December 20, 9025
They called it The Golden Age of Technology.But historians would later wonder if it was truly golden — or simply the calm before extinction's roar.
A hundred years ago, before the world reset itself, humanity's reach had already broken the limits of nature. They conquered the stars, unmade empires, and defied gods older than time. But in their hunger, they uncovered something buried at the edge of reality — a being of radiant light and endless darkness. When it awoke, the universe itself trembled.
In the aftermath, the stars grew silent.Worlds vanished. Records burned.What remained of the human race clawed its way back to survival, rebuilding from ash.
No one remembered the war that consumed the heavens. No one remembered Femil, or the fallen empire that had once devoured galaxies.But the scars remained — invisible fractures in the flow of space and time, buried beneath layers of cosmic static.
For a century, those wounds lay dormant. Then, in the year 9025, they began to stir.
At first, they were just whispers in the data — strange energy surges, ghost signals repeating from nowhere. Then came distortions that bent light, places where the laws of physics stuttered like a broken heartbeat. Scientists called them Abyss Streams, thinking they were natural anomalies. They were wrong.
What they didn't realize was that those streams were tears in reality — the aftershocks of a forgotten cataclysm. Through them, echoes of the past and future bled together. Different timelines overlapped like layers of shattered glass, reflecting what once was and what could be.
And from the heart of those distortions came something else — signals.Voices.Languages that no archive could decipher.
The philosophers of the Stellar Academies debated what it meant. Some said it was proof of alien life. Others, a glitch in the cosmic code. But the public knew it by a simpler name — The Fermi Paradox.If life truly filled the stars, why was the universe silent?
Now, they feared the answer:It wasn't silence.It was quarantine.
Humanity was never alone.It was sealed away.
Patrol Vessel Aurelius
Amid this uneasy age, a patrol ship drifted through the halo stars of a globular cluster — its silver hull marked with the insignia of the Earth Stellar Command. The vessel's name was Aurelius, its purpose simple: chart the uncharted, guard the borders of known space, and report any signs of cosmic disturbance.
Inside, the hum of the engines was a comfort against the void. The crew went about their routines, unaware that they were approaching the very edge of reality's fracture — the same breach born from the war that ended a century ago.
Carlo, the Stellar Executive Officer, leaned back in his chair with a groan.Carlo: "It's already Christmas month. Time flies… Ugh. I just want to go home and sleep through the holidays."
Noah: "Sorry, Carl. Don't get too comfy. More work always finds us."
Carlo smirked.Carlo: "Figures. A thousand years of searching and still no aliens. Do they even exist? I mean, come on — if the universe is as full as they say, where the hell is everyone?"
Noah: "You sound like a philosopher now. Maybe we are the only ones left."
Carlo laughed, unaware of how close his words brushed against truth.Carlo: "Yeah, right. The galaxy's too big for that."
The doors hissed open, and Stellar Deputy Commander Sara stepped in.
Sara: "Talking about conspiracies again, gentlemen?"
Both officers straightened, mock-saluting.Carlo and Noah (in unison): "By order and honor, we salute your presence, ma'am."
Sara: "Acknowledge. Now get serious. We just received new orders from headquarters — we're to venture beyond the Milky Way."
A silence followed. Even the ship's hum seemed to hesitate.
Carlo: "Beyond the galaxy? For what? Commander George's expeditions already mapped that region."
Sara: "Headquarters detected faint transmissions. Not normal wavelengths. They think it might be a new type of gravitational anomaly."
From the bridge, Commander Harold turned sharply. His voice was calm but carried the edge of curiosity.Harold: "Prepare for departure. We'll investigate the anomaly ourselves."
Noah: "You think it's related to the old legends? The vanished fleets?"
Harold: "That's what we're here to find out."
As the Aurelius engaged its drives, the stars stretched into luminous streaks. Space bent and trembled.
None of them realized they were crossing the fractured skin of reality, the remnants of the Aegis field that once sealed humanity away from the stars.Beyond that shimmering divide lay echoes of an empire lost to myth, and a power waiting to awaken again.The same silence that had protected mankind for a millennium was now beginning to break.
The Aurelius leapt forward. Stars stretched into luminous streaks as the ship bent space itself.
But the hum of the engines faltered. Alarms wailed.
Hary: "Sir! Error reports flooding in—something's pulling us in!"
Harold: "Report!"
Hary: "Gravitational anomaly! The pull's too strong!"
Sara: "Full thrust! Break free!"
Hary: "It's not enough, Commander!"
Carlo (panicking): "NOOO! We're doomed! I don't even have a girlfriend yet!"
Noah (gritting teeth): "Brace yourselves!"
Elsewhere—The Vel'Dran Expanse
Far beyond the Milky Way, a Zyphorath patrol ship scanned the anomaly.
Skywarden: "Commander, anomaly detected. It's emerging from the Abyss Stream."
Commander: "Impossible. That sector is barren—just the battlefield of the Thousand Wars. That's… the edge of the Ether Spheres."
The Skywarden's voice trembled.Skywarden: "Sir… it's a spacecraft."
The Commander's expression hardened.Commander: "A trespasser, then. Ready weapons."
The Zyphorath hailed the intruder.
Transmission:"UNKNOWN CRAFT, IDENTIFY YOURSELVES. FAILURE TO COMPLY WILL RESULT IN TERMINATION."
Back on the Aurelius
Noah froze.Noah: "That's… a ship. A real alien ship!"
Sara strained to listen.Sara: "They're speaking, but I can't understand a single word."
Carlo's lips trembled.Carlo: "Are they going to kill us?!"
Hary: "Sending message: 'We are from Earth. We mean no harm.'"
Carlo panicked, grabbing at controls.Carlo: "They won't understand! This is hopeless! I'll get the big guns ready!"
Harold (snapping): "Stand down! No action yet."
The alien weapons powered down suddenly. Silence filled the void.
Skywarden (on Zyphorath ship): "Commander, the language… no match in the archives."
Commander: "Then eliminate them. They're a risk."
A voice cut through.Archivist Kark: "Wait. That tongue… it is familiar."
He accessed forbidden records. His hands shook as he read.Kark: "…This cannot be. That language—those faces. Commander, halt the attack! Request holographic call."
First Contact
Hary: "Sir, they're requesting holographic call."
Harold: "Accept it."
A faint hum filled the Aurelius. Bzzzzzt—whooooom. Sparks of blue light swirled upward, weaving together into a glowing figure. Static crackled, the air itself humming like a storm trapped inside metal walls.
The projection flickered, then stabilized.
And for the first time, alien words emerged—clear, in English.
Zyphorath Archivist Kark: "Greetings… we are the Zyphorathians."
The crew stiffened.
Noah (whispering): "They're speaking English? How…? And what are they? I can't even see their faces—just armor and light."
Harold: "We are Earthlings from the galaxy milky way. We seek no conflict."
Kark scanned their faces, and a sudden chill gripped him. The data confirmed it—without doubt.
Kark (voice shaking): "Earth? Milky way? No. It cannot be. The being's long thought the destroyers…"
He turned sharply.Kark: "Commander—retreat. At once."
Commander: "What? Explain yourself."
Kark: "Do as I say! NOW!"
The Zyphorath ship vanished into the Abyssstream, leaving silence behind.
On the Aurelius, the crew stared at one another.
Harold (puzzled): "Was it something I said? Strange he spoke our language… but why retreat?"
Carlo exhaled,.Carlo: "Pheww—WAAHAHAHA! Commander, they were scared of us! Can you believe it?"
Nervous laughter rippled through the crew. Yet, beneath it, a shadow lingered.
The Archivist's words echoed like a curse:
Earth…the lost empire...