Metamorphosis Alpha to Omega: Part 14: Deck 2: Wilderness Deck

Warden's "wilderness deck" has seen more warfare and damage than any other deck. The most vicious of the fighting between mutant factions took place here, with many long years passing with brutality the dominant theme. Eventually, though, attrition and Pyrrhic victories began to add up. The remnants of the worst of the evil factions faded into nothingness, with isolated individuals and bands of thugs all that's left of once-unbeatable forces.

Warden's reactivated automated environmental action systems repaired the damage done to the ecosystem, bringing the entire deck back into a steady-state condition. Rolling wooded hills, craggy bluffs, densely-packed forests, and a pleasant - if a bit cool - weather cycle makes this deck resemble the wilderness of much of Earth's northern hemisphere. Once blasted, torn, and burned, there is now a feeling of timelessness here, a sense of something patiently waiting in silence.

The main population here is descended from the downtrodden folk who bore the brunt of oppression by the warring factions. Once freed of the servitude and torment, these peaceful folk began to rebuild. New social systems began, towns and settlements were built, and the wilderness was made just a bit more friendly near the new population hubs. Further out, pioneers sought solitude, carving an existence with their own two (or more, as the case may be) hands (or equivalent manipulative organs).

Still, the danger has not left deck two. A few renegades that remain of the one-time ruling forces band together on occasion to ambush and prey on the weak, while packs of sawheads scour the forests for lone travelers, battling timber wolves for supremacy. The mysterious farwalker hyperions skirt the edges of civilization on unknown errands. Above, the sentinel eagles carry out their endless patrols, on the watch for the plasma wyrms that seem to come and go in a blink of an eye. The wilderness here is beautiful, but it will consume the unwary.

In addition, strangers to the deck need to take care that they don't project an air of danger to the ordinary folk here. They were once helpless to throw off the yoke of enslavement, their frustration growing to epic proportions before freedom was theirs. This memory of servitude and annihilation has served to created a culture of rugged individualists who can and will join forces if any sign of potential oppressors should appear. Deck two may appear to be an empty wilderness ripe for exploitation, but the inhabitants here think of it as theirs and theirs alone.

Next: Part 15: Deck 1: Observation Domes One and Two, Garden Dome Three, and the ADSEST

Metamorphosis Alpha to Omega: Part 13: Deck 3: Cargo Deck

Deck three may be the most hostile of Warden's decks. A darkened vacuum, mostly empty, this deck was set aside to store the vast terraforming machinery and fabrication facilities necessary to provide a livable environment for the colonists. That task was completed many long years ago, on two Earth-sized planets and a number of smaller outposts scattered among the other celestial bodies of the Xi Ursae Majoris system. Before the ship's systems could begin the task of building more such equipment, the Warden was overcome by chaos, its preprogrammed tasks put on hold. Further, an asteroid that made it past Warden's point defense managed to punch a hole into the ships thick armor, venting the atmosphere into space. Disabled and confused to begin with, the ship's AI set aside the task of repairing deck three. With no inhabitants or ecosystem of its own, the deck took low priority. So now it lays silent and mostly empty.

Any who try to access deck three must pass three security checks, each entailing increasingly loud, bright, urgent alarms. If intruders do manage to open the hatches, either by security scan or by force, the atmosphere of the accessway will rush to fill the vast void. Unprepared beings may well be swept along into the vacuum, and must find their way back to the hatch before it shuts.

While the deck is, indeed, mostly empty, "empty" is a relative term in such a large open area. The equipment left is surprisingly voluminous. Much of it is shipboard fabrication units, intended to build more terraforming equipment and factories. But even Warden's AI and its attendant robots and androids wouldn't recognize a mysterious collection of machinery scattered unobtrusively throughout the equipment logged on Warden's manifest. What this equipment is and where it came from - and why it does not register on Warden's sensors - are all mysteries awaiting a time when the deck is again accessible.

Next: Part 14: Deck 2: Wilderness Deck