Dark Reaches

StevenPatrick

Beyond the mapped stars, past the final Imperial beacons, lies a forbidden expanse known as the Dark Reaches. A scatter of untouched worlds drifts in that darkness — planets bound by an ancient decree older than the Empire itself. By sacred law, they are to remain uncontacted. No ships may land. No signals may pass. No technology may be gifted. No knowledge may be shared. These worlds must rise — or fall — by their own hands. Interference is punishable by death. And yet, the promise of death has never been enough. The Dark Reaches are rich in rumor. Untapped minerals. Lost relics from civilizations older than the Empire. Biologies unknown. Energies unnamed. For smugglers, fortune-seekers, and those willing to gamble their lives, the Reaches represent something irresistible — freedom from oversight, and wealth beyond imagining. To enforce the ancient law, the Empire maintains an order known only as the Judges. They do not govern. They do not negotiate. They observe, patrol, and, when necessary, execute. Their ships move without banners. Their rulings are final. Entire crews have vanished under their watch. Records erased. Names struck from Imperial ledgers. Officially, the Dark Reaches remain untouched. Unofficially… something is always moving in the dark. And in a region where greed outpaces fear, the line between outlaw and martyr grows thinner every cycle.

English