The Next Stage

The Next Stage is a couple of journal entries written by Emperor Krevator of the Kritor Empire. It details the period between the end of the Kritor Reformation and the eve of the Oblivion War.

Story
''My name is Krevator, or at least it now is... now that Ervik has slipped away. I am sure that if you are reading this, you are familiar with the story of how I came to rule everything in this universe. It’s funny; when I first joined the Kritor Empire, I served as Kragator’s scribe, writing these sorts of things for him. Now he is dead, I have inherited the Kritor Empire, and I write my own musings. When I find a proper heir (or rather, when I find someone with the potential to become the epitome Pravat’s and Kragator’s philosophies much like Kragator and I did) he will write my musings and learn from them how to be a true heir.''

''But until then, I suppose I will have to see to myself. ''

''It’s been about one hundred four thousand years since the Kritor Empire first was built. In other words, it’s been one hundred four thousand years since the end of the Time Before Time. Now that I have studied the spirit Mata Nui’s memory banks (or forced him to yield me the information) I now know that the Time Before Time was the period this colossus of a universe resided on Spherus Magna. It wasn’t easy at first, learning that my original designation was to serve as part of the organs of a universe, but now that Mata Nui answers to me, I’ve… rebuilt my damaged pride.''

''To put the whole “one hundred four thousand years” thing into perspective, the universe thrived eighty thousand years under the Cold War between the ancient Makuta League and the ancient Kritor Empire. It’s taken a great deal of time, but I’ve finally completed the “re-programming” of the Matoran Universe’s inhabitants. Oh, they still have personalities, sure, but they live to serve their primary purpose. They still have personalities, they still have creativity, they still have the ability to think critically. But they cannot see past the Kritor Empire. Through time, their memories have eroded of anything before the Kritor Empire; before they lived to serve an iron order and an emperor that cares little about their own existence and not at all about their freedoms. The common are meant to be stepping stones for the powerful such as me or my High Commanders; so Kragator thought; so I think; so my heir must think. Everything must function in its proper hierarchy. The day I meet someone more cunning, more devious, more powerful than I, I must submit to him; such is my place. I will not be the fool that dies trying to prove he is a rank he is not. But until that day, I will not be stopped, even if I am killed.''

''So it’s been sixty thousand years since the demise of Kragator. After that, it was about a year until Sheriem’s rise and hasty fall, and then forty years I spent driving this Broken Order Universe on the verge of insanity. Rabid, rabid Faux-Barraki, believing themselves more powerful than they ought to, overstepping their proper rank in life. Common fools playing in the affairs of their superiors. Still, Kragator had left them to me (his conquest inspired them to believe themselves to pursue the role of “The Next Great Kragator”; they were just one of the many dominoes that fell after Kragator’s death, one of the many tools left to me), so I used them as I have used everything else. Tools left by Kragator to put a proper replacement back on his throne. And once they served their purpose driving the Nation-States to desperation, I stepped in, showing them a grand vision of Kritor idealism, showing them the order that reigned when the Kritor Alliance and Kritor Empire dominated the universe, how that order and protection could return if they only yielded their souls to me. Those fools were so desperate that they gave in, although they were not fools comparable to the Faux-Barraki who continued to serve their usefulness until they didn’t anymore and I turned those beasts against each other until they destroyed themselves. No. Though the former leaders of the Nation-States were fools, they were so in such a way that they couldn’t help. I could help them see beyond the boundaries of their lot in life, but the Kritor Empire leans on their roles as cogs in my wheels. So I will not.''

''I (and the history books I now create and control) refer to the time between the two Ages of the Kritors as the Age of Reconstruction wherein I reshaped the universe. All in all, the Kritor Empire was only dead for forty-one years, not counting the six spent organizing my empire for optimal efficiency. Every nation-state, every race, every island has been assigned a purpose. The Grand Kritor wheel turns with one objective in mind; preparation of the conquest of… well, everything. First this universe at large, then the multiverse, and then, well, who knows? I do not yet know how I will go about it, but while I plan, the inexorable Kritor war machine grinds on preparing weapons, armor, soldiers, equipment for the domination of the universe. When we run out of resources in the universe, I will have Mata Nui land on a planet. We will conquer it, enslave its inhabitants, and establish it as our headquarters in the universe at large. Those resource will become ours, the empire will prepare weapons, armor, soldiers, equipment, et cetera until we are ready to conquer the universe at large. There will be no rush; it is better to play the game slowly than recklessly and lose all the progress. Once the Kritor Dominion reaches to the farthest reaches of the universe, we will take our resources and prepare weapons, armor, soldiers, equipment, and so on until the time comes to begin work on the multiverse. Everything is designed to be self-sustainable; every race can be rebuilt, every resource can be replaced. Inventors and scientists study how to shrink the ever-growing space-time dilemma as our empire grows. Even I can be replaced as soon as a proper heir emerges. And if I die before I can, the empire will continue grinding until an heir finds his way to my hidden treasure-house and studies the philosophies of Pravat, Kragator, and myself and take his rightful place as heir of the Kritor Empire as it stands at that time. And I have designed my treasure-house such that only someone with a mind like mine, Kragator’s, or Pravat’s will discover our collective wealth of knowledge.''

''This cycle will continue until one of three things happens: We run out of reality to conquer; the Kritor Empire remains stagnant as no heir is born or built to carry on my line; or I or my descendant line of emperors are stopped by someone superior to us. If the first, then I or my successor will establish an age of peace and order marked with the unity of the universe and shared power such that the multiverse has never seen before and will never see undone. If the second or the third, then nature will take its course, the Kritor Empire will truly dissolve, and the multiverse will grind on until someone tries to repeat my success or the multiverse itself is disassembled or destroyed. So let it be.''

Three hundred thousand years later…

''I had thought I’d lost this tablet. Perhaps had I not intended so much for it, I would have forgotten it all together. It’s not easy remembering things that have happened four hundred forty thousand years ago. I’ve had the Great Beings provide numerous updates for my memory banks simply to accommodate this fact. ''

Well, since this tablet ends not long after I completed optimizing my empire, I might as well start where I left off.

''In the anticipation of the return to our homeland, the planet christened “Spherus Magna” and to the Great Beings who made us, I staged several mock invasions of other nearby planets in the galaxy. These planets, I quickly learned, belonged to a race capable of feeding on dreams. None of my robotic soldiers dreamed, however, so these individuals were quickly defeated on their respective planets. As I did not foresee their playing any use in the empire, I had them executed. My first genocide; it will hardly be the last.''

''Now I was ready. By the time my manufacturers had finished pumping out several hundred legions of robot soldiers, I had directed the Great Spirit Robot back to the realm of Spherus Magna. The Nui Ship led the way, scanning the planet and informing me of the current status of the land’s natives, so I was well aware of the technology that would greet me. ''

''Mata Nui landed on the planet and brought the moons back to the surface such that Spherus Magna was restored. I had ordered this happen to bring the Great Beings back where I could get to them. The planet fell quickly; its inhabitants were so divided they didn’t stand a chance against me. Nothing that is divided can stand against me; this is why I united the Nation-States. Now I will unite these Glatorian and these Agori and these Vorox and Zesk and Skrall and Bone Hunters and anything else that I see fit to shove into this bushel. Also, it should be noted that there was one more of the Dream Beings, named Annona, but I had her killed to complete the genocide (I hate incomplete work).''

''Once the members of what I have now christened the “Agotrian” Nation-State fell, the Great Beings came out of hiding. We matched wits, but they were too absorbed in science to understand anything on the Nature of Power. Unimpressed, they too were forced into the Nation-State.''

''With all Spherus Magna united under my emblem, I realized that the nanotech currently inhabiting the Great Spirit Robot had to be increased should the population begin dying. In fact, I realized that I needed a great deal more citizens if I sought to conquer the entire universe, much less the multiverse. Much like Bythrain was my capital in the Great Spirit Robot, I established Spherus Magna as my capital in the universe at large. I left thousands of my soldiers to oversee the operations on Spherus Magna. Moreover, I forced the “great beings” to build communication systems so that I can monitor the work of those on Spherus Magna as I, my empire, and the great spirit robot destroy any possible resistance in the universe before the Kritor Empire claimed, well, everything.''

''I encountered resistance and, well, some very… bizarre life forms, but all were conquered and given purpose. With every conquest, we grew stronger and our momentum built. The great beings continually sent us modifications and means of travelling faster and communicating better. It’s as though space itself has shrunk around us and soon the time will come when we must expand beyond this space. I also had the great beings remove Mata Nui’s mind from the great spirit robot and replace the Core Processor beneath Metru Nui with a control deck only accessible by the Kritor Emperor. I don’t have to rely on Mata Nui’s fear of me or my disruption anymore and can take the great spirit robot wherever I please. Now everything has been brainwashed to believe the Kritor ordeals, even the great beings who created Grevat and Pragok and Kragator and Helryx and Sheriem and Koram and so many others. They all answer to me now. Those who don’t worship me on Spherus Magna laud and honor me. It’s rather euphoric, really.''

''But I will not let it go to my head. I cannot lose my edge, for I am one of the three prongs of our attacks, especially when we begin exploring other universes. It is I who will go incognito to scout out our enemies parameters so that I, when the time comes to invade, will know exactly what the resistance will do. Unlike most leaders, I prefer to take an active role in both the feeling out and the invasion so my skills and power do not grow stale as I decay on a throne, to say nothing of how ignoble leading from behind is. And who knows? Perhaps I will meet other Krevators with other Kritor Empires and we can join our forces.''

''Now there is a strange matter I will have to go undercover outside our realm to investigate. Reports have come to me that several other-worlders much like Cootol so long ago have arrived in our world. They are not here by accident, however. They supposedly belong to an “Agency of the Olmak” beyond our universe--but before they can be apprehended, they are spirited away from this universe. I will have to investigate this Agency in the future.''

''The time swiftly approaches. My empire has long-since gotten over its growing pains; the entire universe exists to pump out soldiers and materials for my invasion. This universe, this, the former Broken Order Universe now has seen its order restored. We are completely self-sustainable, and as I wrote so long ago in the previous section of this tablet, even if I die, the universe will continue like clockwork until an heir should arise. But until then, let us march on. Let the empire grow once again as we restore the order that is broken in the other universes of this grand multiverse.''

''Hail the KRItekk MaTOR. Hail the Kritor Emperor. Hail the son of Kragator.''

Hail Krevator.

Trivia

 * This story is a precursor to Oblivion's Game and Cycle Two of the Broken Order Saga. It details the history of the Broken Order Universe between the reformation of the Kritor Empire and triumph of Krevator over the Matoran Universe, and the beginning of the multiverse war.