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Post by Absinthe on Jul 22, 2018 6:18:16 GMT
[ Lt. Kharris | Overgrown Storage Bay C7 | Restricted Zone | Augustus Station ] attn: Triage , drei "If we can at all help it, there won't be any more demolitions," Kharris said, his voice rising in annoyance. Very clearly he'd been trying and failing, to stop the demolitions of the research sites for some time now. "The Union has plenty of space on those damn pods they strapped onto the station, they don't need to go destroying the sites we've got." Kharris sighed and pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead. When he got engaged he got hot, and when he got hot he began to sweat. it was uncommon for a Moclan to be bothered by temperature and in truth, it wasn't the temperature that got to him. "I mean the fucking pods were put in place so that I could finish the research on the station and take my time with it, not to look pretty," Kharris went on. He was more talking to himself, explaining what he was certain the two new recruits knew. "Now the Union wants to continue carving up the inside. Soon we'll lose any knowledge we might have gained from this site, all so they can have a pretty new space station that will have been more cost-efficient than building one from scratch." He shook his head. "If you have any scans, if you wouldn't mind uploading them to the main research computer, I'll go through them tonight," Kharris said turning to Squawk.
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drei
Recruit
Posts: 25
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Post by drei on Jul 22, 2018 10:04:07 GMT
[ Lt. Squawk McCall | Overgrown Storage Bay C7 | Restricted Zone | Augustus Station ]
"Sure, no problem." Squawk said, as the studs on his nose bridge glowed faintly "On it. It might take some time."
Squawk noted that it was interesting that the man whose entire planet was industrialized was so concerned about conservation and preservation. But then again, perhaps its just that industrialization that motivates the Moclan to preserve things now. And, as far as Squawk's research on other species has taught him, Moclans are also sometimes very conservative about things.
Squawk did not voice his speculation about the pods. After all, how long do new space stations last? As far as he could tell, Union ships seem to be rotated out after a few decades. Can a Union built station really last that long in this orbit? Even on Maytalon, they had a story of a boy who flew too close to the sun. It's said it's why Maytalon people no longer had wings.
Augustus Station has proven itself sturdy enough to last where it sits for who knows how long it has been. The pods? Who knows. Squawk assumed they wouldn't want to find out just when the pods' shields and structural integrity will fail while they're in them. The corporation probably is less concerned about the loss of life than it on possible liability issues and how much that could cost.
"I'm sure the pods are very safe." Squawk said. "But yeah, you'd think a whole new space station wouldn't cost much more than the pods. And what about just having us all on a nice, big, very mobile star ship? Those are just as good as space stations! But they have weapons and..."
Squawk realized he was not letting other people talk when he had just asked at least one question. Sure, it may have been rhetorical to him, but sometimes, other people want to talk, too. His father taught him that.
"Nice handkerchief, by the way." Squawk said "Very few people carry those around, these days."
Squawk considered offering Lt. Kharris a snack and a drink so he could perhaps have a break but he decided against it. Lt. Kharris probably wouldn't want to leave crumbs all over the place and all he brought was some stale oatmeal raisin cookies and orange juice packs. And, Squawk thought, handkerchief might as well be Lt. Kharris' snack as stale as the cookies were. And for all he knew, the handkerchief might be.
Squawk turned and walked toward what appeared to be a mound and began pointing his instruments at it.
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Triage
Recruit
Ready to roll...
Posts: 32
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Post by Triage on Aug 1, 2018 20:22:51 GMT
[ Dr. Saranya Davenport | Overgrown Storage Bay C7 | Restricted Zone | Augustus Station] Attn: Absinthe & drei “Medical sweeps, good idea,” said Saranya as she listened to Squawk and Kharris exchange a few more instructions or brainstorm, and they were heading off. The Drazalyte could understand the crunch they were under, since the Union seemed determined to fundamentally alter more of the mysterious station to suit their own purposes. She supposed she could also get why the Moclan was so short-tempered and even using human derogatory terms and slang. He was under stress and frustrated. So far her scanners showed nothing of exceptional interest, but she took note of everything, careful not to trample or step on anything that looked remotely unusual. Squawk was quite an interesting character, but she wasn't sure whether she'd like him, or grow annoyed by him. While generally friendly and enthusiastic with a fairly pleasant bedside manner, Saranya was in some odd ways, a recluse, who eventually preferred her own company. Still, considering that the station was going to get more crowded soon, she decided she would rather get along with everyone, no matter how difficult that might be. She made her way to the man, her scanner still set to pick up anomalies, as she addressed him, “You were here before, right? Any good idea on where I might specifically start? Perhaps see if I can find something more interesting than pink sand particles.” Unless Squawk found that interesting. Or Kharris for that matter.
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Post by Absinthe on Aug 2, 2018 7:44:01 GMT
[ Lt. Kharris | Overgrown Storage Bay C7 | Restricted Zone | Augustus Station ] attn: Triage , drei It was all Kharris could do to shake his head. " The Union has its hands full with building and staffing all their ships and main stations. The pods were basic prefab units modified to work here," he explained. " So yeah, it was cheap and easy for them to latch on some premade pods to a free station and pretend they're doing some great archeological project than to build a new one." With a heavy sigh, Kharris continued. " Add to that this station has a power core unlike anything we have ever seen before and our current analysis shows it may well be almost 600 years old and you can see why it might be safer and easier to use this station than to try and build something new. We at least know this one is basically structurally sound." He did not, however, approve of these modifications, even if he did understand them. It would have been better to put a couple of small research outposts in orbit of the station than to go this far, but the Union seemed to think the Station was going to be one of the most important trade depots in the sector. It just felt idiotic to him. Sure they were on a trade route, but that wasn't saying too much. Kharris was beginning to think someone was using this station as some sort of pet political project. " But enough chit chat, get to work. Let me know if you find anything in your scans," he said and moved over to the bulldozer to begin yelling into a communicator.
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drei
Recruit
Posts: 25
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Post by drei on Aug 9, 2018 11:44:55 GMT
[ Lt. Squawk McCall | Overgrown Storage Bay C7 | Restricted Zone | Augustus Station ]
"Of course, Lieutenant. And Doctor, well," Squawk said a little absentmindedly as he seemed distracted by a particular grouping of glyphs. "I think there's some chartreuse sand a few rooms that-a-way... Might have been from something like algae. I think I felt like I I needed an extra Yakult when I came in contact with that. That's an Earth probiotic drink. Absolutely pointless beverage, but it works great as a placebo. I was fine."
Squawk was wondering whether everyone already knew everyone on the station.
"Perhaps we can scan for organic or biological matter and cross-reference it with matter we know we brought from outside. We can, perhaps, isolate DNA left by the original occupants by attempting to cancel out that which we know is foreign." Squawk said while continuing to study the glyphs.
"Okay, these ones just say R+L=J. I have no idea what that means, but I think that's in an Earth alphabet." he said, breathing out a sigh and straightening up to stretch his back muscles. "Vandals, honestly. They know nothing about archaeology." Squawk said "Anyway, Doctor, perhaps if we form a grid and scan sector by sector. If you like I can start in that corner and you can begin from that corner."
Squawk understood that, perhaps, others may want to take his presence in small doses and while it was hardly splitting up (they were still in the same room), it still provided some space in case space was needed.
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Triage
Recruit
Ready to roll...
Posts: 32
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Post by Triage on Aug 9, 2018 17:20:02 GMT
[ Dr. Saranya Davenport | Overgrown Storage Bay C7 | Restricted Zone | Augustus Station] Attn: Absinthe & drei “I suppose...” Saranya looked uncertainly towards the direction provided to her, and she began to have doubts about her skill and capacity as a researcher. Still, if she wanted to overcome her own weaknesses and limitations, she had to try. Due to the volume of information he provided per any short query from her, the Drazalyte had to process everything in a greater length of time. And that was why she began to frown, as she looked at the glyphs that Squawk had been examining, and reading her scanner again. “Curious...” she said, and knelt down, running her scans again. “Lieutenant, look at these readings.”Maybe she was reading into it more than it truly entailed, but it was best to be thorough. “Those glyphs look human, but what if it's not?” She raised her scanner to show him her findings. “See that? Those are the same readings for isolinear coverings on computer chips. They're built to withstand high heat and even friction. Why is the glyphs and letterings coated with them? And it's got audio receptacles all over them. Do you think they can be activated if correctly read out?”
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Post by Absinthe on Aug 10, 2018 4:47:24 GMT
[ ? | Overgrown Storage Bay C7 | Restricted Zone | Augustus Station ] From the shadows he watched them. His violet eyes studied the interlopers as they used their strange devices and spoke to each other in their strange way. The orders of the Honcho were clear on this matter, interaction was forbidden, but when they went into areas once made home by the Lienati they were to be observed, they were to be stopped from doing more damage. He had seen the one stop the great machine and now yelled into its strange device to some unseen entity. The others moved about looking over ancient marking left by those who had come before. The ancient controls that made the station obey their whims. He had heard the legends and seen the Honcho use some of the controls, seen the Honcho's paws activate the markings on the wall. He did not know how they worked and he knew better than to ask. These matters were for the Honcho and for the Face to know. He was to observe and only interfere if there was a need. He smoothed his whiskers and hoped gracefully through the hidden tunnel to a different vantage point, his movements all but silent, his form hidden in the tunnels that crisscrossed through the undergrowth and debris left by those who came before. When he could see the markings they were leaning over he wondered why they were so obsessed with them. Perhaps it could be that they could not read them. Were they not so great that the language of those who came before was lost on them? This would be interesting news to the Honcho. If he could read the markings, see the vent that they activated only a tail length away from the markings, and they could not, it would mean that perhaps the Lienati were not so outmatched after all.
[ Lt. Kharris | Overgrown Storage Bay C7 | Restricted Zone | Augustus Station ] attn: Triage , drei It had not taken to much to convince the bridge to link him to the station commander and it had taken less than that to convince the station commander to hold the work on the area until he had finished. Kharris hadn't really gotten a feel for the station's new commander. The man both annoyed and intrigued him. On one hand, he would barely raise a hand to stop the continued desecration of the historical parts of the station, but at a simple request, he would hold all work on an area to allow Kharris to work. To Kharris's way of thinking, this made little sense, but it did mean that when he could actually talk to the commanding officer he could usually make his case that they needed time and no freaking bulldozers about. With a faint smirk, Kharris slide his communicator back into its holster and made his way over to the two new recruits to the project. " You two find something?" he asked as he got closer to them.
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drei
Recruit
Posts: 25
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Post by drei on Aug 24, 2018 5:20:17 GMT
[ Lt. Squawk McCall | Overgrown Storage Bay C7 | Restricted Zone | Augustus Station ]
Squawk McCall looked at the glyphs and the readings on Dr. Davenport's scanner. He looked around the room and tried to assess whether the things hanging from the ceiling might have been light emitters of some sort.
"Lieutenant," Squawk said "These glyphs I've been looking at... if these readings Dr. Davenport has are correct..."
Squawk looked at his hands and reached for some gloves - whether or not it was too late for them, it always paid to wear gloves when one was not sure.
"There are raised areas and parts that seem to be different shapes." Squawk said "Unless this is a sound console for what was known on Old Earth as a Disc Jockey and the entire room was an ancient night club... I think these may be control panels."
Squawk was careful not to press or toggle anything as he ran his gloved hands over the markings.
"Care to press any buttons, Chief?"
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Post by Absinthe on Aug 29, 2018 4:58:08 GMT
[ Lt. Kharris | Overgrown Storage Bay C7 | Restricted Zone | Augustus Station ] attn: Triage , drei At the sight of the markings, Kharris pulled out his hand scanner and began to analyze them. "So then you're thinking that the builders of the station put in a nightclub then?" he asked skeptically, focusing more of his attention on the scanner in his hand than the odd birdman. It was odd, there did seem to be some faint power signature coming from the glyphs on the wall. If he was a betting man he would have guessed they were some ancient control system, still at least partially powered up and ready to be brought back online. The protocol would have demanded that he complete a detailed scan of the glyphs, that they be analyzed and then maybe attempted to be activated to see what they did. But Kharris had spent enough time waiting and he knew that a couple of markings would not give them enough clue to figure out much more than what he already knew. Plus he was curious. So Kharris reached out his hand a ran his fingers over the glyph. The instant his fingers made contact the glyph began to glow and there was a low rumbling. There air filled with the sound of metal moving and branches and twigs snapping. Kharris alternated his gaze between the room around them and the scanner in his hand. Slowly a hatch in the wall opened, pushing the debris out of its way as it did so. Only a moment later there was an opening in the wall just large enough that he could step into it without having to duck. It was solid black beyond the first few feet. "Curious..." Kharris said as he rubbed his chin with his free hand. "I was not expecting that." And suddenly lights clicked on in the opening revealing a long tunnel, oddly clear of debris, as if it had not been opened since the plants began to grow and fill the room. "Very curious..."
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drei
Recruit
Posts: 25
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Post by drei on Sept 5, 2018 5:31:29 GMT
[ Lt. Squawk McCall | Overgrown Storage Bay C7 | Restricted Zone | Augustus Station ]
"One of the first things the corporation and the Union did was set up a promenade and a tavern, Lieutenant." Squawk said "Whoever built this station might have appreciated entertainment as much as any other civilization. Though this close to a star, calling it a nightclub might be a misnomer."
Squawk watched as Lt. Kharris studied the glyphs. To Squawk, it seemed the chief was making a decision. When the button activated the door, Squawk was pleased. This was not a passage he had previously discovered.
"Well, I didn't see that last time." Squawk said "I'm not sure a nightclub would have a secret tunnel. A speakeasy, perhaps would. But I suppose it's probably just a regular exit as the button opening it is on a control panel."
Squawk made note of the control panel for his report, as they would likely do well to look for other similar panels around the station in the future.
"Well, it hasn't sucked all the air out and we haven't been spaced, so I deduce that it likely leads to somewhere within the station." Squawk's beak, however, had reconfigured itself just in case. "I am detecting no additional pathogens nor poisonous gases. How should we proceed?"
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