Ceres Chaos [Exosuit Progression]

Oliver was frozen on the spot. He had done many shady business deals in the past and had personally killed assassins, business rivals and competitors, so the death of a human was nothing new to him. His own hands were probably tainted with more than he could remember, directly or indirectly.

What really shook him to his core was how the gardeners reacted. Instead of screaming in terror or shivering in fear like he usually saw in the past, they instead dropped their tools to the ground and prostrated themselves towards the young man.

Their shouts of praise as they continuously worshipped the young man echoed and reverberated through the glass dome. The butler and the four advanced exosuits too dropped to their knees and began shouting too.

“Praise Lord Kyle! Praise Lord Kyle!” The chant rose higher and higher till the young man raised his hand to stop them.

He was the Loeric Empire’s border fleet top general, who held in his hand the lives of millions of soldiers: Kyle Hawthorn.

One of the rising stars of the military, his advances against the slovesa were nothing short of a tactical miracle, pulling them off over and over again despite the past losses against the slovesa.

“Come, Oliver. It’s our first time meeting each other in five years. I’ve always wanted to talk to you directly instead of through our liaisons. We have much to discuss.” Kyle Hawthorn smiled genuinely as though everything was right in the universe, walking deeper into the palace.

Oliver glanced back at the grass field before leaving, noticing that a new gardener was brought into the field immediately to replace the previous one. The new gardener was crying tears of joy and sobbing, continuously kneeling on the ground to thank Lord Kyle for this new job.

The two of them entered an audience hall that was somewhat similar to the first central hall that Oliver saw, though a bit smaller. It felt like a church, with Kyle’s throne replacing the altar while his audience was to sit below him on smaller chairs.

Kyle’s throne was exquisite, but it was not coloured in the main colours of the dynasty of red and green. Instead, it was made of gold. Kyle ascended the few steps towards the throne and sat down, beckoning for Oliver to sit as well. Oliver did not have to tilt his head up much, but it was noticeable enough to impress on him that he was of lower standing.

“We have many points to cover, but let’s establish a few facts before we begin our discussion,” Kyle spoke with eloquence, as though he was a judge in a court case, dictating the terms to which Oliver had no right to protest. Oliver too could not help remembering what just happened in the garden, so he let Kyle take the initiative.

“It’s been five years since I’ve supported you through my representative. Throughout this period, the Dynasty of Hawthorn has not put you on a trial for crimes of insurrection. In fact, the Dynasty of Hawthorn has placed you as an honorary initiate, preventing the Loeric Emperor from charging you for rebellion. You are now the temporary owner of the planet, though I expect that to change shortly.”

“I thank you for stalling the elders of your...” Oliver was about to speak but Kyle simply raised his hand, causing Oliver to immediately shut up. The show of power in the garden truly got to him.

“Next, I have invested a fair amount of my personal budget into maintaining your current terraforming and administrative costs as well as your new university. About five years ago, you shared with my representative an interesting project on yours… ‘Keepers’? I too have invested considerable resources into that project.”

“However, it is a known fact that despite you being the owner of the planet, there is currently rising dissent among the population. There is no need to try and deny it, I have my own ways of collecting information. There is a growing rebellion and anti-administration views that threaten the future stability of the planet, and subsequently my investments in your planet. Are we clear?” Kyle clearly spoke with a normal tone.

Oliver nodded and was about to speak before Kyle suddenly raised his hand.

“Now here begins our discussion. I am not one who adheres to the sunk-cost fallacy. If a business is failing, I will not hesitate to pull out all forms of involvement, be it politically or financially. Oliver, explain to me why I should keep investing in you despite the project being far from completion and your solutions to the current issues being seemingly inadequate. Choose your words wisely.”

Despite Kyle being much younger than Oliver by more than a hundred years, Oliver felt immense pressure, his throat already dry from the stress. Recalling that he was the Patriarch of the Athen Family and that the livelihood of their planet depended on him, he summoned confidence and looked directly at Kyle.

“The ‘Keeper’ project is currently in its final phase – which means less than three years to complete. This is in accordance with the original roadmap shared with your representative, Sylas. There are no major hiccups in the project thus far and we have the utmost confidence that the timeline is accurate. The rebellion is also of no consequence. They do not have enough strength in the next three years to perform any operation that will detrimentally affect the project.” Oliver explained clearly.

“The rebellion also provides a sort of training ground for the Keepers. It allows us to show off the combat ability of the Keepers in real combat scenarios, which would directly benefit the project.” Oliver continued.

Kyle tapped his fingers on the armrest of the throne as he listened, before revealing a faint smile. “Oliver, you are good. Very good. If you were my age, I would be extremely cautious of you.”

Oliver was confused. Was that a compliment? But before he could think further, a loud bang was heard as a side door swung open and close with force.

A single human escorted by two advanced exosuits stumbled forward, his arms chained with thick metal handcuffs and his mouth covered with a metal mask that clamped his jaw, preventing him from speaking.

“I really must commend you, Oliver. I did not notice even a sliver of wavering in your body as you spoke. You are truly dedicated to the cause. Isn’t that right, Sylas?” Kyle grinned.

The human let out a muffled shout as he was forced to kneel in front of Kyle by the two guard exosuits. His eyes showed pure terror, glancing at Oliver for help while avoiding Kyle’s gaze.

“Sylas, on account of our long history, I will explain why you have been brought here. You have lied directly to me on multiple events, falsifying data and test reports from the project. Your observations on Athen were all tailored to cover up problems. You have lied about the current progress of the project and downplayed how effective the rebellion is. On top of all of this, you have accepted bribes and betrayed your contract with me. Am I right?” Kyle spoke with a gentle tone, as though he was not angry and simply reading out a script.

Sylas shouted even louder, but the mask reduced it to a barely audible voice. No one in the hall could make out what he was saying. Internally, Oliver was in turmoil. He had been in cahoots with Sylas, lying directly to Kyle about the progress of the project through coercion and bribery. Oliver could not bear to look directly at Sylas, instead glancing away.

“Looks like you have repented, seeing that you sincerely agree with me so wholeheartedly. In exchange, I will provide you with a clean death.” Kyle smiled, lounging on the throne as though he was watching a drama show.

Sylas wanted to shout louder, but he couldn’t as his vocal cords no longer pumped air towards his throat, his head severed from the body by the guard exosuit, frozen with a shocked expression.

Before the blood could spurt out from the neck, the other guard exosuit quickly placed a metal seal on the neck, preventing the blood from pumping out from the still-beating heart and body which was still slightly twitching.

Oliver closed his eyes, steeling his heart for what could happen to him next.

“Oliver, do we understand each other now?” Kyle stopped smiling, his eyes glaring at Oliver, who quickly nodded.

“Good, then would you like to tell me the truth now?” Kyle said with a soft voice, as though there was a silent rage brewing beneath.

Oliver took a deep breath and focused his mind – ignoring the beheaded body that was still slightly twitching and Sylas’s shocked face staring directly at him.

“Yes. The project had been severely delayed due to the loss of our original experimental subject. The rebellion forces had somehow infiltrated one of our key research bases before making it out with the vat. Current latest information states that the subject is currently on the run deep underground. It will take up to a year to properly scan the subterranean environment in order to find it.”

Oliver continued speaking, afraid Kyle would kill him next if he didn’t offer a solution. “However, given your approval, it is possible to proceed with the project without the subject. This means we will be switching to synthetic production rather than our prior extraction method. Our key researchers have already previously made a breakthrough regarding the use of this new synthetic material.”

“It may not match the original substance, however, the key features of the substance still remain the same, hence it is considered to be a success as well. The performance however may be a little bit subdued. This reduces the reliance on the original subject as well and allows us to scale up for mass production.”

“As for the rebellion, we already have some live test results thanks to their resistance. The synchronization rate between the Keepers and the drones is extremely high, allowing a small subset of Keepers to control up to five drones simultaneously. This explosive increase in strength will allow our enforcer department to sweep up the remaining rebellion easily once the Keepers clear final deployment approval for daily operations.”

“Overall, I do not expect much deviation from the original project timeline. Full-scale deployment can be completed in three years, but a preliminary prototype batch can already be shipped out right now and a second batch tested later in a larger scale combat. The data collected on the Keepers are comprehensive as well.”

Kyle smiled with genuine interest. “Good, I want ten sets of the Keepers and drones, along with the accompanying research data. The idea of using the rebellion as a testing ground is interesting but must have a failsafe. If needed, how soon do you think you can crush the rebellion? I would prefer if the original subject was captured or eliminated as well - we can't have outliers running around.”

“Assuming no further external influence, the Keepers and current enforcers can decisively eliminate all rebel elements within three years as well regardless of the scale of the conflict. Education syllabus as well as media messages have been tailored to foster pro-administration and pro-enforcer views, reducing the potential rebel elements that can arise. Increased surveillance in the outer zones and mining towns will also prevent additional anomalous events. Our best enforcers are already on the hunt for the subject - we will capture him.”

“Oliver, you’re really the best, you have thought of everything. I really love working with you. Aren’t I such a good partner?” Kyle laughed without a single shred of sincerity, his eyes callous.

Oliver nodded, smiling weakly. “Sure, if you were not a callous narcissistic bastard,” Oliver thought to himself.

Kyle stood up from his throne, carefully patting his cloak. “Good, then our discussion is complete. I hope your solutions work, otherwise, the project will be the least of your worries. Do your best to keep the planet under control. The fewer complications, the better. I will handle the rest.” Kyle began to step down the steps.

However, Oliver still had something to say.

“Lord Kyle, if it’s possible to ask from you a favour...” Oliver began to speak but suddenly felt a large pressure on his very being as Kyle squinted his eyes at him.

“Oliver, the only reason why I have not done anything to you yet is that you still hold significant value to me even though mistakes have been made. Unlike Sylas. Don’t push your luck.” Kyle asked with an authoritative tone, making Oliver lower his head.

“My apologies, it was nothing, Lord Kyle.”

“Good,” Kyle walked down the steps, before one of the exosuits picked up Sylas’s head, offering it to him in a kneeling stance. Oliver watched in shock as Kyle held the head in his hand. Kyle’s grip gradually got stronger and stronger, but he suddenly turned and stared directly at Oliver.

Oliver was stunned but knew he should quickly exit. Bowing quickly and leaving the audience hall, Oliver could only hear the sounds of bones being crushed by sheer strength.

***

“FUCK!” Oliver slammed the holster of his seat, as his luxury starship left the hangar, heading back towards Athen. The whole sequence of events caused him to boil with anger. He was thrown around like a ragdoll in that discussion.

Discussion? More like a one-sided business deal.

Oliver did not even have the chance to ask for that favour. His stance in the ‘discussion’ was eroded from the very moment he stepped into the palace. “That young brat thinks because he is a designer baby, he has the right to talk down to me!?”

Oliver knew Kyle had the right to talk down to most people in the Loeric Empire. A military general at the age of 35, he was an unparalleled genius and one of the most promising successors to the head of the Dynasty of Hawthorn. On top of them, he had excellent personal combat skills along with a NEIR rating of 3.2, one of the highest in the Loeric Empire.

They had only met for the first time today because Kyle had been deployed to the slovesa region to defend the border planets. He would not be surprised if the fanatic followers that he saw in the grass field were all taken from the border planets. What kind of benefits did Kyle provide to the gardeners for them to be willing to worship him upon such a random death?

The sheer scale of subjugation was now apparent to Oliver, but his internal ambition would not be suppressed that easily. Being an honorary initiate was only the beginning – his true goal was to elevate the people of Athen and his family into a new Dynasty eventually. Whether or not he would last long enough to see that was something else.

“Sir, are you okay?” Leonard asked concerningly as he stood at attention next to Oliver’s seat.

“I’m fine,” Oliver regained his composure, calming himself down and thinking of the next step. There was no use getting angry now – as long as he completed the project, the rest of the plan will be perfect.

He quickly opened a communications terminal on his seat and called the first number on his contact list. An old weary voice picked up the call. “What is it? I’m currently trying to sleep here!”

“No further delays allowed for the project. We are switching to the accelerated project track.”

“What?”

“Also, prepare ten pairs of drones and Keepers and ship them to Strathon in the next three days. Leonard will be in charge of the shipment. Make a copy of the current research data and pack it together as well.”

“This is too sudden... current research data… I understand. Nothing else but the current research data.”

“Correct. Upon my arrival, I want a full project review as well as a comprehensive breakdown of our current forces. Ask Major Derfas and Henry Lesion to come up with an operational plan to crack down on the rebellion if necessary. I want multiple scenarios and options. Include Rockhold in the plans, we need to prove planetwide domination.” Oliver ordered.

“We haven’t managed to push through the resolution of planetary unification through the Consortium yet, how are we going to expand our jurisdiction?” The old voice asked.

“Don’t worry about that; I’ll handle the politics – you pass on the message and handle the project.” Oliver shrugged it off.

“What about the original subject?” The old voice replied.

“We’re switching to synthetic production. We can’t afford to waste too many resources on hunting him. Send the Keepers that saw him visually to track him down.”

“The synthetic substance won’t be as good as the original, you know that right? The performance of the Keepers might be lowered by upwards of 60%, maybe even worse. The next generation of Keepers will suffer terribly and may only be able to control one drone or two at most.”

“Doesn’t matter, we have no choice.” Oliver sighed. “As far as we know, the original subject can’t survive long outside the vat. Who knows if he’s already dead.”