(Deoradhán.) Prologue: Retrospect

(Deoradhán.) Prologue: Retrospect

Prologue: Retrospect.

At the turn of the 22nd century, there was a technological singularity- the single most prodigious explosion of advancement in human history. With came the technology that came to be known as “Gravmag.” The original name, lost to history, many say was far more elegant; nonetheless, the common tongue prevailed. Massive world-ships were sent to the corners of the galaxy.

And then came the Casta.

They coveted the restored richness and life of Terra, and they came as a great swarm to strike down her peaceful people. The under-funded armies stood no chance against the sheer numbers of the Castan military might.

However, humanity’s vengeance did not go unwrought.

The human race fled, but with the interstellar-capable ships all gone, it had nowhere to go but the outposts of its own solar system; and behind them they left a gift for the Castan people, having made their home on Terra. Amidst raping the Earth of her wealth and life, the Casta found a device. It spoke to them in a language they did not understand, but the voice behind it was clear: the Casta would die.

Before the Castan race could flee, they were engulfed in a wave of fire that covered the Earth. A plasma cascade bomb had been detonated, and it brought such a tsunami of solar fire that Terra was cleansed of her murderers. Superheated ions incinerated the Casta without warning or mercy. The Castan Queen was destroyed, and her race across the galaxy terminated by her absence.

Alas, it was only a Pyrrhic victory; for Terra herself had been left uninhabitable.

She had become a radioactive sphere of glass, smoldering from the vengeance her children brought upon their foes.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

And it was so that the colonies across the galaxy had been wiped out by the Casta, as the descendants of Earth came to realize. They had been treated as an infection by the violent species, following the world-ships through the holes in space and time through which they traveled.

Three hundred years were to pass, and Terrans were to survive among the remaining habitable places of the Sol System, managing to eke out a living from the planets they had come to know.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

I was witness to this, and I mourn it- but I have no time for tears. I also struggle to survive; I was not born Casta, and I am glad for it. But neither was I born Terran, and that is the problem. I have accepted humanity as my people… will any of them accept me?