SYSTEM ALERT: UNKNOWN SIGNAL DETECTED

Station: SPIRE-04 (Auto-Listen Mode) Signal Strength: -89 dBm (Weak/Intermittent) Encryption: AES-4096 (Pre-War Standard)

RAW_PACKET_CAPTURE

// INCOMING TRANSMISSION DETECTED //
// DECRYPTING HEADER... SUCCESS //

0000: 45 00 00 3c 1c 46 40 00 40 06 b1 e6 c0 a8 00 68
0010: SOURCE_ID: ARK-01 "The Sovereign"
0020: STATUS: CRITICAL_FAILURE (Life_Support < 18%)
0030: VECTOR: ORBITAL_DECAY
0040: MSG: "EARTH COMMAND, DO YOU COPY? WE ARE FALLING."
0050: TARGET: NULL
SYSTEM NOTE: Signal lost due to atmospheric interference (Oxide Storm).```

Varrick’s Analysis

Timestamp: +4 Hours Post-Intercept

I’ve run this through the decoder three times. I even checked the physical cabling on the dish to make sure the storm wasn’t inducing phantom voltage.

It’s not a glitch. It’s the Arks.

Twelve years ago, the richest people on Earth left us to rot. They took the “Sovereign” class ships and pointed them at Kepler. We all watched them leave. We all hated them.

But looking at lines 0020 and 0030… they didn’t make it. The telemetry shows Orbital Decay. They aren’t traveling to a new world; they are crashing back into this one.

The Strategic Threat

If they land, they aren’t bringing salvation. They are bringing Tech.

Fusion cores.

Medical bays.

Fabricators.

If the Warlords in Sector 4 find that crash site first, they will have enough firepower to enslave the rest of us for good.

I have to find the impact zone. Not to save the people inside—I don’t care about the ones who left us. I need to get to that tech before the Warlords do.

End Log.