Kixix didn't notice when the stunbolt hit his backside, only a momentary flash of light in his eyes before the darkness of unconsciousness took him. He didn't notice when his body was put into a bag or strange creatures took off with him. His brother was left in a panic aboard the ship as a full security deployment was dispatched to find the missing Hexat ambassador, yet when they arrived at his last known location, a full 6 squads of the Hexat military's finest, could find no trace of the ambassador anywhere. It was as if the sapient rodent disappeared. A global search was called for as the ambassador's escort ships launched their drones, intent on finding the missing man even if they had to search the entire system. It would be hours, however, before anything would come of it. Hours that would be critical to future wars.
Kixix awoke with a startle, panic seeping in as he realized something was covering his face, preventing his eyes from seeing whatever area he was in. He had been tied to what he assumed was a chair, down to the point even his tail was unable to move, and all around him, he could hear occasional flitterings of movement. His fear and apprehension rose. Had the Axon taken him? No, he couldn't smell their stench and couldn't hear the clunking of their suits, so that wasn't it. The Give'Matar? Possibly, but why would they? They shouldn't have even known he was here. Remnants from the Ava then? If so, why the secrecy, why wouldn't they-
"You're awake, Axon scum." A voice, in perfect galactic common, said with a predatory hiss. Axon? He wasn't an Axon, he was a Hexat. Sure they were vaguely similar, but no one could mistake them for each other.
"I...I am not an Axon, I am Hexat Ambassador Kixixlix of the Terran Galactic Alliance." He said with nervousness in his voice. What did they want with him? What was happening here? What the hell actually happened on this planet?
"Lies! The Terrans died out over 70,000 years ago! Your kind saw to that!" The voice hissed again, and Kixix could feel something vaguely like a claw pressed to his throat.
"Lie again, Axon, and you'll find breathing much harder."
Kixix shuddered, fear welling up inside. "I told you, I'm not an Axon, I'm a Hexat! Look at me! No slimy mucous, fur-covered, and if you removed the covering you'd see my eyes have color to them, unlike those disgusting varren! I AM HEXAT!!"
A moment of tenseness followed, as the claw or talon or whatever pressed closer to him, before retreating. A hiss in a language that Kixix didn't know or understand passed between the individual and someone else before he heard the voice return to in front of him.
"Why are you here, Kixixlix?"
"I...I was told to find the Ava by Amelia Ryder, the Human Ambassador and representative of the Terran Galactic Alliance. We are at war with the Axon, who want to wipe out Humanity, and now the Krultathan and Hexat as well. We thought given what they did to you during your uplifting, you would wish to join us, as allies and friends." kixix said with more than a hint of nervous urgency in his voice. He had been in tense negotiations before, but this was on an entirely different level. The voice made a strange sound Kixix couldn't understand, before continuing.
"You wish to use the Terrans to lull us into slavery? You will have to do better than that, Axon spy."
"I told you, I'm not an Axon, I'm a Hexat. We don't even have the same home planet!"
More terse whispering, before Kixix could feel something cold and metallic placed upon his head. A slight brushing against him felt like...claws and feathers?
"He is telling the truth, sub-commander, at least he thinks he is." A new voice said after a long moment of silence. Another long moment followed before suddenly, Kixix was blinded again, the veil on his face removed and his eyes having to adjust to the sudden light after who knew how long in darkness. As it did so, however, he could hardly believe his eyes. The Ava, still very much alive, and with weapons more advanced than the Hexat had trained on him. He didn't doubt their effectiveness either.
"The...The Axon didn't actually uplift you, did they? The ruins on this planet, what they show...Do you..know what happened?" Kixix asked hesitantly, still tied to the chair, which he now knew was most definitely a chair, and stuck in a gray room that looked oddly like a modern interrogation chamber. The lead Ava, who he wasn't sure if was male or female, walked towards him until their faces were inches apart, allowing Kixix to study them in great detail. They had large, predatory bird eyes, and a thick coating of feathers across every inch of their visible frame. Their mouths were hard beaks, curved into a snarl-like appearance, but oddly elegant. Their plumage seemed to vary, from snow white to a tawny brown, and their legs were much like any avian's save for the plumage covering even that and leaving 4-inch long claws on each of their three toes exposed. Their "arms" were more like wings, with two specialized digits at the "elbow" of the wing to manipulate objects with, both of which had their own, inch and a half black claws. They truly resembled the Terran avian predatory species known as owls.
"Your History books should have told you that. Why make me repeat what you already know." It said with barely concealed contempt.
"Our history books? When your civilization was alive, my own hadn't even finished evolving, at least, that was the common consensus before... well before I found the skeleton of one of our ancestor species here. No one knows about your civilization ever existing!" Kixix said in response, stumbling a bit when he remembered the skeletons.
"And yet you claim to be on the side of our ancient allies. Tell me then, 'Kixixlix', if you know not what happened here, then why do you know of humans?"
"Because we recently made first contact with them, and the Axon went practically insane, attacking them outright. The S.A. didn't even try to defend the Humans, so we, the Hexat that is, seceded along with the Krultathans to defend them. We made a new alliance, the Terran Galactic Alliance, between the three of us, with all of us equal, and wanted to extend that courtesy to you. We also...." He hesitated here for a moment, unsure if he should continue, but ultimately decided to do so regardless. His life wasn't the important thing here, getting the Ava allied with Humanity was.
"We also suspected the Axon and some secret third party tampered with your genetics as we just recently found out they did with the Krultathans. Without Humanity's help, the Krultathan race is likely to die out in another thousand or two years. We wanted to make sure they hadn't done the same to you as well, and if they had, find a way to help you as well, reverse any tampering."
The Avan interrogator looked at Kixix with its predatory eyes for several moments, walking around him as if to spot any weakness, any flaw in his story. When the second Avan, a small tawny one, confirmed he was telling the truth, the first one with the deep brown plumage returned to in front of him.
"You said you call yourself a Hexat?" It asked. Kixix nodded, unsure where this was going.
"If what you say is true, then we have made a grave error that has left Humanity defenseless. You will follow, you will listen, and you will not speak or try anything untoward without permission, or my guards will see to it you are not a threat... permanently. Do you understand?"
Kixix, suddenly even more nervous, nodded. The guards entered the room with wildly different plumages and undid his restraints. The leader of the group then turned, a guard opening the door, and stepped out. The four of them around Kixix urged him to follow, and as he did so, the Leader of the Ava began to speak.
"You said you do not know of us or the past, then let us begin there." As they walked, Kixix could tell what he originally thought was a military prison of some sort turned out to be an old archeological storage facility of some kind, with many murals, trinkets, and various other things on display all around them. A pair of steel covers for Talons on one end all the way to some kind of tech device that seemed for communication on the other. An entire cultural and technological history is on display.
"You call us Ava, yes? This is not...inaccurate, but we preferred the term Humanity used for us, Owlbears. We are an old race, very very old, and were caretakers for the younger races undergoing their evolution to spacefaring societies, it was a long and difficult task. Humanity however was the most difficult. A Deathworld, as you call it, of extraordinary evolutionary pressures, causing it to evolve various lifeforms that resembled species from many different planets due to how competitive its biology was. Humanity itself had an aggressive streak that was by and large the worst. However, when they reached the stars, they changed. They became calmer and wiser, a sibling species the likes of which we had never known, eventually, they became our equals and allies. We formed the Federation of Sapients, a galactic community focused on helping each other through trade, and commerce, and providing relief from disasters. Our primary purpose was the protection of burgeoning sapient life. The Silvaneer, for example. A sapient reptilian race lacking lower limbs and possessing a long tail-like body instead. Had humanity not intervened with their prowess in genetic augmentation, the Silvaneer would've been wiped out by a disease affecting the birth of their young. Eventually, they joined the Federation, as did several others. The ones you called Give'Matar, for example. And then you, the Axon joined."
"I'm not a-" Kixix started, but was silenced by one of the guards readying a weapon at him. The Leader waved a wing, and the guard dropped his weapon, still keeping an eye on Kixix.
"You may not think you are, but it is true. The Hexat and the Current Axon, are the same. Did you not find it odd how genetically similar you are? After the fall of our civilization, I can only surmise that what would become the current Axon and Hexat settled on different planets, and in time, grew to be as you are now. Though make no mistake, you are almost identical to the Axon we knew in the Federation."
Kixix.....couldn't process this. It couldn't be right but...but it made sense. Why the Axon and Hexat were similar, why they had found strange archeological artifacts in the past, it...made sense. But even if it did, The Hexat are not the Axon anymore.
"Regardless. The Axon were sapients and were given the same rights as anyone else. Plenty of room around their home planet to grow and colonize, trading rights, and equal protection under Federation law, but it wasn't enough. They became greedy, wanting technology they had no right to, the technology to destroy star systems, Singularity bombs. We refused, of course. No sapient should have the power to destroy an entire system, but they pressed the issue. Eventually, even the Give'Matar joined them, causing the Silvaneer to leave, retreating back to their own space to protect themselves from any power struggles...."
They continued moving around the room, giving Kixix a chance to look at the many articles displayed inside. The majority were murals depicting the scenes for which the Avan Leader spoke of, Kixix guessing this being a way for them to have passed down such information.
"We didn't notice, at first. The deception so clever, and our own foolishness so great that we never considered the Axon would attack us in such a subtle way. They struck Humanity first, a genetically modifying virus designed to make them all infertile and degrade their genetics. Humanity was the enforcer of the Federation, our strength, the most brilliant tacticians and the strongest of us, surpassing even the Krultathans, and without them, we could not respond fast enough. In their desperation, they isolated a small group of humans uninfected on their homeworld, but we knew the lack of genetic diversity would mean they would not last. Without a round fired, Humanity had been killed. The Krultathans were next, a virus designed not to outright kill them, but to force their reproduction to a standstill. Where previously Krultathans could mate at their whim and produce litters of between 3 or 4, now they could only do so at certain times of the year, and as we discovered later, their ratios had been drastically altered, preventing them from retaining their former glory. One by one, our allies were attacked without us being able to stop them, until finally, what was left mustered here, on Avis. History is..lacking here, but we know that the Give'matar showed up, and eventually, our moon, Lysandre, was cracked. The damage it caused to Avis was...unimaginable. It set our society back thousands of years. After that, I do not know what happened to the rest of the galaxy."
The Avan Leader stopped walking, turning to look at Kixix with what he assumed was a hard stare.
"Humanity saved us when we were on the brink of extinction once. A gamma-ray burst nearly wiped out all of us, and Humanity was the ones who came to our aid. They became our Eternal Allies. So speak carefully, Kixixlix. Did the Humans truly survive?"
Kixix felt a pit in his stomach from the intense stare pointed at him, almost like... almost like the first time he met Amelia. Steeling his nerves, he tried his best to return his own glare and said.
"Not only do they survive, but they also thrive. Terra has billions of humans living on it. But if we don't stop the Axon, they'll be wiped out. If you're truly humanity's allies, you must do the honorable thing and come to their aid! Have my head if you wish, but please, help Humanity!"
A curious pause from the Avan as they watched the Hexat bow forward, offering their neck. With surprising gentleness, the Avan Leader pulled Kixix's head back up, looking him in the eyes. Seemingly satisfied, they then gave an order to the guards nearby, who each drooped a wing as if a salute, and left to do whatever they had been told. Turning back to Kixix, the Avan would say.
"My name is Syvissa, Ambassador Kixixlix, Leader of the Ava Federation. We would request membership to the Terran Galactic Alliance."
Kixix immediately agreed, thankful to still have his head after hearing how the Axon, how his ancestors, betrayed such people. He wasn't sure if the Hexat Republic could survive learning such a dishonorable act.
"It will take us approximately 18 months to awaken everyone from Cryosleep. In the meantime, I would request an escort for our generation ships to Terra Prima. We haven't reclaimed much in the way of weapons technology, but our generation ships contain those that survived the war, and our medical technology is on par with what Humanity used to be. I believe it may prove useful to Terra."
Kixix nodded, once again. He was rather in awe. This Syvissa, even though she couldn't have been around when Humanity was still the Ava's allies, had done the honorable thing, and upheld their vow. What's more, even though she knew very little about current Humanity, believing them dead, she was still sending their most precious cargo, their survivors, there, showing her faith in Humans. It both reaffirmed to Kixix he had been right to trust humans and made him feel somewhat small that he couldn't do more for them.
Regardless, the Ava had been found, and at least part of a hidden past was discovered.