Itaka, The Elegance

The roar of burning engines reverberates through space among the remains of a ruptured shipping freight. Two lancers dive around debris, one in chase of the other in a great astral dance. The pursuer has a sleek and beautiful crimson frame, decorated with floral patterns and ornamentation, while the pursued has a robust chassis bearing an uninteresting paint job. The pursuer’s speakers project a flowing voice from within:

”I wonder how long our little dance will last, vagabond?”

The pursuer’s cannons ring out, with their ordinance slamming into the wall, creating a debris field blocking an exit. The pursued frame hastily ducks into a chamber within the broken freighter, lacking any other option.

”And which way will we walk when our final confrontation arrives?”

The pursued unsheathes the blades within their mech and begins frantically tearing through the ship, looking for a method of escape.

"I wonder, will you fight till the bitter end, till your frame is in pieces? Or will you attempt to flee, and savor our dance for longer."

The pursuer fires their cannons once again, narrowly missing their target and slamming into a steel wall. The pursued continues to claw through the ship recklessly, until they tear themselves into a dead end in the center of the ship-a high security storage room with only one entrance. Now, the two mechs stand facing each other in a standoff.

"It's your move, little thief."

Silence. The two mechs stand locked in place.

"Or, perhaps there's another option"

The pursuer steps aside, lowering their cannons as the hatch on their mech opens up. Out of the mech walks a young man with long black hair wearing a hardsuit in a style evocative of a knight's suit of armor. They walk towards their target, slowly, signaling they mean no harm.

"To fight you now would be unfair, no? Not to mention, our tango through the stars has been quiet enjoyable--I can feel Itaka smiling down upon the both of us."

The Knight of Elegance reaches into his hardsuit and pulls out a rose made of metal, showing it to the criminal.

"Take my rose now, and we'll postpone this encounter. Some other time, we'll fight again and have a real duel."

Pursued slowly walks forward, trying to ensure this isn't a trap. They reach out a mechanical arm, and grab the rose between two fingers, opening the cockpit to place it inside. They step back, taking one last look before blasting out of the room, out into the cosmos.

The knight smiles.

Itaka, the Elegance embodies the pure goodness of the world as observed by humanity, the elegance in all things. They believe the appreciation and observation of the elegance in all things is the true meaning of existence. The creation of all forms of artistry fall under the current of elegance. They display the purpose of aesthetics and meaning within the tapestry that is the cosmos.

Itaka & Mortals

Itaka blesses a large amount of mortals with their power, though their bless is much less destructive than that of other Numen.

They give out their blessing freely to lancers who seek to create elegance in their journey across the stars, generally favoring those with a gentler soul and a velvet glove.

Itaka mainly creates harbingers out of accomplished artists throughout the universe, rewarding their work with the ability to create more elegance through their work.

Follower Factions

The Knights of Elegance are a classical chivalric order of lancers who are infatuated with the elegance of the universe. They pilot beautifully decorated mechs which they use to endlessly roam the cosmos in order to find unseen elegance in the world. The Knights are extremely self-disciplined, following a strict code of honor and chivalry, believing that only through the refinement of themselves they can experience true elegance.

The Maroon Exhibition is a traveling art troupe, scouring the universe for the greatest works of art in the various colonies and cultures spread throughout. They serve as an opportunity for the various disparate colonies in the cosmos to make themselves heard on the interastral stage through the medium of art. The Exhibition is attempting to create the perfect example of elegance in the universe through their collection, leading to their exhibition becoming a sort of holy site for Itaka.

The Elegance is one of the Numen worshiped among the Galaxy Rangers, with those who follow Itaka seeking out fugitives who have destroyed elegance throughout the galaxy. In addition, they seek to act elegantly and artfully in the process of their hunt, making a sort of cosmic dance out of the pursuit of a target.