"If we don't hurry and figure this out we will be joining them."

Brent clenches his teeth and nods.  "Damn... butchers."  He steps forward and looks about trying to figure out how it happened and how long ago.

The corpses are covered in a thin layer of dust, and their flesh has been mummified in the thin atmosphere. Not being a physician, Brent can only say that they've been here for some years.

Brent shakes his head.  "Who would do this?  Was the planet raided at some point?"  He's somewhat speaking to himself but he walks on past the signs of the battle and looks around.

Niamh's voice sounds far more sad than outraged through the comm link.  "They look like they've been there for a *very* long time..."  As the same time, the doctor peers closely at her screen, grimly trying to mentally tease as much detail as she can through the suit feeds.

[PTGM: Given her medically-trained eye, can Niamh notice any other pertinent details about the corpses?]

--
Bob K.

She lets a quiet sigh escape from her lips.  "We're probably talking *decades* here, at least.  Maybe I could tell you more if I come out and examine them myself..."

--
Bob K.

"I can go back and escort her in here," Malcolm offers.

Brent considers the situation. "Go get her Malcom.  The rest of us are going to investigate here for now."

OOG: I'm moving things forward a bit...

IG: Naimh and Malcolm arrive at the government center foyer about ten minutes later. Having watched the team's helmet cams, she is able to quickly orient herself and find the remains.

While waiting, the team finds nothing of interest on the first floor. The lifts are inoperable without power, and the ground floor offices have been turned into quarters, with beds and such arranged in the spaces.

The living quarters are in disarray, with clothing and personal items (hairbrushes, cosmetics, and so on) strewn about on the floor. In what appears to be a makeshift kitchen, there are no food containers in evidence, although there are dishes and utensils scattered on the floor and counters.

Another room has a broken door, with several empty tables inside.

Naimh performs her examination of the bodies in the clinical and professional manner that would be expected, although it's clear by the look on her face that doesn't really like what she's seeing.

Finally, after taking a deep breath, she gives everyone her report via their comms."I found a total of 32 bodies here...men, women and children.  They've been dead for at least a century...maybe even more, but I'd need to perform an autopsy on one of them to be able to be more specific." The doctor pauses, letting out a brief little sigh that the sensitive mic of her comm unit can't help but transmit.  "Apparent cause of death is via gunshot wounds, in all cases.  They clearly tried to make a stand here, but judging by the relative positions of the bodies, maybe only around a third of them were actually capable of fighting back.  A male and female near the back tried to shield the kids with their bodies...another couple seems to have died hugging each other...a adult woman laying over three teens...sh*t..."

The redhead then takes a deep breath as she tries to rein in her emotions.  Dial it back, me!  It's not as if you didn't see stuff like this back home, once the food got scarce...

"Anyway, to my non-militarily-trained eyes at least, it looks like it was a 'kill everyone and take their stuff' sort of thing guys...and my overall faith in the nobility of sophonts in general just took yet another hit."

"This looks more like bandits robbing survivors. I'm not convinced this massacre has anything to do with the grand scheme we've become tangled in."

"I think you're right," Veronica says with a soft sigh. "It's horrifying, though." She stays close to Naimh as the doctor examines the remains. Malcolm steps away and moves to the shattered doorway, keeping vigil as the others talk.

Joxe sighs and turns to Brent. "I think we still have to find that missile launcher. Otherwise, it will shoot us down when we try to leave."

Brent steps off the side and manages to avoid throwing up from the horror of what unfolded before them.  "When we resolve our issues and are safe we'll come back and see that everyone here is buried properly.  But Joxe is right, we need to deal with the missile launcher.  Let's continue out across the dome toward the best location of the radar and missile."  He takes a deep breath and heads back out into the dome.

Niamh nods, her face still rather grim.  "Survivors robbing survivors can happen too." She shakes her head slowly and looks over at Veronica for a moment, almost as if her quiet presence gives the redhead from Khesanadu a bit of extra strength.  "You wouldn't *believe* what depths some people are willing to sink to when there's not enough for them to eat..."

...and it's best if you never, *ever* find out! she mentally adds.

Veronica gives Naimh a pat on the shoulder and a wan smile as she passes by. She and Malcolm take the lead, and make their way across the domed settlement. They find two more security robots, which have been destroyed by small arms fire. The wreckage is coated with dust, and no other machines are in sight.

Finally, they reach the dome's northwest wall. The wall is intact, and the portals are closed. A lone building lies about a kilometer away, topped with what the technical folk recognize as a phased array radar. A tracked vehicle sits in front of the building, and it is armed with a single three-meter-long missile on a double rack. Behind the vehicle, a large door stands open, leading into the two-story building.

The doctor smiles warmly (yet a bit weakly) back at her in return.

The novice sensor operator points to the tell-tale antenna as soon as she spots it.  "That's probably the targeting array up there.  My scans placed it as being around a kilometer from the dome, so it checks out." She then pauses for a moment, eyeing the truck with the conspicuously half-filled missile rack."I don't know much about weapons systems, but maybe the truck's fire control is slaved to the radar array for better targeting?"

--
Bob K.

Brent shook his head. "Survivors or bandits or whatever, the savagery and slaughter are..."  he shuddered and could say no more.

When they reached the opposite side of the dome Brent looked across at the likely firing location.  "I'd agree that is probably our assailant.  Can we get across there without getting slaughtered?  And what do any of you make of the older destroyed 'bots?  Maybe these things were set on automatic?  The ones we found have been destroyed for a while."

Malcolm lifts his rifle and studies the antiair vehicle through his optics. "That vehicle isn't going anywhere," he says after a moment. "I can see the track hanging off the rear sprocket. These things don't take well to not being maintained."

"Brent, I think we can open the personnel door manually," Joxe says from her position about ten meters to Brent's right. "I hope there aren't any more active bots. I'm shocked that even two of them were still working."

"I don't see anything else moving, or any sign of weapon emplacements," Veronica reports.

Brent looks across the open area.  "We won't have any cover getting across to the building though.  Should we just make a dash for it?"

Niamh nods, while wearing a little frown.  "I don't think we have any other choice right now."

--
Bob K.

After thinking for a moment, the redhead adds, "You know...I don't remember seeing that launcher there during final approach."  She looks over at the others.  "Broken track not withstanding, could that thing have actually been driven to this location recently?  Just how fresh is that break?"

--
Bob K.

Malcolm peers more closely at the vehicle through his scope. "The powerplant area is warm, and it's really clean for being stored outside."

"So as we were detected it must have been brought outside to shoot us.  Is there any sign of activity inside the building looking into the garage?"

No one sees any movement, but there is a heat source showing through the doorway.

Brent sighed and checked his weapon.  "I'm going to make a dash across the open space.  That way in case there are hidden weapons we'll lose only one person.  I'd like the rest of you to cover me."