Colony SNB-86
24 Jul 2018Robert Phillips
I was taking The Wasp out for a spin, seeking Antimony and trying to find a suitable planet for a spot of canyon racing, when I entered the Wredguia EB-M C21-11 system.There was a gas giant (Wredguia EB-M C21-11 ABC 1) with several candidate moons orbiting it. I entered scanning range of the gas giant and detected traces of Antimony on the surface of Wredguia EB-M C21-11 ABC 1 A. As I got closer, my sensors registered some geological hot-spots on the planet - a strong potential source of Antimony. As I entered orbit of the planet, I homed in on the hot spot and found Iron Magma vapours at coords: 25.6416, -28.1598.
I gathered all the materials I needed and returned to my ship. While I was prospecting, the moon had orbited enough of the gas giant for my sensors to register a faint signal previously on the far side of the gas giant, but now entering line-of-sight.
I lifted off from the moon to investigate. It was a Listening Post, in orbit around Wredguia EB-M C21-11 ABC 1 A! As I entered scanning range at sublight speed, I scanned the listening post's logs and retrieved the following data packet:
...Corrupted Transmission AEE-846-A Detected...
Matches signal detected at listening posts: (Wredguia kc-k c22-1, Wredguia eb-f d11-37)
Approximate Signal Range: 27-30 LY
...something wrong with teh atmospherics... long:-144.00403 ...need a maintenance crew.........if the air shuts off......
...Beacon Signal Lost...
Someone was in trouble!
I engaged my hyperdrive and located the matching listening posts referred to in the message at Wredguia KC-K C22-1 (around the first body), and in orbit around Wredguia EB-F D11-37 AB 5 A, a volcanic Rocky body.
Piecing the 3 signals together, I was able to ascertain that the distress call referenced a landable body '6 A' at coords -51.69614, -144.00403. The specified body originated from a system:
- 31-33 LY from Wredguia KC-K C22-1
- 27-29 LY from Wredguia EB-M C21-11
- 29-31 LY from Wredguia EB-F D11-37
There were several potential candidates, but the closest match was Wredguia JC-K C22-8. It is a system made up of 6 gas giants, with the 6th gas giant orbited by a single small icy body.
I navigated to the target body and landed at the specified coordinates. There I found an abandoned settlement called Colony SNB-86:
The settlement appeared to be deserted. I wondered if there might still be survivors, or any sign of who might have sent the distress call. There were 5 Settlement Comms Log Uplink points that I was able to hack, and downloaded the following logs:
SYSTEM MALFUNCTION 1/5
Maintenance Log:
To site maintenance office.
There seems to be something wrong with the atmospherics in Habitat 2.
We’ve been seeing fluctuations in temperature and airflow down here for the last couple of weeks. We need a maintenance crew over here to sort this out immediately. I don’t need to tell you that if the air shuts off it will be a disaster.
Habitat 2 Operations Officer.
Megan Riley.
SYSTEM MALFUNCTION 2/5
Communication Log:
Kelly, are you reading me?
I’m getting reports about systems all over the settlement changing settings by remote.
What are you guys down in maintenance playing at? You can’t just play around with the habitats like this.
Our experiments are very sensitive and your tech crews messing with our equipment will not be tolerated.
I see no other course of action than to log this with control.
SYSTEM MALFUNCTION 3/5
Personal Log:
I could have sworn I set an my alarm for this morning and what is going on with the atmospherics? It’s like an oven in here. Commander Allen is at the end of his wits, he and Kelly keep fighting, accusing each other of causing the weird mechanical failures over the last few weeks.
All I know is my work is being ruined when the equipment suddenly decides to change operational settings, seemingly by itself. When tech come to fix the issue they say nothing is wrong and it must be user error.
I know how to do my job. It’s not user error. This is something else, and with Kelly’s help I intend to find out who is doing this.
SYSTEM MALFUNCTION 4/5
Personal Log:
This can’t be right! According to our computer logs no one is adjusting the habitat systems and there is no sign of sabotage. The only thing we can do is a full reset of the settlement control computer to see if we can purge the problem.
Allen has agreed for it to go ahead. So at 06:00 hrs Kelly and l are going to purge the master computer and hopefully eradicate whatever is causing the systems malfunctions.
SYSTEM MALFUNCTION 5/5
Comms Log:
I’m almost in. I should be able to initiate a full purge in a few minutes. Then we can reset the computer.
Unauthorised access detected in system protocols. Initiate purge of facility.
What did you do?
I didn’t do anything. I haven’t even started the… What the hell!
What is it?
Full facility purge in T minus 10 seconds.
The computer it’s locked me out. It’s locked me out of everything. I can’t access any of the settlement’s systems.
Purge in T minus 5 seconds
I can’t… It won’t… not like this.
Purging facility in 3… 2… 1
Oh dear. It seems the facility fell victim to a mysterious saboteur whose identity is unknown. A rogue AI perhaps?
Whatever happened, the settlement was now devoid of any life. With nothing more I could do, I collected some materials that were scattered around the site and left.