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[Caellath]

"You know, this is really, really big." the void-master commented as he took another look at the scene outside of the dome. He hadn't seen anything like it, but then again ever since he'd left his backwater world the void had always been one big bewildering reveal after another. Even a few years after leaving his homeworld and piloting voidships, now and then he still found his horizons expanded by new experiences.

"If we're worried about safety we could creep 'round on Silent Running." he suggested after moving his attention away from the stars and back to his companions. "We'll need a bit more care if we start using the augur arrays while going silent, though."

[Sirus]

"If you desire it, Captain, I can cast about for any astrographic signals originating from this...I suppose it could be called a "system", though it is like none I can ever recall hearing about."

In truth the astropath didn't expect to find any such transmissions bouncing about, but then he never would have expected to see five large stars in such close proximity (as the infinite void went, anyway) to each other, either. Perhaps some of his kin could be found here.

[HighEndNoob]

"Whoever, or whatever, created this had powers easily outstripping our. It's almost frightening, really. Emperor only knows If this is the extent of their works, or simply the beginning."

Lucius couldn't help but fear that they were going to discover something terrible in this trip. Perhaps it is better that the creators of this remained hidden away for so long. Could they have been purposely locked away, waiting for unsuspecting explorers to discover them and unleash them upon humanity?

He cast those thoughts away, and kept them to himself. They would not help them in the task ahead, only breed fear and discontent. They had no place for fear, not now and in the future. All he could do now is look to His light for guidance, and pray that they have the strength to emerge victorious. Perhaps these creators were human, just waiting for the Emperors light to be cast on them. That would certainly be the best outcome.

[_DivideByZero_]

"This may not have been what we were looking for, but these still seem like promising locations to chart.  Shall we get started?"

Sub moves to work the auspexes, beginning in an attempt to gather data about local transmissions.  Are there any lightspeed transmissions similar to the ones being monitored by the research station?

The closest star is the Binary System (they could probably use a name). Sub directs the sensors toward the thin disk of celestial objects surrounding them. Presumably, the fact that there are less potential sources should make it easier to pinpoint their location.

Due to distance, the Augers won't pick up any ship-sized contacts. (thousands of VU's away). [76 vs 24+20] The great distance proves to be too much to identify signals, so all that can be gleaned is planetary composition and large-scale energy emissions, if any.

Fortunately, the latter is present.

One of the planets, the further from the twin suns, emits transmissions from some unknown source near the pole. The power of the communicator, if it were isotropic, would be equivalent to... one terrawatt.

"If you desire it, Captain, I can cast about for any astrographic signals originating from this...I suppose it could be called a "system", though it is like none I can ever recall hearing about."

In truth the astropath didn't expect to find any such transmissions bouncing about, but then he never would have expected to see five large stars in such close proximity (as the infinite void went, anyway) to each other, either. Perhaps some of his kin could be found here.

[Psyniscience: 17] Maxwell too, hears thoughts from the direction of the star. The messages seem to be either encoded, or spoken in a foreign language unknown to the astropaths of the Imperium.

It may be possible to investigate the signals as either a cipher or another language, though pursing either route will take significant time.

Amara called on one of her housemates to continue piloting, now that the worst was over, and exited the navigator's sanctum for the bridge of the ship while donning her hood, alongside other outer 'vestments' to cover most parts the 'non-mutant' crew would be uneasy around.

Entering the bridge with an unconscious clank of her staff on the flooring, she approached the Rogue Trader to deliver what exactly she saw (sans any personal details).

"This is unlike anything I've seen before, other than the storm surrounding this place. Imagine an atoll, lagoon, or bay, but very enclosed; I could not get us any further lest we strain the gellar fields. Those five suns are also what I've seen," Amara said, after delivering her report.
"If anything is needed, I will be trying to chart the area with the auspex scans and otherwise."

Trade (Astrographer) tests, go?

[20] Amara drafts a chart of the suns and their planets. This is based on simple orbital data. Anything more will require closing in, which will take about a week to ten days for all systems.

BLUE SUN (1.2 stellar masses)
->0.7 AU: Rocky world (0.9 Terran masses)
--- 1 notably large moon (0.3 Terran masses)
--- Projected temperature: Scorching
->1.3 AU: Giant gaseous planet (743 Terran masses)
--- 3 notably large moons (0.3/0.7/1.2 Terran masses)
--- 8 major moons
--- Projected temperature: Temperate
->1.9 AU: Large rocky/gaseous world (14 Terran masses)
--- Projected temperature: Cold
->2.4 AU: Small rocky world (0.4 Terran masses)
--- Projected temperature: Freezing
->4.4 AU: Large gaseous planet (20 Terran masses)
--- 4 Major moons
--- Projected temperature: Freezing

...and 8 other dwarf planets



BINARY SYSTEM
-YELLOW SUN (0.7 stellar masses)
-ORANGE SUN (0.5 stellar masses)

->0.5 AU: Rocky world (0.8 Terran masses)
--- Projected temperature: Hot
--- Possible astropathic communications (Maxwell)
->0.7 AU: Rocky world (1.2 Terran masses)
--- Projected temperature: Temperate
--- Possible astropathic communications (Maxwell)
--- Anomalous energy source (Sub)

And a low-density debris disk at >2 AU



RED SUN (0.4 stellar masses)
2 Rocky worlds (Hot)
1 Rocky world (Temperate)
2 Rocky worlds (Cold)
3 Rocky worlds (Freezing)

Of these worlds, 2 of them have moons, both in the Freezing zone



WHITE DWARF (0.7 stellar masses)
->1.5 AU: Small Rocky double world (both 0.1 Terran masses, closely orbiting)
--- Projected temperature: Freezing
->3.2 AU: Dwarf Rocky world (0.4 Luna masses)
--- Shares orbit with a debris disk
--- Projected temperature: Freezing
->5.6 AU: Large gaseous planet (20 Terran masses)
--- 1 notably large moon (0.4 Terran masses)
--- Projected temperature: Freezing
->14 AU: Large gaseous planet (364 Terran masses)
--- 1 notably large moon (9 Terran masses)
--- 2 major moons
--- Projected temperature: Freezing



Perhaps they need names.

[Devastator]

"I've found something!  Apparently a large transmitter of some kind has been set up in the binary system."

Go listen to the transmitter

[Sirus]

"I am picking up whispers in the Immaterium. I can't yet tell what they're saying, but there is definitely some sort of astropathic message coming from that binary system."

Let's try Ciphers (Astropathic Sign) first.

[Stirk]

Tristan scratches his scar thoughtfully. "I see. Perhaps the binary system should be our first step then? The locals should have more knowledge of the region then we could gleam from casual investigation and our our most likely friends or foes in the area. Contacting them should be a priority. Any thoughts?"

[Caellath]

"Just tell me where we should go and I'll take us there fast as usual." Tork boasted, always proud of his piloting skills.

[Sirus]

"Well...given the data we've received so far, I think the binary is as good a first destination as any. If there are people there - and the presence of signals indicates that there are - they may know more about this place. Could save us a good deal of time."

[Caellath]

"Ah yeah, the whispers comin' from the Binary. Sure, we could do that. More chance to find people and less chance of wastin' our time." Tork said, changing his opinion after receiving better information.

[Stirk]

Tristan nods, clutching the crest adorning his neck for luck. "Then, my alacritous ally, set a course for the twin suns!" He then nods comfortably, holding his family symbol with both hands as he does so. His head rests on his hand, holding the scar on the side of his face as he appears lost in thought. After all, he was a twin himself-had their relationship been better, perhaps the stars would soon bear the names of the Vendigroth brothers. As it stands, it is simply a subtle reminder of his greatest rival. The moment soon passes, as his thoughts clearly focus on how best to bring the likely human colony back into the Imperium (and, of course, how to best profit from doing so).

[Caellath]

"Got it, we'll be there in a flash." Tork happily headed back to the bridge to take his position as the helmsman and share his desire for speed with the other operators. After a quick system check, he set the engines to full throttle and grinned as he piloted the swift raider at blazing speed. Anyone scanning the void would likely think the Indecent Proposal to be escaping pursuit at flanking speed.

[_DivideByZero_]

((I apologize for the slow pace. My excuse is that I've been working on a visual representation of the Animus system. Eventually we'll get a nice 3d map with all the orbits and whatnot.))

"I am picking up whispers in the Immaterium. I can't yet tell what they're saying, but there is definitely some sort of astropathic message coming from that binary system."

Let's try Ciphers (Astropathic Sign) first.

A cipher it is!

Maxwell puts together a codified means of recording and representing the transmissions he hears. After much deliberation during the sublight journey, he indentifies several patterns in the data which leads him to conclude that these astropathic signals must be encoded somehow.

What seemed innocent at first glance may turn out to be hiding something much more sinister. It does not seem like the kind of encoding a human could perform. The form is too rigid, its rules too strict. The timings are evenly-spaced, shockingly so, like an unknown frequency buzzing into the veil.

"Just tell me where we should go and I'll take us there fast as usual." Tork boasted, always proud of his piloting skills.

Tristan scratches his scar thoughtfully. "I see. Perhaps the binary system should be our first step then? The locals should have more knowledge of the region then we could gleam from casual investigation and our our most likely friends or foes in the area. Contacting them should be a priority. Any thoughts?"

Indecent Proposal activated her sublight plasma thrusters, taking on a journey of several days through the void. The stars smiled with indifference through the hazy dome of gargantuan reflectors. The grid-pattern behind her faded into spectral fog, and the opaque horizon of barriers dissolved into a smooth gradient after mere hours.

Bearing in on the BINARY SYSTEM, Tork initiated the second phase of the trip: cancelling Indecent's inconceivable momentum, performing the task at an angle to prevent obscuring her destination with the blue-hot flare of her mighty plasma engines.

Finally, Indecent found herself parked on the inner rim of a sparse asteroid belt.

Binary Planets I and II were both close to conjunction, putting both within hours' reach.

"I've found something!  Apparently a large transmitter of some kind has been set up in the binary system."

Go listen to the transmitter

At this time, Sub went to gather more data on the anomalous transmissions. He saw a cloud of transmissions originating out of the space between both planets, and a large, distributed, low-intensity cloud of transmissions from Planet I. Every now and then the Augers would spike with a sudden burst of high-intensity data.

A lower quantity of transmissions found themselves gathered around Planet II. Planet II is the one with the transmitter, however.
The signals use 7-bit packets transmitted using known waveforms. Then again, those waveforms are well-known because they are simple and easy to independently reproduce. A trifle compared to the multi-generational algorithms in current use.

[Devastator]

Do some research as to other systems that use a transmitter of comparable power to the large one.  What sort of stations and uses are such transmitters mounted to or used on in the Imperium?

[Caellath]

++Now we should try the augurs and hailing.++ Tork commented via vox-comm from his seat at the bridge, arms and spine still connected to the ship's systems via the MIU ports.