The further down the group went into the facility, the more they began to find. Compared to the ground floor and above it seemed like a war zone had gone through the lower levels. Few blasts marks and several more shell casings as they made their way lower… Yet still there were no bodies, nothing that indicated who was fighting who as they made their way down. Rick, Sari and Christy were searching the first underground level, while Delta, Roku and Keesa continued on to the level below via the emergency staircase. On the level Rick's team was on, they had found what looked like a mess hall, and further in some what appeared to be abandoned laboratories, and living quarters. The few laboratories that they discovered didn't have much, some equipment were missing, others were damaged or destroyed. Rick was walking down the hallway, Sari walked up behind him while he was taking a scan. "It looks like three of the labs on this level were meant for some form of cybernetic or tech research, while the few down below were meant more for biological research. Roku contacted and said several of the containers that were broken held traces of biological chemicals, and traces of what I believe is referred to as Formaldehyde." Rick looked up at her with a puzzled look, " Formaldehyde… A rather toxic chemical base, but utilized in a number of things." "Yes I believe Delta started off with things like disinfectants, tiles, and a number of other things. I believe it's still used in some places as a means to store organic samples." Sari would respond as she looked back down to her tricorder, "Meanwhile the ones here have different metals and components that suggest the experiments of technology, but what kind is hard to say. Though I did find something interesting."
She offered her tricorder to Rick, showing a strange element that the tricorder recorded. "Now that is strange…" Rick would comment as the element read as Unknown on the tricorder. "Have you taken any samples to take back to Tempest?" "Some, but we may be able to get more from the planet." The response made Rick look away from the tricorder, to give another confused look at his science officer. "I checked in with Commander Williams along with Lieutenant Te'jar from Beta team, apparently this planet has some unknown ore mineral that is registering as unknown to scans. I asked if she can get a sample to be analyzed." Sari would explain as Rick gave her back the tricorder.
"Any indication as to what the mineral could be?" "From what Hana tells me, their scans picked up some sort of radiation from it, possibly something similar to Uranium, or even Dilithium. Whatever it is, it's not something we've found before on records." Rick would nod to Sari's explanation as they continued walking down the corridor. "What about our records from our previous life?" "I asked Diane, she couldn't find any references." Sari then looked into a room they were approaching, opening the door they would find another empty lab, with several pieces of equipment destroyed. Rick couldn't help but let out an annoyed sigh as he took a scan with his tricorder. "Are you ok?" He'd hear Sari ask, and glanced over to her for a moment. "Yeah… No… Something doesn't feel right. Everything we've seen so far has similarities to equipment that may have been used nearly four hundred years ago, but we've found nothing that could suggest that this place was occupied by people of earth, or some sort of civilization similar… And if there was a civilization that was similar to humans in the Twenty First Century, then why are there not more ruins?" Rick would ask as he closed his tricorder and began to pace back and forth in the room for a moment. "A power source that is unidentifiable, minerals we have no idea what they are or if they are indigenous to this particular planet…" Sari would nod to her Captain's words while thinking to herself of possibilities. "If this was a simple outpost, it stands to reason that there would be some sign as to where they originally came from, or who they were." "All we have is small pieces of a puzzle that may or may not be true. All we know is that someone who possibly has a similar language to humans, who used kinetic weapons with bullet casing similar to that of Humans from Four Hundred years ago, built this… Outpost or bunker, for possible scientific research, and had one hell of a firefight with who knows who, or what… And have taken or destroyed as much equipment as they could, to keep us from finding out."
"Let's not forget, Tricorder scans detect that there are multiple lower levels… There may be something down below for us to find, Rick." Sari would say as they took one last look in the room they had just entered when Christy was heard walking back to them. "Captain." She'd call out, causing Rick to step out of the room right as Christy was coming near the doorway. "Sir it seems this place loops around back to the staircases and the elevators. So far I haven't found anything that suggests a generator room." "Probably won't find it on any of these first two levels… If there is one, I would assume it's down in the levels far below." Rick would respond before tapping his combadge. "Venier to Keesa." "Kessa here sir." "Lieutenant, how far are you with searching the Second level?" Rick would ask as he motioned for the other two to follow him, and began to walk towards the nearest staircase. "We've just finished, found a few labs, and what looks like an armory with empty weapon racks." Keesa would reply. "Alright, start making your way to the next level below. We'll jump ahead and head down to level Four." "Aye sir." Soon as the comm signal cut, they entered the stairwell and started to make their way down as Christy commented, "Would be great if the elevators were working." which had Sari chuckling when she turned her gaze back to the Ensign, "I think what I'd like more is more evidence of what happened here. Bodies, tech, a database to access." She'd say as they would descend to the lower levels.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Samuel Rogers and his team were scanning ahead as they were continuing their journey to the life signs that Tempest had picked up earlier. As they were walking, Samuel turned to one of the Ensigns with him, a young Bolian named Idzen Asozla, and addressed him. "Ensign, are you sure we're going the right way?" "Yes sir, this was where Commander Williams said the Life Signs were." "I think once we get over this hill we should be able to get a view." Methax, a Telaxian Lieutenant JG said as Samuel looked over to him before motioning for the group to continue moving. "This is a little exciting don't you think?" Methax asks Idzen as they walk, "Unknown planet, with unknown life. Have to wonder what sort of life forms we may encounter, something humanoid? Or maybe something like the Insectoids from the Xindi?" "Well aren't you Excited, sir." "Oh nonsense, and don't start with that Sir. Come on I was only promoted last week, I was an Ensign just as you." The two would say to one another as a small laugh came from the younger woman with them. "Forgive Idzen, Methax, but he lost his chance at a promotion two weeks ago." Ensign Saybi Prel would say as she walked ahead of the two. "Oh? I'm sorry, you must have been looking forward to that very much." Methax said as the young Bolian would step ahead of him, "It's fine, my own stupidity I guess." As he spoke, their tricorders began to beep when they came to the top of the hill. "Picking up something… Structures and more life signs." "Why didn't we see them before?" Samuel would ask as he looked back at the ensign. "The ground sir. That strange mineral that the Captain's team and the ship found, it's giving the Tricorders a hard time to adjust."
As they began to step to the crest of the hill, the trees parted just enough for them to see the buildings they had spotted. The buildings were all scattered in a way that suggested a large town, and more than that, the buildings were next to something Samuel never thought he would see. A Pyramid, similar to the one found on Earth… "Ensigns… What does your tricorders tell you?" Idzen and Saybi would begin their scans as Saybi would speak first, "The Power source we detected seems to be coming from that town… I can't localize it completely but, a few of the buildings for sure, and… That pyramid thing there." "That's not all…" Idzen would speak as he glanced down to his tricorder. "We'll have to get closer but… I'm reading Human life signs." Samuel turned to Idzen, a look of confusion was on his face as he took his tricorder out to do his own scan, "Methax?" "Confirmed on mine… Tricorder appears to be functioning fine." The Telaxian would say as Samuel gave a nod, "Same…" He'd then tap his combadge, knowing that this was something they would have to report in. "Lieutenant Rogers to the Captain." A few seconds later he'd hear a response, "Venier here." "Sir, my team is close to the life signs and the power source that the Tempest picked up… And I think you should see this." "Can't right now… We've made our own little discovery here… What have you found?"
"Well sir…A pyramid. Looks about Two hundred, maybe Three hundred meters high, reminds me of the ones at Egypt… And our Tricorders are picking up Human life signs…" He'd say as there was a moment of pause from Rick's side of the comms. "Lieutenant, you said a Pyramid?" He'd finally respond after a minute as Samuel responds. "Yes sir." Then Saybi would tap her combadge to join the conversation, "Captain, Ensign Saybi Prel with Gamma Team. The energy signature is nothing that has ever been recorded before as far as I can tell. However I am detecting multiple similar power sources in this… Village, and the Pyramid." Samuel would glance over to her for a moment as Rick would speak up through the comm. "Any indication of what sort of technology level these people are?" "Impossible to tell… I would recommend that we take a closer look." She'd respond as Samuel gave an approving nod, "With your permission sir?" "Granted, but if they appear to be pre-warp, do your best to avoid contamination… However, if they are human… Contact me again." "Yes sir. Rogers out." He'd tap his combadge again to end the communication line before glancing over to Saybi, "Nice initiative… Come on, let's get closer." Saybi would smile a bit as they began to move down the hill, meanwhile Methax would pat Idzen's back as he'd say, "Don't worry Ensign, I'm sure you'll have a moment to shine soon too." The Bolian wouldn't respond, but he did seem a little annoyed as he began to follow the rest of the group.
Meanwhile back at the facility, they found that Level Four was scorched with signs of conflict. From the marks of bullet impacts, and scorch marks from explosions. Yet once again there was a lack of bodies as they walked down the halls. "Feels like everything is worse down here…" Rick spoke as he glanced around the area, "Whatever happened, this was indeed the worst of the conflict…" Sari responded as she was looking through her tricorder. "It's barely there… Tricorder can just pick up the possibility of DNA… But this facility may have been abandoned for so long that any amount of blood we find unless preserved is nothing but mixed in with the dust… I don't think-" "Littlefield to the Captain." Christy's voice came up on the comm, she had gone the opposite direction from Rick and Sari. "I think you and Lieutenant Zutil should come over here." The two looked at one another before they started to make their way toward Christy. "On our way."
When they reached the Ensign's location, they found her standing before a large blast door that as Christy was trying to use the door panel next to it to open, with no avail. "Can't get it open, and tricorder's having a hard time scanning beyond it." Christy would say as Sari was already starting to scan the door. "I'm not surprised. This door is made up of different forms of alloy. Tricorder can't tell what it is, but it's deflecting our scans… From what I can tell, the door appears to be quite thick." "Would our phasers be able to cut through?" Rick would then ask, looking between her and Christy. "There's no way to tell without trying." Their Captain gave a nod before he'd ask, "What about our portable power generators? Anyway we can use those to provide power to the doors? Or even to this facility?" Sari looked at the panel next to the door as she took a scan. "We would have to regulate the power very carefully… But if we could find a generator room or something similar, we could attempt it." She'd respond as Rick immediately tapped his combadge. "Venier to Tempest." He'd call up before hearing Diane respond. "Tempest here." "Commander, tell Vin we're going to need a portable generator and an engineer down here. We're going to try and power up this facility." "I'll tell him, but you're going to have to explain it to the Admiral." Rick glanced over to Sari when he heard that. "Admiral?" "Admiral Emilio Carranzo. From Starbase 104. He just sent a message demanding that we explain why we'll be late or unable to conduct our duties." He couldn't help the breath that came out of him when he looked back over to Sari and Christy. "Commander, you can tell him… I'm on my way up to speak with him. But get Vin down here with a portable generator." "Aye sir. Tempest out."
"Emilio Carranzo. If I recall, he led a force against the Iconians during the war, a mix of Federation and Cardassians ships." Sari mentioned as Rick looked back towards her. "He also led a relief effort for a Romulan Colony that was harassed by the Tal Shiar before the Romulan Republic took the colony into their borders. Admiral Carranzo volunteered to help bring medical and infrastructure resources so the colony could rebuild. He's known for his humanitarian missions." There was a moment where Rick fell silent as he looked back at the door for a moment. "Alright, you two keep looking around here, the moment you find where the power room could be, contact the ship so Vin can plug in a generator." As he was about to tap his combadge, Christy would ask. "Sir, what if this door leads to the power room?" He'd then look at the large door before responding, "Then we'll have to cut it open." He'd say as he was about to tap his combadge when, "Keesa to Venier, we found a room that looks like a power room, but whatever they used to generate power was removed." "Well that's something." Rick says before tapping his combadge. "Good job, contact Vin, see if he can get a generator down here to power the facility." "Aye sir." Rick then looked over to Sari and Christy for a moment to say "Let me know as soon as you get inside, and if you find anything." "And if this is another empty room?" Christy asked. "Then let me know in either case." He'd respond before Rick started to make his way back to the staircase.
Christy would take a moment to look at the blast door while she thought aloud, "What could be so important behind this door? Certainly not… All the bodies of the dead?" Hearing the young Ensign speak her thoughts, Sari couldn't help but smile before responding, "Perhaps the morgue, or perhaps whatever was being fought over… In either case, we should try and look around a little more before the power comes on."