Prologue

Time is a river, flowing through our lives, washing away our bodies as it passes along.  However, a drop of water does not a river make.  Streams of time flow in the same direction, but there are eddies, branches, and dams in the river.

One of these streams mirrored ours for some time.  Then, after the millennium had passed, an amazing thing happened, branching our timeline from theirs.  Humanity discovered they were not alone in the universe.  Against their expectations, however, it did not turn out to be friendly.

In order to save them from destruction by an insect-like race, another unexpected thing appeared.  A man appeared and stopped the invasion in one brave act.  It had been televised worldwide, while millions watched the Bugs eating their way out of Buenos Aires.  He created a fireball and made it grow by simply moving his hands.  It incinerated the whole city, himself, and the alien invasion force with it.  A mage had saved the world.

However, he released a paranoia that drove mankind insane.  Other unnatural things appeared which previously had only been myth.  Werewolves that could grow into huge powerful monsters, mermaids and fairies which could charm mobs into submission, vampires which terrorized the night, but most importantly, true magi could make or unmake the world around them.

The United Nations enacted a special military force to combat these creatures and called them the Technical Infantry Force.  These men and women engaged in a life or death struggle for control of the planet for five years.  In the end, they put down many of the unnatural creatures, but they started to organize against the TI.

Within a year, the war against the creatures was over, and the TI was ordered to disband.  Instead, they overthrew the United Nations and formed the Terran Federation.  They instituted draconian measures to fight the Bugs and all others who would oppose humanity.  To that end, they made these unnatural creatures outlawed, unless they “earned” their citizenship through military service.  Over time, these magi and changelings have become the backbone of their marine force.

Now almost three hundred years have passed.  As this galactic empire expanded, many alien races were fought off, three civil wars crushed, and several invasions stopped.  Many believed that there was nothing the Federation could not handle.

Until now...

Text Copyright © 2002, 2011 by Marcus Johnston.  All Rights Reserved.
Do not try ANY of this at home, no matter how much you hate Buenos Aires.