20th October, Space Era Year 101.
The echo of Aerys Vilozyver's footsteps resounded through the silver-lined corridors of the National Advanced Armament Development Center—a facility known only by its code name: C.I.A. — Cross Impactor Annihilate.It was a place so restricted that even uttering its name in public was considered forbidden.
In the grand central hall, Lord Aelyzabeth Thors, Supreme Leader of the Centorian Empire, walked ahead of her son. Azure lights shimmered upon the metallic floor, casting reflections like sacred fire in a temple of technology. And at the heart of that sanctum stood the weapon destined to alter the fate of mankind.
"This is the Cross Impactor Annihilate, abbreviated C.I.A. "Lord Aelyzabeth's voice carried through the chamber. "A cruciform energy warhead—capable of erasing an entire continent with a single discharge."
A man in a black laboratory coat bowed respectfully. He was Dr. Kenning Lincoln, age fifty-six, a genius of strategic weaponry known across the empire as the Father of Symmetrical Destruction.
"I built it upon the principle of reversed gravitational equilibrium, "Dr. Lincoln explained, activating a hovering holoscreen."Upon detonation, the warhead releases a cruciform energy wave expanding both horizontally and vertically. Its epicenter initiates atomic-level mass dissolution…"
On the display, a simulation unfolded—a blazing cross of crimson light erupted, devouring an entire continental field within mere seconds.
Aerys stared in silence. He neither flinched nor questioned; every word, every image was engraved within his mind like a recording machine.
"This device," said Aelyzabeth evenly, "is a defensive deterrent. It shall never be used—unless the government of Centory itself collapses. Should our administrative core fall, the automated protocol will release all one hundred and fifty C.I.A. warheads simultaneously upon our enemies—to burn away every hand that dares destroy this empire."
Aerys raised his gaze toward his mother.
"And if someone truly succeeds in overthrowing your government?" "Then, my son," she replied calmly, her eyes glinting like cold steel, "they shall have no world left to return to."
That evening, from the capital city of Berlyn, a tremor rippled through the interplanetary network of nations. The Kepler Union—a coalition of thirty-six democratic worlds—issued an official condemnation of the Centorian regime.
"We can no longer tolerate the iron-fisted tyranny of Centory!"—Declaration from the President of the Kepler Union.
Panic spread across the independent media of the galaxy. The stock markets of New Hope collapsed overnight.Yet withinBerlyn itself, the imperial capital remained eerily tranquil—silent, disciplined, unyielding.
That night, inside the Zerwiscz Berlyn Schutz, Lord Aelyzabeth convened a confidential council.
Only the highest echelon of command were present:the Generals of the SSC (Schtuam Schuztavle Cerlinkle)—the core of the Schutz Regiment;the paramilitary SSA (Sicherheitsamt); the Intelligence and Assassination Division; the SSS (Staatssicherheit)—Internal Security and Advanced Science Bureau; and the ARMK (Armada Ruam Marine Krieg)—Supreme Command of Centorian Forces, comprising the chiefs and staff of all three military branches. Among them sat one younger figure—Captain Aerys Vilozyver.
Aelyzabeth's voice rose through the dim blue candlelight:
"We shall not deploy the C.I.A.… unless the entire world first seeks our destruction. But we will retaliate—through economy, through energy, and through the spirit of the people."
Aerys remained motionless, absorbing each word. No fear. No doubt. Only the echo of a single lesson whispered through his mind—a voice from his mother long ago:
"The true weapon of an Emperor is not the bomb, but the silence that compels all to tremble."
Thus ends Chapter B-I.