The Rebirth Shades of Apocalypse

Power and War

POWER AND WAR

The Tao'Vak'Aii War Magistrate paced back and forth in the green, bolder filled and cavernous meeting room, his gold and black striped robe rippling as he moved his long reptilian modified legs. In the last war, he had lost his original legs to a Tyythar Beast. A three eyed, bipedal beast with a long tail covered in sharp two foot spikes. The creature had been seven feet tall, vicious, agile and deadly. Its hide was thick with natural plates of armor, bald reptilian skin visible when it moved. Its mouth filled with serrated teeth that could rip and slice with vicious ease.

War Magistrate Dyjia, was lucky to survive the attack at all.

He had lost command of his warriors, as his loss of mobility was thought to invoke pity. It took Dyjia two years to obtain his new legs, freshly severed from an enemies giant reptilian pet. The sliced flesh of the reptiles legs was covered in a green silver-flecked gel that was designed to meld the flesh of two species together in a way that made tissue rejection impossible. Dyjia's veins and arteries changed at the cellular level, ripping apart and splicing together with the flesh of the new legs. The pain was wild and excruciating. In a week, Dyjia had full use of his legs - and his legion of warriors.

Dyjia had been awaiting an audience with the Supreme Commander to tell him that the humans had killed his son. The monsters ripped his warship apart, taken his son captive, then killed him.

Finally, after waiting for what seemed like an eternity, the Supreme Commander entered the meeting room.

His solid gold plated robe moving gracefully with him. His glowing red eyes, two sharp daggers for teeth, and his elite, 'Dark One' Mental Status, terrified Dyjia to his central bone-shaft. The Supreme Commander had earned Dark One status by capturing, torturing, dismembering, and eating his enemies. Not necessarily in that order. This evil beast will not take this news very well, and Dyjia almost felt sorry for the humans. The human beings will be eaten. First, they will be tortured slowly in front of one another, then savagely and brutally killed, flesh flayed off and eaten.

In a deep, menacing and terrifying voice, Za'Tai'Duul, the Supreme Commander of all Tao'Vak'Aii, yells, "Why have you summoned me? You will be cut to dripping pieces, and eaten if you waste my time!"

Dyjia looks down, cowering by the terrifying threat, but regains his composure and says, "My Lord, I have summoned you because I have very troubling news to give."

Za'Tai'Duul's head snaps toward the Magistrate, his blood-red glowing eyes looking like dying red supermassive stars. His teeth-talons grow outward in planet-annihilating rage.

He looks down at the War Magistrate and his voice booms around cavernous room, "Where. Is. My. Son! I will shred the flesh of those who killed him! They will die excruciating, bloody, mind-rending, deaths! Their very souls will suffer my fury!"

Dyjia dared to look into the furious eyes of the Supreme Commander and said, "His ship was ripped apart in the Lost System. His head was severed, his cut esophagus defecated in and sent to us."

Za'Tai'Duul thrust his giant, clawed hand towards Dyjia, and as his grasp crushed Dyjia's rib cage while simultaneously, a long talon thrust from the massive, crushing arm into Dyjia's shoulder, cracking bones and cutting through veins and arteries.

"Magistrate, you will take the humans. You will send them to me! I expect them within 3 cycles. Fail, and I will torture and eat your entire family in front of you, then eat you myself!"

Za'Tai'Duul revealed Dyjia's niece from out of container. His massive hand violently ripped out the young girl and snapped her neck with one massive thumb, then took the dead girl and ripped the corpse in half. In seconds, Dyjia's niece was violently devoured.

The War Magistrate, in such pain and fear simply said with a cold look, "I understand."

Then exited, and the room in shock, Dyjia vowed right then and there, "I will destroy you, and everything you hold dear."

The Excruciating Death, Flagship of The War Magistrates Legion sat docked on the Debarkation Ring on H'iits'oogd War-station, waiting for the Magistrate himself. Dyjia and his three escorts made their way across the black and white hallway that connected to a large hall, bright with lit Float Pups, their hair on their backs would instantly regrow on their backs after being lit on fire for fifteen hours. Each animal floating in the air with internal gas sacks. Dyjia always felt a sense of wonder, amazement, and pity for the floating furballs.

He noticed an off-looking Tao'Vak. He couldn't quite realize why this one seemed different. He stopped walking and looked over his shoulder, to see that mysterious being seemingly shadowing them. Dyjia couldn't think of a reason for someone following him, so he just continued on his way to his ship. As Dyjia approached the large, red and gold square entrance, the doors slid backward like two giant clawed hands parting in between metal walls of solid gold and patterned silver, allowing him and his escorts into the warship. "Interesting!" He noted as the unusual Tao'Vak was also permitted access by the automatic security hatch.

He stopped walking and turned around just as this unknown Tao'Vak entered.

Dyjia walked over to him and put his hand on top of this one's head. The Tao'Vak species had evolved a telepathic link from touch, millennia ago. Now instead of using it as a way to survive, most Tao'Vak use it when and how they wish.

Dyjia could see into this Tao'Vak mind, and all he found was confusion - his confusion. The Tao'Vak in this one's mind were completely different. No infighting, no war, and no conquering other races.

"What!" Dyjia exclaimed. "What are you exactly? Your mind is Tao'Vak, but you are clearly not. This perplexes me." Dyjia removes his hand from the intruder's head, and

The mysterious Tao'Vak spy quickly connected with Dyjia's mind, sending a telepathic command to put him in a prolonged thought and lose all memory of the encounter, allowing the spy to escape with ease.

Dyjia pauses as if he was caught in sudden complex thought, unaware that the strange being made its way to the the next room. Dyjia but without any knowledge of why he turned around in the first place. So he got back to walking to the massive golden bridge of his grand ship. All floors of his ship were made of blue sapphire crystal, and the walls made of gold, silver, and titanium infused diamond. His command chair made of the skin of an old bovine he had plucked from Earth. Its skin was was smooth and comfortable on his skin. He believed the humans called it leather. He had enjoyed eating the meat of the Earth animal. It was a shame he had to erase the planet itself from existence. It could have been a wonderful feeding ground.

A thought came to Dyjia's mind, "Why must I do this? There is far too much waste. If I am to kill the Supreme Mucus-Wrap, I will need a base of operations - a secret outpost. The planet already has many War Factories, so I will have an abundant source of weapons, ships, and equipment. It sickens me to think this, but I may require the help of these very formidable humans. But how can I convince them of my motivations and goals?"

A possible answer came to his mind, with startling implications. He started to recall an unknown Tao'Vak intruder with an unusual recollection of Tao'Vak'Aii history...

Could it be that this intruder was from the Mythical Extra-Universe? If so, why is he on my ship? Can he help me convince the humans?"

Time will tell...