[Background known to the players]
The glorious Empire of Sindal endured for hundreds of years, and ruled over much of the Trojan Reach. The old Emperors of Sindal were proud and generous; their descendants were proud and cruel, and kept order through orbital bombardment and biological weapons. Subject worlds that refused to pay the ruinous taxes demanded by the Star Dragons were blasted into oblivion from high orbit. In time, the Sindalian provinces rose up en masse, supported by rebels within the Star Guard, and the empire tore itself apart in civil war. Old Noricum, the former seat of the Emperor, was destroyed. Parts of the empire survived – worlds like Albe or Drinax had the strength and technology to hold onto some territory – but for the rest of the sector, the fall of Sindal brought an end to interstellar rule of law.
Timeline:-2000: Rise of the Empire of Sindal
-1600: Sindalian revolts begin.
-1400: Fall of Noricum and collapse of the Empire. The duke of the regional capital of Drinax claims the imperial title.
-1000: Aslan first cross the Great Rift to the Trojan Reach
500: Aslan expand into Tliowaha Subsector. Trade between Imperium and Aslan grows.
700: King Glaxo bombs rebel worlds.
884: King Oleb XIV establishes the Drinax tax.
885: Fall of Drinax.The Aslan, led by the Ahroay’if clan, bomb Drinax.
1085: Reconquest of Asim.
1105: Current year.
It was a cruel irony that perhaps the finest and bravest officer to ever wear the crest of the Star Guard came into her own in that last war. Admiral Gani Peras was a brilliant naval officer, beloved by her crew and feared by her enemies. Both loyalists and rebels courted Peras; her sense of duty demanded that she stay loyal to her oath to the Emperor, but her sense of honour forced her to acknowledge the wholly justified grievances of the provinces. She led the defence of the spinward fleets, slowing the advance of the rebels and ensuring that the war impacted on the civilian population as little as possible. She avoided direct engagements where possible, preferring to use smaller lighter ships to attack enemy supply lines and fuel dumps. Whenever a rebel commander used ortillery on civilian targets, though, Peras showed no mercy. The rings of debris that still orbit Homestead and Vume are testament to the wrath of Gani Peras.
Not even a commander of her calibre, though, could stop the civil war. Around the year -1400, her squadron of five surviving ships jumped into the Noricum system – the besieged seat of the emperor. What happened next is a matter of conjecture, but most historians agree that Peras somehow convinced the emperor to hand over the contents of the Imperial Treasury. Some believe Peras hid the treasury somewhere on Noricum; others claim she intended to use the treasury as a bribe to convince the advancing rebels to negotiate. Others believe the Last Loyal Admiral betrayed her oath at the last, and stole the treasury for herself.
Peras returned to her squadron and they jumped out – out of the system, and out of the history books. There were never any confirmed sightings of them again. Peras became another legend of the Reach, gone for two thousand years.
[End of Background]
In the sealed room, haut-Belzoni explains that twenty years ago he obtained a curiosity – a message globe. These devices are common across Charted Space. Each globe contains a secure message and can only be opened with the proper authorisation (or enough hacking skillz). Open the globe without the right key and its contents are instantly erased. This particular globe bore the emblem of the Empire of Sindal and came from the world of Albe (Sindal/0601), one of the most important worlds in the old Empire and now an imperial protectorate. This globe was a message intended for the Duke of Albe, and required Ducal-level clearance to open. Even more astoundingly, the datestamp on the globe showed that it was sent only a few days before the fall of Noricum. Presumably, similar message-globes were dispatched to the other key systems of Sindal, like Drinax but never arrived, lost in the chaos of civil war.
Haut-Belzoni knew the tale of Gani Perot and the treasure of Sindal, and realised the message globe could be the key to that mystery. All he had to do was open it and the one world where the old Ducal-level clearance codes might still exist was Drinax. So, haut-Belzoni took a leave of absence from the university, and here he is.
At this, Scholar Voha produces another relic from the archives of Drinax – a second message globe. This one, he explains, was also sent by Gani Peras’ fleet to the Ducal Seat at Drinax at the same time as the message went to Albe. The globe was opened at some point in the intervening centuries but all it contained was a string of numbers and letters. Perhaps these numbers are a code; but not one any cryptographer in all those years managed to break. This second globe from Albe may contain the key to the code.
With great ceremony, Voha accesses the computer archives, and King Oleb gives his authorisation. Computer systems built during the days of the Sindalian Empire flicker into life as Oleb enters the codes passed down to him from the dukes of Drinax. The message sphere pops open, and haut-Belzoni examines the contents.
CONTENTS OF IMPERIAL VAULT TRANSFERRED TO ADMIRAL PERAS’ FLAGSHIP.
ADMIRAL PERAS ORDERED TO SET COURSE SPINWARD ALONG MAIN TO REFUGE.
IMPERIAL FAMILY AND RETAINERS WILL FOLLOW IF DEFENSIVE LINES AT SALIF FAIL.
KEY DISPATCHED TO THE DUKES OF ALBE, DRINAX, DPRES AND YGGDRASIL.
SIGNED BY HIS HAND, FELIX STAR DRAGON, EMPEROR OF SINDAL.
Following that message is a page of closely printed letters and numbers, similar but not identical to the message sent to Drinax, followed by the word ACE.
Haut-Belzoni points out a string of co-ordinates printed at the bottom of the message, and explains they are a date, time, location and verification stamp. It is a genuine message, sent only a few weeks before the fall of Sindal. The location is on Noricum, the old Imperial throne world, but it was not at the Imperial palace. The location is not one he recognises – and he has made a study of Noricum. It must be a previously undiscovered secret base!
The Imperial family died on Noricum; they never followed Peras to the refuge, perhaps because the rebels broke through the lines at Salif (Sindal/0206) quicker than expected. That might also explain why no message-globes are known to have reached Dpres or Yggdrasil - the rebels swept in from the spinward side and may have intercepted the couriers, probably in the Thebus system. The battle of Magg’s Moon was one of the last decisive encounters of the war. It might be worth looking for wreckage in that system, or questioning salvage crews and junk dealers on the markets to see if a sealed message globe was ever found.
King Oleb however appears to be a little uninterested. Perhaps there is something in all this, but it's been over two thousand years so there's very little to be gained by all this. He dismisses haut-Belzoni and the ambassador and says he'll think over it.
As soon as they leave he rounds on the party and excitedly exclaims "You must find this!" in his most enthusiastic voice. He will provide the characters the Ducal codes that may prove useful for opening things, and tells them that they must ensure that if there's anything relating to the Sindalian Empire to be found, it must be returned to him to strengthen his claims. He cares not for gold or treasures that are not directly related to the empire, so there's a good chance, if any of this is true, for the party to fund more piracy and mayhem in the Trojen Reach.
It is the Princess who suggests that it might be useful to escort the scientist, so that they can not only take advantage of his knowledge, but also keep an eye on him. She is not sure how many other people he has told of the message globe but it's a good bet that there will be others interested in the treasures of an empire.
End of Part 2.
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