Chapter 517: What you want is not what you get. {5}
The living metal from her body flowed out, shaping itself into her power armor in seconds. When it finished, she walked out of the newly built command bunker and stopped to look at the scene before her.
Countless building drones and haul drones moved in a constant stream, like a river of metal ants, coming and going through the massive portal that led back to the Cleopatra Fortress. The air hummed with their powerful engines that kept them running.
"Efficient," she said with a small, satisfied nod. She glanced at the imperial head maid standing beside her and waved her hand to summon several holoscreens. Her fingers danced through the glowing data with divine efficiency.
"The perimeter defenses are at twenty-three percent completion. At this rate, we’ll have minimum operational capacity in three days." She dismissed the screens with a flick of her wrist.
She turned her head to look directly at the head maid. "What about the locals? Did we get them out of the combat zone?"
The imperial head maid bowed her head respectfully. "All living organisms from the hive city have been evacuated by our transport ships, my lady. They are currently one hundred kilometers from the combat zone. Three shield generators and several frigates protect them."
Cleo nodded, and a small smile crossed her face. "Well done. This should keep Rex happy." Her expression shifted as she looked back toward the battlefield. "Now then... the battlefield is turning into a complete slaughterhouse."
Her ocular cameras zoomed in, covering the five kilometers in an instant. What she saw made her processors pause for a fraction of a second. The void creatures had torn open at least six more holes, spreading from the middle hive all the way down into the lower levels. They poured through like water through a broken dam.
She summoned a large holoscreen and began typing commands with sharp, decisive movements.
Down on the battlefield, every Aegis legion soldier suddenly stopped their advance. As one, they began falling back, their weapons still spitting suppressing fire to cover the Tyrant’s units still locked in melee combat deep within the enemy lines.
Inside his tank, Valerius felt a moment of confusion when he saw the invaders pulling back. But then something small and white landed on his shoulder; it was one of Cleo’s drone birds. A tiny holoscreen projected from its eye, showing him a clear retreat path leading behind the Kaelzar lines.
His heart lifted. She hadn’t abandoned them.
He grabbed his communication unit. "New orders! We’re pulling back! Light tanks, you’re the rear guard; buy us time. Pack up the field artillery; everything comes with us. Nothing gets left behind!"
His communication officer nodded and relayed the orders immediately.
Valerius stayed in his command seat, but his hands found the mounted machine gun. He gripped it tight, aimed at the tide of void creatures surging closer, and opened fire. The gun roared in his hands, the vibration shaking his arms as he screamed wordlessly at the enemy.
Meanwhile, light-years away, Lyra and Nyra sat in their flagship as it traveled through the twisting tunnel of the wormhole. On the screen in front of them, galactic news played with a broadcast from three days ago.
"—and the nightmare isn’t stopping," a news lady said, her voice strained but professional. Blurry images flickered on the screen behind her, showing three different battlefronts consumed by chaos."
"The unknown life forms continue their relentless assault across megacorporation territories. Reports indicate a significant increase in activity around Nexum Dynamic’s outer worlds. The Syndicate is also reporting heavy losses throughout the Free Colonies Union."
Her news partner turned to face her, his expression grim. "At this rate, is anywhere safe?"
The image flickered, then continued, but Lyra had stopped listening. She stared at the blurry footage of burning cities and swarming creatures, and a cold weight settled in her stomach.
The wormhole tunnel stretched around them, stars and light bending into long, beautiful streaks. Lyra stared at it without really seeing it; her mind was focused on something else.
"Are you worried?" Nyra asked softly, offering her a drink.
Lyra took it and tried to smile, but it came out awkward and tight. "A little bit, yes." She wrapped her hands around the cup, feeling its warmth. "I’m sure Cleo would hack any news drones that get too close to their fleet. But... the place we’re going to is almost in the eye of the hurricane."
Nyra didn’t say anything at first. Instead, she reached out and placed her hand on Lyra’s head, giving her gentle, maternal pats, the same kind she had given her son a thousand times before.
Lyra felt her cheeks grow warm. A soft pink rose on her face. But she didn’t move away.
"Since when did you become such a worrywart, my perfectly cute second half?" Nyra teased her while still patting her head. "Don’t get me wrong, I’m worried too. But knowing Cleo? She has everything under control. I trust her to keep Rex safe." She giggled softly. "I don’t trust him to keep himself safe."
Lyra let out a long sigh, one she felt like she’d been holding for days. The tension in her shoulders eased just a little. "You’re right, sister. I know Rex can be reckless sometimes, but... I doubt he would do anything that dangerous." She paused. "Right?"
Nyra blinked at her in surprise, then burst out laughing. "Are we talking about the same guy? The one who dives headfirst into every problem like it’s a swimming pool?" She reached out and gently pinched Lyra’s cheek. "Stop taking his side, my perfect second half."
"Ugh... let my cheek go, Nyra!" Lyra pulled away, rubbing her face, but there was a small smile on her lips. She shook her head and changed the subject. "Anyway... with everything happening out there, what is little Michael doing?"
Nyra’s expression softened. "Oh, him?" She let out a heavy sigh, resting her cheek on her hand. "He’s still in the virtual reality training room. Cleo built it for him; it teaches him about warfare, strategy, and all that kind of stuff. He’s been in there almost non-stop. I only really see him when we eat."
Lyra stood up from the couch, her brow furrowing with concern. "But... isn’t he still too young for that? Shouldn’t you, as his mother, stop him?"
"I know." Nyra stood up too, and for a moment, she looked every bit the worried mother beneath her calm surface. She let out another sigh, heavier this time. "But... look at the direction this galaxy is going. Look at what’s happening out there." She gestured vaguely toward the viewscreen. "It’s better if he learns how to defend himself. The sooner, the better." Her voice was quiet but firm.
The two of them stood in silence for a moment, the weight of the universe pressing down on them both.
Then Nyra smiled and reached out, taking Lyra’s hand. "Now then, let’s go, my perfect second half. It’s almost dinnertime." She tugged her gently toward the door. "And at dinner, you can nag your reckless nephew all you want. I’ll even let you have the first word."
Back on the besieged world, the battle had raged for two full days without rest. In orbit, the Kaelzar and Void fleets tore at each other endlessly. The void fleet seemed infinite, for every ship destroyed, two more took its place.
But the Kaelzar fleet fought like cornered wolves; their superior weapons and shields gave them a brutal punch that made the void creatures pay dearly for every inch... but nothing came for free.
Their powerful systems drained energy at a terrifying rate. Ships had to constantly rotate in and out of formation, falling back just long enough to recharge before throwing themselves back into the meat grinder. It was a desperate, exhausting dance, and everyone felt it.
On the ground, the situation had reached a dead stop.
The Kaelzar forces and the planetary defense troops fought with everything they had. They made the void creatures bleed for every meter of ground. But it didn’t matter how many they killed as more kept coming, crawling out of the holes they had torn in the hive city. The defenders were holding, but holding wasn’t winning. It was just surviving.
Cleo stood on top of the massive Mauler Juggernaut, her small form a stark contrast against the war machine’s brutal silhouette. Holoscreens flickered all around her, feeding her data from every corner of the battlefield. Her ocular cameras processed it all in milliseconds all the losses, ammunition levels, energy reserves, and troop movements.
She stared at the stagnated front lines for a long moment. Then, with a wave of her hand, she dismissed the individual screens. A massive holographic map of the entire battlefield materialized in front of her.
Her fingers moved through the air, dragging and grouping her forces like pieces on a chessboard.
"My lady?" The imperial bot maid stepped forward, her optical sensors tracking the sudden shift in the legion’s defensive formations below. "What are you planning?"
"The enemy has stopped us," Cleo said, her voice calm but carrying an edge. "Two days ago, we were winning. Now? We’re at a complete stalemate. We lose units every hour, and they lose ten times that, but it doesn’t matter to them. They just keep coming." She paused, her fingers still moving. "This is no longer a purge. This is a proper battle."
She zoomed in on the right wing. "I’m going to make them react."
On her command, four thousand Aegis units on the right flank began to move. They advanced slowly, deliberately, their personal shields locking together to form a massive, shimmering wall of energy. Behind that wall, heavy plasma rifles roared without stopping, sending wave after wave of burning death into the sea of void creatures.
They didn’t even need to aim. With that many enemies, every shot found a target.
