GALACTIC

Part III: Chaos Unleashed

By Hunter Lambright

Chandilar

“General Ka’ardum! Alert Level Alpha is in effect, sir! You need to see this!”

The general quickened his pace toward the central command room of his Shi’ar command. He thanked K’ythri that his robe covered the fact that his knees were shaking. He looked sternly at the technician that had summoned him, his white eyes flashing. “Tell me now—is it the Phoenix?”

“No, sir,” said the technician hurriedly. “Though in the same threat category, it is nothing so serious, sir. Take that lightly, however, sir, because by no means are we safe or in control here.”

“Then what is it?” Ka’ardum demanded, clenching his fists. The Shi’ar general was highly respected among his ranks, but few had ever seen him so serious. He was not in a mood to be trifled with, and his words quickly brought the technician to his point.

“It’s, well, it’s two of them,” the technician said, pulling up the image on the screen. It was a still shot, and Ka’ardum reasoned that the pair of creatures was moving too quickly for a video to be worthwhile. “Our database has likened them to beings of legend, members of the pantheon to which Galactus belongs.”

Ka’ardum’s face went dark. “Pantheon? I thought Galactus was the last of his kind.”

“This comes from the database of the religion that claims he is one of the last of a race of beings from the end of all that was Before—that he was the only one to survive through the Now. Comparing them to the runes of ancient cultures, the computer cross-referenced them to be thus. Whether that’s true or they are mere facsimiles of the original doesn’t matter, sir, as they’re a threat nonetheless.” The technician folded his hands in his lap somberly.

“Then it is settled,” Ka’ardum said, nodding solemnly. “Can the Majestrix be reached?”

“She is off the grid, General,” the technician replied. “Should we try the sub-channels?”

“No,” Ka’ardum said, holding up a hand. “No, not this time. The Empire itself is at stake here. There comes a time when a man must jump a link for the overall good of the chain, consequences for his actions be damned. I need you to mobilize the Imperial Guard, and tell them the situation. Tell them their orders come from the Majestrix.”

“And you, sir?” asked the technician, nimble fingers already moving to do their work.

Ka’ardum wore a serious look on his face. “I will return to my ship to lead my command in a frontal assault on these beings to gauge their threat level. There is no honor in sitting on one’s heels, officer. To die today would be the highest honor, so long as the Empire lives on.”

At that, he saluted the technician and walked out the door and into the face of the newest threat to the universe as he knew it.

If Aegis and Tenebrous could tell when they had set off the alarms of the Shi’ar Empire’s sensors, neither gave any notice or did anything about it. They blazed past a scout ship. It was immediately incinerated in their wake, which let the Shi’ar know what power levels they were dealing with. While the Phoenix was deemed to be much more powerful, these two creatures were still in that range, which meant the Shi’ar were severely undermanned. These beings were not good news, especially if they were members of the same planet-devouring race to which Galactus belonged.

They tore through the defenses at Chandilar’s outer atmosphere and plunged into the lower layer of ozone surrounding the planet, unscathed upon their arrival on the other side. From there it was child’s play to descend upon the planet like the gods that they were.

“He is here?” asked Tenebrous, as his tremendous feet demolished dozens of residential buildings on the technology-laced planet, extinguishing lives by the hundred. “Diableri resides in the heart of this planet?”

“Yes,” Aegis said, pointing downward. “He is cocooned near Chandilar’s core. His chaos aura permeates the soil. It is no wonder the Shi’ar so often end up as feral, raging maniacs. Look at their past few Majestrixes, Tenebrous. Do you not see our cousin’s hand in these affairs, conscious or not?”

“I understand,” Tenebrous said. He brushed a Shi’ar battle cruiser away from his shoulder like an insect. “Then we dig?”

“Yes, brother, we dig,” Aegis said, then put her hands together, aiming the tips of her fingers to the ground. A blast of amazing power lanced from her arms into the ground, shaking the earth for miles in every direction. The structures on the surface were obliterated, and rubble had been made of anything underground. “Again,” Aegis said, and repeated the process, as a crater was slowly carved out of the earth. She would continue in this manner until they reached Diableri.

In order to defeat their enemy, the one who had caused their imprisonment in the first place, they would need a little bit of chaos on their side. To defeat Galactus, they were going to need Diableri.

This was the sight that greeted the Silver Surfer upon their arrival to Chandilar. At first, he believed that the siblings were devouring Chandilar as they had attempted to consume Xandar not long before. After a few days (relatively speaking, of course, as days mattered little when one wasn’t attached to a planetary body), the two had reemerged, and Norrin Radd had been lucky enough to be on the right side of the cosmos to attempt to intercept them.

“They are here,” said the Silver Surfer. His voice could be heard across the entire Nova Corps. Ever since he had been imbued with a portion of the Nova Force, he had been experimenting with the new abilities it granted him, including a backup team should he need one. “Once you get here, San-Ol, contact the leading body to find what their course of action is, and then to advise against it. This is our fight, not theirs.”

The Surfer was suddenly struck from behind by a fiery orange blast. It was a different kind of pain, though. It was a pain he could only describe from his memories of his mortal days, when he might accidentally bite his own lip or bump his knee against his elbow. It was the pain of friendly fire.

Whirling around, the Surfer came face to face with a squadron of Nova Corps members, their hands radiating with power from the Nova Force. That was what had caused the strange sensation. The Nova Force was not accustomed to attacking itself, which had caused some sort of static feedback. The Corpsmen that he could see all wore their visors, which were clouded over with techno-organic wiring. From behind them extended long tendrils, all of which led back to their puppet master, the Technarch creature named Magus.

“We received your transmission, Corpsman Surfer,” echoed the voices of the dead. That was all the puppets were anymore—corpses with strings attached. Magus must have accessed his transmission through the dead Corpsmen’s headsets. That explained how he had found the Surfer so quickly.

As one, the group of Corpsmen raised their arms toward the Silver Surfer, palms out. Red-orange energy was drawn up from the Nova Force to charge in their hands. The Silver Surfer raised a barrier formed from the Power Cosmic to guard against the blast, but even that barely held against the force of twenty force blasts.

“What is this about, Magus?” asked the Surfer, swiveling around the scene. His board carried him in a wide arc around the Technarch’s tendrils. “Why are you Tenebrous’ slave?”

“Query: Slave?” Magus asked. This time, the voice emanated from the body itself, and sounded more like a computer request than anything. “Archive: Drained of lifeglow, encountered by Tenebrous. Action: Linked to source of lifeglow.”

“You follow the Galacti because they feed you?” asked the Silver Surfer. The information that the Magus had not joined the siblings willingly intrigued the Surfer. He wondered how he might play this to his advantage.

Several more Nova Force blasts arced his way, but he avoided them with a barrel roll, still circling the hub that was the Magus’ body. “Since when has the great Magus, feared by all races, been reduced to a simpering animal, held by a leash and collar, and yelping for his daily serving of food? Where is that Magus?”

“Error: the being referred to as ‘that Magus’ is {language-search} ‘this Magus,’” said the static voice. It twitched at that conclusion, and the Silver Surfer wondered if he had sent a momentary short circuit through the Technarch’s mind with the information of his current situation conflicting with his primary directive.

“I disagree,” the Surfer said. “That Magus would not be accomplishing the deeds of others, but would instead be fulfilling its own mission. That Magus has yet to destroy its offspring. That Magus has yet to accomplish its sole goal in life. Where is that Magus? Is it hiding in there, under the layer of an obedient canine?”

At this, the Magus began to shudder uncontrollably, shifting from the smooth black and gold metallic shape to a shifting, erratic version of the shapeshifting race. It expanded and contracted, and several of the Corpsmen under its influence were uncontrollably drained of their lifeglow and severed from the main body of the Magus, the corpses left to float off into the dead of space.

“Errorerrorerrorerrorerrorerror!” screamed the Magus, its techno-organic hands pressed tightly against its constantly changing skull. “Conclusion: this unit has been compromised! Directive: revert to primary function. Destination: lifeglow is too low to support long-distance travel. Conclusion: absorb lifeglow from nearby source Filename: Tenebrous.”

The Magus then severed its ties with the rest of the drained Corpsmen and fired itself like a rocket ship toward the spot on Chandilar where Aegis and Tenebrous were digging. The Silver Surfer watched as the Magus disappeared, too small for his vision to pick up. He felt a presence emerging behind him, and when he turned around, he saw the rapidly approaching form of Galactus and the messenger San-Ol. As he watched, the Surfer saw San-Ol peel off from Galactus’ flight path, making his way toward a large battle cruiser. The young Kree had gotten his message.

“Where is the creature that slew my herald?” asked Galactus in his abnormally loud voice, though his tone was peculiarly calm. “I will take him from my brother as my brother has taken from me.”

“The Magus has changed its ways slightly. Its mind was altered, but I changed it back with logic. I believe that it will prove more harm to your brother than you would believe, Galactus,” the Surfer said calmly, bobbing upward and downward.

“Then Tenebrous will pay for Stardust’s life himself,” Galactus said somberly. The relationship between Galactus and Stardust was more than slightly disturbing to the Silver Surfer, but he did not bother thinking for long on it, as, due to the latter’s death, it was no longer anything worth contemplating.

“What now, Surfer?” Galactus said. It was not often that the former master turned to the former slave for guidance.

“We wait,” said the Surfer. “They have not tried to consume the planet, and we do not know their game here. Nor do we know how the Magus will help us or what information San-Ol will find out for us. For now, we must stand back and wait for the answers to come to us.

The Magus was a bullet headed for Chandilar. As the titanic forms of Tenebrous and Aegis loomed in front of him, he put on the brakes, hovering for a moment and observing their actions. Between the two creatures was a steaming crater, hundreds of feet deep now. The dust and steam from ruptured water mains obscured what might be buried below.

Clustered around the pair’s ankles were Shi’ar warriors. A shift of Aegis’ feet crushed several dozen soldiers, flattening three assault vehicles. The worst part was that it was not an intentional attack. They were no more bothersome than dust.

The Magus, compacted to the size of a fly compared to the bulk of twin titans, darted around until he hovered behind the back of Tenebrous’ knee. Then, as soon as the decision had processed, its tentacles plunged into the weak underside of the giant’s knee.

“Traitorous Herald!” exclaimed Tenebrous. As soon as he realized what was happening, he reached out and withdrew the Power Cosmic from the being he had chosen to be his Herald. That was what the Magus had been waiting for. Tapping into the connection, he sent Tenebrous more than he asked for—a dose of the techno-organic virus. The smallest of patches of virus attached itself to Tenebrous’ outer shell, which the Magus drained immediately. His lifeglow fully charged, the Magus pushed off Tenebrous’ exoskeleton and blasted off for the cosmos.

“Vile wretch!” Tenebrous shouted. He paused for just a moment to expunge the techno-organic virus with a burst of the Power Cosmic from his hands, the backlash of the power surge singing the feathered heads of many a soldier on the ground below.

Tenebrous made to move and catch Magus before the former Herald left the atmosphere, but Aegis put her hand on her brother’s shoulder. “Later, Brother,” she cautioned, pointing down at the crater that they had been working at for the better part of an Earth hour. “We are near our goal, and we will not go unopposed for long.”

Together they stared into the abyss, where much of the steam had dissipated and the dust had settled. There, a small part of a large cocoon had been unearthed. It was a pale purple in color, and it radiated with the energy of the unpredictable. “Soon, all will be as it should be.”

“They plan on attacking whether or not you think it’s a good idea, Surfer,” said San-Ol. The youthful messenger-level Corpsman hovered in the space before the Surfer, as Galactus stood over them in the background. “The Imperial Guard has been notified and is preparing itself. They also have a plan of attack that hinges on the siblings attempting to devour the planet. We haven’t seen any evidence of that, but the Shi’ar are basing their plan on previous engagements with Galactus. Typical Aerians.”

“Then we must strike with them,” said the Silver Surfer. “Waiting will no longer be an option if we wish to prevent the destruction of the Guard. The simple truth is that, like the Nova Corps, they help keep the peace in the galaxy. That is one asset we cannot afford to lose, especially with the decimation of the Corps.”

“Agreed,” San-Ol said. “Shall I return to the general, then?”

“No,” the Silver Surfer said. “We wait until they make their move. After a few moments, we will then appear. I hope to catch them off guard, to catch them expecting a minor skirmish and getting us instead.”

“When that time comes,” said Galactus solemnly, his voice rumbling across the cosmos, “they will pay for what they have done.”

The leader of the Shi’ar Imperial Guard, known to the universe as Gladiator, streaked across the sky toward Aegis and Tenebrous, followed closely by the rest of his ranks. Beside him flew Manta, the wielder of light, and Warstar, bringer of destruction. The others were scattered off behind him, spreading across the darkening sky. He had called the entire group together to combat this threat, and prayed that this would not be their final mission.

Aegis and Tenebrous had stalled in their digging up ahead, and he saw that they were looking down into the hole that they had spent quite some time digging. The people of Chandilar were fearful that these creatures were here to devour their planet, and though General Ka’ardum went along with that belief, Gladiator had his doubts. Nonetheless, he obeyed his orders. As long as he was breathing, he would do all in his power to make them stop their assault.

Gladiator stretched his arms out over his head and made his hands into fists, increasing the speed of his flight until he slammed into Aegis. The golden behemoth was rocked sideways. “What manner of resistance is this? The great Shi’ar send warriors to our door, when it is just too late?”

“I could use something to vent my anger on, sister,” said Tenebrous somberly. He held out both of his stubby hands, firing off light blue blasts at the oncoming Imperial Guard, scattering them.

The Guardsman known as Earthquake veered off from the rest of the group, planting his feet firmly on the ground. The planet shook as the Galacti moved in their attacks, which made it perfectly unstable for his power. Earthquake, in his native form, looked like a grey Martian of the old horror films with his oversized eyes and skull. However, for Aegis and Tenebrous, he did not come in peace. He reached into the earth with his power and caused its plates to shift, causing tremors that increased exponentially due to the instability surrounding the crater. This part of the planet would not be the same for a long time thanks to their digging. Earthquake knew he would be doing little more damage than had already been wrought.

Aegis reached up to swat Manta out of the air when she nearly stumbled as the earth beneath her feet crumbled into the crater they had been digging. Whatever was happening, it was about to bury the work that they had been doing. She took one knee to the ground to steady herself, shielding her eyes with one hand against Manta’s light beams.

The earth shook again, but this time it was not of Earthquake’s doing. Galactus touched down on Chandilar, his face contorted in rage. One of his enormous fists swung into the side of Aegis’ head with the sound of a galactic gong. Just as she was about to recover, a second hit sent Aegis to her back, this time from the Guardsman known as Titan. He turned to Galactus and nodded, for the first time as an ally instead of an enemy.

The Silver Surfer barraged Tenebrous with the power of the Nova Force, watching as the giant recoiled from the alternate energy. He would have absorbed blasts channeled from the Power Cosmic, and the Surfer was glad that the Worldmind had thought to gift him with such ability. Together, he and Gladiator edged Tenebrous closer and closer toward the abyss. The Surfer knew that the two beings had been drained from a lack of sustenance, but he had not expected this fight to be so easy. It was almost as if they were holding back, trying to protect the hole they had been digging. What the Surfer had once thought might be a method of trying to reach the core more easily so that less of the planet’s life energy could be lost, he now saw was part of a grander plan, but he didn’t know what it entailed.

From the crater, a sound emerged that ceased all movement across the entire planet. It was the sound of laughter. This was not the kind of giggling laughter that was meant to be cute, but rather the horrifying laughter of a triumphant evil. Galactus’ eyes went wide, because he knew he had failed. The prison in which he had placed Diableri had been violated, and that evil was about to be unleashed once more.

The hole in the earth exploded with dust, and the crackling sound of a thousand-millennia cocoon shattering. Then, from the cocoon, radiating with a sick and twisted kind of energy, rose Diableri, of the Inner Chaos. His body was taut and covered in purple and red. His white hair stuck out wildly from the sides of his head, and his sharp, pointed teeth smiled a sick, evil smile. “To what do I owe this gracious return?” he said, rising up and down on his own power. He eyed the miniature forms of the Imperial Guard and the Silver Surfer. “Ah, I see much has changed in the world.”

“Our goal is accomplished, sister,” said Tenebrous, rising to his feet. “Welcome, brother. We have freed you to help us destroy the one who put you away.”

“Have you?” asked Diableri. “I see you have suffered from my chaos field. Who could have expected your Herald might turn on you so?” From the smile that remained on Diableri’s face, the Silver Surfer couldn’t tell if the new threat had played a part in Magus’ betrayal or not.

“We must go, before they react,” Aegis said, though the Imperial Guard was already mobilizing. Galactus himself was rushing the trio, but was left in the dust as Aegis, Tenebrous, and Diableri rose from the planet, leaving behind dust and untold destruction. Chandilar itself hand been saved, but at a great cost to the planet’s people and, in a way, its stability. The rest of the universe, on the other hand, the Silver Surfer didn’t believe would be so lucky.

“There is a hole dug into the heart of Chandilar, the Imperial Guard has been solemnly defeated, and a being that we didn’t know existed has been unleashed upon the galaxy,” said General Ka’ardum, counting each event off on a finger. “How am I supposed to explain all of this to Majestrix Lilandra?”

“I’m sure it will be simple,” said the Silver Surfer. “You were faced with an enemy combatant who, in her absence, struck Chandilar with a force akin to the greatest threat your Empire has ever faced. However, thanks to the combined efforts of your own Imperial Guard and the Nova Corps, catastrophe was averted, and life goes on.”

“The Nova Corps?” asked Ka’ardum. “What of yourself?”

The Silver Surfer indicated the symbol of the Corps that was emblazoned across his metallic chest. “The Power Cosmic is not the only power that runs through my veins now, General. The Corps and I are one body.”

“Well, it’s undeniable that, no matter who you say you represent, you played a crucial role in today’s events. What can the Shi’ar Empire do to assist you in the capture and punishment of these beings?” Ka’ardum asked. “Surely you don’t think you would be better off attacking these beings alone.”

“The universe would be a safer place if the Shi’ar kept its Imperial Guardsman safe from further harm,” said the Silver Surfer. “However, there may be something else. I have an idea of how to defeat these beings, but it involves a specific power, and one that I do not believe I have seen anywhere besides the planet Earth. Galactus himself needs a Herald, and I wonder if we might borrow one of your Imperial Guardsmen temporarily to put this plan into place.”

Shielding his words from his connection to Galactus, the Silver Surfer told Ka’ardum of his plan in private. “Yes,” said the general. “I do believe that we can manage that. Shall I alert the Guardsman?”

“If you will,” said the Silver Surfer. “I must now return to Galactus. This idea requires many different pieces of the puzzle, and we must move quickly to ensure all of them are in their proper places. Best wishes, General.”

At that, he swiveled his surfboard around and floated out of the office.

Galactus stood calmly on a grassy plain, his face stoic and his body unmoving. He turned only when the Silver Surfer arrived. “I have made the arrangements, Galactus,” said the Surfer, floating at eye-level with Galactus. “Your Herald is here.”

On the ground, walking with a stiffness the Silver Surfer had only seen in military, was the Imperial Guardsman called Earthquake. “You understand the implications and duties of the Herald of Galactus, and wish to serve me?” asked Galactus, holding a hand to the ground in front of the grey alien.

“I serve you in the name of the Empire,” said Earthquake, giving his answer as truthfully as he could. He stepped into Galactus’ palm. Galactus brought his hand back up and held it out away from his body. Earthquake was transformed before his eyes. His skin grew hard into a protective shell, and his body grew stronger and more rigid than before.

“Now, what other matter of business is there before we go after my siblings?” asked Galactus, clearly impatient. He wanted to go and correct his mistake. Unfortunately for him, that was something they weren’t going to go and do directly just yet.

“This plan requires a being with abilities that are very rare in the universe,” said the Silver Surfer matter-of-factly. “For that, we must travel to this being’s last known location to enlist his help in our efforts. We travel to Godthab Omega in search of Glorian, disciple of the Shaper of Worlds. It is only with him that we have a chance of ending the threat posed by Aegis and Tenebrous forever.

“But before we do that,” continued the Surfer, “we will do nothing until we have an explanation, Galactus. I will not move one step further until you tell me the history you have with these beings, and why they want to annihilate you.”

Galactus looked stunned. He recovered momentarily and then, with an inhalation equivalent to a windstorm, he began to speak.

Far away, in a distant corner of the cosmos, the three siblings now stopped to dine on three separate occasions to accommodate the needs of all. It was painfully obvious to each of them why they had never worked in conjunction before, and that was because of the necessary evil of constantly stopping for additional sustenance that required a division between all three of them.

“So, what is your plan for destroying our brother, Galactus?” asked Diableri, as they hovered in the light of a dying star. “How do we plan on finishing him for good?”

“As long as he has his former Herald, we may not be able to do that at all,” said Aegis. “The Silver Surfer has new abilities that are capable of harming us in ways he could never have done with the Power Cosmic.”

“Then he’s a barrier in our way,” said Diableri, “and a small one at that. That is our new objective, before we even try anything so drastic as going the entire way with our plan.”

“Yes,” said Tenebrous. “To kill Galactus, we must kill the Silver Surfer.”

NEXT: Galactus tells the story of what happened at the beginning of time! Then the Silver Surfer goes searching for Glorian, who is a crucial part of his plan. But will Aegis, Tenebrous, and Diableri be able to follow through with the plan of their own? Check it out in part four of “Galactic!”