Yesh Academy
Luna, Terra
Gaea Solar system
Milky way Galaxy
Neutral Free Zone
3rd March 2019
Leon left Phoebe's office to the training facility where he found Sam, where she was training her martial arts skills. She was dressed in a white gym tracksuit, her green hair tied in a bun as she swung her fist against dummy practice. Whenever her fist hit the dummy, a hologram image showcase a measure of the force she was using against the dummy. Her measurement was pretty high, enough to pound steel plates into paste. He could see a vast improvement in her combat skills, a sign that her mastery of the Adamantium fist style had moved to the peak of the minor mastery realm. Leon was very caught off guard by Sam's speed of development. She was growing at the same rate he grew when he was younger learning about both the Martial and Mystic arts. At the rate she was going, she was going to reach the supreme rank in a year or two. There was also her activating her innate ability from her bloodline like it was easy. Note to self, to be able to manifest an innate ability that comes with a unique technique was not something that a Heroic rank could do. A lot of biological changes was needed in the body for one to be able to activate their innate ability and this normally happens in the Ascended rank where the biological changes happen. Leon couldn't understand how she had been able to pull it off but it kind of made sense to him when he thought more about it. Before her Awakening, she was already able to use her innate ability to tap into the emotional state of those around her. Now that she was Awakened, her Gene data was stronger than before. As he was thinking deeply about the mysteries of Sam, Sam on the other hand was checking Leon out. Even in the state of her being annoyed by his words from before, she couldn't deny that her annoyance wasn't that deep. She had felt his presence as soon as he came into the facility watching her. She had tried her best to ignore him, but the smell of citrus and lavender from Leon moved her mood from being negative to positive. Her sudden mood change made her stop her training and turned to face Leon.
"So what's the verdict," Sam asked.
"You should rest up," Leon said with a smile, dimples forming on his cheeks. "You're gonna need all your strength for what's going to happen."
"How long do I have to rest," Sam said. She had been asleep for a week now, so that kind of rest was not something she wanted. Leon could read her intentions.
"I'll give you five days. After that, We'll be moving out," He said giving her time to do all the preparation she needed. After that Leon left Sam alone in the training floor.
****
"You called for me," Emanu said. She had just arrived to the site of the circle of Menhirs, that were rooted to the greenery ground. Sam got up from her lotus position where she had been meditating, cultivating her spiritual power after she was done with her physical training. She had come to this clearing where Emanu had first trained her to use the excess amount of World energy to stock up her reserve of Od while strengthening her soul core, the organ responsible for siphoning Odic energy. Sam had sent a message to Emanu that she needed her help with more training. And luckily she had replied to meet here for the training.
"Yes, I need your help," Sam said. Emanu smiled, brightening up her beautiful fair skin free of blemishes. She jumped to hug Sam even though she knew that Sam had issues with physical contact, especially when it came to strangers. If it was anybody else, Sam would be fidgeting, becoming anxious just from the touch but because it was Emanu, she let it go. Ever since she met this strange girl, Sam couldn't help but feel a strange bond with her, like she was a lost childhood friend that she had lost contact with. Sam's life had totally change. Weeks ago, she was a loner who had no friends in school, always by herself, trying to create a relationship with someone she didn't even like, and now she had become friends with one of the most beautiful girl she had ever seen.
"So what do you need help with," Emanu said. "Is it with Leon? I have to say your taste seems right. For a moment, I was worried what with you being involved with that human. don't get me wrong, he seems okay, for a Regular Mystic, but-" She stopped when she saw the expression on Sam's face. She was giving Emanu a weird look. "You know Rosa wasn't that bad either....ugh!...Hmm! So how can I help you," Sam was still giving her the weird look while in her head, she remembered that she still needed to have the talk with Henry.
"When I fought against those Assassins-"
"Sinutu and Anuntium," Emanu said.
"Is that their names," Sam said. She realized that she didn't even know anything about the Assassin who came after her or why they were after her in the first place. How did they get to the school? These were questions she forgot to ask and one that she wasn't in a hurry to know right now. There were more important things she needed to get to. "Well, I don't care. In the fight against them, I..." Sam began to explain to Emanu how when she had been caught by the ability of one of them, she had chosen to deliberately get hit by one of their attacks, and tried to use her Validus technique to tank the attack, and how the attack had no effect on her. She explained how the Assassin had been stunned by her accomplishment.
"He called it a Counter...no more like Perfect Counter," Sam said. "I don't know what he meant by that because I tried to use the Adamantium Validus technique. That was my intentions but it seems I didn't pull it off. Can you tell me what this Perfect Counter is?" Emanu couldn't believe what she was hearing. She could understand why Sinutu had been startled by her actions. Even Emanu was shocked even though she knew the reason for Sam's shocking growth speed.
"Punch me," Emanu said.
"Huh!" Sam said. Emanu smiled as she spread her legs a few meter apart. As she did so, Sam felt the presence of a weird energy field around Emanu. She felt the World energy's flow around Emanu become strange.
"Punch me like you mean it," Emanu said. She spread her arms apart like she was inviting Sam to punch her in any part of her body. "Make sure you infuse your Od in your punch" Sam wasn't sure what Emanu was getting at but she trusted her. She circulated her Od within her fist and sent a quick jab right at Emanu shoulder. As Sam's fist connected with Emanu's shoulder, she felt no impact nor feedback from the punch. She was surprise by what had happened. The Odic energy in her fist had been dispersed, spreading out of her body and becoming one with the strange energy field that circled Emanu.
"That's Perfect Counter," Emanu said. "It's a Mystic technique that allows you to defend against any form of attack by neutralizing it. What you did against Sinutu was exactly what I did against you now. Counter is different from Validus in that Validus is a technique that strengthens your physical body through the Odic skin. It's strength depends on the output of Od that one can release into the technique. Counter on the other hand doesn't require continuous input of Od for you to maintain it. A Perfect Counter can neutralize any form of attack no matter how powerful it is. The only downside is that using Perfect Counter is very difficult for one to perform. It requires a great efficient use of Od control and mental concentration that one can't normally do in the midst of battle."
"What about the boost in strength," Sam said. She remembered the spike in her Od after she had used the technique.
"Perfect Counter is so difficult to use, that when one tries to use it, the efficiency of the Counter is less than hundred percent. A less than hundred percent Counter is still useful as it can reduce the damage of an attack depending on how much efficiency one uses. So when one achieves a Perfect Counter- a hundred percent efficiency- especially at the last second, the Odyllic responds back by giving you a massive boost in Odic power. It's a risk and reward system." Sam looked at her hand as she remembered how her Od felt during that time. She had never felt so in the zone of fighting than she had before that. She wanted to feel that sensation again.
"Can you teach me how to use it," Sam said. Emanu deactivated her counter as she thought about it. The truth was that Emanu didn't have to do anything due to the indications she had seen from Sam's growth. Even without her help, Sam should be able to use more Mystic techniques as time went on. The more she released that Soul power within her, the more her body would remember how to fight efficiently. But in the end, Emanu couldn't refuse to help her. After all, Sam was her...
"Hello...Emanu! Can you teach me," Sam said waving her hand in front of the girl who looked like she had spaced out.
"Huh! Sure...Sure, I can help teach you how to use it," Emanu said. "But don't be surprised if you can't use it again. From what you said to me about the other situation, that was a do-or-die moment. Your body was pushed to the brink to protect you. To be able to use a Counter, it takes a lot of Od control which Heroic ranks can't even perform. That's how advanced the technique is. Are you ready for that?"
"Yes!" Sam said. In five days, she would master the Counter technique. She had no choice but to do so.
-
Five days later...
After showering and dressing up in the black combat suit that Emanu had provided for Sam, she left her room to find Leon waiting for her on the outside. He was wearing a long black coat with a black jacket with golden ends on the sleeves, buttoned up with a white shirt underneath, black pants with black punk like combat boots. On his pants, he wore two beige belts with eight golden studs on the top while a golden chain hung off the lower belt. On his jacket were three golden pins on the lapel in the shape of what looked like a Griffon, the Golden Dawn symbol, and one that Sam had no idea what it was. His appearance was so dashing, a sort of golden radiance laced around his tannish skin. Sam couldn't help admiring his beauty.
"Black looks good on you," Leon said admiring how the combat suit fitted around Sam's curvy body. During the past few weeks, she had gained a lot more muscle than fat, but that didn't stop her body proportions from keeping their feminine form. Something that Leon was happy about. As much as he loved his women being warriors, Leon preferred the curvy, feminine ones over the masculine looking ones. His mind nearly went to a past experience but he shook it off.
"And you," Sam said. He nodded and both of them left the southern tower to go to the Western tower where the technology department was located. Sam was bewildered by the look of the department. It was like she had been transported into some kind of futuristic place filled with machines and technology that Sam hadn't seen before. There were people in white suits working in their stations, robots moving equipment from one place to another. Leon ignored all of it while he led Sam deeper into the department to another space. There was a large door in front of them and Emily was waiting for them outside the door. She was wearing the same outfit as Sam, her hair was tied up in a bun and she was playing with a long silver short sword. She raised her eyebrows at Sam's presence and turned to Leon.
"What took you so long," she said.
"I had to bring Sam," Leon said. They entered the room, where a tiny girl with grease-stained blond hair turned around in her seat. Her goggles were on her forehead revealing purple eyes. She smiled brightly when she saw Leon, breaking into giggles. Emily groaned like she was used to seeing people excitedly glitter at Leon. She must be a huge fan of his. Sam thought. Though she hadn't met the girl called Ginny, she had heard Emanu talk about her. Leon smiled as he patted Ginny on her head.
"So you must be the Sinclair girl," Ginny said. She gave Sam a look over and began to walk around Sam observing her. "Hmm, you don't look like James," Sam was shocked to hear her Father's name out of her mouth. She spun around to stare at the short girl with the overall dress.
"You know my Father," Sam asked.
"Hmm, I was an acquaintance of him long ago," Ginny said. Sam raised an eyebrow at her words. She found it hard to believe that this girl who looked younger than her would have been alive to know her Father. "I was more on speaking terms with your Mother on the other hand," Sam couldn't believe her ears. She tried to grab the girl to ask the questions plaguing her.
"You knew my birth mother," Sam said. The girl, Ginny, blinked as Sam tried to grab her, but she quickly moved out of the way of her touch. Sam was surprised by her speed as the girl went over to Leon, who continued to pat her head.
"Sorry but I don't want to talk about Sophia or your family," Ginny said with a menacing glint in her eyes as she glared at Sam. Sam wanted to question her more but she felt like the mood didn't call for her to push her luck against the short girl.
"So what do you have for us," Leon said. Ginny cleared her throat and left Leon's touch, running to one of the tables in her lab. Sam looked around it. There were lots of monitors and broken equipment on the table. Some of them were what looked like broken pieces of machines while some looked like weapons. Ginny put on a metal glove and picked up a rock from a glass container. The rock seemed to be glowing, with strange vibes coming off it.
"What's that," Sam asked curiously.
"It's a rock that I found in a Starlight base that was attacked by Abominations, I think," Emily said. "We were investigating some Information about the Fallen stars."
"The Fallen Stars. What's that," Sam said.
"You should explain it to her, Leon," Emily said.
"Twenty years ago, there was an incident within the Divine Federation. An uprising of some sort by a group of Terrorists." Leon said with a grim face. Sam could feel the rage bubbling within him as he spoke of them. "The group attacked the Stellar Council, the leading body of Starlight. Half of our leaders were killed. During that one day, various Starlight posts were attacked simultaneously. The damage would have been much worse if each of the posts hadn't been informed on time before the attack occurred."
"The Fallen Stars were a group of fanatics with misguided beliefs. They went against everything that Starlight stood for." Emily said. "In short, they fell from grace,"
"Can I get on with what I was trying to say?" Ginny said. She sighed and shook her head before continuing with her explanation. "This rock is unlike anything I've seen before. After careful examination, I was able to trace similar matter data to that of Seriphium ore but upon further study, I noticed there was a slight alteration to it.
"Alteration?" Emily said.
"A transmutation effect," Ginny said excitedly. "
"What kind of effect are you talking about" Sam said confused.
"Good question, Sam," Ginny said, smiling at me. The strange emotions she displayed against Sam were gone. "At first I tried to see if I could recognize what kind of effect it was. But I couldn't match it with any known recorded energy signature. In the end, it turned out to be identical to the Power source normally found in Automatons."
"Automatons," Sam said. Sam knew Automatons were one of the Nine major races of the universe, but she was unable to understand how machine-like beings could be considered living beings.
"Are you sure of what you're saying, Ginny?" Leon said.
"I'm pretty sure I'm well aware of the physiology of the Automaton race," Ginny said with a grin waving at the machine parts on her shelves. Sam glanced at it before turning back to the rock. "I believe this rock seems to be the result of some kind of Matter Transmutation to create Energion."
"Energion is the special energy source that acts as the power cell for Automatons," Leon said to Sam. "It allows them to operate by converting Odic energy into any form of energy that powers them,"
"As a power source, it is more efficient than even Seriphium ore used by the Divine Federation," Emily said.
"How does the rock play a part in the research-based information Emily sent to you?" Leon asked.
"Oh! yeah, that one." Ginny rushed to her desk and pulled her monitor upfront. "So I was finally able to crack that damn code and boy..let me tell you.. the security is airtight indeed. I wasn't able to get most of it before it automatically deleted itself, but I saved some data. And guys here is the weird part."
"What is it," Leon said.
"According to this data, it seems that the base was doing research," Ginny said.
"What kind of research?" Emily said.
"Genetic research that has to do with biological modification and enhancement," Ginny said.
"Isn't that kind of stuff prohibited by the science and technology division," Emily said thinking about how that base probably belonged to the Divine Federation, most likely Starlight.
"Why is a Starlight base researching things forbidden by Federation law," Leon said.
"What's wrong with genetic research?" Sam asked. She couldn't believe that an advanced society of aliens would forbid that kind of research. From what Sam knew from the sci-fi comics she read, they were all about that kind of thing. Plus Genetic research was important for medical reasons. Even a planet like Terra was known for their various Genetic research that had contributed to advancements in the Medical field.
"Not sure why, but according to Annunaki doctrine, tampering with Genetic Data violates the natural order of the universe," Leon said.
"Um...you guys can pretty much use magic," Sam said. "I think that goes beyond the natural order of the universe,"
"But you see magic is part of the natural order," Emily said. "The Annunaki religion states that creation pertains to the domains of the gods. And Mortals that dare to approach that domain are nothing more than sinners."
"Tampering with one's Genetic data violates that command," Leon said with a roll of his eyes. So he wasn't religious. Sam learned more about Leon from his body language. Sam was not a religious person as she had never been given the chance to even think about the existence of gods. "The Divine Federation in its core is a government based on Theocracy that is also disguised as Federalism run by a central government,"
"I saw a term within the data called Star genes. It seems awakening these genes was the objective of the research." Ginny said.
"I'm guessing they were trying to find a way to artificially awaken the Physiques and bloodlines," Leon said. When Sam was confused, Leon explained more of it. "Not all Pleiadians in the universe awaken to celestial powers like the Gratia that grants us Divine grace. Those chosen and blessed by the gods are the only ones able to Awaken their Celestial physique and bloodline. The gods who give their blessings are known as household gods among us Pleiadians. Each of these household gods are guardian deity of a Celestial House." Emily pulled the top of her suit to reveal her collarbone that had a glyph symbol etched on it like the one on Sam's wrist. The rune symbol looked similar to the Scorpio zodiac sign like the letter M with a barbed tail turning upwards
"My House is the Scorpio House," Emily said. Sam turned to Leon who smiled at her.
"I'm of the House of Leo," Leon said. Sam was not surprised by that. Her hand went to her left wrist where the glyph symbol was similar to one of the pagan gods. Had she been blessed by a god different from the ones who blessed Leon and Emily?
"Yes, the Star genes play a significant part in Awakening the Celestial Physique," Ginny said. "Also I don't think the Stellar Council or the Congress of the Divine Federation are aware of this," Ginny said. "This sounds all black-ops and off the books."
"Ever since the uprising, the Federation's strength hasn't been what it used to be," Emily said. "Including Starlight. So it makes sense that someone..someone would be looking into alternative ways to bring about Awakened Celestial powers without the help of the gods."
"The base was attacked by Abominations," Leon said. "Now the question is how does that relate to the Abomination that came after Sam-"
"I'm not so sure if the base was attacked by Abominations," Ginny said. "I was able to access the base's security system. And it seems someone must have tampered with the research, done something which led to the destruction of the base."
"And made it look like an Abomination did it," Emily said.
"Not really. According to what I could find, it seems the experiments were not going as planned," Ginny said. "Using Energion to awaken the Star genes comes with a hefty price. A mutational disaster." She pointed at the monitor as a video showed a cage filled with what looked like monsters. They were humanoid, with reptile-like scales smashing their bodies against the cage. Devices were being operated by machines that were probing them.
"That looks like the Abominations that attacked me," Emily said. "Before an Awakened Mystic attacked me, I fought against those things." Did that mean that the Awakened Mystic was the one behind the attack on the base? But why did she fight me if she was the one responsible for the base destruction?
"What does this have to do with the Energion, Ginny," Leon said
"That's a question I do not have an answer to, unfortunately," Ginny said sighing. "Like I said, some of the information was deleted after I cracked the code. I was only able to save the data regarding Energion and the Star genes plus this video. But I do have good news for you, Leon."
"What is it," Leon said.
"The other data you gave me to examine," Ginny said. "I figured what it was."
"Did you now?" Leon said. Ginny touched the screen of her monitor and the image changed to something else. This time it was an image of a wall engraved with runic formulas.
"This is a Warp gate," Ginny said.
"A gate," Leon said.
"What's a Warp gate," Sam asked.
"It's an ancient gateway that was once used to travel from planet to planet," Ginny said. "In ancient times, before technology advanced to create transport ships, Warp gates made it possible to get to another planet. No one knew how they worked only that planets with high concentrations of World Energy had operating Warp gates,"
"The problem was there wasn't a whole lot of them on most planets," Leon said.
"I'm surprised there is one on Terra," Emily said.
"According to the runes on the gate, it seems it's calibrated to transport only within the planet, not outside of it," Ginny said. "I tried to see if I could find out how long the gate has been there, and from my studies, it looks like it's been there for a long time."
"How long?" Leon said.
"A couple of millions years," Ginny said.
"Hmm, So Terra's one of those planet," Leon said to himself. "I guess we should head over to Cedar Lake. Let's see what it has to show us,"
"Alright then," Emily said.