Expedition: Nauru - Printable Version

Expedition: Nauru - Printable Version

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Expedition: Nauru - Tenacity - 11-24-2018

Xeno-Archaeological Expedition: Planet Nauru

24.11.825-A.S

Journal Entry: Dr. Eva Strauss

"I'm starting this journal to narrate key points of my expedition. Beginning 23.11.825 A.S., while en-route to Invicta Research Complex from a four day survey of Zone-42's alien structure, the Ailuros received a request from excavation teams on the ground at planet Nauru for oversight. A previously-undiscovered alien ruin; from initial reports quite a vast complex, was uncovered in one of the exclusion zones - areas where hydrogen sulfide content has been concentrated due to terraforming attempts by the Core elsewhere on the planet. Being the nearest expert on Xeno-archaeology, I was chosen for the transfer, and Damien Mekal sent me with the Artemis to Nauru."

"Arriving at the exclusion zone on Nauru a short while later, I was directed by ground crews to the excavation site. On the surface, respirators must be worn, as the Hydrogen Sulfide content in these areas is toxic to human biology. The excavation site was underground, and sealed off via repurposed airlocks to keep the interior breathable and relatively comfortable for the dig team."

"I was taken to a coordination room where the site was being mapped out as exploration of the ruin progressed. At the time of my arrival, roughly half of the alien complex, from surface scans, had been catalogued and mapped, with key locations in the site marked for further study. To this point, dig teams had been treating this like any other ruin excavation on Nauru, considering it relatively unremarkable aside from a notably larger size. It wasn't until an assortment of active databases and technological remains were found that outreach to higher authorities was made."

"My first order of business is to organize the current workforce here, and prioritize areas of study. I will spend the remainder of the night catching up on what has already been uncovered, but from what I have seen I do believe we have a significant find on our hands here. My next report will be made as soon as I've gotten things in order."

End of Log

RE: Expedition: Nauru - Tenacity - 11-25-2018

Xeno-Archaeological Expedition: Planet Nauru

24.11.825-A.S

Journal Entry: Dr. Eva Strauss

"I've gotten myself up to speed on the current state of the excavation site, and previously uncovered knowledge of the aliens that lived here millennia ago. It has been previously concluded by Dr. Kendra Sinclair, working for The Order years ago, that the ruins on this planet were not of Daam K'vosh origin, and were in fact that of another race. Following initial organization of the excavation team, I took the Artemis into low orbit to assess the site."

"High altitude scans of the ruin structure were made, and correlated to the maps drawn up by the excavation teams, to create an extruded model of the site. I can certainly attest, at this point, that this ruin is larger than any others we've found on Nauru."

"The ruin site, while sprawling across a vast area, seems to be condensed into three identifiable areas. We believe the northern area was a habitation complex of some sort, as it is scattered with rooms and partitions full of what appear to be beds, desks, tables, and other similar domicile-related objects built into the structure itself. Everything is formed from the sandstone layer of the upper planetary crust, and appears to be carved out of solid material with extreme precision."

"Tunnels connect this presumed habitation area to two other sections: a rectangular complex full of machinery, and a large circular complex where an assortment of computers and interfaces have been found. This latter room is most significant, as none of the other ruins excavated so far have had any discernible computerized technology, leading past research teams to surmise that the aliens who built this place were more primitive than their artifacts and relics would otherwise suggest."

"It is my theory that, somehow, this site and all of the others are interlinked, and any technology spread across the planet would have been controlled from this central data center. This would also have further ramifications in our understanding of this planet's missing denizens: they would have to have been a unified species, with no civil disputes that would necessitate a split control over their societal systems. This species, from what I can tell, had no crime, no unrest, no war, everyone worked toward a unified goal. However, given the partitioned living spaces in the habitation area, I do not believe they existed in a hive mind structure as the Nomads apparently do, they had need or want for privacy of some degree, despite their apparent unity."

"The manufacturing facility, as I've dubbed it, to the southeast of the other two structures boasts many similarities to industrial sectors in human colonies. We've found conveyor systems, tools, and stockpiles of raw materials and partially assembled items. I've currently assigned the majority of excavation crews to that area, in order to catalogue all artifacts contained therein. Most appear dormant or inactive, likely incomplete, but there are many that have faint energy signatures and may provide further insight to this species."

"I've taken to personally cataloguing the data center, and already I've made a major breakthrough: language."

"This was one of the first files I was able to access via one of the intact data terminals, once we were able to supply an appropriate power source. The language presented in this image is quite distinct from inscriptions we've seen on Nomad and Daam K'vosh relics, and appears to be a more heiroglyphic-influenced system, with a total of 44 unique symbols shown. It's going to take me a great deal of time and effort to decipher this language, as I've yet to find any correlation or common ground with our own. I've already tried comparing the symbols to catalogued K'vosh inscriptions seen on the various artifacts traded around Sirius, and nothing matches up. As soon as I can find a link, something solid to move forward from, perhaps we can begin to understand these aliens more."

End of Log

RE: Expedition: Nauru - Tenacity - 11-25-2018

Xeno-Archaeological Expedition: Planet Nauru

25.11.825-A.S

Journal Entry: Dr. Eva Strauss

"I've been staring at alien computer screens all night, I havent slept, I havent eaten, this is confounding. Every time I think I've figured it out, the syntax changes. The language itself does not appear to be complicated; aside from a greater number of symbols than our own alphabet utilizes, which isnt uncommon even among past human cultures, the structure is phonetic and relatively consistent. The difficulty of translation lies in how these beings spoke, or wrote rather, their language fails to follow any common vernacular composition I've seen before."

"The symbols flow from one to the next, everything is connected geometrically-speaking, I just have to figure out where the starting point is. There must be a clue or key of some kind here on the planet, I'm referencing and comparing records of other dig sites. While no other computer systems or data centers like this one have been found, some of these symbols have been carved into the walls of other structures around the planet. If I can find just one instance where a symbol directly correlates to something known, perhaps I can work out the rest."

End of Log

RE: Expedition: Nauru - Tenacity - 11-25-2018

Xeno-Archaeological Expedition: Planet Nauru

25.11.825-A.S

Journal Entry: Dr. Eva Strauss

"I think I've found a link, or at least a decent starting point. I've reached out to the archaeological databases in Athenia city for any mentions of alien symbols or hieroglyphs found in other excavation sites, and a couple notable references popped up. The first was a set of four symbols found edged into a stone near one of the underground lakes..."

"These four symbols were previously though unimportant, deemed to be likely nothing more than some form of ancient cave artistry, but that's before we discovered more advanced technology on Nauru. I think this species was more in touch with their planet than we ever were with our own, there seem to be references and links to the subterranean world all over the place. Nearly every ruin we've found has been buried, and while we initially assumed that was a product of time and abandonment, it looks more and more like the natives here lived underground intentionally. Additionally, the most prominent sources of water on this world are all underground lakes, and with water being a key aspect of terrestrial life as we know it, one can only assume this species would have had to access those sources directly."

"The second reference was a stone tablet found at site Beta-4, just outside of Athenia City, one of the first ruins excavated by the joint Order, Corsair, and Zoner science teams during their time here. This tablet was catalogued and stored away at the relic vaults in Athenia, deemed to be a simple artistic artifact with no real value, but I've found the same four symbols from the lake on this tablet."

"The drawing on this tablet, while crude, bears a striking resemblance to a large aquatic creature the excavation teams refer to as the 'Tequorpa'. This creature has only been sighted once, swimming in the same underground lake where the first set of symbols was located. It is my belief, at this point in time, that these four symbols construct whatever word the native aliens used to describe this creature. Obviously 'Tequorpa' is a name derived from our own language and has no relevance to what they may have called it, but the symbols clearly reference the creature as far as I can tell."

"Additionally, the teams I sent to catalogue the Habitation section of the current site have found a room with concave recesses dug into one wall, each marked with another symbol..."

"These symbols currently have no correlation to the others, but warrant further study. I've instructed the teams in that section to focus on pairing the symbols on the wall with any other objects or structures in the area, perhaps there will be another key there."

End of Log

RE: Expedition: Nauru - Tenacity - 11-26-2018

Xeno-Archaeological Expedition: Planet Nauru

25.11.825-A.S

Journal Entry: Dr. Eva Strauss

"Further symbol analysis from the other sites and relics has certainly helped narrow things down. I believe I've cut the initial 44 symbols, which were presumed to all represent an alphabet, down to 40; it would appear four of the glyphs were errant references or diagrams rather than part of the alien alphabet. For the purposes of these journal entries, and the expedition here, the team has taken to calling the beings that once lived here 'Naurians' based on our own naming convention for the planet itself. It is a crude title but it will do for our purposes, at least until we can find whatever they called themselves in these databases."

"I believe this to be the proper, refined version of the Naurian alphanumerical index. The numerical glyphs certainly bear distinct differences from the rest, as do what we've assumed are a form of punctuation, though syntaxes still arent matching entirely. The four erroneous symbols I cut from the initial index could still be letters, numbers, or punctuation marks on their own, but they dont seem to resemble the rest in any way I can see."

"This is the most recent text-based message in the database, it is paired along with some kind of media file that I cannot yet access. I've based much of my analysis of the Naurian language structure on this message, as it is the only one I've found in the database so far that appears to be properly written. All other text files I've come across look like a variety of diagrams or footnotes, with no large blocks of text shown. I still have no idea what this one says, but I'm assuming it has something to do with whatever happened to the species prior to their departure from the planet"

End of Log

RE: Expedition: Nauru - Tenacity - 11-27-2018

Xeno-Archaeological Expedition: Planet Nauru

26.11.825-A.S

Journal Entry: Dr. Eva Strauss

"Another long day of staring at symbols and glyphs, looking for patterns, but I think I've finally started to make actual progress. I'm mostly working with that 'final message' I found in the database, but delving through older files I have come across numerous other reports and documents, though there's no telling what they actually say yet. I've still had no luck accessing the media file included with the message, it appears to be password encrypted and without a full understanding of the language I cant even begin to run a decryption algorithm."

End of Log

RE: Expedition: Nauru - Tenacity - 11-27-2018

Xeno-Archaeological Expedition: Planet Nauru

27.11.825-A.S

Journal Entry: Dr. Eva Strauss

"With what I've been able to decipher by hand, I think I have enough of a basis to write a translation program to automate the process and hopefully make some progress. I'm pulling files from the Naurian database and feeding them into the Artemis' computer. The program searches for syntax relations and correlations to a variety of human languages, until it can verify one glyph to letter or word conversion at a time. It will take some time, but I think by the end of the day I might be able to get some of these files at least mostly translated."

End of Log

RE: Expedition: Nauru - Tenacity - 11-29-2018

Xeno-Archaeological Expedition: Planet Nauru

28.11.825-A.S

Journal Entry: Dr. Eva Strauss

"The Ailuros arrived unexpectedly today. Damien needed the Artemis to retrieve the power cells APM ordered from the Ingenuus Research group. He offered me the opportunity to go with him on the flight, but I had to refuse... I'm so close to a full translation, I cant afford distractions right now. Without the Artemis, I'll be stranded here until they send the ship back for pickup or another vessel arrives, but we've got supplies to last a while, it should be no issue."

"I'm still awaiting word from the BDM regarding the media file I cant seem to unlock. I may also send the offer to the LSF, but I'll give my people a little while longer to respond before I make that call. Whatever the media file contains isnt as important as understanding these text logs. The algorithm I wrote for translation is taking longer than expected, but it's nearly finished."

End of Log

RE: Expedition: Nauru - Tenacity - 11-29-2018

Xeno-Archaeological Expedition: Planet Nauru

28.11.825-A.S

Journal Entry: Dr. Eva Strauss

"I've finished translation of the numerical glyphs, it was actually rather quick compared to the rest and since I wasn't making a lot of progress elsewhere I sidetracked to this tonight instead. The Naurians, like us, appear to have used a Base-10 mathematical system, which actually gives us quite a lot of other insights into their biology and culture. They probably had ten digits like we do; five on each hand, or some combination thereof; it's logical that would have led to a math system based on ten repeating numericals. Of course, that's just conjecture at this point, with no biological remains found I doubt we'll ever know what they actually looked like."

"This also means that, once I can crack this code to the media files, it should be much easier to interface our computers to the ones here in the Naurian Database. A Base-10 math system would have likely led to similar programming methods and computer language; obviously these systems are using something more complex than Binary. I've gone ahead and sent a request for decryption aid to the LSF, as no response has been received from Rheinland yet. Hopefully they're quicker to respond."

End of Log

RE: Expedition: Nauru - Tenacity - 11-29-2018

Xeno-Archaeological Expedition: Planet Nauru

29.11.825-A.S

Journal Entry: Dr. Eva Strauss

"I've done it! The algorithm worked overnight, and with a few manual alterations I've managed to match every glyph to a letter of our own alphabet. With this key, translation can finally get started! Still no word from the BDM or LSF, but hopefully they'll come through soon."

"Due to the sheer amount of text that needs to be translated here, I'm considering a community outreach with other scholars and institutes around Sirius. With the key, and the text files, we should be able to quickly discover the history of this planet."

End of Log