Prelude

One Astronaut, one Cosmonaut, and one Taikonaut disembarked from their spacecraft, the Ares 30, onto the surface of Mars. The year is 2867, nearly eight whole centuries after World War 3, better known to humanity as "The Great Collapse". No one is sure why or how it started; all they know is how it ended: Earth was a nuclear wasteland, and humanity faced the one thing they feared above all else, extinction. What was left of humanity was inside nuclear bunkers, their children, spouses, pets, history, and hobbies. The bunkers became their home, until some brave few ventured outside. To some people's surprise, the sun beat down on them harder than their ancestors described. But to others, the night sky never looked more beautiful. It was these people who founded 3 new space programs, one for Terran rediscoveries, one for satellites to photograph the beauty of space, and one for expanding humanity beyond Earth, and hopefully, beyond their sun. Ares 30 was the fruit of all three programs, a satellite to photograph a full view of Mars and a few close-ups as well, and a spacecraft to take 3 spacefarers to the red planet and back.

The day they landed on the surface, was the same day they found it.

They hiked across the landscape in their spacesuits, taking note of the mountains and valleys that they pass. As they were hiking along a mountain ridge, they saw something different, something absolutely stunning. A gigantic white orb, floating about 10 kilometers from the ground.

"What is it?" asked the Cosmonaut.

"I have no clue," answered the Astronaut.

Then, in an instant, clouds began to form around the orb, growing by the minute, raining down pure water onto the once barren planet.

The Taikonaut took off her helmet, but she didn't suffocate. Instead, she said, "It's a miracle!"

The Astronaut and the Cosmonaut followed suit and breathed in fresh oxygen. The American bowed in reverence, "We have much to thank you, oh mighty orb."

Years later, that orb became known as The Traveler, and it single-handedly saved humanity.

Mars became home to a city called Freehold, the economic capital of the Sol system. Earth was reformed as the political and astronomical capital of humanity. Venus hosted the Ishtar Collective, the biggest university, and center of knowledge, science, engineering, and innovation any man has ever known. Mercury was transformed into a garden world, the agriculture of Sol. The Gas Giants and their moons had various uses, mining and archiving were chief among them. Humans tripled their lifespan and their population, and their Golden Age was glorious. They walked in the light of other stars, with the light of the Traveler guiding them. Humanity's Golden Age spanned for 8 centuries, then, just like that, it was snuffed out.

No one knows where they came from, no one knows who they are, but humanity got a glimpse of their purpose: to destroy everything the Traveler touched. Humanity described them with one word: Darkness. It cloaked these beings, and yet it was their very souls, their very beings as well.

They murdered and chased humanity back to Earth, where the Traveler made one last stand. It charged into the heart of the Darkness, and with a great blast of Light, it banished the Darkness, never to be seen again.

However, every victory comes with a price. For the Traveler, the cost put it into a deep sleep, hovering above the Earth by just a few miles, never to wake again.