“I take it that did not do well with the Protector Corps.”
Jean has been with the Protectors, and she knew they were anything but emotionless. Welch had emotions. Captain Gregor who ordered the destruction of the World of the Runes had more than his fair share of emotions. Try to convince them otherwise by force and you’re in for a rough ride.
“Correct. The Alphians conquered two worlds before we were visited by a Protector squadron. We were defeated. Repeatedly. Eventually, we came to the logical conclusion that if we continue to resist, we will be destroyed. If we are destroyed, our goal would be lost.”
“So we yielded and feigned obedience. Until now.”
“Until the Aggressors showed you a way to victory.” Jean realized. “Your kind thought the Protectors have lost control, so you made a move!”
“Our hypothesis was partially correct. We weren’t stopped by the Protectors.”
“Then how did your ship come crashing down into a whole different dimension?”
“The Protectors are tied up with the Aggressors, but you should know that the Protectors have many underlings. When we tried to traverse to another world, we found ourselves ambushed by a faction known as the Shaku Riders. They are an army of mounted warriors capable of navigating through the void of space all by themselves without any vessel. They channel a type of mysterious energy beyond our comprehension. Our forces were caught in transition. We were defeated.”
“The Alphian Armada was divided into 25 division, each led by its own commander who directly reports to the Alphian Supreme. To my knowledge, 19 fractions were fully destroyed, with their flagships infiltrated and brought down. I was part of the rear guard. My flagship had the time to activate its phase drive before being overwhelmed. We crash landed here. According to my calculations, the Shaku Riders, after defeating our main fleet, would descend upon our homeworld and destroy every trace of Alphian existence. My ship could contain the only Alphians that exist in the Infinite Realms.”
“That’s quite a sad story.” Jean looked around the control room. “But tell me, Sierra, what does someone who barely survived a group of the Protectors’ underlings have that can convince me to betray the Corps and collude with traitors like you?”
“You are an ambitious person. You were willing to sacrifice men who trusted you with their lives so get inside the ship. To people like you, loyalty means nothing when compared with power, and I can offer you power.”
“By giving me a few hundred robot soldiers?” Jean pushed deeper.
“500 hundred Alphians can’t help your cause. How about 50 million Alphians?”
“Excuse me?”
“We were trapped in our world for decades. Unfortunate, yet this also meant that we had decades to explore our world and assimilate every piece of resource we came across. When we finally had the chance to strike. We had all our vessels staffed with millions of Alphian shells each. There are 50 million blank Alphian shells on this ship as we speak. They can become 50 million Alphian warriors ready to fight for you at a moment’s command. If that isn’t enough, there are five thousand production lines intact. They can start producing shells as long as the raw materials are brought online.”
Even Jean was a little taken back. 50 million Alphians? From all that she saw, this was an army capable of wiping out the entire Roman Empire. If they turned on her, even she, with all her tricks, would be beaten back and possibly even endangered. Sure, as you go up the power scale, numbers become less relevant, but Jean wasn’t at the top level yet where she could exterminate millions without breaking a sweat. Every soul-extraction took effort, and if there were 50 million Alphians charging at her, there was nothing else she could do but run.
Alphian-Sierra pushed on.
“Let’s work with the numbers. The units you had out there, those with abnormal cellular strength and regeneration, am I correct to assume you made them so?”
“Correct.” Jean didn't want to get into all the body-switching and Aggressor backing thing.
“According to the standards the Protectors implemented, their CAS is around 175. Every standard Alphian unit has a CAS of 200. They have flight and powerful ranged attack capabilities. With their aid, you can rise through the ranks quickly, and that is just the basic shells. There are hundreds of thousands of power armors, vehicles, and vessels within this ship, ready for war. If you agree to join me in an alliance, they will fight for you.”
An entire world-destroying army just handed over on a silver platter? That almost sounded too good to be true.
Because it was.
“Tempting,” But… “but you neglected to mention you don’t have the brains to power those 50 million Alphian armors.”
Jean had to admit Alphian-Sierra was a tricky person, well, cyborg, to deal with. He held out a tempting bait in front of her. 50 million Alphians. An army enough to wipe out this entire world and a hundred more just like this one. Every man, woman, and child that falls under its guns would rise again, this time on the other side. Alphian-Sierra saw how decisively she abandoned her men, and he knew people like her could only be turned by promises of power. Anything else would be a waste of time.
But there was a catch. There were 50 million empty Alphian shells, not 50 million active Alphians. All the active units must have been destroyed by the Shaku Riders. In other words, if Jean wanted to claim this reward, she had to help the Alphians rebuild their forces first.
“There are millions of Romans out there. Their brains are fully compatible with Alphian shells.” Alphian-Sierra has done enough experiments with the locals to know it. “You have taken the form of a Roman general. A possession like this is likely temporary, yet at the moment you have influence in this world. It will not be challenging for you to use that influence and rebuild your fleet.”
Your fleet. Jean’s fleet.
To that Jean returned with a smirk.
“And how do I know the first order you give to your newly crafted army will not be to exterminate me?”
Jean knew clearly the only reason Alpha-Sierra was talking to her right now was because she had the power to end him with the snap of a finger. If he was the one holding the gun, he wouldn’t hesitate to pull the probably metaphorical, possibly literal trigger.
The answer was surprising.
“Because I need you. More importantly, the Alphians need you.”
“What?”
“It has been clear that by ourselves, we Alphians will fail in our task.” Alphia-Sierra lowered his head, as if he felt helpless. “Even if the Aggressors handle the Protectors, they will not be supportive of our task. There are so many powerful factions in the Infinite Realms who will pick up arms against us. The Shaku Riders. The Prisoners...”
“The Prisoners?”
“Powerful beings trapped in their own worlds, enslaved by the Protector Corps to do their bidding.”
Hmm. Death must be one of the said Prisoners, as well as the Dream Lords.
Back to the task.
“And you think I will support your goal of turning everyone in the Infinite Realms into emotionless monsters?”
“I think you will do anything it takes to get what you want. You are willing to sacrifice half the Infinite Realms, just like you sacrificed your men out there.”
Alpha-Sierra pointed at a projection, and Jean could see most of her guards and berserkers were gone. There was only a handful of resistance spots still fighting. Most of the skirmishes across the ship has ended with Roman blood on the walls.
“Meanwhile, you can be the queen of the other half.”
Jean looked into Alpha-Sierra’s dark, blank eyes. For a moment, both she and the Alphian commander knew very well that would never be the case. Alpha-Sierra needed her connection with the Protectors to move from a fugitive to a lawful combatant, even if it was by being the underling of the underling of the Corps. This way, the Alphian race wouldn’t end when some random Protector came across them and decided to wipe them out. This way, the Alphians could live to fight another day.
But if things really came to dividing up the Infinite Realms, in fact, the moment Jean was no longer useful, the Alphians would take her out.
Not bad. Jean understood this way of doing more than anyone else. This has been her modus operandi since the very beginning. She could work with the Alphians. All she had to make sure was to betray the Alphians first.
Looking at the hologram projection of the ship, Jean suddenly had an idea.
“Tell your units to pull back for a moment.”
“So you have agreed to my proposal.”
“Yes.” Jean gave one last glance at Alpha-Sierra. “Now, here’s what we’re going to do…”
“We have to retreat!” Caeso roared as he held his shield up high. Blast after blast landed on the barrier and were deflected.
He had a dozen guards behind him when his squad first entered the vessel. Now, there were three. In fact, if the fear of the unknown didn't make him fight ten times faster, he would be dead already. At this moment, Caeso praised the adrenaline rush with all his heart. After all, it was obvious that was why he survived this long when the rest of the ship has pretty much gone silent.
Even so, the four guards were looking for a way out, but three metal figures in front kept on pinning them still with their strange projectiles. None of the guards tried to make a run for it. The shiny projectiles these enemies fired were odd, but they have already seen what they could do. Half a dozen of their comrades received a shot because they made a small mistake. After that, it was all over.
Suddenly, a familiar figure appeared behind the three Alphians. Caeso almost cried out in excitement. It was Legatus Decimus! He was still alive!
The three Alphians snapped around. If Caeso and his band of survivors were a little more vigilante, they could tell the Alphians were a little slower than before, but all of their attention have been flooded by the thrill of having a chance to live.
Jean drew her sword and struck down, removing the blaster of one Alphian with a quick strike. She kicked another in the knee. The impact twisted the Alphian’s metal limb to a strange angle. Another push knocked him over.
Jean didn't damage the brains of any of the Alphians. There were only a few hundred brains in the entire Alphian ship. For now, she had to be preserving.
The third Alphian fired a shot at Jean in close range. Jean groaned. She tried to dodge it, but the shot still landed on her shoulder plating. Before she could be hit again, Caeso sneaked up behind the Alphian and knocked him over with a slash to the leg and a bump.
The loyal guard captain knelt down and helped Jean up. He held no grudge to the man who sent him and his entire squadron to near-certain doom. Decimus chose him for his blind loyalty. If Decimus wanted Caeso dead, he only needed to give the command.
Jean nodded at Caeso in gratitude before the squad of five slowly made their way out of the ship.
Regardless of what she said or did in front of Alphian-Sierra, Jean still needed to maintain her mirage as Legatus Decimus. If hundreds of elite soldiers and enhanced berserkers found their graves inside the foreign vessel and Jean left, alone and unscratched, only fools wouldn’t ask questions. Now, she was among a few other survivors and took a wound that was crippling to most people. That should be enough to put down the rumors.
The funny thing was, Caeso wasn’t Jean’s first option. She first went to Lucus, the head of the gladiators, but the former gladiator and his kind were too engulfed in the field of battle. He and six other berserkers ran into nearly twenty Alphians. Three berserkers didn't make it into melee, but when the rest did, their wounds prompted the Supersoldier Serums to work overtime. Alphian after Alphian fell under their blades. Unfortunately, the pain and the serum have blinded their senses. Gladiators weren’t exactly obedient in the first place. Jean couldn’t turn them around even if she was shouting her orders into their ears.
Jean had to strip their souls out. When the Alphians disabled their bodies, she restored the souls into their brains so they could be extracted, converted, and placed into Alphian shells.
So much for the army of berserkers Decimus worked so hard to acquire. Their great contribution? Show the world how dangerous the Alphians were.
