A Simple Transaction I

Dueling Wits

It had taken time to settle in, to orient himself towards the painful mundanity of this husk-realm, all but empty, worlds like glittering trash-heaps atop a fusion-torch pyre. But there was nothing quite like a capable opponent to reify his focus, light a fire in his spirit to burn away all that was feeble and unnecessary.

Every Hero, after all, needed a Tyrant to overcome.

Dien clicked his tongue as he felt one of his Feeder Suns extinguished. It did not take a Hero of his formidable intellect to deduce that the aptly-named Lord Hunger was the cause. Frustrating, but not unexpected. He had felt the Cursebearer's Pressure battering at his own not minutes ago, though - in no small part because of those Suns - his own was the greater, and likely to remain that way. Seventeen Ringwastes fully assimilated and another two hundred eighty-nine in various stages of completion: his findross-absorption schedule promised exponential progress, and it would not be long before he could move on to methods more elegant and effective than the full-scale exploitation of populated systems.

The more stars that fell beneath his sway, the greater his personal power became, reserves of findross swelling to reinforce his Astral gradient and physical frame. Along the way he'd extinguished more than a few rival Shards; in terms of opening position he'd been more than fortunate, his advantages of valor and circumstance sufficiently overwhelming that their defiance had been wholly inadequate. How uninteresting!

Etrynome had been critical in providing the terraformation infrastructure necessary to enact his plan in weeks rather than years, but the day would come sooner rather than later when Ceathlynn of Amarlt turned against him. He had kept Armament and pilot occupied and isolated, building the tools that he used to build the tools that eventually delivered the final product. Nonetheless he expected both would catch on quickly enough if they had not already done so, and he doubted they would tolerate his wholesale reconstitution of native Republic populations. Perhaps he could buy a few weeks more of loyalty with a genuine offer of augmentation, subversion absent even on the Astral or sub-molecular levels... ideally she would accept and then slay Lord Hunger on her misguided personal crusade, or at least weaken the man for a few days.

Even in spite of such relentless efficiencies as Dien had pursued, it was no foregone conclusion that he would grow past the ability of Lord Hunger to defeat. Beginnings were fragile times, for life most of all, and Dien in his current state was little more than a nascent shell compared to the Foremost glory of the Surgeon. An inconvenient Progression-type Cursebearer was just the sort of foe capable of cutting him down before his prime, whether through sheer thoughtless might or some spectacular feat of sudden advancement.

Thus he had not been negligent with contingencies. All manner of clone and spore and infective data-carrier had been seeded throughout Republic space, not merely within his own sphere but all systems adjacent or which practiced trade - or any remotely physical form of contact - with the societies under his covert or open control. Some projects had been designed for aggressive growth, others for stealth and resilience. It was unlikely for any one strategy of Lord Hunger's to address them all, though the miracles of a Rank gradient would surely sift the vast majority away, in the absence of Dien's own shadow to protect them.

Deep-tunneling programs carried seedling spores through the Astral to distant systems throughout the galactic rim, well beyond the conventional reach of the Human Sphere; should he perish here, there was no reason another iteration could not arise in the void of deep space and muster a calamitous wave to avenge him. He would flee with his consciousness if he could, but he very much doubted that a Cursebearer worth their salt would, in event of victory, fail to dispatch him in every way that mattered.

This despite the depth of his network; he had spared every means not to underestimate his foe. Bio-modded infiltrators spanned every major Republic settlement, and were making inroads into the Empire; these would maintain a facade of normalcy to Lord Hunger while securing Dien's control over relevant polities.

At the next stage of conversion were factory-worlds, planets directly conquered and re-written into productive engines churning out implements of expansion, restoration and war. Many lesser Heroes he'd budded across these planets, an army swelling by the billions every day, honed against themselves in the manner of Heroic warfare such that only the most able would survive; the findross of the weakling consumed by the Orkhor, and the Orkhor's by the Warlord, and so on up the cosmic chain until viable lieutenants started to materialize. Planetary-wide countermeasures ensured that, outside of the systems themselves, cursory examination of a factory world would reveal nothing untoward to optical or Astral observation.

The fewest and most critical were his Incubator Realms: impossible to hide, the scale and ambition of these future Ringwastes and their Feeder Suns simply too vast to practicably cloak with his current means. These he had to hope that Lord Hunger would not stumble upon - or produce at such a rate that the Cursebearer would be unable to scythe them down in time. Hopefully the Praehihr, lacking any other examples in his immediate vicinity, would believe the project a one-off.

In a battle of cosmic resources, there was nothing so crucial as initiative, and so Dien had prioritized speed above all else, even to the point of his personal diminishment. Much of his own reserves he'd fed to one project or another, succoring otherwise-unviable candidates whose functions were critical to the broader vision. It was disgraceful and unnatural to so-compromise empirical selection, but necessity demanded and - like any good Hero - Dien would do anything to win, no matter how much he enjoyed a good fight. It was ironic that in his present state he would be wholly incapable of putting up much of a fight against Lord Hunger, despite his superior gradient. The gulf between their physical attributes and combat techniques was likely too vast, given his opponent's access to at least the Royal Praxis.

Parasites and skinchangers; factories and nodes; like the tendrils of a vast and inescapable forest he had taken root in this Sphere, and it would take a fire of galactic proportions ever to burn him out. He possessed self-propagating assets across every phylum of organization and scale, every strategic niche fostered and exploited.

Would it be enough to face this enemy, this Praehihr who would yield for nothing, whose Progression was as shocking as Dien's preparations were thorough? Would enough of his projects mature, come to useful fruition, before he was hunted down and killed like a dog by that murderous blade?

Perhaps. But even if he fell, his plots undone, all his works unraveled, banished to oblivion beyond even the reach of memory... Dien smiled.

It would be one hell of a fight.

---

They were supposed to be striking the enemy's flank, supporting Hunger's push towards the Republic capital with a two-Armament incursion of their own. But, Aobaru mused, no plan ever survived contact with the enemy, much less... whatever the horrific conspiracy was that they'd encountered here. Gisena had outright slain the first man they'd come into contact with, blasting him with supernal fire to briefly reveal tendrils of something unspeakable before a wave of Nullity had rendered it mundane ash.

"Go. Stay in Novakhron. Don't leave Totality." Gisena's command had been brisk, frost overtaking her voice as soon as they'd touched down on this world, a field of Nullity like a shimmering veil drawn across her face. "Letrizia, you and Aeira don't leave that cockpit."

It was unlike Lady Allria to be so serious, but she offered no explanation, merely stared unsmiling at the air around them, eyes a brilliant emerald. It was a different shade than Novakhron's green-and-gold; the Apocryphal Armament's autumnal plumage a hue deeper and richer that seemed almost impossible to replicate with physical means. Always it had been the unbreakable bulwark of their formation; not even Letrizia and Verschlengorge's long experience sufficed to overcome its supremacy in raw power.

He was biased, being Novakhron's erstwhile pilot. But it had been more than borne out in their actual battle performance! The only other explanation was that he was some sort of genius in warfare... which, now that he thought about it, didn't seem that unlikely...

"No," Gisena muttered to herself, eyes darting between objects only she could perceive. "Anyone who could make something like this, wouldn't be restricted to working with findross alone. Our individual Rank should protect us against anything wholly corporeal, but the populations here... Kids! Change of plan. We need to get into contact with Hunger and Adorie as soon as possible. And not just because we miss them!"

Just like that, the unease on her features was gone, and the mockingly cheerful Nullity Sorceress returned. Had she even actually been caught off-guard, Aobaru wondered, or had she merely adopted that expression to impress upon them the severity of the situation? Ever since she'd gotten that temporal Grace, it was becoming even more difficult to tell, and her facade nearly impenetrable even before.

It was hard not to observe the Nullity Sorceress, he thought with chagrin. She was so stupefyingly, transcendentally pretty that the eye could not help but rest unconsciously on her, the rest of humanity bleakly dull in comparison. Hunger truly had superhuman will to resist her wiles on a regular basis. Or perhaps they were just extremely discreet?

"What are our options?" Letrizia asked, Verschlengorge's smiling fangs bared in anticipation. "Anything faster-than-light requires either magic or Astral travel, but we don't even know which system they're in right now."

"We have three," Gisena articulated, raising her fingers in a lecturer's stance. "First, we could hunker down and try to create a Grace that can communicate with him. This isn't the Realm of Evening, so it may take as long as a realtime week for me to finesse something workable. Second, we try and seize the Republic Emergency Broadcasting system located in the sector capital. That should give us an indiscriminate line to every major Republic world and has good chances of reaching Hunger, but could be sabotaged by sufficiently determined interference - here or in the Astral Realm. Finally, we try to track them down manually, hijacking the fastest vessel we can find and relying on Nova's Pressure gradient to draw us towards him."

"No path seem strictly better than the others," Aobaru said. "So, are we going to vote here, or are you just going to decide?"

"As if there's a difference," Gisena smiled, batting her eyelashes coquettishly. "We'll do all three, of course! I'll work on the Grace while you kids find the fastest vessel you can and push towards the sector capital. If that works, wonderful! If not, we'll have to track them down manually. Let's go, kids. Time is of the essence. This enemy has already defeated humankind in another realm, and it was much less sophisticated then... but, so was I."

---

The winner was [X] Breaker of Suns, though with a truly enormous amount of omake power behind both it and Tower Above the vote could easily have swung a different way.

You have well over 47 Arete amassed from fanworks and Hunger's previous reserve, but no picks currently to spend it on. Perhaps Hunger will have to resort to manual training, given the lack of appreciable foes willing to throw themselves upon his sword...

[ ] Enough Gun - It doesn't matter what Dien does. With enough Praxis, any problem can be overcome! Few would have the absurd fortitude to push through more Praxis training after the excruciating tiredness of all his recent sessions, but even if it takes longer than usual, Hunger will cut through as always.

*Generates Praxis picks with Arete. Since Golden Goose was chosen earlier, Hunger can afterwards summon up a relevant Astral to slaughter for a single pick.
*May take a week or more. Hunger's will is immense, but even his spirit is not truly inexhaustible.
*There's plenty to buy if Hunger gets a pick. Cold Light of Vengeance, Imprisoner's Refinement, upgrades to Refinement of Battle or Quickness...

[ ] On the Trail - Attempt to actively investigate and discern what the enemy is doing. Hunger doubts he'll be able to understand the technical specifics of his opponent's strategy, but he is well-versed in war, adept at perceiving the instrumental principles towards which conflict in any theatre must converge. Even if he cannot discover how his foe intends to secure victory, he should at least be able to get an idea of what their tactical objectives are. And who knows? Maybe he'll stumble upon a convenient abomination or two, something capable of posing at least a minor threat.

*Better chance of discovering Dien's plan, though he'll be opposed by the slightly superior Rank of his opponent.
*Unsettlingly, that Rank seems to be growing at a noticeable pace per day...
*At the very least, Hunger should be able to gather plenty of empirical evidence for Gisena's future analysis.
*There's a good chance that obliterating all of Dien's assets in a system will set back their objectives at least a little, and the most interesting specimen can be neutralized with Hunger's Seal of Ruin if he doesn't want to annihilate it.

[ ] Do Something Else - Hunger could try researching the Eighth Sign with Adorie, or synthesizing enough mythic platinum to produce it from the Cloak of Sky... though the mind boggles at the sheer quantities required, there may truly not be enough mundane platinum in the universe to secure that result! He could search for Gisena & Co to draw upon her expertise on the matter, and unite with Novakhron to maximize their concentration of power.

*Hunger will apply his Wisdom to augment any write-ins proposed, or veto unviable plans from his perspective.

Gisena has made public her surface-level plan. But the Nullity Sorceress, as always, keeps her own counsel, and any who know her well understand that she places plots within plots, wheels within wheels -

[ ] Keep it Simple - It's really that simple, and on the face of it, there aren't many plans more effective than this.

[ ] A Hard Counter - Gisena will be working on a Grace, but it's one designed specifically to counter orcish physiology on a mass scale. She will be relying on the kids to successfully push through Republic defenses and Astral interference of unknown scope, in order to reach Hunger.

[ ] A Promising Lead [12 Arete] - There have been reports of other anomalous entities emerging from around Human space. If these are the Foremost come again, they certainly do not seem inclined to mutual cooperation. In that case, their own Graces should be well-suited to locating and assisting their diminished selves. And the enemy of an enemy...

*Unlikely to discover an ally as suitable as the Shogun, but there are a potential myriad of uses for a Foremost-detecting Grace, assuming it works consistently and at stellar ranges.

[ ] A Broken Kaleidoscope [50 Arete] - Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Gisena Allria will not see humanity fall before the Orcs again. When she glimpsed the Lathe of Heaven she understood only enough of it to grasp its barest traceries; implicit in its structure was the admonition that understanding ought to stop at the limits of one's comprehension, and to push farther was to chance destruction.

But destruction is coming regardless, and of a form and manner that Lord Hunger is ill-equipped to directly oppose. So be it, then.

This time, it is Gisena Allria's chance to do her uttermost. This time, she will not be found wanting.

*Something like a Cursebearer's Remittance, conjured from her rudimentary understanding of Hunger's essential nature and the arts of the Foremost pushed to the absolute breaking point. In isolation, it would be about as much power as a Combat-type Remittance, but combined with Gisena's existing capabilities it could offer far greater effects, in practice. Imagine the likes of the Interface, paired with her pseudo-Progression and Foremost Graces...
*The Ring of Artifice shall surely be shattered, broken beyond the possibility of repair at this act of supreme hubris.
*As for the Lady Nullity herself, who knows how much of herself will survive the process, of reaching so far beyond one's grasp, and succeeding anyway.

---

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