Prologue
Several thousand carrier ships landed onto the short golden grass outside a massive city, causing debris to fly from the roar of the engines. Troops jumped out in synth suits that glowed eerily in the setting suns. The suits were almost skin tight, with metal apertures and wrist coms attached to them. Helmets covered their faces but each bore several markers to annotate their squadron and leaders. A woman stood at the front of a squad with her rifle blaster primed and humming in her hands. Multiple squads followed suit. All lined up in formation, awaiting the order to advance into the homeworlders’ city and cleanse the natives so that proper terraforming protocols could be executed without interference. All this as a result from an all out war being declared with the Sarterian nobles. The Telnari Dominion did not bow, scrape or grovel. The Sarterians would pay for their insolence, and it would be resolute and violent. To end all ideas of rebellion, and to make an example of the Sarterians. The Telnari Emperor had already issued his orders. Now it was merely the act to follow suit and fulfill them.
They waited, the sound of weapons charging and clicking into place, for the order. It came after what felt like an eternity. Every squad fell into step, except one. The female squad leader turned and opened fire upon her squad. Several team members fell before she was subdued by a nearby group. The squad leader of the incoming group struck the crazed woman with the butt of his weapon, and she stilled momentarily before falling into a crumpled heap. Thousands upon thousands of soldiers marched by the small skirmish, ignoring the fallen as they continued into the city. Weapons fire and screams created a cacophony of sound, adding to the haunting ambiance of the still suns setting.
The woman was dragged back into a vessel, but not before her weapons and helmet were removed. Revealing a mass of red hair braided back behind pointed ears. The woman’s face was fair, more so than what would be considered mediocre for her race with a pert nose, full lips, and rounded chin. Her skin was a pink hue and from her mouth dribbled blue blood. She disappeared in the ship as its doors closed and primed its engines to a higher whine. The vessel lifted off and made a beeline for the war-ship through the smoke of fires in the city. Below the buildings and houses burned. Those escaping from their homes were dispatched immediately. Men, women, and children piled up in the streets. All bearing similar features to the woman who had opened fire upon her own men. Pink skinned, blue blooded Sarterians…
