The Ancient Shelters

Approaching the shelter from ground-level revealed a small opening beneath two collapsed towers, through which the faint glow of operational machinery could be seen.

The opening provides an anchor point for our … to map out the size of the complex, and possibly find a way to open it up without damaging the delicate structural integrity.

The ruins that entomb this site have all the hallmarks of cosmic storm damage. Curiously, there are no signs that the city's inhabitants attempted to protect themselves.

It is as if they endured the violence for as long as possible, only to evacuate in a great hurry. Perhaps the answers lie beneath the ruined ground of ….

After clearing many layers of debris and dust, the opening underneath the towers grew large enough for our … to enter the shelter.

The sanctuary is simple and utilitarian, with many offshoot rooms, most of them empty. In fact, it seems overly simple. It definitely appears to be a shelter of some kind, but it would not hold up against cosmic storms. The walls are too thin, providing very little support, and the ceilings and floors are not reinforced. It has been saved by nothing less than pure luck. Had it not been for the two towers above and the landslide moving the complex in one fell swoop, this 'storm' shelter would have been eradicated long ago.

The glow seen from the outside stems from a few malfunctioning alarm systems, and several operational terminals can be spotted deeper into the shelter. This could be a prime opportunity to learn more about the previous owners of this facility, as well as the curious circumstances at play.

The terminals were harder to reach than anticipated, partially obstructed by cave-ins. Some of the rubble was more recent, indicating a critical failure with the shelter now that it has been disturbed. Caution is advised.

Unfortunately, the ancient data processors do not give up their secrets easily. Everything was recorded in a lost language, though the intergalactic communication logs left behind in the interface might be able to help us. By combining this with the abandoned physical media scattered around the shelter, we should be able to complete a basic translation. Additionally, there are still more rooms to investigate, so long the shelter does not collapse.

The rooms and chambers located further down are not nearly so abandoned as the entryway. Boxes of merchandise fill them from top to bottom, all neatly packaged and stacked. Initial translations describe unprocessed materials and unfinished electrical components, neither of which are imperative to survival. The list also details quantities of items at this location, and the projected profits they would have generated on something called the Intergalactic Network of Equal Trade, INET for short.

The language surrounding this vast trading exchange is almost ecstatic, with meticulous notes on transactions and itemized indexes of profit. In fact, it appears this vanished civilization based their name on the exchange, calling themselves the Inetian Traders.

This shelter was not built to protect the general population, but rather as a glorified commodities warehouse. This raises the question as to why their shelters were so woefully under-equipped to handle the storms?

Further translation should provide more insights, but we are on borrowed time, as evidenced by the unsettling sound of creaking infrastructure.

The sound of tearing and cracking has intensified. Nevertheless, translation efforts continue within the shelter on …. While the stockpiled merchandise proved fruitless as a source of inquiry, the functioning terminals revealed much.

A set of scrambled coordinates point to the location of a device of 'great power' located on a nearby planet. From what we can understand, this device possessed the ability to "manipulate" a cosmic storm, a claim which would be incredible if true.

However, with the waning stability of the shelter and a copy of the coordinates already transmitted to our vessel in orbit, we evacuated the site. Many questions remain unanswered, but the hunt is on.