The Futility Wars

by Magnus Thollander

  The other looked at each other and laughing was heard from the chamber, he turned around and looked at his once rival to the throne of the Green bark tribe, he did not care about empty titles or land that will vanish sooner rather than later, he needed to bring his people to "that" place to save them, they could fight for territories after the universe reset, bringing them billions of years to do whatever they wanted in the new galaxy.

  He took his claw and motioned toward his brother, and he lifted up into the sky, "Ah!? What's happening!?" he yelled, Fuzzy smiled "This is one of the powers i have learned, and soon everyone here will learn. We will fight a war for survival, and you are either with me or against me on this. I will not renegade on the deal i made with that... man! For he a lot more powerful than me, and i can kill everyone in this room without a struggle."

  The guard pulled their weapons, and they flew away from their hands and landing in a circle around Fuzzy, He tossed his brother down on the ground and the guns rose around him and pointed at the council, "Now, Let's talk strategy and how to welcome to the humans that soon will arrive."

  Similar scenes were going on in the galaxy at the same time, and they all said to treat the humans that soon will arrive with respect no matter how backwater their society was. Seyla had established a group of diplomats that ranged in the hundreds to travel to the now over 1200 established races in this universe known to them, there was excitement as usually when a new race of beings were discovered.

  Craig was the premier diplomat and his mission was to coordinate the scores of diplomats and lawyers that were about to travel out across the universe to establish a connection with alien races that would have a positive outlook on their species even though there had been no talks or even sightings of their fleets or any mention of it from travelers.

  Craig had taken that information with a grain of salt and chalked it up to the positive mood of meeting new "friends" to help fight the many wars that were going on across the galaxy.

  But when the first reports began humanity had been able to establish all their goals close to instantly and anything they were told to request were granted without any protests.

  Most of them spoke of the powerful warrior known as S-4XN-001, and they hoped he would live up to the bargain already made in some weird "dreams cape" that at least one of their people were trapped in, or reincarnated from. Craig had stepped into information he knew they were not meant to told to others or even know by themselves, but he had asked about it, and he got one answer. True and don't speak about it.

  Chapter 14

  30 years later.

  Seyla looked out the window of the massive chamber assembled to collect and spread the information and the injections across the many species that were qualified to attend, not many races were rejected but somewhere that could not be trusted or simply to dumb and violent for their own good, they could not be shaped and taught how to cross into that "realm" as she called it, Matthias had his plans and it did not involve everyone it seemed.

  99% of the races in the chamber were able to gain psychic abilities or boosts to their abilities but there were at least three that could not gain the psychic energy, but they were happy as well since they believed the powerful warrior would return and help them let them join the crusade to survive the end of the galaxy which were coming soon.

  She just wanted it all to be over and return her normality for once, she had run across the galaxy hosted countless meetings and negotiations with alien races she had no idea who or what they were, or how they were important, but she had to believe in Matthias and why he gathered these people together. She had wanted to inject the goo into one of his clones to ask him the questions needed, but she knew he would only be mad if she did it for such reason other than an emergency.

  She walked down the corridor, and she froze when her feet felt something different, she saw a pocket of sand in front of her, and she looked around, she started to walk foward, and she spotted a wooden log cabin in the distant, and she walked up toward it, the door was open, and she stepped inside and saw that it was the same cabin Matthias had led her in.

  She looked at the object on the desk which were spinning around constantly, and she put her finger on it, and she was greeted by another scene change, she was now in a middle of a station in middle of space, and she looked around she did not recognize it, but she knew from the design it could only belong him.

  "Matthias?" she shouted out, and she felt a tug down the corridor, and she walked down short corridor and opened the door, seeing Matthias sitting in front of a desk. "Good, It worked, Was not sure it would work so effectively, but here you are." he said with a smile, he stood up and gave her a hug, and she hugged him back and rested her head on his shoulder just taking it all in.

  "Soon, this will all be over, the first strike is about to begin. I have done all the preparations i need but i still need Redmond to bring Ricardo to the meeting place so i can extract them, I just hope both of them are still alive and well, i would like any of the information they gotten from their experiences with the futility leader and his people." Matthias said while stroking her back.

  Seyla smiled and separated and looked around the room, "Similar to your stations? I thought this was a realm of imagination and ...stuff" She said with gloat. She pushed a few of his papers of his desk and re-arranged his pens into a cluster, this was one of her tactics to get on his nerves to create bit of chaos.

  Matthias smiled and then gave a chuckle, "The stronger i know my inventions and the materials used to make them, the stronger they are in the mind so to speak, what i still need are billions of psychics ready to attack the futility and then the universe itself, the battle will have lasting consequences for the universe as a whole, and saving everyone will be impossible, but we can delay it and train as many as we can to become psychics before the universe self-destructs and re-forms again."

  Matthias sat back down on his desk and pushed a button, "Look, This is the soul furnace where everyone that dies in this universe goes to, miraculous thing but also the thing we will use to invade this place, I have brought you here because i needed someone with a connection to me to establish coordinates from here to "there" so to speak, and i am ready to return as soon as Redmond and Ricardo are ready."

  Seyla was incredibly happy to hear he would finally "reincarnate" back into the universe, and they could re-connect for a few moments while he went off again for who knows how long.

  "Ricardo, Snap out of it! We have to go now! Time is running out, your soul cannot stay here for too long you are soon permanently damaged and can never return!" Redmond yelled while dragging him down the hallway, "Let go off me Redmond! This is important to the mission!" Ricardo yelled, and he would not listen at all.

  Redmond dragged him back while mumbling, "How is cheating on your wife an important mission?" Ricardo froze for a second "Wife? I- No. How..." Redmond kept dragging him and Ricardo finally spoke some sense "Redmond, I'm okay now. I remember now. They got me good, They got me real good and payback gonna be sweet."

  Redmond let go of Richardo, and he nodded, Redmond ran down the hallway of the ancient stone castle and Ricardo was on his heel, They entered the massive courtyard which were empty but decorated in gold and precious jewels, they ran and ran but suddenly the walls moved further away, and they stopped.

  "If i knew a guest would have arrived, i would have prepared another table for you." Ler'ren said while hovering above the ground, Redmond and Ricardo felt immense pressure like they stood in a gravity chamber, their feet were shaking, and they looked up into the ground, and they did their best to imagine a shield covering them, the pressure loosened a little, but they were still taking a lot of damage.

  "You humans are so silly, why are you struggling in here and out there? This is a paradise open for everyone, you just need to relax and let your dreams come true. We all are-" Redmond yelled back before he could finish the sentence "We are not slaves! And we will prevail, Even if both of us die, we will
still have the final laugh when Matthias smashed you like a bug underneath his boots!"

  Ler'ren roared in anger and turned back into his futility form and then his size grew into the thousands of meters range, and he slammed his spiked carapace legs toward both of them, Their feet were stuck by the powerful gravity, and they looked at each other and then nodded they expanded the shield the best they could and braced for impact.

  A snort was heard and the massive leg vanished above them, they felt the pressure release, and they looked toward the noise and saw Matthias standing in the air with Seyla next to him, he motioned his hand and Redmond and Ricardo flew next to him, "Next time." he said, and then they all vanished.

  Ler'ren screeched in anger that echoed across the "paradise" and the rest of the futility were clacking their mandibles in the universe as a whole, their master was angry and out for blood, and they would provide.

  Redmond and Ricardo woke up on the cold steel floor on a station, they had no idea where they were, but they knew they were back in the normal universe, they felt the pressure subside, and they could feel the air going down into their lungs which was not as much present in the "other world" or whatever it was.

  "You guys are gonna loiter here forever? Give me the debrief of what you witnessed, everything and then leave go back to the Vanguard, things have changed since you left."

  Matthias said while sitting on the desk, they rose to their feet did a salute and then started from the beginning.

  Ricardo and Redmond boarded the shuttle after that endless debrief, and they were asked questions about things they thought were completely unimportant like any weather effects or was it always sunny, or were there any background noise other than the chatter. They did not know why it was important, but they spoke freely and after what felt like hours they were released and ready to go back home.

  Ricardo first bumped Redmond and then left the shuttle and walked into his home, he was gonna have to explain why he was missing for over 30 years and that would take a at least a few bottles of wine to solve, perhaps another kid.

  Seyla woke up from the bed looking at Matthias sleeping, she closed her eyes and leaned against him again "I'm not going anywhere soon, at least 50 years. There is a lot of things needed to be done before. You know." he said, she nodded and closed her eyes and started to snore lightly, he rolled his eyes and closed them as well.

  Daniel was incredibly nervous at meeting his father in one on one talk which he had not for many years, too many to count, and he stood prepared for any lashing he was about receive for his "frivolous" ways since he now had another five sons, it was not his fault that his wife Lana had given birth to quintuplets, Which was rare even for humanity as a whole.

  He entered the room, and he shook in fear when he saw the energy emitting from his father that sat in a meditative pose, he opened his eyes and levitated up into a standing position, and he smiled, "Daniel, please. Sit." Daniel sat down on the chair and his father sat opposite of him smiling.

  "Daniel, I know we have not the best father and son relationship, and i can only blame it on myself. But i will need you for the final battle, i need you to give up the material world for a few years to train yourself, go to the temple for a few years to learn what you need from Juliett and Yua." Matthias said with a smile.

  Daniel shook his head, "Father... You know it's not that easy to give everything up, leave everyone behind. How can i forget about my children or Lana? How can i forget about all my friends and family that depend on me? Should i just uproot and leave? I know this is important father, but this is not for me. I been always a man of the present and not of the future."

  Matthias frowned, "You know, and everyone else know there is no future in this galaxy, we need to win this battle to secure a place for our people and the countless alien races that depend on us! We are not giving up on anyone, but fighting for everyone! If you cannot see that then you are no son of mine!"

  "Enough!" both of them froze and looked at Seyla which were standing at the doorway, "I know both of you were going to argue as soon as you met, Daniel you understand better than anyone that this universe has a limited time before being destroyed, and you Matthias. You talk to him like he should give everything up! He can do both, he can train and bring Lana and his children along, it's only you that think other people are distracting! He can do more than one thing at a time!"

  Matthias frowned and so did Daniel, they did not want to be berated while arguing, but they realized quickly she had a point, Daniel was a grown man, and he could focus on more than one thing, Matthias focused on countless thing everyday while fighting the futility and training so why could not Daniel.

  Matthias let out a sigh and hugged Seyla, "You should not walk around too much with the baby inside you," he put his hand on her stomach, and gave her a kiss. Daniel rolled his eyes and were about to leave, "Go to the temple, bring your family if you need. But do this for everyone’s sake, you are my son and it would shame the family in front of the universe if we were not united in this."

  Daniel left, and they stood in the room, Seyla hugged him and closed her eyes "Was it true? Did you really sense the death of the universe?" Matthias nodded, "Yes... We are running out of time, the futility are speeding it up by spreading further and further, and more rapidly than ever. They are killing anything living now, they are accelerating the time by hundreds of years, I feel we have another 50 years before we have to go, before it's too late."

  She shook her head, "Countless lives will not be able to adjust to the psychic energy and will be left behind, can we not save them?" Matthias frowned, "We will try to slow it down when the battle is over, but i do not know if i can save everyone. There is going to be a loss of life regardless, and we have to think of our people and our allies first, the others out there have to figure it out for themselves, the universe was never fair to any of us."

  22 years later.

  Matthias sat down on the chair in middle of the council chamber, there was a lot fewer races present than he had summoned before, but politics were always a hassle and this time he would not waste his time bringing them here or saving them, most of the alien races had dubbed him has a charlatan or simply a usurper trying to destroy their way of life and his kindness had been rejected, there were trillions of people refusing to take the injection and time ran out of them, he immediately expelled them from the council where there was a over a 60% denial rate.

  "We have reached the number of experts needed to launch the assault, and we should do so within 10 years. The longer we take the higher chance of not being able to bring the rest of our people with us and teach them the ways with a focus. I have studied the leader of the Futility and after some thought i have made a battle plan that will be easily followed by everyone." Matthias said.

  The holographic image covered the entire hall, and he stood up, "The futility is a lot weaker than i had anticipated, in this universe they are beatable with time but as we all know time was never in our favor, so we have to kill the hive mind, First i thought this was Ler'ren, but i know now he was just a front, the true enemy is this" the image switched again.

  There was shock over the entire chamber and gasps were heard quite audibly echoing "The furnace is the house of the true futility leader, It's no wonder their race are so powerful and able to breed constantly, he is draining the furnace constantly to force out the evolution of their race, he follows his natural programming in their being, to eat and evolve." Matthias said.

  He gave a light laugh at the absurdity of his next statement "And the battle plan is simple, We will seal the furnace and extinguish it. Killing the leader instantly, we will lose the countless souls inside but i have calculated and the truth is, the furnace will re-start within 20 years after the leader perished, so we will need to save as many as we can within these 20 years after the battle, there will be countless sacrifices in this universe, because the engine will reap them and restart in a bang. And that bang will wipe out this universe instantly, and t
hen be reborn instantly."

  The room looked around turning serious and a alien stood up "We have many skilled experts, and we have also many that refuse to injections citing the old ways, Do you expect us to leave all them behind? Not counting the countless friends and allies across the star we have not met yet?"

  Matthias laughed "The universe was never fair to any of us, We could have died out not knowing if the futility never sped up their timetable, we could have lived our lives farming, or producing trinkets. But we now know better, we know this is happening and that there are a way to save as many as we can, Will their races be wiped out? Probably, Will we mourn them. Certainly. But i have done all i can, My focus is on stalling the futility while the rest extinguish the furnace, there can be no other option at this moment. Either we give up or fight, We can't save those that won't let us save them."

  There was a sigh of disappointment, but soon people started to shuffle out their seat to prepare their people for the battle to come, Matthias was the last on the chamber, and he looked up into the cold metallic light, and he closed his eyes, he opened them again, and he was back in his spaceship. He set course immediately to rest and prepare for the final battle.

  Ricardo had informed humanity about the real stakes and why this was important to win this battle, and he would enlist the last of the volunteers needed to boost his ranks, he had about eight years to recruit the last of what he could, and two years to train them to be useful. There was uproar as always, and he ignored it as usual, there was a final battle about to arrive, and he had to gain as many new soldiers he could. Vanguard ranks had swelled to billions needed to launch the attack which he had informed Matthias immediately.

  The time was now and the alien races had just been informed of the date of the attack, and then the immediate return to this universe to bring as many as they could to survive until the universe destroyed itself in a cycle which seemed to be happened every few billion years, Vanguard was always prepared for a fight, although they had no idea how it would look in there.