Homebound for the Horizon

(You could see in the distance a monolithic compound, with a thick steel cable rising from it into the clouds. Past the space elevator and sandy hills, a train sped through the light of early morning. On the second last car, a man in dark clothing sat in the doorway, legs propped up on the frame as he dozed. Above him hung the massive artificial ring encircling the planet, "The Archway". The man sleeping on the train, Badger, was better known as Overlook, a disembodied voice that controlled satellites, deflected asteroids and looked out for everyone on the surface below. He rarely left The Archway, trusting his own face as his mask. He came down for supplies, not friends. Badger seemed to wake up instantly once they reached the station, leaping off before any of the conductors even noticed him. Disappearing into the buzz of the city's crowd, it was no time at all before he was filling his small pack. It wasn't much, but then again, there wasn't much in his c...

(An untold number of years ago... above a small green world... with a silent flash of light, a mighty warship appeared. This was followed by another. And another. And another. Ten thousand or more, all big and black and deadly. Aboard the largest, and keenest, a masked figure sat on a throne. He was placed in the middle of his command bridge, surrounded by the shimmering blue forms of the Empire's most powerful and influential Necromancers) Lord 1#: "We are agreed then, brothers. Petty infighting and backstabbing has all but crippled the Empire. In order to survive, our ENTIRE Order will partake in the right of combat. There can be only one Emperor, one true Lord, cleansed by fire and blood" (To his surprise, his comrades did not descend into the squabbling and bickering they always did when gathered together. Instead, all he saw were curt nods and grim agreement. Save for one surly woman, a pointed-eared alien filth he had never cared for) Lord 2#: "What of the nati...