Mysteries in Space
Space is vast, and it's fairly common knowledge that humans are not alone in the cosmos. On the contrary, there are thousands of worlds filled with a variety of alien life, some of it quite advanced, and some hostile to Earth. Strange visitors from other worlds have made their way to our own, but for the most part, Earth is considered something of an interstellar backwater, a primitive curiosity among space-faring races.
Fortunately for Earth and the galaxy, there exists a powerful force for good in the universe, dedicated to safeguarding living worlds and ensuring peace and justice among the stars.
The Star Knights
Sword and shield, Star Stone's light,
shining beacon in our fight,
for justice, honor, truth, and right,
evil beware—the true Star Knight!
—The Star Knight Oath
The Order of the Star Knights began centuries ago on a distant world now known as Citadel. The entity Mentor is a vast neural-mapped cybernetic computer network programmed with the knowledge and experiences of hundreds of thousands of beings; in essence, the sum total of an entire city's worth of minds linked together to achieve a collective intelligence. Many suspect Mentor is a creation of the Preservers, like many fantastic artifacts throughout the galaxy, but it remains silent on the matter of its origins. Mentor possesses vast intelligence and experience, along with direct control over incredibly advanced technological facilities and a nearly limitless power source. Fortunately, it also has a deep sense of fairness and justice.
When the Lor first achieved interstellar spaceflight centuries ago, the Grue often blasted them out of the stars rather than have any rivals for the space lanes. Mentor detected these conflicts, assessed the actions of both star-faring races, and saw there would be a need for agents to maintain order and protect innocents from harm out among the stars.
Mentor began recruiting intelligent and brave beings, using robotic messengers to ferry potential recruits to Citadel, where it began training the first Star Knights. Coming from a variety of worlds across the galaxy and representing a diverse range of species, Mentor first taught its recruits to respect the diversity among them and conquer any prejudices they previously held. Once their training was complete, Mentor equipped each with an advanced suit of armor, with offensive and defensive capabilities and the ability to fly through interstellar space. The Star Knights were charged with preserving peace, order, and justice in the galaxy.
The Lor Republic quickly acknowledged the authority of the Star Knights after witnessing them in action, and most other civilized worlds in the galaxy do so as well. The Star Knights make it a point not to interfere in the internal affairs of other worlds. They rarely go where they are not wanted and concentrate on dealing with natural disasters, interstellar crime, and similar menaces. They also protect developing worlds from outside exploitation and conquest. The Grue Unity considers the Star Knights adversaries, although they respect the Knights' abilities and only challenge them when they feel numbers are in their favor.
There are currently thousands of Star Knights throughout the Milky Way galaxy, but they're still spread quite thin, and multiple Star Knights are only seen together in times of great crisis. Each Star Knight is quite independent and expected to handle matters largely on his or her or its own.
Each Knight wears an advanced suit of technological armor that draws power from the Star Stone, the glowing, multifaceted crystal floating in the heart of Mentor's complex on Citadel. The Star Stone contains seemingly inexhaustible extradimensional energy and may be related to the Moonstone found in Farside City. The Grue have sought to kill Star Knights for centuries to claim their armor and study it, but whenever a Knight is killed, the armor automatically returns to Citadel (often bringing the corpse with it).
A Lor Star Knight, A'Lan Koor, was stationed on Earth for a time. A member of the Freedom League in the late 1960s and most of the 1970s, he was known to Earth simply as "Star Knight." He eventually returned to space and has risen to membership of the Inner Circle that administers the Order of Star Knights. He is considered a candidate to have his memories incorporated into Mentor upon his biological death, although that is not expected for many cycles.
In its long history, only one Star Knight has ever turned against the Order. Rojan Lhar betrayed the Star Knights and attempted to seize control of the Star Stone. He failed but managed to escape, despite the efforts of Mentor and his fellow Star Knights. A'Lan Koor pursued Rojan—who became known as "Blackstar"—to Earth and the two became implacable foes. Years after his betrayal, Rojan was captured and Mentor stripped him of his armor, sentencing the rogue to life imprisonment on an isolated asteroid, although he has since escaped to plot his revenge.
Recently, Mentor has chosen an Earth woman, Maria Montoya, to become the new Star Knight for Earth's sector of space. Sri Montoya helped to fend off a Grue invasion of Earth and is now a member of the Freedom League.
Star Knight Template
Template Cost: 104 points
Skills: Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (civics) 4, Sense Motive 4
Feats: Fearless
Powers: Device 25 (Star Knight armor, 125 points)
Star Knight Armor: Blast 10, Comprehend 2 (languages), Deflect 9 (all ranged attacks), Enhanced Strength 15, Flight 8 (2,500 MPH), Immunity 10 (life support, starvation and thirst), Protection 10 (Impervious), Space Travel 10, Super-Senses 4 (communication link, direction sense, low-light vision, radio), Super-Strength 4 (heavy load: 6 tons)
