Captain's Log 03 - Landing Party

[universal_charm]

Who: Jim Kirk & Anyone Who Wants to Come On an Expedition
Broadcast:No
Action: Yes - On the moon, in the Terraformers
When: Sometime this week

Tests have been run, data has been gathered, packaged, looked over, highlighted with all sorts of colored sharpies. There is only so much the data can prove. What's needed now is an actual investigation, getting the final clue to a puzzle that, Kirk thought, they were running very short of time on.

Which was how he ended up down on the surface of the toxic moon, in front of the nearest terraformer.

Time to go find some answers.

<sub>[ ooc: Since I didn't want to flood the comm, it can be assumed that Kirk announced he would be going to explore the terraformers and asked if anyone wanted to come and form an expedition party. So, if you want to come, feel free to jump in.

Also feel free to start your own side threads. I will put up some sections, but feel free to start your own as the group explores. The ultimate goal is just to gather information (but this is a Jim Kirk Expedition (TM), so something may very well go wrong!), so have fun!)

If you need help starting things or want a refresher, here is the original mod post. ]</sub>

Comments

[universal_charm]

Well, hopefully they won't be doing that here. You never knew when Jim Kirk was in charge of an expedition, but one can hope.

"Let's save that for plan C," Kirk chuckled right next to her. "Even assuming that these things are meant to run with minimal human oversight, they are machines. They would need to be maintained, so there has to be a way to get inside of them without damaging them. Even if they haven't not been touched in years, the actual entrances should have some sort of manual override for safety."

Or at least one would assume.

"Once everyone has checked their gear and rested up, we'll head in. This thing looks like it'll take a minimum of several hours to explore."

[firstrebel]

Hera nods, looking up at the monstrous thing critically. "They didn't give us any entrance codes or anything, did they? Whatever it is should just be a manual entrance."

Honestly, it's a weird day when a plan Hera is involved with doesn't go pear-shaped somehow, so they're in good company.

[universal_charm]

"Not that I can recall, but they might not even know them," he shrugged, not really bothered by the minor setback. He considered the expanse they had been left in front of and shrugged, looking to Hera.

"Well, let's take a closer look, see if we can find seems or an input panel. That'll be where the door is."

[firstrebel]

"Sounds good."

She gives him a faint smile as they approach, and she reaches out a hand to run it over the smooth metal surface.

"I still can't quite figure out what they intended to do with this," she says conversationally.

[universal_charm]

"You've never seen a terra former before?" he asked her curiously as he searched his own side.

[firstrebel]

"I have - from a distance. The Empire uses them, sometimes. Not for good purposes, usually."

Hera makes a slight face at that.

[universal_charm]

"Well, I think this one was probably meant for a good purpose. But you know what they say about the best intentions," he said, grinning when he found what looked like an entry pad. That sort of thing on the outside usually meant a door, and he could see the seams for it too.

"I think I've found it, Hera!" he waved her over. "Let's see if this will respond..." he prodded the entry pad.

[firstrebel]

Hera looks over the entry pad and frowns at it faintly. "You know, whoever put this here had to have made a big investment. Do you think they just... took the loss and moved on?"

[universal_charm]

"It's possible. Obi-Wan told me that he had discovered documents that suggested the corporation who backed this let it fail, but I didn't see those documents for myself." So it was him repeating what he remembering Obi-Wan saying. Not that he thought Obi-Wan would lie either, but he felt the disclaimer was important.

"It seems like a huge loss to take. These things aren't cheap. But if they're willing to let it fail... I don't like to think about how they planned to make up the loss investment."

[firstrebel]

Hera frowns, contemplating the structure before them, and Kirk's words. "Letting it fail and taking the loss would put most businesses under in a heartbeat," she agrees. "Even a huge conglomerate with the backing of a wealthy government would need to do something pretty drastic to recoup the loss."

[universal_charm]

"Most," he repeated the optimal word. "But you're right. The loss of this type of machine, of a colony world, is not something easy to recover from - and I don't like to think of what they had in their back pocket that they could." He frowned softly. "But that's assuming this wasn't just an accident, which it might very well be. We won't know until we get in there and see for ourselves."