08 APR 3307
*Pilots Federation ALERT*
The Adamastor, a 200 year old ‘ghost ship’ in orbit around Chukchan 5 b, has received a mysterious encrypted signal. The derelict vessel has been undergoing investigation by Alliance Salvage Guild teams since its discovery last October. They released this report:
“Months ago, we cut open one of the Adamastor’s damaged cargo holds to find an undeployed communications beacon. We managed to power it up, but it contained no data and had never been used.”
“This beacon has now automatically activated, and is receiving and rebroadcasting a long-range signal. The transmission’s source cannot be identified, but is definitely of interstellar origin. Its encoded content has yet to be deciphered.”
The Adamastor vanished in 3111 after an incident that may have involved the first historical encounter with the Thargoids. It reappeared in 3306 when it entered the Chukchan system at sublight speeds on autopilot, with no sign of its crew.
It was recently learned that in 3113 the Adamastor’s sister ship, the Hesperus, also disappeared. Both were owned by a corporation called Azimuth Biochemicals, which was absorbed by a rival named Pharmasapien. Little is known about either company, but it is believed they were competitors in the field of xenological research.