As Ayesha walked out of the bedroom, her revealing top and black heels naturally shifted into a regal gown that went all the way down to the floor, with its bottom trailing behind her, though under the gown, she could feel her heels squirming as they grew even higher, essentially forcing her to walk on her toes with minimal support as the strings wrapped around her ankles extended higher and went up to the middle of her thighs. Over the dress, gold plating emerged, giving it a more metallic look, in accordance with the Sovereign's standards. The bust section rose higher as the neck piece formed into a thick gold chainmail with flat supports on the two sides, almost like a posture collar. Finally, a pair of gloves formed on her arms, with matching gold braces for her forearms and upper arms.
From the exotic stripper covered in golden paint from before, Ayesha looked nothing less than the queen of an empire. Of course, underneath the regal attire and crown she wore, the uncomfortably tall heels alongside the absence of underwear ensured that she remained aware of the reality of her situation.
"How do you wish to convey the narrative, Master?" Ayesha asked as the stirring under her clothes continued, only to feel a small egg-shaped object nestle itself between her legs.
[Tell them that you have received support from the Apex Empire, which sent one of their generals to help take care of the dangers posed by OrgoCorp and the High Evolutionary. In exchange, the Sovereign will regularly send the people with death penalties and life imprisonment to the Apex Empire's side. For now, we will limit things to this. Once the conflict grows a bit, I'm also planning to introduce my Artificial Intelligence to your planet. That will mark the day that the Sovereign becomes a subordinate force of the Apex Empire.]
"An Artificial Intelligence?" She paused, not because of his words but because of the wobble in her step that forced her to stop to regain her balance. "I'm not sure if that is a very good idea, Master."
[Why do you think so?]
"A few years ago, the Kree Empire had an incident where their highest authority, a general artificial intelligence, was destroyed. For countless years prior, they had been reliant on artificial intelligence for everything from basic assistance to progressive decisions. Without it, their entire race fell into disarray, allowing entities like Ronan the Accuser to wreak havoc across the warfronts without any supervision. It took a long time before they stabilized themselves and forged non-aggression pacts once the governments stabilized."
[Is that so? That makes sense. Their Supreme Intelligence, or whatever, was the thing keeping up the war against the Nova and Skrulls. Without it, peace was the natural conclusion.]
"Correct," she nodded. "I am unsure what impact implementing such a system for the Sovereign will have."
"I'm not replacing you with Gaia, Ayesha. You will still be the supreme authority of the planet and can even override Gaia. I will only ever be the one with authority over you, no one else. The reason that I'm doing this is that I'm what people refer to as a control freak. I want absolute control over my subjects, and Gaia is the perfect medium for that."
She seemed a little hesitant, but ultimately didn't voice her complaints, accepting his explanation regarding the artificial intelligence.
[That's my good Queenie, here's a little reward for you.]
Suddenly, the egg-shaped object nestled between her legs started vibrating, making her stiffen, and forcing a cute yelp through her lips before she pressed them together.
[How does it feel?]
Her legs were weak and slightly wobbly as she took a deep breath, calming herself down before speaking. "It's uncomfortable…"
[Tell me, how so? Does it feel like a cramp?]
Ayesha could feel her clothes putting some pressure on her abdomen, and felt like a hand was massaging her pelvis, calming her frayed nerves.
"Like a weak one… But there's also something else…a feeling like there's a pit in my stomach spreading warmth through my body."
[I want you to attend the meeting like this. Will you be able to?]
"I think so… It's not unbearable."
[That's my good Queenie, go on. Time to face the music. I'll be there to help you at any time.]
With difficulty, Ayesha wobbled over to the elevator, which led her to the main hall of the palace. She had to cross the entire hall in those heels with a constant buzzing between her legs that sent unfamiliar sensations across her body. Behind her throne was a set of doors that led to a restricted room. Only military personnel with the ranks of commander and above had access to it, aside from the Queen herself. It was the war room, a place rarely utilized by the Sovereign.
Standing before the doors, she took a deep breath to stabilize herself and move her mind away from the thoughts of everything going on under her robes before pushing open the door.
"High Priestess," the commanders respectfully saluted the moment she entered the room, every single one of them standing up in her presence.
"At ease," she said, steadily walking toward the seat at the head. "Give me a brief of the situation."
Just as she sat down, her back involuntarily straightened, and she tightened her core. Sitting down had inadvertently pushed the buzzer between her legs deeper, enhancing the stimulation further. Still, she was able to maintain her composure.
"Our previous estimates were that we would get into a losing battle of attrition against the Harbinger's fleet, which would lead to us losing Zephyros before the end of the week," The commander for Zephyros' fleet spoke. "But with the anomaly, as you communicated, to be this Apex creature, has directly brought down not only the Harbinger, but also the three subcommanders along with their ships. The ones that could retreat have now retreated, leaving the smaller ships without the capabilities to escape the atmosphere of Zephyros. The battlefield cleanup should be finished within the week, completely eradicating all traces of the enemy fleet."
"High Priestess, if I may," the commander of Auraxis' fleet spoke up. "I must ask the source of this anomaly that was more monster than living being…Almost like a god. I've seen the footage of that crimson thunder, and even godly Asgardians like Thor don't have that kind of capability."
"All in good time," she said. "Within the week, I want Zephyros secured, okay? We will be activating the planetary shield for Zephyros as well."
"High Priestess, I must object," the commander of Orivon's fleet said. "Our energy reserves are far from enough to maintain two planetary shields for too long. Even Sovereign Prime can only last another month at most. With another planet added to the mix…"
"I understand your concerns, but the energy issue has also been resolved," she said.
"Does it have to do with the source of this Apex creature?" The commander of Chryseon's fleet spoke.
"It does," Ayesha said. "He comes from a force from another galaxy. The Apex Empire."
[Nice. With the minimal communication between different galaxies, a force from another galaxy sounds like a perfect deterrent…]
She didn't say anything, but a faint curve appeared on the side of her lip. "They are planning to expand into our sector and wish to set up a cooperative relationship with a local force. I have been in contact with them for a long time, but with the High Evolutionary's decision to discard us, I had to rely on them."
"What are their conditions?" The fifth commander, seated right beside Ayesha, spoke. She was Seraphina. Serving as the commander of the most elite fleet of the empire that had the sole purpose of defending Sovereign Prime, she was also Ayesha's second-in-command, dealing with many things in the absence of the High Priestess.
"For now, nothing unacceptable. They want our prisoners. Whether for generic research or other reasons. I don't know."
"Has that been agreed upon?"
"No," Ayesha said. "The appearance of Apex was a so-called gesture of goodwill."
"Do you think they will threaten us if we do not accept their conditions?" She asked Ayesha. "You are the only one who has had any contact with them."
"Apex being deployed to the battlefield was both an expression of goodwill and a threat. If we dare to take advantage of them, nothing stops them from sending that creature to Sovereign Prime once the shields run out—if the shields can hold it off in the first place."
[My own slave is referring to me as if I'm an animal. How depressing… It's fine, though. I will make sure to train you thoroughly tonight and let you understand just how much of an animal I am.]
Ayesha's lower lip tightened, pressing into a thin line as Seraphina spoke. "Are you willing to hand over our people to an external entity, High Priestess?"
"The worst that can happen is that they decipher the genetic code of the people we send," Ayesha said with a grave tone, only for Seraphina to nod in agreement.
"That will allow them to optimize birth and a person's traits like us… But that should take hundreds of years without our technology. Even if they decipher our methods, reproducing our technology should take them centuries, if not more. This all comes while working under the assumption that they don't already have that technology or something better."
"The reality is that we don't have a choice," Ayesha said. "The High Evolutionary has three more commanders to send along with fleets just as deadly—that's not even counting his elite fleet. Without support from the Apex Empire, our demise is set in stone. This is our only option for survival."
***
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