The sixteen hours that counted down to the start of the War heralded the isolation of the Jumpgate as well as the consolidation of forces around Earth. From the patterns that the Url'Esh had displayed on other worlds, and from what the survivors of those worlds had said, the Url'Esh would plan on a simple application of overwhelming force to reach the planet, then they would do whatever they have been doing.

That is what they would plan on, at least; Allan, Aly, and the other Gods, in conjunction with the defenders led by Eddy, would provide something that the Url'Esh had yet to face. A unified front of Gods and Mortals fighting side by side. They hope that it was enough.

As Allan watched the Jumpgate continue to charge, he worried. His face felt tense until a delicate touch brought him out of his brooding mood.

"Are you okay?" Aly asked, concern disrupting her beautiful face.

"I am well," Allan said with a smile, placing his hand over hers on his cheek. "I just worry."

"As do we all."

Allan nodded and looked at the gate. It had only a few more minutes; if the countdown was accurate, it was time. With a wave of his hand, he was on every screen and heard in every language simultaneously.

"Peoples of Earth!" Allan called out to get everyone's attention in the solar system. "Peoples of Mars! All of you who have fled here in the wake of the Url'Esh's violence, hear me! In moments, the Url'Esh will descend upon us. They are hellbent on destroying us and slaying the gods whom you all love and hold dear. I know I am a new addition to this pantheon and have yet to show you what I am about. But this is also true for the Url'Esh. They are about to jump into the first time divines and mortals have stood side by side. And they will, for the first time, face a united humanity under a God of War who does not believe in mercy!"

Allan could feel reality pulse with the exclamations of those who had taken to following him. Even around him, the humans and other warriors prepared to fight were cheering, feeling something akin to bloodlust coursing through them.

"I do now know what the future holds, but I do know one thing. The Url'Esh needs to prepare for what they now face! Never before has an enemy faced the combined might of multiple species! So now I ask you all, Stand with me! Fight! Show no mercy!"

Another wave of bloodlust washes over the collective warriors of Earth.

"In moments, we will fight for our lives and the lives of those who can not fight. So I ask you now, is there anything you are unwilling to lose?"

The crowd roared as Allan watched the Jumpgate begin to establish a connection.

"Then lose nothing! Show the enemy that they have far more to lose than you. Stand now and fight!"

As the roar of approval echoed over the various comms channels, the Jumpgate finally bloomed into life. Space seemed to warp around the edges of the Jumpgate, and a massive ship that should not have fit through the grate rolled out of the shimmering edge of the distortion, snapping back to its normal size once it was clear.

Immediately, Eddy called to fire one of the new pieces of technology humanity had developed. An electromagnetic coil, nearly four miles long and floating in orbit around the Jumpgate, suddenly hummed to life. The operator on the firing platform watched in barely hidden horror as a three-foot-thick rod of depleted uranium with a carbon steel core jumped forward at roughly half the speed of light.

The impact of the rod on the ship should have obliterated the massive ship, but a shield of black energy appeared and leached energy from the projectile. Eddy sighed, "It can never be easy. Allan, I am in favor of the divine playing field plan."

"As am I," Allan said, turning to look at a strange device that had been gifted to him for this battle, "Draco if you would."

Without a moment of hesitation, a field of glowing gold light appeared. It was nearly a thousand miles to the side, and all of the combatants from both sides were floating within the borders of the strange square. Despite Draco's assistance, Allan shook his head, wondering why the higher beings didn't simply deal with the Url'Esh. Still, after helping Draco fill out the actual physical paperwork he had to complete to be able to do as much as he was, Allan thought that maybe the problems with Gods were all just clerical and bureaucratic.

Allan shook his head, stepping forward to an airlock and, without hesitation, opening it and jumping out of the ship onto the divine field. Gods, Marines, and peoples of various species were following suit all around him. The massive Url'Esh ship opened several ports a moment later, and a near-endless stream of warriors poured out.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Truly, the gods mock us!" An Url'Esh called out as the two groups of forces neared each other. "They stand with their new favorite pets and have created two new gods as if it will make any difference! Defy your oppressors and join us in slaying your gods!"

The last line was called to the forces arrayed against the Url'Esh. In response, Eddy stepped forward. "I am General Mac'Millen, but most everyone calls me Eddy. I would speak with your leaders."

The Url'Esh, calling out to his troops, stepped forward. "I am as close to a leader as you will get."

"Very well," Eddy said smiling, "Turn back. I know what you have gone through is dark and terrible, but taking up this fight will be something you regret, that I can promise you. This galaxy holds more than enough space for all of us. Work with us instead of standing against us. This is the only offer that will be made. After this, if we fight, we will win, and you will suffer."

The Url'Esh leader stood silent momentarily before bursting into raucous laughter. "You know now what you face, Eddy, but it was a good bluff. I refuse your offer. Bring on the fight!"

Without warning, Eddy lept forward at a speed that appeared to defy logic and slammed the god-killing blad that Allan had been gifted into the head of the Url'Esh."Then let it begin!"

Across the lines of humans, snipers who had taken prone positions began to unload round after round into the assembled Url'Esh. At the same time, the massive ship above them looked as if it was cracking apart, but it was just the fleet of ships that composed it pulling apart to begin engaging the Earth ships.

Allan sighed, summing forth a blade of dark metal that would slice nearly anything. "What makes the green grass grow," he muttered to himself.

"Blood, blood, blood." Yivnesix, God of the Galgax, said, rattling his scales at the human expression, black blades forming from each chitinous scale.

"That saying is rather morbid," Gultinth, God of the Sidhesh, said, summoning two black metal daggers to his hands.

"It is, but it is also true," Allan said, rolling his shoulders as more and more gods assembled, slowly prepping and watching as the Mortals engaged. "When they show, go all out."

The gods gathered around him nodded. They did not have to wait long before a large group of Url'Esh, glad in strange robes and stranger symbols, appeared. They had named themselves the god killers. They spotted the assembled divines and immediately began channeling their strange power, growing large and running towards Allan.

Allan responded in kind, moving at a breakneck pace and beginning to fell Url'Esh with a reckless abandon that would surely have people claiming he was a god of blood. When the God Killers and the divines clashed, a wave of power washed over the field.

At the same time, above the field, human ships and pilots engaged with the thousand-strong fleet of the Url'Esh. Occasionally, an Url'Esh ship would get too close to a god, and the god would wave a hand at the ship, disabling its engines or artificial gravity.

Across the rear lines of the Earth warriors, Aly was leading the other less combat-oriented gods in healing and saving as many of the Earth warriors as they could. Without fear, the gods and goddesses would dash out among the gunfire and clash of weapons, snatching up injured allies and bringing them back for treatment.

The battle raged for hours, thousands died on both sides, and Allan fought the whole time. Gods and God Slayers alike had fallen around him. And all the while, he had been growing stronger. War empowered him. War was what he now was. Suddenly, Allan looked up and saw most of the Url'Esh ships had fallen back to hold a position.

Eddy appeared in the fray. "I think we have them on the run!"

"We can only hope!" Allan said bitterly as he slashed the head of a God Slayer.

"Allan!" Aly called, dashing into the center of the fight, "Allan, we are running low on everything, and I don't know how much more we can hold out and keep healing people."

"Time for an end then," Eddy grunted with a blade slash.

"Very well. Cover me, I'll see what I can do." Allan said, stepping back behind the remaining divines and soldiers.

Eddy opened a communication channel for everyone on the Earth side of things. "Alright, folks, looks like this is it. Allan is planning on going for a final strike. From what we have guessed when he starts doing what he will do, the Url'Esh will start doing everything they can to stop him. So it will be up to us to give him time. Understood?!"

A roar of approval came back over the comms channel. Eddy caught Allan's eyes and nodded. "Take us home, Allan."

Allan rose, embracing the power he could draw from War. Suddenly, one of the Url'Esh pointed at him and yelled something, and then they threw themselves against the warriors of Earth. For the next thirty minutes, Allan did nothing but gather the power granted to him by his new divine aspect. It pained him because all he could do for those thirty minutes was watch as his friends and allies stood against their enemies.

Finally, something clicked inside him. Allan instinctively knew he had accumulated enough power to land a decisive strike. So he did.

With a wave of his hand, the ships in the sky burst into neon blue flame that left nothing in their wake. All the ships save one were destroyed in moments, and this last one felt strange to Allan. This last ship seemed to drive the Url'Esh on the field into a frenzy. Some looking back at the last ship, others simply diving into combat. Allan acted against those on the ground, his power driving him to speeds almost indistinguishable from teleportation. In one moment, he would be amid ten or twelve Url'Esh; the next, he would be moving an allied warrior to a triage tent.

The battlefield was clear after mere moments of Allan fighting with all the power available to him. All that remained was a single Url'Esh standing on a platform attached to the final ship. Allan paused as the rest of the Earth Warriors charged forward with rage in their hearts. He looked into the ship, and at the last Url'Esh using his power. Allan appeared in front of the combined forces charging at the ship without hesitation.

Placing himself between the last Url'Esh, who at this distance could not be called anything other than ancient, and the Warriors of Earth, Allan called out. "Stop! This is the end. It is finished."

Allan had hoped they would listen to what he had to say, but a Galgaxian warrior cried out "Traitor!"

In mere moments Allan found himself facing an army completely alone.