Starforged Solo: Session 6
From the Journal of Zaramirra Wolfe
Balefire up close. The star enshrouded alien vault.
Arrival at the Precursor Vault
On first glance, all I see is shadow against a pale, wintery sky that is like skull full of stars. But the intermittent bursts of Balefire, however unpredictable, illuminate the landscape, and I can see its true form. The alien tech site — I’m not yet confirming it a precursor vault in my logs — appears functional and built for some purpose, with smooth industrial metal segments that bolster the core. Much of the exterior looks either broken by the harsh winter environment, or built that way intentionally for a purpose that escapes my initial evaluation.
Other lights resolve in the distance when the Balefire subsides. A swath of Keepers have set up some kind of perimeter around the alien site. Armed patrols move in the cold haze of the night. They are no doubt getting ready to give this place one of their treatments, purging any evidence of its true existence and history. I’ve become all too familiar with the remnants of this process, often showing up to a site after it’s been expunged. This time it’s too important. I need to get inside the vault before they blast it with their chemicals, corrupting the data and technology, leaving a sterilized heap for posterity. I need to know why they persist on covering this up, why they insist that it stays hidden.
I feel the deep rumble from within the planet as I step off the hover bike. I will make one more scan, looking for the best way inside on foot. In such a fragmented design, there must be more than one entrance.
Entering the alien site
*Face the consequences of a former action, you are in harm’s way
*Oracle Roll: sealed time
As I make the first scan with my infrared bio-lens, I notice something strange right away. The watchful Keepers on this side of the vault have suddenly vanished, like wisps of cold smoke in the night. I check my scanner for some kind of time shift, an anomalous blip in the atmosphere. The logs are regular, I see no indication of any atemporality. Between me and the heart of the vault, the gaudy metal lighting apparatuses lay twinkling and abandoned by the keeper guards. I realize, with pounding heart, that I am alone on this vacated segment of the perimeter. Ria’s sensors suddenly blare up in warning, and I’m too slow — having decided to forgo my rest earlier that night — to dodge the Balefire spire that erupts a few feet to my left side.
Like a Petrian geyser, the Balefire sends me skyward. I instinctually tense my body, bracing for the inevitable burn — though I’ve never been this close to it. I’m thrown at least ten feet through the air (oracle roll: strange force) by the force of it. My vision is disturbed and clouded, as the world goes white in the fire’s inferno. But I realize that it’s a strange inferno, and my body is cool, unscathed. I remain suspended, nearly horizontal with the skull of stars above, as though caught in some kind of chrono-vortex or spatial irregularity. The force of the Balefire lifts me higher, I feel it under me as though it had hands to hold me up. There is a sentience to this feeling, I feel it prod my mind as though it were asking questions. The strange sensation stirs something in my brain and I suddenly remember a name, a distant and fleeting name: Alexandria Mars. The face and the relation escape me. I’m left with only a palimpsest of memory and vague placard of a name.
The Balefire lets me go. I fall prone against the cold Demeterian terra. In seconds — though it feels like much longer — Ria is there with the med-scan. I check my sore back and arm, and determine it’s only a scuff. Could have been much worse considering the rumors and stories about those who’ve been caught up or lost in a Balefire storm. Seems I’ve got a story now too. Just a story, no facts. The real problem: we don’t know enough about it to be scared of it yet. All I know is my body is intact and the Keeper scouts are still aloof.
I stake out a position behind the mound of ice covered rock where I left the hoverbike. Just ahead, the core of the alien vault glistens on all sides as other Balefire spires flare up in an undiscernable pattern. The peripheral containment barrier looks about ready to go online. I need to get inside before they light the fuse. I’m feeling quick and agile, despite the bruising. I concentrate, scanning the giant metal facade, envisioning a way inside. But I flinch. At the back of my mind I feel the faint flicker of something dislodged in the encounter with the alien fire. I shake it off. There’s no time for old memories right now. I notice an upcoming break in the patrol. I dig my heels into the ice and brace myself for the sprint straight ahead.