The Scourge That Comes After
GALNET PRIORITY BROADCAST – CLASSIFIED CIRCULATION LEVEL Δ
Intercepted by every major hyperwave relay within two Core rotations.
Meanwhile, the ice vault beneath Odacer-Faustin breathes again. Witnesses speak of troopers and Sith alike staggering from its depths marked by crimson sigils that smoke in the cold. Rumor insists the Crimson Cauterizer has been claimed—perhaps controlled, perhaps not—and that its living lattice is capable of suturing reality where lanes fray… or of tearing those wounds wider for strategic gain.
Farther still, deep in the Polar Meridian, an expedition has vanished into the Rusted Spire. Scattered telemetry shows the gyroscope at its heart stuttering for the first time in millennia, sloughing rust like blood from a wound. Light-side and Dark-side signatures now bleed together inside the spire's gravity wells—some kind of forced equilibrium, or a prelude to rupture.
Every major power has acknowledged the same unspoken conclusion: the visions of Blood, Echo, and Axis are converging, and the Celestial machine known only as Calladene waits just beyond the next blind jump. No one agrees whether it is salvation or execution. All agree that time—and the map itself—is running out.
Suggested Story Beats for Act III
Intercepted by every major hyperwave relay within two Core rotations.
The Galaxy has crossed a threshold from crisis into cascade. In the space of one standard month, three hyper-routes—Komnor Spur, Alaskan Corridor, and Sector E-8 of the Hydian—have collapsed in on themselves, leaving fifty-three worlds marooned without food or medicine. In the void these lanes once occupied, sensor buoys now record Starweird swarms large enough to eclipse cruiser silhouettes. Only ships carrying fragments of precognitive telemetry—the so-called Echo Resonators—have survived more than a single jump through contested space.
Meanwhile, the ice vault beneath Odacer-Faustin breathes again. Witnesses speak of troopers and Sith alike staggering from its depths marked by crimson sigils that smoke in the cold. Rumor insists the Crimson Cauterizer has been claimed—perhaps controlled, perhaps not—and that its living lattice is capable of suturing reality where lanes fray… or of tearing those wounds wider for strategic gain.
Farther still, deep in the Polar Meridian, an expedition has vanished into the Rusted Spire. Scattered telemetry shows the gyroscope at its heart stuttering for the first time in millennia, sloughing rust like blood from a wound. Light-side and Dark-side signatures now bleed together inside the spire's gravity wells—some kind of forced equilibrium, or a prelude to rupture.
Every major power has acknowledged the same unspoken conclusion: the visions of Blood, Echo, and Axis are converging, and the Celestial machine known only as Calladene waits just beyond the next blind jump. No one agrees whether it is salvation or execution. All agree that time—and the map itself—is running out.
Suggested Story Beats for Act III
- Race to the Null Ellipse
- Factions scramble to triangulate Calladene's hidden pocket using Blood, Echo, and Axis deltas. Sabotage and espionage are now open season.
- Starweird Sieges
- Swarms coalesce around population hubs cut off by lane collapse. Evacuation convoys, last-stand garrisons, or daring counter-hunts may turn the tide—or feed it.
- Weapon or Cure?
- Whoever wields the Crimson Cauterizer decides whether to seal cracks, ransom safe passage, or unleash strategic ruptures against rivals. Political fallout is inevitable.
- Temporal Echo Loops
- Malfunctioning Resonators spill localized time recursion onto trade stations and capital ships. Characters may revisit moments, confront paradoxes, or exploit foresight at personal cost.
- Axis Alignment Gambit
- Inside the Rusted Spire, Light, Dark, and Balance crystals must be inserted—or stolen—before the Loom locks again. Success grants limited dominion over local spacetime; failure threatens a sector-wide freeze.