Welcome to the Horizon
Over three thousand years ago, this Galaxy was a part of many. The benevolent order of warriors known as the "Crusaders" spread peace and prosperity beyond the farthest reaches of the Universe. Then, A hundred centuries ago, a force of darkness simply known as The Hunger Lord lead his armies against the Crusaders, driving them from there protectorates and pushing them across the stars, destroying the golden era of peace brought on by there protection. The final victor of the war between ancients is unknown, although that outcome is ultimately inconsequential: This is not a story of the warriors of old. It is a story of the Crusaders reborn.
Lyra Capella, a massive Galaxy 500,000 Light years across containing 30 trillion stars, continues to develop uninterrupted by the ongoing intergalactic wars. However, on a backwater medieval planet a young man dreams of traveling to the stars. Fredrick, a local hero for helping to depose the tyrannical ruler of his home country, is now acting as a Ranger, capturing criminals and scouting out new land to settle. However, his world is blown out of proportion when he discovers a priceless find: An ancient enclave of Crusader knowledge and artifacts. Alongside his childhood friends, Fredrick decides to continue the ancient warrior order's legacy, using an old Crusader transport to leave there planet of Eriadu. From there, the group of three was joined by two more allies as they traveled and protected the stars from countless threats. On a more personal level, Fredrick married and had a son, Jason, while also moving his friends and family to "Sanctum", a small pocket dimension safe from almost all attacks (Secretly created by the ancient Crusaders to "store" artificial replicas of dead Crusader minds/intelligence). Facing down everything from the War Droid Empire to the Terrorists and many more, Fredrick spent twenty-one years as the first "Modern" Crusader before retiring alongside the other "Explorers", a moniker bestowed on the heroes responsible for saving so many lives. Eventually, Fredrick would pass away peacefully in his sleep, after a long and heroic career.
However, Lyra Capella would not go without a Crusader for long. Fredrick's ambitious and hotheaded son, Jason, quickly took up his Father's hat and coat to serve as a Crusader. For nine years, Jason and a ragtag group of insurgents, assassins and Skid's (Genetically engineered soldiers) dubbed the RSR faced many new foes, most notably the Snow Queen and Assassins Guild, before completing his own run as Crusader. Despite being only nineteen when he became a Crusader, by the time Jason stepped down from the role he had became calm and level headed, even proposing to and eventually marrying his closest friend. Although he never officially took up the role of Crusader again, Jason did once again embark for the wider Galaxy from Sanctum after the death of his first wife. Spending decades adventuring across the depths of space, Jason married twice more (His second wife falling ill and passing on as well) before returning to Aviayh (The quarter of the Galaxy where a majority of the Crusaders actions take place) as one of the greatest sword-masters in existence in time to take part in the Trimitive Council. Jason would also eventually die, although the circumstances behind his death are currently unknown.
This time, Lyra Capella would go ten years without the intervention of a Crusader. The prospective replacement, a former "Farmer" (On his world, another name for "Warlord) trained to become a Crusader by Fredrick, was currently in self imposed exile. Wracked by guilt from actions when he was younger, Kanos lived in perpetual isolation until he was made aware of a prophecy pegging him as the only one capable of taking down the fearsome ruler of the War Droid Empire, Lord Ahab. Despite putting little stock in such things, Kanos did return to the Galactic scene as a Crusader at the age of sixty, although he spent much more time looking into ways to defeat Ahab then actual peacekeeping. Joined by a small trio of Frontier (A huge desert planetiod where Kanos spent most of his brief, four year career) natives, all part of the "Destined Union" predicted to take down Ahab, Kanos spent his time preparing from a battle he had no intention of surviving. However, in a twist of events, Kanos himself proved incapable of defeating the Warlord, instead being forced to use a "Zion Shard" to end his life. Still suffering from fatal wounds sustained in the fight, Kanos only had a few months to put his affairs in order and train a replacement before bidding a final goodbye to his adopted daughter and disappearing into the afterlife. Being the first Crusader to take up rendezvous in the ether of Sanctum (Which had been abandoned by Fredrick and his family/friends) it was an alternate Universe Kanos who took part in the Trimitive Council events.
As the interactions between Interstellar powers became more frequent and heated, it was necessary for a different kind of Crusader to rise to prevent all out war that would cost the lives of billions. Originally a simple mercenary, Ixil had been chosen and trained as the next Crusader by Kanos for a short period, before the young man was forced into an active peacekeeping role. Lacking the skill and power of his predecessors, Ixil instead worked behind the scenes, manipulating events on almost every level without anyone even noticing the presence of a new Crusader. After five years of this, Ixil finally stepped into the spotlight to oppose several old and new threats, alongside a small group of allies, although tension between himself and the other members of the "Sa Lineage" was often high due to the former's manipulative ways. However, the greatest threat was hands down the Worst Nightmare. A shadowy and mysterious entity created by the Hunger Lord himself, the Worst Nightmare had actually interacted with the Crusaders for years, through the Zion Shards (Which were the only conduits capable of allowing the Worst Nightmare to Re-enter the Universe proper). Kanos's actions had brought it to the forefront however, and Ixil spent the last five years of his career planning its take down, which ended with Ixil sacrificing himself to permanently entrap it away from reality.
Ixil was not one to have no contingency plans however, and soon enough a new Crusader rose to take his place. Just as tension between interstellar powers was reaching a boiling point, a former Confederate commander, Samantha, was inducted into the Crusader Order. However, the rapidly escalating crisis's, from the destabilized War Droid Empire to the Heretics Jihad, necessitated the return of the four previous Crusaders, including a resurrected Ixil. Within six years, Samantha was the last surviving Crusader, although her comrades had achieved much during there time as the Trimitive Council, including the defeat of the Heretics. With her own lose contingent of allies, Samantha tried her best to maintain the longstanding peace and appearance of the Crusaders, but was eventually forced to take action, leading the Imperial Collective in the devastating Imperial Crusades. After a long five year period of war, during which Samantha was forced to deal with everything from extremists Confederate leaders to the insanely brutal and vengeful skid Gip, She managed to play a integral part in achieving peace. However, she and the "Imperial Guard" were immediately forced to embark on a new mission, as over the course of the war Samantha had become addicted to a toxic mix of chemicals that were slowly killing her. Although they failed in there quest to find an antidote, leading to Samantha's mind being completely erased, they did manage to spend the last year of there career enacting much more peacefully victories for good then they did while fighting wars. With her soul in the afterlife, replicated mind in Sanctum and erased body in a planet-wide containment facility for "War crimes", Samantha had moved on and the stage was set for a new Crusader.
However, things hardly ever go according to plan when Crusaders are involved. Unbeknownst to anyone else, Samantha had been forced to have a child with the Mysterious Father (An ancient, shape shifting villain responsible for the creation of the modern Crusaders, among many other events) a few years before becoming a Crusader. Now, seven years after her "death", her son Alastor had came into the role previously belonging to his mother. However, the events behind his assuming the mantle had left bitter and jaded, not to mention in possession of a good deal of hate towards the previous Crusaders. To this end, Alastor became more focused on proving that the Crusader system was flawed and could easily produce a evil person rather than actually serving as a Crusader. However, due to gaining a small group of close friends, a few personal victories and reconciliation with his predecessors, Alastor became a much more heroic character, more of an eccentric inventor than anything (Although he remained more ruthless and pragmatic than most). Throughout his time as Crusader, Alastor and his group of "Exterminators" faced and defeated many powerful threats, including The Survivor, Dahn's Fist, Fredrickson, an Interstellar undead plague and finally the Father himself. Alastor also had sevral run ins with Gip, the animosity between her and his mother carrying over to the two of them. However, these victories came at a high cost and Alastor eventually stepped down from his role as Crusader alongside the only other surviving Exterminator.
At this point, are records of Lyra Capella and the Crusaders become somewhat muddled. It is known that a seventh Crusader, Jade (Although she is also sometimes identified as "Morgan") took over the role next and held it for fifteen years, being involved in further adventures, including battles against the Cube and Gip, as well as dealing with whatever the "Nexus" is (Records on that are very obscure and unclear). Although our information on the last few years of these heroic peacekeepers are currently incomplete, we will inform you when we have recovered further records.
Historical report on the Lyra Capella Galaxy, by head researcher Dr. Jaster Sa