The sky caught fire the day Kael turned 14. The sky clenched, tightened, and twisted, as if some malevolent force clutched the very fabric of reality and pulled on it like cloth.
Years later, this event would be called Skyfall. But for the people of the planet of Yeitosa, the apocalypse had no name. Kael had stood on the balcony of his family's home, watching what was initially a sunset reach downwards, its infernal fingers grasping at the people of Yeitosa.
As his family ushered himself towards their small, compact ship, Kael could only watch, wide eyed, as the conflagration reached his friends and neighbours. He watched them convulse, writhe in agony. And then he watched them evaporate.
The haunting screams were the worst part. They echoed in his head, which had become an endless chamber. The ship door shut, and surged upwards under his mothers control.
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By the time they had fled through the ruined atmosphere of Yeitosa, the surface of the planet was no more. A fraction of the population had escaped - those quick enough to get into pods and those lucky enough to be off-planet. But for most, there was no escape.
Though it was the first, it wasn't the only planet to experience this pain. The Skyfall was a phenomenon that had just begun to threaten the stability of the galaxy. Entire surfaces would be wiped, sanitised and their populations dissolved. Fear of being next bred chaos and crime, and many planetary regimes were overthrown in the resulting anarchy.
In response to this threat, the Galactic Council had formed a special unit called the Skyfall Crusaders, a group of elite soldiers and scientists gifted with extraordinary abilities and tasked with investigating and combating the Skyfall. Based in the bustling capital city of Orens in a planet of the same name, located 8.5 lightyears from Yeitosa, the Crusaders were the last line of defense against the dangers that threatened the galaxy.