The Empire, 3479
Sol
Luna

In the end, it was as heart-stopping a vision as it had been at the very first: Earthrise. From the moon, the crescent blue world was a priceless, delicate beauty. Silver clouds moved across the Pacific Ocean and slipped over into the cool of the night side. Beyond Earth, fleeting bright explosions lit up the elliptic plains of Sol as the last handful of warships held off oblivion’s due.

Over the southern hemisphere, a brilliant white burst of light shone for a triumphant, desperate moment in time. A small pellet shot up from the Earth and out into space. The ship’s superphotonic engine wells grabbed onto the stellar light and catapulted the vessel on a course for the Windward Passage, reaching on a prayer for a promised land called Heaven. She would never arrive.

Thoss World
Vs’Kssh Citadel

Through the low light of flickering oil lamps, they carried their burden down the winding steps into the bowels of the fortress. They crossed a bridge over a narrow moat, momentarily exposed to the low moonlight, then back into the tight passages. Finally, the four Thrynn arrived at a small door set into the limestone walls. The leader turned the handle, making a creaking noise that set off in the others a surge of nerves. Their scaled heads bobbed back and forth behind black hoods as they scanned for danger. They pushed the door open and moved into a cavernous chamber, laying the deep red chest in a hollow precisely cut in the solid rock walls.

The leader—his name was Grssn—reached out with his slender hand to wipe away the slick rainwater beading on the chest. He cocked his head, attempting to grasp what it was he had risked his life to deliver to this dank chamber in the back alleys of the forlorn old city.

A few lines of writing were visible, deep grooves inscribed on the chest’s lid. The waving curves were unmistakable in their origin for any eye with short experience, but to the Thrynn renegades standing silently in the dimness, the markings were utterly alien. As they withdrew, leaving their burden and sealing the heavy door, Grssn understood only that a silent war was bolting across his world like a thief through the shadows.

The four dark figures were gone.

Leghk Sector
The Nid Berry World

The dark lightning floated over the low hills, lashing out at any mind that dared come within its overpowering grasp. Despite its power and fury, something had changed. The young consciousness perceived something new, an unexperienced sensation. At the edge of its sentience, something akin to fear was beginning to develop.

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Next: "Heretic"

In July 1969, Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, saying, "that's one small step for a man...but one giant leap for mankind." Four months later, when Pete Conrad hopped off Apollo 12 onto the moon, he said, "whoopee! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that's a long one for me." In 4639, still half asleep, Biggs Hilsfar said, "it'll cost too much to land on that rock--just snap a few orbital photos and let's get out of here."

Hilsfar & Company: Because The Tim Has Landed
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