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(AN: If you see any mistakes, do let me know, it will improve my writing.)
"You need a title," Kali blinked at what Fenja said to her.
Seeing the look in her eyes, Fenja elaborated.
"If you're going to establish a powerful organization that is 'The Black Fleet', along with all the other yet to be named departments under you, you yourself will need a codename or something to easily identify you as the boss rather than being called by your name." At the end of the explanation, Kali nodded her head in understanding.
"Hmm, I do have a few names I can think of…what do you think of Grand Arbiter?" Fenja looked contemplative at the name.
"That could work, any other titles you have in mind."
"Lady of the Abyss, Null Queen…that's about it really, as I don't really want to be hit with copyright allegations"
Honestly, Kali could likely borrow some titles from games and anime, but on the off chance of going to, or perhaps certain individuals coming to her, having them question her using their titles would be awkward.
"…We'll stick with the first one for now." Both women moved onto a different topic after that.
It seemed Fenja has set up a way to get her death row inmates for her experiments, along with sending out feelers to people whom she knows may join their cause, they'd be waiting for their response in the meantime.
Kali had created a few more off-site bases, which were empty as there wasn't a clear idea on what to use them for, but when they had more people pitching in ideas on how to improve those bases, they would be available for them to make use of.
Next, they discussed battle plans.
Once the Turians arrived, they'd run into the mine field set up just outside the Relay, it was a certainty they would lose a few vessels to the trap, but after that they would wise up and be more careful.
Once the mines ceased being triggered, it would be an ideal time to engage the battered fleet with Kali's own ether to wipe it out in one go or force a route.
The problem is, if they were routed, it would be more than likely they would come back twice as strong.
Next, once or if one of the survey expedition ships comes back, local Alliance system defence ships would report the battle and the existence of Kali's ships, both would be equally alarming to Alliance top brass and the Governments back on Earth, Fenja would be ordered along with a whole slew of other operatives to find out everything they could about Kali's faction.
Fenja decided not to report everything she's seen here to her superiors, but she would definitely tell them everything she knows about her investigation revolving around Kali appearing under mysterious circumstances, along with the anomalies associated with it.
That way, Fenja would be placed in a position of high importance or perhaps promoted to lead the unit tasked with gathering intelligence on Kali and her Black Fleet.
But other than that, the Navy would likely dispatch a small task force to the Shanxi Prime to defend the planet and evacuate the civilian population, though this would only be possible if the primary Turian Patrol Force was wiped out or routed.
But Kali also realized that once one of the two actions was done, it would mean that Alliance Command would not feel pressured to form a combined fleet as they had done in the cannon timeline to take back an occupied Shanxi.
Perhaps once a second Turian force was sent, they may feel the need to mobilize their entire fleet, but that's an if, as things might get to a point where the Council steps in to stop all hostilities, again though, big if.
Though once the conflict is put to an end, Kali would need to disappear for a while to either rebuild lost ships and upgrade existing infrastructure, along with expanding the fleet.
After that, she would focus on two things: networking and setting up bases all over the galaxy.
Within her mind, she figured she would set up three big bases as it were, the HQ obviously in the heart of Human space, but beyond the Relay Network, another would be near the border to the Batarian Hegemony just so she could conduct raids and assaults on them in order to force delays and redirect their focus, and finally the third base would be placed near Omega, kali planed in the future to assault that pirate den and use it as a staging area to lunch assaults against the other warlords in the sector but mostly to intercept the Collectors ships.
But that was all in the future, and those plans won't be possible if she doesn't put in the work in the here and now to make it all achievable.
Kali and Fenja were about to speak on another topic regarding the personnel they would recruit, but were interrupted by a sensor alert.
Their focus was brought to the main command holo table, which projected the Shanxi system on it, and it was showing a flashing warning light at the Relay.
Inputting a few commands into the terminal, a screen popped up showing a replay of a recording from one of the many probes in the area facing the Relay.
A single ship came through, but the trouble was that it was on fire in several sections and sported massive hull damage, plus it was broadcasting an S.O.S and sending a dozen or so messages to anyone and everything that could hear them.
Kali didn't need to know what those messages were, as it was all too clear, plus the sight of the limping civilian vessel was enough to truly shock Fenja frozen still.
She has just been provided with grim proof that we were not alone and that what I said has come to pass.
It was at this moment that Fenja finally left the Orion and headed straight back to Shanxi to attend one of many meetings regarding the revelation of hostile first contact.
This left Kali finally all alone, and a form of depression crept into her mind, being alone wasn't something she liked, no human would feel alright alone, we are social beings that subconsciously love being with others, even if many of us prefer being alone.
Kali shook away such a thing, she right now more than ever needed to focus on what was to come.
In mere minutes, kilometers away from the Relay, over a hundred dark blue wormhole-like portals tore through the fabric of reality.
The Grand Arbiters' personnel fleet had gathered, waiting for the storm to arrive, soulless vessels all bound to the will of a single soul bearing a great promise and a galactic burden to safeguard humanity's continued existence among the stars.
In time, this burden would lessen as many would come to her side to help lift the weight off her shoulders, if ever so slightly.
For now, it was just Kali.
Hours would go by, in-system Alliance ships would try and contact her, only to be met with one response on repeat, 'focus on the colony, the gate is mine to guard', while further attempts at communication would go on, the meagre amount of ships wouldn't dare venture anywhere near the armada sitting at the Relay.
Finally, after hours of nerve-racking waiting, the Relay spat out the Turian Patrol Force, which had butchered the human survey teams, and then ran straight into the net of Hornet Mines.
Bright flashes of light engulfed the area of space around the Relay as scores of alien ships were atomized.
From their perspective, it happened so fast, those who realized the danger they were in did their best to quickly make sure everyone knew in order to stop the further loss of life.
But knowing didn't save them, for the survivors soon found themselves experiencing another form of horror.
When the Nuclear fire died down and the survivors were visible, Kali had the optimal firing solution, and she did not hesitate to give the order to open fire.
Streaks of light flashed across the void as over a hundred MAC rounds blazed forth to their intended targets.
The fight, ha fight, who am I trying to fool, this was an execution where thousands of good soldiers lost their lives in an instant.
Brothers, Sisters, Fathers, Mothers, whoever they were, innocent, guilty, honest, and deceitful, whoever they were, they all died.
And it took 4 minutes.
Sitting in the command chair back on the Orion, an unsettling sensation spread through Kali's mind, nausea was spreading, and a dreadful coldness was shooting through her head.
She paid no mind to the level-up notifications her system was bombarding her with, her focus was on the acts she had committed this day.
Was this shock she was experiencing, it wouldn't be surprising if it was, the realization of being a mass murderer was not a nice feeling.
And now she was thinking about the number of beings she has killed, how many was it, the number must have been in the tens of thousands.
Was knowing really something she wanted to know, even if she did know, would it even matter.
What's it like to know you've killed someone, the answer will be different for everyone.
For Kali, it was unsettlingly cold.
With big deep breaths, Kali did her best to calm herself, she needed to focus, she needed to be ready, she needed to prepare.
More of them are coming.
"[S-status]" the words came out in a whisper, a tone of regret.
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Name: Kali Elicitor
Level: 1 ---> 18
Credits: 1,9k
Titanium: 211,405
Deuterium: 79,155
Gacha Ticket: 0 ---> 13
Research Points: 154
Unique Blueprints: 0
Capital limit: 3/3
Ship limit: 200/200
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Level 18, she had levelled up to just level 18 after killing well over a thousand upon thousands.
Yet despite the horrific way it was conducted, Kali remembered that after every tenth level up, the System granted new upgrades to everything she owned.
So to get her mind off the casual way her fleet destroyed the aliens, she immersed herself into the System.
"[Upgrade Options]"
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Projects: Menhir Project [Minor Personal Shield For Infantry] 30rp / Carrier Ops [Unlock Noryang Light Carrier and Athens Carrier] 60rp / Rhino Plasma Artillery Tank 30rp / Improved Warheads [All Weapon Damage Increase By 5%] 15rp
Manpower: Capital Point 3 ---> 5 20rp / Ship Point 200 ---> 225 10rp / 2nd Marine Assault Brigade 250rp / 1st Armour Division 100rp / 1st Air Force Squadron 100rp
Influence: Gacha Ticket Drop 2% ---> 2.3% 25rp / Unique Blueprint Drop 1% ---> 1.4% 20rp
Economy: Titanium Extraction 10% ---> 15% 20rp / Deuterium Extraction 5% ---> 7% 20rp / Tax Income 10% ---> 15% 10rp / Research Income 5% ---> 8% 12rp
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The first thing she purchased was all of the economy upgrades, which left her under a hundred Research Points, however, that went further down as she got the Capital points up to 5, along with the Ship Points to 225, next was the damage increase, and that was it.
She'd save her points for the future as her mind was already at work, through a sieires of mental commands and swipes at the System interface, Kali ended up ordering the construction of 2 Athen-class Carriers and 10 Noryangs with 15 more Paris Frigates, using up the new pop cap limit.
Now, surprisingly, Kali also noticed she gained 13 Gacha Tickets, with a 2% drop rate, she wasn't expecting to get the chance to perform a 10-roll, of course, the exchange rate for these tickets in the store was super affordable.
However, every credit bought Gacha Ticket used gave her so much useless trash that it did not help her in any meaningful way, it got to a point where she didn't even bother buying the tickets due to the lackluster drops.
"System, roll 10 Gacha Tickets." Kali braced to receive a bunch of useless items.
However, upon using battle-gained Gacha tickets, she would realize in the future that what they dropped was far more valuable than the store-bought ones.
[Affirmative, Beginning Roll]
[Results: 1# Reinforced Lasso / 2# Infinite Ink Jar / 3# Broken Pencil / 4# Plasma Rifle (Halo 3) / 5# Summon Fatui (Genshin Impact)/ 6# 1$ Coin / 7# A.I Core/ 8# 1933 Phone Book / 9# Metal Box / #10 Aperture Science Turret (Portal 2)]
Looking at the results, Kali couldn't help but feel robbed, months of buying store-bought Gacha Tickets, receiving piles of crap and only now she is getting, quote unquote, "the good shit".
Once she has a research team, the first thing they'll be doing is reverse engineering that Plasma Rifle alongside the A.I. core.
The Aperture Turret, it'll be the one to greet the guests who she gets "Hello".
As for the Fatui Summon, Kali knew what they were, her mind was being filled with both their stats and the biggest shock of all, there didn't seem to be a limit or an indication of how many she could summon.
But to summon an army of them would mean she needs an army's worth of provisions to sustain them as well as to appease them, should she lose their loyalty, well, she didn't need to think about the implications from it.
Still, it was a wonderful acquisition as she had another avenue of manpower to pull from outside the System and those who lived in this galaxy, as she now could recruit physically superior and magical humans from a magical world.
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