[center][img]https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/005/394/437/large/jiahong-lun-3.jpg?1490719003[/img]

[hr][hr][h1][color=#d6330b]Celestial Empire of Szuhan[/color][/h1][/center]
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[indent][indent][indent][indent]The Sparrow-class Cutter landed right outside the central palace within a courtyard, its engines whipping pedals into the air as the palace defense guns were silent. A man dressed in the lamellar-like armor of a colonial sentinel of the Grand Garrison jumped out with a holo-scroll in hand. He ran as fast as his augmented legs could take him but even then it took five full minutes of running just to reach one end of the massive courtyard. A detachment of Celestial Dragon Guards moved to intercept him, rifles and glaives ready to cut down this unheard of breach of protocol but the messenger threw himself down before the guards and unrolled the holo-scroll on the stone floor.

The scroll consisted of two metal cylinders connected by thin, spooled wires at the top and bottom housed in the ends of the cylinders. Upon unrolling it, the wires lit up and light was projected between the two cylinders. As the man spread the scroll as far as his arms allowed, the holographic screen flashed with the name of over a dozen ship captains, fleet admirals, colonial governors, station viceroys and master sages. All of them in addition had written the same thing before their names and titles: this message is to be delivered to the Emperor beyond all haste.

Before the messenger could even apologize, the Dragon Guards stood him up and looked at each other: for something to be declared "beyond all haste" explained the unorthodox breach of protocol. One of the captains pulled out a flexible length of solid polymer, not unlike a child's slap bracelet, and threw it around the top of the messenger's face. The blindfold wrapped itself around the messenger's eyes, completely blinding him as the Dragon Guard pulled him through a secret maze of tunnels, backrooms, hidden passages and false walls that only they knew. In a few extremely disorienting minutes, the messenger had been guided almost instantly through miles of the palace complex until he stood before the grand staircase that lead up to the throne room.

Four massive stone liondogs stood on plinths that jutted out of the hundred staircase along with intricately carved and decorated terracrete warriors who stood sentinel, far more refined and detailed than the simple, utilitarian models the messenger had seen patrolling the colonies. Another solid minute of running up the stairs had passed before the messenger arrived at the dragon-faced door that spun around like clockwork to open the lock and let him in.

He burst in to the mild shock and confusion of the gathered officials in the throne room. Military commanders, master ministers, noble lords, and Caijza clan heads watched as the cyber-legged man ran in before the celestial throne, throwing one knee on the ground in a military bow instead of a civilian kowtow, [i]"Oh great Emperor of all Szuhan, may all the blessings of the heavens and of all the peoples be upon thee. I come bearing a most urgent missive from the stars, to be delivered in thou most divine presence."[/i]

The 5th Vermillion Emperor, Jyonlaw sat stoically and resplendent on his elevated throne, on an island from the rest of the massive throne room with a shallow moat of clear water and exotic lilies. The dragon statues behind his throne stared deeply into the messenger's soul, forcing him to stare at the ground in an almost primal fear and reverence of what he might see should he look back. "Rise." The Emperor spoke, "Rise and deliver your missive."

Without a word, the messenger pulled out the holo-scroll and threw one cylinder towards one end to the feet of the assembled lords and the other towards the other side. The floor lit up with the holograph as a 2D shape slowly rose into a 3D projection of a circular ring. Even as a projection of light, its presence could be felt as the space within swirled like a miniature galaxy. A few members of the court gasped as they instantly recognized what the ring was: the ancient deactivated Gateway.

"Your greatest majesty, as of three hours ago, the ancient Gateway above Kraj-Guo has suddenly reactivated. Initial reports and scans suggest it was not opened from our side. According to the sages of Slvaitai Station, it would appear that its current destination is the Sol System."

A silence fell over the room like a heavy blanket. Even the Emperor leaned forward in his throne as if to more closely observe the projection. Muted mummers passed between the court as the Emperor stretched out his hand and pulled the 3D projection away from the holo-scroll and directly in front of him, the interface between the ends of the scrolls with outlets on the floor and hologram projectors in the chamber seamlessly transitioning the process.

With a flick of his wrist, one of the Dragon Guards picked the messenger off the floor and escorted him out of the throne room. Once the dragon door slammed shut once more, all eyes turned to the Emperor who stared at the spinning Gateway before him. No one dared to speak before the Emperor without reason. For when he spoke, the heavens moved.[/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent]
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[indent][indent][indent][indent]Captain Zhareg Hne stood on the bridge of his ship, the [i]Grand Majesty River[/i], as the stars moved in the distant, inky cosmos. By Imperial Decree he was given the honor and responsibility of being the first exploration vessel to go through the Gateway. The past few cycles had been spent preparing the GDZ-18 Sentinel Ship for its new role with upgrades to its scanners and communication as well as now hosting a cadre of diplomats, linguists and historians who zealously guarded a handful of Szuhanese cultural artifacts that were being brought along. 

Fine china vases, intricate clockwork, exquisite jewelry, beautiful art painted upon golden scrolls, ornamental swords made by master smiths, Szuhanese silks that were soft yet more protective than steel alloys and capable of holding a charge along with an entire banner of the most regal looking Terracrete Warriors from the Imperial Palace itself. At this point it looked less of a warship and more like a muesum with how many clerks and scribes were now running around. Although given the history of the Sentinel Ships, one could argue they never looked like much of a warship to being with. The whole reason the Djong-class Warship wasn't being sent out was because of its "sacred role in defending the skies above the Palace", code for "its our only actual warship and we'd prefer to loose your ship and crew over it."

Zhareg knew the game that was being played though, he hadn't spent a life time navigating military politics just to let someone else take the credit. He had every intention of making sure to come back with either something valuable enough to present to the Emperor or information that no superior could take credit for.

As they approached the Gateway, the entire bridge crew held their breath. The Dragon Shrine had a suspicious amount of people next to it and there was enough hushed prayers to fill the ship with an ambient white noise even without the PA systems. Now that they were up close, the true size of the Gateway finally dawned on the captain, it looked big enough to swallow up four Djong-class Warships without issue and it was frankly incredibly intimidating staring at its swirling portal. So far the only things that the researchers had sent through was a handful of rocks and a trio of unmanned drones, claiming it was safe enough because of it. Of course voidsmen tales that spread through canteens and asteroid tea houses that spoke of doom and horrible deaths were conjured up. Captain Zhareg prayed to the dragons he wasn't going to become one of those stories.

"Attention all crew." He announced across the ship, "We are arriving at the Gateway, entering in 3... 2... 1."

The world went slightly pear shaped and fuzzy around the edges. Every time Captain Zhareg blinked, he was looking at things through a entirely different color pallet. The strangest tingling shot down his back, then back up and then to all his fingers and toes as if his individual atoms were vibrating and being sent through time and space. When the ship finally dropped out of FTL, about half the crew tumbled forwards and the other fell on their back. 

About four people threw up as well but given that they had all just been the first Szuhanese to exprience FTL travel and Captain Zhareg expected at least one death, things were already looking better than he expected! Getting back to their feet, the crew switched on the oldest communication codes they knew and every single scanner was being manned, now looking into the ancient home system of humanity.

The Grand Majestic River announced its presence, not with fanfare, but instead with a simple message. A simple line that according to ancient legend had been the slogan of the project that delivered humanity away from Earth and into the stars, to find a new home as their old one died, one final act of a mother saying good by to children she would never see again. And now, it was time for her children to come back and greet her with:
[center][i][sub][h3]Per aspera ad astra[/h3][/sub][/i][/center]
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[hider=tl;dr]
Messenger delivers message to the Imperial Court of the Gateway reopening, everyone is either spooped or shook.
A few days later totally-not-Zheng-He leads an Sentinel-class ship turned exploration and cultural vessel into the Sol System, filled with a bunch of cultural nerds and trinkets, making their presence known by restating the ancient motto of whatever UN/national space program sent the OG colonists into space hundreds of years ago.
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