Fall of Mobile

It came unexpectedly.

None had prepared nor imagined that such a thing would happen. The Vrang people had been celebrating the destruction of their long-time rivals, the Kryptonians. Drunk and full of food, they struggled to mount a proper defence against the being that attacked their planet.

It moved faster than any ship. Possessed enough strength to throw even the largest of interstellar ships across the far reaches of space. Was capable of tanking thousands of energy rounds without receiving so much as a scratch. Beams of red-hot energy that lanced out from its eyes would cut through ships with ease, the vacuum of space sucking out the inhabitants of the ship into the harsh abyss.

It arrived first at the far reaches of Kryptonian Space.

The large Vrang fleet that had been prepared for another invasion into the Kryptonian Space entered to find their rivals dead. The Sector of space was abandoned, and they took it over with ease. Yet mere weeks after the report of their successful conquest, days later, they received no further communication.

In order to check up on what happened, a scouting fleet was dispatched, diverted from its original course into Graxosian Space, their next determined area of conquest before the Green Lanterns could intervene. Yet, when the scout fleet arrived, the military overseers of the Vrangs listened to the jarring report of their scout fleet being destroyed in a matter of seconds by an unknown enemy. An enemy that mere days later, was reportedly entering their own sector of space.

They dispatched another large fleet but that received the same fate as all the others, but this time they gained a proper image of their enemy. A single being, one clad in light grey armour that seemed impervious to damage and a flowing red cape that looked tattered and torn.

A figure with black hair, a scruffy black beard and bright blue eyes that would glow a deep red before it unleashed those beams of energy. A figure, that upon looking closer, was one they recognised.

A figure that had fought against them time and time again, halted their advances and was responsible for some of the biggest and most embarrassing military failures in their history.

Tah-Zod, Commander of the Spear of Rao, servant and son of General Dru-Zod.

"Recall all our fleets!" One military advisor exclaimed panicking. "We can't allow the Kryptonian to get any closer to us."

"Emperor, we must get you off this planet!" Another suggested.

"He can't go, he'll be seen as a coward!"

Arguments filled the room, the Vrang Emperor, Lylk rubbed his brow tiredly. His aged and scarred face twisted into a frown as he watched his advisors try to find a way to solve their current situation. Up ahead, the sound of their ships firing upon the Kryptonian Tah-Zod filled their ears. Sometimes their palace was rocked by explosions that got a little too close, the shockwave causing them to all shake violently.

"Enough!" Lylk shouted, silencing their arguments. "If we recall our fleets from other sectors then we will be inviting the Viltrumites and the Citadel to invade our own Empire. We cannot allow that to happen! We must stop the Kryptonian here and now with what forces we…"

A boom sounded, the palace and themselves rocked with the most violent shaking dropping them all to the ground. Numerous more explosions sounding overhead before the ceiling above them broke and fell, debris and rocks falling to the ground, crushing those beneath it.

Vrang guards rushed forwards, guns raised as the dust slowly began to settle.

Leaning forwards, Lylk looked out, trying to see through the smoke and the first thing to be clearly seen as the glowing red eyes. It was a sight that from the images, the remaining advisors had seen many times and they knew what it meant.

"Open fire!" One cried, dozens of energy rounds zooming across the room and striking the figure. But then lances of red energy shot out, cutting through the bodies of the guards and a few more advisors, those left untouched being the closest to Lylk and his throne.

As soon as the energy beams appeared, they disappeared, and footsteps filled the room. "Emperor Lylk." Tah-Zod intoned as he stepped into full view. "I suggest you surrender yourself and your empire to me." Those words sent a ripple of shock throughout the room, all looking from Tah-Zod to Lylk in shock, waiting to see what the reaction would be.

-X- Line Break -X-

Things had not been easy for me.

After my fight with Doomsday and the instinctive use of what I later realised was a Solar Flare, the act of expelling all the yellow sun radiation within my cells in a singular blast. I had been left injured and struggling to recover. Yet lucky for me, the Solar Flare seemed to have completely dispersed the thick cloud of ash surrounding the planet overhead allowing me to bathe freely within the comfort and warmth of the yellow sun, enriching my cells.

Days, weeks, months.

I honestly lost track of how long I spent bathing within that light till I eventually made a move. First I scoured what remained of the Kryptonian ships, all had been severely damaged and were unflyable, so I stripped them down and placed them within Bertron's laboratory. I then scoured the laboratory for any valuable information or technology, but all of it had been damaged and most frustratedly of all, the yellow sun machine was destroyed as well.

A fact that I had forgotten until I came across its broken pieces.

Bertron himself seemed to have been killed, no doubt at the hands of his own creation. So, I kept what I had there, a storage space that I would return to one day once I gathered the resources necessary to recreate some of the technology within. But to do that, I needed not only material resources, I also needed the minds and the manpower to complete it.

I was an intelligent man, had been designed that way. Yet for so long my intelligence had been directed towards military tactics and war. Certainly, I was capable of grasping the intricacies of science and so on, I just had no desire to do so. But that was not a mentality I could afford to have, that much I knew.

So I spent my time, studying the technology Bertron had created, trying to find out what bits I could create with the scraps I had on hand. It was very little, nor very useful. All I was capable of doing was rebuilding and modifying the various containment systems Bertron had in place to stop Doomsday from going on a rampage. I myself modified them in order to act in a way to keep unwanted guests out.

It was not an impenetrable storage area, but it was also dangerous enough to keep all but the most stubborn, powerful and smartest out.

As I did all this, I also considered my options for what to do next. First, I needed manpower, enough that they could mine the resources necessary to come up with the technology I wanted. And I had the perfect option in mind.

The Vrangs.

They were a war-like race who rapidly reproduced, creating trillions within the space of a matter of years. Far more than many other races and so, made war their culture and society in order to ensure that they could feed their rapidly expanding numbers. Also, considering that war was costly in the number of lives that could be lost, it also helped to keep their population under control.

They were the perfect race to satisfy my need for manpower, plus it was poetic in the fact that I would rule Krypton's long-time rivals. So, I prepared for it, crafting armour from the bones of the Proto-Doomsdays in the sun. It was the only thing that produced enough heat, combined with my heat vision in order to create a melting point. Then it was a simple matter of taking this melted bone and crafting it into armour.

It certainly wasn't as easy as I made it sound, but I was skipping over the needless details. And that's how I set out, entering Krypton's space in hopes to possibly find some measure of society.

There hadn't, which I expected.

By this point, so soon after Zod's failed coup d'état Krypton would be destroyed. Perhaps if I had arrived before its destruction and could save it, but I hadn't held out hope. I was proved right when I came across the debris that had once been Krypton.

I would admit, I was saddened by the sight. That had been my home for many years, more so than my previous home in the old world had been. But I moved on, maybe taking out my emotions upon the Vrang fleet I had happened upon. And the next, and the next and the next till I eventually found myself at their home plant of Mobile.

"Emperor Lylk." I faced the most difficult resistance here at Mobile which was to be expected. But much like all who had come to stop me, it proved to be no match for me. "I suggest you surrender yourself and your empire to me."

It was a challenge.

A call for a duel.

One that would enable a new Emperor of the Vrang Empire. They were a militaristic people, determining their Emperor based upon who was the strongest. Lylk had ruled for decades, the longest-reigning Emperor and Vrang history. More famous than even myself and Zod, now I couldn't really allow that to continue.

I don't even know if it would work, but I'm pretty sure that even if it doesn't, I could bring the Vrangs to heel without the recognition that would come from the duel. "What say you?" I asked. "I'd rather not wipe out an entire race, but I'm prepared to do so if that's what it takes."

Lylk rose up, marching down the stairs till he came to a stop before me. He was smaller, only reaching up to my chest, making him the tallest amongst his race. "Very well, but just physicality. No technology, no armour, no weapons, no energy beams."

"By all means." Undoing my armour, I let it drop to the floor with a resounding clang. It wouldn't matter much, even without it I would be durable enough to withstand the destruction of a planet, at least I think. I wasn't sure if my powers had developed to such an extent, and I wasn't really in the mood to find out anytime soon.

And then Lylk threw a fist, striking me in the chest with surprising strength. Despite their small size, Vrangs were not only resilient but quite strong. Yet to me, it felt like nothing more than a love tap.

I responded by swinging my arm around.

The speed, the strength and the positioning of my arm meant it cut Lylk horizontally in half. The top half of his body flying across the room and splattering against the wall, bursting into blood and gore. The bottom half remained standing, rocking before collapsing to the ground with a wet splat.

Flicking my hand, removing the blood that had gotten on to it and looked to the Vrangs who had seen their Emperor being killed in such a fashion. "So then, do I have to kill more of you?" Picking my armour up and putting it back on, I looked back to them. "Or is that enough?"

The Vrangs looked to one another, a silent, unspoken conversation passing between them before one by one, they dropped to their knees. Smirking, I marched forwards, hands clasped behind my back and climbed the stairs to the throne. As I got closer, it was smaller than I would have liked, but it'd make do for now. Turning around I sat down, laying one leg over the side of the chair and resting my cheek upon a fist.

"Send a message to every corner of the Vrang Empire, inform them of that they have a new Emperor, Tah-Rao."