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Chapter 2 : Exodus
We were alone; those we had taken now forsook us to return to their holes in the ground, afraid of this new enemy. We could not stand up to it; true to the records, they were far more advanced than we, and were outnumbered as well. So, we did what we could to hold off the tide of invasion. Huge energy barriers were thrown up around planets, giant planetary cannons constructed…but it was all in vain. They knew our home, they knew our plans, and so they advanced on the Mother Planet, Juge.
We quickly hurried plans for an evacuation. It was well known, even to our shattered public, that we would not survive; at least, not on Juge. The rest of the fleet was sent to halt their advance; thousands of ships against an unknown number of enemies…in what we hoped might be a final victory, a triumph over “evil”. Again, our arrogance did us in. As we watched mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, cousins and friends burn in the vacuum of space, we realized that we had but one way out: retreat.
And so began our exodus. Fleeing from the red and green planet which had for so long harbored our wayward souls, we fled into the depths of space. In those final fleeting moments, we watched our planet implode into a fiery display of death and agony. We were few, and they were many…but they let us go. Was it so we could suffer?
Alas, we had no place to go. While we had long prepared for such an event, a destination was lost to us. We could not go to any populated zones, nor could we go to any heavily watched trading routes. We, Galahad, the Galactic Hand, had fallen, and were now homeless…but was it for long? In our most dire moment of need, we discovered a home…a derelict home, floating in vacuum…but a home none the less.
That was how we came to arrive here. Sigma-Copernicus, a once-active research station on the very fringe of the known galaxy. We were few, and alone, but we were strong, and through our own perseverance did we find ways to make due with our limited resources. At long last, in the year 2193, we had found a home. |