Shadows in the Void

Foreword

It began with fire falling from the sky.

An alien probe, no larger than a child's toy, streaked through the atmosphere and shattered against the soil of Earth. Its arrival was not war, nor peace, but revelation. Humanity looked upon the fragments and understood, at last, that it was not alone.

For centuries, nations had fought over borders, over faith, over power. Yet the probe silenced those quarrels. The question of who else is out there became greater than any question of land or creed.

Scientists gathered in hushed rooms, their voices trembling with awe. Politicians stood before their people, promising unity. Soldiers laid down arms, not in surrender, but in anticipation of a new frontier.

The world changed in a single generation.

Children grew up beneath skies filled with rockets built for peace and exploration, their lullabies the rumble of engines. Cities turned their gaze upward, building towers that pointed toward the stars. The old rivalries faded, replaced by a single dream: to reach beyond the cradle of Earth.

Fifty years passed, and humanity became one. The United Earth Space Corps was born, forged from every nation, every tongue, every hope. Its purpose was not conquest, but exploration.

Ships rose from the oceans and deserts, gleaming with plasma engines and faster‑than‑light drives. They carried families, scientists, soldiers, dreamers. They carried the weight of a planet's longing.

Among them, one vessel stood apart.

The Dominance.

A city in the void, a fortress of steel and light, a promise that humanity would not only step into the stars but carve a path through them.

It was more than a ship. It was a symbol.

And it was destined to sail farther than any before it—into the heart of Andromeda, the origin of the probe.