Autonomous : Innovative, Patient, Crew Training 100, Fleet Initiative 460 (!), Factory Production +20%, Terraforming +10%
Octavian Durieus : Courageous, Enterprising, Friendly, Skilled Orator, Crew Training 100, Fleet Initiative 147
Bo Mosberg : Admin Rating 5, Survey +10%, Research Bonus +25% (Power and Propulsion Technology), Xenology Bonus +20%
... you are currently researching a miniaturized version of our new Nuclear Pulse Engine, to be fitted into a new generation of Missiles.
18th March, 2025. Only hours after sending us his report on the massive but low-grade ore deposits on the habitable extra-Solar planet of Procyon VII, Commander Rackham has sent us a second, almost unbelievable report. He claims that as he was leaving Procyon VII, he spotted the crumbled remains of some ancient ruins, visible on the surface.
Naval Ops immediately dispatched an urgent order to Commander Rackham, forbidding him to approach the planet more closely, and instructing him to stand off in stealth mode and continue to observe the site through passive sensors. We also queried his original assumptions... could it be an unusual but natural geological formation? Rackham... an expert in Geology, like most Geo-Survey pilots... curtly dismissed this possibility. The ruins are real.
Now what?
I feel that we should adopt one of two courses: either send in some Marines to secure the site before sending experts to examine it... which will cost us years, since we have no Troop Transport technologies developed, and no Assault Carriers built... or else put together a team of Xenology experts and send them in unprotected to look over the ruins right on the spot.
The first course of action is much safer, but will mean deferring the investigation by several years. The second course of action is much riskier... especially for the Xenology team... but offers the possibility of early, incalculable rewards. Could some alien technological artifacts still be lying in the ruins, just waiting for us to collect them? Could they be trapped, or somehow guarded?
I must convene a restricted council meeting to discuss this development. Spread the blame a bit, in case something goes wrong...