Fiction:Lay Bare the Path

"I will pave my own path. A path for others to follow; upon which they will grow, not will be found."

- Unknown

The became spacefaring in early 3041 BC, sending out the first three  explorers out into the galaxy. Of these three, Solei'i Saris was the only one who returned back to. Despite not wishing to go into detail on what happened to the other two explorers, Solei'i was hailed as a national hero and was forever immortalized as a paragon for the Sacrosanctity's citizens.

Lay Bare the Path recounts the full, untold story of these travels as experienced by Solei'i, Ceis Virain, and Tannol.

Prologue: Step Into the Unknown
'So...there you stand. At the fringe of the unknown...spending your life's work wishing to step through that door. Did you expect to be welcome within this door? Would the mortal gods of yours bid you welcome, or would they tear you asunder? ...Perhaps both.'

The faded, yet brilliant colors that had just a moment before surrounded the man in relative calm now began to swirl in rapid paces. Meanwhile, a sharp, burning pain consumed his entire body as the raw energies of the realm began to seep into it. The man could feel as his very being was being reduced to nothing from the inside; physical matter being ripped apart by a presence so vast, so powerful that it almost seemed unnatural.

It had been his decision to chase this goal - his hubris. The mortal arrogance made manifest in this one man. His desire to reach his magnificent and benevolent gods, to attain greatness and the adoration of his kin. Yet all his efforts were now being rewarded with the most excruciating pain imaginable. In the last moments of his physical self, the man pondered had he wasted his life in service to something that didn’t exist, or, worse yet, had been this awful, sadistic presence all along.

And then he was falling.

Eosi’i woke up in a rushed motion, his face still contorted in legitimate fright over the dream. The nightmare wasn’t anything new for him; it had haunted him since the beginning, yet it never became any easier to experience. Composing himself while sitting on his bed, he could hear his medical scanner beeping on his bedside table - warning him of irregularities in his standard biorhythms.

Grumbling at the machine, Eosi’i rose up and moved on to the kitchen area of his apartment, still feeling lightheaded and able to see his hands tremble slightly while waiting for a warm beverage to finish brewing. Grabbing the finished drink, Eosi’i began to pace around his apartment while drinking in an effort to fully calm himself down from his shaken state. He eventually stopped at the balcony of his apartment, and looked up at the few stars that could be seen from his position. His estate was at a far more suitable location for stargazing than the complex he was staying at, but he still preferred to see them from an obstructed angle; “like a normal man would see them”, as he had once said. It was beautiful to him, in its own way.

Making his way to his workstation, Eosi’i put down his drink beside him and navigated through his files, opening specific ones pertaining to the Orphan Fleet's current operations and his future endeavors, and setting less important ones aside. Yet one file out of hundreds of others gave him pause. A lone file, compiled nearly five thousand years ago. Eosi’i was a man who had lived a hundred lives, forgotten many things, many faces. But this one memory had stuck with him all the way.

And it stung like a knife in the back.

Solei'i had never felt quite like this.

Anticipation and excitement were old friends to her, but this feeling was something new. It was some amalgamation of anxiety and pride; she could feel how her entire body was tingling in euphoria over what was to come. She had slept remarkably little last night, and had barely managed to reach the launch site without collapsing from exhaustion.

It had been a great honor for Solei'i to be chosen by Patriarch Jai'i Namoil as one of the three pioneers sent out to investigate the wonders of the galaxy, and perhaps even find the Ezesi'i a new home from among the countless stars. At first she had been very hesitant to the idea, thinking that Jai'i had appointed her out of purely personal reasons - as they had been involved with each other just before Jai'i assumed his position as the Patriarch - but he was insistent on assuring her that he chose Solei'i because of what she brought to the table. Being only an astronomer of an average standing, Solei'i had mostly dismissed Jai'i's words as idle flattery but, after giving the prospect some thought, eventually accepted the position.

The launch site for the expedition was an old military complex recently repurposed by the government into a planetside spaceport. Three exploration vessels had been constructed for this endeavor; sleek in design and outfitted with the latest technological advancements of the Ezesi'i, yet lacking in weaponry other than very basic railguns. Despite her insistence to name her ship herself, Solei'i's ship had been named the Illuminated Path by its designers, while the other two were the Sight of the Cosmos and the Child of the Stars.

While she had gotten to know her own ship's crew well during the span of the last few months, Solei'i had very little information on her fellow explorers. She often wondered what were the reasons for Jai'i to have chosen them, as her own middling scientific prowess appeared to have been enough for the man.

The very first time she saw either of them was during the final inspections before takeoff. She had managed to get a glimpse at Eosi'i Tannol as the man was making his way to his own ship. He was going through some notes on his tablet while also conversing playfully with the two crewmembers who were accompanying him. Despite his outwardly jovial nature, Solei'i could sense a cold and calculated demeanor resonating somewhere within Eosi'i's being.

Having completed the preparations and beginning to make her way to the bridge of the Illuminated Path, Solei'i could feel as the anxiety built itself up within her chest; sending out rapid pulsations that she could feel traversing through her entire body. She must have looked like she was shaking. But not in fright; she could never let herself be afraid right now. The way from the ship's cargo bay to the bridge felt immensely longer than it actually was - the ship was of moderate length and organized to only two main levels, with two sets of stairs, four ladders, and an elevator connecting the two. Nevertheless, it felt relaxing to finally reach the bridge where the two pilots, Tain and Jierei'i, were already fully immersed in their assignments. Tain gave Solei'i a quick wave before immediately darting his head to the left as Eosi'i's Sight of the Cosmos launched from its platform.


 * Tain - The gall! To leave us in their dust like this! Alright 'Jiri', like we practiced.
 * Jierei'i - You are the one with a need to remember procedure.

Like clockwork, the two of them entered necessary commands to the navigational computers in front of them. All around Solei'i mechanisms whirred within the ship and lights throughout it dimmed in preparation for the launch. With the final authorization message from the spaceport command, the Illuminated Path accelerated into great speeds as it left the hangar. The ship pierced through the skies of Hespis into the planetary orbit in only few short minutes before continuing on its way further to the designated meeting point for the three ships outside the immediate gravitational pull of the planet.

As the lights turned fully back on again, Solei'i could see as the home that she had known for all her life was right in front of her. A wave of emotions flushed over her; the anxiety had for the most part faded, and had been replaced in full by excitement - almost to the point that she could feel as if it could spew from her mouth alongside other fluids at any moment. Her overwhelmed response to the launch was fortunately cut short by Tain snapping his fingers in front of her face.


 * Tain - A word or two for the logs perhaps?
 * Solei'i - Right.

Taking a moment to re-establish herself, Solei'i went to her console in the middle of the bridge. A few wildly different ideas for what she should say wriggled their way around her head before she made her decision.


 * Solei'i - Home is a beautiful thing isn't it? All know it to be so in their hearts, yet never truly come to appreciate it. Bittersweet memories are all that is left once you leave it behind. And what are memories but want for what once was?