S01:E06
In Session 6 of Sparks of the Past, the crew starts with a prize that barely deserves the word: the newly raised shipboat, the Volante, dragged up from more than a century underwater and now technically breathable, mostly functional, and absolutely disgusting. After selling salvage to make it orbit-worthy, they catalogue its many quirks: damaged thrusters, unreliable startup power, a hacked ghost transponder, mismatched repairs, and a smell that may outlive them all. The crew then unlocks Senator Mercer’s datapad and uncovers the larger conspiracy behind his assassination. Mercer had discovered that key political families were being genetically altered over time, likely as blackmail or control. His research points toward a faction within Social Solidarity using psychic clone research to manipulate bloodlines and eventually compromise the highest levels of Jardin society. Following the trail to Mercer’s penthouse, part of the crew finds Home Guard officers already searching the place. A brutal firefight erupts in the elevator and apartment, leaving Victor badly wounded before emergency first aid keeps him alive. Saichi and the team put the attackers down, uncover Mercer’s hidden cache of genetic samples, research notes, suspect photos, a hidden communicator, a laser pistol, and 200,000 credits. By the end, the crew has the proof Mercer died trying to protect, a fragile dead-man switch plan involving trusted contacts and a crusading journalist, and a dangerous choice ahead: keep using Transtar’s protection as cover, hide Mercer from whoever still wants him dead, and prepare for the next lead on Providence.