Aboard The Argo
THE POLARIS: Location A
This is quite obviously the docking bay for The Polaris. A strange light source, shaped like tear drops, hangs from the ceiling at regular intervals. A thin coating of dust is on all of the gathered objects. Items of interest include: what appears to be a shuttle, though with no visible engine system or entrance; a solid white triangular-based pyramid, roughly two meters tall with no dust or markings on it; a locker marked 'MUNITIONS' left open. Doors at the opposite end to the entrance are shut tight.
The shuttle lined up with an empty area of the bay and pulled in. As the shuttle crossed the threshold, the gravity of the ship kicked in and a loud THUMP echoed inside the shuttle and the docking bay as the smaller craft was pulled down onto the floor. "Bollocks," muttered
Luke as he adjusted the downward thrusters. He pulled the shuttle into place and let it drop down to the deck, cutting the engines. Almost immediately he let the doors open, and he grabbed his rifle before heading out, weapon at the ready, eyes scanning the surroundings.
Oscar was just behind Luke, carrying his support cannon infront of him. Like Luke, he was ready to use his gun on anything that presented itself as a danger. After a moment, he let himself relax slightly. "Clear. Crew members disembark," he ordered.
Pace stared at the guns, in shock. Since when did they have weapons?!
Nytera lifted her head to look around, hell yes! She'd made it! She watched the crew come out and chuckled quietly to herself. Should she drop down and let them know she was here? No... It may be to late for them to turn back but they could still make her stay on the ship. She slowly and carefully lowered herself to the ground... She'd just have to go exploring on her own.
Pace jumped at the sound of his cousin's voice. "Oh, right!" He hurriedly followed Oscar and Luke off the shuttle.
Kyarion grinned a bit as the two members of security prowled outside the shuttle. He stepped out after them and Pace. He eyed the lamp curiously, but deduced that it most likely was not dangerous. He hopped a bit to determine the gravity; was it similar in strength to what was on the Argo? "Zhora and Pace, have you scanners now? How is atmosphere and radiation?" he asked while he picked a plastic tool with which he could poke the large white tetrahedron. Honestly speaking, that thing piqued his curiosity most since it seemed to have no function. Once he had a plastic rod, he gave the object a light prod.
The pyramid appeared to be completely non-reactive to Kyarion's investigation.
Pace immediately took out a scanner and began sampling the air. "It seems that the crew had no source of fresh oxygen. This air is mostly carbon dioxide and monoxide."
Nytera being herself, waited for an opportunity and darted from the ship to the other strange ship. She quickly circled it so they couldn't see her and examined it critically. After a few moments she reached out a touched the hull with her modded hand and then dug her fingers into the metal in an effort to see what would happen. She couldn't find a door so the next best thing, in her mind, was to make one.
"Is any oxygen here?" asked
Kyarion. "This object is perplexing! What function serves it? What is it made of?" He then tried to push and move the pyramid with his left arm.
The other ship's hull gave way only a minimal amount, causing Nytera's claws to scratch the surface with a loud squeal.
The pyramid let out a low hum at Kyarion's pushing, the area around his arm's contact dimming slightly towards a light grey.
At the sound of metal screeching,
Luke span round, his assault rifle at the ready. "What was that?" he hissed, heading off towards the other side of the shuttle so he could get a better look.
"Roger,"
Oscar affirmed, heading towards Kyarion. "Not sure we want to be disturbing that," he offered. He let go of his support cannon with one hand to press a finger hard against the pyramid. "Look at how it reacts to continued touch. Don't know if that's a good thing," he said, taking his finger away and hefting his weapon again.
"Huh?" went
Kyarion as he heard the sudden screech. He left the strange object alone and turned to look at Luke as he went to investigate. He also replied to Oscar while still looking toward the shuttle. "Exactly. I'm wondering why it responds to us but not floor. Maybe the sides are different."
"Son of a bitch."
Nytera cursed as the sound caused her to jump half a foot in the air. "Oh fuck." she muttered as she realized the sound would bring the rest of the crew running and she looked desperately around the room before dropping to the floor and scooting underneath the space craft. She reached up and grabbed the bar holding the wheels and pulled herself up and out of sight. Once she was hidden she realized that the crew was probably going to panic.... the metal had given way enough to just keep the scratch marks which, since she'd used the talons on her hand, wouldn't look like anything remotely human. She was suddenly hoping they didn't make a run for their ship since that would make for a
very embarressing transmit.
Luke crept towards the origin of the sound, the chatter of the other crewmembers starting to ebb as he moved away from them. Moving towards what appeared to be another shuttle of some sort, he paused when his eyes picked out what appeared to be fresh scratches in the metal. "What caused this, eh?" he mused, flicking his head around, on the look out for a large creature with claws. After he received a message from The Argo, he grunted and continued his search. "I'd rather find the thing first," he muttered. He then had Alec bark down the line to his ears and sighed, grudgingly returning to the scratch marks. He focussed his mind on the markings and his vision changed to highlight any organic compounds. A small marker appeared in the cornor of his vision, showing that the internal software was working.
Exiting the ship behind the rest of her crewmates,
Zhora took a second to look around the interior of the docking bay. It was all so very strange. There were almost no clues as to indicate what happened to the crew of the ship, though there remained behind a shuttle and a white pyramid that seemed highly out of place. When she and Pace were asked about their surroundings she pulled out a scanner as well. "Pace is correct. No oxygen appears to be available. At least there isn't any in this room." With a few quick taps and swipes on the screen, Zhora programmed the scanner to alert her if any livable areas appeared near-by, as well as any additional life outside of the room. When the large metallic sound resonated, she as well turned around the room, trying to figure it out. Strange things happening already? Not a good sign.
"I've got something,"
Luke hissed. He moved away from the strange shuttle, his rifle at the ready again. "It appears that the marks weren't created by an organic compound," he said, carefully looking around the area, his rifle muzzle following his line of sight. "However, they did have traces of organice matter on them." He backed away and turned to the rest of the team, the bodies in his line of sight highlighted in his vision... as well as the pyramid. "Bloody hell, that thing's alive!"
Oscar slowly turned so that he was looking directly at the pyramid. He started stepping away from it, his weapon raised. "Mr Kavarinen, I suggest we all move away from the object," he said calmly.
Even though
Pace was not close to the pyramid, he quickly took several steps away from it.
Nytera was still hanging out under the space shuttle when she heard Luke's report on the claw marks. She winced guiltily until he said the triangle was alive. Was it really? She lowered herself just enough to see past the sides but was disappointed to learn that she couldn't see the specimen well enough to satisfy her curiosity. Ugh she wanted to poke it soooo bad but she knew better. Then again.... The idea of terrorizing the crew by making them think a creature was chasing them suddenly came to mind and she had to bite back a snort of laughter.
Kyarion raised an eyebrow at the others as they stepped away from the pyramid after Luke had informaed them that it was alive. Still, he had no reason to not be cautious, so he too took some steps away from the object. He did make sure to place himself so that he moved away from the alien shuttle and could see it at all times. "Odd, no? Wondering why it not reacted to the plastic rod but reacted to my arm, protected by the suit. Both are lifeless material. It being alive maybe explains that?"
"Whatever the reasons, I'm starting to wonder if this thing is why there are no crew members,"
Oliver said quietly. He motioned for Luke to move around the pyramid to its other side.
Nodding,
Luke carefully made his way to the other side of the pyramid, keeping it in sight before then looking around the rest of the shuttle bay. "Maybe we can find a way of getting oxygen back up, give us a bit of extra time aboard," he suggested.
"If it's alive, there could be some sort of electrical impulse. Maybe even brain activity."
Pace adjusted his scanner to investigate the pyramid and hesitantly stepped a little closer, still keeping two meters from the strange object.
Pace's scanner showed that the object had a small amount of activity going on inside it internally - movement that could indicate something similar to blood-flow, electrical signals at such a low level that they could indicate brain activity, as well as what appeared to an area of dense gravity in its center.
Pace's eyes widened and he turned to the others with a grin. "It has a heart! Or a brain! Maybe both, if that mass is just two things crammed close enough together..."
Peering at the pyramid and then back to the finger he'd poked it with,
Oscar felt oddly tainted by the contact. "So I just poked a living thing, eh?" He thought on the findings and then hefted his cannon again. "Still, I don't think that thing caused that noise we heard only minutes ago."
Holy shit! It was alive?
Nytera was dying to examine the pyramid closer but she was stuck in her hiding place. She looked up at the wheels, searching maybe if there was a little space where they retracted that would allow her to get inside the ship.
Only a small space, less than a centimetre wide, separates the wheels from the shuttle's hull.
Luke looked around at the rest of the docking bay, but could only spot what appeared to be doors leading into an elevator. "I think I have a way out for us," he called out to the others.
"The pyramid made no noise," confirmed
Kyarion after hearing Oscar. After he heard Luke say he found a way in, he looked curious. "Excellent. We should check this room thoroughly, if we are finding more exits. Smith, circled you the shuttle? Found you anything?"
Luke returned to the group and nodded. "Yeah. Nothing I could spot. Clawmarks. Whatever made them was strong. I don't want to meet it, so let's see what's in the next room." He pointed his rifle off towards the exit he'd found.
Nytera watched as the people around the ship seemed to turn away. She had heard them mention a door but she was much more willing to stay behind in thebroom to check out the pyramid. First though.... She hooked her claws into the crack and pulled experimentally
, just a little bit so if it started to make noise she'd stop, hopefully before it was noticed.
The odd shuttle's hull started to warp at the point where Nytera's claws were trying to force their way in, revealing darkness on the other side. It would appear that the shuttle could be entered this way if a large enough hole were made.
Encouraged, Nytera pulled hard, bending back the metal. She worked carefully, hoping not a sound would emerge. She didn't wait, as soon as the hole was large enough she squeezed in, squirming around until she was all the way inside and then glancing around as her modified eye searched for heat signatures.
Making little to no sound, Nytera found herself in an enclosed space, lined with metal panelling - this obviously wasn't the main area of the shuttle, but rather an access area to the landing gear.
Nytera glanced around curiously and started making her way down the ramp. This was soooo awesome! And she turned the camera in her suit on to record what she was seeing to show Priyaan later. She reached the end of the ramp and opened the door to see if she could find the main room. In her excitement, she hadn't realized that there was a decent chance her camera feed was also going to the captain although there was a chance it wouldn't.
Nytera opened the door to find a single seat in front of a panel of what appeared to be water, suspended in what looked like a window frame. Other than that, the cockpit of the odd shuttle seemed completely bare.
"I agree," Oscar piped up, moving to keep an eye on the areas of the docking bay outside of Luke's view. "If there's a chance we can get out of here with our skin intact, I'd like to take it."
"You think whatever made those scratches will attack us?" Pace asked nervously.
Nytera smiled, pleased in herself as she sat down on the chair and stared up at the screen. Was that water? She reached up with her clawed hand and pressed her palm up flat against it. She glanced around the rest of the cabin, surprised at how bare it was.
"I think we'll be fine if we stick together," Oscar said, raising his support cannon with a grin. "Our weapons can take on anything on Earth."
As Nytera pressed her palm on the liquid screen, the room lit up and then faded to show that the walls were showing a projection of the room around Nytera (she could see out, but the others couldn't see in). It felt as though Nytera's hand was now firmly glued to the liquid surface.
Nytera glanced around in surprise and attempted to move when she realized that she was stuck. She glanced at her hand and jerked hard as a flutter of panic flared to life inside her chest.
As if in reaction to Nytera's panic, the projections became brighter. Not only that, but they changed view to show the shuttle they'd arrived in, as the strange craft she was in had spun round to face that way.
"Movement!" shouted Luke raising his rifle to a ready position and aiming it at the strange shuttle, ready to fire.
Oscar spun at Luke's cry and realised he was staring at the front of the spacecraft that they had landed beside. "Ready position!" he barked, squaring his stance and ready to fire at the shuttle if need be.
Nytera's panic was over taken by fascination as the projection moved and she tilted her head to one side. Cautiously she tried to slide her hand up as she experimented with making the picture shift. She was unaware that the ship was moving as the projection moved... At least at first.
By making her hand move up the screen, Nytera caused the shuttle to gently move forward at a crawl.
At Oscar's comment, Pace wanted to point out that they were not on Earth, but once the shuttle appeared and the men with guns started aiming them, Pace found himself frozen to the spot and unable to produce any sounds aside from a slight wheezing. Then he noticed something. "Um...I-it isn't moving very fast..."
"Oh? The pyramid lives?" As Zhora asked the question of Pace, her own scanner showed the faint signature of the object as well, though hers pinged much lighter due to her distance from it. Still, it appeared to her that there were extra dots on the scanner? She couldn't tell very well due to their strong signals, on top of the faint one from the pyramid. Squinting her eyes at the screen she could swear that another was barely showing... At that moment the other shuttle in the room began moving, causing a small squeak in suprise to escape from the vibrant-haired female. "What in the ever-livin' heck is causing that thing to move?" However, Pace was right: The shuttle continued to almost crawl across the room and at the moment whatever controlled it seemed to pay little to no mind as to what they were doing. Still, being as she was without a weapon, Zhora wasn't taking any personal chances and stood almost completely still. The monitor was clutched tightly in her hands, though her attention had moved away from it and towards the hunk of metal before them.
"You have 5 seconds to stop," Oscar barked at the other shuttle, hoping that whatever was controlling it knew what he was saying. He pressed a button on one of the handles, and his support cannon made a 'whirring' noise as it powered up. "4..... 3....."
Kyarion was puzzled at something he couldn't quite place and watched the others. When the alien shuttle moved, he stared at it very curiously.Still, he didn't know what to think of it, so he was content to watch it. When Oscar started counting down, Kyarion interjected. "What material is that shuttle? Are we sure the blast will not ricochet from it or from walls?" He circled so that he could quickly take cover behind their own shuttle if it seemed like Oscar would indeed fire. "Oh! Pace, Zhora, is that shuttle alive?"
At Kyarion's question, scientific curiosity overpowered any nervousness Pace felt and he started scanning the shuttle.
Pace's scanner located electrical signals and what looked to be a humanoid presence in what could possibly be the cockpit of the shuttle.
Nytera was thrilled to see the picture zoom up closer, still unaware that the ship was actually moving. When she saw the rest of the people in the room showing alarm however she blinked in surprise and dragged her palm across the screen hard, trying to turn towards the pyramid as her first thought was that it was moving and that was why everyone looked so freaked out.
Nytera's movement did indeed cause the shuttle to turn towards the pyramid, swinging round quickly. It's back end hit the Argo's shuttle, causing the sound of metal colliding against metal to ring out.
"2.... prepare to fire, Smith! 1...." Oscar continued, ready to let loose a burst of flames at the shuttle, more of a scare-tactic than actual meaning to cause harm.
Luke nodded at Oscar's command, his rifle already trained on the alien-looking craft.
"There's someone in the cockpit." Pace half-murmured in realization, not paying any attention to Oscar and Luke or what they said.
Oscar, just catching Pace's words, lowered his weapon and bellowed "Stand down!" at Luke. He moved over to the short biologist and looked down at him. "Can you identify who is in there?" Looking back at the odd spacecraft, it appeared to be moving in a majorly ungainly manner, as though the driver didn't know how to control it.
"I can't see his or her face, if that's what you mean." Pace said. "The vital signs might give a few clues to age and health condition, though. Maybe even weight and height..."
Pace's biological knowledge let him recognise the signs and placements of various organs, showing the occupant of the shuttle to seemingly be a young human woman with some cybernetic augmentation, particularly with one of the arms being practically robotic and their head containing some electronic mechanisms.
"Female. Early twenties... Augmented arm.... And something in her head." Pace relayed to the others.
The jerk of the turn knocked Nytera off balance and she froze as it suddenly hit her that she was making the ship move. "Aww fuck." She groaned as she realized not only had she freaked out the team but that they probably had some sort of equipment to at least tell she was human. She glanced around the cabin, but she knew there was no way to hide. She didn't want to be locked in the their ship while everyone else finished exploring, she thought in dismay and this time held still as she hoped that they hadn't figured her out yet.
"Smith, Lipman, no firing! Ricochet could kill us!" shouted Kyarion. At hearing Pace's description, he first looked at the man with an amusedly baffled expression. Then Kyarion chortled. "Is it only me or reminds that everyone of Nytera? Perhaps one of other ladies with cyber arms?"
Luke scowled at Oscar's order and then again at Kyarion's shout. He lowered his rifle and relaxed a little. "Well, if it's someone friendly, isn't it about time they stopped fucking around in there?"
After watching the alien ship for what seemed like a lifetime, Zhora found it in herself to finally relax her arms to see that her scanner showed the same results that Pace had called out. "M-Maybe they don't know they're moving the ship? Though that does sound awfully like Nytera... But isn't she back on our ship? Wouldn't that mean that someone on this ship managed to survive somehow?"
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