History:
Some time after the aliens first started attacking, they sent several alien scout ships through rifts to attack our outposts and stations. While the attackers were fended off, some of them managed to hide themselves within our station. Having lived for so long away from it’s home world and power source, it deactivated and shut down.
Story:
New Eden Station Maintenance Log (NESM Log) 37U-111:
13:00 check in… Nothing to report. Standard duct cleaning started. The team is still complaining about last month’s system hack and all these silly mercenaries going about doing crazy missions non-stop. The vent system is working normally but there seems to be a jam in unit 447. Probably caused by all the engine gunk that these mercs sent flying on takeoff.
16:00 check in… Vent 447 checked and cleaned. As expected, there was nothing but gunk and dust. Though one of my guys found a shiny galactic standard stuck in one of the cogs. Lucky xxxxxxx…
19:00 check out… Daily maintenance completed. Nothing beyond normal to report. NE/AC team sighing out for the night.
NESM Log 37U-112
10:00 check in… Nothing to report. Standard duct cleaning started. Arrived to several red lights in sector 33. Vent 447 seems to be clogged again. Vent 446 and 821 seem to be having troubles as well. Must have been one hellova party last night. Sending teams to check up on them.
13:00 check in… Vents 447, 446 and 821 checked and cleaned again. Nothing but gunk and green goop to report. Nastiest stuff that I’ve ever seen. Probably just some old distilled drink or something from some bizarre planet that only those damned mercs can get to.
16:00 check in… Engine failure in vent 447. I swear, if that vent goes offline one more time I’m quitting. Sending a team to repair it.
19:00 check out… Repair team sent to 447 still hasn’t gotten back, so I’m leaving the channels open. I need some sleep so I’m out of here.
NESM Log 37U-113
10:00 check in… Repair team for vent 447’s engine seems to have been unable to fix it. Actually they never signed off. I’m sending another team to go see if they’re still working on it.
13:00 check in. Emergency call. Second team to check vent 447 called in and reported all five of the first team dead. There are no wounds. It’s almost like team one was poisoned. Evac of the area started.
16:00 check in. Emergency teams reported that the chamber was filed with that green gunk again. It has been reacting with the capacitors in vent 447’s engine and creating an extremely dangerous gas. Second team is safe and the entire area is being cleaned out and the source of this stuff is being scouted out.
19:00 check in. It’s going to be a long night getting rid of this stuff. Team two has been suited with sealed suits to protect against the gas and gunk. Most of the area has been cleaned out and the atmosphere is returning to normal. Hourly check-ins started.
20:00 check in. The area has been cleaned of the green gunk and repairs of engine 447 have been started.
21:00 check in. Vent 447’s engine has been repaired and clean air is flowing again. Team two is checking all surfaces in the area for anything out of the ordinary.
21:49 check in. Team two scanned the vent chamber and detected an anomaly in the top wall. A man was sent to check it out and called in emergency. He was stabbed by a black rock-looking object that was stuck in the wall. He is stable as of now but he isn’t coming back to work for a few days. I told them to keep their lamps on while in the vents but they complain that they know their way around too well. The idiots. Maybe this incident will teach them.
21:57 check in. The rock structure has been identified as alien. It looks like it has been here for quite some time. It has melted away at the walls from outside and fused with the metal. The green goop was definitely coming from here but it looks dried out now.
22:00 check in. Nothing new to report on the structure. Authorities have been notified, but it’s so late they said that they would send a team in the morning.
22:31 check in. Team two has been able to successfully remove the alien object from the wall and repair the wall. The object looks like a dead Hunter Scout from the invasion. Will continue checkup report on object.
22:47 check in. The object has been dismantled in effort to remove it from the ducts so that we can start them back up. It’s getting too cold to think. The two large halves weren’t stuck together with much more force than a simple cooling unit magnet. The ring in the middle looks like it still has something running inside it. Will investigate.
23:00 check in. The two halves of the alien ship have been removed from the ducts and the AC was turned back on. Thank god; I was about to freeze to death.
23:40 check out. I’ve sent everyone home to get what little sleep that they can.
Personal Log 087-9D: New Eden team manager. Date 11-13. After a terrible day at work I have found a strange alien ring-like object and brought it back here. After initial look-over, it is confirmed alien and seems to have a glowing hemisphere on the inside of it.
PL 087-9E: Check date. I have managed to pry the large device from the main ring. It is definitely still active. I’m going to continue check on the ring…
PL 087-9F: Check date. Any systems that were previously running on the ring have been deactivated, seemingly due to the removal of the device. Nothing of use aside from large quantities of Iridium strands throughout the object. Needless to say, I’m going to be rich soon.
PL 087-9G: Check date. I’ve hidden the object and device for now. I need some sleep…
NESM Log 37U-114
10:00 check in… I’m tired as hell from last nights events. So is everyone else. Looks like I’m going to need a coffee transfusion soon… Nothing new to report. All systems are running smoothly thanks to removing that alien ship from the ducts. Officials should arrive within the hour to pick it up and haul it off to who-knows-where.
10:25 check in. Officials are here and have loaded up the chunks on to their ships. They payed the company quite a large sum of money for the find. Looks like we’re getting new brooms soon!
13:00 check in. Things have settled down. Oliver from team two has recovered considerably from his wound and is here in the office with me. He really doesn’t have anything else to be doing, or can be doing, because of his wound. We’re just chilling with some cold drinks for now. Non-alcoholic, mind you.
16:00 check in. Vent 649 had a yellow light, but the sensor just had some dust stuck in it. It was cleaned and all is good.
19:00 check out. Nothing new to report. Things sure were exciting for… What… A few hours? I don’t know. I was too cold to remember much. Though excitement aside, that thing owes me big time for team one’s death. I had some good friends in… I’m sorry… I’m going…
PL 087-9H: New Eden team manager. Date 11-14. This damn alien had better have something to give. *sniffs* Greg was more than a team member… He was a friend. A damn good one too… And… *wavering voice* oh god… I… I can’t…
PL 087-9I: Check date. Okay… Time to get started on deconstructing this xxxxxxx. I’m going to have every piece of it on a blueprint ad melted down by tomorrow. Beginning to pry open outer shell. *grunts, then a loud cracking sound* Ahah! The outer shell is open on one side and I can see in to it. *clanging noises* All I can see is- *cough* -wiring, and these massive coils of iridium wire. The internal wiring looks almost organic… I’m going to try to remov- *zapping noise* MOTHE- *recording ends*
PL 087-9J: Check date. It seems that some of the wiring inside it was still charged. I made sure to dampen the charge before touching any of it this time. All that I have so far is a massive pile of iridium wiring and coils and some weird organic-looking balls of technology. Out of the ring I found eight of them. Not exactly sure what they were for, but I’m putting them in heavy containment until I can experiment on them further. The outer shell of the ring seems to be a heavy carbon-based rock. *scraping noises* That’s really all there is to it, aside from a few iridium strands throughout it. I’m melting out the iridium and disposing of the shell…
PL 087-9K: Check date. It’s almost time to go to work, but I’m calling in sick today. I’m sure that the guys can handle the usual dusting out of vents and changing of capacitors. I’ve gotten more than enough iridium from this thing to retire wealthy. I might even be able to buy my own ship! I’m going to put my hopes and dreams aside for now and look in to that device that I pried off of the shell… *clanging, then a long dragging sound* Ooh… This thing is heavier than a dead reactor… Anyways, it seems to still be running. It looks almost the size of one of our reactors, actually. I’m really interested in it’s function…
PL 087-9L: Check date. After tinkering with the device for a while, I’ve found where it was connected to the ring. The ports look almost like ancient computer ports from the old colonies! Now what would an alien be doing with human-like technology… Looking in to it…
PL 087-9M: Check date. I asked around the habitation centre for anyone that had some old junk computers they didn’t need. I got a generous donation by the old man down the way. I knew he was old, but I didn’t know he was a collector! I’ve brought the old computer parts back to my shop to continue work.
PL 087-9N: Check date. I set up the old machine and found that it actually still worked. I had to find a new monitoring cable for it, but that wasn’t too hard…
PL 087-9O: Check date. I’m about to plug the device in to my computer… *click* … Oh my… It… It is connecting… How in the universe… It seems to be reading off some alien symbols. It is definitely writing though… I’m really freaking out right now. This could prove the fanatics to be right about the aliens… I’m not sure how the public would react to this information… Or the research department!! I have to tell them!!!
PL 087-9P: Check date. It is late, but I dragged the device down to the nearest research department with my loading drone. After knocking, I was greeted by a strange little man with the widest grin I’ve ever seen. He welcomed me in and told me that he’s been watching me. Creepy, i know. Anyways, he told me that I cannot tell anyone about my discovery. A likely thing, considering what’s happening. He told me to wait outside his work station so that he could look over the device and check my compu- *clack-zshhhhhhh…* Oh. He wants me to come in.
PL 087-9Q: Check date. After doing numerous scans and nearly stripping the thing apart, he says tha- *crackling* Hey! Give that ba- … *shuffling* … *an old, squeaky voice speaks* I have determined this module to be of human origin, integrated in to the alien’s systems. After creating a simple decoder for the alien’s writing, I’ve made a GUI integration of my own. I am taking the module to my ship for testing immediately. *running in the distance* I’ve had it equipped in to an active slot and- *bam! *shckshhh-shhh-ckshhhh…* *crackling* This old quack stole my log! He… Woah… I’ll get back to this…
PL 087-9R: CHECK DATE. *engines roaring in the background* *yelling in to mic* HE HAS INVITED ME ABOARD HIS SHIP TO COMPLETE “INITIAL TESTING” OF WHAT HE IS CALLING THE MODULE. THE SHIP SOUNDS LIKE IT IS ABOUT TO FALL APART IT IS SO LOUD… WE ARE UNDOCKING NOW…
PL 087-9S: CHECK DATE. *engines even louder. Still yelling* WE ARE OUTSIDE NOW. THIS GUY REALLY NEEDS TO GET HIS SHIP’S AC FIXE… OH, RIGHT… I DO THAT. WELL COLDNESS ASIDE, WE ARE APPROACHING A GROUP OF ENGINEERS OUTSIDE OF THE STATION. THE OLD MAN HAS BEEN SILENTLY CHUCKLING IN THE FRONT SINCE WE LEFT. ITS STARTING TO CREEP ME OUT. *engine noise stops* IT SEEMS THAT WE- *distant voice* “Who are you yelling to? I’m right here!” Oh, the engines have stopped and so have we. The engineers are going about their business repairing a hole in the outer armour from a meteor hit. It seems that- oh my god this guy is insane. He’s issuing a challenge to the engineers.
PL 087-9T: Check date. The engineers have replied laughing and seem to have accepted the challenge of sorts. The old man has opened fire on one of them but it’s shields aren’t even getting bent. One of the engineers deployed an attack drone and it took down half of our shields in one hit. The old man has pressed a few keys on his dash and… HOLY-
PL 087-9U: CHECK DATE. *engines raging in the background, metal clanging sounds heard* THE MODULE HAS ACTIVATED AND IT TOOK DOWN THE DRONE IN A MATTER OF SECONDS. IT SEEMS THAT IT DAMAGES THE CIRCUITRY INSIDE THEM WITH A SORT OF THERMAL PULSE. THE ENGINEERS GOT ANGRY AT THE DESTROYED DRONE AND DEPLOYED ALL OF THEIR AVAILABLE DRONES AND REPAIR STATIONS AT ONCE AND STARTED FIRING AT US. THE MODULE TOOK DOWN EVERY SONGLE STATION AND DRONE AND WE ARE FLYING ON CRITICAL HULL STRENGTH. WE HAVE ENTERED A WEAK WARP AND ARE SAFE AT THE MOMENT. THE OLD MAN IS DOCKING BEFORE ANYONE NOTICES WHAT HAS HAPPENED. *engines shut off loudly and metal scrapes across the hangar floor*
PL 087-9V: Check date. This crazy old tinkerer almost got me killed just to “test” an alien module. It seems that it works similarly to a Guard frigate’s “Pulsar” module, except it deals damage to even non-ship objects! This was an incredible find!!! The old man is heading back to his workshop with the module in tow. I think I may have a stupid idea…
PL 087-9W: CHECK- OH TO HELL WITH IT. *air hits the mic repeatedly. Loud footsteps like running are heard* I MADE OFF WITH THE MODULE IN MY DRONE AND THE OLD DUDE IS SUPER PISSED. HE PULLED A BLASTER ON ME AND I’M STILL RUNNING LIKE HELL.
PL 087-9X: Check date… Phew… *heavy breathing* I managed to hop on to my drone and fly back to my shop with it. I’m not sure why I didn’t think of that before. The module is safe but my drone can’t say the same. It’s covered in scorch marks… Ugh… This is gonna take down time to repair. Anyways. The module is mine and I am starting on analysis immediately.
PL 087-9Y: Check date. It is tomorrow… I think… Or is it toda… *clunk-chsssss…*
*several minutes of silence* … *loud beeping* *SHHH-* I DIDNT DO IT OFFICE- Um… What. Okay… Ugh… Oh! It’s done! Look out station, here I come! *shuffling papers* Log date… I really don’t know at this point. Date aside, I’ve just finished creating a decently English blueprint for the module. Because it used so much human technology, it wasn’t that hard to replicate. I was expensive as hell, but not hard. I’m going to make a fortune…
*later, an anonymous duct worker appears on the front page of Engineering Weekly magazine with a hefty article about his new discovery in alien technology. His blueprints have sold across the known universe and he has retired at the age of 28 as a trillionaire. He now owns a large fleet of starships and drinks regularly with explorers across the galaxy.*
Name: Alien Reactor Pulse
Type: Multipurpose Active Module
Ranks: 9-15
Energy: 200
Cooldown: 20s
Tooltip: Damages all nearby enemies and enemy structures by 900 Thermal damage per second for 10 seconds. Active radius: 900m.
Function: Is a green Pulsar that deals less damage in less range, but can be equipped on any ship and can damage stationary objects and drones.