---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ekianei felt her heart drop at the display before her; many obviously did not understand the strength difference between her people and the invaders, let alone the Terrans who defeated them. And it would soon lead to their deaths if they did not see the truth and come to their senses. "Please! You must listen, these lies must not sway you. Too much is on the line for us to go against those who would save us from slavery and death." She pleaded, though knowing the opposition would likely ignore anything she would say due to the outside interference. "Lies, you say? You demand us to remain calm when the esteemed Gonikel provide us with photo evidence?" Her opposition leader shouted, waving the picture around for all to see. "You are truly lost if you think these aliens are our allies, even with this proof of their extreme violence staring directly at you. And If you would ignore such irrefutable proof, I will lead a vote this very instant! If you do not hold this vote, I will lead such a vote to dismiss your claim to the presidency and do it myself!" She demanded as the majority of her party stood to cheer, their cries for a vote and demands to expel the Terrans becoming an uncoordinated cacophony one would be hard-pressed to ignore. "I refuse to expel the Terrans based on lies and slander. The moment we do such a thing is the moment we will all die. I will not let you doom us all with your petty attempt to grab power." Ekianei replied, waving the female off with a smug smile. The female laughed and rolled her hand towards Ekianei, ushering boos from her party towards the vaunted President as Gonikel sat down in his chair, not even bothering to hide his own smugness. "You see! She allies with our enemies and will doom us all! I demand you either step-down or expel the Terrans! Show us whose side you are truly on. Your peoples. Or the alien invaders! 'Madam President'!" Just as Ekianei was opening her mouth in an attempt to object to the vote, her disdain for Gonikel at its limit. The chamber doors crashed open, revealing a tall standing male flanked by a large amount of armed soldiers. She could hardly count them all as they began running into the room. "Arrest these traitors!" Basthin announced, walking into the room and standing between the two groups in his dress uniform. "And bring Gonikel to me." He demanded, pointing at the fat male with disgust. "Did you plan this, Ekianei?" Aylen whispered, watching as a large portion of the cabinet attempted to scamper out any available exit, only to be met with more soldiers. "This is quite the scene. I didn't think I would ever see something like this in my lifetime. I approve." "How else would I secure my hold if not to weed out the hidden pawns. Though this is only the first step as there may still be hidden enemies." She replied, giving Gonikel a smug look as he was dragged towards Basthin, his female aides waving at him and laughing while he screamed in terror. "Alright, I concede. This was well played." Aylen replied, patting Ekianei on the shoulder. "So, what do you plan on doing with him?" "Once we are finished with our meeting here. I'll send him and his cohorts immediately to be judged. If found guilty of treason, they will be executed. If not, they will be held in prison so they cannot interfere with Terran maneuvers." Aylen smiled in triumph, watching as a soldier beat a female over the head, restraining her before proceeding to drag her out of the room. "You're quite the politician. You even did this without my notice... Care to tell me how?" Ekianei caught Aylen's hidden hand and held it with a smile, not even bothering to glance at him while sitting in her chair. "I will not. But if you wish, I can teach you. If you decide to stick around, that is." A smile breaking out on his face, Aylen nodded at Ekianei. "I'll be sure to 'stick' around then. Sounds like a lot of fun." He replied, taking a step forward to be directly to the right behind Ekianei, ginning as he watched the final opposition members being dragged away. "Lots of fun." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Well. That was an interesting turn of events." Michael said, glancing at the outer hull cameras as Voktlix walked around on top of the ship, attempting to find a way in. "Still doesn't explain what all these armed Voktlix are doing on the ship." Srettia replied, rotating a camera as a female bent down to inspect it. "I could start the engines and shake them off if you want." "Negative. I don't need any of them drowning on account of receiving shitty orders from a corrupt official." Michael answered back, shaking his head at one particular Voktlix who took each step more carefully than one would on broken glass. "I can send some titan guards out there to talk with them. Their fur can't get through titan armour, so it would be a minimal risk." Soto commented, shaking his head in annoyance. " Yirphayen could handle them if it were trained to, but I'm not sure what would happen if we sent it." Yirphayen let out a song of annoyance from its chair, watching as the carbon-mineral cross beings walked around on top of the ship and began banging on a hatch. "I could ask them to leave, but I do not believe they would accept such a request. They are rather determined." "Yeah, me either." Michael replied, looking back at Soto. " Send two guards with a weapons drone. One of the scary as shit types with a tether launcher in case one falls into the water. Maybe some low power tasers as well." "Got it. They're getting ready now, Captain." Soto replied, hitting a few keys on his console to authorize the deployment. "How do Voktlix react to tasers?" Michael shrugged and sent a message to Dr. Baker, making sure to double-check with her if it was okay to electrocute a Voktlix. "No clue. One way to find out, though, I guess." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "This is suicide!" Resima repeated for the hundredth time, knocking on an obvious hatch into the alien machine. "We're all going to die like children in the forest! I just know it!" "Then we will die in the line of duty like the proud officers we are. Now stop complaining and get to finding a way in so we can take this machine for our people." Her superior demanded, walking up to a door in anger. "Why they would need to seal these entryways so tightly is beyond me. They must be paranoid or more frightful than the normals." "Ma'am.... I um... You know, they're from the stars. One would assume it's to keep them safe during their travels." Resima replied, drooping her head in apology as her superior shot her a look of anger. "When we find a way inside, you will go first." Resima frowned, walking towards a small protrusion, leaning down to look at it and taking a quick step back as it rotated towards her direction. "Ma'am... I think they're watching us." "Shut it. I see no windows, and we've secured the area. There is no way they could be watching us." The female replied, hardening the fur on her shoulder mane and slamming into the door, her face contorting in pain as she frowned at the result. "How can metal be so strong?" Resima studied the small dome object, taking a step to the side and examining it as it followed her before stepping over and watching as it rotated towards her again. "Ma'am... They are definitely watching us." "I told you. It's impossible for them to do such a thing. Now stop being a frightened child and help us find a way in!" Resima walked back towards the hatch she was working on, Sighing in annoyance and deciding to keep a side-eye on the small dome as it rotated towards another officer walking over it. "We're all going to die." She whispered again, placing her ear against the ground. It was at that moment her suspicions were confirmed. A deep thumping sound and vibrations soon following could be heard, making its way towards where her senior officer was working. Multiple steps only the largest and heaviest of Voktlix could wish to make. And they were closing in on the entry door. "Ma'am! Get away from the door!" "Quiet or I'll have you demoted for impeding our work!" The female answered, turning towards Resima in anger and missing the door opening behind her. "And what work would that be?" Private Renin asked, picking the female up by her mane and taking a few steps forward, allowing his teammate to walk onto the deck, followed closely by a tracked weapons drone. Resima sat on the ground. Watching as the giant metal-clad aliens walked through the door, her superior held by the mane like a small child and whimpering like a newborn. Naturally, when seeing something like this, she would curl into a ball and harden her mane. But seeing as the giant was unfazed by her superior, she found it would be useless. However, even with all she had seen, it was the machine that followed the two that really made her give up. It was larger than any Voktlix, not as large as the aliens but still massive. It had four hollow tubes attached to what looked like a rotating platform. She also noticed multiple protrusions and holes on this platform and a few metal rods pointing both forwards and to the sky. Obvious to her, it was a deadly machine hiding many tricks. To her fellow officers, it was a dumb machine. "Unhand me, invader. You will not take our city without a fight!" Her superior demanded, finally gathering her wits and kicking the alien, howling in pain from the attempt. "Alright." Renin replied, dropping the female on her ass and placing his hands on his hips. "Any other smart ass remarks you want to make? Maybe use some cool alien kung-fu?" "I have no idea what you are referring to, but you will be coming with me to be processed as an invader. Now come quietly, or you will be fired upon." The officer stated, pulling out her pistol and pointing it at Renin. Renin threw his hands out to the side in a dramatic display, gasping in shock and spreading his feet as he did so. "Go ahead, lady. Ya got me. In fact, how about all of you shoot me at the same time. Might work better that way." Resima slowly stepped back. Deciding she would rather be back on that blasted boat than anywhere near this killing machine and its toy. Though, as she took her second step, she noticed the machine rotated its top towards her and began closely following her movements. "Bad idea, lady. All of you need to stand still, or you're going to get netted or tazed." Renin stated, patting the drone on its turret chassis. "This good boy is set to follow anyone trying to escape, so I wouldn't try it." Sucking in a deep breath, Resima looked towards the dangerous alien. "Alright. What do you request of me then?" She asked, holding her hands out to her side and mimicking the alien, though promptly freezing in horror as her superior pointed a pistol in her direction with anger. "Not happening either, lady." Renin replied as the drone swiftly tazed the female, causing her to fall to the ground in light spasms. "Anyone else wanna try something funny?" Resima shook her head as the fellow officers dropped their weapons, causing Rennin to clap his hands in excitement. "Good! Now, Raise your hand if you want to see the inside of a starship and talk to my Captain about why and who sent you!" Quickly raising her hand in terror, Resima sucked in a deep breath, cursing herself for her quick reflexes and questioning her own sanity as the large alien walked towards her. "Aha! found the sucker!" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------