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[DawningStar] The Great Unknown (Updated 11-5-07)
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<blockquote data-quote="Teneb" data-source="post: 3730625" data-attributes="member: 3572"><p><strong>Eos, four years earlier</strong></p><p></p><p>Henry gave a deep sigh of annoyance. One hundred feet away, the chief archaeologist and his sycophantic flunkies pawed over the Star Confederation artifacts the team had uncovered. Henry’s irritation stemmed from the fact that they did so beneath the hidden confines of a massive canvas tent. The engineer and the rest of the excavation team were left sitting in the sweltering heat, confined to gossiping and speculating about the find rather than participating in the emotional high of examining the artifacts themselves. The truly galling part was that none of this would have even been possible without Henry.</p><p></p><p>A group of murcow herders had discovered a strange metallic building protruding from a hillside. Several items suspected to be of Ancient origin had been found in the area previously, so the herders notified the local authorities, hoping to cash in on their find.</p><p></p><p>A team from the local university investigated, and then called in experts from Dawning Star. Henry was one of those who had been selected for the research team; he had a reputation for an inherent understanding of all things technological. He was designated as the primary engineering technician for the expedition, along with three archaeologists and their gaggle of yammering students. Thirty or so excavators and other heavy laborers completed the team.</p><p></p><p>The door to the Star Confederation structure was like nothing Henry had ever seen or heard of before. It was made up of an octagonal frame roughly seven feet across. Inch-wide strips of metal, each only a few millimeters thick, transected the frame and overlapped one another in the exact center of the portal. At that point in space, some sort of pictogram was etched. Other writings ringed the frame.</p><p></p><p>Despite its flimsy appearance, the door proved to be incredibly resilient. The metal could not be cut or melted; when struck the door bowed slightly but held firm, regardless of how much force was applied. The archaeologists spoke all manner of passwords and codes, to no avail. They tried translating the writings and manipulating the pictogram, each equally unsuccessful. Reluctantly, they let the engineer “sully” (their sarcastic words) the Ancient portal.</p><p></p><p>Henry began by re-examining the writing on the doorframe. The archaeologists had noted that one symbol repeated more frequently than the others – a one-inch diameter circle with several radiating lines. It resembled the old earth depiction of the sun. The impotent scientists had seized on the repetitive nature of this particular symbol to aid them in the translation effort, one which ended in failure like every other attempt they had made at opening the door.</p><p></p><p>The tech evaluated the symbols, not with a scholar’s eye, but with an engineer’s. The sun symbol repeated five times, spaced equidistantly around the door. Henry leaned in, nose almost touching the frame despite the snickers coming from behind him. Eyes widening, he quickly fumbled for a tool on his belt. He delicately touched a probe to the sun symbol, sliding it into the frame about an inch. The scientists behind Henry fell silent- they had apparently discounted the fact that this particular symbol was etched much deeper than the others as unimportant.</p><p></p><p>Glancing excitedly at the gage attached to the probe, Henry breathed, “There’s a current running through here. I think I saw microcircuits inside this symbol.” Ignoring the babble of questions from the others, Henry ran to his kit and began assembling a five-pronged contraption. He carefully walked back to the door with his new tool, held together with electrical tape and good intentions. Henry slowly slid each protrusion into one of the sun symbols. He connected the whole thing to a battery and slowly increased the voltage. </p><p></p><p>Without warning, the central pictogram flared with a cyan light. The metal bands fanned together and retracted, leaving an open hallway receding into the hillside. Henry grinned stupidly, “Cool.” No sooner had the word left his lips and he was unceremoniously shoved aside as the archaeologists and their students plowed through the portal. He wasn’t even allowed through the door he had opened!</p><p></p><p>And so he sat with the laborers who, Henry thought bitterly, were at least able to carry some artifacts out of the facility. He hadn’t even seen an artifact. Henry kicked an undeserving stone violently.</p><p></p><p>Occasional cries of excitement or heated discussion could be heard coming from the main research tent; Henry had been mentally suppressing them for most of the day. Now, a different sound was emanating from the tent – a high-pitched whine that was growing in volume. Henry cautiously started walking towards the tent, then trotting as the hairs on the back of his neck began to rise. A few students scampered out the tent door, fear written plainly on their faces. That was enough for the engineering tech, and he brushed past the students and into the depths of the voluminous tent.</p><p></p><p>Inside was chaos. People were arguing and gesticulating wildly, while everyone gave a squat cylinder in one corner a wide berth. The growing whine was coming from the cylinder. Henry demanded to know what was going on. One of the chief archaeologists, a strange mix of annoyance and apprehension on his face, responded, “We inadvertently seem to have activated a Star Confederation power source, and we are unsure as to how it could be deactivated.”</p><p></p><p>Henry looked at the man levelly, “It’s not connected to anything. It’ll overload.”</p><p></p><p>“Perhaps,” replied the stuffy academician, “although Dr. Hartman has a theory regarding a hypothetical override sequence which could conceivably….”</p><p></p><p>“It’s going to explode you idiot!” Henry thundered.</p><p></p><p>Dr. What’s-his-face stiffened angrily, “I must say, your tone is completely unacceptable, and furthermore….” A bolt of raw energy leapt from the device and vaporized a nearby table. With a very undignified “Eeep!” the chief archaeologist fled the scene, joined by many of his colleagues.</p><p></p><p>Henry shook his head disgustedly, sarcastically mumbling, “No, no, it’s OK – I’ll take care of it.” Another bolt flew over Henry’s head, blew a hold through the tent, and kept going. Screams of pain and panic could suddenly be heard from outside. He dropped to the ground and hurriedly belly-crawled towards the device as red runes appeared on a display panel. Tearing off what he hoped was an access panel, Henry sized up the situation. Numerous wires, coils, and circuits were exposed to him. He mentally compared the scheme to numerous other power sources he had seen. The device was significantly more advanced than any other power source he was familiar with, but the concept had to be similar, right? He certainly hoped so.</p><p></p><p>Henry’s hair began to lift away from his head as a localized electrical field began to form. Acting on instinct now, electricity arcing uncontrollably from the device, he grabbed a number of metal support pipes that were lying nearby and drove them into the ground. He prayed a stray bolt of electricity wouldn’t kill him. A few seconds later, a pair of cables were clamped on each pipe. Henry cautiously edged towards the device, the other end of the cable in his hand. He wasn’t quite sure how this was going to work without him ending up dead, but he was going to give it a shot. Closing his eyes, Henry clamped the cable to the innards of the Ancient power source and immediately scrambled away.</p><p></p><p>He made it through the tent flap when a loud CRACK sounded from behind him. Henry’s entire world went topsy-turvy as the ground beneath him shot upwards - the force of the discharge had caused a minor earthquake. Once it had subsided, Henry evaluated his health and determined that he wasn’t badly hurt. He looked around him and saw the fearful eyes of the archaeology team looking back at him. The air of superiority was gone now that he had saved their lives.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Teneb, post: 3730625, member: 3572"] [B]Eos, four years earlier[/B] Henry gave a deep sigh of annoyance. One hundred feet away, the chief archaeologist and his sycophantic flunkies pawed over the Star Confederation artifacts the team had uncovered. Henry’s irritation stemmed from the fact that they did so beneath the hidden confines of a massive canvas tent. The engineer and the rest of the excavation team were left sitting in the sweltering heat, confined to gossiping and speculating about the find rather than participating in the emotional high of examining the artifacts themselves. The truly galling part was that none of this would have even been possible without Henry. A group of murcow herders had discovered a strange metallic building protruding from a hillside. Several items suspected to be of Ancient origin had been found in the area previously, so the herders notified the local authorities, hoping to cash in on their find. A team from the local university investigated, and then called in experts from Dawning Star. Henry was one of those who had been selected for the research team; he had a reputation for an inherent understanding of all things technological. He was designated as the primary engineering technician for the expedition, along with three archaeologists and their gaggle of yammering students. Thirty or so excavators and other heavy laborers completed the team. The door to the Star Confederation structure was like nothing Henry had ever seen or heard of before. It was made up of an octagonal frame roughly seven feet across. Inch-wide strips of metal, each only a few millimeters thick, transected the frame and overlapped one another in the exact center of the portal. At that point in space, some sort of pictogram was etched. Other writings ringed the frame. Despite its flimsy appearance, the door proved to be incredibly resilient. The metal could not be cut or melted; when struck the door bowed slightly but held firm, regardless of how much force was applied. The archaeologists spoke all manner of passwords and codes, to no avail. They tried translating the writings and manipulating the pictogram, each equally unsuccessful. Reluctantly, they let the engineer “sully” (their sarcastic words) the Ancient portal. Henry began by re-examining the writing on the doorframe. The archaeologists had noted that one symbol repeated more frequently than the others – a one-inch diameter circle with several radiating lines. It resembled the old earth depiction of the sun. The impotent scientists had seized on the repetitive nature of this particular symbol to aid them in the translation effort, one which ended in failure like every other attempt they had made at opening the door. The tech evaluated the symbols, not with a scholar’s eye, but with an engineer’s. The sun symbol repeated five times, spaced equidistantly around the door. Henry leaned in, nose almost touching the frame despite the snickers coming from behind him. Eyes widening, he quickly fumbled for a tool on his belt. He delicately touched a probe to the sun symbol, sliding it into the frame about an inch. The scientists behind Henry fell silent- they had apparently discounted the fact that this particular symbol was etched much deeper than the others as unimportant. Glancing excitedly at the gage attached to the probe, Henry breathed, “There’s a current running through here. I think I saw microcircuits inside this symbol.” Ignoring the babble of questions from the others, Henry ran to his kit and began assembling a five-pronged contraption. He carefully walked back to the door with his new tool, held together with electrical tape and good intentions. Henry slowly slid each protrusion into one of the sun symbols. He connected the whole thing to a battery and slowly increased the voltage. Without warning, the central pictogram flared with a cyan light. The metal bands fanned together and retracted, leaving an open hallway receding into the hillside. Henry grinned stupidly, “Cool.” No sooner had the word left his lips and he was unceremoniously shoved aside as the archaeologists and their students plowed through the portal. He wasn’t even allowed through the door he had opened! And so he sat with the laborers who, Henry thought bitterly, were at least able to carry some artifacts out of the facility. He hadn’t even seen an artifact. Henry kicked an undeserving stone violently. Occasional cries of excitement or heated discussion could be heard coming from the main research tent; Henry had been mentally suppressing them for most of the day. Now, a different sound was emanating from the tent – a high-pitched whine that was growing in volume. Henry cautiously started walking towards the tent, then trotting as the hairs on the back of his neck began to rise. A few students scampered out the tent door, fear written plainly on their faces. That was enough for the engineering tech, and he brushed past the students and into the depths of the voluminous tent. Inside was chaos. People were arguing and gesticulating wildly, while everyone gave a squat cylinder in one corner a wide berth. The growing whine was coming from the cylinder. Henry demanded to know what was going on. One of the chief archaeologists, a strange mix of annoyance and apprehension on his face, responded, “We inadvertently seem to have activated a Star Confederation power source, and we are unsure as to how it could be deactivated.” Henry looked at the man levelly, “It’s not connected to anything. It’ll overload.” “Perhaps,” replied the stuffy academician, “although Dr. Hartman has a theory regarding a hypothetical override sequence which could conceivably….” “It’s going to explode you idiot!” Henry thundered. Dr. What’s-his-face stiffened angrily, “I must say, your tone is completely unacceptable, and furthermore….” A bolt of raw energy leapt from the device and vaporized a nearby table. With a very undignified “Eeep!” the chief archaeologist fled the scene, joined by many of his colleagues. Henry shook his head disgustedly, sarcastically mumbling, “No, no, it’s OK – I’ll take care of it.” Another bolt flew over Henry’s head, blew a hold through the tent, and kept going. Screams of pain and panic could suddenly be heard from outside. He dropped to the ground and hurriedly belly-crawled towards the device as red runes appeared on a display panel. Tearing off what he hoped was an access panel, Henry sized up the situation. Numerous wires, coils, and circuits were exposed to him. He mentally compared the scheme to numerous other power sources he had seen. The device was significantly more advanced than any other power source he was familiar with, but the concept had to be similar, right? He certainly hoped so. Henry’s hair began to lift away from his head as a localized electrical field began to form. Acting on instinct now, electricity arcing uncontrollably from the device, he grabbed a number of metal support pipes that were lying nearby and drove them into the ground. He prayed a stray bolt of electricity wouldn’t kill him. A few seconds later, a pair of cables were clamped on each pipe. Henry cautiously edged towards the device, the other end of the cable in his hand. He wasn’t quite sure how this was going to work without him ending up dead, but he was going to give it a shot. Closing his eyes, Henry clamped the cable to the innards of the Ancient power source and immediately scrambled away. He made it through the tent flap when a loud CRACK sounded from behind him. Henry’s entire world went topsy-turvy as the ground beneath him shot upwards - the force of the discharge had caused a minor earthquake. Once it had subsided, Henry evaluated his health and determined that he wasn’t badly hurt. He looked around him and saw the fearful eyes of the archaeology team looking back at him. The air of superiority was gone now that he had saved their lives. [/QUOTE]
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