The golden Cradle unleashed a million shimmering specks of light. They didn't target the ships. They targeted the Earth.
As the seeds hit the emerald clouds of the Void-Plague, they began to grow. They weren't plants; they were Structures of Order. White-gold towers erupted from the ground, trying to "anchor" the reality of the planet back to the Hegemony's system.
It was a battle of two biologies. The Emerald Rot of the Void against the Golden Order of the Hegemony.
"They're trying to overwrite our world!" Doc screamed, her hands glowing as she fought to maintain the Hive-Mind. "Every time a golden seed takes root, I lose a thousand soldiers! They're being... 'purified'!"
Kane looked at his hands. He could feel the "Order" trying to stitch his own soul back into a neat, little Rank-square.
"You want to plant a garden in my house?" Kane growled.
He didn't launch a beam. He didn't swing an axe. He Jumped.
He plummeted from the Revenant through the atmosphere, a streak of violet and green lightning. He landed in the center of the largest Golden Structure—the "Heart of the Order"—in the ruins of Central Park.
The white-gold vines tried to wrap around him, their holy light burning his obsidian skin. Kane didn't resist. He Opened.
[SKILL ACTIVATION: TOTAL INTERNALIZATION - THE HUNGRY SOVEREIGN]
He reached into the ground, grabbing the "Roots" of the Hegemony's order. He didn't eat them. He re-coded them. Using the Librarian's knowledge from the Soul-Space, he injected the "Glitch" into the golden seeds.
"This isn't your garden anymore," Kane hissed, his silver eyes turning a deep, bloody red.
The white-gold towers began to turn black. The "Order" didn't disappear; it corrupted. The golden seeds began to grow into jagged, Void-Steel thorns that turned back and attacked the Cradle in the sky.
[ERROR: HARVEST OVERWRITTEN.] [STATUS: THE GLITCH IS SPREADING TO THE SOURCE.]
The Grand Cradle in orbit let out a sound of agony—a harmonic chime that shattered windows across the hemisphere.
"Alpha-6! Advance!" Kane's voice boomed through the planet's atmosphere. "We've taken the seeds! Now, we take the Planter!"
Kane launched himself back into the sky, leading a swarm of ten thousand Void-Guard soldiers toward the golden bird's nest in the stars. The first act of the Galactic War was over. The second act—the Extermination of the High-Kings—was about to begin.