“You are dying and wasting time,” Neubril said. She was sitting and the other Descendant stood behind her in neat rows. They could all be the exact same copy of Neubril, they all look identical even if they are not, the stark white of their fur makes it hard to distinguish between them. Neubril is singular in the crimson red ribbons that adorn her neck and waist.
“You are slow,” Pulatus said. Behind her are warriors of the All Black Pito from the many existences that Une has consumed. Not everyone from a dying universe is worthy of becoming decayed to Black Pito and they become food for Une, but enough have been identified and changed to fill out the ranks of the Black Pito to rival the number of Descendant. “Your little tendrils can only work after we have done the hard work.”
“If you are even capable of the hard work, as you call it,” Neubril countered. “I’m beginning to think that splitting the forces like they are is bad tactics. I think that your warriors could use the guidance of the Descendant in the field.”
“You would like to micro-managage?” Pulatus asked. “You Descendant cannot keep up with the swift and fierce warriors of the All Black. You will have to designate All Black for transport and that will take away from the fighting force.”
“But if the fighting force is ineffectual, then maybe that is for the best.”
They were on Une, formerly the planet Earth and it was dark except for the dim glow of the bioluminescent ball of mycelium the size of the moon that hung high above them and shone a soft light over the plane of wiry mycelium that was Une’s surface. The ranks of the All Black and the Ascendant were enormous and they took up a considerable part of the illuminated surface where they stood as still as statues as their leaders debated a path forward. Une was resting and all of her forces were protecting her in her vulnerable state. Une was a large sentient being capable of infecting and influencing the thoughts of other sentient beings who has been driven mad in her pursuit of growth and expansion, and when she rests, the tendrils of her influence retract and every sentient member of that network comes home to guard their mother against her fears of being attacked in her sleep. When she wakes, the leader of the Descendant, Neubril, a corrupted Neu-Brosme of some existence’s Ascendant, and the leader of the All Black, Pulatus, a corrupted Pultine of a Fonlands universe that fell to Une, give recommendations to optimize her tactics for conquering other universes. Une allows them enough free will and access to their memories so that they can efficiently conquer all that is in her name.
“It is your nature to complain, Neubril, you want to believe that you are the manifestation of mother’s will and anything outside of your actions is insufficient, ineffectual. I get it, we are made to be that way to please our mother. But I assure you, that the work we do is the best that the mother has at her disposal. The Ascendant can’t do what needs to be done fast enough, you have lost your edge because the mother requires your abilities to facilitate energy transfer. Accept your place, Neubril, there is no problem to be solved. Both our forces grow stronger with each existence we give to mother and the work gets easier each time.”
“They have the wits to engage us head on?” Pulatus asks Tracota and Ahdcete who stand with her on a meteor in the wall of darkness that spreads the existence they hope to conquer. “Even after seeing so much devastation, they continue to oppose us. Oh well, if it is a fight they want, then we will give them a fight. Ahdcete, go and halt the vanguard that advances our dark efforts. We will meet whatever this is head on. Hopefully, whatever it is has the means to send bad news to others. It is clear that this existence needs a violent display of our power.”
Ahdcete flies from the asteroid toward the front.
“Will we be joining the fight?” Tracota asks.
“I will. You will go to the Ascendant and tell them what is happening here. If she insists on micromanaging, she can start now that we have halted the vanguard and we can scatter to other areas of this existence and begin setting up a new vanguard to move toward us in another direction.”
Tracota bows her head, then flies off in the opposite direction that Ahdcete had flown. Pultatas makes her way to the front slowly, taking in the view of consumption all around her that is contained inside of the bleak darkness behind the vanguard. It pleases her that her mother is being well fed and she savors the destruction all around her.
When Pulatus arrives at the front of the wall of darkness, she rendezvous with the Pito already lined up there. The wall had stopped advancing though the existence and the Pito see approaching ships in the distance.
Pulatus stares with a smirk on her face.
“Ahdcete, come, do you feel this?” Pulatus asks when Ahdcete is floating the void at her side. “There are mmoatia on those ships.”
“It feels like us,” Ahdcete says with a look of worried amazement.
“This is no time for fear,” Pulatas says to Ahdcete and the others of the Pito within earshot. “If we die, we will not perish. The mother holds us forever. There is nothing to fear here, not even ourselves. We will wage our war for pleasure. Soon, nothing of this existence will exist without the influence of Une. Tracota hasn’t returned with the Descendant, I see. No matter, this is our time for fun. Fight with all of yourselves, the mother is watching.”
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