In the mall, there was a special section. Since space travel was not just a thing for the stellar navy, but anyone with enough money could buy or hire a space cruiser, a new type of store was opened, the "Interstellar Weapons" store. "Volundr."
The wealthy and wealthy magnates often traveled through space to be able to narrate their adventures when they encountered less developed races, boasting about their races and adventures.
It was a controversial issue, but undoubtedly a fast-moving business.
It is not that the soldiers or officers were not provided with a series of weapons for their stay in space, but as they discovered in the war of their past life, in the few hand-to-hand combats they had against the Saitan troops, the The guns and rifles, and proton blasters that the armed forces were equipped with were of little use against the Saitan exoarmors.
Aeneas entered the store; snobbery was in the air from afar, and bright and orderly shelves showed all types of weapons, both melee and ranged, that could make the officer in charge of the arsenal of any ship in the fleet ashamed. A clerk in an extravagant livery approached the cadet.
"How can I help you, dear cadet?"
The tone was not derogatory, but in itself, it called into question the boy's purchasing power. It was not unusual to see cadets daydreaming in these types of stores, but in the end, they were a waste of time for the clerks.
"I would like to see a Gram-model lightsaber, a Mjolnir-type taser baton, and a Lighting-type blaster like Admiral Zeus uses."
The basic weapons that he adopted from the first confrontations with the Saitans were based on these technologies, although of much lower quality.
The clerk looked Aeneas up and down, he was asking for very expensive rare and strange weapons, beyond the means of any cadet, and some eccentricities typical of the rich and not of naval officers. If he really wanted protection they weren't the most appropriate weapons.
"I'm sorry, boy, but in this store we don't sell in installments; maybe you should go to his branch to ask for the credit before…"
Aeneas randomly picked up a shield bracelet; it was an eccentricity that provided a proton shield valid against prehistoric firearms and against less evolved types of laser weapons. It was one of the most expensive bracelets on a shelf, and he directly passed his bracelet terminal and paid the exorbitant price. The clerk swallowed, and after repeating apologies to such an excellent customer, he left in search of everything he needed.
All this made him think about the time it took for the navy to be able to equip the Mechs and Fighters with effective weapons against the Saitan ships, he would have to think about how to customize his combat mecha as soon as possible, although that would be very expensive.
That day, he had spent a fortune; not even a year's salary of a great officer could have paid for all that.
After collecting the weapons, he could be satisfied. It is not that he was invulnerable nor that he could repel a Saitan platoon by himself, but he would not find himself helpless like when his first ship, the old battleship Hringhorni, boarded, and they had to fight hand in hand. , losing a large part of the crew and having to flee, abandoning the ship.
As he walked through the shopping center on his way to the parking lot to pick up his Amaru, an advertisement for the final of the Scual Intergalactic League, a sport in which two teams of eleven fighters used a magnetic bullet to score in a three-dimensional goal, was announced. An unequal final between the current champion and winner of the last 152 finals, the Giza IST (Giza Imperial Scual Team), and the Texcoco United team, a team from a minor league that had made its way game by game to the final.
Aeneas remembered that the result was not unexpected due to the victory of the aspiring team; it was a final, that could always happen, but due to the bulky result of 03 to 31, which was the shame of the previous champion and the sarcasm of the sports gatherings. For months.
"Ogmios how much are the general bets are for the final of the intergalactic cup of Scual"
"5 to 1 if you bet on the aspiring team"
"And the specific ones for the result? Search the official betting houses for a result of 03 to 31 in favor of the candidate...
"That bet has not been recorded, but it would be 21 to 1 according to the statistics"
"Ogmios bets all my funds on that bet between the different interstellar betting houses"
"But you would lose all the money…"
"Ogmios, don't argue with me and execute the order…"
Aeneas could still remember several spectacular sporting events that he could bet on knowing the outcome in the coming months.
"I have only been able to bet 30 percent of the funds in that bet; the rest have bet 40 percent at 10 to 1 in a difference of more than 25 points, and the remaining 30 percent in a bet of 5 to 1 winner loser."
Well, something was something; he already imagined that even if he went to all the official betting houses, he couldn't place a bet for the amount of what was in his checking account, no one would be crazy enough to accept such an amount, so he had to distribute all between the different betting houses and in different types. If everything went well, he would multiply his fortune in a few hours. There was barely half an hour before the start of the game, so he went to a sports bar to watch it.
Aeneas was enjoying a glass of nectar and the match and the beating that the current champion was being given, when a shadow fell on his table. It was Admiral Odysseus, he was in street clothes and not in uniform, but Aeneas could not be confused with his face, he had it engraved in his memory.
"Hello, Cadet Aeneas, I hope you will allow this old admiral to share the table with a future promise from the navy."