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Shades of an Empire
Loss

This post continues from Tales Post 19.


The Great Eiyill rests motionless in its orbit around the planet Tress. Its mighty guns sit as silent as always and still turned away from the surface of the planet. The Imperium half of the world continues about its business, as though space battles are to be expected, while outrage fills the hearts of the Jupiterians on the opposite side of the River Split. Jupiterian news outlets declare the state of war with The Imperium is confined to the battle above them and the people are not to engage in any ground attacks, while similar information is related to the citizens of The Imperium with far less gusto. When you have the monstrous anti-power weapon to protect you, you wouldn't need to panic.

The partially built God-Killer fires a second blast of anti-power and it streaks towards the amalgamated fleet. One of the High Imperial ships is evaporated from existence as the beam reaches the ship. Before it has even touched the material, the aura of the anti-power dissolves the powerful warship. The other ships break away from the blast, trying to not group into one big target.

The High Empire is most at risk as the core of the empire is gone and all that remains is all that remains. Every ship lost is a colossal hit to the population and strength of the empire. The last vestiges of their very existence is on the line. The drow ships are some of the smallest capital vessels in the hodgepodge fleet, but they are the most manoeuvrable and a well timed photon torpedo has been the end of many a larger machine of war. But even as torpedoes streak through space towards the God-Killer, the anti-power field renders every incoming shot as nothing.

The Scion of Divinity, the current flagship of the High Empire under the command of Navitatex Qemik, fires a flood of turbo-lasers on rapid fire. The powerful laser shots of the High Empire are fuelled with infinite energy, allowing them to fire continuously and at high-yield. Yet the thousands of laser bolts are absorbed by the anti-power aura. The much larger rocket-batteries swivel and fire guided rockets at the God-Killer. They vaporise next to their turbolaser brethren. A second High Imperial ship, the Void's Edge, begins to open fire too. From within its bowels emerge thousands of crystalline drones. The drones shine under the light reflected from the planet as they hurtle towards the anti-power aura. Unfortunately the drones are too powerful and upon impact they dissolve into nothing. The replicator factories within Void's Edge start to churn out replacements by the minute. The crystal nanites descend through each factory like dust and leave behind a brand new drone to send on its way. The constant stream of lasers, rockets and drones would have made short work of the average foe but the anti-power renders every attack impotent.

Ameryl, aboard the Great Eiyill, watches the enemy trying its luck. Another expulsion from the God-Killer comes dangerously close to wiping out the Void's Edge but, instead, it aimed at another drow ship lurking behind the larger High Imperial ships. She recalls the reports from the previous battle between Qemik and the original God-Killer. He had sent another ship, the Vault of Destiny, to its demise by crashing itself into the God-Killer. That would be the only logical mode of attack against anti-power - something entirely unpowered. Here, however, they were fighting anti-power like it is power. Trying to overpower anti-power results in one thing - nothing. Like matter and anti-matter cannot meet, power and anti-power will not meet. She realises why he cannot repeat his last trick - there's not enough High Imperials to spare.

She also now knows that this motley band isn't coordinating as it should or he would have given this information to the drow or to one of the star destroyer captains. Instead, the star destroyers of the newly formed First Order open fire with their own turbolasers. Added to the original lasers, shining drones, rockets and photon torpedoes, there is now a very beautiful light display in action. Then the Scion of Divinity opens its greatest weapon - the superlaser. The very tip of the ten-mile ship opens and a colossal wave of red plasma blasts out. It engulfs all the other weapons in its stream. It is brimming without so much power, it could have ripped the planet in half.

It dissolves against the anti-power aura as though it was a smear of colour being wiped out on a piece of paper.

Ameryl wonders if they're getting annoyed yet.

The High Imperial vessels then stop, seeing the futility of their approach. Ameryl is entertained as she wonders which of them plans to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. One of the last bastions of the High Empire being lead to a certain demise. Imperium ships could likely intercept either craft as they went in for the kamikaze, even sacrificing one of her own vessels to destroy the opposing sacrifice.

She notices the Greyarchy attempting to take shots around the Great Eiyill instead of the God-Killer itself. It's a nice thought in Ameryl's mind, but the aura surrounds the incomplete God-Killer and the station its being built from. This is exactly the reason that the Great Eiyill remains unpowered and the command centre has been set to extra-dimensional. Ameryl herself would be obliterated in the blink of an eye is touched by the aura, but peering in at events from another dimension keeps her from nothingness. The Jupiterians seem the most reluctant to engage and she knows its because of the planet below. A single shot in either direction could mean all out war on the surface below. The Republic evidently want to maintain the status quo with The Imperium but they also don't want them running amok with the God-Killer. The Jupiterians had made some ineffective, half-hearted attacks against the anti-power aura but nothing so committed at the rest.

A message comes through and Ameryl, still amused by all of this, accepts it.

Navitatex Qemik: "Imperium station, this is the last warning. Shut down the God-Killer project."

Ameryl: "I really thought you were past warnings."

Navitatex Qemik: "The planet Tress is occupied by thirty billion people. Surrender now."

She watches as the Scion of Divinity's thrusters turn the long, gothic vessel to point its head towards the planet. Ameryl admits she hadn't thought about this and really should have. She doesn't want to lose a planet, especially one as important as Tress. But she wants the God-Killer more. Imperium ships wouldn't be able to destroy the ship in time, even if hundreds jumped into the system right this second.

All of the other ships stopped what they were doing and evidently were contemplating Qemik's words and their own actions. Most prominently she noticed the Jupiterian ships slowly moving towards the Scion of Divinity. The commanding Jupiterian tree ship is carved into something resembling a dog's skull and the tree that powers it is a grand oak tree, as thick and as sturdy as they come. The name of the ship is The Prominent and Ameryl notes it possess two of the Jupiterian's powerful beam weapons.

A second open communication chimes in from the Greyarchy.

Fladnag the Grey: "We concur and support the High Empire."

The Greyarchy are the newcomers to the galaxy and little is known about them, but reports come through all of the time and all of them speak of a powerful empire all under the control of this Fladnag the Grey. She wonders how smart this empire is to be sending its leader to the frontlines, though perhaps he is just as cocksure as Ameryl herself.

Navitatex Qemik: "Your response?"

Ameryl: "Try as you will."

Navitatex Qemik: "I hope the deaths caused today will weigh on your conscience as much as mine."

Ameryl: "Unlikely."

Navitatex Qemik: "Last chance."

His ship powers its laser. It is a slow process that she knows is part of the grand show, hoping she will cave.

Just as Ameryl expected, the Jupiterians now retaliate against the High Empire. They don't want their half of the planet blown up with The Imperium. Having suffered the loss of Jupiter, the Jupiterians had become sensitive to the loss of Jupiterian lives and they would feel they have as much to lose as Qemik feels for the High Empire's remnants. One of the beam weapons of The Prominence lashes out and strikes against the shields of the Scion of Divinity. It sweeps left, hissing its way across the shield. The crystals scattered across the hull of the High Imperial vessel glow as they send more energy into those shields. For a moment there is a stand-off as only one Jupiterian ship attacks and the Scion of Divinity maintains its powering phase of its superlaser. Then one of the ships of the First Order opens fire upon The Promience. Its own turbolasers splatter across the energy shields of the tree ship like a rain of green fire. The second beam weapon ignites and streaks out at the First Order vessel. The First Order's shields are not up to the standard of the High Empire and the beam weapon streaks through their shield in a matter of minutes. It then cuts through the hull, slicing it in half as the beam swings about.

As the shield of the Scion of Divinity finally begins to weaken under the continuous stress, the ship finally makes retaliation. It opens fire with its own turbolasers and its superlaser powers down for the moment. The ship's thrusters ignite again, turning the vessel to the side to expose The Prominence to the most turrets available. The other Jupiterian ships add their own firepower but the First Order joins in.

Ameryl cackles as she watches her enemies fight amongst themselves.

Ameryl: "It's almost enough to bring a tear to my eye."

Voice: "I'll bring a tear to your eye."

Ameryl turns just in time to see a flash of light. She hops back, thinking she is under attack, but the invisible beam smashes into the control console and it explodes. The fire reaches out but is quickly extinguished by the lack of flammables. As the fire and smoke subside, Ameryl releases the machine debris she froze before it struck her. She glares at her attacker.

Ameryl: "How are you alive?"

Astrid: "You aimed at the wrong target, bitch."

She raises her lantern and it fires another invisible blast of energy. Ameryl uses her anti-power ring to shield herself from the dangerous shot. Astrid makes another shot, this time at the wall and she runs for it. Ameryl hurls most of the computer array in the woman's wake but it misses her.

She groans and sends out a communication that an intruder is onboard. It is of little consequence as Astrid cannot leave the station so long as the aura is active, else she would be disintegrated. Ameryl turns back to the battle and is struck by the sudden sight of a small, unassuming drow ship sailing close to the God-Killer. The moment the console was destroyed caused a temporary shock to the system and distracted Ameryl - creating an opening. The drow ship, named the CSS Caridwen, must have been very fast to get inside but now it's there it primes its weapons.

Ameryl: "No! No! No! No!"

Ameryl shuts down the God-Killer with her mind and then tears a hole in the wall of her space station. She flies out into space and spots the Caridwen. It has already opened fire with its phasers scraping along the God-Killer to crack open its heart. She propels herself straight at it with every intent to destroy the pest but she senses that the rest of the fleet have suddenly taken notice of the small, unassuming drow ship. Ameryl curses her luck and stops. The greatest threat is going to be the Scion of Divinity and she sees it is charging its superlaser. With speed well beyond the speed of light, she throws herself at the ten-mile ship. She crashes through its shield and hull and the ship's energy enters a state of flux. The ship is infinite energy reserves, which constantly attempts to reassert itself, but the damage done by the Powerplaying protégé of Highemperor is extensive. Unfortunately for Ameryl, all other ships open fire upon the God-Killer and she knows the machine is lost. The CSS Caridwen retreats out of the line of fire but manages to send a few photon torpedoes through the hole they'd made, straight towards the core of the God-Killer.

Ameryl understands her tactical errors in an instant and she is tempted to work with the Peacekeepers to alter the timeline. However that causes far more headaches than it resolves so she resigns herself to the loss. As the God-Killer crumbles apart like a broken LEGO set, the missmatched fleet breaks off its attack. The job is done, no need to make further acts of war. Only The Prominence remains as it hovers over the Jupiterian half of the planet in case of any retribution from Imperium forces.

Ameryl: "Overconfident, easily distracted... I made every newbie mistake possible. Highemperor would be ashamed."

Imperium One-Shots: Earth vs the Virus
 
An alternate reality to the NeSiverse and the Multiverse it is housed in, another universe has its own Earth, sitting in the Sol System. This Earth was also a cradle of life, only this time Earth herself was alive. Sentient and sapient, capable of thoughts and feelings and expressions of complex psychology like honour and duty. She even fell in love with a passing comet, but they were like two passing astral bodies in the void.
 
Alas, like many living organisms, Earth fell sick. A virus infected her body. It poisoned her airways, muddied her waters and pocked her skin. She became feverish; feeling hot, but also cold at the same time. She manipulated her vibrational frequencies to send out a distress signal across the cosmos. In time, an answer came and he was on his way.
 
A doctor.
 
The doctor arrived, clad in white. His body was tiny, she could hardly see him, but he explained this was merely his current vessel. When she explained her predicament to him, he advised on the only sensible course of action. To kill the virus.
 
As her natural immune system couldn’t deal with the virus alone, he prescribed her medicine. Some antibiotics.
 
The antibiotics came from a manufactured container that the doctor called capsules, or, sometimes, shuttles. The containers went down to her skin and there the antibiotics started to work. Some were designed to attack the virus directly, while some bolstered her own natural immune system by training it or enhancing it. She heard the antibiotics debating over things called tigers, wolves and sharks as the best facets of her immune system to develop. Whatever they did, it worked. The virus was eventually exterminated, but the damage had been done. So the doctor then prescribed long term therapeutics to heal the wounds caused by the virus. The doctor used the word terraform.
 
So, in time, she felt better. In fact, she thought she was stronger than ever. Her air was strong, her skin was firm and she decided she might like a holiday out of this blasted system that had caused her to get sick in the first place.
 
With some advice from the doctor, she aimed herself on her orbital spin so that she, suddenly, zipped off into the void. Though she could only ‘speak’ in vibrations, there was a definite ‘wheeeeee’. The doctor and his antibiotics travelled with her and welcomed her into their own star systems. With her advanced terraforming and the medications of the doctor, her immune system was protected even against the void of space as she soared along. Her little moon had come along for the ride, like a puppy chasing its owner. The doctor even added more little moons that kept her company and helped to keep her safe.
 
When she arrived in the new star systems, she travelled around and got to meet many other planets. Most of them were brainless, unfortunately, and didn’t make for very good dinner dates. She saw, however, that some of these planets had their own viruses. The doctor assured her that those planets were fine, because they were dumb and had no brains. Not like Earth. She was extra special!
 
And then she learnt of alternate realities and alternate Earths. She was horrified to discover that many of her alternate selves were likewise infected with the very same virus she had been. Though the alternate Earths were as brainless as most planets, she didn’t like to see herself being so ravaged. Like a mirror image of her former self. And so, one day, she took it upon herself to do a bit of doctoring of her own.
 
With a band of antibiotics, Earth went into an alternate reality and waged a medical war against her mirror. The poor girl was suffering even more so than she had done. Her atmosphere was so clogged, the skin so cracked and broken, that Earth was surprised even the virus still lived. But the virus was resilient. Her antibiotics went to work. They wiped clean this poor Earth. But because she was so broken, Earth decided her counterpart should be put out of her misery. She charged at the alternate Earth and smashed through her, breaking the copy into fragments that started to orbit the sun.
 
Earth felt a rush from that. It had been very exciting. She wished she could have saved her counterpart, but smashing her to pieces had been a thrill nonetheless.
 
And so… she found another Earth. And another. And another.
 
Some she saved from the virus. Some she could not and had to euthanise them. But in time she began to enjoy the smashing of planets and, before she knew what she was doing, she was killing alternate Earths for fun…
 
Then the doctor came.
 
She felt guilty at his arrival. She realised what she had become and she promised not to do it again.
 
But then the doctor did something she did not expect…
 
He said she should do whatever she enjoyed doing and if she wanted to kill planets, he would help her to do that. And so, she was given a title. She didn’t truly know what that was, but being called ‘Admiral Earth’ was very funny to her but she loved it. She was given lists of planets she could freely smash. And whenever she got the urge to kill another Earth, the doctor’s friends would help her get there quickly. She even found an Earth where the virus had grown so powerful, that it had crossed space and infected other nearby planets like Mars and even poor, little Pluto the dwarf planet.
 
She smashed them all. Her new friends, who followed her everywhere now, made sure to hunt down any of the virus that was left in the system. And then they told her of realities where the virus was bigger still!
 
So she went there… a cosmic ball of destruction with her army. Admiral of The Imperium, crushing planets and slaughtering the virus whenever her friends told her it was. Sometimes she had to be nice to the virus if her friends said they were not bad ones. She didn’t like them, but she let them live, after all, she owed the doctor so much.
 
And the doctor, he told her that the name of the virus was ‘humanity’ and that it was one of the deadliest viruses in the entire Omniverse and that he, and his Imperium, wanted to conquer all of them. Her clouds swirled as did her emotions. They formed what many might consider… a smile.

Imperium One-Shots: The Songverse

The Songverse has its very own and unique physics, quite unlike most universes. Instead of being kept structured by gravity, instead it was all held together by a great sound. There was the deep beat that thumped across the entire universe from the Songverse’s heart. Then, the rhythm that strummed vibrantly and with regularity that worked smoothly with the beat. Laid atop were the melodies, which skittered energetically and, often, with great variety and change; a chaos over the order. With it came the meaning. Some might think of the meaning as the lyrics, except there were no words. As the Songverse grew older and older, its song changed, its lyrics changed.
 
Yet in this music, no life could spawn. But life still came.
 
From another universe, life exploded into the Songverse. Instantly, the vessels of these beings shut down and either they began to drift or they broke apart as they could not handle the song’s stresses.
 
This unexpected arrival caused the Songverse to produce a song of curiosity and surprise, pulsing across its great expanse. The beings from another universe did not seem deterred by the unusual physics that prevented their usual mode of space travel. Instead, they sent stuff into the Songverse. Though these things failed, just as with the original vessels, readings had been sent back.
 
Time passed and the Songverse forgot the crazy intruders and a new Song began, speaking of growth and joy of existence.
 
Then it came. The Songship.
 
It burst from another universe and rode the waves of the Song valiantly as it could. Quickly, those aboard discovered that the Song had changed. Their frequencies were all dependant on the previous Song that had enveloped the universe. The Songship was clumsy and wobbled and  careened across the Songverse until, eventually, the ship adapted to the new Song and they were able to sail the waves of the cosmos.
 
The Songverse again shifted its Song to sing of this new thing that sailed here. When this new Song eventually reached the Songship, it again fell prey to the shift and lost control. The event had almost resulted in the Songship slamming into a planet, but its engineers, who called themselves musicians here (though some also used the term Songmasters, much to their arrogance) adapted once again. This in mind, the Songship started to scan for the origin of the Song and allow them to predict and then analyse when a new Song would arrive.
 
From the Songship now emerged little ships. Some of the musicians called them Noteships, or just Notes. These little Notes went all over, researching and studying everything they found and how it was all held together by the great Song. They even started to hear the meaning, understand the unspoken lyrics.
 
But, in time, other beings came into the Songverse. Perhaps they had heard of the presence of The Imperium here, or perhaps they happened upon it too. As these beings adapted to the Song, competition arose and the dramatic Song spoke of the race to glory and power. But tensions grew and war broke out. The Song became dark and slow, the cosmos itself slowed. Planets slowed down, moons began to drift away and stars began to convert into red.
 
Seeing the destruction to the Songverse that their war was bringing, a truce was called. The Song did change, though it was still a melancholic tune of loss and trepidation. Filled with such music, the sentiments of the empires in the Songverse naturally changed and, before anyone realised it, they were being guided by the Song as much as the universe itself.
 
The Songships sailed on as the Song renewed its vigour, to a new age of sound.

imperium One-Shots: Prisma and Farnia

The people of the planet Prisma were a peaceful lot. Their religion was dedicated to the philosophy of inner monologue, so they would sit for hours and, in their own minds, talk to themselves. Their society relied on farming and thanks to the oversized fruits of the planet, they had plenty to eat. They established cities with their fruit farms surrounding the city like petals.
 
Their leaders were those most capable of inner monologuing, after all if one can talk to oneself for hours on end, then surely they could talk to everyone else.
 
Their understanding of space was developing at a rapid pace and installations were created across the planet to observe the stars and that question always loomed over them – were they alone in the universe? They watched vigilantly, searching for signs of life.
 
Then. It came.
 
They did not see it coming, it was just, suddenly, all around them. Some speculated that it was always there, others said it was so large they couldn’t see it as anything more than the dark matter that is everywhere.
 
The first signs of it were fingers.
 
A hand became apparent in the skies. It was at a great distance, but drew closer and closer over several weeks. Many prayed to the hand, others spoke to themselves, others believed it was the end of days.
 
And it was.
 
The fingers arrived and enclosed around the planet. Where the fingertips pressed the planet’s surface, the land exploded and shook. The atmosphere choked as it was driven wild by the alien presence. Then the hand yanked the planet from orbit.
 
Those that had initially survived were instantly enveloped in flame from the sudden motion. It might have appeared slow to their eyes, but the speeds at which the planet was yanked from its station were astronomical. Literally. The planet was a blazing inferno for just a short moment, and then it was a ball of ice as it moved away from the sun.
 
The alien being lifted the planet. It had not even noticed the Prismans. They were so small and insignificant to this creature. They were to the alien, as microscopic creatures were to the Prismans.
 
The creature was named Londos by those that knew it. Londos threw the planet. The ball of ice careened through space, far from its star system, across the gulf of space until, at tremendous speed, it reached the target. Another creature, much like Londos, this time known as Candori. Candori moved its body, seeing the projectile, to avoid being struck. Their body was one long torso, but their were no legs – no legs needed for space. Just two arms, body and a head. To humans, Candori might appear feminine, with smooth, rounded cheeks and puckered lips and something resembling hair. Not that the average human could possibly see her except from another star system with a very broad viewing telescope.
 
She and Londos were arguing again. What such creatures argued about could not be fathomed. Perhaps it was nothing at all. But when they argued, planets were thrown. Just as some humans might throw dishes in frustrations, these creatures tossed celestial bodies.
 
The planet missed its mark. Candori always said Londos had poor aim.
 
And while their cosmic spat raged, the planet Prisma then continued its trajectory through the void, unhampered by resistances that may have slowed its momentum.
 
A millennium passes. Candori and Londos have quite forgotten Prisma and the fight they had. In fact, they had had many more fights inbetween, and many more planets had been flung. But it was then that the forgotten planet finally stopped its endless journey…
 
The Lupt System had seen a great and long history of war and peace. Its anthropomorphic people had experienced great sorrows and great wonders, great enemies and great heroes. Nestled into their system was a small enclave known as The Imperium. They were a commercial community that provided goods from outside of the star system. New technologies to change the balance of a war, influxes of exotic food during days of prosperity.
 
Then came Prisma.
 
The scientists of the planet Farnia saw the celestial body coming, but could do nothing to prevent it crashing into their own planet. The people evacuated the world and attempted to settle on other planets in the system, causing chaos throughout. Many unscrupulous beings took advantage of the situation to declare themselves despots or charge the refugees for services as simple as water access.
 
Prisma struck Farnia.
 
The destruction was even greater than any had predicted. Both planets were broken and split into massive rocks that were blasted across the entire Lupt System due to the sheer momentum of the incoming planet. These rocks crashed into the other planets of the system, slaughtering billions of people, including many of those refugees who had thought themselves spared from incoming doom.
 
When all settled, those that remained were destitute. Their cities gone. Their families gone. Their culture gone. Barely able to obtain clean food or water.
 
The enclave known as The Imperium had not gone unscathed either. When the rain of broken rocks struck their own small island, tucked away in this system, they lost many lives. But they were connected, they were supported, they were not without… friends.
 
The people of the Lupt System only then learnt that this small organisation turned out to be just a hair of the breadth of an infinite empire with its fingers in as many pies as it could find.
 
The Imperium swooped in so fast that the people didn’t resist and merely accepted what was happening around them. Without a single word, they were now part of The Imperium. Some thought it odd that this empire would show up only when there was nothing left…
 
The star system had been a worthy enterprise when functioning. Now it was worthless. Except, the event itself now drew their interest. Astronomers swarmed the system, calculating trajectories and accumulating theories until the exact path of the wayward planet could be determined. Many astronomers suspected that some great event elsewhere had to have caused the planet to blast out of a star system, as it could not have moved at such a speed without being propelled.
 
The Imperium followed the path…
 
Candori and Londos would soon learn that some microscopic creatures were deadly.