Chapter Text
In the vast cosmic tapestry of the 7th Millennium, humanity stood as an inextinguishable beacon of advancement and prosperity, its dominion radiating for 300 light-years across the Orion Arm, in the heart of what was known as "Localized Space." It was a gleaming Golden Age, forged in the fire of innovation, the steel of ambition, and hope, where human creations transcended the limits of mortal imagination. With inexhaustible armies of trillions marching like swarms of living stars and megastructures defying the laws of physics, the human race reigned supreme over more than 100,000 worlds. The Federation of Terran Systems, the current human government, stood as an unshakeable bastion, a colossus of civilization encompassing entire sectors of localized space, uniting planets under a banner of inexorable progress.
The cosmos of Localized Space, once a silent void, now pulsed with life transformed by human hands. Celestial bodies were sculpted like divine clay: arid planets blossomed into verdant oases through intricate terraforming, where artificial rivers snaked through newly born valleys and atmospheres woven from manipulated molecules sheltered eternal blue skies. Entire worlds metamorphosed into colossal metropolises, their surfaces studded with skyscrapers that pierced the clouds like titanium spears. Settlement Towers rose like ancient titans, monolithic structures hundreds of kilometers high, their gleaming facades of glass and metal alloy housing trillions of souls in vertical labyrinths of dwellings, hanging gardens, and automated factories that hummed day and night.
Space ships danced by the emptiness as fish in an infinite ocean, ranging from modest vessels from the size of suburban residences - agile and fast, with polished hooves that cut the ether - until LeviaTans Continental, floating monsters armed with cannons that could vaporize moons and shields that deviate asteroids as if they were mere dust grains. Space stations, larger than whole moons, orbiting as vigilant sentries, their rotating domes simulating gravity and sheltering artificial ecosystems where tropical forests flourished under simulated suns. Bernal's spheres, comparable to floating nations, whirled graciously, with rivers by snaking for their internal surfaces and cities erected in concentric layers, where the day and night were dictated by engineering, not Estelar whims.
Hundreds of megastructures and gigastructures dotted the firmament, monuments to human ingenuity built with astonishing speed and efficiency. Dyson spheres enveloped entire solar systems in pods of iridescent solar panels, capturing every photon of stellar energy to fuel insatiable empires. Orbital rings encircled gas giants like crowns of cosmic jewels, home to billions in pressurized habitats where artificial oceans rippled under simulated gravity. Shell worlds and ring worlds stretched across planetary distances around stars, vast surfaces covered by meticulously planned ecosystems, where artificial mountains rose and valleys echoed with the roar of synthetic waterfalls. Tilt orbits manipulated celestial trajectories with surgical precision; star engines propelled entire suns through the void; Space elevators ascended like pulsating veins from the planetary surface into space, and Matryoshka Brains—vast networks of quantum computing nested like Russian dolls—processed data at speeds that made time seem slow.
But humanity's arsenal wasn't limited to creation; destruction was a refined art. The "Sun Extinguishers" snaked through the cosmos like mythological serpents, their lengths equivalent to planetary orbits, their segmented bodies of black metal and pulsating energy capable of sucking the life essence from a star, leaving behind only a cold, dark void. The Mechanivores, colossal robots the size of planets, pierced rocky crusts with rotating claws that screeched like earthquakes, sucking up oceans of magma, entire cities, and fragmented continents, hurling the debris in furious jets into the stellar abyss—and they didn't stop there, devouring raw data from the ether, erasing digital memories from the fabric of reality. The Omniphages, swarms of nanomachines invisible to the naked eye, spread like a voracious plague across planetary surfaces, covering worlds in hours, dissolving organic and inorganic matter into gray mist, reducing civilizations to cosmic dust. And finally, space bombs and missiles distorted the fabric of space-time, causing entire solar systems to collapse into devouring singularities, where light bent and time stood still.
However, the space that once surrounded this stellar power had become dramatically over the decades, for the universe with its still indecipherable mysteries kept surprises.
50 years ago, a cataclysm of obscure origin - which subsequently dubbed only as "the Rift" - tore the veil of reality. Around the boundaries of human territory, the "LEY LINES" appeared, vast bands of white-bluish cosmic energy that spare through the emptiness as pulsating veins of primordial light. These lines, loaded with an Arcane and unpredictable force, broke the space-time tissue with irregular slots, black instability holes that swallowed and spit alternative realities.
From the mysterious lines that formed, the unbelievable and the impossible happened. Entire worlds of various types were ripped from their original dimensions and universes, bringing with them vibrant and diverse civilizations. New planets emerged from the chaos, populated by countless inhabitants, both human and non-human, including: humanoid or anthropomorphic animals, robots or machines with consciousness and personalities at the human level, completely fantastical beings, and aliens of various exotic races ranging from humanoids to energy beings. These newcomers were christened by the Federation of Dimensional Inhabitants, or D-Bees, entities ripped from parallel realities to collide with the interstellar human empire.
In the subsequent decades they came, more worlds with civilizations and beings were sucked through the few cracks who remained open, weaving a chaotic mosaic in the scenery on the spiral arm. Similar worlds of the human pre-stellar era materialized: comic book kingdoms where heroes in colorful covers flew by stormy skies, film civilizations with neon-illuminated cities or noir intrigues Cartoons worlds where laws of physics folded up the whim of humor with comedy; Worlds of anime with expressive eyes warriors with diverse powers, rpg worlds where magicians woke spells in ancient towers with dragons roaring than about accumulated treasures. These worlds covered varied epochs that were, going from mythical antiquity with divine spades on divine fire to futures dystopic with cybergues running through rainy streets, this from numerous genres of fiction, going of epic adventures to cosmic horrors, now coexisting alongside a spatial human civilization that commanded whole constellations.
In the present times that follow, the Federation of Terran Systems maintains its unshakeable position as the dominant power in the Orion Arm. Powerful battle fleets, with armored hulls gleaming under the starlight, roam the vastness of space like cosmic predators. Vast armies, composed of enhanced soldiers and colossal mechs, watch and fight in the name of humanity on countless worlds in Local Space and beyond, their boots echoing on alien soils. Daring and prepared expeditions set out to explore these new worlds, where diplomats in pressure suits negotiate with fantastical or spacefaring kings and scientists study ancient magic or new technologies from other realities with advanced quantum scanners.
These are times of profound change and novelty, where fiction intertwines with reality in the spiral arm of this galaxy. Here, stories unfold: the sagas of Federation individuals, from civilians to supersoldiers with their sharp minds and super-advanced technologies, as well as the new dimensional inhabitants, with their mysteries and unexplored powers. Together, they witness and live through the dawn of a new era, a space of madness and impressive acts where cracks in the fabric of reality promise unimaginable glory—or absolute destruction.
This a time of madness.
This..
The age of Rifts.