Time for TOTAL COPOUT OPTION: TIMESKIP!

Saber Squad, Site Gamma

The hunt for the reason this planet is so damn interesting has, after several gruelling hours of combat through the undercity, lead you to Site Gamma. Slap bang under the middle of the city. It took ten minutes for the lift to reach the top of the drilling rig, and another ten to get down, even with CD-V5 trying to rig the system to go faster. No sign of the supposed enemy commando group.

Work was definitely continued off the record, judging by the signs of activity down here.

As the lift approaches the bottom of the drilling rig, the rock wall on one side of the cylindrical shaft gives way to... a vast chasm, perhaps two or three kilometers in diameter. The miners - nowhere to be seen, of course - appear to have stopped the rig dead in its tracks along one edge of the void, carving out a small ledge which is covered in surveying gear. Floodlights project harsh white beams into the darkness, gently illuminating the far side of the cavern. Laser rangefinders are still set up, measuring the sheer size of the space.

At first, the space seems empty, but as you explore and rummage through the surveying kit and whatever else was left, you start to see it. Lurking at the corners of your sight, at first; gone the moment you snap to face it. Then it slowly becomes more and more visible, flickering and shimmering in the scattered light of the floodlights, half-registering on the rangefinders. Some kind of structure or ship, a huge... thing, squat and round, black as night, perhaps half the size of the Ulysses, and intricately... carved? Curves and coils wander across the structure, making it look distinctly organic.

Well, ♥♥♥♥. That can't be good.

Now what?

I'm not exactly sure what to say. Or do, for that matter. Damn.

EDIT :
Wait, I guess.

Nice timing. I had a draft I was going to finish up and post in a few hours. Might as well do it now.

There's a chunk of exposition half way through I've spoilered out because it's longwinded and not immediately relevant, but I hope it sheds a little more light on how the Alliance operates for those of you curious about that, as well as other events in Alliance history.

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Saber Squad

The structure is quite a distance away, as is the floor of the cavern. It doesn't look like there's any way to get across to it, much less find an entrance.

By some miracle, you're able to get through to Command.

Mason » "Command, do you copy?"

Command » "The line is a little off, but we read you. Sitrep?"

Mason » "We've located a probable artifact at Site Gamma. All the other sites were clear."

Command » "...Gamma? Copy that."

Intel » "The video feeds from your helmetcams are coming up with static, Saber. What are we looking at here?"

Mason » "Well it's uhh... big and black, all organic 'n' shiny, kinda like a bigass beetle the size of a building. But not beetle-shaped."

Intel » "Hang five... crossreferencing... can you see anything that looks like a propulsion system?"

Mason » "No. It's hard to make out any detail, the whole thing looks kinda fuzzy and grainy, like... static. We couldn't see it when we first came down, but it sorta... started showing itself to us? We started seeing it on the site equipment at first. All the rangefinders were acting weird when we got down here."

Intel » "Hmmm. Judging by your reports and what we were able to extract from the Port Tower, the overall appearance sounds similar to the FTL originator artifact from Titan, but there's nothing in the original Titan reports about a... hang on. Let me check one of the other Sol Artifact reports... right, here we are. A related artifact-structure from Callisto -- the same Callisto Installation that lead to the deployment of the Gate System that we use for interplanetary/intrasystem FTL to avoid fitting full drives on every civilian ship from here to the Core -- had what the techs called a 'Visual Interference Field'. The VIF rendered the--"

Command » "This is all very fascinating but can we cut to the chase, Intel? What are we dealing with here?"

Intel » "Okay, let me put this in dummy terms. It hacks your brain. It even works on the cyberbrains used by military androids and cyborg troopers. Basically, it edits itself out of your field of view. In realtime. It can even make you see things that aren't actually there, too. Prolonged exposure to the effect builds up an immunity, which can be accelerated if something already hints at the presence of the device, such as the anomalies you were seeing on the site equipment. This clued you in to the fact it was there, and you subconciously developed countermeasures much faster... although judging from Saber's statement the field is still partially effective, so it may be working with another kind of stealth system. The system on Callisto was badly damaged, but it sounds like this one might be intact. Are you sure you're dealing with a structure?"

Mason » "If we ain't it's one funky-ass ship, sir."

Command » "We can't rule out an unconventional propulsion system since what we presume were the main engines of the Titan wreckage were inoperable. Whatever it is, we need that thing secure. If it's as big as you say, we won't be able to move it without tearing down half the city and calling in a Planetary Excavation Vessel, so we need to move fast if we want to secure it. Comms, fire up the satellite and wire it to the teleconference room, we need to put out a call for additional reinforcements. I want a line to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the top five members of the Alliance Senate. Mason, you and your squad sit tight. We'll have new orders for you shortly."

Commence the intolerability of waiting. Fortunately, someone appears to have left a pack of cards at the site, so you can at least entertain yourself.
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FTL Comm Session, Ulysses Teleconference Room



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Saber Squad

There's another call, midway through CD dealing another set of hands. Good thing there's nothing important to bet with down here with the way Niko is playing...

Command » "Saber, listen up. The Alliance Navy, Army, and Marines are mobilizing as many assets as they can without drawing attention from Outsiders or the Senate, and one of the top-ranking Senators has his people looking into the situation with the Bureau and the Administrator to see how far the news of this installation got. The Spartans and Deltas will be taking over the security detail, they should be there in about half an hour. Less if you send the lift up right now. Once they're there, I want you back to the starport on the double. I think it's about time someone tapped your potential, and I have a target in mind. I'll brief you in person. Command out."

You have a while to discuss the situation between yourselves before your replacements arrive. I'll update in the next few days, but until then you are free to interact with each other as you please, rather than making a single simple action post each. Just remember you weren't privy to the meeting itself; if it's not mentioned outside the spoiler, you're not aware of it in-character.

"Well this has been pretty painless so far, although my trigger fingers getting itchy... Someone send that lift up and keep you're wits about you, knowing my luck when it comes down it'll be crawling with those xeno creeps."
Marvelous work so far, absolutely marvelous, I wish I had the time to put half as much time and thought to put into my RtDs, because this is turning out brilliant!

I liked reading the bit inside the spoiler.

Take a look around for any vehicles.