Times have Changed: Starlight Empires, #3

By Hans Trevor Wilms

In a galaxy reshaped by the Destinatus, Simon Martinez wakes from an eighty-year slumber to a world unrecognizable and teeming with corporate tyranny and religious alien oversight. Adrift in this new reality, Simon navigates the underbelly of a human society transformed by the Destinatus rule, where humanity clings to survival on the fringes of the massive corporate space fleet, the CEC. After reconnecting with a relic of his past, Derek Chen, Simon confronts the harsh truths of a fractured society as he journeys through bustling space hangars and dilapidated starships to start to reveal the beginnings of camaraderie.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hans Trevor Wilms
• Release date: May 30, 2024
• ISBN: 9798227102744

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Dedications

Dedicated to Kate. Without you the first book would have been far, far worse.

And dedicated to Charlie, my one and only fan ;) With you by my side, I feel like I can take on any of my crazy ideas. Like writing a sci-fi fantasy novel.

Copyright © 2024 Hans Trevor Wilms, PhD

All rights reserved.

PROLOGUE

The Merger of all things living

On one of the Merger’s many vessels, nestled in the shadows beyond the Edges of the galaxy, a warrior of the Destinatus made her way towards the audience chamber. The ship was dark, illuminated only by a faint purple light that did little to dispel the engulfing shadows. The only sound was her footsteps clanking against the dark stone floor.

Clad in her armor, helmet firmly in place, Gwenyver moved with purpose. The dark was a comfort to most onboard the Merger's domain, but to her it felt oppressive, like breathing under the weight of a boulder. It made her feel trapped.

It made her feel mortal.

It made her understand why the humans had named the Merger ‘Death’.

As she approached the grand double doors of the audience chamber, the ship sensed her Presence and parted the entryway, revealing the vast, dimly lit hall within. At the far end, another armored figure stood facing the black void beyond the chamber's stained-glass windows. Only two perfectly round, white orbs shone through the darkness, marking the presence of a part of the Merger Itself- a fragment of Death. Whatever the God was telling the Destinatus was a murmur lost in the vastness of the chamber.

Gwenyver waited for them to finish at the other end of the chamber, her mind wandering back to the warm, vibrant orange glow of her Fury’s ships, her original God, where she had spent centuries of cycles. The fire-like light there seemed like a beacon of life compared to this cold, somber place.

The Destinatus before the Merger turned to walk away. Facing her now, she saw their face- a skeletal mask of decay, the skin clinging to bone as if in mourning of the life it once knew. It had been the face of the Merger's Vanguard once. The walking husk had once been the most powerful Destinatus in the universe. All of the skeletal Destinatus aboard has been that once. For how long this one had been the Vangaurd, Gwenyver did not know, but she knew how it ended. There was only one way the Vanguard could relinquish their position. The Merger’s satiated Its constant hunger with the Maker’s creations. It was their way. Their relationship. Their truce.

And afterwards, the former Vanguard would still serve, bound to the Merger’s Presence.

Ie re lihyön jeen voo huu? (Do they still remember who they were?), she started to think before catching herself. She couldn’t let her mind wander down that path. She could not risk losing control of her emotions. Never before the Merger.

The former Vanguard passed her, the empty sockets where its eyes had been seemed to be staring out from the open visor of its helmet. Perhaps sensing her thoughts, it closed the visor as it walked past her out of the room. She approached the Merger.

"Ah... Syi päin pois, Puul’s jos nolhis (Ah... Here she is, Fury’s little rebel"), the Merger’s voice echoed in Destani. Now that It addressed her, Its voice surrounded her. As if It was far away, right behind her, and everywhere else all at once. It reverberated both physically and mentally, bouncing around off the walls of the audience chamber and the ones she put up in her mind. The God had spoken the words kindly, almost endearingly, but simply to hear Its voice was a strain.

Pe Holden. (My Divinity.) Instinctively, she fell to a knee, but did not open her visor. She tried not to expose herself to the Merger’s Presence whenever possible. Merely the feeling of it on her skin was overwhelming, like bathing in ice. But more than that, she did not want Its Presence to take her, to slowly twist her mind to Its own. No one could overpower the Merger... they could only resist It. For a time.

"Roo, hol lai. Pii mistyi rä orainso sous ri pui durganus nolhisää? (Rise, young one. Your return must mean the defeat of the durgen rebellion?")

She rose. Yän, pe Holden (Yes, my Divinity), Gwenyver replied, her voice steady, always keeping her emotions under strict guard.

And yet, her guard did little to hide the concern that had been growing inside her. Death did not dismiss her like It usually did after she reported in after missions. It simply stared at her in silence for a few moments before continuing in their home tongue of Destani, ("You triumph. And yet I sense conflict within you. What ails you, creation of the Maker?")

(You are calm as a silent ship during meditation), she told herself. ("Divinity, the rebellion is quelled. But, we continue to head away from the Edges, inward, towards our home. The Spindle and the fleet of the remnant humans are all that remain near