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The Lucidi Strain
Pardus Story
The First Great War was aptly named so, for never before had even the violence torn races of the Human, Ska'ari, Rashkir, and Keldon
experienced such a tragic massacre of mortal life as they had at the war's end, located in the heart of the Pardus Sector. The genetically
engineered Keldonian virus, the Lucisti Virus, had been desperately retrofitted onto the Empire's main flagship, loosed into the
Federation's ranks when the tides of the battle turned grave. Though developed to strike the unique cellular makeup of the Rashkiri,
it would not be long before each and every soldier became aware of its effects.
Little of what happened next is known, save for that the deaths meant for the Rashkiri sought each and every man and woman enlisted to
battle within the Pardus Sector. Realizing that the virus was a threat to all who drew breath, the entire Pardus Cluster quickly became
an area of quarantine for hundreds of years, the luminous green gas clouds a toxic mass meant for no living being. Travel was forbidden
and wormholes were sealed, and to the new generations to come the Great War and the Pardus Cluster were all but tales passed down from
their elders.
Then came the day that would define an entire generation. For six whole seconds was not a single breath drawn in the whole of the galaxy
as the GNN released its breaking report...
"Access to the Pardus Cluster is once again possible."
Project PEAC (Pardus Exploration and Colonization) immediately dispatched teams through the newly reopened wormholes to reclaim the
nutrient rich sectors of the Pardus Cluster, only to be met by a vicious resistance none could have expected, and not even the most
well equipped Empire, Federation, or Union armada could have broken through.
So long removed from the Empire, the Federation, and the Union as well, this military blockade embraced a technology and a new form of
weaponry none had ever witnessed before. The first few groups of exploration teams were immediately annihilated, all they were able to
return to their headquarters were scattered screams of a luminescent green light woven into the very essence of their enemies' craft.
Though much of what is written about the Lucidi Strain is based more upon speculation than it is on fact, many scientists have argued
this new form of existence descended from the forgotten of the First Great War. The luminescent green energy that fuels the Lucidi armada,
as well as the very bodies of the Lucidi themselves, has given rise to the name of this new race of humanoids, a hostile nation intent it
seems upon returning to their cousins the maliciousness that had prompted both the Empire and Federation to abandon the Lucidi to death so
many years ago.
The only proof of such a connection lies in the modified design of the Lucidi vessels, altered versions of craft used and lost during
the First Great War. Few adventurers exploring the Pardus Cluster have been able to gaze past the green glow of the Lucidian crafts'
visors, and even fewer have survived to tell the tale. Yet those who have speak of faces they might once have recognized; Human faces,
Keldonian faces, Rashkirian faces, and Ska'ari faces, each of their eyes imbued with this same luminescent green glow, trademark of this
new species.
Just as little is known about the origin of the Lucidi, so too are their intentions and ambitions a mystery to the PEAC.
