So far, so good, Mathis thought after Weiss smoothly got the ship into position near a good distance from the wreck. A good job so far, and he would say something about it. "Good job Weiss, and keep us here unless something else happens in this system." Mathis sounded a bit cautious. It may be nothing, but in his experience. It pays to be careful, and since this is the first mission and they have already found something of great note. He does not want any deaths this early in their mission.

"Leino," Mathis said in a commanding tone. "Any other readings so far in the system?"

"No captain, just the energy signal on the ship. Nothing else in the system so far."

"Okay, and keep me informed if anything changes." Mathis stayed in his chair and watched the wreck from the bridge's viewport.

"Roger captain," Leino replied back professionally and keep her eyes on her console.

As time passed and Mathis watched the alien wreck and studied it both from the viewport and on the holographic display. It was clear this ship had seen combat based on the scans, but what he thought the most was how long it had been here. In this system, simply floating in cold space in this damaged state. The damage seemed bad enough to disable the ship and as long as the ship does not have any susprises for them. This might be a simple run, more so if the energy source can be identified and maybe even recovered.

Then he heard Vance got on comms, and it seems he was wrong about the ship and this mission being a simple one. "Be careful, Vance, and do not take any chances," Mathis spoke in a clear and concerned tone. "Find the source of the energy source and deal with anything that seems hostile."

While Mathis doubts that they will find anything actually alive on that ship. The fact that it has sprung to life after who knows how long in space and despite its damage makes him concerned. They do not know what is on that ship, but now that it seems to be still alive. Maybe it does not wish to surrender its secrets just yet. So Mathis just hopes that this mission will do well and they can get in and get out without any problems.

“Cover starboard, shoulder to bulkheads,” Kashvi ordered. The command was almost unnecessary; everyone had it drilled into their muscles from years of training. The Marine Corps loved training. It was a great thing, but no amount of it could prepare anyone for floating through an ancient, derelict, alien ship.

“This is fucking weird…” one of the marines muttered. Kashvi didn’t respond. It was impossible to completely control comms in a high-stress situation. When the bullets started flying, men babbled, laughed, whimpered, even prayed. With computer assistance, commanders could shut down transmissions if needed, but there was no point in trying to silence everything.

Besides, it was fucking weird.

The bulkheads, once dark and inert, were slowly beginning to glow. It wasn’t dramatic. It was as though the metal was veined like marble, light seeping into it at an agonizingly slow pace. The change was subtle, just a few shades lighter than it had been, but enough to give the alien structure a disconcerting sense of motion. It was almost organic, like flesh stretched over a vascular system.

“Anyone reading biologics?” Kashvi asked, steadying herself with a hand against the wall as she countered a slight spin from her last jump. Her HUD blinked with negative reports from her marines. The tech wasn’t picking anything up. Not that she trusted it, what were the odds that marine-grade hardware, designed on a budget, could detect alien pathogens? Of course, the theory was that alien pathogens wouldn’t affect humans. Or so she vaguely remembered from her three mandatory credits in exobiology. Maybe the boffins back on the ship would have better insight.

“We are at the door,” Carmichael reported. The pointman had advanced down the tapering corridor toward the source of the energy reading, only to find his way blocked by a smooth metal plate a little larger than an armored marine. The internal illumination had brightened, casting a sickly light on Carmichael’s armor.

“You want us to breach here, Ma’am?” Carmichael asked, reaching for his breacher. The M21 breacher resembled a small caulking gun, except instead of caulk, it contained a paste of metalized thermite and unoxidized aluminum in an explosive matrix. When ignited, the mixture could burn hot enough to cut through even tempered steel.

“Negative,” Kashvi snapped. “We’re not cutting into the first alien ship we find, made of who knows what.”

Carmichael's hand jerked away from the breacher as if slapped, then paused.

“Please advise, Lead,” he requested, unsure how to procced.

Kashvi kicked off and fired a short burst of gas to twist herself into a dive, carrying her down the tube until she landed beside Carmichael. Her magnetic boots clanked against the hull as she stabilized. Carmichael reflexively shifted sideways to clear her sight line.
The dull light was brighter now enough to reflect off his visor like distant starlight.

“It looks almost like…” Kashvi trailed off, then, on a hunch, extended her hand. As her fingers neared the plate, the light grew even brighter, and the veins in the metal seemed to glow like fiber optics. They formed a complex geometric pattern almost like circuit diagrams. There was a dull spot at the center of the panel, a roughly octagonal shape, though the sides weren’t uniform.

“What the hell?” Kashvi murmured. She extended her fingers, spread wide, and touched the spot. The panel melted as though struck by a blowtorch, the fluid metal disappearing into the hull as if absorbed by porous sand. Unhealthy, jaundiced light oozed from the aperture, half-obscuring the space beyond.

“Moving! Check left!” Carmichael called, diving into the room beyond the portal.

“Tight, tight, tight to the right,” Kashvi replied, kicking off to cover the other side as the rest of the team followed, escorting the civilians into the unknown.

@Penny @UFRSivio

"Yes, Major." Schrier quickly responded back then let the rest of the squad clear the turn and started leading the way from the middle, letting the astro-scanner guide them. The silence between them grew as they went, all focused on their tasks. Schrier made sure to keep his eyes out around them as well. Wouldn't want to accidently be so caught up in the scanner that he ran into a wall after all. The Major certainly seemed the type to never let him hear the end of it if nothing else. Still though, the eeriness of the seemingly abandoned, derelict ship was also enough to keep him on his guard, especially as they kept twisting back and forth between the walkways like a maze, the squad checking ahead for each turn. With the pillars everywhere, he was even reminded of the story of the labyrinth though hopefully they wouldn't need a string to find their way back.

Finally though, they reached a larger open area, the heart of the maze. And within the middle was a sight that boggled Martin's eyes. The engine of the ship was as organically metallic as all the rest of the ship, but where he expected engines of similar if not bigger size than the Arcadian, it was instead smaller and much more compact, looking like a fragile silver blossom encompassing a dim but still shining pale blue light. This was what powered the whole ship?

Quickly though, he regained his composure and turned to the Major. "It seems we have found the main power source, Major. If there are no objections, I shall head towards it and start my examinations."