Citadel War (Earth-7642)

## Synopsis

The Citadel War was an interstellar conflict between the forces of the Citadel Empire and the revolutionary forces of the worlds enslaved by them. The rebellion was led by a team of elite fighters known as the Omega Men. The Citadel had dominated the Vega star system for eons. Their actions were governed by an entity known only as Complex-Complex, a computer network system that had psionically interfaced with the essence of the progenitor of the Citadel species.

The Citadel aligned themselves with other alien races under their control, notably the warriors of Branx and the Gordanians. The Citadel used the Gordanians as their slavers and sent them to various planets to acquire fresh slaves. The Branx Warriors proved to be some of the most fierce fighters in the galaxy and they served as the Citadel's enforcers, staging raids against settlements and defusing rebel uprisings.

Several years ago, notable representatives of various races within the Vega star system decided to unite and forge an elite unit to combat the forces of the Citadel. These outcasts later became known as the Omega Men. At the onset of the Citadel War, the Citadel dominated every planet within the Vega star system except for one - Euphorix. Euphorix was protected by a planetary shield constructed by their interim king Alonzo Durlak. The rightful king and queen of Euphorix were Primus and Kalista, two of the architects of the Omega Men rebellion.

The Omega Men rallied many loyalists to their cause and gained their first major victory when they assumed command of a Citadel outpost on the planet Slagg. They used the outpost as a temporary base of operations from which to conduct hit and run maneuvers against Citadel supply lines. They then attempted to enlist aid from the people of Changralyn, but the Changralynians refused to go against their pacifistic ways and as a result Omega Man known as Broot became a prisoner of the Gordanians.

The Citadel supreme military commander aligned himself with an Earth human named Harry Hokum. Hokum hired the bounty hunter known as Lobo to track down queen Kalista in order to extract from her the means by which to deactivate Euphorix's planetary shield. Though they briefly succeeded in deactivating the field, they were unable to mount a planetary offensive before Euphorix's military could get the shield back up.

At this time, the Omega Men began to suffer problems within their own ranks. Tigorr of Karna engaged in a lengthy dispute with Primus over how to properly lead the Omega Men. While Primus advocated the use of strategy and tactical analysis to accomplish their goals, the impatient Tigorr preferred a more hard-line approach. Their disdain for one another was amplified due to the machinations of the traitorous Demonia. Soon after, Primus and Tigorr came to blows, and Tigorr proved victorious. While Primus was taken to a triage on Slagg, Tigorr assumed control of the Omega Men. He quickly discovered that Demonia had sold them out and the two engaged in a brutal conflict that resulted in Demonia's death.

With the rest of the loyalists rallying behind their new leader, Tigorr led the Omega Men on a direct assault against the Citadel Homeworld. Supplemented by hundreds of starships from various worlds, the Omega Men succeeded in destroying the fortress ring surrounding the planet. Tigorr personally led a commando squad onto the planet where they raided the central nerve complex.

Tigorr detonated a bomb that destroyed the sentient Complex-Complex, thus cutting off the rest of the Citadel Empire from their mainframe. Without Complex-Complex to coordinate their efforts, the Citadelians became easy targets for the Omega Men. In short order, the war was over and the Omega Men proved victorious.