Lords of RPG

Starlight Haven

Rogue Fixer Racht

Racht learned how to fix stuff because he had to. Not part of the ‘official’ society or community that was “Starlight Haven”, he grew up in the long-abandoned areas of the huge space station. His parents never told him what they had done, but he knew they weren’t welcome in the parts that were inhabited by others. Not being particularly religious, he knew it wasn’t due to some cult or wackjob spiritual belief system they had held, and the time to ask had long passed. Both had been dead for many years.

It wasn’t until his early teens that Racht started venturing into the “normal” areas of Starlight Haven. While his parents had been wanted, no one knew who he was. Having a knack for fixing stuff and inquiring about a part that he could fully describe, but didn’t know the name for, caught the attention of Gareth Thorn and a few weeks later found himself an apprentice to the best-known mechanic on Starlight Haven.

Racht never shared his parents’ names with anyone, not even Gareth, whom he considers a mentor and friend. All anyone knows is that he grew up in the abandoned areas of the station and knows those areas better than anyone else. If Gareth isn’t around and you need something fixed, then Racht is your go to guy.

Abandoned Warehouse District Petunia

It had been slow going for the past four hours. There was no power, not even emergency lights. The long, tall hallway was lit solely by the torch in his left hand. Clouds of dust kicked into the air obscuring his view past ten yards or so. Every few minutes he would have to sit and wait for the dust to settle.

But, like the kid had told him, “There was a hum” once you got a few hours in…the kind that required power. Racht was excited and nervous. This area of the station was abandoned centuries ago. No one had been here for years, except that kid who could teleport and that was only if the kid had been telling the truth.

There were several abandoned warehouse zones in Starlight Haven and they all had a similar design. Cold and dark now, they had been built for a different era. Wide pathways more appropriate for a street on Veridian than a space station cramped for room. Tall ceilings ten to fifteen meters high with rails hanging down that at some point probably helped move things back and forth to the docks. An echo with the normal metallic din of a voluminous ship or outpost but softened…as though a thick layer of dust padded the sound waves.

Racht strode up to the large door with the faded pink flower motif and removed his backpack, setting it on the ground. Low-tech industrial equipment was all he needed at this point. Simple, but heavy, it only took a few minutes to set up the hydraulic jack and force the door open a couple of meters, allowing him access to the long-closed Petunia District.

Almost immediately, he noticed the humming sound. Anything in this area that was still powered had to be pre-tech and thus valuable…and potentially dangerous. Racht pulled the visor down and blinked with his right eye to activate the full spectrum scanner allowing him to see well beyond just the visual spectrum.

Slowly moving forward, taking the time to scan and inspect his surroundings, and occasionally pausing to let the dust settle and reorient himself, the mercenary engineer zeroed in on the low humming sound. Except for variation in the patina of long-term neglect, the gargantuan buildings in this area all looked the same. Each of the warehouse districts had been named after flowers from Earth for some reason no one understood any longer. Huge warehouses with no windows and large sets of double doors on the front accompanied by a small door for foot traffic. Most of them were open, doors either removed or ajar. A few were closed, holding inside whatever had been there when this section had been sealed off.

The eighth of the closed buildings he encountered was Warehouse 22, from which a low humming sound seemed to originate. Scanning revealed few surprises. The building was warmer than it should be. Not room temperature warm, but much warmer than the ambient temperature of somewhere around -278 Celsius, as this area of the station was not heated. It was above freezing in the mysterious warehouse, but not by much.

The large double doors and the smaller single one both had multiple magnetic locks that were still engaged and looked like they would automatically lock down if power was lost. Both the doors and the walls to the warehouse were made of a material Racht wasn’t familiar with. The dust piled up against the doors was as deep as anywhere else…no one had been here in years.

Racht took the time to circle the block and check the back of the building but found that the warehouses backed into each other and instead he encountered the entrance to warehouse 122. The open warehouse took a little less than an hour to investigate. Empty boxes and a few scraps here and there made it clear that this facility used to store clothing of some kind.

Seeing no other way in, he returned to the entrance to Warehouse 22, and carefully removed the dataslab and line shunt from his pack. After linking the two together, Racht placed the shunt over the first lock on the smaller door and began hacking. Watching the data feed as he tried to unlock the door, it only took one minute for the hair on the back of his neck to rise…something was wrong here…had the humming just gotten louder?

Racht pulled the shunt off the door, slapped the dataslab closed, tossed both into his pack and started away from the warehouse at a strong pace, ignoring the clouds of dust. His golden rule, handed down from his mentor, had saved his life many times and he knew not to ignore it.

If all the evidence points in one direction and your gut tells you that is the right way, then do it. Pass on everything else and run if your gut says run, regardless of what the evidence says.

Warehouse Petunia 22:

Every Day is the Same

Day 230864

220095 days since Warehouse 22 has received.

220062 days since Warehouse 22 has shipped.

217457 days since activity has been detected…

Day 230865

14:32.68 Exterior Activity detected…

                Threat: minimal.

15:38.11 Breach Attempt detected…

                Threat: moderate – Door 22-1

15:38.12 Engaging Security Shard

15:39.67 Low Power…

15:42.74 Engaging Generator

15:43.26 Charging Reserve Batteries

15:54.62 Power Cameras

                Threat: Moderate – Maintenance/Repairs Needed

15: 55.63 Power Defense Bots

15:57.19 Determine perimeter – Defense Bots

15: 59.66 Set rotating patrol route – Defense Bots

16:05.98 Power Maintenance Bots

16:09.84 Full Inventory started - Maintenance Bot 1

16:12.55 Repairs started – Maintenance Bot 2

Day 230866

08:30.55 Repairs completed.

08:30.89 Maintenance Bot 2 assigned to inventory.

10:47.35 Reserve Batteries – Full Charge.

Day 230867

13:14.89 Inventory completed.

                Threat: Minimal – Undesignated inventory

1. Course Chart Zeta Prime to ???
2. Course Chart ??? to Moltano
3. ??????? ????lacement Buffer
4. Dataslab – Capt X????? ??u???

13:15:58 File Updated – Inventory

13:15:62 File Updated – Log