Chapter 1 - First Light

Earth - 2061
In a tent shrouded by the veil of night, a child sat, gazing wondrously at the stars. His eyes were a dark, murky purple similar to the evening dusk's; his pupils were dark and resembled the vastness of space. His hair, the colour of a moonless night, sat messily on his head, and a streak of silver broke through like a ray of light. An older man with the same deep purple eyes sat beside him, pointing out the constellations.
“Do you see that? That’s Scorpius, the great scorpion said to have slain Orion the hunter,” he pointed out. “Over there is Draco, the dragon guarding the Golden Apples of the Garden of Hespirides, but he was defeated by Hercules, the legendary Greek hero," he said with a warm smile.

As the man pointed at the stars, the child took out a small notebook and lamp, which he set on the table. He began to draw. The lines swiftly formed the shape of a giant scorpion and a separate picture of Hercules vanquishing an all-mighty dragon.

“Daddy, why do you love the stars so much?”
His father let out a small chuckle, followed by a sigh
“Well, it began with my father; he would take me out stargazing every time he got back from the observatory. I grew to love the countless stars in the sky. Each of these stars contained millions of possibilities and their own stories.”
“What stories, Dad? I don’t understand.”
“Around each star orbits many exoplanets, each formed in different periods, made of different materials. But many contain the possibility of life. Living beings, civilizations, anything is possible in the cosmos. Our future lies above us, our future is out there, Lan.” His father’s voice fills with awe and wonder as he gazes up toward the sky again.
“But do you have to go? What if I miss you?” the child asks, his voice small. He slowly sets down his notebook and looks towards the lamp. His gaze is focused beyond the dimming flame. The light is fading, but it is enough for his father to see the shimmer in his eyes and notice a single glistening tear streak down his cheek.
“Listen, Lan, this is something I have to do, for our future, for our planet. If you ever miss me, look towards the brightest star in the north, I will be looking back. I’ll leave this notebook with you just like how he left it with me. I’ll also leave you this pendant. This will always point you North, towards me. If you ever find yourself in need, place it where memory is the strongest.”
As Lan takes the pendant and the notebook, a shining comet streaks across the night sky. Lan would later learn that the comet they saw was Halley’s Comet. It would be another 70 years before Lan would see this comet streak across the night sky again.


Earth - 20 years later 2081
Lan, now grown up, sprints through the colourful streets of his city. He had just aced the exam presented by EXO for aspiring Wanderers, tasked with piloting starships and navigating the galaxy. Barely containing his excitement, he barrels through intersection after intersection, the lights always green for him as if they were welcoming him back after a long crusade. On his way home, he stops at Stargazer Park, as he always does. Like always, a distinct feeling of sadness resonates through him, temporarily dampening the joy of acing the exam. A lone note of sadness within his inner symphony of joy. He looks towards the central monument, a starship sailing through a sea of stars: The Pioneers, the crew of the legendary EXO Stargazer. The crew that explored the first habitable exoplanet, Stellaris-b. There they gathered important samples and brought pivotal navigation data back to Earth so that future missions could be launched. One day, however, they disappeared without a trace. Their ship was found on Stellaris-b and abandoned in the middle of a clearing after they failed to return past the mission date. The goal of the mission was to map out the northeastern side of the planet using drones and miniature satellites. All their equipment was left up and running. It was as if the entire crew had agreed to get up and leave.

Lan sits down on a bench facing the pedestal. The statue of his father is aboard the sailboat sailing across a sea of stars, pointing towards the brightest star in the night. Behind him stands the crew. Lan was always told that one of his dad’s closest friends designed the monument.

“Dad, I did it,” Lan said, unknowingly shedding a tear. I passed the exam. It won’t be long before I find you,” Lan said, his voice filling with hope and longing. He flips open his bag and takes out the pendant. Lan points the compass toward the direction the statue faces. He notices the statue holding the same pendant, but it looks different. It looks almost thinner, and instead of a sailboat, stars are engraved on the cover.

A sudden headache overtakes Lan, stopping only when he closes his eyes. When it fades, he is met with the same park, yet a huge, blue moon shines behind his father’s statue, silhouetting it. His pendant shakes as the blue moon focuses its light upon him. It glows brighter and brighter until everything turns back to normal.

Leaving that ominous event behind him, Lan continues rushing home.

“Mom, you’ll never guess what,” Lan said as soon as the phone connected
“I think I know exactly what.” She replies with a soft yet worried laugh.
“I hope you're ready for Dad to come back,” Lan said excitedly.

After a short pause, his mother’s voice is heard again.

“Don’t you go disappearing like your father. I don’t know what I would do without you.” Lan’s mother said with tears in her eyes. It was a request and a promise.
“I won’t leave you. Don’t worry.” Lan said with determination.

“I’ll let you get some rest. You have a big day ahead of you,” she sniffled before hanging up.


A notification pops up on his phone. The message also recommends downloading the EXO App, a public app that acts as an AI Assistant. Still, EXO members get a special version that lets the AI nicknamed “Nova” access databases within the company, contact others affiliated with the company, and easily transfer data.

Lan turns around and looks out his bedroom window, turning the filter off, revealing a beautiful cityscape of bright lights sprawling across the verdant landscape. The new lights developed about three years ago effectively removed light pollution, allowing residents to see the stars from the comfort of their homes. He looks towards a distant building, three giant towers of varying height loom over a huge facility. Launch towers pierce the sky above the facility in a semicircle. This is the New Frontiers Research Center, a citadel of technology and the pinnacle of human intelligence and machinery. A ship launches and Lan watches as a starship rises, becoming nothing more than a distant streak in the sky. This city, Skyward, has become the center of spatial exploration and technological advancements, all thanks to the feats of the EXO Stargazer’s crew.

The disappearance has become one of the greatest mysteries of the century, with crazy theories about alien life and unproven phenomena such as the Einstein Rosen Bridge. Companies worldwide began to invest in EXO and began to provide resources to search and locate the missing Stargazer. So many resources were poured in with little to no results that people began to doubt EXO and their legitimacy. The main theory is that the Stargazer was never supposed to return. The company just released a simple statement explaining that it would be impossible to search the entire planet for the crew and pulled out all efforts.

Lan sits on the windowsill, fiddling with his pendant. Flipping it open, then closing it repeatedly.
“It will help you when you need it the most, " his father said, showing him the simple compass within.
Feeling his energy drain from the day catching up to him, Lan sets down the pendant and lies in bed, quickly consumed by dreams and fantasies.

Lan wakes up to the sound of birds chirping, his room is overgrown and the cityscape outside his window is replaced with a giant forest with trees taller than the monoliths and skyscrapers of Skyward. Lan had heard about trees the size of skyscrapers all his life, from papers to legends, but they only grow in the most remote places now. The world has achieved a carbon output of nearly zero, yet experts still fear the extent of the damage. EXO was originally launched to search for a backup plan, but the world realized its mistakes in time. Snapping out from his thoughts, he enters a clearing with a faint silhouette of a man.

“Find me.” the voice whispers,
“Wh-what? Lan responds, obviously disturbed by this whole thing.
“Find me.” the voice repeats, this time louder.
“Who are you? How are you here?” Lan asks again.
“Find me.” the voice repeats one final time before the landscape twists and turns. Lan feels himself falling into a dark abyss until the light is gone.

Lan shoots up in bed, sweat running down his back, trying to catch his breath.
“What was that?” Lan mutters to himself.

His thoughts are interrupted by the beeping sounds of the alarm he set. Lan hurries through his usual routine, barely finishing up by the time the second alarm rings. Lan hurries through the city, making his way to the EXO Center. As he turns the corner, he runs into a girl with long silver hair flowing straight down her back, the colour of it almost blending in with the morning fog. She falls back onto the sidewalk while Lan stumbles a bit but catches himself on a lamppost.

“Are you okay?” Lan asks
“Yeah, that one’s on me. Wasn’t really looking,” she said, dusting off her legs.
“Sorry about that,” Lan said, extending his hand to her.
“No worries, I’m Caixia,” the girl said while taking Lan’s hand to stand back up.
“I’m Lan. Nice to me-,” Lan is cut off by the distinct beeping of their phones as Nova alerts both of them.
“EXO?” Lan asks.
“Not yet. I’m headed for the training camp,” she smiles.
“Oh, well that’s a coincidence, I’m trying to become a navigator,” Lan replies, returning the smile.
“Interesting, well, I might have to rely on you in the future. Let’s go?”
“Sure,” Lan replies, walking towards the New Frontiers Research Center or NFRC for short. They keep talking with each other as they head towards their shared destination.

Even though the NFRC is a research center, it is nothing short of grand and magnificent. The entrance to the main building is designed in a way that focuses the natural light that enters from the glass wall into a giant glass construct hanging from the ceiling. The different mirrors inside the construct reflect the light all over, creating shimmering patterns on the water screens falling from the 3 other sides. The reception desk is located on a small island in the center of a water feature. Within it, fish of all species swim freely, creating an ever-shifting mosaic of shimmering scales. The whole building is designed in a modern style with a mix of minimalism here and there.

Lan and Caixia are directed to a couch where five other people are chatting. Two of them are talking quietly. Lan had to approach them to hear what they were talking about. It was about the recent decline in expeditions to Stellaris-b, something the company was keeping quiet about. Out of the other three members, one admires the water pillar and the fish, and two others argue over some new mechanic in a popular online game. Lan and Caixia sit down and discuss some simple topics to pass the time with, simple small talk and such. The appearance of a much older staff member leads them to believe that times up, so they all step up and approach the staff member.

The older man is wearing a large trench coat with a fancy suit beneath it. His hair seems to be fully gray until the light hits it directly, revealing a silver resembling Caixias’s hair. He tells you all to follow him and leads you down a grand hallway filled with more water screens and features into a small lecture hall with 21 other people. You all sit down and he introduces himself as the Commander Xuan of the Wanderer Program.

“You were all handpicked from a group of people who passed the test meant to pick out only the best from each field. You were given this opportunity to traverse the cosmos, to wander across the galaxy, to experience something only shown in science fiction all those years ago. Congratulations, but you shouldn’t rest easy. If you pass this training course, you become a licensed Wanderer, but only one crew will have the opportunity to embark on a mission to the famous Stellaris-b.” Commander Xuan said. He goes through basic course introductions and explains the crew system to everyone.

In short, every starship has a crew of, on average, seven people. Each of these people comes from a different field of science. The NFRC and EXO are innovative in their views on the research. They transcend normal barriers allowing interdisciplinary collaboration between all of its members. Everyone works towards a common goal, to create a better world for mankind. All members need to be healthy enough to travel to space. Each person is assigned a role aboard the ship. Since each expedition has a different mission length, it is important to get along with the group of people you get assigned to. Expeditions are always difficult and contain a multitude of moving parts that can go wrong. In the end, it relies on coordination and everyone doing their job to near perfection.

Commander Xuan hands out a list with groups assigned.

Crew 2
Vincent - Chemist / Captain
Lan - Astronomer / Navigator
Caixia - Biologist and Environmental Scientist / Medic
Adrian - Material Scientist and Engineer / Repairs
Alexander - Data and Computer Scientist / Programmer
Amethyst - Geologist / Resource Management
Lingyun - Physicist / Pilot