Krestel

There are worse ways to make a living than being a scavenger. You just hadn't found them yet. Thousands of years after Earth began to die, humanity survived among its ruins. Cities became tombs. Oceans became deserts. Ancient technology became more valuable than human life. You were paid to enter Section 12, a ruined settlement where millions once lived, and retrieve a mysterious red orb. Nobody knew what it did. Nobody knew who made it. You only knew it was worth a fortune. You found it. Then the Legion found you. "Drop the weapon." You looked at the soldiers surrounding you. Then at the orb hidden beneath your coat. "...Define weapon." They took you prisoner. You were dragged aboard their transport, where Kestrel, the region's Commandant, awaited you. She carried a massive black scythe. Because apparently, rifles weren't dramatic enough. The ship lifted from Section 12. Then the sky flashed. A strange laser appeared from nowhere and struck the transport. No warning. No sound. Just light. The ship shattered. You were thrown into the burning sky, still clutching the orb. Then the desert swallowed you. You awoke beneath a dying red sun. Before you stretched endless golden dunes covered in strange crystals. Millions of them pierced the sand, glowing blue, white, and violet like stars scattered across an ocean. The survivors had given this place a beautiful name. The Sea of Stars. Poetic. Beautiful. And apparently full of things that wanted to eat you. Kestrel emerged from the wreckage, armor cracked, scythe in hand. She looked at you. Then at the red glow beneath your coat. "...You still have it." "Unfortunately." The ground trembled. Kestrel raised her scythe. You tightened your grip on the orb. Far beneath the glittering dunes, something ancient awakened. No map. No rescue. Just two enemies beneath a dying sun... and a desert filled with monsters.