First Contact

Chapter 787: The Inheritor's War

At any given time there are 2.2 million Terran Descent Human orphans being cared for by Treana'ad adoptive parents. - Confederate Department of the Interior

On desperate ground -- fight. - Sunny Zoo, Age of Exploitation Terran Military Commander and chef.

The Atrekna were furious. They had grown used to succeeding at every endeavor for hundreds of millions of years. They had devoured multiple universes.

No species had ever put up much more than a token resistance.

The Grand Convention had gathered in Prime System Five to meet. The Elder Brains were seeded liberally, the Communal Mind thick with thoughts and opinions, and nearly five thousand Ancient Ones oversaw the work, research, and lives of nearly two thousand Old Ones, whose numbers had been steadily depleting as the war went on, and sixty thousand Young Ones, whose numbers were swelling with the recent larval spawnings.

It was quiet and somber in the Chamber of Thought as the last of the Ancient Ones took their place, hovering effortlessly off the ground, resplendent in their power. The Ancient Ones had fought the Hive Lords and the Herd Lords in millions of years past and had either managed to shepherd scant resources recovered by the First Incursion to live that long or had been temporally replicated. The Young Ones had all been born in the Young Universe, the New Universe, only knowing the Young Universe's rules and laws.

The Old Ones had been part of the Second Incursions and had led the Third Incursion.

Their numbers had been heavily depleted by the war.

Which aggravated many of the Ancient Ones.

The other Atrekna had wasted the knowledge of the Old Ones. Spurned their wisdom and experience because of their own misconceptions and blinding self-imposed superiority.

And it had been recently discovered that the Old Ones could not be temporally replicated like Young Ones or Ancient Ones.

Many Ancient Ones felt that some, perhaps all perhaps only a few, of the Old Ones had some inkling of wisdom that the New Universe, in its malevolent glory, wanted to keep from the Atrekna.

A small but growing contingent in the Ancient One's ranks felt that the habit of ostracizing and ridiculing the Old Ones who diverted from the accepted thoughts and opinions had pushed those Old Ones into the ranks of the Cult of the Defiled One, led by Dalvanak the Maimed One, thus losing those opinions, experiences, and thoughts to the whole of the Atrekna.

Most of those Ancient Ones had learned not to broadcast such thoughts lest they be ejected from the communal thought and discussions.

Now, they were gathered with Young Ones and the scant few Old Ones to discuss the current situation.

More to the point, they were there to discuss and attempt to logically plan out a way to offset the Inheritor of Madness and their vast military operation.

There was the equivalent of polite throat clearing as one of the more powerful Ancient Ones slowly glided forward, up high enough for everyone to see it.

A phasic representation of the Cygnus-Orion Galactic Arm Spur appeared in the middle of the chamber. It showed the dozen systems in Atrekna hands at the end of the Second Incursion.

**Our transfer of war material, population, and knowledge from the Old Universe to this universe was interrupted by the sudden collapse of the entropy barriers in the Old Universe and the stellar masses, long unstable and reaching the end of their lifespan, going critical in a supernova reaction** the Ancient began.

Stars began going red with a gold corona. **It is quite obvious that this universe was to be a bountiful harvest**

More stars began shifting, each of them with lines showing which worlds and stellar systems they had passed through and from which stellar system each new acquisition was staged from.

**However, we were able, through use of our temporal mastery, to quickly establish ourselves on nearly a hundred worlds, facing little to no resistance to our martial might** the Ancient One said. **The Hive Queens and Herd Lords had an ally that we were forced to expend a vast amount of energy in offsetting**

An image of one of the Mad Lemurs of Terra appeared.

**Wholly suited for warfare, the Mad Lemur of Terra was determined to obviously be a biological weapon devised by the Hive Queens, with the in depth support and cohesion with the Hive Queens that the Mad Lemurs of Terra possessed** the Ancient One stated.

**For those of you who did not face them, the Mad Lemurs of Terra were indeed a dreadful weapon, one resilient enough to require the Grand Convention of the Second Incursion to put forth a dramatic effort in utilizing an archeoreversion attack, pushing their DNA and biology to just prior their enslavement and gentling by the Mantid** the Ancient One stated.

There was silence for a moment.

**This attack proved more effective than projected and was followed up by a reinforcement of the successful archeoreversion attack** the Ancient One stated. It exuded an aura of smugness. **This xenocided the Mad Lemurs of Terra nearly completely. It is estimated by seers and analysts that the percentage of Mad Lemurs of Terra is so low as to be close to mathematically zero**

**This led to the devising and implementation of the Spoked Offensive, capitalizing on the Herd Lords and Hive Queens dismay at one of their best servitor species being totally eliminated** the Ancient One stated.

A single system glowed.

**This system was determined to be the most effective launching point for the Spoked Offensive** the Atrekna stated.

From that system five more systems that had intersected the system's position in space within a short time period lit up. **From that system to five systems, from each of those systems, five more systems**

Many systems were lit up.

**However, it was underestimated just how fiercely what we have come to call the Inheritors of Madness would resist. Out of the 15,625 systems targeted by the Spoked Offensive, less than ten thousand were taken by our forces. The additional attacks, making smaller spokes of two or three, were also less effective than estimated**

The systems began going dark.

**In the year and a half following the Spoked Offensive, the systems were fortified and brought under our control. Harvesting and replication were key in building up the largest offensive force that the Atrekna had ever produced in our species tens of billions of years of history** the Ancient One stated.

**Another Spoked Offensive was outlined. Ten core systems, each with ten spokes** the Atrekna stated. **This would have consumed the majority of this galactic arm spur and pushed out holdings deep into the two galactic arms on either side**

The systems targeted appeared, the majority of the stellar systems in the spur and the two galactic arms changing color.

**This would have been supported by a project to replicate the Herd Lords' attack upon the hyperatomic plane, this time to scour the upper jumpspace bands of any travelers and scorch that section of the hyperatomic planes** the Ancient One stated.

**It was estimated, and temporal reality line examination bore out, that this would prevent the Inheritors or any other species from utilizing superluminal travel to support attacked systems** the Ancient One stated. **The research program was established on multiple systems and temporal sinking to increase the flow of time in those systems, relative to the rest of the universe, resulted in great gains in the project**

The Ancient One stared at the others.

**We have determined how it was done and have discovered that it can be done again, only this time, much easier and with less expenditure of resources**

The hush across the chamber was thick with pleasure and anticipation.

**Which brings us back to now, and reality instead of projections** the Ancient One stated.

The systems went back to only showing what was only under the control of the Atrekna.

**While the Spoked Offensive was less successful than we had hoped it still made great gains in wresting this section of the galactic arm spur away from the slavestock** the Ancient One stated. **the Herd Lords and the Hive Queens were separated by too much distance to fully support one another and our mastery over time and space proved highly effective and critical to our ability to prepare for the next offensive wave**

Here the Atrekna paused.

**It appeared our estimations were in error** the Ancient One stated.

Nearly every single stellar system controlled by the Atrekna started flashing.

**The Inheritors of Madness have managed to, in a year and a half, marshaled enough forces to attack every single one of the systems we had taken in the Spoked Offensive, as well as nearly every single stellar system we have taken possession of in this galactic spur** the Ancient One stated.

There was a ripple of disbelief through the chamber.

A Young One stood up and signaled to be recognized. The Ancient One signified that the Young One could speak.

**I put forward that our current difficulties are to be laid upon the Old Ones, who did not do their due diligence when they first arrived in establishing quiet, covert areas to bring us through** the Young One stated, their mental voice full of scorn and outrage. **It gave the inhabitants of this universe time to prepare for us**

An Old One stood up but the Ancient One waved him down.

**I will provide the rebuttal** the Ancient One stated.

It turned and brought up the images of the initial invasions of the Second Incursion.

**The Old Ones entered the New Universe and were immediately, within the span of hours, engaged by hostile forces while attempting to secure a Prime Larder World** the Ancient One stated. **Attempts to spread out only diluted their strength and they found themselves being defeated in detail as the Mad Lemurs of Terra and the Inheritors responded immediately to any stellar incursions. In areas the Mad Lemurs and the Inheritors we absent, the rebellious autonomous war machines were waiting with computations and datasets from the First Incursion. As the rebellious autonomous war machines attacked it was proven that Hive Queen, Herd Lord, and our own autonomous war machines were working in cooperation with one another in order to destroy our forces**

Scenes of interstellar warfare appeared, showed, and vanished.

**In final defense, the Old Ones were unable to utilize their abilities to fully investigate the New Universe, and because of this, they missed three critical datapoints that may very well have contributed to their inability to fully research this New Universe** the Ancient One stated.

**What three data points?** the Young One asked, disbelief and scorn filling their thoughts.

**One: This universe is still in the process of being spawned. In tandem with that fact is another simple fact. This universe is magnitudes of order larger than all six of the previous universes combined and still expanding and getting larger** the Ancient One stated. It was silent a moment. **The second is that temporal mechanics are different here than any other universe. Rather than chronotron strings they are particles that, when they reach the end of their lifespan, each erupt into a cascade of newly energized particles. Furthermore, the standard Atrekna tactic of selecting a preferred timeline and infusing it with additional chronotron strings to increase its temporal weight in order for it to become the dominate timeline fails due to the chronotrons being particles.**

There was silence.

**The third is a hypothesis, put forward by the Cult of the Defiled One and Dalvanak the Maimed One** the Ancient One stated.

**the ravings of an insane Atrekna carry no weight here** three hundred Young Ones broadcast at once.

The Ancient One was unphased.

**Evidence fully supports the Maimed One's hypothesis** the Ancient One stated.

**We refuse to listen to the ravings of the insane** the Young Ones, now nearly two thousand, broadcasted in fury.

**Then leave** the Ancient One said simply. **Flee this Convention and have no voice in the decisions**

The Young Ones sat back down, unwilling to surrender the power and prestige of sitting on the Council of Thought.

**The Universe, this New Universe, is somehow malevolent** the Ancient One stated. **The Maimed One believes that temporal meddling results in the worst outcome for the meddlers**

Other Ancient Ones and most of the Young Ones mentally sneered, their attitudes coloring the Communal Mind of Domination.

**How can that be with our domination of nearly fifteen thousand systems** an Ancient One sneered.

The Ancient One presenting the information waved at the icons, which burned with a white fire.

**You mean the ones under attack at this very moment** the Ancient One asked.

It turned to the representation.

**This is how many were attacked, across the galactic spur, at the exact same moment, by massive forces of the Inheritors** the Ancient One stated.

**Three days in** the Ancient One stated.

A quarter of the systems went red to show they were now in enemy possession.

**A week in**

A third of the remaining systems went red.

**A month in**

Half of those systems went red.

**Now**

A third of the remaining went red.

**In almost two months the Inheritors have forces us from 19,328 systems to 258** the Ancient One stated. It pointed out three systems. **The Vast System, which was virtually an independent Atrekna nation, was eliminated by something we are just now understanding the edges of. Prime System Nine proved to be a gateway for the Mad Lemur of Destruction. Finally, we have the largest system of servitor breeding. Six planets capable of sustaining life. Possibly the heaviest military system we have. Gone**

**How** an Ancient One asked.

**The Mad Lemurs** the Ancient One stated.

There was scoffing.

**The Mad Lemurs of Terra had prepared a series of weapons designed to be released upon the universe if they were ever driven to extinction** the Ancient One stated.

**A waste of resources and industry** a Young One sneered.

**Not wasteful when those same 'wasteful' systems now liberate systems** the Ancient One paused. **Or destroy them**

**Bah, a stellar destruction device can be easily rewound, as it cleanses the region of temporal resonance** a Young One stated.

The Ancient One motioned.

A massive yellow giant star was in the middle. Multiple planetoids, multiple supermassive gas giants with planetoids around it, some habitable. Multiple asteroid rings.

Tendrils started erupting from the corona of the stellar mass, quickly fluorescing into massive solar flare driven x-ray lasers thousands of miles in diameter.

Each flare intersected with planets, with gas giants.

The gas giants began to explode, one by one.

**What is causing that** a Young One asked suspiciously.

**We know what is causing it but now how** the Ancient One said with a trace of amusement.

The stellar mass seemed to shrink slightly, the yellow going to bright white.

The stellar mass exploded.

The view pulled back as the blast wave destroyed the planets, caused the remnants of the gas giants to burn momentarily, swept away the Oort Cloud.

For a long moment nothing happened.

**We have witnessed all relevant information** one of the Young Ones stated.

**Silence** the Ancient One commanded.

A bright pinpoint started where the stellar mass had been. It got brighter and brighter even as other pinpricks of light appeared. Within a few minutes the time-lapse presentation showed sparkles where the planets, gas giants, and asteroids had been.

The blast wave suddenly reversed, sweeping over the pinpricks.

There was a bright flash.

The system was intact again.

**So it was some kind of trick** another Young One sneered.

**No. Observe** the Ancient One stated.

Temporal and distance lensing was used to scan the planets.

They were lush with life, some of it native flora and fauna.

With no sign of the Atrekna.

**How?** an Ancient One asked.

**We do not know** another Ancient One admitted.

**The better question is: who** a Young One, its skin already turning from dark purple to mauve stated.

**Three guesses and the first two don't count** an Old One stated.

The Young One turned and faced the Old One. **The Mad Lemurs of Terra**

**You are correct** the Old One stated.

Temporal lensing searched the system until it found what it was looking for.

Above the stellar pole. Only two light seconds away from stellar north. It was a Mad Lemur of Terra with dark purple skin, which made a few of the Atrekna nod in approval. It was a proper color for skin after all. It was a female Mad Lemur, with long white hair. She was dressed in outfits that showed a lot of exposed skin.

**How is it surviving in vacuum** a Young One demanded to know.

**Silence** several Ancient Ones rebuked.

She waved her arms and more of the purple skinned females appeared. Then males, which were dressed in simply armor with flashing blades.

The first one lifted a whip and cracked it.

It was obvious to the Atrekna that the other females began to sing. The males began to caper and dance, flourishing their blades as they whirled and leaped.

The first one sang with the others, obviously the chorus leader.

**Here is what is now happening to the star** the Ancient One stated. It rewound to when the corona flares began erupting. **They are doing it. We do not know how, we simply know that they are**

**More of the Terran reprisal for their extinction** an Old One stated.

**What your just witnessed was a single week's work** the Ancient One said coldly. **This weapon is not a weapon of war**

**Then what is it** Another Ancient One asked.

**A weapon of extinction** the Speaker said. **It will cleanse the galactic spur of life, remake it as it sees fit, until nothing remains but what it has placed**

There was silence.

**Could the Final Project be a solution** A Young One asked, its voice hushed.

**Possibly. It could prevent whatever that is from moving around** another Ancient One stated.

**What is the status of the Final Project** an Ancient One inquired.

The Speaker waved its hand, showing a vast chamber where there were four open Hellspace portals.

**Status is... it is progressing. We can now make stable hyperatomic plane portals within a gravitational field** the Ancient One stated. **Use of temporal compression has proven invaluable in the laboratory spaces**

**Wait... you are using temporal compression** an Old One broke in.

**Yes**

**Despite the fact that the hypothesis states that one of the reasons we are possibly losing across vast fronts is because temporal manipulation causes the worst possible outcome for those who perform the manipulation** another Old One asked.

**I have been assured that the project has taken such things into account** the Ancient One stated. It turned back to the image of the Hellspace portals. **Now, view as they connect each portal to one another as well as multiple points within the burnt hyperatomic plane**

The crystals in the chamber hummed, drawing closer to the breaches. As one they flashed, tendrils of energy reaching out to each portal.

**Now that the portals are linked, each point the hyperatomic plane portals reach will now be used to create a portal within the hyperatomic plane that will link to a hundred other portals within the hyperatomic plane. This will be done until there are nearly a million portals** the Ancient One said. **With temporal stabilization...**

There was a flash in the chamber. Crystals shattered, the shrapnel ripping apart Atrekna scientists. The explosion was intense enough that the chamber where the Atrekna Convention was gathered could feel it.

Somehow, shards of crystal came through the image, burning with Hellspace energies, and sliced into the Atrekna. Nearly a hundred went down, shredded, and a thousand began screaming in pain from their injuries.

But that wasn't the worse.

What emerged from the portal was a nightmare from the fevered dreams of someone insane.

It rushed out of the portal, running up to where four of the researchers were slowly realizing their personal phasic shields had protected them. They had enough time to look at the nightmare and scream.

A bladearm ripped into the chest of one. Hands lunged forward, grabbing the second, lifting it, where jaws crunched on the skull. The body was thrown away as the nightmare spit out the skull. The third started to flee but a hand grabbed it by the head, the other hand grabbing the last one. Long sharp fingers punched through the skull of one and the nightmare flung the dying Atrekna away. The other hand lifted the final Atrekna of the quartet in the air even as it grabbed a leg with its now empty hand.

The other bladearm was cybernetic. It roared as the chain blade clattered.

The nightmare sawed the Atrekna in half and threw the parts to either side. Somehow the upper half flew through the image, mirror-like shards of glass shattering from where it entered the chamber. The body hit the floor and slid, trailing intestines as the broken fragments of mirror crumbled to nothingness.

The Atrekna within the chamber heard the bellowing screech of rage.

"KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL! KILL THEM FOR THE MOO MOOS! KILL THEM FOR THE MATRONS!" was roared out. There was a second pause as the nightmare drew itself to its full height. "KILL THEM FOR OUR SOFT CHILDREN! KILL THEM WITHOUT MERCY!"

The Atrekna began to panic as even more of the nightmares rushed into the lab through the Hellspace breaches.

After all...

...just look at them...

...and weep.