And so it happened, first with a spark, a wavering in space- and then a flash of blinding light and heat, a storm in the void, a celestial crescendo like a sun being born. And then only a steady light. The Chosen witness it and believe it is a sign of the God-Queen. A sign that life will change. A nation-wide summon is sent out. "Come to the Church. Join in the service. Hear the God-Queen’s words." For Ashevelen to speak to her flock was something harder to do than not speaking with them, as she, herself never believed in the whole God-spiel which is why she left most of the ruling to be done by the Fist, under her constant guidance. Science, not miracles or Gods, made the Chosen. Alas, it was a necessary ruse when The Chosen were formed and unfortunately for her, it was a necessary ruse until now. The Gateways. The very reason humanity didn’t go extinct. The potential reason for the upcoming death of billions…to think that everyone on the other side, if anyone is still alive, will be friendly would be childish. [b][center]~~~~~~~~[/center][/b] In front of the palace, the faithful would always gather and hope that one day, they'll manage to see the God-Queen. Today there were more faithful than ever, Resilience, the capital of the Chosen, was clogged. Millions stood in front of the Grand Cathedral and even more looking from the Churches. A planet looking at one person. A planet stopping to see what their God has to say. The God-Queen came out of the cathedral, dressed up in her usual white lab coat. The crowds shushed immediately and drones flew towards her, recording everything she did. In the days that would follow, the Chosen will inspect every single frame of the video hoping that the God-Queen blessed them as for most people, she was omniscient. "My children! Look above yourself! Look above me! Look at the stars. Look at the Gateway! The very reason we have all managed to survive the calamities that befell Earth and ever since we first arrived here, I have always wondered. Has anyone else survived? Were others as lucky as you are and my light reached them or have they succumbed to the darkness? Now, it's time to find out. NOW! It's the time to see if anyone else is worthy of being blessed by me! Who will join me? Who wants to be the first who will find out if we are alone?" As soon as the last word came out, a chorus of voices boomed. Volunteers from both the Enhanced and the Rejected soon stepped forward. In an hour, even in the most desolate place of RADX-001, they will know what the God-Queen said. In two hours the Golden Armada would be assembled and ships would be sent out. [b][center]~~~~~~~~[/center][/b] As soon as Ashevelen entered the cathedral, a man approached her, bowing his head, as soon as she finished her speech. [url=https://i.pinimg.com/originals/cd/69/0a/cd690a3d843848db4839e3b96c70d03e.png]High Hierarch William [/url]. The first of the Fist and the only member of the Fist who knew how real her divinity actually was. The only true unbeliever, carefully chosen from the Rejected and then healed of most of his deformities, to keep Ashevelen grounded. The fact that he was a Rejected didn’t sit well with the others of the Fist and even more so that he was good friends with Ashevelen. "The others of the Fist are waiting for you in the altar. They arrived as soon as they heard but before we go, please listen to me : My Queen, this is a great opportunity. May I be the one that will go? If others survived they will be "unbelievers" and we both know that some of the others in the Fist will not take that kindly. We could have an intergalactic war and that’s something that I assume doesn’t fit with your plans." "I'm aware of that, William. Very well aware, so, thank you for pointing out the obvious. The divinity ruse worked for the Chosen as it was the best way to have a working society at that time but that works for our people only. I'll accept your request. Go forth and see who's out there. Be diplomatic, offer them formula N0042-313-1 if they wish to trade, not the permanent one. Don't take too many Rejected with you and make sure those you take are as human as possible. Nothing against your kind but..." "I know my Queen. I know. We would cause unnecessary fear and the sorts." [b][center]~~~~~~~~[/center][/b] The Churches of the Chosen were working in overdrive after the announcement the priests were preaching to the masses the message of peace, calmness. Faith. While the Clerics were preparing the soldiers and the Golden Armada, Enhanced or Rejected, for war. Better safe than sorry. [b][center]~~~~~~~~[/center][/b] Hours later, a ship was prepared. 20 Clerics, 10 Templars, 2 Assassins, [url=http://coolvibe.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Sci-Fi-Art-Erasmus-Brosdau-The-Warrior.jpg] 1 Brute [/url], the High Hierarch William and 50 of the Rejected - hidden in the cargo hold, a safety measure. Supplies and 10 vials of the N0042-313-1 formula kept under extreme security. Approaching the Gateway, the outpost that was once created by the ancestors of the Chosen, was long abandoned. Faith that the Gateway will open once more was long ago replaced by faith in the God-Queen. The controls for the Gateway were written in the sacred language, old English, that only those within the Church were taught. William chose randomly one and hoped for the best. "[i]Salome.[/i]". The journey was instant but left the Chosen, William included, a bit dizzy but that passed up fast. A planet was in view of the carrier spaceship and, not wanting to provoke any violence, William sent a small drone forward which had a message on repeat in all the spoken languages of the Chosen. Romanian, Spanish, Latin and English. “Hello survivors of humanity. We are the Chosen. We wish you no harm. Our ship’s weapons are not armed, feel free to send a diplomat or whatever your people use for diplomatic missions. We seek trade.” [@Ekreture]