Queen Kelarset of Etherscape

I shifted nervously in my seat, stealing glances at my husband to distract from the scene on the view screen. Not the most handsome of men, despite the copious flows of Ether he commanded, the Emperor of Etherscape none-the-less carried himself with an indefinable charisma that seemed to draw the eyes (and lusts) of all. Though she had offered herself in a political marriage of convenience, she had fallen for him before their first encounter even ended. Today, however, not even her beloved could detract from her worries.

She had received a desperate call from her home planet of Sorothustra, reporting an attempt at invasion that was straining the planetary wards, and begged her husband to send assistance. He had responded, of course, and with commendable alacrity. Alone, in his new 'Diplomatic Cruiser' Voyager. It was scarcely 350 metres in length, armed with a quartet of missile tubes in pairs fore and aft. The vessels small stockpile of missiles were each armed with warheads capable of devastating a city with each shot. Voyager was, in a word, chronically under-armed for an interplanetary warship. For a Trans-dimensional vessel, such paltry weapons were little more than a joke. The ship's saving grace lay in her ward-laced shields and regenerative armour, either of which could tank a supernova unscathed. Sadly, Sorothustra would need more than that.

When she had asked about the ship, the Emperor had claimed that it was a flight of nostalgia. The commission had pleased the Hegemonies, however, and they certainly spared no expense in outfitting the vessel. Though at first glance the bridge appeared austere, she knew that the silvery railing behind her head was forged, not from stainless steel (as she had originally thought) but a unique platinum alloy that flowed in barely detectable ripples. Once you knew that, the wealth was on display everywhere. From the Obsidian-Onyx screens to literally Diamond lights, the bridge alone was more ostentatious than a Liquid Gold Hot-tub, for all that it was as gaudy as an empty room. Her Emperor liked his subtle statements.

Shaking her head to clear the distractions, Kelarset looked back to the main viewer where Sorothustra was surrounded by a cloud of warships, their infernal lances straining the wards that a billion Sorceresses worked in shifts to maintain. They would fall, it was only a matter of time, unless her husband could talk the aggressors down.

"We are receiving an answer to our hails," One of the Thronemaidens reported, "One Ambassador Angron aboard the Barbed Flogger."

"Good," the Imperial Nova sighed, "Put him on screen."

The being who appeared on the main viewer possessed a violent visage that radiated malice. Deep red skin, crowned by horns of deep black. When he spoke, he exposed rotten black teeth and a tongue of worms:

"Ah, so the Emperor of Etherscape sends this 'help' for his queen's allies," Angron sneered, "I had expected more from the famed Etherscape Navies, but I suppose they have been neglected without an Emperor."

"I am here in an attempt to resolve the situation peacefully." Kelarset glanced sidelong at her Emperor's statement of the obvious, "This mindless aggression aids nobody."

"I suppose we would be forced to kill many to claim our prize," the daemon grumbled, "On behalf of the Infernal Legions, I'll accept Sorothustra's unconditional surrender; and demand one thousand Slaves as immediate recompense for the expense of mounting this assault."

"Unacceptable," the Emperor fired back, "That would only invite further attempts, distributing powerful mana-slaves into the hands of our mutual enemies."

"You can't stop us!" Angron snarled, "We will have that planet, and the Sorceries of Sorothustra! I already have a buyer for the first batch of unbroken slaves... the devastation will be glorious!"

"Not today, and not by you." the Emperor's voice was growing colder by the minute, "Please advise your ships that they can either flee, surrender, or die. I recommend the former."

"With an unarmed ship?" Angron snorted, "I think not; and if any of your warships do show up, we won't let them through our nets as we did yours!"

Kelarset's breath caught in her throat at that. Trapped, cut off from retreat or rescue! But her beloved husband merely gave the daemonic 'Ambassador' a grim smile, almost a smirk, as his voice dropped to a dangerous tone.

"Do you know what Etherscape's most dangerous weapon is, Ambassador?"

"Do I look like I care?"

"You should, Angron." by now the Emperor's voice was glacial, hard as diorite, and Kelarset's mana began to splutter as copious quantities of Ether streamed from her husband to embrace their small vessel.

"Etherscape's greatest weapon is the Imperial Nova." even the deamon shrinking a little under the pressure, "Me."

The Imperial Nova, Emperor of Etherscape

Angron's paling visage vanished in the face of my declaration, replaced by the image of a hive of activity around the planet as a number of Warships broke off from their attack on the planetary wards. Most maintained their assault, preventing the Sorothustran wards from recovering, whilst the rest...

"13 warships on an intercept course," my operations Officer reported, "They have assumed an attack formation."

"Hail them." I ordered.

"No response," came the inevitable reply, "They are attempting to jam our communications."

"Battle Stations." I nearly growled the order, plunging the bridge into crimson-hued shadows as the ruby lights started flashing.

All around me the atmosphere was tense. My loyal Thronemaidens trusted me implicitly, their blind loyalty was unquestionable, yet even they felt fear. Not seeing how victory might be obtained, that unknown frightened them. Reaching out, I felt for the flows of Ether emanating from my body, and twisted the into a cluster of missiles surrounding my ship. Crude things, a hundred metres in length and powered by a simple plasma drive, they leapt upon the approaching fleet with mindless glee.

The viewscreen showed the first flashes of enemy fire as their spinal weapons proved useless against my hastily conjured missiles, missing without fail. If hit the missiles would burst open, showering the enemy with thousands of metre-long penetrators. Closing my eyes I focused my power, reaching out once again to conjure a dozen sister-ships to my Voyager. These were the lighter, 'police' variant, much of the armouring omitted to allow for the installation of 14 Ether Beam banks. Whilst the weak weapons were only capable of vaporising a skyscraper, that more more than sufficient for policing and peacekeeping. Here, the Ether Beams' ability to slice through most defences would serve just as well.

With a thought I ordered the conjured vessels forward. Uncrewed, they responded to my will without hesitation and pounced upon the enemy as my missiles burst. The showers of sub-munitions swamped the enemies defences, reducing the ships to riddled hulks as I reached out further still, conjuring bombs in any crevice I could find.

I returned my focus to the bridge as the enemy exploded on screen, just in time to hear one of the Thronemaidens report ship systems switching to Ethertech. I cursed internally at that. Every Ethertech system on the ship had a built-in supplementary system built in, to ensure smooth functionality outside Etherscape with minimal Ether expenditure. Unfortunately, it appeared that I was outputting so much power that the ship thought it was operating in it's native Etherscape and had switched to pure Ethertech, which would put a crimp in my efforts. I made a mental note to get that fixed later and turned back to the enemy.

More ships had stopped firing on the planet, but there were no reports of fleeing or surrender. With a sigh I twisted the space between my hands, depositing conjured bombs aboard the enemy vessels before they realised that the 12 ships bearing down on them were not yet the real threat. Part of me dimly noted that Chyliss, my Enthroned, had me in her mouth; powering my magics to greater heights as I cast explosive death upon the enemy. Damaged ships lurched drunkenly in their orbits as my conjured vessels bore down on them, Ether Beams lashing out to clear their paths through the battle.

"Imperial Majesty, we are receiving a few offers of surrender." I was informed as the distant battle became more frenetic.

"Instruct them to fall into formation on our flanks," I replied, not allowing my attention to waver from the steady stream of nuclear ordinance I was deploying, "With their weapons fully offline. They will be safe if they stop shooting."

On the screen, a scant handful of vessels flew away from the besieged planet, ignored by both sides of the conflict. The handful became a trickle, though most remained committed to the fight. In my minds eye, I could almost see the progress of my conjured vessels, their powerful defences keeping them intact as they separated to infiltrate the enemy armada.

"Can you contact the Sorothustrans?" I asked.

"Yes, of course..." Kelarset replied before I cut her off.

"Then do so, tell them to brace themselves for a powerful blast."

My ships reached their destinations before slowing to a relative halt. Enemy attacks rained down on them, unabated by the return fire as the ships awaited their next orders. Absently acknowledging Kelarset's success in reaching the Sorothustran council, I reached out to my conjured creations with a final order:

"Initiate Self-Destruct."

You see, each ship was equipped with a powerful Ethertech core, capable of channelling the immense quantities of Ether that made the ship's systems function. Disabling the safety limiters and forceably ramming the ships' entire available Ether stores through the core would breach the containment around the core, resulting in a massive, uncontrolled release of energy. In laymans' terms, an explosion. A Very, Very Powerful one.

Twelve simultaneous blasts decimated the Infernal Legion's armada (I was not saddened to later discover that Ambassador Angron's ship was amongst the casualties). The surviving vessels were in no state to press the attack, and lacked the numbers to overwhelm Sorothustra's defences anyway. Soon vengeful curses were arching up from the embattled planet, smiting the few craft that remained somewhat battleworthy. Any that could, fled, bringing the brief battle to a close.

"Kelarset, Contact your people," I breathed a sigh of relief as I unloaded in the mouth of my Enthroned Chyliss, "Ask if they require any humanitarian assistance in the aftermath. Then come find me in the Imperial quarters. I think it's time I gave you a daughter."

Kelarset blushed beautifully as she stammered her agreement, before hurrying away to tend to the matter. Nudging Chyliss' head away I reached out to my personal bodyguard, Thevah, and pulled her into my lap.

"No daughter for you," I nuzzled into her neck, "But we do have a little time to kill..."