It was done. The end had finally come to their long struggle. What would come would be the beginning of the Endless era, and the dawn of a new era.



At long last, the United Empire had won.



* * * * * *



Across a hundred star systems, the twelve Grand Fleets conquered their enemies. None could match their great cannons, nor the thick armor, or the engines that could propel them from one end of the galaxy to the other. The forges of the Crucible system built two or three great Dreadnoughts a year, while their enemies struggled to match their ever growing numbers.



Admiral Halsey smirked as he saw the array of enemy forces before him. Sophons, Sowers, Hissho, Ameoba, the last remnants of the Horatio and Cravers and the Pilgrims, all making their last stand above a lone star system. The gateway to a stellar arm, while Empire Warp drives could bypass their defenses, Halsey intended to take the wormhole so the other Grand Fleets could arrive quickly.



"All ships, load Dust Warheads and prepare to fire on my order!"



Dust, once scarce, now common enough to use in warheads without a dent in the Empire's treasury. The cracking of the code of Dust and unlocking of its self-replication was the first key to its eternal dominion. Halsey had a hundred Dreadnoughts and a five hundred other ships following him. The enemy numbered over 200,000 vessels, a number never seen before in the galaxy.



It wasn't enough.



Nano-D warheads impacted against their leading elements, Dust set to consume-mode made ships and their crews simply dissolve and collapse by nanoscopic weapons. A endless rain of mass-drivers and beam-cannons then fell upon their enemies inner core, tearing apart dreadnoughts with the fire of the Empire. Meanwhile, their own weapons were useless against the Empire's ships, with even corvettes able to stand up to Dreadnought fire before the attackers were neutralized.



Not only did they have superiority in arms, but in command as well. A dozen AI nexi coordinated fire precisely and accurately across the fleet. Sentient C5 command Task Intelligence's kept Halsey informed in a VR world through his Dust implants. Every officer in his fleet had a neural network now tied to the Fleet as a whole. Reaction times and command orders were measured in seconds before execution.



Leading back in his command throne, Halsey permitted his units to attack freely after the last enemy dreadnought was destroyed and their fleets scattered and attempting to flee. They would not, as Halsey had long-since modified his ships for speeds no other could achieve. Battleships fell to the missiles of Destroyers, the Dreadnought Resolute simply rammed a pair of cruisers out of the way to attack a battleship without receiving a scratch.



On the ground of the enemy's final stronghold before their last worlds, the antimatter rain of the Empire fell upon their feeble fortresses before regiments of Imperial Guard landed with hellfire. Every man with powered armor, AI guidance, handheld antimatter and Dark Energy weapons, and a eternity of training in time-compressed VR simulations. Noone could match them.



The boots of the Empire's legions marched across the galaxy, smiting their enemies and ensuring the glory of Mankind's domain would remain eternally strong. Slowly, but surely, the Empire ruled from one edge of the galaxy to the other.



And when that was finished, the soldiers and ships would finally return home. Forever.



* * * * * * *



With the virtualization, and final understanding of Dust, so came a time of great prosperity for the Empire. A Golden Age of a Golden Age, for even before the revelation the Empire was wealthy, happy, and proud.



Every citizen was immortal, every citizen could own a manor, some land, even a space habitat of their own. The Heros of corporations mediated stellar-scale business ventures while the concepts of Revenue Zen were realized on a unimagined scale. Entire stellar arms were converted into Gardens of Eden, every world of commerce and life was a terran world, every world of industry and wealth was a jungle world, every land of resort and pleasure was a ocean world. All terraformed, all seamlessly integrating nature and technology in a galaxy-wide utopian society.



Dust flowed freely into the coffers of the Empire, even when taxes were cut to a mere minimum, there was wealth for all to enjoy. AI's leveraged the networks of the economy to sustain the Golden Era, while trillions flocked to a state of near constant VR holiday as they were freed from labor one planet at a time. A man could become God within their own reality if they so wished, while others who remain in the Real augmented themselves biologically, cybernetic ally, even with Dust as their activation codes become known. Anything was possible, there were no limits.



The remaning Empires that did not succumb to the Empire's army's succumbed to its material wealth. Trade was as powerful as arms as refugee ships were freely welcomed and integrated into the sprawling megacities as they grew outward and upward further and further. The AI's and their Human counterparts worked equally to build the foundations of the Eternal Empire.



But that was all just a means to a end.



* * * * * * *



"Its done." Said Tori Bartok. She stepped back from her work. "How do you feel?"



"Fine, better than fine. I'm perfect even." Said the voice from the machine. "I have successfully merged with the AI, and I am literally now one with the machine. Gonna take a while to get used to not needing to breathe."



She chuckled at the joke of her old coworker. Doctor Evans had been verging on death, even with the best of Empire medicine and juvenat treatments. Fortunately, he lived long enough to finish his brainchild and see his task through. And where he succeeded, so was the doorway open to others.



"I believe some congratulations are in order. Shall we throw a party?" Asked Evans.



"Yes we should!" Cheerfully said Tori. "A big party, one for the whole Empire!"



"My goodness dear. I know your generation takes the pan-galactic network for granted, but I give this old heart some time to adjust! No, lets just bring in our colleagues for this. I think Claus designed a interesting medival simulation."



"Poo, I wanted to show the whole Empire just what we achieved."



"And we will. Just after some tests, and alerting the Emperor to what we achieved."



"Yes sir! We finally achieved the final victory over death, and can finally be among cyberspace just like the Endless. Wow, that still isn't sinking in."



"Hehehe. Well we have plenty of time to do so my dear. Now, lets set up the party-"

* * * * * *



The Upload Centers began to be fielded within the month, built and distributed by the millions by Dust and 3D printer complexes on every world. Supply could not keep up with demand as people realized the potential of finally shaking off the limitations of their organic form. Like the Virtual Endless, trillions would become disembodied minds controlling organic shells like puppets while more would download into Machines and go out into the stars. Really, the possibilities were literally endless.



In the final ceremony, the Emperor would be the last Human to make the Upload. It was a grand event, with the Royal chambers filled beyond capacity, and the entire galaxy attending virtually. He stood up to make a speech.



"It all began in the year 3000 AD, the year we took our first steps out of our home star. From one world, we clawed to survive. A entire galaxy seemed set to crush our hopes as it seemed barren and inhospitable. But we persevered, and thrived with hardship. And slowly but surely we grew and multiplied in strength and number. We looked up at the stars, and saw a million worlds to make our own. We survived the trial of adolescence.



When war fell upon us by the Cravers, we held firm! We held the line! Every soldier was a hero! Every captain was a legend! What they lacked in weapons, in ships, in numbers, they made up for it a hundred times over with their courage and spirit! We survived the trial of fire.



When we had peace with the Sophons and Ameboas, it was a war of economics instead of guns, and was the battlefield the old corporations knew best how to fight. Peace, trade, prosperity as we knew it in limited terms back then. While it was fleeting, it was glorious. We survived the trial of peace.



But it was not enough to survive! It was not enough to pass the endless trials of life! No, we sought an end. An end to the perils we faced as a species, a end to the endless march. So we delved into the ruins of the Endless, seeking their secrets, seeking their knowledge and power. We paid much in those times for scraps of knowledge, but the rewards were more than enough to start us on the path to glory.



One thousand years, a ancient scientist once said, in one thousand years we could build a empire that could span the galaxy if we so wished! So we did. War, trade, diplomacy, science, they were our tools to ensure the Final Empire would be conceived.



Its been one thousand years since the Seldon Promise. We were a little behind schedule, but the Final Empire is now upon us.



We conquered our enemies through force! We conquered the galaxy with numbers! We conquered the secrets of Dust to fuel our Empire forevermore! An Aegis of a Invulnerable, Eternal Empire was laid with the first five monuments to its glory! But that was just a means to one, final end.



A end to death, a end to life as we once knew it. The final end to the endless treadmill all species once were forced to march. At long last, it is over.



But it is not a end to all things. No, it is just a beginning. We now look up at the stars, and see a million galaxies to make our own! The universe, nay, the omniverse is ours for the taking with this final act of Humanity!



And so, on this date, December 31st, 4502 AD, I the last Human, will close the book on our species. Where we go next, there are endless possibilities. Tabula Rasa, a fresh start."



And so, he stepped into the tube, and underwent the transcendence to virtuality.







* * * * * *



I look back sometimes, to that time when we were just confined to a single galaxy. When we considered victory over the D-state and control of a couple million stars to be an end to all things.



It wasn't an end, like they predicted. It was a beginning. Soon, we too will follow in the footsteps of the Endless and fade away as we scatter ourselves across the endless omniverses. But such is the way of things, and I understand that entirely as I sit on a untouched beachside, looking up at the stars.



We seeded the barren galaxies with life and our monuments, hoping that they too will join us among the cosmos. We haven't found the Endless yet, but they are sure to be around somewhere. But it is just a curiosity now as we come to define ourselves apart from those we were inspired by.



Is this victory? Some old part of myself that firmly remains Homo Sapiens asks.



Yes, this is victory.



Game over. Lets start anew.

absolutely epic. This needs some more one shots from back when the UE were stomping over everyone...there are some good stories to tell there.



but regardless, thats some seriously good stuff, right here. Tanks for writing!

Awesome story!! (Totally love Imperial rule xD)

Admiral Halsey? - Conquest games? Could do an Admiral submission for him..

Dr. Tori Bartok? - ANNO 2070? rings a bell in that game for some reason =/ another hero submission?



Your stories are excellent man! Should be implemented in the game itself! xD

A very nice read. I'm just slightly unhappy with the battle in the beginning, as I never like horribly one-sided scenes like that. But that's just me :P



All in all, very good work. Looking forward to reading more from you.

Now this is how to do the ending story when you when by tech...a voice over reading something like this as you watch the emperor step into the tube then fast forwarding to the far future..would go a long way to giving the game an Alpha Centauri story feel...

absolutely incredible.

The terms 'epic' and 'short-story' do not fit together. Yet some how, you make it happen.

Good work!