In the twenty-sixth year of the last fifty years, Hedrick —who had just returned, driven by a raging, unrestrained fury, Hedrick who felt he no longer had anything left to mourn— erupted through the sector like a storm, a violent, vengeful force that seemed almost beyond human comprehension. His return alone sent tremors across the star systems, for everyone could sense that this was not the same Hedrick who had departed; this was a man carved anew by grief, wrath, and purpose.
After destroying Guardian Skorvian's armada, the balance of power simply ceased to exist. The cosmic order that once governed the conflict shattered like fragile glass. Now Hedrick had three armadas, vast and disciplined formations that answered only to him, while the allies were reduced to merely two battered armadas: one with Zaryon himself, and the other under a different Monarch from the Cursed Galaxy—each struggling to maintain order within their panicked ranks.
