A Merchant of Dust and Steel
Long ago, the human race reached towards the sky and grabbed the stars. The disapora of humanity from Earth heralded the begining of a Golden Age; an explosion of science, discovery, culture, and adventure where it seemed humanity could do no wrong. First Contact was made, and peaceful trade and coexistence was reached between Earth and many of their alien neighbors.
But not all.
The Drall - whose full name could not be pronounced by human tongues - were a belligerent species. Their very nature, having evolved from pack carnivores, was aggression and war towards those they viewed as prey. Barely tolerated by the galactic community, their meeting with humanity was disastrous and escalated into a war that consumed the explored regions of the Perseus Arm of the galaxy.
It was a war that humanity could not win.
It was a war that humanity would not lose.
Humanity developed and unleashed unprecedented weapons upon the galaxy, willing to destroy even their own people if it staved off total defeat. The destruction wrought by humanity's desperation could be described as near total, and a thousand years later the remnants of humanity have yet to recover as they crawl through the legacy of their forbearers, salvaging what they can.
None of this matters to Sarah Argem, a seventeen years old orphan growing up on the bloody streets of Green Haven. Struggling to survive and competing with gangs and scavengers, opportunity comes knocking when a scrap dealer comes looking for a crew to salvage a recently rediscovered space station.
What she finds there - or rather, who she finds there - will change her fate forever, and perhaps the galaxy's as well.
Vladerag · Sci-fi
