AC: I want to thank FollowerOfAnhamirak for his work in this chapters and the previous one where I forgot to mention him. Sorry. I put the chapter a little too fast.
I'll take a week break for this story, but they are two chapters that needs to be beta-read.
Bahrakatan sat quietly as he watched the land from below. He felt a little sickly on the inside. He wasn't made to fly in the air like that. He gazed at the two Underworlders watching him, ready to do anything if he had something planned. He had nothing of course. He closed his eyes and tried to handle his air-sickness. He felt lucky they didn't blindfold him. It was obvious he wouldn't escape, if he wanted to.
"We will be there soon," Agitos commented.
"Good. Because I have nothing to hide. My tribe losing against you is the best outcome," the Coralsmith admitted. He opened his eyes and looked on the blue lizard, "Underworlder. I am not joking on the matter. Milla'iin has already caused enough damage to the Cothica already."
"You are saying that and pretending to want that. Just to get on our good side," Rothar grunted as he clenched his fist.
"Believe what you want," Bahrakatan replied quietly. He placed his fingers on his pincer. He was hand-cuffed with something metallic and solid. He couldn't break it on his own, unless he really tried to rust it. He sighed, "As long as Remi is fine," he gazed down.
"Prepare for landing," the pilot warned them.
The creatures braced themselves as the helicopter landed in the military base.
Chapter 119: Bahrakatan Questioning
Tom, his friends, and their families waited for the okay before they could go around again.
Annie gulped, "I hope everything will be okay. They are here with that M'arrillian now."
Tom replied, "I'm sure they will be mom."
"We don't know what happened out there," Kaz replied. He crossed his arms and wondered, "I still don't get how they captured that M'arrillian that easily."
"Maybe he surrendered. He was alone," his mother suggested.
Judy thought about it, "I thought they wouldn't surrender?"
"He can't control the other's mind since there is a mental wall mom," Peyton replied as he put his hands together in front of his forehead, like it was a wall.
"So surrendering was his only option?" Peyton's father sighed a little. He gazed outside and hoped that the creature they brought wouldn't come close here.
The door opened and a teenager walked in with a few soldiers with them. The boy looked at them, but said no words.
"Who is it?" Sarah asked curiously.
George came in and answered her question, "This is the boy who was with the M'arrillian Bahrakatan. The creature didn't control his mind and followed him of his own free will. We don't know why yet."
"You didn't ask the question," Remi replied a little nervously. He was intimidated by so many soldiers surrounding him. He gulped, "S-sorry."
"No problem. You are obviously feeling tense," George turned his attention to the others, "This is Remi. As I said, we found him with the M'arrillian unarmed. Can you tell us what happened?"
Remi nodded. He went on a chair and sat down. He looked at the others. He did recognize a few of them from some of their Chaotic matches. He had also crossed paths with Tom and Kaz a few times in their school. He just didn't talk to them, feeling like he might ruin the mood. He was also busy with his own friends. Thinking about that, he hoped they were fine. There was little chance of that being the case.
"Take your time," Judy told him with a kind smile.
"Yeah," the teenager took a deep breath, "I… I was one of the few who avoided being mind-controlled by the M'arrillians. I… I survived by looking in the malls for food and a few things. I met Bahrakatan one day. I was sure they caught me. Still, he helped me escape. A few days ago, he searched for me after what happened to a town north of Summervale," he played with his fingers, "The M'arrillians are searching for a spy. One who told you about their plan to attack the city. He helped me escape, as he wanted to leave the city too. Because of what they did. I acted like I was under his mind control until we were out of town. We wandered around for a while, until you and the creatures came to arrest Bahrakatan. He's not a bad M'arrillian," he turned towards the soldier, "He wouldn't help me at all if he was like the others."
"You might believe that, but we cannot take any risk," George replied.
Remi didn't add anything else. He gazed to the side, "That's all I know, the very short version. Anyway, what will happen to Bahrakatan now?"
"We will put him in jail with the other M'arrillian and interrogate him. The creatures might begin soon," Tom's father replied.
"You should sit with us," Donald suggested to the nervous teenager.
"R-right," he said. As he watched the adults, he could only guess they were family. The teenagers had a few similar traits to the adults here. He wished his parents were alright. Not only them, but his friends too. He followed them and sat on a chair.
The others began to speak with him. Remi spoke with them a little, but he mostly focused on his thoughts. Knowing that he was safe, but not his friends and family. He also wondered if everything would be fine with Bahrakatan. He just hoped they wouldn't get rough on the creature who saved him.
Aval'par had his back turned in his cell. He had nothing to do and waited for anything to happen. He was still reflecting on his past and his tribe's past. His fingers pressed on his arm. The inactivity affected him. Boredom increased. There was nothing to do but wait. The only one he could have a conversation with was Tom. The boy came another time before with his friends. They asked a few questions that he couldn't answer. The only thing was that he couldn't talk with his tribe, something he told the boy already. Still, it wasn't that bad.
He heard something and turned his head. He froze when he saw Bahrakatan restrained and walking forward, "Bahrakatan?"
"Aval'par? This is where you ended up," the humanoid crab grumbled as he went to the next cell. The eight creatures were behind him.
The Chieftain saw that he had a M'arrillian neighbor somehow, (How did they capture you? You aren't even wounded.)
(I surrendered.)
(What?) The purple creature jumped slightly at that revelation. It made no sense to just surrender like that. He pressed his face on the glass, trying to look at the other M'arrillian. He couldn't see anything.
(Milla'iin destroyed a town because he believes there is a spy who watched him. It isn't the case. The Cothica's technology is vastly superior in that domain,) Bahrakatan answered, (Hurting the Cothica like that. I cannot stand this.)
(So you just-)
"Enough mental babbling between you two!" Rothar grunted loudly.
Intress looked at the two M'arrillians, before she focused on the Coralsmith, "Bahrakatan. Tell us everything you know about Milla'iin. You surely have an idea about what he might be planning."
Bahrakatan nodded, "Right now he is busy looking for a supposed 'spy' among the humans. Those who might escape his control in that town."
One of the guards said, "He won't find anything."
"I know. It worries me what he would do once that search is unsuccessful," the Kha'rall admitted.
Intress asked, "And why didn't you try to control the mind of the human who was with you? That's something I cannot get my head around," she crossed her arms and waited for the answer.
"That's because I… I just couldn't do it. The first time I met him, I helped him escape," he got many suspicious gazes, "Ask him if you want to be sure I'm telling the truth," he waved his pincer at them, "It was because I was more and more… I felt wrong for everything my tribe is doing to the Cothica. The damage to the sacred land. It's not something I wanted to cause…the price for my creation was too much. Reaching the Cothica… I wanted to see the land…this world. Even when I didn't think it was okay… I kept going forward with the plan," he looked at them, "You were also getting closer to the Cothica. I knew our tribe would pay a price in the end. If any of you succeeded."
"In other words, many reasons to go forward, despite your hesitations and doubt," Agitos concluded.
"And you just caused another war and tried to ruin the Cothica. The M'arrillians won't succeed," Ario told the creature.
"I hope so," Bahrakatan replied as he tapped his arm with his fingers. He gazed to the side, "The next time I saw Remi, I searched for him and we escaped the city. The pointless destruction of a city, because there were no humans to be found, was too much to accept and bear. What I did was a horrible mistake…a grave one. I don't deserve any forgiveness for my actions," he sighed quietly.
Rothar growled quietly, "Enough of this little excuse. What are the plans? What is Milla'iin planning to do? Not just now, but in the long run?"
"Aval'par didn't say anything on the matter," Odu-Bathax told the M'arrillian. He gave a quick glance at the creature who had his face on the glass, watching them with curiosity.
"Milla'iin told very few of us of his final ambitions. I'm not certain if I know everything, but I have a few guesses. I can share them, but some of them are hard to believe," Bahrakatan began. He waited for them to ask something.
Gathup raised his claws, "Start with the more believable."
"He wants to harness the power of the Cothica and use it against your tribes. That way, he can easily conquer Perim, avenge Aa'une and control the Cothica. That means that our tribe would have power over two worlds, forever. There are… a lot of difficulties we didn't expect. Like the fact that there are 8 billion humans on the Cothica. We cannot control the minds of all of them. Maybe a few million at best."
Wamma let out a small smile, "So you can't succeed in your plan."
"Unless we handpicked the minds. They are ways to control humans discreetly. Like spies, the leaders and influential people. Milla'iin might not think of that right now. Soon, he would have that idea," the M'arrillian warned them.
The chubby Danian gulped quietly.
"Even I didn't think of that," Aval'par grumbled to himself. Even after the news, he still hadn't recovered from it.
Gathup asked, "What are his other plans?" He crossed his arms, "The less believable ones too."
"The other two possibilities I see is to invade the Cothica and stay here," he approached the window that prevented him from escaping. He put his hand on it, "I find it less possible, because he wouldn't just leave Perim behind forever. That would only be if there is no way back to Perim."
"I don't see that either," Ario growled quietly. He wouldn't see the M'arrillians just escape to the Cothica. The first option made more sense.
Agitos asked the question, "And the other possible option?" He crossed his arms and braced himself for whatever crazy idea was in Milla'iin's mind.
Bahrakatan was a little nervous to reply to their question, "That one is the most insane. There is nothing coming out of Milla'iin. That is just me guessing it. No other creatures might be aware of this reason. Even myself, I couldn't believe that it might be possible. Maybe I just imagined him to be crazier than reality."
"And it is?" Arias asked curiously.
"To resurrect Aa'une," he gazed at the creatures who were stunned by that possible reason, "He might believe it is possible in the Cothica."
"That is completely insane," Aval'par commented. He rolled his large eye, not believing it at all.
"There is no way to bring someone dead back to life here," one of the guards said.
"But there is one example," the Coralsmith replied.
"He is the only one, from the scriptures," the guard rolled his eyes.
Bahrakatan sighed. What Remi told him might not be true, "Anyway, this is what I know. I'm sure there is more that I cannot think about right now."
"Really?" the Rothar asked suspiciously.
"Yes."
The creatures tried to ask more questions, but they got nothing. The eight creatures concluded they might have a chance another time. They had no clear idea what the next plan might be, but more information about the possible end games for Milla'iin.
The last option, despite being the craziest one, couldn't be ruled out, from what Bahrakatan implied.
AC: This is the end of this chapter. Hope you enjoy it.
Next: The End Of The Expedition.
Maxxor returned to Chaotic and explained what happened, while presenting to the Codemasters the creature who helped them.