Research Facility 5592
25 Aug 2018Robert Phillips
Whilst heading between stations, and doing nothing particular, I passed through 5 Chi Lupi. The system was unpopulated, but contained several T Tauri stars around it's hot blue class B primary star. This would have been an otherwise standard cartographic exercise were it not for an unusual reading around the 1st body - a high metal content world that appeared to have a faint signal coming from orbit.I dropped out of SuperCruise and found a listening post which had picked up the following message fragment:
LISTENING POST SIGNAL LOG
…Corrupted Signal AWP-047-B Detected…
Matches signal detected at listening posts: (ruka, scorpii sector ir-w c1-35)
Approximate Signal Range: 21-23 LY
…they’ll all think I’m crazy… lat:33.470108 …it’s not natural or human in origin…l had the proof.
…Beacon Signal Interrupted…
The quote "…it’s not natural or human in origin…" piqued my interest immediately. Could this be related to The Thargoids, or possibly The Guardians? It was too good an opportunity to pass up.
Using the information from within the signal, I jumped to find the matching listening posts. The first around Ruka 2:
LISTENING POST SIGNAL LOG
…Corrupted Signal AWP-047-A Detected…
Matches signal detected at listening posts: (5 chi lupi, scorpii sector ir-w c1-35)
Approximate Signal Range: 26-28 LY
…they’ll all think I’m crazy… long:-2.170673 …it’s not natural or human in origin…l had the proof.
…Beacon Signal Lost…
And the other at Scorpii Sector IR-W c1-35 A:
LISTENING POST SIGNAL LOG
…Corrupted Signal AWP-047-C Detected…
Matches signal detected at listening posts: (ruka, 5 chi lupi)
Approximate Signal Range: 22-24 LY
…they’ll all think l’m crazy… 1 b …it’s not natural or human in origin…l had the proof.
…Message Corrupted…
Correlating the data from these 3 signal, I was able to narrow my search parameters to a signal source that originated:
- 21-23 LY from 5 Chi Lupi
- 26-28 LY from Ruka
- 22-24 LY from Scorpii Sector IR-W c1-35
Within the selection of star systems that matched these criteria, I was looking for a landable body in orbit around the first planet ('1 b') at coordinates 33.4701, -2.1706.
The closest matching system was HR 5991.
I Proceeded to HR 5991 1 B and found an abandoned settlement at coords 33.4701, -2.1706 called 'Research Facility 5592':
Around the settlement were several Comms Settlement Uplink Points, which I was able to hack to download the final logs from the base:
HIDDEN SIGNAL 1/4
Personal Log:
It was here a few days ago I swear. Doctor Lewis said I’m lucky not to be fired for dragging them all out here. But it was right here, the proof that they exist.
Someone must be messing with me. There is no way that much data can be corrupted without leaving a trace.
This can’t be right. There seems to be a signal hidden in the corrupted data. I didn’t see it before, and if the data hadn’t been ruined I might never have seen it.
HIDDEN SIGNAL 2/4
Personal Log:
I found it, they’ll all think I’m crazy, but I found it. It’s definitely not a natural signal or background noise. I’ve run every test I can think of and they all confirm it’s not natural or human in origin.
Personal Log:
I’m afraid to tell anyone about the signal. After last time, Doctor Lewis is reluctant to believe anything.
HIDDEN SIGNAL 3/4
Personal Log:
I did it, I told Doctor Lewis and this time I had the proof. Everyone seemed really excited about it.
Doctor Lewis is even sending in a special report to command. We might get some extra grant money out of this.
HIDDEN SIGNAL 4/4
Cleaner team 26 reporting in.
Company Directive 3650 in effect. All data regarding research project under Doctor Lewis is now classified.
All assets have been processed.
Company Directive 3650 in effect. All data regarding research project under Doctor Lewis is now classified.
All assets have been processed.
No further trace of the scientists at this base could be found anywhere in the vicinity. Whatever 'The Company' did, it was thorough - there were no clue as to *what* they found. The reference to 'assets' was ominous, and what did they mean by 'processed'?
Whether this had anything to do with The Thargoids or The Guardians was unclear. It may have been something else entirely.
I made a note in my logs to keep an eye out for any further information on this research facility. There could be others out there somewhere...