Intergalactic conquest with an AI

"I won't die with them," Orlan continued, his tone growing sharper. He placed his hand on the laser pistol holstered at his side, letting the implication hang heavily in the air. "And neither will anyone on this bridge. We are retreating. That's an order. And I will not tolerate insubordination."

The bridge fell into a tense silence as everyone processed his words. The officer who had spoken up hesitated, his hands trembling as he looked between his console and his captain.

"Understood... sir," he finally said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Good," Orlan said, turning his attention back to the holographic map. "Now get us out of here before those bastards turn us into space dust!"

As the Harbinger surged forward, its engines roaring with all the power they could muster, the rest of the fleet began to crumble. The smaller frigates and destroyers, unable to keep up or withstand the enemy's firepower, were picked off one by one.

The enemy fleet pressed their advantage, their sleek, alien vessels swarming like predators sensing a wounded prey. The Harbinger's shields flickered as they absorbed another barrage of fire, the ship groaning under the strain.

"Shields at 29%! Hull integrity is failing in multiple sections!"

"Push the engines harder!" Orlan shouted. "We're almost out of this; keep going!"

But even as he gave the order, a sinking feeling settled in his gut. He knew the odds weren't in their favor. The enemy was relentless, and the Harbinger was running out of time.

"Sir, enemy fighters are closing in on our engines!"

"Deploy countermeasures!"

Explosions rocked the ship as the bridge crew scrambled to carry out Orlan's commands. The captain gritted his teeth, his hands gripping the edge of the console as he stared at the map. The wormhole device was offline, the fleet was falling apart, and the enemy showed no signs of letting up.

For the first time in years, Orlan Valis felt truly cornered.

But he wasn't about to give up. Not yet.

"All hands," he said, his voice steady despite the chaos around him. "Prepare for an emergency warp as soon as we're out of range. I don't care if it burns the engines; just get us the hell out of here."

The Harbinger surged forward once more, a lone battlecruiser fighting desperately to escape the jaws of death.

As if to mock the desperate retreat of the Harbinger, the human destroyers stopped firing at the battlecruiser entirely. Instead, their attention turned to the other ships of the Nexum Dynamics fleet, the frigates, corvettes, and smaller support ships that couldn't hope to stand against the sheer firepower of the human destroyers.

One by one, the smaller ships were torn apart. Laser beams lanced through their thin armor, missiles obliterated their hulls, and the void of space became littered with the burning wreckage of what had once been Nexum's proud fleet.

The destroyers moved with surgical precision, picking apart the fleet like predators cornering helpless prey.

The Harbinger pushed forward with all its might, its shields flickering as it fled the carnage behind it. Orlan, gritting his teeth, forced himself to look away from the slaughter. He knew he couldn't save them. All he could do was run.

Meanwhile, back on the planet...

A few minutes earlier, as the Harbinger initiated its retreat, the twins were finding little to no resistance from Nexum Dynamics' planetary defenses. The corporate military had been woefully unprepared for this kind of assault.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The only "soldiers" the twins had encountered were rank 6 and 5 militia with barely trained office workers and manual laborers, forced into combat by threats of death.

Lyra lay sprawled across Nyra's legs, gazing up at the starry sky. The two were atop a heavily damaged tank, its once-imposing armor now riddled with scorch marks and clawed dents from the twins' earlier handiwork.

"Sis..." Lyra began, her voice soft and contemplative. "I know this is a battle and all, but... doesn't it feel more like a massacre? Like we're the villains here." She sighed deeply, her crimson eyes reflecting the glow of distant fires as she stared at the heavens.

Nyra, who was gently stroking her sister's silver hair, paused for a moment. She tilted her head, looking down at her twin with a playful yet thoughtful expression. "And here I was wondering why you were being so quiet and pouty. Turns out it's because of this." She let out a light chuckle before ruffling Lyra's hair.

"Well... before I felt the same way, you know," Nyra continued, a small smile on her face. "But unlike you, I decided to actually ask someone about it."

Lyra opened one eye, curious. "Who did you ask?" she murmured, closing her eyes again as Nyra's hand continued to pat her head. Discover exclusive tales on empire

"Who else?" Nyra replied with a grin. "I asked Master, of course. Who better to answer these kinds of questions than someone who's been alive for a thousand years? Well, a thousand and something... I kind of lost track of her actual age."

Despite Nyra's usual mischievous demeanor, there was a rare sincerity in her voice. While she often acted like the carefree, reckless one of the pair, Lyra knew better. Under the playful facade, Nyra was incredibly sharp, observant, and thoughtful.

She just preferred to hide it, letting people assume she was the more muscle-brained twin. It was a mask only a handful of people could see through, Cleo, Emilia, and Lyra herself. Even Rex didn't know the full extent of her cunning.

"And what did Master say?" Lyra asked, her tone tinged with curiosity as she watched a frigate plummet from the sky, its burning wreckage trailing smoke. She paid it little mind since it was falling far from the city.

Nyra scrunched her face in a mock "thinking" pose, tapping her finger against her temple dramatically. "Mmmm, well... I don't remember all of it exactly. You know how Master is; she tends to go on these really long lectures," Nyra teased, sticking her tongue out playfully.

"Stop stalling, Nyra," Lyra pouted, though there was no real annoyance in her voice.

Nyra laughed before finally answering. "Fine, fine. She told me that in this galaxy, there's no such thing as good or evil, only perspective. Everyone is gray, she said. And that means everyone is the villain in someone else's story and the hero in their own. It's just... how things are."

Lyra remained quiet, her crimson eyes gazing at the stars as she processed her sister's words.

"And," Nyra added, her voice growing softer, "she also said that we shouldn't let it bother us too much. She said the biggest enemies for long-lived races aren't battles or wars... it's the mental toll. Obsessing over guilt, morality, or how others see us... it's a quick way to lose yourself. And once you lose yourself..."

Nyra trailed off, her playful tone fading into something quieter, almost somber.

"...you're no longer you," she finished.

For a moment, the twins sat in silence. The sounds of distant explosions and gunfire were faint in the background, a stark contrast to the serenity of their conversation.

"That sounds like something Master would say," Lyra finally murmured, a small smile tugging at her lips.

Nyra grinned. "Right? She's annoyingly wise sometimes."

The two shared a quiet laugh, the tension from earlier melting away as they enjoyed the moment of peace.

But it didn't last long.

"Warning," Bloody, the twins AI companion, chimed in, its voice cutting through the stillness. "Scanners detect incoming enemy reinforcements. Large armored units are approaching from the northeast."

Nyra's crimson eyes lit up with excitement as she stood, carefully lowering Lyra from her lap. "Finally! I was starting to get bored."

Lyra sighed, brushing dirt off her uniform as she stood. "You're hopeless, Nyra. Can't you ever take anything seriously?"

Nyra smirked, crafting her blood-red twin blades. "What's the fun in that, sis? Besides, you can handle the serious stuff. I'll just do what I'm best at, kicking ass!"

Lyra rolled her eyes but couldn't hide the faint smile on her face as she summoned her own weapons. "Let's just get this over with. We've still got a long night ahead of us."

The twins leapt from the tank, their crimson eyes glowing brightly in the dark as they charged toward the approaching reinforcements. The battlefield was theirs, and tonight, they were unstoppable.

Meanwhile, the reinforcements from the fleet had already made their way into the facilities of Nexum Dynamics. It was a respectable force for this kind of operation, consisting of roughly 300 infantry and 20 hover tanks, a well-rounded detachment equipped to handle most threats.

The soldiers moved with precision, their boots crunching against the debris-laden ground as they fanned out to secure the area.

"Sargent, is there any word from the battlecruiser?" One of the soldiers asked, his voice tinged with unease.

The sergeant, a seasoned veteran with a scar running across his jaw, shook his head as he scanned the horizon. "Still nothing. Communications are likely jammed; nothing we haven't dealt with before."

He gestured sharply with his hand, signaling the squad to spread out further. "Doesn't matter. Mission remains the same. We're here to repel the invaders and regroup with the defense forces."

"Sir," another soldier called out, crouching beside a scanner device. A holographic screen lit up, displaying blips of movement approaching from the east. "The scanner's picking up multiple contacts heading this way."

The sergeant leaned over, scrutinizing the data. His brow furrowed. "Have we identified them yet?"

The soldier shook his head. "Not yet, sir. There's no match in the Nexum Dynamics database, but given the circumstances—"

The soldier never finished his sentence.