Entry#6.1
Surface of Vestige, System FN-2011, Celes Sector
Syn had never fully appreciated how full of life Vestige was until now. Part of that was because Vestige didn't have life until some hours ago, the other part was that Syn had never seen this place at night before. He could not sleep so entranced he was at the sight all around him.
All of the flora was bio-luminescent to varying degrees. The trunks of trees glowed faintly while the leaves were relatively brilliant. The glow was not only present but alive. The light pulsed as if it followed the beating of a hidden heart. The grass was glowing as well, and it rippled and shimmered like the surface of a lake. In daylight none of these visuals were apparent save for the glowing roots, which looked like frozen lightning. Even the clouds had color and life to them, only in a kind of faint glitter. While it was all pretty to look at, it was not helping him to fall asleep.
It wasn't just the sight that was distracting, Syn had slowly become aware of a vibration, a sound, almost like a quiet chorus. It was almost imperceptible, but it was there. It was as if the planet was playing music. Or was it singing? Whatever it was it seemed to be synchronized to the visual spectacle in some way. It even seemed to affect the very air with a certain... static-like sensation that could be felt on the skin at times. Syn wondered if it had anything to do with that subspace heartbeat that could be heard over comms. They had some discussion about it, but they were unable to make sense of the phenomena.
Something was missing from the scenery though. As far as he could tell, there was no sign of fauna. No bug life either. The only animal Syn had seen was that eight legged creature he and Tax saw back in the cave, and it vanished before he could get close to it. This made no sense, an ecology depended on the symbiotic interactions of flora and fauna for continued survival. But now, besides Syn and Blathma, the only creature moving was Tax, currently executing the role of the night watch. The bright light of a replicated flashlight clashed with the colorful scenery.
(It should be noted that Syn failed to notice the birds earlier in the day.)
Blathma, meanwhile, was sound asleep on the opposite side of the camp. Perhaps not everyone was so easily enamored by beauty.
They, Oscar 19, appeared to be the greatest mystery in this strange picture. Why had the planet changed so drastically but they and their equipment had not? Maybe one day an answer would appear, but Syn and company would have to survive until then.
Syn rolled onto his back, sighed, and stared into the starry heavens. As he did so he caught a glimpse of what appeared to be several metallic reflections that formed a squiggly line. Those glints appeared to be moving across the sky. It took Syn a moment or two before to realized what he was looking at.
Oh! That must be the space elevator. Guess it's just drifting away now with no one to catch it.
Entry#6.2
Space Elevator Orbital Anchor, Vestige, System FN-2011
I wonder if anything is looking back, Delia wondered as she beheld Vestige through the visor of her EV suit. She hadn't gotten a good look at the night side of it before, so all of its colors and patterns was almost mesmerizing. Maybe she will get used to it. Then again, maybe she won't get used to it. She never could get used to extravehicular activity after all. She turned back to the hull of the anchor to add some finishing touches to one of the anchor's exterior radiators. As she did so she turned her mind's eye inward.
Incredible, and just yesterday it was an unadulterated wasteland Delia thought to herself as she watched colorful patterns dance across the surface of Vestige. Whatever happened, it seemed to have been a wonderful thing. A dead planet was now unmistakably alive to the chagrin of entropy. Of course, this all seemed too good to be true. There was something off about the picture, but she just couldn't figure out what it could be. Something, or someone had to be responsible for the change, but why? Was this someone's attempt to add to the universe? Or was someone planning something terrible? What if the planet was something terrible and she just didn't know it yet? And why was she not affected by the energy surge. Whatever the case may be, she could at least enjoy the view for now.
A glint in the corner of Delia's vision caught her attention, and she instinctively glanced at the almost one-hundred kilometers long cable that followed the anchor in its orbit to oblivion. It was one of several. If only there was something we could do with just one of those cables... and then she got an idea.
A few minutes later she was back in the anchor interior and out of her EV suit. She quickly searched for and found the exocomps, and proceeded to pitch her idea.
"I have an idea on how to break through the interference!"
Charlemagne was working on building an EPS relay, and Zoe was putting the finishing touches on a DIY impulse reactor. Both stopped mid-work to listen to what Delia had to say.
"We use that really big cable!" And she pointed out the visible window down the narrow corridor.
The two exocomps looked down the corridor, and then to each other, and back to Delia.
"Delia, Charlemagne and I were planning on cannibalizing that cable for raw materials."
"Well, could you not cannibalize the cable until we give my plan a try."
"Our plans may be put on hold, yes."
"Thank you. And, um, that exocomp's name is Charlemagne?"
*beep boop*
"What did it say?"
"HE said 'yes, why?'."
"Oh. Zoe, could you give him a vocal processor or something?"
Zoe reconfigured her hyperspanner.
"I will be able to. Note that I am capable of multitasking. You may fill us in on your plan while I work."
With that, Delia began to detail a plan to convert the hundred meter elevator cable into a hundred meter subspace transceiver. The details of which would be far too complicated for this author to write convincingly.
Entry#6.3
U.S.S. Strider, Celes Sector
Captain Draken had called a meeting with his senior officers to review the facts of their unexpected mission to FN-2011-04, or Vestige as he heard it was called. Today's second senior officer meeting will be a brief question and answer session. Draken could tell that some of his officers had thought that the meeting was rather unnecessary, so some brevity would probably be welcomed.
"Thank you all for coming here. This second meeting won't be long, we have only half an hour before we reach our destination and there are a few questions I want answered before then. Can anybody tell me more about this Materials Prospecting Division?"
Lt. Commander Gripen answered,
"Established in Starfleet's early years, the Materials Prospecting Division's mission was to evaluate and if necessary mine materials in extremely hazardous environments. Historically, MPD teams were deployed to acquire resources Starfleet badly needed, such as Dilithium crystals during the first war with the Klingons. At the time, the Federation's suppliers were routinely targeted by Klingon forces.
The Materials Prospecting maintained this role throughout the life of Starfleet. After the recent conflict with the Iconians, the division's role was expanded in light of the Federation's unprecedented need of raw materials in order to help fuel reconstruction efforts across our corner of the galaxy.
As part of this expanded initiative, Oscar 19 was deployed to TF-2011-04, or "Vestige" as their former team leader Vinu called it. They were to mine its reserves of duranium, tritanium, rubidium, and dentarium."
"What kind of equipment do they use?"
Lt. Commander Rafale consulted his PADD before answering, "Let's see... hand held mining tools, a mobile mining apparatus, a field refinery, a field smelter, and a space elevator. In short, all that is necessary for a fully functioning mining and refining operation."
"What about their team composition?"
Lieutenant Chengdu was the one to answer, "The teams are often comprised solely of engineers, with larger or more specialized teams including a science officer and even a tactical officer for high risk areas. All teams include an exocomp for each team member."
"What is Oscar 19's personnel composition?"
Commander Tomcat provided the answer, "Syn and Blathma are both engineers as well as their new team leader Lieutenant Delia. Their former leader, Lt. Commander Vinu, was a science officer."
"Get me their biographies at your first opportunity Commander. What do we know about this energy surge?"
Lieutenant Berkut answered with what she knew, "Not much. The surge was detected by Starfleet Intelligence seven hours ago. When they were unable to identify the cause of the anomaly they contacted us. I will be conducting long range scans and analysis in astrometrics as we approach the system. Hopefully I can learn something about what this surge was."
"I see. How long until we reach Vestige?"
Commander Tomcat offered an estimate, "About four hours."
"Understood. Now where is my mocha?"
"Right here." Said an Ensign Eagle who, if Draken hadn't known better, had just appeared next to his chair.
"Excellent."
As Draken enjoyed the icy beverage he suddenly felt that something was about to go wrong.
Entry#6.4
Odin Base, Unknown
Beautiful, isn't it?
The words appeared on the screen to the left, along with an image of the world that had replaced the desolate wasteland from before.
"It is quite a sight" said Adrar, "but as beautiful as it is, Vestige's resources are too valuable to leave untapped."
New words appeared on the monitor.
The more beautiful it became, the more useful it has become.
"Is that the way of our reality?"
Generally, yes.
The conversation was suddenly interrupted by a communicator chime. It was from Neva. Adrar answered it.
"What is it?"
"USS Strider is approaching the Vestige system and will arrive within the hour. Hugin is in place and is ready to intercept. They are just awaiting your confirmation order, sir."
It was not an ideal situation. Starfleet was certain to be more interested in the system once they lose one of their vessels. Not destroying the ship, however, meant that the operation could unravel far more quickly. Better to eliminate the problem before it realizes what's happening. At least it wasn't the Enterprise. Adrar got up from his chair, and began to walk towards the control room.
"Tell them to proceed" said Adrar as the door to his office closed behind him and Neva, "Do inform Viviane that she only has one shot at this."
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