The Research Vessel Cete was discovered in June 3303 following reports on GalNet of "curious records" published in February of that year. The ship was chartered by xenobiology expert Professor Melville to find artefacts from the Guardian civilisation. Melville claimed to have information that would help the crew find more sites.

Crew logs indicated the Cete found three sites in three systems: Synuefe LY-I b42-2, Synuefe NL-N c23-4, and Synuefe TP-F b44-0. Melville discovered three types of site, later classified Alpha, Beta and Gamma, and supposed each site type provided different functionality. However, Melville soon lost his tenuous grasp on sanity, locking down the ship's communications and, later, welding shut the airlock between the laboratories and the drive ship. Some time later, the ship's atmospheric processors failed, leading the crew to die from hypoxia.

The system in which the Cete was discovered lies several hundred light-years further from the Core Systems than "Site 1," in Synuefe XR-H d11-102, leading some aboard the ill-fated ship's crew to speculate that he was looking for additional sites outside the Synuefe sector. Explorers would later find Guardian sites as far away as the Eta Carina Nebula and NGC 3199 nebula.