Spacewalk

(continued from yesterday)

Fearless (and also in disregard of safety regulations), Alda Malukker decided to make a spacewalk, during our exploration of the Takmahl temple rock. Blood Raider reinforcements could arrive at any moment, there was all sorts of space debris flying around at the speed of bullets, and the site is basked in unknown forms of radiation.

Capsuleers do not fear death - and are willing to risk it in order to advance science. Alda disembarked from her Retribution class frigate, as you can see in the image above (courtesy of Lunarisse, I was too stunned to take a picture of that spacewalk). 

This allowed us to ascertain that our inability to enter the tunnels with our ships is not due to malfunctioning proximity safeguards. Also an astronaut trying to enter the tunnel "on foot" is pushed back by some sort of force field. Not a usual shield, that could be depleted and penetrated with enough firepower - it seems the rock itself expels foreign bodies by its own design. Not in all tunnels or cavities - there is one where I could enter, and I think also the Takmahl could enter and staged their blood sacrifices ceremonies in. 

There was some speculation that the rock could be a spaceship (an old one that somehow accrued a lot of dust that coalesced). That does not seem to be the case. Even though there is a lot of subsurface structure there, there is no sign of engines, a bridge, docking bays. The tunnels appear bare, and appear as if they we not artificial, but the result of the violent formation of the rock. There are signs that when this asteroid formed there were repeated cycles of melting and resolidification: the stalagtites have rings of subsequent deposition, as if they are the product of some faulty melt extrusion, or perhaps some phasing in and out of an alternate dimension. It would be good to compare this with those new phase asteroids that have appeared. 

The expedition has taught us a lot about this temple rock, and in addition we have retrieved a large amount of artefacts and even fragments of texts and inscriptions. But it seems that -as it often goes in science- every answer has created new questions...

Takmahl tunnels

With the support of friends in fleet, I was able to take my time mapping out the Takmahl temple rock. I used the Stratios that I had received as a gift during the past Secret Santa party. It felt somewhat strange to pilot, as I am used to the Indagatrix, an Anathema class hull, good reliable Amarrian design. But the Stratios felt much sturdier, able to take a beating, and have a large collection of drones of all sorts to use. 

The stalagmite asteroid is very large, and it turns out to have not just one but many tunnels leading inside. Above you can see one of the major entry tunnels, and the (much smaller) size of the Stratios in front of it for comparison. In the backgroud is Aphi's star - the site is located very near the Red Giant basking in its radiation. 

The debris you see is part of a vast cloud of debris, remnants of a vast Takmahl space settlement that surrounded the temple, including structure to hold blood sacrifices, places to house the revelers, and a thriving tourist industry, no doubt. While steered the Stratios into the tunnel, fleet members retrieved what artefacts they could find from this debris, in between fending off waves of Blood Raiders coming to "defend" this place.

Inside are cavernous spaces, with some Takmahl inscriptions on the walls, but no real docking bays. There are traces of landings, mooring of ships, but no structures. There are gullys carved out on the cavern's floor, hinting that at one time there might have been some construction that allowed for an atmosphere and flowing liquids. The gully's lead to a pit, and still contain traces of organics, so I think they were part of some horrible blood ceremony taking place inside the temple rock.

I was not able to move much deeper, and emerged from another tunnel, near some of the spires

There are many tunnels, leading to internal cavities, but they do not seem to contain any habitations or ruined docking hangars. But some of them seem to have force fields. A central sunward tunnel turned out to be blocked, although as you can see, it also ought to have been large enough for the Stratios to enter.

The collision sensors appear to have been fooled by the minerals in the rock, since I could not detect any shield. The same was true for an entrance at the top, which appeared to have some radiation coming out of it, hinting at some type of power source within

There's many kilometers of rock below that - the glow appears to come from the rock rather than from the Red Giant's light penetrating. I was wondering how we'd bypass the ships collision sensors - or somehow reduce its signature radius, perhaps by switching off power to the shields, when Alda Malukker spontaneously tried a special experiment...

(to be continued)

Visiting the Takmahl Temple Rock

I must begin this log entry with scripture: "Surround yourself with the faithful, Stand together, for there is no strength like it under the heavens."  It is an evergreen favorite from the Book of Missions, and it remains very relevant.

I would not have been able to do this without the help of my fellow LUMEN pilots. The Takmahl labyrinth is invested by Blood Raider scum that think they own the place, because the Blood Raiders and the Takmahl share some common Sani Sabik ancestry.

A fleet gathered in Dresi - the Praetorians often work from that system. Under the command of good Gaun Arel, many pilots rallied to my call for help on this exploration mission! Lord Kane Arcahviri did some scouting in advance. Luna was there, as well as Alda Malukker, Echo Ashland, Tiberius Arthuron, and Otto, Vintrilus, Naktaria Tevangelys, Paul Pantor Pahineh, ... I hope I have not forgotten anyone in this list - I was overwhelmed by this nice support.

With that many talented pilots in fleet, the Blood Raiders were quickly dispatched, with no casualties on our side. 

I had plenty of time to explore the rock and could take all the telemetry I needed, confirming my suspicions. But more on that in tomorrow's log - today is a day to celebrate and be grateful.

Cargo cults

The Talocan wreck was found in the vicinity of a sleeper listening post, and it appears at first sight to be stripped of any salvage, probably by the Sleepers. Our crews are still making certain that no nanite or other ancient traps are present.  

Meanwhile the exterior is also worth examining. The hull is an elongated ellipsoid, with a thicker band running around its circumference in the middle, and a band running along the long side's top edge. The front part has six forward facing spikey protrusions, probably scanning devices or some sort of weapon. The aft has exhausts from a propulsion module.

This type of shape is quite typical of Talocan structures, be it ships or even small outposts (these tend to be somewhat less prolate). It could be just the product of my imagination, but I do see a certain resemblance with the stalagmite asteroids, albeit turned on their side. 

This points to a very interesting hypothesis: the Takmahl (do not mix them with the Talocan) worship of the stalagmite asteroid is a cargo cult religion! 

The Takmahl might have been visited by the Talocan, and were so impressed by their gifts and help coming from that alien ship, that they made or modeled an asteroid to look like it, and to implore from that rock the gifts that they received from an actual alien visitor.

This is a known phenomenon: indigenous inhabitants of small islands, during the wars of reclamation, met with the technologically superior Amarr who used islands as temporary bases and brought in goods with airplanes. After the reclamation, the bases were removed and the army left, but the inhabitants made mock landing strips from sticks and stones in the hope that this would attract the divine visitors with their goods.

But the Takmahl empire is fairly young on the scale of things! If true, this hypothesis implies that (perhaps the last) Talocan would have wandered around the cluster much much after we now estimate that their civilization got extinct!

Prof.dr. Valate interview

Today I met with professor Valate, in Munory. She took the time to answer my questions and educate me about the Takmahl. She showed me her publications, containing a wealth of information on Takmahl history. I will carefully study it.

She dates the Takmahl departure somewhere between 21290 and 21450. I would argue for the end of that range. 

We discovered the Ealur in 21423, and before that time the Reclamation was a distant memory. Athra was fully conquered in 20544, so the planetary Reclamation was complete almost a millennium before we met the Ealur. Everything indicates that during this millennium, as we were the masters of the world with nothing left to reclaim, we became much more tolerant. Moderate Sani Sabik could do their thing relatively free of persecution. 

But the discovery of intelligent life outside of Athra changed all this: it revived the idea of a Reclamation, now on an interstellar level. We became much more zealous in our faith, and started to drive out sects. This must have been the moment when the sect members chose to leave in their cryoships. The religious zeal also led to internal turmoil in our own Empire, culminating in the Moral Reforms four centuries later.

The cryoships would travel at about 5 to 10% of light speed, and the gate network was not competely active (its status is not clear). Given the distance of 4.5 lightyears between Amarr and Aphi, as the photon flies, it means a trip of about half a century to a century. This is likely to be an indication of the extent of the diaspora of the Sabik. The Takmahl settled in Aphi and the surrounding systems, probaby around 21500. Their reach never extended out of the Araz constellation, so they most probably did not make it to Gamdis.

The Takmahl empire collapsed 800 to 1000 years after its foundation. We discovered the warp drive in 22821, and this kicked the expansion of the Empire into higher gear. My estimate is that the Empire would have reached the Takmahl heartlands three to five centuries after the collapse of their empire. Probably the Takmahl planets were still inhabited that long after the collapse, but the culture had reverted to a primitive form, like we did after the collapse of Eve gate.

I was also given the opportunity to inspect a statue of a Takmahl deity, a beautifully preserved relic. It is quite angular, and depicts a figure standing on an octagonal base. It has two carets or horns on its chest, and its head is pentagonal.

I am grateful and indebted to professor Valate. Although many in SFRIM frown upon her because she is Sabik, she is not the blooder caricature that some told me, but an academic mind trying to understand our history. Oh, and she confirmed the Aratake Research Consortium as the successor of the Arek'Jalaan, as a learned society with an archeology section.

Reinhart Novan

 I must try to summarize Reinhart Novan’s efforts. 

His search for the Ametat and Avetat took place six years ago. He had become rich and powerful, but unsatisfied with his life. He went on a spiritual retreat, and this was where he first started searching for God in his life, letting Him in. In doing so, he found his calling: to use his resources to find the Holy Relics. I am happy for him: God is always waiting to be invited in our lives, but most of us are too busy with ourselves to see that he is in waiting in the lobby of our heart.

He also first followed the Toth lead. His conclusions are that the Toth expedition was most likely attacked by the Jovians, or by some forgotten colony or outpost. The trail seems to have gone cold for him.

And, again mirroring my own journey into this mystery, he next focused on the Takmahl lead. He mentions a research society focusing on the Takmahl, called “Project Revelation”. They are part of a group called the Arek’Jaalan, based in a place they call “Site One” in the Eram system, Metropolis region. By the time Novan reached Site One, the group was already in decline. Nevertheless, he obtained many records, and decided to focus on the Araz constellation. He mentions finding cryoship remains in the lowsec worlds near Araz, but the location is not clearly revealed.

Next, he mentions dr. Valerie Valate as a source for information on the Takmahl and the archivist of the Arek’Jaalan. My frist impression was that she was just vain when she called herself the greatest expert on the Takmahl, but she indeed turns out to be a leading scholar on the matter. I will have to meet her in person, but she is a heretic of the worst kind: a Sani Sabik.  She has texts and lost pieces of the Sani Sabik text, the Apocryphon, that could prove invaluable. But a researcher must be strong and overcome his loathing of heretics, especially Sani Sabik. Sometimes, you must reach trough muck to unclog a drain.

This was more difficult for Novan, as his actions reflect on SFRIM. Throughout his records, I found that his obligations to the corporation – especially given his wealth and power – were hampering and delaying his research. I understand now much better why Tal-Romon made me take the triple vows of poverty, non-aggression and celibacy. Only “Devoid of distractions” will my soul be “free to soar and be close to God” (Missions 42:5).

Novan’s final entries concern his trips to the Museum Arcana in Zimse and and the Labyrinth in Aphi. I have already reported on these places of interest before, and I am glad to find this confirmed by a separate source. 

His final leads concern the links between the Takmahl and the Talocan, he surmises that the latter may have caused the end of the Takmahl empire and that the Takmahl rose to prominence because they found Talocan data. This seems to undercut the Takmahl lead, since it would mean they did not have to rely on the Avetat to give them their wisdom. 

The cluster was undergoing great changes at that point, as Catherine’s Star appeared. He then seems to have taken leave from the corporation. I guess he did this to focus more fully on the search. But, it also entails that the records that the corporation kept end there. I hope one day to meet this adventurer, I get a strong feeling that our paths will converge at some point.

Takmahl

Spending another day studying and digging in the Imperial History Museum's library has proven very successful!

I found a lot on information on the Takmahl, through scholarly writings of the "Signal Cartel" and the published works of Tertius Bathana. Here I summarize the most striking parts:

The Takmahl were a race of humans once part of the Amarr Empire. For reasons that remain unknown, but were very likely related to their Sani Sabik practices, they were exiled from the Empire, and lived for centuries in solitude. They were undoubtedly masters of Cybernetics and Bio-Engineering Technology.Takmahl relics can be found inside The Labyrinth, an anomaly near the central star of the Aphi system, and near the Museum Arcana in the Zimse system, both in the Araz constellation of the Amarr Empire. To enter the museum the Key of the Arcane is needed, that can be found in a relic container near the acceleration gate. Inside the museum the Key to the Labyrinth can be obtained from The Curator, which is required to enter The Labyrinth. 

I must visit Aphi and Zimse. And especially this Museum!