☕ A Warm Haven on a Cold Shreveport Morning
Location: Rhino Coffee House, Texas Street, Downtown Shreveport
Date: December 31, 2019 | 7:00 AM
It's Virtual Coffee Time once again.
I’m sitting here in the quiet of Rhino Coffee, watching the steam rise from my cup while the downtown streets are still frozen in the early morning light. The brick walls of the coffee house feel like the only solid thing in a world that feels increasingly unstable. It’s been a rough road this year—personal life has been a battlefield, and stability has been hard to find. I’ve only managed six posts in 2019, with a long, deafening silence stretching back to May.
I’m writing this because I wanted to break that silence one last time before the year ends to let everyone know I’m okay. I’m still here. I’m still standing. We’re ending the year on a bad note globally and personally, but if I’m going out, I’m going out with a bang. This is my final transmission from Shreveport before the jump into whatever 2020 has waiting for us. The coffee is hot, the air is cold, and the end is near.
Welcome back to the Furthering Adventures of Captain Hedges Across Time and Space.
As the final grains of sand slip through the cracked hourglass of 2020, we find ourselves at the edge of a great cosmic divide. It’s December 31st, and for those of us navigating the star-lanes and the 3 AM whispers, this year has been more than just a trip around the sun—it’s been a gauntlet of shifting realities and narrow escapes.
From the quiet confines of a motel room to the deepest reaches of the multiverse, the Captain has seen empires rise and fall in the blink of a binary star. But as the clock ticks toward midnight, the coordinates are shifting. The "Ink of Anticipation" is wet on the parchment, and the portals are humming with a new kind of energy. We aren't just ending a year; we are preparing to breach the veil into something much bigger.
Check your seals and prime the thrusters. The journey through the rift is just beginning.
🚀 The End of the Year as We Know It
Stardate: 12312019.1159 | Transmission: Final 2019 Broadcast | Source: USS Urland Universe
The decade is ending in fire. High above Earth, the Year of the Earth Pig reaches its violent, screaming conclusion. The Klon Star Spider Empire—a giant cybernetic collective with the cold assimilation protocols of the Borg, the relentless self-replication of the Replicators, and the fanatical zealotry of the Cylons—has descended upon the Sol Sector. They are a nightmare of mechanical legs, hydraulic shrieks, and glowing red eyes, a crusade intent on killing all life to serve the Hive.
They don't just want our resources; they want our identity. They want to strip the "human" away and leave only the "Klon."
🛡️ THE SOL SECTOR UNDER SIEGE
The initial waves hit the outer rim of the Sol system first. The Confederations of the Martian Colonies have gone dark. The last transmissions from the Jovian moons were nothing but the sound of grinding metal and the rhythmic thrum of the Hive. Every defensive platform from Pluto to the Asteroid Belt has been overrun, converted into raw biomass and scrap for the Klon forges.
The fleet—what’s left of it—is making its last stand. Star Cruisers are being dismantled in mid-air by swarms of Klon Flyer Drones. We are outnumbered ten thousand to one. Every time we down a Klon vessel, two more take its place, reconstructed from the wreckage of our own ships.
🕷️ THE HIGH ORBIT OF THE KLON MOTHER STAR SPIDER SHIP
The true architect of this desolation has arrived. The Klon Mother Star Spider Ship, a colossal, planet-sized arachnid construct, has taken a terrifying position. She hovers directly over the North Pole, sitting at the top of the world like a predator over an egg.
The Mother Star Spider is a mobile throne for the Klon Queen, the "One who is Many." From this vantage point, she is launching waves of Klon Drop Ships that streak through the atmosphere like black tears, destined to begin the systematic assimilation of the continents below. The sky is no longer blue; it is a choked, grey mass of Klon metal and atmospheric fires
🌌 THE SOL SECTOR UNDER SIEGE: THE FLEET YARDS AWAKEN
Stardate: 12312019.2200 | Location: Inner Sol System
The Klon Star Spider Empire did not arrive quietly. They hit the system like a cybernetic tidal wave. As the outer colonies went dark, the call went out to every shipyard from the Moon to the Belt. At the Lunar Fleet Yards, the gantry arms were still retracting when the first wave of Klon Flyer Drones hit.
Dozens of half-finished frigates and heavy cruisers were forced to launch prematurely, their engines still venting cooling gas. The Confederation Defense Force scrambled everything—civilian freighters were fitted with makeshift laser cannons, and retired Dreadnoughts were pulled from the scrap heaps.
The sky above Earth became a tapestry of light and death. Thousands of ships formed a desperate wall of steel. The USS Lexington and the USS Saratoga led the charge, their broadsides lighting up the dark as they hammered into the arachnid-shaped Klon vanguard. It was a massive, grinding space battle; the vacuum was filled with the silent explosions of ships being torn apart by the cold, calculated efficiency of the Klon hive-mind.
🚀 THE USS URLAND UNIVERSE: THE LAST LINE
The USS Urland Universe—the prototype star cruiser of the Hedges-O'Mally Contingency—pushed through the wreckage, the last ship capable of breaking the Klon’s grip. Boarding pods had already pierced our hull, venting green, corrosive gasses.
Captain Earl C. Hedges Jr. stood on the bridge, the only man unaffected by the toxic fog. "O'Mally! Status on the fleet!"
"They're gone, Captain! The Lexington just blinked out! We're the only ones left!" Chief Engineer Samuels O'Mally slammed his hand onto the console. "The Mother Ship is locking on! Tractor harpoons are deploying!"
"Oracle! Find the thread!" Hedges roared.
The Oracle screamed as their ESP found the rift. "NOW, CAPTAIN! AT THE MIDNIGHT MARK!"
"O'Mally," Hedges growled, "Route all power to the J-Class Temporal Warp Drive. We're going out with a bang."
"Captain, if this goes wrong—"
"Better pieces than drones, Samuels. ENGAGE!"
O'Mally hit the button. The Universal Core let out a harmonic shriek that tore through the ship. The Star Spider’s harpoons were inches from the hull when the stars turned into white fire.
The J-Class Drive flashes... a blinding, absolute white light... and then, total silence.
🐀 00:00 — THE JUMP INTO THE METAL RAT
🌌 Epilogue: Sanctuary in the Leo Galaxy
The blinding white of the J-Class Drive faded, replaced by the oppressive, velvet black of a sector far beyond the reach of the Klon Queen. We drifted for what felt like eons before the long-range sensors picked up a silhouette against the stars of the Leo Galaxy.
It wasn't a planet, but an abandoned asteroid—a jagged, cold rock carved out by the Mi-Go in cycles long forgotten. This ancient, Lovecraftian outpost, now designated Leo 1 Asteroid Base, sits in the silent dark, its bio-mechanical halls humming with a strange, eerie resonance. It is a place of shadows and old horrors, but tonight, it is something more important: it is a fortress.
We have landed. The hull is scorched, the crew is weary, and the Universal Core is cooling to a low pulse. We are going to stay here for a while. We will lick our wounds, reinforce the bulkheads, and turn this relic of the void into a true home. The Klon may have taken the Sol Sector, but they haven't taken our spirit.
Tonight, the fire is lit in the hearth of Leo 1. We are safe. We are home.
BONUS GAME STATS
As the chronometer hits midnight, we enter 2020: The Year of the Metal Rat. The Rat represents quick wit and survival—traits we need now more than ever if we are to escape the Queen’s web.
On the bridge, the Universal Core pulses a violent violet, drawing every ounce of power from the backup generators. The Oracle is screaming, their ESP connecting directly to the ship's temporal warp core. We aren't just jumping through space; we are initiating a Hyperspace Jump cross-phased with a Temporal Warp, using a blend of Star Wars speed and Star Trek precision to punch through the time-stream.
"Oracle, find the crack in the web! ENGAGE!"
The ship groans, the hull plates screaming under the pressure. The temporal rift swirls open just meters from our bow. The Mother Star Spider’s harpoons are reaching for us, clawing at our shields.
The J-Class Drive flashes... a blinding white light... and then, total silence.
I don't know where we're going. I don't know if the fleet survived. But we are going out with a bang.
📊 Tactical Data (Open D6 / Star Wars Space Opera)
The Klon Mother Star Spider Ship
Scale: Capital (Death Star Scale)
Type: Mobile Hive Command Forge / Throne Ship
Hull: 12D
Shields: 8D
Weapons:
Capacity: 5 Billion Klon Drones, 1 Million Flyer Drones, and a continuous stream of Drop Ships.
Klon Flyer Drone (Interceptor)
Scale: Starfighter
DEXTERITY: 4D (Starship Gunnery 5D)
MECHANICAL: 3D (Starship Piloting 5D)
Hull: 2D
Weapons: Twin Pulse Laser Cannons (Damage 4D), Acid/Poison Venting (Damage 3D).
The Klon Queen (Hive Matriarch)
Type: Cybernetic Hive Matriarch
KNOWLEDGE: 6D (Tactics: Assimilation 9D)
PERCEPTION: 7D (Command: Klon Hive 10D)
Special Abilities: Hive Mind Control, Assimilation Kiss.
The USS Urland Universe (Universal Prototype)
Scale: Capital
Hull: 5D (Normal) / 7D (Dreadnought Reconfiguration)
Shields: 4D
Sensors (Search): 6D
Move: 10 (Space) / 3,000 (Atmosphere)
Drive: J-Class Temporal Warp Drive (Open D6 Hyperspace Mechanics: Multiplier x1).
Captain Earl C. Hedges Jr.
DEXTERITY: 3D (Blaster 4D)
KNOWLEDGE: 4D (Planetary Systems 6D, Tactics 5D+2)
PERCEPTION: 4D (Command 6D)
STRENGTH: 2D+1 (Resistance to Acid/Poison 8D)
TECHNICAL: 3D (Security 5D)
🛡️ Product Identity & Legal
The following items are designated Product Identity of Arthur Earl C. Hedges Jr. / The AdvenProduct Identity & Legal
The following items are designated Product Identity of Arthur Earl C. Hedges Jr. / The Adventures of Captain Hedges:
The world of Zimrala, the Ether Dragons and their portal mechanics, the specific "Hedge Wizard of the Shreveport Cabin" persona, and the original adventure "The Drifting Tower of Frifon."
The 2020 Cosmic Era: The Klon Star Spider Empire, the Klon Queen, the Klon Mother Star Spider Ship, the Klon Flyer Drones, the Klon Drop Ships, the USS Urland Universe (NCC 27011-J), the J-Class Drive mechanics, the Leo 1 Asteroid Base, and the narrative of the 3 AM Whispers.
the 2019-2020 Captain Hedges campaign settings.
© 2020 Arthur Earl C. Hedges Jr. All rights reserved.tures of Captain Hedges: The Klon Star Spider Empire, the Klon Queen, the Klon Mother Star Spider Ship, the Klon Flyer Drones, the Klon Drop Ships, and the USS Urland Universe. All statistics and game mechanics provided herein are designated as unofficial material for the 2019-2020 campaign setting. © 2019 Arthur Earl C. Hedges Jr. All rights reserved.
