Civilization had regressed significantly compared to five hundred years ago.
At least in terms of military prowess, it had deteriorated. The era I lived in—the time of the Fairy, Luna—was defined by an obsession with absolute firepower.
ESP Boosters, railguns, Linear Blazers, mass-destruction weapons—we had it all. Back then, the Galactic Republic had vied for hegemony, and they didn't play fair. Colony Drops were standard practice. The battlefields were rife with atrocities—child soldiers, prisoners rigged with explosives, and worse.
An increasingly desperate Empire had turned to human experimentation in response, churning out Super Soldiers and treating Espers as disposable tools to be dissected and studied. It was a savage age that humanity just couldn't outgrow.
Yes, the Republic existed back then... or at least, it should have. For some reason, the historical records had been purged. Even for the war five hundred years ago, while there were faint mentions of "a war," the records of exactly who we were fighting had vanished. Not even my other half, the Mother AI, held any data. Whoever wiped the slate had been disturbingly thorough. This wasn't the work of one person; it was likely a project that spanned generations.
The decay was most apparent in the pilots. The response times of modern pilots who had only seen small-scale skirmishes were pathetic. Even an ace by today's standards would barely rank as a recruit in my day. To be fair, five hundred years ago was an insane era where people were trained from birth to push the response speeds of Humanoid Fighters to the limit, but still...
In that regard, Leo was an anomaly. He boasted a speed where his thoughts and his maneuvering happened almost simultaneously—an abnormal speed even by ancient standards. He was at a level where you had to ask, "Are you really okay in the head, trying to reproduce martial arts techniques with a Humanoid Fighter?"
And now, Leo had claimed another victim.
"Lady Luna! Please, one more time!"
"Ah, jeez! Claire! You’re already matching the response speed of a warrior from five centuries ago! You passed, I tell you!"
The one currently grinding the Humanoid Fighter simulator was Claire. The eldest daughter of a Baronet from an agricultural planet, her parents ran a small supermarket chain in the Imperial Capital. Two stores in the capital... they were doing quite well for a private business there. Apparently, they had been granted the rank of Baronet because various nobles took a liking to how actively they handled local produce. She wasn't listed in the official Peerage Registry.
Claire herself was a model student who vied with Leo for the top of the class. But here’s the thing: Claire was a descendant of my clone, the Elder. Why was she living as a commoner? A quick search revealed her ancestors had cut their losses and vanished in the night the moment they started losing a power struggle. Decisive and pragmatic—I liked that.
Feeling a bit soft toward the descendant of my "sister," I’d handed over a simulator program designed for training warriors of my era. Claire had taken to it with terrifying speed. She’d mastered manual controls and boosted her reaction times to the level of an ancient veteran. Theoretically, she was already superior to any modern ace, yet she kept pushing herself, insisting it wasn't enough.
I wanted to tell her that Leo was just the exception! Performing a relaxed One-inch Punch with a Humanoid Fighter? That shouldn't even be possible!
...Still, the amount of talent blooming around Leo was staggering. Even the boys were getting freakishly strong. Driven by the fear of being a burden, they were all snatching up licenses for tanks and non-humanoid fighters. The girls weren't falling behind, either. Many were getting certified for support roles like administration, catering, and medical care, while others took up sniping and explosives handling.
Regardless of gender, they were turning into a squad of One-man Armies. Their collective strength put Prince Thomas's unit to shame. They might already be the strongest unit in the Empire. I suppose the realization that they wouldn't survive unless they got strong had changed them.
Claire, in particular, was putting herself through training that would make an ace pilot recoil. She was already drenched in sweat. In a way, she and Leo were very similar—mainly in the sense that they were both total muscle-brains.
Suddenly, the alarm blared.
[Fire reported. Fire reported. All base personnel, proceed to your stations. Non-combatants, remain on standby.]
Claire bolted toward the door.
"Hey, where are you going?!"
"Leo will be heading out!"
"Ah, fine! Wait! Let me scan the area!"
I swept the surroundings. I found security Humanoid Heavy Machinery nearby. It wasn't a fighter, but it was equipped with a ballistic submachine gun.
"There's Humanoid Heavy Machinery in the warehouse! Get inside!"
"Understood. Thank you, Lady Luna!"
"I told you to drop the 'Lady'!"
We entered the warehouse, and I accessed the terminal. Oh? According to the internal database, Claire had already been promoted to Second Lieutenant. "Congratulations, Claire! You’re officially a Second Lieutenant. Authentication granted!"
The Humanoid Heavy Machinery was automatically brought up from the warehouse basement. Claire boarded the machine and initialized the systems.
"System starting."
Her startup was flawless. Honestly, she was smoother at this than Leo, who did everything by raw instinct.
"Luna, let's go!"
"Way ahead of you!"
As expected of a military model, it was equipped with Roller Dash. As we sped toward the scene, a heavy bang echoed through the corridor. A gas explosion?
"Claire! Fire confirmed!"
"Understood."
Then it happened. For a split second, a cold spot flickered on the thermal feed. It didn't show up on the normal cameras. It was invisible to the naked eye.
It was that thing!
"Claire—"
Before I could finish, Claire had already opened fire. The heavy, rhythmic thuds of the submachine gun filled the hall as blood sprayed from something that wasn't there.
"Gishaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
The creature howled. In that instant, Claire displayed reaction speeds that rivaled Leo's. Her machine's arm came down in a brutal elbow drop. A series of sickening cracks followed. The creature remained invisible, but the blow had clearly connected.
The creature retaliated with a body slam. The impact blew Claire's machine backward. It hit the floor hard, skidding on its rear. The airbags in Claire's combat suit deployed instantly. Her head was clearly rattled; her pupils were darting around violently as she fought off a concussion.
"Uoooooooooooo!"
Claire let out a roar. She scrambled back to her feet and leveled the submachine gun, but the invisible stalker had already moved.
A squelching sound followed as claws pierced the machine's frame. Claire didn't hesitate; she gathered her focus and lunged.
"Oryaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
She seized the hair on the creature's head right where its claws were buried in her armor. With a ferocious tug, she yanked it down and drove a flying knee kick straight into its face. Another wet crunch echoed through the hall.
My heart raced. It was just like watching Leo. Their reaction speeds were almost identical.
"Gyan gyan gyan!"
The creature let out a series of high-pitched shrieks and fled at top speed.
"My glasses broke..." Claire muttered.
"Never mind your glasses! Look at your nose! You've got a terrifying amount of blood pouring out!"
I saw the boys arriving in the distance.
"Leo! Over here! Claire's injured!"
"Roger!"
Watching Claire, I felt a chill. I... I might have awakened some kind of outrageous monster inside of her.