Derelicts: Gehenna (FT, Open)

[TRIAD Enterprises]

((OOC Notes: This is one of five planned threads. This thread details the state of one of TRIAD Enterprises five major systems which they'd held prior to the Exodus. While massive cargoes were packed up and taken with the corporate state, much was either too large or took too long to dismantle. These systems still hold abandoned treasures for the curious or the brave. I leave these threads open so that others may seek to rob the grave of TRIAD.
Also, there is an OOC discussion thread HERE))


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Sector DM24 - Gehenna Systems - Former location of MGI Refineries
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The Gehenna system was an island of refuge in a rather dangerous place. The blue-white star sat on the edge of a tortured area of space some five hindred light-years across. Within this region, there were more spatial anomalies per parsec than almost any other sector of the Milky Way galaxy, with the possible exception of the galactic core. Normally this region of space would be one best avoided, however during it's time in this universe, the corporate state of TRIAD Enterprises had established a major colony here. The reason was simple. In the presence of so many unstable and unpredictable space-time anomalies, the presence of various kinds of exotic matter was almost garranteed. Neutronium, dilithium, naquadah, eezo, magnetic monopoles. These and other "unnatural" materials could be harvested if one was willing to brave the tortuted space they occured in.

The lure of profit in harvesting these exotic materials for resale to other nations had prompted TRIAD Enterprises to establish a major outpost in the Gehenna system. Makaar-Greywing Industries, a major subsidiary entity within TRIAD, was awarded the valuable contract for overseeing the harvesting and refining outpost. A fifty-kilometer diameter asteroid was towed into orbit around the system's only planet, a reddish-orange gas giant. Carved into this asteroid's interior had been a colony habitat, power stations, docking bays, and cargo storage.
In addition to the asteroid, which had served as a trade station for the system, the inner system had been littered with various refineries and processing stations orbiting the lonely star. Each was spaced far enough that a containment disaster would affect only one station, and far enough out that accidents could not affect the star itself.

All of this had been busy with activity when TRIAD had a presence here. Now however the system sat empty, abandoned. Gone were the ships and traffic beacons. Many of the larger stations' hulls still drifted in space, including the asteroid; however these hulks had been mostly gutted and ransacked for anything that could be cut loose and packed away aboard the Exodus Fleets.

Gehenna now resembled a graveyard, and like all graves, this one just might hold treasure for those who would seek it.

[Avenio]

Gah! Why do all of the good threads appear when I'm on my phone! Tag for when I get home.

[Feazanthia]

((Tagged! Will post when awake.))

[Kilrany]

<I don’t like this.>

<Neither do I, but the orders stand.>

<Oh I understand that Bilan, but surely anything of importance left behind will be rigged to make a very big boom if the undesirable so much as look at it funny.>

<Naturally, but they want us to try anyway Petrova, and try we shall.>

<Well yes, of course, but I was complaining more about the fact that they’re only sending the five of us in there rather than an entire task force.>

<I’ll grant you that one, but you know they’re tied up elsewhere, at least we have a combat squadron sitting at the rally point ready for rapid deployment if the shit hits the fan.>

<I suppose. It just seems like there should be more of us for this, especially if any other; and let’s be honest here about what we are doing, scavengers come along to pick the bones as it were.>

<Again, I’ll grant you that one. To be honest this doesn’t feel all that right, they seemed like decent enough people.>

<Doesn’t matter, they left and whatever they weren’t able to take with them, we shall take for ourselves. Now both of you keep alert and prepare for the jump.>

<Yes Lopokova.>

-----

It had come as something of a surprise to the Kilrany when TRIAD had suddenly packed up shop after only four months of trading between the two peoples. While in that time they had conducted a great many exchanges, the Quinquevirate had expected to maintain relations for considerably longer then had actually occurred.

Given the relatively isolated nature of Midgard, the exodus of TRIAD personnel had gone somewhat unnoticed for quite some time as these extra-universal people had at least the courtesy to finish out their contracts before leaving. When those had expired though, and the Kilrany were no longer able to establish contact with these temporary trading partners, concern arose that something had gone wrong for them.

It didn’t take long at that point to realize more was going on than a simple turn towards isolation, and eventually when the truth became clear, there seemed only one option open to the Kilrany. With Gehenna the closest of TRIAD’s former holdings, merely ten thousand light-years from Midgard, it was soon to be host to a Kilrany Scout Squadron.

-----

Quietly and without a flash of light or burst of radiation, five Kilrany warships dropped back into normal space at the extreme edge of the Gehenna solar system. Hidden behind their cloaking systems, they ran silent on passive sensors only, and held a prearranged vertical and horizontal wedge formation with a half light-second between them, based off the position of the sun.

Here they sat for nearly twenty minutes, drifting at a painfully slow rate towards the sun, watching and listening to whatever happened to reach them at light’s convenience.

From all accounts this seemed to confirm that Gehenna was in fact abandoned. Detecting no artificial signals at all, let alone of an FTL nature, the five ships were left at something of a loss for a few seconds before Lopokova made the decision to move things along.

As the lead for their squadron, she sat at the head of the formation, and brining her active sensors out of standby mode, began to slam their signals out into the solar system at FTL velocities. Following this up, she slowly brought her engines up to one third and began moving inwards, her comrades holding their formation now based off her emissions.

<This is too quiet. There should be some automated defenses and mines here to ward off scavengers.>

<Assuming they had the time.>

<There’s always time to leave some nasty surprises on equipment you don’t want to fall into enemy hands.>

<We shall see I suppose.>

<That we shall.>

<Everyone launch half your complement of Scythes, I want a full sensor net around the formation.>

Lopokova didn’t need them to ‘verbally’ acknowledge the command, the simple detection of the five meter long, two meter wide and tall craft launching was enough for her. Briefly as they left their respective hangars and broke through the cloaking field around each ship, there was a brief visual distortion as the systems attempted to compensate for the sudden maneuver.

Without the benefit of their own cloaking systems, the smaller craft were easily detectable as forty-eight of them formed a rough spherical grid around the main formation, varying in distance from one light-second to a full five light-seconds. This of course was not necessary as each one ran with active sensors, transmitting the data on a short ranged signal to be received and compiled into a single composite image in real-time by each warship.

While this accounted for the half the Scythes from the four scouts, Lopokova’s detachment of twelve formed up into a smaller sphere and began to accelerate rapidly in towards the system along the route the warships would be following. Here their paranoia assured them they had to play it safe, and slowly they would head deeper into the system.

[TRIAD Enterprises]

((OOC Note: Placeholder post for now. I want to give Avenio and Faezanthia a chance to post before responding to all three of you. For continuity however, Kilrany can be assumed to have arrived on-site first.))

[Avenio]

I'm sorry about not posting, I'm just quite behind in a number of things. I'll have a post up ASAP.

[Avenio]

((OOC: Quick note, most of the Dominion ships are grown rather than built, so the traditional classifications such as a battlecruiser don't really apply, but I'll try to compare them as best I can.))

---

It had taken quite some time for the news of TRIAD's departure from the known universe to reach isolated Dominion space, and even longer for the morass of direct democracy the Current was to form an opinion at all, as the vast polity grappled with such simple conundrums as whether to take rumors of vast otherworldy treasures TRIAD had gleaned from other universes hidden away in parallel dimensional vaults seriously enough, or to dismiss rumors of superintelligent rampant AI running ghost fleets that stood in eternal watch over TRIAD assets, and even more time was spent calculating simply where to begin looking for TRIAD holdings, as they were not logged in any Enlightened databank.

Such was the nature of the Dominion politics, however, and after some diplomatic wrangling with a smaller interstellar nation that fell within the Enlightened sphere of influence, a likely TRIAD holding had been discovered, oddly enough hidden within a known shipping hazard some distance away.

With that, a small fleet had been dispatched to investigate, consisting of two battlecruiser-esque and two destroyer-esque vessels.

---

About 0.04 AU from the luminary of the Gehenna system, just far enough not to get fried by the angry sun, a series of four quantum tunnels opened up, spilling the small Enlightened fleet into the burning hell of the system.

Aboard the lead vessel, the Recalcitrant Legacy, the crew was running standard pre-op preparations, and on the bridge, the Captain of the battlecruiser, Nepos, was running through sensor logs with his comms officer, Perictione.

-We haven't detected any vessels yet, but the UV from the microwave oven behind us is playing merry havoc with our sensors, so I would wager we can't assume we're alone.-

Nepos flipped through the chaotic sensor feeds with his mind, turning to one in particular, of the dim spectroscopic outline of the nondescript Jovian.

-Chances are, if there's anything of value that TRIAD left behind, it'd be somewhere near there. Its the only planet in this hellhole, and it looks relatively stable. Can you chart a course?-

-Aye sir, though I'd recommend we take it nice and slow. Long-range sensors showed a lot of spatial anomalies out there, and we do not want to hit one.-

-Agreed. Take us out, nice and slowly.-

The small group of vessels began inching forward out of the magnetic domain of the star, blindly shuffling towards the gas giant as slowly as they could.

[Feazanthia]

Salvage was the oldest and most common activity of the Kiith Federation Expeditionary Force and, while the preparations for what many felt was the inevitable IRON-Hermes war were taking the majority of current strategic resource allocation, any rumors of unclaimed technological bounty was enough to pull in the vessels of one clan or another. More often than not, these scavengers took the form of either Kiith Somtaaw or Kiith Manaan. Both were nomadic spacefaring kiith, both maintained large military budgets, and both were not yet within the "upper echelons" of Federation society.

However, today neither the Somtaaw or Manaani were hunting. Instead, the two prows of the Praetor-class carrier bore the mark of Kiith Nabaal. Nabaal had become powerful early on in the history of the fledgling Federation, valuing the physical sciences over mysticism or blind aggression. They had been the first to rediscover the steam engine, and then the first to once again split the atom. Even the mighty, warlike Soban had bowed before the superior weaponry of Nabaal. A Nabaali had helped crack the mysteries of the Slipstream. The Nabaali had first theorized it was possible to traverse the distance between galaxies without a Slipgate already in place. Kiith Nabaal had a claim to the greatest technical minds in the whole of kiith space, and no other kiith challenged that claim. That is why, when Paktu traders had first gotten word of the TRIAD's disappearance, and the existence of Gehenna, FleetCom had decided to intervene in the standard "first-come-first-served" unwritten rules of salvage and send their best.

A full carrier group violated the laws of physics in order to move from their rally point to Gehenna - a pair of Praetor-class carriers, supplemented by an Arelian Defender, two cruiser squadrons, a destroyer squadron, and a handful of frigates. The galaxy was on the verge of war. No risks were to be taken. It could very well be that something in this graveyard that would give them a decisive advantage against any Hermes invasion. The TRIAD certainly hadn't been primitive, and their power had been respected enough for the Hermes to have them present when they attempted their little annexation by legal means at Ambrosia.

"Systems nominal, Jak'sa. Sensors receiving data now. Beginning full spectrum scan, launching probes," came the not-quite metallic voice of the KFES Mirat-san's native artificial intelligence.

"Good," responded the carrier group's commanding officer. "Give me fleetwide," he said before clearing his throat. "This is Jak'sa Aloorian. Here we are, people. We'll do this one by the book. Keep your actives pinging away for contacts, and report anything suspicious. Salvage teams, prioritize complex machinery first. We can save hull material for later. Remember, people, we don't know what sort of automated defenses the TRIAD might have, or if there's any of them left here. We also do not know if anyone else may have beaten us to the prize, so stay alert. Aloorian out."

[Osanyia]

The Collective had not been in space long, but during their time they had heard stories of the nation called TRIAD, and their power. So when news arrived from an unmanned probe that TRIAD had up and abandoned one of their systems, Supreme Leader Vahn Tocara had ordered that a salvage unit be sent, to gather some of the secrets of the TRIAD’s power. The unit, three ships in all, departed Osanyia Prime with their mission unknown to all but a handful.

Edge of Gehenna System
The three Dunov-class battlecruisers exited warpspace on the edge of the system. They were medium-sized warships, black and mechanical with few curves, as was the Osanyian style.

On the bridge of the battlecruiser Triumphant, Star-Captain Rona Maletov looked out upon the world and the detritus which surrounded it with a mix of curiosity and caution. If TRIAD put so much into this world, then they must have some mechanisms for defending it. Maletov opened a comm channel to the two other ships in her detachment.
“All ships, this is Star-Captain Maletov. We shall proceed cautiously; no telling what’s waiting for us out there. Fighters will move to picket positions in standard formation. Maletov out.”

The lone carrier in the formation, the Ruthless, seemed to flare as it’s catapults shot out Hellbringer fighters, 48 in all. These fighters moved into a large circle around the ships and moved in snyc, providing advance warning of any out-of-the-ordinary activity as the small force moved towards the planet.

[TRIAD Enterprises]

OOC Note:

I forgot to mention something last post. I have already "mapped" out the system and the different facilities in my notes.
The star is a blue-white dwarf, and as Avenio implied it is spitting out lots of microwave interference. As for spatial anomalies, they are easily detected because they often cause EM and FTL based sensors to freak the hell out. It'll be simple to avoid any dangers, and all anomalies are stationary.
In orbit of the single planet (gas giant) is the asteroid-base, the former trade station. In addition to the one planet, there are twenty large space stations in orbit of the star, each at different distances and elevations from the ecliptic plane. Each one of these orbits intersects a specific spatial anomaly once during it's orbit.
As you explore, let me know which location you are headed to. I have scattered prizes and treasures around the system, so I need to know where you are. First come-first served, however you are welcome to fight for the prizes. Heh.

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Kilrany
Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Outer System - Bearing 120 Degrees Absolute
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As the first on the scene, the Kilrany would find the system undisturbed from the way it looked as TRIAD left the system for the final time. Scans would easily detect the presence of roughly twenty large masses further in beyond the orbit of the lone gas giant, which itself was just now revealing the presence of the asteroid base in orbit of the jovian planet. No beacons transmitted warnings. No satellites emitted targeting scans. No automated vessels ignited drives. The system appeared dead and long abandoned, if it were not for the presence of the stations.


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Avenio
Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Inner System - Bearing 145 Degrees Absolute
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Since the Dominion ships arrived very close to the star, they might not show up on Kilrany sensors for some time, especially since the Avenio arrival came almost a full hour after the Kilrany. However, the Avenese point of entry into the system offered them a slight advantage over the Kilrany, and that was that once they cleared the microwave hash coming from the star, they would be able to detect the various stations orbiting the star further in from the jovian.
Thankfully the many spatial anomalies littering the system all appeared to be both stationary, and relatively simple to detect as any EM or FTL-based sensor aimed into their field tended to go haywire and scream bloody murder. It became analogous to using a Geiger detector to hunt for radiation sources: when the machine started shrieking, it was time to turn.


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Faezanthia
Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Outer System - Bearing 30 Degrees Absolute
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Next to arrive were the Nabaal vessels, arriving a full ninety degrees counter-spin from the Kilrany entrance. The Federation scanners received much the same information as the other would-be grave-robbers, only with a slightly different perspective. Again, the jovian system with it's orbiting asteroid-base, the cluster of smaller stations orbiting closer into the system. What was different was that from this angle, the Federation sensors could detect the very large rocky debris field. The fact that the field was holding a fairly stable orbit, had not scattered into a ring around the star, and held considerable mass could indicate it had very recently been a planet. Of course, to a former planet, recently could be as old as several centuries.


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Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Outer System - Bearing 220 Degrees Absolute
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The fourth party to arrive were the Collective ships, and these arrived almost one-hundred eighty degrees opposite the Faezanthian vessels, and ninety degrees spin-ward of the Kilrany. Like the Federation vessels, this angle allowed them to detect the presence of the asteroid field that used to be a planet sitting at three hundred degrees absolute. Other than this, the information coming to the Collective sensors was exactly the same as that coming to the other four intruders.


OOC Note:

Sorry for the short responses folks. I'm going to try and give you all as much info as I can, but I cannot respond to anything you don't actually do. The more you do, the more you "attempt", the better my responses and replies will be. In this thread I am essentially GMing as the setting, rather than any actual character. Have fun folks!

[Kilrany]

<This is too damned quiet.>

<I agree. We should have encountered something, even if only an automated message telling us to bugger off.>

<Maybe they really aren’t coming back, and they just didn’t care anymore about this system.>

<As much as I’d like to believe that, I’m damn well not going to take anything for granted here, so we continue to assume the worst.>

<Copy that.>

<Now then, launch your Alphas and the Wyverns, I want these facilities searched so we can get the hell out of this place.>

Using what information Antonov and his fellow squadron members had accumulated from their face-to-face meeting with TRIAD representatives months before, Lopokova had designated the former trade station their primary objective. With this in mind though, a number of the closer refinery stations had also been tagged for immediate reconnaissance.

As a result of her plan and their very minor lead on their competition, the five warships had already moved into a position to place themselves in a high orbit above the hollowed out asteroid, causing the gas giant to block their sensor’s line of sight for the moment. Here they however had the opportunity to have already each launched a pair of Alpha Type Assault Shuttles, and a single Beta Type; nicknamed the Wyvern.

Sharing the same overall design scheme, both shuttles appeared to be identical in silhouette, but if placed side by side, one would immediately notice a very distinctive difference between the two. At a mere sixteen meters long, the Alpha was less than half the length of the Beta’s more then thirty meter length.

Such a silhouette would not be quick in coming however, as unlike the Scythes; which at this point had been further spread out to as far as ten light-seconds, these craft carried their own cloaking system, and readily activated them as they departed for their respective destinations. Hidden along with them was the rectangular transport module each one was capable of carrying, and in this case did, located attached to their underbelly.

Conducting a rapid series of micro-jumps to avoid any anomalies, each pair of Alphas quickly brought themselves in towards five of the refineries located closest to the gas giant. Upon arriving, they began to search both visually and with directional active sensors for a means of entry to each of these large stations.

The Wyverns on the other hand all descended upon the trade station at sub-light speed, a relatively quick and simple task given the proximity of their hosts. Like their counterparts now farther away, they also looked for a means of entry, each one hoping to land in a separate hangar if possible to aid in their search for anything of value.

OOC: Quick little post, but I’m stuck at work with a questionable internet connection for the next eight hours, and I wanted to ensure no one was waiting long for me to post, nor did I want to move to far ahead to quickly here with so many other’s present. Does the job though to let you all know what I’m doing for the moment, and that the Kilrany didn’t notice anyone else arrive just yet.

[TRIAD Enterprises]

((OOC Note:))

Placeholder post for now.
I've already talked with Kilrany on MSN. This is for the rest of ya. Let me know in your posts, either ICly or OOCly, which sites you're visiting. There are a total of twenty recognizable sites in the system. Kilrany has sent his shuttles out to sites 3, 7, 11, 14, and 17. This doesn't mean noone else can explore the same sites, just let me know where you're headed so I can describe what you all find there. I will describe the setting, then contact you by IM or TG to tell you what you *might* find if you completely explore the location.
Yes, there are some hidden dangers here, so enjoy the scavenger hunt!

[Osanyia]

OOC-To make things easier, put me down for sites 8, 9, and 10

IC-Star-Captain Maletov looked over her sensor readings. 20 sites in all, each almost calling out with their secrets. Well, might as well spread out. Opening a channel to the other ships in her tsk force, she assigned locations, based on the nearest sites.

The ships split up, each one heading for a different site. The fighter cover also divided, 16 fighters to each ship. These maintained a crescent formation in front of the ships, while in the ships' shuttlebays Hoshiko-class shuttles were readied, salvage teams prepped.

Maletov watched as the site she has assigned to her ship grew larger in the viewscreen. Before the shuttles were launched, she sent a final message "To all ships, good hunting. Maintain radio silence from now on until absolutely neccessary."

From the Triumphant, as from the other two ships, a lone shuttle emerged, each one's innards packed with salvage experts and their prawn slaves...

[Avenio]

((OOC: Placeholder for me as well, I can only be on for a bit this afternoon and I won't have time to write a full IC post until later this evening. I guess I'll take 12, 13 and fifteen for sites, I hope noone minds.))

[TRIAD Enterprises]

((OOC Note:))

I'm going to wait for Avenio to post his IC bit before describing his selected Sites. Faezantia, let me know what locations you intend to explore. Once again I'll remind folks that they don't have to split up, and they don't have to play nice either. MWAAHAHA!

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Kilrany
Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Trade Station
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The Kilrany craft met with no obstacles as they approached their respective targets. At the trade station, they would find evidence of tiny probes littering space, a handful barely active as they struggled to keep their pre-programmed positions. These had been the beacons which marked traffic lanes and flight patterns. Most had lost power and now drifted aimlessly in orbit, but their tiny size offered no real hazard. The asteroid base itself was a rough ovoid, slowly spinning along the long axis. One end was dominated by the three concentric docking rings, and the six arms that connected them, like the spokes of a wheel, to the opening at the center of one end of the rock.

The main docking bay doors were locked in their open position, and the total lack of lighting meant that the Kilrany craft would either have to bring it's own lights, or use other sensors than visual for the approach. Upon entering the main hangar, they would need to pick their way through a veritable maze of discarded junk which littered the many bays of the hangar: power cables, food packets, discarded personal effects. Everywhere hung the glittering pebbles of frozen water vapor, the entire place was open to vacuum. Exploration might be slow, but it would be unhindered by sealed bulkheads or hatches.

Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Site 3

As the Kilrany approached the first facility, they would finally be able to get a good scan of it's physical profile. The station resembled a low-tech "Wheel" configuration, two large rings with a large spherical module in the center of the spokes. A few beacon lights could be made out, but still there was no signs of any form of transmissions on any spectrum, only the slowly pulsing locator beacon lights. Unlike the trade station, it seemed this station both still retained some measure of power, but also appeared to be sealed and pressurized. Entering the station would require either forcing or subverting an airlock.

Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Site 7

This station was identical in design to all the others, the double wheel configuration allowing the bulk of the stations to pass around the radius of each respective anomaly in it's orbit, with the central spheres presumably containing experiment labs. It may seem odd that while the trade station appeared gutted and looted on external inspection, most of the anomaly stations appeared to still retain both power and atmosphere. This was the case with the Site 7 facility. The difference for this station was that it was only two hours away from intersecting it's designated anomaly.

Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Site 11

The Site 11 station was similarly close to it's anomaly, only an hour away. Unlike the previous two surveyed by the Kilrany, this station showed no signs of power, though it remained sealed and scans showed pressure inside.

Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Site 14

Site 14 was to external examination the same as Site 3, intact, more or less operational, and sealed. The one unusual feature was a higher thermal profile than the other stations. It was hot inside, almost sixty degrees centigrade (140 degrees Fahrenheit for the metric impaired).

Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Site 17

It was at Site 17 that the most profound difference was found among the stations. Site 17 had suffered some form of catastrophic damage. One whole wheel was broken in parts and drifting nearly freely, held on by nano-diamond tether lines. The central sphere was missing, and there were other holes in the superstructure. What was odd was that almost every gap in the frame looked to have been cut cleanly, and there was very little debris around the damaged sites. It was without saying that power and atmosphere were non-existent.


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Osanyia
Sector DM24 - Gehenna System
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Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Site 8

The three facilities chosen by the Collective personnel were of the same overall design as the other seventeen research stations. Site 8 appeared to be intact, with power and atmosphere operational, though there were some strange electromagnetic readings.

Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Site 9

Site 9 was even stranger than Site 8. A full third of the station appeared to have vanished, but as the Collective ship waited and watched, the missing sections flickered back into existence, held for about twelve seconds, then seemed to dissolve again. If the investigating ship possessed the ability to detect tachyons, those sensors would be screaming off the charts, with the source of tachyon emissions being the station itself. Oddly though, these tachyon readings had not been detected at all until the ship closed to within two light-seconds of the station itself.

Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Site 10

While mostly intact, and still possessing power, the Site 10 facility had a large hole torn in the side of one wheel. The damage seemed to have been caused by an explosion, and the entire facility was decompressed, however it still retained flickering power systems.

[Avenio]

((OOC: Sorry about the delay, I couldn't get onto a computer until now.))

---

The Dominion ships slowly edged their way out of the furnace at the system's heart, moving slowly towards the lone Jovian, fumbling around, avoiding the anomalies as best they could.

Aboard the Recalcitrant Legacy, the sensor grid was still very much blind from the sun's brilliance, but the ship's scientific sensors, though quite nearsighted, allowed them to feel their way forward to within half an AU of the gas giant.

Perictione was in the middle of essentially rebooting the sensors, but a query from Nepos came first, and she sent a quick report of her progress;

-I'm just rebooting the sensors now Captain, they should be in working order within fifteen minutes.-

-Good to hear it. Keep us on a nice, slow course inwards, I don't want to bump into anyone or anything while we're still blind, and once we get within 0.2 AUs of the Jovian, bring us to a halt.-

The Dominion ships continued to move forward, though they were now at a slow crawl rather than a fumbling shuffle, and would seem to be within range of the Jovian within an hour.

[TRIAD Enterprises]

((OOC Note:))

Alright Avenio. Not much for me to comment on there, so since you're creeping forwards and haven't actually reached anything yet, I'll give the others a chance to notice you and react, especially since you're about to stumble right on top of the Kilrany. Hehe.
When I said you don't have to split up before, I should have elaborated. Feel free to explore as many sites as you have craft and people to do so. What I meant is you don't need to explore different sites than everyone else. This is first-come-first served only if someone wants to grab and run. If someone gets there first, I'm not going to stop you from going there too.

[Avenio]

((OOC: That was the idea, I'm close enough to Kilrany that it would be a bit of god-modding on my part to assume that he doesn't see them, so I thought it best to let them detect me before I went any further. Sorry for the inconvenience.))

[Osanyia]

Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Site 8

The three facilities chosen by the Collective personnel were of the same overall design as the other seventeen research stations. Site 8 appeared to be intact, with power and atmosphere operational, though there were some strange electromagnetic readings.[/quote]
The shuttle that neared Site 8 was from the dreadnought Spirit of Fire, and the salvage team was headed by one Marine-Captain Tir Solvan. As the site grew larger and larger in the viewport, the sensors detected several strange electronic readings. Solvan was concerned. After having the chief technician of the party look them over, he asked him about them. "Any danger to us?" The techie shook his head. "Not as far as I can tell, Marine-Captain. Nonetheless, it may be prudent to send in the prawns first." Solvan nodded. "Good thinking."

As the shuttle touched down in the nearest landing bay, the rear hatch doors opened and and, after some time and some muffled shouting from within the shuttle, five prawn slaves emerged from the shuttle. Unarmed and looking very intimidated by their new surroundings, they began to probe the area. From inside the shuttle, Solvan and his salvagers and Marines waited for the prawns to either trip any hidden traps or report that the bay was clear.

Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Site 9

Site 9 was even stranger than Site 8. A full third of the station appeared to have vanished, but as the Collective ship waited and watched, the missing sections flickered back into existence, held for about twelve seconds, then seemed to dissolve again. If the investigating ship possessed the ability to detect tachyons, those sensors would be screaming off the charts, with the source of tachyon emissions being the station itself. Oddly though, these tachyon readings had not been detected at all until the ship closed to within two light-seconds of the station itself.

Site 9 was the site chosen by Star-Captain Maletov for her ship to probe. However, she ordered the shuttle to halt as they drew nearer and the sensors creamed with tachyon readings. This, coupled with the fact that half of the station was flickering in and out of existence, caused her to order a far more cautious approach. The shuttle returned to the Triumphant and waited while Maletov's ship probed the site with senors. To add to her information on the place, several unmanned, globe-sized probes were sent out to search the station. Only when she could confirm the station was at least somewhat safe would she order the shuttle in. In the meantime, she sat down and waited for the probes and sensors to yield their results...

Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Site 10

While mostly intact, and still possessing power, the Site 10 facility had a large hole torn in the side of one wheel. The damage seemed to have been caused by an explosion, and the entire facility was decompressed, however it still retained flickering power systems.

Site 10 seemed the least dangerous in terms of appearances. While the hole in the side was certainly ominous, at least it stayed consistent and didn't flicker our of existence.

The shuttle descended into the hangar bay, and from it came 12 prawn slaves, 8 Marines and 10 salvage experts, all outfitted with decompression suits. The salvage experts and the slaves combed the area for useful or interesting materials while the Marines kept an eye out for suspicious activity or traps.

[Kilrany]

OOC: To make things a little easier to follow, I’m going to partially adopt TRIAD’s heading method here just so there’s no misunderstandings about what I’m doing and where. Now hopefully I can avoid being to repetitive, but I may have chosen to take on more refineries then I ought to have at one time, heh.

Alright, for ease of reference, here's some concept art for you. First, the general utility design currently used for the Alpha/Beta.
General disclaimer. While I wish I had the skill and could take the credit for these, the following are not my work, but I use these as concept art for my Reaper series, ArcAngel series, Minotaur series, and the Scythe

***Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Trade Station***

Slowing their forward momentum, the five Wyverns were decidedly cautious in their final approach towards the trade station. Initially there was a degree of concern over the presence of the probes, for despite their small size, the Kilrany knew that even a tactical thermonuclear warhead did not take up much space; let alone other more exotic explosive devices, nor did a basic proximity or motion sensor.

Lacking an airlock, let alone one that might have been compatible with TRIAD docking rings, the five Wyverns continued in slowly towards the primary hangar. Unconcerned with the lack of internal lighting, the large craft had a bevy of passive sensors at their disposal, including a multitude of multimode cameras to observe their surroundings through a great many spectrums beyond normal human sight, and thus chose to avoid using their active sensors wherever possible in order to avoid the possibility of their emissions triggering a passive receiver attached to a detonator of any kind, especially as they passed into the hangar proper.

Large in size, the hangar door alone would have allowed four of the Wyverns to pass safely within at one time had they wished, but in keeping with their paranoia, they entered only one at a time, careful to maintain rotation with that of the station. It quickly became clear to them as they did, that Antonov had not been exaggerating when he’d described the hangar as immense, being larger then the opening by several orders of magnitude.

Spreading out inside the hangar, here things suddenly moved along at a faster pace as the shuttle ‘pilots’ knew they had to get the infantry on the deck as quickly as possible in case of traps.

First one shuttle lowered its cloaking field as a test to see if any passive tracking system would cause them to be engaged, but when this did not occur after five seconds, the other four Wyverns became visible as well. Less then a second after this, each shuttle lowered itself towards the moving deck with machine like precision and speed, releasing the large rectangular transport modules carried along their underbellies before appearing to ‘slide’ to the left or right while keeping level with the deck.

As the large, angled hatches along the front of each module released and fell downwards, a slightly smaller, horizontal hatch located along the rear underbelly of each Wyvern slid open. From each module, four small flying drones less then twenty-five centimeters long were the first to shoot out, while a pair of two meter tall ArcAngels seemed to; at first glance, simply fall down out of each of the shuttles.

Turning in mid air, small thrusters located on their backs allowed them to face outward by the time they impacted the deck. In direct contrast to their usual rapid insertion methods, these ArcAngels found it necessary to artificially increase their mass as they freefell, rather then decrease it in order to compensate for the current low gravity of the rotating station. Barely giving the ArcAngels time to clear the area below, the two meter tall Reapers began to drop out behind them in groups of four, mimicking their bulkier looking comrades by also shifting direction before landing.

Not to be outdone, more Reapers began to swarm out from the transport modules, their mass adjusted along with the help of their thrusters to compensate and allow rapid movement. While this was happening, the twenty drones took off out of the hangar down any corridor available, moving to rapidly map out the station for their legged comrades.

Reapers and ArcAngels weren’t the only ones to be deployed however, but without an atmosphere in the hangar, there was no audible warning as a pair of Minotaurs came walking out of each module. Sharing the same two meter height as the other infantry, this unit was different in that it was a quadruped, and was far more heavily armed and armoured.

Never one to be accused of being unprepared, Lopokova had seen to it that in all, two and a half companies of Reaper series light infantrymen were deployed to the asteroid, reinforced by half a platoon of ArcAngel and Minotaur series heavy infantrymen. Giving off no heat or energy readings, had it even been possible for anyone to know they were there, it would have been clear the Kilrany weren’t exactly in a mood to share.

Moving quickly without a need to rally together and discuss who was to do what, two platoons immediately split off to secure the entrances from the docking rings supported by four of the ArcAngels and the two of the Minotaur. The remaining two companies and heavy infantrymen began to filter out through the available corridors, moving at a casual walking pace while carefully maintaining their spacing within their individual sections.

As the infantry departed the hangar, the five shuttles did not bother to land, instead they rotated around to face the entranced, and keeping themselves level with the constantly moving deck, backed themselves away and abruptly vanished as they once again activated their cloaking fields.

***Sector DM24 - Gehenna System – Sites 3, 7, 11, and 14***

With four of the facilities showing a near identical status, the most important that they were sealed off, the reaction from the Kilrany dispatched to these sites was essentially just as identical. Approaching with caution, each pair of shuttles matched the speed and rotation of their stations on either side before closing within five meters, placing the hull of the facilities ‘above’ them.

Once in place, the side hatches located between the forward and rear set of wings popped outward a centimeter before sliding back along the length of its hull. Slowly then one by on in the silence of vacuum, a full section of twelve Reapers stepped out from the shuttles’ cabins and using their back mounted thrusters, flew themselves the short distance to the outer hulls of the facilities.

Here they walked cautiously along the surface until they found an airlock tagged in the shuttles’ surveys, and attempted to open them to gain entry.

***Sector DM24 - Gehenna System – Site 17***

It was with some considerable degree of alarm that the two Kilrany Alphas approached the less then pristine TRIAD facility. For a full second they even hesitated to approach the broken station, but ultimately their orders were quite clear, and they moved in nonetheless.

Unlike their comrades at the other stations however, entry into site seventeen proved to be considerably easier with the numerous, clean breaches in its hull. Again matching the stations speed and rotation, only the Reapers contained within the shuttles’ primary cabin were released for the moment to attempt entry, guiding themselves effortlessly into the openings provided to them.

***Sector DM24 - Gehenna System – High Orbit Above Trade Station***

<Lopokova!>

<I see it, silhouettes unknown, damnit.>

While the Kilrany warships’ line of sight was still blocked by the gas giant, one of the Scythes at the furthest edge of their network had slipped out far enough to catch a return off the approaching Avenio with its active sensors. Easily detected by any passive sensor suite, there would be no mistaking the fact that they had just been picked up, and with the Scythe clearly visible, the silhouette of this six meter long, two meter tall and wide craft would be just as easily noted on their own active sensors.

<For the moment we will take no action and see what they do. I’d rather avoid a fight if possible, but we aren’t going anywhere while we have men out there, so retain silent running for now, let’s not let them know just how many of us there are yet.>

Anticipating the Avenio contacts eventually coming into a line of sight upon both the asteroid and her squadron’s position, only Lopokova’s warship continued to run active, but still hidden behind its cloaking field. At the same time, the Scythe that had first picked them up maintained its line of sight contact, intent on slowly pulling back towards the rest of its counterparts should the unknown ships continue to close upon them.

OOC: Edit made to first section as I forgot the critical fact that the asteroid station is rotating to create gravity.

[TRIAD Enterprises]

****************************************************************************************************
Osanyia
****************************************************************************************************
Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Site 8
When TRIAD had evacuated the system, they hadn't been concerned about intruders, and so they had left the stations' systems on peacetime protocols. It was due to this that Solvan's shuttle was able to trigger the docking sequence, the bay doors closing behind them and the bay pressurizing around their craft. When the aliens didn't immediately keel over dead from the atmosphere, and a few minutes observation showed they to be in no distress from pathogens, the air seemed safe.
Exploration of the bay itself was simple. The hangar was a single space, able to fit three or four of the Collective's shuttles if necessary, with the outer doors located in the seeming floor of the room. The first two doors the prawns tried appeared to be locked however, the panels to the side of each hatchway giving of an electronic buzz when they tried to open the doors. The two doors on the opposite side of the hangar however opened immediately, allowing access to the rest of the station.
One thing the explorers might find odd was that everywhere they looked, the lighting was dim, and seemed to come from everywhere at once, with no specific source.

Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Site 9
Ship's sensors could make no more sense of the odd state of the station now than they could on the approach. To some of the sensors, the station appeared fully intact, despite what their eyes told them; and still the tachyon detection was screaming, but finally a pattern emerged. The tachyon emissions seemed to pulse in time to the missing sections appearance and dissappearance. Immediately before each event, the tachyon readings tripled, then fell off again.
The first probe approached the station along the apparent seam where the vanishing portions started. As the machine approached, it's collision alarms went off, indicating that it was very close to coming into contact with... Nothing. Again as with the ship's sensors, the probe's instrumentation was conflicted. Half of them were telling the probe nothing was there, and the other half were screaming it was about to bump into something.

Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Site 10
As the shuttle moved into the hangar, the outer hatches remained open, the bay remaining depressurized. The bay itself revealed no secrets, although the readings from the technicians sensors occasionally flickered with radiation sources, but as soon as they were detected they vanished, preventing analysis. Lighting was a dim amber, and indicators on all hatches showed decompression warnings for both sides. A lit override panel allowed the hatchways to be forced open manually.
Two more oddities came to the attention of the explorers. Everywhere they looked, the scanners would show that every bulkhead, hatchway, light and conduit held not a single trace of carbon. The second thing of note was that five minutes after landing, one of the prawns began to complain of a worsening aches in it's muscles.


****************************************************************************************************
Kilrany
****************************************************************************************************
Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Trade Station
As the Kilrany infantry entered the station and began to spread out, they were met with confirmation of what initial scans had showed. Almost the entire station was depressurized, and the entire structure was without internal power. Here and there the corridors were cluttered with debris indicative of hurried evacuation. Personal effects, discarded bags, trash and litter. Beyond the docking bays were cargo assembly and storage bays, and beyond these was what had once been station Embarkation. Designed much like a customs checkpoint, with queue lines criss-crossing the open area before the smaller entrance gates.
Once beyond Embarkation, the explorers came across decks dedicated to administration and control of the station, as well as what could be tentatively identified as crew quarters. These were segregated from the rest of the station. Signs in the main corridors decreed authorized access only, though this was easily ignored as all the hatches had been locked open. Further through the main corridors the explorers would come to two other sections, each with walls of a different color. The first section had had black striping on the walls, the second possessed grey, followed by white, and now blue. White sector had been more offices and housing quarters, sings proclaiming that White Sector was home to embassies and diplomatic housing. Blue sector was where things changed, the signs showing this to be the guest habitation and commercial district. Everywhere shops stood empty and vacant, looking for all the world like a mall had been hit by looters.

Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Site 3
Like the Collective exploration teams, the Kilrany moving along the hull of the intact stations found no trouble at all triggering the airlocks to open and allow entry inside. The Reapers entering the Site 3 station encountered no traps. However, if the Reaper sensors were capable of detection subatomic particle sources, they would read occasional showers of free Up and Down quark particle sources. These showers lasted only fractions of a second, after which the free quarks would quickly combine into baryon composites. Due to the brevity of these emissions, it was almost impossible to pinpoint the source without getting closer.

Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Site 7
Entry into Site 7 provided no surprises at all to the Reapers assigned to enter and explore. Hatches opened easily, sections normally inaccessible to those without clearance had been unlocked to allow the evacuation to run more smoothly. There were some containers here and there, left open and unpacked, and plenty of PADDs and hardcopy paper littering the corridors.

Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Site 11
Site 11 was where things changed again. The entire facility was totally without power, so the airlock remained sealed. The Kilrany would have to force their way into this station.

Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Site 14
Like Sites 3 and 7, this station retained atmosphere and power, so entry was simple. Immediately on entering the station, the Reapers would read the temperature of the inside environment. The air was stale and hot, with high concentrations of helium present, as well as highly charged with static electricity which danced harmlessly across the grounded skins of the Reapers. In addition, sensors could now read neutron sources aboard the station. While the radiation was well below dangerous levels, it was much higher than would be expected even for a station using a fission or fusion reactor.

Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Site 17
Examination of the holes in the station showed no signs of tool marks or melting. Whatever had severed the bulkheads was clean, severing the material at a molecular precision. Furthermore, the shapes and sizes of the gaps were unusual. Each void formed perfect three dimensional geometric shapes, and all were precisely the same volume.
Something strange had happened here, but it would take a thorough exploration to find any clues which might have been left behind.

[Osanyia]

Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Site 8
When TRIAD had evacuated the system, they hadn't been concerned about intruders, and so they had left the stations' systems on peacetime protocols. It was due to this that Solvan's shuttle was able to trigger the docking sequence, the bay doors closing behind them and the bay pressurizing around their craft. When the aliens didn't immediately keel over dead from the atmosphere, and a few minutes observation showed they to be in no distress from pathogens, the air seemed safe.
Exploration of the bay itself was simple. The hangar was a single space, able to fit three or four of the Collective's shuttles if necessary, with the outer doors located in the seeming floor of the room. The first two doors the prawns tried appeared to be locked however, the panels to the side of each hatchway giving of an electronic buzz when they tried to open the doors. The two doors on the opposite side of the hangar however opened immediately, allowing access to the rest of the station.
One thing the explorers might find odd was that everywhere they looked, the lighting was dim, and seemed to come from everywhere at once, with no specific source.

After the prawns reported the bay to be safe, Solvan, his Marines, and the salavgers emerged from the shuttle. With two doors, Solavn had the team split up. Each door was entered by 6 prawn slaves, 4 Marines, and 5 salvage experts. The lack of lighting was a curiosity, but essentially ignored by the Osanyians, who were more interested in tech and materials.

Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Site 9
Ship's sensors could make no more sense of the odd state of the station now than they could on the approach. To some of the sensors, the station appeared fully intact, despite what their eyes told them; and still the tachyon detection was screaming, but finally a pattern emerged. The tachyon emissions seemed to pulse in time to the missing sections appearance and dissappearance. Immediately before each event, the tachyon readings tripled, then fell off again.
The first probe approached the station along the apparent seam where the vanishing portions started. As the machine approached, it's collision alarms went off, indicating that it was very close to coming into contact with... Nothing. Again as with the ship's sensors, the probe's instrumentation was conflicted. Half of them were telling the probe nothing was there, and the other half were screaming it was about to bump into something.

Star-Captain Maletov was starting to get annoyed by the site. With the sensors conflicting and the sheer weirdness permeating from the site, Maletov called the search off. The Triumphant slid away from site 9, with a message to the other ships informing them of the fact. As the Triumphant moved away from site 9, Maletov settled her gaze on the large asteroid base orbiting the gas giant. The Triumphant engaged her thrusters and, accompanied by their fighter escorts, moved towards the large asteroid base...

Sector DM24 - Gehenna System - Site 10
As the shuttle moved into the hangar, the outer hatches remained open, the bay remaining depressurized. The bay itself revealed no secrets, although the readings from the technicians sensors occasionally flickered with radiation sources, but as soon as they were detected they vanished, preventing analysis. Lighting was a dim amber, and indicators on all hatches showed decompression warnings for both sides. A lit override panel allowed the hatchways to be forced open manually.
Two more oddities came to the attention of the explorers. Everywhere they looked, the scanners would show that every bulkhead, hatchway, light and conduit held not a single trace of carbon. The second thing of note was that five minutes after landing, one of the prawns began to complain of a worsening aches in it's muscles.

Now the salvage team was getting worried. While at first this had seemed to be the least weird site, it was now getting strange. With the randomly appearing and disappearing radiation, the weird light, the complete lack of carbon, and now the prawn's complaints of muscle problems, the team was getting weirded out. Nevertheless, they pushed on.
OOC-How many doors are there?

[Avenio]

Aboard the Recalcitrant Legacy, the ship's sensors were coming online bit by bit, and Perictione brought the least invasive sensing equipment online, going through a quick

-Alright, Captain, we have the spectroscopic telescope and neutrino pulser, I'm running a passive scan of the inner system now. Keep in mind that we'll only have a rough idea of what's out there. -

The Captain interjected quickly before taking the helm of the ship, bringing the engines under his direct neural control;

-That's perfectly fine, we only need a rough idea for now. I'm going to bring us into orbit around the Jovian, hopefully it's ,magnetic field will guard us from the scans from anything else that may be out here. -

On the dorsal hull of the Recalcitrant Legacy, two small devices blossomed open, both pointing towards the Jovian growing ever closer in front of the Dominion vessels. The first opened up, revealing what was essentially a large spectroscope, which rotated to face the gas giant, filling its databanks with raw data to be processed, while the second device opened, revealing a much stranger device.

The neutrino pulser was essentially a very small and dense hydrogen warhead, which was attached to a small neutrino observatory. The pulser would be launched from the ship via a small magnetic launcher, and once the two were safely away from the vessel, they would separate and the warhead would detonate. This creates a blast of radiation, but most importantly a wave of neutrinos that would be closely monitored by the observatory. Any high energy or antimatter reactions within would show up in the measurements as either a bright source or a void, respectively.

As the data was processed, the Enlightened fleet entered an orbit around the Jovian, unwittingly almost directly opposite the Kilrany forces. When the data was processed, Perictione briefed Nepos on the results.

-Spectrography reports several metallic objects in orbits either around the sun or around the Jovian, all are too large and have too regular of spectrums to be natural, most likely stations of some sort. The neutrino survey reports little to no activity save for one anomaly in orbit of the Jovian, which has unfortunately passed behind the arm of the planet since. Because of interference due to the giant's magnetic field, we were unable to operate higher resolution scans, and thus we are essentially limited to knowing that it is in fact, a ship, and they presumably are aware of our presence. -

Nepos smiled, and turning metaphorically to the sensor feed, he said;

-That's reassuring, in a way. Now we know there's at least something left, or else we'd be completely alone. Keep up the scans and I'll have Lieutanant Pliny prepare exploratory teams for any possible structures we come across.-

-Aye sir.-

---

((OOC: The neutrino pulse will be fairly easy to detect for anyone looking for signs of other ships, so feel free to detect it.))

[Techno-Soviet]

Although the Technocracy had a small amount of contact with TRIAD in the past, it rarely kept up-to-date information on their activities...or that of anyone else for that matter. What it did do, however, was log their three primary systems closest to Hegemony space. One of these systems was Gehenna, a virtual oasis in the middle of one of the most violent, isolated and dangerous parts of the galaxy. As usual with most isolated, hard-to-reach spots...there was usually some kind of prize at the end of the road. The prize in this case, it was hoped, would be artifacts or schematics of some kind, anything would be fair game out here.

What little TRIAD technology the Technocracy had seen in use had impressed them, thus it was ordered that a small battle force was to be assembled, consisting of two Maximus-class battleships. These vessels were among the largest in the Soviet Navy and easily capable of decimating entire star systems by themselves using their massive, antimatter-powered cannons. It was hoped that with such awesome firepower, the two ships would have no trouble securing whatever TRIAD assets were still in the system.
--
Two large wormholes appeared on the edge of the Gehenna system, each one expelling one massive battleship, the Iron Hammer and the Victorious Justice. As soon as the their FTL drives disengaged, both ships quickly took to their flank speeds and headed towards the inner system, keeping an eye out for any other ships or points of interest along the way.

"Oh...well this is weird. It looks like...well, there's lots of anomalies littering this entire system. The good news is that they're all static. Even better news is that, from what I'm seeing, we're the first here. Granted, there's probably a few ships out there somewhere, but so far long-range sensors haven't picked up anything at all." One of the sensor officers said.

Captain Ilsa Dahlin of the Iron Hammer was sitting in front of large holographic table in the middle of the bridge. The primary focus of the table (and her attention) was a large sphere, representing the Iron Hammer's sensor radii and showing the various anomalies and detected objects in the system in a 3D, real-time manner. So far, besides a rather massive gas giant, the only other noteworthy areas of interest were the twenty large stations positioned around the star.

"How long until we can safely launch shuttles to the stations, Helm?" Captain Dahlin went through the stations displayed on the hologram marking each one with a number, one through twenty.

"We'll coming in range within half an hour, should I send out an order for the Marines to get suited up, ma'am?" The Helm AI asked, it's avatar raising an eyebrow at the Captain.

"Yes, of course you should. While we're at it, set us for an orbit...um...around this gas giant here," Ilsa reached out and touched the large hologram, highlighting the gas giant in the center of the sphere. "That seems to be the best place to set up shop, since it's so close to the stations themselves. Tell the Marines that they're going to head to Stations #4, #1 and #20, which will be uploaded to the shuttles' computers before launch, Helm."

"Yes ma'am, setting course now. E-T-A, twenty standard minutes." The Helm replied, as the vessel automatically began turning towards the large Jovian. "I've sent the order to the Marine compliment, we should have a full platoon online within twenty minutes and ready for deployment. The Victorious Justice reports that they've already plotted out their station routes as well, which coincidentally is the same as ours. They also said that they should have their search parties ready to go within twenty-two minutes, slightly slower than us."

"Good, good. It seems like this should be a cakewalk then. Carry on, and inform me once we've reached the Jovian orbit." Dahlin said.

"Of course ma'am, I'll do my best to keep you and the crew up-to-date on any new information." With that, the Helm's avatar disappeared. Most of the bridge crew wouldn't have paid a second thought to it, sapient AIs were routinely used in the Soviet Navy and indeed within the Technocracy's society. However, Dahlin had grown attached to the AI and enjoyed it's company, far more than she did that of her own officers, human and neko alike. She felt a little sad to see it leave, but quickly shifted her focus back to the situation at hand: salvage.

[Feazanthia]

((I do believe that neutrinos are, in real life, rather difficult to detect.))

Within the confines of what some would call "cyber space", the Mirat-san's primary artificial intelligence experienced a microsecond pause in computing - the electronic equivalent of raising an eyebrow.

"My Jak'sa, I have detected another thermal flare. Intermittent, as with the others. The bursts are too brief to ascertain accurate readings.

Had he been able to, Aloorian Nabaal would have stroked his beard. As it was, he was webbed in tightly to his acceleration couch, and had to settle for sighing. "That's...what? The fifteenth so far? All in different sectors of the debris field?"

"Yes, my Jak'sa. The patterns may indicate vessel accelerations...however they could also be meaningless. I would require more data."

That was a problem. Gehenna was deep in Hermes territory. The Nabaali were way out of their own jurisdiction. Their saving grace was that the Hermes seemed to have passed over this system in their aggressive expansion, and that whatever TRIAD had been experimenting with in this system managed to foul up active scanners. However, there was always a risk. They could send a probe to investigate, but that would give away their presence should any contacts prove to be hostile. No, this had to be a decisive move.

With a thought, Jak'sa Aloorian Nabaal commanded the Canaan-farr, the Mirat's sister ship, to investigate the large trade station. It would take a little under an hour for the carrier to arrive and for its dropships to make it to the station's airlocks. Salvage teams were nearly upon the nearest two sites, and thus far there had been no sign of active contacts - hostile or otherwise. Four more salvage teams, this time with armed gunship escort, began deploying from the Mirat-san. It was time to get this show moving.

The Canaan-farr is a Praetor-class carrier, and is of course heading to the Trade Station.

The first two salvage teams are heading towards sites 1 and 16.

The other four are en-route to sites 3, 5, 9, and 20.