The Outer Rim | Book One: Far From Home

Prologue

In the year 2553, humans made contact with an alien civilization. Or rather, they made contact with us. The Venmar, an alien race with the appearance of bi-pedal wolves, came to Earth in warships, stockpiled with weapons and artillery, with the intent to kill.

Their goal, however, was not to destroy Earth, but rather to defend it. For unbeknownst to us, another alien race sat just beyond the edge of our system, preparing an invasion that would have left us extinct.

After detecting a massive energy surge right outside the border of our system, the Venmar threw together what few forces they could manage. Their military was spread thin as it was, fighting multiple battles on every front, their own planets and colonies running out of resources.

They knew, however, that these aliens, Wraiths as we call them, only attacked systems where there was a habitable planet. Like a parasite, they would uproot any sentient life, taking over the planet and securing a colony of their own on its surface.

Where there was life, however, there were also resources. Something the Venmar desperately needed if they were to prevent the collapse of society and the extinction of their very race.

The Venmar, with their faster than light technology, arrived just in the nick of time. Our long-range scanners picked up the inclosing threat, the United Nations scrambling to put up any type of rudimentary defense they could. We were sorely unprepared for the appearance of a space-faring enemy force. We wanted to explore the stars, not conquer them, and due to this fact, we had very few spacecraft equipped with weaponry.

Earth was in a state of lockdown, nations launching as many ships as they could in order to protect their planet. World leaders were in hysterics as two alien civilizations appeared out of nowhere, armed to the teeth with technology that far surpassed our own.

While unable to communicate with us due to our obvious differences in language, the Venmar proved themselves an ally when they moved their ships into a defensive position around the planet. With aid from the Venmar, we were able to push back the Wraith invasion, the mysterious aliens disappearing into deep space once more.

After the battle, Earth greeted the Venmar with open arms! And while humanity was not the type of resources the Venmar had been searching for, they found the discovery of sentient life far more advantageous.

Swiftly, an alliance was born, the Venmar sharing their advanced technology in exchange for our incredible knowledge of renewable energy sources and abundant supply of raw materials, as well as help in purging the galaxy of the Wraith scourge.

That was 50 years ago, and since then, more alien civilizations have been discovered! All of them joining with us to form the A.U.S, Alliance of United Systems, in an effort to combat a common enemy.

This story, however, is my story. One that did not start till many years after this historic event in the year 2583, when the idea of living with aliens became the norm, and another miracle baby was born.

Relationships between humans and aliens developed fairly quickly, especially between humans and Venmars. Our two species share many similar traits, even if we are so dramatically different in appearance. We had the same type of blood, ate the same kind of food, breathed the same air, and had similar lifestyles.

Not everything was the same, however, for the Venmar had many similarities between themselves and the wild wolves of Earth. Their appearance was that of a lupine standing on its hind legs, though in place of front paws, they had arms like a human with five-digit hands, each digit tipped with a sharp claw. Their sense of smell was on pare and, in some cases, surpassed that of their canine cousins. The speeds in which a Venmar could reach when sprinting on relatively flat terrain range from 30-40 miles per hour.