Chapter 49

The evacuation of the Corbulo Academy of Military Science had proceeded, with the Covenant being held back. ODSTs were dropped from orbit to halt the enemy advance. Blue team led by John had assisted with both evacuation efforts and holding off the Covenant.

Half of the Academy was destroyed by the Covenant's attack, as for the remaining half it was only a matter of time until the Covenant destroyed that as well.

At the same time in orbit 4 UNSC ships which were the closest to the Academy had responded to assist in the Evacuation efforts. Two of them were Frigates while the other two were Halcyon-class light cruisers. They had descended into the planet's atmosphere to deal with the Covenant Cruisers.

But Covenant Cruisers were no joke, and it was three of them at that. Their sheer size was even bigger than the Halcyon-class light cruisers and the Frigates. Still, they engaged the Covenant Cruisers to give a chance for the marines and the Spartans to finish evacuating the Academy and civilians.

Still many students and civilians were already killed by the Covenant during their initial attack. The Covenant had attacked so suddenly that there were more people dead than evacuated.

Once all possible evacuations had been completed, the UNSC abandoned the planet. Despite their energy shielding, the battle against the Cruisers did not go as planned. The Frigates were both destroyed and one of the Halcyon-class light cruisers sustained significant damage, leaving only one cruiser unscathed.

After the battle, only one of the UNSC's ships remained fully operational; two were lost and another sustained significant damage. While the evacuated some people, a lot of people still died from the initial attack plus the people who died on the two frigates.

While energy shielding had greatly improved the UNSC ability to fight the Covenant, it was not the only factor to consider. The Covenant had stronger weapons, bigger ships, and the element of surprise. The UNSC ships on the other hand had only recently implemented energy shielding, which the Covenant had had years to develop and improve.

It appeared that, at least for the time being, the UNSC would need to have a numerical advantage in both ships and ship size if they wanted to defeat the enemy. Alternatively, they could develop advanced weapons to match the Covenant's technology, something which was already present and was slowly being implemented.

Meanwhile 2 Months later, on Algolis, Axel had completed the final steps of the Flash clone project. The Flash clone was alive, and it was already aware of its purpose. It was created to be loyal to Axel alongside to prevent future conflicts and have a reliable Super AI that he can rely on.

The clone walked upright and strong, its eyes gleaming with a fierce intelligence. Yet, there was something uncanny about it, an eerie echo of the man he was based on. His face looked too perfect, too smooth, as if someone had sanded away the genuine roughness that accompanied organic growth. He was a near replica of Axel but didn't possess his natural quirks or unique traits and behaviors.

It was a revolutionary thing that he had created. Maybe in the future he will develop cloning technology after he becomes the Leader for Humanity. For now, though, the Flash clone had laid on the table where he would undergo the procedure to transform his mind into that of an AI.

With him was Dr. Sebastian Philips, a doctor who specialized in biotechnology and some other things. He was one of the doctors who worked under Section Three with Spartans to oversee their development like what he and Catherine did.

Dr. Philips who was dressed in a clean lab coat, moved around the room with the methodical precision of a man who knew his craft inside out. He operated his array of imposing machines with expertise, checking readings and making fine adjustments.

The silence was broken by a sudden knock on the door. Axel looked up from where he was sitting in front of a screen making sure that the transfer of the flash clones' neural pattern to that of an A.I. matrix strata would go smoothly. "Come in," he said, not looking up from his work.

The door slid open to reveal a petite woman, her dark hair pulled back in a tight bun, her blue eyes wide with anticipation. It was Dr. Elena Monteeny, another top scientist on Axel's team. Miranda, who was lying in her comfortable bed, had turned towards the noise of Dr. Elena who had smiled at Miranda. She had gotten used to seeing Dr. Elena who had often visited Axel's lab.

"I've brought the AI matrix you requested, Admiral," she said, holding out a small box that held the most advanced artificial intelligence ever designed by humans. She had assisted in helping with its creation utilizing her degree in Neurology, and biotechnology. Though she something of this magnitude couldn't have been completed without Axel's help.

When Axel explained something to her, she could understand the knowledge even if it was a new concept. For example, when she was first told about transferring a Flash clones' brain to an AI intelligence, she did not believe that something like that could be done without have advanced technology. But then again, she had heard about how Axel had always made the impossible possible.

"Good," Axel replied curtly as he took it from her. He turned his gaze back to the clone lying on the table. "This is where the real operation begins."

He hooked up several cables to ports on the clone's head. The doctor ran test patterns through each cable before giving Axel a nod of approval. Axel then carefully positioned the AI matrix in place and activated it. The lights dimmed as an enormous amount of power was routed to the device.

Axel had played a video of him working in front of Miranda to keep her occupied, while he worked. This had become a common occurrence for him to distract Miranda from what he was doing and to keep her attention elsewhere because whenever he tried to give her to someone else, she would just cry for hours.

But back to the procedure. The clone's eyes had turned completely white as its neural data was completely uploaded to the AI matrix. After that a few moments had passed before the image of a male looking AI had appeared in front of Axel.

"Hello, Admiral Woods" said the AI as it identified who Axel was.

"It's nice to finally meet you, how about you come up with your own name" Responded Axel.

The AI had taken a few seconds before they stated their new name "How about Omni as it means 'All'" Stated the AI.

"Very well Omni it is" said Axel as he stood in front of the new AI taking in this new creation.

Omni, the AI, shimmered with an almost ethereal glow as it processed the new information. It was now self-aware, self-named, and ready for its purpose.

"For your purpose I'm sure you know so there is no need to say it out loud," said Axel. Omni knew his purpose and because of this he also knew why Axel didn't want him to say it in front of the other two people who were present in the room.

"For now, I want you to take it step by step and ensure its success" Stated Axel. Omni had nodded and disappeared. In the background he was already working on his purpose while also ensuring the success of other operations. He would essentially be a guiding hand for Axel, an omnipresent companion that could monitor all actions and foresee potential threats.

Now was the time to begin executing his plan for a takeover. Axel's strategy would take several years to fully implement, as he would have to engage in multiple battles and secure victories to gain more support. His battlegroup, consisting of both marines and ODSTs, would be armed with his latest inventions to prove to the rest of the UNSC that they had the technology and resources to defeat the Covenant. This would raise the question of why these creations weren't available to all soldiers?