Intergalactic conquest with an AI

Leena smirked, folding her arms. "Interesting. So, he’s not just another grunt."

The officer nodded vigorously. "No, ma’am. If he keeps up this pace, we may even have a chance at... well, actually winning this front."

Leena looked out the viewport, her gaze piercing through the vastness of space toward the planet below. "Keep me updated on this Rex. I want to see just how far he can go."

Back on the surface, Rex smirked, somehow sensing that eyes were on him from above. With a glint in his eye, he muttered under his breath, "Hope you’re watching, General. You’re about to see what a real show looks like."

Rex stood atop a pile of dead Khryssari Warriors, his silhouette outlined against the smoky sky. Ys sat comfortably on his shoulders, her legs draped around him, surveying the amassed forces below. Hours of relentless fighting had finally paid off since he’d gathered a small army, vehicles, and a fleet of ships ready to take the fight to the enemy.

[Allied Infantry] x860        [Wraith Fighters] x4

[Aegis Units] x87          [Cleo Gunboat] x1

[Allied Vehicles] x35

[Allied Artillery] x5

[Gunboats] x3

[Allied Fighters] x15

Rex glanced up at Ys, who was grinning down at him with that devilish look he knew all too well.

"Uh... Ys, have I ever mentioned how... soft you are?" Rex asked, his face suspiciously close to her legs, trying to sound casual.

She raised an eyebrow, her grin widening. "Oh?～ Enjoying yourself, are we?" she teased, giving him a playful squeeze with her thighs.

Rex coughed, trying to keep his composure. "Ahem, isn’t it a little inappropriate to be... doing this in the middle of a war?" His words sounded stern, but the look on his face said otherwise.

"Oh, you’re one to talk～," she laughed, leaning down and whispering into his ear. "Anyway, hold still. I don’t want your helmet getting in the way." She brushed her legs against him, causing him to turn slightly pink even beneath the helmet’s visor.

"Wait—Ys, how am I even feeling your legs through your armor?" Rex asked, his voice filled with sudden suspicion.

"Aha～," she whispered mischievously, "well, the secret’s out." She let her invisible cloak flicker off, revealing herself. Rex’s eyes widened as he took in her appearance; she wasn’t naked, but she had removed her bio-armor from her legs, leaving her in a small, black pair of shorts that hugged her pale skin.

Rex blinked, his gaze momentarily transfixed by the sight. She noticed and leaned in with a smirk. "Darling～, you know that big worm over there?" She pointed at the massive creature writhing in the distance.

"Its nucleus is packed with nutrients. If I consume it, I might just be able to... grow a bit." She traced a finger along his armor, letting her voice dip into a playful tone. "I’d still be smaller than you, but... big enough, maybe?～"

With that, she activated her invisibility again, fading from sight with a wink. Her voice was a soft, tempting whisper in his ear. "So work hard, Rex. You might just earn yourself a reward～."

Her words lit a fire in Rex’s eyes, and his focus snapped back to the battlefield. His helmet materialized in an instant, a heavy claymore forming in his hand. With a booming voice that carried across the ranks, he called out to his troops.

"Everyone! Listen up! The time has come!" he shouted, raising his claymore high. "Our objective is that giant worm right there! Take it down, and we control this area! And the bonus won’t be small, either!"

He looked over his gathered forces, his armor gleaming as the golden accents caught the light. "So stand with me, brothers and sisters! Today, we make our stand! We’ll show everyone that we’re not just cannon fodder! CHARGE!"

The troops roared in response, their voices echoing across the battlefield. Rex leaped from the pile of Khryssari corpses, his golden armor blazing like a beacon as he led the charge. The promise of glory and perhaps a little something more were driving him forward with renewed vigor.

The entire battalion surged forward, trailing behind Rex as he led the charge. Artillery trucks rolled slowly across the battlefield, their massive guns thundering non-stop, sending explosive shells that kicked up towering clouds of dust and debris.

Visibility was low, and thanks to that, both sides were firing blindly, aiming at the last known positions of their enemies and praying they’d land their shots before getting hit themselves.

To Rex’s left, Carlos commanded a squadron of armored vehicles, standing proudly on top of a hovertank brought in by one of the other teams.

His crew moved in a swift, calculated pattern, pushing deep into the Khryssari ranks only to retreat back 500 meters, luring a mass of the swarm right into the crosshairs of Cleo’s gunboat turrets. The gunboats unleashed a deadly barrage, reducing the pursuing Khryssari to ashes.

Above, Cleo commanded the air units with ruthless precision. Her gunboats hovered like vigilant hawks, raining down support fire on the ground units, while the Wraith fighters darted through the air, intercepting Skydancers and tearing them from the sky.

Each allied fighter danced through the smoke and chaos, keeping the skies clear and protecting the ground forces below.

On the right flank, a captain from Nexum Dynamics, one of the officers Rex had rescued, took charge, maneuvering his hovertanks with brutal efficiency. This was his element, and Rex had given him full command of the right side. So far, he was proving himself more than capable, turning his forces into a formidable wall of metal and firepower.

This ragtag collection of survivors had become an iron fortress, standing their ground like battle-hardened veterans. What had started as a scattered front line was now a unified force, holding their own against the Khryssari swarm.

The troops fought with a ferocity that matched or even rivaled the veteran soldiers of the Megacorps.

But none of them realized that their newfound strength, their unwavering courage, was drawn from the aura radiating off Rex himself.

He didn’t know it either since he was too focused, too driven, to notice the effect he had on those around him. To him, there was only the mission. Nothing else mattered. He was a force of pure will, a man who’d fight through an army without a second thought.

Rex’s HUD was a mess of flashing yellow alerts, blaring warnings from every direction as shots came in from all sides. He dodged what he could, slicing through incoming enemies with masterful precision.

When he couldn’t dodge, he simply grabbed the nearest Khryssari and used its body as a shield, then tossed it aside and pressed forward, his eyes locked on the worm looming in the distance.

His claymore blurred with speed, a silver streak in his hands. Cleo’s first fusion upgrade, the Sword Mastery module, was working in perfect sync with his movements.

His blade moved faster than the eye could follow, cleaving through Khryssari bio-armor with ease. The alien warriors fell before him like stalks of wheat under a scythe, their once-imposing bodies reduced to lifeless heaps in his wake.

Carlos laughed over the comms, his voice full of adrenaline. "Rex, you’re turning these bugs into minced meat down there! Save some for the rest of us!"

Rex smirked, not breaking his stride. "Keep up, and maybe you’ll get your fair share!"

Ys’s voice chimed in, warm and teasing. "Oh, he’s just showing off, as usual. I swear, he’d try to outdo a tank if he could."

Meanwhile, from her gunboat, Cleo’s voice crackled in. "Rex, remember we’re here to support you, not to scrape you off the battlefield when you get reckless."

"Relax, Cleo. I’ve got this covered," Rex replied, his voice confident but his grip tightening on his claymore as he pushed further.

For every enemy that fell, another took its place. The Khryssari seemed endless, a living tide of armor and claws. But Rex never faltered. He was a man with a mission, and nothing, no swarm, no skydancer, no monster worm was going to stop him.

With his armor glowing under the bombardment, Rex let out a rallying cry. "Forward! This worm’s not going to kill itself! For victory! For the bonus!"

Rex’s actions struck like lightning across the battlefield. His every move was like a dance, every word dripping with a fierce, untamed heroism that filled his allies with strength they didn’t even know they had.

Those who could hear him felt a primal surge of courage as if they were in the presence of a god, an unstoppable force tearing through the darkness to show them the way.

But nothing could be further from the truth. Rex wasn’t thinking of glory, or victory, or even survival. His mind was fixated on a single, haunting image: Ys’s legs disappearing into the shadows and her final words echoing in his ears.

He would not fall here, not now. With his objective so close, nothing would stand in his way.

Meanwhile, aboard the flagship, General Leena Valrix stared out across the bridge, her face impassive. That changed the moment her officer came running toward her, breathless. "General! The individual you ordered me to monitor, he’s... he’s on the move! It’s huge!"

Her expression remained calm, but there was a glint of something in her eyes. "Show me," she said, voice as steady as iron. The officer handed her a tablet, and she took it without a word, connecting it to the central holographic display.

The bridge filled with a sharp, blue light as data flickered to life before her. For a moment, she was silent, just staring. And then she whispered, almost to herself, "This... this can’t be."

Around her, the officers exchanged glances, unsure of what they were witnessing, but they all knew one thing: whatever was happening, it was beyond anything they’d prepared for.