A piercing alarm shattered the dawn over Planet Karen's capital.
The hovercars that had been traveling in an orderly fashion instantly descended into chaos. Panicked residents of Planet Karen poured out of buildings and fled in all directions.
The distant sky glowed orange-red with artillery fire. Flash after flash came, each accompanied by a muffled explosion that made the entire city tremble.
Above the central government building in the capital.
Three figures appeared out of thin air, hovering beneath the churning clouds.
From here, the entire city lay in full view below.
The outskirts had become a battlefield. Energy beams darted back and forth between buildings, explosions flared one after another, and thick black smoke rose in columns from every direction.
Morton's army was surging toward the city center from three directions like a tide.
Yet the enormous government building beneath them remained eerily quiet.
Daiz folded his arms and looked down at the fighting.
"That's quite a commotion."
Turles kept his gaze fixed on the building below.
According to the plan, once Morton's forces posed a substantial threat to the central defensive line, the United Government's two "super soldiers" would deploy to the heart of the fighting and stabilize the situation.
All they had to do was wait here.
Time ticked by.
The fighting below grew fiercer.
Morton's forces had clearly spared no expense. His armored units charged the Central Military District's defenses without regard for casualties, and the artillery fire, already denser than it had been at the start, continued to intensify.
Daiz gradually frowned.
"Something's wrong."
He looked at Turles.
"Their defenses are about to be torn open. Why hasn't anyone come out yet?"
"Are those two so-called 'super soldiers' sleeping in the building or something?"
As time passed,
Morton's forces tore a huge gap in the defensive line on the capital's north side, and a mass of soldiers and armored vehicles poured through.
The battle had clearly begun to tip in their favor.
Yet there was still no movement from the government building.
"Cacao."
Turles finally spoke.
Cacao, standing behind him, understood. His red optical units lit up, and an invisible ripple spread from him, sweeping over the enormous building below.
"Two high-energy sources detected."
"Location: underground bunker at the bottom of the building."
"Energy status: stable. No signs of movement."
Daiz froze for a moment when he heard that.
"Huh? Is it those two?"
"And we've been waiting here all this time."
"Boss, what do we do now?"
"Daiz, if your plan was to defend a single place to the end, what would you do?"
Daiz thought for a moment.
"Obviously, I'd turn every defense up to the max and make it a fortress nobody could get into."
"But... they clearly have two super soldiers. Why would they choose to defend blindly against Morton's attack?" Turles pondered.
By now, the artillery fire below had reached the core district.
Distant explosions sent tremors through the air beneath them.
After the northern defensive line was breached, Morton's armored units had charged onto the main road.
Energy beams fired from the far end of the street, punching through barricades before being driven back by the Central Military District's heavy artillery.
"Boss, if they don't come out soon, Morton's men really will be right on top of them." Daiz's gaze swept over the steadily advancing troops below.
"When those small fry swarm in, they'll just get in our way."
"Daiz."
"You go to the east side of the building. Cacao, take the west."
"Watch the exits on the other sides of this building."
The two nodded without another word and flew off in opposite directions.
Then Turles began to descend.
Slowly and steadily, he dropped toward the building's main entrance.
His feet touched down on the plaza in front of the government building's main entrance.
There was no one there.
Sure enough.
Every exterior entrance to the building was covered by a blue energy barrier.
Turles reached out. Before his fingertips touched it, he could already feel a repelling force from its surface.
Hummm-
The blue barrier vibrated faintly as his fingers approached, and the energy patterns on its surface visibly began to flow faster.
Though he didn't know what the people in Kalen's central government were planning,
letting them stall for time wouldn't do Turles any good.
He would deal with whatever came his way; he just needed to be careful.
Turles raised his right hand.
He pressed his palm flat against it.
The instant he made contact, the energy barrier's surface shuddered violently. Its blue light abruptly intensified, the visible energy patterns raced madly across it, and a deep hum sounded throughout the building's exterior walls.
Crack-
White cracks spread across the blue energy layer like a spiderweb, radiating outward from Turles's palm.
The building's internal alarm system went into a frenzy.
The cracks in the energy barrier had spread beyond Turles's field of vision. He could feel the resistance beneath his palm rapidly weakening.
Turles thrust his palm forward.
Bang!
Countless specks of blue light broke away from the shattered barrier, drifting in all directions like scattered fireflies.
He stepped forward.
More than a dozen dark gun barrels popped out of the metal ceiling overhead.
The automatic defense system had locked onto the intruder.
Whoom-
Energy beams rained down from every direction.
Smoke filled the air.
Turles walked out of the thick smoke at the same unhurried pace.
He casually raised his right hand and waved it to the side.
An invisible blast of air erupted from his arm.
Whoosh-
Every turret exploded in succession the instant the blast passed over it.
Red light flashed on and off.
Turles walked deeper into the building amid the flickering light.
Two heavy mechs shot out of recessed hangars on either side, their metal joints sounding with heavy hydraulic hisses. Each stood over three meters tall, and their shoulder-mounted twin energy cannons had finished warming up, their muzzles glowing orange-red.
The mechs' voice systems issued a warning.
"Intruder, stop advancing immediately."
Turles paid them no attention.
Two fireballs exploded in the corridor, and both heavy mechs crashed apart.
Their components were torn to pieces by the impact and hurled against the walls on either side.
Turles walked through the flames.
Just like that, he strolled through the planetary-grade internal defense system that was Planet Karen's pride.
The command room of the underground bunker at the bottom of the building.
More than a dozen monitors lined the wall.
All of them had now been completely destroyed.
But they seemed able to sense death approaching.
Greer, chief executive of the Planet Kalen United Government, sat in the main seat with both hands braced against the control console.
His knuckles were white from clenching, and the back of his uniform was soaked with sweat.
Two figures stepped out of the shadows at the same time.
"Chief."
"Whatever's out there, we'll stop him."
At the end of the passage.
Turles stood before the final door.
Planet Karen's last line of defense.
It was no different from any of the barriers before it. The energy amplifiers around the doorframe shrieked with overload alarms, and the blue light flashed wildly a few times before exploding with a crash!
The full interior of the bunker unfolded before him.
More than a dozen high-ranking Planet Karen officials in government uniforms crowded behind the control console.
The panic and wariness on their faces were hard to conceal.
Spear's entire body was already wrapped in a golden aura.
His fists clenched, and his muscles bulged beneath his skin.
"Outsider!"
The super soldier codenamed "Spear" roared and launched himself forward.
His fist swung in from the side, the energy glowing around it scorching the surrounding air until it warped.
Turles tilted his head slightly.
The fist brushed past his temple, the force of the blow stirring a few strands of his hair.
Spear's eyes flew wide.
Turles raised his left hand and unhurriedly caught Spear's right wrist before he could pull it back.
Then he pressed down.
Spear's whole body plunged after it, smashing two radiating cracks into the metal floor.
Shield charged in right behind him.
He hurled his whole body sideways at Turles, arms crossed over his chest. The metallic patterns on his body all lit up, and a grayish-white shield covered him.
Turles released Spear's wrist.
He raised his right leg.
And kicked Shield squarely in the middle of his crossed arms.
The grayish-white shield cracked beneath the sole of Turles's shoe, the cracks spreading faster than the eye could follow.
Shield's arms were kicked apart, and he slid backward.
Planet Karen's two strongest warriors had been put to sleep in a single exchange.
The bunker was so quiet that the hum of the ventilation ducts overhead could be heard.
Turles began examining the figures in the bunker.
Suddenly, a familiar figure came into view,
a round cloth hat,
a girl wearing a plain dress.
Tights.
"Y-you are? T-Turles?"
The voice came from a corner.
Staring fixedly at Turles as he emerged from the dust and smoke.
Tights had seen him too.
The surprise on her face was even greater.
The two looked at each other from opposite sides of the bunker.
This time, Turles wore a thoughtful expression. "So you're the one who warned these people to hide in advance, aren't you?"
"Looks like I said too much before. Still, it's fine. If that's all, it'll only delay me a little longer at most."
"Turles!"
Tights came out of the corner, her steps somewhat unsteady.
She glanced at the two super soldiers lying on the floor, then at the fragments scattered everywhere and the remains of the disabled defense system.
Then she looked back at Turles.
"So... y-you're the intruder?"
Turles turned back.
He chuckled.
"An invader?"
"Don't misunderstand."
He raised a hand and gestured casually toward the top of the fortress.
"I'm only pledging my loyalty to the great General Morton."
His words had an immediate effect.
The dozen or so United Government officials in the fortress had been huddled behind the control console, too afraid to make a sound. At the mention of Morton's name, they erupted almost in unison.
"Morton!"
Greer braced both hands on the console and rose to his feet, his face, pale with fear, flushing red in an instant.
"That traitor!!"
"This is rebellion!"
Several other officials joined in the shouting and cursing.
Now that these people had an outlet for their anger, their fear would recede into the background for the time being.
Turles didn't care about any of that, though. In any case, he could only conclude that it was an internal power struggle on Planet Karen.
It didn't matter whether these guys believed him or not.
"Turles."
Tights spoke up again.
She pushed her way to the front through the crowd of cursing officials.
"Wait a moment."
The Planet Karen leaders parted to make way for her.
Before this, Tights had informed them of the crisis Planet Karen might face in her capacity as an auxiliary member of the Galactic Patrol.
Now, Tights was naturally their last hope.
"Whatever happened, can we wait for the Galactic Patrol to come and handle it?"
Turles stopped in his tracks.
"Whatever happened, can we wait for the Galactic Patrol to come and handle it?"
Hearing this, Turles paused again.
"The Galactic Patrol?"
Turles looked at Tights.
"You're pretty quick-witted. You called them here so fast."
Tights bit her lip and said nothing.
Turles tilted his head.
"But the Galactic Patrol has no authority to intervene in the internal transfer of power within a civilization."
"This is Planet Karen's internal affair."
That was what he said, but after hearing that Tights had already notified the Galactic Patrol, Turles clearly had no intention of dragging things out any longer.
At the very least, he had to finish the job and withdraw before the Galactic Patrol arrived.
Tights wanted to argue, but she didn't know where to begin.
Still, she had a vague feeling that everything Turles had said was skirting the real issue.
"The Galactic Patrol is already on its way! You mercenaries will pay for this!"
"Morton is finished! You're finished too! The United Government won't compromise with traitors!"
The Planet Karen leaders across from him were still cursing.
Turles turned a deaf ear to them and walked straight toward the two figures nearby.
The aura he released ever so slightly was like an invisible mountain, pinning both men in place.
Morton had ordered these two captured alive, and Turles placed his hands on the backs of the two super soldiers' necks.
The two of them could only let Turles knock them unconscious.
After doing all that, Turles still didn't seem to have any intention of leaving immediately.
His gaze returned to Tights.
Tights immediately sensed trouble.
"Wh-what are you going to do?"
Turles walked toward her.
"You know the Galactic Patrol, right? This time, I've decided to ask you to come with me."
"What do you mean?" Tights backed away repeatedly.
"You know what I mean. Letting you leave on your own last time was a mistake. Maybe you can help me with a few things... At the very least, I can't let you run around anymore."
"You should understand that you have no room to refuse. If you waste another second now, I'll kill one person here."
As Turles spoke, he began scanning the crowd out of the corner of his eye.
For a moment, the officials were all terrified.
Tights, horrified, hurriedly stopped Turles from carrying out his threat.
By the time Turles appeared at the entrance to the building again,
Tights was already following behind him.
He held out a hand to Tights. "Let's go. There's no need to waste any more time here. This is Planet Karen's fate. You can't change anything."