#(STELE 1)
 ---- REPORT FROM SURFACE ----

CAPTAIN, THIS IS ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN XENO-LINGUISTICS MARVARI REPORTING. WE HAVE FOUND REMNANTS OF PRECURSOR CULTURE IN THE FORM OF AN INSCRIBED MONUMENT. THE BAD NEWS IS THAT THIS PIECE OF GALACTIC LEGACY HAS BEEN VANDALIZED!

AT FIRST WE THOUGHT THAT THE UR-QUAN WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS, BUT OUR SURVEY TEAM WAS UNABLE TO FIND ANY SIGNS OF FUSION WEAPONS OR ORBITAL BOMBARDMENT IN GENERAL. INSTEAD, THEY'VE DISCOVERED NUMEROUS TRACES OF EXPLOSIVE COMPOUNDS. SO IF WE TRY TO THINK HIGHLY OF THESE UNKNOWN DAMAGE INFLICTORS AND PRETEND THAT THEY HAVE AT LEAST SOME RESPECT FOR GALACTIC HISTORY, OUR THEORY IS THAT IT WAS AN UNSECCESSFUL ATTEMPT TO RELOCATE THE STELE SOMEWHERE FROM THIS HELLSCAPE OF A PLANET. YOU CAN HAVE MY WORD ON THAT -- SIMILAR MONUMENTS, DISCOVERED BY THE ALLIANCE, WERE UNMOVABLE. SO, THESE DUNCES COULDN'T COME UP WITH ANYTHING BETTER THAN `DISASSEMBLING' IT BEFORE TRANSPORTATION. THE RESULTS ARE, SIMPLY PUT, DISASTROUS.

NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS. THE BASE OF THE STELE IS STILL INTACT AND HAS SOME READABLE TEXT. ALTHOUGH I MUST SAY -- PRECURSOR WRITING IS VERY COMPACT, AS YOU MAY KNOW, SIR. WHICH MEANS ONE MISSING SYMBOL CAN POTENTIALLY CHANGE THE MEANING OF A WHOLE SENTENCE. I'LL BEGIN THE TRANSLATION PROCESS IMMEDIATELY.

...

THE TEXT MAINLY FOCUSED ON THE DESCRIPTION OF TEN PLANETS OR WORLDS. I HAVE TO MAKE A REMARK HERE. THE USED TERMINOLOGY CORRESPONDS WITH THE DESCRIPTION OF A PLANET, BUT THESE WORLDS ARE NEVER REFERRED TO AS ONES. IT CAN BE TRANSLATED AS `FOCAL POINT' OR `GRAVITY WELL' -- A POINT IN SPACE WITH A GRAVITATIONAL FIELD SIMILAR TO AN AVERAGE ROCKY PLANET, IF YOU WANT TO BE MORE SPECIFIC. THE ORIGIN OF THESE `PLANETS' IS CRYPTIC, AS THERE IS A CRACK RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SENTENCE, BUT IT'S ARTIFICIAL, IN ANY CASE. THE PRECURSORS EITHER ASSEMBLED OR ASSIMILATED THESE WORLDS. EITHER IS POSSIBLE CONSIDERING THEIR ADVANCED PLANETARY TOOLS, WHICH WE'VE FOUND DESCRIPTIONS OF DURING THE WAR. ANY TYPE OF TERRAFORMING OR EVEN PLANET DESTRUCTION WAS NOT AN ISSUE FOR THEIR TECHNOLOGICAL LEVEL.

THE PURPOSE IS DESCRIBED PRETTY CLEARLY -- THESE ARE DUMP SITES, BUT THERE ARE NO MENTIONS ON WHAT THEY WERE DUMPING. ANYTHING WE CAN FIND ON THESE WORLDS MAY BE HIGHLY VALUABLE TO US.

THE TEXT ALSO SAYS THAT THESE SITES ARE... PATTERNED? NO, IN A PATTERN. A PATTERN, WHICH IS FORMED IN... UMM... SORRY, CAPTAIN, THIS FEELS REALLY IMPORTANT, BUT THESE LAST SENTENCES ARE CONSTRUCTED IN SUCH AN UNUSUAL WAY... I'VE NEVER SEEN SOMETHING LIKE IT BEFORE.

LET ME PUT IT THIS WAY -- THE PRECURSORS `CREATED' THESE SITES `ON THE MOVE'. THIS CAN MEAN THAT THIS PROCESS IS EXTREMELY EASY FOR THEM SO THEY CAN `MOVE' (ON) DURING IT, OR THAT THEY WERE LITERALLY MOVING SOMEWHERE. THIS `MOVE' ACTION FORMS THE PATTERN DESCRIBED EARLIER. THE LATTER OPTION MAKES MORE SENSE, BUT AGAIN, I COULD BE FUNDAMENTALLY WRONG WITH THE WHOLE SENTENCE. MY APOLOGIES.

LASTLY, OUT OF NOWHERE, THERE IS A LONE WHITE GIANT STAR IN THE TEXT WHICH IS DESCRIBED AS `DESTINATION', `OBJECTIVE', OR `TARGET'. NO -- THE `MILESTONE'. I DON'T HAVE A STARMAP WITH ME BUT I THINK WE CAN NARROW DOWN WHICH STAR IT IS. IT'S PROBABLY WORTH INVESTIGATING.

WELL, EVERYTHING ELSE IS UNREADABLE GIBBERISH IN ITS CURRENT STATE. TO REVEAL THE MYSTERY WITH THESE WORLDS AND POSSIBLY FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PRECURSORS REQUIRES US TO FIND ALL FROM THE SET OF TEN. PROBLEM IS, STARTING THE SEARCH NOW, DURING OUR STRUGGLE AGAINST UR-QUAN OPPRESSION, AND GIVING FULL ATTENTION TO IT CAN BACKFIRE DRAMATICALLY. THEORETICALLY SPEAKING, WE COULD DISCOVER WHERE THE PRECURSORS ARE NOW AND ASK THEM TO EVAPORATE ALL THE BAD GUYS IN THE GALAXY, OR STUMBLE ACROSS YET ANOTHER RIDDLE, WHICH WE'LL SPEND THE NEXT CENTURY SOLVING.

WE'VE MADE HOLOS OF THE STELE SO I CAN SHOW IT TO MY COLLEAGUES AT THE STARBASE. RETURNING TO LANDER.

  ---- END OF REPORT ----