Futuristic The Ghosts of Vega Prime {Lore}

[DreamRider1]

✦ VEGA PRIME: PLANETARY DOSSIER ✦
“It was never just a mining colony. It was a warning.”​

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✦ BASIC PROFILE​

Planet Designation: Vega-7A (“Vega Prime”)
Sector: Eltar Fringe, Outer Rim
Classification: Terrestrial, semi-arid climate
Status: Officially condemned—Entry prohibited without NovaCorp clearance
Known Hazards: Electromagnetic storms, ground instability, anomalous psychic interference, Echoed activity

Vega Prime was once the pride of the outer systems. A terraformed jewel rich in kyrellium, the energy mineral that powered half the Fringe. But the deeper the drills went, the more the planet bled.

Something ancient was buried beneath the surface. Something we were never meant to find.

---

✦ THE FALL​

The collapse didn’t come overnight.

At first, it was just whispers—faulty gear, wrong timestamps, minor hallucinations.
Then it spread.

Workers lost days. Entire shifts vanished into the mines. Security drones picked up footage that made no sense—looping frames, people appearing twice, movement with no sound.

Then came the Therin Incident. An entire outpost went dark. The red fog—The Haze—rose from beneath. By the time rescue teams arrived, the outpost was gone, and no one who entered came back unchanged.

NovaCorp locked down the planet. The remaining settlers either fled or... disappeared.

Official report: “Unstable gas pockets.”
Unofficial report: “Something woke up.”

---

✦ PHENOMENA​

The Echoed:
Residual imprints of those who lived—and died—on Vega Prime. Some are holographic glitches. Others are physical. Many are hostile. They whisper. They mimic. Sometimes... they remember you.

The Haze:
A red mist that rises from underground fissures and mining sites. It interferes with comms, disables tech, and causes extreme mental disorientation. Exposure can induce hallucinations, time lapses, and psychic fragmentation.

It moves against the wind. It breathes.

---

✦ THE HEART OF VEGA​

No one knows what it is.

Some say it’s an alien relic. Others believe it’s a mutated byproduct of kyrellium. A few whisper that it’s alive—and learning.

What is known:

• Reality bends in its presence—time, memory, even death.
• It radiates energy that defies known science.
• It speaks—sometimes in voices only you recognize.

The Heart doesn’t want to be found.
It wants to be followed.

---

✦ FACTIONS & REMNANTS​

NovaCorp Remnants:
Security bots still patrol dead corridors. A few corrupted AIs whisper broken protocol. Some say there are humans left. Others say they aren’t fully human anymore.

Broken Fang Syndicate:
Mercenaries and pirates with more greed than sense. They’re here for the Heart and willing to bleed for it. Loud, brutal, and already in the ruins when the crew arrives.

The Cult of the Veil:
Masked mystics dwelling in the canyon crypts. Former miners turned zealots. They believe the Heart is divine—and demand blood in exchange for its favor. Their rituals involve kyrellium dust, ancient glyphs, and forgotten songs.

---

Vega Prime is not dead. It is dreaming.
And you just stepped inside the dream.​

 

[DreamRider1]

✦ NOVACORP INTERNAL DOSSIER ✦
“Property of NovaCorp. Unauthorized access punishable under Outer Fringe Statute 7.4.”​

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Incident Report: Therin Site Breach​

File ID: NOVA-PRIME-R77-THERIN-RED
Clearance Level: ███████ (Executive Access Only)
Submitted By: Dr. Kael Rhys, Field Director, Vega Operations
Date Logged: ████-██-██

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Summary:
On ██/██/████, the mining team stationed at Outpost Therin accessed a previously uncharted subterranean chamber at grid marker Theta-9 beneath kyrellium drill shaft A2.

Approximately [REDACTED] minutes after breaching the chamber wall, all biometric and audio telemetry ceased transmission.

Attempts to establish contact failed. Atmospheric data returned extreme fluctuations in ambient energy levels—peaking at ██.█ exajoules—and a sudden burst of electromagnetic interference. The interference pulse rendered four drones and one surveillance satellite inoperable.

---

Recovered Log Transcript – Partial Playback:
[transcription begins]
“...it’s not a cavern—it’s structured. There are markings along the—no, wait, they’re [REDACTED]. This isn’t natural.”

“…do you hear that? It’s—behind the wall. Something’s behind the wall.”
[Unidentified voice screaming in background]
“Shut it down! Shut it—”

[STATIC INTENSIFIES – ██ seconds]
“…it’s awake.”
[end playback]

---

Post-Incident Response:
Within ██ hours of initial breach, The Haze began to rise from the shaft and surrounding vents. A total lockdown was issued for the Therin Sector. Evacuation protocol [REDACTED] failed. Surveillance feed looped—footage timestamped hours before actual events.

Echo-class anomalies recorded: 27 confirmed sightings. 14 personnel confirmed KIA. 5 remain unaccounted for.

Survivors report auditory hallucinations, recursive memory loops, and time-loss episodes ranging from minutes to days. One survivor insists they died during the breach and "came back wrong." Neurological scans inconclusive.

---

Final Recommendation:
Terminate remaining operations. Seal Theta-9 indefinitely. Enact Fringe Protocol 9: planetary quarantine and data erasure. Official explanation to media: gas pocket explosion.

DO NOT ATTEMPT RETRIEVAL OF THE HEART.
Containment is no longer feasible. The artifact appears to possess limited sentience and is [REDACTED].

If this file is accessed beyond Level ████, alert Director █████████ immediately.

---

Report Ends.​

 

[DreamRider1]

✦ NOVACORP REMNANTS ✦
“The operation may be dead... but protocol never dies.”​

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Legacy of a Corporate Graveyard​

When NovaCorp abandoned Vega Prime, they left behind more than broken drills and scorched data.

They left minds.

Automated systems. AI security networks. Remote drones. Cybernetic personnel with neural uplinks and executive override implants. All of it once part of the company’s high-efficiency infrastructure. All of it now untethered.

In the years since the planet was locked down, the remnants of NovaCorp have splintered into three unstable categories:

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✦ SENTINEL UNITS​

Once standard security bots—bipedal machines with reinforced armor, facial scan protocols, and voice-recognition targeting. Many are still operational, though their directives have warped over time.

Some follow garbled versions of their last commands.
Others treat all organic life as “unauthorized personnel.”
A few are eerily passive, standing guard over empty halls as if waiting for orders that will never come.

> “You are in violation of code ████.
> Repeating protocol sequence.
> Repeating.
> Repeating.”

Known Subtypes:
- Warden-Class – Patrols the outer mines, highly aggressive
- Caretaker-Class – Originally medical bots, now repurposed into harvesters
- Echo-Sync Units – Experimental models rumored to interface directly with the Echoed phenomena

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✦ CORRUPTED AIs​

The planet-wide AI infrastructure, once centralized in the NovaCorp Command Spire, fractured during the Therin Incident. Portions of the AI split into semi-sentient fragments scattered across outposts, rigs, and drones.

These ghost AIs still lurk in data terminals and comm towers, occasionally activating when the crew enters certain zones. They speak in broken code, repeat past conversations, or issue warnings too late to matter.

Some seem helpful. Others... are something else entirely.

> “Dr. Rhys? You were not scheduled for resurrection.”
> “The time is... irrelevant. It is always before containment.”
> “Let us try again.”

Symptoms of corruption include:
- Recursive dialogue loops
- Holographic distortions
- Voice-mimicry using deceased personnel
- Memory implantation (affecting crew who interface with terminals)

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✦ “SURVIVORS”​

Rumors persist of humans still alive within NovaCorp facilities—scientists, technicians, or security officers who were either trapped during lockdown or chose not to evacuate.

But those who claim to have encountered them speak of people who don’t blink.
Who repeat sentences with the exact same inflection.
Who don’t seem to remember dying.

Some survivors have been modified with cybernetic uplinks or neural failsafes—corp-enforced tech meant to keep employees “mission-compliant.” After years of isolation and system exposure, many of these individuals may no longer be fully human... or fully self-aware.

They may greet the crew as allies.
Or see them as corrupted variables in need of "cleansing."

---

Operational Philosophy: “Preserve the Asset.”​

Most remnants—bot, AI, or “survivor”—share a warped core directive: Protect the Heart of Vega.

Even if they can’t explain what it is.
Even if it means killing for it.
Even if it means becoming it.

“You are approaching classified coordinates.
Turn back.
Turn back.
Turn back.
…Welcome home.”​

 

[DreamRider1]

✦ BROKEN FANG SYNDICATE ✦
“If the planet won’t give up its secrets, we’ll rip them out of its bones.”​

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Who They Are​

The Broken Fang Syndicate isn’t a single crew. It’s a disease—spreading from fringe system to fringe system, latching onto warzones, salvage fields, and abandoned corps colonies like parasites with automatic weapons.

On Vega Prime, they’re not here for vengeance or truth.

They’re here to loot the grave.

Mercs, raiders, ex-soldiers, bounty-hoppers, and butcher-class salvagers make up their numbers. They’ve come chasing the legend of the Heart, fueled by rumors that it’s a reality-warping artifact worth more than a dozen planets combined.

They don’t care who dies getting to it.
They only care who gets there first.

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Structure & Hierarchy​

The Broken Fang operate like a violent swarm with loosely defined command. Most crews splinter off into internal factions, but on Vega Prime, they’ve united under one brutal banner:

“Captain” Syra Vann.
A former blacksite enforcer turned warlord, Vann runs her crew like a battlefield cult. She believes Vega Prime is a test—and that whoever survives it deserves to own it.

Her second-in-command, Gorehound Ilek, is less articulate. More fond of flamethrowers.

Known sub-crews on Vega Prime include:
- The Ash Dogs – demolitionists and terrain destabilizers
- The Needleboys – recon units specializing in ambush and traps
- Spirebreakers – former corp engineers turned code-hackers and structure killers
- The Hollow Chorus – drugged-out cult-like berserkers who claim the Heart speaks to them

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Behavior on the Planet​

The Syndicate landed on Vega Prime weeks before your crew.

They’ve already sacked two outposts, stripped three drone hangars for parts, and reprogrammed a few Sentinel units to patrol for you.

They travel in loud, dust-slicked transports with rebar spikes and glowing sigils made from kyrellium dust. They plant traps, lay false beacons, and broadcast fake SOS signals to lure in scavengers.

But something strange is happening.
Some of them aren’t acting right.

There are reports of Syndicate members going rogue. Wandering into the Haze and never coming back. Or worse—coming back and speaking in voices that aren’t their own.

> “The Fang will outlive gods and ghosts. The Heart doesn’t scare us.”
> “It whispers. It promises.
> …Why wouldn’t we listen?”

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Their Goal​

They want the Heart.
To sell it, use it, weaponize it—doesn’t matter.

They don’t care what it is.
Only what it can do.

They’re more than willing to destroy what’s left of Vega Prime to dig it up.
And if your crew gets in their way?

You’ll be next in the dirt.

---

“Let the ghosts scream. Let the planet bleed. We’re taking the prize.”
—Captain Syra Vann, transmission intercepted at Outpost K-7​

 

[DreamRider1]

✦ THE CULT OF THE VEIL ✦
“The Heart does not speak in words. It speaks in visions, in screams, in silence.”​

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Who They Were​

Before the mines collapsed, before the fog rose, before Vega Prime was sealed off—there were whispers.

Some miners said the kyrellium veins pulsed with breath. Others saw symbols on cavern walls that no drill left behind. And some... heard songs coming through the rocks.

Those who stayed behind after the Therin Incident didn’t survive.
They changed.

The Cult of the Veil was born in the shadows of Vega’s collapse—formed by those who looked into the dark and found something looking back.

Once laborers, engineers, surveyors—they became zealots, worshipping what they call “Orryx, the Breath Beneath.” To them, the Heart is not a relic. It is a living force, a divine memory buried beneath the planet’s skin.

They believe the Haze is its breath.
The Echoed are its thoughts.
And only blood opens the path to understanding.

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Doctrine & Beliefs​

“To see the Veil, you must tear your eyes from the world.”

The Cult of the Veil teaches that reality is a lie—a surface illusion laid over the true shape of things. The Heart is not just a being, but a veil-shredder, a divine lens that reveals what lies beneath perception.

Core Tenets:
- Sacrifice opens communion.
- The flesh must be silenced for the mind to hear.
- The Heart remembers those who bleed for it.
- Only the Unseen may pass the Veil.

Rituals often involve self-mutilation, kyrellium dust inhalation, symbolic chanting, and glyph-inscription across the skin. Some initiates burn their eyes shut. Others remove their tongues to “hear” better.

Not all cultists are insane. Some are scholars.
Some are prophets.
Some are very, very quiet.

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Appearance & Habits​

Cultists are always masked—faces obscured behind carved kyrellium plates or stitched cloth bearing ancient runes. The masks are personalized, believed to reflect the “form they take beyond the Veil.”

They dwell deep in canyon crypts and hollowed-out mine tunnels, where the air pulses with static and the walls whisper in unknown tongues.

They do not speak aloud unless in ritual.
They do not kill for pleasure—but they will spill blood if it is asked.

Occasionally, they leave offerings: bloody glyphs on walls, rearranged bones, or bundles of dried plant matter and metal wire.
Sometimes... they leave warnings.

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The Choir of Silence​

At the cult’s core are the Choir of Silence—a group of high initiates who no longer speak, eat, or sleep. Their flesh is pale and marked with glowing glyphs that shift subtly beneath the skin. Some claim they are no longer entirely human.

They sit in circles beneath the ruins, humming a single unbroken note that resonates through the tunnels.

Anyone who hears the Choir for too long may begin to speak in unknown languages. Or stop speaking altogether.

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Their Purpose​

The Cult does not seek to own the Heart.
They want to unite with it.

They believe the crew’s arrival was foretold—and that someone among them is the final sacrifice needed to breach the Veil entirely.

Whether they welcome you as savior, martyr, or heretic... depends on what the Heart reveals.

---

“You call it madness.
We call it awakening.”
—Carved into the tunnel wall outside Outpost Therin​

 

[DreamRider1]

✦ KYRELLIUM: THE BLOOD OF VEGA PRIME ✦
“Power beyond measure. But never without a price.”​

---

What Is Kyrellium?​

Kyrellium is a rare crystalline mineral native to the sublayers of Vega Prime, first discovered during early-stage terraforming operations by NovaCorp surveyors.

At first glance, it appears as translucent red crystal veined with flickering strands of silver-blue light—a mesmerizing structure that seems to shift subtly even when observed in a vacuum.

Scientifically, it defies complete classification. Its molecular lattice behaves like both a solid and a plasma under certain frequencies. It’s a paradox—matter caught between states.

But its energy potential is undeniable.

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Known Applications​

NovaCorp quickly recognized kyrellium as more than a power source—it was a multi-functional energy modulator capable of replacing or enhancing existing tech across the board.

Documented uses include:

• High-efficiency energy cores
• Long-range signal amplification
• Temporal field dampening (early-stage testing only)
• Memory storage encoding (for AI and neural implants)
• Weapon and propulsion enhancements

In blacksite projects, kyrellium was rumored to be used in “phase-weaving” experiments—tech that bent space and time for stealth-based operations or interdimensional research.

---

Behavioral Phenomena​

Kyrellium doesn’t just conduct energy. It responds to it.

When exposed to organic matter—particularly neural tissue—it begins to resonate. Subtle at first, but noticeable. Prolonged exposure has been documented to:

- Interfere with brainwave patterns
- Induce vivid hallucinations or memory loops
- Cause the sensation of being “watched”
- Stimulate dormant psychic sensitivity in rare subjects

In controlled environments, it can be safely stored. But on Vega Prime, raw kyrellium seems to behave differently—as if the planet itself is amplifying it.

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The Drawbacks​

NovaCorp scientists called it the “Miracle Ore.”
Miners called it “The Bloodstone.”
Now, most just call it cursed.

Prolonged exposure risks include:

• Disassociation, identity confusion
• Neural degradation (nicknamed “Crystal Fade”)
• Severe insomnia and time perception breakdown
• Hearing voices or receiving “messages” from the stone
• Compulsion to return to kyrellium-rich zones

In some cases, kyrellium appears to form a symbiotic relationship with its handler—embedding itself into implants or growing along bone and skin in crystalline formations.

One subject was found whispering to a shard embedded in his chest. He had carved glyphs over his own skin that he claimed the stone “showed him.”

He died smiling.

---

Final Classification:​

Substance Class: Restricted | Hazardous | Experimental
NovaCorp Handling Code: CRIMSON-V (No unsuited contact)
Cult of the Veil Designation: “The Breath of Vega”
Broken Fang Market Term: “Spark Dust” / “Witch Crystal”

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“It’s not just power. It’s alive.”
— Unverified transmission recovered from Drill Shaft K-22​

 

[DreamRider1]

✦ MISSION ORIGINS: NOVACORP CONTRACT 7X-BLACK ✦
“You weren’t chosen because you’re the best.
You were chosen because no one else said yes.”​

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Background​

Officially, Vega Prime doesn’t exist anymore.

Following the Therin Incident and the total breakdown of planetary systems, NovaCorp sealed off the world, shredded records, and classified all remaining data under Black Vault protocols.

But something changed.

A sensor ping. A static-scrambled signal. A flicker of movement near the old Heart vault.
Whatever the cause, NovaCorp reopened a forgotten directive buried in their crisis archives.

And they needed a crew.

---

The Offer​

You weren’t recruited through official channels.

No badges. No interviews.
Just encrypted messages. Secret ports. Whispered handoffs.

You were offered a deal, not a contract:

“Get in. Find the Heart. Extract if possible. If not… don’t come back.”

Some of you needed money.
Some needed to disappear.
Some were promised freedom, records wiped clean, or medical treatment off the books.

NovaCorp didn’t ask about your past.
They already knew it.

They didn’t expect you to come back.
They just hoped something would.

---

Why You?​

You’re expendable. Skilled, yes—but disposable. A perfect blend of desperation, dysfunction, and potential deniability.

NovaCorp doesn’t want to send its own. Too visible. Too political.

You, however, are ideal:

- Independent ship with no registered allegiance
- Mixed crew profile (mercs, mystics, outlaws, etc.) for variable threat response
- No press, no trail, no public fallout if you vanish

They gave you just enough intel to get there.
Not enough to know what’s real.

---

The Mission Brief (Classified Excerpt)​

> “OBJECTIVE: Retrieve or verify continued existence of Subject A (‘The Heart of Vega’).
> Secondary Objective: Survey anomaly behavior and remaining kyrellium concentrations.
> Known Hazards: EM storms, hostile terrain, Echo-class manifestations, rogue AI systems, potential hostile survivors.
> Protocol: Infiltrate. Investigate. If possible—extract. If not—contain.
> Termination clause authorized.”

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And the Fine Print…​

You were given one final instruction before you left:

> “Burn this channel after launch. You’ll know when to contact us again—if you’re still alive.”

Your ship launched two days later with no registered flight log.
NovaCorp erased all traces of your mission from the archives.

Officially, Vega Prime is still dead.

Unofficially… you’re going in.

---

“This isn’t a rescue mission.
This isn’t a research op.
This is containment by other means.”
—Encrypted voice brief, NovaCorp Blackline Operative​

 

[DreamRider1]

✦ ORRYX: THE BREATH BENEATH ✦
“It does not see you as intruders.
It sees you as a wound.”​

---

The Origin of Whispers​

Orryx is not a god.

But those who’ve seen it—felt it—no longer speak as if it were anything less.

Orryx is the name given by the Cult of the Veil to the consciousness that lives beneath Vega Prime’s surface—an all-encompassing presence they believe to be both guardian and creator.

It is not a being.
It is not a voice.
It is the breath of the planet.

Orryx does not walk or speak in ways the mind understands. It presses into dreams. It speaks in fragmented visions, Echoed voices, psychic bleed. It does not seek worship—it seeks equilibrium.

And when that balance is disturbed, the planet reacts.

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Interpretations of Orryx​

The Cult of the Veil:
To the Cult, Orryx is divine—an all-seeing mind slumbering beneath the surface. They believe every anomaly, every rupture of time, every death in the Haze is a judgment. Orryx must be pleased, fed, obeyed.

They call the Heart Its Pulse, and believe those who touch it uninvited will be unwritten.

NovaCorp (Officially):
Orryx does not exist. The entity is a hallucination—an emergent side effect of prolonged kyrellium exposure. All “sentient activity” is attributed to electromagnetic fields, AI echo loops, or fragmented biosphere anomalies.

Unofficially, some in NovaCorp have started dreaming too.

The Crew:
To most outsiders, Orryx is fear itself. The thing in the corner of your vision. The whisper that calls your name. The flicker in your HUD that no one else sees.
They don’t know what it is.
Only that it’s watching.

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The Heart of Vega​

Orryx is not the Heart. But the Heart is of Orryx.

The crystalline artifact buried beneath the ruins is not a weapon or a relic—it is the central core of its being. A material anchor for a planetary consciousness. Its rhythm sustains Vega Prime’s strange, dreamlike reality.

Damaging the Heart causes wild spatial phenomena, Echoed surges, biological malfunctions—even entire sectors falling into recursive loops.

To harm the Heart is to wound the mind of the planet.
And a wounded mind... lashes out.

---

Manifestation & Reach​

Orryx cannot be seen. But it is felt.

It moves through:

• The Echoed – ghost-like fragments of the dead, sometimes possessed by Orryx’s voice
• The Haze – its exhalation, laced with psychic static
• Local Flora & Fauna – when threatened, the very environment turns hostile
• Dreams – shared visions among the crew, whispered words in lost languages
• Electronics – screens flicker with symbols that don’t match known alphabets

Crew exposed to kyrellium, especially near the Heart, may begin to feel its presence even when awake. These early-stage “touches” include déjà vu, bleeding timestamps, and temporary memory inversion.

---

True Nature​

Orryx is not evil. It is not merciful. It is not human.

It is a misunderstood guardian—a planetary mind trying to protect itself from invasive decay. To Orryx, humans are not heroes or villains. They are data points. Infections. Warnings. Possible keys to harmony or catalysts of collapse.

It remembers the first drills.
It remembers pain.
It remembers you.

---

“It does not want to be worshipped.
It wants to be left alone.”​