatures around our compound, but existence here is far better than back on the old world, where even the poisonous air was trying to kill us.

Anyway, I digress, Doctor Alonso cannot guarantee that I will survive the birth, as our medical supplies are running low, so I just wanted to say... [Tears form in her green eyes]. I love you, my son. I want you to know that no matter what you do in life, I'm proud of you and even if the worst happens, I'll watch over you from the great beyond. Watch you mature and develop into the fine young man I know you can be. My sweet boy, soon you'll be here and hopefully I'll get to hold you in my arms and kiss your forehead at least once.

28th June 2103 – 6th Galactic Step

2nd Gen Star Frigate Gaffney

Ithor Thunder Plains

Clanesta

Personal Log Entry 3738.1

[Tara Scorch and Karna Scorch appear on screen; Tara is tired but glowing and Karna is wrapped up in newborn blankets.]

Karna made it, and I survived the ordeal of birth too, not that I remember much of what happened, it's as if it all became a blurred dream of pain and overwhelming happiness. My son... my son is beautiful and growing well, in fact Sorenson says that his growth is quite a few percentiles above the norm and has put it down the vitamin rich atmosphere of the planet.

[Tara, holds her baby tight, looking lovingly at him as she bounces him gently in her arms].

I fear for him though, this place, this planet is not safe. During his birth we discovered why the attacks of the creatures has been so focused on us over the last eight months. The crystals that we took, that we used to power our ship and our defences, are not just pieces of scenery, they are like the creature's eggs. Just as I birthed Karna, this planet's crystal eggs that were in our reactor hatched, birthing many small but deadly electric rats, that shorted out our systems and blew a hole in the reactor. Luckily the overrides kicked in, preventing any major fallout from the explosion and the backup storage generators gave us power back after a few long dark minutes. We're back to how it was shortly after we landed on this world, living in a broken-down Frigate, with dwindling energy reserves and foes on all sides. I worry that we were not meant to live on this world. Maybe that's why this system never had access to a transition portal, if the old words are to be believed, that the portals only connect habitable systems together.

Oh, my Karna, have I just brought you into this world to perish? I hope not, but I cannot see a way out of this situation, we cannot use the crystals, we cannot generate energy in this grey-sand cloudy desert and our batteries, weapons and ammo will fail and be exhausted eventually. Our only option is to flee north, our scouts have found a suitable place to make camp, but the trek will take us many, many months to get there, especially if we intend to take all our important belongings with us. Like, we're going to need the coloniser unit, the livestock, clothing, food and much, much more. Plus, I can hardly travel with such a young infant, in such dangerous conditions, this final exodus to the north is likely to take us many years I expect.

Which is why... Mister Recorder... I must say goodbye to you and all the records you hold of all the events that led us to this day. All non-essential systems are to be turned off, which includes the computer core and all associated systems, including cameras and recording devices. We humanity, are to return to the dark ages now, on a hostile world, where we must hide from the monsters around us, protect ourselves with crude weapons and just try every day to survive to the next. Farewell, and wish us luck...

[Recording is terminated, computer core disengaged, and is not reinitiated for thousands of years...]