“That’s correct, Ashalla Kar. You are going to need a ship and a crew if you are to take the steps necessary to prevent the coming disaster and you will find both on waystation five-nine-four. Ample funds to aid in this task have been transferred to your commercial account, Harrugh. Once you have secured both the ship and crew, the coordinates I have supplied will be your destination. It is imperative that you secure Icon.” − Thunder’s Edge: Echoes of Memory by Sarah Cawkwell

Over thirty years have passed since the Galactic Council was reconvened on the old Lazax throne world of Mecatol Rex. The Council’s tenuous peace hangs by a thread, with only the dutiful efforts of the Keleres keeping all-out conflict at bay. The Great Civilizations compete for political, economic, and military dominance, while the Mahact Kings, Vuil’raith Cabal, Nekro Virus, and other conspiracies threaten to plunge the galaxy into another dark age.

Yet someone in the shadows is pulling the strings to ensure calamity will not come to pass. Thunder’s Edge: Echoes of Memory by Sarah Cawkwell is a novel of epic space opera depicting the events leading up to the newest Twilight Imperium expansion. In it, former Hacan leader Harrugh Gefhara, his expedition, and the crew of the FSS Orlando must work together to avert disaster. The ebook and paperback edition of the prequel novel are both on sale from your preferred online retailer today!

The journey to Thunder’s Edge has had many stops along the way, and as part of celebrating the release of Echoes of Memory, we’ll also be sharing some of the stories you can read while you wait for your copy to arrive or if you want to learn more about the locations, allies, and enemies featured in the novel. They are by no means required reading to enjoy Echoes of Memory, but they do provide additional perspectives for the narrative.

A Foundering Salient

Begin your journey with the short story included in the Shards of the Throne expansion for the third edition of the game. Written by the creator of Twilight Imperium, Christian T. Petersen, the fiction introduces the Salient Sun Joint Task Force and a unit of the Sol 67^th Marine Division as they investigate a sector of space seemingly abandoned by the L1Z1X Mindnet. There, Captain Jael Ducan and Groc Yysho discover a threat capable of wiping out not just the ’1X, but all biological life.

Listen to the narrated version of the story below or read the story starting on page 88 of the Guide to the Imperium.

A Fortress Besieged

The story continues in “Fortress Ordinian,” a short story by Daniel Lovat Clark. In the years following the events of “Shards of the Throne,” the military coalition of Sol and Xxcha forces known as the Salient Sun has been forsaken by their homeworld governments, yet the fight goes on. Captain Jael Ducan and Groc Yysho return to liberate the planet of Ordinian, a fallen Naaz-Rokha colony, from the Nekro Virus. Meanwhile, in orbit, the Salient Sun’s Red Chivalry Fleet receives a desperate transmission from the FSS Orlando. Its crew claims to be carrying an “Apollo-priority relief payload” for the beleaguered ground forces—one that might just turn the tide in the battle against the genocidal machines.

Listed to the narrated version of the story below or read the story on page 5 of Codex IV: Liberation.

The Nascent Twilight

The saga concludes in Thunder’s Edge: Echoes of Memory by Sarah Cawkwell. Celebrated as the Golden General and scorned as the former Quieron of the Hacan, Harrugh Gefhara has been tormented since his traumatic meeting with an enigmatic stranger. Since then, he has been plagued by mysterious visions of catastrophe, and he must chart an expedition across the galaxy to locate a mysterious planet if he hopes to save the universe from destruction.

Joining him are new and familiar faces from the base game and first expansion of Twilight Imperium, including the adventurous Naaz-Rokha pair Dart and Tai and their newfound Titan companion, Junior. (You’ll recognize them from “Artifact” by Annie VanderMeer, the short story featured in Codex II: Affinity which tells the tale of Junior’s unearthing.) As he pursues his mission, Harrugh finds himself working alongside the crew of the FSS Orlando, a cruiser that’s voyaged far from the fleet of the Salient Sun Joint Task Force.

Read the prequel novel to learn the fate of Harrugh’s desperate expedition and the mystery behind FSS Orlando’s miraculous return, as well as the new weapon they’ve brought to bear against the Nekro Virus in the battle for Ordinian. Finally, play the game for yourself and return to Thunder’s Edge with the release of the newest expansion to Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition on October 24.