[b]Major Kashvi Sikander Sadek (Team Alpha)
September 24, 2190 – 3:24 PM
Central European Standard Time
Location: Derelict Ship — Aft Engineering Access[/b]

The digital ghosts of OCS wouldn’t stop whispering in the back of Kashvi’s mind. Losing a quarter of your command... an acceptable loss? She blinked the thought away, her eyes twitching across the SBR data streams. Sadek noted that Schrier’s heart rate was high, but steady enough to suggest he was functioning.

Kashvi’s lips thinned into a hard line inside her helmet. She appreciated the deference to her command, but the architecture of the ship made her skin crawl. It was nothing like the schematics of the Pluto wreck they’d studied back on Earth. This place was alien in a way that felt aggressive—predatory. The designs were nothing they have experienced before.

"Doctor, I'm not sure if you ever been in an hostile environment before, we don't 'turn left' without clearing the corners," she replied, her voice a low, gravelly rasp. "Carmicheal, you heard the good doctor. Swing the lead of the triangle to port. Charming, keep the second element tight on our six. We’re moving toward the Doctor's mark, but we’re doing it room by room. I’m not leaving a thousand-year-old stowaway at our backs. Even if they are dead."

She adjusted the grip on her carbine, her eyes flickering to Schrier’s position. He was holding his astro-scanner like a holy relic.
"Lead on, Doctor, but keep it to a brisk jog," she ordered. "And keep your head down. If your scanner picks up anything that looks like a life sign or a proximity trigger, you shout it out before you analyze it. Understood?"

Switching to the command channel, she keyed the link to the XO. "Kestrel, this is Mongoose. We’ve got a lock on the source. Schrier is behaving himself—for now. We’re pushing left toward what looks like a primary engineering junction. Note for the logs: this thing’s a completely different breed than the ships we've built and the Pluto ship. Heavier, meaner, and the internal geometry is a nightmare. I the ship looks bio-mechanical to a degree down here. How’s the weather on the bridge?"
[hr]
[b]Commander Alistair Kaelen Vance (Team Beta)
September 24, 2190 – 3:26 PM
Central European Standard Time
Location: Derelict Ship — Mid-Section Command Spire[/b]

Alistair Vance stood as a pillar of stillness amidst the eerie shadows of the mid-section. He listened to Sadek’s report, his thumb absentmindedly checking the safety on his coilgun. He could hear the faint, rhythmic tapping of Dr. Khouri’s datapad nearby—the only sound in a tomb that had been silent for a millennium.

"Copy, Mongoose," Alistair replied, his voice a cool, regulatory hum. "I'm glad to hear the Doctor is following protocol. Regarding your observation—I agree. The bio-mechanical integration here is... far more advanced than we ever could have imagined. Nothing like the Pluto find or anything we've seen or built since. We aren't looking at a sister ship; we are looking at a different class of technology entirely. It's unsettling."

He turned his attention back to Dr. Siti Khouri, who was currently hovering near the mummified remains of the dead alien, her light illuminating a fresh set of aggressive, mathematical glyphs.

"Doctor Khouri, report. Is the handshake successful?" Alistair ordered.

"I-I'm in, Commander," Khouri whispered, her voice trembling as the massive, iris-like valve of the bridge door began to groan. A sound like grinding bone echoed through the corridor as the ancient mechanism struggled to respond to her bypass. "The command deck is opening. But Commander... the energy readings on the other side... they’re spiking. Something in there is still receiving a signal."

"Marines, weapons hot," Alistair commanded the marines. He stepped toward the opening iris, his helmet lights cutting into the command deck beyond. "Captain Lauzon, we are breaching the bridge. Be advised: we are detecting active data transmission. This ship isn't just a wreck—it's just become active on the deck." 

He stepped over the threshold, his magnetic boots clacking onto the bridge of a ship that had once helped silence a galaxy. "Kestrel entering the deck now. Mongoose, stay sharp. The ghost is awakening."