The oppressive rule of the Galactic Empire continued to crush the hopes of the Planetary Union. Any voice raised in the name of freedom was met with merciless suppression. And yet, among the darkness, there were those who kept a faint light alive. The resistance group known as Star’s Flame stood in defiance of the Empire, fighting for the freedom they believed in.
Elio was one of them. Once a technician in the Empire’s development division, he had fled after witnessing the horrors of their experiments. Now, he worked as an engineer for the resistance, repairing warships and weapons. But the mission he now faced was no mere behind-the-scenes task.
“…So this is the Tear of the Heavens.”
The girl, Tia, cupped the faintly glowing crystal in her hands. A mysterious blue-white light spread across her palms, as if she were holding the universe itself.
“Does it really… hold the power of legend?” she asked.
“We’ll have to find out. If the Empire is this desperate to get it, there must be something to it.”
Elio surveyed the dim cavern around them. They stood deep beneath the surface of planet Lumina, in ruins said to belong to an ancient civilization. According to intel gathered by Star’s Flame, the Tear of the Heavens had been sealed here. But already, Imperial forces were closing in.
“Elio… I’m scared.”
“It’s going to be okay, Tia. I’ll protect you—no matter what.”
Just as he said that, a tremor shook the cave. Crumbling walls, rising dust—Imperial forces had arrived.
“There they are! Secure the Tear of the Heavens!”
Armored soldiers raised their rifles and surrounded Elio and Tia. There seemed to be no way out.
“I’m sorry, Elio. I… I knew.”
Tia’s quiet whisper caught him off guard.
“What…?”
In the next instant, the Tear of the Heavens erupted in a blinding light. The cave was engulfed in a vision of the galaxy itself, and the Imperial soldiers froze in place.
“This… what is this?!”
It felt as though gravity itself had reversed. Elio gasped.
“The Tear of the Heavens isn’t just a relic,” Tia said, starlight shimmering in her eyes.
“It holds the memory of the universe—an infinite power. But to use it comes at a cost.”
The soldiers, stunned, began to aim their weapons again. But before they could fire, Tia gently placed both hands on the crystal, a calm smile on her face.
“So let me be the one to choose.”
A wave of radiant energy burst forth. The cave began to collapse. And in the midst of it all, Elio lost consciousness.
—When he awoke, he was aboard a spacecraft.
Tia was gone.
“Tia…?”
In his hand was a fragment of the Tear of the Heavens, still faintly glowing.
“I see… you paid the price…”
Staring out at the ocean of stars stretching beyond the ship’s window, Elio made a silent vow.
—To destroy the Empire. And to realize the “possibility” Tia had shown him, with his own hands.
