The Royal Office was a fortress of order in a world teetering on the brink of chaos. Sir Agravain sat behind a massive oak desk, its surface covered in stacks of reports, with the only clear space being a small area where a neat little teacup sat. The room itself was a reflection of its true owner: austere, functional, and filled with all the unnecessary ornamentation one would expect for the office of the King of Knights.
Lauren burst in without knocking, a rare breach of protocol that spoke volumes about the urgency of her visit. "Sir Agravain," she said, her voice tight with tension, "we have a situation."
Agravain looked up from the tablet he was reading, his expression unreadable. He gestured for her to continue, his fingers steepled before him, a picture of calm authority.
"Sentinel," Lauren said, placing a data slate on his desk. "They're moving something. Something big. On a global scale. We're talking about tens of thousands of secret shipments, massive containers, all of them hidden behind layers of corporate deception and digital subterfuge."
Agravain's eyes narrowed as he scanned the data. "Sentinel," he repeated, looking at the offered information.
"Not what you think it is," he offered, as he quickly scrolled through everything. He might not be a fan of modern technology, but he was being forced to learn it. "I doubt it is the Sentinel company doing it, and rather, Sentinel seems to be the name of the thing being shipped around."
Lauren looked surprised at his words; they were reasonable, but she couldn't see how he had figured it out from the same information she had just been looking at.
When in doubt, ask. "How do you know that?"
"Because Lady Yelena mentioned the word Sentinel in passing, something about someone making some big robots or something; apparently it was something those Illuminati were handling, but it was but a passing remark," Agravain explained, as he remembered one of the reports he had received just a few weeks prior.
Given that the Illuminati had been created by Arthuria herself not too long before she left for Hell, the Veiled Hand kept an eye on their activities, but Agravain himself cared little about them.
But now, it seemed, whatever Lady Yelena had been talking about was no longer contained. That, or the Illuminati themselves were behind this.
Lauren processed this information, her mind racing. The Illuminati, a group of powerful people, given absolute power to protect the world. It wasn't just people, really, but also entire groups, such as the Fantastic Four and the Avengers.
Lauren knew that Yelena's sister, Natasha, was part of them, and therefore had access to inside information. Something she herself had checked up on.
And yes, the Illuminati might be behind this, after all; both Tony Stark and Victor von Doom were part of that group, and both were experts when it came to robotics.
Given their mandate to ensure peace and stability worldwide, it wouldn't be strange for them to make an army of robots.
But something didn't sit right with her.
She respectfully took the tablet back from Sir Agravain, who just got right back to his work, letting her try to figure it out on her own.
And it didn't take long before that feeling started to grow; something was wrong with that idea.
Sentinel, it was likely the name of a project and not just the name of the group behind it. Sentinel Robotics did seem somewhat connected to the whole thing, but not the mastermind; this was clearly bigger than them.
"I apologize for the inconvenience. I will continue to investigate, and if I find something, I will be back," Lauren said, as she took a step back.
Agravain didn't even bother to reply to that, already fully engrossed in a report about the rising prices of bread in the Outer Hebrides; it was a trivial matter, but it was his duty to ensure everything ran smoothly.
-----
Lauren returned to the monitoring room, her mind a whirlwind of thoughts and theories. She sat back at her terminal, her fingers flying across the keyboard, her eyes scanning lines of code, her mind sifting through terabytes of data.
She had a theory, a hunch, a gut feeling that told her she was on the right track.
She decided to cross-reference the shipping data with a list of known Illuminati assets and operations, looking for any overlap, any connection, no matter how tenuous.
She also decided to look into the financial records of Sentinel Robotics, searching for any unusual transactions, any patterns that might point to a larger, more sinister agenda.
The work was tedious, the information a tangled web of numbers and names, but she was a patient woman, a skilled operative, and she was determined to unravel the mystery.
Hours turned into days.
The world outside continued to spin, oblivious to the quiet battle being waged in the sterile confines of the Veiled Hand's headquarters.
The hype around the dating show continued to build, a smokescreen of gossip and speculation that effectively masked the true, more pressing concerns.
Lauren, however, remained focused, the full weight of Albion's intelligence apparatus behind her.
And it didn't take long before she finally confirmed her guess.
The Illuminati weren't at all connected with the Sentinel project.
Not a single company connected to Stark or Doom was involved in all this, as if someone were going to great lengths to hide their movements from them.
But the problem was that this didn't make sense; who else would have the power and resources to do something on this scale?
The shipping routes were carefully planned to avoid detection, the cargo containers were shielded from all forms of scanning, and the people involved were ghosts in the machine, their identities erased, their tracks covered.
It was a masterpiece of covert operations, a symphony of secrecy and subterfuge.
And it was all leading to one thing.
A coordinated, global event.
An event that, if her suspicions were correct, would change the world forever.
And she had no idea what it was, or how to stop it.
However, her guesses were confirmed, and with the information in hand, she once more reported to Sir Agravain.
"I see, that does seem to be the case..." he mused. "But it has little to do with us; we are short-staffed enough as it is. As long as it doesn't concern Albion, we will not get involved, but do keep an eye on things," he ordered.
Lauren wanted to argue, but she held her tongue. She was a soldier, and Sir Agravain was her superior. She would follow his orders, even if she didn't agree with them.
But she couldn't shake the feeling that they were making a mistake, that they were ignoring a threat that could have dire consequences for them all.
Still, while she thought the situation was more serious than Agravain seemed to realize, she could at least accept his reasoning.
Arthuria and most of the knights were off, fighting a war that, while secret, would determine the future of the world itself; it was by far more important than anything else.
So yes, they couldn't offer any knights to handle this situation; they were even short-staffed of Enforcement Knights, forcing Agravain to replenish their numbers whenever he had time.
She would have liked to properly investigate, but she also didn't want to send in any of her sisters without the proper backup to pull them out if things turned nasty.
So all she could do was set a few people to monitor the situation and see what would happen.
And then, it happened.
One morning, the world woke up to a new reality.
It wasn't a loud, explosive event. There were no mushroom clouds, no city-levelling explosions, no declarations of war.
It was quiet, subtle, and far more terrifying.
In every major city, in every major capital, in every strategic location around the globe, they appeared.
Towering, metallic figures, their faces blank, their eyes glowing with an eerie red light.
The Sentinels.
Their purpose was clear from the moment they appeared: chaos, death, murder.
Their goal was to completely and fully eradicate mutantkind, and in doing so, apparently wipe out the rest of humanity just to be extra sure. The news was filled with images of destruction, of cities under siege, of innocent people caught in the crossfire.
The Sentinels were efficient, ruthless, and seemingly unstoppable. They cut through conventional forces like a hot knife through butter, their advanced weaponry and formidable armor rendering them impervious to all but the most powerful of attacks.
The world was in shock. The governments were in chaos. The people were in fear.
Instantly, all talk of the big dating show was forgotten, as all eyes in Albion turned outward, to the world that was burning.
Only Albion was spared, but there was fear in the air: would it remain so? Or would they turn their metallic heads on them next? For now, they did not, but for how long would that last?
Sir Agravain, the man who now ran Albion, sat in his office, his face a mask of grim determination. A television wheeled into the room blared with the sounds of chaos and destruction, a constant, jarring reminder of the crisis unfolding beyond their shores.
Much like the people of Albion, he too feared these machines would turn their gaze on Albion, or rather, he feared whoever controlled them would turn their weapons on them.
After all, his king's mercy and kindness had allowed many of the so-called mutants to settle on their land, and if whoever was behind this wanted to kill all mutants, then Albion was the main target.
His only hope was that they knew who they were dealing with. The King might be gone, but they had no way of knowing that for sure.
He would not give them any reason to think Albion was defenseless, even if it was.
"We have just received news that the Illuminati have responded to the threat and are moving to deal with the problem," the panicked news presenter said on the television. "Witnesses have confirmed seeing members of the Fantastic Four engaging the Sentinels in Boston."
"Lady Yelena, keep an eye on the mutant settlements, and inform me at once if there is any sign that these machines turn toward us. We must buy time. Once the King returns, these things will be no threat. We can't allow our enemies to know the truth," Agravain ordered, his voice a low, steady rumble, a stark contrast to the panic on the screen.
He then turned to Ria. "Gather the knights still in the country; get them ready for battle. And get the Enforcement Knights on high alert. I want a full deployment along the coast, and around all major population centers."
"Yes, Sir," Ria said, her own expression grim, her resolve clear. She knew the stakes. She understood the gravity of the situation. She would not fail.
She turned and left the room, her steps quick and purposeful, a woman on a mission.
(End of chapter)
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