Part 28: To War Once More
The shimmering violet form flew toward a large, forest-covered planet far from the Earth. It looked beautiful, and it only grew moreso as they entered the atmosphere. The energy seemed reluctant for a moment before plunging down through the clouds toward a massive building that they couldn't even begin to see the sides of. It took Sam a moment to figure out why Mandy was so nervous about entering the atmosphere.
"Hey... is this energy disappearing!?" Madison shouted in alarm as the violet power began to shimmer in and out of view.
"She's not as strong in a planet's atmosphere as she is in deep space." Mandy... or rather, Zeninia... told them. Clover still wasn't completely sure about what that was all about. She'd known the Zardexian woman wasn't really Mandy... but she was still so much like Mandy, and then for this bundle of energy to show up claiming to be Mandy... it was just confusing.
"So are we going to plummet to our deaths now?" Madison smirked.
"Hopefully not." Zeninia replied. The violet energy surged toward the ground, and slammed into the grass, though its occupants didn't feel anything but a slight jar as they came to a sudden stop. The energy slowly began to grow more transparent, leaving the three women standing on the grass in front of an impossibly large building.
"Mandy?" Clover looked around. "Are you going to be okay?"
"If I understand things right, she'll be fine. She just can't hold physical mass in a planet's atmosphere." Zeninia marched up to the building and places one hand on a cool window. "Now if we could just find a way in..."
"Don't see a doorbell." Madison picked up a hefty rock from the ground and hurled it up at one of the windows. The glass shattered with a crash. "So we'll just have to get their attention." Clover and Zeninia smirked, but didn't complain as they listened to a series of tiny footsteps approach the wall. To their surprise the wall bent inward as if there'd been a door there all along, and a group of little green aliens were standing with guns pointed at them. The three women put their arms up.
"Why are you attacking us, human?" One of the aliens demanded.
"We're not attacking you, we were just trying to get your attention." Madison replied. "We have to speak with whoever's in charge here... now."
"We agreed to let you remain in the forest." The alien stated. "Letting you in could jeopardize our truce with the Zardexians."
"Any truce you had is over." Clover smirked. "The Zardexians know you took our friends and hid them, and they're on their way here as we speak." The little aliens lowered their weapons slightly and began chattering fearfully among themselves in their own language. The three women watched them until they moved aside and jerked their weapons inward.
"Come on. Quickly." The alien said. Clover, Madison, and Zeninia walked past them into the building, being led through winding hallways, a strangely moving type of elevator, and finally down another hallway into what almost looked like a large courtroom. A series of green aliens were seated behind a bench that circled the room. They all stared down at the women.
"You've made some disturbing claims it seems." One of them said.
"True statements." Madison said. "Though I would be interested to know what this 'truce' your lackey talked about meant."
"That is not your concern." The alien told them.
"But the aliens coming to kill us all are our concern. And they're your concern as well." Madison pointed out. "Whatever happened in the past, it's time to get ready to fight again."
"Insanity." One of the other Argathins exclaimed. "The Zardexians cannot be vanquished in combat. It would be a futile war, as it was over a decade ago, and as it was for you humans."
"Yet if the Zardexians are truly on their way now, their threat cannot be ignored." A different alien spoke.
"Give the humans to them... all of the humans. And pray that they accept them along with our sincerest apologies." The second alien replied.
"That won't do it." Madison interrupted. "And frankly, if you're ever going to stand up to the Zardexians, NOW is the time." All eyes turned on her. "Recent developments have lead to the death of their commander. Someone new... an untested general is in charge of their entire army. This means they're weaker now than they were before, and the longer you wait to try to fight back again, the stronger they'll become until they will once again be undefeatable."
Despite the grave seriousness of the situation, Clover found her gaze turning toward Mandy... er... Zeninia. She was standing with her back straight and her hands clasped behind her like a soldier, looking around at the Argathins. Her expression was one of... oddly enough... guilt and regret. Clover watched her until she was noticed, at which point she faced forward again.
"Regardless of the circumstances... fighting the Zardexians would be complete and utter suicide..." The Argathin in the center climbed to his feet. Everyone in the room watched him. "We'll round up the rest of the humans... and we will offer them to the Zardexians as a peace offering."
"And if that fails?" Madison smirked.
"Guards, take them to a cell. And dispatch a team to retrieve the humans in the forest." The old Argathin said.
"You can't do this!" Clover complained as several aliens grabbed her arms and started to drag her out of the room. "You stop this you fucking traitor! Let us go!" She cast a glance over at Zeninia, who was still standing in place despite the Argathins' best efforts to move her. "Mandy! Zeninia! Whoever the Hell you are, do something!"
Zeninia growled and swept one arm outward, brushing four Argathins aside like little children and marched forward. Instantly every guard in the place whirled on her with their weapons drawn, but she stopped in the middle of the room, ignoring them and looking around.
"I can help you beat them." She stated. "I can give you the weakest points of their ships... the technical limitations... everything you'd need to bring down every single one of them."
"And how could you do that?" The Argathin asked.
"Because I'm one of them." Zeninia stated simply. The Argathins surrounding her tenses noticeably, and the council above them suddenly looked very, very nervous. She didn't respond to any of that, however. "And I want to help you kill them all..."
"Why would a Zardexian want to destroy her own people?" The Argathin smirked. "We know how you THINGS work. You infiltrate, and then create chaos from within. Why should we think that this is any different?"
"Would it make a difference if I was lying?" Zeninia smirked. "You know you can't defeat them in a head-to-head battle without some kind of edge, and I know that they're not interested in talking after your actions helped cause the death of their commander. Either you refuse my offer and die, or you take a risk, accept my offer, and have a chance."
The aged Argathin sat back in his chair, studying her appraisingly. "What would you want for helping us?" He asked.
"A guarantee. That no matter what happens, you'll leave the humans on this planet alone." Zeninia replied. The Argathins exchanged surprised glances while the leader continued to study her, his fingers forming a pyramid on the desk in front of him.
"Why would a Zardexian care about humans?" He asked curiously. Zeninia just stared at him, then cast a sidelong glance at Clover. The blonde woman stared back into her eyes until the Zardexian woman turned back to the Argathin council before her.
"I have my reasons..." Zeninia stated softly. "But the bottom line is... I don't want anyone else to die. And by our nature, we Zardexians must kill to survive... it's in our very blood. So to stop the death... we have to be annihilated." The Argathins stared at her in amazement for several minutes. Clover stared at her as well.
The Argathin in the center exchanged glances with those around him, then looked down at her again. "We accept your proposal, Zardexian. We'll begin preparing our fleet immediately... while you give us the information." Zeninia nodded as several Argathin guards turned to leave to assemble the fleet.
Clover watched all of this with a stunned expression on her face... and a bit of sadness in her heart. This wasn't Mandy anymore... this wasn't the woman who she'd been with since Dämon-Mörder. She was totally different now. Perhaps, Clover was right when she'd believed she lost everyone she cared about...
TO BE CONTINUED
The shimmering violet form flew toward a large, forest-covered planet far from the Earth. It looked beautiful, and it only grew moreso as they entered the atmosphere. The energy seemed reluctant for a moment before plunging down through the clouds toward a massive building that they couldn't even begin to see the sides of. It took Sam a moment to figure out why Mandy was so nervous about entering the atmosphere.
"Hey... is this energy disappearing!?" Madison shouted in alarm as the violet power began to shimmer in and out of view.
"She's not as strong in a planet's atmosphere as she is in deep space." Mandy... or rather, Zeninia... told them. Clover still wasn't completely sure about what that was all about. She'd known the Zardexian woman wasn't really Mandy... but she was still so much like Mandy, and then for this bundle of energy to show up claiming to be Mandy... it was just confusing.
"So are we going to plummet to our deaths now?" Madison smirked.
"Hopefully not." Zeninia replied. The violet energy surged toward the ground, and slammed into the grass, though its occupants didn't feel anything but a slight jar as they came to a sudden stop. The energy slowly began to grow more transparent, leaving the three women standing on the grass in front of an impossibly large building.
"Mandy?" Clover looked around. "Are you going to be okay?"
"If I understand things right, she'll be fine. She just can't hold physical mass in a planet's atmosphere." Zeninia marched up to the building and places one hand on a cool window. "Now if we could just find a way in..."
"Don't see a doorbell." Madison picked up a hefty rock from the ground and hurled it up at one of the windows. The glass shattered with a crash. "So we'll just have to get their attention." Clover and Zeninia smirked, but didn't complain as they listened to a series of tiny footsteps approach the wall. To their surprise the wall bent inward as if there'd been a door there all along, and a group of little green aliens were standing with guns pointed at them. The three women put their arms up.
"Why are you attacking us, human?" One of the aliens demanded.
"We're not attacking you, we were just trying to get your attention." Madison replied. "We have to speak with whoever's in charge here... now."
"We agreed to let you remain in the forest." The alien stated. "Letting you in could jeopardize our truce with the Zardexians."
"Any truce you had is over." Clover smirked. "The Zardexians know you took our friends and hid them, and they're on their way here as we speak." The little aliens lowered their weapons slightly and began chattering fearfully among themselves in their own language. The three women watched them until they moved aside and jerked their weapons inward.
"Come on. Quickly." The alien said. Clover, Madison, and Zeninia walked past them into the building, being led through winding hallways, a strangely moving type of elevator, and finally down another hallway into what almost looked like a large courtroom. A series of green aliens were seated behind a bench that circled the room. They all stared down at the women.
"You've made some disturbing claims it seems." One of them said.
"True statements." Madison said. "Though I would be interested to know what this 'truce' your lackey talked about meant."
"That is not your concern." The alien told them.
"But the aliens coming to kill us all are our concern. And they're your concern as well." Madison pointed out. "Whatever happened in the past, it's time to get ready to fight again."
"Insanity." One of the other Argathins exclaimed. "The Zardexians cannot be vanquished in combat. It would be a futile war, as it was over a decade ago, and as it was for you humans."
"Yet if the Zardexians are truly on their way now, their threat cannot be ignored." A different alien spoke.
"Give the humans to them... all of the humans. And pray that they accept them along with our sincerest apologies." The second alien replied.
"That won't do it." Madison interrupted. "And frankly, if you're ever going to stand up to the Zardexians, NOW is the time." All eyes turned on her. "Recent developments have lead to the death of their commander. Someone new... an untested general is in charge of their entire army. This means they're weaker now than they were before, and the longer you wait to try to fight back again, the stronger they'll become until they will once again be undefeatable."
Despite the grave seriousness of the situation, Clover found her gaze turning toward Mandy... er... Zeninia. She was standing with her back straight and her hands clasped behind her like a soldier, looking around at the Argathins. Her expression was one of... oddly enough... guilt and regret. Clover watched her until she was noticed, at which point she faced forward again.
"Regardless of the circumstances... fighting the Zardexians would be complete and utter suicide..." The Argathin in the center climbed to his feet. Everyone in the room watched him. "We'll round up the rest of the humans... and we will offer them to the Zardexians as a peace offering."
"And if that fails?" Madison smirked.
"Guards, take them to a cell. And dispatch a team to retrieve the humans in the forest." The old Argathin said.
"You can't do this!" Clover complained as several aliens grabbed her arms and started to drag her out of the room. "You stop this you fucking traitor! Let us go!" She cast a glance over at Zeninia, who was still standing in place despite the Argathins' best efforts to move her. "Mandy! Zeninia! Whoever the Hell you are, do something!"
Zeninia growled and swept one arm outward, brushing four Argathins aside like little children and marched forward. Instantly every guard in the place whirled on her with their weapons drawn, but she stopped in the middle of the room, ignoring them and looking around.
"I can help you beat them." She stated. "I can give you the weakest points of their ships... the technical limitations... everything you'd need to bring down every single one of them."
"And how could you do that?" The Argathin asked.
"Because I'm one of them." Zeninia stated simply. The Argathins surrounding her tenses noticeably, and the council above them suddenly looked very, very nervous. She didn't respond to any of that, however. "And I want to help you kill them all..."
"Why would a Zardexian want to destroy her own people?" The Argathin smirked. "We know how you THINGS work. You infiltrate, and then create chaos from within. Why should we think that this is any different?"
"Would it make a difference if I was lying?" Zeninia smirked. "You know you can't defeat them in a head-to-head battle without some kind of edge, and I know that they're not interested in talking after your actions helped cause the death of their commander. Either you refuse my offer and die, or you take a risk, accept my offer, and have a chance."
The aged Argathin sat back in his chair, studying her appraisingly. "What would you want for helping us?" He asked.
"A guarantee. That no matter what happens, you'll leave the humans on this planet alone." Zeninia replied. The Argathins exchanged surprised glances while the leader continued to study her, his fingers forming a pyramid on the desk in front of him.
"Why would a Zardexian care about humans?" He asked curiously. Zeninia just stared at him, then cast a sidelong glance at Clover. The blonde woman stared back into her eyes until the Zardexian woman turned back to the Argathin council before her.
"I have my reasons..." Zeninia stated softly. "But the bottom line is... I don't want anyone else to die. And by our nature, we Zardexians must kill to survive... it's in our very blood. So to stop the death... we have to be annihilated." The Argathins stared at her in amazement for several minutes. Clover stared at her as well.
The Argathin in the center exchanged glances with those around him, then looked down at her again. "We accept your proposal, Zardexian. We'll begin preparing our fleet immediately... while you give us the information." Zeninia nodded as several Argathin guards turned to leave to assemble the fleet.
Clover watched all of this with a stunned expression on her face... and a bit of sadness in her heart. This wasn't Mandy anymore... this wasn't the woman who she'd been with since Dämon-Mörder. She was totally different now. Perhaps, Clover was right when she'd believed she lost everyone she cared about...
TO BE CONTINUED