Guardians: Prologue

Ever since I was a child, things have been a little strange for me. Even before the Briggs academy, I was involved with the military. My “parents”, Christopher and Faren Brown, were Navy engineers through and through. Stubborn, strong, and dead set on helping others; right to the end. I was never truly their son, yet from the moment they found me; they took me in and cared for me as if I was their own.

The military always had an acute interest in me. I was naturally talented in the alchemical sciences and, being of Mau descent, the dragon run military saw me as a tool to be leveraged. So from the moment my parents were out of the picture, and I began taking alchemy classes in school, the military recruiters were on me like dogs.

I always felt like it was a little suspicious, the way my parents passed on. An environmental crisis in the outer reaches made the military pull my parents out of reserves to assist with humanitarian aid. Three days into transit, their starship was destroyed by a pirate faction. The faction was never named or brought to justice. My adopted sister and I were left to fend for ourselves.

High ranking officers sent us their condolences, and the military compensated my older sister and I. The incident forced my sister to grow up and become the breadwinner for the two of us. Within three months, the military had recruited her to the Sarah Briggs Naval Training academy on her parents name alone. I made my distaste for the military as clear as day, but I still had recruiters showing up at my door trying to get me to follow in her footsteps.

For five years now, my sister and I have been living alone in our small, quiet apartment. She would leave for the school years, and I would stay and attend the local school for what little benefit it had. That was until, well, she changed everything

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“Homeworld”, the teacher snapped, angrily shoving a finger towards the classroom's display screen. “Thirty Thousand years ago it was a desolate wasteland of a world, now it's a planet wide metroplex thirteen billion souls strong.”

On and on the teacher drones, sucking away the precious lifeblood of all forty of his students. Time ticked away relentlessly as the rich and deep history of the U.I.P was monotonically drilled into Matthews ears. His mind began to drift, alchemical symbols, starships, superheroes, women, Wherever his mind wanted to run he blindly followed.

“Mr. Brown?”, the teacher's voice called into the void.

Matthew began to unconsciously place his fantasy crushes on a ten point scale, a fairly comfortable place for his mind to drift.

“Mr. Brown!”, the teacher's voice called again.

Rita? Ten out of ten, easy. Sarah Briggs? Hmm, maybe a nine?

Matthews' focus was violently brought back to reality by the snap of a ruler on his desk.

“Mr. Brown, you have slept through my lectures for the past week and I will not stand for it any longer”, the teacher snarled ,”Your first year of highschool has just begun and you're making a fool of yourself.”

Matthew slowly raised his head, and glanced across the classroom. From left to right, every single student was either sleeping, doodling, or reading. Save for Matt's desk partner, who was paying acute attention to the conversation at hand.

The teacher opened and closed his mouth, not quite sure what to do about this strange boy's silent disregard for his authority. Before he could say another word, the bell tolled, and school was out.

Within moments, the room was desolate. Even the headstrong teacher had left, leaving only Matt and his desk partner, Charlotte, who hadn't moved a centimeter from her desk.

“So… are you gonna leave?”, he asked

“Are you?”

Her voice was soft, yet completely monotone.

“Perhaps, what does it mean to you?”

The hint of attitude in his voice did nothing to deter her.

“I'm simply observing, pretend I do not exist”

“You’ve been simply observing me since last year's holidays, Charlotte…”

“And, your point?”

The statement shocked Matthew, it was like this girl had no comprehension of what was socially acceptable and what wasn't.

“I've actually been watching you since the start of last year, but the observations I made during last year's holiday festivals made you the only viable candidate.” She said smugly.

This… was a step too far. Without another word, he swung his backpack over his shoulder and left the classroom.

As he ran into the halls, a shiver shot through his body. The halls were completely devoid of students, yet the bell had rung only minutes ago. And most concerningly, Charlotte had not followed him.

Something is NOT right, I need to get out of here.

He rushed off campus, taking his normal walk home at twice his regular pace. Matthew made his way down empty streets and lifeless back alleys, his only companion being the whirring of air vents. His paranoia began to subside as he came up to his journeys midpoint, a wide neighborhood square. He was still alone, but right now that was more of a comfort to him than anything. He slowed his pace, coming out of an alley into the clearing he'd see a lone figure.

Staring back at him was a muscular, tall woman. A long trench coat draped over her shoulders, arms crossed sternly across her chest. Her silver hair was pulled back into a single, large braid. A large sword sheathed on her hip. Despite the fact that most of her body was covered in shadow, Matthew still knew who she was.

Rita…

She took a step towards me

I tried to take a step back, but my legs wouldn't obey

As she advanced on me, I could do nothing but stand still like a helpless animal

Before I knew it, She stood above me…

an angel... a demon... a bringer of change.

Her skin a glowing bronze in the harsh fluorescent light

In her right hand an amulet, in the left a sword

She asked if I wanted to be something

She asked if I wanted to save the world

She asked if I had the courage to burn a planet to the ground

Or the heart to comfort a grieving mother

Before I could answer, she held out her right hand

And before I could think, I grabbed the amulet,

and the universe opened itself to me

The Dragons: The first of the three U.I.P founding species. Large and tanky Humanoids, they possess powerful reptile-like wings and tails. There are four breeds; Sky, Night, Ice, and Earth. Each possessing unique abilities relating to the environment their breed was spawned from.

The dragons make up ninety percent of the U.I.P’s governing body. Historically, they have held an iron fist over the governing and military actions of the U.I.P as a whole, but in recent years they have been slowly loosening their grip.

Despite their hold on the politics of Homeworld. In the greater expanse of the United Imperium of Planets, The Mau actually hold fifty percent of the total wealth of the empire.