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[dr_riley]

[A familiar face and a familiar setting appear, Drake sitting at a desk with the dimly lit lab space behind him. His jacket is flopped over the back of his chair and he looks a bit tired, but that could be the harsh light of the communicator giving him shadows.]

Hello. Me again. I imagine most of you have heard by now, but if you haven't, the machinery discovered in the mines has been powered up and [sigh] activated. I haven't worked out the long term consequences of this, but three things became immediately apparent.

[He holds a finger up for each point]

One: there was a false wall that hid an active monitoring station.

Two: a hangar was opened, allowing the new ships to be moved.

Three: a persistent data transmission is now being broadcast.

The monitors show parts of a city I'm not familiar with, and there isn't any user interface that I can find. There doesn't seem to be a way to control the views, rewind to earlier recordings - if indeed they are recording - no accessible information about how it's operated, why it's buried, what this place's purpose is, who was watching who, or why. Without taking apart the entire assembly and digging out a mainframe, the only thing I can say isn't complete, wild conjecture is that whatever is being spied on, it's been abandoned for a long while.

Similarly, I have no way of telling what's being transmitted, how far, how much power it's consuming, or who it's meant for. I'd suggest shutting it down, but what's the point: Whoever has the means to receive it will likely also have the means to tack down its point of origin if it goes dead.

There is this, though.

[He holds up his tablet, and on the screen are the symbols found on the monitors, drawn by hand in red using a basic Paint program.]

These symbols were displayed in the corner of each monitor. I've tried cross referencing them with notes I've collected, but all I can be sure of is that these characters [He points with a pencil at the symbols that will eventually translate to "Sh'Ka."] appear over and over. Possibly a numbering system, or a list of places, the name of this station or whatever it's watching. Maybe even the emblem of a political or military organization. [shrug] Wild conjecture, etcetera, etcetera. If anyone recognises these symbols, please let me know. It might help in finding out what the aim of all this was, or even how to access the system.

I think that's all for now. I'm still working on understanding what we're looking at, but I think it's about time that tunnel got widened to allow more access.

Riley out.

Comments

[Video]

[tyrants_son]

[Has Drake seen his face before? Well, now he is. Maybe it's a good thing it's on screen and not in the darkness of the mine tunnels.]

"Sh'Ka." I believe that's what they say. I do not know if that holds any particular meaning, but I would think it would have translated if it did. Perhaps it is a name. This other city...there are not many others we are currently aware of. Could it be the one that has recently been discovered?

Re: [Video]

[dr_riley]

[He probably has, but if not, he does at least recognize the voice, and points at the screen with a grin.]

That was my guess, too. Label what you're looking at. One of the monitors did show a hangar I didn't recognize opening up over some ships I didn't recognize. Now, I haven't been to the new city, but I know there were some new ships found there, so it's just speculation, but I believe that unless that single monitor is separate, they're probably all aimed at the new city.

As for the word - Sh'Ka? Yeh, could very well be a label for the place being monitored, which could very well be the new city. Could also be the name of the station, though.

[Video]

[tyrants_son]

Which would be interesting to note that there is any ability to get some sort of signal from the other city at all. How is it that these receive and yet our own communications will not?

Station? Hm. True enough. It does not appear that we have much to go by, otherwise.

Re: [Video]

[dr_riley]

Easy. Hardwire it.

Well. [He waggles his head indecisively for a moment] Not easy easy. Obviously it'd require a lot of planning and digging and burying line, and there's probably a delay depending on how far away that city is, but I've seen people go to more trouble for what they want.

[Video]

[tyrants_son]

Hm. To have remained intact for so long would be impressive, but perhaps this world is more stable than somewhere like Earth.

voice

[beholding_archivist]

[ Now that's curious, isn't it. ]

These do, indeed, say Sh'Ka. Were there any other letters around, perhaps? These look awfully familiar...

[ He's not bringing up the old tower and its control room right away, however, Jon is already picking up the notes he has kept from that event. ]

And on the topic of awful: You look terrible. Please get some rest.

Re: voice

[dr_riley]

Not that I saw. Can you translate the characters that appear next to Sh'Ka? Each one has that repeated word followed by a unique character.

[He holds the tablet up close to the communicator so it takes up most of Jon's screen and taps with his pencil at some of the symbols that appear beside the ones that say Sh'Ka]

I suspect it's a numbering or lettering system and that we're looking at the new city, but without having been there myself, my only clue is the unfamiliar hangar and ships. Sh'Ka could also be the name of the bunker, or just a word no one's been able to translate yet.

[There's an unamused grimace at the you-look-terrible remark.]

Thanks. I'll rest when there's nothing to worry about.

[Which is to say........never.]

voice > video

[beholding_archivist]

[ Jon makes a small noise, then turns on his own video in time to see him shake his head. ]

Translating is difficult. These are indeed numbers, but whoever is using this system doesn't share a comparable amount of them.

[ He holds up a notebook with handwritten versions of the same symbols, arranged under one another. He taps a finger at the symbol drawn at the very top. ]

I have seen them before, used as a countdown. This one up here would equal our zero, but there are significantly more different numbers than ten.

Re: voice > video

[dr_riley]

What do you mean, 'whoever is using this system?' Are these not Agrii?

[Drake is no linguist, and can't even translate "it's fine." He does know numbers, though, and leans forward to squint at the characters.]

If there're more numbers than a set of ten can accommodate, they're not using a base ten numbering system. Possibly hexadecimal. Do any of the ones that seem unfamiliar look like they might have letters incorporated into them?

[beholding_archivist]

[ Jon shakes his head a little. ]

No. The Agrii have no written language. At all. It's more likely these symbols go back to the Atroma.

The only letters aside from however you wish to interpret the numbers are the ones spelling the name Sh'Ka. I assume it's numbering the monitors that observe the new city. If so, we at least now have a name for that place.

[ezra_of_lothal]

Hey, thanks for the summary, Dr. Drake. [Positive reinforcement is imporant!

I think a lightsaber should work fairly well for carving out the passage, but I'm sure everyone would be happier if I didn't just hack at it all on my own.

I'll ask Cal or Luke or Master Kenobi if they don't mind being telekinetic spotter.

Is there someone who knows more about...I guess it's structural engineering?

[hadthehighground]

I can certainly help you with this, though timing is important as I'm planning to go to the new city in order to move my ship to Temba.

[dr_riley]

Doctor Riley.

A cave's structural integrity is dependent on the force and volume of the water that created it, so you'd want someone who can understand the geological terrain and factor in things like erosion, the shifting of the earth's crust, and the effect of earthquakes. You'll also want to consider the width of the passage relative to the thickness of the ceiling.

This being a mine shaft, considerations will already have been taken at the time of construction regarding the safest, strongest rock to carve through, but...it's been empty a long time. What was once fairly stable might not be anymore.

[ezra_of_lothal]

[A player brain fart honestly, but let's go with it.]

Yes, sorry, Dr. Riley.

I...don't think we're gonna have any geologists here. I think Cobb did some work as a miner? And...any of us Jedi can sense their surroundings beyond what's visible, to some extent. I'm sure if we knew more geology, we'd understand better what we're sensing, but.

At any rate, that might work.

[dr_riley]

Yes, well...

Just be very careful.

[He leans forward]

Very careful.

[hisfathersimage]

I can't spend all my time hanging around being decorative. Let me know when you need some help and I'll be there. Telekinesis is one of the things I can definitely help with, holding things in place while they get secured, stopping rocks falling.

[ezra_of_lothal]

Awesome, thank you, Luke.

I want to ask Cobb for his input too, so I'll get back to you. I think he knows the most about mine shafts.

[hisfathersimage]

About all I know is that even if the T-16 fits, you shouldn't fly it through that access tunnel to the mine shaft. But I can probably stop anyone being crushed in an accident.

[Text]

[agrii]

Rye Lee good brain! Make row boat to help He Rows bee four! Row boat dig bad? No help make ton knell ax sis?

Re: [Text]

[dr_riley]

[He just sits there staring at the strange text for a minute with a little frown and muttering to himself]

Row boat?

...

Row boat?

Robot! They mean...

[He texts back without finishing the thought out loud]

A drill? You want me to build a drill?

[Text]

[agrii]

Drill help dig?

Re: [Text]

[dr_riley]

[Drake is just as bad at not thinking before he writes as he is about not thinking before he speaks, so the thought 'well yes that's what drills do,' is transcribed directly into text:

Well yes that's what drills do

[Fortunately, tone comes through much less efficiently over text.]

Re: [Text]

[ezra_of_lothal]

Wait, what robot? I don't think anyone has mentioned this while I've been here.

[Text]

[agrii]

Rye Lee make! It help make he rows safe! Check air in mines!

Re: [Text]

[dr_riley]

They mean the exploratory probe I assembled to check air and radiation in the mine tunnel.