Ghost Fleet

From Unbroken Wiki
Revision as of 12:52, 20 June 2021 by Bryan.christian (talk | contribs) (→‎Controversy)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The Ghost Fleet, also commonly referred to as simply The Boneyard is a massive space-bound salvage yard of Corrupted and semi-Corrupted ships and assets that were purged of Corruption nanites via high-energy EMP or by some other means. Most vessels/objects would have no functioning complex electronics, and thus lie completely dormant as EMPs fry micro-circuitry.

Everything dumped in this boneyard was done so for later recovery of refined materials, raw materials, intact technology/components, general resources, and in some cases, in-tact space-frames.

Present in a majority of these vessels are large numbers bodies in various states of decay. Most are of individuals in the mid-to-late stages of Corruption transformation, having died when the nanites and transformations they became dependent upon were fried by the high-energy EMP weapons used to sanitize the vessels.

History

Proposed by Joseph as an alternative to disposing of de-Corrupted assets by throwing them into black-holes, the Ghost Fleet served as a resource pool for the Armada of Namine's Fire, allowing them to recycle materials and components for maintenance, and in a great deal of cases, rebuild assets without having to remanufacture them from scratch.

After driving the Corruption to virtual extinction, the Ghost Fleet remained largely in-use only by Syndicate governments. This was not due to restriction of access to the public, however. The Ghost Fleet has been opened up to anyone with coin; allowing companies and general scavengers/salvagers to scrap and take what they want for a price. There have been very few takers, however, the status of being previously Corrupted assets leaving a bad taste in many people's mouths, or largely unfounded fears that active Corruption nanites still exist in the salvage, driving most away. The presence of bodies in a large portion of the vessels has not helped in this regard either. Nearly all corporate clients have failed to profit from the salvage, as once it's found out by the public that they've been repurposing previously Corrupted materials, outcry emerges and the public stops buying the company's product. Very few companies that have attempted to capitalize on the Ghost Fleet have escaped this fate, a notable exception being the Ban-José Corporation.

Phenomena

Reports of supernatural phenomena inside the Ghost Fleet have been reported by salvage teams, patrols, and various third parties. The phenomena reported has been varied. Some say that they hear the characteristic background "screeching static" and "disjointed voices" over the comm-channels that tend to accompany Corruption presence. Others say they've seen visual phenomena; flashes of light, ships moving intelligently on their own, and lifeforms darting from vessel to vessel amidst the vacuum of space. Investigations have been routinely conducted, as well as sweeps to ensure that the Ghost Fleet has been completely sanitized of Corruption. Nothing has ever been found to lend credence to these reports, with the exception being that the crews of patrols and salvage operations that spend too much time in the Ghost Fleet begin having various types of hallucinations, as well as mental degradation that leads to insanity and or schizophrenia. Scientists believe this is tied to the psychological and emotional trauma left by the Grey Storm in the galaxy's collective memory. Others speculate that the reports are falsified intentionally by patrons paid off by Mega-Corporations seeking to ensure that the cheap, in-tact technology doesn't crash the market value of their products.

Scientific research

The Ghost Fleet has also served science as a massive pool of in-tact specimens of the Corruption's handiwork. This has allowed Syndicate scientists to study the nature of the Corruption's modifications to technology and biological lifeforms. It is hoped that ongoing research and experimentation on these specimens will provide insight into the "psychology" of the Corruption. Supposedly, scientists are looking ascertain its goals-- if it even had any beyond consumption-- and perhaps even its origin as well. Much of the research, and resulting conclusions has been classified to the highest degree amongst Syndicate.

Controversy

Now that the threat of the Corruption has died out, and the Syndicate nations are no longer relying upon the Ghost Fleet for resources, it has become mired in controversy. Activist groups hailing from Syndicate nations, and non-Syndicate nations alike have lobbied intensely for the transformation of the Ghost Fleet into a sacred memorial for those lost in the Grey Storm. They decry the reclamation, sale, and scientific research of the Ghost Fleet as tantamount to graverobbing: disrespecting the peace of the dead.

The Syndicate's response thus far has been firm, and has not played into these groups' demands. It is clear that operations as currently conducted will continue. As tensions with the public on this issue rise, fears of terrorist activity have prompted the Syndicate to increase the power and number of the forces patrolling the Ghost Fleet, though no physical terrorist activity has yet been reported. Cyberterrorism against the Ghost Fleet's digital infrastructure is a sparse but real occurrence. Advocacy groups such as Purity often take the brunt of the Syndicate's cyberattack accusations, though there is no definitive evidence to implicate the group.