Retroworld Mythology & Context: When it’s discovered that an asteroid is on a collision course with Earth, part of mankind, the wealthy and the elite, flee aboard vast ships built with the hope of finding other worlds to colonize. As humans scattered and occupied the known universe for generations, many worlds have forgotten their true, earthly origins. The planets which retain the memory of the “formers” have allied together, creating a galactic federation known as the Brotherhood of the Stars. The “retros” are worlds that have returned to a more archaic, primitive, and isolationist way of life. The Retroworlds Commission (RWC) sends out agents to search for, monitor, and determine whether contact is possible with any Retroworlds, and whether such worlds can join the Brotherhood of the Stars.
Story: Jatred who we met in RETROWORLD, and Valika, two young RWC cadets are sent on their first mission to Vaeroya. Vaeroya is experiencing political turmoil as recent elections gave power to an ultra-conservative religious party, The Priests of Jacris, who resent the Brotherhood and wish for the RWC to leave, a sentiment the majority of the local population agrees with. It is a dangerous situation for RWC agents.
Jatred and Valika take a closer look at the situation on the ground by going undercover. They see a young pregnant woman about to be executed by the Priests of Jacris and decide to intervene and save the girl, blowing their cover in the process. The RWC ambassador (later revealed to be Valika’s mother) is livid and orders Jatred and Valika to return the girl to her people, regardless of what fate awaits her outside of the RWC embassy.
Jatred, having been a slave on Almagiel doesn’t sit idly when faced with such injustice and decides to continue to help the girl, Sirane. She tells them about another group of inhabitants from the Lands of the Wind on the other side of Vaeroya, angels with wings of light. One of these “angels” is the father of her unborn child which is the reason she was set to be executed.
Jatred and Valika take Sirane away from the embassy and fly north to the lands of the wind to investigate but their ships crashes in a violent windstorm on their way to the destination.
A flashback reveals that a thousand years ago, when the Human Stellar Ark #33 crashed there, the local conditions affected a large group of human colonists. By fear, those showing symptoms such as depigmentation of the skin and bloodshot eyes were quarantined in the Ark and left behind while the “healthy” went off in search of greener pastures and ultimately settled on the other side of Vaeroya.
When they wake up, Jatred and Valika realize they are in the wreckage of Ark #33 and are brought by force by two very tall winged humanoids to the wingmen city. They find out Sirane has been pleading on their behalf. The leaders of the wingmen explain the origin of their existence as the descendants of the survivors left behind in Ark #33 who mutated over centuries and grew wings in order to adapt to their harsh windy environment. He also explains the hatred between wingmen and the other humans on Vaeroya, who see them as demons, and requests the help of the Brotherhood to restore a peaceful balance between both camps so all can prosper equally on Vaeroya.
Jatred and Valika return to the embassy and report on this new development and insist on the Brotherhood’s responsibility to mediate efforts to bring both camps together and bring harmony to Vaeroya. As a result, the RWC brings all parties to a public committee where they fiercely debate the issue, and in the end, the people of Vaeroya agree to welcome the wingmen as fellow Vaeroyans and to let them live peacefully alongside them.
