AN: I wrote this chapter before watching the 2019-2020 Hellboy movie, in which the Giant hunters of the Osiris guild used electrically powered spears to attempt to kill Red. Think similar here, only with the power core and everything built into the spear, not activated and powered by another two devices.
Xerxes listened as Sternum and Femur explained a little of their family history and guided their little party through the barracks surrounding the palace, Tibia along for the walk and Pyrus and Pelvus remaining also as they had nothing better to do, and did not wish to return to their own assignments or duties anytime soon. Upon turning and walking down the long, ribbed corridor with the gutters on either side filled with a brackish liquid that served as a sanitization and filtration system for the organic structure, Xerxes could visibly be seen stiffening at one point. He shrugged it off, stating simply that he had sensed something strange nearby but had no idea what offhand could have bothered him.
"So you made it look like you killed Sternum, but sent him off to the Prison planet? Certainly far more restraint than you were taught." Xerxes grinned at Femur who scoffed.
"Yeah, I know, but we're brothers, I couldn't just kill him. I knew the rules, but... I guess mom had a lot to do with it." Femur sighed, Sternum chuckling as he shared a glance with Pelvus and Femur as well.
"You bested me at the biggest game we could have played. As much as I wanted revenge or even to make your life miserable, seeing how well this alliance father had spurned came together and has worked quite well, I chose to co-govern." Sternum sighed, smirking lightly at Xerxes who grinned at him. "Admittedly I did think to make my own niche amongst the alliance at first, attempted to get Pelvus to help me, however I could have sworn something else was nagging at my thoughts. As though something else intended something far more for us all, which would seem to be closer to the truth."
"Oh, and seeing how fiercely Jade and the others would have fought you had nothing to do with it?" Xerxes' grin widened when Sternum laughed.
"Well, I wont lie, she's got quite the warriors spirit, and Rock has made a great choice, seeing the Empress in her. I can only hope our coalition will continue once we step back." Sternum chuckled, eyeing Femur who lightly grinned himself.
"Yeah, I can't say it was easy, telling the public that we were stopping that old power-grab bull. No more 'Snag the throne, Rule on Bone'." Femur met Sternum's gaze a moment before continuing. "I was thinking about changing it for a while, just hadn't gotten around to it. Then we had our incident on the Prison planet and well, I'm sure you know a little bit about it." Femur grinned sheepishly at Xerxes who returned the grin with one of his own.
"Secondhand thoughts, yes, however nothing has really been explained to me in full. Nonetheless, progress is progress, and you both appear to be getting along as brothers, and as dual-leaders, though if you need advice or anything, don't hesitate to ask. Spine was a very stubborn man, only taking the opinions of others if he could use them to his advantage."
"Yep, sounds like dad alright." Femur grinned, the rest chuckling as they continued down the halls.
Xerxes also briefly brought up the mention of the lichen crop yields being increased, interested in doing some research and tests with the berries that had begun to appear. He voiced that the increase may be from their proximity to the Ark, as Zuma had shown a great deal of improvement in her telepathy in such a short time, and the timing could be no coincidence that it was obviously needed for the alliance. Nearing the throne room however, he stopped them and motioned to stay quiet.
**Are those walls supposed to be that colour?** He asked psionically, the question more aimed at Sternum and Femur, pointing to the archway above the door on either side. The walls elsewhere varied shades of greens or fleshy pinks, but here they looked sickly yellow and even black in places. Pelvus' eyes widened and he backed up a step, fins flat as he had only once seen the walls of their home turn that colour, when Beast drones and Lamprey had been present. Xerxes had created a psionic loop, including Pyrus, Tibia and the other three, Pelvus' acknowledgement of the Beast commander having similar reaction on the organic structures prompting the others to stiffen.
**Thought so. Pyrus, Sternum, I know you two have weapons. Femur, I thought you had a shoulder-cannon?** Xerxes stretched out his right back-arm and gently removed a smallish staff from the gauntlet there, tapping a talon on it twice extended it to a length of about two meters, a wicked twin-tipped spearhead unfurling from one end. Sternum withdrew his firearm and Pyrus pulled his collapsed staff from his belt, tapping the button on it and shifting to a ready stance. Femur shook his head, thoughts ringing through that he had forgone the weapon as he had wanted to be more inviting to his people, a show that he was willing to change alongside Sternum.
**Understandable, Tibia?** Xerxes turned to her, smirking a bit when she shook her head, weighing in herself that she normally did not need to carry handheld weapons as a pilot. Femur, Tibia and Pelvus moved aside as Sternum and Xerxes, Pyrus close behind, went toward the doorway that opened with a wet squelch, Sternum stepped inside and immediately had to leap forward and roll aside as a serpentine shape launched itself at him from above, four long slender limbs swiping at him and their blades striking into the ground where he had been a moment before. Sternum managed to fire once at it, missing as it swiftly dodged aside as Xerxes slipped through the doorway -narrowly missing being hit by Sternum's missed shot- and lanced through the second serpentine Beast Assassin with his spear, the monster letting out an unnatural shriek as it was destabilized and sent back to whence it came.
Xerxes had closed their psionic link once the door had opened, realising almost too late that the other serpent-like Beast Assassin had turned its attention from Sternum. Pyrus did however, and quickly stepped in and bludgeoned it with his staff before it could reach Xerxes, knocking it back and to the ground. It hissed and moved to retaliate, instead Xerxes swiftly spinning his spear expertly and stabbing it through ended its movement and threat, the energy comprising it dissipating swiftly.
Sternum did a quick check of the room, to ensure no other surprises waited for them, Xerxes eyeing the spots the two had touched, and watching as the organic structures blackened as though bruised. All noticed the trail from next to the pair of thrones in the far side of the room to just below the doorway where the two Assassins had been hiding. Pyrus smiled at the quick movements of Xerxes and how he seemed to move so much as he envisioned his father had, quickly squashing the thoughts that made his chest tighten. Xerxes noticed this, his own heart aching at the emotion of loss from the young Prince.
"Clear." Sternum announced after a moment, returning his blaster to his holster. "That was close... Did they ever come in here before Femur?" Femurs fins going flat as he, Tibia and Pelvus cautiously padded into the room, told them all yes before he even responded to his brother.
"Yeah... Lamprey nearly killed us all with some shield generator that sucked the life out of everything near it. Thanks to Pyrus and the rest, and some holo-emitters, we managed to stop them last time." Femur admitted, Xerxes moving to stand in a position almost exactly as Pyrus stood, spear tip up and end resting on the ground, holding it lightly in his right, left at his side made Sternum frown lightly, but was able to pass it off as concern to the non-psionics in the room.
"No wonder. Those two looked very different from what we normally see. No Containment units... They looked reminiscent of Lamprey but... They couldn't be making drones like this, they have to be something else." Sternums line of reasoning certainly unsettled the others, Xerxes sighing lightly and deciding to ignore the concerning thoughts Sternum had as he spoke.
"We've suspected that Voyd has given insight to Lamprey and Blokk that allows them to make their own underlings, capable of independent thought and tactics, to direct other Drone forces. Those two we just defeated? Likely Lamprey's handiwork. My spear only worked because it's powered." To prove this, he lightly twirled it and brought the tip to the floor, where it crackled and sparked a moment as the organic floor burned lightly under it before he raised it again. Femur and Pelvus shuddered, both having interacted with the aforementioned Beast commander in the past, neither wishing to relive the encounters anytime soon. Xerxes returned his spear to its retracted form and back to his right back-limb armour, sighing lightly as he shook his head.
"Samateus thinks they are trying to catch us all off-guard and unawares. Voyd doesn't know that we can all converse from a distance almost instantaneously now, which works to our advantage. Blaze has been warned, Cryos and Zera also. Jade and Graveheart will be aware in a moment, they have scale-stones from Sairyllia for now." Xerxes explained, Pyrus finally broaching the question that bothered him and the others.
"Who is Voyd exactly? You and Sam both mentioned him, but we don't know who that is." Pyrus frowned lightly, retracting and returning his staff to his belt, his slowly growing ear-spines wriggling lightly.
"Voyd is the actual name of the Beast planet. The being that dwells within the shell and has a smaller form that acts as a conduit for the realm the Null energy it uses is pulled from. Whenever sent away, even by Samateus' light, Blokk and Lamprey can be resummoned through Voyd. The new ships, the change in their ground troops and now these two Assassins? Voyd is getting bolder because we are here." Xerxes' head pinions drooped considerably then, his sadness briefly passing to the rest. "I am sorry, this adds more pressure on all of you, more than on myself and the Taal..." Sternum and Femur smirked, Pyrus shaking his head.
"I wouldn't say so. We need to be more vigilant anyway, and really, I'm glad you and Sam are around. Imagine how bad things could have been if Frost was possessed by Lamprey and that attack on Rock went as they planned?" Pyrus shuddered and Xerxes left his question unanswered, simply nodding and offering a halfhearted smile as he withdrew the case from Samateus and provided each of the others with their scale-stones. Pelvus promptly changed the violet stone on his necktie to the new crimson-gold one he had been provided, happily preening lightly as Pyrus put his in the belt pocket next to his staff, Femur and Sternum hiding theirs away in pockets as well. Tibia hesitated, uncertain that she should be receiving one of the stones, able to tell they were important and not considering herself to be.
"If anything happens to these three, who better to contact, than head of the Bone Machinists guild? Samateus already thinks highly of you, I can think of none better equipped to handle things than you, who lived and grew up alongside the current Emperors." Xerxes' words almost made Tibia choke up, the female pilot relaxing visibly and holding out a hand for the stone Xerxes gently placed there. She stiffened, feeling warmth radiate through her body as she realised Samateus was checking on her, albeit sleepily and quickly withdrawing her mind, the connection more to let her know, without words, that Tibia had more than earned their trust. Sternum's smile did strange things to her insides, Tibia doing what she thought would work best with the stone, quickly slipping it into her tunic and into her bra, Xerxes chuckling lightly as Femur and Sternum lightly blushed.
"What? Safest place I can think of." She grinned, the rest laughing heartily at her.
"Damn! Damn, damn DAMN!" Lamprey could think of nothing else to say, cursing the air around her and slashing it while envisioning the Ahr'aht that had killed her two expertly placed Assassins. She had forgotten the negative effects of null energy on surrounding organic matter, and the Bonean palace being comprised entirely of organic tissues had made her plan fall apart before it was even enacted. Voyd had said nothing since, his presence withdrawing from them as swiftly as her plan had backfired. Blokk however, shook his head sadly.
"They are acting as a cohesive unit, we need to get them separated. Focus on your Assassins, I will build up my forces and monitor their progress until Voyd gives us directive... Let them think we are simply following for now, we will strike again when they are relaxed and think us beaten." Blokk surprised Lamprey with his words, the more slender serpentine commander lightly draping herself over the larger commander's shoulders.
"You have grown up, dear Brother. I may find myself surprised by you more often." Blokk chuckled lightly at her, continuing on with his rebuilding of his standing forces.
Cryos meanwhile walked with his General, Medstar, pausing at the railing on the platform above the main roads from inside the palace and observing as Frost, Rysint and their supporters were escorted from the temporary holding cells in the palace to the newer prison elsewhere in the underground capital.
"These new allies certainly helped us a great deal, I cannot believe they would ask for nothing in return..." Medstar's concern made Cryos chuckle.
"I admit I was quite skeptical myself, until I found out that the Ahr'aht are shapeshifters." Cryos smirked lightly at Medstar's frown and narrowed eyes. "Xerxes, the big feathered serpentine being? Was Galen, but you mustn't speak of that to anyone else."
"Galen? The one that saved your life from the cavern collapse?"
"The same. He's returned my Grandmother's diadem to us from a different event he was involved with as a Firian, which I will say now, has been spoken on at length between him and I, and I know he did not do anything to aid in the deaths of my parents, or her. Zera will wear it soon, she grows up more every day, and her restraint with Frost, and the diadem, lets me know that if anything happens to me, our people will perservere under her leadership." Cryos' words had Medstar almost thinking his King had gone mad, yet relaxed and nodded his understanding, wry smile at the last sentence followed by a chuckle.
"You sound as though you are on your deathbed. I don't want to step in again anytime soon, even as regent."
"I am simply being realistic. The Beast has made some frightening acquisitions to its arsenal we were, unfortunately, responsible for providing it." Cryos' admission made Medstar frown, thinking it over in his head a moment before realisation passed over his features, lightly nodding.
"The Teleport engine from the Prison Planet, of course. Thankfully though it's not sent through an army to annihilate us."
"No, thank the Glacier, yet knowing Lamprey was teleported into the palace halls and nearly possessed Frost before our new allies and Zera arrived to save the louse only makes me cringe and my exoskeleton crawl." Medstar blinked almost comically, having not heard that particular bit of information beforehand.
"You think he was working with the Beast?"
"I do, and Zera corroborated the story that I was told that Frost had been arguing with Lamprey when they approached, and she had him by the throat when Samateus stepped in."
"Hence the strange golden scarring on his throat... Bizarre that." Medstar mused, scratching his chin lightly.
"Samateus healed him, so we could speak with him before his sentencing, that must have been the only way to repair his exoskeleton. Before you ask, no, we do not know who Xerxes was on Planet Fire when he had been there, though I have my suspicions, and Blaze does appear to know more than he lets on. I'll leave them to their own secrets though, as they have nothing to do with us in that." Cryos explained, little white lie spun in order to keep his General from becoming concerned and to keep suspicions to a minimum. Medstar was glad that he and the Icean people were not as fractured as the Firians, that he had returned the Kingship to Cryos after a decision any parent would make led the King to step down as he had priotitized Zera over the rest of his people. Many of the leading families had supported Medstar's relinquishing the Kingship back to whom it belonged, though none had suspected Frost and Rysint would hold a grudge even so long afterward. Rysint was one of Medstar's Cousins, and had been promptly disowned from the family with the rest of his conspirators when his activities had been made known to the rest of the Icean populace.
"Sounds like quite the Ice-Spider web they wove themselves into. I'm just thankful they stepped in when they did, imagine if that Beast force had managed to gain ground in the capital..." Cryos chuckled at Medstar's exaggerated shudder, nodding his agreement.
Once Xerxes had collected a few samples of Bonean antidotes and tonics before he and Pyrus were whisked away via teleport, Sternum frowned and reeled on Pelvus once Tibia had gone on to her own duties and left the two alone with Femur.
"I was not aware that the Beast had its agents in our home, even if briefly. Why didn't you mention this before?" Sternum hissed, Pelvus flattening his fins down but held his ground, despite the urge to cower and cringe that normally would have been his response to Sternum's ire.
"I did not think it relevant, as until just yesterday we thought the Beast too far away to be of concern." Pelvus scoffed, waving off the underlying accusation from Sternum that he had withheld information. Femur rolled his eyes also, shaking his head.
"Yeah, sorry Sternum, too many other things came up in that time. Been trying to forget that stuff myself, Lamprey... She's damn scary, that anyone could hurt her like Samateus did still makes me wonder though..." Femur mused, Sternum and Pelvus nodding. All three stiffened, feeling Samateus' thoughts sleepily waft over them before fading again, likely from her mention, Sternum wearing a firm scowl afterward.
"And these new allies of ours, are we certain we can trust them? They so easily sense our thoughts and motives, but we have nothing but their word..." Sternum scratched his chin thoughtfully, Pelvus and Femur sharing a glance, but Femur shook his head.
"I've only gotten myself into trouble beforehand, doing underhanded and double-dealings, worse than what dad or Phalange ever did, because I almost saw the life sucked out of my own home for trusting someone I shouldn't have... I'd like to think I know when someone is trying to do something similar, but even Lamprey using Tekla fooled me into trusting her. Samateus, hell, you got closer to her than either of us." Femur sighed, looking to Sternum who nodded.
"Certainly, her mannerism has given me a sense of comraderie I've not felt since coming across Jade and sparring with her before learning who she was. Xerxes... There's something about him, even his voice, that's so familiar it hurts, but I just can't place it." Sternum and Femur both looked to Pelvus who was nodding.
"I noticed it too, though I'm more bothered by why he could shapeshift into an Icean, but seemed far more hesitant about turning into a Firian. Perhaps there is a clue there?" Pelvus grinned, finding that he enjoyed the idea of secretly working to find out the secrets of another species' ruler, or secondary one as it were.
"Let's keep this amongst ourselves for now. If you get anything important, only here will we discuss them, agreed?" Sternum smirked lightly at the other two.