The Zurara is a megaship that was involved in Project Dynasty. It was created specifically for a single deep space exploration mission to find Earth-like Worlds in the Formidine Rift, but upon completing its mission, sleeper agents among the crew sabotaged the ship, ensuring it would remain derelict above planet 1 of the Syreadiae JX-F c0 system.
History[]
The Zurara was constructed in secret by The Club and boasted a state-of-the-art design with the latest Auto Field-Maintenance Units to keep it running during its long-term foray to the Formidine Rift. The megaship formed one of Project Dynasty's three expeditions, with the other two bound for the Scutum-Sagittarii Conflux and Hawking's Gap using Anacondas instead. It launched from the Core Systems in April 3270, and arrived in the distant Syreadiae JX-F c0 system six months later in October 3270. Upon confirming the presence of an Earth-like World and deploying the expedition's final navigation beacon to mark it, sleeper agents hidden among the crew began attacking their colleages and damaging vital ship systems. The crew fended off the attackers, who committed suicide using a lethal memory-wiping drug called Hexedit, but with the main reactor down and life support failing, the survivors resigned themselves to death. The Zurara's final log entries were made on October 1, 3270, about twenty minutes before life support was exhausted.[1][2]
On August 21, 3273, an independent pilot who went by the name of Rebecca tracked down the Zurara. Rebecca had once worked for The Club, but had turned against them and sought to expose their conspiracy. She connected the Zurara to Project Dynasty and left a series of her own log entries for future explorers to find.[1][2]
On April 17, 3303, a group of technology enthusiasts called The Hamsters based in Tionisla found a message left behind by Rebecca hidden within exploration data that had been gathered for the Children of Raxxla group the previous year.[3] Solving the riddle revealed the name of the Syreadiae JX-F c0 system, leading to the discovery of the Zurara and its audio logs.[1][2][4]
Timeline[]
27 APR 3303
- A few days ago, a curious message was discovered by the Hamsters, a group of EM-transmission enthusiasts in the Tionisla system. A short time later, a combined effort from the Children of Raxxla and several other groups decoded the message and discovered it pointed to the Syreadiae JX-F c0 system in the so-called Formidine Rift. Travelling to the system, pilots discovered a bulk cruiser called the Zurara. The ship's logs painted a haunting picture, indicating that the ship's crew sabotaged the vessel before killing themselves. The Zurara had been adrift in the system ever since.
ABish[4]
17 APR 3303
- A group of EM-transmission technology enthusiasts in the Tionisla system claims to have found a message in the exploration data gathered last year as part of a campaign organised by the Children of Raxxla. A spokesperson for the group, which calls itself The Hamsters, said: "It was inside one of the beacon modulator wave harmonics, and it seems to be some sort of rhyme. We've studied it but have come up with nothing, so we thought we'd share it with the galactic community." The message is reprinted in full below.
The river to the underworld
Gaia's daughter all unfurled
Fourth minor bear in vain
By viper's sting was slain
Also known as Nemesis
The doom of Chimera
She is tasked with soothing pain
Suckling Odysseus from afar
Mother of the mother of
Leader of the Titans
He transformed into a hawk
A daughter of Daedalion's
The piercer was how he was known
Mother of Ulysses
Ruler of the winds
God of night, primordial flees
Zeus' namesake now lies in Sol
Achilles favoured horse
Women of vengeance infernal
The vain queen rides not forth
A final word, a course to follow, a poor miser's sum
If you would understand it all, seek Fibonacci's Zephyrum[3]
References[]
