Space, an endless sea of nothing. A desert far less forgiving than even the wilderness of Mars. A place that has nothing, that gives nothing, that sustains nothing, and yet everything exists within it. Humans have always marvelled at its mystery, admired its possibility. They spent centuries pondering the hidden wonders of its depths. How foolish. Space keeps no secrets, it holds no grudges, has no friends. It’s simple, just dark empty space. It is the unending void between realities, the ocean between worlds. Science fiction often offered dreams of a multiverse. Of another dimension running outside this one. Another us on another Earth. The dreamers imagined an impossible, impassable sea, that none but the most legendary of vessels could traverse. They pondered the uncountable possibilities waiting on these exotic shores, if only they could figure out a way to get through. If any of those dreamers had simply looked skywards, they may have found their imagination aligned with reality. Humankind has done the impossible. That sea has been conquered. Space has opened up those worlds. Has revealed other versions of ourselves, identical in almost every way and yet still unique and different. Lands beyond even the most vivid and creative of imaginations are out there. They exist. They’ve been discovered, explored, tamed, and colonized by mankind. Still humanity has barely even left its own backyard. 

Two centuries ago, no one would have believed that possible. Deep space was a tiny glimmer in the eyes of the distant future. Something none of them could have hoped to see in their lifetimes. They had their own problems to focus on: Global warming, rising sea levels, melting Ice caps, worldwide pandemics. A catalogue of calamities staring them right in the face, and most of them denied it. If half the world refused to believe in reality, what hope was there for anyone trying to dream the impossible. The age of ignorance it was called; the age of rebellion. A time when humanity turned their back on the Gods that they had revered since the dawn of time and instead, worshiped themselves. They became arrogant, lazily dismissing anything that challenged their imagined importance. They set themselves up as the centre of their own little universes. Declaring themselves special, worthwhile, extraordinary, perfect even, and they quickly called for the execution of any who dared to disagree. They sat, secure in their superiority, assured of their invincibility, apathetic to the needs of anyone but themselves. They were content to ignore the warnings. Pushing responsibility onto the future as the world crumbled around them. 

That is the history of Earth. Seas rose, nations were lost, billions of people crowded onto what little land was left. The world became a giant slum, and humanity did what it does best; blamed everyone else. That would have been the end of everything. If not for one man, Kalvin Lewis. He gave people a purpose, rallied an entire planet around one shared cause. Space. There wasn’t enough of it, and there was only one place left to go to find more. The cosmic era had begun. 

The springboard into the cosmos came, much to most of the world’s surprise, from Southern Europe. In the year 2186, on an island called Tripoli, an event occurred that would push Greece to the centre of the global stage. A place it hadn’t been since the dawn of civilization. It was that year, Nestor Platides created the first Hermes drive. The year that light speed suddenly joined the realms of possibility. The year that cosmic became a part of the everyday. In 2186, the universe became mankind’s stage.  

Tripoli exploded, became a hub of science and engineering. It grew into the biggest spaceport this side of Sirius, eclipsed the wealth of Ancient Rome and Constantinople combined, and became the capital of Eurasia. Despite all of this, the true pride of the now sprawling metropolis, the supreme jewel in its star-studded crown was the Platides Interstellar University. 

No finer school of Navigators, engineers and pilots existed anywhere else in the galaxy At least, not anywhere else humanity had ever set foot. The slew of Geniuses and prodigies this academy produced were the envy of every nation and helped to keep Eurasia at the beating heart of Humanity’s galactic empire. Yet, of the long list of legendary alumni this renowned school has to offer, two names stand head and shoulders above the rest.