Hoplite stared up at Geravall without tilting his helmet in that direction. If the elf somehow knew about project CHIMERA and wasn’t authorized… Well, Hoplite would have no choice if Geravall mentioned it. What would happen after that point was completely out of Hoplite’s hands. Yet, it was impossible that Geravall could have any information about CHIMERA, for the program had begun long after this colony had been lost. There was no use racking his brain now for answers, Hoplite needed to obtain more intel, blundering about in the dark was a fruitless endeavor. He’d just have to see what he could suss out of these elves…

“Now that your previous meeting is concluded,” Hoplite began in his standard monotone “I have questions for you.”

“And we you, what is your name sir?” The Harkmother asked “I thought I heard Lancela mention it earlier… it is Hoplite, yes?”

Hoplite nodded “Affirmative.”

“It sounds foreign… yet you don’t have an accent, are you from the Blastlands perhaps? Where did you come from?” The Harkmother asked, brushing a stray lock of blonde hair behind her pointed ear.

“I would prefer to keep that classified.” Hoplite replied flatly.

There was no telling how these people would react if Hoplite told them the truth. If they knew that he had come from a so-called ‘falling-star’ they might cease talks with him completely, maybe even become aggressive, Hoplite was not sure.

Almost immediately after Hoplite spoke, the elves all began gazing into one another’s eyes, long moments passing between each one before they all honed in to stare at the Harkmother. She looked to each member in turn before finally turning her green gaze down on Hoplite again.

“Speak your questions.” She said, her voice echoing in the otherwise silent chamber.

"How long have you been out of contact with Terna?" Hoplite asked, tilting his head toward the Harkmother "And do you have any radio equipment that I can utilize?"

The Harkmother quirked a brow, then turned away from Hoplite, looking a question into the eyes of each of the sitting elves. Each stare held a certain focus, their eyes shifting while maintaining contact. Oddly, the Harkhall seemed to shift between facial expressions as if they were holding a conversation with the Harkmother with just their eyes. Some appeared to be listening intently or shaking their heads as if the Harkmother had asked them a question… It was like she was speaking with each member, yet she said nothing, and neither did anyone else.

So they had bionic implants installed in their brain that allowed for mental communication… but then, where were the metal discs that should have been filling their temples? Every officer he had seen with that particular bionic all bore those shining metal discs on their temples… perhaps it was a newer model? One that did not require an external access hatch for maintenance?

On a backwater lost colony from before that bionic was even invented? No, something else was going on here. Clearly they had developed an advanced form of communication with nothing but their eyes. It seemed to be their own kind of sign language, with them somehow being able to decipher meaning through eye movements and facial expressions alone.

Lance shifted slowly from foot to foot, slowly creeping closer to Hoplite until she was practically standing on his toes, leaning up toward his helmet and cupping a hand around her mouth.

"They can communicate without speaking." She whispered "It is their way, but they must maintain eye-contact."

“Isn’t that classified intel you're providing me?” Hoplite asked “You could be punished for telling me this.”

Lance shook her head “Not at all, everyone knows it, but you seem out of the loop. Just wanted to clear up any confusion.”

“Affirmative.” Hoplite replied as Lance backed away once more.

That confirmed it. It was an incredibly intricate system of communication, but no bionic was involved. How did one learn to read eye movements to communicate so clearly?

Hoplite shifted his eyes to hers, not moving his head as he did so "You won’t be disciplined if you speak?"

She shook her head with a small smile "Only if I talk while the Harkmother speaks. Discussion between us is fine as long as we aren't disruptive."

"...Affirmative.” Hoplite said.

Lance smiled and Hoplite thought that she was going to back away further, but instead she continued to speak.

"Thank you again for helping me out." Lance whispered "You didn't have to go out of your way for me, but you did."

Hoplite cocked his helmet toward her "I was ignorant of local law and compromised your occupation." He explained simply "It is not necessary for you to be discharged."

"Well I still feel grateful..." She whispered “So… if you don’t mind me asking you,” She said slowly “If you aren’t fully human, what are you?”

“Classified. I will not continue speaking of this.” He said curtly.

CHIMERA was never to be spoken of. It would be fatal if mentioned by name.

Lance inched away from him “Sorry… I won’t bother you with it friend, if you want to keep it a secret I will not press you.” She finished, moving to stand next to him.

Hoplite's brow furrowed at the parting words. Friend? It was wrong to treat a Hoplite as such. He was a thing, just as Commander had taught him… nothing more. One did not take a wrench and claim it as a friend, it was no different with a Hoplite.

“We have not heard of this… Terna you speak of.” The Harkmother said, drawing his attention back up to her “Nor do we have this ‘radio equipment’ you ask after. I do apologize.”

Disappointment filled him but Hoplite stuffed it down. He wouldn’t let them hear it in his tone.

“Then you have been out of contact for a long time. You are originally from the Ternan empire, we have colonized many worlds.” Hoplite explained “You are a colony that lost contact with us hundreds of years ago.”

Hoplite expected questions, or awed gasps as they heard his words. All he got was a few amused looks and shaking heads. They denied it? The plain truth that he had laid right before them? They really had regressed far, but a few hundred years shouldn’t have been enough for them to forget Terna… Right? They are surely Ternan, if not in their way of life, then in the language they spoke.

“You are from this Terna,” The Harkmother began “At least now we know where you are from… You say that these people have colonized different worlds…?” She asked, letting the question hang for a few seconds before continuing “Tell me, are you from this world?”

So they didn’t outright claim that other worlds didn’t exist. They were at least aware that there were other planetary bodies in space besides this one. Hoplite supposed that he had let it slip earlier that he was from Terna, not this world, but their reaction to this information was not as primitive as Hoplite had suspected it may be. Best to be truthful here, seeing as they weren’t being aggressive about it.

“No. I am from Earth. ” He told them simply “Your homeworld.”

“Very well…” The Harkmother said, narrowing her eyes at Hoplite as she did so “Hoplite, this world is known as Ahkoolis, can you tell me how it is that you have arrived here?”

“I came from my ship, from next to your moon.” Hoplite told them “The one you can see in your orbit was the ship of our enemies, your enemies, the Final Kind.”

“Our enemies?” The Harkmother asked “A ship next to the moon? Final Kind?”

The rest of the Harkhall began exchanging looks with one another, shifting again between facial expressions as if they were reacting to spoken words. So they were well and truly ignorant of the Final Kind, of that there could be no doubt now. This colony had to have been lost before First-Contact. After a few moments of this silent communication, the Harkmother spoke again.

“Your ship… how can it… how does it float next to the moon? And is the larger ship from this… Final Kind, still a danger?” The Harkmother asked, her brows slightly creasing above worried eyes.

He did not feel like explaining the mechanics of space travel to these people, that could come at another time from someone better capable of conveying such information. Hoplite shook his head visibly, causing a few members of the Harkhall and even Lance to let out relieved breathes

“No, the ship has been neutralized. Final Kind troops may have made it planetside however. Have you encountered any of their forces?” He asked the Harkmother.

Hoplite’s throat was beginning to feel slightly worn from all this speaking… he was not used to it.

The Harkmother shook her head “No, we have not. What are they?”

“An alien imperium that wants to subjugate humanity, and you by extension.” Hoplite told them, maintaining his monotone.

More looks passed between the hall, then after a few minutes, the Harkmother spoke once more.

“We will prepare for the event of an encounter with these creatures… You do realize what you are? Where you are?”

“I am a Hoplite, and I’m on a lost Ternan world.” Hoplite told her.

The Harkmother shook her head “No, you are an Outworlder. Geravall tells me that he sees not a drop of Zodd’s blood in you.” At the mention of that, Geravall winced.

It was a small expression, a slight lift of the brows and biting of the cheek. So Geravall did know about CHIMERA…? Or had he lied about some of the information that he had provided to the Harkmother? And what was this about Geravall seeing Hoplite’s blood?

“That can only mean one thing, be you man or some other creature, you are from another realm of existence.” She then leaned forward, eyes intent “Tell me Hoplite, were you the star that fell in our forest?”

Hoplite shook his head “Impossible. Different dimensions do not exist, and that was not a star, it was my escape shuttle.”

“It is the only possible explanation for your strange appearance, the odd ‘ship’ in the sky, and the fact that you do not bear the Blood of Zodd.” The Harkmother told him “All the races on Ahkoolis at the beginning of its creation were formed from the infinite Blood of Zodd, the Pillar-God of Might. We have seen your ilk before on this world… though none have appeared in this current age, at least none that we know of anyhow. This ‘star’ or shuttle as you claim, is clearly otherworldly in origin as well, this too points to your true nature” The Harkmother then took a deep breath, giving a long sigh before continuing “I suppose your arrival is a good omen. Outworlders have a long history of benefitting our world when they visit, what history remains of them anyhow. It surely is a sign from the Pillar-Gods that we are headed into a golden age.”

A backwards mythology that had no place in Ternan society. These people would unfortunately have to be re-indoctrinated… at another time. Hoplite would not be the one to conduct the process. He had neither the training or the means at his disposal to conduct re-indoctrination… nor the will to do it to someone else… not after it had happened to him. Personnel more suited to the task would have to take care of it later. Now, this talk of Outworlders could only mean that they indeed did have contact with Ternan personnel at one point, though based on the Harkmother’s talk of ‘none in this age’ implied that it had been a long while since then. He cocked his head toward Geravall as he asked his own question, taking care to word it in a way that would avoid mention of CHIMERA.

“How does he know about my… lineage?” Hoplite asked.

“His eyes allow him to see the twisting ladders of the blood.” The Harkmother replied immediately and without a drop of sarcasm.

Hoplite stared. The twisting ladders of the blood? Surely she must mean DNA, but why would she say it like that? More importantly, how could Geravall see Hoplite’s DNA? There was no bionic capable of that. Was he lying about having this alleged ‘ability’ to avoid mention of CHIMERA? No… The Harkmother hadn’t hesitated before telling Hoplite about it, meaning that this was already established intel between these elves. Hoplite was still certain that this colony had been lost far before CHIMERA had begun but was that really the case? After all, these elves still spoke in fluent Jynesian, meaning that it was likely that not too much time had passed since this colony had been lost… Yet the lack of knowledge about the Final Kind conflicted with this theory, as did the apparent lack of bionics.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

If Geravall really had no way of knowing about CHIMERA, then how was it possible that the elf could see Hoplite’s DNA? The way the Harkmother had spoken of it implied that only Geravall alone was capable of doing this… A question then burned within Hoplite. Why could Geravall do this? How did he do it? Hoplite needed to know.

“How can he see my blood?” Hoplite asked, cocking his helmet back toward the Harkmother.

“His Dok-ah, or to put it in more…human terms, his ‘eye-magic’ allows him to do so.” The Harkmother replied, again with no sarcasm.

Hoplite shook his head, he would not be drawn into such fancies as ‘eye-magic’. Unfortunately, at this point in time, Hoplite had no idea how to disprove such a claim… unless these colonists had developed new tech while outside of Terna’s influence? Perhaps… but maybe figuring out that tech should be left to one of the scientists that had been aboard the Sparrow. They would be more capable than Hoplite at deciphering new technology.

Now then, if this mutated branch had specific rules against humans entering this place, then that must mean that the standard branch of humans still existed somewhere on this planet. Primitive or not, Hoplite desired to make contact with them at some point, hopefully soon depending on what happened here today.

“Where is the nearest human settlement?” Hoplite asked the Harkmother.

“If you mean to find the largest gathering of humans possible, then you seek… Akan-Dar,” The Harkmother said in a borderline withering tone. “It lies far to the west of our forest, all the way to the coast of Faenor; the continent you currently stand upon. There is one other, smaller settlement to the east of here, as well as smaller townships along the way to Akan-Dar. Yet, one such as you would seek Akan-Dar, as that would be where the most important humans on Faenor reside. I do assume that you would like to speak to human’s with authority. You will find them there.” She finished in a confident tone.

“Yes.” Hoplite replied “Do they have transportation? Ballistics?”

How far had these humans regressed? Did they still have vehicles and guns, or had they gone back to spears and horses?

“Yes, they do have ballistas and horses, some of the finest on Ahkoolis in fact, though few would be able to carry you I think.” The Harkmother replied “I do mean no offense sir, but you look quite… heavy.”

That practically confirmed the latter. Still though, perhaps they weren’t as backward as these mutants. Maybe they even still knew of Terna, or maybe forces from the Sparrow could be heading there… He almost hung his head but kept it upright. The crew would be more likely to have landed in the east based on the planet's rotation during the evacuation, not the west. Currently the main objective should be to reunite with the Sparrow’s crew, not re-establish contact with lost colonists. That would be taken care of by those better able to talk sense into the locals.

“How was it that I was teleported here?” Hoplite asked.

Teleportation had been declared to be physically impossible by top Second Arm scientists… they still had tried of course, but no matter what they did, the Second Arm had never been able to accomplish it. Even the Final Kind with their superior tech were still completely incapable of teleportation. Yet the impossible had happened to Hoplite today, and he would know how.

“The Hark crystal above,” The Harkmother said, sparing a glance for the glowing amber crystal suspended overhead “The Pillar-God, Draoi, formed it for us elves out of the Golden Flame of Foundation. The power of our god draws those with the intent to seek the Harkhall here.”

Hoplite remained silent. Clearly this crystal was really an unidentified element. Somehow, it was capable of teleporting matter and would have to be confiscated… but how would he go about doing that? There were no visible exits to this room and he could think of no safe way to procure the crystal without accidentally damaging it… but teleportation… it could shift the tide of the war.

A war that Terna had already lost?

Again he stuffed that invasive thought far into the recesses of his mind. As long as Hoplite was alive, the war was not over. As long as any Ternan fought, the war was not over. Humanity would not lose. He glanced up at the crystal again, not tilting his helmet. There really was no way for him to take it now though, no exits, no safe means of retrieving it… no, it would simply have to remain here for now. There would be personnel better suited to retrieving it at another time…

Hoplite realized he had been having repeating thought processes during this whole meeting. ‘It will be taken care of later’ ‘It will remain here for now’ ‘It would be handled by personnel with more experience in this’. An unsettling thought occurred to him then… What if he was the only personnel left? What if the Sparrow’s crew all died on landing? Either from a violent crash-landing or from the Final Kind?

He took a deep breath. No, they would be survivors. Hoplite would not give up on that hope. Now, onto the creatures he had killed upon landing…

“What are fiends?” Hoplite asked.

The Harkmother’s eyes fell from him then, and she spoke in an almost mournful tone “Poor souls are they… taken by the Death Spiral curse. Forced to inflict pain they are, though it be not their choice.”

“Are they animated by any kind of nanotech?” Hoplite asked immediately after she finished speaking.

It was a silly question considering who Hoplite spoke to, but he had to ask. The Harkmother’s eyes shot up to Hoplite before then shifting to the other members of the Harkhall, who stared at him as if he were some kind of alien creature… well, he supposed in a strange way, he was. Lance quirked a brow at him then, but didn’t say anything. Clearly Lance had wanted to ask just what nanotech was, but she must have realized that the Harkmother would ask that very question shortly.

“No… the curse is what drives them. What is this… nanotech?” The Harkmother asked, confirming Hoplite’s thought.

“Microscopic machines.” He told her.

The Harkmother stared with a furrowed brow “So… they are… they are tiny constructs?”

“Affirmative.” Hoplite told her with a nod “Nanomachines are thousands of tiny machines working in tandem to achieve a particular function.”

“What mage can bind so many constructs at once? The size of the construct doesn’t matter, every individual animated object takes great effort to bind. The most powerful of mages can bind three at most.” The Harkmother asked him, leaning forward in her rooted seat.

Hoplite then noticed Terlin glaring at him, those red eyes accentuated by popping veins. When he noticed the glare, Hoplite turned his helmet in that direction, meeting that crimson gaze. After a few seconds, Terlin looked away to glare at Lance instead. She didn’t seem to notice the glare at all, her eyes still glued to the Harkmother. Terlin may turn hostile later… Hoplite would be keeping an eye on the red-eyed elf.

“There’s no magic involved.” Hoplite replied sternly, cocking his helmet back to glance up at the Harkmother “Just advanced AI.”

The Harkmother had opened her mouth, likely readying to ask just what an AI was when suddenly, literally out of nowhere based on what he read on his motion tracker; another watcher appeared. Out of thin air he came, his clothing the mirror image of Lance’s with a couple jaw-shaped tears in his outfit. From the looks of it, those bites had barely missed flesh while pulling away the cloth.

The elf then fell to his knees and rasped “The Fiendwall has fallen! Fiends are pouring through unopposed!”

Everything fell silent, and a cold stillness came over the chamber. Hoplite himself was staring wide-eyed at the sudden appearance of the watcher. There had been no indication that this man was approaching on the motion tracker… Hoplite hadn’t seen him coming with his cameras either... The man had simply popped into existence from nowhere. No, not nowhere, the crystal had teleported him based on what the Harkmother had said. Teleported him not solely based on proximity… but sheerly by intent, from what Hoplite had learned. Was that true? How did the crystal tell the intent of the person wanting to be brought here?

He had no answer.

“Lancela. Recite the Watcher’s silence for our earlier meeting.” The Harkmother commanded in a voice that brooked no argument.

Lance then dropped to her knees and said loudly “My lips are sealed by the Golden Flame of Foundation. Nothing from this chamber I have heard will be uttered to anyone save for those currently present until I am given permission by the Harkmother.”

The Harkmother nodded and sighed “I do hope Gali has roused his defenders in time… do you know if those who live in the wall have perished?”

The new elf shook his head as Lance stood “No, I only have heard that fiends are pouring en masse through our forest… I have heard a portion of the wall had just… collapsed, they are heading for the Bastion as we speak! I ran as fast as I could when I got word, and was beset upon by lesser fiends!”

“Then we must mobilize.” The Harkmother declared, turning her gaze upon the other elves in the Hall “Every off-duty watcher must take up arms and purge the Faewood of this menace by any means necessary. The Bramble Guard must be rallied and patrols will be doubled. Spread the word!” She ordered in a steely tone that captain Stol would have applauded.

The Harkmother then looked to Hoplite, her eyes intent “Hoplite… you are a warrior yes?”

“Affirmative.” He told her honestly.

“Then I must ask you to aid in destroying the fiends, they pose a danger to my people and-” The Harkmother began.

“Affirmative.” Hoplite repeated, cutting her off.

The Harkmother stared wide-eyed, whether in shock at being interrupted or at Hoplite’s willingness to fight with no hesitation he did not know. It was simply his role as a Hoplite, he must defend humanity in all its forms from those that would cause harm to it. There was no question to what his answer would have been, at least it was so to Hoplite. These elves truly had no idea what a Hoplite was, otherwise they wouldn’t have asked.

“I thank you…” The Harkmother said slowly “I must be honest, I had sought to pressure you into this had you refused.” The Harkmother admitted with a sigh “Upon your landing you no doubt had destroyed several of our trees.” She continued, Hoplite nodding in confirmation of her accusation. She blinked in surprise “I thank you for not trying to be deceitful. Honesty goes a long way with most members of this Hall, so we thank you.”

If they did decide to try and punish him though, Hoplite would have no choice but to defend himself. He could not allow himself to fall victim to whatever backward laws the elves followed.

“Normally, this would require a dire punishment, but given your… unique nature as an Outworlder, it is no surprise that you would be completely ignorant of our laws. Even outsiders who had never set foot in the Faewood at the very least know not to harm our trees… However, you were uniquely innocent in your demolition, you simply could not have known.” The Harkmother continued, sparing a glare for Terlin as the blonde elf’s face turned a much deeper shade of crimson.

“There will still be a vote to decide for a certainty, the role of Harkmother is not that of a queen, but I am sure that most other members will find the logic in my words.” She told him “I just hope the fae that inhabited those trees fled when they had the chance… Destroying our forest is grounds for harsh punishment, but killing a fae of the wood is a death sentence.” She emphasized, holding up a single finger “A tree can not regrow if its fae is slain, they are the very life of our woods.” She continued, lowering her finger “Now that your ignorance of their importance has been quashed, you will have no excuses, should it happen again.”

Hoplite said nothing in response. They could have their vote if they wished, but it meant nothing to him. By every single metric, Hoplite was above their laws, and as such would not subject himself to their judgment. There was no such thing as ‘fae’ or spirits, a tree was just a tree.

The Harkmother then cleared her throat, turning to Lance “Watch Hoplite.” She commanded.

Lance nodded without hesitation but said nothing, turning to stare at Hoplite. Watch him? Likely they didn’t want Hoplite moving about their territory unsupervised. He would not argue the point, Hoplite just hoped that Lance could keep up with him.

“I will put you under the command of night captain Muro.” The Harkmother said “He is a brilliant tactician and-”

“Negative.” Hoplite cut her off “He will not understand how to utilize my capabilities. I will operate to my full capacity without orders from someone who doesn’t understand just what I am.”

The Harkmother seemed to glare at Hoplite a moment before speaking “You will not cut me off again, Hoplite. You will show proper respect to the Harkhall, outworlder or no.” She told him in a cold voice like steel “Besides, you do not know our woods. Muro can guide you to where you’ll need to be.”

Lance flinched at hearing that tone and she peered up at Hoplite as if to see if he were injured. It would be against protocol to allow an officer outside of the Eighth Arm to order Hoplite. If he defied protocol… he would have to be re-indoctrinated… Hoplite could not allow that to happen again. The Harkmother did make a good point though… Hoplite didn’t know these woods as well as the locals would have… but then again, if Lance was going to ‘watch’ him…

“Lance can guide me through the forest.” He said “I can’t get lost with her being with me.”

It was true based on how he had seen her move through the woods as if through her own house.

These words produced a strange reaction from the Harkhall, and especially Lance who stared at him with her jaw agape. She snapped it shut and then looked to the floor, tangling a hand in her long black hair and hiding her face with the other. The Harkmother seemed to be… amused by this based on how she quirked a brow at Lance. Hoplite didn’t understand why those words would provoke such a reaction from them, but at the moment it didn’t really matter. The Harkmother opened her mouth to speak again but Hoplite overrode her.

“Every second we spend talking,” Hoplite began, the ache in his throat giving his voice a more gravelly tone “More fiends come through the Fiendwall. Teleport me out and I will take care of them the best way I can.”

The Harkmother lifted her chin to stare down her nose at Hoplite “Very well. I will not argue when you speak sense. Go, But when we speak here again, you will give the proper courtesy and respect due to this Hall. I thank you for your aid. But again, now that you’re aware,” She continued, narrowing her eyes at Hoplite “You will not destroy any more of our trees.”

And just as they had entered the Harkhall, they had left. He and Lance both were teleported back outside, to the massive field of outspread roots in an instant. The Ilum tree loomed tall in the night sky, covering half of the full green moon overhead.

“Well…” Lance said with a sigh “Since that’s taken care of, I suppose we’re going to be working together to drive off the fiends. Now, the Harkmother said not to destroy any of the trees, just so you know, what she means by that is utter destruction. A few scrapes and nicks here and there won’t be a problem for a fae to recover from, and the tree spirits usually know when it's time to flee. Avoiding hurting the forest is preferable,” She continued with a sigh “But considering your preference for thunder staves, I think it’ll be impossible.” She paused, scratching her cheek “Anyway, I have to watch you, meaning I’m partly responsible for any damage you might cause. For both our sakes,” She said, gesturing to herself and to Hoplite, “try to mitigate the damage you might cause to our trees. Now…” She said slowly before drawing two long daggers out from a pair of leather sheaths tied to her waist.

The metal gleamed in the moonlight and she gave the twin blades a smile, each as long as her forearm “These should do for me… I would ask to borrow one of those thunder staves you have, but frankly? Those things scare me, so I’ll stick with what I know.” Lance told him with a wink, sheathing the blades and pointing off toward the horizon “The fiends are likely to be more concentrated in the woods east of the Bastion, considering that the Fiendwall is that way. Shall we go?” She asked him.

“Affirmative.” Hoplite replied.