DISCLAIMER: Magic Knights Rayearth and its characters, settings, and situations are properties of CLAMP Bandai, and Media Blasters, and are used here without permission.

Prologue: Dire Warnings

113 Years Ago on the Planet Ramar:

"Supreme Commanders of Ramar," intoned Higon, concluding his presentation. "There is no disputing the data this time. In less than one hundred iatas^†, our star will cease to provide us with energy. Supreme Commanders, our civilization will die."

Higon looked at each of the twelve Supreme Commanders that comprise the High Council of Ramar. What fools, he thought. He managed to hide his distaste for all of them. Ramar is a solar system with eleven planets, each already fully populated. Ramar is a civilization of warriors and yet all they do is play war games all iata long. We have all forgotten what it was like to be true conquerors, Higon's thoughts continue to rage in his mind as he waited for the information he had just presented to be fully absorbed by the thick-headed Supreme Commanders. Bah!

"So, esteemed scientist," Supreme Commander Lako leaned forward, his eyes boring into Higon's. "What would have us do? Flee our own worlds? To where? We've already conquered every world in this system that can be conquered and that can hold life." Lako smirked as he leaned back on his seat, glancing at his peers, each with a smirk of his own.

Gods, they don't care! Higon scowled, but not so much, lest they blast him right where he stood. Just because the catastrophic implosion of their star won't happen in their lifetimes…they just don't care!

"There are other systems," Higon's spread his hands, palm up, trying very hard to plead with these idiots who called themselves leaders. "We have the technology of space flight. True, it will take many an iata to reach even the nearest system, but they are there for the taking, if we just…" And that's when he lost it. "Have we really forgotten what we are?! We are conquerors of worlds! We are the nomads of the universe, and yet here we are content to just play war games and wait for the—"

"Enough!" The loud rebuke, uttered by a voice that already rang with authority that will not brook interference even among the most seasoned of combatants, was accompanied by the even louder crashing sound of a fist down a fixture that was once a table. Higon visibly cringed at both sounds, embarrassing himself in the process.

Fram's blood-red eyes stared down at Higon's, which only increased the latter's discomfort. "Such strong words for a non-warrior." Laughter erupted around the council chamber. Fram settled down on his seat, a smile still plastered on his face. "So, scientist, you would have us do what our forefathers of long, long ago did."

It was not a question but clearly a response was required and so Higon nodded.

"And that is the only alternative? Surely we can do something to that uncooperative star of ours to prolong—"

"Council Commander Fram, there is nothing we can do!" A mistake. One should never interrupt Fram while speaking. Higon swallowed the lump of fear on his throat. Already, Fram's eyes were narrowing, his whole countenance one of tangible, barely controlled rage. Higon looked fearfully at twelve sets of eyes, each bearing contempt, distaste, and what other negative thoughts they surely have for him. Finally, he glanced back at Fram. "F-forgive me, Council Commander. Please continue."

"Very well, scientist," drawled Fram. "How do you propose we go about 'conquering' other systems? Surely you don't mean for us to just wander aimlessly through the desert of a universe until we stumble upon a habitable planet?" That elicited polite laughter from the others.

Higon took a deep breath as he walked over to a terminal. He lightly touched the panel to bring up a three-dimensional holographic display. In the beginning, only clusters of stars with no discernable pattern could be seen.

With another deep breath he focused his attention to his reluctant audience. "The probes that we sent out to the far reaches of the known universe have identified for us six systems that are candidates for conquest." As if on cue, the holographic display began to emphasize six clusters of star systems.

"Three of the systems have one planet each that appear to allow habitation. Two of the systems have two habitable planets." Higon paused. The holograph now showed the Ramarian number one on the three systems with one habitable planet and a Ramarian number two on the two systems with two habitable planets.

"The last system…" Higon continued. This time the holographic display brought to fore the one system that Higon was emphasizing, causing the others to fade. "This last system, as you can see, has nine planets revolving around a yellow star. Only one of the planets is current inhabited by sentient beings, but with our technology, we can make the three others in that system habitable." Higon stopped and smiled, proud of his presentation. The holographic display now highlighted the second, third, fourth and fifth planets of the solar system in the order of their distances from the central star.

The Supreme Commander from the planet Eloramar of the Ramarian system, Yulo, leaned forward. "Scientist, may I remind you that there are eleven worlds in our system. Are you suggesting that we all cram ourselves into four planets?" With a gesture of dismissal with his hand, he leaned back on his chair amidst nods of assent from nearby commanders.

"Supreme Commander Yulo," Higon hurriedly replied. "If you would please look at the fifth planet of this system… it is larger than all eleven of our worlds combined, with room to spare!" Higon looked around the assembly, noting their collective silence and wondering what it meant. He was beginning to fidget and then all of a sudden—

"Scientist, how far is this system from us?"

"Scientist, that third planet, what is the level of their technology?"

"Tell me scientist, what kind of resistance will we encounter from the inhabitants of this system?"

"How much restructuring will be needed to make these planets habitable, scientist?"

The questions came one after another, each from a different Supreme Commander. Higon found himself opening his mouth to answer one when another would be asked. This pretty much kept his mouth open and his eyes wide until finally, silence once again reigned. At this, Higon looked at Fram, as if permission was needed before he could continue. Fram gave a nod of assent.

"Honored Supreme Commanders, this system is, sad to say, the farthest of all. It is roughly 34,000 lumiata^‡ away." Higon could see from the blank stares of each council member that the distance he had just mentioned is something that their pea-sized intellect could not comprehend. "In other words, Esteemed Commanders, it would take our fastest attack vessel roughly 75 iatas to reach the system."

As soon as he said this, the council erupted in objections, expletives and wild gesticulations. Higon knew that if they didn't make serious preparations to leave within the iata, the fate of the majority of their kind would perish. As he looked at the ensuing chaos in the chamber he knew that nothing would be resolved today or for many a day to come. Presently, someone remembered that he was still there and was summarily dismissed.

At least I tried, Higon thought despairingly. With shoulders slumped, he walked out of the council tower to his conveyance. The conveyance, a type of hovercraft, upon sensing the presence of its owner through its biometric scanners, opened itself up. Higon stared at his vehicle. It was an expensive one, for though he was just a scientist, he was a highly paid scientist and the head of the Ramarian Research Institute, an institute that was responsible for the vast majority of technological advances his race now enjoys. He looked around him. Ramar, the central planet in their system politically, was an ugly planet. So were the other ten planets for that matter. It was of no consequence. While Higon didn't think highly of the worlds that his race occupied, he had love for his race and he was determined that it would survive. With one final look around, he boarded his conveyance.

To be continued.

Author's notes: This is my very first fanfic about the Magic Knights. It is based on the anime and not the manga. As the story progresses, you will notice some changes and perceptions about what happened in Cephiro. In my opinion, these are just minor elements and do not detract from the story itself.

C&C is very welcome. Please send e-mail to darkhrse0714@yahoo.com

†: An iata is a year in Ramar, roughly equal to 413 Earth days. Even though Ramar is composed of eleven planets, each with its own rate of rotation, the iata has since been the standard for measuring years.

‡: The distance that light can travel in an iata, or 413 Earth days

NEXT — Chapter 1: Wormhole Discovered

Webmaster: Larry F
Last revision: May 21, 2007