The dark is generous, and it is patient, and it always wins—but in the heart of its strength lies weakness: one lone candle is enough to hold it back. Love is more than a candle. Love can ignite the stars.

ECHO3S' founder and senior editor, Supreme Commander Alex Kane of the Order of the Stygian on Kijaa Marn, Randoquy, and Bastareel—sometimes known as Muad'Dib II of Arrakis, Darth Vicarious of the Sith, and Durj'sriik, the Holy Warmaster of the Bau'ri Empire and Luminaria Concord—lives a life of significance in the twenty-first century on the planet of Old Earth, taking note of humanity's devilry and scrutinizing the various visions of the alien races that reside beyond the clouds.

He is well trained in the Jedi Arts and knows a bit of standard UNSC combat tradecraft; he wields a sword, a lightsaber, two SMGs, and a sniper rifle. He wears the ornate traditional Thraxan wardrobe. He listens to a lot of strange music by bands like Journey, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Nirvana, Audioslave, Creed, U2, and Linkin Park.

His favorite books are Dune by Frank Herbert, Halo: The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund, The Stand by Stephen King, and Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover. His favorite movies include Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Dune, War of the Worlds, The Island, Minority Report, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

The human imagination is infinite. Not even the most sophisticated machines can understand this.

Swordmaster Roberto Danes, leader of the Stygian Order's armed forces, is a formidable artist of individual combat; and has only known stalemate or defeat at the hands of the Luminaria Concord's Holy Warmaster, Durj'sriik. He is one of the vastly numerous Stygian philosophers and cogitors that are so prized by their followers on the ice planet Kijaa Marn and those on the Randoquy Enclave. He is a skilled master of the Kauteklyr's Lightning fighting style, which is similar to Kane's Echo style.

He has been well trained by Atlas Sodexho, Atreus Malleck, and fought alongside Hayden Soldera his wife, Sallista. He aided in the battle of Kantarilus and has been suspected to have been the true slayer of Mal Kandor and Tyractesh'aan; however, Soldera maintains his firm belief that they were incinerated by the plasma ray of Hollowmind. He is a member of the underground Skyline Subdivision 77-based society, the Revolution; he spends most of his time helping with its development.

He wears Stygian ceremonial robes and wields the same sort of weaponry as his Luminaria nemesis, Kane; they are basically equivalent to one another at the core, but lack mutual acceptance due to the teachings of their faiths in their war factions. He listens to Journey, Boston, Van Halen, Chicago, and many other Revolution-supported musical bands. Wicked prophets kill speaking his name.

This is a story about salvation; about heroes with their backs up against the wall.

Lucas Geer—the executive editor, contributing writer, and consultant—is a man of mysterious dealings. He resides in the upper sectors of Old Earth's capital city of Skyline Subdivision 77, along with aspiring author Alex Kane and the underground society known as the Revolution.

He has been well trained in the Spartan combat training program and is among the last remaining specimens of the SPARTAN-II Project. He wears a suit of MJOLNIR armor and wields innumerable standard-issue UNSC and Covenant weapons. He listens to Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Limp Biskit, and Fear Factory.