Kit BashirThey say that before the Thousand Suns, the sky was black, but for the pinpricks of other worlds. No one has seen it, for a dozen generations since the sky was lost to us. We have calculated a path through the debris, our vessel Noxifer will shoot down the sunsats; Nightfall will come.
kulupu jyn@Unixbigot @sundogplanets “night bringer” is a really good name for that vessel, gosh
ShadSterling@Unixbigot @sundogplanets reminds me of the 80’s TV movie Earth Star Voyager, which begins with the launch of the titular ship through the field of orbital debris, tho instead of bright skies they had constant acid rain
abananabag@ShadSterling @Unixbigot @sundogplanets Reminds me of the ancient Chinese legend of Hou Yi (後羿). At one time there were ten suns in the sky. The lakes boiled, men were blinded, crops withered, and beasts went mad from heat. The Yellow Emperor commanded his most powerful archer, Hou Yi, to shoot down the suns. Using a massive red bow with glowing, white pillars for arrows he shot each one. The people were overjoyed, but as he aimed for the last, they cried out, "Stop! Please, leave us one sun!"
@ShadSterling @Unixbigot @sundogplanets
Hou Yi is currently best known for being the husband of Cháng’é (嫦娥), who dwells on the moon with a rabbit and a three-legged toad. But that is another story.
Noam writes@abananabag That's a great legend! I wonder how the ten suns came to be in the first place...
@noam There's a version where Hou Yi is actually a god sent by Tian Di (天帝), the Celestial Emperor, to slay animals troubling humanity. Hou Yi descends and sees the true cause: Ten suns burning at once, afflicting man and beast alike. But they are none other than the ten insolent sons of the Celestial Emperor who has been too busy running the universe to raise them properly! They do not listen to Hou Yi…
In the end, he and his wife are turned into mortals as punishment by Tian Di.