Originally Posted by Hiver

AN: Thanks for spell and grammar check. I tend to miss things like that



Anyway i was bored so here is next piece for those that wanted it. I have switched perspective from different characters, they also got different point of view, like first person and third, depending on who is the character.



Anyway, here it is.

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"By Sholna...it exists..." I couldn't believe my eyes. The huge object hung in space, one hundred fifty thousand units from the ship. Too huge to look like anything but a giant wall, splitting the universe in half. A construction huge enough to fit a star system inside with plenty of room to spare, made out of a material we cant even get a scan of.



I swallow and turn my back to impossibility outside the window "T-this...this is..."



"Yes...impossble. But still...there it is. We knew the Night Lords once existed. The alliance have very clear data of this and the fact that all species share some parts of their DNA confirm it," the lead researcher on my ship comments. "The archaeological digs on Colmar had glyphs pointing to this region of space. This object clearly was a critical part of the Night Lord civilization. Possibly a place of worship or commerce."



"But...something like this? We were expecting to find a deep space station at most! How the hell does that thing not collapse into a black hole!" I snap at him. "No...I apologize. It's just..."



"I know. It put us all on edge" the lizard responds. "We can understand it but we simply can't wrap our instincts around it. It's too big."



"So what do we do?" I ask with a sigh.



"We map the surface, then we report the find. We need more people for this...a lot more." he sighs. "I was hoping to make the discoveries with my own team but...this is simply too big. I guess I have to be happy with being the one that found it."



"And what a find..." I answer while sneaking a peek over my shoulder at the blackness outside the window before turning back again with a shiver. Stories about the Night Lords always gave me the creeps.



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Two years earlier:



Professor M'aran'li walked slowly into the cavern, lifting his torch higher. His team had found the Night Lord ruins during construction of a new spaceport outside the main city on the planet Colmar. As the planet had a history of having minor Night Lord artefacts, mostly strange minerals showing up, there had to be a archaeological representative at new building projects.



Luckily his team drew the lucky number this time. For once the assignment wasn't just sitting around, watching the earthmovers...move earth.



They found something.



It was with wide eyes he stepped through the arch. Imagine it...an intact Night Lord structure...intact after so long.



"By Sholna they could build..." he whispered as he watched the smooth shining black walls while reaching out to touch one softly with a hand.



Taking a deeper breath he slowly walked deeper into the ancient structure, walking alone as he didn't want to risk anyone else's life....and he also wanted to see it for himself first. He had dreamed about the Night Lords all his life. Never in his wildest dreams had he thought he would see something they built though...not intact anyway.



The light of the torch was reflected by the smooth walls as he walked deeper into the structure before the hallway suddenly ended in another arch, a big chamber on the other side.



Raising his crest to gather courage he ttook a step into the chamber and lifted the torch up high while thumbing the light level up to maximum.



He gasped at what he saw. The room is big. Over a tenth of a unit across and looks like its just as high...the hallway must have been going down at a slight angle or this would never fit below ground.



The middle of the room had a pyramid shaped pillar from floor to ceiling, the tip just touching the ceiling.



Swallowing he slowly walked into the huge chamber, spinning slowly as he walked trying to look in all directions at once, not wanting to forget anything.



As he reached the pillar he stopped and looked up at it. While he moved the torch closer he could see patterns in the smooth material...lines and circles, some angles and some curved.



He lean closer while his tongue whipped out to moisten his eyes which soon widened and he took a few steps back and took in the sight again.





STANDARD MAP OF THE MILKY WAY GALAXY. YOU ARE AT THE RED DOT.





Letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding he turned and walked back towards the entrance slowly.



Who knew what those lines and circles were, the building did remind him in shape of Klars temples in a way though, so it might be some kind of place of worship...if the Night Lords worshipped anything. Nothing was really known about them.







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Back into the present:



As captain I got my own dust pit which I was very happy for at that moment. Getting up on two legs I climbed into the pit before laying down on all fours again and rolling around before relaxing. It wouldn't do to look nervous as that might send the already nervous crew into a panic.



The first batch of research ships arrived last night and started doing their own scans of the impossible structure. I close my eyes tighter and try not to think of the impossible blackness. Calm. Calm.



There...better not think about it.



Something that massive just cou...no...not thinking about that.



Focus. Focus on something I can handle.



Yes...coordinating the research fleet around the...the completely empty area of space. That I can do.



One of the research ships had reported a breach in the smooth black surface. Its small relative to the size of the structure but it was still huge compared to one of our ships. A expedition will be sent in tomorrow. I have already been almost assailed by requests to join it so I will need to pick and choose.



How do you pick who gets to go into history anyway?



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Next day:



Youngest research assistant Bralin swallows and shifts in her rather uncomfortable vacuum suit, sitting in her seat on board the shuttle. She had been picked by lottery ticket among all non-senior staff to join the first expedition into the Structure.



That's Structure with capital S. Something that massive deserves that.



Originally only senior and handpicked personnel would be on this first trip but the captain stepped in and announced a draw for the last position. She guessed it made it more fair to at least have a chance to join so she along with everyone else signed up.



Not that she thought she would actually win though.



And she got no idea what to do now.



She have already been told to stay out of the way by three scientists and not to touch anything by four military.



The suit covered her body constantly with a fine mist of water but it still felt uncomfortable and she clicks in annoyance as she shifts again, earning her a glare of the Mral next to her.



The shuttle glides silently into the huge opening, a huge pathway which it follows until it ends. On the sides of the pathway there are smaller entrances. The shuttle can easily fit in one of those and it turns and heads inside...as soon as it's inside the hatch slams closed behind it and the smaller room start to fill with oxygen and carbon-dioxide.



As soon as the head researcher, head military and pilot stop arguing they contact the ship, the neutrino transmission working perfectly despite the impenetrable material between the ship and shuttle.



It is agreed that they should continue as planed, they need to find a way to control the automatic mechanism that closed the hatch anyway. The shuttle set down in the middle of the room and the ramp slowly lower.



"Ok...nobody...and I mean NOBODY breaks the seals on your suits. You WILL treat the environment as pure vacuum. If your seals are broken, you will NOT be let inside the ship again."



And once again she gets a glare and she let out a small sigh from her blowhole. She isn't stupid! "Yes sir."



As the group moves into the dimly lit cavern-like room, the military personnel spread out around the shuttle to stand guard while getting a small glare from the lizard head researcher. He is sure the structure is abandoned, why wouldn't he be? The Night Lords went away over hundred and fifty million years ago. We don't even know what they looked like.



Still standing in the cavern she doesn't feel too sure of herself.



She shivers softly and let out a clicking salvo of sonar through her suit. It feel like she is being watched even through that's just being silly.



Soon she to busy carrying boxes to be able to worry about it.

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Two days later:



"BY THE NIGHT LORDS! WHY WON'T THESE DOORS OPEN!" M'aran'li, lead researcher shouts and kicks the wall covered by the glyph shapes he recognized from the first time he saw them in that chamber so long ago, next to the door.



"We are so close, they might hear you," Senior Range Fighter rMui mutters before activating his microphone again "This is useless. We are running out of air in thirty minutes and that door just isn't opening."



"We don't know that! I just need to hit the right combination of symbols!" and he turn back and keep hitting the red glyphs beside the door.



WARNING: VACUUM AIRLOCK



"Give it a rest Doc. Its not working. Our only hope is heading deeper and see if we can find a control room or something" the SFR sigh.



The lizard turns his back against the wall and leans against it. "Maybe you are right..."



"It's too late anyway. We need to break the seals or choke to death." rMui say softly "Are you sure the air is safe?" he asks and gets a nod in response.



"Perfectly. Its cleaner than the air on board our own ship."



"Very well..." rMui swallows before quickly taking of his helmet and taking a deep breath as the rest freeze, watching him as if he is about to suddenly die a horrible death. "I-it's ok...it actually smells pretty good"



Soon the entire team is without their helmets and is gearing up for heading deeper into the Structure. They tell the ships outside so and get confirmation on what's happening, the ones outside think this is their best bet as well.



They pack most of their food and supplies before heading down the hallway at the end of the landing bay, two Ranged Fighters are left at the shuttle along with some supplies to guard it.



None of the members in the team had any idea of the alien intellect watching their every move as they move deeper into the Structure.





Learning their language, the way they move...they way they think.



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AN/ I tried to keep the same feeling, i don't know if i made it or not.