Intergalactic conquest with an AI

(It hasn't been that long since I got sent to this God-forsaken world in the outer galaxy to work as a guard in a new miner colony that was recently founded for the extraction of metals, and yet...)

Rex let out a deep sigh as he looked at the destroyed bar, where just hours before he had been enjoying a cold drink after his shift had ended; it was now all in ruins, while he was lying down in one of the corners of the bar with a deep wound in his chest that was wide open.

A few meters away lay the carcass of some unknown enemy, who looked just like those creatures you would normally see only in horror movies. This one was just one meter long, with big wings, and its limbs resembled blades. The creature had lost one of its blades, which was now in the hands of Rex.

"I don't know how this could happen to me; a few weeks ago, I was just an office worker, another slave of one of the megacorporations out in the galaxy.... maybe that is why I am here."

"Damn slave contracts. Next time you see a contract promising a good payout and good retention credits, never say yes to the possibility of travel. It could end up messing up your whole life."

(Just like it did to mine.)

World of Nakor, Year 5600 of the Imperial Galactic System

"Hey Rex, have you seen the company news?"

Rex felt a strong pat on the back as his best friend, a bald guy who looked no more than 24 years old, approached him, making the usual chat on the train going to the company.

"Hey, Carlos, yes, I did; they said that the company will redeploy workers to a newly established colony in a new mining world."

It was a common thing for companies to send workers to work on other planets. This was the era of exploration and conquest, where new worlds were discovered, and companies were fighting for the control of the new worlds, among which was the company where Rex was working.

The company he worked for was Duotherm Omega, one of the 6 megacorps in the galaxy. As a megacorp, it was well-balanced in each of the major districts, whether it be Military Tech or Exploration Tech.

All megacorps had an army of their own that was much stronger and greater than any empire since they had massive assets around the galaxy.

If someone was dumb enough to defy a megacorporation, their world would be destroyed by a massive and super-powerful fleet that could destroy an intergalactic empire in weeks and a world in a matter of seconds, like the human race that was bold enough not to give in to the control of one megacorporation.

All its planets were conquered in hours, and its people were enslaved and sold across the galaxy.

While Rex was lost in thought, remembering this stuff, Carlos told him his biggest concern.

"Do you think they will send us to this new colony?"

Rex could feel the panic in Carlos's voice since he had a kid at home that he was responsible for. If he was selected to go to the new mining colony, he would have to abandon his kid here and go to the new planet.

"I don't think so; we are just office workers.... what will we do in a mining world? Count rocks? Just relax and be ready; we're almost at the office."

Rex patted Carlos on the back to reassure him, just in time for the train to stop. All the workers came out and went to their jobs.

Once at the office, Rex was doing the usual, just reading some documents and changing some stuff here and there. He did this for 10 hours until it was time to end his day shift.

"Attention to all the workers of rank 6 to 5, assemble at the conference hall."

This announcement caught Rex somewhat off guard; he was somewhat surprised that they waited until the shift change to call for them, yet not really, since workers of rank 6 to 5 were just slaves around the office, and nobody respected them.

He went to the conference hall, where he could already see thousands of people.

All sorts of races from conquered planets worked for the companies, and this one was no exception. The human race here didn't even add up to 0.1 percent of the workers present.

Seeing a human in the galaxy who wasn't a slave was just a miracle. Rex and Carlos were some of the few fortunate ones who could buy back their freedom.

(That's ironic. After working like a slave for 18 years, I could finally buy back my freedom from the one who bought me, just to stop being a slave for a megacorp. There is no freedom here; at least I can sleep 8 hours.)

While Rex was lost in his thoughts, a big guy entered the conference hall and faced all the others. He was wearing an atmospheric suit; his body was humanoid-like, and he had the face of a fish, not the cute kind. On his chest, he had the Rank 3 ID.

Once he was satisfied that he was visible to all, he began his usual corporate boss talk of loyalty and so forth. Since the companies had many races, it would be impossible to learn all the languages in the galaxy, so they all had a universal translator device on their arms.

It was a small hologram screen that came out once the button on the device was clicked to start it. Once that was done, it would listen to the voice and translate it into the selected language in text. Like this, everyone could comprehend the words of the other races.

"And with that said, each and every one of you will be sent to the new mining colony; rank 6's as miners, rank 5's as guards. Be joyful, everyone of you! You will all be some of the first lucky people who get to enter this new world and colonize it."

The fish guy said all of this with an energetic voice while raising his hands like some kind of messiah, making this sound like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, when in reality, it was a death sentence because it was well known that those who went to an unexplored planet always ended up dying.

It wasn't long before the murmurs of discontent rose among the workers in the hall. The fish guy became annoyed and, bringing his fingers to his arm where his device was, typed a command. Within seconds, every worker of rank 6 and 5 in the hall began screaming in pain, grabbing their heads.

After a few minutes of screaming and despair, the fish guy was finally satisfied and smiled with his ugly fishy smile. He stopped the command he had just sent to the chips inside the workers brains.

This chip was developed years ago and was used to prevent the workers from doing corporate espionage and to keep them controlled.

It was a requirement for any kind of work; even the space pirates used them on their members to keep them under control. For companies, this was a must if you wanted to work for one.

Once the pain finally stopped, Rex could stop dancing like a worm on the floor of the hall. With fury on his face, he glared at the fish guy.

"So, now I can tell that everyone here agreed of their own volition to go to the new mining colony, Marbellus. The transport ships are waiting for everyone outside of the building; be careful when going up, and don't fall."

Having said his last mocking words, the fish guy left the hall, and soon after, armed guards came inside the hall to make everyone start moving to the transport ships. Rex could see from afar how some of the workers were trying to run away, only to be shot down with tasers that knocked them out in seconds.

Rex could also see how one of them was Carlos; he was already tased down by the guards and was being dragged to the transport ship. Rex could only tighten his fist in anger and shame at how weak he was while watching his best friend being dragged away.

Without even the opportunity to tell his 5-year-old kid back at his house that he was going to leave the world and that the kid would probably die of hunger if someone did not help him, Rex then got out of the line going to the transport ships and walked toward one of the guards.

The guard, seeing that one of the workers who was supposed to go to the transport ship was coming toward him, pointed his gun at the worker and got ready to shoot, his finger already on the trigger.