- The sound of wind droning through tunnels was the first thing Jason realised as he started to regain consciousness after his encounter with the Vorporin. He could smell the damp around wherever it was he was laying, but the lack of growls or snarls implied that he was not in immediate danger.

Opening his eyes for the first time his vision was blurred and everything around him appeared to be of various shades of greys merging together. It was reasonably dark but there were spots of artificial light which made him assume he was no longer outside. Had they managed to have been rescued?

Blinking rapidly seemed to help his vision eventually clear and it showed the rocky structure he was now prostrate within. As the rock structure towered around him, Jason assumed that they had now moved to a cave.

He tried to turn to look around at his surroundings but his body screamed in agony. His shoulder was especially painful which immediately brought back memories of it being pierced by the second Vorporin.

His whole body burned intensely on every slight movement like his blood was on fire. Looking directly towards the ceiling seemed to be his only comfortable option.

With a grunt, he resigned himself to his current state not knowing for how long he would be like this.

"You strong Jason Scharn." a deep broken voice could be heard from his side.

The realisation that he was not alone was somewhat daunting. Just a few feet away was his sworn enemy, sitting and staring aimlessly towards the cave exit. Jason could not move, he was at the complete mercy of the Ceti.

"How did we survive?" Jason asked knowing that Voshtek K'Or had every opportunity to be hostile towards him and chose not to.

"With great difficulty!" a small chuckle seemed to form after his comment. Jason couldn't help but slightly admire his adversary.

Warnings started to appear on Jason's HUD. Toxicity levels in his bloodstream were dangerously high, likely from the venom of the Vorporin. It would explain why he could not move from his current location. The positive note was the suit he was wearing was counteracting the venom so the worst of it had likely passed. It still didn't show how long he would be like this.

"Where are we?" he asked.

There was a quiet sigh from the Ceti's direction. "Unknown. Unable to find landmarks for identification." Voshtek responded.

Jason could hear the exasperation in his voice. They were both lost in a very untamed part of the planet. Unless their respective parties chose to rescue them, it would simply be a matter of time before they would both succumb to death.

"I believe I owe you my life?" Jason commented, more in awe than resentment.

A small chuckle could be heard. "Not necessary Jason Scharn. You man of honour, I see. You would do same."

Jason thought to himself. If he had to fight off three Vorporin to save this Ceti would he do it? Would he just run or would he do what he could to protect his enemy? "How can you tell?"

"Voshtek K'Or, Judicator. Trained soldiers for two hundred and seventy-six cycles. Soldiers come and go, signs of honour and dignity stay."

"Humans may be different to Ceti's when it comes to matters of honour." Jason commented.

"Jason Scharn speaks true, and also speaks false. Races are different, honour is same."

Despite his broken Terran language, his words made sense.

"Two hundred and seventy-six cycles, I wish I knew how long that was." Jason smiled.

There was a brief silence "Three hundred and twelve earth years."

Jason winced as he wanted to turn in shock from the response. His body quickly reminded him that he couldn't move through the sharp pains around his body. "Three hundred years? You can't be?"

A chuckle echoed in the room again. "Ceti life span nine hundred earth years, warrior lifespan two hundred twenty earth years. Voshtek old warrior but young Ceti."

Jason chuckled along with him. He was fascinated by his adversary and just how different they were from each other. He had a strange charisma about him along with a wisdom that felt appealing.

Spending time with his adversary had piqued Jason's interest. He wanted to learn so much about his foe, their lifestyle, and their culture, but how much did he want to push Voshtek. They were still enemies and should they be rescued, there was no telling who would enter the cave. Even if they were human, there was absolutely no guarantee they would be a welcome face.

"Jason Scharn quiet? Must have questions, ask your questions." Voshtek said almost as if he was reading Jason's mind.

"You speak much of honour, why?"

There was a chuckle once more. "You ask good question. For Ceti, honour is everything. No honour, no Ceti. Honour very foundation of existence. Ceti lives with honour, fights with honour, dies with honour." Voshtek explained.

"You fight with a Sceptre? Why use hand held weapons. With your energy shield and energy weapons it would be almost impossible to stop you." Jason asked.

Voshtek stood up and stepped over to Jason so he could be seen. Holding his retracted Sceptre in his hand he held it above Jason. "Ceti warrior is no warrior without sceptre. Sceptre is matter of honour. Ancient texts dictate we must use Sceptre as matter of honour. With Sceptre we wage war or maintain peace."

"But you use spaceships with energy weapons. They have been your key output in this war, aren't they dishonourable?" Jason asked.

There was a much deeper chuckle this time, and the heaving from the Ceti's body would suggest that it was something Voshtek found hysterical. "Sorry, your question childish." Voshtek eventually responded after regaining his composure. "Sceptres in space don't work."

'He has a point.' Jason thought to himself.

Voshtek continued "Ancient texts dictate honour. Ancient texts have no space. Ancient texts not dictate space."

"Your ancient texts dictate how you live?" Jason asked.

Jason watched as the Ceti nodded in agreement. Voshtek still had his helmet on so he could not see his facial expressions, but he could hear a sense of pride when the ancient texts were spoken of.

"And what does it say about starting a war?" Jason asked abruptly. Understanding why the Ceti's attacked humanity had been the one thing that had bothered him throughout this whole conflict.

Voshtek placed his Sceptre to his side and it automatically strapped itself to his hip. "Ancient texts very clear. No war unless defence or honour breached."

"How did we violate your honour? Before this conflict started we did not know you even existed?" Jason asked trying to get to the root of the problem.

"Honour not breached, defence required!" Voshtek responded.

"But we didn't know you?" Jason responded confused. How could the Ceti's want to defend themselves from humans if they had never met each other? Was this just some not very well thought out propaganda?

Voshtek placed his hands on the side of his helmet. There was a crackle and a hiss as the various parts of his helmet detached themselves from around the three bones protruding from his skull. Lifting the helmet from his head he revealed his hardened skin the colour of sand dunes at dusk. Two small sunken bright bluish-white eyes looked directly at Jason as if to make the point of what he was about to say next. With humans, the eyes are the window to the soul and as Jason studied the eyes of his foes, it felt as if Ceti's felt the same.

"Humans start war, Ceti's defend honour." Voshtek said through his sharp beak-like mouth.

Jason was starting to get frustrated. It felt like Voshtek thought he was telling the truth. Was the Ceti war machine all based on a lie?

"Charon, Pluto, you attacked us two years ago. Have you forgotten? You attacked Charon station before engaging the mining colony. It was a ruse to launch a full-scale attack in Alpha Centauri."

Voshtek shook his head, his three bones extending behind his head whisked side to side with frustration. "Charon retaliation for Fretorek V'Kora."

"Fretorek what?" Jason asked.

"Fretorek V'Kora. Third moon of Grishlok V'Kora."

Could this be the answer Jason had been looking for? The real reason why the war began? "What happened?"

"Human ships dropped bomb, chemicals in atmosphere. Chemicals killed all on moon. Twelve million total. Ship crew interrogated, after resources on moon. Indigenous lifeforms obstacle. Chemicals remove obstacle." Voshtek explained.

Jason could see a sadness in his eyes as Voshtek explained and simply didn't know how to answer. As Voshtek turned to sit back on his seat, Jason lay there contemplating the accusation against his race and everything it entailed.

If what Voshtek was telling was true, then Human Confederate had not only started the war but committed a major atrocity to do so. From a human perspective, this war had been started as retaliation to Charon but in this potential reality, humans started it by killing twelve million intelligent lifeforms.

This would not only mean that the war was a lie but it was based on committing major war crimes.