-=+ +=- [COMPLETED] The Second Universe -=+ +=-

Part 13: No Power? 💀

-------------------------

"Highway Clearing - Briefing"

December 25, 35794 - 14:10:26

Clandestine Space Force 1st Strike Group

CENTCOM Building

Gov't Plaza, Astera, New World Union

An AI voice activated as a room filled with CSF ship controllers watches. [SCANNING...] The AI scans the room to ensure everyone is present, which they are. It begins the briefing. [Earlier today, Fireteam Elder encountered an eldritch LSA of unparalleled power never seen before. The Yellow King's Highway, as we have named it, is where the creature fled to.

The Highway is also a direct path through multiple infinite dimensions which will be able to take us back to the CROS' capital world. You will all be participating in 'Operation Highway Clearing', an initiative to kill/capture the LSA and cleanse out the road of hostiles to allow safe entry to the CROS homeworld. Remember, this is a very important mission. Bring your strongest ship configuration, and know that all of you will certainly gain a very high TPRUS level after this.] The AI concluded the briefing.

The CSF controllers exited the briefing room, heading off in swift formations to their barracks to customize their ships. A decent variety of ship loadouts emerged, though all with one thing in common. They equipped the largest weaponry and the largest amount of said weaponry feasibly possible on the ships they were equipped with, as well as the highest amounts of shield systems possible, surpassing factory recommendations.

--------------------------

"Highway Clearing"

December 25, 35794 - 14:30:21

CSF 1st Strike Group // Alpha thru John

Kind Of Empty Space

Void B-0-0, Supercluster V-1R

In a massive empty void about 20 billion light years from the New World Union's home system and 700 million light years from Helios III, massive gray spots begin to appear, all visible from CMB-zoom scale observatories. These spots, formed by absolutely massive clusters of CSF ships, soon began disappearing as the ships activated their dimension-warping drives, typically all M19s.

Bright and colorless auras surrounded these newer CSF ships as they warped towards L4, linking up with their primary aircraft carriers, who seemed to deviate from their elliptical routine patrols. A massive force formed out of these CSF vessels, all maintaining a standard degree of separation. A few minutes later, their commander, codenamed Vortex, got on the comms line. "All elements Alpha thru John, active?"

An affirmative response came over the line, and the carriers fully integrated with their strike groups, an "All elements cleared for operation." coming over the line before they then teleported to the 'Highway'. The Strike Group finished their teleportation sequence, their colorless auras flaring, being met by the red monster encountered by Fireteam Elder - much larger than the ships now - and nine other eldritch abominations. What substances existed in the True Void that they had entered were being corrupted and warped in the presence of these unholy creatures.

The closest thing to a metal in the True Void clung and seemed to compose many of their bodily forms, all functioning akin to normal appendages. More appendages resembling armored great, grasping tentacles stretched from their backs and from other parts of the body, contracting their horrible muscular tentacle growths in spiky formations aimed at the CSF vessels, an aura of unsettlement emitting from them as they seemed to pick targets, tentacles contracting as they gained their lock.

"ALL ELEMENTS, SCATTER!" Vortex ordered, his polymouthed [multi-voiced] telepathy coming over the line as the mangled and vile metallic tentacles opened fire on the CSF. Reality warping bullet-like long projectiles similar in size to the ships they were facing flew through the literal empty nothingness, almost always hitting their targets, splitting CSF vessels in two and cutting through their shields and APS systems. "ALPHA THROUGH GAMMA AND PHI THROUGH JOHN, FLANK 'EM!"