Deep space exploration

[Saya]

Slowly but steadily the battered Corvo pushed through the thick Nebula. They had picked up the last signs of human life days ago. And nothing but thick green mud all around. If there was no reason for going here, Saya would've called it quits right here. But people died so someone could hide this. And any reasonable person would've strayed away from going here for that reason alone. Leave alone attempting it in a ship that direly needed a full overhaul.

Guess we can afford that if we finally find something. Saya thought, sitting in the captain's chair with her feet resting on the console. She was alone on the bridge. Not that there was lots of people on the ship who could keep her company. Another reason the ship was falling apart. There was less than twenty on the vessel, far less than usual but no one had wanted to risk their lives leaving populated space so far behind.

There was friends she could usually call on, trustworthy ones that so far helped each of her plans. But, she guessed, that was before her ship was falling apart and the results of her trips into the Omicrons less rewarding. She sighed at that and got up, ready to leave the bridge to grab a cuppa when she saw something, first in the cloud before a whole range of alarms sounded throughout the ship.

She was back in the captain's seat in an instant and within a few moments she heard the door to the bridge open, with the crew swarming into the room. Indicated on the screen was that at least some of the turrets were now manned by a person instead of the crude AI. With a deep breath she reminded herself that that once happened faster and that all turrets were manned at one point. But that was pointless drifting of thoughts. There was something before them. Something artificial.

[Saya]

"I'm sorry. I can't be on this one. I've got an offer I was waiting for... sorry Saya." And with that her last chance for another pilot was gone. She was still bothered that everyone she'd counted on was just... abandoning her. What happened to the big crew she could easily bring together? But a glance through the window and onto the Corvo told her why. She kicked a can down the hallway and glanced at the Freelancer who was walking down the hallway. That'd been her best pilot and her ship was far better than anything she had available.

"Guess we'll do without them." she said below her breath and in habit, reached for the pocket she used to keep her cigarettes in. "Right." she added to her grumbling. She'd stopped and thrown out all she had down the airlock. With an increasingly souring mood she went back to the hangar with her ship. It was time to go start this run. It'd be the last run if they wouldn't find anything.

The ship had survived nomad attacks, pirate raids and the odd mercenary. And now it looked like it could be beaten by a helium miner down in Penny. But this time we'll find something. she had to mentally encourage herself before launching her ship and facing the few people she did manage to assemble.
-
And they did find something. It was clearly nomad in origin but looked inactive. Though there were occasional energy spikes coming from the structure, there was no defenses. No shields. This was clearly either damaged or abandoned. Everyone on the bridge was staring at either a screen or the reinforced window in front of them as the massive structure came closer and closer until they slowly reached its hull. There was some sort of membrane protecting the outer side but asteroids had ripped it apart over time.

Agitated whispering among the crew wouldn't deter Saya and she began to move the ship around the structure, looking for a weak spot or another sort of entrance. They had to bring something home. The structure alone wouldn't be worth anything this far out. And there was no guarantee that its alien owners wouldn't come back after all.

Another much thicker looking membrane was covering a rounded entrance into the structure. Here Saya stopped the Corvo and everyone prepared for the real operation now. Though Saya wasn't happy that she had to fly their small craft, there was no other pilot she could trust. Marco would have the bridge and he'd been on every of their trips since the start so she could trust him to keep the area under observation and her informed. Time to go check the thing out from inside.

[Saya]

"Careful. You have no idea what that is or what it might do to the ship." Marco warned her as she approached the entry to the structure.
"I'll try to be." She replied and moved the ship toward the membrane. The Falchion's nose touched it and the ship slowed down. "Huh. It's keeping me from flying inside but-" she gave more power to the engines and the ship began to get through smoothly. "Nevermind that. I'm... in."

"What the hell is this?" She asked and tried to send video back to ship. Only garbled static came back. "Oh crap." she muttered but wouldn't stop. They got too far to give up now. There was weirdly organic looking columns, seemingly random through the wide corridors. She flew further and further into the installations. Alarms showing that her shields kept being attacked by- something. They were losing power and much faster than she had feared even. So she sped up the ship, dangerously fast in the unknown structure. She could see nomadic turrets on some of the walls but none of them were active. She nearly thought she had to turn around, that this was a waste of time until she saw a light up ahead.

When she entered the chamber the light came from the attack on her shields stopped. Instead the radiation alert flared up loudly. She didn't have much time here. The center of the chamber was holding a strange construction that held a small object in suspension. Having to hurry wasn't making being careful easy at all and she approached the center of the strange nomad chamber.

[Saya]

The energy readings from this were off the charts and it seemed like it was unstable. Certainly nothing one should consider picking up with no further research or security measures at least. But she maneuvered the Falchion closer. The tractor beam wouldn't respon to pulling it so she'd have to get near it. The ship's systems didn't like that at all but there was nothing to be done about that. It looked magnificent, powerful and dangerous.

Despite the danger she slowly maneuvered the cargo bay over the small object. It was ridiculously small for the power output and the moment the tractor beam could apply enough strength, the thing moved and got pulled into the small ship. The structure powered down and the warning of her shields being attacked fired up again. And much stronger than before now. As if the organisms went mad from the removal of the power cell.

Panicked, Saya swung the ship around, scraping the structure as she gave power to the engines once more, trying to get out of the nomad installation. The spaces were narrow and the shield alert was just making her more and more agitated. What if they were attacked and left? was the only clear thought she got in between avoiding a column and a wall. It wasn't helping. Her shields were dangerously close to failing when she finally rammed the ship through the membrane at the entrance. The hull made a disgusting screeching sound inside the cockpit as the ship's hull was deformed at the front. But she had no time to care and thrust through, outside.

And the shield alarm stopped. To then be replaced by a half worried, half cheerful Marco screaming through the comms. "You did it! Damn are you alright?!" He must have seen the damage to the ship and the speed she was approaching the Corvo with. She nearly rammed the docking clamps that would pull the Falchion into place. "I think so." She could only breathe as a reply as the ship was being secured. "Get us out of here right now. I'll explain then."

[Saya]

Saya was exhausted, the ship heavily damaged but overall the mission was successful. If they could get back to civilized space and find a buyer for this without attracting nomad agent attention. She climbed out of the cockpit and took her helmet off. Her breath was still heavy and she felt her body trembling now that she could focus on her surroundings. The rumbling of the engines told her that the ship was turning around, away from here. Saya didn't have the energy to go to her quarters right away and just sat down on a bench in the tiny ship bay.

Though she had only a few moments of peace until Marco and two crew members got into the small room. "You look like a mess." He just said without a change in expression. Though from what she'd heard through the comms earlier, she knew he worried. "I assume you found something."
At that question she gave him a short smile. "Some power cell of sorts." She said, trying to make it sound casual. It'd have worked if her voice wasn't sounding so shaky. "I hope it was worth it... We'll have to find a buyer for it or it wasn't."

She then proceeded to tell them the whole story. When she was done she finally could go and get some rest. She took a shower and fell asleep instantly. Once they had returned, she'd have to find a buyer. And be careful about it.