03-2186 Vigilance

Introductions

The final - and most valuable - discovery of admiral Sirius before his untimely disappearance, Vigilance has been a destination of seven scientific expedition ever since. Hundreds of archeotechs and a lot of priceless scientific data were retrieved from the system... at an extremely steep cost in human lives.
Vigilance is notable for housing a former colony of Species M-02, remnants of which can be occassionally found throughout the Howling Abyss. However, it's a colony that's still inhabited, and by things that are best left undescribed... and that don't take lightly to visitors.

Star System

03-2186 Vibilance is a star system composed of following objects of note:

03-2186 Vigilance - Yellow Dwarf
Vigilance I - Hothouse Planet
Vigilance II - Rocky-Metallic Planet
Vigilance IIa - Barren Moon
Vigilance II/III - Asteroid Belt
Vigilance III - Gas Giant
Vigilance IIIa-k - Barren Moons

Places of Note

Vigilance II - Planet notable for being potentially terraformable through conventional means, with solid rocky-metallic surface, 1.02g gravity and atmosphere with pressure comparable to that of Earth, but composed primarily of nitrogen, argon and helium. Even the temperature is mostly within range, although close to its lower end (-70 to 6C). Terraforming it would only require adding some oxygen and water (both of which seem to be completely missing from the planet) and then work on creating soil.
This is unlikely to have ever happen due to Vigilance II alreaby being inhabited. Beneath its surface lies a network of tunnels and halls of undetermined size. It is filled with machinery and computers of alien origin, some of it still operating. Numerous archeotechs were discovered and recovered by the expeditions that entered the Crypts (as the place is usually called), together with technical data for production of adamantium and fleshbane weapons, alongside of many minor technical breakthrough, each of which still worth millions.
Each and every of the expeditions sent here encountered heavy resistance, with two of them losing their entire ground component and one disappearing entirely, including the fleet on the orbit. The Crypts are filled with a variety of cybernetic horrors, from wayward legions of highly sophisticated combat robots and automatic defense weapons through computer nodes that appear to warp reality around them to things that seem to be programs as much as they are physical objects, able to leave and enter computers at will... and even drag people inside. With all matters of unnatural horror in-between.

History

System was discovered by admiral Sirius Carter two years before his fleet disappeared. He was also the one to discover the existence of the Crypts during the survey operation on the planet that was supposed to determine the potential habitality of the planet. The result of this early foray were deaths of twenty-four surveyors at the hands of the pack of cryptwraiths, with five more being severely injured.
The first 'proper' expedition was sent by the Solar Commonwealth two years later (in year 2188), around the time of Carter's disappearance. Out of five hundred marines and fifty technical personnel sent into the Crypts, only about half returned alive, most of them injured or suffering from severe mental trauma. The expedition, however, returned with the technical blueprint of adamantium refining downloaded from one of the functioning terminals.
The second expedition was launched in 2190. Instead of trying to find interesting things to bring back, this time the plan was to secure the Crypts for proper study. It was a mistake brought by the severe misunderstanding of just how deep the Crypts went. As a result, the expedition only managed to (mostly) clear several near-surface levels, and while the bounty in archeotechs was significant, the casualties sustained by the expedition were severe enough for it to be considered a failure.
The third expedition launched four years later in 2194. Soon after their arrival a previously overlooked entrance to the Crypts were found. The decision to explore it turned out to be a severe mistake, as the forces sent into it vanished right after sending back a number of erratic radio messages filled with increasingly deranged ramblings, including mentions of things such as 'marching through an endless field ofcosmos', 'impossible shapes' and 'the malice staring at them from the stars above'.
Due to a disaster of the third expedition, the fourth wasn't launched until 2206. This one ended relatively well, with a significant bounty in archeotechs and a set of fragmentary data that allowed the creation of the first fleshbane weapons, all with casualties in low hundreds.
As a result, fourth expedition was sent immediately after, in 2207. The entire expedition vanished without a trace. It is unknown if it even managed to reach the system or if it disappeared on the way there.
With everyone assuming that the expedition vanished in the Hyperspace, next one was launched sooner after, in the 2210. It was an another disaster, with the ground component of it overwhelmed by hostiles and wiped out completely. As a result, it wasn't until 2221 until another expedition was sent, with the next - and thus far last one - happening in 2225. They returned with significant bounty in archeotechs, but no more technical data.