Chapter 16: Conquering Mars
"Big Guy, these days drag on with such tedium," the Raven complained from its perch. "Why don't we venture forth and explore? What occupies your attention in these experiments?"
The corvid's tone carried a note of longing. "I find myself missing Golden Corn Cob and the old man. At least they provided conversation—you barely acknowledge my existence."
The Emperor maintained His characteristic silence, absorbed in the delicate work before Him. In this strange reality, He had found unexpected kinship with Principal Kilan—not as a peer from the Golden Age of Mankind, but as a rare mind unbound by dogma.
Though Kilan lacked the technological mastery of humanity's zenith, his insights into metaphysics and dimensional theory offered an intellectual counterpoint worthy of the Emperor's attention.
Their discourse touched upon matters that would have been heretical in His own timeline's future.
'How curious,' the Master of Mankind mused, 'to find such clarity of purpose in a universe untouched by the Warp's malevolence.'
Meanwhile, beyond the laboratory's confines, war continued its inexorable march across Earth's surface.
General Dukao and his staff had initiated comprehensive screening protocols throughout the Federation's military body, identifying suitable candidates for the adaptive Gene Engine implantation.
The prospect of mass-producing enhanced soldiers offered hope against the mounting alien threat.
The Xiong Bing Company maintained its desperate struggle against the Demonic and Taotie civilizations, fighting to prevent further territorial losses.
Yet against the overwhelming scale of the Taotie forces and the insidious cunning of the Demons, most of Earth's regions had fallen into chaos and ruin.
Countless refugees flooded into the Federation's controlled territories while Demonic corruption spread like a plague through the population.
The military found itself fighting fires on every front, completely overwhelmed by the crisis.
Morgana seized upon this chaos to execute the plan she and Karl had crafted in secret.
She first deployed her Nightmare subordinates to torment Cheng Yaowen and Leina through psychic manipulation, turning their dreams into battlegrounds of terror and confusion.
The constant mental assault left both warriors exhausted, unable to distinguish between reality and nightmare.
When Leina's psychological defenses reached their breaking point, Morgana struck with devastating precision.
Using computational power and wormhole technology far exceeding Earth's capabilities, she isolated each member of the Xiong Bing Company, systematically weakening Leina's defenses while depleting her energy reserves.
At the critical moment, demonic infiltrators breached Leina's genetic systems, unlocking her core programming and seizing control of the Sunlight's devastating power.
"Damn it, finally!" Morgana's satisfaction was brief, quickly replaced by urgency. "Execute the plan immediately. If that bastard realizes what's happening, we're all dead."
"Access the Sunlight gene control interface!"
Her subordinate nodded, bringing up the weapon's command matrix.
"Radiation-free micro-flares, micro-flare bombardment, medium-flare bombardment encrypted, large-flare bombardment encrypted, supernova encrypted, Solar Avatar encrypted."
"What kind of monster did that hypocrite Kilan create?" Morgana stared at the interface in disbelief. "This thing is a mobile stellar furnace—a walking apocalypse!"
"Crack those encryptions! Contact Death God Karl—I'll handle Keisha while you locate the Emperor. Pin down his position and throw both those bastards onto Emerald Star. Let them burn together!"
The Emperor paused in His experimentation as reality twisted around Him like molten glass. When the distortion cleared, He found himself floating in the cosmic void, facing a verdant star on the verge of catastrophic collapse.
Nearby sat Keisha, the Angel King, her expression one of resigned annoyance rather than fear.
"Oh-ho, Big Guy! Seems you've been outmaneuvered," the Raven cried with evident delight, wings flapping excitedly. "Finally aroused some proper attention from you? Life grows interesting at last!"
'Even here, in this alien cosmos, the patterns remain unchanged,' the Emperor reflected with partial amusement. 'Enemies scheme, allies prove unreliable, and power invites betrayal.'
Keisha glanced at the dying star, then regarded the Emperor with curious respect. "I didn't expect you to earn Karl and Morgana's attention as well. They'll stop at nothing to usher in their precious Void Age."
The Emperor remained silent, His enhanced senses analyzing their prison. This was sophisticated work—primitive by the standards of the Dark Age of Technology, perhaps, but impressive for this reality's limitations.
Reading his thoughts, Keisha smiled. "Rather than speculate, why not ask the architect himself? Karl, won't you explain your handiwork?"
A holographic projection materialized—Death God Karl, his skeletal features animated by cold intellect.
"I apologize for these crude accommodations," Karl said with mock courtesy.
"Explain our transportation here," Keisha demanded, noting the Emperor's continued silence.
Karl's smile held genuine academic pleasure. "From your perspective, spacetime represents a stable structure. From the void's perspective, it is chaos and disorder incarnate."
"You traverse the universe by manipulating wormhole corridors, but my methodology reverses this principle. Using the Great Clock's computational matrix, I altered the relative positions of the universe itself—and your place within it."
"Amusing," the Emperor murmured, stroking His chin. 'Such a crude understanding of dimensional mechanics, yet effective within its limitations.'
Karl's attention focused on the Master of Mankind. "I have observed you extensively. Like me, you possess an almost obsessive hunger for knowledge. Under different circumstances, we might have been allies—even friends."
"Unfortunately, we stand as enemies. I cannot permit any force to impede the Void Age's arrival."
"As for humanity, they have evolved through your intervention. Perhaps they can survive the brutal competition that awaits."
"Your planning is thorough," the Emperor acknowledged. "Yet you have overlooked a critical factor."
Karl's confidence flickered. "Impossible. This space is sealed by the Great Clock's power. No wormhole technology can breach it. For you, this is certain death."
The Emperor raised one hand, and eldritch energies danced across His palm—power that belonged to no science these beings understood.
"You are formidable," He conceded, "but comparable to the mightiest entities I have known—the false Gods of my own reality."
'And like them, blind to forces beyond material comprehension.'
"Yet you share their fatal weakness: all your schemes account only for the material universe."
"Your greatest oversight lies in the very void you claim to understand."
"The void exists beyond your calculations. Your Great Clock cannot seal what transcends physical law."
The Emperor gestured toward Keisha, and a shimmering portal tore through reality itself. Before the Angel King could protest, she vanished through the psychic aperture.
Karl watched this impossible display with growing comprehension. "My suspicions prove correct. To disregard universal constants so casually, you must be either a void entity, a Shenhe survivor who has mastered impossible sciences, or something far older."
The Emperor ignored the speculation, redirecting the conversation. "You remain determined to drag this universe into a Void Age. How much do you understand about those who periodically cleanse known civilizations?"
"In the eyes of such hungry entities, your efforts are meaningless. You will never earn their alliance. Your schemes are destined for failure."
Karl's expression hardened. "If I cannot be their ally, then I shall control them. I will become the Void Age's supreme deity, master of all existence."
"Your arrogance mirrors somewhat my own, but lacks both wisdom and might to act against it," the Emperor said with something approaching mild sympathy, or not. "Cease this folly. The pursuit of knowledge is admirable, but some truths should remain buried."
The dying star's final convulsions sent waves of destructive energy across the void. Karl recognized his plan's failure, yet remained defiant.
"The Void Age comes regardless. Nothing can prevent it."
"Then let us see who speaks truly."
The communication severed, leaving the Emperor alone with cosmic destruction approaching.
[Fate Node changed by 30%, reward obtained: Great Clock Celestial Computer Technology, Void Engine Technology, Sub-Biological Analysis Data]
'Keisha's survival has shattered this reality's predetermined path, the Emperor realized. Now fate itself rushes toward uncertainty.'
"We have lingered here long enough," He told the Raven. "Let us return."
The corvid required no encouragement, transforming into a corridor of multiversal possibility that allowed the Emperor's escape before the supernova's fury could claim Him.
The Raven did not immediately follow, instead returning to the Mist Space to catalog their achievements. The desolate realm had changed subtly—a luminous orb now floated above the mists, trailing gossamer threads of light that merged with the surrounding void.
Through this connection, the Raven could access the Super God Universe's accumulated knowledge and witness its continuing evolution beyond predetermined fate.
'More universes will be required,' the corvid mused, 'before significant transformation occurs. '
"Still condemned to endless labor," it complained before departing for the material realm.
Terra, Imperial Palace
The Emperor had returned before the Raven, and already Malcador the Sigillite labored to assemble the legions. The time had come to claim Mars and commence the Great Crusade in earnest.
Having witnessed the vast tapestry of infinite realities, the Master of Mankind's urgency had intensified beyond measure. Unity must be achieved swiftly. Humanity's scattered children must be gathered before darker forces can intervene.
The galaxy awaited conquest. The Webway demanded construction. The universe itself beckoned.
'Let the red planet feel the weight of Unity's purpose,' the Emperor thought as He gazed toward Mars through the Palace's armored viewports. 'Let the Omnissiah's children learn their place in the greater design.'
The Great Crusade would begin with the conquest of Mars. From there, the stars themselves would bow to humanity's ascendant will.