Glaurung and the dragons have forgotten their original purpose: to lure the Destroyer away from Earth.
Why has Glaurung come so close to Sol these past few hundred years? Could he be flirting with disaster? Is he yearning for the lost paradise? Or is he just losing it?
Everyone has six days of downtime. (Wolf & Lalande are only 4 LY apart; the Fearful system is closer to Wolf than Lalande; returning to Wolf directly will hopefully avoid the Destroyer.)
Dragonstar returns to the Terran systems, but not to Sol. He refuses to go that close to Earth – part of him remembers that much, at least. Instead, Glaurung drops them off in the Wolf 359 system. Lupus tries to communicate with the planet, but again there is no response. Since Lupus was preparing for war, they have a stockpile of antimatter missiles.
The PCs are beamed down with the ancient teleportation device. But the planet needs time to thaw before the device can be used – another 12 hours. Once the device is used, it is detected by the Lupus military, and they view the beam as a hostile action, given what they know from last time.
It is possible the PCs can stop the hostilities from escalating, somehow. But it depends on the details:
Who founded Lupus? Who is in charge?
- His name is Khan Ji-Tae, a Korean general from World War III. He was one of the first soulmechs, choosing to transfer himself when they first became available in 2107. His body is obviously robotic, designed for combat. It has several large weapons integrated into it, and looks to be capable of both dishing out and sustaining extremely heavy damage. (Str 36, Dex 20, Con 32, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 16)
Why were they preparing for war?
- The general has become increasingly unstable over the past few years. His major goal is to protect Lupus from all threats. He heard that Canis was planning to launch a strike against them, and was planning to make the first move before they could get a chance. Now, the events of Percepi and Mercury have really driven him over the edge.
- As for Canis, their leader, Mikhail Volokhov (named for a nihilist character from an Ivan Goncharov novel, also has intelligence that Lupus is planning to launch a strike against them, and was planning to make the first move before Lupus could get a chance.
- In actuality, both of these rumors were cunningly planted by the last living member of the Seven, Merlin ("Lin") Huntington, who is hoping to rekindle old hatred and get revenge for what happened nearly 200 years ago. Unwittingly, he is a pawn of the Destroyer in that he is cosmically evil-aligned.
What is society on Lupus like?
- Though censorship and government control has become less ubiquitous in the Asian (Chinese/Korean/Russian/etc.) way of life, it is still more conservative than the United States was at the dawn of the 21st century.
- The Lupus government has a lot of power, and manages many things centrally. As such, there is a fair bit of corruption. But General Khan keeps a close watch on things, and generally profits directly from the most egregious abuses of power.
- Khan is very willing to see possible insurgents taken out early, to protect the greater good of his society. As such, he monitors the city closely and jumps on potential problems eagerly.
How can the PCs find out what to do quickly enough to prevent calamity?
- Well, where the beam of light strikes will be detected this time, since the data from last time became available. So Huntington (Khan’s right-hand man and "court wizard") ports to the site with Khan and his elite guard, in full riot gear, to arrest them.
What happens if they fail? Are they destroyed, or can they port away?
- Huntington recognizes their potential, and latches onto them. He saves their lives to gain their trust and manipulate them later.
If the PCs fail: Lupus tries to fire at Dragonstar, but Glaurung’s protection turns the missiles back upon their wielders. Lupus suffers heavy damage as the city is largely destroyed in a huge antimatter explosion.
If the PCs succeed: Glaurung prepares to leave, with no harm coming to Lupus.
However, the growing fear on Lupus during the 12 hours of Dragonstar’s thaw pulls the Destroyer more quickly, and it arrives just as Glaurung has re-iced the planet and is about to leave (either way). The psychic screams begin to echo, but the Destroyer does not take Lupus – after all, it has not yet awakened psionically. Instead, it goes for Glaurung, and Dragonstar barely escapes in time. The gravitic wake disrupts Lupus’s satellite system.
Either way, the PCs have some down time back on Earth/Luna (actually useful this time). Rae is probably pretty open to anything. Matt wants to speak with his mother. Vadril might want to return home and speak to the Caretaker. Max wants to find the holder of the Mercury O.L. fragment (everyone will hear the news about Mercury being plunged into the Sun). Zee is still in a coma – whatever happened to him must have been really bad. And many of them probably want to find Harry Bryant.
Next time Rae sleeps, she has a nightmare about being chased, as usual, but this time it’s Glaurung chasing her, not the Beast… or maybe Glaurung ‘‘is’’ the Beast. Zee appears in her dream, all creepy-like, and whispers, "You foolish child. You
What has Bryant been up to these past few days? He got the Hand.
- After learning of Mercury’s fate, he has been researching a way to recover those souls, but meeting with little success.
- He may ask the party for help, if they contact him; but then again, he probably doesn’t want to reveal exactly what he is doing, so maybe not.
What does Lin Huntington have planned for the PCs?
- NO ONE KNOWS! Mwahahaha…
Did Moss get the body?
- No, the vampires did. Adana either gave the body directly to the vampires, or else traded it to Moss in exchange for him relinquishing his stronghold in the forest, knowing the vampires would be able to betray him in the meantime.
What is Magitech’s take on all this?
- Miller’s algorithm revealed that they would be unable to protect the body from Moss. Or else the Monday group infiltrated the HQ, and Adana made the deal with them.
- So Adana gave the body to the vampires, knowing they would awaken him uncleansed, and thus deny Moss the ability to use him.
The party will probably seek out Magitech – specifically Zuul, who will bring in Adana Cassenti. They try to recruit the party to their side, explaining how the Caretaker has become "compromised," and that Moss continues to serve it irrationally.