Astroknight

Uther lived on the protoplanet Ceres, which was contained within an asteroid belt in the vastness of space. From his home, he could look in all directions and see the tiny dots that made up other planets and protoplanets, stars, asteroids, and all other sorts of things. There was no food or water on the rock that he called a home, but that was hardly a concern when it could be harvested through the use of alchemy. He was no expert on the subject, but he knew that the alchemists were able to take small particles from all kinds of places and combine them in ways that formed all sorts of matter. Water included. His supply was running low. Perhaps a month's worth. That would more than cover the trip to gather more, but he would have to set out soon.

He set out from his home, which was more a cave on Ceres than a home as people used to tell of in the old days, wearing his armor, and carrying his sword. It was a massive thing, made from the core of a meteor, melted and forged a thousand times over to create an alloy far more powerful than anything anyone had ever managed to create on Earth. It was possible to do that when you could use a star as your forge. It had taken them some time to develop the technique, as the cold harshness of space was hard on the heated metal, but it had been many generations since that problem had been solved. His armor was made of similar materials, and the helmet had been lined with alchemizers that produced oxygen so that he could breath.

He set his eyes on his destination, a far off asteroid that was a stepping stone to the next, and pushed hard with his legs. In the same movement, he lifted the great claymore he wielded and swiped hard in front of him, cutting a line of wind that he passed through which acted as a propellant, launching him through space at high velocities. While he could, in theory, continue to do so as he soared through the empty space between asteroids, the motion of the swing would not only propel him, but change his trajectory as well. There were some who could predict these changes and use them to their advantage, but Uther was not quite so practiced. He chose, instead, to simply enjoy the hour long ride from one asteroid to the next.

Even out in the analogues of space, the astroknights continued to abide by Earth time. Despite having been away from their home planets for many hundreds of years, keeping the tradition of timekeeping in this way allowed for consistency, and some familiarity with their ancestors. It connected them to each other, and to their history. It had taken time, somewhat ironically, to create the timekeeping devices that allowed them to be aware of Earth hours out there, but by the time Uther was swinging his way through space, they were standard issue.

Uther reflected on some of the ideas that his ancestors had had. He kept a collection of books on history, which he had studied earnestly in his free time. They had thought that beyond the Earth must be God. That there could be nothing else, for God had created only for them the Earth. Uther wondered what had given them such ideas. There was certainly much out there than they had thought. If there was a God, he was much farther away. And he found it difficult to believe anyone could get much further out.

He kicked hard as the hour mark drew close, giving himself a slow rotation so that, as he reached the surface of the next asteroid, it was his feet that set down on it. It pulled him towards it, just barely, allowing him to make his way around to position for the next leap. He prepared his sword, swung, and leapt. There would be many more before he reached the supply of water.