Realizing that the peril still exists, the newly reformed administration elects to respond in earnest. Prior to the fall, it was common knowledge amongst the Senatum (the highest levels of Arden’s government) that not all the rabid Horde had joined in the rampage across the stars toward Arden. Such revelations are eagerly perused, whereupon a shocking discovery is made. It also releases an archive of sealed state secrets. Recognizing the emergence of a new hybrid species, the Architect – the arcane AI construct tasked with the preservation of the Ardenese race – responds by unlocking previously hidden and inaccessible areas of the city. A metamorphosis of stunning magnitude that not only affects the living, but those still is stasis as well. Along with a resurgence in floral and faunal diversity comes the results of splicing the Ardenese and human genomes: transmutation. The release of the re-genesis matrix has done much to foster a restoration of exuberance across Arden. But such aspirations might remain beyond their reach, for a shadow looms on the rose-tinted horizon of new beginnings. Believing that the threat is over, the survivors now yearn to settle down, start families, and reclaim the lives stolen from them.

That simple yet brutal reality is the tenet by which the refugees from Earth – including the fabled lost 9th Legion of Rome the 5th Company, 2nd Mounted Cavalry Unit and the Special Forces Anti-Terrorist Team – were forced to live by while the Horde menace existed.

The ix by andrew p weston