//------------------------------// // Chains of Absolutism // Story: [Forlorn Ascension]|[Rites of Dominion] // by Desrium //------------------------------// Aboard the G.S.O, the green circle expanded so that it wrapped around the star on display. It started to pulse red along with the rest of the Thymal region. The Star Terror signature was now within a solar system protected under the Harmony and it was showing no signs of stopping! Uolix watched the scene, the claws on her Arcane-Manipulators clenched tightly together. The image portrayed by the hologram reflected off of her black visor, which hid her look of uncertainty yet bold resistance from those situated around her. “Raise the alarm!” she ordered. “Contact any other available division in the Thymal region and mobilize them to assist the outpost fleet!” *** Forces were already on standby when the encounter first appeared. They were waiting for, or fearing, the call to arms. Now that the breach of space was confirmed, no longer could the Galactic Peace Corp sit idly by observing. If the Star Terror disappeared at the increased activity congregating around the system, then one of the most horrific incidents in recent galactic history would have been averted… or postponed. If not… The environment aboard one of the defense forces’ ships was tense. The gray tiled halls were all vacant, its crew all at their posts. They sat before their terminals, be it at the bridge or in the engine sector, silently doing their jobs knowing the impossibility of what they might have to do if it was real this time. Though their bodies varied drastically across the races aboard, from the translucent, featureless skin of the Yithith to the vaguely avian bodies of the Kilo, there was this aura that they all gave off. The heavy feeling of fighting with no chance to win, the futility of opposing the inevitable, the realization that they were all going to die if they carried out their orders, it all created a morose atmosphere. Their silver chains dangled from their necks as they waited for zero hour; the only symbol of the Harmony’s unity among its peoples being rendered a mere trinket in the face of the coming threat. The ship was one of a great many loaded up in the gigantic docking station. The outpost fleet was arranged in tiers inside what was essentially a massive metal box in geostationary orbit above the city-world below, the exterior of which wad coated in blue photo-voltaic panels. Heavy artillery, ballistics and specialized bombers of titanic proportions were connected to masts of metal and cables, with entire squadrons of fighters held in their own storage blocks either outside or inside their respective carriers. Such an impressive collection of ships was enough to dissuade most aggressors, but those that manned them were sure their combined power was no match for that of a Star Terror. Their engines and weaponry supposedly functioned using the more potent Hex-core technology, but what good would a new type of energy source do against a will that could eliminate entire planets on a whim? *** “Thymal…” the creature rasped. Its many eyes looked upon the planet inside the flames. The perspective the abomination had of it was an impossible angle, as if it had an eye in orbit staring down with a magnified gaze. In the fire, the creature looked upon the maze of buildings that spread far and towered high across the dusty gray-brown surface of the world. “The stage upon which They Who Came Before achieved a decisive victory against their… detractors, propelling it into hallowed reverence for all the others...” The fire grew white-hot and when it regained its green tinge, the image portrayed inside the flames was the star cluster. Thymal itself was in the center of the group, but the outlying stars were grouped with it when the territory was claimed in respect for the Umpiron Fleet, which met its doom there far back in the annals of the galactic war. “How fitting that the Gods chose this to be the stage of their resurgence!” another voice from the creature proclaimed, booming in the great chamber of the Marauder. The voice extended far past the chamber, however. It reached every ship in the deathless tide, an echo through the silence of space. It may not have been the first to accomplish such a thing, but it was surely the only one left in its own time. “Go forth! Do not disappoint our masters!” A swarm of small and speedy necroliers exploded out of the black mist, their ethereal wings spreading out and reforming, running down the ships sidewise from front to back. The smoky wings wriggled down their lengths like the mantle of a cephalopod would through water, propelling the deathless through space toward their target. *** One of the ship hangar’s walls started to split apart into segments. The sections started to rotate so that they were held horizontally on a metal guide that ran through the middle of the wall, and once they were in the proper orientation, the guide started to fold in on itself, making the wall collapse into what appeared to be one part at the bottom of the hangar’s threshold. “If any of you try to charge up your warp drives and flee, I’ll be sure it’ll be my cannons that blow your engines apart!” The gruff voice was broadcasted from the large red plated ship that sported white stripes. The ship boasting many large ballistic gun barrels and turrets disengaged from its docking port before all others. It started to pull out of the hangar slowly, the yellow guide lights running down its straight edged structure as it left. Its front end was shaped like a short cone with a rounded off point. Its bridge’s forward view screen wrapped around it in full, having angular ends at the sides. Below the squared off window on either side of the ship were golden decorative tusks that extended a fair length, the tips curving inwards slightly past the actual nose. When the outpost flagship’s bulk cleared the station, the rest of the fleet started to move, engines lighting up one after the other and vapor released wherever the docking clamps were disengaged. The other ships fell into formation at the leader’s flanks, larger ships having the smaller class warships in the intermediate space in between them. “I was told that there would be support joining us!” The brown furred minotaur in a dapper looking blue suit with golden buttons, epaulettes and black gloves snorted, puffs of vapor shooting out from his nostrils. He slammed his large fists against the arm rests on his seat. “They are late!” “How can you be so lively at a time like this?” one of his bridge members asked, swiveling their seat around to face the captain. “Because it will be a sad, sad day when the Celestia-damned bull loses his fighting spirit! It will be the day when these horns fall out of my head!” To accentuate the point, the minotaur bowed his head so that his wicked looking horns were pointed down at the crewmember and he pointed a finger at them. “Now turn around and press those buttons! Report that our guest does not seem inclined on leaving us!” The crewmember saluted dutifully and obeyed. The captain rolled his head from side to side as he sat back in his seat. His hazel eyes were fixed in a seemingly permanent glare as he stared out of the forward screen. “Warp insertions detected, captain. They are transmitting Harmony identification,” said another crewmember. “Such great timing! Remind me when this is all over to teach those captains a lesson about being fashionably late!” *** Four other fleets entered the system from various directions and inclinations relative to the system’s orbital plane. Because of this, there were ships closer to the incoming enemies than others. The shock as to what they were facing spread over the communication systems. “The Star Terror is a fleet!?” “What kind of spacecraft are those things!?” The voices clamored over each other until the captains all brought them back in line, the minotaur notably more aggressively so. “We can find out what they are after we’ve turned them all into space-scrap!” he shouted to the Harmony assembly. “Full speed ahead, prime weapons!” The outpost fleet adjusted its heading to face the incoming assailants, the fighter crafts rushing ahead of the bulk of the offensive to meet the necroliers. In seconds hundreds of shots had been fired by the quick-shooting Hex-core guns, blue orbs of energy careening into the enemy ranks. Rods of metal twisted into a corkscrew shape appeared at the front of the black ships. They swerved around the defending ships, matching their speed easily. The rods crackled with arcane fury, glowing with all kinds of colors as potent magics were called upon by the deathless. Bands of black lightning materialized around the speedy ships, which were then used to wrap up enemy fighters in choking coils. As the captured ships struggled to escape the grip of the necroliers, they were bombarded with an influx of energy. Spell reflux hit them hard, resulting in overloading systems that quickly led to catastrophic failure. The Harmony ships detonated into balls of magical fire, the tendrils trailing the flight of the necroliers as they sought out their next victims. The larger variety of the deathless entered the battle, pummeled by the combined might of directed energy weaponry and hull-puncturing rounds that left silvery streaks of light in the wake of being fired and hit with devastating effect, blowing huge holes into the enemy and sending shards of metal into space in a shower of shrapnel. As the Harmony ships surrounded them, the many “horns” that extended out of their hulls glowed much more intensely. The crews of the ships found their selves caught in magical fields that overrided their controls, leaving them defenseless as their hulls started to cave in around them, gradually being crushed by immense force. Arcane lightning lashed against the Harmony spacecraft and caused clusters of explosions to ensue, blackening the bright colors and causing fires to take hold. Broad beams of energy acted like blades, piercing the armor of ships and cutting right through, severing entire sections off or, in the worst of cases, causing ships to come apart to explosive effect. *** Panic spread across the comms. The fighter pilots disengaged, flying evasively rather than to attack the black ships that chased them down like ravenous predators after prey, honing in on fear. Voices would be silenced in droves as ship after ship succumbed to the horrific magic the deathless employed in battle. Flaming husks and deformed shells frequented the space in the system, and the fleet that numbered well into the thousands was being torn apart without mercy. “They don’t stop coming!” many cried out, taken by fearful awe at how ships with what would normally be fatal damage continued to give chase without fail. Streaming smoke and green fire, the hellish fiends pressed onwards. “They fall so easily! So many souls sent to the Greater Ones!” the pale creature exclaimed with great amusement at the slaughter. It watched the arcane fireballs sent hurtling into ships, exploding with such force that the stricken craft were attacked by latent energies that continued to afflict them until they finally gave in, the light of their screens dimming and their engines shutting down. “Yes! Take them!” it roared. “They will aid our numbers! Soon all of the galaxy will crumble before the glory of the Gods!” A sickly green aura was emanated from the Marauder as it powered on through the fields of death and destruction. The golden beak opened, energy collecting within as runic symbols started to appear. Rings of the symbols spun around the orb, and all of the disabled ships caught in the field started to glow. Screams of agony echoed through their hallways as the crew were infected with the necrotic essence. Many were on the floor, convulsing as their flesh rotted away underneath their suits, a horrid glow beginning to shine from their core through their mouths and eyes, which were melting away in their sockets. When the process was completed, those who were once with the living now bolstered the numbers of the deathless, completely corrupted. Even their ships bore resemblance to the coffin-craft, their hulls molded into grotesque shapes. *** The light shed by the death of the Harmony ships reached the city below, the denizens watching with horrified expressions hidden underneath the helmets of their spacesuits. Without an atmosphere to distort the battle, they saw everything happen in pristine detail with their bare eyes. Evacuation orders had been made shortly after the battle began. Thousands of large transport vehicles and shuttles were being loaded up with people in the very streets of the super metropolis, which was flooded with movement and chaos. The fervor of the inhabitants soared to new heights when the outpost was under siege. A band of the deathless horde came up alongside it and trapped the hangar with their magic. Flying down toward the city, they dragged the massive outpost with them before flying off. Departing transports were blown out of the sky by magical rays and lightning strikes. Fire rained down from heaven, smashing into the buildings and spreading mayhem. When the outpost came down, a humungous cloud of smoke shot up into the sky filled with debris as hundreds of towers were crushed beneath it, the expanding wall of fire blowing through the streets and alleys, claiming untold numbers of lives in one fell swoop and rendering the impact zone a crater. The casualties only increased as more and more of the horde came to raze the city, showering the populace with their malefic blight. Orbs of energy exploded violently in the streets, vaporizing the fleeing masses and tossing many more about. Accursed beams cut down the proud towers, their collapses alone causing huge bouts of destruction.The tusked ship came down from above, its tortured shell broken and flaming. “Keep firing!” the minotaur captain roared. His bridge crew only numbered a few now. The others were slumped over in their chairs, terminals crackling and spewing sparks. The light in the command room was a dim red color. “We may die this day but we die fighting!” As it descended, the warship’s few functioning turrets fired their rounds, some cleaving apart the undeads’ ships with extreme prejudice. Necroliers swarmed it, first ripping apart its weaponry with kinetic magics that pried the cannons right out of their housing and then suspending the vessel amongst them. Like a pack of wolves, they tore the warship apart, the hull buckling before being shredded, showering the desolated city below with even more rubble and death. *** On the G.S.O, the operatives of the Harmony watched, aghast as the star became a blood red color and the region stopped pulsing red, becoming a uniform shade of crimson. The hive world was destroyed, the star completely occupied by the enemy force. The Harmony suffered its first crushing defeat by this new threat, and it was clear that it operated on total war. They did not want to conquer, but eradicate life in the galaxy. At this rate, Thymal would be theirs in mere hours, if not less. “By Ghu’arat…” Uolix muttered to herself. “It’s happening again…”