Twelve years ago, the Guardian responded to a distressing signal from a world at the edge of the galaxy. Since then, his seat had been collecting dust, a memory of him haunting the place he once sat, looking out over the worlds that he could no longer protect. 

Another seat was built for his successor. Eventually, the same distress call came through, and that successor, like anyone else in her position would, went to investigate. 

Nine chairs have been constructed thus far, and I sit on the last one in the row. 

The alarm started blaring two hours ago, like the tolling of the final bells on the eve of an execution. I hadn’t expected it to happen to me so soon. As I sift through the previous Guardians’ files, I discover they each had at least a year and a half of service before the call.  

I’ve only had four months. 

It’s not like I can back out. I swore an oath to never forsake a call for help, no matter how far, or how dangerous. I just wish I knew what awaited me on that planet. 

I put the files down, resigning myself to my fate. I had stalled for long enough. 

My ship was ready and waiting in the hangar, the engineers and workers standing aside, their preparations finished over an hour ago. They all just stood there as I placed one heavy, reluctant foot in front of the other, averting their eyes from the sight of the dead man. 

Or so they assumed. 

I could only hope that whatever was waiting for me would spare my life. 

The cockpit seat is cold, as are the controls, sapping any warmth left from my hands as I grip them. I don’t bother taking a final look back as I ignite the engines, soaring into the black nothingness. 

The ship’s lightspeed engine gets me to the destination in a few hours. Directly in front of me is a planet. 

I think. 

Lightning streaks across the black skies in countless places at once. The surface shifts and bubbles, like a sphere of ink threatening to tear itself in half. A nightmare of a world, if there ever was one. Every fibre of my being is screaming at me to turn back, to just run away, abandon my position and flee to somewhere the Corps can’t find me, start a family and live until I’m old and withered. 

But I know I can’t. 

There’s nowhere they wouldn’t be able to find me. 

I grit my teeth, grinding them together as I descend into the nightmare, and I’m rather surprised to find a solid surface beneath the roiling clouds above. Black drops of rain pummel my ship as I set it down on the uneven ground as close to the origin of the distress beacon as I can, and I open the cockpit, stepping outside. The rain clings to my suit, weighing it down like tar and forming a viscous outer layer of sticky blackness. A mountain towers before me in the direction of the distress call’s origin, a short walk away by my estimate. I begin walking, each step across the rain-coated ground an ordeal in and of itself. I reach up to wipe my visor clean every few moments, flinging the film of sludge off my glove each time. It helps a little, but it still looks like I’m seeing through a black stained-glass window. There are remains of some alien civilization buried in the muck – ruins of buildings, mostly. Whatever lived here must have fled long ago, or perished. One object sticks out of the mess, and I reach down to pull it out. 

It’s a stuffed animal, of sorts. Like the ones back home, only, I don’t quite recognise what the animal is meant to be. It’s four-legged, and it has a small head with two pointed ears, and a long tail. It must have been somehow preserved by this black sludge, for it to have not disintegrated after all this time. 

Eventually, I reach the base of the mountain. I frown to myself; there’s a door embedded in the side. Not a filthy, decomposed door, but a pristine one, without a scratch or groove on it. Taking much slower, more deliberate steps, I crept towards the door, my eyes darting all around, making sure I wouldn’t get ambushed. 

“Welcome, my friend,” a deep voice echoed inside my head and I reeled backwards, raising my hands and lighting them up with energy, prepared to strike. The voice chuckled. “There is no need for violence. Please, enter.” 

The door swung open, but I kept my hands up. “Who are you?” I shouted out loud. 

“An idealist, an optimist. A dreamer, if you would.” 

“How are you talking into my head? Why did you send the signal?” 

“Such impatience,” the voice tutted. “But it’s to be expected. Enter, and I shall answer all questions you have.” 

I didn’t move at all. The voice sighed. 

“I suppose I didn’t make myself clear enough.” 

I felt a force pulling on my chest, and despite digging my heels as hard as I could into the ground, I was dragged forward. I tried to reach behind me, to stick my fingers into the ground, but the force was far too strong, and it kept me upright, all the way to the door. As soon as I was inside, the door slammed shut. 

I ran to the door, pulling on it, pounding on it, anything I could to get it to open again. I raised my hands, preparing to blast it into oblivion. 

“I would prefer my home be kept intact, thank you.” This time, it was spoken aloud. I turned to see the origin of the voice – a human.  

Wearing my uniform. 

I opened my mouth to speak, but he raised his hand, silencing me. “Yes. I am he.” 

“Why?” I blurted, lowering my hands. “I mean, what are… We thought you were dead! We all did! Where are the others? Are they here too?” 

He nodded, and my pounding heartbeat finally slowed. “They are. Guardians two through eight. All here.” 

I let out a sigh, untensing my muscles. “They’re not dead, either.” 

“No.” 

“Did you bring them here? Did you bring me here?” 

“Yes.” 

“Why?” 

He gave me a small smile, and turned his back. “Come. I’ll explain while we go to see the others.” 

I followed him to the back of this small room, and we started descending a set of stone stairs. “Do you know what this planet is?” 

“A ball of tar?” 

He chuckled. “Perhaps it is now. Once, though, it was teeming with life. All manner of creatures lived here. Avian, aquatic, land dwellers, just to name a few of the groups. One species, though, decided that they would destroy everything out of greed.” 

“You say that like they destroyed their own planet on purpose.” 

“Oh, they did, believe me. They knew what they were doing, but they ignored it, all for wealth and fortune.” 

“How do you know?” 

“I did a lot of reading.” 

“Right…” 

The staircase ended, opening up into a large room. In the centre was an odd control panel, connected to a series of tubes and wires that snaked around the room, ending at a series of eight large steel pods with opaque glass windowing the front of each one. “What is this?” 

“A laboratory, of sorts,” the Guardian mused, pressing a few buttons and turning some dials. 

“And… Where are the others?” 

“They’re here,” he said, so matter-of-factly. I frowned, surveying the room once more. It certainly didn’t look like they were here. 

“I don’t follow.” 

“You will.” He pulled down on a large lever, and the room lit up purple, energy flowing through the tubes and into the large tanks. The glass on each of them turned clear, and my eyes and mouth widened in shock. 

The other Guardians were contained within those tubes. They were all so gaunt, so skinny, their skin yellowed and peeling. Wires were attached to all parts of their bodies, and there were oxygen masks over their faces. They all looked directly at me, struggling in their steel prisons. 

“What is this? What the fuck are you doing to them?” I shouted, raising my arms again, brimming with energy. He slowly turned to face me again. “Release them!” 

“I don’t think I will. See, the Guardians are chosen to succeed each other because of the power they hold. I thought I was the only one with that power, until I learned otherwise a few days before I sent myself the fake distress signal.” 

“Fake?” 

“Of course it was fake. No one actually lives here. A tragedy, really, the way we humans treated the Earth.” 

My blood ran cold. “Earth?” 

“Yes, Earth. Or, what remains of it. It’s unfair that humans survived, while every other species was eradicated, don’t you think?” 

I splayed my hands, trying to fire a beam of energy towards the Guardian, towards his apparatus, but I felt cold hands on my wrists as soon as I did, pushing my hands upwards and making my beams of energy blast into the ceiling. He had his face inches from mine, and I could feel the intense power radiating from his body. 

“How did you –” 

“There’s nothing you can do,” he whispered, nodding his head back to the seven others in the tanks. “All seven of them, they tried to do what you’re trying. I do apologise, because this is nothing personal. It’s just because I need the power you hold.” 

“Why?” I spat, struggling in his grip. 

“Isn’t it obvious? With the power of the Guardians, and many of them, I can restore this planet. I can give the creatures that lost their lives to greed another chance, like they deserve. And then, I’m going to eradicate the species that caused it, like they deserve. And you’re going to be a part of it.” 

I looked over at the eighth pod, which remained empty, and I began to scream while he dragged me towards it.