1

We found the pillar in the remote wastes of a polar ice cap on our homeworld. It was millions of years old, and fashioned from an unknown and indestructible metal. Etched on its iron-gray surface was a map which described the location of the Forge. When our fleets of generation ships set off on a ponderous exodus to a new home outside our galaxy, they marked the Forge as their destination. The refugees were held in stasis through that 2,000 year journey.

2

We had long studied the Forge from afar. With its dense star systems and turbulent storms of gaseous energies, it shone like a lighthouse at the edge of a barren shore. When the time came to make our escape, we harnessed experimental and dangerous superluminal technologies to send our ships to the Forge. The journey took only a few months, but many did not survive the passage. The drives were too unstable. The ships too fragile. We are all that is left.

3

At our moment of greatest need, the gates appeared. These titanic iron-gray constructs materialized simultaneously in orbit around our homeworld and outposts. The origin of these devices was a mystery. Hours after arriving, they came to life, using powerful magnetic fields to generate artificial wormholes. We sent automated probes through them, and they did not return. Brave scouts went next, and were lost. Finally, with no other option, our exodus fleets entered the wormholes. The gates we emerged from are dormant. Despite years of study, we’ve found no way to awaken them.