15:30, January 3rd, 2135
“Wow Elara. I thought Arcadia was something, but this…” Kayden trailed off as they stepped off the shuttle into the warm air, struggling to find the right words to describe the sight around him.
“It’s a paradise.” Dawn said, encapsulating his thoughts perfectly.
Kayden nodded in agreement. The pad they’d landed on was encased in a retractable glass bubble and placed on an outcropping from a skyscraper, giving scenic views of the capital city around them. In every direction there were twisting archologies that resembled enormous trees, but unlike the cold grey buildings of Earth they were alive with plant and animal life living alongside the Kel. Several of them had designs which would topple over if not for their powerful anti-gravity generators, with entire sections devoted to open air space. In accordance with their philosophies, the Kel chose to incorporate nature into their designs rather than trying to dominate it, giving the entire city a vibrant, living feeling.
Despite their eye catching nature, the archologies paled in comparison to the building they stood on now. The Athenium Spire – the Kel seat of government – was easily the tallest building Kayden had ever seen. It boasted thousands of floors and tens of thousands of landing pads just like this one. The tower itself was made of some sort of painted metal, with each color reaching from the base of the tower all the way to the top. On the flight in, Kayden learned from Elara that each color was meant to represent one of the systems the Kel Confederacy oversaw.
“The crown jewel of the Kel Empire – Kel Prime.” Elara said with pride, before her tone switched to a cautious one. “Now remember, you can’t venture outside of the designated ‘human-friendly’ zones, okay? There are pure-blooded Kel here who don’t want to be bonded to humans, and just being near them will cause the Xenocompatibility protocol to take hold and their bodies to change – which is a crime when it’s not done willingly.”
Kayden turned to look at Elara. She’d eschewed her regular armour in favor of wearing her standard-issue formal Kel military logistics division uniform – a tight grey jacket with matching grey pants and a lapel pin with the Kel military insignia on it. The look on her face was caught somewhere between pride, happiness, and worry – presumably about their mission to secure Kel support.
“Right, got it.” Kayden nodded, feeling a pang of guilt as he recalled Mirana’s changes. “What about the president and her cabinet though? How will that…work, given that we’re meeting with them?”
“You’ll be encased in a self-contained bubble designed for non-Kel.” A familiar voice said from behind them.
Kayden whirled around to see an older Kel woman emerging from the doors leading to the tower. She looked like she could be Elara’s mother, with matching white hair and blue skin. On seeing her Elara visibly relaxed as she jogged towards her, embracing her mentor tightly.
“Thank you so much for coming. I don’t know if I could have done this alone.”
“Nonsense.” The Kel woman replied, smoothing Elara’s grey uniform that matched her own as they broke apart. “You have this well in hand. I’m just happy to provide any additional support I can.”
Smiling, Elara turned back to Kayden and Dawn. “You remember Celestia, right?”
“Of course.” Kayden said, shaking her hand. “It’s good to see you again. Thank you for coming to support us.”
“I wanted to see this through, and to give you an update personally. I’ve been put in charge of the project to create a bioweapon that we can use against the Voidborn. We’ve made some progress, but we’ve hit a roadblock.”
“Some progress is better than no progress.” Kayden replied. “What’s the roadblock?”
“Well, we have a weapon that effectively strips away the biological components of their bodies, but our researchers believe their hive mind will spread word of its use quickly, and it will only work for a short time before they adjust the genetic makeup of their cloned armies to negate the chemical formula. Then we will have to change the formula again, after which they will adjust again-”
“I get it. It’s a one-time use thing.” Kayden interrupted.
“Just so. Unless we have a way to use it against the entire population all at once, it may only be effective in limited situations.”
Kayden nodded. “So I guess we’ll keep doing things the old fashioned way then: guns, ships, and boots on the ground.”
“That, I can help with.” Another voice drawled.
Kayden looked beyond Celestia to see an older human man flanked by a trio of his Kel wives. He had dark skin and black hair that was streaked with grey, and wore the blue uniform of the Kel Navy. His black boots were polished to a mirror shine, and he carried a sidearm tucked safely into a holster on his hip. He flashed a lopsided grin at them as he scratched at his new black mustache.
To his right was a Kel Navy praetor in full dress uniform – a blue jacket and blue pants with white trim and the insignia of the Kel military pinned to her lapel. She had pale skin and bright pink hair, and her blue eyes locked onto Kayden’s before nodding respectfully. Everything from her clipped, efficient gait to the way she held her back ramrod straight practically screamed that she’d served in the military.
By contrast, the two other Kel women walking to the left of the man looked far more alien to Kayden, but still wore the uniforms of the Kel Navy. One of them had a tough-looking beige carapace covering her face, along with a pair of mandibles that ran alongside her mouth. Just above them was a flattened nose and strongly defined cheekbones, giving her a distinctly avian look. The other one had midnight-black skin that would be impossible on a human, as well as matching black hair tied in a loose ponytail behind her.
“AJ. Nyreen. Vetra. Tavisa.” Kayden said, smiling as he recalled the human and his wives. “Thank you for coming to support us.”
“Don’t thank us just yet.” AJ replied. “The president and her cabinet are politicians first, and they’re going to be making the ultimate decision here – not the military. Your defense of Arcadia and status as the Asha’dara buys you some goodwill in there, but you’re still human just like me. Some of them may not like you for that reason alone.”
As he said it, his eyes flicked over to Elara. She cast her eyes downwards shamefully before speaking. “Like my family.”
“You don’t think they’ll be here themselves, do you?” Kayden asked.
“No.” She bit her lip and shook her head. “But while they might not be here themselves, but Kel who believe similarly to them will have a voice in the cabinet. They’re well connected, politically speaking.”
“They’re the…’pure-blooded’, right?” Kayden asked, furrowing his brow. “The ones who believe that taking a non-Kel mate is sacrilegious? They live in the mountains in a monastery to the North of here, and are basically going to object to everything I say because I’m a human?”
“You read the dossiers I created!” Dawn said, beaming.
Kayden grinned. “Being prepared is half the battle.” Then he put a calming hand on Elara’s shoulder. “We’re ready for them, okay? We can do this.”
“Pep talk time is over.” AJ said, glancing at his tablet. “We’ve gotta get going.”
With that, the group of them walked towards the door leading to the tower. As they neared it opened to reveal a large elevator with a wall of screens. The moment the last of them stepped onto it the door slid smoothly shut behind them and Kayden felt the tug of acceleration as they shot upwards into the sky. As they moved the screen-wall resolved into an image of the city in front of them.
“Any last minute stuff I should know before we go in there?” Kayden asked, tearing his eyes away from the virtual vista in front of them.
“Don’t blow anything up this time.” Dawn said teasingly as she slid her tail up his leg.
“And don’t stare at the pure Kel.” Elara added. “They’re going to look a bit…odd to you.”
“Don’t stare at the weird looking Kel. Got it.” Kayden said, pointedly ignoring Dawn’s comment.
A few moments later they reached the top floor of the tower and the door behind them reopened. Stepping through it, they emerged into a small waiting room. When the last of their party was out of the elevator Kayden saw a set of nozzles emerge from the ceiling of the elevator and start spraying some sort of mist before the doors slid smoothly shut.
“Decontaminant spray.” Celestia explained, seeing the look on their faces. “We can’t have someone being accidentally exposed to humans, or else they’ll start to change.” She paused for a moment before adding. “No offense, of course.”
“None taken.” Kayden nodded.
Suddenly, the floor beneath them began to rumble. The ceiling above them slid open and the floor began to rise, dramatically revealing the Kel government’s council chambers. In every direction of the square-shaped room there were seats filled with Kel representatives that were arranged in ascending rows hidden in semi-darkness. Between the hemispheric transparent glass dome around them, the bright lights on them, and the fact that they’d emerged into very center of the council chambers Kayden couldn’t help but feel like they were being put on display.
“Good. The fabled Asha’dara is here.” A voice said. “Now we can begin in earnest.”
Kayden squinted through the bright lights, turning until he saw the speaker. Ahead of him was a woman who could only be the president, with her all-black outfit causing her to stand out from both her military and civilian peers – each of whom had a small microphone in front of them. She had purple skin and all-black eyes, with a large tendril extending down from her head on either side in place of her hair. Each of her tendrils were ringed with what looked like white patterned tattoos, and below the table she sat behind it looked like she had several more tentacles in place of legs.
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To his surprise, she wasn’t even the most ‘alien’ looking Kel at the table. To her right were several more Kel women – some of whom looked like Elara, Vetra, or Tavisa. What caught his eye was a being that looked to be made entirely of a semi-solid viscous slime encased in a bubble not unlike the one around his group. It wore no clothes and quickly began to resolve itself into a feminine body-like shape. As the features on the front of its head resolved into something that resembled a ‘face’, Kayden couldn’t help but notice that it had a distinctly unhappy expression.
Is that what a pure Kel looks like? Kayden thought to himself.
“Remember not to stare.” Elara hissed quietly under her breath.
“Right.” Kayden whispered before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to center himself before reopening them and addressing the seated Kel in front of him. “Good afternoon everyone. For those of you I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting, my name is Kayden Reynolds.”
To his surprise, he recognized the next speaker as Elara’s boss. She was seated to the right of the Kel President, and unlike the others she was surprisingly human-looking except for her green hair, pale skin, and overly tall and thin frame. She straightened her Kel Logistics Division uniform – one identical to the one that Elara wore – before addressing the table.
“President Nysara, I would like to personally vouch for Kayden and his retinue. They were instrumental in the battle of Arcadia and the pre-emptive strike against the Voidborn.”
“We’ve all read your reports, High Commander.” The president replied dismissively.
To the High Commander’s right, two more Kel stood. One of them had black hair and yellow eyes with wrinkled green skin, while the other had dark hair and skin. They respectively wore the blue and green uniforms of the Kel Navy and Army, and while the former was hunched over with age the latter’s uniform was tight due to her bulging muscles underneath.
“We agree with the High Commander, Madame President.” The High Commissioner of the Kel army said.
“I urge you to listen to this human’s council.” The High Admiral of the Kel Navy added. “He could be instrumental to winning the war.”
“My 3 military advisors agreeing on something? Goddess, what a time to be alive.” President Nysara said mockingly. “Luckily for you, the rest of my cabinet met earlier and actually agree with you on that point.”
The High Commander tilted her head in confusion. “You met…without us?”
“Yes.” The amorphous being at the end said, it’s mouth dripping wet as it opened and closed. “And it’s a good thing too, we came to a conclusion.”
“Very well.” The High Commander said, sitting back down with her military colleagues. “I would very much like to hear this conclusion.”
“It’s obvious that the Voidborn are after the humans generally, and this human in particular. Therefore, the solution is to capture him and use him as leverage to negotiate peace with the Voidborn.” The president said casually.
As she finished her statement, the room immediately devolved into an uproar. Kel seated both at the table and in the upper levels of the chamber began to heckle each other both against and in favor of the president’s plan, resulting in a cacophony of sound. Guards clad in all-black armour streamed into the central area of the room from hidden entrances, surrounding the protective transparent bubble and levelling their weapons.
In response Kayden summoned his nanobot swarm, forming them into armour around himself, Dawn, and Elara. More guards continued to sprint into the room and take up firing positions as he did, and in his mind he began picking out targets. Before he moved though he heard an amplified voice ring out over the din, silencing the chaos around them.
“High Commander! Tell your base commander to apprehend the human before this gets out of hand.” The president commanded, referring to Elara.
The High Commander shook her head in response. “No Madame President! I refuse your order on moral and strategic grounds!”
“I wouldn’t do it even if you ordered me to!” Elara added defiantly, moving beside Kayden. “This is wrong and you know it!”
“We’ll talk about your insubordination later! High Admiral, tell your praetor to do it!” The president screeched, referring to Nyreen.
“Absolutely not.” The High Admiral replied, gritting her teeth. “Court martial me if you want, but I will not be party to this.”
“Nor will I.” Nyreen said, moving to stand with Kayden.
“Nor I.” The high commissioner said as AJ, Tavisa, Vetra, and Celestia all closed ranks around Kayden.
“Can we take them?” Kayden asked under his breath, nodding to the guards as the Kel at the table in front of them devolved into a shouting match.
“Those are the president’s elite guards.” AJ replied. “They’re hand picked by the president from the best of the military, and they’re fanatically loyal.” He paused, drawing his sidearm. “And there are a lot of them.”
Taking a breath, Kayden nodded and stepped forward before shouting and waving his arms. “Hey! If you’re going to try to condemn me to death, the least you can do is fucking hear me out.”
That seemed to get everyone’s attention.
With all eyes on him, Kayden continued in a more measured tone. “I’m willing to give my life if it means it’ll stop the Voidborn advance. But do you really think that this will stop them?” He paused for effect, then continued. “You can’t negotiate with them. You can’t sit this one out either.”
“How do you know? Have you even tried?” The president sneered in reply.
“No.” Kayden admitted.
“But we did.” Celestia added, speaking up. “The Holy Kel-Azaan Empire, I mean. As well as the Vrul Technocracy. The records are very clear – many attempts were made at communication, then at offering a surrender. In every single case, the ones trying to make contact were killed. Often in gruesome ways.”
“That was millions of years ago.” The president said dismissively.
“How many Kel lives are you willing to bet on that?” The High Commander countered before turning to Kayden. “This human is our best source of information on the Voidborn, and has the most experience out of any of us fighting them. I for one would like to hear a better option, if one exists.”
“Finally, someone is using some logic.” The High Commissioner muttered before nodding to Kayden. “Go on.”
Kayden made a mental note to thank the High Commissioner later before continuing. “If you hand me over the Voidborn they’ll kill me, then you, then everyone else. If you sit back and do nothing, then the same thing will happen, only slower. Once they’re done with humanity, they’re coming for you. Deep down, you know it just as well as I do.”
“The attacks on our space have stopped though!” The president countered.
“Yeah, because they found an enemy who’s actually a threat to them!” Kayden replied, causing several of them to gasp.
“He’s right.” The High Commander interjected. “The combined human militaries are stronger than ours.”
“So what do you actually suggest?” The president said, narrowing her eyes at Kayden.
“We think we found a weakness in the Voidborn – their Queen.” Kayden responded. “She commands their forces, and uses a series of cloned bodies to keep herself alive even when one is destroyed. If we destroy the facility she uses to clone and transfer her consciousness to new bodies, the Voidborn will revert to their animalistic instincts.”
“A clever plan.” The High Admiral replied, leaning forward. “What would you need from us though?”
“Ships. Troops. Supplies.” Kayden responded. “Anything you can spare. We need your help enforcing a blockade in 2 systems, to keep the Voidborn hemmed in while we search for this facility.”
“Absolutely not.” The president said, shaking her head. “I will not commit Kel lives to the defense of your space. I would sooner hide like our ancestors, and survive until the Voidborn leave.”
“That is not going to work. Do you know what will happen to your people if we don’t hold this blockade?” Kayden asked defiantly before nodding to Elara. “There are fates worse than death, you know. Your people will be systematically hunted down and pushed into cocoons, where they’ll be infused with Voidborn technology and turned into mindless slaves. Then you’ll be used to hunt down and transform your former comrades as well – including in all your little hidey holes.”
As he spoke Elara flicked the screen of her tablet, sending footage from Trappist Prime to the combined council. It appeared on screens embedded within the desk in front of them, causing several of them to turn around and begin retching openly. Even the hardened military leaders of the Kel seemed shaken by the sight, and after a few moments the president stood and spoke while holding back vomit.
“I believe…in light of everything we’ve spoken about… a recess is in order. We will reconvene tomorrow and continue this discussion.”
As she finished her statement, the assembled guards around them turned around and filed out of the room. The platform they stood on began to descend again, causing Kayden to shake his head in disbelief. As it came to a stop he turned to the rest of his party.
“I guess that could have gone better.”
“Could have gone worse.” Dawn countered.
“True.” Kayden admitted before turning to the Kel members of his retinue. “Speaking of which – thank you for having my back out there.”
“We’re with you, no matter what the politicians say.” Celestia said.
“Fuck them.” AJ agreed, leading the group back into the elevator. “We’ve got your back.”
“Maybe they need a little reminder of what happened to the original Kel.” Elara said thoughtfully. “If they truly understood what was at stake, this wouldn’t be a difficult decision.”
“I think that’s an excellent idea.” Celestia replied, nodding. “You should pay a visit to the basement of the tower for some inspiration. Take our Asha’dara there too – I think he’d find it quite revealing.”