CHAPTER 138: CHAPTER 138: PRAETORIANI SIDERUM

The deep hum of the CRVT - Richie’s engines resonated through the cargo bay, a powerful, rhythmic pulse that belied the stillness of the air within. Here, amidst the neatly stowed modules for the soon-to-be-built Amazon base, Richard and Lina stood, their attention solely on Ciano. The atmosphere was serious, weighty with the gravity of what was to come.

"Ciano," Richard began, his voice clear in the vast space, "you will undergo a genetic enhancement. This procedure is designed to provide you with the necessary physiological and cognitive capabilities for the monumental task ahead in Brazil." Richard paused, letting the words sink in.

"You will be my first soldier in a specialized operations force. Sooner, I will employ many more like you, and you will be their leader. You will lead them, and for that, you are burdened with this task to prove yourself. This specific force will be instrumental in the mission I am about to explain."

Ciano straightened, a flicker of nervous anticipation in his eyes. Soldier. The word resonated with the yearning for purpose he’d felt.

Richard then stepped closer, his gaze intense, his voice dropping to a low, grave tone. "What I am about to show you, Ciano, will change everything you know about humanity, about the world. It is the true reason for all the advanced technology you have seen here, and for why you are about to undergo this process."

Lina activated a holographic display. The serene beauty of the ship’s interior vanished, replaced by a torrent of horrifying images and videos. Ciano watched, his breath catching in his throat, as the true face of their enemy unfolded before him. He saw stark, clinical labs where humans, their eyes wide with terror or vacant with mind-numbing drugs, were subjected to unspeakable experimentation.

Videos showed Krill operatives, masked and cloaked, systematically harvesting human blood, filling massive vats with the very essence of life. He witnessed the grotesque results of "puppet soldier" programs—mutilated, dehumanized figures, driven by alien neural implants, sent into suicidal conflicts to be disposed of without a second thought. The sheer brutality of it was sickening; mutilation, torture, the methodical breaking of spirits.

No one was spared—children, young adults, the elderly—all treated as mere resources, raw materials for a monstrous, alien agenda. Finally, the display culminated with the captured video footage of Subject Alpha-0, the very alien creature he had seen in stasis, engaged in its barbaric slaughter, followed by Lina’s prior analysis of the implant. The irrefutable evidence that all of it, the horrifying truth, was real.

Ciano staggered back, a choked gasp escaping his lips. His face drained of color, his mind reeling. He felt a profound, physical sickness twist in his gut, a cold dread that went deeper than anything he had ever known. The images flashed behind his eyes: the faces, the silent screams, the casual cruelty. This wasn’t some distant threat; this was an enemy that had been living among them, feeding on them, playing with them like dolls.

Richard watched Ciano’s reaction, a somber understanding in his eyes. "It’s understandable, Ciano," he said softly, his own voice tinged with the cold fury that constantly simmered beneath his composure. He paused, then delivered the final, crushing blow, making it utterly personal.

"That’s why I need competent individuals like you. Because if we don’t do this... if we fail to stop them... then sooner or later, your parents, your sisters... they would be just like the ones in those pictures. Another unit for harvest, another subject for experimentation, another puppet soldier to be disposed of."

The words landed like hammer blows. Ciano’s breath hitched. His family. The people he had been sending his secret earnings to, believing them safe in their provincial ignorance. The thought of them being subjected to such atrocities, their lives reduced to mere commodities, ignited a raw, visceral fury within him. His entire body tensed, trembling not with fear, but with a barely contained rage. His hands clenched into white-knuckled fists, his jaw locked tight.

Disbelief warred with the undeniable truth before his eyes. All this time, he had believed his boss was building an advanced tech company for wealth and influence. Now, the true reason for the CRVT - Richie, for the hidden base, for the fantastical technology—it was all to fight against an enemy who had played with humanity, controlled its destiny, for millennia.

The air around Ciano seemed to crackle, a faint, almost imperceptible tremor passing through the cargo bay. His eyes, fixed on the last horrifying image on the display, glowed with a fierce, cold light, mirroring Richard’s own silver gaze. His rage, though outwardly controlled, was a burning inferno within him.

Richard held his gaze, his voice firm but offering an out. "You can still back out, Ciano. Now. No judgment."

Ciano straightened to his full height, his posture ramrod straight, every muscle taut. The tremors ceased, replaced by an unyielding resolve that radiated from him like heat. His voice was low, raw with emotion, but steady, resonating with a newfound purpose that solidified in his very core. "No, sir," he stated, his eyes burning with an almost zealous conviction.

"I will dedicate my life to liberating humanity from these... monsters." His voice strengthened, swelling with a fierce pride. "Death for humanity, for our freedom, is an honor. And dying for my fellow humans... for my family... that is an honor greater than any."

His burning passion, though held in check, now blazed like a beacon. Beneath Ciano’s almost passive outward reaction, a tempest raged. He was furious, yes, an incandescent anger that would fuel his every action. But deeper still, beneath the fury, was an absolute, unshakeable conviction—a sacred oath to reclaim their world.

As Ciano’s impassioned declaration filled the cargo bay, a section of the floor smoothly retracted, revealing a large, sleek gene pod. It was far larger than what should logically fit a human, its polished, pristine surface gleaming under the overhead lights. Richard’s lips curved into a faint, knowing smile as he nodded to Lina.

Lina stepped forward, appearing with a rather old-looking scroll, tied with a crimson ribbon, and a thick, leather-bound book that appeared ancient and weathered, its pages yellowed with time. Richard took them, the palpable weight of history settling in his hands. He then looked at Ciano, his smile softening slightly. "Ciano," Richard began, his voice now imbued with a solemnity that resonated deeply in the cavernous space. "This is the first ceremony as the Praetoriani Siderum. Place your hand on this... Bible."

Ciano, still reeling from the revelations but utterly consumed by his newfound purpose, put his hand on the book, confused yet curious, his eyes fixed on Richard.

As Richard started speaking again, his voice slowly deepening, taking on a resonant, almost ancient quality, a mesmerizing silver aura began to emanate from his very being, washing over the cargo bay, bathing it in an ethereal, soft light. His silver eyes blazed with an inner fire, a pure, incandescent fury that seemed to flood the entire space, touching Ciano to his core.

Something ignited within Ciano—a raw, pure feeling of vengeance, fury, and retribution, perfectly mirroring the intense emotions radiating from Richard. The air itself seemed to crackle with the energy of Richard’s conviction.

Richard’s voice boomed, amplified, echoing with the force of his conviction, resonating as if a thousand voices spoke as one:

"Feliciano Dela Cruz, YOU ARE HEREBY TO SERVE YOUR ENTIRE LIFE AS A FIRST MEMBER OF THE PRAETORIANI SIDERUM!

From this moment forth, your destiny is inextricably intertwined with the boundless cosmos and the absolute, unquestionable ascendance of humanity! You are no longer merely a man, but a living weapon, a guardian, a hunter, consecrated to a purpose grander than any individual life. Your blood is now consecrated to our sacred cause, flowing with the combined will of all who have fought and fallen before you. Your will is now bound to the relentless eradication of all alien threats, a steel unbreakable against their cunning and their might. You are blood of our blood, will of our will, and fury of our fury!

Go forth, into the endless void, and let the stars tremble before the wrath of the Praetoriani! Let the very fabric of space echo with the cries of the unworthy, as you carve a path for humanity’s dominion! For you are now an instrument of humanity’s divine right to rule, a harbinger of its glory, and your service shall be eternal, a beacon of our unwavering might until the last alien threat is scoured from the universe!

NOW, RECRUIT, AS YOU STAND BEFORE EARTH AND THE STARS, DO YOU SWEAR AN OATH TO SERVE HUMANITY YOUR ENTIRE LIFE, UNTIL YOUR VERY DEATH?!"

Ciano cried out, his voice a primal roar of fury, tears streaming down his face, not of sadness but of absolute, unbridled rage and profound conviction. The silver aura from Richard pulsed through him, a direct transmission of his boss’s cold, incandescent fury, burning within Ciano’s very soul. He felt the crushing weight of humanity’s suffering, and the searing, righteous drive to become its vanguard, its avenging fist.

"I WILL ACCEPT MY DUTY AND SERVE THE ORDER UNTIL MY VERY DEATH!" Ciano screamed, his voice raw with conviction. "I WILL HEREBY TAKE AN OATH TO EXTERMINATE THEM ALL! AND TO DIE WITH HONOR FOR HUMANITY!"