Stellar Sentinel - The Council & The Commission
While waiting for transport back to the Commission, we decided to question the Rka’lin. Kronos did something that removed his armor and brought him back to consciousness. He did not seem to be very pleased with the circumstances.
The big surprise to me was that Rka’lin mentioned that he was sent by the Council. The same Council that has not been heard from in some time. Our order, coming from the Commission, would be preceded by orders from the Council, but why would the Council and Commission have missions for the same task?
Kronos drew his weapon and directly threatened to kill Rka’lin if he did not give us additional information. This caused me a great deal of stress, and I was ready to stop Kronos should things have progressed, but Kronos decided to discharge his weapon near the prisoner without killing him.
We noticed two transports in the distance, but as they got closer, one of them diverted. We assume that was Rka’lin’s transport, who saw us and decided to not continue their mission. If felt very sad regarding Rka’lin’s position in this. He would not be able to complete his mission, as it was in direct conflict with ours, but this also made me question how or why the Council, who has not been heard from in some time, would take interest in this particular pod.
When our transportation arrived, I aided the crew with loading the larger pod while keeping an eye on our, I hate to say prisoner as we really aren’t holding him. During this did witness Ozar give blessings to Rka’lin, I hope that eases his mind. It does ease mine knowing that Ozar cares for these people as well,
Kronos confuses me. I’m not sure why he is here exactly. While I have not asked him directly, I get the impression he is not from around here. He does not appear to be a member of any caste. I won’t directly question the Commission about it at this time, but it does raise questions.
Our travel back to the Commission Hall to report on our mission was uneventful.
We gave our report to the Commission. They did appear to be aware that there was a special pod there among the six, even though they gave us no special information prior concerning it. There did not appear to be any deception on their part, and the Wells commissioner was very blunt that they were not trying to deceive us. They did not take kindly to me questioning the Council, even though they themselves did not offer to return the pod to the person following Council orders to retrieve it.
Kronos requested a place to rest and we were given quarters within the Hall. As we were exiting the area, Kronos shared with Ozar and myself that he overheard the Kazar speaking to the Well, telling him the recovered energy pods were placed under the temple. Not being something I’m aware of, I assume this is not unusual.
During this downtime, the Abril commissioner approached me, and we had a frank discussion.
The recovery of the pods, the one odd one, in particular, is important. We don’t need the power we are currently mining from Soal, there has been so much mining over the eons that we have plenty stored. We are just furthering the destruction of Soal.
We expect the heavier pod to contain tomes of knowledge. The commissioner was not willing to investigate the issue further via the commission, but was supportive of me continuing to look into, even if she could.
I openly questioned our ways to the Commissioner, which have led our society to this entire situation. Why must we continue to hasten our own destruction?
Stellar Sentinel - Sector Seven
Stellar Sentinel - Journal 1
My new capabilities had not escaped notice. The Commission sent word they would have need of me in an expanded capacity, it was my duty to comply. Perhaps this would provide new experiences to journal and research.
My first task before me was to enter Sector 7, along with two others, and retrieve the energy pods that were left behind when the planet had shifted throwing Sector 7 into darkness, causing the original inhabitants to flee to the light.
My team members included Ozar, who appeared to be some sort of amphibian, and Albus, someone else who appeared to be armored with weapons of some sort.
After being dropped off at the entrance to Sector 7, we proceed down the street. One of the first things we see is a Rka’lin (a large, armored figure) tearing apart the Thraum (small, often looked down on beings from the dark side). Not much is known about the Thraum, given what I know about them now, perhaps they would be worthy of further study.
As we move in, we spot a group of Thraum inspecting one of the energy pods. Ozar extends light out to the container and appears to try and lift it, but it would seem the pod is heavier than he anticipated. The Thraum appeared to take notice of that and turned their attention to us rather than the box.
I was able to move down the alleyway and grab a closer energy pod and bring it back to the main street. These things are a bit heavier than I expected.
Albus flew down the street towards the Rka’lin and shot something at the ground that had some sort of distortion effect. It was difficult to tell what impact it had at this distance.
The nearby Thraums advanced on Ozar, who got their attention from the light emanating from him, trying to touch him. Whatever they did to him had a noticeable impact as he flew violently flew back from them. Not wanting them to continue that, I stepped forward and started to glow with the light of a star as I punched the Thraum that accosted my teammate, sending him across the alley into the wall.
I heard noise down the street in the direction of Albus, but did not want to take my attention away from the immediate threat to my teammate next to me.
The other Thraum next to me again went to touch Ozar and knocked him back again, so I knocked him away to give my teammate some space. Ozar did not appear to be acting normally, but I do not know him well, perhaps this is normal.
The sound of rending metal drew my attention down the street in time to see a large chunk of something crashing down on the Rka’lin.
The two other Thraum from the alley moved forward into the light, so I sidestepped them and struck one attempting to knock them both around. The first did become unconscious but the other was simply knocked down.
I called back to Ozar to protect himself and he seemed to snap out of it, at least momentarily, stepping back and producing some sort of barrier around him.
My attention was again drawn back down the street as Rka’lin apparently crashed into the ground unconscious.
At this point the streets were quiet and we began to clean up. Albus continued doing something with the Rka’lin and strange images flashing around him, as Ozar and I started hauling the energy pods back to the entrance. In moving the pods, we noticed that the one near the Rka’lin was the same weight, but it moved/felt different when I picked it up. We chose to not break into the pod, as doing so was outside our purview and we lacked the skills to do it without it being obvious.
Albus informed us that in his investigation of Rka’lin, that it appeared to have also gotten here in an official State vehicle. He was also wearing what appears to be combat gear, which is not common.
Afterwards, we stepped outside the gate with our energy pods and Rka’lin captive as well as a Thraum for study.
Questions/notes:
Who sent this Rka’lin here in direct competition for these pods?
The Rka’lin apparently has official ties, given the vehicle it arrived in.
How was that other energy pod unusual? What was inside of it?
A Stellar Sentinel is Born
Kaylon’tar’s Journal
All readings were normal, energy output of Soal within expected ranges. The last weeks monitoring was mostly uneventful. Not needing to eat or sleep was a boon to my research. No need to return to the ship, just days at the research module searching for something that might give insight into a resolution to our dwindling star. Searching for hope for our civilization.
Ominous alarms only gave a few seconds warning. Being that close to Soal was not without risks. A soalar flare surged directly from the star towards the research module, the shields failing in another couple seconds, tearing apart the research module bathing me in fire and light.
Minutes later I returned to consciousness, wracked in pain throughout my entire body, but how? After several more minutes, the pain subsided enough to focus and think coherently. My suit was still intact, the face screen wasn’t even broken, but it was excruciating to move. I was able to look around enough to see the remains of the research module and my ship some distance away. Neither would be of much use in their condition and it was much too far for the suit to get me back home or even to one of the closer soalar orbiting mining stations.
The pain continued to lessen, and I was able to take an inventory of the functional suit systems.
Sensory systems: The face screen wasn’t broken, night vision appeared operational, as well as light suppressors, but none of the other visual enhancements appeared to be working.
Life support: Fully functional, and no apparent leaks.
Transport systems: This is where the very unusual began. I triggered the ignition to start moving forward, still not sure where I was going to go. Instead of the thrusters on my back giving a noticeable push, I began moving forward, a slight glow coming from the suit. The more I focused on it, the faster I moved, the brighter the glow. This speed was also much faster than the suit was normally capable of achieving, but I needed to find out the limit. Focusing again, my surroundings became a blur and within the blink of an eye I was past the orbit of Oqthcali. Getting back home no longer appeared to be a problem.
I was looking forward to returning home and taking off this suit. Normally I don’t mind the suit, staying focused on my work but the pain was still noticeable, and I needed to have it investigated.
I landed at the infirmary to the stares of those making their way about the city, not used to seeing armored forms within the city. As I was waiting to be attended to, I attempted to take off the suit. The normal mechanical release mechanisms no longer functional. They did not appear damaged but would not operate.
At this time, the attendant came to start his assessment of my injuries. We were not able to remove the suit, and through extensive testing and observations, they were able to determine that there was no longer a separate suit, that whatever occurred caused a merging of suit to my body. The components of the suit had taken on some organic properties, while what was underneath had taken on inorganic properties. I no longer had a sense of touch, and as I cannot raise the shield on my face/helmet, I have no sense of taste or smell. The attendant does not know if I could get those senses back given time, as this is not something he has seen before, but is quite excited to journal this.
There is more to all of this than just the merging of myself and the suit. The travel speed is not a capability the suit had. I am also much stronger than I was before. While the suit assisted my strength before, it was not on the same scale that it is now. I can also produce light, much like the light that I was hit with, which can blind those around me, but I don’t seem to be impacted. I can also create visual mirages.
I feel that Soal has given me additional gifts. I need to use them to do whatever I can to save the people of our worlds, perhaps even save our star.
