1 Introduction

"I don't know if at this moment anyone will remember how our odyssey began... if after we left our home planet, so long ago, anyone will still think of the centuries we left behind, forgotten in the darkness of the cosmos. Every day all I can do is imagine, imagine the things that would have happened if that individual who invented the predecessor of what are now tachyon fusion engines - applied throughout our fleet - had decided to destroy his progress. The light of hope that the empire has created for the people would never have been reborn after we lost contact with our home, more than two centuries ago; and we owe it in part to our scientists; they made us immortal, they gave the people a reason to believe in us. In our divinity.

The people need a leader to lead them to some purpose, someone to guide them on the path of light and peace. We gave them the high priest Mattsus and, if you were to ask me: Who is my guide?, I would answer that my guide is not one person per se, but millions. Millions who lived and died for us to be here, in this sanctuary we now call "home".

There could not be more cynicism in that expression. Our true home is out there, somewhere in this immeasurable ocean of darkness and silence, and when they all realise it, then and only then will we find our true purpose and enlightenment!

Vaalem Rökari - Sovereign of Light."

Extract recovered and translated from a diary found in the wreckage of the Calidum planetary system. The exact date it was written is unknown, however, carbon tests on the object dictate that it dates from 3,000 years in the past and, given the data explained in the fragment, it is interesting that the message was written on a papyrus-like material.