Varto Six (Surface of Janus's Planet)

[SiphonTalvesh]

The gate had come online not long ago, and now the silence was broken by the party coming through. As they stepped through, they were half assaulted by a wave of heat, dry and very hot. Taking a look at the surroundings, they realized they were standing in an almost desert like place, the only visible thing as far as the eye could see being the stargate itself.

As the gate shut down, Lyra was already focusing, her eyes seeming to flutter as she entered some kind of trance, likely searching for anything that would point them in the right direction.


Talok frowned as they arrived, having expected a bit more of a hostile environment. He could only guess the planet was far enough from it's star not to suffer the same cataclysmic volcanic disaster Proclarush had. His thoughts though were cut off as Lyra suddenly came out of her trance, pointing in a direction that may have been south, if the position of the setting sun were any indication.

"There is a disturbance similar to what our devices cause about half a mile in that direction. We should move quickly, I believe soon we will be walking in the dark, and it's a long night ahead of us. While it is hot now, outside at night will be very cold, and none of us are likely to survive a night in those conditions."

 

[Unknown Squid]

Re: Varto Six (Surface of Janus's Planet)

Following out from the gate behind Talok, came Ellisia, followed by the other two knights, and shortly after that, Ayla and Sinnve.

The knights all quietly survey the featureless horizon for anything that might stand out. Ayla calmly forms up behind them standing straight with her hands hanging clasped and a thoughtful expression. Sinnve gazes around at the desolate place and grimaces, casting a suspicious glance towards the sun but refusing to actually look at it.

"Um... just quickly before we do... Are we sure it's safe to be here? For me and sis I mean? I'm not quite indestructible like you guys, and not very keen on developing radiation poisoning and a hundred kinds of cancer."

Ellisia and Ayla could only look to Talok for the reasurance Sinnve wanted, since none of the Etherians were carrying any real means of measuring such things. They were accompanying Talok and Lyra out of simple trust right now.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Varto Six (Surface of Janus's Planet)

It was Lyra who answered them, never breaking gaze off whatever held her attention further off.

"It is safe for you, I would not have allowed us to come here by stargate and without suits if the sensor readings taken before we departed came back with any measurable hazards. The only dangers present to you would be the risk of a sunburn or dehydration during the day, or freezing to death out in the open at night. There may be the occasional dust storm which could cut you up if you are caught in it, but that is about it. As near as we can tell also, nothing has lived on this planet for a very long time, so I don't believe you need to worry about uninvited guests."

 

[Unknown Squid]

Re: Varto Six (Surface of Janus's Planet)

"Ah... ok. Sorry for doubting. Lets get going then." Sinnve replies.

"Yes, lets." Ellisia says, moving to fall in step with Lyra and Talok as the group moves off. Marik positions himself among the front of the group, in order to be able to use his buzzard like eyes to watch the lands ahead of them. Thanus moves alongside Ayla with an obvious protective intention, regardless of the absence of any expected threat. If he had his way, he would shield her from even the sun.

... Sadly none of them had brought along a parasol.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Varto Six (Surface of Janus's Planet)

"No need to apologize, it was a very valid and appropriate question."


For some time they walked, the heat of the day beginning to make itself felt. After almost twenty minutes, Lyra stopped to focus again, and in short order pushed her hand into the open air, a faint aura visible around her body. A moment later a doorway, similar to a cellar door appeared. Carefully she motioned to Talok to open it, and once he had she spoke.

"It would seem that Janus did in fact use similar technology to our own, this was very easy to find for me, but for someone who didn't have one of us with them, next to impossible. We can ..."

She trailed off as a sudden noise caught their attention, and then coming over one of the rises behind them came a wall of darkness. It took a moment for them to realize what it was, and when they did, Talok reacted first.

"Sandstorm! Get in now!"

 

[Unknown Squid]

Re: Varto Six (Surface of Janus's Planet)

Ayla and Sinnve being led forwards, Marik jumps in through the entrance just ahead of them, as they follow him in hurriedly. The other two allow Lyra to enter next, before heading in with Talok and closing the hatch.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Varto Six (Surface of Janus's Planet)

Quickly getting inside, Talok had to use all of his strength to yank the door down and let it seal behind them, finally taking a step back when the slight whirring sound of the locks activating were heard.

A moment later, lights came on, illuminating the long tunnel like corridor they were standing in. At the end seemed to be a set of doors that were on the beginning of a decline, an indication that perhaps the facility was mostly underground. Talok half shrugged to the others.

"Looks like we're going deeper in unless you want to stand here forever. Anyone hurt from the flying sand?"

 

[Unknown Squid]

Re: Varto Six (Surface of Janus's Planet)

"Spare a little sand in our hair, we're all fine. And yes, let's proceed." Ellisia answers, looking to Lyra next as they head onwards. "Do you have any insight on what kinds of things we might find in this lab?"

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Varto Six (Surface of Janus's Planet)

"Beyond the obvious technology the ancients used, no I'm afraid not. This was supposed to be a research lab for many things, but it was hard to keep up with Janus as to what he was working on and when. I do know that at one point he was trying to work on a time traveling device that didn't rely on the anomalies he spoke about. I have no idea though if that was at this lab or somewhere else, though he made mention of interfacing a jumper with something he was working on. From what I could see of this facility peering through it's cloak, I don't think it has a means to house a jumper."


Heading to the next set of doors, they opened into a massive room filled with all kinds of technology. As they entered, it began to activate, showing numerous symbols that had to be information about the systems or whatever was on them via display panels. It seemed to have several side rooms to it, but it was impossible to tell from here what they held or how large.

 

[Unknown Squid]

Re: Varto Six (Surface of Janus's Planet)

"Well... The place still seems to be properly operational still. Should make things easier. I can neither read Ancient writings and formulas, nor am carrying any devices that can extract the data here. But I assume we will want to extract everything we can find for latter analysis." Ellisia says looking over the room.

"How would you suggest to proceed?"

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Varto Six (Surface of Janus's Planet)

Talok thought for a moment.

"There should be some kind of Ancient portable memory device here, we can probably use that to download most if not all of the outpost's data. Lyra and I can both read and translate Ancient, hell you probably are better at it than I am Lyra. Does anyone object to having two groups split off to cover more ground? If not, Lyra with one, I'll go with the other."

 

[Unknown Squid]

Re: Varto Six (Surface of Janus's Planet)

"Sounds like a plan." Ellisia replies. "I'll go with you then, whilst Thanus and Marik accompany Lyra."

"I shall join Lyra's party also then." Ayla informs, following to look at Sinnve for her choice of company.

"Uh... well I guess I'll tag along with Elly then? Keep the numbers more even?" She answers. Somewhat reluctant to leave the side of her sister, but comfortable enough to do some exploring with Ellisia.

With that, they would separate out into their stated groups and make ready to explore further.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Varto Six (Surface of Janus's Planet)

Nodding his head, Talok surveyed the room. Picking a door out at random, he spoke.

"Alright, we'll take the south door over here, follow that path until it either ends or loops back, or we find what we're looking for. We'll meet back here in this room and use it as our temporary base camp. Good luck and be careful."

 

[Unknown Squid]

Re: Varto Six (Surface of Janus's Planet)

Marik and Thanus give a short sharp salute of sorts to Ellisia, in the form of a vertically pointed hand at the side of the head, and then turn to proceed onwards with Lyra and Ayla. Sinnve steps over to follow Ellisa, still glancing around the room.

"Ok. Let's go then." Ellisa says, heading for the indicated south door. "Stay close Sinnve."

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Varto Six (Surface of Janus's Planet)

The two groups moved out, each entering different types of rooms after exploring a handful of seeming useless rooms in between.


Ayla's Group:

After a seemingly endless maze of storage rooms or seemingly trashed rooms, Ayla, Marik, Thanus and Lyra finally arrived at a very large room that seemed to be a dead end. At first glance nothing seemed unusual, at least until consoles started turning on, seeming to sense their presence. Carefully, Lyra stepped forward over broken glass and overturned objects that might have been tables to look over the largest of the display's something likely having caught her eye there.

Marik and Thanus, likely following their natural instinct to sweep the room would have to move around shattered glass, overturned objects and half a dozen other things that one could only guess what they had once been used for. As they moved deeper into the room, Thanus might catch something out of the corner of his eye, near one far edge of the room. Whatever it was seemed to be discolored and out of place with the rest of the damaged room, and should he investigate, he'd get one hell of a surprise.

There, tucked in one corner, and actually scattered through the room, blocked from the women's views were six set of skeletal remains. Four of them appeared to be human in appearance, though the damaged and nearly disintegrated bits of clothing they still wore might remind him of the clothing they had learned the ancients had once used. The other two remains were most definitely not human like. While they were bipedal, the remnant gear was definitely unlike anything they had seen, and the skeletal frame was much sturdier than a human body. That and the mouth seemed to have four bone like protrusions extending from the sides which seemed as much a part of their skeletons as a finger was to his own. His eye might also note each body had what appeared to be chunks shot out of their ribcage, and in the case of the two alien bodies, several blasts taken out of a much larger ribcage, as well as several through the pelvic region. Whatever they were and whoever they had been, they seemed to have been dead for a very long time, and from the state of the room, he could only guess they had died about the same time the Ancients had.



Elissia's Group:

Like the others, Elissia, Sinnve and Talok had to endure a seemingly endless maze of rooms. As they went deeper, the state of disrepair and feeling the place had been intentionally trashed grew more obvious. Finally, they arrived at a larger room, one with a large display in the center of the room, and controls that looked similar enough to the ones on board the Etherian ships that Ellisia and Sinnve could guess they were communications systems. As they stepped into the room, Talok put a hand up, and pointed into the corner of the room, and at the foot of one of the consoles.

There, tucked into the corner, was a single body, it's skeletal remains visible.

 

[Unknown Squid]

Re: Varto Six (Surface of Janus's Planet)

"Seems like there was some kind of struggle. What might have done this?" Marik ponders out loud as the group proceeds through the ruined lab.

Entering the next room the two knights fan out in opposite directions to investigate the room with a cautious and steady pace. Whilst Marik's eyes saw things in unparalleled detail and clarity, this time it was Thanus who was able to look at the room as a whole and pick out something that seemed amiss first. Turning the corner round some of the over turned furniture, he raises his hand. Marik and Ayla were looking in his direction before he spoke. "Skeletal remains." Thanus speaks flatly, narrowing his eyes as he examines the bodies. "Four human like, two unknown. Clear signs of weapon injuries on the bones."

"The garment remains appear to match styles that the ancients used." Ayla adds to the analysis, clearly exercising her shared sight abilities, given that she couldn't physically see any of the bodies from where she was currently standing. "I cannot recognise the other remains. Any insight Lyra?"

"Seems we may have found the answer to who sacked this facility. Or at least a clue." Marik says, casting a glance towards Thanus, before continuing to investigate for anything else in the room himself. There was no need for him to crowd round the discovery. Not when he could see it via Ayla anyway.

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"A communications room?" Sinnve murmurs quietly, following along behind Ellisia. As Talok raises his hand, Ellisia steps over to see also. Around that time is when a telepathic message from Ayla issues over to her, and Ellisia responds mentally. <"Yes, we've just found one ourselves. In a communications room of sorts.">

Informing Talok, she speaks out, "The other team have just found several remains also. Four that may be ancients, and two so far unidentified aliens, with signs of fighting on their bones."

Sinnve coming round the corner into view, grimaces at the sight of the skeleton. A brief grim memory from the past washes over her with a dizzy spell for just a second, and she screws up her eyes and shakes her head, looking away. Frowning and taking a deep breath she wills herself to look back. Ellisia was crouching down beside the skeleton now, and seemed not to have noticed.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Varto Six (Surface of Janus's Planet)

Talok frowned, then nodded.

"Makes sense, something had to have killed them. It's too bad the remains aren't identifiable though, although if I am reading this right ..."

He looked over the console, which seemed to still be waiting for input from it's long dead owners. Talok read over the symbols on the screen again, looking at the body Elissia was examining.

"If I'm reading that message right, I believe we have discovered what happened to Janus. I think that this body here is his."



Lyra looked at the remains for a long moment, perhaps trying to determine if one of them might be Janus before shaking her head.

"I have no idea, I've never seen a skeletal structure like this before. Anything I could come up with would be a complete guess and might not be right, but there weren't very many species who could do this to an Ancient outpost. Based off that, I think we have to consider the possibility that these ... might be the remains of Klarnell soldiers."

 

[Unknown Squid]

Re: Varto Six (Surface of Janus's Planet)

"I see... should we inform Lyra now or later? Also, what does the message say? To die at the console like this, surely marks it as important." Ellisia replies with a slightly solemn and respectful tone. She studies the console screen habitually despite not being able to read the language.

-----

Ayla steps forward to view the remains with her own eyes now. "Klarnell? Would that be the hostile time jumping race you spoke of earlier?"

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Varto Six (Surface of Janus's Planet)

Talok paused a moment, then read off the brief, unfinished message.

"Lyra, please forgive me. We completed our work here, but we fell under attack. The rumors of the Klarnell aren't rumors, they do exist. I should have told you sooner my dear, now, I fear I will be dead by the time you get this. They've attacked us, and I'm the last one alive, barely. I'm enclosing a packet of all our readings as well as ...."

He stopped, shaking his head.

"That's it. It seems he never finished the message, probably died from his injuries before he could finish it."



Lyra closed her eyes and nodded.

"Yes. They are one of only three races I know that could have possibly attacked this place without trouble. The replicators were one of them, but they are long gone. The only other race were the Nempari, and they are believed to have been wiped out six thousand years ago by the replicators."

 

[Unknown Squid]

Re: Varto Six (Surface of Janus's Planet)

"We should pass this message onto Lyra." Ellisia responds, with a short pause. "What of the mentioned packet? Is it already attached to the message? Any indication of the other item he intended to enclose?"

---

"And Replicators don't leave behind mysterious skeletons." Marik casually comments.

"So it seems we have a firm suspect. What matters now then, is to find whether there is any data here that might shed light on the nature of these anomalies and how they occur, and anything that might aid us against a potential Klarnell threat." Ayla speaks, taking a slow breath as she thinks. "Anything that allows us to predict or prepare for any potential incursions may be our greatest asset."