Fear was mostly foreign to Archons.
Everything was usually within their range of expected outcomes whether good or bad but what Tsotsi had seen was horrifying.
Of course, he had fled the scene.
Of course, he immediately left Zenith’s territory and slipped into Epsilon’s domain.
His entire company was situated on his ship so they operated nomadically.
Now that Epsilon was dead, they were likely to have more jobs and eventually, he’d be able to achieve his goal.
Tsotsi’s dream was to eventually buy a supermassive ship and travel beyond the galaxy as an explorer instead of a bounty hunter but he’d need a lot of money for that. And a big crew but he only had twenty good men.
He rubbed his temples as he sat in the terminal of a landing port on a colonized planet in Epsilon’s territory.
One thing he hated about Epsilon was how much of a strict Bureaucrat he was.
Everything had to be documented, double-checked and stamped for approval.
This is why his part of the galaxy was mostly quiet and without conflict.
Trying to start a war Required jumping through so many hoops that most settled their differences begrudgingly.
Tsotsi, as an Archon, didn’t have to wait with the countless humans on the first ten floors and was instead given a VIP room on the second to last floor which had a good view of the landing port where his ship was docked.
Beyond the horizon was the image of a very large moon which made for a rather picturesque sight.
But it had already been photographed and documented a million times.
Tsotsi longed for an uncharted frontier.
For sights Unseen and-
[As if this week wasn’t already full of galaxy-shaking news, we just got a report that Archon Zenith the Collector is dead and that ownership of his territory has been transferred to a being known only as Ardi! We’re getting a transmission from Archon Zenith’s flagship, the New Genesis, now!]
A mortified Tsotsi turned to the holographic display on the wall in front of him and saw Ardi only she was clad in what seemed like a better suit than the one he’d seen her wear before he ran.
[Hello. My name is Ardi and I am from the world of Obsidia. I am also the new Admiral of the Fleet of Collectors and while my territory may experience a few changes, I hope our neighbouring territories will continue to treat us as they would have under Zenith’s leadership for the sake of a prosperous future.]
The footage cut off as soon as she finished speaking.
[Oh, my! Did she say that she was from Obsidia? The same planet where our benevolent Archon Epsilon was murdered? The Home World of the Dark King?] The news reporter gasped but Tsotsi barely heard him as his own thoughts spiraled.
How had she survived?
What in the galaxy was she?
And why had she been left in a tin can on a Ghost World?
If she was simply an Archon then how was she able to fit so much strength and processing power into such a small frame?
How had she beaten Zenith?
His territory was filled to the brim with weapons that could destroy entire planets!
Tsotsi thought she would have been quickly disposed of and he’d be able to resume his business but now she owned Zenith’s territory meaning there was no way he could escape her influence so long as he was still in the Milky Way.
He needed to leave.
He needed a ship.
But he didn’t have enough money.
So he turned to the Archons who once served under Epsilon.
There was a power vacuum now and, unless a vote brought in a new leader, conflict would arise.
Tsotsi needed to ally himself with the most powerful of them and use them towards his ends and the name that came up first was that of Zua, the Blinding Flare.
.
..
Ardi knew that the two things she had done had increased the animosity countless people held towards her by several folds.
It also increased their fear.
One mistake she was determined not to make was to underestimate her opponents as so many people had done to her.
She fully expected that those who didn’t immediately side with her would collude and look for ways to get rid of her.
By wiping them out, even those who joined her with ulterior motives would think twice.
And as for why she announced herself on the Galactic stage, she knew that the news would get out eventually so she decided to get it over with.
This would also mean that everyone would know her face making introductions easier.
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Ardi finished swallowing the last of the E-Souls Gudo had ripped from the sixty corpses and stood on the stage again.
“Alright. Vice Admiral, please consider the territories and subordinates of those who stood to the right as pending until they decide what to do. If they maintain their stance, allow them to return to their territories. We’ll take of them soon enough and if they decide to side with us, update their representatives on everything. And as for the rest of you, return to your ships, return to your homes and continue to operate as normal. Take all your usual concerns to Vice Admiral Heatdeath and anything serious will be bright up to me. Is that understood?”
“Yes, ma’am!”
The remaining Archons then exited the hall and eventually returned to their vessels which eventually Gravjumped away.
Those of the Archons who had died were asked to make their decisions and they all agreed to ally with Ardi who warned complete Annihilation for any who caused trouble further down the line.
Not only had she implemented [Failsafe Nanites] on every Archon she met, but she had also set them to replicate if the host Archon came into contact with another Archon.
This wild spread also led to her discovering that some Archons were unknowingly hosting other foreign Nanites, something which Ardi noted.
She knew she was being harsh but the cosmos hadn’t spared her a second after she awoke.
It was only fair.
“I wouldn’t want to rob you of such a magnificent ship, Vice Admiral, so you can keep the New Genesis. I’ll continue to operate from the Gore.”
“Oh- that won’t be necessary at all, ma’am. This was Zenith’s ship, actually. Mine is back on Plinth so feel free to make use of this one- actually I recommend you use this ship specifically. It has enough Gravjump range to go from one end of your territory to the other, is armed with four Planet scale Gravfold Canons and has four landing ports for your convenience.”
Ardi didn’t mind using the New Genesis but she had also grown fond of Tsuro and Gudo.
“Mmm… you wouldn’t mind captaining this ship for me, right?”
“Of course not! I’d been meaning to replace that old rust bucket but it was just too hard to let ‘er go, haha!” Gudo thundered in his usual jovial manner.
“We can always keep her in the port.”
“Then that is what we will do! Should I go fetch my crew and those humans of yours?”
“Yes, please.”
“Alright!” Gudo nodded before making his way off the stage and marching towards the landing port.
Ardi so desperately wanted to smile at his silliness but she also didn’t want to scare the Vice Admiral who she turned to, completely ignoring the sixty cyan-colored stains on the floor.
“Go to the bridge and set a course for Plinth. I’d like to properly graft myself onto the base.”
Heatdeath nodded before silently floating in the opposite direction of the landing port and even deeper into the ship via an air-locked corridor.
Ardi then let out a deep sigh before sitting down and looking at her absurd stats.
[Name: Ardi
Level: 95
Remaining Upgrade Points: 61
HP: 100 000 000/100 000 000
EN: 12 000 000/12 000 000J
STR: 34 000 000N
SPD: 2 388m/s (+928)
DI: 200%]
Huh. Ardi thought.
It looked like she had maxed out her stats.
It made sense since she could only get so strong in her current body without transforming into something completely different but something which even her Nanites fought to protect was her present form.
She didn’t care about lofty things like transcendence and just wanted enough strength to survive and reach that peaceful place.
She glanced at her skill tree and saw that most of the default skills had been made redundant by her current level.
So she decided to save her Upgrade Points for when she wanted to develop an extra skill.
She did, however, plan on fully unlocking all of her spear’s skills but she had left it in the Hawk.
Gudo eventually returned with his crew and Condor Unit in tow.
Ardi then led them several floors up to the New Genesis’s Bridge which was a wide space that was filled with humans and Archons who worked side by side behind sleek white desks and panels, although most of the humans attended the more menial tasks.
They all, however, stood attentively, as Ardi entered before returning to work as she led her entourage to Heatdeath.
“The helm is yours, ma’am.” He floated aside allowing Ardi to stand on the centremost point of the bridge allowing her to see out of a wide window that showed the vastness of space before the New Genesis.
“Let’s make our way to Plinth but, before that, I have a very specific instruction…” Ardi turned to Heatdeath and made a pleading expression, making the big floating ball visibly flinch.
“Please don’t engage the Gravfold Engines for at least twenty-four hours. I need to rest. Please.”
“Er… alright. We’ll take it slow.”
Ardi nodded before being led by one of the humans, a small woman, to the captain’s quarters which was essentially an entire estate located behind the bridge.
She entered the large space, ignored all the ancient artefacts that were securely placed within sealed transparent displays as she made her way to the main bedroom where she found a large bed covered in pure white sheets.
Ardi dissolved her Nanitesuit and slowly allowed herself to fall onto the soft mattress.
She then immediately allowed her moderate thought processes to enter a sleep-like state and like that, her eyes closed.
.
..
Ardi opened her eyes and, for the first time, didn’t have to immediately worry about whether or not she’d die.
It felt… amazing!
She had slept for a full eight hours and the organic parts of her CQNN jumped with joy as it felt as though something had washed all the fatigue away.
She sat up, spread her arms and greeted the new day with a smile.
She knew people didn’t like it when she smiled but she couldn’t help it.
To remedy this, she had her Ardinites drape a silky black veil over her face.
She then used up a point to create an Extra Skill she called [Distortion Field] which would disrupt waves and signals across the spectrum.
The skill would activate when the veil was on to further obscure her face which would allow her to smile as much as she wanted without freaking anyone out.
Ardi crawled out of bed and snatched one of the black morning gowns she found in the room’s many cupboards. She slipped into it and waddled over to a full-length mirror where she raised her veil.
For the first time since she was first awoken, she beheld herself and finally saw them.
The reason why everyone had such strange reactions to her face.
Her eyes.
Twin points of vivid shades of Pink and Cyan which seemed to gaze through all they saw.
Ardi knew their bizarre shade was due to her countless lenses and Sensors but didn’t see anything to be afraid of.
She let out a defeated sign before using [Scan] on herself and this revealed to her the source of her uniqueness.
The small bits of humanity she held as a part of her CQNN were marvels of their own and they were none other than her own Neurons.
While regular neurons were able to receive and transmit various but simple signals, hers were able to do the same with the added ability of being able to interpret the complex signals that were sent from the adjacent C-cores.
What made the CQNN even more complex was that not only was she able to increase the performance range of her C-cores by consuming E-Souls, but her Q-neurons were constantly growing and learning.
Ardi realized the true extent of her purpose now.
She had been designed to not only be able to host an Archon’s digital soul but to grow and develop as a human.
But…
That didn’t explain why she had been cast aside.
“Mmm…” She droned to herself.
She would have to ask her creator.
But since she didn’t know where he was, she chose to temporarily cast the thought aside.
A knock then broke her out of her introspective trance.
“Come in.”
Meredith opened the double doors and her brows furrowed a little upon seeing a cosily dressed Ardi.
Although she might have been more concerned about the Veil.
“Sorry to disturb, ma’am. I just wanted to let you know that we have made our decision and wish to follow you so long as your goals align with those of humanity.”