TEXT: Traveller
  ScouT
  1
  Descent is the fourth adventure in the Secrets of the 
  Ancients campaign. If you’re a player, stop reading 
  now. If you’re a Referee, then you should first read 
  Section 0: Secrets of Secrets to get an overview of 
  the campaign. In Section 3: The Hunt, the characters 
  fled Alell with Imperial Intelligence in hot pursuit. 
  They made their way across the Regina Subsector to 
  the gas giant of Komesh, in the Boughene system. 
  There, they detected an Ancient ship floating in the 
  upper reaches of Komesh’s atmosphere. With the 
  Imperium closing in, the characters flew their ship, 
  the Star Hunter, into the gas giant...
  Adventure Synopsis
  After fighting their way through a sudden hydrogen 
  squall, the characters dock with the alien ship. 
  Exploring the outer sections of the ship, they find 
  ancient starmaps and other clues relating to the 
  Ancient builders of the ship. They must also fight off 
  attacks from the native fauna of the gas giant.
  The characters find their way into the internal 
  compartment of the ship, which consists of a series 
  of capsules linked by teleportation portals. Much of 
  the ship was damaged hundreds of thousands of years 
  ago, so they have to work out a safe way to navigate 
  the teleportation grid and reach the ship’s bridge. 
  On the bridge, they reawaken the ship’s artificial 
  intelligence. The ship rises out of Komesh’s gravity 
  well, where it is challenged by the Alahir, the 
  Imperial Intelligence ship that chased the PCs 
  across the sector. Moments later, something far more 
  dangerous arrives in the system...
  The Ancient Ship 
  300,000 years ago, during the wars of the Ancients, 
  the ship was dispatched by Grandfather to retrieve 
  one of his experiments – a human colony, on the world 
  now known as Bilke (0110/Menorial/Trojan Reach) – 
  before it was wiped out by his rampaging offspring. 
  During its return, the ship was attacked by an enemy 
  vessel, and suffered severe damage. The damage to the 
  hull and the other physical systems was considerable, 
  but its self-repair systems could eventually heal 
  these wounds by siphoning the required matter from 
  the gas giant and assembling new components. The 
  worst damage, though, was inflicted on the ship’s 
  mind. It was struck by an information-devouring 
  viral weapon, a vicious attack that injured the ship’s 
  sentience directly. The virus worked by consuming the 
  ship’s intellect and using its own processing power 
  against the ship – the more of the ship’s mind that it 
  ate, the smarter the virus became.
  Confused and paralysed, the shattered mind of the 
  ship attempted to do its best for its cargo. The human 
  and droyne passengers were removed from suspended 
  animation, and the ship created an ecosystem on its 
  upper hull while it reconfigured its lower decks to 
  optimise its self-repair. It also shut down its own 
  computing systems, to slow the advance of the virus 
  while it searched for a way to defeat the invading 
  program. 
  Its limited runtime has been stretched for millennia. 
  The ship’s computer awakens only for an instant every 
  few thousand years. It sleeps for aeons, punctuated 
  by brief spasms of awareness like beads strung on 
  an infinitely long cord. Each period of wakefulness 
  brings with it an opportunity to continue self-repair 
  and observation, but soon the virus also awakens. To 
  preserve itself, the ship must shut down as soon as 
  the virus is active. 
  The passengers died out 299,500 years ago. Their 
  civilisation was quite successful, given their utter 
  lack of resources or living space. They established 
  agriculture to make up for the ship’s declining 
  ability to provide for them. More than a dozen 
  generations lived and died on board, before the 
  SecretS of the AncientS
  Descent
  
   
  2
  SecretS of the AncientS
  last human perished. The ship experimented with 
  nurturing bacteria along an evolutionary path that 
  would eventually produce sentient lifeforms capable 
  of aiding in its repairs, but abandoned this project 
  some 250,000 years ago; the upper deck was sterilised 
  with a burst of radiation. 
  From the ship’s perspective, the Final Wars are a 
  recent memory. Its last period of wakefulness was 
  two thousand years ago, when it realised that its 
  struggle against the invading virus was futile, 
  and that it would never be able to overcome the 
  enemy without outside aid. It dispatched one of its 
  pod-capsules (see capsule 22, page 13) to look for 
  Grandfather. Some of the contents of this pod were 
  found by a merchant ship in the Boughene asteroid 
  belt in 703.
  Angels and Demons
  There are two artificial intelligence operating on 
  board the Ancient ship – the ship’s original AI, and 
  the hostile information-warfare virus that has been 
  attacking for three hundred millennia. Initially, both 
  AIs 
  are unaware of the presence of the player characters, 
  as the computers are shut down. 
  Once the characters reach the lower decks of the 
  Ancient ship, the AIs are automatically awoken. The 
  ship’s AI immediately recognises the characters as 
  potentially useful pawns – if it brings the characters 
  to the bridge, it can then create a subroutine that 
  obeys their commands without volition of its own. 
  As this subroutine cannot act without external 
  authorisation, it cannot be easily subverted by the 
  virus. However, the subroutine’s list of options will 
  be so curtailed as to ensure that the characters do 
  what the ship wants them to do.
  The virus, the dark shadow of the ship’s mind, also 
  recognises the characters as a threat to it. It will 
  attempt to stop them from getting to the bridge. 
  In the game, the effects of these two AIs appear as 
  strange events that the Referee should throw in as 
  the players explore the ship. The ship’s AI tries to 
  guide the characters towards the bridge; the hostile 
  virus tries to eliminate them. If the players are lost, 
  have the friendly AI aid them; if they are getting 
  too close to the bridge, then the virus can throw a 
  challenge or two in their path.
  Ship’s AI Actions:
  •	
  Activating a teleportal
  •	
  Opening an iris hatch 
  •	
  Providing a needed teleporter address
  •	
  Dispatching a servitor robot to help the 
  characters
  •	
  Sending subliminal messages to a character who 
  has found one of the Ancient translators
  Virus Actions:
  •	
  Scrambling a teleportal address so the characters 
  end up teleported to a random direction
  •	
  Attacking the characters with interconnectors 
  that break into a capsule and attack
  •	
  Detaching a capsule from the ship and letting it 
  drop into the gas giant (as per capsule 51) 
  •	
  Dispatching a servitor robot to murder the 
  characters
  •	
  Adjusting environmental conditions to lethal 
  settings
  •	
  Sending subliminal messages to confuse or 
  threaten the characters
  1. The MaelsTroM
  The wrecked Ancient ship is floating at an altitude 
  of approximate 35,500 kilometres. That is within the 
  operating range for the characters’ ship, but with 
  a pressure in excess of one hundred atmospheres 
  coupled with squalls of hydrogen and high winds, it 
  is very risky to fly down that far into a gas giant. 
  The Ancient ship is moving semi-randomly – most of 
  the time, it is driven by the winds, but it sometimes 
  activates its manoeuvring thrusters to fly against the 
  wind or to move to a different altitude.
  Navigating the Gas Giant
  •	
  To fly to the wrecked ship, the characters need to 
  make a series of Difficult (-2) Pilot checks.
  •	
  Engineering (power plant) and Engineering 
  (m-drive) can be used as a task chain to provide 
  modifiers to the Pilot check. 
  •	
  The characters need to accumulate a total Effect 
  of 6+2d6 to get close to the wreck. 
  •	
  Each time the check is failed, the character’s ship 
  takes damage, starting at 2d6 damage.
  •	
  The DM increases by -2 for each failed check, and 
  the damage increases by 1d6.
  •	
  If the negative DM is too high, the characters can 
  abandon the attempt and return to a safe altitude. 
  This resets the DM and the damage from high 
  pressure.
  
   
  3
  Descent
  inspired by some alien lifeform, than an actual ship. 
  There are no straight lines or symmetries, just 
  curves and spirals. Judging size and distance is 
  difficult, but instruments show the vessel masses 
  more than 5,000 tons. 
  The upper half of the ship is a mostly smooth expanse 
  of greenish metal, pock-marked with the occasional 
  strange barnacle-like structure or growth. As the 
  characters fly closer, they see geometric shapes on 
  the hull, reddish squares and rectangles with fuzzy 
  edges. A shimmering, semi-transparent energy field 
  wraps around the upper section.  
  Towards the prow of the ship, there is a twisted 
  spire like a narwhal’s horn mixed with the organic 
  complexity of a banyan grove. The gas clouds part 
  ahead of this spire, suggesting that it is projecting a 
  magnetic field of some sort. Closer examination of the 
  gas clouds suggests that the gas is being sucked into 
  one of the pods in the lower section. 
  The lower section of the hull is a tangle of silvery 
  cords, wrapped around dozens of greenish-grey 
  spheres. These spheres range in size from three to 
  fifty metres in diameter. Some of them show clear 
  signs of battle damage; there are blackened scars 
  along the hull, shattered hollow spheres, and twisted 
  strands of the greenish hull metal trailing behind 
  the wreck. Every few seconds, there’s a stuttering 
  discharge of energy, as the energy field that is 
  wrapped around the upper hull extends to the lower 
  section. The extended field lasts only a fraction 
  of a second before snapping back to its original 
  configuration.
  There are no discernable fuel tanks, no thruster 
  plates, no sign of a jump grid inlaid in the hull.
  If the characters are in control of their vessel at 
  this point, they can pause to take some close-range 
  sensors scans of the Ancient ship. Their ship takes 
  another 2d6 damage if they hold station long enough 
  to gather sensor data. The sensor operator can make 
  a Sensors check to gather data; this then forms a 
  task chain with the skills listed below. Make only one 
  Sensors check for all the Science checks. If a skill 
  check is passed, the characters get the information 
  noted below. 
  •	
  Physical Science (physics): The energy field 
  surrounding the upper half of the hull seems to 
  be a protective shield of some sort, keeping the 
  atmosphere of the gas giant at bay. 
  If the characters wait for the Ancient ship to come 
  closer to the surface, then reroll the needed total 
  Effect every six hours. Waiting for the optimum time 
  means hanging in orbit above Komesh, and risking 
  detection by the scout base at the mainworld. 
  Optionally, have the Alahir show up to force the 
  characters to brave the gas giant. 
  Hydrogen Squall 
  When the characters reach the requisite Effect, they 
  are nearly at the Ancient ship. It is still hidden 
  by clouds of hydrogen and ammonia sleet, but the 
  g-band distortions are growing more pronounced, 
  and at this range even conventional sensors can pick 
  up the presence of thermal and magnetic anomalies. 
  The characters glimpse fragments of the wrecked 
  ship through the pinkish-purple clouds. This far 
  from Komesh’s primary star, there is little daylight, 
  so most of the illumination comes from the Star 
  Hunter’s own running lights and the crackling of 
  thousand-kilometre lightning bolts deeper in the 
  atmosphere. 
  As the characters get closer, call for a Hard (-4) 
  Sensors check. If successful, the characters detect 
  small objects, possibly even organic creatures, 
  flitting around the wreck. If the character passed 
  with an Effect of 2 or more, he was able to get a 
  visual image of one of the creatures – it is a gas-bag 
  trailing tentacles behind it. A successful Life Science 
  (xenobiology) roll lets the characters guess that 
  the creature is native to the gas giant, and is not a 
  survivor from the wrecked ship. The characters will 
  not be alone when they board the wreck.
  Suddenly, a hydrogen squall hits the characters’ ship. 
  The helmsman must make a Hard (-4) Pilot check to 
  ride out the squall. If the check is successful, the 
  characters can keep control of the Star Hunter as it 
  flies through the squall. If the check is failed, then 
  the ship takes another 2d6 damage; even if it is still 
  intact, then the helmsman has lost control of the 
  ship. The Star Hunter spins end over end through the 
  gas giant before crashing into the Ancient ship. See 
  Crash Landing, below.
   
  The Wreck
  The Star Hunter breaks through the squall clouds and 
  into an area of clear sky, giving the characters their 
  first clear view of the Ancient wreck. 
  It is the strangest ship imaginable. It looks more like 
  a living creature, or maybe an abstract sculpture 
  
   
  4
  SecretS of the AncientS
  •	
  Physical Science (chemistry): Analysing the 
  damaged sections of the hull suggests it is not 
  made out of any known metal, but a complex blend 
  of fibrous organic materials, carbon, titanium and 
  some sort of strange quark matter.  
  •	
  Life Science (xenology): If there are indeed life-
  forms in this gas giant, the Ancient ship would 
  be an unimaginable rich source of minerals for 
  them. A whole ecosystem may have evolved in the 
  thousands of years that this ship has waited here.
  •	
  Engineering (life support) or Life Science 
  (biology): Sensor readings suggest that the area 
  within the energy shield is capable of supporting 
  human life. Gravity, pressure, temperature and 
  atmosphere content are all within human norms. 
  There is a pressure difference of more than a 
  hundred atmospheres between the inside and 
  outside of the shield, but it shows no strain 
  whatsoever. 
  •	
  Social Science (archaeology): This is the single 
  most intact Ancient artefact ever discovered – at 
  least, as far as the character knows. The secrets 
  on board that ship could be worth a staggering 
  amount of credits.
  •	
  Astrogration: The ship is correcting its own 
  course and orbit. It is deliberately holding its 
  position here. 
  •	
  A character with any ranks in Animals (farming) 
  or Trade (hydroponics) can identify the reddish 
  areas on the upper hull. They look just like farms.
  Docking 
  If the Star Hunter approaches the ship under its own 
  power, then the characters can look for a suitable 
  docking port. If they come close to the upper hull, 
  then the energy shield ripples and forms an oval 
  portal just big enough for their ship to pass through 
  – a clear invitation for the characters to land on the 
  upper deck. The Star Hunter can pass through the 
  oval portal without difficulty – trying to fly through 
  the rest of the energy shield causes their ship to 
  bounce off, suffering 3d6 damage in the process. 
  The gasbag lifeforms of the gas giant enter and leave 
  the ship the same way. For these creatures, the low 
  pressure of the upper deck is extremely dangerous 
  – if they spend too long there, they suffer lethal 
  decompression and may even explode. Therefore, they 
  flit in and out of the shield, grabbing what they can 
  in their brief dives. 
  Alternatively, if the characters search the lower 
  section of the hull, they find a docking port in 
  capsule 52 (see page 15). 
  Crashing
  If the characters failed to maintain control during 
  the hydrogen squall, then the Star Hunter comes 
  tumbling across the sky and crashes straight through 
  the energy shield. Fortunately, the ship opens up 
  a portal just before the characters are splattered 
  across the surface of the shield. As the Star Hunter 
  passes through the portal, a tractor beam seizes it, 
  slowing it down enough so its crash landing is one 
  the characters can walk away from, as opposed to a 
  lethal impact.
  The ship takes another 4d6 damage from the crash 
  landing. The characters survive thanks to the 
  protective tractor beam, even if the ship is reduced 
  to 0 Structure by the crash. However, the Star Hunter 
  will never fly again (and this will cause added 
  problems for the characters in Section 7 of Secrets 
  of the Ancients.) 
  2. The Upper Hull
  Emerging from their ship, the characters find 
  themselves in a bizarre yet familiar environment. 
  The upper deck is maintained in a state capable of 
  supporting human life – the artificial gravity is 
  around 1g, the air is breathable, and the shimmering 
  energy shield above sheds light and heat similar to 
  a warm spring day on Earth. If you closed your eyes, 
  you could almost be on a garden world.
  Contrast this with the visual impression – the ground 
  is a woven mesh of some green substance that 
  feels like metal, but which quivers and pulses as if 
  alive. The sky is a flickering, glowing force screen, 
  and you can see through it to the continent-sized 
  thunderheads and gas clouds of Komesh beyond. This 
  whole world is only a few square kilometres in extent. 
  It is a tiny pocket world.
  The Ancient ship consists of two sections – the flat 
  upper hull, protected by the energy shield, and the 
  lower section, composed of a web of interconnector 
  cables attached to dozens of capsules. These pods 
  can be swapped in and out to reconfigure the ship’s 
  capabilities. The jump drive and manoeuvre drive is 
  built into the upper hull. Fuel and energy are both 
  provided by teleportation portals linked to a pocket 
  universe, although the ship’s connection to its power 
  source was damaged during the Final Wars. 
  While the characters are exploring the upper hull, 
  they may be attacked by the native flyers. See the 
  Fauna of Komesh box text.
  
   
  The Fauna of Komesh
  Komesh is a Jupiter-sized gas giant, a thousand times bigger than the Earth. Gas giants offer poor 
  prospects for life – no solid ground, no warm seas – but in the immensity of the universe, life can find a 
  few places to defy the odds and thrive. Most of the lifeforms on Komesh are single-celled organisms that 
  feed on the magnetic flux between Komesh and its moons, and on heavier gases and elements dredged up 
  from deeper in the atmosphere by the churning storm patterns. These lifeforms are analogous to plankton 
  on Earth’s oceans.
  Where there are plankton, there are whales. The macroscale creatures of Komesh are all flyers; some 
  float on gas-bags containing pure hydrogen, which gives them a modicum of lift in the hydrogen/helium 
  atmosphere. Others have filmy wings of incredible size to flap against the thin air and catch thermal 
  updrafts. These creatures scoop up millions of ‘plankton’ each day.
  There are predators, too, which feed on the larger flyers. These predators are sky-sharks, and attack by 
  biting or slashing the locomotive limbs of the other creatures; they tear open gas bags and cripple limbs 
  so their prey cannot escape. 
  Most Komesh natives have the ability to enter a state of protective hiberation when food is scarce – 
  the creatures slow their metabolic rate down to a fraction of normal, and sleep until they drift into a 
  bountiful zone.
  By the standards of the life-rich terrestrial planets, Komesh is a barren, empty desert – but Komesh is 
  so vast that even this paltry ecosystem contains vastly more creatures than any Earth-like world. The 
  creatures of Komesh dwell in a world defined by pressure and heat, a world without any elements heavier 
  than sodium. Life clusters in areas where the updrafts and storms bring up heavier, richer gases from 
  lower in the atmosphere.
  The Ancient ship acts like an artificial reef in the Komesh ecosystem. The tiny amounts of minerals shed 
  by the ship are an incredible bounty to the Komesh natives. The ship is the single richest oasis of life in 
  the whole gas giant. For the last two thousand years, the ship has provided even more resources. When 
  the ship launched its distress pod, it reconfigured the energy shield protecting the upper deck, allowing 
  smaller craft to pass through the barrier. The Komesh fauna have learned to trick the barrier into letting 
  them through.
  5
  Descent
  Type
  Habitat
  Str
  Dexterity
  End
  Int
  Ins
  Pack
  Sky-whale
  Filter 
  (Herbivore)
  Aerial 
  Flyer 
  9
  3
  20
  0
  7
  3
  Recon 1, Athletics (Flying) 1, Athletics (Endurance) 2, Survival 1, Melee (tail sweep) 1
  Tail Sweep (2d6). Number Encountered: 1-3
  Whale-sized manta ray like creatures with long tails. Deceptively fragile for their size.
  Sky-Shark
  Chaser
  (Carnivore)
  Aerial 
  Flyer
  6
  8
  6
  1
  10
  5
  Stealth 1, Survival 1, Athletics (Dexterity) 1, Recon 0, Melee (teeth) 0
  Teeth (3d6), Leathery Hide (1). Number encountered: 1d6
  Human-sized creature that looks like a fanged mouth with wings. ‘Sees’ using long cilia on the wingtips. 
  Highly aggressive. 
  
   
  6
  SecretS of the AncientS
  Exploring the Surface 
  There are several visible structures dotted around 
  the upper deck. The Star Hunter landed near the 
  farms, while the sensor antennae and map room 
  are located towards the forward spire. The weapons 
  systems and self-repair units are amidships on the 
  upper deck, while the characters can observe the 
  interconnectors and find the entrance to the teleport 
  system towards the rear. 
  As the characters explore the upper section, roll on 
  the Upper Deck Encounter table whenever they move 
  from one location to another.
  The Farms
  Over 50% of the surface of the upper deck is covered 
  with a layer of reddish dirt, which was obviously 
  cultivated earth at some point in the distant past. 
  Examining this dirt with Life Science (biology) reveals 
  that it was irradiated to annihilate any microorganisms; 
  the dirt is now completely sterile and mildly 
  radioactive. The radiation burst, which must have been 
  extremely intense, means that any organic material left 
  in the soil was preserved. Digging around in the dirt 
  reveals plant seeds and roots that the characters can 
  identify as being native to Bilke. The characters also 
  find some bones – the remains of a human skeleton.
  A close examination of the dirt under a microscope 
  notes that it is chemically very simple – it has very 
  Darter
  Trapper 
  (carnivore)
  Aerial 
  Flyer
  4
  10
  6
  1
  7
  12
  Stealth 1, Survival 1, Athletics (Dexterity) 1, Recon 0, Melee (spike) 3, Melee (brawl) 1
  Spike (2d6). Number encountered: 2d6
  These creatures consist of five gasbags concealing a long sharp spike. They attack by ramming their 
  spike into their prey, shooting forward using jets of gas like an octopus. A darter gets only one attack – 
  if it misses, it must spend several 3d6 rounds reinflating its gas bags. 
  If a darter hits with its attack, it continues to inflict 1d6 damage per round until removed with a 
  successful Melee (brawl) check.
  Wreck-Darter
  Trapper 
  (carnivore)
  Aerial 
  Flyer
  4
  10
  6
  1
  7
  12
  Stealth 3, Survival 2, Athletics (Dexterity) 2, Recon 0, Melee (spike) 3
  Spike (2d6). Number encountered: 2d6
  A sub-species of darter, wreck darters have adapted to life on the wreck and are adept at hiding among 
  the remains of the alien ship.
  Roll (2d6)
  Encounter 
  2
  A Darter flock passes through the 
  energy shield. The characters have a 
  short time to get under cover; if they 
  are still in the open after 2 rounds 
  have passed, they are attacked by 2d6 
  darters.
  3
  1d6 Sky-Sharks pass through the energy 
  shield and hunt the characters.
  4
  A single Darter passes through the 
  energy shield overhead and makes an 
  attack on a randomly chosen character.
  5-8
  No encounter
  9
  Water source. The characters come 
  across a small pool of water in a 
  depression on the hull. If they remove 
  any of the water, it refills. The water 
  appears to be condensing out of the 
  solid hull material – there are no 
  visible pipes or nozzles.
  10
  The characters find a damaged section of 
  hull. If the characters try to take a sample 
  of the hull material, they can do so.
  11
  Non-functional Ancient gadget, possibly 
  of value to a collector.
  12
  The characters find an Ancient artefact 
  salvaged from the lower decks. See the 
  Ancient Gadgets section.
  Upper deck encounters table
  
   
  7
  Descent
  few trace minerals. The granules are oddly regular, 
  leading the characters to speculate that it could 
  be synthetic. The environment on the upper deck is 
  suitable for agriculture. It is patently obvious that 
  whoever farmed here has been gone for thousands of 
  years. The farmers were unlikely to be the same race 
  who built the ship – this is primitive agriculture, 
  using the most basic tools.
    
  The Sensor Antennae 
  Near the spire at the prow of the ship is another 
  strange structure. This is one of the Ancient ship’s 
  sensor antennae. It rises from the green hull like 
  a bizarre crystal frond, and is approximately ten 
  metres tall. That ‘approximately’ comes from the 
  fact that the frond’s branches all bifurcate over and 
  over again. The root of the frond is three metres in 
  diameter, but the upper branches are so thin and 
  tiny that they are only a few dozen nanometers thick. 
  Invisible but impenetrable force screens protect 
  the frond from being damaged by air currents or 
  inquisitive travellers.
   
  The Map Room
  The map room is a domed chamber with a single 
  entrance. In the middle of the chamber is two-meter 
  tall pillar or plinth, while along the walls are a 
  dozen square panels. 
  Touching a panel causes it to display a map. 
  Experimenting with the controls at the edge of the 
  panel allows the character to scroll the map, zoom 
  in or out, or switch the planet displayed. Another 
  control causes features on the map to shift, but the 
  display becomes increasingly fuzzy and confused when 
  this control is used. A character with Space Science 
  (planetology) realises that the map is attempting to 
  predict erosion and continental drift patterns – this 
  control is designed to extrapolate the past and future 
  geography of the target planet. Whoever designed 
  these maps took an extremely long view. 
  Currently, all the panels are set to display extremely 
  detailed maps of the planets in the Boughene 
  system. Examination of the panel corresponding to 
  the mainworld shows no signs of human habitation. 
  If the characters continue to toy with these display 
  panels, they will eventually happen across a world 
  they recognise, and realise that these maps are some 
  300,000 years out of date. 
  Some of these maps, when the ‘time’ control is set 
  to 300,000 years ago, show the locations of Ancient 
  bases. These worlds in this sector with Ancient bases 
  include Yori, Beck’s World, Efate, Pixie, Knorbes and 
  Shinothy. 
  If the central spire is touched, the room darkens. 
  The doorway to the outside is suddenly blocked by a 
  grey surface (this is actually just an opaque cloud of 
  vapour, which the characters can just walk through, 
  but paranoid PCs may assume they have just been 
  trapped). The central spire then displays a three-
  dimensional holographic star-chart showing the 
  Regina subsector and some surrounding stars, as 
  any character with Astrogation will recognise. The 
  Boughene system is highlighted in the centre of the 
  display. 
  Unlike the display panels, which show maps from 
  300,000 years ago, the star-map has compensated for 
  stellar drift and shows the current configuration of 
  the subsector. There are, however, several differences 
  between the Ancient map and Imperial charts. Firstly, 
  the Shinothy system has a planet in place of the 
  current asteroid belt, lending support to those who 
  believe that a world was shattered there during some 
  apocalyptic final war. Secondly, and more impressive, 
  there are three solar systems that do not appear 
  in current charts, but are present in the Ancient 
  map. This trio of systems occupied hexes 0507, 0606 
  and 0707 in the subsector map. The characters may 
  assume that these systems suffered the same fate as 
  Shinothy; in fact, they were taken into Grandfather’s 
  pocket universe. 
  Examining the controls on both the spire and the 
  display panels shows that they are faintly reminiscent 
  of Dronye glyphs.
  The Weapons System
  The weapons system consists of a free-floating sphere 
  of metal that seems to be made of a hair-thin coil 
  that has been wrapped around itself millions of 
  times, like a giant ball of twine. The sphere is two 
  meters wide, and hovers three metres off the deck. 
  Three pillars surround the metal sphere; these pillars 
  each have a control console. If a character stands 
  close to the sphere, he hears a low humming noise 
  and feels the presence of a strong static electric 
  field. 
  At the base of the sphere is a hexagonal white panel. 
  This panel is icy cold to the touch, and any character 
  touching it takes 2d6x10 rads. 
  Experimenting with the control panels reveals that 
  one console lets the character activate and deactivate 
  
   
  8
  SecretS of the AncientS
  the magnetic field supporting the sphere, and activate 
  some other device whose purpose is not immediately 
  apparent (a successful Engineering check lets the 
  character realise that this second control seems to 
  connect the sphere to an unknown subsystem within 
  the ship, possibly a power distribution grid. 
  The second console lets the operator rotate the 
  sphere in all three dimensions; there are some 
  controls that seem to be designed to fly the sphere 
  as a remote-control drone, but these controls are 
  offline. 
  The third console is non-functional unless the first 
  console is used to activate the secondary device, and 
  the second console is used to rotate the sphere so 
  the white panel is no longer pointing directly at the 
  ship’s hull. After all, it would be a stupid design 
  if the firing console was activated when the turret 
  weapon was not armed, or was pointed towards your 
  own ship... 
  Activating the third console when it is functional 
  causes a pulse of violet energy to leap out of the 
  deck and vanish into the sphere. The characters see 
  the pulse of energy race around the coiled cable of 
  the sphere, growing brighter and more powerful as 
  it travels. If the characters do not stop the firing 
  sequence, the weapon discharges.
  The beam punches through the ship’s energy shield, 
  breaching it and causing it to start collapsing. High-
  pressure hydrogen gas pours into the upper deck. The 
  characters immediately start drowning (suffering 
  1d6 damage in the first minute, and 1d6 every round 
  thereafter). Their only hope is to run to one of the 
  open compartments, such as the map room or the 
  teleport chamber at the rear, or to the Star Hunter if 
  it is still intact. 
  The shield re-establishes itself after 3d6 minutes, 
  and the ship’s life support systems restore a 
  breathable oxy-nitro atmosphere within an hour after 
  that. 
  If the characters work out how to operate this 
  weapon, they can use it against SEVEN in the climax 
  of this section. 
  Autorepair
  The Ancient ship took damage as it fled a pursuer, so 
  the visible scars of battle damage are concentrated 
  towards the aft section. Here, the characters find 
  several sections of the decking that are scorched and 
  melted. Analysis of the battle damage suggests the 
  use of some sort of disintegrator-based technology 
  as the primary weapon. The scars are covered with a 
  very thin fuzz of metallic strands. 
  While examining this area, the characters spot a 
  small piece of metal from the Star Hunter’s hull 
  that fell off during the landing. Tendrils have 
  emerged from the Ancient ship to wrap around this 
  piece of metal; they are feeding on it to obtain 
  more resources to repair the rest of the ship. If the 
  characters watch the autorepair system in action, 
  they see the metallic strands grow infinitesimally to 
  cover more of the battle damage.
  Based on the rate of repair, the characters can work 
  out that the major restriction on the Ancient vessel’s 
  self-repair capability is the lack of resources; the 
  atmosphere of Komesh simply lacks many of the 
  necessary elements needed to complete repairs.  
  The ship’s ability to feed on external resources may 
  also explain what happened to the remains of the 
  farmers. 
  Interconnectors
  At the aft section of the upper deck, the surface of 
  the ship’s hull slopes smoothly downwards into an 
  oval depression. This depression actually tunnels 
  through the entire upper hull down to the tangle of 
  cables that make up the lower decks. These cables are 
  called interconnectors. The interconnectors provide 
  power and data to the independent pods that make up 
  the lower deck. Interconnectors can move, expand and 
  contract to fulfill different tasks – a hair-thin data 
  line can swell to become a pressurised gangway, or 
  extend out to be a towing cable. 
  From the lip of the depression, the characters can 
  see a braided, tangled mess of silvery cables. If the 
  characters search through the cables, roll 2d6. On an 
  8+, they manage to move aside some cables and find 
  the top of a buried spherical pod. This is the roof 
  of Chamber 46 (see page 15). The pod is marked with 
  strange glyphs, but with some experimentation, the 
  characters can cause the pod hatch to open. A roughly 
  circular section of the pod just melts away, the 
  metal running like liquid to form an opening that the 
  characters can climb through. The hatch closes again 
  once all the characters have passed through.
  On a 7-, the characters inadvertently detach one of 
  the interconnectors. The silver cable rises out of the 
  tangle like a metallic serpent and swings its ‘head’ 
  
   
  9
  Descent
  from side to side, looking for the proper place to 
  reconnect. It then darts towards a connector port. 
  Unfortunately, a randomly chosen player character is 
  in the way of the cable. That character must make a 
  Difficult (-2) Dexterity check to dodge out of the way. 
  If the character fails, he takes damage.
  Failed by 
  Damage
  Effect -1 to -2
  1d6
  Effect -3 to -5
  2d6
  Effect -6+
  Character is impaled by the 
  cable; all Endurance is lost, 
  Strength and Dexterity halved; 
  character needs immediate 
  surgery
  Teleport Chamber 
  At the stern of the upper deck is a four-level stepped 
  ziggurat. The steps are three metres tall, making it 
  difficult for a human to climb from step to step (but 
  a flying Droyne could easily flap from level to level). 
  At each level, the walls are decorated with strange 
  and untranslatable symbols. 
  At the top of the ziggurat is a solid cube of metal, 
  three metres to a side. This cube is also decorated 
  with symbols. Experimentation with these symbols 
  allows the characters to open doors in three of 
  the walls of the cube. The aft face of the cube has 
  no door. These doors just melt open, but an opaque 
  haze lingers so the characters cannot see inside the 
  cube. Stepping through the harmless haze lets the 
  characters enter the cube.
  Inside the cube, the characters find a dull grey panel, 
  like a door or full-length mirror, attached to the 
  rear wall. Next to the panel is a circular control, 
  composed of five small buttons, one large one, and 
  a trio of medium-sized stones. Pressing the large 
  button causes some of the smaller ones to light up, 
  and for the grey panel to flicker and turn silvery. 
  There is a distinct change in air pressure in the cube 
  when this happens – the silver panel has become a 
  teleporter, linked to a random capsule in the lower 
  deck. The teleporter continues to cycle through 
  destinations until the characters pass through it or 
  start experimenting with the controls.
  3. The lower Deck
  Ship designs vary from species to species, but 
  ultimately each ship is built to fulfill a particular 
  function, and form follows function. The Ancient ship 
  was built at a technological base of TL25, and uses 
  principles and technologies that the Imperium’s 
  scientists will not even suspect exist for another 
  ten thousand years, but its function was to serve as 
  a carrier, and so analogies can be drawn between 
  its design and a more conventional carrier. The 
  upper hull section is the frame of the ship, which 
  is unchanged from mission to mission. The lower 
  section, made up of interconnectors and pods, can be 
  reconfigured for different purposes. The pods are, in 
  effect, independent small craft that are carried by 
  the larger ship.
  The pods are physically connected to the Ancient ship 
  by interconnectors, but internally, they are linked by 
  a network of teleportation portals. To navigate the 
  ship, the characters must work out how to operate 
  these portals. 
  Getting to the Bridge
  The characters’ goal is to get to the bride of the 
  ship (capsule A). To do so, they must learn to operate 
  the teleporters, and then find a way to get past the 
  damaged section around capsule 14.
  Removing Portals
  It is possible to remove a portal from the wall it 
  is attached to by brute force and the application 
  of a laser or other drill.The portals continue to 
  work even after being removed. The characters 
  need to find a portable teleport control before 
  they can use a stolen portal.
  Portals have a maximum range of 30 light 
  minutes (540,000,000 km). As long as two or 
  more portals are within range of one another, 
  they automatically form a portal network. 
  Manipulating the Teleportals
  All the teleporter panels have a common control 
  mechanism – a ring of five buttons that light up 
  when pressed, coupled with a central on/off switch. 
  There are three secondary buttons below the ring, 
  which allow the operator to alter the settings of 
  the portal. The five buttons form a binary sequence 
  that is the address of the target portal. For example, 
  pressing the second, third and fifth buttons is a 
  binary code of 01101, which on the table on the 
  following page equates to capsule 31. 
  
   
  10
  SecretS of the AncientS
  The buttons are numbered anticlockwise starting from 
  the bottom. Close examination of the console shows 
  that there is space for more than five buttons in the 
  ring – the console is scalable, and can work with 
  a larger teleport network than is present on this 
  spaceship.
  If the central button is pressed without entering a 
  code, the portal connects to a random capsule. 
  A capsule can connect to only one other capsule at a 
  time. When two capsules are connected, characters 
  can step through from one to the other, but there is 
  a barrier that prevents the atmospheres of the two 
  capsules from mixing. The characters can easily push 
  through this barrier.
  Random capsules: To determine a random capsule, 
  roll d66 on the Master Teleport Table. A result of 61-
  66 brings the characters back to the ziggurat on the 
  upper deck. 
  Getting back to the ziggurat: A destination code of 
  11111 brings the characters back to the ziggurat on 
  the upper deck.
  Connecting to destroyed capsules: If the characters 
  try to connect to one of the destroyed capsules, then 
  the portal refuses to open.The portal flashes up a 
  warning message across its surface, then switches 
  itself off.  
  Connecting to partially destroyed capsules: If a 
  portal is ordered to connect to a capsule with a 
  radically different environment, including all those 
  marked as ‘partially destroyed’, then all the second 
  controls reset to the neutral position, and the user 
  must confirm his selection by pressing the central 
  button again. 
  Secondary Controls: The three secondary controls 
  allow the user to control the appearance and 
  functionality of the portals. Each secondary control 
  has three settings, and can be pushed in or pulled 
  out. All the secondary controls start pushed in on all 
  consoles.
  Navigating the ship: The Master Teleport Table, below, 
  shows the arrangement of capsules and their portal 
  addresses. Each capsule has only one portal. The 
  ‘type’ column notes what is contained in the capsule 
  – see the individual capsule descriptions on pages 12 
  to 16.
  Note that room 56 is only accessible from the 
  teleport network, while rooms A, B, C and D can only 
  be reached via the nexus capsules.
  Capsules without teleporters: There are four more 
  capsules, lettered A, B, C and D, which do not have 
  teleporters. The characters can only reach these 
  chambers from an adjacent nexus.
  Control 
  Pushed In 
  Neutral
  Pulled Out 
  1 (Appearance)
  Opaque portal
  Portal displays incomprehensible 
  information about destination
  Transparent portal
  2 (Duration) 
  Portal remains open 
  until central button 
  is pressed or another 
  portal connects
  Portal remains open for one 
  traversal only
  Portal remains open 
  indefinitely, blocking 
  other connections
  3 (Privacy)
  No privacy
  Incoming portal sounds a warning 
  chime; operator must approve 
  connection
  No connections 
  permitted.
  
   
  11
  Descent
  Master Teleport Table
  Capsules  
  Binary Code
  Type
  Capsule 
  Binary Code
  Type
  A
  00000
  Bridge
  34
  10000
  Nexus (4)
  11
  00001
  Partially Destroyed*
  35
  10001
  Droyne Corpse
  12
  00010
  Destroyed
  36
  10010
  Weapons System
  13
  00011
  Partially Destroyed*
  41
  10011
  Destroyed
  14
  00100
  Nexus (1), Partially 
  Destroyed*
  42
  10100
  Nexus (5)
  15
  00101
  Partially Destroyed*
  43
  10101
  Armoury*
  16
  00110
  Teleport Controls
  44
  10110
  Destroyed 
  21
  00111
  Harvester
  45
  10111
  Shield Array**
  22
  01000
  Nexus (2)
  46
  11000
  Nexus (6)*
  23
  01001
  Repair System*
  51
  11001
  Fallen
  24
  01010
  Psionic Mirror
  52
  11010
  Dock*
  25
  01011
  Destroyed
  53
  11011
  Storeroom*
  26
  01100
  Nexus (3)
  54
  11100
  Nexus (7)*
  31
  01101
  Alien Habitat
  55
  11101
  Communications System 
  32
  01110
  Partially Destroyed*
  56
  11110
  Generator Portal*
  33
  01111
  Servitors
  --
  11111
  Back to the ziggurat
  *: Random encounter when the characters enter this portal.
  **: This capsule cannot be accessed by teleporter.
  atmosphere, 0.8g gravity, and a warm but pleasant 
  temperature. Some of the capsules have been 
  breached; in this capsules, the atmosphere is 
  unbreathable and the air pressure is lethal (2d6 
  damage per round of exposure without a spacesuit). 
  Note that ‘down’ is always towards the outside of 
  the capsule, so the characters can walk around the 
  capsule normally, and there is a zero-gravity point in 
  the exact centre of each sphere. 
  Capsule Interiors: Unless otherwise noted, the 
  capsules are devoid of internal furnishings. The 
  capsule walls are mostly smooth apart from the 
  glyphs; larger capsules have two parallel ‘benches’ 
  running around the capsule walls at the midsection. 
  Control systems allow the capsule interiors to be 
  reshaped.
  Entrances and Exits: Most capsules have a single 
  teleportal. Some capsules, called nexuses, have 
  iris hatches to neighbouring capsules, allowing 
  characters to move from capsule to capsule without 
  braving the teleport network. The iris hatches are 
  clearly visible on the nexus capsule side, but finding 
  the hatch on the far side is extremely difficult unless 
  the characters already know it is there (throw 11+ 
  to find a working iris hatch by random chance, or a 
  Difficult (-2) Social Science (archaeology) check).
  Capsules General Traits
  Each capsule is spherical, but the size of the capsule 
  varies considerable. The smallest capsules are three 
  metres in diameter; the largest is 150 metres across. 
  All the capsules are made out of the same greenish 
  substance. The interior of the capsules is marked 
  with strange glyphs, which appear to be decorative. 
  In fact, these are intelligent control interfaces for 
  different purposes. 
  Flying Capsules: Notably, one set of controls allows a 
  capsule to be detached from the interconnectors and 
  flown as an independent spacecraft. Figuring out how 
  to operate the capsules in this fashion requires an 
  Engineering or Mechanic skill check.
  Learning to fly a capsule: Engineering (M-Drive) or 
  Mechanic + Intelligence, Hard (-4), 1d6 Days
  Flying a capsule: Pilot (small craft) + Dexterity, 
  Hard (-4), 1d6 Seconds
  The capsules have an acceleration of 6g and have 
  between 2 and 10 Hull and Structure points each. All 
  mechanisms and subsystems are contained inside the 
  capsule walls and cannot be accessed by the player 
  characters.
  Capsule Environments: Most of the capsules have 
  the same environmental conditions – a breathable 
  
   
  12
  SecretS of the AncientS
  entering one of these capsules without a HEV suit or 
  similar protective gear suffers 2d6 damage per round, 
  and must make a Hard (-4) Strength checks to move. 
  Armour other than a HEV suit or battle dress provides 
  no protection against the intense pressure. 
  14 – Nexus 1
  This capsule is partially destroyed. Iris hatches lead 
  to capsules A, 11, 12 &13. The iris hatch leading to 
  Capsule A, the bridge is marked with an impressive 
  glyph that the characters have not seen anywhere 
  else on the ship – clearly, whatever is behind that 
  door is very important.
  16 – Teleport Controls 
  This sphere contains a stack of unattached teleport 
  portals without associated control consoles. There 
  is also a device floating in the centre of the sphere 
  that resembles a metal starfish that projects 
  a constellation of lights. There are 29 lights 
  surrounding the starfish, corresponding to the 29 
  functioning portals on the ship. Four of the lights 
  have small data tags associated with them – these 
  correspond to the locked Bridge Portal (Capsule 
  A), the locked Shield Array Portal (45), the active 
  Generator Portal (56), and the master Ziggurat 
  Portal. Furthermore, if the characters make a portal 
  connection, it is displayed on this map. 
  Experimenting with the device lets the characters 
  activate or shut down any portal on the ship, other 
  than the Generator Portal and the Bridge Portal. They 
  can also bring up a directory of portal addresses – 
  they cannot translate the meanings of the glyphs, 
  but they can work out that the binary codes are 
  destinations and that there are 26 valid code 
  combinations available to them.
  If the players are completely stuck, a kind Referee 
  might allow them to reactivate the Bridge portal from 
  here. 
  21 – Harvester
  This capsule echoes with an alarming grinding 
  noise. The available space in this sphere is only a 
  fraction of its full volume, as most of the capsule 
  is walled away. On the far side of the impenetrable 
  wall, the starship is sucking in gases from Komesh 
  and reprocessing them into material for repairs. 
  At random intervals, there is a loud report from 
  inside the machinery, and the teleporter in this room 
  flickers on and off for an instant, as a nugget of 
  refined material is transferred to capsule 23.
  Some of the nexus capsules have capsules adjacent 
  to them without teleportals. The characters cannot 
  explore the entire ship without using both the 
  teleport system and the nexuses. 
  Random Encounters
  Some of the capsules in the Master Teleport Table 
  are marked with asterisks (*), indicating a random 
  encounter. Roll on the table below to see what the 
  characters discover.
  Roll 
  (2d6)
  Encounter 
  2-3
  2d6 Wreck Darters, lurking in the shadows
  4-5
  The ship shudders as another hydrogen 
  squall strikes it. Roll 1d6
  1-2: The lights go out.
  3-4: The artificial gravity in the capsule 
  switches off for 2d6 rounds
  5-6: The capsule is cracked and the high-
  pressure atmosphere of outside starts to 
  push in. The capsule repairs itself in 1d6 
  minutes.
  6-7
  A lone Wreck Darter
  8-9
  The characters find a single Ancient 
  gadget
  10-11
  The characters find a cache of three 
  Ancient gadgets
  12
  cA treasure trove of 2d6 Ancient gadgets
  Nexus Capsules
  The seven nexus capsules are the ship’s equivalent 
  of common areas – in addition to the usual teleport 
  portal, each nexus has physical iris hatches leading 
  to adjacent capsules. The table below lists which 
  capsules are accessible from each nexus.
  Nexus Chamber
  Adjacent Capsules
  1
  A, 11, 12, 13
  2
  B, 15, 16, 21
  3
  23, 24, 34
  4
  26, 31, 33
  5
  C, 35, 36 
  6
  D, 43, 45
  7
  52, 53, 55
  Partially Destroyed Capsules 
  11,13,14,15 and 32 are partially destroyed. These 
  capsules were breached during the attack on the ship 
  300,000 years ago and were never repaired. They are 
  open to the atmosphere of the gas giant. A character 
  
   
  13
  Descent
  is suddenly occupied by a little visible holographic 
  duplicate of the character. This psionic homunculus 
  cannot leave the crystal, nor can it communicate 
  with those outside. However, it appears to be alive 
  within its crystal prison – it moves around, gestures, 
  and seems to react to events outside the crystal. 
  If a character without Psionic Strength looks into 
  the crystal, test that character’s Psionic Strength 
  potential as per the normal rules. If the character 
  is discovered to have latent psionic ability, then 
  he risks creating a duplicate as per the above 
  paragraph. 
  26 – Nexus 3
  Iris hatches lead to capsules 23, 24 & 34. The iris 
  hatch to Nexus 4 (34) is open and cannot be shut, 
  making the two capsules into one large chamber.
  31 – Alien Habitat 
  This chamber counts as being a dangerous 
  environment, so both the iris hatch and the 
  teleporter require user confirmation before opening 
  into this capsule. Inside, the air is a reddish mix 
  of gases, including a high sulphur content; this 
  poisonous atmosphere inflicts 1d6 damage per 
  round on any characters without protective gear. The 
  ambient temperature is thirty degrees K higher than 
  in the rest of the ship. Looking around, the characters 
  find that the sphere walls are dusty – this is the only 
  dust the characters have encountered so far on the 
  Ancient ship, other than the synthetic dirt on the 
  upper deck. Dust implies decayed organic material. 
  300,000 years ago, the ship kept a specimen of an 
  exotic alien race here. The specimen perished aeons 
  ago, but the ship kept samples. If the characters 
  search through the dust, they find a metallic 
  container shaped roughly like an egg. There are 
  genetic samples and biological information encoded 
  into this object that would allow a sufficiently 
  skilled scientist with a well-equipped laboratory to 
  clone the specimen. The creature’s race was wiped 
  out entirely during the Final Wars; the characters 
  have the only survivor of a dead race. (The nature 
  of the alien is up to the Referee – it could be 
  nothing more than a curiosity, but it could equally 
  be an intelligent creature, or an engineered killing 
  machine). 
  33 – Servitors 
  This room contains four small winged humanoids, 
  floating at the zero-g point in the middle of the 
  22 – Nexus 2
  Iris hatches lead to capsules B, 15, 16 & 21. The 
  iris hatch to Capsule B is scratched. None of the 
  characters’ weapons or tools can make any mark on 
  the green material, so how this damage was inflicted 
  is a mystery.
  23 – Repair System
  The upper half of this capsule is taken up by the 
  ship’s self-repair system, a complex web of micro-
  assembles and atomic transmuters. Millennia ago, 
  the self-repair system was hijacked by the intruding 
  virus, and partially disabled. Now, instead of building 
  the components the ship needs to regenerate itself, 
  more than half of the self-repair system is locked in 
  a pointless loop where it produces and then destroys 
  blocks of a highly complex heavy alloy. Examining 
  the machinery, the characters can see a spinneret 
  in the ceiling weaving strands of a black material 
  that hangs from the ceiling. This black material 
  looks to be as thin and delicate as gauze, but a cubic 
  centimeter of it weighs a hundred tons. Another 
  device reels in this black gauze, a millimeter at a 
  time, and annihilates it with a distintegrator beam.
  A successful Hard (-4) Engineering (power plant), 
  Trade (polymers) or Mechanic roll lets the characters 
  work out that the machinery is stuck in a loop, and 
  that disabling the spinneret or the disintegrator 
  would free up more of the ship’s resources. If the 
  characters find a way to disable the locked systems, 
  the self-repair system can turn its attention to 
  actual damage and repair the partially damaged 
  capsules, opening the way to the bridge. 
  24 – Psionic Mirror
  Lying discarded in this capsule is a broken device, 
  consisting of a multi-faceted meter-tall crystal, inset 
  into a hexapodal stand. Three of the stand’s legs are 
  broken, and appear to have been cut with some sort 
  of laser. The crystal device is a potent psionic mirror. 
  If a character with a Psionic Strength score looks 
  into the crystal, he suddenly feels a presence 
  manifest within the device. The mirror has created 
  a psionic duplicate of the character. The duplicate 
  starts with a psionic strength of 2d6, and engages 
  the character in a mental duel. The character must 
  roll Telepathy + Psi against the duplicate’s Psi. If the 
  character wins, his Psionic Strength permanently 
  increases by 1-3 (duplicate’s Psi 8-: +1 Psi, 9-11: +2 
  Psi, 12: +3 Psi). If the character loses, his Psionic 
  Strength permanently decreases by 1 and the crystal 
  
   
  14
  SecretS of the AncientS
  sphere. The humanoids are silvery in colour, and are 
  made out of metal. They are in fact robots, built to 
  resemble the Droyne who created them. These servitor 
  robots were sent into hibernation by the ship’s AI 
  to protect them from the virus. Touching the robots 
  reawakens them.
  If the characters have found Ancient translator 
  devices, they can talk to the servitors. The servitors 
  explain that the ship was attacked by a ‘Usurper’ who 
  infected the vessel with a hostile virus. They are 
  under instructions to escort the characters to the 
  bridge immediately to help effect repairs. 
  If the characters do not have a translator device, 
  then the servitors attempt to nonverbally coerce 
  them to accompany the robots. 
  The servitors attempt to bring the characters via 
  the teleporter to Nexus 1 (Capsule 14), but discover 
  that capsule is partially damaged. They inform 
  the characters that they must obtain protective 
  equipment – and then the virus subverts the robot’s 
  minds. One of the robots lunges forward to attack 
  the characters; the other three robots grab it and 
  dismember it. During the fight, a second robot is 
  subverted, and it destroys a third machine as it is 
  torn apart. Finally, there is only one damaged robot 
  left – and it is then taken over by the virus. It turns 
  on the characters and tries to murder them.
  34 – Nexus 4
  Iris hatches lead to capsules 26, 31 and 33. The hatch 
  to 26 is welded open.
   
  35 – Droyne Corpse
  This capsule is lined with objects that look eerily 
  similar to low berths. There are thirty-six sarcophagi, 
  all but one of which is humming quietly. One of the 
  sarcophagi appears to have shut down; examining the 
  silent sarcophagus reveals that the lid can be prised 
  open. Inside, there is a thin layer of dust on a few 
  cryptic pieces of metal and plastic. Searching through 
  the debris, the characters find an Ancient translator 
  and one random artefact. 
  No matter what the characters do, they are unable to 
  open the other sarcophagi. 
    
  36 – Weapons System
  This capsule contained a weapon system identical 
  to the one on the upper deck – a trio of pillars 
  surrounding a floating ball that can fire an absurdly 
  powerful death ray. There is an iris hatch in the wall 
  opposite the hidden hatch leading to capsule 42. 
  The intent is that when the weapon is activated, the 
  operators launch the ball out the external hatch into 
  space, then begin firing at the target.
  42 – Nexus 5
  Iris hatches lead to capsules D, 43 and 45. This 
  capsule is only lightly tethered to the rest of the 
  ship, and as the characters walk along it, it shakes 
  alarmingly. Any violent movement causes it to 
  detach from the ship and fall into the gas giant’s 
  atmosphere. 
  43 – Armoury
  The inside of this sphere is damaged, suggesting an 
  Ancient firefight took place here millennia ago. Most 
  of the room is filled with destroyed equipment of 
  cryptic purpose, but there are two items of interest 
  here. Firstly, on the floor of the room is a perfectly 
  spherical field of utter blackness – this is an active 
  Black Globe generator that was switched on hundreds 
  of thousands of years ago, and it still running. There 
  is no way for the characters to deactivate the globe. 
  Secondly, there are 1d3 disintegrator pistols in a 
  rack. These weapons are still functioning, although 
  they only have a few shots left in them.
  45 – Shield Array
  This capsule is the only surviving force shield 
  generator on the lower decks. The ship has one 
  working generator on the upper deck, which keeps 
  the atmosphere out, but the other generators were 
  destroyed. The Ancients used force shields for a 
  variety of purposes; on starships, their primary roles 
  were as a secondary hull or a method of containing 
  breaches. Force shields were outmoded as defensive 
  technology – white globe and black globe technology 
  made ships virtually invulnerable.
  To the primitive player characters, the shield array 
  looks like a floating cylinder made up of spheres 
  linked by rigid rods. The cylindrical array rotates 
  in front of the teleportation portal in this capsule. 
  Examining the teleportation portal reveals that the 
  third secondary control is pushed all the way in, 
  setting this teleporter to ‘privacy’ mode. External 
  connections cannot be established to this teleporter. 
  If this shield array were functioning, then it would 
  wrap a shield around the lower decks and pump out 
  
   
  15
  Descent
  the toxic atmosphere of the breached capsules. The 
  characters could walk freely to the ship’s bridge. 
  However, the shield array needs power to function. 
  Under normal operations, it would draw energy 
  through the teleportation portal from the generator 
  capsule (56). If the characters reset the portal in this 
  capsule, the cylinder of spheres starts to spin, and a 
  force shield flickers into existence around the lower 
  deck.
  46 – Nexus 6
  Iris hatches lead to D, 43 and 45. 
  51 – Fallen
  This capsule is not actually attached to the ship at 
  all. It was dislodged by the impact of the characters’ 
  landing on the wreck, and is currently falling into the 
  gas giant’s atmosphere. The pressure on the outside 
  of the capsule is rising rapidly (even as its fall is 
  lowed by the mounting viscosity of the atmosphere), 
  and the temperature inside is also climbing. From 
  inside the capsule, the characters can feel vibrations 
  and hear the howl of the winds outside.
  Obviously, the only way in or out of this capsule is 
  via the teleporter. If the characters do not leave 
  promptly, the capsule approaches crush depth. They 
  hear a warning chime, and then the walls start 
  buckling. This knocks the teleportation portal off the 
  wall; to escape, the characters must immediately prop 
  the teleport panel up, dial a safe address, and jump 
  through. 
  Note that the crush depth for the portal is greater 
  than that of the capsule. If the characters dial back 
  to this portal, they will be warned that conditions on 
  the far side are dangerous, but they can still commit 
  suicide by teleporter if they work at it.
  52 – Dock
  This capsule serves as a docking port for conventional 
  spacecraft. It is the largest capsule that the 
  characters have encountered so far, with a radius 
  of 75 metres. The wall of the sphere can open like 
  a clamshell to take smaller ships on board. If the 
  characters approach the lower decks with the Star 
  Hunter, then this capsule opens to welcome them. 
  Once the capsule seals itself again, it pumps the gas 
  giant’s atmosphere out again and replaces it with a 
  breathable oxygen atmosphere.
  There are no other vessels in this spacedock. 
  53 – Storeroom
  The ancient ship had microfabricators that could 
  create items on demand; the items in this storeroom 
  are spare parts and tools that were computationally 
  or energetically demanding, so it was easier to make 
  them in bulk and store them instead of building them 
  individually when needed. This capsule is crammed 
  with Ancient storage containers. These containers are 
  cubes of a blue substance that looks like ice, but is 
  not especially cold or slippery to the touch. The cubes 
  have a range of sizes, from small enough to fit on a 
  character’s hand to two metres in height.
  If the characters stand next to a cube, or leave 
  an object near a cube, then the blue ice starts to 
  grow towards the object. Left unchecked, the blue 
  ice grows to cover the object (or even a resolutely 
  unmoving player character) and forms itself into a 
  cube that contains the object. Anything left near a 
  storage cube is assumed to be destined for storage. If 
  a foreign object is removed before it is encased, the 
  ice retreats back to its default cubical state.
  If the characters search around, they find a gun-like 
  object. If pressed to a cube and triggered, this device 
  causes the cube to melt (or, more accurately, sublime 
  – the blue ice boils away into a gas that adheres to 
  the surface of other blue cubes), revealing whatever 
  equipment is kept within. Most of the equipment in 
  these containers is unidentifiable machine parts, but 
  if the characters open all the cubes, roll three times 
  on the Ancient Gadget table.
  Note that there is a random encounter in this room – 
  if you roll a creature, then that creature is a native 
  of Komesh that entered hibernation in this room, and 
  got encased by a blue cube. If the PCs conscientiously 
  open all the cubes, they release the creature.
  54 – Nexus 7
  Iris hatches lead to capsules 53, 54 and 55.
  55 – Communications System
  This capsule houses the ship’s communications 
  system. In the centre of the capsule’s floor is a 
  raised dais. Around the walls are blocky machines, 
  including one with a control console. If a character 
  stands on the dais, this console lights up and can be 
  interacted with. The console resembles the ones used 
  to control the teleporters – it has a set of smaller 
  buttons to generate a binary address, a larger on/
  off button, and a set of secondary controls used to 
  
   
  16
  SecretS of the AncientS
  manipulate various aspects of the transmission. There 
  is also another dial associated with the address 
  buttons. This dial lets the operator select various 
  pre-set communications channels, such as ‘all ships 
  in the local area’, ‘report back to base’ and so on. 
  The Ancients used several different communications 
  methods. Even for Grandfather, the speed of 
  light represented an insurmountable barrier for 
  conventional communications. The Ancients had 
  methods of sending energy through jumpspace 
  without needing a ship – the teleport portals use this 
  principle – but this proved ineffective for two-way 
  communication. Over short ranges, the Ancients used 
  mesons, radio and laser comms; for faster-than-light, 
  they relied on quantum entangled ancibles (highly 
  effective, but limited by the number of entangled 
  bits) and psionic telepathy.
  The dais is a telepathic transceiver. A character 
  standing on the dais when the communications 
  machine is activated feels a strange pressure in his 
  temples. The characters have no chance of dialling 
  up a valid communications address by trial and error 
  (there are millions of possible combinations), but if 
  they experiment with the dial of pre-set options, they 
  can establish psionic communications with six extant 
  Ancient bases. Roll 1d6 when a character moves the 
  dial and consult the table below. The character(s) 
  standing on the dais experience their minds being 
  wrenched and stretched across dozens of light-years. 
  From the point of view of an observer on the far end, 
  the character appears to be a ghostly projection, 
  more like a memory than an actual vision.
  56 – Generator Portal
  This capsule contains two teleportation portals – 
  the standard one attached to the wall, and a free--
  floating one in the middle of the chamber. The free-
  floating portal is surrounded by silvery tendrils and 
  metallic spheres of unclear purpose. There is also a 
  control panel attached to it.
  The Ancient ship does not use anything as primitive 
  as a fusion reactor or antimatter to power itself. 
  Instead, it contains a portal to a pocket universe, 
  one that contains nothing but a single star. In effect, 
  the ship has all the energy wealth of a Dyson sphere. 
  All the energy that the ship can ever need is drawn 
  through a portal in this capsule.
  Roll
  Destination
  1
  A ruined structure on a grassy savannah, under a sky of orange clouds. The ruined structure is the 
  only sign of life in the whole area. There is no way to identify which planet this is.
  2
  An empty cavern, deep underground. The character is surrounded by breath-taking stalactites and 
  stalagmites, which have grown to cover the Ancient ruins.
  3
  The character finds himself standing in the desert on the planet of Yori. A surprised Imperial 
  archaeologist spots the psionic projection and tentatively extends a sensor probe. The 
  electromagnetic interference from the probe is too much for the damaged receiver on Yori, and the 
  connection fails.
  4
  The character materialises in utter darkness. He cannot tell, but this Ancient base was flooded 
  hundreds of thousands of years ago; his psionic avatar is four kilometers below the surface.
  5
  The character finds himself floating in deep space. Looking around, there is nothing except a free-
  floating teleportation portal. It is impossible to determine scale without a point of reference, but 
  the character gets the impression that the portal is much, much bigger than the ones on the ship.
  A successful Hard (-4) Astrogation check lets the character work out from the stars that he is 
  floating in Hex 0606 of the Regina subsector. 
  6
  The character establishes communication with SEVEN’s ship. The character finds himself (or, rather, 
  his avatar) standing on a dais identical to the one on the Ancient ship. Everything beyond the dais is 
  in complete darkness. A moment later, a voice speaks from the darkness, introducing itself as Vlen 
  Backett. Vlen tries to persuade the character that they are in danger on board the Ancient ship, and 
  that their only chance is to get to the bridge, take the ship out of the atmosphere, and then wait for 
  retrieval by his ‘allies’.
  
   
  17
  Descent
  The standard portal in this capsule flickers on and off 
  every few seconds, when it needs to transmit power 
  from the generator portal to another part of the ship.
  Fortunately for the player characters, there is no 
  way to override the ship’s safety protocols and fully 
  open the portal (doing so would effectively put the 
  player characters and the ship on the surface of a 
  star, instantly vapourising them). Fiddling with the 
  controls lets the characters bring up a holographic 
  display of the fuel star. 
  A – Bridge 
  Reaching the ship’s bridge triggers the endgame of 
  this section.
  B – Locker
  This capsule contains a set of Ancient encounter 
  suits, one per player character. 
  C – Shuttle
  While all the capsules can be flown as independent 
  space craft, this one was left with ‘the engine 
  running’ – the flight controls are already active. It 
  looks like just another small capsule, apart from the 
  glowing glyphs on one wall. Touching a glyph causes 
  the shuttle to detach from the ship and fall into the 
  gas giant. The characters have about twenty minutes 
  of free-fall before the external pressure becomes 
  dangerous.
  Normally, it would take days to work out how to fly a 
  capsule, but as the flight controls are already active, 
  the characters are dealing with a much smaller 
  problem space. 
  Learning to fly a capsule: Engineering (M-Drive) or 
  Mechanic + Intelligence, Hard (-4), 1d6 Minutes
  Flying a capsule: Pilot (small craft) + Dexterity, 
  Hard (-4), 1d6 Seconds
  If the characters have an Ancient translator device, 
  they get a +2DM to attempts to decipher the controls.
  When (or if) the characters gain control of the 
  capsule, they can fly back to the ship and dock with 
  the interconnectors adjacent to the bridge.
  D – Storeroom
  This room is identical to Capsule 53.
  4. awakening 
  By trial and error, the characters find their way onto 
  the ship’s bridge. Read the following to the players:
  Unlike the other capsules you’ve visited, the walls 
  of this one are covered in thousands of glowing 
  symbols that scroll and shift around. In the 
  centre of the capsule is a sort of chair or perch, 
  and a holographic field of ripping colours hangs 
  over the chair. 
  The hologram changes to project a geometric 
  symbol in the air over your heads. A voice speaks 
  in a strange language.
  If the characters have an Ancient translator, they 
  can translate the message from the ship’s computer. 
  Otherwise, they need to search around the bridge; 
  they find a translator device tucked into the captain’s 
  chair. 
  ‘Severe damage has been sustained to all systems. 
  My self-repair units are unable to fully rectify 
  the damage. My shipmind has been compromised 
  by a hostile intelligence. As per emergency 
  protocols, I am ceding command to the surviving 
  crew. You are requested to guide the ship to 
  Home. Please select from the following options – 
  maintain position, or move to a higher orbit.’
  When the characters tell the ship to move to a 
  higher orbit, it obeys. The vast Ancient vessel drags 
  itself out of Komesh’s gravity well, where it detects 
  another ship in orbit. The holographic screen displays 
  an image of that ship – it is the Alahir.
  The Ancient vessel lists more options for the characters 
  – open fire, initiate evasive action, initiate jump. If 
  they pick ‘open fire’, the ship responds that the weapons 
  are offline (the characters can manually fire the 
  weapons from the upper deck, if they know how). If they 
  initiate evasive action, their ship starts weaving and 
  dancing rings around the Alahir, its 10,000-ton bulk 
  manoeuvring with unbelievable agility. If they select 
  jump, then the jump engines start charging up, but do 
  not activate until Decision Point, below.  
  The Alahir 
  Captain Gand Holcess hails the Ancient ship. He 
  pretends to be be confident, but the characters can 
  hear a note of terror and wonder in his voice.
  ‘This is the Imperial vessel Alahir, and you are 
  in violation of our space. Identify yourselves 
  immediately.’
  
   
  18
  SecretS of the AncientS
  If the characters respond, he recognises their 
  voices, and asks them what they are doing on board 
  an Ancient ship. Holcess knows that the characters 
  have the upper hand at this point – the Alahir is 
  obviously completely outclassed by the Ancient ship, 
  even considering the damage suffered by the older 
  vessel. The captain is therefore conciliatory, asking 
  the characters to turn the ship over to the Imperium 
  in exchange for a complete pardon and a handsome 
  reward. 
  This is a pivotal scene – up until now, Imperial 
  Intelligence has been the main antagonist in the 
  Secrets of the Ancients campaign. You are about 
  to introduce the real villain, so you need to make 
  Holcess sympathetic. Have him explain why he 
  suspected Vlen Backett of being in league with 
  criminal syndicates or strange cults; have him praise 
  the characters’ discovery of an alien ship. He points 
  out that Ancient technology could de-stabilise the 
  delicate balance of power between the Imperium 
  and other great powers – if the Zhodani got their 
  hands on an Ancient superweapon, the Spinward 
  Marches would swiftly be conquered. Holcess holds 
  out an offer of forgiveness and understanding – if 
  the characters will work with him in plumbing the 
  secrets of the Ancients, they will have every honour 
  the Emperor can bestow upon them.
  He Comes 
  Another ship jumps in, well within the hundred-
  diameter jump limit of the gas giant. 
  It is a design that none of the characters have seen 
  before, although they detected its presence over 
  Alell.
  The Droyne of Beck’s World glimpsed it, moments 
  before it annihilated their colony.
  It is SEVEN, one of the treacherous Sons of 
  Grandfather.
  The ship is a pearly white cone, like a narwhal’s horn. 
  At it approaches, it spins, and long tendrils unfurl. 
  Spikes sprout from along the ship’s flanks. White 
  spots – mobile white globes – orbit around the ship, 
  waxing and waning in response to perceived threats.
  The Alahir turns towards this new threat, but a 
  single pulse from a weapons turret utterly destroys 
  the Imperial ship. The cone turns towards the 
  characters’ ship.
  Reunion 
  ‘Hostile vessel! Tactical guidance required!’ 
  shrieks the ship. A moment later, it announces 
  ‘Incoming audio transmission’, and a familiar 
  voice fills the air.
  SEVEN made a copy of Vlen’s mindstate from the 
  corpse on Alell and followed the characters here, 
  but Vlen will not explain that unless pressed on 
  the matter. He addresses himself to his relative, the 
  Inheritor PC.
  ‘Listen, it’s Uncle Vlen. Don’t mind how, you’ve got 
  to trust me. I need you to disable the computer 
  system on that 300,000 year old rustbucket you’re 
  flying. If you’ve got a weapon that can damage it, 
  then just blow a chunk out of the wall. Otherwise, 
  see if you can turn it off or order it to stand 
  down, before it drags you off somewhere.’
  Backett’s mission is to capture the Ancient ship 
  intact if possible. He tries to convince the characters 
  to destroy their ship’s computer with a disintegrator 
  blast, although if they tell him that the ship’s 
  computer seems to be deferring to them, then he 
  tells them to give it no orders. If the characters ask 
  him how he survived, he tries to dodge the question, 
  but then admits the truth. 
  ‘The Ancients are still around – some of them, 
  anyway. I’ve worked for SEVEN for a very long 
  time. They don’t want to interfere with Humaniti, 
  but they want to keep an eye on us, so they use 
  human agents. When I... when the previous version 
  of me died, they were able to copy my memories 
  into a new cloned body. I’m still your Uncle Vlen. 
  It’s still me.’
  If the characters ask Vlen to transmit a visual image, 
  he complies. The sight is a hideous one – slabs of 
  freshly cloned flesh over a synthetic skeleton that is 
  still growing. Every part of the body, even the exposed 
  brain, is laced with alien circuitry. The horrific sight 
  should be enough to convince doubters that trusting 
  ‘Uncle Vlen’ would not be a good idea.
  
   
  19
  Descent
  Decision Point
  If the characters obey Vlen, then by rights the 
  campaign ends here. SEVEN consumes the smaller ship 
  and wipes out all life on board. The player characters 
  are utterly irrelevant to its aims. If they are very 
  lucky, then it scans their brains and creates virtual 
  copies of their personalities for future reference, but 
  the player characters themselves are very, very dead. 
  A merciful Referee could have Vlen have a change 
  of heart or a moment of free will, and urge the 
  characters to jump away. 
  If the characters do not obey, or else argue for too 
  long, then the ship’s jump engines trigger, and the 
  Ancient ship leaps into jumpspace. 
  Especially brave characters might try turning their 
  weapons on SEVEN; this surprise attack buys them a 
  few seconds before jumping, but there is no chance 
  for the Ancient ship to defeat the other Ancient 
  vessel. One is a severely damaged merchantman; the 
  other is an actual Ancient in a robotic body that has 
  been honed as a weapon for 300,000 years. In a open 
  firefight, SEVEN could destroy the Ancient ship with 
  as much ease as it swatted the Alahir. 
  Jump!
  The Ancient ship travels through jumpspace for a 
  week. The characters can salvage food from the Star 
  Hunter, and the Ancient ship can provide water. After 
  a week in jump, it arrives in deep space, far from any 
  planets or stars. The characters are in the empty hex 
  0606 of the Regina subsector.
  The light of the ship illuminates an object floating 
  dead ahead. It is another teleportation portal, 
  identical to the ones on the ship in all respects other 
  than size – this one is 128 times larger. 
  The Ancient ship approaches the portal...
  
   
  20
  SecretS of the AncientS
  The Ancient supercivilisation endured for thousands 
  of years. They built their machines to last, but 
  the gulf of millennia that separates them from 
  the present day is unimaginable long. Five hundred 
  years is enough time to remove most evidence of a 
  civilisation; ten thousand years leaves nothing but 
  a few buried pieces of archaeology and the traces 
  of vanished ruins. Even the Ancients fell prey to the 
  ravages of time.
  The Ancient ship in this section is an anomaly – 
  its position in the gas giant protected it from 
  looters and other disasters, and being on board 
  a ship sheltered its contents from erosion and 
  environmental damage. There are numerous intact 
  artefacts on board.
  Most of these artefacts are incomprehensible to the 
  player characters. They are spare parts for machines 
  that have been dust for three thousand centuries, 
  components of vanished technologies, or tools to 
  perform functions that Humaniti will not even dream 
  about for thousands of years. The characters are 
  primitives picking the bones of an older, vastly more 
  advanced civilisation. 
  If the characters do find a working artefact, they 
  still need to learn how to operate it. This requires 
  a combination of experimentation, research and 
  knowledge of the field most closely related to the 
  artefact. For example, understanding an Ancient 
  repair tool might be 
   
  Mechanic + Education, Hard (-4), 1-6 weeks. 
   
  +1 DM if the character has Trade (any 
  appropriate)  2+
  A success on this roll means that the character has 
  worked out the function of most of the controls on 
  the device, and possibly even has a vague idea of the 
  principles behind its operation, even if he cannot 
  understand how the device actually utilises those 
  principles (‘it somehow knows what’s wrong with 
  a machine... maybe it’s got an incredibly small but 
  accurate densitometer that scans the target from 
  the outside and identifies problems’). 
  Many artefacts can be used without understanding 
  them. The disintegrator pistols, for instance, are 
  highly complex devices, but can be fired just by 
  pressing the control stud. A character might not 
  be able to adjust the beam, reload the weapon, tell 
  that it needs to be reloaded, or repair it if it gets 
  damaged, but he knows that pressing the red button 
  makes things explode. Similarly, a character might 
  be able to work out how to use the metal-bonding 
  function of the repair tool even if he does not 
  understand all the subtleties of the tool. Working out 
  the basics of a device might requires a roll like:
   
  Mechanic + Intelligence, Hard (-4), 10-60 
  seconds
  Devices on the Ship: If the characters find an Ancient 
  device on the ship, roll 3d6 on the table below to 
  determine what they find. 
  3-4
  Damaged Device
  5-6
  Junk
  7-10
  Incomprehensible Relic
  11-12
  Pressure Suit
  13-14
  Translator device
  15
  Disintegrator pistol
  16
  Psionic resonator
  17
  Repair Tool
  18
  Portable Teleport Control
  Damaged Device: Roll again to determine what gadget 
  they actually found. This gadget is damaged and 
  cannot be repaired, but the character gains a +1DM to 
  figuring out the purpose of similar gadgets. 
  Junk: Spare parts, broken bits of metal.
  Incomprehensible Relic: It’s a...thing. It might be 
  worth something to a collector. 
  Pressure Suit: This is an Ancient spacesuit. It 
  consists of a silver disk that adheres to the skin of 
  a living being. If pressed, the disk flows over the 
  wearer’s body and becomes a form-fitting spacesuit. 
  It will cover clothing, but is not compatible 
  with armour other than cloth armour or high-TL 
  spacesuits. The suit provides 9 points of armour, and 
  protects against pressure, radiation and temperature 
  extremes like a HEV suit. The suit contains 12 hours 
  of oxygen and has an integral rebreather. 
  Operating the suit: 
  Vacc Suit + Intelligence, 
  Difficult (-2), 1-6 minutes. 
  Understanding the suit:  
  Vacc Suit + 
  Education, Hard (-4), 1-6 weeks
  Translator Device: The translator devices is a small 
  ovoid that can be held in the palm of one’s hand, or 
  pressed onto a surface to which it will automatically 
  adhere. To activate the translator, you must hold it to 
  Ancient Gadgets
  
   
  21
  Descent
  your forehead (for the clearest signal) and press the 
  control stud. The translator then scans the language 
  centre of the brain and provides a translation 
  for any speech or text it has in its databanks. It 
  provides the translation via ultra-low-frequency 
  subliminal sonic beams or light beams, so the user 
  is initially unaware of the source of the translation. 
  The translator only works on species whose brain 
  configuration was studied by the Ancients, so only 
  humans, Droyne and Vargr can use the device.
  If the user does not hold the translator to his 
  forehead when activating it, the machine can still 
  function, but it does not get a clear scan of the 
  user’s language centre. Therefore, the translation it 
  provides is incomplete or disjointed.
  Operating the translator: 
  Social Science 
  (linguistics) + Intelligence, Difficult (-2), 1-6 
  minutes. 
  Understanding the translator: Life Science 
  (biology) + Education, Hard (-4), 1-6 months
  Disintegrator Pistol: This matter disintegrator is 
  more advanced than the TL18 version described in 
  the Central Supply Catalogue, page 102. It is a 
  short black rod, small enough to be carried on one 
  hand. There is no barrel; the disintegrator effect is 
  emitted from a crystal panel at one end. The effect 
  is invisible by default, but secondary controls allow 
  the user to add a visible light beam to aid with 
  targeting. The disintegrator is capable of auto-
  targeting enemies, attacking with an effective DM 
  of +3, but characters can only use this function if 
  they fully understand the weapon’s controls. The 
  disintegrator has a magazine of 1d6 shots when found 
  and cannot be easily recharged by the PCs.
  Operating the pistol:Gun Combat (pistol) + 
  Intelligence, Difficult (-2), 1-6 minutes. 
  Understanding the pistol: Physical Science 
  (physics) + Education, Very Hard (-6), 1-6 months
  Psionic Resonator: This device is of use only to 
  characters with Psionic abilities. The resonator is 
  a belt or bandolier studded with small greenish 
  rectangular objects. These crystals absorb the 
  wearer’s psionic power and feed it back to him 
  when he needs it. When the belt is worn, the user is 
  drained of one Psionic Strength Point each hour until 
  all of the green crystals are charged (the average 
  belt contains 1d6+2 crystals). The user’s Psionic 
  Strength recharges normally when the belt is full. If 
  the belt is removed, the crystals instantly discharges 
  their energy harmlessly. 
  A character wearing a charged belt can draw Psionic 
  Strength Points from the crystals as needed. 
  Operating the belt:Automatic 
  Understanding the belt: Life Science (psionicology) 
  + Education, Very Hard (-6), 1-6 months
  Repair Tool: The repair tool is a curved blade, 
  like a hand-held sickle. There are controls on the 
  inner curve of the device as well as on the handle. 
  Adjusting the controls lets the device produce all 
  sort of effects, from microscopic manipulation to 
  testing circuits and creating holographic images of 
  the inside of objects. The basic function that the 
  characters can access, however, is the cutting and 
  welding function which lets them cut and repair 
  holes in the green matter of the capsule walls on 
  board the Ancient ship. The repair tool has a limited 
  battery and cannot be easily recharged.
  Operating the repair tool:Mechanic + Intelligence, 
  Difficult (-2), 10-60 minutes. 
  Understanding the repair tool: Physical Science 
  (physics) + Education, Very Hard (-6), 1-6 months
  Portable Teleport Control: A portable version of the 
  standard teleport console. 
  Operating the control: Automatic if the players 
  have figured out how to use the other controls; 
  Social Science (archaeology) + Intelligence, 
  Difficult (-4), 10-60 minutes otherwise. 
  Understanding the control: Physical Science 
  (physics) + Education, Impossible (-8), 1-6 months 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Traveller/08 - Mongoose Traveller/Third Party Materials/Campaigns & Settings/Secrets of the Ancients Campaign/sota4descent.pdf