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A gossamer flying machine (futuristic, fantasy) soaring above an ancient alien city (fantasy city of white stone, sleek curves, ruined buildings, crumbling walls) in the moonlight, lush alien desert landscape of ochre moss and stunted trees, blue-green sky with ((one) large moon) near the horizon :: in the style of Frank Frazetta :: full shot, eye level, soft focus :: hyperrealistic, hyper detailed, photorealistic :: masterpiece, incredible composition, amazing depth, imposing, meticulously composed :: extreme contrast, intense colors, (chiaroscuro:1.9), ultra resolution
Centuries ago, the Empire withdrew from the outer systems, leaving behind empty
cities, broken treaties, and the assumption that history had finished its work. Most of
those worlds learned to survive without attention. A few learned to hide.
On one such planet, the great white cities still stand—roofless, overgrown, and
quietly functional in ways no one fully understands anymore. The machines were
never dismantled. The laws were never formally repealed. And the people who live
among the ruins have learned that some absences are more dangerous than
occupation ever was.
When Alaric Voss arrives in a light reconnaissance craft, he is not there to rediscover
the past. The imperial troubleshooter is there because something has begun to
move again—an authority that no longer officially exists, a mandate no one
remembers authorizing, a system still enforcing rules long after its makers departed.
The problem is not large enough to warrant a fleet, not dramatic enough to reach the capital: but serious enough that it cannot be ignored.
As old structures awaken and local powers maneuver in the long dusk of empire, Alaric must decide what must finally be put to rest. The answers will not be clean. They rarely are, this far from history’s center.
In the ruins of a civilization that once ruled the stars, its shadow remains—and it is no longer content to be ignored.
