Chapter 55: Ch 55 Council
Another team had engineered a sub-light-speed engine designed for advanced mechas. This drive could slip into sunlight mode and navigate between star sectors independently—an unprecedented leap in tactical flexibility.
But the engine came with a massive flaw: fuel.
The drive couldn’t run on standard energy sources—no fusion, no antimatter, no quantum cores. It required something rare. Something found only in trace amounts within Federation-controlled space.
it needed what the locals called space water—a shimmering, semi-liquid plasma-fuel found in abundance only in distant sectors now controlled by the Servance Alliance, a former vassal turned hostile power. That made the fuel incredibly expensive, practically inaccessible.
So the breakthrough sat on the edge of viability—promising, and at the same time not. As
Yet they remained shackled by the scarcity of the most crucial resource—the core component of the sub-light speed engine.
This same resource powered high-level propulsion systems on certain spacecraft, but even there, its use was limited. Only a rare few vessels had the privilege of running on it.
All the Celestial Designers knew this.
So, while they were disturbed by the sudden summons, they shared the same thought as they read their respective messages: If the Goddess of Wisdom says this meeting is more important than our research... maybe she’s not wrong.
Besides, attending a Council meeting—especially a brief one—wasn’t a burden. And if the discussion held even the faintest possibility of shifting the political or technological playing field toward what they were more interested in, it would be more than worth their time.
If nothing else, a change of scenery might offer some unexpected benefit. All the more reason they should go.
And then, there were the Grand Admirals.