Mission: The Power Source/Walkthrough

This mission is only available to players who have completed Tier 4 of the Romulan Reputation System. You will need Environmental Suits for yourself and your bridge officers in order to proceed past the first room.

During the mission you may choose to download up to three New Romulus Research from the Tholian consoles scattered throughout the map.

Map

A map of the Underground Ruins. - Click to Enlarge

This mission is given by the Romulan Civilian that stands near the southern transporter in the Hwael Ruins.

Walkthrough

<Rank>, we've detected a power source under the Hwael Ruins.

The location is a series of lava tubes that lead to an underground volcano, but the energy readings are not geothermic in origin. We need to learn more, but the mineral content of the lava tubes is affecting our sensors, and a probe simply won't be able to do the kind of tests we need.

I know it's dangerous, but would you be willing to explore the area? You and your team will need to use environmental suits -- the heat and pressure would be too much for anyone but a Tholian.

Investigate the Underground Ruins.

After accepting the mission, the player begins the Underground Ruins instance (the location of which is marked on the New Romulus mini-map).

Upon entering the underground ruins, your science officer will make some observations.

• Science officer:

Captain, these ruins are ancient. By the markings, this area would have been built around the time of the Sundering, but the lower levels appear to be much older.

I recommend that we investigate deeper and see if we can learn more about this structure and its purpose. We'll need to be careful, though -- there's no telling what's down here.

Investigate the Underground Ruins.

As you progress into the ruins...

• Science officer:

These ruins are unusually well-preserved, sir. There's not even any dust! They must have been completely sealed until recent seismic activity opened them again.

A geological instability.

Soon you will reach a larger room with part of the floor collapsed. Near the crater is a spray of gas, the first of five geological instabilities. Scan it.

• Science officer.

There appears to be a geological instability here, Admiral, however I believe that the rock will continue to hold unless exposed to extreme pressure.

As you approach the crater...

• Science officer:

Admiral, I am detecting high levels of toxic gasses as well as well as extreme heat ahead. Environmental Suits will be required to go further. I believe those containers nearby contain enough suits for the away team.

Collect and equip EV Suits before you proceed here.

If you do not have environmental suits equipped, there is a crate nearby from which you can take a box of EV Suits, which contains five Environmental_Suit_-_Pre-Owned. If you have not yet activated your environmental suit, do so. Make sure your bridge officers are wearing them as well. Once your team is ready, climb down to the second level through the crater.

You will soon enter the lava tube. As you enter the room...

• Science officer:

Detecting Tholian life signs ahead, sir.

You will encounter several Tholian squads as you explore the lava tube. Fight past them and keep going. There is a geological instability here as well.

• Science officer:

This instability looks pretty serious, Admiral. We should send a geology team down here.

Eventually you will encounter a fork in the road. There is a third geological instability here; scan it.

• Science officer:

There is a minor geological instability here, Admiral, but nothing serious.

A Dewan panel.

There is also a Dewan panel nearby. You can scan it if you wish.

• Science officer:

Based on the markings and age of the material, this panel is definitely Dewan in origin. It appears to date from shortly before the cataclysm that made the planet uninhabitable. It describes the discovery of a defunct Iconian gateway by the Dewans.

Go straight and enter the southernmost room. After clearing out the Tholians there, scan the geological instability.

• Science officer:

The rock appears weak here, Admiral. Suggest we proceed with caution.

If you wish, you can also scan the second Dewan panel.

• Science officer:

This panel describes the rebuilding of the power plant and restoration of the Iconian gateway.

Return to the fork and take the other path. As you progress through this corridor, you'll come across a third Dewan panel.

• Science officer:

This panel commemorates the activation of the power plant and the Iconian gateway on the day the gateway was activated.

A Dewan artifact.

Just ahead, there is another Dewan artifact. This one is a statue rather than a panel, and scanning it is part of the normal mission goals.

• Science officer:

Although this statue is Dewan, it shows a heavy Iconian influence.

You will then reach a large chamber. Upon entering it, your science officer will make yet another observation.

• Science officer:

This appears to be an ancient power plant, probably the very one that caused the geological instabilities that plague this planet.

It looks like the Tholians are trying to restart it. If they do, the effects on the colony could be devastating. We need to stop them.

Speaking of geological instabilities, the final one is located right in the entrance. Scan it.

• Science officer:

Admiral, although there were significant instabilities in this rock, it appears to have been artificially stabilized.

Once the Tholians have been dispatched, scan the two Dewan artifacts in the room.

• Science officer:

This console appears to hold records dating back hundreds of thousands of years. But it is significantly damaged and very fragile. We will have to send a team to recover it.

• Science officer:

This console appears to be damaged beyond repair. We may be able to salvage some components from it, but that's about it.

Now you have to concentrate on safely shutting down the power plant before it creates another seismic event. Go to the main console and deactivate it.

• Science officer:

Admiral, something went wrong during the power plant shutdown sequence.

We appear to have initiated a cascading overload. I think I can deal with it remotely, but it will take some time. Until then, you will have to shunt the power between the four relays as it increases.

If you can keep at least two relays functional, we'll be able to handle the power escalation. If we only have one relay, I don't know if we'll be able to stop the overload.

Keep at least two power relays operational until your crew can stop the cascading overload.

Keep at least two of these power relays online.

Your science officer will need two minutes to stop the overload. In the meantime, if you see one of the substations (pictured) overloading, run to it and shunt the power. You cannot let more than two of them overload. A group of Tholians will transport in during all of this, complicating things. Fortunately, there appear to be no consequences for failing this stage (though you will earn additional Romulan Marks if you succeed).

Once the overload has been halted, a Tholian Captain -- who looks a lot like the one seen in the “Web Access” recording -- will beam in with a support group. This is a very difficult battle; concentrate on the support forces so that you can finish off the Captain last.

Once the Captain has been defeated...

• Science officer:

Captain, we've collected all the data down here we can. Now the Romulan teams can get to work analyzing this to determine exactly what's down here and how we can adapt it to their use.

The power plant is massive! If it's safe to use, it should provide almost unlimited amounts of geothermal energy for the entire planet!

We won't be able to use it right away, though -- as long as the Tholians are here, it won't be safe to have anyone down here.

Are you ready to return to the surface?

Leave the Underground Ruins.

The mission is now over. If you have “Secrets of the Ancients” in progress, you can signal D'Tan from anywhere in the large room.

Once you're finished down there, you can leave the Underground Ruins at your leisure.

• Romulan Civilian:

Thank you. Now we know more about the area.

It will be difficult to push the Tholians out, but now that we know they are down there we can be more careful. Also, we know what they're looking for -- artifacts from the previous civilizations. If they're useful to the Tholians, they'll be useful to us. All we have to do is find them first.

This mission has a 20 hour cooldown.