The Trash Guide Awakens: The Youngest General's Hidden Wife

The sixth forbidden world hung beneath the morning light of its distant star, silent. From the observation window of the expedition flagship, Rhaevia watched a desolate sphere covered in shades of ash and pale silver.

Enormous mountain ranges cut across the surface, flanked by dried riverbeds and abandoned structures that resembled the skeletons of forgotten cities.

There were no visible settlements operating anywhere across the surface. The planetary scanners registered no active energy signatures from civilian networks, nor any atmospheric movement consistent with biological populations.

Even the planet’s orbital space was entirely empty of satellites or debris.

“Run the biological scans again,” Rhaevia ordered, her voice cutting through the quiet command deck.

The navigation officer’s hands moved quickly over the glowing interface. A light blue projection expanded across the central Holo-Table, displaying the sweep of the planet.

[PLANETARY BIOSPHERE ANALYSIS: COMPLETE.]

[ACTIVE BIOLOGICAL SIGNATURES: NONE DETECTED.]

[PLANETARY ENERGY NETWORK: DORMANT.]

[CIVILIZATION SIGNATURE: DETECTED.]

[POPULATION STATUS: UNKNOWN.]

Rhaevia’s brows drew together as she read the lines floating before her. “Unknown? The system detects no active life whatsoever.”

Raevor stepped up beside her, his arms folded as he studied the planetary map.

“That doesn’t explain what happened to this world,” he said, tapping a control to enlarge an image of a settlement. “These cities were built for a substantial population. Some structures are still intact, and the atmosphere remains breathable.”

The enlarged display showed tall metallic buildings standing beneath a thick layer of pale dust. Bridges connected enormous towers, and elevated transportation rails crossed the empty streets. Yet nothing appeared to have been destroyed by conventional warfare.

There were no impact craters surrounding the urban centers. There were no scorched ruins or visible signs of an alien invasion.

It looked as though the inhabitants had simply vanished into thin air.

“Prepare an expedition shuttle,” Rhaevia said, her decision made. “We will investigate the surface directly.”

Raevor turned toward her, his silver eyes fixed on her face. “I’ll lead the ground security team.”

“And I’ll examine the dormant energy network,” she replied.

He gave her a measured, protective look. “You will remain within strict communication range at all times.”

Rhaevia smiled faintly at his tone. “I wasn’t planning to disappear.”

“That is precisely what concerns me,” Raevor answered.

She almost laughed, but the haunting sight of the empty planet quickly erased her amusement. Something about this place felt fundamentally wrong.

It was not dangerous in the way an active battlefield was dangerous. It felt abandoned, left behind by something that should never have been able to leave.

Within minutes, the expedition shuttle descended smoothly through the thin atmosphere. It landed on a broad metallic platform just outside the perimeter of the nearest city.

The moment the shuttle hatch hissed open, Rhaevia was struck by the absence of sound. No wind brushed against the towering buildings. No native insects moved through the dry grass growing between the platform’s metal plates.

Even their footsteps seemed strangely muted on the landing pad. It was as though the planet swallowed every vibration before the sound could travel.

Raevor stepped out onto the metal platform right behind her, his energy weapon raised and ready.

“Maintain formation,” he instructed the accompanying security team. “Keep your scanners active and watch every corner.”

Rhaevia crouched beside a narrow seam in the landing platform. She removed her glove and pressed her fingers directly against the exposed, cold metal.

A faint, dormant trace of energy lingered deep beneath the surface.

Golden Sovereign light flowed from her fingertips, sinking directly into the metallic structure. For a moment, a network of power lines illuminated beneath the city streets in a flash of gold.

Then the light flickered and vanished.

“There is still power here,” Rhaevia murmured, standing back up. “The infrastructure was not destroyed. Something shut it down deliberately.”

She extended her Sovereign Guide senses outward, sweeping across the empty streets in search of residual mental signatures. Nothing answered her call.

The silence pressed against her mind.

They moved forward as a unit, entering the city streets. Inside the nearest residential building, dust-covered furniture remained neatly arranged around a long dining table. Smooth ceramic vessels sat untouched beside empty chairs.

On a far wall, a faded display showed a calendar that had frozen at a date more than ten thousand years ago.

Rhaevia slowly examined the surrounding rooms.

“There are no signs of a struggle,” she said, her voice echoing in the dead hall. “There are no evacuation records, nor any emergency broadcasts.”

Raevor knelt beside a damaged data terminal, his optical brain linking with the local port. “The last recorded energy surge originated deep beneath the city. Whatever happened to these people, it began underground.”

Rhaevia turned her head toward the distant, jagged mountains. “Then that is where we need to go.”

Their scanners guided them through a network of underground access passages. The deeper they descended into the dark, the stronger the residual energy readings became.

Machinery lined the stone walls, its surfaces covered in unfamiliar symbols that closely resembled those found in the Sovereign research districts.

Project Genesis activated within Rhaevia’s vision.

[ANCIENT ENERGY SIGNATURE: DETECTED.]

[ENERGY SOURCE: UNKNOWN.]

[SUBTERRANEAN STRUCTURE: IDENTIFIED.]

[ACCESS ROUTE: PARTIALLY RECOVERED.]

The long subterranean passage ended before an enormous, seamlessly sealed alloy door.

Rhaevia stepped forward and placed her palm directly against its cold surface. Radiant golden light spread across the dark metal like liquid fire.

The massive lock clicked, and the door unsealed with a heavy hiss.

Beyond the threshold lay a cavern so vast that their lights could not immediately reveal its distant boundaries.

Raevor raised his rifle, stepping through first as the expedition team entered the dark expanse.

Then Rhaevia stopped dead in her tracks.

Something glittered faintly in the deep darkness ahead. At first, she mistook the massive formations for towering mineral deposits. Enormous crystalline pillars rose from the cavern floor, their translucent surfaces reflecting the expedition’s lights in pale blue and silver hues.

But as the team drew closer, she saw distinct shapes suspended inside them.

A hand was pressed firmly against the inner surface of one crystal. A human face was suspended beneath layers of transparent mineral, its eyes closed as if in deep sleep.

Then another face appeared in the next pillar. And another beside it.

Rhaevia’s blood ran cold as the full picture came into focus.

The crystals contained living people.

Thousands of them stood frozen before her. Millions, perhaps, extending through the enormous underground cavern in endless, aligned rows. Men, women, and young children lay preserved inside the formations, their bodies untouched by age or decay.

Project Genesis flooded her field of vision with rapid, flashing warnings.

[ANCIENT PRESERVATION STRUCTURE: DETECTED.]

[CONTAINED BIOLOGICAL SIGNATURES: MILLIONS.]

[STATUS: SUSPENDED.]

[CAUSE OF PRESERVATION: UNKNOWN.]

Rhaevia stared in utter silence at the countless preserved faces surrounding her.

The Silent Planet had not lost its civilization to destruction. Someone had systematically preserved it.

And whatever power had sealed millions of people inside these crystalline tombs had left them waiting in the dark for more than ten thousand years.

Raevor stepped closer to one of the central pillars, his hand resting on the smooth crystal surface. “Their vital signs are frozen in stasis,” he said. “They aren’t dead.”

“No,” Rhaevia whispered, looking down the endless rows of formations. “They are waiting for someone to wake them.”

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