As my vessel plummets through the cosmos, the stars blur to streaks of light around me. Each pulse of my heart beats a solemn drum of regret—why must my life end before it has truly begun? I’ve strived to honor the Creator, to serve as a warrior and a lover, but now, as I plummet toward an uncharted planet, it seems I have failed at both. The console before me is dark; the comms are down. My team, scattered across the stars, is likely making their descent on Planet 9, unaware of my fate. They seek to find the females that might save our dying race, while I, chosen for a mission of such critical importance, am trapped in a falling tomb. A rogue asteroid—the culprit of my doom—clipped my ship, severing its vital systems. Now, as I fall, I brace for the end, the cabin shuddering violently as it breaches the atmosphere. Through the window, a planet bathed in magnificent blue rushes toward me. Chosen for a special mission and here I am failing at that like I do everything else. I sigh in frustration. I buckle in and brace for impact as I feel the ship push through the atmosphere. Gravity pulls me toward the surface of the blue giant and the rest is a blur. The ship groans under the strain, metal screeching in agony as it hurtles toward oblivion. I grip the controls, refusing to close my eyes. I will not die a coward. With a thunderous crash, I collide with the ground. My head slams against the window, pain radiating through my skull. Smoke invades my lungs, and darkness encroaches my vision. Surprisingly, it speaks with a voice that is clear and bright, calling to something primal within me. Death, I had thought, was to be feared, an end to all things. Yet here, at this precipice, it whispers promises of beginnings, sounding oddly like home. With that final, unsettling thought, I succumb to its embrace in the unknown.