On the black screen appears a creamy white invitation written in elegant calligraphy. It reads:

Congratulations And Welcome To The Aristarchy!
- Summum Jus De Jure
(That Which Ought By Right To Be)

At the bottom of the invitation the heraldic seal of the Aristarchy is stamped in gold.

Cut to a beach – everything is silhouetted by the orange light of the huge sun starting to sink below the waves. An androgynous (because they're silhouetted) anime-style figure with shoulder length hair and sharp features sits with their back to the lower left side of the screen, knees drawn up and one arm casually draped over them. The figure is looking out over the waves, the wind gently ruffling their hair. Sounds of surf, breeze, and background music. The sun is slowly sinking as the scene progresses.

The figure turns their face slightly towards you and begins to speak. “A storm is coming, can you feel it? Are you looking forward to it?”

“Oh, but where are my manners? I should congratulate you! It's a bright day for you, basking in the triumph of graduation. Do you feel grown up in your shiny new uniform?”

“Enjoy it. But don't lose that edge we carefully honed you to through hundreds of hours of training. How does the saying go? 'It's always brightest just before the storm?' This uniform, it's like a lightning rod, a lure, calling the storms to us.”

It's getting darker as the sun sinks lower, and the clouds get closer and more ominous. The wind picks up, making the speaker's hair snap like a whip. “You can't run away – they'll always find you. And you can't fight them either, they're far stronger than any human. They are the chaotic essence of freedom - if you try to force them to obey your will they will tear you apart.”

Lightning cracks across the sky. The sun has almost set. The wind whistles.

The figure stands and faces into the sunset, spreading their arms playfully to catch the wind. Their silhouette reveals that they are wearing a uniform of the type they have been talking about. The figure shouts back over their shoulder, “Of COURSE it seems like the sky is falling – the sky IS falling! The sky is ALWAYS falling! The secret is Ukemi – 'receiving', taking the storm into yourself and moving with it, becoming the storm and flowing through it. That's the life of an officer of the Aristarchy – one hell of a wild ride, for as long as you can ride it!” The figure flashes a grin back at you, and the sound of the wind rises to a howl. “Because after all – FALLING is FLYING as long as you DON'T HIT the GROUND!”

Suddenly wings burst from the figure's back, the wind tearing a few loose feathers from them. The figure leaps toward the ocean, one foot touching the crest of a wave before they leap up into the stormy sky and are lost from view. The last blood red rays of the sun flask brightly for a moment then disappear as they slip behind the horizon. The roiling black and purple clouds, crackling with white lightning, rush towards the viewer, enveloping you.

Cut abruptly to a black screen and silence.

Notes: I intended the Aristarchy to represent learned strategy and knowledge for the purpose of creating justice in a wild universe, which could only be used to full advantage if combined with an adult, philosophical submission to the wildness of the universe. The motto of the Aristarchy printed on the note, "That which ought by rights to be" was supposed to be a clue to this, since it refers to the concept of justice.

In this context, the PC, the graduate who is watching and listening to the intro but doesn't speak, is supposed to have lots of book knowledge but now be thrust into a messy reality and have to struggle to submit and go with the flow rather than the natural teenage instincts to resist, avoid, and fight back against any problems imposed by the universe. This theme was inspired by the anime Naruto which I was studying recently because of its huge popularity which crosses normal audience boundaries.

The PC is supposed to be a graduate of the equivalent of a military highschool, and now is moving on to an apprenticeship on a spaceship which will be performing diplomatic and other missions assigned by the Aristarchy. The speaking character OTOH is supposed to have been a teacher of the PC's, and a symbol of who the PC will be at the end of the game when he/she is a mature Aristarchy officer.

I would be happy to hear any suggestions for revising the piece to more clearly and artistically convey the above ideas.