Planning

The conversation between the city guard inspector and Mara dragged on for hours until they finally reached an agreement. Once everything was settled, they parted ways.

Meanwhile, Rex and Carlos had just arrived at the underground city, and what they saw took them by surprise. Not only was their ship there, but dozens of other ships of different shapes and sizes that were scattered around the area.

As the trucks rolled into the zone where all these ships were stationed, they noticed people from various groups watching them intently. The staring stopped as soon as four combat drones appeared, escorting their trucks. After a short ride, they pulled up just outside a sleek, white-and-golden ship.

Rex and Carlos hopped out of the trucks, while Cleo sent cargo drones to unload them. Carlos stayed outside with Emilia, keeping an eye on things, while Rex headed into the ship, eager to see Cleo.

"Cleo, I'm here! Where are you?" He called as he stepped into the cargo bay.

From the second floor, he heard her voice. "I'm in the assembly room!"

Rex made his way upstairs and leaned in from behind her, watching as she worked. "So, what are you up to?" he asked.

"Just updating the assembly drones, trying to speed up the process for building combat drones," Cleo replied, her fingers moving swiftly across multiple screens, each one showing configurations for a different assembly drone.

"Mmm, I see. What's with all the ships and people out there in the landing zone?" Rex asked, glancing back at the window.

"They're smugglers," Cleo explained, still focused on her screens. "They're renting space here. In exchange, we provide them with security and use of the cargo drones to unload their goods."

"Oh, makes sense. How's the excavation of the underground city going?"

"Pretty well. There's been a 20% performance boost since I added four more mining drones," she said, waving her hand to bring up a screen in front of Rex.

Rex leaned in to take a closer look. The screen displayed a detailed layout of the underground city, showing where the mining drones were currently working, along with the areas the smugglers were renting as makeshift warehouses.

"So, the whole first floor is going to be used for warehouses?" Rex asked.

"For now, yes. Once we excavate more levels, the first floor will be converted into a security hub. I plan to store military drones and robots there, along with installing shield generators for protection."

Cleo walked over to another screen, pulling up more detailed plans. Rex scanned through the blueprints; there was a clear vision for the future of the underground city. The first floor would be dedicated to security, the second and third floors for warehousing, the fourth for commerce, and the fifth would serve as a residential area.

Something on the blueprint caught Rex's eye. "What's this big empty hole in the middle of the city? And what's going on with the sixth and seventh floors?"

Cleo zoomed in on the area with her finger. "That hole will be the main entrance to the city. As for the sixth and seventh floors... we're not sure yet. The scanners picked up sounds down there, probably underground water, but we'll have to explore it further."

"Oh well, keep me updated every night on the construction progress," Rex said, leaning against the wall. After a pause, he added, "By the way, do you think I overreacted back at the restaurant?"

Cleo paused her work and looked over at him. "Mmm? No, I don't think you did anything wrong. You're the host I chose; you can't let others disrespect you like that. If it were me, I'd have wiped out the entire planet already."

Rex raised an eyebrow. "And here I thought you were the kindhearted type. Didn't expect that kind of answer."

Cleo smirked. "I think you're misunderstanding something, Rex. I only show kindness to my own race, with a few exceptions, like you and Carlos. I trust him because you do. But let me tell you something; you're still too soft."

She walked over and brought up a few screens, showing chaotic footage of war-torn planets, civilizations in ruins, and brutal, uncensored images of destruction.

"The galaxy isn't a place where kindness gets you far," Cleo continued. "From what I've learned on the network, even your own race, the humans, were conquered and enslaved. No one cares about others here. It's everyone for themselves."

Rex stared at the screens, speechless. She wasn't wrong. His optimism suddenly felt naive.

"My race was weak, too," Cleo added, her voice dropping. "We were eradicated by the hive minds, completely wiped out. In this galaxy, power is the only thing that gives you the luxury of kindness. The weak? They don't get a say."

Rex was quiet for a moment, absorbing it all. "I'm sorry, Cleo. It seems like I've been speaking out of ignorance."

"You don't need to apologize," Cleo replied, giving him a small, warm smile. "There's nothing wrong with not knowing. What's wrong is knowing the truth and doing nothing."

Rex nodded, still feeling a bit off-balance from the harsh reality check. He quickly tried to change the subject. "Alright, enough of that. What's the plan for tomorrow's mission?"

Cleo turned and began walking toward the stairs leading down to the first floor. "Come with me. It'll be easier to explain on the big screen in the cockpit."

Rex followed her down to the cockpit, where Cleo pulled up a detailed map of the area surrounding the bug hive. She zoomed in on what looked like a large hill, but in reality, it was the entrance to the hive.

"As you can see, the hive is underground, similar to an ant colony. The main entrance is right here," Cleo pointed to the hill on the screen. "We're not entirely sure what type of bugs are in there, but like most of them, they should be weak to fire."

She flicked through a few more images, showing explosives and barrels. "So, step one is simple. We'll drop barrels of petroleum tied to explosives into the entrance. That should kill some of them and force the rest to come out."

Rex nodded as Cleo continued.

"Step two: once the bugs start pouring out, thanks to your little stunt at the restaurant, we now have the Crimson Claws; the 600 of them will be surrounding the hill, ready to take down anything that crawls out."

"For step three," she went on, "we'll provide air support using the ship and combat drones. We've also got missile launchers ready to give cover fire from above. From there, we'll play it by ear. Depending on how many come out, we'll decide what the next move is."

Rex studied the map, thinking it over. "Sounds solid. Let's hope most of them come out in that first wave."

Cleo nodded. "That's the plan. But we'll be ready for whatever happens next."

Cleo continued explaining strategy and soldier management to Rex for a few hours, patiently walking him through the finer points, until they were interrupted by Carlos and Emilia, who came in together.

"Hey, we're back," Carlos said. "The trucks are all unloaded. So, uh... about Emilia, did you talk to your wife?"

Rex slapped his forehead. "Ah, I totally forgot!" He turned to Emilia, feeling a bit awkward. "Cleo, this is Emilia. I wanted to hire her as a maid for you, so she can help keep the ship clean."

Cleo let out a softchuckle. "Hello, Emilia. I'm Cleo. Don't worry, I already know what happened. Rex tends to forget that I see everything he does." She winked at Rex playfully, then turned back to Emilia. "Come with me; let's chat about your job and payment."

Before walking off, Cleo threw a quick glance at Rex and Carlos. "And you two, get out. Go find something useful to do."

With that, Cleo led Emilia into the cockpit and shut the door, leaving Rex and Carlos standing there, a bit clueless.

Carlos was the first to break the silence. "So... what now?"

"I don't know, man. I guess we should at least head outside and get some target practice in."

"Yeah, let's do that."

The two headed out of the ship and grabbed their weapons from the truck. Rex slung a heavy assault rifle over his shoulder and started firing at some large rocks in the distance. Carlos, on the other hand, was using his latest prize, the twin handguns he'd taken from the Crimson Commander.

They had a cargo drone with them, stocked with ammo boxes, so they could fire away without worrying about running out of rounds. The sound of gunfire soon attracted some nearby smugglers, curious about the commotion. Rex noticed them watching.

"If any of you want to join, bring some food and liquor!" Rex called out. "We've got plenty of ammo here if you guys want to practice. And, hey, we've even got a few drones that can project holograms. How about we hunt some giant monsters?"

The smugglers lit up at the idea. "Oh, that sounds like fun! Let's do it!"

"Count me in!"

Soon, a few smugglers ran off to grab liquor and food, and before long, they had a full-blown shooting party going. Everyone took turns practicing their aim, and then they moved on to hunting holographic monsters. The party didn't wind down until everyone was sprawled out on the ground, completely drunk and exhausted.

Cleo, keeping an eye on everything as usual, noticed Rex passed out on the floor, his energy levels almost depleted. With a slight sigh, she took control of his body remotely, making him get up and walk toward the recharging bay. And with that, the day finally came to an end.