Elder Cultivator

As they approached the first planetary shell, the Lower Realms Alliance targeted weapons emplacements and those parts that were most obviously starports. They remained cautious, but nothing could quite prepare them for what happened. One moment they were approaching the planet, the next moment it was approaching them.

The skeletal structure of the planet bent and twisted, angling more of itself towards their fleets. Waves of attacks propagated along the thin structures, massive projectiles of stone and metal launched at extreme velocities. They targeted not a single ship, but the fleet as a whole.

With a sweep of his sword, Varghese deflected much of the initial burst, at least those made of metal. He couldn’t stop everything from hitting the fleets, and many ships were impacted. Smallers ones were annihilated, and even with their barriers larger ones took severe damage. Their barriers could resist kinetic force, but at a sufficient level it was impossible to completely adapt.

Anton had been hesitant to attack the planet previously. Its structure was doubtless more durable than it appeared, but with such a dense population any damage would be catastrophic. But it was a different story when they were all contributing to the war. It wasn’t a clearly unified effort like the hiveminds or ships controlled by Confluence cultivators- merely soldiers following commands.

Now he didn’t have to worry about impacting noncombatants. Ascension energy gathered between his fingers, drawing into an arrow. It cut through space, arriving among launchers just as they were beginning their volley. For that instant, the barrier was down- a weakness Anton was conveying to the rest of their forces at that very moment. The stone skeleton from which the attacks were coming trembled and cracked all across its width, some hundreds of kilometers.

The shockwaves spread through the structure, rocking it to pieces even as the stone cultivators tried to hold it together- but they were better at destruction than solidity. That was a choice they had made for themselves, consciously or not.

It was just one segment of many, but as it began to crumble the greater planet became more hesitant. No doubt they had felt invincible, but they were not. A planet full of cultivators was certainly a danger, but if they couldn’t perfectly bring their energy to bear it wasn’t beyond the might of the Alliance fleet, who had come ready to invade a planet if necessary.

Varghese seemed to take inspiration from Anton’s assault, flying forward among allied fleets to reach the closest segment. His sword slashed outward with the power of the local sun, thin lines of flame melting through another segment of the structure. The cross pattern he cut destroyed anything it went through, but a moment later the structure settled as his slashes weren’t wider than the width of his blade. But his attack was not finished, the lines of attack becoming magnetic zones that drew in any surrounding metal- including ships, weapons, and armor on all sides of the structure. Everything warped and twisted as it pulled, causing another segment to crumble.

Enemy ships joined in with the bombardment from the planet itself, but they had already been beaten back. The Lower Realms Alliance ships spread out so that the bombardments were less effective, and the attackers from the planet below also split their fire- decreasing the density of the assaults and allowing them to avoid more of the incoming fire.

The planet’s barriers stood strong when they weren’t attacking, but the Alliance Fleets took advantage of every moment the barriers were down, attacking with a wide variety of abilities. They were not just one sect and one style, but along with the One Hundred Stars there were many styles local to In’istra, and many more that came from the rest of the lower realms. Mobile Assimilation cultivators found their way inside the barriers together, fighting hordes of weaker cultivators. Any collateral damage was a victory, weakening the structure of the remains of the planet. The locals had to be careful- the Alliance did not.

Soon enough, a third segment was weakening. Then a fourth. A wave of fear swept over the planet, and they began to haphazardly shift to a defensive posture, attempting to pull away from the attacking fleets. That worked to some extent, but it also left their own fleets off kilter.

The Alliance let them retreat, focusing on taking down as many ships as they could. Chasing too vigorously would only result in unnecessary casualties. Finally, the groups broke apart… but things weren’t truly over.

Anton didn’t bother to stop attacking just because the enemy ships were further. In fact, he focused on the best of them. What did it matter to him if they were another thousand kilometers away? Or a million. Or a hundred million. Anything within the system was an equally valid target. However, he could only do so much without a bound star of his own nearby- he focused on powerful shots rather than hundreds at a time.

The retreating planet seemed to be safe, but that was far from true. Even if the attackers had let them be, it was too late. Their formations were strained, their cultivators disorganized. With pieces crumbling, shockwaves rippled through the planet. If there were no other factors, over the course of thirty or so hours the shockwaves would travel through the whole planet like a massive earthquake. But that wasn’t the only force acting upon them.

For a moment it looked like the planet might stabilize… then all at once it began to collapse inward. Over the course of the next half hour, the structure was twisted and pulled. Stone and metal cultivators tried to stop it from collapsing, in some cases tearing it apart even more quickly. At a certain point, it was too late, as they couldn’t hold the planet together. The skeletal shell of the planet collapsed into little more than a pile of rubble.

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Whoever could get away from the planet did- holding onto small islands of stone and metal, regardless of whether they would be able to survive beyond that. For those who remained, only a small number of Life Transformation cultivators who were able to remain on the outside of the collapse survived- the rest perished from inevitable disastrous impact.

The Lower Realms Alliance fleets were regrouping, loading any of their survivors who could not survive in a vacuum onto their ships- and any enemies willing to surrender. A few thought themselves clever and tried to tear the ships apart from the inside, but the ships were made to resist cultivators- and those aboard quickly took down those who violated trust.

Their fleets repositioned into the middle of the system- next to the star. Should the enemy approach them there, Varghese would be able to wreak havoc alone- let alone with so many allies around him. But they did not immediately move to press the attack and conquer the rest of the system.

Varghese stood next to Anton, his twisted face revealing his thoughts. “... Why?”

Anton just shook his head. “The fault here lies in the choices of these sects. Their greed to core out their planets. Their arrogance to think that they can still use what remained as spires of might… instead of monuments to instability.” In truth, the planet-ship had held together quite well until the end. The engineering wasn’t flawed so much as it was unnecessary. Spherical planets served their purpose just fine.

“How many deaths?” Varghese asked.

“Fewer than there would be if we let them do as they pleased,” Anton answered. “But I had not quite expected this reaction, either. Let me ask, do you think I was too aggressive with my power?”

Varghese shook his head. “No. Not given the circumstances. This was the best way for our people to be safe. But we must consider carefully what will happen with the other planets.”

Their fleets were still calculating their own casualties, undergoing necessary repairs, and patching up their wounded. They had hoped to take over a planet, but they were making do with the setup they had.

Eventually, Anton continued his thoughts. “Even though they did most of the work destroying the planet long in the past, I wish it could have been avoided. And this may just be justification but… I noticed the planet had no worldheart. In a way, it was already dead. Little more than a large ship, or the corpse of a planet. Not that it makes up for all the deaths.”

Varghese nodded. “Do you think they would accept an end to the war, with this? A ceasefire, at least.”

“I think anyone with a heart would,” Anton said. “But I’m afraid that these sects are too far gone for that. The only thing we can do is try. And if they try to lie, make sure to cut off the heads with the highest cultivation first. Perhaps eventually someone will listen.”

-----

In the upper realms once more, a box trembled slightly. And though those around it had no visible response, it did not go unnoticed or unreported. Each incident required investigation, and none failed to take the duty seriously.

But unlike the previous incidents, there was one difference they managed to discern. The connection was slightly closer. The risks of keeping something of that sort on Xankeshan was not for nothing- the connection went both ways. And now, the former possessor of the contents of the box was moving.

-----

The first time Zaur Beridze had attacked the Scarlet Alliance, they had survived more through providence than plan. It just so happened that Ratna, a rival of his, got wind of the situation. The fleets he brought with him also weren’t sufficient to take them out… though they could have been. Of course, the word reaching Ratna might have been someone’s plan, but not theirs.

The second time, they had a plan. They’d even implemented it with some success. They’d obviously hoped that their formations- and Chidi- could kill Zaur. Or that their assault on the Citadel of Exalted Light could break his Anchor. Neither had quite worked- but neither did they exactly fail. The Scarlet Alliance survived at least to some extent on their own merit.

Plans were already in place for the third time. It was inconvenient that it might be coming while the lower realms were in turmoil, but perhaps that was also a plan of some sort.

-----

Void ants in the territory of the Exalted Quadrant spoke only of hypocrisy- which wasn’t that surprising. Perhaps spreading the information might cause internal turmoil, or maybe there was some sort of unspoken rule that they only had to be truly exterminated in the upper realms.

For those with high cultivation, void ants were a greater terror than for random commoners. After all, they could by and large ignore their best attacks and defenses. The Lower Realms Alliance was aware of the dangers more than perhaps any others… which was also why they were unafraid.

All they had to do was be careful where they landed.

In truth, things weren’t quite so simple as that, but it just meant they needed proper caution. There was also a world of difference between their own void ants which were allies… and the ones that Common Oak had seen. Even if they weren’t as feral as they described, the true dangers of void ants came in their alliance to humans.

If necessary, there were protocols to fight them- but the humans were reluctant to unleash any if they didn’t need to. So they settled for the solutions they had at hand. Proper caution was first and foremost.

They also called for Nthanda. She would generally be effective, of course, but against void ants? She and any others with bodies tempered beyond standard limits would be practically invincible. Not that they planned to relegate her to squashing ants… but if they were in particular need of an agent to land on a planet, calling upon her to help would be the most effective they could achieve.

And unbeknownst to most of the western fleets, there were others joining the fight because of the void ants. They weren’t afraid of their special properties in the slightest.

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