Fiction:Imperius Occlus Nox

"They've spotted us!" Mikiang'y's panicked voice rang out over the commander centre. "How?" Oji'b, normally so relaxed, grimaced. "Any trickery involved, Miki?" "I don't know!", the response came. "It looked like normal technology, but certainly they're not that advanced, right?" "Never underestimate, Miki", Oij'b replied. "They're launching boarding torpedoes. All Biotics on station, now!"

"Greetings..." a voice rang in the heads of the crew members. They saw a figure appear in the hole. First a shattering, then many voices could be heard from inside the ship. Overlord, the leader of the Void Eye Empire walked into the ships belly. Everything seemed empty, but everywhere Biotics were watching them.

"I come in peace." his voice was heard, "Do not be afraid." He traveled slowly inside the ship. "Then why are you tormenting us?" Though the ship could not speak by itself, it was essentially a very large Biotic, to whom the smaller ones which were watching Overlord were connected. It talked trough them, all around the Void Eyes, all at once. "To speak with your leader." "Is it because of the trespass?" "Yes, you trespassed our region of space. I would like to talk to your leader, I can sense him." "We do not know why. But we did feel. One who travels aboard us felt something disturbing in this region and relayed that fear trough my senses. It was a very genuine fear. So we went. Then you came." "Yes. Here is something that is not from here... " "Then her intuition was correct."

All around the Void Eyes, Bio-Rangers dropped down from concealed positions, weapons drawn.

"We will bring you to the one who sensed it. And to the one who is connected to my brain. No hostility is intended from us if none is given." "Fine. Bring us to him."

Something changed around the Void Eyes. The ship went silent, it's link to the Biotics broken for the moment. One of them, a slightly larger individual with bark-like armor, moth-like wings and great glowing flagellates floating protectively around it, stepped forwards.

"Then come this way, please." "Go back to the ship." Overlord said to the rest of the Void Eyes. "I will go alone."

The Scion gestured dismissively to the Rangers and most of them dispersed as well. A small group remained to escort Overlord and the Scion to the command center. The center itself, like most of the ship, looked very much alive. There were no windows, though ports were connected to the ship's eyes, allowing those inside to see outside. And above, in a great protective tank, floated a titanic brain. The rest of the wide room was given over to the organic equivalents of normal apparatus found in command centers of similar metallic ships.

And the center of the room, flanked by more Scions, stood two humanoid beings with various maniraptoran and corvid characteristics. Though the Void Eyes of course wouldn't have noticed it, alien as they were, to the most humanoids the beings would've seemed quite pretty.

"You! You are the disturbance I felt!" the female cried out. "So, you are the leader of this empire, I assume?" Overlord asked. "Leader?" The male raised an eyebrow. "No, no. I'm close to being an exile at this point in time, truth be told." "I apologize." "You are their leader then?" the male asked. "Quite courageous to come here alone." "Do not underestimate him, Oji'b." the female hissed. "I can sense it now! He has the Void!"

A long silence reigned. Then Oji'b reached for his twin pistols.

"What!? Don't move!" "Do not be afraid.", Overlord said slowly. "Please, put down the weapons."

Mud welled up around the female, swirling around Overlord too but not lunging for him.

"Why?" she asked."All the Void has ever done is hurt us. Why should this be any different?" "Because I will not harm you if you won't attack me."

The female glanced at Oji'b, the mud having stopped swelling.

"Was...Ada like that?" "Yep." Oji'b replied sadly. "Survival traded for subjugation was all he offered." "Do you want to subjugate us?" He asked, clearly confused. "If you do, pheromones don't give it away." "Why would I need to subjugate you?" "True." the female said. "There is no immediate benefit for you. Well, unless your economy is founded on slaves. Alright, I'll take the shot. I'm Mikiang'y, Raptoranean and Koatria of Mirus. The Raptoranean next to me is Oji'b, my godfather."

The other Raptoranean grunted in a half-greeting, clearly still none too comfortable.

"Anyway, greetings, I am Overlord the leader of the Void Eye Empire." "Thanks for blowing a hole in the side of our ship." Oji'b said "Can we land anywhere close by?"

"Yes please." The voice of the ship once again came all around it's occupants "I am wounded and need medical attendance." "Yes, there is a black hole base nearby, there you can land safely and get refueled." "Excellent. Oji'b, may I?" "Permission granted. You there, Overlord...can you lead the way? And I don't mean by plugging into my ship." "Sure, I will return on the capital ship then and I will show you the way."

Overlord walked back into the capsule and flew to the main ship.

"I don't trust him." Oji'b whispered when we was out of sight. "You said it yourself, he used the Void and that alone makes him suspect." Mikiang'y sighed. "We don't have any other choice at the moment. Let's go along with him for now and learn what we can." "Just what I thought." Oji'b grinned at last.

A short time later the ship was docked at the Black Hole Foundry, Biotics tending to it. Oji'b took in the sight, seemingly having forgotten his former fear.

"Impressive, this foundry. Quite impressive. Efficiency-wise, you are quite ahead compared to others of your age." Mikiang'y made a scowl. "Probably because of the Void", she thought. "The Void only helped us understand the rotational black holes, but we were able to steal rotational energy from it even without the Void." Overlord replied. Oji'b tilted his head sideways. "As I said, impressive." "I have never seen the Void used for understanding" Mikiang'y admitted. "Though seeing the struggle Brygon went trough lately, I'd rather not learn the technique for once." "Well, you can create small black holes with the Void Energy, so that helped."

Oji'b looked to the ground, a sudden sadness covering his face.

"Tell me about it. Ada used that technique to shear ringwords in half if they opposed him. And they weren't quite small." "Oh, this is a sad story, he probably made a supermassive black hole then...", Overlord replied. "...You know him?" Oji'b asked, slowly. "I heard of him." "Huh. While most Plazithians wrote the entire return off as nothing but as exaggerated war. Seems like Andromedans are more trusting, then." "On that point" Mikiang'y butted in, "Can we have some place to talk?" "Yes, please this way."

He walks into a room that is decorated with the emblems of the Void Eye Empire.

Inside the room are some seats and a table, all composed of a black material with white glowing stripes. At the end is a round window opening the sight of the black hole completely enclosed with mirrors. There are emblems of the empire at each side of the room. The light is coming from above.

"So here we can talk alone." he said. "Good." Mikang'y replied. "I assume you want to know the reason for our intrusion, outside your unexpected use of Void Energy." "Yes, please continue."

She projected a star map of Segmentum Umbra from a button on her left wrist.

"We are looking for a world called Nox. Have you heard of it?" "No, could you please give me the coordinates?" "We...don't have them, sadly. You see, the planet is supposed to be inhabited by close allies of ours, the Troodontid Empire. But they are really secretive and last thing we heard about them was that a civil war was brewing. One of their factions, the Troodontid Technocracy, is supposed to be hiding out on Nox, but...you see the problem."

After sighing, she continued.

"The trail runs cold at the Haldiriv system, formerly in the possession of the Naakjian Confederation, over which the Troodontids fought a brief conflict. Shortly after, the Great Xonexian Shism came to the Naakji and they collapsed under the brunt of the Civilization, annexed by the Nomatari Sovereignty. The problem is that that afterwards, the Sovereignty itself vanished, taking most of the Naakji with them. Those Naakji who survived have no idea what happened, and none were in high enough positions to even be aware of the Haldirivan Conflict at the time. Hence, we have had to retrace everything by hand. The process is tedious."

That seemed to have piqued Overlord's interest.

"Could you please describe the planet to me?" Overlord asked. "Haldiriv or Nox?" Oji'b took over. "Nox." came the reply. "If I had an image of it I could search through the planet database and maybe find it." "Sadly, no living Waptorian has ever set foot, or wing -Oji'b gestioned in the direction of the Waptorian ship- on Nox. But it must be within a few parsecs of Haldriviv, and since the Troodontids aren't the most imaginable of people, the planet must be very dark. Probably orbits a very dim M-type brown dwarf, which would make the planet extraordinarily hard to spot." "And could you describe Haldiriv then?" "It's not really anything out of the ordinary. Cold but not too cold. Dark but not too dark. The dominant lifeform is some sort of fungus. Really aggressive, and I have no idea why the Troodontids decided it was a good place to colonize. If the Troodontids have taken over Naakji space now that thir empire is gone, there is no trace of it. Then again, that is to be expected." "Hmm, the archive says that there are many brown dwarfs that are in the west/southwest of the Void Eye Empire, maybe you should look there?" "We have already scourged Naakji space extensively." Oji'b said. "But we shall redouble our efforts in that region. I thank you for your coöperation." "Is loyalty a trait regarded highly in Void Eye culture then?" Mikiang'y asked. "Yes, loyalty to its allies is highly appreciated here." Overlord responded. "I see. Then that is why..." She trailed off. "Indeed, we thank you for your coöperation. It has been most unexpected." "Well, goodbye then, we already refueled your spaceship, so you can leave at any moment." "We shall." Mikiang'y gestured to Oji'b. "Come on."

Once onboard the undocked Waptorian ship, her smile vanished. "They seem alright but...This source of Void Energy...We have to tell Brygon about it."

The Strange Transmission
The transmission hit both empires at the same time, traced back to the deep cold space outside of the Milky Way galaxy...

Nirvax'kottar - Uhm... hello? i wish for you to identify yourself! As for me, I am Nirvax'kottar, the Leader of the Dulinket Aristocracy. I lead this empire, and I want to know what your business with us is!

Overlord, leader of the Void Eye Empire - Greetings, unknown alien, I am Overlord of the Void Eye Empire. How can I help you in those dark times?

??? - Call me Vestige. I have heard much about both of you, and wish to commemorate you on your recent friendship. Both of you have been touched by the Void and will be instrumental in its plans to come. I have appeared before you to inform you of this. The hooded stranger looked to Overlord. ??? - Your brother especially. You of all people should know that.

Overlord - Yes, our plans are entering stage 2.

??? - Your recent race has caused quite a stir.

??? - Others are aware of you now. Others who do not take kindly to your plans. You must move quickly.

Overlord - We know this, but it was necessary to do this since we needed help to put our plans in progress and if we didn't, a war would arise sooner or later and without help, we wouldn't stand a chance.

??? - A war will arise now, Overlord. And I am here to help you with it.

Overlord - How can you help us?

??? - The Empty God works in mysterious ways. Needless to say, we will assist and reinforce you when the time comes.

??? - Nirvax'kottar, I regret to inform you that you, too, will be treated by those who are ignorant of the Void's true nature. You too must prepare.

Nirvax'kottar - I see. Well, I will announce that and take all the necessary precautions and preparations.

The figure raised a clawed hand.

??? - Do not do such a thing. Secrecy is our weapon for what meager time we have. Making a public announcement will only alert our enemies. We must lure them into a trap, not invite our own annihilation.

Overlord - Your help would be very important to us. We need to at least survive till our plans are completed.

Nirvax'kottar- well then, minus the announcement, i guess. I will still be preparing, just... Silently.

He turns his mechanical face to a gigantic control panel in the background.

Overlord - But could you please tell us who we will be working with?

The robed figure nodded, and removed his hood, revealing a Volver with vermillion skin.

??? - You already know me from before. Our faction has asked for a base in your system, and I am pleased you allowed it Overlord.

Overlord - Yes, you are our allies after all.

Overlord - First, we need to share our plans with you and our other allies.

??? - We are aware of much already, but the Dulinket might not be.

Nirvax'kottar turns his attention back to the camera.

Nirvax'kottar- All I know is that there will be a fight...

Overlord - Fine, we will send invitations to our allies to discuss our plans. It would be an honor if you would assist us.

The stranger makes a low bow.

??? - We will be at your homeworld when you call us.

With that, the hologram flickers off.

The Secret Meeting
The room was entirely black when the representatives of the four races came. At it's centre, Overlord and Overmind sat at a big round table.

Overlord - Greetings, representatives of our allies, you are probably wondering why I assembled you here...

A vermilion Volver entered the room, covered head to toe in robes which were somewhat embroidered for the occasion. He wore a rebreather mask which deformed his voice, making his identity an enigma to all. True enough, though, it was the individual identified as "Vestige".

The Representative of the Tuechalton came in next, his flowing blue Robe very prominent. He introduced himself as "Tuarlomok".

After, The Dulinket Representative came in, his Huge Eye prominently decorated with a royal-looking eye glass. He refused to state his name, saying it was "none of your business".

This caused a snicker for Vestige. Unknown to all, it was not his true name either. The alien had just gained his respect with his callous boldness.

And then, the Sagantan Communications Director Entered, with a great Crimson Headdress. He called himself "Xartok Xik".

Overmind - We assembled you all here to discuss our plans and why we needed the relics. We had been working on a big project lately, the project to create a construct known as The Gate to the Abyss.

The Dulinket Representative's eye suddenly stared in a thousand-year stare. He looked like he had flashbacks of some sort.

Vestige clasped his hands together and moved his center of mass slightly forwards. He clearly was intrigued.

Overmind - When we discovered ' It ' and gained our Void powers, we saw that ' It ' had a pattern in it, we could say that it was somewhat connected with other Void relics. We soon learned that if we would find all of the other missing parts we would been able to create The Gate to the Abyss. ' It ' in itself was the central part and we have recently acquired 4 other parts. We are now able to create the outer core of it. But there are still 8 more relics that we need to find to finally achieve our goal.

The Tuechalton Representative randomly shouted "We Helped!" He looked slightly embarrassed afterwards.

Overlord - Yes, it's true, you helped us very much.

Overmind - So, as I was saying, to win this battle, we need to find the other 8 relics. Because when The Gate to the Abyss is complete, we will be able to use its power to protect us all, at least for a time.

Overmind - Any questions so far?

The Sagantan Communications Director raised his hand.

Overmind - Yes?

Xartok Xit - So how in the world are we going to find the other 8 Parts? And how will it protect us?

Overlord - To find the other 8 relics we have created the second version of the Void Relic Detection Device, but it will be considerably more difficult because our enemies will try to stop us. It would be able to protect us be creating an essence field around our region that will protect us from any ships that enter.

Vestige - Speed is of the essence then.

Xartok Xik - Sure seems like it.

Overlord - We will then be also able to hide in the Abyss...

Vestige - Unwise.

The Tuechalton Representative - Sounds like a bad idea.

Vestige - Terikalinra rules there for now. He is no ally and would slave us to his will.

Overlord - Hmm, and is there a way possible to free the Abyss of his will?

The Dulinket Representative - Presumably not...

Vestige - Power. The gate to the Abyss will give Ada the needed power.

Overlord - Hmm, an interesting idea, Vestige, but I am afraid that Ada could create more suffering than help.

Vestige - Intriguing that you say so while being able to call upon the Void. Mind your plans - Ada and the Abyss are connected. They cannot be separated. And while he is not, shall we say, currently himself, he can be vengeful when you insult him like that.

Overlord - I apologize for my inconvenience, but I meant that if he is freed, he would lay waste to all the empires that opposed him.

Tuarlomok - Wow, what a big surprise.

Vestige - That is why you should consider your plans carefully. Constructing the Gate to the Abyss might empower us, but will also empower Ada.

Overlord - It can give Ada the enough power to free himself only if The Gate to the Abyss is overcharged, but not in a normal state. But, when the construction is complete we could scare the opposing races that if they won't stop attacking us, we will free Ada.

Vestige - A bold plan nevertheless. Let us hope your calculations are correct, which I have little doubt about.

Overlord - We will see that soon, but the problem now is that someone must first find the 8 remaining relics.

Vestige - The chaos of the war will see to that.

Xartok Xik - Should we search for them? We'd have sufficient Spaceships and so. Although, maybe on second thought... The Dulinket Representative - How about us?

Overlord - Yes, both of you can search for the relics while the other ones focus on the war, how about that?

The Dulinket Representative - Sounds Great! I'll write a memo.

He pulls out a piece of paper and starts writing notes.

Vestige - We of not best served on open combat. Searching for the relics, on the other hand, will be of little problem to our guerillias.

Overmind - Fine, the Dulinket and Vestige will search for relics. Tuarmolok and Xartok Xik, can you help us with the war?

Xartok Xik - We've been itching for an opportunity to test our Weaponry. Sure!

Tuarlomok - Sure, why not.

He pulls out a weird communications Device and starts talking.

Overlord - Good, do you have any questions then?

Vestige shook his head.

Tuarlomok and Xartok Xit both said "Nope" at the same time.

Overlord turned his head to the Dulinket Representative. After waiting ten seconds he stood up and continued. Overlord - Good, then this meeting has officially ended.

Vestige stood up, bowed low, turned around and left.

Tuarlomok and Xartok Xit stood up and left as well. The Dulinket Representative took a while to realize that the Meeting was over, and left 2 minutes later.