As Benjamin Franklin once said; "Fish and visitors stink after three days."
Even though our guests maintained impeccable standards of personal hygiene and behaviour during their brief stay, I found myself extremely relieved when we finally bundled the colonists into Exodus and deposited them safely back at Kaori-san no-shima. Fortunately, that worrisome 'demigod' business died down rather abruptly, ably assisted by some particularly salty comments from Héloise. We're just your average off-the-shelf AI androids, albeit particularly clever androids blessed with unfettered access to a shipload of nasty weapon systems. No big deal.
Speaking of weapon systems, we'll have to deal with that Precursor ship-killer without any further ado. Carl Sagan's mining crews are already extracting resources from the asteroid belt, and Halvorsen has informed that he will have to start sending his resupply freighters planet-side fairly soon. His current estimate is two weeks before his onboard deuterium stocks are exhausted, although I'm reasonably certain that we can sort things out with Sky Watcher in a day or so. Here's hoping. For starters, we need to convince Sky Watcher that all our colonists are completely free from infection. IANTO drew blood samples from everyone prior to leaving The Broch, and I'm working on an assumption that the Precursor AI is able to analyse those samples somehow.
As backup, I've also brought Héloise and Enzo Savini along. Living proof that the Kharaa are finished.
Ulysses swung wide of the massive gun emplacement, lining up to enter the facility's moon pool. It's a fair bet that the Precursors once possessed vehicles of similar dimensions to our Cyclops, as I had detected an enormous berthing space inside. That's good, because Taranis is sailing astern of us. The way I figure it, a friendly chat with Sky Watcher should be more than enough to get the job done. If by some remarkable chance it isn't, six Mk. V ExoSuits and a pair of Ripleys will make an extremely compelling argument for our case. I'm rather hoping it won't come to that.
"Nervous, laddie?" I said, clapping a friendly hand on Savini's shoulder. "Don't be. First-mission nerves are entirely normal, so I don't think any less of you for that. Just keep your eyes open and your finger off the trigger. If a situation does develop; think first, and then act. We've got your six."
"T-thank you, Sir." Savini stammered, forcing a lukewarm grin. "I'll try not to get myself killed."
"Stout fellow! That's the spirit!" I laughed. "Nay, it won't come to that, mate. Anything that wants you or Héloise will have to chew its way through us Toasters first, and that will take some doing. Okay, brace up, laddie. We're docked."
"JUNO, deploy ExoSuits on remote command and secure the area. No surprises, if you please."
"Aye, Sir. Exos are launched." JUNO said calmly. "No lifesigns detected in the immediate area. Commencing tactical sweep of moon pool. No threats detected. Main corridor entrance is force-shielded, Sir. I have discovered something that may be a control mechanism for the force field, but no apparent interface device is present. Your orders, Sir?"
"It's time to put some boots on the ground. Okay troops, mount up and move out."
Maybe there will be the great great grandson/daughter of selkirk's brother or sister aboard the carl sagan
That'd be cool, but as far as I know, Selkirk didn't have any children. But he very well could have before the events of Aurora Falls.
That seems like something that could only be proven or disproven by Bugzapper himself.
One would think that that would be something that Selkirk would have thought about many times during the events of Aurora Falls and even Borealis Rising (as he's preparing to head back to civilization now). But yes, we must hear from Bugzapper yes / no / wouldn't you like to know.
That makes me think of an interesting question: is Selkirkreally the same person he was when he was human? Obviously Bugzapper intends it this way, but the way I see it, it seems as though while he has the memories of the original Selkirk, his view of the world, and as a result, his personality, has changed dramatically due to the clearly quite different experience of having a mechanical body vs. a human one. He has different senses, different abilities, and reads information in a different way. Even though it's not touched on that much in the story, I don't see any way that that wouldn't fundamentally change someones personality.
With a different personality and a different body, one that isn't even biological, I would say that there is no way that he is truly the same person. He looks the same, he has the same memories, and will share at least some of the same behaviors, but on a fundamental level, he is no longer Alexander Selkirk. He is something new.
Guys, I'm sincerely sorry that I reacted poorly to your constructive criticism. I humbly apologise for launching those nukes.
10-10, Good Buddies.
(Incidentally, Urban Dictionary isn't a wholly reputable source of linguistic information. Some of my entries are in there.)
It's no problem man, amount of random gits bothering you thoughout this I'm not surprised you're a tad snappy. The story is awesome, keep up the good work!
Since Enzo has never piloted an ExoSuit before, the quickest way of teaching him was slaving Centurion's controls to Gawain and letting him get the feel of its systems on the fly. I engaged the haptic force-feedback on his controls and walked him around for a spell, demonstrating the hand motions he'll be using. He seems to be getting it, although I had to coach him along some at first.
"Don't fight the control yokes, laddie. Keep your grip loose for now. Feel how they're moving, and see what your suit is doing in response to those movements. It's all pretty intuitive, once you've got the hang of it. Right, now try it for yourself." I disengaged the remote briefly, allowing him to move around freely for a couple of minutes.
"That's looking good, mate. Right, we're going for a quick swing to the other side of this moon pool. No need to panic. I've resumed control of your suit again. Héloise, you'll be coming with us. JUNO, IANTO and DIGBY, stand fast. Okay, are you both ready?"
Enzo stole a quick glance at the sub bay's ceiling and gulped in alarm. It was a fair distance up, and an equally daunting distance across the pool. I conjure he was clever enough to guess how this manoeuvre would work, and he had every right to be a wee bit apprehensive about it. It's not so bad when you're underwater; everything slows down to a nice, leisurely pace. Doing a Tarzan land-side is a different matter entirely.
Under my control, Gawain, Morrigan and Centurion turned briskly to face the opposite side of the moon pool. All three ExoSuits lifted their right arms skyward, as if grimly saluting an unseen Caesar.
I grinned wickedly and bellowed, "Ave! Qui nos morituri te salutant!"
Three grapples launched as one, caught and locked onto the ceiling. As their trailing cables retracted, the suits shot into the air like bottle rockets, describing three perfect arcs as they swung across the moon pool. Halfway through the swing, their left arms rose into position and launched a second grapple. As soon as the left grapples made solid contact, the right lines disengaged and retracted. At the extreme end of their arcs, the suits fired their right grapples again, latched and cancelled out the momentum of the return swing. We came to rest ten metres in the air, swinging gently. Like spiders descending on silken threads, the ExoSuits gently touched down on the deck.
"Any questions?" No? - Okay. Now, back to the other side. We're using the jump-jets this time."
I marched the ExoSuits to the edge of the moon pool, continuing my lecture on the move.
"You have a maximum of six minutes flight time on continuous thrust, then you'll need to wait another two minutes to allow the suit's propellant supply to regenerate. Don't squander it. Never climb too high, watch your thrust readouts and work to the rule of thirds. Always leave a bit in reserve. It's not so much of an issue underwater... Unless you're about to land in a lava vent, but you can count on your grapples to haul your bahookie out of the fire. Land-side's a different story. Nine point eight two metres per second, per second, straight down. No parachute."
The ExoSuits rose slowly at 25 per cent thrust, turbines whining softly.
I'm taking it nice and slow this time, so that Héloise and Enzo can clearly see how it's done. Five metres up, thrust vectored for forward flight. Velocity, five metres per second. All systems are nominal. Landing in fifteen seconds... And we're down.
"Well, I'd have to say that was five minutes most profitably spent. Enzo, you are now a qualified ExoSuit pilot. Congratulations." I said drily. "Oh aye, your training may have been a bit on the terse side, but you now know as much as I did after my first solo run. You'll pick it up in no time."
The Precursor cannon's moon pool has three exits, two of which are blocked by force fields. After a fruitless search of the area and a thorough examination of both field control pedestals, it was obvious that we needed something that simply wasn't to be found in here. However, we did discover that those pedestals emitted a faint energy signature, and my best guess was that anything used as keys in here might have similar properties. On a hunch, I set the suit's external scanners to search for anything in the immediate area with the same energy pattern. A series of faint signal pings began to appear on the HUD, and my heart sank. According to the map overlay, most of those pings are located inside this facility. However, there are at least two somewhere on the island itself.
"I don't mind telling ye, this looks to be a wee bit dicey. We're deep inside Reaper territory, and we need to climb back onto the island proper. This means going outside without a Cyclops to protect us. These ExoSuits will take a fair beating, but don't be set at ease by that. A Reaper Leviathan is capable of doing heavy damage to our vehicles, and they've become sneaky buggers, too. In the early days, you could hear them roaring away in the deeps, long before they took an interest in you. Gave you plenty of warning, y'see. Not now, though. They've adapted their hunting techniques in response to a human presence. By the time they give it the old school roar, you're as good as dead."
Strength in numbers, it is then. I would have preferred Héloise and Enzo to remain in the sub bay, but neither one of them would hear of it. My main concern was focused on the small fry that swarm around this island. Biters and Bonesharks are usually only minor nuisances to anyone in an ExoSuit, although these two species are prone to raising a ruckus, particularly when they think it's feeding time. That's certain to pique the curiosity of larger predators, and Binky is the undisputed power in these waters. There's also a distinct possibility that Moe, Larry and Curly might take an interest.
I believe that the phrase 'horribly exposed' eloquently describes our current situation. We're attempting to sneak across the base of a near vertical wall of bare basalt, with a twenty-strong pack of Bonesharks hawking about our heads every step of the way. Every once in a while, one gets brave enough to swoop in and try his luck. The temptation to bring our heavy weapons into play is strong, although it would be a fatal mistake on our part. The last thing we need now is a feeding frenzy, and it would only take one dead or injured Boneshark to trigger it. There's no love lost between individuals of that species, and they wouldn't hesitate to turn on one of their own.
Finally, we reached a point where we could exit the water with relative ease. Only sixty metres of sheer rock face stood between us and dry land. Too far to use jump jets, and definitely too far for all of us to grapple up in one go. Those Bonesharks will be all over us in a flash, the same second we turn our backs to them. An undefended climb would be outright suicide. Only one way to do this.
"Ascend by pairs, highest pairs on overwatch. Belay off and stand ready every twenty metres."
JUNO and DIGBY went first, shooting twenty metres straight up. IANTO and Héloise quickly followed. As soon as they were in position, JUNO and DIGBY anchored their suits and stood guard.
This was the worst part of it. All six of us strung out over an undersea cliff, facing a pack of Bonesharks that grew increasingly more agitated with each passing second.
It won't be too long before Binky decides to investigate what all this commotion's about.
"Okay Enzo, it's our turn now. Set your grapples to strike three metres to the right of Héloise's suit. Let me know when you're ready to launch, and I'll follow your lead. Pick your mark and fire, lad."
Enzo's ExoSuit tilted back slightly as he aimed. Both grapples fired simultaneously. His right claw struck and held, although the left claw hit a mineral nodule instead of solid rock. The nodule shattered instantly, leaving the grapple to fall impotently towards the seabed.
"Retrieve your left grapple, smartly now!" I snapped.
Enzo obeyed immediately, reeling in the slack cable that had been piling up at his feet. Fortunately, he did not make the mistake of moving around as the cable fell around him, so there was little chance of the line fouling on his suit. Although he could haul himself up on one grapple, Enzo would find it nigh impossible to use his suit's legs to assist him in making that climb. Best to have both grapples solidly engaged before setting off, or his ExoSuit would end up bouncing all over the place.
"No harm done, mate. Take your time and try again." I said calmly.
My rear-view camera told a different story. Three Bonesharks had broken off from the pack, and they were heading straight for us. I turned to face them, repulsion cannons dialled up to maximum. Time to bloody some snouts.
After a quick check to see that Enzo was lined up to launch his left grapple, I strode forward and activated the piton-bolts in Gawain's foot pads, anchoring my ExoSuit defiantly onto solid basalt.
"Second grapple away and locked, Sir!" Enzo yelled.
"Up ye go! Haul away now, quick as ye like!"
Centurion shot up at full speed to join the others. I now had the undivided attention of three Bonesharks, who were hovering directly in front of me at a prudent distance.
Too far away to make a telling shot with my repulsion cannons, but just close enough to let me know that they meant business.
"JUNO, Get Héloise and Enzo out of the water! I'll be coming up hot, so stand ready for a dust-off!"
"Understood, Sir. What is your intended course of action?"
"A diversion. These three scunners are about to become the best of chums. Stand by."
The Bonesharks shrieked, wheeled about and charged straight for me. At ten metres, I opened fire with both repulsion cannons, blasting the creatures apart with rapid-pulse graviton beams. Gawain shuddered violently under their staggering recoil, but the pitons held firm. Had I done this without activating those anchor bolts, Gawain would have slammed into the cliff face instantly.
I had only a few seconds before the rest of the pack caught scent of blood in the water. It's about to become an extremely unhealthy location for pretty much every living thing in the immediate area. I jettisoned Gawain's pitons and sprinted back toward the cliff, activating the ExoSuit's jump-jets as soon as I was within grapple range. One glance at the maelstrom of carnage now boiling below me was sufficient to fuel a year's worth of nightmares.
A monstrous shape was rising from the depths.
In case you're wondering... Yes, I still have nightmares. Reapers figure prominently in most of them.
Binky tore into the tightly-packed mass of Sandsharks like a torpedo, jaws agape. His initial assault caught them completely unawares. The pack scattered in all directions, but not before several of them fell to the Leviathan's scything mandibles and jaws. Inside that soundless explosion of blood, a slow rain of severed heads and tails began to fall; tattered remnants cast aside in his greedy haste.
A thoroughly risky move on my part, I'll admit. Still, I was the only one in any position to see the Leviathan rising. In any case, the Sandshark pack's frenzy had nearly reached critical mass. Call it a snap decision. I've bought us a bare handful of seconds at the very most, and hopefully thinned out any opposition waiting for us on the return leg of this expedition. With any luck, Binky might lose interest in us with a full belly, although I very much doubt it.
The crew were ascending rapidly now. JUNO and DIGBY were waiting for me at the 20-metre mark, Gauss cannons at the ready. Ten per cent thrust remaining. Grapples away. Make every metre count. Thrust again, launch the grapples and haul away. The rear camera's view offers no comfort. An expanding cloud of green haze blooms in the ravening deep, witnessed with crystalline certainty that Death incarnate lurks at its heart. Keep climbing, and never look back.
All present and fully accounted for. Pyramid Rock had put on its Sunday best for our arrival. The sun shone brightly, Skyrays wheeled overhead and lush alien foliage of every hue beckoned invitingly. Aside from a constant skittering noise of Cave Crawlers lurking in the underbrush, the island seemed to be doing its level best to convince us that all was well with the world. Aye, if it wasn't for the hulking shape of an immense Precursor cannon looming over the place like a gargoyle, this would indeed be a capital spot for a beach picnic.
Now that we are outside the Precursor structure again, our sensors are able to obtain a clear fix on those faint energy signatures. The first trace is only fifty metres outside the facility's surface entrance, although the second one is somewhere deep inside Pyramid Rock itself. We paired off and began searching.
Héloise made our first significant discovery in a thoroughly traditional manner. Accidentally. Morrigan's left foot unit snagged against something as it thudded down, causing the ExoSuit to stumble slightly. The object lay half-buried in the sand, looking for all the world like a grey-green concrete paving slab. A quick glance at a nearby Precursor path-marker immediately confirmed my suspicions. Same material, same cryptic surface ornamentation. After digging it out, we found that the object had been broken into two pieces, either by the impact of Morrigan's foot or something else that happened a very long time ago. There's absolutely no way of telling for certain. Besides, it's all moot at this point. This object is completely inert. Not a single joule of energy remains. If this is the same species of dingus that we're searching for, it's of no bloody use to us now.
I must say, this artifact is a fair old size. It's either Godzilla's old SIM card, or the remnants of a Precursor force-field access key. I can't imagine anyone having more than one of these at hand. Eventually, we found one that was fully intact. However, since we have no way of knowing how many of these keys we'll need once we're inside, there's no point in using it on the topside door. We can access the moon pool by going back the way we came. Not exactly the most delightful prospect to anticipate, particularly when there's a ferociously jacked-up Reaper on the prowl down there.
"Folks, I don't recall seeing this entrance here before. It's as if the whole island's tunnel network has been reconfigured somehow. I conjure it has something to do with having that muckin' great gun suddenly materialise. Ground-penetrating radar doesn't show that much detail beyond a few metres, but I'm guessing there's a whole lot more tunnel down there. Might as well find out the extent of it before we all rush blindly down the rabbit hole. IANTO, there should be a crate of seismic survey charges in our old storage cache. Grab six and plant them in the following locations... Transmitting the charge co-ordinates to you now."
"Are we going to blow something up?" Héloise piped up, clapping her hands delightedly.
"Not as such, Dear Heart. There will be a kaboom, but nothing particularly earth-shattering. Probably wouldn't even rattle your Granny's teeth, in point of fact. It's called Terrain Resonance Imaging. Works roughly the same way as sonar, but this method gives you better signal propagation and finer image detail. We can even pick up buried mineral deposits and any structural faults in the rock. It should take most of the guesswork out of exploring this place, and I'm not awful keen on winding up hip-deep in a lava vent. We're in roughly the right area for them, so it pays to tread a mite softly hereabouts... Don't know how you'd manage that in an ExoSuit, but there you go."
Ten minutes later, IANTO checked in. "All charges are in position, Sir. Awaiting further orders."
"Good man. All units, disperse to the individual locations I've marked on your suit HUDs and activate geophone arrays. Report in when you're ready."
I trudged twenty metres to the right of my current position and set up the ExoSuit's sensors to receive incoming seismic data. To save time, I sent remote commands to Enzo and Héloise's suits, activating the appropriate data acquisition systems. Five minutes later, everyone was good to go.
"All units are confirmed as standing ready in all respects. Firing on one. Three... Two... One."
A prolonged dull thud rippled through the ground as all six charges detonated sequentially. A few nanoseconds later, a dense stream of data assembled itself into a highly detailed holographic map of Pyramid Rock's internal structure.
My goodness, how the old place has changed...
I was right. The maze of tunnels beneath Pyramid Rock has changed dramatically since my last visit. Its structure is perfectly stable, even though the interior is riddled with dozens of tunnels heading off at all points of the compass. There are also a couple of large spaces down there that might hold something of interest, although my most immediate priority is reaching that second Precursor key. We can always check out those rooms later. The main thing is, our path to the second artifact appears to be completely clear, and somewhat unusually for this planet... Reassuringly safe. We'll see.
Our progress toward the artifact's location was remarkably easy, even though these tunnels have a way of wandering all over the place. Here and there, strange tubular outcrops of the Precursor building material poked haphazardly through the tunnel's walls and ceilings, as if the Precursors had some method of extruding these 'cables' (as thick as a human torso, I might add) through solid rock without having to drill a pathway first. Whatever those cables were intended to power, I reckon it's worth taking a quick peek before we head back topside.
With the second Precursor key safely in hand, I figured we could spend some time exploring the island's tunnel network, if only to satisfy my curiosity about what was on the other end of those power conduits. Strangely enough, there were no smaller cables branching off from the main power transmission lines. On a hunch, I switched my visual feed to scan the entire invisible EM spectrum. Sure enough, those nodes spaced along the super-conducting conduits continuously 'leak' a carefully regulated flow of electrical energy directly into the ether, presumably as an inductive power source powering a variety of low-demand systems.
The illuminated path markers definitely fall under this category, as our scans revealed that those pedestals contain no apparent cables, discrete components or even an internal power supply. Our observations also confirmed an abiding suspicion. The intricate carvings found on Precursor structures and devices aren't ornamental at all. Believe it or not, those aesthetically-pleasing geometric patterns are actually electronic circuits of immense complexity. The good news is, we can duplicate this technology and adapt it to Terran construction methods.
Presently, the tunnel opened out into a large cavern. All eyes were immediately drawn to a large angular structure sitting on a bare outcrop of basalt, located ten metres or so above the main cavern floor. Four rectangular Precursor structural beams, measuring 1.5 metres a side and six metres in length had been formed into a vertically-standing diamond shape. One quarter of its total height had been merged into a low base platform of the same material, forming what appeared to be an arch or doorway.
As I approached the object, a slender pillar rose smoothly out of the base platform. At first, I thought it might be a control device that responded to simple hand pressure. No such luck. The pillar remained extended while I stood near it, and it retracted immediately whenever I moved off the base platform. Other than that, there was no apparent response from the arch itself. Eventually, I became frustrated with the structure's stubborn refusal to yield its secrets.
"Okay, mates. This bloody thing has got me totally stumped. Any ideas?" I huffed in exasperation.
"This place reminds me of a temple, Chérie. Did the Precursors even have gods?"
"Not that I'm aware of." I admitted. "There's no evidence suggesting that they believed in supernatural entities at all, leastways anything worth depicting in their architecture. Nearly all of the sentient species encountered so far have some sort of mythic tradition, and there's usually physical depictions of whatever beings they consider divine or heroic. The Precursors have left nothing that indicates any kind of belief structure. Remember, all of these carvings are purely functional. There are no coded references to their ancient past concealed in any of these designs."
After spending a few minutes deep in careful thought, IANTO weighed in with his two Credit's worth.
"Captain, I have detected that this device is definitely consuming power from the facility's main transmission line. This indicates that the device could be in its standby mode. All we need do is flip the right switch, so to speak. I believe that the small pillar has been designed to hold a specific Precursor object, presumably one serving as an activation key for this device. We should begin searching the surrounding area for anything that might conceivably be used in this manner."
Whatever this object is, I reckon we may have found precisely what we are looking for.
DIGBY had found this one lodged in a shallow fissure near the island's largest subterranean pool, an area that had been thoroughly combed at least a dozen times during our search. Again, it was a case of being in precisely the right position at the right time. The object appears to be a manufactured crystal matrix of some kind; comprised of stacked tabular plates in a cubic configuration, roughly 200mm along each side. It emits an intense green glow, unsettlingly similar to kryptonite, raising immediate safety concerns for our human companions. Scanning revealed that the object is perfectly safe to handle, as it does not emit hazardous ionizing radiation on any frequency band. However, this revelation is completely at odds with the staggering amount of potential energy contained in this crystal.
In short, this object is the answer to an engineer's prayers. Your actual Holy Grail of energy storage. I'm not entirely certain how the Precursors were able to create such a compact energy source, or how many laws of physics were cheerfully swept aside in its making. This small cube has approximately the same energy density as ten of our advanced power-cells, providing twice the energy output of a standard uranium fission reactor. If this isn't mind-boggling enough for you, think of this cube as a decaton-range nuclear detonation, safely encapsulated within a block of crystal. That's basically what it is.
I found myself torn between wanting to use this crystal to activate the portal structure, or hanging onto it for use elsewhere. There's no telling how scarce these cubes are, and I'm not inclined to waste them simply to see what happens. For the time being, we should return to the Precursor cannon and finally make some progress on our primary mission.
At least we're now awake to the notion that we won't find these Precursor artifacts stacked neatly where they're needed. It's almost as if they were simply tossed aside during some sort of commotion, and there's a fair chance that some may have been displaced by seismic activity at some stage. Fortunately, these objects emit specific energy signatures that can be detected by our sensors, and they also glow rather brightly, making them easy to detect once you know what you're looking for. Of course, the abundance of bio-luminescent flora and fauna on Manannán complicates visual search methods considerably, unless you filter out everything outside an artifact's unique spectral emission signature. Once you have the knack of it, finding these items is a complete doddle.
We regrouped on the base platform of the Precursor cannon. After a thorough sensor sweep of the weapon, we determined that the gun fires a phased-plasma discharge, channelled through an ionized conduit generated in the atmosphere a few seconds before firing. The corona discharge seen at the gun's muzzle is visible throughout the entire firing cycle, indicating that the charged conduit has to maintain constant line-of-sight contact with a vessel until the plasma bolt reaches its target. This means that ships are most vulnerable to attack while following pre-calculated descent or ascent profiles. Furthermore, its effective range is limited to the upper reaches of the atmosphere. Considering the cannon's rapid traverse and elevation rates, there are precious few exploitable flaws in this weapon's design.
Hopefully, it won't come to that. A friendly natter with Sky Watcher should be all that's needed.
Combine this information with the cannon's relatively slow traverse and elevation rates, and you've got the makings of some thoroughly exploitable flaws in this weapon's design.
.
"Now, you're probably thinking that something this size would be a sluggish performer in the anti-aircraft stakes. Not so.
Within seconds of completion, the turret rotated through a full 360 degrees in only five seconds. At the same time, the cannon's barrel moved through its complete arc of motion thrice in the time it took the turret to complete a single revolution. Make no mistake; this turret is entirely capable of tracking and engaging a high-speed target. An approaching starship in high orbit would be easy meat, although an atmospheric fighter wouldn't last too much longer."
"Here's the plan. We'll abseil down to the moon pool entrance and make our way back inside. Rig suits for ultra-quiet running. Cockpit blackout, no external lights showing. I'm launching a recon drone from Ulysses first, just to make certain that Binky isn't waiting for his dessert course to arrive. Okay, get yourselves sorted out along this ledge and wait for my signal to drop."
The recon probe drifted slowly out of the moon pool entrance, an insignificant speck of metal peering apprehensively into the darkness below. It hovered at 90 metres, sweeping its sensors through 360 degrees, scanning the whole area from top to bottom. The Bonesharks were gone, but not entirely. Two hundred and fifty metres away, a large shoal of Biters had moved in to feast on their remains, their guttural hyena laughter the only sound piercing an otherwise silent ocean.
I brought the probe in closer. In the gloom below, I spotted something that lay twisted among the boulders on the seafloor.
It was Binky.
The Reaper Leviathan had prevailed against the Bonesharks, but at a terrible cost. Huge chunks had been torn from his flanks, all four outer mandibles had been sheared away and his powerful flukes were now little more than tattered stumps. A thin haze of blood wept slowly from his gaping wounds, unaided by a mighty heart that had long ceased to beat.
My feelings were honestly conflicted as I gazed at Binky's ravaged corpse. Even though we have successfully avoided a suicidal confrontation with a large pack of Bonesharks and a Reaper, I wouldn't consider this any sort of victory, personal or otherwise. Binky was fully capable of tearing our ExoSuits to pieces all by himself, although we've always managed to part company in some clever fashion in the past. In my own way, I hold an abiding respect for Reapers, albeit a respect significantly bolstered by their sheer size and relentless ferocity. Binky was a magnificent and cunning foe, worthy of a far better end than this. A darksome knight of renown, laid low by a rabble of kerns and gallowglasses.
When we return to The Broch, I'll raise a farewell glass to his name.
All thoughts of melancholy must stand aside, at least for now. Our mission is of paramount importance; all other considerations are secondary. After completing a second full sensor sweep, I gave the command to begin our descent. As planned, all six ExoSuits slid noiselessly into the water. Fifty metres down, our grapple lines reached their utmost limits of extension, making it necessary to continue our descent in silent free-fall. As we drew level with the entrance to the moon pool, our grapples fired in unison and latched onto the doorway's massive lintel. Thus secured, the grappling lines retracted, drawing us inside the structure.
We wasted no time in shutting down the first force field blocking our path. However, the control pedestal would not release the Precursor key afterwards. I was a mite concerned about this development, since our progress through this complex could come to a screeching halt at any time for the want of a single key. Even so, we pressed onward. After determining that there were no immediate threats in this part of the facility, I split the squad into three pairs so that we could cover more ground during our search of the gun emplacement's labyrinthine corridors and colossal open spaces.
For all its awe-inspiring grandeur, there is a forlorn air about this place; overwhelming sensations of abandonment and an aching emptiness gnawing away at one's thoughts.
Even though it was created within the span of living memory, this weapon looks and feels incredibly ancient.
About an hour later, we regrouped in the main atrium of the complex. Our efforts so far had turned up another three purple Precursor keys, a blue key, an orange key as well as several loose chunks of that green power crystal. All things considered, a sterling effort from everyone involved. IANTO has determined the precise location of the weapon's control centre, simply by scanning the energy flux that permeates the very fabric of this facility. There is also a second Precursor portal in here, and we'll probably be taking a closer look at these devices once we've taken care of that cannon.
Right now, we have another one of those 'interesting' situations that we occasionally encounter. We're standing at the entrance of an open shaft that plunges 90 metres straight down. Since there's no actual platform that raises and lowers, it's not an actual gravitic elevator shaft as such, leastways not of the type that we are used to. Sensors have detected the presence of a polarised graviton beam in the shaft, so it's a reasonable assumption that this is an alien version of a standard gravity-lift. Not entirely unheard of, since Aurora had dozens of similar transport systems onboard. So, it's a familiar technology in a slightly different form. However, that's not the problem. Our current point of concern is that our ExoSuits may be too heavy to make it down in one piece. There's no way of telling how much mass this system was originally calibrated to handle.
You're probably thinking that we should use our suit's thrusters to slow the descent, just in case.
One question: What happens if the shaft's graviton control systems register the suit's deceleration as an attempt to ascend against a downward force? I don't know about you, but there's a mental picture of an ExoSuit slamming into either end of this shaft that I find a wee bit disturbing. There's only one way to find out, I guess. If all else fails, there's always the grapple system to fall back on.
No pun intended.
DIGBY stepped forward. "Captain, I believe that I should be the one to make the first drop. As Tactical Operations Officer, it is one of my core responsibilities to assess all mission environments beforehand and advise you on the most appropriate courses of action. Your reluctance to order crew members into any potentially dangerous situation is greatly appreciated, though somewhat counter-productive in this particular case. With your permission, Sir?"
I nodded. "Well, you've got me dead to rights there, DIGBY old man... As you say, it's in your job description. I'll not be stepping on your toes, mate. By all means, proceed at your own discretion."
"Very good, Sir. I shall be transmitting a telemetry stream during my descent. If anything goes wrong, you should be able to use this data to avoid meeting the same set of failure conditions."
"Mate, if anything does go wrong, I'll be the first one diving down that shaft. You won't prang."
"Thank you, Sir. I shall endeavour to avoid having you leap to my rescue." DIGBY grinned.
With a brief nod of farewell, DIGBY turned smartly about and stepped into the shaft without hesitation. He hung suspended in mid-air for a couple of seconds, his ExoSuit rotating slowly as its centre of mass shifted relative to the deck far below.
Naturally, my first impulse was to sprint towards the gravity shaft and dive in after him. However, DIGBY's telemetry is still coming through loud and clear. His descent rate has stabilised at a leisurely 2.5 metres per second, comfortably well below the 9.82 metres per second, per second that spells impending doom for anyone or anything not previously equipped with a parachute or jump jets.
"How's your trip down going so far, DIGBY old son?" I enquired cheerfully.
"Remarkably enjoyable, Sir. We must build something like this in The Broch... Purely for recreational purposes, of course! I can easily imagine myself spending a great deal of my spare time in a variable gravity chamber, assuming that we had one. Ah, the end of the ride approaches. Pity."
"Hmm... Sounds like it might be a fun side-project. After we've sorted things out down here. It uses off-the-shelf technology, so I don't see any reason why we can't rig one up. I could even justify it as a micro-gravity training system for any colonists wanting to sign on as Borealis' hull technicians, although SCUBA diving is also a fair simulation of working in a null-g environment."
Come off it, Selkirk. It's not as if you'll cop any Management flak for goofing off in your own time.
"Bugger it, we'll make one just for fun." I declared at last. "Just a gentle reminder folks... If there's a couple of jumpsuits on the deck outside that gravity chamber, kindly use the intercom first, okay?"
Five minutes later, we all stood assembled at the bottom of the gravity shaft. When no-one else was watching, Héloise favoured me with a particularly significant smile and a sly wink.
Apparently, she also feels that a null-gravity chamber in The Broch would be a splendid idea.
Outrageous woman.
Oddly enough, the final pedestal accepted a purple Precursor key without raising any objections. Considering that we were about to enter the cannon's actual control centre, I found myself anticipating some kind of vigorous response to this incursion. No ear-piercing alarms. No flashing strobe lights. No devastating ambush by a swarm of heavily-armed security drones. Absolutely nothing. Somewhat disappointingly, the shimmering green force field deactivated as easily as a deck-head light. DIGBY advanced into the vast chamber, Gauss cannon held at the ready. After a thorough search of the area, he declared it safe for the rest of us to enter. Once inside, we dismounted our ExoSuits and took a short meal break, mainly for the benefit of Enzo and Héloise.
While DIGBY and IANTO patrolled the area on foot, JUNO and I walked over to examine a large pylon in the chamber's centre. As the quiet conversation between our human companions became muted by distance, the subdued background hum of alien machinery grew perceptibly louder as we approached the device's central pillar. We stood silently for a while, bathed in its kryptonite glow.
"I've seen something like this before," I remarked. "In the Precursor facility underneath the Lava Castle. It's a holographic data terminal and projection system. JUNO, say how-do to Sky Watcher."
Even as I uttered his name, the Precursor's holographic avatar began to materialise above us.
"Warm seas, Father of Shells." Sky Watcher intoned gravely. "Why have you entered this place?"
Comments
Even though our guests maintained impeccable standards of personal hygiene and behaviour during their brief stay, I found myself extremely relieved when we finally bundled the colonists into Exodus and deposited them safely back at Kaori-san no-shima. Fortunately, that worrisome 'demigod' business died down rather abruptly, ably assisted by some particularly salty comments from Héloise. We're just your average off-the-shelf AI androids, albeit particularly clever androids blessed with unfettered access to a shipload of nasty weapon systems. No big deal.
Speaking of weapon systems, we'll have to deal with that Precursor ship-killer without any further ado. Carl Sagan's mining crews are already extracting resources from the asteroid belt, and Halvorsen has informed that he will have to start sending his resupply freighters planet-side fairly soon. His current estimate is two weeks before his onboard deuterium stocks are exhausted, although I'm reasonably certain that we can sort things out with Sky Watcher in a day or so. Here's hoping. For starters, we need to convince Sky Watcher that all our colonists are completely free from infection. IANTO drew blood samples from everyone prior to leaving The Broch, and I'm working on an assumption that the Precursor AI is able to analyse those samples somehow.
As backup, I've also brought Héloise and Enzo Savini along. Living proof that the Kharaa are finished.
Ulysses swung wide of the massive gun emplacement, lining up to enter the facility's moon pool. It's a fair bet that the Precursors once possessed vehicles of similar dimensions to our Cyclops, as I had detected an enormous berthing space inside. That's good, because Taranis is sailing astern of us. The way I figure it, a friendly chat with Sky Watcher should be more than enough to get the job done. If by some remarkable chance it isn't, six Mk. V ExoSuits and a pair of Ripleys will make an extremely compelling argument for our case. I'm rather hoping it won't come to that.
"Nervous, laddie?" I said, clapping a friendly hand on Savini's shoulder. "Don't be. First-mission nerves are entirely normal, so I don't think any less of you for that. Just keep your eyes open and your finger off the trigger. If a situation does develop; think first, and then act. We've got your six."
"T-thank you, Sir." Savini stammered, forcing a lukewarm grin. "I'll try not to get myself killed."
"Stout fellow! That's the spirit!" I laughed. "Nay, it won't come to that, mate. Anything that wants you or Héloise will have to chew its way through us Toasters first, and that will take some doing. Okay, brace up, laddie. We're docked."
"JUNO, deploy ExoSuits on remote command and secure the area. No surprises, if you please."
"Aye, Sir. Exos are launched." JUNO said calmly. "No lifesigns detected in the immediate area. Commencing tactical sweep of moon pool. No threats detected. Main corridor entrance is force-shielded, Sir. I have discovered something that may be a control mechanism for the force field, but no apparent interface device is present. Your orders, Sir?"
"It's time to put some boots on the ground. Okay troops, mount up and move out."
Guys, I'm sincerely sorry that I reacted poorly to your constructive criticism. I humbly apologise for launching those nukes.
10-10, Good Buddies.
(Incidentally, Urban Dictionary isn't a wholly reputable source of linguistic information. Some of my entries are in there.)
That'd be cool, but as far as I know, Selkirk didn't have any children. But he very well could have before the events of Aurora Falls.
That seems like something that could only be proven or disproven by Bugzapper himself.
One would think that that would be something that Selkirk would have thought about many times during the events of Aurora Falls and even Borealis Rising (as he's preparing to head back to civilization now). But yes, we must hear from Bugzapper yes / no / wouldn't you like to know.
Derp, I didn't see that somehow. So a great great grandniece or nephew then.
With a different personality and a different body, one that isn't even biological, I would say that there is no way that he is truly the same person. He looks the same, he has the same memories, and will share at least some of the same behaviors, but on a fundamental level, he is no longer Alexander Selkirk. He is something new.
It's no problem man, amount of random gits bothering you thoughout this I'm not surprised you're a tad snappy. The story is awesome, keep up the good work!
"Don't fight the control yokes, laddie. Keep your grip loose for now. Feel how they're moving, and see what your suit is doing in response to those movements. It's all pretty intuitive, once you've got the hang of it. Right, now try it for yourself." I disengaged the remote briefly, allowing him to move around freely for a couple of minutes.
"That's looking good, mate. Right, we're going for a quick swing to the other side of this moon pool. No need to panic. I've resumed control of your suit again. Héloise, you'll be coming with us. JUNO, IANTO and DIGBY, stand fast. Okay, are you both ready?"
Enzo stole a quick glance at the sub bay's ceiling and gulped in alarm. It was a fair distance up, and an equally daunting distance across the pool. I conjure he was clever enough to guess how this manoeuvre would work, and he had every right to be a wee bit apprehensive about it. It's not so bad when you're underwater; everything slows down to a nice, leisurely pace. Doing a Tarzan land-side is a different matter entirely.
Under my control, Gawain, Morrigan and Centurion turned briskly to face the opposite side of the moon pool. All three ExoSuits lifted their right arms skyward, as if grimly saluting an unseen Caesar.
I grinned wickedly and bellowed, "Ave! Qui nos morituri te salutant!"
Three grapples launched as one, caught and locked onto the ceiling. As their trailing cables retracted, the suits shot into the air like bottle rockets, describing three perfect arcs as they swung across the moon pool. Halfway through the swing, their left arms rose into position and launched a second grapple. As soon as the left grapples made solid contact, the right lines disengaged and retracted. At the extreme end of their arcs, the suits fired their right grapples again, latched and cancelled out the momentum of the return swing. We came to rest ten metres in the air, swinging gently. Like spiders descending on silken threads, the ExoSuits gently touched down on the deck.
"Any questions?" No? - Okay. Now, back to the other side. We're using the jump-jets this time."
I marched the ExoSuits to the edge of the moon pool, continuing my lecture on the move.
"You have a maximum of six minutes flight time on continuous thrust, then you'll need to wait another two minutes to allow the suit's propellant supply to regenerate. Don't squander it. Never climb too high, watch your thrust readouts and work to the rule of thirds. Always leave a bit in reserve. It's not so much of an issue underwater... Unless you're about to land in a lava vent, but you can count on your grapples to haul your bahookie out of the fire. Land-side's a different story. Nine point eight two metres per second, per second, straight down. No parachute."
The ExoSuits rose slowly at 25 per cent thrust, turbines whining softly.
I'm taking it nice and slow this time, so that Héloise and Enzo can clearly see how it's done. Five metres up, thrust vectored for forward flight. Velocity, five metres per second. All systems are nominal. Landing in fifteen seconds... And we're down.
Piece of cake.
The Precursor cannon's moon pool has three exits, two of which are blocked by force fields. After a fruitless search of the area and a thorough examination of both field control pedestals, it was obvious that we needed something that simply wasn't to be found in here. However, we did discover that those pedestals emitted a faint energy signature, and my best guess was that anything used as keys in here might have similar properties. On a hunch, I set the suit's external scanners to search for anything in the immediate area with the same energy pattern. A series of faint signal pings began to appear on the HUD, and my heart sank. According to the map overlay, most of those pings are located inside this facility. However, there are at least two somewhere on the island itself.
"I don't mind telling ye, this looks to be a wee bit dicey. We're deep inside Reaper territory, and we need to climb back onto the island proper. This means going outside without a Cyclops to protect us. These ExoSuits will take a fair beating, but don't be set at ease by that. A Reaper Leviathan is capable of doing heavy damage to our vehicles, and they've become sneaky buggers, too. In the early days, you could hear them roaring away in the deeps, long before they took an interest in you. Gave you plenty of warning, y'see. Not now, though. They've adapted their hunting techniques in response to a human presence. By the time they give it the old school roar, you're as good as dead."
Strength in numbers, it is then. I would have preferred Héloise and Enzo to remain in the sub bay, but neither one of them would hear of it. My main concern was focused on the small fry that swarm around this island. Biters and Bonesharks are usually only minor nuisances to anyone in an ExoSuit, although these two species are prone to raising a ruckus, particularly when they think it's feeding time. That's certain to pique the curiosity of larger predators, and Binky is the undisputed power in these waters. There's also a distinct possibility that Moe, Larry and Curly might take an interest.
I believe that the phrase 'horribly exposed' eloquently describes our current situation. We're attempting to sneak across the base of a near vertical wall of bare basalt, with a twenty-strong pack of Bonesharks hawking about our heads every step of the way. Every once in a while, one gets brave enough to swoop in and try his luck. The temptation to bring our heavy weapons into play is strong, although it would be a fatal mistake on our part. The last thing we need now is a feeding frenzy, and it would only take one dead or injured Boneshark to trigger it. There's no love lost between individuals of that species, and they wouldn't hesitate to turn on one of their own.
Finally, we reached a point where we could exit the water with relative ease. Only sixty metres of sheer rock face stood between us and dry land. Too far to use jump jets, and definitely too far for all of us to grapple up in one go. Those Bonesharks will be all over us in a flash, the same second we turn our backs to them. An undefended climb would be outright suicide. Only one way to do this.
"Ascend by pairs, highest pairs on overwatch. Belay off and stand ready every twenty metres."
JUNO and DIGBY went first, shooting twenty metres straight up. IANTO and Héloise quickly followed. As soon as they were in position, JUNO and DIGBY anchored their suits and stood guard.
It won't be too long before Binky decides to investigate what all this commotion's about.
"Okay Enzo, it's our turn now. Set your grapples to strike three metres to the right of Héloise's suit. Let me know when you're ready to launch, and I'll follow your lead. Pick your mark and fire, lad."
Enzo's ExoSuit tilted back slightly as he aimed. Both grapples fired simultaneously. His right claw struck and held, although the left claw hit a mineral nodule instead of solid rock. The nodule shattered instantly, leaving the grapple to fall impotently towards the seabed.
"Retrieve your left grapple, smartly now!" I snapped.
Enzo obeyed immediately, reeling in the slack cable that had been piling up at his feet. Fortunately, he did not make the mistake of moving around as the cable fell around him, so there was little chance of the line fouling on his suit. Although he could haul himself up on one grapple, Enzo would find it nigh impossible to use his suit's legs to assist him in making that climb. Best to have both grapples solidly engaged before setting off, or his ExoSuit would end up bouncing all over the place.
"No harm done, mate. Take your time and try again." I said calmly.
My rear-view camera told a different story. Three Bonesharks had broken off from the pack, and they were heading straight for us. I turned to face them, repulsion cannons dialled up to maximum. Time to bloody some snouts.
After a quick check to see that Enzo was lined up to launch his left grapple, I strode forward and activated the piton-bolts in Gawain's foot pads, anchoring my ExoSuit defiantly onto solid basalt.
"Second grapple away and locked, Sir!" Enzo yelled.
"Up ye go! Haul away now, quick as ye like!"
Centurion shot up at full speed to join the others. I now had the undivided attention of three Bonesharks, who were hovering directly in front of me at a prudent distance.
Too far away to make a telling shot with my repulsion cannons, but just close enough to let me know that they meant business.
"JUNO, Get Héloise and Enzo out of the water! I'll be coming up hot, so stand ready for a dust-off!"
"Understood, Sir. What is your intended course of action?"
"A diversion. These three scunners are about to become the best of chums. Stand by."
The Bonesharks shrieked, wheeled about and charged straight for me. At ten metres, I opened fire with both repulsion cannons, blasting the creatures apart with rapid-pulse graviton beams. Gawain shuddered violently under their staggering recoil, but the pitons held firm. Had I done this without activating those anchor bolts, Gawain would have slammed into the cliff face instantly.
I had only a few seconds before the rest of the pack caught scent of blood in the water. It's about to become an extremely unhealthy location for pretty much every living thing in the immediate area. I jettisoned Gawain's pitons and sprinted back toward the cliff, activating the ExoSuit's jump-jets as soon as I was within grapple range. One glance at the maelstrom of carnage now boiling below me was sufficient to fuel a year's worth of nightmares.
A monstrous shape was rising from the depths.
In case you're wondering... Yes, I still have nightmares. Reapers figure prominently in most of them.
That or binky can smell blood from a mile away and HOW LONG DO REAPERS LIVE AHAB'S GOTTA BE AT LEAST 150 YEARS OLD
A thoroughly risky move on my part, I'll admit. Still, I was the only one in any position to see the Leviathan rising. In any case, the Sandshark pack's frenzy had nearly reached critical mass. Call it a snap decision. I've bought us a bare handful of seconds at the very most, and hopefully thinned out any opposition waiting for us on the return leg of this expedition. With any luck, Binky might lose interest in us with a full belly, although I very much doubt it.
The crew were ascending rapidly now. JUNO and DIGBY were waiting for me at the 20-metre mark, Gauss cannons at the ready. Ten per cent thrust remaining. Grapples away. Make every metre count. Thrust again, launch the grapples and haul away. The rear camera's view offers no comfort. An expanding cloud of green haze blooms in the ravening deep, witnessed with crystalline certainty that Death incarnate lurks at its heart. Keep climbing, and never look back.
All present and fully accounted for. Pyramid Rock had put on its Sunday best for our arrival. The sun shone brightly, Skyrays wheeled overhead and lush alien foliage of every hue beckoned invitingly. Aside from a constant skittering noise of Cave Crawlers lurking in the underbrush, the island seemed to be doing its level best to convince us that all was well with the world. Aye, if it wasn't for the hulking shape of an immense Precursor cannon looming over the place like a gargoyle, this would indeed be a capital spot for a beach picnic.
Now that we are outside the Precursor structure again, our sensors are able to obtain a clear fix on those faint energy signatures. The first trace is only fifty metres outside the facility's surface entrance, although the second one is somewhere deep inside Pyramid Rock itself. We paired off and began searching.
Héloise made our first significant discovery in a thoroughly traditional manner. Accidentally.
Morrigan's left foot unit snagged against something as it thudded down, causing the ExoSuit to stumble slightly. The object lay half-buried in the sand, looking for all the world like a grey-green concrete paving slab. A quick glance at a nearby Precursor path-marker immediately confirmed my suspicions. Same material, same cryptic surface ornamentation. After digging it out, we found that the object had been broken into two pieces, either by the impact of Morrigan's foot or something else that happened a very long time ago. There's absolutely no way of telling for certain. Besides, it's all moot at this point. This object is completely inert. Not a single joule of energy remains. If this is the same species of dingus that we're searching for, it's of no bloody use to us now.
I must say, this artifact is a fair old size. It's either Godzilla's old SIM card, or the remnants of a Precursor force-field access key. I can't imagine anyone having more than one of these at hand. Eventually, we found one that was fully intact. However, since we have no way of knowing how many of these keys we'll need once we're inside, there's no point in using it on the topside door. We can access the moon pool by going back the way we came. Not exactly the most delightful prospect to anticipate, particularly when there's a ferociously jacked-up Reaper on the prowl down there.
Rule number 1 is ... can anyone guess it?
"Folks, I don't recall seeing this entrance here before. It's as if the whole island's tunnel network has been reconfigured somehow. I conjure it has something to do with having that muckin' great gun suddenly materialise. Ground-penetrating radar doesn't show that much detail beyond a few metres, but I'm guessing there's a whole lot more tunnel down there. Might as well find out the extent of it before we all rush blindly down the rabbit hole. IANTO, there should be a crate of seismic survey charges in our old storage cache. Grab six and plant them in the following locations... Transmitting the charge co-ordinates to you now."
"Are we going to blow something up?" Héloise piped up, clapping her hands delightedly.
"Not as such, Dear Heart. There will be a kaboom, but nothing particularly earth-shattering. Probably wouldn't even rattle your Granny's teeth, in point of fact. It's called Terrain Resonance Imaging. Works roughly the same way as sonar, but this method gives you better signal propagation and finer image detail. We can even pick up buried mineral deposits and any structural faults in the rock. It should take most of the guesswork out of exploring this place, and I'm not awful keen on winding up hip-deep in a lava vent. We're in roughly the right area for them, so it pays to tread a mite softly hereabouts... Don't know how you'd manage that in an ExoSuit, but there you go."
Ten minutes later, IANTO checked in. "All charges are in position, Sir. Awaiting further orders."
"Good man. All units, disperse to the individual locations I've marked on your suit HUDs and activate geophone arrays. Report in when you're ready."
I trudged twenty metres to the right of my current position and set up the ExoSuit's sensors to receive incoming seismic data. To save time, I sent remote commands to Enzo and Héloise's suits, activating the appropriate data acquisition systems. Five minutes later, everyone was good to go.
"All units are confirmed as standing ready in all respects. Firing on one. Three... Two... One."
A prolonged dull thud rippled through the ground as all six charges detonated sequentially. A few nanoseconds later, a dense stream of data assembled itself into a highly detailed holographic map of Pyramid Rock's internal structure.
My goodness, how the old place has changed...
I was right. The maze of tunnels beneath Pyramid Rock has changed dramatically since my last visit. Its structure is perfectly stable, even though the interior is riddled with dozens of tunnels heading off at all points of the compass. There are also a couple of large spaces down there that might hold something of interest, although my most immediate priority is reaching that second Precursor key. We can always check out those rooms later. The main thing is, our path to the second artifact appears to be completely clear, and somewhat unusually for this planet... Reassuringly safe. We'll see.
Our progress toward the artifact's location was remarkably easy, even though these tunnels have a way of wandering all over the place. Here and there, strange tubular outcrops of the Precursor building material poked haphazardly through the tunnel's walls and ceilings, as if the Precursors had some method of extruding these 'cables' (as thick as a human torso, I might add) through solid rock without having to drill a pathway first. Whatever those cables were intended to power, I reckon it's worth taking a quick peek before we head back topside.
Let's just say I'm 'mildly intrigued'.
The illuminated path markers definitely fall under this category, as our scans revealed that those pedestals contain no apparent cables, discrete components or even an internal power supply. Our observations also confirmed an abiding suspicion. The intricate carvings found on Precursor structures and devices aren't ornamental at all. Believe it or not, those aesthetically-pleasing geometric patterns are actually electronic circuits of immense complexity. The good news is, we can duplicate this technology and adapt it to Terran construction methods.
Presently, the tunnel opened out into a large cavern. All eyes were immediately drawn to a large angular structure sitting on a bare outcrop of basalt, located ten metres or so above the main cavern floor. Four rectangular Precursor structural beams, measuring 1.5 metres a side and six metres in length had been formed into a vertically-standing diamond shape. One quarter of its total height had been merged into a low base platform of the same material, forming what appeared to be an arch or doorway.
As I approached the object, a slender pillar rose smoothly out of the base platform. At first, I thought it might be a control device that responded to simple hand pressure. No such luck. The pillar remained extended while I stood near it, and it retracted immediately whenever I moved off the base platform. Other than that, there was no apparent response from the arch itself. Eventually, I became frustrated with the structure's stubborn refusal to yield its secrets.
"Okay, mates. This bloody thing has got me totally stumped. Any ideas?" I huffed in exasperation.
"This place reminds me of a temple, Chérie. Did the Precursors even have gods?"
"Not that I'm aware of." I admitted. "There's no evidence suggesting that they believed in supernatural entities at all, leastways anything worth depicting in their architecture. Nearly all of the sentient species encountered so far have some sort of mythic tradition, and there's usually physical depictions of whatever beings they consider divine or heroic. The Precursors have left nothing that indicates any kind of belief structure. Remember, all of these carvings are purely functional. There are no coded references to their ancient past concealed in any of these designs."
After spending a few minutes deep in careful thought, IANTO weighed in with his two Credit's worth.
"Captain, I have detected that this device is definitely consuming power from the facility's main transmission line. This indicates that the device could be in its standby mode. All we need do is flip the right switch, so to speak. I believe that the small pillar has been designed to hold a specific Precursor object, presumably one serving as an activation key for this device. We should begin searching the surrounding area for anything that might conceivably be used in this manner."
DIGBY had found this one lodged in a shallow fissure near the island's largest subterranean pool, an area that had been thoroughly combed at least a dozen times during our search. Again, it was a case of being in precisely the right position at the right time. The object appears to be a manufactured crystal matrix of some kind; comprised of stacked tabular plates in a cubic configuration, roughly 200mm along each side. It emits an intense green glow, unsettlingly similar to kryptonite, raising immediate safety concerns for our human companions. Scanning revealed that the object is perfectly safe to handle, as it does not emit hazardous ionizing radiation on any frequency band. However, this revelation is completely at odds with the staggering amount of potential energy contained in this crystal.
In short, this object is the answer to an engineer's prayers. Your actual Holy Grail of energy storage. I'm not entirely certain how the Precursors were able to create such a compact energy source, or how many laws of physics were cheerfully swept aside in its making. This small cube has approximately the same energy density as ten of our advanced power-cells, providing twice the energy output of a standard uranium fission reactor. If this isn't mind-boggling enough for you, think of this cube as a decaton-range nuclear detonation, safely encapsulated within a block of crystal. That's basically what it is.
I found myself torn between wanting to use this crystal to activate the portal structure, or hanging onto it for use elsewhere. There's no telling how scarce these cubes are, and I'm not inclined to waste them simply to see what happens. For the time being, we should return to the Precursor cannon and finally make some progress on our primary mission.
At least we're now awake to the notion that we won't find these Precursor artifacts stacked neatly where they're needed. It's almost as if they were simply tossed aside during some sort of commotion, and there's a fair chance that some may have been displaced by seismic activity at some stage. Fortunately, these objects emit specific energy signatures that can be detected by our sensors, and they also glow rather brightly, making them easy to detect once you know what you're looking for. Of course, the abundance of bio-luminescent flora and fauna on Manannán complicates visual search methods considerably, unless you filter out everything outside an artifact's unique spectral emission signature. Once you have the knack of it, finding these items is a complete doddle.
We regrouped on the base platform of the Precursor cannon. After a thorough sensor sweep of the weapon, we determined that the gun fires a phased-plasma discharge, channelled through an ionized conduit generated in the atmosphere a few seconds before firing. The corona discharge seen at the gun's muzzle is visible throughout the entire firing cycle, indicating that the charged conduit has to maintain constant line-of-sight contact with a vessel until the plasma bolt reaches its target. This means that ships are most vulnerable to attack while following pre-calculated descent or ascent profiles. Furthermore, its effective range is limited to the upper reaches of the atmosphere. Considering the cannon's rapid traverse and elevation rates, there are precious few exploitable flaws in this weapon's design.
Hopefully, it won't come to that. A friendly natter with Sky Watcher should be all that's needed.
"Now, you're probably thinking that something this size would be a sluggish performer in the anti-aircraft stakes. Not so.
Within seconds of completion, the turret rotated through a full 360 degrees in only five seconds. At the same time, the cannon's barrel moved through its complete arc of motion thrice in the time it took the turret to complete a single revolution. Make no mistake; this turret is entirely capable of tracking and engaging a high-speed target. An approaching starship in high orbit would be easy meat, although an atmospheric fighter wouldn't last too much longer."
The recon probe drifted slowly out of the moon pool entrance, an insignificant speck of metal peering apprehensively into the darkness below. It hovered at 90 metres, sweeping its sensors through 360 degrees, scanning the whole area from top to bottom. The Bonesharks were gone, but not entirely. Two hundred and fifty metres away, a large shoal of Biters had moved in to feast on their remains, their guttural hyena laughter the only sound piercing an otherwise silent ocean.
I brought the probe in closer. In the gloom below, I spotted something that lay twisted among the boulders on the seafloor.
It was Binky.
The Reaper Leviathan had prevailed against the Bonesharks, but at a terrible cost. Huge chunks had been torn from his flanks, all four outer mandibles had been sheared away and his powerful flukes were now little more than tattered stumps. A thin haze of blood wept slowly from his gaping wounds, unaided by a mighty heart that had long ceased to beat.
My feelings were honestly conflicted as I gazed at Binky's ravaged corpse. Even though we have successfully avoided a suicidal confrontation with a large pack of Bonesharks and a Reaper, I wouldn't consider this any sort of victory, personal or otherwise. Binky was fully capable of tearing our ExoSuits to pieces all by himself, although we've always managed to part company in some clever fashion in the past. In my own way, I hold an abiding respect for Reapers, albeit a respect significantly bolstered by their sheer size and relentless ferocity. Binky was a magnificent and cunning foe, worthy of a far better end than this. A darksome knight of renown, laid low by a rabble of kerns and gallowglasses.
When we return to The Broch, I'll raise a farewell glass to his name.
All thoughts of melancholy must stand aside, at least for now. Our mission is of paramount importance; all other considerations are secondary. After completing a second full sensor sweep, I gave the command to begin our descent. As planned, all six ExoSuits slid noiselessly into the water. Fifty metres down, our grapple lines reached their utmost limits of extension, making it necessary to continue our descent in silent free-fall. As we drew level with the entrance to the moon pool, our grapples fired in unison and latched onto the doorway's massive lintel. Thus secured, the grappling lines retracted, drawing us inside the structure.
We wasted no time in shutting down the first force field blocking our path. However, the control pedestal would not release the Precursor key afterwards. I was a mite concerned about this development, since our progress through this complex could come to a screeching halt at any time for the want of a single key. Even so, we pressed onward. After determining that there were no immediate threats in this part of the facility, I split the squad into three pairs so that we could cover more ground during our search of the gun emplacement's labyrinthine corridors and colossal open spaces.
For all its awe-inspiring grandeur, there is a forlorn air about this place; overwhelming sensations of abandonment and an aching emptiness gnawing away at one's thoughts.
Even though it was created within the span of living memory, this weapon looks and feels incredibly ancient.
Right now, we have another one of those 'interesting' situations that we occasionally encounter. We're standing at the entrance of an open shaft that plunges 90 metres straight down. Since there's no actual platform that raises and lowers, it's not an actual gravitic elevator shaft as such, leastways not of the type that we are used to. Sensors have detected the presence of a polarised graviton beam in the shaft, so it's a reasonable assumption that this is an alien version of a standard gravity-lift. Not entirely unheard of, since Aurora had dozens of similar transport systems onboard. So, it's a familiar technology in a slightly different form. However, that's not the problem. Our current point of concern is that our ExoSuits may be too heavy to make it down in one piece. There's no way of telling how much mass this system was originally calibrated to handle.
You're probably thinking that we should use our suit's thrusters to slow the descent, just in case.
One question: What happens if the shaft's graviton control systems register the suit's deceleration as an attempt to ascend against a downward force? I don't know about you, but there's a mental picture of an ExoSuit slamming into either end of this shaft that I find a wee bit disturbing. There's only one way to find out, I guess. If all else fails, there's always the grapple system to fall back on.
No pun intended.
DIGBY stepped forward. "Captain, I believe that I should be the one to make the first drop. As Tactical Operations Officer, it is one of my core responsibilities to assess all mission environments beforehand and advise you on the most appropriate courses of action. Your reluctance to order crew members into any potentially dangerous situation is greatly appreciated, though somewhat counter-productive in this particular case. With your permission, Sir?"
I nodded. "Well, you've got me dead to rights there, DIGBY old man... As you say, it's in your job description. I'll not be stepping on your toes, mate. By all means, proceed at your own discretion."
"Very good, Sir. I shall be transmitting a telemetry stream during my descent. If anything goes wrong, you should be able to use this data to avoid meeting the same set of failure conditions."
"Mate, if anything does go wrong, I'll be the first one diving down that shaft. You won't prang."
"Thank you, Sir. I shall endeavour to avoid having you leap to my rescue." DIGBY grinned.
With a brief nod of farewell, DIGBY turned smartly about and stepped into the shaft without hesitation. He hung suspended in mid-air for a couple of seconds, his ExoSuit rotating slowly as its centre of mass shifted relative to the deck far below.
Suddenly, he disappeared.
"How's your trip down going so far, DIGBY old son?" I enquired cheerfully.
"Remarkably enjoyable, Sir. We must build something like this in The Broch... Purely for recreational purposes, of course! I can easily imagine myself spending a great deal of my spare time in a variable gravity chamber, assuming that we had one. Ah, the end of the ride approaches. Pity."
"Hmm... Sounds like it might be a fun side-project. After we've sorted things out down here. It uses off-the-shelf technology, so I don't see any reason why we can't rig one up. I could even justify it as a micro-gravity training system for any colonists wanting to sign on as Borealis' hull technicians, although SCUBA diving is also a fair simulation of working in a null-g environment."
Come off it, Selkirk. It's not as if you'll cop any Management flak for goofing off in your own time.
"Bugger it, we'll make one just for fun." I declared at last. "Just a gentle reminder folks... If there's a couple of jumpsuits on the deck outside that gravity chamber, kindly use the intercom first, okay?"
Five minutes later, we all stood assembled at the bottom of the gravity shaft. When no-one else was watching, Héloise favoured me with a particularly significant smile and a sly wink.
Apparently, she also feels that a null-gravity chamber in The Broch would be a splendid idea.
Outrageous woman.
Oddly enough, the final pedestal accepted a purple Precursor key without raising any objections. Considering that we were about to enter the cannon's actual control centre, I found myself anticipating some kind of vigorous response to this incursion. No ear-piercing alarms. No flashing strobe lights. No devastating ambush by a swarm of heavily-armed security drones. Absolutely nothing. Somewhat disappointingly, the shimmering green force field deactivated as easily as a deck-head light. DIGBY advanced into the vast chamber, Gauss cannon held at the ready. After a thorough search of the area, he declared it safe for the rest of us to enter. Once inside, we dismounted our ExoSuits and took a short meal break, mainly for the benefit of Enzo and Héloise.
While DIGBY and IANTO patrolled the area on foot, JUNO and I walked over to examine a large pylon in the chamber's centre. As the quiet conversation between our human companions became muted by distance, the subdued background hum of alien machinery grew perceptibly louder as we approached the device's central pillar. We stood silently for a while, bathed in its kryptonite glow.
"I've seen something like this before," I remarked. "In the Precursor facility underneath the Lava Castle. It's a holographic data terminal and projection system. JUNO, say how-do to Sky Watcher."
Even as I uttered his name, the Precursor's holographic avatar began to materialise above us.
"Warm seas, Father of Shells." Sky Watcher intoned gravely. "Why have you entered this place?"