"Alright, in theory I know how to create a blackout zone. Now is the moment of truth..." He spoke to no one in particular, getting a feel for the area.
Slowly concentrating all of his energy, he felt the waves around his body surge as the mass of red energy gathered around his frame.
The androids around him quickly took notice, more specifically Naiola and Sae, who felt their commander's intense energy.
It spiked in their sensors, and Sae, in particular, realized he was taking steps to implement his own variant of a blackout zone.
Waves of resonance surged around Yuren; a small ball of light hung in the air around him, quickly shimmering and shifting as colors began to solidify around the aureate ring.
Meanwhile, the androids and the commander's staff grew more concerned, unsure what to do as the massive burst of energy radiated in all directions.
With a confident grunt and grin, Yuren thrust his hand forward, gathering a dense sphere of highly compressed resonance and casting the projectile into the center of the light phenomenon hovering at his right.
A ripple shot out from the ball and dispersed across the valley. Followed by a second powerful blast, causing the cloud of vibrant aurora to shimmer even brighter before forming up into a miniature hole as the wave-like ripples slowed and stagnated.
Swirls of dense fog rolled in the area around their camp as Yuren's energy dropped suddenly.
The snow stopped, and the sky cleared, revealing a full moon within the pitch-black sky.
Taking deep breaths, Yuren pressed his hand against the tree trunk and steadied himself.
"What just happened?" Lina cried, panic in her voice.
"The commander is... I don't know! It's too hard to track! My scanner is going haywire!" Dae fumed.
"Report; the immediate area has been surrounded by dense purified resonance waves. Reception and wireless have been completely cut off as a result. We are now within what is effectively a blackout zone." Naiola spoke.
"Wait, WHAT?!" Lina ran towards Yuren, grabbing him. "YOU CREATED A BLACKOUT ZONE?! Do you know what the fuck you just did?!"
"Get you hands off him, it's stabilized resonance around us." Bei snatched Yuren from the brunette and took hold of his arm, frowning at the scene.
"Meteorn are going to start swarming this area. There's no telling how many and when." Lina grimaced as she stepped back and slowly turned around, peering up at the night sky.
"Didn't he already tell you that they won't bother us?" Bei asked flatly.
Lina was still torn on the idea, but there wasn't much anyone could do about the situation now. Even so, with everyone who has witnessed this level of ability, how could the commander of one of the Empire's most elite special operations and defense battalions not be an asset that one would want to snatch?
Catching his breath, Yuren brushed his silver bangs aside and exhaled loudly. "Don't worry, Only Meteorn can see this area now, it should be invisible to detection equipment. I thought about how it should be. It's safe to turn off your radars and sensors while inside the zone. The only signals that could bleed through would have to be incredibly strong."
"Now what?" Lina turned to look at him. "How are supposed to be aware of our-"
Her mouth closed instantly when suddenly there was a loud CRACK and a red light tore through the sky above them, turning and heading down towards the area behind them.
No less than 2 seconds later, a powerful blast hit the ground, followed by a shockwave.
"Holy shit!" Lina couldn't even say another word as Yuren vanished in front of her.
All the androids quickly aimed at the cloud of snow, dust, and steam that began rolling along the ground towards the androids, as in the distance beyond the forest, something slowly stood up.
"Defensive positions!" Lina quickly yelled.
As heavy steps drew closer and closer, the silhouette began to reveal itself until everyone's heads turned towards the silhouette.
"These readings... Yuren it's a lord class, one match in the Empire's database. Codename; Satellite." Bei muttered in disbelief as her gaze steadied.
"Not just any, it's the big one..." Sae answered grimly.
Ester kept her drone hovering, trying to get a good camera shot of the shadowy figure standing behind the cloud, and as it dissipated, revealed what seemed to be a giant standing mech.
Larger than any of the other Meteorn they've seen. Estimated to be about 28 meters tall, the Meteorn lord wore dark armor as if shrouded in endless shadow.
Behind it, a series of what seemed to be wings were connected to its back, each emitting an eerie purple glow as massive blades flickered on both of its sides.
"I'm I the only one who thinks we're fucked?" Kuno broke the tense silence.
"Everyone just wait. Don't do anything and stay here." Yuren walked forward to meet this new guest. "I have this handled." He wasn't afraid of it, there was something strange about this Meteorn.
Once he was about 15 meters from the towering black-clad machine, he stopped and looked up.
"Show yourself... don't hide within that mechanical body." Yuren finally spoke out, in the same harsh tone he had the night he lost his position.
With those words, the giant machine's cannons pointed downward as the chest opened to reveal a woman with pitch black eyes. A look of recognition crossing her face.
"Do you remember me?"
Yuren could hear her voice in his mind.
"Dearest master, do you still have memories of that day?"
He froze; though he had never seen her before, something deep within him was reacting strangely to this being.
It was a familiar presence but a totally different feeling. He began to feel nostalgic, almost connected to it as his pulse skipped, his entire body shaking lightly as a feeling he could best describe as joy raced through his mind.
"Though your body has changed, your heart has not." Her voice whispered.
Instantly after, she jumped down, gracefully landing as her mechanical wings folded behind her. The being walked over to Yuren, a somber expression replacing her normal, fierce look.
"It has been a long time that I have waited. But if you die again this time... I will personally eradicate all life on this star. No human could ever take your place. As you are a masterpiece forged by the gods. My sole reason to live and the object of my inexhaustible power."
The words echoed across Yuren's memory, and he knew it wasn't just a coincidence; there was no doubt about it. He knew this meteorn, her name was Elevalle.
Reaching up, he placed a hand on her cheek, the joy he felt bursting forth into a glorious array of positivity.
The girl knelt before him and took his hand in hers, holding it to her cheek. "There is no greater enemy in this or any other universe than the one who seeks to destroy our pillar of life." She placed a soft kiss on his palm and gazed up at the person of her greatest treasure.
An untold story of bondage and endless loyalty filled her eyes with warmth and reverence.
"What are they doing?" Lina stared at the two in the distance; the actions were rather perplexing.
"Why do you look so angry?" Kuno squinted, trying to make out the details.
"He just can't stay away from them..." Bei mumbled.
"Huh?" Yun turned in confusion.
"The commander obviously likes women with huge-"
Bei grabbed Kuno's mouth and muffled her.
"I'll send a drone over." Ester sighed.
The small bot flew to the two figures, getting a closer look. As it neared, Yuren looked up at it and sighed a little, irritated that he'd have to speak his mind aloud.
"There's something I'm hoping you can explain to me." He whispered.
The woman nodded her head slowly, her eyes telling him she was ready to answer anything. "Ask away, dear master. I have not forgotten about that night when our sun burned to nothing."
"Why were the others attacking human cities?"
The Meteorn stayed quiet for a moment, pondering how to explain her reasoning and what had happened over the last few months. "I believe you are misunderstanding the situation. What they were doing was searching, everywhere and anywhere you might be. This was not taken kindly and such hostility was met in kind."
Her expression reflected a certain degree of remorse.
"So in a way, it was unintentional?"
The Meteorn bowed her head, a subtle apology in her stance. "Honestly speaking, I was wrathful when we first lost you. I wanted to destroy everything. Esotonia spent so long preparing your vessel. But even in my rage, I could see reason... If I had laid waste to humanity without knowing where you were, then you would have been lost as well."
Yuren could feel the level of concern coming from her.
"200 years ago. It was 200 years ago when Ullavie was killed. He was the one who stood in place as our guide before you had a form, the one who guided us to this star. It was that first blood that started the very first hostilities between us." She took a small step closer to him, her pitch-black eyes glaring ahead with her brows bent inward in melancholy. "And 20 years ago when you disappeared, I felt for sure that there was a great enemy at work in this world."
"Are you saying the Empire's pursuit of super powered androids or humans had something to do with their attacks and now my capture?" He whispered to her, as curious now as ever.
"Although I do not know the details of what you are asking. But that is probably related to those vile machines that draw out resonance." She growled, hissing through her teeth.
The disdain in her voice was evident.
She must've meant the generator towers that supplied power to cities, especially the newer cities built within the mountains or high peaks on the continent. They were the biggest users of human-created resonance technology that transformed unstable and natural energy for use in the ever-growing Empire.
And many of those devices created great distortions of the energy around them, and now that Yuren knew the dark secret of how they worked, he understood the great discrepancy between this matter and the Meteorn's dislike of human society.
But at some point, the Empire found out about him and captured him. Until it was discovered that his powers couldn't be drawn out in the same fashion. Thus, he began to wonder if it the Nova Genesis Project was another step to understanding resonance better and cultivating it beyond powering their daily devices and the military equipment the government needed for battle.
No... something wasn't quite right about that. The Vice Minister wouldn't have used the final user protocol to lock the military out of the Project's administration program. The system was meant to be shared among multiple branches with a common interest in military strategy and tactics.
There were deeper machinations at play here.
As Yuren continued to mentally question his situation, the more it clicked into place that there was something he was overlooking, something going on within the Empire that he had missed all along. But what was it?
He looked up at her, "Please watch over these androids. I'll be relying on you from now on. In order to get the answers I seek, I need to be in the Imperial Capital. I have to speak to the Empress face to face."
The Meteorn lord stared into his eyes. And much to his surprise, she did not question him. Despite her pride and nature to defy, she just offered him a slight bow of her head in acceptance. "Then I shall protect this area that you have created."
"Thank you."
Yuren then turned to walk away.
The Meteorn returned to the tall black-clad machine and promptly ascended to it, its chest opening to receive her inside.
As the back piece closed and sealed, the wings fanned out once again. The mech blasted upwards towards the sky, disappearing in a cloud of red light before vanishing in the night sky.
Yuren now had a greater purpose in mind. With a mind made up, he started walking back to the others. As he drew close, he saw the group clearly look uneasy.
"Man, Meteorn technology seems amazing." Yun whistled.
Ester coughed, holding her helmet in front of her mouth to hide the faint smile that crept into the corner of her lips.
"I wonder what they talked about..." Dae rubbed her chin.
"A relationship bound to the depths of hell." Ola sighed.
"Maybe they're into BDSM." Kuno chuckled.
As Yuren approached the group of androids, they were focused on him. "That's a wild imagination you have, Kuno." He chided.
"Too wild." Bei eyed the other androids and ignored the fact that she was the one who started the discussion.
"Anyways... you don't have to worry about anything. The Meteorn will protect the area so don't mind any that show up; they're on our side from now on." Yuren assured them.
"On our side? Huh? What just happened? First you create a blackout zone and now they're our allies?" Sae cried out in surprise. "Commander, I been wondering for a while now... just who the hell are you?"
The androids looked at him with different shades of emotions: awe, curiosity, and shock, mainly.
Yuren cupped his chin, unsure of how to answer the question. Who was he? From the Meteorn he met and the way they spoke to him... he wondered if he was far different from what he'd thought of himself.
"Commander Yuren Gotsutoa is also a Meteorn." Naiola walked forward, speaking openly.
The group of androids stared between the AI woman and Yuren, looking for any further elaboration on her explanation, which she didn't offer.
"Hold on, just slow down a moment. Are you saying this guy isn't human? How is that even possible?" Ola asked, finding this entire conversation insane. The suddenly taking aim at Yuren as one would at an enemy, feeling like they had just been double-crossed.
"Ola!"
"Put that damn gun down!"
"Don't be stupid!"
The others practically all chorused in protest of her attempt to provoke the commander.
"If he's really a Meteorn then doesn't that mean he's been the threat this whole time!?" Ola shot a glance around to the others, seeing them glaring daggers at her.
"Stop." A hand grabbed her weapon, a finger pushing her own trigger guard down to disarm the semi-automatic rifle.
"E-Eri?!" Ola didn't even sense her approach or hide behind her.
"What the hell are you doing? Next time I find you pointing a weapon at Yuren, A bullet is going straight through your core." Garra's voice came from behind the snowy hill.
"Y-You too?" Ola stammered as she felt herself shiver under the heat of Eri's glare.
"Sorry we're late." The red-headed android greeted them.
"Eri, Garra! How did you find us?" Yuren flashed the most heartwarming smile at the two and instantly looked in disbelief at his two bodyguards appearing right before his eyes.
"You're asking that as if you didn't just plunge the entire area into a full-fledged blackout zone. You put a big ass target on the map, there are literally hundreds of Meteorn swarming outside of this place right now." Garra shook her head slowly as she took a moment to explain what it had been like on the outside for the past few hours.
"Wait, doesn't that mean the Empire could track us?" Estriv asked as she quickly ran the numbers based on the surrounding resonance density, drawing a gasp when she calculated how long it'd take the military to mobilize a unit into the Trinity Range.
"No. The kind of resonance here is very different from normal blackout zones. Only from the inside can measuring equipment actually tell there's a blackout zone here. Obviously the hordes of Meteorn that now roam the Trinity Range may cause the nations of the Union to take concern, however, this location will remain undetectable." Naiola chimed in to put the girls at ease and allow them to realize the situation was under control.
At least for the time being.