Kenoskina I: Retribution

Prologue: Fissilis

From a long-passed innocent.

7912 ACA

Foramen City outskirts, Cadrix

I did not think that such devastation would ever come to my homeland. We Komori are powerful, proud, and just. A strict code of honor binds our view of the universe.

That is why the King sent me along with millions of my countrymen to fight the greatest evil ever faced by civilization.

I recall my time during the final year of the War of Survival. The face of my wife as I boarded the military shuttle to the capital comes to mind- an expression of pride and determination.

I wore the same expression. As did my fellow soldiers. We spread our wings as we leaped from the carrier and descended below the clouds on the occupied planet of Pespera. When the Komori standard was finally raised over the planet's capital seven months later, my pride was long gone.

As were my countrymen.

The blankness in the violet eyes of the Terminus who ruled over Pespera lingers in my memory. How that raw power gathered in his Vessel and then burst towards five hundred of our best in a deep purple tide. All five hundred dissipated in the slaughter that day.

One hundred and sixty-three thousand Komori men and women, slaughtered not by an opposing army, but by a single Empyrean and his power over the void. An Empyrean who still lived- he was merely recalled by his superiors.

When I returned with the survivors from the battle for Pespera, even my wife's pride had vanished as she cradled our young daughter.

And then the day came when retribution from the vengeful Empyreans finally arrived to humble our great nation. It had found us, and the galaxy had named it "Worldbreaker." 

That morning, panicked screams echoed through the valley where our small town lay on the outskirts of the capital. I calmly stroked my daughter's soft fur as I hushed her fussing. My wife's gasp suddenly captured my attention. Over the mountains to the south, the blue sky was rapidly rippling and shifting in color to a pure, pale orange. On the peak of the mountain, I saw its silhouette. Unlike the Terminus of Pespera, the Worldbreaker's expression was not hollow, but crazed with cruel fury. The orange sky enveloped the valley, shattering all hope of salvation. A blinding light emanated from the mountain's peak as I held my family close. With a cosmic roar, the glow vanished as a violent flash of untamed power came screaming through the sky towards our town. That pale orange filled my vision.

From vibrant valley to desolate wasteland in an instant. Absolute stillness.

What a pointless end.