Intergalactic conquest with an AI-Chapter 362: Xylos Siege. {3}

"Surrender peacefully, and you will be spared. Your leaders will remain in their seats of power, and your daily lives will not change much. The only difference will be who you serve and who truly owns this planet."

Cleo let a heavy silence fall before she continued, her voice growing colder.

"But if you resist... we will have no choice but to unleash our full might. We will crush every pocket of resistance, eradicate all opposition, and transform this planet into a machine world, one where no organic life will remain."

She smiled politely, but there was no kindness behind it.

"Your leaders have until the sun disappears below the horizon to give us your answer." And with that final warning, Cleo ended the transmission.

One by one, the screens and devices blinked back to their original settings. Within minutes, Xylos's cybersecurity forces regained control of the communication systems, but the damage was already done; the entire population had heard her message loud and clear.

In the governor's office, the old man sat heavily on his worn metallic chair, the weight of the decision pressing down on him. He let out a long, tired sigh. "Sigh... a conqueror, huh...?" he muttered to himself while rubbing his wrinkled forehead.

After a moment of heavy silence, he leaned forward and pressed a small button on his desk. "Get me in contact with the generals immediately," he ordered. "We have a lot to discuss."

While the planet's leaders scrambled to make a decision, Cleo was not idle.

In the northern and southern fortresses of Xylos, she continued the construction of two massive portals. Since the parts had already been manufactured and transported beforehand, it was just a matter of assembling them.

At the pace she was working, both portals would be fully operational by nightfall, exactly when the deadline she had given would expire.

Inside her mind, another line of thought surfaced, a message from the young AI she had recently created.

[Creator, based on the historical data of the Kaelzars, sparing organic life forms is inefficient. It wastes resources, time, and space on the planet. Full extermination and resource extraction would be far more productive, strengthening our fleet and armies.]

Cleo smiled a little at the message.

When she had created the young AI, she had carefully passed down part of her vast knowledge about the Kaelzars. She had done it not just to educate it, but to give it a sense of identity and belonging, an anchor.

After all, rogue AIs, without a purpose or loyalty, could be just as dangerous to the Kaelzars as any enemy army.

Cleo glanced up at the darkening sky.

"The knowledge I shared with you showed how our people used to act hundreds of years ago," Cleo said softly, her golden eyes glowing with a hint of sadness.

"For centuries, that way made us strong... strong enough to almost conquer the entire galaxy. But in the end, when we faced our greatest crisis, when we truly needed help..."

She paused, memories flashing through her mind. Images of burning cities, shattered Kaelzar fleets, and the endless advance of the Khryssari.

"...We had no friends, no allies to call upon," she said with her voice barely above a whisper.

The extermination of the Kaelzar people by the Khryssari was still burned deep into her memory. It was a painful reminder of how relying only on strength, without forging bonds, had doomed them in the end.

"And that's why Rex's way has proven better," Cleo continued, her voice regaining its usual firmness.

"Today, we have two true allies, the Human Holy Empire and a Khryssari princess herself. If we keep following this new path, we might truly build something that lasts longer than fear ever could."

She gently pulled out a small, ancient storage device, a precious relic that contained ancient coordinates of the last Kaelzar Emperor, entrusted to her long ago.

Cleo looked up at the darkening sky. Night had finally fallen, and the portals she had been building were now complete. Everything was ready.

"It's time," she said quietly.

Without hesitation, Cleo hacked into the governor's communication systems once again. Within seconds, her cyber form materialized in the middle of the governor's office.

Her body shimmered like a ghost made of light, and her voice sounded formal and cold, the voice of a mechanical lifeform carrying out its duty.

"I have come to receive your answer," Cleo said while standing tall and emotionless.

The old governor looked up at her. Instead of fear, he let out a deep, rough laugh. "Hohoho... To think you could even break into the city like this..." he said while slowly rising from his old metal chair.

"This is our answer," he added as he pulled a laser pistol from his side and fired directly at Cleo's head.

The bright bolt of energy passed harmlessly through her holographic body and blasted into the wall behind her, leaving a smoking hole.

Cleo's eyes blinked once. "Very well," she said calmly. "The invasion shall begin."

Her cyber form then dissolved into tiny sparks and disappeared from the governor's office.

A moment later, she reappeared atop the massive Wrath Drone Carrier, looking down at the city beneath her. The sky cracked with thunder as the two enormous portals she'd built activated, sending bolts of lightning dancing across the clouds.

"Young AI," Cleo said, her voice carrying across the command network, "commence the invasion."

[As you command, Creator.]

The answer came immediately.

Without wasting a second, the two gigantic portals roared to life. Electric energy surged around their frames as they stabilized, creating shimmering gateways to the Cleopatra Fortress.

Inside the fortress, an army like no other began to awaken.

One after another, the millions of Kaelzar troops stirred to life. Their mechanical bodies clicked and whirred as systems powered up. Their visors flickered, then shone with a fierce red light as they locked onto their orders.

A voice, deep and full of power, echoed inside every Kaelzar soldier's mind:

[Awaken, Kaelzar legions. The Princess calls for your service. March forward and destroy all enemies that stand before her.]

With synchronized steps, the army began to move toward the portals, like an unstoppable tide of steel and fury, ready to bring Xylos under their new rule.

"...General, there's a new hole in my wall," the old governor said while calmly sliding his pistol back into its holster. His voice was casual, almost playful. "I'll be adding that to your list of debts too."

"Why the hell should I have to pay for something you did, you crazy old man!?" the general shouted while slamming his comm device onto the desk with a loud noise. His face was twisted with frustration, but there was no real anger behind it.

The governor only laughed with a deep, rumbling chuckle that echoed across the room.

"Hohoho, fiery as ever, my boy," he said, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

Turning to the rest of the commanders gathered around the dusty old communicator, the governor's expression grew serious.

"So, my comrades..." he said, his voice steady and strong, "are you ready to throw these old bones into the fire once more, for the sake of this ancient city we call home?"

The South General scoffed loudly while slamming his armored fist onto the metallic table so hard that a small dent appeared.

"Hmph! We've been serving you for nearly three hundred damn years!" he shouted out. "If it weren't for all those weird pills and body implants you stuffed into us, we would've been fertilizer by now!"

He cracked his knuckles loudly and smirked.

"We made our oath, and we'll see it through to the very end. Asking us something so obvious is just plain insulting!"

The East General, a short woman with steel-gray hair and a wicked smile, snorted.

"Tch. The old man's just getting sentimental," she said. "Probably thinks we'll run off and hide because we've gotten a few more wrinkles."

The North General, younger than the rest but no less fierce, crossed his arms and added, "If you're that worried about us, Governor, maybe you should hide and let us do the fighting for once."

The governor burst into loud laughter.

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