That was truly unexpected information! Captain Planck took a full thirty seconds to absorb the news. Suddenly, he really wanted to hurry and share it with some trustworthy, sharp-minded companions. Miss Fantine, for instance, would be a good choice. His childhood friend "Flint" would be another, but unfortunately, that guy was a brawler and not too bright... Tsk, he wondered if the guy would survive the Coalition's offensive.
By then, the Great Khan had already begun recounting the distant past.
"The leader who brought the last free people of the Ero who refused to submit to human rule into hiding in the Silver Core was Tairenga, an ancestor of the Masegetai family. Back then, by a stroke of luck, we obtained a star chart to an Enlightener ruin in the Silver Core. My ancestor once tried to open it, but the entrance was protected by a special illusion array. To get inside, you had to suppress the spiritual reactions in your body with drugs, bypass the array, and disarm the traps within a time limit."
Captain Planck fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Then why not send non-psions in from the start?"
"Because after disarming the traps, you still had to fight the guarding Voidrealm spirits in a narrow space. Ordinary people couldn't handle that kind of battle."
"Uh, then why not use robots? Don't tell me you're going to abide by the Civilization Council's treaties." Captain Planck said, "And I'm not bragging, but our organization's research into automated combat robots is better than the Alliance's Future Labs and the Iron Army Combine."
"...There was signal interference in there. I was worried the robots would have their commands stripped away." The Great Khan flashed a wild, dangerous grin and suddenly leaned closer. "Hey, little Planck, are you doing a