ALLIANCE When stillness becomes a decision, movement has consequences. The Protostar was never meant to matter. A damaged ship. A fractured crew. A routine escape that should have ended quietly. Instead, it becomes the fault line in a universe built on procedure, containment, and rules that only work when no one asks what they’re protecting. Casey Malkovitch never wanted to be important. Billy Cainally just wanted to fly. Together, they discover that the systems meant to prevent catastrophe are often the ones that decide who is allowed to survive it. Pursued by powers that do not hunt so much as process, entangled in conflicts that span time, law, and identity, the Protostar’s crew must choose what kind of damage they’re willing to cause in order to stop something far worse from continuing. This is not a story about saving the universe. Good and evil are not opposites here — they are inefficiencies. It’s about deciding what you refuse to let become normal.