| Stardate: 90394.7 | Report Submitted: LCDR K. Sedai |
Survey team arrived in orbit of 1a-7 on schedule and proceeded with standard planetary analysis. 1a-7 was established as a class-J gas giant, fairly common atmospheric composition and uninhabitable. No natural occurring satellites were found, however scans indicated the existence of several large asteroids in tidally locked orbit, giving off signatures of dilithium deposits.
Upon approach, survey team vessels were able to make out the remains of an abandoned mining facility, largely intact. No power signals or life support was detected, so away team beamed down in EV suits to investigate.
We arrived on the primary floor of the refining facility. The suits' headlamps provided the majority of illumination and we were able to make out a variety of consoles, power conduits, et cetera, though none of the equipment appeared to function or respond to touch. We were able to make our way to the second floor of the facility by unlocking our grav-boots and floating upwards.
The central power core was accessible on the second floor and through the combined efforts of Captains Ross, S'ill, Ambassador Drexia and Ensign Kermit, we managed to activate the facility's power grid. Life support and environmental controls were also discovered and analyzed, though both seemed to be set for a species that intakes a slightly different composition of air (less nitrogen, less oxygen, significant carbon dioxide, plus traces of potassium), as well as significantly warmer temperatures.
Careful study of the structure and layout of the facility and its packing processes indicates that the previous tenants were using the facility to mine dilithium and then purify it, separating the composition down into parts dilithium and part mineral x, which has yet to be identified and is likely a completely foreign mineral to the Milky Way. By our own assumption, we believed the facility was for mining dilithium, but after further consideration, I am no longer certain.
We were also able to access some of the personal and duty logs of the original tenants. Though we have only managed to translate roughly fifteen to twenty percent of the alien language, which seems to be exceptionally verbose, at this point our suspicion is that the facility was deliberately and properly shut down, rather than suffering any sort of malfunction or attack. The relative ease with which power was restored likewise makes this the most likely scenario. The logs mention that the facility had 'finally produced enough' materials to power the 'migratory fleet', so the facility may have been abandoned after fulfilling its original purpose.
When polled afterwards, the popular consensus among the surveying party was to suggest establishing a permanent presence in the system, to take advantage of this particular find. I must personally note my agreement, though I am reluctant to have a final, positive decision by Colonial Command occur for such purely mercenary reasons.
//SIGNED//
LCDR Katriel Sedai
Ships Involved in Action:
U.S.S. Asaheim
U.S.S. Heimdall
U.S.S. Saratoga
U.S.S. Victory
Bioship Ernasot
Officers Involved in Action:
Ross, Captain
S'ill, Captain
Drexia, Ambassador
Lindresko, Commander
Sedai, Lieutenant Commander
Kermit, Ensign
McCarthy, Civilian