Aetherium Engine Scavengers

The year is 2347. Earth, as you knew it, is a relic of history, a museum piece projected onto holographic textbooks. Humanity has fractured, splintered across the void, clinging to life on terraformed asteroids, gas giant platforms, and derelict alien vessels salvaged from the dust of forgotten empires. You are a Scavenger, a relic hunter, a whisper in the dark corners of the galaxy. Your name is… well, that hardly matters anymore. What matters is the rust-bucket you call a ship, the flickering energy pistol strapped to your thigh, and the gnawing hunger for the next score. You've been drifting the Proxima Centauri Reach for cycles, scratching a living from forgotten tech and the occasional desperate plea from isolated colonies. But rumors have been swirling in the cantinas of Kepler-186f, hushed whispers of something… significant. Something called the 'Aetherium Engine'. Legend has it that this device, lost during the Great Exodus, doesn't just warp space; it bends *time*. Imagine the possibilities. The power. The wealth. The problem? Everyone wants it. From the ruthless Crimson Syndicate, who leave trails of vaporized settlements in their wake, to the enigmatic Collective, whose chrome-plated warriors are rumored to be augmented with pre-Exodus technology, and even the desperate remnants of the Earth Remnant Alliance, clinging to the faded glory of a planet long gone. You've just landed on a desolate, uncharted moon orbiting a dead gas giant. Your contact, a jittery information broker named "Whisper" (ironic, considering his booming voice) has pinpointed a possible location for the Aetherium Engine's blueprints: a derelict research facility, abandoned decades ago after a… incident. Whisper's final transmission crackled with static: "Be careful, Scavenger. They say this place… it's haunted by more than just memories. Something… *changed* those scientists. Something… terrible." Your oxygen gauge is ticking down. The facility looms before you, a skeletal silhouette against the crimson twilight. The air is thick with a sense of unease, a palpable dread that clings to the metal hull of your ship. The hunt begins now. Are you ready to face the ghosts of the past, the greed of the present, and the terrifying possibilities of the future? Your ship awaits. Your survival is your own. Your legend… remains to be written.