Fiction for Noble Armada: Lost Worlds, set in the Fading Suns universe
Dealing with the locals
Long ago this solar system had been part of humanity’s glorious Second Republic. During the Fall of that fabled civilization, many jumpgates had closed, leaving trillions of people isolated. Now Emperor Alexius had called on his Questing Knights to rediscover these Lost Worlds. Some systems had been found desolate, their people lost in devastating cataclysms. In others, the people had been reduced to true barbarism, living in the rubble of ancient greatness. Most had been able to maintain some of the ancient technology.
The radio broadcasts Tomas had been monitoring since they entered this system indicated it was one of the latter. Most of the chatter was centered further in system, around the second planet from the sun. As they flew in system, however, Tomas had also picked up some closer messages, from a small ice planet not far from the jumpgate. Encrypted, Leopold’s crew had not been able to decipher the messages. He assumed they came from the Decados and momentarily considered returning to Hawkwood space. The thought of turning tail quickly brought his blood to a boil again, and Leopold determined to at least discover what the Decados were doing here before he left.
