Prologue
It was night, the dark sky of Kalabesh specked with the glitter of a million stars. A single ship, insignificant and small, sped across the inky ground, hugging close to the surface of the planet. As the craft was thrown into relief by the light of the moon, its features became more apparent. The front was lit brightly, orange lights pulsing along the hull. It had an unusual, almost organic texture and appearance to it. The ship itself was crescent shaped, unarmed and unmanned. It was a tiny mantis drone, the most meagre ship in the entire mantis armada.
The drone, having no pilot, was programmed to simply scan for any remaining cryonite deposits in the exhausted world it was located. With a simple diagnostics system activated, it began its routine sweep of the area, carefully scanning every inch of its designated territory. It slowly moved forward, as every patch of land turned up with negative results. The planet, as far as the mantis were concerned, was practically worthless. Their spread across the galaxy had left millions of worlds shattered and scarred, resources depleted and lives destroyed. Billions had been killed, for the mantis had no mercy. For them, cryonite was their god, their very reason for existence, and they would stop at nothing to get as much of it as possible. For centuries they had plundered the galaxy for the precious mineral, disregarding every life as mere obstacles in their quest for power.
Humans, young in their exploration of space, first made contact with the mantis centuries ago. Since then, they had been outmatched, outflanked and outnumbered, in every way. The Empire, corrupted by greed and the thirst for knowledge, befriended the mantis, betraying its people to a life of misery and oppression.
The drone was just about o finish its sweep of the area and shut down to recharge, when it detected something. Its scanner was picking up on a fairly large vein of cryonite, buried several metres below the ground. The drone zoomed over to the location to confirm the presence of the cryonite, scanning all the time. There was definitely a cryonite vein underground, enough to warrant the attention of the Mantis Empire. The drone was about to transfer the data to the orbiting harvesters, who would mine the reserve dry, when an antimatter tipped rocket roared out of nowhere, heading straight for the drone. In a resounding boom, the drone was ripped apart, as the STAM-S class Lightning Storm Prometheus shimmered into the visible spectrum.
The pilot felt a wave of relief as he watched the debris from the explosion settle. If the Mantis had found out about even the smallest cryonite reserve on Kalabesh, they would send hundreds of harvesters and support ships to mine the planet to a cinder, and the rebel outpost would have been discovered. He had been shadowing the drone for over an hour, fearful it would discover the only known cryonite reserve left in the planet. As soon as he had seen the drone change course, his finger had started to hover over the rocket trigger.
The pilots name was Erik Spiro, one of the most accomplished and respected Captains in the rebel armada. He had been stationed to the defence of Kalabesh, the rebels new base of operations, after the disastrous mantis takeover of the Gemini system. For five months he and an elite team of pilots from across the galaxy had hunted mantis drones and scouts, keeping the population of Kalabesh safe from a possible mantis incursion. He, being the leader of the team, had had his ship equipped with a prototype cloaking device, to help increase his stealth when following drones.
Erik sent an update to the base. Mission complete. Target destroyed.
He activated the orbital thrusters on Prometheus, and the powerful ship rocketed into the Kalabesh sky. With a low thundering sound, it broke the sound barrier as it climbed.
For years the human settlement had lived in fear of being discovered. But now, change was coming. The tables were about to be turned on the mantis empire.
Humanity was about to fight back.
It was night, the dark sky of Kalabesh specked with the glitter of a million stars. A single ship, insignificant and small, sped across the inky ground, hugging close to the surface of the planet. As the craft was thrown into relief by the light of the moon, its features became more apparent. The front was lit brightly, orange lights pulsing along the hull. It had an unusual, almost organic texture and appearance to it. The ship itself was crescent shaped, unarmed and unmanned. It was a tiny mantis drone, the most meagre ship in the entire mantis armada.
The drone, having no pilot, was programmed to simply scan for any remaining cryonite deposits in the exhausted world it was located. With a simple diagnostics system activated, it began its routine sweep of the area, carefully scanning every inch of its designated territory. It slowly moved forward, as every patch of land turned up with negative results. The planet, as far as the mantis were concerned, was practically worthless. Their spread across the galaxy had left millions of worlds shattered and scarred, resources depleted and lives destroyed. Billions had been killed, for the mantis had no mercy. For them, cryonite was their god, their very reason for existence, and they would stop at nothing to get as much of it as possible. For centuries they had plundered the galaxy for the precious mineral, disregarding every life as mere obstacles in their quest for power.
Humans, young in their exploration of space, first made contact with the mantis centuries ago. Since then, they had been outmatched, outflanked and outnumbered, in every way. The Empire, corrupted by greed and the thirst for knowledge, befriended the mantis, betraying its people to a life of misery and oppression.
The drone was just about o finish its sweep of the area and shut down to recharge, when it detected something. Its scanner was picking up on a fairly large vein of cryonite, buried several metres below the ground. The drone zoomed over to the location to confirm the presence of the cryonite, scanning all the time. There was definitely a cryonite vein underground, enough to warrant the attention of the Mantis Empire. The drone was about to transfer the data to the orbiting harvesters, who would mine the reserve dry, when an antimatter tipped rocket roared out of nowhere, heading straight for the drone. In a resounding boom, the drone was ripped apart, as the STAM-S class Lightning Storm Prometheus shimmered into the visible spectrum.
The pilot felt a wave of relief as he watched the debris from the explosion settle. If the Mantis had found out about even the smallest cryonite reserve on Kalabesh, they would send hundreds of harvesters and support ships to mine the planet to a cinder, and the rebel outpost would have been discovered. He had been shadowing the drone for over an hour, fearful it would discover the only known cryonite reserve left in the planet. As soon as he had seen the drone change course, his finger had started to hover over the rocket trigger.
The pilots name was Erik Spiro, one of the most accomplished and respected Captains in the rebel armada. He had been stationed to the defence of Kalabesh, the rebels new base of operations, after the disastrous mantis takeover of the Gemini system. For five months he and an elite team of pilots from across the galaxy had hunted mantis drones and scouts, keeping the population of Kalabesh safe from a possible mantis incursion. He, being the leader of the team, had had his ship equipped with a prototype cloaking device, to help increase his stealth when following drones.
Erik sent an update to the base. Mission complete. Target destroyed.
He activated the orbital thrusters on Prometheus, and the powerful ship rocketed into the Kalabesh sky. With a low thundering sound, it broke the sound barrier as it climbed.
For years the human settlement had lived in fear of being discovered. But now, change was coming. The tables were about to be turned on the mantis empire.
Humanity was about to fight back.
