Chapters IMPORTANT INFORMATION BEFORE READING
I just created an entire species with customs, weapons, planets, and a mission.
I understand that a lot of this may be confusing, so any information that is not addressed in this chapter I beg you to ask so others can see it here and not run into the same confusion you did.
Let's begin.
Q: Why do the characters talk to each other in their reports when they simply could do it in real life?
A: Because the reports are intended for Starside Command, but the rest of the crew can still see them. Think of it like an IRC chat.
Q: What/Who is Starside Command?
A: Starside Command is the fictional organization in this story that owns the means to supply and train 1,000+ crews for whatever missions they deem important.
Q: And what are the character's missions?
The characters are in Equestria to tranquilize species and have them categorized before sending them back to their home world as a museum exhibit.
Q: Why would they do that?
Homo Lacerta , the Latin name for the Crew's race (There's a clue in there for you readers), has a reputation for being their universe's 'Librarians'. They travel to distant galaxies and bring back specimens for study and exhibition after archiving.
Think of them as the Forerunners from Halo, except there's no impending doom here.
The Lacerta simply do it to understand how life could have evolved on other planets by studying the inhabitants.
Q: So all of our favorite ponies are at risk of being taken against their will?!
A: No. The Lacerta only take two specimens of each breed, race, or species that they deem the fittest in all forms of the word.
Keep in mind that there are many different types of ponies~
Q: Mal'Deen mentions something about weapons; but you just said they're only there to capture live specimens.
A: The crew has a few energy pistols, which will deliver lethal shots. But who in their right mind wouldn't go into a strange new world without adequate protection? As for tranquilizing, Needler Rifles (similar to the Needler Rifle from Halo) will deliver a tranquilizing crystal that is actually made up of....Crystallized tranquilizer fluid . It dissolves once it reaches a melting point (the same temperature of the human body, or any other living creature for that matter. How convenient!).
As for the Wrist-Crysts, they're self defense blades that are concealed in a tight, wide bracelet. They're triggered with the touch of a button on the underside that produces a twelve-inch long, two-inch wide crystal blade.
Q: Speaking of the characters, I'm a bit confused by them. Would you mind giving us a quick summary of the characters?
A: Captain Ragnok: He's the captain. He's a semi strict guy, or lizard I should say.
Thalos: He's the Crew's engineer. He's a pretty laid back lizard. Think of him as a cool geek/nerd (is there a difference?).
Mal'Deen: He's the Crew's only trained soldier. While the rest of the crew has training in self defense and small arms, Mal'Deen's the only guy authorized to wield the Needler Rifle. He's somewhat headstrong, but when there's someone who can control/command him he knows his place.
Kal'Deen: The little sister of Mal'Deen. She's the Crew's medic. Kind and caring and pretty lax, but subject to dish out more damage when she's in her primal state like the rest of the females of her race.
Thile: She's the Crew's technician. I'm pretty sure I'm using the wrong term, but she deals with all the high-tech stuff while Thalos just works with mechanics and the likes. She has a misty past that might get revealed, and Kal'Deen looks like the best candidate to be her new friend since she's new to the team.
PAIDeC: Ah, my pride and joy. Personalized Artificial Intelligence Defensive Engineered Companion, aka Sparky. He's based off of 343 Guilty Spark (I'm just stealing everything from Halo, aren't I?) and is a little silver sphere that hovers. He's about the size of your head and is chock-full of information. In the end, he's just a companion that can think but has little emotion unless his diplomacy scripts are running..
Q: You mentioned something about Kal'Deens' "primal state". What's that?
A: The Lacerta are a race of lizard beings based off of the Argonians (take THAT, Halo!) from The Elder Scrolls. They come from a very hot and dangerous planet, and for most of their history they were warrior tribes. The primal state happens only to females and is when they become so enraged that they lose control of themselves and just go apeshit on anything that moves. Thank the Eight for tranquilizers!
Q: The Eight? Thalos mentions something about that too. Who/what are they?
A: They're like the Nine from The Elder Scrolls, except the Lacerta's gods are known not to exist; it's simply a moral code that they all follow out of honor. The Eight stand for the six basic emotions (Anger, Disgust, Fear, Happiness, Sadness and Surprise) along with Life and Death.
Q: Thile talks about coordinates. How do we know where they are?
A:
Example: 8, 38 is the only point located on Canterlot's mountain peak.
Q: Whoa, whoa, whoa! PAIDeC kind of loses his marbles there for a while! How do I understand him?
A: I intended the reader to be forced to do a little research if they want to learn everything about the story. Learning is fun, right? When PAIDeC starts speaking in binary, what he says can easily be converted into proper English. Just spend a few minutes on Google- the internet has everything nowadays.
Mission Log - Crew-0561: [TIMESTAMP: 0200 HOURS, FIRST DAY]
LOG START:
--Ragnok --
We have been ejected from the mothership via Launch Bay-02 at approximately 0140 hours. All systems normal and bearing planet side at 70 knots.
Mothership destined for slip-space departure in T-Minus 10.
Upon touchdown, Crew-0561 is to begin scouting procedures before the Captain, myself, furthers the mission by ordering the capture of priority targets or further scouting, or cancels the mission on account of incredibly hostile conditions of any sort.
0146 hours and breaking planet atmosphere at 76 knots.
Main thrusters engaged and destined for touchdown at 0212 hours.
--Thalos --
All systems normal and pod double checked before ejection.
PAIDeC intact and currently off.
No current or expected problems.
--Mal'Deen --
Weapons and weapon systems in tact and fully operational.
Full ammo stock and energy charges.
Nothing further to report.
--Kal'Deen --
All medical supplies accounted for and no current injuries.
All crew vital signs read green across the scanners.
--Thile --
Scans detect abnormal heat signatures within points 13, 35; 21, 32; and 10, 25.
Bearing 65 knots and descending; main parachutes deployed- gone.
Reverse thrusters at half power; bearing 42 knots and closing.
Brace for touchdown.
Mission Log - Crew-0561: [TIMESTAMP: 0257 HOURS, FIRST DAY]
LOG START:
--Ragnok --
Touchdown confirmed.
Ejection pod rendered inoperable for planetary exit.
Distress beacon set.
Proceeding with mission objectives.
--Thalos --
The pod took one hell of a beating. Surprised any of us are alive; but we've definitely got at least one wounded.
PAIDeC is intact and operational; scanning surrounding area as we speak.
As for the the pod....We can live in it, but it wouldn't be the nicest of places.
Further assessment of damage ordered by Captain Ragnok upon PAIDeC's return.
--Mal'Deen --
A few of the energy charges burst. Ship took most of the plasma but a few stray bolts hit Kal'Deen in the side. She'll be fine but hindered for a few days until the burns subside.
Thank the Eight we had medical supplies, unlike Crew-0655...
--Kal'Deen --
Minor incident with some energy cells and I took a few burns to the side as a result. Luckily, my scales helped to keep most of the damage from breaking the third layer but it still hurts like a punch from a Maragnok.
All supplies seem intact and a few bumps and scratches for the rest of the crew, but everything else checks out green.
--Thile --
Scanners and radio fried in crash, Captain had me set up the distress beacon but it'll take about...Forty-five days and three hours before they're scheduled to even arrive back here to pick us up.
Coordinates of abnormal heat signatures uploaded into all personal datapads and PAIDeC before we sent him off.
Captain has him scanning the surrounding area, but even his scanners won't tell us anything besides what we can see out the cockpit window; a lot of trees and nothing else.
--PAIDeC --
Personal Artificial Intelligence Defensive Engineered Companion reporting in at exactly 3:06:42 [TIMESTAMP: 0306 HOURS, FIRST DAY].
Ordered to scan immediate surrounding areas within 200 yards by Captain Ragnok.
Findings: Dense plant life from unknown/undocumented families. Imagery included below.
Average temperature: 27*C
Approximate composition:
76.08% nitrogen (N2)
22.95% oxygen (O2)
0.91% argon
0.032% carbon dioxide
1% water vapor
Determination: Planet habitable!
Mission Log - Crew-0561: [TIMESTAMP: 0315 HOURS, FIRST DAY]
LOG START:
--Ragnok --
We took our first steps outside today; feels pretty good to stretch our scales. PAIDeC said that the air here was breathable, but I still ordered our environmental suits on.
Whoever designed these things needs a few Needler charges to the face if you ask me; no space for our tails and it tugs the wrong way against our scales most of the time. But hey, it 'keeps us safe'.
Had a little trouble with the door but Thalos got it working in a few minutes; something about hydrolic turbulence or whatnot- check his report, he's the engineer.
The immediate area is all just one big jungle-like forest. PAIDeC's still trying to classify the plant life and figure out what sort of biome this is, but if you ask me we're in a jungle-forest hybrid. Jungle vines and jungle flowers amongst what look like mutated Quercus aliena , but PAIDeC hasn't been able to find a close match on anything.
No signs of life other than trees and other plants, and the system's moon is still out, although that doesn't really surprise me: Different system, different rules.
--Thalos --
The main exit chamber was caved in as a result of the crash, so we had to pop the lock on the starboard side fueling station.
It's cramped in there, I'll tell you that.
Had a little trouble with that door, sounded like the hydrolic compressors were jammed for a few moments but they either fixed themselves or broke. Either way the door still opened.
I took PAIDeC with me to assess the damage on the rest of the ship and, well...
To put it simply: We're screwed .
The outer shell burned off in the atmosphere, but the main shell is still...Technically intact. Scorch marks all around her and a bunch of panels missing. I checked with Thile and she said that most of the electronics are still operational, so I guess it's not all that bad.
I'll try to figure out what we can salvage and what we can't and then go from there.
--Mal'Deen --
I can already tell you I hate this planet.
Nothing to shoot and nothing to hunt.
Passed out ammunition, but I'm the only one who's authorized to carry around the big boy; rest of the crew is stuck with their lame, seven-shot-before-reloading plasma pistols. I don't even know how Starside Command managed to make it so they couldn't carry their Wrist-Cryst's anymore, but I still got mine so it's all good.
--Kal'Deen --
My wounds are healing fine; a few of the damaged scales flaked off today to make room for the new ones, but there's really nothing else to report- and I hope it'll stay that way for me.
--Thile --
This ship is a nightmare! Main console stations one through three are shot to hell and I've been trying to get our radio back up but nothing's working! I guess the only good thing we have going is that we're all alive and our datapads still work...
--PAIDeC --
Personal Artificial Intelligence Defensive Engineered Companion reporting in at exactly 03:19:27 [TIMESTAMP: 0319 HOURS, FIRST DAY].
Previous Tasks:
Scout surrounding area within 200 yards and report findings to Captain Ragnok. [STATUS: COMPLETE]
Current Task: Assist Engineer Thalos and Technician Thiles in salvaging any and all technology/'spare parts' from damaged Ejection Pod-02 until otherwise directed by Captain Ragnok. [STATUS: IN PROGRESS]
Mission Log - Crew-0561: [TIMESTAMP: 0610 HOURS, FIRST DAY]
LOG START:
--Ragnok --
After much consideration and testing of the air, I've allowed the crew to shed their environmental suits. Mal'Deen took no time in getting situated in his combat armor, and the rest of the team opted to simply stroll around in their fatigues.
The sun is just coming up and Thalos is grateful to have a natural light rather than PAIDeC's blind-you-with-its-brightness light.
The things they build into that little floating ball...
I've already sent Mal'Deen ahead to map out our surroundings; Thile's tracking him on her datapad but he'll go out of range eventually. Then we'll only have his report to make sure he's alive if he doesn't come back before 1200 hours.
As for the inside of the ship, Kal'Deen and I have been setting everything back up so that it's livable. Thile's been making do with ripping out now useless wiring and attempting to fix the old circuits.
Not sure she'd be able to do it, but she's the technician so if anyone can get it done it'll be her.
--Thalos --
Thank the Eight that the sun came out; I was getting tired of having that little silver ball of a PAIDeC floating that close to my head for so long.
Do you know how annoying that soft little humming sound gets after three hours? Captain Ragnok would've had my head if I tore that thing apart.
But, at least we convinced the Captain to let us tear off those bulky environmental suits. Starts feeling like Magmus 9 when you're in there long enough.
Nothing else to say, really, except that we pulled off a bunch of damaged panels and salvaged what we could. It's not much, but we're definitely stuck here since we don't have the materials to fix the ship properly.
Who wants to take a guess at the Mothership's ETA?
Anyone?
--PAIDeC --
[System Error: 0236941]: Sergeant Mal'Deen has failed to report in at the designated time [TIMESTAMP: 0619 HOURS, FIRST DAY].
Starside Command Regulations suggest immediate location of missing crew member.
Captains' decision: Y/[N]
Reasoning:
=I=Ragnok =I=
Mal'Deen works best in the shadows. If something's out there, he's keeping to himself in hopes he isn't spotted. Either that or he's already dead. Regardless, if it's the latter I'm not putting the rest of my crew at risk since we don't know what all is out there. I'm aborting all other missions until Mal'Deen returns and we're holing up in the damaged pod.
Mal'Deen, if you're reading this, reassure us.
--Kal'Deen --
Apparently my brother's missing.
Again.
This wouldn't be the first time he's been late to report in, and it certainly won't be his last.
I'm confident that he's just out there fighting something or hiding. If it's either of the two, I know he can take care of himself; just like back on Endur.
You all remember that, right?
But now for my actual report: My side still burns a bit, but with some Morphin and Algeac it's been healing up faster. If I keep the treatment up, I should have a full set of overlaying scales in the spot by sundown today.
Captain Ragnok's been treating us like family, but that's far from surprising. We got the inside of the pod set up nicely and currently everyone's just laying in their bunks except Thile, who's still struggling with wiring and panels.
Eventually that girl's just gonna need to vent, and I hope I'm not the one she goes off on; bitch has a mean left claw and a bite. No offense, Thile.
Thinking about organizing a little celebration when my brother gets back for our luck in surviving the crash and the luck we've had so far. I know it's only been like...What, six hours or so since we landed? But anyways, I just feel really good for some reason.
I wonder where Thalos managed to hide the Firewater from me...
I could really use a drink.
Or seven.
--Thile --
None taken, Kal'Deen, but please stay out of my business. My life is my own and we have a mission.
I don't know why I decided to become a technician for Starside Command.
"It'll be fun!" they said. "You'll be doing what you love!" they said.
Let me clarify something: taking things apart and fiddling with the wires and high-tech gear inside is not the same as rewiring a ship's internal command console to work through sections Six and Nine just to figure out where exactly a leak in the radar's wiring is.
I did not sign up to run cables through ships all day.
I'll help you look for that Firewater, Kal'Deen, but only if you promise me a few swigs!
--PAIDeC --
Personal Artificial Intelligence Defensive Engineered Companion reporting in at exactly 06:34:16 [TIMESTAMP: 0634 HOURS, FIRST DAY].
Previous Tasks:
-Scout surrounding area within 200 yards and report findings to Captain Ragnok. [STATUS: COMPLETE]
-Assist Engineer Thalos and Technician Thiles in salvaging any and all technology/'spare parts' from damaged Ejection Pod-02 until otherwise directed by Captain Ragnok. [STATUS: INTERRUPTED, CANCELLED]
=I= Objective cancelled under Captain Ragnok's orders with consent from Engineer Thalos=I=
Current Task: Remain inside Ejection Pod-02 until further notice. Ordered by Captain Ragnok. [STATUS: IN PROGRESS]
Mission Log - Crew-0561: [TIMESTAMP: 0610 HOURS, FIRST DAY]
LOG START:
--Mal'Deen --
Nothing to see but trees and vines for what feels like miles. It's been more than two hundred yards and nothing's changing. Haven't personally encountered any wildlife, but I've heard their calls. Most of them sound like something big moving just beyond my sight, but a few of the more common ones sound like smaller creatures- herbivores no doubt.
Still no signs of any capturable, sentient life- whether it be in buildings or actual life. Come to think of it, I think I'm lost.
That plant looks like the one I passed ten minutes ago. Oh, and so does that one!
I hate this forest, jungle, thing .
[System Error: 0236628]: Unable to submit report to uplink (Server unavailable(Electromagnetic field detected in area))[TIMESTAMP: 0616 HOURS, FIRST DAY].
--Mal'Deen --
Nothing to see but trees and vines for what feels like miles. It's been more than two hundred yards and nothing's changing. Haven't personally encountered any wildlife, but I've heard their calls. Most of them sound like something big moving just beyond my sight, but a few of the more common ones sound like smaller creatures- herbivores no doubt.
Still no signs of any capturable, sentient life- whether it be in buildings or actual life. Come to think of it, I think I'm lost.
That plant looks like the one I passed ten minutes ago. Oh, and so does that one!
I hate this forest, jungle, thing .
[User Edit]: The hell? We were able to send reports when we were back at the crash site, and I couldn't have wandered that far!
Mission Log - Crew-0561: [TIMESTAMP: 1100 HOURS, FIRST DAY]
LOG START:
--Ragnok --
Still nothing from Mal'Deen. Talked with the rest of the crew and we came to an agreement to send PAIDeC out to search for him. He'll leave after he makes his report.
--Thalos --
You keep your claws off of my Firewater, Kal'Deen and Thile.
--PAIDeC --
[System Error: 0236941]: Sergeant Mal'Deen has failed to report in at the designated time [TIMESTAMP: 1100 HOURS, FIRST DAY].
Starside Command Regulations suggest immediate location of missing crew member.
Captains' decision: [Y] /N
Reasoning:
=I=Ragnok=I=
We're sending PAIDeC out in a few minutes since he's not an incredible loss to the team and he's equipped with cloaking abilities, among others.
--Kal'Deen --
Thalos, let's hope you know how to put PAIDeC back together- because if he comes back without my brother he'll be in pieces.
--Thile --
[Entry blank; not sent]
--PAIDeC --
Personal Artificial Intelligence Defensive Engineered Companion reporting in at exactly 11:12:12 [TIMESTAMP: 1112 HOURS, FIRST DAY].
Previous Tasks:
-Scout surrounding area within 200 yards and report findings to Captain Ragnok. [STATUS: COMPLETE]
-Assist Engineer Thalos and Technician Thiles in salvaging any and all technology/'spare parts' from damaged Ejection Pod-02 until otherwise directed by Captain Ragnok. [STATUS: INTERRUPTED, CANCELLED]
=I= Objective cancelled under Captain Ragnok's orders with consent from Engineer Thalos=I=
-Remain inside Ejection Pod-02 until further notice. Ordered by Captain Ragnok. [STATUS: COMPLETED]
Current task: Locate and retrieve Sergeant Mal'Deen. [STATUS: IN PROGRESS]
Secondary tasks: [ACTIVE]
-Gather data on surrounding area
-I-Ragnok-I-
I'm having Thalos set PAIDeC's defensive capabilities online just in case.
[WARNING! TAMPERING OF PAIDeC OPERATIONAL CAPABILITIES WHILE SYSTEMS ARE ONLINE MAY RESULT IN A DAMAGED UNIT AND/OR DAMAGE TO TAMPERER]
[Weapons systems online]
[Secondary tasks updated]
Secondary tasks:
-Gather data on surrounding area
-Identify hostile targets and eliminate
[VOCAL PLAYBACK OF PRERECORDED MESSAGE N: 0162 ]: I will send reports of my progress hourly.
--PAIDeC --
Personal Artificial Intelligence Defensive Engineered Companion reporting in at exactly 11:30:14 [TIMESTAMP: 1130 HOURS, FIRST DAY].
Distance traveled: 0.395021 km
Reason for unscheduled update: Detected abnormality [DEFAULT TERMINOLOGY: CORRECT TERMINOLOGY NOT AVAILABLE]. See attached image.
Closer inspection yields evidence of inhabitant(s).
Abnormality determined to be empty. Logging coordinates [23, 36]
Continuing search.
--PAIDeC --
Personal Artificial Intelligence Defensive Engineered Companion reporting in at exactly 19:00:00 [TIMESTAMP: 1900 HOURS, FIRST DAY].
Distance traveled: 1.089965 km
Reason for failing to report in: [VIDEO FILE 0001 SELECTED]
[BEGIN PLAYBACK]
--Video File 0001 --
[WEAPONS ONLINE]
[ACQUIRING TARGET]
[VOCAL PLAYBACK OF PRERECORDED MESSAGE N: 0729 ]: Fire at will!
[FIRING MAIN WEAPON: Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle]
[DANGER! Intensiv dmage 2 internle cmponts? + Camra- damag(d" Whpn0s sitm &damge@d . 010001010111001001110010011011110111001000100001001000000100010101110010011100100110111101110010001000010010000000100000010000110111001001101001011101000110100101100011011000010110110000100000011001000110000101101101011000010110011101100101001000000111010001101111001000000110000101101100011011000010000001110011011110010111001101110100011001010110110101110011001000010010000000100000010100100110010101110011011001010111010001110100011010010110111001100111001000000111000001101111011101110110010101110010001000000110110001100101011101100110010101101100011100110010000001110100011011110010000001101101011010010110111001101001011011010111010101101101001000000111010101110011011000010110011101100101001000010010000000100000010001010110110101100101011100100110011101100101011011100110001101111001001000000111001001100101011100000110111101110010011101000010000001101100011011110110011101100111011001010110010000100000011101000110111100100000010000110111001001100101011101110010110100110000001101010011011000110001001000000110000101101110011001000010000001010011011101000110000101110010011100110110100101100100011001010010000001000011011011110110110101101101011000010110111001100100001011100010000000100000010001010110110101100101011100100110011101100101011011100110001101111001001000000111001101101000011101010111010001100100011011110111011101101110001000000110100101101110011010010111010001101001011000010111010001100101011001000010111000100000001000000101001001110101011011100110111001101001011011100110011100100000011101000110100101101101011001010110010000100000011100110111010001100001011100100111010000101101011101010111000000100000011100110110001101110010011010010111000001110100011100110010111000100000001000000101001001110101011011100110111001101001011011100110011100100000011100110110100001110101011101000110010001101111011101110110111000100000011100110110001101110010011010010111000001110100011100110010111000100000001000000101001101101000011101010111010001100100011011110111011101101110001000000111001101100011011100100110100101110000011101000111001100100000011100100110010101100001011001000010111000100000001000000100011101101111011011110110010001100010011110010110010100101110]
[End of video file]
Photo file of assailant:
[System check]
Running scan...
Scan completed.
[Weapons system: Damaged, Offline]
[Camera: Damaged, Online]
[Video: Damaged, Online]
[Radar: Damaged, Offline]
[Anti-Gravitational Thrusters: Online]
[Cloaking: Online, not in use]
[Uplink to Starside Command: Damaged, Offline]
[Uplink to Crew-0561: Damaged, Online[MANDATORY]]
Assailant not detected. Continuing on with mission.
--PAIDeC --
Personal Artificial Intelligence Defensive Engineered Companion reporting in at exactly 21:00:00 [TIMESTAMP: 2100 HOURS, FIRST DAY].
Distance traveled: 1.107338 km
Reason for failing to report in: Uplink systems damaged.
Update: Avoided engagement with hostile creature. See attached image.
[ATTENTION: Camera damaged! Attempting to begin repairs.]
Creature exhibits traits of being territorial. Creature matches no known files. Attempting to catalog.
[VOCAL PLAYBACK OF PRERECORDED MESSAGE N: 0899 ]: That's strange...
Creature exhibits numerous features from documented files.
Head: Panthera leo- Terra, Gliese 581 d
Body: Panthera leo- Terra, Gliese 581 d
Limbs: Panthera leo- Terra, Gliese 581 d
Tail: Hadogenes troglodytes- Terra, COROT-7b, Magmus 9
Ears: Chiroptera- Terra, Gliese 581 d, µ Arae c
Wings: [No known files detected] Wings are similar to that of large, Chiroptera-like wings- save for the difference in size, short protruding spikes on either wing where it bends down from the main bone, and a red interior.
Let it be known that the creature pursued me, but backed off when it encountered an unidentified plant. See attached image.
[Repairs complete. Camera may be damaged beyond unit's personal repair. Please seek a registered technician and/or engineer.]
Creature has been documented and avoided.
Proceeding with current task.
Mission Log - Crew-0561: [TIMESTAMP: 2202 HOURS, FIRST DAY]
LOG START:
--Mal'Deen --
shit theyre chasing me no time to spell right leading them away from the ship there are eight of them in all two big ones with wings and spears on their heads the rest are smaller some have just wings and some have just spears on their heads and some dont have any of the two at all theyre all wearing golden armor of some sort except one of the tall ones theyre wearing dark blue armor the two big ones have some sort of force field around them it lit up yellow when I fired a needler round at it they can talk to each other but theyre language is hard to make out just sounds like grunts whines snorts and squealing DO NOT ENGAGE THEY ARE DANGEROUS
--PAIDeC --
Personal Artificial Intelligence Defensive Engineered Companion reporting in at exactly 22:00:00 [TIMESTAMP: 2200 HOURS, FIRST DAY].
Distance traveled: 1.115568 km
Update: Unit is currently being stalked by predatory creatures of unknown composition. See attached image.
[ATTENTION: Camera damaged! Attempting to repair...Failed. Please locate a registered technician or engineer to assist you.]
Creatures began stalking at approximately-
[EMERGENCY BEACON DETECTED]
Triangulating location...
Location triangulated.
Coordinates: 26, 38
Identification tag detected!
Reading...
Identification tag read.
Identification tag belongs to Sergeant Mal'Deen of Starside Command, Crew-0561 - Designation: Team weapons specialist/soldier.
Anti-Gravitational Thrusters at full power.