Vong

Lord Vong, Lunar Patron, was a military official and spiritual guru hailing from the mountain kingdom of Tibet.

## Early Life

Vong was born in Lhasa to a human mother, Eni, on April 23, 200 BB. He had no father; nine months before his birth, Eni experienced a 'trascendental experience' while gazing at the full moon; she fell asleep in a field of moonflowers, and when she awoke, she was pregnant. Eni would give birth to Vong at the town apothocary. After Vong's birth, she was banished from Lhasa for giving birth to a 'stranger's child'; the townsfolk did not believe she had truly been impregnated by Earth's Moon. Eni ran off into the mountains, carrying only a small blanket and a week's rations.

As Eni clambered further up the Tibetan mountain range, a harsh snowstorm descended on the land. She cradled her newborn child in her arms, shielding him from the elements. She swaddled him in her blanket as the torrential wind turned to ice.

## Vong

### Relatives

Eni (Mother)Earth's Moon (Father)

Garrymede (Distant Cousin)

## A Divine Blessing

Eni prayed to the Gods to save her son from this wretched storm. She buried her face in the snow beneath her, tears melting into the ground. Suddenly, the storm let up. Silence fell over the mountain range. In disbelief, Eni looked up, and found herself in a small, lush forest grove. Grapevines grew across the many trees of this orchard; and the sun shone brightly on her face. On all sides, Eni was surrounded by towering mountain walls; she was in a long-dormant volcanic crater, although where, she did not know.

"Welcome, young one." Came a voice from behind. A warm, shimmering figure approached. This was Ed Wool, God of heat and fire, and he had rescued Eni and Vong from the terrible storm in the mountains. This was his special Grand Orchard; a retreat from the harsh weather of the Tibetan plateau. Ed Wool explained that he owed the Moon a great debt, although he would not elaborate what that debt was. He promised to help Eni to raise Vong in the Grand Orchard, and ensured that the boy would grow up to harness his special connection with The Moon.

## Training

As Vong grew older, he became very strong indeed. Vong, as a young man, recieved special training from Ed Wool in the Grand Orchard. Ed had a special celestial connection with Venus, the innermost non-egg planet. This knowledge helped him to instruct Vong on connecting with his own respective celestial body; the Legumish energies which resided naturally in the Omniverse can be saddled, connected, wired together, by those wise enough to harness them. Ed blessed Vong with a specialized, starmetal katana, the first of its kind. These katanas would go on to be the common weapon of MTO melee fighters.

Vong trained with the power of Venus in the day (which was rather weak, and near impossible to connect to when Venus was below the horizon) and immersed himself in the grandiosity of Earth's Moon at night. Soon enough, he was a full-grown adult, capable of wielding great celestial energies. Eni, now an elderly woman, looked on as her son bested Ed Wool time and time again in magical combat. She felt her heart brimming with excitement and pride at her son's success. How strong he had grown up to be.

## A Blessing with Wings

On Vong's 18th birthday, he experienced a vision late at night while talking to the moon. His father, the Moon, blessed him with the ability to conjur a familiar; a swift, agile blue Calypsid Butterfly whose wings were sharp as a razor and cold as space. This Familiar became Vong's companion; and through it, he conferred with his father's celestial essence often.

## Duty Calls

It was not long before it became time for Vong leave the Grand Orchard, at the suggestion of Ed Wool. Ed explained to Vong the ongoing invasion of Earth, and the Combine Empire's habit of turning civilized planets into giant resource repositories. Ed had taught Vong all he knew, and now, the young man was ready to defend his homeworld and its moon. At this point, the war had raged on for all of Vong's life; for twenty-two years, the Earth had been besieged from extradimensional invaders. Vong knew his powers far outmatched any other human alive at the time; and he felt within him a deep duty to save the Solar System. He left his mother with a warm embrace, and was quickly on his way to the Gobi Desert, where a fierce ground battle had raged for months.

## The War in the Gobi

China was losing badly to the Combine Infantry in the Gobi Desert. This was largely thanks to the relentless orbital bombardments of the vicious Admiral Amonger, who regarded human life as 'suspiciously purposeless'. The Chinese military, try as they might, were no match for the Combine tanks, striders, and bombings which had rocked the desert for a quarter of a year. That is, until Vong arrived on the battlefield. Late at night, as shelling still rocked the freezing arid landscape, Vong stepped out onto the battlefield, his familiar on his shoulder. He raised his arms to the sky, parting the dusty clouds above. The full moon shone like a spotlight onto the battlefield, and Vong drew from his belt his starmetal Katana. The Chinese troops rallied behind him; "Onward!" Vong declared, "to victory!'

Vong, engulfed now in a glowing lunar aura, ran into the Combine infrantry, swinging his blade around in circles. His familiar darted between the heads of Combine Overwatch soldiers, cutting their throats and letting them bleed out on the cold desert sand. Vong chopped through the legs of Striders like butter, and within the hour, the Combine infantry had been reduced to a pile of motionless flesh.

## Combined Rage

The Asian Combine Advisors were outraged at this sudden and swift defeat. They watched on in disbelief as Vong advanced further into the Chinese heartland, dispatching Combine legion after Combine legion. The orbital bombardments became useless; Vong struck only at night, when the moon shone, and the surface was too dark to spot Vong and his legions until it was too late. As Vong approached Combine-occupied Beijing, the Combine was now in full retreat in Asia. Vong's troops suffered single-digit losses in each battle they fought, while the Combine was absolutely hemorraging soldiers. Effectively, Vong was a one-man killing machine, trained by a God, fathered by a celestial body, and stronger than any mortal man could ever dream of.

## Incursion of Beijing

Within a matter of days, Vong's troops had arrived at the gates of the fortified city of Beijing. Combine gunships swooped overhead, striders trained their guns on the soldiers, and a hush fell over the city. But nobody fired. The Overwatch were motionless as Vong and his armies walked straight through the gates of Beijing. Vong's familiar fluttered around the troops, ready to quell any ambush or sniper that might arise. But no such attack ever came. Vong's men were mystified, but he showed no fear. He walked straight into the city's central palace doors, and found an empty throne room awaiting him.

Suddenly, out from one of the doorways, floated a lone Combine Advisor, flanked by two Overwatch soldiers. One of the soldiers stepped forward.

"We would like to negotiate peace," he said through his mechanized facemask. Vong cocked his head at him.

"Peace?" Vong asked, wrapping his fingers around his starmetal katana.

"Yes," the footsoldier continued, "If you surrender now, we'll leave this city forever. We will leave you to your own devices."

"There is no honor in surrender," Vong stated, after a moment; continuing, "kill them all."

Vong lunged at the Combine Advisor, thrusting his Katana into the Advisor's side. He pulled it down, slicing a massive wound into the pale flesh of the creature. This left a massive gash on the Advisor's side, green blood pouring out an onto the palace floor. Two of Vong's men engaged the Combine footsoldiers, quickly disposing of them with their own katanas. Vong advanced into the door the Advisor had entered from; he was soon met with a room full of Advisors, all of whom were quickly dealt with. Vong had quickly dispatched the entire occupying force of Beijing. He draped Chinese banners from the largest balconies of the palace, and called out to the remaining Combine troops; "Leave this place at once, or die!"

## War Hero

After his heroic liberation of China, Vong was willing and able to join the ranks of the MTO, immediately being appointed unanimously by world governments as the Grand General of the MTO Army. Over the next several months, he fought alongside the people of Earth to liberate almost all of the Asian and Australian Continents from Combine control. Vong was hailed as a hero; the people of the solar system rallied around Vong as the 'Liberator of Earth'. World Superpowers predicted a swift and final end to the Great META War by 175 BB, under Vong's leadership.

Fame is a terrible thing. Even the most resilient and noble of men can be infected by its wrath. As Vong won battle after battle effortlessly, he slowly became arrogant and self-righteous. He flaunted being raised by a God in the mountains; he proclaimed to the Solar System that he was 'the Chosen One'. The Beijing City Government appointed him Governor of the territory, and he immediately commissioned giant statues of himself, which he affixed with 'lunar rods' (designed to contain and harness the energies of the Moon.)

Vong gained a cult following among the people of Earth, and he used this to his advantage. Vong encouraged the citizenry to worship him as a god. He claimed that through their prayers, he would grow stronger and more powerful. Their prayers, he said, were what kept the Combine at bay. Vong quickly spiralled out of control, travelling across Asia to random towns and villages and partying into the wee hours of the night. He had no real friends; in fact, the only people he truly got along with were people who associated with him only because of his fame. This was the great tragedy of it all; that Vong, the savior of Earth, in his quest to save mankind, lost his own humanity.

## One Last Lesson

Vong's hubris had grown excessive. The streets of Beijing were painted with his face; statues of him stood tall above the cities of mainland Asia. No man could best him; many had tried. The MTO couldn't convince him to resign as General; and what else could they do, besides ask nicely? He was the most powerful person in centuries to be seen on Earth.

One night, Vong was drunkenly stargazing in a field with a bunch of stoned college kids. He frequented American Frat Parties, it should be noted, and this was far from his first time engaging in the festivities. He was in the middle of a drunken stupor when a strange, glowing light filled his peripheral vision. Vong sat up, rubbing his eyes, and burped.

Down from the sky descended a flaming humanoid creature; Ed Wool had returned to Earth.

"What have you become?" Ed Wool asked, pitifully, staring down at the boy he had raised from infancy. Vong cleared his throat and stared defiantly at the god before him.

"I've become stronger than anyone else. Ever. Look at me!" Vong snickered, flexing his pecs. He grabbed a bottle of beer from the ground and chugged it in a few seconds. Ed Wool looked up to the crescent Moon.

"Heroes do not flaunt themselves like this, Vong," Ed Wool chided, placing his hands on his shoulders, "where is your humility? What happened to the young boy I knew all those years ago?"

Vong shook his head.

"Nothing happened. I just grew up."

Ed Wool, now, shook his head.

"No. You've devolved into... into... a self-indulgent egotopia!" Ed Wool growled, "You party and drink while your men die on the frontlines. What the hell is wrong with you? Have you no mercy?"

Vong furrowed his brow, offended.

"They're sacrificing their lives in my name. Come on, man! That's what mortals do for us Gods." Vong sneered, "Isn't this what you wanted?"

Ed Wool shook his head. "No, this isn't what I wanted. Not at all."

Vong cracked his knuckles, eyeing Ed Wool with intense concentration.

"Why'd you keep me in that Orchard anyway, Ed?" Vong asked, placing his hand on his Katana.

Ed Wool looked wistfully up at the Moon. "I owed your father that much, Vong. Or at least, I thought I did."

Vong suddenly rushed at Ed Wool, swinging his Katana at the deity's neck, just as he had with so many opponents before. They called it 'Vong's One-shot Blow', and it was his most common incapacitation tactic. But that didn't work against a God. The blade cut clean through Ed's neck like butter, but it reformed over itself like nothing had happened.

"Alright, boy. I can see I've got to teach you one... last... lesson." Ed Wool snarled, punching his fists together, igniting them with a blazing red flame. He grabbed Vong by the throat and flew up into the air, his molten hands burning against the boy's cool skin. Vong struggled against Ed's grasp, to no avail.

Ed Wool stared straight ahead as he flew towards the moon, Vong being dragged along through the atmosphere. Ed had his eye set on the Moon; and when he neared its pearlescent surface, he grabbed Vong with two hands and threw him into the surface of the satellite. Vong crashed into the Moon's surface, forming a massive impact crater in the middle of a mar.

Ed floated above the surface, summoning a great ring of fire in space. Vong struggled in the moondust, unable to see or hear. He stumbled forward, reaching for his Katana, but it had been partially melted by Ed Wool's extreme body temperatures. Ed Wool's glowing aura entered into the dustcloud.

"Do you yield, Lunar Patron?" Ed Wool asked, spinning the ring around above his head. Vong, kneeling, stared up at Ed Wool with malice in his eyes.

"There is no honor in surrender." Vong muttered, before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He felt the Legumish energies of the Omniverse flowing over his body; he channeled them into his hands, and when he opened his eyes, let loose a magnificent burst of light from his palms towards Ed Wool. This impacted Ed's shoulder, sending him crashing down to the lunar surface below. Ed Wool, furious now, and out of shits to give, channeled into him the divine power of Venus. He opened his eyes; they glowed orange with Venusian magma. Ed smashed his foot into the Lunar surface, creating a massive fissure in the crust, which cracked towards an unsuspecting Vong. Out from this fissure shot Venusian magma, spewing massive globs into the Lunar atmosphere and burning Vong, badly.

Vong sent his familiar to attach Vong; it flittered rapidly across his magmatic skin, creating massive gash wounds out from which bled molten Ichor. This annoyed Ed Wool, hardening his heart.

If Vong was truly willing to kill him... after all he'd done to raise him, to help him harness his powers... which Vong now used against him, well... then this boy didn't deserve to have those powers at all.

Ed Wool grabbed the familiar in one hand and crumpled it like a piece of paper. He walked slowly towards Vong a steely resolve in his eyes. Vong, bruised and irreperably burned by the Venusian magma, frantically crawled Ed Wool, his woundsdirtied with Moonsand as he crept.

"I am sorry Eni. And I am sorry, Lune." Ed Wool spoke to himself, softly, before summoning geysers of Magma around Vong. The boy was encased in molten rock; his screams suffocated by the lava around him. After several minutes, the screaming stopped, and the rock cooled. Vong was no more.

## A Hidden Gem

Ed Wool now possessed a boulder, formed with the sundered corpse of Vong and Venusian Magma. Vong's celestial energies had dispersed within the rock. Ed Wool sent the boulder down to Earth's Surface, where it crashed nearby the MTO Asian Base of Operations. From here, Vong's boulder was harvested as the foremost source of starmetal on Earth, and was used to fashion Katanas and weaponry for the rest of the war. The Katanas wielded by Keith Cumshoes and Rick Hernia contained some of Vong's celestial essence; hence, although Vong did not live on, his energies were put to use by the MTO, and he still remained a savior of the Solar System, in a way; although, with none of the credit and none of the fame.