Chapter 553: What Do You Mean She's Been Holding Back?
We've moved back to the bridge after our bath to finally let Mara talk about the Noble Family issue.
Although… It was clear someone among us had no interest in it but I would suspect that it's because she most likely heard all of it before.
"Ehehehe~ I looooove you, Tera~" Amber giggled while she sat on my lap and cuddled me.
Mara wasn't too bothered by Amber and simply sat on my other lap like it was a completely normal thing to do while Lea and Ries hung around me.
"Let me think… What else should I tell you about?" Mara mused while not so subtly slipping her hand behind my back.
I shrugged, "I literally don't know what I don't know right now so anything you think you should tell me?"
"Hmm… That is true… As I said, the history part is really long and there's also some bias to it which I don't really want to get into… But you already know the general idea of Psionics already…"
"Do they teach about Psionics in school or something?"
"It's not really mandatory but people can just learn about them from any Archive. Though I guess some places in the Inner Colonies do make it a mandatory subject to learn."
Right… I guess it makes sense that the people living closest to the Nobles should know who they shouldn't screw with.
Mara tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Maybe I should first tell you how incredibly dangerous a Psionic is to a normal person?"
I raised an eyebrow at her, "I'm pretty sure I am well aware of that after seeing you and Amber work… And also being a victim of your brother as well."
She shook her head, "That's not the extent of what Psionics are capable of. Aside from Amber, both my brother and myself do not specialise in Psionic powers that are deemed combat types. And I can tell you don't know this but Amber has been holding herself back this entire time."
I blinked at her, then I shifted my gaze down to the blonde haired girl who had already fallen asleep with her head nestled on my shoulder.
She had such a peaceful look about her and she was even snoring lightly, her hand still gripping on my collar despite being asleep.
I turned back to Mara, "You're telling me that what I've seen so far from Amber burning entire swaths of people down isn't even her full power?"
Mara shook her head, "I would tell you about it… But I don't think Amber wants you to know either. So I'll just show you this."
She took out her personal terminal and tapped on it to project a holographic screen in front of us.
Using her personal terminal, she scrolled through the GalaNet to a search site before she started typing into the search bar.
The words 'Alyanne Civil War Nobel massacre' appeared in the search bar and the screen refreshed to show an entire list of results pop out almost immediately.
Most of them were videos and Mara tapped on the first one.
Ries immediately grimaced, "Ah… I saw this one… I will admit it was both fascinating and horrifying to watch…"
Lea simply nodded her head in agreement and said nothing.
The video started playing and I realised it was footage from a security camera overlooking what looked like a factory of sorts.
There were quite a number of people with guns all hiding behind improvised cover and there didn't seem to be any audio as I could see people opening and closing their mouths exaggeratedly like they were shouting something but no sound could be heard.
"Do I need to know the context of this? And is the video muted?" I asked.
"Not necessary for this. And there's just no sound recording when this happened," Mara explained.
I watched in silence as more people moved towards what looked like a steel gate to point their weapons at it.
A few seconds passed and the gates suddenly peeled open like a flower blossoming and a single man walked through.
The people nearest to the door then bloated up before exploding, leaving only blood splatters where they used to be.
The others started firing at the man but the bullets merely stopped midair before dropping to the ground and the lasers seemed to bend around the man to refract in another direction.
The man didn't wave his hand or do anything really spectacular. He just walked forward leisurely like he was on a stroll.
As he got closer to the crowd, more people began exploding into blood splatters and the group started to retreat.
The barricades all bent and rolled aside when the man got close, not even slowing him down in the slightest.
Soon enough, the entire group was in full retreat while the man continued to stroll forward until everyone was out of the video frame.
The video then changed scenes to show what looked like the back of the factory where nothing but a solid wall was present at the far right of the screen.
The people who had ran off from the previous scene entered from the left side of the screen and I guess they didn't think they would reach a dead end because a few of them started banging their fists against the wall as if that would open it.
A few more entered the screen and they were still shooting at something off screen which I presume must be the man while still backing up until their backs were pressed against the wall.
Despite the video having no sound, I could almost hear the screams of despair coming from the screen as the guys were clearly in a state of panic and one of them even took his own gun to shoot himself in the head before the guy could enter into the video frame.
The others were either still shooting at the guy off frame or trying to break open a hole in the wall but obviously that latter wasn't happening.
Eventually, the guy finally entered the frame and the people that were at the wall started exploding into blood splatters one by one.
The previously grey wall was quickly turned red and soon enough, the only person left standing was that guy.
He didn't acknowledge the blood splatters or the carnage he caused and simply walked up to the wall.
The very same wall that those people had been trying to break open was pulled apart to create a crevice big enough for the man to walk through.
From the opening, you could see that the wall was several inches thick that a small bomb could have gone off and not made a hole in that wall, which meant those people had no chance from the start.
Yet the guy simply made it open on its own just by walking up to it.
The video then ended as soon as the guy disappeared through the hole.
"What do you think?" Mara asked after the video ended.
I blinked at her, "Well… I don't know what to say except for… Err… Cool?"
She stared at me for a good minute before she let out a sigh, "I think I know a part of the problem… You mentioned that you came from another universe and this was basically a game to you, isn't it?"
I nodded slowly, "Yes? What about it?"
"Your perception of this is that it isn't reality but it's still a game. So you aren't thinking that any of this is real and you're desensitised to it."
Hmm… I guess… She does have a point?
She continued, "It would also explain why you are reckless in some of your choices as well, Captain…"
Err… Have I? I don't really remember doing something like that…
She closed the screen with another tap on her personal terminal, "I suppose that was useless… Perhaps telling you about the history of the Noble Families might be a better choice instead?"
I don't know about that but I would be lying if I said I wasn't interested. And it's not like we are in a rush to do anything either anyway so we might as well--
An alarm suddenly blared from my console, making me jump in surprise at the unexpected sound.
"Warning! Interdiction pulse incoming!" The ship's warning came from the speakers.
Shit!
"Battle stations!!" I ordered.
The girls immediately ran for their places and even Amber also flew off my lap to the map console behind me without question.
"As soon as the interdiction hits, full power to shields and weapons! Lea, get ready to fire on any hostile ships you see but don't fire yet unless they fire at us! Ries, be prepared to make evasive manoeuvres! Amber, I want confirmation on the location of any unidentified ships in the area and Mara, you get ready to receive and send any contact with them!"
"Yes, Captain!" The girls echoed.
Within a few seconds, the interdiction hit us and we were forced out of Travel Speed and back into normal cruising speed.
Then… Silence.
"Amber?" I asked.
"There's… No ships nearby, Tera…"
Eh? Wait… If there's no ships nearby… Then who sent that interd--
I gasped, "I'm going to do a short range pulse scan! The enemy might be cloaked--"
Before I got to finish my words, the ship suddenly rocked to the side as if something had hit it and warnings started blaring about an unidentified object latching on to our docking hatch.
Fuck! They're already boarding us?!