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This is a novel I was working on, staring in 2004. It was placed on Storywrite, but removed in 2006... then promptly lost when my computer crashed. Recently, I found a disk that held most of the chapter, and I decided to give it another try.
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Earth.3
The planet of bedtime myths and camp fire stories. Two thousand years after it was destroyed in a head on collision with a meteor the size of a small moon, people are still caught up in the whimsical images the word can evoke. One rarely ever mentions the disastrous exodus that preceded the meteor , where only the wealthiest or those able to kill for a way off planet were able to survive. There were not enough transports to rescue everyone, even though they had brought in over one thousand from all over the colonized universe, with various friendly species sending their own to help.4
Although Earth had been through countless wars, nuclear holocausts and massive natural disasters, this was the one thing that they could not defend against or recover from. 5
Nearly twenty billion people perished on Earth, their memories kept alive only by the most ardent that believed an Earth Pilgrimage to the dead planet could somehow reincarnate the spirit of their ancestors. The destruction of Earth is more commonly know as the Second Extension Of Man.6
Once brought to the stars to be with the rest of their race, the wealthiest became wealthier, and those that killed to make the journey thought nothing of killing to remain out of the grasp of authorities that wanted to persecute them. Most were rounded up and executed, while some made it to a less than hospitable quadrant of a barely colonized section of the universe, a place they dubbed Brahins Realm, and then chose to sequester themselves from all other humans.7
Meanwhile, those lucky enough to escape Earth descended upon colonies that were unprepared for such a large amount of people. Divisions quickly set up, and skirmishes happened between those that had been there all their life, and those that expected their wealth should buy them the land that was already colonized. They thought their onetime social standing would impress the other humanoid races to do their bidding.8
Since there had been no time to medically check passengers before leaving Earth, there was no time to catch a viral infection, which was totally curable on Earth, and no time to stop it. The infection reacted with the air on one planet, mutating quickly and carried offplanet just as quickly by unsuspecting travelers. Crowded cities further helped the quick spreading disease after a long incubation period. Whole planets were isolated, with ship being destroyed if they tried to make it off planet.9
The Second Extension Of Man was quickly coming to a close, with no real hope of their being a third. Only through unmerciful segregation and letting the virus take it’s course, the disease eventually petered out. The infected planets were permanently closed, with no knowledge if anyone survived or even if their descendants still live. 10
Other races kept their distance from the humans, unsure of what this disease would do if brought to their home worlds, and this started a small division within the once peaceful colonizes. Conspiracy theories abounded that this was an alien plot to destroy man and claim the stars for their own, and some even mentioned that the meteor that destroyed Earth was sent by some alien race. Fortunately, these theories were not believed by all, and the friendly relations were kept up between the various species.11
The Third Extension Of Man finally began. 12
The Stylix Confederation was formed, and planets lived in virtual peace through the next two thousand years, with only minor wars happening, and none lasting longer than one hundred years. Man soon replenished and surpassed it’s population, reaching out to encompass more planets, more galaxies, but never setting foot again on the infected planets.13
The inhabitants of Brahins Realm had not been infected by the virus, and had grown strong in the harsh area they had chosen as their home. Wars had lasted between various factions since they had settled, and though most never knew the reason for what they were fighting, they still joined their respective armies. Not content with fighting amongst themselves, the two sides met, and signed a pact to send scouts to check on what had happened to their distant relatives they had escaped Earth with.14
Wanting what they had seen in the scout’s reports, the inhabitants of The Realm, as it would soon be referred as, suddenly joined forces to take it. Their swift, brutal attacks came without warning, plunging the universe into what would soon be a fight for their lives.15
It is now the eve of the Forth Extension Of Humanity.
Author notes
Originally posted on Jul 03, 2004
annoyingly, I completely lost large portions of this... including background stries for the main characters. But... that means I can play with this and sculpt it. 
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