Loooong post, Sorry!
Alright. So. Short intro, I'm a lone commander that has been observing happenings going around the galaxy, and an avid explorer currently out near the Formidine Rift's supposed area, basking in a neutron star pondering things about life. I've been around for quite the while but have never said anything much at all. (I can't say I'm all that good of an explorer, or I'm just unlucky with finding epic things.)
This has probably been touched on before and I likely missed it to the depths of these threads. Sorry if this has been said beforehand. I do try to keep up.
Why am I interested? Just before heading out to the Rift I was dabbling around and attempting to find free floating Probes to no avail. I even carried a UA around for a while with a CRCR as I searched for the probes. From what I've read and observed, plus the fact we've been hinted that it would make logical sense if we looked at it, I began to get curious thoughts while on my current trip. Logical sense. What of it? So I applied my own thoughts to the problems at hand. What thoughts I had quickly got complex with all these knowns and unknowns that have been mentioned and debated in here. It was then my mind said, "Start with the basics for crying out loud!" and "Keep it simple, stupid."
I'm going to avoid the headache that is the diagram the probe draws for now, and focus on our main issue here. Where are the free floating Probes?
Why did the UA shell stop expanding at around 150-170 LY distance from Merope? What did they find to warrant stopping their advance?
It was later then that we learned of the presence of the probes in military convoys is it not? (Federation convoys at that IIRC. And recently it's been hinted that those convoys should have been found after the floaters?)
I've also observed the ramblings that the UA were the "brute force" searching device with a basic directive of scan everything, and seemingly so with the way they're spread out in that shell they now form. It has also been suggested by a few of you in here that the probes are more focused in their purpose but you lack a specific area to look for them in.
That area could possibly be the populated sectors (NGOBE and neighboring systems) on the edge of the inhabited bubble which the UA shell seems to be just aside of. How else would the galactic powers ever get exposed to such things (the probes) if it is not of their own creation and they found it before us? I think local security within systems got their hands on it and passed them along. (I get this notion from the fact the convoys are in fact running tests on the probes, why would they need to test if they know exactly what they are? Leads me to believe they're as clueless as we are! How'd they get their shady hands on it first though?)
From what I gather, I believe that whatever these things are looking for have in fact found it -possibly us as we're intelligent life, and they have identifying scans of our ships and we've dragged their artifacts all over the place. Now they are sending these probes to a very narrow area to confirm the findings before they come packing, or hopefully sending a greetings to figure out our intentions. If it's not us humans they're interested in, what else around the artifact shell did they run into that would make them ALL suddenly stop advancing?
I would check this out myself, but I am currently 16,000 LY from home so I can't do much about that. When I get back I will be investigating this train of thought.
My two CR and lots of foil. tinfoil. The best kind.
- Delta Eon
) on the basis that we've reported what we learn and what we know, along with the occasional speculation (like the one from last week in which Dr Arc appealed for help finding wherever they are and casting aspersions on the Feds for not having shared where they're getting them).
