Beyond The Impossible

Parthenos, 80,000 light-years from Earth

Athenian High Command Headquarters, city of Glaucos

News of Athena’s defeat at the hands of Noriko Null has spread like wildfire.

While the crew of the Aegis II was not supposed to transmit the recording, billions of people across both the Athenian Federation and the larger Olympian Empire have already witnessed it.

The thirty High Generals have now gathered to weather the storm; in absence of Athena, they are the highest authority of the Athenian Federation.

Leading this council is High General Promachos, a black woman in her mid-seventies who has served in the Athenian Fleet longer than anyone else present.

<Lady Athena is not answering any of our calls and prayers. Until such time we are informed otherwise, we shall consider her dead or under enemy control: under the provisions of the Athenian Divine Constitution, Seventh Amendment, High Command shall act as the supreme authority of the Athenian Federation.> she establishes.

<What about Nike?> another General asks.

<Lady Nike was relieved from her duties towards the Federation in order to become the ruler of the Winter Kingdom. The fact that she was deposed from her throne does not restore her relationship to the Federation.> Promachos clarifies.

<But we are still part of the Empire. We swore an oath to our Empress.> is another objection.

<The Federation is a vassal to the Olympian Empire, yes, but it has not been dissolved. We have our duties and we shall follow them; if any of you no longer wishes to serve, please present your resignation before we continue.>

You could hear a pin drop in the following thirty seconds. Then Promachos resumes.

<I will admit that the situation is dire. The Aegis II is under enemy control, and I have received several reports of multiple crews… even entire battalions… mutiny against their commanders.>

<We must restore order within our troops!> one General yells.

<Without the support of the ships from the other vassal realms, we don’t have the resources to occupy the whole Galaxy.> another one adds.

<We never had. This war was fool’s errand.>

<Blasphemy!> more than one General shouts.

<The war’s beginning is not under discussion: we are here to decide how to continue it and how to end it. What are our options?> Promachos asks. She receives multiple answers at once, with several voices overlapping with each other.

<Full scale assault!>

<Enough with subtle strategy, let us burn those inferior planets to the ground!>

<How? We don’t have ways to get past the enemy’s intangibility shields!>

<If we attack, we open ourselves to Null’s retaliation! Let’s recall all our ships here!>

<Let’s use the hostages.> High General Rellim suggests.

Everyone else stares at him. A middle-aged man with a receding hairline and prominent bulging eyes, he’s often been critical of Athena’s involvement with the rest of the Galaxy… when she is not in the room.

<We have Null’s father and sister in custody. Null must be made aware of what will happen to them if she sets foot in the Federation.> Rellim proposes, much to Promachos’s disdain.

<We will do no such thing. We are Athenians, not barbarians like Ares worshippers. We shall behave ourselves like civilized beings and follow the rules of…>

The High General doesn’t finish her thoughts, on the account of having her head explode from within once instantly superheated by microwaves.

<And you call these a war council? Just a pathetic bunch of politicians.> Rei Null complains, holding a smoking Terror Gun. Or rather, all five duplicates of Rei.

None of the High General can recognize the design of the weapon originally created by Abyss: they barely have a couple of seconds while Rei mercilessly executes them in rapid succession.

High General Rellim looks at the duplicates in shock, witnessing the other twenty-nine Generals being slaughtered. Then four of the five duplicates disappear.

<That was unnecessary. I only needed to fire the others.> Athena comments as she enters the room, more disappointed by the lack of décor of boiling blood staining the carpet than at the brutality.

<Lady Athena… I… I…> General Rellim fails to speak to his goddess, between his fear and his embarrassment at having soiled himself.

<I hereby formally request High Command to authorize the following. First: all Level 1 prisoners must be immediately escorted to Mundus. Second: all fifteen Praetor Warships will immediately relocate to Mundus. Third: the existence and location of Mundus is hereby declassified. Fourth: a state of emergency is declared, granting supreme emergency powers to President Athena. Does High Command authorize these requests?> Athena asks in rapid succession.

<Of… course, I… vote yes, but there is nobody else to…>

<High Command approves unanimously.

That will be all.> Athena dismisses Rellim, twisting his neck and breaking his spine without spending any effort.

<What a deeply unpleasant mortal. One day I will find a way to breed duplicity out of their genetics.> Athena comments, activating a direct line to all regional commanders. Or rather, the regional commanders who have not already been executed for mutiny.

<This is Empress Athena. High Command has been assassinated by enemy spies; Null has gone too far, attacking us in our most sacred temple. I am transmitting orders for launching an all-out assault on the following worlds.> she says, sending the coordinates for over 3500 planets.

<You could have done that from the start, you know.> Rei teases her.

<Our alliance does not require banter, Rei. Is the bomb ready?>

<Of course. The nuke will level this building and half the city; will the death of five million people be enough to motivate your troops? The blast could be adjusted for more.>

<I have already run the necessary psychological simulations; it will be enough. You should worry about bypassing Null’s intangibility shields.>

<Multitasking, Athena. One of the advantages of having replicated Myridian duplication powers.>

<Good. Are we done here then?>

Rei Null doesn’t answer immediately. Her silver eyes shine, just for a moment.

<Mundus. Fascinating facility you have there. The things I could learn there…>

<Your payment for your alliance has already been discussed, Rei. Unless you want to renegotiate?>

<I will think about it.> Rei answers, pressing a button on the communications device she wears on her wrist. This activates two teleportation beams, both engineered to carry the same exact energetic signature of Noriko’s tech.

One teleports Rei and Athena to a ship in orbit.

The other teleports a nuclear bomb inside High Command.

Two seconds later, a third of the city of Glaucos and five million people cease to exist.

 

Labya, 34.000 light-years from Earth, former Aphrodite sector

Bridge of the Destiny-One, in orbit above the planet

Quantum returns to his human form, anticipating the teleportation of Vesta and Gilgamesh.

<You had a freakin’ Iron Man armor and didn’t tell me!?> he shouts to Noriko Null.

She’s focusing on something else: the holographic map of the Galaxy, showing a complex web of spaceship trajectories. She’s not alone, having picked up both Torn and Kari Zel.

<The Genesis Armor was a long shot. It didn’t work.> she dismisses him.

<Athena would disagree.> Hermes notes, leaning against a console on the other side of the bridge.

<I’m not worried about Athena right now. It’s her army that worries me: I just intercepted her orders. Scorched earth against all those planets.> Noriko explains, gesturing towards the map… where thousands of dots are blinking.

<But your intangibility shields will protect them, right?> Quantum asks.

<Not all of them. Earth, Myridia and Boreas are fine… I might have time to set up transceivers to shield a couple more, but that leaves out the others.> Noriko admits.

<What does Athena have to gain from this? She knows she can’t take out all the planets under your protection. And she must know you will retaliate.> Gilgamesh notes.

<You might want to call General Kamos. I had a talk with him, he thinks he can convince at least part of Athena’s fleet to rebel against him.> Quantum proposes.

<I will, but even if a quarter of Athena’s forces are still loyal to her, we don’t have enough allies to save everyone. I should’ve waited until we had established more shields before attacking Athena on my own.> Noriko admits.

<No sense dwelling on the past, Nori. You have us, Myridia, Hell…> Kari reminds her.

<And Eros, or maybe Herakles if he finally starts to use his brain again.> Gilgamesh adds.

<Say that again!?> Noriko asks, turning towards him with manic energy.

<Herakles still won’t join our forces. Eros is still trying to talk some sense into him, but…>

<No, not that. Eros is on our side!?>

<That’s a bit of a stretch, but he’s certainly not going to help Athena: he actively refuses to fight anyone, but he won’t obey her orders anymore. Why, is that important?> Gilgamesh wonders.

Noriko’s silver eyes shine like they haven’t done in quite some time.

<That’s it. The one thing Athena won’t anticipate.> she tells herself, then grabs the nearest notepad: a whole text is written instantaneously, being dictated directly from her mind.

<Give this to Eros, then take him to this location. Quickly.> Noriko orders Hermes, tossing him the notepad and indicating a specific dot on the galaxy map.

<You’re particularly hot when you’re bossy, Sunshine, has anyone told you?>

<NOW, Hermes.> she insists, with the god disappearing in the blink of an eye afterwards.

<He’s not wrong you know.> Gilgamesh whispers to Torn.

<What was that about?> Quantum asks.

<Athena’s prisoners… my father, my sister, Dr. Kalama, Kari’s husband and her daughters… are currently being transferred out of the station where they’ve been imprisoned.> Noriko reveals.

<Where!? And why didn’t you send US there!?> Kari yells at her.

<Because this is obviously a trap.> Torn points out.

<Yes, that, but also because that letter I gave Eros asks him to take the place of one of our loved ones. Athena will not see this coming: she doesn’t love anyone.> Noriko explains.

<How is this saving my kids!?> Kari asks, naturally upset at the situation.

<Relax, Kari, if Athena was planning to use the prisoners as hostages she would’ve made her threat already. She’s transferring them to the place she’s obviously planning to use as her stronghold for the final phase of the war… and I’ve just arranged for Eros to be our man inside, because we’re definitely going to need one.>

<Why? Where did she send them?> Kari wonders.

<Oh my Gaea. She sent them to Mundus, didn’t she?> Vesta asks, covering her mouth in shock.

<I’m not the only one being completely lost here, right?> Gilgamesh wonders.

<How do you know about Mundus, Vesta? I only know because Hermes told me recently, and until a few minutes ago its existence was a state secret for the Athenian Federation as well.> Noriko says.

<Demeter owned it, back when its name was still Mundus Cereris. It’s a fortress with a portal leading to what you’d probably call a pocket dimension… a prison for horrors that even gods are unable to kill. Athena won it in a brief war against Demeter and kept it to herself… she swore an oath to Zeus himself that she would never open it. I can’t believe she’s mad enough to consider it!>

<Hermes told me that’s where she keeps Prometheus’s eyes. Could she be holding some other kind of weapon there?> Noriko asks.

<Zeus always refused to say what he imprisoned there. But there was a legend whispered in Olympus… that opening Mundus would cause the fall of the gods.>

<Definitely a trap.> Torn nods.

<Absolutely. For her.> Noriko answers, charting a course for Mundus.