"Stealing Malgorth's Magic Scepter?" Shinari replied. "Ummm, I am not sure. It never cross my mind before."
"I mean. It seems to be a very powerful device. Wait, not really. Humans can also do teleportation right? I saw those spaceships warping out of existence."
"Well, we do have a warp technology for faster-than-light travel, but it has a very strict limitation."
"Oh yeah?"
Shinari nodded. "Different ships have different range of FTL travel and you need to wait for a long time after each warp. You also need to replenish your warp battery after each use. A bigger warp engine can sustain two or three warp, but only a small percentage of ships have that. The warp engine also require an intensive maintenance and inspection after every use. It's a very complicated, sensitive, and expensive piece of machinery."
"Ohh, now I really wonder how humanity had conquered most of the galaxy."
"I've thought of that too. People told me because humanity is much stronger and that we are blessed by a god. Some say it's because the Emperor is protecting us."
"The Emperor?"
"The Emperor is said to be an extraordinary human capable of godly feat. He has lived over 10,000 years far of what normal humans are capable of and has protected us with his mysterious over millennium."
"Is that a fact or an exaggeration?" Aldred asked.
"I am not sure. There are too many stories of his valor and greatness. But in every history book. None of them denies that he has lived over that period of time. And none denies his great power."
"Is he a super?"
"Far beyond you can imagine. They said he can blow apart planets with his bare hands, summon a black with a breath, and create a super nova with a clap of his hands."
"I am sure those are exaggerated."
"Perhaps," Shinari said.
"If he is really that powerful. The demons would already be gone."
Shinari smiled. "The demons are not our only enemies. There are far more threats in the galaxy not less dangerous than the demons. There's the xenos, the aliens, the disgusting elves and orcs and dwarves. There's also that ancient cursed robots, and many more. Humanity is attacked at all direction at all times."
"Kinda makes you think that living in peace with them is much better no?"
Shinari laughed. "Living in peace? With the aliens and demons? Please, they will rip your organs out the moment you lay down your arms and eat them with a smirk on their face while staring in your eyes."
"That was a very detailed description," Aldred said with a small sweat on his forehead. "So the chance of co-existence is zero?"
"It's less than zero. They will never stop until we are ceased to exist, and we will do the same."
"It's a never ending battles of life and death. Destruction among the billions stars," Aldred commented. "Something about that saddened me as no one really able to really live in peace with this constant threat."
"It's not that bad," Shinari said with a sweet smile as she got closer to him. "Despite the wars, people still meet with each other, fall in love, get married, and make children. Instead of focusing solely on the war, you should also see the beauty of humanity's resilience to fall in love despite living in a dark age."
Shinari leaned in and kissed his cheek. "Good night, Aldred. You should get some sleep while you can."
After those words, Shinari returned to bed, leaving Aldred alone with his thoughts on the balcony.
…
The next day, Aldred and the group woke up.
Salamander stretched his body and his joints made popping sound. "That feels great."
"You need to do a yoga, old man," Cleome commented. "You won't be able to use that heavy armor with stiff joints."
"If you must know, I do stretching exercise regularly and is more flexible than any feline on this planet."
"Whatever you say, old man."
"Anyway, why don't we go to the training facility right away. I've received reports that they've already finished fixing it."
"There's nothing else to do anyway. Let's go," Cleome said.
Salamander looked at Aldred. "Are you coming with us?"
Aldred was in a trance before he return to reality. "Yeah, sure."
The group then went to the newly-built training facility. Shinari and Cleome immediately sparred with each other while Salamander entered the engineering room.
Aldred followed and see what he was up to. He got nothing to do anyway.
"Oh, you want to see me work? Sure do. Hopefully it's not boring to you."
A heavy machinery with arms began disassembling Salamander's heavy armor, and with a seemingly high-tech precision tools, Salamander began fixing the armor while whistling.
A projection screen popped out of the tool, conducting a rapid diagnostic scan. The sensors made a humming sound as it mapped out the damaged areas of the armor, highlighting the stress fractures, scorched plating, and malfunctioning energy conduits.
There were so many damage that Aldred wondered how the armor still able to work.
"Did you really made this?" Aldred asked.
"Yes, I do," Salamander proudly said. "Do you think it's cool?"
Aldred nodded. "It's really cool. But more importantly, I am quite surprised at how much power you can bring in such a small frame. Well, small if compared to a battle-tank at least."
The armor was actually a massive bulking metal. It was smaller in size compared to the super-soldiers, but still, it was quite huge. So Far, Aldred had seen it used energy-blasters gun, gunpowder shells, and flame throwers.
It also enabled the wearer to run at a very high speed.
"It looks quite similar to what those super soldiers are wearing."
Salamander chuckled. "I am embarrassed to say this, but actually, the armor's design is inspired from the their power armor. But compared to the real thing, mine is just a junk."
"You cannot say that," Aldred comforted him. "What's so special about their power armor anyway?"
"Their power armor is fitted with special mechanism that allows for enhanced strength, enhanced speed and agility. It also includes life support system allowing the super soldiers to survive in hostile environments such as high-pressure underground cave, flaming high temperature planet or freezing low temperature planet. Their sensory augmentation includes a HUD that provides vital information such as targeting data, tactical readouts, status updates, night vision, infrared, and other vision modes…"
Salamander then proceed to explain more about the power armor with great enthuasm.
Aldred could tell that the man really admired the super soldiers, so he kept his mouth shut and kept listening to his story.
After one hour, Salamander finally finished.
"And that is just a few of the armor's capabilities. I can tell you more about the feats of the super soldiers and how the Tech-Master engineered the power armor."
"Sure," Aldred said. "I am happy to listen."
As Salamander wanted continue his story however, the TV in the room suddenly turned on.
Aldred was quite surprised that a highly-futuristic civilization still had TV while he never watched once back on earth.
He soon forgot about that because the TV presented a terrible news.
The holographic projection flickered to life, displaying a sleek and futuristic news studio. A composed galactic news presenter, dressed in professional attire, appeared on the screen, her expression grave. Behind her, a graphic of the attacked world planet, Lyronis-7, glowed ominously.
"Good evening, viewers of the Celestia Nebula. We interrupt your regular programming with urgent news from the outer regions of our galaxy. Reports have just come in that the notorious Lord Malgorth has launched a full-scale invasion on the peaceful planet of Lyronis-7."
A holographic image of Lyronis-7 floated beside the presenter, showing a once serene planet now engulfed in chaotic turmoil. Explosions lit up the atmosphere as the planet's defense systems valiantly tried to repel the incoming forces.
"The invading army, estimated to be in the millions, is composed of various demonic legions and technologically advanced war machines. Lyronis-7, a thriving hub of trade and culture, now faces an unprecedented threat to its existence."
The presenter's tone turned somber as she continued, "Experts fear that if Lord Malgorth succeeds in taking control of Lyronis-7, he may use it as a launching point to invade and attack nearby star systems, plunging our region of the galaxy into further chaos."
Images of terrified citizens fleeing their homes flashed on the screen, their desperation palpable even through the holographic projection.
"Communications with the star systems is currently unavailable, but the Royal Guardsmen have released a statement announcing that they are sending troops immediately. However, some sources said that the arrival of the troops will be for naught because Lord Malgorth will vanish once its wreck-havoc on the star system and the star systems nearby because his Spaceweaver Scepter allows him to mobilize his forces at a terrifying efficiency."
The screen displayed holographic star maps, indicating the potential trajectory of Lord Malgorth's invasion if he successfully conquered Lyronis-7. Several nearby star systems were highlighted, indicating their vulnerability.
"As we speak, brave soldiers from various star systems are converging on Lyronis-7, prepared to defend it at all costs.
The news presenter's holographic image faded, leaving the viewers in a state of shock and uncertainty. In the room, the atmosphere grew heavy with the weight of the news. Aldred, Salamander, Cleome, and Shinari exchanged worried glances.
"Lyronis-7. That's just a few star systems away," Salamander said.
