Back up in space outside of Theia's orbit, Jara had already closed the hole made by the delusional scientists and was on his way back. However, a massive problem had arisen.
"Sir! The virus is spreading like never before! Half of the crew has already turned and is infecting the others! We've locked ourselves inside the Command Bridge, but we don't know how long we'll last." Jara could see the scene inside the Bridge via the Echo-Device.
Only a little over a hundred were in there, with half of them being soldiers. They had their plasma rifles trained at the closed and locked door. However, Jara could hear the infected banging on it from his Device. Thankfully, the blast doors were designed to take a lot of force, so it was unlikely for them to break through in a short period of time.
"Not to worry, we're about to arrive at the landing bay and will make our way to you. Have you made contact with Lord Gair'lin?" The Lorkin officer shook his head regretfully.
"Unfortunately not sir. His secretary said he was in an important meeting and was not taking any calls." Jara resisted the urge to punch any nearby walls and instead responded calmly.
"Try again and inform her of the severe urgency of the situation. Tell her he will not mind the interruption." The officer nodded before suddenly remembering something.
"Sir, be careful coming into the landing bay. Last I heard, it fell extremely quickly."
"Thanks for the heads up. The next time I contact you, I'll be outside the blast door." With that, he cut the communication and spoke to his squad. As they got suited up, he could tell just how afraid they really were.
"I won't lie, some of you will die." He paused and waited for a few moments for them to understand the gravity of the situation, then continued.
"But before you wet yourself in fear, know of our mission. The virus that once before ruined our worlds, is again our enemy. Do you remember how it felt? To watch your loved ones die? To watch them turn into savage beasts, bent on eating anything in their path?" Suddenly, some of them became angry upon remembering horrible memories.
"Our mission today, is to reach the Bridge and contact The Alliance. To warn them of the coming threat. Because of your sacrifice, children won't have to watch the same atrocities you had to. Our great civilization will send the Exterminators to wipe out this planet, along with that filthy virus! Now, are you ready?!" The entire squad raised their plasma rifles, roaring out with high morale.
Jara did the same, his plasma revolver in his upper right hand. However, he knew the reality better than any of them. Chances were, all of these men here would die a horrible death. Torn to pieces by those they once called friend. And if they were unlucky, they would turn and become an animal. A savage beast that would need to be put down.
'Life is.... very cruel, isn't it?'
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Inside of a decently large conference room, a low dim light was floating high in mid-air, illuminating a round table. Sitting in their seats were the Maer, tall and lanky white aliens. They were very humanoid looking, with two arms and legs. On their hands were four fingers each. There was no hair visible on their bodies and their nose was flattened. Inside of their mouths were small, but pointy teeth.
At the moment, the two dozen extremely luxurious dressed Maer were silently listening to the person speaking, a floating hologram in the center of the table. Behind each of them were Elite Omegas, a much more advanced and powerful version than a normal one.
"We have pushed back the Gorgs past the Outer Worlds and to their home galaxy. Their Supreme Commander suffered heavy losses, so I doubt they would return without a decade or two of healing. Unfortunately, although we won, our casualties are many. They-" Admiral Yaka was narrating the entire battle, including the new weapon they had used.
The Maer quietly listened, solemn looks to their faces when hearing the description of the weapon. They had never heard of such a powerful device used, even by the nearby Galaxies. If they had more of them…
"Good work Admiral. Upon your return to Xaari, you'll be awarded for your efforts." Yaka bowed his head lightly as he spoke in a humble tone.
"Thank you, my Lords. I live to serve you and The Allian-" Suddenly, the entrance opened loudly, drawing all eyes towards the 'intruder'. A scantily dressed female Pran'hu secretary.
She had a nervous look to her face as she looked at the Elite Omega raising their arm cannons towards her. Each one of them scanned her entire body, causing her to shiver slightly. But then she breathed a sigh of relief watching them power down and return to their original place.
With haste, she quickly walked towards one of the Maer, Lord Gair'lin. Just as she was about to speak, she hurriedly bowed in the direction of a younger Maer in a luxurious and religious robe before turning back to Gair'lin.
"There must have been a problem for you to cause such a disturbance. What is it?" The muscular Gair'lin said, his voice calm as he waited for her to gather herself.
"Sir, I have a Captain Jara'Xeroia on the line. His subordinate said it was very urgent." All of the Maer's eyes narrowed, obviously knowing of the Captain watching over Theia.
"Transfer it to my Echo-Device and leave." She nodded and quickly did as he asked before leaving. The young Maer turned to Yaka.
"Admiral, we shall contact you at another time. Thank you for your service." Yaka bowed once more, his tone respectful.
"Of course, Prophet of Knowledge." As he disappeared, a large screen replaced his position and floated in mid-air for all to see.
Jara's body and face appeared, as well as his Command Bridge full of aliens. Many soldiers were pointing their weapons at the blast shield door. Heavy banging could be heard, as if something large was ramming into it.
"My Lords." Jara bowed his head in respect as Gair'lin asked his question. He noticed Jara had a tired look on his exhausted face.
"You have something urgent to report Captain?"
"Yes sir. Ten minutes ago, a group of rogue scientists powered down a portion of the Planetary Shield and drove their ship inside. By the time we realized something was wrong, we were too late. The virus flooded out from the gap and infected every nearby ship. At the moment, only we remain." He waved his hand around the room, indicating there were very few survivors.
"We have already closed the gap in the Shield, but it did nothing. For some reason, the virus has changed. Evolved. It spreads and takes us over far faster than previously. The infected themselves are ravenous, filled with incredible strength despite being newly turned." Another loud bang came from the door, startling Jara.
He turned around and quickly brought out his plasma revolver. A few moments of silence passed by slowly, tensing the already high strung nerves of all the soldiers. Suddenly, the door was smashed apart and sent flying across the room. Multiple aliens in the way were directly killed in the collision.
A swarm of infected rushed in, a towering Pran'hu behind them. He was only 11ft tall and his entire right arm had transformed into a massive fleshy hammer. He roared out with ghastly wail and charged towards the healthy aliens, using his arm as a battering ram.
"Open fire!" Jara ordered, being the first to send a bolt of plasma towards the enemy. The other soldiers followed his lead and immediately killed off the first wave. But they just kept coming, a never-ending tidal wave of death and pestilence.
When the first soldier was pinned down and had his throat ripped out, that spelled the beginning of the end. More and more of the defenders fell, before rising back up to attack their allies. The speed of turning was unlike anything the Maer had ever seen. It would take no longer than four seconds for them to become fully infected.
Soon enough, the defenders were down to only a few left.
"Hold them back!"
Saying that, Jara turned back around and pressed a few buttons. Suddenly, a small map of the planet appeared in front of him. A tiny portion of it turned red as the main cannons of the ship started moving.
"Self-Destruct Sequence initiated. All personnel, please evacuate immediately." A lovely robot voice said calmly before counting down from ten seconds. But they soon spoke up once more.
"Target locked. Beginning Planetary Bombardment." Jara chuckled and turned, seeing the last of his men get torn apart. The infected were still pouring in through the entrance, all aiming for him.
"Come on you bastards!" He took out a small dark device out from his pocket.
Pressing the button on the side, a light green energy appeared and enveloped not only the device, but also a portion of his arm. It made no noise as it came to it's full length in the span of a second. It looked slightly similar to a Scimitar and was as large as his forearm. The surface of the 'blade' shimmered at a constant pace, almost like the surface of a lake.
He swung his Laser Sword through the air, cutting apart all the infected who got too close. But after just a few seconds, he was soon pinned to the floor as the infected ripped into his body with their teeth. Despite the overwhelming pain, Jara still managed to slice through his attackers and kill four more.
Then, it all went blank. Jara's ship exploded into a white hot ball of energy. It spread out wildly, enveloping all the nearby ships and beyond. Every single infected without fail was turned into ash. Thankfully, the shield was far enough to not get caught up in the blast. But that didn't matter much considering what Jara had done.
Meanwhile, back inside the conference room, everyone was silent upon watching the events unfold. When Jara's ship exploded, the communication was cut short, blinding them from the result.
"We should've eradicated this filthy parasite from the very beginning!" One old Maer said, his voice enraged. A scoff could be heard as a woman spoke up in a mocking tone.
"Weren't you the one clamoring for us to keep it around? To research it for our own means and tame it's power to live forever? Lining our pockets with the infinite wealth we could receive?" The old man leaned back into his chair, waving his hand nonchalantly.
"Nonsense, I never said that. Proof? Heh, we never record our meetings do we? A tragedy it seems..." The woman sneered at his response.
"Shameless old thing."
"Shameless? Is that something you can eat? You young ones nowadays come up with the strangest slang." Suddenly, the Prophet raised his hand, making everyone halt their arguing.
"Enough. We had already decided to eliminate all traces of the plague even before learning of this. Who should we send to clean up the 'human' world Theia?" His voice was soft and easy to listen to, able to soothe one's emotions.
"I propose sending Admiral Yaka. He was already there once before, so it makes sense." One spoke up.
"Perhaps Thatriax? He is eager to please us. Easy to control because of his faith as well." The Maer brought up numerous names, usually those who were close to them. This was because wiping out the virus would bring them a massive boost to their reputation.
"I believe we should send the Extermination Fleet. To truly make sure the virus is destroyed in it's entirety. Not only that, I also propose sending four Planet Crackers as well. All in favor, say I." Many raised their hands at the suggestion, agreeing with such a course of action. The Prophet looked at the votes and spoke up.
"It seems we have come to an agreement. At the earliest, we shall send the Fleet to end this plague once and for all. Now, onto the Vaar Headquarters-" Suddenly, a hologram appeared in the middle of the table.
This new mysterious man looked extremely similar to a humanoid goat. He had a very luxurious robe on, numerous intricate designs of various animals across it. Attached to him was a glorious beard which went all the way down to his stomach. It was braided and clearly well kept.
Atop his head were four horns curved inwards, pieces of jewelry hanging off them and gems embedded deep within. Overall, he looked quite majestic as he absent-mindedly stroked his beard softly with his hand, each finger like a hoof.
"Griffon? What a pleasant surprise." The Prophet said with a smile on his face, his voice like a light breeze. The goat-alien hummed lightly.
"The same. Unfortunately, my abrupt visit here is not a cordial one. I bring dire news of our long time enemy, the Varnids." The atmosphere became heavy, much more so than when speaking about the Black Virus.
With the virus, it had rampaged through their civilization within a short twenty years, bringing them to their knees and threatening their extinction. However, they were able to triumph and defeat it. It also gave rise to the extremely powerful Extermination Fleets. The Varnids were different. All they've ever been able to do is passively defend against their unending swarms for a thousand years.
They did stage an attack once over eight hundred years ago, striking their home Galaxy with all their might! Then... tragedy. Less than 1/10th of their original fleet came back alive. It was a very dark time for them.
"Wait, there should be another decade before their probing." A female Maer said, making Griffon nod his head.
"Normally, you'd be correct. However, they attacked ahead of schedule. Currently, they have already begun swarming the Outer Sector of the Holy Empire. This time, their forces seem much greater than anything we have in our records."
This was dire news. The Holy Empire was the strongest of the nearby Galaxies and also the closest to the Varnids. If they weren't able to show great enough force, it was unlikely the others would be able to. As for the Probing, it was their way of testing a Galaxy's strength.
They would send a small but elite force to attack at random. With them would be a Watcher who would send all the information back to the Hivemind in real time. If a Galaxy was considered too strong, the Varnids held off their attack. But if it was the opposite…
"We need to prepare for their arrival. Cancel the Extermination Fleet for Theia and instead send them to the Outer Worlds. Not only that, but send the other two Fleets as well." The Prophet said, others chiming up as well to plan for the defense. Griffon would also help out occasionally.
This was normal, as the Four Galaxies would always help one another out during the Varnids raids. Even the Gorgs would put aside their hatred.
"And the Black Virus?"
"Send Admiral Yaka. It seems fitting, considering he watched over it. When he goes to Xaari, we can have him replenish his depletes forces before moving to Theia. It should only take a few months, a year at the longest. But let's go back to-"
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Back on Theia, Jason and his Horde walked through the streets. Everywhere he passed, more and more were added to their ranks without difficulty. It did not matter how strong they were, or how unwilling they might have seemed. All must join the Horde.
He had just finished telling the group about the revelations which had come to light after his evolution. About the Vessels, his new Master Race, and the Infestation. Also, it turned out the Infestation was greater than he originally believed. To him, it was just a comfortable bed to lay on.
For the others however, they could feel a sense of power upon standing atop it. Their strength and speed showed a decent increase when touching the Infestation. Jason wondered if it would be the same for the flying infected. Maybe it wasn't touching the Infestation but just being in it's general area.
Suddenly, as they were walking, Lily asked Jason a question.
"I have something to run by you." She asked, no real emotion within her. He stopped playing with Alice sitting on the back of his neck and focused onto the big sister.
"Something wrong?" Her eyes gazed into his as she opened her mouth.
"Did you kill those people at the Docks?" Jason wasn't a fool and knew exactly who she was talking about. He wouldn't play dumb either and lie to her. Slippery slope to ruining their relationship.
"Yes I did. Is there a problem?" She shook her head, no concern within her upon learning her boyfriend killed two innocent people. To her, the reasons didn't matter.
"How did you find out though?" Lily giggled lightly.
"Two gay lovers saw you and the victim walk behind a warehouse. When they 'finished', only you came out. Wasn't too hard to find out it was you. There were only two people as large as the previous you in camp. And they all had alibis." Jason smacked his forehead. His perfect crime, discovered because two gay lovers wanted to roll around in the mud.
If he was a serial killer from before the apocalypse, he might have lost his mind if this was how the police caught him. Suddenly, he stopped in place upon remembering something.
"Come here Asura." The three headed minion was confused but obediently followed his Messiah's orders without question. He came before Jason and kneeled on one knee like a knight.
"Yes, Master?" Jason didn't say anything, only placing his right hand onto Asura's center head.
Closing his eyes, he focused on something he had been planning for a while now. A way to increase his influence. Taking a small portion of his Domination Aura, which was replaced instantly, Jason sent it into Asura's body, whose body shook slightly when feeling something invade his mind.
Asura could have tried fighting it off, but he didn't for two reasons. One, he worshipped Jason wholeheartedly and would not resist a gift from his Messiah. The second reason, was because it wouldn't work. At the moment, he was many times weaker than Jason and would certainly lose.
"There, that should work. How do you feel?" Jason asked, watching as Asura got up and looked around.
"We feel a little different Master. Like we can control the lower class infected. As for the specials, we are not sure." Hearing his answer, Jason smiled and did the same process with Trixie, Alice, and Lily. But as he moved on to Athena, she grinned and refused.
"Only if you beat me. Why? Wanna try?" She asked, excitement clear on her face. It did creep Jason out a little with how enthusiastic she was ever since his rebirth.
"Maybe later." There was no chance he would fight here and now, as he knew he would most likely lose. And he did not want that sort of embarrassment to occur in front of the sisters.
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Inside of North Korea, which was still alive and kicking, a wild Kim Jung Doom could be seen looking out from his mansion's balcony. Within his sight was a still functioning city, the citizens extremely happy starving to death! Thanks to his forward thinking and genius intellect, starving the entire country made it easier to handle the weakened infected. He did lose over half the country, but things were looking up.
Just as Kim Jung Doom was praising himself and considering whether or not he should suck his massive dick which puts any American's to shame, a soldier burst into his room frantically.
"You better have something good to report. Or you can join them." He pointed towards a growing fire, where multiple soldiers were throwing the corpses of dead infected into the flames.
With a terrified look, the poor man bowed deeply and spoke with fear.
"Supreme Leader! Our control over the nukes has returned!" Kim Jung Doom immediately turned around.
"Is this true?!"
"Yes Supreme Leader!" Without caring about him any longer, Kim Jung Doom 'raced' towards his office in excitement. Finally, he could take some real action in fighting against this virus!
What would normally be a five minute run for the average man, became a fifty minute struggle for the Supreme Mor- Leader. After taking six separate breaks, he eventually reached his office with sweat pouring down his chubby face. He walked up to the phone and dialed the correct people, ordering them to target Dead-Zoned cities.
They said some nonsense about how the nukes weren't ready, but a few threats to their family always works things out. Done with that, he pressed a button underneath a book sitting on the dusty bookcase. It immediately opened up, allowing him to see a small black case.
He took it out of the wall, put in the correct code, and watched it open in glee. There it was. The bright red button primed and ready to fire. Taking a breath, he praised himself once more for good luck and pressed the button.
A distance away, the ground suddenly opened up on it's own. A missile could be seen rising from the depths, a small platform beneath it. After rising thirty feet into the air, the thrusters on the bottom activated and made the missile fly up.
"Hahaha! This is only the beginning! When I clear my country, I'll take over those pathetic South Koreans and expand my perfect North Korea to all over the globe! Even those bastard from beyond will be mine to conquer!" Kim Jung Doom laughed like a crazy man as he watched his shoddily designed nuke rise up higher and higher.
However, something completely unforeseen happened! Instead of flying off into the distance for the targeted city, it turned around and headed right towards him. It seemed unsure of where to actually go, constantly changing it's direction. But it didn't very much matter, when it soon landed five hundred feet away from Kim Jung Doom's position.
"How could this happen?! Why didn't they warn me?!" He screamed out and hid under the table in his office, thinking it would grant him protection. But the blast wave that came after, simply turned the 'Supreme Leader' into ash.
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London had fallen. Most of the buildings were flattened into pieces by the unending Rat Swarm. Blood lined the ruined streets, covering a majority of the city and transforming it into a true Hell. The strange thing however, was the complete lack of any bones or life forms in general.
Whenever the surviving infected would feel the ground rubble, they'd hide themselves away to escape the Rat Swarm's gluttonous hunger. Even the Alphas were the same.
In the middle of the city, one would be frightened out of their wits to find over a hundred million rats feasting on corpses of humans, animals, and infected. Within their numbers were different variations, all having their own unique strengths. There were Rat Behemoths, easily coming in at 8 meters tall and beyond muscular. Hordes of Riflemen Rats were holding human weapons and had great accuracy with them.
Sitting atop a throne made of skin and bone, carried by Elite Bodyguard Rats, was the devil himself, the Rat Emperor. Unlike what others would believe, he wasn't some impossible giant monster with thousands of weapons.
Instead, he was only 13 meters tall with a somewhat muscular body. He looked similar to a normal humanoid rat, with no real defining features. However, he was certainly no weakling. Besides his vast army under his complete control, a massive amount of strength was hidden underneath his unassuming body. It wasn't as high as an Alpha Juggernaut, but it was still nothing to sneeze at.
As the Rat Emperor watched his unstoppable Swarm feast, he grinned happily. He laughed heartily, standing up and spreading his arms wide.
"Nothing can stop me! For I am Invincible! The God of all Rats! I shall-!"
Suddenly interrupting his villain speech was a booming sound coming from above him. He turned his up just in time to see a massive laser beam shooting straight for him. While in mid-air, it broke up into many pieces and covered a wide area. The Rat Emperor widened his eyes, but had no time to dodge. When the beam hit him, it exploded outwards and drowned him in it's light.
Not only the Emperor, but the Swarm was bombarded by the many pieces. The surrounding area was flattened into nothingness, most of the Swarm perishing under the might of the laser attack. However, there were just too many rats to kill, leaving 10% still alive.
In the largest crater, directly at the bottom, was the charred carcass of the Rat Emperor. Half of his body was directly destroyed, vaporized by the power of the attack. Suddenly, his eyes opened as his body tried to heal itself. He grunted, heaving himself up with a struggle. Sending a mental command, he ordered his rats to come and pull him out.
It took them a while due to the sheer size of the crater, but they effectually carried him out. It was unfortunate he wasn't healing as fast he wanted. However upon reaching the surface, he could care less about such a problem.
"M-My Swarm..." The Rat Emperor muttered, in complete disbelief over two things. The annihilation of his unstoppable Swarm, and the power of the beam.
The arrogance he had built up through effortlessly slaughtering everything in his path was crushed into paste. Thinking he was the strongest, when it turned out he was a frog in the well. He narrowed his eyes, coldness within them.
"I will rise above this defeat. And become much, much stronger." Because of his lack of struggling, the Rat Emperor had taken things casually. Never actually being cautious or cunning, as he saw no need for such trifles.
But now, he knew he needed to change. So that something like this, never happened again.