An unregistered comms beacon can be found in orbit of Pru Aescs NC-M d7-192 A. Known to transmit at 45 minutes past the hour:
DYJEPQY UWLUDCQCKJ XUEOKJ
DJPQY P6 UNL 002
NEHHY LKCJQE 3E
OKJFHRW
LNR EUPOP JOID7192
IKDUPQEJDXY
Applying a Keyed caesar cipher with the key of EXODUS yields the message:
DYNASTY EXPEDITION BEACON
DNSTY S6 ERP 002
RALLY POINTA 3A
CONJLUX
PRU AESCS NCMD7192
MODESTANDBY
An abandoned settlement can be found on the nearby planet Pru Aescs NC-M d7-192 A 3 a at -53.36 -48.91
Around the settlement there are four Settlement Comms Log Uplink points, scanning them gives background to the reason for its abandonment:
CONFLUX DELTA MISSION 1/4
Expedition Log: 30/08/3270“I’m just the engineer on this particular jaunt. I was advised to prep the ship for a seriously long haul into the void, so I’m loaded up with as many hyperdrive spares as I can cram in. When I asked why, the captain just responded with ‘Don’t ask’.”
CONFLUX DELTA MISSION 2/4
Expedition Log: 12/09/3270“It’s putting a strain on the ship, that I can tell you. I’ve asked for some downtime so I can run some maintenance, but the captain says we have to hit a schedule. What can be quite so important a thousand light years from the nearest inhabited planet I can’t say, but we’re in a mighty rush.”
CONFLUX DELTA MISSION 3/4
Expedition Log: 18/09/3270“I warned ’em. We blew the hyperdrive initiator coil jumping in today. Caused a right mess down here. Lots of collateral damage. Scanners are offline and the main generator is running hot. Can’t figure out why, looks like we’re in empty space, but the heat is fierce!”
CONFLUX DELTA MISSION 4/4
Expedition Log: 01/10/3270“We figured it out. Gravity. We’ve dropped out near a neutron star. Can’t see it, but we can feel it. The ship is cooking around us. No way we can jump out before it gets us. We’re being pulled in. Odds are even as to whether the heat, gravity or magnetism kills us first. We’re jettisoning the logs, if anyone ever finds this… save yourselves! Beware the neutron star.”
There also appears to be another message from an Unregistered Comms Beacon in PRU AESCS AK-W B29-10 that points to this site (this has not been verified).
