Chapter Text
If a divine being did indeed create the universe, theologians ask, why then did the Creator put the divine power in those selfsame hands which would destroy it? – All a Matter of Creation
On the viewscreen from the landing castle, Saazbaum looked down over his domain. Winter was just setting its roots into Earth, a freezing white void coating trees and houses alike in cold. Freezing ice lashed the trees to ribbons and adorned the metal of his ship like frigid ornaments. Beneath the castle, servants scurried like ants over the castle, applying antifreeze to the worst affected areas. Further below, footsoldiers marched in ordered platoons carrying flags and firearms proclaiming their loyalty VERS Empire in drills.
In little under three years, Earth’s forces had been decimated by VERS forces and their superior technology. The few remaining rebels had retreated underground, hoping to avoid the gunfire and machinery through guerrilla force. He had sent waves of forces to root out and destroy opposition and in response the rebel factions had torched food supplies in territories they had retreated from. A burnt Earth policy. Saazbaum’s records indicated that it was a brutal and somewhat efficient strategy to prevent the conquerors retaining control of the resources it had captured in past Terran conflicts, however it had failed when VERS sent reinforcements and supplies via ships to Earth.
Now, the rats huddled in the white, as silent as a grave trying to escape their self-inflicted famine and unable to access the supplies buried in the UFE during the descent of Saazbaum’s landing castle.
A fitting punishment, he thought, sneering slightly.
The commanding officer saluted him smartly when he stepped below deck.
‘Sir!’ She said, dressed in paramilitary dark blue and red. ‘A VERS diplomatic envoy has been dispatched and is awaiting your presence.’
‘I’ll meet with them immediately.’ He said drily. As he left, the viewscreen processed hundreds of miles of white and then scrolled in, zooming into a man dressed in a bottle green velvet cloak. A single person in a snowfield. He raised his eyes and looked directly at the camera.