Holloway Bioscience Research Facility 15

29th October 2021

This abandoned base can be found in Snake Sector GW-W C1-1 on planet AB 5 b, located at -68.1465, 117.9519 (in Live/4.0) or at -68.1222, 118.0459 (in Legacy/3.8).

There are low level materials in the base, plus a scannable data point giving encoded materials and five Uplinks that reveal the story of the base, however the log from the fifth Uplink is corrupted. Note: Logs 2-4 have an incorrect timestamp.

The location was revealed in a Galnet article on 29 OCT 3307 just before Halloween, the relevant section being:

During the creation of the Colonia Bridge, the crew aboard the stationary megaship Memories of Oresrati in the Snake Sector OD-S b4-2 system reported an unusual incident. A distorted transmission that could have been an SOS was detected on long-range sensors. Although they were unable to triangulate its source, the signal strength suggested a point of origin within 50 light years.

This led to a search which revealed the location of the base.

The logs are as follows – they do not have voice audio:

HOLLOWAY FACILITY 15 1/4
Mission log ident: EX37-001
Timestamp: 30/10/3255
Comms interlock: Active
Auto-transcript: Enabled

Cpt Sara Stirling 18:00
“This is definitely one for Excalibur Troop’s hall of fame, if we had one. The Holloway Bioscience Institute said they’d lost contact with one of their labs. They hired us to investigate and evacuate the staff if necessary. Well, there’s no doubt the staff are dead, but we have no idea what happened. We found some empty clothing and suits, stained with frozen blood…the base has been without power for weeks… but there are no bodies. No signs that they left the settlement either. It’s possible – “

Cpl Samuel Thulani 18:02
“Captain, this is Thulani. Thought you’d like to know, the power centre’s coolant systems must have been faulty, because the base techs rigged some geothermal conduits to pump the waste heat underground. But I’ve got everything reactivated, so all systems are back online.”

Cpt Sara Stirling 18:03
“Great work, Corporal, keep me informed. Stirling out. Okay, that’s some good news. I’ve got most of the team searching for clues, and Lieutenant McKellar is downloading their data files, so hopefully we’ll soon… wait. I can hear gunfire. Sergeant Jerrard, come in! Jerrard, report!”

Sgt Thomas Jerrard 18:04
“Captain, stand by, I’m entering the engineering block now. Roth! Buckley! Cease firing! What are you… oh my God.”

Pvt Julienne Roth 18:04
“They’re coming out of the floor! What the hell are they? Buckley, get back!”

Pvt Nathan Buckley 18:04
“Get off me! GET THEM OFF ME!”

HOLLOWAY FACILITY 15 2/4
Mission log ident: EX37-002
Timestamp: 30/10/3355
Comms interlock: Active
Auto-transcript: Enabled

Cpt Sara Stirling 19:12
“We’re in trouble. Serious trouble. These… things have come out of nowhere and are swarming through the base. Teunissen, Buckley and Webster are dead. Patel and Cook too, I think. They came crawling up through the floor grates in the engineering block, hundreds of them all at once. I’ve never seen anything like them before. Similar to spiders but with too many legs. Completely white in colour. Each one’s about the size of a fist, with a round mouth like a lamprey. And they move like lightning! I ordered my people to wipe them out but there’s just too many, so now we’re -“

Sgt Thomas Jerrard 19:13
“Captain, we’ve sealed the bulkheads in section three but they got past them! They’re spilling out of the air vents on top of us and…”

Cpt Sara Stirling 19:13
“Sergeant, pull back to the control centre now! Do you read me?”

Sgt Thomas Jerrard 19:13
[transcription error]
Pvt Luis Hernandez 19:13
“Sarge! SARGE!”

Pvt Steven Hathaway 19:13
“It’s too late! He’s covered in them, he’s finished! Move move move!”

Cpt Sara Stirling 19:14
“…Jerrard’s down. Dead. How can Jerrard be dead? He was my first recruit when… I need to get us out of here. This is Captain Stirling to the Excalibur, come in. Emergency code omega. Bring the ship down immediately for full extraction. Excalibur, respond!“

Cpl Samuel Thulani 19:15
“There’s one on my leg! I can’t see it!”

Pvt Julienne Roth 19:15
“I got it! It’s gone! Lean on me Sam, I’ve got you, let’s go!”

Cpt Sara Stirling 19:15
“Excalibur, this is a code omega, come in! I don’t understand, comms are open, why aren’t they responding? Transponder signal is… No signal. The ship’s not there. What happened to them? What the hell’s going on!”

HOLLOWAY FACILITY 15 3/4
Mission log ident: EX37-003
Timestamp: 31/10/3355
Comms interlock: Active
Auto-transcript: Enabled

Cpt Sara Stirling 00:09
“We’ve gathered in the control centre, those who are left. Half of my team is gone. The whole base is in darkness, apart from our suit lights, and the power centre has been shut down. That’s what caused those things to appear in the first place. McKellar downloaded the research team’s final report, made after the first attack. Their xenologists believe the creatures come from an enclosed subterranean ecosystem, over a kilometre below the moon’s surface. It’s likely that they see in infrared, like thermal imaging, when they hunt other heat-producing animals. So the waste heat being pumped underground was a massive attraction to them, melting the sub-surface ice and allowing them to crawl up the pipes…”

Cpl Samuel Thulani 00:11
“Captain, I’m at maintenance hatch four. We’ve finished blocking the vents, but Jules hasn’t returned yet. I’m going back out to find her -“

Cpt Sara Stirling 00:11
“Hold your position! If that last doorway isn’t sealed, they’ll be able to get in. Roth, come in, this is Stirling. Report.”

Cpt Sara Stirling 00:12
“I repeat, this is Captain Stirling to Private Roth. Respond immediately.”

Cpt Sara Stirling 00:13
“Seal it, Corporal. That’s an order.”

Cpl Samuel Thulani 00:13
“…Yes sir.”

Cpt Sara Stirling 00:13
“There’s nothing we can do now but wait. Without the power centre’s heat, we’re hoping that those things will retreat back underground and leave us alone. I can hear them, out there in the dark. Scuttling along the floors and walls. Trying to find some crack to crawl through and get to us. If they do… well… I’ve still got a fully charged cell on my carbine. That should be enough for everyone who’s left. I won’t let them go out like the others.”

HOLLOWAY FACILITY 15 4/4
Mission log ident: EX37-004
Timestamp: 31/10/3355
Comms interlock: Active
Auto-transcript: Enabled

Cpt Sara Stirling 04:36
“It worked. It took a couple of hours, but the creatures are gone. McKellar confirmed that the geothermal pipes have re-frozen. which should stop them climbing back up again. On my orders he blasted the power centre’s controls, so they’re stuck underground forever. Now all we have to worry about is asphyxiation. With no juice for the environmental systems, the air won’t last long. Our suits will give us a few more hours, but since our ship has vanished, we’re trapped down here. I’ve sent out a message on the emergency beacon, but we’re hundreds of light years from any – “

Pvt Luis Hernandez 04:38
“Sir, Corporal Thulani definitely isn’t within the perimeter. He must have sealed the hatch from the other side. I think he might have gone looking for Jules… uh, Private Roth. They were kind of close…”

Cpt Sara Stirling 04:38
“Acknowledged. Add his name to the list of the dead, please. Stirling out. That’s… I didn’t know about Thulani and Roth. Should I have known? Suppose it doesn’t matter now.”

Lt Angus McKellar 04:39
“Captain! There’s a ship right above us, in low orbit. A megaship!”

Cpt Sara Stirling 04:39
“What? Thank God! It must have picked up our beacon. Can you identify it?”

Lt Angus McKellar 04:40
“Scanning now. It’s a strange one. Looks like it might be a dredger clan, there are tribal markings all over it. I can just about make out a name on its hull… Phagos, I think it says. A couple of landing craft are heading down.”

Cpt Sara Stirling 04:40
“Let’s have a welcome party ready at the main airlock, Lieutenant Stirling out. Well, some good luck at last. I’m sure these scavengers will want payment for rescuing us, but it’ll be worth every credit. Travelling with a dredger clan is hardly going to be a luxury cruise… still, anything’s better than being eaten alive.”