The primary difference between commercial and military spacecraft is the control system. While all spaceships depend on computer automation for normal operations, military vessels can be run manually as well, given enough crew. As it approaches the libration point, Bellerophon might seem dead. The reactors are at minimum idle, just enough to maintain the plasma without triggering fusion and thus not producing telltale neutrinos. Life support and other systems are running on battery power, and the stators have been shut down as well.
Everyone is strapped into their chairs, since the ship is in freefall - it took a few hours to prepare it for that as well, storing and securing everything. The sensor array is in passive scan (or 'eyes, ears and nose' mode as Nora put it). Most of the ship's computers are down as well, save for MOTHER, which doesn't produce a digital cognizance signature that could be detected. This is also why SAINA was left behind on Abaddon.
Slowly, the telescopes in the sensor booms begin cataloging what they can see, and also what they can't see, since tracking objects depends on them eclipsing background stars and planets. Even Bellerophon's approach vector was set up to avoid having Abaddon at her back. Bit by bit, a map of the debris begins to form in the tactical hologram inside the bridge.
Tasha had spent most of the preperation time assisting in the securing of the ship, which meant little time for interacting, save in passing. Both her strength and her powered suit were of use, making her feel useful, if not exactly how she'd like to be. Once her role was done, all the was left was anxious waiting on the bridge. Armed and armored, she stands by the railing that walls off the external view projection area during times when gravity is functional. In freefall it merely serves to give her something to hold on to, her suit doing most of the work in keeping her secured to the deck and allowing her to stand as if nothing were different.
But things are different; an gnawing anxiety chews at her gut as she watches the shadow the wreckage from behind her visor. "Nothing yet?" She asks, her voice distirted by a need to pass through her helmet.
"Some big pings on the mass detector," Nora reports. "Still gathering orbital data." Even as she talks, the display of floating icons is updated. Some change in size, if not definition. And then a pair turn from blue to yellow. "Huh.." Nora grunts.
Gabriel sits with his hands on the joysticks built into the chair, where he can manually control the maneuvering thrusters - which are cold chemical based.
"I can't remember what yellow means," the hybrid woman admits, turning her head just enough that Nora can vaguely see her brows arching beyond her visor. "Remind me?"
"It means the computer finds them funky," Nora says, as she looks over the data. More of the symbols turn yellow. "It's the orbital motions around the center point. Something is holding the debris field together."
"Magnetic field?" Gabriel asks.
"No change in charged particle flux through the zone, so.. probably not. At least, not a volumetric field," Nora reports.
"Scaffolding? Binding them together would make for a large, composite space station using on hand materials," Tasha reviews, turning again to the screen and examining the increasingly detailed image. "The potential wreckage and variety would be considerable, and there's been plenty of time."
"It'd have to be kilometers long between them," Nora says, but chews on her lips as well. "But you're right, it could be done with conducting cables put under tension by running a strong current through them."
An orange icon appears in the center of the field then, looking pretty big - or at least bigger than anything else.
Leaning in despite it not helping much, Tasha continues to mull over the possibilities. "It could even be the ruins of a base built by wreckage. It's been so long, anything could have been built and rebuilt here -- we might be looking at generations of work from many builders. Just like Abaddon." She taps an armored finger on the railing when the orange icon pops up. "And now that, it'd be the center wouldn't it?"
"Aha, energy source," Nora reports. "Gamma detection, no neutrino flux. Radioactive decay or fission source most likely, but it's sitting right in the center of the libration point, on the hyperspace entry node."
"Is that dangerous?" Tasha then asks, glancing again to Nora. "I don't know a lot about hyperspace entry."
"It's inconvenient," Gabriel notes. "That's where we want to put the satellite. I'm authorizing a flare. We need a clearer picture."
"You have flares on a spaceship?" Shojo asks.
"Did someone block the point on purpose? But why would they do that? It'd be inconvienent to an outside power, unless you could somehow exit hyperspace inside that thing," the youngest crew member remarks. She reaches to scratch her nose, but pauses, unable to reach it. "Shojo? We only went over powered armor use briefly, but would you feel comfortable suiting up now?"
"Sort of," Nora says as she switches over to a different control set. "More like.. uh.. do you have flash bulbs for cameras?"
"Yes, I will suit up," Shojo says, and undoes his restraints. In zero-G, it helps already be used to flying. And for Shojo, there's no danger of flailing or losing control of his movements.
"We have flash bulbs," Celeste says.
"I'm going with the usual three," Nora says. "IR, UV, Neutrino, wide dispersion. Launching." With the stators off, there should be some recoil from launching the flares.. but their mass is insignificant compared to Bellerophon. "It'll be a few minutes," Nora turns to tell Tasha, in case she wants to go with Shojo.
"Go ahead and grab the weapons too -- just in case. Be careful with the gauss rifle," Tasha directs Shojo as she leans back, pushing away from the rail so that she can turn enough to watch him go.
Sfter he's gone the senior cadet resumes watching the screen; she knows that were anything to happen -- in particular an attempt to board the ship -- it would likely come to to she and a few others to protect the vital areas while the main crew attempt to fight back or escape using central control. With so many friends and loved ones with her, she isn't about to take chances.
"Alright, I'm going," the red woman in equally red armor decides. She pushes off, gliding back through the air towards the exit hatch. "Keep us informed, Nora?" She catches the edge of the hatch, and then after opening it and pushing off, she's gone.
The suits are stored in the mechanics bay, near the upper Titan bay. This makes it easy to stop, certainly. Putting the suit on in free-fall is a bit tougher, and it helps to have someone there to steady Shojo. Once he's suited up, Tasha realizes it's the first time she's seen an actual Vartan in the Vartan armor. There's no Terran gauntlet and helmet grafted onto it for Shojo, making him look like a miniature version of Melchior. As for weapons, he chooses an Ugly Stick, which can be used hand-to-hand or as a close-range projectile weapon that's safe to use inside a ship.
After assisting the medic Tasha opts for her own choice of weapons, which include a heavy pistol, her halitool, and the gauss rifle slung over her back. Not knowing who or what may threaten them, she aims to cover as many areas as possible: tools, short and longe range combat, and a heavy weapon if the worst she come to pass.
"You probably know this already, but we'll be the core if we should be boarded or need to board a hostile installation," she explains to him as she glides towards a nearby wall, affixing her feet to it so she's standing perpendicular deck, adding a certain surreal quality to the conversation for the man new to freefall. "This is the heart of the JEF. I think you know what that means."
"If we lose the command crew, we lose everything," Shojo replies. "Do you expect Titanians here?"
"I'm not worried about Titanians; I can handle Titanians either through reminding them of our alliance or negotiating with them. Even if we have to surrender, we'll probably be okay. It's other things I'm worried about: Khattans forces from House Khomen in particular. Our main advantage is that neither side can use the extent of their technology, which means the Khattans are on equal terms with us here in Primus," the young woman explains, and as she does so she nervously scans the hangar for nothing in particular. "And then there's ... Well. Other things. Too many to list; I'll add more if it's one of those."
"Two minutes to flare detonation," Nora reports over the suit radios. "You might want to get back to the bridge if you can."
Thinking her gear over again, she also reaches over and pulls a few shaped charges used for breaching hatches both on and off the ship, in emergencies. "That should do it. Coordinate with Remiel if we have injured, he has authority over you for all medical issues and can over-rule me." After one less look over, Tasha lifts her head. "All set?"
"Unlikely, but I am ready," Shojo replies.
"That's all you can ever hope for," Tasha offers, reaching over to pat the man on his armored shoulder. She doesn't say it, but seeing the other Vartan dressed so much like her own Melchior grants her a measure of comfort as they race towards the unknown. She inwardly wishes her Titan was here, too, but she has what she and she accepts it. "Lets go."
And then the two Vartans are on their way back, gliding down the main corridor.
Back on the bridge, Nora is reciting a count-down. There's nothing to see when the flares go off, since none of them used visible light, but the tactical display begins to resolve itself better. There are filaments connecting the large pieces of debris to one another and to the central mass. The surface details begin to resolve as well, showing.. strange things. The largest and most intact orbiting object is teardrop shaped, while others are clearly 'chunks' or else hulls of alien design. The central mass looks more like an asteroid, just one made of junk. Spectral analysis shows some of the objects are still outgassing atmospheres - hydrogen, nitrogen, methane, oxygen and other gasses. The neutrino pulse reveals density. Most of the objects are translucent and ghostly, with a few 'hard' dark points in them, while the central mass shows a significant neutrino shadow at its core.
"That's very strange, isn't it?" Tasha inquires as she studies the image, oddities popping up in her mind and resolving in a way so very much like the display itself. "That's ... " She pauses at the rail and bites her lip, her gaze darting between the wrecked vessels. "That's atmosphere? Not from one, either, but several of them. Any Expedition-era wreckage would have vented its atmosphere ages ago. These are recent." And to the hybrid's mind, recent is not good. "So many ... And ... I don't recognize that, an-" Another pause, then, "The core is really dense, could the wreckage alone cause that?"
"Trans-uranic materials," Nora says. "That means First Ones or older. There's no way to date this wreckage. The gas traces are minute, so could be slow leaks or just whatever is left of the original atmospheres lingering around. The hydrogen though.. that would have been blown away by the solar wind, so must be fresh. Some of these ships are big.. the teardrop one is ten kilometers long. Something that massive would have to use a warp drive of some kind, but the shadow doesn't show any ultra-dense exotic matter."
"Unless it never used an FTL drive at all," Gabriel suggests. "Could be a slowboat."
"The sheer amount of discoveries here could keep us busy for months ... " Tasha realizes aloud, eyes widening. "I don't recognize most of these vessels, or even have a guess at them. Thye don't resemble anything I've seen in databases or out in the black, which admittedly isn't a big list." She then points at the screen. "Nora? Which of these ships are venting hydrogen?"
"The big one," Nora says. "If it's hollow.. that's a lot of atmosphere. It's mass reading is surprisingly low for something that big."
"And no stators? If it's that big, it could have been here for a while, but still ... How did it get here?" Eyes darting, Tasha goes through the various assembled ships, then she stares straight at the central node. "Could it be ... A trap?"
"This entire solar system could be a trap," Nora points out. "My guess is that whoever or whatever tied everything together harvested the exotic matter from the wrecks and consolidated it in the central mass. That would include any stator tech."
"So our stators could be targeted as well, if anything is still scavenging in there," Gabriel says.
"Scary," admits the younger sister, eears canting back in her helmet. "Maybe we should be prepared to detach the stators. I'm only vaguely familiar with the types of exotic matter, like Statis-3, but isn't it mostly used in mass manipulation and hyperspace entry?"
"And in hull armor," Nora adds to the list. "Titanians use it, the Celestials had a few exotic hulled dreadnoughts that I recall. Khattans most certainly will have some they don't tell anyone about."
"So.. these could be First Ones ships, or they could be Expedition contemporary, just alien," Gabriel suggests. "We may not have been the only Expedition during the window of opportunity."
"Thennenin shells," Tasha recalls, remebering the monoluthic thing that entered the space around the massive Titanian accelerator. "Remains of the Celestial precursors." She turns to Gabriel, nodding slowly. "The Sifran Civilization is the oldest of the Old Ones, from what I was told. This star system could have been a target since the very beginning of sentient life in the universe, and if not, only some time after it began. There could have been countless Expeditions." She then turns back, chewing her lip all over again -- a little voice in the back of her head reminds her it could have been them, after all.
"Aha!" Nora says, and one of the debris pieces expands to fill the viewing area. There's a noticeable mark on it, in the shape of a coiling spiral. "That's Celestial wreckage. And not too big.. would be perfect for Phase 2 of the mission.."
"If it's still at all functional, we could try to use it to assess what happened here. I'm nervous about docking though, we should probably take the shuttle or else spacewalk. If whatever came after the exotic matter notices the ship, then at least the Bellerophon might be able to escape. Mored and docked, there'd be less time," suggests the young hybrid, who turns towards her mate. "What do you think?"
"Why Would Exotic Matter Be Collected?" Digger-of-Ancients mechanically asks from his seat.
Letting Gabriel chew on the suggestion a moment, Tasha glances back and quickly replies, "For teh reasons we mentioned, but there may be other uses we're not aware of. Some things ... " Beyond her visor, the Silent-One can see a shadow pass over her expression. "Some things are made of it, too. Maybe eat it."
"Maybe to stabilize the event horizon of a wormhole," Nora guesses. "That's how the Silent-Ones use it in their stargates."
Celeste gives a nervous chuckle at Tasha's suggestion, but then Gabriel says, "Do a pattern scan, Nora. Find out if any of the damage resembles a bite being taken out."
At the order, tasha turns back to watch the screen with unwavering attention. She wants to be wrong; Khattans can be fought, and old traps disabled -- but what to do about the other things?
There are plenty of holes in things, which look fairly uniform and not due to explosions, although they do vary in size. "I don't recommend taking Belle in any closer," Nora says. "The shuttle doesn't have any exotics in it. Terran hyperspace relays don't use it.. hell, none of our tech uses exotic matter."
"Then it looks like we're sending a small team. I volunteer," the younger of the two red sisters offers, turning again to Gabriel. "I'd suggest Shojo as well, a pilot, and one or more technical personnel."
"You will have to be the pilot," Gabriel says. The odd emphasis probably means he isn't talking about Tasha, but Yue.. who is hiding out in the shuttle anyway. "We need that Celestial chunks tethers cut so we can haul it with a harpoon. Options on dealing with the central mass?"
"Aside from the radiation, it's cold," Nora says. "No signs of life or activity. If we cut something from the web it might wake up though."
Tasha nods slowly, turning to Shojo, "I'll be piloting then. Lets see, someone who can set up the relay. It shouldn't be that hard, so I may be able to do it if I grab a few more tools and communication with the ship. MOTHER?" The young woman looks up,m though she knows it's not really necessary her Vartan instincts urge her to make some sort of 'eye' contact. "Prep the shuttle for takeoff." Head dropping, she glances back towards Nora and Gabriel and adds, "If it wakes up, we could try to use the wreckage or the hyperspace node to our advantage. Propelling the wreckage in to teh core might stop it or slow it down, and if any of them function, we could try to get one of the ships to attempt a hyperspace jump."
"We can sink it," Fred suggests over the radio. "It's sitting right on the node point, and that density is nearly at the threshold for breaching hyperspace. If we can weaken the surface tension it may just fall through."
"I don't think any of those hulls out there have workable drives," Nora says. "Otherwise they wouldn't be where they are.. but mainly because they've been stripped of exotic matter, except for a few last bits. Their hyperdrives were torn out and incorporated into the central mass."
"I was thinking more of trying to use what's around here to activate them, but you're right. At least Fred and I seem to be on the same page, I'm proud of that," Tasha tells her sister, and the older one can just see Tasha smile inside her helmet. "But that still leaves attempting to breach hyperspace, and it may resist if it's that familiar with what it's been gathering. A ship or a creature."
"It would follow that the reason for gathering the material there is precisely to punch through to hyperspace," Gabriel says. "So if we can help it along, we're just helping out. There wasn't enough of the stuff to make the entry.. so whoever started it either died off or went to sleep to wait for more to drop into its lap."
"Except we don't have a hyperdrive handy," Nora points out.
"We've got a hyperspace relay though," Fred replies. "And a maser."
"That reminds me of He-Who-Moves," Tasha notes, head cocking to the side. "If it is something from Outside, maybe I can talk to it. I don't know how it will react, though. They're alien, alien aliens."
Gabriel dials through the wreckage, and selects an alien derelict on the far side of the zone from them. "Before I commit to powering up the reactors, I want to know if anything is going to notice," he says. "Let's cut this wreck loose and see what happens."
"Poking the trap with a stick?" Tasha asks, turning back to the screen. She has nothing more to add after that and can only wait in anticipation. Inwardly she reviews what she didn't add, not wanting to cause needless concern and to scare the other cadets by further making herself appear alien -- she hasn't forgotten how they reacted to her being connected to the Melchior after all.
If it feeds off exotic matter, maybe it'll noticer me, too. The Source said lesser beings of the Maelstrom were prey, and if I'm at all changed by them, maybe some part of me is what they are -- and maybe it'll sense it. I just hope I'm too small to be worth a meal, the hybrid woman considers as she waits anxiously.
MOTHER chimes, indicating that the shuttle is ready. "Fred, start working on whatever plan you have to use the relay," Gabriel says. "You can talk Shojo through any modifications that need to be done. Nora, get me a firing solution as well. Without the stator we won't have full power for the cannons, but at this range it shouldn't matter - I want to be able to cover the shuttle coming and going. Tasha, don't stop to pet any monsters this time. If anything moves, you bug out, understood?"
"Why am I the only one that gets a 'don't do dumb things' warning," Tasha asks theceiling as she pushes off and glides slowly towards the exit hatch. She offers a belated, "Yes Captain," along the way, then waves Shojo to follow her to the hangar.
Once they're in the hangar, the shuttle door opens, and a spacesuit-clad Yue waves to them from it.
"Hi, Yue." Tasha then turns to Shojo and gestures at the short, exotic-looking woman and simply says, "This is Yue Sen. She's a secret and isn't actually here. Tasha is just talking to herself." And then she glances back. "I assume you were listening?"
Once they're inside and the shuttle is sealed and pressurized, the human opens her helmet. "Of course I've been listening and watching," she says. One of the shuttle workstations is showing the same information as the bridge tactical display. "Now strap in. I may be a bit rusty at piloting."
"I'll leave it in your undoubtedly capable hands," Tasha replies, settling in to the co-pilot's seat and strapping herself in. She has no idea how to pilot the shuttle, but she's still more familiar with spacecraft than Shojo. "Have a seat Shojo, this could be rough."
The hangar doors open, the restraints are released and the shuttle drifts upward with a few bursts from the RCS thrusters. Once the Bellerophon is a few thousand meters below them, the shuttle fires its main engine for just a second to set them going. "Taking it slow, in case we hit a wire," Yue explains. "We're a much more noticeable object now than Bellerophon, so be ready for high acceleration at a moments notice in case something shoots at us."
"I feel comfortable already, it's just like my Titan," the younger woman notes in a wry voice, only half-joking. "How are you holding up, Shojo?"
"So far so good," Shojo reports. "I will be glad to feel gravity again though."
"You may want to get used to this, we may be seeing it a lot more in the future." Tasha leans back as much as she can, folding her arms across her chest. In truth she's not relaxed at all, but the very act of trying to appear so helps soothe her nerves slightly. "Any opinions on what we're dealing with, Yue? Maybe you've come across something like this?"
"We're going to active sensors soon," Yue warns. "That's when we'll be most noticeable. No way I'm going in without knowing where those wires are."
Tasha nods slowly, shifting her folded arms lower so she can unbuckle her restraints in case of severe damage to the vessel. "Lets hope sensor sweeps aren't a concern to it, or on its menu."
"Aliens," Yue says. "Like Gabriel suggested, probably a previous expedition. But there's a lot of exotic matter, which means First Ones.. which means these could be pretty old. The big ship is probably from a hydrogen breathing race. We've seen hydrogen ecosystems, so it's not a far stretch. The fact that Expedition wreckage is also linked up means that the web-spinner has been around for a long time and was active a few thousand years ago or more recently, depending on when the wreckage arrived. So automated system or else machine intelligence is my guess."
"It seems it all comes back to 'something ancient and intelligent that was able to snare ships,' and ships larger and more advanced than our own. It may just prey on disabled vessels and old ruins. At least, I hope that's the case." As she watches the expansive form of the tangled graveyard approach, she can't help but wonder who the crews were and what they hoped to accomplish here. Were thet explorers like them? Expansionistic, looking for new worlds and technology to pillage? Simply lost? Or, were they incomprehensible in their motives, so alien she might never guess their objective, let alone their reasoning. She's seen so much of the universe, and yet she knows it's only a miniscule portion, as tiny as their vessel in space.
Turning her mind towards more positive thoughts, not the least of which because she's beginning to scare herself, Tasha adds, "I hope the wreckage remains, at least. This is a treasure trove, it'd be wonderful if we could explore these vessels safely after the main threat is gone."
"Maybe," Yue says. "I'm more interested in any mummies we might find." So far, they aren't encountering any reaction or wires.. things are spaced out considerably, after all. The telescopes on the shuttle aren't as good as Bellerophon's of course, but they are closer, so more detail can be seen on the big objects. The one they're closing in on looks a bit like a bunch of grapes.. if there were carrots mixed in: tubes and spheres and cones, with some sort of cage around them that might have once held hull plating. There's nothing that looks like a drive system though. The computer scans for familiar patterns, and finds something that looks like a hatch at least.
"If you do find any mummies, I'd like to hear about your thoughts on them once we're safe. I will try not to pet them." Tasha watches the readout display the hatch, trying to guage who or what may have used it and how large they might have been.At the very least, she doesn't expect to meet any organic life on board -- a realization that both reassures and saddens her. "Do you wnat to remain with the shuttle in case we have to depart quickly?"
"Hey, Gabriel gave you orders to run, not me," Yue says, grinning madly. "I wanna see what's inside while you cut wires."
Tasha arches an eyebrow, then she barks a laugh which sounds hollow coming as it does from inside her helmet. "Alright, I should have expected something sneaky from you anyway! Besides, I think we'll both be glad for a little more company." The young woman reaches over and pats Yue's shoulder, adding, "And if you wander off or do something unusual, well, like you said you're not under orders. I'll have to follow along of course, since I have an obligation to keep you safe."
"If there's current going through the tether lines, they may be magnetically attached," Yue notes. "If your magboots work on the hull of the ship, then you're grounded and should be fine."
"Don't get electrocuted, check." Tasha sits up, shifting in her chair in preperation to depart. "Besides, ending up in the med bay the same way as before would be embarassing and boring."
Yue matches velocity with the alien hulk, bringing the shuttle slowly closer enough to jump across. "Okay, don't forget were we parked," Yue notes, and closes up her helmet to begin depressurizing the cabin and opening the hatch.
"I don't know, it would make an interesting home. We could get the gateway working and set up a tavern. It'd be nice." Once the depressurization is complete, Tasha unfastens her restraints and floats in to the vacuum. After swipping up her halitool, she kicks off and drifts to the exit hatch, opening it.
"Allow me," she sends over their local channel, echoing in the helmet of the other two. With another kick she's entered the void, immediately assaulted by the sheer immensity of everything in relation to herself, the scale so much closer to heart now that she's not viewing it from a display. She feels small, as she always does, but having felt the oppressive emotion before she pushes it from her mind with practiced effort and angles to make contact with the hull using her boots.
The boots stick, luckily. The structure is massive, but so oddly stuck together that navigating over it will be tricky. "I've marked the nearest tether on your nav," Yue informs Tasha, as Shojo lands next to her. "Each one is in line-of-sight with another object, so shouldn't be hard to find." The human arrives last in her painted suit, and moves towards the hatch.
"Heading out. I should be safe out heree. Shojo?" The red-armored woman glances back in an exagerated motion, necessary due to the awkwardness of maintianing at least one foot solidly on the hull. "Stay with Yue. I'll be fine out here examining the tethers."
"Can she open the hatch?" Shojo asks.
"I can try, but I might need some extra muscle," Yue notes. "My suit isn't powered armor like yours. Watch out for strange shadows, Tasha, so you don't step on something that's not there."
"I'll be careful, but we need you to get out of here and I really don't want to have to explain to your superiors why you vanished, so you get Shojo." Tasha turns back and begins walking, a heavy, cumbersome plodding motion as she heads towards the nearest nav point. A ways out and she waves over her shoulder, fingers wiggling, before she angles downward to follow the path available to her, and is out of sight after.
It's an awkward path. Between the odd superstructure and curved shapes it requires Tasha to duck under things fairly often. And then she finds a window.
I see this ship was built by a civilization that worships inconvienence,// thinks the young cadet after dodging one more thing she can neither recognize nor guess it's function. It's then that she spots the window, eyes widening. She's not here for windows, but she also decides she can't ignore a chance to see inside the vessel and maybe get an idea as to who it belongs to, what sort of threat it might be, and any other useful information a look inside might offer. Thus she carefully edges over, hunkering down to get a look inside.
The lamp light goes through the window, so the builders must have used similar wavelengths of light. Two big eyes stare out at Tasha. There aren't any visible pupils, and the head is squat and leathery with a froglike mouth. There's no neck to be seen, and a metallic looking uniform covers the barrel-shaped body. There are two short legs, and two normal-sized arms on the left side of the body, but a single larger, over-muscled arm on the right. The hands look like they're made of four thumbs on the big one, but have six slender fingers each on the other pair. "Tasha," Nora's voice says over the radio. "I'm getting a digital cognizance reading near you now."
Tasha freezes, and so the two beings stare at each other with what the young woman can only assume is mutual shock and hackle-raising fear. The big eyes feel like they might swallow her up, making it a struggle for her to react in the face of literally staring in to the unknown. "Uh-um," she stammers over the com, whisper quiet. A second later she adds, "I-I think I s-see it," followed by an equally delayed, "a-a-and I t-think it s-sees -me."
Not knowing what else to do, how to greet an entirely alien being nor how it thinks or will react Tasha keeps her hands away from her weapons. Instead, she lifts her hands and shows they're empty, then waves her right hand a little. The whole motion makes her hackles feel like they're about to leap off her neck.
The alien drifts in place, making no reaction to the motion or to the light. It seems to be dead.. or likely freeze-dried if there's just vacuum inside now.
"It's about twenty meters away from you, best estimate," Nora says. "It hasn't started moving yet though.. can you see anything outside around you?"
Slowly Tasha's hands fall. Inwardly she's relieved that she's probably staring at a corpse, but then the gut-twisting feeling of regret and tragedy hits her as she watches what was probably a crew member drift in the ship that is now their coffin. "I see the corpse of one of the crew of the vessel: frog-like, barrel-torso, assymetrical arms. I'm marking my position so you can be aware of it and heading out again." As she rises, the cadet turns towards the nav point roughly indicating the potential AI source. She peers in to the void, trying to get a look at what lurks in the darkness.
There might be anything in the alien structure, but Tasha is very sensitive to movement. So when part of the superstructure seems to detach, she notices it. The object.. doesn't seem rigid. There's a cylindrical central body and four 'limbs', which stretch out.. and thin as they telescope. It touches down on several areas of the hull, and then takes a step towards Tasha.
Tasha's hackles raise all over again, a chill shooting across her body as the shadow rises -- then she sees it move. Eeeee, she squeals in her head, too afraid to utter it aloud. She takes a step back reflexively, then her hands scramble to pull the guass rifle off her shoulder, before she fumbles to power it up. She doesn't know if whatever it is comign is hostile, but as she now strongly suspects the crew is dead and she suspects they would have had their defences armed in an effort to protect themselves, she falls towards 'hostile' and makes ready. It's only seconds later that she reports, "S-spider-thing, g-getting closer. Not sure what it is," and then, " ... getting r-ready to fight."
Instead of a reply, Tasha hears a series of high-freguency noises over the com...