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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Klokinator on 2025-10-21 17:37:22+00:00.
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…
(Part 001)
Far-Future Era. Day 20, AJR. 4PM. Eastern Melodia.
Inside the unified headquarters of Melodia’s Defenders, Belial finally finished explaining the situation to a small group of people. Among them were Commander Linda Adams, Commander Chadwick, Melody, Beelzebub, and Kiari. They were all sitting inside Linda’s office, which felt a bit cramped with so many people stuffed inside, but nobody complained.
“That’s the long and short of it.” Belial concluded. “As we speak, the other demons are spreading the word of Raphael and Uzziel’s deception. We don’t know how long we have until the Kolvaxians attack. We don’t know if they will attack. But since the charade is up and their plan has been revealed early, I don’t imagine it’ll be long.”
The others remained silent for a time. Beelzebub was the first to speak.
“I’m not so certain.” Beelzebub said.
“About what?” Linda asked.
He pondered for a moment.
“About whether or not the angels will actually attack. Think about it. Even if the Psions hadn’t completely imploded due to Demila’s betrayal, do you really believe the entirety of the Psion Army could withstand a regenerating enemy force led by a competent, perfectly intelligent leader like Uzziel? If she wanted to overwhelm the galaxy, she would have done so already.”
He continued. “This isn’t about winning. It’s about revenge. Uzziel feels slighted. She wants to inflict pain and suffering on us, to make us feel small, weak, and snuff out our hope. I’m not sure she’s actually going to start rapidly overtaking worlds now that the jig is up. I think she’s going to continue slowly swallowing the galaxy, laughing at us because she thinks it’s delightful that we’re pissing our pants in terror or trying to mount a pointless, feckless resistance.”
“That’s a nice sentiment, I guess.” Linda said calmly. “But you’re merely guessing. What makes you even think your assumption has any merit?”
Beelzebub shrugged sheepishly. “Well… because not long ago, I also was a rather vindictive bastard who wanted revenge. It just seems in character for her… and me. The old me, I mean. Not that I’m not still a vindictive bastard, but I digress…”
Linda sighed and looked off to the side, rubbing her head. “Yes, I suppose you have a point.”
Chadwick cleared his throat. “Ahem. Let us not dwell on hypothetical scenarios and mental states of our enemy. We need to think about concrete actions we can take.”
He waited until he had everyone’s attention before continuing.
“Unifying every species to battle the Kolvaxians is not only our best chance at winning, but is in fact our only chance. These monsters are so durable that even our heaviest artillery cannons will barely stagger them for a moment. We have weapons that might be capable of stalling them out, such as the Stasis Grenades we used to great effect on Maiura, but those can only buy us a little time.”
“So what do you propose?” Linda asked.
“The Cube.” Chadwick said. “The Phoenix is a Middle Cosmic now, yes? It is not powerful enough to protect us from the Archangels-”
“She isn’t a combatant at all.” Beelzebub interrupted. “The Phoenix is only capable of creating worlds and controlling the cube. If even a Low Cosmic breaches the interior, she won’t be able to- well, actually, she does have the Sentry Stars… I don’t know how powerful they are though.”
“Yes yes, but let me finish my point.” Chadwick said while waving his hand. “Isn’t there a colossal amount of space inside the Cube? A truly unfathomable amount beyond the size of multiple solar systems?”
Beelzebub blinked. “Yes… why? Surely you’re not thinking…”
“That Cube is not only vast, with ample room for growth, but it is hidden, mobile, and it can sustain life.” Chadwick said slowly. “Don’t you see? We’ve treated it as a throwaway training depot, or a backup option for far too long. I believe we must relocate key worlds inside the Cube before the Plague can infest them!”
The entire room went quiet. Belial silently gasped.
“That… that could work!” Belial said. “Beelzebub, is it possible? Can the Phoenix put a few stars inside the Cube and create self-sustaining planetary orbits? Can she create an entire ecosystem of worlds for us to live upon?”
Beelzebub rubbed his chin. He fell into thought.
“…Give me a moment.”
He closed his eyes and folded his hands in his lap. Then he bowed his head. Belial was surprised when she felt his demonic aura abruptly disappear, as if his soul had left his body.
Chadwick opened his mouth to speak, but Linda held a finger up to her lips. He opted to remain silent.
A minute later, Beelzebub’s aura returned. He chewed his lower lip, then nodded his head.
“The Phoenix has spoken. We can indeed do this. She can transport entire worlds inside the Cube. The cost is high, but not extreme. And the more worlds rich in life that we bring, the more energy she can use to bring in additional ones. But, it’s not all roses and daffodils.”
Beelzebub waggled a finger in warning. “The Phoenix says that she can only put worlds inside the Cube by moving the Cube near them. This means that she can only do so once the Cube is inside a star system.”
Linda frowned. “The Cube needs to warp across the galaxy. It requires time to move around.”
“That’s right.” Beelzebub said. “If Uzziel catches on, she could completely destroy all our efforts by infesting a world before we take it into the Cube, then unleashing the Plague when we least expect it, collapsing our resistance immediately. In the worst case scenario, we have to assume we will only be able to bring one star system’s worth of planets with us. After all, the Cube was created by Camael, not Raphael, and he is unlikely to know it possesses this function. But after we do it once, he may discover our deception and take steps to prevent us from doing so in the future.”
The entire room fell silent.
All at once, everyone realized this solution was not as simple as it sounded.
“How do we decide which world to save?” Kiari asked quietly, her heart heavy with emotions due to her husband’s funeral, but her mind steeled with determination for their child. “I like Sharmur, but it has a small population. Volgarius is the densest world in the galaxy. If we’re going by the number of lives we could save…”
“What about the Demon Deities?” Melody asked, also speaking for the first time. “My power is bound to the energy of not only Sharmur’s star, but all its planets as well. Is it possible that by moving an entire star system into the Cube, I could retain my power? Then we would have a Middle Cosmic inside, able to assist the Phoenix and provide a powerful defense.”
“If so, then that would mean we could protect the other Demon Deities.” Beelzebub pointed out. “Right now, we can evacuate all the mortal demons into the Labyrinth. It should be hardened against a Kolvaxian invasion by virtue of existing in a protected dimension, especially after Diablo altered its core functions and gave it new power. But if we do that, the Demon Deities bound to planets and stars will be left naked and vulnerable. Alone, they have no chance against one of the Archangels, let alone a Kolvaxian horde.”
“We can’t leave them to die.” Melody said, nodding. “They are all powerhouses whose abilities we could come to rely on. Especially Auger and Yardrat, but I wouldn’t discount Vespera or any of the others. A Cosmic is a Cosmic, after all.”
Chadwick looked uneasy. “Sharing a galaxy with these Deities is one thing, but packing all of us into the Cube with them? Melody, you can provide us some assurance of protection because if any of them get any ideas, they can only attack us one at a time. But if they’re all in the Cube together, we’ll be at their mercy! You cannot possibly beat back ten Middle Cosmics at once!”
Melody grimaced. “No shit, I can’t. But the situation is bad. We have to act quickly before Uzziel and Raphael catch wind of our plans! Galactic unification is our only prayer for victory.”
The other leaders looked uneasy. After all, in the best case scenario, they would be shoving many core worlds together comprised of species that hated each other just a couple of weeks prior, and one of those species even committed a genocide.
None of the humans wanted to ally with or trust the Volgrim, but they had no choice. The Volgrim were countless epochs more advanced than humanity. If the humans and the demons holed up alone, the humans might be able to hide from the Plague long enough to build u…
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