Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:12:45 GMT
SIE System SOlus-001, present day
The system, at first glance, was unassuming. As one would anticipate, a small cluster of planets orbiting around their requisite star. The system primary glowed its same yellow glow, one that had inspired poets and artists, scientists and astronomers, and the humble dreamers who looked to the stars and envisioned the future.
Such were humbler times…..
The introspection, the lost hopes and shattered dreams, the sheer pointlessness, was revealed in stark clarity by the strings of debris that had settled into their own orbits around the planets of the system. No celestial debris was this:
Battleplate and bulkheads, shattered thrusters and blasted hulls, burnt-out gun barrels and the long-run dry shafts of missiles.
And bodies, drifting forever in the howling dark…..
The small Spartan TX-114 scout craft edged silently among the debris clouds. The vessel and its crew of three were, like many of their counterparts, assigned to scan and observe otherwise unused systems for enemy incursion or infiltration.
This system was like many others in the war-torn galaxy, with the scattered evidence of conflict. But this system held a….special place, in the hearts of man. And the Spartans knew they were not the only ones to bear a sign of reverence for these shattered remains.
The third planet of the system spun silently in its orbit, to all intents and purposes another simple body drifting in space.
One look at the surface showed otherwise.
Where once mighty oceans had flowed were now vast deserts of radiation, with the crumbling remains of ancient shipwrecks sitting under the cloudless sky.
The surface was dotted with immense craters wrought by massive bombardment, and trenches dug by the crash-landings of starships.
Here and there, those few remaining cities still stood, their crumbling towers awaiting the next tremor and shift of fault lines to finally surrender to gravity.
Other planets in the system likewise bore scars…but none as deep as the third.
The planet itself was a strict no-trespassing zone: any sort of intrusion was punishable by death.
It was just as well….few wished to go near the world of cinders and shame….
The scout ship passed by the planet on its way in-system, scanning the surface for any changes, as had been going on for centuries. Scientists who analyzed the readings had recently reported that there were a few small potential signs of living matter: a sign perhaps that the planet was, on a cosmic timescale at least, healing itself. Perhaps one day, the planet would be able to live once more, to have children play on its grassy fields and swim in its vast seas.
Maybe one day life would be reborn on that world below.
But for now….
“Scout ship 2134XK: Solus system scan, planet E. no changes, no sign of intrusion.” The ship reported.
With a flash of thrusters, the ship turned away from the burnt world, moving deeper, towards the second planet.
As the scout ship moved on, several things came into view around the third planet.
A series of massive cylinders, their ends blown out and scorched by incredible heat and pressure.
As the cylinders rotated, a splash of color came into view on the dull metal.
A square of red, with crossing blue stripes….and a golden Hammer in the center.
Yes….Earth had been beautiful once.
But such things were no longer to be…..
The system, at first glance, was unassuming. As one would anticipate, a small cluster of planets orbiting around their requisite star. The system primary glowed its same yellow glow, one that had inspired poets and artists, scientists and astronomers, and the humble dreamers who looked to the stars and envisioned the future.
Such were humbler times…..
The introspection, the lost hopes and shattered dreams, the sheer pointlessness, was revealed in stark clarity by the strings of debris that had settled into their own orbits around the planets of the system. No celestial debris was this:
Battleplate and bulkheads, shattered thrusters and blasted hulls, burnt-out gun barrels and the long-run dry shafts of missiles.
And bodies, drifting forever in the howling dark…..
The small Spartan TX-114 scout craft edged silently among the debris clouds. The vessel and its crew of three were, like many of their counterparts, assigned to scan and observe otherwise unused systems for enemy incursion or infiltration.
This system was like many others in the war-torn galaxy, with the scattered evidence of conflict. But this system held a….special place, in the hearts of man. And the Spartans knew they were not the only ones to bear a sign of reverence for these shattered remains.
The third planet of the system spun silently in its orbit, to all intents and purposes another simple body drifting in space.
One look at the surface showed otherwise.
Where once mighty oceans had flowed were now vast deserts of radiation, with the crumbling remains of ancient shipwrecks sitting under the cloudless sky.
The surface was dotted with immense craters wrought by massive bombardment, and trenches dug by the crash-landings of starships.
Here and there, those few remaining cities still stood, their crumbling towers awaiting the next tremor and shift of fault lines to finally surrender to gravity.
Other planets in the system likewise bore scars…but none as deep as the third.
The planet itself was a strict no-trespassing zone: any sort of intrusion was punishable by death.
It was just as well….few wished to go near the world of cinders and shame….
The scout ship passed by the planet on its way in-system, scanning the surface for any changes, as had been going on for centuries. Scientists who analyzed the readings had recently reported that there were a few small potential signs of living matter: a sign perhaps that the planet was, on a cosmic timescale at least, healing itself. Perhaps one day, the planet would be able to live once more, to have children play on its grassy fields and swim in its vast seas.
Maybe one day life would be reborn on that world below.
But for now….
“Scout ship 2134XK: Solus system scan, planet E. no changes, no sign of intrusion.” The ship reported.
With a flash of thrusters, the ship turned away from the burnt world, moving deeper, towards the second planet.
As the scout ship moved on, several things came into view around the third planet.
A series of massive cylinders, their ends blown out and scorched by incredible heat and pressure.
As the cylinders rotated, a splash of color came into view on the dull metal.
A square of red, with crossing blue stripes….and a golden Hammer in the center.
Yes….Earth had been beautiful once.
But such things were no longer to be…..