After ten minutes of tinkering with the computer, Nico had a layout of the Colony ship brought up on her screen for Max to examine.
“What’s with this color coding? It is all various shades of purple” Max complained as he examined the layout.
At three kilometers long, the vessel was enormous, and from the translations that Nico had made, it was capable of easily terraforming most suitably sized planets to be friendly to life. It even had what Nico had translated as a Planetary Core Drill and Reactor, which he could only guess was intended to reheat the core mass of a planet that had cooled too much to sustain liquid water.
It was currently unknown if that bit of technology was still on board or functional, but the location that it should be in was clearly marked.
Most of his men and all of the Second Battalion were currently exploring the exterior of the vessel, making notes and trying to hack their way into the airlocks, so it was up to Max to go explore anything that looked interesting.
That was still inconvenient since he couldn’t split his team up. If they came across any locked doors he would need Nico to open them, and if they came across danger, they were relying on Major Miller to take care of it for them, since they didn’t grab weapons to go with the mobile suit, other than the basic sidearm and some tools that could be used to bludgeon.
“Is there any sign of where we might find the settlers? If they are still on board, that is the first place we should check.” Max asked while Nico brought up a map.
“They should all be in this one internal section. There are gene labs in that area too, so I am assuming that they were intending to make more settlers when they arrived, and tailor them to their environment.
It’s a very planet-friendly approach, and suitable to arrival on a planet that already has life forms present.” Nico elaborated.
“So they’re not inherently bad people is what you’re saying? Got it.” Major Miller agreed from outside the room.
“It’s about a kilometer from here, but straight down this main corridor, so it shouldn’t take us long to get there if the bulkhead doors aren’t locked.” Nico directed, taking off at a jog.
That was a slow walk for the Crusader Class Mecha, so Max matched their pace, keeping his eyes open for anything moving or suspicious since he didn’t trust the translated internal scans to tell them everything that they needed to know about this ship in just one sitting.
It was never that easy. If you could just sit down at a console and find out everything, operational security wouldn’t mean a thing. Data was always divided between multiple systems on an interstellar ship of any sort, especially a colony ship, where redundant systems were absolutely vital to their survival.
Nico was getting the hang of the doors as they went, accessing them remotely so that they would open before the group arrived, letting them keep their pace down the corridor.
“You know, it would have been easier if we had just turned on all the power in the ship, and not just a little bit for the corridors we were using.” Major Miller lamented, looking down a darkened side corridor.
“We don’t know what systems are damaged, and the basic functions are still working. It’s best not to take any risks until we can search the ship and make our way to the engineering department to do a full scan.” Max disagreed.
He was also curious about what was down the corridors that they were passing, but they could wait until the ship had at least been searched for survivors.
“Here we are. Stasis pod room one of four. There are double doors to this area, with a sanitizing system and the interior still has an atmosphere, quality unknown, the walls are interfering with my scans.
If you two want to wait out here, I will search the room and report back. The fewer people we send inside the easier it will be on the ship’s remaining power supply.” Nico suggested.
“Works for me. Make sure you record it all for the mission report.” Max instructed her, then turned to inspect the other doors in the area.
The walls were smooth, and slightly curved, made of a silvery substance that Max’s suit determined wasn’t metallic, but it couldn’t name the alloy or polymer that they were constructed of. It seemed to be dozens of different materials all bonded together into one block, like the layered composite armor of a Mecha, but at a molecular level.
It would take some time for his Suit to fully scan these walls, which were different from the plain silver ones that made up the rest of the ship so far.
This must be the aliens’ version of security material, and knowing what it was could either be a huge benefit to the Kepler force or tell them a lot about the technological level of the people who built this ship.
The construction method was very advanced, but that didn’t always translate into more durable or higher quality construction, only a very different culture doing the building.
“Max, the room is empty, but they left a note on the wall. Give me a second and I will have it translated.” Nico informed him a few minutes after entering the stasis room.
[Ship engines offline. No source of Dilithium Crystals was found within the navigable area. The crew has been evacuated to the Colony Ship Hope along with essential materials. Pray to the Gods that we find a peaceful new home, free from conflict and the brutal species.]
Nico sent the translation and Major Miller burst into laughter.
“Wow did they ever come to the wrong fething Galaxy. This whole place is a warzone, and that’s without counting the petty stuff, like the species that just want to eat everything that they see.” He chuckled.
Not the most glowing recommendation of their home galaxy, but the Major wasn’t wrong. This wasn’t what a colony ship would hope for if they wanted a peaceful home.