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[Music]
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it is the 41st millennium humanity has
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created an interstellar civilization
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spanning the galaxy through sheer
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determination and the application of
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advanced technology the ancient dream of
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a new home among the stars has become
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reality it was that tenacity and vision
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which first led mankind to reach out
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into the void and which ultimately built
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a star spanning culture but the
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civilization that was once defined by
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progress and hope has been lost consumed
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in the fire of eternal war and a
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never-ending struggle for survival for
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the power that mankind harnessed to
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travel the Stars nearly caused its
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extinction and represents a threat to
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all life in the universe just as
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humanity seemed to gaze into the abyss a
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new leader rose among them this man the
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Emperor of mankind was the only one who
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truly understood the threat and how to
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fight it to save all that he loved the
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Emperor sacrificed himself and accepted
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eternal imprisonment in his own flesh
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now humanity must fight a battle on all
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fronts they struggle not only to
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preserve their Empire and keep their
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Emperor alive but to save their very
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souls humanity's settlement of the
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galaxy began over 40,000 years ago when
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mankind was still restricted to its
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birth world of terror then known as
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Earth it was during the long span of the
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so-called age of Terror which ended in
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the 15th millennium ad that humanity
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dared to reach out into the void to
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prove themselves extraordinary and
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accept the challenge of the unknown
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human explorers pierced the Earth's
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atmosphere
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after establishing themselves in low
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orbit they soon went further and first
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set foot upon their worlds moon Luna but
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only one destination had ever truly
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fired the imagination Mars the red
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planet Mars was the first world to be
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made livable for humanity through the
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process of terraforming transforming its
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dead
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crimson sands into a veritable paradise
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of green fields deep oceans and blue
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skies the effort was led by powerful
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Terran corporations whose visionary
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ideals led them to use all the money and
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power at their disposal to spread
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humanity beyond its fragile cradle
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by harnessing their competitive spirit
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and desire to attain the common good
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these titans of industry were able to
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join together to develop radical new
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technologies at the edge of human
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capabilities it was these innovations
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that transformed a lifeless desert world
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into a verdant oasis in only a few
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lifetimes such an accomplishment left
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the cartels and their masters emboldened
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to do more having seen that it was now
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possible to reshape one world they work
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together to open up new vistas all
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across the solar system to feed this
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desire for expansion it was not long
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before the Martian colony became a nexus
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for rapid scientific advancement and
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daredevil research this dedication to
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the pursuit of knowledge would define
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the culture of the Red Planet
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for centuries to come with the capacity
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to reshape a dead world into a Garden
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planet now at hand
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humanity spent centuries claiming the
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worlds of the Sol system as its own
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settlement soon stretched from the mines
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that extracted the mineral riches of
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Mercury to the great shipyards that
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circled the gas giants of the outer
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System but it was near the end of the
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age of terror in the fifteenth
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millennium that humanity at last moved
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beyond the boundaries of its home system
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into the unknown interstellar void
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beyond this period became known as the
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stellar Exodus and marked the start of a
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new era the age of technology
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billions of people sought to carve new
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homes in the image of Earth from this
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stellar wilderness improved their own
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metal on the new frontier the
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development of the long march generation
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ships so-called because of the distances
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they could travel and the time it took
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to do so made it possible to reach
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worlds hundreds of light-years from
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Terror but extrasolar colonization was
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never that easy because the colonists
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starships were restricted to
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relativistic sublight velocities travel
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times to the new worlds could stretch
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over ten generations this meant that
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each journey was always a one-way trip
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even when the original colonists
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descendants finally arrived at their
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destinations unforeseen problems could
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quickly threaten the colony's survival
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on some planets the settlers became the
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prey of vicious predators on others an
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unbreathable atmosphere or extreme
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weather made travel outside of domed
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habitats nearly impossible with the
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technology at hand but no matter the
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obstacles the colonists persevered and
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faced these hardships willingly they
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learned to work together to ensure that
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everyone prospered over the centuries
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human perseverance ensured that their
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settlements spread across the void from
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terror like points of light in a dark
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endless ocean at the same time the lack
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of easy interstellar travel or
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communication forced each settlement to
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be as self-sufficient as possible it was
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not long before they developed their own
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traditions and culture what had begun
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with one world was soon replicated on
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hundreds of new colonies during the age
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of technology in time humanity finally
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answered the age-old question of whether
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it was alone in the universe it wasn't
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and the aliens were often the enemy
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intelligent but less advanced alien life
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was discovered on scores of worlds
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though the natives often saw the human
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colonists as invaders but even this
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possibility had been planned for by the
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engineers of Terror drawing on the
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experience of prior colonies the Long
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March settlers had been supplied with
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databases and fabricators that allow
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them to craft nearly any item this
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included towering suits of powered armor
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to build and defend their colonies the
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pilots of these combat walkers could arm
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them when necessary with military-grade
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weapons the suit soon proved their worth
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few natural predators or hostile alien
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warriors were able to overcome them
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these hybrids of human and machine soon
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became a common sight on many of the
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early Terran colonies they were called
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Knights by the settlers after the
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ancient armored cavalry but what came
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next was an unexpected leap even by the
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standards of a people used to constant
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innovation though few reliable records
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remain he was at the dawn of the 18th
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millennium that humanity made the
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greatest scientific breakthrough in its
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history faster than light spaceflight
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despite millennia of research the laws
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of physics have proven frustratingly
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rigid nothing in the universe could
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travel faster than light it seemed as if
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humanity's many worlds might be lonely
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outposts forever denied the Commerce and
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communication a true interstellar
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civilization required
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but the solution came from something no
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scientist could have predicted the
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discovery of a whole new universe this
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dimension named the immaterial but
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better known as the warp was a reality
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that ran parallel to the physical
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universe at every point but followed
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none of its rules reality had no meaning
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in the depths of the warp the material
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is not defined by solid matter but was
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instead a seething ocean of pure psychic
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energy it was nothing less than raw
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emotion given in physical form within
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the warp the impossible was the only
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true constant cause did not precede
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effect time could move faster or slower
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than in what came to be called real
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space but most important the speed of
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light was no longer a hard limit upon
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those who dared the warps flowing
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currents of energy the key was the
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Mandeville point this was the name given
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to a location in real space where the
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warp overlapped with it to create a
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stable interface where a starship could
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safely enter or exit the warp outfitted
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with a technology known as warp drive
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the vessel could translate from real
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space into the warp through a Mandeville
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point it then traveled through the
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twisting streams of the immaterial to
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its destination
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Andreea merged into reality through
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another Mandeville point because the
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warp obeys none of the physical laws of
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distance or time the vessel reappeared
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in a new position several light-years
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from the starting point but it was
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precisely because the true nature of the
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work was unknowable and so at odds with
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reality that it proved incredibly
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dangerous in the early days of warp
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travel journeys were usually undertaken
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in short jumps of four or five
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light-years vessels that attempted
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longer jumps could be cast off course by
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thousands of light-years or even
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destroyed outright worse was the bizarre
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nature of time in the warp as some
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starships arrived centuries after or
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even before they had originally planned
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the warp was also often plagued by
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violent distortions akin to storms and
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squalls
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these could cut entire regions of the
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galaxy off from travel and communication
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then came the discovery that something
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malevolent lived within the warp many
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early explorers were lost - it's
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maddening depths shortly after reporting
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the onset of terrifying hallucinations
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and visions other phenomena was
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encountered that might once have been
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considered supernatural by believers in
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ancient superstitions but humanity would
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not be deterred and was unwilling to
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forsake the extraordinary possibilities
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offered by traversing the psychic
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dimension human scientists continued
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their research and ultimately developed
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the device known as a Geller field just
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as a Mandeville point provides an
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interface between real space and the
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warp the Goeller field projects a mobile
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bubble of reality that can protect a
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starship as it moves through the warp it
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operated much like a film of oil
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surrounding a stone in a raging stream
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while you manatee can now safely enter
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the warp and use it for interstellar
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travel navigating it for any real
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distance still proved all but impossible
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any attempts to directly probe the
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unreal geography of the warp always
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drove a starship pilot to madness their
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minds shattered by the immaterial sheer
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incompatibility with reality the
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solution was another unexpected
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discovery the human navigator gene this
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gene was an expression in the physical
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universe of the ability to manipulate
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the energy of the warp it allowed its
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bearer to stare into the depths of the
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immaterial without going insane further
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selection for the gene led to the birth
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of the first human psychics or psychos
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they could wield the mental energy of
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the warp directly to manifest seemingly
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impossible effects in real space the
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bearers of the navigator gene also
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developed a literal third eye in the
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middle of their foreheads through it
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they could read the ebb and flow of the
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warp so accurately they could lead a
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starship safely through its hazards but
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every gateway swings both ways any who
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dared to peer into a Navigators warp I
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where as likely to go insane as if they
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had looked into the you materia MIT self
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despite the dangers there were those who
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welcomed the chance to be the
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cornerstones of a new interstellar
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society but to be a navigator carried
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with it both responsibilities and
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hazards the navigator gene was recessive
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this meant the intermarriage of existing
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gaiters was necessary to ensure the
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survival of the gene in the human
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population additionally those born with
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the Navigator Jean sometimes suffered
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from further mutations beyond the
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development of their third eye these
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changes often proved hideously
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debilitating to deal with such issues
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the individuals who carry the Navigator
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gene in its stable form banded together
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into families these clans soon arranged
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marriages between their bloodlines as
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carefully as any ancient breeder of
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thoroughbreds yet such restraints
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ultimately proved their worth
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by the 19th millennium the navigators
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abilities had become indispensable to
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mankind's continued expansion they
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proceeded to establish a new nobility
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whose houses earned enormous prestige
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and well with navigators aboard human
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starships could finally make planned
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accurate jumps through the warp that
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crossed hundreds of light-years at a
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time with such a reach the savin's of
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Earth and Mars were able to retrace the
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likely courses taken by the Long March
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generation ships centuries before those
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lonely outposts were soon reunited with
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their homeworld and each other as the
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19th millenium came to its close no
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human planet needed to fear isolation it
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was at last possible for the once
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scattered colonies of mankind to trade
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and communicate with each other a star
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spanning human civilization
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interconnected by ties of Commerce
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knowledge and a common culture was born
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riding the currents of the warp humanity
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could look beyond the horizon of the
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next star the entire galaxy was now open
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to exploration and settlement this new
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era would be remembered as the apex of
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human civilization the dawn of mankind's
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Golden Age
