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By 2079, New Echelon had become the most dangerous city in known space.
Not because of its corporations.
Not because of its gangs.
Not even because of the anomalies spreading through forgotten sectors.
It was dangerous because everyone wanted something hidden beneath it.
The city had become a hunting ground.
Corporate excavation teams dug deeper every year in search of Precursor technology. Entire districts were purchased, demolished, and rebuilt simply to gain access to buried structures below.
Most discoveries ended in failure.
Some ended in disaster.
A few changed the balance of power forever.
The deepest layers of New Echelon became known collectively as the Understructure.
A city beneath the city.
A maze of abandoned transit systems, collapsed sectors, forgotten laboratories, sealed vaults, and ancient ruins stretching for hundreds of kilometers in every direction.
Entire civilizations could disappear within its depths.
Some already had.
Within the Understructure, danger came in many forms.
Anomalies nested in abandoned tunnels.
Mutated predators stalked maintenance corridors.
Harvester Saint congregations occupied forgotten districts where no sunlight had reached for decades.
And somewhere below them all rested relics older than human history.
Among explorers, treasure hunters, and mercenaries, a new profession emerged.
Relic Hunting.
Relic Hunters ventured into the depths seeking technology, weapons, artifacts, and dormant Warframes.
Most never returned.
The few who survived became legends.
As rumors of these discoveries spread beyond human space, outsiders began arriving.
The first confirmed Yautja hunting vessel entered the system seven years before the current era.
At first, the corporations attempted to stop them.
The attempt lasted less than three days.
After several disastrous encounters, an agreement was reached.
The Yautja would be permitted to hunt within designated territories so long as they did not interfere with corporate operations.
The Yautja ignored the agreement almost immediately.
To them, New Echelon represented the ultimate proving ground.
Xenomorph infestations.
Anomaly beasts.
Warframes.
Eaters.
Each offered trophies worthy of remembrance.
Soon additional hunting clans arrived.
The Crimson Hunt.
The Ash Fang Clan.
The Bone Moon Stalkers.
The Silent Spear.
Their presence changed the city forever.
Citizens learned to fear the sight of unfamiliar symbols carved into walls.
Such markings often meant a hunt was underway.
Wise individuals left immediately.
Others became trophies.
Yet not all hunters came from beyond the stars.
The Eaters were growing.
Originally dismissed as isolated anomaly victims, Eaters soon proved far more dangerous.
Unlike mutants or corrupted beings, Eaters evolved.
Every battle made them stronger.
Every victory altered them.
Some developed biological adaptations.
Others absorbed technologies.
The oldest Eaters became nearly unrecognizable from the humans they once were.
Entire Helix Directive strike teams disappeared attempting to eliminate high-tier specimens.
One report described an Eater consuming a combat drone and later deploying identical weapon systems from its own body.
The report was classified.
Many similar reports followed.
The city adapted.
Specialized hunters emerged.
Xenomorph Hunters.
Anomaly Wardens.
Warframe Seekers.
Bounty Collectors.
Each developed techniques for surviving threats unique to New Echelon.
Some became wealthy.
Most became corpses.
Meanwhile, far beneath the city, excavators continued uncovering evidence of something impossible.
The Precursor civilization.
Unlike the mysterious Vault Builders described in early records, the Precursors left behind complete systems.
Functioning machinery.
Ancient archives.
Biological laboratories.
Containment facilities.
Many discoveries referenced projects involving symbiotic organisms, adaptive technologies, and living weapons.
Several records contained fragmented references to something called:
THE ASCENSION PROGRAM.
No complete files have ever been recovered.
What little remains suggests the Precursors sought to create beings capable of adapting endlessly to any threat.
Most researchers believe the project failed.
Others point toward the Eaters and disagree.
Today, New Echelon stands on the edge of a new era.
The corporations are expanding.
The Yautja are hunting.
The Harvester Saint is gathering followers.
Warframes are awakening.
The Eaters are evolving.
And every year, explorers descend deeper into the Understructure.
Searching.
Hunting.
Digging.
Looking for answers.
None realize the same truth.
Something beneath the city has already found them.
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END PART III
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