Episode 01 - Unstable Environment
Part 2
Mission Log
Lieutenant Turec – Vulcan
Chief of Science, USS Archangel
After discovering the partially buried armature, the captain established a command facility at the site of the crashed mining unit. We have used the last 3 hours to further analyse the mining unit and watch as more of the alien structure has been uncovered by the retreating tides. Tricorder and shipboard scans continue to be inhibited by the high concentration of topeline in this area. Lieutenant Vaas has been unable to recover anything more from the logs in the intervening time, but she has concluded that the energy discharge that disabled the unit carries the same signature as we have witnessed the lifeforms of this moon use as a defensive mechanism. It does seem improbable however, that any of the lifeforms could have generated the required level of charge.
Whilst the Captain has used the intervening time to discuss the situation with the first officer, we have received an additional away team, including additional security personnel and Ensign Thaddeus Guy from my science team, an expert in Xeno archaeology and metallurgical analysis. As we continued to analyse the alien armature, sensor scans from our low flying fighter escort were able to further penetrate the topeline distortion and uncover that the armature is part of a structure measuring at least 5 kilometers in size. Ensign Guy and Lieutenant Cr'Uz have postulated that the structure may indeed be part a space fairing vessel and we have moved to investigate.
By climbing onto the armature we have been able to follow it up to the nearest part of the structure. As we approached, it has been possible to validate our theory and we now believe that the structure may be a crashed generation ship. We have been unable to find any evidence of warp propulsion, however Ensign Guy has been able to date its crash landing to almost 10,000 years ago. We have also been able to ascertain that the structure contains large quantities of topeline. This raises the question of whether the deposits the Federation has been mining are naturally occurring or are more fragments of this vessels super structure. We will have to visit other high concentrations of the compound to determine if they are also remnants of the hull or deposit native to this world.
As we reached the top of the armature we were presented with a wall approximately 30 meters wide by 15 meters tall. Some 20 meters below us our tricorders have detected two spherical sections of the hull that seem devoid of the coral and detritus that we have witnessed on the armature and the other exposed surfaces of this structure. With no way of traversing down to further investigate these points, we have concentrated our search on analysing the wall before us. We set about reviewing the wall, trying to find any form of entrance into the main structure. Our team discovered that on both ends of the wall were two coral covered two recesses. When Lieutenant Cr'Huz placed his hand against the rear of one of these recesses he again felt a feeling of unease that has occurred whenever we have come into contact with the electrical defences of the lifeforms of this planet. This seems to be a curious side effect on his Andorian physiology. Ensign Guy theorised that the recess may be a control panel activated by a similar electrical charge and I have reconfigured a tricorder to emit a similar discharge on an identical frequency.
When the tricorder was inserted into the recess we immediately saw a reaction in the wall and after several seconds a large iris shaped portal appeared. We cautiously entered the structure but as we crossed into a hanger sized room we must have inadvertently triggered some form of intruder alert. The two points we had identified outside on the hull immediately opened and large probes launched into the air. One seemed to take no interest in us, however a second moved towards the iris we had used to enter the ship. The probe appears to have been triggered by the use of my tricorder to scan the ships interior. It attempted to discharge some form of highly focused beam that narrowly missed me and then fired on Lieutenant Vaas. Only the Captain's intervention and personal shield prevented a loss in life. I saw the Captain's shield flare under a massive discharge before both of them were thrown to the floor of the hanger. Liuetenant's Meaney and Cr'Uz are to both be credited for their actions in what happened next.
Lieutenant Meaney was able to communicate to our fighter escorts and the second party at the mining unit that at least one of the drones was incoming. He then provided covering fire whilst Lieutenant Cr'Uz, without regard for his own safety, managed to close the iris whilst we took incoming fire. With the iris closed behind us, we had no time to react before we were set upon by four smaller forms of the drones we had witnessed outside. They appeared from smaller iris's located at the back of the hanger. One of the drones immediately crashed, probably as the result of some malfunction, brought about by extreme age. The remaining three advanced on our position. I attempted to communicate with the probes, to avoid a violent resolution, but it seems likely that the mechanisms are automated, as whoever created them likely perished in the crash. Our personal shields were severely tested during the ensuing fire fight and it was only when our phasers were increased to a lethal setting that we were finally able to overcome and disabled the drones.
We immediately re-grouped and I was relieved to see that both the Captain and Lieutenant Vass were unharmed. Given the situation, I offered command of the away mission to the Captain, however as I am learning she prefers to take a purely observational in this mission. I admit that I find her presence on this mission and her commentary on my performance to be somewhat discomforting.
We discovered at this point that the iris leading out of the structure and our communication to the Archangel have been severed. I am reluctant to attempt now to use any form of electronic device as there is a high probability that it was using our Starfleet technologies that caused this situation. Logic would dictate that as we will now have to venture further into this structure that we try to minimise our electrical outputs, to prevent further unwanted attention.
Ensign Guy has discovered the two iris rooms located at the back of the hanger contained significantly more of the drones that attacked us. They appear to be inert but I am reluctant to do anything more that visually analyse their state.
We have discovered two other iris portals, one of which we have accessed to gain further access to the vessel. The sheer scale of the portals and the corridor we find ourselves in point towards a race of much taller stature. We have explored a small portion of the deck we find ourselves on. We first followed a flooded corridor to an intersection. On the way we observed a creature of some kind swimming in a flooded section below us, probably one of this planets lifeforms that has utilised this hulk as a lair or a feeding ground. At the intersection we have discovered a most perplexing problem. The intersection itself provided five additional routes, South, East, West, Up and Down. Clearly the race that inhabited this ship may well have had wings or some other method to traverse between decks, as we have not been able to identify any form of lift technology, simply a gaping hole leading up or down to other decks. At the present time we find ourselves isolated to this floor, we could perhaps use Lieutenant Meaney's drone to investigate further afield but for now we will explore this level.
Heading East we have come to a elliptical shaped room which we have theorised is some form of containment facility or laboratory. The primary wall in the room may contain a large computer screen, we certainly have observed a large wall with random electrical discharges but the sheer alien nature of what we are seeing makes it impossible to draw any specific conclusions. Also in the room contains what appear to be containment cubicles, but again we have been unable to draw a specific conclusion.
Heading South now we have come upon a cavernous space oval in dimension, approximately 100 meters in length. The surface of the walls seems to be covered in a glass like membrane that point down, like miniature spires towards a walkway we are traversing along. The purpose of this room is unclear and we are again forced to conceive possibilities for its existence. The most popular theories in the group point towards this being some form of storage facility, perhaps even part of the storage reserved for the biological material used in the seeding process of a generation ship. Theories and further analysis will have to wait however, as we have now made the gruesome discovery of a burnt carapace near a damaged section of the walkway in this room. The carapace on first inspection would appear to be 2.5 meters in size, which could point to inhabitants reaching somewhere between 3 and 5 meters in size, if their anatomy is comparable to other species with a carapace of this size known to the Federation.
We must continue our investigation of this vessel, discover why it is that this tomb and its automated response systems have only now attacked our mining units and also identify if this vessel is the reason for the unnatural evolution we are seeing in the ecosphere of this planet. Rescue at this points seems improbable. We must uncover the mysteries of this vessel and find our own way to safety before the tides in this region return and trap us. As I have observed Commander Powell say 'The clock is ticking'
To be continued...
Last edited by Polanski; 05-08-2011 at 09:48 PM.
Captain Alexandra Polanski
CO, USS Archangel (flag of 7th Fleet, RRTF operations)