(NOTE: Starlore 1 was not set in the Contiuum Universe which is why the list below starts with 'Starlore 2')

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The following chapters detail some of the events and background that had a bearing on the events of each of the main Starlore Continuum Weekends. These are very rough abridged notes.

　

Starlore 2.... 'Disaster'.

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The Frontier Space lines 'Lystra', was an aging container liner carrying passengers and cargo across the vast expanses of the Empire. The ship had been converted to carry landing pods instead of cargo containers as part of a colonisation program. These landing pods were able to make a controlled planet fall and were designed to land in close proximity to one another if released from low orbit. The pods were used to transport and deliver colonists and everything which they would require to set up new homes upon a fertile planet.

In 2489 the Lystra embarks on a routine run to Hadar Rho Hadar is a newly discovered frontier world that has finally been opened up for full colonisation to reduce the population strain on some of the core worlds. Apart from colonists heading for a new life the Lystra was carrying a contingent of Protectorate Marines with orders to link up with the 'Lionheart', the pride of the Imperial navy which, would be conducting space trials in the Hadar system. In addition there were a number of other passengers travelling to the Hadar sector for their own various and in some cases, very shady reasons. Things however went disastrously wrong. As the ship was powering it’s jump drives there was a malfunction. Unknown to everyone else aboard someone had other ideas for the Lystra and had seen to it that it would never reach its destination. The Malfunction caused a miss-jump which catapulted the ship out into uncharted space.

When it finally came out of jump space the Lystra was all but crippled, the jump drive initiator was fried and the main liquid link had evaporated. With many other critical systems failing fast the crew of the ‘Lystra’ somehow managed to bring the ship into a high elliptical orbit around an earth type planet. In order to save both the ship and it’s passengers the Captain was forced to make a critical decision. It’s orbit was taking the Lystra further away from the surface of the planet but more worrying would within a few orbits (approx 100 hours) take the ship into the path of the local sun. The ships power systems needed to be taken off line as life support would not last until the next close pass. The order was to initiate colonisation landing procedures and jettison the cargo pods leaving only a skeleton crew aboard who would make a vain attempt to save the stricken ship. Not designed to be dropped from high orbit, most of the pods somehow landed safely but were scattered across the planets surface. Most of the civilians from one of the four pods survived planet fall and found themselves on a dark, cold, uninviting world. A number of non-essential ships personnel, Protectorate Marines and a mixture of bounty hunters and reporters had joined the colonists in the hasty evacuation of the ship. The Pods were not designed to provide suitable accommodation after landing (especially when they land upside down) and so the survivors were forced to strike out into the dark. During what some may have called a landing, the scanners registered what appeared to be signs of habitation and most preferred to go and check rather than spend the night in what was a beat up tin can the survivors quickly located the remains of old colony buildings. Power was quickly restored and the old computer and communications systems turned out to be still operational. The ancient generator was unreliable but provided them with heat, light and enough power to get a message to the ship.

It became quickly apparent that although there was evidence of humans the few that remained had taken to a rather primitive Hunter / Gatherer lifestyle. The reason was soon made very clear as the dominant species turned out to be an alien species of humanoid called the Kuth. The Kuth were less than impressed that humans had taken up residence in the deserted buildings and demanded that the new ‘colonists’ leave the colony or they would be driven out. No one was in any mood to join the primitive humans in the woods and walk away from the prospect of a warm bed so the decision was stand and fight until rescue arrived. A bitter conflict ensued and it was quickly apparent that the Kuth had plenty of tricks up their sleeves some of what caused total chaos and panic amongst the humans. An attempt at a dialogue soon broke down between Kuth and colonists and the given the numbers and firepower that they were up against the future of all of the humans seemed in doubt.The crew of the Lystra had somehow managed to fix the power and life support and had come up with a way to use the local sun to slingshot the ship. One of the two remaining shuttles was used to ferry survivors from the surface who now found themselves in a pitched battle for survival. Most escaped but a few failed to make it.

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The lystra limps towards human space.

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Foot note.

In 2492 an Imperial Fleet made a brief stop over only to find that the world would no longer support human life. Apparently the Kuth, unwilling to simply hand the world over to the humans had made the planets atmosphere toxic. Since then there has been no further contact with the alien race.

　

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Starlore 3.... 'The Raven'.

Later it was learned this was simply a cover for Stane Corp who had already 'leased' the maximum limit of worlds allowed under Imperial law.

After eight long months the ship has limped to the edge of human space. Here lay a lonely outpost of man. The Argauria system was home to a single research station set up by a small corporate outfit known as U.M.S.(United Mineral Survey). Desperate for vital supplies and parts the Lystra attempts to contact the station on but it’s calls are only greeted by a voice denying them permission to land. Discovering that the mysterious voice was synthetic in nature, the captain of the ship asks for volunteers to go down in one of the only serviceable shuttles. The group was made up of ships security and engineers, marines and specialists. Landing some distance from the research station it turns out to be a very quiet walk in. When they arrived they found only a dark and empty building (which had been booby-trapped) and two long dead corpses. While a team is sent in to make the building safe two figures approach silently out of the darkness. The dead on this world apparently walked and were certainly unfriendly. Confronted with two animated corpses intent on getting closely acquainted with them, the team opened fire. The deadly hail discharged from the teams energy weapons had little effect upon the figures and the zombies had to be fought off with knives, clubs and harsh language (the latter proving less effective). As the stations computers were checked by the technicians, evidence was found to indicate some catastrophe had befallen the scientists. At the time of their sudden apparent disappearance it turned out that the scientists had been working to develop Biological Weapons for a single client. Bio Weapons research was banned under Republican law which is why the company chosen Argauria for it’s remote location in order to carry out their experiments in secret. Working their way through the computer logs it seemed that some form of creature had arrived on a meteor. The science team had immediately transferred the subject into a stasis chamber for study but the team had been infected by some mystery illness and went mad eventually breaking the creature out of the stasis chamber. More of the scientists became infected and ran off into the wilderness with the creature. The remaining scientists had barricaded themselves into the facility but as luck would have it a ship had arrived and the scientists gave them landing instructions in the hope that it would mean their rescue. The ship turned out to be "The Space Raven" from a pirate fleet that had arrived several months earlier to coincide with the Lystra’s departure and had been part of the plan to ‘re-direct’ the Lystra into a trap. The crew of the Raven needed replacement parts for their ship and knew that the UMS facility carried a small selection of spares for supply ships which were vital to the outpost. The pirates not realising that they were in danger also fell prey to the creature, which, turned out to be an Astral Vampire that absorbed life force from her victims.

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The remaining Pirates escaped back to orbit leaving the scientists to fend for themselves but one by one they too fell under the spell of the vampire.

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Enter the Lystra.

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The landing party from the Lystra soon found out that keeping the Astral Vampire out of the station was impossible and she quickly claimed several victims, gaining strength each time. Luckily each time her presence was discovered and she failed to escape with her intended targets but they were left drained or unconscious. One group amongst the landing party, the bounty hunters, had a shock when they realised that one of the most wanted men in the galaxy had been on the planet. The wanted criminal seemingly knew the location of a lost treasure the map to which was rumoured to be hidden on a deck of cards. Suddenly all fears about the Vampire were gone and the search was on for buried treasure. However one of the bounty hunters had his eye on an even greater prize when he identified a wanted assassin who had been travelling as a colonist. The pirates meanwhile were back on the move, this time their orders were to keep the Lystra in the system until the rest of their fleet arrived. They secretly met up with a member of the Lystra’s crew who had volunteered to help with locating the vital engine parts. The crew man, an Engineer was one of those already under suspicion for sabotage of the Lystra’s jump-drive turned out to be a member of the same pirate organisation. It had been arranged for him to join the crew of the Lystra on this voyage specifically to engineer the missjump. This missjump was part of a deal designed to place the crippled Lystra in the middle of the Argauria system where the pirate fleet would be waiting for it. The Pirates had been offered the Lystra in return for ‘services’.

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The plan had involved the engineer planting a device into the jump drives to alter the destination and to deliver the ship into to the Argauria system where the Pirates would plunder the cargo pods. The Lystra of course had not arrived and after weeks of waiting the fleet had withdrawn. Now only the Space Raven remained and that was due to a breakdown of it’s own. What was discovered was that the deal with the pirates was made by a Protectorate Military Official who needed their help and may have been the same person that was funding the Bio Weapons research. With the Astral Vampire now much stronger, her zombie ranks swelled by the unsuspecting pirates. The Lystra’s landing team were finding themselves under increasing pressure, cornered by both pirates & zombies tempers began to spill over. The small squad of Protectorate Maries were the targets of much of the criticism for not being able to handle the situation. Death threats followed and eventually the Marines, led by Lt Taco Cagiva stormed out after attacking one of their number still loyal to their Commanding Officer.

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During the course of the day a number of discoveries were made :

1. One of the few surviving members from the station had hidden the vital supplies needed by the players so that they would not fall into the hands of "her" or the pirates. He had become quite mad and was living in a emergency shelter some way off.

2. The voice on the radio telling them not to land was the voice of one androids who was later damaged when the pirates attacked the station looking for the supplies needed by the players.

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The pirates attempted a number of offensives which were repulsed but they did gain vital hostages for a while.

As Darkness there were strange readings on the stations scanners and strange lights were seen in the sky. Like moths to a flame the landing party went out to investigated. Realising that the lights had been conjured by the Astral Vampire they attempted to leave until she called to those whom she had already infected. Many had to be restrained when they attempted to join her, then her zombie minions attacked in an attempt to cause confusion and allow those restrained to escape and join their mistress. Eventually the team escaped retreating to the relative safety of the station.

　

　

　

Making matters worse the Marines as it turned out had been assigned to protect the assassin whom it was discovered was know as a ‘tool of the emperor’. All of the Bounty Hunters were now aware of him and began squabbling over who would take him down (and if they should take him down). Tension & confusion reigned and was made all the worse when the assassin slipped away under cover of darkness.

The following morning the landing party found themselves facing a substantial double threat after the marines had linked up with the pirates. The landing party were forced into a rear-guard action but unknown to the pirates had located the ‘liquid link’ component required for the Lystra which had been hidden by one of the scientists. The fire fight claimed many lives of the remaining team members and whilst some of the unconscious were bundled into the shuttle several had to be left behind.

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Starlore 4.... 'Stir Crazy'.

When the Lystra finally arrives in the Hadar system in early 2491, the passengers were unaware that they were entering a warzone. With no cargo and half of their number missing or killed, the survivors of the events of the previous few months arrived to a very quiet reception. It was so quiet in fact that the field where the shuttle landed was completely deserted. There were no other craft or signs of life and certainly no committee to welcome them after their epic adventure. Knowing that the main township was only a short distance away they decided to walk. Eventually they could make out the welcoming sight of the colony in the distance but as they got closer it was clear that everything was in darkness. As our heroes climbed the hill towards the main colony building they were suddenly blinded by floodlights and loud voices instructed them to throw down their weapons and raise their hands. Many complied with the instructions as they found themselves in a prone position with no cover and nowhere to run. Suddenly all hell broke loose as the firing started, caught in a lethal cross-fire they were mown down. No-one knew why the firing started but it was over very quickly. When they awoke they found themselves in a large secure cell, all weapons and belongings removed (apart from a few items that had been well hidden). Whoever had ambushed them had used some form of stun weapons. Eventually their captors brought food and water and revealed themselves to be Protectorate Marines. Their Commanding officer introduced himself as Commodore Darro (a name a few were already familiar). Darro it turned out had been a controversial figure in the military with a chequered career and several of the captives had already met him including one man who apparently had been held in a military prison where Darro was a guard. The man had been a mute since serving his sentence, after a run in with Darro who cut out part of his tongue and destroyed his vocal cords.

Darro it turned out had taken command of the Lionheart and had instigated a military coup in three Protectorate sectors including Hadar. He had used the Lionheart’s new experimental weaponry to defeat any loyal Protectorate forces and as well as an Imperial task force sent in to restore the rule of law. Darro went on to explain that he had arranged the miss-jump of the Lystra but was very happy to see that some of his former acquaintances had survived what must have been a very difficult trip. Darro also explained that because the plan to hijack the Lystra had not gone to plan he had been forced to find other ways to pay the Pirates who had lent their not inconsiderable might to the coup. Yatani, the head of Yatani Corp had also been involved in the plan although the bio weapons that were being produced by his UMS front company and originally destined for use with the Lionheart’s new weaponry had failed to arrive. Stane, Darro went on was in favour of killing the lot of them but being the fair minded gentlemen that he (Darro) was had decided to give them the option to join the cause. He made it clear that they would need to make a decision about which side they were on within 24 hours. Darro appeared to be very confident that his plan had been a success and that his position was secure and moved beyond his bodyguard for a moment whilst addressing the prisoners. Seeing his opportunity the mute lunged forwards and attempted to thrust a concealed dagger into Darro’s chest. Darro however had been waiting for someone and dodged the attack and his bodyguard beat the attacker into unconsciousness. The prison was set on the top of a hill overlooking a small lake which, provided a good view of the execution. Later when the firing squad had left, several of them were escorted down to the lake to retrieve the body from the shallows and then had to dig the grave. Despite their anger boiling over there appeared to be no hope of escape from the secure facility. The prison was run by Marines although civilians were still employed to provide cleaning and meal services. It was one of these civilians that started passing messages to the prisoners from the local resistance who would try to free them if they agreed to join in the fight against Stane and Darro. The resistance had also learned that the main weapon system on the Lionheart was out of action. The fearsome experimental weaponry was based around a primitive teleport device. Designed to deliver bombs to distant targets it was able to breach defence screens & shields. Darro had originally wanted to port biological weapons developed by UMS onto enemy ships but without these had been forced to use nukes. The teleport systems had been designed to port nukes but it was later learned was not suitable for delivering such devices. Whilst they were very effective (destroying ships from within) the radiation released during the process had degraded the teleportation modules. The Imperial Navy however was unaware of this and had retreated to a safe distance. They believed that the threat level posed by the Lionheart was such that it prevented them from mounting a further offensive. The prisoners agreed to help the resistance mount an attack on a communications facility in order to get a message out to the Imperial fleet. The resistance succeeded in smuggling a small number of weapons into the prison and while the Marine guards were facing an attack from a small group of resistance fighters the prisoners made their move. The prison break was a success and they disappeared into the wilderness to plan the attack on the communications facility. With the help of a diversion created by the resistance the communications facility was quickly taken and a message sent to the Imperial fleet. Realising that all was lost Darro was forced to flee with the Lionheart and the frigate "Fury".

　

Starlore 5.... 'Solomans Rock'.

Despite his defeat, Darro had made good his escape and a huge bounty was placed on his head.

Months went by and life had to go on and with bills to pay many of the veterans of the Lystra took jobs with Centrkom Corporation. Centrkom had recently opened up a colony on Solomans Rock a water planet which Centrkom believed had large mineral reserves. Centrkom however could not get a mining licence and had already spent substantially developing their facility on one of the main islands. What Centrkom did discover however quickly proved that Solomans Rock could still be highly valuable. During an early survey Centrkom found evidence of a non-human civilisation. Originally the company had suppressed this in it’s attempts to develop a mining operation. Now however it decided that these same ancient remains could be just as valuable. Centrkom was not a cash rich corporation and by most standards was very small. It also had no experience in conducting archeological surveys and was forced to bring in outside help. Many of the original passengers from the Lystra now signed on to help with the dig, most however had other reasons for being there. Firstly Darro had been seen in the area and secondly the head of the colony a man by the name of Sulivan had served with Darro and it was thought may know how to find him. Sulivan however, had been targeted for termination by Darro after refusing to let him use Solomans Rock as a haven. Ex IID agent Hangfire disguised as an archaeologist had also arrived on the latest transport and quickly took Sulivans life using a very aggressive type of poison before anyone had time to question him. During the dig it was learned that the planet had in fact been home to an alien race who's numbers had dwindled to just a few dozen. Evidence was also uncovered that the planet was itself some form of biological computer. With Sulivan out of the way and learning that a number of his enemies were on Solomans Rock, Darro turned up with a force of marines still loyal to him. One marine, who had been on the Lystra (Lt Taco Cagiva), was now insane with hatred for those who had forced him to defect to the pirates (starlore 3). A fierce battle would have ensued but for the intervention of the alien computer. The conflict was now to be settled by single combat, Darro's champion, Hangfire was revealed to be a Cyborg and quickly won the combat. Unwilling to leave anyone to tell the tale Darro ordered his troops to leave no survivors. The arrival of a Protectorate task force that had been tracking Darro forced him to flee once again but swearing that he would finish the job.

　

Starlore 6..... 'Lionheart'.

Working with Centrkom, Stane Corp (now Imperial controlled) and with Protectorate backing, a strike team was assembled to track the Lionheart down and destroy both it and Darro once and for all. The Lionheart was discovered in orbit around an Earth standard planet in deep space. While a squadron of new Guassi class fighters took on the Lionheart, the rest of the strike force made a landing to find Darro who it was learned was on the surface. Darro had arranged to meet up with members of the Wandering Brotherhood. The Brotherhood were a league of pirates with whom Darro had dealt previously originally offering them the Lystra in exchange for assistance in his planned coup. While the fighters had managed to destroy the Lionheart Darro was proving to be more elusive. Realising that a substantial pirate fleet was on its way Darro's pursuers were in a race against time to find him. It was revealed that the Emperor was to pardon Darro in exchange for help to quell a number of uprisings and systems which were declaring independence from the Empire. With a pirate fleet breathing down their necks a stroke of luck allowed Darro to fall into their hands. But there was to be no pardon. Darro may have been dead but he had left a legacy which would eventually result in a galactic civil war. Following the ‘Hadar uprisings’ instigated by Darro, many sectors began to follow suit and declared independence. Conflict was inevitable. The Emperor refused to make concessions and instead ordered the dissolution of the Protectorate authorities (an organisation run by the senate) and then his fleets were dispatched to enforce Imperial authority. The Mega Corporations moved to protect their own assets favouring no side in the conflict.

　

Starlore 7 ... 'Shattered IMPERIUM'.

In July 2493, a faction of the Imperial Navy, led by Admiral Garant, began to plot to overthrow the Emperor. The investigations by an I.I.D. team led by agent Sidewinder were unsuccessful in preventing the plotters, and in September, Garant used the Imperial Flagship, commanded by Admiral Trane Steele, to destroy the parliament on Rigel. Garant declares himself Overlord of the Galaxy. Imperial forces rallied under the head of the I.I.D. who announces himself regent to the young successor, and a bloody nuclear and biological war ensues. Despite attempts at peace the Republican Protectorates were drawn into the conflict in order to defend themselves. In February 2494, a Triad Alliance of some of the largest MegaCorporatons was formed. Malenox inc., Jaschonek Fabricant GmbH (JFG) and Tyrell. The corporations were concerned with the huge loss of investments and profit being caused by the protracted war, and recruited a team of specialist to find a way to force a peace to stabilise their business markets. The Triad sent spies to infiltrate the various factions in order to identify the best person able to negotiate for peace on each side, where necessary assassinating superiors to ensure that the individuals had enough seniority to sign such a treaty.

The setting for the conference was to be in the luxurious surroundings of a corporate retreat on the planet of Delta Lupi VI. Unfortunately this did have one major drawback as unknown to anyone the planet was directly in the path of the Overlords next offensive....

The delegates from the five main factions were kidnapped by the mission specialists. Those 'invited' to attend the conference included : Admiral Trane Steele, IID Agent Sidewinder, Republican Senator Oshikawa, Independent Senator Harrison & Senior Cult member Falmar.

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While a number of agreements were signed on access to certain planets and the exchange of prisoners the war would continue to drag on for another two years.

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By the time the fleet led by Admiral Smith the conflict had reached a stalemate. The Overlord had by this time resorted to increasingly desperate measures in an attempt to secure a final victory but was defeated by Smith when the Overlord had launched a final attack.