First things first, reply to the reviews. I appreciate your comments—I have only written two stories on but elsewhere, it seems like my stories rarely if ever get reviews, so I can't help but be thankful for your reviews. I hope you all like Chapter 2!
There are four sentient races admitted in the Councils that have kept galactic peace for such a great long stretch of time—but there are five sentient species known to our society. The fifth, the Kauk, were not born of this galaxy but journeyed here as did the Ku'us, and have been only seen on infrequent occasion. To a few they are regarded as myth. However, there is overwhelming evidence that they are indeed there…watching and waiting. This book concerns itself with sightings, so I shall not go into these yet. It should be noted that their journey was not from the same galaxy as that of the Ku'u, but rather another in its direction, but further "upward", if there is any real up in the universe. This is what we believe of the Kauk race:
They are telepathic. Likely through natural evolution and research in the field of neurophysiology, they can send images to another's mind. However, they cannot read minds themselves. We believe this because many who have encountered them have reported and been able to prove experiencing
Their moral system is entirely different from our own. When the Ku'u first came, their way of ethics seemed horrible and mosium—the Chozo conventional term for an . However, in time their ways mixed with ours. It is likely that the Kauk are equally alien in their society.
They are hostile. Whether this can be credited to their moral differences, or not, we know factually that they have attacked without prompting and may plan to invade our territory. We must be alert and aware.
Introduction to Mysteries: The Kauk by the Healu Gwiasail-Unokt
The Juyama, named for the first High Counselor whose name had been taken up by his successors, settled down on the inhabited asteroid Yufosi, with an exterior of mostly rock save for the numerous windows, but with an interior of almost complete metal. It was a scientific asteroid, although it had earned itself infamy from the rumors that it harbored Ku'u military craft. No one believed such rumors, anymore, not since the Ku'u became part of the Councils, but that didn't take from the place's mystique.
Seekteese-Unokt, Healu, was here on a unique mission: research of the Ghakhan, which for decades had defied definition. Being barely an actual cell, and designed unlike any cell known to the Luminoth, they were known for their tendency to drill into a cell, take in various polypeptides presumably necessary for their survival, and simply disappeared. Over thousands of years of living in an environment abundant in these bacteria, the Luminoth body had started to take advantage of these parasites. When the Ghakkan invaded their cells, they sucked an equal amount of material from the invaders, until evolution took its course and the species became dependent upon each other.
Considering the events of late, a panel had been commissioned to research the microscopic body and develop a synthesis. Juyama was a small ship, and perfect for the job—so it was sent on its way. Unokt was not an actual member of the panel, but a ship pilot with a scientific background. He'd volunteered to assist in the matter, not that the High Counselor couldn't have found a way to manipulate him anyway.
As the ship settled down, he set the ship to autopilot and left the cockpit. "Small", you must understand, is a relative term. The Juyama was a miniature by Chozo standards, but by Healu or Ku'u standards (or human's, for the reference) it was a mammoth. Certainly nothing compared the great constructs thousands of kilometers long that were sent to police the empire ("It isn't an empire! It's a state! An empire implies a general, a commander, a monarch…no one rules here, even the High Counselor doesn't dictate," he imagined a certain spokesman he had met once reminding him), but still large. It took all of eight minutes to reach the airlock, especially considering the security measures.
The others were in the airlock, all clustered together…and none of them were going through the hatch. "What's going on?" he asked out of habit.
"They're not letting us down there," answered U-Hau—who officially was in charge of the Panel. "They've sealed the hatch."
"I didn't hear anything," said Onokt, thinking that he wouldn't have come down here if he had.
"That's what's worrying me. They haven't contacted us at all. We suspect that something is going on down there: maybe the air's been sucked out and there's a vacuum on the other side of the hatch, maybe there's some freak contamination breach, I can't say."
"You're the boss; what do you want us to do?"
"I gave the others orders to wait, so that's what we're doing. They're obviously alive and well down there, or their shields would have stayed up. We don't really have much of a choice in the matter." Onokt grunted, turning his head downward to face the hatch.
In a horrible explosion of light and noise, the hatch shot up into the Healu's face, preceding a burst of flame that incinerated the entirety of the crew—except for U-Hau. In a fireproof spacesuit, a Ku'u climbed into the Juyama. "Everything went perfectly," said the Luminoth. "No one will ever know."
"Good. They must think it an accident—another accident. I actually wonder if all these 'accidents will attract suspicion."
"I don't think so—the other night at the Council, they looked like the bought it hook, line, and sinker."
