Volume 36 - The Not so Calm

== Chapter 421 - The New Protectors ==
"Welcome, everyone, to this wonderful event." Reuben says through a hologram to the area that Jack, Andromeda, Candice, Kasper, and Shunsuke were in, as well as, they knew, everywhere else in the Human Star Realm with a hologram projector. "A few months ago, the fifty-year long Netraxian War came to an end, and even closer to now than that, Phantom and his rebel forces were defeated. It has been an honor to defend you all, but I think we all agree that human casualties have been high and rampant enough, which is exactly why I am proud to introduce Olympus Mons' most recent technology."
And at that, a platform raises behind Reuben, showing at least ten Huscil-plated robots holding rifles, five on either side of him, standing there, currently not active. Each looked as though they had dozens of articulated segments and joints, and all of them looked rather well-put-together.
"The Olympian Hoplite!" Reuben shouts. "These automatons have state-of-the-art artificial intelligence that will allow them to make the most logical decisions as effectively, if not more so, than any human could. Combined with the fact that they are made of Huscil, Titanium and Tungsten, and these are, truly, the warriors of the future!"
He smiles.
"Or perhaps, I should say, the warriors of today!" He finishes, as everyone stands up, clapping and cheering.
"This is great, I'll feel better with these guys around!" Jack says.
"Especially since we only have one enemy left to fight." Shunsuke replies, before they turn and realize that Andromeda was just sitting there solemnly.
"Anne?" Jack asks, sitting next to her.
"...How...can you forgive me so easily...?" She asks weakly. "I'm a monster..."
"No...you're not." Jack answers. "Darkstar tried to make you into a monster. I know who you are, Anne, I know you would have never killed innocent people of your own volition. And, well...I love you."
She teared up, smiling, and hugged him, as he hugged her back.
== Chapter 422 - Sweetness of Life ==
"Martianberry is the best!" Candice loudly proclaims, devouring cone after cone of Martianberry ice cream, as Kasper watched with a smile.
Mars was well-known for making the best ice cream, to the point where they even grew a type of fruit specifically meant for ice cream, their Martianberry. And Candice was absolutely right, it WAS the best ice cream flavor! At least as far as Jack was concerned. Andromeda and Shunsuke, meanwhile, simply had chocolate and strawberry respectively. And, most definitely, the best meal to have on Mars.
== Chapter 423 - Kindness of Life ==
Then, they heard crying, and turned to see a little girl sitting in an alleyway alone, trembling and crying still.
"Are you okay?" Candice asks, crouching down to be eye level with the little girl, who shook her head.
"What's your favorite kind of ice cream?" Andromeda asks.
"...M...mint..." The little girl replied shakily.
"Alright, then." Andromeda said, walking to the ice cream truck for a moment before returning with a cone of mint ice cream.
"Th-thank you..." The girl said, taking the cone.
"Where are your parents?" Andromeda asks.
"...G...gone..." The girl answers, now beginning to cry again, as they could see Andromeda tearing up as well.
== Chapter 424 - Fairness of Life ==
"A girl who lost her parents..." Reuben remarks. "...I'll find her a foster family, and send a search party out to catch the killer."
"Thank you, sir." Jack replies. "It means a lot to know you care."
"That is the reason I ordered the creation of the Olympian Hoplites." Reuben explains. "I wish people would stop assuming I'm less human just because of my occasional methods."
"I hope we can all become more cooperative in the near future." Shunsuke says. "If we're beating Atlas, we're beating him together, not apart."
"Well said." Reuben replies. "You're all dismissed, please enjoy the rest of your vacation, and safe travels."
== Chapter 425 - Questioned ==
"So, you've built all these new bots." Falqo starts. "And it's all to protect people, right?"
"You know why I really did it." Reuben replies.
"Do I?" Falqo demands. "Because Atlas can probably control robot brains just as good as any other, so they're not an asset in that regard."
"As I said, to mitigate human casualties, to replace them on the battlefield." Reuben explains.
"Does your reason keep changing?" Falqo retorts. "Will the damn truth ever leave your mouth?"
"Every reason I gave is the truth, Falqo." Reuben responds. "Please...just trust me."
"Hard to do that when you don't seem ta have your priorities straight." Falqo says, as Reuben walks out of his office.
== Chapter 426 - Information Withheld ==
"I assume Falqo berated you again." Kiyomasu says.
"Yes, he did." Reuben replies, sighing. "...Do they know? The Council. Do they know about Andromeda?"
"I told them about what Darkstar did to her." Kiyomasu answers. "And about the incident regarding Phantom."
"...So they still don't know about Atlas." Reuben remarked, sounding a bit bitter. "No...not yet." Kiyomasu responds. "Once they know, he knows. We need to figure out who his mole is, and we need to take him down covertly, without causing a galaxy-wide panic."
"And I..." Reuben retorts. "...am preparing for one."
"...I thought that was the reason you created the Olympian Hoplites." Kiyomasu replies. "I'm warning you now. It won't be enough."
"...I know." Reuben replied.
== Chapter 427 - Eternal Twilight ==
"Wow..." Jack breathes, as the cruise ship they were on landed in the ocean of Odriuq, a planet rather far away from the Human Star Realm, but a beautiful one.
Nearly everything was ocean, with only a couple of islands visible in the distance. The island they were heading to was set aside for tourists, and contained a number of landbound buildings with the same architecture as those below, where the Olgaih actually lived.
It amazed them that a species without hands or limbs or anything could have built all this, though they were rather intelligent, and yet still, they landed, and looked around.
== Chapter 428 - The Orange Sky ==
And of course, the sky was always twilight here, given Odriuq's very precarious orbit around its host star. Regardless of the danger, it was awe-inspiring to look at, like something out of a painting. They wanted to look at it forever, the star they knew wouldn't set, the constellations they could make out, but they knew their time here was limited, and so, they walked across the island, passing the wavy buildings as they did so, until they reached it, the hotel, which seemed shaped like a tall coral reef. And this was clearly the main attraction of this island, situated directly in front of a volcano.
== Chapter 429 - Whgaavisses Hotel ==
"YAAAAY!!!!!" Candice shouted, as she leaped onto one of the hotel beds with Kasper and kissed him. Jack and Andromeda, meanwhile, merely laid together silently, for the most part.
"You know..." Andromeda starts. "...I wonder what happened to Drogbay, after we were taken to the Netraxian War..."
"I'm sure we'll see it again, soon." Jack replies. "I don't think there's anything to worry about right now. Just Atlas, Indra and Saparbek are left, and then we can just live in peace."
"Yeah...I hope so..." Andromeda said quietly, leaning into Jack, as he held her close, and both of them smiled softly.
== Chapter 430 - History's Ruthless Pursuit ==
Shunsuke had been sitting in a sofa chair, reading a magazine to learn more about the Olgaih, when he saw a bat-shaped spacecraft landing on the beach.
"Huh...? Could that be Atlas...?" Shunsuke wonders, as he walked out of the room as quietly as he could to let the others sleep, and walked out of the hotel to see that, rather than Atlas.
It was Karim.
And he seemed a bit...off. He had slightly purple shadows around his eyes now, and his outfit was somewhat different, now being made entirely of black leather, and covered in belts, golden buckles and golden buttons, with a large collar around his head.
"Well...can't let him get to the others..." Shunsuke remarks, as he leaps at Karim to throw a punch at him, Karim noticing, and responding by grabbing the punch with a single hand and throwing Shunsuke into a wall hard enough to dent it!
"Guh!" Shunsuke grunts, getting back to his feet to swing a kick at Karim, who blocks with his forearm before grabbing Shunsuke's leg to slam him into the ground and stomp on his head, Shunsuke feeling as if his skull had been almost cracked by what felt nowhere near the amount of pressure Karim could put into his foot.
Karim then walked towards the hotel, Shunsuke struggling to his feet as he held his head in pain.
"I'm not gonna let you get to my friends again, Karim!" Shunsuke shouts. "I don't know how you survived your last fight, but this is ending now! Let Jack live in peace! Let us all!"
"...We both know I can't do that." Karim replies. "I've been around for over two hundred years, it's the petty and pointless things that give me the most fulfilment. My only real goal is to remain the number one most wanted criminal in the galaxy until the day I die, if it ever comes."
Shunsuke, enraged, rushes at Karim to throw another punch, Karim turning around to catch Shunsuke's punch with his whole arm and deliver a karate chop to his head.
Shunsuke drops to the ground, on both knees, the world spinning around him, as he could see Karim walking into the hotel, hands in his pockets, as he tried to struggle to his feet to get to him. Whatever happened to Karim clearly made him stronger...but he wouldn't let that stop him!
He got to his feet, teetering a bit, and stumbled towards the entrance, too dazed to hear the soft growls coming from the ocean around him. All that mattered right now was stopping Karim, whatever he had planned. It was ridiculous how much he had survived, and he needed to be put down!
== Chapter 431 - First Hundred Patients ==
The door opened, as he walked in, seeing Candice and Kasper asleep, having clearly been cuddling, as he looks towards Jack and Andromeda's bed.
Nothing.
Then, he sees they are outside on the balcony, and walks slowly towards there, trying not to make a sound, as he slowly moves his hand towards the door button, before pressing it, as it opened, and he walked out onto the balcony, and Jack and Andromeda turned around to see him, both of them looking shocked, as they sprang from the bench, clearly now on edge, as their eyes briefly darted around, and they ran towards him.
"Shunsuke?!" Jack shouts. "What happened?!"
"...Karim happened." Shunsuke answers weakly, as he falls on one knee. "I'm glad to see I got here first, maybe we can prepare for him."
"You need to rest." Andromeda replies. "If Karim's somehow still alive...I'll end this here and now. I'm not gonna humor him anymore, he needs to go down, and I can do that."
"If blowing him up didn't work..." Jack trails off, before they hear the alarm sound, and an Olgaih speak in their native language before being choked to death by, presumably, Karim!
== Chapter 432 - Escape from the Dead ==
It was then, that they saw an Olgaih be thrown to the ground, Karim standing there with a sinister smile. "Good to see you again, Jack." He says, as the others notice the dark purple shadows around his eyes.
"Karim...?" Jack replies. "...what...happened to you?"
"This should be a good enough answer." Karim responds, snapping his fingers, as then, they heard growling, before seeing dozens of Olgaih, who were a glossy black, glowing purple in some areas, and somewhat deformed, rushing at them rapidly!
It didn't take long for them to leap off the balcony, and towards the cruise ship, as more and more zombified Olgaih rushed towards them, getting closer, and closer, and closer, Shunsuke almost feeling a tentacle touch his arm before it was slashed away by Candice, who had leaped down to join them while carrying Kasper.
They just barely made it onto the cruise ship, and took a lifecraft to get away, it closing its doors and taking off right when an Olgaih tentacle nearly made it inside! As they fled, Karim looked up, watching them with slight contempt, yet also seemed impressed.
"So, they had the sense needed to leave..." Karim remarks with a chuckle, as he walks back to his own spacecraft.