Chapter 8: Best Foot Forwards.
Flames of gold, yellow and orange licked the glass in front of his face as Liam focused on his breathing, before battle Seekers were taught to take the time to meditate and to centre themselves, it would help to control their emotions and their abilities when the shit began to fly all around them.
The radio was in almost constant use in his headset with the call sign of who was speaking popping up in his HUD to tell him who was speaking, but Liam was tuning it out as he knew all his Seeker brothers and sisters would be doing as well, it was their time to shine and to prove themselves to their Clan and to their leaders, they had all pretty much grown up listening and hearing the war stories of their Grand Matriarch and Patriarch, both were combat veterans and had fought battles that were the stuff of legend on their world, now here they were, about to write their own chapter into that history book of Clan Mason, they were about to fight to protect a people they had only just met, far away from their homeworld, just to uphold the principles on which Clan Mason was formed, protect the innocent no matter who they are or where, stand for them for you are a Guardian and it's your sacred duty, your strength is theirs.
The pod began to shake and rattle as it hit the atmosphere, Liam controlled his breathing, taking deep breaths and counting his heart beats which was made easier because they were displayed in his bio reader in his HUD, which he knew the Battle Angel command aboard the Dreamer could see as swell, if his vitals went crazy or flat lined Battle Angels would be scrambling to him from every direction before he even hit the ground, because that was their sacred duty, defend life no matter what.
"Alright, people, here we go, heads up and eyes sharp, we're thirty seconds out so get your game faces on, all Hunter teams you know your job, listen to your squad leaders and do your duty, make sure you bounce all reports to Hunter one aboard the Dreamer or you know she'll come down here and personally kick your arse into orbit," Jack said into the comms, there was a chorus of affirmation.
"Battle Angel teams, make sure you keep the Hunters on their feet and help every civilian you can, once we touch that soil I don't want another civilian life lost, we will protect them no matter what, got that?" Jack said, and there was chorus of mechanical voices and screeches giving affirmation.
"Seeker teams, our job is both the simplest and hardest at the same time, we're dropping right into the thick of it so we're going to encounter real confusion, we don't know if Ambassoder Celia has been able to reach her people so we have to take it that we might not get a warm welcome 'till they realise why we're there, do not fire on the Serpentinus, if needed use your abilities to take them down without loss of life, we're there to protect and guard the royal family and everyone around them, those Scalathorian assassins will not reach them while we draw breath, not one of them dies by our hands or anyone else's, got that?" Jack said, his voice hard and business-like.
"Yes, sir!" all the Seekers, including Liam, yelled as one.
"Alright, people, here we go, approach confirmed, we're going in, good luck to all, see you on the ground!" Jack said, and there was a huge jolt as Liam's pod retro thrusters fired to allow it to impact without killing him, outside the window he could see a vast and incredibly beautiful city stretching out before him and getting closer and larger by the second, in the air above the city he could see other pods grouping up and heading to their drop coordinates, Liam's pod began to rotate on its axis to align itself with the others and to locate a clear set down place, mentally Liam began to count down from ten.
As he hit one his pod hit and the tip of the pod's sharp needle like tip bedded itself into the ground and the support legs shot out and locked it in place, "Punch out, let's do this!" Jack's voice yelled, and that was it, it was on.
Liam hit his canopy release and the glass canopy fired off and away from him, letting him release his harness and jump out of the pod, setting his feet down on an alien world for the first time, his weapons already powered up and ready to go, around him he saw the other pods of the other Seekers a few meters apart, the terrain was an absolutely beautiful mixture of something that wouldn't have been out of place in the ancient jungles of Earth, looking almost Aztec in their design, but then with mixtures of what looked like sandstone that wouldn't have looked out of place in the desert but with a modern spin to them.
Liam barely had enough time to take his first breath before glowing plasma projectiles sizzled passed his head and impacted his pod as he came under fire, Liam spun on his axis, looking for the shooter and his HUD was searching, using a vastly upgraded version of Yautja targeting software projecting laser targeting, no sooner had he turned then he saw them, four armored Scalathor were heading towards them using a set of small buildings for cover, Liam's targeting caught one of them out in the open and locked on, both his plasma casters fired at once and hit the figure dead centre in the chest, sending it flying back in a cartwheel as two blue and white flames erupted on impact.
"This is Seeker one two, I'm on the ground and am under fire, have engaged the Tango, one down, three still up," he said into his comms while moving to evade the incoming fire from the dead Scalathor's companions, he used both his plasma casters and his rifle to return fire on them, this gave him three times the firepower as any one of them.
"Roger that, we're coming to you Seeker one two," Jack's voice called, and seconds later as Liam used a wall to shield himself from incoming fire Jack appeared, plasma rounds were sizzling through the air all around him but he didn't seemed phased at all, the veteran Dream Warrior simply stood tall and proud, before letting out a bellowing roar that was echoed from a distance away which must have been Ryan or one of the other Yautja picking up the war cry, Jack's plasma casters were stitching the commandos and he was taking fire also with a few impacts rippling through the shields built into the armor, yet another invention to come out of the hive of Yoshi and Citrus, these anti-kinetic shields were primarily designed around stopping bullets or railgun slugs by robbing them of their kinetic power and preventing them from impacting the armor itself, but they were also highly effective against energy weapons as well but energy weapons would drain the shield's self charging power cells a lot quicker.
Jack drew his huge sword and with a movement so fast that if Liam wasn't a Dream Warrior himself he'd have had no chance of seeing it Jack dashed forward right into the middle of the commando team, moving so fast he appeared to be in two places at once, confusing his targets, as he lunged forward at the closest target, punching through the figure with that huge sword, both his plasma casters spun on their axis and fired at the two figures behind him independently.
In less than a second all three of the commandos were dead, Jack flicked his sword to clear the blood from the blade before setting it back in its scabbard, Mav and Rem appeared next to Liam, they were stood in front of a large building that was obviously the royal palace, it was a huge, beautiful building made of a mixture of granite, marble and what appeared to be volcanic glass, Liam had to admit that Serpentinus architecture really was something to behold, both strikingly beautiful and thoughtful.
There were statues of very regal looking Serpentinus females, always in groups of four, facing away from one another arranged like points on a compass, holding either swords or books or other implements obviously designed to show what each one of them specialized in, either a warrior or a scholar or teacher.
The platform that the Seeker pods now stood was raised up from street level by a good few feet and accessible from the winding streets beyond by a series of ramps that lead up to where the Seekers now stood, the Serpentinus didn't appear to do stairs but then without legs or feet that wasn't all that surprising, behind them set between a series of huge graphite columns was a damaged doorway that had been barricaded and judging by the dead Scalathor bodies littering the ground around them it appeared that the Serpentinus beyond had mounted an effective defence of their palace.
Liam looked over to the far side of the platform and he saw Ryan and Seeker team two had formed up, Analise was easily recognizable by the huge armored fire tiger at her side, "Come in, Dreamer, this is Seeker one one, Seeker teams one and two are on the ground and all accounted for, we've made contact with the enemy, give me a sitrep," Jack said into the comms.
"Roger that, Seeker one one, we've taken out the remaining Scalathorian frigate but they were able to get out message before we destroyed them, we haven't been able to decrypt it yet but we believe it was either a distress call or a call for reinforcements, hopefully the rest of the fleet will get here first, the Ambassoder has had some success with raising her people but we do not know how far word of our arrival has spread so be warned of possible blue on blue situations, plus we have detected multiple commando teams advancing and converging on your position, so dig in deep, my love, you're about to have your hands full, Dreamer, over and out," Tik eleth's voice replied through the comms.
"Alright, people, we've got fuck knuckles inbound, get to cover and dig in, Liam, get to those doors and inform the Serpentinus that we are on their side, I really don't want to be shot in the back trying to help these people," Jack said, and Liam saluted and turned towards the barricaded doors, he made his way towards it and as he did he let his rifle hand on its sling and he raised his hands to appear non threatening, he suddenly realized that communication may be a problem, while he could understand them they wouldn't be able to understand him unless he could get close enough to tag one and push English into their minds to make a ready made translator, so he was going to have deploy his Dream Warrior abilities here.
As he drew close he saw four rifles pointing at him through the gaps in the barricade and he could see four shadows moving behind the barricade, "That's close enough! Don't take another step! Who are you and what are you doing here? You are not a Scalathor?" a feminine sounding aggressive voice hissed in her native tongue at him.
"My name is Seeker Liam Silver Mason of the Seekers of Truth of the Guardian Core of Clan Mason, we're here to help you, we have ambassoder Celina Diamondscale with us," Liam said in a calm, controlled voice as he watched the four rifle barrels tracking his every twitch.
"What is it saying? I don't recognise that language, it's not a Scalathor, but it's not a Scalathor friend either, they were fighting them a moment ago when they landed those pods, I saw this one kill one of the commandos, does that mean it's on our side?" a second voice said in Serpentinus to the others, Liam took this moment of confusion to turn things to his advantage, he activated his Emotional Manipulation ability, this would allow him to get them to remain calm long enough for him to do what he needed to, now, granted it is much stronger to those he's touching or those he's performed a mental binding on before but it was strong enough like this to work, he began to focus his mind, exuding a sense of calmness.
He began to move slowly forwards as he felt them beginning to falter, "It's ok, I'm not your enemy, I'm not here to hurt you," Liam said softly, his voice carrying no meaningful words for them but it wasn't the word that were important, it was the effect of the softness and control of his voice when applied within the bubble of his psychic effect, the calming effect was rather confusing to them and he could see them shaking their heads beyond the barricade as they tried to clear out the effects of his control, but it's not that easy to shake off a Dream Warrior's control.
"Hey, I told you not to move!" the first soldier said, but her voice was sounding muggy like she was drunk and distracted, Liam reached the barricade and he reached through it slowly and calmly and like they were utterly fascinated by his hand they simply watched him as he reached through and gripped the closest one to him blindly, but before she could recoil in shock that he'd managed to achieve this Liam deployed his powerful mental abilities and like a punch of lightning to her head Liam pushed his language into her mind and the shock of it caused her to snap out of her stupor and pull herself away from him.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing!? Who gave you permission to touch a royal guard!?" she yelled angrily, causing her comrades to snap out of ther stupor and as one their weapons all snapped back into the aim on him and they also seemed utterly shocked to now find him stood right before him instead of where he had been.
"My apologies, my good lady, I meant no offence, My name is Seeker Liam Silver Mason, I am a member of the Seekers of Truth of the Guardian Core of Clan Mason, we have come here to help defend your people from attack, we rescued your ambassoder Celia Diamondscale from Scalathorian kidnappers and she led us here," Liam said.
"What's it saying? We do not understand you!" one of the other guards said angrily, but the one that Liam had infused with his language froze.
"I-I-I understood that! I understood what it was saying!" the first guard said, and the others turned their attention to her, Liam couldn't see them through the barricade, but he could see the movements they made.
"What? How is that possible?" One of the others asked.
"I-I do not know but it said that its name is Seeker Liam Silver Mason and it is something called a Seeker of Truth, a member of something called the Guardian Core of Clan Mason, it says they have our ambassoder Celia Diamondscale, that they rescued her from Scalathor pirates and that they are here to help us," she said.
"How could you possibly know that just by it touching you? That's not possible!" The other guard said.
"I do not know, it must have done something to me when it touched me, it felt like I could feel it in my head, but I definitely understood it," the first guard said.
"Call your superiors, ambassador Celia has been trying to call down to you from our ship in orbit, we have purged the Scalathor frigates from the orbit of your planet and they have been destroyed, our capital ship the Dreamer is currently in orbit defending your planet from further attack and from reinforcements being called, call your superiors and they will be able to confirm what I am saying, but do it fast as more commandos are on the way and I am needed to help defend this place," Liam said.
"What's it saying?" the second guard asked.
"It's asking that we call our superiors and that they will confirm what it is saying, it says that they have a capital ship in orbit which has taken out the two Scalathor frigates and is defending the planet," she said.
"Stand there, Seeker, or whatever you are called while I confirm what you are saying," the second guard said, and she seeming pulled out a radio and began calling through what he had been saying.
"What's happening up there, Seeker one two? We need you back on the line here," Jack's voice came over the comms.
He flicked his helmet to private mode and spoke, "Seeker one two to Seeker one one, I've made contact and given one of the guards our language, I've tried to explain to them what is happening, they are calling it through to their superiors, over," Liam said.
"Ok, roger that, get it done as fast as you can, I can hear shooting getting closer, I think our Hunter teams have caught up with the commando teams at the rear which means all of them are going to be driving this way and they're probably not going to be very happy with the golden boot jammed up their collective tailhole," Jack said, which made Liam smile.
"Roger that, get back to the line as soon as you can Seeker one one, over and out," Jack said, and just then someone else approached the barricade as Liam heard the tell tale sign of fast paced slithering.
"You there! Seeker or whatever you're called! You mentioned Celia Diamondscale, is she alive? Please, I have to know!" An aggressive and desperate feminine voice called through the barricade to him.
"Yes, she is alive and well, aboard our ship the Dreamer, we rescued her from the cargo hold of an attacked Scalathor trading ship where she was being held prisoner, most likely for ransom," Liam responded.
"What did it say!? I cannot understand it!" The desperate and angry sounding female yelled.
"It says she is ok, it goes on to say she is aboard their ship, the Dreamer, in orbit and that they rescued her from the cargo hold of a Scalathor transport ship," the guard who had their language in her mind said.
"Oh, thank the Great Tree! My pack mate is alive! Oh, thank you, Seeker! Thank you!" The woman who was obviously one of those Celia had told Liam to look out for said.
"You're welcome, Celia told me to look out for her pack when I got planetside so once the battle is done I will come and find you and we can speak more, but right now please take shelter inside as deep as you can, let us Guardians and your royal guards do our jobs and protect the civilians, so please go back inside, but if you can find a radio you can speak to Celia, just transmit on a broad spectrum frequency and she should hear you, she's trying to communicate through our ship's comms relay but we don't have your encrypted frequencies," Liam said, and the English speaking guard repeated what he said word for word.
"I will! Thank you, Seeker, thank you," she said, and with that she slithered off back into the palace, obviously or rather hopefully to inform her other pack mates that Celia was alive and well.
"Ok, I'm going back to our lines now, we will keep the commandos from your doors but just in case make sure this barricade is strong, our soldiers are easily recognizable, Seekers look like me in blue armor, all bipedal, Hunters are the same but dressed in bright golden armor, real easy to miss because they like to hide, Battle Angels are our medics and are real easy to see, they wear bright pink and white armor, you can't miss them, so if anybody inside is hurt let me know now and I'll have them come here to render aid," Liam said with his translator repeating his words.
"You have medics with you? Can they treat our species?" One of the guards said quickly.
"Seppa, you can not be thinking what I think you're thinking!?" One of the others said.
"If they have medics then they could treat the queen's pack mate!" the English speaking guard said.
"But we don't even know them, they could be in league with the Scalathor!" one of the other said.
"I know you won't take my word for it but we are not, if one of the civilians inside is injured, queen or not, please let us help, we're here to protect and aid you not harm you," Liam said.
"We do not need your protection, alien! We can protect ourselves! We are the Royal Guards and we are responsible for protecting the royal pack!" the angry guard spat after the English speaking guard translated what Liam said.
"I meant no offence, I merely wished to convey our wish to help is all," Liam said, trying to rush his diplomacy as he knew the Scalathor were getting closer by the second.
A high speed argument ensued but logic finally won out, "Your Battle Angels must surrender their weapons when they enter and we will allow them in," the English speaking guard said.
Liam nodded, "Very well, but trust me when I say Xenos do not need weapons, you'll understand when you see them," Liam said, then he pressed his comms button.
"Seeker one two to Battle Angel team one, we have injured civilians in the Royal palace but they won't allow you in armed so hand off to the nearest Seeker and get your tails up here pronto," Liam said, and he got an instant response as Battle Angel team one had accompanied the Seekers in on their drop and only seconds later four Xenos appeared, surprising the guards inside.
"Those are Battle Angels!?" the English speaking guard exclaimed and Liam nodded.
"This is Vette, she's in charge of Battle Angel team one, she speaks my language and they all understand yours so I recommend you send your translator with them, I must get back to the lines now, good luck," Liam said, and he turned as he heard the barricade being moved while he jogged back to join his fellow Seekers and as he reached the wall where Jack was waiting he saw his Grand Patriarch nodding approvingly.
"Good job, young Seeker, you've done your Clan and your order proud, looks like our Serpentinus ambassador's diplomatic skills are rubbing off on you," Jack said with a smile under his helmet.
"Just putting my best foot forward, boss," Liam said, making Jack laugh and suddenly Analise came over the comms.
"Seeker two two to all Seeker calls signs, I've spotted the enemy, they are three blocks away and closing, count forty advancing fast, I have eyes on in the form of a bird above them, they are closing from three sides, our Hunters are being slowed up by their rear guard and the vanguard will be reaching us any moment, over," she said.
Liam instantly knew what she was doing, it was a Tamer ability called Sense Sharing, a Tamer could literally overwhelm a lesser creature's mind and control them like a puppet, seeing through their eyes, hearing through their ears, tasting with their tongue, ect, it was a fascinating ability and Analise was a bloody joker when it came to using it, Liam had lost count of the amount of tap dancing spiders he'd found in his bed, but he did have to admit that he was impressed by the one she made do ballet, though she stopped when he got his own back when he summoned a literal Barber shop quartet to sing her a lullaby in her bed, he could still hear her screaming echoing in his mind, no more dancing spiders after that.
"Seekers, stand too! This is it! Not one of these bastards is getting past us!" Jack yelled, and everybody primed their weapons and moments later when the commandos appeared fighting a running battle with Serpentinus soldiers who were scattered throughout their route the Seekers unleashed hell on them.
It was like the broadside of a capital ship firing in space, every single Seeker picked two targets for their plasma casters and upon Jack's command all fired at once, a volley of super heated plasma ripped through the air, leaving trailing blue streaks like smoke right back to their shooters as without fail every shot found its mark, taking sixteen Scalathor commandos down before they even knew what happened, the others scattered, taking cover in alleyways and buildings to return fire on their opponents, to his left there was a roar and Liam glanced to see Analise jumping onto Zed's back and riding the massive fire tiger into the fray like a glorious and demented warrior queen, running right after her was Ryan, using a mixture of his Yautja agility and Dream Warrior strength to leap from the raised platform up onto a roof top before dropping down into the alleyway below.
Not to be outdone, Jack literally popped three Scalathor at long range with precision shots, making their heads just pop like a grape hit with a fifty cal before drawing his sword and charging the closest ones, Liam followed suit, stitching three more Scalathor in a building before jumping forward and using his incredible speed to his advantage, slowing the world around him down to a crawl as he ran up and kicked a Scalathor right through a sandstone wall, taking out her comrade hiding behind it, sensing trouble he jumped from a standing jump backwards, arcing through the air over the top of two more appearing out of a house behind him, as he sored he pulled his wrist blades out and grabbed the closest Scalathor's head and spun three hundred and sixty degrees before landing and throwing the severed head he was now holding which was still in its helmet right into the face of her comrade like a baseball.
A roar to his left made him turn and Liam saw Rem had two of them by the tails and was swinging them like she was holding two hammers and was spinning on the spot like a proppellar before both their tails tore off, sending their owners rocketing into two separate walls head first, she then, in true Yautja fashion, proceeded to beat the next unlucky Scalathor to emerge from the house with the armored bloody tails like she was swinging a pair of fleshy clubs, you had to give the Yautja points when it came to being inventive in killing people.
There was still a lot of shooting going on, primarily from the now panicked Scalathor, it was obvious that they had absolutely no clue what in the name of fuck they were fighting, to them it must have been like trying to hit armored ghosts, Seekers moving so fast that if you blinked you'd miss them, one second on your left the next on your right holding your friend's freshly severed head trying to beat you to death with said head.
Their numbers shrank in seconds, the survivors tried to run but they didn't get far, running straight into another forty or so Scalathor literally running full tilt towards them and it didn't take long to see why they were sprinting as a loud series of roars echoed down the wide streets and flashes of gold began to appear on both the roof tops and the streets, the Hunters had arrived.
The Hunters of Clan Mason were experts in urban combat, having the best of both Human special forces training and Yautja hunting training, the Hunters on the ground were moving in two ranks, the Hunters at the front row holding wrist mounted energy riot shields, directly behind them was a second row of Hunters and they were moving in symmetry, both using the shield for protection, their plasma casters were extended high on their gimbals and were firing over the top of their shields as were those of the Hunter behind them, but it got even better than that, there were also Hunters legging it along the rooftops on either side of the street shooting down into the fleeing Scalathor, corralling and herding them directly into their comrades and towards the regrouping and waiting Seekers, in short, they were royally fucked.
Utter hell broke loose as with a mighty battle roar triggered by Jack Mason himself and picked up by every single Seeker they charged the trapped Scalathor, swords and wrist blades flashed in the unrelenting sun, screams and yells pierced the air as did arcs of blood flashing in the sunlight as it flew before painting the walls and tiles of the roads, as Liam kicked off a wall into an airborne rotational arc to shoot downwards into a small group with both is casters and his rifle he saw Analise plow right through a group with Zed sending them skittering like bowling pins, their shots bouncing off his heavy armor and shielding, the huge tiger rearing up and his enhanced claws cutting through their armor like paper, leaving huge ugly gouges in their wake, given that Zed had six legs he could do a lot of damage with a single set of swipes with his front four in one single move.
Analise leapt from his back, vaulting over the group and landing behind them, firing not only down into them but into their backs as she landed, switching seamlessly to her wrist blades and executing a series of high speed stabs, then with the snap of fingers all of them fell as one to the ground.
This was the first time that either of them had ever taken a sentient life, sure, both of them had killed while hunting before, there were few alive on Clan Mason's homeworld who had not killed during a hunt, in part it was a Yautja world so it was a way of life and every one of them were taught the way and rules of the hunt from birth and every life taken was held in the highest regard to pay homage to Paya herself, honor life and honor death, this was the way of the hunt.
But this felt different, maybe it was because he was a Soul Knight but Liam could feel the fear in the air, it was like an electric current traveling along his spine and prickling his skin under his armor, one of the more impressive and unusual abilities that a Soul Knight possessed was the Harvest of Souls, it worked by turning the souls of the recently fallen into a kind of psychic fuel, it didn't rob the soul of the fallen of their rightful place in the afterlife, whichever place they had earned with their respective deity, it simply used up all the energy that they had avalible and transfered it directly to the Soul Knight, turning them into a kind of super charged berserker, Soul Knights only ever used it on the souls of their enemy's so that Nightmare Assassins could not use it to fuel their own abilities, but boy did it give the Soul Knight a kick in the arse.
Liam didn't know if it was the competitiveness that had always existed between the two but upon seeing Analise unleashing death with such amazing grace upon their enemies Liam felt a surge to do better, to do his leader and Clan Patriarch proud as Analise was obviously doing for Ryan, Liam took his sword that Jack had forged for him when he'd taken the position of second in command of the Soul Knights and he had told him then that the sword was special as it symbolized the two halves of a Soul Knight, on one hand the living and the other the dead, at the time he hadn't known what he meant but now as he triggered a Harvest of Souls, plunging it into the ground at his feet he understood perfectly because as he began to draw the swirling sparkling blue energy towards him like electric smoke he saw the rune that Jack had engraved into the blade begin to glow and a line of raw energy flowed down the centre of the blade like glowing water and it split in two.
On one blade it read, 'I honor the road of life,' on the other it read, 'I honor the vastness of death,' as he drew them both from the ground it was like he suddenly had three shadows behind him and as he moved it was like he had a visual echo and he moved so fast that time itself seemed to have stopped, he cut down six of them before the first one even had chance to turn towards him, now, the thing about the Harvest of Souls is that every single life taken while it's active simply adds more fuel to the already burning fire, before he knew it was even happening Liam had cut right through the ranks and emerged right in front of the advancing Hunters as time seemed to realign and he felt the urge to lift his hand and snap his fingers, so he did and behind him half of the enemy fell dead to the floor, leaving all of them staring at him in shock and awe, for them too this was the first time seeing a Seeker in true combat mode and not training.
Not a single Scalathor survived the encounter, even though they'd panicked and tried to run when they realized they were trapped they had stood and fought to the last woman, not a single one survived, even as the roar of victory went up from both Hunters and Seekers alike Jack Mason stood and he paid silent homage to warriors fallen, he bowed his head in prayer to Paya for their victory and Liam and Ryan joined him, the Scalathor had been strong opponents but against Dream Warriors and the extremely well equiped and trained Hunters they were no match, every single warrior in Clan Mason's troops was special forces, trained and armed to the teeth with next level equipment.
The bodies of the invaders were littered everywhere and only now Liam actually noticed the Serpentinus soldiers that had been fighting alongside them, he truly coldn't believe that he hadn't noticed that such big girls had been all but invisible during the fight but given the amount of gore and scorching their armor supported they had royally gotten stuck in as well, at first they seemed perplexed by the cheering aliens around them but then they just joined in and began cheering and hugging one another as they realized that they'd won the day thanks to their new strange friends.
"This is Seeker one one to Dreamer, all enemy contacts are neutralized, do you have any others on the scope?" Jack said.
"Negative, my love, scope is clear, we're not picking up any further Scalathor life signs, but we will continue to sweep, let us know how things are going, we will continue to monitor from up here, we're going to transport the Ambassador down so she can help do the introductions to her people, she should be with you soon and once the fleet is here I'll come down and join you myself, my love, so we can celebrate this victory together, this was the first blow struck by our Guardians in the name of justice and it was a powerful one," Tik eleth said.
"The first of many, my love, the first of many, I'll see you soon, Seeker one one out," Jack said, then he clicked his comms button again, "Seeker one one to all ground call signs, I want this place secured and searched, I want all casualties reported and all battle Angels on station to administer aid to any who need it, hell, go door to door if you have to, we help any who need it and that includes wounded combatants, we are not executioners or merciless, if any are left alive they are to be disarmed, treated and taken into custody to be transfered over to the Serpentinus authorities, after that it is up to them what they do, spread out, people, and best faces on, it's hearts and minds time, I want these people to see the Guardian Core as Guardians of innocent life as well as the avengers of innocent blood, so gentle words and gentle hands, people, these people haven't met us, they don't know us and they, other than this fight, have no reason to trust us, so give them one, understood?" Jack said, and as one every single Guardian saluted and chorused, "Yes, Grand Patriarch!" before scattering and beginning the search.
The Seekers had a definite advantage at this as their senses let them home in on fear and pain and Liam personally led their Battle Angels right to the doors that hid terrified and injured civilians, as soon as they were found the Angels got straight to work setting up their tools and treating the wounded, Jack had also set up a field hospital near the entrance to the palace where their pods landed, so walking wounded or slithering wounded who had made the trip out could seek help there as well as at their own hospitals, fortunately civilian casualties were light, soldiers on the other hand, not so much.
The Serpentinus had fought valiantly but they were unprepared for such a thing, for such bloodshed to be dropped right into the very heart of their beautiful capital city as if by a tornado, the Scalathor commandos, although no match for the Guardian Core, had been more than a match for the Serpentinus soldiers and they had been overwhelmed by a vastly smaller force, showing the power of training and superior equipment, much like the Dreamer had managed to see off two heavily armed frigates without a single scratch because of her superior defences and guns.
Liam was stood in front of the palace when the shuttle carrying Celia came down to land in front of the hospital they'd set up and currently had Battle Angels scurrying around treating wounded in it, she slithered down the tail ramp guarded by four of Sela eleth's Saviors acting as body guards.
Liam could clearly see the look of pain and horror on her face as she saw her wounded kin in the care of the Battle Angels as well as all the damage done to the great palace with chunks blown out of the masonry by plasma fire and the scorch marks everywhere, Liam had already confirmed with another of the Royal guards that now spoke their language thanks to a surprising handshake that her pack was safe and sound within the walls of the palace, suddenly a hand clapped him on the shoulder and he turned to see Jack Mason standing next to him, he swore he was part ghost by the way he seemed to just materialise out of thin air like that.
"Time to put your best foot forward again, Liam, I think we could use our own ambassador to deal with these fine people and seeing as you officially have more experience with them than any of us, you're it," he said, and he patted his shoulder and before Liam could say a word he vanished again, reappearing a short distance away in the hospital and in a display that made Jack Mason Jack Mason instantly got stuck in along side the Battle Angels tending to the wounded, by Paya you had to love the man, no job was too big or small or too dirty for him, he embodied the spirit of the Guardian Core, proud warrior but gentle and humble man, he was both a sword and a shield for the innocent and defenceless and as Liam watched him comforting a scared Serpentinus girl while a Battle Angel treated her wounds.
Liam turned and saw Celia speaking to one of the Seekers who was stood near the statues and he saw the Seeker that turned out to be Rem and saw her point right at him, Celia turned her gaze and slithered right for him, "Hello, Ambassador, it's good to see you again," Liam said as she slithered right up to him she stopped short and her head seemed to dance about as she swayed, her tongue flickering as if trying to taste the air around him but his scent was sealed inside his armor and his helmet was still sealed.
"Liam! I am so glad you are unharmed, I watched the fighting on the monitors on the bridge of your Dreamer, your Grand Matriarch was kind enough to let me see the feeds from your helmet cameras, I have never seen anything like it in my life, the fighting was horrific but your soldiers are so very brave! You all fought so bravely for us, I am humbled by it," she said, and Liam felt embarrassed by her praise.
"Umm, thank you, Ambassador, I am told your pack is unharmed and in good health, they are waiting for you in the palace, I can take you to them now if you wish," he said, deflecting her praise and instantly her face brightened.
"Truly!? My pack is unharmed!?" She exclaimed happily, and Liam nodded, out of nowhere she rushed forwards and like he weighted absolutely nothing she lifted him off his feet in a hug that if it wasn't for his armor might have put his ribcage in real peril.
"You kept your word to me, thank you, Liam, thank you so much," she said softly before placing him back on his feet and looking a little flustered as if her outburst of emotion and joy had shamed her.
"M-M-My apologies, Seeker, I-I-I did not mean to do that, I was just so worried about my beloved pack sisters," she said, trying to put her pride and dignity back in place.
"It's quite alright, Ambassador, quite understandable when fearing for your family, in all honesty, it was not me but your very own royal guards, they sealed them and your royal pack up in the palace and prevented any Scalathor from getting to them, they are the ones deserving of your thanks," he said, and she nodded in partial agreement.
"But if it was not for the intervention of your Guardian Core, of your brave Seekers and Hunters fighting in these very streets for a people they owe nothing to or even know at all then I cannot even bare to think what their fate would have been, but I saw on those monitors what you and your Seekers did, you stood as a bastion against their cowardly attack, just eight against eighty, I was worried and feared deeply when I saw what you were to do but your Grand Matriarch told me not to fear, that I had not seen what a Dream Warrior could do when unleashed, each of you fought like nothing I had ever seen or even believed possible, it seemed that you are a male of a great many secrets and talents, Liam Silver," she said, and Liam smiled, rubbing the back of his helmet, embarrassed by her praise.
"Umm, I don't know about that, Ambassador, I'm just glad we were able to help, it's what I became a Seeker for, to defend my Clan and to protect the innocent, whoever they are and wherever they may be, now, come, let's not waste any time, your pack mates are most anxious to see your safe return," he said and she nodded as he gestured her to lead on and she slithered past him with him falling in step behind her as she headed for the palace entrance which was still sealed and held by the royal guards.
other than the Battle Angels who had gone in to treat the wounded member of the royal pack no one had entered or exited the place, Celia slithered up to the barricade and declared herself to the guards and they opened the barricade, as Liam entered at her side he was stopped by the guards, "He is with me, he is a warrior of the people who just saved and defended us, a Seeker of Truth," Celia said angrily as she saw the guard fingering their weapons suspiciously.
"Yes, ambassador, we know, he is also some sort of magician that can put languages in people's heads against their will," the guard in front of him, a rather regal and pretty example of her race, and unlike Celia she sort of reminded Liam of a picture of yet another Earth species of snake, a cobra.
She had sand coloured scales decorated with flashes of blue and red, she seemed to have a retractable hood at the rear of her head which now fanned out as she fixed her bright yellow eyes on Liam, she wore green and blue armor that covered her top half, looking like it was made from tough cloth and a form of leather plated with a rather pretty metal at the chest and hips, she carried a rather mean looking plasma rifle which Liam knew was basically a pea shooter to his armor.
"Yes, he can do that, but that it is simply their way of helping to make themselves understood, he is an ambassador to his people who stand outside this very palace defending it, are you to be responsible for these Guardians who protected our people at great risk to their own from meeting with the Royal pack?" Celia said angrily and rearing right up to show off her superior size, the smaller cobra like woman's hood seemed to fan before retracting and she seemed embarrassed under the glower and hard stare of the large python like Ambassador who planted her hands on her wide hips as she swayed back and forth and flickered her tongue at her.
"No, Ambassador Diamondscale, he may enter but it is protocol that I must ask him to leave any and all weapons here," the guard said, and Celia cocked her head.
"If he meant us any harm do you honestly believe that you or I or any of us could stop him having seen that fight outside?" Celia asked angrily, and now the guard looked lost so Liam decided to intercede.
"It's quite alright, Ambassador, for the sake of diplomacy I will happily surrender my weapons," he said, and Celia shot him a look which actually seemed upset, as if he was somehow circumventing her authority.
"No, you will not have a proud warrior who risked his own life for us rendered toothless, it will serve as proof of your intentions towards us, armed and proud as you should be," Celia said, the anger obvious in her voice, the pack of guards seemed surprised by her words but one really seemed to catch them off guard.
"Forgive me, Ambassador, but did you just say, 'He?'" the guard asked, and she nodded.
"Yes, Seeker Silver here is a male," Celia said, as if this little fact might break their stalemate and to Liam's utter surprise, it did.
"A male soldier on the front lines? Extraordinary!" The guard said, and instantly she and her three companions moved in closer to Liam, seemingly trying to see him inside his armor, Liam felt like he was about to be coiled from four sides at once as each of them leaned in and tried to see him properly through his visor.
"Exactly, now, if you don't mind, I am quite eager to see my pack and to meet with the Royal pack, we have much to do! And our honored guest here will be instrumental," Celia said, the guards waved her through but before they let him go each of them asked him to do that little trick that let them understand his language, so he did, giving each of them a language pack of sorts, English, Yautja and Xeno all at once.
Straight after that Celia led him deeper into the palace which looked like a cross between a great home and a cathedral, huge sweeping arches and beautiful artworks decorating everywhere he looked, there were royal guards looking at them as he strode at Celia's side, the guards were a variety of sub species of Serpentinus, more like Celia and the Cobra-like guard, but there were just so many, some had little horned scales and wide eyes, others had beautiful bright scale patterns in vivid blues and reds, there were just so many different types.
Finally after winding their way through a series of up hill ramps that lead them into the upper parts of the palace Celia led them into a large room where three female Serpentinus looked on worriedly as Battle Angels worked on one who was laid in a bed, next to them were another three who were packed close together, that was until they saw Celia and instantly they slithered right at her before diving on her and winding themselves together in what was a very Serpentinus version of a hug.
"Celia! You're alive! Oh, thank the Great Tree!" the three of them cried one after the other in three rather interesting voices.
"It is good to see you all again, I so feared that I wouldn't survive to see my beloved pack again, but here I am, alive and unharmed thanks to the efforts of my new friend here," Celia said, unwinding from them before indicating Liam, the three of them slithered to Liam and closed in on him, giving him a sudden rush of potential claustrophobia.
"You are the one I spoke to at the gates, the one who promised me that our Celia was unhurt and would be returned to us, you kept your word and for this you have my deepest thanks," one who looked to be of the cobra genus like the gate guard said, she seemed to have a lab coat on and little round glasses perched on her pointed snout which actually made her look rather cute, her scales were bright sandy gold with flecks of gold and white, next to her the other two couldn't be more different if they tried, one was smaller than the other three, skinnier and faster in her movements, her scales were bright green and her eyes matched, she held a book clasped in her hands along with a PDA of some kind, the other had an Asp-like triangular leaf shaped head and sharp looking red eyes.
"Words cannot express our gratitude to you for bringing our Celia back to us, you have our deepest thanks, may we know your name, lady warrior?" the cobra-like one asked.
"She is in fact a he and while he can understand us you will not understand him, not unless he gifts you his language," Celia said, and at once all three locked their eyes on her in surprise.
"A male soldier!? Extraordinary!" The Asp-like woman said and she moved so fast, shooting right up to Liam that even with his speed she surprised him as she tried to look through his visor, Liam decided to show off his own speed and like a gunshot his hand shot up and touched her head and before she could recoil in surprise he gave her the language pack.
"Can you understand me?" He said, and her face went slack in surprise.
"T-T-Thats not possible! H-H-He's an empath!" she exclaimed, looking from him to Celia who was smiling and nodding.
"I though that would get your attention, Veme, it's quite a trick isn't it?" Celia said.
"I'll say! Oh, you must let me study him! You simply must!" Veme said, darting in and jinking back and forth as if taking mental notes.
"That will be up to him, Veme, he is a sentient being, not a lab rat," Celia said with a soft chuckle and Veme looked chastised.
"O-O-Of course, m-m-my apologies, noble warrior, I meant no offence," Veme said, and Liam chuckled, instantly making her shoot forward to study him again.
"Err, none taken," he said as the Asp-like female jinked about, her eyes darting about.
"Err, any chance we can get that trick, I'd quite like to get in on this conversation," the cobra like woman said, and her little green companion nodded in agreement and Liam stepped up and touched them both in turn.
But now before another conversation could start the three very regal looking Serpentinus slithered up to them, one wearing a very blatantly royal robe around her shoulders and supporting armor on her torso, she was the same genus as Celia, a python, just a bigger type by the size of her, she was huge.
"Celia, please introduce this newcomer into the royal court and explain their presence here if you will," the royal Serpentinus said in a low cut glass voice.
"Of course, my lady, my apologies, may I introduce to you and the royal pack, Seeker of Truth Liam Silver Mason of the Guardian Core of Clan Mason, it is they that defended us this day and they who drove the Scalathor invaders from our soil and skies," Celia said with a bow.
The regal female turned her attention to Liam and slithered up close leaning down, "Can they understand us?" She asked.
"He can, my lady," Celia said, and again there was that surprised look at the mention of his gender.
"Can you breathe out air, Seeker Liam?" the regal Serpentinus asked.
"He can give you his language, my lady, if you allow him to touch your head, his species are quite extraodinary in their gifts of the Great Tree," Celia said, and the regal Serpent nodded, Liam stepped up, making all the Royal guards in the room twitch nervously, he placed a hand to her face and in a flash it was done.
"In answer to your question, your highness, I can breathe your air, yes," Liam said, and she looked utterly amazed.
"Extraodinary! I understand him! And wait! I now understand these Battle Angels they sent to save and tend my sister as well!" she exclaimed, turning and looking at the four Battle Angels who were hovering over the bed discussing her wounded sister, she clapped her hands in obvious delight.
"Amazing, simply amazing!" She said, and Liam smiled, pressing the release on his helmet, making it pack away and every set of eyes locked on to him in utter fascination, especially among Celia's pack, Celia simply seemed to have a rather odd smug look, like she'd brought home some sort of treasure for them to all marvel at.
"I thank you for the welcome, my lady, and I thank you for the trust that enabled me to give you our language, we will need it as we have a great much to discuss regarding the events outside," Liam said, and the regal serpent instantly went business like and nodded.
"Indeed, Celia, get the conference room ready, we will do this at once, Seeker Liam, please place a call to your superiors and ask them to join us if you will, I'll send word for our guard to allow them in, now, please, come, we have much to discuss," she said, and with that Liam found himself surrounded by scales on all sides as all the Serpentinus females slithered from the room, taking him along with them being steered by the shoulders by Celia, when suddenly a very soft voice whispered in his ear.
"Don't think I have forgotten your other word to me either, and now I know for sure you are good for it," it said, and Liam's heart sank as he turned and saw Celia smiling at him brightly.