Agent047
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946 - City for City
🕑 Added 2025-07-18 21:10:06 +0000 UTCA silent, blinding flash tore through the void of space. A large number of the mountain of biological monstrosities, which had been swarming towards Planet Kumpo, simply ceased to exist. They were vaporized in an instant. Those that survived were propelled outwards by the shockwave, were immediately targeted by a swarm of tracer projectiles, their fiery trails a promise that nothing would reach the planet’s surface.
But the Conclave’s assault was a multi-pronged hydra. While a portion of Dreznor’s forces were locked in a desperate struggle against the bio-engineered horrors who were created to survive much of the attacks as possible, whilst still leaving them as a threat despite being damaged, the main Conclave fleet, having already mapped the planet’s defenses, unleashed a devastating barrage of missiles.
Some of them, their engines glowing with an unnatural intensity, entered sublight speed, their trajectories designed to bypass any conventional interception. They were aimed at the planet itself, a clear, brutal message. Dreznor’s forces were now trapped in a terrible dilemma: intercept the missiles and risk being overwhelmed by the main fleet, or engage the fleet directly and watch as their cities burned. The civilian cost of a direct engagement was astronomical, a price so high it was not even considered an option.
…………
In the heart of Dreznor’s central command, a massive, circular chamber floating in the vastness of the VR, the Little Protagonist’s voice was a calm, steady counterpoint to the unfolding chaos. {What should we do? If we leave things as they are, they will be overwhelmed in a matter of minutes. They will be forced to choose between two impossible options.}
She gestured to the holographic displays that filled the chamber, each one a window into a different star system, a different war. A similar, horrifying scenario was playing out across all five of the targeted planets. Each was facing the combined might of at least two top-ten Conclave members, though the true heavyweights, the top five, had yet to reveal themselves.
The five planets, now the focal point of the Conclave’s wrath, were in constant communication, a desperate, real-time exchange of information. Every new tactic, every unexpected maneuver by the Conclave, was instantly analyzed by their shared network of AIs and think tanks, a counter-strategy formulated and disseminated to the other four planets before the threat could even materialize on them.
But the Conclave planners were not foolish. They had not withdrawn all of their probing forces from the other star systems. They had already suspected that Dreznor had access to wormhole technology, so to retreat from all fronts would be no different than inviting him to initiate a massive, consolidated counter-attack or even use the idle fleets to reinforce the five star systems they forces were attacking. So, they maintained a presence in the other systems, their forces a constant, looming threat and reminder that they were ready to exploit any opening, or signs of the forces in those star systems being withdrawn for reinforcements.
{You need to come up with a solution, and fast,} the Little Protagonist pressed when Dreznor hadn’t responded to her question the first time. {We need to know how to execute it.}
Dreznor, who had been standing with his eyes closed, a silent, imposing figure at the center of the command chamber, slowly opened them. He surveyed the faces of his advisors, the leaders of his revolution, all of them waiting for his command. Below them, in the vast, tiered amphitheater of the command center, teams from different star systems monitored the unfolding battles, yet to be attacked star systems for wormhole breach attempts, acted as a connection between the star system command center and the central command center.
“Send reinforcements to all five of them,” Dreznor said, his voice calm, but with an undercurrent of cold, hard resolve. “Ensure we do not lose a single star system.” At the moment, he was already considering the Conclave's new attack as their answer to his speech that he had spread as a potential for resolving the situation without both sides spilling additional blood. They had chosen war. They had deemed him a greater threat than the rot within their own civilizations, and now he had all the evidence for when his family asks him on the other side about what he did to try to prevent the additional bloodshed.
{Understood,} the Little Protagonist replied, instantly relaying his command to the teams below. A flurry of activity erupted as the AIs began to formulate a plan. Several options materialized on the main holographic display, the first one was a slow, methodical reinforcement, pulling a small number of ships from every star system to avoid creating any significant vulnerabilities, the second one was a rapid, high-risk deployment, stripping a few, un-attacked star systems of their defenses to create a massive, immediate relief force, and a dozen other plans with a few variations in between.
“If we are reinforcing them, we must be swift,” Dreznor declared, his mind assimilating the options in an instant. “Go with the fastest one. But as soon as the reinforcements are sent, begin the process of backfilling those systems. Collect a small number of ships from every other system, just as the first plan suggested. We will not leave our people exposed.”
{Sent,} the Little Protagonist confirmed. {The orders will be implemented within minutes.}
“Also,” Dreznor added, his voice grim, “come up with an evacuation plan, in case the reinforcements fail.”
Before he could receive a response, a new hologram materialized in the center of the floating circle. It was a near-live feed from Planet Kumpo. The AI only ever acted without being told in the most dire of emergencies. The hologram showed a view from space, the planet a serene, blue-green marble. Then, a blinding flash of light erupted from its surface, followed by a massive, roiling cloud of dust.
A planet they were still defending, a planet that had not yet fallen, had been breached. A bomb of unimaginable scale had been detonated.
The room fell silent. The war had just entered a new, terrifying phase.
Comments
Sol_Invictus(Hail the Terran Empire)
TYFTC!!
GripenSupremacy
SECOND! TYFTC!!
