Chapter 3: New Opportunity?

Two days passed and Moses returned to the earth base to report for duty. Just as he stepped into the waiting area, he found that Richard was also there.

"Yo, Moses!" The brown haired man waved at him.

Moses resisted the urge to turn away and find an empty seat, as Richard had already gone through the trouble of calling out to him. The brunette had already even scooted aside to make space for Moses.

"Morning, man." Richard greeted with a grin.

"Morning, Richard." Moses returned the greeted.

"You can call me Richy, you know. Me and you are gonna be the best of buddies!" Richard slung an arm around Moses' shoulder and laughed.

'Is this guy seriously an Officer?' Moses thoughts with a glum feeling in his chest. It seemed he would not be able to get rid of Richard anytime soon, then.

An announcement rang through the waiting room. Four people, Moses and Richard included, were being reassigned to Pluto. That was terribly small, but they were all Officers, so Moses was not too surprised. Perhaps the rank and file had already been transported at an earlier date.

"Hey, I'm Richard. You must be Bethany, correct?" Richard, upon seeing the only female in their group, whizzed over to her, rubbing his chin as he began to spit out smooth lines.

"I am, and who might you be?" Bethany smirked with folded arms. She looked intrigued. Moses felt like palming his face at that. Was the person who claimed to be his friend a playboy or something?

Moses ignored Richard and faced front when the other male of the group, Anthony, made his way over to him.

"Hello, I am Anthony, I assume you are Moses?" Anthony had dark brown hair and green eyes, a strong chin, and very dark skin. The sides of his hair were braided, while the middle was left to splay over the right side of his head.

"Hello, Anthony." Moses shook the young man's outstretched hand. One thing that was rather surprising among those that were being transferred to Pluto in their group was that they were all rather young. If Moses had to guess, then they were all in their early to mid twenties at the most. It was quite strange.

"Have you noticed that all four of us are young, and are also Officers?" Anthony asked. It was like he had read Moses' mind.

"I thought I was the only one who noticed." Moses nodded. "It is quite strange. What could our superiors have in mind, sending us to Pluto?"

"I have no idea, but it might be something exciting. After all, it is not everyday that young people like us get promoted to officers. Perhaps it is a secret, and the higher ups are using Pluto as a cover up." Anthony shrugged, and Moses nodded. He was also thinking along those lines.

As they spoke, the elevator that they were in finally stopped. When the doors opened, Moses was shocked to see dozens of heavily armed infantry units. They all stood at attention as two figures walked through their middle.

A white haired man in a long lab coat, and a very decorated military officer made their way down the middle of the soldiers.

"Admiral!" All four Officers straightened their backs and saluted. Fear and excitement danced and twirled in their bellies as they set their eyes on the most powerful man among the humans.

Ten years ago, Admiral Gustavo had lent his support to a highly controversial project that had given humanity another option to fight against the Xenon. The Paladins. Now, that same heroic legend was standing before them.

"At ease, soldiers." Admiral Gustavo waved his hand. He turned to the scientist beside him. "This is Professor Harvard Stewart. He was the one who called on you four." He introduced the scientist.

Another round of explosions went off in the heads of three of the four Officers as they all saluted. Only Moses was not fazed by the scientist's identity. And that was because he was already familiar with the man.

Professor Stewart strode forward, approaching the four officers, and they all tensed up. All except Moses.

"Moses, my boy! How are you?" The old professor placed his hands on Moses' shoulders and grinned manically.

'Hold on. What?!'

'Moses knows the Professor?!'

'Huh?!'

Although none of the three Officers that had been summoned by the professor made any outward reaction, they were all very shocked! Their eyes shook as they realized that Moses knew one of the most influential and powerful people in human space.

"I have been well, sir." Moses replied curtly.

"Good, good. We can talk later. For now, let me just brief you all." Stewart took a step back and turned to look at the other three Officers. "You have all been brought here today because of your outstanding records. Bethany Scofield, Officer at twenty one. Anthony Grim, Officer at twenty three. Richard Wells, Officer at twenty three, and Moses Magair, Officer at twenty. You are all excellent pilots. Your skills in piloting not just mechs, but also star fighters have shown that you have what it takes to make the next step. However, that will depend on you."

The professor droned on. "I have selected you four to be the ones who will emerge as the next Heroes of Humanity. The next Paladins! Are you up to the task?!"

The four of them were all shocked. It took them a few seconds to register this information in their minds and hearts. Professor Stewart was a man with a short temper, and his patience was already very thin. If he was not a scientist who needed time to carry out his research, then he would have already run man.

"Are you up to the task, soldiers?!" Admiral Gustavo boomed, shocking them out of their daze!

"YES SIR!!!" They all cried out together, their hearts pounding in their chests.