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Darkness covers the planet Mirial as the lights of the city shine into the night, in the main square of cities across the planet celebrations are being held far into the night.

Every two years the Planet and the crystal moon line up to form a massive eclipse, plunging the planet into darkness for forty-eight hours, with only a faint blue light to fill the night. At the end, the Sunrise lines up with the edge of the moon, bathing the planet in a brilliant blue light, signifying the start of the end of the eclipse and the return of the light.

The night before stalls and shops fill the markets and open places of the cities, with rides, food, and all sorts of excitement filling stalls and squares long into the evening.

The next morning, very early, the citizens of Mirial rise hours before sunrise in their location, if they slept at all, and as the sun rises, they walk in procession out of the city and into the desert to pray. It’s a highly religious affair, and while attendance is not mandatory, most go along with it anyway.

Entire cities will clear out for several hours during the processions, and for this reason, during the walk security droids are on high alert.

During and around the time of the walk, flights in and out of the planet are not scheduled and all non-emergency services come to a halt. Orbital forces also remain on high alert.

The event is broadcast and recorded.

This year’s event started no differently than any other, crowds filled the night markets, music from stands, some cultural, some from other regions, children drag their parents from stall to stall, friends meet and chat by fountains and listen music, young couples join the dances of generations in the square.

Despite the merriment, the smiles of several figures are fake, they watch for the crowd to swell, and then hang up signs saying “Be right back” The crowd pays it no mind, and despite being closed, people still swirl around the booths on their way to the other booths or while standing in line.

Fifty lives ended in a moment, two hundred injured for life, and thousands scarred.

Media would show the Vice Chancellor, covered in blood and helping with the wounded with the colorful lights of the festival replaced with the harsh lights of emergency vehicles,

Morning light would rise with no great ceremony, no parade into the desert, just individuals flooding into the desert of their own initiative.

Two more bombs, attached to suicide bombers would detonate in far smaller crowds leading to another twenty-five dead, and seventy-five wounded.

As the light poured over the city, the planet itself recoiled in horror.

Mirial has been bombed by Terrorists

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