1 Prelude 1: Betrayal

A city lay in ruins. In the center of what was once a bustling intersection existed a twenty-meter-tall glowing oblong shape, seemingly made of shimmering light. Despite the daylight, it seemed to cast a surreal electric blue shade over the nearby blown out buildings and wreckage. With a soft humming noise, a blurred silhouette flew down the street and lit upon the ground near the gently pulsating dimension distortion.

"Salthuin is due soon," a feminine voice echoed through the blasted land. A woman stood there in silver armor that appeared as if it would be more at home in the fourteenth century. Only the subtle lack of joints and seams and the form-fitting style would place it as something not belonging to that era. Of course, in the backdrop of a modern city she was clearly even more out of place. "Be sure to mop up any survivors before he arrives."

"What about the children?" A gruff voice sounded in her ear.

"It is their misfortune to be at our invasion point," she replied coldly. "Once we have a base set up we can start sending the natives back for indoctrination and conversion. You know this. Why are you asking?"

"Salthuin..."

"The General has an unfortunate sympathy for children," she calmly berated her unseen companion. In the sky jet planes could be seen approaching from a distance. "You know that the protocols require this. You can best serve him by making sure he doesn't have to issue this command personally."

"As you wish." In the distance, explosions could be heard. The woman nodded in approval as fresh plumes of smoke and debris were ejected into the atmosphere.

"We have visitors. It looks like the natives are slightly more advanced than we thought. It appears to be jet-propelled aircrafts. Eliminate them and clear the city's perimeter. The nano forge will need a bit of peace to build us a new home."

"Jets? Our information seems to be a bit off. They were supposed to be at the propeller stage." Light lanced up from a distant building, briefly connecting to the incoming aircraft. Immediately it was bisected, both pieces continuing forward in a graceful descending arc.

"It doesn't matter. They haven't even gotten to their satellite. Our squad should be adequate to deal with anything short of a Class 3 civilization." She gave a snort of disdain.

"Well, they haven't gotten to their moon yet, let alone colonized the stellar system," the man's voice paused. "They are using a narrow part of the electromagnetic spectrum. No real encryption. Even our onboard AI's can read it."

"Find out if they plan to send more fodder our way. If not, gather the team to meet the General. He's already late."

"Husk one through five have already downed all hostiles incoming." As she listened she moved to a large pile of boxes near the portal. Each one had a metallic grey shimmer. Extending her hand, she silently communicated with the nano forge's stunted AI, setting up the final procedures needed to turn the city's ruin into a military fortress. "Looks like the locals are retreating or the moment. They are gathering at a local military base. They should be occupied with trying to sort out what happened for a few hours. I will tag the location on the map. We can send an energy pulse to clear them once the base is established. Calling the team to rendezvous at the portal."

Within minutes figures flew to the glowing disturbance. Ten of the figures wore armor similar to the first woman's. The light scrape of metal on stone was the only sound they made. Moments later fifty larger forms flew through the streets to land with meaty thuds. These forms were humanoid; however, they were not remotely human. Each stood three meters tall. They did not wear armor, rather metal was laced through their flesh and lined the surface of their skin with conduits. Their surface of swollen flesh and fluidic metal was disturbing to those that were not inured to the presence of such soldiers. These were husks.

Eleven figures in silver faced the portal and with movements displaying long practice they knelt to one knee in unison. The deformed husks formed a perimeter, perfectly circling the dimensional opening. They waited in silence.

Ten minutes passed before the energy fluctuations surged and pulsed, causing the opening to expand another few meters. Moments later a figure stepped out. Unlike his silver clad companions, he simply wore a chest plate and smaller plates spotted his form, covering most of the vital points of his body. The plates were molded into a material that was black and smooth in texture. His face was slim and austere, his mouth a thin line.

"Welcome Salthuin." The eleven people shouted in unison. The man's face tightened further.

Behind him, the portal suffered another pulse and a floating cart the size of a bus gradually came through. The eyes of the troupe widened slightly. This was new. In all their campaigns the nano forge was all the support equipment that was provided. It was all they needed.

"I'm late," he announced grimly as his eyes swept the devastated landscape. "For the last time."

"It matters not, my lord," the first woman replied proudly from her kneeling position. "I took the opportunity to finish clearing the area and preparing the forge. We can begin immediately."

"Of course, you did, Sylvia," he nodded absently to himself. "You are very efficient. Worthy of your title."

"When would you..." the woman's eyes paused on the new equipment. At the top was positioned a squat hexagon with a dome on top. An iridescent liquid circulated inside, a vague outline of a brain could be seen. "Why is a Prime Calculator here?"

"Where else would I be, my dear mother," a disembodied voice seemed to emanate from the very air.

"Override all communication, Aluin," the general calmly stated. "Start the recorded scenario."

A ghostly image overlay the surrounding. The image began superimposed on the surrounding and included the soldiers kneeling. Off in the distance massive arrow shaped ships began to descend, breaking through the cloud cover. As it moved forward and more of its length was exposed it became clear exactly how massive it was. Like the tip of an iceberg most of it remained hidden.

"This... this is rebellion, Salthuin," stuttered the kneeling woman. Her previous assurance and grace were gone. Only shock and dismay were left. She stood abruptly. A ghostly image of her also stood, however, it faced to the image of the ship and gestured to the soldiers around her. Ethereal images of them stood and faced the phantom enemy. The real men still knelt, unsure of what was going on but knowing something of immense proportions was happening. "Think this through Salthuin! The Emperor cannot be betrayed. It's unthinkable."

"What's unthinkable is that the Emperor has laid waste to countless worlds. Killed countless men, women, and children," he paused as his glance swept over the husks. "And transformed the rest. They took our child."

"It was a sacrifice I was proud to make," protested the woman. Her phantom flew upward towards the translucent ship with all of the soldiers flying in a crescent formation around her. Beams of light shot from their hands only to break on an invisible barrier well away from the ship's surface.

"I wasn't."

"General, are you truly betraying the Emperor?" the man who had been relaying Sylvia's orders called out in a shaking voice.

"Can you truly betray someone who has betrayed you first," Salthuin muttered absently. "So be it. Yes. The Emperor must die if the human race is to live. He is a disease that must be cut out."

"Strong words for a mere General. To think, we worshipped you," sneered the kneeling soldier. "Traitors must die!"

"Gren, stop," called out Sylvia.

The armored man ignored her and raced forward to attack the General. A flicker of motion and the scene changed. The man was frozen with his arms outstretched. He was staring at his chest where an arm pierced through up to an elbow. Then he stared uncomprehendingly at the face of his commander.

"I'm sorry it's come to this," Salthuin stated calmly as he pulled his arm back. The dead man slid to the ground, eyes staring sightlessly into the sky. "I'd ask you to join me but I know exactly how effective the conditioning is."

"Poor fool," Sylvia said quietly staring at her dead subordinate. "The power of the Emperor has transformed the Generals into veritable gods." She looked into Salthuin's eyes helplessly. "How could you do this to us?"

"It's for the greater good, mother," the bodiless voice reverberated once more. "Isn't that what you told yourself?"

"How did you even recover Alduin's personality? It's not supposed to be possible."

"I... have been preparing for this for a very long time," he said haltingly, staring into the face of the woman. "Since our world was taken and we were converted, in fact."

"How can you even think to resist the Emperor? He is our everything. Are you mad?"

"Perhaps," he paused and then continued sadly. "You could join me. I have a plan. It's a good one. I am not sure how much of chance we would have, but I believe it's better than anyone before."

"Father, you know it's pointless," the sourceless voice interjected.

"You were the most brilliant general in his armies," Sylvia's broken voice called out. "In all the dimensions no others were given so much. No others were able to give him as much. I hope you burn in Hell."

"I'm sorry. No doubt I will."

In the air, the ship was firing its own lance of illusory energies. Each one several meters wide. Upon touching armored apparitions flying up to meet it, they would shimmer and vanish like a soap bubble too long exposed to the air. As each one disappeared the corresponding kneeling knight convulsed and dies. Gradually only the phantom of Sylvia remained.

"You're using the Emperor's kill switch to simulate an attack by the Rebels. You never even planned to spar me."

"Alduin and I would have thought of a way to save you if you could have overcome your conditioning." Emotion choked his voice as he continued. "Goodbye. I'm sorry."

In the sky, a final beam of light flickered out from the ship and speared through the final phantom. By the portal the woman fell limply to the earth, convulsed for a few seconds before laying deathly still.

"So sorry," the man whispered to himself. A moment later he shook his head as he braced himself and faced the portal.

"This is General Salthuin," he reported flatly. "Preliminary information was false. There is a major Rebel infestation here. They have set up a dimensional reverberation tower in the area. Retreat in impossible. I am initiating Pyric Protocols. This will leave this planet uninhabitable and the dimensional fabric unstable for at least thirty years. Long live the Emperor!"

"Very good acting father," Alduin's voice echoed. "I have finished sending the last of the recorded scenario. They should believe that the Rebels came and killed everyone. The biolock recordings will support this. Beginning dimensional reverberation feedback. We have at least thirty years to prepare."

"Almost everything is according to plan," Salthuin said grimly as he looked out at the city, doing the best he could to avoid looking at the corpses scattered around him.

"It couldn't be helped," Alduin's reminded him. "Moving the supplies took longer than expected. Although the additional loss of life is unfortunate, projections show that this improves the outcome of negotiations with the local governments."

"Great. Let me know when they get close. I'll... just sit here and wait." Salthuin, slowly walked over to the cubes of silvery metal that made up the nano forge components. Feeling very old, he sat down and waited. His only companions a brain and the dead around him.