It is the one hundred and first year of the second age of light, and the peace that has lingered for more than a century is waning fast. The Shadows of the past have risen, and the fires of Hades have been re-kindled. War is brewing once again across the Haven Realm, preparing to consume all in its path.
Far across the territories of the realm, warriors prepare for the coming tide while small conflicts are boiling over to total war as the shadow of the enemy watches in patience while the guardians of the realm destroy themselves.
In the back streets and little known paths of space, traders, pirates and smugglers continue to profit on the conflicts and paranoia of the governments. War is the last thing from their minds - only money is their concern.
While the realm arms to destroy themselves, a lone soldier aboard an abandoned rust bucket emerges from the valley of the Titans, only to tangle his fate with the fate of an alien universe in the hopes of not dying in a war he doesn't belong in so he could one day return home.
Prologue
In the black abyss of seemingly nothing, a faint drumming can be heard in the darkness. louder and faster, the beat grows as a faint light suddenly starts to pierce the darkness. I could feal the padded carpet beneath me as I began to regain consciousness. A faint smell of smoke from the explosions brought about by an almost forgotten battle filled the dark air. The lights were dim, and the red flashers were still piercing through the blackness.
It only took a few moments for me to regain my bearings and ascertain what had happened, I was onboard the Hercules, and just finished the battle against the Prae'Trian Empire.
"Did we win?" I asked aloud to an empty bridge, as I suddenly remembered my final order - the order to evacuate the ship.
I slowly began to sit up, holding my aching head as I went along. I suspected a concussion, but I had no time to check. The helm console came to life with a proximity alert blaring. racing over to the panel I discovered a massive creature in direct combat with a handful of Prae'trian Ships.
"Must be a few survivors" I said aloud again, still refusing to believe that I was dead, an idea that would soon cross my mind several times over the next few hours. "I'll let the beast mop them up, let's see what I have here".
After tapping on the black panel, the console flashed to life. On the sensor screen, I recieved a message simply stating "Position Unknown". The Propulsion systems were limited to thrusters only, and the hull integrity field was so low, a spit ball would have collapsed the ship. Laying my heavy head on the panel, I could feel myself slipping in and out of consciousness until finally darkness fell over my eyes once more, and I drifted off through the abyss of my mind, as the Hercules drifted off through the abyss of space.
When I finally came back, I found the thrusters had energized and that we had traveled through an asteroid field. Amazed by the dumb luck, I neglected to glance at the sensor screen for a full analysis of how this happened, and was immediately beamed off the bridge of the Hercules, and onto an odd, yet Familiar medical center.
"Do not fret, my friend, you are safe!" I heard a calming male voice exclaim. I lay on the bed with a light shining directly in my eyes, only catching glimpses of the dermal regenerator over my forehead. I felt safe, yet frightened of the unknown before me.
"Where am I?" I asked, frantically.
"You are home, Walter" said a familiar female voice in the dark medical bay. As the sihoulette of a man injected me with a syringe, I began to slip out of consciousness once more, but this time with a single thought in my mind - the woman's voice belonged my dead wife.