Perhaps, a breath of life

The grey star was a planet which had not received important visitors in a while. By a while, it was ten long years.

The emperor himself had not visited it in close to fifty years and only a royal envoy came every year in the first month with supplies and messages of pity and sorrows from the emperor for their losses, grievances and pain after winter. Everyone was used to this, it had become expected, after all, the grey star had nothing to offer the rest of the empire.

No energy stone mines, fertile souls, mecha warriors and their beautiful waters did not boast of edible marine life. Most of them mined and sold glowing meteorites which were encased in glass and used as decorative lights.

Others sold beautiful stones on star net, picked up along the shores or hand crafted by stonemasons.