Intergalactic conquest with an AI

Cleo turned to look at the young AI with a thoughtful expression. The young digital entity was loyal and efficient, but Cleo could see the strain in her coding.

She raised her hand, and with a flick of her fingers, the AI's core began to rise slowly into view, hovering above her palm. It flickered with unstable light, glowing but clearly underpowered.

"Mmm… I see the problem," Cleo said softly. "Your current core is too small for your frame and purpose. You've outgrown it."

The AI looked down, almost ashamed.

"But don't worry," Cleo continued, her voice as calm as ever. "I'll build a stronger one for you. Something worthy of your potential. But for now, we're out of time."

"Even without full weapon systems, this ship will still serve as a powerful mobile fortress. At the very least, its shields alone can act as a massive protective wall."

She gently lowered the flickering core and placed it back within the AI's chest. The lights around them pulsed faintly, as if the entire chamber acknowledged her words.

"Well then, make sure the fortress is ready to depart within the next five hours," Cleo said calmly, her voice carrying quiet authority.

With those final words, she continued walking toward the towering war fortress. Just its size alone placed it into the rare category of super-capital ships.

It was a masterpiece of engineering, colossal in scale, intimidating in presence. The hull from the outside looked complete, gleaming like white steel under the spaceport lights.

But inside, the story was different. The internal structure was still under heavy construction, with hundreds of thousands of construction drones flying, crawling, and gliding through every corridor, finishing rooms, welding plating, laying cables, and installing systems.

This flying fortress was as large as two, maybe even three, megacities combined. Because of its size, regular walking or even using vehicles would be inefficient.

Fortunately, the teleportation technology Cleo had recovered from the Misty Planet had changed everything. Hundreds of teleportation pads had been installed throughout the interior, allowing rapid movement across any section of the fortress in a matter of seconds.

Without hesitation, Cleo stepped onto one of the pads. A gentle blue glow enveloped her for an instant before she vanished, reappearing inside the fortress's command bridge.

Even the bridge was breathtaking in scale. It wasn't just a control room; it was the size of a small mansion, complete with towering walls lined with holographic interfaces and control panels.

Massive reinforced windows surrounded the entire chamber in a full 360-degree view, giving her a panoramic look at the exterior of the fortress.

Cleo calmly approached the center of the room and took her seat on the command throne, a specially designed control chair made exclusively for her.

It didn't just serve as a command station; it also connected directly to her neural network, allowing her to project her consciousness across the fortress. While her physical body remained safe and recharged inside the chair, her holographic form could operate freely across any sector.

"How is the army mobilization progressing?" she asked while settling into the seat.

A shimmer appeared beside her, and the young AI projection bowed slightly before answering.

[Reporting to the Creator: two of the four destroyers are now docked and secured within the fortress hangars. Troop mobilization is still underway. As of now, we have 1.5 million combat units onboard, including the mechanized legions, service bots, and drone support teams.]

Cleo gave a small nod, letting the numbers settle in her mind.

"And the fighters and bombers? Are the bays filled to capacity?" she asked while releasing a quiet sigh.

Thin metal arms extended from the chair, gently connecting to her back and temples, linking her with the system. Her consciousness began to shift as her holographic form flickered to life in front of the AI.

The AI turned to look at the glowing image of her creator with admiration.

[Reporting: out of the twenty fighter hangars, only fifty percent are currently filled. That brings the total to 1,250 fighters stationed and prepped. As for bombers, only twenty percent of capacity has been reached. We currently have 200 bombers onboard.]

Cleo's holographic form took a moment to review the data. Transparent images of the hangars, unit deployment status, and ship readiness floated around her like a constellation of information.

"Mmm… that's not bad," she said thoughtfully. "We're behind schedule, but not by much. Increase the drone workforce in the hangars. I want them fully stocked within the next three hours. If we're going to war, we won't do it half-prepared."

[Understood, Creator. Adjusting priority levels for drone labor now.]

As the command was processed, thousands of drones across the ship changed course and sped toward the underfilled hangars. The fortress buzzed with focused energy, like a beast slowly awakening.

A few hours later, the human fleet and the Khryssari fleet had gathered at the designated coordinates, waiting patiently in the cold silence of space. War was on the horizon.

Y'Ssera's fleet floated in tight formation. At the center of it was her personal warship, a bulky and deadly Carapace-Class Destroyer, designed in the unique style of her race.

Its hull resembled an armored shell, covered in shimmering plates that pulsed faintly with bio-energy. Flanking her flagship were two other destroyers of the same class, each bristling with organic-looking weaponry and glowing energy pods.

Further behind them, two Brood-Class Carriers lingered like floating hives. They were massive, their rounded bodies covered in launch pods and living chambers. These had been sent by Ys's mother, who insisted on reinforcing her daughter's fleet, just in case something went wrong.

On the other side of the battlefield, Lilla's fleet waited in perfect, cold precision. Her flagship, a heavy carrier cruiser painted in royal silver and crimson, stood proudly at the center. Surrounding it were four destroyers, sharp and angular in design, and a small wing of missile frigates, sleek and fast-moving like hunting birds in formation.

The fleets held position, but Cleo's fleet was still missing.

Growing slightly impatient, Lilla opened a video transmission to Ys. The holo-screen lit up, revealing Y'Ssera in her private quarters, still on her bed, draped lazily across it, wearing what could only be described as nearly nothing.

Her pale skin glowed faintly under the soft lights of her room, and she was hugging a large pillow like it was the only thing holding her to the waking world.

"Hello there, Y'Ssera," Lilla said, raising an eyebrow. "Do you have any idea how much longer we'll have to wait for Cleo?"

"Mmm?" Ys blinked slowly, her voice heavy with sleep. "Didn't I tell you? Cleo said her preparations are taking longer than expected, so she wants us to start moving first."

"…Yes—no! No, you didn't!" Lilla's tone rose a little, her lips forming a slight pout. "You absolutely did not tell me that!"

"Mmm? No wonder you weren't moving," Ys said with a yawn, rolling onto her back. "I was waiting for you to go ahead. You've just been floating there like a rock this whole time…"

As she stretched, the soft fabric of her blanket shifted and shimmered. Then, as if responding to her will, the cloth moved across her body and began reshaping itself.

In moments, it had transformed into a graceful black dress with flowing sleeves, glowing with delicate green energy veins that pulsed like they were alive. Ys ran a hand through her hair and finally sat up properly.

"..." Lilla stared, then sighed in quiet exasperation. "Forget it. Let's just begin the operation. The data Cleo sent us makes it clear that we have a strong advantage in fleet strength. The only real threat will be fighting on the ground, inside the cities."

Lilla's expression turned serious, her fingers gliding across her screen as she began giving orders to her fleet.

"Let's go, then. The faster we take this world, the faster we can prepare for the next one."

"Roger that~" Ys replied with a smirk, her fleet already starting to shift and move forward.

The silent void of space soon became filled with motion as both fleets slowly turned toward the distant planet, ready to begin their assault.

A few hours later, on the outer-rim planet of Xylos, the captain of the planetary defense fleet was enjoying a sensual and indulgent evening in his private quarters.

The room was dimly lit with soft amber lighting, the air filled with the scent of exotic oils and gentle music drifting from a hidden speaker.

He was sprawled lazily across a wide, silk-covered bed, a half-finished bottle of violet wine on the nearby table. In his arms lay a local beauty, bare-skinned, flushed, and still catching her breath after their passionate encounter.

Suddenly, the door to his chamber burst open.

"Captain!" a young officer shouted breathlessly as he rushed inside. His uniform was slightly wrinkled from how fast he had run, and his voice trembled with urgency.

"Please forgive the intrusion, but there's an emergency! We've detected multiple wormhole signatures forming just a few kilometers from the edge of the system!"

The woman on the bed gasped, quickly grabbing the nearby sheets and wrapping them around her body. She tried her best to hide herself, her cheeks burning red with embarrassment.

The captain clicked his tongue in irritation, not even bothering to look surprised. Instead, he reached over to pour himself another glass of wine.

"Tsk... All this panic for something we were expecting anyway?" he said casually while swirling the glass in his hand. "We already knew they'd come sooner or later. Our little informant made that quite clear...."