RP: Abwehrans [HMS Fearless Mission 1] Boldly Going....

Re: [Mission 1] Boldly Going....

Soon, Warrant Weiss and the hapless Corpman, Oberbootsmann Erhard Rothschild, walked out of the Schiffchen in escort formation around the good doctor. "I'm locking down the transport," the Naval Officer informed her guard detachment as she pressed a few buttons upon a formerly hidden keypad. The rear hatch slowly slid closed as the dark gray and black craft settled into a standby mode.

"Darkmidnight, take point," Günther barked his order before nodding to Koenig. "You're with me, I'll be linking my suits telescopics to point out any potential targets when needed. Rothschild, keep an eye on Frau Doctor," the Marine finished as he pointed to the Doctor. "You are in the middle and I would respectfully ask the Oberstabsfeldwebel to follow my orders if combat were to happen."

"Believe me, Stabsfeldwebel. I will gladly let you take control if a fight were to break out...until then...follow my orders."

"Aya, ma'am."

"Good, now we shall head for that entry point. Maybe we shall get in contact with something...sentient."

Re: [Mission 1] Boldly Going....

Nevaraon snapped to attention briefly to recieve his order to be pointman, then headed to the front of the line going to the indicated entry point with his rifle held loosely in front of him.

Re: [Mission 1] Boldly Going....

"I would think we'd all be equally surprised of an attack coming up from below. Until then, check the horizon so that we don't get pounced on while digging our heads into the sand." Seeing that his words were lost upon Nevaraon in the sudden barking of orders, the Obermaat sighed very quietly.

Koenig nodded his head in recognition of Gunther's orders, and immediately lowered his rifle in order to face him. "Yes, sir." Resisting every urge to salute him, so that no other snipers pick up on his higher rank, the Obermaat simply kept his distance away from him.

Re: [Mission 1] Boldly Going....

The passageway, a circle about one meter and something across, its lowest point some two meters above the ground, led to the dark inside of the squat, featureless building.

A drone walked out and scuttled about, passing less than a meter away from the squad.

Now that they could get a closer look, it seemed rickety and kind of assempled from barbage and scrap metal. A sphere on four hydraulic, double-jointed legs, it had three robotic tentacles for fine manipulation coming out from the front of the hull, one large sensor lens on its top-side (together with some antennas) and what looked a lot like a high-power laser cutter/welder mounted on a small "turret" coming out of its lower half.

One of the three tentacles, the shorter and thicker of the set, ended with something that looked like an oversized nail gun with a belt feed. They didn't seem to have any actual weapons, and certainly had no shielding, no armor and weren't built for combat, but they still looked kinda menacing. Especially considering that there were probably hundreds of thousands of them.

The moon's gravity was quite low, and so reaching the passageway wasn't probably going to be any trouble at all. The inside was pitch black, a small, claustrophobic (and windy, something they hadn't realized right away) circular corridor that went on for about ten meters before ending in what looked like a large chamber, poorly lit.

The stream of air coming out of the hole wasn't strong enough to make entering difficult: more like a breeze of warm, dry air. A mechanical whizzing sound came from the inside, constant and monotonous, but nothing else. Either there weren't any more of those drones inside, or they weren't making any noise.

It seemed extremely uncomfortable for an entrance for creatures that couldn't fly, levitate, or crawl along walls like those spider robot things. But the building didn't seem like a place where people lived, anyway.

Re: [Mission 1] Boldly Going....

Nevaraon lifted one upper arm to his face to move his googles to his forehead so he could see better. The cramped, dim walls didn't really bother him. It was like some of the natural underground tunnels he explored as a child. He was willing to bet that most of the other Nightwalkers were similarly disaffected by the surroundings, but was equally convinced that the good doctor probably didn't have much as much experience underground.

Re: [Mission 1] Boldly Going....

The corridor was ten, maybe twelve meters long, and led in a large room. The hot wind and mechanical whizzing noise were coming from there, clearly. Still no sign of life, but there was some kind of machinery in the room.

The "corridor" was, in fact, basically a tunnel that had to be crawled through, as smooth and featureless as anything else.

Re: [Mission 1] Boldly Going....

Nevaraon flicked the safety back on his rifle, slung it on his back, and climbed into the corridor using his six limbs to propel himself along the corridor. After about 4 meters he glanced behind him to check if the others were having any troubles that he wasn't.

Re: [Mission 1] Boldly Going....

"Keep a weapon out, rookie," was all Warrant Weiss said to the poor point man as he seemed to mother the Doctor through the tunnel. At this point, the Ship's Doctor had been slowly making her way through the tunnel.

Many Nightsiders had played in tunnels like these when they were children, it was common practice after all. Surfacers like the Doctor, didn't really play in caves and tunnels much, but Griselda didn't seem to stressed over the fact. "I can handle an enclosed space Stabsfeldwebel, I'm not claustrophobic," the Doctor berated curtly.

Re: [Mission 1] Boldly Going....

The room was, apparently, something like a huge server or mainframe.
Rows and rows of nearly identical machines were stacked on the walls, covering them entirely, and the enormous number of colored wires and cooling fans (the main source of the whizzing sound) made it pretty clear that the whole locale, a cube with a side of about ten meters, was, basically, a really big computer.
A 5 x 5 square of large fans, which covered the ceiling entirely, sucked the hot air out of the room, and a large number of smaller fans scattered on the ground, all covered by metal grates, were blowing up cold, almost freezing air: Fortunately the room was very dry, or else the ground would be probably covered in dew or frost.
The feeling of having frozen feet and legs and a boiling hot head in a closed room filled with chaotic wind was downright eerie, but neither the peaks of temperature nor the wind itself were being uncomfortable to the point of danger or possible damage, as long as one avoided to stand directly above one of the floor-mounted cooling fans.

The place had no windows at all, of course, and was dimly lit by countless LEDs blinking all over the walls and nothing more. Enough light to see most details. Probably not the best place to read a book, however.

Overall, it seemed quite low-technology for a computer. Low technology, well-applied and used in bulk and with a brute-force mentality.
The feeling was that of old hardware put to use instead of replacing it with newer stuff. Not a low-tech civilization, but one that does not throw away anything and uses everything, no matter how old or battered down, until it breaks apart.

Huge bundles of copper wires in colored plastic sheaths and optic fibers littered the floor, running here and there. They mostly ended up in two holes on the walls and one in the ground, suggesting that there were other rooms inwards, sideways, and underground.

All three passages were as large as the tunnel that had led them in there: enough to crawl through somewhat comfortably. The one plunging deep underground was rimmed with a circular ladder of sorts, probably designed to help those spider-like droids in climbing up and down.

Speaking of those droids, from time to time the team could hear one of them walking around, its quick metallic steps echoing throughout the building, probably scuttling about in another room. But they were few and far between.

The tunnel leading further into the building seemed very long, maybe 50 meters or more, leading in some well-lit place (the only thing that could be distinguished: a pale but intense white-greenish light).
The sideways tunnel was fairly short, not more than 10 meters, and apparently led in a room that, from what they could tell, wasn't much different from the one where they were. Most of the noises made by the spider robots seemed to come from there, but it was hard to say with any certainty.
The downwards tunnel was deep, so deep that the end couldn't be seen, either because it led in a dark room or because it simply went on for a great depth. It was also the passage where the greatest part of the wires and cables went, diving in the depths of the earth and disappearing from view.

Re: [Mission 1] Boldly Going....

Nevaraon stopped and unslung his rifle. After securing the immediate area he stood to the side and waited for the CO to emerge, not sure which tunnel to take next.

Re: [Mission 1] Boldly Going....

"You know. I can't say we were ever given training in tunnel situations back in Sniper School..." Koenig muttered, propelling himself through the tunnel while keeping a good grip on his rifle, which was currently held "at-ready" position, it's stock resting on the pocket in his shoulder, with the barrel still pointing down to avoid friendly fire.

Re: [Mission 1] Boldly Going....

Nevaraon smirked at Koenig's comment before deciding to explore the middle tunnel really quick. His rifle held in his lower arms, Nevaraon sped along to whatever chamber the middle tunnel held. "I hope I don't get in too much trouble for this" He thought.

Re: [Mission 1] Boldly Going....

The short tunnel led in another, nearly identical computer room. Sparks flew in the air from a corner, where a dark, wriggling mass was choking the light Nevaraon expected to see coming from the wall-mounted LEDs. The noise of clanking metal came from there.

It was only after the rest of the squad had joined him that they all together realized, their eyes adapting to the low-light environment, that the dark metallic mass swarming on the furthest corner was, basically, half a dozen of those omnipresent spiderlike robotic drones. They were apparently repairing or servicing a computer, and the sparks and flashes came from their arc or laser welders.

Suddenly, one of the droids turned around, and scuttled in the team's direction, walking surprisingly fast on its four legs, two robotic tentacles upraised with a manipulator on one and a laser on the other. A sort of small cannon was slung under its belly.

Re: [Mission 1] Boldly Going....

Nevaraon was careful to not appear threatening to the drone but didn't flick the safety off his rifle just yet. He waited to see what the drone would do.

Re: [Mission 1] Boldly Going....

The drone just "looked" at them for a while, then emitted a beeping noise. He slowly walked towards the group and stood between them, just behind Nevaron (which was the first in front of them).

It almost seemed like he was trying to blend in their team.

The other droids were ignoring them, however, still intent on repairs.

This computer room had the same exits the other room had: one towards the inner side of the building, with an intense, pale light at the end. one connecting it to presumably another identical room along the side, and one plummeting downwards.

The droid beeped some more. Was it an attempt at communication? Or trying to imitate their speech? It seemed like it was going to follow Nevaraon now.

Re: [Mission 1] Boldly Going....

Nevaraon smiled at the drone, It didn't seem to be particularly aggressive. He was reminded of a *mrynkee from back home, smart and inquisitive. He almost had to force himself from petting it. He glanced back at the rest of the group. Unsure of what to do, he shrugged, bent down to the drone's level and spoke slowly to the drone. "Take us to your leader."

*mrynkee-a monkey-like creature with colorful bird feathers. Native to the Jaspis System. Considered to be wonderful pets.

Re: [Mission 1] Boldly Going....

They soon discovered a few interesting things in the building, but nothing sentient. The small task force returned to the ship, as far as they knew, unsuccessful.



Plot End