HyperThrust, immersed in despair, could not stop the tears from flowing down his face over the loss of his mother, Aphelion. Marco Crux, the immortal warrior who was thought to be unbreakable, had been broken. His mind was splintered over the events he’d witnessed and experienced on the monstrous planet, rendering his sanity fragile and fleeting. Powerline, the scientific and mechanical genius, was almost catatonic over the loss of his close friend Smolder, as well as fellow crew members Captain Noble, Wavelength and Angel Wraith. Euphoria, the powerful empath who normally kept everyone even-keel and level, was distraught beyond belief, for she had lost her powers at the hands of the Denizen Supreme. In addition, her brother Chief Two Strike was stranded on the monstrous planet. Doctor Robotica was no longer a sentient being and had become just a tool, a fact that pained every member of the crew each time they saw her or interacted with her. It was a stark reminder of all that was lost and all that had changed.
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Placebo, however, seemed to be doing much better than the rest of the crew. It was ultimately her psionic mind that was responsible for everything that had happened: the fallen members of the Stratalight Crew, the nightmarish conditions they’d endured; everything. And despite the voices of despair that rung in her mind, she did not harbor much sorrow. Yes, she had regret, but at the end of the day, she had done what was needed to be done, and sacrificed those who needed to be sacrificed, in order to stop the monstrous planet from blanketing the universe with its own consciousness. In fact, her greater regret came from the fact that she didn’t get a chance to totally and utterly destroy the planet. She had indeed destroyed its consciousness, but she wondered if she could have done more.

Throughout the journey home, Placebo toiled day and night over what she could have done differently, and how she should have engaged the monstrous planet and its minions, the Denizen Supreme, in a battle that would have resulted in something that felt like a more definitive victory. These consuming thoughts did not overcome her ability to sense that the crew wanted absolutely nothing to do with her, so she stayed in her quarters for most of the trip, and minded the duty of taking care of Constellation, the little girl who was born in a star and ended up on the surface of the monstrous planet along with the Stratalight Crew.

The mysterious child was only becoming more enigmatic by the day as she continued to grow physically at an alarming rate. When they first found her she was but a mere toddler. By the time they neared Earth’s orbit, Constellation was about the size of a 10 year-old. Furthermore, Placebo could not telepathically read the child’s thoughts. The little girl was obviously working to keep everyone out of her head. Often, Placebo would forget the child was even around, for her presence at times was as if she were not even there. These things perplexed Placebo. However, she would not have a chance to uncover the reasons for the latter, as everyone’s full attention was suddenly captured by the ship’s alarms.
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A warning came from the proximity sensors informing them that they were approaching Tromokratesian ships. Placebo, Powerline and Marco Crux joined HyperThrust on the command bridge to witness it with their own eyes. They were immediately sobered from the sight before them. An armada of Tromokratesian warships and fighter vessels were completely encompassing Earth in every direction for as far as the eye could see. Constellation joined them on the command bridge as well, and upon seeing the armada grew very uneasy. Placebo asked her what was wrong, but the girl said nothing. She simply looked everyone in their eyes, and then suddenly vanished into thin air!

The crew, amidst their already confounded and worried states, started to call out Constellation’s name while looking around, in an attempt to figure out where she went. But their search lasted only a few moments, as the very near and present danger of the Tromokratesian armada regained their attention. Before they could react, a number of fighter jets flew out towards them, with their guns aimed and ready.
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HyperThrust questioned whether or not their enemies, after losing track of the triplos asteri, could have come back to Earth to conquer it. Perhaps, the young pilot wondered aloud, Emperor Kako was waiting to torture them until they revealed where the final star was hidden. After all, obtaining the three stars and becoming god of the universe was the warlord’s singular goal. Everyone shook their heads, not knowing what to say. Not even Placebo could glean what was happening. It wasn’t long, though, that they received an incoming communication from one of the Tromokratesian command ships.

To their surprise, the voice was human. To their greater surprise, the voice informed them that Earth – loyal member of the Tromokratesian Empire – had been waiting for the Stratalight’s return. They were then welcomed home by numerous tractor beams locking on and guiding the Stratalight safely into the command ship docking bay. The crew was dumbfounded.

Upon exiting the Stratalight, the crew was immediately surrounded by dozens of heavily armed Tromokratesians. Placebo, Marco Crux, Powerline, HyperThrust and Euphoria were then each forced to get into power-muting Ebb-cells. Once the doors closed behind them, the cells left the ground and hovered about 15 feet above. Doctor Robotica’s non-sentient body was taken for study. The hovering pods were escorted into what appeared to be a throne room.

The crew looked at one another, still extremely confused as to what was going on. When they left Earth, all of the Tromokratesians had followed them. The planet had successfully fended off the invasion, and once the final triplos asteri was hidden, the war against Kako had essentially ended in victory.

Placebo tried to read the minds of the humans and Tromokratesians in the room to get some answers, but she could not break through Ebb-cell technology, which had been enhanced greatly since the last time she’d encountered anything similar. Alas, they would have to wait to get some answers, but by the anticipatory looks of everyone gathered in the throne room, the wait wasn’t going to be very long at all.
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A few minutes later a bright light emerged from behind the crew. That was when they noticed a highly advanced piece of technology they had never seen before. It was a teleportation chamber, and emerging from inside of it was none other than the hyper-human mercenaries Ramses Hondo and Shefali Chisisi. But they weren’t dressed as soldiers. On the contrary, the two of them were dressed as royalty. Additionally, they had a group of massive Tromokratesians guarding them as they proceeded up the gold carpet towards their thrones. They smiled devilishly as they passed by the hovering Ebb pods. The villains could not wait to see the looks on the faces of the Stratalight Crew in the coming moments. Then, after a short stroll, they both stood in front of their luxurious, ornate seats, and waited as everyone in the room hailed them with a loud Tromokratesian chant. Then, Ramses and Shefali sat down.
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The Ebb-pods were then guided directly in front of the thrones, and the crew was addressed by Ramses. He mocked them, saying he was sure they had many questions. However, he explained, it was not his place to answer, as the god had informed him he insisted on greeting the crew with the news himself. Marco, the immortal, replied to Ramses, saying he knew of no such god the villain could be speaking of. He said there was only a goddess, and she never interceded with anything or anyone in the universe, especially not the likes of Ramses. Shefali laughed heartily at Marco’s words, then addressed the heroes and remarked that due to their ignorance, they would be forgiven for speaking to their emperor that way, and for denying the existence of their new god.

Powerline, still reeling from the loss of the other crew members, began to grow impatient, and cut her off by beginning to say he had enough of their coy act. However, before he could finish, an enormous wave of darkness swept over the entire throne room, rattling the walls and floor. Then suddenly, Placebo, Marco, Powerline, Euphoria and HyperThrust were all ripped from their Ebb pods. As the blackout subsided and the light returned to normal, before them was a sight they never could have fathomed in their deepest, darkest nightmares. Holding them in the air powerless was Emperor Kako.
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Flabbergasted at the sight before them, the Sratalight crew became increasingly uneasy. Kako cackled at the sight of their frailty and their helplessness. As he did, every single human and Tromokratesian present, including Ramses and Shefali, prostrated before the deity. The crew could not believe their eyes. Kako’s skin glimmered underneath his armor like the most beautiful diamonds one could imagine. His hair was now black as deep space, and his aura emanated massive waves of power throughout his surroundings that could be felt. There was no disputing it – he had become a god!

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