Black clouds are gathering.
Shimah walked through the corridors of Divinis, the new capital of the Prime Empire , or rather the Horde's Ultimate Empire, his only rightful successor. Her beloved. She was bringing him important news, urgent news.
The city wasn't large, at least by the standards of the Pact Worlds, but it had grown nonetheless since Horde Ultimate's coronation as Emperor of the Known Worlds and heir to Horde Prime, and now housed three hundred thousand inhabitants. The planet it was on was Andromede, a place on the fringe of the empire, inhabited by bald dwarves and some strange variety of Ysoki similar to beavers or moles. Both races did not put up any serious resistance to the Horde, quickly recognizing the superiority of the Empire and becoming part of it. The entire system was full of precious raw materials extracted from the bowels of the planet, but also from nearby planetoids. Before the arrival of the Horde, there was already a totalitarian dictatorship here and the locals were used to heavy-handed rule, and in fact, Prime's rule was, in its own way, an improvement in the situation for the locals, because the insane ruler of the "Known Universe" was not interested in personally supervising each conquered planet. Just before Prime's Horde fell, it was converted to become a launching point for subsequent conquests, so when he died, there were plenty of troops and supplies stationed here, and an industrial base to replenish losses. That's why she decided that this place was perfect for the capital of empire of her beloved.
She passed many clone guards clad in golden armor and armed with heavy blades, whom they called the Firstborns. They were among the best trained warriors of their country and enjoyed many privileges. They received the best food, Great Names and Noble Titles. The palace guards were favorable to her because she was the one who came up with the idea to create their formation. The other clones had much more ambivalent feelings for her.
They took over the palace from the former Grand Magister, a dictator who had ruled the entire system and even several colonies with an iron fist for a hundred years, until the Horde arrived and he was killed by his own supporters after first loses. It was beautiful, full of brass decorations and intricately made bas-reliefs depicting scenes from mythology and ancient stories. Many had to be restored because they depicted scenes that Horde Prime deemed blasphemous and ordered destroyed. He also ordered his images to be placed here. They managed to remove many of them under the pretext that it was not fitting for his divine face to be sullied by the sight of simple, everyday matters, but they had to leave a few of them. The power required costs, including those of an aesthetic nature. Overall, though, she liked the palace, even if, as someone who had grown up among the labyrinthine corridors of the Apostate, the place definitely lacked a bit of its dark, sophisticated charm. But she didn't leave her home and break all ties with him just to miss him in such a distant corner of the galaxy.
Finally, she stood in front of the bronze doors leading to the Throne Room. Chamberlain Grundar, a tall and athletic dwarf and her protégé, addressed her in a formal tone.
"The Great Horde Ultimate is currently receiving a delegation from the moons of Mios."
"I have important news intended only for the ears of the Great Horde Ultimate. – She said imperiously and the dwarf, without asking any further questions, ordered the gates to be opened. He was a really good servant.
Waiting for them inside were several Ysoki wearing as much clothing as the miners could afford. Apart from them, there was also Seneschal Shrik, Ysoki and the third person in their empire, whom they met right after they reached this planet, when he almost single-handedly maintained some semblance of order on this planet when Chaos reigned throughout the empire after the death of Horde Prime. He was an extremely talented, if very neurotic, workaholic and, most importantly, he was absolutely devoted to them. On this planet, as in many places in the galaxy, the Ysoki were second-class citizens and often had to fight for their position among other races. Here, thanks to Horde Prime, who usually oppressed everyone equally, their situation improved slightly.
Horde Ultimate sat on a bronze throne decorated with rubies, wearing light, bronze-like armor with a beautiful crown shaped like the Horde's symbol. As soon as she entered, he turned to her, because he immediately noticed that something very important had happened.
"Do you bring any important news Shimach , the Voice of the Horde, the one who speaks in His name?" he turned to her with full seriousness.
"I have received news that you should listen to, my lord." she said, bowing slightly.
Horde Ultimate gestured for everyone to leave, but she said.
"Let Shrik stay, for the news I bring concerns the entire empire." she said with a bit of religious exultation that perfectly suited the current situation.
Ysoki remained watching them uncertainly and a little scared. Once the three of them were together, her beloved, Horde Ultimate, got up from his throne and walked over to her.
"What happened, tell me!" he ordered. Anxiety appeared on his face, which was marred by countless scars. There were reasons for him, they had known each other long enough for him to recognize when she felt genuine fear. An emerald flame burned in his grieen eyes.
"Taurus has been conquered." she said and waited for the others to digest her words.
"So did She-Ra finally decide to do something, or did my brothers get brave and decide to strike?"
She shook her head and said.
"It's none of them. It's someone from the outside." she said and Horde Ultimate turned his back to her and clenched his fists filled with anger. Still, after all these years, after the countless cruelties he had suffered at the hands of his Big Brother, the fact that he had turned out to be a vile liar still hurt him.
"I warned you that it would happen someday, although I hoped we would have a little more time." she said in an apologetic voice, but he waved his hand to show that he had no grudge against her and asked.
"Who they are?" he asked, taking a deep breath.
"According to my informants, they present themselves as the Research and Exploration Fleet, but let's not be fooled by the name, because they have warships and an army. It took them three days to pacify Taurus and it appears that they did not suffer many losses during the invasion." she said. Horde Ultimate turned to her and said.
"Do you know who they serve?"
She thought about the answer, because it was actually not easy to give it.
"From what they say in their communicates, they have the support of the greatest powers of the galaxy, I guess it's definitely the Pact Worlds, perhaps the Veskarium. Fleet is commanded by Lord Admiral Antares.
"Who is this person?" Shrik asked with fear in his voice. She frowned and said slowly, trying to remember as much as possible from her old life.
"The Lord Admiral Antares is a mercenary, someone who fights for money, but not just any gun for hire. It has its own war fleet. He fought Swarm, an enemy that makes even your brother seem like a local warlord. We've never met, but I know a little about him because of my former profession and I've heard a lot about him... He has a good reputation, he's considered a hero, but apparently he hides many dark secrets. He is an extremely dangerous opponent that we should not underestimate."
Ysoki shivered and began nervously nibbling the tip of his tail.
"So… what do we do now?" he asked in a rightly scared voice, after all, he tied his future with them, and although Horde Ultimate was better than his insane brother, he still had a lot of blood on his hands.
"We will attack him with all our strength and crush him before he can prepare." growled her dearest, and she smiled tenderly at him, sometimes he was so... simple.
"For political reasons it would not be wise. If he represents the Pact Worlds and Veskarium , an attack on him could lead to war with them, and we are not in the least ready for it. Moreover, perhaps thanks to him we will form an alliance with Veskarium, which will help us win the war and protect us from the more sinister forces lurking in the galaxy."
"More sinister forces?" asked the Seneschal, almost biting his tail.
"For example, the Azlanti Star Empire." she said with absolute seriousness.
Seleste smiled at her servant, who was Vlaka a highly social wolf-like humanoid from the slowly freezing planet Lajok. They where once a thug who attacked defenseless non-humans until the Star Empire captured him and subjected him to re-education, the only trace of which was a small scar on his forehead... They became a good servant, and the congenital deafness was another of them. its many advantages. She will need all the help she can get on this momentous mission given to her by the Star Twins. She will bring the Law of Humanity to this godforsaken corner of the Galaxy!
Unlike many citizens of the Empire, she did not consider the Non-humans to be inferior, just different, biologically adapted to different tasks, and Humanity was to make sure that everyone found the best place for themselves, so that they would be happy. The Empire thus achieved a perfect harmony that was the envy of the Empire by lesser and more primitive civilizations, either mired in the Chaos of Diversity and Equality, or ruled by definitionally nefarious non-human rulers. Although the Star Empire was powerful, even it was unable to fight against so many treacherous opponents, and the galaxy was still plunged in darkness and ignorance. Fortunately, once her mission succeeds, and she didn't even consider any other outcome, everything will change and there will be peace and joy in the galaxy.
They reached the outskirts of the Ravaged Zone and began reconnaissance. What the Expeditionary Fleet she commanded found awe in the hearts of righteous men. An entire region of the Galaxy was devastated by a nefarious Non-Human tyrant who was destroying planets inhabited not only by harmless Non-Human creatures, but even local factions of the human species. Was there a greater meanness? The quintessence of his madness was recognizing himself as a perfect being. For such a blasphemous statement alone, he deserved the Empire to send a crusade against him, not to mention the other crimes he committed against both Humans and their lesser brothers. This place was the best proof that the Imperial Way was right and that all alternatives lead to darkness.
She sighed and put down her cup of tea, absolutely perfect as always, and looked at the star chart. The non-human tyrant who used the name of Horde Prime was finally annihilated, which was easy to predict, after all, alien empires always fell sooner or later without the enlightened guidance of the human species, or fell into decadence, as the non-humans surrendered much more easily. to their primitive impulses than her species. However, why he fell was much more interesting. From what could be inferred from the first actual message coming from the Zone, he was killed by the Lady of Chaos and her terrible entourage, but it was delivered by a Drow women, a member of one of the most untrustworthy non-human species. Was there any point in considering the words of this type of creature? And besides, she had her own, much more reliable source of information on this subject. She looked at the trunk where she kept her greatest treasure, "The Song of Eternity" by Sereni, Mara's Friend . This document, along with several others, was one of the main reasons for organizing this expedition. Although not the only one. She looked at her face reflected in the porcelain saucer, the sight of it would fill the hearts of the inhabitants of the place they were heading to with joy. "Not the most important thing indeed." She thought at the sight and smiled.
"I think it's time to make a speech." she said to the soldier who was her personal guard. She went to the Communications Room of "Sovereign Vindicator " class dreadnought called " Destiny " and began to speak to all participants of the expedition, both human and non-human brethren.
"We came here together, regardless of our biological origins, to bring the light of our great Empire to this dark place. For millennia it has lived in the shadow of Tyranny, whose deeds were so terrible that the crimes of Veskarium and the Pact Worlds pale in comparison ! Although he was defeated, his evil did not go away with him and it is our moral duty to eradicate it by all available means. However, it is not only the inner desire to bring justice that has led us to Ravaged Zone. There is a unique planet here called Etheria. It is a planet imbued with magic like no other place in the Galaxy, where the Second Star Stone is found. This is one of the most powerful artifacts in the Galaxy, which once raised four people to godhood, including Aroden , the Last Azlanti, not without reason called the god of humanity. Until recently we believed that there is only one, which is kept, against all laws established by humans and gods, on the Absalom station and used to power it. However, there is another one on Etheria as if the gods themselves, in their infinite graciousness, had given us another one to use for the good and glory of the Human species. But there is something else, for thousands of years ago there where the heart of the great Empire of the First Ones. Contrary to the disgusting political correctness and false propaganda of the Pact Worlds, they were not machines, but faction of humanity who had achieved such an incredible level of technology that the deeds of our great empire pale in comparison. They greatest heroine was She-Ra, an incarnate goddess who fought tirelessly to fulfill the destiny of the Human species. Although the previous She-Ra sacrificed herself to give her people a chance against countless nefarious inhuman enemies, she has now been reborn. Elementary logic indicates that she is none other than the Lady of Chaos indicated by that non-human woman in this false propaganda message. It was she who defeated Horde Prime, and I am absolutely certain that once we reach her, remind her of her glorious heritage, show her the glory of our Great Empire, she will support our cause and share with us all her might, and we will bring about Pax Azlantica first in this galaxy, then in the entire universe!" she shouted, her voice filled with triumph
Kane has a general disdain for vampires. Not because they were dead, blood-sucking parasites, although of course they were. He had no such prejudices. The problem was that only a true fool willingly became one. When you turned into a vampire, you were inactive for a large part of the day. While a human could work at night, doing anything at the day, was a problem for many vampires. Moreover, they depended on the blood of intelligent beings. Before the invention of synthetic substitutes, the hunt itself often took many hours. And their potential victims were not only able to defend themselves, but also actively searched for night predators. All this in exchange for some rather interesting, he had to admit, powers and the illusory promise of immortality. The bitter truth was that in most cases Vampires did not exist for more than two or three years, being only pathetic minions of their more powerful creators. In his unimaginably long life, he had the opportunitie to become one of these beings, but he always refused. Although perhaps because of his long life, his perspective was slightly distorted...
But Doctor Sidonius was the exception to this rule. He became undead against his will due to an accident on Lost Golarion. It was a long time ago, and he used his extraordinarily long life to expand his knowledge. A goal that was definitely more noble than sitting in a ruined castle and pretending to be a dark lord until someone finally found that would be great to slay fucking bloodsucker and becoming a hero. Of course, he had another thing in common with the doctor... longevity... Just like with his other companion, Prince Zed .
He had no memory of Automaton's arrival on Carurystal.. There was nothing strange about it. Though he was not affected by the Gap as severely as most mortals, his memories of the past millennia were cloudy, pitted, and mixed. Only unlike Doctor Sidonius, he was happy with this state of affairs. However, he knew that Prince Zed was connected to all the events that caused him to leave Carurystal, his eternal sanctum The Doctor didn't pretend to be trustworthy, but Prince Zed was always nice, polite and jovial. He hated such people with all his heart.
The three of them sat at a round table made of a substance of pearl like structure. There was a permanent coffee pot, intended only for him, no one else drank here... at least not normal substances...
"We managed to intercept the signal sent to the Lord Admiral by my Agent." said the old Vampire, showing his long fangs in a triumphant smile.
"But doesn't that mean his loyalty may now lie with someone else?" Prince Zed asked.
"Good point"
"To put it bluntly, he sold himself to someone stronger." he said in a hard voice, clenching his fists. The doctor shrugged.
"Does it matter? For this type of person, talking about loyalty is pointless. He will probably just try to get as much as possible for himself. He will play both sides or sides, but we will benefit most from the information he provides." explained the scientist, looking at his nails.
"What about your old friend Antares ?" he growled.
"As far as I know the Lord Admiral, he won't be interested in ancient mysteries and archaeological curiosities. Whatever weapons were on Etheria are now inactive, and there is nothing left on this planet of interest to him. We just need to keep our heads down and do our job and everything will go our way." he said, but Kane had the impression that the Vampire had assured them far too quickly of the Lord Admiral's lack of interest in Etheria. For the time being, he allowed Sidonius to keep certain facts secret… For now.
"The Lord Admiral's possible plans are not our main concern now. For now, we need to decide what we will do after arriving on Etheria." said Prince Zed, making a gesture as if he was grabbing his mustache. The doctor smiled, showing his fangs.
"We will lie low and observe the development of the situation, waiting for the right moment to step into action and take the initiative. This is what I've always been best at."
He smiled at the ancient scholar and looked at him with his cold blue eyes
"Then I'll kill things, I'm pretty good at that too."
Lady Ka and the Lord Admiral walked through the corridors of the heavy cruiser Invincible .
"Everything is ready to depart or continue the war. So far, no news of our victory has reached us or no one has taken appropriate action. Unfortunately, my intelligence network in this area is minimal at the moment, but we are working hard to create It won't be that difficult, because all settlements established outside the planets now exist practically on their own. There is such Chaos and Lawlessness in the Deep Space that the first person with enough power and wealth will gain obedience there." she said, nervously flipping through the sheets of paper.
"Well, you know it best. I suspect that most of the local warlords, including She- Ra, are too focused on their own affairs to ever consider what lies beyond the empire. Their ignorance plays to our advantage. However, we need to gain allies. We need to organize a delegation to this halfling planet Bellum. The locals have a lot of troops and are willing to fight. Take care of it."
She nodded, made a mental note of the instruction, and continued.
"The interim government will start working soon. At the first sitting of Parliament, a bill proclaiming you Lord Protector will be voted on, completely spontaneously and independently. Hooray! Then all that's left is to organize a parade and we can fly to Etheria. Only that Shiren girl from social media, Ashurk, wants to come with us. On the one hand, it's terribly annoying, but on the other hand, additional positive PR would be useful. At most, if we can't get enough of her, some terrible accident will happen to her. I'm really good at making up terrible accidents." she explained, and the Lor Admiral nodded to her. They walked in silence for a while until they finally reached the lock. There were about ten clones standing behind the glass doors.
"These boys made a lot of trouble. They attacked the guards and even killed two. Lady Ka said, standing at the lever. The Lord Admiral looked at the face of his pocket watch and asked in a slightly bored voice.
"So you're not going to stop fighting."
One of the clones looked at him defiantly and said in a voice full of exaltation.
"You Fools! Our death and life don't matter! Horde Prime is testing us and is waiting to return and punish those whose faith was weak.
The Lord Admiral grimaced in disgust.
"If you say so" he said and started to leave On the way, he gave Lady Ka a significant look. She waited until his footsteps quieted down and said.
"Orders not given, crimes not done."
And she pulled the lever.
Asindesa di Vir looked thoughtfully at her blade, reading the inscription on it over and over again. "End of Eternity – Blade of Vengeance." Here, in Horde Prime's former Empire, this name rang a special bell. She led an assault on fortified enemy positions to bring... freedom to those who had been enslaved for half a century by the most insane tyrant in the galaxy. She fought to avenge the billions of beings he had wiped out. To avenge her planet and her family, even though she barely remembered it... However, she had no one to take revenge on. Horde Prime was dead, and his clones were just hapless beings who refused to accept the truth of their Big Brother's fate. The Order's mission on this expedition has effectively come to an end. There was no existential threat, so hellknights were not needed. She could think of something else now. During his meeting with his Star Siblings, the Lord Admiral seemed to show a surprising interest in Etheria's affairs. It was an excuse for her. She also intended to go to that place. To keep an eye on Lord Antares, of course
"The ship is ready. Are you sure you want to go there?" Camila asked
She responded with a warm smile.
"Yes, this time I will take care of my own future, my own happiness."