Introduction
Greetings, dear viewers and listeners! Welcome to “The Frontier Voice”, this is Max “The Comet” speaking. This is the new format of our publication: the investigation. In this issue, we will describe the process of our investigative work towards finding out the mysteries behind various events in the Frontier sectors and share the results with you. Today we will talk about our trip to the Solaris Wasteland.
Flight logbook detailing the trip to the Solaris Wasteland with commentary
The reason “The Frontier Voice” decided to investigate the Solaris Wasteland is the information provided by our sources that linked the mysterious messages discussed in the last issue with that location. The anomaly discovered by our correspondent at Pandora had the same signature as an unidentified object, which appeared for a little while in the Solaris system.
Entry 1
Zitat:
Successfully arrived to the Wasteland through the gate at the Ruined station. The pirates either didn’t notice me or thought that my outdated ship had no value.
Entry 2
Zitat:
There are still a lot of Crystallids in the area. I have to be careful. My contact is not responding.
Entry 3
Zitat:
My contact is probably dead. The communication station has been destroyed. I will have to investigate alone.
Author’s comment: subsequent analysis of the video footage showed metal pieces of the communication station wreckage flying by in several shots.
Entry 4
Zitat:
There is nothing at the supposed location of the anomaly. Not even debris. Was I tricked? What if this is a trap?
Ship’s onboard assistant: Attention! The right engine power supply is cut off! Attention! The left engine power supply is cut off. The main energy supply is malfunctioning. Backup energy supply is inoperative. Right engine gas emissions’ temperature is too high. Turn on the system of magnetic field concentrators.
Ship’s onboard assistant: Attention! The right engine power supply is cut off! Attention! The left engine power supply is cut off. The main energy supply is malfunctioning. Backup energy supply is inoperative. Right engine gas emissions’ temperature is too high. Turn on the system of magnetic field concentrators.
Author’s comment: some of the ship’s systems malfunctioned. But this malfunction was what allowed me to find the object.
Entry 5
Zitat:
Located the anomaly. It is a small column covered in glyphs. The ship’s sensors glitch upon approach to it. The disruptions are similar to those that my colleague encountered in Pandora.
Author’s comment: I was able to effectively use the ship’s systems without rebooting thanks to the ferrite system of magnetic field concentrators.
Entry 6
Zitat:
I managed to get a sample of the material, I’ll have to show it to a specialist I know, maybe he’ll agree to analyze it. For now, I can see that this column is… moving? But where? There are no objects in that direction in the system, and no objects in the opposite direction. It can’t be traveling between stars, can it? The glyphs on it... Wait, I thought I took pictures of them…
Author’s comment: part of my flight logbook was lost. At close range, the anomaly was strong enough to interfere with the ship’s systems. No relevant or important information was lost. I deemed it too unsafe to stay in the system any longer. So when I spotted a pair of Crystallid hunters on my radar, I made the decision to leave the system.
Recording of a conversation with a PhD who agreed to examine the specimen. The name of the scientist is not disclosed by his request.
Zitat:
“Hello, doctor. I was able to find an artifact, probably belonging to the Precursors, and take a sample of the material. What can you tell me about it?”
“Good afternoon, Max. Let’s take a look at its structure. Well, what can I tell you? It’s a composite. The base is a glass-like form of iridium, and the inclusions are silver.”
“And what does that mean, Doctor?”
“It’s a kind of lens. For the Signal. This column, as you put it, can amplify or concentrate the electromagnetic field. What it’s for, I can’t say. But the fact that your ship was able to withstand it at all is very lucky. If a standard composite focuses the field billions of times, the efficiency of this artifact’s material is many orders of magnitude stronger.”
“Still, what could be its purpose?”
“It's hard to say. I would guess that it could be some sort of beacon for navigation, or maybe a Signal modulation repeater. What I mean by that is that this artifact could be a node that would relay information to the Signal sources that the overall Signal intensity needs to be changed or... even turned off. If you find more artifacts, we might be able to find a way to cut off the nasty Signal. Not only will you be thanked by all the people who overpaid for stabilizers for all electrical appliances, but also by astrophysicists. The Signal is distorting information about the universe and slowing down star exploration. We still can’t get an automatic search for planets suitable for colonization because of it.”
“Thank you for your answers, doctor. If I find anything else of interest, I will definitely contact you for further research.”
“Good afternoon, Max. Let’s take a look at its structure. Well, what can I tell you? It’s a composite. The base is a glass-like form of iridium, and the inclusions are silver.”
“And what does that mean, Doctor?”
“It’s a kind of lens. For the Signal. This column, as you put it, can amplify or concentrate the electromagnetic field. What it’s for, I can’t say. But the fact that your ship was able to withstand it at all is very lucky. If a standard composite focuses the field billions of times, the efficiency of this artifact’s material is many orders of magnitude stronger.”
“Still, what could be its purpose?”
“It's hard to say. I would guess that it could be some sort of beacon for navigation, or maybe a Signal modulation repeater. What I mean by that is that this artifact could be a node that would relay information to the Signal sources that the overall Signal intensity needs to be changed or... even turned off. If you find more artifacts, we might be able to find a way to cut off the nasty Signal. Not only will you be thanked by all the people who overpaid for stabilizers for all electrical appliances, but also by astrophysicists. The Signal is distorting information about the universe and slowing down star exploration. We still can’t get an automatic search for planets suitable for colonization because of it.”
“Thank you for your answers, doctor. If I find anything else of interest, I will definitely contact you for further research.”
Author’s comment: further research by the scientist revealed that the object is very old. It is hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of years old. It also seems to be older than all known Biones and Precursor structures. We will try to find out why the artifact was found only now, even though Jericho was thorough in its control over the system. Could it be that neither Mendes nor the Techs could find the cursed column, which was only a hundred kilometers away from the transit point? Or maybe it was the reason for the destruction of both the Techs’ station and the Mendes evacuation fleet?
Max “The Comet”, signing off. “The Frontier Voice” advises that you remain cautious when visiting Frontier sectors, and that you have backup on-board systems and methods of dealing with the Signal and various interference. We will keep you updated.
