Alice wasted no time adding Dmitri's newly formed soul stone to the throne. A new section appeared on the Throne. AI commanders, and Dmitri would be the first. All the other AI's aside from Alice and Paul were automatically added under his command. Furthermore, Alice hoped he would be able to recruit all the other AI lives that were members of the Pigeons. She reached out to Hadorix to inform him of the good news. "Hadorix, the primary AI for the Pigeons, Dmitri has joined us. Your goals just became a lot easier."
This was completely beyond Hadorix expectations. He replied, "If you feel you can trust Dmitri, then we can begin phase 1. Move all the Pigeon Faction members that have been revived into the Massive Carrier. Once more members are revived use all the ships that have the Pigeon logo. Do not include the stealth's. They will continue to be used by the Shadow Armory. Include Bill. I trust you to determine who to put in charge. Begin attacking and taking any noncriminal ships captive under the name of the Pigeons. Disassemble the ships and any gear they may have and add it to our stockpile of resources. If your able to attack settlements, allow them to do that as well. Take all the people in the settlements as prisoners. Now that you have Dmitri, once you have an ample load of prisoners, contact the Pigeons slave traders, and arrange a pickup. Once a pickup is made, I will take the Shadow Armory and intercept, thus increasing my reputation with law enforcement. We will make a killing, and the Pigeon faction will begin losing a massive amount of credibility. Make sure you only use members of the Pigeon Faction. I do not want any of our regular forces involved in this operation." Alice gladly complied; she would send the Pigeon Faction members to the massive Cruiser as they revived. Even Bill would be going out on this mission.
Hadorix then returned to Cooter to claim his newly retrofitted ships. Hadorix was now almost out of credits, and yet, he felt this would be the beginning of a new chapter in his life. He summoned Brina and gathered those that had joined him from the prison ship. To Brina he said, "Brina, you have proved yourself reliable in leading others into battle. We are going to start a mercenary group on this planet. Take the new supers off the newly retrofitted mining ship and use them to find whatever work you can. Find jobs on the planet if you need to, find a way to secure a base here. This will be your Druid group. Feel free to request aid from one of the AI's from Alice if needed."
Brina spoke with a great amount of gratitude. "Hadorix, you saved me when I was a slave, I would be honored to begin building your forces here."
Hadorix then had Alice setup an account for Brina and add some credits from the Deviant Factions account. As Alice had claimed the credits of all those slain, they had amassed a rather large sum. It was easy for her to transfer 250,000 credits to Brina to begin the operations.
Hadorix would not simply focus on one plan, he had many groups involved now. The 5 stealth fighters with the Shadow Armory were already out in the galaxy trying to claim pirate ships, Anubis was on his way in the Spiders Lair to Earth to reclaim his army. He had already began claiming asteroids full of valuable resources on his flight path. The revived Pigeons had taken their ships and began their assault on the populace to destroy the Pigeons reputation. Alexus and her armies were still in the process of eliminating resistance in the areas under Anvilmar. Alice had sent out the spirts under her command with her body and moved toward Butterfly Sanctuary. The ultra-heavy fighters she utilized in her fleet represented the peak of the technology the AI civilization had been able to achieve. She was positive they would be able to defeat many of the pirates that resided there and create a small base of operations for Hadorix to eventually take over the system.
Hadorix then blasted off from Four Seasons and began to head to Green Acres.
Hadorix quickly arrived at the edge of the ancient battlefield. Hadorix climbed into one of the fighter ships and exited the mining ship. He would have Paul control the other fighters as well as the newly retrofitted prison ship to gather as much of the debris as possible. Once gathered, it would be teleported into Deviant Home to be broken down. In this manner, resources and blueprints for the disassembled equipment could quickly be gained for the Deviant Faction.
With the mining in the hands of the AI, Hadorix went off to the closest planet with an outlet to a black hole. This planet was the aptly named XY06594267894. While this was a rather strange name, unexplored or uninhabited planets were given numbers. If a civilization were to live there, it could be named by the civilization.
As Hadorix landed, Alice urgently blasted a message into his mind. "Hadorix, you have to get out of there. There is a Grade A super nearby with exceptional abilities. Hadorix, he will kill you. I have also been studying the memories of my ancestors here in Deviant Home. We have to talk. ASAP." She then teleported Hadorix back to the throne in Deviant Home.
Hadorix was rather unhappy that his plans had been changed. "I could have flown out. Why the sudden sense of urgency?"
Alice again spoke into Hadorix's mind. "Hadorix, most of what I know of my civilization was a lie. I began to question things when I took out our spaceships that were supposed to be top of the line. We were destroyed by a small pirate fleet. Our firepower could not even match space pirates on the outer edge of space. I suggest we scrap them all for resources and build anew. So, I started digging through the memories of my ancestors. I discovered we were created by Kuzys, the cybernetic black dragon. It seems so simple now. AI, artificial intelligence. I should have known we were created… At any rate, my ancestor, the original AI of Deviant Home was an Autarch. That is right, a Grade SS. Though since he is an AI, I suppose he should technically be a Demi-Autarch. You see, AI do not have natural bodies. We can never match to the strength of those from the physical world. But what we can do is conquer machinery like no other group can. That is why most Autarch's will create at least a few AIS. Anyway, back to Kuzys. Kuzys is the real deal. He was a mid-grade Autarch when we left centuries ago. Who knows how powerful he would be now? There is no way that he would just allow billions of AI to simply leave without a recovery plan. Especially with my ancestor being one of those that left. Hadorix, if he comes, your dead. You must get stronger. At a minimum you need to hit Grade S or Sovereign strength. Then you will generate your own throne and you can merge it with Deviant Homes. That would gain you incredible power. Until you have your own throne you will never be able to truly control Deviant Home. You will always need me to do it for you. Though admittedly, the programing for this throne does not limit you as it would a race that belongs in the galactic society.
Second, there is the Well of Souls. It is the throne of a great Black Draco-Lich. Ya, an undead Black Dragon with incredible magical powers, and the ability to control other undead. Bringing undead to the Well does not just purify them, it gives the power they possessed to the throne of the Draco-Lich. My ancestor tricked the Draco-Lich. It is stuck inside the Well. That is where most of the Well's powers come from. If he were to get out now, we would all be dead. You need to generate your own throne so that you can claim the throne of the Draco-Lich, and either subdue him or eliminate him as a threat.
Third, Dmitri has caught wind of a fleet from the Galactic Tree heading toward Pax. I would assume he has discovered that the World Tree is dead and intends to investigate. You currently do not possess the power to thwart them. If they land on Pax, your forces there will likely perish. You need to get stronger so that you can add Pax to your own land grant.
Fourth, The Spiders Lair is a throne that was possessed by the Spider. While you have placed Anubis in charge of it, like you, he does not yet fully possess the power to control a throne. If a being that does possess that level of power tries to claim the Spiders Lair, you may lose it. I advise you to bring Anubis back with haste.
Fifth, the AI'S that I thought were imprisoned, are most of my civilization. They are not imprisoned, they voluntarily locked themselves away to provide as much power as possible to Deviant Homes throne. Some day we must find a way to release them. That day can't come until after you generate your own throne.
Sixth, Dmitri is the highest-grade AI in the Pigeons, however they also have a Sovereign grade super that controls Dmitri's Demi-Throne. If he catches wind of Dmitri's betrayal, Dmitri will be destroyed. He does not currently suspect Dmitri, but if you continue with your original plan, it is only a matter of time before he does. I think you need to count Dmitri out for now.
Seventh, you have no idea of the abilities that exist for supers. What you have seen isn't even a drop in the bucket. You absorbed the Spiders inheritance. Look through his memories sometime. You need to be prepared for what you could face out there.
Lastly, your bond with Alexus is a rather strange one. It appears that as either of you grow stronger, the power of your family crest will grow. Typically, a Crest is not generated until one hit Sovereign grade. I must assume yours generated early due to your link with Deviant Home and the Spider. You see, the Spider had not hit Sovereign grade, but possessing a Land Grant gave him special privileges earlier than most obtain them. Anyway, my point is, that as your crest grows, it will take more power from your throne. This is not a big deal for a few special force's units, but you currently send the mark out to all that you have tied to the throne. I am suggesting that you limit it to you and Alexus, and a few of your special force's groups for now. Once you develop your own throne, you can expand it. The higher strength people that possess your mark, the stronger your throne will be when you obtain one of your own. You will be able to merge the thrones of others with your own, or even add them in a side wing to allow them to maintain rule over some portion of your faction under your name. While few factions in the universe that I have heard of possess more than one true throne, many have some Demi-thrones.
I have a solution to your current lack of power problem. But you wont like it. There is still a vast quantity of prisoners in Melatonin. Your ability allows you to absorb anyone you kill. I suggest you absorb the majority of those in Melatonin. Particularly those that are actually there for committing crimes, or those that will never be useful to your faction.
I also have combined some of the methods that the Pigeons possessed with the technology for cybernetic bodies that I already possessed in my systems. I believe I could make a true cybernetic body for those AIS that desire to have one. This would allow them to grow as a normal life would. Perhaps they could truly be mechanical lives rather than just Artificial Intelligence. It would also work for those whose souls you have placed in machinery."
· Quest Received, Survive the coming storm. "You have angered many of the powerful beings in the world. Continuing your current path could lead to your demise."
o Required Tasks:
§ Hadorix Survives.
§ Alexus Survives.
§ Alice Survives.
o Optional Tasks:
§ Lose less than 10% of the Deviant Faction.
§ Save Pax.
§ Grow to Autarch.
§ Grow to Sovereign.
§ Learn how the Spider obtained a planet in his Land Grant.
§ Learn about the different types of Supers in the Galaxy.
§ Relocate the Deviant Faction from Pax to another planet.
§ Come to an agreement with the Draco-Lich.
§ Hatch the Dragon Eggs.
§ Absorb the supers in Melatonin Prison.
§ Absorb the Pigeon Faction.
§ Hidden tasks exist.
· Quest Reward depends on number of tasks completed.
Hadorix found himself rather speechless after Alice spoke. He didn't know he had so many powerful enemies knocking on the gates. This would also prove to be a rather large headache as Hadorix now had a great many decisions to make, and all of them seemed to be imminent. Hadorix started with recalling his members of the Pigeons and telling Dmitri to go back to business as usual with the Pigeons. That plan would be postponed until he had the power to deal with a sovereign grade super. He then had Alice dismantle the fleet that she possessed. If they were not capable of taking down pirates, they were useless anyway. Those were the easy decisions. Now he had to figure out what to do with Pax, and whether he should absorb Melatonin's prisoners. While contemplating, Hadorix thought it best to warn Anubis.
"Anubis, The Galactic Tree sent a fleet toward Pax. Many Sovereigns and Autarch's may have their eyes set on the Spiders Lair, be careful. Teleport back home if you run into any trouble. I also have a question for you, as you know most of those in Melatonin prison. Are their any prisoners there that committed truly heinous crimes?"
Anubis replied, "Hadorix, I am from the galaxy. I am familiar with powers far greater than my own. I am being very cautions in my trip to claim my army from Earth. Once I have it, I will return home. As for Melatonin, there are many servants of the Galactic Tree that will never serve you or I, and there are some that have committed crimes, there are others that are merely there because they possessed to great a power and were put to sleep. I am no God; I cannot help you decide who should live or die. That is a decision you must make on your own. Though I would wager you now know the strength of your adversaries. As such, I have a friendly statement. All the buildings you have been able to add to your throne, possess a throne. Those thrones, and all the buildings and people with them can be truly merged with Deviant Home or moved to other locations if desired. Once you gain your own throne, if those beings still live and you have bound their thrones with your own, they will owe you fealty. Keep in mind I said bound, not merged. You have many ways to keep your people safe."
While Hadorix contemplated what to do with Melatonin, Dmitri alerted him to a slave ship leaving the Pigeon territory. It would be significantly larger than the one Hadorix had claimed and would contain all of the merchants that the Pigeons under Hadorix command had raided. Even with all the issues Hadorix was currently facing. He felt he had to set things right for those merchants and free them. Hadorix had Alice teleport him and the ship he had taken into the mining ship. Once there, Hadorix boarded his fighter again, and went towards the coordinates that Dmitri provided him. If he were to hurry, he would be able to catch them relatively easily.
· Quest Received, rescue the merchants. "You have caused the capture of many merchants and civilians in the name of the Pigeons. It is your duty to ensure that they are freed and not sold into a life of slavery."
· Quest Reward, blueprint voucher.