Luna Libros VI: Technicolour Treasure Hunt

Cosmic Autumn, the season for harvesting space weevil, polychromatic carbon monoliths, and all punkin' errythang, has crept upon the New Bedford Starsystem. As our days grow colder, time slows to a crawl, and all life in the galaxy prepares for cryosleep, the Citadels of the Arcane - those ancient temples of mystery - awaken! With a sudden burst of energy, like one final gasp of hope before once again plunging into the dark deep sleep of hibernation, they begin their siren song. The soft pinging of their distress beacon emanates across space and time, echoing a call transmitted long before the NBS lit the cosmos, long before the formation of the stars and planets, and even further back than perhaps the formation of the universe, itself. A call for which the Starchasers were eagerly awaiting with bated breath, listening, and preparing.

As the Day Star descends to give way to the twilight hours, fourteen pilots (5 pilots, 3 recruits, and 6 civilians) converge at the gates of the Lawler Temple. Pirates, civilians, and Starchasers, alike are disguised in their best approximation of "space librarian" attire. As everyone knows, a space librarian is a truly magical and wondrous creature. No being is more connected to the source of the ever-loving chromasonic groove. However, they are a notably tricky species for they appear differently each time they reveal their presence. Therefore, there are truly endless possibilities when selecting such an outfit. Pointy glasses, tweed jackets, studded belts, and bowties are the preferred accoutrements. Life support systems stream songs of books and stories of old stream through our ships' radioboxen.

Our mission is to decrypt 42 lines of anomalous code embedded in the signal emanating from each of the four temples, presently emanating anomalous coded-embedded signals. The fifth temple is mysteriously silent during this orbital cycle of our gloop monster, 2019. Starchasers Un-intelligence Division (SUD) is able to identify that each line of code is representative of sacred objects hidden within, on, or around each temple and we each set out to create a visual log of these treasures for our database.

Together, we launch from the Buttonwood Constellation in search of treasure and fun. Luckily, we would find both! While the frigid temperatures of space plummet, our hearts warm with the excitement of completing our mission. Also, Space Librarian spacesuits are quite warm. As the disguised pilots cleverly execute their ruse to fool the temple scanners, the non-costumed pilots stand sentry over our ships. We discover that each stop holds mysteries previously unfathomed even within our wildest imaginations!

As we make our way along the Star Bridge Wormhole, skirting the heavy nebula that separates our reality from that of the ancient ones, the Admiral calls for shore leave. Pilots take the time to compare research, assess engine fatigue, dump fuel, and dance! For TurboHoney, this is an opportunity to place wards along the perimeter to guard against the terrors lurking just beyond the dark horizon. Once the wild rumpus is complete, it's time to shove off and in pursuit of more celestial secrets.

Finally, we arrive at our final location. At the heart of the dNB Quadrant is the Mother Brain, also known as the Central Citadel, also known as the Main Public Library. Our brave explorers look for clues to complete their quest and we take one final group photo for our mission logs. Then --- OH NO!! Just as we begin our voyage home, Mad Owl, seemingly betrayed by his denim is spotted by the temple guards and is incinerated off-screen. The blast knocks TurboHoney off course and sends her spiraling deeper into the dNB. With a heavy heart, Cadet Beanstalk must be the bearer of bad news and relay the events to the DAdmiral. After a moment of silence for our fallen heroes, the mission presses on at a painfully slow pace through the Octopus, up a slight negative g-well, and back toward the Buttonwood Constellation.

Suddenly, we hear a squawk from Civitron's communicator. It's MadOwl and TurboHoney! They're alive! They're space walking but they're alive and making the trek back to the launchpad! It's a Luna Libros miracle! The admiral consults stellar cartography and makes an adjustment to the flight plan, leading the squadron through a deep space wormhole, along the Buttonwood Nebula, and back to the Lawler Temple launchpad. But where are our friends? There. In the distance. We see the twinkling of Hook's laser hull plating and we hear the rattling of Angry Candy's... um... angry candy... and we are reunited! Huzzah!

At the launchpad, the team forms up for the debriefing. Awards are presented to Batfish, Chaotic Neutral, and Beanstalk, the pilots who have collected the most mission scans and Batfish was voted Space Librarian Supreme by a jury of his peers. Godspeed, you brave and beautiful cadets! Godspeed!