JVMenjivar

Astashica: Eternal Starborn Dominion

"Listen well, child of the twin suns. The land speaks, the winds whisper, and the rivers carry old songs. But there is one voice that does not sing, one truth that sleeps beneath your feet. The world you stand upon is not what you believe it to be."

The Xothek Galaxy is gone, consumed by its own hunger for power. The Asemeri once shaped the stars, bending light and void to their will. Their greatest creation, the Formicrons, built empires that stood for millennia.  

But Xothek fell—not to time, nor to gods, but to its own arrogance.  

The Azurevat fire erased them. Cities vanished. Kingdoms dissolved into the abyss. And the last Asemeri fled aboard the Defiance Vanguard, a warship of lost power, its runes still pulsing with ancient knowledge. They sought refuge. They found Astashica.  

A world of twin suns. A world veiled in Light. A world that does not belong to them.  

For three hundred cycles, the Asemeri ruled. They carved their names into the mountains, built their towers over rivers, but Astashica is awake. It watches. It remembers.  

Now, the shadow returns.  

Cosmus has returned. The exile. The usurper. The last remnant of a dead empire. His fleet blackens the sky. His armies rise from the abyss. And in his grasp? The final Azurevat missile—the fire that once shattered the heavens.  

And in the path of destruction, one man stands.  

Tlandar. Son of two worlds. A man of soil and harvest. A man who should have lived his days in peace.  

But war does not ask who you wish to be. It demands who you must become.  

Flee, and the twin suns will set forever.  
Stand, and awaken the Light once more.  

He takes the blade. He spills the blood. He walks the path of no return.  

The Defiance Vanguard looms overhead.  
The Azurevat fire waits in silence.  
The Formicrons stir beneath the sands.  
The ancient Asemeri cores pulse in the dark.  

But beneath it all—beneath the ruins, beneath the rivers, beneath the very bones of this world—there is something older than the Asemeri.  

Something forgotten.  
Something that was never meant to wake.  

This is not a war for land. This is not a war for power.  

This is a war for the right to exist.  

And so I ask, child of the twin suns—will you fight for the Light, or will you let the darkness take it?"

ASTASHICA: Eternal Starborn Dominion

The underground shelter of New Asemeri felt different to Tlandar now. The walls that once seemed like protection now felt like barriers. The familiar corridors, the faces of refugees, the distant hum of the city—it was no longer his world.

For the first time, not because he was forced to flee, but because he had chosen to walk through the door that had been opened for him.

And before he left, he had one last thing to do.

Testing the Cloaking Device

Inside his quarters, Akashma stood silently by the door, her hood lowered, watching him with calm patience.

Tlandar turned the small metallic device over in his hand, studying its sleek surface. "And this… just makes me disappear?"

Akashma nodded. "It bends the energy field around your body, masking you from sight."

He hesitated for a moment before pressing the activation switch.

A soft pulse of energy surged over his skin, and for a brief second, he felt weightless, as though the air around him had shifted.

His hands, his legs—gone.

Tlandar exhaled sharply. "I… can't see myself."

Akashma allowed a small smile. "That is the point."

He took a cautious step forward, then another. His boots made the faintest sound against the metal floor, but his reflection, his shadow, his very presence—erased.

He turned to face the mirror in the room.

A strange feeling settled in his chest—disbelief, awe, unease.

He clenched his fists. "How long does it last?"

"Minutes at a time," Akashma said. "Use it wisely. Moving too fast will disrupt the field. If you make too much noise, someone may still sense you."

Tlandar slowly deactivated the device.

The invisibility field collapsed, and his form flickered back into view.

He let out a slow breath, gripping the device tighter in his palm. "This is real."

Akashma nodded. "Yes. And soon, you will need it."

Tlandar looked at her, his expression unreadable. He was no longer just a refugee.

And for the first time, he truly accepted that.

A Brief and Heartfelt Farewell

His sisters sat together in the family quarters, speaking quietly, unaware that their brother was about to leave them.

Tlandar took a steady breath before kneeling beside them, placing a hand on each of their small shoulders.

"I need you to be strong while I'm gone."

They turned to him, their young faces full of quiet confusion. "Where are you going?" one of them asked.

Tlandar smiled, though there was sadness in his eyes. "On an important mission. But I'll be back soon."

His youngest sister frowned. "Promise?"

He hesitated, then nodded. "I promise."

He hugged them both briefly, then pulled back, his voice softer.

"Tell Mother and Father not to worry about me. Tell them… I'm doing what I must."

The words felt strange in his mouth. Just days ago, he had been the one telling himself he would stay here, safe, away from all of this.

Now, he was walking toward something unknown.

One of his sisters reached for his robe, her small fingers touching the dark red fabric Akashma had given him. "You look different."

Tlandar chuckled. "I feel different."

He ruffled their hair one last time before standing. "Take care of each other."

They nodded, watching him as he turned toward the exit.

He didn't look back.

Walking Through the Door

They reached the outer corridors of the shelter, where an access tunnel led to the city above.

He turned to Akashma. "Where do we go first?"

She met his gaze, her voice steady. "To where the truth lies."

Then, without hesitation, he walked forward.

And now, he had stepped through it.

The First Step Into the Unknown