Credible Prime

The Fabric

Every particle in the Vast touches every other particle.  It's called the Fabric. Even the vacuum between planets is a full width and breadth of particles that connect, transmit and relay to one another and every sentient being, even the double-celled Alfwar transmits.
Within these connections the Beacon travels and those who have the sense can detect it; the strength of which indicates location, body chemistry, intent and morality. The Seekers say Kalfate is the center point, the original Beacon.  His birth, they say, was followed by a burst of energy so perplexing that it ignited a reaction that hummed through the vast and radiated outward from his birth. This energy connected every other living thing, energizing the entirety of existence.  And because of that original Beacon, Kalfate touched a deep hidden part of the Vast that contained the answer- contained a molecular map to the Pinnacle of Existence. It was the How and Why of reality.

Of course, in the early times, this belief was shared by the Yend.  The Yend and The Seekers, as one, followed the same beliefs about Kalfate and his history.  But as is always the case with things of such magnitude, knowledge corrupts and the possessing of it creates power. A fractured group of dissidents wanting to control the Vast for themselves began hushed murmurings of an alternate theory of Kalfate, one that answered the How and the Why in a way that excluded any design whatsoever. They became the Yend, an ancient word for truth. And the war followed soon after. What began as a civil war escalated into constant, violent struggle that spanned the Vast.  Legions of new members joined as they began a sweeping tide of propaganda meant to deride The Seekers.  The new Yend would mark distant outposts, reaching beyond The Seekers to recruit civilizations with no compass of Faith, educating them in the idea that the Vast was a product of chance and the order of all that was and is was a cosmic accident of perfect scientific timing. They told of an extraordinary coincidence leading to billions and billions of ordinary things. What the Yend discovered was the underlying scientific truth that connected it all together.  Their most powerful founders realized that by convincing followers that there was no Designer who was responsible for life and every place in which it existed, life would be assured no special significance.  They'd understand themselves as one of a trillion of the exact same thing and then feel no special connection or bond. The coincidence of life held no special sanctity.  Life was not an element that should be protected by sacrifice. It made followers docile and it was easy to grow their numbers.
The Seekers fought the expanding Yend tide with courage and ambition. But their shrinking numbers combined with the Yend vision of systematic expansion put the Seeker civilization in the undesirable position of oppressed minority. The Yend expanded their reach and their rule across the Expanse far into the Vast.  It was an Empire of oppression continually controlling their Dominion with the absolute conviction that everyone - everything is ordinary and of little practical worth. But to the Yend leadership, this mindset was the most valuable thing they possessed.
The ruling class of the Yend were known as the Protect.  The Protect was essentially the governmental and aristocratic arm of Yend civilization.  The Protect was the absolute seat of power, led by Protector Pol.  Their expansive Empire of data driven reality created a paranoid Protect, always monitoring all life forms, always scanning brain patterns, communication and group think for evidence that an individual's Yend philosophy was retreating.  Even in their dreams, a Yend possessing doubt was in grave danger of being detained and escorted to reprogramming.  The Yend deliverance of power and order was based solely on strict adherence to their code. Pol was a ruthless minister of this code and under his leadership Beacons were constantly traced, recorded and investigated.  The most recent mission that Pol had undertaken, with the help of Yend bounty hunters, was the discovery of the location and truth behind what Kalfate actually was.  Crux Coda, therefore , was a wanted man. Because of his vision, because of his dream, the Yend containment troopers would be scouring the Vast for him and Kalfate's Mercs, The Hammerlight and everything connected to the audacious grievance that Crux betrayed with his dream.  It was a convoy of chaos marked for attack and Pol's most vicious guards were in pursuit.  The dream about Kalfate could not repeat itself and the Hammerlight's crew could not be allowed, with its traitorous stowaway, to continue its mission. 
     Finding them would be easy. Following Crux's Beacon was just a matter of simple tracking.  The magnetic flux at Kalus however disrupted Beacons and the Hammerlight was deep deep within the outer crust of Kalus, dodging debris and hiding within the detrus.