The disappearance of four psychoframes in the war at Tirania was fatal. The mass production process for the second generation psychoframes still has a ways to go. Even if they were to find a way to fund the immense budget, it would be difficult to increase their overall military strength by leaps and bounds within such a short period of time.
"The best and worst news is that a dragon appeared once again." The Chief of Staff, Alexander Lekor said.
"The majority of the Arab leaders announced their participation in the Ark Project."
Another executive projected a hologram map. The majority of the nations and countries that didn't originally take part in the Ark Project, publicly announced the decision to participate. The Chief of Staff, Alexander didn't look happy.
"They're so quick to join us only after the appearance of a dragon."
The budget for the Ark Project was massive. The countries and nations who didn't join the Ark Project had their own psychic facilities and institutions. Nations were not considered on the side of the True Group just because they didn't want to take part in the Ark Project.
'Even if they were on the True Group's side in reality, now that they know that dragons will truly invade once again, their conspiracy theories would be proven false and people would stop converting to the True Group's side. The immediate problem now was survival, afterall.'
The True Groups position within society would have fallen a great deal with this new turn of events. Ark already broadcasted the video clips of the dragon all over the world. The nations who split, held hands once again with the appearance of their worst enemy, the dragon. The countries who felt the danger, quickly moved their government leaders to a safer place.
"The eighth dragon, Bahamut, was different from the dragons that invaded Earth all this time." The researchers said. Alexander nodded at their words.
"Bahamut… is the last creature of the century? His decided name is quite grand."
"According to a soldier on site, Bahamut had spoken to them. It used telepathy to communicate its words."
"It's not an auditory hallucination?"
"We've taken that possibility into consideration. The soldier in question, is a third year and his name is Han. He was one of the closest to the dragon during the battle. Han was able to overcome the dragon fear the fastest amongst everyone on site. He should have been the most mentally intact amongst everyone there."
"As predicted, the second generation youth have a stronger resistance."
It had only been an assumption, but now they were confident.
"Theoretically, the soldiers should overcome dragon fear according to their overall psychic strength, however in Han's case he's the most mentally mature amongst the youth his age.
"Is that so." Alexander held his chin while reading the report. The third year, Han, was frequently mentioned during their meetings. He was a unique case and special youth.
When the researcher finished reporting, the Management Information Officer stood up to speak.
"We're unable to track any significant minion movements around the world. A majority of the minions already died during the battle in Tirania."
"That's good news. It seems like our soldiers can rest for a short period."
The Battle of Tirania had also been a huge risk on the minion's side as well. They gathered the remnant minions and attempted to open the dimensional gate. Ark and the Alliance blocked their attempt. It would be very difficult for the minions to resume their plans so quickly.
Chief of Staff, Alexander, went through today's agenda in order. The commander cannot make these public meetings often, so Alexander is the one to take care of most of the business that deals with the public. He was second in command, so Alexander was pretty much no different than the commander of Ark.
"Shall we end our meeting here for today?" Alexander scanned all around the room. A researcher in the development team at the corner moved. It was Chief Engineer Siegfried Schumacher of the the third engineering team, but nobody referred to him in this manner. He was a bald man who resembled an octopus, thus most referred to him as Octo.
"Octo?" Alexander leaned himself forward.
Octo wasn't a man to speak much in these conferences. He was an engineer through and through, and had absolutely zero interest in anything related to politics, thus he rarely ever had much interest. Alexander found this new turn of events greatly interesting.
"I wish for you to consider another issue for me."
"What is it?"
"Please officially transfer the second generation prototype of Team One to Team Three."
Upon his words, the chief of Team One, Charlie Smith shouted in anger. Charlie was a rough manly old man. It seems this had not been discussed or agreed upon by the two parties ahead of time.
"Quiet! Let him finish speaking." Alexander shouted. Octo didn't even spare a glance to Charlie Smith of Team One.
"The prototype psychoframe is capable of fully booting up." Upon Octo's words, the old man, Smith shouted at the top of his lungs. The vein of his forehead pulsed.
"Hey you! What do you mean boot up? That chain smoker, Red just barely managed to start exercising again. The dragon material required for this is very high! If you're greedy for it, you should just say so! What nonsense are you trying to spout?"
Octo plugged his ears. Smith who was almost exploding with anger seized Octo's collar. The engineering teams were not the best of friends with one another. They constantly competed and aimed for each other.
"You should stop this old man. Weren't you going to disassemble it and return everything anyway?"
"You'll be the last person I transfer it to! I won't! What joke are you trying to pull again?"
Alexander massaged his throbbing head. Chief of Team One, Charlie Smith, is a legend. After the first dragon died, he took the corpse of the dragon and conducted all sorts of experiments until he designed a skeleton reinforcement suit, the psychoframe.
All of the psychoframes are based off of Smith's designs. However, his personality was the main problem. He had an uptight personality which many young adults detested. Octo was not one to give way just because the other party was older in age. The hardest group of people to control were not the researchers, but the engineers.
"Octo, speak quickly before my eardrums explode."
Octo took out some marshmallows and stuffed it into his mouth.
"We have a psyker who can work with the prototype. He is a unique case, so it will be more beneficial for us to develop it than to try and mass produce this."
It was necessary for them to take in all the spare psychoframes, even just one more. Alexander had originally planned to recycle even the practice psychoframe, Oldman. It was urgent for them to stock as much dragon weapons as possible. If another dragon of Bahamut's rank would appear… humanity would be extinct. This wasn't an exaggeration, but the reality of their situation.
"Please submit your planned proposition."
Alexander said shortly. Octo sent a smug smile to Smith's way.
***
Han had a rib guard, and his left arm was in a cast. His face was slathered in ointment. The Battle of Tirania ended with Ark's victory.
After the battle, the rookie, Han was the center of everyone's attention. He had fulfilled his role as the Squad Leader, and inflicted a blow on the dragon. The youth had done something even seasoned soldiers could not.
"Johnny Schwartz."
Han had been the last to see Schwartz. He had witnessed Schwartz dragged into the dimensional crack while covered in blood. Officially, he was deemed missing, rather than dead. It was possible that he could have survived and wandering somewhere in this world. Though, the chances were almost close to none.
Grip.
Han fiercely gripped his hands into fists. He felt how much strength he lacked. He felt the need to grow stronger. Han's techniques, talents, resourcefulness, and battle tactics could not reduce the difference in the least. No matter how much an ant struggled, it was impossible to beat an elephant. The difference in strength was as such for Han against the dragon.
He felt impatient, but decided to thoroughly rest his body. He would rest until he made a full recovery. The leading members of Ark were busy, but the battle forces were mostly free of any agenda. Han didn't force his training. He heeded the advice of those around him, and rested.
"Is Silence inside?"
Han knocked Silence's room. Silence did not come out from his room for the last two days. He wasn't particularly injured in any major way.
Click.
The door cracked open a bit. Silence stuck his electric note out the crack of the door.
-Leave me alone.
Han scratched his head. A dark glum aura seemed to emanate from Silence.
"How long will you stay inside? Let's go eat."
-I'm trash. I don't have the right to eat.
"…What's the problem?"
-I couldn't do a single thing. I could only watch you fight. I'm a disgrace and an embarrassment. I'm reflecting for my wrong by facing the wall. When I'm done reflecting against the wall, I will walk out on my own.
"Then come out when you're done meditating."
The door closed. Han decided to leave Silence alone. Han asked the other soldiers, but it seems Silence did this whenever he made a big mistake in any of his missions. He locked himself in his room for a duration. Silence had been deployed in countless missions. He didn't always come back with good news. Everyone had their own ways to cope with failure.