Chapter 43 42:
The general in question performed a reverence, completely ashamed.
"many thanks, great regent, it is an honor to be recognized by a wise eminence such as yourself."
"good," Thragg said, before crossing his arms behind his back. "what have you investigated so far about the Solarux and their current situation?"
"my lord, the fallen Solarux Empire was once a confederation of planetary systems unified under the command of the Warrior Queen Universa. They currently find themselves in a state of critical fragmentation. Traditionally, the power of the empire resided in the 'Staff of Leadership,' an artifact capable of channeling stellar energies that were only accessible to the successor generations of each candidate to universa. however, their territory has been the victim of an indirect annexation by the Geldarians. The latter, known for their superior intelligence and extreme physical weakness, invaded the territory of the Galactus Sector through technological and commercial absorption, accelerating the exploitation of the resources within the sector. Now, under threats forcing them to yield to unequal agreements, they have achieved control of the principal reactors and energy deposits of Solarux, leaving the annexed planets functionally empty of every kind of resource, yet nominally 'independent.'"
Before the general's words, Thragg could not help but smile, applauding twice from impression.
"excellent, excellent, young general. I see your fascinating interest in astropolitics." He said, before continuing the general's thought. "the empire's interest lies in the necessity of another empire. Faced with the collapse presented for the current universa, she has been forced to enter conversations of mutual interest for both parties. The exiled central government of Solarux has initiated an ambitious project, the 'Home Project.' Through mutual effort, we are developing artificial suns of controlled fission. These reactors are designed to replicate the light and heat of a white dwarf star, with the objective of maintaining the biosphere of their planets without the need for a natural sun. Although all this is completely temporary and only the immediate solution to the true objective of the Home Project."
"that would be, if this great regent permits me to ask?"
"new exploration routes." Thragg's words surprised the general.
"what, but... how... could it be?" then, he understood the objective of all this. "the great nebula is...". With eyes wide open, his reverence toward the great regent became even more palpable to the sight.
"indeed, young general." Thragg nodded, ignoring the overflowing emotions of the young general at his side. Simply, how could they not see things so clearly?
"what do you think will happen if we, the Viltrumites, appear offering the technology they need, the routes they need, the abundant resources of this sector that they need, and the bridge toward the exploration of other lands that their Home Project needs, all at the price of credits 80% below the galactic market price?"
Varnak-Sul did not need to think for long.
"The Galactus Sector will trade and relate only with us... not with the Geldarians."
"Correct. And in exchange for that commercial favor, we will maintain a treaty that will allow us to become the owners of 50% of the safe exploration routes beyond known space, beyond the borders of the galaxy. Within those routes, it is foreseen that the most important logistical base of the Empire will be established, an economic-military capital from which to expand toward less problematic territories beyond the known galaxy."
The Great Regent turned once more.
"Do you understand what that means, Varnak? We will be able to slow down the current war machine, and for the first time in a long time, give rest to our race. Increase the birth rate, promote the viltrumite incentive, create a new generation of elite viltrumites capable of optimizing the superiority of the current classifications up to class 12 onward, at minimum. Viltrum cannot live forever from conquest, we need a strategic pause."
Varnak-Sul, with genuine admiration, lowered his head.
"Great Regent... your brilliance has no equal. While all of us only thought about the victory of the race and the empire, you were already three moves ahead, no, you were 10 ahead. You are the hope of the empire, hail the great regent, Thragg."
Thragg nodded coldly.
Under the glacial gaze of the Great Regent, all the war armament was deployed under his desires, and there the tactical brilliance of the emperor was glimpsed.
Not for nothing was he said to be a monster. Besides his colossal strength, destroyer of planets, he also possessed a memory that seemed to make ridiculous any machine known within the empire to this date.
In simple terms, his brain was too developed.
The brain of the Great Regent presented a never-before-seen over-optimized architecture in any other viltrumite, with a prefrontal neuronal density 340% superior to that of any living viltrumite.
He possessed processing speeds 22,000 times greater than that of an elite soldier, with a working memory for 18,000 simultaneous units of information, which allowed him capabilities of tactical future production with 98% precision.
His principal war strength resided in his coordination, which allowed him to interact with his smart atoms in real time, almost as though it were pure manipulation of them themselves, something unheard of for any other viltrumite.
Furthermore, he was capable of "feeling" the space surrounding him as though he had an invisible map within his head, which allowed him to react to any attack before it occurred.
Varnak-Sul had to exert himself to the utmost merely to gain the slightest approval from the regent, after still being considered useful for Viltrum and its interests in the sector they were slowly losing.
Despite being a general stripped of his rank, his function remained intact. Besides the great regent, only he seemed to possess the capability to carry out a good organization of the forces in comparison to other viltrumites.
This had also served as an outlet on the part of General Thragg with the intention that Varnak-Sul would have the opportunity to redeem his name.
Though of course, only the servile forces had been granted to them, denominated as the colonial forces. And those assets, as Varnak-Sul could expect, were nothing more than a mosaic of cannon fodder wrapped in useless sacrificial technology.
The vanguard under his command was composed of two point four billion infantrymen of unnamed races, armed with low-grade armor and plasma rifles.
Behind them, four hundred eighty million Venatici formed the shock core, their eyes overflowing with energy ready to tank the fire of their enemies. The Lithari, the few there were, strictly supervised, worked as combat engineers, deploying 12,000 "Eye of Argal" lunar turrets, technology inspired by their moons of destruction, completely obsolete in power compared to viltrumite versions.
Furthermore, together with a lesser race from the low-level colonies, they maintained a fleet of 400 billion swarm ships, each with absorbent hull technology.
In the rearguard, 8,000 viltrumite cruisers, operated by 80 million Syrenis in charge of maintaining communications, maintained the mental communications of the devices placed in physical contact upon all soldiers, from the lowest to those of highest rank, such as the great regent Thragg.
With that psycho-communication technology, a pulse device that decodes language waves from the emitter and translates them into the receiver's language through thought, the entire empire was under the direct orders of the great regent at any moment, only a thought away.
"let us put aside words, I want to know what truly matters. How is the enemy line?"
Varnak-Sul's face hardened until he swallowed saliva.
"Unfortunately... somehow your arrival to the Luminus Sector was leaked. The enemy forces have concentrated all their power on their fronts. According to my estimates... they outnumber us by 600%."
Despite the general's heavy words, Thragg did not seem to consider the situation as anything serious.
"Six hundred percent, that is such a beautiful figure."
"But the colonial races," Varnak-Sul hurried to say. "are entirely at your disposal. Despite the fact that it took us time to regroup, they have managed to catch up. Their technology is inferior, but their number is immense. We will be able to balance our forces through a saturation attack that..."
Thragg (cutting in, with disdain):
"numbers do not matter much, young Varnak-Sul." The great regent interrupted him disdainfully. Thragg extended his hand toward the great nebula, as though he could grasp that alboreal figure with his own hands.
"I have already processed more than eighteen million tactical scenarios while we have had this conversation. I can redistribute our force in real time, perceive energetic fluctuations within a radius of hundreds of thousands of astronomical units, react to attacks before they occur. Six hundred percent of cannon fodder only continues being that, regardless of its increase.
From the side of the great regent? There was no doubt that all that enemy battle line was insignificant. But Varnak-Sul was thinking beyond individuality. He had men and colonists under his command. Despite the great brilliance of the regent, he often forgot that indeed, none of them were equal to him.
Thus Varnak-Sul had to devise ways to avoid the annihilation of his forces while the great regent went after the most problematic ones on his own.
He analyzed the enemy lines, thinking of survival strategies for his force. Perhaps he was not capable of analyzing millions of possibilities, but he could carry out strategic modifications on the march. And that, worked for Varnak-Sul.
Varnak-Sul observed the enemy line.
In contrast, the Coalition of the Luminus Sector, upon discovering that the Great Regent himself would lead the offensive, perceived a historic opportunity that would probably be nearly impossible to repeat again.
If they managed to kill Thragg, the empire would plunge into a succession crisis that could dismember it forever, as had almost happened in the past, according to the information they had gathered about those demons.
They mobilized, then, a force surpassing the viltrumite colonial line by 600%, their slaves, as they called them.
At the vanguard, 10.8 billion Aizir warriors formed a floating wall of 360 billion stellar drakkars, their axes and enchanted armor shining with runes of cosmic force channeled from Iddrazil itself.
Behind them, 4.8 billion Cosmic Force, with their highest-technology vanguard-type suits, piloted 9.6 billion cruisers and 480 billion swarm ships, ready to synchronize their disintegration rays in waves of saturation.
The Lanther, 7.2 billion soldiers, deployed 64,000 mobile planetary weapons and 14.4 billion cruisers, powered by 19,200 Dyson Spheres that projected energy within a radius of 5 Earth light-years.
And at the heart of the fleet, 642 Piercing Spears, the only artifact capable of destabilizing viltrumite smart atoms, waited, each one protected by a swarm of 15,000 ships and 200,000 soldiers.