Anissa

Anissa didn't know what had happened, the man who had led the Vrangs was certainly not part of their ilk. He was tall, muscular and above all else, he was strong. The armour he wore was sharp, formed of an unknown material that cut her skin with ease. She hadn't known what to expect but the orders from Conquest were clear, annihilate the Vrang fleet.

Initially, Anissa had thought she'd drawn the short straw. The Vrang fleet was small in comparison to its usual size. Nor did they possess weapons that would be capable of actually killing a Viltrumite instantly.

She possessed the durability to tank hundreds if not thousands of energy rounds, survive the explosions of ships and continue on like nothing was wrong. So in the beginning, Anissa had not been happy to be given the task of dealing with this fleet while Conquest and Lucan arced round intent on attacking the Vrang homeworld, Mobile.

Neither side would have a particularly difficult task, but at least attacking Mobile would mean facing a large Vrang fleet that would no doubt be defending it.

Or at least that's what she had thought.

Imagine her surprise when upon destroying the flagship of the Vrang Fleet, it was to find that someone had survived. Quite a handsome man as well, one that came out of the explosion without so much as a scratch. He was durable and so, Anissa had decided to test just how much.

What followed was a showcase of strength she hadn't experienced since her first and last training session with Conquest. The final blow he struck actually made her blackout momentarily, the two weeks worth of air she had stored in her lungs rushing out of her open mouth as she suffocated in the vacuum of space. The strength of that blow was one she had only experienced once, it was a level of strength that marked the strongest of Viltrumites.

This man was strong.

Yet he didn't kill her, he had the right. She was weak and he was strong, so what did he intend to do to her? Did he intend to take her? To mate with her? To be honest, she wouldn't mind that, he was strong and handsome, their children would also be strong. But in turn, he was an enemy to the Viltrum Empire. If she bore his child she'd be seen as a traitor and killed by the Grand Regent Thragg or Conquest.

Quite the conundrum she found herself in, wasn't it?

She couldn't escape, he'd proven to be stronger than her and no doubt, he'd be faster as well. Honestly, she'd prefer if he killed her because that was more preferable than being made into a broodmare which is exactly what she'd become once she returned. After the Scourge Virus ravaged their race, reducing their numbers from the thousands that survived the civil war, that many had taken to calling the Culling to just a few hundred, there'd been a lot of things that changed.

Women were spared so long as they became broodmares and that's exactly what they became, walking baby factories needed to revive their race. Anissa was one of the lucky few that proved to be more valuable on the battlefield than on her back used for men's pleasure. Plus she was quite a terrifying figure in her own right, many men too afraid to even attempt to mate with her.

The only ones who could attempt to do so were Conquest and Thragg, they were the only men strong enough to make her submit. But Conquest held no interest in such a thing and Thragg was similar.

But after her failure in what was deemed to be an easy assignment, well her standing in the Viltrum Empire would be lowered massively. Her punishment no doubt be to serve the Viltrum Empire as a glorified broodmare. That was something she didn't really want to do.

So what was she meant to do now? And what did her captor intend to do with her? And speaking of the Devil, the door to her cell opened and in stepped the man himself, a tray of food held in one hand that he deposited upon the end of her cot while placing the stool he held in one hand on the ground, sitting upon it comfortably.

"You gonna fuck me then?" She asked simply.

-X- Line Break -X-

Blinking, I looked to the woman, Anissa across from me in shock. When I came in here that wasn't what I expected and while, yes, I would like to fuck her. I had other matters at this time that were more pressing. Mainly the fact that I had a Viltrum fleet making its way towards Mobile while another was approaching me from the front.

"No," I replied simply, though I'd certainly like to. I also wasn't going to put it past her to try and kill me as she did. She's still a Viltrum and loyal to the empire so it would be best to wait until the Viltrum Empire was mine to rule.

Anissa shrugged. "Shame. What do you want then." She asked, crossing her arms under her chest, drawing attention to them purposefully.

"Tell me, do you know that Grand Regent Thragg has been lying to you this entire time?" I asked and Anissa looked at me in confusion. Honestly, I had forgotten about this initially, but as I had been sat upon the bridge, thinking of how I could turn Anissa to my side, a thought came to me.

A thought of when Anissa and three other Viltrum had defended Nolan by attacking and beating Thragg. It was the discovery that Thragg had kept the secret of Nolan being the son of the previous Grand Regent, Argall and therefore, he was the true ruler of Viltrum. It wasn't a certainty and there was a chance she might not even believe me, but the seeds of doubt would be planted.

That was more than enough for me at this point.

"What are you talking about?" She snapped angrily and I noticed the telltale signs of her explosive anger beginning to form. Closing the distance between us in a blur, I pinned her to the wall with one arm, eyes glowing a bright red.

"I suggest you calm down, Anissa," I warned, my voice low and dangerous and Anissa's eyes widened. More than likely a result of me using her name, something I by all rights shouldn't know.

Releasing her shoulder and letting my eyes die down to their usual calm blue, I sat back upon the stool with an amicable smile. Anissa herself looked to me, shock in her eyes she slowly sat up, looking at me silently. "Who are you?" She asked.

"I go by Tah-Rao now, but I used to go by Tah-Zod."

"Kryptonian." She murmured in surprise, looking at me in a new light.

"So you haven't forgotten what race you once were part of after all," I noted with a smile, that was good news at the very least. Maybe I could use that to my advantage but that was yet to be seen. "But that's not what you really want to ask, is it? You must be curious, what has Thragg been lying to you all about. Your entire race is living and serving a liar."

Anissa was silent, no doubt chewing upon her thoughts before she eventually nodded her head. I didn't reply, simply continuing to look at her imploringly and Anissa rolled her eyes in frustration at that. "What has Thragg been lying about?"

"Do you know why Thragg was named Grand Regent?" I asked and again, Anissa's frustrations were clear to see. But she didn't act out again, the frustration she felt at having her questions answered with another question was getting to her. Which was good, while her explosive anger could cause problems, I had already proven able to beat her. In turn, it would cloud her judgement and reveal more than she would have done initially.

All it took was a little work.

"He survived the Culling, was named Grand Regent for his strength and was tasked with finding Argall's heir," Anissa replied, knowing the full details of events because she was there when it happened. Did it bother me that she was thousands of years old and I wasn't even in my twenties, hardly. "What's your point?"

"Well don't you find it strange that Thragg hasn't found Argall's heir despite your numbers being so small?" I responded and while I wasn't sure for certain, it was best to take a wild guess and hope for the best. This world wasn't exactly the same as its comic book counterpart so there was no doubt going to be differences. The incident with Doomsday proved as much.

"So?"

"I'm simply pointing out that your numbers are so small, if Thragg tried he could find Argall's heir quite easily. So why hasn't he? Is it because Argall's heir is dead? Or maybe, it is because Thragg doesn't want to find Argall's heir? Maybe he likes the power he has and doesn't want to give it up?" I posed and Anissa scoffed.

She wasn't convinced that much was obvious, not like I expected much else. "You've just answered your own question. If Thragg hasn't found the heir it's because the heir is dead. Simple as that."

"I'm not so sure about that," I replied. "There's a Viltrum, he goes by quite the odd name, Nolan. He bears quite the striking resemblance to Argall, but it's no surprise none of you recognises it. He's part of expansion efforts so he hasn't been on Viltrum for quite some time. But to me, I find it quite difficult to believe that Thragg, a close confidant of Argall didn't recognise the man. Especially after Nolan's many achievements over the centuries."

Rising from my seat, I pushed the plate towards Anissa and went to exit the room. But before, I did I passed along just a few extra words.

"Just something to think about."

-X- Line Break -X-

Stood upon the bridge, Anissa gripped her arm tightly as she watched the battle unfold before her eyes. She'd heard the battle from her cells but before she could even think of doing anything, there'd be a dull hum that sounded throughout, something that in an instant caused her body to explode with pain.

She'd screamed and screamed, gripping her bleeding ears in an attempt to silence the noise but nothing had happened. Vaguely she had been aware of two Vrangs dragging her out of her cell and to the bridge.

As soon as she had left the cell and gotten further away from it, the frequency dulled and the pain lessened. She'd still been dazed, unable to do anything as she tried to recover from the blinding pain that's had gripped every fibre of her being. But the moment she recovered some of her faculties she'd gone on a rampage.

Every Vrang on the ship was killed and she came to the bridge, intent on seeing what was happening. Yet upon doing so she was left stunned upon what she saw. The Kryptonian Tah-Zod or Tah-Rao as he called himself was floating towards her ship, a defeated General Kregg and Thula held in his hands. Both were battered, bruised and beaten, Tah himself had a few bruises upon his face, a long cut upon his cheek. But he was relatively unharmed.

Behind him, the Viltrum fleet was in ruins, the Vrang fleet firing upon the last remaining ships, destroying them. It was a slaughter and once again, Tah-Rao had emerged victorious.

Anissa knew then that were perhaps only two people that could stand a chance against the Kryptonian. Conquest or Thragg and she didn't know how a fight like that would go. Moving back as Tah floated through the smashed window - a result of her slaughter of the ship's inhabitants - his boots made a noticeable sound as they rested upon the floor.

Thula and Kregg collapsed onto the ground, still alive, she could hear their heartbeats. He never said a word, just moved past her and out into the hallway, the doorway opening with a hiss before closing.