"Your man on earth is going to have a bit of a problem, Commander."
"What problem, 'Zharic?"
"Intel's picked up radio signals headed to your man, Irken ship stolen from Vort based on intelligence reports. Also just picked up word that SIS is sending four of their augs right on their trail. Supposedly a couple rogue agents of their own."
"That's a concern."
"Indeed. Hope your man can handle himself or he's going to need a hand."
The Grug Team left within the group was quick to jump on the volunteer opportunity. Haxx leading Radec on an emergency run to an unknowing Kazak and Tak, taking along Phla from Black team to give them technical expertise. Their fallback was about to be compromised by the very people they were supposed to be on the same side with. It was enough to worry about threats from the outside, worse to have daggers at your back from supposed allies.
SIS was troublesome, but what intelligence branch wasn't? It didn't help as things were quite difficult for the resistance. Haven's troops were coming along but at nowhere near full strength. Orenk was proving to be the one bastion of the resistance operating in the open. Hunat, Vaukt's man on Orenk now served more an advisory and liaison capacity as Chief Turo Koreenk himself rallied the clans and helped prepare the Vylatian volunteers under the Barren Queen with captured stockpiles of Irken weapons. As was custom of the exiles, Greater Vylatians and Orenkians raided Irken supply lines, causing much chaos.
Within the Empire, Internal Affairs was hard at work, seeking out the remnants of Vaukt's loyalists that remained at their posts to sabotage the Empire's efforts. Their own searches proved most successful. Dozens managed to commit acts of sabotage against the Empire, fewer escaped, many either meeting their demise in combat or by execution. Many more never even got a chance to carry out any internal acts. Their new minders proved greatly troublesome…
Now, on Earth, the pair of SIS agents arrived, themselves not knowing that both Haxx and Buros were hot on their trail…
"Vyara," Blaster called out from a console. The two set up in the dense forests away from civilization, fortunate to have found a clearing large enough for them. "I think I narrowed down where they are."
"No shit? How?" The blue skinned female glanced up from where she was on a bed.
"They're using our own tech as a frequency jammer. Wasn't hard to backtrack. Two signals are on the moon, we didn't see anything purple there or see anything Imperial on scanners so that rules that out. Third signal's from some civilian premises nearby."
"Eclas, you fucking genius." Euxine rose to her feet, green eyes beaming with excitement, "Let's go have a look."
The time spent in-transit by the recent arrivals hadn't gone to waste planetside of the human homeworld. The "motivated" cooperation of extraterrestrial rogue elements had produced noteworthy results in the past several months. Klarb, now "graced" with familiar technology from back home, made great strides in his research at the behest of Agent Adams and the sect of the government he served. The arguably arrogant scientist promised to have them reaching the extremity of their home system within a matter of months. He delivered several successful experimental craft capable of in-system jumps, ensuring the humans didn't bite off more than they could chew with what lay beyond their own celestial boundaries.
Albeit with great reluctance, Adams eventually relented and allowed Kazak, Tak, Vaukt, and Zha to return to the "ranch" they had chosen as a base of operations. A compromise that came with strings attached as lines of communication were opened and routine visitation was to be a thing. Part of that agreement was committing the military-capable veterans to training humans selected to be part of the first exosolar expeditionary forces now that their space-faring capabilities were exponentially increasing. Adams secured the funding for the project, now it was time for their "guests" to deliver on their end of the bargain if they wanted the help in the coming conflict they so desperately desired.
Despite the looming threat of intergalactic war against the Emerald Tide, a genocidal bulwark of enslaved, violent drones, life for the interstellar immigrants went on. Covers needed to be maintained for the general public. Livestock and property tended to. School to be attended. Idiodic plots from Zim to be foiled before coming to fruition. All work and no play made for dull Irken drones. Time for leisure and the pursuit of intellectual and cultural curiosity filled the moments between work.
TINK!
A long, weary, and somewhat annoyed sigh came from Zha at the source of the sound. A noise she'd heard dozens of times already of a suppressed gunshot striking a metal target a couple dozen meters away from her and Vaukt.
"...I don't know if I should be impressed or disgusted." She commented dryly. "It's hide-and-seek! It's been-" A pause, checking her wrist for the time. "FOUR HOURS! I'm going to hear the ringing in my sleep if you keep letting him win."
"Move to your right…come ahead ten feet," Vaukt relayed orders to several men in hardsuits over a radio. "There, sniper at your feet."
The suited soldier tapped the ground in front of him with his boot, shook his head. "No go, Generalissimo."
Vaukt sighed as he looked over at Zha, "The best they're supposed to have and they can't find someone that Kaz taught…"
"You do realize if this was for keeps, he'd have taken out a whole platoon by himself by now, don't you?"
"I know, yeah. It's fucking impressive. I don't know if I should be amazed or disturbed. Makes me wonder how he's doing it."
"Beats me."
TINK!
"That's it, I can't take it anymore." Zha grumbled dejectedly, cupping her hands around her mouth to project further, calling out to the field before them. "Alright, you win! Stand up!"
Not even fifty feet ahead of them rose none other than Dib, well camouflaged in foliage in a primitive power armor of his own design, with some help of Kazak, and a suppressed sniper rifle in hand.
"Dib, how in the fuck did you manage to get that close to us?" Vaukt flatly asked.
The young man shrugged.
"Well, Kazak told me you get that close to people by 'being a sneaky son of a bitch.' His words, not mine."
"Congratulations are in order. You bested a former Chief of Staff of Special Operations at being sneaky." The tall, lime-eyed alien nodded, giving credit where credit was due. "I'm sure he'd eventually have gotten you but it's hot out here and I'm sick of standing in the sun."
"Kaz clearly taught you well…a bit too well…deeply concerning as it is impressive." Vaukt stepped down from his platform. "You men in the field, pack it in! Let's go get some chow!"
Vaukt's attention turned to a man in one of the waiting Humvees nearby, sitting in a seat, witnessing this through an open door, laughing like a madman.
"Ahaha…the "advanced" race of bloodthirsty warmongers, bested by a teenager."
"Teenager who happens to be the prodigy offspring of your peoples' smartest man alive." Zha countered in good nature as the group approached.
"Excuses…" Adams ribbed, chuckling as he turned his attention to Dib. "Seriously though, you're a quick study, kid. Wish some of the guys picked up as quick as you do. Green Berets, SEALs, Rangers, HRT, Secret Service, and you lasted longer than all of them out here…guess you had a good teacher, huh?"
"I guess so. I can't do the stuff those guys can. Kaz showed me how to be sneaky. I'm no soldier." Dib responded with another shrug.
"Closer to one than you think, don't sell yourself short." The agent spoke, looking back to Vaukt. "Whatever's working for him, need to get the others up-to-speed. Whole point of this exercise is to avoid detection from Empire forces and the non-combatant succeeded. Where did they go wrong?"
"The Scout Snipers were something of a pet idea of mine," Vaukt grinned. "Took our veteran SpecOps sniper teams, gave them more tasks, the best gear available…Kazak was solid in his personal combat performance. He may be a loner but when the guy actually devotes himself to something…well he and Mizak built one of the best experimental units the Empire had, and I'm glad they're on our side."
"Speaking of John Wayne, where is he? Didn't see him out there with the rest of them." Adams commented, nodding to the sprawling pasture of high grass, underbrush, and occasional trees.
"Think he said he was giving some similar instructions to your other trained snipers in some sniper-counter sniper action. Scout Snipers as a whole may have come over but that doesn't make any remaining snipers in SpecOps any less dangerous." Vaukt answered as he made his way into a driver's seat of one of the Humvees. Dib and Zha took their place in the back as he started the engines.
Vaukt chuckled, "I can only imagine how much more interesting things get when he has access to a horse as a more rapid means of transportation than his two feet in such an environment like this. More ground to cover, harder to predict, then again he likes it like that."
"Right, because a horse is the epitome of subtle, just like him." The human man facetiously commented with a roll of his eyes as the vehicle shifted into gear and began to roll.
"Sneakier than a car." Vaukt shrugged, "Man can get the job done, and you see what he can do with Dib here. I don't doubt his methods."
The group passed Kazak's raven black horse, grazing in the field near the house. The snipers themselves looked exhausted but were more than happy to have Kazak bringing them plates of freshly cooked steaks and potatoes. They didn't fare so well against him but he was a good sport, teaching them important lessons in dealing with SpecOps, and delivering some tasty food on top of that.
The sniper grinned at the returning bunch coming out of their vehicle.
"Dib, how'd you do?"
"You trying to teach him to assassinate Grimm or something?" Vaukt gestured to Dib, "Kid managed to get within fifty feet of us."
"No fucking shit." Kazak grinned, "How do you like your steak, Dib? That kind of performance calls for some prime ribeye."
"Don't say that too loud in front of the tier-one operators." Adams bantered with a smirk. "Take it things are…progressing here?"
"Yep," Kazak nodded. "Give me a couple more weeks with these guys and I'll have them up to Imperial Scout Sniper quality in no time."
"Glad to hear it. Getting harder to justify budget overruns with my handlers breathing down my neck while we play Star Wars out here. How soon until they're ready for zero-G maneuvers?"
"From what Klarb said? Should have some specialty boarding craft up by the time we're done here."
"And then Graak and Kregg get to teach your boys the finer points of boarding and clearing a stricken vessel." Vaukt added, "That'll be an interesting time in space."
Nearby, the two Vortians observed the sight. Lots of activity around the property. Animals as well as the local populace and…the Irken themselves, out in the open, as well as a lot of humans also around in some very advanced looking equipment. Blaster blinked in shock as he got a good look at a couple of the Irken.
"Oh fuck me," he uttered in a hushed tone.
"What?" Euxine asked, similarly quiet, "What is it?"
"That's Vaukt and Zha, the heads of SpecOps and the Imperial Troopers."
"Oh great." Euxine paused, her view of the group through her helmet's built-in binoculars perusing through the lot until she stumbled on the silver eyed man in clearly Vortian armor. "...That's the guy though, yeah? The silver eyed one?"
"Yeah, yeah that's one of the ones I fought in the sewers. The one they called Kazak, went deaf last time I saw him."
"You notice what he's wearing?"
"Yup. That's ours and Ohnmatu's all right. How'd an Irken get his hands on Federation armor? Not to mention, why's he wearing our insignia?"
"Really makes me think they've been hiding shit from us and I wanna find out."
Blaster turned to face her. "...What, we just going to walk up, knock on the door, and ask them for some hot beverages and if they have time to talk?"
"Might just be that simple."
"Easy for you to say, but I don't think they have much love for our type considering we tried nuking them a while ago. Plus, you notice the security around this place? Definitely look like they're trying to keep this place quiet."
"We still have the tech edge, don't forget that." Euxine reminded, "Besides, you helped put a stop to the whole nuking. Maybe they'll hear us out."
Blaster sighed with a shake of his head, "So when do we move?"
"...Nightfall. Wait for the activity to die down."
The silence-shattering clatter of metal against its likeness synonymous with a weapon being charged and the subsequent high-pitched whine of an energy-based weapon loading its capacitors sounded uncomfortably close behind the pair. Deliberate and intentional to announce its presence.
"What is it with random people sneaking around on this property?" A feminine voice facetiously questioned aloud. "Told Kaz early warning detection systems was the way to go...and you two look a little lost. Bit far from home, aren't we?"
To their immediate six o'clock stood another Irken. Female…and a matured adult? Violet goggles obscuring her eyes, and a fearsome plasma scattergun held at low-ready before her.
"...Euxine."
"Yeah?"
"She can see us. Looks like Irken EM goggles."
"They are. I haven't shot either of you yet. Do I need to?"
Vyara sighed, deactivating her cloak mode, revealing her black armor with teal pauldrons and helmet stripe."You don't. We're actually here to find out some shit that our command is very evidently leaving us in the dark about."
Eclas was next to uncloak, himself in an armor not unlike Kazak's own but with black armor plating over various parts of the muscle suit, something of an in-between step between Ohnmatu and the augmented SIS agents like Euxine. His own armor bore dark gold trim in the same locations.
"I'm the one who helped Kazak and the others stop our commanders from nuking Tallum by getting them in the door. They gave me my life in exchange."
"And we came here to find him, find out what is going on and why you guys seem to be working alongside ours."
She did not immediately respond or react. A few tense moments of consideration before she relented, making to secure the weapon in her hands on her back and lifting the goggles to reveal purple eyes.
"For arguably the most anti-social Irken in existence, he has become quite popular these days." She commented, allowing the raised goggles to rest atop her forehead. "I'm Tak, by the way."
A nod of her head toward the distant activity and gestured to follow soon after came as she turned.
"Introduce yourselves before the humans get trigger-happy seeing another advanced alien race sneaking about."
"Euxine'Kodoros, Ghost Scribe of SIS…or was" Vyara rose to her feet, "My brother told me we've both been marked as traitors and the Director ordered us either captured or killed."
"Eclas'Sanros," Blaster followed.
"So the club grows then." Tak responded in summary, keying her communicator. "Kaz, your antenna on?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
"We've a…situation. A "roll out the welcome mat" situation. Tell Adams and the other humans to stand down. I'll let them explain in detail." She cryptically spoke, carefully considering her words.
"Right…this should be interesting."
Kazak went around making sure the humans around went back to their food, seeing as how the incoming individuals weren't a threat. The sniper himself took a seat on the steps of the porch with Dib nearby. Some time passed, but eventually, movement from across the pasture emerged out of the treeline. Tak lead two others and they were not human. To his surprise were a couple of Vortians. Short but stout female and a rather familiar male.
Dib also took notice as he stood up, eyes wide with an adjustment of his glasses.
"Who's that? Wait…are those aliens? Other aliens?!"
"Vortians, SIS to be specific." Kazak answered before sighing, "...Damn it, I hate fighting the same opponent twice."
"Twice? You fought before? What's SIS?" The young man of a million questions rapidly-fired in excitement.
Resisting the urge to rush towards them for closer inspection, the human stayed his feet. Eventually, the trio came within contention, Tak gesturing to the pair of heavily-armed and armored strangers.
"Look what I found trespassing on your property, Marshal. This is the part where you admit I was right. Again."
"Twice now, Tak," Kazak admitted with a laugh, his attention turning right to Eclas, "Seriously, do I need to kick your ass a second time?"
"Hell no, we're not here for that. Really owe you guys for letting me walk away back there." Eclas shrugged, "By the way, think this belongs to your medic." The man reached into a waist pouch, tossing Sula's sidearm given to him back on Vort to the sniper.
"We fought, yeah, once, in the sewers in Tallum." Kazak started with Dib's questions as he caught Sula's pistol. "Last I saw him, he let us into the fusion power plant on Tallum then left and I was deaf. So what are you guys doing here? Really off the beaten path."
"Tallum?" Dib squinted, confused. "What's that?"
"Our last hold on Vort," Vyara answered as she was the first to remove her helmet, "Where I watched our entire parliament get taken out. Probably by our own people."
The teen didn't immediately respond, seemingly awestruck as he laid eyes on her. Another alien! In the flesh! Completely different from Kaz and the others! How many other species were out there? What were they doing? What were they capable of? So many questions wanted to be asked all at once. She took notice to his fascination, arching a questioning brow as she thumbed to Dib.
"...what's with the locals? Are they your pets or something?"
"I'm not a pet!"
"Fine, sheesh, sorry…seriously though, what're you guys doing here?"
"Awfully curious immediately upon arrival." Tak intervened, folding her arms as she stepped into view next to Kazak. "You ending up here wasn't by chance or accident. You followed us. Why are you here and what do you want?"
"I think you guys know something we're not being told. Why was your team working alongside Ohnmatu's Athka Team? Why in the shit we'd be working together in a war zone? We're supposed to be on opposite sides, right?"
"Not anymore," Kazak was quick to answer. "As for why Corr and the others were there? Intelligence being handed off to him from 'Zharic."
"About who?"
"About you. Your unit that not a fucking nobody knew about on our side. Not until we started running into you guys and took a bunch of you out."
Vyara sighed, "So…we're on the same side?"
"We're both fighting to end the Empire, put an end to this needless conquest and bloodshed. From what I know though, your Director doesn't seem to like us. We had to fight more of you guys on Hel to rescue our resident Invader."
Vyara's eyes went wide, "Hel? That was you?"
"Friends of mine."
"Oh, so you do have friends then…" Tak took the opportunity to make light of the situation at his expense before turning her attention back to the pair of newly-arrived visitors. "For all intents and purposes, if what you say is true, we're on the same side seeking the same end result. Can get into details later, my concern is if you followed us, who followed you? You two leaving familiar space wouldn't go unnoticed, not being SIS operatives wanted by your own people."
"I still don't know what SIS is…" Dib admitted, enamored with the conversation.
"What Adams is to their people with even fewer ethics or morals." Tak answered soundly.
"...so they actually tried to nuke their own people?"
"Key word being "tried". Kaz helped stop that…with help from this one by the sounds of it."
"Yeah, CIA with even less morals. I doubt even Adams here would be willing to blow Three Mile Island and take out that entire region."
Eclas removed his own helmet, white hide and yellow eyes revealed and horns swept straight back, "Yeah…that one called Vult was right. What we were doing was wrong, I knew it deep down. I couldn't keep going along with it."
"Hey, Wyatt Earp, I need today's scores to f-" Adams' voice carried around the corner of the farmhouse as he approached.
Only after he looked up to see the two unfamiliar, heavily-armed extraterrestrials casually standing before the other known entities did he stop in his tracks. A multitude of thoughts filled his mind. First contact with another species…a highly-advanced, weaponized, and dangerous species on par with the known evil of the Irken…and they too found Earth. This time it was by choice and not a crash landing.
"Ah, Adams, meet your counterparts from the Vortian Federation…or at least former counterparts." Kazak gestured to the two Vortians.
"...of all the things I expected to see today, this wasn't one of them." He admitted, regaining his composure. "...seeing as you aren't ventilating each other, I'm going to assume they're friendly?"
"As far as we can tell they are." Tak spoke, clearly the more distrustful among the Irken for good reason. "Though the fact they're here means-"
"Others won't be far behind." The human concluded, finishing her thought. He threw his hands up with a shake of his head. "Fucking illegal aliens…"
"Inside joke." Tak cleared the air before there was another interstellar incident brewing. "He has a point though. Sure you could tell on-approach what these primitives have to work with globally. Wouldn't take much to tear them to shreds. His job is to stop that from happening."
Vyara sighed, "Yeah, there probably are more on the way. My brother told me that ever since his friends pulled Skrem off of Hel, they've been sitting around with their thumbs up their asses. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if the Director sent them after us."
"How many?" Kazak asked, "Whole team?"
"Nah, their Aug team got split up. Just four of them. You can count on three being hostile, my brother won't fight me, I know that much."
"Four augs, great. As if one wasn't bad enough. Not to mention your fucking suicide armor that blows up when you flatline!"
"Yeah but you got an aug on your team now."
"Great, that evens the odds by one, still leaves three!"
"Two."
"Three. I ain't counting out shit unless your brother stands back and doesn't do jack."
Vyara sighed again, "Clearly my command's been lying to us, leaving us in the dark. I'm also pretty sure they're behind the Parliament getting roasted."
Kazak paused as he was about to take a drink from a bottle of water, "Hang on, that big ship explosion…that was SIS?"
"I heard Overlord and Taskmaster talking over the radio. Overlord saying the Director would be very disappointed if Taskmaster failed. I think he was waiting until he was over your guys' and Athka's location before hitting the button trying to shower them with debris. Didn't go that way…but…"
"But he takes out your entire civilian government."
"Leaving a military government in control of the Federation…"
"Brutal, but effective." Tak acknowledged aloud. "The Director and his junta in charge now?"
"His what now?" Vyara queried, confused.
"Right, human word…organized coup. He and his top officers." She clarified, still noting the Vortian's confusion. "What? Part of being here involves diplomacy and political science to navigate these morons' inane bureaucratic nightmares…I'm allowed to have hobbies."
Kazak shook his head, "The Admiral we've been working with would be in charge as the highest ranking military officer around."
"He's right," Eclas motioned his head towards Kazak, "Admiral 'Narr's the leader of the Federation as it stands while we're on a war footing. But the Director is sure to be carrying out his own actions to further his own ends."
"What ends?"
"Simply put? The Director makes no secret of his opinion that your entire species deserves to be wiped off the face of the universe. If he can make that happen, I'm sure he will. Which explains why he hasn't told the other teams about yours working with us now."
"...so…the human's a little lost." Dib spoke up amidst the ongoing conversation.
"That makes two of us." Adams concurred, briefly rubbing his temples in exasperation. "...Irken is the Empire, you…"
"Vortians."
"Right. Vortians. Federation?"
"Correct."
"You two were allies and the Empire betrayed you because…?"
"Our leaders are idiots and we are puppeted and influenced by synthetic overlords. Strategically, far as we have gathered, it was to advance our own military capabilities and then promptly bite the hand that feeds. If you're asking the logic behind opening up multiple theaters of war across time and space, your guess is as good as mine" Tak elaborated with a huff, reminded by the fact as her attention snapped back to Eclas and Vyara. "By the way…the Tallest are here as well. Both of them."
"Can I crack their skulls?" Eclas didn't seem too thrilled hearing that.
"Wouldn't do any good anyhow." Vyara quickly spoke up in reply.
"Why the hell not?"
"Because those two, while the visible leaders, are themselves pieces on the board. Bigger pieces, but still there to be manipulated like everyone else."
"...Vyara, what are you on about?"
"I've seen their real rulers, and they ain't it."
"The Control Brains?" The violet-eyed Irken queried, her attention garnered fully. "How? When?"
The female Vortian nodded, "Yup. It was before the conflict broke out again. I managed to get onto Judgmentia by stealth. I looked around, I saw them…and that's where I met a very interesting character who said he had plans to end everything from behind the scenes."
"That guy happened to be named Byte by chance?" Kazak asked.
"...Yeah, how'd you know?"
"Funny, because he's the one that made contact with Vult on Irk."
"Small universe." Eclas huffed, mildly surprised. "Just so I heard you right, Dumb and Dumber are here? On this planet?"
"Correct. Should be…" Tak paused, checking the time on her wrist. "...mucking out the stable right about now."
"What out of the what now?"
"Shoveling manure. Lots of manure. A fitting punishment for being criminally incompetent…and hilarious."
"Get to have the former leaders be my own personal ranch hands. Poetic justice if you ask me." Kazak grinned, quite enjoying his role of being the hand of the law on Earth.
"Hilarious," Vyara shook her head. "Question for either of you, those radio jammers you got set up, they don't block certain frequencies, right? If my brother's on my tail, I need to cut off his lead and present some real tangible evidence that the Director is on the wrong side of shit."
"You should be able to get through," Kazak nodded in reply. "Mainly we're just blocking Imperial frequencies. Why, what you need?"
"Everything you got."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, throttle back a fuckin' second here," the human agent intervened, shaking his head and sweep of his arms. "Nobody is sending anything anywhere. You just got here. I don't know you. I don't know where you came from. I don't know anything about you. We aren't sending RSVPs out to the universe to have a party on Earth."
"What? They're on our side." Dib answered, gesturing to the two Vortians.
Adams laughed, looking to the young man. "You believe them on face-value? C'mon, kid, I know you're smarter than that."
"Not everyone has ulterior motives." He countered, standing his proverbial ground. "You heard them, they're in this with us-"
"Them. Not us." Adams corrected sternly. "So far, they've managed to attract more attention to us and more is coming behind it. How soon until one of them sends a fleet? You think we're ready for that kind of heat? Twenty years, trillions of dollars, and thousands of lives thrown away for nothing in a fuckin' sandbox on the otherside of the world by backwards, goatfucking savages and you think we can stand up to armies of these guys? Grow up."
"They could've just as easily snuck around and tried killing everyone if they weren't." Dib haughtily responded to his tirade.
"They were welcome to try." Tak added casually before sighing. "...but his concerns aren't baseless between a homeworld being razed and conquest campaigns ongoing elsewhere. They don't want our problems coming to Earth."
"I'm not keen on getting a third party involved either which is why I'd prefer to cut off Buros' plans before he decides to call in reinforcements and you suddenly have SIS commanded naval vessels in your system." Vyara chimed in, "Look, what other option do you really have? You can take a chance here to avoid a fight or you can fight a few of my species augmented out the ass. Do you really want to take on a bunch of guys who are way taller than I am and could literally rip you in half?"
"She ain't joking about their capabilities, if my own experience speaks to anything." Kazak added as he lit a cigar. "I got history with him," he gestured to Blaster, "we saved his life once, I know what that meant for him. I get the sense they're more genuine."
Adams didn't immediately respond. Instead, his own blue gaze sharpened studiously for several, sparse seconds. Consideration. Options weighed. Potential outcomes. Risks. A clever example of his kind only surpassed by the likes of prodigies such as Dib.
"...and all of you trust them without question despite having traded shots before this with the intent to kill?"
"Yes." Tak pointedly responded, her patience wearing thin at the human's paranoia. "No different than your former adversaries from conflicts long past becoming allies. This just happens to be on a grander scale with levels of complexity beyond human consideration."
"Times and circumstances changed." Elcas offered. "Vyara's right though. Best-case scenario, we can talk them down or even convince them to our side."
"And the worst-case scenario?" The human agent pursued.
"Sure both of us know the answer to that one. Won't be any of our problems anymore due to a sudden onset of a case of being dead." The Vortian male summarized morbidly. "Like the kid said, we're all on the same side here."
"...how far behind you think they are?"
"Week, maybe two at most," Vyara offered her best estimation.
"If they know, Vult knows, which means he's probably also got some people on the way here." Kazak added, "For something that was supposed to be a secret fallback position it's starting to become less of a fucking secret."
"An inevitable outcome that I warned all of you about a few short months ago." Tak smugly proclaimed, being right yet again, turning her attention to the two recent arrivals. "Before Adams requisitions half of his nation's arsenal to bear against them, be wise to make contact and arrange a meeting point."
She moved to Kazak.
"Same for us. If there is anyone inbound from your team, they need to be brought up-to-speed to prevent further diplomatic incidents."
"She's got all of you trained well, don't she?" Adams made light of her take-charge initiative at the expense of the others.
"She did receive some of the best training the Empire has to offer. You don't get to be an infiltration specialist and not know how to deal with unforeseen interruptions and people coming into your plan." Kazak rose to his feet. "C'mon, I'll get you all up to speed and access to a video console to contact your guys while I call Vult to see who he sent our way."
"You have fun with that. I've got calls to make to make and stories to fabricate." The human man announced, already taking his phone out from his pocket. "I want all the new arrivals touching down at Dreamland. Saves us the trips and headaches with locals getting mixed up in the matter. No exceptions."
"And if they can't be convinced to be compliant with an obviously disadvantageous position?" Eclas queried.
"Like you said, won't be their problem anymore having a sudden onset of a case of dead. Primitive, we may be, but nuclear fire still burns."
"Fair point."