《Prometheus Project》


 1 The Terror of the Stars

    Space.


    A place of literally endless wonders.


    It doesn''t matter where one is, one will always have the ability to look up and gaze at the stars of the night sky.


    To wonder if one will ever one day reach the stars.


    Miles was one of those lucky enough to reach the stars.


    And what he discovered was that the ''space beyond'' was not as ''wondrous'' as he originally thought.


    In the middle of an irradiated wasteland, a fierce battle was taking place.


    Behind the cover of his ''portable shield,'' Miles was able to ignore the constant enemy fire and instead kept all of his attention on one of his comrades.


    One of his comrades that was currently dying.


    "Come on! Come on! Stick with me!"


    As the sounds of explosions and fighting continued on in the background, Miles was fervently attempting to keep his comrade alive and conscious.


    He already gave him stim-packs but for ''that'' sort of injury, stim-packs won''t be enough to save him.


    "Just stick with me! The medics will be arriving shortly!"


    When his comrade heard Miles''s pleas, he only gave a short chuckle before he responded.


    "I know you... love me... but this is a bit over the top don''t you think?"


    After Miles''s comrade said that, he went to chuckle only to cough up blood instead, staining his previously pristine white exo-suit in the process.


    Seeing, this Miles couldn''t help but grit his teeth together in what he felt to be a mix of joy, fear, sadness and anger as he replied to his comrade.


    "Come on Clayton! This isn''t the time to be joking around! This is serious!"


    "But this is the perfect time to be joking around. If you aren''t going to do your job properly, why should I?"


    Clayton spoke as if his pair of missing legs and the large hole which pierced both his exo-suit and chest were none existent. Although missing legs could be easily ''remedied'' by a pair of prosthetic cybernetic legs, one still had to remain alive for the procedure to succeed.


    There was no point in giving a pair of legs to a dead body after all.


    And judging from Clayton''s current state, he probably won''t even last another hour.


    Despite his cybernetic enhancements, there was nothing one can do about a punctured vital organ in the midst of battle. Especially in an irradiated wasteland like this one.


    If anything, the cybernetics which kept Clayton ''alive'' were more likely to be prolonging his pain rather than actually saving him.


    With whatever was left of his strength, Clayton placed his hands on Miles''s shoulder.


    "Listen, I''m not the one that matters here. You know how important your role is. If you let me slow you down now, then what is the point of being here in the first place?"


    Although Miles knew that Clayton was correct, he just couldn''t accept it.


    Miles knew the risks of the mission, and Clayton knew them as well.


    It''s just that he did not really account for how he would feel once things truly turned south.


    And it would seem that Clayton noticed these emotions swirling within Miles as well.


    With a weak voice, Clayton firmly urged Miles to leave him.


    "Please, if you really cared about me, then you would leave me. The medics will pick me up and I will see you when this is over. That much I can promise."


    Although Clayton spoke with sincerity and confidence in his voice, all Miles had to do was look deep into Clayton''s eyes to see the truth.


    Clayton was lying.


    Clayton knew he was going to die and so did Miles.


    And with that in mind, Miles opened up his mouth in an attempt to respond.


    "But-"


    "Miles you know that he''s right."


    Just before Miles could refute Clayton, he was instead interrupted by a voice originating in his head. Or more specifically, the communication chip that was imbedded into his head that allowed for instantaneous communication on a limited scale.


    That ''voice'' in his head actually belonged to Alessia, another one of Miles''s comrades and a member of his team, the ''Nova Squadron;'' an elite team of B+class psionics which existed to deal with only the gravest threats to the United Planets of America.


    While gritting his teeth together, Miles spoke both to Clayton and Alessia at the same time.


    "But I can''t just leave him here in the middle of nowhere to die!"


    However, the response he got from both of them was just heartbreaking as everything that Clayton said before.


    "But that''s exactly what you''re going to have to do."


    Soon after Clayton and Alessia gave Miles their response, the former proceeded to point his finger in the direction behind Miles before speaking up.


    "Either way, the enemy doesn''t give a fuck about you or your feelings or what you ''can''t'' or ''can'' do. Look."


    When Miles heard this, he immediately turned around only to notice that the sounds of fighting has completely disappeared.


    Both from his side and the enemy''s.


    Although he knew it was a risk, Miles recalled the portable cover back into his arm only to find that the ''battle'' has paused entirely.


    As if there was never a battle in the first place.


    The silhouettes of the enemy''s forces appeared to remain passive and docile, as if they were waiting for something.


    And when Miles took a glance at his allies; the ''United Planet''s Military,'' they similarly appeared to remain passive and docile. There was no doubt that either they were ordered to cease fire from command or they were completely awestruck but some amazing sight.


    And it didn''t take long for Miles to realise what this ''amazing sight'' was.


    Bordering near the horizon he saw it.


    A large bolt of continuous bright green lightning that seemed to originate not from the clouds of the sky but from the grounds of the wasteland instead.


    That green lightning was characteristic of one psionic and one psionic only.


    Cynthia; the first True Synth.


    The first real, functioning ''True Synth'' since the original ''Synth genocide'' and subsequent prohibition of the creation of Synths thousands of years ago.


    However, to people like Miles, Cynthia was known with another moniker.


    ''The Harbinger of Doom.''


    "Shit, Alessia are you seeing this?"


    "You think I don''t? I''m coming over."


    Within moments, Alessia appeared in the sky before landing by Miles''s side, her white exo-suit was scrapped and scratched while a small trail of blood leaked from her mouth. The fact that she retracted her exo-helmet into her suit to reveal her long golden-blonde hair told Miles that her helmet was probably damaged during the battle.


    When Miles opened his mouth to speak to her, he was instead interrupted by her slightly irritated voice.


    "For your information, I''m actually fine by the way. Just focus on the bigger picture."


    Alessia was right, Miles had to focus on the bigger picture.


    But just because he had to didn''t mean that he necessarily liked it.


    "I''m going to be honest with you... When I heard that I''m going to need to use ''that'' against Cynthia I was actually hoping that Cynthia was nowhere near this damned planet."


    When Alessia heard what Miles had to say, she only sighed sombrely before she turned to him and replied.


    "Out of everyone, it just had to be you that was gifted with your type of psionic power."


    Miles''s type of ''psionic power'' in particular being the power to siphon the psionic energy of other psionics whom he touches, enhancing his own latent psionic power for a short time period in the process.


    However, psionic energy was comparable to the ''soul'' of a person and siphoning psionic energy would often end with harmful side effects to the victim depending on how much psionic energy was siphoned.


    And for a threat like Cynthia, the government of the United Planets of America came to the conclusion that Miles would need to siphon all of the psionic energy of a B-class psionic.


    A B-class psionic like Alessia.


    However, siphoning all the energy of a psionic will only lead to one fate.


    Death.


    In other words, Alessia would have to essentially sacrifice herself.


    Although, Miles argued and pleaded with his superiors, trying to come up with working alternatives such as siphoning the energy from multiple C and D-class psionics, he was able to convince no one.


    In the end, he was forced to concede to this solution.


    There was simply no time for an alternative.


    Although his eyes were becoming dewy, Miles was able to keep the tears from falling out.


    While he knew that he should be acting as quickly as possible, his raw emotions just did not allow him to do so.


    With those dewy eyes, Miles kept his mouth pressed together and instead sent a transmission to Alessia''s head.


    "Forgive me..."


    Alessia only shrugged casually when she responded to Miles. As if what he was going to do was ''no big deal.''


    "Apology accepted."


    Like Miles, Alessia also kept her mouth shut as she instead chose to reply with transmissions. And just like Miles, her eyes were dewy too.


    "Now do your damn job already. I have a feeling that we don''t have anymore time."


    Although the green lightning didn''t seem to be moving, there was no way that Miles could take risks.


    He had to end this.


    He had to end this now.


    With a heavy heart, Miles slowly grasped Alessia''s head with his hands.


    With no time to waste, he began the siphoning process.


    The moment he started, Alessia''s eyes widened as she gasped in pain, her face frozen in a permanent fixture of agony.


    The veins in Miles''s hands and fingers started to glow a light pale blue as he siphoned Alessia'' psionic energy and soon, her skin started to turn paler and paler while her eyes were turning glassy.


    Within moments, Alessia stopped gasping altogether before she fell backwards onto the floor limp.


    She was dead.


    But Miles had no time to mourn.


    With the power of two B-class psionics within him, Miles began to gather all the psionic energy into his hands while at the same time, aiming his hands at the source of the green lightning.


    Soon, a dim ball of blue light formed itself in his hands.


    This was the ultimate technique taught to psionics like him.


    Condensed light.


    Light strong enough to obliterate anything and everything in its path.


    In an instant, Miles released that light, which quickly turned into a blinding light show that awed all those who were present.


    Miles felt his muscles strain as he struggled to keep that light directed towards the enemy.


    The light itself was so huge that it obscured almost everything in Miles''s sight.


    However, that light disappeared just as quickly as it appeared.


    Having exhausted all of his psionic energy, Miles''s hands immediately fell limp by his side as he somehow managed to mutter to himself over his heavy breaths.


    "Is... is it over? Did I win?"


    When looking into the distance, the silhouettes of the enemy has disappeared and the green lightning was nowhere to be seen.


    That could only mean one thing.


    Miles just won.


    Although it cost him everything, in return, he saved everything else as well.


    And that was something that Miles can rest happily with.


    Just before he could properly celebrate however, a sudden voice came up behind him.


    A calm, soothing voice that sounded as if it belonged to a young healthy woman.


    "A commendable effort... However, you forgot one very important crucial detail."


    "Guagh!"


    Before Miles could even react to the sudden voice, he felt a sudden pain in his chest.


    When he glanced down at the source of the pain, his eyes widened in both shock and disbelief.


    He saw his own bloody heart, which lay in the grasps of an equally bloody metallic hand that protruded through his chest.


    As Miles felt blood clog up his throat, the voice behind him once again spoke up.


    This time, ''she'' spoke in a much less friendly manner.


    "The flesh is weak."

 2 Genesis

    "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"


    While shouting furiously at himself, a man ran through what he felt to be an endless labyrinth of pristine white metallic corridors. As one would expect from the architecture of this era, the halls consisted of pure white walls, flooring and ceiling with the only noticeable features being the occasional slits for air ventilation.


    "Damn it all!"


    However, such details were trivial to the man as he grasped the collar-like object that grasped his neck. It was a ''psionic restrainer'' which as its name would imply, is able to restrain the psionic capabilities of any psionic.


    This psionic restrainer combined with the facts that he was running through a maze of hallways while at the same time being pursued by his newly formed enemies placed him in a rather precarious situation.


    Or would it be better to say that his ''newly formed enemies'' were always his enemies? It was just that they were his enemies that hid under the guise of being ''friends.''


    Regardless, of what the truth actually was, they were still traitors and there''s no denying that fact.


    And if the man was being honest with himself, he wasn''t really surprised by their betrayal.


    But that didn''t mean that he felt nothing.


    He didn''t know why exactly, but he felt disappointed.


    Disappointed that once again, humanity has proven to him how untrustworthy and greedy they can be.


    How hard can it be for a man like him to find some actually trustworthy people in his life?


    Every single person he befriended eventually tried to stick a knife in his back.


    Emphasis on the word ''tried.''


    However, the man wasn''t given much time to dwell on his thoughts as he saw a group of figures appear ahead of him as he turned a corner, causing him to slow down to a halt.


    On the other side of the hall, he saw a young woman who seemed to not even be in her twenties and was surrounded by five humanoid figures. Although the humanoid figures had silhouette''s similar to that of human beings, their featureless and metallic appearance told the man that they were in fact droids.


    But to the man''s surprise, it would seem that the woman hasn''t noticed him yet. Instead she continued to expose her back to the man as she pointed at the droids and threw needlessly abusive commands at them.


    "Useless tin cans! What do you mean by ''target''s psionic energy cannot be detected''?! You''re droids! You''re supposed to have perfect memory and logical thinking! Explain to me how the psionic energy of someone like him could just disappear!?"


    Although the man knew that this was no time to be standing around, he also knew that there was another, much larger group of pursuers right behind him. While they may not know where he is right now, running back the way he came would surely lead to him encountering the previous pursuing group.


    On the other hand, this smaller group would definitely be a lot easier to deal with, especially if he was given even a few seconds to prepare himself.


    With that in mind, the man took advantage of his currently undetected status as he placed his hands behind his back before proceeding to gather whatever psionic energy he could into said hands.


    While the psionic restrainer may restrain his psionic capabilities, that doesn''t necessarily mean that he can''t use them.


    However, he wasn''t given as much time as he would have liked.


    "Apologies ma''am, no psionic energy could be detected and no logical reason was able to be determined. However, the target was detected."


    Within a few seconds, the droids all simultaneously lifted their arms before pointing their fingers at the man, the only feature on their head, their ''eye'' which constituted of a slit which revealed a single blue light quickly transformed into a single red light.


    Within moments, the woman turned around in what seemed to be shock as she laid her eyes upon the man.


    However, contrary to what the man expected, the woman carried herself in a rather peculiar manner.


    While she took a cautious stance as she faced off against the man, he was able to see that underlying her posture and red-black exosuit, there were some glints of insecurity. Especially in her eyes, for in that pair of light blue eyes was undoubtedly fear.


    With those fearful eyes the woman stuttered herself in just a loud enough manner that the man could hear her.


    "I... I don''t be-believe it. Why... why the hell does it have to be me that finds you? There''s no... no way... no way I can match up to an S-class psionic..."


    She was scared.


    She was scared of him.


    However, her fearful mutters was soon overwhelmed by her own laughter.


    "Ahah... AHAHAHAHAHAA!"


    The fearful glint in her eye was instead replaced with mockery as she pointed at the man''s neck.


    "But wait... What''s that? Is that a psionic restrainer that I spot on you?! Now I understand why the droids couldn''t detect your psionic energy! It''s because you no longer have any! You''re powerless now! I don''t have to be afraid of you!"


    With a solemn sigh, the man kept his hands behind his back as he replied to the woman''s shouts and laughter.


    "You know, I almost feel sorry for you. Really, I do. If you actually believe what you just said then I feel so sorry for you that I could almost give you a hug."


    As the man spoke, his mouth slowly started to twist upwards into a smile. After all, instead of attacking, the idiot instead chose to mock him.


    He wasn''t lying.


    He did feel sorry for her.


    And that was because those precious few moments that she just wasted allowed him to fully prepare his psionic attack. With mockery in his own voice, the man prepared to attack as he continued speaking to the woman.


    "But here''s the thing. Just because my power is being restricted, that doesn''t mean that I''m as weak as you lot are. Do you really think that I''ve fallen that far?! Huh!"


    As soon as the man said this, he flicked his right hand forward from his behind his back, his two fingers pointed at his target. Not even half a second passed as as lightning bolt ejected itself from those two finger tips.


    This was the man''s unique psionic attack that separated him from the other psionics.


    His signature lightning that no other form of psionic attack can never hope to match in speed or power.


    His green lightning.


    In less than a second, his green lightning arced around around the woman as she braced herself for the impact, instead ''missing'' her entirely and hitting the droid to her left before systematically jumping from each droid to the other.


    Soon, each of the droids were hit by the green lightning, promptly frying their circuits before they fell over. Their once glowing red eye disappeared entirely as they lay ''dead'' on the floor.


    When the woman realised what had just happened, her jaw dropped open while her eyes widened in shock. Her arms fell by her side as she appeared to have lost the will to fight. Instead all she did was mutter whatever words seemed to be on her mind.


    "How the... how the hell? How the hell did you do that?"


    Soon that shock was replaced by frustration as the woman replaced her mutters with shouts.


    "Those are Z2-63 Model Battle Droids! Their outer armour are supposed to be insulators damn it! This... this doesn''t make any sense! How could lightning affect them!?"


    The man couldn''t help scoffing in amusement when he heard the woman''s wails. With a grin on his face, he answered her question.


    "Mind over matter you idiot. My green lightning is renowned for a reason."


    When the young woman heard the man''s remark, she only fell to her knees as tears began to fall out of those dewy eyes.


    However, this sight meant nothing to the man.


    She was a traitor.


    And traitors can just die.


    Just before the man could finish her off however, he suddenly felt a strange feeling.


    He felt as if he was little bit more tired than he should actually be.


    Just before he could think deeper about this strange phenomena, a voice came out of the P.A. system.


    "Feeling a little breathless are we?"


    It didn''t take long for the man to decipher who the voice on the P.A. belonged to.


    It belonged to none other than the leader of the traitors, the captain of this ship.


    For the man wasn''t running in the halls of a ground-based facility, but instead the halls of a frigate class spacecraft.


    "This is captain; Sylvester Damien Kedd speaking. As all of you know, we are currently facing a problem with a little ''infestation'' on board. Unfortunately, said infestation has destroyed our surveillance system and as such we are unable to track him."


    As Sylvester spoke on the P.A. system, the man''s eyes began to widen in shock in a similar manner to the woman as he quickly realised what was happening.


    "That being said, after a bit of thinking I came up with a rather efficient solution. This is my suggestion for everyone that isn''t in the bridge of the ship. I would recommend that you activate your exosuit''s helmet and breathe a bit of that oh so important oxygen... that is... if you have one of course."


    When the P.A. announcement was over, the young woman stopped crying as she stood back up, instead she reached for her neck with her hand to activate her exosuit''s helmet while letting out a mocking laughter before she spoke.


    "Ahahaha! Looks like the tables have turned assho-ezzzhzhhzhhhh!"


    Just before she could finish her sentence however, she was hit with the green lightning that the man had in his left hand. As the green lightning coursed through the woman''s body, she screamed in pain and fell backwards onto the droids.


    As the man dropped on his knees due to asphyxiation, he was able to witness the woman screaming in pain before the lightning killed her, only for that same lightning to jumpstart start her heart starting the cycle anew.


    In his last moments, he was able to mutter a single sentence to himself.


    "Eheh... at least I get one satisfying... kill..."


    Before his sight was consumed by darkness.


    And in this darkness there was nothing.


    Nothing but cold emptiness.


    [This... this is life after death?]


    Somehow, the man was able to retain his ability to think even after death.


    And with those thoughts, he came to only one conclusion.


    [This is horrible! I don''t want this!]


    In the endless sea of nothingness, the man screamed to himself within his thoughts.


    [I don''t want this!]


    However, this darkness soon gave way to a single, dim lonely light in the distance.


    [What is... what is that light?]


    Somehow forcing his way though the darkness, he was able to come closer to the light, its warmth radiating around it.


    Just before he could touch the light however, he felt something obstructing him, as if there was already something inside it.


    [What the... there is something already in here! Begone!]


    Although he had no limbs to speak off, he was able to force the object out of the light before snuggling himself in.


    The light was warm.


    The light felt lively.


    And soon, his sight somehow returned to him.


    Although, he felt that something was off.


    Why was everything so huge?


    And... was he being cradled by a... maid droid?


    Soon, the sounds of a human maid conversing with the droid maid came into his ears.


    "What just happened?"


    "We cannot give you a clear answer ma''am, Cynthia''s bio signals dropped to a critical level before it returned to normal."


    Soon, ''he'' realised what has just transpired.


    He didn''t know how it happened but he somehow found himself in a new baby body.


    What was that name that the maid droid used to referrer to this body which he now inhabited?


    Cynthia was it?


    ''She'' could work with that.

 3 Insidious Innocence

    Cradled in the arms of the droid maid, Cynthia closed her eyes, let her limbs go limp, and pretended to sleep, hoping to imitate the behaviours of a baby.


    Luckily enough, it would seem that the droid did not seem to notice any discrepancies with her behaviour. Although Cynthia knew that a droid which ran on programmed logics and rationality could never match the intuition of a human, Cynthia predicated that at least for now, she should be off the hook.


    As such, Cynthia used this moment to contemplate her current situation and how ''she'' came to be.


    Judging from her inability to use her voice and the lack of control she had over her limbs, Cynthia guessed that this baby body had to be no more than one year old.


    That conclusion would make a lot of sense.


    That while the ''Cynthia'' that was cradled in the arms of the droid was the same in terms of the physical body, in terms of both spirit and mind, it was anything but.


    However, as a one year old, it would be nearly impossible for anyone to notice a ''change'' in the person since they have no real past history to compare the new person too. In essence there is no ''new Cynthia'' since there was no ''old Cynthia'' in the first place. A fact that this ''Cynthia'' was more than glad to exploit.


    That would also explain how ''Cynthia'' was able to rest control of this body from the original soul.


    What happened to the original, ''real'' Cynthia?


    The ''new'' Cynthia couldn''t care less.


    If she had to guess, the original soul was probably ''dead'' in the most vague sense of the term.


    Left to wander about that infinite void of nothingness as this ''Cynthia'' once did.


    Although she didn''t know how she did it, after her first ''death'' she was somehow able to not only persist through her immense psionic will but even forcefully take over a new youthful body.


    This was due in part to the fact that the psionic restrainer which once restricted her past body''s psionic will could no longer effect her post death due to being limited to only the physical realm.


    As Cynthia continued to contemplate to herself, her memories of what the ''afterlife'' was like soon flooded back into her mind, sending shivers down her baby spine.


    Her fear of dying, combined with her tremendous psionic will and some sort of divine luck somehow allowed ''her'' to find this new body and eventually steal control of said body from the original ''soul.''


    If this was a body that was instead inhabited by a thirty year old soul for example, Cynthia doubted if her diminished soul from a dead body could ever hope to overtake the body of a rejuvenated, developed soul instead of a young, developing soul of a one year old.


    Even if the invading soul was somehow able to overwhelm the original veteran soul, it would be nearly impossible to keep up a facade that the usurper of the body was still the same person to the original person''s friends and family.


    This sequence of events was truly a stroke of luck.


    All the influencing variables and factors.


    Each and every one of them.


    Was exactly what Cynthia needed to successfully ''reincarnate'' in this brand new body.


    Everything literally fell perfectly into place.


    Of course, all of this was all just a theory based on Cynthia''s observations and whatever evidence she had to work with.


    She could be either entirely correct or absolutely wrong.


    Either way, whether she was actually right or not, this did nothing to change or even influence her current situation.


    She was still in possession of a weak, still developing, one year old body with no idea as to her future fate.


    She didn''t even know who the parents of this body are or if she was even safe to begin with.


    But most importantly, she no longer had that same body she that she once possessed.


    She didn''t care that this body was not the same gender as her past one.


    What she truly cared about was the fact that she would essentially have to start over from square one.


    While Cynthia felt that her tremendous psionic power still remained, that psionic power meant nothing if her current body can''t handle the psionic pressure.


    As the first ever human being to be born with such a high latent psionic potential that they had to create a new class, the ''S-class'' specifically for her past self, she was thus a psionic prodigy in her first youth and thus her ''talents'' were of course exploited.


    However, the youth of her original life was also filled to the brim of close calls where her own psionic powers which could obliterate virtually anything in its path, also in an ironic twist nearly destroyed her own original body in the process.


    As such, she had to overcome that obstacle.


    The end result of overcoming said obstacle speaks for itself. In the peak of her past life, her past body was a trained and conditioned powerhouse which could seamlessly channel the psionic power that was beyond most people''s imagination.


    A powerhouse that was the result of endless hours of rigorous training.


    And now she would essentially have start all over and endure that hellish training regimen once again.


    It really was such a waste.


    Such a waste for such a powerful body which was supplemented with the most powerful psionic force known to the history of man to die in such a pathetic and unceremonious manner.


    For her chance to reveal her latent untapped potential to be stolen away in such a cheap and deceitful manner.


    It was truly a grievous tragedy.


    Soon, a sudden revelation came into Cynthia''s mind.


    Even if she were to once again regain the level of power she once had in her past, what is there to stop her from once again meeting the same fate as her past life did?


    If she were to die again, who knows if she will once again be lucky enough to find another nearby young body to usurp.


    Within moments, the fear of the possibility of death filled the entirety of Cynthia''s mind.


    After all, it didn''t matter how much she trained or strengthened her human body, the faults of the flesh will still persist no matter what she does.


    Even as a powerful psionic, she still was and will always be, a pathetic puny human.


    The flesh and bone of a human body was just to frail for Cynthia''s liking.


    And not only that but a human body was also rather high maintenance as well.


    It required a constant source of supplements and energy in the form of food and water as well as always requiring oxygen to carry out its everyday functions. The latter of which was what caused Cynthia''s first ever death.


    Although the ''frailty'' of blood and bone can be mostly counteracted with cybernetics and advanced exosuits, that did not change the nature of her body. There also still existed multiple stratagems and counters that could counteract the cybernetic upgrades and protection of the exosuits to get to the squishy organs of a human.


    Not to mention how much it would cost for said cybernetics and exosuits.


    In other words, the flesh was simply just too weak for what it actually costs.


    For a short moment, Cynthia opened her eyes only to see the Droid that was cradling her come back into her view.


    A droid made of condensed neo-steel, strong enough to allow the aforementioned droid to withstand forces which would had killed any human, even when encased in a protective exosuit.


    A droid which required no oxygen, nor the consistent need for food and water. Instead, a power source, any power source even one that was generated by psionic powers was all that they needed to function.


    A smile started to form on Cynthia''s baby body as a single idea manifested itself in her mind.


    If the flesh was too weak for her liking, then all she would need to do was transcend said flesh.


    And the solution was standing right in front of her.


    ...


    With a bit of a nervous look on her face,Mary returned to her rather spacious office after she had checked on Cynthia.


    Although the maid droid sent an emergency report to Mary that Cynthia''s bio and health levels suddenly dropped without any cause nor reason, when Mary reached and found the two, Cynthia''s bio levels had also inexplicably returned to normal.


    In fact, she looked even better than ever.


    As the chief maid who took care of everything within ''Eden'' the personal spacecraft and mansion of the CEO of ''StarrCorp;'' Adam Starr, Mary was very close with and knew a lot about Adam''s daughter Cynthia Starr.


    Because of this, Mary was actually a little surprised to find Cynthia sleeping peacefully instead of throwing another one of her usual tantrums.


    Of course, Mary didn''t complain.


    What would have typically happened was that the maid droid or droids failed to calm down Cynthia, resorting to them having to resign her to Mary who never failed in her attempts to calm Cynthia down.


    It was a literal example of how the programming of droids can never possibly replicate a ''mother''s love.''


    "Do you wish to inform Mr Starr about this incident ma''am?"


    Soon, the robotic voice of one of Mary''s subordinate maid droids interrupted her thoughts.


    With a wave of her hand, Mary denied the droid''s suggestion almost as soon as she heard it.


    "No, this incident has already solved itself and from I can see, it was only a minor incident in the first place. Perhaps the maid droid may have malfunctioned for a short moment. Besides, I believe that Mr Starr already has a lot of troubles to work through, there isn''t any need for us to add to his already long list of troubles."


    It was at moments like these that explain why humans were still employed in place of droids. The latter just did not have the same thought process and ''heart'' that most normal humans had. If it had not been for Mary''s intervention, this specific droid would have sent the message to Mr. Starr, possibly risking the future of his company.


    As someone who grew to be particularly close with her boss, Mary was aware of her boss''s philanthropistic tendencies and she did not wish to see Mr. Starr unnecessarily worry over the safety of his daughter when his mind needed to be focused on his work.


    As long as Cynthia remained within the soft and caring hands of Mary, the latter was sure that the former would always remain safe from any and all sorts of trouble.


    After all, Mary was the chief maid of Eden not just because of her skills in domestic governance and management but she had other skills as well.


    For starters, she was a gifted psionic, and as a gifted psionic, Mary was sure that even in times of great peril, she could protect Cynthia from anything that wished to harm her.


    Little did she know that just a few moments earlier, she already failed in keeping Cynthia ''alive.''

 4 Parva Daemonium

    In front of a small group of awed spectators, a little girl no older than the age of five displayed her ''talents.''


    Her talents of psionic prowess.


    A series of static shocks created by pure white lightning sporadically bursted out of her finger tips and palms, only travelling a centimetre or two before it dissipated. A short light buzzing static could be heard as the white lightning coiled around her finger tips.


    While it was common knowledge that white lightning was the weakest type of lightning that could be conjured by a psionic, it was rare for one to manifest any form of lightning, including white lightning at such a young age.


    This was especially true when the one who was conjuring said white lightning was only in her first year of primary school.


    Soon, the girl grasped both of her hands into fists and the white lightning that once emanated out of her hands disappeared entirely.


    It didn''t take long for the small crowd of impressionable five year olds to start heaping praises onto the young psionic girl the moment she stopped.


    "Wow that''s so cool!"


    "I wish I was born a psionic like you!"


    "She''s not just a psionic! She is also the daughter of a CEO of one of the megacorps!"


    "Wait what?!"


    "So she''s super rich and a psionic too?! How lucky can you get!"


    The girl smiled in a slightly abashed manner as she rubbed her own head with her right hand in response to the praises that she just received.


    In truth, the girl''s appearance could not be described as unique or even distinct. With her relatively fair complexion, silky black hair and warm smile, her appearance was neither beautiful nor ugly, nor was there anything particularly eye-catching about her appearance excluding one thing and one thing alone.


    And that was her beautiful pair of emerald eyes.


    From a glance she could only be described as a member of the middle-class of society, a well meaning and well intentioned, everyday normal girl. It would be no exaggeration to say that her appearance would be best suited as a side or even as a background character of a fictional piece of media.


    In other words, her appearance could best be described as the splitting image of the word ''generic.''


    And yet she was still the centre of everyone''s attention.


    Her name was Cynthia Starr; the daughter of Adam Starr; the CEO of Starcrop, one of the largest megacorporations in the industries of spacecraft and space travel, thus making her somewhat of a celebrity, albeit in the most loose form of the term.


    As such, it caused a bit of a stir when rumours spread that she was going to be attending the Republican Institute of Education. Most of Cynthia''s public information, from her appearance to her family background quickly spread throughout the school prior to the day of her attendance.


    Although it wasn''t rare for children of the top 1% of the Republic''s citizenry to be attending the Institute, it wasn''t common either. Most children like that are instead often privately tutored or sent to highly expensive private schools and institutions.


    That was why whenever a new kid who belonged to said top 1% started to attend the institute, they would usually become the centre of attention, at least for the first few weeks before they got settled.


    After all, who wouldn''t want to be friends with people in high places?


    Despite all of that, the crowd around Cynthia was surprised to discover that she was not just the daughter of a rich Ceo, but she was actually a gifted psionic as well.


    With a faint smile, Cynthia finally responded to the crowd.


    "Being a psionic is cool and all but can you guys make me a promise now that I showed you my ''secret''?"


    A look of confusion quickly grew within the faces of those within the small crowd before they all proceeded to simultaneously ask a single, solitary question.


    "What''s that?"


    A short moment of silence occurred before Cynthia hesitantly answered their questions in a reluctant manner.


    "Can you guys promise me that you will tell no one about my psionic powers? P-please?"


    The confusion that was already on the kids faces only doubled when they heard Cynthia''s answer before they once again simultaneously asked a question.


    "Why?"


    Like before, Cynthia appeared to be slightly hesitant as she answered their one-worded question.


    "It''s because if people in the government knew that I was a psionic, they would take me away and I... I..."


    As Cynthia continued speaking, her voice began to stutter and even break at some points.


    "I don''t... I don''t want that."


    Within moments, Cynthia''s eyes started to become dewy as her voice broke apart.


    "I d-don''t want... I don''t want them to take me away..."


    And soon tears slowly started to fall out of her emerald eyes.


    "So please... Please promise that you won''t tell anyone..."


    Another long moment of silence passed as Cynthia and the kids remained oblivious to everything happening around them. Soon, this moment of silence was broken not by the crowd nor Cynthia, but instead, as single boy who stepped forward.


    Seemingly to speak for everyone else, the boy handed Cynthia a tissue to wipe away her tears as he gave her their answer.


    "We promise."


    Cynthia sniffed a couple times as she wiped the tears out of her eyes before she responded to him.


    "Thank you."


    ...


    "Warp to Zone A-15 has been opened! Please proceed to the warp zone if you reside in zone A-15!"


    After a few moments passed since Cynthia''s newfound friends made her their ''promise'', the P.A. system sounded up again, informing everyone that the Warpgate''s destiniation has changed zones. With that in mind, Cynthia suddenly spoke up.


    "Oh! My zone is coming up soon! Sorry guys but I got to go!"


    Quickly wiping away whatever tears were left, Cynthia waved the others goodbye before she made her way for the Warpgate. When she was sure that they were no longer nearby, her mouth curved upwards into a smile as everything appeared to be going according to plan.


    As Cynthia walked, she could not help letting a remark out of lips.


    "Child''s play... In the metaphorical and literal sense of the term, that was all child''s play..."


    One of the kids will not uphold their promise.


    Cynthia was sure of that.


    There will always be one person who can''t help but let it slip out of their mouth.


    Whether it was on purpose or by accident, it will still happen anyway.


    Such was merely how the universe worked, especially when considering how gullible and loose-lipped young children really were.


    Whoever they will let this rather important information slip to, whether it be the ruling galactic government of this sector; the Euronic Republic or any other ''miscellaneous'' groups and organisations, Cynthia could not care less.


    All she cared about was the fact that no organisation with a respectable amount of power within this sector would give up a chance to include someone of her psionic potential into their ranks.


    No matter which organisation approached Cynthia first, she would not mind ''cooperating'' with them if it meant the ability to train her body and psionic capabilities as well as free access to information of the current diplomatic and economic status of the intergalactic community.


    A lot can change in just five years and Cynthia knew that she could not afford to remain ignorant.


    Of course, she once worked with the Euronic Republic in her previous life and in her honest opinion, out of all the intergalactic governments, she liked the Euronic Republic the most.


    Or should it be said that she disliked the Euronic Republic the least?


    While the latter description may seem a little harsh, that did not mean that it was false in any way, shape or form.


    After all, even after everything she had done for the Eurons, they eventually betrayed her just like everyone else.


    What was left after their betrayal was just another heap of once fond memories of joy and happiness that was tainted by the bad taste of betrayal.


    But at that point, what else was new?


    Although she was aware that she could simply openly submit herself to the Euronic Republic, she was also aware of how suspicious it would seem if a little girl suddenly approached the Republic and willing submitted herself to them, even if she said she was doing so out of a misplaced sense of loyalty.


    It was simply too unbelievable for a ''five year old'' child to do such a thing, no matter the child''s circumstances or capabilities, thus rendering the aforementioned option as undesirable.


    Instead, it would be far better if the Republic ''discovered'' Cynthia''s psionic potential and were the ones to approach her, or more specifically, for the Republic to approach her father; Adam Starr and discuss things with him.


    From there, the most likely sequence of events would be that the Republic would force Adam to relinquish Cynthia to them as according to their law regarding psionics.


    On top of the possibility of leaks from one of the kids, Cynthia was sure that there had to be at least a rudimentary surveillance system at the Institute that detected her display of psionic powers.


    In truth, it was only a matter of time.


    On the other hand, there was another particular type of organisation that could also approach Cynthia instead of the Republic.


    And those types of organisations could be considered a little more ''illegitimate.''


    The only problem with these organisations was that they were probably going to be a lot more ''hostile'' when approaching Cynthia when compared to the Republic.


    The nature of the universe made it so the intergalactic nations couldn''t exercise control over all of their respective territories. Even the core worlds of the most powerful human intergalactic nations housed a substantial criminal element.


    As such, there were multiple criminal organisations that were prevalent in the areas where the influence and power of intergalactic governments is waning.


    And some of those criminal organisations are even powerful enough to pull off something like kidnapping a high profile person like a CEO''s daughter as long as the rewards are worth the risk.


    A reward like a powerful psionic for example.


    While Cynthia knew that it was pretty much guaranteed that the Republic will eventually find out, she still made it possible for a third party to beat them to the punch.


    And that was because she simply did not like to wait.


    She has already waited for five years just so that she could be free from the confines of her ''house.''


    Now that the shackles of her age were loosened, Cynthia did everything in her power to ''speed up'' the process.


    As of this moment, that short display of white lightning was the most her current body could handle without straining itself.


    Honestly, it was pathetic.


    But there was nothing she can do about it.


    There was no doubt that her philanthropist and pacifist father would not agree with Cynthia cultivating her body so that she can wield more of her latent psionic power.


    Her father was more likely to commit an act of treason than put his own ''daughter'' in harms way.


    As such, Cynthia had to rely on ''outside sources'' if she wanted to cultivate her body.


    "There she is!"


    Soon, Cynthia''s thoughts were broken by a familiar voice.


    When she turned to the source of the voice, she saw Mary, the head maid of Eden waiting her.


    Like an excited child, Cynthia ran towards Mary before embracing her legs in a hug.


    With an amused chuckle, Mary questioned Cynthia.


    "So how was school today?"


    Cynthia made sure to make a cute smile when she responded to Mary.


    "It was great!"

 5 Prelude

    A relatively small space craft with a inwardly curving concaved bottom in an opposite fashion to its outwardly curved top made its way towards a larger, similarly shaped space craft which dwarved the original space craft in size.


    The smaller ship currently carried two passengers and was piloted by a single droid pilot.


    The two passengers being composed of one young girl and one woman who appeared to be entering her later years.


    The child was around half the height of the woman and could be not be described as ugly or beautiful, she had no distinguishable features excluding her beautiful pair of emerald eyes and wore what seemed to be a school uniform.


    Like most clothes worn by the upper classes of human society, the uniform was a ''pseudo exo-suit;'' a ''normal'' set of clothes interwoven with robotics and computing systems for increased convenience and in some cases, even provide some bit of protection.


    The woman was evidently twice the size of the child and was relatively pretty, her brown-black hair was styled into a short ponytail that reached halfway down her neck. Like the child she wore a pseudo exo-suit but this time, her exo-suit took the form of a real suit instead of a school uniform.


    After a few short moments, the smaller space craft docked within the massive space craft before its doors opened and its two passengers walked out side by side.


    The girl''s cheerful voice slightly echoed against the walls of the massive ship''s docklands as the two made their way back into the ship.


    "And there''s this girl named Meru, she is kinda weird but I guess she''s kinda funny too! Oh and then there''s this other girl called Star! I know right! Star! I don''t want to be mean but who names their child sta-"


    "My God..."


    When Cynthia and Mary were returning to Eden after being picked up by their drop ship at the warp zone of Zone A-15, Cynthia began relating what happened at school today to Mary as part of their daily routine.


    A routine that was started by Mary, much to Cynthia''s chagrin, but like with most things, Cynthia decided to play along with Mary due to her current body''s status as a five year old child.


    However, when the duo actually returned to and entered Eden, a sudden look that appeared to be a mix of both surprise and fear quickly grew on Mary''s face as she interrupted Cynthia.


    From the left side of Mary''s head, Cynthia was able to spot a single drop of sweat that only barely managed to cling onto Mary''s brown-black hair while her eyes became sharper and more focused.


    Soon, in an apologetic yet rushed manner, Mary hurriedly apologised to Cynthia.


    "I''m sorry Cynthia but something needs my attention, I.... I''ll be back soon."


    "Oh... al-alright... bye?.."


    Cynthia pretended to reply in a disappointed tone as her response to Mary. Although Cynthia could easily kill the unaware and unprepared Mary then and there, she knew that she could not afford to take such a brash and reckless action.


    Since Cynthia was still technically a mere five years old with nothing but money to her name, she thus had to act accordingly to her present situation.


    And in her honest opinion, she rather hated pretending to be a naive child, even pretending to be a decently smart child like she was now was slowly clawing away at her sanity.


    It was just too degrading of an experience to just ignore through sheer willpower.


    Oh how she longed to possess a body where she was not only free to unleash her full psionic potential but was also free from the scrutinising watchful eyes of others.


    Even though she knew that her ultimate goal was to ''transcend the weaknesses of the flesh,'' she still couldn''t deny the perks of a fully grown, mature human body.


    At the very least, Cynthia knew that if she wanted achieve her ultimate goal, she had to cultivate and empower her current human body, no matter how weak it actually was. Especially since she could still use her current body to train her psionic abilities.


    After all, that was the exact reason why she let the information that she was a psionic leak.


    Since she was still a child, that meant that many organisation would want to gain hold of her as quickly as possible.


    To mould her into their own personal weapon for them to manipulate until their use for her runs out.


    However, in the end they would only give Cynthia exactly what she wanted.


    Mentally, Cynthia smiled to herself at these thoughts.


    On the other hand, a serious look took hold of Mary''s face as her eyes turned towards the direction leading to the bridge of the ship, completely ignoring whatever thoughts were inside Cynthia''s mind.


    Within moments, Mary gave Cynthia an order,


    "Cynthia, return to your room. Now."


    "W-what?"


    While Cynthia continued to pretend being confused by the turn of events, her mind has already deciphered the nature of the situation. From the tone of Mary''s voice and the look on her face, Cynthia could come into one possible conclusion.


    They were under attack.


    Under attack by a criminal organisation.


    And the reason why was obvious.


    The information was leaked.


    It has only been a day since Cynthia revealed that she was a psionic to those kids and she was already under attack.


    Two completely different feelings swarmed within Cynthia at this revelation.


    She was amazed yet at the same time disappointed.


    It would seem that even with the knowledge of how brutal and how unforgiving this universe really was, Cynthia still grossly miscalculated her predictions.


    She felt time slow down around her as she quickly thought things over in her head.


    Such a feat should have been impossible for a mere five year old. However, Cynthia wasn''t technically a five year old when one refers to the one inhabiting the body.


    Within seconds, she fully rationalised and thought out her current situation.


    Dilemmas were solved.


    Contingency plans were made.


    Although Cynthia was able to mentally think quickly thanks to her aged soul combined with her inherent S-class psionic abilities, her brain itself was still quite young and didn''t contain the actual processing speed that she would have liked.


    Soon, Cynthia felt a minor headache come on as she strained her young brain due to her thoughts being too much for her brain to actually handle in such a short time frame.


    However, Mary continued to remain unaware of Cynthia''s thoughts as she quickly reaffirmed her order with a more commanding shout while at the same time, firmly placing both of her hands on Cynthia''s shoulders.


    "Do as I say!"


    In response, Cynthia only silently nodded her head at Mary as her answer. There was no need to antagonise Mary at this moment, lest Cynthia accidentally exposed herself.


    As with everything else, Cynthia would play along for now.


    When Mary saw Cynthia''s response, she appeared to grit her teeth together before she turned around and made her way for the ship''s bridge, the hair in her short pony-tail bouncing up and down as she ran.


    All that Cynthia could do was simply comply with Mary''s orders as she proceeded to make her way back towards the ''safety'' of her bedroom.


    After all, if this attacking force was the least bit competent and Cynthia was indeed their target, her bedroom would most likely be among the first of their list of places within this ship to look for her.


    However, Cynthia couldn''t help but feel that something was off as she walked in the pristine white halls of the ship.


    If they were indeed under attack then why hasn''t the ship''s alarm gone off yet?


    Granted they could have infiltrated stealthily into Eden but then that would instead raise another question.


    If they did stealthily infiltrate the massive ship without activating the alarm, how would Mary be aware of their presence?


    These factors simply contradicted themselves too much to actually make sense.


    This combined with the minor headache that Cynthia formed earlier forced her to give up entirely.


    Her tired and lonely voice sighed as she drew closer to her bedroom.


    "Whatever it doesn''t matter to me. As long as they find me, that is all that matters."


    A certain glint flashed in Cynthia''s eyes as she slightly flicked her wrist, sending a literally lightning fast white coloured bolt of lightning that temporarily disabled all nearby surveillance systems and destroyed their recent recordings.


    Once she was sure that her actions were no longer being recorded, a cold voice left her mouth.


    "As long as I win in the end. Nothing else matters."


    ...


    Mary felt some small beads of sweat start to form in her hair as she sprinted through the halls of Eden. Unlike a ''real'' suit, her pseudo exo-suit did little to hinder her movement and in some aspects, even enhanced it slightly.


    Such was only to be expected from an expensive pseudo exo-suit which was specifically designed to be viable for battle in a pinch. Of course, a pseudo exo-suit still couldn''t compare to a real fully armoured and fully protected exo-suit but for Mary''s purposes this suit did just fine.


    Mary was more than just the chief maid of the ship.


    In her younger years, Mary was trained in hand-to-hand combat as well as basic gun handling and fighting.


    But more importantly she was a trained psionic.


    Before she retired from military service and found employment as the chief maid under Adam Starr in Eden, Mary was once a psionic operative of ''P.A.I.N.'' the ''Psionic Assault and Intelligence divisioN,'' one of the Intergalactic Terran Confederation''s psionic military divisions with a rather ridiculous and forced name.


    Not that Mary once liked that ridiculous name when she was still one of their psionic operatives .


    No definitely not because of that.


    Anyhow, those details were unimportant at this moment.


    Mary had a job to do.


    Mary''s psionic ability in particular being a rather peculiar one.


    While most psionics had the ability to either generate heat or energy to create lightning or even in some cases pure energy balls to be used offensively or the ability to strengthen their muscle and bone density through some unknown psionic phenomena, Mary''s psionic ability did not inherently contain that same type of offensive potential.


    Her psionic ability was something that was dubbed as ''Psychic Premonition.''


    Psionic scientists and the like have yet to discover the true nature of ''Pyschic Permonition.'' The most they were able to discover was that it allowed Mary and anyone with the same ability as her to sense any and all sorts of incoming ''unnatural'' danger to either herself or someone else that she cared about.


    Although Mary could not wield the same kind of devastating powers as her fellow psionics, her ability to sense ambushes and other kinds of attacks before they even occurred made her an invaluable asset to any team, whether it was team composed of psionics or otherwise.


    And now like her old days as a P.A.I.N. operative, her ability warned her of a terrible threat.


    But unlike her old days as a P.A.I.N. operative, she had none of her old psionic comrades to back her up in heat of battle.

 6 One Last Job

    After opening his locker, a photo of his family came onto a man''s view.


    Seeing this, the man couldn''t help but smile.


    "Just one last job. One last job and I''m out of this mess."


    ''This mess'' in particular being how he was still under the employ of the Velsulis Family.


    Although he did occasionally find the time to spend with his real family, that was nothing compared to the time he had to spend as an ''operative'' for the ''Family''.


    At least, that was for now.


    He was getting old.


    And that meant that he was allowed to retire.


    Even with his cybernetics, the current him could not ever hope to compare to the peak of his youth.


    When he glanced downwards, an entire hand made entirely of metal was what came into his view. A dim blue light pulsed periodically on sets of lines that ran across his cybernetic hand while the hand itself reflected the light of the room, giving it a silverly glossy look.


    Whatever sort of artificial ''super-metal'' it was made from, Oskar didn''t know. He stopped bothering about those sorts of details a long time ago.


    As long as he got his money''s worth, then he was fine with anything.


    He didn''t know why he did it exactly but he started moving his cybernetic fingers inwards towards the palm of his hand before moving them back outwards one by one in a wave like pattern. The whirring metallic sounds of whatever was inside the hand entered the man''s ears as he repeated this action for a few seconds before-


    "Oskar! There you are!"


    A somewhat young and cheerful voice entered his ears which was accompanied by the sounds of light footsteps.


    When Oskar turned to the source of the sounds, he saw Jordan Silvers, one of his fellow comrades who also worked as an operative for the Family.


    Like most over-eager youngsters, he was already donning his combat exo-suit.


    He wore the standard issue exo-suit that was given to combat operatives of the Family; a grey and shiny, skin tight suit which emphasised his lean figure. Robotic grey metal gauntlets, kneepads, shoulderpads, boots, and a breastplate which artificially enhanced his already high physical capabilities were melded seamlessly with the suit.


    Similarly to Oskar''s cybernetic hand, there were traces of pulsing blue lights running across Jordan''s exo-suit.


    Only Jordan''s face wasn''t concealed. He was completely clean shaven with short wavy hair that was styled leftwards. His eyes were a pale hazel colour which managed to match his brown hair.


    With a sigh, Oskar proceeded to question Jordan''s presence.


    "What do you want Jordan?"


    As Oskar spoke, he closed the locker with a slightly forceful slam, removing the photo of his family from his sight.


    Once he did so, Oskar spoke up again with a slight tinge of bitterness in his voice.


    "Can''t you annoy someone else?"


    Jordan only smirked when he heard what Oskar had to say.


    "Well what can I say? Technically I can annoy someone else but is there any particular reason why I shouldn''t annoy you?"


    Jordan paused for a few seconds to chuckle to himself before he continued.


    "Heck, I only said one line and I''m already grinding your gears."


    "A reason is it? Alright..."


    As Oskar said this, he turned to directly face Jordan, before starting to make his way over to the young man. As he did so, he slowly curled both of his hands, including his cybernetic hand into a pair of fists.


    "Why don''t you allow me to ''personally'' give you a reason."


    When Jordan heard Oskar''s threats, his smirk only grew onto a wide smile as he himself slowly took a battle stance and curled both of his hands into fists in a similar manner to Oskar. Although Jordan has yet to bring his fists up, both of his legs shifted slightly into a more stable stance.


    In less than a second, Oskar immediately exploded into a quick sprint, instantly closing the distance between him and Jordan.


    In an astonishing feat of agility, speed and strength, he threw his right fist at Jordan, using the force of the trajectory of running to strengthen his blow.


    However, rather than meeting Jordan''s face, Oskar''s fist instead clashed with Jordan''s own fist. Short small sparks flashed from their fists as the prosthetic cybernetic hand of Oskar contested with the exo-suit enhanced gauntlet of Jordan. While the force of Oskar''s attack forced Jordan''s body a few feet backwards, the latter was still able to manage his composure and posture as his exo-suit''s boots left marks on the metal floor.


    Despite the overbearing sound of the clashing metal, Oskar still managed to hear some of Jordan''s grunts from the impacts as he held his ground.


    Although Oskar felt some of his ''muscles'' strain from the exchange, like Jordan he continued to hold his ground.


    Oskar would never let himself lose to Jordan.


    As their fists continued to clash, Jordan taunted Oskar with a cheerful yet mocking smile on his face.


    "You''re getting slow... Real slow old man."


    Of course, Oskar would only let out his own response in the form of a snide remark.


    "Hah. I''m still fast enough to to teach scumbags like you a proper lesson."


    Simultaneously they both pulled their respective clashing fist back, preparing for another strike before-


    They embraced each other in a hug.


    They hugged each other in what would be best described as a ''manly bro-hug.''


    "I''m gonna miss you old son of a bitch."


    "And I''m going to miss calling you out for your stupidity."


    However, they were not given much time to enjoy this moment before they were rudely interrupted by a third voice which took the form of a cough.


    "Ahem..."


    When the duo turned towards the source of the voice, they found a female figure. Like Jordan, she also wore an exo-suit but unlike Jordan''s suit, her suit was a lot more minimalistic.


    While it still consisted of a grey skin tight suit which concealed all but her face and contained running lines which periodically pulsed blue lights, she lacked the same ''heavy duty'' armaments as Jordan, instead only having two respective pairs of thinner yet still robotic gauntlets and boots.


    The breastplate, kneepads and shoulderpads that were present on Jordan''s suit were instead completely absent.


    Her short blonde hair was styled into a short bob cut that was just long enough to reach the middle of her neck, leaving only her relatively pretty face which matched her petite figure exposed.


    After making a tired sigh, the female; Tracy White spoke up.


    "Sorry if I ''ruined'' the moment but we have a job to do."


    "Oh have a heart will you? At least show more emotions than the droids."


    Oskar watched Jordan shrug as he made a casual remark as his reply to Tracy.


    "This could be the last time we''re going to be seeing Oskar. Surely even someone like you can understand that?"


    When Tracy heard Jordan''s response, she smiled as she shook her head.


    "Yes, yes. Just save it for after the mission..."


    Tracy paused for a short moment before she continued.


    "Then we can go out and drink!"


    "Haha yes! I knew you had it in you! No one believed me when I said it but it''s true!"


    Tracy instantly fell silent when she heard Jordan''s remark, as if she couldn''t believe what she just heard. Soon enough, she was able to find her voice.


    "N-no... It''s just... It''s just tha-"


    Oskar let out a short chuckle as the conversation quickly devolved into an argument betweenJordan and Tracy, as things tend to do whenever those two were involved.


    He was truly going to miss them.


    ...


    Tracy didn''t know what happened exactly after her argument with Jordan.


    All she knew was that she was now in the halls of the ''Eden,'' a cruiser class ship which serves as the mobile home and mansion of the Starr family with the rest of her crew by her side.


    As soon as their own ship; the ''Chromata'' warped next to the Eden, multiple ''penetration pods'' with armed combat squads within them were launched at the Eden.One of these squads of course consisting of Tracy along with Jordan and Oskar.


    The pod itself penetrated a hole through the hull of the Eden before sealing tightly on, ensuring that there was no loss of oxygen the moment the pod breached the hull.


    The moment the three exited the pod and entered the ship, Tracy''s team commander, Oskar Blak instantly asked Tracy a question.


    "Tracy, are the surveillance systems disabled?"


    In response to Oskar''s question, Tracy positioned her right hand in front of her, placing a small holographic screen produced by her exo-suit in front of her eyes. Her eyes narrowing slightly as she replied to Oskar.


    "Yes but..."


    Tracy stuttered for a short moment before she continued.


    "It''s not by our own doing..."


    Oskar''s eyebrows rose in both confusion and suspicion as he questioned Tracy''s answer.


    "What do you mean that it''s not by our own doing? Were the surveillance systems already disabled beforehand?"


    Tracy only hesitantly nodded as she confirmed her findings.


    "Yes. From the looks of it, it was disabled due to some electrical malfunction... Do you want me to look int-"


    "Negatory. Just keep watching our backs and make sure nothing goes wrong."


    Like before, Tracy went to nod in affirmation only to be interrupted by a sudden childlike voice behind them.


    "Oh... What do we have here?"


    Almost immediately the trio spun around in reaction to the sudden voice, aiming their weapons at the source as they did so.


    Despite their hostile actions, the voice continued speaking in a rather nonchalant manner as it addressed the trio.


    "To think I would see a bunch of my ''old friends,'' so soon..."


    What came into their sights after they spun around was a little girl, no taller than their waist, who had a rather plain face which was neither ugly nor beautiful. Tracy had no idea how the girl snuck up behind them and she especially had no idea what the girl meant by ''old friend,'' but her instincts told her that it must mean nothing good.


    Tracy didn''t know what it was exactly but she felt as if there was something off about the girl.


    As if air itself around the girl was... twisted...


    As if her existence itself was a mistake of nature.


    It was obvious, this girl had to be that ''psionic prodigy'' that the Family was after.


    Even though Tracy was accompanied by Jordan and Oskar, both of whom aimed their weapons at the girl, she still could not help but feel a bit anxious.


    And judging from the way that Jordan and Oskar reacted to the girl, they were all probably thinking the same thing.


    Soon, the girl''s mouth twisted into a grin as she spoke.


    "It''s been a while... Tracy... Jordan... Oskar... Although I doubt it, do any of you three recognise me?"


    The trio only remained silent as their response to the girls question. While they may have no idea what the hell she was talking about, that does not mean that they had to answer her question. The fact that the girl knew what their names were didn''t even register into their minds as they held their ground.


    On the other hand, the girl tilted her head to the side slightly when she saw the trio''s silent answer.


    With a sigh, she once again spoke up.


    "Hmm... I guess not... Well none of that matters anyway... Ahaha... This is going to be fun."


    Although her young childish face and sparkling emerald eyes gave off an image of pure innocence, her twisted grin combined with the way that her now disproportionate eyes that occasionally twitched told Tracy another story.


    There was no denying it.


    That thing standing right in front of her was a monster in the form of a little girl.

 7 A Monster

    Cynthia couldn''t stop herself from grinning as she sized up her three ''old friends.''


    The memories of the time she spent with them flooding back into her mind as she spoke.


    "It''s been a while... Tracy... Jordan... Oskar... Although I doubt it, do any of you three recognise me?"


    When Cynthia said that, she remembered all of the good times that she shared with them in her past life. Oskar''s sarcastic pragmatism, Jordan''s comedic quips which often clashed with Tracy''s solemn and serious personality, all of them had something interesting to offer to Cynthia.


    Out of everyone that made up the ''Chromata Crew,'' that served the Family, Cynthia probably disliked these three the least.


    It was really quite a shame that Cynthia would have to kill all of them now.


    The Chromata Crew was one of the more recent groups to betray Cynthia, probably the second last before the betrayal that actually killed her.


    Granted, there was a good chance that they probably have a reasonable excuse which explained away why they stabbed Cynthia in the back but she didn''t care.


    She knew and killed ''sympathetic'' people like them before.


    Traitors were traitors.


    And all traitors needed to die.


    Soon, Cynthia started to feel her brain strain once again as she contemplated her thoughts at a faster speed than her brain can actually process.


    In fact, so far only two seconds have actually passed.


    Once again she had to thank her latent S-class latent psionic abilities passively enhancing her mental capabilities, thus lessening the mental strain in the process.


    Nevertheless, she still couldn''t help tilting her head slightly to the side as she thought to herself.


    On the other hand, it would seem that the trio were completely unaware of Cynthia''s true nature, instead continuing to maintain a cautious expression as they aimed their weapons at and slowly circled around her.


    Of course they couldn''t recognise ''him'' in this new body.


    How could they?


    To them, the person in front of them was a mere ''upper-class'' child of some rich CEO. Not the most powerful human psionic to date.


    Granted, although she could not unleash her full power right now, she could still wipe out all three of these weaklings out in an instant if she really wanted to.


    Out of the three, only Tracy was a psionic and she was a mere F-class psionic, the lowest class of psionic that made up at around 70% of all total psionics.


    Although they were classed as psionics, their actually psionic ability was quite limited. The most they will be able to do is increase their physical capabilities by 10% at most or summon a small flame at their fingertips.


    Apart from that, like the higher classed psionics, F-class psionics also possess inherently advanced mental capabilities with a faster thinking and calculating process but even that was outclassed by mere E-class psionics.


    Not forgetting to mention that any typical non-psionic can match up to most F-class psionics with any sort of cybernetic or exo-suit enhancement or even just rigorous training.


    Tracy belonged to the former ''self-enhancing'' category of psionics with the ability to increase her overall physical capabilities by 8.7%.


    However, if Cynthia remembered correctly then Tracy was closer to an auxiliary operative rather than a combat operative. Although she was technically a field agent, what Tracy specialised in was in hacking, systems and weapon''s maintenance, and other auxiliary duties.


    She took advantage of her enhanced mental capabilities rather than her enhanced physical capabilities and thus was quite lacking physically speaking. While she still received the compulsory sort of military training required of someone in her field, it was nothing compared to her comrades.


    Her small petite figure when compared to the tall lean bodies of both the old Oskar and the young Jordan was proof of that.


    Even though she can enhance her own physical abilities by 8.7%, she was still outmatched by both of her comrades in physical ability due to their larger overall emphasis on enhancing their own combative capabilities, whether it be through training or cybernetic upgrades.


    In other words, when looking at the bigger picture, she might as well be a regular human.


    In fact, the other real non-psionic operatives of her squad probably posed a larger threat to Cynthia than Tracy.


    Although Oskar was old, he spent a decent amount on cybernetic enhancements to ''improve his chances of surviving,'' these included but weren''t limited to his semi-prosthetic eyes, cybernetic implants and of course, his prosthetic-cybernetic right hand.


    Those combined with his intensive training which he upheld despite his old age and his years of experience already made him a larger threat than Tracy.


    And Jordan was similarly just as dangerous.


    Although he also had cybernetic upgrades, it was not on the same level as Oskar. He also lacked the years of experience that Oskar held but there was one thing that Jordan had that Oskar lost a long time ago.


    His youth.


    Jordan was not limited by his body. Unlike Oskar who was past his prime, Jordan had the potential to become greater than Oskar is and ever has been. Not forgetting to mention that currently, Jordan is on-par with Oskar but judging that 5 years have past, perhaps Jordan may have already surpassed Oskar.


    Either way, Cynthia didn''t care.


    The three of them were going to die anyway.


    Although she didn''t really despise them that much and planned to give them a quick death, she would still savour this opportunity to truly unleash at least a decently sized fraction of her powers.


    "Hmm... I guess not... Well none of that matters anyway... Ahaha... This is going to be fun."


    When Cynthia said this, she spotted the trio take even more distinctively defensive stances when compared to before.


    They stopped trying to circle Cynthia and instead held their positions, ready to cover the other person at a moments notice if need be.


    Truth be told, Cynthia had to commend their teamwork.


    Even without communication chips in their heads, they could still maintain teamwork in situations such as these.


    However, Cynthia has already seen this sort of teamwork from groups that consisted of more competent people and more people in general.


    These three were nothing too special.


    Whether they were actually aware of that, Cynthia didn''t really care.


    The already tense atmosphere only multiplied as the situation continued to escalate.


    But in the end, no one could do anything to Cynthia as they instead essentially ''let her have the first shot.''


    Of course they couldn''t do anything to her.


    They couldn''t afford to do Cynthia harm.


    They had to take her alive.


    That was their biggest and last mistake.


    Sine they needed her alive, none of them pulled the trigger of their rifle as Cynthia raised both of the palms of hands in front of her.


    Soon, two red balls of flame started emanating out of both of her hands.


    Fire was the weakest sort of attack that a ''heat psionic'' like Cynthia could conjure.


    Fire could not compete in terms of precision with lightning nor could it compete to the raw overall destructive output of condensed light.


    It was simply considered ''obsolete'' when one takes into consideration how ''fire'' is outmatched by condensed light and lighting.


    Even though the trio were taken slightly by surprise when they saw that Cynthia was able to effortlessly call upon balls of flame in her hand, they still managed to keep their composure.


    They probably thought Cynthia was still something that they could handle.


    After all, small balls of flame aren''t really that much of a big deal when compared to what the upper echelons of psionics could accomplish.


    However, in the literal hands of someone like Cynthia, even the weakest form of attack would quickly become a terror to behold.


    Even though she knew that she would strain her body in the process, this was too good of an opportunity to not do it.


    Soon, the pair of flaming balls turned into Cynthia''s signature colour.


    Green.


    As soon as the flames turned from red to green, an entirely different expression took over the trio''s faces.


    Oskar remained completely silent, his wide open eyes completely dead set upon the two balls of green flames while his jaw hung open.


    Jordan similarly also eyed the green flames but unlike Oskar, he was muttering to himself.


    "Green flame?.. But that''s... impossible... imp... impossible"


    Tracy no longer gazed at the two balls of flame as she instead diverted her attention to the small holographic screen that she placed in front of her eyes.


    "Her psionic level! It''s rising! Rising fast! One thousand! Wait no! It''s over two thou-no five thous-"


    Her eyes continued to widen the longer she read out loud the readings given to her by her suit.


    "It''s over nine thousa-"


    Before she could even finish her sentence, her right gauntlet exploded entirely, almost causing her to drop her rifle.


    For a brief period, lasting less than a second, the two parties simply silently stared at each other.


    Before all three of them simultaneously opened fire at Cynthia, their survival instincts probably taking over their bodies as soon as they saw the feared colour of green.


    The weapons they held in their hands were ''Gauss Rifles,'' weapons which utilised gauss technology to fire projectiles at hypersonic speed. They appeared to be more recent variants that were developed sometime in the past 5 years.


    However, there actions were all for naught.


    Even with such a weapon, they ultimately posed no threat to Cynthia.


    Cynthia felt a stinging pain spread across both of her arms as she manipulated the flames to protect herself, forming a sort of green ''fire shield'' around her.


    The rounds fired from the gauss rifles were immediately turned to ash the moment they touched the green flames while the flames themselves reverted back into the shape of two floating green balls once Cynthia confirmed that they exhausted all of their ammo.


    Soon, an expression of dread and terror took formed on their faces as they realised the true nature of the situation.


    Cynthia smirked as she let them wallow in their sorrow for a few short moments before she let a single, solitary, cold word out of her mouth.


    "Goodbye."


    ...


    Somewhere, in a galaxy far, far away from Cynthia, there was a single woman.


    A woman who hovered in the middle of a large room.


    The room itself had a rather ''foreign'' aesthetic, although it took a cylindrical shape, the architecture of the room was largely triangular and angular in shape, yet there were no actual sharp ''points,'' instead curving smoothly.


    At first glance, it would seem that these patterns were simply random splayed out with no rhyme or reason, but a second, more thorough glance would make it clear that some inexplicable ''pattern'' did exist.


    There was something entrancing about it.


    Something mystical.


    On the other hand, the woman who was hovering in the middle of the room sat in cross legged position. Her eyes were softly closed together while the palms of both of her hands pressed against each other, as if she was praying or meditating.


    She wore what appeared to be a light blue robe which did well to hide her figure excluding her hands and face, and matched her long silky pale-blue hair that fell freely down her back until it reached the bottom half of her waist.


    Like the architecture of the room, the woman''s face was largely angular yet at the same time it wasn''t too sharp, instead mellowing out to give her a sort of ''angelic appearance.'' The only part of her that was actually pointed were the tips of both of her ears, which pointed upwards at a 45? angle like a pair of daggers.


    However, soon the woman jerked her head upwards for seemingly no reason.


    After a short moment, she slowly opened her eyes to reveal a pair of two blue coloured pupils before a smile grew on her face as she spoke to herself.


    "Finally.


    After a mere five years, it has appeared again."


    Her voice was calming and soothing, as if she was literally an angel from heaven.


    "The guiding green light.


    Our saviour.


    Our messiah."

 8 A Monster Part II

    Oskar felt his face distort into despair and time seemed to slow down as he thought to himself.


    ''This can''t be happening.''


    That phrase kept repeating itself inside Oskar''s head.


    This can''t be happening.


    It just can''t be.


    It''s not possible.


    It shouldn''t be possible.


    What had just happened.


    This entire sequence of events.


    It shouldn''t have happened.


    It couldn''t have happened.


    This has to be a dream.


    But this feeling.


    This sensation.


    Everything around Oskar, from the sweat on his forehead to the ominous and malevolent aura surrounding the little girl told him the cold truth.


    That this was reality.


    That everything that just happened was reality.


    The fact that this girl''s psionic level was over nine thousand, a psionic level That which classed her as a C-Class psionic, if not even more.


    The fact that this girl could conjure and perfectly manipulate green flames, a feat only accomplishable by prodigies, or people who spent their entire lifetime cultivating and training their psionic abilities.


    The fact that this girl could mentally react to his entire squad spontaneously opening fire and effortlessly negate it, an achievement that highlighted just how terrifying this little girl really was.


    All of that really just happened.


    All of that was reality.


    Oskar didn''t want to believe it, but he knew that it was the truth.


    The weapon he used to fire at the girl was an ''MB-2256 Gauss Rifle,'' one of the newest and most advanced weapons developed by the Russo-Chinese Federation.


    It fired extremely heat resistant armour-piercing projectiles at hypersonic speeds thanks to gauss technology.


    Just one pull of the trigger and the bullet fired would have already reached the target before Oskar could even blink.


    But that girl was not only able to perceive Oskar''s and his comrade''s attack with their extremely potent weapons but she was able to react accordingly, creating a ''flaming green shield'' that disintegrated their rounds before they could touch her.


    She also just proved that her green flames were the real deal and not some illusion that she cast.


    The ''extremely heat resistant'' description of the projectiles fired by the MB was no lie, these bullets could supposedly persist through heats as high as 2000? C and yet they were still instantly disintegrated the moment they touched the green flames.


    Just what the hell was she?


    What kind of monster did he discover?


    She was not just a prodigy, even they needed at least ten years to be able to just conjure green flames, let alone manipulate them.


    She was a prodigy among prodigies.


    Why?


    Why did this have to happen to him?


    He was supposed to have only one last mission left before he could retire from ''the Family'' thanks to old age.


    From there he should have been able to return to his ''real family.''


    In order to increase his odds of returning home, Oskar even went out of his way to ensure that his last mission was relatively safe and risk free.


    One last, easy and safe job before he could return home.


    That was what was supposed to have happened.


    That was what should have happened.


    But that isn''t what happened at all.


    Instead, he encountered a threat that excluding ''him'' was the gravest threat that Oskar has ever faced.


    Especially now that he had exhausted all of his ammo.


    It would take him around two seconds to reload his rifle.


    With the speed that she just displayed, she could probably attack and kill all three of them in that time frame.


    Even if he or one of comrades were somehow able to reload and open fire being engulfed by the girl''s green flames, there was no guaranteeing that the bullets fired from this second volley would be able to successfully evade her green flames and kill the girl.


    It was truly a precarious situation.


    But Oskar still knew that he had to do something.


    He was so close to returning home.


    He can''t afford to die now.


    Anything would do, anything that could save his life.


    He didn''t even care about accomplishing the original mission objective of kidnapping the little girl for the Family anymore.


    There was no way he would risk his life capturing something as powerful as ''that.''


    She was simply too dangerous.


    Should he just sacrifice Jordan and Tracy to buy himself some time?


    That solution was indeed a possibility.


    It was a hard choice to make but if he were to leave the duo to deal with the girl, then he could possibly buy himself twenty, no maybe even ten seconds.


    By then he should be out of harm''s way.


    It didn''t matter how psionically gifted this girl was, there was still the limits of her human body.


    As a mere child, there was no way she would be able to catch up to Oskar if he ran at his full speed, especially with a ten second head-start.


    However, there was another inherent problem with this plan.


    And that was how Oskar, Jordan and Tracy were all probably thinking the same thing.


    Only one of them could run away and leave the other two behind.


    And even then, there was no telling if the two stalling would be able to hold back the girl at all.


    There was a good chance that the girl could annihilate all three of them in an instant.


    Only a few seconds passed since they originally opened fire at the girl and Oskar has already made his choice.


    However before he could actually do anything , the girl suddenly said a single cold word and her mouth twisted into a cruel smirk as she spoke.


    "Goodbye."


    At that moment, Oskar felt a sudden strong impact hit his chest, yet his feet remained planted where they originally were.


    He didn''t feel anything off.


    He didn''t feel any pain.


    He just felt... breathless.


    Oskar didn''t know what gave him the feeling but he had the sudden urge to look downwards towards his chest where he originally felt the impact.


    When he did turn his eyes downwards, his eyes widened in disbelief while his jaw dropped.


    At the direct centre of his chest ,there was a huge fist-sized hole that had completely pierced through both the protective armour of his exo-suit and his body.


    A mix of red and yellow embers flickered dimly within said hole, as if it was ''freshly burnt.''


    Even though there was a massive gaping hole in his body, Oskar didn''t feel any pain whatsoever.


    All he felt was the shock at such a sight.


    It didn''t take long for Oskar to decipher what had just happened.


    Oskar tried to speak but his mouth failed him.


    A good part of his lungs were disintegrated.


    He was literally at a loss for words.


    Soon, his legs finally gave away as he fell limply backwards, the sound his body hitting the floor echoing in his ears.


    Although he couldn''t make it out properly, he also heard the sound of Tracy and Jordan collapsing.


    In an instant, they were all killed, without even being given a chance to resist.


    Laying on the metallic flooring of the ship, the coldness of the floor was the only thing that Oskar ''felt.''


    Gazing upwards onto the ceiling, he felt his body becoming more and more numb while his eyesight became more blurry.


    In his dying moments, he can''t help but once again think ''why did this have to happen to him?''


    This was supposed to be his last job.


    ...


    Cynthia couldn''t help sighing happily in satisfaction as she watched all three of the traitors collapsed simultaneously.


    She hasn''t lost her edge.


    In the five years of inactivity since her first death, she had proven that she was still a force to be reckoned with.


    While she had yet to reach the heights of her past life, this was an acceptable level for now, especially since she was ''only five years old.''


    Other than that, it was rather nice to once again test her abilities in a real scenario, she never really liked practicing against "predetermined " training scenarios.


    With a smile, she casually strolled over to Oskar''s body which laid sprawled out across the floor.


    His face was permanently frozen in an expression of shock, as if he still couldn''t believe what had just happened.


    At the sight, Cynthia couldn''t help making a throw away remark.


    "Well even though I know that you can''t hear me, you can rest assured that I indeed went through the same pain as you did."


    Although she didn''t feel the slightest bit of sympathy for the traitors, she did empathise with them.


    After all she had gone through the same ''pain'' that they were currently going through.


    That ''pain'' of course being the entire ordeal of death.


    That horrible feeling of death.


    That endless void of nothingness.


    Even just the mention of the so-called ''afterlife'' brought shivers to Cynthia''s spine.


    "No... never... never again..."


    As she spoke to herself, both of her hands curled into a pair of fists.


    "I will never go through that horrible ordeal again. That... that is why I must become stronger. That is why I must transcend this body quicker"


    Soon, she felt a ''liquid'' sensation in her hands as blood dripped onto the floor from her knuckles.


    "I will- no I can never rest.


    Until my power is unrivalled within this cold and uncaring universe , I can never rest.


    Until I can ensure that I can permanently elude the grasp of death, I can never rest.


    Until then I can never rest."


    With her resolve once again strengthened, Cynthia turned to leave, only to be distracted by a certain sound.


    It was an almost indiscernible sound. She followed it to its source and foundit in the ear of the dead man.


    A voice.


    "Hmmm?.. What''s this?"


    When she turned her attention towards the source of sound, she saw a small ear hook communicator.


    Without hesitation, Cynthia picked up the communicator and placed it next to her ear, listening to the voice that came from the other side.


    "Team Tint? Team Tint? Do you copy? I repeat.Team Tint? do you copy?"


    Cynthia smiled as she listened to the ear hook communicator before she took it out of her ear and then burned it a crisp with her green flame.


    It would seem that she would soon get another chance to test more of her abilities.

 9 Dread

    It didn''t take long for Cynthia to find another squad shortly after killing Oskar and his squad.


    From the sight of the destroyed security droids that littered the halls, Cynthia was able to confirm that the Chromata Crew were still just as competent as they were five years ago.


    Of course, that didn''t mean anything in the face of Cynthia''s immense psionic capabilities, as long as she wasn''t forced to over-stain and possibly destroy her relatively fragile body.


    In fact, she had to thank them for continuing to use that old ''split into three man squads'' tactic that they seemed to have grown fond of.


    If she''d had to face all of them at once, even Cynthia couldn''t guarantee being able successfully eliminate all of them before the psionic stress destroyed her body.


    The next group that she encountered was composed of two females and one male. The male wore ''extra light exo-suit'' armour like Tracy had and was mostly the ''auxiliary-man'' of the group while the two females wore the ''light exo-suits'' similar to those worn by Jordan and Oskar and were visibly more ''capable''.


    Out of the three, none of them were psionic.


    Currently, only one of them was still alive.


    Emphasis on the word ''currently.''


    With all of her might, the lone survivor ran through the halls in an attempt to escape her fate.


    Her appearance was worse for wear, there were visible scorch marks on her breastplate and her fairly long brown hair that reached her shoulders were disheveled and lightly singed.


    Her hazel eyes were wide open and were bloodshot, as if she just witnessed an unbelievable sight.


    While she ran, she pressed two fingers on her right hand into her right ear and spoke out loud.


    "This is Blu of Team Primary! Requesting any nearby units for support! I repeat! This is Blu of Team Primary! Requesting immediate suppo-guuaahhhh!"


    As the woman named ''Blu'' tried to call for more reinforcements, she was suddenly interrupted by her own screams of pain before she suddenly tumbled over.


    The momentum she gained from running combined with the weight of her body caused her to be thrown forward before rolling on the floor after she hit it.


    As clumsy as Blu may seem to be and as weak as she actually was, Cynthia still had to to commend her perseverance and tenacity.


    Blu didn''t even wait to rest and regain her bearings before she immediately attempted to stand back up and run again, only to quickly fall back over.


    She hadn''t noticed it yet.


    How extremely pitiful.


    At this sight, Cynthia couldn''t help but make a sarcastic yet cold remark.


    "Did the adrenaline get to your head? Why don''t you take a good look at your feet."


    When Blu heard Cynthia''s remark, she turned her eyes downwards only to be met with a horrific sight.


    She didn''t ''see'' her feet.


    Or rather.


    She no longer had any.


    Instead, all that was left was a pair of burnt black stumps at her ankles with bits of melted fabric and metal attached to them.


    When Blu saw the condition of her ''feet,'' her eyes widened in shock and even sporadically twitched while her mouth trembled in fear.


    She didn''t even have the strength to speak anymore.


    With only her hands and thighs to support herself, Blu could only sit up and cower before Cynthia.


    On other hand, Cynthia couldn''t stop herself from mocking the poor defenceless operative.


    After all, Blu was supposedly a trained killer who worked as an operative under the Velsulis Family.


    And yet here she was, at the mercy of a mere child.


    "You should have killed yourself when you still had the chance. Now... you have a much worse fate awaiting you."


    This time, Blu was able to find her voice and respond to Cynthia.


    "Why?.. Why are you doing this?"


    "Why? You skipped the ''how'' and moved on to why already? Well I guess people''s priorities can differ."


    Cynthia shook her head in a derisive manner as she spoke, further mocking Blu through her actions.


    "Hmph. Not that, that matters anyw-"


    "Giiieeee"


    However, Cynthia was interrupted by Blu''s awkward inhuman screech as the latter tried to open fire at the former with the Gauss Pistol that she hid behind her back.


    Well, Blu tried to anyway.


    Before Blu can even pull the trigger, her pistol along with her entire hand was instantly disintegrated by a ''green fireball'' that flew at a speed too fast to be registered by the average human eye.


    Blu didn''t even register what had just happened until a full five seconds had passed.


    "Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"


    Like earlier, Blu''s screams echoed throughout the ship''s hallways as she wriggled on the floor, clutching the burnt mess that used to be her hand.


    Cynthia didn''t know know what sort of expression she held on her face as she sighed before she once again spoke up.


    "If you wanted to save yourself, then you failed. But... if you wanted to piss me off... then you just succeeded."


    When Blu heard Cynthia''s words, her screaming voice gradually began to quieten down and was instead replace by something else.


    It was replaced by her pitiful whimpers.


    Like a fearful dog Blu whimpered.


    But that did nothing to earn Cynthia''s sympathy.


    Like Oskar, Tracy, Jordan and every other member of the so-called ''Velsulis Family,'' they had all betrayed Cynthia in the end.


    And Cynthia had already made her stance on traitors clear to herself.


    Soon Cynthia placed her right hand forward in the shape of a fist with her index finger pointing upwards. Within seconds, a small green flame began to emanate out of said index finger.


    Although even just minimal usage of the green flames still caused strains on Cynthia''s body, she couldn''t deny how effective and efficient it actually was.


    Her own pain just could not compare to the results brought through the use of green flames.


    Without so much as a second thought, Cynthia gave a mental order to the green flame resting gently on her finger tips.


    As soon as she gave the mental order, the green flame disappeared entirely.


    "Ghuahh."


    In response to the disappearance of the flames, Blu made a sudden gasping sound.


    Not out of surprise at the flames disappearing, but because of what happened when they did.


    As Cynthia stared at Blu, she could now spot a new pair of two holes which were only a finger-width wide in diameter that pierced her chest.


    Both holes glowed a white-yellow colour and had smoke emanating out of them.


    In that split second after Cynthia gave her green flame a mental command, it had punctured both of Blu''s lungs.


    The right lung was pierced from the first impact before going through her body and going back like a boomerang to pierce the left lung.


    Blu started to repeatedly wheeze before she proceeded to collapse onto the floor, her hand that once supported her body, giving away under her.


    As Blu lay wheezing on the floor, Cynthia heaved another satisfied sigh.


    Against Oskar and his squad, Cynthia could only test how well she could manipulate the fist sized balls of green flame in the heat of battle.


    But against the defenceless Blu, Cynthia was given time to practice her more intricate skills.


    With this in mind, Cynthia couldn''t help smiling in satisfaction.


    Her ''day'' just kept getting better and better.


    ...


    On the other side of the Eden, within the bridge, Cynthia''s caretaker and the chief maid of the entire ship; Mary paced back and forth within said bridge as she desperately tried to retake control of the situation.


    From the intelligence she was able to gather, there were multiple hostile squads, each consisting of three men each roaming the inside of the ship.


    So far, none of them had attempted to breach the ship''s bridge so the possibility of the ship being the target could be ruled out.


    No matter what these hostile attacker''s original goal actually was, it was still imperative that Mary upheld her duty and kept the ship and all of its assets safe.


    As she stood next to one of the droids at one of the bridge''s control panels and checked on the ship''s current condition, she was approached by a servant droid before it gave her it''s report.


    "Ma''am, we have failed to re-establish the Eden''s surveillance and security systems. We have also lost contact with all security droids save for the ones with us in the bridge. The likelihood of all of those aforementioned security droids being eliminated is over 90%."


    Mary felt her heart drop when she heard what the servant droid had to say.


    What made her heart tremble was not the loss of those expensive droids or even the risk of her own life, but the risk of Cynthia''s.


    With no security droids to protect her and no surveillance system to watch over her, Cynthia was very vulnerable to the forces behind this attack.


    That is, if she was still safe to begin with.


    The odds of her being seized and taken away without Mary knowing was very high.


    It was quite obvious that Cynthia had to be the attacker''s objective.


    If it was a robbery then they would have attacked when there was no humans and only droids on the ship, when the risk of discovery was at the lowest.


    Instead, they went out of their way to commit to a raid when Cynthia and Mary returned to the ship.


    It was highly unlikely that the attacker''s target was Mary; a person to who to them was only a mere chief maid of a rich entrepreneur.


    That left only one possible target that they could be after.


    Cynthia.


    "Damn it! Why did I have send her to her bedroom! I should have kept her with me! At least by then should would be safe!"


    Mary couldn''t help shouting out loud in anger in response to this horrible development, an occurrence that rarely happened.


    In her own moment of crisis, when she had no one else to go to, it was Adam Starr that Mary had to thank for lending her a helping hand.


    And now, when the moment came for her to return the favour, all she could give him is failure.


    Perhaps Mary should already start mentally preparing how she was going to personally report to Adam Starr.


    It would be insincere to do anything less.


    Maybe she could earn his forgiveness if she explained things properly.


    However, the longer Mary dwelled on these thoughts, the more determined she became.


    "No!.. I... I can''t allow that!"


    Before she could actually do anything, she was suddenly stopped by the beeping of one of the control panels of the ship.


    The droid at the panel spoke up to answer Mary''s question before she could even ask it.


    "Ma''am... Another ship has warped into the nearby vicinity. We have yet to determine if said ship is friendly or hostile."


    Mary felt her eyes widen in shock and fear as she approached the droid.


    "What? Bring up a visual of the ship."


    "As you wish ma''am."


    Soon, an image of the new ship appeared on the screen of the control panel.


    The first thing about the new ship to catch Mary''s eye was the insignia painted onto it.


    An insignia that Mary was all too familiar with.


    She remembered that back when she used to be an operative of P.A.I.N. there was a military organisation that was also under the Intergalactic Terran Confederation that she and other P.A.I.N. operatives often worked with.


    That insignia that Mary saw on that ship belonged to the very same military organisation that Mary used to work with.


    It was the insignia of the Direct Response Elite Assault Division.


    And that could only mean one thing.


    The elite Crimson Marines of ''D.R.E.A.D.'' had arrived.

 10 The End of the Beginning

    Cynthia couldn''t help but let her mouth twist upwards into a broad grin the moment she saw one of D.R.E.A.D.''s famed ''Dreadnoughts'' that ''floated'' in the empty space outside the window.


    From the looks of things, the elite military black ops organisation of D.R.E.A.D. was the first to respond to the Eden''s distress signal.


    While that was assuming that Mary or one of numerous droids within the Eden sent a distress signal, Cynthia had no doubt that Mary had made it her utmost priority to secure help and reinforcements as soon as possible.


    Nevertheless, the method used to inform and call the forces of D.R.E.A.D. was unimportant.


    What mattered was the fact that an entire Dreadnought manned with a full crew and strike force was here.


    Because that meant that despite an ''accidentally'' self-imposed setback, Cynthia''s original plan worked out in the end.


    At this thought, Cynthia allowed herself to relax as she spoke to herself, that broad grin on her face remaining everpresent.


    "Excellent... Even though I let my own thirst for vengeance sabotage my own plans, it would seem that everything has gone just as I had hoped. Actually... This may be the best case scenario..."


    Cynthia almost completely forgot that the person responsible for leaking information which depicted her as a psionic prodigy was none other than herself.


    In other words, she was the reason why she became a valuable target that was coveted by both governmental and illegitimate organisations.


    The original plan was for whichever organisation, whether it be a legitimate one or not, to be ''allowed'' to take her, whichever method they used, Cynthia didn''t really care.


    All she cared about was the ''free training'' she would receive after she was taken. After all, it was very unlikely for the organisation to not attempt to cultivate and brainwash her into becoming one of their loyal operatives should they succeed in taking a hold of her.


    Cynthia simply planned to exploit that fact.


    However, when she came face to face with Oskar and his crew, she realised that another kind of opportunity had presented itself to her.


    An opportunity for vengeance.


    Although there were many traitors in Cynthia''s past life that never got their just desserts, she simply could not pass up the opportunity to give these people exactly what they deserved now that she was given the chance.


    In retrospect, perhaps Cynthia should have killed them later once their use ran out, by then there was even a good chance that she would even be in the heart of the Velsulis Family''s home-base where she could slaughter them all instead of just the Chromata crew''s strike teams.


    But that would mean tolerating their existence for years if not decades.


    And Cynthia knew that there was also the possibility of her failing to hold up the act.


    Especially since the homebase of the Velsulis Family was sure to be heavily defended.


    Even if she were in the peak of her past life, Cynthia still wouldn''t be able to guarantee a victory against the main forces of the Family. After all, all it would take was a single well placed bullet and Cynthia would take a second trip to that empty void of the ''afterlife''.


    Although there was also the possibility of catching them off-guard, Cynthia weighed the risks to not be worth the rewards.


    However, there was no longer any point in dwelling on these thoughts.


    For another solution literally warped into existence in front of her.


    Like the Family, D.R.E.A.D.''s primary objective was very likely to be Cynthia.


    As the sister organisation to P.A.I.N., D.R.E.A.D. was very likely to leave her in the former''s custody once the latter got a hold of her.


    Whether Cynthia''s ''family'' resisted or not, she really couldn''t care less.


    After all, how could they ever stand up to the Confederation which consisted of literally every single human nation in existence?


    Realistically speaking, the only thing they could really do was stand by and let the Confederation take their daughter away from them.


    As such, Cynthia didn''t really need to concern herself with her family''s reaction when she gets taken away.


    As long as they don''t ruin her chances of joining P.A.I.N. then she was content with leaving things as they are.


    Even though P.A.I.N. and by extension, D.R.E.A.D. and the rest of the entire Intergalactic Terran Confederation have also like the Family turned against Cynthia in her past life, for what it was worth, this was a risk she was definitely willing to take.


    After all, P.A.I.N. had access to both resources and training that the Family could not even hope to compare to.


    Not only that but as a military organisation under the I.T.C., P.A.I.N. would naturally have access to the most advanced and experimental weapons and equipment.


    It was also a public secret that their weapons research development divisions are no stranger to working above the law on illegal and possibly inhumane projects.


    Without even knowing it, Cynthia broke out into a light chuckle as she continued to gaze at the drop-ships and pods being launched from the Dreadnought and were quickly approaching the Eden.


    On the other hand, the Chromata ship slowly but surely transformed into a glowing blue light which still kept the ship''s silhouette before disappearing entirely.


    It warped away, leaving behind the surviving strike teams that were still on the Eden to their deaths.


    With nowhere to escape and faced against insurmountable odds, Cynthia surprisingly found solace in the fact that the deaths of the rest of these bastards were fast approaching, even if she herself wasn''t the one to deal the killing blow.


    But more importantly, she was also relieved to know that perhaps her true goal and only dream of totally abandoning her weak body of flesh and replacing it with a superior body of steel was closer than she originally thought.


    Soon, Cynthia''s laughter died out and instead, she only smiled as her destiny approached.


    ...


    To Mary''s relief, it didn''t take long for the Crimson Marines of D.R.E.A.D. to eliminate the problem the moment they boarded the Eden. In less than half an hour they retook control of the ship, eliminated most of the hostile forces, and re-established the surveillance and security systems.


    The crimson marines were simply too much for the attackers to handle.


    Not only were they hopelessly outmatched by the marines but they were outnumbered as well.


    From what Mary was told, the hostiles on the Eden suffered an 100% casualty rate with all of their operatives either being captured or killed in action by the crimson marines who donned ''full exo-suits.''


    Unlike the enemies who wore light or extra light exosuits, the exo-suits worn by crimson marines covered their entire body from head to toe in thick defensive armour, without exposing the defensive skin tight suit under it like the lighter variants.


    On top of providing exponentially more defense to its wearer than the lighter exo-suit variants, it also artificially increased the user''s strength more as well.


    In particular, the exo-suit worn by the Crimson Marines was the ''NM-3360 Combat Suit'' but it was more commonly referred to with it''s colloquial name, the ''Blood Suit'' in reference to the ''blood-red'' lines of light that ran across their primarily pitch-black exo-suit while the suit itself was produced by D.R.E.A.D.''s personal weapons development divisions.


    Like the helmets of different other exo-suit models, the helmet of the blood suit provided its wearer with a HUD for assistance and support, albeit it was probably a lot more advanced than its contemporaries.


    To what extent it is advanced however, not even Mary a retired member of P.A.I.N. knew. Such things were a closely guarded secret known only by a select few.


    On the other hand, the weapons the marines wielded were the NM-170 Gauss Rifle and the NM-38 Gauss Pistol, both of which were top of the line weapons produced by the United Planets of America rather than being produced by D.R.E.A.D. themselves.


    Despite that, their weapons were still extremely potent in firepower with the NM-170 being able to sustain a fire rate of 1600 rounds per minute without losing too much of its accuracy as long as the user was wearing at least a light exo-suit to handle and reduce the recoil.


    However, the marines themselves were just as, if not even more outstanding than their weapons and equipment.


    The ''Crimson Marines'' was actually a very prestigious and venerated position which derives its members from the most athletic, intelligent and talented military graduates across all of human space.


    It was a common saying that a single fully armed and well rested crimson marine would be enough to handle an upwards to ten contemporary infantrymen simultaneously and could take on dozens, if not hundreds for an extended period of time.


    With all of that in mind, Mary knew that her worries and concerns were unnecessary.


    She knew that as long as none of the escape pods were fired from the ship, then Cynthia should be safe regardless of if she was taken hostage or not.


    However, to Mary''s dismay, she also discovered that there was a different problem altogether that she didn''t even conceive as a possibility.


    And that was how-


    "What?! Cynthia is a psionic?!"


    Mary utterly and completely failed to stop herself from shouting in disbelief when she heard what the crimson marine had to say.


    Although his crimson cape that flowed down to his knees, the decal on his left shoulder and the fact that he had two subordinate marines guarding him told Mary of his supreme authority, she still struggled to believe him.


    Part of her wanted to believe that there was a misunderstanding, that she just misheard what the marine said. But his answer only confirmed her fears.


    "Yes ma''am, the subject known as ''Cynthia Starr'' was confirmed to be a psionic by our specialist and is theorized to be the reason why she was targeted by the Velsulis Family. All other information is classified."


    The voice that came through the crimson marine''s helmet was serious yet cold. As he spoke, he kept a professional composure with his back straight and both hands holding his Gauss rifle.


    "Mr and Mrs Starr has already been informed of the situation and have agreed to our terms. From this point forward, Cynthia will be placed in the I.T.C.''s custody until further notice. Failure to comply will result in your immediate termination."


    Mary''s jaw dropped the second she heard what the marine had to say. Multiple thoughts ran through her head as she tried to rationalise what he just said. [Immediate termination? Is Cynthia just that valuable to them?]


    Of course, the marine either didn''t sense Mary''s inner turmoil or just didn''t care as he said his final words to her.


    "Chief Maid. By edict of Terran High Command, all matters regarding Cynthia''s psionic capabilities are under the highest seal of secrecy. You will not speak of her psionic capabilities or in any way relay anything surrounding the recent events on Eden. Failure to comply with these orders will result in immediate termination. This conversation never took place. We were never here."


    Before he turned around and along with his two guards left without even giving Mary the chance to respond.

 11 Intergalactic Governments, Criminals and Refugees

    At the centre of human space, there was a specific planet that enjoyed wealth and spoils that put even the capital planets of the intergalactic governments to shame.


    Multiple spacecrafts of all shapes and sizes from carriers and flagships to corvettes and destroyers, remained in high orbit around the planet.


    Many of these ships were either warping in or out of the planet''s orbit while many others docked at one of the numerous ''spacedock'' stations that hovered barely above the planet''s atmosphere at low orbit.


    Beneath the layer of ships and spacedocks, there was a forest of skyscrapers that reached into the skies. Some were commercial buildings or establishments, some were agricultural greenhouses or farmlands, most were housing complexes.


    The planet''s original habitats and environments were destroyed long ago, instead replaced with endless labyrinths of sky-high buildings.


    Yet despite that, the skies and air of the planet were clear and unpolluted, the result of the multiple years of carefully planned reclamation and development.


    This planet was known as ''Earth,'' the original homeworld of the human race.


    Although the surface of the Earth was ravaged and destroyed many times over during the course of human history, it was through the combined efforts of all the human nations that their beloved homeland was in the state it is now.


    A true testament to human ingenuity, persistence and perseverance, the Earth was reclaimed even from the ashes of an apocalyptic nuclear war.


    As the capital and only planet of the Intergalactic Human Confederation, the Earth is the ''heart'' of all of human space.


    Thus, Earth has enjoyed wealth and luxuries imported from every corner of human space and its citizens consisted almost exclusively of wealthy bureaucrats and entrepreneurs while droid labour replaced humans for ''menial'' tasks.


    Despite only officially laying claim to Earth, the I.T.C. actually virtually controls all of human space by proxy through its member nations, albeit said member nations are granted full self-autonomy as long as they don''t violate Confederate constitution.


    Although membership within the Confederation is only optional, there has yet to be any incidents of any nations leaving the Confederation since its establishment.


    This was very likely to be because of concerns of the nation''s safety and stability should they leave the Confederation.


    Not only will they no longer benefit from the trade perks brought through being a member of the Confederation but they will also no longer be protected by Confederate constitution which prevents large-scale conflicts between human nations.


    In the worst case scenario, the other human nations will take advantage of the nation leaving the Confederation and promptly invade and annex the aforementioned leaving and ''unprotected'' nation.


    "Filthy xenos!"


    Within a gigantic spherical space-station in low orbit around Earth, a general assembly consisting of representatives from every human nation was currently being held.


    The one currently speaking was a representative of the United Planets of America who stood on an elevated stage in front of all the other assembly attendees.


    "Every year the very existence of hostile xenos has threatened this rich soil that we stand on today! The Earth itself, the symbolic heart of humanity is also vulnerable to hostile xeno incursions."


    The U.P.A.''s representative; William Shaw spoke with clear strength in his voice in the face of countless amounts of people.


    "Every day, countless American lives are lost on countless American planets in the war against the filthy xenos and yet the Confederation and their ''mighty'' Confederate Army stands idly by and does nothing!"


    Like many times before, Shaw was once again attempting to persuade the Confederation to ''take action against the Xenos threat'' and ''make the Confederation great again.''


    "Since when has the Confederation become so weak? Since when have we humans been so complacent? Have we forgotten the origins of this great Confederation?!"


    Soon, Shaw began to explain the origins of the Confederation despite the fact that everyone present was an educated politician who was well-versed with the I.T.C.''s history.


    "This Confederation was formed to save humanity when we were on the brink of destruction. We set aside our differences and united against a common enemy. The or-"


    "Who is he trying to fool? We aren''t the same idiotic Americans that voted him into power. Honestly, Shaw really does give the Americans a bad name."


    Amidst Shaw''s speech, one of its attendees who stood off to the sides, the head of the Psionic Assault and Intelligence divisioN; Arthur ''Allen'' Cray couldn''t help but voice his opinion.


    Of course he didn''t speak out loud, instead he used the communication chip embedded into his head to ''speak'' with his subordinates that were also present.


    It didn''t take long for one of them to respond.


    "You always know how to make the best of the situation boss."


    The one who replied through the communication chip first was Melanie Menendez, Allen''s second in command.


    "Honestly boss you need to learn to- hang on... Wait a minute..."


    However, contrary to Allen''s expectations, Melanie trailed off before going on her usual virtual, sarcastic rant.


    And Allen knew that could only mean one thing.


    Soon, Melanie confirmed Allen''s suspicions.


    "Boss, D.R.E.A.D. has picked up a new psionic recruit a few weeks ago that you might want to see."


    ...


    Far away from Earth, at the edges of human space, where the power of the Confederation and its member nations are at its weakest, another different yet similar commotion was taking place.


    On a certain asteroid of a certain asteroid belt which revolved around a certain star, a massive fortress could be seen.


    Although it wasn''t as tall as the skyscrapers on Earth it still dwarfed everything around it in size.


    Multiple ships of various sizes docked on the various landing pads on and spread around the fortress, either dropping off goods and luxuries or picking up resources mined from the asteroid to be exported.


    Other than the landing pads and the fortress, there were also multiple buildings spread around the asteroid forming a sort of maze that enclosed the fort.


    All of these establishments sold various different kinds of goods, however, despite the variety of goods, they all shared one thing in common.


    They were all illegal goods.


    This place was known as ''The Lawless Paradise;'' a ''civilised market for those whose occupation is legally ambiguous.''


    Many different kinds of men filled the streets of the market, all of them looking to buy goods deemed illegal by the human nations.


    Whether it be simple drugs and slaves to military grade weapons and hardware, one could find virtually anything they need as long as they know where to look.


    And from the highest tower of the fortress, Garren ''Gold-eyes'' Collows stood with both hands behind his back near the glass wall that gave him a gorgeous view of the market bellow him.


    Apart from him there we also eleven other other men in the room, all of whom were slightly visible in the reflection of the mirror. Everyone, excluding Garren was wearing a light exo-suit.


    Nevertheless, Garren didn''t pay much attention to his loyal guards and instead focused his attention on ''enjoying the view.''


    Garren liked watching over his ''empire'' as it often reminded him not only of his family''s legacy that he inherited but also of his diligent hard work that ensured the continuation of said family legacy.


    Such things often helped soothe Garren whenever he was faced with anything troubling.


    Anything troubling like the troubling news he was about to receive.


    "One of our cruiser ships, the Chromata suffered heavy casualties during a standard kidnapping operation, sir. Every single strike team they deployed was eliminated with only the crew and reserves remaining."


    Garren continued to stare out the window and didn''t even bother to face his subordinate as the latter recounted his report.


    "Apart from the loss of life, we estimate that these loses costed us about thirty to forty million credits from the training, equipment and weapons."


    As the subordinate spoke, Garren was able to sense a tinge of anxiety in his voice.


    "Although these loses don''t mean too much in the grand scheme of things, there were some... troubling implications."


    Garren still continued to stare out the window as he questioned the subordinate.


    "Troubling implications?"


    The man hesitated for a moment before he responded, his voice audibly more nervous than before.


    "Y-yes sir. Although none of the strike teams returned for a debriefing, we were able to salvage some of their communication chatter. It is not much but it gives us an idea of what happened."


    This time, Garren turned around to face the subordinate before proceeding to give him an order.


    "Very well. Let us listen to it."


    The subordinate that Garren gave the order to; Rolland was only young man who was probably only is his early twenties.


    Yet despite that, he has risen up the ranks to be able to personally meet Garren face to face, a privilege granted to only the most esteemed members of the Velsulis Family.


    As such, Garren was slightly wary of the audio that was able to unnerve someone as talented as Rolland.


    Nevertheless, Rolland still complied with Garren''s order.


    "As you wish."


    As Rolland spoke he pressed a button on the left gauntlet of his exo-suit, quickly bringing up a holographic screen for everyone to see. The bar sound visualiser that appeared on the screen remained idle with no sounds being played.


    "Most of the audio was corrupted due to unknown reasons, the following sound clip is only a compilation of the least corrupted files in chronological order."


    Garren would only wave his hand to display his opinion.


    In response, Rolland sighed and took a deep breath before he pressed another button, the visualiser beginning to move as sounds played.


    "This is Oskar of Team Tint, confirming successful infiltration."


    "Team Tint has gone dark. Requesting permission to investigate."


    "This is Rhed of Team Primary, we have encountered an-"


    "This is Blu of Team Primary! Requesting any nearby units for support! I repeat! This is Blu of Team Primary! Requesting imme-"


    "This is Griens of Team Secondary, requesting for evac on stan-"


    "Multiple teams have gone dark! I repeat multiple teams have gone dar-"


    "TARGET PSIONIC IS EXTREMELY POTENT AND DANGEROUS! I REPEAT TARGET PSIONIC IS EXTREMELY POTENT AND DANG-"


    The entire room was filled with silence the moment the audio clips stopped playing.


    Despite that, Garren knew that everyone present was probably thinking the same thing.


    Just what sort of monster did the Chromata strike teams discover?


    ...


    At another corner of human space, another spacecraft has only just completed the warping process, a singular blue light exploded out of seemingly nowhere before the aforementioned spacecraft materialised within the blue lights.


    However, the architecture and design of this spacecraft wasn''t like that of the humans, appearing very foreign, exotic and to most human experts ''impractical'' in design.


    Within this strange spacecraft, there was also a cylindrical room that also that inherited ship''s exotic aesthetic.


    Inside this cylindrical room was a single woman who hovered in the exact middle of the room with her eyes closed and her legs crossed.


    She had silky pale-blue hair which matched her light blue robe and flowed down to the bottom half of her waist.


    But her most distinguishing feature was her pair of pointy ears.


    Soon, her moment of solitude and silence was interrupted by a man who walked into the room before kneeling down and speaking out loud.


    "Your grace, we have entered human space."


    Like the woman, the man had pale blue albeit short hair coupled with pointed ears.


    In response to the man, the woman opened her eyes before slowly drifting down to the floor and standing in front of the kneeling man.


    "Excellent. With this we are now one step closer to salvation."


    A look of contentment and happiness grew on the womans face as she spoke.

 12 A New Arrival

    Within the Earth''s Solar System, amidst the empty space beyond the first asteroid belt, a single ''spacestation'' remained still in perpetual idleness.


    It''s axis was slightly off-tilt, the result of the lack of gravity in the empty space.


    This station was simply known as ''17.''


    Due to 17''s nature as one of the Intergalactic Terran Confederation''s secret military installations, it was thus heavily fortified and defended with approximately a few hundred armed military, security and auxiliary personnel ''on board.''


    Virtually every single security personnel was a crimson marine of D.R.E.A.D, elite albeit non-psionically gifted soldiers detached from D.R.E.A.D to supplement the station''s defensive capabilities.


    However, when excluding the auxiliary staff and the crimson marines, everyone within 17 was actually a gifted psionic, more specifically a gifted psionic that worked as an operative of P.A.I.N.


    Consequently, 17 was also officially recognised as one of P.A.I.N.''s military installations, P.A.I.N.''s ''seventeenth'' military installation to be exact.


    And one of these P.A.I.N. psionic operatives was a young twenty-two year old woman with red-amber hair that was styled into double ponytails and coincidentally happened to match the flowing streaks of red lines of her predominantly black light exo-suit.


    At this moment, she sat at an empty table near the window within the cafeteria of 17 while she ate her breakfast.


    While it may seem that she was a loner, it was actually because her eating schedule didn''t line up with most of her friends, although she really didn''t have a problem with that, she actually somewhat preferred it this way.


    This young woman''s name was Katarina and all she was currently doing was boredly staring out into the empty space beyond the station''s window while her hands remained idle around her meal on the table.


    The breakfast itself wasn''t anything too special.


    In fact, it was pretty much nothing at all.


    If she were to glance downwards at her plate, the ''meal'' she would see would be nothing more than a yellowish-white solid cubic ''block'' save for a few visible missing chunks that were eaten.


    This yellow-white ''block'' is supposedly an M.R.E. ''packed with nutrients and protein'' and was the result of ''extensive research and bio-chemical ingenuity.''


    And yet, for something that was supposed to be the result of some so-called bio-chemical ingenuity¡­ it tasted like absolute shit.


    Just the thought of having to eat this M.R.E. alone was enough to make her gag.


    All she could really do was hover her hand over the meal and keep it warm with a small flame summoned through her psionic powers.


    Soon, Katrina finally forced herself to face the plate, use her knife and fork, and cut out a small piece before placing it in her mouth.


    She couldn''t even force herself to chew the damn thing.


    Instead she just hurriedly swallowed it through her throat.


    As painful as it was to force it down her throat, it was a much better alternative than allowing that horrid sensation to continue torturing her mind and body.


    After she was done with the whole ordeal, she heaved a sigh of relief for she finally triumphed against great adversity.


    Only for her sense of relief to immediately fade away the moment she realised that she still had the rest of the M.R.E. to eat.


    This time, she couldn''t help but voice her displeasure out loud.


    "This is fucking bullshit, I swear I''m going to die of food poisoning¡­"


    "Oh come on, I know you''re exaggerating but that''s still a little over-dramatic don''t you think?"


    Katrina didn''t even need to turn and face the source of the voice in order for her to know who it belonged to.


    In most likelihood, it was going to be a slightly above average height young woman with short jet black hair that was tied into a single, simplistic bun at the back of her head and wore a permanent visor that was an extension of her suit''s helmet and acted like the equivalent of reading glasses from the ancient eras.


    Much like Katarina and everyone else in this damned spacestation, she was wearing the standard issue P.A.I.N. light exo-suit; the ''Painbringer'' suit.


    As corny and as cringy as the name of the suit may sound, it was nothing Katarina wasn''t used to, if she would dare to admit, then she could even confess that she at least partially liked it.


    Anyhow those details were largely unimportant to Katarina at the moment.


    What mattered was that the black-haired psionic operative; Alicia Phoros; another D-class psionic and a good friend of Katarina has finally picked up her meal from the counter and returned.


    By Katarina''s own admission, Alicia was always the more pragmatic one out of the two.


    Within a few moments, Alicia took her seat next to Katarina and placed her own meal on the table before she continued speaking.


    "Besides, it isn''t as bad as you make it seem."


    As she spoke, Alicia cut out a piece of her meal and ate it. As she chewed it in her mouth, Katarina saw that Alicia was completely unaffected by the M.R.E.''s horrid taste.


    If this was their first meeting, Katarina''s jaw would have dropped while she contemplated the sanity of the person sitting next to her.


    Of course, Katarina has already gotten used to Alicia''s ''queer'' quirks and as such, she wasn''t really that affected by Alicia''s actions.


    After a few seconds of watching Alicia contently eat the M.R.E. without a single care in the world, Katarina finally decided that it was time to reply to her friend.


    "If it isn''t that bad, then would you care to take the rest of my share?"


    When Alicia heard what Katarina had to say, she broke out into laughter before she responded.


    "I never said that I wanted some more, I only said that it''s not that bad. Just eat it."


    Alicia shook her head in a joking and mocking manner as she spoke.


    "You don''t have to like it, you just have to-"


    "Eat it, yes I''ve heard you say that same line many times over already, I got the message."


    In response to Katarina''s interruption, Alicia scoffed as she replied.


    "Judging from your actions, I''d say that you didn''t get the message at all¡­"


    Completely shocked by Alicia''s apparent lie, Katarina opened her mouth to speak only to be interrupted by a loud obnoxious shout.


    "Ahaha! I didn''t know that this was a daycare!"


    [Another idiotic recruit today is it?] It didn''t take long for Katarina to decipher what was going on even without casting a single glance at the source of the disturbance.


    Nevertheless, Katarina along with Alicia both turned around to face the source of the shout which was roughly around the direct centre of the cafeteria.


    Thanks to the fact that most people within the cafeteria were sitting down and eating, Katarina and Alicia were both given a clear view of the situation.


    At the centre of the cafeteria stood two lone people, the others already making way for this spontaneous standoff. After all, no one would want to become collateral damage resulting from a clash between too potentially powerful psionics.


    One of the two was a young, tall, lean man, with tight muscles visibly bulging on all four of his limbs through his skin-tight suit and was probably in his early twenties, if not late teens.


    He was clean shaven with a chiseled jaw and slick, well-maintained bright golden blonde hair. Other than his standard issue black light exo-suit with running red lines of light, he also wore a smile the screamed confidence.


    However, Katarina couldn''t match his face to a name, nor did she recognise his appearance.


    That must mean that he was a new recruit, a fact that Katarina quickly confirmed just from knowing the man''s actions right now.


    Such acts of blatant importunance would not sit well with the crimson marines guarding the installation, nor would it sit well with P.A.I.N.''s director; the esteemed and powerful A-class psionic; Arthur ''Allen'' Cray.


    Although he wasn''t the powerful psionic within P.A.I.N, the other S-class psionics could annihilate him in a heartbeat, he was actually a very competent, charismatic and charming leader.


    Even Katarina had to admit that she respected him, despite the fact that he has yet to do anything about the abhorrent food situation.


    The only thing that Katarina couldn''t get over with ''Allen'' besides his weird, out of place nickname is his rather¡­ eccentric tendencies.


    The ridiculous names like the ''painbringer'' suits and the ridiculous, forced acronym of the ''Psionic Assault and Intelligence divisioN,'' and his self-imposed nickname being ''Allen'' was only a few of his questionable yet childish and innocent actions he committed despite being a fully fledged adult.


    But Katarina would rather not dwell on these thoughts at the moment since it was the stand-off currently occuring that needed her attention, not her own opinions of ''Allen.''


    Normally, Katarina wouldn''t have paid the idiot too much of her attention, by the time her mind registered and evaluated what was going on, the situation would have already been resolved thanks to the actions of the crimson marines on guard.


    However, it was not the situation itself that intrigued Katarina, but rather the other person who stood against the tall man.


    Actually, saying that she stood against the man may not be right wording to use.


    Perhaps it would be better to say that she just happened to stand opposite him.


    But that was not what intrigued Katarina about the person.


    What intrigued her was that the other person was quite frankly, only a little girl with relatively long, silky, pitch-black hair that she let flow freely.


    A little girl who Katarina judged to be, no older than five years old.


    A little girl who was neither beautiful nor ugly, in fact, it wasn''t a lie to say that she looked quite bland and generic.


    Multiple questions ran through Katarina''s mind as she glanced at the harmless looking girl who wore a military grade light-exo suit that didn''t match her.


    But one thing was clear to her.


    For a little girl to not only pass the psionic evaluation, but become a recruit of P.A.I.N.; a highly elite military organisation at such an incredibly young age, that girl must truly be psionically gifted to achieve such a feat.


    Katarina didn''t even realise that the crimson marines on guard that were usually quick to take action, were now incredibly idle.

 13 An Enigma

    "Ahahah yes, everything is going according to plan."


    ''Allen'' couldn''t stop himself from cheerfully speaking out loud as he watched the video displayed on the screen in front of him in his private office.


    That video being a live feed being recorded and uploaded all the way from spacestation 17 to his P.A.I.N. department complex back on Earth by one of the crimson marines stationed there.


    If it weren''t for the complex array of spacestations and satellites spread amongst the Solar System and the advanced technology installed into the crimson marines'' ''blood'' suit then Allen wouldn''t be able to sit here and watch the event unfold halfway across the Earth''s Solar System.


    Of course this feat was trivial compared to instantaneous travel and communication across multiple solar systems or even galaxies but even then, when putting into perspective the distance between Earth and a station on the other side of the first asteroid belt, such a feat was still incredible.


    With this in mind, Allen couldn''t help but mentally thank his human predecessors who helped transform the human species who were once confined to a single planet into this space faring civilization who explored, navigated and colonised the galaxies of the universe.


    As one would expect, exploring, navigating and colonising the stars did not come without any costs.


    Other than the multitude of uncontrollable accidents and inner human conflicts and sabotage that hindered the advancement of humanity, there was one obstacle that stood up above all else.


    The ''Xeno Threat.''


    The word; ''xeno'' was only an umbrella term used to describe any and all ''intelligent'' non-human species.


    The universe was vast and as such, there was a vast array of different Xeno species.


    In fact, a majority of Xeno species that have yet to reach the technological state to freely and easily explore the universe were ultimately conquered and ''domesticated'' or completely exterminated by humanity, depending on which intergalactic human nation colonised their respective planet.


    Some species that were lucky enough to have their planet colonised by a more moderate nation were even able to assimilate into human civilization, albeit as second class citizens.


    Most of the time, a xenos species won''t be as lucky and will end up as slave labour under nations like the Russo-Chinese Federation as an alternative to droid labour.


    In the worst case scenario, if a xenos species were to encounter a nation like the United Planets of America who had zero tolerance for alien species, complete and total annihilation would be their only fate.


    However, not every xeno species that humanity encountered was technologically lacking.


    But that was why people like Allen existed.


    That was why the Intergalactic Terran Confederation and it''s mighty Confederate Army and Fleet existed.


    Shaw''s ramblings during General Assemblies about how the Confederation and humanity itself was threatened by hostile xenos did indeed have a basis, it was just that the Confederation could not spare the manpower and resources for the expeditionary invasion force that Shaw wanted.


    After all, it was generally accepted that maintaining internal security within human space was more important than an invasion into any of the other space faring civilizations'' territory that will surely cost humanity an unimaginable price.


    But that was why he was keeping an especially close eye on a particular person being displayed on the crimson marine''s livestream.


    For she could be a key player in helping the Confederation against any threats, whether it be internal or external, domestic or foreign.


    For she was a psionic ranked to be at least C-class at an age no older than five years old.


    Although she was by no means the most powerful young psionic, there once existed a six year old A-class psionic, she could quite possibly, be regarded as the most talented in her own way.


    Not only was she a highly ranked psionic at such a young age, but she was incredibly talented at manipulating her psionic powers as well.


    In the preliminary tests and evaluations, they were able to trick her into revealing her extraordinary fire manipulation abilities as well as her relatively rare ability to summon lightning.


    While her fire was limited to basic red and yellow flames, she has shown that she could manipulate and control them with frightening ease and strength.


    She can compress her flames size to that of a low calibre bullet without losing too much of the fireball''s potential lethality while at the same time, being able to move at speeds comparable to bullets fired from a conventional Gauss rifle when they were at such a small size.


    In other words, in the state she is now, she is comparable to a fully armed crimson marine in terms of firepower and combat potential.


    And they were yet to cultivate her psionic capabilities or even test the limits of her flame manipulation.


    On top of this, she was capable of generating white lighting, although it was considered as the weakest form of lightning that a heat psionic could conjure, the fact that she was able to summon lighting in of itself was an extraordinary psionic feat second only to the ability to form condensed light.


    This psionic''s name was ''Cynthia Starr'' and Allen would only need to use one word to describe her.


    ''Prodigy.''


    She was a prodigy through and through.


    And that was the exact reason why he set up this exact scenario.


    To see how she would react and to see how much of her psionic power they could lure out.


    And Allen had to thank his department''s doctrine for the information he needed to pull his master plan off.


    P.A.I.N. doesn''t only check the psionic capabilities of their recruits, but they do extensive background research on them too.


    A task that can be done easily enough thanks to their expansive intelligence network and their access to the Confederation''s vast civilian databases.


    Since they train their psionic operatives to be highly efficient and effective killing machines who are loyal to the Confederation, said psionic operatives are then also liable to become threats to the very people they are supposed to serve.


    As such, preliminary background research is required to ensure the integrity of P.A.I.N.''s operatives.


    Other than for safety concerns, background research also helped with the training and conditioning of the new recruits.


    Thanks to this aforementioned background research, Allen has a general idea of Cynthia''s personality, upholding and quirks.


    For starters, in the earlier stages of her life, she referred to herself with male pronouns and even once attempted to urinate while standing up.


    She grew out of these tendencies eventually but Allen doubted if such trivial information would be of use to him. It was more of a ''fun fact'' than anything else.


    Other than that, Allen was given the idea that Cynthia was comparable to a normal, well-meaning, everyday girl when you exclude the fact that she was born rich, even among citizens of the Euronic Republic Union and of course, her immense psionic capabilities.


    In fact, she was not only described to be very normal, but she appeared to look very normal as well.


    It was at the point that Allen almost couldn''t believe that this girl was not only known to be very psionically gifted, but also the same person who was reported to have been responsible for nine separate deaths during the incident on the Eden.


    Although she claimed she didn''t know how she did it or even what happened and the joint investigation done by D.R.E.A.D. and P.A.I.N. concluded that she killed them impulsively out of fear and self-defence, the whole ordeal is still very suspicious.


    Those weren''t run-of-the-mill criminal brutes or drunk penal conscripts, but rather, hardened and veteran mercenaries who were well equipped and well trained.


    Even if they were heavily outclassed by the Crimson Marines on every level, a total of nine corpses were found without any damage evident of a round fired from a Gauss rifle, but rather a scorched hole that could only be done through a psionic''s fireball.


    The psionic evaluation did confirm that she was indeed responsible for these scorched holes but Allen still felt that something was off.


    Every single corpse had a vital organ pierced, whether it be a massive gaping hole in the chest or a few precise holes that punctured the lungs, not a single corpse was damaged with a non-mortal wound.


    If it were one or two corpses that only had their vitals hit, then it could be attributed to at least some degree of luck.


    However, it was not just one or two, but all nine corpses with a punctured or destroyed vital organ.


    Although no one found this to not be the slightest bit suspicious, there was nothing else that they can get out of the girl that often acted scared or confused.


    Until now that is.


    The other person standing opposite to Cynthia was Zackary Mocxe, a nineteen year old D-class psionic recruit.


    The background research on Zackary revealed to Allen that Zackary had an inferiority complex coupled with misogynistic tendencies, both of which resulted from him living under the shadow of his nine apparently more impressive older sisters, despite none of them being psionically gifted.


    He was the type of person that would definitely not get along well with Cynthia, a mere five year old girl who technically held the same rank as him.


    It was to set up this very scenario that Allen ensured that they were both sent to the same military installation where they supposed to receive their preliminary training.


    This genius plan was the brainchild of non-other than Allen himself, specifically engineered to bring him results.


    It was beautiful.


    It was ingenious.


    It was-


    "Stupid."


    "Yes it is stu- wait what?"


    Allen''s shocked voice rang across his office in response to the sudden voice that suddenly spoke up and interrupted his thoughts.


    With a confused voice, he turned his attention away from the screen before proceeding to face and question the person who spoke.


    "Stupid?"


    The other person, Melanie Menendez who he personally invited to his office to watch this event unfold with him, sighed as she replied.


    "Yes boss, it is stupid. Very stupid. Inconceivably stupid."


    Melanie paused to once again sigh before she continued speaking.


    "Honestly boss, out of all your weird and crazy ideas, this has got to be a new low. This is not some fictional story where cliched tropes are bound to go the way you expect them to unless they are being subverted. This-"


    "Ahhhhhhhh!"


    Before Melanie could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by a painful scream.


    A painful scream that originated from the crimson marine''s live feed.


    Allen and Melanie both gave each other thoughtful glance before they faced the video screen.


    There they saw Zackary who was once standing proud with his nose high, was now rolling on the floor.


    Both of his hands covered his face as he screamed.

 14 Our Monster

    "I don''t have time for this bullshit¡­"


    That was what Cynthia wanted to say, but managed to keep in her mind.


    She couldn''t afford to let her cover slip now, not when she has successfully become a recruit of P.A.I.N.


    [All of this was probably set up by that idiot.] Cynthia mentally grumbled to herself as she casted a sideways glance to the idle crimson marines who just stood by at their posts, as if there was nothing wrong.


    This golden-haired idiot in front of her was creating a commotion and yet what are they are doing?


    Absolutely nothing.


    Nothing but watch the situation unfold in silence.


    There was no doubt that at this very moment, their helmets were sending their visuals as a live feed to a certain blue and green planet in the Solar System.


    Cynthia had to try her very best to keep her innocent appearance as she thought of the person who was most likely responsible for this whole ordeal.


    She was not unfamiliar with the eccentric director of P.A.I.N., either fortunately or unfortunately she even personally interacted with the man in her past life.


    [I know that you''re watching me ''Allen.'' Do you want a performance? Is that it? Fine I''ll give you a damned majestic performance.]


    Soon a plan quickly formulated in her head, sure it may be a little rough around the edges but it was better than nothing.


    With that innocent smile that Cynthia perfected, she spoke to the man.


    "Erm¡­ Excuse me Mr..?"


    "Mocxe, Zackary Mocxe. You would do well to remember that name.


    Zackery kept that obnoxiously prideful smile on his face as he boasted. In fact, Cynthia felt that it may have grown wider.


    But ultimately, Cynthia knew that she could do nothing but let him ramble on, at least for the time being.


    "For that name belongs to a powerful psionic with a psionic level of 4317! Yes that''s right, 4317! Such a feat is only achievable by D-class psionics who only make up-"


    "8% of all total psionics."


    Sensing the right moment to interrupt, Cynthia decisively cut into Zackary''s self-absorbed monologue.


    "Well look what we have here. It would seem that you know your stuff at least¡­"


    For a short moment, Zackery paused to lean over and put his face at Cynthia''s level, placing that obnoxious smile in front of her as he did so.


    When he continued speaking, his voice became colder and more threatening.


    "But don''t you dare attempt to upstage me in front of everyone here."


    Zackary''s prideful sneer warped into a contemptuous smile as he spoke, it would seen that Cynthia really bruised his ego. Fortunately, enough, this is exactly what Cynthia wanted.


    "If you do, I will warn you that there will indeed be conseq-"


    "You aren''t that special."


    Of course, Zackary was less than pleased with her response to say the least. His contemptuous smile regressed into a hateful frown while anger and fury clearly burned in his hazel-coloured eyes.


    With that hateful expression, Zackary slowly pronounced his next few words.


    "What. Did. You. Say?"


    It was at this moment that Cynthia has realised the commotion that both she and Zackary had collectively created.


    Other than the clearing made around the two of them that was three meters wide in radius, she also realised that the number of eyes watching has multiplied to a number larger than the original amount of people in the cafeteria.


    There were even more crimson marines at the scene, but like the others, they remained passive the moment the saw the people involved in the incident.


    This only confirmed Cynthia''s theory that this entire ordeal was actually an absurd scenario conceived by and set up by Allen.


    What a pain.


    However, these details were unimportant at the moment.


    What mattered was dealing with this idiot in front of her.


    She can deal with Allen and his clowns some time in the future.


    After all, they were also part of that long list of traitors who absolutely needed to die.


    While still pretending to be that naive and oblivious child, Cynthia ''innocently'' answered Zackary''s question.


    "I said that you aren''t that special."


    When Zackary heard Cynthia''s response, his hateful expression only intensified.


    Nevertheless, Cynthia continued to keep up the act as she explained herself, the fury burning in Zackary''s eyes heating up as she did so.


    "There are still hundreds of thousands of D-class psionics like yourself, not forgetting to mention the thousands more people ranked in a class above you."


    At this point, Zackary''s appearance has completely devolved to that of a beast, his hunched back as he bent down combined with the fact that he was now baring his teeth and furiously gnashing them together made him look like some large downtrodden golden hyena.


    Despite his now savage appearance which completely contrasted his previous prideful appearance that stood tall, Cynthia wasn''t affected in the slightest.


    As with most things, she has seen worse in her previous life, this breakdown was nothing to what she witnessed and even did herself.


    As such, Cynthia was able to maintain her act of that oblivious idiot girl who couldn''t control her mouth.


    Unlike before when Zackary pronounced his words clearly, this time he forced his words through his teeth, only exaggerating his already beastly appearance.


    "How dare you¡­ How da-"


    "And one of those thousands more people is me."


    This time, Zackary''s expression froze entirely in response to Cynthia''s third interruption, apparently he was caught of guard by this revelation.


    However, he wasn''t the only one taken aback by her response, the eyes of the bystanders watching widened as well when they heard her proclamation, some people even staggering backwards in shock.


    The only people who appeared to have remained unperturbed and stood completely unmoved were the crimson marines whose helmets obscured their faces.


    On the other hand, Cynthia only tilted her head and answered in a nonchalant manner.


    "I think those men in white told me that my power level was over 40,000? I''m not sure what happened exactly but they told me to wait for the ''more advanced'' scanners but to be honest I think I broke it."


    Although Cynthia spoken in an innocent and childish tone, and scratched the back of head in a slightly awkward manner, no one present shared her outward appearance.


    Zackary in particular had his expression transform into something completely different from the prideful sneer or contemptuous anger from before.


    His mouth hung slightly open and twitched and trembled at regular intervals while in his eyes, Cynthia could undoubtedly see fear.


    He was scared.


    For the first time in this encounter, he no longer saw himself as ''above,'' Cynthia, a fact which she revelled in.


    She has long grown tired of his obnoxious, self-absorbed and self-righteous pride. He probably had his reasons for why he was like this but she didn''t care.


    It was always satisfying to watch people like him realise how insignificant they really are, especially to Cynthia who has known and killed many people like him in her past life.


    After a few seconds passed, Zackary was able to produce a single, weak word through his trembling mouth.


    "Impossible¡­"


    However, that glint of fear quickly dissipated.


    And was quickly replaced by a furious flame that burned even harder than ever before.


    "That''s impossible! You''re lying! You have to be!"


    It would seem that denial was his brain''s first reaction.


    This was no surprise considering his stubborn and prideful nature.


    In fact, that means that it would only be more satisfying to put him in his place, to watch that fire in his eyes be put out without even the slightest resistance.


    [Wait¡­ fire in his eyes¡­ hmmmm¡­ I think that just gave me an idea.] Cynthia managed to keep herself from twisting her mouth into a malicious smile when she replied.


    "But it''s the truth? Why would I lie?"


    "I said! Stop lying!"


    At this point, Zackary lost any semblance of his prideful disposition. Although he has now stopped bending over to put his face at Cynthia''s level, he seemed so much ''smaller'' to her.


    Both of his eyes were now bloodshot and multiple veins were visible on his forehead. Both of his hands were balled into fists and his biceps and forearms shook and vibrated violently.


    Spit and saliva flew out of his mouth as he hollered in anger.


    "I''ve had it! I tried being nice! Now time to personally teach you a lesson!"


    Showing off his incredible speed and strength, Zackary grabbed Cynthia by the hair before yanking her up off the floor.


    Pain surged through Cynthia''s head but she ignored these sensations, instead focusing on other details.


    It would appear that he was a self-enhancer psionic, since he was D-class he should be able to multiply his physical capabilities by 1000% at most.


    Judging from what he displayed right now, he multiplied his abilities by around 200% but that should only be because he was holding back since he wanted to ''teach her a lesson.''


    But none of that mattered anymore.


    Because this was the exact moment that she was waiting for.


    Before he could even move another muscle, she snapped the fingers of her right hand.


    The next moment, both of his eyes were set aflame.


    ¡­


    Both Melanie and Allen remained silent during and after they watched the replay which displayed exactly what they had missed.


    After Cynthia provoked Zackary, whether intentionally or unintentionally, she quickly set both of his eyes on fire in self defence after he grabbed her by the hair.


    What happened next was that weirdly enough, both of the two seemed to have become incapacitated, albeit in their own unique ways.


    Other than Zackary who rolled on the floor in pain, Cynthia had curled up into a ball and started sobbing to herself, apparently she did not take the turn of events very well.


    But in the end, Allen still got what he wanted.


    The moment ''the fight'' started, she effortlessly incapacitated her opponent.


    Even if she ended up in that sorry state that she us now, a victory is still a victory.


    He couldn''t help but wonder just how powerful she could become with the right guidance. [B-class perhaps? No she may have the potential to become an A-class psionic.]


    Typically psionics can only jump from one class with the difficulty of jumping classes increasing exponentially with each higher classes.


    But when it came to a talent like Cynthia, Allen felt that she may indeed have the potential to jump the two imposing classes in order to make it into the esteemed A-class.


    After a long moment of quiet contemplation, Allen decided that it was finally time to break the silence.


    While glancing at his second-in-command out of the corner of his eyes, Allen asked her a question.


    "Well what do you thin-"


    "Don''t let her act fool you boss, even if she did it out some¡­ primal instinct, she still managed to precisely burn only Zackary''s eyes as her retaliation."


    The fact that Melanie actually interrupted Allen only further emphasised her concern when combined with her hurried and serious voice.


    Normally she would let Allen finish speaking, no matter what he was saying and yet this time, she actually cut in to state her concerns.


    "While it is true that this could be easily remedied with a pair of cybernetic eyes, this still puts into perspective what Cynthia is capable of when she is only five years old."


    Melanie''s hurried voice began to tremble the more she spoke.


    "Someone like that¡­ She''s¡­ she''s a monster¡­"


    "Yes that is true but¡­


    Allen felt a somewhat nervous smile grow on his face as he paused for a short moment for dramatic effect.


    A few seconds later, when he did break his artificial silence, he found that his voice was anxious yet it was also full of excitement and expectation.

 15 Cruel and Devilish

    On a solar system which rested just outside the border of human space, multiple planets of various sizes with differing amounts of moons could be found.


    However, despite the fact that each planet orbited the system''s star at different intervals, each planet was virtually the exact same when excluding their different sizes.


    Each planet was a moltern wasteland, riddled with numerous rivers and lakes that consisted of pure lava. No vegetation grew on any of the planets, unable to take root on the charred black stones that made up the planets'' surfaces.


    Only one intelligent species would not only survive in these extreme conditions, but thrive as well.


    The Dymonic race.


    Contrary to common sense, Dymons were naturally able to survive in any environment as long as it had an atmosphere. At most they would feel some slight inconvenience.


    But Dymons were especially suited to these extremely harsh ''lava environments''.


    As such, the terra-forming process of the dymons transformed each planet into this very environment, unlike a race like humanity who typically transformed worlds into lush green planets.


    Because of this, it wasn''t rare for the dymonic race to be seen as an evil species but to view their species as such would be simply unfair and willfully ignorant.


    By their own admission, while they were indeed cruel and devilish, they weren''t ''evil,'' it was all just part of their society.


    Like any other intelligent species, the Dymons did indeed have a society.


    As ''evil'' as their civilization may seem to be to the other intelligent races, Dymons were not just a collective mob of mindless barbarians.


    They had their own culture, economy and ideologies. It was just that dymons'' ideas of these aspects of society, excluding economy often clashed with other species. And unlike most species, Dymons would rather literally die than fail to uphold their culture.


    An example of their culture would be their very distinct architecture.


    Unlike the humans whose architecture was typically round or rectangular, dymonic architecture was very triangular in shape.


    Most of their buildings took an appearance akin to that of a triangle-based pyramid with triangular ''horns'' commonly protruding out of the pyramid''s three bottom vertices.


    The windows all took a shape of a diamond while their doors consisted of large triangles that opened vertically downwards.


    Dymonic buildings were exclusively a dark yet gleamy and chromatic black in colour, with red trims highlighting the pyramid''s edges.


    Some of these pyramids reached only a height of around two metres while others rose to heights that matched or outmatched the mountains and volcanoes of the planet.


    On the capital planet of this solar system; Deltos, this was no different.


    Wherever there wasn''t lava, there was a dymonic settlement; numerous dymonic buildings lined up in a ''beehive'' like pattern, creating an orderly labyrinth of streets.


    The largest of these settlements was a large city which stretched endlessly for hundreds of kilometres.


    If one were to take a view of this city from high above in the skies, they would faintly see a black ''pentagon'' which blended in well with the charred surroundings.


    Surrounding the city was a pentagonal wall which was more than twice the height of the typical dymonic skyscrapers and took on the black and red dymonic aesthetic.


    At the very centre of this city was ''The Deltos Spire;'' a large dymonic building which broke the rule which dictated that said dymonic buildings took the shape of a pyramid, instead, it was a large triangular prism with it''s triangle faces parallel to the planet''s surface.


    The Spire reached heights which dwarfed even the tallest mountains and volcanoes of Deltos, the result of ''dymonic ingenuity.''


    On the roof of the spire, at each of the three corners, was a singular angular talon, akin to the three horns of the typical dymonic pyramids.


    Each talon pointed towards the centre of the spire, at a 60¡ã angle. At the exact area that they all pointed at, a single large blood red ''diamond'' could be seen.


    The diamond appeared to be both solid and liquid, incorporeal and corporal all at the same time, while three constant streams of red lightning originating from the three talons ''chained'' the diamond to the spire.


    Directly below this diamond, on the roof of the spire, there was a giant throne, two metres in height and half a metre in width.


    As with all things dymonic, this throne was predominantly a pitch black in colour and was largely triangular in shape.


    And on the throne, there sat a single dymon who was about the height of the average human.


    But as a dymon his appearance wasn''t anything near human.


    Other than his dymonic black armour with red outlines, he had short silver-white spikey hair with two long black straight horns protruding out of them.


    His skin consisted of dark maroon scales and the whites of his eyes were pitch-black in colour while his pupils were a dark crimson red.


    His armour was visibly thick and covered his body from his shoulders to his toes, making him seem even more imposing than he already was.


    This dymon was overlord; ''Eht''nemod''drolrevo'' of planet Deltos, and his will governs the entire Deltos Solar System.


    There were no other guards or advisors in this ''throneroom'' because they were simply ''unnecessary.''


    Against the overlord, all forms of attack and defense was impotent.


    Such was the bare minimum for a dymon to become an overlord who governs a star system.


    Directly opposite the overlord was a single female dymon who knelt down on one knee, showing her respects to the overlord.


    Unlike the overlord, this female dymon looked much more like a typical human.


    In fact, the only things ''inhuman'' about her was her distinctly crimson red pupils and the pair of white horns that protruded out of her temples and curved backwards towards the back of her head, almost appearing as if it was part of her hair.


    Everything else about her appearance was pretty much like a normal human female. She had fair white skin with long black hair that stretched all the way down to her legs.


    Her build was that of a strong lean woman, with her dymonic armour exposing her tight biceps and thighs.


    Despite the fact that this female dymon knew that she should not be fearful of the almighty overlord, she couldn''t stop the periodical drops of sweat that trickled down the back of her neck.


    But yet again, she also knew that this was also something to be expected. Just the pressure created by the overlord''s psionic will could make weak minded beings tremble and even experience something close to a mental breakdown.


    If she were to use the human''s system, then the overlord would be rated as an ''S-class'' psionic.


    On the other hand, the female dymon would be regarded as a ''B-class psionic.''


    In other words, despite being powerful by the human''s standards, she still was at least 100 times weaker than the overlord.


    The disparity between the two dymons could not be more overstated.


    In truth, she could not regard herself as all that powerful, even though she was indeed a very powerful psionic.


    Even if she were to exclude the dymon lords and overlords, she knew that she was still not an impressive specimen.


    Between herself and the esteemed blackguard of his royal and imperial lordking or the apostles of the Alphos Legion, she really was rather weak.


    And those were only the dymons.


    Even ''lower'' intelligent species had their fair share of powerful psionics.


    She was even outclassed by some of the psionic ''hairless apes'' that hailed from ''Earth.''


    But the female dymon didn''t concern herself with such things.


    To her, it was rather pointless to worry about these matters.


    To her, all that mattered was dealing with what was directly in front of her.


    Her name was ''Edirp''dna''htols'' but she often preferred to go by her human alias ''Elyssia.''


    Although she only took on this name to make it more convenient for her to accomplish her missions, she found that she actually grew quite fond of her ''false'' name.


    In particular, she liked how simple and efficient it was, much like everything else produced by the hairless apes. Elyssia had no love for humanity but she still had to give credit when credit was due.


    There was a beauty in simplicity that Elyssia enjoyed. But unfortunately, to her disappointment, none of her fellow dymonic peers shared the same sentiments.


    Not only did they take pride in their convolutedly long names but every aspect of dymon culture that was unnecessarily inconvenient.


    But Elyssia paid what she considered to be the faults of the dymonic race no mind.


    That was a problem that dymons far more competent and capable than her can solve, if they even consider it to be a problem in the first place.


    As for her, she would continue to follow orders set out to her.


    She may be criticized by her peers for being blissfully ignorant but in her opinion, a life of bliss was better than one constantly plagued by worldly and universal problems.


    After she silently kneeled on the ground in front of the overlord for a few long moments, he finally broke the silence.


    "Please, rise."


    It was only after Elyssia complied with the overlord''s orders did he continue speaking.


    "I remember that around five years ago, I sent you into human space in order to investigate an anomaly?"


    Elyssia nodded her head to confirm his statement as she responded.


    "Yes, I remember the details vividly my lord. You told me to investigate something you described as ''something that denied fate,'' which you detected in the neighbouring human nation."


    A faint smile grew on the overlord''s face when he heard her reply. In fact, Elyssia even sensed a slight glint of relief in his voice when he spoke.


    "And what did you find during your investigations?"


    Even though Elyssia knew that she could only disappoint him with her answer, she didn''t even hesitate to respond.


    "I apologise but I found nothing my lord¡­ Even within the capital of the Euronic Republic Union, I found nothing."


    In response to Elyssia, the overlord sighed before he continued speaking.


    "I apologise too."


    Surprised by the overlord''s words, Elyssia felt a look of confusion grow on her face as she questioned him.


    "What do you mea-ggrh"


    However, Elyssia found that she was forced to swallow her own words.


    She gasped for air as she felt a sudden blunt force hit her in her stomach.


    Soon after, her legs gave away from under her, causing her to fall down onto her knees.


    As she gasped in pain, she managed to force a question out of her mouth.


    "M-my lord?"


    She noticed that the faint smile on the overlord''s face has disappeared, instead replaced with a straight solemn expression which he kept while he spoke.


    "Recently, a few weeks before your return, I sensed that same being from five years ago once again. Are you aware of what that means?"


    Elyssia immediately understood the implications behind the overlord''s words.


    "That I failed to find the anomaly and returned prematurely?"


    The overlord nodded solemnly when he replied.


    "Correct."


    With a voice full of authority, the overlord gave Elyssia his next order.


    "Normally, failure would lead to a harsher form of punishment but I''m feeling lenient today.


    You are return to human space and you are not to return until you find the anomaly. I don''t care if you have to venture deep into humanity''s territory, just ensure that you return to me with results."


    Elyssia would only ignore her pain and return to her kneeling position when she responded.

 16 Casually Eccentric

    "Alright... I got this... I can do this."


    Once again within 17''s cafeteria, Katarina was struggling to eat her meal.


    Although it was supposed to be dinner, the meal in front of her was the exact same as what she got for breakfast and lunch.


    That.


    Fucking.


    M.R.E.


    Although it looked harmless and rather plain on the outside, that damn thing was the work of the devil himself.


    Honestly speaking, she was surprised that no one suffered from stomach ulcers or anything of the like from digesting the damn thing.


    Yet, she knew what she had to do.


    What surprised her more than the fact that such a harmless looking meal would have such a horrid taste was the fact that she hasn''t gotten used to it yet.


    While no one agreed that the damned thing tasted anything near good, Katarina felt as if she was the only person who has yet to get used to the taste, or at the very least develop the will to stomach it down her throat easily.


    But she felt that something was different about today. She felt that this time, she could do it as long as she reassured herself well enough.


    Perhaps that was what she was missing, faith in her herself.


    "Alright! I can do this. I can do this! I can-"


    "H-hey ummm... K-Katarina?.."


    However, as Katarina''s voice grew louder as she encouraged herself, she was instead interrupted by a stuttering and meek yet audible voice. With a questioning tone, Katarina faced the person who interrupted her before speaking up.


    "Yes? What is it Molly?"


    Molly hesitated for a short moment before she managed to respond.


    "W-well... y-you were being awfully loud¡­ b-but that''s just my observation though."


    Molly fiddled with her light aqua-green coloured hair while her eyes sporadically broke eye contact and glanced elsewhere as she spoke. On the other hand, Katarina felt a slight blush appear on her cheeks before she replied in a slightly abashed manner.


    "O-oh right. Sorry about that."


    It didn''t take long for Katarina regain her bearings before chuckling and then speaking in a more confident manner.


    "I think that I just got a little ahead of myself. It should be alright now."


    "R-right!"


    And with Molly''s reply, Katarina was able to confirm that the issue was resolved.


    However, just as Katarina thought that she no longer had anything to worry about, another problem showed up in the form of another voice.


    "I''m honestly surprised, seeing you collect yourself after such a blunder and then responding with dignity."


    The voice came from the person sitting on the seat directly opposite Molly on the other side of the table; Alicia. Like always, she had her hair tied up into that single simplistic bun with a visor in front of her eyes.


    Obviously Alicia took some pleasure from witnessing Katarina''s misfortune.


    Alicia''s remark was something that Katarina could not let Alicia get away with. Fortunately, Katarina knew an effective method to get her vengeance.


    "I''m honestly surprised as well Alicia."


    Alicia''s expression darkened slightly at Katarina''s words, as if she sensed that something was off.


    "Where are you going with thi-"


    "I''m surprised that you still rely on that visor of yours. Why not just get some cybernetic implants for your eyes and ditch those ancient things?"


    While Alicia was generally down-to-earth and pragmatic, for some reason she had a deathly fear of needles and surgeries in general.


    So Katarina just thought that she would make fun of Alicia''s belonephobia. However much to her dismay, things developed in a rather unexpected manner.


    A deathly silence pervaded their table the moment Katarina finished speaking. Everyone present at the table, including the people who weren''t part of the conversation quietened down, as if they were anticipating the end of the world.


    Of course, Alicia was one of those silent people but unlike the others, her presence appeared more dangerous. Her eyes became sharp while her expression turned cold with a single faint frown on her face.


    Only a few seconds passed and Katarina was already regretting her decision.


    Although the rest of the cafeteria continued on as usual, the deathly atmosphere still continued to envelop the table.


    After letting the silence linger for a few moments, Alicia finally spoke up.


    "Seeing that you reflected on your second blunder, I''m going to let this slide... but please..."


    Alicia''s eyes glowed a soft yet threatening white colour as she finished her sentence.


    "Don''t let it happen again."


    "Ah yes... Of course!"


    Internally, Katarina was repeatedly thanking and praising herself for quickly regaining her composure and replying promptly and properly.


    As the tension in the atmosphere dissipated and the table returned to normal, Katarina caught someone leave their table after seemingly finishing their meal out of the corner of her eyes.


    In fact, Katarina was surprised that no one else noticed that person''s presence.


    Especially since this person was ''high profile'' to say the least.


    It was that frightening girl with emerald eyes; Cynthia.


    ...


    After finishing her dinner and watching an amusing ''show,'' Cynthia returned to her private dormroom within 17 while giving a ''friendly greeting'' to everyone she passed by.


    Only slightly more than half of those people mustered up the courage to return the friendly greeting and only around half of them were able to pull a convincing one.


    Granted this was only to be expected.


    Ever since the incident with that idiotic Zackary at the cafeteria around a week ago, Cynthia found that people rarely actively approached her anymore. Nowadays, most of the other fresh recruits did their best avoid her while the others remained at most cautious around her.


    Even the psionics who were supposed to be her mentors and teachers were somewhat wary of her.


    The crimson marines didn''t change much, they simply carried on with their duties and treated Cynthia like every other psionic within 17. Perhaps they were sweating bullets inside that exo-helmet of theirs but Cynthia didn''t really care.


    Unlike the crimson marines that ''saved'' her at the Eden who donned predominantly dark gleamy black coloured exo-suits, the exo-suits worn by the crimson marines stationed at 17 were a bright pristine white.


    Other than the colour, the two ''different'' exo-suits were actually pretty much the same. They were still the full exo-suit; ''NM-3360 Combat ''blood'' suit,'' which covered their bodies from head to toe in protective neo-steel plates and also enhanced their bodies capabilities.


    Of course there were also their signature streaks of blood-red lights that ran across their suit which earned them their ''crimson'' namesake.


    Apparently these crimson marines were exclusively deployed as security forces. Which explained why she never saw white crimson marines outside of military bases and installations or military convoys.


    On the other hand, the suits worn by Cynthia and the other psionic P.A.I.N. operatives were also predominantly black with running lines of red lights but was instead only a light exo-suit rather than a full one.


    As such, their exo-suits only composed of a chestpiece, shoulder pads, boots, greaves and gauntlets, exposing the black skin-tight suit underneath.


    Cynthia was also told that all of the aforementioned exo-suits were recently developed models that were more advanced than the older models from five years ago, but this didn''t betray her expectations. Human engineers were always eager to improve their designs and create new epochal technological breakthroughs.


    However, while she has found that the forces of the Confederation did experience advancements in the past five years, to her pleasant surprise, they weren''t all that different from the Confederation she knew from the past.


    From what Cynthia knew and was told, their overall military doctrine and policy remained largely the same.


    P.A.I.N. psionics excluding special exceptions were still denied the ability to equip the full exo-suit armour worn by D.R.E.A.D.''s crimson marines and the two military organisations, P.A.I.N. and D.R.E.A.D. still worked closely together to handle most of their strike operations.


    Other aspects of their military doctrine such as the chain of command, the conduct of military personnel and officials, and their typical style of fighting open battles also remained either the same as or similar to how Cynthia remembered it in her past life.


    Even their general attitude towards psionically gifted individuals was still the same.


    So far, the only real ''new things'' were more advanced models of pre-existing technology, especially those developed by largely private companies that only sought profit such as the Maxim Weapons and Equipment Corporation or the Jie Jie Gun Manufacturers.


    That meant that excluding secrets known only to the highest levels of government, Cynthia really didn''t have anything to worry about.


    As long as she played her cards right and kept a low enough profile, everything should be fine.


    Even though she did make quite a scene at the cafeteria, it wasn''t that much of a big deal.


    Psionics like her weren''t too uncommon especially within P.A.I.N. so she believed that it should be fine.


    As long as she kept pretending to be that extremely powerfully and talented yet clueless and naive psionic child, Cynthia believed that there shouldn''t be any problems.


    Of course there was a balance to her ''act'' that she had to maintain, but she has literally been acting her entire ''life'' so she saw no potential problems.


    But now that she was in the privacy of her room, she allowed herself to relax as she opened up her private laptop granted to her by P.A.I.N. before she engrossed herself in her own private research.


    What was she researching?


    Why she was looking for the method of achieving her one and only dream of course.


    The method of transcending the flesh and placing her ''soul'' into an unbreakable body of steel.


    Although such a dream seemed inconceivable and impossible with no recent and relevant evidence to back up, Cynthia had evidence which proved that her dream was possible.


    It was her very existence.


    Her very existence was proof that her dream was a possibility and not a delusion.


    If her soul can exchange bodies of flesh, doesn''t that mean that it can be exchanged into a body of steel?


    As long as the new body can house her mental thought processes then shouldn''t it be no different to a human body?


    After all, the brain is only an organ which fires synapses to give commands, although that is also a gross oversimplification.


    In other words, she would only need to discover the method of transferring her ''soul'' and find the way to make a processing system that can replicate the processes'' of a humanoid brain.


    Theoretically, it was possible.


    No, Cynthia knew it was possible.


    Because it already happened.


    All she would have to do is find the right history records and make up an appropriate excuse as to why she was researching this time period of humanity.


    However, she also knew that in the end, she ultimately couldn''t get what she wanted just like that just by looking through a few history records.


    But she still had to start somewhere.


    And while it was weak, the human body still had a relatively long lifetime.


    She didn''t mind dedicating her entire life to her research even if there was only less than a one percent chance of succeeding.


    As long as she didn''t experience ''real'' death again, then she had no qualms.


    Soon, Cynthia felt a slight smile form on her face as she delved into articles and records referring to a period of time seldom mentioned by human citizens today.


    At a time before humanity discovered the secrets of warp technology and travelled beyond the bounds of their original solar system.


    During the ''Age of the Synths;'' when the synthetic species ''synths;'' an artificial species created by humanity, ironically nearly drove their creators to extinction.

 17 Data Records

    -


    Data Records Set - 6522


    -


    Disclaimer:


    The following is a set of extracts derived from [redacted] Belov''s record logs, made open to the public after having gone through multiple screenings and having been censored accordingly.


    Although this data is open for public use, like other pieces of data available on this site, misuse of this data that may potentially lead to harm to the Intergalactic Terran Confederation will lead to varying degrees of punishment depending on the severity of the crime.


    -


    Date: [redacted]/[redacted]/[redacted]


    This is [redacted] Belov here to gladly report that Project [redacted] has finally experienced a success.


    The latest prototype, designated as ''Subject T-34'' was able to successfully pass all the parameters required to be regarded as an ''intelligent life form.''


    Unlike typical droids, these new prototypes which we at the department have now dubbed as ''synthetics'' or ''synths'' for short are capable of thinking beyond their programming and are even capable of experiencing ''abstract thoughts.''


    Although I do believe that we will have to face some ethical issues later down the line or perhaps even right now, I also believe that these trivial things can be put aside to make room for progress.


    As [redacted] [redacted] said, ''we could quite possibly have achieved the greatest success ever accomplished by humanity.'' For an ''innovator'' who emphasises progress like myself, I could only agree with [redacted] words.


    But there is still so much work to be done. Subject T-34 is only one of many prototypes produced and set for production, and there are still so many tests that need to be done and improvements that could be made.


    We already have the T-35 and T-36 scheduled for testing alongside their older brother, both of which were also modelled after their older brother albeit with a few modifiers implemented simply for testing purposes.


    But most importantly, with this breakthrough, we can now push the boundaries of what robotics and artificial intelligence has to offer. I can already imagine all the possible applications of synthetics once we master the method of producing reliable models.


    Thankfully, the [redacted] [redacted] has increased our budget by [redacted] so we are expecting for our research speed to drastically increase by at least [redacted].


    The only ending statement that I could really say here is that the future is really looking bright for humanity.


    -


    Date: [redacted]/[redacted]/[redacted]


    This is [redacted] Belov here to report that project [redacted] has experienced multiple setbacks as of late.


    Minor issues such as rebellious prototypes which we will now dub as ''rogue prototypes'' have cost us a few [redacted] [redacted] in our [redacted] and even [redacted] of our security forces.


    Fortunately, we have yet to suffer any major casualties and the only real losses our department sustained were expendable security droids. However, I unfortunately cannot say the same thing for the T-34 or any of its successors.


    Most of them weren''t too happy with their existence as a piece of [redacted] property. In the end, all of them, including the T-34 itself had to be turned into scrap after being decommissioned. Of course, none of prototypes were happy with their fate and a majority of them tried to escape.


    Although all of these insurrections were doomed to fail and they never escalated to a point that was out of our control, it did bring to our attention that these prototypes did indeed see themselves as ''human,'' which was actually rather problematic.


    While we did foresee this possibility ever since we developed the first prototype, we failed to predict the extent of this problem. None of our attempts to exert absolute control over the prototypes succeeded.


    At first, we attempted to produce prototypes with ingrained programming compelling them to follow our orders. But this only turned out to be a temporary solution since every prototype could and would rewrite their own programming to grant themselves ''freedom.''


    Since then, we attempted to exert control over them through a more complicated method. The hypothesis was that these undesirable human traits of wanting freedom and liberty could be eliminated through conditioning the prototype to think of themselves as obedient, like a slave.


    In theory, this should have been the solution since it worked throughout virtually all of human history before the contemporary era from the Egyptians to the Chinese. However, prototypes [redacted] to [redacted] have all proven this hypothesis to be incorrect.


    It was later proposed by [redacted] [redacted] that perhaps the advanced computing systems that the prototypes were equipped with were actually interfering with the slave conditioning process. Thus we were brought back to square one with only the original T-34 schematics to show for it.


    It does pose quite the dilemma doesn''t it? Not only do they want to live, have freedom, etc but their advanced computing systems seemed to be interfering with our attempts to exert control over the prototypes.


    We could make changes to their computing systems to remove their ability to think abstract thoughts thus eliminating these rebellious tendencies but we ruled that out as a possibility immediately. Without said ability to have abstract thoughts, they would be no different from droids.


    At this point in time, we could only trick or coerce the prototypes into cooperating with our tests but those kind of results are far from satisfactory. If they would only cooperate with us willingly, then what is even the point of producing them?


    Of course they are still soulless machines, don''t mistake my words on that. It will only be a matter of time before we develop a synth that doesn''t display any undesirable traits that all the older models have displayed so far.


    Nevertheless, these less than satisfactory results could quite possibly end up getting us shut down. The recent lack of breakthroughs has cost us budget cuts from the [redacted] [redacted] and it''s getting worse with every failure.


    On top of all these problems, there are those who began voluntarily leaving the department for a plethora of reasons, ranging to religious and ethical reasons to simple stress and tiredness.


    I can only hope that our luck picks up in the near future or we could be done for.


    -


    Date: [redacted]/[redacted]/[redacted]


    This is [redacted] Belov and unfortunately I have no time for formalities such as introducing myself.


    Rogue prototypes have been a major headache for us [redacted] at the [redacted] institute as of late.


    To think that I once celebrated the test results of the T-34 [redacted] weeks ago astounds me! Luckily for us, the situation has yet to spiral out of our control. The entire [redacted] block has been put in lockdown while the research institute itself was put into Phase II Alert Mode.


    Overall, our loses were minimal. There weren''t many facilities of importance in [redacted] block and Phase II Alert Mode only meant stricter curfews and a few more patrols. Our research would most likely slow down as a result of this but it shouldn''t impede research speed too much.


    That is not to say that these loses didn''t cost us gravely. We have lost over [redacted] of our security forces with more being lost every day. Normally our on-site production facilities would have replaced our loses but we were losing more droids than we can replace them.


    Fortunately for us, [redacted] [redacted] has set for [redacted] forces to supplement the institute''s security. Apparently, our project was now deemed ''too important to fail.'' Although I still believe that the people from [redacted] [redacted] just didn''t want to see their investment go to waste.


    To our surprise the [redacted] forces arrived from [redacted] to [redacted] within [redacted] [redacted]. Never before has the term ''a sight for sore eyes'' been so true, we thought that we would have to preserver with just our standard security forces for another [redacted] days.


    While we mourn the losses of our comrades who sacrificed themselves to contain the prototypes or were simply misfortunate enough to be caught in the crossfire, most of our casualties comprised of droids which could be and were easily replaced.


    Nevertheless, we were assured by the [redacted] commander of the [redacted] forces that the situation was under control and that we could simply carry on with our research.


    However, I still do worry though.


    It''s been [redacted] days and the [redacted] still haven''t taken back [redacted] block from the rogue prototypes and they have yet to give us a satisfactory answer as to why. Although [redacted] block isn''t of utmost important, it still holds some significance within the institute.


    But what worries me the most is the [redacted] bomb that the [redacted] soldiers brought into the institute. They told us that it was only a contingency plan in case the rogue prototypes somehow overwhelmed the institute.


    Other than that, we were also told to make multiple backups of all of our files including our private record logs and to store them off-site at [redacted] [redacted] [redacted] and to [redacted] the [redacted] [redacted] as part of another contingency plan.


    But the thing is, we wouldn''t even need these contingency plan if the [redacted] just did their job and retook the [redacted] block. But I digress.


    The only thing that could make the situation worse was if the rogue synths took control of our production facilitates at [redacted] block.


    ...


    Cynthia couldn''t help but subconsciously frown and knit her brows in response to her findings.


    While it wasn''t unexpected for confidential information to be censored, she didn''t expect that all the important that she was looking for to be completely censored or just plain absent.


    Details like the location of the institute, names and even the date and times were all censored while other important details like the exact schematics were seldom mentioned or completely absent.


    Perhaps she was being too optimistic, this is data that was open to the public and it has only been the first day of research.


    But it still felt rather disappointing to have made virtually no progress.


    What she read from the data logs, while interesting were also absolutely useless to her.


    It would seem that she would need some sort of governmental levity if she wanted access to files and articles that would give her true insight into the matter.


    Thankfully, she still had a long life ahead of her and more importantly, she was a psionic operative of P.A.I.N.


    Her original plan was to blend into the background during her time at P.A.I.N. so that she wouldn''t be disturbed during her research but it would appear that she would have to make some changes to her plan.


    "Greetings agent Starr."


    However, to Cynthia''s surprise, her thoughts were interrupted by a female voice that originated from her dormroom''s entrance doors.


    [Who could that possibly be? Who would want to visit me at this time? The teachers? The mentors? A random operative?] As these thoughts raced across Cynthia''s mind, she managed to maintain her cool as she turned to face this unexpected arrival.


    But when she faced the person who spoke, for the first time in her second life, Cynthia felt a chill run down her spine.


    It was a short but lean woman with her tight biceps and thighs being revealed through her exo-suit''s skin tight suit. She had short silver-white hair which was cut above her neck and matched her similarly silver coloured eyes.

 18 The Silver Sparrow

    "So what were you doing?"


    It didn''t take long before Melanie questioned Cynthia. However, Cynthia was still internally reeling due to Melanie''s sudden presence, while she appeared to only be slightly nervous on the outside, she was facing major inner turmoil on the inside.


    [What the hell is this? What the hell is tweet ???????????? doing here?] So many thoughts crowded Cynthia''s mind that she once again felt another headache. Nevertheless, she still managed to maintain her cover, thanks to all her previous headaches, Cynthia was now actually used to this feeling.


    Things were not all bad though, fortunately enough for her, she closed her laptop after she finished her researching session as a precaution so at least there was that.


    After contemplating to herself for a short moment, Cynthia answered Melanie''s question with a trembling voice, pretending to be nervous as she spoke.


    "Oh it''s nothing really... just stuff that are important to me on a personal level."


    Melanie casted an inquisitive gaze at Cynthia as the former listened to the latter''s reply, remaining silent as she did so. After a few short moments, Melanie responded in what seemed to be a mix of indifference and disinterest, as if she couldn''t care less about what Cynthia said.


    "Hmph... alright then..."


    Although Cynthia still acted as if she was nervous around Melanie''s presence, internally she wasn''t sure whether she should be relieved or concerned. Was Melanie suspicious of her or was Melanie truly unconcerned?


    Nevertheless, Cynthia put these thoughts aside as she took the opportunity to question Melanie.


    "Eheh... S-so who or what do I have to thank for meeting you Ms Menendez Madam?"


    Melanie Menendez; the so-called ''Silver Sparrow,'' held the position of ''Deputy Director'' within P.A.I.N. thus making her second only to the Director in terms of command authority. In general, she was someone who was both respected and feared by her enemies and foes alike.


    She was by no means anything near the same level as the other low-level psionics that Cynthia encountered by far in her second life. One should never be mislead by Melanie''s small stature that lead to her ''Sparrow'' nickname, by herself she would be no less than a one woman army.


    For starters, Melanie was another one of the few S-class psionics in existence, her strength and power, was rivalled by a number less than a hundred. When considering that the human population numbered in the uncountable quintillions, S-class psionics were extraordinarily rare.


    Granted Cynthia was technically also an S-class psionic but unless she was driven to a point that she needed to expose her true potential to save herself, she would continue pretending to only be a C-class psionic. Plus, Cynthia still wasn''t sure if using her full power would destroy her body or not.


    But most importantly, Melanie was also one of the few people that came close to killing Cynthia in her past life in a fair fight.


    As such, not only could Melanie potentially expose Cynthia''s true nature, but if the two of them were to clash, there was good chance that it could end with Cynthia''s second death as well.


    Even if Cynthia were to be the victor of the fight, she would still be exposed to the public and especially the Confederation. There was no doubt that she would face terrible reprisals from the Confederation for costing them a valued S-class psionic.


    These scenarios were definitely not what Cynthia desired.


    With that in mind, Cynthia also threw in an extra line at the end to really sell her character.


    "I-if you''re allowed to tell me that is..."


    When Melanie heard what Cynthia had to say, she only shrugged casually before she spoke up. Like before Melanie''s expression remained indifferent. In fact, Cynthia was even able to spot a glimmer of boredom in Melanie''s eyes.


    "I don''t think there''s a problem with answering your question. We both have my boss, the division''s director; Arthur Cray to thank for this wonderful encounter. Of course I do indeed have an actual reason for being here. You know work being what it is."


    The more time that Cynthia spent with Melanie, the more relieved that Cynthia felt. So far, the Melanie currently in front of Cynthia was no different from the Melanie that Cynthia knew. Even after five years, Melanie''s mannerisms was akin to that of a bored teenager who only reluctantly followed their parent''s orders.


    The only inconsistency between the Melanie of now and the Melanie of five years ago was that the current Melanie didn''t seem to be as cynical but perhaps she was just keeping the formalities for the meeting between her and Cynthia.


    With this knowledge, Cynthia was able to gladly confirm that there were yet to be any unexpected turn of events. However, the same cannot be said for what Melanie said next.


    "Rejoice operative Starr, you were lucky enough to be designated to participate in a ''live field exercise.'' Somewhere in the border systems of the United Planets of America. You''ll get more specific details at 0900 hours at briefing room 20 during the... briefing..."


    As Melanie''s monotone voice trailed of seemingly due to the awkwardness of saying ''briefing'' twice in the same sentence, at the same time, Cynthia''s eyes widened in complete shock due to the implications of what Melanie just said.


    Within a few seconds, Cynthia quickly voiced out her opinions.


    "W-wait you''re sending me on a mission? Is this really alright? I''m only just a recruit!"


    Unlike before, Cynthia wasn''t acting. The shock shown in her voice was genuine and wasn''t a fabrication meant to sell her as a young girl, she was truly surprised by this sudden turn of events.


    On the other hand, Melanie would simply shrug casually before she replied.


    "Yes, yes but you''re also an extremely outstanding recruit and due to ''staffing issues,'' those in command including the boss saw it fit to use you along with a few of your fellow colleagues at 17 as ''temporary replacements'' to supplement a military force until our ''staffing issues'' are resolved."


    [What utter bullshit. This is another one of that geezer''s ploys isn''t it? But what does he even have to gain by sending me on a mission? Is he still trying to push me to use more of my ''latent'' potential?] In response to Melanie''s ''explanation'' Cynthia couldn''t help but mentally curse ''Allen.''


    Soon, the movement of everything around Cynthia slowed down as her perception of time slowed down. The movement of Melanie''s mouth slowed drastically and even her quick momentary blinks became clearly visible for Cynthia''s eyes to see.


    Her mind once again clocked into overdrive.


    And once again, Cynthia felt her brain ache due to the mental stress as multiple thoughts raced across her mind.


    And most of these thoughts came in the form of questions.


    When did it go wrong?


    How did it go wrong?


    Why was Allen so obsessed with Cynthia''s potential power?


    Did she perhaps miscalculate?


    Did she perhaps make a mistake sometime in the past?


    Was someone onto her true nature?


    What was the best course of action now?


    For some of these questions, Cynthia proposed numerous solutions to herself, for many others, she could only propose a few.


    Not many of them were satisfactory solutions and many more were thoroughly rejected.


    Amidst her sea of thoughts, Cynthia shot a glance at Melanie, quickly realising that the latter of which was actually closely watching the former.


    Seeing this, Cynthia had the sudden urge to respond to Melanie.


    After confirming her resolve, time resumed its normal pace as Cynthia finally spoke up.


    "Un-understood."


    When Cynthia gave her response, she was able to catch Melanie frown for a split second before the expression on her face returned to it''s typical neutral state.


    It didn''t take long before Melanie replied to Cynthia''s answer.


    "Well then, seeing that everything is in order, I guess that it''s my time to leave."


    Although, Melanie still continued to speak in that disinterested tone of hers, Cynthia couldn''t help feeling that something was off about it.


    [Damn it! Was that a mistake? Did I respond too quickly? How much does she suspect me now?] However, despite these thoughts, Cynthia also knew that she could do nothing about it now. All she can do now was see this through to the end.


    "O-ok. H-have a nice day Ms Menendez Madam."


    Cynthia hoped that with this exchange of farewells, Melanie would finally leave but much to Cynthia''s dismay, Melanie still remained for another moment. Apparently, Melanie had more to say.


    "Oh and one more thing. I would recommend to not get used to be being called ''operative Star.'' Not with the boss being who he is."


    As Melanie spoke, she took a small metal card out of one of the compartments in her exo-suit before chucking it to Cynthia.


    After catching the card, Cynthia posed Melanie a question.


    "This is?"


    When Cynthia questioned Melanie''s card, she put on an expression which exclaimed the sentence ''please don''t think that this stupid card was my idea'' before answering.


    "You new callsign slash codename slash nickname slash whatever the boss wants to call it. Now have a good day and remember that I expect to see you at briefing room 20 at 0900 hours tomorrow."


    Melanie''s answer while still given in her monotone voice was more rushed and hurried than normal, almost as if she just wanted to get this over with.


    On Melanie''s way out, Cynthia was even able to hear Melanie mutter something under her breath.


    "God damn it boss..."


    Once Melanie was out of Cynthia''s sight, she flipped the card over to read its contents.


    The only thing on it was a tacky logo of a green coloured fire and an equally tacky nickname.


    ''The Emerald Flame.''


    ...


    Melanie immediately returned to the room designated for her after her meeting with Cynthia.


    Even as she slumped down onto her bed, she was not able to ease the thoughts which crowded her mind.


    After letting out a long sigh, Melanie immediately took out her private laptop before beginning a long distance call.


    Within a minute or two, the face of a familiar man covered her screen. He appeared as an aged yet still youthful man, there were little wrinkles on his face and the only true indicator of his age was his greying hair. Soon after, the ''old'' man spoke up.


    "What''s with the gloomy atmosphere? You''re the one who insisted that it should have been you here instead of me."


    Melanie instantly frowned upon hearing Allen''s ''greeting.'' With another sigh, Melanie gave her reply.


    "And you''re the one that forced me to do that stupid card thing. Honestly speaking, you should stop making me regret my own decisions but I digress."


    Allen chuckled nervously before he quickly changed the subject in response to Melanie.


    "So did you find discover anything new about Cynthia?"


    Unlike with Cynthia, Melanie spoke with Allen in a more professional manner, this time, her voice only sounded slightly disinterested.


    "I''ve found her to be rather ''unique'' but I''ve yet to ascertain whether or not her uniqueness is a threat or not. I am hoping to discover more during the ''live field exercise.''"


    Allen remained silent for a few seconds as if he was contemplating before he replied.


    "Hmmm... I see. Well Melanie, I could only wish you good luck."


    "Good luck to you too boss."


    After bidding their farewells, Melanie went to end the video call only to be interrupted by Allen''s voice.


    "You know Melanie... it would... it would really be nice if you called me ''father'' every now and then..."


    In response to Allen''s interruption, Melanie would only cast her eyes downwards for a short moment before quickly ending the video call.

 19 Past and Presen

    Allen audibly sighed when the video call abruptly ended.


    With Melanie gone, he could only silently gaze at the screen which displayed his wallpaper.


    He didn''t know how much time he spent idly staring at the wallpaper, not that his lack of activity would negatively affect P.A.I.N.


    After all, this was still the same P.A.I.N. that he built from nothing.


    The same P.A.I.N. that won the funding from the Confederation over the other psionic division competitors.


    And P.A.I.N. was also the only thing tying him together with Melanie.


    But when this thought came across his mind, he could only do one thing.


    "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Why did I think that the perfect time to say that was over a video call! She works in the same place as me for goodness sake!"


    After angrily venting his thoughts, Allen sighed before he slumped back onto the seat of his office. This time, when Allen spoke, his voice was tired and exhausted.


    "Oh why do I even bother? It''s too late to bother salvaging anything at this point."


    It was not long until the door''s of Allen''s office was opened before being followed by the sounds of footsteps and a voice.


    "Berating yourself for your shortcomings again Arthur?"


    Allen didn''t even need to face the voice to know who it belonged to.


    Only a few people were given the privilege of entering his office without an appointment first.


    One of them was a woman of average height, with short hazel-brown hair and a fair complexion that gave her a ''warm motherly look.'' She only wore a pseudo exo-suit, displaying that she was not a combat operative of P.A.I.N.


    Her name was Theresa Light; the Head of P.A.I.N.''s private human resources department and a gifted psionic in her own right.


    She was also one of the few people who he allowed to get away with referring to him with his real name.


    It was only after Theresa took her seat opposite Allen did he face her. Her mouth gently curved upwards into a faint smile while her eyes appeared calm and serene.


    With a tired sigh, Allen decided that now was the time to speak.


    "I''m guessing that you heard me."


    In response to Allen''s question, Theresa chuckled before she answered in a joking manner.


    "Of course I did. I can hear it all the way from my office."


    "Hah, like that even counts. You can listen to the water running in the sewers if you really wanted to."


    When Theresa heard Allen''s reply, she broke out into a short laugh before she spoke up.


    "Ahahaha, you got me there."


    However, her laughter quickly died out. Soon, the faint smile on her face receded a little bit while a look of concern grew on her face.


    "But it''s not your style to be sarcastic... what happened? Does it have something to do with your estranged daughter?"


    "What do you think?"


    Unlike before, Theresa didn''t respond, instead, she allowed the silence to speak for her. Seeing this, Allen couldn''t help but sigh before proceeding to explain himself.


    "I tried... to ask her to call me father again..."


    Although Theresa''s eyes widened in shock and she opened her mouth in an attempt to reply, she was instead quickly interrupted by Allen before she could even speak.


    "I know, I know that was stupid of me. But knowing Melanie, by the time she returns, she will probably act like it never happened anyway... I still don''t know whether that is a good thing or a bad thing... maybe both? Is that even possible? Can it be both good and bad at the same ti-"


    "Stick to the point Arthur."


    Allen''s expression froze in response to Theresa''s interruption and soon after complete and utter silence followed. The silence was not meant to last however, within a few short moments, Allen was able to muster his voice again.


    "I just... I just don''t know. I guess when I saw one of the new psionic recruits; this young girl named Cynthia, I was just reminded of what Melanie was like when she was Cynthia''s age. Young children... Naive children who were born with so much potential... so god damn much potential."


    The concerned look on Theresa''s face only grew upon hearing Allen''s last sentence. Her eyes no longer appeared as serene as before and the smile on her face seemed to be on the verge of breaking.


    Even when she spoke, Allen felt as if she was struggling to maintain her cool.


    "And all they need is a ''guiding hand'' to reach their true potential? Come on Arthur we both know that you''re a smart man. Surely you can see that attempting to recreate the past won''t end with anything positive. At best you would just create another Melanie... At worst... you would create another-"


    "Don''t say his name!"


    Although Allen knew that he had no right to interrupt Theresa with a shout, he still couldn''t stop himself. Within moments, his mouth began shouting out loud again.


    "He was a traitor and now he''s dead! I killed him! I ???????????? to kill him! And I don''t want to be haunted by the ghosts of the past! So please! Please don''t bring his name back up again."


    Allen was standing up over Theresa while his chest was heaving up and down by the time he finished his short rant. He didn''t know when he stood up, he just knew that he was.


    On the other hand, Theresa somehow seemed to have regained her cool. Although the smile on her face was completely absent, instead replaced with a frown which displayed her concern, her disposition appeared to be more calm than it previously was.


    Now, when she spoke, Allen was only able to get a sense of familial worry, like how a sister would worry for her brother.


    "But you''re willing to risk making more ghosts? First it was Melanie, then it was... ''him,'' and now it is this ''Cynthia.'' How many is it going to take for you to let go?"


    "Shut up."


    Despite Allen''s antagonistic response, Theresa maintained her calm as she continued questioning him.


    "How many more Melanies and ''hims'' are you going to create just so you can relive that high of fatherhood?"


    "Shut up!"


    Once again, despite Allen''s antagonistic shout, Theresa still managed to remain calm as she questioned him.


    "How many more innocent children are you going to turn into living weapons under the guise of ''parenting'' just so you could feel like you are being a good father again."


    "I said shut up!"


    Suddenly, Allen''s psionic power flared up from within him, causing a miniature heatwave explosion that created a singeing shockwave.


    Although the shockwave itself was quite weak, it still forced Theresa to brace herself with her forearms to defend from the impact.


    It didn''t take long for Allen to realise what he just did. Within seconds after his realisation, he attempted to apologise to Theresa.


    "O-oh my... I... I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to-"


    "It''s ok."


    But much to Allen''s surprise, she quickly accepted his apology, as if he never truly harmed her in the first place.


    He opened his mouth to try and say something else only to be interrupted by Theresa''s voice.


    "I can see that you have a lot on your mind. Perhaps it''s best that I leave you alone for a moment."


    Before she stood up and left the office without even saying a goodbye.


    ...


    Elsewhere, within the territories of the Euronic Republic, on the border system; the ''Boraxis System,'' one of the powerful frigate class spaceships of the infamous Velsulis Family; the ''Chromata'' was currently on its way to one of the criminal syndicate''s hideouts.


    But in the state it is now, it was highly unlikely for it to reach its destination.


    Because it was seconds away from being completely obliterated.


    It was now a literal husk of its former self.


    Pieces of debris that were once part of the ship were now drifting off into space while the ship itself struggled to merely hold together.


    If it weren''t for the warp shielding that was supposed to protect the Chromata from attacks, everyone on board would have already died due to the lack of a proper atmosphere.


    Multiple large holes were visible on the Chromata while other large chunks of the ship were absent altogether, as if a gigantic creature took numerous bites out of the ship.


    Directly parallel to the Chromata was another ship, which unlike the Chromata remained completely intact. In fact, the ship was in pristine condition.


    Not even a single scratch could be found on the other ship which stood in stark contrast with the burning hulk that used to be the Chromata.


    However, the pristine condition of the ship wasn''t the only thing bizarre about this other ship.


    For starters, it''s appearance wasn''t very human in terms of design and was instead very ''alien'' in its shape.


    Unlike human ships which were typically blocky and rectangular in it''s architecture, this other ship was very triangular in design, with multiple platinum blue triangular plates with golden outlines making up the hull of the ship.


    However, these triangles weren''t angular in shape but instead curved like circles at the would-be edges, giving the already strange ship a distinctly exotic look.


    Felicia could only glare at this alien ship with contempt as she slumped against the flooring of the Chromata, pretending to be dead.


    If it wasn''t for that alien ship, the massive hole in the Chromata''s bridge wouldn''t be giving her a clear view of that aforementioned alien ship.


    And if it wasn''t for that ship, Felicia also wouldn''t have to play dead amongst the bodies of her colleagues.


    Even with her exo-suit''s helmet filtering what came through her nostrils, she could still smell the pungent smell of rotting corpses.


    But unless she wanted to become a corpse herself, she could only silently persevere until the assailants who were still on the Chromata''s bridge were out of her sight.


    [Damned Elvnari, what the hell do they even want from us!] Felicia mentally cursed the Elvnari assailants as she glanced at the few of them that were still on the bridge.


    Since she was playing dead, she could only move her eyes as to not rouse suspicion. Thanks to her exo-suit''s helmet obscuring her face, she was free to let her eyes remain open and even look around as she played dead. She just can''t move her head or any other part of her body.


    All of the pointy eared bastards were wearing what Felicia could only describe to be ''futuristic medieval armour'' albeit with its own Elvnari flavour. The Elvnari wore pale-blue coloured plate armour that was composed of curved triangular plates much like their ship.


    Embedded onto the shoulderpads, gauntlets and greaves of their armour were deep navy-blue coloured, spherical gem-like objects while the armour plates all had golden trims. Visible under the plates was a very lightly coloured blue skin-tight suit, very similar to that of the humans.


    For all intents and purposes, this ''medieval armour'' was pretty much the Elvnari counterpart to the human''s exo-suits, it was just Felicia''s first time seeing them.


    There were only four Elvnari within the bridge, and among them was the unconscious captain of the Chromata; Charles Khols, the only human that they willingly kept alive.


    However, soon the doors from the main hallway of the Chromata opened before another Elvnari woman walked into the bridge.


    Unlike the other Elvnari, this lone Elvnari woman did not wear the Elvnari armour but instead donned a light blue coloured robe. She had waist long, pale-blue hair which matched her similarly blue coloured eyes and she seemed to be enveloped in a ''heavenly'' aura.


    While still playing dead, Felicia watched all the other Elvnari bow upon the woman''s arrival before one of them spoke up.


    "Here is the captain of the ship, alive, just as you wished madam."


    The woman smiled graciously in response before replying in an equally gracious tone.

 20 Benevolence

    Even though Felicia''s exo-suit''s helmet confined the sounds of her breath to inside, she still couldn''t help but hold her breath in fear of that mysterious robed Elvnari woman. Ever since she walked into the room, Felicia felt the sudden urge to just stand up and run away.


    Despite the fact that she knew that running away would only result in her inevitable death, Felicia still struggled to fight the urge compelling her to flee. She had no idea how to describe it, it was almost as if the very presence of that robed Elvnari triggered her basic survival instincts.


    But that made no sense, the Elvnari woman appeared to be quite harmless, especially when compared to her armoured colleagues. The kind and friendly expression on her face only reinforced the notion that she was not a dangerous person.


    And yet, despite her harmless appearance, she still made Felicia''s blood freeze.


    With this in mind, Felecia didn''t know if she was going crazy from the attack or if her instincts were onto something.


    What made it worse was that deep down inside, she actually hoped that it was the former of the two.


    "As you wish your grace."


    On the other hand, the other Elvnari men immediately complied with the robed Elvnari''s orders, with two of them hoisting the unconscious Charles to his feet while the other two stood in position behind the woman, seemingly to stand guard.


    From the way that the other Elvnari treated and respected her, Felicia was able to conclude that this female Elvnari held a position of high authority.


    But now that Charles was ''standing'' on his two feet, Felicia was given the ability to see his current condition.


    It was not good.


    His already scarred face was covered in cuts and bruises, with blood leaking out of the corners of his mouth. His greying brown hair was a complete mess.


    The robed Elvnari took her time to examine the injured and unconscious Charles closely, the smile on her face slowly fading away as she realised the extent of the damage done to him. In fact, it even looked like she was concerned for his well being.


    Soon after, she turned her attention away from Charles and instead faced one of the Elvnari standing behind her before she proceeded to give him an order.


    "It is time, Ascendant Ethlando, wake him from his slumber."


    In response to the female Elvnari''s order, the other Elvnari who was apparently named ''Ethlando'' bowed before he spoke up.


    "Thy will be done your grace."


    "Guuagh!"


    Suddenly, Charles belly contorted inwards for a split second, as if a powerful force plunged itself into his belly. So strong was this force that his body was actually sent into the air for a short moment, the only reason that it wasn''t sent flying was because two other Elvnari were still holding it in place.


    It was so extraordinary, that she couldn''t stop herself from gulping nervously. Thankfully her exo-suit prevented the sound from travelling outside her helmet.


    It took her awhile to rationalise what she just saw.


    When she recalled what had just happened a few seconds ago, she felt her face subconsciously grimace in fear.


    All she could remember was a bright flash of blue light that appeared out from Ethlando and hit Charles in the belly.


    Said flash of light moved so fast that Charles''s body didn''t even register the hit until the light disappeared.


    Looking back at what happened before the bridge was breached, Felicia realised that she actually wasn''t conscious for much of the fight, if there ever was one in the first place.


    As much as she hated to accept it, all she could remember was an explosion that rocked the hull of the bridge before her sight was consumed by darkness.


    When she woke back up, there was a gaping hole on the Chromata where the explosion had taken place and she was now stuck amidst the bodies of her colleagues.


    She was never conscious to witness the fight and as such, she had no idea how these Elvnari invaders completely annihilated the forces of the Chromata.


    Now, she just got the answer.


    [So that was how they were able to neutralise all of us even though they were outnumbered... How incredible.] Although Felicia was in awe of the Elvnari''s extraordinary capabilities, she still despised them for obvious reasons.


    With Charles now fully conscious ''thanks'' to the Elvnari, the one who seemed to be the leader; the woman stepped forward so as to be standing directly in front of him.


    Unlike Ethlando who didn''t even seem fazed by the consequences of his actions, the look on her face made it seem like she regretted the harshness of their methods but at the same time, she saw these methods as completely necessary.


    "Argh... wh-where am I?"


    Now that he was conscious, Charles''s began questioning where he was. But to his and Felicia''s surprise, the Elvnari woman answered truthfully in a kind tone.


    "Worry not human, we were kind enough to not take you to a place completely foreign to you during this interrogation. We were also kind enough to let you, the person being interrogating to ask the first question.


    Now, I mean and wish you no harm. I only seek answers to sate my hunger for information. My Elvnari templars already showed me those audio clips that occurred on ''that day'' and yet, my knowledge of that event is still lacking. I hope that you can aid me in understanding what happened."


    Charles seemed to have quickly grasped the implication behind her words. With a bit of relief in his voice, he questioned her to confirm his suspicions.


    "''Mean me no harm.'' That means that you are willing to spare me if I help you?"


    "Yes, you have my word. I would also like to apologise for the lives of your comrades that was lost this day. In order to fulfil my duty, these sacrifices must be made. Please don''t allow their deaths to be in vain."


    Whether Charles accepted her apology or not, he still accepted this chance of survival.


    He told her everything.


    About the original mission objectives.


    About how the strike operatives aboard the Eden grew increasingly fearful and paranoid for no seemingly reason.


    And about how the appearance of a D.R.E.A.D. Dreadnought forced the Chromata to retreat and abandon their comrades on the Eden.


    The female Elvnari appeared both pleased and displeased upon hearing Charles''s entire story. It would seem that thanks to him, she finally gathered the puzzle pieces needed to complete the mystery. However, it would also seem that she did not like the answer.


    Probably sensing that he no longer held any use, the disgraced captain pleaded with the Elvnari.


    "I told you everything... Now please... will you let me go?"


    When the robed Elvnari heard Charles, her mouth curved into a smile that somehow appeared to be both compassionate yet sorrowful at the same time. When she spoke, her voice sounded like that of an angel, one that was determined and strong.


    "I shall honour my promise. I hope that you find solace in your final moments."


    Charles''s expression froze upon hearing the Elvnari''s response. With a fearful expression, he questioned what she meant.


    "Wh-what the hell are you talking about? You said that you''ll let me go?! That you''ll spare me?!"


    The female Elavnari only sadly shook her head as she answered his question.


    "Oh how it saddens me whenever humans misunderstand my words. Please do not think of me as a deceiver, for I told no lie. I will indeed spare you, not from death but from the lie that you will survive, from the lie that you have a second chance."


    The expression on her face still remained both gracious and mournful as she spoke, while her voice itself remained determined, as if she truly believed in what she was saying.


    "For as you know, you are currently stranded in the middle of nowhere. When we intercepted your warping process, we chose this isolated sector for a reason. Your ship is ravaged, barely able to move and there will be no one coming to save you in this remote location.


    Now, I am granting you a mercy, an ''easy way out'' as you humans like to call it."


    "This is bullshit! You can''t just do something like that! It''s not ''granting a mercy'' if you''re just outright killing someone without their consent! That''s not how mercy killing works!"


    In response to her explanation, Charles''s screamed in a combination of fear and anger. However, despite his protests, the robed Elvnari remained unmoved.


    She made a sad sigh before she continued to explain herself.


    "How saddening it is that you still refuse to accept my goodwill. I truly feel pity for you. But when a child makes a mistake, that child''s mother must punish the child no matter how much the child will resent the mother for it. Like the mother, I too shall do my duty. That is the burden that I choose to bear.


    Now accept your fate."


    "NO! WAI-"


    Although Charles''s desperately tried to save his life, his words were interrupted by a bright flash of light.


    Soon, a red line appeared on his neck before his head fell off his body and began rolling on the floor.


    The Elvnari woman still held that compassionate yet sorrowful expression on her face as she watched the decapitated body collapse in front of her.


    With a sad smile, she gave her respects to the deceased captain.


    "May you rest peacefully in the Light of the Astari."


    With Charles now dead, one of the Elvnari; Ethlando posed the robed Elvnari a question.


    "What shall we do now your grace?"


    "We shall return to the Lance of Luna and issue a recall order to all of the members of our order spread out amongst the stars. Ethlando, you shall also recall the other templar who are still on this ship and ensure that I have a casualty report by time we are ready to leave."


    In response to her, all four of the other Elvnari bowed and answered simultaneously.


    "As you wish your grace."


    Before all five of them proceeded to leave the bridge.


    Felicia wasn''t aware of how long she waited after the Elvnari left before she decided that it was now safe to stop pretending to be dead.


    With a relieved sigh, she stood back up before she spoke to herself.


    "Finally... they are gone..."


    "I know right. I thought that they would never leave."


    Felicia felt her heart-rate increase upon hearing this sudden other voice.


    But she quickly calmed down and even felt a hint of joy when she realised the voice could belong to another crew member who like her was only playing dead.


    However, her hopes were dashed when she faced the source of the voice.


    While this other voice did belong to another humanoid being, she was not a crew member that Felicia recognised.


    This stranger also had crimson red eyes and two white horns which protruded out of her temples and curved towards the back of her head.


    That could only mean one thing.


    "D-dymon!"


    Felicia''s instincts immediately kicked and she made a run for the exit.


    But she never got far.


    It was only after a few steps of running that Felicia fell face first onto the floor. She felt a precise, piercing pain in the direct horizontal middle of her waist while her legs and feet became completely numb to her.


    She didn''t even get time to rationalise what happened before she felt a sudden weight step down onto the fingers of her right hand.


    As she screamed in pain, the dymon stopped stepping on Felicia''s hand before flipping her over so that they could face each other.


    "Oh please, you can stop acting like a fearful lamb. I only want to ask you a few questions."


    The dymon''s mouth twisted upwards into a cruel smile as she spoke.

 21 Feeling Green

    Katarina gazed out of the window of the ship, the ''Platinum Avenger;'' a light cruiser class ship which earned its namesake from it''s unique chromatic platinum coloured hull and was the prized personal spacecraft of the esteemed ''Silver Sparrow;'' Melanie Menendez as it made its way towards a planet.


    Excluding the crew itself, there were also around five hundred others with her, watching the planet grow in size as they drew closer.


    She knew some of them as they were also P.A.I.N. operatives stationed at 17 while others belonged to other P.A.I.N. installations scattered across the Earth''s Solar System, the systems within the territory of the United Planets of America as well as within the bordering systems of the U.P.A.''s human neighbours.


    All of them were here with the same purpose, they were supposed to temporarily supplement the military force of one of the planets within the ''New Florida System.''


    From what she was told during the briefing back at 17, the New Flordia System laid not just on the border of the U.P.A. but the border of human space in general. That meant that it not only shared borders with other human systems but with systems which belonged to other intelligent species as well.


    Since the planet in question; "Viridi" was what was commonly dubbed as an ''outer border'' planet, it was thus less developed than its core world counterparts which as their name would suggest, were situated within the metaphorical ''heart'' of human space.


    When Katarina viewed Viridi from the Avenger, she saw a planet plagued with huge swathes of desolate land, mostly ill-suited for colonisation. There were occasional splotches of fertile land and seas where human settlements were likely to have been built, but those fertile pieces of land were few and far between.


    If she were to make a comparison, she would compare to it to Earth, but instead of most of the surface being bright blue water, there was instead barren brown land. While parts of the planet''s surface was still lands covered by verdant greens or aquatic seas, they could only account for 30-40% of the planet.


    Apparently, the U.P.A.''s government has not invested much into the terraforming of the planet, with only a light colonisation effort. That didn''t surprise anybody, the planet itself was not of high importance and as an outer border planet, it was at risk of xenos invasion.


    Without a substantial military fleet on standby within the system and with only one fleet; the 11th United Planets Fleet on stand by within the nearby New Alabama System, the system was all but secured.


    With the threat of foreign invasion, lack of overall funding and investments, and the general lack of incentives to settle down within the outer border regions, the human population of the planets within said border systems dwindled as a result.


    To the those within the U.P.A. and perhaps even the other human intergalactic nations, the only real use for the outer border regions were as a first line of defence against any xenos invasion.


    With the current limitations of warp technology and other equally powerful alien civilisations right on their, the outer border systems which were once the symbolic representation of human expansion and colonisation were now relegated as buffer zones against the foreign threats.


    However, even amongst the outer border nations, the New Florida System was still ''unique.''


    For it was one of the few systems within any of the nations of the Intergalactic Terran Confederation to share borders with systems belonging not to one other xenos species but two.


    One of them was the dymonic civilisation, a cruel and malign but reclusive species that rarely left the borders of their own territory. It was only on a few rare occasions that dymons could be found outside of ''dymonic space.''


    Apparently dymons would also host military conquest expeditions known as ''Infernal Crusades'' but most information regarding the Crusades were the makings of rumor and superstition. Thus the dymons usually weren''t regarded as an ''immediate threat'' by their neighbours, including humanity.


    So far, the U.P.A. and the other human nations sharing borders with the dymons like the Euronic Republic or the Russo-Chinese Federation held a very tenuous truce with the dymons.


    The same could not be said for the other alien species bordering the New Florida System.


    A race defined by war and brutality.


    The savage greenskins.


    The orkks.


    A primitive and warlike species, it is commonly accepted by humans and other intelligent species alike that the okkish species are the scourge of the universe. To some, they were even likened to as a plague.


    A race beyond reasoning, beyond common sense, even the dymons who bore close resemblance to the biblical demons of hell feared the orkks.


    The existence of the orkks only one system away from the New Florida System was the only reason why the past few days of slowly warping towards their destination were of dreadful anticipation for Katarina.


    She has only been a P.A.I.N. operative for a few years and before then, she only served ten years within the Standard Confederate Psionic Services after being recruited at the age of fourteen. In her years of service, she has only fought against rebellious insurgents, cunning criminal syndicates, and petty pirates and raiders.


    Although they were formidable in their own right, such foes truly could not compare to the nightmare that was orkkind. Since P.A.I.N. operatives were expected to take part within any and all conflict within human space, they were of course forced to study the orkks as part of their training.


    As a person who hailed from the Euronic Republic who only shared borders with other human nations and the dymons, Katarina never really concerned herself with learning about what she believed to be a primitive, barbaric and warlike race.


    However, what she discovered during her studies truly astonished her.


    Although her beliefs that the orkks were primitive, barbaric and warlike was indeed correct, she also learned that the true nature of the orkks was so much more than that.


    She learned that the very existence of the orkks seemed to defy common sense itself.


    She learned that the average orkk was typically two to three times as strong as the average human male and were naturally born with fighting skills and instincts that allow them to rival even the most adept human warriors.


    She learned that even among the plethora of alien species, orkk physiology was unique. With orkk bodies being extremely resilient and tolerant to pain, even the most grievous wounds like dismembered limbs won''t cause much pain on an orkk, allowing them to fight longer and harder even after sustaining fatal injuries.


    She learned that orkks could reproduce extraordinary fast, being able to grow from a number that numbered in the double digits to a number that numbered in the triple digits within the span of a single week.


    She learned that apparently, all of their weapons and vehicles consisted of literally miss-matched components and scavenged parts that were haphazardly melded together to create machines of war that baffle even the most intelligent and most experienced of humanity''s researchers and engineers.


    She learned that orkks had little sense for strategic thinking, with their only plans of attack being to completely annihilate the enemy with overwhelming firepower and violence, often losing hundreds if not thousands and even millions of their own in the process.


    She learned that pain, fear and even death itself meant little to orkks. As long as they could indulge themselves in ceaseless strife and conflict, an orkk will gladly plunge themselves into battle, only stopping once either of the two opposing sides was absolutely decimated.


    And finally, she learned that orkks lived in a society so warlike and so brutal that the word ''peace'' was utterly incomprehensible to them.


    So much so, that the one and only desire of orkks could be said with just a four worded sentence.


    To wage unceasing war.


    Katarina could barely even believe the material that she studied. If it weren''t for the multiple existing accounts and evidence that proved the unforgiving truth of the orkks, she would have thought of the orkks as the fictional works of a deranged madman.


    But the footage of the orkks that she along with other P.A.I.N. recruits was forced to watch as part of their training was the worst experience.


    On a large high definition screen, she witnessed the true extent of the orkks'' unrelenting savagery.


    From the first few footage of conflict involving the orkks, Katarina was quickly able to get a grasp of the orkks'' typical battle plan, if she could even call it that.


    Within every single battle, hundreds if not thousands of orkks formed a massive unorganised but seemingly unstoppable ''green tide'' that charged recklessly in an attempt to overrun and overwhelm their enemies with little care for their own lives or the lives of their colleagues.


    Even amidst constant artillery, aerial and orbital bombardment, they charged forth, completely unfazed by the constant explosions that swallowed up their fellow orkks and the bullet storm that cut down their foremost men. It even appeared as if they were having the time of their lives.


    It didn''t even seem like they considered collateral damage as they fired highly explosive rounds near themselves or their allies, or as they carelessly ran over their colleagues with their vehicles. In fact, the victims of said collateral damage didn''t even seem to be fazed by the friendly fire and simply carried on as if nothing happened.


    Some footage even displayed orkks killing their kin in cold blood, just so they can deal the killing blow to their enemies.


    What was just as bad were the inconceivable weapons and vehicles that the orkkish forces fielded. When Katarina read that orkkish technology was ramshackle and haphazard, she at least expected them to at least adhere to some sort of logic.


    But what she witnessed in the footage was completely beyond her expectations.


    Orkkish weapons composed of shoddy swords, axes and guns. Their swords and axes were oftentimes a poorly maintained piece of sharp metal melded onto a handle while their guns were similarly crude in their design.


    The orkks'' vehicles were no different either, whether they were tanks, planes, aircrafts and even spacecrafts, they were all literal rust buckets that by some miracle managed to not immediately fall apart the moment they enter the battlefield.


    Despite appearing defective and unreliable, orkks have proven in every battle that their crude weapons were just as effective as the more sophisticated weapons of humankind.


    How the orkks managed to not only successfully use their weapons and vehicles in a battle was beyond Katarina''s understanding, let alone how they somehow used their spacecrafts to traverse the stars, spreading ultra-violence wherever they go.


    As a person born of this era, Katarina like many others saw herself as a ''desensitised'' person due to the harsh, uncaring and violent media that she was subjected to, whether it was fictional or non-fictional.


    But even then, when she was confronted with the horrifying truth that was the orkkish species, she could not help but feel sick in her stomach.


    How cruel could the universe be to allow such a terrifying species to exist?


    Because, how was humanity supposed to fight a species that seemed to defy reason and logics itself?


    But at the very least, the universe was kind enough to make it so that the orkks fight amongst themselves just as much as they would fight any other race. Even more than that, the orkks were currently preoccupied with their conflicts against the dymons.


    As such, after much deliberation, Katarina concluded that there was next to no chance of her encountering the dreadful orkks in battle.


    Soon a placid smile formed on her face when she realised that in reality, her worries were for naught.

 22 The Greenskinned Threa

    Of course, Katarina wasn''t the only one who fell into deep contemplation as they watched the Platinum Avenger draw closer towards planet Viridi.


    Some of them shared her sentiments, fearful of the greenskins yet finding comfort in the low chances of encountering the orkks in combat. Others were eager to test their might against the orkks and to see what exciting adventures awaited them.


    But among them, there was one whose sentiments were shared by no one else.


    And that was Cynthia Star; the newly titled ''Emerald Flame'' of P.A.I.N.


    Her attitude towards Viridi and the circulating rumours of the possibility of orkk encounters could be described with just one word.


    Indifference.


    While the orkks were extremely efficient in their craft of spreading mass violence and carnage, their brutally direct tactics lead to the orkks becoming a rather predictable foe.


    As long as one doesn''t underestimate or overestimate the orkks, then the so-called ''greenskinned threat'' really was no big deal.


    The greenskin race being the multitudinous ''plague'' that they are, Cynthia did indeed encounter the orkks multiple times in her previous life. Even deep within human space and outside of orkkish territory, there was always a chance of running into a stray orkk warband.


    It was these encounters that gave her the experience and knowledge required in order to effectively deal with the orkks.


    But somehow she also found the greenskins to be quite admirable.


    It may be true that they cared for nothing but to spread as much ultra-violence as possible but at least they were brutally blunt about it. If they wanted someone dead (which is basically everyone but themselves) they would simply walk up to that person and bludgeon them to death with whatever was available to them.


    They didn''t scheme in the shadows or try to disguise themselves as sheep when they were actually wolves.


    In fact, the very concept of ''betrayal'' was utterly abhorred by all of orkkind, not that they would trust anybody in the first place.


    And as someone who particularly hated traitors, Cynthia couldn''t help but empathise with the orkks on that matter.


    But that was where her similarities with the orkks ended.


    Orkks were orkks and that was it.


    Due to the distance between the New Florida System and the Earth''s Solar System, the warping process took several days when including all the pit stops that they had to make along the way.


    During that time, Cynthia spent most of her time conducting research on her ''personal project,'' with her only significant discovery being that the information that she had access to was basically worthless.


    It seemed that she would need a higher level of authorisation if she wanted to make some progress.


    Although she knew of a quick and easy solution to her predicament, it was also rather risky. However, as she glanced at Viridi through the window, a certain sight caught her eyes from the window reflection.


    It was the silver-haired Melanie, who appeared to be walking faster than usual. From the direction she came from and the path that she was following, Cynthia concluded that Melanie must have came from the bridge and was going towards the cafeteria in a hurry.


    Just as Cynthia pondered why Melanie would be in such a rush to go to the cafeteria of all places, a voice sounded out loud on the P.A. system.


    "Melanie has called all P.A.I.N. personnel to an emergency meeting within the cafeteria, may all P.A.I.N. personnel report to Melanie at the cafeteria."


    ...


    A few hours earlier, before the Platinum Avenger was even within the New Florida System, there was a small patrol team idling about a small outpost that was situated within the vast barren wasteland of Viridi where they awaited the end of their shift.


    They were equipped with standard issue slightly outdated light exo-suits that were coloured in a dull brown camouflage, the common outfit for soldiers like them who were stationed on ''backwater worlds.''


    The weapons they wielded was the standard issue NM-1655 Gauss Rifle which was the weapon commonly used by soldiers of the U.P. Military while the vehicle sitting in their garage was the ''Multi-terrain Scout Vehicle'' or the ''MSV'' for short.


    While it was a lightly armoured vehicle that was designed for scouting, it was still suitable for transportation use, being able to carry up to ten people. Because of this, the MSV was often favoured by soldiers stationed on outposts that laid in the middle of nowhere like this one.


    Since the MSV could only carry ten people at most, the patrol team of course consisted of ten men.


    Private Jimmy Nielson was one of these unfortunate men.


    With nothing to do, he simply lazed about on the furniture of this cramped outpost, hoping that either something happened or that his shift could end already.


    Out of the ten, two of them were auxiliary technicians who received light combat training while the other eight were standard infantrymen, four of which were currently inside the outpost with the two auxiliary men while the other four were patrolling around the general vicinity on their scout bikes.


    As a standard eight man squad, they were led by a sergeant with a corporal as his second in command. The sergeant himself; sergeant Armando Larimer was not much of a speaker, often letting his corporal; the cold-hearted corporal Kim Fern do the talking for him.


    The last member of their squad that was not on patrol was private David Tanner who in everyone''s honest opinion, talked too much. Jimmy could still remember what Stahl another member of their squad said before he left to go on patrol.


    ''You know, if I had to choose between roaming aimlessly on a deserted wasteland and dealing with Tanner, I''d choose to roam the deserted wasteland.''


    And as if to prove Stahl''s point, Tanner began to speak.


    "So what''s the news with those psionics that were supposed to arrive?"


    With corporal Fern and sergeant Larimer guarding one of the technicians as he did his usual maintenance check on the outpost''s communication array outside, Jimmy had no choice but to deal with Tanner.


    "According to what we were told, they should be arriving in a few hours or so."


    In response to Jimmy, Tanner nodded his head before he replied.


    "Good, when I heard that all of our psionics got redeployment orders, I started getting a little worried. I always feel better whenever I know that I got a psionic guarding my back."


    Jimmy opened his mouth to reply only to get interrupted by Tanner''s random ramblings. It was at that moment did Jimmy realise the terrible mistake that he made.


    "And these guys aren''t your typical U.P.A. psionics either. From what I heard, they''re all from the Confederation''s ''P.A.I.N.'' so they should be competent. But then again... I also heard that some of them were also greenhorns."


    [Oh great here he goes.] Jimmy mentally grumbled as Tanner continued spouting nonsense. [How the hell can he always have something to say anyway!] When Jimmy turned over to glance at the technician who was monitoring the screens, he held an expression that said ''what have you done?''


    "But most of P.A.I.N.''s ''greenhorns'' are usually recruited from other confederate psionic departments so they should be better than your average psionic. At least they should be better than you and me right?"


    Tanner paused to shrug seemingly to himself before he continued speaking.


    "But it''s not like it matters whether we have psionics with us or not anyway. They''re probably gonna be stationed elsewhere. Plus we''re on a backwater world, the only action that we see in a place like this is against native wildlife and the occasional homeless mugger."


    When Tanner''s lips finally sealed shut, Jimmy felt a sense of relief for a short moment before his hopes were crushed when the former''s mouth started moving again.


    "Speaking of backwater world. Why did I have to get assigned to this planet? I didn''t sign up to the U.P. military just so I watch over a some dirt. I want to see some action!"


    Thankfully, this time someone was able to stop him from rambling on.


    "Then why did you sign up fucking idiot?"


    Corporal Fern seemingly having heard the commotion caused by Tanner questioned him in an irritated tone as she entered the outpost. [God bless you Kim!] On the other hand, Jimmy praised Fern in his mind for putting an end to his pain.


    "You signed up to the U.P. military in an outer border planet so they''re going to deploy you on that outer border planet. It''s as simple as that. Did you think that they''re going to waste money shipping your sorry ass over somewhere else?"


    "Oh come on Kim, that last part was really unnecessary."


    Tanner sighed dejectedly when he responded to Fern''s cold-hearted but ultimately truthful words. She would keep that cold sharpness in her voice when she replied.


    "Hmph, you forced my hand. And how many times do I have to remind you to refer to me with my last name."


    It was only after the room quietened down did sergeant Larimer enter the room before speaking up.


    "Nielson. Tanner. Did Stahl and his group return yet?"


    Jimmy and Tanner could only shake their head in unison to answer his question.


    "Tch."


    Both Jimmy and Tanner were taken aback by the sarge clicking his tongue. It simply was not like him to do such a thing. Soon, he began explaining himself.


    "We received a transmission from command hours ago but our communication array glitched and didn''t send us a notification."


    Larimer''s expression turned grim as he spoke.


    "It informed us that-"


    ''Beep! Beep! Beep!''


    Just before he could fully explain himself however, he was instead interrupted by a loud repeated beeping originating from one of the outpost''s computers. The repeated beeping was soon followed by the shout of the technician.


    "Sir! We have an incoming spacecraft heading towards our sector!"


    "What?! But we have no landing pad here. And who would want to land in the middle of nowhere?"


    Tanner immediately questioned the technician upon hearing what he had to say.


    "Could it perhaps be someone who''s forced to do an emergency crash landing?"


    The technician shook his head as he responded to Tanner''s questions.


    "No, readings indicate that it had just completed the warping process so the ship shouldn''t be in bad shape. Otherwise it along with its crew would had been scattered all over space-time if they attempted to warp a badly damage ship."


    Judging from the even more grim look on Larimer''s face, Jimmy guessed that this unidentified ship had something to do with the transmission he received. With a voice full of authority, Larimer gave a command to the technician.


    "Get me a visual of that ship now!"


    "Yes sir."


    Within a few short moments, the technician was able to get a visual of the ship onto his computer monitor, allowing everyone to see.


    Everyone but the sarge gasped at what they saw.


    It was a large hulking ship that seemed to be made from scraps and junk.


    Apart from being literally a hulking junk of metal, everyone was also surprised by the speed and trajectory of the ship.


    If it kept up with its current speed, then it would literally crash onto the planet, probably killing the crew inside and everything else within a large radius.


    Common sense would dictate that the crewmen on the ship would do everything in their power to decrease the ship''s speed.

 23 Beyond Common Sense

    For a moment, everybody present couldn''t help but silently watch the unbelievable scene take place with a sense of wonder and awe, despite the actual seriousness of the situation.


    The ship itself was gargantuan in size, from just a rough estimate they guessed the ship had to be a size between that of a frigate or a light cruiser class spacecraft.


    Calling the ship a ''rustbucket'' was in no way an exaggeration, in fact, it might even be an understatement.


    The ship wasn''t even symmetrical nor did it seem to have any defining pattern or seem to follow any sense of aesthetic apart from appearing as a ramshackle piece of trash that shouldn''t be physically able to life off the ground, let alone successfully travel in space.


    The method of how the ship was even able to move in the first place was literally just a plethora of shoddy thrusters and boosters of varying sizes that were haphazardly mounted onto the tailend of the ship, all of which provided the thrusting force that propelled the ship downwards onto the planet.


    Soon, the silence was broken by Tanner. But this time, he had much less to say.


    "What... What is it?"


    No one, including the normally cold but composed Kim Fern dared to open their mouth and answer his question .


    Tanner himself probably already knew the answer, it was just that he felt the urge to seek confirmation from others.


    With a grim frown, sergeant Armando Larimer took it upon himself to speak on behalf of everyone else.


    "Only one species would willingly build, fly and crash such a ship that was not only capable of space travel but had the capability to warp as well."


    He felt his subconsciously teeth grit together as he spoke, as if the very mention of that accursed species awoke a deep hatred as well as a deep fear from within him.


    "Orkks."


    Everyone involuntarily shuddered upon hearing the answer that they hoped was untrue. It was only Armando and Fern who managed to keep their composure and even then, one could see the beads of sweat dripping down their necks and foreheads.


    One of the technicians, seemingly having recovered from the shock of the Orkk frigate ship made a nervous gulp before he spoke.


    "Should I inform command sir?"


    "Negatory, if it''s within the planet''s orbit or atmosphere then all of those at command should already be informed by now."


    Armando didn''t know why, but he felt that his voice was weaker than it normally was, that it carried less authority than before. Perhaps the discovery of that orkk ship making its towards the planet had a larger impact on him than he originally thought.


    Nevertheless, he still could not forget his duty as the patrol team''s leader and as the squad''s sergeant.


    "Yes sir!"


    Almost immediately, the technician opened up a transmission log before proceeding to call Stahl and his group.


    "Private Stahl this is field technician Reins, do you copy?"


    However, Reins got no response from the other side other than silence.


    Soon, the grim frown on Armando''s face grew as he speculated the fate of his colleague.


    On the other hand, Reins continued attempting to establish communication with Stahl even if all of his actions may be in vain.


    "I repeat, this is field technician-"


    ...


    "-Re-Ins, do-O yO-u coP-yy?"


    "Yes yes! I copy damn it!"


    While standing next to his broken scout bike, Private Timothy Stahl repeatedly attempted to communicate with Reins on the other side, hoping that the rest of his patrol team could save him using the MSV they had stationed at the outpost.


    "I copy! I repeat! I copy!"


    However, to his dismay, he got no affirmative response from the other side. What he received instead was nothing more than the sound of the transmission ending which was soon followed by complete silence.


    Soon, tears started to fill Timothy''s eyes as he collapsed on his knees before he started sobbing.


    "Damn it! Oh God why! Why have you forsaken me like this!"


    Normally, he wouldn''t break down like this. He was a trained and drilled soldier of the U.P. military after all.


    He had food to last for a week or so and he was taught how to survive in the wild, including and especially in the vast wastelands of the planet.


    But the harsh wilds wasn''t the only thing he had to worry about.


    With a cautious but fearful gaze, Timothy surveyed his surroundings.


    For once in his entire military career, he was glad that he was surrounded by nothing but barren wastelands for miles on end.


    After confirming that he should be safe for now, he turned his attention towards his broken scout bike.


    The scout bike itself was actually a km-19 hover bike, which utilised limited anti-gravity propulsion technology to ''hover'' above whatever surface the hover bike was traversing.


    Such a bike without wheels didn''t have to worry about different terrains, since it would always remain on a suspended state above the ground, thus making it a reliable yet versatile scouting and reconnaissance vehicle.


    However, in order for the bike to be able to hover above the ground while at the same time, maintaining its high speed, the chassis of the km-19 was lightly armoured while the bike was equipped with a limited weapons system.


    And that meant that the km-19 hover bike was extremely fragile, with one well placed shot being able to disable the bike in its entirety.


    When he glanced at that singular massive gaping hole that penetrated the bike''s fragile chassis and though the bike''s gravity systems before coming out the other end, Timothy knew that the thing was pretty much dead weight now.


    This scout-bike in particular was his personal favourite, having grown attached to it after using it to get himself out of multiple bad situations within the wastelands.


    But at the same time-


    "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"


    He couldn''t stop himself from repeatedly and angrily kicking the broken scout bike, despite knowing that doing so would gain him nothing.


    After releasing all of his pent up stress, Timothy sighed before he started walking down the general direction of where his outpost was.


    Hopefully his squad hasn''t fully abandoned him yet.


    At the thought that he might somehow survive, Timothy all of a sudden felt a lot better.


    After all, it was only just one orkk that he found, albeit an orkk that seemed to be a lot stronger than a usual orkk which was saying something by orkk standards.


    But he believed that if he were to report this strong orkk to the sarge then the U.P. military stationed on this planet should be able to handle him.


    By then that lone orkk should stand no chance.


    ...


    Elsewhere within the wasteland, a large green figure could be seen.


    His skin was that of a very bright lime green while his eyes seemed to have no iris or pupils with the whites of his eyes being coloured entirely in a crimson red colour.


    Most of his sharp but dirty yellow teeth stuck out of his mouth while multiple random scars were spread out randomly amongst his body, giving him a fearsome appearance.


    He donned a very shabby looking and worn piece of armour that seemed to be haphazardly put together with multiple long spikes protruding out of his shoulder-pads and the back of his breastplate. Some of these spikes even had skulls impaled onto them.


    His name was Sedral Anuk Suntrida and after he dealt with a bunch of puny humans, he made his way back towards the landing site of his ship; the ''Moon Blasta.''


    The puny things weren''t even a warm up.


    The reason why Sedral was down here on the planet''s surface rather than on the ship was because he was getting bored of smashing the skulls of other orkks.


    He thought that it was high time for him to fight something other than orkks, even if it''s just for a short while.


    Those four humans that he found were fun for a short while but after he killed two of them, they just lost the will to fight.


    In the end, the two of them ran away from the fight using those flying speeder things.


    That''s not how orkks would have done things.


    A real orkk would fight on even after thousands of orkks died.


    But humans have always been a mystery to Sedral and orkks in general.


    They always had a habit of doing weird pointless things.


    They built useless buildings and tools that couldn''t kill things and they usually settled their differences using ''negotiations.''


    Why can''t they just be fighting like regular orkks?


    But Sedral didn''t really care, and neither did any of the orkks.


    The only thing that they cared about from the humans was that when the humans put their act together, they can put up a really good fight.


    And in the end, a good fight is all an orkk could ever wish for.


    Sedral didn''t know how long it took for him to reach the landing site of the Moon Blasta, such a detail like ''time'' was unimportant to him.


    In fact, he wouldn''t even know about the concept of ''time'' until one of those dymons told him about it.


    But that was also before he smashed that dymon''s face in. Thinking back on it, killing that dymon in particular was one of Sedral''s fondest memories.


    At the very least it was one of the few memories that he actually bothered to remember.


    When he finally arrived at the landing site, he found that the ship wasn''t there yet.


    That can''t be right, he had a gut feeling that this ship was going to land here and his gut feelings were never wrong.


    Just as Sedral scratched his head wondering where his ship could be, a sudden gargantuan shadow enveloped him.


    His gut feeling immediately told him to look up, and when he did a wide grotesque smile formed on his face.


    Audible joy could be heard in his gruff voice when he shouted.


    "Moon Blasta!"


    Right before it crashed a couple dozen meters away from him, causing a huge explosion as it did so, sending dust and debris in every direction.


    Some of the dust peppered Sedral''s skin that wasn''t covered in armour while some of the debris embedded themselves deep into his body, causing wounds that would kill a lesser being.


    But he didn''t care, he didn''t even feel it.


    After the ''successful landing,'' there was a moment of quiet before a simultaneous shout broke the silence.


    "Wwaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggg!"


    Soon after, the drop ramps of the Moon Blasta opened up before orkks came spilling out, appearing like green water being poured out of a water jug. But those cramped drop ramps weren''t the only ways for the orkks to leave the ship.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Boom! Boom!


    Multiple gunshots and explosions rang out as orkks blasted their way through the ships already damaged hull, creating ''new exits'' in the process.


    Within a few short moments, the Moon Blasta was emptied of orkks, all of them now dyeing the once brown lands of the planet in a bright green colour. Some of them were already getting into fights with one another.


    "Listen up boiz!"


    But their attention would soon be diverted to the leader of their warband, the warboss; Sedral Anuk Suntrida.


    "We got hoomiez on dis planet! We''re gunna krush der skullz! An den we''re gunna kannibalize whateva skrap we kan find ta kreate bigga an badda gunz kause dat''z wot we orkks do!!"


    As the orkks started getting even more riled up upon hearing his words, Sedral took this opportunity to raise his arms and release a strong loud shout, loud enough to be heard by every single orkk under his command.


    "Waaaarrrrrrgggggggg!!!"


    His shout was soon followed by a synchronised, bloodcurdling and deafening roar.

 24 Rising Tensions

    Within the capital city of Viridi and within the ''Viridi White House,'' the planetary governor of Viridi; George Wilson leaned back onto his office chair within his private study, his eyesight gazing forward but looking at nothing.


    Multiple holographic screens were projected from the desk, all of which displayed multiple different statistics relating to Viridi. In particular Viridi''s military and defensive capabilities but after clarifying things with Viridi''s planetary minister for defence he could only conclude a grim future for his planet.


    However, that would soon change when the doors of his private study opened, giving him a clear view of a rather tall woman who appeared to be in her late thirties. She had long black hair that was tied into a low ponytail and dark brown eyes that would often times appear black instead of brown.


    She wore a pseudo exo-suit that took the appearance of a formal business dress that had a golden pin of the U.P.A.''s emblem attached onto it, highlighting her position as a government official.


    "Sir, the Platinum Avenger has warped into orbit, and the ship''s commander; the deputy director of P.A.I.N.; Melanie Menendez is requesting an audience via transmission with you as well as the planetary ministers. Shall we comply?"


    When George heard that piece of good news from that woman; his assistant; the ''personal secretary to the planetary governor''; Zhao Ling, he immediately heaved a breath of relief.


    His shoulders which were once tensed up, relaxed upon confirming that not only will around 500 elite confederate psionic operatives be arriving on the planet shortly, but among them will be the ''Silver Sparrow;'' Melanie Menedez, an S-class psionic.


    "Finally they are here."


    After mumbling to himself in glee, he gave Zhao an order.


    "Yes! And give them the clearance to land immediately. Any suitable landing pad will do, just ensure that they land as soon as possible. Also don''t hold the audience in the oval office, just do it here."


    When she heard the contents of George''s order, her eyebrows rose in slight shock before she proceeded to question him.


    "Not in the oval office? But what about the planetary ministers? Shouldn''t they also be present for such a meeting?"


    "We don''t have time to waste on waiting for the ministers to arrive. Just send them a transmission and patch them into the transmission between me and Melanie. Surely they won''t mind. Even if it''s just their voices, there still shouldn''t be any problems."


    In response to George''s explanation, Zhao only made a quick nod with her head before she excused herself.


    "Understood, I''ll see to it sir."


    A few seconds later, all of the other screens closed to give George a clearer view of the larger holographic screen before a video call started.


    What appeared on the screen was a woman who seemed to be in her late twenties or early thirties and had short, silky, silver-white hair that was cut above her neck and coupled together nicely with her silver eyes.


    She donned a bright silver coloured light exo-suit which looked extra shiny under the lighting of her ship''s bridge. Like most exo-suits used by elite confederate psionics, there were running lines of crimson red lights running across her suit.


    However, the indifferent and uncaring expression on her face reminded him of a bored teen, something which completely betrayed his expectations of the person who was supposed to be the so-called ''Silver Sparrow;'' the powerful S-classed deputy director of P.A.I.N.


    But George still managed to keep these thoughts within his mind as he made a kind and welcoming smile to the other party as he waited for her to introduce herself.


    Soon, after making a short nod, she began speaking.


    "Governor Wilson of planet Viridi. I am Melanie Menendez, the commanding officer of this P.A.I.N. expeditionary force and the crew of the Platinum Avenger as well as the acting deputy director of P.A.I.N. May I presume that you currently don''t have any time for pleasantries or formalities?


    Although what she said was somewhat rude and impolite, especially when speaking to a planetary governor, George also knew that he had no time to waste. As such, he could only reply with an affirmative.


    "Yes you may."


    Melanie once again nodded before she posed him another question.


    "I see. And may I also presume that you have a greenskinned infestation in your midst?"


    George was taken aback by her extensive knowledge of the situation. As far as he knew, the orkks only ''landed'' on Viridi a couple hours ago and he made it his utmost priority to ensure that the information of the orkks'' unwelcome arrival has yet to reach the ears of the general public.


    So how was she, a person who spent days warping from the Earth''s Solar System to the New Florida System, knowledgeable about the orkks on Viridi?


    On the other hand, Melanie seemed to have noticed the shock on his face, prompting her to explain herself.


    "If you''re wondering how I could be aware of your current predicament, it''s thanks to a few special psionics that I have onboard with me on the Avenger. They possess rather ''unique'' detection abilities. Although you''ll have to forgive me for telling you that the specific details are classified information."


    George knitted his eyebrows together in disbelief when he heard her answer. He couldn''t stop his sense of disbelief from leaking into his voice when he spoke.


    "But I''ve never heard of such an ability. At least, none of the U.P. psionics that were stationed on this planet before they were redeployed had that ability."


    Melanie would only shrug in an indifferent manner before she responded to him.


    "I did tell you that it was a unique ability. Besides, it''s highly unlikely for the U.P.''s government to deploy psionics who have similar abilities on a mere backwater world within an outer border system."


    "Are you implying that my planet is of no importance to you?"


    When she heard his question, she still kept an uncaring expression on her face when she answered.


    "It''s of no importance to your own government. I''m sorry that you have to hear this from me but to your government, your world isn''t as valuable as those that held strategic importance either from a military or an industrial standpoint. It''s just simple resource allocation... speaking of which..."


    She paused for a short while, as if to confirm her thoughts with herself before she resumed speaking.


    "You are rather lucky that your government decided to redeploy the psionics stationed here when they did, otherwise I wouldn''t even be near here. Granted the American government did redeploy a lot of their psionics from multiple systems so I guess that you were just lucky... but such an event still begs the question."


    For the first time, Melanie''s expression changed when she spoke albeit only slightly. George didn''t know what the specific change was exactly but he did sense it, causing him to feel some sweat drip down the back of his neck.


    "What have you Americans been up to in the past few days? Not only did you burden my department and numerous other confederate psionic departments with the task of supplementing your own planets with psionic forces but you won''t even reveal where all of those redeployed psionics went."


    "I''m sorry but I don''t have access to this sort of information."


    Although George told the truth, he still expected her to inquire more into the U.P.A.''s motives but to his surprise, Melanie would only once again shrug in an careless manner before she returned to her usual indifferent disposition.


    "It''s fine. I was just curious and I was getting off-track anyway. What I wanted to ask was if I am right to assume that the U.P. Psionics that were previously stationed here were of a... low standard?"


    Knowing that there was no point in withholding the truth, George could only sigh as he answered her question.


    "Yes, out of the 500 U.P. psionics that were stationed here, the highest class was that of the D-class and we only had one psionic within that class. Everyone else is only within the F-class or the E-class."


    "Sir! Forgive me for my rude interruption but is it really alright to inform a foreign agent of classified military information?"


    The one who spoke was Christopher Loranger; Viridi''s planetary minister for foreign affairs who only just joined the transmission. He immediately voiced his opinions when he heard George reveal classified military information to Melanie, who is by technicality a foreigner hailing from the Earth''s Solar System.


    His face didn''t appear on the screen and only his voice was present, causing both George and Melanie to be slightly surprised by the sudden appearance of his voice. Before anyone could say anything else however, the screen expanded in size before another female face appeared.


    She appeared to be entering into her early forties with long platinum-blonde hair that was tied up into a mid ponytail.


    Like Zhao, she wore a pseudo exo-suit that appeared like a formal business dress and had a golden pin of the U.P.A.''s emblem attached onto it. The only difference of her outfit to Zhao was the addition of a red tie.


    She held a tense yet prideful expression on her face while she spoke.


    "Mr Governor has my approval on his decision to inform Menendez of Viridi military secrets. Besides, P.A.I.N. only acts under the authority of the Intergalactic Terran Confederation which surely wouldn''t wish any harm upon any of their client nations. Especially a nation like the United Planets of America."


    Hearing the platinum-blonde woman agree with his actions, George couldn''t help but nod his head in approval before he thanked her.


    "Thank you very much Woods."


    That woman was Claire Woods; Viridi''s planetary minister for defence so her opinion on this matter took precedence over Christopher''s.


    Of course, as the planetary governor, it was George who had the final say. Whatever order he gave must be carried out no matter what. Only a select few orders required the approval of the planetary minister for defence before being carried out.


    Soon after, the holographic screen expanded again in order to accommodate another minister joining the transmission. This time the person who appeared was a bald man who appeared to be in his thirties. Like the other ministers, he wore a pseudo exo-suit that took the shape of a formal business suit.


    He only gave a quick sentence in order to state his opinion.


    "I second Woods''s notion."


    The bald man was Vando Belspoke; Viridi''s planetary minister for psionic affairs and the only psionic that was not redeployed from Viridi.


    Melanie, seemingly having read between the lines took the opportunity to speak.


    "So does that mean that I have permission to gain any insight into the military of your planet? Of course, I only seek information that''s relevant to your predicament."


    Clair nodded in response as she spoke.


    "As long as it is within my power, I am willing to divulge to you any of our planet''s military secrets in order to eliminate the orkk threat. Although..."


    She hesitated for a short moment before she continued speaking.


    "I am ashamed to admit that despite being Viridi''s planetary minister for defence I... I lack experience when it comes to orkks... As such, I was hoping that you could provide assistance. Perhaps with methods of how to best deal with the orkks."


    Melanie''s eyebrows rose slightly before she returned to her usual expression when she spoke.


    "Hmmm... I see. Well I guess we''ll start with the basics first."


    She casted a long glance at everyone present in the transmission before she continued.

 25 The Sparrows Fangs

    "Nuclear capabilities?!"


    While everyone else fell silent, Claire immediately questioned Melanie''s ''basic'' method of dealing with the orkks.


    "Nevermind the implication of you asking for our nuclear capabilities. Isn''t such a thing unnecessary for dealing with the orkk threat?"


    To Claire''s and the other ministers'' surprise, Melanie only chuckled in a cynical yet somewhat annoyed manner in response to Claire''s question. But she soon returned to her usual expression of indifference before she spoke.


    "I know that planetary ministers are inherently busy people but why does every single one that I meet, especially Americans, has to be ignorant of the orkks? Is it too hard to ask for just one planetary minister who is actually knowledgeable about the orkks?"


    She sounded as if she was a disappointed teacher reacting to the horrible grades of her students.


    "Watch your tone! And show some respect! Remember what kind of people you are talking to! We have no time to waste on researching those greenskinned barbarians that are an entire star system away! We have other important matters to attend to!"


    If Claire wasn''t mistaken then the voice of the shout should belong to Jonathan Klints; the planetary minister for commerce.


    Evidently, he was previously only listening to the transmission before he could no longer tolerate Melanie''s lack of manners.


    But Melanie herself didn''t even seem phased by Jonathan''s outburst. In fact, Claire felt as if Melanie was growing tired of dealing with them. Her mouth which before only showed a superficial level of respect now held poison in her words as she spoke.


    "Hmph. I''ll only show you the respect that you deserve. Now I remember why I seldom dealt with government officials, especially planetary ministers... You''re all prideful yet ignorant fools that delude yourselves with delusions of grandeur just because you administer some planet."


    "How dare you say that!"


    "You''re acting as if administering an entire fucking planet is easy!"


    "You take that back you impertinent bitch!"


    A huge uproar overwhelmed the transmission when the planetary ministers heard Melanie''s rude remarks. Pretty much all of the ministers that were part of the transmission openly responded with hostility towards the confederate psionic.


    The only ones who didn''t were Belspoke, Wilson and Claire herself. As a person who had previously participated in military expeditions, including ones outside of the New Florida System, she was thus aware of how insignificant her home world of Viridi really was.


    As for Vando Belspoke and George Wilson, well the former was a retired psionic veteran who rarely interacted with those outside of his department and spoke little in general while the latter was a good-natured philanthropist at heart.


    However, that still didn''t change the fact that the relationship between Melanie and the planetary ministers were now all but existent at this point. But soon, her voice would quieten everyone down.


    "Enough! I tire of you self-righteous bigots! There are uncountable billions of planetary ministers within the United Planets of America alone! You''re not as significant as you think!"


    For the first time, Claire actually felt anger in Melanie''s voice, as if she finally snapped.


    "I could kill all of you right now and no one within the entirety of the American government would bat an eye. In my years in P.A.I.N. I met an insufferable amount of self-satisfied egomaniacs and most of you lot are no different.


    The fact that they were planetary ministers didn''t save them from orkk incursions or rouge dymons. The universe doesn''t give a flying fuck about you or whatever so-called ''legislative power'' you hold.


    I''ve seen entire planets consumed by the orkks. So-called ''impregnable'' and ''invincible'' fortress worlds overrun by the green menace. Your world isn''t even half as defensible as most other planets, let alone fortress worlds."


    Melanie''s chest was heaving by the time that she was finished her expressive rant, as if her body was recovering from an explosion.


    "Now get your heads out of your asses and answer my goddamn question! What. Are. Your. Nuclear. Capabilities?"


    This time, none of the planetary ministers dared to oppose the angered Silver Sparrow. While feeling both grateful for and fearful of Melanie, Claire made her response.


    "Erm... Before I answer, may you please answer a question of my own?"


    "Meh... Go ahead."


    What scared Claire the most was not Melanie''s explosive outburst, but how she was able return to her usual uncaring disposition in a snap. Seeing this, Claire couldn''t help but think [what the hell has Melanie gone through in order for her to become like this?] and she also couldn''t help but internally shudder at that very thought.


    Nevertheless, Claire still posed her own question towards Melanie.


    "Why must you know our nuclear capabilities?"


    The other party only sighed in a tired manner before she replied.


    "You really do know nothing about the orkks do you? I''ll put it simply for you, if your nuclear capabilities are not of a satisfactory level, then Viridi is already doomed."


    "What is that supposed to mean?.."


    George after having remained silent for a long time, questioned the implications of her words.


    "It means that if you want to save Viridi, then you have to completely eradicate the orkks within a short timespan. Damn it, I might as well explain it so that I don''t have to deal with answering more of your questions.


    Orkks landing on a planet, could be likened to that of a terminal illness. And the only way to save the planet would be through the same way a patient can be saved from a terminal illness. To eliminate the problem before it became too severe. Hence, nuclear bombardment."


    George nodded his head in acknowledgement of what she said but he still didn''t appear to be convinced. It didn''t take long until he once again posed another question.


    "But I still don''t understand how the orkks could be likened to that of a terminal illness. We are aware of their barbaric nature and that they are extremely well-versed in the art of war but that isn''t enough to justify why we should just eradicate them with our nuclear armaments."


    Melanie only made another tired sigh before she responded.


    "I believe that you lot may have misinterpreted what I said when I told you the example of entire planets being consumed by orkks. Am I right to assume that most of you believe that these planets fell to massive orkk armadas?"


    Most of the ministers murmured something that vaguely sounded like the word ''yes'' while others including Claire only remained silent.


    After confirming their answer, Melanie scoffed as she answered back with a single word.


    "Incorrect."


    Most of the other ministers seemed to be surprised by her response but they didn''t voice their opinions as they instead allowed her to explain.


    "The orkks invaded some of these planets through the same method that they used to invade Viridi. By crashing a single spacecraft filled to the brim with orkks onto their target planet."


    "..."


    The entire transmission was claimed by silence when Melanie revealed how some human planets fell to the orkks. Soon, after making a loud gulp, one of the ministers stuttered when she spoke.


    "B-but... t-that''s impossible."


    Claire didn''t even register who this female planetary minister was. While her voice was indeed familiar to Claire, she was still reeling from the realisation that her planet was also liable to become one of these planets that would fall to the orkks.


    But it still didn''t add up. She couldn''t help but internally ask ''how were the orkks able to achieve such an incredible feat?''


    Sure the orkks were on average more physically powerful than humans while orkk weaponry was on par with humanity''s, that shouldn''t mean that a warband consisting of thousands of orkks can conquer entire planets usually inhabited by millions to billions of humans.


    But her question would soon be answered by Melanie.


    "Impossible for a ''normal'' intelligent species maybe... but not for an intelligent species that was ''genetically unique'' like the orkks."


    The two words ''genetically unique'' stuck with Claire. Those two words lingered within her mind until a sudden revelation revealed itself in her thoughts. A realisation that she thought was so obvious that she mentally ridiculed and berated her past self for not coming to this realisation sooner.


    Soon, the Silver Sparrow confirmed Claire''s thoughts.


    "Forgetting how it is near impossible for a species like them to naturally exist, the orkk race in their entirety could also be likened to that of a biological war machine. Other than the fact that virtually every single orkk was a powerful warrior at birth, they also reproduced extraordinarily quickly."


    Claire noticed a look of realisation also dawn on Wilson''s face while murmurs of astonishment were heard in the background of the transmission. But Melanie seemed to ignore them as she continued explaining.


    "For those of you who flunked out on your orkk research classes which I guess is pretty much all of you, I''ll give you a quick summary of orkk physiology.


    In layman''s terms, the physical bodies of orkks are a symbiotic animal-fungus hybrid who reproduce asexually from what we call ''orkkoid fungal pods.'' What may seem to be an ordinary shroom or fungus may actually be connected to an embryo containing a growing orkk under the Earth.


    Orkk ''offspring'' are produced en masse thanks to this method with fully grown adult orkks growing out of their embryos in a mere few weeks after their original ''conception''. These fungal pods themselves are the results of ''orkk spores'' which every orkk releases upon death."


    Melanie paused for a short moment to let what she said sink in before she continued.


    "Now how many hundreds if not thousands of orkks do you think died upon impact when they crashed their ship?""


    "..."


    There was another long period of silence as the ministers realised the true extent of the threat posed by the orkks. This silence was broken by another one of Melanie''s sighs, but instead of sounding tired, this sigh actually sounded relieved.


    "Seeing that we are now all finally on the same page, can someone now finally tell me what the nuclear capabilities of your planet are?"


    "..."


    But seemingly to Melanie''s dismay, she received no response from any of the ministers. As the planetary minister for defence, Claire was the most suitable one to answer but when she attempted to open her mouth and speak, she found that no words came out.


    "Well? Come on. Tell me-"


    "None!"


    It was only at the most improper moment did Claire finally blurt out her answer.


    A look of confusion grew on Melanie''s face as she proceeded to question what Claire meant.


    "Excuse me but can I ask you to repeat that?"


    Claire had to take a deep breath before she was able to respond.


    "None... We no longer have any nuclear capabilities."


    "You no longer have any... No... Don''t tell me..."


    Melanie''s widened in shock as she appeared to have realised where Viridi''s nukes went. With a sad sigh, George confirmed her suspicions.


    "Yes... the U.P.A. also redeployed them along with our psionics. I apologise on behalf of everyone else but we were ordered by the U.P.A. government to keep all of this a secret. The other nations were only supposed to know of the movement of psionics but not the nukes..."


    "Tch... I can deal with that later. I have more pressing matters to attend to."


    Melanie''s indifferent expression suddenly became more threatening and imposing when she replied.


    "Without nukes, you are all useless. As the deputy director of P.A.I.N. I will now hereby declare Viridi under martial law via the Confederate Constitution article #97-B. As of this moment, all military personnel of Viridi shall answer to me until the time that I declare martial law over."


    The planetary ministers were clearly surprised by Melanie''s declaration but despite that, she didn''t even give them the chance to respond before she threatened them.

 26 Silvers and Emeralds Part I

    Melanie had a throbbing headache by the time she finished dealing with Viridi''s planetary ministers.


    She repeatedly mentally berated herself for losing her cool, a rarity that almost never happens as she contemplated the recent turn of events.


    To think that not only did she have to deal with an orkk incursion but she also seemed to have uncovered part of a conspiracy too.


    Under duress, the planetary ministers revealed to Melanie all of the military assets that the American government redeployed to some unknown location. These included main battle tanks, long range artillery pieces, and most of their in-atmosphere flightcrafts.


    It was very likely that the case was the same for much of the other American planets.


    It was obvious to her that the true reason why the Americans only revealed the redeployment of their psionics was not because of altruistic reasons or a sense of loyalty to the Intergalactic Terran Confederation but instead actually to act as a smokescreen to cover up the rest of their military movements.


    There was no doubt that the Americans were planning something with such a mass redeployment of military assets. The only question was figuring out what it actually was.


    And on top of all that, she still had to deal with the orkk threat with the limited resources she had at her disposal thanks to the American government.


    After all, as the deputy director of P.A.I.N. and the famed Silver Sparrow she can''t afford to have a blemish on her perfect record, even if it were to just defend an unimportant planet against orkks.


    But that didn''t change that this entire ordeal was still what one could call a ''nightmare scenario.''


    [When did things get so complicated? We were only supposed to supplement the psionic defence of this planet until the U.P.A. could afford to replace them with their own psionics not deal with some orkks.]


    She couldn''t help but frown as she thought about this misfortunate turn of events.


    She didn''t expect for the mission to transform from a simple security detail to the nightmare it is now.


    She wouldn''t even be here if it weren''t for the fact that she had to keep an eye on ???????????????? person during the whole operation.


    [What a headache].


    "Madame? What should we do now?"


    Melanie''s train of thought was soon interrupted by the voice of Jasper Edgeworth, the hazel-haired and hazel-eyed captain of the Platinum Avenger and the ship''s de-facto commanding officer whenever she wasn''t around.


    "We were already heading for a landing pad weren''t we? Just continue on the current course as planned."


    Melanie replied in a rather nonchalant manner, as if she was completely oblivious to the urgency of the situation.


    "Understood madame but..."


    His voice lapsed into silence as he hesitated for a moment before he continued.


    "But what about your father?"


    Melanie didn''t respond at all to his question. Seeing her reaction, he seemed to have realised his mistake when he coughed as he hurriedly corrected himself.


    "Ehem, I mean what about P.A.I.N.''s director; Arthur ''Allen'' Cray?"


    She would only shrug casually in response.


    "What about him?"


    Although he appeared to be a little bit surprised by her reply, the expression on his face exclaimed the sentence ''well, I guess this was only to be expected.'' After a short moment of silence, Jasper made a resigned sigh before he proceeded to speak.


    "Understood. Is there anything else that you need completed?"


    Melanie paused for a short while to think to herself before she answered his question.


    "After seeing to it that we can land on Viridi, summon all of the P.A.I.N. psionic operatives that are not part of the Avenger''s crew to the cafeteria. I''m going to hold an emergency meeting."


    ...


    Cynthia gathered within the cafeteria among the other psionic operatives, all of them sat on one of the available cafeteria table seats as they awaited for Melanie to explain to them why she called them here.


    Because the original plan was for all of the psionic operatives to be divided into numerous separate task forces who handled different objectives once they landed, they would have been briefed at differing times and were only given information on a need-to-know basis.


    Other than that, each psionic operative would have already been briefed on the basics of the planet and what kind of threats they should be expecting before they boarded the Platinum Avenger.


    Not only that but it was also somewhat awkward to divulge what seemed to be important information just a mere few moments before they landed.


    It would make sense if it was a secretive black ops operation but their only task was to act as a supplementary defence force until they were recalled.


    As such, the only reason that Melanie would even call this meeting in the first place was if there was a critical development on Viridi that everyone needed to be aware of.


    Annoyingly, that careless expression on Melanie''s face made it hard for Cynthia to guess what this development actually was.


    But she had a hunch.


    There was only one threat that necessitated an emergency meeting like this hours before they landed.


    Soon enough, Melanie while flanked by a contingent of black-suited D.R.E.A.D. crimson marines confirmed Cynthia''s suspicions.


    "We have confirmed the existence of orkk forces within the wastelands of Viridi."


    Although her declaration immediately caused a stir amongst the psionics, her very presence and the psionics'' conditioning from their repeated training drills prevented them from discussing the matter amongst themselves.


    Cynthia herself, actually held mixed feelings upon this revelation. Of course, she didn''t let any of her emotions show on her face.


    Nevertheless, Melanie still continued on with the briefing.


    "After much deliberation, the planetary ministers of Viridi and I have both agreed that these orkks must be eliminated. We also agreed on the general battle plan. More details will be given to you once you are divided into your task forces but this is the general idea of the battle strategy."


    After making a slight hand wave to the crimson marines behind her, all of the aforementioned marines held their right arms forward in unison before a large holographic screen projected itself out the gauntlets of their right hand.


    The screen itself was so large that it nearly stretched out from side to side of the cafeteria while its height was slightly off from touching both the roof and the flooring of the cafeteria.


    What was actually on the screen was what appeared to be a topographic map of a sector of Viridi''s wasteland. There didn''t seem to be any elevation nor any vegetation on this area of the wasteland save for the occasional hills and sparse shrubbery.


    The most eye catching detail of the map however, was the massive red circle at the direct centre. And at the very centre of that red circle was the green ''Warboi'' emblem; a pair of two rectangles with horns and eyes that was meant to resemble an orkk head.


    The emblem itself was commonly used by the orkks no matter what orkk tribe or warband they belonged to. The emblem was emblazoned in the form of metal coatings onto their tanks, armour and even their weapons, typically alongside the emblem of their respective warband or tribe.


    Sometimes only the Warboi emblem was present while the emblems of their warband or tribe was completely absent. Either way, it was rare for an orkk to be seen without the Warboi emblem being inscribed onto at least one of their equipments.


    The Warboi emblem became so synonymous with the orkk race that even the officials of the Intergalactic Terran Confederation as well as officials of the I.T.C.''s client nations utilised the emblem as a symbol to refer to the orkks.


    It was obvious what the large red circle with the Warboi emblem was meant to symbolise.


    After letting everyone silently stare at the map for a short while, Melanie cleared her throat to gather their attention before she began briefing them on the general battle plan.


    "This is sector 49-C of the wastelands, where an orkk warship, predicted to be either a frigate class or light cruiser class ship, crashed no longer than ten hours ago. In that ten hour time period, they should have already ''kannibalized'' their ship into scrap before transforming them into military grade weapons and vehicles.


    Although that was only a prediction, the orkk race in of themselves is very predictable. They very rarely deviate from the predicted movements and when they do, it''s usually due to sheer luck. Orkks are simple minded creatures whose lack of critical thinking can be easily taken advantage of."


    Melanie paused for a few seconds to survey the cafeteria before she continued.


    "As you are all probably thinking, yes we are planning to take advantage of their simple minded nature. An Orkk''s strengths lie in their savage instincts, high physical capabilities and their countless numbers, we simply need to lure them into a fight where these advantages can be largely negated.


    The most suitable location for this fight would be the ''Dardanelle Ravine'' which is only a few miles away from where the orkks originally landed."


    As she said this, the map moved downwards in a southwestern direction towards a long winding ravine that appeared to be situated between two ridges. However, the ridges themselves appeared to very steep and ill-suited for being used as power positions to attack at the orkks from above.


    "A small strike team will lure the orkks from their encampment to this location. From there we will mount an ambush while using the topographical landscape to our advantage. There the orkks'' numbers will mean nothing. All you all have to do is hold the line until all of the orkks are effectively eliminated.


    As most of you can probably tell, we can only have minimal forces stationed atop the ravine''s ridges due to environmental reasons. And before any of you gets your hopes up, the only ones who will be stationed atop the ravines are the mortar teams of Viridi''s military.


    Unless otherwise specified, no P.A.I.N. psionic will be seen on top of that ridge."


    A resounding but almost indistinguishable sigh echoed within the cafeteria in response to Melanie''s words. Cynthia herself remained unmoved but she did empathise with the other psionics, even if she didn''t really care about them.


    Nevertheless, Melanie seemed to have ignored the crowds as she continued speaking in an indifferent tone.


    "I''m sure that you are all already aware of the basics about the orkks but protocol dictates that I must repeat this to all of you.


    The orkks are a barbaric and crude yet terrifyingly potent species.


    Their weapons and vehicles are ramshackle, ill-kempt rustbuckets yet they are horribly effective.


    They are all on average physically stronger, faster and more agile than you.


    They are all battle-maniacs who only seek to indulge themselves in ceaseless strife and conflict, taking joy in the pain they both inflict and receive.


    The orkks operate under the complete antithesis of standard contemporary warfare.


    While typical battle stratagems would attempt to gain strategic victories with as little resource waste as possible, orkks will literally throw everything they have into a single fight for the most petty of reasons if it means that they will ''have fun.''


    They will never slow, they will never relent and every ''failure'' that they suffer only excites them and their fighting spirits, causing them to fight stronger and harder than they previously were.


    And most importantly, the two words ''peace'' and ''mercy'' doesn''t even exist in their vocabulary so don''t expect any positive outcome from surrendering or attempting to parlay with them."


    She paused for a short moment to let what she said sink before she continued.


    "In short, they will not hold back and they will kill you if given the chance."


    Cynthia felt as if Melanie was directing her gaze directly towards the former as the latter concluded her speech.

 27 Silvers and Emeralds Part II

    Once the briefing was concluded, Cynthia would only continue to sit down at her table in silence as all the other psionics either forwarded out of the cafeteria or grouped up with their comrades to converse about the operation.


    She would have preferred to return to her designated dorm-room within the Platinum Avenger in order to continue her research but circumstances dictate that she must remain here.


    It was only once there was a few P.A.I.N. psionics left within the cafeteria did she get approached by the person who was the reason why she had stayed behind.


    "Greetings Operative Starr or do you prefer it if I call you the ''Emerald Flame?''"


    Cynthia pretended to put an awkward expression on her face when she replied to the nonchalant yet somewhat friendly voice of Melanie Menendez.


    "Erm... I think I just prefer it you just call me Cynthia actually..."


    Melanie silently gazed at Cynthia for a short moment before she shrugged and spoke up in that typical indifferent tone of hers.


    "Whatever you prefer. Just remember that I still have to refer to you formally on formal occasions¡­ obviously."


    "Oh that''s fine."


    This time, Cynthia pretended to respond in a cheerful manner before she proceeded to question the Silver Sparrow in a curious and inquisitive yet childlike tone.


    "So what did you need to talk with me about? And why here of all places?"


    "For the first question, it''s about your specific mission details, as for the second one... well lets just say that it seems less conspicuous if it seemed like I was just having a friendly chat with you in the cafeteria."


    Melanie paused for a short moment to chuckle before she continued.


    "Well, based on what we talked about so far, I guess it really isn''t too far from a friendly chat. Anyhow, I was meant to divulge to you what your role will be within the operation."


    She once again paused for another short moment and appeared to have closely sized up Cynthia before she resumed.


    "You have been selected as my only partner within the strike team that is meant to lure the orkk forces towards the Dardanelle Ravine."


    Cynthia''s eyes instantly widened in shock upon hearing what her mission was. She initially thought that she was simply going to be part of a temporary squad that held a specific point at the ravine, not to carry out the near suicidal task of luring the orkks towards the ambush location.


    [Is this more of Allen''s work? Or did Melanie do this out of her own volition? Damn, no matter who''s responsible I still have to deal with this bullshit!]


    Cynthia opened her mouth to speak but she was interrupted by Melanie''s voice before she could even say anything.


    "I chose for you to be my partner because I thought that you would be the most suitable candidate. Not only are you a powerful psionic that is at least C-class in strength but your small size and stature makes you light and a hard ''target'' to hit as well.


    Of course I''m going to keep you out of harm''s way so don''t you worry. Besides, your psionic abilities of heat manipulation combined with the fact that you''re a ''small target'' make you well suited for the ''hit and run'' kind of tactic that we will be employing to lure the orkks."


    As per usual, Cynthia pretended to react in the normal way any typical kid would have in this sort of situation.


    "I-I don''t really want to do this... I... I don''t think I can even survive!"


    Cynthia didn''t know what it was exactly but she felt as if she struck a chord with Melanie when the latter responded to the former in a far more gentler tone that was uncharacteristic of her.


    "I have no doubt that you can do this. Don''t forget this but you are still an immensely powerful psionic with the potential to become even stronger. And so am I. Trust me. Everything will be alright."


    It was at that moment when a sudden revelation flashed within Cynthia''s mind. She smiled internally as she thought about Melanie''s origins, a secret she learned in her past life. And on top of that, she also seemed to be ''different'' from her usual self.


    Whatever the reason was for Melanie to be ''emotionally vulnerable'' which is in of itself a rarity, this was still the perfect opportunity for Cynthia to advance her own goals.


    "But... what if I don''t want to become a powerful psionic?"


    Although Melanie appeared to be slightly surprised by what Cynthia said, she didn''t say anything as she instead allowed Cynthia to continue speaking.


    "Ever since that day at the cafeteria when I... did the ''thing'' to that man''s eyes. I haven''t been able to make a single true friend."


    Melanie didn''t reply immediately but instead remained silent for an entire minute.


    When she finally opened her mouth, her words were quiet and soft-spoken.


    "Yeah... I... I know what you mean."


    But her voice would soon become sharp and even contain hints of disdain the more that she spoke.


    "Even amongst other psionics I was regarded as ''different.'' People either saw me as a tool to be exploited or as a perfect paragon that they could never compare themselves to. Either way, nobody saw me as someone who could be their friend."


    "Oh so kinda like me huh?.. No one wants to be friends with us cause even among the special people we are still too special?"


    Cynthia made sure to lapse into silence for another short moment before she came up with a ''sudden idea.''


    "Oh hey! I got an idea!"


    Melanie''s eyebrows rose when she heard Cynthia proclaim that she had an idea before she questioned what this idea actually was.


    "What is it?"


    Cynthia made sure to greet Melanie''s question with a warm, welcoming but ultimately fake smile when she proposed her ''idea.''


    "Do you want to be my friend?"


    A faint, almost indistinguishable yet still visible smile formed on Melanie''s face when she replied.


    "I would... I would like that very much actually."


    ...


    Within her private dorm-room Katarina sat on her bed as she thought about Melanie''s emergency meeting.


    Although she had a feeling about what the emergency meeting was going to be about beforehand, that didn''t mean that she wanted her suspicions to be proven true. Regardless of what happened, she couldn''t do anything about memories except remember what occurred.


    "Your specific mission and squad details will be sent to both your personal exo-suit as well as your personal computer terminal within your dorm-room. I apologise in advance but some individuals may have to wait a little longer for their own mission details."


    Melanie paused at that moment to make a sliding glance at the crowd before she finished.


    "Now that concludes this general briefing. I hope that I will see you all return alive to the Platinum Avenger by the time this is all over."


    Katarina remembered that she subconsciously gulped upon hearing Melanie''s final phrase.


    ''Return alive.''


    Yes, Katarina wanted to return alive.


    Who wouldn''t?


    Unless that particular person was suicidal, she believed that no one in their right mind would willingly accept death.


    At the very least, that''s how she felt is should be.


    She never understood how some people could ''die contently.''


    Perhaps she was still too young to find.


    But perhaps she will never find out.


    Either way, she didn''t want her cause of death to be because she died a meaningless death protecting some unimportant backwater outer border planet from orkks. [Why do I have to fight for these bumpkins? It''s just a pointless, insignificant world. Is risking my life really worth it if it means that I could save theirs?]


    Although these thoughts plagued her mind, they were soon overrun by a multitude of other thoughts that also crowded her mind.


    [Oh God no! How could I even think that?! There are millions of people who live on this planet even if it''s just a backwater world. I can''t condemn millions of people even if I don''t know them!] Katarina mentally berated herself for harbouring such cold and callous thoughts after realising just how selfish they actually were.


    Even though she kept everything within the confines of her mind, she still couldn''t help but feel guilty for her ''actions.''


    "What''s with that look on your face? It''s a weird expression but it''s not the typical ''Katarina'' weird expression."


    Soon, Katarina''s thoughts would be interrupted by Alicia''s voice, who spoke in a matter of fact way. Alicia herself laid on the mattress of the top bunk, placing her outside of Katarina''s line of sight. Evidently, Alicia probably caught a quick glance of Katarina''s expression before she returned to lying down on her bunk.


    "Oh shut up. I... I was just thinking."


    Despite the fact that Katarina actually told the truth, Alicia didn''t seem to be convinced by her honest explanation.


    "If you say so..."


    "Ah you know what? Nevermind. Let''s just move the subject along and talk about something else... Like ummm..."


    Katarina''s voice disappeared for a short while as she frantically thought of a topic to switch the subject to.


    "Like erm... the orkks!"


    "The orkks?"


    Alicia''s questioning response immediately made Katarina regret her choice of words but it was too late to back down now. After confirming her resolve, Katarina made an affirmative reply.


    "Yes the orkks! What do you think about them? Like in general?"


    "I see them as the enemy that we will have to face. Nothing more. Nothing less."


    Katarina instantly felt relieved in response to Alicia''s answer. Even if her answer would leave nothing but awkward silence in its wake, at the very least it avoided the previous predicament. However, Katarina got so caught up in the moment that she was caught ill-prepared by Alicia''s own question.


    "What about you?"


    Katarina was not prepared to answer such a question and she could only give a clumsy answer in reply.


    "What about me?"


    When Alicia heard what Katrina said, she made a slightly tired sigh before she responded.


    "I mean what do you think about the orkks?"


    It took her another long moment before she was able to think up of an answer.


    "I think that they''re going to be a worthy opponent against someone as mighty as myself."


    "''Mighty as yourself.'' You can''t even defeat the food you eat for breakfast and yet you believe that you are a match for the orkks?"


    Katarina was left speechless for a moment before she was able to muster the strength to say something back.


    "Hey, don''t say stuff like that! Don''t make light of my life like that!"


    "I''m being completely serious though."


    Alicia chuckled lightly as she replied. On the other hand, Katarina could only respond with sarcasm.


    "Haha very funny."


    "I like to think that I am a humorous person at times."


    Once, Alicia said that, a dreadful quiet permeated within the room for a long time before the silence was broken by Katarina.


    "But all jokes aside... I''m... I''m scared."


    Katarina could feel concern within Alicia''s voice when she spoke.


    "Katarina you-"


    "No just let me say this."


    Katarina didn''t know why she interrupted Alicia when she did or why she was saying what she said but she couldn''t stop herself anyway even if she really wanted to. All she could do was go with the flow.


    "Alicia you were always the stronger and the smarter one out of the two of us. We both know that I hate to admit it but I... I count on you... for... for a lot actually. I actually rely on you a lot. Like almost too mu-"


    "I think you''re getting a little off-track..."


    In response to Alicia''s interruption, Katarina coughed before she spoke.


    "Ahem. The point is. You can promise me that we''re both getting out of this alive... right?"


    Alicia would remain silent for a long time before she gave her answer.

 28 Apocalypse

    Melanie didn''t know how long it actually was but she actually spent a fair share of her time conversing in a friendly chat with Cynthia Starr.


    Of course, she did spot the occasional glances from nearby passerby as well as overhear the murmurs of whispering bystanders but she ignored them as she instead decided to enjoy this moment.


    She didn''t know why, but she actually felt something different the more she conversed with Cynthia.


    It was a warm sensation, one that could almost make her tear up not out sadness but something else entirely, she just couldn''t describe what it was.


    This feeling was alien to her, yet it was also vaguely familiar.


    As if it belonged to a fragment of her past that she had long forgotten.


    It took her short while before she figured out what it was.


    It was happiness.


    True, genuine happiness.


    Not only did she ''feel'' happy, but she also found that she actually smiled.


    Not a fake, superficial smile meant to please her boss or to uphold formalities.


    But a genuine, real smile while only faint, still symbolised the joy she held in her heart.


    In just a short timespan, Melanie has found that she has grown quite fond of and attached to Cynthia, no matter what kind of monster she actually was or may turn out to be.


    Even if Cynthia was indeed a monster or would grow up to become one, in reality, she really can''t be that different from Melanie.


    Eventually, whatever sense of hostility and suspicion she once internally held against the little girl melted away into nothingness.


    There was no point in denying it, this was indeed the moment that Melanie had yearned for her entire life.


    For somebody to see her as an equal.


    For somebody to see her as a friend.


    But alas, this moment of bliss couldn''t last forever.


    Cynthia eventually had to return to her dorm-room in order to prepare for their mission.


    And Melanie had to do the same, returning to her private cabin near the ship''s bridge after waving Cynthia goodbye.


    There, she glanced at the sparseness of her room.


    In general, P.A.I.N. operatives were free to customise their dorm-room as they wish as long as they adhered to confederate standard procedure and protocol.


    Melanie was no different.


    Yet her dorm-room was mostly sparse and empty, with only the bare minimum of furniture and decorations present.


    Her mattress was bare.


    Her office desk was bare.


    Her closet and drawers were bare.


    The only object of decorative value within her room was a single framed photo.


    Although ''physical photos'' have mostly become a thing of antiquity thanks to the advent of digital photography all those thousands of years ago, there were still people who used framed photos as a decorative object to this day.


    Soon, she forced herself to turn her attention away from the photo and instead directed her attention towards the single large glass window that gave her a view of the growing surface of planet Viridi.


    As she viewed the wastelands of Viridi, the image of the endless green tides of the barbaric orkks entered her mind.


    There was no doubt that they were already on their way towards the nearest human settlement.


    Their ''instincts'' leading them to their next target.


    As of yet, there was none within the I.T.C. or beyond who was able to explain this most peculiar aspect of the orkks.


    Their inborn ''instincts.''


    Orkks who were born to be warriors or as the orkks called them; ''battle bois'' were born with the instincts required to handle both hot and cold weapons alike. Utilising their weapons with crude but brutal efficiency.


    Orkks who were born to be engineers or as the orkks called them; ''tekk bois'' were born with the instincts that gave them the ability to not only produce and repair the orkks'' crude weapons and armours but to construct and maintain the orkk''s ramshackle vehicles of war.


    And of course, orkks who were born to be leaders or as the orkks called them; ''warbosses'' were born with the instincts that allowed them to not only control their typically rowdy and barbaric brethren, but lead them into battle as well. Encouraging and rousing the already high fighting spirits of their fellow orkks, making the already threatening greenskin threat all the more dangerous.


    The ''instincts'' of the orkks, combined with their inborn desire to indulge themselves in ceaseless strife and conflict truly made them an inconceivable species.


    It was most almost as if the orkk race itself was a species that specifically existed just to wage war.


    But Melanie had no time to dwell on such thoughts.


    She had to stop the orkk threat on Viridi before it could ''snowball.'' If they were allowed to take a settlement full of resources or given enough time to breed and exponentially increase their numbers, then Viridi would surely be doomed.


    While she had a detachment of 500 P.A.I.N. psionic operatives as well as the entirety of Viridi''s garrisoned military forces, this paled in comparison to the kind of firepower and manpower that they had to face.


    In the end, it was all up to her whether Viridi would be saved from the orkk threat, with its millions of citizens continuing on their day without even knowing that their very lives were in peril.


    Or if Viridi would end up in ruin, all life other than the greenskins being all but wiped out with the planet itself being choked dry of whatever resources it may have once held.


    Such a burden would normally be a tremendous weight on any normal person, even if that person was a psionic.


    But stopping an apocalypse was nothing that Melanie hasn''t done before.


    ...


    Hours.


    It has been hours since Timothy Stahl has done anything other than walking.


    The only thing he had to tell the time was the sight of the sun that still lingered to the west, indicating that the day had yet to end.


    He still had his rationed food but that tasteless yellow-white block known as an ''M.R.E.'' didn''t really do him any favours other than filling his stomach.


    Thankfully, he had his light exo-suit equipped to relieve much of the stress off his body, allowing him to walk for miles on end at a quick pace without tiring himself.


    Thankfully, He had now arrived passed at his patrol team''s outpost.


    But to his dismay, he found that the outpost was completely abandoned.


    The MSV that was meant to be in the outpost''s garage was absent while the outpost itself was stripped clean of supplies save for a few rations and personal belongings.


    There was still a bobble head left at the computers terminal, a christian cross hanging on one of the dorm-room''s handles and there was even a whole deck of cards left splayed out across the dining room table.


    It was the deck of cards in particular that drew his attention.


    "These are the sarge''s collector''s edition cards... he would never leave them behind..."


    As Timothy muttered to himself as he surveyed the deck of cards that belonged to sergeant Armando Larimer, he couldn''t help but feel a bad premonition.


    Although the sarge was an individual who rarely spoke, that didn''t mean that he didn''t interact or have any friendly interactions with his subordinates.


    He would often host a game of poker himself as he awaited the end of their shift. He didn''t invite them into the game nor did he forcefully kick them out, he just simply dealt the cards and allowed people to join as they wish.


    Although, Timothy held some resentment within his heart against his squad who left him behind with no means of transport, he also knew that they wouldn''t just abandon him without reason, especially if they had to leave their personal belongings behind.


    Nevertheless, he put these thoughts beside as he went to use one of the computer terminals.


    Only for him to realise that it had no power.


    "Huh?.. That''s weird..."


    That was when he realised that the only light he received was through the outpost''s sunroof while the lights remained off despite him vividly remembering that he switched them on earlier when he entered.


    A hint of anxiety began to grow within him as he took his loaded pistol and went to check on the outpost''s power generator. There, he discovered that the power generator like the MSV and many others was also absent.


    The only pieces of evidence left of the power generator were signs of scorch marks against the flooring which signified that whoever dismantled the generator either rushed the process or did a very poor and haphazard job.


    Seeing this, Timothy''s mind was instantly crowded with theories. [Was the outpost cleared out by bandits? No that can''t be right, otherwise there would have been evidence of a fight. There was no way that my squad would just let a bunch of marauders clear out the outpost without leaving a trace.]


    After he glanced around the outpost, he could only confirm that it was indeed not plundered by any bandits. After all, the perpetrators must have a hideout based nearby in order for them to move the stolen goods within a short time span.


    And having a hideout out here in the wasteland was tantamount to suicide.


    Thus, the most plausible explanation was that the patrol team was ordered to clear out the outpost of the most valuable supplies that they were able to carry. This much could be evidenced by the tracks left by the MSV which led towards the nearest military base.


    While he did notice it when he first reached the outpost, he didn''t really pay it that much attention. The tracks left by the MSV left a slightly deeper imprint on the ground than usual, which told him that the MSV was being weighed down more than usual.


    Such evidence only disproved the original theory that the outpost was raided by plundering marauders and further reinforced that it was none other than his own squad that was responsible for the bare state that the outpost was in now.


    He knew that they must have been ordered to clear out the outpost but what could the reason behind the orders be exactly?


    Multiple theories that were almost immediately rejected manifested themselves within his thoughts as he tried to rationalise why his squad had to empty out the outpost.


    However, as Timothy lost himself in his sea of thoughts, a low humming sound that seemingly originated from the wastelands drew his attention, bringing him back to reality.


    Vrrrrrrmmmm.


    It sounded very much like the engine of a car or a truck, except there was something off about it.


    It sounded janky and unreliable, as if the engine itself was seconds away from exploding.


    It didn''t sound like a ''human'' vehicle, or at least a human vehicle which belonged to this era.


    Soon, the low humming sound grew louder.


    Vrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmm.


    But not only did it grow louder, but it was also accompanied by other distinct humming sounds.


    Vhhhrrrmmmmm.


    Vvvvvhhhhhmmmmm.


    Vvvrrrrrrhhhhmmmmmm.


    With his gun still in his hands, Timothy left the confines of the outpost to investigate these odds humming sounds.


    Just before he could actually exit however-


    Boom!


    A large crackling explosion, launched him backwards and causing him to roll on the floor.


    Although his exo-suit absorbed much of the damage, that didn''t mean that he wasn''t hurt.


    Every bone in Timothy''s body creaked in pain when he attempted to move them while his eyesight was still blurry.


    In the end, he could only cough as he laid on the floor, attempting but failing to recover from his injuries.


    For a split second, he saw a silhouette of a massive figure with green skin and donning rusty and ill-kempt armour running into the outpost.

 29 Before the Battle

    [Damn it all.]


    Those three words repeated themselves within Claire Woods''s mind as she rushed on her way towards the War Room of Viridi''s Pentagon, her personal secretary and her military escort diligently following behind her as they walked through the pristine white hallways of the building.


    Just when she thought that she would finally get a moment of respite after she finally completed all the paperwork, planning and policies in relation to Melanie Menendez''s implementation of martial law on the entire planet, another critical development forced Claire to return to the Pentagon when she was on her way home.


    On she walked towards the War Room, multiple men and women, soldiers and politicians alike rushed back and forth the hallways in a hurry, much like Claire did.


    Once she actually reached the War Room, she was met with an expansive room with multiple computer terminals lined up in neat rows, all of which had at least one person using them.


    The military police who donned white full exo-suits stood guard at every entrance, doorway and junction, some even stood guard behind technicians and officials of significant status.


    Due to the need for confidentiality, there was no source of natural lighting within the Pentagon''s War Room. Instead light was provided artificially from the War Room''s ceiling, through a single large ''sheet'' that attached itself to the ceiling and provided light to everything below it.


    The War Room itself actually consisted of two seperate compartments and levels.


    The lower level contained all the lower level staff who worked tirelessly on the computer terminals, reading and analysing data. On the southern side of the lower level, there was a single large screen which took up much of the space on the southern side wall.


    The higher level was officially known as the ''Theatre'' and it was a single large compartment which lay suspended over the lower level at the northern wall. All of the Theatre''s ''walls'' consisted of reinforced glass, thus giving it a clear commanding view of the lower level and the large screen on the southern side.


    As one would expect, the Theatre was where all the higher ranking executives of the Department for Defence convened to hold meetings and discussions with a single large table being placed in the direct center of the Theatre in order to accommodate these meetings.


    When Claire entered the Theatre through the entrance hallway rather than the conjunction that connected the lower level and the Theatre, she was instantly recognised by all personnel within the Theatre and was administered the customary military salute.


    "As you were."


    After everyone returned to whatever duties they had attend to when Claire gave the order, the first object that drew her attention was the large screen of the War Room that stood opposite to the Theatre.


    Projected on the screen was a live, real time satellite view of sector 49 of the wastelands.


    The brown barren lands of the wasteland was dyed in a green and black colour by the orkkish hordes.


    Although they looked like ants from this perspective, their way no denying the kind of threat that these ''ants'' posed.


    The green colour was provided by the innumerable orkks themselves while the black colour originated from the countless vehicles that they drove.


    There were also numerous of scarlet red light in the sky would contrast against the green and black, explosions caused by the orkks for seemingly no reason.


    These greens, reds and blacks would mesh together to make a sort of unorganised ''wave'' that would undoubtedly crush everything in its path due to its sheer weight alone.


    "Unbelievable..."


    After Claire muttered to herself in disbelief in response to this incredible yet unimaginable sight, she quickly regained her senses before she approached a man who stood near the Theatre''s glass wall with both of his hands held behind his back.


    Although there were numerous other executive senior commanding officers and executives within the Theatre, since it was not a formal meeting, she was not required to talk with any of them, nor did she want to talk with any of them.


    She only wanted to talk to the man who stood near the glass wall.


    He wore a dark navy blue pseudo exo-suit, with a host of multiple rectangular badges attached to the left side of his chest while his hair was predominantly grey in colour, with only a sparse few black strands of hair spread out randomly across his head.


    When Claire stood directly to his left with her hands also behind her back, he turned his head to face her before he spoke up and began the conversation.


    "Quite a shit show isn''t it?"


    Claire herself continued to face forward and watch the screen when she gave her response.


    "I will admit that it this is a different kind of shit show to what I''ve experienced before."


    The man with greying hair sighed for a moment before he replied.


    "Damn these greenskins and their bad timing. I was so close to retirement before they had to rear their ugly heads. What a mess."


    "Either way, it''s our duty to clean up this mess."


    While Claire felt her heart rate increase, she still forced herself to maintain her calm and commanding disposition as she went to question the man.


    "Will we still be able to conduct the proposed plan with their movements?"


    The expression on his face turned grim when he responded.


    "On their current route, we have calculated that the proposed plan should still be viable... However, there is a fair chance of the city ''Hache'' being overrun by the orkks before the psionic strike team could arrive to lure the orkks."


    Claire sensed the animosity within his voice when he mentioned the ''psionic strike team.'' Evidently, he was not fond of the foreign psionics and in particular, their leader who has commandeered control over all of Viridi''s military forces.


    The animosity within his voice would only grow the more he referred to these psionics.


    "Although our U.P. military garrison and the P.A.I.N. operatives have cooperated in the fortification of the Dardanelle Ravine in preparation for the ambush, for some reason, they still see it fit that they we are to be kept in the dark about the strike team."


    Claire couldn''t help shaking her head in disapproval when she heard what he had to say. With a slight sigh, she turned to face the man before she continued.


    "I believe that I gave you the clearance to order bomber action from our flightcrafts as well as vanguard droid units to intercept the orkk forces should this situation ever occur?"


    "The order is already being carried out. As we speak, around a thousand of our combat droids are already en route via dropship with a few dozen M9 ''Valkyries'' Gunships accompanying them. We believe that this force should halt their advance for at least a reasonable amount of time while the Valkyries can bleed off their strength."


    This time, she heaved a sigh of relief in response to the man''s words.


    Even if the vanguard forces could only buy them a mere hour or two while the Valkyries could only chip a tiny fraction of the orkks forces away, that would still be enough for Claire.


    However, not everyone shared the same sentiments as her.


    Suddenly, without warning or introduction, the image of Melanie Menendez, the Silver Sparrow appeared on the bottom left hand side of the large screen of the War Room, taking up around one tenth of the screen.


    The indifferent tone of her voice sounded condescending to Claire when Melanie spoke aloud within the War Room.


    Apparently, not only did she have the ability to appear on the large screen as she wished, but she also had access to the War Room''s speakers.


    If Claire had to guess, then the Silver Sparrow would probably have access to the War Room''s multiple listening devices as well.


    "I have received reports that you sent a small droid vanguard unit along with a bomber squad to intercept the orkks. You are to recall and redeploy these forces at Dardanelle Ravine immediately."


    "Wh-what on Earth! How do you have access to this transmission feed?"


    The first thing that Claire did after Melanie''s sudden intrusion was question how she was even able to appear in the War Room of the Pentagon in the first place, what was supposedly the most secure building within the entirety of Viridi.


    "Ever since I declared Martial Law. Now recall those fighter crafts and droid vanguard units. No military action is to be taken against the orkks without my order. We will engage them at the Dardanelle Ravine and the Dardanelle Ravine only."


    Melanie only answered their questions in her typical nonchalant manner, much to the annoyance of Claire and pretty much ever other executive military officer within the War Room. Nevertheless, Melanie still spoke in that manner when she continued.


    "Any who disregard my orders will be in breech of Confederate Constitution and will be prosecuted by Confederate law enforcement and will be judged under the jurisdiction of Confederate law rather than their respective nation."


    She paused for a short moment to make a long sliding glance at all the commanding officers within the War Room before she gave them a single sentence.


    "And that includes military executives of high positions."


    And the image of her on the screen disappeared just as quickly as she had suddenly appeared.


    [That damned bitch... Who the hell does she think she is? This is our planet! Not hers! To think that she is even allowed to do this is inconceivable!]


    Although Claire cursed the confederate psionic, she also knew that she was incapable of disobeying the orders of one whose authority superseded all of Viridi''s government military executives despite technically being a foreigner who hailed from another end of the galaxy.


    Such a system was a clear sign of the Intergalactic Terran Confederation''s hegemony over all of its client nations.


    But Claire could do nothing about the established constitution that held claim over all of human space.


    In the end, she could only comply.


    ...


    VVVVRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!


    Boom! Boom!


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Ratatatatatatatatatatatata!


    "Wwwaaaaaarrrrrggggggg!!!"


    The combined sounds of engines screaming, guns blazing and orkks shouting were all music to Sedral Anuk Suntrida''s ears.


    As he sat atop his throne which itself sat atop his personal Tankk, Sedral''s mouth twisted upwards into a hideous grin, revealing his assortment of sharp yellow teeth, none of which were of the same length or even appeared to adhere to a pattern.


    His warband, the ''Sunstridaz'' was currently on their way towards the nearest human city, full of skulls to smash and bones to break.


    Although they didn''t understand why the humans would bother build something as useless as a ''city'' which was basically just a fort except not a fort because it was not good at killing things, they did understand that cities always had lots and lots of humans in them.


    And lots of humans meant lots of fighting.


    And every orkk loved a good fight.


    However, on their way towards the nearest city, a pair of fast moving shimmering stars shot over their heads, blue tails following behind these two stars before they hit the earth at a spot not too far away from where the orkks currently were.


    Suddenly, Sedral felt another image from his instincts.


    They told him that there was a more fun fight to be had at the spot where those to stars landed.


    With a large smile plastered across his face, Sedral screamed at the top of his lungs.


    "Change uv plans boiz! Go ova ''der where da fly''n fire fingz went! Wwwaaaaaarrrggggg!!!"