UNITY The galaxy-spanning Directorate is all things to all people. The massive bureaucracy sustains humankind’s government, economy, and society. Divided into the Administrative, Martial, and Academic branches, the three sectors ensure that human civilization continues to flourish and grow, wherever it may be.  Across the Directorate, the game of UNITY is humanity's favorite pastime. Whether it is played in a settlement on some desolate Rimward planet or held in a Directorate-sanctioned UNIDrome on a bustling Core world, the game is a mesmerizing spectacle. UNITY brings Augmented athletes together in corporate and clan-sponsored teams of three to compete in UNITY's three levels: Trinity, Duality, and Singularity. Only the most talented athletes successfully progress through the three levels, striving to attain the elusive terminal state: UNITY. The competition is fierce and deadly, pitting the participants against ruthless mechanical marauders that seek to disrupt the teams' attempts to perform a set of perfectly executed moves and maneuvers. Only a handful of teams have attained the state of UNITY. It is a badge of honor for the athletes that have, catapulting those "Augmenteds" into the realm of legendary status. It is also a form of validation for the corporations and clans that sponsor the winning teams, giving them access to powerful Directorate decision-makers and lucrative Directorate service contracts. For cargo dock worker, Sylv, hovebike pilot, Angel, and hydroponics engineer, Vree, UNITY is something they watch on a holoprojector after a long axis rotation laboring to support the planet-wide city in which they live. As Augmenteds -- humans possessing Heterophage-enhanced physical and mental abilities -- they are treated as third-class citizens of the Directorate, seen as less than human and exploited for their talents. Such is their life until each receives a visit from a mysterious off-world traveller: Threnn, a Disciple Advocate of the Nephalim Legion. Confined to a Directorate-Interdicted world, the Nephalim Legion is recruiting Augmented athletes for their newly-sponsored UNITY team and they have identified Sylv, Angel, and Vree as ideal candidates. Their ultimate goal: achieve UNITY so the Directorate will lift their homeworld's Interdict status. But first, the three Augmenteds -- game-named Tink, Score, and Quads -- must become a cohesive team of competitors and learn what it takes to demonstrate Trinity, reach Duality, become Singularity, and achieve UNITY. This is UNITY. #sciencefiction #spaceopera #UNITY #Competition #OriginalCharacters #GraphicNovel Story and art by Aaron Hanson © 2021