A Millennium of Memories: Photos in Flight

The top 500 iconic images from the last thousand years of traveling the stars.

#027: Know Thy Enemy

Date: 2896-01-15 SET

Photographer: Unknown

Found amongst the files released as part of Imperator Costigan’s divisive Historical Truth Act of 2941 which declassified millions of pieces of archived data, this image shows the first time Imperial researchers were able to examine one of the new Xi’An scout ships that had recently been eluding border patrols.

The mysterious ship, nicknamed Quark but now known to be a Khartu-al, had been found derelict and pilotless by a naval recon squadron. Taken immediately to an undisclosed bunker for further study, the unnamed scientists seen in the image spent years trying to decipher and understand the damaged technology.