[h1]Chapter I: Era Imperium[/h1]

[h3]Mars, Year 5000[/h3]
The Emperor walked down the sanguine halls of the Imperial Palace, treading on a path taken by hundreds before him. On either flank were his guards, the Praetorians, who stood resolute with rifles in hand while their liege stopped and gazed out a wide palatial window at the city of Olympia. Gathered in front of the palace was a consortium of citizens and subjects, eager eyes of many species gazing up in wait of their emperor, the Son of Orion, the Lord of the Stars and the Bringer of Milk. He looked to them with a smile, a knowing-yet-unknowing smile, a confident smile which yielded weakness, the smile of the learned fool on the face of the most powerful being in the Galaxy. And the Man-God went from the window to greet the eager-gathered pilgrims, so that the ants may nibble at the sap of his virtue.

The sirenian mob cried out when Catus gifted his presence, and those of the gathered who were closest to the Emperor did not notice the dark figures whose rifles were aimed at their cerebrum, who would assuredly end them without remorse upon the slightest movement towards Spiritus's chosen leader. The Emperor checked his amplification, and he spoke.

"Citizens of Orion!" As he addressed the porifera, a shrill cacophony came in response. The edges of his mouth curled up, but his palm was raised to bring them to silence. "As you may have heard, the Northern Exiles have been forced back to their expulsion, and our borders are secure. Peace has been restored, and Milk may flow again!"

"This victory, this triumph of our military, was no small feat. For our security, for our children, for our Empire, we sacrificed. Lives were lost, homes were burned, but still, we are victorious! We have built for ourselves a beacon of civilization in the Vast Empty, a great power that will stand the test of time."

"Five millennia ago, our human predecessors, those who laid down the path on which we trod, declared the Common Era. An era in which all Men were of equal stature, an era when all mortality stood beneath what they called 'God'. But we, children of Orion, we have proven them wrong! Now is not the era of commonality, and the Age of God has since expired with our terrestrial-bound existence. We have surpassed the brotherhood of men, as we sit at a table with countless peoples, countless races, in a limitless universe." The Emperor, blind in his farsightedness, stared out into those gathered below him. "No, now is the Era Imperium!"

The living corpses below cheered as buzzards gathered overhead which they could not see. For a will had been decreed, and their inheritance was a dead Earth.

[h3]Today[/h3]
The transport descended slowly above a long-dead Imperial Dreadnought, specks of spacedusts and ash covering the warship. Inside, Ghanzi was rattling off from within his helmet.

"And to think that the Commander General would let these fucking bugs-" The Xuha sniper was red with both frustration and the natural color of his skin.

"Scorpines have every right to be a citizen as you do, soldier," replied Lt. Animo. She was getting tired of his self-loathing alien conservativisms, leaning tiredly against the wall of the ship with her rifle in hand. The rest of the squad, aside from Major Astari, were behind them, too inexperienced to be rid of their anxiety going into a mission.

"Pft, of course you think that, human. Your family was never kicked from their land by Resser-"

"I am your superior and you will speak to me as such!" Animo shot back as she straighted her back, standing threatingly against the sniper. Suddenly, their commander interjected.

"Both of you, calm down," Astari said. "I'm both your superiors, and my head hurts too much to deal with your politics." The two soldiers slowly calmed before Astari nodded to the wreckage below. "We're here."

[hr]
The First Cavalry descended slowly with their jetbacks as Animo cut a whole in the top of the ship with her wrist laser. Their lights were all turned on, and one by one they fell into the abyssal darkness of a Dead Empire's grave. The Major led the group, finding themselves in what must've been the quarterdeck, although not much was left to prove it. The squad slowly walked through the ruinous ship, until finally the newest recruit, a Janari, Private Koaga, shouted out, "Major, think I found something!" Quickly, Astari walked over to him, and looked at the wall he was pointing to. [I]Happy Birthday, Captain![/I] Astari glared at the private. "Might be a clue..." the young man timidly said, but the Major shook his head and walked away.

The Cavalry split into teams of two, and Astari was with Animo searching through the old arsenal. The Lieutenant was thumbing through Orionic rifles, when she said, "You know, you shouldn't undermine my authority like that, Commander." It took him a second to respond, as he was reading through some quarermaster's journal.

"What authority?" He replied, reading over a line about a malfunction in the escape pods. Animo shot up and looked at him.

"I am your second in command! Couldn't you at try and respect as such?" Astari grumbled, gently placing the journal in a front pocket of his armor.

"You shouldn't care about my respect." He crossed his arms. "I'm not who you're commanding. Care about your men, and maybe they'd respect you a little more, because right now, they do NOT." Animo inhaled deeply, then, exhaling, said,

"Permission to speak informally?"

"Permission granted."

"You're a dick."

Josephus was about to reply, when he received a signal from his transmitter. Allowing it through, he saw Koaga, who seemed...out of sorts. "Major," he said, "There's something you should see."

"Private, if this is another-"

"Just...come here."

In the hold, near the escape pods, an array of skeletons were floating against the ship's roof. The entire squad was gathered before them, looking at the perfectly maintained Imperial Navy uniforms adorning the corpses. They watched silently, some of them noticing the claw marks covering the escape hatch. Finally, Major Astari spoke up.

"Alright, let's get out of here, there's nothing to see."