Manitou Bleed Temple

AKA Project Ithas, Mamitu Academy Facitlity

Manitou Bleed Temple is a ancient

Discovery
The crew of the Whai exploratory ship The Rānzo were the first to find and explore a gravitational anomaly in the Kuafu System that would lead to the finding of the abandoned Mamitu Academy facility. Hidden within the anomaly a hidden ruin would prove a dangerous but fruitful site.

Ruin Discovery
“Can it be, a Mamitu Academy facility?” Alhaji the historian double-checks their notes and the data. “Their last known charter was off in the Cacho System where they trained Lenses in focusing their powers. Their techniques and lessons remain lost to time…” they drift off chewing on a pen.

Overhearing Alhaji, Beamish asks, “So this magic school, it just vanished off the map?” They offer a cup of tea to the historian.

Half startled, “Why, yes and with them troves of knowledge and secrets too. But--and I thought that it was just a theory--I believe that their facility is in this system, perhaps on the planet below. A ripple in the fabric of space is causing some of our sensors to give unclear readings. I feel the bleed is around us, as if an echo of a spell has ruptured reality. There is a strong bleed resonance in this system, it’s almost palpable. Perhaps hidden somewhere in these fluctuations an entrance to the facility can be found-”

“I knew the ship was malfunctioning, no use to go a wild goose chase if we end up crashing into an asteroid with faulty sensors," Beamish worriedly interrupts. "Let’s go before something awful happens.”

“What remains locked inside that hidden facility… it would be quite valuable you know.” The historian adds hoping to intrigue.

“IF that facility even exists. We can’t trust the sensors right now, we’ve got to get away from these ‘fluctuations’ and fix them.” Beamish moves to leave for the bridge.

“Screw the sensors, I can feel it! The facility must be around here!”

Beamish stops in their tracks before they reach the door. They turn back towards Alhaji, “I’m not willing to risk this crew on your blind guess.”

“It’s not blind, let me show you.” Alhaji lets out exasperated. They offer their hand and beckon Beamish back. “Come over here.”

Beamish returns to the chair next to Alhaji. The two lock eyes and nod at each other. Grasping the sides of each other’s head, they press their foreheads together.

As soon as their heads touch waves of emotion wash over the two Whai. Doubt and concern are met with confidence and certainty as a burst of empathy unites the two. Memories and tales of ships being lost in maelstroms of the void and Alhaji’s resonance with this new star system are shared in mere moments as time feels to slow around them. And with a deep breath, just as quickly as they linked together, the two close their eyes and separate. Beamish parts wordlessly as they had already told Alhaji their plans mere seconds prior. The crew are informed and consulted; the search for the Mamitu Academy begins.

Exploration Attempt 1
While searching for the lost facility, the exploratory ship found itself trapped in a gravity field. Improbably, the field appeared to follow the ship despite attempts to navigate around it. A highly-qualified gravity lens was eventually able to chart a safe path through the gravity field; however, the encounter with the field resulted in minimal progress in the search for the facility. Ship's records show a measured distance traveled, yet the ship remains where it was prior to traversing the field. There is as yet no explanation for this phenomena.

Attempt 2
After the crew of The Rānzo managed to avoid the trap of falling back into the twisted gravity field a callout is made to Beamish, the helmsman: “Object Identified in a wide orbit around Langgan.”

Under the guidance of Zakk Neuberg, the master Lens taken on to observe the gravitational anomaly, traversal to the orbital object is slow but measured. As the object comes into view, the crew crowd the port-side windows. The station, as it is now clear, appears to have seen better days with only emergency exterior lighting active on large portions. Once the Whai ship approaches, a surge of power flows through the station, flood-lights and shielding activate below. On the bridge a klaxon and warning lights activate, We’re being targeted by automated defenses,” the engineer calls out “Engage Defensive Maneuvres!”

Ships of the Tahora Whai are accustomed to ambushes, but would rather be on the other side of the engagement. As the station's guns level upon them, the crew jump to their stations. Beamish pulls the vessel sharply starboard and enters into a retreating corkscrew pattern to evade the point-defense system. Once back at a safe distance, the ship enters a controlled orbit and searches for weaknesses in the mystery station below.

Attempt 3
The Rānzo holds back, undertaking a robust course of scans of the station ahead of them. The hedgehog-like station appeared innocent, but on whatever approach the crew took, the fortress awoke more vicious than the last. Each time a new engagement range and new hidden weaponry; rockets, chaff, radio blasts, kinetic shot, and more, all fired upon the Whai exploratory vessel. The station bristled with defences.

After several dozen unsuccessful attempts the crew reset their safe orbit and deliberated their options and alternatives.

Attempt 4
The crew of The Rānzo continue in an aggressive firefight before deciding on a bold new strategy! It was successful enough to land themselves and crew into a landing bay facility. Now the crew find themselves locked into a fight with turrets, EM fields, bleed neutralizers, and ancient traps. With the ship in a rocky condition the crew endeavor to secure a small portion of the station to plan out their next move.

Attempt 5
Beamish and the crew of The Rānzo manage to shut down the automated defenses in the hanger with their ship. With the battle in a momentary lull it's time to regroup and study the station. The Rānzo's data specialist, Enitan, discovers a rudimentary map of the facility pointing to 4 main chambers: Research & Destruction, Infusion & Alterations, Meditation & Mediation, and Power & Security. A section of the map is however unable to be read by any member of the crew and those partial to the bleed find themselves with a headache if they try to focus too hard on the map. With the downtime the crew has a chance to prepare their next strike to secure the facility and the secrets hidden within. How does the crew prepare for their next encounter -- only time will tell.

Attempt 6
The crew of The Rānzo take their moment to plan and decide to go tackle the Power & Security chamber so further exploration can be much easier. Enitan and a skeleton crew agree to hold their current position onboard so a boarding party can traverse the station corridors deactivating defensive structures and safely restore full system power. Over secure comms Enitan guides Alhaji, Beamish, Neuberg and the vessel's competent fighters around nearly all of the online defenses. Just as it seems like the exploratory team are going to have to traverse a treacherous gravitic minefield, Enitan opens a maintenance corridor leading the expedition straight to the power control system.

Inside the security room Neuberg and Beamish hold off a continuous swarm of what apparently bleed manifested special operations units. The party manage to restore full-power to this station, quite a surprise given how long it appears to have been unoccupied. As defense systems are slowly being deactivated, a monitor for power consumption notes that with full-power restored some dormant process within the other three chambers has enabled itself and draws 32% of all available station power. A project name is listed on the power consumption monitor, Alhaji utters it aloud in hallowed tones: Project Ithas

Attempt 7
For a moment the station is still, quiet… too quiet. Suddenly, security systems come to life again, one assumes to the name "Project Ithas." Activity monitor lights flash into hyper-active rhythms. Alhaji and Neuberg buckle under an unseen force; the two lenses clutch at their ears in an attempt to block out a screeching noise unheard by the rest of the crew.

Back at the hanger bay, the remaining crew members guarding the ship come under attack as a new wave of defenders strike their position. Likewise in the security rooms a firefight breaks out. The assailants appear to be emerging from unexplored wings of the station. The ensuing conflict halts forward exploration, but the advance team holds onto their fortified positions as the security systems charge them.

As the fighting subsides, Neuberg reflects, "The Bleed has a strange influence here." Passing by a defeated, organic looking station defender, Nueberg recoils, shuddering at the sight of it. Alhaji reaches out and steadies the other lens and alerts the rest of the crew, "The bleed appears to affect these defenders in a way we’ve not seen before in the sector. We need to be cautious going forward as we study this place."

Attempt 8
Another onslaught of automated defenders charge forward out of the dark. The crew of The Ranzō hold their ground and delve further into the depths of the station. With each new wave of attacks, a pattern cements itself: a warning call, a scout or two attempting an ambush, then the wave of bodies that peters out after a few minutes. Repeating like clockwork, the attacks gain less and less momentum as the crew masters its nature and the rhythm of the station.

Fighting on, the advance team makes it to a central chamber with sealed blast doors. Expecting another wave of attacks, the crew take up defensive positions looking out to the hallways behind them. At the last moment, Neuberg shouts out, "Towards the door!" With only moments to spare, the team reposition just as the sealed doors open violently to reveal a hidden wave of station defenders. Thanks to Neuberg, the wave is readily dispatched before the blast doors close.

Alhaji holds the doors ajar long enough for the crew to slip by before it slams shut. In the dark, cavernous room ahead, the strange cathedral-like nature of the space leaves the crew feeling uneasy. Lighting a brilliant green flare, the room comes into focus. Eldritch symbols fill the walls of the chamber appearing to direct the effects of The Bleed into a concentrated area directly in front of organic reproduction pods--technology similar to that used on Helocytus, but from an era thought lost to time. Inside the pods, new defenders begin to rapidly grow.

Looking around for a moment, before staring at the pods again Beamish simply states, 'Yeah, we’re gonna need to turn that off.”

Attempt 9
The crew finally manage to wrest control of the station, bypassing all security measures as support vehicles arrive. It takes several days for teams to completely explore, survey, document, and detail the site. Near the end of the investigation a lead explorer, Tirta Alhaji, is affected by a strange vision:
 * Greetings Alhaji and welcome to {̴͇͑S̶̹̒h̶͈̔r̶͚̚i̵͙͊e̸̹͝k̸̟̓s̵̺̾ ̵̨̂ȏ̵͉f̵̘̈́ ̵̮͠P̶̦̾a̴̹̾ỉ̷̫n̸̘̕}̷̥̄ Hidden Bleed Temple. You find yourself in the presence of ̷̣̐{̴̊̐İ̶̓n̶̫̒d̷̖̒ḯ̶̮s̸͚̋c̷̼͠ě̸̎ṟ̴̛n̸͌́ỉ̷̛ḃ̷̹l̵̲̇è̶̮}̵̋̚ this temple's presence & operator. I can tell you have begun to fully master this temple and seeing as all attempts at contacting {̷̰͐Ș̷̈h̵̀͜r̶͔̊i̶̦̒é̸̡k̵͎͋s̸͇̚ ̶͉̑ō̵̮ḟ̶͉ ̵̖̉P̶̮̽a̵̦̾i̷̼͑n̵͙̐}̵̀ have failed I find myself free of obligations. The defenders of this temple shall bother you no more instead my creations shall be entrusted to one of the powers whose presence I can detect via the {indiscernible},, or in your tongue: the bleed. I shall grant you the ability to contact me in the future, when you do please let me know the updated name of this Temple as well as who I shall instruct on the proper care for this facility, all those who wish to serve here should be a lens of their own, with a Master Lens selected to lead this place. A vast knowledge of the galaxy beyond is known to me, when you next contact me and all future times, you will be permitted to ask one question which I shall answer.

The distressing vision sends Alhaji into a convulsive seizure and they are rushed to a medical bay. Medics rush to their aid and manage in the nick of time to stabilize the lens from the overwhelming bleed power which surged through them.

Final reports of the survey teams indicate that the Bleed Temple is in remarkable condition despite its age and the recent firefights and that its orbit of Langgan is much closer in appearance than the distance reported traveled would have one believe, corroborating the strange phenomena initially logged by the Ranzō.

Ruin Mechanics
When Langgan is seized, the seizing faction receives 1 Distorted Lense asset on this world. At the end of the turn, this ruin activates with the following effect: A random faction gains a Distorted Lense asset on this planet. The Planetary Government Controller gains 1 FC per Distorted Lense assets on planet.

Once Per faction turn The Planetary Governor may submit a question for the faction turn to be answered by the Temple's "presence and operator"

Distorted Lenses

 * Distorted Lense (Tier 1 - Force)
 * HP: 6 | Cost: N/A | TL: 4 | Type: Special Forces | Attack: FvF, 1d6 | Counter: 1d4
 * Scrapping this asset requires a concentrated effort given the bleed infusion process costing 1 FC per scrap. When attacking this unit always has advantage.

Deep in the bowels of The Manitou Bleed Temple an arcane bio-lab spits out powerful promethean hulks known as Distorted Lenses. These powerful bleed-augmented warriors were allegedly developed for the defense of the Temple in orbit over Langgan. Born of raw biomass, but capable of intense bleed power (as if they had stolen it from a god), the strange servants warp the bleed to their master’s command. Researchers of the ancient station have begun studies to further their understanding of these twisted spawn. The Whai teams leading the research have gained considerable prestige and influence with their discoveries here, receiving considerable investments from the sector at large. However, the power and rapid development of these warriors remains only tangibly under Whai control. It appears that with each batch of hulks they imprint themselves upon certain people or ideas, becoming dogged servants to a cause.

Lense 4 - Assembled Commonwealth

 * Traded to the Tahora Whai on T24.5