The Shadowstar Mandalay
02 Sep 2024Argon Shadowstar
We've likely all seen the details about Zorgon-Peterson's new ship by now. I have to admit I was surprised at just how similar it looks to a particular old Shadowstar ship. Of course, the original colonists just used what ships they brought with them, but after a few decades it was necessary to build new ships, and being an artistic culture with brilliant engineers, we designed unique ships that were perfectly adapted to our needs. These were the Starhawk fighter, the Sparrow Explorer, and the Condor transport. If you're recognizing a bird theme, you'll be right. Shadowstar ships were very much birdlike in their aesthetics. The image of the graceful Starhawk soaring through the skies of Koronis Colony in the Legend of the Blue Saber will never leave me. And rightly so, our ships were as majestic as they were deadly. Favoring efficiency over brute force, our ships were often smaller and lighter than those used back in the bubble, but capable of hitting well above their weight. Perhaps that's why I prefer flying smaller ships, though the only ship that really matches the old Shadowstar ships in capability for its size is the Cobra mk III. That comes as no surprise. It was the ship Argon Shadowstar, first of his name, brought with him from the bubble and used as his royal transport. One of the few bubble ships to have as much fame and respect as the great ships of our heroes. Even centuries later, it has become the weapon of choice in my campaign against the superpowers, capable of challenging newer ships, thanks to some much needed upgrades and modifications. After the fall, the Shadowstar designs were stolen by pirates and sold to bubble manufacturers. They tried for decades to understand the designs, but without the help of the talented Shadowstar shipwrights, the best they could come up with were the Osprey, Osprey X, Merlin, Lanner, and Lanner mk II, all thoroughly miserable ships with the exception of the Osprey X, which is the only one of the lot to approach the level of sophistication and capability that the Condor had. I will admit, the story of the Lanner is amusing, at least. According to one of the engineers who worked on it, the designer, Michael Lanner, was so frustrated by the design that he turned to narcotics as an escape. He apparently received the answer to his quandary during a drug-induced trance and the result was not only one abysmal ship, but two! I don't know where the idea that making something bigger would fix its fundamental flaws came from, but the sooner it goes away the better.
In any case, I find myself torn. On the one hand, I am admittedly curious about this ship and will be among the first to give it a try, but on the other, I am suspicious of its origins and the fact that something so close to the original design of the Sparrow is now in production. I contacted my archaeologists in Liu Bese, to see if they were aware of any other groups that might be in possession of artifacts. Turns out, they did encounter another group of archaeologists just a month ago. Also, interestingly, they've been doing quite well extracting artifacts and valuables from the ruins. I was led to believe that the civilization of my ancestors had been thoroughly plundered after the fall. When I did my initial investigation, I quickly found intact pyramidons and large quantities of gold and silver, which were among the Imperium's most abundant resources. I had figured I was just lucky, but as my archaeologists have worked, they've grown quite wealthy, in accordance with my instructions. Aside from keeping data and historically or culturally significant artifacts for my purposes, I told them to sell any general valuables they found to grow the operation and whatever was left over they could keep. The operation has grown quite large and they now have several teams in operation, but it appears the wealth of gold and silver entering the galactic market from this region has attracted the attention of other fortune seekers and may have inadvertantly led Zorgon-Peterson to obtain some key data or artifact that allowed them to replicate the Sparrow Explorer nearly perfectly. But, then again, it could all just be a coincidence. For now, I have instructed my archaeologists to approach any other teams operating in the area with offers to purchase artifacts they find, and keep a list of those who refuse. This should allow me to get a better idea of where this material is going, as well as who to pay a visit to later on.