"Shit!! Damn it!! Damn those inferior creatures. How dare they embarrass me? Me…Emperor Erxanaim Xravion, the one destined to rule the universe. How dare they taint and obstruct my ambition!" Mamon shouted out loud as he smashed anything he could get his hands on.
After they had successfully escaped through the wormhole, their number had been reduced by a whole forty-five percent.
They had been temporarily marooned on a previously conquered planet five galaxies away from the milky-way, trying to take stock of their remaining forces and doing all the necessary repairs and adjustments.
"How soon can we launch a counter attack?" his son asked the warriors. "We received extensive damage. It would most likely take a few weeks to complete all repairs. However, we lack the man power we originally had so it may take longer", the warrior replied.
"Get it done as soon as possible and contact our home world. I want every available warrior and battleship here post haste. I'll force them to submit and make them watch as I wipe out that putrid planet of theirs", Mamon declared, his eyes flaring up in rage.
"Father…what do we do about my sister? If she finds out about our true goal, she's likely to interfere with the deployment", Mamon's son, Arsenaim asked in concern.
"Worry not! Nothing she does can influence our plans. Besides, before we left our home planet, I gave her a task to hunt down intergalactic criminals. I may have exaggerated their identities and crimes a bit but, with her irritating sense of justice, she will most likely stop at nothing to hunt them down all over our galaxy. She will not be able to interfere with us. Now get it done! I'll fulfill my goal it if it's the last thing I do", Mamon declared once again with an arrogant sneer.
"Yes Father…it shall be done as you command", Arsenaim bowed and turned to leave but before he got to the door, Mamon called out to him.
"Do you remember those six-legged bottom feeding creatures that infested that one planet we attacked earlier?" Mamon asked. "Yes father…I do", Arsenaim replied with a questioning look.
"Round up a few thousand of them. I know just what to do with them", Mamon requested with a sinister smile on his face. Realizing what his father intended, Arsenaim gave a similar smile before bowing again in acknowledgement before quickly leaving the room.
....
Samuel, Dr. Michelson, Ang-Streum and his three aides, Delgato and the Hexanzian twins sat around the conference table in the computer room, now designated the 'War room', reviewing the current situation.
"I believe our current challenge is knowing how soon our enemy will be able to attack once again. Without knowing the full extent of their resources, we are unable to estimate a timeline to work with", Dr. Michelson stated, initiating the discussion.
"Can we send a probe to spy on their forces and alert us of any movements?", Sylvester asked receiving approving nods from the rest.
"It's highly plausible. If we are to track the remnants of their ships' dark matter engines, we should be able to piggy back on the waves of the wormhole they escaped with and open one of our own to send in the probe", Benji-Ha-Dad commented after thinking it over.
"That's a great idea! We just need to get a device capable of collecting the sample for Lisia to analyze into deep space", Sylvia added.
"That's all well and good but at this stage, there is something important we are missing?" Dr. Michelson pointed out. "What's that?" Delgato asked.
"Numbers! We are completely lacking in numbers. Designing and building the probes, even with Lisia's help will still be too much for just a few people. We also need to bolster the numbers of our fighting forces. We need specification of duties to prevent burnout from overwork", Dr. Michelson explained.
"So, what do you suggest?" Samuel asked. "I plan to bring in a few of my trusted colleagues from the Institute…geniuses in their fields, as well as other trusted acquaintances that will be of great help. Also, I believe it's time you called in all your friends. This is a battle for the safety of the entire Earth. No one has the luxury of sitting out of this", the doctor finished.
There was a unanimous nod among everyone as the suggestion was accepted.
"Next thing we need to do is to secure the appropriate resources", Sylvia mentioned. "No matter what…this battle will affect everyone. We will get the nations of the world involved and source all necessary resources from them. We just need to get our side ready in order to know what exactly we need from them", Delgato answered.
"Agreed. They may even need to provide human resources as well. No matter how powerful we may be, we may still be overwhelmed with sheer numbers. We need an edge of our own", Sylvester pointed out.
"Speaking of edge…Drogo and his pack have really turned into a force of their own. I plan to involve them in the battle when the time comes. With their help, the militaries should be more than capable of mocking up Mamon's regular soldiers and give us the freedom to battle the leaders directly", Samuel mentioned with a strong but cold gaze.
The discussion went on for an hour more as all other plans were laid out.
Immediately after the meeting ended, Dr. Michelson sent out a request to his brother Hezekiah, the current head of the institute, who quickly mobilized close to fifty of the institutes highest ranking members from all fields, especially the technology-biased fields.
Dr. Michelson then sent out requests to a few engineering geniuses he knew including Dr. Felix Ferguson. He after being briefed of the situation, not a single one of them refused to assist. Setting the planet's fate aside, as scientists, they could not miss this opportunity.
Everyone was given a few days to think it over and prepare as there was no going back once they were fully involved.
On the other side, Samuel and his friends had sent out a broadcast through Lisia to all their super powered friends. They reached out to the two brothers, Thomas and Edward, and Adla Tufani, their friend from Tanzania. They were unable to reach Catherina as she was currently off the grid in the mountains in Asia.
"She'll come once the battle starts…I know it", Samuel assured as all the main players were finally set. The full force of the Guardians was about to come to bare and other preparations had to be done.