295-1108
Interstellar Space, Parsec 0703/Inverness Subsector
Far Frontiers sector.

The Inquisitor exited Jumpspace in the predicted approximate week. Total time in Jump was seven days, plus four hours.

They had allowed for a month of searching leading up to the terminal intercept phase. Instead, due to their data and readings from the Saulente system, plus active and passive sensors (RADAR, LADAR, Neutrino sensors, densitometers, etc.) they located what appeared to be a large mass moving on the predicted vector at approximately 26 light-minutes range (468 million km).

Their target appeared to be a nickle-iron asteroid travelling at approximately 0.15% of the speed of light. It was 10km x 8km x 7.5km. Just under 50 billion tons standard displacement. An incredible feat of engineering, not even considering how long ago lived the culture that produced it!
This message was last updated by the GM at 01:41, Wed 25 Jan 2017.

Blake lets out a low whistle as the info is displayed.  Entry points might be concealed, but we can scan into it, right ??

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 2):

Lorrain replied, "you bet. Once we get closer we can determine if there are surface structures remaining and if there's any power."

Interstellar shipping was not Ken's expertise but he knew enough to recognize something exceptional.  "Klono's brazen hoofs and diamond-tipped horns!  That is a gigantic ship.  Could we even do something so large now days?  How long will it take to get close enough to get a good scan for power?  Are we picking any active emissions or communications?"

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 4):

The old Belter commented,

"There are asteroid colonies almost as big. Fundamentally there's little difference between an asteroid and an airless world, right? And there are cities that hold millions on asteroids and moons. Tunnels are tunnels, you just need to cram in life support, fusion power, artificial gravity. But no, not too many ships approaching this size with maneuver drives, or starships with Jump drives! It bankrupted a small stellar empire, even the Imperium would take a hit to devote this much resources into such a project.

"I think we'll find some kind of electromagnetic field generators in the nose, making this a Bussard ramjet to supplement J-Drive and M-drives."
This message was last edited by the player at 11:35, Tue 07 Feb 2017.

"It could take a lifetime to investigate," said Linus.

Within a day they completed initial surveys of the immense starship.

As expected there were conventional gravitic M-drive units mounted to stern. But as Lucky Jack predicted there were enormous electromagnetic field generators mounted on the fore end to scoop up and collect interstellar hydrogen. Vast landing and launch bays were clustered in a belt around the middle zone. Most surprisingly neutrino emissions seemed to indicate there were active fusion power sources hidden somewhere inside!

Obviously there had been some kind of titanic battle or battles some time in the past. The central landing and launching areas had taken massive damage, reducing the zone to craters and slag, along with much of the weaponry. The Bussard hydrogen collectors had also taken damage, as well as the vast gravitic maneuver drives. The result of thermonuclear strikes and particle accelerator beams were seen all over the hull. No doubt kilometres of nickel-iron asteroid armour had sheltered some deeper areas but the surface structures were extensively damaged.

One thing was clear, this was not just a colony ship or a moveable asteroid but a warship. Despite the damage, different sectors still bristled with weapons and sensors. Some of the vast missile and particle accelerator bays to masses of plasma and laser turrets for close-in defence survived, but not many. There were even what appeared to be bays mounting early types of Meson accelerators! Meson weaponry would have been very advanced even for the Vilani Imperium, who knows where they might have gotten them.

Most of these weapon systems were primitive and crude early versions, especially compared to modern Imperial tech. But effective enough. Not just small craft would assault a world but if they needed it the mothership could act as a massive Dreadnaught, orbiting a target with enough firepower to bring a developed World to its knees.

In reply to GM (msg # 6):

"I don't know," fretted Lorain. "If there's power, there could be booby traps or defense mechanisms. And so much of the central launching areas seems to be damaged. It just seems too dangerous to try for the main docking zone."

"We have active power sources, but are there any other emissions? Even an IFF-type transponder? Have we tried hailing him yet? Even if there's nobody there we might get an automated response."

Linus, as was his habit, was thinking aloud.

How much power ??  Enough to let the engines idle ??  Or enough to activate automated ... machines ??  Radiation readings ??  We may need to find null zones to land in.  Blake looks to Mariel, silently asking landing techniques that may be needed.  Yeah, pilot-speak.

Who will go first Professor ??  What will the equipment load-out be ??  Personnel ??  Just a few for a mapping tour or will we use drones for that ??  Blake then looks for a coffee machine, going to be one of those days.  And his pocket comp - lots of note taking starting now.

Ken, airlock opening devices ??  Hazmat suits until we have sample with a complete air analysis done over here ??

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 10):

Neva looked around, slightly amused at all the talk about what order to go in and such.  She would let them decide, so that they couldn't say that it was done wrong, but she couldn't resist a little comment.

"What's this Blake?  You're not volunteering to go first?  I thought the Scouts always went first or was that only at bars."

She smiled as she said it but as she had started to make some notes of her own she didn't know if anybody saw that part.

Ken watched in silence as the state of the mother ship was revealed to them over the course of time.  He said little but took copious notes.  After thinking a bit he stood.  "I'd think our immunity shots would protect us from any disease aboard but I'd leave that to our medical staff."  He bowed slightly to Talia.  "As for breaching supplies we have charges to cut our way in if we must.  A better way might be to find a secondary docking area away from the battle zones and work our way in through that approach.  I'd come in away from active power sources as well so that we don't stumble immediately on anyone that might still be alive.  Given the evidence of battle and the aggressive nature of the Sky Raiders they might not welcome visitors.  Also we have working star ships which they might covet as a means off this place.  I would advise care in our approach."

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 10):

"We'll be wearing Vacc Suits until we're certain the atmosphere is breathable and there are no pathogens or toxic chemicals. Don't worry, we have good sensors.

"You guys can have the honour of going first. But we can find some other volunteers, if you prefer."

She looked at Ken. "We have located various surviving surface structures that might have airlocks. Bear in mind even the outer structures are armoured and reinforced. Many ship and small craft bays were blown open and are still radioactive after thousands of years. There are intact vehicle bays but the doors are so massive it will take a lot of time to cut through the bay doors so that will be a last resort. Boobytraps are a definite concern!

"M-Drives appear to also be damaged. None of the power sources appear to be near the stern. There's no really big ones like you might expect, but clusters of smaller ones. Fusion plants in the 1MW-250MW range with a few 1GW units. Standard power outputs for small starships. Mainly located along the central fore-aft axis."

Linus nodded, taking all this in. Meanwhile he brewed some more coffee and passed it around.

Blake gets a refill from Linus.  Ahhh Neva, first in and first to leave.  If we come running back, you'ld best not be lollygagging either.  He raises his refill in her direction.  As for bars, ladies first. as he waves his arm motioning her to move ahead ...

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 15):

Neva grinned and moved toward Linus and took some coffee.  She liked coffee almost any way.  When she was indulgent she would add creamer and sugar and flavors but on the ship she had it mostly straight up.  It was easier.

"Thank you Blake. When I have cause I can haul ass better than some and don't believe in lollygagging.  It's hazardous to my health."  She stopped and took a sip of her coffee before continuing.  "Besides I like how I look now. No backsliding."

Ken listened to Lorain's explanation carefully.  "With a scattering of small power sources still running after all these years I'd say the chances are very, very high that there are survivors.  They've not managed to get the drives running again by all evidence so that might speak of a big loss of technology or organization or both."  He shrugged.  "What makes you think that the outside entrances will be booby trapped?"

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 17):

Lorrain replied, "the mem-cards we recovered from the Sky Raider small craft indicated either the Sky Raiders who evacuated or the Sky Raiders who stayed, possibly both factions, spent a lot of time booby-trapping and destroying as many entrance points as they could. It wasn't really clear why. Perhaps to prevent being followed by the "stay-behinds" or a return from the "outcasts". Or maybe they feared an invasion by others.

"Nonetheless, we don't intend on taking any chances. "Lucky Jack" is an expert in demolitions and has experience in disarming explosives and booby-traps. The obvious landing and entry points are a last resort.

"As for who, if anyone, is down there, survivors are a possibility. We were excited to detect power sources, sure, but we can't determine if there's life although that makes it more likely. It may not even be human life. There was a Vilani outpost on a moon that remained active for over a thousand years, through the Long Night, maintained only by robots and drones. If there are human survivors they are probably descended from the Loeskalth (Sky Raiders) but they could be much more recent interlopers, like the local Vlazdhumecta, Zhodani or even Solomani and Vilani. Pirates, settlers, refugees, who knows?

"We would sure like to examine their power sources. Fusion requires hydrogen gas. Is it solid? Liquid form? These require keeping temperatures down to 14 and 20 Kelvin, respectively. This ship would have passed through regions of the Interstellar Medium warmer than that so active power would have been needed to store the hydrogen. As the Bussard ram-scoops appear non-functional we are probably looking at water in ice form, gathered when the mother-ship passed through star systems. We are also not ruling out some other form of power generation. From records we believe this vessel might have encountered Ancient technology on its journey through the Rift, Spinward Marches, Forveven and Far Frontiers sectors. All known to have Ancient sites, most of which were undiscovered by the First Imperium."

Can we trace it back to starting location ??  Some system with large asteroids ??

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 19):

"This asteroid is not particularly big. It has a diameter of 10km. Compare that to Ceres in the Terra system, which has a diameter of 945km, ten times as large. It basically could have come from any system with an asteroid belt. Or it could have come from a gas giant's "Trojan asteroids". Again, in the Terra system the gas giant called Jupiter had collected over a thousand asteroids over 1km in diameter in its Trojan points.

"Where did the mothership originally come from? The Loeskalth Empire. They are only known from ancient First Imperium records. If I had to guess I would say their homeworld was Unuv in the Sallounn subsector, in Gushmege Sector. But we haven't been able to confirm this conclusively without more research. It's only recently that we conclusively connected the Sky Raiders to the Loeskalth.

"That's something like 120 parsecs away, almost 400 light-years. An incredible achievement. We can only chart its approximate path. It is presumably only capable of Jump-1 but unlike other starships it can cross interstellar space at sublight speeds.

"Unlike most minor human races the Vilani Imperium encountered in its early history the Loeskalth put up a good fight. There is evidence that they used similar asteroid mega-starships before being contacted and so had a spacefaring tradition to build on once they acquired Jump technology from intermediaries who in turn stole it or bought it from the Vilani."
This message was last updated by the player at 10:08, Sat 18 Feb 2017.

Ken considers the answers.  "Well, booby trapping the exits would make sense giving the conflict-filled history of the Loeskalth.  We'll just have to go in through a side entrance.  I would think that the smaller entrances would be less likely to be trapped compared to hangars if they were afraid of pursuit."  He thinks a bit as Lorain continues.  "After 1,000 years and no ramjet to gather hydrogen you'd think they were short of fuel even with efficient fusion power sources.  It doesn't seem like there are any signs of active space travel so even if they did pass through a system they would have had no way to gather ice."

He nodded; "Did the Sky Raiders take captives?  If so there may be mixed populations onboard.  But do you think that others may have come here after the refugees fled?  Why wouldn't they have come back and reported?  Or perhaps they were attacked and could not flee..."
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:53, Sat 18 Feb 2017.

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 21):

"If criminals have visited, they would have no reason to advertise their position. But we haven't seen any evidence that others have visited the mothership and returned. No valuables have turned up, no new Sky Raider artefacts save the ones in archaeological sites like Mirayn and Qarant.

"Also, if they stayed here we'd have seen some ships. So far, nothing. The bays are locked shut.

"If you want to have a look at trying to gain access using secondary personnel locks, that sounds fine. We'll leave it to you to decide the point of entry.

"Let me know what you're ready to go."

Once we have an initial interior map, professor.  If an emergency arises, I would like to know what may be inside and where.  If they need some time to do that, OK.  Time to review any equipment we will be taking along.

Ken frowned as he considered Lorain's comments.  "It definitely sounds like we are the first here then.  We'll want to make the best of it."  He looked at the map that had been put together. "I'll try to find something that is isolated from the landing bays and possibly less likely to be trapped.  It may bring us into a less important area but I don't think that starting slowly will be a problem given the risks we may face if the vessel is inhabited and the residents are hostile."

He thought for a moment.  "We'll want to take a smaller party down and make a breach and then transfer equipment and personnel once we have a beach head so to speak."  Ken looked to Blake. "Can we do a deep radar scan and try to image the interior?"

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 24):

She shook her head.

"Our radar will penetrate a few centimeters to a metre or so down, through the looser "regolith" (covering of rock dust, rock fragments, debris, etc.)).

"But it will not penetrate into the interior of a nickle-metal body. We have taken other readings with a densitometer that indicate empty spaces inside, but again not a real map.

"There are clusters of air locks near weapons emplacements that are separated from the vehicle bays. We can try there."

Linus grinned.

"Well, when do we start exploring?"

He had sandwiches and hayboxes all prepared, ready to make sure folks didn't go hungry.

Everyone will have inertial locators and body cams.  core samplers, collection containers, etc.  Blake will then turn to the specialists If we could have a briefing from you guys in an hour ??  Suggestions on what to take, look for, etc.  Please assemble a list for us.

Blake will comm the captain and navigator requesting that they join the briefing session for their input.

I think we can get storage opened for us to draw equipment while the profs do their thing.

I think we can get storage opened for us to draw equipment while the profs do their thing. Who wants to help with the gear pulling ??  We can pull as they add to the list, pocket comps and data pads will be needed.  NPCs can help prep the survey ship we will be using or drawing gear.

Ken nodded.  "I'll help.  As well we'll want to prepare charges in case we need to breach the air locks and portable air locks to seal off our breaches.  We should be prepared for full on trouble with a full load of gear."

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 29):

"Sounds good, we can be ready to have one of the cutters take you over in an hour.

"Oh, Ken, you mentioned fuel. The Loeskalth used fusion power, of course. Now, water ice will last indefinitely, like, billions of years. So ice from water they collected thousands of years ago is probably still present. But it still needs to be cracked to provide hydrogen, which takes power in and of itself. There might be solid hydrogen ice as well, but we don't think the mothership is cold enough for that, or liquid hydrogen.

"The records from the Sky Raider craft references some kind of "new" or unknown power source found in their travels at some point. They probably did pass through the Islands Clusters in the Rift, which is suspected to be an Ancients site, and they could have visited many other Ancient sites through the Spinward Marches and Forveven sectors, as well as Far Frontiers. So we can't rule that out although the records we recovered were hardly complete or thorough."

3D maps from the Densitometer and of neutron sources were printed up for reference.

Ken listened carefully.  "Everyone pack your personal gear and gather here in thirty minutes.  We'll want to brief our plan of approach and review the 3D maps before we make our final decision on an entrance location." He frowned slightly as Lorain continued about fuel and power.  "Was there anything in the tech that we did found that would indicate any unusual power generation capability?  I don't remember mention of it but I was probably drowsing in that part of the presentation.  Anyway we'll want to bring power adaptors that will hook into their systems to charge our own equipment." He smiled at the last.

"Are there any hints as to what they may have found and if they put it into service?"

"How long do we intend the initial visit to be?" asked Linus, who was thinking about what food he needed to take along. Exploring could be hungry work!

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 31):

"The warcraft we found was standard technology. Either copied from the Vilani or native-grown. Nothing special and to tell you the truth, kind of primitive and not even of a starfaring level of technology. Lasers and missiles are good for raiding less-developed and primitive cultures but that ship would be no match for a First Imperium SDB.

"We didn't find anything other than a single mention about finding some kind of unusual power source somewhere in the Rift in a personal journal. It was only recently we came across it, and for obvious reasons we didn't want to spread word around so it wasn't part of the general briefing. That's why you probably didn't hear about it. If it's Ancient technology you can imagine how valuable that would be! Of course this entire find is of immense historical and monetary value as it is but there's just something about the Ancients that seems to drive people crazy."

She printed out the maps and made sure everyone had a personal electronic copy.

"Here are the maps. While they might be of some value the problem is you don't know if there are direct connections between these power sources, and what the areas of variable density mean, if anything."

In reply to Prof. Lorain Messandi (msg # 33):

Neva sat back and looked over the maps that Lorain provided.  She wasn't sure what those areas meant either but it was still good to have maps.  Neva took another sip of her drink and then rotated the maps various ways to see if it would make more sense.  Sometimes, although it was a long shot, if the maps were looked at a different angle they could make more sense.

Ken thought for a bit before he replied.  "The maps will be helpful even at this level of detail.  We can combine the information with our inertial locators to build up a map as we go as well as at least seek out the power sources.  I'd think the most important places on the ship will be around the power generation equipment.  With the main engines not working the power for life support and everything else will come from those stations."  He shook his head about the mention of the Ancients.  "You were right to keep the Ancient connection quiet Lorain.  We'd be swamped if people thought that there was some link to that tech."

Blake comms Lexi to see if she is one of the pilots.

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 36):

"Yeah, I'm definitely going! Wouldn't miss it for the world." She smiled at him. "Gotta go get the cutter prepped. See you in a few!"

With that, she was off to help in the preflight checks.

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 35):

Lorrain looked a little dubious. "Well, sure. Maps will help eventually. Just not right now.

"So, we picked what looks like a gunnery bay. Not close to the centre but closer to the bow. You didn't want to try for an entry point near the centre, right? More on the periphery?"

She showed them a mapped area. It looked like 20 rows of 6 dual-laser turrets (120 total) surrounded by a fringe of radar dishes for detection and ranging, ladar sensors for locking on to targets and aiming, and other antennae. In the centre of the surface complex was a pair of dual airlock for maintenance.

"I think we can make our entry point here."

Dual airlocks, a large airlock with 2 doors or 2 single airlocks adjacent to each other ??  Blake seeks clarification as he looks the map.  An obvious way in.  Neva, Ken, any experience with trapped airlocks ??

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 39):

Lucky Jack seemed deeply amused by Blake's comments.

"Ha ha! Did you suffer some brain damage due to a blowout at some point and forget how airlocks work? All airlocks have two doors, one inside and one out. That's what makes them airlocks. They literally won't function otherwise. Unless you mean two outer doors that lead into the same lock chamber. Which would be foolish.

"It looks like there are four airlocks. Two pairs. For redundancy, I guess."

OOC: Sorry for having a little fun at Blake's expense.

"Not that much except when people blow the airlock to get rid of undesirables or get rid of bad gas or whatever.  Can you trap them?  Sure.  I suppose you could put a mine or something somewhere that is triggered when the door opens.  They could also use an IED.  I've known some Belter's that liked to use them.  They are used to do things on the fly and with whatever is on hand."

Neva looked over at "Lucky" when she said Belter and winked, not wanting him to think she was accusing him of doing such a thing...not directly anyway.

Ken nodded to Loraine.  "Nearer the bow is better I think.  It's a bit of a crap shoot but let's make a choice and go for it."  At the mention of booby trapped air locks he shook his head.  "I've dealt with battlefield booby-traps and such but my specialty was not in combat engineering.  All I can say is that we just have one or two people forward to open the air locks in case of trouble."

In reply to Neva Alexovna Morozova (msg # 41):

He returned the wink with a grin.

"Many belters like to booby-trap their strikes to prevent piracy. I ran a salvage business and  have twelve years experience in disarming these kinds of traps. They can come in a lot of ways.

"They can be wired to the door controls. Oldies but goodies like thermal, IR beam or laser beam sensors. Tripwired and pressure or sensor tape is effective in case someone cuts through the door itself, and can be mechanical or electronic. We probably don't need to worry about most forms of explosives as they become inert over time, and we think it could be thousands of years. But some forms of advanced plastic, crystal and metal-matrix based explosives remain active almost indefinitely, although we doubt the Sky Raiders have that kind of technology. They might have a "laser net", that's within their capability. It both detects and slices intruders in half. Or dices them up. Nasty!

"We can second-guess the entry point from now until the groats come home, I guess. Anything else, Lorrain?"

In reply to 'Lucky Jack' McIntyre (msg # 43):

She looked at the files, then nodded, pointing at some kind of impact crater.

"You know... there is also this. It's an impact point, asteroidal or cometary. Some body seems to have penetrated into one of the shallower void spaces. And it's very recent, just in the last few centuries. Highly unlikely to be booby-trapped.

"It's also relatively close to the bow, of course.

"What do you think? Ken, Neva, Linus, Blake?"

"How far has it penetrated?" asked Linus, bending to look at the chart.

That just became my number one first location.  Do we have any drones and drone pilots onboard ?? 

Clicked too soon.

A drone might set off any proximity type alarms.

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 46):

"Good thinking. We do have a survey drone. As well, the cutters can be flown by remote. It would be safer to do that.

"Drone or cutter?"

Cutter to approach within two Km, then the drone goes in for a look.  Blake looks to Neva and Ken with raised eyebrows ??

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 49):

Neva looked at the map one more time.  "That sounds about right.  It would be safer that way.  If they trip something we should be back far enough that it should be safer.  We'll get in enough problems later on so it doesn't hurt to be a little safer now and then."

Ken nodded, glancing at the data.  "That may be our way in.  With luck the collision cut into some of the existing tunnels.  We can make our way in and then hopefully find an area with atmosphere.  let's do it; cutter and then drone to scout."

Lets suit up then.

Ken nodded.  "It's time to make it happen."  He collected his gear.

Radar and laser mapping of the impact crater indicated it to be around 100m deep.

Before risking a team, a cutter was sent on remote to deploy a probe to explore the bottom. The probe was launched from the cutter's missile rack and matched velocity with the mothership over the crater. Images from the drone indicated metallic wreckage at the bottom of the crater. The probe was able to get within 10m of the bottom and what appeared to be one entry point was visible.

The cutter returned safely to the ship but the probe remained inside the crater to continue mapping it. Once the cutter was berthed, the team got ready to launch.

Ken examined the data feeds carefully.  "I'd say that this is our best bet for entry.  We'll need a portable airlock to hook up to undamaged portions of passageways if there are any pressurized.  We'll bring down our supplies and stage them in the crater. It should be safer there from anyone inside."

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 55):

"Yeah! Let's go see what's there!" She left to go start her preflight checks. The cutter had returned safely and was being refueled.

Jack supervised the loading of stores.

Aside from entry equipment and supplies there was a portable airlock, grav transport modules, weapons.

Linus concentrated on ensuring that the party had enough to eat and drink for the trip. He also - recalling Navy days and boarding drills - brought a large axe.

Blake adds a vacc suit, vacc suit repair kit, flashlight, duct tape, inertial locator, rad counter, med scanner, light intensifier goggles, 50 m of line, vid recorder and a crowbar.  Probably the metal, mech, and electronic toolkits too.

Feeling 'Lucky' today Jack ??  You our crew chief for this ride ??  Blake helps with the loading.  Lucky, any chance of finding a couple stun batons ??  Just in case we meet some claim jumpers out here.  Vacc suits probably too clumsy for our usual bullet shooters.

Blake adds some filter masks to their kit.  Comms and a higher powered radio set.  Oh yes, that video recorder trap they set up, Blake pulls the 'tapes' for review during the trip over.  He can scan thru them during the ride over, "testing" the gear at that time.

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 59):

He shook his head.

"Whatever we got is what is available. Closest store is three light-years away!

"Using guns isn't a problem in a Vacc Suit, unless it's zero-gee."

They finished loading.

Tape review did not show anyone unexpected going in or out of the cargo bay while the ship was in Jumpspace. Both the purser and cargomaster made visits to check on or retrieve gear or supplies from storage but only a couple times each and not on the same day. Neither carried anything in that was suspicious.

After they came out of Jump, work parties entered to get gear ready for deployment.