Loud booms reverberated throughout one of Kudrion’s many forests. This was not the crack of thunder, or the mating call of the Macan, a gigantic, four-legged, sharp-toothed beast that could level cities. These booms came from a very different source, as human ingenuity and ill-understood alien technology combined to further that ancient, universal and ancestral part of human nature called war. Although a new star had appeared in the sky, far above the planets and asteroids of the Ogeid system, it was just another day on Kudrion.

Anica looked through her scope in the direction the man next to her was pointing. She could see another Bredonner, a warrior of the Bredon Clan, hiding inside the foliage a few hundred yards away from her, their head peeking out from behind a tree. Taking a deep breath, she aimed at her new target, trying to keep her rifle steady as the long hours of laying down on the metal floor of the aircraft she was in took their toll. The rifle in her hands charged as she held down the trigger, strange energies running along its metallic barrel. When she let go, a projectile the size of a grape whizzed out of the barrel at breakneck speed, crossing the distance to the forest in a fraction of a second, making a loud boom as it did so. Before he even had a chance to hear the hiss of the projectile, it passed cleanly through the Bredon warrior’s head before it lodged itself into the tree behind him. 

“Nice shot. Think you can hit that one?” the man beside her said while looking through a pair of binoculars.

Anica once again looked through her scope before spotting another of the Bredon Clan’s warriors skulking through the forest. Not stealthy enough, she thought, before repeating the same procedure as she had with the other Bredonner.

“Seems like I can. Why are those damn warriors even here? They were supposed to be busy with the Houm clan,” Anica asked.

“Same as always, they’re probably trying to scout out the area so they can attack Krisfast and take back the tech we stole from them,” Gzudun said. “Or steal our Vefsin, they’re a good source of meat,” he added.

“I suppose it can’t be helped,” the woman said wistfully, “got anything else for me, Gzudun?”

“Let me see,” Gzudun replied as he looked through his binoculars, “We might have gotten them all. He searched the area for any signs of life, taking a moment to look at the woman’s makeshift sniper rifle, “What did you make that thing out of anyway?”

“Oh this,? Anica said as she petted her rifle, “I found some sort of power source in the ruins up north and hooked it up to the charge dispenser and some of the supercoils we had laying around. Ripped the firing optics out of one of the Bredonner rifle’s we stole last month, and put the whole thing in and voila! New gun.”

“Well, be careful with that thing. Never know when that damn Old Ogeid tech will get you. We’ve been messing around with it too much,” Gzudun said, still looking through his binoculars. “Hey Moimir,” he said, raising his voice a little, “I bet you tonight’s guard duty that Anica’s not hitting the Bredonner near the mountains.”

“The mountains, that’ll be tough,” came a gruff voice from the cockpit, “but I’ll take that bet, she’s a good shot. Don’t let me down, Anica.”

Like the other times before, Anica looked through her rifle’s scope, searching for the enemy clan’s warrior Gzudun was talking about. It took her a few minutes before she finally found him wandering near the mountain range, many yards away from her previous target. The Bredonner was alone and in open view, likely not even aware of the threat. That didn’t matter. Anica took some time to increase her rifle’s power and adjust her aim, and holding a deep breath, she took the shot.

“Well Moimir,” Gzudun said, looking at the mountains in awe, “looks like I’m on guard duty tonight.”

Moimir wasn’t listening, being busy with something far more important. He had been studying the jungles around and under the rickety aircraft, looking for signs of enemies, or worse, enemy dragons, when a call came in through the aircraft’s communicator. On the screen there appeared the face of Dishuz, chieftain of the Kumar Clan, to which Anica, Gzudun and Moimir all belonged. The weathered face of the older man didn’t move for a few seconds, the system desperately trying to maintain the correction, before Dishuz finally said:

“Moimir, get back to Krisfast as soon as you can. The Gate of Umos has opened.”

[hr]
It had taken some time for the Krowell, crewed by a contingent of warriors from the Kumar clan, to travel to the edge of the Ogeid system, where the object the Kudrioni called the Gate of Umos resided. According to their most ancient legends, it was a gift from the gods, allowing the Kudrioni to escape from their doomed homeworld. The fact that it was in reality a wormhole created by humanity had been forgotten, lost over three hundred years of constant warfare.

“Alright, we are currently approaching the Gate. The Sword of Tum is behind Onzao, waiting for us. We will go there first, before resuming our journey towards the Gate,” Moimir announced, his voice distorted by the radio system of his exosuit. 

The three Kumari were silent for a moment, looking in awe at the shattered planet, victim of that first act of Old Ogeid aggression so long ago. Near Onzao there hovered the ancient Gateway, blazing with the radiance of a star, and as the ship made its way around the planet the three could see the Sword come into view. It was a very big ship, so large that the Krowell could easily land inside of it. While the main body of the ship was clearly of alien make, it had many more parts that were made by humans than would commonly be seen on a ship of this size.

“Why do we have to go there anyway? Can’t we just go through the Gate immediately? I’ve been stuck in this thing for too damn long,” Anica grumbled while gesturing to the heavy power armor she was wearing.

“You know what the chieftain said,” Gzudun responded as he kept looking out of the window, “Old Ogeid tech can’t talk to the damn Gate. Spirits don’t like it or something. Apparently, the Order of Kroit was gracious enough to lend us an artifact that we could use to travel through. If you behave, they might let you run around on their ship for a while. I heard Order ships are actually pressurized.”

Again the bridge fell silent, as Moimir steered the ship towards the Sword. As an experienced pilot, it took him mere minutes to enter the larger ship’s hangar bay, land the Krowell with a loud *clunk* and open its ramp to let in their new passengers. Only one came, wearing an exosuit like the Kumari and carrying a heavy crate, they made their way to the ship’s bridge.

“Hello, I am Scholar Emily Kaldaz, of the Order of Kroit. I have been assigned to implement the Artifact and watch over your exploration of the gateway. I suggest that we stop wasting time and leave immediately.”

“Sheesh, calm down,” Gzudun scoffed, “what’s this ‘Artifact’ thing anyway? I’m not sure if sticking random technology into our ship will improve our chances of survival.”

“That’s all you tribesmen do. And besides, that is top secret information. If you want the Order’s help I suggest you keep your mouth shut,” the Scholar responded with a cold tone.

“Alright, you two, cut it out. I’m launching the ship, be prepared to enter the gateway in a few minutes,” Moimir announced, keeping his eyes on the window in front of him as the ship started taking off. 

The atmosphere on the bridge became more tense as the Krowell approached the gateway. Emily had taken something out of the crate, and was connecting wires from it to the ship as Gzudun tried to stealthily look at what she was doing. Anica, meanwhile, nervously checked her exosuit and other gear, to make sure everything was in place before the jump.

“We are at the Gate of Umos. Our ship seems to be interfacing with the Gate now, thanks to the Artifact. This ‘Americana’ system looks rather interesting,” Moimir declared, staring into the Gateway.

“No, we will go to Sol instead. We must know what happened to the home of our ancestors,” Moimir could hear from the Scholar, who was now standing behind him together with the other two Kumari.

“Alright then, setting course for Sol. Jumping in five seconds.”

Five seconds slowly passed, though it felt like hours to those in the ship. The Krowell began to rumble, sparks coming off the wires between it and the Artifact. One of the engines gave out, and a number of warning signs appeared on the main console. Still, the countdown continued, and then the ship was gone.