Following the destruction of their planetary base by the unknown enemy, the scout squadron decided that their only hope for salvation lay in reaching another inhabited world. Although their ships were short-range, they calculated that they might be able to reach the next nearest star-system, if they shut down all non-essential systems - including themselves!
Linking their shipsystems together, they entered stasis, rotating shifts so that one crewman remained on alert at all times. Even with this reduced drain on their resources, the scouts were out of emergency rations and dangerously low on air and fuel when they limped into the neighbouring system some weeks later. Only one of the ships' pilots failed to respond to the 'wake-up' signal - was he trapped in stasis, or had he succumbed during the journey? One of his wingmates kept the silent ship slaved to his own.
The remaining pilots thanked their lucky stars that star systems in this cluster were so closely packed together! Would their luck hold? Was this system so far untouched by the unseen enemy?
The squadron had just enough fuel to travel insystem to the precious StarGate. As they approached, they were relieved to see it functional, lights blazing, the telltale shimmer of the barely-controlled wormhole sparkling in the Gate itself...
And there, on the other side, lightyears away in realspace, but almost close enough to touch through the Gate, the warm blue globe of Sector Prime hung peacefully in space...
Adjusting their approach vectors, the crew coaxed the last ergs of thrust from their scouts, and raced for the sanctuary that lay just beyond that shimmering curtain...
The StarGate was built over the course of a couple of evenings in RayDream Studio - I had built the little ships some time ago in RayDream.
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