The Final Desperation

Even among the Sentinels' many technologies, the spy drone concealed in the supreme commander's office was unique, having utilized the processor chips of the first-generation Sentinels, a rare resource that dated back to the Mecalans.

Therefore, the Sentinels had no way to replenish their stock. Every bit lost was gone for good, forcing them to consider their uses carefully before acting on it. Despite this, these chips were worthy of the Mecalan name, endowing the drone with remarkable intelligence.

This allowed the tiny drone to intercept all the information that passed through the supreme commander and decide which parts to report. Granted, the normal messages were fragmented, often containing only the core ideas expressed in a few words. However, this small notice gave the Sentinels an immense advantage over the Celestials, suppressing them without notice.

If needed, the drone could also self-destruct to crack the Celestials' firewall and send the entire message without interference. The drone was intelligent enough to analyze the implications of each order and know which option to choose. As such, they placed heavy precedence on this drone, receiving and analyzing its messages with the utmost urgency.

This time was no different, especially when this was the drone's last report. When the Sentinel headquarters received the video recording, they instantly initiated a video call without even watching the video first. That was how much they trusted the drone's judgment.

In the blink of an eye, all the strongest Sentinels entered the call and instantly dissected the information in the video. Unlike the communication methods of other factions, the Sentinels could easily transmit large amounts of information within a short timeframe through their connective network.

There was no need for speech since they automatically knew the meaning behind each Sentinel's thought process. Rather, the video call was more of a show, intended to deceive anyone who would spy on them. However, no one had ever gotten past their security measures so this trap became an unused asset.

"Confirmation of intelligence is required. Deploying squadron A81." A split second later, they arrived at this decision and ended the call. The orders were passed down to the corresponding departments and they began searching for Genji, which came easily since Genji was leading a Zerg excursion.

Multiple fighter jets flew overhead and landed in the distance, dissembling into a robot brigade that awaited Genji's approach. The glowing eyes of the Sentinels followed Genji's movements, giving him no choice but to approach.

"You don't look like you're here to fight. What do you want?" Genji asked, eying the medium-sized group. Although there was a decent number of them, they were far from matching his Zerg army. If they fought, Genji was confident he could obliterate them under the cover of Zergs.

"Inquiring your allegiance. Have you aligned yourself with the Zergs?" The sentinel at the front stepped out and asked Genji.

"Since when do you care about who I work with? "

The sentinel fell silent for a moment before bluntly asking, "To what extent will you aid the Celestials?"

Hearing this question, Genji realized something detrimental to the Celestials was eminent. Whatever it was, the Sentinels deemed it important enough to consider his involvement. 

Knowing how calculative these mana golems were, Genji understood his response could determine their following plans. Despite this, Genji wasted no time in answering. "I might not care about the Celestials, but they are tied to EverRealm's interests. If things get bad, I don't have a choice, but to get involved."

"Understood." The sentinel's eyes blinked with consideration as it walked back to the brigade.

Genji didn't know what it meant by that, but it didn't change the weirdness of this interaction. Was there any reason they had to ask him that when it was something they could already guess? Just what were they trying to confirm?

And what would happen if Genji had lied to them? It wasn't like Genji had any reason to tell the truth. They were on opposing sides so deception should be expected. Yet despite this, the sentinel didn't even bother with follow-up questions. No matter how Genji thought about it, he couldn't understand their thought process.

'Their way of thinking is very different from Deep Blue's. It's more accepting of unforeseen outcomes, but that's expected of a group that survived so long on the battlefield.'

At the thought of the AI overlord, Genji recalled the request it had asked of him. 'Now would be a good time to complete it. No hassle or danger. I just hope it doesn't cause the Sentinels to turn hostile. Otherwise, I will have to completely change my plans.'

Nonetheless, Genji continued with his action, undeterred by the potential consequences. He was never one to back down from danger, so why would he change now? It might be troublesome to deal with another enemy, but it wasn't like it would kill him.

"Hey! Take this before you leave." Genji hollered to the transforming sentinel and tossed the item.

The sentinel looked over and cautiously scanned the incoming item, barely suppressing the impulse to blast it into smithereens. If it wasn't for Genji's warning and its slow speed, the sentinel would have mistaken this as a sneak attack and taken that action.

'Rectangular shape detected - nonaerodynamic form and lack of energy. Incoming item is deemed safe.'

Reaching this conclusion, the sentinel reached out and caught the disk before performing a detailed scan of it. To the sentinel's surprise, this scan revealed nothing about the disk, indicating that his knowledge bank and system level weren't up to par for the task.

It could tell the disk was related to them since it sensed the mana circuits hidden beneath its metallic surface, but the sentinel couldn't spot any clues about its purpose. This left him with no choice but to bring it back and consult the other sentinels.

"What is the origin of this item?" It asked Genji with a serious gleam in its eyes.

"Don't ask. Some guy just told me to pass it to you. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be leaving."

After saying those words, Genji led his army away, unwilling to get any more involved in the Sentinels' matters.

 

---

 

Time continued to pass on the battlefield, with Genji continuing his battles. By now, all the factions had gotten word of his movements and started viciously attacking any Zergs they came across. Igani lost a lot of units from this, but it didn't stop their expansion.

On this day, the battlefield underwent another unexpected change: the Sentinels withdrew from battle and retreated to their bases. They had transitioned to a full defense mode, giving up all unclaimed land.

Normally, the other factions wouldn't pay much attention to this, since they would often do the same to consolidate their positions, but given the current context, these movements took on a different meaning. 

First, it was the Parasites, who suddenly gave up all territory in the central battlefield and went into hiding. Next, it was the Celestials who retreated into their bases and relinquished the battle for the newly freed resources. Now, it was the Sentinels, who also followed in the footsteps of the Celestials for no reason.

This left only the Beasts and Zergs to contest, something they were deeply uncomfortable with. If it was only one or two factions, they could attribute it to coincidence and luck, but three made it a majority. As a result, the remaining factions couldn't help but feel wary about the situation. 

Did they overlook an important piece of information or was this retreat orchestrated? Were they being schemed against? Just what did they miss, and should they be concerned about it? 

These confusions caused the Zergs and Beasts to temporarily cease their battles. They couldn't afford to be bogged down by each other when the majority of factions were planning something from the dark. For now, they would watch the currents and see if they could follow the trend. For all they knew, this could be the opportunity they needed to finally cripple their competition.

As such, the most intense battlefield on the planet entered a calm state, awaiting the spark to reignite the battle. It was a looming sensation, like the calm before the storm, foretelling the tumultuous times ahead.

When the Celestials heard about this development, the supreme commander became very confused. Why did everyone stop fighting? What is going on? Why did it feel like they were falling behind on information? And why was everyone turtling like them? This was a battlefield, not a game of monkey see, monkey do!

Shouldn't the conflict be at its peak right now? This was the prime time to expand their territories! Why were they giving up such an opportunity? The Celestials had to because of their circumstances, but that didn't warrant the other factions to follow them.

Plus, why were the Sentinels so calm? Shouldn't they be making the most moves right now? If they didn't want to attack them, shouldn't they at least instigate the remaining factions to do so? It wasn't like them to give up such an easy follow-up.

The Sentinels spent all that effort to steal their intelligence, yet they weren't acting on it? It doesn't make sense. Just what were they trying to do? The supreme commander had all these questions, but no answers. This resulted in more sleepless days, all of which were spent trying to comprehend the other faction's motives. 

But what he will never understand is that the true reason behind this confusion lies in the disk that Genji passed to the Sentinels. After obtaining it, the sentinel brought the disk back to their headquarters and initiated another meeting. After putting together all their processing powers, they finally got a hint about the disk.

By matching the inherent mana circuits to a corresponding container, they could amplify the patterns to display the internal data. However, this step alone took them a few hours since customizing such a machine required high precision in manufacturing equipment.

After creating this display and connecting the mana circuits to form a continuous section, they were finally able to access the stored contents. Upon opening the data file, they discovered a jumbled signal frequency that nearly fried their circuits upon retrieval.

Despite these dangers, this didn't deter the Sentinels but rather sparked a fervor for studying the disk. That was because stored within their databases, was an ancient method of encryption that would create the same result. It was a method created by the Mecalans to ensure perfect encapsulation of information.

It was a needlessly complicated method that ensured no one, but them would be able to decrypt the information. To do so would require knowledge and mastery over machinery that was characteristic of them. As such, any inheritors of their technology could assured that the information was from one of their own.

But as unique as this method was, it was also this complication that caused the method to fall into obscurity. It was simply too cumbersome and time costly to decode. Even with a prebuilt machine and knowledge of the method, it would take hours, if not days, to unscramble, depending on the size of the piece.

While it was fine for crucial information, it would be a nightmare for everyday use. Imagine having to spend hours every day just to read a text message sent by a friend. But the final nail in the coffin wasn't that, but because no one even came close to cracking it.

The closest they got was an encryption 7 levels below it in difficulty. Mind you, this isn't a linear increase, but an exponential one. So why would they spend the time and resources using the most complex encryption when they could achieve the same result with a simpler one? As such, this method had been retracted into their databases, left to be forgotten about.

But now that they saw such a method, they couldn't afford to neglect it. How could they, when a fellow inheritor of Mecalan technology went through all this effort? Even if it was a simple greeting, they would unwaveringly push on.

With the enthusiasm of the entire faction, they finally managed to decode the message after two days.

"Come find me."

It was a simple statement, but it made all the difference to the battlefield, being the main reason for Sentinels' retreat. In their eagerness to follow this request, they withdrew all their forces and focused them on calculating the possible locations of their fellow inheritor.

However, this was easier said than done due to the sheer size of the galaxy. Assuming they would be looking for a similar signal frequency, they would need to explore the countless planets before they discover a clue.

If they were unlucky, this could take them hundreds of years, rendering this quest pointless in the end. After all, who knows if the messenger would still be alive by then?

Just for comparison, it would be easier to find a specific particle of sand in a desert than to trace this signal. After all, there are more planets in the universe than grains of sand on a single planet.

Luckily, they had a method to bypass this problem, which was why they dared undertake this task in the first place. Nonetheless, it would still take a decent amount of time to achieve.

To ensure maximum efficiency, the Sentinels outside this planet also sent out spaceships to explore the galaxy. They had literally mobilized their entire civilization for this one task. The goal of the ships was to record the signal frequencies of each solar system and send back the data for the Sentinels.

That way, they can make generalizations about the frequencies in the star field, essentially eliminating it from the equation. Using the sand analogy from before, this is like using a metal detector on small piles of sand. If it beeps, set the pile aside for later consideration. Otherwise, they know the pile is useless for their cause.

From there, they will conduct multiple rounds of screenings, each getting more specific until they find their target. And if they could find a pattern for that section of the galaxy, they would be able to eliminate that whole area, saving them a plethora of time.

It sounds complicated, but the hardest part of this process is actually gathering the data, not the generalization. That's because all Sentinels were supercomputers, capable of performing countless calculations at once.

Finding patterns from a set of information is their specialty, and with the entire civilization working on this problem, it is only a matter of time before they solve it.

But no matter how good their processors are, they need to have data to work with, which is what they're stuck on. After all, they could only gather so much data within this short timeframe. So all they could do now was wait and pray for the peace. Only in tranquility could they preserve their forces for the task.

However, like all calms before the storm, the peace was short-lived. Ironically, it was disrupted by Genji, the very trigger that started it. Before his hunting efficiency could fall from the peace, he was thrown into another battle that would have lasting effects on the battlefield.

As he was finishing the day, a Zerg unit stumbled up to him and committed suicide by tearing its own head off. Seeing this, his eyes dilated before letting out an annoyed sigh. This was the signal he and Igani agreed on if her nest got attacked. Specifically, it represented the fall of her nest and her relocation.

"I expected this, but it is still annoying. Come along. Let's go find her," he said to Bruce, who gave the corpse a strange look, unaware of the significance behind it. This was no surprise since Bruce was absent when they discussed the cue.

"And before you ask, no, the Zerg did not commit suicide to mess with me. Igani and I are cooperating perfectly fine."

Bruce rolled his eyes, somewhat doubting his statement. Some "cooperation" this was, endangering his partner without her consent.

For the next two days, they followed the compass until they arrived at a small hill. This was where Igani had rebuilt her nest, concealing the fleshy structures beneath the soil.

It was honestly an ingenious location for hiding, but it did little for the defensive structures. The moment defenses were set up, the nest would be instantly revealed. After all, nothing screams "Zerg nest" more than a giant tower of flesh and bones.

Genji walked through a small opening at the side of the hill and came upon a hollow interior full of supporting beams made from hardened keratin. Leaving the Zerg army behind, Genji walked through the maze-like tunnels and found Igani at the deepest parts.

She was sleeping peacefully when he entered, but this quickly changed when he dangled some roast over a lighter, reheating it to saturate the room with a meaty aroma. 

"Hmmmm, what's that smell? Has it been so long that I started dreaming about the smell of roast meat?" She asked herself as she stirred from her slumber.

"No, this is real." Genji's voice caused her to open her eyes and give him a drowsy glance.

"Oh, you're back," she said with a yawn.

"Here. It's still cold, but it should be better than nothing." Genji held the chunk to her mouth. "Tell me about who attacked you."

"It's the Parasites."

"You sure?"

"Yes. I can't mistake the portals they used and those weird guys in strange robes. There's also a guy in purple armor that caused my nest to wither away."

Hearing these descriptions, Genji knew he had his culprits. It wasn't as if they were trying to hide the fact either. However, this attack brought more problems than wasted time and energy.

Due to being marked, the Parasites knew Genji's position at all times. Consequently, they were aware that Genji had lingered in one area longer than usual, attracting their suspicions and revealing Igani's existence.

This was Genji's main worry since the Parasites would now do everything in their power to stunt Igani's growth. It would be foolish of them not to when she would otherwise become a major obstacle to their revenge. 

'This is earlier than I hoped, but I don't have a choice. I need to get rid of them if I want a chance against Silver Empress.'