Ekaez (world)/secret

An alien lifeform arrived in Ekaez system shortly after the world was declared a victim of the Wolvesbane Project. The hive of creatures precipitated from Jump Space aboard an asteroid husk that served as an interstellar seed-hive. This asteroid had no propulsion and had to crash into the outer system Exotic World, causing it to fracture and begin to break apart. The surviving queen-mother and her drones then launched another chunk of the Exotic World toward the Inner System to deposit the creatures on Ekaez. The hive has survived on picking through the Vargr ruins and eating the local fauna unable to compete with the aliens. Working on low Intelligence and high Instinct, this hive has remained small and secluded in the same chasm holding the only intact city and its dormant Naval Base. The hangars holding spaceships and starships have served the queen-mother’s purposes for a new hive.

In 1105, the hive has had centuries to settle and expand its grounds, though food supply has kept the alien infestation population low. The corporate-funded probe mission to Ekaez will miss the hive on the initial, orbital survey because it is nestled in the deep chasm and hidden in shadow. But neutrino emissions from the only power plant still active (kept fueled by the current queen-mother by Instinct) has kept the hive warm. These neutrino emissions will beacon the expedition to the Downport and into the same chasm.

This hive of insectoid Trapper-Hunters is hungry to expand if new food is found outside the chasm. Since the creatures have the Perception sense, they will likely send scouts to find and bring back food to the queen-mother.

The probe mission must piece together what has happened to the chasm city, the downport and study the alien structures that have arisen since Wolvesbane. The teams must analyze what they find, download as much TL-15 Library data as they can and escape Ekaez before they become the hive’s next meal. The aliens have already captured an illegal Vargr scavenging crew whose ship still sits on the Downport tarmac. Using various assets in the Startown and at the Naval Base, can the explorers escape Ekaez?

Timeline

• -1426 Ekaez population eradicated by Wolvesbane carried by a starship with a three-parsec jump range
• -1425 Ekaez surveyed from orbit and declared a Die Back (Di) world, Wolvesbane assumed to be the cause
• -1424 Ekaez avoided by all Vargr in Gzaekfueg Sector for fear of contracting Wolvesbane
• -1420 Entire stellar cluster, save Ouvo (Gzaekfueg 2407), blacklisted for annexation by all polities in the sector.
• -1105 Ghatoets and Aka fund an expedition to Ekaez on the lure of TL-15 relics and schematics