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

Orders from Akashma

The Sanctum of Orchids stood silent in the moonlight, its towering halls and celestial gardens shrouded in an air of quiet finality. For five years, Tlandar had trained here—his body, mind, and spirit forged in the fires of discipline, knowledge, and war.

In the Grand Hall, Akashma stood before him, arms crossed, her expression unreadable. She had guided him all these years, revealing little, watching closely. But tonight, her words carried finality.

"Your first assignment awaits," she said.

Tlandar listened, his command helmet cradled under his arm, the golden Asemeri symbols of battle and command glowing faintly in the torchlight.

"Chieftain Salgar has prepared you well," Akashma continued. "Now it is time to see if you are ready."

She turned slightly, gazing out toward the distant horizon, beyond the Salgaran lands, where the vast expanse of Val'katl stretched toward the warfront.

"Your first task is to travel to Boulderkeep Stockade," she said. "There, you will test your skills—not in controlled training, but in the reality of war."

Tlandar remained silent for a moment. He had expected this. He had long known his place was not in the sanctum, but on the battlefield.

Still, he asked, "Why Boulderkeep?"

"Because Val'katl's warlords will not follow a warrior who has never stood among them."

Tlandar exhaled slowly. He understood. Respect was not given. It was earned.

Then she spoke words that carried greater weight than any training he had endured.

"In Boulderkeep, you will seek Chieftain Val'katl. You will tell him that you were sent by Salgar in the name of Astashica—to fight alongside him against Ixtiel and to defeat him together in battle."

Tlandar frowned slightly. "What if he refuses?"

"If he refuses, it will be detrimental to the relationship between our two domains. Salgar has offered her finest warriors to strengthen Val'katl's warfront. If Val'katl denies that aid, he will weaken his own position and give Ixtiel an advantage."

Tlandar understood the implications. This was more than just a test of his abilities. It was a political maneuver.

Salgar had sent him not just to fight, but to ensure the alliance between Val'katl and Salgar remained intact.

If Val'katl accepted, they would stand united against Ixtiel.

If he refused, Val'katl would fight alone—and Ixtiel would use that weakness.

Tlandar had to convince him.

The Journey to Boulderkeep

Tlandar took his place in the cockpit of his Formicron, the advanced systems flickering to life as his helmet interface synchronized with his squadron.

The Celestial Platform trembled beneath them as the squad prepared for launch.

Tlandar's voice came through the command channel.

"Prepare for departure."

Instantly, two hundred pilots acknowledged, their Formicrons shifting into combat-ready stance.

They would travel southeast, leaving the Salgaran highlands and descending into Val'katl's western territories.

Passing over the Great Lake, they would follow the serpentine river that ran straight east.

Beyond the river, in the southeast, Boulderkeep Stockade awaited—the seat of Val'katl's warriors and his first true battlefield.

Engines roared, and the sky came alive with two hundred Salgaran war machines, their thrusters blazing across the darkened horizon.

Ahead of him, Boulderkeep awaited.

And with it, his first true test as a leader.

The First Assignment