Project New Dawn

[Frostpfote]

Project New Dawn

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Act 2: An endless journey

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Derelict (2/3)

"Engage reverse thrust, bring the ship to a halt, Aurora." Captain Page commands with a crystal clear voice, her attention obviously captivated by the mysterious view. She steps towards the one of the large, reinforced glass windows as if it allows her to study the nomad vessel more easily.

Derelict Nomad vessel

The New Dawn slows down rather quickly, given the intensity of the situation. Each available sensor array is now being pointed directly towards the dormant Nomad hull. "Captain, its structure seems to be damaged. Several large impacts may have caused it to lose control and crash into the asteroid. Utmost caution is advised. I have target locked it with PDCs and one mortar, should it move I can neutrali-".

Aurora's monologue gets paused by Captain Page raising her fingers, grabbing the attention of both Aurora and the surrounding staff. "Maintain target lock, turn our bow towards it and bring us closer using the aft thrusters. Direct the tractor beam towards the asteroid and give it a little nudge, I don't want it to obstruct our course."

The surrounding crewmembers are unsure about the Captain's orders, but only one brings up the courage to voice any concern. "Captain, as head of R&D I have to address what everyone is thinking. Why are we not sending out drones to gather samples? Bringing this ship within our defense perimeter leaves us open to unnecessary risks."

The New Dawn begins to turn towards its target, slowly moving towards it. The captain turns only her head towards the researcher, nodding in agreement. "Your concerns are justified. However, this is what appears to be a nearly fully functional Nomad entity which might very well still wake from its slumber if our drones further tamper with its tissue. I want to bring it to into the main incineration chamber so we have a failsave in case any disturbance wakes it back up."

The scientist takes a moment to reflect on the answer he was given, eventually nods and returns back to the laboratories with his colleagues to prepare an array of tests to be performed on the vessel upon it being safely secured within the autoclave. Aurora opens the sizable airlock that connects the autoclave to the emptiness of space. Usually this would be used if a piece of debris is deemed too large to be dismantled and needs to be incinerated in its entirety.

Video feeds of the inside of the autoclave are established so the Captain and scientists can observe the Nomad vessel as it is slowly being 'eaten' by the New Dawn. Drones had made their way inside the cylindrical shaped chamber already, prepared to take tissue samples. Aurora eventually brings the ship to a hold once the derelict vessel has reached the desired position, before beginning to seal the airlock behind it. Tension aboard the bridge is almost palpable as it was the first time many of them got to see a warform from such a close distance.

A audible metallic locking sound indicated that the airlock had sealed successfully, fully encasing the target. Upon the captain's command dozens of drones begin to latch onto the vessel to see if it would cause any kind of reaction. While still displaying unusually high values across all metrics, no other sign of activity can be detected, causing the procedure to continue.

Nothing happens at first as the drones begin to both drill and cut into the Nomadic tissue, but after around twenty seconds a glow begins to emit from the core of the vessel, increasing in brightness every couple of seconds. Alarms begin to sound as the drones begin to gradually malfunction. The video displays soon cut out as well, leaving only sensor arrays to document what is actually happening within the autoclave. Radiation levels continue to rise, reaching ever more dangerous levels with each passing second. "Aurora, start decontamination protocol immediately!"

Even before the order was actually given, Aurora had begun to flood the chamber with a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen to execute this protocol by herself. One by one each sensor that managed to survive the initial wave of radiation begins to display error messages or faulty readings. Evacuation alarms for surrounding compartments are triggered and off-shift crew is called to the bridge to help with damage assessment. However, the worst was still to happen. An enormous impact shakes the entire ship from bow to aft, propelling it backwards several clicks before Aurora managed to stabilize the ship using all available thrusters that survived the explosion.

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