34th Brigade logs - Mission #1-835

[Maik]

Date of creation
28/03/835

MISSION #1-835 - TAU-61 EXPEDITION
FOR OFFICIAL USE

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INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION

Based on the theories made during the analysis of the Sudbury planet, the Odyssey crew theorized that the beam emanating from the planet was not directed toward the Coronado system, but toward Tau-61. This is also confirmed by visual observations, despite contradictions in the mathematical calculations. Anyway, my guesses agreed with the crew's assumptions, and I thought that sending them out to explore Tau-61 on their own was not the worst possible idea. If they had doubted it, I would have taken command of the Odyssey personally, but I couldn't deny them the desire for initiative and their own enthusiasm.

The departure of the expedition was set for March 24, at 16:00. Three ships took part in the expedition, two of which were escorts and the third was the Odyssey and it's crew itself. The Barrier Gate was the rendezvous point for the ships, and the departure date was set a little after the completion of the Coronado expedition. As soon as the group was formed and clarified the tasks of the upcoming mission - they set off on their journey.

OPERATION DETAILS

The expedition had already prioritized its objectives upon arrival in the Tau-61 system. Since another asset of the Order, the battleship Amenta, was located there, upon arrival the expedition members were to dock with the battleship, perform the necessary technical measures and draw up a plan of action for further work.

The path of the group proceeded as follows: Coronado -> Baffin -> Tau-29 -> Tau-23 -> Orkney -> Tau-61. As always, the transfer of forces was carried out through a network of jump holes, which excluded detection of the expedition's ships by ill-wishers. The tension between Gallia, Bretonia and Kusari in the Tau-worlds also played into their hands, so that, in the chaos of random clashes, no one would pay attention to a small group of the Order ships.

Photo material made from "Anubis": "Successful jump into Orkney system", March 24, 835 A.S.

Advancement into the Tau-61 system via Orkney was not difficult. Based on information from Amenta's crew reports, the system was almost completely abandoned by any serious forces. All that remained of the Kingdom's former greatness were the hulks of stations and a single battlecruiser located near the hole leading to the Languedoc system. There is also some outside faction activity in the system, but it is extremely low compared to other Tau worlds nearby.

Progress to the destination was without incident, and at 17:17 the expedition reached the Tau-61 system.

- "The OLV-Odyssey emerged from the jump hole at 17:17 Standard Time into what can only be described as "space's version of a dive bar after last call." The nebula's particulate density registered at high above baseline, reducing visibility to approximately 1000 meters and causing the radiation alarms to sing in perfect three-part harmony."

Unofficially part of note (edited by Koji Yasu):
- "Hypothesis: Someone designed this system to annoy scientists."

Upon reaching the system, the group headed directly for the battleship Amenta, whose command had taken word of the impending expedition twenty-four hours earlier. The codes sent confirmed the group's affiliation with the Order, and they were accepted aboard.

Photo material made from "Anubis": "Battleship Amenta", March 24, 835 A.S.

Once stationed on Amenta, a meeting was held with the ship's command staff to gather all the necessary maps and current system status. Thanks to this, the points of interest of the expedition were established and a further plan of action was drawn up.

Based on the information received, the following has come to light:

• The system has Nomads and Infected activity. No activity from other factions has been detected.*
  
• The whole of Tau-61 is a nebula called the “Labyrinth”, which is divided into several more dense clusters of dust and particles that form separate nebulae with their own peculiarities.
  
• “The Labyrinth, by and large, is a system filled with a number of anomalies of a gravitational nature. According to intelligence, the anomalies do not pose a lethal threat, but they can create a disadvantage for ships flying through them.
  

- "Reminds me about our expedition."

* Intelligence information stating that this Nomad cell, the so-called "Vagrants", do not belong to the main Nomad mind-share was also taken into consideration.

The points of interest identified were unusual objects or ship hulks worthy of the expedition's attention. In the case of space objects, the emphasis was on finding links to the planet Sudbury and discovering the purpose of Tau-61, while hulks provided an eye-opener to Nomad and infected activity in the system.

The following locations became points of interest of the expedition:

• E 7/8 - IMG ship wreck, "Hoarding Bride."
  
• E6 - Magnetar Achlys.
  
• C/B 3/4 - Planet Apeiron.
  
• D2 - Unknown nebula.
  
• G2 - Planet Ourea.
  

The route was laid out according to the order in the list above, where movement was by marks in the order “from highest to lowest in the list”. All further entries will refer to each point of interest, and with notes from the OLV-Odyssey crew.

E7 - Hoarding Bridge

- "First point of interest, sensors pinged the wreck of IMG freighter "Hoarding Bride." The vessel's starboard side bore the distinctive scorch marks of Outcast(?) cannons, while the port fuel tank had been vented into space with surgical precision. Pilot Charlie Swift's desiccated remains were found still clutching the controls, her final expression frozen in what appeared to be annoyed resignation.

"Cause of death: Equal parts pirate aggression and poor life choices. Note to self: When smuggling cardamine, perhaps avoid systems where 90% of the local economy is bounty hunting."

- "It will be an important observation to point out on my part that the infected were also present in this location and paid us a surprise visit during our first attempts to make an initial survey of the ship. Although we were able to fend off the attack, it gave us an idea of the enemy's capabilities in Tau-61. Photo material is attached below."

Photo material made from "Anubis": "Encounter with human-made ships", March 24, 835 A.S.

E6 - Magnetar Achlys and Outcast ship

- "Second point of interest, The Maltese Sabre wreck presented a delightful forensic puzzle. While the golden cross emblem remained pristine, every data recorder, weapon mount, and even the coffee maker had been removed with professional thoroughness. The escape pod bay showed signs of forced entry, but no corresponding pod debris in the vicinity. Theories are that pilot might be extracted by another force, (Nomads?), plus the data purge was also intentional.

Third point of interest, The magnetar revealed itself as we breached the cloud layer — a monstrous black sphere warping space around it. Warning sirens shrieked as our gravimetric sensors overloaded.

"That thing's older than Sirius civilization," scientist muttered. "And it's holding this entire system together. In case something hits it... Planetary orbits destabilize. Cataclysmic cascade. Standard astrophysics."

CB 34 - Planet Aperion

- "Fourth point of interest, we found the unknown colony exactly where Amenta's intel told us - a cluster of domes clinging to Apeiron's frozen surface like blisters on dead skin. The probes went in first, their spotlights cutting through methane fog to reveal hydroponic farms frozen mid-collapse. "That's not right," Anubis muttered as we watched Feed #3. The plants weren't just dead - they'd crystallized from the inside out, their stems forming perfect geometric patterns.

Photo material made from OLV-Odyssey: "Launching probes on Aperion's surface", March 24, 835 A.S.

D2 - Unknown nebula

- "Data on the contents of the cloud were not clarified until our expedition there to collect and refine the data. Although the nature of the cloud itself is dangerous, we were able to find a safe corridor and rush through it to find out what was inside.

And we found... CLN-Limousine. The Gallic wreck hung in space like a shattered toy, its hull folded in ways that hurt to look at. Wreckage exhibits quantum collapse patterns, while dark matter storm suggests ongoing rift activity. It is definitely another sign of either Blackout consequences, either "Earhart" type jump anomalies."

Photo material made from OLV-Odyssey: "CLN-Limousine", March 24, 835 A.S.

Further entries will indicate the planet Ourea. This planet is of particular interest to the expedition, and may open our eyes to the situation in Sudbury, either by answering all the questions later, or by adding more details to the puzzle.

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PLANET OUREA

According to intelligence, the planet is inside another large cloud in the “Labyrinth”. The mapping indicates the presence of another large object that attracts the cloud contents to itself and does not allow it to dissipate. Nevertheless, it was that Ourea presented a special interest for the expedition, so it was decided to move there immediately after collecting all the necessary information about the previous objects.

Since we don't know the exact orbit, gravity, and many other details of the planet, I'll point out what we do know for sure: a diamond crust of great thickness that creates an impenetrable natural barrier to anything below its surface. Immediately after approaching the planet, began its analysis, through the use of visual observation from orbit and the launch of ground probes, whose task was to establish what may be under the surface of the planet.

Video-material made by OLV-Odyssey: "Surface probes launching", March 24, 835 A.S.

- "Sixth point of interest, Planet Ourea. When we first made orbit around Ourea, the planet's diamond crust reflected our spotlights with such intensity we had to dim the viewports. Scanners immediately picked up the irregular orbit - this rogue world shouldn't be here. The gravitational math simply doesn't add up. Yet here it sits, held in Tau-61's embrace like a knife balanced on its point. The entire planet is sheathed in a kilometers-thick armor of diamonds. Beneath that glittering shell, our scans reveal something far more unsettling - regular structures.

While structural anomalies suggest Ourea could interact with the Sudbury pulse, no specific resonant frequencies have been confirmed. All hypotheses await empirical testing."

There it is! That's the clue! If this planet wasn't meant to be here, and there is “something” hiding under a diamond crust this thick, and there is nothing nearby to cut into it, then the launched beam from Sudbury may have been intended for that purpose. Although I can't be completely sure, this expedition has indicated to us that Tau-61 is a very viable candidate for further exploration.

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EXPEDITION RESULTS & FURTHER ORDERS

Our task, for the next few weeks, will be to analyze the data we receive from Ontario as well as the data we receive from Coronado. Tau-61 adds to this chain and actually closes it, forming a circle of four systems at once: the three above and Omicron Zeta. Although my original point was about Omicron Zeta, the new data we've received suggests that there may be more to this than just the reactivation of two Nomad hyper-gates.

Thus, the gate in Zeta could be intended to either create a connection to Tau-61 or Coronado, while the beam from Sudbury could reactivate the gate in Coronado, or trigger something lurking beneath the surface of Ourea. We have a number of theories, each of which, in its own way, carries weight in this investigation. I now present a full slate of what we may be dealing with:

• The beam from the planet Sudbury is reactivating structures beneath the surface of Ourea. In favor of this is the direction of the beam and regular structures hidden by Ourea's diamond husk. Also, the Vagrant activity in Ontario and their previous "cleansing" of Orkney may be related, despite the huge time "window" between the two events.
  
• The beam from the planet Sudbury is directed to the Coronado system and reactivates the Nomad gate, which should create a connection between it and the gate to Omicron Zeta (possibly). This would re-establish communication between the Nomads in Inverness and the Nomads in Omicron, effectively creating a new line for them to move their forces between both systems and increase pressure on the borderland between the Houses.
  
• The beam from the planet Sudbury is directed between the Coronado and Tau-61 systems to an unknown system that will only be discovered upon reaching its target.
  

The last thing worries me the most: what if we are wrong about everything at once, and are simply powerless against what is hidden in the space of the Sirius sector and will only become known when everything comes together? In that case, the reaction of our units must be immediate. As such, maintaining the combat capability of the Atum battleship is a priority for the Brigade forces stationed in the Ontario system. If we can defeat Wyoming without losing one of our most valuable assets, the sudden change in the beam's nature will allow us to react almost immediately and nip the threat in the bud.

Based on the above information, my orders for the Brigade Ontario forces are as follows:

• OLV-Odyssey and it's crew holding position on Battleship Amenta in Tau-61 system and awaiting for further instructions, keep watching around irregular activity around the system and reporting back.
  
• For escort ships: Return back to the Ontario system, on Battleship Atum and prepare for assault operation against Battlecruiser Wyoming.
  
• All Brigade assets in the Ontario system: Prepare for an operation to destroy Wyoming, concentrating your efforts on coordinating and learning our enemy's tactics to destroy him in battle.
  

At this point, we have no need for further research operations and must collect incoming data and monitor and react to any changes. My work is now complete, I am on the battleship Atum and awaiting further developments, hoping that we can defeat our alien opponents both on the battlefield and in predicting their future actions. Weapons are crude but effective force, but knowledge of the enemy's nature is God's instrument that can bring victory without the use of weapons. And we will use them for their intended purpose.

Senior scientist Koji Yasu
ECLIPSE VANGUARD, HADES BRIGADE
28/03/835

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ATTACHMENT FILES

Spoiler

• NONE