Chapter 45: No pain No gain
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"The violence against the population of Tyo has triggered a galactic war. You must choose a side between 'The Eternals' and 'The United Federation of Planets.'"
The situation on Era was catastrophic.
Once a resplendent planet, Era was now nothing but a radioactive desert. The destruction of 95% of the urban center and the annihilation of the native population had caused the economy to almost completely vanish, except for the ways players still traded among themselves.
Most notably, a single GC had once been worth as much as 4.6 real-world credits.
Now, it took 4 GC to equal even a single credit. The shift had happened in a matter of minutes, as soon as traders realized the reality of the situation.
Many players were furious with "Horus!" What had, up till now, been a lucrative activity was now completely meaningless!
But for other players, the new game experience was really fun. The game had turned into an apocalyptic survival game like the old Fallout series, with the planet's monsters having undergone serious radiation mutations, increasing their levels.
All that happened in the hours after players respawned, of course. The immediate consequence of the nuclear strike was that all players and Tyottings in the city were instantly killed.
Apophis, a good distance outside the city at the time, saw the blinding nuclear flash and recognized it for what it was. But thanks to his ~Susanoo~ skill, he saved his life and Antanria's, though it was a close call.
Then Apophis wasted no time in heading with Antanria to the Zetark shipyard.
***
In orbit around the planet, Admiral Azerof stared down at the sinister spectacle he had caused on Planet Era.
Admiral Azerof was a human supremacist.
He believed that humanity should form a human-centric, xenophobic empire and drive all xenos out of human territory.
The United Federation of Planets was made up of only 56% humans, and had a solid constitution guaranteeing the rights of non-human. For Azerof and other human supremacists, this was a vile heresy that must one day be overturned.
Back when the Zetark Empire ruled most of the universe, humans were placed just below the Zetark species in the Empire's hierarchy.
Humans could own thousands of xeno slaves and could take up some of the most profitable professions in the Empire.
When the Zetark Empire fell, humans tried to replace them as lords of the galaxy. Unfortunately for those efforts, humans were numerically inferior to the xenos who made up the rest of the galaxy, and to maintain some power, the human coalitions were quickly forced to change their professed ideologies.
They publicly declared xeno species to be equal to humans and founded the egalitarian state called the United Federation of Planets. The Federation was moderately powerful compared to other starfaring empires, and survived only because of its many alliances and powerful military.
As a human supremacist, Azerof sought a solid position from which to attempt a coup in the Federation... with the end goal of establishing an Imperium of Humanity, of course.
What better possibility did he have than to leverage these Eternals, who were all humans with ascension power? To him, the weak people of Tyo were nothing compared to the possibility of regaining the lost glory of humanity!
The vice admiral spoke up. "Admiral! We're detecting a resurgence of the Eternals. They're still alive, despite the nuclear bombing!"
Admiral Azerof replied, "Prepare to land and begin our ground assault. Spare every Eternal who surrenders or shows willingness to join us."
Their landing craft descended into the atmosphere, then unloaded the Federation ground troops!
The real war was finally beginning.