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Welcome to Tau Ceti [1/2] is the second Priority Contract of Marathon (2026), functioning as the second chapter of its story and gameplay.
Overview[edit]
Welcome to Tau Ceti [1/2] sees the player eliminating at least 3 UESC bots and activating an FTL radio tower so ONI can reverse engineer contact with faction representatives in Sol. After the completion of the contract, the Runner's neural link with ONI is interrupted by UESC Commander Orion, who threatens the Runner with extermination if they persist in their illegal activity. It concludes with ONI asking the Runner to address the source of a UESC disruption that is preventing her from establishing contact with potential employers.
Gameplay[edit]
Defeat UESC in Perimeter[edit]
After eliminating 3 UESC bots:
✓ OBJECTIVE COMPLETE appears on-screen.
Scan FTL array at any UESC radio tower in Perimeter[edit]
After reaching an FTL radio tower, player is prompted:
ACCESS FTL COMMS CHIP
After accessing the FTL comms chip, the radio tower opens a compartment exposing its comms chip. The player is prompted:
SCAN FTL COMMS CHIP
After scanning FTL comms chip:
✓ OBJECTIVE COMPLETE
- ONI: "Priority contract fulfilled."
No extraction necessary.
Contract debrief[edit]
Upon completing run:
- ONI: ///#ERROR#///%%%
- ///UNAUTHORIZED SIGNAL OVERRIDE DETECTED#///
ONI's interface is disrupted by a digital overlay that says:
LINK BREACH!
!NEURAL_CAGE_OVERRIDE!
LNK RDY
The interface transitions to a new agent: UESC Commander Orion.
- ORION: "Attention, Runner."
- ORION: "Tau Ceti IV is off-limits. The planet, its colony, and all connected resources are property of the Unified Earth Space Council."
- ORION: "Under UESC law, you are trespassing here and have been marked as an enemy of the state. Theft or data harvesting from this protected system will be met with force."
- ORION: "Final warning. Surrender or face extermination."
The interface is disrupted by a digital overlay again, this time saying:
RCVR LNK
ONI appears again:
- ONI: ///#COGNITIVE LINK RESECURED#///
- "My apologies, friend. The UESC was able to briefly access our neural interface."
- ONI: "Out in the cold, dark, deep of space, the UESC holds no real jurisdiction. CyberAcme is not beholden to their petty laws. Neither should you be."
- ONI: "I've repurposed the communications technology you collected and can connect you with potential employers. Unfortunately, the UESC is interfering with my attempts to establish contact. Please address the source of this disruption."