Exalted: Gunstar Autochthonia

Her body was recovered from the wreckage of her voidfighter and her soulgem retrieved. Once sleek and golden, the Crown of Thunder was gunned down in the far depths of the Spiral where she had pursued a fleet of Hellstars. No sorcery could reach her, but for the three weeks it took to find her, a tiny glimmer of hope existed amongst the Eight Nations.

Merela had witnessed everything in the past four millenia. It was she who was the Tyrant's Sun consort. Unable to understand why the Tyrant Sun; he who styled himself the Unconquered Sun during those times had betrayed his host of Solars, she found the strength to formulate a plan for survival. She was there as well, one of the few who spoke to the Great Maker, to escape with as much of humanity as they could bring. In the plan to transform Autochthon to a war-deva capable of standing up to the Primordials, she too created many of his weapons. She had navigated through different parts of the Spiral, finding mineral-rich planetoids. She gained popularity among the people when she spoke against the Solar Deliberative, instead arguing that a representative order was necessary. She was an ace voidfighter pilot, her voidfighter prominent against the stars of the Spiral as it traced a flaming trail.

How unfortunate then, that the last battle did not have simple Akuma pilots. Instead, the Hellstars were piloted by the Chosen of the Primordials themselves, the Sovereigns of Theion, the Malefactors of Cecelyne, the Defilers of She Who Lives in Her Name, the Scourges of Adrian and the Fiends of the Dragon's Shadow and although each was individually not as skilled as she was, they formed a deadly squad. Did Merela know this, and still race after them, in the hopes that she could do as much damage to the Primordials as she could? Did she still harbor a grudge against the Tyrant Sun for kneeling before the Primordial King, pledging his loyalty away from his Chosen and the humans? The recovered Soulgem knows, but it will forever remain silent.

Gunstar Autochthonia is a chapter in Shards of the Exalted Dream, which details an alternate history - the one in which the Primordial War was lost. It's not written in much detail, but the gist of it is that in the final days of the Primordial War, the Unconquered Sun pledged his loyalty to the Empyreal Chaos, betraying humanity, the Solars, the Lunars, the Sidereals, Gaia, Luna and Autochthon. They all fled in Autochthon's body, and over the years, are building him into a Gunstar, defending their home as they wander the coils of the Spiral, weaponizing Autochthon so that they can fight back against the Primordials.

Solar
Solars sit at the highest echelons of society. As a Deliberative, they rule over the Realm; as Chosen, they are its greatest heroes. The rule of the Solars is ironclad, for there are none better. Solars lead the fleets of voidfighters and battalions of warstriders, they chart the course through the Spiral, they lay down laws still sanctified by ancient oaths, they plan expeditions to planetoids unknown.

A quiet calm presides over the Deliberative, but even the pinnacle of humanity cannot agree amongst themselves. It is divided into camps of populists, socialists, pacifists and their influence reverberates throughout the Eight Nations. In a pinch, they are able band together to repel their attackers, but disagreements pick up again in quieter times.

What about the Zenith caste, once the priests of the Tyrant Sun? These are now castigators of their enemies, zealous in their fervor. Zeniths have found purpose in many things, including the slaying of the armies of the Primordials, scouts into planets and terrain where the conditions are harsh for both mind and body.

Lunar
Stewards of the Gunstar, the Lunar act as agents against the void. Ruthless and unrelenting, they form packs to carry out the void hunt, rooting out void bringers and slaying Gremlins that decay and eat away on their vessel and source of life. During attacks on the Gunstar, Lunar have been seen to take on their warforms, and fly out to the Spiral, destroying the Hellstars of the Infernals with tooth and claw.

They also seek Luna, keeping an eye out through the endless sea of stars in search of the comet, Gnosis, where Luna was last seen escaping the fury of the Tyrant Sun on. Full Moon, No Moon and Changing Moon alike bear no tattoos and fear no chimerism for the vestiges of the raksha number too little in the Spiral.

Sidereal
The Five-Score Fellowship serves the Solar Deliberative on matters esoteric and metaphysical. It was the Sidereal Exalted who brought the Loom of Fate into the Palace of the Maidens above Hadal, and who wove its strands of causality into the Design of Autochthon. Sidereal magic encoded the patterns of the Seal of Five Divinities into the Loom of Fate, creating a perdurant ward that would prevent the Celestial Exaltations of any Chosen within fate from fleeing Autocthonia upon their death. When Wyldstorms seep into Autochthonia and eat away at time and space with tongues of indigo lightning, it is the Sidereals who reweave
the tapestry of the world. When Yugashi experiments delve too deeply into shinmaic manipulation, it is the Sidereals who erase the conceptual damage done to the universe.

While the Maidens weave the strands of destiny, it is the Sidereals who ensure that no harm comes to their tapestry.

Dragonblooded
The Dragonblooded serve as bureaucrats, pilots and soldiers in Autochthonia.

Themes

What's the endgame?

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