Prelude to A War Story
Deep within the Galactic bulge, far away from the ancestral home of humanity, known to some as the Blue Marble, lie the Center Worlds. Roughly the shape of a sausage, it is divided lengthwise into two major populated areas. The Confederacy sits nestled against the clouds of the Core itself, surrounded on three sides by dense clouds of gas and dust that protect it from the raging storm at the center of our Galaxy, on the other side sits a too-thin buffer zone that separates the Confederacy from the United Suns.
Ideological and racial differences keep the two major players in constant conflict within this region. They know they are not native to this area, that they were transplanted here sometime in the far distant past, possibly a million years, or cycles as they say, ago. The major players are the Hablis, roughly human stock within the Confederacy, and the T’Ressi, a human feline hybrid developed before the Hablis who occupy the ruling position within the United Suns.
Within the Confederacy, twelve great Clans fight for position and power over both the Homeworld, where the Lord Emperor of the Clans resides, and over the individual clan territories, which provide food and materials to fuel both their survival and expansion. Clan Camelin is one of the major players as it comprises the bulk of overall Confederacy military strength. They have never tended to take sides, and will defend any and every clan against the United Suns, while striving to keep out of internal affairs unless they spill over into Camelin territory.
The Clans fight with honour and with rigid rules of conflict and structure. Age-old rules of warfare are strictly observed, and any deviation is acted upon with surprising violence. Young Lord Ryo Camelin is a student of tactical and strategic thinking and is in a position to become a strong leader to his people once he assumes the reigns of command.
What he faces will change his life, and the lives of so many people he cares about, forever. This volume of The Center Worlds focuses on the events that changed the entire region forever—the Destruction of Adhara. Dating is set before this turning point to ensure a common timeline, leading up to the focal change in control and leadership.
