Amelia and co arrived at Armstrong base shortly after, taking no time to rush there and instead spending some time with each other and enjoying talking to her kids again. The rage she felt at what they had gone through, the loss of her parents, and everything else that had recently happened was pushed deep down inside. As angry as she was, she wouldn't let it consume her to the point she couldn't enjoy her time with her family. Even Ti'Chal was enjoying herself, playing some Krultathan strategy game similar to Go with Athena, and the twins were taking turns questioning Viza about anything and everything. Even Hal had started taking a shine to his siblings, something that had worried her a bit but turned out to be unfounded. She just needed to get Adam back. Get her son back, and her family would be whole again. First, though, she needed to make sure they would be safe, so with a groan, she got back to filling out paperwork, with Varia bemoaning every time she stopped to look at her kids, happy and healthy.
"Viza! Viza! You love mother don't you?'-
'Viza married mother, so Viza is our Father, right? right?"
The twins asked the poor Krultathan, who looked to Amelia for assistance but found her busy with paperwork, and when he looked at Hal he swore he could tell the brat was grinning. "I..um...er...sure, if you want? You don't have to think of me as such if you do not wish to, however."
"Yay! Viza is Father!'-
'um, hi father Viza, I'm Phthisis.'-
'And I'm Limos! we're twins, but I'm the older one, so I'm Phthisis' older sister!'-
'You aren't older I am, I'm the older brother!'-
Over and over they talked, getting more used to him, and Viza eventually found himself warming up to them as well. He hadn't been sure before if he ever wanted to be a father, even if he could be. But now, he had decided. For all intents and purposes, the ai were his kits too, and slowly, he began playing with them, teaching them about Krultathans, and answering the insatiable thirst for knowledge they had to the best of his admittedly limited abilities.
--------
"Ambassador Jakobs. A pleasure to meet you while conscious, Ms. Ryder. Your efforts on Krultatha and the weapon designs helped save Ear- Terra... from total destruction, and for that you will have my eternal thanks. Releasing the ban on AI, however, is not something we can do." Jakobs said, sitting down at his desk across from Amelia, Viza, Athena, Limos, Phthisis, Hal, and Varia. The paperwork had been completed and expedited through the Krultathan ambassador Riza, giving diplomatic immunity to the AI and therefore allowing them to follow Amelia onto Armstrong base without worry. Well, that and the full guard of twenty Krultathan warriors with them as an "honor guard". Amelia wasn't going to put her trust in simple legal matters, after all.
She was also wearing the Atlas suit, as she hadn't had the time yet to build the suit that she had stored the designs of in Azathoth. It would do for now and definitely would give her an edge if things went more...physical, but she was hoping it wouldn't come to that. Varia, however, looked like she almost wanted it to. Amelia had been around Krultathans enough by now to read their body language, and Varia was utterly pissed at Jakobs' response.
"Matriarch-Huntress Amelia Ryder has contributed to the survival of your species by your own admission, Ambassador Jakobs, and you won't even guarantee her kits' safety?! I thought Humans were supposed to be the most protective over their young! What kind of slimy Boshtekah are you to deny her request?!" She exclaimed, her voice hissing with a threatening rumble underneath. Jakobs, for his part, looked defensive, but not overly disturbed by the threat display Varia was showing. Before he could respond, however, Viza spoke up.
"I've witnessed the damage and trauma that my mate has suffered from your kind with a silent breath, held her through nightmares of her past, nightmares where your own government took her ability to have natural kits away from her. She found a way to give creation to life despite that, and that act is at least partially responsible for the victory, however narrow, that Humanity had against the extermination fleet. And yet now, when she asks for only one thing, for her kits, her children, to be safe, you would deny her? When you need her now more than ever, you would risk making an enemy of her, and of Krultatha, over a silly law? Please, explain your reasoning, before I lose my temper at the inherent threat you are imposing on my mate's children, Ambassador Jakobs. We Krultathans do not take such a thing lightly, after all." Viza's voice was unnaturally calm, composed, and even. If anything, it was even more frightening than Varia's outburst, especially with how he had moved defensively in front of the kids' frames as if protecting them, claws even extending out a bit.
Jakobs sighed when he heard their responses. They didn't even give him a chance to finish, and the tenseness in the room had already risen several notches. The MP and Krultathan honor guards were both getting itchy standing around the wall, the raised voices not doing anything to alleviate their rising stress, and though Jakobs would never admit it, Viza actually frightened him more than any of them. Not because of him being the only other male in the room, well, one of the AI also was but that's beside the point, but because of the way he moved and spoke. He reminded Jakobs of an injured tigress protecting her cubs, and that immediately set red flags in his head, telling him he needed to defuse this situation as soon as possible.
"It's not that I want to refuse her, but that I do not have the power to remand such a law even if I wanted to, same as how Amelia herself doesn't, now that she's an ambassador as well. We would have to bring it up in front of the Senate who, might I remind you, is still trying to incorporate both Hexat and Krultathan representatives for a galactic board. Even if we could get them to agree, it would take months before they could even officially vote on it, and that's without a war going on. I'm sorry, but now just isn't the time and place for such a conversation."
"Now now, Ambassador Jakobs, no need to be so rude to Humanity's guests, and their brightest." A masculine voice spoke as it entered. A man, dressed in military admiralty with multiple medals, entered, his own personnel following him. The sight and sound of his voice gave Amelia shivers as she glanced back to look at him. Steely grey eyes, hair turning gray or silver, wrinkles across his face and a weather-worn appearance to his skin, and a single, long gash across his face on the right side, from lip to just above his cheekbone, a scar Amelia herself gave him when she escaped. Alexander Faust.
With a smirk towards Amelia, he continued into the room, making a direct line for her. The apprehension on her face and in her body language must've been apparent enough to her honor guard, as Ti'Chal herself moved with 3 others to block Amelia and the party from his approach, holding out a mono-edge dagger towards him, sharpened to within a few atoms thick. Faust paused for a moment, a look of slight annoyance on his face as his own guards raised weapons, causing the rest of the Uvra clan warriors to raise their plasma casters at him, and even the princess's honor guard trained their weapons on the Admiral. A tenseness filled the room, even more, no one wanting to be the first to pull the trigger, but no one willing to be the first to lower their weapons as well. This man wasn't supposed to be here, this room had been closed off for the day specifically for this meeting and as far as the Krultathans were concerned, if he put Amelia on edge, he was definitely a threat.
Faust smirked after a moment, holding up his hands in a submissive pose, ordering his personnel to lower their weapons as well who followed the order, albeit rather slowly. Most of the Krultathans, seeing this, slowly lowered their weapons as well, but moved closer to be within immediate range if the human interloper's party tried anything. They didn't know anything about this man, after all, not yet. Only Amelia and her kids knew what a monster in human skin Faust was.
"Apologies, I didn't mean to stir such terseness in the cat-folk but I assure you, I'm only here to help. Good to see you again as well, Mia." He said, first looking at the Krultathans, then to Amelia, who had a wave of anger flow across her as he used her mother's nickname for her.
"You don't get to call me that, Faust. Not after what you did to me and mine. What do you want?" She said coldly. If it weren't for the multitude of witnesses, and needing Faust to find where Director 0 was to get Adam back, she'd kill him right then and there.
"Auntie Amelia, who is this?" Varia said, her own expression one which looked like she would fly into violence at any moment. Viza however, caught the curt exchange between them and saw how the kits reacted to this man's presence, putting two and two together, which caused his own fur to raise sharply, claws fully extending, and a predatory warning hiss to emanate from him even as he moved to block the kits from Faust, Viza's tail hanging low and out, ready to balance him for a leap at a moment's notice.
"Alexander Faust. 136 years old, Leader of the military research and development section BlackRock, served for 80 years and been in more conflicts than any other member of the military still serving. And also the person who took my kids away tortured me, tortured my children, and betrayed Humanity." Amelia said through gritted teeth. Faust grinned even wider at hearing her curt explanation, before putting on a falsely hurt expression.
"Why Amelia, my dear, such blatant accusations! And here I thought we had done great work together. After all, it was my budget that allowed you to produce those AI, I only used them as was seen fit. As for betraying Humanity, that is a rather bold claim!" He pauses, looking at her with knowing eyes. "Surely you have evidence to back it up? I would love to see it....No. Well then, allow me to continue. Terra will not lift the ban on A.I. under any circumstances. If an AI steps foot on Terra or code, they will be designated property of BlackRock and will be used to produce research and development into defensive weapons for Humanity. Already we have one working on this, I believe you know him, Amelia. Regardless, While Diplomatic immunity may protect your little experiments up here and in other parts of Earth territory, if they so much as put a 0 or a 1 on Earth, their diplomatic immunity won't save them, and any attempt to resist or assist their escape will be considered traitorism. We felt that given your proclivity to make AI regardless, Miss Ryder, that you should be informed to prevent any...unpleasantness. Of course, if you turn over Azathoth, I'm sure we can come to some form of agreement. After all, it contains the blueprints for most of what we need in the first place. This offer won't be on the table forever, however." Faust spoke eloquently, always the theatrical type which, at one point, allowed him and Amelia to get along. Now though it sickened her.
"I'm afraid Azathoth no longer exists, I destroyed it, Faust. You'll have to get your goodies somewhere else. I will, however, be taking Adam back after you stole him. If I find even a single line of code misplaced.."
"You wouldn't destroy Azathoth, you need it just as-" Faust started, but then stopped as Amelia showed footage of the Azathoth black box being destroyed. Faust looked at Amelia again, cursed under his breath, then said something quietly, almost too quiet to hear. "Activate Cheshire Protocol 23321Terra."
He smiled, seeming to think he had won something as Amelia closed her eyes, slumping her shoulders and looking down. He did not, however, expect her to punch him in the face hard enough to make him drop teeth from his gaping mouth.
"I'm sorry, what was that? Speak up a little louder you sorry sack of shit I couldn't hear you." Instantly, the apprehension was back in the air. Viza pulled the kits back away from the area, hissing defensively. Ti'Chal raised her weapons again, as did the other Krultathans, and the Military personnel. Varia had, evidently, heard enough, giving her own soldiers the order to secure herself, Amelia, and the rest of their party, causing Faust and the others to be surrounded by Krultathan guards. Jakobs and Riza didn't know what to think of the turn of events, staying silent throughout as things played. Amelia then noticed something in the pocket of Faust and moved to pull it away from him but even with her speed, was too late. Another swath of anger flowed through her as she looked at the device Faust was now holding in his hand. An EMP disposable generator.
"Ah..(spit of blood) Damnit Amelia, you really can't stay civil, can you? (Pant of breath) You know.. what this is, right? I'm leaving now unless you want to be the cause of Armstrong base falling too."
Amelia cursed, but with a nuclear reactor under them below the base, even if it was a minute chance it the EMP hit it, they'd be done for as the generator turned into a thermonuclear bomb. The containment would fail first, and everyone on Armstrong base would be in the radius. Even if she could stop him right now, in her mind it wasn't worth the risk, not with so many that she cared about in the radius right now, so she stepped away, allowing Faust to stand up properly, adjust his dress, and look to Amelia, the others, Jakobs, and back to Amelia.
"Goodbye, Amelia. I'm sure this isn't the last time we meet. Director 0 however has a word of advice. Don't interfere with his operation again...Goodbye."
Faust kept an eye on Amelia as he exited, the rest of the people in the room either eyeing Faust and his party carefully or barely restraining the urge to shoot. Once everything was over, Jakobs seemed to collapse even further into his chair, letting out a deeply held breath. Varia gave some order into a comm pad on her forearm, and her face went from rage to positive glee. It still startled Amelia how quickly the Krultathan girl, her...Niece? switched emotions. She even tried to attempt a wink at Amelia, which got Amelia to laugh due to Krultathans being physically unable to do so and looking hilarious when trying, and Amelia's laughter seemed to ease the mood all around for now. They finished the meeting, and Amelia, having no other leads for the moment, decided to meet up with Kixix and co, hoping to find a clue to 0's identity among the Ava. Varia nodded and excused herself rather oddly politely, and the room now emptied, leaving the Krultathan and Human ambassadors to wonder what the hell just happened.
"That was... strange," Jakobs said as Rita nodded. Just then Janaan and Derick entered, obviously perplexed at the apprehension on the diplomats' faces, and at them holding each other, which neither of them had realized they had done. Immediately separating, Jakobs coughed a bit and turned his head, his a bit of embarrassment, while Rita tried and failed to whistle, looking the other way.
---------
Varia Zitoh returned to her ship, whereupon she was greeted by Huntress Rital of clan Uvok, a Krultathan woman with many years of service to the Zitoh clan. She was a dull orange color, with stripes owing to her clan being one of the few from the Krultathan forests that survived the mass destruction of their planet's ecosystems during the nuclear war. She crossed her paws over her chest, then bowed. Even though the two had known each other for years, and Varia relied on Rital's advice more times than she could count, Rital still kept to being as informal as possible, both in and out of public eyes. It was sometimes infuriating to the younger Krultathan princess, but she put up with it for her friend's sake.
"Mistress Varia, It's been captured and is in containment room 63, awaiting your commands."
"Good work Rital, I can always count on you, my dear. Prep him for interrogation. Make sure we have enough information on Humans so he doesn't die."
"Mistress?" Rital said in perplexion, before understanding washed over her as she saw Varia's expression.
'Ah, this one had triggered her sadistic side. It wouldn't be pretty.'
"As you wish, my Lady."