Starforged Solo: Session 7
The unlit interior of the vault, alien reverberation radio.
From the Journal of Zaramirra Wolfe
Entering the Precursor Vault (*undertake an expedition)
I run as fast as my Petrian boots will carry me across the ice. The Gorax sales blob who sold them to me on Petra promised me they would hold me up under the harshest circumstances. I can’t believe I’m putting all of my faith into the good word of that old swindler who nearly ran me dry in the bargaining. By some star’s chance, the footing holds sound and I make it past the distracted guards without a hitch.
The site’s exterior reveals some kind of doorway in the fragmented metal. I move forward and enter the inner chamber. I walk a few steps, slowing as the darkness grows thicker. RIA’s with me, but I turn her sensor lights all the way down and switch her to auto-pilot. Unlike RIA, who can see in the dark, I’m lost once I move further inside. It’s all darkness. The Keepers haven’t even bothered with a light perimeter in this part of the interior yet, which makes me wonder if they’ve already made their sweep. I sense no trace of their chemicals in the air, but my nose is hardly the best judge for this kind of thing. I’ve been in the field a long time, and I’ve encountered my fair share of deadly, scentless creeping things in the wild.
I stop and locate RIA in the dark, feeling for her sensor panel so I can make a preliminary scan of the inner atmosphere. I’m startled suddenly as the invisible walls all around me shudder — I feel the vibrations through my suit — and a strange and dissonant melody broadcasts as through a central intercom. I stop what I’m doing and hold my breath. The sound itself resolves into something more uncanny than I ever could have guessed — an alien music. The playback is indecipherable.
I listen for thirty seconds, getting my bearings before I press forward — I know the clock is ticking here with the place surrounded by Keepers and their readied treatment of the artifact. (roll: destroyed portal) Suddenly, I realize that I’ve heard this song before, or some version of it. The longer I sit and listen the more I can untangle the dissonance. It’s some kind of adaptation of a popular radio song I’ve known since my youth — the kind of song that gets played and played, over and over, time and again, the same words and melody more or less, but a different interpretation. It’s a song about the destruction of an interstellar portal and how this catastrophe made it impossible for the singer to ever go home again to see the ones they loved. I know it too well. It’s hard not to make a million Covenant credits writing a song in the theme of you can’t go home again. I rack my brain for the meaning of this — setting aside any emotions that are wrapped up in the memory of the song’s lyrics and melody. RIA bumps my elbow, knocking me from my trance. She’s right, there’s no time for this kind of speculation or nostalgia. I already faltered on the perimeter, I can’t let this place get to me now. I nod and we move forward in the darkness.