Demonikk

After the last bullet cluster unfathomable amounts of residual dark energy was left in a plane of existence, which has come to be known as the Immateria. Enormous energies, incredible powerful entities and more power than that which has ever been seen by man were contained within this plane.

  Some beings were capable of tapping into the Immateria, drawing on the power and manipulating it to their will. This required the strongest mental and physical strength and many perished as the energy overwhelmed their mind and body.

  The Apex of Extinction were an Order of spiritual warriors. They recruited those who could or showed the potential to be able to contain and control the powers they brought forth from the Immateria. Hundreds upon thousands of recruits would fall as control and mastery over these energies was taught to them. Only those who survived would be bestowed the black hooded robes and blood red plate armour worn by members of the Order.

  Control over the Immateria varied from person to person. Some were limited to ‘seeing’ the energy, visualising where it flowed strongest and where disturbances lay. Others drew forth entities from the plane, and use them to exact their will. A select few could take this one step further, and merge their physical and mental being with these entities. Beings of incredible strength and power would be forged. They were bestowed the title of Ascendant.

  At the head of the Apex of Extinction stood the Seven Ascendants. Some were centuries old, but looked no older than forty, such was the vitality granted by Ascension.

  They sat atop the tallest spire of their iron fortress, which grew like a tree, branching its roots all across the surface of the moon Arezeus. Hundreds of miles in diameter, it dugs it’s roots deep into the moon’s core and drew power from the fusion reactions within. The Order based all their activity from the fortress; sixty thousand warriors lived within, alongside a small portion of humanity who sought sanctuary within the metal walls.

***

  Ascendant Ryza sat at the helm of his detachment’s flagship, The Venator. A mile and a half long, flanked by a fleet of a thousand warships and two hundred transports, all bearing the insignia of the Order. Under his command Ryza had seven thousand Ordinates, as well as a detachment of fifteen thousand soldiers from various colonies that had sworn allegiance to the Order. Another ten thousand crewmen kept the fleet running and in fighting condition.

  Ryza had been given command of this detachment in pursuit of Vairn, A former Ascendant of noticeable strength, who had turned traitor almost three decades ago. He had evaded or destroyed anyone who opposed him for this time, travelling from world to world and draining it of energy and life, leaving them a dead shell. Vairn had been drawing excessive amounts of energy from the Immateria leaving it empty in places. It would often collapse in on itself causing energy surges and disruptions causing immense physical damage to the surroundings.

  Twenty-seven years later and much of the detachments numbers had been diminished, thousands falling in the countless skirmishes against Vairn and his fallen legion of twisted entities and traitorous soldiers. A mere handful of men and a scattering of ships remained, The Venator starting to bear the toll of its injuries.

  The Pathfinders of the Order – those who could observe the patterns of the Immateria – had led the fleet towards a single planet: the city planet of Barrachus. The entire surface was covered in concrete buildings and filthy megafactories. One hundred and thirty-four billion people thrived in its mechanised ecosystem, making it the most heavily populated planet in the galaxy. It was also the capital world of the United Colonies Alliance. Seventeen concentric rings of armed satellite defence platforms circled the planet’s orbit, each ring containing five thousand platforms.

   Ryza was running the fleet at a sleepless pace. They had to arrive at Barrachus before Vairn did.