Corpse of a Monster (Dig Site for Fainthearted Backwater)

[whitewolf87]

Corpse of a Monster

Prerequisites: "Fainthearted Backwater origin. Should start on a barren planet GFX_evt_cold_barren

One of our probes doing geologic scans on [Planet] has identified a curiously shaped mass lodged deeply into the side of a deposit of porous talc. At first it was thought to be magnesium connected to a deeper underground deposit, but further scans show it to be too uniform in shape for that.

It's not perfectly uniform however, there seems to be a large chunk taken out of it. The general consensus is that it seems to be a ship of some sort, but we're not going to know more without a team down there to check it out for us.

[Send an away team. Find out what we're looking at]

Stage 1 (Difficulty=3) GFX_evt_mem_crashed_ship_cold Rune: GFX_archaeology_runes_C6

It is definitely a ship. Quite an old one at that. It was somewhat difficult to establish a forward camp out of dug-out talc, but we've compressed it to the point that we have a hard enough surface to set up a platform for work on. We'll have to be very careful when working with the ship itself for two reasons. One, it's embedded in talc as stated before, and its footing is less than stable.

Far more concerning however is that we already know to whom this ship belongs. We have compared old images, scans, and battle reports. There can be no doubt. We are frightened and dumbstruck as we lay our eyes upon the nigh-perfect husk of a Vazuran frigate. We're going to have to be extremely careful about how we approach this. Countless generations have passed since we had to deal with a monstrosity like this at a distance, let alone this close.

Besides the large blow in the side, the rest of the craft is remarkably intact save for the dusting of powder from the surrounding deposit. This is all the more concerning for the site team as it's hard to tell what security measures might still be active. For the sake of safety, we should assume that every single entry system is active and ready to fire at any point. For that reason, it's been determined that the best point of entry would probably be the large hole created by whoever managed to bring the ship down.

[Begin the preparations...carefully.]

Stage 2 (Difficulty4) GFX_evt_resource_cache Rune: GFX_archaeology_runes_F2

We found it odd at first that a single blast from the weapon managed to down the frigate, and upon further investigation, it was indeed quite a lucky shot. It managed to burrow quite a deep and narrow hole to a switching circuit for the starboard thrusters that essentially managed to push them into an active state and in afterburner mode. At the same time, the vazuran craft had been in orbit over [Planet] and this pushed them into an unavoidable reentry trajectory into the atmosphere. It's unclear why none of the failsafes managed to click on. The narrow nature of the blast hole indicates that it was probably a particle lance, most likely belonging to [random civ name] or [random civ name].

We've sent camera probes up through the hole and mapped out several rooms it penetrated on it's way to the circuit switch. So far, the only one that doesn't have a locked door in front of it is what is most likely a mess hall. The door is lodged open and slightly askew. This might be the safest bet to proceed, but we'll have to very carefully cut away at the sides so as to ensure we don't end up with a trap of our own making.

We were confident enough to proceed into the mess hall itself. No vazuran corpses to be found there, but there are plenty of hastily left serving trays and drink cups strewn about. This makes enough sense as any kind of combat alert would of course have brought a quick end to mealtime. It's eerily bizarre to be standing here amidst something we have ourselves in the science ship. Vazuran script indicates the place for dropping off dirty trays and patriotic slogans are laser-etched into the walls below the ceiling. One could just see a grumpy cook here barking at somebody complaining about the quality of the food, or perhaps two Vazurans chatting and flirting with one another over dessert. A decorated mug with a faded scene of some kind of entertainment franchise sits lonely in a corner, to never see its owner again.

Failure: A worker was not properly using their harness and fell from the blast hole exploration mission, carrying two other climbers with them. [Prepare medical. Pause work at the blast hole.] (-3 Clues)

Reward: 5 minor artifacts [The banality of evil. Proceed.]

Stage 3: (Difficulty 1) GFX_evt_mem_hallway_breach Rune: GFX_archaeology_runes_C4

Getting the door fully open was in itself a relatively trivial task. We were quite frightened when crossing the threshold into a large atrium and the lights suddenly came on, briefly illuminating everything on a trickle charge from some back up batteries. The atrium is littered with signs of battle and dried husks of Vazuran corpses. No fortifications are present, indicating that the fight itself was fairly spontaneous. Surely they didn't do the damage we saw themselves, but there was definitely some kind of departure here from the usual single-minded nature of the Vazuran beasts.

It would seem our next stop is the ship's command center which is behind a locked door, covered in dings and blast scars from repeated small arms fire. Scientist [name] was initially not fond of the idea of breaking our way in here, but the team is taking some measured comfort in the fact that no security system has been activated already, and [scientist name] has reluctantly agreed to proceed, despite possible dangers.

A few broken small arms were found scattered around, as well as some personal effects. A handheld computer of some or another variety was also found stuck on the wall next to the door. We're working on getting that re-powered.

Reward: +3 minor artifacts

Stage 4: (Difficulty 5) GFX_evt_mem_factory_01 Rune: GFX_archaeology_runes_B6

The door to the command center is locked. As in locked full stop. We are not able to cut it open, and we can't risk using any kind of explosives without destroying what might be useful on the other side. The general consensus is that the Vazurans used the hardest material they had (which we cannot begin to identify just right now) in order to keep their tech from falling into "lesser" hands. Once we discovered this, our attention turned to what we thought was a computer attached next to it. We realised it was actually some kind of pulse generator that was set to create a surge and activate the emergency evacuation protocol of the ship thus forcing every door throughout the ship open.

According to the ancient records, evacuation protocol for a Vazuran ship involved an auto-shutdown of any shipboard security systems and an activation of the portal mechanism to attempt to hurtle the endangered ship back to Vazuran space. The first aspect is obviously desirable, and we shouldn't worry too much about the second as the ship definitely doesn't have enough power to activate the portal mechanism and there isn't a destination for the ship to return to at this point with the Vazurans being long-defeated.

The only thing that's left is figuring out how to arm and detonate the surge device.

Failure: While messing with the door, a few of our team got a nasty electric shock while trying to use an overload device. It will take some time to organise an evacuation [See they are tended to] (-2 Clues) GFX_evt_collapsing_roof

Reward: +100 Engineering research.

Stage 5: (Difficulty 8) Rune: GFX_archaeology_runes_A5

The pulse generator device is clearly jury-rigged, but that didn't make it easy to hack by any means. If this is what rush-job Vazuran tech is like, who knows what actually awaits us behind the door in the command center.

After serious study and tests, it came down to the power supply for the item. We had a feeling this was where the problem lay, but we didn't want to do anything that could harm the device and lose us our one chance of getting into that door. In the end, we hooked up two fusion generators and wired them into the device and managed to activate it. We received our desired access. Teams from several universities are catlouging personal and everyday items in the personnel quarters while our research leads have made their way into the main control room.

Once inside, we discovered one and only one Vazuran, or rather their mummified remains. In front of him on a desk are two items, each marked neatly in front with the Vazuran numerals for "1" and "2". Clear we are supposed to examine them in order. The first appears to be a single document, likely a personal statement. The other seems to be a datapad containing a great deal of data. Another unmarked object next to him on the floor seems to be a vial once filled with some kind of poison.

The personal statement has been written in script for most of the known civilizations of the galaxy still active at the penultimate phase of the last war that caused the Vazuran demise. Thus, it was a relatively simple thing to translate while checking our alphabet indices from that period.

It reads:

To Whomever Finds Me,

We were wrong. We were not your betters. We might have been at a time, but clearly as we hastily rush to defend our last bastion, we have been fools. Even now, our leaders from the High Committee all the way down to the lowliest of ship officers bathe in decadence, arrogance, and blindness not knowing when the end comes. They believe we are safe behind our [untranslatable] walls, behind our rifts and other such technological magicks.

Nothing is forever, and soon enough even the most perfumed of us will come to understand that.

I've known this for the last few years, but haven't dared speak my mind or my shame. It was when we got the wound from the [random empire name] cruiser that I realised I had one chance to submit a penance on behalf of us all. I locked myself in here and ensured the thruster would stay on pushing us into [planet] and landing us into a deposit of soft mineral that I think should just barely leave this craft mostly intact. If it works, it works.

I've downloaded all our classified ship schematics, but have not the time to translate them properly. It will take some doing, but if you are able, then this ship and her secrets are yours. Please accept them and use them for your practicalities. I will not further demonstrate our collective arrogance by apologizing for your dead children.

Good Luck,

Disgrace of Disgraces

Failure: An improperly secured cache of data directly pertaining to the devices' heat sync has been lost after one of the interns spilled a cold drink on it. [No eating or drinking ANYWHERE near that door!] (-2 clues)

Reward: +15 Minor Relics, +500 Society Research, Special Project "Salvage the Monster" launched

"Salvage the Monster" requires 15,000 Engineering research and will occupy the engineering research slot until completed. Upon completion...

We have finally finished the translation and repair work on the Vazuran cruiser. It is a powerful ship to be sure, but many are crying out against the idea of including it. Many object on ethical grounds, but most of the dissent comes from the idea that it is some kind of revenge-weapon-in-waiting.

Option One: [We must take what we can get] awards a Vazuran cruiser with tech tiers two levels up from the player civ's level approximately, or fallen empire shields/armor with 5th tier tech (whichever comes first). This ship gets +10% fire rate and a jump drive. So long as it is active, player civ gets a -10% penalty to army morale and a -5% empire-wide happiness debuff.

Option Two: [We can harvest the materials and placate our conscientious objectors] +500 alloys, +500 Engineering research, +250 Society Research, +10 Minor artifacts.

[Z8MB1E]

The progression in the storyline coupled with the end result is awesome. Love this idea.