Have your science team begin charting the nebula?
From Create Your Own Story
"The Dark Nebula..." you begin to wax poetic. "No one has ever come this close and lived to tell the tale. It's exact size, shape, composition, all of it is unknown. Well... not for long. Keep your eyes peeled everyone, if you find something noteworthy it will probably get named after you. Lieutenant Thenalak, calibrate the sensor array for a full scan and begin mapping out the nebula."
"Calibrating sensor array..." the alien replies. "Sensors online. Beginning scan." She presses the com button, "Thenalak to Stellar Cartography Lab, are you receiving sensor data?"
Ensign Patton's voice answers, "Stellar cartography is receiving, but signal is somewhat garbled. Is there any way to clean this up a bit? I don't want to miss anything."
"Diagnostics on the sensor array indicate a faulty expansion coil. Mister Martinez, can you spare anyone to repair the coil?"
"I've got just the man for the job." Martinez answers pressing the com button. "Martinez to Jones, they need an engineer in the stellar cartography lab, got any ideas on who might be up the challenge?"
"I doubt the existence of any challenge," Lieutenant Jones responds. "But I'm bored so I'll go take a look."
Martinez chuckles at his officer's semi-serious arrogance, "Good man Jones." He releases the com button and turns back to the science officer. "This sort of thing is Jonesy's bread and butter."
Thenalak cocks her head to one side and furrows her brow, "What is the significance of Lieutenant Jones's meal preferences?"
Commander Jenkins and Lieutenant Martinez laugh, Ensign Knight turns away to hide the fact that she is trying not to laugh at the confused scientist. You've got quite a crew.
---LATER---
The mission is proceeding remarkably well. Lieutenant Jones not only repairs the sensor array, but he works with Ensign Patton to boost sensor efficiency. You are ahead of schedule. It seems Jones's arrogance is well earned. You are relaxing in the captain's chair when Lieutenant Thenalak interrupts the calm...
"Captain," she begins. "I'm picking up metallic objects on the scanners... it looks like a debris field."
"Debris eh?" you respond. "Perhaps a survey vessel much like ours, trying to map the nebula and got caught in a plasma storm."
"It is possible, there is a high amount of plasma activity in the area... its interfering with my instruments. We'll have to get in closer if we want to examine the debris any further."
"Yes, lets see if we can find out who those poor fellows were. Ensign, bring us in close, but mind the plasma storms."
"Aye aye sir." the perky little blonde sings her response.
As Excalibur gets closer the readings become clearer and Lieutenant Thenalak becomes uncharacteristically anxious.
"Reverse course!" she cries.
"Reversing course." Ensign Knight echoes, moving the controls to comply.
"Whats wrong?" asks Commander Jenkins.
The ship is suddenly jolted be several small impacts. They don't feel large enough to be weapons fire or meteor impacts.
"What the hell was that?" you ask.
"All Stop!" Thenalak shrieks.
"Answering all stop." Knight answers with a touch of concern in her voice.
"Lieutenant," you begin. "What is going on?"
Thenalak hesitates as if she were waiting to see if something would happen and then she says, "The metallic objects are not debris after all," she explains. "They are proximity activated electro-magnetic mines. Whoever put them out there used the plasma storm to mask them from scanners. By the time we got close enough to see what they really were, their proximity detectors had activated and they magnetized."
"Those impacts...?" Commander Jenkins asks.
"The mines have attached themselves to the ship's hull. They are surely armed by now, if we move, they will detonate."
"I want options." you say.
Martinez: "If we reverse the polarity of the hull, that should repel the mines."
Thenalak: "I suggest a space walk, I may be able to disarm the warheads one at a time if I can get direct access to them."
Knight: "If we fly slowly and perform some evasive maneuvers, I may be able to shake them off without detonating them."
What do you do?
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