Chapter 1

Many people believed that the human race was doomed to extinction. That in the not-too-distant future, we'd have wiped ourselves out. Far fewer ever dared to believe that humanity would live on, and that it would grow to be so much more than anyone ever thought possible.

But it did. The human race went out to the stars, and it conquered. It established colonies on every planet in Earth's solar system, before it went beyond. It formed alliances with alien races, and conquered more. By the turn of the 41st century, Earth's empire stretched across 12 galaxies, with only good diplomacy on other people's parts keeping their armies from conquering more planets.

Of course, they had their fair share of enemies, and in the year 4045, Earth was in the middle of a war with the Dreth Empire, which was trying to re-claim a series of planets which Earth had taken from them nearly 300 years prior. It had been a bloody conflict, but these were the closing days, and Earth was on the brink of yet another victory. 17-year-old Reylos Senti was not fighting in this war. Reylos Senti was working for the postal service. Specifically, he was on work experience with one of the intergalactic postal craft. It was a small craft, so as to not draw the attention of anyone who might which to rob it. 20 crew on board, delivering the post to the outer reaches of the Empire, and Reylos had the honour of running errands for them all.

"Where's that boy with the drinks?" Asked the ship's captain.

"Right here sir, right here," Reylos said as he ran in carrying two cups of Martian Red Tea.

"No sugar, I hope?" The captain asked.

"Of course sir," Reylos replied. The captain was from Rilgar, and Rilgarians could be made horribly ill by sugar. There was a beep from the console, and the captain looked at it.

"One minute until end of hyperspace," he said. "Get out of here, Earthling, I don't need you distracting me."

"Yes sir," Reylos said, ignoring the captain's use of that terminology, figuring that it was best not to report his superior for breach of the company's policy on racism. Reylos walked down the corridor, and before long, he heard the engines whirring, as the hyperdrive was deactivated. A few seconds later however, the alarm was sounded.

"All crew to their seats!" He heard the 2nd officer say over the intercom. "We've come to the wrong place!"

Reylos of course ignored this warning, and ran down to the observation room. He peered out the windows, where he saw that they'd emerged from hyperspace right in the middle of a battle between Earth and Dreth.

"What's happened!?" Screamed the captain at the rest of the crew in the cockpit.

"We must have mis-set the hyperdrive co-ordinates!" Replied someone.

"Well re-set the co-ordinates!" Shouted the captain. "Before we get blasted to bits!"

"Captain, we're a civilian vessel, they won't shoot us," said the 2nd officer, right before the ship was hit by a stray blast.

"Get us out of here!" Screamed the captain.

Back in the observation room, Reylos had been knocked onto the floor by the blast, and he was practically catapulted across the room by the sudden jump to hyperspace.

"Captain, we're flying without hyperdrive co-ordinates," said the 2nd officer. "We're away now, so may I have permission to leave hyperspace?"

"Permission granted," the captain said, but before anyone could do anything, they heard the sound of the engines failing, and the ship slowly falling to normal speed.

"Sir, the engines are too damaged to continue."

They all looked at the viewing screen, and saw that they'd come out in orbit of a planet.

"What planet's that?" The captain asked. "Is it one of ours?"

"I don't know," the 2nd officer replied. "But the engines are offline and we're heading straight for it, so we've been grabbed by it's gravity, so we need to prepare for a crash landing."

"Alright then," the captain said, before speaking over the intercom. "All crew to make their way to the stasis chamber immediately for a crash landing."

"Captain ... I can't get the doors working," said the 2nd officer.

"What do you mean!?"

"The button's returning an error. The system must have been damaged in the blast. The cockpit and crew's seats are locked. I can't let any of us out to get to the stasis chamber.

The stasis chamber would put the members of the crew into cryogenic stasis, only releasing them after the impact of the ship. That way, even if the ship was completely destroyed, the ultra-hard materials of the stasis chamber should be able to withstand this, and protect the frozen crew within. Reylos, having not been in his seat when the doors were sealed, was able to follow procedure and run to the stasis chamber. Inside he found the usual things; enough food supplies to keep the crew alive for several weeks, a device to send a distress signal, and a few packs of various tools to aid with survival.

Reylos closed the door, but he didn't turn the stasis chamber on, figuring the rest of the crew would be along shortly. He hoped they would, since he wasn't exactly sure how to work it. He wasn't even sure that the system would let him operate it, since he was so low-ranked.

After a few minutes, Reylos really started to worry about where they'd all gotten to. They'd surely hit the planet's surface any minute now, so they needed to get inside right now.

"Impact in 30 seconds," he heard the computer voice say. "Activating stasis chamber."

"Wait, what about the rest of-" That was all he was able to get out before the system activated.

Meanwhile, the people of the Planet Janosia were sleeping. Their civilisation was like that of a medieval fantasy, millennia from comprehending what was taking place on faraway worlds. However, they would soon be slightly less unaware. On this night, the 15-year-old Princess Magara, daughter of King Sargo V and Queen Lumina II of the Kingdom of Farfalla, was laid awake in her bed, struggling to sleep. She rolled over, and tried once again to drift off, when she saw a bright light begin to build up outside her window. She got out of bed, and pulled back her curtains, before she fell down onto the floor from the Earthquake that seemed to occur for a few seconds, as she saw a fireball from the sky hit the ground outside the Capital.

Magara put on her dressing gown and slippers, and left her bedroom to investigate.

"What is going on?" She asked one of the guards.

"I don't know, your highness," he replied. "I expect your parents will wish to investigate." Magara went to her parents' room, and found them dressed, and about to go out.

"Mother, Father, what is happening?" She asked.

"Apparently a star has fallen from the sky," the Queen replied.

"Your mother and I are going to see for ourselves," the King said. "Go back to bed, Magara."

"Father, I am going with you, and that is final," Magara said firmly.

"Let her, Sargo," Lumina said. "She'll be Queen one day, after all. She needs to learn how to handle situations like these."

"Oh fine, but get dressed," Sargo relented. "You're not going out in public in your pyjamas."

Magara got dressed, and the 3 of them took a horse-drawn carriage to the crash site. A large crowd had already gathered, and the guards were having to keep them back.

"Your majesties, I'm glad you're here," said the guard captain as they approached.

"This object ... what is it?" Asked Lumina.

"I don't know, my Queen," he replied. It is unlike anything we have ever seen. We've poured water on it to stop most of the burning, but we've still not allowed anyone close.

"-the crew!" Reylos continued.

"Environment scan complete. Air breathable to human standards, gravity approximately 1.0023G. Stasis disengaged. Safe to emerge," he heard the computer voice say.

"What..." he said, before he realised. Stasis had been activated, and the ship had crashed. He'd survived, which was good, but what about everyone else?

Reylos grabbed one of the survival packs, and slung it over his shoulders. He opened the door, and emerged from the stasis chamber.

Outside he found that the ship had managed to remain mostly intact, with only a few small fires, which were quickly fizzling out now. He walked to the crew's seating area, and saw that the door had been completely blown off. He poked his head in, but immediately pulled out when he realised he was staring at his dead crewmates. He ran to the cockpit, and desperately banged on the doors.

"Captain! Is anyone alive in there!?" No reply, and Reylos came to the conclusion that he was the only survivor. "Alright ... alright ... I need to work out where I am..."

Reylos worked his way to main exit of the ship. The airlock seemed to have been blown off, leaving only the exterior door. He gave it a push, and it simply fell out. Reylos stepped out, where he immediately began to panic. It was night time, but all around him he could see people watching him, lit up by torches. Natives. Looking around, they were armed with quite primitive weaponry; swords, shields, that sort of thing. He had a laser gun in his survival kit, but that would only last as long as the charge did, and after that he'd be at their mercy. Best to follow survival protocols and befriend the natives.

Reylos reached into the bag, which made the natives look even more ready to attack, and pulled out a small, handheld device. He saw a girl nearby wearing quite regal clothing, and pointed it at her. She looked nervous, and said something, while a regally-dressed man shouted something else.

"Um ... Hello," said a feminine computer voice on his device, followed by a male voice which said "Harm her and you die".

The crowd looked at this boy that had emerged from the star, before pointing a strange device at Princess Magara. He then started speaking in a language which none of the crowd recognised.

"My apologies, I was merely attempting to calibrate my translator to your language," said the computerised voice as the boy spoke. "I mean you no harm. My ... my vessel ... has crashed, and the rest of the crew is dead. I seek shelter while I make contact with my people."