Long ago...
409 Words
Prologue
Long ago, war made the planet called Earth inhospitable. The people of Earth left their birthplace to find new homes in a distant galaxy containing many life sustaining planets.
Every nation made a new world. A common language developed, combining all the languages. New ways began. Over time, men who craved power began to seek to rule not just their own worlds, but other worlds too.
Eventually one man rose to power, a galactic emperor, conquering all the worlds, ruling with fear and cruelty. His religion, his morality, his desire dictated to all the other worlds in the galaxy. Democracy was dead. To live without war most people allowed democracy to die as a sacrifice for peace. Sadly, had his first wife survived the birth of their son it might have all been so very different, for theirs had been a love
A few brave people who believed in freedom kept the torch of unrest burning. Many of them died for their defiance, including the procession of wives the emperor had imprisoned for plotting against the throne. The latest Empress was even now awaiting her fate in the palace dungeon.
The Emperor’s only son was destined to rule and many noblewomen vied for the place at his side. However, he had seen the pain his father hid and had no interest in the intrigues involved in taking a wife, so had promised himself he would marry only when forced. The heir certainly received vigorous protection and was never seen without a phalanx of guards surrounding him.
In this new world, a person's destiny and future now determined by birth not skill, often resulted in unhappiness. If your father’s father was a servant, you were destined to be a servant. Not everyone born to be a servant had the heart of a servant and these people joined the rebels or lived unhappily within the caste system and secretly harbored the desire for change.
Others found new homes, planets that were rough and uncharted and far from the Empire. Living apart from society, but free, these lawless places were given names that represented the hearts and wills of the people who carved them out of the lonely void of nothingness. Only the strong survived and only the brave flourished. These places took names representing the ideals of those who settled there.
Freedom Port is just one of these many strongholds of free will and free spirit.
- Writer
