Beyond The Impossible

Phlios, 45,000 light-years from Earth

Over the centuries, many gods have claimed ownership of Phlios. Located very near the border of the Hera sector, it’s always been too useful to be significantly damaged in the struggle between gods. Under the rule of Hermes it served as an important commercial hub, and that status hasn’t changed now that Hebe is technically the ruler of the Phlios system.

Interstellar commerce came to a screeching halt two weeks ago, however, when dozens of pyramid-shaped starships appeared out of nowhere: the system is now littered with the scraps of what used to be a sizeable mercantile fleet.

Only one ship dares to approach the Egyptian invaders. Its hull is entirely decorated in gold, something that should identify its owner as a god, but it’s very small for a deity’s vessel.

It is immediately surrounded by ten ships, each one fully capable of destroying it with one shot; all they are waiting for is the word of the man sitting on the captain’s chair of the largest ship.

<This is Admiral Sekhemkare, commander of the Supreme-Glory-of-Sobek. Identify yourself.>

<I am Princess Hebe of Olympus. Requesting permission to come aboard to discuss the terms of surrender.> is the answer coming from the other ship.

<Very well; it appears this galaxy is civilized after all. Permission granted, lower the shields.> the Admiral concedes, gesturing towards his crewmember.

Seconds later, a blonde girl in a simple white dress appears in front of the Egyptian; the Admiral is uncertain of how light-skinned humans age in this galaxy, but she appears to be twenty years old.

<Welcome aboard, Princess. I am sure your former subjects will appreciate your willingness to end things so quickly.>

<I’m afraid I don’t understand, Admiral. What do you mean with “former”?>

<Princess… Lady Nephthys might show mercy because of your surrender, but she certainly won’t let you keep any worlds to rule.>

<You mean you don’t… oh, I’m terribly sorry! Did I… wasn’t I… clear? You thought I was going to surrender? I’m so sorry!> Hebe nervously apologizes, biting her fingers and utterly confusing the crew who exchange puzzled looks.

<What is this trickery? Scan the system! She must be hiding her fleet!> the Admiral orders, but one of the officers confirms what he already knew:

<No other ships detected. And the gold ship appears to be unarmed.>

<These are the terms of your surrender: no Egyptian forces will cross into my sector, and I will not retaliate for the aggression against my subjects.> Hebe calmly explain.

<And why should I listen to a goddess with no ships? Security, seize her!> the Admiral orders; two muscular officers holding guns approach her, getting close enough to grab her arms.

<Ships are useless without a crew.> Hebe notes. The officers suddenly feel weak and collapse to the floor, shrinking beneath their uniforms. The admiral watches the rest of his crew do exactly the same: in a few seconds, the cries of children arise from throughout the ship.

Hebe kneels to get a baby out of the pile of clothes that used to belong to a security officer.

<Now there’s only one adult for each of your ships. That should be enough to pilot them.> she says, coddling the infant; the admiral tries to reach for his weapon, but considering his body is now 120 years old even Hebe is able to disarm him with ease.

<I am the source of all youthfulness. You’ll get yours back once you leave my sector. Otherwise, you’re welcome to stay… you only have a few hours to live, but your soldiers will get a second chance in twenty years or so. What will it be?> she calmly asks while slowly putting the child back on the floor. Reluctantly, the admiral presses a button on his command chair.

<This is Admiral Sekhemkare to all units… fall back.>

<Thank you for your cooperation. Have a nice day.> Hebe replies, nodding politely as she teleports away.

 

Thera, undisclosed location in the Athena sector

Thousands of years ago, one of the two stars of the binary system of Thera collapsed into a black hole. The cosmic monster is orbited at a considerable distance by a much smaller star, technically speaking a red dwarf: it will take millions of years before the black hole can devour it. The dwarf itself is orbited by a dead world: Thera.

It’s been ages since Thera had a stable population, and its surface has been ransacked countless times to recover as much technology as possible. The very few people who still remember its existence consider Thera a dead world.

<You’re giving me a whole planet!?> Noriko Null exclaims, leaving her travel bag on the floor and running towards the environmental controls that shield this underground installation from the hellish conditions of the rest of the planet.

<I had the site evacuated a century ago; it’s just gathering dust at this point. But it has a fully functional and automated nanobot factory. And since it’s been officially de-commissioned by High Command, it reverted to being my personal property; I can just write it off as a personal expense and the Senate won’t need to know it.> a hologram of Athena calmly explains.

<This is insanely cool. I assume you’ll want it back once the war is over?>

<You can keep it, I have no use for it anymore. I’m sorry I couldn’t let you work at the Central Federal Shipyard; both the Senate and High Command are too skeptical about you.>

<That’s okay, I work better alone.>

<You work a little too well when you’re alone, Noriko. I assigned someone to make sure you don’t just build another God Eraser.> Athena warns her, disconnecting her holographic projection and at the same time teleporting someone else into the room. Noriko expects to see Nike, Athena’s right-hand goddess; but when the materialization is completed, she rolls her eyes at Dmitry Voron.

<Of course. Of all the billions of people working for her, she just had to choose you.>

<She probably thought you wouldn’t be intimidated by me. Especially since I technically work for you as well.> the Russian scientist points out.

<And the fact that you’re my ex-boyfriend had nothing to do with it?>

<We’re talking about Athena, I doubt she’s ever had a boyfriend.>

<Whatever. Look, Dmitry, we can be professional right? We’re here to figure out a way to stop this war before it gets out of hand, not for… whatever it is you’re trying to do, okay?>

<I agree. Shall we begin?>

<Way ahead of you.> she responds, loading the schematics of the factory. Voron just nods and studies the console interface, figuring out how to operate it within seconds.

<Okay, I’ll admit it, I kind of missed working together.> she confesses.

<I recall you being annoyed by my inability to keep up with you.> he answers.

<I might’ve been, uhm, slightly bit##y about it, yeah. For what it’s worth, I apologize: I’ve had the chance to work with someone as smart as me, and it wasn’t any easier.>

<Someone as smart as you?> Dmitry asks incredulously.

<You wouldn’t know him. He’s dead.> she clarifies, deciding it’s better not to tell him that the ghost of Diomedes is currently living inside her head. She then changes the subject:

<If I read this correctly, and I’m sure I do, the factory works like a 3-D printer with atomic precision; all I need to do is load the schematics of whatever I want to build.>

<We could build a real fleet of Ragnarok ships.> Voron notes.

<I don’t think we can beat the Egyptians with raw numbers. I’ll have to think of something else.>

 

Thesprotia, Zeus sector

Like most people in this part of the Galaxy, the locals have never seen a god. Even if Zeus hasn’t shown up on the planet for thousands of years, since it’s technically under his direct supervision no other god has had the courage to visit Thesprotia, let alone tried to conquer it.

Mortals still live without much technology; in fact, someone from Earth might as well confuse it with Ancient Greece if it wasn’t for the very sporadic use of electrical devices.

Of course this changed when flying pyramids appeared in the sky. Thanks to its position in the Zeus sector, Thesprotia is the perfect base of operation for a sizeable portion of the Egyptian fleet.

One of the pyramids is currently floating above the main temple of Zeus, and two very different beings fly out of it. One of them is a humanoid with the head of a crocodile; the other one is a dark-skinned woman who looks very sick and emaciated.

<This galaxy is a disappointment. Nephthys promised me a glorious war, but these primitives haven’t even discovered spaceflight.> the crocodile laments.

<Patience, Sobek, patience. Olympus wasn’t built in a day, so it’s fitting its fall will take time.> the woman answers, landing a little before her Egyptian ally. They are met by a very large congregation of locals, kneeling before them. An old man is the first one to talk to her:

<Welcome to Thesprotia, my lady. How may we serve the gods?>

<You’re an Oracle of Zeus, aren’t you?>

<I have that privilege, yes.>

<Give me your most attractive woman.> she orders. The old man doesn’t waste any time and calls one of his many followers, a prosperous and scantily clad redhead.

<As Zeus commanded: “Thou shalt welcome hot chicks in thine household”.> the oracle recites.

<Delightful.> she answers, and a dark cloud leaves her body. As the strange energy is absorbed by the redhead, her body rapidly ages and decays into dust.

<Ah, much better.> Eris says, checking out the body she’s now possessing.

<You… you are the Cursed Daughter! You are not welcomed here!> the oracle shouts, generating a great deal of electricity in his hands and preparing to blast Eris with it. But before he can do anything, Sobek suddenly and brutally devours his head, decapitating the oracle and spraying the locals with his blood.

<Come on, I just got this body!> Eris protests, trying to wipe the blood of her clothes while the rest of the locals run away as panic spreads rapidly.

<I see no warriors here, but at least Nephthys will have her tribute.> Sobek says after swallowing the oracle’s head. The poor man’s corpse disappears into a portal, then Eris watches the crocodile god increase his size tenfold.

<You Egyptians and your love of shapeshifting. The planet is yours, Sobek, but leave some women alive for me, okay? I’ll need some spare bodies to change into; I’d say a dozen should be enough, until we take over Olympus.>

<I could eat you as well, Greek. You’re in no condition to fight me.>

<Is eating people your answer to everything? You won’t get far in this galaxy with that attitude, Sobek: my pantheon isn’t as straightforward as yours.>

<You mean it’s weaker.>

<That remains to be seen. Go ahead, get your banquet and gather your strength, then I’ll tell you where you can find a real challenge around here.>

<The fame of your treachery is legendary, Eris. Nephthys may have been fooled by your silver tongue, but I’m keeping my eye on you.>

<Really? What a pity. And I was just about to tell you where you could find the Vanguard.>

<The what?>

<The army of the Slayer of Gods. They say that no god has ever defeated them in battle. Perhaps you could be the one to… no, what am I saying, you wouldn’t stand a chance!>

<You take me for a fool, Eris? I won’t be tricked so easily!>

<No, of course you won’t. You’re much smarter than the other Egyptian war god! I’ll just have to convince Wep-wawet to fight the Vanguard. Who knows, he might even win!>

<I am the one true war god. Wep-wawet is nothing compared to me!>

<Absolutely! It just breaks my heart to think that, if he defeats the Vanguard before you get the chance, the mortals are so gullible that they’ll start to think that Wep-wawet is the superior god.>

<I won’t let you spread rumors against me, Eris. Where is this Vanguard you speak of?>

Eris smiles. Sometimes being the goddess of discord is just too easy.

<Not so quickly, Sobek. Let’s first talk about my price for giving you this information…>