Warhawk's Sacrifice - Ch. 9 - The Ten Families - Alpha (Patreon)

The days following Zara’s outreach to her father became routine for the Amnesty’s crew and its passengers. Vi and Syn kept the ship mobile, initiating daily jumps on the least active starlanes. Eni and Syn worked on the nakai dataset and building the dictionary. Nalla cared for the crew’s injuries and watched over Roja. Mischa and Iris trained in meditation, attempting to give her better control over the activation of her powers. Zara worked on a written contract to propose for the ten families.

Seb bounced between everyone, helping where he could. He spent a lot of time with Mischa and Iris, doing translations during their exercises. When her training finished, Seb took her to Eni and Syn, continuing to decrypt more of the codex where they could.

Zara and Seb reviewed the final paperwork to make everything official. To his surprise, he found no legal loopholes that would put them in an unfavorable position. Even Syn found nothing.

When Zara alerted them that the ten families were ready to meet, they decided to take the call in Seb’s room, given she requested both he and Iris be present. After he finished putting on his armor, Seb helped Iris slip into a skinsleeve.

The captain walked her through how to put it on and activate it so that it would conform to her body. He always enjoyed showing her new technology or something she hadn’t seen before. Her excitement lifted his spirits any time he connected with her.

After he finished getting Iris ready, he grabbed her by the shoulders and smiled. “Does everything fit okay?”

“Yes,” Iris said into his mind as she looked down at her arms and legs. “It doesn’t really feel like I’m wearing anything.”

“That’s by design. The skinsleeves are meant to integrate with other clothes and armor systems. It’s meant to be worn all the time as an underlayer, so they designed it to feel weightless. Did you have any record of something similar used by your people?”

Iris shook her head. “No, not really. From my memories, most of my people wandered in very little clothing, if any.”

“What? So everyone was just walking around in the nude all the time?”

“Yes. Clothes were reserved for formal events, but that tended to be elaborate headdresses, arm tassels, and loin and breast cloths.”

“Wow, I bet that helped you be really popular with other species,” Seb said, chuckling. “What about your soldiers?”

“Our soldiers had shields for protection. It’s likely one reason why the Screechers were so successful in combat against us. Their bodies were covered in armor, both natural and synthetic. Our weapons had difficulty subduing them.”

“The Screechers?” Seb asked, cocking his brow. “Is that what you called them?”

“Uh… yes… it seems so,” Iris said as if remembering a long distant memory. “We called our creations the Songless,” Iris said. “Unlike our kind, they did not speak through song, but through code. However, once their corruption spread, they adopted our speech and used it as a weapon. They’d yell these horrible screams that would leave us paralyzed.”

“Screechers… I get it now,” Seb said. “Well, if there’s one thing I know about this galaxy, it's that all the species love their weapons. If we encounter them, here’s hoping that gives us a leg up.”

“Hopefully, we can avoid their arrival.”

“Agreed.”

Both heads turned as the elevator opened and Zara entered the room. She was wearing the green dinner dress once more. However, her form was completely changed.

Her draconic body replaced her human-like form. Her mouth extended in a long maw with exposed, overlapping teeth. Red shimmering scales and a golden underbelly lined her physique. Long, sharp claws replaced her soft hands and fingers. The only two features she didn’t hide were her horns and her golden slit eyes. Both remained the same.

Seb cocked his brow as he gazed at her. The last time he’d seen her in this form, she towered over him. However, he wondered if she kept herself smaller because she feared tearing up the only dress she had.

“That dress is definitely getting its mileage,” Seb said, laughing.

“Please don’t remind me,” Zara said, rolling her eyes. “I’ve never felt more disgusting than I have been over the last few weeks. I swear the constant washing of fabric is making my scales itch.”

“If it makes you feel any better, you still look lovely.”

Her firm brows faded, and she gave him a soft smile. “None of that right now. We need to be at the top of our game… But thank you.”

Seb pulled at the collar of his armor and leaned forward. “Is this really necessary, by the way? I feel like Iris and I are your bodyguards for a gala.”

“First impressions are everything with these people. It’s why I changed back into my natural form. We’re presenting Iris as a weapon, and you as the one who wields her. It’s important for us to convey a presence of strength.”

“Fair enough. Anything we should know before we get started?”

“Let my father and I run the conversation. Don’t speak unless you’re spoken to.”

Seb held up his hands. “Okay. It’s your show.”

Zara turned and took a few deep breaths. Seeing her nervousness surprised Seb. She’d always come across as strong as an asteroid. When she readied herself, so did he.

Zara looked up at the ceiling and spoke. “Syn, can you open an encrypted channel using the comm key I provided earlier?”

“Yes, Princess Saladonus,” the virtual intelligence said. “Establishing a connection now.”

The ceiling mounted projectors in his room spun and whined. Text covered in front of them informing that the call was attempting to be established. A bright jingle sounded before ten holograms of different heads appeared in front of them.

Even though Seb could only see their necks and heads, he could tell they all matched Silus’s size. Their scales covered every visible light color, several even had more abstract shades like iridescent. Their horns varied in both size, length, and number. But it was clear by their long snouts and rows of teeth, they were all full-blooded sepix.

It was at that moment that the importance of the figures in front of him hit him. He was in front of ten of the most powerful people in the galaxy. These ten represented trillions of people who called the FLS territories their home.

They were also some of the most ruthless, cutthroat, and dishonorable people he’s had the pleasure of speaking with. Everything they did was for more power and greed. But if they honored this deal, they would be the ones who would protect him and his crew. He didn’t feel good about the situation.

“Let’s get on with this, Silus,” a blue scaled female sepix said. “You’ve gathered all of us for this impromptu meeting when the table isn’t supposed to have another sit down until three more weeks.”

“Quite right, Maghidara,” Silus said. “First, I want to thank you all for gathering on such short notice. I know we’re all busy, so I won’t waste your time. My goal in this gathering is to present a stratagem to end the war with the Allmother.”

“Please don’t suggest you mean for us to surrender, Silus?” the green scaled and yellow tongued sepix said.

“Not at all, Nakarum. I mean to suggest a ruse for the Allmother. A trap to lure the bulk of her naval forces into a vulnerable position and destroy them.”

A thick headed black scaled sepix man’s chuckle built into full laughter. Seb could see Silus’s curled lip as he waited for the man to speak. His deep voice carried the weight of his size. “Silus, Silus, Silus… whatever are we going to do with you?

“If you have something to say, Gorom, speak it,” Silus said, his voice full of disdain.

“Ruse? Traps? You, as well as everyone else in this meeting, should know we can’t trick the Allmother. Her power as a fallen Oracle gives her the same gift as her kin. We’ve lasted this long because of our superiority in numbers, and the insight Kaeda provides me. Nothing else. If this were an option, Kaeda would have had a vision, and I would be the one bringing it to the meeting, not you.”

A small smile formed on Silus’s lips before he spoke. “It’s clear you’ve become too reliant on your own Oracle to have an original thought, Gorom. Your own foolishness in kidnapping Kaeda and binding her to you against her own free will is what got us in this mess in the first place. This war alone has already cost us an endless number of credits and millions of our soldier’s lives. Our loss of territory over these many months speaks for itself. If we do not take action now, there’s no telling how long before the Allmother has all of our heads on display along her castle’s walls.”

“You speak beyond your position, Silus,” Gorom snapped. “It is through my binding of Kaeda that the FLS has been in its golden age. Profits have quadrupled year after year in every sector.”

“Don’t try to mask your own selfishness as some righteousness for your decisions. We all know you did what you did out of self interest.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, please,” Maghidara said, holding up her clawed hand. “Arguing is unproductive. While yes, Gorom’s decision is what got us in this mess, we all voted as a collective that we’d refuse the Allmother’s demands, knowing full well it would enter us into war. And while we may have won the first skirmishes, there is no denying the conundrum we find ourselves in now. Vengeance has consumed the Allmother in an effort to retrieve her sister. She’s had years to build her forces, design new technology, and strategize plans to destroy all of us. If Silus believes he has a solution to end this conflict, we all owe it to ourselves and shareholders to weigh his words.”

Murmurs of agreement rolled through the other members on the call. It was clear to Seb that Maghidara held everyone’s respect. She was the voice of reason, keeping the ambitious ones in check.

Both men nodded before Silus continued. “Thank you, Maghidara. To all the heads of the table, I’d like to introduce our guests to this meeting. Standing before you are my daughter, Princess Zara Saladonus, Captain Sebestian Warhawk of the Amnesty, and Iris, the recovered precursor weapon and key to this initiative.”

All the dragon heads leaned forward toward their screens. Zara tapped Seb’s leg with her tail before nodding toward the ground. He conveyed the thought to Iris and they all three bowed.

Gorom’s laugh echoed across the comm. “This is your weapon? A fragile little girl?”

“I assumed you did not view the briefing I sent ahead of time,” Silus said, smirking. “Inside it I presented a video showing the precursor’s power. She melted a station’s structural beams in less than a second, metal that is thicker and denser than any of the crystal used on the Allmother’s ships.”

“It’s clear looks can be deceiving, Gorom,” Maghidara said. ”Silus, please continue.”

“Our plan is simple. We will congregate the bulk of our naval forces at the Horal System located in our northern border. We’ve already fed the Allmother leaked intel that we are preparing for a counteroffensive.  There is no doubt that the Allmother will see how our forces are gathered and could likely detect it as a trap. However, there is no way she cannot respond. If we concentrate our forces along the northern border, pushing through her blockades would allow us direct jumps into her own territory. The only answer is to respond with her own offensive of a greater size. Once she responds, we will leverage Iris’s power to engage with the Allmother’s forces. Hopefully with little losses on our side. Her small size and organic composition will make her hard to detect. By the time the Allmother’s ships realize what’s happening, it will be too late.”

“What makes you think the Allmother won’t see this coming?” Maghidara asked.

“Great question. Based on information provided to us by Captain Warhawk’s team, it is understood that the precursors, known as the nakai, are not originally from our galaxy. They are transdimensional beings. It is our belief that this alone gives us an edge over the Oracles. That due to that nature, they will be unable to predict Iris’s involvement. All they will know is what I just spoke about. Her hand will already be forced.”

A golden sepix with eight horns, giving him a mane-like appearance, spoke next. “While I am optimistic, Silus, I am hearing a lot of assumptions being made on your part. This sounds like an enormous risk. One that we may not be able to recover from should it fail.”

“Quite right, Tyrus,” Silus said. “But in business, one must take risks for the largest rewards. The writing is on the walls. Money is not solving our problems. The Allmother is too well equipped and too tactically sound for us to win this war. She’s slowly chipping away at us piece by piece. If we do nothing, in a year's time we’ll be nothing but rubble.”

“Surely, the GRC will not allow us to fail. The economic impact alone would be felt across the entire galaxy.”

“Do not be so sure, brother,” Maghidara said. “I’ve had several meetings with Yaralai Srivali, the head councilwoman of the GRC. Through these meetings, I’ve been made aware that her own Oracle, Avandri, has advised her and the rest of the GRC not to get involved. I’ve heard whispers throughout the GRC chambers that the Liolai Collective and United Human Coalition are predicting our downfall and making readied preparation of the impacts. We’re surrounded by scavengers, my kin. We should not account for any support outside of the ten of us on this call.”

Tyrus slammed his fist and shouted. “Then let us offer the Allmother Gorom’s head and his pet Oracle and be done with it!”

“What did you just say?” Gorom growled. “I’ll peel your scales and rend your throat, you flamboyant pissbird!”

The call turned into shouts and threats between all ten members. Seb’s eyes widened as he looked over at Zara, who just shook her head. It was clear everyone was on edge given the situation, but he never could have predicted this.

Eventually, Zara’s father managed to regain order. “Ladies and Gentlemen! The hour is dire! We cannot afford this.. Now I will be the first to say that Gorom and I haven’t quite seen eye to eye. However, to suggest that we give up one of our own is madness. If our people were to see how far we have fallen, Varanidae would strip us of everything we’ve worked for. The Allmother is already stripping us of our territory. Shall she do the same of our pride and unity?”

“No, Silus, she most certainly will not,” Gorom barked.

“Agreed, brother,” Tyrus said. “My apologies for my outburst.”

“I accept.”

“Then let us not waste another moment,” Silus continued. “Time is of the essence. Do we leverage the nakai weapon and end this war, or do we continue to allow our foe to steal what’s rightfully ours? The vote is in your hands.”

Whispered smiles and nods formed on the majority of the members before Maghidara spoke once more. “Thank you Silus for bringing this initiative to the table. As with all decisions, we shall allow one day to pass for further discussion among the members. Tomorrow we will reconvene at the same hour to vote. Thank you brothers and sisters for your time. May Varanidae watch over us all.”

When the hologram disappeared, Syn’s void rang from overhead. “Connection terminated, Captain.”

Seb whistled as Zara turned to face him. “Wow… that sure was something.”

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Zara said, crossing her arms. “Things have been rather… tense lately.”

“I can see why. Everyone seems fractured and self-interested. Maghidara seemed like the only one keeping everyone together.”

“Yes, she’s the eldest and has always been the voice of reason among the others. It’s not always been like this, you know. The war has really brought out the worst in everyone. The heads are all so worried about losing their own that they’ve all clamped down, refusing to work together. Only my father has been the one trying to break down those barriers.”

“With the Hypercore initiative and now this you mean?”

“Yes.”

Seb slowly nodded before smiling. “I mean to be fair, your father is doing this for his own self interest as well. He means to gain positioning to help drive the FLS going forward, does he not.”

Zara tilted her chin up. “I don’t deny that, but it’s what the FLS needs. They’re locked in indecisiveness. War needs a general and that is what my father is trying to give them. You heard Tyrus. This is a big risk we are taking. If they vote for this and the plan fails, the FLS could lose everything.”

“So just an entire government overseeing the lives of trillions or more people riding on our shoulders… no pressure.”

Zara took a step forward and kissed Seb on the cheek. “No pressure indeed.”

Iris huffed and pushed herself in between the pair. She looked up at Zara with pointed brows and held her arms wide.

“Seems I’ve upset her,” the princess said slyly. “I’ll leave you two alone then. I’m sure you have plenty to prepare for.”

As Zara walked toward the elevator, Seb shouted to her. “Hold on! Are we supposed to just wait to hear from the table?”

“Yup, nothing to do now except to wait to hear their decision. However, I’ve been in enough of those meetings to know how they’ll vote.”

“And how do you think they’ll vote?”

“All I’ll say is this… Make sure you and your crew are ready for war.”

When Zara disappeared from the elevator, Seb gripped Iris’s shoulders and spun her around. “So, how do you feel?”

Iris lowered her head. “I don’t know. The Songless I’m ready for… but this? This isn’t our fight. All the training I’ve been doing with Sister Mischa has been about maintaining control and only using my power when necessary. This doesn’t feel like it is.”

“I know,” Seb nodded. “But the governments of the galaxy don’t care. They want to take you away from me. The only way to prevent that is to have powerful allies on our side. And to do that, they need your help.”

“If this is the only way I can stay…”

“There’s one other option. We can go with Sister Mischa and have the Sisters of Nimora protect us. But it would be hard living. We’d be living in a commune in uncharted space. There would be no luxuries, comfortable living, or exploration. We’d be stuck there hoping that the GRC wouldn’t find us.”

“What do the others think?”

“That we’ve been on the run too long. We owe it to ourselves to try to get permanent protection. But they also know that this is all dependent on you. I don’t want you to feel pressured to do something you don’t want to do. So whatever you choose is the path we’ll take.”

Iris fidgeted with her hands, and she stared off into space. When she decided, she looked up at Seb and gave a firm nod. “Then I choose war.”