Well, we found it.
We had heard the signal. We knew there was going to be something here, but what we found is still blowing my mind.
The landing party did not just find some old wreck or transmitter. They found someone’s house. Whatever happened to that first mission, someone survived. They made a home here and lived here for who knows how long. It looks like they salvaged things from their ship but also made a lot of what they needed from local materials. Corporal Silcox found a chest made from woven reeds and inside, the beacon. Your standard black box from back in the day. Featureless, looked inert, but pinging away.
I wonder if whoever lived here even knew it was transmitting. It was buried in that chest like it was just old junk. I guess we’ll never know.