Chapter CLXXVIII: Zero Hour ~Multehx

Necronimus checked his watch. He frowned and shook his wrist. "I think the bloody thing's busted..."

Malachai shrugged. "Yes, I would agree. Either way-" he turned to look out the hole in the cavern roof the cannon pointed out. He thrust a hand out, pointing at a faint speck in the sky, "- LET THEM HAVE IT!!"

Necronimus nodded and pressed a button on the cannon. A mechanical revving filled the air and the cannon began to take on a purple glow at the barrel. Sparks of electricity leapt from various parts of the device. Malachai crossed his arms and sneered.

As the chamber began to quake violently, a purple orb of pure energy began to gather above the barrel. Malachai glanced to the opening and chuckled softly.

"And now, our problems come to a ceasing hault."

In the following minutes, the blast grew to massive proportions, took on a slightly yellow outer-glow, and the cannon roared to life as it fired.

The purple blast rocketed through space, went clean through a few massive asteroids in their yearly trip around the universe, and headed on to Xeh'neh-mi. The shot struck the surface of the planet with beyond nuclear force; tearing deeper into the heart of it. Layer upon layer of one side of the planet's crust were ripped away and flung into oblivion.

Chaos continued on unceasingly until the cannon coughed out a cloud of black smoke. The smell of charred electronics wafted into everyone's nostrils. The blast slowly faded. Malachai pounded the side of the cannon angrily.

"NECRONIMUS, WHAT HAPPENED?!"

The robot wiped a bit of soot off his face and shook his head. "I don't know. The new parts seem not able to take the power of the Genesis weapon. They melted down."

Nictem smirked slightly, pacing over to look out the opening in the roof.

"Guess the technology of the ship was a bit too complex for you, hmm, Council Master?"

Malachai glanced over at him and muttered something foul.

Nictem closed his eyes and tilted his head slightly. "From what I sense, see that over a 1/4th of the planet survived unharmed; nearly half. The wanderers life energies weren't among that vaporized...they must be on the opposite side of the planet."

Malachai shook his head and frowned. "Damn ... Whyr end this bad luck." He looked over at the cannon. "How long to redesign new parts that will last longer?"

NecronimusII shrugged. "Well, about two weeks. We need to finish analyzing the metal composition of the original parts, then we can get something synthetic created. Another ten days to mould it. Two to install the parts."

Malachai furrowed his brow in concentration. "Two weeks and five days..." He clenched a fist and glared. "When such times have passed, we will possess a fully operational means to controlling the Multiverse with an iron fist!" A grin spread over his face. "If we weren't trying to destroy and surpass the Master, I feel he might be proud of us now."