POV Centorea Shianus
Today was just fantastic. I get to be His Highness's personal guard today while he visits Crystal Prep. We drew lots, and I won, which clearly meant today was going to be my day.
'I should buy a lottery ticket. Oh, who am I kidding? I already won the lottery today. Hehe, the look on Captain Pegasus's face was just perfect when I got the assignment.'
I was pretty upset when I lost the position to Pegasus, but I can accept that he is much stronger than me and is more likely to be able to block an attack aimed at Rio. I was at least given the position of Vice Captain.
'Focus, Centorea! You can't mess up this assignment.'
I snap out of my distracted thoughts and watch Rio play a game with the kids. Crystal Prep was one of 2 schools in the capital, the other being the Grand Academy. Crystal Prep was a K-12 School while the Grand Academy was for all ages and grades, even University. But if I recall correctly, the Grand Academy is run by a summon.
'What was his name? Hirukan? Hizuea? Hiruben? Hiruzen? Yeah, I think is Hiruzen something leader of the leaf people?'
Another summon ran Crystal Prep, if I recall correctly; he is named Simon. He was the one who requested this visit on behalf of the kids. If I heard correctly, most of the children in Crystal Prep were sent here by Rio from one of his orphanages. That was why Rio was playing games with them.
'Ahhhhh, how cute they are burying him. Wait? Should I step in? I mean, the kids are clearly just playing and can't hurt him, but I am not sure if I should step in just in case. I am sure Captain Pegasus wouldn't get mad. I mean, I am here to protect Rio from assassins. Not kids. Right?'
While I am contemplating what to do, the game ends, and they start going back inside. I follow right away to make sure I don't get left behind. I heard 1st lieutenant Sheela lost track of Rio on a trip and was demoted to 2nd lieutenant. I didn't want to be demoted when I had just gotten the rank of Vice Captain. The Royal Guard hadn't existed for very long, but the number of volunteers is terrifying. If I lost the rank, I would soon lose the position, and someone else would easily take my place. As I was thinking about demotions, I saw someone approach Rio. I stepped in the way to stop them, and they stopped.
Centorea: "Halt! Who goes there?"
Gregor: "CC-5576-39 or Gregor. I was sent to deliver a message to His Highness. It cannot wait."
I checked his ID and found it to be valid, so I let him pass.
Centorea: "Very well, you may approach."
I watch as he approaches Rio, who is reading a book to everyone, but when Gregor speaks to him, he pauses. It was very brief, but I see his face change. It looks like he is thinking hard but then returns to being happy. But I can see his eyes are very different. I couldn't sense emotions, but I could tell something must have happened. As I was starting to worry, I heard Rio's voice in my head.
Rio: 'Centorea, something has happened. I will need to leave soon. Please let the rest of the guards know that I will be returning to the Palace shortly.'
Centorea: 'Yes, Your Highness! Is there anything we should be worried about?'
Rio: 'Nothing you could deal with right now. I just need to attend a briefing very soon.'
After we are done conversing, I leave the room and contact the other guards.
'Of course, I couldn't get to stay with him all day. Sigh. Oh well, I guess there is always next time.'
POV Rio
Once I returned to the palace, I entered Yularens office.
Rio: "Okay, I need more details on what you had Gregor report."
Yularen: "In the last 24 hours, several major events occurred. The first was the agreement signed between the Federation and the Kingdom of Nalan. It was a confusing result for us all as they were deadlocked for weeks, but then overnight, they agreed that the Kingdom of Nalan would join the Federation, and the Federation would pay them compensation."
Rio: "I can understand why that is unfortunate, but it is ultimately not our concern."
Yularen: "Indeed, the change is of little consequence to us, which is why it wasn't reported immediately. But the next major event was more surprising. Within a few hours of that agreement being signed, the Federation attacked the Synthetic Queen. And then they declared war afterward. Almost simultaneously, Ego the Living Planet did the same."
Rio: "What? Why in the world would Ego, that stuck-up, arrogant murderer, possibly attack the Synthetic Queen? He is called Ego for a reason."
Yularen: "That we still aren't clear on. We think it might have something to do with the deal Thanos made with him, but we can only speculate."
Rio: "You mean the chaos on Sakaar?"
Yularen: "Yes, Thanos went after the human known as Star Lord or Peter Quill for seemingly no reason. But we later found out that Peter Quill was delivered to Ego. Likely because Peter Quill is one of Ego's spawn."
Rio: "Hmm, I still find it odd that Thanos and Ego would work together. Both are powerful, and both are very arrogant. Did Peter Quill die?"
Yularen: "No, instead, he seems to be working with Ego to fight the Synthetic Queen."
Rio: "Huh? That is very odd. Was Peter Quill alone on Ego?"
Yularen: "No, he had a small crew, including 3 individuals. Rocket Racoon, Groot, and Gamora. They met on Sakaar after Gamora warned Peter Quill of Thanos."
Rio: "And they are helping Ego?"
Yularen: "Yes, we are not certain as to why Peter Quill did not kill Ego, but it seems they are working together. This leads me to the next major event. Thanos has left our Universe."
Rio: "Oh no, anyway."
Yularen: "Sir? Are you certain we shouldn't be worried?"
Rio: "No, we can watch Thanos in the X-Men Universe, but he has basically solved our problem for us. With him no longer in this Universe, I can seal off our Universe with no worries. I set up a ritual that will use the Griseous Orb and the Amulet of Kings. Combining them with some dimensional magic will make entering our Universe nigh impossible. Even knowing how it works, I would find it nearly impossible to bypass. Thanos will no doubt fight with the last remnant of the Phoenix Force, and one will die. And Thanos will cause great damage to the X-Men Universe, which means less problems for us since I don't even want to touch that Universe with a 39-and-a-half foot pole."
Yularen: "Very well, we shall keep an eye on him. Around the time of the attack on the Synthetic Queen, an unusual event occurred in the Krut System."
He turns on a recording, and I raise an eyebrow at what was recorded.
Rio: "This is indeed very unusual. I find it unlikely that the Synthetic Queen would attack the Krut System. It is not only very far from the main forces, but it also is a neutral nation and would only add another enemy. The resources that can be obtained from the system are negligible. It's just illogical. The only advantage I can possibly see is a place to test new tech, but that would be a stretch. Do you know if it was really her?"
Yularen: "We are not certain. The ships that attacked do match the designs of the Synthetic Queen, but the fact that 3 different forces all arrived at the system at the same time and fought each other is highly suspicious. We identified 1 of the groups. They are confirmed to be Krut Ascendancy ships. The other group is suspected to be royalist forces. But I agree that the Synthetic Queen has no logical reason to attack the system. But please look at this data."
He switches the display to show data of the planetary scans. What is shown is alarming, to say the least.
Rio: "The Population is crashing and fast. All of this is from only a day?"
Yularen: "Approximately. 12 Million deaths and it's rapidly increasing. No signs of an army deployment, and there hasn't been any signs of substantial orbital bombardment. But they have deployed what looks like canisters from orbit and into the northern region. This may be the testing of a new bio weapon."
Rio: "Send in the Spartans for reconissanace. If it is a bio weapon, get us samples. If it isn't, then we need to figure out what is happening. They are not to be detected. We can't risk being known as involved. Especially with the upcoming trial."
Yularen: "As you command, Your Highness."
Rio: "Is there anything else?"
Yularen: "The only thing else is that the Synthetic Queen has begun a counterattack and has followed the route we predicted. Jotunheim is under attack already. The Nova Empire has all but ceased to exist. They finished the last evacuations from Xandar. The Federation's sneak attack forced the Synthetic Queen to pull back most of her forces from Xandar, allowing them to evacuate to the Federation. The other biggest detail we learned is that the last remnants of the Covenant live in the Federation and have given all their tech to the Federation."
Rio: "I guess that is good for us. It should ensure the Federation survives longer against the Synthetic Queen. Anything else?"
Yularen: "That was it for now."
Rio: "Very well. Keep me posted on anything that happens."
Yularen: "Yes, sir."
I leave his office and check the time.
'Day Court will start soon, so I should get ready for it.'
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Authors Note:
Lots of info. I wanted to give some more background details about the inner workings of the Imperium. In case you are curious, no, Rio can't destroy the Synthetic Queen as is without severe casualties. Her fleets would go rogue and start indiscriminately killing anything that is alive. So Rio is purposely letting the others take the heat while he sits back and prepares. He will fight her, but only once the Imperium is ready. As for Thanos, the next chapter will go into the reason why he left the Universe. He most likely won't become a threat, but it is probably not for the reason you think. Until next time Ciao.