The Shrine

CLASS: Unknown

GRAVITY: Unknown

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Unknown

CREW: Unknown

A structure older then the time before man realized that the stars could be grasped rather than worshiped, this long abandoned construct now serves as the home of those who felt compelled, or drawn, from all across Sirius to seek it. While portions of the station has been amended with human comforts vast swaths of the building remain darkened and impenetrable, locked behind force shields of a technology that remains a mystery.

Despite its adapted nature there is something alien held within the lacing halls and domed Enclaves, something which twists at the senses yet draws one ever closer. The station emits a strange signal pattern, which so far has evaded decryption.

## News

For some time, it had been alleged that Insurgent and Xeno-backed cells had been stirring trouble on Erie, inciting violence in the population and seeking to turn the planet into a second Veracruz. Never, however, had such open acts of terror been visited upon the governing Libertonian forces.
The response was quick and decisive. In coordination with the LSF, Vice Admiral Hamish aboard the Battleship Alma lead a Liberty Navy task force directly into the system in Operation Pesticide, escorted primarily by Siege Cruisers, Gunboats and fightercraft, with many of the Navy's capital warships tied in the Vespucci campaign or ever watchful at Liberty's borders. They were met by Zoner Q-ships based from Bethlehem, with many coming from as far as Galileo or even the Sigmas, accompanied by a motley assortment of freelancers and other anarchist elements. Leading the Zoner line was a Aquilon-class carrier, the Pinnacle.
While the Pinnacle came under heavy bombardment from the Alma and her task force, supplies quickly gathered onto Zoner transports from Erie attempted to run the Navy blockade. While some transports were lost to Navy bombers, others yet escaped to parts as of yet unknown. This 'victory', however, came at a heavy price. The Pinnacle was lost with most of her hands still on board and the rest captured, while the Liberty Marines landed virtually unopposed, quickly securing population centers for both the safety of Libertonian assets and the civilians on Erie itself. The Alma is settled now into the low orbit of Erie, a constant reminder to those below that they are under the protection of the Liberty Navy. A comfort to some, a dire warning to many more.

## Rumors

* A new face around? That is surprising, we don't see many... newcomers. Are you surprised? Don't be. Sit down and have a drink.�Would that be the search for freedom that brought you here? Regardless, I've been on the search for it for my whole life from the early ages. Born as a slave I could not but rebel against the oppression, to fight to have my own life and the freedom. I've been to many places around Sirius. From houses to distant worlds where only zoners would dare to live on their own. Despite many claiming they have freedom and could make you free. It's all lies. Like an annoying advertisement flashing through your eyes, burning down your mind. I've learned one thing over the years: freedom is not a commodity, not a medal. You can't buy it, you can't earn it, you can't force it even. You are promised one but still you are a slave, it's only a matter of how you word it, the meaning remains the same. Be it physical chains on your arms or depts you are pulled into, or duty regulations forcing the specific mindset upon you. Think forced upon stereotypes and you are but a prisoner of the narrow minds, a slave again thinking the way the power that be have decided for you. So where would one find it among the stars and places beyond but not in solitude?

* You must still be amazed by what you have seen outside. All I can tell you is that there are other places like this one, nobody knows where they are nor have means to reach them. I studied this place for years, there must be systems like this one, each having a specific purpose, but it tells nothing of their location or how to find gates that presumably will lead into them. I do have a theory though they are locked out for now, still lying dormant unaware of what is happening around, time may trigger them, but when I do not know, may in a few ages, may be thousands or even millions of years will have to pass. If you go looking around for longer you'll find large crystals with strange mechanisms inside, the radiation was too high for me to stay around with my ship, but I suppose those are cryogenic devices. This may be the place they, the Nomads, have originated from. But if my theory proves right this is only one of several out there. Begs for question: how many are there actually?

* I believe this station could be a conduit, a communicaton node perhaps. On a far side of this field there are some kind of cryogenic structures embbed the into asteroid formations. By the looks of it many other asteroids chunks here held such inside but only a few intact are left now. If you want my theory I'd say the Nomads once were held inside these cells, but it appears something or someone has awakened them and all we got here are empty shells, but this structure is intact and I believe it holds the answer. Large portions of it are still blocked, perhaps somewhere deeper archives could be found, if we could find and decypher the records we might be able to reconstruct the events and understand what they are. A few weeks ago Romano has brought me components from those cryogenic cells he was able to salvage from. Surpringly though it seems they weren't exactly meant to merely hold the Nomads indefinetely but rather were designed to modify their biological structure, a program perhaps left by Daam K'Vosh. Either way these evolutionary capsules were opened prematurely long time ago and I can only wonder what the Nomads were designed to be instead. Unfortunately anything I've got so far doesn't tell me what they were transforming into, these technologies are far beyond our level. Peter has some intersting theories too, I would ask him as well.

* Do you still think to fight them? Know this, you stand at very doorstep into their homeworlds, the very heart their of existence. What you have seen here is just a beginning. Beyond this place there is much more you cannot possibly imagine. If the thoughts to keep up the fight still linger your mind I would adivse you to turn away and flee while you still can. We cherish hospitality here but ask the same in return. Embrace your destiny, the very one that has led you to this place, stay and learn to become a part of ours and their union. Make no mistake, a chance can be offered once in a lifetime.

* Recognise the uniform then? Yeah that's right, look around here, we all come from somewhere. I'm a Corsair, well; I guess I was a Corsair as much as anyone can change the nature of who and what they are. I found this place some time ago, but I guess just like you I didn't know what I was looking for exactly. I just followed my senses and eventually found it, and to my suprise the people here you see. I flew missions out of Gamma and Cadiz, was posted to Yaren for a while, I even fought against the Nomads once or twice; my whole life was like that of any other Corsair: do your duty, and seek honour and glory for yourself and your people. Same thing everyone heard thousand times. But it never sat right with me, I always felt like there had to be something else, it just all seemed... a waste. Repeating in an endless cycle, locked in a single slid view point. I'd spent all my life taking things from other people, their ships, their money, husbands, and wives. Daughters, sons... And then what? ...and then one day I started asking questions, instead of shooting first I asked who they were; and they told me, more than that, they showed me. To my surprise I saw not only that but most importantly the reflection of myself and where do I stand in this life. My whole life on the palm, my past, my present and the possible future had I not stopped for a moment to think. I shuddered. Never the truth was so... real. No lies, no fancy, just pure truth to realize what I was and what I might have been. Spent my whole life taking things and I discovered that is all the whole human race is doing: it's taking from each other, killing, stealing, lying and stealing more. And then we stole this place too, this part of space - my friend, this is someone else's home. But none of that happens here, none of that happens with them, they don't kill each other, and they don't steal from their own kind. Everything they do is for the benefit of their kind, for each one individually and everyone as a whole. I work for something else now too, something bigger than myself and something most Corsairs could never understand. If you have come this far you were looking for that something too - and they can show you, if you are willing to listen and ready to accept.

* Do you have doubts, wanderer? I had more than doubts. See this battered uniform, does it look familiar to you? It is standard uniform for the Order, my fellow human friend, the one I once proudly wore into the battle to fight for what I told and thought was right. See those shiny medals? Think they are about honor and valor as it is engraved on them? I thought so too and wore them with dignity. But no, they are not, and now it is only a memory of those times when my mind was clouded to the reason and I was reluctant to think past beyond the prejudice, to make a step and pass beyond the threshold of misunderstanding, that seemingly vast abyss of hatred between us and them. I made it, stepped into the cold void with arms open wide only to find there is another world likes of which we have never seen nor we able to comprehend. And then have no doubts anymore. For studying the very nature of my enemies, for attempting to understand them, divulging into forbidden arts my fellow wingmates mockingly called me the Fallen angel. But one has to fall into emptiness, have the true courage hit the depth of the depthless well of unknown only to rise high above all that divides us for so long. I sought the knowledge and found it nowhere else but here, the revelation you cannot possibly believe in at first. But stay here, my friend, you will learn in time too. Pieces of puzzle will match, forming a perfect picture, it will come on your own for it is only your mind capable of realizing the whole. I am ready for the final step. Perhaps, we will meet again.

* Have you seen the Dream too? I saw this place in my dreams when I was still doing research at Cambridge. A collegue of mine has brought me an artifact that was supposedly still working as evidenced by EMX scanning. Yet that one, just like the others, remained dead as a stone to any attempts to analyze it further. All the years of study and still nowhere close to understanding of what we are dealing with. And then suddely a flash. A dream it was. I've spent many years searching and now I have finally found this place. And my peace among the other seekers you see here too. All of us have different stories to tell, but we share one vision, a vision of the better future for us all, for humanity and the benefactors who built this place to lead us towards the farther stars beyond this cradle leaving our prejudice and hatred behind. Tell me, wanderer, can you imagine a corsair and an outcast in one place talking to each other peacefully? Not anywhere else but here. I now think that we all came here guided by those whom some call them the Nomads. Alexa, the outcast, call them the spirits or something like that. They bear many names in different cultures throughout Sirius, but none of those names reflect their true nature. Talk to others here, they might share a bit of their insight too. Some are still uncertain of making the next step towards their destiny, but time is irrelevant here for we all will become a part of the greater form of life, a next step of the evolution of us, humans, as specie.

* My ancestors had the long standing traditions running for generations, have always took them rather literally. To them the spirits were more of a symbol, a sign of greater will they can aspire to become as well. It is ironic that none of them had any contact with these beings nor did they actually were looking for. Myths that many kept as such, and I wondered why wouldn't anyone want to understand what is truly out there. It appears my straight-forward approach has attracted a dumbfounded reaction and sometimes even outright negative replies telling me to go no further on the subject. My ancestors, they also had another quality running as well: they were incredibly stubborn, and so was I too. At the end I was cast out, exiled from the society for trying to solve this mystery on my own, against the will of my parents and almost everyone I knew of. I remember them saying I would only find death shall I continue this path, perhaps now they do believe I am dead. But I am more alive than any before.

* Oh yes, we were able to figure out how to get very essential basics out of this place but we have only figured so little. I wish I had come here sooner. This whole station used to be fully automated I believe, and those small oddly shaped artifacts you've seen lying around apparently were various tools. They don't work anymore though and I can't figure out exactly why. I do have a theory though, if my assumptions are correct then perhaps a telepathic signal would awaken them. These devices are simply shut off but I am positive they can work if activated again. But none of us here are capable of anything like that. This station, you see, it isn't dead, rather left in dormant state, either ignoring our presence or it doesn't consider us a threat so far. I might sound crazy but it's alive too in a certain sense, but nothing like programmed artificial intelligence you might think of, this one is actually a complex living organism largely based on crystalline formations, a non-carbon life form. I can only hope we did not disturb it much, but I am eager to find out how we could communicate to it. As you can see this whole place presents immeasurable scientific significance. But I am afraid others would misuse it or proceed without caution, instead of researching it they'd pillage this whole place apart to find something of value. It's a delicate matter and while at it we'll keep low profile.

* This place is none like the other. Before I came here not in a dream I would possibly imagine to see an outcast and a corsair having a friendly talk. It is fascinating how Alexa and Romano are actually had come to this despite everything I have ever known of the famous Blood feud between the two nations that has divided the edge worlds forever. And I have seen a lot of bloodshed there, enough to once ask myself: "Is this I am fighting for?". It haunted me for years on. Despite all the heroism I have witnessed in my days of duty it always struck me how eager are we to hurt each other. One day on a reconnaissance mission I went off the planned course, eventually HQ considered me MIA and for weeks I have traveled out there all alone, watching my enemy from afar. The first thing I have noticed that not a single one of them have ever opened a fire on their own. I have watched the battles from the distance, each time I've seen little more details I could not have noticed in a fight. How they are helping each other, how reasonably they approach to various combat situations. Sometimes I even think they knew I was there but haven't paid attention to. Finally I have amassed volumes of data from those encounters. And then I sat down analyzing it, meritiously, piece by piece, trying to understand how they think, and for every conclusion I had there I have caught myself unintentionally comparing them to ourselves as a whole. It is not any belief that has led me here but the understanding of what they are and I realized this is what I truly want to learn. Now I have the determination, the one I lost long time ago, wandering from one place to another. Alexa is helping me with the lab when she is not mediating, her excellent knowledge in chemistry is often coming helpful. The most caring person I've seen.

* I remember when I first set foot in this place, searching for the spirits which tend to our dead, not for my own sake, but for that of my father. When I was a little girl my father told me of the great spirits soaring in the skies above Malta, how they cared for our dead and tended their every need in the afterlife. I could not help but to feel reluctant at the idea that my father should float in the cold void. I was skeptical of the nature or even existence of those spirits. I put my doubt into centuries old tradition much to disgrace among my family. Yet I saw this place were we stand now in my dreams the night my father died, this place where he would be safe I thought. I brought him here and entombed him. Don't ask how I found this place. He is safe here, by my side, and here I shall remain until I too pass into the realm of the spirits. In doing what I did I broke the traditions of my family, and became an outcast among outcasts. I can never return to my home, and I can never face my family again. But if I was presented with this situation once more, knowing full well what the end result would be, I would gladly suffer this torment again. Through it I have archived more than I could have imagined, with all my doubts now gone, vanished as my mind became clear open to see the whole picture.

* See, once a long time ago I was a low-life criminal, attacking medical shipments in Liberty, doing slavery too, drugs and whatnot. Everyone had to make their own for the living with means available, just like you do. But tell me, did you trust anyone before this moment? I did, I had a belief that we can be better than what society makes us, but each time I put my trust into people I cared about... I was betrayed. I learned to sense lies, every little one out there. Everyone lies. Governments lie, people spreading it whever they go, lying to each other and carrying over again and again, your friends lie too. Has the honesty became a commodity so rare? Has the truth became a contraband in this world so that you have to give up and trade lies and deceit instead? And so I trust myself only. I saw the vision like the others here, it is the only belief I have left and the only one I can trust.

*NOTE: Page generated on the 28/10/2023 at 17:59:46 UTC*