"What do you think, Pa?" Sylen asked with excitement and curiosity, watching his face from up close. "We should go and check it out!" She was wagging her tail behind her, making Omega smile involuntarily.

"..." Miyon was silently watching the bracelet on the table, still displaying the rotating holographic image of the battlesuit.

"Pa! Pa! Say something!" Sylen nudged his hands.

"Let's say we go and find it. What is next? You want it for yourself?" He looked into Omega's eyes, trying to see the truth.

"I would be the one operating it at first, yes." He replied, not denying it, "If it is even in working condition! None of you are trained to use it at all."

"Heh, and I assume you are?" Miyon scoffed, leaning back on his chair in the ship's lounge area.

"Apparently so." He nodded, staying calm and serious. "Before I could pass it on to your granddaughter, I would need to train and teach her how to operate it."

"What?" "I would be able to pilot it?!" Sylen flinched, but she immediately got even more excited, looking at Omega with sparkling eyes.

"In time, yes." Omega smiled at her.

"Hmf!" Miyon snorted, partly to reign in his granddaughter. "If all is true to what you told us about it, this is a dangerous weapon!"

"Of course it is! It was made for war!" Omega replied without denying the obvious or trying to persuade him.

"We CAN go and see if it is still there. We CAN recover it if we find it…. BUT!" Miyon looked at Sylen before leaning forward, turning his eyes towards Omega. "You won't pilot it! Neither Sylen! We come back and sell it to the military!"

"Pa!" Sylen protested. The prospect of piloting something like that was truly enchanting. Being robbed of it was quickly turning her mood sour.

"Deal?" Miyon ignored her while Omega simply smiled.

"Okay." He answered without any frustration. Reaching forward, he just tapped on the bracelet, letting the image switch into a small slice of a star chart. "I narrowed down its last known destination!" He stood up, walking to the wall-mounted console, bringing up the ship's star charts and flipping through them. "Here!" He stopped at one, enlargening it. "Nowadays, the territory is occupied by another species. They go by the name of…." He nibbled on his lips, trying to say in his head, "Ghykwo… ghikwo… Gwiko…” He mumbled, sounding as if something was stuck in his throat.

"In the Gynkwhon's territory?!" Miyon stood up with a scared look, and even Sylen gulped, watching the image.

"Gyn..gink… yeah, that!" Omega shook his head, shrugging as it was way too hard to pronounce.

"No way I am stepping one foot into that place! Are you out of your mind?!" Miyon shouted at him.

"Huh? Why?" Omega looked at them with confusion, not getting why the sudden anger.

"Pa! Relax… he doesn't know!" She patted her grandfather's back, Sylen, before explaining it to him. "They are a… a carnivorous species and a very savage one. In their tongue, their name means 'The ones who resist.' "She gulped audibly, saying, "They are an ancient species, dating back to your time! You don't remember them?"

"Them?" Omega tilted his head. "Nothing. Not from the name, at least! Do you have any image of their kind?"

"Sure…" Sylen licked her lips nervously, walking to the console, bringing up the image of their species.

Just looking at them made both Sylen and Miyon shudder. Their bodies were slim, sickly yellowish, standing on four bug-like legs. Telling from the image details, they stood between 1,6 and 1,9 meters tall, with different amounts of arms attached to their torso. The older one got, the more 'sections' their body grew out from the middle, gaining multiple thoraxes over the years. From there, they were spurting boney arms capable of turning in all directions and rotating in any way they saw fit. Their heads were in the shape of a horseshoe, the two ends of it filled with multiple eyes, giving them a perfect 360 vision. Their mouths were that of a mandible, hiding a long, spiked tongue inside of it.

"What are these for?" Omega asked, pointing at one of the most disturbing parts of the image. "These hundreds of small, oval-shaped holes… They go along their front, from neck to bottom!" He was watching it calmly, studying the alien lifeform with a calm eye. He was taking in not just the small information pieces written on the image, marked with a skull and red text, saying 'keep away at all costs but also making a mental image of the creature's body and searching for possible weaknesses.

"Those are for… eggs." Sylen licked her dried-up lips again, her tail and ears becoming twice their usual size as the fur stood upwards on them. She looked alongside Miyon as if they were zapped by a stray lightning bolt. "They keep their larvae in their own bodies, letting them eat their flesh until they find a host to implant them into… Usually in moist and warm holes… so the children could eat their way… inwards." She explained slowly, shuddering.

"Ah!" Omega clapped his hands together, scaring Sylen, who was too into her imagination by then.

"What?!" She jumped a little in place. "You remember them?!"

"No." He looked at her calmly. "But they are gross!"

"It gets worse," Miyon said. "They were around when Humans ruled the Galaxy. They are one of the species who fought against them constantly. Their original planet, if their legends are true, was conquered and then burnt to the ground. We don't know if this is true; nobody knows where their homeworld is by now, not even them! But they insist that they were fighting humans long before any other species. Their hatred is one of the strongest towards us… Luckily they only control 4 systems! And are also at war with all of their neighbors!"

"Oh. So they are not good neighbors, huh?" Omega chuckled, still watching their displayed image.

"Not really," Miyon said as she shook his head. "Now, do you understand? I won't plan a course into their territory! No matter the rewards!"

"Yeah… we should really leave it at that!" Sylen nodded, too, switching off the console. "Nobody sane would intrude into one of their systems! Not without an army following along!"

"Hm…" Omega crossed his arms before sighing. "I see! Then we should sell it to your army. I mean the bracelet!" He said as she closed his eyes for a little while before reopening them, smiling again. "I'll unlock it so it can be worn by anyone having at least 70% of human genes. Any lower than that, and they would be unable to sync up with the suit!"

"That… could still be worth a lot of money!" Miyon whispered, already liking his new approach a lot more. "If they can study it, they can determine if they are willing to risk it! We did our part, and provided the information; it is a win-win situation!"

"Um! Not even for a whole new ship made out of gold! We may even get some recognition!" Sylen agreed, a bit disappointed she wouldn't get to pilot it in the end but going into Gynkwhon territory?

"I understand," Omega said with a smile, watching the pair slowly calm down. "I won't ask you to do something you are unwilling to do! Let's trade it in then." He pointed at it, signaling to Miyon to take it away as it should be him as captain to do so.

"Thanks," Miyon said, a bit surprised, nodding at Omega, drawing a smile onto Sylen's face, seeing her grandfather finally showing some of his kinder sides to him.

…
….
…..

Two days later, their ship got ejected from the Astropath, arriving at the Ushitar system. In the cockpit, Miyon was sitting strapped in, same with Sylen, while Omega was seated at a side console, in his own chair, behind the two. His panel was a secondary scanner without any serious function, but it acted as an excellent window toward the ship's surroundings, showing things the naked eye could not perceive.

This region of space itself was labeled as a "cold system." Its star died long ago, replaced by a white dwarf, spinning quickly in the distance. It had already gobbled up the innermost planets in its earlier phase before finally dissipating and leaving behind its coldly shining core. What remained of the previous star system was only three stellar bodies. A frozen, rocky planet, slowly crumbling and being torn apart. The reason why was the second object, a gas giant, gradually changed its course, its orbit falling closer and closer to the white dwarf. It destroyed the remaining who knows how many planets, leaving a vast asteroid belt behind its path, continuing its silent rampage. The third object was… not natural. It was man-made. A station, built amongst the asteroid field, was the size of a moon and was blinking its many lights constantly.

It was the leading shipyard of the Neo-Hegemony, named Mors Caminus. It was a name the station still had painted on the side of its central hub, built by humans 5000 years ago and rediscovered by Kaltazar. Nobody knew by now what it meant, but as it was given to it by humans, they would never dare to rename it. Everyone knew it was one of the most important backbones of their empire. More than half of their ships were made here or for maintenance. The Gate of Kaltazar was built here, and most of its later add-ons also could trace their origin back to the forges of Mors Caminus.

From afar, it looked like a snowflake, enlarged millions of times. Its different parts could be constructed from the smallest fighters to the largest motherships. If those differently designated sections were programmed correctly, the whole station could be used to create a modular platform easily attached to the Gate of Kaltazar.

"Interesting…" Omega said to himself, watching his fingers sometimes flinching, drawing a curious smile onto his face. The shipyard was getting its resources from different parts of the Neo-Hegemony and the rich asteroid field around it. Hundreds of mining ships were scurrying back and forth, gobbling up the remains of planets, turning the dead rocks into usable materials.

"Mors Caminus, this is the Dawn," Sylen spoke up, opening a channel as they approached the shipyard. "I am transmitting our identification code for permission to dock!"

"Roger Dawn." came the answer from a raspy, male voice. "It checks out. Will it be a specific part that needs to be repaired, a full overhaul, upgrading, or something else?"

"It will need complete maintenance, down to the ship's core. We had an unexpected encounter outside and don't know if the ship is still 100% operational. Our scans are unreliable if the core systems did receive damage." Sylen replied, almost smiling, remembering how they picked up Omega.

"Roger, proceed to Quadrant B.44; a technical team will be assembled by the time you dock in. The estimated time for full maintenance is twelve days."

"Acknowledged." Sylen nodded, sighing a little, knowing they would be stuck here for almost two weeks. Unlike the Gate of Kaltazar, this was a shipyard, first and foremost, with much fewer options to have some fun. "Also… we have something to sell." She shook her head, knowing this was the part that would be interesting.

They could have gone to someone at the Gate of Kaltazar, finding someone to establish contact with them with the military or with some politician… but that would take months. Worse, even years. Not to mention it was a mess of webs of related interests. The nodes on that station acted like their own nations, not something they were interested in navigating through. Something they did not want to tangle themselves in.

On the other hand, Mors Caminus was entirely operated and ruled over by the military of the Neo-Hegemony. Yes, they were servicing the civilian population, just like how they designated a group of mechanics to their problem… but they were, in the grand picture, nothing but interns. Young souls who were still learning were sent to the fields to work on civilian crafts, learning the ins and outs of their trade before they got their hands dirty by building authentic warships. Selling it here would mean selling it directly to the military. Or they would seize it by force… a risk they were willing to take.

"Dawn, this is a shipyard, not the market. If there is-" The annoyed voice echoed from the speakers, but Sylen was ready for it.

"Sending over a sample image of what we came across." She replied without a wait and sent over an image of the active bracelet, displaying the image of the Suit of Ares. At first, there was nothing but static, then the radio feed suddenly cut out. "Pa?" Sylen gulped, looking at him, but he just shook his head.

"Wait," Miyon whispered, slowing down the ship's speed. Ten nerve-wracking minutes later, they were hailed again on a different channel.

"This is the Dawn." Sylen activated the comms with a trembling finger.

"This is Major General Parthen; I am transmitting over new coordinates. Dock at this position. Your ship's overhaul is covered by us. Until my guys go over and refit you with a new, sturdier core system, I'd be happy if you accompanied me to a drink. Along with your discovery."

"We would be honored, Major General," Miyon replied. "My name is Miyon; I am the captain of the Dawn."

"Well met, Captain." came the greeting, but it was clear; it was a mere formality.

"We received the coordinates, initiating docking procedures." Miyon continued, gulping audibly.

"Don't worry… you are amongst your family." Parthen's voice echoed before the feed was cut once again.

"This was… scary!" Sylen moaned, wiping her forehead.

"It is the army. At least we are over the first hurdle! If nothing else, we can spare the money for the maintenance!" Miyon smiled weakly.

"Their weapons are still armed and aiming at us. Only our scanners are being blocked from picking it up." Omega spoke up, who remained silent so far. "Also, four ships on our left changed their course and were ready to cut off our retreat at any given time."

"Really?!" Sylen looked back at him, shrugging. "Scary!"

"It is the military!" Omega laughed. "I would be more surprised if they would welcome us with open arms! Worry not; they wouldn't be able to hurt us, not as long as I am here."

"Thanks…" Sylen smiled, but she only took it as him, comforting her nerves. Even Miyon took it as nothing but empty boasting.

On the other hand, Omega was watching his scanner readings, his fingers suspended in the air, gently caressing invisible strands under them that nobody else could see, only him. If someone followed these thin lines through the walls of the Dawn, they would spread outwards, connected exactly to those ships he was telling them about. As to what it would do if he just plunked one of them… only he knew.