The seeds of possibly the war’s greatest atrocity were sown on the K’te/Warpsmith front. As the Alliance counter-attacks continued, the complete repulsion of the K’te’s forces from Warpsmith space soon became a foregone conclusion. Moreover, it became glaringly obvious that all of the K’te’s earlier victories would profit them nothing. Indeed, less than nothing. There would be no territory gained, no further annexations and conquests; only humiliating losses of territory. The K’te were convinced, however, that the Warpsmith had no interest in completely conquering their empire, if for no other reason than K’te space formed a buffer between the Skrull and Kree, and the Warpsmiths held little desire to interpose themselves between those constant enemies.
The K’te Emperor, Vexel, watched as the war that he had thought would make him a living god in the eyes of his subjects became a farce, leading not to fresh legends but only ignominious defeat and the loss of half--perhaps more--of the K’te’s carefully cultivated sphere of influence. He grew enraged as he contemplated it, and decreed that there would be glory and spoils to tout before his subjects, no matter the cost. He ordered that every bit of wealth was to be squeezed from conquered worlds before retreating, and that the military supply lines would now exist solely to transport plunder back to K’te’i. All other considerations were rescinded.
Most of the K’te’s warrior races had already fallen back and now worked to fortify the core systems to further dissuade a full invasion. But one race, perhaps the K’te’s greatest and bravest warrior race, the Cholonu, were given different orders. They were ordered to delay the Warpsmiths as long as possible. No retreat, no surrender.
To the last man.
Indeed, every Cholonu in the empire was assigned to the effort to buy the K’te the time they needed to fully plunder worlds. While the breeding programs had been suspended for months due to the war (as resources and able-bodied Cholonu females were needed elsewhere), there were still many Cholonu children; they were force-aged and trained by brain implant and delivered to Warpsmith space.
Abandoned with no supplies and no way to retreat, the Cholonu could only stand and fight and die. By the millions. By the billions. On dozens of worlds.
The Warpsmiths grew to utterly admire their adversaries’ dedication and bravery. As the Warpsmith retook the planets stolen from them, they offered the Cholonu generous terms of surrender, or even the opportunity to escape, both of which the Cholonu would politely refuse, citing their duty, and then they would fight tenaciously… honorably…. heroically… gloriously….
Futilely.
Realizing the magnitude of the carnage they were being forced to perform, the Warpsmiths soon simply tried to avoid them, but the Cholonu wouldn’t have that: They had their orders and even if they had been left to die, they were determined to stare death in the face and make it a glorious end. They would head the Warpsmiths off, install sub-space disrupters, and block the Warpsmiths’ march across the stars, forcing them to fight.
And thus the Cholonu died. All of them.
The Cholonu were raised from birth to fight and die for the glory of the K’te, and now that this illusory glory was all the K’te had left, they did not hesitate to sacrifice the Cholonu to it. And with the Cholonu sacrifice covering their retreat, the K’te successfully escaped to their fortified core systems with all their purloined riches. They expected that the war would end soon. The struggle between the Kree and Skrull had already slid back into its familiar pattern of bloody stalemate, and the Warpsmiths would have to rebuild the worlds they reacquired, as well as consolidate their newly won territories. Although, the K’te had trinkets to placate them, they had lost a half of their original holdings, and it would be a long time before they could be a threat again. The Warpsmith would understand that. They didn’t need to utterly crush them.
And yet the Warpsmiths kept coming.
K’te space continued to contract. It became clear that in a little under a month, there would no longer be a K’te Empire. Indeed, the Warpsmiths were bypassing the K’te’s subject worlds and plunging directly toward K’te’I, itself.
Clearly panicking at the thought of the K’te—and not their servant races--having to face the fury of the Warpsmiths, Emperor Vexel sent an urgent communiqué to Hod requesting to discuss possible terms of surrender.
The Warpsmiths ignored him and kept advancing.
At this point it wasn’t just the K’te that feared the coming onslaught of the Warpsmiths and the seemingly inevitable evisceration of the K’te Empire. The Skrull, too, had reason to be concerned by this turn of events. The fall of the K’te would eliminate an important buffer zone between them and the Kree. Worse, if the Warpsmiths moved in to occupy that area of space, they would be dangerously close to key Skrull supply lines. As the Kree and Warpsmiths were still formally aligned, who knew where that could lead. While both the Skrull and K’te were desperate to stop the Warpsmith advance, both also seemed powerless to prevent it.
But where some saw fear and desperation, other factions saw opportunity. Fleeing the Green Lanterns, powerful fugitives had already escaped into the Skrull Empire. These included the exiled emperor of the Shi’Ar and his court, and, more importantly, Darkseid’s prime agent, DeSaad. Both sought a safe haven, but the Skrull—loath to risk further antagonizing the races that made up the Alliance—would allow them only safe passage through their space. The K’te might be more agreeable to providing them with a more permanent home, but only if they still had some semblance of an empire.
Thus, forces as disparate as the “Mad Emperor” D’Ken, Apokolipsian criminal DeSaad, factions within the Skrull military, and the K’te Emperor Vexel were united in common cause; working together they soon hatched a terrific deception to halt the Warpsmiths and save the K’te as a sovereign power.
For they all understood the psychology and the codes of honor that the Warpsmiths lived by. And they were also aware of the very high regard the Cholonu had earned from the Warpsmiths in facing them so fearlessly and honorably; loyal and dutiful to the last. They believed that both of these things could be used against the Warpsmiths.
A Skrull agent was surgically modified by DeSaad, using advanced technology, so that he could permanently metamorphose down to a genetic level. The Skrull then took the form of a Cholonu General. An appropriate identity and military history were manufactured for this fictitious General by the K’te, and inserted into the main database at the Hall Of Warriors on the now-deserted planet Cholonu, only hours before the Warpsmith invasion force was arrived there. Upon securing the planet, the Warpsmith learned right on schedule that there was one last Cholonu alive, and that he was commanding troops defending Opali 4, a prime K’te colony that the Warpsmiths were already in the process of invading.
This deception came to fruition when the body of the mortally wounded “last living Cholonu” was found by the Warpsmiths while they were securing Opali 4. His condition was quickly diagnosed as terminal and the Black Warpsmiths immediately dispatched a Grey Warpsmith to meet with him.
The Grey Warpsmith diplomat expressed her race’s profound sadness at the unfolding of these events and made clear the very great respect that the Cholonu had inspired in them, as fellow warriors and soldiers.
The “Cholonu” then asked, face wracked with very real pain (his terminal injuries, which resisted treatment and allowed full consciousness, were carefully and genially provided by DeSaad), if it was possible if the mighty Warpsmiths could grant a final wish out of respect for the memory of a worthy fallen foe.
The Grey Warpsmith replied that in recognition of their great honor and sacrifice, the Warpsmiths could do nothing less, and if it was in their power to grant it, they would.
And then, in a well-practiced speech, the Skrull masquerading as a Cholonu said, “Do not let our deaths be in vain. Our sacrifice cannot be empty; please let it have meaning. Our last order was to defend our sovereign leaders, the K’te. Let us be remembered as warriors who paid the ultimate price, but who did succeed in this, our final duty. Let the K’te live. Do no destroy the empire we so loved.” Then, on-cue (thanks to a nanosensor implanted at the base of his spine), he died.
Within five minutes, the Warpsmiths contacted the K’te and negotiated fairly generous (under the circumstances) terms for a K’te surrender. The Warpsmiths would be paid substantial reparations, and given a good deal territory. In return, they would withdraw. The K’te Empire would be only 1/3 its former size, but it would survive.
The news soon spread galaxy-wide that the Warpsmiths had broken off hostilities. With the withdrawal of such a pivotal combatant, the Green Lanterns recognized that the war might be at long last winding down and urged that a peace conference be organized. War-weary governments eagerly followed the example set by the K’te and Warpsmiths, and signed on. The neutral world Dressilus, located at the Crux OF Empires, was quickly agreed upon and representatives for the major governments began to gather there to negotiate a lasting peace between all parties.
The K’te understood that they had only barely escaped destruction, but the fact that they had succeeded seemed to them only more proof of their own special destiny. Now that a wider peace agreement was in the offing, there would be demands for more concessions, of course: Additional reparations to the Kree and Qys, perhaps a ban on militarization, or even periodic inspections; but that was all right. The other races couldn’t push too hard—because of their locations it would be near impossible for them to mount attacks on the K’te without the aid of the Warpsmiths. Besides, the K’te would probably concede to many of their demands. Why not? Those who were now safely tucked away in K’te space--and indebted for that sanctuary--were very good at hiding.
Plus, they were very powerful.
The K’te would nurture that secret safe haven and cultivate the resources that now hid there. Already, D’Ken had pledged his Imperial Guard to secretly train a new generation of K’te warriors, while Great DeSaad devised new weapons and made cunning use of a secret asset that might someday bring the Green Lanterns to their knees. Yes, the K’te would bide their time and build their strength. And, someday, they would have their revenge.
Nothing could stop them now.