Quote:I arrived in the Kepler system at precisely 1500 universal time on 04/03/830 in my ship, the Cortado, where I proceeded to Ames Research Station to begin the investigation. I had heard of the events surrounding the Order ship's disappearance from a contact at the base's communications centre and he had filled me in about the goings on; the distress signal that then began a chain of events leading to an incident in the dark matter storm which was only partially picked up on the base's sensor sweeps. Naturally I assume that you know more of the ins and outs of what happened than I, but I had enough information to go on to chart rough coordinates into the murk to survey the scene.

Attachment 1: The Cortado proceeding to estimated scene of the battle.

Spoiler

The corrosive properties of the dark matter storm unfortunately mean that degradation of the site was always going to be inevitable. I was able to locate what I am confident was the location of the Sekhet Aaru, but even for the aforementioned conditions there was scarce remaining. Small amounts of recovered wreckage belonging to an Oasis-class vessel were recovered but nothing resembling the majority hull of the ship could be found, even accounting for the large detonations detected by Ames. The hypothesis at this time was, due to the lack of a notable debris field, that there had been a concerted salvage and cleanup effort by one party or another, rather than the vessel's annihilation.

Broadening the search, however, there were some more mysterious findings that came to light. Nearby the battle site, I stumbled across the wreck of a transport ship, the McKinley.

Attachment 2: The wreck of the McKinley

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This in and of itself is no surprise, as its position had been catalogued some time ago, but inspecting it showed that it was in an unusual condition. Parts of the ship's structure and internals had been disassembled, but not in the manner of ordinary stripping for parts or salvage. It seemed as if specific parts had been 'unwoven' at a molecular level, broken down and taken away, and the condition of the damage remaining was such that it happened recently. Further to that, I was able to recover what I believe to be a nanobot of some description. Though it was heavily degraded, even a casual visual inspection indicated that it is vastly different in manufacture to the standard repair nanobot and matched no profiles on the Cortado's database.

I found that the remains of a trade lane ring nearby had been subject to the same treatment. It is difficult to say for certain what exactly had been extracted from them both, as there were definite signs that they had been more traditionally stripped of certain parts in the past, this molecular harvesting of material seems to have targeted elements and components generally used in computing systems rather than, say, structural parts.

Attachment 3: The abandoned trade lane

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Our biggest find came not too far from the trade lane. Scanners detected a debris field, or rather, a debris trail leading away from the ring. This time a sizeable amount was recovered, 67 standard units worth of ship components. Most of this appeared to be identifiable parts, again belonging to an Oasis-class, but within the wreckage the Cortado something highly unusual.

Attachment 4: Scanners pick up an anomalous signature

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Bringing it aboard, I found what I believe to be an artifact, wired up in a strange configuration to parts that, though mostly identifiable, have no normal association with an Oasis, the bulk of it being components normally seen in Cretan computer systems. Seeing as this...construction...was wired up to the artifact, I did not probe it too closely with any active tests, but visually speaking it seemed that the crystalline portion of the object was cracked intentionally, given the strategic positioning of various nodes along the fissures. That being said, it appears that the artifact itself suffered probable battle damage on top of what I am assuming was deliberate; there are some pieces missing; the breaks are fresh, as well as some deformation due to heat.

I followed the trail for some distance, but it ceased abruptly after a 1.4 kilometres and was unable to discover anything else of note. The Cortado remained on site for as long as it could endure the elements before I returned to the safety of a docking bay at Ames where I could collate and analyse my findings in safety.

As there are no solid leads, particularly due to environmental factors, it is difficult to draw any concrete conclusions. The Sekhet Aaru may well have been completely destroyed during the events of the past few days, though the slightly disturbing transmission received by Ames the other day...again, it is not set in stone, but my guess is that it is one of the ship's AIs, transmitting in a damaged state.

I think there is reason to believe that the vessel is still out there, either in Kepler or having moved on. I do not know what technologies the Sekhet Aaru possessed, but going on what evidence there was from the surrounding wrecks I would hazard a guess that it has been able to initiate some sort of self repair routine. I am additionally unable to comment on the ship's state of danger, but I'm sure the fact that it is imperilled does not need to be expanded upon. Whether the latest broadcast can be trusted or not is debatable, but considering it reliable for a moment, perhaps it can shed some light on where the ship might be heading if it is able to operate under its own power, or who it might communicate with...this 'ideal spectre.'

I have since returned to the Omicrons and have handed over all available materials to Order handlers, including the full documentation that this file is but a convenient summary of. If you wish me to continue my investigations I shall do so. If not, I am able to purge the Cortado's memory of the relevant files and go back to my usual employment.