RPA Files: The Earhart Expedition

[RepublicanProvisionalAssembly]

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Arranmore Archive File #016304
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Name: Earhart Expedition
Priority: High
Secrecy: Chancellor's Eyes Only
Department: Assembly Military Intelligence

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The Sirius-wide jump gate network failure known as the Blackout, which coincided with our liberation of Dublin over two years ago, was concerning for two main reasons:

• Some voices have placed the blame on our movement, concluding that the destruction of the New London Gate had to be the cause.
  
• The Blackout was followed by rapid collapse of many jump hole anomalies known and used by our movement.
  

The Chancellor's Office ordered the Assembly Military Intelligence to look into the matter, designating it as a high priority investigation. This is the complete report on AMI's findings.

AMI agents read the official corporate statements by Ageira and EFL about the incident and found very little substance to them beyond a bout of corporate rivalry. While they debated whether we, the Mollys, did it or if it was some kind of hypernova that destabilised the gates, Heisenberg Research Station put out a scientific paper detailing an anomaly they called the Pulse. The Pulse was an emission of hyperspace energy of unprecedented strength that they recorded shortly before the Blackout. Further combing the Neural Net for more information about the Pulse provided data published by another observatory in Coronado about an anomalous hyperspace reading, detected at the exact same moment as the one in Cologne, despite the distance between the two.

While the public data from independent researchers did prove that the Pulse was followed by rapid changes in the jump hole alignment, causing many of them to collapse and some new ones to open, the AMI lacked the specialised knowledge required to fully understand it. While it did somewhat explain the loss of the Poole system after our withdrawal from it, as well as Dublin's current situation, it also raised more questions.

• Where did the Pulse come from?
  
• Could the effects be amplified? Or reversed?
  
• What if another Pulse happened?
  
• What if Dublin was completely cut off from the rest of the sector, as Poole was?
  

It was months later that one of our smugglers stumbled upon a malfunctioning Ageira freighter on a collision course with Dover and was able to recover some databanks before it crashed. The information within was not listed in the corporation's public records, and the AMI decryption tech was not able to crack most of them before they self-purged. However, we were able to confirm that Ageira knew about the Pulse too and was running some kind of jump gate experiment. One word in particular was repeated a lot: Earhart.

We knew about Earhart from one of the captains in the Free Dublin Shipping Company, who described it as a "very alien" place. He claimed to have been brought there by the Technocracy to assist with some sort of recovery mission, and was happy to share his ship's logs.

At this point, through our smuggler contacts we were able to enlist outside help. The Technocracy, in exchange for a very substantial amount of gold, provided the Assembly with two working examples of jump drive technology and assisted our techs with integrating them into our fleet, ostensibly to aid us in bypassing the Crown blockade. The first jump test was conducted aboard the PRW Tipperary and successfully transported it into the Cambridge system.

The AMI now had enough pieces to glimpse the full picture, though far from complete knowledge. We knew that Earhart is supposedly the origin of the Pulse and exists outside of the Sirius sector. It's not only possible to travel to its "location" with a jump drive, but jump tech seems to have an innate recognition of Earhart, almost as if it was built with it in mind. It was time to outfit an expedition for Earhart's exploration, which the Chancellor's Office approved.

The mission was simple: survey the area and return. The AMI had no idea what to expect, but it was safe to assume that if we were able to figure out how to find Earhart with our limited resources, others definitely would. We knew that the Technocracy knew about it, but it was likely that other groups would be present.

After months of preparation, the PRW Noblesse Oblige, the Assembly's only Bustard-class carrier, was ready to launch with a full wing of fighters and accompanying freighters to carry the necessary equipment and weapons. On the 21st of April, 834, the carrier activated its jump drive and opened a brief connection between Dublin and Earhart for the first time.

What awaited the expedition on the other side defied expectations. Sensor logs show dangerous radiation levels present in the area. Multiple structures of unknown origin were confirmed by visual contact. The largest of the structures resembled some kind of device or beacon and was surrounded by a large cloud of debris from ships of all stripes and ages known to us. It's possible that they fell victim to the "beacon's" array of defences, the measure of which the expedition quickly learned. One of the freighters got up close to inspect the floating debris and was lost with all hands when some kind of dark energy beam hit it from one of the "platforms" circling the central structure.

The expedition barely had time to get their bearings when it was time for another unpleasant discovery. An unstable jump hole opened right next to the Noblesse Oblige, and a Corsair battlecruiser emerged. There was a terse exchange between their captain and our expedition leader. Ultimately, they did not attack our group, but our worst suspicions were confirmed - our enemies were aware of this place and were visiting it for something. It became critical to learn more about Earhart, if only to disrupt their operations.

The expedition conducted scans on the nearby debris and structures, as well as carefully collected some samples for study, but decided not to linger. The crew was already unsettled, and if the Corsairs were to return with reinforcements, they risked losing everything they have learned.

Upon inspection, one of the "jump gate" structures was revealed to be active. Not only that, the readings indicated that it would lead the expedition somewhere in the Tau Border Worlds, not far from Bretonia's border. Our people decided it was their best chance to get home and attempted entry, emerging in Tau-29, the strange cargo still secure. The expedition proceeded to return to Dublin at best speed, encountering no major obstacles along the way.

The chief takeaways from the expedition:

1. We are now in possession of exotic materials and samples that are beyond our capabilities to study. The recommended course of action from the AMI is to reach out to an organisation that has the necessary expertise and see if these items can be harnessed to our advantage. Failing that, they could be traded to parties interested in acquiring them for something of equal value.
   
   
2. We have only scratched the surface of this discovery, and the Cretans may already be far ahead of us. How many ships have they been sending there, and for what purpose? Is it scientific interest, or will Earhart provide them with a tangible advantage on the battlefield?
   
   
3. There are also more questions about Earhart itself. Who built the "beacon", and what else can be salvaged from it? What about all the derelict ships there? Are any of them ours, lost over the years of jump hole-related accidents?
   

Whatever the case may be, the Assembly would need to return to Earhart before long to get answers. Preparations for a second expedition may begin on the order from the Chancellor's Office. In the meantime, the AMI will attempt to learn more about the recovered samples.

Long live Free Dublin.

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