Beacons in The Dark

Chapter 12 - Nature's Machine

"Time works differently upon us all." - Maruvian saying

Amidst the cerulean sky, the butterflies fluttered submlimely amongst the engineered trees, the sunlight scattering through their prismatic wings; winking rainbow amongst the coolness and shade of the Everbloom Forest.

With no other inhabitants of the captial planet Onlaad except inside in the imerial city of Ando Five, meaning the Autonomous Emperor had the entirety of the planet to himself as he left the confines of the prime city. 

The entire planet was wired to the Emperor in ways that many did not understand; it catered to his whims, his emotions and his will. Onlaad was a regular terraformed planet at first, but when it became the center of a billion planet strong empire, the Emperor found ways to grip his own planet tighter in his own grasp, so that he could learn to grab the others as well, and push or squeeze the entirety of the races down the right path, a path of salvation that would keep this cardhouse from toppling down.

He was neurochemically connected to the planet itself, from the core to the crust - the Emperor could feel the ground beneath him and instruct the trees themselves to bend and part for him. He was this planet, he had made sure of that. 

This day the metallic looking faceless man was wearing a long burgundry robe, walking methodically through Everbloom, looking at the flowers sprouting from the ground; reaching down towards them with his metallic hands, the ground responded to his thoughts, and the flower bloomed automatically.

Onlaad was wired with nanofibers throughout, all broadcasting to the Emperor. 

He formed his face into one of calm serenity as he though; his actions against the outlying planets had caused even more chaos, thinking the Galvanivers and his clerics would be able to dispel the idea of Jhiva.

But that had not worked, this strange energy still pulsing through this sector, gaining momentum as it crashed down the proverbial mountain, ready to crush all in his path.

Even though his body was metallic, The Autonomous Emperor still had tacticle senses, and the grass was warm and soft beneath his bared feet. He had left Anrus Anree, his advisor behind, because much thinking was going to have to be done.

As he walked and though, day turned into night, the twin suns setting at the same time, and a million stars shone at once through the darkness, and the Emperor saw a shooting star, a meteorite burning in the atmosphere as it ended its billion year journey, the ice and rock burning to nothing in the atmosphere.

So much age, so far travelled; it could have been shooting since the beginning in the universe, and he may have been the only one to witness its demise.

For some reason, this struck him strangely, and he stared at the sky for the rest of the night, thinking of the stars and wondering what could be done to keep this Empire together...to not let the mistakes of the past be perpetrated again.