[sb118-ops] LT. JG S'zurak - A Faint Signal
Alex Leatherman
(( MFT Maximum Thrusters ))
S’zurak and Alok looked between each other and the drone’s telemetry. Things seemed to be in motion. There was a certain tension in the air surrounding the idea of mines.
McLaren: =/\= Wyn... call is yours, but I tend to agree with Tori... that field layout leaves an open lane to the most likely asteroid the Temurians are on. Blockading a trade outpost of any kind would be counter to getting the power cores out there... it should be safe to land there... =/\=
Foster: =/\=We have to meet with the Temurians to gather more data, and if there’s a clear path to them I have to assume its navigable.=/\=
Munshi: ::Leaning into the comms range, voice carrying a dry, analytical edge:: =/\= The math on that 'open lane' is tight, sir. It looks less like a landing corridor and more like a funnel. If we stay on that specific vector, our maneuvering options drop to near-zero. It’s effective architecture—keep the customers on a leash while making them think the path is clear. =/\=
S’zurak confirmed readings while his crew communicated.
McLaren: =/\= Im gonna turn my sights toward the planet for the moment... see if we can discover anything there... Ill keep you in the loop. =/\=
Foster: =/\= Sounds good. I’ll reach out when we have landed. =/\=
Sol cut the comm line. Silence. For a moment.
McLaren: Ok so with the lines out there, we might have to be a bit surreptitious with our scans... I'd like to see if we can get any readings on the planet.
Munshi: ::Tapping a command into his PADD to recalibrate the drone’s narrow-band emitters:: Surreptitious is my specialty today, Commander. I can set the drone to use the asteroid field’s own gravitational echoes to 'bounce' a passive scan toward Drakos Prime. It’ll be a grainy data set, but it won't trigger a ping on any standard Syndicate listening post.
S'zurak: Underssstood, Commander. What do you sssuggest we look for?
McLaren: We're looking for the most likely places a lab could be hidden. If Reence is down there he almost certainly is not out in the open... however a P-class planet isn't the easiest thing to scan. The vapor oceans, and the antimatter storms are likely to wreak havoc with our readings.
Munshi: ::Running a quick diagnostic on the planet’s atmospheric interference:: Havoc is an understatement, ma'am. Between the vapor density and the antimatter flux, Drakos Prime is basically a giant signal-scrambler. If I were a 'mad scientist' family looking to hide an unstable singularity factory, those antimatter storms are the perfect thermal heat sink. I’ll look for any localized gaps in the storm patterns—places where someone might be using a high-intensity containment field to keep their hardware from being vaporized.
Reence. This hunt’s prey. Despite S’zurak’s colorful resume of finding people, this would be one of the more unique jobs embarked on.
S'zurak: Essentially were looking for anything that doesn’t make senssse.
Munshi: Agreed. I’m filtering for artificial gravimetric stabilization. If they’re housing forced quantum singularities on the surface, the containment fields will have to fight the planet’s natural flux. It’s like trying to keep a bubble perfectly still in a boiling pot. I'll find the 'still' spots.
McLaren: We'd hahve to assume that Reence, if he is there, is doing his best to hide his presence.
S’zurak: There should be some indication of his presence that his following knows to look for. We jussst need to find it.
Munshi: I’m syncing the drone’s thrusters to match the random impacts of the asteroid belt. Even if they spot it, it'll just look like another piece of junk from the planetary collision that started this graveyard.
Sol moved over to look at the screen Alok was working on and nodded.
McLaren: Good idea... that will buy us some more time before anyone gets too suspicious.
S'zurak: ::nodding:: I’ll continue to monitor the drone’s telemetry for anomalies.
Munshi: Let's hope the Temurians are as freedom-focused as the reports say. If they realize the Orion Syndicate is using them as a front for a 'mad science' project, they might be our best entry point into the cluster.
McLaren: As traders... its possible they wouldn't actually care either... I dont think you can be particularly picky when it comes to whom you deal with if youre trying to make it as a trader out here.
S'zurak: Do we have any more intel about Drakosss Prime’s atmospheric events? Who knows what else could be concealed here.
Sol shrugged slightly.
McLaren: If he's down there... he picked one of the best spots for it. Enough atmosphere to survive... but just inhospitable enough to keep all but the most determined of prying eyes away.
S’zurak: Commander. It may be nothing, but I am picking up a very faint energy signal coming from this region.
Munshi: Response?
Sol studied the readouts a little closer, eyes tracing over the information as it poured in. She taped a region of the planet and expanded the view of it. It was a region of vapor ocean along what probably could have been termed a beach, if it were for the fact that it was actually a sheer cliff that fell off directly into the vapor. She tilted her head.
McLaren: Does this look strange to anyone else?
S’zurak: I think it warrantsss a closer inspection.
Munshi: Response?
S’zurak: I suspect a sssubterranean facility. Reence would not remain on the surface.
McLaren/Munshi: Response?
S’zurak considered the mines surrounding the planet. Those would serve as a deterrent to spend too long in the vicinity. What else might the Orion Syndicate use?
Mines had not been their only line of defense then… he did not expect they would be now.
S’zurak: This may be a trap. The signal could be a lure… or one of many falsse leadsss. ::a low rumble:: We should not commit to anything until we are certain.
McLaren/Munshi: Response?
S’zurak: We’ll keep the drone ssscanning to hunt for other optionsss. Perhapsss I am being too paranoid, but I do not think so.
((OOC this came to mind: Data's Life Forms Song))
Lieutenant JG S'zurak
Tactical Officer
Starbase 118 Ops
O240205S13