The traffic at Oasis’ main gate has maintained its labyrinthian length throughout the day and beyond the sunset. Deacon watches the red lights of the city walls blink gently in the distance. After almost an hour of sitting in traffic, he shows the guards a Lunar Citizen Signature tattooed on his right arm. The scanner takes an unusually long time to process it, but it does eventually verify that it is legitimate.
He drives his dust-covered stainless-steel hovercraft through the two hundred foot Lunar Vanguard fortress that acts as the city wall. As he passes through, he can see hundreds of armored vehicles and armored soldiers on standby for any kind of threat. Deacon looks up at the gargantuan air purifier towers atop the wall, aiming to admire their scale. Instead, he quickly spots a pair of peculiar pyramid-like structures right next to the closest tower to the gate. They spin around at a steady pace, reflecting the moonlight brightly as it passes across each moving face. He knows exactly what they’re for. The centerpiece of the detective’s investigation, the Thaumaturge program, is here in town.
"Well. Sheesh." Deacon says out loud.
The city descends before him, its moon crater motif invoking a sense of marvel similar to that of a great canyon. He takes another moment to process the thought as he stops at a busy intersection. The hour of inching through traffic had momentarily distracted Deacon from the fact that he had entered enemy territory. Lunar Vanguard soldiers patrol the streets in large numbers. Their ships circle the city in the skies above. Little gleams shine from every nook and cranny of the Oasis city streets. They are often overlooked, but these gleams are always watching. Lenses dot the sightline like a starscape of endless perception. Cameras capture life within the city from every conceivable angle.
The Lunar Federation is considered a diplomatic nation amongst the other sovereign entities of the solar system, but it is a well-known fact that its democratic demeanor is a thin façade which conceals its authoritarian nature. Its militaristic structure was the intrinsic result of attempting to colonize the extremely hostile planet of Earth, however, it became increasingly oppressive after the attempted Earth Restoration uprising only a few decades ago.
When compared to the atrocities committed by the monarchies of Mars and Jupiter, the Federation would seem tame. But the rest of the Sol System only knows the surface of the Lunar Federation’s malfeasance. The Federation oversees Earth, the blue jewel of Sol—the only celestial body positioned perfectly to host life unfettered. Envious eyes glare from across the stars. Mars has quietly amassed a fleet over the course of a decade. Jupiter’s weapons have advanced far beyond the other nations’ capabilities. There are whispers of an invasion—whispers that the Federation can't seem to unhear. It will do whatever it must to protect the jewel that it wrongfully controls. It will go through any length. It will cross any line. The Federation will destroy as many lives as it needs to advance its technologies. Thus, the Thaumaturge program was created.
The Sol System is a realm scarred by the ghosts of the Sunshine apocalypse that nearly wiped out the human species. Trust is its scarcest resource. Interplanetary conflict is nothing new, but the system has barely recovered from the last war and the resulting collapse of Neptune. The planets that orbit the edge have learned much from the past. Saturn has learned to observe from a safe distance, only sending its detectives and their crows to survey the growing tension.
The light at the intersection turns green. Deacon shakes himself out of his thoughts and drives forward.