Marceum

Marceum was a unique form of artificial matter used as a weapon by the nations of Florathel during the War of Saiheran Succession. It caused a rapid acceleration of proton decay in any form of matter it touched, essentially erasing it from existence.

History

Origins

Marceum was created by Sarephan scientists at the request of princess Kalea Atherian. She requested the creation of Marceum as a way to kill her siblings so they could not claim the throne after the assassination of their father, Oram. However, an underling of her brother, prince Karnak, found out about the secret alliances she had been forging with the Sarephan military and other powers. When this information was revealed to the other heirs, they spread out across Florathel (save for prince Sais, who stayed on Dimostah), forging alliances with other powers in order to build up their forces for the coming conflict.

When the War of Saiheran Succession broke out, Marceum was initially not used as all sides stuck to relatively small-scale conflicts. However, sometime after the Battle of Erae, the warring nations realized that the current battle strategies they were using weren't really getting them anywhere. At this point, they had just wanted to end the war and emerge victorious. To this end, they resorted to exceptionally brutal tactics and the usage of horrific weaponry. Marceum was one such weapon.

The Scouring of Arnot

Perhaps the most infamous example of Marceum's power was during the Battle of Morlac. The Trezhath-Khae Alliance, led by Kalea, confronted the fleet of the Arnot Republic, led by Karnak. While both fleets were approximately equal in size and strength, Karnak's refusal to use Marceum bullets led to a massacre as his fleet was utterly wiped out. Morlac itself was soon destroyed afterwards, although Karnak managed to escape into the intergalactic void.

After the battle, Kalea ordered the remaining major worlds of the Arnot Republic to also be destroyed, leading to the complete collapse of the nation and 99.5% of its people being wiped out. This event would later come to be known as the "Scouring of Arnot" by historians.

Alliance Against Kalea

After this horrific display of brutality, Kalea's remaining two siblings, Sais and Zelera, knew that they couldn't let their sister win the war. An alliance was formed between the two sides as they agreed to destroy Kalea's Marceum factories. They had managed to locate Kalea's Marceum production ships stationed in orbit above the planet of Kaledar. As the only known way of disposing of Marceum was to throw it into a black hole, the only two options they had were to steal the production ships and send them into a black hole, or to create a new one. They chose the latter.

After sending scanner probes to pinpoint vulnerable areas of the planet, they then sent a ship containing a black hole generator into Kaledar's orbit. The ship then dropped the generator directly onto the planet's surface, creating a massive black hole that destroyed not only Kaledar, but the entire Marceum production fleet.

Characteristics

Marceum was an extremely dense form of artificial matter. It was regarded as being very difficult and time-intensive to produce. It was also regarded as being highly unstable, more so than even antimatter weapons. After it was created, it would then be placed into a special casing known as a "Marceum bullet".

When the bullet struck a target, it rapidly accelerated proton decay in whatever it happened to hit. This led to a chain reaction that would completely erase the target. It was also fast acting, as a single Marceum bullet could destroy a planet in under an hour.

Notable Users of Marceum

Trezhath-Khae Alliance - The Trezhath-Khae Alliance were the most infamous users of Marceum during the war. The destruction of Morlac and countless other worlds highlighted to the rest of the galaxy the sheer destructive power of Marceum.