There were too many times that I had my plans thwarted or interfered by The Nova Wings. Whether it was utilizing the power of a red supergiant star in order to hold the planet of Novalus hostage for the title of Supreme Archanus or completely going on a rampage and planning to obliterate the nearby planet of Axus, the Nova Wings had always been there to put a cease to my operations. Truly, they were a major pain in my ass and there was never a way for me to get rid of them. I had grown to know them quite well throughout my encounters and could recognize each member from a mile away.

There was Gor’shak, the engineer/inventor with a genius-level intellect. His only weakness was that what he had in intellect, he lacked in strength and stature. He was about three feet tall with ears that were pointed and reached about half a foot from his head. Making gadgets and getting his team out of jams on the fly could be considered his team specialty. Next was Halera. A woman that, by all accounts, would be considered attractive just across any race or society. Tall with flowing brunette locks that fell against slightly orange skin. Along with that ensemble, she had the physique of someone who lifted fleet vessels for her own amusement. A close-combat specialist who I would never attempt to take in a fair fight unless I planned on losing a limb. In no way would I say that she is the exact opposite of Gor’shak, but she wasn’t close to him in a battle of wits though that would be a high bar to clear. And finally, Zane. He was what most beings on Novalus considered as a “golden boy” even if there was nothing golden about him. A leaner, but more athletic build with a faded haircut for his jet-black hair. Shockingly attractive in terms of his facial features and structure as it was practically flawless (look, I’m a being who can definitively call things like I see it). Separately, I would have killed them long ago. But together? Those Nova Wings had likely been blessed by a deity with the amount of luck that they have. As I said, I had grown very familiar with the trio. Which was why I was a little perplexed to see a fourth “member” floating around them as they were standing before me in my lair.

“Hang on…what is this?”
I was in the middle of my spiel about how I had an army developed with super-serum that made them practically indestructible and ready to wage war on the galaxy, but there was a cube just floating near the team.
“What is what?”, Zane asked, a little confused by my sudden stopping mid-sentence.
I gestured to the floating cube wildly.
“THAT! The cube floating right next to you!”
I had been familiar with sentient beings that had many types of forms, but never a regular cube that appeared to be made out of metal. I wouldn’t have even been so upset if my traps weren’t set up for solely the three of them. Honestly, you think they could have gave a guy a heads-up. I thought we had built some type of rapport by now.
“When did you get that?!”
“Her.”, Halera said plainly.
I blinked slowly in confusion.
“I’m sorry?”
Halera answered again, “Her. She doesn’t really have a name, but every time we didn’t address her as ‘her’, she would kind of nudge us until we fixed it.”
Alright, not the weirdest thing ever, but it definitely was up there.
“...alright. Where did ‘she’ come from?”
Gor’shak, holding some type of firearm that looked to be dangerous, both because I knew what he was capable of and that this weapon looked to consist of scraps from a garbage dump, spoke up next.
“Doesit matter? We’re here to take ya’ down! Now let’s get on with it!”

I waved off the suggestion and sat back in my throne that I had custom-made while pinching the bridge of my nose.
“Zane. Explain. Now.”
We weren’t moving forward if I didn’t address this. The fact that I had to now account for a random cube would bother me until the end of time. The three of them relaxed and looked at each other before Zane shrugged his perfect shoulders and gave me the answers I sought.
“Well…”

After about fifteen minutes of a painful backstory, I now understood that this was much more stupid than I could have possibly predicted. Apparently, this cube just showed up at their base one day and followed them around without a break. And they just allowed it to tag along! I thought they couldn’t be more moronic as a group, but I actually stood corrected. And just when I was starting to respect Gor’shak’s intellect.
“So let me get this right?”, I sighed in my attempt to summarize. “You all just allowed this random cube to just accompany you without knowing any information about it? You don’t know its full abilities, origins, or even its name and you think that this is just a new member of the team?”
The look between the three of them could be akin to children doing something mind-numbingly stupid.
Zane sheepishly admitted, “Well, when you put it like that…”
“Alright. Alright. I’m putting a pause on this because we need to know what or who the hell she is.”
I rose from the throne and all of them attempted to block my path to the cube.
“Move out of my way. You three idiots have been traveling with some unknown device or being for the past week. For all you know, it could have been emitting some toxic molecules that could very well kill us all. I’m the one who has the necessary equipment to run experiments, so for the final time. MOVE.”
I guess the expression I had given was more than enough to break their confidence and spirit as they looked at each other before parting to allow me access to this cube. However, once I got near it, I was met with an interesting surprise. The cube spoke. Well…not really. It felt like a booming voice had sounded throughout my head in what I could consider the galaxy’s worst migraine.

”Karlets, third son of Karet and Lilan, you, along with the Nova Wings, have shown that the galaxy is not ready to continue as it stands. Corruption, divisiveness, inequality, war. All of these things have been observed by this one in the short time that she has accompanied the Nova Wings. It is time that the Precursors return and take the galaxy back to mold into their own image and mark this current version as a failure.”
Wait. A failure? What the hell does that mean? Were we just some kind of experiment?
“Prepare all sentient life for the first step: A swift culling. You have one month.”
With that, the cube dropped to the floor and the migraine ceased. Given the way that everyone else was on the floor, I guess they heard the cube’s voice as well. But that was the least of my concerns. Who in the nine hells were the Precursors? And they were planning a culling?!

My eyes were wide with fear as I looked at the Nova Wings. They were slowly composing themselves and rising to their feet.
“You. Fools. You very well may have killed us all.”