AETHERBOUND: Rise of the Valtheris Empire

Sylas stepped into the dimly lit robot repair room, the faint hum of dormant machinery filling the air.

Rows of dismantled droids lined the walls, their parts spread across metal workbenches.

He made his way toward a storage cabinet and retrieved the tools placed there.

From his pocket, he pulled out a beautiful chest piece and carried it to a nearby deactivated robot, carefully securing it onto the mechanical frame.

With a simple tap, he activated it. The nanosuit unfolded slowly over the body.

Legends of the Anti-Aetherian armor had persisted through the ages, buried within the surviving records of the war. Few recognizable but destroyed parts had been found in ruins.

Yet, despite humanity's best efforts, the technology remained lost—its greatest mystery being the conversion and compression of the power source.

That changed when a Legacy Seeker, Tony Stark, stumbled upon an ancient research laboratory—one of the few that had successfully created the first parts of the legendary armor.

Realizing the significance of his discovery, he meticulously gathered information, followed the clues left in the lab, and began unearthing more abandoned facilities, piecing together the fragments of this lost technology.

One of the things he uncovered was that the project had been founded and funded by a single bloodline—the Stark family.

At its helm had been a brilliant mind, a pioneer of his era—Mark Stark. A genius scientist and researcher, he created the bane of Aetherians, leveling the playing field and contributing to the near destruction of their civilization.

Wanting to honor the genius and his family, Tony took their name—Stark—and named each successful improvement on the suit "Mark."

Although Mark Stark was long dead, and his real surname forgotten, his descendants—who had also taken the Stark name—continued his legacy.

From the Mark-L suit model, it was clear they had come a long way. Yet, based on Sylas's information, this was an older model.

Unlike its predecessors, which relied on rigid plating and programmable material, this suit was composed of nanobots, flowing like liquid while taking form.

Its sleek, form-fitting design retained the signature black and gold but had a sharper, more organic aesthetic.

Forged from nanotechnology, the armor could shift and reshape, molding into weapons, shields, and enhanced propulsion systems at the wearer's command.

The energy source—also called the Arc Reactor—was triangular and pulsed with energy, serving as both the power source and control hub, housing the very essence of the suit's functionality.

That was why he knew his next task would be incredibly difficult.

"Sera, bring me a few Aether power cells," he commanded.

His personal AI, Sera, acknowledged the request. "Yes, Master. Deploying droid to retrieve the power cells."

As he waited, Sylas turned his attention to the repair table beside him. With a press of a button, it activated, its surface glowing with diagnostic patterns.

He retrieved more tools and began dismantling the chest piece, methodically removing each component with precision.

Eventually, he reached its power source: a mass of compressed energy generated by the sun itself. He removed it, leaving the suit blank—permanently stuck in this form without any of its abilities.

He could feel the device pulsing with raw, untamed electricity, a miniature star encased within a reinforced containment unit.

He sighed, running a gloved hand over the triangular power core. As much as he wanted to keep it, it was impossible for him to use.

For one, this power source was too expensive and inefficient compared to Aether—not because solar energy was rare, but because compressing it into a usable state for the suit and its weapons was incredibly difficult.

Besides, it interfered with an Aetherian's abilities.

To understand why, one had to go back to its original purpose.

This armor was designed to level the playing field against Aetherians. Its most critical components were the Anti-Aether Shield and the Anti-Aether Field.

The Anti-Aether Shield prevented Aetherian abilities from affecting the wearer when activated. Mind control, telekinesis—none of it worked against someone clad in this suit.

The Anti-Aether Field, on the other hand, acted as an area-of-effect suppression system, severing an Aetherian's connection to Aether within a certain radius.

However, it had its limits. Most fields extended no farther than ten meters, and a powerful Aetherian could still disrupt them.

"A nightmare for lower-ranked Aetherians," Sylas mused as he carefully disassembled the Arc Reactor. "Especially in close combat."

But therein lay the problem—a system designed to repel Aether couldn't be powered by Aether.

Mark had chosen to use energy generated by the stars instead, using condensed solar energy to fuel the suit and its weapon systems.

Sylas exhaled and leaned back. "Now I need to find a way to power it differently."

His idea was to create a power cell in the shape of an Arc Reactor, mimicking both its form and function. Technically, an Arc Reactor was just a battery—just like the Aether cells.

Once the Aether power cells arrived, he spent hours disabling them, trying to understand their design.

After several attempts—and a few small explosions—he finally grasped the intricate structure. Now, he had to study the Arc Reactor and how it worked.

Thankfully, he didn't have to go as far as he had with the Aether power cells.

The only part he truly needed to understand was the output system. As much as he wanted to explore more, this was his only piece, and unlike Aether, he wouldn't be able to scale down the explosion if he made a mistake.

As he worked on creating an Aether-powered Arc Reactor, failure after failure piled up. Each attempt—touching the wrong part, producing too little energy, generating too much output—ended in frustration.

"Master, why don't you rest a bit? Maybe try something else and come back to it another time. I doubt you'll make more progress today—you've already come so far," Sera's voice chimed from his holo-watch.

Frustrated, he paused. After a few minutes, he followed her advice and took a step back.

Settling onto the floor in a lotus position, he closed his eyes and steadied his breathing.

As his mind cleared, he reached out with his telekinesis.

Across the room, a small, inactive robot trembled before its components slowly began to separate.

He guided each delicate part through the air, disassembling it with careful precision.

Meditation and creation.

This was his way of solving problems. And he wouldn't stop until he found a solution.