"IT IS TIME", the voice echoed in her head. She knows what must be done. The pair of C'naimm sentinels were staring at her, eversilent and emotionless, waiting. The Overmind had spoken to her telepathically, for the sentinels were nothing but sentient machines, bent to the will of their creator.
"Dierdre, you don't have to do this.", he whispered to her. He could not see her like this, her fighting spirit extinguished and her will finally broken. "We can keep fighting, we will figure something out...", he said, having second thoughts about this. "Dimitri, you know this is the easiest way", she replied. "We cannot afford to keep this war up anymore. It's just a matter of time before they exterminate us all."She wanted to hug him, but her chained wrists would not allow it. "Trust me". She smiled, and looked back at the sentinels, who haven't moved the slightest. A gentle zephyr passed by, moving their torn red robes graciously. "IT IS TIME", the Overmind made itself heard again, obviously becoming slightly irritated, "OR WILL YOU NOT FOLLOW THE TERMS OF OUR AGREEMENT, HUMAN?". She looked at her brother one last time, his eyes meeting with hers, before walking up the steps towards the sentinels. One of them waved its staff at the circle on the ground behind them.
A Void. The key to C'naimm warfare, the planet was full of these ancient runic circles which allowed their soldiers to travel instantly between them granting a massive tactical advantage. She shambled her way behind the sentinels, who stopped before the Void and with a motion of their staves it started to shine with a blinding blue light, the runes to the sides of it lifted themselves off the ground, forming a strange pattern in the air. A large portal opened, with nothing to be seen on the other side but darkness so deep that it swallowed the light around it. Dierdre vascilated for a second, but took a big breath, told herself not to look back, and stepped through it. As soon as her entire body was on the other side, she felt as she was being torn apart by a force of extreme magnitude, bit by bit her body was being transferred to only the Gods know where.
The pain was as strong as it was swift, as soon she found herself laying on the ground, slightly in shock but pretty much harmless. She was in the middle of another Void, facing a long, dark blue corridor illuminated by a few lights on its roof. The sentinels motioned her to follow them, while exchanging a few words in their indecipherable language. They arrived at what looked like a massive atrium, its walls surrounded by uncountable corridors similar to the one they came out of. Fountains, trees, statues of C'naimm and all sorts of alien creatures Dierdre had never seen, filled the atrium with life. New smells, colours and sounds overloaded all of her senses, almost intoxicating her. The atrium itself extended for what seemed like infinity, but the biggest surprise came when she looked up. The transparent roof could let everyone see the darkness of space, filled with millions of stars; such a sight paralyzed her, surely this was just a dream.
They passed by dozens of similar looking voids that were being constantly in use by either the C'naimm or the other countless alien species, whom weren't bothered in the slightest by the void travelling side effects, before finally reaching a slightly bigger void surrounded by Elite C'naimm, portraying massive plasma charged spears and white robes. They would usually lead the assaults on bases and forts, and acted as field commanders giving telepathic orders to the red grunts.
After another unpleasing Void sequence, she found herself in a much wider corridor, reminiscient of entrances to ancient throne rooms in feudal castles, with white robed C'naimm to the sides, as silent and daunting as they always are. At the end of the corridor, two massive steel doors stood closed, with what seemed like an electronic control panel to its side. Once one of Dierdre's escorts put its mechanical hand over it, a series of cables came out of the tips of its fingers and connected to the control panel sending it a series of well measured electronic signals, after which the doors slid open with a lot of noise. And thats when she saw it.
Rows upon rows of black metalic boxes were stacked upon eachother, with a blue light glowing inside each one of them, dozens of C'naimm Mechaniks tending to every inch of this contraption. A massive computer screen was in front of her, showing thousands of images one after another, like a lightspeed slideshow. It stops, however, when Dierdre comes closer, "WELL, HUMAN. WE HAVE THINGS TO DISCUSS", the Overmind communicated telepathically, feeling no need for audible speech. Dierdre stood silent for they had nothing to discuss. The Overmind had already scanned her mind fUlly, and knew everything it needed to know. This was a mere formality.
"YOUR SPECIES DOES NOT KNOW MUCH ABOUT ME, HOWEVER I KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT YOURS. I CONSIDER MYSELF A GALACTIC ARBITER. I HAVE BEEN OBSERVING YOUR SPECIES FOR QUITE SOME TIME, AND ALL I COULD SEE WAS YOUR WAY ONTO SELF DESTRUCTION, FIGHTING AMONGST YOURSELVES LIKE BARBARIANS OVER PETTY CULTURAL DIFFERENCES, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, RUINING SUCH A PRECIOUS LIFE GENERATING PLANET SUCH AS THE ONE YOU HAVE". The Overmind sighed inside her head. She started to wonder how that was even possible but decided to shake that thought off. "I HAD DEEMED YOUR SPECIES UNWORTHY OF LIFE, AND MARKED FOR EXTERMINATION." It paused, "HOWEVER, RECENTLY YOU HAVE SHOWN FEATS OF DETERMINATION AND UNITY, PUTTING ASIDE YOUR DIFFERENCES TO FIGHT A COMMON THREAT, MY CREATIONS, THE C'NAIMM", The Mechaniks stopped and raised their heads, before continuing with their work. "IN REASON OF THIS, I HAVE DECIDED TO OBSERVE YOUR SPECIES MORE CLOSELY, FOR WHICH I HAVE CHOSEN YOU AS MY OBSERVATION SUBJECT FOR YOU ARE THE APPOINTED LEADER OF THE HUMAN RACE, GRAND GENERAL DIERDRE. YOU SHALL REMAIN ON THIS SHIP ALONG WITH THE OTHER OBSERVATION SUBJECTS. MY CREATIONS SHALL RETREAT OFF YOUR PLANET FOR THE DURATION OF THE OBSERVATION PERIOD. SO, GRAND GENERAL, DO. WE. HAVE. A. DEAL?" As if she had a choice.
Dimitri looks over the rest of the war council. He is already regretting what he is about to do. His signature is the only one missing. "Do I need to remind you, Dimitri, that this was your idea?", said Steiner, commander of the army, "You shall not back off now, right when we are so close to victory, the development of the bomb and its implantation has cost us too much for you to have second thoughts about it now". Dimitri faces him, "And I don't need to remind YOU, that I am Grand General now, Steiner, so you should hold back your tongue". Reluctantly, he signs the computer pad. "I am sorry, Dierdre", he whispers to himself.
The ensuing explosion could be witnessed from all over the planet. The remaining C'naimm soldiers deactivated one by one without their master's control, followed by loud cheering from the human masses.
Dimitri looked at the crimson evening sky, decorated with thousands of particles of debris entering the atmosphere, disintegrated before hitting the ground and headed back into his quarters.
He had to get ready for the official coronation ceremony.