(Second Arc) Nothing Held Back

It had only been a few hours since that the Dreadlord had announced how he planned on taking the universe for himself, but even so, a mere 6 hours later, innumerable warp signature began appearing all above Meridia. Moments after, a massive invasion fleet, easily triple what was at the Battle for Crenel, and a Voyager-like ship... but... different, warped into the 10th Dimension, and instantly began orbital bombardments of the planet.

Within the first few moments precision strikes to many docks, ground bases and orbital stations were made. The Voyager-Class ship was jet-black, the same in size, but shaped differently, to optimize for all around improved combat and having twice the hull integrity. The Voyager was an ancient weapon, The Catastrophe had more advanced technology than had been seen in combat to date. Within the first few second of it's fire, it instantly obvious that in terms of power and shield strength, the Catastrophe put the Voyager to shame.

~~~~~~~

"Alright, move you whelps! Move it! You all have been given the honor of helping the Dreadlord do what has never even been dreamt of before! Not since Robless himself took on the universe! This your chance to prove we can do what he could not, that WE are stronger than a universe united!" Krakot barked into the intercom as he was pacing up and down the operations information and command center of The Catastrophe. Luna and Verax were aboard the redone and practical command bridge, several officers in there as well to help run the battle. It was no longer just a throne room, though, there was still a throne.

The tromping of footsteps reverberated in the docks of The Catastrophe as Javelins fighters shot out, already prepping to blow any enemy out of the sky.

"They failed not because they were weak, not because they weren't good enough, but because they weren't meant to. WE are different! The Dreadlord's destiny is to rule the universe, and by whatever god or gods it is you believe in, you better believe he'll do it! That's while you'll all win! Destiny is on your side! You are meant to win!"

Avalon gunships detached from their holds, slowly but surely accelerated out of docking bays, ready to do whatever they were needed to.

"Yes, there will be losses, but remember, everyone of you made the impossible possible, and the possible probable! Fight without fear! Fight without hesitation!"

Nova-Class Destroyers began to take off, their shields like walls and their graviton torpedoes priming.

"Do not spend lives unnecessarily, but do take as many as freely! Show no mercy! Show no exception! Show no weakness!"

Mortis Battlecruisers began to enter the battlefield, their fusion beams easily slicing through shields and armor alike.

"Fight! Do not falter and do not fail! You will not give an inch to the enemy!"

Reaver-Class Battleships began entering too, forming a line around Entropy Flagships and the Catastrophe, as well as being at the front of the line.

At last, the Dreadlord's voice was heard. "Meridia, the time has come. You fought me off once before, and now, I am here in person to repay you. Fight if you must, exhaust all your soldiers if you must, but you belong to me now."

The planetary governor of Meridia stood at the large glass wall overlooking the capital. Street lights glowed in the night, the space battle above raging between the automated orbital defenses and Verax's forces. Surface-to-orbit artillery cannons thundered in the distance, defending against the near hopeless invasion.

The enemy was too strong, their defenses too weak. Commander Robless and Governor Thalius came prepared, though. Before embarking on their journey for the Battle For Crenel, the weakened Stalker forces knew it would be best to bring as many men as they could. The Tenth Dimension was gone, abandoned. Space was their domain, and so to the stars they went.

Hover-cars, trucks, and police vehicles were painfully absent from the roadways and sky paths. They would return, for sure, but not with Verax's invading forces. It looked hopeful when Verax helped the leaders save Aurora Somnis. Governor Thalius knew otherwise. Valderis Robless and the other leaders were too idealistic for his own taste, even to the point that they became gullible. Verax had a path, different from theirs, and so this was fate.

Now only Thalius and a few of his trusted bodyguards stayed behind. The governor turned away from the window, neither dejected nor hopeful, and faced one of his men.

"Is the shield ready?" he asked.

"Negative." the guard replied.

Governor Thalius responded, "As expected. Execute Operation EXODUS. We're done here." The governor turned to face the window again.

"Roger that, sir." His bodyguard gave him a salute and turned to press a glowing button on the holographic screen projected above the unoccupied desk behind him.

A single projected fingerprint recognition system came up before the governor. "Awaiting authorization."

Thalius reached out and pressed his hand on the screen. "Here comes the moment of reckoning."

The projection faded out. "Meridia, Tenth Dimension, signing out."

Verax remained slouched in his throne as strategists and scientists and soldiers whizzed around. He look emptily out towards Meridia as it was lit up by orbital strikes, and heard confirmations of ground forces landing. Meridia his for the time being, he had to deal with one last task, so he stood.

"All of you OUT. NOW." He boomed, his calm but ordering voice shaking the room. Everyone in the room stopped, their faces fixed on Verax with terror for a moment, before scrambling out of the room and down the elevator. As the last dropped pen stopped making it's quiet tips and taps, Verax sat back down. That was, what, twelve seconds? Hm. They're getting faster.

"Verize." He called out to the empty room. "Don't even play silent. At this point you've probably got twenty different bugs in this room alone, hacked the surveillance system, tapped all our communications, along with goodness knows what else. I know you can hear me, and I know you're probably still debating whether or not to remove me as a threat. Why don't you pick a place and time and we get this all sorted out, or will you continue to hide behind the information and secrecy which is your only shield against me?"

At this point Verax needed to solve the Separatists problem, either by removing them as a threat, or by convincing them to allow him to take over the universe. Saying both aloud, they sounded equally stupid.

But something had to be done, and soon.

A near-infinite distance away, Verize grinned slightly at the Dreadlord's comment. "I'll play your game. For now," he said quietly to the empty room. The room's circular center lit up and the image of Verax slouching back in his throne flickered to existence.

"Welcome, Dreadlord Verax!" Verize turned around in his own chair and picked himself up, heavy armor doing seemingly nothing to weigh him down. His mood lit up with the 3-D projection before him, his arms extended in greeting. "I was wondering when you would figure it out."

The smile on his face faded and he settled back into his chair. "But now is not the time for small talk. I know why you've gone through the trouble of contacting me, and I'm afraid to tell you that it is simply impossible."

"Fate compels you to conquer the universe. You and I both well know that you, and you alone, are the only one capable of fulfilling this. And no matter how hard you try, you are bound to this. Even if you want to save your friends, maybe even dear Lurinia, eventually they will all come falling down for you to achieve your cruel destiny. That is the life of the Myrionith." Verize remained calm and maintained his cool, analytical, manipulative gaze.

"Unfortunately for you, fate does not bind me. Our old friend Mr. Robless believes this to be true for him. He may not know yet, but fate can still pull his strings. I, however, am beyond fate. I am not bound as you are, yet in a way, I am, as your fate conflicts with my choices, therefore we are determined to do battle over the control the universe.

"On a different note, however, you present me with an opportune moment to eliminate two threats in one blow. Your next action will decide whether I take this opportunity, or turn a blind eye. Take your move carefully; I have you in check, my friend."

A sinister expression crossed his face. The last game may have been a draw, but now Verize was playing, and there was no stopping him from reaching checkmate.

Verax was smiling back, until Verize mentioned Lurinia. At the moment, the smile dropped from his face. "You... you wouldn't dare.... you WOULD NOT DARE HARM MY WI... ahem.... Verize, seeing as you already know all about this... I must ask yo, two things. Do you know of this, 'Sunburst' that Vabin found trying to get to Krakot?And do you know of Shade?" He had never spoken to anyone, not even Lurinia about this, not out loud, because she already knew, the moment the veins appeared, what it meant.

"I assume you do. Shad,e the Mythological Myrionith Devil, sent to punish those who defy fate, and you CANNOT fight Shade. It brings death without killing, binds with no chains, eclipses where there are no suns. It cannot be killed, and if you deny me, you will take this universe, only to have your universe reduced to nothing. Do you fancy yourself evil? If so you prolong your life. Do you consider yourself a just ruler? If so you are nothing but a mere ember, that the mighty gales of Shade's awakening will snuff out in a moment." Verax grinned again.

"Verize, let us be reasonable. You want the universe, I need it. After I'm done with it, and rid of Shade, I can simply give it to you. But really, you face an army, an armada, the likes of which have even made your Stalkers nervous. The only reason, I'm willing to guess, they're not panicking at the idea of facing both the Cataclysm and the Voyager is because they're so sure you're schemes will save them. Information cannot change fate. This universe WILL be mine. Whether anything is left of it afterwards is for you to decide." He acted confident, but Verize could still tell the threat against Lurinia had him worried. She was his reason for living, without her or his child, he would instantly become Shade.

Still, Verize had that genuine, all knowing, ever-confident smile. Thats what worried him. It was genuine. Verize WOULD take the universe, no matter how many species he had to use to get there. He was the mortal equivalent to Athena, if he made a plan for something, it would not fail, not even the .01% chance occurrence would stop him, only annoy him.

But there was always one bastion Verax had, the Negative 6th. Only the Voyager could travel there, not even the Cataclysm could, and designs of the engine were nonexistent, and access was restricted to only Verax. Lurinia was safe.

"Verize, you are a calculative man, like me. You are a theatrical man, like me. You are a universe conquering man. Like me. If we do not work together, or at least reach an agreement on something, there won't be a universe left for either of us. Unless of course you're set on removing me as the most useful pawn you've had. If thats the case, then nothing will save you. You get to decide not only the fate of Meridia, but your fate, the universes fate, at this moment. I wonder if you'll make the right choice, but then again, you always will, considering what ever you do, the end will be the same, won't it?"

Verize chuckled in a dark, low voice. "I know of many things, the Sunburst and Shade included. But you will not stop me, and neither will Shade, or anyone else for that matter. Fate dictates that you shall rule the universe, and fate governs Shade."

He stood up in his chair and began pacing again, contemplating his options that he had already decided on long ago. "Let me put it this way. You are one of the most powerful beings in the universe. If I allied with you, you would only grow stronger, and when it comes time, fate will force you to twist the knife that it planted in my back."

"The lesser races, perhaps with the exception of the Alteriians, are easy to control, to manipulate. The Stalkers, for example, one of the strongest military powers in the dimensions, fell easily and willingly to me. You might ask why I refer to these races as the 'lesser races'. I am not one of the humans, not a shape-shifter, not a psychic, but something else. You will understand, eventually, in time."

"As for the Sunburst--" Verize laughed slowly again. "--You have bigger problems at hand."

The hologram blinked out before Verax could respond, leaving the mastermind to the dark comfort of his control room once more.

"If it is my destiny to fall, so be it." Verax spoke to the seemingly empty room, perhaps entertaining Verize more, or perhaps speaking to himself. "Fate's puppet strings shall be sheared off. I am no slave, not to fate, not to this universe, not even to the Deity which seeks to usurp my body." He stood as the men and woman who were cautiously eavesdropping tentatively walked back into the room. Verax however paid them no heed. His eyes were focused on the planet before him.

"If I am to die, then I shall. But this universe shall know the glory, the power, the meaning of Verax, in the time I have gone. But until I stare the Reaper down, until I punch death in it's sorry face, existence shall learn of me. My empire. My goal, my duty. Until the hour of judgment comes, I shall go forth. It is what I can do... this is what I should do... this is what I must and WILL do! All shall fear the emblem of chaos! All shall know the symbol of Verax!" He roared. He pointed down at Meridia, once again bellowing that which compelled him.

"To glory... to battle... to victory, forever more!" Verax whirled around to face his audience, his eyes blazing with passion. "This is what we must do! For peace! For justice! For a future for all who live! Long live our empire!"

The man in charge of all media matter, Noq, an enterprising man, had saw what this moment was becoming. He took his recording equipment and had quickly begun broadcasting just prior to Verax's speech. His entire empire heard it, and Verax wasn't even done yet.

"To save these dimensions, we must fight. So be it! We shall be the wave that crushes all oppositions and obstacles. In the name of the Empire, in my name, the name of the Dreadlord, the name of Verax, LET NOTHING STOP US! LET NONE SURVIVE!"

He raised his fist into the air, and his empire followed, chanting, "All hail Verax! All hail Verax!"

Verax slowly lowered his arm as Noq shut off his equipment. Verax coldly regarded his upper echelon of strategists, scientists, his elite. "I know you heard what Verize and I spoke of. That is to be kept secret. No one can know of Shade, if word of my predicament got out, everything would be ruined. And if I'm ruined, you will all be too......" He turned back sadly to the planet he was invading.

"Meridia. Destroy it. Give them two hours, then fire the Discordia cannon. Deploy the Myr station afterwards, this dimension shall become our base, Vabin will be in charge." Without even a sideways glance at anyone in the room, he returned to his throne, planning. Reinforce the negative 6th, separate into two fronts, crush backwards and forwards. Simple, right? Wrong. Nothing is ever so simple..... or.... is it?

And at that last thought, the warning and ultimatum was sent down to Meridia, as Verax sat still, fighting the darkness he felt expanding and growing within him.

"It's time to rise. This is your last voyage, Voyager," Governor Thalius responded. The skies turned black with the smoke of the burning cities and scorched earth, Verax's troops marching forth on the desolate wasteland that was their own creation. The sun was nowhere to be found.

He turned to his troops. "What a brave sacrifice you have all chosen to take. Your family, trillions of light years away; your home, burned to the ground. Your deaths will not be in vain."

-~-

Somewhere along the equator, thousands of miles beneath the surface, a massive mechanical system came to life. The planet, more machine than nature, yet it was still more alive than its counterparts. The core itself seemed to be an immense concentration of fusion energy, maintaining the planet's surface conditions much like any other planet would. It served another, more militarized purpose and was another, much larger-scale prototype of the Sunburst system.

Initially designed as a last resort to protect critical information, the Sunburst system created a small-scale supernova by overloading fusion reactors to generate immense amounts of heat and energy, frying everything structural, electronic, and living or dead within a large radius. The weaponized planetary Sunburst operated slightly differently, still discharging a blast of an even more impressive magnitude capable of disrupting the entire solar system, but also capable of targeted fire in order to take out the attacking fleet with the same power in a tighter spread, preventing excessive collateral damage. Today would mark the first field test of this experimental weapon, and scientists across the Stalker domain feared it might exceed its already catastrophic predicted effectiveness.

The planet cracked, starting as a small earthquake, then forming a canyon, an ocean, cracking open its center. Its magnetic field and atmosphere stretched and distorted, beautiful auroras lighting up the sky for a moment before they blinked out. Any humans on the planet felt their blood boiling, skin burning, and lungs asphyxiating for a few seconds before the violent spin of the planet slowed down and leveled the entire planet with winds flying at hundreds of thousands of miles per hour.

The core was revealed, its blinding light energy disrupting warp drives and communications within the planet's gravity well. The inside of the planet had already melted away under the stress of the core's overcharge. It was already beyond the point of no return, the computer running the algorithms melted and utterly destroyed as the core took control.

-~-

What would happen next would undoubtedly alter the course of the universe. The enemy would feel the fury of a thousand suns, Armageddon's iron fist crushing them to nothing. Verize smiled to himself as he watched all of this unfold.

Verax's eyes flashed open, bolting to his feet. "NO! You... YOU! VERIZE!!!!" There would be no time to save his army. He would end, right here. As the throne room quickly emptied, Verax stood alone, watching imminent doom unfold before him. It looked just like when the second and greatest Myrionith sun exploded. Sunburst, the operation the destroyed his race. "Verize..... you...... words cannot begin to describe the punishment that shall be brought down on you. You have-" Verax let out a anguished cry and fell out of his throne. Rage cascaded upon rage. Hatred condensed into damnation. Darkness coalesced into oblivion. When he looked up, he saw the room darkening.

What Verize saw was much different. What Verize saw was Verax's body becoming obsidian black and growing, his face distorting and expanding. Verax saw life fading away, but he knew it was temporary, he could feel it. There simply was not enough darkness for Shade to awaken fully. Still, what Verize saw didn't scare him, but it made him smile, this new piece, a pawn that was at the edge of the board and could become a queen. He saw pure material darkness radiating off Verax. The darkness twisted like snakes, writhing and squirming, wrapping around Verax.

Then it stood, the demon Shade stood. It's eyes bore into Verize, regarding him as nothing more than an amusement, then it turned towards the Meridia. Rearing back, it roared. Shade clawed it's arm through the air, and the entire army of Verax vanished into the 9th Dimension, without Shade. The limited strength Verax's despair had given it quickly vanishing, it moved quickly. Tucking in it's wings, it dove into the core of Meridia, in it's wake waves of malice, ruby red and night black expanding disks, followed. Once at the core's surface, Shade plunged it's massive taloned hand into it, and it stopped glowing. The core began to collapse, as a portal of pure shadow slowly webbed over the surface.

Shade was turning all of Meridia into a black hole.

The rotating planet slowed down and stopped, then began to rotate in the opposite direction. As shadow consumed it, Shade could no longer maintain it's presence in the mortal plane, and with the last of it's time in life's reality, transported itself into the throne room of the Cataclysm.

It regarded Verize, and spoke. It's voice could not be described. How could it be? How does one explain it's terrifying malice and it's soothing quality, as if Death's rusty scythe was swung and had just began to pierce your neck? How could one describe how it made life feel unimportant, worthless, and yet describe it's light, almost seductively inviting tone. It was an aminalistic growl and a graceful ballet of words. Shade was a contradiction, a being of pure, unrefined, hyper-concentrated evil, yet evil doesn't always look like itself at first. By it's voice, Verize who was unafraid of Shade, was forced by it's voice to shiver, as if his body was possessed momentarily to gratify Shade. "Your endeavors are irrelevant." And at that, the darkness exploded, leaving Verax's form behind.

It was a lesson, feed Verax defeat and despair, and awaken the bane of life. But it was not without cost, before it could complete retribution, over a third of Verax's army was obliterated. But Verize's victory would become Pyrrhic, for from defeat, oblivion blooms.