“I’m not sure any amount of explanation will help…” Freyr muttered, glancing again at the Agent.

What Marae said next excited her greatly, but Freyr did her best to maintain an equal tone. This wasn’t the [i]expedition’s[/i] main objective. “A noble endeavor. Let me know if you require assistance; it’s something of a specialist subject for me.

[hr]

The two science teams pushed on with preparing for a second insertion, including the set up of a tandem link between the object, the FOB and the Barb. The enormous computing power at their disposal allowed for seamless virtual collaboration and analysis between the two labs. The majority of this to and fro centred on discussing the best way to approach the ancient entity, but a multitude of side projects were simmering away on the fringes too.

However, the timeline was thrown into disarray when Captain Andersen informally requested a short postponement. She was obviously reluctant to submit state of the art military hardware contained within her soldiers to any scanners apart from her own. Freyr tried to explain that Outreman infantry likely possessed nothing the Rothians already knew about, but Andersen maintained that clearance was required from Fleet Command. 

While Dr Lang theoretically had discretion on all scientific activity, they were guests aboard the Barbarossa. It would have been the height of bad form to press ahead with the plan, so Freyr reluctantly acquiesced, after stressing the very short timeline everyone was working to. The Captain sympathised, but maintained her need to follow procedure.

So Freyr gritted her teeth and pressed her team to work with the info they had until things played out.