The plan was epic in scope, with the creation of the Artemis Shipyards and a fleet of Zenith class deep space colonial exploration ships, but before they could take the final step and leave the known regions, calamity struck once again. The solution was clear, the Shadows decided to leave the known systems and settle in unexplored space вЂ“ outside the reach of the ancient hatreds.

The conflict seemed endless, with the only likely outcomes either the complete destruction of the Shadows or the forced вЂpacificationвЂ™ of all colonised regions. Their reprisals were ruthless, their aims always accomplished, but the FSвЂ™s military victories across space only served to fuel the galaxyвЂ™s fear and anger. The Fatal Shadows would give no quarter to anyone who dared to harm their family and friends. They cast aside their peaceful ideals and pledged themselves to eradicate any force foolish enough to threaten their kin. In the midst of this turmoil вЂ“ betrayed by the colonial power to whom they had sworn their allegiance and persecuted by a religious cult вЂ“ a group of like-minded Shadows stood up and vowed to protect the innocent. The hands of fate began to move, with all colonial powers in search of a way to either control or eliminate the fledgling Shadows for the knowledge they possessed. Some saw the technology that had created the Shadows as an abomination to be destroyed, while others salivated at the mere thought of the endless possibilities. Whipped into a frenzy by the ruling elites, people of all factions quickly began to see the new arrivals as monstrous creations.

It was in this tumultuous time that the Shadows took their first steps into the galaxy, and all they found was confrontation at every turn. A war of unification had burned a path across the stars with no signs of abating, a theological shift tore at the very soul of humanity and resentment poisoned the outlying fringe systems as they looked on at the excesses of the old colonies in anger. Tensions were already high when news of the Shadows was made public. The advent of the Cellular Over-Ride Enhancement technology вЂ“ what should have been heralded as humanityвЂ™s finest hour вЂ“ had not only granted a small group of humans the gift of immortality, it had brought the ire of a galaxy down upon the heads of the experimental subjects: the вЂShadowsвЂ™. They were born from humanityвЂ™s deepest desire, to push the boundaries of understanding and abolish all limitations, so that even time itself could not hold sway over their destiny, but they were not greeted with joy. While the circumstances that led up to their creation remain shrouded in mystery вЂ“ since much of the early history was lost due to the events that followed вЂ“ we know that this is where they were conceived, in the cultural and political heartland of the rapidly expanding human sphere. The nexus of the ancient galaxy had been born from a fluke of bad maintenance.

But it was not until the planetary body scan completed that the intrepid crew realised exactly what they had discovered: the rarest of jewels in the galaxy a paradise planet without equal that dwarfed even mother EarthвЂ™s natural beauty a world that would inexorably alter humanityвЂ™s destiny. The sensor returns fed back into the science stations as the crew saw an ever-growing list of contacts appear on their scopes the system was a veritable treasure trove of resources, a prospectorвЂ™s paradise. Whether by chance or fate, the star-drive had barely begun its cooldown when cheers of joy erupted throughout the bridge. An innocuous fault in the navigation array of a Solarian NationвЂ™s deep space exploration vessel had caused the ship to drop out into normal space at the edge of an uncharted system. The Fatal ShadowsвЂ™ story began like so many others, with the discovery of a planet at the dawn of humanityвЂ™s expansion into the wider galaxy.

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