Pandora's Star / PSAC

On a particularly fateful day in the Stanton system, two seasoned bounty hunters, “TommyTyphoon” and “KingELB,” found themselves facing certain death after a brutal encounter with a hardened fugitive at Security Post Kareah, located on the moon of Stanton 2a. With their ships heavily damaged and their lives hanging by a thread, they activated an emergency rescue beacon as a last resort. Moments after engaging the beacon, barely clinging to consciousness, they overheard a garbled transmission on their MobiGlas comms: “…One here [static]… Beacon detected… ETA ten… signal loss…”

Through blurred vision and the overwhelming pull of unconsciousness, the two bounty hunters were powerless to act as their target, an infamous criminal affiliated with the Nine Tails syndicate, loaded their limp bodies into their Aegis Avenger Titan. The bounty set the ship on autopilot, activating the quantum drive, then casually disembarked, leaving the ship to drift through the void—its course set to nowhere in particular. The bounty hunters, bleeding out and delirious, were now trapped aboard a runaway vessel.

As the Avenger drifted away from Security Post Kareah, another faint transmission crackled through the comms: “…Location locked… [static]… Phoenix spotted nearby, standing by, copy?” The meaning of the message remained unclear, but a chilling sense of doom settled over the two as a new, unexpected threat loomed. The silence of space was abruptly shattered as a series of high-velocity explosions rocked the Avenger’s shields. An Aegis Gladius, unmistakably flown by an accomplice of the fugitive, had begun its attack run, pelting the Avenger with ballistic rounds and missile fire. The shields flickered and groaned under the relentless barrage, and the hull began to buckle.

“Brace for impact!” The warning came just moments before a final heavy blow rattled the ship. Then, a metallic clank reverberated through the hull as a figure in a spacesuit boarded the damaged craft. The two bounty hunters, helpless and barely conscious, heard a voice over their comms: “You’re in good hands.”

The mysterious figure, an advanced combat medic wearing an RSI Apollo flight suit, immediately administered life-saving medgun treatment to stabilize the bounty hunters. “Hold tight,” he said, as he took control of the Avenger’s cockpit, plotting a jump to dead space to escape the ongoing pursuit. The quantum drive whirred to life, and in an instant, they blinked away from Stanton 2a’s orbit into the vast unknown.

Moments later, a friendly IFF signature pinged on their HUD: the UEES Philadelphia, a Carrack-class exploration vessel—an older model, privately owned. Aboard the Philadelphia was Captain Dr. Gordon_Freeman, a decorated war veteran, known for his exploits in battle against the Vanduul, and Chief Surgeon Dr. Bill, a legend among combat medics, one of humanity’s finest. Upon rendezvous, the three men aboard the Avenger abandoned the craft, boarding the Philadelphia, where they were greeted by the crew and led to the med bay for further treatment.

As TommyTyphoon and KingELB were escorted through the ship’s corridors, they were greeted by Chief Engineer Plumbo, a key player aboard the ship, not just for his technical expertise but for his unparalleled skills in electronic tinkering and his mastery over audio-video equipment. Plumbo’s custom modifications kept the Philadelphia running smoothly, and his electronic wizardry had saved the crew more than once during tight situations.
Before they could settle into the med bay, an urgent voice echoed through the intercom. “New contact detected! Scanning now!” SpartanRam1990, the ship’s towering, Viking-like helmsman, roared from the bridge. Known for his fearless command of the ship’s systems, SpartanRam1990 wasted no time engaging the quantum drive, sending the Philadelphia into deep space to evade potential threats.

Out of chaos, something unexpected had been forged: Pandora’s Star, a brotherhood born from the ashes of a failed Security Post Kareah raid and the unbreakable camaraderie of a few good men.