Happenstantially, Orionis
14 Aug 2022Valanga
I'm... kinda at a loss for words. I didn't really expect to stumble into something like this out here, but here we are.Currently I am in the system PMD2009 48, the single sole inhabited star system within the dense strip of stars which pierces the Orion and Running Man Nebulae, and I am docked upon the Archimedes, a megaship operated by the now-defunct Aegis Research initiative. I'll also be stopping at the nearby Orion Nebula Tourist Centre, also operated by Aegis.
I came out this way to visit this cluster of nebulae and tour the Barnard's Loop region, a place I've been meaning to visit for quite a while now. It took me some time poking around my ship's Galaxy Map to figure out how to get around the Col 70 Sector and Horsehead Dark Region, which are mysteriously locked behind some sort of administrative permit. I think it was the allure of peeking into this forbidden and difficult-to-access zone and seeing what was inside that led me to choose this as my destination, and I'm beginning to get a rather foreboding sense of why it might be this way.
To my knowledge, the Aegis initiative was shut down earlier this year, supplanted by the reckless nature and empty promises of salvation that was Taurus Mining Ventures (now Azimuth Biotech). The Alexandria, Aegis Research's other pivotal megaship, fell victim to sabotage by Azimuth themselves, as it would later be discovered.
So, what then is this ship doing all the way out here, tucked away behind a grand and impermeable wall of permit-locked regions? And why is it still operational under the Aegis Research banner? As I understand, this ship was stationed here as a part of a drive to research Guardian technology and compete with the work of Taurus Mining, but... it seems like it was never decommissioned. Is it stranded here? Is this some sort of Universal Cartographics error and it's actually owned by someone else? Or is there something deeper at play here...?
Why is this ship still here and still active?
And furthermore, whatever are the chances of me wandering into all of this by sheer luck? I only stopped here because it was inhabited and I wanted to take a little breather since I had reached the area I wanted to visit. The odds of this must be - and please forgive me for saying this - truly astronomical. Aha ha ha...
I'm not quitting my day job, don't worry.
Anyhow, this has me wide awake. I tried to do something relaxing, y'know... distance myself from the stress of current events, and regardless I find myself plunged into some very poignant and topical intrigue! I'm going to be poking around this area for a bit, see if there's anything else I can find to piece together this story a little better.
I originally planned for this to be a fairly succinct trip, since I plan to sell the cartographic data from this expedition to Sirius Reach - our starport in Almagest - to bolster our economic advantage in the ongoing elections vs. the Sirius Corporation. But it wouldn't hurt if I stayed here a while, surely.
Detective Valanga is on the case.