As alliance forces moved to assist the massive Ahr'Aht ships in successfully launching volleys of mass-packets at the slowly approaching Beast, Samateus slashed through the last of the aerial beast drones and swiftly flew to land, rather heavily, just outside the cave system where she had seen Pyrus' ship disappear. She used the shield emitters -the two petals from the Obsidian Flare- to keep the ground fire from doing further damage to the exterior of the capital and allow for more troops and civilians to move around without worry of being struck by null energy bolts or falling icicles in the caves beyond.
**I can only stall them for so long! What's your plan young leaders?** Samateus asked as she glanced back toward where she had seen their ship disappear. Zuma responded after a long moment, the only psionic able to respond at a distance.
**We have encountered an... internal problem. Lady Zera suspects a... coup? I do not understand...** Zuma seemed to be clearer, more confident in her speech now, despite being concerned with the two younglings and the Bonean with them. Samateus frowned, this was likely going to make things more difficult, rearing back up on her hind legs to dodge the beast drone that had gotten close enough to leap through her shield to attempt to strike her. She slapped it away with a paw, the strike causing the drone's containment crescent to crack and explode, the energy of the drone imploding and fading away.
Samateus knew the two young leaders were in good hands alongside Sternum, the older and prison-hardened Bonean's mind remained calm and collected, even when she had briefly showed off her power before them. While only a small amount of what she had been gifted before the Ahr'Aht liberated her and her people, she knew to keep much of it in check around new allies, though right now the planet needed to be clear of aerial beast drone activity. She let out a deafening roar, energy building along the pulsing lighting of her armour, before she rose up and then slammed her paws down on the ice before her.
A wave of energy, brilliantly golden, issued forth from where her paws touched the ice, quickly rising and travelling in a circular wave around her. As it impacted the Beast drones, even two on hover-sleds attempting a low-flight toward the palace to drop more containment crescents, were thrown back with the force of the energy, and torn apart. The containment crescents were turned to dust as the null energy comprising the forms of the beast drones and their ships appeared to vaporise. Satisfied that the Beast planet threat to Ice had been eliminated, Samateus dismissed the shield petals from the Obsidian Flare before she moved to quickly run after Zera, Zuma, Pyrus and Sternum.
Upon the return of the shield petals, Xerxes received a notification from the Artificial Intelligence system of his ship. He smiled, nodding his head and pointedly looking to Graveheart and Cryos.
"Planet Ice has been cleared." He announced. They blinked comically, exchanged a glance, and, before either could speak, several more reports of planetary bound Beast Drone forces being destroyed and cleared from each respective world came through. Any stragglers were quickly dispatched, the Taalrulthians visibly returning to the larger world-ships of the Ahr'aht as others gathered to provide cover fire for the mass-packets, which were being launched with less frequency.
"I really don't like how close it's getting… Does it seem bigger to you? It looks bigger to me." Femur muttered from near Cryos and Graveheart on the bridge of the Aurora, Jade frowning and looking to Tekla at a console near her.
"With basic distance and external readings… Yes, the beast planet seems to have gotten larger since we last saw it…" Tekla advised after a moment, shuddering lightly before she continued attempting to figure out why the coding for the targeting systems had failed.
"How is that possible?" Jade asked, baffled and a bit disbelieving.
"It's a null-matter being, the exterior is mainly just a containment unit." Xerxes offered, turning from his own displays for a moment to regard the Empress of Rock with his large turquoise eyes. "We've watched it grow over centuries… It was once no larger than one of your Battle Moons, feeding mainly on space debris and asteroids, until it became more… Voracious."
"You WATCHED it? Why not destroy it outright?" Jade exclaimed, angered and more than just concerned, as such a dangerous force had once been vulnerable. Xerxes raised a brow at her outburst, expression softening slightly.
"The Makers asked us to simply watch it develop and guide it from populated areas. We had no idea it would evade us by using nearby stars to hop to other systems at random. When it left planet Tek's system, we were moments behind, and were unable to send ships through to the cluster in time… I had not realised that was the system they headed for." Xerxes sighed, giving a light smile. "However, many of the displaced peoples from the worlds it's devoured have joined us, including many from planet Tek."
"You mean, survivors?" Tekla turned from her work to the feathered leader, who nodded, her eyes widening.
"I'm certain they will be thrilled to know their Princess survived. I... I am sorry though, none of the others made it off-world from the Cerebrum." Xerxes explained, Tekla at first appearing hopeful, then almost deflated with the explanation from the Ahr'Aht. She frowned, looking almost accusingly at him as few outsiders would have known the name of the palace of sorts she had grown up in. Before she could voice her concern, there was a brief flash of light -something they were used to seeing with the teleport pads used to access their planets' world engines- and another Tekian with darker overall appearance and more blue highlights to his visible circuits appeared next to Xerxes, who turned to the newcomer and then motioned with a simple head tilt to the viewscreen. He almost collapsed, his own Vox unit hovering worriedly about him before it too noticed their Princess, its antennae straightening up in shock almost comically. Tekla herself was on her feet, hands over her mouth as she almost screamed in recognition of the one who appeared.
"Princess Tekla!?" Breathed the young Tekian, looking dubiously at Xerxes who nodded and motioned for him to step forward, appearing to lean to the side to give him space. "I will be elated to tell our people you've survived, and helped others as well. For now, can I come aboard to give a proper briefing?" All eyes on the Aurora turned to Tekla, who stood transfixed, shuddering lightly. Graveheart moved to place a hand on her shoulder gently, eyes meeting his and confirming that she was here, was not seeing things, and needed to respond. She swallowed down the lump in her throat, thanking Graveheart before nodding. Xerxes also rose, the two enveloped in light as the commlink to the Obsidian Flare closed. The same light appeared on the bridge near Tekla and Graveheart in the lower rung, the large sinewy bodied Ahr'Aht uncurling and stepping back from the Tekian who Tekla swiftly moved to embrace, holding on as though her life depended on it.
"Princess..." He muttered, Xerxes seeming to understand and encourage the young male to endure and help her calm, watching idly as they spoke in hushed tones, the two Voxx units sharing brief chirps and machine tones to exchange information, spinning around while facing each other. Xerxes motioned Graveheart aside to give the two a moment, smiling a bit as though a knowing father looking over his child and his intended. Cryos happily moved to bow to Xerxes, who graciously returned it, feathers fluffing up in pride as he looked over the Icean King, Jade watched on with her usual skepticism and concern while Femur gaped.
"Every bit the King your father knew you'd be. Even humble more than most, it's very good to see you again Cryos." Xerxes almost sounded like he was purring, Graveheart momentarily forgotten as Cryos almost gaped, looking over someone he had known in his youth, in a completely different and alien form. As though he had easily read their minds, Xerxes' form appeared to melt down and contort with a series of rather sickening sounds, to a slightly taller Icean in scholars robes with the same turquoise yet now compound eyes. Cryos smiled in return then, Graveheart and the rest simply gaping at the display, Xerxes had a control gauntlet on one forelimb, the elaborate design and filigree inlaid in it appearing to shimmer a rainbow of colours.
"What till Pyrus gets a load of this!" Femur exclaimed, hurriedly waddling down to look over the shapeshifter in his Icean form. Xerxes raised a brow, the antennae there straightening up and then curling, as the stout Bonean circled him.
"Anything to do with myself and my people will be gladly shared, I'll be happy to show him myself later." Xerxes chuckled, Pelvus had learned the Aurora was no longer in space dock and quietly slipped into the bridge, before he moved to observe the two Tekians, and their new ally who had shapeshifted to look like an Icean.
"Can you turn into anyone? One of us perhaps?" Pelvus asked, Femur jumping lightly as he had not even known Pelvus to be on board, Xerxes grinning lightly and shaking his head.
"No, it's more that I have turned into an Icean version of myself. If I were to become a Rockian for example, I'd look different than any other, as different as you are to your emperor, for example, though not as drastic a difference." Xerxes then shifted back to his natural form, expressing wordlessly to them the term used by Ahr'Aht when referring to their birth-forms. "Our shapeshifting is also dependent on a biological donation, like a blood sample, that we -and I know this would be disgusting to most, I apologize- must injest and consciously add to our own genetics before we can make use of that new form." Cryos narrowed his eyes at this, concern rising in his thoughts, to which Xerxes easily picked up on and offered a sheepish grin. "Your Warrior Grandmother was very open and invaluable to me, helped me learn much of Planet Ice and its customs. She'd seen my ship even with its cloak, though I was nowhere near close in my estimates on the extreme temperatures and had not been prepared well enough for when I arrived." Xerxes glanced to the two Tekians again, seeing they still needed some time.
"So you've been to all our worlds then? Can you turn into a Rockian or Bonean too?" Jade asked, arms crossed and her usual skepticism almost wafting off her. Xerxes grinned but shook his head.
"I was the one of the three of my science team who picked the 'short straw' and had to visit both Ice and Fire. Sadly... Turning into a Firian is quite painful, such a drastic internal temperature change and whatnot, so I'd rather not at this time." He explained sadly, gently grasping Femur's hand where it almost touched his feathers near his waistline, just above his legs. "I am wearing armour, yes, it's more supportive than functional however." Femur quickly stepped back when his hand was released, grinning toothily and sheepishly as he moved to stand next to Pelvus. Before they could ask anything further, Xerxes stood up to his full height, tail extended back behind him to balance as his head nearly reached the ceiling of the bridge, both back arms spread out looked akin to the wings of a firehawk, complete with the taloned wing hands the birds used for climbing, and exposed the segmented chestplate and abdominal armour that blended almost seamlessly with his feathers. He slowly lowered himself back down, appearing to wince slightly from the effort, Tekla and her Male companion finally releasing each other to turn to him.
"Apologies, there was a great amount of information to relay..." The young male bowed lightly to Xerxes who smiled and waved off his apology.
"No harm done. Princess, I hope your betrothed has brought you up to speed?" Xerxes smirked at the reactions of shock, awe and almost disbelief on her allies, the young Tekian letting out a slight hiss that sounded like something Xerxes had used earlier when talking to his own kin.
"Betrothed?! Tell me it ain't so toots?" Femur joked, having comically fallen back over himself at the revelation provided to them before scooting forward on his knees pleadingly.
"Yes, apologies. This is Capacitor, of house Processor, my betrothed from before the Beast destroyed our home..." Tekla could say no more, her usually calm and closely contained emotions gaining the better of her around someone she had thought dead just a few minutes earlier. Tekla found herself buried in his chest again as he chuckled, Xerxes taking in a deep breath before nodding at an unspoken question. What the others would give for Zuma's insight right now.
"They grew up together, the betrothal was pre-arranged by their parents, but they are obviously a perfect match for each other. Capacitor has been invaluable to us, and helped those from Tek become accustomed to our world ships and our allied peoples." Xerxes explained on behalf of the two Tekians, tail curling around the feet of the two, feathered tail tip moving to gently yet loosely curl around Tekla, a hug in its own right. "Capacitor has become like a son to me, I have no words to express my gratitude to all of you, in protecting her and treating the Princess as one of your own." Xerxes bowed deeply to the others then, chest almost touching the floor. Cryos, Pelvus and Jade returned the bow, Graveheart visibly blushing and offering a quick bow of his own before he spoke.
"Tekla was our only warning, and if it weren't for her alerting us to the Beast planet and its impending arrival, who knows what could have happened." Graveheart hated admitting he had acted on instinct, that he just came naturally to putting himself in leadership roles and being on the front lines offering courage and direction to warriors of all races. Xerxes smiled, eyes appearing to bore into Gravehearts mind and gently offered him a similar emotion, having led others when he himself had felt unworthy of such, leading Graveheart to relax slightly, frowning that Xerxes had so easily entered his thoughts and sent him some of his own.
"Your humility is welcome, though you know you needn't act so sheepish around your peers. A King turned to you for direction, unknowing of who you are as a person, but trusting based on only a few moments interaction, that is the sign of a true leader. For now, I'd like to know if there is anything further we can help with." Xerxes smiled, Graveheart moving to interrupt a few times, and quickly flabberghasted to silence by the new allied leader. None could find fault with his words, all turning to Glailen who cleared his throat once he was certain the leaders had sufficiently greeted their guests and new allies.
"To answer your question about aiding us further, we have received remote contact from Prince Pyrus and Princess Zera, they're on Ice with Samateus, but there appears to have been a development."