A slight disturbance graced the city of Patter in Logria. The soft breezes, blanketed the entire city with dust, causing a panic within its inhabitants thinking that there was another raging storm coming.
Thankfully, it was just a dissipating natural occurrence in the atmosphere of the desert planet. On the other hand, it was a sad thing. The invaders would not receive the roaring hospitality of its nature.
In the outer rim, inside Niel's garage, the specialists and technicians finally got up, clutching a certain part of their body. Some started to vomit outside, while others had a splitting headache. The mercenaries stumbled back to their units, spouting some friendly assurance that the technicians won't be bothered unreasonably in the next few days.
The garage was already neat and clean when they woke up, so they went on with their business.
Andreas, who was surprisingly healthy after the heavy drinking, brought out his portable computer and started designing a reactor. This action attracted the attention of specialists and technicians alike, giving him a few vital suggestions on the way.
Meanwhile, Sy climbed up to his apartment, carrying with him a couple of energy cells and some tools, which he subtly borrowed from Flint and his men. They were not aware.
Upon entering, he was immediately greeted with a saliva inducing aroma permeating from the food that Genevieve was preparing.
Wincing when his stomach made a delightful sound, Sy sat down, fixing the energy cells on a table situated in a corner just beside the door. Dim light penetrated through the glass window behind it.
After weaving the intricate circuitry of an energy converter for a few minutes, he finally reached to his pocket, retrieving a black object, and carefully placed it on the table with a soft thud.
The three girls were busy with the new lessons that he made. But when they saw his activity, the trio silently inched their way near him. Their ethereal eyes attentively watched his every move, even the slightest ones.
Sy lingered to his thoughts for a moment. With the System still not responding to his mental calls, he could not access the Molecular Data Imaging Simulator, which provided him with crucial functions.
He had already recorded all of the subatomic components of the xeno artifact, but without his personal simulator, he would not be able to perform any experiments to the object's molecular structure.
However, the energy conductive composition of the technological material made his wisdom scream of something suspicious. Deep in his mind, he suspected that it was engineered and programmed to keep its certain shape.
To test that theory, he had to separate a tiny piece of the object. With that, he grabbed a laser torch, and directed its emitter to a single spot. He already knew that the black object was as tough as Duranium. It might take a while before he made a progress.
After ten minutes, a part of the object the size of a grain fell, rolling on the table before lifelessly coming to a halt. The alloy was not a good heat conductor, thus it took some effort and time for the laser to make a progress, as the ember on the object was instantly extinguished when the constant heat was removed from its surface.
Nothing happened.
Sy took the black grain and moved around the room, with the girls' eyes following him. When the main body of the tiny object made no effort to retrieve its small piece, he finally concluded that it's not about the distance.
Probably because the xeno artifact was almost dead. Preserving and clinging for life with its remaining life force. At least.. that's what he thought.
So came the role of the energy cells. Since each of the atomic structure of the xeno artifact could store energy rivalling that of a mech reactor - a very terrifying discovery, Sy was hoping to shock the object back to life.
Placing the black grain on the other end of the table, Sy clipped an energy conductor on the artifact.
'Is this a good idea?' He pondered for a second. Well, nothing was going to explode at all, but deep inside, he was scared to witness a living matter seemingly looking like a rock.
With a reluctant sigh followed by a shrug, he activated the converter which sent a surge of energy into the object, instantly turning it off within a second.
His dark-brown eyes patiently waited in anticipation for a response, focused entirely on the black object crowned by an energy conductor biting on its surface.
After half a minute, waiting fruitlessly, Sy frowned.
'Maybe I should up the vol--'
Suddenly, an electrical surge extended from the xeno artifact, grabbing the black grain on the other end, and pulling it toward the place where Sy had flaked it off.
The black object was solidly whole again.
Sy involuntarily stood up in astonishment and shock. His mind quickly processing every possibility that he could accomplish with the object.
'I can.. I can Pioneer it! I'll need a lab! But where?'
The question caused a dismay to seep within his ecstatic mind as he eventually sat back down on his chair.
'I will because I can.'
With that last encouraging thought, he reached to the black object to inspect it, removing the energy conductor first. As soon as his hand touched the surface of the artifact, he yelped in pain when a current of electricity surged through his entire body.
Sy tensed up, his eyes rolling upward as a vision appeared in his mind. There was a blurry image. A ruined city forgotten from centuries ago. At the center of it, there was a skyscraper, still intact despite the buildings around it already collapsed into a pile of rubbles.
The tallest building had an engraving before reaching the tip of its height. It was the Union's flag. The letter 'U' and 'P' within a circle flanked on both sides by olive branches.
The vision disappeared and Sy composed himself. He stood up again and started pacing around the room. Just as he was about to formulate a conclusion, a new surprise appeared when a familiar panel was displayed in his sight.
[New Mission!
Find the location of the xeno artifact's origin.
Reward: 2000 PS]
The System was back.
But this was no time to celebrate nor become tempted by the huge reward. The mission itself was perilous. Even more dangerous than a Solar War provided if there were some certain circumstances such as a Xeno Hive Ship. If there was a spore, it would be a catastrophe for the human race.
With only 20 million credits in his name, he could not fund an expedition or hire mercenaries, not to mention buying a starship.
If there were Xeno Hunters, he could tip them. But the mech factions had no such individuals. They could only be found in the greater factions. Even independent Star Traders would take interest in the information, attracted by the glory and plunder from Xenos.
There was also a sacred order situated in the Duality Coalition. Just like Pioneers, they were only obligated to participate in war if the Xenos where involved, and much more than that. After losing countless of lives warring with Xenos, the sacred order was fanatically in a crusade to extinguish each and every single xeno in the galaxy. He had no way to contact them and no authority.
Speaking of authority, without his license, he could not issue a Pioneer's Call, which was even more grand and versatile than a sacred order's crusade which only involved xeno.
'That vision.. I'm sure of it. It's in the Fallen Rim!'
Sy sat down clutching his head, finishing his endless cycle of moving back and forth. Even if he had the money or the support of the Union, it was impossible to do the task.
There was just nothing that the Union could offer for a hostile expedition.
No experienced Exo Scouts in its sphere of influence. No Xeno Hunters. No EVA transports. Most importantly, no advanced starships.
'F*ck! I'll have do it all on my own. No.. no! I can do it.. I can!'
Sy glanced on the three girls who started studying the artifact. There was a soft smile on his face, easing the tension in his mind. With a calmer mind, he continued to his thoughts.
'There must be something in the Union that I can use.'
At that moment, Genevieve emerged from the kitchen, holding a few plates with both hands. Flashing him a smile, she placed the flat materials on the table.
The young Pioneer watched the beautiful woman for a few seconds, before the door swung open, revealing Laira with a huge grin on her face - probably done scouting the mercenaries and sated her curiosity.
"Big sis!" The teenager called out, "What do you think of the AO Guild's mechs? I bet they're 6th gens."
"Perhaps." Genevieve responded behind the kitchen. She added with a strict tone, "Don't go anywhere near them!"
'That's it!' Sy's eyes widened, a huge grin extending on his face.
'Mechs!'