212

V.11

The elder's conference lasted for over 15 hours, this is unprecedented after all who among the elders are young? Even the youngest elders are over 60+ years old, and the oldest is almost 80 years old, way past retirement age, but thanks to GT special solutions, they all felt several years younger, these geezers who want nothing more than to retire and live a quiet and fulfilling life, are still here working. Like Commander Markos, who don't have qualified descendants to take over his role, many elders have no choice but to remain in office. 

The longest meeting they ever had is 2 hours before they got GT special solutions, and many of them are cursing one another because they can't agree on any solution, so the meeting keeps on extending. Two hours is their limit any more and their bones started aching. And their whole body felt sore. But because of GT special solutions, many of them even become sexually active again. Especially some of those perverted old geezers. 

But this time, 15 hours and no one complains. In fact, it could even last longer if not for some who must arrange a body-less funeral. 

After the meeting, commander Markos made a call to Dianna. It is his last hope. When the attack happened, his grandson managed to make an emergency call to him. Although the call was fragmented, he was able to understand certain things like his grandson and other VIP were able to board an emergency escape pod...before the transmission got lost. Unfortunately, GFA is in chaos right now, as many of the elders are using every connection they have to search for their loved ones who were part of the squadrons that got attacked. 

Markos did the same, but unfortunately, the forces under him took a great deal of damage, and the ones who remain are needed for defense on many important places. He didn't say anything about it at the conference as he knows it's useless to do so. 

So he turns to the only power capable of helping him. Fortunately, he has a good relationship with GT. The only bad thing is that Arc is out of commission doing some adventuring. If not, he can easily ask for his help. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, but he has to deal with Dianna, the CEO of GT, and that's not an easy thing to do despite his reputation to easily get any deals done. 

But for his grandson, he needs to make this call even though it will make him indebted to GT. 

"Commander Markos, I didn't expect to receive a call from you, especially at this time. It must be an emergency." Said Dianna. 

"I'll forgo the pleasantries, and I need your help." Said Markos in a serious tone. 

"That much I can figure out, but if you are asking us to join the war, you are wasting your time. But I have a feeling that's not why you called." Said Dianna in a serious tone. 

"Miss Dianna, this is a personal request. I wonder if I can have a moment of your time?" 

"Of course, commander, my Boss would scold me if I didn't at least hear you out." Said Dianna in a soft tone. 

She knows her Boss has a soft spot for this old man. And besides, the specter who her Boss loves so much is made by this old man. Making him owe a favor is not something that comes every day. 

She set up a secure VR connection for their meeting. After all, the distance between them is not something that can easily overcome in a few hours of travel. 

A few minutes later, a secure VR room is created. Dianna looks at Commander Markos, who looks haggard and tired. Despite GT special solutions, psychological stress is something their solutions can't fix. 

"Looks like this is more serious than i thought," said Dianna in his mind. 

To make this jolly old man look like this, it must be very serious. 

"Commander Markos judging by how you look, this must be serious." Said Dianna. 

Commander Markos made a bitter smile. 

"As you have said, Miss Dianna, when you reach a certain age and accomplish as much as I have, very few things can make me feel stressful." Despite the neat and impeccable clothes he wore, his eyes betrayed his worry. 

Dianna nodded. 

"Forgive me for this sudden request for a meeting. I know how busy you are." 

"Not at all commander, for you, I can easily make time," said Dianna with a smile. 

Markos smiled hearing it, it may be just a pleasantry, but coming from someone like Dianna, it still makes him smile. After all, every organization in Bright Galaxy is trying to get on her good side. 

"I will be direct miss Dianna, I need your help on locating someone, specifically my grandson." Markos explained the whole situation to Dianna over the next few minutes. 

"I see, so that's what happened, we were aware of the unprecedented attacks, but I didn't know one of your Grandson is part of it." Commander, I would like to invite someone that can help us analyze the situation. If that's ok with you," asks Dianna. 

"Not at all," said Markos. 

A few minutes later, a silhouette of Ash appears before them. Markos looks at the young man with interest, if this young man can make someone like Dianna confide in him for something, he must be quite amazing. 

Ash greeted commander Markos after seeing him, then Dianna explained the situation to him. 

"Hmmm, If he manages to escape, then locating him shouldn't be a problem." Said Ash. 

Marcos was surprised when he heard it, it must be said that even before asking for Dianna for help, with his power and connections, he did everything he could to locate his missing grandson. But everyone told him the same thing, that it will take a long time to locate his grandson. If the beacon was deliberately destroyed so that the Ganesh won't be able to locate them, then finding them will be exponentially harder, like looking for a needle in a haystack. 

But this Ash said it is easy as long as they survived. He would have thought he was just boasting if he heard it somewhere else, but in GT with their capabilities, it's not impossible to do so, like this Ash was saying. 

Ash and Dianna began to discuss how to look for Markos' missing grandchild. Commander Markos occasionally made input something like small details on where his grandchild was posted before the attacks and many other details. Normally it is forbidden to disclose details about GFA armies. Especially where they're stationed or what their jobs are as long as it is related to military matters, it is forbidden to disclose any information outside GFA. But Markos couldn't care less about it. He told everything he knows about the squadron his grandson was, even without anyone asking for it. 

If it can help to find his grandson, even if its a 1% chance, he's glad to disclose it. He even told what kind of model and capabilities of the ships his grandson was posted in, even those of the escape pods. He even bought the ship's schematics and blueprint. As a shipbuilder himself, he knows the ship inside out just looking at the blueprints. He also bought the recording of his grandson's last transmission, which is considered top-secret information. 

Ash could easily figure out the pods' possible escape route just by all the information he learned and using a specialized drone of GT that can detect the escape pods' energy signatures as well as Ganesh's next destination. These specialized drones are GT's several hidden weapons that were not available to the public. With these drones' help, they were going to locate the missing Shadow units that got implicated in the Ganesh attacks. 

Of course, Ash would not say that out loud, in the meeting with commander Markos they just discussed several plans on how they are going to locate his missing grandson, not the actual process, and commander Markos was tactful enough not to ask. As he knows it may pertain to some of the GT's secrets, truth be told, he didn't care about the method just as long as his grandson was located dead or alive. He just needs some closures. He already witnessed many deaths of acquaintances at his age and position, some are relatives, and most are colleagues working in the same organization as him. Most of the time, he becomes numb to it. Every once in a while, he gets very affected, especially this time as the one in question is one of his most outstanding grandson, one that he was grooming to replace him as the elder one day. 

The meeting lasted for a few hours without anyone talking for compensation. This is one of those silent agreements whatever the outcome, maybe, Markos knows he owed GT a favor. 

But overall, it's a good day for Markos. He came to GT due to hopelessness but left with hope, and to him, it's enough. 

EDITOR: King of Mortals.