We pick up Zeyek's Zemai-4 chronicle with the mining site fully repaired and back in operation. As night fell, so did misfortune...
Without warning, not one, but both of the dig site's large and well-secured battery banks shorted out, dramatic showers of sparks & all. Backup generators failed to start -- they had been, sliced, open. Four security guards lay unconscious, though apparently uninjured. Atop a ridge that lined the back edge of the site, seven figures appeared, with the night sky behind them.
They wielded what appeared to be melee weapons, with blades made of pure energy. The individual in the middle, spoke in a grand, menacing, projected voice for all to hear:
"You may know of us as the Dark Order. We claim protection of this land. You know not the power of these 'crystals' you seek, nor the danger they bring to the uninitiated."
The miners stirred and whispered to each other. A squad of security personnel had drawn their weapons and snuck up the ridge in a flanking maneuver. As they emerged from cover to demand surrender, the nearest and only the nearest of the intruders snapped his head in their direction, relaxed, and slowly raised both hands above his head. Suddenly, he lowered his free hand and extended it towards the guards. He made a motion as if grabbing a handful of air, then quickly bringing it to his chest. The guards began to tremble where they stood. Their weapon hands were outstretched, though now empty, their former contents coming to rest at the intruder's feet as if yanked across the way by an invisible force.
The proclamation resumed.
"Leave this place. Quickly. And do not return. This is not a request."
With that, the "Dark Order" seven deactivated their swords and retreated into the rocky landscape.
Then things got... interesting...
(to be continued...)
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