Lost Eden
Prologue
Quisterra was the largest planet in the Sanctus System--an affinity of seven planets with it's center being the great star, Aleia. Quisterra was also the unofficial waste dump of the Sanctus System. People who had once tried living in it could not stand to stay for long. It was a habitat where people gathered in swarms, dismayed by their homeland, and took off in an attempt to look for better places to dwell in.
It was a strange thing though, how Quisterra's orbit seemed to be the perfect position that would give it the most agreeable climate and ambience in all the seven planets. But Quisterra's atmosphere was a thick heavy cloud of gray that hardly allowed any light to shine through and that gave the surmise plenty left to be considered.
Then again, perhaps it was wrong to call it a habitat. It hardly had anything left to be called a habitat after all. If viewed from outer space, it would just be a dull gray planet. There weren't any blue waters and green fields as one might expect from a "living world". Of course, there were a few settlements in Quisterra that were still considered "livable", but most people don't bother anymore and simply migrate. The small settlements that DID exist in Quisterra was under the Consul, voted into power by the people.
Most of the immigrants from Quisterra usually find themselves ending up in the five meager planets orbiting Aleia. Asa, the closest to Quisterra was perhaps the greenest planet in the Sanctus System, not to mention the smallest. Run by the Asa Dominus, it was a center of agriculture, most especially, farming. With fresh air and clean water, it was a favorite place among the populace of Sanctus.
There was also Rhea. A planet, just a few kilometers wider in diameter than Asa. It didn't stand out too well. It was a simple planet; well-balanced in trade, agriculture and industry. A neutral planet, if one might say. Never in the extremes, but just in the middle.
Third was Frater, the "gambling planet". It was a network of underground markets and the Frater Dominus was only leader by name. The ones who truly run the planet consisted of the most influential families in Frater. It was difficult to survive there without any connections, and yet it flourished. Dirty money, clean money, no one living there knew the difference. And eventually, it was one of the richest--economically speaking--planets in the system.
The fourth planet was Fidelis. It was a center of knowledge and research. As much as it hardly had half the resources Asa did, it was technologically equipped to survive.
Then there was Vehetus. The "cold planet" as it has been called. With its unstable climate, it had thrice the population of Quisterra--which wasn't much. It was also considered an "untamed land" and explorers prowl its icy surface intent on new discovery.
The last was Genuseris. The only planet that rivaled Quisterra in size. It was the most powerful and most technologically advanced in the system--Fidelis only came a close second. Being a center of industry and military power, it had built itself a mighty empire in the past seven hundred centuries since Aleia Proxima began.
And one difference that set it apart from the other planets--aside from Quisterra--was that its leader was not called Dominus. It was the Aquila Potens who ruled Genuseris. And at the dawn of mid-7th century Aleia Proxima, Taoka, 16th Aquila Potens of Genuseris, had set his eyes on one goal: expansion.
A decade into his reign, Genuseris had slowly began pushing through the borders of the other planets and chartered embassies everywhere under the pretense of establishing a "better and stronger relationship" among its neighbors.
Of course, everyone had an inkling of what Taoka was really up to, only that they didn't have the strength to stop him completely and as the years progressed, the other planets of the Sanctus System had come to openly fear the empire for what it really was--a glory-hunting nation set on controlling the whole system. But again, no one had the power to stop Taoka completely although the planet governments had taken measures to slow him down.
One thing about Taoka though, was that he considered one planet an eyesore to the great design he had consigned himself to construct. Quisterra.
He believed that the planet was a "hopeless case" and all of the attempts by its present and past Consuls to revitalize it had always come to naught. Quisterra was too lost to be saved and all it was good for was a dump for materials that hardly had any salvage value--if they had any at all.
But in the year 764 Aleia Proxima, things were beginning to change. Political struggles over Quisterra arose. Some believed that the planet could, indeed, be saved after all. A grand restoration was being put into order and Taoka was in the front line to protest such a move.
But in the same year, Taoka had fallen into a very sickly state and in less than two months, passed away. Without declaring an heir to take his place, the Genuseris Senate had been on an uproar. Division and conflict plagued Genuseris for a period of six years and at that time, the empire's hold on the other planets had considerably weakened as it switched from one indefinite ruler to the next.
In 770 Aleia Proxima, a proper Aquila Potens had been assigned into power and at that time Quisterra was in the early stages of its restoration. The death of its former Consul paved way for the appointment of a new one and in the year 773 Aleia Proxima, there were few people in the galaxy of Sofia that has not heard of the names Ryota and Minami.
~~~ End Prologue ~~~
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