"In the age of so many external enemies, one would think that internal conflict would become less of an issue. To a certain extent, this has come to pass. Most races tend to reach a certain level of unity in the face of existential threats from the outside, or they will perish. As a result, internal unity has become the norm due to a selection bias of sorts. That doesn’t mean that internal struggle has disappeared entirely. In many ways, it has become more prevalent, but it has also become less obvious. Instead of civil wars, now you have political factions vying for control. The battles are replaced with fights over opinion and resources, while the more violent parts of the struggle get hidden behind closed doors. Oddly the only race that has survived extended periods of civil war are the Humans, and you could argue that their struggles are no longer internal. Despite what many races like to think, the Cybrans and the Illum are almost separate races by now, and they most definitely are separate empires. The only reason Humans survived such a large scale internal fracturing was because of their relatively isolated position and the fact that both Cybrans and Illum carved their empires out of the uninhabited or sparsely inhabited areas of space, instead of taking away a third of the Tetrarchy’s worlds.”

- High Ambassador of the Mrrroww

--------

”I think we should just observe for now.” Moonshadow stated after a moment of consideration. “We don’t know who is involved, nor do we know why this is happening. Interfering with the events here might also interfere with our original objective. If the void entity is not involved, it could go into hiding if you interfere too blatantly and reveal your presence. There are also some diplomatic concerns. We are here as representatives of the Mrrroww race after all.”

Selendil nodded in agreement. Her own thoughts were not too far from Moonshadow’s. Just because she usually didn’t bother with too much subterfuge, that didn’t mean she was incapable of being discreet. Direct methods were simply extremely effective when you had the power you go that route. “We might actually be able to use that to our advantage. Whoever is behind this might not want to antagonize the Mrrroww. I wonder. Under normal circumstances, would the Mrrroww ambassador be present in an event like this?”

“I see what you mean. The answer is likely not. The person organizing this might have assumed we would not be here based on the ambassador’s previous behavior. And once they found out we would be here, the plans were already in motion. Assuming they would’ve pulled back even if they had known earlier. There is another possibility though. It may be that our presence here is a bonus instead of a detriment. Instead of this being some sort of a power play, the goal might be to sow chaos. Getting the Mrrroww pulled in to the mix might be the icing on their proverbial cake. We might want to be careful just in case.” Moonshadow was faced with a rather blatant stare from Selendil. “Fine, I need to be careful. I doubt they can do much to you.”

Selendil turned away with a small smile. “Nox, have you found out anything?” She knew the AI would’ve started looking into things as soon as they arrived.

“Not really. Whoever is behind this attack is fairly competent. Their electronic security is immaculate. Not in the sense that I couldn’t break into their systems, but in the sense that there’s nothing left behind for me to find. They aren’t stupid enough to leave their plans lying around, and the offenders aren’t obviously identifiable in any way. It seems they have been verbally briefed beforehand on what to do. They know their roles, and there are no instructions left or anything. I’m assuming the leader might interfere and send more detailed instructions if something outside the plan happens, but for now, we have nothing.” Nox replied slightly impressed. Usually plans of this magnitude left behind a huge trail of information, but it seemed the attackers were wary about being accidentally discovered. A good precaution all things considered.

As Moonshadow couldn’t hear Nox’s response without everyone being alerted to the presence of the AI, she looked at Selendil questioningly. Selendil decided to relay the most important point. “That’s a no. We’re on our own for now.”

“The poison is not very fast acting.” Moonshadow commented instead, noticing that none of the guests showed any symptoms.

“It’s not meant to kill anyone. It’s just there to slow down higher brain functions, like the usage of psionics, and render someone unconscious. I think we’ll start seeing people showing symptoms in a few hours. It’s a rather handy invention. The more power a psion has, the less the effects, though I doubt the human Deities will be able to resist. Even if they do manage, it’s still going to make enough of a difference that a previously weaker Deity could beat a higher ranked one, especially if the poisoned Deity doesn’t realize until trying to use their powers. Besides, this party is only beginning, and I think they aren’t planning on acting for a while. That gives the poison time to affect more people and build up in people’s system. I wonder how they plan on getting those guards that naturally won’t be eating or drinking anything during this whole thing?” Selendil speculated.

“I don’t think they have to think too hard. Deities are not bound by the normal rules. Although it would be more professional if they acted like normal guards, the fact is that they are here almost as guests, even while on duty. Those that are actively taking part in the defense of this place might end up eating and drinking as well as they are rather used to being treated like royalty. Incidentally, how do you know there will be an attack? I’m assuming it’s not just the poison, as someone could just be poisoning the people here.” Moonshadow posed a question.

“It’s a little hard to explain as it’s a combination of several factors. I can feel the hostility of some of the guards. It’s not too strange for a guard to disdain some of the people they are guarding, but open hostility and bloodlust is a bit odd, and they seem ready to take action against the guests instead of any intruders. Even then a couple of guards would be feasible without an attack, but the air is thick with the intent to do harm. It’s less like a party and more like an execution ground. Secondly, the way some of the guards are moving and observing things is strange. They aren’t scanning the surroundings for threats like they should. Instead of looking at points of entry, they are looking at who among the guests they need to go for first and who among the other guards are threats. Incidentally, quite a few of them are looking at us as big threats. That’s how my suspicions got roused in the first place. There are a hundred other small details like that, but those are the most obvious ones.” Selendil explained.

“Since when did you become an expert on security?” Moonshadow asked with some interest. Her knowledge of Selendil’s past was still quite limited.

“I’m not originally. However, there are memories of such experts that I’m storing. Their experiences are of course a little different as Dhar security is quite dissimilar, but it can help spot obvious issues like the ones I mentioned earlier.” She had not brought a security expert to the fore as a precaution, not before she noticed the discrepancies that is. It was just the a result of the memories being slowly absorbed by her over time, and many of the oldest memories happened to be experts in such fields as they were great warriors and important political figures. As the oldest memories, they were also the ones she had passively assimilated to the furthest extent. She had inadvertently become an expert in the field over time.

A rather large number of military personnel entered the large reception room while they were discussing. As soon as they did, Selendil’s senses were drawn in that direction. She could sense what they were looking for among the people. “Our target is here. I actually had to be in the same room before I could sense it. The void entity is hiding well. I don’t think it’s taken over a powerful psion, as otherwise I would’ve felt the entity before they came this close.” The room they were in was actually enormous and the two groups were almost on opposite sides, so saying they were close was actually somewhat relative.

Moonshadow looked towards the door. “I think that’s the military Tetrarch’s group, fashionably late. So you’re saying the entity has not taken over a Deity?”

"Well, that, or the Deity is a very weak one. I could’ve detected the damn thing from much further away if I tried to scan the world more actively, but that would’ve been noticed by every psion present on the planet. I didn’t want to do that until we had a confirmation the thing was present on this planet, or at least a stronger reason to suspect that to be the case.” Selendil looked contemplative for a moment. “I think I should mention that there’s one other possibility. If the void entity is a relatively high ranked one and the target is really weak of mind, then the entity would’ve faced less resistance, so we can’t rule out the possibility of a strong Deity that just happens to be weak to mind effects being the host just yet.”

The problem was that they could not really see the group in detail from the other side of the room. Thousands of people were between them, and the only reason they had even noticed the arrival of the military Tetrarch's group was because they sensed the mood of the room change and the master of ceremonies announced the arrivals. The other guests were also moving towards the Tetrarch to offer greetings and to make connections. And to plot of course. There would always be plotting.

“We’ll need to wait a bit until the crowd disperses before we can approach. Can you tell anything from this distance?” Moonshadow asked.

“Beyond the fact that the entity is in that group, not really. The void wraiths that take over people might not be the most powerful void entities, but they do have good senses. I can’t be too intrusive without alarming it. It’s also staying well-hidden and not making any moves.” Selendil explained. Now that she had sensed the entity, there was no way it could escape her senses that had locked on their target, but she was willing to oblige Moonshadow in not creating a huge diplomatic incident right this very moment. Now that her prey had been located, it would no longer be able to escape.

-----

The civilian Tetrarch had also noticed the sudden commotion by the door and knew who was causing it. He had arrived just a bit earlier and had caused a similar commotion, though a much smaller one. He was much more accessible to the various important personages than the other Tetrarch. He also liked to think of himself as a quite mild-mannered man, so the difference in treatment didn't bother him too much. The military Tetrarch was, after all, a rather forceful personality and had a larger following. Still, it was a little vexing. He decided to defuse the situation a little and draw some of the attention away from the other Tetrarch.

He went up to the podium placed by the side of the room about half-way through the large open area. The sound systems and cameras immediately turned on and towards him, and he drew everyone’s attention by clearing his throat. "Now that my esteemed colleague has deigned to arrive,” while his words were a bit barbed, he spiced them with a small smile of humor to take off the edge and succeeded in eliciting a burst of polite laughter from the gathered audience, "we can get to the real purpose of this gathering. We have gathered here to celebrate the memory of those brave men and women who have given their lives in battles against the traitors and those who would see the glory of Humanity tarnished.”

You couldn’t become a Tetrarch without being skilled with your words. As his speech progressed, the audience was slowly drawn in despite them being mostly cynical people aware of what he was doing. He drew on their sympathy, pride, patriotism, and sense of unity in the face of a common danger. He was a little vexed to see some people almost completely ignored him. That in itself wasn't strange, as there was no way his speeches could reach everyone, but he was less pleased when he realized who the people were that were ignoring him.

He had hoped to garner some support from the two representatives of the Mrrroww as they had deigned to show up for once, and with a High Ambassador no less! There was no way he could get an alliance against the Cybrans or the Illum, he wasn’t delusional to place his goals that high, but even a slight show of support by the powerful race would go a long way. Such diplomatic overtures fell nicely into his purview. The other people ignoring him belonged to the military Tetrarchs group as expected. One of the aides even seemed to look towards the corner where the Mrrroww ambassadors were with something that looked like a mix of horror and excitement.

As his speech came towards the end, he gestured towards a group of guests he had specially brought here without the knowledge of the military Tetrarch. "Perhaps appropriately for the theme of this celebration, we have some living heroes among us today. As some of you already know, our recent offensive against the Cybrans has been met with great success, perhaps finally even opening an opportunity for a decisive blow in this long-running struggle. The admiral in charge of the operation is of course too engaged with the ongoing situation to join us today, but on my request, he has sent some of his tactical officers to help us understand the situation. It was my understanding that the group is led by the very captain that was instrumental in creating the original coalition against the Illum that has now allowed us this opportunity.”

He leaned towards the nearby officer and cut the voice feed, as he had already forgotten the man’s name. “Leon is fine sir.” The man replied quickly. At least he was quick on the uptake. Maybe he could be worth making a connection with. He brought the voice feed back. “Captain Leon and his friends will be eager to answer any questions you may have about the current operation and its needs, so don’t hesitate to ask them anything that might help illuminate the situation!”

Helping the currently successful campaign against the Cybrans might have seemed like handing support to the military Tetrarch, who was naturally in charge of and reaping the most benefits from the successful military operation. However, this way he could gain at least a portion of the success by claiming that the support he managed to gather was instrumental in bringing about the ultimate victory. The best part was that he didn’t even need to lie. The campaign really did need support if they hoped to gain further success, and he would never let the military Tetrarch forget it.

‘This Leon fellow looks a little uncomfortable. Not a big surprise considering this is likely the first time he has come face to face with the cream of the Tetrarchy.’ The Tetrarch thought to himself. At his signal, the officers Admiral Gestalt had sent here dispersed among the guests, following Leon’s example. The Tetrarch noted with some satisfaction that the young captain could at least get over his jitters and act accordingly.

-----

“Leon.” The stern and dignified man with wings of grey in his dark hair greeted calmly. Despite his apparent age, his posture was perfect and his body still carried the strict military discipline he was apparently used to. The impression of a serious and powerful man was slightly spoiled when the man’s smiling wife quite deliberately planted an elbow into his ribs. And not very gently either. Never underestimate the strength of a woman trained by the Psicom.

“Leon my darling! It’s such a pleasure to see you!” The woman greeted Leon with a wide smile. At least she had the presence of mind not to give him a huge hug, which would’ve been a little awkward considering the situation. The woman was much younger than her husband, at least in appearance. She looked regal but also quite ravishing in the open cut dress.

“Father. Mother!” Leon returned the greetings, seriously to the older man and with a smile to the younger woman who he knew to be much more affectionate than she could let on in such public settings. “I should’ve expected to see you here. Are any of my siblings present?”

“Your oldest brother just came in as the Tetrarch did. He has become a trusted member of her staff I hear.” Leon’s father commented, his tone of voice making it clear that he was both proud of his eldest son, while at the same time implying that he was slightly disappointed that Leon was not occupying a similar position.

Leon’s mother gave her husband a disapproving look and continued in his stead. “Your sisters disappeared somewhere and I suspect at least Heidi to already be moving towards the nearest exit now that she has made an appearance. Heinrich is making connections for the company while Rainer is likely trying to hit on some of the young and hopefully unattached ladies in the garden.”

"Some things never change," Leon muttered. Rainer had always been a bit of a ladies man with an unfortunate penchant for those ladies that already had significant others, while Heinrich took his duties as the future leader of the family company extremely seriously. Being the son of the owner of one of the largest shipyards in the entire Tetrarchy came with certain duties and the man’s children each reacted in their own ways. The family history was also the reason Leon didn’t like using his last name. After all, the name was etched on the hulls of over 20% of the warships and ship components in Tetrarchy. Even Miyo wasn’t aware of his family history.

“Speaking of, why are you here instead of the front?” The older man asked, his jab less than subtle. He had always been less than pleased with Leon’s choice in deployments. He would’ve preferred Leon to seek a career either as a tactical officer in the backlines, like his oldest brother, or as a frontline commander that won accolades for the family. Now that Leon was finally at the front, his father was less than pleased to see him sent back.

"I'm here because this is where the admiral needed me to be," Leon replied firmly, not rising to his father's bait. "The situation at the front has calmed down a bit thanks to the recent string of battles. The Admiral needs the support that the Tetrarch is willing to provide and I was the most important officer the Admiral could afford to send to help secure that support. I would not be surprised if the good admiral took my family into consideration when making that decision, though thanks to the recent events, my name has been noted on its own merits.” Admiral Gestalt was naturally aware of his family history, but he was also aware of his attempts to distance himself from the name, which is why the Admiral usually treated him like a normal officer.

“I’ll make sure your grumpy father will help in getting that support.” Leon’s mother stated firmly and shot down any protests the man was prepared to make. They both knew who really made the decisions in the family.

“Speaking of support, is it just me or is there something odd about this gathering? I haven’t been to these parties before, but somehow I get the feeling that the air carries a faint hint of danger, and I don’t mean the normal backstabby kind.” Leon suddenly asked. Some of the guards had eyed him with a look that seemed out of place.

"Well, there are certainly several odd things about this party. Forgetting the political significance for a moment, the presence of the Mrrroww is quite out of place. The fact that they sent a High Ambassador and two Deities makes things extremely odd. We can't even tell how strong they are, as they can hide their halos via some unknown method. I heard the two Tetrarchs are also at odds. You might want to be careful about that. You’re currently seen as something like an ally of the civilian Tetrarch due to the support you’re trying to get, which puts you somewhat at odds with the military Tetrarch’s people, including your brother. Even with all that, the mood is a bit strange.” His mother analyzed the room.

“That reminds me.” Leon turned to his father. “I need a favor.”

The man's eyebrow shot up. Leon almost never asked for favors, despite knowing his father could provide a lot. Assuming he was willing. In general, he wanted his children to make their own way in the world, though he was not opposed to giving them a bit of an edge just to counter the favoritism the children of other high ranking people received. Leon almost never came for that help though, and he was secretly a little proud of that fact. The fact that he had done so now meant that the matter was serious. That’s why he left off the snide remark that he might have made otherwise. “What is it?”

“Can you introduce me to the Mrrroww High Ambassador? I think she might have information I need.” Leon requested. He had heard rumors of the Progenitor ship showing up in a battle that the Mrrroww had waged against the Shinzen. The cats had tried to suppress the information, but the harder you try to hide some news, the faster they spread. The fact was that the Progenitor ship had helped them. Perhaps they could help him find Miyo? He didn’t really care about the ship itself after all.

“That might be a bit difficult.” His father said with a frown. “I’ve never met the High Ambassador or her companion. I have very little contact with the Mrrroww in general, though that applies to everyone here. That said, I’m not averse to making the effort. I wouldn’t mind forming some connections with them either. Perhaps we can help each other. They might be curious about the battle with the Cybrans so that could give us an in.”