EndWorld

Prologue

The barren mining planet of Drakkna had claimed the lives of many humans by the year 200 AE, not to mention the lives of its native species the Drekk who ran the mining operation and maintained order amongst the human slaves. It was a highly profitable business, taking an impoverished species,  turning it into a workforce whose basic needs you could ignore if you were so inclined. Many humans perished due to the harsh practices of the galactic slave trade, but the breeding camps kept the population stable. There is always a slight growth due to the unethical methods used in the forced reproduction camps. 

The reason the Drekk were so easily able to commit such an act is rather simple: humans are homeless. Exactly 200 years ago at a time now known as "Zero Hour AE" (After Earth) by humans, the Earth was destroyed by an unknown event. The now homeless species had only just begun colonization efforts on Mars and the Moon (whose fate was yet to be determined by an orbital mechanics calculation) meaning those colonies had to work overtime with the constant reminder that home was no more. To make matters worse, they had no diplomatic channels with the Galactic Council, who had not yet discovered and acknowledged the Humans. Unfortunately for the fate of humanity, it was the Drekk who made the first contact and they took full advantage of the situation. Soon The Drekk's two main economic partners, the Vehnu and the Frentro caught wind of the news and humanity became the biggest commodity on the slave market.

Slavery was not unheard of in Galactic politics; however, humanity was essentially a non-entity and the enslavement of them opened up new doors. If one were to switch their current slave force to being only human you allow your citizens to live in a moral gray area. By not enslaving your populace or importing slaves from another government you can stop the moral contradictions of the value of the peoples of the Galactic Community. 

That is why the Drekk, the Vehnu, and the Frentro became the heads of the lucrative business of Galactic Human Slave Trade and why it became such an economically powerful business. All three of the empires assist each other in maintaining a very delicate balance for the sake of their shared economic interests. The Drekk whilst fierce and strong were incredibly stupid and had guidance from the far more frail and intelligent Vehnu. Much of the technology used to help keep humanity in line was researched by the Vehnu and then handed off to the Frentro to be developed. The reason for this being the Frentro had a somewhat similar evolutionary pathway as humans with a primate-like ancestor making them far more efficient at assembly tasks due to their opposable appendages. Whilst not many species boast this evolutionary advantage, none are truly held back by not having it. However, that is not to say it isn't much faster and cheaper to hand off to those...more capable.

Now, unlike humanity, the Frentro did not shed away their fur as they evolved into their present-day form. They are covered head to toe in a rather thick fur that protects them from the harsh cold of their native planet of Frent. This is a stark contrast from their ally the Drekk, who seems vaguely similar to turtles sporting a rather large and rotund shell, their bodies compensate for this weight, however, by having incredibly strong and thick legs giving them sturdy foundations. From there, nature continued to give the Drekk numerous strength advantages making them the most feared warriors in the entire galaxy. It's truly a wonder that the galactic council ever convinced them to move forward, join the galactic stage of politics, and calm down their warmongering tendencies. Many worry about how long they can tame such a beast. 

Then, of course, there is the Vehnu. A rather perplexing species to most of the galaxy, for they are the only aquatic species to achieve full sentient awakening and become a large-scale spacefaring civilization. Part of it may be that they are rather squid-like giving them a great advantage over other aquatic species in the manipulation of objects. Although many believe that it is more largely in part due to the history of their homeworld, Veh. They were not the original species to gain full control of the planet. Another species that no Vehnuan willingly speaks of gained control of the land and began exploiting the planet's resources first, but later the Vehnu evolved to be capable of higher cognitive ability and a tentative alliance was formed. Not long after though, a cataclysmic event occurred at the planet's ice caps causing them to melt rapidly and submerge the entire world. Since then, the Vehnu have primarily focused on scientific advancement with little concern for ethics.  

For humanity, though, all of this barely matters. For they are the servants and nothing more. This causes their scope of knowledge on Galactic politics to be small. However, what humanity does know gets passed on. For, in every slave camp, without fail, there is someone who always decides to stubbornly live, to pass on information to the next generation. Whether it be an important piece of history, simple math, or even common animals from Earth, the previous generations worked hard against the inevitable ignorance of the next.  Holding on to this hope that one-day freedom for humanity will come and Earth's descendants will still have some memory of their homeworld even if it is just some strange story from an elder.

It is by this word-of-mouth storytelling that hopeful legends are born, one in particular that sparks imagination and hope in every young human to hear it: the story of EndWorld. An object that briefly registered on a probe's log, an object that emitted such raw energy that it scrambled any further contact with the probe seconds after it got close. However, seconds was all it took to register very promising readings, a planetary object, capable of sustaining human life, a potential home for Humanity. The probe discovered this five years after the destruction of Earth. It sent the coordinates to a gateway not yet cataloged by any empire, to a Martian command console deep under the Planet's surface. The Legend states that if a human were to make it to that console and find those coordinates they would be transported to the mysterious EndWorld, 

For two centuries no human has had even a chance of getting to that console, let alone that gateway. Although many have tried, all have failed. Hope was dwindling on the Legendary EndWorld and many thought it no longer possible to try to escape and chase such a legend. 

However, 17-year-old Derek Canto born on Drakkna was not amongst them. 

Drekk slaves are known to be the hardiest of all human slaves in the galaxy and Derek is no exception to this. Having taken plenty of beatings from the Warden on Drakkna, Derek gritted his teeth through all of them refusing to give the Drekk any satisfaction in causing him pain.  

He knows if he pushes his luck too far the Warden may soon decide to just be rid of him. Permanently. Even with this in mind, Derek knows there is no future on Drakkna, and the plan he has been working on since he turned 14 is almost ready. 

All the late-night lessons during shift rotations with the elders to ensure he has all the relevant information, the sneaking around to just get glimpses of the Guard shift changes, the electro-pick he has hidden in an alcove near his sleeping spot, and the final piece still eluding him: the Warden's keycard. 

Through all this time, all this planning, Derek had one thought motivating him. Just before he'd go to bed, before he'd get out of bed, and every single time he would swing a pickaxe, he would whisper to himself...

"I will not die a slave."