After debriefing all pilots and personnel involved in this mission, we were not able to verify any ship profiles or station IFF signatures that matched this
Natio Octavarium. The captain of the
Battleship Guillestre however was able to share with us the neural net map of an IMG Trader that completed the Tau-44 Navmap for the Esperance's navigations team.
It appears we have more than one problem in this system. While the initial objectives of this operation were to scout out NO profiles, Capitaine Lacroix and I were immediately greeted by fire from a nearby installation proximal to the jump-hole we had just come out from. Scans returned the tag
Sulawesi Citadel, with an IFF signature matching that of Crayter bases in our neural nets. The citadel's military capabilities have been noted, and evasive patterns immediately had to be taken to take us out of the installation's line of fire. We advise caution for further expeditions into the Tau-44 system via the Tau-23 jumphole. Both it and the citadel are located in sector 6E, deep in the
Brunei Ice Field. Immediate suppressing fire from
Sulawesi Citadel can be expected upon exit from the Tau-23 jumphole.
Capitaine Lacroix and I also picked up
an anomalous reading in sector 7C. Initial scans returned a battlecruiser-class signature, although with no discernable IFF's. The Capitaine moved in closer for a more thorough scan, and remarked that the vessel, although passive, appeared to be of Kusari design. We recommend further analysis of this derelict. It sits near the western rim of the
Brunei Ice Field, close to
Planet Mindanao. Exact coordinates will be uploaded to your neural net, Amiral.
Our patrol also revealed heightened Crayter military activity in the area. We have visual confirmation of
what appeared to be a Crayter carrier, although we were able to disengage without trouble. The capital ship was spotted near
another Crayter installation tagged Minato Harbor. Another base, tagged Melbourne, was also sighted. The encounter and the two bases were marked at sector 5F, by Planet Borneo. There is also another base, tagged
Borneo Orbital, located in high orbit above
Borneo in sector 5G.
Scan of the Sumatra Cloud also revealed the presence of an IMG colony, named the
Jakarta Orbital Colony, and an adjacent dry dock tagged
Singapore Shipyard. Preliminary observations suggest the capability to house small capital-class vessels. We advise for an immediate inquiry to the IMG as to the nature of this installation.
Of particular interest to us however, are these
two installations, located in sectors 3A and 2E respectively. The first is active with defense systems online, and fired upon Capitaine Lacroix when he moved in for a closer scan. Its tag,
Sekigana Depot, suggests Kusari origin. Is this base to be found in any of the Kusari corporations' registries for the Taus? We advise close surveillance until we learn more about it. The second installation,
Canberra Star City, appears to be an extensive starbase capable of housing a small colony. While derelict, it seems to still have active docking protocols, as Capitaine Lacroix was able to land his Lynx on the base. And while it seemed empty, I found it a little strange that there'd still be active systems to allow craft to dock. If it were truly abandoned you see, and given the presence of nearby mine-able resources, wouldn't the IMG have moved in by now - similar to what we observe in the case of the
Battleship Hood in the
Dublin System? Something's wrong here.
These two bases warrant our attention, as scans returned no discernable IFF ID's for either. At least we can confirm that the other installations in the system return Crayter signatures, but not so much with
Sekigana and
Canberra. I advise for the Royal Intelligence corps to look into it further, as I suspect both stations are still in use - one with weapons systems online, and the other with active docking protocols. If you will however insist that Capitaine Lacroix and I continue, I recommend that our next course of action be to monitor both stations, and if possible, intercept any traffic going to and fro between either and the jump-holes out of Tau-44. I'd like to request for your clearance to requisition another Perilous for Capitaine Lacroix, or if possible a Taureau. If those cloaking modules we ordered will be available to us soon, that would help as well. I suspect, Amiral, that a little bit of
5G tactique will be of use to us here. We'll start with Canberra, as I would rather not be fired upon while waiting for a hostile vessel to train my guns on.
Who knows, this
Natio Octavarium might also show themselves while we're at it, no?
Bordeleaux, out.