The Hegemony didn't wait for seventy-two hours.
They sent the Vanguard of the Law—a fleet of ten thousand "Judgment-Spires," each one a Rank-9 fortress of white stone and holy fire. They dropped out of warp behind the Shattered Moon, using the debris of Kane's previous battle as cover.
"They're targeting the Dyson-Ring!" Sully reported, her fingers a blur of silver light. "If they take the sun back, we lose the power to the Citadel!"
"They aren't taking anything," Kane said, standing up. His Void-Steel Crown ignited with a flame that was half-shadow, half-emerald rot. "Vance, take the Void-Guard. Use the new 'Blight-Drop' pods. I want every one of those Spires infected before they can even charge their shields."
"With pleasure," Vance grinned. He didn't put on a helmet. He didn't need one anymore. His skin was now a living alloy of metal and spore.
The battle for the Sol System was a symphony of horror.
Thousands of black pods launched from Earth, streaking toward the white Spires. When they hit, they didn't explode. They burst like spores. Human soldiers, now mutated into Void-Stalkers, swarmed the white-gold halls of the Hegemony ships. They didn't use guns; they used their teeth, their claws, and the rotting emerald aura that Doc had gifted them.
[ENTITY LOG: HEGEMONY VANGUARD] [STATUS: SYSTEMIC INFECTION DETECTED.] [LOGIC-CORES: CORRUPTED.] [VITALITY: DECREASING...]
Kane watched from the Revenant as a three-mile-long Hegemony Spire began to turn green, its holy lights flickering and dying as the Void-Plague ate its way through the ship's conscience.
"Kane," a voice whispered in the back of his mind. It wasn't Doc or Sully. It was the Mother-of-Plagues, resting inside his soul-space. "The harvest is sweet... but the Gardener is not among them. These are just the 'Tools.' The hand that holds the sickle is still coming."
"I know," Kane said, his gaze fixed on the dark rift opening at the edge of the solar system.
A ship appeared. It wasn't a monolith or a sphere. It was a Cradle—a massive, golden structure that looked like a bird's nest made of stars.
[TARGET DETECTED: THE GRAND NURSERY] [RANK: 10 - THE ARCHITECT OF REBIRTH]
"He's not here to kill us," Sully whispered, her voice trembling. "Kane... the ship... it's not firing weapons. It's firing Seeds."