VR-Spacebus-Prolog-bjh

Prologue
Posted: 7/23/2019, 5:21:28 AM

Deep space is so vast, its true expanse cannot be truly understood. Even mathematical expressions do little to really put it into perspective.

The Milky Way Galaxy has a diameter of 100,000 light-years and is a good 1000 light-years thick on average. There are a little over 400 Billion Stars and many more planets and moons.

Yet all the stars and all the matter of the galaxy takes up less space than 1 percent of the entire volume the Galaxy occupies. So one would think that this vast empty and completely worthless near vacuum would be free of borders, territories and boundaries; yet there are expanses of space tightly guarded, jealously defended, imaginary spheres defined by space-faring societies.

The United Stars of the Galaxies claims most of the so called ‘Upward Sector’ of the Galaxy and physically occupies over 900,000 Planets and locations.

The United Stars, commonly known as the Union also added regions in the ‘Coreward Sector’,’Spinward Sector the ‘Large Magellan Cloud’ and the ‘Andromeda Galaxy’ to the space this mega society claims.

Considering all this, one stands in awe about the size and power of the Union.

Yet it is insignificant in size and expansion compared to the 100 Billion Stars of the ‘Upward Sector’ alone.

Unlike the core regions of the Union where citizens have many travel choices and well established connections, a Space Bus is often the only means of travel on the untamed frontier regions of the Union. Braving many dangers, these coaches span, on schedule, vast distances of sparsely populated space, teeming with privateers, Shiss Raiders, Kermac Sponsored Terror and the threat of the unknown.

Just recently, the announcement of the Gray Leader of the Nul -- one of the fiercest enemies of the United Stars -- that his people and the Union are no longer enemies and that the Nul are in the process of becoming Union members shocked and surprised everyone, especially of course, the Shiss- and Kermac-led Galactic Council.

It meant the end of the Freespace Treaty and of course the end of the Big Four, an arrangement that was seen by many as a guarantor of stability and peace.

The Shiss were afraid that this was the beginning of the end for their civilization.

At that time no name struck more terror along the frontier between Union and Shiss space, than the name of Hazzzock, Gray Throated cousin to the First Nestling who would rather die than submit to Union rule...