"Kill the Terran!" Drall bellows, while stabbing his finger in Admiral Rodriguez's direction. "If any of you still intend to honor your Thülvik's commands, then heed mine now! Slay that undying monster at all costs! Do not let his envenomed tongue sway your minds! Graaaaugh!"

"Kyargh!"

"Graugh!"

Hundreds of angry howls erupt amongst the Kraktol. A rainbow-array of scales surges at the Admiral and the Kraktol surrounding him, only to meet heavy resistance as those bearing goodwill toward the Admiral push back.

"You're courting death!" Sapphire howls, while slamming her fist into one of her sisters' heads. "No one will touch my Darling! You'll have to go through me!"

"Admiral, I'll protect you!" Soren says, her voice shaking slightly but not panicky. She activates her Survival Suit and takes up a position in front of him, setting her blaster to 'stun.' "It's too dangerous for you to stay here!"

While two hundred Kraktol on Drall's side clash with another two hundred on José's, the remaining three hundred split apart and look at one another anxiously, uncertain of what to do. Some of them join the melee after reluctantly making up their minds, while others simply give in to their primal instincts for the love of battle.

The Admiral activates his dermal armor, making himself practically impervious to small-arms fire and melee attacks. He eyes Lord Drall from a distance and shakes his head.

"Damn. What a mess. This is why I hate giving speeches. Evelyn was always better at this crap than me. Wish she could show up right about now and offer a helping hand..."

His voice, tinged with melancholy, nostalgia, and a hint of sadness, melts into the throng of bellowing crocodiles without any fanfare. José watches as Megla moves closer to her father to shout at him.

"Father! What are you doing? You have to stop! There's no reason for us to fight. The Admiral is our friend... our benefactor!"

However, her words fall on deaf ears.

"He's a gravecrawler!" Drall shouts, not even deigning to look at his daughter. "A vicious creature who has returned from the nether to kill us all. You may have fallen for his beguilement, but not this old Rodak! Third Group, sweep to the right! Strike at his blind spot. Fourth Group, raise your defenses and push forward!"

"Yes, father!"

"Yes, Lord Drall! For the Thülvik!"

Drall guides his loyalist platoon skillfully, weaving them across the hundred or so feet toward José while trying to take down the turncoats who have sided with the Terran. Within less than a minute, it becomes clear that some four hundred Kraktol have decided to align themselves with Drall, while the remaining three hundred choose José.

Just as Drall starts to maneuver his numerically superior forces into a pincer attack, the Kessu strike! Not content with seeing the Great Precursor surrounded, the tiny kitty cats leap into action, hissing and spitting as they swing their Thunder Gauntlets like wrecking balls, sending Drall's soldiers flying!

"I won't let you hurt the Great Precursor!" Ruuki meows, before jumping at a Kraktol female and slapping her silly. He keeps his gloves at low power, but with enough striking force to batter her unconscious. "Skreow! You'll regret making me angry!"

Despite the raging crowds of allied and enemy Kraktol, the Terran Admiral doesn't move a muscle. A look of boredom and defeat passes over his face. He rubs his glabella, located just above the ridge of his nose, and sighs.

"It's always some dumb idiot playing politics."

Soren, fighting desperately to keep her brothers and sisters at bay, spares a look behind herself, only to see the Admiral looking just as unmoved as before, completely devoid of any fear or respect for the fighting prowess of his encroaching enemies. "Admiral! You must leave."

"I'll be fine..." José mutters. "You just... keep doing what you're doing. Good work, Second Officer."

He waves his hand flippantly, making Soren nearly spit blood from shock.

Admiral! How can you be so flippant about this? Isn't this pandemonium a bit ridiculous? Shouldn't you try to quell the fighting or something?

However, even as she returns her attention to the frontlines, Soren furrows her brow.

What am I saying? The Admiral killed a Troll effortlessly. He didn't even use any Terran augmentations. Now that I think about it, wouldn't that mean this crowd doesn't pose him the slightest threat? But if so, then what is his goal? Is he simply going to wait for everyone to kill each other?

While Soren wonders why the Admiral is acting so disconnected, José himself frowns deeply as he looks around the rampaging battleground.

Something isn't right. Even if tensions have quietly risen without my noticing, it's odd that Drall's children would so eagerly turn their weapons on each other. Why does it feel like there's more going on behind the scenes?

Lord Drall suddenly raises his voice. "Sapphire! You disloyal child! Listen up! I shall give you a chance to repent! Strike down the Terran now, while you still can! If you do, I will forgive your earlier transgressions! Your crime against the Thülvik has not yet become wholly unforgivable!"

Positioned directly in front of José, Sapphire doesn't even bat an eye before bellowing back at her father, "Unforgivable, my tail! The only one who's unforgivable here is YOU, father! For daring to bare your teeth at my Darling, I'll never forgive you! Kyargh!"

Summoning strength from somewhere deep inside herself, Sapphire roars loudly, then shoves away one of her brothers and one of her sisters. She dives through a momentary gap in the crowd and lunges toward Drall while pulling out a serrated knife.

"You...!" Drall gasps in astonishment, seeing his daughter rush at him. "How dare you!"

Just before Sapphire can clear the gap, a blur of green rushes at her from the side. Kilgore body-slams Sapphire and knocks the wind out of her, throwing her against the concrete with a heavy thunk!

"Hurgh! I will not allow you to hurt the Thülvik's mate!" Kilgore yells. He raises his fist and brings it down like a hammer, knocking the crap out of Sapphire and slapping her snout against the floor.

Three times, Kilgore strikes Sapphire, beating her down and stunning her senseless. However, when he raises his fist for the fourth time, he pauses mid-motion and flicks his eyes upward.

"Hurgh?!"

A quick cry of astonishment is all Kilgore can release before six Kraktol and twelve Kessu, all of them led by Ruuki, barrel into him. These newcomers slide around the primary mass of combatants and charge through the part-Algaru Rodak, stomping him underfoot while rushing at Lord Drall.

The Kraktol leader widens his eyes. "Graugh! You dare?!"

Ruuki hisses. "We do!"

Seeing the unexpected group of enemies charging at Drall, Megla's eyes widen in horror. "Wait! Stop! Don't hurt my father!"

She activates her survival suit and takes a protective position at Drall's side, while he, too, flexes his muscles.

"A herd of shit-furred Kessu and disowned children," Drall taunts. "Fine! Come at me! Show me what you're made of!"

The six Kraktol strike first. Enraged at their father's lies regarding their benefactor -the Terran Admiral- they don't hold back in the least. A rain of fists and kicks falls upon Drall and Megla, forcing them back. Megla's survival suit whines a bit from the stress, but compared to the beating it took earlier from the Buzor's attacks, her fellow Kraktol barely even manage to lower its battery's power.

Meanwhile, as one of the strongest of all Kraktol, Drall doesn't even bother with a Survival Suit or armor of any sort. He towers above everyone except the Admiral, allowing him to forcefully take their punches like an adult fending off a group of toddlers. Within seconds, Drall's fists send two of the four attackers concentrated on him flying, but only until the Kessu slink around and attack him from behind.

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Rags, one of the Kessu children, summons energy into his Thunder Gauntlet. He pounces at Drall from behind and rears his paw back to strike.

Thunk!

Drall hurtles to the left and crashes into Megla. Sent flying by the sheer power behind Rags' attack, he ends up knocked silly, unable to fathom the power behind that attack. Megla cries out in alarm as her father's humongous body flies into her, but even when they hit the floor, she doesn't suffer any injuries.

"Kyargh! Father Drall!"

"I'm okay..." Drall mutters, before his heart turns frigid. He whips his head to the side, only to see all of his attackers falling upon him.

Thunk-thunk-thunk! Whap, whap!

A hail of fists and kicks rains upon Drall, preventing him from climbing to his feet. He cries out in pain, then curls into a ball to try and protect his vitals. "Argh! D-dishonorable bastards! Gah! I am your father! I am the second highest Kraktol!"

"You aren't my father!" Ruuki yells, before slapping Drall's head against the floor. He pauses for a split-second to frown. "At least... I sure hope not!"

As the group of enemies gangs up on Drall, the other group, formerly much stronger than the Kraktol protecting the Admiral, discover themselves horribly outnumbered by José's loyalist Kraktol, as well as the thousand-plus Kessu who joined the mission. Rapidly, Drall's forces find themselves on the retreat, unable to gain any ground, let alone protect their leader.

Kilgore, seeing his commander getting the snot kicked out of him, jumps to his feet and starts to run to Drall's side. However, he doesn't make it three steps before Sapphire jumps to her feet and gives chase. She unslings a rifle from her back and takes aim at Kilgore's figure.

Blat-blat-blat!

Three concussive rounds fire from her weapon's barrel. They strike Kilgore and knock the wind out of him, sending him flopping to the floor. He fails to resist Sapphire's savage blows as she jumps atop and beats him senseless, then turns her attention on Drall.

"Kyargh... for trying to turn me against my Darling... there is only one punishment awaiting my father."

A menacing gleam appears in Sapphire's eyes. She stomps toward Drall while adjusting the settings on her gun. After setting its power to maximum, she increases her speed, clearing the short gap in seconds.

Already weakened beyond belief, Drall no longer manages to even lift his arms to protect himself. He lays on the ground passively while his children and the Kessu take turns kicking him, acting more like a group of street thugs than a refined military army. Megla finally jumps to her feet and shoves a few of them away, but the sight of her father's weakened body sends her into a frenzy.

"Kyargh!! What is WRONG with you guys?! You've gone too far! I won't forgive you, now!"

Remembering her training under the Admiral, Megla's eyes ignite with fire. She spin-kicks the remaining Kraktol, swats aside the Kessu two at a time, and hovers over her father protectively.

"Lord Drall must pay for his crimes!" Sapphire shrieks. Vicious bloodlust appears in her eyes as she raises her gun to aim it at Megla. "Don't protect him! Don't even try!"

Megla doesn't flinch. "I don't know what's gotten into the lot of you, but it sickens me! There is no honor in this battle! Take your shot, Sapphire! But know that if you do, I'll never forgive you!"

"I don't need your forgiveness. I need vengeance!" Sapphire yells. She shifts her aim toward Drall's barely-conscious form.

"That's enough!"

From behind Sapphire, Admiral Rodriguez finally reaches his breaking point. He uses a biomod to teleport to Sapphire's side, then grabs her arm and forces it down.

"Don't shoot your own father, Sapphire," José says. "This has gone way too far."

Sapphire glances at José in shock. "Kyargh! Darling! What do you mean? I'm doing this for you! Father must pay for his crimes! After everything you've done for us, he dared to-"

"You aren't acting like yourself," José says. "Nobody here is. You're all rampaging around like goddamned lunatics. I find it hard to believe anyone here would go to such extreme lengths against their former commander, let alone their own father! You all need to stop with the violence, right this instant! Snap out of it!"

Sapphire wrestles her arm out of José's grasp while scowling at him. "What do you mean? We are Kraktol! We live for war! Even if Drall is my father, I don't have any qualms killing him after what he tried to pull!"

"Just stop," José says. "That's an order. If I wanted, I could have taken down Drall and all his loyalists by myself without breaking a sweat. I don't want someone's sons and daughters killing their father and siblings on my behalf."

A moment of tense silence follows. The Kraktol and Kessu near Drall glance at the semi-conscious Kraktol commander warily, as well as Megla, standing over him. Ruuki takes a step toward José and raises his voice. "Mraww! Great Precursor, this isn't just about you! Lord Drall is one of the Kraktol responsible for the attack on my people! Because of his orders, my entire village died! Not just mine, but several others!"

"Alright, and what?" José asks. "You've been waiting to vent your anger on him? You've had plenty of time to voice your grievances to me. Lord Drall just helped us take out the Buzor controlling your people. Maybe you don't want to admit it, but he's done you a great service."

As José speaks, the fighting around him continues to rage. Many of Lord Drall's loyalists lay unconscious or severely wounded, unable to fight back. The rest retreat bit by bit with looks of hatred in their eyes.

"I'd rather die than surrender to traitors!" One of Drall's daughters shouts. "You've all betrayed your Thülvik by siding with the Terran!"

"At least I can see past the tip of my snout!" Grundle shouts, while pounding his chest. "The Admiral can lead the Kraktol to new heights. Lord Drall represents the old way, but only by following the Admiral will we achieve galactic dominance!"

"You're only saying that because you can't stand the thought of remaining a glorified mechanic!" The same female retorts. "No matter how much you train, you will never become half the Kraktol as my father!"

"Say that again! I dare you!"

Contrary to the Admiral's expectations, instead of calming everyone down, his words only serve to engender even more fury. Bewildered, he turns to the left, the right, and the left again, trying to figure out why the Kraktol and Kessu have turned so utterly crazed over this issue.

Sapphire raises her gun. She ignores the Admiral and takes a menacing step toward Megla. "Get away from him, Megla! He's mine!"

"I won't!" Megla replies. She grabs a gun of her own and takes aim at Sapphire. "Do your worst!"

"Sapphire! Megla!" Soren yells. "Listen to the Admiral. Stop this foolishness!"

Admiral Rodriguez tries to reason with Sapphire, but she ignores him, seemingly hellbent on 'punishing' Lord Drall. Finally, some invisible line snaps in her mind, and Sapphire squeezes the trigger.

Blat!

A max-power shot fires from Sapphire's rifle and strikes Megla's chest, sending her flying. Megla's Survival Suit takes the full brunt of the blast, sputtering as it stabilizes itself. She hits the ground some ten feet behind Drall, coughing as the landing knocks the wind out of her.

Not even a second later, Sapphire squeezes the trigger again, lancing a bullet straight into Drall's chest. The sheer impact of the shot shatters several of his ribs and slams the back of his head against the steel floor, while also sending him skidding backward.

"Sapphire!" José bellows. Enraged, he slaps the gun out of her claws and throws her to the ground. "I told you to stop! Shit!"

Hurriedly, José turns to run to Drall's side to give him medical aid, but at that moment, a furious bellow erupts from the distance.

"Father, no!! NOOOOO!!"

Kisa, formerly frozen in place, finally ignites a piece of her fighting spirit. Her sanity snaps after seeing Sapphire's brutality. In an instant, years of repressed anger and emotions unbottle in her mind, boiling a fury unlike any other.

Boom boom boom boom!

The Malvik stomps forward like a hurricane. Her huge body acts as a bowling ball, while the Admiral's allies become the pins. She crashes into them full-speed without slowing down, sending them flying! Kisa flails her arms wildly, relying on brute strength to body-slam any other Kraktol out of her path. Many top-ranked Kraktol, those who scorned her weakness and ineptitude at combat, instinctively shrink back in fright as the Malvik storms through them without losing momentum.

José turns to see Kisa rushing at him. "Shit!"

Before he can react, Kisa shoulder-rams his chest, knocking him onto his ass. Even with his Dermal Armor active, he fails to stop her advance.

"Fatherrr!!"

The six Kraktol nearest Drall lose several shades of color in their scales. They brace themselves for impact, yet still go flying when she smashes into them.

Boom!

Kisa dives atop her father protectively, shielding him with her body.

"Father! Daddy, daddy don't die!"

With a flourish, she whips out half a dozen healing implements, working quickly to try and staunch the bleeding.

As she dresses Drall's wounds, Kisa shoots a vicious glare at Sapphire. "You... you did this! How could you?! I hate you!!"

Sapphire shrinks back. "I... I did the right thing! Our father-"

"He's not your father! Not anymore!" Kisa shrieks, as tears well up in her eyes. "I disown you! All of you! I am the Malvik, and I... I won't let this stand!"

Before Kisa can say anything else, Drall gurgles blood, spewing his life-essence to the site. "Koff, koff..."

"Daddy!" Kisa says. She finishes patching the blaster wound, but to her horror, his vitals continue to wither. "Stay with me! I'll save you!"

Finally, the fighting slows to a halt. All of the Kraktol and Kessu slow their fists, pausing to look at the dying Kraktol commander.

"Gra... graugh... Kisa..." Drall gasps. He grits his teeth, wincing as lava-like pain boils within his gut. "You... you came for me..."

Kisa nods repeatedly. "Yes, daddy. I'm here. I'm here for you! I can still heal-"

"Don't bother..." Drall mutters. His eyes woozily open and close. "I'm not... I won't... make it."

After a momentary pause, Drall raises a shaky claw to caress his daughter's face.

"So beautiful... like... like your mother... graugh..."

Kisa reaches out to grab her father's hand. Just as their claws touch, the light fades from his eyes. Lord Drall, Second Commander of the Kraktol Empire, slumps backward, drawing his final breath while gazing into his daughter's eyes.

Kisa freezes up. She stares at her deceased parent, unable to fathom what has just happened.

"No. No. No. Daddy? Daddy..."

An eerie silence descends upon everyone present. No longer do any of the combatants, talk, yell, or scream. A strange feeling of despair and shame washes over them as many of the Kraktol on José's side retreat several steps.

"What... what have I done...?" Sapphire asks.

As if emerging from a daze, Sapphire's eyes twitch uncontrollably. She frowns, then gazes at the floor, her shoulders slumping in defeat.

"I... I did this? I killed my father? But why?"

Sapphire turns to look at José. She gazes into his eyes as if searching for answers.

"Darling? What's wrong with me? Why would I... do that? How could I..."

José pulls himself to his feet. Unease plagues his mind as he sweeps his gaze around the Buzor's facility. Unable to find anything out of the ordinary, he instead merely shakes his head.

"I don't know, Sapphire."

"I don't know."

...

Far in the distance, a shadowy, smoke-like figure slithers into an air duct, and a feminine voice whispers to itself in a tone filled with glee.

"Hehehe... Master Yama will be so pleased with me... his wisdom truly knows no bounds..."