Firing of the Crucible (ePub)

The Empire has thrived for millions of years with very little war marring the peace. It spans a large portion of the galaxy.

Less than a hundred years ago the Empire found a young race, the Easlank. They were a race apparently recent to space travel but who consider all other life to be either slaves or food. The Empire decided to correct this view and help them integrate into the Empire.

Your ship was the only one to survive The Last Battle. The High Court is in exile. All other planets and races of your fallen Empire lie at the mercy of ravenous hoards. Your last hope is a planet that was sealed away from the rest of the universe and used to try and breed the ultimate warrior. A project started over two hundred thousand years ago. Only a few minor problems lie in your way.

You must get there without the enemy following you. A process made difficult in the extreme as they can apparently track Emergence somehow.

Going there without direct permission from the Emperor means your mind will will wiped. Or you will be executed. Or both. Getting his permission at this point is not an option.

There is also the slight problem that the project was terminated because the resultant race was too violent, too uncontrollable, with too much of a chance of killing their handlers instead of their targets. Best case scenario is finding a few survivors who might be able to slow the advance of the Easlank while your Empire recovers. The planet's name in the records means "terrifying experiment".

The natives just call it Earth.

May Goddess have mercy on your soul.