The Adamastor, a Lowell class science megaship, can be found orbiting Chukchan 5 b. It is on fire and there are cargo and engineering materials nearby. Scanning the ship with the Datalink scanner reveals the usual array of subtargets, including a data point that gives more information about the ship. There is also a local news article about the ship, which can be found in the newsfeeds of local stations (this will probably expire at some point). in April 3307 a Listening Post was found in the ship that relates to the Adamastor’s sister ship the Hesperus.
Arrival of the Adamastor
The arrival of the Adamastor was reported on 29 OCT 3306 in a Galnet article:
‘Ghost Ship’ Arrives in Chukchan System
29 OCT 3306
*Pilots Federation ALERT*
An abandoned megaship that set out two centuries ago has returned on automatic pilot to the Chukchan system.
Local security forces were scrambled to intercept an unidentified vessel that was detected on a collision course with Chukchan 5 B.
The megaship displayed no signs of life, so tugs were deployed to wrench it into a safe orbit. This caused onboard power systems to overload with explosive results, damaging cargo holds and spilling debris.
The name of the ship was confirmed as the Adamastor, but no further information is available in the public domain.
Specialists from the Alliance Salvage Guild boarded the derelict to conduct an investigation. Their preliminary report stated:
“The Adamastor has been travelling at sublight speed through interstellar space for nearly two hundred years. There are no remains of the crew. All escape pods and secondary craft have been launched, and several airlocks were manually opened from within.”
“A complete absence of identification suggests that this ship was intended for clandestine operations. All data drives have been deliberately erased.”
“There is evidence of a reinforced cargo hold, fitted with what looks like the remains of environmental equipment. Recent fire damage makes it impossible to be more specific.”
“The ship’s original destination is unknown, having returned to its launch point on autopilot. Calculating its trajectory implies that it passed near the HIP 61595, HIP 64011 and HIP 65201 systems.”
The Adamastor will remain in orbit for further examination.
Further information was found in the local news article:
SECRETS OF THE ADAMASTOR
29 OCT 3306
A private investigator has uncovered some background to the derelict megaship that recently arrived in this system.
Little is known about the Adamastor, which returned on autopilot after two hundred years with no sign of its crew. But an experienced detective has come out of retirement to tackle this mystery.
Local resident Benjamin Chester, who was a founding member of the renowned Wallglass Investigations Agency, told journalists:
“I convinced the Alliance Salvage Guild to pass on some serial numbers that they discovered inside the Adamastor. Then I started scouring databases, interviewing sources and, well, doing my old job.” “The megaship was owned by a corporation called Azimuth Biochemicals. This was taken over by a similar company called Pharmasapien, but both were liquidated long ago. No mission records exist, but service crew reports mention that the Adamastor’s passengers included scientists, engineers and some kind of military.”
“Eventually I unearthed a flight plan, logged in October 3111. It plotted a course toward Barnard’s Loop with fuel for approximately 370 light years, and was scheduled to pass by the HIP 39748 and HIP 33386 systems.”
“I’m way too old to head out there myself, but I hope someone can use this info, and help satisfy my curiosity about what happened all those years ago.”
Scanning the datapoint on the Adamastor itself reveals yet more information:
LOG
Log: 26 10 3111:
Departing under private licence.
Log: 28 …:
…
Log: 29 10 3111:
…
Entering system with a single K class star and 11 bodies.
Heading for third body.
Arrived at listening post.
Updating route to rendezvous with planetary survey team.
Log: 30 10 3111:
…
Entering system with a single M class star. Heading… metal body…
Outpost latitude 11.86…
Retrieve… cargo…
Emergency de… initiated…
Log: 31 10 3111:
Currently 1.. Ly
Entering system with single A class star…
Security system offl…
Ship lau…
…
…
Flight of the Adamastor
From the local news article it was determined that the Adamastor had set out from Chukchan in 3111 bound for the Barnard’s Loop area on a mission for Azimuth Biochemicals. It was heading along a path through HIP 39748 and HIP 33386 and was expected to travel 370 Ly. The Adamastor log indicated that the first stop was at a system with a single K class star with 11 other bodies. A Listening Post was found in Synuefe XE-Y C17-7 that matches this and gives a distance which matches up with the distance to the Coalsack (though no direction).
It is believed that the message at the Listening Post caused the Adamastor to be redirected to the Coalsack Nebula to Site 23B in Musca Dark Region PJ-P B6-1 (which is a system that matches the description in the Adamastor message on 30 10 3111). Site 23B had discovered a crashed Thargoid Ship with an alien artefact – believed to be either a Thargoid Probe or Sensor. This was placed aboard the Adamastor for delivery back to Azimuth Biochemicals at an unknown location. As this was an early contact with Thargoid Technology they did not have sufficient shielding to prevent the alien technology interfering with the ship. As the Adamastor was travelling through HIP 69200 Professor Carver from the Site 23 expedition left the Adamastor in a Sidewinder in an attempt to escape, as she believed the Adamastor was doomed. Her crash can be found in this system. HIP 69200 is the system referenced in the 31 10 3111 log on the Adamastor, it is 178 Ly from Chukchan, which matches the ‘1.. Ly’ part of the message, and is at the end of a path going through Chukchan and the systems named in Galnet.
It is assumed that soon after this event the Adamastor was critically damaged and took an autopilot course back to Chukchan rather than the intended destination (its path from Site 23B does not head to Chukchan). It passed through the three systems named in the Galnet article (HIP 61595, HIP 64011 and HIP 65201) and arrived back in Chukchan around 200 years after setting out – presumably due to being unable to use hyperspace travel.
Message From Salvation
Scanning the ship uplink log gives a message from Salvation.
Commander, this is Salvation. My sources suggest that you have an interest in once-lost megaships belonging to Azimuth Biochemicals. If so, you can be of great help to my work.
I need to learn what happened to the surviving crewmembers of the Hesperus. Although they abandoned ship nearly two centuries ago, it’s possible they discovered something of scientific value.
The Hesperus began its journey from the Li Chui system. As a precautionary protocol, it deployed signal beacons approximately every 100 light years.
My agents have analysed the Hesperus’s onboard systems and confirmed that only 17 beacons were launched. I assume this stopped when Pharmasapien took over the ship, and that they sabotaged the beacons to prevent Azimuth Biochemicals learning what happened.
Shorty after this point, survivors of the original crew escaped using one of the secondary craft, which were specially modified for long-range exploration. My belief is that they made planetfall within 300 light years of wherever the last beacon is located.
I urge you to accept the task of finding all the beacons, and hopefully discover a trace of the survivors. Your efforts will aid me in my great work: preventing humanity’s extinction.
Salvation
