lore

The Aurora was a brand-new Alterra Long-Range Capital Ship (and possibly the first of its class) sent to the Ariadne Arm by the Alterra Corporation to build a phasegate. Its auxiliary mission, unknown to most of the crew, was an agreement made with the Mongolian Independent States to search for and possibly rescue the survivors of the Degasi crew. It was thought that the ship's advanced scanning suite, superior to any ship that had previously made a search effort, would have better luck in finding the crew, or finally confirm whatever fate had befallen them. During a gravity slingshot maneuver around Planet 4546B, the Quarantine Enforcement Platform struck the Aurora with an energy pulse on the starboard (right) side, resulting in catastrophic hull failure and leading to it crash landing on the surface of the planet. All the starboard Lifepods were damaged, if not outright destroyed by the energy pulse; most of the port side lifepods that did launch (pods 1 to 25), after landing, were either compromised or otherwise perished to the hostile ecosystem. The only exception is Lifepod 5, which contained Ryley Robinson. Moments after Lifepod 5 launched, Ryley heard the enforcement platform fire and witnessed a second energy pulse strike the already crippled ship. Upon crashing, the Aurora plowed into the terrain, unearthing it and leaving small sand hills around the ship. The crash and subsequent explosion resulted in huge quantities of Metal Salvage and Supply Crates being dispersed within the vicinity of the ship, providing useful materials such as Food & Water, batteries, and Titanium. Multiple Reaper Leviathans patrol the crash site. By the time the player awakens and begins his exploration of the area, all of the other Lifepods have been destroyed and their occupants have vanished. The Aurora's Drive Core explodes a few days later, blowing a massive hole in the bow of the ship and consequently inundating the crash site with Radiation. Entering without a Radiation Suit is impossible until the Drive Room is repaired; furthermore, multiple tools are needed to thoroughly explore the ship's many sections. The Aurora's interior is inaccessible until post-detonation. The Aurora is located on the far eastern edge of the map, with its bow facing north and its stern facing south. It is visible from the surface nearly anywhere on the map, making it a useful landmark, especially if the player lacks a compass. The ship is approximately 1,280 meters long from nose to thrusters. Including parts normally hidden by the terrain, it stands to be about 500 meters tall. Of all crew members on board the Aurora, the only known survivor was Ryley Robinson, who later managed to escape the planet. Alterra later admitted the ship's loss and informed about the rescue of its "survivors", but censored any details about how the ship had crashed and why.