Dawnbringer: The Story of the Machine God Vol 1 Chapter 1

In the year 2120 A.D., human explorers on Mars discovered a specimen of a silicon-based alien species, called the Letix.

 

The complete alien life form Letix navigated itself around the outer s.p.a.ce; growing by absorbing energy from stars. And surprisingly, that existence didn’t only exist in the 3rd dimension. For the first time in the history of mankind, humans were able to make contact with an organism that existed outside the third dimension.

 

By a.n.a.lysing this Letix, the humans were able to master the art of hypers.p.a.ce travelling. As a result, humans were able to escape Earth and expand not only within their own solar system, but to the far reaches of the entire universe.

 

Even with the information gathered from the Letix, it still took humans 80 years to develop the technology and capacity necessary for hypers.p.a.ce travel.

 

With the Earth year 2200 A.D. as its start, a new intergalactic power was born, as the human race set out to explore the every corner of the known universe.

 

However, human contact with the Letix did not only bring technological advances and good fortunes: a hostile a.s.sembly of Letix started to censor the human race and its advancements. Threatened with complete annihilation, humans waged a war against these Letix...

 

This information, being broadcasted on the public network, was projected onto my hologram projector while it was in hibernation.

 

I wonder if kids these days sleep in cla.s.s. Why did they broadcast such basic and trivial information? Thinking along those lines, I stretched out my arms.

 

“My body feels so stiff after the cold-sleep since I haven’t had one in a while.”

 

I pulled myself up from the cold-sleep purposed bed. Normal people would suffer instant death as soon as they are put to a cold-sleep, but since I had s.p.a.ce marine type nano-machines installed in me, I stood up feeling only slightly drowsy.

 

“Haa, why do I still feel sleepy after a cold-sleep?”

 

I looked at the mirror as I yawned. There stood a half Mongolian and half Caucasian youth who appeared to be 17 years old with light brown hair and black eyes.

 

I feel like I’ve lost quite a bit of muscle since I’ve been sustained on fluids while I was asleep, but I guess I’m mistaken.

 

I tensed up my muscles, like how the male ancestors would’ve done in the past, to check my body.

 

“Hmm, it’s a bit cold.”

 

Just why did they use a rash guard as the standard attire for cold sleep? It’s cold.

 

Complaining, I headed towards my cabinet. However, I noticed some concerning figures on the display next to the cold-sleep bed as I walked by.

 

Seventh of April, s.p.a.ce Year 189. 9:30 AM Federation Standard.

 

“What? s.p.a.ce Year 189?”

 

The year I fell asleep was… hmm, I can’t remember clearly because I’ve been frozen too much, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a three digit number.

 

That’s right, it was the year 69. The year 69 which was still crystal clear in my head because various reasons (a number is just a number, right?). Then that means that I’ve been in cold-sleep for 120 years.

 

“Ha… these guys. It’s not funny. Not funny at all.”

 

I ignored the hologram display next to the cold sleep bed and approached the cabinet.

 

“Vice Admiral Lezirth Dawnbringer—1st s.p.a.ce Marines and Commander of Dawn Corps. Deactivate hibernation!”

 

The cabinet that was programmed to react to my voice played an electronic beep but then displayed a red error screen shortly after.

 

Huh? Was it broken?

 

Now that I looked around the place, it really did look like 120 years had pa.s.sed with all the collected dust on the interior. They sure worked hard for this prank.

 

“So, these guys think that they can play a prank on me since I’ve been nice to them as a Vice Admiral, huh? Should I grab my arms again? Hey! Hurry up and come out here. If you don’t, I’m going to smash this cabinet open, you know? I can’t go around naked now, can I?”

 

Even when I kept sending signals via the private channel of Dawn Corps, no-one appeared.

 

Huh? Don’t tell me we’re under attack or something.

 

But there’s no way the First s.p.a.ce Marines can be wiped out so quickly. Something must’ve happened while I was hibernating.

 

Suspecting something was wrong, I grabbed the cabinet and pulled it open by force.

 

“Huh?”

 

The cabinet door opened without much resistance. Then surprisingly, there was a plank of plywood behind it.

 

Feeling rushed, I put on something over my cold-sleep attire and opened the plywood up. When I did, a dark, storage like place with heaps of random stuff piled up towards the back came into sight.

 

“What? What’s going on?”

 

I didn’t know what was going on. I tried to open the actual door of the hibernation chamber, but it wouldn’t budge.

 

“d.a.m.n it. It… doesn’t seem to be a joke. Don’t tell me I’ve been hibernating for the last 120 years?”

 

I was starting to feel nervous, but I couldn’t start panicking now. Surprising people who just awoke from a cold-sleep with ‘You’ve been asleep for the last millennia~’ was a common prank to play.

 

It would be a pain if someone saw my panicking appearance and recorded it. The navy recruits these days must’ve been cursed by a laughing ghost or something, because they loved pranks more than anything else even after being held in detention.

 

I can’t be fooled by these things.

 

I decided to escape through the storage s.p.a.ce for now.

 

◊          ◊          ◊

 

 

[Congratulations on being admitted into the s.p.a.ce Federal Military Forces. This planet Epiece—2 is under the direct control of the s.p.a.ce Federation. For those who are interested in joining the Federal Military Forces, please visit the Recruits Office.]

 

 

[In s.p.a.ce, there are numerous illnesses that all of you never would’ve faced before. If anyone feels ill, please report to the Infirmary.]

 

[The planet Epiece—2 has a gravity of 103.45% compared to the standard level. It might be hard to get accustomed to, so please use an a.s.sistant robot for help if you are coming from a plane with a lower gravity level.]

 

The female voice being played over the speakers sounded a lot like instructions being given out at a station for the travellers. No, the place that I actually exited after smashing through the cabinet looked a lot like a storage area in a station.

 

What’s going on? It doesn’t seem to be a joke at all.

 

I was wearing the rash guard, which was nothing more than just a swim suit and supposedly the cold-sleep attire.

 

If they did this as a joke, even a good natured person like myself wouldn’t be able to overlook this. How dare they let the commander of Dawn Corps walk around the s.p.a.ce Station wearing nothing but a swim suit?

 

This was going to be a hot topic to discuss throughout the whole Federation. Doing something like this was a big enough crime to be executed for insulting a senior officer. Hence, this was not my subordinates’ doing.

 

“H-Hey, you. What did you do with your shoes?”

 

“Were you robbed?”

 

Men wearing yellow uniforms, presumably station workers, approached and inspected me.

 

I ignored them and searched for my belongings. But I obviously didn’t have any pockets while being nearly naked, so the only thing that I could grab onto was the dog tag hanging around my neck.

 

“Dog tag… that’s it, I have my dog tag!”

 

Although most identification methods had been made digital and we didn’t require any physical ID, the dog tags were kept in order to retain the customs back on Earth.

 

I held onto my dog tag and headed towards the Recruits Office. Peoples’ gazes were directed at me. Well, that was to be expected as I was striding through the station barefoot and in nothing but rash guard.

 

I could see the sun of the Epiece system, Epiece, rising.

 

The crimson sun that shone between the gaps of solar panels was the proof that this solar system was going to be sustained for another 200,000,000 years. So that was why the s.p.a.ce Federation chose to settle on the Epiece solar system and use Epiece—2 as its military planet.

 

Everyone from the s.p.a.ce Federation and recruits from other planets  rushed in to the Epeice—2 station. And all of them stared at me.

 

To think that I, the hero of the s.p.a.ce Federation Wars and the Commander of Dawn Corps, was being watched as I walked in near-naked attire, was embarra.s.sing. It was so d.a.m.n embarra.s.sing.

 

Then suddenly security guards who were holding rifles stopped me in my tracks.

 

“You! Stop there! Identify yourself!”

 

“Ehh?”

 

“Don’t’ move!”

 

Saying that, they sent a small exploration robot towards me.

 

The exploration bot was shaped like a trilobite that went extinct on Earth a long, long time ago and it floated towards me.

 

There was a playful drawing of a black eye on its back in a manga-like fashion, but it wasn’t cute at all! I didn’t like the fact that it was approaching me to inspect my body. However, the guards were operating by the set manual, so I couldn’t really blame them.

 

The robot inspected various parts of my body for any s.p.a.ce virus or contamination as I held my hands up in the air as instructed.

 

[Status: Normal.]

 

“Why are you walking around in that attire?”

 

When the results turned out to be normal, the security guards loosened their guard. Did they think that I was robbed because I was injured?

 

“Ah, by the way…”

 

“You must be from a foreign planet if your ID isn’t on the scan list, so I’ll lead you to the Recruits Office.”

 

The security guards brought around a small electricity-driven patrol car before I was able to say anything.

 

I tried to explain my situation to them… but I wasn’t even sure how I could explain in the first place. I couldn’t walk around like this, so I decided to board the patrol car for now.

 

◊          ◊          ◊

 

 

There were a lot of people lined up at the Recruits Office. The line showed no sign of decreasing even when there were 20 workers processing 20 different people at once.

 

The guards cut through the line and led me to a Recruits Office worker.

 

The worker appeared to be around 40 years old by Earth’s standard with a not-so-subtle potbelly. He was wearing a uniform that seemed like it was about to burst open. He squinted his eyes as he looked at me.

 

“What’s this meant to be?”

 

“I thought he was a volunteer recruit from a foreign planet since he didn’t show up on our data base when I performed an ID scan on him. It’s better than leaving him naked and wandering around the station. Please take care of him quickly.”

 

“Listen here, guards. Can’t you see all those people in the line? I can’t take care of this guy first.”

 

“But we can’t let him walk around the station naked. And our chief is gay. We can’t bring a cute naked guy like him to our office.”

 

“He’ll eat him up thinking that he’s a holiday present.”

 

The guards giggled as they said that.

 

My, my. Look at these fools. How dare they s.e.xually hara.s.s a three-star officer.

 

But I couldn’t get angry, as it was true that I was prancing around nearly-naked. Ughh, how embara.s.sing. I, Lezirth, lived my life without a single embarra.s.sing episode, but why was this happening to me now?

 

“Tsk, can’t be helped then. I’m not going to do anything when I see more recruits walking around naked.”

 

Saying that, the officer shooed the guards away.

 

“Ah, so… um, how should I say this…. I don’t know what happened, but it seems like I’ve been unenlisted from the military?”

 

When the security guards left, I pulled out my dog tag. I didn’t reveal it to the guards as I did not want to be embarra.s.sed in front of them.

 

“My name is Lezirth Dawnbringer. 1st s.p.a.ce Marines, Commander of Dawn Corps— Vice Admiral Dawnbringer.”

 

I was the one who was saying it, but I sounded coa.r.s.e. However, it can’t be helped. I liked to talk informally in casual places, but as a Vice Admiral, I had to talk like this when I was giving out orders.

 

“Huh… dog tag? Hold on a moment…”

 

The officer took the dog tag from me and scanned it, only to be surprised at the result.

 

“Lezirth Dawnbringer, Commander of Dawn Corps? Is this for real? Really? No way, right?”

 

“Ah, so anyways...”

 

“Well if it’s really genuine, then it’s quite a treasure. So go sell to a souvenir shop or to a crazy collector. So, you’re a new recruit?”

 

“What?”

 

I was taken aback at the officer’s att.i.tude. This guy didn’t believe that I was Lezirth Dawnbringer at all. Was it because I looked young?

 

But as a humanoid-type Replicant, I was trained for 10 years before being enlisted into the military at the age of 10. I appeared to be 17 years old, but I was actually over 100 years old.

 

“Now listen here, officer, I’m telling you that I’m Lezirth Dawnbringer….”

 

“I’m just going to check your genes.”

 

Without asking for my permission, he activated the genetic scanner.

 

As the bluish laser scanned me from the top of my head,  I closed my eyes instantly. There was a risk of going blind if the laser shone directly into one’s eyes while scanning.

 

My genetics must’ve been a.n.a.lysed instantly, because I could hear the officer complaining.

 

“Tsk, it’s a Replicant? Why didn’t the makers put a marking on his right eye? I knew something was suspicious. I can’t understand why the s.p.a.ce Federation allows your kind to hold a gun.”

 

The officer complained as he handed a file to me.

 

“But here, I do have a duty to fulfil, so I can’t really reject a fake humanoid like you.”

 

“Eh? What? Officer, what did you just say to me?”

 

Not caring how surprised I was, the officer filled out my recruitment form without my permission.

 

“Now then, go wait over at the back. Hurry up!”

 

“No, listen to me, officer!”

 

Did this b.a.s.t.a.r.d make fun of me; the one who led an army of 100,000 to battle over 10 billion Letix forces? Didn’t he know that I gathered enough medals to do weight training with over the many battles that I fought as a war hero?

 

This officer must have a death wish to be treating me as a recruit, when I am the Lezirth Dawnbringer—the Commander of Dawn Corps of the 1st s.p.a.ce Marines!

 

It happened as I opened my mouth to train some sense into this person.

 

“Kuuk.”

 

My stomach started to squirm and churn with grumbling sounds. I suddenly got hungry.

 

A black haired female officer who appeared to be in her 20s held back her laughter as she operated a terminal.

 

“Hehe, I packed too many m.u.f.fins this morning. Would you like some?”

 

The junior officer smiled and handed me a bread bag. Who… did they think I am?

 

But the smell piercing my nostrils was so good. Ah, this somewhat cheap smelling spices… was it synthetic cinnamon? I like cinnamon. And is that peanut b.u.t.ter that I smell? I really like peanut b.u.t.ter. Choco-chips? I really, really like choco-chips.

 

By the time I realised what I was doing, I was holding the m.u.f.fins.

 

“Why did you give him food? He would have lunch anyway when he gets a.s.signed to a barrack.”

 

“But there’s another two and a half hours until lunch time. I think he would be hungry. Well, it’s better that throwing them away, isn’t it?”

 

The junior officer said that and winked at me. On the white part of her right eye, there was a hologram mark that appeared to be intentional. It was most likely a proton hologram.

 

“Replicants sure get along, huh. Hmph.”

 

The officer grumbled like that and opened the office door.

 

“Next!”

 

◊          ◊          ◊

 

As I was led by some soldiers to the barracks, I noticed people distributing army uniforms and boots, as well as some various necessities inside a gymnasium equipped with a huge basketball court.

 

Seeing that the females and males were heading to the swimming pool and the basketball court respectively, physical testings were probably being carried out as well.

 

The s.p.a.ce Army uniform provided the basics— protection from heat, cold and pressure as well as some life sustainability, but I was surprised to find an optical camouflage cape that reacts to psychic powers was included.

 

"This was only supposed to be distributed to the espers, but which b.a.s.t.a.r.d added it to the standard set? Well, I’m not complaining though. But they do seem to waste the military budget like there’s no tomorrow."

 

I was worried about this future as I looked at the distributed uniform.

 

But since I needed a uniform set right now, I lined up like the rest of the recruits. I could discuss the wasted budget after I return to the Commands so I should hurry and change into the uniform.

 

As I did, I heard someone’s c.o.c.ky tone.

 

“Oh man, if it isn’t the naked recruit? Oh geez. We were the idiots lining up in the line. I never knew there was an easier way out.”

 

“Hey, cut it out man. It’s too embarra.s.sing to try.”

 

Two men were purposely snickering to themselves, but loud enough for me to hear.

 

I glared at them, but they continued to laugh between themselves instead of making a frightened expression.

 

When I told new recruits to st.i.tch in smiley faces on their military uniform as a joke, over 100 thousand navy men would not only st.i.tch it on their uniforms but their casual clothes as well. That didn’t stop there; they even painted smiley faces on Ambush Amphibious Warfare Ships.

 

To think that I would be made fun of like this when people used to even take my jokes seriously. Grr…. It’s not like I can punch them up when I have to keep face as a Vice Admiral.

 

But it felt like most of the other new recruits aside from those guys hated me. Did they really think that I stripped to cut into the line? Things would only get worse if I got angry at them.

 

I kept my mouth shut and entered a makeshift screening room made out of panels inside the gym. Inside, they were playing a promotional video clip for new recruits.

 

 

[The Letix dominate the planetary system by absorbing minerals from planets and energy from the stars and can grow infinitely. While the Human Race can only utilise Earth and other similar planets, these creatures are able to utilise almost any planet they come across. When the Letix strengthen their forces with their infinite multiplication characteristics, they form an army in order to expand their habitat towards outer s.p.a.ce; the purpose of that army being to destroy all life forms excluding the Letix themselves. Hence, it is impossible for the Human Race to co-exist with Letix.]

 

 

A lady in a s.e.xy swimsuit outfit and a pair of red rimmed gla.s.ses was licking her lips in a suggestive manner as she explained on the video.

 

The video could easily be mistaken for an adults video if watched without the audio, and behind the girl were various photos of Letixes.

 

What was this unbalanced promotion video? Who made this thing? I really have to hold a troop orientation and training session. The military has become slack while I was gone.

 

While I was caught up in my thoughts, the promotional video changed to the next scene.

 

This time, a winged blond beauty was winking at the screen with a toga wrapped around her, which could only be seen out of Ancient Greek and Roman mythology.

 

[Elcros are a winged and undeveloped species. They share some similar genetic makeup to a human, and due to the similar physical appearance, they are suspected to be related to the ancestral humans…. But currently, they are the Human Race’s enemy.]

 

 

“What?! We’re at war with Elcros?!”

 

I yelled out of surprise at the screen which obviously wasn’t going to reply to me. All of the new recruits’ gazes were pointed at me.

 

“What’s with that guy?”

 

“Wasn’t he the guy who came in all naked?”

 

“Yep, he sure is a 'greenie' alright.”

 

All of them looked at me like I was a hopeless fellow. But I was more concerned about what was said on the promotional video rather than what those recruits thought.

 

The Elcros were a species that my Dawn Corps encountered during the war with the Letixes.

 

The standard of their civilisation was low, but the Elcros served a G.o.d named ‘The Great Artus’ and their faith gave birth to a special power named White Magic.

 

The Artus, which seemed to be an organism from hypers.p.a.ce, granted them the ability to jump between dimensions with no scientific methods involved; leading to their presence in 6 different stellar systems already.

 

I took on the facts that Elcros possessed a mild nature and that they are able to produce fertile offspring with humans, and reported to the Federation that they should be accepted as allies to the Human Race.

 

“So why the h.e.l.l are we fighting with the Elcros? Who dared to ignore my report!”

 

“Hey! Sit down!”

 

“Isn’t he screwed up in the head?”

 

Hearing the muttering sounds of people behind me, I sat back down for now.

 

On the video they were arguing that Elcros were an enemy to the Human Race and that humans must abolish their theocratic dictatorship and free them from their governance.

 

[The Asa are an Amazoness-type species with pointed ears. They maintain a strong maternal line and they consider the Human Race as a tool to maintain their genes.]

 

By looking at the promotional video, I could tell what the Human Race has done over the past 120 years.

 

The war with the Letixes was inevitable. Letixes were like fungi and viruses who only seek to fill the entire universe with themselves.

 

But Elcros on the other hand, were a peaceful species. With certain diplomatic conditions in place, there wasn’t a need to fight with them; if ignored, they wouldn’t even be aware of the Human Race’s existence.

 

However, humans could not accept the Elcro's government and started to persecute them.

 

And now, the relationship between Elcros and humans has worsened uncontrollably. While Elcros themselves were offensively weak, Half-Elcros who were born out of the persecution and pro-Elcros military rebels, made up for the weak strength.

 

The Asa were never a peaceful species, but there was a good chance that they could coexist with the Human Race. However, the Human Race attacked them as humans had a higher scientific civilisation and did not view Asas as equals.

 

As a result, Asas became an enemy to the Human Race and they were putting up a good fight as they were much more aggressive than Elcros.

 

By capturing human technicians, Asas were progressing rapidly by stealing knowledge from them. Furthermore, they possessed Black Magic that was much more effective at combating the Human Race than the White Magic possessed by the Elcros.

 

And Replicants revolted against the Federation.

 

The artificial humans—Replicants, which the Federation has produced in order to strengthen itself while even going against the ‘Veracruz Treaty’ that it signed, revolted and formed an independent force.

 

Strictly speaking, I was a Replicant myself, so that must be why the officer at the Recruits Office insulted me.

 

The contempt and discrimination to the Replicants ran deep into these people. That was why all Replicants had a hologram sticker installed on their right eye—to tell the Replicants and humans apart.

 

The only reason why the junior officer gave me food to eat and winked at me wasn’t because she was interested in me, but she was cheering me on as a fellow Replicant. As a discriminated lower cla.s.s in the Federation, Replicants developed a sense of being part of the same race.

 

To sum it up, Human Race was now at war with Letix, Elcro, Asa and Rebel Replicant Forces; all at the same time.

 

 

◊          ◊          ◊

 

[Now then, we will be having a test to gauge your academics. This test is to a.s.sign the recruits here to a suitable field, so please answer the questions diligently.]

 

As the lady on the promotional video talked, a hologram test paper appeared on the tables.

 

The questions were easy. Hmm, I’ll show them that I wasn’t made the commander by pulling strings. I concentrated on the test and filled it out one by one.

 

I must’ve stood out as I breezed through the questions, because someone poked me from behind.

 

“Hey… greenie, show me your answers.”

 

“What?”

 

Did this runt just call me a greenie? I, the commander of Dawn Corps? This runt really has a death wish doesn’t he!!

 

I glared at him, but instead he tried to threaten me.

 

“Who do you think you’re glaring at, you d.i.n.k.”

 

Was that supposed to be a threat? I could only make a bitter smile. I felt like a fool taking this guy seriously if he was going to act this childish. I have to show him my authority.

 

“This test is to measure the individuality of the soldiers such as yourself, so there is no point in cheating; you would only be fooling yourself and suffer by biting off more than you can chew. It would be your own bad luck if you suffer alone, but other soldiers would also be troubled by you and we cannot let that happen.”

 

“What are you spouting off? Instructor! The greenie here is asking for my answers!”

 

The runt raised his hand and called an instructor over. What? Did this guy just try to point the blame on me?

 

“No! You’re wrong! You got it wrong! On the contrary, this one was the one who was asking me for the...”

 

While I was trying to explain myself, the runt stared to copy down my answers. Then a sergeant who was yawning near the back slowly stood up.

 

“Geez, we always get fools like these. Both of you cut it out. Both of you are idiots anyway, so there’s no problem copying each other.”

 

“W-What did you say?”

 

I have never been so insulted in my decades of service in the military than I have been today. Losing the will to protest further, I quickly filled out the answer sheet and try to guard his answers half-heartedly.

 

 

◊          ◊          ◊

 

 

The results for the test came out as soon as it finished. Only the top 20 students were accepted into the military academy and needless to say, I was placed first on the test.

 

The runt who copied my answers was ranked 21st, so he just missed out on being accepted into the military school but was accepted into the non-commissioned officer academy. I was unhappy that a bad guy like him was accepted into the non-commissioned officer academy after copying my answers, but he shouldn’t be able to fit in anyway. I should ignore it.

 

Wearing the military uniform and the military boots, I prepared myself for the next test. There was a physical test waiting for the recruits after the academics. Grip power, sergeant jumps and abdominal strength tests were carried out in the indoor gym, but the stamina tests were being carried out on the tracks outside.

 

When I stepped onto the tracks after quickly finishing off the grip power, sergeant jumps and abdominal strength tests, I could hear a lot of people cheering. The atmosphere felt like a s.p.a.ce Fighters Compet.i.tion match on a Sat.u.r.day night. Why were they so excited over a physical test like this?

 

“Hey! Try harder, greenie!”

 

“Is that how a future cadet should be?!”

 

“Ha ha ha ha! If you’re feeling hot, then strip!”

 

A girl with short-cut, dark brown hair was panting as she walked on the long distance running tracks. Other female recruits had already finished running, and she was the only remaining person on the tracks.

 

She was a cute girl with a slender figure, a word that would spring to mind when looking at that girl would be ‘soft’; giving off the feeling of a young girl which could certainly be over looked by her cute charms.

 

Walking itself must be hard for her, because she was drenched in sweat. Maybe she came from a low gravity planet?

 

But I recognised her somehow.

 

“M-Ms. Maynard, the Chief of Staff?”

 

I recognised her and jumped onto the tracks.

 

“W-What the!”

 

“Hey you! Are you mad?!”

 

Instructors from all around rushed to stop me. But I spun to lightly avoid the instructor in front of me and jumped over another instructor who appeared afterwards. And I landed coolly!

 

After avoiding the instructors with sleek and agile movements, I gave a salute worthy of a navy soldier to Maynard.

 

“Salute! Are you OK? Ms Maynard!”

 

“Ha… ha… ha. Ah, Vice Admiral Lezirth!”

 

Chief of Staff Maynard was gasping for breath as she hugged my neck and collapsed.

 

I helped her up and looked around. The recruits must’ve been looking forward to seeing what was going to happen next, because they were gathered around the tracks with an expecting gleam in their eyes.

 

On the other hand, the instructors looked at us with a tired expression. It was understandable, because to them, I was just a recruit who interrupted the previous group while they were carrying out their physical tests. But I didn’t have time to think about that.

 

“Woah, is today a special day or something?”

 

“The greenie’s stupidity is beyond me.”

 

“I’ve never seen greenies like these in my whole entire life. Why are recruits saluting each other? Are they mad?”

 

Instructors grumbled as they came up to me. Protecting Chief Maynard, I laid her gently near the tracks and glared at them.

 

“Watch your mouth, Ensign! Who do you think this person is!”

 

“Haaa? Really now, Mr Recruit? We can’t be instructors if we’re scared of a recruit now, can we?”

 

“Did you hear this guy? Aren’t you getting ahead of yourself? Ensign? Who do you think you are?”

 

The instructors took turns sneering at Chief Maynard and I. Were they looking down on us?

 

“I can put up with your rudeness towards me, but how dare you make fun of the Chief of Staff as well!”

 

Not being able to keep my anger in check, I carelessly applied strength to my yell. Bluish white Cherenkov radiation rippled from my body and the instructors around me were bounced off.

 

The windows which were able to withstand some degree of draft and gravitational waves, shattered and caused chaos inside the gym.

 

“Whoa!”

 

“I-It’s Psyonic powers!”

 

“W-Was he a Combat Replicant?”

 

The instructors who were flung off by my yell activated their Psyonic Disturbers instantly.

 

Psyonic power was a very unique talent and was cla.s.sified as a dangerous power, but it was easy to disturb and stop it. There were Psyonic Disturbers installed around the parameters of Epiece to prevent crimes by the espers.

 

The Disturbers installed around the physical testing area let out low sounds like a woofer system. Armed soldiers came rushing in.

 

“Tsk, I screwed up.”

 

They weren’t able to stop me with Disturbers of that calibre. However, I was entirely at fault for this incident. Even if I was a Vice Admiral, I was just a fresh recruit in their eyes.

 

Hence, this situation would be seen as a strange recruit using Psyonic powers all of a sudden and causing a rampage.

 

I suppose I should surrender for now. There’s no doubt that I was Vice Admiral Lezirth, so things should work out when I can prove my ident.i.ty.

 

I raised both of my arms up in the air and kneeled on the floor.

 

“Are you guys from the same hometown or something? You sure get along as greenies. I guess there’s no other way. You two cool your heads at the guardhouse for now.”

 

The confused instructors quickly became hostile and rushed at Chief Maynard and I. I could understand that they would want to lock me up at the guardhouse as I have used Psyonic powers, but to think that the Chief of Staff would also be detained!

 

And so, I, Vice Admiral Lezirth of the 1st s.p.a.ce Marines and Commander of Dawn Corps, and Luise Maynard, the Admiral of the s.p.a.ce Federation, Chief of Staff, were labelled as greenies and were led straight to the guardhouse as recruits.

 

If that wasn’t enough humiliation for the Chief of Staff and me, our troubles had just begun.