He nods to Zaliel while she speaks, than silently listens to Tanaka and Derenzis. He inhales deeply before replying: "I concur in part with Zaliel's point of view, though I believe further investigation is needed in order to ascertain whether the planet really constitutes no risk for anybody...and to understand more about it; neither can we forget that, technically, this AI asked for our help, so that's why I spoke about dealing with it. As for this gel..." his eyes moves towards the pack Tanaka has shown: "There is no reason why we should immediately think the worst. We are completely ignorant about these people, so, for what we know, it may even be possible that it was their collective decision to become...like this. Of course, again, further investigation is needed."
"True. If that is to be the case then we should try seeing if we can find a way to get more out of either the city or the surface. Any ideas?"
Timoreev shakes his head, but when he speaks it's clear he was just collecting up his ideas: "Sensor enhancement, first of all, but that's quite obvious, I think. My science and engineering personnel on the Attar are working together in order to find a way to have the most accurate readings despite the radiation, and also on penetrating the surface. We could further improve on this by dispatching probes inside the other openings that we have detected: this way we could collect more data without risking the lives of an away team. Beam-cutting the surface in order to create our own openings could be another option, but I would discard it until we have better ones, since we do not know whether it would work, and how it would be interpreted by the Karro AI. There is also another possibility, perhaps..." he stops for a moment, looking at the others, as in doubt on whether to really believe what he said or not.
Alyx nods at Timoreev's suggestions. When he stops talking, she gestures for him to continue. "Another possibility...?"
Tanaka mutters quietly to himself while looking at all the data on the PADD.
“...yet some men say in many parts of England that King Arthur is not dead, but had by the will of our Lord Jesu gone into another place; and men say that he shall come again, and he shall win the holy cross.”
“...yet some men say in many parts of England that King Arthur is not dead, but had by the will of our Lord Jesu gone into another place; and men say that he shall come again, and he shall win the holy cross.”
"Well," Zaliel spoke up after a deep drink from her thermos of tea, "We could improve our sensor resolution in a few ways: From an orbital position, we could link the sensor platforms of at least three ships, concentrating our scans at a specific location. It would be slow, but we may greatly improve orbital penetration and resolution. Another option would be to allow the Brahe, with her planet-fall abilities, to do low-altitude passes over areas of interest. The lower we go, the better the scan results; unfortunately, the area we effectively scan will be limited, by virtue of topography and proximity to the surface. I think either are viable options our ship and crew are well trained for."
"...we should scan the planet. For human life signs."
Tanaka says dramatically, with an anime shine in his eyes.
Tanaka says dramatically, with an anime shine in his eyes.
He nods calmly to his fellow's captains' suggestions, before continuing: "Zaliel's ideas are good, but I'm not sure we should risk a whole ship for our scans. We may be unaware still of some defense systems that may be triggered. As for the possibility I was mentioning before...we could capture one of the automatic sentries, and use it to penetrate into their systems and databases via a remote link. Needless to say, it is a risky option, under many sides."
"I appreciate your concern for our ship," she said with a smile. "My preference would be to use a cluster of ships in orbit and only take the Brahe into the atmosphere if that did not work. To Captain Tanaka's attention-grabbing suggestion, a scan for life signs, Human or otherwise, would be part of our comprehensive analysis, regardless how the ships were deployed. Both the Shackleton and Brahe are capable of a wide-range of concurrent scan operations; as to the other ship's, I am not as familiar with their relevant abilities, off-hand. And finally," she adds after a brief pause, "I think capturing a sentry could be beneficial, as well. These operations can be done on concert. We have many ships," she stressed. "A plan of action can encompass multiple efforts to reach our goal which," she turns to Tanaka, "I would like clearly defined, if only for the purpose of helping allocate our resources efficiently."
"Apologies. Was just feeling a little theatrical since...well...the last time I heard about the sword in the stone was some time in literature class back in London. I mean...what if that IS Avalon? What if King Arthur himself is there?"
Nods to Zaliel: "The Attar is a fully capable science vessel" he says, grinning slightly: "Never heard about my long-lasting claims of enjoying the best sensors in the fleet? In any case, I concur with your assessment about human life-signs..." he looks at Tanaka: "Tempting hypothesis, but I find it to be quite unlikely."
"We can probably keep to high orbit, to decrease the effectiveness of any planet-based defense system that might fire on us. Between the Shackleton, the Attar, and the Brahe, we can complete a planetary scan for other entrances and for human life signs." Alyx cast another, worried, look at the human gel pack. "Or for human neural tissue at least."
"As for surface and subsurface exploration, I'd recommend either basic exocomps programmed for basic scan and evasion before we send another human party. Or, since time is a factor, have the exocomps augment our landing parties - they can scout ahead and search side-passages as needed. We'll likely need a team to receive and collate their data to produce a comprehensive map. As for capturing a sentinel... I'd stick to remote scans first, just in case capturing one does trigger a violent response."
"As for surface and subsurface exploration, I'd recommend either basic exocomps programmed for basic scan and evasion before we send another human party. Or, since time is a factor, have the exocomps augment our landing parties - they can scout ahead and search side-passages as needed. We'll likely need a team to receive and collate their data to produce a comprehensive map. As for capturing a sentinel... I'd stick to remote scans first, just in case capturing one does trigger a violent response."
He thinks for a moment, as to ponder all possibility, before finally nodding again, this time more vehemently: "I agree. Let's give priority to our ship-based operations, and keep the plan for capturing a sentinel as backup. We need to be as quick as possible, however. Time is a factor working against us, I'm afraid."
"Then it's settled. Let's have our ships survey the planet and do as much space-bound scans as we can. Exo-comp and robotic units on ground only. The Singapore in the meantime will try to see if she can find the nearest star system this thing either came from or can go to as an option."
Tanaka smiles at Zaliel.
"Mind if I stay on the Brahe though?"
OOC: For the next part, ship bound wise, would you guys rather do it here or in game?
Tanaka smiles at Zaliel.
"Mind if I stay on the Brahe though?"
OOC: For the next part, ship bound wise, would you guys rather do it here or in game?
"The Brahe and her hospitality are at your service, Captain," she said to Tanaka. "As it is for anyone who wishes to stay and use our facilities," she added with a smile to the group at large. With that, she wheeled herself easily to the wall replicator near her side of the conference table. "Though, if you feel cramped," she said addressing the group while the replicator shimmered, "We won't be offended if you return to your own ship--or even another, more accommodating one." She took a drink from the newly filled thermos and hummed at it contently. "Is that Darjeeling?" she commented as an aside to the replicator, which beeped in the affirmative. "Good choice," she said, wheeling back to the head of the conference table.
OOC: I'm happy to continue this thread until people are tired of being on the Brahe.
OOC: I'm happy to continue this thread until people are tired of being on the Brahe.
OOC: I have an issue: I'll not have my laptop back until the 11-12. So I won't be able to join the next in-game session O
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OOC: No worries Timoreev! We are doing PBP play here for now. The next session will probably be nearer the end of Feb by the looks of it.
OOC: Thank you Tanaka. Btw, I'm back and ready!
Over the course of the next few days, the research teams send Exocomps and do various deep bore scans of the city. All the while, the Singapore searches nearby star systems. This is the bulk of what they discover in point form:
1. The cities are like an ant hive. They have small singular openings, but stretch extremely far below and branch out into many different areas, but they seem to culminate into one spot. You gather there's more than 1 central chamber to control the planet. Also, the entrances are all situated around the atmo-towers.
2. Capture of a sentinel proved a little tricky. The sentinels were usually Gel-Pack based and set deeper in the hearts of the city. Getting there triggered traps and beam turrets that prove a little more problematic for Exocomps and research teams. Proper strike teams will have to be assembled in order for a sentinel to be captured (Online RP Required).
3. The Attar's full geological mapping of the surface of the planet reveals a tonne of information. The aliens on this planet were terraformers. And this was probably a moon. The areas around the atmo-towers were soil rich and made for good farmland, but if there were areas outside of the range of the atmo-towers, the soil was arid.
4. There is human tissue found in the deeper section of the moon. Mid-level, locked away in what looks to be an actual antechamber.
5. The Gel pack data has come back in and while the organic material inside is alien, it is that of alien brain matter. They were set apart and put into these pack to preserve their brain functions only.
1. The cities are like an ant hive. They have small singular openings, but stretch extremely far below and branch out into many different areas, but they seem to culminate into one spot. You gather there's more than 1 central chamber to control the planet. Also, the entrances are all situated around the atmo-towers.
2. Capture of a sentinel proved a little tricky. The sentinels were usually Gel-Pack based and set deeper in the hearts of the city. Getting there triggered traps and beam turrets that prove a little more problematic for Exocomps and research teams. Proper strike teams will have to be assembled in order for a sentinel to be captured (Online RP Required).
3. The Attar's full geological mapping of the surface of the planet reveals a tonne of information. The aliens on this planet were terraformers. And this was probably a moon. The areas around the atmo-towers were soil rich and made for good farmland, but if there were areas outside of the range of the atmo-towers, the soil was arid.
4. There is human tissue found in the deeper section of the moon. Mid-level, locked away in what looks to be an actual antechamber.
5. The Gel pack data has come back in and while the organic material inside is alien, it is that of alien brain matter. They were set apart and put into these pack to preserve their brain functions only.
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Once all the data has been collected, all of you meet back aboard the Brahe, with the Singapore dialing in on comms. Everyone gets apprised of the situation while Tanaka updates everyone with the last piece of the puzzle.
"So I've not quite found any sort of star system within a few hundred light years that would fit the requirements, but I think I've found where the original moon came from, and why it decided to warp itself out of there in the first place."
Data of a nearby system is pulled up on screen, one with two planets and a single red dwarf star.
"System KE-39-E. Previously thought to be uninhabited. Which is why when there was a spike in the solar radiation, we thought nothing of it, as it wouldn't have affected much of the surrounding planets. But since the moon on the main planet was housing the Karro people at the time, they were being severely affected by the sudden temperature changes and severe drought the spike would've caused. Hence the jump, I believe."
"So I've not quite found any sort of star system within a few hundred light years that would fit the requirements, but I think I've found where the original moon came from, and why it decided to warp itself out of there in the first place."
Data of a nearby system is pulled up on screen, one with two planets and a single red dwarf star.
"System KE-39-E. Previously thought to be uninhabited. Which is why when there was a spike in the solar radiation, we thought nothing of it, as it wouldn't have affected much of the surrounding planets. But since the moon on the main planet was housing the Karro people at the time, they were being severely affected by the sudden temperature changes and severe drought the spike would've caused. Hence the jump, I believe."
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