“I want you to know that I had much higher expectations of you,” Eris said with a hint of derision. “When I first saw you, you were just some space tramp. Now look at you, leading nations and fleets. That’s because of me. I did that.”
Freya pursed her lips in annoyance. She had heard words like these so many times before. The words were said by people like Eris, or like Grenn, or like Grizz. And they had been said in different ways with different words, different insults.
But in the end they all came down to the same thing: they all needed to assert their domination over others, through every means possible. Even with the dumbest words strung together in all of existence.
The words had little meaning or purpose or argument past that. And it was laughably transparent.
The Einherjar all fought furiously and ferociously even as Freya utterly crushed Eris against Dendrus’ antigrav field. The same dark anger that flowed out of her wove through all of them, and caused every single one to stop holding back.The viciousness of their prior lives washed through them once again, and poured all that darkness through their weaponry. And in doing so, absolutely massacred any Discordians or Federation in their path. Whatever few Imperials were left on the field were also fired on with wanton disregard, even if they were still trying to run from the fight.The Einehrjar caused so much death in those few dozen seconds that even the de Jardin fleet was overawed and left dumbstruck by their brutality. Being on defensive duties had dulled them for so long that seeing such death jarred them deeply.
The space around Yggdrasil Station warped as thousands of ships and vessels flashed into orbit. First came Thanatos and the rest of the ships of the Einherjar. But with them also came various ships of the Discordians and the Federation.Or rather, ships that had surrendered to the Einherjar and were spared eradication from Godeater.There were also a handful of Imperial and de Jardin ships as well. Regardless of where they came from, almost all of the straggler fleet were utterly confused as to what had occurred. In one moment, they were fighting or repairing or running. And in the next, they were in unmarked, uncharted territory before all their sensors went completely dead.“W-what just happened?” cried a Federation officer. “Why’d all those ships… Why don’t we have any i
Godeater continued its advance throughout the Milky Way galaxy completely unabated and unhindered. Absolutely nothing and no-one could stop it.Worst of all, it did so patiently.It could certainly have consumed the rest of the galaxy in short order by reflecting itself in every direction. But it instead chose to be slow and systematic, and pushed its own borders outward carefully.The deep, dark void reached out in every direction and pulled in everything closest to it into shadow.Except for three special cases.Three of Dendrus’ mirror satellites adjusted themselves towards systems far past Godeater’s growing borders. They pierced deep into the three galactic territories, and struck deep in their he
Planet Wyeth, Renalus System, Sol Federation (formerly)A shadow hung heavily over the Federation planet. Or perhaps more accurately, it crept steadily across what used to be a Federation planet and consumed everything in its path. It chewed through its largest cities as quickly and completely as it devoured whatever plains and forests and oceans it had left.Godeater swept over the streets and buildings and stores and hoppers across the capital megacity, which spanned nearly a quarter of the planet’s surface. Its billions of citizens ran from the creeping shadow in horrified panic.It didn’t matter how fast and frenzied they ran or whether they used their feet or fled in hoppers, the shadow constantly nipped at their heels.Those who were slow or feeble or tired or sacrificed or
Planet Chiruuk, Anye System, Great House Shaizen, Hegemony of Free Peoples (formerly)The shattered debris of thousands of warships hung in high orbit above the war-torn planet. Joining the wrecked Hegemony and Imperial ships were tens of thousands of frozen corpses floating in space alongside.Most had been torn to pieces or burnt to a crisp from all kinds of weapons fire. Some were frozen solid as they choked to death.Regardless of how they met their end, it was no doubt incredibly painful.Space around the planet’s port beacon flashed and warped as part of the Corvus Republic teleported in. Alongside their ships were a few dozen Einherjar warships - mostly cruisers and heavy frigates. All of them flew down towards the planet once the entirety of them had finished porting in.
The Spirit of Amelia flew over the serene and beautiful planet below them. It was among the few sanctuary planets in what used to be the Hegemony, and was also deep inside of Godeater’s ‘territory’. The ship surveyed the land just beneath, which was a massive rainforest with a sweeping tree canopy.Because it was so thick, the corvette’s sensors could hardly pierce through to scan the forest bed.Thankfully, there was a wide, raging river close by that cut the forest itself into two. The river itself was filled with various schools of fish and amphibians. Its banks were also teeming with all kinds of life, from various mammals to insects and pests.The ship kept on going and followed the wide river all the way to the forest’s edge, and met rolling valleys filled with overgro
Back on the Yggdrasil, a few dozen officers and analysts were abuzz at their terminals. They all pored through various data on their screens and discussed their findings with each other eagerly. The tacticians by their sides formed their own notes and added their findings to the pool of information.In the very center of the small room was a low platform with a floor-to-ceiling tacmap on it. Displayed on the tacmap was Dendrus IV. Or rather, the void that was Dendrus IV which was covered in mirror satellites.Various reports scrolled along the tacmap’s holographic edges, which High Admirals Anali and Halbrect read with great interest.“Can we verify that Godeater’s antigrav field is still active?” asked Halbrecht. “It’d be great if we didn’t have to contend with it at
A dozen or so Einherjar battleships flashed into empty, pitch black space. As the galaxy swirled back into place, each of the crew in the ships themselves were suddenly filled with absolute dread.It was more than the creeping void that surrounded them - it was the ghost of the planet itself right next to them. Though it was pitch black just like some of the planets in the system, its gravitational pull tugged on their ships just the same.They all felt a pit form in their stomachs as they floated deep in the middle of Godeater territory. It was a sense of dread that seemed to grow steadily at time marched onward. It seemed to weigh extremely heavily, and pulled them all down further as a result.It was as though something tugged at their very being, closer towards Godeater itself.