Emma Sanders's helmet beams caught nothing but emptiness as she stood frozen in the doorway, the vastness ahead swallowing her light. The light seemed to scatter and fade, unable to reach the chamber's distant walls. Her pulse quickened as she tried to comprehend the impossible space before her. "Captain," she breathed into her radio, struggling to keep her voice steady. "You need to see this. Everyone needs to see this."
"What is it, Emma?" Katharine's voice crackled through the radio. The tension was evident even through the static. "What do you see?"
Emma took another step forward, moving fully into what appeared to be a transparent observation gallery. The gallery itself was pressurized, but through its clear walls, she could see an enormous cavern stretching out below them. The space was so vast that even her helmet lights couldn't reach the far walls.
"It's ..." she struggled to find the right words. "It's a fleet, Captain. An alien fleet. The cavern ... it's enormous. And it's full of ships. Possibly military ships."
Behind her, Grace Fisher moved up to stand beside her, gasping as she took in the sight. "Ooh …," she breathed. "How many ships are there? They're huge!"
Nicolina Panni was already working with her instruments, her fingers flying over the controls. "I'm counting ... more than a hundred vessels we can see. There are more there, I’m sure. Different sizes, different configurations. But they're warships. The design patterns are unmistakable."
"Look at the weapon mounts," Vijay Pradesh said, pointing to the nearest battleship. "Those aren't for scientific research. These are warships, built for combat."
The rest of the team crowded into the gallery, their exclamations of surprise filling the radio channel.
"Everyone, quiet down," Katharine ordered through the radio. "Emma, give me details. What exactly are we looking at?"
Emma forced herself to be methodical, to think like a scientist instead of a stunned observer. "We are in some kind of observation gallery, Captain. It runs along the upper part of a massive underground chamber. The gallery is pressurized, but the cavern beyond most probably isn't. The walls are transparent, some advanced material I've never seen before. It's clear like there's nothing between us and the ships at all."
"The cavern itself is dimly lit," Grace added, walking slowly along the gallery. "But I can't see where the light's coming from. It's very dim, just enough to make out the shapes of the ships. It's ... it's beautiful, in a scary way."
"The ships," Emma continued, trying to keep her voice steady. "They're arranged in perfect rows, like a parade formation. I can see ..." She looked at Nicolina. "What would you say? About three-quarters of them are large vessels?"
Nicolina nodded, still working with her instruments. "Yes, I'd estimate, take it with a big reserve, we can see almost 80 large cruisers or battleship-class vessels. Each one is at least several times the size of Magellan, maybe even bigger. The rest are smaller and probably support craft, gunships or something. They're all identical within their size classes. Standardized fleet components, suggesting a highly organized military force."
"The design is incredible," Emily Brunt said, pressing close to the transparent wall. "Look at how streamlined they are ... that's a technology we have never even dreamed of."
"A military installation," Fred's voice came through the radio, sounding grim. "We are not just standing in an alien base; we are standing in a fortress."
"There's more," Grace said, moving further along the gallery. "I can see steps leading down, probably to the cavern floor. The same material as in the base, steps, built into the rock. And ... yes, it seems there is a door to probably an elevator. Though they're not responding to any controls."
"The steps look intact," Toby added, shining his light down the stairway. "We could probably use them to reach the cavern floor. But it is a long way down."
"Have you detected any power signatures?" Katharine asked, her voice tense with controlled excitement.
"Nothing active," Nicolina replied, frowning at her readings. "The ships appear completely powered down. But ... the material they're made from ... don’t know what to say. It's like nothing I've ever seen before."
Tom Hartmann's excited voice broke in. "Captain, if I could get down there with some instruments, we might be able to analyze the hull material. The technological implications alone ..."
"No one is going down there yet," Katharine cut him off firmly. "Emma, what's the structural integrity of the gallery? Are you safe where you are?"
Emma looked around carefully. "The gallery seems as solid as the rest of the base. The material is the same, and there's no sign of degradation. We are more than three hundred meters above the cavern floor. The engineering is incredible, the whole gallery is suspended in the rock."
"The nearest battleship," Nicolina reported, "is not far from our position but we must reach the bottom of the cavern first. Probably we wouldn't be able to open them even if we could reach them."
"Look at the weapon systems," Vijay said, his voice filled with professional awe. "Those aren't just defensive weapons. These ships were built to fight. To win."
"Captain," Emily called out, "I'm seeing some kind of symbols on the ships' hulls. They look like the same writing system we found in the command center."
"The same civilization," Tom's voice came through thoughtfully. "The same builders who left that body for us to find."
"But why?" Grace wondered aloud. "Why lead us here? Why show us their military power?"
"Maybe it's a warning," Vijay suggested. "Or maybe they're offering us something."
"Stay where you are," Katharine ordered. "I'm calling an emergency meeting of the senior staff. We need to think about what this means. The political implications alone ..."
"Captain," Nicolina interrupted, "you should know ... these ships, their design suggests capabilities far beyond anything humanity has. The propulsion systems alone ... if we could understand how they work ..."
"Exactly why we need to be careful," Katharine replied. "Take pictures of everything, detailed scans. Don't touch anything yet. We need to be very careful about how we proceed. Nicolina, send drones down to explore the steps and scan everything you can. Don’t touch anything yet."
All the drones started to explore the gallery and down the stairs. The team spread out through the gallery, documenting everything they could see. The ships below them loomed in the dim light, their sleek forms hinting at capabilities far beyond human technology.
"The size of the cavern itself is amazing," Emily said, making notes on her tablet. "The engineering required to create this space, to keep it stable ..."
"It's a dry dock," Vijay said suddenly. "A military dry dock. For maintaining and launching a battle fleet."
Emma was studying the nearest battleship through the gallery windows. Its hull was a dark color that seemed to absorb light, making it hard to focus on. "The technology gap between us and them ... it must be hundreds, maybe thousands of years."
"The question is," Grace said quietly, "are they still out there somewhere? And if they are, why did they leave all this behind?"
"Captain," Emma called over the radio. "We should probably consider setting up some kind of permanent observation post here. This discovery is too important to leave unmonitored."
"Agreed," Katharine replied. "But for now, I want you all to head back to Vanguard Base as soon as you finish drone scanning. We need to discuss this discovery and its implications. And we need to think very carefully about how we report this to Earth."
Drones reached the cavern's bottom level and found a closed door with a yellow button. This seems consistent with everything they had found so far in the base. They would have to go down physically to open the door and see what is behind it.
They set up a camera for a constant stream of gallery and cavern and started their return. As they walked back through the dark tunnel, their helmet lights creating moving circles of brightness, Emma couldn't shake the feeling that they'd just crossed a line. They'd come to Dysnomia looking for scientific discoveries, for knowledge about the universe and their place in it.
Instead, they'd found an alien war fleet.
The implications … not just for their mission, but for humanity. What would Earth's governments do when they learned about this? How would this change the already tense political situation?
"Emma?" Grace's voice broke through her thoughts. "What do you think will happen now?"
Emma glanced back at the door they'd just closed, thinking about the silent fleet waiting in the darkness beyond. "I don't know, Grace. But whatever happens next, nothing will be the same after today."
"The technical implications alone are enormous," Nicolina added as they walked. "Just understanding how those ships were built could advance our technology by centuries."
"If we can figure out how to power them up," Vijay reminded her. "And if we can understand their systems. And if they even still work after who knows how long ..."
"And if Earth's governments don't tear themselves apart trying to control them," Toby added grimly.
They walked on in silence after that, each person lost in their thoughts about what they'd discovered. Behind them, in the vast cavern, more than a hundred alien warships sat in the dim light, their presence changing everything about the mission, about humanity's place in the universe, and about the mysteries they'd found in this ancient base.
The real questions were just beginning. Who built these ships? What were they defending against, or who were they attacking? And most importantly ... would humanity be ready for the answers when they found them?
As they emerged from the tunnel back onto Level -15, Emma knew one thing for certain: their mission had just become far more complicated than anyone could have imagined. The discovery of the alien body had been shocking enough. The strange books they'd found hinted at incredible knowledge. But this ... this was something else entirely.
They'd found power. Military power beyond anything humanity had ever seen. And somehow, they would have to find a way to handle it responsibly.
"We should close this tunnel, but we can’t lock those doors," Emma said suddenly, stopping to look back. "Until we decide what to do next."
"Agreed," Grace said. "This isn't just a scientific discovery anymore. This is ..." she trailed off, searching for the right words.
"This is the kind of discovery that changes worlds," Nicolina finished for her. "Let's just hope it changes them for the better."
The team made their way back to the transport buggies, their minds already racing with the implications of what they'd found. The alien base had just gotten a lot more interesting ... and a lot more dangerous.
As they drove back, together with the rest of the crew currently in the alien base, to Vanguard Base, Emma couldn't help but wonder: what other secrets were still hiding in the darkness of this ancient place? And were they ready to face them when they found them?
The answer to those questions would have to wait. For now, they had a fleet of alien warships to deal with. And somehow, she suspected that it was going to be more than enough challenge for one day.