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                               The Stargazer           Special Issue, Vol 4
                      THE News for the Dragon Quadrant
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Your UDA news source, quarterly news journal.
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The 21st Day of Quattuor, Year 3513  | Sponsored by TriTeq Industries, Inc.
Issued on December 31, 2000 RL Time. | "When you want the best, get Teq."
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In this issue:
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A HERO'S REFLECTIONS:  
                An Interview with Zaralsak

SPECIAL REPORT:
                The State of Psionics in the UDA

PROFILES IN COURAGE:
                Ebon


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A HERO'S REFLECTIONS
====================

An Interview with Zaralsak
--------------------------

The hero Zaralsak was resting in a chair when I came to interview him, his
gray eyes downcast. Following his gaze, I caught sight of the diamond ring
on his finger. The ring had to be the most extraordinary piece of jewelry
I had ever seen - it was as though a light inside the diamond were pulsing
softly, at a rate not unlike a heartbeat. "Let's begin at the beginning,"
I said to the him, as I took a seat across from him. "Tell me how you
discovered the Beacon."

"It was an accident," Zaralsak replied softly, "We should have left the
beacon alone." As I watched in amazement, the strands of his hair seemed
to shift and change color to yellow at the edges, almost reflexively. But
in a moment, he settled himself and began to relate the story.

According to Zaralsak, the trouble started for the UDA cadets when
mysterious rifts were observed forming in random locations across the known
universe. The rifts brought with them various sorts of drones. The first
drones were built for reconnaissance, but later drones turned up with more
offensive capabilities.

Around the same time, the Beacon was found. "At first, we didn't put the
two together," Zaralsak said.

"But then when you did?" I asked him, "How did you penetrate the Beacon and
stop the drones?" Zaralsak gazed again at his ring and his hair shifted to
a crimson color fleetingly, then as if noticing, Zaralsak frowned and the
strands drained of their color to become a clearish-white. "The usual UDA
way," he finally answered, "We destroyed the original inhabitants."

They reached the Beacon's bridge, I was told, and Zaralsak and his team
found a transportation device that sent them to a new Realm. The journey
through this strange place was confusing and unnerving - images from our
universe seemed to appear there, only in twisted or disconnected ways. The
UDA team soon encountered an entity named Zeta, en emissary from a
mysterious race of beings that called themselves Qliphoth.

I asked Zaralsak to tell me something about Zeta. "He was peaceful, but
peaceful to the point of naive," Zaralsak reflected. He explained to me
how Zeta's friend Neph had built the Beacon and the Rift Generator in order
to find out what lay beyond their Realm. It was Zeta who told the UDA team
of the question that had split the Qliphoth: the quandary over what to do
with about the discovery of our universe and the UDA. Zeta and his
supporters felt that peaceful negotiations were in order, while another
faction, led by a Qliphoth named Electo, saw our realm as a perversion and
wished only to destroy it. In the middle of the quandary was Quiliv Ys,
judge of the Qliphoth council, who seemed as though he could neither favor
one approach nor the other. All factors were falling into place for a
terrible upheaval.

Zaralsak studied me as I noted down the details on my datapad, with a gaze
that brought together an odd combination of heroic nobleness with the
loneliness that seems inherent in Wanderers. "I can tell some of this
bothers you to remember," I said to him. He nodded at me, but continued
his story.

The Qliphoth themselves, Zaralsak explained, appeared to have
characteristics of all the Dragon Quadrant races, yet at the same time were
like none. Together the UDA Cadets and Zeta discovered the reason for
this. The Qliphoth's reality was composed entirely of the leftover psychic
energy created by the people of our universe. Some of the cadets
speculated the Qliphoth reality was like an inversion, a negative mirror of
our own. "Although," Zaralsak considered, "If they were but mirrors’ of
us, then it is even worse, for then it is hideous to understand how violent
and hostile we are. Who of us will be next Electo, the one who becomes
but a vessel for hatred," his hair began to shift again, first red, then a
burst of yellow.

"You said violence," I asked, "I assume you are talking about something
Electo did?"

Zaralsak did not flinch, but his features became very set. He told me how
Electo had murdered Quiliv Ys and had mortally wounded Zeta. The UDA
cadets had then secured the self-destruct code to the Beacon and blown it
up, thereby destroying the link between the two realms forever.

"But you saved Zeta, didn't you?" I asked. I couldn't resist. This, after
all, was the deed the hero Zaralsak is most renowned for. Zaralsak lowered
his eyes, contemplating the diamond ring around his finger again. "Zeta
was left inside the Qliphoth realm when the Beacon exploded," he answered,
"So he might have vanished like the rest of his kin." "You're *sure*?" I
pursued. "I heard a rumor that some ship escaped from there just as
everything blew up. A source of mine told me that Zeta and Neph were
supposed to have built a ship that could withstand the surge of the
Beacon's destruction."

"Am I sure?" Zaralsak looked at me in agony, "I'd give my soul to be sure."

"Did you do the right thing by blowing up the beacon?" I asked Zaralsak.
It was time the tough questions got asked.

"It's hard to tell," he answered, "Since we can't tell if we really killed
the Qliphoth, it's hard to judge. In a way, we did what we had to do, but
yet I wonder... if the Qliphoth were truly a sentient race, we should have
never resorted to options that might even possibly lead to genocide."

Looking at Zaralsak, I could tell that it was the unknowable, unanswerable
questions that had been making him soul-sick since the encounter. And
somehow I doubted that blue his hair had shifted to was going to help. So
I tried to bring the topic back to a lighter note. "How do you feel about
being a hero?" I asked.

The Wanderer's eyes seemed lonely, but wise, as he answered. "Only when
everything was falling apart around us did I understand that my path to
heroism was but a path of blood. Upon healing Zeta I realized that heroism
isn't about glory, but sacrifice. Then I could finally break the mad cycle
of killing I called glory. Heroism is understanding that with great power
comes great responsibility. To think otherwise is to become but a vessel
through which the power makes itself manifest, until you become but some 
personal manifestation of raw power like so many Qliphoth were. So that is
why I think that it is good that the Portal was closed. But I hope
everyone who gazed upon them learned something. Maybe the UDA crowned me
the hero there, but I think everyone who could gaze upon the Qliphoth and
learn about themselves was a hero."

I thanked Zaralsak for his story and his answers. For my part, I hope that
sharing his story with others brings this noble, but haunted hero, a
measure of peace.

                                        -Twilight
  The SDO Voice



SPECIAL REPORT
==============

The State of Psionics in the UDA
--------------------------------

OLD PSIONICS

I will start by stating that after all of my research is in, it is apparent
to me that psionics will never be the same.

Since the destruction of the Qliphoth Beacon, psionicists of all races have
experienced a complete severing from what was known as the Ethereal Plane.
We cannot mindwalk there, nor have we been able to contact any Ethereal
regions. We fear these realms of psychic awareness have either been
utterly destroyed, or else been sucked into an interdimensional vortex
created by the surge that followed the Beacon's destruction. It may be
that these realms have begun a transmigration across many planes of
existence and we will one day be able to access them again. But for the
moment, it seems we are completely cut off.

NEW PSIONICS

While we are no longer able to access the Ethereal Plane, the search for
ways in which to refocus our psychic energies is well on its way. Roughly
a  quarter of our old powers have survived the Beacon's destruction, and
many new powers have been discovered. Some of these are offensive
(PsiAttack), some defensive (PsiDefense), but all of them allow for
psionicists to affect the world around them in ways never dreamed possible
before.

In Old Psionics, the primary focus of psionic powers was on maintaining
psychic health, whereas now, with New Psionics, it appears that psychic
energy can be channeled into useful endeavors, but that draining one's
psyche to zero will not cause a physical death. This is most useful
considering that many of our new powers drain psyche. For non-combat
psiing, we have discovered that psionic powers typically drain the amount
of the psyche it cost to psi them in the first place per hour that you
choose to maintain the power. For combat psiing, typically the upkeep
drain is of the original psiing cost of the power per round.

Other bizarre side effects connected with the emergence of New Psionics
have been reported as well. Many races have observed unexpected expansions
of mana and psyche, or better health and improved maneuverability. In
addition, the ability to "nullify" psionic powers has been discovered,
allowing the psier to dismiss a psied power at will.

HONORABLE MENTIONS ALONG THE ROAD OF RESEARCH

The progress the UDA has made on the front of New Psionics is well worth
mentioning. In the wake of the Beacon's destruction, the UDA issued
training vouchers to qualifying cadets. These vouchers were essentially
coupons to be used on training. While the cadets were allowed to use the
vouchers as they saw fit, an overwhelming majority decided to use them
learning about psionics. These past eight months alone, my psionics
training program has received a record number of applicants. Bodyworks,
Inc. should also be commended for its progress, having discovered a new way
in which to boost a person's ego, a procedure thought impossible before.

THE LAST MILE: A CALL TO ACTION

As far as we have come, we still have further to go. On the Human
homeworld of Earth, there is a saying: "The last mile is the longest."
This is indeed the case. It is therefore vital that everyone who wishes to
contribute to UDA research on New Psionics report to my office immediately
to receive a free Mental Wavenet. These wavenets must be worn while
focusing any psionic powers. While they do not confer the sort of benefits
that other more powerful headgear does, it is essential that we get as many
cadets wearing Mental Wavenets as possible. Our research demands not just
repetition, but variety, to be successful. While it is wonderful to have
data from three or four brains detailing how those brains managed to psi
certain powers over and over, it would be more useful if instead we had
data from twenty or thirty cadets psiing various powers fewer times. We are
hot on the proverbial trail of half dozen new psionic powers, but only your
assistance can help us unlock the last secrets of New Psionics.

                                        -Elethaniel Laurenthess
  RDO Public Relations



PROFILES IN COURAGE
===================

Ebon
----

Too late, the hero Zaralsak realized that he should have evacuated his
people BEFORE inputting the destruction code to the Qliphoth Beacon.
"BAIL!" he commanded his team as the 2-minute countdown began. The
normally fearless UDA cadets fled alongside their leader for the exit.
Unfortunately, the one way out of the Beacon was through an airlock in a
long, depressurized hall. The stronger members of the team were able to
kick off of the opposingwall and propel themselves, sans gravity, out
through the airlock. The weaker members were not so lucky.

"Help!" came Bright's voice over the comm system linking the UDA team, "I'm
stuck!" The Beacon's steady countdown continued. Time was running out.
"What do you mean you're stuck?" came the alarmed voice of another team
member, "hurry up, you need to get out of there!"

Bright, a tiny Darvot, the most junior member of the UDA team - turned an
inadvertent sommersault in midair as she tried to reach out and grab
something, anything, to pull herself along the hallway. "I can't move!"
she replied, her voice rising frantically as she slapped at the recall
patch on her arm, to no avail. The Beacon was fully equipped with a
recall-damping field.

Just then Ebon's grim, but determined voice came over the commlink. "I'm
coming back for you. I'll lead you out."

Bright redoubled her efforts to move, making her cause even more hopeless.
"No DON'T!" she screamed over the commlink as the Beacon's countdown neared
its end. "I can't move, there's nothing you can do!"

Just then Ebon emerged from the airlock at the far end of the hallway. "I
don't leave members of my team behind," he said. Their eyes locked as
Bright looked at him with a mixture of shock, horror, and disbelief. Just
then, the Beacon's countdown reached zero.

* * * * *

Light was making every effort to get a good view of the prone figures on
the clean, sterile medical beds of the Darvot Life Insurance facilities
while Damark was standing back, tight-lipped and still. The Darvots
huddled around the bed were passing gear back and forth and communicating
at such high speeds with one another that it reminded Light of a flock of
obnoxious squeaking city-birds.

The two clones lay prepped on the medical beds, but all was not going well.
"Pass me that neuron re-stabilizer, NOW!" the supervising physician ordered
one of his assistants. "Doctor, this one's having a seizure!" gasped
another assistant, as the medical team attempted to restrain the twitching
body of Ebon's clone. "What's going ON?" quavered Light, as she watched
Bright's clone begin to shudder as well.

"Spiritshock" explained a worried Darvot assistant. "Sometimes when the
life force dies an extraordinarily sudden or violent death, it goes into
shock and fails to transfer itself into the cloned body." The clones on
the table began to cease shuddering. The monitors attached to them began
to sound alarms.

"But, what's happening?" Light persisted, panic creeping into her voice.
"It's not working." said Damark flatly, "and if it continues to not work,
then that's it. They're just going to be dead." "We tried to
re-initialize, but the life forces of your friends are experiencing
spiritshock. It was too early. The clones have suffered seizures and
brain damage as a result, we'll need to try again with fresh ones,"
explained the supervising physician. He tapped his commlink and ordered,
"Spaetor Division to Medical Bay 1, immediately."

* * * * *

"How long is this going to take?" asked Light, as she anxiously hovered
over the medical team clustered around the prone body of Bright's second
clone. A similar team was arrayed around Ebon's second clone, lying on the
next bed over. "Patience in all things," replied the attending Spaetor.
"Your friends have suffered a great trauma. It will take time to establish
a link with their life forces and coax them back into physical bodies. And
I think you should be prepared," she added, her dark eyes looking very
serious, "there is a distinct possibility that your friend's life force
will be unwilling to return."

So they waited.

And waited. And waited.

The five Spaetors formed a silent ring around each of the clones, as they
moved slowly through a complex mental ritual. The attending Darvots
continued to monitor each clone, but made no attempt to revive them. "When
the right time comes, the Spaetors will tell us," an assistant said. The
hours passed. Damark and Light sat together in silence on a bench at one
end of the bay. Damark's uniform was disheveled from his brush with the
Qliphoth, and Light's armor was in exceedingly bad repair. It was much
later when a weary Spaetor approached Damark. "We believe your running
mate is ready to be revived." At Light's anxious gaze, the Spaetor
continued, "we have had a great deal of trouble locating the other one...
There has been a great disruption, and many things are... not as they were,
for us." Now that Light looked at the Spaetor, really looked, she could
see signs of acute weariness. The lines around the Spaetor's eyes were set
in deep, pained creases, and her face seemed drained of even its normal
pale color. Damark rose and followed her.

Beside the bed, a group of Darvots was performing the final neural
re-initializing procedure that would revive Ebon. As Damark stood by,
Ebon's eyes fluttered open. "Oh good," Ebon sighed, "still here." Then
feebly trying to move, he asked, "Shoot, where's my gear?" "Don't panic,"
answered Damark, "I've got it." Ebon's gaze roved over the medical bay,
and he caught sight of the other bed. He looked back at Damark quickly.
"Time will tell," Damark answered his unasked question.

The supervising physician eventually released Ebon into Damark's care.
Light curled up alone on the bench to continue to wait. She was exhausted
herself from the encounter with the Qliphoth, and she had a terrible
headache to boot. The bizarre and frightening memories seemed to come back
to her like a flood, including the terrible moment when she watched from a
porthole as the Beacon blew up with two of her team members aboard.
Suddenly, a soft touch on her shoulder startled her out of her reverie. It
was another Spaetor. Relief flooded through Light as he spoke. "We've
done it. We are ready to revive your friend," the Spaetor said. The
Darvot physicians were again beginning their work.

Bright did not come back gently. She awoke with a start, sat straight up
in bed, and screamed, "EBON! NO!" with a singularly wild fear in her eyes.
The Spaetors around her winced and grabbed their temples. "Easy!" Light
soothed, in the gentle sing-song voice she used most often to coax various
creatures into coming to her aid. Bright was shivering, on the verge of
crying, and clutching the blankets on her medical bed with all the strength
her tiny Darvot clone-body could muster. "He's ok, he made it," Light told
her.

"He did?" gasped Bright, looking wildly around. "It was you we were
worried about, silly," Light replied. "It was??" Bright asked. "Sure it
was," said Light, "You got blown to smithereens. I'm going to have to
nominate you for Rookie of the Year." "Ooooh," Bright groaned, "I can't
believe he came back for me. Nominate Ebon, he's the real hero." Light
nodded serenely. "Will do." she said.

                                        -Light
  The SDO Voice

[Editor's Note:  The "Profile in Courage: Ebon" story is courtesy
                 of the Foundation for the Preservation of Dragons'
                 Star History and is reprinted from their data
                 archives with permission.]


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Editorial Staff
===============
Editor:          Domino
Publishers:      Infoteq, Trillian, Dranor
Guest Reporters: Twlight, Elethaniel Laurenthess, Light

Please direct all comments to: Stargazr@dracon.net
If you wish to become a part of the Stargazer staff, please send email to:
Stargazr@dracon.net with the subject:  "Stargazer Staff Application".
Please include a sample of writing over 100 words in length.
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