Have
you ever dreamt of visiting alien worlds?
Have you ever wished you could zip through space via jet
pack? What if you could defy gravity and explore unknown
realms freely? Imagine being a space adventurer, paid to
meet and greet alien cultures, while representing and protecting
all of humanid-kind. You’d live to tell tales of glory.
You’d be the stuff of legends. Sounds like a dream
job, right? Well, no job is perfect, and there is a high
price to be paid for this fantasy. That’s reality
for a Skyraco.
The Skyracos are winged warriors that conduct inter-planetary
missions throughout the Zoland system. They receive directives
from the governing council on their home-world Centrus.
The Council members serve differing agendas, all with a
stake in what assignments the Skyracos undertake. Many reap
rewards while Skyracos absorb the risk.
Skyracos operate on the frontier of the known, on worlds
remote and unimagined. They must deal with logistical problems
derived from vastly stretched supply and communication lines.
Often their only humanid contact is with the other members
of their own small teams. They execute orders from far away
Centrus while fending and foraging for themselves. Operating
outside the reach of the Council, they are isolated and
afforded great powers of authority. They are forced to interpret
crises and dispense justice on their terms.
Different entities see Skyracos through the prism of their
own interests. To the Council of Centrus they are the upholders
of property laws. To businessmen they are insurance policies
protecting investments. To the citizenry of Centrus they
are combatants fighting some distant battle. Believers in
Zod see them as missionaries, claiming dominion over alien
animals and vanquishing evil. Their allies view them with
a wary eye. To enemies they are the armored boot on their
throat. To space settlers they are protectors. To kids they
are idols, superheroes always on the side of good. And for
young adults, joining their ranks may be the only means
of survival. A Downward Economic Spiral has struck Centrus
and times are tough. The Skyracos promise good pay and offer
the only available jobs. Many enlist.
Skyracos are defined by outside perspectives, but the only
way to understand them is to become one. Then the truth
becomes clear. Skyracos are just average people doing a
job they sometimes hate.
Over time new recruits fade into a washed out reality,
governed by the basest of human character. Survival replaces
purpose. Necessity replaces righteousness. Instinct replaces
reason as strangers replace friends killed in battle. They
are purveyors of death in perpetual mourning for lost comrades
and lost innocence, all while deeds are cloaked by mythology.
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