When Sentinel Pri ca to be, his expression crumpled with what could only be described as an unholy combination of rage and despair. His expression crumpled, contorting with pain as he clenched his fists, gritting his teeth.
A single chokingly escaped him.
"I will never forgive you for what you have done, NOVA."
His breathing grew labored as he heaved a deep breath, trying to restore his composure, before gazing at his hands with a grave expression. It appeared he had been entirely aware of everything that had happened since NOVA hacked his body through Ieyasu.
His attention eventually shifted towards Rui, who stood before him, patiently waiting for the sentinel to acclimatize.
"Thank you, Rui Quarrier, and forgive ." The man’s voice was deep, as it was electronic. "It is my lack of caution that has led to my people and being enslaved by NOVA and attacking you under her control. And yet, you have saved and freed from her control. For that, I have deep gratitude."
"It is not your fault." Rui raised his hand in a consoling gesture. "The truth is that a human traitor was responsible for your hacking. It would not have happened if we had killed him before he managed to get away. It is also not sothing you could have foreseen easily, all things considered. Regardless, it has been a learning experience for both of us."
"That, it certainly has." Sentinel Pri nodded with a grim disposition. "I must ask, though I dread the answer... what has beco of my warriors? What of my people?"
The air grew heavy as a faint hint of tension hung in the air. Rui simply heaved a deep breath before shaking his head. "NOVA retreated with them after she assassinated my father. They are still under her control, most likely stored sowhere in Acherialis. Our intelligence suggests that Sentinel Island has been captured by Greater Tekvoria and your people have been enslaved, even those who have not undergone extensive technological assimilation."
The sentinel’s expression grew visibly agonized while his body language grew excruciated. "...I am a failure of a leader, allowing all of my warriors and my people to suffer such a fate. But..."
His expression grew angry. "I will not allow them to suffer that fate for long! I will restore our sovereignty and recollect each and every sentinel from within her vile grip!"
He turned towards Rui with a serious gaze. "I’m sorry to hear about your father. I’m sorry to have contributed to his death, even if it wasn’t . The Emperor of Harmony was a great man who managed to compel to his side when I had considered allying with NOVA at the very start of the war. I imagine that you will ascend the throne and succeed your father."
"That is my intention, yes," Rui spoke with a serious tone. "I know what you are about to ask, so I will state it quite clearly. The Kandrian Empire cannot go to war for your people in its current state. Our eastern seaboard is destroyed, and our death toll is approaching a million. Our pathwalkers have suffered losses, and we cannot imdiately go to war now that the world war has finally co to an end."
"I see..." The disappointnt in the tone of Sentinel Pri was palpable.
"However..." Rui continued with an upticked tone. "If you are willing to wait until we have stabilized our situation, then..."
His eyes sharpened.
"I will help you recover your people."
The Sentinel Pri’s cybernetic eyes lit up with joy. "Do you an those words, Dawnbringer?"
"I swear, as the next Emperor of Kandria, that we will give you all the Martial aid and intel you need to recover your people," Rui promised him with a serious tone. "Our alliance charter states that we are obligated to co to your help should you request it. I have no intention of violating the commitnts my father made. We can also provide strategic resources such as negatron-empowered wormholes leading you right into Greater Tekvoria. However, it is unlikely that we will allow you to execute a major operation through negatron wormholes. That is a dangerous territory that we do not wish to tread into. In the worst-case scenario, it could lead to global destruction."
Sentinel Pri, being a leader himself, understood why Rui caveated his promise of negatron technological aid. It was for the sa reason that NOVA did not destroy the Kandrian Empire when she teleported to kill the Emperor of Harmony.
It would have counted as a negatronic weapon of mass destruction, which would have triggered an autonomous response of causing mass destruction on every other continent in the world, including Acherialis, in retaliation, which would have further triggered more autonomous mass destruction attacks through negatron wormholes.
"Any mass destruction caused through negatron technology is implicitly and informally prohibited," Rui declared. "Any attempts at doing so could trigger autonomous retaliation that each civilization has prepared in advance and trigger a chain reaction that will lead to global destruction. In fact, even my teleportation of NOVA’s attack back to Acherialis was extrely risky, but thankfully, the leader of Acherialis was there herself, so she chose not to escalate that attack to global destruction. But still, it is not a line we should be crossing over and over."
"I am aware," Sentinel Pri replied. "Rest assured, I don’t want to see the world burn. I hate NOVA and Greater Tekvoria, but if you deploy there through a wormhole to save my people, I swear that I will not launch any explosives or cause any destruction. If you wish, I can disengage and dismantle all of my weapons systems before such an operation."
Rui stirred at the offer. "...We will consider your offer. For now, however, I would recomnd you lay low in this country."
"I cannot do that." Sentinel Pri shook his head. "I must return to Sentinel Island imdiately and save my enslaved people. I do not believe that NOVA will deem it worth it to fight , of all people, to maintain occupation over that island. I must return soon before she can build any infrastructure that can potentially hack again when I return."
"In that case." The Esoterist’s voice was projected into the chamber. "Why don’t we give your cyber technology a little esoteric upgrade, making it harder for NOVA to hack? I actually have a pretty quick fix thanks to the fact that esoteric technology is still largely a mystery to the rest of the world."
Sentinel Pri’s cybernetic eyes lit up at those words. "I will gladly take you up on that."
"Very well then." Rui nodded. "We will teleport you to Sentinel Island so that you may catch NOVA off guard. Since non-pathwalkers will not have undergone much technologization of their bodies, it won’t be possible for NOVA to control them the way she controlled you. If your victory is decisive, I highly doubt that NOVA will try to contest your island for herself. After all, Acherialis has undergone a little bit of damage itself."
Sentinel Pri nodded with seriousness. "It is decided then. I will heal, have my components and damaged fixed, have my cybersecurity upgraded with esoteric technology, and then I will return to Sentinel Island imdiately and wreak havoc on NOVA’s forces!"
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