PROLOGUE

	The forest planet Daamis IV was a lush vibrant planet. Most of its surface was covered in liquid water, the land mass was teeming with rich forest, the twin suns nourished the planet. The people were happy to farm the land and supply the Sozhen duchy with the harvests of Daamis IV. All of the Planet belonged to the Duke Nikolas Sozhen, and the Duke Nikolas belonged to Daamis IV. The Duke would exclaim from atop his palace that he was to serve the people of Daamis IV, all he asked for was loyalty, and peace and bread would come to the Daamian people.
	His palace rose above the capitol city, made of metal from the asteroid field which separates the Magnian galactic quadrant from the rest of the galaxy. His gleaming platinum palace was the largest structure on the planet. It was harder and stronger than astro-diamonds, but smooth and silver like glass. It was built on the bank of the river that the Dukes ancestors from Terra Prime crossed, over 550,000 years ago. The river ran through a teeming forest on the slopes of magnificent mountains miles from the city. On a clear night, the moons could reflect from the river and shine upon the valley.

						CHAPTER 1
	Yuri Sinov saw a silver and white starship fly through the atmosphere. As it got closer, he could make out the imperial crest of the house of Magnus; a hand holding a plasma-lance and an olive branch in a blue and silver shield. Strength and peace. This starship was a diplomatic ship, a crew of 50, and could hold up to 25 passengers-usually ambassadors of the galactic empire and maybe a few advisors to the Emperor himself. The starship glided over the city and landed a few hundred meters from the Daamian palace.
	Yuri walked through the streets as other Daamians did, towards the palace. A throng of people gathered up next to the gleaming gold palace gates. Some people still were holding their farming tools, and covered in dirt and grime. “Yuri!” a voice yelled. “Konstantin!” Yuri yelled back and greeted his old friend Konstantin Korolev.
“Yuri! I’ve never seen a Magnian starship””
“Its bigger in person! Look at it!”
	A battalion of Daamian soldiers marched through the gates to greet the starship. They wore light blue cloth uniforms and gleaming silver helmets, with only a small filtration mask. They were entirely unprepared for a war, war had not come to Daamis IV in nearly 20,000 years. They carried bolt throwers-ancient weapons that still needed a magnetic coil to operate. Yuri had only seen a bolt thrower a time or two while working on his grandfather's farm, luckily he, nor others on Daamis IV needed such a thing.
Following the battalion was a mass of trumpets and drums, a relic of the Terran past that the Sozhen family held in high regard. The musicians played, while the Duke Nikolas came out to greet the starship. The Duke wore a white tunic with a blue and silver stripe sash from his left hip to his right shoulder, signifying his allegiance to the house of Magnus. He wore navy trousers and simple boots, to symbolize his roots to the agrarian people of Daamis IV. His black curled hair flowed in the breeze and his bearded face looked towards the starship. One hand was outstretched to greet his visitors and in his other hand, he held an ancient iron sickle. This, according to tradition, symbolized friendship and symbolized the humble, yet proud Daamian farmer. He stood in front of the stairs to the entrance to the ducal palace to receive the visitors.
	The entrance ramp of the starship lowered and an envoy of diplomats and ambassadors in long flowing robes walked down the ramp. An official spokesman of the Magnian Empire marched toward the Duke, the spokesman wore dull gray armor. Thick metal plates covered his body, and his movement was obviously hampered. A thick heavy helmet and gas mask covered his face. Yuri watched this ceremony from just outside the palace gate, the Daamian people were not expecting such a lavish ceremony. I’ve never seen a Magnian starship this close! Yuri thought to himself. “Do you think we should give them bread and salt?” Konstantin asked and then chuckled to himself. Imagine that. Yuri thought, traveling all the way from Steora Prime, for humble Daamian bread and salt! Yuri chuckled too with Konstantin.
	The spokesman stopped within a meter of the duke. He removed his helmet and mask. His face was scarred and burned, one of his eyes was missing, and in its place a cyberneural eye augmentation. He towered above the duke. “Welcome, friend, to Daamis IV, I am Nikolas Sozhen, Duke of Da-” The spokesman walked past the duke, and stood on the stairs behind him. He pressed a button on his servo-pack on his chest armor. A loud metallic deep voice bellowed from his mouth. Yuri looked at Konstantin nervously. Nobody has ever ignored the hospitality of a Daamian, let alone the Duke.
“BY ORDER OF THE SUPREME GOVERNOR OF STEORA PRIME, LORD PROTECTOR OF THE  GALACTIC QUADRANT, AND ALL KNOWN AND UNKNOWN BEINGS WHO INHABIT THEREIN, EMPEROR MAGNUS HAS HEREBY SEIZED CONTROL OF DAAMIS IV.”
The voice echoed and bellowed throughout the city. “What…what does this mean, Yuri?” Konstantin asked in a scared voice. “I…dont…i dont know…” Yuri said quietly. The Daamians looked around at each other, no one in living memory has heard such a decree ever. No one knew what to do.  The Duke dropped the sickle and nervously ushered in the imperial dignitaries into the ducal palace.
	The voice echoed and boomed again through the city streets. “DAAMIS IV HAS BEEN CHOSEN BY HIS MAJESTY EMPEROR MAGNUS TO SUPPLY AND FUEL THE EMPIRE IN THE WAR AGAINST THE COUNT VILHELM OF THE TARATULIS SYSTEM.” War? What war? Yuri thought. “I dont even know who Count Vilhelm is, Im not sure where the taratulis system is!” Konstantin cried out as he held Yuris shoulder. The people in the city scrambled back to their homes in the city. “How are we supposed to supply a war, when we live in simple lumber houses!” yuri said out loud, fear and anger seeped through his voice.
	“Look overhead!” Konstantin yelled out as he pointed to the sky. An armada of imperial transport ships appeared in the atmosphere, each transport on the claw held a large cubic device, about 50 meters long in each direction. “Lets go back, Konstantin, lets go back to the farm…” Yuri cried out to Konstantin. The noise from the imperial transport ships and the clamoring Daamian people rang out throughout the city. Yuri and Konstantin walked back to their families farm along the banks of the clear river, trying not to look at the transport ships and their mysterious payloads.






CHAPTER 2

The Duke, the diplomats, and the delegates from the Magnian starship made their way through the great hall of the ducal palace. Busts of the prior Dukes and Duchesses (made from rock from the Magnian asteroid belt), and electrograms of the Dukes lineage lined the great hall. They found themselves in the personal dining room of Nikolas. “A wooden table..” a delegate said out loud. “How…humble!”. Nikolas invited the party to sit at the table. “Yes, madam delegate, we Daamians take great pride in working with our hands, creating things we can all use. Our labor is good for the whole of Daamian society.” Nikolas ran his hand over the smooth wood table. “At our table we can share bread with the grain we grew”. The delegate sat at the table and adjusted her robes. “Thats so…charming!” she said while looking around the dining room. Behind her were massive crystal clear windows that looked out over the river. The suns were starting to set, and cast shadows across the valley.
	An older male delegate wearing the finery of a Magnian ambassador-pale blue outer robes and a silver blouse-stood up to speak. He carried with him a deactivated plasma-lance, a Magnian ceremonial weapon to show he came in peace. “Duke Nikol-” the ambassador began to speak.
“You shall address me as ‘His Highness, Chancellor of Granaries, Duke-Elect of Daamis IV, His Excellency Nikolas of the House of Sozhen.’”. The duke commanded angrily. How dare these people make a mockery of our Planet!, Nikolas thought to himself.
“Yes of course,  your Excellency…” the delegate began to speak. “Three solar cycles ago, Administrator Tao of the 90th moon of the Steoran gas giant was assassinated by agents we believe are from the Taratulian Mandate of the far side of the Magnian astero-”
The Duke interjected. “What do the Daamian people have to do with this? What supplies can we possibly offer the great Emperor Magnus? What fuel can you possibly squeeze from Daamis IV?” The delegate cleared his throat. “Excellency, Daamis IV has an abnormal amount of concentrated uranium in the mantle and core..Magnian starships need this concentrated uranium for fuel…two hundred kilograms can power a starship from Steora Prime to the Magnian Asteroid field and back again, a combined distance of just under 1% of a lightyear.” The Duke paced around the table. “1% of a light year?” the Duke asked before stopping to gaze out of the window. “Yes excellency” the delegate answered. “Half a percent of a lightyear distance from Steora Prime to the asteroid field…forty seven point three billion kilometers, in just over 7 Terran days, with the concentrated uranium fuel”.
	“..and you’ve come all this way to ask my permission?” the duke asked the delegate. “To be frank, excellency, we did not come to ask, we came to tell you.” the delegate responded.
The duke looked out the window at the Daamian forest and saw the moons reflecting off the clear river. “I demand an audience with Emperor Magnus, take me to Steora Prime”.





















				CHAPTER 3

Yuri and Konstantin returned to their farm. Yuris father, Alexander was talking with Konstantins father, Fyodor. “Father!” Yuri exclaimed, “whats going on father?” Alexander looked sternly at the boy; “I dont know, Yuri, we saw the Magnian transporter ships fly over head, we heard from other communes that they were landing anywhere” Fyodor added; “without any care to where they were landing or who’s home they were destroying!” Alexander held Fyodors shoulder. “Calm down Alexander…don't frighten the little ones..”. Konstantin looked at Fyodor; “papa…do you think we’d have to fight?” Fyodor held Konstantins shoulders and looked at his son. “Little Konstantin..”
	Yuris mother, Anya, called the men and boys into the home. She and Katarina, Konstantins mother, were preparing the evening meal. Daamian fish from the river that Katarina and Anya caught themselves with the other women of their local commune. With their fish they had the Daamian staple, a loaf of bread the commune had baked with their grain. The bread of course, was served with the traditional Daamian salt. The great wood table was built by Alexander and Fyodor before Yuri and Konstatin were born. The room was lit by light panels, powered by solar arrays. The house itself was built by other Daamians in the commune. Nikolas’ father, the Duke Alexis, decreed in the Law of Daamis IV that housing was a right all Daamians are born with.
Anya tried to eat, but couldn't. “Those bastard Magnians! How can we even eat now, and act like nothing is happening!” Alexander held her thigh, “Anya, Anya please…”
“No!” Anya gripped the table. “Those Magnian monsters…they bully other systems who disagree with them..if you don’t fall in line with them…they’ll put a Planet Destroyer in orbit around your world..one little ship...and they’ll destroy an entire planet, monsters!” Katarina looked up from her meal; “I hear on Steora Prime, they don’t even feed non-humanoids, they look on non-humanoids as lesser beings…” Yuri sat quietly as he and Konstantin finished their meal. After the meal, Yuri and Konstantin went to the bedroom. The thought of a Magnian Planet Destroyer somewhere in the local star system aimed at Daamis IV filled them both with a deep fear, a terror no Daamian had felt before until now. Neither could sleep.