Celebration

The empty halls of Celebration revealed nothing more than the dust of ages. The propaganda posters, forever exalting the valor of the adAkkaria Convention, were all that were left of this once thriving, and feared, empire.

However, our linguistic efforts are already paying off; security was merely a suggestion and the mainframe gave up its secrets easily.

The logs we recovered were bustling with activity right up to the last of the Propaganda Station's broadcasts.

On that date the adAkkaria Convention of Benevolence simply ceased to exist.

With a hint of dread and curiosity we delved into the subterranean levels of the compound. A sprawling, carefully planned web of laboratories greeted us. Our unit split in two: one half was sent to investigate the laboratories for more insight into the purpose of Celebration. The other continued its descent.

Our scans insisted on the presence of organic material, and it didn't take long to uncover why: the lower levels of Celebration are given over exclusively to observation cells. The mummified remains of adAkkaria citizens are still imprisoned in these cramped compartments. A digital interface next to each chamber offered each occupant's name, the phase of the trial they were subject to, and the observers' notes.

Meanwhile, we recovered the following message:
Our trial run in the Haliios system was a complete and utter disaster. The initial deployment of the subject known as haToor Gailon went as planned. As soon as we were confronted by the Solphani barbarian forces, the subject lost control. While the tempest wiped out the primitive armies, ours too were decimated.

It should be understood that above all, these subjects are vile and disturbed. The sooner the Invocator is online, the better.

The experiments carried out by the adAkkaria Convention were fascinating. Each prisoner was assigned a phase, and as the phases increased, so did the brutality of the treatment. A few, particularly innovative methods stand out: utilization of fire and electricity to kickstart the body's psionic build-up; the removal of essential organs to provoke nascent powers and the use of other senses; and application of mind altering substances to invoke a state of near-death.

Certainly there is inspiration to be taken here. These experts were working towards a relatable goal, namely the advent of adAkkarian Supremacy in the galaxy.

Still, reports indicate that it may have not been this treatment that killed the subjects. Much like with haToor Gailon, many seemed simply to have given up.

Just moments after our observations, … collapsed. Between wails of pain, … screamed that something was breaking open … mind!

Though stable for now, it seems as if some invading entity sought to instill … with a radical insight. … is keen to try again, believing the experience could ultimately have a profound effect.

We have been hard at work unlocking the last section of the Patriotic Institute of Celebration. Meanwhile, a baffling report has reached us from the lower laboratories. The adAkkaria scientists claimed that in each and every being, perhaps even within sentient machines, a spark exists. Inspired by the onset of cosmic storms, they dubbed this power the 'Inner Storm': a maelstrom of desire and potency that drives all sentient life. By subjecting the Inner Storm to extreme experiences, great power could be unleashed.

During his time as a prisoner of war, alAtta Landeer had been the first to discover this effect. As a scientist, he convinced Exalted Command to fund further trials on Celebration. While the logs do not tell us what happened to Landeer, we know from the events in the naval graveyard that his ultimate fate was an unfortunate one.

Subsequent reports refer to a 'more efficient' way of unleashing the Inner Storm. A means that did not require extreme physical cruelty, but relied instead on the invocation of inescapable and lethal terror inside the victim. To initialize the effect on a vast scale, the Convention planned to issue a signal through their sprawling network of propaganda stations.

We have discovered an enormous hangar. An incredibly complex constellation of wires, pipes, and electronics dominated the space - all leading towards a massive, though empty, missile silo. From all appearances, this web had been connected to an object roughly the size of a corvette.

Logs state the this place was used to assemble an apparatus called the Tempest Invocator, and that it had been deployed successfully in the adSul system. While contact with the Invocator was disrupted, the invocator power supply remains in place.

Upon reading the name, the crew was overcome with an irrational sense of rage and began ripping out cables and paneling. It took more than a simple order to calm them down. We are moving ever closer to the truth.

At last, Celebration has unveiled the last of its secrets to us: The Final Phase.

In these hallways, desiccated husks of adAkkaria personnel laid spread across the floors, ripped to shreds by pieces of stone, metal, plastics, and other trash. Something had raged within these corridors, decimating anything and anyone in its way.

But the true horror was yet to come.
Tight holding cells imprisoned half a dozen of individuals. View screens described them as Invocator power supply, but these were clearly juvenile citizens of the Convention, their little frames suspended by dozens of tubes and cables. The fluid within the cells kept them in a state between life and death, their bodies surrounded by a force only akin to the energies within the lingering storm of the adSul system.

The few remaining screens jumped to life, each displaying one single request:
REMEMBER US | SPEAK OUR NAMES | SPEAK OUR NAMES.

We recorded the names of these young people. The last, however, gave us pause: enRida Direen, the individual from Exalted Benevolence who had calmed fire with their mind.

Now, armed with these names, we should be able to contact the cosmic storm once more.