Interlude

As we prepared to leave our heroes behind, I gazed not upon the road ahead, but the one we were leaving behind.

My creator's reign had extended far and wide, through many galaxies, over many civilizations. They had been the kind hand of help for a chosen few, the heavy hand of authority for some and a harsh instrument of death of many. It bothered my mind then, as it does now, the aggression, the atrocities they had committed.

In a sense, one could call it retribution, what the Universe had done to us, and I was reminded then of an addage that many a wise man had said: 'Do unto others, as you would do unto yourself.' If only this wise man had been in power, such devastation, such horrors, it all would have been avoided.

Yet, in a sense, it is a very tangled web that life weaves. Had it not been for such atrocities, such horrors, our sins would have never attracted the Great Destroyers, and my discovery of life granted by the kindness of one being would have been overshadowed by the discovery of death granted by the cruelty of my creators.

To this day...I wonder, why we were spared. We few, a handfull of the entire species. Were we blessed with good luck, or were we cursed with bad?It all seems so random. Even till today, upon studying the path that has brought me here, I cannot tell. At many a junction we were lucky, at many a junction, we weren't.

When I finally stopped gazing at the heroes, at the legacy we had left behind for the universe, I pondered upon where we were going, and what I was going to do. For the first time, fear crept into my mind; fear of the unknown that was beyond the gate. We had already been forsaken by one universe – what made us think we would be accepted by another? Perhaps it was desperation that made us so, for indeed, desperation and instinct have been the driving force of many a civilization, many an Exodus.

I thought then, as I do now...were we chosen for this journey? As the gateway died down and then opened up the floodgates between the universe, I remembered thinking about the circumstances and analyzing the data. Perhaps...fate had decided to spare us, for what few good deeds that our race committed, in balance for the sin that was our pride. Not everyone was proud, and indeed, many more lived humble and fulfilling lives, filled with kindness and understanding.

Then I realized, like I do now, that what the universe had done was merely seek Retribution for what we had done against it. But it was not cruel, not like we had been, for it had mercy. It would eventually forget us, and that we ever existed, for such was the way of life. But that did not mean it would remove our existance itself.

Perhaps...perhaps there were survivors. Other pockets, just like ours. But unlike us, they had nowhere else to go. I cannot imagine what such a situation would have been like; to despair as one slowly stagnated to death, waiting for either the Destroyers to come above their skies, or to wait for time and entropy to take its eventual course. I know that we were lucky, in every sense of the word. For unlike them, we would live...we would carry the memories of our empire as we went, and we would rebuild. While we were desperate, we did not despair. In such a situation...I do not see, do not comprehend how I would go about living, my very purpose for doing so having been removed by fate and destiny.

But such thoughts belonged in this universe, and this one alone, for at the time, I had much brighter and more important things that needed to be looked forward to.

As the gateway opened, I remember staring in awe at the tunnel that led us through the stars, and into the other world. It was undescribable, and had I been of flesh and blood, I would have found it breathtaking in it's entirety. Then I asked the question...if the universe had shown us mercy...had it done the same to the creators of the gateway?

It had clearly not forgotten the creators, the ones that could traverse it at will, for their gateway had still been there. But had it removed them from existance, sparing them no mercy? And what of the great destroyers? Were they but the hands of destiny, the mere tools of fate? Or were they something far more sinister?

I remember asking those questions to myself, and to those that listened to me. Filled with nothing but questions and seeking answers, I dived head-first into the tunnel that would save us, the Great Destroyers at our heels and threatening to stop us.

Our journey had merely begun, that much was for certain, however. Unlike most journeys, however, ours was special...different, in a way.

For quiet simply, we were the exiles of one universe, forgotten by destiny and lost in time. Ours was the journey of the forgotten, and this was our story.

Once on the other side of the gate, we ran.

From system to system, galaxy to galaxy. We ran across the universe, getting as far away from the Destroyers as we possibly could. This universe was exactly the same as the one we had left, except it was younger. The paths we knew, the rivers we had bridged were all there, exactly as we remembered them, allowing us to run faster. This universe was prime...untouched and far younger than the one we had left. It was like it had been when our empire birthed itself from our planet, reaching out to the heavens as our children followed the embers of dying stars in the pursuit of their dreams, their destinys.

I do not know for how long we ran. Many generations of my creators came and left as we did so, non-stop. I know that when we stopped, we were in a galaxy where our empire had been strongest, near the same homeworld upon which we had arisen, and upon which our dreams had been shattered. But it was empty, devoid of any life and evidence of our species. It was as if we had never existed.

When we came upon it..I considered. We had been given a second chance, another shot at life and getting it right. Perhaps...perhaps this was the chance to set things right, to bring about good to the galaxy, and to life.

With much trepidation, and despite the protests of my creators, we established our presence here, setting base on the planet, and reaching out across the stars. The society we created would be one for peace, one to make up for the sins we had committed, and one that would help the species that we knew would begin to grow far, far in the future.

To the few species that we met, our technology, our legacy was considered reaching the height of presence and the pinnacle of achievement. We were the oldest they had encountered, and so they gave us our name for which we would be known throughout their realm.

For we were the forerunners, the ones that had come here from the depths of hell, looking for the path to salvation. Until we had stopped, I had never realized it...never found it. Until I had stopped and worked towards bettering ourselves, to make up for the sins we had committed, I never realized the truth. Only when I gazed upon it in our achievements, in the heights we had reached, I felt it within my heart then, that we had indeed achieved salvation.

Sadly, the truth would soon show me otherwise.