Consortium, a meeting of the races

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((Okay, this was just some random thing I thought I'd throw together. Partly inspired by our new affiliates, and partly by the Mass Effect book I've been reading recently . Aka, this was written for the sake of writing .

The Tezcan looked over at the large, round table that was the main feature of the room he occupied, currently alone. After much thought he had settled on the tried and tested shape, as it was the only way to prevent any of the invited representatives from perceiving themselves as higher or lower than others. The room itself was round, partly for the same reason as the table but mostly because it was the innermost room of the spherical space station, currently parked in neutral space. There had almost been a fight over where it should take place, however it was eventually agreed that this should be it, as it served as one of the main hubs of activity for many species. It was well armoured, and well defended by those that resided here, though it had originally been Tezcan in design. Thus, Teesn had been officially assigned as host of this particular meeting.

Each of the spaces where a chair of some sort stood, arranged equally around the table, had a holographic projection of that species emblem or 'flag' suspended a meter or so above the tabletop. While essentially unnecessary, Teesn felt that perhaps that would smooth over any further arguments, as he remembered some of them considered it an insult not to have them displayed.

His green, serpentine eyes moved until they rested on the three spaces which would, unfortunately, be empty today. The Magus had sent polite and timely apologies that their rep. could not be present, due to engagements elsewhere. This was not so much a problem for Teesn or the Tezca as a whole, who regularly traded goods and information with them, but he felt the others may have missed a golden opportunity here.

The space next to them would have been occupied by a Utopian rep, however the metallic, metamorphic beings too had sent apologies that they would not be able to make it. It was shortly after the Krkrln had sent their acceptance and willingness to attend that the Utopians had decided not to, so Teesn had a nagging suspicion that that may have been the real reason for their absence.

Next to that one was a space which had no seat at all, however it was clear someone had been asked to 'sit' there because a holographic symbol was projected above it, that of a blood red fang on a dark blue background. It was the symbol for the Muzvus Empire, controlled by a species strikingly similar to the Tezca yet so different in many ways. They had not even bothered to acknowledge the invite, never mind send apologies for not being able to attend, so Teesn was fully expecting them not to bother showing up. Truth be told he really didn't care, the Muzvus could be a most unpleasant race, even more so since Zuuvrua had come to power.

The rest though, had, and there was a particular group he was looking forward to meeting. The E-Maginians, Kinntrra and Oktaluns had requested seats set together, as they were already in an alliance of sorts. Their emblems showed clearly above their seats: the E-Maginians flag had two crossed, white thumb spikes against a dark yellow background. The Kinntrras one was a little less warlike, it depicted a thriving flower on a white background, whilst the Oktaluns showed a rounded, yellow eye piercing the murky blackness of their background. From what he'd heard their three species were very different, yet when the Muzvus had threatened their home worlds they'd banded together and worked together well to defend themselves.

The rest of them tended to be unaligned: The Krkrln, their flag showing a thorny tangle of vines against the rich soil of their home world, had been constantly at war with their Utopian neighbours. However they'd always vowed this wouldn't get in the way of their relations with any other aliens.

The Tiermutians showed a creature Teesn recognised as being similar to, or perhaps even related to the creatures called dragons. Except for obvious differences, such as a third pair of legs, a second pair of fangs halfway down the jaw and a distinctly all-black eye it looked just like a green dragon.

And last but not least were the two newly emerged species, only recently introduced to the rest of the galaxy: the T'Larans and the Reniilians. The T'Larans he'd heard, weren't used to very bright light so usually wore protection over their overly sensitive eyes. He'd heard too that they looked pale and humanoid, yet had a quite dense physical structure due to their moons proximity to a ringed gas giant. The same gas giant was depicted on their flag, against a background of stars.

The Reniilians were an almost inorganic race, their structure made up of minerals. The moon on which they had evolved was one of three orbiting a metallic planet. Interestingly, they seemed to have developed the ability to fly and their structure was less dense than the T'Larans.

'Today will be a most interesting one indeed' Teesn mused, before the intercom crackled with life as a fellow Tezcans voice crackled over it.

"Sir, three emissary ships have docked and their reps are on their way now"

Teesn nearly double taked, why hadn't they informed him of this sooner? He'd have gone down to meet them himself, it was Tezcan hospitality after all. But if he went for the next ones they'd demand to know why he hadn't for them. His grey-green scales subtly changed to a red tinted hue at his annoyance.

"Thank you. When the others come, inform them to do the same"

"Yes sir"

The com became silent again, while Teesn waited for the others to arrive near the door in the circular room. He didn't have to wait long before it opened either, the travel technology coupled with magic made it easy to traverse the length of the station.

The first to step through was the E-Maginian rep, a female by the name of Pemennkarra. Usually, the male Calamanntyrra dealt with these situations so Teesn was a little surprised at seeing the true leader of their race appear. She was a full foot higher than his six foot length, and turned to smile at the serpent with a lipless mouth full of pointed teeth.

Reptilian themselves, E-Maginians were covered in green scales that didn't change colour. Being female, the antennae that extended from the tops of her yellow, slitted eyes were perfectly straight, and her forehead lacked any of the raised scales the males sported. Their ears were highly visible as not only were they large, they were also sharply pointed towards the top, and set on the edges of their heads. They had two large slits for nostrils rather than an actual nose, the area on their faces being only slightly raised. E-Maginians possessed only one set of arms, with four fingers and a thumb claw, and the ends of their fingers, as with their three toed feet possessed much smaller claws. The E-Maginians body was encased in a shell, on the back of which were many curved spikes pointing towards the ground. They also had a tail, which had three pairs of spikes growing progressively smaller until they reached the tip, where a bone club could be found.

Despite their fearsome appearance and obviously predatorial background, however, E-Maginians had evolved to become peaceful beings with a love of technology, although clothes had never come into the equation. Both males and females of the species wore clothing of a robe of dyed skin, that only covered their nether regions and half of their legs.

Teesn, unable to smile due to lack of the muscles to do so changed his scale colour to a lighter green, a symbol of pleasantness and hospitality.

"Welcome, I am Teesn of the Tezca, your host for as long as this meeting goes on for"

Pemennkarra inclined her head before speaking, her own show of politeness.

"I am Pemennkarra, allow me to introduce my associates and good friends" the E-Maginian replied, sweeping her arm in a grand gesture as she turned around. Teesn might've grimaced if he could, he was afraid her tail bone might knock over one of the projectors as she made space for the other two to enter.

"Ambassador Nyekajj of the Oktaluns"

This was a blue skinned, cephalopod like female that stepped through on some of her four tentacles that served as legs. The other four served as arms, which were clasped together when she set her saucer sized eyes on Teesn. They too were yellow, but had round rather than slit pupils. Her beak was yellow too, and Teesn could already see the Oktalun would be hard to read because of that. All Oktaluns had darker coloured markings above their shoulders, and Nyekajj was no exception. She had two pairs of dark blue circles set above each of her front shoulders.

"Pleasure"

Nyekajj spoke as she ambled in, making room for the next.

"This is Healer Athlo, of the Kinntrra"

Pemennkarra said, as a mammalian creature came through. Covered from head to foot in light brown fur, his head growing darker and slightly longer hair, Teesn imagined Athlo must be incredibly uncomfortable in a Tezca station. However he hid it well, and just managed a smile despite his almost dragon shaped head. His eyes were larger than the E-Maginians, but not as large as the Oktaluns, and were orange with round pupils. His hands had no fingers on them, although there was a split for the thumb, Kinntrra used the suckers on their palms to grip things rather than digits. On the ends of each foot was a single, large claw, and Athlos short tail with its blue tufted end extended out beyond the white, woven material he was draped in through a slit. He had a pair of wings that extended outwards from his back as well, allowing him to fly and attesting to his ancestors’ original mode of transport.

Kinntrra had once been mistakenly given the status of angel by the E-Maginians, as they'd often heal the species they shared a planet with. However this had come to change dramatically recently. The Kinntrra were simply a species who had become very altruistic, and had benefited from it, as they were the foremost healers who used a planets natural resources, rather than conventional means, and got the best results because of their inherent understanding.

"Salutations are in order, I believe, before we start"

Athlo spoke, before joining the other three. Teesn inwardly grinned as his colour became a brighter green.

"Indeed they are. Welcome to the Consortium"

((I have more, but I need to go now . In case you're wondering how to pronounce some of the names, the double R's are meant to be rolled, Teesn is pronounced Tees-Un, and Nyekajj is pronounced N-EYE-kaj))

[Swix]

No sooner had the male Tezcan uttered the words than the females voice issued over the intercom again.

"Sir, the Krkrln emissary will be on his way soon"

Good, this was turning out rather well. But even as the small, three-species alliance looked up with curiosity, Teesn sensed his fellow serpent wasn't finished. That and he could still hear the intercoms background noise.

"Is there something else, Nrenth?"

"There was a bit of a... misunderstanding after they docked. A small scuffle broke out, no casualties and the reason why their rep will be slightly delayed. I thought you'd want to know"

Teesn inhaled deeply as his scales changed to a dull grey, hopefully this 'misunderstanding' wouldn't damage any of the proceedings here.

"Thank you for that Nrenth"

"The Reniilians and the T'Larans have appeared whilst we were talking. They'll be docking soon"

Nrenth added as a parting comment, then the internal communications went completely dead, signalling to Teesn that there was nothing else worth his notice. The Tezcan rep. turned back to Pemennkarra, Nyekajj and Athlo. He however found himself discouraged by their deliberate glance at the Muzvus Empires hologram, and the blue Oktaluns unnerving and over-large stare.

"We were not informed you had invited the Muzvus. Would you mind explaining why?"

The Kinntrra asked, surprisingly calmly from what Teesn had been expecting. But then, he shouldn't really have been expecting anything less than a surprise from the flying mammalian, as his kind had developed a reputation for it.

"I assume we needn't remind you or your government we are all at war?"

The Oktalun supplied, even though it was entirely unneeded. This was all apart of the meeting after all.

"That would be a part of the reason they were invited" Teesn answered carefully, he'd been anticipating this question since the mismatched trios arrival "We had hoped this would end it"

Nyekajj had her yellow beak partially open to say something, but Pemennkarra held a clawed hand up before the Oktalun had a chance to make a sound.

"And the reason this was kept from us?"

The E-Maginian asked as calmly as she could, despite the rapidly lowering atmosphere and feeling of betrayal clearly showing in her eyes.

"You are aware of the state of affairs between the Krkrln and Utopians?" Teesn asked rhetorically, before ploughing ahead so they weren't able to raise any questions until he was finished "They were aware of the others invite, and it would seem as a result one declined when the other accepted. We feared it may have been the same with you. It doesn't seem to have mattered anyway, they have not even acknowledged our communication"


((Sorry, gotta go again ))

[Swix]

After Teesn had finally finished, he waited to see if and what the others had to say. His skills must have been better than he'd thought, as they had quietened in order to mull over what he'd said. The male Tezcan turned to the entrance to the room as the door simultaneously opened to admit the Krkrln emissary.

Since no-one apart from the plant like aliens themselves were able to pronounce their names, they'd taken to adopting aliases. This one had opted for the simple name of 'Thorn'.

Teesn slowly nodded his head as Thorn moved into the room on hundreds of vine like tendrils. The Krkrln simply blinked back at the Tezcan before a rustling, clicking sound was heard before it was soon replaced by a cool, organic sounding voice. It emanated from a slight and discoloured lump on Thorns neck.

"Always good to see you, Teesn. A shame my counterpart could not be here"

The emissary said, although the Tezcan could not tell if the Krkrln was being genuine or not. There wasn't exactly an abundance of feeling coming from the artificial voice.

"The feelings are mutual"

Teesn replied as Thorn made his way to the space beneath his species flag. The Krkrln needed no seat, he simply arranged his hundreds of tendrils beneath him so his head was above the table.

Teesn clasped his top hands together as the lower arms folded, appraising the ever growing congregation before addressing them all.

"The Reniilians and T'Larans will be here shortly, and the Tiermutians shouldn't be too far behind. If you need anything in the mean time do not hesitate to ask"

The Tezcan indicated, watching them watch each other. Well, all except for the Oktalun who spared a glare in his direction first. The semi-aquatic creature was proving easier to read than he'd originally thought.

Thorn seemed quite content to just stay where he was and not speak, returning the others open curiosity with an impenetrable black stare. If this was any indication of how things were going to keep up, the Tezcan may as well just pack up and leave. As it turned out though, that would be unnecessary. The Kinntrra was again the first to speak, offering greetings and introductions to Thorn whilst temporarily dropping the Muzvus issue. No doubt they were saving it for when the rest of the invited guests showed up.

Teesn let them converse with each other whilst he waited, only half listening until Nrenth announced the Reniilians and T'Larans docking, coupled with the Tiermutians ship finally showing itself.

By the time the door opened to admit the two newest representatives, Teesn had fallen half asleep. Once more he found himself grateful Tezca had no eyelids, as he was sure neither of the newly emerged species would have been too impressed. Teesns scales once again turned a light green at the sight of them.

The first of the two to step through was obviously a T'Laran, judging by the apparatus he wore around his head and eyes. T'Larans eyes were large and bulbous, a feature accentuated and made slightly worse by the self imposed goggles wrapped around them in order to darken the light so they didn't become blinded. The creatures’ skin was a pale orange, and looked rough but not exactly scaly, while the alien himself was rather small and wiry. Of all the species present at this meeting, the T'Laran was not only the shortest at barely four feet but one of the few who did not possess a tail. He was bipedal and had only the one pair of arms.

Despite all this however, Teesn had heard reports both of their deceptive strength and dense body structure, leaving prints in everything but the hardest of materials.

Their ears consisted of small pin holes, as did their nostrils on their near non-existent noses. Their lipless mouths housed many blunt teeth, whilst both his thin hands and toes had neither nails nor claws.

This particular T'Laran was draped in a drably coloured yellow outfit, which Teesn found to be rather bizarre to look at. However, since it was his job as host the Tezcan slithered a little ways forward and introduced himself. The T'Laran identified himself as Ambassador F'Narl before moving to the table, allowing the Reniilian behind him to make her entrance.

[Swix]

Reniilians were another very different species, their biological structure was simply organic rock. If you could call that simple, that is. Their skin had a purplish hue to it, and Teesn knew their ability to fly was limited to low gravities, though gliding on slightly higher ones wasn't a problem either. They had a pair of wings that looked as though they were composed of threads and when folded gave the creatures a hunchbacked appearance. This ones eyes were dull purple, pupilless ovals protected by nictitating membranes as well as eyelids, most likely for the slight radiation that emanated from the third member of their moons. Her head had a disproportionately large beak with quite prominent nostrils, giving her an untrustworthy look that might make it hard for her to interact amiably with the other species. Reniilians had no tails either, but they did have a single pair of arms and legs. These were neither wiry nor bulky, and if it weren't for their mineral heritage may have been considered sinuous. Reniilians had two clawlike fingers and one thumb, the same went for their three toes.

The female introduced herself as nothing more than Merinil, the Tezcan vaguely remembered her kind had no use for titles and simply put people in areas they were good at. It worked in a bizarre way, but the serpent was fairly certain that others would find working with them a little difficult. Still, it wouldn't be impossible and making allies was always a good move.

After Merinil had seated herself, Teesn folded both pairs of arms whilst he watched them interact and waited for the last representative to show up. After the Tiermutian got there, things would become very interesting or very difficult, possibly both.

[Swix]

((I don't have an update for this yet, however I have just 'mostly' finished all the aliens descriptions in the Genetic Repository. Or you can just click here))

[Swix]

"Pemennkarra" Teesn asked suddenly, causing the large E-Maginian female to break off her conversation with the T'Laran in order to concentrate on him "may I ask you a question, off the record?"

"That depends on the question" Pemennkarra answered, with the slightest hint of apprehension "but go ahead"

"What happened to your usual representative, Calamanntyrra?" the Tezcan obliged his fellow reptilian, phrasing the question in a blunt manner was often the way to get the most direct answers "I was surprised to see you"

"Calamanntyrra is a traitor to us as well as the Kinntrra and Oktaluns. He sold us out to the Muzvus and then disappeared off our sensors" Pemennkarra answered as venomously as any angry viper Teesn had had the misfortune of knowing, but she wasn't finished there "If he is still alive, he is somewhere within the Empires space, and that is too large and dangerous an area for us to risk looking"

"Teesn, off the record, where is your Summoner? Isn't she supposed to be present at such important occasions?"

"Ah, I see you've been studying our traditions" the Tezcan answered, carefully keeping his scales neutral, which was an essential skill in his line of work "Kheesth is our most powerful Summoner, however, she finds occasions like this bothersome. And it is the Summoners right to choose not to attend"

This was only half the truth though. Well, it was entirely accurate that the Summoner did not really care about this kind of thing, those in the Tezca government didn't really trust her so were not inclined to go out of their way to look for her. The woman was too clever, too powerful and too old to cause anything but suspicion to surround her, especially when she suddenly decided to start taking an interest in current affairs. Teesn didn't have a problem with her personally, but then he'd never been on the receiving end of one of her schemes. It was entirely possible the infamous reputation was a well deserved one.

It was about this time that the blue eyed Tiermutian representative showed up and introduced herself to Teesn and the rest as Professor Zal. Zals dark green hair was cut to shoulder length and the Tiermutian wore a white top paired up with white trousers, each with holes to accommodate her draconic wings and tail. After the greetings, the Tiermutian seated herself at the prepared spot whilst looking at the three empty spaces curiously.

"Are we waiting for others?" she asked.

"No" Teesn answered "I think that's everyone. We can begin"

For the next hour or so, the assorted species discussed trivial things such as trade agreements as well as resolving mutual disputes. In the case of Merinil and F'Narl, the two were simply coming to grips with intergalactic politics and arguments. For the most part, they just observed.

Once that was done and dusted however, the male Tezcan rose to his full height in order to get everyones attention before he spoke about the most serious matter.

"Now we've got all those problems out of the way, I'd like to address another issue that will affect us all, if it hasn't already" he announced, getting the attention of the three Alliance members in particular as they sensed what he was about to say "In light of the Muzvus Empires unwillingness to open communications, along with the threat it poses, I propose we form a mutually beneficial alliance of our own"

Teesn paused in order to let his words sink in, but was unsurprisingly interrupted by Thorn. He'd have to note that down, it was the first time the serpent had ever managed to predict the plants actions in advance since they'd met.

"That is all well and good, but we Krkrln have been at war for centuries so we cannot spare the ships to defend others borders. Exactly how would this benefit us?"

"That is a point I took into consideration before I submitted this to you. Each species here has unique traits, technology, knowledge, supplies that will benefit the others. Whilst you cannot spare the ships, we Tezca can. Our fleets combined will be more than a match to keep the Muzvus at bay, whilst providing a safe haven for those fleeing from them" Teesn answered as best he could, hoping he'd get through to the plant. If he could convince a Krkrln, he could convince anyone. But first he'd give them a few minutes to mull it over before asking for their answer.

"You all talk as though this 'Empire' is on the verge of destroying the galaxy" the T'Laran spoke up suddenly, showing his 'newness' in a far different and dangerous light "are these Muzvus really that bad? Has any one of you met their leader that you can claim the right to talk like this?" he demanded of them, daring one of them to say no.

F'Narl would be disappointed however, since there was someone here who'd had first hand experience with the Empress herself. Well, first tentacle would probably be more accurate. Ambassador Nyekajj stood up and fixed F'Narls goggles with her saucer sized eyes.

"I have" she said, her tone of voice putting through more emotion than even Teesn thought his scale colour could manage "I met Zuuvrua before she became Empress. She is a cruel, calculating creature who takes pleasure in causing suffering to anyone or anything she dislikes. And she especially dislikes those not of her species. She will try to enslave you through deception first, force second, and if that doesn't work she will try to destroy you. The Muzvus Empire has become so much worse since she came to power. I was lucky to get away from her with only a few scars"

[Swix]

F'Narl sat down in his chair with a 'thud' after the Oktaluns verbal onslaught, Teesn imagined he had been expecting that answer least of all.

"Never trust a Muzvus or take anything they say at face value" Nyekajj finished off as she sat down herself, before adding almost as an afterthought "unless you're talking to Vazu"

The Oktalun spoke of the blue eyed rebel leader as though she knew her personally, which the Tezcan found to be most interesting.

"The proposal is most interesting" Thorn spoke up, breaking the silence first with his rustlings before the organic translator kicked in "I will have to seriously consider it after this meeting before giving you the Krkrlns answer"

Teesns scales grew ever so slightly greener at this, it was the best answer he could possibly have hoped for from the plant.

He didn't have time to exult in this for long though, as what sounded like a dull explosion rocked the circular room, throwing everyone onto the floor as the entire station tilted for just a second. When you could hear explosions this deep inside, it only meant bad news. The males scales had turned an almost luminescent shade of silver, along with the slightest hints of orange and yellow for confusion and fear.

"Nrenth" Teesn yelled as he got back up, activating the internal comms as well as lapsing into the undulating Tezcan language thanks to his surprise "what in the four frozen hells is going on?"

"We're under attack" came Nrenths shaky reply, spoken in Common for everyone's convenience "Levels 3, 5 and 9 have huge holes blasted into them. We didn't see them until it was too late, they must have used some sort of cloak. I'm counting one hundred and fifty scout type ships in all"

[Swix]

'Scouts?' Teesn thought 'that doesn't make any sense... and why such a large number?' The Tezcan might not know as much as, say, a fleet captain, but even he knew it would take more than just scouts to blow holes in the spherical station. Especially with the kind of power that last blast had had.

"There are probably more" Pemennkarra warned as she finally got back to her feet, still a little shaky. This particular E-Maginian probably knew more about combat than Teesn had previously suspected. Nrenth had obviously heard her as well, since the emergency attack alarms began sounding as the females voice echoed across the entire stations communications. It was surprisingly calm sounding.

"The station is under attack by Muzvus forces. All crew to emergency battle posts, civilians to safe rooms. I repeat, we are under attack..."

The Oktalun ambassador had what looked like a self satisfied, beaky smile on her face. She obviously knew something he didn't.

"Sir, security teams are on their way to you now. Pemennkarra was right, there are more ships. The Oktaluns are feeding us their net readings now"

Meanwhile, in the void of space outside the station...

E-Maginian warships decloaked themselves to prepare to fire, revealing seven additional vessels as well as the original one that had held both Athlo and Pemennkarra. The bloated looking Oktalun ships followed suit, although their main priority was to position themselves in such a way that their 'net' revealed all the hidden enemy ships locations and feed them simultaneously to the mish-mash of a fleet. The organic vessels belonging to the Krkrln and the Tiermutians city-ship did their best to get in the way of the scouts and the now revealed four escorts, whilst the Reniilians and T'Larans less powerful vessels prepared to provide them with support if needed. There was no doubt the escorts were Muzvus ships due to the amalgamated design. Apparently Muzvus stole architecture as well as useful technology now.

Once they were in place, the mixed fleet fired a barrage of deadly fire at the once-hidden enemies. However, what they'd taken to be the greatest threat to them all turned tail after only a short amount of return fire, and sped away from the battle site, confusing the hell out of a lot of ship commanders. Why go to the lengths of trying to conceal yourselves if you planned to run away? Or if not, why enter what would have been a heavily guarded area with inadequate weapons? It made no sense at all.

It wasn't until one of the scouts clipped the edge of the Tiermutian city-ships shields and subsequently exploded against it, sending a wave of colour into space as it did, that they realised what was really going on. The scout ships had been rigged with powerful explosives, and what was worse, they weren't even unmanned. Each and every one was piloted by non-Muzvus, most likely the unfortunate slaves. Zuuvrua truly could not care less about them.

The mixed fleet had been given no choice, even with their masters gone they still continued their destructive paths. The interspecies vessels ignored the fleeing warships, and instead concentrated on destroying the scouts.

Unfortunately, the distraction plan had worked to a certain extent as enough of the scouts had gotten past the ships barrage to bring down the stations hastily raised shields. A couple of the vessels continued their path of destruction to their destination, the walls of the spherical structure. Plumes of silent flame erupted from the bust vessels as they exploded on contact, puncturing yet more holes before the fire that flared up on the vessels died down due to lack of oxygen outiside.

[Swix]

((Almost finished now , also the Muzvus species has been completed))

Teesn awoke to a world of pain and colours he had no names for. The last thing he remembered was hurrying along a corridor with two Tezca guards by his side. The party had been split up when the security team had gotten down there, each rep of each species had been taken on a different route to different 'safe' rooms. This was a precaution taken in order to make their death or capture much harder for the enemy to accomplish, but it seemed he'd drawn the short straw this time as his guards had miscalculated the sheer power of the explosions, and had taken him just that little bit too close to the outer walls. At least the force field had kicked in quickly enough that he hadn't been sucked out into space, or he'd be dead already.

The Tezcan remained where he was, prone and twisted on the floor, with his head held at an odd angle between the floor and the wall where he'd fetched up. His spine being twisted over more than once was a little worrying, but not as worrying as the fact that he couldn't feel two of his four arms at all. He hoped he hadn't lost them for good. Sticky, purple blood oozed out of the gods only knew where and he worriedly realised he'd been breathing in smoke from the superheated fire that was consuming the fuel the scout ship had unloaded when it crashed.

'I'm going to die' Teesn thought, as he found out that he couldn't move anything at all, 'I'm going to burn, suffocate or bleed out'. Any way he looked at it, it didn't seem good 'I'm going to die'

Then something very strange happened. Suddenly the heat and noise f the dangerous fire died down almost completely, but the Tezcan was unable to see why. He coughed pathetically, there were major disadvantages to having only one lung and it looked as though his natural defences were already weakened. If he didn't get to a medical bay before the smoke settled, he'd be dead for sure.

"Do you think he'll live?" came a male voice Teesn didn't recognise at all, it was definitely no-one he'd met or seen recordings about before. The voice sounded young and ancient at the same time, but the Tezcan only hoped that he was a medic of some kind.

"Perhaps" came a slightly more familiar, female voice as he felt something soft being pressed against his no doubt gaping wounds. It hurt like hell, but all the serpent could do to show his displeasure was make a hoarse and unintentional hissing sound "can you make him cough that stuff out?"
"Of course" the male voice smugly replied before what sounded like an uneasy silence descended upon the trio. "You mean now? Oh very well"

Teesn waited, wondering how in the universe they were going to do that as his sight continued to swim. After a few seconds, a dark head showed itself up in his messed up vision along with four arms, two of which were lowered onto his chest and neck. What felt like icicles plunged themselves into the respective areas of his body, causing the Tezcan to gasp in surprise.

His vision cleared for a moment, and Teesn saw the dark figure leaning over him in grotesque detail. The thing above him had no skin, no muscles and black voids for eyes. It was a skeleton of his species, and it was also entirely black, as though charred by a fire. Suddenly he found himself gripped tighter by the fear of death.

"I know what you're thinking" the nightmare creature managed to say without the aid of a tongue as it looked down its empty snout at him, and Teesn realised it was the same male voice he'd heard before "not that I can read minds or anything, it's just obvious. Lucky for you I'm not Death"

Teesn barely had any time to take this in as a violent coughing fit racked his entire body until the living serpent spewed a horribly discoloured, disgusting substance out. He was relieved to find he could breathe easier now, and the coldness had removed itself from his chest and neck.

The grisly apparition removed itself from his vision, only to be replaced by the grey-green image of a female Tezcan whose green eyes spoke of untold things they'd seen.

"You owe me for this" she told him, as the dismayed male found that not only did this person lack any empathy for his condition, he was slipping away into unconsciousness again. The last thoughts to go through his mind were that the female looked and sounded so familiar, he really should know who it was.

... He did know who it was. The mystery female was Kheesth.

"He's going hibernative again, you'll have to help me carry him"

"I'm the Spirit of Animation, not a stretcher"

[Swix]

Teesn awoke hours later, extremely thankful to find himself in one of the larger medical bays the Tezcan station possessed. Whilst he was the only one there, others-of all species-had been injured in the attack, he was the only one with the oddest assortment of bedside watchers. The company that surrounded him comprised of every one of the representatives as well as the yellow eyed Nrenth. He could tell she was worried since she'd gone a shade of blue.

The Tezcan propped himself higher on the bed, using his two lower arms elbows. He didn't mind the shooting pains this caused, as he was only too glad he still had his arms. He'd feared the ones he could not feel after his encounter with explosives and a wall had been blown off at the time, but they were certainly making their presence felt now. His right side also hurt like hell, but he didn't mind, it reminded him that he was still alive and breathing.

"What happened?" the serpent asked of the small crowd, his voice a little hoarse but nowhere near as bad as it could have been.

"The scouts were packed with high powered explosives as well as extra crates of fuel" Nrenth answered him "a few got past our defences. You were lucky you weren't any closer to the outside"

"Unmanned?" he asked, assuming the answer would be yes. What kind of a maniac would send their own people to die?

"No, there were pilots. Our fleets analysed the debris and found remains of every species we know of" Nrenth paused "Everyone except a Muzvus, they were all slaves. The warships the Oktaluns detected ran off once they realised they'd been seen, they were only a distraction and we all fell for it"

Nrenth stopped to take a breath, but before Teesn could phrase the question that had struck him Athlo surprised him yet again by anticipating it.

"The pilots were unable to stop themselves" the Kinntrra informed him.

"Why?" Teesn blurted out, though as soon as he did he realised the answer would have come anyway. That knock must have really shaken him up.

"Because they were all wearing slave collars" Athlo continued smoothly "they couldn't help but obey even after their masters abandoned them. One of the ships recovered an almost intact collar"

Teesn didn't say anything for a good few minutes afterwards. The collars had been rumours at best, and experimental at worst. The information had been sent to them via their contacts in the resistance, and even they weren't able to get any concrete information about this technology the Muzvus were experimenting with. But it was crystal clear to everyone now that the higher thought inhibitors were a reality. This also made their collective enemy more dangerous than any of them had first thought.

Thinking of dangerous people...

"Where is she?" Teesn asked as he attempted and failed to prop himself up high enough to look over everyones heads. Thorn blinked his black eyes at the Tezcan, slowly and deliberately.

"Where" the Krkrln stated, the translator surprisingly picking up some confusion, or maybe it was just malfunctioning "is who?"

"The Summoner" Teesn explained, confused himself "Kheesth. She... saved my life" How could they not have noticed she was here? He had a valid excuse for not realising who she was immediately but they certainly didn't, she wasn't exactly renowned for sneaking around when it came to things like this. He also vaguely remembered her saying something about carrying him... Then there was that awful apparition, but it would probably be better for him not to mention that.

"She left shortly after you were brought here. You were... in an awful condition when you arrived. The Summoner said she wasn't too far away from the explosion when it happened" Nrenth answered, her tone and now orange and yellow tinted blue scales indicating she didn't quite believe Kheesths story "so she went to investigate if anyone was hurt. Apparently she dragged you all the way back here by herself"

'That's not possible' Teesn thought 'I definitely saw... something else there' At least his instincts about mentioning the 'something else' had proven right, they might think his brain had taken damage if he did.

"Did she say anything else?" the male asked against his better judgement. Curiousity often overrides safety measures like that.

"She said you could keep the cloak she used to stop your bleeding" Nrenth answered "to remind you"

The female produced the garment from its previously hidden place on a table behind her, the delicate silver material must have been washed thoroughly as no stains of Teesns purple blood could be seen anywhere on it. Nrenth handed him the cloak, and the male had to carefully keep his scales neutral grey-green as the memory of the Summoners face and voice washed over him.

"You owe me for this" he remembered the words, clear as crystal as he folded the garment before putting it on the bed beside him.

"I will remember" he told them, although he did not elaborate despite the expectant silence. That part was none of their business, just his.

"I think this is called a baptism of fire" the Reniilian female called Merinil commented, giving Teesn pause for thought. Was it possible-?

"We all discussed your proposal whilst you were recovering" F'Narl spoke this time, stopping Teesns train of thought "and we decided to accept"

"Taking recent events into account" Thorn spoke again "the Krkrln are willing to join forces"

"Teesn" this time it was the Tiermutian Professors turn "we are stuck on a name for this mutual bonding of species. Did you have one in mind?"

"The Consortium" the male serpent answered as he sank back down onto the bed, unable to ignore the pain in his arms and side anymore so relieving it. He'd brought all the species-well, most of them-together to form a powerful alliance, and he'd survived being blown up. So why did he feel as though someone had taken something infinitely precious away from him?

[align=center:ed5ca7f111]"You owe me for this"[/align:ed5ca7f111]

And... I'm done

[3kul]

Great story Swix, I really enjoyed it

Are you planning on working this into a future RP or is it something that you'll be keeping for your own stories?

[Swix]

Thanks, glad you like it . I've added the sentence I forgot to now and corrected all the spelling mistakes I could see, hurrah!

I'm planning on introducing both the Consortium and the Muzvus to Blackstar in an RP soon. You might even see Teesn in it

Random tidbit of information: Zuuvrua and the Muzvus were my first ever villains

[GBE]

You've been busy Swix.. Good work.. No Utopians... Pfftt!! How rubbish! I'm insulted you'd think they'd negate getting one up on some silly plant things.. I mean really... Well, I'll just have to have my revenge at sometime soon...


But really, that was a really well planned story. It kind of reminds me of Enterprise, but you know, whatever..

[Swix]

Heh, whilst I would have loved to include Utopians, I'm not confident enough I'd have gotten their perspectives right, so I had to find a believable way to edit them out as you weren't around to ask .

But apart from that, thanks .