Surveying and Gathering

[MagusKariusPrelune]

Originally posted by Van Helser

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'Emperor damnit! Don't touch that!' Clyde Markov yelled at Dominic Nestrazzi II. He was probably the stupidest kid Markov had ever met.

'Why not?' Dominic asked, bemused at why he wasn't allowed to lower the ramp onto the planet's surface.

'Come here,' Markov ordered. The child dutifully walked over to Markov, who was standing beside one of the portholes on the survey craft. 'Right, you see all those stars out there, don't you?' Dominic nodded. 'Notice how there are no clouds in the sky?' Again Dominic nodded. 'Notice how none of the dust out there is blowing about?' Another nod. 'That's all like that because there is no atmosphere out there. Do you know what that means?' This time Dominic shook his head. 'There is no air, no gas at all outside. If you had opened the door, we'd all be dead. Not quietly dead neither, we'd have all expanded like balloons and gone pop. Get it?' Dominic nodded more vigourously than he had before. 'Go and find Dorsin, and put your vacuum suit on.' The kid scampered off to find Dorsin, a savant that had been ordered to accompany Markov on this mission by Dominic Nestrazzi I, the kids father. Nestrazzi I was offering big bucks to Markov to bring back some nice decorations for his mansion, but Markov had to cart Nestrazzi's son around the galaxy and teach him about alien races. Marvellous.

Tech-Priest Ejerholm was already suited up, he'd detached his electro-flail, as his arm would not fit inside his adapted vacuum suit with it. His mechadendrites still swirled around him though.

'Should be interesting dig,' Ejerholm rasped; he really liked the works of the long dead Dorvastian empire, and this outpost should be hiding something worthwhile.

'Yeah,' Markov answered, 'odd place to find a trace of their civilisation though.' He was referring to the fact that this totally barren planet was in orbit around a pulsar. The incredibly small and incredibly dense star was a mere pinprick in the dark sky, no brighter than any of the other stars, despite them being light years away.

'It is odd, yes. We'll no doubt find some answers outside.' Ejerholm was a Xenarite, a member of a secretive sect that investigated alien technology. Markov had been working with the Xenarites almost as long as he'd been an Archeoxenan, they provided the ship for him, and he guided them to all the xeno-tech hoardes. It was a nice symbiotic lifestyle, that paid very well and satisfied his adventurous streak.

Dominic returned, in a vacuum suit that was too big for him. The savant Dorsin also appeared, in a suit that was too small for his bulbous proportions. Dorsin was as sour faced as he was fat, and hadn't gelled with anyone. Especially Dominic. Markov wasn't sure who Dorsin was supposed to be keeping an eye on; him or that little brat.

'OK Dominic,' Markov began as he put on his helmet, 'press that button behind you, uh hu that's it. You've closed the airlock door now. Right now press that button you wanted to press earlier.' Dominic didn't need much prompting. There was a hiss of escaping gas and the ramp descended onto the orange dusty ground. Markov lead them towards a bizarrely preserved structure.

'No air, no wind, no rain, no bacteria, no nothing,' Markov informed Dorsin, 'that's how the complex is still standing. If you were wondering...' Dorsin feined that he knew it all, Markov smirked. 'Now, Dorsin, you go with Ejerholm, he is going to survey the site, Dominic, you come with me. We're going to do some gathering.'

'Of what?' Dominic asked.

'Good question,' Markov replied, 'you never know what little trinkets you turn up in a place like this.'

[MagusKariusPrelune]

Originally posted by Van Helser

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Ejerholm set up a tripod, topped with a complex array of laser projectors and ranging equipment, to take measurements of the Dorvastian outpost. The techpriest was always keen to learn more about the constructions of the once great civilisation; he had never quite found out how they built their complexes as all were lacking in foundations. He'd theorised about anti-gravitic engines that kept the structures hovering above the surface, or magnetic repulsion circuits, but so far hadn't found evidence of either. Like all the others, this building was sunk into the ground a few inches, nothing like as deep as a comparable Imperial building would be. A very interesting race.

Markov lead Dominic into the structure. It was dark, and there were no signs of lights in the ceilings or walls. Smooth grey walls lead them onwards into the darkness.

'What was this place?' Dominic asked, wide eyed.

'Probably a listening post, or a mining complex,' Markov answered as he swung his torch across the walls, illuminating nothing. 'Might even have been some kind of observatory, to get a good look at that pulsar. We'll know more once we find some equipment.'

They kept going for a few minutes before they were greeted by a large metal door. Markov tried forcing it, but it wasn't budging. He unclipped a compact laser cutter from his belt, and pulled down his suit's anti-glare visor. He pulled Dominic's down for him too. 'Don't look at the light when I start this up; you'll go blind very quickly if you do.' Markov turned back to the door and thumbed the activation rune. A short blue beam erupted out of his tool, and he began cutting a hole in the door.

'Why do you use all this equipment?' Dorsin asked Ejerholm, his vid-recorder taking in all the Tech-priest's actions.

'We must learn everything we can from each site we visit,' Ejerholm rasped through bionic vocal cords. 'We have a large database of dozens of Dorvastian sites. We take in all that we can, so that we do not need to revisit sites of little consequence and can spend our time investigating new areas of interest.' Dorsin seemed happy with the Tech-priest's answer and logged it.

A man sized chunk of metal fell out of the door, and a blast of air rushed out into the vacuum. Markov lead Dominic through. Their torchlights played across large instruments and long dead consoles. 'Interesting...' Markov whispered to himself as he toured the room. Something caught his eye. An array of instruments were enclosed in a concave bubble of what looked like plexi-glass in the ceiling. The bright metal antennas were pointing into the sky. Markov positioned himself below them and took in what they were concentrating on. The pulsar. He opened a vox-line to Ejerholm. 'We've found an observatory. Plenty of nice equipment in here.'

'Excellent,' Ejerholm replied. 'Be with you shortly.'