LOREBOOK: The Final Conqueror

The Golden rooftops of the Xanos estate shimmered in the orange light of the setting sun. Upon the largest balcony, the two figures stood silhouetted against their home's glare, staring into the city below. Quisetptum Xanos, the larger of the two beings, grinned to himself. Such a view was not to be squandered; the Xanos Estate stood on what was by far the most desirable piece of real estate in all of Septenibyss, a prestige that could have been earned by it's scenic vistas alone. The towering spires of the weather control arrays, the elegant domes erected over the Pious Pools, and on a clear day, the tip of the distant Smaragdus Peninsula could all be viewed from the comfort of the estate's backyard. Quiseptum could have stood there gazing into the horizon for the entire solar cycle. The mind of young Diesancti, however, seemed to be elsewhere.

"Eyes up, boy. You're missing the sunset!"

"Apologies, father. The view has gotten... boring."

Quiseptum laughed. "Boring, child? Not every world has a skyline quite like Septenibyss, you know. When you're off-planet next year, you'll regret not taking a moment to soak it in!" Diesancti shrugged, then turned to the horizon. "I meant no offense, father. But I'm going to see a great many worlds, so I imagine that I'll find something interesting eventually."

It was a good enough answer for Quiseptum. Perhaps he *was* getting too sentimental in his old age. It felt like just yesterday that he had been out there in the dirt of a foreign world, crushing some backwards species into obedience before constructing a shining new city on the ruins of their village. That Quiseptum would not have waxed poetically about sunset; no, like any good Xanos, he would have thought of his latest conquest, and the myriad of ways it might advance his legacy of power. Evidently, the boy had his priorities more in line than he did.

"Am I not worthy?"

The boy's question snapped Quiseptum out of his thought. He turned to his son, letting out a hearty laugh.

"Worthy? You are a Xanos, child! By your blood, you are worthy of all you can take!" He gestured to the land below. "You think Septenibyss was built in a day? We had to civilize this land, hammer it into shape, perfect it's form!" He chuckled again. "Not worthy... not unless you plan on failing, boy."

The two continued to watch in silence.

**~~~~~~~~~**

Diesancti roared, his fist collapsing the reptilian creature's skull with a wet crunch. Grasping the still twitching corpse, he spun quickly around, heaving the body into the being's terrified comrades. Their squeals of terror were music to his ears. As they struggled to dodge, Diesnacti rushed in with his blade, slicing their six limbs in such a flash that he doubted they'd even noticed. Not one to take chances, he drew and fired his plasma repeater in such a blurr that the limbless bodies of his opponents lost their heads before they'd even hit the ground. Was this the last of them? A quick glance of the muddy battlefield confirmed his fear: all that remained, apart from Diesancti himself, were the hundreds of mangled bodies he's helped create. The fight was over already? Diesancti frowned. What a terrible bore.

At the base camp, the spirit was high. Monochrome Concordat soldiers laughed, danced, and popped bottles of super champagne. Even their commanders joined in for the celebration and merrymaking, so joyous was the mood. Diesancti truly had no idea why; the Conquest of Gorgalli XI had not been difficult whatsoever. Were the soldiers happy to have triumphed over the native Gorgallonoids, who barely knew how to organize their forces? Did they take pride in the muddy, featureless wasteland they had liberated for the empire? Could a effortless sweep such as this be the highlight of their military careers?

"Xanos, you crazy bastard! What took you so long?"

The smiling, bearded face of Regulus Redactus emerged from behind a dirt covered tent. Like Diesancti, Regulus was an Omnian, though their similarly purple skin was not all they had in common. As younglings, the two were classmates at the Septenibyss Military Academy, and their time stuck together in endless lectures on orbital transfer mechanics or shiver fluctuations had bonded the two as friends. Well, perhaps friends was a strong word. Diesancti would have preferred the title of "allies."

He nodded back to his ally. "The West line was unprotected. A few of the mudsuckers made a move for the flank, though it wasn't a problem."

"Fighting alone again, my friend? Hardly very sporting, leaving us out of all the fun!"

Regulus laughed, and Diesancti returned a smile. "This campaign was... lacking. I have to get my enjoyment from somewhere." Regulus patted his friend on the back, and together the two walked towards the barracks. "Well, maybe we'll have better luck next time. I hear we're supposed to be moving out in only a few days! More worlds to take, more territory to secure, you know the spiel..." Diesancti did know the "spiel." Despite several billion years of existence, much of the Concordat remained unexplored and unsettled. Imperial units such as Diesancti and Regulus's helped the government incorporate such unaligned land. The best part was, of course, the almost complete lack of regulation regarding how exactly, the land was "incorporated." D'challan had better things to do then stress about the fine details of worlds like Gorgalli XI.

"Do you ever think about what happens after, Regulus?"

"After what?"

"After we're done."

Reglus shook his head. "Done settling every single planet? No, I don't. I might live forever, but even that's not enough time. Even this grunt work is getting old. Maybe in a couple thousand years I'll be able to switch to Star Navy, command a ship, find some action as a captain or an admiral..."

Regulus talked, but Xanos was not listening.

**~~~~~~~~~**

The sky above the Provential Nebula was heavy with explosions of brilliant light. Plowing through the detonations, hundreds of thousands of ships exchanged plasma energy broadsides. Star Navy laser lances cut through the hulls of the rebel ships, but more moved to fill their place, slowly but surely hammering back the Navy through sheer numbers.

Below on the surface, Diesancti stood amongst the smoke and pale light, barking orders to his weary men. Diesancti knew that, as an Omega Commendant, the ground campaign was his complete responsibility, and he'd worked to ensure an almost flawless victory against Yor'Slippery Konbibular's rebel legions. But a victory on the surface meant nothing, as holding the Provential Asteroid plane was impossible without naval support. Even a common soldier could tell that they were loosing on that front, and morale had begun to collapse. All but their commander had decided to flee.

"Stand and fight, you cowards! I never ordered a retreat!" Diesancti grabbed one of his men as he ran past, a monochromatic green humanoid with a look of pure terror on his face. "Omega Colonel, sir, we-we're too weak! We're all gonna be reduced to protoplasm as soon as Yor'Slippery mops up the navy!" Diesancti scoffed, tossing the man aside as he turned to face his weary troops. "Yor'Slippery and his degenerate scum cannot be allowed to find victory today! If you run, your lives are meaningless. But if you stand and fight, your deaths will ensure our glorious world never ends!" Diesancti raised his plasma battleaxe. "Prove to me you are strong! Prove to me you are worthy of your life!"

For a moment, the group was silent, distant gunfire and explosions the only sound in the air. Then they began to chant.

"Xanos! Xanos! Xanos!"

Diesancti and his army charged over the rocky hill, screaming and shouting as if they were wild beasts. One by one, however, they began to fall, blown to pieces by land mines and melted into goo by the rebel's sniperfire. By the time they reached Yor'Slippery's citadel, only a dozen warriors remained. Diesancti was undaunted. Men would always die in war, but as long as he made it to Yor'Slippery, as long as he was the one to put that filthy traitor into the ground...

A flash of emerald light interrupted Diesancti's thoughts of glory. Blinded momentarily, he gazed into the air above just in time to see... no. Impossible. Not him. Not when he was so close to victory.

Dwarfing Diesancti, the Citadel, and even many of the Star-Navy vessels, a giant silver beast reared it's draconic head. Letting out an echoing roar, the entity unfurled it's titanic, shimmering wings, casting light over the entire battlefield. Rebel ships fired at in vain, and as their blasts bounced harmlessly off of the creature's hide, it roared again, and from within it came a glowing pulse that washed over the nearby conflict. Diesancti could only watch helplessly as the rebel ships began to dissolve into a shower of gold, and Yor'Slippery's citadel crumble into ashes. The battle was over, the Concordat had won, and Diesancti had never been more filled with fury.

Diesancti did not make eye contact with Regulus when his old classmate's starfleet arrived to relieve the survivors. To tell the truth, he would have preferred to have spent the evening alone in the ruins of Yor'Slippery's citadel, but Regulus had gone out of his way to check on his friend, no matter how little it was appreciated.

"It's good to see you alive, Xanos. I'd worried my fleet would have come too late to help you, but it looks like we were just in time..."

"The victory was mine. Mephilis had no right so steal my glory."

Regulus shrugged. "You'd already earned a great deal of glory, my friend. If the space battle had gone better, you would have all but guaranteed the win-" Diesancti slammed his fist into the rubble, enraged. "And yet still, that shapeshifting braggard had to come in and kill Yor'Slippery? And that cosmic dragon form... hardly even a fight when you posses the power of an entire sun!"

"Well, someone seems to be taking my intervention personally."

Diesancti turned, finding himself facing the small, purple furred form of Mephillis the Ever-changing. The mustelid warrior wore a toothy grin, and on his wrist his legendary "Vambrace of Shapes" glowed a dim green. Adjusting his silvery robe, he spoke again. "You fought well, Xanos, but you didn't get to Yor'Slippery before I did. Far as I'm concerned, that means the kill was mine, fair and square." Mephiliss gave Diesancti a pat on the chest, and turned back to the fleet landed down the hill. "Besides, there's always next time, right?"

Xanos said nothing, and Regulus let out a sigh. "Xanos, there's one more thing... I got a mega telegram right before I left... it seems you're needed back on Septenibyss. It's your father. He's unwell"

**~~~~~~~~~**

The funeral was short, to Diesancti's surprise. Quiseptum Xanos had grown soft in his old age, and requested a more modest ceremony. Only 100 children were sacrificed in the pools of liquid gold, and the re-enactment of Quiseptum's greatest triumphs by a troupe of cyber-augmented performers didn't even last a day. Was this a death that would be remembered? Was this a life worth passing into legend? Perhaps the skin fungus that had taken his life has also claimed his self-respect. Diesancti made a mental note not to follow in his father's footsteps when his time came. If it came.

The trip home, however, was not a total loss. With Quiseptum dead, Diesancti had inherited his position as a Satrap, though he imagined his new role as a regional viceroy would have any real effect on future military campaigns. Still, power was power.

Diesancti gave his well-wishes to the few mourners he had any care for. Regulus gave his respects, bringing with him a young girl Diesancti assumed must have been his daughter. The child, who Regulus said was named Kaxias, babbled about starships and off world battles. A grey-haired man in a sharp blue uniform also consoled Diesancti for his loss, though this was more of a formality, as neither 78E-KV Micheal Pence nor Diesancti had seriously cared of Quiseptum. As the guests began to leave, and night began to fall, Diesancti found himself alone with a strange blue man, who looked twitchy and uncomfortable in his dress clothes.

"Can I help you?" Diesancti intoned.

"yeAH. i Am bLUE kAVaNAUGH." The blue man extended his hand, though Diesancti did not take it. He continued regardless. "i wAs QuiSEptuM's laWyeR anD adVisOr. i aM heRE to hELP wITh yOuR fInanCeS. whEn wILL yOU bE mOvInG bacK to tHE eState? " Diesancti scoffed. "Retire to this pitiful estate? You must be defective, half-breed. I will not be coming back until I am legend."

Blue Kavaugh adjusted his collar. "tHeN i WilL aCoMpAnY yOu oN yOuR qUEst. QuISepTuM rEquEsTeD i hElP yOu wITh whATevER yOU neEd."

Xanos turned to one of the estate's windows, and stared out into the inky black sky. "Then we leave tommorow. There is much work to be done."

**~~~~~~~~~**