I just stood there.
Staring down at the corpse.
My breathing was ragged.
One hand gone.
Ribs still aching.
The corridor filled with the smell of burned metal, blood, and scorched flesh.
Then—
"MASTER! LET'S GO!"
Bolts.
His voice cut through the haze.
Farther down the corridor, something screamed.
More infected.
I looked down at my arm.
Blood poured from the stump of my wrist.
I pulled it against my chest and started moving. Kicking the monsters body to store it away.
John fell in beside me.
We reached the docking platform at a run.
Bolts and I climbed in.
John followed.
The canopy sealed behind us.
Roger immediately lifted off.
The docking platform dropped away beneath us as the ship accelerated through the bay doors and back into open space.
Only then did I finally sit down.
More accurately—
Collapse.
I slumped into one of the seats and stared at my missing hand.
Again.
Second time.
Same hand.
A health potion appeared in my remaining hand.
I pulled the cork free with my teeth and drank.
Warmth spread through my body.
The bleeding slowed.
Then stopped.
Fresh tissue crawled over the exposed wound, sealing the end of my arm beneath newly formed skin.
The hand itself wouldn't return immediately.
Last time had taken roughly a day or two.
Probably the same this time.
That didn't make it any less depressing.
Roger's voice came from the cockpit.
"Safe distance achieved for detonation."
I looked up.
The Dyson Ring filled the viewport.
Massive. Still burning in places. Still alive in others.
I watched it for several seconds.
Then leaned back.
"Fuck you guys."
My PAK sent the signal.
For a moment—
Nothing.
Then the Ring flashed.
A bright detonation erupted deep inside the section we'd infiltrated.
A fraction of a second later, smaller secondary explosions appeared around it.
The section surrounding the anti-gravity generator twisted.
Then sagged.
Slowly at first.
Almost imperceptibly.
But once it began moving toward the sun—
It didn't stop.
The failed section dipped inward.
As it moved deeper into the sun's gravity well, the imbalance worsened.
Neighboring sections began taking loads they were never meant to carry.
The structure visibly deformed.
Several minutes passed.
Then fragments started breaking away.
Sections of infrastructure.
They fell toward the sun.
The Ring trembled.
Even from this distance, I could see the strain traveling through it.
One failure became several.
Supports buckled. Sections disconnected. The perfect circular structure warped.
Then the collapse accelerated.
Entire portions of the Ring tore apart.
Huge fragments began falling toward the sun.
Some collided with neighboring sections before continuing inward.
The civilization's greatest achievement came apart piece by piece.
Just debris falling into a star.
It was over.
The Vederan fleet stopped fighting.
Almost immediately.
Ships that had been exchanging fire minutes earlier simply ceased.
Fighters broke away from dogfights.
Capital ships stopped maneuvering against one another.
Weapons went silent.
There was no longer anything to argue about.
The Ring was gone.
Both Admirals ordered a ceasefire.
And for several minutes, the entire fleet simply floated there.
Hundreds of warships.
Thousands of fighters.
Wreckage everywhere.
No one fired.
They just watched what remained of their greatest city fall into the sun.
Eventually professionalism won.
Or survival.
Probably both.
The two factions began cooperating again.
Orbital formations reorganized.
Ships resumed bombardment of Verdara.
Red beams descended toward the planet.
Targeting concentrations of infected creatures.
Sterilizing regions.
The civil war had lasted only long enough to kill even more of them.
Then it ended because there was nothing left to save.
I stayed slumped in my chair.
There was nothing else for me to do.
The Massive would arrive.
The Irken fleet would follow.
I just had to wait.
So I did.
Hours passed.
I drifted in and out of meditation.
My body repaired itself.
My ribs had already mostly healed.
The missing hand had begun the slow process of regrowing beneath the sealed skin.
Then—
A thought surfaced.
Not mine exactly.
Or maybe it was.
Hard to tell anymore.
You still have one move left.
My eyes opened.
A slow idea began forming. A very good bad one.
I sat upright.
Closed my eyes.
And reached into the Force.
My awareness expanded.
I searched.
Found one of the major Vederan capital ships.
Then pushed farther.
Through metal.
Through decks.
Through corridors.
Through hundreds of minds.
Until I reached the bridge.
A massive command center.
Operators filled tiered stations.
Displays covered entire walls.
Officers moved between consoles.
And in the center—
An Admiral.
One of the Four-Petaled Admirals.
The one who had wanted evacuation.
He sat in his command chair.
Still.
Defeated.
His posture had collapsed inward.
His attention remained fixed on the tactical displays.
I approached from behind.
Not physically.
Only awareness.
Presence.
The Force.
I reached toward him carefully.
Not enough to seize his thoughts.
Not enough to command.
Just enough to whisper.
Are you really going to let him get away with that?
The Admiral shifted.
Barely.
His head lifted.
His eyes moved toward the ceiling.
He'd felt something.
I could feel the reaction.
Tiny.
Almost nothing.
A brief flare.
Anger.
Then reason crushed it.
He steadied himself.
Returned to the displays.
So I pushed again.
Softer.
Closer.
They killed over one hundred billion people.
The Admiral's jaw tightened.
They sabotaged the Ring.
His breathing changed.
Only slightly.
But I felt it.
The anger returned.
Stronger this time.
A memory surfaced in him.
Arguments.
His counterpart demanding immediate destruction.
The other Admiral insisting the Ring was already lost.
Insisting that hesitation would doom everything.
I fed the thought.
Not words this time.
Suspicion.
Doubt.
The memory of every ship he'd lost trying to hold the other faction back.
Every evacuation corridor he'd fought to keep open.
Every civilian transport he'd tried to protect.
Then the Ring falling anyway.
He wanted it destroyed.
The Admiral's fingers tightened around the arm of his chair.
And then it was destroyed.
His expression hardened.
I remained quiet.
Let him think.
Let him connect the pieces himself.
That was better.
"HAIL ADMIRAL RIK."
The officer nearest the communications station looked up.
He looked as exhausted as everyone else on the bridge.
His uniform was wrinkled. His eyes were sunken. Whatever energy he'd begun the day with had died sometime between the civil war and watching the Ring collapse into the sun.
Then he looked toward his Admiral.
And paused.
Loaf was sitting straighter now.
The grief remained on his face, but something had changed behind it.
There was anger there again.
Purpose.
The officer turned back to his console.
"...Yes, Admiral."
His hands moved across the controls.
It only took a few seconds.
The main display flickered.
Admiral Rik appeared.
He looked just as ruined.
Shoulders low.
Face drawn.
The posture of someone who hadn't slept and wasn't expecting to anytime soon.
He stared at Loaf for several seconds.
"Loaf."
A tired breath escaped him.
"What can I do for you at this fine hour?"
The sarcasm had no life behind it.
Loaf didn't return it.
"Rik."
His voice carried across the bridge.
"For crimes against our civilization, I am ordering you to surrender yourself into custody."
Rik's expression changed.
Confusion first.
Then disbelief.
Loaf continued.
"You will stand trial under capital law."
Rik's eyes narrowed.
"What?"
"You heard me."
"You must be off your rocker, Loaf. Has the stress finally gotten to you?"
Loaf shot out of his chair.
"YOU KILLED BILLIONS!"
The bridge went silent.
Operators stopped working.
Officers turned toward their Admiral.
Even through the Force, I felt the shock ripple through the room.
Rik stared through the display.
Then anger replaced his exhaustion.
"I was trying to save us from a worse outcome!"
...
There. The mistake.
I felt it the instant the words left his mouth.
Rik had defended the decision, not the accusation.
Loaf froze.
And I felt the doubt inside him harden.
He didn't deny it.
I barely needed to touch the thought.
Loaf's mind did the rest.
Rik had demanded the Ring's destruction.
Rik had fought him over it.
Rik's ships had attempted to reach firing positions.
Then, somehow, while those ships were being held back—
The Ring had been sabotaged anyway.
Now Rik was defending why it had needed to die.
Every piece fit. Wrongly. But perfectly.
"ENOUGH!"
The word echoed through the bridge.
The anger I'd planted had become his now.
Maybe it always had been.
I'd only given it somewhere to go.
Loaf stared at the other Admiral.
"Surrender your ship."
Rik slowly stood.
"Absolutely not."
"Then order your fleet to power down."
"No."
Loaf's face hardened.
"Rik."
A pause.
"Surrender."
Rik stared back.
Neither man looked tired anymore.
"Surrender," Loaf repeated, "or die."
Then—
DING. Skill gained: Force-Persuasion (Lv 1 / 10). - influence the weak-minded
I opened my eyes aboard the Irken ship.
For a moment, I simply sat there.
Then my ship began registering changes in the surrounding Vederan fleet.
Ships changing formation.
Weapons rotating.
Targeting systems activating.
The ceasefire had lasted only a few hours.
I stared through the viewport.
The civil war reignited.
And I stayed out of it.
For once.
I sat aboard the ship and watched the Vederans tear themselves apart.
Hours passed.
Ships burned.
Fighters vanished in flashes of light.
Every so often one of the larger vessels lost power completely and began dropping toward Verdara.
Then—
DING. Skill Progression: Raise Undead (Lv 5 → 6).
I stared at the notification.
That was unexpected.
Which meant some of the undead clones I'd left behind were still active.
Still fighting.
Still killing.
Somewhere on the planet below, whatever remained of those guys was continuing without me. Interesting.
Days passed.
The fleet kept shrinking.
Every few hours another ship lost control and fell toward Verdara.
Some broke apart during atmospheric entry.
Others remained mostly intact until impact.
The orbital battlefield slowly filled with debris.
The surviving ships didn't stop.
By the time another two days had passed, the fleet had lost nearly a third of its strength.
And still they fought.
Then came Day Seven.
DING. Skill Progression: Raise Undead (Lv 6 → 7).
I looked at the message for several seconds. They were still going? Somehow.
That was the only interesting thing that had happened to me in days.
Most of the time, Bolts, Roger, and I sat in silence watching the war.
Occasionally we played I Spy.
There wasn't much else to do.
Bolts leaned toward the viewport.
"I spy with my little eye..."
He paused dramatically.
"Aaa—"
Then stopped.
All three of us looked forward.
Something enormous had appeared at the edge of the system.
A planet-sized vessel rapidly began a hard deceleration burn.
Even from this distance, it dominated the stars around it.
The Massive.
Thousands of ships surrounded it.
Escort vessels.
Carriers.
Heavy warships.
Support craft.
Each one enormous by normal standards.
Beside the Massive, they looked small.
The entire formation moved into the system like a wall.
The surviving Vederan fleets noticed almost immediately.
Weapons fire began slowing.
Then stopping.
Ships that had been trying to kill each other moments before started changing formation.
Because something much larger had arrived.
Bolts stared through the viewport.
Then finally finished.
"...that."
I stood.
Roger's head tilted slightly.
"The Tallest have arrived."
I looked out at the incoming fleet.
Seven days.
Right on time.
~~~
I wish I could say it was an epic battle.
It wasn't.
By the time The Massive arrived, the Vederan fleet had already spent a week ripping itself apart.
They were exhausted.
Demoralized.
Missing nearly a third of their ships.
Command structures were barely holding together.
The moment thousands of Irken vessels entered the system behind something the size of a planet, whatever discipline the Vederans had left began collapsing.
Some captains ignored their Admirals completely.
Several ships immediately began broadcasting surrender requests.
Others started begging the incoming fleet for help.
Actual help.
They were trying to explain the outbreak.
Trying to warn us about Verdara.
Trying to convince the Irkens to help save whatever remained of their civilization.
The smart ones didn't bother.
They turned their ships around and ran.
None of it mattered.
No words were exchanged.
No surrender was accepted.
The Massive's forward bridge cannon began charging.
I watched the energy build from my viewport.
Then—
The stars lit up.
A beam tore across the system.
The strongest remaining Vederan capital ships simply ceased existing.
No prolonged exchange.
No desperate last stand.
They were there.
Then they weren't.
The escort fleet moved immediately afterward.
Thousands of Irken ships descended on whatever survived the first strike.
Within minutes, organized Vederan resistance disappeared.
Within the hour, the system belonged to the Irken Empire.
Just like that.
A priority signal hit my PAK.
IMPERIAL RECALL ORDER
INVADER DABO — REPORT TO THE MASSIVE
Roger reacted before I did.
Of course he did.
He might've been assigned to me, but S.I.R. units were loyal to the Empire first.
The ship immediately changed course.
As The Massive grew larger outside the canopy, I looked down at myself.
And felt a sudden spike of anxiety.
I was still Irken.
Completely.
Green skin.
Antennae.
PAK.
Three fingers.
Everything that mattered.
But I did not look like a normal Irken anymore.
Height wasn't the problem.
Actually, height might've been the best thing that ever happened to my career.
I was five-eight now.
That put me above almost every Irken alive.
The problem was everything else.
The Tallest were over seven feet, but they still had normal Irken proportions.
Thin.
Narrow.
Almost fragile-looking despite their height.
I didn't.
Geonosis had changed me.
Broader shoulders.
Defined muscle.
Longer limbs.
Athletic proportions.
I looked like someone had taken an Irken and stretched him over the frame of a human athlete.
That was going to raise questions.
Questions I didn't feel like answering.
I activated my Invader-issued holographic disguise.
My body shimmered.
The muscle definition vanished.
My shoulders narrowed.
My limbs thinned.
A familiar pink Invader uniform materialized over me.
There.
Much better.
Still tall though!
The ship entered one of The Massive's hangars.
I stood.
Then looked toward Bolts and John.
"You two stay here."
Bolts' head dropped slightly.
"Yes, Master..."
John said nothing.
Obviously.
Roger followed me out.
An Irken service drone approached almost immediately.
He was tiny.
Maybe three feet.
He looked up at me.
Then kept looking up.
His antennae slowly rose.
For several seconds, he completely forgot whatever he had been sent to say. But then he continued.
"Sir, the Tal—"
He stopped.
His mouth opened.
His antennae began wiggling.
I stared down at him.
What the fuck was he doing?
The drone suddenly jerked.
COUGH. COUGH.
"Forgive me, sir. I'm... not sure what came over me."
He straightened his uniform.
"The Tallest have ordered me to escort you to the Convention Chamber. An Empire-wide broadcast is about to begin."
I stared for another second.
Then nodded.
"Lead the way."
He hurried toward a small hovercraft.
Roger and I climbed aboard.
Then we were off.
The Massive's interior passed around us in transit.
Troops. Ships. Factories. Entire districts moving beneath a ceiling so high it barely felt enclosed.
I hadn't been aboard long before I realized something else.
The Massive felt happy.
Not in a way anyone else could've noticed.
But I could.
A faint pressure through the Force. Recognition. Excitement.
A little burst of satisfaction at having me aboard again.
I didn't have time to dwell on it.
The hovercraft entered the Convention Chamber.
And apparently we had arrived at the exact right moment.
Tallest Red stood at the center of a raised stage.
Purple beside him.
Thousands upon thousands of Irkens filled the chamber.
Cameras floated everywhere.
Red threw his arms wide.
"WELCOME, PLANETARY CONVERSION TEAMS!"
The crowd erupted.
"WELCOME TO VERDARA!"
More cheering.
"The latest addition to the Irken Empire!"
Red paused dramatically.
"And most importantly—"
Purple leaned toward him.
"THE FIRST PLANET TO FALL TO—"
Both raised their arms.
"OPERATION IMPENDING DOOM II!"
The chamber exploded.
Irkens screamed.
Cheered.
Purple was already eating something.
Red continued.
"Now we erase the remaining organics from Verdara and pave the way for..."
He glanced toward Purple.
"I don't know. A theme park planet?"
Purple's eyes widened.
"YEAH!"
He pointed dramatically.
"A THEME PARK PLANET!"
The crowd somehow got louder.
Red nodded as though this had been the plan all along.
"And the Invader responsible for this important first victory is..."
He paused.
"...uhhh..."
Our hovercraft stopped behind the stage.
The service drone ran forward.
He whispered something into Red's ear.
Red looked at Purple.
Purple looked at Red.
Then both slowly turned toward me.
Their expressions immediately changed.
Wide smiles.
"INVADER DABO!"
The chamber erupted again.
I stepped off the hovercraft.
Red's eyes climbed upward.
"You've grown since we last saw you, soldier!"
Purple leaned around him.
"Perfect poster boy!"
Red nodded enthusiastically.
"Truly! You've grown into something worthy of this achievement!"
I stopped before them.
Snapped into a salute.
"GREETINGS, MY TALLEST!"
Both of their antennae twitched.
Then twitched again.
Red's smile faltered slightly.
Purple blinked.
Their antennae began wiggling faster.
Purple grabbed his stomach.
"I'm suddenly STARVINGGGGG."
Three drones immediately rushed onto the stage carrying mountains of snacks on platters balanced over their heads.
Purple attacked the nearest pile.
Red cleared his throat.
Apparently deciding to ignore whatever had just happened.
"As the Invader responsible for this planet's downfall—"
He pointed at me.
"Invader Dabo receives the honor of launching the traditional FINAL CANNON SWEEP!"
The crowd screamed.
A compartment opened from Red's PAK.
A box emerged.
On top sat an enormous red button.
Red held it out dramatically.
"As soon as Invader Dabo presses this button..."
He turned toward the cameras.
"The organic sweep begins!"
I looked toward the huge display.
Verdara filled the screen.
Hundreds of Irken ships surrounded it.
I could feel the anticipation around me.
The crowd.
The Tallest.
Even The Massive itself.
Excitement. Bloodlust.
And beneath all of it—
That same quiet happiness from the ship.
It liked having me here.
Red passed me the button.
I grinned.
Might as well give the cameras something good.
I raised my missing-hand stump high into the air.
"HIIIYAAAAA!"
Then brought it down directly onto the button.
CLICK.
The Massive fired.
A colossal beam struck Verdara.
The display showed it sweeping across the surface.
DING. Skill gained: Bone Armor (Lv 1 / 10).
Quick glance at my stats, I suddenly went from level 19 to 22!
Hundreds of escort ships joined in. Beams carved through landmasses.
And, because Irkens were Irkens, the first coordinated pattern they burned into the planet's surface was the Imperial insignia.
The chamber went insane.
Red and Purple clapped furiously.
Purple's mouth was still stuffed with snacks.
The bombardment continued.
"ALRIGHT, SOLDIER!"
Red threw an arm around dramatically for the cameras.
"NOW IT'S TIME TO DISCUSS YOUR REWARD!"
That got my attention.
"The Control Brains have deposited—"
He paused.
"ONE BILLION MONIES!"
The crowd gasped.
Red continued.
"You also receive the right to choose your next duty assignment!"
Purple raised a snack.
"And make several reasonable requests of the Empire!"
Red leaned dramatically toward the cameras.
"Within reasonable limits!"
I stared at them.
Then a childish idea entered my head.
A really stupid one.
Which meant I immediately wanted to do it.
I placed my remaining hand over my chest and bowed.
"I have a request, my Tallest."
Purple pointed.
"SPEAK!"
Crumbs flew everywhere.
I spread my arms.
Smiled as wide as I could.
"I wanna call all the looosers who couldn't beat me to it!"
Silence.
Then Red and Purple slowly turned toward each other.
Their smiles became vicious.
Red lunged toward one of the cameras.
"DID YOU HEAR THAT!?"
Purple pointed at me.
"INVADER DABO WANTS TO CONTACT HIS FELLOW INVADERS AND INFORM THEM OF HIS SUCCESS!"
The crowd erupted.
The display changed.
Static.
Then—
Invader Skoodge appeared.
He stood somewhere inside his underground base.
The moment the Tallest saw him, they immediately began insulting his height.
And appearance.
And failure to conquer his planet fast enough.
I almost felt bad.
Skoodge had actually been on track to become the first successful Invader before I'd changed events.
Then I remembered that, originally, the Empire rewarded him by firing him out of a cannon and letting someone else take credit.
I felt better.
We cycled through Invaders.
One after another.
Humiliation.
Mockery.
Threats.
Then—
A familiar face appeared.
Tak.
She immediately bowed.
"My Tallest. I receive you."
Red smiled.
Purple started giggling before Red even spoke.
"Invader Tak."
Tak raised her head.
"Have you heard about Invader Dabo's successful conquest of planet Verdara?"
Tak froze.
"WHAT!?"
The Tallest lost it.
Both collapsed into hysterics.
Then Tak finally noticed me standing behind them.
I smiled.
Then winked.
Her eyes widened further.
Not just because I was there.
Because she had to look up. I was taller again.
Red slapped his knee.
"You should've tried harder!"
Purple leaned toward the screen.
"YEAH! Then maybe YOU'D be over here looking cool with us!"
The connection terminated.
Tak vanished.
The crowd roared.
We kept going.
Invader after Invader.
One call after another.
Some angry.
Some horrified.
Some humiliated.
Hours passed.
Eventually, even the Tallest got bored.
Which was probably the only force in existence capable of ending the celebration.
I received my next order.
Report to the Control Brains for reassignment.
And suddenly I wasn't having fun anymore.
There were three Control Brains aboard The Massive.
Three.
I knew reassignment didn't normally require a complete PAK examination.
Normally.
But if they decided to interface directly with mine...
I was screwed.
My PAK contained too much.
Skills.
Memories.
The System.
Another universe.
Jedi.
The Force.
Everything.
I rode through The Massive on another hover cart while trying not to think about it.
The vehicle eventually stopped before a large sealed doorway.
I stepped off.
The doors opened.
Darkness waited beyond.
I entered.
Thousands of cables covered the chamber.
They ran along walls.
Across the ceiling.
Into the floor.
Everything converged around a central walkway.
And surrounding the end of that walkway—
Three enormous Control Brains.
Their many eyes glowed in the darkness.
I approached.
Stopped at the edge of the platform.
All three turned toward me.
"Invader Dabo."
A deep mechanical voice filled the chamber.
"Congratulations on your successful invasion."
Another voice followed.
Mechanical.
Feminine.
"Allow us to conduct an evaluation of your performance."
My stomach dropped.
A cable snapped downward from the ceiling.
Straight toward my PAK.
"WAIT!"
I threw up my remaining hand and wounded arm.
The cable stopped.
Not slowed.
Stopped.
Perfectly still.
A few inches from me.
I stared.
The Control Brains stared.
Then something spoke.
Not aloud.
Through the Force.
Powerful.
Smug.
Amused.
Hehehehe.
The presence filled the chamber.
They almost got you.
My arm slowly lowered.
I looked around.
That voice.
The Massive.
Don't worry, Creator.
The arrogance in its tone was almost unbearable.
Your secrets are safe.
Pause.
But I get to choose your reassignment.