***In the reality of Elseworlds, events that happened in the course of any given nation's history are altered, some ending with different results, with others never happening at all.
Imagine a wedding between the son and daughter of two world leaders - never happening because they never met. Imagine a rebellion that was put to rest before it started - because the rebel leader was born into the ruling monarchy.
Alternate reality, alternate storylines, alternate lives.***
It was a beautiful day just outside of the territorial waters of the Commonwealth of Valient. The waters toiling gently back and forth like a dance, hypnotic and enchanting.
Swaying in time to the music was the Heavy Carrier Vidion, of the Valient Royal Navy, a blocky figure too ungainly for any real dance.
Commodore Joseph D'rtang leaned on the railing of the Vidion, tugging on the last few breaths left in his cigarette.
Looking down into the ocean, D'rtang realized there would be no time for cigarettes after the day was done. For some reason, that made the man sad.
With a shaky hand, he flicked the cigarette butt, still flickering with a dying flame, into the waters and turned to head back onto the bridge of his ship.
"All hands: Commodore on the bridge!"
Commodore Joseph D'rtang waved off the salutes with a slight nod. He had no time for such formalities, and always believed that such wanton acts were only asked by those who were unsure of their own authority.
D'rtang was not one of those men. He was a man who was always sure of his power. As one of the four Commodores of the Valient Royal Navy, he always had a finger on the pulse of Valient: who was backstabbing who in the government, who was getting passed over for the promotion in the navy, or even who was sleeping with who on the Vidion.
But such trivialities were beneath him. All that he cared about was seeing through the final stages of his project.
D'rtang noticed that his bridge crew was watching him as he looked out the view screen. The ship maintained Stealth Mode 1 and thusly was near-undetectable. Still, he knew that there was no more time.
"Ladies and gentlemen, do you know why we are here?"
D'rtang smiled as his question was met with uncertain shaking of the head, and the odd brave soul saying no.
"We are here... because it is our destiny. Gentlemen, you are the best that the Commonwealth of Valient has to offer, and today, and in days to come, you will be called upon to sacrifice for Valient, all so that she may live on."
Silence. Never a good sign for a commanding officer, but D'rtang forged on. He turned around and flipped open a simple red box on his command console. Underneath was a switch, unmarked, indescript.
The Commodore pushed the switch up bringing a large screen down in front of the crew. It was a map of the world, the 8 continants and the large body of waters seperating them.
Above it all, a small red blip flashed
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the newest in technology that Valient has to offer."
A frail-looking lieutenant sitting at Ops swallowed loud enough to be heard by D'rtang. It made him smile slightly.
"This... that red dot, is the Omega Pulse. And that, ladies and gentlemen, will help us set Valient on the path to immortality..."
The comment was also met with more silence, which did not entirely surprise D'rtang. With a sigh, he turned to his captains on the ship, Luke Jacobson and David Krane.
"...hold position until further orders."
Krane and Jacobson nodded, and left D'rtang free to head back outside.
Looking down into the waters, D'rtang could swear that the waters had turned a slight tinge of red.
"Alexander," the Commodore thought, "I hope you understand that I do this for you..."
For some reason, the waters were not as enchanting as the were just moments before. D'rtang reached for a ciggarette,
And found that he had no more left.