Chapter 102: Target-Inner Ring

In one of the Noah’s advanced training rooms, Jason gathered the other nine members of the expedition squad. He stood before them, his expression dead serious. “Currently, our drone fleets are systematically mapping the outer sectors of the alien vessel.”

“Once we definitively clear the perimeter of any active threats, we will establish a daisy-chain of signal repeaters inside the hull. This will extend our telemetry range, allowing the drones to safely push into the central habitation ring.”

“According to the latest reports, the science teams have already identified several undocumented alloys and unknown mechanical actuators in those mid-level sectors.”

“We are going to run a final series of hazard tests in the central area to ensure their automated defense grids are completely offline… If that goes smoothly, we move on to the most critical phase.”

Jason locked eyes with his squad. “I will be leading the breach. Our objective is to manually infiltrate the inner core of the ship and secure any high-value technology! Until we get the green light, all combat and hazard training will continue at maximum intensity! Is that understood?”

“Sir, yes, sir!” the squad barked in unison, their eyes burning with anticipation. They all knew exactly what securing alien technology meant for the future of humanity.

“Alright. Any questions?” Having finished the main briefing, Jason relaxed his posture slightly.

Shane, the squad’s designated marksman, raised his hand. “Director, I have a tactical question. Why not just use specialized drones to breach the inner core?” He wasn’t afraid of the mission; he was simply analyzing the operation logically.

“Because in highly complex, unpredictable environments, drones have severe limitations,” Jason explained. “We don’t have autonomous machines with the fine motor skills of a human hand. A human can dynamically adjust their grip strength and finger placement based on tactile feedback; a drone’s claw cannot… at least, not with our current tech.”

Right now, the drones were fine for brute-force salvage and basic reconnaissance, but they were clumsy when it came to delicate tasks like disassembling highly advanced micro-machinery.

“Furthermore, the hardware in the inner core is significantly better preserved. In fact… the drones haven’t even been able to locate a viable entry point. The core is heavily armored, which means the most critical technology is locked inside. It’s a high-risk, high-reward scenario that requires a human touch.”

Jason’s expression darkened slightly. “As you’ve read in the briefings, the outermost ring is purely a defensive and structural corridor. Aside from some hyper-dense armor plating, it’s barren.”

“The analysts believe the central ring was primarily the crew’s residential sector. We’ve found various facilities there, but they seem to be civilian-grade, which doesn’t give us the technological leap we’re looking for.”

“We did find one device that resembled a central computer terminal, but a salvage drone crushed a critical component while trying to extract it. Whether our engineers can restore it is highly debatable…” Jason sighed with a hint of regret. The remote-controlled drones were simply too heavy-handed for precision work.

“Once we breach the inner core, we are guaranteed to find their primary command and control systems. That is the technology we need!”

Jason’s tone grew heavier. “But there’s a strange variable. So far, we haven’t found a single alien corpse in the outer or central rings. This implies that even while the ship was crashing, the crew executed an organized evacuation…”

“The optimistic theory is that the crew was successfully rescued by their own fleet, leaving this crippled ship behind in the dirt like garbage. And what an interstellar empire considers garbage, humanity considers gold!”

“But there is a second, much darker theory: they were never rescued. Instead, the surviving crew fell back and sealed themselves inside the inner core!”

The nine operatives stared at him in stunned silence. Given that the inner core was heavily fortified and far better preserved than the rest of the ship, this theory was terrifyingly plausible.

However, the squad was mentally prepared. As Jason had said, they had come too far to back down now. Unless they were 100% certain that opening the core would trigger an apocalyptic weapon, they were going to execute the breach no matter what.

“Don’t let paranoia get the better of you,” Jason encouraged. “Even if there are living entities locked inside, their power reserves and defensive capabilities have to be critically low after all this time. We just need to stay sharp.”

“Think of it this way: imagine a sleeping giant. Suddenly, an ant crawls across its face. Under normal circumstances, the giant would just swat the ant and crush it instantly.”

“But we are the ants, and we’ve been crawling all over this giant’s face for weeks. We’re still alive and kicking. That leaves only two possibilities: the giant is already dead, or it’s so close to death that it doesn’t even have the strength to lift a finger…”

This logic emboldened the squad. Even Jason was beginning to shift from intense anxiety to calculated optimism.

Humanity was a deeply ambitious species. The new alloys discovered in the outer hull were fantastic, but they would only cause a minor leap in materials science. They weren’t enough to instantly revolutionize the entire Federation.

Only by securing a pristine, highly complex system, like an intact main computer housing a complete alien database could humanity truly seize control of its future!

This was technology hundreds, perhaps thousands of years beyond human comprehension. Once secured, they would no longer have to desperately scrape by in the dark void of space; they could leap straight towards the top of the food chain!

For a prize like that, acceptable casualties were a given… even if that casualty was Jason himself. His supernatural intuition was practically screaming at him to step foot inside that ship.

“Alright, enough talking. Let’s get back to the drills!”

The following two weeks were a blur of intense anticipation and grueling work. As the drones pushed deeper into the central habitation ring, they recovered dozens of bizarre devices. Most were shattered beyond recognition and hauled back to the Noah as scrap. A precious few appeared intact, forcing the engineering teams to perform agonizingly slow, delicate extractions to avoid repeating the “computer incident.”

During this phase, the Federation’s cryptographers, weapons engineers, and data specialists were in absolute heaven. The materials scientists, in particular, felt like they had unlocked the secrets of the universe with every new alloy they tested.

The biologists and theoretical physicists, however, could only watch from the sidelines, practically vibrating with anxiety as they waited for raw data relevant to their fields.

The work culture reached a fever pitch. Many researchers completely ignored the Federation’s legally mandated rest days, volunteering to pilot salvage drones through the weekends. Recognizing the critical nature of the operation, Jason didn’t enforce the labor laws.

Two weeks later, the fleet of automated excavators finally finished clearing the surrounding rock, completely unearthing the vessel.

As the true scale and shape of the alien ship was revealed, the optical feeds caught something terrifying. Directly beneath the massive hull, there was a gaping, abyssal sinkhole!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep