Server Announcement: The guild "Lord Of War" has created a nation and faction called "Confederation of Eternals."

Server Announcement: "Lord Of War" is the first guild to create a new faction, the guild "Lord Of War" has been awarded a bonus of 1,000,000,000 GC.

Planetary Announcement: The war on "Cronos I" has ended. A three-way truce is now in effect. During this truce, open PvP and aggression towards NPCs is forbidden. Violation of this truce will result in a temporary ban.

Finally, the war was over!

But nothing could change the fact that Cronos I had been ravaged.

The native Geoil population began leaving their shelters, but no longer recognized their planet.

Cities were in ruins, forests had been burned, and fields had been plundered. Corpses and the carcasses of war machines had been found all over the planet, but the hardest truth was that the Geoils no longer enjoyed the Federation's benevolent protection.

They now found themselves under the control of the Eternals, a species renowned to be vicious and warlike. The civilian population's morale was at the lowest it had ever been, and it dropped even lower as more of the war's devastation came to light.

But for the players, it was a day of celebration!

The second war between the Federation and the Eternals had finally ended with a player victory. They'd taken their revenge and all the humiliation of their first loss on Era had been washed away.

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Even better, Apophis, who was considered one of the best players of the game, and who had fought with all his strength for the Federation, had finally rejoined the players' interests and even redeemed himself after all the time he'd spent as a traitorous Federation supporter.

It was the dawn of a new era.

***

SEVERAL HOURS LATER

The Coalition players heroically marched through the main streets of the Planetary Capital, watched by a bewildered population of people just trying to find their homes.

Lucifer led the procession alongside Apophis, as the two players had agreed to march together to show their newfound unity.

This was met with wild enthusiasm by everyone who considered them the two best players in the game. A huge number of players tried to get selfies or autographs, but rather than enjoying this, Lucifer soon realized that Apophis's popularity had surpassed his own.

Apparently, everyone preferred the underdog who had just earned his redemption to the old strategist who had sat at the top ranks for a long time.

However, though anyone with strategic sense should have been able to figure out why these two players had suddenly come to an agreement, most players simply failed to realize it.

Zeus, however, who had witnessed their incredible fight, suspected that Apophis was up to something monumental. He ordered all Spartan players to prepare to leave quickly, realizing important events would soon start moving.

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In the real world, on TV and online, this procession was very positively received.

Apophis was now considered a key player in the MMORPG scene, and most commentators predicted a glorious future for him.

However, many also wondered about the reason for Apophis's sudden turnaround. According to the best analysts, Apophis's firepower could have simply destroyed the entire planet and wiped out the Coalition's attempts to create a nation fail at once. These analysts guessed that there was some secret behind Apophis's new publicity and position, and speculations ran rampant.

The most common theory, of course, was that the Coalition had simply given Apophis a huge amount of money to stand down. Some believed it must have been a payment of as much as 150,000,000 real-world credits, while others thought it might be nearly twice that.

Though this was a popular theory, nobody had any evidence. It was simply the kind of juicy rumor which people enjoyed spreading, and it reinforced Apophis's reputation even further.

Once the parade ended, Apophis traveled south, near the equator desert. This was the location where he'd ordered most of the Federation troops to take refuge during the second part of the battle, but he arrived to find the situation was less than desirable.The Federation camp was unbelievably huge, nearly the size of a large city.

Apophis wandered through the long pathways. The exhausted, malnourished soldiers, both humans and xenos, exited their tents to greet the hero, their morale increasing at once!

However, it was clear to Apophis that they had suffered tremendously and still lacked nearly everything vital for life.

The camp's food supply had been strictly rationed for a long time, and they lacked medicine to the point that most who had fallen prey to infection or disease were already dead. The injured had to wait patiently for one of the camp's 10,000 war doctors to heal them, which was frankly ridiculous for a force of over 100,000,000 soldiers.

Apophis was not a sentimental person, but when he saw the fate of those who were now 'his' soldiers, he was touched by a tinge of melancholy.

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To the Federation, these people had been only cannon fodder, written off as losses before the battle for the Federation Command had even begun.

The soldiers had been thrown onto the ground simply to make the native Geoil population believe the Federation was upholding their duty to protect them, but it had been done in completely bad faith.

Apophis gave a speech to the gathered soldiers, trying to raise their morale. Many curious soldiers gathered near the stage to try to hear the man who had heroically killed Regnier and saved their lives.

"Dear soldiers of the Federation, I am Apophis, your Commander in Chief. I regret to say that I stand before you today bearing bad news.

"We have received word that Terra has fallen and Chancellor Souley is dead. According to what we know, it was a coup led by Grand Admiral Azerof and perpetrated by the Human Supremacists. You know everything they stand for! The Supremacists want nothing less than to destroy our identity and our values! To create a fascist and xenophobic authoritarian state!

"But the Federation has not fallen, the day has not been lost, so long as her brave and loyal army still stands! As soldiers of the Federation, it is therefore our duty to stop at nothing to prevent a Supremacist victory. The old form of the Federation may have been dealt a lethal blow, but her ideals of justice can never die!

"This is why I stand here before you. As a senior officer and commander of the Federation, it is my duty to uphold the oath I took and to protect the people of all species from persecution! Yet, though I will if I must, I cannot believe that I stand alone. Who stands with me, soldiers of the Federation?!"

For moments, there was not a sound.

The silence was holy, like that of a church.

Then came the applause.

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It started with one man, and then his neighbors, and then spread like a wave through the crowd of gathered millions as all who had listened now stood, hearts full of sorrow, righteous anger, and courage, their pain and hunger forgotten, as they chanted one word over and over in unison.

"Apophis! Apophis! Apophis!"