CHAPTER 2

"Immediate Response (part 2)"

1967… 2201 hours…

Traveling in the speed of Mach 10, Relius made sure of not putting too much effort in speeding, as her cloaking ability is already activated. Together with her cloaking ability, she was making sure her companion Valentin was also cloaked so they wouldn't be seen by anyone. Because of the speed, Valentin was able to keep his body at a horizontal position while being held tight by Relius. At first it felt scary since he's got a little problem with heights, but it became natural to him while he was in the sky and not looking down. He would only feel like it if he flies in an aircraft. But knowing the wind and the turbulence they both experience, it was beginning to be realistic to him.

Relius noticed he was handling. "You're handling it very well, colonel."

"Thanks. I never knew flying could be a breeze."

"I wasn't always like this. When I was in Planet Neuroi, my home, I was already scared. I know I have the ability to fly, but wings seemed to be different. You see… the first practice I took was flapping. The second is using the essence of my core. Within years, my wings were able to adapt to my core essence and I was able to insert the feeling and experience into my essence. Thus… my core's now working together with my wings. You see… I have a Wing Variable Type Neuroi core, which allows me to work together with my wings, permanently on me now. I'm different from other Neuroi after all. My mother is actually an Angeloid to begin with, and they're hard to come across as they span galaxies ahead of both our galaxies combined. Meaning… They're a higher class of species we have yet to know."

"So… you're a hybrid of sorts?"

"You can say that." Relius now noticed the landscape was familiar. "Alright. We just entered Baltland. I'll be contacting someone. Kaziri, I'm inbound with an Orussian officer."

"Military? Why are you bringing him here? Did you kill him, Relius-Sensei?"

"Kaziri…"

"Sorry."

"I'm bringing him in to show him around Ulysses."

"Are you sure it's a good idea?"

"It's a good idea as any to explain our existence in this world. You were the one who suggested this. I just did something better to try convincing him to come with me."

"I guess it's no problem at all. Let your armor resonate with my voice, Relius-Sensei. I need to speak to him."

Relius then activated her armor's comm speakers. "Colonel, my right-hand wants to talk to you." And with the colonel's nod…

…Kaziri spoke. "Human… I do not want any trouble once you reach the airship. We already showed ourselves to some, but you're a military officer who's new to our existence."

"I understand."

"Of course. I'm just warning you, and you seem to be smart."

"And your queen tells me that."

"Did she now? Then I'm sure you'll be thrilled when you meet me and my colleagues. Saiojin is another Elite Guard like I am. The two of us are beside the queen almost the whole time for security."

"Oh. I'm afraid."

"Don't mock me." Kaziri chuckled afterwards. "Ufufu… Then again, keep it up. I like to be tempted."

Relius decided to turn off the comm speakers from her armor. "Don't mind her. She's a masochistic one."

"Eh?!"

"Yes. She rather likes pain, even an emotional one so she could throw it away. Whatever you do, don't mistreat her. She'll like it and like it until she laughs and becomes psychotic."

"Crap."

"Don't worry, though. She's nice. She can rather tempt you to tease her and you gotta catch that, okay?"

"I got it."

"Alright… here it is." Relius then used her Battle Mode vision, described to give her red eyes. "I see it. I'm sure you don't since it's camouflaged."

"You're right about that."

"That's why we're entering through the back. Kaziri… open up!"

"Right away, Relius-sensei." Kaziri's responded and a small opening can be seen from afar.

Valentin knows by their speed that they'll be able to get in there first before anyone will be able to notice. At such a high speed, it made him a little nervous on the approach. However… things went well as speeds were slowed down before he was able to get through the opening. Eventually, he got in some sort of hangar bay when he was put down. As Relius dropped her ability, he was able to see himself now visible again. "I'm seeing myself. I'm intact, and now I'm on the ground. Three checks... Perfect."

Relius chuckled. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." She eventually landed on the ground beside him.

"There's not much here."

"I know. Ulysses is an airship, but also a flagship. It's meant not to be found by conventional means. Right now, you're in the hangar bay. It's wide as you know, and it's good for housing drone fighters. Right now, they're deployed. Baltland may be a good place to be since the Sub-Hive here had been destroyed, but nonetheless still dangerous. Come with me." Relius transformed back into her white astral dress and her eyes went back to normal. Then, she walked together with him to get off the hangar area. "The ship is not that big though. The hangar is one big cargo bay as well."

"I noticed. There's no other person in the… Ulysses? Did I call it right?"

"You have."

"Why?"

"This old flagship has lost all its energy for proper combat against opposing forces. There are newly developed ones on the way and will be ready to deploy soon."

"Deployment?"

"There's so much I need to tell you about our species, history… and the values we've taken all the years of our existence. What you need to know is from how this all started first of all. I'm sure in your curiosity, you want things to be answered."

"Yes. So many areas surely need to be given some insight. Budut li vse nashi voprosy otvetit'? (Will all our questions be answered?)"

"Oni budut otvetil. (They will be answered) Although those ones that are necessary to be answered will be. Everything else will be about protection of this planet from the worst kinds. King Austerys will not stop until this planet is his." Eventually, Relius was able to lead him through the hallway where the door to the throne room should be. "This is it. You see the door? That's the entrance to the throne room."

"Ah. Wait… Why are you the one leading me here? Where's this Kaziri you mentioned?"

"She's my right-hand Elite Guard together with Saiojin. Right now, Saiojin is the one commanding our space regiment for the meantime. You don't know how rather sparked both sides are. Although the King's forces are strong, we're able to make up for their strength as well." Relius explained it and saw Valentin seemed confused. "I'm going to tell you the story of how we got into this."

20 minutes later…

Relius was unconsciously rubbing her soothing ball while seated at her throne. "He had to. He knew I was unfaithful."

Valentin was seated at a chair beside her throne and started to see a tear fall. 'This young woman certainly went through a lot.'

"I knew his mistakes, but he couldn't consider them mistakes. He considered them baby steps." Relius seemed to speak with a little rage. "That's the reason he became so horrid."

FLASHBACK… Planet Neuroi…

A slap was heard in the bedroom. Relius held her cheek, knowing their own conversation had escalated into something worse. She looked at his eyes, naturally red with his transformation into a humanoid from the military planet. Although she's humanoid in form to begin with as a half Angeloid, Relius seemed to see Austerys completely different than before. He had a regal suit worn over his humanoid body. He had flesh like a living humanoid should but his skin was pale and has red lines over them. "What… What happened to you?"

Austerys smiled. "My love… Everything happened to me. Ever since I got through that planet, my ideals changed. And you… You seem rather more pathetic. You don't show true premise."

"It's because the Neuroi race needs to learn better. What you've done was conquer the planet you sought to go to. Now… Look what you've done to yourself. You… YOU ARE HARDLY THE LOVE I KNEW!"

"SILENCE!" With one swing of his hand, he released beams that went towards her.

She was shocked of it. 'He would dare?!' She puts her hand forward and deploys the Aegis Shield concentrated in front of her before she's able to block them. 'He would do this… why? What is his reason now?! He was gone for so long and he has changed! What made him change?!' As things cooled down, her shield was disabled. "Austerys… What happened to you?!"

"It's what I said. Everything has changed. First off… what are we now? We're always the curious and peaceful race this galaxy is able to see. We are the light. And to that, comes our hunger."

"Hunger… for power perhaps?"

"We are the most intelligent race in this side of the universe, and we should take advantage of this! I've learned so much, and we are missing a lot of things. We are destructive and you know it. And with the power that we've forced to integrate into the rest of my forces, nothing should stop us. My love… Please… don't make this difficult."

"No… You're… You're gone."

"I have returned."

"Yes. You've returned… a monster." Relius clenched her fists. "Just stop this now!"

"Do you want to still love me?"

"I do, but…"

"UNCONDITIONAL LOVE, RELIUS!"

"You're talking about the fate of the Neuroi and how it would change all of us, Austerys! I can't let this go on like that! Come back to me as who you are."

"This is who I am, Relius."

"No. You wouldn't be like this."

"I was… from the beginning I took my first kill and turned myself into this. I've seen my heart shatter more times as they gave us no mercy."

"No. You used your rage."

"And that rage was channeled correctly as I took lives together with my kin."

"You've replaced yourself with something worse…"

"…but better, Relius."

"Austerys, you became a conqueror and destroyer of that world."

"And soon… I shall become much more for this cursed planet!"

"What are you…?"

And behind Austerys came another figure. "No." Relius muttered it to herself as her eyes widened. Seeing her own trusted Elite Guard, who turned on her. "Zelian…"

Zelian chuckles as she puts her hand on Austerys' shoulder as she took her place beside him. "It's a surprise. I'm sorry."

"Zelian… why?"

"He longed for me… and I was there. All you gave him was the temptation for other species of the opposite gender."

"That's not what I was doing to him."

"No. He's always thinking of you. But knowing his own conquest for that world would never stop, he made a sin. I am his own sin and savior of his longing for you."

Austerys then stopped Zelian from speaking as he spoke up. "And now that I've returned, I can finally take my place in the throne for this planet once again… putting it in its real glory."

"NO!" Relius seemed enraged. "Austerys… I know you were longing for me. Why can't we settle this and…?"

"Relius, the only way we'll be able to forget this little conversation is for you to just accept it."

"Never." Relius had it to herself to stand up to him. "I can't stand this. You… you shall be heard by the council!"

"Then let them hear you." Austerys chuckled at it. "I don't care."

And somehow, Relius was concerned of the council. Before she knew it, she was sprinting towards the doors of the Neuroi council. But as she arrived at the half open door of the council chambers, her eyes were widened, and her shock was turning into anger as she saw Master Blade Units slaying each of the council members. "No… NO!" 'This has gone too far. If that's how the king wants his rule…' Her eyes then turned red. '…I will not accept it! He is a monster!' She morphed before she replaced her Astral dress into her white overall body armor made from the Neuroi hide. She summoned Angelus, her sword, before she swung it and made the doors detach and drop to the ground. Soon, the five master blade units glanced towards the door, seeing the angry queen waltzing in the chamber. "You… dare?! What have you done to them?!" And as she was supposed to expect an answer, one of the master bladers flew to raise his sword to attack her. She saw it coming before she pointed her sword at him and fired a beam projectile just before he was hit and vaporized into white flakes. She turned towards the others in rage. "ANSWER ME, OR YOU ALL DIE!"

"He gave us orders!"

"But what about your families?!"

"We have a lot to lose if we don't follow!"

Relius was shocked of this. 'He would even threaten them just to let them show their loyalty to him?!' She gripped Angelus tighter. "Then die with honor. Come at me, so I can free you from your prison!" And without another word they charged her, knowing she would eliminate all of them with ease.

A few minutes later…

It seemed the master blade units were a real fight to consider. After Relius was able to eliminate most of them. She was on the ground with the tip of her sword on the core of a downed master blade unit. "Do it, Your Majesty!"

Relius lets a tear out of her eye. "You don't need to die."

"I… I need to see my family safe. Please… Do it."

"I swear on my soul, and sword… that I will avenge his loyal subjects who have died in vain, only to be deceived. I'm sorry, if this was your fate."

"No. We all are." The master blade unit held the hilt of her sword and pulled the blade in as it pierced the core. He screamed in pain, knowing it hurts.

Not standing his painful screaming, she screamed in unison before she released energy from her sword, supposedly firing a beam projectile, but it lets him explode instead. She never moved in the explosion. She walked out of the smoke alive while walking in the midst of the dead council members. 'I must rally my subjects. If Austerys has to play his own card by killing those who would be interrupting his rule, I will make sure to gather whoever I can to oppose him. I loved you, Austerys. You suffered too much.' "They should rally to me, if they don't stand his madness. This is only the beginning…" She knew she had to leave the chamber and eventually looked back to see the council chamber again. "Rest in peace, our dear council." She frowned as she turned her head to walk outside. 'Nonetheless, along with his subjects, he must still pay.' "You will still pay… my love."

END OF FLASHBACK…

Relius sighed while she stopped rubbing her ball eventually gripped a little tighter on it. "Eventually after years of trying to long for him again… I stopped. I told myself that he has completely changed. Even though he was my first and should have been my only as he thinks of me as well, he had done me wrong. It hurts me, but I told myself to forget that I even loved him, only for the good of the rest of my people who were living in exile with me. We had to recover. I had to recover from having a broken heart. Now?" Then she looked at Valentin. "I'm doing whatever I can, both in protecting my subjects and the people of this world. I might have gambled in my own emotions when I found out the king will get to destroy another planet after the other two. That was when I decided that it shouldn't happen any longer. No more. I want to end his streak. He treats it like a game."

"Your… Majesty." Valentin seemed to think of her going through hell back at their home planet.

"I don't need your sympathy either, Valentin. Nonetheless, I thank you for understanding."

"What you've gone through… He's a bastard."

"I know, right? A young woman of my stature shouldn't be put through so much, but I stood strong for everyone else. I made sure for everyone, that we stop him altogether. This is both for them, and for me."

"And us?"

"Hopefully your race would begin to accept us. The way we built our army against the Red Neuroi… we put all our other resources to good use and will be used fully against our enemies. What others would think about us will depend on how we act. Which is why… we must start prioritizing."

"And by prioritizing, you wish to help us on our scouting mission?"

"I know it was you who started this, Colonel."

"Just call me Valentin."

"Okay then. Valentin… who else is in on this?"

"General'nyy sekretar' Leonid Brezhnev supports my scouting mission, but it was a mistake for some reason. Now that you're telling me about the presence of Red Neuroi fighters in space… Damn it."

"You didn't mean to if you didn't know. It's alright. They shouldn't blame you… if I were to execute my plans."

"So you're really going for it?"

"What else would I be here for with you?"

"Besides telling me your own story, you would persuade me. It might be a crazy idea, you know."

"It's about to get crazier." Kaziri walked quickly to the throne Relius sat on and bent a knee in front of her. "I got some news coming from our asset."

This made Valentin raise an eyebrow. "You have an asset?"

Kaziri chuckled. "You're surprised. Of course we do. We can disguise ourselves as normal humans. We've dispatched one when Her Majesty decided to head over to the new city with the placement of the Kremlin now in that city. For the meantime, she's gathering intel." She then turned her head to Relius. "And this intel is indeed interesting. It seems they're making the portable launch pad as soon as possible. Heavy materials are being brought in by multiple choppers the next morning so construction could begin. And they were even speaking of witches helping out in this as well. At this rate, the launch pad will be done in three days."

"Tch." Valentin somehow felt pissed off. "They started a meeting without me. Now they're deciding to launch without prior consent to the author. They're that desperate for using my idea as a reason for finding out the truth."

Relius knew what he meant. "Nobody's going to blame you. They should thank you."

"Sometimes, the old people just use the ideas of others as an advantage to the war effort."

"That's why I'm going to need your help. We should convince those… old people you say. You're preferring to the brass and the General Secretary himself, aren't you?" Relius giggled. "You're going to introduce me to them."

"Excuse me?! That's not…"

"I know: Out of the question. Well, I'm not having it. They're going to do this without you, and they deserve to give you the stage for something else. Your contribution shouldn't be taken lightly, and I know you wanted to ensure the safety of the scouting cosmonauts. With my exposure, they should give you credit, and it should benefit my forces as well. If they protect the scouting party, the alliance between us and your country could be solidified."

"How do you think the General Secretary will be able to acknowledge your presence with kindness?"

"He will, because he knows what else is at stake: Their identity. Once they send those cosmonauts out there, the Red Neuroi trackers will start to activate itself and see the source of origin. If I'm right, long-range artillery will be approaching to that same direction."

"That means they know too."

"It's not only us who knows about your crazy plan, but they're prepared to either fire on your ship, or the port of origin."

"No... Thousands of people will be at the port that time. And we won't even see it coming."

"That's why you need us, colonel. They're prepared to give out everything they have if you start to see their wrath on you. We only started fighting them recently and you need our help on this. The identities and reputation of the members of the Kremlin will collapse altogether if their mission fails as they know the enemy may do an immediate retaliation. This is why I'm going for the bigger prize: Gaining the alliance of not only the people of Orussia directly, but its governing members as well. This is a way I thought of in protecting their interests."

"But after this… then what?"

"…The world." Relius saw him wince in shock. "You heard me and saw me speak of it, Colonel Valentin Bosconovitch."

Valentin chuckled. "Good luck on that."

Kaziri stood up and glanced at him. "Don't underestimate the logic of the queen. At times when she might be crazy, there can be a good side of that to her plans. Even when I suggest some, she makes it better for some reason. She's a tactician like I am with Saiojin."

"This is indeed, a daring move."

Relius smirked. "So what is it going to be, colonel? Will you go along with my plan, or would you rather continue as it is?"

Valentin sighed at this. "It might be sound, but this is crazy. Brezhnev indeed has this side of him when understanding things outside the box. Perhaps… it may just work. The next meeting will happen tomorrow at 0915 hours in the main briefing room along with the other military chiefs."

"Then we're doing it. I'll be going in with you in the briefing room. Shall you hear my plan?"

"In detail? Let's do it." Valentin's answer was then met with another conversation, met with the details of how the queen will handle all the Kremlin members present…

Still, Kaziri thought, 'Does he like her or something?' She shook it quickly off her mind and approached the other two, curious of the conversation. Eventually, she joined at some times when needed and they were confident of the next day… if things would go their way.