Everyone in the courtyard, whether they were friend or foe, watched in absolute awe as Retholis exerted his power over the Chosen terrorists. Although he only brought in a fraction of the forces at his disposal, those few dozen were more than enough to utterly neutralize the opposition.
Those who gave up were quickly confined with shock collars and ushered back towards the gondolas as prisoners.
The rest were dispatched with callous ease, by the dozens. Even those who tried to run were chased down by Shock Infantry and sliced to ribbons before they could even reach the gates. And those who somehow outran the units were instead cut in half by the beam snipers perched on gondolas above.
A number of those gondolas descended down to the ground, and all manner of medical technicians ran off in different direc
“Coin is our true master now.”
The Third Defensive Fleet sat in orbit high above Taloren Prime. The Swarmfather’s massive flagship was surrounded on all sides by numerous cruisers, destroyers, and frigates. Swarms of fighters flew around and patrolled the fleet’s perimeter.Closeby was the Admiral’s asteroid base, Tartarus. It too had its own patrol, but was otherwise sealed up and shut down.A frigate surfaced up from the planet’s atmosphere, neared the fleet, and hailed it through comms.It was met with a number of fighters, who after ensuring the frigate had the proper clearances, escorted it towards the flagship.As it neared, a frigate bay on top of the flagship slid open and multiple guide holograms helped the frigate settle itself onto it.
A Drogar family on Taloren was just sitting down to eat their nightly meal when the program they were watching on the screen next to them switched to an emergency newscast.On the screen, a Drogar with buffed scales and a clean, formal robe smiled at the camera kindly. It felt as though he was in the room with the family themselves. And when he spoke, his voice was firm and authoritative, but also warm and welcoming.“Apologies for breaking your normal evening ‘Cast,” he said. “But we here at Taloren Tonight have breaking news regarding the terrorist attack from a few cycles ago. And I must warn you - we are about to show graphic and disturbing content that may not be suitable for some to watch.”As the family doled out their food among each other, the reporter on the screen walked over
Raucous cheers swelled all around the stands at the Viper Pit. The crowd went wild as a couple of top tier duelists began to exchange blows down below. Up on the screens above, their fight cards were plain for all to see.---Rank: 2nd Tier, 7th SeedWin Streak: 9Odds: 1.18:1KO Bonus: +2---Rank: 2nd Tier, 12th SeedWin Streak: 7Odds: 0.97:1KO Bonus: +4---Beyond their close Seed rankings, the two were R
Retholis eased himself into a chair. It was the exact same one that he sat on when he accepted Admiral Chase’s formal surrender. In front of him was the exact same table, and the room was also the exact same.The difference now however, was that he and his officers were seated on one half of the circular table. On the other side were holographic mirror images of multiple Federation High Admirals. Among them was High Admiral Kovakis, whose lips were pursed in a modest smile.The outermost table was filled with all manner of government officials, senators, military leaders, and even members of the Empress’ Counsel. They all watched the proceedings with watchful, eager eyes.All around the room were a multitude of EyeCasts who were capturing the moment, and were broadcasting it out to the Empire in full.
Savoth lounged happily among his fellow senators in their favorite secluded drug-fueled hermitage. He slid a fancy mouthpiece through thin lips and inhaled deeply.The tube it was connected to filled with a sparkling purplish smoke, which originated from a small tubular glass oven on the table. Inside of the bulbous oven in the middle were a number of purple flowers slowly turning brown from the intense heat surrounding it.Savoth exhaled with a slow, deep breath before he laid back on his lounge chair.“What’re we gonna do now?” asked the Senator next to him. “The Chosen got utterly destroyed out there.”Savoth groaned in response. The last thing he wanted to do was deal with the mess that Gravoss had pushed into their laps. But there
Eva and Miko stretched out while floating around in the middle of empty space, and looked at Helios from a great distance. Even as far as they were, and through Helios’ rings, they could still feel the sun’s heat.Its warmth bathed them even as they floated in frigid space.Underneath them, hundreds of megameters away was Gaea, spinning away in silence. Billions of lights covered its surface, which somehow gave its brown and dull blue sheen a slice of brilliance.Close to the two of them were their blacked-out D-ranked Federation fighters, which neither had seen for quite a while now. There was a little bit of dust left in the cracks and crevices, which revealed how much they had been neglected.Their EyeCasts floated around them lazily as they relaxed.
The sandy white beach seemed to stretch for miles up and down the coast. On one side of that beach was a crystal clear and sparkling blue ocean. On the other was a sandy stretch of land that turned into a rolling grassland. High above them was a bright blue sky filled with clumps of fluffy white clouds. To call it picturesque was an understatement. Eva and Miko stood on the beach and looked in separate directions, enjoying the sights. They were joined by Pelli and one of his friends from Bellum Aeterna. And although the four of them stood on a beautiful beach, none wore swimsuits. In fact, they were dressed in their regular street clothes. Eva wore her typical black long coat while Miko wore her light blue and grey ensemble. Pelli wore earthy dark browns with some brass accents. His friend, like Miko, wore clothe
The disgusting Ratman’s rusty, jagged sword struck the heavy kite shield over and over. Sparks flew with each blow as the barely-sharp blade left tiny scars and scratches in its wake. The Ratman itself was a fetid, disease-ridden beast-like humanoid. Its fur was matted, its muscles were sinewy, and its eyes were beady. It stank of the ripe combination of urine and rotting meat. How its weapons and armor didn’t disintegrate from direct contact was a complete mystery. Not that Pelli even cared about any of that. His eyes were wild with surprise as he held up his kite shield and blocked blow after blow from the enraged Ratman. And although he was covered head to toe in gleaming plate armor, and wielded a razor-sharp longsword, he was still pushed back heavily.