Hyford's Cache refers to a Type-9 Heavy shipwreck on planet 5 e a in the Colonia system. The unmarked ship belonged to Commander Hyford, who fled to Colonia from the Core Systems in early 3303 to escape a secretive paramilitary unit called Black Flight that wanted him dead. Hyford scuttled his ship and sealed a time-locked message inside before going into hiding. The shipwreck was traced via Listening Posts and discovered by independent pilots in May 3303, but security protocols that Hyford set up prevented its data core from being properly downloaded until July 29, 3307, when it released a short notice indicating a timer would expire on August 26, 3307. On that date, Hyford's last message was revealed and directed readers to HIP 26176, where a secret Project Seraph facility called Oaken Point was discovered in addition to the first in a chain of Listening Posts that led to HIP 22460.
Logs[]
Listening Posts[]
| Log No. | System | Log Text |
|---|---|---|
| 1/3 | Wasat | ...Anomalous signal detected...
Signal matches at listening post. Neche What do you mean you mean you've lost him! I thought you said you had them. Your orders are to track this guy and make sure he doesn't talk to anyone about the operation. Now get out there and find him. If I don't hear reports that Commander Hyford has been killed in a unfortunate accident in the next 24 hours, then consider yourself a dead man. ...Signal Lost... |
| 2/3 | Neche | ...Anomalous signal detected...
Signal matches at listening post. Colonia This is Commander Hyford. To any independent pilots or security forces please help. I'm being tracked by mercs, they're trying to kill me. Please help me. I've manage to loose them for now, they seem to be tracking my comms and ship transponder so I've had to hack this listening post to get a message out. I don't know why they are after me. Must be something to do with that last shipment. A private military complex out in the Pleiades. Not Fed or Imperial. I was told not to ask questions, just get the job done and that's what I did. I didn't know it was going to put a target on my back. I'm heading for Colonia. I know a place I can hide out there on one of the far moons 5 e a. Please send help. ...Signal Lost... |
| 3/3 | Colonia | ...Anomalous signal detected...
No Matching Signals. This is Commander Hyford and I fear this might be my last I log entry. so far I've been able hide from them, but I don't know how much longer I can go undetected. I should never have left that message for help. They must have tracked me using the it somehow. Well if this is it I'm not going quietly. There is a data cache at the following co-ordlnates Lat:39.1472 Long:29.2425. It contains all my ships log and data scans. This is some kind of private military outfit, they operate outside the realm of the usual powers. I don't know who they answer to but the chain goes up pretty high. They are monitoring for alien encounters and tech. People are going missing. They are taking them and running experiments. That's what I was delivering. Escape pods full of people. I'm sorry for my part in this. It was a job that's all. Oh god help me... I'm out of time. ...Signal Lost... |
Hyford's Cache (timer start)[]
| Log No. | Log Text |
|---|---|
| 1/1 | HYFO167T-A Data Bank
*INITIATING* |
Hyford's Cache (timer end)[]
| Log No. | Log Text |
|---|---|
| 1/1 | HYFO167T-A Data Bank
*TIMER COMPLETE: REBOOTING* Welcome back, Commander. You have one inbox message pending: I don't know what's going to be left by the time you get this. Had to stop them from intercepting the message. But please: go to the HIP 26176 system and find that complex. For the sake of the ones taken there by scum like me. Someone has to remember them and ensure it never happens again. |
Timeline[]
02 JAN 3308
- Sima Kalhana reviews the most newsworthy events of the past year in this series of articles.
"July began badly for the Federation, with more factions seceding in response to the Proactive Detection Bureau's establishment. The newly independent nations severed all links with these new surveillance efforts, inspiring many other systems to do likewise. This secession crisis would rumble on for the rest of the year. The Blue Viper Club, one of the rarely seen dredger clans, joined forces with the Kumo Crew to manufacture a medicinal drug that turned out to be a new strain of onionhead. The drug would ultimately end up being legally distributed by Neomedical Industries, causing Archon Delaine to seek revenge against the corporation. Tensions soared in the Marlinist Colonies during an election for the head of their diplomatic consulate. Aaron Whyte's candidate had the support of an Imperial senator, which would have given the Neo-Marlinists a powerful voice within the Empire. When a more moderate candidate was elected, the NMLA reacted by bombing both Marlinist starports, murdering tens of thousands including First Minister Jenna Fairfax. It seemed Theta Seven's extremist views allowed anyone to be targeted as an enemy, even his fellow Marlinists. The civil war concluded in August, with Whyte killed in battle as his supporters were overcome in direct combat. Following accusations of incompetence regarding the vanished Alexandria megaship, Aegis was officially suspended and subjected to a board of inquiry. This would have ramifications for the ongoing conflict with the Thargoids, and encourage Salvation to position himself as an alternative. In the corporate sphere, Zemina Torval created a new subsidiary of Mastopolos Mining that would eventually become an autonomous company. There were rumours that the Torval and Mastopolos families were now at loggerheads after decades of working in unison. In September, the mystery of Hyford's Cache was finally unlocked. The trail led to revelations of dark experiments which are believed to have involved human test subjects and Thargoid technology. When the Thargoids themselves appeared en masse in the Cornsar system, Salvation was ready for them. An anti-xeno superweapon of undisclosed nature was deployed, wiping out some of the aliens and driving away the rest. It seemed that the self-titled 'man of science' had developed something revolutionary, inspiring many to place their faith in him to end the Thargoid menace once and for all."[1]
31 AUG 3307
- *Pilots Federation ALERT*
A data bank left by a crashed vessel on the moon Colonia 5 e a has reactivated, revealing clues as to its origin. The crash site was first discovered over four years ago via listening posts in the Colonia, Neche and Wasat systems. These posts held transmissions from the ship's owner, Commander Hyford, discussing his attempts to avoid members of a private military outfit he had previously worked for. This latest development was discussed by Erik Gunnarson of the Wallglass Investigations Agency: "Commander Hyford spoke of making deliveries to a nameless organisation in the Pleiades, and left a data cache in the Colonia system that provided further details. Hyford's Cache, as some investigators referred to it, had remained locked until a manually-set timer system finally expired last week. The information within has apparently directed pilots to investigate the HIP 26176 system. It's possible that Kit Fowler's recent theories regarding Black Flight – another old mystery – might prove relevant after all. But there are bigger questions that need answering. Who was Hyford working for? Were they responsible for causing his ship to crash? And if so, what secrets were they trying to keep?"[2]
Notes[]
- Hyford's Cache was bugged when it was added to Elite Dangerous in 2017, and was missing a Ship Data Core for players to scan. This issue was finally rectified with Update 6 for Elite Dangerous: Odyssey on July 29, 2021, which added a scannable Ship Data Core that contained the "Hyford's Cache" message.[3]