"And I'll keep an eye on the video feed from here, looking for anything that looks like an octopus," Charles says, thinking that maybe he should learn to pilot things at some point.
Nissa Pilots the Starfish to a location not far from what the Thin Spot guys claim is Atlantis. The craft is closer to the crevice this time. Nissa zooms out to rejoin Zellgato and Kai in the mechas, slipping through the walls of Kai's mecha.
Big Red and Blue One swim off of the crevice and sink from the view of the Starfish's large tourist friendly windows.
Theo can grab onto a mecha as it sinks if he wants. I'm sure that's more than a human body could handle, but he's a godling.
As you descend, you begin to see the faint glow Theo described. There is an orb of dim light surrounding something. As unlikely as it may seem, Theo described that something as a ship. The orb grows in size as you drop.
This is an ocean much more full of life than any Zellgato has seen before. The mecha sensors are showing schools of fish. If he had the marine biology program active, the screen would identify species by name that in Zellgato's world died when the oceans turned toxic. Giant floating kelp farms on World XII work to cool and detoxify the water, and also reduce the algae blooms. None of that is necessary here. An analysis of the water would show lower levels of acidity than were present in the 1990s on Z's world. Only dreamers think Earth XII could be like this by 2219 and that is if governments that are left can get it together.
Kai guides Blue One towards the ship, BINAH already turned off. As a result, Nissa's emotions are very apparent to Kai, whatever they are.
At the same time, Legion zooms around with its newly-fitted camera, scanning the crevasse bottom, the ship and anything else it can get in range.
As the mechas descend, anyone with any level of self-awareness notices a voice whispering in their heads ...
"...nawara nagi banoo atalas nawara nagi banoo atalas nawara nagi banoo atalas nawara nagi banoo atalas nawara nagi banoo atalas ..."
It gets louder as you get closer to the ship.
"...nawara nagi banoo atalas nawara nagi banoo atalas nawara nagi banoo atalas nawara nagi banoo atalas nawara nagi banoo atalas ..."
You can see the ship now. It's surrounded by some kind of glowing field. The ship does not look like anything from Earth, but it does look like it was made for the humanoid frame. The size of the cockpit makes sense for a human, not much different than a jet fighter's cockpit. Through the water and the field you cannot see if anyone is inside the cockpit.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Over the comm link, Theo asks, "You guys hear that chanting? I think it's coming from the ship! 'Mecca lecca hi, mecca hiney ho!'"
The godling can't see anyone in the 'cockpit'.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Well. I don't like that. We don't have that language. Do you?" Theo's joke going over his head completely, assuming he is instead trying to respond.
"it probably only responds to mental responses, not our comms though Theo. It hasn't shot us yet... but it might be worried we're going to shoot it."
"I have been hearing it since the first time we got here. It keeps repeating the same phrase, almost like... an automated distress beacon."
Kai tries to think towards the ship, not with words but with focus. You have my attention. I am here.
Kai cannot identify the language, but it is a language and one could be made by a humanoid. Nothing about the glow or the telepathic message changes to indicate it has detected Kai's thoughts.
The mechas are close enough to see the ship clearly now, and it is a ship of some sort. It has propellers that look like they were designed to be used underwater. It has a sleek, fluid shape. It's red, which is kind of flashy and not exactly camouflage under the ocean.
It's surrounded by a glowing field that has been there so long dirt has begun to pile up around it at the base.
There is no indication that the ship or anyone in it is responding to your approach.
Nissa is a bit nervous, but she came here for a reason—to find out if those aboard are friend or foe.
“Kai… I can pass though the hull if you can get close enough. But I wanna know what to expect. Friend? Foe? Dead bodies? Do these creatures breathe different air? Is there air in there at all?
“Anything you or Legion can glean might help. Or if you don’t think I should go in… y’know, I want to hear your thoughts before I take any crazy risks.”
"Is that a fricking spaceship?" asks Mackie's voice through the comms. He's yelling with excitement at the images the mechas are sharing.
“Seems that way,” Nissa replies. “Not to get your hopes up for nothing, but I’m really hoping they’re in cryogenic sleep! Or any state that’s, y’know… like, alive.” She awkwardly trails off with, “There a Life-Reading butting on this control panel? That’d be a time saver.”
Kai looks pained at Nissa's questions. "It's... really hard to tell. I can't feel anything, so I doubt that there's anyone alive in there. However, that does not rule out deep cryogenic sleep, emotions so different from ours that they just don't register with me, or automated defense systems."
Legion starts scanning the ship, getting as close as possible, while Kai also maneuvers Blue One closer.
The shimmering of the field seems to be throwing off everyone's perception. Legion can't see inside the cockpit, but it does think that this craft was designed for water not flight. It's as advanced as any spaceship, but it's more likely a highly advanced submersible. The field around it seems to inhibit any scans and it may explain some of the perception issues.
"Difficult to discern inside, but I think this is not a spaceship. Seems designed for water. And Nissa, I don't know if it will be safe for you to pass through that field. It's blocking our scans." Kai updates the rest with the non-results of the investigation.
From the comm system, Theo interrupts, "I'm going to attempt to get closer, maybe see if I can interact with the field." The godling swims as close to the field as he can without touching it.
The field is constant. It does not change its size or shape or somehow engulf Theo. The ship within does not move. The water within the field doesn't seem to move either. In fact, there's a fish inside of the field that isn't moving. It isn't dead. It's just frozen there, but not in ice ... it doesn't seem that the field is full of ice. Theo doesn't recognize the species.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"I'm willing to 'fathom' a guess, and say we're dealing with some type of temporal status. It looks like nothing's been moving in the field for a long, long time", Theo punned.
Nissa nods at Kai’s suggestion, “Right,” and when Theo makes his guess, her fear intensifies. “Riiight. Oh. S~@*, Theo—that’s exactly what.” She says to Charles, “Can ya get a good look at that ancient fish, Charles? What era we talking?”
She then says to no one in particular, “I always believed if time travel were possible, someone would’ve done it by now. Well, we’re looking at it then. If the image is still, they’re traveling from past to future. Maybe we can throw something at the field. Like, see if it passes through unaffected, or gets caught in its temporal wake—a term I just made up, in case it sounds smart.”
"In that case, definitely not a good idea to pass through the shield."
Charles studies the video feed carefully, paying particular attention to the fish (since he's kind of hopeless on the tech part).
"It looks like a lanternfish, but I can't find an exact match for the type," Charles reports to the others. "Think it's from another alternate world?"
Commenting, "Careful, Lantern fish is rather apropos-it lures things with shiny traps right? I love your PBS shows." while piloting closer to Theo. "Time to try this connection out. Zellgato attempts to Microlab scan the creature down to the minute detail; Ignoring what type it is and rather focusing on its current state.
Trying best he can with the interference of deep ocean and..timey whimy bs. [
"Historically, in my experience, aliens, as well as "suddenly coming from the deep below the surface" entities has NOT been a healthy experience for me. Hoping you lot and this place has better luck."
What, if anything I get from this is up to the GM; checks and such
"Well.. I've got no clue on it, Thinking we can't do anything with it from the outside.. and not sure if we could get in or get out. Should we toss a rock in? See if it goes.?"
Hell to the yes.
“Yes to the rock.”
Zellgato will look for a moderate sized rock-bigger than the fish; but not big enough to look like a weapon.
"What toes the T-rad scanner say, Zellgato?" The comment about lantern fish unnerves Kai, who starts scanning around and away from the alien submersible.
Zellgato throws a rock at the field. It flies normally until it touches the field and then it just kind of stops as if it hit mud and then falls away. It doesn't deflect off of the field or cause sparks. It just stops and drops.
Zellgato throws a rock at the field. It flies normally until it touches the field and then it just kind of stops as if it hit mud and then falls away. It doesn't deflect off of the field or cause sparks. It just stops and drops.
"....I totally forgot about that." while looking lamentingly at the fallen rock. Zellgato tries the T-Rad
"Hm, this is interesting. The field seems to absorb kinetic energy. Would also explain why the fish is not moving. And hey, there's someone inside... shaped like a person, at least. Dark haired. And did you see the holes in the back of the ship? I wonder if they're part of the design or not."
Kai points out a couple of fresh discoveries to the others.
Legion gets a shot of the troubled area and zooms in. Looks a lot like bullet holes.
The T-Rad detector shows a pure white screen. It might seem at first like it's malfunctioning, but playing with it a bit reveals that the ship is giving off a significant amount of TD-Radiation. Adjusting it to block out some of the radiation and showing only areas producing one channer of TD-Radiation or more, Zellgato finds that the radiation is coming from near the front of the vehicle.
If Zellgato relays the details of the scans, Kai will know that this is about as much TD-Radiation as is produced when the Venture Team used Dr. Moore's 'Head Cannon' to open gates to the Shuffle before. This is Transdimensional Gate levels of radiation coming off here.
"Oh wow, that much? That's... TD-gate levels of radiation. A shame that Verve stayed behind in Boston, we could have used her abilities to lift this entire ship out of the crevasse and study it better. We'll have to find some other method."
"...You all have someone who can come down to the bottom of the ocean and lift an alien ship? That's a thing...... I wonder if we could shove a rock, or flat metal under it and lift it with the mechs to the starfish area.
"That is one option, trying to lift it with the mechas."
"So what about the other thing? Think it's related somehow? Maybe they were fighting or whoever's in this was chasing it? Or maybe it's a gate mechanism of some kind?"
"Nazi Vs Aliens? Was that a thing in y... the history?"
Nissa asks, “Should we try lifting the red ship now, then? Or check the bell before we make that move?
“The mechs swim well, but I’d hate to see our heavy lifting disrupted by a Nazi octopus… which for all we know could be a machine, and that bell thing could be it in its dormant state.”
If Kai wants to try any maneuvers (such as lifting), Nissa will navigate like the Navi she appears to be!
"Seems like checking is safer. That said; shame we dont have cordage thats long enough for the other ships to help yoink it. So.... do we throw a rock at the bell too? Or do we have enother plan for that one?
Kai follows Big Blue, initiating another scan once they're in the proximity of the bell.