Esha Base

Esha Base is, or perhaps was, the main settlement on Esha, Lacertae Alpha's main planet. Though Lacertae Alpha is located near the Via Solaris, it is not properly connected so only small Starships can make the trip there. This led to the system and planet not being properly explored for a long time. It was finally staked by Esha Corp, a subsidiary of Gamma Corp, in 2782 CE.
Esha Corp kept its cards close to its chest so not much is known about the planet. It is a sub-Earth planet with large quantities of both water and land, with at least three small satellites. The company never let anyone visit the planet, asides from a few head honchos of Gamma Corp. All business was done through a Via Solaris trading post nearby, which would involve an entire armada of small vessels to be able to carry all the needed supplies.
For Gamma Corp, Esha Corp was just one of their many investments which they cared little about. As such nobody really bothered keeping an eye on them, as there was still seeding money in the bank. This is why it took Gamma Corp over seven years to realise that since 2896 CE, nobody had heard from Esha anymore. Having recently suffered a few losses at the hands of Steel Sky, this realisation was promptly ignored and tossed in a pile of neglected subjects.

Investigations

Inquiries by interested parties revealed that there had been no complaints or suspicion situations noted by workers visiting the trading post. Furthermore, no distress signals were ever detected. They simply stopped visiting. As such, nobody has any idea what happened. According to espionage results, Gamma Corp also had no reason to suspect anything was going wrong.
While some have voiced suggestions to investigate the actual planet, this is not allowed by interplanetary law. Until the initial thirty-year stake expires, nobody is allowed to visit the system without Esha Corp or Gamma Corp's permission. Since visiting the system would take significant effort and still be noticable, no companies are bothering right now.
This protection ends next year. And the idea of an entire settlement just vanishing, with a large fleet of small ships that can potentially be used for all kinds of secret plans, means a few parties are already plotting on ways to covertly investigate without drawing attention from the big players. For an enterprising Stormfarer, there's an opportunity to strike it big, or maybe undergo a horrible fate trying. Which of the two it will be, only time can tell.