Time moved as usual for the Milky Way Gaxy. However, every being within could feel a foreboding sense of dread on the horizon. Day by day, week by week, the Alliance and their worlds fell. Their enemies were fierce and unending, spilling forth with a hungering desire to consume them all. To corrupt their worlds with their filthy presence and send them all to damnnation.

  One were the Varnids. An ancient insect swarm which threatened not only the Milky Way, but all life every few decades. These monsters could evolve and grow endlessly, always becoming stronger. Weapons that could shred their armor? Now useless in the next attack. They cannot bypass their shielding technology? Suddenly they evolved a specific insect to do just that. The Swarms were endless as they poured into the gaxy, bypassing their strongest fleets and invading their worlds. Just these horrors alone struck fear into the hearts of many. But the most recent development, caused true despair.

  On the outer fringes of their rge civilization, an old defeated enemy had resurfaced. Now with a centralized leadership and perfected to the extreme. The Bck Virus, once more terrorizing them. Although they managed to triumph over it once, it cost many lives. Including all of their Super Soldiers who were not easily repced. This new virus was faster acting, infecting anyone or anything in just a few seconds. And the ones who turned became feral rabid beasts who hungered for flesh. Could be your mother, daughter, father, son, brother, sister, lover, or best friend. No one was safe from it’s clutches.

  If that wasn’t bad enough, the strength and speed they received made them lethal from the very beginning. Sometimes, they would even undergo a mutation and transform into special infected. Hulking monsters with unique abilities. One would shoot acid from it’s mouth and melt any armor. While another could use pieces of itself as a bomb.

  There were even rumors of the virus growing in strength. That the pnets they conquered were used for production. Pumping out more and more infected through the Bio Mass they collected. To the citizens in the Alliance, a small bit of hope died each day. Stuck between two devouring hordes, one which is growing in power. Some even… opted out. Better to end one’s self than to be corrupted like that.

  However, there was another option. Why not join them? Become, infected. A Chosen. Rumors spread further and further every day. About how good it was to join the infected and the Horde. To become something better than ones self. Most scoffed, calling it delusion nonsense. But... a few started wondering. And once a seed was pnted, it grew and grew with an unstoppable pace.

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  Admiral Yaka emotionlessly looked out the window into the vast expanse of space. Darkness mostly, the only light from the Khoi System’s bright blue star. Along with his Capital Ship the Justice were nearly a hundred thousand vessels and some change. There were even a few Leviathans in here, produced on the pnet below them. The majority of these numbers came from Khoi’s defending fleet. While a good few were destroyed, most were boarded or infected by the virus. The rest were from the surrounding systems, all of which have already been lost.

  They had no choice, forced to retreat from the Alliance’s fleet entering this sector. Yaka expected their arrival, but was still surprised at how quick they were. And now they all waited here patiently, no fear on any of their faces. Such emotion was considered useless by the virus and tossed away. Yet there was always a little bit left, just enough to shudder in the presence of superior infected.

  ‘If not for the new defenses, we wouldn’t be able to win.’ Yaka calmly thought to himself as he gnced at some empty spaces. He could sense them there, tiny little lifeforms designed to be ndmines.

  His new Master had created these and a few others for defending their conquered worlds. With these, they truly had the capabilities to fight back against the coming fleet. Yet it truly was daunting. Half a million of the Alliance’s finest, outnumbering them five to one. Luckily, the infected crew could still operate the ship and contained the memories to do so.

  “Admiral, they’re entering the system.” One of the crew members suddenly spoke, a Chosen like him. Yaka nodded and gave out his orders.

  “Inform the fleet to be ready for battle. And tell the Anti-Air Bio Launcher to take out any enemy ship that enters their range. Are our bomber Frigates and their escort in position?” At his question, another crew member nodded.

  “Yes sir. They are simply waiting for your orders.”

  “Good. Have them on standby until I give the signal. We’ll also have the Leviathans stay protected for as long as possible. When close enough, have them board as many ships as possible and flood them with infected. Target the Cruisers first." He leaned back, calming himself for the battle ahead. Yaka had derived numerous pns to deal with the inbound threat. All thanks to his decades of experience in naval warfare.

  Only a minute ter, something occurred off on the horizon. Numerous fshes of white light appeared, at first only a few. But they soon grew in number, eventually reaching almost five hundred thousand. Then at the same time, ships appeared in those fshes of lights and entered the system. Seeing them, Yaka narrowed his eyes and straightened his back. It was time. Either he died here and the virus lost this pnet, or he won and added the majority of this fleet to their numbers; bolstering their strength a step further.

  Nodding his head towards an officer, they connected his voice to the entire fleet.

  “Everyone hold back and draw them in. Wait until they start tripping the SSM, then move in. Afterwards, fire when in range and cover the Leviathans.” He gnced at a holo map showing the entire battlefield. His forces were blue blips while the enemy were red. Yaka watched as they came closer and closer, preparing himself to give the signal.

  The opposing fleet were completely unaware of the coming pain and simply charged forwards, supreme confidence within themselves. They outnumbered their enemy five to one and were ready for anything. Their morale in particur was at an all time high since they had easily purged nearly a dozen corrupted worlds.

  “Kill these creatures as soon as they are in range.” The commander of the half a million fleet was a rare Pran’hu, as tall as most Lorkins. A nasty scar could be seen on his dog-like face, giving him a mean look.

  He has no doubts they’d easily win and crush these traitorous beasts. Even if they had a renowned Admiral like Yaka, it made no difference. At the end of the day, he had become a monster and probably lost his sense of self. It's highly doubtful he retained the same abilities as before. Just as they were about to enter firing range, he noticed something outside the window and near the front of his fleet. He only barely managed to catch a glimpse, mainly focusing on the enemy ahead.

  “What is that?” He muttered, squinting his eyes to get a better look. It was difficult due to the distance, but he can swear he sees something. Some small creature?

  “Contact the front-“ A massive explosion made him widen his eyes. The barely visible creature somehow blew up and took not only that ship, but the surrounding ones as well. Some who were damaged yet not destroyed veered off course and smmed into their neighbors.

  Before he could get his bearings, a few more explosions appeared near that same location. More and more kept creeping up, destroying hundreds of ships. The crew was stunned at first, until the commander roared out.

  “Search for anything invisible! Now!” They did as he said but came up empty.

  “Sir, the sensors aren’t detecting anything out there!” The commander growled lightly and witnessed the enemy come forward.

  “Ignore it! Fire on them now!” Both fleets engages each other at the same time. Beautiful and colorful ser bolts lit up the surrounding space in blue, green, and red.

  Because the Alliance simply had far more ships, already they were beginning to destroy the enemy who suffered greatly. Yet the commander only felt a brief glow of happiness before frowning. The Admiral Yaka he knew wasn’t so reckless as to throw away his ships. Had becoming infected changed his mindset? That’s when he noticed them. The rge, bellowing beasts the size of their Cruisers. Seeing the tentacles used for boarding, he figured out their pn swiftly.

  “Order our Cruisers to aim for those monsters! Focus all fire power and use our strongest shells!”

  Every Cruiser in their fleet followed his orders and shifted their aim, using their most powerful weapons to bst the Leviathans. However, they only managed a few shots off before the enemy started throwing themselves in harms way to protect the beasts. Meanwhile, as they got closer and closer to the pnet, green balls of acid were shot from below and smmed into their ships. The shields and armor were melted straight off while the hull suffered massive damage.

  “Sir-!” The officer was interrupted by the ship shaking. They suffered a nasty shot from a Cruiser, their shields shimmering from the impact. However, he soon continue with urgency.

  “There’s a squadron of fighters coming from our left! They’re heading right for us!” Widening his eyes, the commander looked out the window and saw them.

  Millions of fighters, all of which were protecting a rge squad of Torpedo Frigates. Both Strike Craft and these odd flying infected were together, obviously protecting them.

  “Inform the fleet to send out their Strike Crafts!”

  But it was no use. They noticed too te, allowing the Frigates to bomb the closest Cruiser; causing irreparable damage. However, they didn’t stop there and destroyed any ships in their path. Cutting a course right for… him.

  “Maximize our shields! Put all power into them!” Seeing the Frigates come closer, fear crept up his heart. Out of the corner of his eye, he also managed to witness the first few Leviathans enter their fleet and shove those tentacles into the ships; flooding them with millions of infected.

  The st thing he saw before it all went bck, was a small flying creature exit one of the Leviathans. Same one he was warned about that would knock out their power. He needed to tell-!

  The three hundred Torpedo Frigates all fired at once, sending torpedoes into the Bridge and crippling the commanding ship. However, this was a suicide run and they were soon torn apart by the surrounding ship. Yet they had gdly accomplished their duty for the Horde. Without the commander, the Alliance fleet fell into disarray; allowing the infected to swarm them. The Ion Disruptor broke their shields and allowed the Leviathans to impale them with tentacles, funneling countless infected in along with the virus.

  Yaka watched on emotionlessly as an arm kept bring, indicating they had suffered great damage. But it would heal in time.

  “Let’s clean this up. Keep their shields down and let the virus seep in. Careful not to destroy them all, we need as many ships intact as possible for the coming battles.” The crew nodded and continued their work.

  He on the other hand leaned back and gnced out the window, watching a green blob fly past. The Anti-Air Bio Launchers and SSM had done great in this battle. Especially the tter, shaking them up massively. But the real MVP were the sacrificial bomber squad. Every single one of them were torn apart and dead. However, they served their purpose and killed the commander. Without them, the enemy grew chaotic.

  ‘How cold have I gotten?’

  Yaka wondered this to himself, realizing he had changed much since becoming Chosen. Never before would he willingly sacrifice his own soldiers just to come out ahead. To the previous him, they were irrepceable and important. Each one of them.

  Now? Now he didn’t care. They all could be repced.

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  While Admiral Yaka began winning his fight at the cost of many lives, another Alliance fleet slowly crossed through space. This one was double the size of what he faced and had even rger ships than Cruisers. Hulking behemoths that although were not many, looked incredibly dangerous. Long and thick cannon were attached to either side, along with many other smaller guns across the length of it’s body. Anything hit by this thing would feel the pain ten times over.

  In the middle of this extremely rge fleet was the Capital Css ship Emergence, under the control of Admiral Tali’on. A decorated veteran who had survived and thrived during the previous virus’s reign of terror, using it as a chance to heighten his military career. Though dangerous, it all worked out well for him and he eventually grew to his current state. Commander of a million strong fleet. Just one more promotion, and he could become a Grand Admiral; increasing the amount of ships he had access to.

  “Admiral, the scanners detect infected lifeforms in the nearby system. Should we jump there?” Tali’on, a fairly older Lorkin, nodded with little emotion.

  “Yes. We’ll wipe out any trace of the virus we come across, including any pnets.” His eyes focused on the window outside, to where his entire fleet id. Filled him with awe as a righteous fire burned in his heart.

  He hated the virus to his very core. Not only did it take his wife and children, but so many innocents perished for seemingly nothing. Burned him up inside thinking about that. About all the lives loss to this parasite.

  Both the Emergence and the entire fleet Warp Jumped into the system. Immediately, everyone could see them. Three bckened pnets filled with some sort of… corruption. Simir to that of the Varnids and how they ruined entire worlds, forcing the Alliance to crack them.

  “Uh sir? The scanners don’t really know what they’re looking it.” He frowned and urged the one speaking to continue.

  “Well they’re saying the entire pnet is infected. I mean the whole surface. And I’m not picking up anything else.” Tali’on narrowed his eyes.

  “Not a single non-infected lifeform?” The officer looked back, a hint if dread on his alien face.

  “Sir, there’s not even pnts there. It’s all infected. Down to very st patch of dirt.” A low growl escaped Tali’on's throat and he waved his hand.

  “Bring us in to the closest one. Forget orbital bombardment, we’ll just crack it.”

  As they came closer and closer, they realized something surrounded the pnet. A few… things which resembled the Defense Ptforms stationed around their worlds. But these seemed twisted down to it’s core. The entire ptform itself was infected, yet strangely had mechanical parts intertwined with it. However, whatever these things were, they were rge. Even a bit rger than a Cruiser.

  “Hit them when in range. Give it everything you’ve got.” There shouldn’t be much suspense. They had a million ships, even featuring a few thousand Cruisers. Meanwhile, there were only fifteen of those ptforms per world.

  Tali’on didn’t think anything would go wrong. Unfortunately, it did. Just as the first few Corvettes and Frigates were about to begin firing, they suddenly exploded out of nowhere. It caused a chain reaction to those closest to them, creating even more damage. Everyone was stunned at the turn of events, watching as more and more began exploding. Until-

  “Admiral! Those up front are saying they can see some small creature decloak and suicide onto them!”

  “And they’re sensors can’t find them?” An officer shook his head.

  “No sir. They just appear out of thin air.” Tali’on leaned back into his seat, eyes growing cold.

  “Nothing ‘just appears’. Open fire in the surrounding space.” Once he said that, most of the ships at the front shot randomly around them. And like he thought, explosions rang out of nowhere.

  “Those things are hidden, blending into their surroundings. Make sure the entire fleet keeps their eyes open.” It was easier said than done. Sometimes the suicidal creatures were too close and when exploded, dealt a crippling amount of damage to nearby vessels.

  But casualties had decreased immensely after knowing what they were looking for. And in just a few more minutes, the front of the fleet started shooting the ptform. The infected and mechanical hybrid ptforms returned fire, their weapons shredding through their shields. He didn’t understand how they could do that, develop their weapons in such a way. Until he remembered one of the key factors of this parasite. They not only took the body, but the mind. Clearly, they had learned how their shields worked and came up with a way to counter it.

  Yet it made little difference. Their fleet was simply too strong and easily overwhelmed them, bsting half to pieces in a short minute. Suddenly hundreds of green balls shot from the pnet below and smmed into a couple ships, melting their shields and armor.

  “They knew we’d come.” He whispered lightly to himself, understanding this was a trap. And he walked right into it, costing the lives of many soldiers. Sighing, he waved his hand.

  “Clean up the rest and send the Pnet Crackers-“ An officer interrupted him with urgency.

  “Sir! There’s biological lifeforms coming out of Warp Jump! To our-!” He couldn’t finish in time. White fshes of lights appeared at their side brought rge and bellowing creatures with tentacles around their bodies.

  Simir on size to a Cruiser, except the leading one. Double in size and looked menacing as it soundless roared their way. In total there must’ve been nearly a hundred of them, who seemed simir to the almost destroyed ptforms in having some mechanical parts. Especially the rge guns on top of their heads, which immediately opened fire. Tali’on nearly fell out of his seat as a barrage struck the Emergence. Luckily the shields saved them, but he witnessed those creatures shoot beams from their mouths and tear through a few ships like they were made of paper.

  “Return fire and sughter these fucking parasites!” Rage filled his heart at both himself and these things. Blindly walked into a trap and he suffered for it, too engrossed in arrogance to believe the virus could truly fight back.

  Yet there was also a hint of dread within him. At the level of intelligence and cunning showed by the infected. If given more time to grow, what heights could they reach? Would they become another menace just like the Varnids? Impossible to defeat, only defend against?

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  Look at them. Inferior little things, cowering behind their shields and ships. Never could they accomplish even a portion of our potential. So shouldn’t I be generous and show them what they’ve been missing? How great it is to be infected? Apart of something better than yourself. Unity. Power. A better body with a handsome face. The works.

  I ordered my Leviathans to stay at range and take pot shots. Meanwhile, I had every avaible Killer Drone and Shredder fly towards them. The tter have by far the most numbers. Their small size allows me to fit tens of millions into each Leviathan. Becoming a true locust swarm, an unending tide of teeth and death. Basically, they were the epitome of gss cannons. Can shred armor, flesh, and bone to literal nothing in thirty seconds ft. But they can’t take someone even spitting on them. Doesn’t really matter. They’re expendable and easily repceable.

  There is one problem though. Those rger ships, the Colossus. Few in number, but devastating. I watched as one fired it's two massive cannons and tore one of my Leviathans apart, killing both it and the tens of millions of infected on board. Passed through our new shielding technology as if it didn't even fucking exist. But this is also a good thing since we'll learn. Evolve and grow more powerful from every loss.

  “Come on Jason! Let’s go already!” Athena bumped into me with her shoulder, manic grin pstered on her face. Smiling, I kissed her on the lips and looked towards the sisters; speaking to them all.

  “Be careful out there. I won’t have time to watch your back or come rescue the damsel in distress. Please don’t make me a widow this early in life.” Lily chuckled and spped my back.

  “We should be saying that to you, given your ‘genius pn’.” Her face and Alice’s turned worried as the former continued.

  “You sure about this Jason? It sounds super fucking dangerous.” I stroked her hair a bit, feeling my fingers get pricked by how sharp it was.

  “Don’t worry your pretty little head. They can forget about killing me with my level of regeneration.” That much was true. Devouring everything I came across didn't just increase my strength. Everything was enhanced, becoming closer to pure perfection.

  Kissing each one on the lips, we left through one of my Leviathan’s tentacles and arrived in the vastness that is space. Let’s see how much damage we can cause.