Ghosts of Creuss

For as long as its region of space has been traveled, the Shaleri passage has been spoken of in hissed whispers. It is the font of hundreds of unsubstantiated rumors, none of which have been verifiable. The anomaly at its heart has been variously claimed to be a source of unstable dark energy, a place blanketed in as-yet-undiscovered radiation, or perhaps a wellspring spewing a novel form of particulate antimatter. All of these assertions have as much evidence behind them as the more common claim of space sailors:

That Shaleri space is haunted.

What is verifiable is that an extraordinarily high proportion of ships traveling through the Shaleri passage have simply disappeared without trace—without distress beacons, message capsules, or even wreckage. More than one official report has called the phenomenon “disturbing,” but endless autonomous probes; detailed surveys; and, in one case, the random hurtling of retired vessels at the anomaly have never produced any reliable or replicable data. As a result, the entire region has been labeled simply “bad space” and is traversed only by the exceptionally desperate or greedy.

Beyond the anomaly lies a realm so alien to the galaxy that if the Creuss people had not emerged from it, it would have been thought entirely impossible. A swirling soup of exotic plasma, it is composed entirely of photons, existing not in regular spacetime but as a parallel universe colliding with the galaxy in a higher-dimensional space. This collision, or splicing, of the two dimensions is the cause of the Shaleri anomaly, the intersection of two parallel universes, each with its own set of physical and cosmological laws.

The intersection of two dimensions should cause enough destructive energy to implode them both, and it probably would have, had the Creuss not stabilized the rift and instead used it as a gateway into the galaxy. The anomaly, known to the Creuss as the Creuss Gate, is in fact nothing more than a wormhole, completely like the ones used in the galaxy.

Its unsettling reputation is simply the byproduct of the fact that matter does not exist in the Creuss’s universe, and any that passes through the gate is demolecularized on contact with their dimension. The Creuss have provided the explanation that lost ships were simply too close to an arcing lash of pure energy coming through from their universe. Since their entry into galactic society, a safe zone has been established around the Gate to prevent such incidents from recurring.

For eons, the Creuss have gathered the matter spilling through into their dimension, using it to fashion the means by which they visit the matter-centric universe. Their vessels and environmental suits, intricately inscribed with interwoven runic latticework, are the products of millennia of matter harvesting.

In the same way in which their dimension’s laws of physics have seeped into the matter universe’s, the matter universe’s laws have crossed over into theirs. The Creuss have developed ways to stabilize galactic matter, using massive entanglement pylons to fashion shipyards and factories above their homeworld of Creuss, a planet of trapped light and high-energy plasma contained within a peculiar curvature of highly energetic spacetime. In their universe, the Creuss swim through the currents of their plasma space without assistance. They only don their suits and board their ships as a way to cross through into the matter-based universe, for reasons that have yet to be uncovered by even the most accomplished spies.

On Creuss itself, life is concerned merely with the immediate. A matterless universe brings with it a lack of consideration of the permanent, leading to the viewpoint that embracing constantly flowing change is the way. Creuss are not born in any way that is meaningful; instead, they simply appear into being. It is theorized that only the matter-centric universe’s intrusion into their own has caused them to act with purpose and work toward a common goal.

The Ghosts of Creuss Today

After making first contact, the Ghosts of Creuss were a subject of incredible fascination and wonderment. The galaxy fell over itself for information on these sentient beings of energy and light described by one historian as “ethereal luxsynaptic souls.” After a period of strange orientation involving the calibration of universal translators, the Creuss who facilitated contact with the Galactic Council and civilizations that are not part of its membership showed themselves to have great cultural similarity to many of the sentient beings of the galaxy. Diplomats at these groundbreaking first meetings described the Creuss as “perfectly polite and completely civilized,” terms that have since been criticized as overly infantilizing.

This proved especially true as the Creuss demonstrated their mastery of dozens of esoteric technologies, most notably the ability to manipulate and create wormholes. Their ability to instantaneously transport everything from individuals to battle squadrons across thousands of light-years both impressed and terrified the rest of the galaxy.

Despite the resulting dozens of offers for alliances, the Ghosts chose to remain distant, deeply protective of their strange dimension. On most matters, the Ghosts have been stubbornly reticent, even prickly. From refusing to explain the import of certain interpersonal rituals to withholding information about the inner workings of their biology as “matters of security,” the secretive Ghosts have frustrated efforts to learn about them as much as as they have astonished with their capabilities.

As individuals integrating into galactic society, the Creuss are more than gracious guests. When not pressured for their techniques, they are happy to create energy-based art installations and performances, a demand for which has exploded across the galaxy’s elite. Many civilizations have invited the Creuss to tour their worlds and set up embassies in the hope that greater understanding might lead to the possibility of an alliance in the future.

Goals of the Ghosts of Creuss

Although the Ghosts have always tried to remain silent on their goals as a faction, recent events have demonstrated that they have a greater interest in galactic events than they admit. Foremost among these events has been the massive Creuss expedition hunting the lost planet of Ixth.

Many cultures have held Ixth in great cultural and religious esteem, as a sort of promised land and spiritual paradise combined. However, as far as most can determine, the Creuss have no cultural links to Ixth. Their reasons for hunting for the world were entirely political. The faction that found Ixth would establish itself as a leader in the galaxy, and possibly as a contender for the Imperial Throne.

When it became known that the Creuss were launching an expedition in search of Ixth, the diplomatic brouhaha that ensued seemed like it would lead to the brink of all-out war, causing the Ghosts to relent and allow appointed observers from other species. However, when the Creuss found Ixth, they discovered that the planet was in fact the resting place of the entombed Mahact kings—not dead, but lying in wait for the day when their time would come and they could return to once again rule the galaxy.

The disaster at Acheron, which occurred during the expedition, had horrific results for the Creuss. The Mahact had the ability to manipulate the Creuss’s light-based bodies, turning them into mindless servants of the gene-sorcerers. In a stroke, the Creuss lost one of their largest fleets and millions of their people, and uncovered a dangerous new threat to their existence. Now, rather than seeking Imperial domination, they hunt for a way to eliminate the threat to their very being.