Names

With Genevieve avidly taking the girls to Laira's apartment, Sy was left alone holding a book in hand. The reading material's front and back cover were made of thick synthetic leather with a complexion of blood red. The title was accented gold, exhibiting one word: Union.

Sy opened the book and constantly flicked to the next pages. With its concise content, he would finish it within a few minutes.

700 years ago, humans came together and formed a confederation called Terran Dominion, consisted of military remnants hailing from past wars, independent settlers, huge corporations, explorers and so on. Within these groups rose political factions in order to create a ruling body which would prove to be problematic in the coming years.

After only a few years, an effective central administration was implemented, stabilizing the massive society.

For once, humans banded and strived together under a single banner.

At this time, Pioneers had already established themselves as prominent figures, but not to the level of grandiose as the coming xeno wars or the exploration age.

The Terran Dominion held 200 sectors including 64 star systems. Seemingly large, but when it came to its population, it was insubstantial.

Around 500 billion people including synthetic humans - banned today within the Pioneer factions - spread out across the different systems. Resources were scarce, and the increasing demand for food and energy output started to shake the already crumbling foundation of the Dominion.

150 years later, Pioneers began to set out into the cosmos, an action which initiated the exploration age. One of these enthusiastic figures was Uriel, who would then establish the very first Pioneer faction. The so-called Uriel's Star Network.

Following his example, Pioneers such as the trio of the Federation, duo of the Coalition, Durn, Pyr, Xepp and many more founded their own colonies.

With the intensifying issue of starvation and unsatisfied citizens of the Dominion, the newly established colonies diligently and faithfully expanded toward the dying Terran Dominion, building outposts for the countless refugees journeying for a new home.

But it was too late.

Political factions, backed by mysterious and dangerous guilds, instigated a civil war, hiding behind a propaganda of a new order for humanity.

The internal turmoil devastated numerous sectors including civilian populated areas.

Each of the warring groups fragmenting the once united Dominion tried to recruit the Pioneers into their cause, but true to their creed, the elite bunch remained neutral until the end.

Afraid that the Pioneers would swoop in and rip the benefits once they annihilated each other, the political factions unanimously declared the Pioneers as criminals.

Such action further fractured the human populations. Those who were loyal to the Pioneers, wealthy individuals and various companies funded their own exodus to join the Pioneers in the other side of the quadrant.

Over the years, these people would develop a growing resentment toward the Dominion.

After 50 years of unending turmoils, devastations wroth by starships annihilating entire star systems, new species introduced themselves to humanity in the form of even more horrifying death and destruction. Xenos.

The age of 'The Fall'.

Already weakened from its internal strifes, the Dominion rallied one last time as a single entity, and doggedly defended each of its sectors with its already veteran soldiers born out of its infighting from being overran by the green swarms. Billions still perished by the weeks.

For the first time, Pioneers joined a war - paying dearly in the process. In the face of insurmountable odds against countless, deadly swarms of Xeno, they stubbornly persisted, dying in droves. Uriel perished defending a convoy of human hive ships.

In the end, humanity prevailed...

...but the Dominion was no more.

Territories projecting toward the once united human confederation were abandoned by the Pioneer factions in haste. The peril of Xenos threatened to spread toward the young colonies like flame through paper. Thus ending the exodus.

Future generations would later refer to the vast territories of the Terran Dominion as 'The Fallen Rim'. Once brimming with humans occupying and terraforming planets and building space stations, now an empty shell of its former self. A dangerous place in the void charts.

Sy snap the book shut.

Well, that was how the stories went.

However, in the account of the detailed documentation from recorded pieces in the super archive, there was always a sting in the tail for every tale.

An example was Uriel dying to protect human colony ships. In truth was, he died at the hands of the mysterious guilds while trying to negotiate a compromise for every party.

His extraordinary feat in The Fall had solidified himself as a beacon of exemplary excellence amongst Pioneers.

Furthermore, there was a lot of mystery that needed to be answered, such as these enigmatic guilds in that period and how the Xenos found their way to the Dominion. There was not a single recorded event which narrated the first encounter with the hateful species.

As for the guilds, some account described them as super humans. Deadlier than Pioneers since they do not pursue knowledge, but the art of killing and subterfuge.

Though, this topic was for another time. If Sy had more references, he would eventually uncover more about them since he would be venturing to The Fallen Rim in the future.

On top of that, the Pioneer factions were not the only human settlements out there. During The Fall, countless citizens of the Dominion scattered into the void in mass droves. It was likely that they settled on the edges of The Fallen Rim.

The Pioneer factions had yet to make contact with them or they simply had no intention to. Generations upon generation since the xeno wars, disdain toward the traitorous Dominion had grown within the young generations planted by the old. This hatred would soon find itself directed to the people who followed the once mighty empire until the end - the independent factions and the unknown human settlements on the other side.

For now, he had to digest the new knowledge he attained from the red book. About the Union.

Of course, there were some bias and propagandas installed in its content which he easily distinguished.

Pyr was one of the youngest Pioneer founders also accounted for several rear vanguard actions during the exodus. All in all, the potentate was a great contributor in The Fall, existing in every perilous operations the Pioneers had undertaken.

For some reason, the Pioneer ambiguously disappeared during an operation to evacuate the populace of a planet. This star system in the current time was considered a part of The Fallen Rim but was once a territory of the Union.

Another mystery was that the people of the Union of Pyr considered the Pioneer as a founding father. Sy would like to rebuke this, but only in his thoughts.

In the archives, the trio of the Federation consistently coordinated with Pyr, even teaming up often in an elite Pioneer fleet. Within this encounters, Pyr was described as a woman. There were also images of her in the documentations.

'Why is our history so clouded?' Sy could not help but thought.

Well, actually.. he was not about to complain. When he thought about it, most of the founding Pioneers were shrouded in secrecy.

The trio of the Federation were good examples. Their names were actually not Tir, Rev and Iiv. They were Tulun, Riveit and Ivrel.

Every Pioneer in the Federation's academy were told not to reveal this in the public.

Sy sunk back to his seat, casting his mind to other things. He expertly navigated the interface of the gauntlet wrapped around his left arm. After a few swipes, the device blinked into life, instantly projecting a 3D void chart.

From what he learned from the red book, the Union abandoned four outposts and three planets during The Fall. Using the coordinates provided from the red book, he marked them on the navigation panel before deactivating the gauntlet. His search should be easier now that he pinpointed these locations. His vision from the xeno artifact only entailed an abandoned Union settlement, and there was not a single place in the Union matching that description.

As for him, it was imperative that he pursue personal prowess. The risk of his expedition involved not only Xenos but also other humans. In the red book, it did not exactly stated that all of the people from the abandoned planets were evacuated. Who knows.. there might be some remnants. They might have gone feral from centuries of being disconnected from other humans.

Actually, that was just a product of his wild imaginations.

Sighing, Sy thought about training with Exo-Scouts and Bodyguards from Uriel's Star Network, or the formidable Xeno Hunters and Swordsmen of The Dual Coalition. He was reluctant to go snooping around with The Trinity Federation's elusive Shadow Units, but that would have undoubtedly increased his combat proficiency by many folds.

'Anything.. just anything. Not this.'

He let out a sigh while contemplating the coming tasks.

'Crap! In the end, I'm gonna train to become a mech pilot.'

"What can I do? It's the only available superior combat form in the Union." He muttered unconsciously.