Chapter 11: No One Messes With An Astral

[ Astral Knights Headquarters Command Room ]

The command room of the Astral Knight Headquarters shook violently, the walls quaking with the force of its separation from the building's foundation.

*Rumble* *Rumble* *Rumble*

Sparks flew from the panels as the room dislodged itself from its base, ready for liftoff.

Suddenly, the room was bathed in a fluorescent glow as the neon tubes flickered to life, casting an eerie light across the room.

The anti-gravitational power-train roared to life, burning bright and fierce, the blinding light it exuded causing the Guardians to shield their eyes.

Despite its massive size, the command room moved with a fluid grace, soaring higher and higher into the sky. The city below shrank into tiny buildings and cars, barely visible from this altitude.

The Guardians gasped in awe as the room continued to ascend, shooting towards the Empire of Technia like a bullet from a gun.

The panoramic floor-to-ceiling screen ahead of the command chair displayed the exterior view, showing the room's trajectory towards its target.

As they flew, a holographic map in the center of the bridge projected a three-dimensional scan of the outside surroundings, displaying the intricate details of the journey ahead.

As the Aion warship soared through the sky, the younger Guardians looked around in awe.

They had never seen anything like this before.

The walls and floors vibrated with the hum of the ship's engines, and the entire room was bathed in a pulsating blue light.

"This is amazing!" one of them exclaimed, his eyes wide with excitement.

One of the younger Guardians stammered in amazement,

"The Headquarters is a... warship?!"

"The Aion warship!"

An elderly Astral Guardian said, his voice heavy with reverence.

"Named after our great Emperor Aion Teleos. It led us to victory in the First Great War."

The elder Guardian continued, his eyes gleaming with pride.

"During the conception of the Fellowship of the Astral Knights, His Highness ordered the Headquarters to be built around the Aion warship,"

"In his words, it'd be convenient if we needed to kick anyone's ass!"

The younger Guardians, who knew only of the Almighty Emperor for his unrivaled martial prowess and the mighty sovereign's prestige, were slightly taken aback.

"All Praise The Emperor!"

They collectively praised, their voices ringing out with conviction and devotion, proud to feel that much closer to their ruler.

===========

[ Capital City of Technia - Zukun ]

The Aion Warship loomed menacingly in front of a dome-shaped force-field which covered the entire circumference of Zukun, the capital of the Empire of Technia.

Princess Athena stood at the helm, her eyes ablaze with a fierce determination.

The ship's design was unlike any other ever seen before, a marvel of futuristic engineering built for one purpose: destruction.

A pale-looking middle-aged man with mechanical arms and legs appeared, levitating to the Warship's line of sight.

He stood tall on a levitating circular disk lined with neon fluorescence.

The cyborg had his chin pointed upward, his pride, illusory or not, shone brighter than the gleam of the Technian badge on his cloak.

He was obviously an official of status within the Empire of Technia, but to Athena, he was just another obstacle in her path.

Prideful as he may be, the Technian official kept a relatively safe distance from the Warship, but Athena had no intention of letting him escape unscathed.

"What is the meaning of..."

He started to say before Princess Athena cut him off with a cold, commanding tone.

" FIRE !!! "

The cannons roared to life, and the ship shuddered as two massive beams of energy were unleashed towards the Technian.

*BOOOOOM*

The beams incinerated the cyborg before blasting straight onto the force-field, sending ripples throughout the barrier and shaking the cold, emotionless cityscape of dark gray skyscrapers beneath it.

Fifteen powerful cyborg figures of different sizes and shapes lined up in the sky, some propelled by jetpacks and others standing on personal levitating platforms or crafts.

However, this time, they stood behind a force field. Suddenly, a deep robotic voice echoed from deep within Zukun.

"Turn around little Astral and I will pardon your insolence…"

Athena's grip on the command orb tightened as she transmitted her instructions to the Aion warship through her mind, her eyes blazing with an intense fury.

The origin of the Aion warship was a mystery shrouded in rumor, with some speculating that it was not built by the Astrals but discovered by the Emperor.

Nevertheless, its technology was known to be far superior to that of anything else on Tertius.

And Athena was one of the very few who knew how to wield its power.

With a simple mental command, Athena directed her chair to rise upward, and a hatch in the roof of the ship slid open, granting her passage to the outside.

As Athena ascended high above the warship, her long hair whipped around her like a storm, and her aura pulsed with an uncontainable fury that seemed to shake the very air around her.

She focused the Spacial Dimensional Energy of her core toward her throat, gathering all her killing intent.

With a guttural scream, she unleashed the full force of her wrath.

"NO ONE MESSES WITH THE ASTRALS !!!"

Athena bellowed, her sonic waves threatening to tear apart the very fabric of space.

The Aion warship joined in with a monstrous roar, unleashing two giant beams of energy from its frightening maws of destruction.

Without hesitation, another hatch slid open, and the Astral Guardians shot out one after the other.

Athena pointed her spear forward, and the energy cannons fired another set of deadly beams, accompanied by the various attacks of the Guardians by her side.

*BOOOOOM*

A blood-curdling explosion rocked the air.

As the dust cleared, a three-foot cyborg stood before the warship, a strange fusion of man and machine that seemed both familiar and alien at the same time.

Its body was a work of engineering genius, with joints that moved fluidly and skin that seemed almost human in texture.

However, there was something unnerving about the way it moved, something that hinted at the unsettling duality of this unnatural being.

It was the Cyborg Emperor of Technia.

But even more unsettling was the figure that stood in front of the cyborg, fully cloaked and blocking the force of their attack.

Beneath the cloak, Athena could sense a malevolent presence, a cold and calculating intelligence that seemed to be analyzing the world around it with a speed and precision beyond human comprehension.