Radiance: Part One

L1: Anxious Farewell

October 15th, 2677 CE; 1250 hrs

"The GlobalRight Space-Savior excursion will launch in two week's time,"

The disparaged newscaster spoke to the camera, not even bothering to try and fake his usual smile.

"All of those under thirty years of age, as per the Global Accords of January 25th, 2514, will board their respective ships and be off-planet by sun down on October 29th, 2677. Those of us left behind have been given our Outs, respectively, and will begin the Great Purging after the GlobalRight Party Night. I've had the absolute pleasure to serve this community for the last twenty-two years, and am glad to know the future of humanity is in good hands."

A lone tear slid down the disparaged news anchor's cheek. This would be his last broadcast.

The usually-perky blonde he sat next to stood up and quickly walked out of frame with a barely-stifled sob and the broadcast was quickly cut. The screen was quickly filled by a familiar smiling face-. Umaba, with her golden eyes, haloed by tight, midnight curls, her smile, electrifying, ushered a sense of calmness as her familiar voice took up space where the co-anchor's sob had been clipped.

"Remember, citizens, that this will not be it for us. Our history has not ended, we have simply moved on to its' next chapter. Buried in your fears, there is hope. And that hope will spark the fires that have always burned within us. We send out our best and brightest, in hope, not fear." Her voice rang through Lyda's mind. Umaba had always been there, at least in her digital form, as humanity's guide into oblivion.

Lydaleigh Mason- Lyda for short- nodded in acceptance, mentally repeating the end of the statement, 'in hope, not fear' as she had for her entire life.

This certainly wasn't the first she'd heard of it. Earth's moon was steadily making its way towards the planet and would make contact in two weeks- fourteen days and six hours, but who was counting? She'd been watching it drifting closer over the past several years, taking up more and more of the sky. The tides had all but destroyed the majority of the planet, leaving a small but hopeful populace to cling to what was left of their humanity amidst this new crisis. All they had left was hope.

As an orphan, Lyda felt she was most suited for this journey. She'd been training her entire life, like most, but she looked forward to this in a way that they did not, in a way they could not. Her parents had taken their lives shortly after her birth, knowing they'd die in the collision otherwise. She had friends, of course, but they'd be coming with her to evade the collision. She didn't have any family to be attached to to make her want to stay behind- not that she even had another option- Leave or die. This was the culmination of her entire lifes' work. Twenty three years of planning, finally playing out in front of her.

She'd seen the ships already- she'd even had a hand in their creation- and was excited to board. She was one of the leaders of her colony. Their destination was Alphaterra 4, a planet sixteen billion light years from Earth. The trip would take ten years with the use of temporal-manipulation, but they would be in stasis for nine years and nine months of it, awoken three months before landing to prepare for their descent. A small skeleton crew would keep things running while the majority of the colony were in stasis.

As a scientific, rather than military-based colony, they were being sent to an inhabited planet. They had made contact a little over a decade and a half prior, and had been given an invitation by the populace to settle there and eventually integrate.

The race that would welcome her people called themselves the T'sari; a humanoid species with a so-far immeasurable life span. The files they'd sent depicted them to be what she could only describe as elven- tall and slender, with ears that came to a pointed-fan at the tips. They looked elegant, regal, and mostly androgynous- truly majestic beings that she couldn't wait to meet.