General Talia stood at the head of the sleek table, a massive holographic map of the galaxy glowing in the center of the room. Large, creeping strips of crimson light dominated the projection, painting a very grim picture of the Viltrumite Empire's current expansion.
"Their execution squads are operating with ruthless efficiency," Talia explained, pointing to several newly conquered sectors. "If they continue at this pace, they will breach the Coalition's inner defense perimeters within the cycle."
Nolan leaned forward, his expression grave. "Standard Viltrumite subjugation protocols dictate overwhelming planetary strikes," he chimed in, offering his veteran knowledge. "They target military installations first, obliterate leadership structures, and force the surviving populace into immediate compliance. If the Coalition waits for them to arrive, we lose."
"Which is why we need to implement standard defensive coverage," Talia countered smoothly. "If we fortify our borders and systematically dismantle the frontline forces through coordinated, large-scale group attacks, we can hold the line."
"Yea, I don't think that's gonna work," I interjected casually. "Fighting a war of attrition against these guys isn't exactly a sound strategy, it's more along the lines of an assisted suicide. We shouldn't be playing on their terms. We need to quickly go on the offensive and force them to react to us."
Talia frowned. "A direct assault on Viltrumite fleets would be—"
"I didn't say assault the fleets," I cut her off easily. "I'm saying we attack them exactly how they operate: in pairs. But we do it at odd intervals. We hit the Viltrumites stationed on their subjugated planets—the ones operating far away from the main empire. We catch them completely off guard, take them off the board, and spark local rebellions."
"Working from the outside in," Talia mused, hand on her chin.
"Exactly," I said. "If we start freeing key sectors, we give those planets a chance to rise up and join the Coalition. Which would result in their empire being backed into a corner."
Nolan stared at the map, his eyes widening slightly as he ran the tactical simulation in his head. "That... would actually fracture their supply lines."
"But how do pairs of fighters consistently take down stationed Viltrumites without suffering massive casualties?" Allen asked, rubbing his chin.
I reached down to my side and tossed the metal briefcase onto the table. I popped the latches and spun it around.
"With these," I said, pulling out a small, metallic-looking disc. "High-frequency sonic disruptors. You slap this onto a Viltrumite's temple, and it disrupts their inner-ear equilibrium, causing severe vertigo. They won't be able to fly straight, let alone throw a punch." I then picked up a smooth, spherical explosive. "And Solar-Flare Grenades. They detonate with concentrated ultraviolet light. It'll temporarily blind and burn their retinas."
The room went silent. Talia and Nolan stared at the specialized arsenal, visibly stunned by the equipment I had just casually dropped on the table.
"You didn't just come here to fight," Nolan realized, looking at me with a newfound, heavy realization. "You came here to break them."
"I've faced a handful of them and gotten no peace since," I said, giving him a relaxed smirk. "I can only imagine what the rest of the universe is going through."
Talia looked at the arsenal, then back at me, a slow nod of approval forming. "It seems Earth sent us exactly what we needed. We'll begin mass-producing these immediately. In the meantime, prepare yourselves for the drop."
Some Time Later…
The journey to Talescria took a bit of time, so we utilized the ship's massive training deck.
Currently, Zoe was hovering in the air, her armor glowing with intense, pulsing blue light. Across the vast metallic room, Oliver was darting through the air, trying to close the distance.
Zoe raised her arm and fired. A massive, roaring beam of hyper-dense energy completely atomized a series of heavily armored training drones before clipping Oliver's shoulder, sending him spinning through the air.
"Whoa!" Zoe yelled, her faceplate retracting as she looked at her gauntlets in absolute shock. "This firepower is insane! I barely even tapped into the reserves!"
"Told ya," I called out from the observation deck, leaning against the railing. "Oliver! Keep your guard up! Don't let the shiny lights distract ya!"
Oliver recovered, gritting his teeth, and launched himself back into the fray, utilizing the evasive maneuvers I'd drilled into him.
Nolan walked up and leaned against the railing next to me, watching him spar with the heavily armed teenager. For a long moment, nothing was said.
"I still struggle to comprehend it," Nolan admitted quietly, not taking his eyes off the spar.
"Oh, his flying pose?" I asked, glancing at him. "Yea, that's a bad habit of his. He saw it in one of those old-timey movies and thought it was cool. You birthed a weird child honestly. Like, for real. One hand forward while he's flexing the other? Who's he trying to impress?"
"No, not that!" he said quickly before his voice laced with a mixture of awe and residual guilt. "I was referring to how powerful you've become. I look at you, and I can feel it. It's like standing next to a star. I don't know how you got this strong, Mark, and I regret that I wasn't a part of that."
"That's good," I replied, a relaxed smile crossing my face.
Nolan looked confused. "It is?"
"Yea," I nodded. "Because if you're struggling to figure it out, then the rest of the Viltrumites are going to struggle just as much to comprehend my strength."
Then, I turned back to the spar to see Oliver dodging some energy blasts.
"And I wouldn't say you weren't part of my growth," I said. "I think you were a massive catalyst for me getting to where I am, even if you don't think so."
Nolan went through a mixture of expressions, but said nothing.
"And if you're still feeling like you didn't then you have the opportunity to try again with him," I said, pointing at Oliver, who was recovering from bouncing off a reflective shield. "I know he'd love it if you did."
Nolan nodded and turned back to the spar.
A few hours later, the transport ship finally dropped out of hyperspace.
Through the massive viewing ports, Talescria loomed in the distance. The capital of the Coalition of Planets was a bustling, heavily fortified artificial ring-world of massive proportions. The sheer visual scale of the orbital defenses and the endless streams of planetary traffic was staggering.
Once we docked, Talia led us through the pristine, metallic corridors that led toward the central command spire to meet the founder of the Coalition—The Great Thaedus.
I completely overlooked Thaedus founding the Coalition, I mused internally. Though, given the time frame of his assassination of Argall and his Viltrumite lifespan, I guess it makes perfect sense.
As we walked down a particularly busy junction, we passed by a massive server room. Two identical, blue-skinned aliens with large craniums were rapidly typing away at glowing consoles—the Data Twins, in charge of monitoring the planet's telemetry and defense systems.
As we passed, I glanced over and caught Data Twin #2 discreetly looking away from his monitor, analyzing every part of me.
Ah, right. He's the mole, I remembered. He's probably feeding my arrival status directly to Thragg. But I can't just accuse him without looking super suspicious of how I know, though. Gotta play it smart.
"We also brought someone else along to join the fight, by the way," Talia mentioned as we turned down another corridor. "Traders found him floating in deep space, a whole two sectors away from the Viltrumite prison Nolan and Allen escaped from."
Before we even reached the heavy blast doors at the end of the hall, my mind had already figured out who it was.
The doors hissed open, revealing a towering, muscle-bound lion-man pacing impatiently across the floor, dragging a massive mace behind him.
Ah, so they just had Battle Beast here the whole time? I thought, watching him pick up speed towards us.
He marched right up to Allen the moment he saw him, his fangs bared. "You… you promised me more! More battle, more glory, more worthy opponents, MO—"
He cut himself off the second his eyes landed on me.
He froze. As his nose twitched, his highly attuned warrior instincts instantly flared as the heavy, suffocating pressure of my suit washed over him. His eyes narrowed as he tried to recall if we had ever met.
After a moment, a ginger, razor-sharp smile spread across his face. "Ah... you're that fledgling from that primitive planet."
"Oh, so you remember me. That's good," I said casually. I brought my hands up and gestured in an 'X' shape motion over my sternum, mimicking the devastating blow he had dealt me back in the day. "Cause I remember you too."
Battle Beast completely ignored everyone else in the room. He stepped right in front of me, his massive frame towering over mine. But I didn't flinch. I just looked up at him with a confident smile.
Battle Beast's eyes burned with pure anticipation. He could smell the power radiating off me. "Has the time arrived?" he asked, his voice a deep, rumbling purr. "Are you prepared to bring me to glory?"
"Not yet," I responded smoothly.
Battle Beast let out a low, dangerous growl of disappointment.
"When this war ends, then I'll be more than ready," I promised him, holding his gaze. "So, do me a favor and let your people know beforehand, so they don't fall, coming after me for revenge or something when I put you in the ground."
Battle Beast paused, processing the sheer arrogance of my statement. Then, he smiled again, his massive teeth showing menacingly. "Good," he rumbled. "Then I will await that fateful day."
Zoe leaned over, whispering nervously in my ear. "You're not really going to fight this terrifying lion-man, are you?"
"Huh? Yea," I replied effortlessly. "I promised him a rematch after he got me out of a little jam."
Talia cleared her throat, ushering the group forward. "If the posturing is concluded, the Great Thaedus is waiting."
We were led into the heart of the command spire. Thaedus stood by a massive window, his long white beard flowing over his robes. He turned to greet us, expecting a standard briefing with a few heavy hitters.
But the moment I walked into the room, the atmosphere changed.
Thaedus's eyes briefly widened, instantly becoming very analytical and calculating as he stared at me.
"Welcome to Talescria," Thaedus said, regaining his composure. "I thank you all for joining our cause. The Viltrumite Empire has caused a great deal of grief and suffering over the years. So, we are fortunate that you all have decided to lend us your aid."
"It's no problem really; it's just what needs to be done to get rid of a major threat," I said, leaning against one of the command consoles. "However, before we get into the thick of things, I have a few questions I'd like to ask if you don't mind."
"Of course," Thaedus responded. "What would you like to know?"
"We've been informed on how the Viltrumites have captured certain sectors of the universe," I began. "My question is, how have they been able to consistently counter Coalition strikes? It's almost like they know your movements before you make them."
"Yes, that is a matter of grave concern," Thaedus said, frowning. "Our fleets are frequently ambushed on secure routes. And we suspect that there may be a mole hidden within us. But given the rising impact of the Viltrumite threat, uncovering the perpetrators has been a daunting task."
I nodded, playing my card perfectly. "Who processes your outgoing security protocols?"
"The Data Twins," Talia answered, looking confused. "Why?"
"Because if they're the ones in control of managing the systems, then they could be the ones aiding the Viltrumites," I stated, causing Talia, Allen, and Thaedus to give each other grave looks.
"That's a very severe accusation, Mark," Allen said, his eye wide. "Those two are high-level members of the Coalition's intelligence division. They've dedicated their lives to the cause. We can't just blame them for something coincidental."
"Allen's right," Talia said. "If we just come out and blame them for something they didn't do, it could lead to widespread pandemonium amongst us, or worse, the actual culprits getting away. And we don't need all that discord within us right now."
"Be that as it may, we've gotta move now before they send more information out," I said, not budging. "So, have your guards check their personal sub-frequency logs from the last ten minutes or so. I guarantee one of them just bounced an encrypted data packet out of the system to the Viltrumites. And if I'm wrong, blame it all on me for attempting to stir up trouble."
While I was trying to convince the other two, Thaedus had already made a decision after hearing the logic within my reasoning.
He tapped a sequence into his console. A few seconds later, his face hardened into a mask of pure fury. "Guards. Detain Data Twin Two immediately."
Ten minutes later, Data Twin #2 was dragged into the room in cuffs. Confronted with the decrypted logs, he broke instantly. When Allen angrily demanded to know why he had betrayed them, the Data Twin just shook his head.
"Because their victory is inevitable," he confessed fearfully. "I... I just didn't want to die."
As the guards hauled him away, the gravity of the situation settled over the room. The Viltrumites definitely knew the Graysons had arrived on Talescria. And they were probably going to send soldiers to start pushing the Coalition back before we could mount an offensive.
"We need to move now," Talia stated, bringing up the galactic map again. She broke down the vast number of sectors still under Viltrumite occupation, and the pitifully few they had managed to liberate so far.
"We don't need to liberate every sector right now," Talia explained, echoing my earlier strategy. "But we can liberate key sectors to serve as launching pads for rebellions. We will pair off and strike planets where only a single Viltrumite is stationed. We can back them into a corner this way."
She started assigning the strike teams with Coalition fleet support: Nolan and Oliver, Allen and Zoe, and Battle Beast and me.
"Space Racer will join the groups on a rotation," Talia added. "He is currently gathering special materials to aid the war effort."
Probably Ragnars, I thought internally. I should definitely capture a few and test their capabilities when I get back to Angstrom and the Maulers.
Before we could fully dive into Thragg's personal threat level, a blaring, crimson alarm suddenly shrieked through the command spire.
"Report!" Thaedus barked at a communications officer.
"Sir! The Otharis Hyper-Relay Station is under attack!" the officer yelled. "We have visuals on four Viltrumite hostiles!"
Talia cursed. "Otharis is our primary deep-space communications hub! If they take that station, we lose contact with the outer rim. We'll be completely blind to a large number of sectors, and we won't be able to signal any rebellions."
"Me and big purr will go," I said smoothly, pushing off the console.
Battle Beast let out a booming laugh, fully in support of the idea of fighting multiple adversaries at once. Thaedus and Talia exchanged a hesitant look but ultimately nodded, authorizing the immediate deployment based on the station's sheer importance. The other teams scrambled to prep for their respective sector jumps.
Minutes later, Battle Beast and I were loaded into a sleek but compact high-speed Coalition spacecraft and fired out of the Talescrian atmosphere.
When we finally dropped out of hyperspace, the Otharis outpost loomed in the vacuum of space—a massive, artificial station built directly into a floating asteroid.
The drop-ship safely pierced the station's energy shields, bypassing the vacuum of space, and dropped us directly into the massive, fully pressurized central hangar bay.
As the smoke from our landing cleared, I immediately took in the tactical layout.
Three Viltrumites were hovering near the ceiling of the cavernous room, casually causing destruction. But my eyes narrowed as I realized the way they were doing it. It was incredibly intricate. They were systematically ripping apart the automated defense cannons and the internal transmitters, but they were leaving the docking bays and the life-support systems completely untouched.
What's going on? I thought, my mind trying to piece things together. They deliberately left the life-support intact so the distress beacon would keep broadcasting. But why? Why would they want us to come out here? Unless…It's a trap!
"Hahahahahaha!" a booming, sickeningly familiar laugh echoed through the enclosed, pressurized hangar, cutting through my contemplations.
Sitting casually atop a massive pile of shredded metal, wiping blood from his metallic knuckles, was the fourth Viltrumite—Conquest.
Battle Beast stepped forward, gripping his mace so tightly the metal groaned. His lips curled back into a terrifying snarl as he recognized the warrior who had been waiting for us.
"You!" he roared.