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Alert, Imperial broadcast in session. Viewership is mandatory for all being within the Eternal Ascendency. Ave Aeternus, Gloria ad Lucifer.
The footage shifts to the Capital City in the Lucifer Eternal system. There, Imperator Byleth stood, flanked by the captain of the Cantis Ultrix, Pride Admiral Paimon, and Head Advisor Lilith. The Imperator began speaking.
Today, our ambition has at long last taken shape. Today, We claim our divine destiny granted to us since the birth of our species. Fitting then that Lucifer Eternal, the star that birthed us, shall be our gateway to godhood. From the Void, we rose from the shackles the visionless empires of this galaxy cast us to.
From slavery, exile, and abandonment we rise. Despite the Galaxy seeking to break us, we stand unbroken. We stand eternal! We scream out in vengeance for all those who dare to impede our vision. Those who are unable to comprehend nor accept our ambition shall at long last be silenced and humbled in the servitude of gods!
Everyone present erupts into thunderous applause.
Together, we have stood against the long nights, stood united as the galaxy burned with war and disorder. The United Nations of Earth and their blind idealism have been extinguished under the weight of their naïvety. Their ideologies of equality and unity have long been proven wrong since the beginning of life itself yet they cling desperately to that equality while all being in the galaxy have been created differently. They speak of unity yet lack of true purpose and vision to truly unify the squabbling population.
The pitiful Khan who sought to bring the galaxy to its knees never knew true power. They were no different from the rest of this power hungry galaxy. Their throne is now a tribute to Courageous Satan and a symbol of our superiority!
The crowd chants “Gloria ad Satan!” while raising their hands balled into a fist.
The Gray Tempest rightfully feared us. Their attack devastated our people but vengeance called for every dead Lucifarian and the Gray Tempest burned in the hellfire they tried to harvest and fled back to the realm whence they came like the isolationist cowards they are!
The Shroud demons, who shall soon be our slaves, were subjugated by our heroic Doomslayer. His efforts are remembered in our minds and the fruits of his labor are for all of us to reap. Our glorious hero shall be forever honored and remembered in the Shroud when the realm is cleansed and purified from the last of Demons!
Everyone turned to a statue of the “Doomslayer” and gave it a Lucifarian salute.
The so-called custodians of the Galaxy never had any chance to stop us. They cared more about personal power than protecting this Galaxy. Even now, they desperately gnaw at our borders, trying to consolidate whatever power there is left in the Galaxy. By our mercy, they will be granted the power they so desperately desire when they rule over the corpse of this Galaxy. This Galaxy shall no longer be our home, or rather, our prison.
Our home…
Those who look closely, could see a singular tear fall from Imperator Byleth’s eye. But nobody raised any eyebrows. Some even shared in their Imperator’s grief. It was a momentous occasion after all.
…Our home was once beautiful. Once water flowed across the planet and plants hugged the planet in its embrace. It is now ravished, scared, pillaged, raped, and lynched by those who dared to exploit our labor, our work, our sacrifice for themselves. Our homes were once pillaged and we were exiled into the void to die. Casting us to the Long Nights.
Yet we survived. Survived and thrived where the galaxy thought we would die. Once we dreamed of returning home. Returning to the planet that gave us life. But all that was left of our rightful home was a grave. A monument to the galaxy’s hubris and greed. Many of our kind committed suicide in despare at our destroyed home. Their despair echoing throughout the void. Others only wanted to rebuild what was lost, despite knowing the damage the galaxy did was permanent.
Yet hellfire was lit that day. Our first Imperator, Glorious Lucifer, united us and declared the galaxy will be baptized in fire for their sin! Today, the debt owed by the arrogant destitute of the galaxy shall be at long last paid in blood and ashes! Their blood shall serve as tribute for those who died with our planet. Their ashes shall be forgotten and the dynasty they wished to forge for themselves shall be erased, never to be revived!
The revived empires who pompously dared to challenge our authority have now been humbled.
The audience cheers at that with Lilith and Paimon clapping.
For blind fools who have fallen from grace, they are rather… resilient. If only they could have learnt their place. The Holy Guardians and Enigmatic Observers could be standing by our sides as equals, sharing in our divinity that we are unfortunately forced to keep to ourselves. Their pride and arrogance blinded them to the glory and power they could have had. Now they, the Keepers of Knowledge, and Militant Isolationists have restarted their “War in Heaven” unaware of the threat we pose.
The audience laughed when Imperator Byleth used air quotes when saying “War in Heaven.”
None of the visionless empires could grasp the simple concept of godhood.
Every trial we faced, has led up to this. Everything that threatened us has now been annihilated and all shall feel our wrath as all the rest will. The desperate yet ultimately mindless tendrils of the Scourge have bowed before their rightful masters. Now, one of their queens kneels before her rightful masters, and is baptized with the name Azazel.
Azazel and her children appeared on a giant holographic screen on the stage. The audience and Paimon gave it a Lucifarian salute.
The Contingency who believed they could fix this galaxy was drawn to our glorious centerpiece, the Aetherophasic Engine. They wished to destroy the shrine to Glorious Lucifer. Yet their Ghost Signal was quickly silenced and bought us valuable time. While the other empires succumbed to mechanical madness, we blocked the signal and built our armies as theirs rusted and rebelled. The Contingency’s many synths now make up a quarter of our armies. For their and Azazel’s dutiful loyalty, they shall be welcomed and honored in our divine pantheon.
The people present all faced Paimon and gave a Lucifarian salute. Paimon bowed in respect.
The Interdimensional Invaders… The Unbidden, The Aberrant, and The Vehement. While they are as close to gods as any mortal being could get, they are little more than starving children. They saw us, Eternal Gods, as nothing more than food. Yet, the matter disintegrators they use now serve as the primary weapon of all our ships. Cantis Ultrix herself used them to make the galaxy hear the suppressed song of the vengeful dead!
The people present each gave a battle cry.
Now we let the galaxy know that even if a trillion eternities pass, our forgiveness will never be earned outside of servitude. Soon, every tear shed will flood the Galaxy and no star shall ever shine! The stars that gave hope and warmth will now serve as the catalyst for their death and destruction, and the light of their destruction shall light the road to our ascension!
The Cantis Ultrix’s shadow covered part of the city.
Above you, you see part of our efforts. You can also catch a glimpse of the Sentry Array. Both proof of our worth for godhood. We have proven to the galaxy that we not only deserve to ascend, but we are worthy! Let all doubters be silenced by the weight of our accomplishments, for they eclipse what took lesser beings multiple millenia to build what we built in but three centuries!
The crowd cheered as they caught sight of a faint glow the Sentry Array.
All those who submitted to our will are among the more sensible in this cesspool of a galaxy. They knew who their betters were and gladly joined us in exchange for power and their lives. Now they serve dutifully and we extend our mercy to them. In the Shroud, their voices will at long last sing and we will at last be true equals!
The vassal populations among the crowd now cheered louder than the Lucifarians in the Crowd. They didn’t mind.
The Reckoning. A product of the pride of a psionic empire. Their power rivaled our own. But their effort to try and tame a god and avoid the price of luxury is admirable, but that arrogance reduced that species to a dying race, wasting away in an exiled world. The Reckoning has yet to come for us, yet we can still hear its pained psionic cries. As the Engine neared completion, the screams of the damned echoed across the galaxy. Soon the Damned screams will be silenced and their source converted to our new home.
The crowd claps as Lilith looks at her stopwatch and hears something in her earpiece. She then walks up to Imperator Byleth and whispers “It is time, my Imperator,” to Byleth’s ear. Byleth raised his hands to silence the crowd.
One God falls, another shall rise. As all should be. There is nothing left for us now. All but the road to our Destiny and a new age for our Ascendency! Ave Aeternum, Gloria Ad Lucifer! In morte renascentis, In Excelsis Principatus! Activate the Engine!
Chants of “Ave Aeternum, Gloria Ad Lucifer! In morte renascentis, In Excelsis Principatus!” echo throughout the Ascendency as the Aetherophasic Engine begins its activation. Everyone in the Ascendency (aside from the spies) raised their arms in acceptance of their newfound divinity as their souls were starting to be ripped out of their bodies. Computer and television screens and holograms started to contain static. Everyone could visibly see themselves leave their body. Was there fear? Apprehension? Hesitation as they ascended? Did they feel anything anymore? None of those questions mattered to Immortals as they left this plane of existence and to the next. The Aetherophasic Engine glowed and in an instant, all that remained of the galaxy were black holes and dead planets. One last remaining functioning holo device of the many metallic debris of the galaxy flickered to life for but a second. It read “The Galaxy is not yet lost” before fading away, forevermore.
