A spaceship drifted amidst the stars. The thrum of its Warp Drive engines was like the powerful growl of an old and ancient beast.
Tucked away in one of the deeper compartments of the ship was a large glass tube erected from the floor with glowing greenish liquid being pumped inside. Attached to smaller synthetic tubes was a young man slumbering in the liquid, a mask attached to a breathing tube worn over the lower portions of his jaw.
He was damn handsome—of course he was, cause that was sure as hell me.
My eyes fluttered open as the liquid wrapped around me like jelly. It was warm, comforting even.
Gone were the grievous wounds that had stuck to me like fleas. My body had repaired itself, fueled by both its natural regenerative abilities and the rejuvenating liquid present in the Healing Pod. Yet deep scars still remained—they will fade given time, but for now, these scars ought to serve as a reminder of what I was, who I was, and what I was up against.
It had been weeks, maybe even a full month since I left it all behind. A month that I had spent mostly here inside the Healing Pod, passing time by counting the number of hairs I had on my balls.
It was mind-numbing. Vanguards were trained for extremely long periods of time in empty space, but even then—we were supposed to travel in squadrons, or at least, in pairs of two. It was mentally damaging to be alone for so long without the company of another.
I reached up and curled my newly regenerated fingers around the breathing mask before I pulled it off of my face. The greenish liquid began to quickly drain into the lower pipes as it detected movement.
The pod began to open as steam sizzled against the surface of my skin. I took a step forward and left the Healing Pod, the glossy liquid sticking to me much like ordinary water.
There was a dry towel nearby, and I quickly snatched it from the handle and rubbed the fabric against my body. A faint sound of wind passing through bars of metal could be heard as the ventilation system regulated the air temperature, keeping it at moderate levels.
A dryness in my throat begged me for a drink as I walked towards the nearby sink. Hanging the towel off of my shoulder, I flipped it on as water streamed out from the faucet. Leaning forward, I drank directly from the faucet as the water flowed down my throat and eased the dryness.
"Ha..." Refreshed, I pulled back and stared at my own reflection. Golden eyes glanced back at me as I stared at the thick, pale scars that covered a significant portion of my torso.
Whoever said that scars were cool or attractive was obviously just using that as a coping mechanism for their own. I grimaced as I gazed at myself, it really did look like I went to Hell and back with everything to show for it.
Although Viltrumites were able to recover from even the brink of death, we didn't have that kind of specialized regeneration that could regrow an arm in just hours. For us, it took weeks, or even months to accomplish the same feat.
It was why some of our Warriors chose to use prosthetics—they didn't want to waste time on recovery and desired to get back into the battlefield as quickly as possible.
After all, it was a cardinal sin to be weak, and whilst those wounded aren't necessarily weak, they are both wasting resources in the Empire's eyes.
My hands had completely regenerated, though the portions that had healed looked noticeably paler than the rest of the arm. It was like that one congenital disease found on lesser races that made one have white patches of skin throughout their whole body.
That coupled with the medical stitches that I had applied to myself made me look rather horrid.
Fortunately, they'll probably all be gone by next week... I muttered to myself. The scars would fade, and the sitches made by the Empire were designed to be absorbed into the body for extra proteins after they were no longer needed.
Drying myself off with the towel, I then tossed it towards a nearby rack before walking out of the medical bay and into the hallways without bothering to wear any clothes.
Shit... who the hell cares about that? I was all alone in here!
I passed through the cargo bay and made my way onto the lounge. There secured on a table was Add's Neuron Core, perfectly intact and undamaged.
I couldn't just plug it into the ship's computers even if I wanted to, they weren't nearly powerful enough to contain an Iterator. It just wouldn't work. There was a reason why the Empire needed to make a whole Superstructure just to house a single Iterator.
Reaching into the nearby lockers, I retrived some packaged MREs leftover from the ship's previous passengers. The menu wasn't great—just some vegetable-based nutrient blocks and tasteless protein paste—but it was filling.
I mixed them together in a pot and poured in water before boiling the bland gruel over the stove. It was hot and steaming, and only took a few minutes to cook up before I lifted the pot off of the stove and began drinking the liquid directly.
Scalding hot bland soup wasn't what I wanted for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But beggars couldn't be choosers. Not that this pitiful amount of heat could actually burn my throat or anything.
Swallowing the whole portion, I sighed with a full stomach before setting the pot down and turning off the stove.
Next thing on my daily routine nowadays was just to train. There wasn't much to do in here aside from that.
I could try to entertain myself by connecting to Extronet and playing some games or something—but that would just be a waste of time.
There was no immediate danger, and I could live for potentially tens of thousands of years, but I'd be better to just kill myself if I didn't dedicate 100% of that time to my one and only goal in life after I left everything behind...
Kill Darkseid.
That was the singular phrase that was on constant repeat inside my mind. I needed to end Darkseid, not just to avenge the Viltrum Empire, but to also make sure I would never have to fear him again.
I hated it, I hated that everytime I thought of him, it was in the form of a night terror. I hated that how my body reacted to even just the mention of his name. The sweat on my back, the hairs standing in fright, and the instincts telling me to either fight or fly.
I hated it, I hated it, I hated it. Important things needed to repeated thrice, and I absolutely hated how weak he made me felt.
Throughout all my life, I've only really been afraid of my Father, anything else? The same idea would reassure me to stand brave against whatever it was.
Eventually, I'll get stronger than it, because Father is stronger than it.
But no matter how much I tried to convince myself with that lie, I couldn't this time.
Because Darkseid was Darkseid, he was strength itself.
And that's why I needed to focus on killing Darkseid, I wasn't even sure any version of me could accomplish that.
The idea of killing Darkseid was just impossible. But what other possible driving force could I have in this life?
Everything I had was gone, there was nothing else but Darkseid, there was nothing to distract me from Darkseid. I will kill Darkseid.
And that was a lie I hoped I could fall for.
I started walking to the training room with renewed determination but stopped as a voice blared over the speakers.
"Incoming video transmission."
It was the automatic voice message recorded in the ship's system. I raised an eyebrow and changed my destination to the bridge, wondering what this was.
Floating over to the main console in the bridge, I took my seat and fiddled with the computer. The video was then projected in the air as a hologram.
"Foreigner," A hoarse voice came through the speakers as I widened my eyes at the creature being projected right now. "You have entered the official borders of the Citadel Empire, strongest military force this side of the Galaxy."
"Pay a toll fee of 1,000 Common Credits or be destroyed." It spoked tyrannically, as if it somehow had any amount of power over me.
"..The fuck...?" I wondered out loud with a confused expression and no amount of fear.
The alien that gazed down at me through the hologram transmission was a strange one. It had blueish-gray skin, a muscled figure adorned with over the top fancy armour, and a pair of tusks jutting out from its ape-like maw.
"What kind of weird monkey are you...?" I continued, unamused. "Don't you know who I am?"
"No." The Citadelian responded with an equally unamused expression. "You are naked and rude! The toll fee is 300 Common Currency now! 100 added for each violation."
I stared at him with an incredulous expression. He didn't know I was a Viltrumite?
It made sense really, there weren't any Viltrumite symbols on the ship and I wasn't old enough to grow a proper mustache yet without it looking weird...
To him, I might just be some random sod out in the middle of space. Actually, this might be good for me. I could use this fact to lull him into a false sense of security.
"...The Citadel Empire? I've never heard of you guys before." I asked it a genuine question, trying to get all the information I could squeeze out of this encounter.
"Asking questions now? Pay first!" The Citadelian demanded with an impatient tone.
"Tch..." I snorted and raised a hand. "What was it? 300? Fine."
I sent over the money through our Extronet connection and asked with a sneer. "Now will you let me speak?"
There was a great silence pregnant with tension as the Citadelian border officer narrowed his eyes and glanced up at something on his side, probably the cash I had just sent.
And then a big, wide grin stretched over his facial features as he reached forward for a virtual hug. "Of course, anything for a close friend!"
I blinked.
Since when were we even friends, let alone close ones? I gave a disgusted look.
"Please don't ever call me that again." I said softly. "Now what's this about the Citadel Empire? This is my first time hearing about your people."
The Citadelian smiled, eager to talk about his Empire. "We are a new dominating force in the Universe! Our great leader Complex-Complex in his infinite wisdom has lead us to the stars and now I stand before you as his humble spokesperson."
...A fledgeling Empire, hm? Then I guess it made sense why I've never heard of them.
"Our capital is here in the Vega System, the Floating City of Citadel! If you wish visit, please tell the officers there you're a friend of mine! I'm sure they'll treat you nicely." The Citadelian continued like a tourist guide. "Any other questions, dear friend?"
I shook my head and sighed. "I guess not."
In truth, I just didn't want to continue talking to this guy.
"Alright then, have a safe trip!" The Citadelian said with a cheery tone before his projection vanished from sight.
With the silence, I drifted up from my seat and floated over to the nearby window.
"Citadel Empire, huh?" I wondered out loud. "An Empire..."
The only Empire in the sky was Viltrum. For another nation to proclaim themselves as one, it only told me one thing.
"Finally..." I stretched my fingers and smiled a soft and joyful smile.
I could finally call myself a Vanguard.