Intergalactic conquest with an AI

At the forefront stood the Tier 6 woman, the same one who had been given the token by the old matriarch. Her lips curled into a smirk as she twirled a dagger between her fingers.

"Hahaha! No wonder you slipped away so easily," she said with a low voice. "If you're this strong, crushing that arrogant fool who thought himself my better would've been child's play for you."

Rex crossed his arms. "I've got to say, you people are worse than stalkers. How'd you find us this fast?"

She flicked her wrist, dismissing the question. "Oh, don't flatter yourself. We didn't stalk you. We just... unleashed our pets across the world to sniff you out." Her grin widened. "And thanks to that little spectacle you just made? Well. Here we are."

"Honestly, if you'd just run away and ignored that trash down there, we might've never found you. But oh well, heroism has its costs, doesn't it?"

The woman let out a cruel, mocking chuckle as she glanced toward Rex and his group. Her lips curled into a sly smile, and her voice was filled with scorn.

"Well then," she said, casually inspecting her long, blood-red nails. "You all know the orders. Go and kill every last one of them. Don't disappoint the Matriarch again, or there will be consequences."

As soon as she spoke those chilling words, two swirling crimson space rifts opened beside her. From each one stepped a figure of a deadly assassin from the Blood Clan, both Tier 6 Elites. Their presence alone sent waves of pressure into the air, as if death itself had arrived.

Rex raised an eyebrow and let out a dramatic sigh, his tone playful despite the danger. He waved his hand dismissively.

"Wait, hold on a second," he said dramatically. "Isn't this a little unfair? I mean, look at me... I'm just a weak little Tier 4 guy. Are you really sending all that firepower just to take me out?"

He shook his head in exaggerated disappointment, but then his expression shifted. A grin formed on his face, calm and confident.

"…And that's what I would've said before," he continued, his eyes gleaming. "But things have changed. Right now, I'd say we're equals… or maybe, just maybe, we're even stronger than you."

As if summoned by those words, two figures emerged from a nearby space rift. It was 14th and 24th, both now equipped with sleek, powerful armor gifted to them by Zynaria just before her meeting with Rex. The armor pulsed with energy, radiating strength and advanced technology.

Now the battlefield was set.

On the Blood Clan's side stood three fearsome Tier 6 powerhouses, accompanied by a group of Tier 3 and Tier 4 warriors. On Rex's side, however, there were four Tier 6 powerhouses, including the massive dragon mobile suit.

That machine alone could, if needed, crush multiple Tier 6 enemies with its overwhelming force.

The tension in the air was so heavy it felt like gravity itself had increased. This was no ordinary skirmish; this was a battle between near-immortal beings, warriors whose power could shake the very fabric of space.

For several long moments, no one made a move. Their eyes locked across the battlefield, and though their bodies were still, their stellar energies clashed like invisible titans.

The pressure alone caused small cracks in space to appear around them, rippling with unstable energy.

Meanwhile, far away from the battlefield, in a different part of the galaxy, Cleo was walking calmly through a newly constructed spaceport.

It had only been finished a few months ago and stood proudly on the oceanic planet. The structure was enormous, so large that several destroyer-class ships were being built all at once across its vast platforms.

Cleo walked gracefully down one of the wide roads that overlooked the sparkling ocean waters. The view was breathtaking, but she paid it no mind.

Behind her followed a group of Tyrant-class imperial guards, their armor gleaming under the sun. Beside her floated two maid-bots, each carrying various tools and supplies meant for maintaining her bionic body.

Everything was calm and quiet until her communication device buzzed.

Without stopping, Cleo summoned a glowing holo screen in front of her and answered the call.

[Lady Cleo]

Came the respectful and mechanized voice from the other side.

[The mission you assigned to this humble one has been completed. We have successfully infiltrated the next target world, which lies on the borders of Nexum Dynamics. I am sending you the data you requested now.]

The report came from one of her elite phantom units that were silent, deadly, and always efficient.

"Mmm, good work," Cleo replied with a calm nod. As soon as she ended the call, she opened the file that the phantom unit had just sent. A glowing data screen appeared in front of her, filled with charts, reports, and surveillance images.

She scanned the contents quickly, her sharp eyes focusing on the details. According to the report, the planet's space defense was laughable, barely worth mentioning.

There was only a single destroyer-class ship orbiting it, backed by a few small frigates and a handful of fighter squadrons. In terms of space power, the planet was practically defenseless.

However, things looked very different on the surface.

On the planet itself, the story changed completely. The defenders numbered nearly four million troops, ranging from Tier 1 to Tier 3 warriors.

In addition to that, there were several hundred thousand mechanized units and heavily armored squads stationed throughout the planet. Clearly, the enemy had focused more on ground defense than space superiority.

Without delay, Cleo opened a private line and contacted two important figures: Lilla and Ys. A holo screen shimmered into view, showing their faces as they appeared from their separate ships.

"Greetings, you two," Cleo said in her usual composed and elegant tone. "I now have all the information we needed. Our next target will be the planet at these coordinates." She transmitted the location. "We will begin our attack in exactly one week."

Even as she spoke, Cleo was silently multitasking, her mind working faster than most humans could comprehend. Inside her neural interface, she sent encrypted commands to her command network, ordering her legions to begin preparations.

Warships were being readied, fuel stocks filled, weapons checked, and troops placed on standby, all without a word needing to be spoken.

Lilla raised an eyebrow at Cleo's announcement. She looked thoughtful, her fingers gently tapping against her chin as she sat in her command chair, surrounded by glowing data feeds.

"Mmm? One week?" Lilla asked, her voice curious. "While it's true that we humans need food to survive, our glorious Holy Human Empire has more than enough supply fleets to feed us during a campaign. A long and steady siege would actually be in our favor. Why rush it?"

Cleo didn't seem bothered by the question. She answered smoothly, still calm and confident.

"The reason is simple," she said while sharing more files through the holo network. "Yes, border worlds are usually the least defended within any empire. But this case is different."

"They've already lost contact with one of their nearby planets. If they're even slightly competent, they'll know something is wrong. They'll start looking into it soon, likely sending an investigation fleet."

She gave them both a small nod. "Based on our intelligence, I estimate it will take them about two weeks to gather, dispatch, and reach this sector. That gives us a window of exactly one week to act before the reinforcements arrive."

A pause followed her words as Lilla considered the strategy.

Then Ys, lying comfortably on her bed aboard her ship, casually stretched her arms and smiled lazily. Her voice was soft but sharp.

"Ahh… I see," Ys said with a little smirk. "So if we have only one week, does that mean… you're planning to use both planets to trap the incoming fleet? A pincer move, right? If they attack one of the worlds, the other can ambush them from behind."

"No matter which direction they choose, they'll be surrounded."

Cleo's lips curled into a faint, approving smile. "Exactly."

"Well then," Cleo said with a calm smile. "I'll see you both in a few days. I've already sent the coordinates for our fleet's rendezvous point. Make sure everything is ready by then."

Without waiting for a reply, she ended the call. Her focus had already shifted to the destination in front of her. She had arrived.

As she stepped forward, a pair of gigantic metallic doors slowly opened before her with a deep mechanical hum. The doors were thick and reinforced, carved with glowing symbols and the insignia of her empire.

The chamber beyond them was massive, filled with dim blue light and the faint sound of machinery at work.

As Cleo entered the grand hall, the air shimmered near the center. An artificial intelligence projected as a young woman dressed in sleek digital armor materialized from thin air and immediately dropped to one knee in a gesture of respect.

[Greetings to the future Empress of the Kaelzars,] the AI said, her voice soft and full of reverence.

Cleo nodded slightly, walking past her toward the massive structure at the heart of the chamber. It was a towering ship... no, more than that. It was a titan of war, a ship large enough to be mistaken for a floating fortress.

Its hull gleamed like obsidian, laced with circuits and embedded energy veins. This was Cleo's special project, one that could shift the balance of the stars.

"Mmm, good work," Cleo said, her eyes calmly scanning the colossal warship. "What's the current status of the project?"

The AI stood and answered quickly, her tone being serious.

[Answering to the Creator: the hull is complete and all defensive shields are functioning properly....]

[However, the weapon systems are still offline. I had to disable them. My processing capacity is not enough to control everything at once. Leaving them active might cause accidental discharge or damage.]

Cleo turned to look at the AI with a thoughtful expression.