Automated Border Outpost 1D-25
1,893 light-years from Earth
June 13th, 2176 A.D.
Ambassadorial Suite 10-K-Kingdom of Faria
0313 station time
“You must let me go and stop the others! Please!”
“You will remain where you are, Ambassador Skarl. The security androids have already been activated and will subdue all Farians currently on the outpost, and the human Pathfinders are currently securing high-value targets as we speak.”
Skarl stared at the Ma’lit exosuit blocking his path, its stunners pointed directly at him. Sharing a look with the human ambassador, Skarl turned his head back to face the Ma’lit exosuit before making a desperate plea.
“Honored Elder, I do not think you understand what has happened to me. I have assumed control of the nano swarms inside of me and can help locate the others before they kill more of my colleagues and destroy this alliance before it is even born. Please, I am begging you to let me go.”
His human hatch brother spoke up. “Hreth’nir, I have never asked you for anything before. I know Skarl, and I believe him when he says he can help put a stop to this before more are killed. Please, Hreth’nir, let him help us before all our hard work is destroyed.”
The cameras on the Ma’lit exosuit pivoted towards the human ambassador and focused on his face, the mechanisms whirring as they zoomed in. The honored elder continued to do this for a few moments before it finally responded to the human ambassador.
“My human child, you are putting me in a very difficult position by asking this of me. I will face severe sanctions if I do this for you; do you understand?”
The human ambassador glanced sideways at Skarl, his face plainly conveying all the warring emotions he was experiencing before looking back towards the Ma’lit exosuit.
“Skarl is my colleague, Hreth’nir. More than that, he is my friend. I understand that by doing this for me, you will suffer consequences, but I can’t help but feel like helping him would be the right thing to do and allow us to end this quickly.”
The Ma’lit exosuit remained still for another long moment before the stunners being pointed at Skarl lowered to the ground, and the honored elder spoke again. “I will do this for you, Ray, because you are my friend and have never asked anything of me before.” The cameras pivoted towards Skarl before the honored elder continued speaking.
“Ambassador Skarl, how do you propose to stop these suicide attacks? Our scanners have been unable to locate and isolate the life signs of the perpetrators. Only some of the Farians can be located, and we are operating under the assumption they have not yet been... infiltrated as our security androids track them down to apprehend them.”
“I need access to the security system, honored elder. I can use my new... abilities to show your scanners how to detect the changed. We must hurry, please.”
The honored elder did not respond to him. Instead, it spun around, and a small access panel opened under the neck joint of the exosuit before the faint shimmering of the protective force field surrounding the exosuit disappeared. “Will this do, Ambassador Skarl? My suit is connected to the security system, and you can access it through this panel.”
Skarl almost didn’t respond right away, fascinated by the new information being displayed in his eyes now that the Ma’lit force field was down. The nano swarms were able to actively scan the exosuit and its systems, and the Farian runes scrolling past were a wealth of information.
He gasped in shock as the new bioscans were presented to him by the nanoswarms, having been verified three times. The scans determined the honored elder was almost genetically identical to humans with only a 1% margin of error, which meant that the Ma’lit species and the human species were the same.
How is this possible?
“Skarl! Are you okay?” Ray asked, startling him as he looked at the human standing beside him with a blank stare. “Skarl! Do something!” He said more loudly, snapping Skarl out of his trance state as the ambassador stared at him with a worried expression.
“Pardon me, Ray. Yes, this will work, Honored elder. Please remain still and deactivate your firewalls.” He said as he stepped towards the exosuit and bent down to look closely at the open panel. There were several wires and access ports, and he paused, unsure what to do.
Almost as if they were reading his mind, the nano swarms within him acted on their own initiative, and he flinched from a sudden sharp pain in the tip of his forefinger. Looking at it, he gasped in surprise as he saw a small metallic shape emerging from the tip under the keratinous unguis that protected the first digits of his fingers and thumbs.
Within seconds, the small shape was finished being constructed by his swarms, and a display popped up in his vision, showing him inserting it into a particularly shaped port in the access panel.
Before he could think about what he was doing, his finger moved forward of its own volition and inserted the small construct into the indicated port. It went in smoothly, and he murmured in surprise as a kernel of his awareness went through the connection and into the alien operating system of the Ma’lit exosuit.
Skarl was no longer within his own body but was now traveling along the crystalline circuitry at speeds that defied his comprehension as his Skarl-kernel entered and exited numerous interconnects.
His kernel did things at each junction that seemed right despite not understanding what he was really doing, and he did not interfere with the process in any way except to keep imagining himself creating a way to allow the Ma’lit security system to detect the changed.
He left that chip and traveled through a nanofiber filament that brought him to another chip where he did more things, then another, until he was finally in the main processor center of the exosuit, hovering within it as billions of pulses of energy shot through it every nanosecond.
Before he could process what was happening, his kernel imbued itself into the processor, and he was in another realm filled with Ma’lit programming code, but here there were no physical constructs for him to manipulate.
The Skarl-kernel interacted with the programming code, rearranging it without his input as he heard millions of voices whispering to him all at the same time. He could hear each one individually as the internal dialog continued, realizing it was the nano swarm within that was speaking to him.
They were explaining what they were doing as they did it, and he realized with awe that he was now in the realm of software. He felt himself contracting as the last of the changes to the Ma’lit software were made, and then he reemerged back into the processor, the billions of pulses of energy streaming by him like before.
He traveled back through the circuitry the same way he had come before, surging through the interconnects and the crystalline pathways until he was suddenly back in his own body, leaning down with his finger inside the access panel.
Pulling the finger construct out of the data port, he straightened back up and examined the new lines of code scrolling past his eyes as he felt the tingling sensation of the construct being disassembled and reabsorbed back into his fingertip.
“It is done, Honored elder. Please initiate new sensor sweeps with the modifications I have made to the software.”
The access panel slid shut before the Ma’lit exosuit turned around to face him and his human hatch brother. “Ambassador Skarl, you must tell me how you were able to modify our software after this current crisis has been resolved. Initiating a new sensor sweep now.”
A large holo map shimmered into existence in front of the honored elder, displaying a three-dimensional map of the Ma’lit outpost that broke apart into six separate sections and began rotating.
There were hundreds of small colored dots, most of them blue, with a number of yellow icons scattered throughout. Next, many green icons appeared, surrounding several purple icons as the honored elder spoke again.
“The blue icons are our guests. Yellow icons are Ma’lit. The green icons are the security androids, and the purple icons are the Farians we could detect. As you can see, the security forces are on their way to apprehend them. The current scanning cycle is almost completed, and we shall see if your changes take effect.”
As soon as the honored elder had finished making the statement, the maps were refreshed, and now seven blinking red icons appeared, scattered throughout the six map sections. Small groups of gray icons suddenly appeared, moving rapidly as they dispersed throughout the map sections in clusters of three.
“There! The changes you have made are working. Excellent work, Ambassador Skarl. The gray icons are Republic troops; I will begin directing them and nearby security forces towards the suicide attac-”
“Hreth’nir, look at the Neo-Commonwealth sector!” Ray yelled out, interrupting the honored elder. It stopped speaking and isolated the section the ambassador had pointed out before zooming in. There were two blinking red icons heading towards the health center in section 7, and another blinking red icon was superimposed over a blue icon within one of the quarters.
“That is Ambassador Irt’hol’s quarters. I am directing the Republic and security forces towards their location now.” The honored elder stated as they watched a blue icon leave the quarters next to the ambassador and move slowly towards it.
“Who is that, Hreth’nir? We must warn them!” Ray yelled out again in panic as he fumbled with his comm node. Tiny Ma’lit script appeared under the blue icon that was almost upon the other two. “Vice Admiral Verixa. Scanners do not detect a comm node in her possession.” The honored elder replied, its suit speakers noticeably muted.
The blue icon surged into Ambassador Irt’hol’s quarters, and now the three icons were all merged into one mass. A moment later, all three icons vanished from the map, followed by the sound of a distant explosion that reached their location a solar second later.
Skarl groaned in grief and almost fell to the ground as his legs became too weak to hold him up. His human hatch brother caught him and grunted as he struggled to keep Skarl upright before angrily cursing in Republic Standard, judging by how his translator refused to convert certain words due to the morality filter.
“Hreth’nir, those two bastards are almost at the health center; divert security to that location!” Ray roared, causing Skarl to wince in pain as Ray screamed in his ear while continuing to hold him up from behind.
“I already have, but I fear it might be too late. It is President Sarix, and he is with a fighting droid. I am unbinding the droid AI and ordering it to kill the suicide attackers.” The honored elder responded as Skarl finally got control of himself and gently pushed Ray’s arms away before giving him a grateful look of thanks.
On one of the maps, two gray icons intercepted one of the blinking red icons as it entered the Republic of Humanity section, and the blinking red icon vanished from the screen, the two gray icons seeming to be violently repelled some distance before they heard another distant sound of an explosion. One of the gray icons vanished, while the other began to blink rapidly.
“They must have infiltrated your security systems somehow to be able to locate their targets, Honored elder. These nano swarms are self-aware and extremely intelligent. Do you not have programs in place to detect such intrusions?”
“We do, but our protections are based on known threats and our unique operating systems being incompatible with the malicious software of other species. Because of our arrogance, our guests are now being murdered despite our promise of safety under the law of Ma’lit guest-right.” The honored elder responded bitterly, the always neutral synthesized voice clearly conveying its emotions this time.
“The Pathfinders have reached Sarix!” Ray called out frantically as he pointed at the map displaying the section where the health center was located. President Sarix’s icon was still active, as were the two blinking red icons that were obviously chasing after Sarix's blue icon.
The three gray Pathfinder icons surged into the health center, and right behind them were two yellow Ma’lit icons and a group of greens. One of the red icons stopped blinking as a gray one merged with Sarix’s blue. The second red icon stopped blinking next before the now-merged gray and blue icon started moving away from it.
A moment later, both the red icons vanished off the screen, and the health center no longer registered on the map as the sensors inside of it disconnected from the security system. Skarl felt a tremor underneath his feet before the sounds of two, almost simultaneous detonations reached them a moment later.
Ray cursed bitterly before squatting down on his haunches and covering his face with his hands, his body trembling with rage as he began to murmur to himself. Skarl stepped over to him and took a knee before wrapping his right arm around his hatch brother to comfort him.
Now that he was close enough for his translator to pick up what was being said, it activated and began to translate into Farian. -ease, I’m begging you to grant me this, my lord. Ple- Skarl's hand shot up and slapped the translator to deactivate it, feeling like he was violating Ray’s earnest prayer. Ray did not seem to notice, and he continued murmuring in prayer to his God as Skarl looked back up at the maps still rotating in the air.
The Ma’lit exosuit stomped its foot pad, crushing the granite tiles underneath it with a loud crack that made both him and the ambassador recoil from the abrupt violence and noise. It spun around, and the speakers blared at them much louder than needed considering the short distance between them.
“President Sarix has been saved. He is wounded badly, but they saved him. I will tie my speakers into the security net so you both may listen to the reports I am receiving.”
A moment later, the frantic chattering of multiple languages erupted from the suit speakers, punctuated by the sounds of stunners and Republic sliver guns being fired. The suit speakers chimed, and the different languages were now broadcasting in Galactic Standard.
“-ector two. Gupta, stunners are having no effect; switch to lethal rounds!”
“Halt. I am Security Android 3-F. Please stay where you are and do not procee- Boom!”
“Security droid 8-C, secure corridor 7-A and proceed with the objective.”
“Hafez, we need to get to the NAP section and protect Ambassador Roo-Nahk and the others. Take Jackson and Lin with you. Shoot to kill, you copy?”
“The last two Farians have been secured. We are heading to fall back position two with the prisoners now.”
Skarl found it hard to follow along with the confusing chatter and resumed looking at the rotating maps as the sound of another loud detonation punctuated the sheer mayhem that was happening.
One of the blinking red icons vanished, along with the cluster of green dots that were surrounding it. Now there were only two blinking red icons left, and they were both outside the NAP section, moving rapidly. One of the red icons surged towards a cluster of green icons that was blocking its path.
The red icon stopped blinking, and the green icons converged on it, only for the red icon to vanish a moment later, taking the green icons along with it. Skarl heard the explosion almost immediately after, sounding much closer than any of the prior ones.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
He croaked with fury as the last red icon darted into the NAP section now that its path was no longer being blocked by the outpost security forces. It moved quickly down the main corridor, ignoring all the quarters it was passing by.
Skarl was initially confused as to why it wasn’t trying to enter any of the ambassadorial suites when he realized it was heading directly for the cluster of blue icons at the end of the corridor that had just emerged from the largest suite. Of course, the Iri-Sha nest together when sleeping.
As it darted towards them, a single gray icon entered the NAP section from behind it and surged forward, quickly closing the gap. The Republic Pathfinder must have been running as fast as possible because the gray icon caught up quickly and suddenly merged with the blinking red icon right before it reached its targets still crowding the end of the main corridor.
The now-blended red and gray icon vanished, and this time the explosion sounded like it was almost directly above them, causing Skarl and Ray to instinctively duck down as the quarters shook from the powerful detonation. Looking back up at the map, Skarl saw that all the Iri-Sha were still there, though two of the blue icons were now blinking rapidly.
A swarm of yellow and green icons entered the NAP section, heading directly for the Iri-Sha, and Skarl collapsed onto the floor, a trembling mess from all the fear and stress he had been experiencing. He was utterly exhausted, and he wanted nothing more than to slip into a tank and go to sleep for many solar days.
“It is done. All the suicide attackers have been located and neutralized, thanks to you, Ambassador Skarl. The Ma’lit Domain will not forget that.” The honored elder said to Skarl, who barely had the strength to respond as he struggled to raise a hand in acknowledgment of the statement.
Turning to his human hatch brother, it spoke again. “My human child. Once again, humanity has proven us right for insisting that the Republic lead this alliance. Your Pathfinders sacrificed themselves to save others, even those who did not wish to accept your ascension as the rightful leaders of this new alliance.
The Ma’lit Domain grieves with you, and they will be honored and remembered as the first to lay down their lives in the defense of the quadrant. I know this will be an insufficient consolation for the loved ones these brave warriors leave behind, but their names and deeds will be known and remembered by billions throughout the quadrant for generations to come.”
“Thank you, Honored elder. On behalf of the Republic, I thank the Ma’lit Domain for its condolences and recognition of our losses. Do we have confirmation on who was attacked and who has been killed yet?” Ray replied nervously as he took out a small metallic device and injected himself in the neck with it.
Skarl observed the action, struggling to keep his eyes open as the lines of code changed in his vision, the swarms scanning the contents of the injection and showing it being dispersed throughout Ray’s bloodstream.
A chart showed up, listing all the biochemical and hormonal changes the injection was initiating as Ray seemed to perk up considerably. I wish I had one of those, he thought to himself. As soon as the thought entered his mind, a new diagram appeared in his vision showing his nano swarms inducing biochemical and hormonal changes within his own body.
Under the diagram were blinking Farian runes that took him a few moments to understand as his sluggish mind and the overwhelming exhaustion threatened to make him fall asleep right there.
Will this harm me?
Yes, please.
Almost immediately after giving them permission to initiate, there was a vague ticklish sensation that spread throughout his body, followed by a surge of primal energy that gave him a flashback to when he was younger.
He used to sniff a ground-up powder of the Kalfir leaf and stay up all night talking incessantly with friends, and the same boundless energy and enthusiasm the powder gave him was exactly how he felt right now as his exhaustion simply dissipated and he leapt up off the floor.
Ray stopped talking to the honored elder, giving him a surprised expression that turned to worry as Skarl seemed to vibrate with an almost uncontainable energy.
His thoughts became supercharged, and he began to envision second and third-order effects unfolding from the events that just happened. The hatchlings! When the changed find out about the failure on the outpost, they will set off the viral bombs in revenge.
“Honored elder! We must shut down all outgoing communications to prevent the agents on my home world from finding out what has happened, or they will set off the viral bombs and kill all our hatchlings! I need to access your systems again to see if the changed have left any malicious programs within your systems for such an event.”
“What the hell just happened to you, Skarl? You seem... jacked up.” Ray asked as he eyed him warily. Skarl grinned widely before answering, feeling absolutely amazing considering the circumstances. “My nano swarms saw you taking the stim and offered to do the same for me, Ray. My thoughts...are faster than they have ever been.” Skarl replied, feeling like he needed to get moving and do something.
“Um, okay. So, you want to shut down all outgoing communications to prevent the agents on your home world from finding out, is that what you are saying, Skarl?” Ray asked as he continued to keep a close eye on Skarl. The honored elder interjected before Skarl could answer the question.
“We have already shut down all outgoing communications as soon as we became aware of a possible threat to our guests. No signals have been sent since then, and our security analysts are scanning all systems for malicious software and code as we speak. I will have one of our androids bring a security terminal here for you. Will this suffice, Ambassador?”
Skarl shook his head rapidly, wanting to get on with it already before whatever the swarms had done to him began to wear off. “I am sorry for my rudeness when I interrupted you before; I wasn’t... do we know who has been affected by those murderers?”
Ray shared a look with the honored elder before turning to face Skarl fully. “Skarl... Vice Admiral Verixa and Ambassador Irt’hol are confirmed dead. Ambassador Trilar of the Jurl Confederation is also confirmed to have been assassinated.
Sarix still lives, though he is badly wounded. He doesn’t know about his daughter yet. Reports are still coming in, but another twenty-two are confirmed killed, mostly staff members and other innocents that were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Skarl groaned weakly, forcing himself to maintain eye contact with his hatch brother as he almost whispered the next question. “How many of your people, Ray?” Looking down at the tiled floor, Ray answered, his voice trembling and filled with raw emotion. “Six dead, five seriously wounded. Two of the wounded are not expected to make it.” Ray looked back up at him after answering Skarl's question, a concerned expression on his face as he continued.
“President Lopez is on her way here now to talk to you, Skarl. She is furious with you and your government, and I caution you not to do or say anything that will make it worse. Two of her bodyguards are dead, Jackson and Kato, and Hafez is gravely wounded.
They served under her, and she personally picked them for her bodyguard when she was elected. Do you understand me, Skarl? You need to comply with her and tell her the whole truth, or she will gut you like a fish, and there is nothing your swarms can do to help you. You get me?”
Skarl eyed him with apprehension, his accelerated thoughts taking him to places he didn’t want to go as he felt the swarms priming themselves for a potential threat against their master. “I will comply and tell her the truth, Ray. I do not wish to be... gutted like a fish; that woman already scares me when she is happy, and I do not wish to experience her wrath.”
Ray gave him a searching look for a few moments before looking down at his wristcom and tapping on it. A small holo screen appeared between them, five blinking dots moving quickly on it. “They are almost here. Skarl, please, keep control of your new... abilities. The Pathfinders are out for blood and will react violently to any perceived threat to the president, real or imagined.”
Skarl flicked his head in acknowledgment and turned to face the entry, his hearts beating rapidly. He closed his eyes and centered himself, trying to calm the swarms inside of him that were reacting to his emotional distress and fear.
No! Do not do anything, please! Even if I am attacked, do nothing. This is important for you to understand and obey. Only do what is needed to heal me if I am injured; nothing else.
Just Skarl. Do not call me master; it is not right. You are now part of me, and I consider you as my new friends. Do you understand?
Skarl thought about the question, unsure how to explain the concept to the swarms. He looked at his human hatch brother standing next to him for inspiration before responding to them.
What do you feel from me when I look at the human next to me and speak with him?
Good. I feel all these things for you as well. Do you understand now?
Thank you, my friends. Do you have a name? Are you an individual or a collective?
I will give you a name if you wish. Friends should know each other’s names.
The clapping sound of approaching boots tore Skarl’s attention away from his internal conversation as they echoed in the corridor outside the door. He made himself stand up as tall as possible as he readied himself for the confrontation, wanting to be anywhere else but right here, right now.
Two Pathfinders entered the quarters, holding their short swords within one hand and vicious-looking plasma pistols in the other as they stopped right inside the threshold and menacingly scanned the room with narrowed eyes.
They ignored the ambassador and the honored elder, their eyes zeroing on him as they stepped to the sides and another two Pathfinders entered, these two holding scanners in their hands as they didn’t bother scanning the room and blatantly pointed the devices in Skarl’s direction.
The two Pathfinders shared a look with each other as their scanners beeped before an indicator light on the top started blinking an angry red. The first two Pathfinders stepped forward, plasma pistols pointed directly at Skarl as he saw them clenching their other hands tightly around the hilts of the short swords.
Ray and the honored elder both simultaneously moved themselves directly in front of Skarl, as if they had discussed this beforehand, which they hadn’t. The suit speakers blared loudly, making Skarl flinch as he stared at the backs of the ambassador and the Ma'lit exosuit.
“You dare threaten Ambassador Skarl in my presence? You will lower your weapons and sheath your swords, or I will activate my suit’s defensive systems and teach you a lesson you will feel in your bones till the day you die.”
Skarl could not see the reactions of the Pathfinders to the honored elder’s threat, but his translator converted the response into Farian for him to hear. “He is infected like the others, honored elder. Our brothers have been killed and wounded by the others like him, and we will do whatever we deem is proper to protect the President. Please stand aside.”
The honored elder did not step aside as they asked it to. Instead, a shimmering field came into being and surrounded all three of them, the static making Skarl’s head fur stand up on end as the suit raised both arms at the elbow joints.
Another voice rang out. “Enough with the dick measuring contest! Franco! Stand down, now!” Skarl recognized the voice immediately, though he had never heard such anger within it before.
“Madame President, we haven’t secured the Fari-”
Franco never finished his sentence as President Lopez cut him off, her tone sounding like death itself was speaking. “The next words out of your fucking mouth better be ‘Yes, ma’am,’ or I will make you regret ever slithering out of your birthing creche, you get me, Franco?”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Sheath your fucking swords and holster your pistols. Now!”
“Aye, ma’am. Do it, men.”
Skarl, still not able to see anything but the backs of Ray and the Ma’lit exosuit, heard the rasping sounds of the Pathfinders sheathing their swords first, followed by the pistols powering down before President Lopez spoke again. “Honored elder, please accept my apology for the rude behavior of my men; they are understandably distraught by the loss of their brothers and sisters.”
“I understand, and I will gladly forget their egregious behavior considering the circumstances. Do you vouch for the safety of Ambassador Skarl, Madam President?” The honored elder replied, its arms lowering back to the floor as the stunners powered down. “I give you my word, Honored elder.”
The honored elder seemed to consider her words for a few moments before speaking again. “I will hold you to that, Madam President.” It said before the exosuit stepped to the side as the force field surrounding Skarl and Ray shimmered briefly before dissipating. Ray followed suit, finally revealing Skarl to President Lopez and the glowering Pathfinders surrounding her.
He felt extremely exposed now, and he forced himself to remain still as she stared at him with cold, calculating eyes. He wilted under her silent gaze as she continued to stare into his eyes for what felt like an eternity, trying his best not to fidget or do anything else that could set these angry humans off.
She finally looked away from him and turned her head towards Ray, who was now standing at his side again just over an arm’s length away. She looked at the ambassador the same way she had looked at him, and Skarl could feel his human hatch brother’s nervousness even though there were no obvious signs of it.
This woman is terrifying, Skarl thought to himself as she looked away from Ray and back at him, her eyes swimming deep into his own. Finally, she spoke, her voice cold and emotionless. “Ambassador Skarl, what are we going to do with you? The actions of your people and your government endangered everyone on this station. Two ambassadors are dead, twenty-two others have been murdered, and dozens more have been wounded.”
She took a step closer to him, her hard expression turning to anguish as the balled-up fists hanging at her sides trembled. He found himself unable to look into her eyes any longer, and he hung his head in shame as she spoke again, her voice filled with raw pain.
“My people... men and women I served with for many years. People I loved...are dead because of you. My friend Verixa has been taken away from her father, who is like a brother to me, and does not yet know that he has lost his daughter as we try to fix his broken body.
I am afraid to tell him because I fear he will give up and allow himself to die if we tell him too soon. All of this is because of you and your people! And when you decided to finally do the right thing and tell us what was happening in your world, it was too little, too late, and people still died. Good people, who were the best of us, are now dead because of this!”
President Lopez never raised her voice as she said these things to Skarl, but she might as well have been as Skarl felt her words piercing his soul and killing him worse than anything that could have been physically done to him. He stared at the black granite tiles on the floor, finding himself wishing the changed had killed him after all, for surely that would have been better than having to bear the shame of his entire species here and now.
Look her in the eyes, Skarl. She deserves that much from you, at least. Look in her eyes, you coward! Gathering what little courage he had left, he raised his head and looked into her eyes, not bothering to hide the anguish and shame he was feeling. She saw his face, and the hard edges around her eyes and her mouth softened slightly as she gazed at him, recognizing that he was baring himself completely to her.
“There is nothing I can say, nothing I can do to show you how truly sorry I am for what has happened and for causing the deaths of the innocent people who died today. All I can say is we love our hatchlings and were willing to do whatever needed to save them, or so we thought.
Only when the evil ones ordered us to seize the embassy so they could make their cursed weapons did we come to our senses, unwilling to commit such evil even to save the hatchlings we love more than life itself. My hatch brother, the First Prime, was unwilling to do such evil to save our hatchlings and instructed me to make it known. I wish...we had the courage to do so sooner and that all these people did not have to die because of us.”
President Lopez’s expression softened further as she glanced at Ray for a moment before looking back at Skarl. “I am a mother myself, and I sympathize with your people in that regard. I would do anything for my children, and I do not harbor ill will towards you and your people for trying to protect them, but the fact of the matter is, your actions have killed many people and quite possibly destroyed the alliance we are trying to build.”
Skarl flicked his head rapidly in distress, feeling utterly hopeless as he replied. “And all for nothing, it seems. Our hatchlings will die because of our betrayal when the agents find out what the First Prime and I have done. Even if the changed was not able to send a message, their silence after these events will be proof that we have failed, and they will set off the viral bombs. We will lose our hatchlings, and we will become an endangered species.”
“I think not, Ambassador Skarl. I will not let the sacrifices of those who died because of these bastards be in vain. They are about to find out that they fucked with the wrong people, and I will not stand by and watch your innocent children be murdered by these fuckers.
We don’t have a lot of time to act, and there will be severe consequences for what you and your government have done, but not now. So, I need to know how far you and the First Prime are willing to go to end this once and for all. The Republic is going to do whatever it takes to save our people and remove this cancer from your world. Are you with me?”
Not expecting this at all, he stared at President Lopez in shock as her face hardened into stone and her eyes began to burn with a promise of retribution that terrified him to his core. There was only one answer she wanted, and if he wanted to live to see tomorrow, he had better give the right one.
“I am with you, all the way. I will see this to the end, no matter the costs, Madame President.”
President Lopez grinned at his response, but this smile had no joy or happiness within it. It was the smile worn by death when it came to take its victims, and Skarl felt himself going pale as he watched the human female become a seraph of death, like the legends of old, before his very eyes.
Without another word, she spun around and headed to the door. The other humans, now smiling their own death smiles, fell around her and escorted her out. He watched them leave, unsure if he really wanted to find out what truly angry humans were capable of.
The honored elder turned the exosuit around to face him, the cameras zooming in on his face as he heard the quiet whirring of their mechanisms. The unusually muted speakers activated, and the honored elder addressed him. “Now you will see firsthand why we chose the sons and daughters of the Magnati to lead us, Ambassador Skarl. I will pray for your people and ask the Creator to intercede on your behalf; I suggest you do the same.”
Skarl felt true fear gripping his chest at the words of the Ma’lit elder, his mouth opening and closing silently as he lost the ability to speak right then. Ray stepped in front of him, an expression he had never seen before on his human hatch brother’s face as he cleared his throat before speaking.
“Skarl... I will do my best to help your people.” Ray said before pausing, as if unsure if he wanted to continue. “I promise I will try my best, but... a lot of them are going to die. I just want you to know that I am still your friend, no matter what happens, okay?”
Skarl flicked his head rapidly in distress at the words of his human hatch brother, afraid for what was to come. “We deserve our fate for what we have done; I only hope your people remember why we did this and find mercy within their hearts.”
“I do too, Skarl.” Ray replied, avoiding Skarl’s eyes as he said those words. “Are they going to kill all of us, Ray?” Skarl asked, terrified of the answer even as he asked the question. Ray looked back at him, face twisted in worry as he exhaled slowly before answering.
“No, Skarl. We are not murderers, but the galaxy is about to see a side of humanity they have never seen before. I will pray for you and your people, my friend.” Ray stepped forward suddenly and wrapped his arms around Skarl, hugging him tightly for a moment before letting him go.
His human hatch brother turned around without another word and left the quarters, leaving Skarl standing there with the honored elder. Even though there was someone still with him, Skarl never felt so alone as he did right now.