Desiraye stands by for the results of the Nuna's tests.

Orvo stands by attentively as well, looking up from person to person and back at Nuna.

Nuna tells you what they've found, pointing to the alien sphere:



"This sphere is like a keyhole to the dimension of the Qantariate, but also a beacon and a datasphere for holding information.  It is multifunctional, in other words.  What is interesting is that it exists as one object in our world but exists as multiple objects in the Qantariate dimension.  That is why a Qantariate rebel can use the datasphere to send discreet messages to us, but it can also be used for them to pinpoint and travel to this location."

She says, nodding her head, "Yes, as a beacon, it is a dangerous device because a Qantariate from the other side can cross through to an area surrounding us.  That is why the attack occurred on the Pegasus and starstation Aurora when you were there.  They honed in on this and transported into the surrounding areas of the ship to attack."

"We have isolated a number of stored messages on the device and are in the process of trying to translate them.  Unfortunately, because the artifact exists as multiple items and locations in the Qantariate universe, we do not know if they are messages to the Sathar, from the Qantariate rebels, or something else entirely."

She hands you a small thumb drive.  "This is a copy of all the messages and data we recovered from it.  I want an extra copy in your hands in case something happens here."

Then she touches a screen, and you see a number of schematics pull up.  "These are ships, we believe.  Qantariate ships.  We think they are warships.  These schematics were part of the data we discovered that were not text."

She sweeps her hand across the screen and you see a planet with a sun among a sea of stars.  "We believe this is the location of the insertion for the coming Qantariate invasion.  Unfortunately, we don't yet know what planet or system this is, but it must be in our galaxy somewhere.  Chances are, it is in Sathar territory."

She closes out the screen and looks back at you.  "What we think we can do," she says, "is neutralize the beacon aspect of this artifact.  Our data shows that a precise chemical composition, and submerging the datasphere within it, will completely block out its beacon-like capability, leaving them blind, at least as to this datasphere.  We'll know more as the studies continue."

Bartja breaths a sigh of relief.  "So that's why they always pop in around us when we have the beacon with us.  I'm almost sorry we brought it here.  It has cost you some lab technicians.  This also means they're still here and they're doing nasty things as we speak.

This chemical composition wouldn't happen to be in some of the vials of the lab, would it?"

In reply to GM Heath (msg # 119):

Orvo stands motionless and in awe listening to this explanation, while internally the world Orvo thought it knew unravels in its mind's eye.

"If I had eyelids I'd be blinking dumbfounded right about now."

"If there's a pending invasion, shouldn't we notify the military?  Am I way out in left field on this?  This is all too much.  I need a shrink - oh wait cancel that got one right here.  Ahhh.  Much better."

"I agree the UPF needs to be notified yet we dont have alot of proof. No physical Sathar, no dead Qantariate, just a destroyed ship and station."

Nuna says, "The UPF have known about this longer than you have.  They helped with the Matrix Project that you were apparently part of after it failed.  But the UPF is not disseminating its information.  And I think you are right that we need to send our discoveries to the UPF.  I'll do a full write up and have it to them by the end of the day, assuming, of course, I can sneak it past Kraatar's firewalls. The Vrusk here can be very protective about information seepage."

Desiraye looks around the room at the others and then looks to Nuna, "This is a little above my pay grade here but, can we stop them?  We've got a nice little mess going on, on your planet here too Nuna!"

She laughs.  "No, no, this is not 'my' planet.  Like Orvo, I'm just a researcher sent here.  I don't know about any chemicals in the labs.  We are construcing something similar to a fish tank to immerse the sphere in.  The construction should be done by the end of the day and you can come back tomorrow for an update."

She turns to Desiraye, "Can we stop them?  That Matrix Project was supposed to do that, but it failed miserably, leading to a substantial loss of life, including some of your friends.  We are still trying to collect data, and acquisition of this sphere is a great step forward.  We hope to find a way to stop it, but the invasion is slated to begin in less than a month.  We may just have to deal with it when it gets here."

She offers to give you more official "passes" to let you in and out.

OOC: Keep in mind that she does not know about the research in the lab with all the vials or that you took two vials from it.

Bartja motions with his head that it may be time to leave.

"We'll take those passes, thank you much!"

Turning away for a few minutes, he closes his eyes and focuses on memory.

In reply to GM Heath (msg # 125):

"I think you better start calling everyone A.S.A.P. Nuna.  I know it's a smaller issue but, you planet is about to explode in civil war!"

She says, "No need to worry.  All our results and potential conclusions are automatically and immediately sent to the UPF...again, assuming they are making it past the firewalls.  I still have to type in my actual report, though, and I need a little time to do that.  A team of scientists at the UPF are probably poring over our research right now and they may even get to conclusions before I do.  But there's nothing like being right here with the device."

In reply to GM Heath (msg # 128):

Feeling that she's being ignored about bringing up the whole Jack LeGrange problem, Desiraye speaks up again after Nuna shares her knowledge on the sphere, "Nuna, listen to me!  This sphere isn't the only thing going on.  All be it pretty serious, your planet is having a major problem with rioting and racial strife. Are you comfortable handling this for now?  We've been hired in a round about way to look into the assassination at the airport and this whole KLC thing going on here."

She says, "What choice do I have?  I'm hired for a job, and I'm doing it.  We're safe here in this part of the city anyway.  All that strife is in the parts of the city where the lower classes live.  LeGrange was a genius.  What a great loss that was, but I don't have many options.  If we try to leave the planet, we'll be quarantined, and then what will be accomplished?  Go figure out the assassination.  Who knows, maybe you'll find something from LeGrange's death that will help us figure out this sphere."

She adds a bit wistfully, "This isn't my planet, either.  I only just arrived here about a month ago.  I thought I'd get to work with LeGrange, but you see how that turned out.  He didn't even make it out of quarantine.  I really don't care about Kraatar, but we are all stuck for now.  This Qantariate thing is my primary focus."

Her assistant comes into the room, interrupting her train of thought and bringing with her your "official" IDs to enter the place.

"Come back tomorrow," she says, "and I'll give you an update after I--"

Just then, the sphere begins glowing and pulsing.

"Will you look at that?" she says, half to herself, staring at it in amazement.  "Diedre," she says to her assistant, "run some testing.  Make sure we're capturing all the data we can from this."

Addressing his companions, Kri'lik says "Perhaps we should go visit our associate that helped us get here, we have something to return to him, and to get some answers..."

Hammer had been listening in silence, though his metal gears may have been making some sproinging noises.  "Yes, good idea, but do we know what's going on right now with this sphere?

The alarm suddenly goes off, and all doors automatically lock.

Nuna looks up, worried.  "An intruder!" she says, moving back to the corner of the room.

Meanwhile, the sphere continues to pulse.

Instantly on the alert kri.lik draws both of his beam pistols and activates the motion sensor on his left gauntlet.

Hammer turns on his albedo screen and puts a laser pistol in one hand and his vibroknife in the other.  "I'm suddenly wishing they allowed us to carry more powerful weapons around this planet," he complains.

Desiraye reacts immediately by turning on her albedo screen and drawing her laser pistol out and scanning for a target to shoot at.  "Where is it and how many are there?"

Nuna says, "I don't know, but that's the security alarm, not the safety alarm, so there's a breach of security somewhere on the floor."

S'Krllk rotates his right eye clockwise, and his left eye counterclockwise. If he were human, his brow might be knit in concentration. Manipulating his bodycomp, he starts to scan the walls and floors for structural anomalies that might indicate a creature moving through them. "I would suggest we be on the lookout, if there were anything to actually look for."

OOC: 21:15, Wed 24 Apr 2013: S'Krllk rolled 96 using 1d100 ((96))
one can but laugh

Bartja flips on his Albedo screen but watches the sphere with fascination as they wait for an intruder to come looking for it.

"They may not want this thing back you know.  It's like a door for them if I understand this correctly.  As long as it's here and safe, they'll always have a way in here.  If we were to move it somewhere else - like deep space for instance - they wouldn't have such an easy way to move into our universe."

Missing his gyroject rifle terribly at the moment, Bartja adds "I need to get my hands on a needler weapon as soon as we can.  I've got an idea..."

Something heavy hits the door that is security locked.  Then it hits it again.  At the third time it hits, you hear a straining sound, and the door begins to bend inward slightly.

You begin to remember what you observed during the last battle with the Qantariate.  They were invisible in this world except that when injured, you could see completely black areas of them show up, and then when they are killed, they die in a flash of light and leave behind the deadly "blackness" that will kill (or at least burn like a deadly acid) anyone who touches it until it finally dissipates.

They will also attack with their "blackness," which is some kind of unrecognized matter from their universe.  It acts like acid to the touch.

As the door bends inward, you begin to wonder if you have encountered every type of creature from the Qantariate realm, or only one single type.

Very apprehensive to be facing another Qantariate battle without heavy weapons or rifles, Bartja slips on the brass knuckles and gets into a fighting stance.  It would have to be bare-handed battling with an invisible enemy partially in a different universe.  No one ever told him at the University that he would be in situations like this....EVER!

"Who's got the vial?  The stuff in that vial can kill these things if it's injected.  Give Doc the vial so he can load a hypo.  It's our best chance to get out of here alive if what we're seeing is really happening!  We'll deal with the street vendor about this later.  It's time these guys all start working together to solve this problem anyway."