Starborn: Origin of the Stars

Robin shut the door and jumped on his couch after coming home. That was a hell of a day, first clearing his mind from all the shit that happened, then visiting Jim and finally his encounter with Slice. He was totally spent and just wanted to sleep.

Him visiting a stitch all on his own probably wasn’t his brightest idea. But he had decided on his path forward and had to be more daring. Robin pondered if this may be the first stirrings of his optimized mind showing its changes, like the stitch predicted? A few weeks ago, he would have never been so straight forward.

‘Did I really talk back to some criminal of the slums and buy ammunition for a weapon? Holy shit…just what has come over me?’ Robin broke in cold sweat thinking back. In the end, everything went well and his next meeting with the Mohait probably will be much smoother. He even bought some ammo, which he hid with the gun in the Melody II. All in all, including the new Interface and the mutation scan, he had paid nearly 3.000 credits, reducing his savings to meager 10.791 credits.

“I need more money! I want some nice upgrades for Melody and in the long run, leaving Rucasur will be a necessity. There are too many directions, in which I could move next. I have to organize my strategy!”

He needed a plan. His goal was set: deciphering the map and hopefully being able to use it to explore the universe and follow the Starborn’s footsteps. But how should he get there?

“I can check off my first step as I shed some light on the curiosities around my G-Anomaly. Next I should repair and upgrade the ship. A few smaller things can already be done now, but I need more money for the rest…”

Robin opened his self-made legend and thought things over.

[*** Map Legend ***]

Δ Mountain

✮ Wuranger Site

✲ Vanguard Facility

✳ unknown

✸ unknown

❂ unknown

❉ unknown

“I identified three markers already, but there are still four more unknown ones that should also represent alien structures.” He opened his Interface and observed the map again. There were still many markers he could not match with anything, but most of them looked like landscape points of interest, as they appeared too often to be structures. That left him with only four relevant unknowns. Many of them were in the locations of today's Seka, Beakrath or other cities. He wouldn’t find anything left there. Only two markers were placed in locations that could have survived till now. They were near Beakrath, a day's travel away from Seka. He would go there over one of the coming weekends.

‘Maybe Jim could fetch me a transportation contract that would earn me some money…’ he thought and switched to the three moons. He only had identified Ruca III as there were no relevant markers at all. The moon today was nearly destroyed by the massive mining operations over the last decades. Even before that, its positioning towards Mereus made it too hot for any lasting structures.

“I need a talk with Timothy, he should have some information about the sites found on Ruca I and II.”

Robin will ask his friend about any news, maybe that will be enough to help him differentiate the moons. Then he should be able to make better decisions on his next steps.

Closing his Interface, Robin made his way towards the bedroom. He definitely needed some rest for now.

***

The next few days flew by like the wind. He returned to work and also asked Jim to spread word that he would travel to Beakrath and was open for delivery contracts but didn’t expect a response any time soon.

When the weekend came, Robin logged into the spaceship simulator on his gaming station and met up with Timothy.

“Hey mate, how is the weather over there?” He joked, as Ruca I was frequently hit by nasty showers of asteroid fragments and weather wasn’t the best choice of words to describe those conditions.

“Rob, good to see you. Missed you last weekend. Did you finally go out and meet some girls?” His buddy shot back.

“Ha! You won’t believe it, but yeah, I did Melody’s maiden flight over the weekend and Patience came with me.”

“Are you messing with me? Man, nice catch! How did it go? When did she beat you up, before or after you got into the ship?” Timothy laughed over the voice chat.

“Come on, give me some credit!” Robin faked a pout, but then became more solemn and began to explain what they had experienced in Seka’s outskirts.

“Wow, that's… heavy shit. I’m sorry mate. How are you doing now?” Timothy was quite shocked. Like Robin, he lived a quiet, uneventful life. Being stationed on Ruca I as a researcher was already a real adventure for him.

“I needed a few days to sort my head, but I’m doing good now, thanks.” pausing a moment, Robin changed to the topic he was most interested in right now.

“Hey, after we accidentally stumbled across these alien sites, I started to look into them more. I couldn’t find much information about them online, are the locations a secret?”

“No, not really. The UAS just doesn’t maintain a public database for them since they are of no interest to the majority after we fully researched them. The government makes sure to claim and clear any newfound ones, but those are really rare cases today, at least here around Rucasur. With our planetary scans we normally find any relevant facilities on a planet or moon with ease.” Timothy explained, “But if someone happens to find a new site, they get paid handsomely, no matter which alien race it stems from…well, there are exceptions, but those are even more rare. I can’t in fact remember the last discovery of a Starborn facility.”

“I assume there are no relic sites on Ruca III, but do you know which ones were found on the other moons? That said, what type of site are you assigned to, right now?” Robin asked, trying not to let his anticipation seep into his voice.

“I’m analyzing a newly found Wuranger site, these are nearly impossible to find by scans because of all the dead biomatter and the lack of metal in the constructions. As for what else was already discovered I can’t tell with certainty. I only know of some here on Ruca I.”

“I’m starting to tour Rucasur and later on hopefully some other planets. I want to learn more about the relic sites, as those are often the most interesting places. Just share some stories, as we fly around this evening, okay?” Robin carefully pushed a bit more.

As the topic wasn’t really a secret, Timothy happily began to tell some tales of his experiences on the moon.

Robin took notes of all sites mentioned and just as he wrote down his first tangible lead about an abandoned Keeper Info-Station, he heard something that made him sit up straight.

“...it was just a piece of luck that we found two Wuranger sites so close together.”

“Why is that? And how close is close on the scale of a moon?” Robin asked, sitting on the edge of his seat.

“Well, they are not even 100km away from each other. We found them due to the still ongoing research of a forsaken Drel Outpost that is nearby and as such we often have to travel through this region.” Timothy explained and Robin immediately opened his map.

There were only so many markers for alien sites on Rucasur and its moons, not even 30 altogether. So, when he heard of two Wuranger ruins at close distance, he could make a guess which moon on his map was Ruca I. The mentioning of another site nearby was all the confirmation he needed. He quickly found the place he was looking for and observed the three markers, two Wuranger and one unknown in a 100km-triangle arranged.

Robin's heart began to beat faster.

‘I not only got the matching moon, but I also even identified another marker… the Drel!’

They were a very old race that was still around today. Robin heard a lot of stories about them as they were famous for their highly advanced weapons and crazy AI-tech. The Drel do not belong to any faction and sell their technologies to anyone with enough credits. Every now and then someone makes allegations about pirate crews among the Drel's ranks, but those never get confirmed.

“That’s awesome, I didn’t know they left facilities behind. They are still active today, aren’t they? Isn’t it dangerous to plunder… ahm… research their buildings?” he carefully asked.

“Yeah, but just like every other one of the old races, they withdrew from the Mereus Cluster centuries ago. Most actually left the whole galaxy. What remains from their facilities is of high value to the UAS. Only here in the outer rims of the galaxy can we fully research them and learn from the technologies left behind without the fear of repercussions.”

“They left the Pranum Expanse? I heard stories of them being in pirate crews, marauding outposts at the border of the galaxy.” Robin questioned the story.

“Yeah, but even if the Drel withdrew from here, that doesn't mean that there are none left. Some are still around and living in the bigger star systems. Those ones don’t care about the few scarce Drel outposts the UAS finds.” Timothy was fully in his element, sharing lots of his knowledge with him. But that last statement made Robin prick his ears once more - these outposts are that rare?

Searching his map again, he moved over to Ruca II and frowned.

“You make it sound like they are holy places only found once in centuries. I’m pretty sure I’ve read about one found on Ruca II before, so they cannot be that rare, can they?”

“Rob, you don’t understand. Most of mankind's modern weapon technology is directly derived from one of the few Drel outposts we got our hands on. The one we found here on Ruca I is already a boon and the only reason, the UAS has stationed two intergalactic destroyers and even a carrier in the Mereus Cluster. Believe me, you’ve probably read about this one here on Ruca I. It's important enough to be a recurring topic even outside of governmental circles. Another one on Ruca II? That would be big news, I mean huuuuuge news! I would know that.”

Timothy tried to explain the impact of that one facility further, but Robin didn’t listen any longer. He only watched that second marker he just named, blinking on his map of Ruca II:

✸ - Drel Outpost