//------------------------------//
// Supernova 
// Story: Apocalypse 
// by Dream Seeker 
//------------------------------//

	He woke up shivering as his cryotube defrosted.  A few drops of water landed on his face before the tinted green glass that was the cryotube’s door popped open with a hiss of steam.  As he climbed out, he put on his gray Commander’s Uniform, covered in various gold medals for his many, many victories and achievements gained while commanding the human fleet.  He walked out of the cryotube chamber and blinked in the harsh, bright lights.  He proceeded down a few corridors into the bridge. He gazed around the white, spotless room, remembering all the battles he had fought here… All the casualties his ship had sustained through the war against the aliens…  It was time.  He knew he was about to prevent all future wars against humanity.

“Computer?”  he asked.
“Analyzing voice... analyzing voice... Match found!  Welcome back from stasis, Commander Scott.  Proceed with Project Apocalypse?”
“Yes...” Scott sighed.

He never fully approved of Project Apocalypse, but there were good reasons for it.  He flashed back to the Space Wars against the alien Pritells.  He could see the ship, damaged in many places, dead lying around the flames as the broken panels sparked.  He could remember his shocked face as the United Nations of the Milky Way unanimously agreed to accept the proposal to demolish the universe, right in front of him, the same day he was promoted to Head Commander.  As his mind flashed forward to real time, he could not believe what he had to do.  He never thought that it would come to this.  He only wished he could have found a better solution.  He truly believed that with more time, everything could have worked out.  Humanity just had to come and invent a weapon capable of creating a chain reacting supernova, capable of destroying the entire universe.  Except the human worlds had a protective shield, nicknamed the “Bubble”.  The ones who suggested the plan had discovered the technology for this shield beforehand. Can’t have humans dying out with the rest of the universe, of course.  The proposition would never have been accepted if Berkeley hadn’t have discovered this Quantum Shield.  The Bubble shield was expensive, but every single world contributed.  The threat to only include donating planets in the shield’s radius certainly helped.  Smaller ones were actually quite cheap, however.  As the leading Commander, he had one installed in his ship, along with the Apocalypse Weapon, in case he needed them. The real reason was mostly to pacify him after he complained that these materials were not used during the war to save countless lives.  He pretended like it worked, because it got them off his back for protesting, and he never really liked the media anyway. They would never have to worry about protesters again, once the Project was complete.  It would only take one shot and 42 seconds… He did not believe that any creature should have this power.

“Proceed with Project Apocalypse!” he said firmly.
“Apocalypse commenced,” responded the computer.  “Folding space-time for the jump out.”

Scott rested one arm on the cold, spotless window as the Earth’s sun began showing signs of going nova.  The windows were, of course, made from materials that blocked most of the light so he didn’t go blind.  He was joined by the other Followers of the Apocalypse, the group who supported Project Apocalypse, who watched silently and grieved for all of humanity.  However, they did not regret their decision. Just before the ship jumped away, they saw a bright flash, and watched as earth turned into a molten ball and evaporated in the supernova’s heat.  Then space warped around his ship, and the stars’ light bent across the viewing panel.  This wouldn’t have been made possible, Scott noted, if Humanity hadn’t blocked their territory inside the Bubble.   If humanity was to be stopped from destroying the universe, it had to happen right when it did, Scott reminded himself.  If he hadn’t destroyed humanity, humanity would have destroyed the universe.  Their ships were actually on their way to begin the chain reaction that would end it all, until the supernovas stopped them.  The Followers of the Apocalypse went back to their cryotubes.  Before Scott froze himself, he told the computer,

“Activate Autopilot.  If any sentient biological life form gets within a light-year of my ship, wake me from stasis.  Actively seek planets with potential sentient life forms, but use Cloaking Tech.  Don’t let them see us first.”
“Beginning scans now...  Plotting most efficient course...  Estimated time before sentient biological life form found is one million years.”

Scott sighed again as he reflected on his choice again.  Maybe if he had more time, he could have devised a solution without having to create a chain reaction of supernovas to wipe out all humans.  Maybe humanity could have been saved.  But now, all he could do was wait.  If he found a sentient species, perhaps he could prevent them from making the same mistake as humanity did.  He would remain in stasis for potentially millions of years.  But for now, he would sleep.  He turned the cryotube on, which froze him.  One day, in a little over a million years, the spaceship beeped an alarm and woke the Followers of the Apocalypse from stasis.

“Sentient Biological Life Form Detected!  Sentient Biological Life Form Detected!”