The Reclamation

[Cylienia]

Two thousand years.

Two thousand years had passed since Cylienia, formerly head of a galactic empire, had closed its borders and disappeared from the rest of the galaxy. Since then, much has changed. Civilizations rose and fell, new colonies were established, the galactic population boomed. There were four major powers in the galaxy: the Damengarians, the Cygnans, the Selsans, and the Phaedrans, with many others trailing close behind in power. Of course, there were many other systems that had been colonized, primarily by a neutral coalition dedicated solely to creating sovereign nations throughout the galaxy. This organization, known as the Galactic Colonization Force, or GCF, sent out scouts to chart new planets and systems for habitation. These legendary scouts belonged to the Pathfinder Corps, a coveted job to have.

Two thousand years.

In the end, the systems left each other alone most of the time. Some of the younger civilizations fought amongst themselves and occasionally fought each other, but everything was relatively peaceful. Two thousand years passed and while Cylienia was nothing but a legend to most, there were some scholars who dedicated their lives to finding out if this legendary civilization existed or, potentially, still exists. But there were some, a select few, who truly believed it exists. And two thousand years left a lot of time for it to develop into something terrifying...

[Cylienia]

It was a dark and rainy day on the tiny planet of Grove. The sun was up, but the heavy dark clouds blocked most of the light shining down on the planet. Unfortunately for the planet's inhabitants, it also blocked the sight of anything coming into its orbit...

Sitting inside one of the town halls of a village on the far eastern continent, the mayor and his city council were adjourning from a meeting. It was fine until a resonating BOOM filled the air, nearly shattering the windows of the building.

"What was that?"

"Must've been thunder, I guess."

"Are you sure? It sounded a little...off to me."

"Yeah, and I saw no lightning at all."

While the council debated on what the noise was, a slowly increasing rumble shook the ground. It got stronger and stronger, and with it came screams from outside. People were running away from what seemed to be the interstellar comms tower...

WHOOOOOM! A loud noise that deafened the town and shattered windows resonated from the sky. With it, an impact not unlike a small asteroid. The mayor and some council members rushed outside to see what was going on, citizens running away and screaming.

A massive ship, some sort of alien spaceship, loomed in ultra-low orbit over the planet. A massive cylindrical gun was slowing down its rotation, indicating something had just fired from the ship. Strange, it looked eerily similar to a Gannan rifle...

Suddenly, it became clear to the mayor. "We're being invaded. Sound all alarms, raise the interstellar comms."

"Uh, sir? That ship just leveled the IC tower. There's no way to raise any outside help."

And so they were invaded. Swiftly and efficiently. Hundreds of massive ships slammed into orbit and dropped to the surface, deploying a massive amount of unknown combatants. Within hours, the tiny planet was subdued and its inhabitants brought down. Those who fought were put down, while the non-combatants were rounded up into camps. The people were then put into some sort of stasis pod, where a strange gel was dispersed within...

After several days of this, the aliens left as soon as they had arrived. One ship remained, though: it slowly spun around to face the planet, its immense Gannan rifle spooling up. An incredibly powerful projectile was launched, punching a hole through the planet straight into the core. Destabilized and superheated, the core of the planet exploded and with it Grove itself. All that remained was pure energy, dispersing throughout the empty space. The ship then left, presumably to follow its comrades.

The Reclamation had begun.

[Cylienia]

It took several months to notice, but several planets throughout the galaxy had gone silent. It hadn't drawn much attention because they were all small systems, on the fringes of the charted galaxy where few people had interaction with the settlements. It wasn't until one of the major systems, Epsilon Damengar, attempted to contact Grove that something was done.

High King Artemis, head of the Epsilon Damengar system, was called in to the capitol war room, the site of all military planning done by the Damengarians. It must have been for a crucial reason, as the High King had no reason to be involved in trivial affairs. His top commander had personally asked him to come, meaning something was up.

"General! What do we have?" As the High King walked in, someone called out "ON YOUR FEET!" as the whole room stood up at attention. The king quickly dismissed them and they sat back down.

"My Lord, I apologize but this is urgent. We haven't heard from Grove in over a month, and no one in the system is hailing our comms."

"So? Maybe their IC tower is down."

"That's what we thought, my Lord. So we sent a recon party out to the system to see what the issue was..."

"And?"

A pause, hesitation, as if the general still couldn't believe it. "It...it wasn't there. The planet was...gone. We thought maybe our calculations were off, but then we started getting pelted with small rocks and rubble. We also picked up some sort of energy signal, so we traced it and rewound the signal...and its source was right where the planet used to be."

"So what is it you're saying, General?"

"My Lord, Grove was destroyed. Completely vaporized. And we have no idea why."

[Cylienia]

Somewhere outside of reality, outside of normal space and time, a tall figure stood, waiting to deliver the message. The galaxy was beginning to take notice of what was happening; the time had come. The Messenger took long, slow, flowing strides to the stand where it could contact the populace. It reached the device, dialed in a few codes, and suddenly every single piece of technology that had comms capabilities was tuned to the same frequency. The Messenger began to speak, with almost the entire galaxy in audience.

"Alessia's slumber shall soon cease."

What?

Who was Alessia? Was it sleeping? What was going on?

"When your god-king awakens, He will come to reclaim His throne."

For the most part, the civilizations of the Aemorius Galaxy were secular; almost no one believed in gods or deities. So who was this god-king?

"When He arrives, do not resist. Prepare your worlds for His return and bend your knee to the one true authority above all, your god-king Alessia! The Reclamation has begun!"

Just as quickly as it had happened, the signal was lost and the comms tech returned to their normal respective frequencies. Immediately, top leaders and scientists began to try to decipher what just happened. For High King Artemis, he knew his system didn't have the knowledge to figure out what happened. So he decided to travel to the Tau Selsos system, where the largest library of pre-GCF information was stored. Alessia didn't sound familiar, but the way that thing said he will come to reclaim the galaxy...meant he was once a part of it.

Alessia. The name was whispered throughout the stars.

Alessia.

[Cylienia]

High King Artemis stood around a large table laden with books and datapads. The President of the Tau Selsos system stood with him, explaining everything he could.

"It seems as if everyone who isn't panicking right now has found their way here to seek knowledge. You are no exception. However," the president said as he began to walk around the room, hands clasped behind his back, "we truly have no idea what is happening either. We have some leads, nothing more."

"That's a start."

"Indeed. But a lead is not an answer, and everyone demands answers."

"I don't."

The president paused, thought for a moment, and began to walk again. "No, you're right. If a lead is good enough for you, then allow me to explain what we know so far."

The president walked back to the table, pressed a few buttons, and began to speak as a hologram appeared of the known galaxy. "We were able to decode the source encryption of the galaxy-wide signal the other day. Plugging the coordinates into our map, we see that the signal originated from...nowhere."

"Impossible. You just said you decoded the source encryption."

"That we did. And we quadruple-checked our math, too. But we kept getting the same thing. The problem is, the coordinates contained imaginary numbers. Now, technically that means these coordinates don't exist, but there IS an exception..."

"Subspace."

"Bingo. It is a little known fact that coordinates containing imaginary numbers can, theoretically, lead to a subspace destination. The problem is, subspace isn't as much of a location as it is a pathway."

"So they broadcasted while traveling through subspace?"

"Ah...this is where it gets interesting. We ran the codes several times, including from the beginning to the end of the transmission. The entire time it ran...the coordinates never changed. The transmission source was stationary inside subspace. Now, obviously we know how to travel through subspace with ease, but to actually remain there...that's sci-fi stuff right there."

"Great. So we have no way of finding where these incidents originated from. How can we fight them?"

The president smiled. "Patience, your highness. There is more. Remember how they spoke of Alessia? Well, we think we know who he is...or at least, was. Millenia ago, there was an ancient, terrestrial-bound civilization that believed in no creator, no god, no supernatural beings. They did believe, however, in the possibility of mankind achieving near-divinity. They believed that man would one day create a superhuman, one that had all the perfect traits and best capabilities humanity had to offer. They did not believe in god, they believed they could create him. This was a core tenant of their very lives, believing that mankind itself is a pathway to godhood, not the other way around. And so this concept of their god-king was born. And his name was Alessia."

High King Artemis was puzzled. "So did he ever exist? This...Alessia?"

"As far as we know, no. He was just a concept, as the civilization did not have the technology to achieve such a thing."

"So this mysterious signal we all received, it was about Alessia? About him finally waking up? I don't understand how..."

"Wait. There is more yet. Alessia was never meant to be born, Alessia was meant to be created. He must be born a man but transformed into god-king. That means this present-day Alessia was once man. It is the central pillar of the belief."

"So some civilization can locate itself out of known space and time and transform a man into a near god? How is this even possible? Who could have the power to even do that? And who was this ancient civilization from which this all sprouted?"

"Ah, High King Artemis, put the pieces together. You are so close. All of this nonsense sprouted from the region of Kaimundus, though its location is long lost."

"Kaimundus?"

"Have you no recollection of history? Think, your highness. Think."

And suddenly, it hit him. All at once. Kaimundus, the uber-advanced civilization, ultra-humanist beliefs...

"It's Cylienia, isn't it."

The president grinned. "Ah, there you go! I knew you'd figure it out. Yes, some of us believe all of this is the work of Cylienia, though many will vehemently disagree. Kaimundus gave birth to Reynoldistan, Reynoldistan gave birth to Cylienia, and Cylienia gave birth to us. Given its conceited views and technological prowess, it would make sense that Cylienia would be behind all of this. The issue, though, is proving it..."

Just as the high king went to respond, the door to the room flew open. "Sir! Your Highness! We're under attack!"

"By whom? Are our defenses raised?"

"I don't know, sir, I don't know who it is. They're...different. Not normal. Tall, lean, taller than any man I've seen. And they speak in some sort of guttural tone..."

The president's eyes widened. "It's them. The Cylienians are here."

[Cylienia]

Ships dotted the sky. Immense, menacing, deadly. They just hovered in ultra-low orbit, almost as if they were waiting for something. Air raid sirens sounded planet-wide, and the small but strong Selsan military stood ready to counterattack. But they too held off...

And then it became clear why they had waited. The small ground force deployed by these aliens had set up a perimeter of sorts, as if they were waiting for someone. Then he arrived. A large, clean, white ship bigger than the rest of the dark red ships slammed into orbit. A few moments later, a shuttle departed from the ship and landed on the surface. The Selsan defensive line tensed up, ready for a fight. The alien line, with its tall and muscular and menacing soldiers, stood unflinching.

Out of the shuttle came a figure clad in blinding white getup; it was a mix between robes and ceremonial armor, all white and clean looking. He was tall, immensely tall, maybe 8 and a half feet? Tall and lean; while he was very thin, there was no mistaking his powerful muscles hiding beneath the robes. He wore a mask that had no eye holes, no mouth hole, just a solid white mask. He practically glided out of the shuttle, taking long, flowing strides out toward the front lines. When he stopped, he raised his arms above him as if he was praising something and began to speak.

"Lay down your arms, Tau Selsos. No harm will come to you if you comply with The Messenger."

His voice was somehow amplified as if every ship was broadcasting it through loudspeakers. The whole damn planet could hear him.

And The Messenger? His voice sounded familiar...like the one who first gave the message about Alessia...

"We are all children of Alessia, and He is merciful. He wants nothing but the best for his kin. Accept Him as your god-king, lay down your arms and bend your knees and all will be fine. Refuse to comply, though, and I will have no choice but to enforce His will."

Silence followed. No one was about to let this thing waltz in here and take the planet. In response, the large Gannan rifle in the capitol specially modified to be safe to use in atmosphere began to spool. Before the aliens could react, a round was loosed at one of the ships in orbit. The round punched clean through, and the ship began to fall towards the surface. The small alien ground force on the ground raised their weapons. Just as they did, however, another loud voice boomed out over the region. Except while The Messenger's was simply projected by the ships in orbit, this voice actually seemed to come from everywhere at once. Like its owner was present everywhere.

"SHOW THEM NO MERCY."

The Messenger looked up at the sky, made a few hand gestures, and began to speak again. "Alessia has spoken. It is time to meet your end." He walked back to his shuttle; once aboard, the aliens began to open fire.

The war had begun.

[Cylienia]

The siege of the capitol raged on for several days. The Cylienians were clearly faster, stronger, and better armed; however, the tenacity of the Selsans was enough to slow the aliens' progression through the city, allowing the civilian populace to be evacuated. A massive urban battle raged on within the city, but this seemed different than previous invasions. The Cylienians were not destroying everything in their path; rather, they were taking their time to search building after building, almost as if...

"They're looking for something," the president muttered to himself aboard his ship just on the outskirts of the city. Indeed, it seemed as if the aliens were searching for something; this very methodical, careful sweep of the city led the president to believe something else was afoot here.

"What was that, Sir?"

"Nothing. What is the status of our backup?"

"Ay. The Phaedrans and Damengarians are sending two QRF fleets each, ETA one half-hour. The rest of the galaxy has been alerted one way or another, but they're reluctant to offer support. Either they're preparing to defend their own systems or they're afraid to antagonize the Cylienians in fear of retaliation."

"Beautiful. We'll handle this."

"Sir...is it really the Cylienians?"

But before the president could answer, there was an incredibly loud boom as another ship entered the atmosphere. It was the same one that The Messenger had arrived in. What could he want this time?

Deep in the heart of the city, the battle continued. A squad of Selsans were being overrun in one of the buildings; 6 of the 9 soldiers had already been shot. The team of Cylienians pushed in, vaulting over cover to charge at the remaining Selsans. It was terrifying to see how fast and how powerful these beings really were. It was almost like they were once human, but millennia in space (and probably with some synthetic evolution) they had morphed into almost a completely different subspecies. One of the Cylienians had made it to the surviving Selsans. It bullrushed one of them, sending him flying into the wall. He did not get up. The Cylienian then raised his weapon and fired at the second man, killing him instantly. But the third Selsan knocked the alien's weapon out of his hands, and a brief but violent skirmish broke out. Eventually, though, the Cylienian got the upper hand and grabbed the soldier by the throat with one hand. It raised him up, slowly choking him out...

...when suddenly The Messenger's ship appeared in orbit amidst the chaos in the air. Immediately, the Cylienian ships stopped firing, as well as the ground forces too. The Selsans, caught off guard by the sudden lack of fighting, also stopped. The Cylienian who was choking out the Selsan turned his head to see what was going on; when he realized whose ship that was, he immediately dropped the soldier from his grasp.

The Messenger's voice rang out again, amplified by the ships' PA systems. "Tau Selsos, it is with great honor that I announce the arrival of your god-king, the almighty Alessia!" As if on cue, another ship slammed into orbit. But this one was immensely large, bigger than the next biggest ship by at least ten times. It was solid black, almost too black to even see details on it. Immediately, all Cylienian soldiers got down on one knee, bowed their heads, and placed their right hands in a fist over their heart in some sort of salute. The Selsans were still shocked and did not fire.

Then, in the middle of the battlefield, he materialized. Almost out of thin air.

Alessia.

The first thing everyone noticed was how tall he was. Easily ten feet, much taller than any of the other Cylienians. And he was built. Not like a bodybuilder or anything, but he was definitely muscular. He wore a solid black military outfit with his pants bloused into his all-black boots. He wore a long, billowing cape, also black; but this had a blood-red border with a golden chain connecting it around his neck. Clasping the chain together was a solid gold badge emblazoned with an eagle of some sorts. He wore a draping black hood that completely hid his face; between that, the outfit, and black gloves he wore, there was not a single piece of skin showing. When he spoke, it was both powerful and horrifying, the kind of voice that was deep and powerful but also sent chills down the spine.

"Where is your leader?"

It was a solid 30 seconds before he spoke again. Everyone was either in awe or in dread of the massive, horrifying figure clad in black.

"I said, WHERE IS YOUR LEADER?" This time he said it so loud it was heard across town, loud enough for the president himself to hear. Without hesitation, he flew over on a shuttle and met this...Alessia. The shuttle touched down and the president, alone, walked up to meet the figure.

"You rang?" The president had to look up to speak to Alessia. He was quite large.

"You are in charge here?"

"Ay, that's me. I am the president of this fine system. The same fine system that you invaded for no apparent reason, I might add."

Alessia laughed, a loud, booming laugh. One that literally rattled the bones. He began to pace around a little, looking at the city surrounding him. His footsteps shook the ground a little bit. "Ah, Selsan! Why else would I invade your little planet? I could have easily wiped it out without setting foot here. I am looking for something, boy. Something you have that no one else does."

"I have no idea."

Alessia got up right next to the president; he was so close that the president could feel the inhale and exhale of Alessia's lungs. The man in black looked straight down at the president. "Knowledge. I seek knowledge. Your system is probably home to the largest collection of galactic information, no? I am willing to bet you have knowledge on most everything. Perhaps some sort of library?"

The president was caught off guard. "How...how do you figure that?"

"Tau Selsos was the politically neutral center of the entire galaxy at one point, and it was where the original Speakers for the People of the Empire met and stored all their information."

The president's head began to spin. This was all information on the system from when it first formed over two thousand years ago. How did this thing know any of that? And the Speakers...they were from the time of Sylar Praesul, the first imperator of the galaxy and the father of Cylienia. This creature was...suddenly much more terrifying.

"But how..."

"Because I built it."

The president began to step back. Suddenly he had a horrifying idea who this creature was. "No...that's not possible..."

"Oh, but it is, my child. I built this system. I built Cylienia. I built this entire galaxy. I built this galaxy two thousand years ago and I have come to reclaim it. Give me unhindered access to your libraries, and my men will do yours no further harm. Refuse, and..." -he gestured to the hundreds of dead bodies littered around the battlefield- "...well, we can keep going. The choice is yours."

It was clear the galaxy had changed over the course of a millennium, so Alessia was searching for knowledge on it. Still in shock at what was going on and what everything meant, the president said the only thing he could think of:

"Burn in hell."

Alessia scoffed. "If such a place existed, I would have already made my home there." Out of nowhere, Alessia grabbed the president by his shirt with one hand. He picked him up and brought him face-to-face (well, sort of, as the president still couldn't see Alessia's face) before whispering, "The problem is, though...I cannot die." He then tossed the president a solid 50 feet before disappearing as quickly as he had materialized.

[Cylienia]

There was no way the Selsans could win this fight. Even with the help of the Damengarians, the best they could do was slow the Cylienian progression. They needed time to figure out how to fight these new beings who were stronger, faster, and better disciplined than anyone else. In the end, the president ordered his men to do the one thing they could do to achieve some sort of victory over the Cylienians:

They destroyed the libraries.

The Selsan forces in the rear burned and bombed their own libraries of knowledge, vowing that the Cylienians will never get what they came for. Following the order, the evacuation of the remaining troops was commenced and the planet was totally abandoned.

The living Selsans fled to the Epsilon Damengar system, where High King Artemis was waiting to meet with the president of Tau Selsos and discuss what they knew about the situation.

When the president arrived and was received into the capitol hall, he met the high king in one of the private chambers...along with a Cylienian in chains. He was tied up to a chair with his head bowed low in defeat. Obviously, capture was seen as disgraceful and dishonorable in their culture.

"Ah, welcome, President Han! President Han, this fine young man in red here will be joining us, if you do not mind."

"Not at all."

And so the two men began to discuss everything they knew.

"I've been able to get a little information out of this thing, but nothing too exciting. He was here as part of a scouting party, we assume, although he was alone; I guess the Cylienians are spreading out across the galaxy."

"Biz bilan boshlash edi," mumbled the prisoner.

Immediately, the high king went over and began to beat the man. Punch after punch after punch until he was exhausted. It would have been enough to kill a normal man, but then again...Cylienians were not normal.

Stepping back, the high king said, "In my system, you speak MY tongue."

The Cylienian, clearly in pain, huffed. He could stand these beatings, but that did not mean he enjoyed them. "Fine. I said, it was ours to begin with." His voice was eerily deep, almost as if it was felt rather than heard.

"I'm sorry, yours? If I recall my history correctly, Cylienia disappeared after the collapse of the Federation and left us to fend for ourselves. This is no longer YOUR galaxy, my friend."

The soldier laughed. "Cylienia never left. We have been here the whole time, watching you all. You just could not see us."

"Explain."

The soldier laughed again. "Not while in these chains. You untie me, and speak to me as-" The soldier choked up a little, clearly disgusted at what he was about to say- "as equals, and I will tell you everything I know."

"And why should I believe that?"

"Because I have no love for Cylienia anymore. That is why I fled, why I came here. I was seeking sanctuary...until you captured me and tied me up before I could explain myself."

"Why? Why would you have no love for Cylienia anymore? Tell me, and if it's good enough, I might untie you."

For a moment, the soldier looked pained. His teeth were unnaturally sharp, almost as if they were designed for ripping flesh. He was immensely bigger than the other men in the room, maybe 8 and a half feet tall, a solid 275 pounds of solid, lean muscle. He could snap the spines of either men in the room with his bare hands and devour their corpses after, but here he was on the verge of tears. "The things he does...his people do...it violates nature. My family..." But he could speak no more.

After a minute of silence, the high king decided to untie him. Once free, he stood up, towering over the others in the room. He rubbed his wrists where he was tied, then looked at the king. "Thank you. Now, let us make a deal: I will tell you everything I know, though I admit my knowledge of everything is lacking."

"And what must I give you?"

"Protection. Hide me, and I will advise you on everything I can related to Cylienia. I cannot go back there, nor do I want to; he killed my family in the name of greed and personal gain."

"He? Who is he?"

"Alessia."

The room was silent for a moment before President Han spoke. "He...he isn't human, is he?"

The Cylienian smiled, a terrifying look with his pitch black eyes and pointy teeth. "On the contrary, actually. He is perfectly human. Do you know who he truly is?"

Immediately, Han answered.

"He's Sylar Praesul, isn't he." It wasn't really a question, more of a statement.

"Mm, very good."

Artemis interjected. "Impossible. If you mean THE Sylar Praesul, he lived over two thousand years ago. He died a long time ago."

"No, the other man is correct," said the Cylienian. "Alessia is-or was-Sylar Praesul, the man who brought Cylienia into the space age and seeded the galaxy. Without him, nothing would exist in space. Your system, the one you call Damengar, was the first system created and settled by him. It was ran by his brother, Alrahn."

"That doesn't make any sense. No man can live two thousand years."

But it all started to make sense to Han. Tau Selsos was home to nearly every piece of historical knowledge about everything in the galaxy, and the president knew his books. "Didn't he use some sort of regenerative tech to essentially stop his body from aging?"

"Ah, this human knows his history. Yes, Sylar and a few close allies were subjected to a sort of surgery that would allow their bodies to accept the miracle drug Cryon which, so long as they consumed it regularly, would keep them alive for a very long time."

"How long?"

"Well, as far as I am aware, it should keep the human body living for roughly six hundred years or so before becoming ineffective. After that, you die, regardless of how much Cryon you consume."

"Then Sylar should have died, what, 1500 years ago? Why is he still alive?"

A deep breath, then the creature continued. "This is where your history hits a dead end with respect to Cylienia. Listen up and listen good, for I will explain all I can:

"When Sylar Praesul was still a man, he announced the release of the galaxy from his grip. Cylienia seemingly vanished after, never to be seen or heard from again. This is because they found a way to lock the planet out of your reality, in a sense. You are aware of what subspace is, I assume? The way to travel across the galaxy almost instantly? Well, this subspace is simply a sort of smaller dimension that links all space together. It exists, but outside of our visible reality. Mankind has figured out how to travel through this dimension, but never was able to STAY there. Until Sylar.

"He was able to pull Nova Cyla into subspace and lock it there, ultimately sealing it out of your reality, hence why your ancestors never saw it again. For thousands of years it built itself up and its people evolved into what we are today. But Sylar should have only lived for a few hundred years, right? Well, we discovered another way to live for a long time: this time, practically indefinitely.

"Towards the end of his life, Sylar and his lead scientists created the Alessia Program: a way to change the genetic code of a person by combining all of the perfect genes mankind has to offer and altering them with software. Take these codes, perfect them, and upload them into a person's genome and you could essentially make a superhuman. With enough modification, you could create a god."

"Alessia," whispered the king. "But wait...you said they needed the perfect human genes or whatever to do this, right? How do you go about finding those, or even coding those?"

There was a long silence. The Cylienian bowed his head.

"I said, how do you get those genes?"

A sigh. "Do you remember the incident on, what do you people call it, Grove?"

"Yeah, the whole planet was destroyed."

"Yes, but not before my people arrived and seized the planet. The populace was rounded up into camps and put into these little tubes filled with a gel-like substance...and this gel essentially ripped them apart, liquified them, and stored their genetic information. These genes were then processed and sorted, and the best ones were stored into a file. Those genes went on to perfect the genome of Alessia. He is the perfect human being with some supermodifications."

"But the human genome is immense, there is no possible way he could have gotten everything from just a few planets; after all, he's already risen and only a handful of planets have gone missing."

"Ah. Yes. This is where I come in. You see, you forget about the last 1500 years where Cylienia still lay in hiding. Once the Alessia Program was announced and initiated, the search for the perfect genes began...on Cylienia. Every single person was tested, and those with very desirable traits were...rounded up. Harvested. Those of us who were not good enough, we were promised the benefits of the program as well, offering to alter our genes as well...though obviously not as well as his."

"And did it work?"

"Ha! Look at me and ask me again! I am better in every single way you can imagine. We evolved rapidly as a society at the cost of those with perfect genes. A worthy sacrifice in the Imperator's eyes. My wife and child, though, were among those deemed...worthy." He paused before continuing. "Over time, with a mix of breeding and gene therapy, we evolved into what we are today. As for Sylar, after living to be six hundred and three, he died. His body was placed into one of those tubes with a different type of gel, and for the last 1500 years he was subjected to the ultimate gene therapy; generations of Cylienians were sacrificed to sequence the perfect genetic makeup. After it was deemed perfect, he was finally awakened. Three quarters of a millennium of perfecting his genes. He is immortal. He cannot die."

"And is he the only one?"

"Well, officially yes. At least to that extreme extent. But rumor has it that his top military officials and longtime friends received nearly the same treatment. But his right-hand man, his top official, received the next best sequence, second only to Sylar himself. The old Maars Raemstein, Royal General of the REF. More powerful than Sylar, but his incredible loyalty and sense of duty makes him subject to Sylar's every command."

"So this Alessia guy is actually Sylar Praesul, just with a ton of gene perfection making him immortal?"

"Exactly."

"Well, cool. We're officially screwed then."

[Cylienia]

They came in force.

Most of the systems in the galaxy were afraid to gather into a unified military to stop the Cylienians (or more commonly known as Praesulians) in fear of major retaliation. The only ones who formed an alliance in attempt to slow the progression of the enemy were the three major powers: the Epsilon Damengar, Lambda-Omicron Phaedra, and Tau Cygnus systems. High King Artemis, Grand Lord Kyreeve, and President Ganja of their respective systems met in the de-facto alliance capitol on Echelon Prime in the Epsilon Damengar system.

"Do we know where the next attack will happen?" asked President Ganja. He was renowned for his tactical knowledge and favored knowing everything about the enemy before making any decisions.

"Actually, the attacks have already begun. A major assault on Tiberius in the Tau Roma system. From what it seems, they're putting up a hell of a fight but the Tiberians are struggling. This battle could be the turning point in this war; the other systems will support and join us if we show them our strength," declared Artemis. He was a well-rounded leader respected by everyone.

"Then I say we send the full force. Drown the Praesulians in their own blood," stated Kyreeve; he was the leader of nightmares in adults' dreams, having been known as a bloodthirsty warrior with no remorse.

Artemis answered first. "Actually, for once I agree withy Kyreeve. We need to amass our forces and retake Tiberius. This is the turning point for us; if we want other systems' support, we need to show them we can defeat these Praesulians."

"Not to mention the battle on Tiberius is different than others; the Praesulians seem to want the planet and are trying to take it by force for whatever reason. They're not after the populace, they're after something else. And if Alessia wants something, I want it even more," declared Ganja. The others muttered their agreement.

It was settled. The three men made an agreement and began to prepare for a counterinvasion of Tiberius. It would be the largest battle of the entire war.

[Cylienia]

{I+37
H+1}

It had been 37 days since the initial invasion of Tiberius by the Praesulians when the help of the Damengarians, Phaedrans, and Cygnans arrived. The group had begun collectively referring to itself as the United Systems Galactic Command, or USGC. The forces deployed on the surface of the planet in select locations; it appeared that the Praesulians were attempting to take a rather prominent chunk of land on the equator for some reason. This landmass was surrounded by ocean to the north and several large lakes to the south, creating many choke points to the center. The Tiberians had met the Praesulians on the eastern side of the landmass, where the gap was the widest. It was here the Phaedrans set up their defenses, boosting the Tiberians in holding the line against the enemy.

To the south, the Cygnans deployed on a narrow isthmus to block any access from that region.

To the west, the Damengarians did the same. Each group deployed heavy anti-aircraft weaponry behind their lines, and the Tiberians did the same on the north side of the landmass. Essentially, the only way to get to the center of it was by punching a hole through the lines on foot.

It would be a gruesome battle.

[Cylienia]

More and more reinforcements arrived from the USGC headquarters. They would slam into orbit and traverse a path created by USGC ships to the surface. Along the way, soldiers would look out the windows at the carnage that had unfolded in space. Pieces of ships floated and spun lazily in the zero gravity. Bodies of both Praesulians and friendly forces drifted about, some burnt and some in pear-perfect condition. It was a graveyard.

But on the surface the battle continued.

Wave after wave of Praesulians assaulted the USGC positions. An endless amount of red-clad soldiers rushed against the walls of blue, purple, and green-clad soldiers.

Meanwhile, the leaders of the USGC armies met with the Praesulian defector, who was simply known by his alias of Red. They hoped to gain information about the reason for this unusual invasion...

"They're not here for the bodies of our people. This is a different type of invasion; they're after the planet itself. Why?"

Red thought for a moment before answering in his deep tone. "I do not know for sure, but I have some ideas. Did you know that there are only a fraction of Cylienian armies in your galaxy right now? All these ships and men you see, they are the tip of the iceberg. It is very expensive and very energy-costly to travel to and from sustained subspace. Only a few ships have these capabilities, and even then it takes a heavy toll on their infrastructures." He paused to let this information sink in, and once the other men started forming conclusions Red spoke again. "However, this is only because the portal, if you will, is one-sided; that is, all the immense energy required to allow travel to and from subspace comes only from our end. But if you could somehow establish and stabilize a connection on the other end, your end, you wouldn't need sustained subspace capabilities on your ships to travel to and from; you could just use the portal."

"They could send their entire fleets at us, not just the ones with the travel capabilities."

Red smiled. "Exactly. They can bring the entire Cylienian army into your galaxy and swarm you with numbers. You would not stand a chance; the standing army in our world is nearly 2 billion. You'd be lucky if your entire galaxy has that number combined."

"But why this planet? Why are they so hell-bent on taking TIberius?"

"Ah, well, this is where it gets theoretical. I believe certain planets have certain qualities that make them better than others at sustaining these portals; I believe the technology used sort of taps into certain rare metal deposits and uses that to sustain and power the doorway. Some planets have these deposits, some don't. It seems that they think Tiberius is one of those planets that does. And the area they're trying to take, the one surrounded by your armies, that's where the deposit lies."

So there it was. The Praesulians were trying to take Tiberius to use it to open a doorway to subspace, allowing unhindered access to the galaxy. They could bring their entire armies and the rest of the galaxy would not stand a chance.

This just got a lot more desperate.

[Cylienia]

Deep beneath the surface of an undisclosed celestial body in an undisclosed sector of space sat one man. This one man was responsible for a top-secret military plan that, while originally designed to overwhelm then stabilize the galaxy under Damengarian rule, could potentially save it from the Cylienians. He sat at his desk, twiddling his thumbs, waiting for that phone call he knew would come sooner or later. And sure enough, his phone began to ring. He let it ring a few times to let the other end feel a little desperate, then he picked up.

"Green," he said into the phone.

"Authorization code Hotel Kilo 144780."

"Ah, Your Highness. How may I help you?"

The High King took a deep breath. "Lieutenant Alacron, initiate protocol Echo Alpha 0000."

A long pause, maybe 30 seconds. Then the man spoke. "How many?"

"One platoon should do the trick. You and one platoon are to report to Tiberius, Tau Roma system, Sector XE990183511618, grid location ZH18803444 ASAP. The time has come, Lieutenant. Show the galaxy that your soldiers are as good as you say they are."

"At once, Your Highness. They will tremble at our arrival."

[Cylienia]

Twenty-nine souls boarded a dropship high in orbit over Tiberius. They had traveled in a stealth ship through space to the planet and were ready to announce their presence. They were clad in cobalt-blue metallic armor and stood 7 and a half feet tall; all in all, each man weighed approximately one thousand pounds. His armor was comprised of ultra-flexible solid titanium, folded again and again on itself at the molecular level to be as flexible as fabric yet completely bulletproof. Underneath the armor's first layer was a gel-like substance that absorbed and redistributed the impact of bullets so that the wearer was totally unfazed. The men themselves were genetically altered to be taller, faster, stronger, tougher. Ultimately, nothing short of a direct missile hit would injure these soldiers.

And they were the last hope for Tiberius.

Three nine-man squads, plus one lieutenant and one platoon sergeant, stood ready to drop. Lieutenant Alacron was there as well, the company commander for the Centurions.

"You all have your missions; down there, they may not take well to you, but you are there to win a battle, not their hearts," he said. "Get down there, push the Cylienians back, and show them what real power looks like."

Silence. The men were excited and ready for blood, but their incredible discipline kept their emotions in check.

The rear hatch to the dropship opened. "On my command...

"DROP!"

Instantly, the 29 men turned and jumped out the rear hatch. There was enough gravity to pull them to the surface, so they quickly gained speed as they reached terminal velocity. As they hit the ground, a crater with a 50 meter diameter each announced their presence.

They had arrived.

[Cylienia]

Alessia sat on a throne of carved stone, rough and rugged like him. It was massive, but then again so was he. His chief commander, Royal General Maars Raemstein, stood before him.

"My Lord, they are slaughtering us."

A pause. Alessia took in those words. Defeat was unacceptable, yet no matter what the Cylienans threw at the USGC it did not work. This was...unprecedented.

He finally spoke. "Maars, we have never lost a battle in the millennia we have existed."

Tears almost welled up in the general's eyes, partly from frustration, partly from disappointment in letting his god down.

Alessia spoke again. "But these are new times, and things are tricky. We have numbers, but until we find a way to get them out of subspace we are at a disadvantage. The battle for Tiberius is not a loss; rather, it is a lesson. I now know what we need to do." He stood up, towering. "Send word to the USGC leaders, bring them together for a meeting. I wish to speak with them. We will withdraw from Tiberius and let them have their little planet. I have bigger ambitions."

"M..My Lord?"

Alessia smiled, his blinding white, sharp teeth bared. "We have been aiming low, Maars. We have been trying to find a portal to allow troops to pass to this realm, but that is not enough. I'm going to pull the entire planet out of subspace. Our final phase is about to begin. And for that, I need more than some measly planet."

[Cylienia]

Nearly 20 years had passed, and not a single Praesulian was seen. It was as if they had just vanished from existence. The Aemorius Galaxy was left to its own devices, and whether or not it survived was of no concern to Alessia anymore. For he had found a new galaxy, one ripe with new planets to strip of its resources to further the Cylienian machine. He had turned his eyes elsewhere, not because they were too weak to take on the USGC, but because he had a bigger picture in mind than his old galaxy. The Cylienians were out to conquer more, develop more. They managed to use the raw power of the new galaxy’s supermassive black hole at the galactic center to pull Nova Cyla out of subspace and into reality once more. The Praesulians were on the prowl for more, more, more...

But while they were never seen again in the Aemorius Galaxy, the people still stood ready for their return, never sure when the demon Alessia may once again turn his dark eyes back to their homes...