Zeleveya of Tarn watched as the humans, predator nightmares from a forgotten corner of space, made contact with the leaders of her people. Across the void, Jade Novikhan and Leia Kieran Irons-N found themselves adrift and turned towards new and unfamiliar people in search of a connection.

Three minds eventually finding the glimmers of hope for a better future. But that is not the fate set in store for the world the outcasts would share. Three travelers beyond their worlds, survivors of terrible tragedies, find themselves facing a war that bodes the coming of more than any one person can hope to survive alone.

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This story starts out in medias res, so it might be best if you start out by reading at least the first few chapters of SpacePaladin15’s The Nature of Predators (posted here and on r/HFY), which this story runs alongside of as part of the truly massive literary universe going on on r/HFY and the subreddit dedicated to the story’s community. It also includes numerous references and shout-outs to other stories within the literary universe, which shall be pointed out as they come up.