There were few in this universe who lived that knew my mother's name. Among them were many of my enemies. So the precautionary thing to do was to point my gun at this newcomer's face.

As I did, his soldiers drew their guns at me, and in turn, my soldiers did the same.

"Woah woah woah! Everyone calm down!" Said Jugen. "Look, I'm sure there's a huge misunderstanding here. I know you're probably a little tense around my type right now."

"How do you know my mother?" I asked, "You'd best answer honestly."

Jugen appeared to take a small moment to consider my question. Yet it seemed like he was examining me.

"You know... Now that I think about it... You don't look too much like Alara. You've got more of Samson going on in your face. But I assure you, I'm no enemy."

That wasn't an answer I had complete confidence in. Knowing my father's name made it all the worse.

"Come on boss! Let me fill her full of holes!" Spat one of his soldiers.

"You'll be dead before you squeeze the trigger," Jugen said as he pointed upward. The direction was the same as where Xain had been perched.

"Alright... Ya look dissatisfied, so I'll prove it." Jugen slowly placed his weapon on the ground. As he stood back up, he began pulling up his shirt. Underneath the cloth was a large burn scar that covered his left side.

"Our oh-so-Grand Leader gave me that during the War. Not before I blew up half of his ship."

The scarring was similar to Soran's. The way the skin blackened within the burns. It was almost unsettling to look at. That was definitely Lucian's handy work. I lowered my gun and ordered my troops to do the same. "If you're not with Lucian, then you must be the one we're looking for."

"Probably... But we can talk about that when we get back to base."

"Boss..." One of Jugen's soldiers called out. "Ya sure, it's good to bring'em back to base?"

"They were shooting at our enemies. Anyone who does so is a friend in my book. Now, if you lot would be so kind as to help this lovely lady and her people get packed up."

One of the soldiers, more specifically the one that wanted to go ahead and start shooting, removed his helmet after slinging his rifle over his shoulder. He had the head of a hooded snake, and as his yellow eyes narrowed at the sight of me, he hissed a bit.

"Halaar, Be nice," said Jugen.

Halaar's eye twitched before he pivoted around, waving his hand to the other Coalition soldiers. "Boss's orders. Get your leathery hides moving!"

The Coalition soldiers around us began holstering their weapons and spreading themselves out around the area. Some helped soldiers who were injured while others began working to clean up the bodies of our enemies. Many of the Asterism's soldiers were reluctant to let the Coalition help, but eventually, both sides began to play nice. Xain came down from the sniper's nest, holding his rifle close to his chest.

"I've sent a report to Minerva. She's on the way with Sergeant Claudia," Xain said.

"Good... I wouldn't have felt alright making any kind of calls without them."

"To be honest ma'am we didn't exactly expect an Arcadian to just brazenly appear before us."

Looking over to Jugen, I caught him giving some instructions to a couple of our soldiers. Other than Seraph and Edwin, there weren't many friendly Arcadians who survived the war left. Then there was the fact that he knew my father.

"Well... Considering he's helping us regroup now. We're slowly losing the power of negotiation."

"Aye... But considering the circumstances, I think we'll be able to help these fine folk out... Well then, Captain Alice, I'll leave you to it."

Xain slung his rifle over his shoulder and ventured to aid the Coalition in helping us. I began to hail Minerva on our communication line, and when the line connected I could hear the similar sounds of people rushing and barking orders.

"Minerva... I take it you got the message from Xain."

"Of course dear friend, I've already sent the order to allow the Coalition to aid us," Minerva said.

"Good... Then you'll be happy to know I've made contact with our target."

Minerva paused a moment before speaking again. "Really!? They're here?"

"Yes... His name is Jugen Asterius. If Seraph were awake or maybe if Soran and the others weren't lost we'll be able to find out who he is exactly."

"Well, we can already rule out all the Markers we possess as well as the ones our enemies do. What does that leave us with?"

Rummaging through my thoughts, I recalled the remaining Majors that we haven't encountered yet. There was the Wheel of Fortune, but from what I remember Seraph telling me, the one who held that marker was a woman. Then there's the Star, Sun, and Moon, who also aren't among our allies or enemies. The last of the missing bunch consisted of Justice, Temperance, The Hierophant, and The Emperor.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

All that could be allies or enemies depending on the circumstance. Then we have to think of the time trying to find everyone. It could've taken us decades or, miraculously, they all flocked to this system.

"Minerva... May I suggest something?"

"Of course, my dear. As Acting Commander it'd be my utmost pleasure to listen."

"We should honestly do anything to get in the Coalition's good graces. Not only are we outsiders, but considering Mr. Asterius's position it may be difficult for him to leave with us."

"Hmm... Ah, then I know the perfect thing to do so. The Sergeant may not like it, but she's a soldier."

Before I could ask what it was she'd been planning, she'd cut the communication line. I was a little worried since she mentioned Claudia, but I found that Minerva was not one to elaborate until the time was right.

I'd looked around for a moment for Jugen, and I found him caring for one of our wounded soldiers. A Tau girl who'd gotten shot in the abdomen.

"It's quite alright miss," Jugen said to her, "You'll make it. I'm gonna apply this Biofeeeze to it." He turned his head as he noticed my approach. "Ah, Samson's kid. Give me a hand."

I knelt to the soldier and Jugen gave me her hand. "Now miss... it's going to hurt a bit, so use Ms. Milos's hand for a moment. Don't worry, she can take it." Jugen took a bottle of Biofreeze holding the nozzle to her wound. As he squeezed the bottle the soldier grit her teeth and began squeezing my hand so hard I thought she'd crack it.

"Ow... Ok ow ow!"

"You should've grit your teeth too, kid," said Jugen, "This one seems like she's got some strength in her."

Being around Talia so much made me forget how runty she is compared to the rest of her people. As Jugen began bandaging the soldier up I took the time to observe him. I was mainly looking for any sign of his marker. I began to note his more obvious features. He wasn't very stout though I could tell he still worked out. It was like every bit of him was chiseled by some master sculptor. He seemed as young as Seraph or even Claudia. But with our kind, it was difficult to tell with age.

"Why don't you take a picture?" He asked with a hint of smugness. "It'll last longer."

"Forgive me. But I think meeting one of my kind on a distant star can award me a pass. Especially one who knows my father."

"Well... I'll tell you what. When we have the time to talk about Samson. We will, I swear on my marker."

"That's extreme... but I'll hold you to it."

He smiled as he finished bandaging the Tau soldier's wound. Shifting his position he placed her arm over his neck and then nudged to me to do the same. Together, we lifted her and began walking her towards the opening where a boat-like transport vehicle was waiting. It'd been filled to the brim with the injured.

Jugen tapped the vehicle three times and it went sailing off northward. Then another one pulled up behind it with Halaar on the back.

"My my... we have quite the welcoming crew," said Minerva as she suddenly popped up behind me.

"Eeek!" I squealed, something I'd regret in the next instant.

"Wow... I didn't know all of you Prime System people were such beauties," Jugen noted.

"A fact that you'd be better off not speaking of when Andrew awakens," said Minerva. "Speaking of which..."

She turned around and joining up with us had been the rest of the officers' crew. Satomi had been connected to a couple of mobile beds that cradled Seraph and Andrew in them. Seraph had bandages around her forehead along with some bruises all over her. Andrew had the worst of it since, along with his head wrappings, his arm was also in a cast. Though Andrew's Chariot Marker was so brazenly out in the open.

"Wow... I don't remember Farid looking so blond... or young for that matter," Jugen said.

"That's because he isn't Lord Farid," I said. "We've got a lot to catch up on."

As bewildered as Jugen looked I'm sure he'd recall keeping things about my past a secret temporarily, as seen by him shrugging his shoulders.

"Load'em up Halaar..."

The Snake man kicked down the hatch at the back of the door then signaled Satomi to start bringing Seraph and Andrew aboard. The rest of us boarded right after. I sent a quick message to Xain to continue leading the recovery effort while we were gone.

The ship began to pull away from the Asterism and as we sailed Jugen pulled out a small microphone from the cabin.

"Good Afternoon ladies and gents this is your captain speaking. I'd first like to welcome you all to Valerion VI. The home of the Valeri people, much like my friend Halaar here."

As you've no doubt seen, our beautiful planet is a sandy desert with a few oases here and there to brighten up your mood. Do mind the ugly Dreg and the creepy Colletive members they are uninvited guests we're planning on spacing at our earliest convenience. Any questions?"

Minerva raised her hand which was a little funny considering she's supposed to be Acting-Commander. Jugen pointed to her much like how the others described teachers acknowledging them in their academy.

"Are you the leader of the Coalition?" She asked.

"That would be an incorrect assumption, Ms. Promethean. Like you, I'm an outsider who found my way to this planet. Our great leader is none other than Korsica Il Shandalaar, Queen Regent of Shandalaar."

Minerva's eyes lit up like Soran's flames. She sat up straight and I could tell her line of questioning was about to get crazy. Luckily, Claudia pulled her back in her seat before she could assault Jugen's ears with a lot of "five credit words," as usually put it."

"So... Shandalaar is a Queendom?" Claudia asked. "Why a Monarchy over something more democratic?"

"It's because it's our way," Halaar hissed. "You porcelain dolls have too much power split everywhere else."

"Duly noted," said Claudia.

"Halaar... I told you to respect our guests," Jugen scolded. "I just said I was an outsider myself."

"No your companion did not cause us any offense," Minerva spoke up. "If anything, he is correct. It is rather shameful to question the rule of law which another land imposes while we are mere guests. As such, Lady Claudia is the one who should apologize."

Claudia closed her eyes and bowed toward Halaar. "My apologies.... that was completely rude of me..."

Halaar grunted in a way that seemed a bit passive-aggressive. "So long se your porcelain dolls and tin soldiers know their place."

Halaar returned to the cabin and I could see him sitting right behind the pilot.

"What's his deal?" Talia asked.

"Please forgive Halaar's rudeness," said Jugen. "But you'll find many of the Valeri people feel the same. There are some like Korsica who understand."

"It's not like Halaar's anger isn't justified," said Minerva. "Due to the ceasefire agreement the PSA have with the Dreg and Erebea, we haven't sent planets under their invasion any aid. A policy I wished to change if circumstances didn't pan out as they did all that time ago."

During my travels, I'd seen many amid conflict. Most times Seraph and I would stay out of it and sometimes we'd fight. But this was the first time I felt a bit responsible for such strife. Even if I wasn't originally a part of the Prime System.

"Fear not my new friends," Jugen said reassuringly. "The Queen Regent will be more than happy to aid you all. Provided that you can negotiate with her."

That was a mighty big "if" to consider. We'd been sent on the pretext that we'd mostly be conducting this mission covertly. But given the fact Lucian blew us out of space the second we entered the wasted much of that plan was a waste.

Then there was the other problem we had. All of our heavy hitters were either down or missing. We couldn't afford to attempt combat with both enemy forces and for that matter Lucian. The best thing to hope for was that the Queen Regent