"Today, the vast expanse of the cosmos itself shall take pride in us, the Yalandis! For we stand upon the threshold of history, ready to stride into a radiant new epoch!"
Upon the gleaming argent square, a white-haired elder robed in ivory spread his arms wide and cried skyward, his voice thundering with exultation. His cheeks were flushed, his chest heaved as though aflame, and all the dignity of age had fled his weathered face—leaving only the unrestrained delight of a child on the verge of grasping a long-cherished toy.
Encircling him were hundreds of thousands, gathered in fervent throngs upon the boundless plaza. At the fall of his words, applause cracked like rolling thunder, cheers cascaded like unending waves. Every visage mirrored the elder's rapture: elation, ecstasy, and that inexpressible pride of belonging to a people destined to rule.
They were the Yalandis, sovereigns of this dimensional cosmos, masters of its loftiest science. And on this day, their research heralded a breakthrough that would alter forever the destiny of galactic dominion.
The elder pressed his hands downward for silence, his lips curving in solemn triumph. "My subjects, I behold the fire in your eyes, your passion, your joy. Yet before I unveil the creation wrought by a century of our wisdom—our people's supreme scientific crown—permit me, your king, to once more proclaim to the universe our resplendent history, and the marvel we unveil this day: the greatest scientific wonder the cosmos has ever known!"
The multitude hushed at once. For who would turn away from the chronicles of their ancestors' glory, or from the proclamation of their nation's unparalleled achievements?
"Long ago," the king thundered, his arm lifted high, "we Yalandis were but one of the weakest races beneath the stars, forever menaced by barbarous overlords, crushed by stellar calamities, and stalked by extinction itself. Yet we did not bow—we fought!"
"Our forebears, with brilliance beyond measure, forged the mightiest starships of the cosmos, marshaled an invincible fleet, and with that fleet we shattered every would-be master. We halted unnumbered catastrophes, we ascended as leaders of all races, and we claimed this dimension as its rightful rulers!"
Pride surged in the plaza like fire. The king's gaze swept his people, aglow with triumph—yet suddenly his tone faltered, darkened by sorrow.
"But scarcely had we grasped the throne of dominion when the most formidable of foes arose—aloft, unseen, veiled in the deepest abyss of the cosmos: the God-Clans!"
"They deemed us usurpers of divine authority, denying our right to rule. And so they waged against us a war most vile…"
A sigh as heavy as eternity escaped him. "They were power incarnate. With a mere gesture they could unravel a battleship, with but a handful extinguish an entire world. Against such foes, we faltered; in a single year, thirty-nine star systems were lost, billions of our kin perished beneath their butchery…"
Tears welled across the assembly. Many had fathers, grandfathers, kin whose lives were devoured in that divine slaughter.
Yet at the peak of their grief, the king burst into laughter, wild and defiant, cleaving the solemn air. "And yet—I have told you, Yalandis never yield! We resist! With our genius we conceived the ultimate star fortress, a creation to annihilate gods themselves! And through a century of bitter war, we crushed them, ground the divine beneath our heel forever!"
"Glory to Yalandis!" the host roared, voices rising like a storm that shook the heavens.
Again the king beckoned for calm, his words now tinged with fire. "Though victorious, we must confess: the God-Clans were mighty. Their flesh alone could shatter battleships—a strength beyond any Yalandis frame. Tell me, my subjects… do you not envy their power?"
The crowd answered not with cries but with eyes ablaze, fervent and yearning, the truth undeniable.
"Do not shrink from it! We envy them, and we yearn for their might. So why not seize it? Have we not always excelled at learning from others? If their bodies are what we covet, then why not dissect, study, unravel their genes—reshape our own with theirs? If such were possible, would we not become as gods ourselves?"
A murmur of awe swept the multitude.
The king's smile gleamed like steel. "Madness, perhaps—but to Yalandis, there is no impossible. A century past, our greatest minds embarked upon that very dream: the Star of Yalandis Project!"
At his feet, the crystal dais yawned open, revealing a vast platform rising from the depths. Upon it lay a single metallic coffer. The crowd's pride ignited to fervor as the king lifted the chest high.
"One hundred years, my people! At last, success! Within this cube lies the fruit of godly essence and our own immortal genius. Behold—the Star of Yalandis, the key to our ascension, the path to become the mightiest of gods!"
His hand quivered with passion as it pressed the lid. "This day I shall merge with the first Star, ascend as the first God-King of Yalandis! And you—my people—you shall witness the dawn of divinity itself! Come forth, Star of Yalandis!"
With a cry he flung the chest open. All eyes riveted, all breath held. The king's dream of apotheosis, the empire's legacy of dominion—yet as he gazed within, his body shuddered, his face blanched.
The chest was empty.
The crowd surged in terror and disbelief. The king's voice broke, harsh with fury. "The Star has been stolen! Seal the sector at once! Search every realm—now!"
Steel legions and low-hovering cruisers locked down the square. Scientists, pale with dread, were seized and brought before their sovereign. Instruments whirred, scans flared—yet no trace was found.
At last, an aged scholar stepped forth, trembling but resolute. "Your Majesty, the cube was fitted with a tracker. Grant us minutes—mere minutes—and we shall divine its fate!"
Hope kindled in the king's eyes. "Then waste no time!"
They worked in frenzy, only for despair to creep over them like a tide. At last the elder scientist bowed his head. "Sire… at the instant you opened the chest, the Star's energy exceeded the limit of this dimension. It has… it has crossed into another cosmos."
The king staggered. "Another… dimension?"
"Yes, Majesty. Beyond our reach. With our science, it cannot be traced. The Star of Yalandis is lost… forever."
He slumped upon the dais, stricken, his voice a hollow whisper. "Then tell me… to what world has it gone? Into whose hands has it fallen?"
The scientist shook his head, heavy with despair. "We cannot know, my king. Not now… not ever."
The king's roar tore the silence, a lament and a curse entwined. "Divine might! A century of wisdom! The very path to godhood itself! Star of Yalandis—what wretched hand has stolen you from me?!"