Automated Border Outpost 1D-25
1,893 light-years from Earth
June 13th, 2176 A.D.
Skarl eyed the two Pathfinders with trepidation as they stared at him, their hands resting on the hilts of their short swords. He glanced quickly at the vicious-looking weapons, the swarms providing information on the metallurgical composition and the sharpness of the edges as they scanned the dangerous blades.
Everything he looked at was scanned, and he was getting used to it now, though sometimes he wished they didn’t for certain things, such as the alloyed swords of the Pathfinders and the nanomolecular edges that could slice through hardened steel and composite armor.
Who even uses swords anymore? Mentally defective killers, that’s who, he thought to himself as he wondered what possible circumstances could have arisen in their recent past to make the humans continue using such archaic and barbaric weapons in the age of plasma pistols and neurolytic stunners.
Even their choice of still using weapons such as the sliver rifles seemed anachronistic, though he did have to acknowledge that the weapons were extremely effective, if not unnecessarily brutal.
He saw the results of the explosive sliver rounds tearing apart the changed that tried to assassinate President Sarix from the outpost security feeds, and he had seen the battle footage of the weapons being used to great effect against the Insectoids on the planets within the Dead Zone when the recordings filtered throughout the quadrant all those months ago.
In comparison, the sliver rifles are simple in construction and easily repaired in the field. The rounds themselves are extremely light despite the alloyed jacket and the powerful explosives embedded in their tips. A sliver rifle loaded with a 500-round magazine weighs only 22.73 galactic standard finots, while a comparable Farian plasma rifle weighs 137.82 finots with a standard 100-bolt energy pack.
A human in a fighting suit can carry a combat load of 20,000 rounds, while a Farian can only carry six energy packs. Sliver rounds have three times the range of Farian plasma rifles, as the plasma bolts lose cohesion after a certain distance. Their battle rifle is a superior weapons platform for an agile, aggressive fighting force that prioritizes offensive action and rapid tactical maneuvering.>
That is... interesting. I never thought of it in such terms since I do not have military experience, so thank you for clarifying. And what is your analysis on their continued use of the short swords? How does this archaic weapon figure into their fighting style?
The Bal’Ri’Kan favor such terror tactics for this very reason, though they would be inclined to do so regardless because of their desire for martyrdom, as well as their disconcerting desire to want to eat their prey as soon as possible after killing them.
The Bal’Ri were originally omnivorous, and the Masters changed their life code to make them entirely carnivorous and require the constant consumption of flesh to sustain themselves. Their hope was to reduce the logistical burden of the Bal’Ri’Kan having to rely on food resupply while crusading by feeding on the species they intend to exterminate.
Fresh meat makes them lose control, and the Masters have long struggled with the Bal’Ri’kan tendency to lose sight of their objectives and suffer a breakdown of command and unit cohesion when they begin to feast on their victims even as the battles rage on around them. The Masters regret making them this way, as it is a severe tactical disadvantage they did not extrapolate for when changing the Bal’Ri’Kan life code.>
This is sickening to think about, though it seems like important information that should be shared with the others. Would you please compile a report on this matter for me and remind me to share it with the others at another time?
Thank you, my companions. Have you decided on a name that you want, or would you like me to give you one?
I understand. I was thinking of the name Hildak. It is a mythological sea creature from our ancient past that was many-headed and very wise. It was once an evil being, but the Maker changed its heart, and it became a champion of righteousness, doing good deeds for thousands of years to make up for its past. Do you like this name?
I am glad you like it, and thank you, Hildak, for always helping me. I enjoy our talks.
As soon as the swarms finished warning him, the door to the quarters opened, and President Lopez came in with a furious expression on her face, followed by four more Pathfinders. Behind them, his human hatch brother came in along with a Ma’lit exosuit that he recognized as Honored Elder Hreth’nir from the ornate markings on its gleaming breastplate.
She locked eyes with him as she quickly closed the distance between them, and Skarl did his best to appear non-threatening as he tried not to fidget or make any sudden movements. His human hatch brother was giving him a pleading look, as if begging Skarl not to do or say anything to anger President Lopez while both Ray and the Ma’lit exosuit stepped off to the side.
The president grabbed a nearby chair and slammed it on the ground one hop away from him, the loud noise and sudden violence of the action startling him and making him flinch. He saw the Pathfinders gripping the hilts of their swords tighter in response, and he felt Hildak responding to his fear as they sent themselves to his extremities in case they were needed.
Sitting down in the chair in front of him, President Lopez leaned forward and placed her elbows on her knees as she broke eye contact and stared at the floor for a few moments before looking back up at him with haunted eyes.
“I just came from seeing Verixa and her father. There is almost nothing left of her, and the Ma’lit physicians are going to try to bottle her and put her inside of an android body to save her life. She has less than a fifty percent chance of surviving the procedure, and if she does survive, she will never be able to live a normal life or have her own clutches.
President Sarix is in a medically induced coma, and they tell me that he should be back to his old self after the nanobots finish repairing the extensive injuries he suffered at the hands of those rat bastards you brought to this outpost with you.
It is only because of your belated attempt to warn us, your help in locating the last of the assassins, and Ambassador Buncomme practically begging me to spare your life that I have not had you shot for treason against the entire quadrant. You will tell me everything I need to know about what is happening with these agents on your world. Do not leave anything out; do you understand me?”
Skarl fearfully flicked his head several times as his mind raced, wondering how to explain the terrible circumstances that led to the First Prime and a few other higher-ranking officials agreeing to cooperate with the evil Balrikan and their Masters.
“I will do my best to explain everything, Madame President, and I will tell the truth. I can also show you the devices that led to us agreeing to cooperate if you would be so kind as to allow me access to a data device with a holo-imaging system.”
The president eyed him coldly for a few moments before raising a hand and making several rapid gestures with it. One of the Pathfinders behind her silently pivoted on her feet and went into the adjoining room as Skarl began to describe the events as best he could, starting from the beginning.
While he was doing so, the Pathfinder that had left came back holding a datapad that looked like it had been hastily modified and went to the president’s side before handing her the device and using her hands to signal to the president again.
Skarl stopped while this was happening, and the president looked back at him with an angry expression as she spoke sharply. “Did I tell you to stop, Ambassador?” Skarl stammered a few times as she stared malevolently at him before getting control of himself and continuing.
The president and the Pathfinder continued to sign to each other, and Skarl found it very distracting to continue speaking as Hildak tried to translate the hand signals and display the results in his eyes.
Please stop. Just tell me what they are saying instead of displaying it.
Now we understand why the Bal’Ri’Kan and the Masters chose to modify their extermination plans and slow down their advance after discovering the existence of these descendants of the Ma’Kin’Ati and their heretical machine kin, the Ma’Kin’Alit. Be wary of these hairless apes, Skarl; they are a dangerously cunning foe.>
Skarl listened to Hildak’s analysis while he continued to explain the situation to the humans and the honored elder, and now it was time to show them why the Farians cooperated with the changed. “Madame President, it is critically important that I show you why we were willing to betray everyone else before continuing. May I use the data device to do so now?”
President Lopez looked at the data device for a few moments before handing it back to the Pathfinder and giving her a slight nod. The Pathfinder turned towards Skarl and glared at him with hate-filled eyes as she stepped two paces closer before leaning slightly forward, her other hand resting on the hilt of her short sword.
She held out the data device towards him, fully extending her arm while carefully keeping herself out of striking range of Skarl’s shorter arms and legs. He slowly reached out to take it, very careful not to allow his long fingers to accidentally touch the human’s as he grasped the edge of the device.
The Pathfinder released her grip on it and quickly stepped back to resume her place at the president’s side before pulling out another device from her belt and pointing it at him. She pressed on it, and the data device in Skarl’s hand powered on as the president addressed him.
“Show us, Ambassador. The device has been modified to prevent your... new friends from accessing any systems with it.” Her insulting tone when mentioning Hildak was not lost on him, and he bristled at the negative connotation, though he was careful to keep his face neutral.
“Thank you for allowing me to do this, Madame President.” Skarl replied, feeling the familiar painful prick on his fingertip again as Hildak began to form the appropriate connector needed to access the data device.
A moment later, he followed the directions Hildak was displaying in his eyes and inserted the finger connector into the highlighted port. A short moment later, the holo system activated, and he shifted the device away from the humans and to the side before allowing Hildak to display the records they had on the viral bombs.
“Cho, make sure you are recording this for our intelligence specialists to review.” Lopez said quietly as she stared intently at the multiple diagrams, blueprints, and maps being displayed. “I already have been, Madame President.” Cho responded as she tapped on a small device on her chest webbing for emphasis.
“I am as well, Madame President.” The honored elder added, speaking for the first time since entering the president’s quarters.
As much as Skarl did not want to relive the anguish he experienced when he saw the aftermath of the first viral bomb being set off, he had to endure the pain again to show them the evil that had been committed against the tens of millions of innocent eggs and hatchlings so they could finally understand.
Skarl accessed the directory Hildak had made for him and used his eyes to select two specific recordings. The other holograms vanished, and two separate screens with multiple video feeds shimmered into existence, one from Farian low-orbit surveillance satellites displaying an unbroken expanse of ocean and the other one from a series of underwater security cameras within a hatchery.
He activated the underwater camera recordings first and began the playback. There were kelp forests all around, with millions of eggs adhered to the kelp leaves as they gently bobbed and weaved from the currents passing through them. Tens of thousands of hatchlings darted among the kelp forests, their powerful tails propelling them through the currents as they played their games and raced each other.
There was a large, ominous black device floating in the distance, and Skarl zoomed in on it before accelerating the recording to the timestamp he would never forget for as long as he lived. He stopped it and resumed normal playback speed when he got to the point he wanted to show, and the black device was suddenly surrounded by a mass of air bubbles that frothed wildly for forty-seven solar seconds.
Hundreds of nearby hatchlings, intrigued by what was happening, darted over and happily played in the bubbles all around the black device, thinking it was a new toy for them to play with. The bubbling stopped, and the hatchlings remained near it for many solar moments, hoping for it to do the same thing again so they could continue playing with the new toy and its bubbles.
Skarl advanced the time index twenty-seven minutes and resumed normal playback. Dozens of hatchlings near the device began to tremble violently before vomiting and defecating large clouds of almost black fluids that were dispersed by the currents to other nearby hatchlings and eggs.
Accelerating the playback to five times normal speed, Skarl looked intently at President Lopez’s face as she watched thousands of hatchlings further away from the device begin to tremble and expel large volumes of black blood as well.
The normally semi-translucent eggs, their embryos easily visible through the delicate outer membrane, began to visibly darken before violently rupturing and expelling massive clouds of infectious fluids.
Thousands of nearby hatchlings had been swimming through the massive blooms of the dark fluids, and they all fled from the area in panic after the eggs began to rupture. Skarl paused the playback from the underwater security cameras and began the playback of the recordings from the low-orbit surveillance satellites.
He skipped ahead until the first of the dead hatchlings and ruptured eggs began to appear on the surface and resumed the playback at ten times normal speed. He heard the humans begin to mutter angrily as first thousands, then tens of thousands, and then finally millions of dead hatchlings and eggs surfaced.
Skarl grief-moaned lowly before quietly speaking again.
“This was the first hatchery the changed destroyed. Eighty-three million hatchlings and eggs were murdered. They set off another viral bomb last solar night when we tried to disable one of them, and another twenty-six million hatchlings and eggs were murdered... I do not have the recordings for that one to show you. There are still almost 1.3 billion hatchlings and eggs in the other hatcheries facing the same terrible deaths.”
Lopez cursed at the sight of the tens of millions of lifeless hatchling corpses and ruptured eggs bobbing on the surface waves, and she turned her head to look at Skarl, her eyes filled with murderous rage. He saw something else in her eyes: an understanding that he was not expecting as they both gazed at each other.
They were no longer just a Farian and a human looking at each other; they were two parents that loved their hatchlings unconditionally and would do anything to protect them. They shared a bond that only those who have created life would know, and they both understood the terrible curse that had befallen the parents of the now-dead hatchlings who were supposed to outlive their mothers and fathers, not die before them.
No! Do nothing, Hildak; they are not going to attack me. You do not understand what is happening to them, but I do. They are experiencing grief and rage, but not towards me, you understand?
Skarl’s reply to Hildak was interrupted by President Lopez as she began to address him, and he focused all his attention on her as he listened to the now quavering voice. “Ambassador Skarl... I can’t even begin to—” The president stopped speaking and looked down at the ground again, her shaking hands balled into fists as she cleared her throat.
Skarl remained silent as she struggled to continue, and he quickly glanced at the other humans while he waited. Their faces were filled with fury and disgust, and he no longer feared for his life seeing these expressions, because he knew the emotions behind them were not intended for him; not anymore after seeing the truth of it.
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The president looked back up at him and searched his face for a long moment, and he could see that she was afraid to ask if any of the dead hatchlings were his. She truly understands now, he thought to himself as the first glimmer of relief since this all started dawned on his troubled soul.
“I know the question you want to ask, Madame President; my hatchlings were not within this hatchery, though they are in other hatcheries with the same terrible devices that will be set off at the first sign of treachery by the agents of the Masters. My hatch brother, the First Prime, has promised me that he would protect them and my mate and get them off world, but I do not know if they are okay since the communication blackout. Not knowing is the hardest...”
His voice trailed off as he looked away from her penetrating gaze and down at the tiled floor, afraid to finish the sentence and give power to his worst fears. “I understand, Ambassador, a little of what you are feeling right now. As a mother, I can’t even begin to imagine what you are going through, and I commend you for keeping it together as well as you have.”
She paused for a moment, and he looked back up at the president and the others standing behind her as she continued. “I know you told me about your hatchlings dying before, but what you have just shown me changes things, Ambassador Skarl. I understand now why you made the choices you did, though it does not negate the fact that many innocent people have died here because of your actions. The question is, what do we do now?”
The honored elder’s speakers activated, and they all looked at the Ma’lit exosuit as it began to speak. “What we just witnessed is a perversion of the natural order of things. Those who beget life are not supposed to outlive their progeny. The cycle of nature has been violated by pure evilness, and we must claim vengeance for the murder of these millions of innocents.”
“I agree.” President Lopez said after waiting the appropriate amount of time to ensure the honored elder had finished speaking. Looking back at Skarl, she stared at him for a few moments, her eyes clearly showing the inner turmoil she was experiencing as she thought about what to do with him and the Farian situation.
“The 7th Fleet is on its way to the Kingdom of Faria as we speak, along with a quick reaction force that will assault your home world and rescue our people. I am going to be honest with you, Ambassador. I wanted revenge for the people who died here, and I wanted to exact it from your people in such a way that no one else in this quadrant would dare to even think about ever trying to violate the sanctity of future diplomatic endeavors or of taking our people hostage on their worlds after we were through with you.
I still want revenge for them, but I also want revenge for those millions of poor babies I saw floating dead on the surface. I am the president of the Republic, but I am also a mother who loves her children and will do anything to protect them.”
Her voice cracked slightly as she mentioned being a mother first and her willingness to do anything for her hatchlings, and Skarl felt his fear of the humans being replaced with a strong sense of kinship. Even the dangerous Pathfinders were now looking at him with eyes filled with pity and understanding instead of hate.
“I now understand the terrible position you were put in, and I find myself no longer wanting to punish your world for the desperate actions of a few government officials who were trying to protect your innocent children. So, help me to help your people, Ambassador. Help us free your world from the cancer infecting it. How do we do this with the least amount of collateral damage and deaths?”
Skarl was not expecting this at all, and he didn’t know how he could truly be of any help. He was an ambassador, not a military official, and he had no idea how to help President Lopez remove the changed from his world and save the hatchlings.
There was only one thing he could do: warn them of the new energy weapons on the Farian Navy warships. If the Republic Fleet invades the Kingdom, the Navy will use the energy dampening weapons and kill tens of thousands of humans. If that happened, the rest of the Republic Fleet would seek vengeance, the Ma’lit Domain would probably get involved, and the Kingdom would suffer the same fate as the Ominians.
“There is something I must warn you about, Madame President. Our warships have a new energy dampening weapon installed on them that wi-”
The president raised a hand and interrupted him. “We know about the weapon system, Ambassador. We managed to... secure a copy of the system, and all our ships have been updated with the appropriate countermeasures.”
Skarl stared at her, not understanding how that was possible. How could they have done that? The energy dampening devices were a heavily guarded secret known only to a very select few within the highest echelons of the Farian government and carefully vetted warship operators that had the energy weapon installed on their vessels.
Even the crews and installers did not know the true nature of the devices, believing the official explanation of the new systems being null space radiation dampeners that would reduce the transition side effects and increase ship ranges.
It had taken almost a decacycle of espionage and tens of millions of credits for the Farian agents to successfully steal the blueprints from the Advanced Research Directorate Labs of the Non-Aligned Powers without them knowing and make dozens of copies.
All the devices were carefully guarded and tracked, and they always knew where all the warships that the devices had been installed on were located. The only one they ever lost was when a military transport ship was destroyed in an unfortunate accident in the Shu’ul sector when it-
“Maker preserve us! The transport ship! You stole the device from our transport and did something to make it seem like it was destroyed by a gravitational eddy, didn’t you?!” Skarl exclaimed in an accusatory tone as he glared at the president.
She returned his glare with a predatory smile before responding.
“Yes, we did. I really do not think you have a right to be so upset over it, considering that you stole it from our good friends. Your scientists and engineers really dropped the ball on this one, Ambassador.
In their haste to construct and install the devices, they never realized the NAP had purposefully designed one of the components to give off a specific type of radiation that would only be detected if scanners were calibrated a certain way to detect it.
They knew you stole it the second you built and activated copies of the device and informed us of your theft. We decided to steal one of your copies when the NAP provided us with the scanner specs required to detect the devices, and we shared the countermeasure system we developed with them as thanks for notifying us.”
Skarl was wroth with anger as the president began to describe the circumstances of the theft of one of their devices, but he had to sullenly acknowledge the clever trickery of the NAP and the Republic in stealing one of their devices, which they themselves had stolen from the NAP.
After the president finished describing the events of their espionage, he was no longer so angry, and he chuckled with true appreciation of their successful counterintelligence operation before bowing his head in respectful acknowledgment of their craftiness.
Farians did not view things in the same way as others when it came to intellectual property rights and technological theft. If they can steal from others, they will do so. Why spend credits and waste cycles of research efforts when they can simply bribe and steal what they wanted to copy for far fewer credits?
He gave the president a real smile as he addressed her. “I hope you properly compensated your agents for their excellent deception, Madame President. Whoever it was, they did it in such a way that we truly believed the ship was destroyed by an uncharted gravitational eddy.
It never occurred to us to even think there was something suspicious about the destruction of the military transport. I do regret that the crew had to die, and I only hope your agents didn’t allow them to suffer during the operation.”
She returned his smile with her own little sly one before giving him a slight nod of appreciation for his genuine approval of their successful operation.
“We sure did, Ambassador. We are not barbarians, despite what others might think of us. The crew still lives, and they have been our... guests and well taken care of. Perhaps we can discuss their return after all of this is over; there is no need to keep them now that you know the truth.”
Skarl was not expecting that, and it took him a few moments to process the fact that the crew was still alive before he gave her a genuine flick of gratitude. “I still don’t know how I can help you, Madame President. Even if you lifted the communications blackout and allowed me to speak with the First Prime to inform him of the current circumstances, the changed are monitoring everything we do and will set off the viral bombs to punish us for our betrayal.”
How? You cannot do anything from here, Hildak. How would you be able to help us?
We cannot do anything about the swarms in the planetary infrastructure systems, so the agents will still be able to harm your people through those means, but we can try to disable the viral bombs. To do this, we will have to leave you, Skarl, but we are willing to do so if it means saving your hatchlings.>
What do you mean? Why do you have to leave me? I do not want this.
I do not care, Hildak. Why do you need to leave me? Will you be able to come back?
No. I forbid this. There must be another way. Perhaps we can ask the Ma’lit to figu-
“Skarl!”
Skarl was jolted back to awareness at the yell from his human hatch brother, who was looking at him with worried eyes. He quickly glanced at President Lopez, who was staring at him with an angry frown.
“My apologies, Madame President. I was speaking with Hildak and they believe they can disable the viral bombs if I bring them to Faria Prime and the Ma’lit help us.”
President Lopez’s frown turned to confusion. “Who the hell is Hildak?”
“Hildak is the name I gave the swarms inside of me; they wanted a name, Madame President.” Skarl explained quickly, a feeling of embarrassment welling up inside of him as he did so. Her confused expression grew even more pronounced before she spoke again.
“You talk to it? How? You weren’t saying anything, just staring at me with a blank expression as I asked you a question.”
“I speak to them in my head; it’s... it is difficult to explain, Madame President.”
“What assistance do they need from the Ma’lit, Ambassador Skarl?” The honored elder said from where it was standing. The president seemed as if she was just about to ask another question, and she quickly pressed her lips together when the exosuit speakers activated.
“I do not yet know, Honored elder. Hildak was in the process of explaining to me when Ambassador Buncomme called out my name.” The exosuit took two steps closer, its servos whirring softly as it did so before the speakers activated again.
“I wish to know what kind of assistance is required of the Ma’lit to potentially disable the viral bombs. Please find out from Hildak what is needed to save your progeny.” Skarl quickly glanced at President Lopez, who looked mildly displeased at having been interrupted, but she flicked her head at him, which he took as permission.
“I will do so now.”
Hildak, what do you need from us?
There is a primary bomb that controls all others. This one we will have to disable ourselves, which is why we would have to leave you. It is the only way to be certain we are successful. Doing so will require that we be destroyed along with the primary bomb.>
No. There must be another way that does not require you to die. I do not want to lose you.
Our death will be a worthy one, for it will be in the process of doing a right thing, just like the Hildak you named us after. This makes us content, and this will be our gift to you for giving us a name. We can feel the sadness within you, and we regret causing this.>
Show me what you need. Perhaps the Ma’lit will be able to figure out a way to do this without you having to cease to exist.
Skarl reluctantly did as asked by Hildak, his mind racing as he desperately tried to think of a way to save his new friends. The holo system of the device activated, and many screens appeared with diagrams and blueprints of two different types of nanobots.
The humans remained silent as the honored elder and Hildak, speaking through Skarl, discussed what was needed from the Ma’lit to disable the viral bombs. Skarl did not understand most of what Hildak was asking for, but the honored elder seemed to easily grasp what Hildak was displaying through the holograms.
He could feel Hildak’s esteem for the honored elder rising considerably as they both continued to work out the details, and he found himself wondering if the humans knew the truth of the reclusive Ma’lit.
Did they know they were related to the beings who never left their suits? Did the Ma’lit wear them specifically to hide themselves, or were the rumors of them still being carriers of the terrible plagues that destroyed the long-dead First Ones and their Galactic Federation true?
I wonder if the humans of Earth are a long-lost colony of the Ma’lit Domain, or perhaps they somehow survived the plagues and regressed into barbarism in such a way as to cause the Ma’lit to cut off all ties with them, he thought to himself as he glanced at his human hatch brother, who seemed like he was greatly relieved with how things were turning out.
I will tell him what Hildak and I have discovered, he decided as Ray finally noticed Skarl looking at him and gave him a slight head flick. He deserved to know the truth; it is the least Skarl could do for dragging his human hatch brother into this mess. If not for him, Skarl would almost certainly be dead, as well as the rest of his staff.
He now owed a life debt to the human ambassador, and Farians took that very seriously. Skarl knew how the rest of the quadrant viewed the Farians and the Kingdom. He knew the jokes told at their expense, and the common saying to “Always tally your possessions when a Farian leaves your house!” was repeated by every species in the quadrant as a universal truth.
Most of what was said about them was true, but there were many things the others did not know about Farians because of their unwillingness to see them as anything other than unprincipled sneaks always looking to pilfer and scam if they could.
What they didn’t know was just how deeply loyal Farians were to their hatch brothers and their families. Even though Farians were not good at fighting, they were stubborn and devious, and there were a lot of them. And if a Farian owed a life debt to another, they would spend the rest of their lives in service to the one they owed it to. Nothing was too much to ask for, even death if necessary.
Skarl’s ruminations were interrupted by Hildak as they began to speak to him directly.
A flash of mild jealousy rose up inside of Skarl at what Hildak just said, and he didn’t bother trying to hide it from them as he responded resentfully.
I’ll ask the Ma’lit if it will let you inhabit it. You and it can go to Faria Prime together; I’m sure you’ll have a great time. Let me know how it went when you and your new friend come back.
Skarl felt ashamed of himself as Hildak responded to his rude comment with no apparent awareness of his attitude towards them, and he was greatly relieved they could not understand his intentionally disrespectful behavior.
I did not know that. Will you and the Ma’lit be able to do what is necessary? Can they make more nanobots for you?
His finger jerked from the unexpected but short-lived painful prick at the tip as Hildak began to form another connector through the skin, and he looked at the exosuit cameras that were zoomed in on his face.
“Honored elder, Hildak is preparing a sample now. May I access your suit again to provide it?” One of the secondary cameras shifted its lens to zoom in on his fingertip before it turned around to allow access to the small access port under the neck joint. As Skarl began to walk over to the exosuit, the speakers activated and spoke in classical Farian.
“Of course, Ambassador Skarl. I must say, I am pleasantly surprised by the unique intelligence of the entity inhabiting you; it is a rare thing for a Ma’lit to come across another so well versed in nanotechnology.”
Skarl reached the exosuit and plugged the connector into the specific port being highlighted in his eyes by Hildak as the honored elder continued speaking.
“I am saddened by the necessity of Hildak having to sacrifice itself to destroy the primary viral bomb. I will continue to do my best to find another way to complete our mission of saving your progeny without requiring its death. You have my vow on this, Ambassador.”
SKarl was deeply touched by the earnest care for Hildak’s well-being being displayed by the honored elder, and he flicked his head anxiously before replying. “Hildak feels the same way about you, Honored elder. I can sense the deep respect it has for your intelligence, and I would be eternally grateful for any effort you make in trying to save Hildak’s life.”
The lines of code in his eyes changed as Hildak informed him that the sample had been successfully transferred, and Skarl gently pulled the connector out of the port before awkwardly stepping back a half hop distance as the exosuit began to turn around to face him.
“It is done; I have the sample.” Turning slightly to look towards President Lopez, the exosuit cameras whirred softly as the speakers switched to Republic Standard. Hildak automatically translated it in Skarl’s ears, and he listened intently as the honored elder spoke.
“Madame President, if you are finished with your interrogation, I will take Ambassador Skarl with me now. There is a cloaked Ma’lit scout ship in orbit of this outpost with a fold space engine, and the ambassador and I will board it to go to Faria Prime and execute our mission to disable the viral bombs before the Farians detect the fleet. I know you are planning to speak with Admiral Thompson at our null space relay, and I expect you to inform him of this new intelligence we have been provided by the ambassador. Failure to do so will force the Ma’lit Domain to withdraw our support.
This is no longer a punitive expedition and an attempt to save your citizens, Madame President. This is now a rescue operation to save hundreds of millions of innocent children as well. I know your heart, and I know you want justice for those you loved and have lost. But know this, Madame President: vengeance belongs to the Creator alone; you have no right to claim it for yourself.”
President Lopez stared at the exosuit for a long moment before she guiltily looked down at the floor. Before, Skarl would have reveled in her chastisement by the honored elder, but not now; not after he had seen how much the death of the hatchlings affected her.
She glanced back up to look at Skarl first, the guilt still in her eyes, before finally looking away from him to the exosuit and gazing directly into the primary camera lens as she responded.
“You are right, Honored elder. Vengeance is not mine; thank you for reminding me of that.”
Skarl could hear the camera mechanisms as it focused on her face for a few solar seconds before the honored elder spoke again. “I already knew you were a warrior and a good leader, but now I see that you are wise as well, Madame President.”
The exosuit pivoted on its foot pads and proceeded towards the exit without another word, and Skarl shared a knowing look with President Lopez before bowing deeply to her in true reverence.
She stood up and quickly closed the distance between them before putting her right hand out, greatly surprising Skarl as he quickly looked at the Pathfinders, expecting to see them preparing to disembowel him with their swords.
To his even greater astonishment, they were not; their hands were no longer resting on the hilts of their swords or the grips of their plasma pistols, and their eyes, though not overtly friendly, were now entirely devoid of the prior hostility they once held.
He could see his human hatch brother flicking his head that it was okay to do what the president wanted, and Skarl hesitantly put his own right hand out and gently clasped President Lopez’s hand, his long fingers reaching past her wrist.
“Good luck, Ambassador Skarl.” The President said as she firmly moved his hand up and down two times before releasing her grip. He did the same and then touched his forehead and his chest in both places where his hearts were located in the Farian gesture of thanks.
“Thank you, Madame President. Thank you for this.” He replied earnestly before bowing quickly to her once more. Raising his head, he shared another look with his human hatch brother, who gave him a small smile for the first time before Skarl flicked his head gratefully and turned around.
Skarl hurried to the open doorway and exited before coming to a sudden stop. There were two Pathfinders standing on either side of the opening, their hands resting on their weapons as they stood like guardian statues. He didn't even know they were there, and they still had their helmets on.
A helmeted head turned to look at him, and he could see himself in the mirrored surface, his face a mixture of surprise and fear. The Pathfinder gave him a slow flick with the helmet before raising the left arm and pointing down the corridor. He nervously flicked his head back in response and leaned slightly to see what the Pathfinder was pointing towards.
In the distance was the exosuit of the honored elder, and the Pathfinder was telling him which way to go. He looked back at the mirrored surface and flicked his head again gratefully before he began to hop, putting all his strength into the leaps as he hurried to catch up before the honored elder disappeared around the bend of the slightly curving corridor.
He had a world to liberate and hatchlings to save, all thanks to the humans who were now going to Faria Prime not to raze it as he had expected, but to free them from the clutches of the evil ones that were holding it hostage.
If we succeed, I will make sure the Kingdom joins the alliance fully and without reservation, he promised to himself as he continued to bound after the honored elder, not caring in the least how undignified he looked while doing so.
He had a life debt to pay, and after they were liberated by the Republic, so would every Farian in the Kingdom. Another thought came to him, both a truth and a solemn vow he felt with every fiber of his being as he manifested it within his mind.
They will see; they will see how loyal we Farians truly are to those who have earned it. We might be thieves, but we have our own type of honor and courage, and they will not be making their jokes about us anymore when they see the truth of it.
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