The Cleft was an experimental weapon primarily using the mineral Yylimium first deployed in the battle at the Devil’s Nose Asteroid Cluster. It was first designed by the Heterochron research group, which lent their name to the ships used in that battle, in a mission shrouded in secrecy. To the people of Vermailia, it was the crowning achievement of centuries of their adherence to the Ta’rot’rag Prophecy. To the rest of the system, however, it was an unprecedented act of aggression meant to consume them under a new empire.

Protesters in Byforalla, upon hearing of The Cleft’s deployment, set off the most destructive terrorist attack in the history of the Ctjn Empire. In response, the Ctjn government began preparations to shift their military forces to deal with the coming threat and to quell further protests. What was to occur is recorded, but the ramifications are difficult to assess. Blank Space still hangs steady where it first appeared. No other attempt to research The Cleft was made by Vermailia, and it is generally agreed that it is too dangerous to exist.

Occasional reports of its use still appear in different parts of the galaxy, but to most people, The Cleft is merely a horror story best left in myth and legend.

—Sarlin Corvaxis Fon