Republic survey team six-eight-nine-mark-one was an archaeological unit from the Republic dispatched to the planet Athiss throughout the Cold War. The team stumbled upon the Tomb of Vodal Kressh by accident on the planet, resulting in their descent into insanity and a subsequent assault by the Tomb Dwellers. Certain members of the team tried to activate a distress signal, but they failed to turn it on before the Dwellers attacked, along with some of their own, like Professor Ley'arsha. Subsequently, a strike team arrived on Athiss to find the survey team; the survey team's leader detected their arrival. He got in touch with the strike team and cautioned them against entering the ruins, but the strike team ignored his warning. Before the strike team could reach the leader, the Dwellers found him, but the strike team did find other members of the team, killing the hostile ones, including Ley'arsha.