Moses made his way out of the medical bay, and immediately asked the first guard he saw where the professor was.
"He is in a meeting right now, so you can not see him." The guard said and asked Moses to return to the medical bay. Moses did not argue, as there was nothing he could do. He returned to the medical bay and laid down on his bed, much to the relief of the others.
.
.
"What happened back there, Professor?" An old man with a thick, white beard questioned professor Stewart in the emergency meeting that was being held. The man was not physically present, but instead was attending the meeting through projection. There were a few other people attending through projection, with the only ones physically present in the room being Stewart and Gustavo.
"I don't know. It could not have been a malfunction, as there has never been an option to give a Paladin a will." Stewart casually replied the man.
"A malfunction, you say." A woman said as she pondered, rubbing her chin.
"Whatever it was, everything turned out great in the end. We have four new Paladins to support our race in the Pluto front." Gustavo pitched in.
The meeting was being held between the top ranking individuals that existed in human space. There were a few people who were unable to attend because they were in the middle of the war front outside the Solar System, but it did not matter all too much. Right now, there were sixteen people present in the meeting. These sixteen were enough to sway the direction of human growth!
The meeting lasted a couple more hours as they discussed on how to proceed from here on out. Indeed, this had been the most successful venture to create more Paladins for humanity.
After a lengthy discussion, they hammered out some decisions, and went their separate ways. Stewart and Gustavo stepped out of the meeting room with satisfied looks on their faces. The burly admiral turned to face the lanky professor.
"Stewart, I better be going. My fleet is waiting for me, and the Xenon do not tarry." He nodded and turned to leave.
"All the best, Admiral. Protect humanity so I can make a few more Paladins." Stewart nodded and turned the other way to head to the medical wing. His usual entourage of guards flanked him as he walked, but this time, they did so with an obvious air of tension among them. They all knew that he did not truly need their presence, especially after seeing him display the superior prowess of his combat armor.
Stewart went through several checkpoints before arriving before the doors to the medical bay. The guards there saluted and updated him on the current situation on the four new Paladin pilots.
"All the pilots are awake and look well. Moses Magair attempted to leave, but we did not allow him to." One of the guards dutifully said.
"That boy." Stewart grumbled before entering the medical bay. He immediately saw the four Paladin pilots gathered around one bed, talking to themselves. The moment the blast door slid open and the professor and his entourage entered, the three pilots immediately stood up at attention. Only Richard was unable to, as he was still bedridden for now. By the end of the day, he should be back on his feet.
"At ease." Stewart waved his hand, and the pilots relaxed. He made a gesture for his guards to leave him, and they did, leaving only himself and the four new Paladin pilots present in the ward.
"Congratulations, all of you." He began, "You have become the newest batch of Paladin pilots, some of the most powerful humans among the human race. With your new battle partners, and the strength you can now summon, you can bat aside most threats that the Xenon are capable of throwing at us."
"That does not mean you can rest on your laurels and laze around. There is much work to be done, as you are only at the lowest level that a Paladin and its Pilot can be at. Normally, the government keeps a tight lip on information like this, only releasing snippets of information and spreading rumors, but being an ordinary Paladin is not the end of it. Even the Paladins have a hierarchy amongst themselves. You must climb your way up that ladder of strength and grow to protect humanity."
As Stewart gave his speech, the hearts of the four pilots beat like drums in their chest. They were very excited. Even Moses. With his new found strength, he would be able to put up an even greater fight against the Xenon that took everything from him.
"Now that you have all become Paladin pilots, you will be transferred to the main battlefronts. For now, your new assignment will be at the Pluto front. Things have been heating up there lately, as the only Paladin there has been under a lot of pressure. Your deployment there will help to alleviate the pressure until we can stabilize the situation." Stewart said. "Don't worry about getting used to your Paladins. You will have enough time to test out your new strengths when you get to Pluto. By the time the next wave of attackers arrive, you will be able to put up a proper resistance, as you will be able to utilize your full capabilities by then."
"Now, let me examine your conditions in a more in-depth scan. Such information will be best in order to update our database and get a more rounded feel for your capabilities." Stewart grinned widely. He instructed them to lay down on their beds, as he approached a central terminal that showed the telemetry from the more basic scans that had been compiled while they were being treated initially. From there, he began to go over more and more detailed scans that showed their new physical and mental capabilities.
If there was one thing that stood out when average humans were compared with the pilots of Paladins, then it would be that the numbers that represented their physical and mental status would be vastly more different from that of an average person.
Like a hungry wolf that had cornered four, little bunnies, Stewart allowed his obsession for scientific progress carry him as he examined everything that there was to glean from the four transcendent pilots.