Play the music~
✩ Catching Echoes ✩
Eiphram secured a tether from the satellite onto his spacesuit and pushed off into the black sea of space. The radio blared with a strange, rustic melody as he spun around. The music may have sounded pleasant to his Ceph partner, but it always made Eiphram feel nostalgic. He would never admit it though.
"Why do you always carry that stupid thing around, Shax? All it does is make weird noises."
A deep, sputtering voice cracked over his comm-link. "It's Ceph tradition to play songs for our forebears. I wouldn't expect an uncultured brinker like you to appreciate it."
"Yeah, but..." Eiphram grimaced with the effort of thought. "The Ancients are long gone. How do you know you're actually playing it right?"
A high-pitched warbling assaulted Eiphram's ear, which was the Ceph equivalent of a frustrated eye-roll.
"Fine, jeez... It's just a question." He sighed in defeat. "Just keep a few of those tentacles handy. It's about to start."
The gleaming megastructure that kept Istio connected to the rest of Imperial space reeled further and further away from Eiphram. The Tower, as it was called, looked like a giant black needle floating through the vacuum. A halo of orange light outlined the enormous satellite against the dark background of the galactic frontier. Istio's host star, Kieli, was a bright, burning eye in the distance
A small, orange square of light flickered to life in front him, and in the bottom corner the words "NOW RECORDING" began to flash. Despite being the shadow of an eclipse, he could still clearly make out the dizzying array of cables and rigging that wound tightly around the main spire. It all joined, split, and crossed together in labyrinthine patterns. Sleek plates of black metal concealed most of the complexity, but Eiphram knew it better than anyone. He built it after all.
He held out a glowing hand and closed his eyes. Threads of faint golden energy branched outward from his fingertips and raced towards the satellite. One by one, the small mechanical drones attached to the comms tower flared to life. The exhaust of their thrusters traced graceful patterns through the vacuum as the fleet arranged itself around the spire in a perfect circle.
"Alright, Shax. We're ready. Ignite the beacon. We only have a few minutes before we pass out of range again."
Inside the tower, Shax trained his large, squid-like eyes on more than a dozen different screens. The bright colors of the control panel gleamed against the chrome of his cybernetic limbs. His tentacles made long fluid gestures as he dialed in the commands.
Streaks of ultra-violet energy crackled between the tower and the drones as power began to surge through the entire structure. Space warped as if a magnifying glass passed over it, and from the bulge erupted a blinding stream of ethereal energy, shrouding the entire spire in a column of brilliant black and silver light. The surge of energy quickly decayed into strands of shimmering light before fading away completely.
"The Tower has a stable link with the nexus now." Shax said with a happy whistle-snort. "We're already getting updates from the Hun-Li Relay and the colonies on Eos. The broadcasts should reach Odyssey station in a few minutes."
He made a few precise movements with his hand, and like a puppet master pulling on strings, the drones began returning to the Tower. He touched a button on his suit and began reeling himself back to The Tower.
Shards of light began to manifest around the satellite, forming numerous shimmering clouds. The light from them condense into small winged creatures that glided through space with easy, some fading in and out of sight like ghosts.
"Ah, now there's a sight for sore eyes. Take a look at my feed, Shax. Nano swarms just started popping up everywhere." Eiphram grinned warmly as he stared at them. "It's a sign, y'know! Maybe you'll finally win enough at the tables to pay back Murdo Fleez." His smug, gravelly laughter boomed over the comm-link.
The complex chittering and screeching that followed made it obvious Shax was displeased. Eiphram was fairly sure he'd just been insulted in four different sub-dialects. He didn't catch all of it, but he understood enough. Although, being called 'egg-sucker' only made him laugh harder.
When he finally made it back to the Tower he spared a glance towards the inner system. From this distance, Odyssey Station was little more than a shiny, fast-moving dot moving across the stars. The light from Kieli made it hard to see, but Eiphram still found it. However, what stole his attention was a bright green star twinkling beyond it. There's something strange about it.
He squinted, his bionic eye zooming in to get better clarity. The star was moving...
✩ Into the Roil ✩
The Hook
The disappearance of Theurge's Nexus was one of the greatest mysteries of the last few decades. It became the cornerstone of ghost stories among spacers for years to come. No one has ever encountered the Eminent and lived to tell the tale, until now.
Even traveling at light speed the Halcyon's SOS message took more than 30 years to reach Istio. Being one of the few systems in the frontier with the tech needed to relay broadcasts through the leylines, the news of the Halcyon has spread like wildfire through all the nearby systems and beyond.
It's been one week since the Halcyon's broadcast was received, and the firestorm of gossip rages on. Many new faces have drifted into the system for one reason or another. Istio's backwater planets are deep in the Imperial frontier and comfortably far from Naval patrols. It's always been the place to go to escape your troubles, but that's now changing.
Once the news hit the leylines, every citadel in Talim could trace the rumors back to Istio. No one knows what will happen next, and it's set many residents on edge.
Whether your character just arrived seeking the latest news, has been here for while enjoying the lively debates, or is planning an inconspicuous escape, your character will start on Odyssey Station.
