Unauthorized downlink detected

Intercepted Transmissions

Somebody inside the badge fabrication bay is transmitting on an open channel. Mission control denies everything. We decrypt what we catch and post it here, one intercept at a time, until the SC26 badge lifts off with everyone at the conference.

Reminder: your badge is your boarding pass.

INTERCEPT 006 // STATION PLANS

SOURCE: STARREACH ENGINEERING DIVISION
FORMAT: DRAWING HS-001-001, REV C
STATUS: FULL SHEET

Intercepted engineering drawing: blueprint of Horizon Station, a three-armed orbital station on a blue ground. An orthographic top view gives an overall span of 482.6 metres, an interior layout names the habitation ring, research labs, greenhouse and central hub, and a cutaway perspective view sits alongside numbered callouts, a key systems legend, materials tables and a delivery schedule. The title block reads PROJECT HORIZON STATION, STARREACH INITIATIVE. — Sheet 1 of 1. Drawn at 1:500. Zoom in; the tables are legible.

RECOVERED FROM DOWNLINK

A full drawing sheet this time, not a photograph. Horizon Station, three habitation rings on arms off a central hub, 482.6 metres tip to tip. The hub handles docking, transit, life support and power distribution. Initial crew capacity is listed at 240 and marked expandable.

The legend names a fusion reactor as primary power with solar arrays as auxiliary, four docking ports and four cargo bays. Twelve numbered callouts cover the habitation module, research labs, hydroponics, life support, cargo, communications, radiators, maintenance access and a transit shaft. A twelfth is an expansion module, marked provisional.

The delivery schedule is the part worth reading. Habitation is down for Q3 2026 and research for Q4, both scheduled. Agriculture, industrial and observation modules are planned across 2027. The final module configuration is stamped PENDING REVIEW, so somebody has not signed off on what this ends up being.

DRAWINGHS-001-001 REV C
APPROVEDFOR CONSTRUCTION 07.14.26
CONFIGURATIONPENDING REVIEW
DECRYPTIONSUCCESSFUL

INTERCEPT 005 // CARGO CALL

SOURCE: STARREACH BROADCAST RELAY
FORMAT: TEXT BULLETIN
STATUS: CLEAN COPY

RECOVERED FROM DOWNLINK

Not a leak this time. This one went out on an open relay, addressed to anyone with a ship and a reason to fly it. No image, no attachment, no encryption worth the name. Just the text below, repeating on the carrier.

TEXT PAYLOADRECOVERED
ENCRYPTIONNONE DETECTED
ROUTE[REDACTED]
DEPARTURE WINDOW[REDACTED]

STARREACH INITIATIVE BULLETIN #12

CARGO PILOTS WANTED FOR ORION TRAIL

Humanity's frontier is expanding faster than our supply lines can keep pace.

StarReach is seeking capable pilots to transport critical materials from distant settlements back to the station. Construction crews are standing by, and every shipment helps build the future.

Prospective pilots are advised to prepare their vessels before departure. A larger fuel reserve can open new opportunities. A stronger hull can help when opportunity opens back.

Frontier travel is rarely predictable. Equipment failures, unusual discoveries, and difficult decisions are all considered normal operating conditions.

Successful captains know that a capable crew can make the difference between a profitable expedition and an interesting accident.

Outposts farther from the station often offer better opportunities, but frontier markets change quickly. The best deals rarely wait for long.

Remember: the measure of a pilot is not how far they travel, but what they bring home.

The stars are waiting.

INTERCEPT 004 // IMAGE SET

SOURCE: BADGE FABRICATION BAY
FORMAT: IMAGE SET
STATUS: PARTIAL DECODE

RECOVERED FROM DOWNLINK

We caught a long transmission off the fab bay channel. Twelve images came through. The rest of the packet did not decode.

IMAGES12 RECOVERED
REMAINDERNOT DECODED

PORTA
FIBULA
SERA
DAEMON
ECHO
LIMES
IGNIS
ECHO
CLAVIS
SERA
UMBRA
LIMES

INTERCEPT 003 // FLIGHT WING

SOURCE: BADGE FABRICATION BAY
FORMAT: ENAMEL PROOF, CRT DOWNLINK
STATUS: SIGNAL WEAK

Intercepted transmission from the SAINTCON 26 badge program: an enamel badge proof of feathered wings and a launching rocket climbing past a ringed planet and stars, mostly in shadow with heavy signal distortion, a small cratered crescent moon at the lower right — Signal recovered at partial fidelity. Colors are not final badge colors.

RECOVERED FROM DOWNLINK

A third frame off the fabrication-bay channel, and this one fought us the whole way down. The carrier kept dropping. What came through is a badge proof, wings and a rocket climbing past a ringed planet, pulled off a failing monitor somewhere in the bay.

Nearly half the packet was lost and the rest arrived scan-lined and torn. We rebuilt what we could. Look as closely as the static lets you.

IMAGE PAYLOADRECOVERED (DEGRADED)
DATA LOSS47%
CARRIERWEAK / INTERMITTENT
DECRYPTIONBEST EFFORT

INTERCEPT 002 // FLIGHT COMPUTER

SOURCE: BADGE FABRICATION BAY
FORMAT: PCB FAB PLOT, CLOSE FIELD
STATUS: IMAGE ONLY

Intercepted close-up from the SAINTCON 26 badge fab plot: a Raspberry Pi RP2350A microcontroller ringed by a crystal, passives, and labeled component footprints — Drafting plot. Colors are not final badge colors.

RECOVERED FROM DOWNLINK

Another frame off the same open channel. One component, photographed close, dead center of the board. No callouts, no commentary, no attached document this time.

Whoever is leaking from the fabrication bay sent the picture and went dark again. Look as closely at the board as you like.

IMAGE PAYLOADRECOVERED
ATTACHMENTNONE TRANSMITTED
DECRYPTIONSUCCESSFUL

INTERCEPT 001 // RAW CAPTURE

SOURCE: BADGE FABRICATION BAY
FORMAT: PCB FAB PLOT, CLOSE FIELD
STATUS: PARTIAL DECRYPT

Intercepted close-up from the SAINTCON 26 badge fab plot: a grid of eight minibadge socket footprints with numbered pins and 2.54 mm dimension callouts — Drafting plot. Colors are not final badge colors.

RECOVERED FROM DOWNLINK

One image, transmitted clean. No annotation, no commentary, no explanation. Whoever is leaking from the fabrication bay sent the picture and went dark.

The attached document finally cleared cryptanalysis. Alongside the image, socket footprints, pin numbering, dimension callouts, there is now plain text. Open the bulletin, or look as closely at the board as you like.

IMAGE PAYLOADRECOVERED
ATTACHMENT
DECRYPTIONSUCCESSFUL
FULL-BOARD SCAN[REDACTED]
CARRIER RESIDUEsc26-secret-cl-material-pad-7a3f

Building a minibadge this year? The open minibadge standard is unchanged, and the minibadge primer covers the rest. Build to spec. Exactly to spec.

On previous missions, badge intel surfaced through the Badge Life community. This year somebody is beaming it straight off the fab floor, so keep watching this page. Announcements hit Discord first, or Join the Briefing and we will flag the next downlink for you.