For those who ski uphill at Hesperus, what route do you take and what time do you normally arrive? Any pointers?
So I know the lift broke down at Hesperus yesterday and they had to evacuate everyone off of it, but does anyone know if it is open today?
The Hesperus mystery is unravelling quickly, so here is an update for all you commanders out there in the black who can't make it there yourselves.
Since my last update the long-lost Hesperus research megaship has been found, and its logs decrypted, shedding some light on what caused the vessel to be abandoned.
Finding the Hesperus
Having found the three Listening Posts through which the Hesperus' message reached its sister ship, the Adamastor, investigators had only a few bytes of clues to go by. After cross-validating the signal frequencies, it was discovered that an incompatibility with the two centuries-old firmware on the Listening Posts had made for an error in the downloaded data. This is the corrected version:
H1 A3:-L_,C3:+AF_,G2:*-A
H2 A2:/B,C1:+BL_,G1:+DF_
H3 A1:-AX_,C2:*-A,G3:-E_
It was only a matter of hours until the best minds in the galaxy were able to decode the message. Here's how they did it.
First, regroup the data into one set of three-dimensional coordinates by concatenating A1-3 to each other, and likewise for C1-3 and G1-3:
A: -AX_/B-L_
C: +BL_*-A+AF_
G: +DF_*-A-E_
Now to decode the coordinates, we interpret the letters as Base-26 numbers:
A = 1,B = 2,E = 5,L = 12,AX = 26 + 24 = 50,AF = 26 + 6 = 32,BL = 2*26 + 12 = 64,DF = 4*26 + 6 = 110.
Finally, we replace _ with 0 (zero), and we get a calculation which yields our spatial coordinates:
A: -500/2-120 = -370
C: +640*-1+320 = -320
G: +1100*-1-50 = -1150
The Hesperus found
This brings us to system Perseus Dark Region KC-V c2-2 which lies at coordinates -368.03125 / -321.6875 / -1047.625. Credit for this discovery goes to CMDR Marxanthius of Canonn Research.
Perseus Dark Region KC-V c2-2 B A Belt Cluster 1
Upon entering the asteroid belt around the system's second star, investigators were greeted by a highly unusual sight: the Hesperus' wreckage had already been claimed, and by a Dredger Clan no less!
The Scriveners and encrypted logs
[The Scriveners' Cla
... keep reading on reddit β‘
This is going to be sick!! Anyone else here going?
I'll be staying in Athens for a week before and after the festival if anyone wants to hang out :D
This is a quick summary of what is going on with the hunt for the Adamastor's sister ship, the Hesperus.
On the 8th of April 3307, GalNet announced that the Adamastor had started retransmitting a message originating from the Hesperus. [Here is the intragalactic forum thread if you want 27+ pages of details].
Listening Post inside the Adamastor
System: Chukchan
Access Code AZB3648-000
Secure channel link established.
Drive input mode: Locked
Source ID: H002255 [Hesperus]
Timestamp: 08/04/3307 03:44
Proximity alert: Type G [unidentified megaship]
Emergency upload protocol 01G engaged.
Status log: Inactive
Crew manifest: Inactive
Locator beacon: Active
Pulse transmission status: Running
Navigational data to follow...
H1 Key -E
H2 Key +H
H3 Key -C
Source region: Taurus
Security notice: All information contained herein remains the intellectual property of Azimuth Biochemicals. Any violations of confidentiality will be prosecuted in accordance with the 2984 Corporate Communications Act.
The main clue here was to search in the Taurus Dark Region, so an army of private investigators, spearheaded by the Canonn Research Group, began scouring the area and soon a listening post was found.
Listening Post H1
System: Taurus Dark Region UY-R
Transmitting encrypted data package
Weak matched signals detected:
Latin alphabet
H2 FBJILYIFUILOMPDYAFRGMKIULIN 1333
H3 ADFFGDKIOOPLFNIHLRFEUOPQJWLSEDM
Source ID: H002255 [Hesperus]
Signal range: REDACTED
A3:-L_,C3:+AF_,G2:*-A
...Transmission Ends..
After some head-scratching, an investigator hit upon the idea of rearranging the letters in the H3 code, and applying ROT23 (key -C) to the text.
XAC
CDA
HFL
LMI
CKF
EIO
CBR
LMN
GTI
PBA
J
The rightmost column of letters spells out "California" -- and so we had a lead on the location of the H3 listening post (California Sector). A similar approach revealed that H2 is located near the NGC 1333 nebula:
NJRQTGQN
CQTWUXLG
INZOUSQC
TQV 1333
Listening Post H2
System: Perseus Dark Region LN-K B8-0
Transmitting encrypted data package
Weak matched signals detected:
Latin alphabet
H
Some background info. I was doing yard work, pulling out some vines when I noticed a praying mantis (I don't think species matters). I didn't want to step on it, so I tried to coax it onto a piece of vine to carry it over to a safe spot. While attempting to do that, I scared it and cause it to jump into a big black widow's web. In an attempt to save the mantis (I did put him in that situation) I tossed leaves and vine pieces into the web to scare the widow and to try to give the mantis enough time to free itself. The mantis, though, had other ideas, as it (still stuck in the web) spun around and grabbed the spider, sealing her fate. now the reason I'm posting this in r/spiders and not r/mantids is that I wanna know how long it'd take for the venom to take effect in the mantis if it had been bit because I couldn't see the struggle very clearly and the spider definitely could have gotten a bite in. At this point, it's probably been around half an hour after the fight, so I'm 99% sure the mantis came out unscathed, but I still wanna be sure.
Galnet News Digest YouTube video
>*Pilots Federation ALERT*
>
>Commanders in the Chukchan and Perseus Dark Region KC-V c2-2 systems have reported being contacted by βSalvationβ.
>
>The anonymous individual is known to have an interest in the Adamastor and the Hesperus, the βghost shipsβ within those systems. Both of the derelict megaships were operated 200 years ago by Azimuth Biochemicals.
>
>Commander Tyler Thorsen told Vox Galactica:
>
>βI was taking some sightseers on a trip round the Hesperus, and getting as close as I dared to the Scriveners Clan dredger. I scanned the tourist beacon for them, and suddenly received a direct message from this βSalvationβ guy.β
>
>βHe asked me to track down some old signal beacons, which are listening posts configured to retransmit long-range comms. Apparently these could help locate the survivors from the megaship. But the Hesperus is ancient history. Surely there canβt be anything or anyone left to find?β
>
>In April, βSalvationβ unofficially recruited independent pilots to locate the Hesperus, and to deliver its surviving logs to Taurus Mining Ventures.
>
>The Pilots Federation is running an inquiry into βSalvationβ and his associates. Commanders are being cautioned against undertaking tasks for what may be an illegal enterprise.
The article tells us that their Dredger ship has a range similar to modern fleet carriers. That's a ~500LY bubble around the Hesperus, waiting to be searched!
https://www.elitedangerous.com/news/galnet/scriveners-clan-abandons-hesperus
I've been reading some of the 1st/2nd Succession War lore recently, mainly out of some of the old sourcebooks from the 80s. We all know the basic story. House lords fight over whose going to be First Lord, the fight a big war about it, target technology and industry to weaken their opponents, and crater the IS in the process. WarShips fit into this process as the workhorses of each side, attacking and defending vital words in an unending series of battles until either theyre destroyed or theyre so decrepit that they cant fight anymore. And without the industry required to make part, let alone new ships, there is little the house lords can do to stop this.
But I've also seen that the Eighth Battle of Hesperus is considered to be the real 'death of the WarShip.' Some of the references I've read suggests that this battle is really the moment when they went away. But the Sarna page is maddeningly light on details about the battle, and some of these early sourcebooks seem to present a conflicting (or rather, undeveloped) concept about what happened there. So my question is: Whats the deal with Hesperus? Did something special or unusual happen there? Or was it the battle where the house fleets finally collapsed? Was it not really important at all in the grand scheme of things? And, most importantly, any suggestions on source books, novels, or Sarna pages (other than the thin Hesperus page) that I can check out?
I'm excited! Anyone else here going?
I'll be chilling in Athens one week before and one week after the festival if anyone wants to hang out :D
