Year 2350

Admiral Nikolai Prechkov stared sullenly at the wall of his admiral's quarters onboard the ISS Glory, his flagship in the United Empire of Terra's first strike group. Though he was a tall and handsome man, time had taken a toll on him and the gray hairs were starting to show in more than just his neatly kept, medium length beard. As an avid history buff, Admiral Prechkov was enthusiastic about the study of primitive humans and what their life was like on Earth over 300 years ago. The part that fascinated him the most was how divided their world was in those dark times. But this was not the reason Admiral Prechkov was in such foul humor. No, he was in a foul mood because the last 50 years he had worked so hard to make it as high as he possibly could in the ranks of the UET's Imperial Navy so he could finally learn about the real reason his race was forced off of his planet so long ago. Thus far, his search had only yielded partial truths and imperial cover-ups. Some records stated that the Earthlings were altogether ignorant of the effects of their industrial revolution all the way to the Great Technological Race of 2080. The amount of pollution that they were releasing into the atmosphere had become so overwhelming that all of the nations of Earth banded together to leave the planet before it became uninhabitable. Other records stated that Earthlings decided to put aside differences in the name of space exploration. Rumors are whispered of Earthlings that were left on the plant with promises of those who left the planet to return for the rest and to take them to a new promised land like that spoken of in the old religious texts. What caught Admiral Prechkov's attention was an old digital file, stored away in the memory bank of the assistant droids that served as maintainers and caretakers of the UET's growing naval fleets. This droid was old. A model that hadn't been manufactured since the early 2200's and was largely discontinued because of its out of date functions. This one had been discovered in a ventilation shaft on the hanger bay of the flagship by his lead Communications Chief. After a lot of thought, Prechkov decided to have his science team onboard disassemble the droid and download its information onto his holoband. Most of the information discovered by the droid was useless. Old schematics for decommissioned ships and weapons projects that had been declassified for years. But the one file that kept Prechkov up at night for the last week was a video of the Earthlings that were heralded as the pioneers in space resettlement taking off in their brand new space exploration ships, and then proceeding to bombard the planet with nuclear weapons. There was no denying the involvement. The transmissions between someone on the ground and the lead exploration ship was clear as day.

"Ground 1 this is Rover Lead. We have cleared the atmosphere. Release battery. I say again release battery."

"Rover Lead this is Ground 1. Solid copy. Good luck and God speed. Don't forget about those who had to remain behind. Make sure our sacrifice was not in vain. Ground 1, signing off."

Then the video cut to a home recording. Bright streaks across the sky and then mushroom clouds all around before the video and audio cut out. There was no mistaking the shape and size of the mushroom clouds Prechkov saw before the video cut out. The UET hadn't manufactured nuclear weapons since the days of Earth, at least as far as the Admiral knew. But this was news to him. Everywhere else he read, the narrative was always that all Earthlings had escaped their dying world and begun a new life among the stars. He just couldn't imagine that an empire as strong and fair as the United Empire of Terra was capable of such horrific acts of violence against its own race. But then again, the evidence was right in front of him. What should he do? Should he take this up to the Defense Prime Minister and try to get some answers? Or would that make him a target. If this was a cover-up and they found out he knew, would he become another loose end to tie up? The Admiral just couldn't decide.

Just then there was a knock at the door.

"Admiral Nikolai Prechkov?"

Two men stood in the doorway to his quarters. They didn't wear the uniform of the Imperial Navy but something about them set off alarms in his head.

"Admiral we need you to come with us." One of the men said while staring expressionlessly.

"What for?" The Admiral responded back.

"We cannot divulge that information at this time. All I can tell you is Empress Beatrix wishes to see you in the command center of the nearest Citadel. She's been waiting for you for some time now." The other man responded.

Prechkov quickly took note of his surroundings. As was standard with every Admiral's Quarters, there was a pistol cache under his desk. Just out of arms reach. If he could just reach it, maybe they would be evenly matched.

"Admiral. Reaching for that weapons is only going to further complicate an already delicate situation." The first man responded.

How could this be?! It was as if they could read his mind. He had given no indication as to what he was thinking and was even facing away from his desk when he thought about it.

The Admiral slowly stood up.

"Best not to keep the Empress waiting then is it, gentlemen." He stated flatly, knowing that this trip to the Citadel could very certainly be his last.

But as he left the room, a sense of satisfaction settled over his mind. At least he knew that the story of the heroes who left Earth for a better life, was a lie. And that no matter what the truth was, he would die knowing that the file was saved and sent to all other Admirals over a private, secure network he had set up when he first discovered this startling information. By the time he was executed, the other Admirals would have seen it and would be searching for answers from their High Court. He would be a martyr for the truth. After all, how can a new civilization be founded upon lies and deceit?