We now skip thousands of light years across the Universe from the chaotic but vibrant Petan Galaxy to a smaller, more volatile cluster known as the Crimson Galaxy.
It contains only four habitable planets, amongst millions, but one stands above them all:
Planet Shan.
Feared. Respected. Dominant.
Some even say it is the most powerful planet in the entire Universe.
Shan was a world born from warfare. Its history is drenched in blood and betrayal. Even now after centuries of chaos it survives under the rule of a single, unchallenged dictator.
But Shan was not always called Shan.
5000 years ago , the planet was known as Ares.
The ancient inhabitants of Ares worshipped the stars with complete devotion. They believed the galaxy itself watched over them.
One night, the stars fell.
Fragments of burning cosmic rock rained down upon the planet destroying towns, killing thousands, poisoning land, ruining crops, and wiping out livestock.
Their entire way of life collapsed overnight.
Fear turned into desperation.
Desperation turned into anger.
Anger turned into division.
Some claimed the stars punished them for losing faith.
Others said the gods had abandoned them and should be forgotten.
The debate turned violent.
The first war of Ares began.
And it would not be the last.
For tens of thousands of years, Ares would see the same cycle repeat:
Outrage.
Conflict.
Bloodshed.
War.
The Last Great War — 40 Years Ago
The final major war took place forty years ago, led by a young rebel with extraordinary natural power:
Lu Ghan.
Gifted with the strength of 100 men and the speed of a bullet, Lu Ghan became Commander of the Guards at just fifteen. He knew battle his entire life. He was cold, disciplined, ruthless until one event changed everything.
The tyrant ruler Fau Darfu lived in luxury inside the royal palace, an extravagant structure coated in rare galactic gems and compounds, glowing like a second sun by day and a second moon by night.
While the palace thrived, the people lived in poverty, their technology centuries behind.
Fau Darfu was a strict follower of ancient star worship.
He tortured the citizens with superstition, blaming them for their suffering.
The breaking point came when a starving child stole food from the palace.
Fau Darfu ordered the child executed.
When the guards refused, he executed them too.
The planet erupted in rage.
Lu Ghan could no longer ignore the injustice. He rebelled and the entire military joined him. The people poured into the streets.
The resistance stormed the palace. Many died against the advanced defense systems, but eventually Fau Darfu was overthrown and publicly executed.
Lu Ghan became ruler, renaming the planet Shan.
He abandoned the ancient star religion, believing it blocked Ares from reaching its potential. He gathered all star worshippers 200,000 of them and offered a choice:
Join Shan.
Or die.
Most refused.
They were exterminated.
The people realized Lu Ghan was not a savior.
He was simply the same coin flipped to its other side.
He enforced peace through fear. Yet under his iron rule, Shan advanced into a technological marvel modern cities, neon-lit skylines, plasma infrastructure, and impenetrable defenses.
But strict laws, curfews, and deadly no-go zones remained.
Breaking the rules meant imprisonment… or death.
Five Years Before Modern Day
Lu Ghan sat in his chamber, much different from the gem-encrusted palace of old. His throne room now gleamed with black metallic walls, harsh neon accents, and holographic command panels.
"Where is my son?" Lu Ghan asked, his voice echoing through the hall.
His elite guard stepped forward covered head to toe in black stealth armor, red lensed masks hiding their faces.
"Playing, sir."
Lu Ghan crushed the stone arm of his throne in disappointment.
"And my daughter?"
"Training, sir."
A faint smile crossed his face.
"Very well. Summon my wife."
The guard radioed for Mai Ghan, Lu Ghan's wife.
They met ten years after the fall of Fau Darfu during a new-guard training program. Lu Ghan was drawn to her strength and discipline. After five years, they married. Together they had two children:
Leia Shan, now 18
Lu Shan, now 15
Mai entered gracefully, her presence softening the air around him. She stroked his long black silky hair and greying beard.
"My king," she whispered, "what do you need from your queen?"
He resisted leaning into her touch. His expression hardened.
"For generations, heirs have always been sons," he began. "But our son is too weak to lead Shan. Too naïve. Too soft."
Mai nodded slowly.
"I agree. Leia is ruthless, disciplined, and strong just like we were in our prime."
Unbeknownst to them, Leia was outside the chamber, secretly listening. Her heart pounded. Her eyes widened.
She was going to be named heir.
"Very well," Lu Ghan declared.
He turned to his four elite guards.
"Summon my children and all officials. Broadcast a message in the sky. Do not tell anyone what this is about."
"Understood, sir."
Twenty-five minutes later, Leia, Lu Shan, and the top generals stood inside the vast throne room.
"I have an important announcement regarding the future of Shan," Lu Ghan began.
Mai leaned forward to whisper something to him
And then
BOOM.
A blinding flash erupted.
A deafening explosion ripped through the chamber.
Shock.
Silence.
Then screams.
Where Lu Ghan stood…
There was only blood.
His head had exploded instantly.
Mai standing beside him was killed instantly, her body thrown across the chamber.
Lu Shan fell to his knees.
"MOOOOOOM!! DAAAAAAD!!" he screamed, voice breaking, tears streaming uncontrollably.
The guards shouted in panic.
"MY LORD!"
"EMPRESS MAI!!"
Leia walked toward the bodies, trembling. She stared at her parents' corpses, transfixed, tears dripping silently down her cheeks.
No one knew what happened.
No one understood how the palace's impenetrable defenses failed.
No one saw where the attack came from.
In an instant…
Suddenly another loud bang, guards rushed to the noise outside of the audience Chambers. They found a guard between staircases with a single shot to the head. Although they never discovered his methods the dead guard was deemed responsible,for the death of Emperor Lu Ghan and his with Mai Ghan. They deemed his death suicide to not face judgement. This was done to quell fear amongst the Public, by seniors members of Lu Ghans old council.
Planet Shan lost its emperor and empress.
And the galaxy's deadliest planet stood on the brink of chaos.A few days passed, and the entire planet remained drowned in despair.
From Ironside, the blazing neon capital at the heart of Shan, all the way to the snowy-peaked Oseiki Mountains on the far edges of the land, the people mourned their fallen emperor and empress.
Even though Lu Ghan ruled with iron and blood, his reign had brought thirty-five years without war, something unheard of in Shan's brutal history. Peace through fear was still peace and now, with him dead, nobody knew what the future would bring.
But grief or not, an heir had to be named.
Inside the palace, only five people truly knew what Lu Ghan intended before his death:
Leia Shan, his eldest child
And the four Elite Guards hand-picked by Lu Ghan himself
These warriors were legends powerful enough to stand beside Lu Ghan in battle. They had witnessed the moment he declared Leia the rightful heir. But with the king dead and tradition older than any throne still influencing the planet…
The natural order asserted itself.
The throne passed to the son.
At only 14 years old, Lu Shan was named the new Ruler of Shan.
The Elite Guards, unwilling to challenge Shan's ancient succession laws, swore loyalty to the new ruler
but they did not forget the truth.
To honour the rightful heir, the four guards painted their once-black armour completely red, marking themselves forever as Leia's personal guards, even under a world that refused to acknowledge her.
From that day, the relationship between Lu Shan and Leia fractured.
They ate together, trained together, lived in the same castle
but the bond was gone.
Trust replaced with silent resentment.
Feeling lost and unprepared for the throne, Lu Shan turned to the only man whose intellect rivalled legends:
Professor Beray
The greatest scientific mind in the Crimson Galaxy.
Under Beray's guidance, Shan transformed at impossible speed.
In only five years, innovation reached a level no civilization had dreamed of:
1. A Planet Hidden From the Universe
Beray made Shan invisible to the cosmos.
Nothing asteroid, ship, meteor, or particle could enter without authorised clearance.
Even something the size of a fly would be annihilated unless approved.
No stars would ever fall again.
2. The City of Neon Skies
Walkways of glowing lights connected districts.
Floating lanes weaved between skyscrapers.
Holograms danced over the rooftops.
The night sky looked less like a city…
and more like a universe of its own.
3. The Miracle Machines
His greatest invention.
Using raw materials, the Miracle Machines performed Item Materialisation
not printing, not building, but creating.
A car could be produced in one minute.
A skyscraper in one hour.
An entire city in a single week.
100,000% the speed of normal construction.
The Crimson Galaxy watched in awe Shan had left the rest of the Universe behind.
Rukan: The Opposite of Shan
A short distance away orbited Rukan, Shan's peaceful neighbour.
Where Shan glowed with neon and metal, Rukan thrived with forests, fields, waterfalls, and natural beauty.
Only its Spaceport broke the harmony, used for trade and tourists fascinated by the purity of the planet.
Its leader, Allister Spark, looked like he grew from the soil itself:
Long hair and beard
A coat woven from living leaves
A broach of green foliage above his heart
Strong, warm, humble
Rukan held resources beyond measure. Under Lu Ghan's rule they were ignored, dismissed as inferior.
But Lu Shan saw value.
He formed an alliance with the Rukanians.
Trade. Cooperation. Growth.
Rukan advanced slightly new buildings, new systems
but never at the cost of its natural soul.
Huts, barns, farms, open fields—they preserved everything.
Both planets benefitted.
But Rukan had no idea how deeply Shan would soon alter their destiny…
We Return to Present Day.
The neon towers glow.
The Miracle Machines hum.
The guards march in crimson armour.
Leia and Lu Shan stand on opposite sides of a quiet war.
Professor Beray watches everything with eyes too sharp for comfort.
The shadow of Lu Ghan's death still hangs in the air.
And something something old and dark
is beginning to move beneath the surface of Shan….