At the edge of an alien atmosphere, a space ship sat in its orbit. The ship was a pearly white with yellow accents along the wings. Blue lights traced their paths along the sides. It was from a distant star system where six planets (as well as two moons and an icy satellite) stood aligned against the forces of darkness. This system was one of many devoted to the preservation of the human race against the Krawl, parasitism creatures of the shadows. Their war has lasted centuries, with only a mysteries race of beings called Spectrobes tipping the balance. And now that war has reached a strange foreign system.
"They're a young race," Ajax commented. "One planet and almost two hundred individual nations. They aren't ready."
"Well what do you expect?" Jett replied. His voice was lighter and softer than Ajax's, another way in which he was more like their mother than their father. "Seven continents, five oceans, and a dozen unique environments. Deserts, forests, tundra, it's absurd really. And have you seen these other planets? Half of them are gas giants and the rest are too extreme even for the Krawl. I've never even seen atmospheres without without oxygen."
"So why would the Krawl come here?" Ajax asked. The star's a dwarf, the planets are too extreme, and the only habitable planet is apparently pretty extreme too."
"I honestly have no idea," Jett conceited. "First we need to figure out who's leading them now."
The statement brought back painful memories. The last leader of the Krawl, a Spectrobe Master named Krux, had killed their father Rallen after decades of war. Krux had fallen shortly thereafter to their mother Jeena, the current Commander of the Nanairo Planetary Patrol. But that was when they were little, ancient history for most. The twins had inherited both power and responsibility.
Ajax was a golden boy. With Rallen's fiery hair and the power to command Spectrobes, he was a natural candidate for battling the Krawl. Jett took after his mother, with pink hair the same color as cotton candy and a knack for technology. The only reason he could command Spectrobes was because of the Cosmolink. The Cosmolink was a legendary tool for Spectrobe masters of the Kaio system. It's functionality required a Spectrobe master and a trusted ally. Who better than a twin brother?
But sharing a birthday and a facial structure was as close to the same as they would ever get. Ajax was headstrong and overly trusting. Jett was quiet, calculating, and reserved. Basically, they were exactly like their parents.
"So are we heading down or what?" A third voice interjected. Talia. She was taller than either of the boys by at least a head and bore the same red hair that marked all Spectrobe masters. She was a Spectrobe master from the Linor system, the second to join in alliance with Nanairo after Kaio. She used a Prizmod, which was essentially a Cosmolink that only needed one user.
Incredibly, both of these tools had the capacity to store Spectrobes, weapons, medicine, anything and everything a warrior of light may need. "We can't go down yet," Jett replied. They had been in orbit for a few hours and everyone was getting antsy.
"There are several wars going on right now, we might be mistaken for an invading aircraft."
Ajax and Talia exchanged a glance. "Jett, we kind of are an invading aircraft," Ajax replied.
"Oh shut up," Jett said, throwing his hands up and turning back to the computer. "Fine, fine let's figure out a plan."
"Okay," Talia agreed. "Got any ideas?"
He only needed a moment to think of something. "Well we know from radiation scans that there are only a handful of Spectrobe fossils on the planet, and very few of them are buried. There's at least one Spectrobe master on the world as well. The Krawl are certainly going to try to find him or her, so we need to get to her first. I think we should send him or her a Prizmod and see where it goes from there."
"And what then?"
"Then we make a dramatic entrance and get a Spectrobe master to join us."
"I like it," Ajax agreed. "So where's this Spectrobe master?"
"The humans call it 'Florida.'"
But not too far away, on the edge of a portal in the asteroid belt, another assembly conspired. This group had as much interest in Earth as the Nanairo Planetary Patrol, but for less noble reasons. The assembly was of shadows, tangible and solid. Each was distinctly humanoid yet bore no clear physical features. Two stood together, each the size of a man, and one larger than the rest stood apart.
"They're searching for the master," one small shadow said in a raspy whine.
"And they have a head start," his partner continued in a melodious tone.
"Yes, they do," the largest shadow replied in a stern, clearly female voice. "But they have no idea what they're looking for."
The two smaller shadows glanced at each other, which was odd since they had neither faces nor eyes. "Do we even know what we're looking for?" one of them asked.
"Chaos," she replied quietly, and although she did not have lips, she was smiling.