The Pinicon Belt

Sculptors in the heart of the belt!

Drake had heard of these ancients and the idea of potentially uncovering the secrets to that power was mind blowing.

These were his thoughts as he listened intently to the back and forth between his crew and their counterparts. He was ever ready to reach for his phaser though, as he would never trust these alternates and noticed Luna eyeing her phaser and probably thinking the same. He tried to catch her eye and nod, trying to convey that he felt as she did.

It felt like his heart skipped a beat as they discussed getting underway.

Luna returns Drake's gaze with a quick sidelook. Good to know he was alert too.
Then the structure appears on the sensor
"So we are going to that thing?" she asks and turns to the alternate Luna "Are you up for flying your ship through the field? Then I'll follow. That seems to be the plan." being behind the other ship did give a tactical advantage if this was any kind of trap.

Aurin was significantly more morose than Drake at the prospect of putting his hands on ancient technology. He ran one web-scarred hand along the edge of his beak, thinking of the rogue archaeology along the neutral zone, and all its disastrous consequences.

But if there was such a station at the heart of the belt, it may be their only option to affect this anomaly. While the Danube was an impressive stripe of shuttlecraft, he couldn't imagine trying to mount a comprehensive study from one. He would have to practically reinvent the wheel.

So he took a careful reading, sending the information to the conn, with a suggested rough course that would get them closer.

In the meantime, he took careful readings with their new, broadened perspective, looking for patterns in the interference, to see if he could tell anything about its nature - if it was some feedback from the environment, some consequence of a mechanism aboard the station, or even active sensor jamming to prevent them from finding it. After all, if the station did not want to be found, it may try to defend itself...

This was far outside her experience and expertise, but she stood pinned to the monitors. Could anything still be alive among the ruins?

Once their guests had returned to their own ship, the understanding that they would follow their mirror selves deeper into the asteroid field to the newly discovered structure at it's center, Cole joined Aurin at the console that had become the science officer's station. Gazing at the data through narrowed, discerning eyes as he stroked his heavily bearded jaw deep in thought.

"Learn what you can about this alien structure," he intoned, finally snapping out of his reverie, "In particularly how it might be used to get us home --- then how it can be destroyed."

Holding up a hand in caution, before any protests could be made, "Or in the very least rendered inert.

"Despite the looming threat the Borg present in our reality --- and certainly the toll it's taken on our counterparts --- I don't see how we can allow the destruction of an entire society.

"Not to mention the fact that their are probably more, even dangerous, threats in our own reality that the Borg keep in check. Better the enemy you know ..."

Luna starts the engine and follows the other ship to the heart of the asteroid field.

After what seems like hours of tense piloting through the asteroids, the runabout winds its way through huge chunks of debris into the very center of the Pinicon Belt. Looming beyond the asteroids, the battered hulk of an ancient space station hovers into view. The structure appears to be composed of three spherical modules connected by a central axis. The station may have had more sections long ago, but they appear to have been destroyed in asteroid collisions over the centuries.

Momentum: 9
Threat: 4

Luna draws a sigh of relief once they reach their destination. It was some rough hours navigating the asteroid field though the expanded array helped immensely. Luna was very much in the zone and after some time she got into the rhythm of avoiding asteroids.
Now she looked in awe at the wrecked space station.

"Fascinating." says Jayce quietly in amazement as the station comes into view.

"Indeed it is," Drake agrees, staring in wonder at the relic. Heaving a sigh of relief, glad their ship successfully navigated through the asteroid field while remaining intact, he gazes in fascination at the spheres that remain attached to the old station.

"Shall we send a team, Commander?"

Stoically Cole had sat, limiting how he could the distractions as Luna expertly guided them through the thickest of debris. The hour or so had felt more like days and as the pilot slowed the craft and finally stopped, he rose stretching to relieve some of the tension that had built up and gripped Luna's shoulder.

"Well done Lieutenant," he stated with an appreciative nod to the young pilot as he too took in the impressive sight of the ancient station.

"What can you tell me Aurin," he asked the science officer, "And Luna, I suppose we should open a channel and coordinate things with our counterparts."

"Right away, sir" Luna says as she sets up a communication channel to the other ship.

do a life signs scan, i doubt there's anything out here , but something may be controlling this mess she grips the back of her seat, trying not to show how she's using it to stay on her feet. keep the ceew safe. keep the crew safe she repeats the mantra in her mind

"It's a long shot, to be sure, but if the station went dark unexpectedly, there may be some survivors in stasis."

As the veil of the interference cleared from the sensors, Aurin turned them on their destination, trying to see if it was safe for life aboard, and if there was a functional docking bay, or if they would need to... improvise ingress. Once through scanning for structural details and any power sources they could lock onto, he ran a thorough scan for life signs. He didn't fancy catching some millenia-old dormant infection.

The scans reveal that the interior of the station is a vacuum with no artificial gravity and no life signs. No defensive shields prevent an away team from beaming aboard the station. Indeed, there is no power at the moment. However, much of the technology aboard the station remains surprisingly intact, despite having been exposed to the vacuum of space. Restoring power might be possible. The alternate Walker says, "Commander, I recommend you send a team over. We will as well. We leave it to your choice of whether you want to explore together, or divide the station up and explore separately."