The Martial Unity

In a secret space observatory in the Arima III Star, the one and only photonic phase induction catalyzer suddenly teleported out of nowhere.

WHOOSH

It landed on the metal floor, buoyed by the artificial gravity. It was at teleported precisely within a large chamber with workshops of tools and logistical facilities that was originally designed to work on space telescopes, but would soon be used for a military superweapon. Teleported along with the machine was a technical team of nearly a hundred dwarves that immediately got to working on the machine to get in place.

A team of military technicians emerged into the teleportation chamber, aiding the dwarves in their task. The two teams worked together to prepare the machine for the purpose it would serve.

”Gungnir Prime has arrived.”

”Commencing transfer and positioning.”

”Initiating teleportation of Assault Leader 1, 2, and Light Redirector 1, 2, 3.”

WHOOSH!

A second wave of teleportations occurred simultaneously as several new people teleported. Bodhisattva Maitreyi, a team of elves, a team of Solarian Sages, and Argenton. They each regarded each other with acknowledgment. Though they may come from different races and cultures, they were fighting for human civilization, and their operation in particular would greatly influence the outcome of the war.

Bodhisattva Maitreyi regarded Argenton, in particular, with a profound smile. ”Amitabha. Who would have thought that we would be fighting by each other’s side in a grand operation to preserve the light of hope?”

Argenton regarded the Transcendent Candidate with a mixed expression on his cybernetic, silver face.

He could tell with a single glance.

’She’s grown stronger.’

He had fought her numerous times in the past, which was he could tell that she had progressed as a Martial Artist. In comparison to her, however, he hadn’t grown all that much.

Indeed, modern technology, particularly in the field of space technology, infrastructure, and negatron technology, had skyrocketed. But the gains were anything but uniformly spread. Most of the gains made affected interstellar affairs.

In comparison, his body was made up of a very niche subfield of quantum electrodynamic engineering, which had only undergone a single round of upgrade, if even that. After all, mind-controlled by NOVA, he hadn’t been in the right state of mind to invest in his own Path progress. And even after she was destroyed, his recovery from depression had killed any motivation to progress.

While Bodhisattva Maitreyi hadn’t undergone any transformative growth, she had grown steadily stronger than she was in the past. The gap between them had grown, consequently. Argenton didn’t think that he could stalemate her to a draw in his current state as he had once.

”There is a lot of darkness in your heart.” Bodhisattva Maitreyi drew his attention. ”Anybody who hopes to manipulate light cannot possibly carry this much darkness in their heart.”

It was a profound insight, but one that Argenton didn’t necessarily accept.

”Tekvores like myself are different from Martial Artists.” His cybernetic voice contained a hint of envy. ”What I think does not matter. How I feel does not matter.”

Bodhisattva Maitreyi shook her head at those words.

”It is the only thing that matters.”

Argenton simply stared at her, his cybernetic pupils shifting as he studied her, collecting data on her. They both pursued the path of light, albeit in very different ways. Perhaps that was why he took her words more seriously. After all, if the key to Transcendence was phenomenological uniformity, then it was likely that they both pursued the phenomenological uniformity centered around the concept and theme of light.

In that regard, he could feel that she was light-years ahead of him. The profound wisdom she exuded was the weight of countless enlightenments that she had already gained. In comparison, Argenton had never experienced any kind of philosophical enlightenment in his entire life.

He had many moments of great serendipity in his technological pursuits and in his assimilation pursuits, but nothing beyond that. That made him feel ill at ease. Would he need to start meditating in order to make progress to the Transcendent Realm?

”Esteemed Pathwalkers, you have arrived.” A powerful, authoritative voice drew their attention towards a middle-aged man who wore a heavy uniform featuring the Gaian Space Force. Yet, the uniform was distinctly non-naval and instead bore a more militaristic style.

”I am Commander Varis Vonmein,” he identified himself, saluting the many pathwalkers. ”I will be the commanding officer of Operation Lightfury. I look forward to working with all of you to succeed with this important operation and bring about a better future for human civilization.”

Even as he spoke, several assistants walked up to each pathwalker with special devices that were shaped like hexagons. ”What is this?” One of the Lightweavers asked with a curious expression.

”A negatron-empowered teleporter,” Argenton remarked knowingly. ”I was under the impression that the Gaian Space Force would deploy infrastructural teleportation technology to lower the odds of spatial interdiction.”

”We are, President Argenton,” the commander replied. ”We have secretly transported a stealth support spaceship known as the Bulldozer Avilon LXIV, which is equipped with a cutting-edge spatial amplifier that will power through any kind of spatial interdiction.”

He projected a hologram that featured a light spaceship that was nearly three kilometers in its length and was abnormally wide and tall.

”Now that all of you are here, now that this ship and this highly important catalyst are here, all preparations have been made, and Operation Lightfury is ready to commence the moment the arakai invade,” Commander Varis spoke with a voice of conviction. ”Humanity will not forget the responsibilities you have undertaken and the contributions to our survival that you will be making with the inception of this operation. I have received word that the Chancellor of Gaia intends to reward all of you greatly for partaking in this operation and even greater if it succeeds.”

His eyes sharpened with determination.

”Only twenty-four hours are left until the arakai invasion begins. Get some rest for now while you can, and ensure that you are at your peak when the time comes. You will need every ounce of power once the spider comes.”