Disruptors

The 'Unofficial' Story

Year: 2204

The Celestial Dawn project was well into its final stages, with humanity’s gaze fixed squarely on the stars. The mission to explore and colonize Tarnah had shifted from an ambitious dream to a looming reality. As 2204 drew to a close, the Vanguard starship, representing humanity’s best and brightest, was nearing completion. Resources, technology, and hope had all been poured into this undertaking. Yet beneath the optimism, a storm of uncertainty stirred.

The Promising Habitat

Tarnah's scans had shown overwhelming promise. Its atmosphere was breathable, and its landmasses bore striking resemblances to Earth's own. Ecological reports indicated a delicate balance—alien yet familiar—that could support human life. The UEC’s official stance was clear: Tarnah was humanity’s second chance. The Vanguard mission, planned for 2205, would be the cornerstone of this new chapter, the first wave of settlers charting a path for humanity’s survival and prosperity.

The Odysseus Mission (Classified)

What the public didn’t know was that Tarnah had already been the subject of a secret mission years earlier. In 2199, the UEC had launched the Odysseus Mission, a classified operation designed to assess Tarnah’s habitability, establish an outpost, and report on the planet's potential. The mission involved the Homo Progressus Initiative (HPI), a secret program investigating potential genetic experimentation to optimize human colonization. The crew was placed in cryostasis for the five-year journey, and the outcome was shrouded in secrecy. No contact was received after the mission arrived on Tarnah, and any information from that mission was sealed away, hidden from public knowledge.

While the UEC brushed off any concerns, Lyla Donovan—the lead scientist for the Celestial Dawn project—had reason to believe there was much more to the story. Her analysis of the Phoenix Probes, the unmanned drones sent in 2203 to survey Tarnah, uncovered troubling patterns.

The Disruptive Signals

The Phoenix probes, designed to be humanity’s eyes and ears before the first settlers arrived, had transmitted invaluable data before suddenly going dark. No crash signals, no error logs—just an abrupt, unexplained loss of communication. The final transmission contained a strange rhythmic pulse, something that didn’t match any known planetary patterns. It was almost… deliberate.