Post by EmperorMyric on Mar 22, 2021 14:53:02 GMT
Great Eye System: Eos Remnants
It all started with belief.
The Bride of Worlds was supposed to be one of the greatest achievements and engineering accomplishments in the entirety of the galaxy. A massive multiple AU sized gateway created out of millions of individual segments each independently powered and snared together made to resist the tidal and gravitation forces acting upon it as little as possible, a true marvel of mega engineering in the galaxy. Had it been open to the galaxy one would have expected thousands of tourists and even foreign delegations to come and marvel at the spectacle. However that would not be the case, as the Bridge had belonged to the incredibly zealous and xenophobic Eos Consortium, designed for one purpose, one single fantastical purpose. To bring their god into the mortal realm.
It had been a mighty cause, one that had directed the Eosians from the moment they had settled in Ancerious and its completion had been attained in relatively few years despite the victory over the Trinovans and the redirection of material for the war effort. But the Bride of Worlds had been completed, and on the day of activation most if not all Eosians had watched, prayed and celebrated. But it was not to be, the gate had detonated in an explosion so powerful that it tore the fabric of space time and plunged the Eosian territory into violent special anomalies. A psionic shockwave had rippled the galaxy, killing thousands of other Eosians and even some psionics of other species and nearly all experienced it in some way or another.
The situation despite everything that had happened had not gone unacted upon, under orders to secure the Eosian territory Inara had ordered the Axiomatic Blinker fleet to ensure that the allies did not come picking at the scraps and to find out what had occurred. This was a job the Blinker fleet had gladly accepted and had mobilised a chunk of its forces to secure the Eosian remnants, soon turning to suppressing them with powerful psychometric weaponry on planet wide scales in order to experiment with them in so called ‘brain farms’. The Singers had also turned to assisting the Axioms in this task in a sort of joint project, after their first contact and strong bond forming the two nations had explored and suppressed the remnants of the Eosians, using what stable paths that existed in the anomaly to pry deeper into the destroyed Consortium space.
Many words had merely been halls of the dead, endless bodies in the streets as the Eosians had died where they celebrated, creating macabre ghost worlds where the echoes of those lost seemed to scream on the edges of the senses. Other worlds had been stripped bare, or altered horribly from the resulting space time shockwave. The further they pushed the more extreme the affects had become, but as time progressed more arterial passages appeared in the anomaly, and it had receded in areas too, it seemed slowly anyway that the universe was resealing the wound. It wasn’t until a very spindly passage was discovered by the Singers survey ship SVS Searcher commander by ship leader Ilendrith (Chimeran) which by all accounts led to the Bridges original location. After consulting with the Blinker fleet and the Singers command an expedition was arranged, the SVS Searcher along with 3 vessels of the Blinker fleet were to move in and explore what was thought to be the origin of the anomaly.
The four vessels including the two Gen 1 Blinkers Temoralis and Occipitalis and the Gen 2 Blinker Taxonomica navigated with care through the disturbed space corridor, using a mix of sublight manuvering and very small wormhole jumps the small survey force finally arrived in what remained of the Bride of Worlds system, capital of the Eos Consortium. It was a bleak sight, the planets that had existed in system were smashed, little more than debris field of glass and strange materials forged in the heart of the spacial tear. Destroyed Eosian ships, twisted and disfigured in mind hurting ways were scattered across the system as well, Captain Ilendrith knew what mass death felt like and this system was drenched in the echoes of the dead. However it wasn’t the strange remains of the Eosians that caught the groups attention, it was the seemingly different sun. Not noticed at first but the stellar object gave off energy readings that could come from no star, its brightness was also akin to an accretion disk and so this was the chosen object to study. The Blinkers and the survey ship began to try find out what this bright object might be, active neutrino scans and gravimetric scans were directed to it, revealing little but some jumbled mess of confusing returns, quantum sensors were used too to try detect if it was some afterimage of the detonation but again it returned strange readings incomprehensible to even Ilendrith.
And that was when the object started to respond.
It seemed to come to life. At first the sensors of the survey group reported titanic energy readings unlike anything seen outside of the Golden Expanse, the object then began moving. Sensors showed that the entire system was now rising in temperature, background radiation and energetic particles. It was no longer safe they had to withdraw, but the ambient surrounding space prevented the blinkers from wormholing out, the SVS Searcher also found itself unable to escape, the ambient surroundings were now so hot and chaotic that FTL proved impossible, with stark realisation the survey fleet now knew they were doomed. The survey fleet could only now watch as their hulls were boiled away, the sensors showing that the anomaly had shifted in size, with ambient space becoming much like what they were experiencing. Whatever this thing was, it was now moving. Sending one final communique to warn the others Ilendrith merely accepted his fate, sitting on the bridge of his ship meditating as his form was vaporised around him. The Blinkers as well sent warnings to the others in Eosian space, telling them of what was coming and to evacuate as best they could before they too were engulfed by fire.
With the survey fleet gone, and the warnings sent the strange mass of fire and light seemed to move, its path led out of Eosian space, those systems still on the edges of the anomaly also died from the after affects, planets and stars boiling away from their outsides. Warnings leapt between factions, and the sight of the object filled many long range sensor stations from factions across the galaxy. Whatever this thing was it was a force of nature, and it had been awakened. Little did the galaxy know that the Eosians had succeeded, they had manifested their belief in their god into a physical deity, and it was now awake.
Tenebraen Territories: Disputed Space
Despite the massive happenings that transpired relatively close by in galactic terms the 2nd Ancerious war kept up its relentless spread without remorse. The Tenebrae Collective was well versed in war, having been the main defendant in the 1st Ancerious war it had fought against the likes of the Immortal Empire and the enigmatic Flux Ascendancy with ferocity and experience supported by the allied forces this had been enough to fight the war to a standstill and so the war had ended quietly, forces were withdrawn, DMZs drawn up and negotiations carried out. Sadly however that was not to be adhered to. The Immortal Empire once again had invaded Tenebrae, in a full out assault across numerous systems the IE intended to finish what they started during the 1st war, and ignored the agreed upon peace terms that had been previously laid down.
It had started in Brestem, the IE had pushed in system with their expendable bio ships and had been met by a stern defence of Tenebrae, Union and DHR fleets. The battle was hard fought however the outcome was not to anyone’s expectation. The engagement had been ended prematurely with ship fire being absorbed by strange portals and no matter what either side tried they could not damage the other. The Drakes had intervened on behalf of Tenebrae and the CAE, enacting the ceasefire protocol with the Vigil system they hoped to bring peace talks about between the IE and Tenebrae once again, or at least give time to rally the CAE fleets to Tenebrae’s defence.
And so with the conflict temporarily stemmed Tenebrae turned into a powder keg, a chessboard of CAE and IE moves and counter moves. Deployments were issued and later revoked as fleets on both sides chose prime positions for invasions or counter attacks across Tenebrae systems, with the ceasefire underway none could fight each other but they could ready themselves. Both sides knew the effect wouldn’t be active forever and it was all about being in the best position to strike when it did. With the fleets constantly moving and counter moving the Tenebraens rallied their fleets and defences, backed up by Union fleets (those few they could spare from the frontline) DHR fleets, Carnaithian fleets (mainly a support role due to their renewed ceasefire with the IE) and joint CAE taskforces made up of Metropolis and ICS remnant forces that had survived and stayed behind in the galaxy respectively now moved into position to prevent a full scale invasion.
Peacetalks had been more or less totally ignored by the IE, and Tenebrae had been reluctant to even try talking seeing what had happened in the 1st war and its conclusion despite Drake calls to do so. As the CAE fought on other fronts and the AGA continued its continuous effort against the APP the Tenebrae front became progressively side-lined asset wise, never the less everyone knew the time would come. And come it did. The first signs were the warnings from the Drakes informing that Vigil would soon cease its effects across Tenebrae space. Final fleet locations were adjusted and the allies readied themselves. The second signs were the systems effects beginning to dissipate in the outlying systems, IE forces raiding outlying colonies and ambushing patrol fleets suddenly found themselves able to inflict damage despite their repeated attempts to do so throughout the ceasefire to no avail. The allies responded in kind, isolating the no longer effected areas and bringing the IE to battle there. Running skirmishes and small engagements erupted across lesser populated areas of the Collective with both sides starting to rake up casualties as some of the engagements escalated into full blown battles.
Eventually however the ceasefire protocol came down completely. Invasions and counter attacks were near instantly set into motion as several huge scale battles sparked up across the main Tenebrae systems of their inner worlds including another strike against Exceion which unlike in the first war had been fully anticipated and the IE was hurled back. Both sides had roughly equal luck, for every system supposedly conquered by the IE another was either successfully defended or liberated by the Tenebrae and CAE forces. The entire region of space had turned into a patchwork of ploys and counter ploys with generals on both sides constantly seeking to either pin the others main fleet down in a decisive engagement or to take key worlds or staging grounds to deny them supply and reinforcement.
However not focused upon by the warring forces was a threat moving towards them at a surprising speed. The blinding essence that had been awakened in the Eosian remnant was now making its way towards the Golden expanse, while normally that wouldn’t be a problem due to the speeds involved in sublight it seemed to move with some kind of realspace FTL, like Alcurbierre effect but much greater, warping, burning and destroying everything as it came the essence was growing larger, already alarms were being raised by the various factions as news spread and sensor readings spread across the galaxy. News agencies and think tanks across the galaxy reported on it, calculating its exact course. Warnings were given out to those in its path, neutral factions or inhabited systems desperately tried to evacuate in mass exodus either managing to only partially escape or failing altogether as the systems were engulfed in fire, their populations slaughtered seeming to only fuel the mass as it came on.
The news quickly reached both the Immortal Empire and the CAE joint forces. Initially the information was somewhat ignored as there were active battles underway but very rapidly it became apparent that this mass was going to make its way straight through Tenebrae and then DHR space on its way towards the golden expanse. Dread filled the allies, could they stop something like this? Such a powerful anomaly was beyond conventional warfare, and not even Vigil had the energy or span of effect to encompass or redirect it, that and the Drakes were unsure if it would even work. Continued options were thrown around by the high commands, each one more furiously debated until there was a unanimous agreement. There was no way to stop this, allied space would have to be evacuated somehow. They had a month at most, to move the population of not one but two factions was totally impossible in its entirety. But the allies would not shy from the task. The Vigil system was repurposed, providing gates on the most inhabited worlds for the populance to move through, the Drakes generously offered space within their own territory for the refugees as the military evacuated what it could too. It was a huge exodus, and one that was fraught with fear.
The Immortal Empire was not ignorant to the impending catastrophe. The commanders were angry after all they were here to capture and secure Tenebrae space just like they had planned during the 1st Ancerious war. And now it was threatened with total destruction, they felt almost cheated, they were supposed to be the ones to do that. Plans were again contemplated, the IE surveyed possible methods to either redirect the anomaly or even some of the more outlandish plans called for it to be used for their own control. Despite these outlandish plans the IE saw that staying in Tenebrae territory would merely be a waste of resources, the losses would be pointless when the mass hit and so they pulled back their main forces and evacuated their staging grounds salvaging everything they could as they withdrew. Using expendable Bio ships they did however continuously harass evacuation fleets of the allies, causing the CAE to place ships on defence rather than evacuation reducing even more the amount of people who could escape. Despite this the CAE did the same, those ships they could spare attacked the IE staging grounds mid escape, destroying critical equipment and forces in violent hit and run attacks despite the impending destruction both sides seemed intent on still hamstringing the other.
As the essence of Eos came closer and closer the evacuations turned into raging panic, people desperately tried to claw their way off world in any way they could, across both DHR and Tenebrae space those not already evacuated took civilian vessels, stormed their way onto military vessels or stole personal shuttles to escape, any way they could was better than none. Government and civility practically broke down as those still planetside looted and rioted over the fact that they had not been saved, with the CAE selectively evacuating the most crucial worlds populace and those who would prove useful billions were left to die in the ensuring firestorm that was now so close that it could be seen as a giant yellow churning mass in the sky, even in the bright of day.
It was a hard choice, none of the commanders could be happy or even speak about the fact that they had saved billions from certain death when far more had been left to their fates. Still the CAE had managed to rescue billions of Tenebrae and DHR civilians, military forces and some infrastructure which had been relocated to specially prepared worlds within the Drake empire. That was all they could manage in the time available, and seeing as that only a month had been the frame of evacuation the sheer scale of what they had managed to save was impressive but the sheer frame of the events to come blanketed any feeling of accomplishment.
When the time came all CAE and Immortal Empire forces had pulled out of Tenebrae space, all that remained were those who could not escape offworld, and those desperate souls who tried to salvage anything they could to make a spec of money. The outer systems began to burn as the essence of Eos made its way forward, planets died, suns were boiled away and those who inhabited the systems that remained died in fire as their essence was consumed to fuel the manifestation of a god. All the CAE and IE could do was sit and watch, collect data and hope that whatever they observed could help them find a way to stop it. Alas as it consumed its way through Tenebrae it then began on the DHR, more died in the ensuing sector wide firestorm of golden light. Fleets moved in to pick over the remains, to see if any had survived or any infrastructure still stood. In its wake however both the CAE and the IE found nothing, systems were gone the very building blocks destroyed. It was just dead space.
As the mass finished annihilating the two factions the IE withdrew, now pointless to keep its forces in that area it pulled back ready to use them on another front while survey ships and science ships picked over the dead space left behind. The CAE did the same, looking to help those who had been displaced the Drakes did everything they could to make those refugees comfortable and help them rebuild what they could in safety, the CAE fleets returning to re-arm and resupply ready for the next stage in the war. The galaxy was sullen two empires had been wiped away and the mass was now continuing forwards, other empires lay once again within its burning path.
It all started with belief.
The Bride of Worlds was supposed to be one of the greatest achievements and engineering accomplishments in the entirety of the galaxy. A massive multiple AU sized gateway created out of millions of individual segments each independently powered and snared together made to resist the tidal and gravitation forces acting upon it as little as possible, a true marvel of mega engineering in the galaxy. Had it been open to the galaxy one would have expected thousands of tourists and even foreign delegations to come and marvel at the spectacle. However that would not be the case, as the Bridge had belonged to the incredibly zealous and xenophobic Eos Consortium, designed for one purpose, one single fantastical purpose. To bring their god into the mortal realm.
It had been a mighty cause, one that had directed the Eosians from the moment they had settled in Ancerious and its completion had been attained in relatively few years despite the victory over the Trinovans and the redirection of material for the war effort. But the Bride of Worlds had been completed, and on the day of activation most if not all Eosians had watched, prayed and celebrated. But it was not to be, the gate had detonated in an explosion so powerful that it tore the fabric of space time and plunged the Eosian territory into violent special anomalies. A psionic shockwave had rippled the galaxy, killing thousands of other Eosians and even some psionics of other species and nearly all experienced it in some way or another.
The situation despite everything that had happened had not gone unacted upon, under orders to secure the Eosian territory Inara had ordered the Axiomatic Blinker fleet to ensure that the allies did not come picking at the scraps and to find out what had occurred. This was a job the Blinker fleet had gladly accepted and had mobilised a chunk of its forces to secure the Eosian remnants, soon turning to suppressing them with powerful psychometric weaponry on planet wide scales in order to experiment with them in so called ‘brain farms’. The Singers had also turned to assisting the Axioms in this task in a sort of joint project, after their first contact and strong bond forming the two nations had explored and suppressed the remnants of the Eosians, using what stable paths that existed in the anomaly to pry deeper into the destroyed Consortium space.
Many words had merely been halls of the dead, endless bodies in the streets as the Eosians had died where they celebrated, creating macabre ghost worlds where the echoes of those lost seemed to scream on the edges of the senses. Other worlds had been stripped bare, or altered horribly from the resulting space time shockwave. The further they pushed the more extreme the affects had become, but as time progressed more arterial passages appeared in the anomaly, and it had receded in areas too, it seemed slowly anyway that the universe was resealing the wound. It wasn’t until a very spindly passage was discovered by the Singers survey ship SVS Searcher commander by ship leader Ilendrith (Chimeran) which by all accounts led to the Bridges original location. After consulting with the Blinker fleet and the Singers command an expedition was arranged, the SVS Searcher along with 3 vessels of the Blinker fleet were to move in and explore what was thought to be the origin of the anomaly.
The four vessels including the two Gen 1 Blinkers Temoralis and Occipitalis and the Gen 2 Blinker Taxonomica navigated with care through the disturbed space corridor, using a mix of sublight manuvering and very small wormhole jumps the small survey force finally arrived in what remained of the Bride of Worlds system, capital of the Eos Consortium. It was a bleak sight, the planets that had existed in system were smashed, little more than debris field of glass and strange materials forged in the heart of the spacial tear. Destroyed Eosian ships, twisted and disfigured in mind hurting ways were scattered across the system as well, Captain Ilendrith knew what mass death felt like and this system was drenched in the echoes of the dead. However it wasn’t the strange remains of the Eosians that caught the groups attention, it was the seemingly different sun. Not noticed at first but the stellar object gave off energy readings that could come from no star, its brightness was also akin to an accretion disk and so this was the chosen object to study. The Blinkers and the survey ship began to try find out what this bright object might be, active neutrino scans and gravimetric scans were directed to it, revealing little but some jumbled mess of confusing returns, quantum sensors were used too to try detect if it was some afterimage of the detonation but again it returned strange readings incomprehensible to even Ilendrith.
And that was when the object started to respond.
It seemed to come to life. At first the sensors of the survey group reported titanic energy readings unlike anything seen outside of the Golden Expanse, the object then began moving. Sensors showed that the entire system was now rising in temperature, background radiation and energetic particles. It was no longer safe they had to withdraw, but the ambient surrounding space prevented the blinkers from wormholing out, the SVS Searcher also found itself unable to escape, the ambient surroundings were now so hot and chaotic that FTL proved impossible, with stark realisation the survey fleet now knew they were doomed. The survey fleet could only now watch as their hulls were boiled away, the sensors showing that the anomaly had shifted in size, with ambient space becoming much like what they were experiencing. Whatever this thing was, it was now moving. Sending one final communique to warn the others Ilendrith merely accepted his fate, sitting on the bridge of his ship meditating as his form was vaporised around him. The Blinkers as well sent warnings to the others in Eosian space, telling them of what was coming and to evacuate as best they could before they too were engulfed by fire.
With the survey fleet gone, and the warnings sent the strange mass of fire and light seemed to move, its path led out of Eosian space, those systems still on the edges of the anomaly also died from the after affects, planets and stars boiling away from their outsides. Warnings leapt between factions, and the sight of the object filled many long range sensor stations from factions across the galaxy. Whatever this thing was it was a force of nature, and it had been awakened. Little did the galaxy know that the Eosians had succeeded, they had manifested their belief in their god into a physical deity, and it was now awake.
Tenebraen Territories: Disputed Space
Despite the massive happenings that transpired relatively close by in galactic terms the 2nd Ancerious war kept up its relentless spread without remorse. The Tenebrae Collective was well versed in war, having been the main defendant in the 1st Ancerious war it had fought against the likes of the Immortal Empire and the enigmatic Flux Ascendancy with ferocity and experience supported by the allied forces this had been enough to fight the war to a standstill and so the war had ended quietly, forces were withdrawn, DMZs drawn up and negotiations carried out. Sadly however that was not to be adhered to. The Immortal Empire once again had invaded Tenebrae, in a full out assault across numerous systems the IE intended to finish what they started during the 1st war, and ignored the agreed upon peace terms that had been previously laid down.
It had started in Brestem, the IE had pushed in system with their expendable bio ships and had been met by a stern defence of Tenebrae, Union and DHR fleets. The battle was hard fought however the outcome was not to anyone’s expectation. The engagement had been ended prematurely with ship fire being absorbed by strange portals and no matter what either side tried they could not damage the other. The Drakes had intervened on behalf of Tenebrae and the CAE, enacting the ceasefire protocol with the Vigil system they hoped to bring peace talks about between the IE and Tenebrae once again, or at least give time to rally the CAE fleets to Tenebrae’s defence.
And so with the conflict temporarily stemmed Tenebrae turned into a powder keg, a chessboard of CAE and IE moves and counter moves. Deployments were issued and later revoked as fleets on both sides chose prime positions for invasions or counter attacks across Tenebrae systems, with the ceasefire underway none could fight each other but they could ready themselves. Both sides knew the effect wouldn’t be active forever and it was all about being in the best position to strike when it did. With the fleets constantly moving and counter moving the Tenebraens rallied their fleets and defences, backed up by Union fleets (those few they could spare from the frontline) DHR fleets, Carnaithian fleets (mainly a support role due to their renewed ceasefire with the IE) and joint CAE taskforces made up of Metropolis and ICS remnant forces that had survived and stayed behind in the galaxy respectively now moved into position to prevent a full scale invasion.
Peacetalks had been more or less totally ignored by the IE, and Tenebrae had been reluctant to even try talking seeing what had happened in the 1st war and its conclusion despite Drake calls to do so. As the CAE fought on other fronts and the AGA continued its continuous effort against the APP the Tenebrae front became progressively side-lined asset wise, never the less everyone knew the time would come. And come it did. The first signs were the warnings from the Drakes informing that Vigil would soon cease its effects across Tenebrae space. Final fleet locations were adjusted and the allies readied themselves. The second signs were the systems effects beginning to dissipate in the outlying systems, IE forces raiding outlying colonies and ambushing patrol fleets suddenly found themselves able to inflict damage despite their repeated attempts to do so throughout the ceasefire to no avail. The allies responded in kind, isolating the no longer effected areas and bringing the IE to battle there. Running skirmishes and small engagements erupted across lesser populated areas of the Collective with both sides starting to rake up casualties as some of the engagements escalated into full blown battles.
Eventually however the ceasefire protocol came down completely. Invasions and counter attacks were near instantly set into motion as several huge scale battles sparked up across the main Tenebrae systems of their inner worlds including another strike against Exceion which unlike in the first war had been fully anticipated and the IE was hurled back. Both sides had roughly equal luck, for every system supposedly conquered by the IE another was either successfully defended or liberated by the Tenebrae and CAE forces. The entire region of space had turned into a patchwork of ploys and counter ploys with generals on both sides constantly seeking to either pin the others main fleet down in a decisive engagement or to take key worlds or staging grounds to deny them supply and reinforcement.
However not focused upon by the warring forces was a threat moving towards them at a surprising speed. The blinding essence that had been awakened in the Eosian remnant was now making its way towards the Golden expanse, while normally that wouldn’t be a problem due to the speeds involved in sublight it seemed to move with some kind of realspace FTL, like Alcurbierre effect but much greater, warping, burning and destroying everything as it came the essence was growing larger, already alarms were being raised by the various factions as news spread and sensor readings spread across the galaxy. News agencies and think tanks across the galaxy reported on it, calculating its exact course. Warnings were given out to those in its path, neutral factions or inhabited systems desperately tried to evacuate in mass exodus either managing to only partially escape or failing altogether as the systems were engulfed in fire, their populations slaughtered seeming to only fuel the mass as it came on.
The news quickly reached both the Immortal Empire and the CAE joint forces. Initially the information was somewhat ignored as there were active battles underway but very rapidly it became apparent that this mass was going to make its way straight through Tenebrae and then DHR space on its way towards the golden expanse. Dread filled the allies, could they stop something like this? Such a powerful anomaly was beyond conventional warfare, and not even Vigil had the energy or span of effect to encompass or redirect it, that and the Drakes were unsure if it would even work. Continued options were thrown around by the high commands, each one more furiously debated until there was a unanimous agreement. There was no way to stop this, allied space would have to be evacuated somehow. They had a month at most, to move the population of not one but two factions was totally impossible in its entirety. But the allies would not shy from the task. The Vigil system was repurposed, providing gates on the most inhabited worlds for the populance to move through, the Drakes generously offered space within their own territory for the refugees as the military evacuated what it could too. It was a huge exodus, and one that was fraught with fear.
The Immortal Empire was not ignorant to the impending catastrophe. The commanders were angry after all they were here to capture and secure Tenebrae space just like they had planned during the 1st Ancerious war. And now it was threatened with total destruction, they felt almost cheated, they were supposed to be the ones to do that. Plans were again contemplated, the IE surveyed possible methods to either redirect the anomaly or even some of the more outlandish plans called for it to be used for their own control. Despite these outlandish plans the IE saw that staying in Tenebrae territory would merely be a waste of resources, the losses would be pointless when the mass hit and so they pulled back their main forces and evacuated their staging grounds salvaging everything they could as they withdrew. Using expendable Bio ships they did however continuously harass evacuation fleets of the allies, causing the CAE to place ships on defence rather than evacuation reducing even more the amount of people who could escape. Despite this the CAE did the same, those ships they could spare attacked the IE staging grounds mid escape, destroying critical equipment and forces in violent hit and run attacks despite the impending destruction both sides seemed intent on still hamstringing the other.
As the essence of Eos came closer and closer the evacuations turned into raging panic, people desperately tried to claw their way off world in any way they could, across both DHR and Tenebrae space those not already evacuated took civilian vessels, stormed their way onto military vessels or stole personal shuttles to escape, any way they could was better than none. Government and civility practically broke down as those still planetside looted and rioted over the fact that they had not been saved, with the CAE selectively evacuating the most crucial worlds populace and those who would prove useful billions were left to die in the ensuring firestorm that was now so close that it could be seen as a giant yellow churning mass in the sky, even in the bright of day.
It was a hard choice, none of the commanders could be happy or even speak about the fact that they had saved billions from certain death when far more had been left to their fates. Still the CAE had managed to rescue billions of Tenebrae and DHR civilians, military forces and some infrastructure which had been relocated to specially prepared worlds within the Drake empire. That was all they could manage in the time available, and seeing as that only a month had been the frame of evacuation the sheer scale of what they had managed to save was impressive but the sheer frame of the events to come blanketed any feeling of accomplishment.
When the time came all CAE and Immortal Empire forces had pulled out of Tenebrae space, all that remained were those who could not escape offworld, and those desperate souls who tried to salvage anything they could to make a spec of money. The outer systems began to burn as the essence of Eos made its way forward, planets died, suns were boiled away and those who inhabited the systems that remained died in fire as their essence was consumed to fuel the manifestation of a god. All the CAE and IE could do was sit and watch, collect data and hope that whatever they observed could help them find a way to stop it. Alas as it consumed its way through Tenebrae it then began on the DHR, more died in the ensuing sector wide firestorm of golden light. Fleets moved in to pick over the remains, to see if any had survived or any infrastructure still stood. In its wake however both the CAE and the IE found nothing, systems were gone the very building blocks destroyed. It was just dead space.
As the mass finished annihilating the two factions the IE withdrew, now pointless to keep its forces in that area it pulled back ready to use them on another front while survey ships and science ships picked over the dead space left behind. The CAE did the same, looking to help those who had been displaced the Drakes did everything they could to make those refugees comfortable and help them rebuild what they could in safety, the CAE fleets returning to re-arm and resupply ready for the next stage in the war. The galaxy was sullen two empires had been wiped away and the mass was now continuing forwards, other empires lay once again within its burning path.