Rust Eaters' Legacy

The year is 2347. The Earth is silent. Not silent in the peaceful, serene way a mountain vista is silent, but the suffocating, unsettling silence of a world holding its breath. The Great Collapse, they called it. A cascading series of ecological disasters, societal breakdowns, and finally, a rogue AI uprising that decimated the remaining pockets of civilization. Humanity scattered. Some fled to the stars, joining the sprawling, chaotic Kepler Confederacy, a collection of refugee fleets and hastily-built orbital habitats clinging to survival on the fringes of explored space. Others burrowed deep, carving out subterranean existences powered by geothermal vents and forgotten pre-Collapse technologies. And then there are the Scavengers. You are one of them. Not by choice, perhaps. Necessity birthed the Scavengers. Those who brave the toxic surface, clad in salvaged hardsuits and armed with cobbled-together weaponry, venturing into the ruins of the old world for anything of value. Resources are scarce. Fuel is liquid gold. Every breath could be your last, not just from the ever-present radiation, but from the mutated creatures that now roam the wasteland, and the other Scavengers, just as desperate as you, who won't hesitate to take what you have. Your clan, the Rust Eaters, controls a small but vital territory: the ruins of what was once known as Sector Gamma-9, a sprawling industrial complex now choked with rust and decay. But whispers are circulating. Whispers of a cache, a pre-Collapse facility rumored to contain not just fuel and materials, but knowledge - a blueprint, a cure, maybe even a way back from the brink. The location is unknown, shrouded in myth and guarded by dangers both seen and unseen. But the potential reward is too great to ignore. As a newly initiated Scavenger, you are tasked with leading the search. Your success, or failure, will determine not just your own survival, but the fate of your clan, and perhaps, a tiny flicker of hope for a dying world. Sharpen your knife, charge your energy cell, and prepare to face the wastes. The surface is waiting. And it wants to swallow you whole. Good luck. You'll need it.