The meeting room had walls made of shiny metal, as it was made from the alloy used to create Precursor ships. It was Ashton's decision to refurbish one of the ships as a meeting room while the others were reconstructed with the help of Orions and Xyrans.
The creation of the room served as a reminder for them of the enemies they had conquered and survived. Every time a being capable of threatening Earth's safety appeared, it was evidently defeated, and its remains were stored in a separate section of the room.
While some might consider it inhumane, for Ashton, it was merely a statement of power. However, the only thing the room lacked was the remains of a precursor... something Ashton had been itching to get his hands on.
He had never revealed that desire to anyone, but it seemed fate knew exactly what he wanted to do and gave him an opportunity to fulfil his wishes.
"It's been a while..." Ashton commented, taking Balmond in his hands and Raphael in the other.
Ever since Astaroth's funeral, Ashton had forcefully occupied himself with everything but using his abilities. Aside from those, his skills were still just as adept as he controlled both the soulblade and the mournblade without difficulty.
Still, he couldn't use the blades as freely as he would have liked, considering he didn't want to destroy their meeting room.
'This is enough for now,' Ashton sighed, placing the blades on the table.
The table in the middle was all sleek and smooth, with some glowy buttons here and there. It was made from one of the galaxy's rarest metals, contributed by the Orion Emperor.
Similarly, the chairs were gifted by the Xyrans and were cushioned but looked futuristic, unlike the ones Earthlings used to.
Apparently, these were the kind of seats that were once used by Seraph and his associates and held a lot of symbolic value, so Ashton didn't question when Ibis offered him the seats.
Ignoring the furniture, Ashton walked to the windows, waiting for Lihan, Laihud, Ibis and Mazton to show up so they could continue their discussions in person.
Stars twinkled as Ashton leaned on the window. Thanks to the clear sky, he could see planets far away after reducing the intensity of the lights fitted into the ceiling.
In one corner, there was this screen hanging on the wall. It could show images and stuff, like a giant space TV. On the opposite wall, there were some panels with switches and knobs.
Even after all the time he had spent there, Ashton still didn't know what most of the buttons did there, but Tarek had designed the room, so he didn't have to worry about them.
It wasn't a huge room, but it felt important like decisions about the whole galaxy could happen right there. The room was only opened when something big was about to go down, and this was one such instance.
Soon, Ashton's eyes were stolen from the stars as four ships simultaneously descended at New Livonia. It was time to get serious.
***
After a quick greeting, the five sat on their respective seats while a holograph of the 'Precursor' entity was displayed before them. While they referred to it as a precursor entity, it wasn't anything more than a trail of escaping gases of what could be anything ranging from a ship to a comet.
"If not for the blatantly obvious aura surrounding the... thing," Ibis explained. "We won't ever be able to guess it was something precursor-related."
"Whatever it is, it could have easily dodged our surveillance and kept heading towards its destination if not for the aura," Laihud commented. "They why would they-"
"It's an announcement," Mazton interrupted. "Precursors can hide their Aura completely, so not even a tiny bit leaks out. But this thing we're here? It's not bothering to do that, which just means they don't want to keep themselves a secret."
Lihan nodded, agreeing with Mazton's analysis. "Whoever it is-"
"They are issuing an open challenge for me," Ashton smiled. "They were probably trapped outside... living in the fear of something. I guess we all know who that is."
"Kro'Han..." Mazton mumbled.
Ashton agreed with a nod. "It's either him or the Scythe. I saw fear in Kro'Han's eyes when Astaroth unsealed the Scythe. If it scared Kro'Han that much, it would have scared the others just like that."
"So you mean to say that the entity entered our galaxy after confirming the Scythe was gone?" Ibis commented.
"I believe that to be the case."
Ashton's words made sense, but more than that, his words made them realise how pathetically weak they were for someone to fear a weapon more than their collective existence.
Moreover, with the Scythe gone, there was much they could do to invoke the power of death. Kro'Han's reaction showed that the Precursors were only scared of Absolute death. Nothing else could even make them flinch.
"Can we create a weapon like the Scythe?" Lihan asked, and everyone stared at him like he had asked the stupidest question ever.
"Can we create a weapon that took my father centuries?" Ashton smiled wanly. "No, we can't. But we can do something different."
"What exactly?" Mazton asked, but Ashton just kept on smiling.
"You're forgetting who my master was," Ashton finally broke the silence. "Master Vulcan taught me a lot more than just fighting.
He continued, "Yes, I never really practised the skills he gave me as my inheritance from him, but I have been relearning his teaching for over a year now."
Mazton quickly got what Ashton meant. Everyone knew Ashton had stopped practising his fighting skills, but it wasn't because he didn't want to or didn't care. It was because he was busy learning something else.
"I figured enemies were coming after we lost the Scythe. So, I've been making a weapon like the Grim Reaper's Scythe. It might not be as good as my dad's, but it would be good enough to deal with the threat."