M E A T B A G
Galactic Gazetteer: Astronavigational Telemetry.
Inner Rim // Six Sisters Sector // Thyrsus System.
Thyrsus, Capitol World of the Thyrsian Hierarchy, within the purview of the Silver Jedi Order.
The Sea of Thirst - Southern Planetary Hemisphere.
The Sands of Thyrsus were ever-shifting. Every grain, bleached dry by the Twinned Suns, found themselves stirred from their restful slumber with every stiff breeze or atmospheric storm, forming the windswept dunes that predominantly shrouded the planet’s core. Although deprived of all emotion and considered lifeless by many, these vast conclaves of granular detritus were often voracious. Alone, they were incapable of doing more than annoying a sapient creature with their uncanny ability to get anywhere and everywhere. Together, and in large numbers, the sands were capable of drinking entire civilizations whole - swallowing them up until their highest peaks, or nothing at all remained above the dunes.
In the earliest days of colonization, the first generation of trueborn Thyrsians found themselves continually battling the erstwhile nature of their newfound, and uncaring homeworld. They threw back the proverbial oceans that came to claim what pitiful settlements the first peoples erected atop rocky outcroppings or the various tectonic plates located near the planet’s surface. It was a conflict that would never end. Even into the present era, the sands would seek to take back whatever they instinctually believed was theirs. However, the Thyrsians were far better equipped in the current age to combat the mindless waves of granular hostility. Through the might of technology and their ever-expanding grasp on long-forgotten knowledge - they kept the sands at bay.
Whilst the sands were often greedy with their insatiable appetite, there were times that they provided insight into the inquisitive. The endless sea of bleached earth receded, revealing echoes of what once was, providing a glimpse into their culture from another era. Many secrets were reclaimed from such endeavours, and doubtlessly more languished beneath the surface - waiting for the sands to recede. However, this time around, something was different. The sands unearthed another site for the Thyrsian people to explore, but it wasn’t a reliquary of their ancestors - like they expected. Instead, it was something that they had never seen before. It was a massive structure that was still-partially buried beneath the sands, and was obviously alien in design.
Towering edifices of metallic stone peaked out of sandy mounds, which in turn were surrounded by the rotten remnants of petrified trees. These structures were believed to be nothing more than curiously situated plateaus, as the Thyrsian sensor arrays weren’t able to penetrate the enigmatic material. Yet, with the sandy depression revealing that such stories were nothing more than fiction - the Clans sallied forth and sought to unearth the newly revealed secrets that lay within these stone-like towers. It wasn’t long after that the site was declared neutral territory, causing several of the Thyrsian clans to race forth and dig up whatever they could find - in the hopes of exhuming something that would give them the edge they needed to reign supreme.
But, in their tumultuous rush to lay claim to the newly ordained excavation site - they came across an inactive security system, that after untold centuries, was roused from its slumber with neither malice nor contempt. It was an ancient automaton, forged from an unknown material and coated in a bronze-like substance, that seemingly acted following a preset listing of commands. It would defend the structure’s entrance from intrusion. Not long after the automaton’s activation, the excavation site went silent. Streams of data that once flowed freely were severed by means unknown. Before the lines of communication went silent, there was a loving couple that found themselves miles apart. One sought to divine the secrets of the structure, and hopefully strike it rich, whilst the other tried to secure the homefront against the coming electrical storm. Scant moments before the connection between these two beings was severed, there were gut-wrenching howls and shrieks - followed by an utterly alien noise that couldn’t be described.
Then, the feed went black.
The Thyrsian High Council caught wind of these strange events, and burdened forth by the cries of loved ones and colleagues, requested that the Sun Guard venture into the depths of the Sea of Thirst. They would be tasked with investigating this strange occurrence, and then - should the worst occur - pick up where these individuals left off. However, that was where the Sun Guard would run into some issues. They were Mercenaries, not archaeologists. Sure there were some amongst their number that had the relevant experience, but far from enough to call themselves experts on the subject.
So, an invitation went out - which was unusual for the highly elusive and fiercely independent peoples of Thyrsus. They sought various specialists to supplement their martial prowess and made the promise of a portion of whatever spoils - if there were any - that they found would be theirs to take. Naturally, should this structure prove to be a cultural reliquary, rife with ancient Thyrsian artifacts, nothing would be taken off-world. It was a factor that’d be enforced by a multitude of weapons that were available to the Sun Guard, most notably their exotic solarized weapons. Admittedly, none would relish the sensation of being rendered down to their constituent atoms and becoming one with the ever-shifting sands.
Nevertheless, this expedition would prove to be an exciting dive into the history of those who came before the Thyrsians and vanished long before the first pilfered colony ship crashed landed on the surface.
Who knew what secrets they’d collectively find?
