Chapter 85: The Siege of a Titan, I
Chronos HQ. Early Winter.
The world outside lay pale and dim beyond the towering glass windows of Lucien’s central command room—a sky of cold iron, with snow dusting the edges of window-panes like ash. Frost crept along the base of steel frames, and the light overhead was diffused, sterile, clinical. Inside, the war table glowed.
A massive ring of thick, reinforced screens curved around the chamber. Each displayed a live video feed—world leaders, military generals, prime ministers, and religious leaders—each one framed in their own time zone, war rooms, and bunkers. Some feeds flickered dimly. Others blazed with red alerts and sirens.
Lucien stood at the center. His hands rested behind his back. The emerald green of his eyes caught the glow from the display. Behind him, Max stood near a side-console, arms crossed. Julian remained stiffly near the edge of the room, his expression unreadable. Isabelle and Kieran stood in silence, both observing without speaking.
Lucien began speaking—his voice measured, composed.
"I’m sure you’ve all seen what the enemy is capable of. They burned your cities. Massacred your militaries. Thrown you into chaos, and weakened your power."
He tapped his console. Dozens of maps unfurled in mid-air—projected displays casting eerie light across the room. Each map showed zones, alien sightings, and marked coordinates.
"I’ve devised a private military, specially created to fight off these alien entities."
"We developed countermeasures. Weaponry. Armor. Autonomous drones. Impermeable vehicles."
"Over two hundred thousand active units, all trained, all equipped and capable of fighting back."
"I’d like to offer assistance to you all, if accepted, I’ll deploy an entire Chronos division to your respectful area immediately."