A long time ago, on the distant planet of Astregon, there once lived an ancient and noble race called the Aelythians. For thousands of years they lived in peace among themselves, their existence unknown to the universe- until one day they set course to earth, their motivations yet unknown to mankind.
Astregon - 2117
A year after humanity became engaged in its first conflict with extraterrestrial life they launched an exploration mission to Astregon- led by a team of its best extraterrestrial researchers, archeologists and astronauts.
As the spaceship approached the planet of Astregon they found it resembled Earth closely; Its surface was dominated by vast, endless oceans, their deep blues and vibrant greens reflecting the planet’s ethereal beauty. But it was larger, much larger- about ten times the size of the human home-world. As if the Earth itself had grown to the size of Jupiter and beyond. It invoked a sense of peace, quiet and serenity.
But as the ship burned through the atmosphere- entering and drifting through the planets skies it became clear this was an illusion, and the darker nature was revealed to them. The oceans, once deep, translucent and vibrant of life were lifeless- diluted and the blue colour faded to an opaque grey. The skies had that same, empty color. As it was merely layered with a blanket of mist that distorted visibility of anything outside the ship- consisting of nothing but a thick mixture of toxic waste , smoke and dust. But there were no clouds, the skies were supposed to be open, lively and blue. Yet they weren’t, as if something on the planets surface had transformed it into a dead, departed graveyard.
The dense blanket of mist that surrounded the planet made it hard to see anything, from the depths of the ocean to the lands beneath, but despite the malfunctions it caused in the ship the trained and capable astronauts were able to get the ship to the surface in one piece.
The lifeless, desolated state of the planet became more vivid when they landed in the midst of what appeared to have been a small village.
Most of the homes were destroyed, deserted. Grass and branches had naturally overgrown their architecture. The architecture, despite being taken over by nature was clearly advanced and had an mystical, ancient quality with colors of white and gold that felt out of place within the mist and the grey, greenish hue and atmosphere of the planet. However the gold had become tarnished because of gradual decay over the years, and the once pristine structures were now cracking and fading.
In the few houses that were lucky to escape implied mass destruction it seemed as if there had been a emergency- things were left inside in a rush as if the sentient life-form that once lived there were in a state of hurry, unable to pack everything. Pictures with humanoid families were still standing on cabinets, long forgotten and covered in dust. Their clothes however; crafted from natural elements that radiated with that same sense of both nobility and a connection to nature.
Every village they explored were in that same state of destruction and desertion, some worse than others. It was like the ghost towns on Earth but global. The explorers couldn’t piece together why, but it seemed the only logical explanations were either a planet wide evacuation or genocide. But it couldn’t be a genocide, after all the species that once lived here had invaded earth about a year ago and the pictures resembled them.
Had there been a miscalculation? Some research about their history that went wrong? They didn’t come in peace, the explorers knew that much. They had been executing strategic attacks and targets worldwide shortly after their spaceships appeared as lights in the skies. But the smiles on the faces of the families in the pictures seemed human, natural. Not very different from humanity itself. Except for their eyes; their irises glowed with luminous shades of ethereal blue. Some with golden undertones and others purple, radiating an otherworldly light even in the stillness of the images. It was as if the galaxy itself was reflected in their eyes.
So what drove these beings that were seemingly capable of love to such horrific acts of violence?
And then their worst fears were confirmed and they understood; the traces of old dried up blood on the walls in the homes, the implications of war and armed conflict all around the planet, and the large spaceships that were crashed into the surface- made of obsidian black steel and covered in smoke and fog against the dark, ominous skies. Something terrible had happened here and whatever it was, everything pointed into the direction that it happened a long time ago, long before the invasion.
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What intrigued the explorers the most was that the color scheme, material and architecture of the crashed spaceships were nothing like the other structures around the planet, as if it came from somewhere else.
The explorers were left confused, with even more questions than answers than they had at their arrival. The planet was a wasteland. A graveyard that only held traces of a long forgotten, fallen civilization.
They wanted to give up and go back to the ship but then, something deep within a forest drew them in- a light in the distance that glimmered with the faintest colour of purple, glowing bright every few seconds before darkening and going dim. They approached and found the light came from behind a hidden entrance, covered and concealed with the branches and leaves of the forest, as if someone was trying to hide it from the outside world, or outsiders.
After removing the greenery they pushed open a heavy, ancient door and entered a dark cave.
The cave led to a chamber; it was dimly lit, the faint glow of crystalline orbs casting long shadows across the stone walls. Inside the room there laid a skeleton with distinct, yet human features who wore a white, hooded robe with golden accents.
In the center of the room, a large pedestal rose from the floor, its surface covered in dust and neglect. On it lay a codex, its pages yellowed and fragile, but the intricate engravings along its edge still seemed to pulse with a faint energy.
A faint crackling noise filled the air as the device—partially broken and barely functional—hummed to life. The codex opened by itself, the pages flickering as an an ancient text came into view.
The words shimmered in a forgotten dialect, but the letters were slow to reform into readable shapes, and after moments of deciphering, it formed the words of an ancient warning:
They called it Earth. A world full of promise—rich with history, culture, and innovation. The Aelythian tribe, came as observers, curious about the race known as humans. What they saw... shattered them
The endless wars, the cruelty, the chaos- It was as though something inherently broken within humanity drove them to destroy not only each other but also themselves. It shattered their ideals, leaving them not only disillusioned but deeply afraid. Afraid that the same darkness might one day take root in their own people, on their own world.
When the tribe returned to us their minds were corrupted- presenting themselves as saviors. They were not saviors. They came with fear in their hearts, fear that what they saw on Earth could happen to us. They turned their backs on us, afraid we would share their corruption, and they sought to eradicate the very potential of free will.
Humanity is capable of the greatest good, yes, but they are also capable of horrors beyond our understanding is what they told us. We tried to teach the tribe, tried to guide them, but it was too late. The darkness inside them had already taken root.
I do not know if they are right. But I fear that the darkness in the humans is not so different from the darkness in us all. We have exiled them to the isolated and volcanic planet of Isarok- to banish our own is a measure we took with great horror and pain in our hearts but their quest for dominion left us no choice. We had to protect our people and our way of life. We can only hope for the sake of this universe that this was the last we heard of them.
In the end that which they feared the most... the seed of chaos was in fact, within us all. But we can only endure with hope, light and compassion.
This codex is my last message. I leave it here as a warning. Hoping that one day you might understand.
Another pedestal rose out of the ground, this time it carried an ancient voice recording.
It was a rushed voice, speaking in an alien dialect, in the background sounded explosions and implications of war. But the voice recording was very fragmented, malfunctioning every few moments with a flickering light and cutting off whole words. The explorers downloaded the recording onto their own device- translating it to English in the meantime.
“They have returned. We do not know …. Something different about … for if … succeed, the galaxy will ... There may not be hope …… unless—” the message was cut off by a loud explosion.
The message abruptly cuts off, leaving the final word unfinished, as though the speaker was interrupted or silenced before they could finish their thought. The codex flickers, its light fading.
The explorers were in awe with their discoveries- from the relics of a once thriving, ancient civilization to the hidden passage and the codex.
They decided to take the codex and voice recording home to reveal their found evidence and find out more about the planet named Isarok.
But neither the explorers- nor the codex were ever heard from again.
What do you think happened to the explorers?
