The Confrontation

Indoraptor Year 1269, December, Shangri (Wuxing system), Adaria city's maintenance tunnels...

Magnificent. Measured. Menacing.

There were so many adjectives one could ascribe to the looming figures in front of the small team, but none were as fitting as the three mentioned words. Soft springy footsteps carried the mysterious aliens out of their hiding toward the dim light. Some were standing proudly, full of icy confidence while others were skulking like predators waiting to strike. Two cloaked figures stood in front of the creepy gathering; one was a short Sylvon wearing a smug smile on his face, and the other Sylvon was tall and scowling in antipathy.

Yeah, about that scowling guy… Raizex believed that this person must not be toyed with.

"Our benevolent lady has grown tired of waiting," the shorter Sylvon began to speak. "She was... impressed, if ever so slightly, at how you sniveling lizards and your Union managed to stall her research project for over a year now." The taller figure let out a scoff at the short man's boastful statement. "Heheh, pardon me for the theatrics, but even the lady's patience has limits."

The two Indoraptors bared their fangs, very displeased at being called 'sniveling' as if the short alien in dark cloak believed he's a president or something. Apparently, being small mattered little to him as he walked further away from his group, still feeling dauntless.

"Let's be honest here, I don't think you're very intimidating to us, although your… grandiose insults are quite charming," Raizex taunted, earning him nods of encouragement from Lea, "Plus, I don't think your lady, whoever the fuck she is, can be as benevolent as you claim."

The short man's discordant cackle echoed in the chamber, followed by his companions' disapproving look on the dinosaurs.

"Well, well, our lizard friends here can be pretty feisty, eh? As for the Human..." the man suddenly shifted his attention to Commander O'Brian, "I wonder how long it will take for your… democratic people to break under intense pressure. I never thought you apes could marshall an army great enough to steve off our mercenaries, but here you are, lending assistance to the lizards while your colony is being razed. I confess, your Human Republic and the Indoraptor Union are very good at outsmarting our Council of Elders when it comes to hiding secrets, but for once, we have finally claimed just enough data from you peasants so we can be one step ahead of you!

"What are you talking about?!"

The taller Sylvon stepped forward and spoke for the first time, "The Red Lotus. The long-gone relic that is the rightful inheritance of our people. It contained historical evidence of our species' genetic superiority. We have always been intended by the missing precursor race to become the supreme life form on this galaxy. And now, your allies are currently about to relocate it to the oceanic world, where we shall decisively reclaim it." Despite the soft tone of his voice, Raizex felt like this taller alien was much more dangerous than the people he led. "Yeah, I'm not amazed. Big words coming from a weird alien guy who talks crap about supremacy won't scare us! Why don't we just end this charade right here, right now?" Liam barked, having enough of the Sylvons' flamboyant speeches. The two aliens then smiled disturbingly. "I appreciate your bravado, really I do. But before we depart for Atlantis, why don't we give you all a humble gift of appreciation?" The short alien said.

The taller Sylvon snapped the fingers on his left hand as his companions immediately stepped back. Raizex, unsure of what the gesture meant, gripped his shotgun tighter just as a shrill howl echoed in the chamber. "My name is Naja Shia'Wariska, and this is my most gaudy and aggravating right-hand man, Vajra Jama'Alu. We, the faithful servants of the Silver Blade organization, are pleased to present you with a gift from our top geneticists."

From behind Naja's collective, an animal stepped forth from the shadows, revealing a hellish visage.

"Sweet Heavens and all its mercy, what is that?!" Raizex yelped in fright at the sight of the... thing, whatever it was supposed to be. Six long limbs ending in sickle-clawed feet, a long barbed tail, an oval head with nested mouth and four dark eyes, and most of all its demonic appearance, the blood-red beast howled in anticipation of an upcoming slaughter. Ragged breathings from the foul monster's throat convinced the young Indoraptor that the thing was starving.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Vajra said in a low, amused voice. This guy was unmistakably out of his mind. His grin was as wide as the beast's snarl.

"You sick bastards!"

Vajra let a cold laugh as the beast leaped forward with the intent to slaughter its would-be victims. All three combatants rolled away as the beast's feet slammed the ground.

"Would you kindly lie down and die a quick death, gentlemen?" Naja asked the opposing team as he led his flock away from the underground chamber.

Even as they readjusted their aim at the monster, the trio had no idea where to shot, or even if gunshots were effective to bring down the monster. Clawed limbs shot forward trying to maul anyone who got too near, sometimes followed by a biting gesture. Liam, taking cover between the pillars, tried to shoot at the beast's head, but all it did was giving it superficial wounds. The beast charged in his direction, only for Raizex to topple it with a shotgun blast to its chest and another one to its head. It appeared to work, but the beast returned to its feet in seconds, baring its venomous-looking fangs in aggravation. It jumped forward hoping to pin the young agent underneath its feet, but Raizex proved to be faster than it. The beast spun around and performed another jump attack, throwing Lea off balance as he evaded the claws of the monster. In his hurry, a grenade fell from his belt, ready to go off at any second. Raizex impulsively kicked it at the creature, jumping away to safety with Lea as the grenade exploded, damaging the monster's face.

"Did we kill it?!" Lea shouted excitedly.

"I don't think so," Raizex warned.

Miraculously, or not, despite being thrown several meters across the chamber, the beast rapidly regained its footing, albeit with an eye lost from the explosion. Loading their guns, the trio of Indoraptors braced themselves as the creature came attacking them again at full speed. Raizex dodged the beast's swipe as its claw waved above his head, and then another dodge to the side as the beast stroke forward, trying to chomp him. Unsheathing his glaive, Raizex performed three circling slashes in rapid succession, puncturing the creature's skin just under its neck. It wasn't deep enough but the speed of the attack caught the beast off guard. One last slash headed straight at the beast's lost eye, flinching it to the point of losing its footing temporarily. Yet upon learning of this new weak spot, the trio aimed their weapons at the bleeding eye of the beast, determined to end the fight as soon as possible, and with a cue from Raizex, all three opened fire at it. A barrage of bullets rained down on the monster's head, culminating with a stray bullet that sent it tumbling down the cold concrete below, wailing in agony as the bullet embedded itself in its empty eye socket.

A lone Sylvon went back into the chamber to assess the situation, but upon seeing how the blood-red monster failed to defeat the three combatants, he sprinted away to alert his superiors. Catching sight of which corridor the Sylvon fled into, Raizex roared "C'mon, let's go after him! Stall the thing as long as you can!"

"Bring down those columns on the damn thing!" Liam shouted, seeing that the grenade's blast cracked a few supporting pillars in the chamber. The wounded beast was located precisely in front of them.

"Leave it to me!" Lea replied, upholstering two more grenades that he promptly lobbed at the weakened pillars.

The grenades exploded, causing two columns to break from the blast and fell on the beast, trapping it. But it wasn't enough as the creature struggled to get free. Raizex signaled his friend to throw one last grenade, bringing down more debris and finally ended the monster's damned existence for good. Heavy footsteps thudded at the dusty concrete as the team chased the Sylvons, getting closer to their target as he could be heard yelling at somebody, presumably Naja and Vajra, of the monster's defeat. This particular tunnel seemed to lead to the surface if the fresh air Raizex breathed in was telling the truth.

"Unit 47 to Commander O'Brian, please respond, over."

"I'm here, cleverbot. What's the situation?" Liam promptly answered the sudden call of his AI friend.

"Your team is very close to the museum, only 60 meters away from a flight of stairs. Ascend it and open the bulkhead door at the top to reach your primary destination. Please hurry; the alien pirates are currently shooting their way in."

Aha, they were almost approaching the Red Lotus' location! Hopefully, Xivena and whatever defense troops still left alive up there could get the artifact away in time!

As Raizex's team proceeded closer to the destination, the AI reported lots of hasty movements from the Sylvons up ahead, mostly foot soldiers with the occasional howls resembling those of the dead monster. Damn it, they must have entered the museum!

"Surprise!" Lea shouted as he gunned down two alien pirates in succession. Liam then took over, sniping three other pirates before they could lift their guns. The young agent then threw his glaive at a Sylvon standing in front of a pillar, impaling him on the chest. "Thanks for the gift, scary-guy-in-long coat. I didn't know your best sculpture smelled like shit," Raizex sneered as he yanked the glaive free. Most of Naja's forces were already invading the museum; now there was only him, that bratty right-hand man of his, and a handful of pirates guarding them.

Deciding that the Indoraptors and their human companion had been a thorn on their side for too long, Vajra motioned for the remaining minions to attack while he ushered his superior to safety. They were swift enough in their dodging that the team nearly got themselves overwhelmed. One particular Sylvon was so fixated on toying with the young agent, forcing him to fight her directly, her machete clashing against his glaive. She was brutal, even by Sylvon standards, with her horizontal stabs countered by Raizex by dancing around her, his glaive moved in circles as he blocked and deflected the minion's rabid charge. Even his tail flicks did little beyond disorienting the alien momentarily. More than once, whenever Raizex moved in for the kill, a Sylvon or two would interrupt their fight with a stray gunshot, giving his opponent a moment to retreat and taunt Raizex. Just once I'd like to impale her from the back, Raizex thought sourly because otherwise, he would have to get very close to her and risk being killed. Just as he considered taking the dangerous option, a Sylvon shot at her direction by mistake, causing her to dodge forward only for Raizex to strike her; a head-butt then followed by a swift pierce from his glaive at the Sylvon's chest, downing her instantly.

Elsewhere near the fight, Liam was struggling against another Sylvon; the mollusk's fingers were wrapped on his neck to choke him out. In a flash, the young Indoraptor yanked his glaive out of his enemy's corpse and flung it across the room. The force of his throw was sufficient enough to pierce through the pirate's armor, causing a fatal wound on his heart. Liam swiftly freed himself and performed a neck-breaking grapple on the alien pirate to finish him off.

"Thanks for the help!" The human commander said. Both of them immediately retrieved their weapons in preparation for more skirmish, but thankfully the rest of Vajra's minions were done for, courtesy of Lea's superb marksmanship.

"Gentlemen, are you all still alive?" Unit 47's synthetic voice buzzed through their radios. The young agent answered the call immediately.

"Yes, we are. So far, we have only little to no injuries. How are you holding up?"

"The pirates' foot soldiers are fairly easy to subdue, but now unidentified biological organisms are running amok in the museum. We believe these creatures are war beasts fighting on the Sylvons' behalf."

"Fuck, are those things six-limbed and four-eyed?! We've faced one of them down in the tunnels! I think their eyes are their weak points, so focus on attacking their heads!" Raizex roared into his radio. "Understood, Agent Ludvik. You must find your way to the building post haste."

Once the team proceeded onward toward the bulkhead door, the young agent was thankful, in a sarcastic way, that the shifty alien bastards left it wide open, allowing easy access to the team.

Unit 47 was right; the museum was in total disarray!

Three groups were defending the building to the best of their capabilities, but they were losing strength as the pirates' bloodthirsty monsters rampaged all over the place. Battered corpses from both the defenders and the invaders littered the floor, windows and exhibits were smashed to bits, people shot at everything that moved without care, and even the monsters that are still fighting lashed out against anyone they saw, be it friend or foe. Seriously, why didn't the Grand Fleet send in more reinforcement?!

A Sylvon flew past them and crashed on a nearby window. Oops, maybe one of their monsters hit the guy by accident?

As it turned out, the aforesaid monster had attacked its handler out of rage, having severely injured and bleeding from its gaping wounds. Just as Raizex signaled his friends to open fire at the creature, a hail of bullets rained down at it, followed by two headshots penetrating the monster's two rear eyes. The young Indoraptor fired a shot at the thing's open jaws, putting it down for good, before looking around for those who helped him. They were nowhere to be seen; preferably hiding behind cover just in case more monsters assaulted them.

A Sylvon pirate stumbled upon Raizex's team by accident, but the young agent silenced him with a flick of his tail and a neck snap before the alien could yelp in surprise. The team then moved further, taking cover behind crumbling walls once in a while. At the sight of other pirates charging at them, Raizex and Lea took turns in shooting them down to the last pirate while Liam whistled to gain a defending group's attention. Surprise, surprise, Xivena was among them, looking only slightly beaten up! "Nice to see you alive and kicking, friend! Do we have info on the artifact's whereabouts?" Raizex shook his Aviren friend's hand tightly and smiled at him. The avian alien turned out to be accompanied by a dozen Indoraptors with heavy armament, a dozen humans who were similarly heavily armed, three AI combat platforms with Unit 47 as the coordinator, and four Navarie clad in light armor while wielding some futuristic-looking bows.

"Sorry, it took us hours to navigate the tunnels. We didn't know they have pets down there."

"That is fine, commander," a female Navari with a huge bow spoke, "We too had some difficulty in keeping the situation under control, what with their creations running amok. It shouldn't take much longer now to finish things up."

"How's the relic? Have we transported it to Atlantis?" Raizex asked hurriedly.

"Radio chatter indicated that the ship carrying the Red Lotus is about to take off. We better help defend the ship immediately!" The Aviren announced, earning him nods of agreement.

The small army marched at Xivena's order, occasionally gesturing at the other groups to join them despite their wordless rejection. Still, one or two of those guys decided it would be best if they provided some cover fire to the bigger group as they jogged toward the vast open clearing at the back of the ruined museum. The gate separating the building and the clearing was blown open, thankfully, enabling the amassing combatants to easily access the soon-departing cargo ship.

"I'll take this one!" Raizex hissed as he knocked a Sylvon pirate unconscious with the butt of his shotgun and dealt a headshot to another one. As the rest of the army spread themselves evenly to take out the other pirates, the young agent could hear someone loudly giving orders to organize more troops to overrun the cargo ship. Wait, there he was! Up there, on a wrecked balcony, the smug alien paced back and forth as he frantically directed his mooks against the defenders. With his pet monsters dead or out of control and his foot soldiers dying by the dozen, he struggled to turn the tide of the war, afraid of being written off by Naja as an incompetent right-hand man. Believing that he could take advantage out of this, Raizex nudged the female Navari and pointed at the balcony where Vajra wandered about.

"Up there! Shoot him down now!" The feline alien ordered her fellow Navarie as she aimed her bow and arrow at the Sylvon. Alas, the smug fool saw four arrows flying at him and ducked behind cover just in time.

Damn it! The cargo ship had finally taken off and left the Union's colony planet! As the mollusk alien dashed to another cover, away from the cat-people's more annoying arrows, he realized that his men were supposed to blow up the ship using heavy explosives. Now that the target was well outside his reach and they were pinned by the planet's defenders, Vajra had no other option but to use those explosives to bring down whatever left of the building just so that he and his mercenaries could flee.

Whistles and shouting in alien languages were heard as the remaining Sylvons relocated their dangerous toys as they slowly lost more staging ground. For a moment, Raizex sneaked between covers as he stalked closer to a staircase before stopping to look up to the balcony.

At first, he saw some alien pirates coming his way trying to stop him from approaching their leader, then people began yelling warnings in many languages while running about, and then came a series of explosions followed by pirates and combatants alike blown away as the Sylvons' bombs went off. Raizex felt himself flying to a wall from the shockwave, almost passing out from the pain of hitting the brick wall…

"Boy! Hey, are you alright?! C'mon, we have to evacuate the location!"

"Agent Ludvik, your life is as valuable as everyone else's. We will get you and your friends to safety."

"Ludvik! Hey, wake up, buddy! You can't die yet, do you hear me?!"

-x-x-x-x-x-

Indoraptor Year 1270, January, Wuxing system, USV Stegodon...

Hey, dad. It's been a while since I texted you, huh?

I got myself embroiled in some random war between our people and the freaking shifty mollusks. Please don't ask me how it happened.

I'm currently on board the USV Stegodon, some kind of battleship-class military ship of the Grand Fleet. My teammates and I are being treated for our combat-related injuries. We have people of many races mingling here; we Indoraptors, the Avirens, the humans, and then there are these feline aliens called Navarie, the singular noun being Navari without the 'e' at the end.

For me and Lea, our wounds are nothing more than bruises and cuts on our heads, hands, and legs, and maybe a concussion or two. Liam the human soldier, however, had it worse. He had a messed up knee and had to undergo some intensive surgery. I have no idea whether he wants to continue fighting or not, but from his insistence that he's fine, I guess I'll have to babysit him just in case Liam hurts himself again. Yeah, don't ask me how my commanding officers managed to get human doctors on our ship and do surgery on his leg, but so far things have been good.

The alien pirates are finally retreating from our space after being bombarded left and right. Sadly, they have created a temporary command center in the Human Republic space, so I don't think I can go home anytime soon. Our Grand Fleet will assist the Republic shortly in kicking the bastards out, as will the Polity of Laritem and the Navarie's Clans of Zulkana.

I wish I can talk more, but… maybe after the battle is over, we can have a family dinner somewhere nice?

With love, Raizex.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Hey, buddy."

"Hey."

"Can we talk for a while?"

Raizex was just finished speaking to a gathering of alien soldiers about everything that transpired, including the truth regarding the Lotus artifacts. From behind him, Lea was whispering hoarsely outside the meeting room to gain his attention, accompanied by the young agent's previous acquaintance. Vion looked really tired, or maybe he just recently woke up and forgot to get himself a nice cup of tea; either way, the young Indoraptor excused himself from the room and followed them into an empty mess hall. Raizex decided to entertain his friends, seeing that he, too, needed somebody to talk with.

"In the name of the Supreme Creator, let the water, the air, and the seeds of life be the ultimate proof of our Maker's love and guidance for the cosmos, so that all beings may one day be united as one, unspoiled by worldly cravings."

"Do you have some time to chat? Just between you and us?" Raizex nodded, letting the aliens and some of his kin to continue studying his White Lotus relic without his supervision. From the mess hall's large window, he could see spaceships of various shapes and sizes flying past.

Lea seemed perfectly healthy, but Vion wasn't as neat as the other guy, Raizex observed; fidgeting his fingers, looking guilty rather than composed, not to mention his weary eyes. Was there something wrong?

"I want to apologize, that's all."

"Apologize? Why? As far as I know, you've done nothing wrong." Raizex's confusion rose as high as his eyebrows. From what he remembered, neither of them did any wrongdoing.

"But I did," Vion, on the other hand, disagreed with him. "When the museum went down in flames, I was too busy trying to clean up the whole area from our enemies that I forgot about my friends' safety! When I spotted Lea in the distance, I know you must be somewhere nearby and... well, and then I saw you being lifted away by a Navari… Amalia, I think that's her name. You have no idea how grateful I was when she took you out. I thought you were heavily injured or worse!" Oh, so that's why. Wait, how could Raizex didn't remember that moment in the museum, when a defending army aided him in taking down one of those ugly monsters and left before the young dinosaur could thank them properly? Vion must be working alongside them!

"I'm fine, but thank you for checking me up."

"I guess both of you owe the huntress a favor now?" Lea queried.

"More than one," Vion replied, "Amalia is leading a clan of Navari hunters and huntresses, and thanks to her, our forces managed to rescue more people than we expected, including you," he gestured at the young agent.

"She did?" The young Indoraptor asked carefully.

"Yeah, she did. And I think it would be wise for the three of us to thank her once we get to see her in person. We both owe her lots of things, right?" Vion said, giving Raizex a big hug. Lea contemplated on giving his two friends some personal space, but seconds later, he decided to join in the team hug, too. He didn't think his companions were as dramatic as this, but Raizex chose to enjoy the brief moment of peace they had now, knowing that they might not see through the war. "Let me know if you want to take pictures of us three, just in case your parents want to know more!"

Just as the trio left the mess hall, Amalia the Navari huntress appeared very suddenly before them, surprised that the people she was looking for were only a room away. The three Indoraptors exchanged amused looks as they wondered why Amalia came to the mess hall. "Well, I think it's time we show our gratitude to her and her people's help," Raizex spoke, earning him a questioning look from the Navari.

"Hey, do you have time to talk, lady? We'd like to ask you a few questions."

"Sure," the Navari answered, "I am also planning to give you an offer to join my little clan for the coming battle. At least three humans and one Aviren have given me their consent. Shall I begin?"

"Is the vast sea, full of life and energy, not a sign of the Supreme Creator's love? Are the trees and the animals of the world not a sign of the Creator's infinite wisdom? Do you not know that only He, and He alone, can bestow you power and knowledge to lead you out of darkness and despair? Know you, that it is His will and pleasure that the Holy Flowers be the vessels that carry His words and wisdom across the cosmos, blessed only to those who, in the presence of tyranny and oppression, performed sacred acts of valiance, gallantry, and self-sacrifice."