An Unregistered Comms Beacon can be found in the Lie Zhonpon system, orbiting body 3.
The transmission times of this beacon are believed to be on the hour, every 4 hours, with transmissions reported at: 00:00 / 04:00 / 08:00 / 12:00 / 16:00 / 20:00.
The transmitted message is the following:
19 21 18 22 5 25 9 14 7
(repeated four times)
Decodes by letter positions to:
SURVEYING
This message is the decryption key for an encoded Galnet article in the local Herald:
(Note: this Herald is no longer available – March 3310 / However, an archived image from March 3303 is available – THE LIE ZHONPON HERALD)
THE LIE ZHONPON HERALD
25 Oct 3302
***Compromised Carrier Signal***
Alpha Oscar Juliet Romeo Juliet Whiskey Bravo Lima
Juliet Alpha – Charlie Echo November Bravo India
Echo Echo Alpha – Quebec Golf Echo Charlie Hotel
Juliet Hotel Lima Tango – Tango Uniform Echo Charlie
Juliet Whiskey Golf Delta Echo – Uniform Tango Alpha
Alpha Golf Kilo Romeo Echo Whiskey Charlie Tango
Bravo Kilo Romeo Echo
The message consists of a series of words that can be interpreted as the NATO phonetic alphabet, yielding the message:
AOJRJWBLJA-CENBIEEA-QGECHJHLT-TUECJWGDE-UTAAGKREWCTBKRE
Applying a Keyed Caesar cipher with the key of SURVEYING taken from the beacon yielded the message:
SHALATUCAS-REFUGEES-KIERNANCO-OPERATIVE-POSSIBLETROUBLE
This leads to a “Civilian Broadcast Detected” signal source in the Shalatucas system, orbiting body 2. This appears to be a permanent refugee convoy identical to the temporary ones seen in other systems during periods of Outbreak.
It contains a large convoy of multiple types of haulage vessel carrying refugees away from a nearby viral outbreak.
