Wayward

Prologue

        The year is 2612, the universe is being explored by mankind and its allies in a Union of Planets. The old pioneering, highly trained cosmonauts of the past have virtually become the every day citizen. Faster than light travel is a mainstay in not only exploring stars, planetary systems and sectors of space, but whole new galaxies on the fringes of the ever expanding universe. The Union has become large enough where politics have become even more complex with subdivisions handling war, trade, and law-making in different galaxies. But even with the ever growing elaborate construct of ruling bodies, engineering and, evolution, there still lies inside the heart of every human the desire to explore and expand, and here is where our story begins, in the Triangulum Galaxy. One of the oldest known galaxies to man, but yet one of the least explored. Deep inside this nexus of stars, space dust, and emptiness sits a lone Terran star cruiser, the Ragnus, an Odysseus-class star cruiser thoroughbred for the mission her and her crew are currently undertaking. Though the Ragnus may be isolated, the ship only need to travel to the outer reaches of the Triangulum Galaxy to the other ships like herself. Her crew lie in surprisingly unexplored territories, but not too alone. Which brings the question, why is a galaxy so close to the birthplaces of so many important civilizations unexplored? What is it that seems to, until now, subconsciously makes an entire galaxy foreboding. Why is an entire sector of space so close to the universal equivalent of the Fertile Crescent somehow almost barren and devoid of intelligent life? The answers are unknown as of yet, but a young man named Tib, who joined the exploration branch because of those early cosmonauts is about to find himself in a story that generations to come will remember.