Plot Overview
This is an overview of the essential elements in the plot for the game. For more details, see the session logs.
The first two episodes were set at a distant research station in orbit around moon 2 of planet 4 of the star BD+374537A, a white star about 250 LY from Earth, and around 25 LY (two weeks at 500c) from the nearest colony. The moon itself is inhospitable with 100 atm pressure and a runaway greenhouse effect keeping it at warm temperatures, with a liquid water surface.
The station is owned by 4D Enterprises, the company with a monopoly on FTL travel, and was engaged in unknown research. It is a small sphere with three empty arms for expansion, population 37. Contact with the station is only occasional.
At some point, FTL communications (via a slow relay station) with the station ceased. After 1.5-2 weeks, the Governor of the sector sent a small police cruiser to investigate. It did not return. Governor Caruthers then contacted Valkyrie Securities, who assigned the (PC) investigators.
The shutdown happened because an solo merchant had sold to the station an artifact which he stole. When viewed closely, this crystal ball created potentially-dangerous visions in the minds of those who viewed it. Moreover, a darkness-creature was released from the mind of the viewer, which would kill several people before expiring. The resulting madness as well as the creatures eventually killed off everyone on the station.
The artifact came from a secret colony planet which held a cult dating from early Christianity. This cult (the "Guardians of Light") kept dangerous supernatural artifacts in their crypts. It was from here that the merchant stole the crystal ball, which the cult referred to as the "Eye of Satan".
The Valkyrie team was again hired by Governor Caruthers, this time to track down anything related to the death of his son. After finding the cult planet, they called in government troops which brought it under jurisdiction. Records there eventually showed that the Eyes of Satan were originally found in the 2nd century in crypts in Rome.
The team was hired by Governor Caruthers again, this time for archeological study into the origin of the Eyes. As it turned out, the crypts of St. Antoine in Rome secretly connected to natural caverns beneath the city. There were mysterious animals there, related to bats. This was where the Eye of Satan was first found.
The crypts were guarded by secret members of the cult (the Guardians of Light) within the Catholic church. The cult forcibly inducted the team members into their ranks. However, their discovery was leaked to Governor Caruthers, who sent another team into the caverns which acquired a second Eye of Satan.
Further investigations eventually lead the team to be captured twice. First they were captured by 4D Enterprises, which was attempting to keep the secret of its FTL travel safe. Second they were captured by Governor Caruthers who was collected illicit means to oppose 4D.
The secret eventually revealed was that 4D Enterprises was part of an enormous cartel that controlled the high-tech industry. The secret of their FTL drives were aliens that lived in the system of Proxima Centauri. 4D traded humans for demon-like creatures whose minds could enable FTL travel.
To cover up this and other secrets, the cartel ensured that all scanners and even spaceship helmets had control circuits that editted out any objects that related to the conspiracy.
As visions from the Eye of Satan hinted at, the origin of the conspiracy itself was from even further back in time.
The leaders of the high-tech cartel were actually pieces of a single ooze-like creature which inhabited specially-designed shells that appeared human. This creature was created millions of years ago as a menial laborer by intelligent dinosaurs. When Earth was threatened by cometary impact, the intelligent dinosaurs left via 4-dimensional visualization. A piece of the creature remained behind, unable to duplicate the visualization and rejoin its hive.
The creature guided humanity's development as a means to create the 4-dimensional link that could allow it to rejoin its hive.