Chapters Directions:

'Thought'

"Speech"

Narrator's Description

Entity's Thought and Speech

Planet S-b12, Soldier Kovac (3rd POV)

Something warm and wet covered his arms and chest, a little over his face, even. He lowered his eyes to find the upper part of his body entirely bathed in blood, the metallic stench intoxicating his nostrils. Unfazed by his bloody state, Kovac looked around and saw a barren desert of red sand and scorching heat. Beneath his floating body, thousands of corpses layed, some with missing limbs, others completely crushed by an imense, although precise, force. 

Kovac sighted, examinating his brutal work, another mission, another massacre, all done in the name of the Viltrum Empire. He was tasked with conquering the planet S‐b12 and its people, at first he tried to convince them to join the Empire by choice... but they didn't hear him. They couldn't be blamed for choosing freedom over slavery and submission, but only death awaited such refusal. And death they received, he slaughtered them until almost none was left, only enough to restart the civilisation, this time with Viltrumite doutrination.

Casting a last, brief, but resigned glance at the disposed bodies, Kovac flew away towards the planet's orbit, propelling his body through the air with sheer will, an ability all proud sons of Viltrum had. Whilst flying away, he asked to himself, is that what he wants for his entire life? Meaningless violence and conquering? The answer was no.

Upon reaching orbit, he soon spotted his ship locked on S-b12's gravitational influence and rapidly approached it. The ship was relatively small, it had only the pilot's cabin and one room for excrement disposal, with a aerodynamic design and ebony colored metal, it was somewhat elegant. As Kovac entered within 10 meters radius of the spaceship, the doors to the desintoxication room opened and he quickly made his way inside. The doors closed behind him, and a flush of air filled with quimic solutions striked his body from multiple directions, cleaning and detoxifying him from wichever microorganisms he was exposed.

After changing from his messy battle suit to a more clean one, Kovac sat on the pilot's seat and easily programmed the ship's trajectory, for he was going home. The spacecraft gained life with a roar of the engines, and suddenly began to fly across outer space, leaving the red planet behind. As Kovac watched the black infinity, dotted with all so distant stars, pass by him, he reached a button in the panel and pressed it. A holographic image of a name appeared: Conquest

Suddenly, the name was replaced with a face, Great General Conquest, a Viltrumite who fought in the major civil war. A man with advanced age, shown by his white fading hair and a face replete of wrinkles, appeared in front of Kovac. That, together with the fact that Viltrumites age slower with each year passed, composed an image of a fierce old warrior who had seem countless battles. 

With a grunt, Conquest looked at him. "Kovac, report." He ordered, without any winding. The soldier remained quiet for a few seconds, as if deciding what to say, but quickly responded. "The natives were still in a tribalist like society, as appointed by the Empire's info. They didn't submit, so I eliminated the warriors and leaders and left only enough population to guarantee the survival of their species. I suggest the implantation of an unit of wardens on the planet to oversee it and ensure the natives cooperation. Report finished."

Conquest subtly nodded. "Good job, soldier. Head back to Viltrum. Dismissed." He said as he finished the call. Sat in contemplation, Kovac remained silent for a long time, not closing his eyes even for a second, watching the never ending emptiness around him with a subtle glimpse of longing. Freedom was always so near to him, but ever so far. He had, countless times before, imagined himself fleeing, leaving this life behind, but he knew that the Empire wouldn't let him. Hunted down across the entire universe, always sleeping with one eye open, condemned to live in fear, that would be his destiny if he did such thing. He sighted and set those thoughts aside, trying to appreciate the view as the travel continued.

A couple of hours since Kovac's report, he was now holding an old, worn-out looking book, something he had collected in one of his travels. For a people so marked by violence, the Viltrumites still valued knowledge, although not the kind found in this book. It was a fiction novel, written in a foreign language from one of the planet's he had conquered. Kovac made the effort of learning the languages of every species he had subdued in name of the Empire, as a form of respect. It was a kind of ritual to him. In any case, the book portrayed an old legend about the gods of that people, it was quite interesting to him. The thought of having a religion was odd to Kovac, since to the Empire, the true gods in flesh and blood were the Viltrumites themselves. However, he never thought of himself as a God, to him, he was nothing nore than a cursed existence, born to live off the misery of others while drowning in his own. For the next days, Kovac would occupie himself with reading and stargazing.

A few days passed, and as Kovac continued to watch over the stars, his Viltrumite body umbothered by his lack of sleep, a bip in the panel caught his attention, a call from his commander. Calmly, he pressed the button and accepted the call, Conquest appeared as a hologram. His hair was messy and darks circles under his eyes depicted an image of tiredness, Kovac felt a bit shocked to see the old Viltrumite in that state. "Soldier, you mustn't return by now. The Coalition..." He spitted, disgusted by even the thought of the enemies of the Empire. "They liberated some kind of biological weapon, a virus that, if doesn't kill us instantly, deprives us off our powers. Millions died, and many soon will face the same fate, I myself am in a weakened state." Kovac heard all of this with a disturbed face, he couldn't believe that the mighty Viltrum was falling to it's pieces. But then, sudendly, something clicked inside of him, his face loosing all appearances of emotion, his blue eyes gaining an ice cold quality. 

A chance. It was nothing more than that, a chance to leave this pathetic excuse for a society. From the moment he was born to this day, he was nothing more than a tool to them. He fought against his peers, proving his strength, as those before him had done, in the major civil war. He fought their wars, killed their enemies, all for a place who never gave him nothing in return. After the great leader Argall's death, the Viltrumites valued only strength and usefulness, all the children were raised without warm or care, filled with a desire to kill and conquer in the name of the Empire. He was tired of it for so long, and now... He felt free, finally free. Conquest continued, pulling him back of his thoughts of betrayal. "For now, head back to planet S-b12, and start the rebuilding yourself. The Empire will overcome all. Dismissed." He finished, not even a single glimmer of suspicion in his thoughts, for him, Kovac was, without a doubt, a loyal servant of Viltrum.

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He sat there in absolute silence, doing nothing. His chest felt strange, as if something heavy had been crushing it for so long and then, abruptly, it stopped. It all stopped. A smirk rose from his face, that rapidly became a full toothed smile. He was... happy? It seemed cold to be happy, as his people died by the millions, but at that moment he couldn't care less. How long has it been? How long hasn't he felt that kind of joy? Kovac was young for a Viltrumite, and yet, 57 years in this universe had already changed him into an indifferent, apathetic individual. The only times he was truly happy was when he was out, in the space, glancing at the stars. But still, he was never really free. Until now.

Reaching the spacecraft's panel with unnecessary superhuman speed, Kovac began, in a hush, to set course to the furtherest planet he knew. Until he realized, his heart trying to burst out of his chest, he couldn't use the ship, it would all be registered by the Empire's AI. He stopped. His excitement almost cost him his newfound freedom, he needed to calm down and think his next steps throughly. Ritmicaly bumping his fingers on the ship's panel, Kovac started to plan. A few minutes later, he was naked, flying onto outer space, glaring one last time at the completely destroyed ship, that once belonged to him. 'Simples is almost always the right choice'. He thought to himself, smiling. Even though he was extremely different from others on his planet, he was still a Viltrumite, a species whose best solution for loosing its leader, was mass murdering each other to preserve the strong and exterminate the weak. He was a rather simple minded individual in certain situations, although, it was a shame to loose all those books on the ship. At least the ones he read, he wouldn't forget, thanks to his eidetic memory.

Kovac destroyed the ship and his suit to prevent being tracked down by the Empire's technology. Now, deprived of his vehicle, his books and even his clothes, he still felt better than ever before. Flying through space was a simple task for a Viltrumite, as they can hold their breath for weeks with their lung capacity. Survive in the cold and empty outer space was easy for their invulnerable bodies. As such, he always preferred flying over using a ship, but protocol dictated that any trips over 4 weeks of Viltrum flight time should be made with spacecrafts. No more. He could fly as much as he wanted now, just had to make sure he stopped from time to time on some oxygen filled planet to catch his breath.

Just like that, a few weeks passed as Kovac, with his newfound independence, wandered across the universe without a care in the world. Watching the stars, counting asteroids and discovering new planets, as if a clueless child wandering across a garden, just ultimate freedom and pure joy. As he was admiring a distant black hole, the ex-soldier realized he was getting hungry, so, quickly, he began making his way to the nearest planet he could remember. The Empire provided education on all useful manners of survival for conquering soldiers, such as space navigation, basic scientific knowledge and locations of useful planets to rest. Although being but a modest soldier of conquering, tasked with subduing low to mid threat level planets, Kovac knew how to survive and prosper on the emptiness of space, as all Viltrumites did.

While approaching the purple planet, named X-a24 by the Empire, he couldn't hold his wonder by the beautiful colors that made its way to his eyes. It was a stunning view indeed, visiting planets without the intention to spread senseless violence gave a new meaning to it all, making it somewhat more remarkable. This specific planet was free of intelligent life, but was rich in oxygen and had wild life that could serve as food. Coming out of his thoughts of admiration, Kovac increased his flying speed, flexing what the Viltrumites called, figuratively, their "flying muscles". Flying for a son of Viltrum was as if walking for a human, at first they had to practice, but after a while, it becomes instinctive to them and, the more they fly, the better they get, as a muscle indeed.

A little more than one hour later, Kovac could be seen sitting on a mountain of purplish fur while eating raw meat, provenient from the beast beneath him. It was a relatively easy hunt, the purple animal was quadrupetal and a rather fast one, but nothing comparable to a Viltrumite. Its fur gave it a good thermal protection and was very sturdy, but in the end, it didn't stand a chance against Kovac's fists. Although a Viltrumite much younger than the other conquering soldiers, he was chosen for his great strength, comparable to other Viltrumites with thousands of years old. At a young age, he was separated from the other youngsters used in large-scale battles as cannon fodder, and given the honor of being a solo conqueror like the cold Nolan or the cruel Kregg. That being said, he was still no match for the Empire's elite like Nolan, Kregg and Anissa, let alone the strongest Viltrumite to ever exist, Conquest and The Great Regent Thragg.

Continuing to eat the raw and insipid flesh of the beast, Kovac thought about his next steps. He was free, all he wanted, he could do it, and for the first time, thousands of years ahead of him didn't seemed like purgatory. An eternity of doing whatever the hell he feels like, it looked great. He smiled, his thoughts wandering on what planet he should visit next. With a laugh, he also realized he needed some clothes, but, for now, he would try to enjoy the felling of the air passing through his nude body as he flies across the planet's atmosphere, completely unrestrained. Gulping down the last piece of meat on his hands, with a loud noise, Kovac flew upwards in a sonic boom. Accelerating even further, he continued to break the sound barrier as he traveled through the violet skies of the beautuful planet. 

Within a few minutes lost in this feeling of physical freedom, Kovac sudendly heard a strange noise coming from a couple of kilometers north. That was possible because, besides the complex balance system located in their inner ear that allows them to fly and gives them perfect balance, Viltrumites have incredible hearing due to an enhanced eardrum and a more complex auditory cortex. Almost instantly, Kovac stopped, that sound… it was so strange. It had an eerie quality, as if a soundtrack from a suspense novel had merged with the sound of nails scratching on a chalkboard. All this while still managing to draw Kovac to it, he felt weightless, as if nothing else mattered at that moment. With a hint of desperation, he headed towards the sound in a hurry.

As Kovac got closer to the source of the sound, the volume slowly became unbearable; he could hear nothing but this terrifying noise. His world was nothing more than this, and all the rest disappeared in the background. He was like a moth drawn to a flame. Reaching the point of origin, right above the ground there was... something. As if the space in that area had simply vanished, a black circumference of pure darkness hovered above the purple grass. It was calling to him, both physically, since the hole had a suction force, and mentally, the soldier could not resist the idea of entering it. With a mesmerized gaze, he approached the hole in space. And without much thought to it, let the suction force act over his body. Kovac passed through it and, with a loud, high-pitched noise, the portal disappeared soon after.

Unamed Pocket Dimension, ??? (1st POV)

'Hm. It seems a lifeform entered one of the void rifts. What an interesting occurrence.' With a snap of my fingers an image of a man appears in front of me. He had straight dark brown, neck-length hair, parted neatly in the middle. His complexion was pale but not sickly, with a strong jaw and clear blue eyes. He had a body of a warrior, naked as the day he was born, with strong muscles and several scars along his upper body. He was flying towards the rift, mesmerized by its mystical qualities.

'Oh, a Viltrumite. This one looks like a deserter, smart choice. Almost none of them will survive that virus, Thaddeus certainly outdone himself. Anyhow, what a pleasant coincidence, a stray Viltrumite entering the void. I wonder which strange dimension he will end up in.' As the man entered the rift, I snapped my fingers once more, and the image disappeared.