"A collector's item of incalculable value, none have been able to unlock its secrets—assuming its contents aren't just the ravings of a madwoman."

"Xuange touched the silver circlet that sat upon their temple. The pride of the Archive. Knowledge of the stars, passed down from the First, fated for the Last."

"Goldos hoisted the ivory orb at the head of their army. At once, the weariness that filled the bodies and minds of each soldier vanished. They strode forth as if fresh from a week's rest."

"Dart and Tai stood, mesmerized by the swirling mass. Neither had any idea what it was, but both were fairly sure they were about to retire."

"Dart and Tai stood, mesmerized by the swirling mass. Neither had any idea what it was, but both were fairly sure they were about to retire."

"It should be impossible. Feng glanced sidelong at his compatriot. The Thundarian merely stared ahead, as if he did not hear. Feng snorted. One day I mean to know the source of this so-called power of yours."

"There was a long moment, stretching in silence until Dart blurted, "Can we help you somehow?" All of the individuals seemed startled by the question, but the titan seemed the most perplexed..."

"A single sparkle was the only warning the Yin fleet had before a massive hole had been punched through the hull of the Van Hague. Then, searing light."

"No larger than a carrier, the spherical lattice held a captive singularity at its heart. As they dumped the planet's entire energy grid into its core, the black hole began to spin, the complex logic-circuitry along the lattice slowly coming to life."

"The Metali, Empyrean artificers of legend, were said to have created weapons that harnessed the power of space itself."

"Capable of more than destruction, the Metali also wrapped their ships in nigh-indestructible plating unable to be replicated using today's methods."

"Intended to bring prosperity, the forge was twisted into an instrument of war. The planet heaved and shuddered as it merged with the Nano-forge, sputtering as its atmosphere became breathable for the first time."

"Intended to bring prosperity, the forge was twisted into an instrument of war. The planet heaved and shuddered as it merged with the Nano-forge, sputtering as its atmosphere became breathable for the first time."

"Knowledge. Creation. Control. Have a wonderful day."

"As the hilt began to fuse with the flesh of her hand, she worried that she should set the scepter aside. But the whispered suggestions in her mind were too valuable and insightful to seriously consider such a rash and illogical act."

"What power does a broken piece of the Throne of Emperors hold? To me, none. But to everyone else..."

"A power great enough to envelop a star, such that its energies might be concentrated... and scattered."

"No single tome could contain the collected knowledge of millennia of rulers. Thus, the last Emperor built a massive cruiser, its holds bulging with crystal info-matrices. It roams the outer reaches of the Mecatol system, awaiting a summons that will never come."

"The machines of the forgotten throne-world could only be controlled through the data-impulses of the black-barbed crown."

"A cloud of satellites spewed from the dreadnought's hull, drifting into a halo around the vessel. The battle seemed to pause for one long moment, before the drones' weapons flared, unleashing beams of energy in all directions."

"The inky blackness of the blade evoked feelings of discomfort and nausea in all who saw it. All but Sharsiss. It whispered to him promises of power. Promises of a reckoning that would see the Collective unmade. "Good," he thought. "Let them burn.""

"So you're going to drink a vial of murky liquid we found in a stasis vault on a dead world because you think it's the concentrated genetic essence of an entire species' most brilliant minds...and you think I'm being irrational?"

"The core burned with the heat of a thousand stars, connections forming and reforming a thousand times per second."

"Shen're Ix Ianovar. The flame beyond time and space."

"The light that shines without reflects the dark it harbors within."