The stories told by your parents of the wonders of the Third Imperium contrast to the reality of the old military base you have lived on all your lives. A leftover relic of a past age, it was once a waypoint for the IISS (Imperial Interstellar Scout Service) and a training and equipment depot for the Imperial Navy, Marines and Army. A small commercial repair depot was even installed during the period your parents called the “Hard Times”. It is said that a secret Imperial Laboratory also resides somewhere on the small moon, but no one seems to want to talk about it.
The year is 36TNE (The New Era), or 1196 by the old Imperial Calendar. Your group is made up of the sons and daughters of the staff and officers that manned the IISS Depot Thoth on the 3rd moon circling the Gas Giant Pyt-4. The system use to be home to a lush, technologically advanced planet of millions, Pyt-2, but not since the “incident” has anyone heard from them.
The “incident” as it has been called for the last 30 or so years, seems to have been empire-wide. Some sort of breakdown in technology turned the once helpful tech of the empire against its users. Before FTL communication ended, stories leaked through about computers turning off space station environmental controls, or warships firing on each other against the commands of the human passengers. It seemed the technological triumphs of the Third Imperium turned on their users…with deadly results.
Your family has lived on Pyt-4iii (Thoth) for all your life. Your parents use to belong to that great interstellar empire that you have read so much about, but no longer. Whatever they did in the “old” days is now moot…survival is all that matters. Pooling their skills, and with a huge amount of supplies located in the depot’s warehouses, the staff and officers of Moon Base Thoth were able to live and, to a very small extent, thrive. Society continued and people were taught what they needed to know to help live on the isolated and barren moon. Hydroponic farms were developed, environmental systems were maintained to supply the life giving air and water needed for the colony to survive.
As the years march on, the technology that keeps the moon base running has begun to breakdown. At first, with all the supplies in the depot’s storage areas, repairs were routine, but now as common items become more and more scares, certain functions within the base have ceased to be. Two ship’s boats sit in a hanger, parts cannibalized to keep systems within the base running. Other ships were taken in the early days of “The Incident”, never to be seen again.
Recently the heating exchanges that are used to moderate the temperature within the base have started to breakdown. Without replacements, the base will begin to cycle between periods of searing heat and icy coldness. The plant manager gives the current repairs only a few months before they too breakdown. You have been called into the office of the Base Commandant.
Daniel Stewart
