"They were in Neo Switzerland. That's our first destination." Viktor's cold voice echoed through the bridge of the Diane. Sat in the command chair, gaze fixed on the screens before him, where the trajectory of the ship, the map, altitude, and all the relevant information was shown to him.
"My analysis of the visual and biometric data confirms the identity of the target," Orion's synthesized voice responded, devoid of emotion. "He is indeed the Praetorian Lucian K-WM734."
Viktor's expression darkened, his jaw tightening. "He's alive," he muttered, more to himself than to Orion. "After all this time..."
"Affirmative," Orion stated.
"His actions, however, go against everything that a true Praetorian should be," Viktor pointed out. "He's ill. The stain in the Praetorian DNA was in him too... He must be suffering. I couldn't imagine how much."
"We will give him his well-deserved peace, Viktor," Orion said.
"Kidnapping a woman, then becoming a beast driven by instinct and not being able to do anything about it," Viktor said, bitterly. "Isn't it sad and ironic, Orion? Lucian the God Slayer, the hunter of Praetorians, will be hunted and put to peace for having in him, the stain he swore to eradicate."
"I refrain myself from emulating emotions as you requested, Viktor," Orion replied. "But according to my analysis, yes. He must be in agony." Then he continued: "This is Boris S-RM124, he's a Praetorian, a strategist, and he is living in Neo Switzerland," Orion displayed the image of a man Viktor had only seen in pictures. "I recommend we visit him. He will cooperate with us."
Viktor smiled, bitterly again, wondering if Orion could feel anything.
"Good," Viktor finally said. "We'll need his help. This God Slayer. He will be our most difficult target ever."
"I must disagree with such a statement," Orion countered. "The data shows that the Praetorians who kidnapped women tend to lose their desire for aggression and become harmless."
"That's only after the woman is dead so I don't think this will be the case, Orion. Look at King Soren, for example," Viktor said.
"Indeed. The target one remains beyond our grasp," he replied. "Do you think Lucian will be similar?"
"I'm sure about it," Viktor said. "He will fight with everything he has. He will be as dangerous as King Soren."
"He must be terminated regardless of that," Orion stated. "His existence as a twisted Praetorian can't be allowed."
"We will set him free, both of them, eventually," Viktor said. "But for now, we must focus our efforts on Lucian. Prepare my armor. I'm going to need it."
"Affirmative. Hydra class armor suit unlocked. Permissions for use granted. Permissions for deployment granted. Protocol Fallen Feathers in action." Orion announced. "You have been granted full permissions to fulfill your mission, Viktor."
"Acknowledged," Viktor replied. "I will not fail, Lucian."
"You better not," Orion reminded him. "There aren't many left to carry on our duty."
"I know." Viktor ended, closing his eyes, focusing on the task ahead, preparing his mind in a way that no distractions would come up during critical moments, a technique he had mastered over the years. "Wake me up when arrived in Neo Switzerland."
Just a few hours later…
"Viktor. We have arrived." Orion announced. Viktor opened his eyes, his expression calm and focused.
"What are these incoming vessels, Orion? Explain." He asked.
"They are a defensive response coming from Neo Switzerland. They perceive us as a threat." Orion answered.
"Is this supposed to be happening?" Viktor was concerned. "Why didn't the Aethera or their AIs inform them of the Diane? They should know all the Praetorian ships that ever existed, shouldn't they?"
"The Aethera should be learning of our presence soon, they will know who we are, and the AI not knowing only means its database is very new." Orion replied.
"Or someone changed the database so that they don't recognize the Diane," Viktor pointed out.
"That's unlikely, but possible." Orion agreed. "How would you like to proceed?"
Viktor allowed a faint smirk. "There's only one way to proceed. Allow them to fire a few more volleys. Let them see that they can't penetrate our shields, and that we are not going to answer the fire. After that, we should open a channel."
"Proceeding." Orion answered, while in one of the screens was displaying what would happen if the Diane answered the fire. The whole fleet would burn.
The attacking vessels continued their barrage, their fire harmlessly dissipating against the ship's shield and defensive systems. Once they understood they were wasting their ammunition and ceased fire, Orion opened a communication channel.
"Attention, commander of NSV Eiger," Orion's voice reached all the ships, its tone commanding and devoid of any hint of negotiation. "You have engaged the Praetorian vessel Diane. Desist immediately. You have no authority, nor rank or right to perform any hostility against Praetorians."
"Sir, we have no identification on your ship," the commander responded, with apprehension. "You are entering restricted airspace. You must withdraw."
Orion ignored him. Viktor smirked in annoyance.
"Accessing Neo Switzerland's royal communication channels," Orion announced, overriding the commander's transmission. "Connecting to King Maximilianus XVI."
"What? What is this? Who dares to open a channel now? We are in an important meeting!" King Maximilianus XVI's voice boomed, filled with indignation. "I will not tolerate such..."
"Connection interrupted by AI," Orion announced.
"AI?" Viktor sighed.
"This AI's name is Gina and she is indeed a new generation AI, Viktor," Orion informed. "She doesn't know me, nor the Diane. But we have permission to talk to the king because I have access codes that she recognizes."
Viktor nodded. The screen flickered and displayed again a man in his thirties, he was big, strong, blonde, green eyes and had a severe expression on his face.
"Your Majesty," a calm voice spoke, a young woman of unnatural beauty: an Aethera. "I recognize him. His name is Orion. He is the commander AI of the Diane, a Praetorian ship." She answered. "You must listen to what he wants to say. Everyone in this room must."
King Maximilianus XVI looked at her, his gaze had shifted, showing a deep respect and reverence towards the woman. "Praetorian? Like Lord Lucian, Myra? Proceed… Proceed."
"It is good to see you again, Orion. It's been almost six hundred years." Myra said, her tone gentle. "Speak. Tell us why you're here."
"This is Orion, the command AI of the Praetorian vessel Diane," Orion began, its voice unwavering. "We are here in pursuit of a high-priority target. Our presence is not a threat to your kingdom. I request you recall your vessels and allow us to proceed with our mission."
"Vessels? What vessels?" King Maximilianus XVI replied, his voice still tinged with surprise.
"We have deployed the fleet to neutralize the threat, my king," Gina answered.
"What?! What nonsense is that?!" The king turned red, alarm painted the faces in the meeting room, even Myra was surprised and shocked. "Stop that immediately for my father's father! Who ordered an attack?!"
"It was an unfortunate mistake, my king. All the data pointed out that the ship was a major threat and as such I treated it." Gina answered. "The command to stop has been sent."
"It was a negligence of your programmers, king," Orion added. "You must keep your main AI's database well protected and updated with all the important information in it, regardless of how archaic it might look."
"We will fix that immediately, Orion! I profoundly apologize for this incident," Myra said, affected. "Welcome to Neo Switzerland."
"Is there anything we can do to assist?" The king, ashamed, asked. "Don't hesitate. We will help you with anything you need."
"Your cooperation is sufficient, majesty," Orion replied, terminating the connection.
The attacking vessels disengaged, retreating to their base.
"Good enough." Viktor said. "I think you should stay two kilometers away from the city center. Let them witness the Diane's presence. Let them remember the Praetorian might."
"Acknowledged. I concur with this procedure," Orion stated.
"I will teleport to the surface upon reaching optimal range," Viktor added. "We will spend some time here so try to get more data from the AI and deploy the surveillance drones, I want to see how these people live."
"Hydra class armor suit is fully operational and ready for deployment," Orion informed. "I added some specific modifications for increasing defensive capabilities."
"Excellent," Viktor replied, rising from his seat and heading towards the armory. "Keep it ready for deployment. This city could be the place where I might need it."
"Deploying surveillance drones. We will have the central district covered in thirty minutes." Orion informed.
Viktor didn't say anything else. He walked silently to grab his knives, two guns, four grenades, all on top of his light armor suit, and on top of everything he wore his black jacket. As he walked between the crowd through the main streets he didn't drag any stares, perfectly camouflaged as one more of them.
The Praetorians were made to protect these people. He thought, walking without a defined course.
"Contact in three... Two... One..." Orion let out.
The lightning bolt struck them, plain, brutal, but instead of melting the armor and carbonizing its user, the stream of energy was redirected in different directions. The beast hesitated, confused. It roared, and its roar was the thunder.
It had seen it many times, the metal frames plummeting down after one strike, an amusing scene that always filled its being with joy, but this one wasn't falling. Instead, it stayed in the sky, in its territory, defiant, as if it could hurt its divine body made by the almighty fathers themselves. It was the second time something like this had happened to it in its long existence. It saw it, it recalled the symbol of the crown of olive engraved in the breastplate of the metal frame of the being who dared to defy it, the same symbol worn by the vessels that had made it flee to this planet.
The beast felt fear, and struck again, and again, and again. The more its lightning bolts landed, the more it grew despaired. How could this be happening? Wasn't it made to be superior to all that existed in this universe? The Keraunos was unable to understand why the metal frame kept flying around as if it was immune to its might, the might the almighty fathers had gifted it with.
"Warning, Faraday System at 30% integrity." Orion announced.
Viktor knew that. He was keeping the number in check as he navigated through the mass of gases that was the beast, a hard task in the middle of the dark clouds, only possible thanks to the sensors of his Aetherwing armor. The droplets of rain were turning into steam the moment they touched his armor, and he was starting to feel the heat.
"Engaging magnetic field." Orion announced. The Aetherita pearls embedded within the Tungsten glowed with the unnatural purple life of the Quantum Energy, and the next lightning bolt never touched the armor. Instead, it bounced back to the Keraunos.
"Quantum core at 80% capacity." Orion informed. Viktor's eyes widened. He didn't expect it would cost that much. The number was going up again: 81... 82... 83... But things wouldn't be good if he didn't end everything in the following ten seconds. The virtual display before his eyes, a rendered vision generated by combining all the information the sensors were receiving, had finally shown him what he was looking for.
"Anomaly in coordinates nine and four, three hundred meters in front of us." He told Orion.
"Calculating possible trajectory." Orion answered, and the paths appeared in Viktor's field of view, until only one was left. "This is the one most likely to happen."
Viktor changed his trajectory, adopting the one Orion had calculated, and in an instant, they were there, in the body of the creature and the beast unleashed a stream of power that alarmingly reduced the capacity of the Quantum core to 30%, and it continued dropping the number to 10% when it abruptly stopped.
The null field, the cage of tier one Quantum keys that Viktor had deployed right on time for the unnatural and erratic hidden sphere to land right there, caught, never to get out, and it ceased to exist the moment it fell into this null field.
The Keraunos' main body couldn't understand. It knew it would win. It just needed to keep throwing all its power to the metal frame, and it would fall, turned into ashes and molten metal. But all of a sudden, its powers were shut down, its body felt heavy, and the air currents and clouds it had enslaved rebelled, starting to tear its body apart, and it couldn't do anything about it, not even scream. It couldn't believe it, despite seeing the last of its core, its heart, its life, fading inside that blasphemous sphere-like cage, in an instant. It had been the metal frame's plan, and it had fallen on it like a lesser animal. "How?" the Keraunos asked the wind, with no words, and no answers came either. And it died as the atmosphere naturally balanced itself, returning the gases that the beast had used as its body to the places in the sky where they should be.
Viktor opened his helmet, the cold breeze and the droplets of water hit his face.
"Oxygen levels are scarce, Viktor." Orion informed. Viktor smiled and closed the helmet. He turned off the thrusters and let the embrace of Earth pull him back to where he belonged.
"Any notifications from the city? Did they even detect the threat?" He asked Orion.
"None. They didn't detect the Keraunos." Orion answered.
"Send them the recording of our fight. And I think you should schedule a meeting with the leadership of the city. They need to upgrade their scanners and possibly their weaponry as well." Viktor added.
"You are correct. Scheduling meeting. Suggestions and upgrade projects ready to be delivered for approval and implementation." Orion informed.
He stopped the descent, engaging the thrusters once again, and landed softly on top of the Diane. A door opened, and stairs led him into the ship as the doors closed above his head.
"Send the Praetorian signal of help." He said. "Boris will have to respond."
"I think we should observe for a bit longer," Orion said. "We must make sure he remains a Praetorian. We must be careful."
"Indeed." He agreed. "Then I think we must access the satellites and keep the region under strict surveillance. That beast was too close when we detected it."
"I concur with that." Orion ended.
Viktor released his armor, the pieces flying to the armory for repairs, and he walked closer to the window where he stood contemplating the city he had just saved. We were made to protect these people.