For nine years, Tenupe, the tropical world that served as the climactic endgame for the Swarm War, had been under the control of the Chiss Ascendancy. As such, they had destroyed several miles worth of ecology within the northern hemisphere to create a military base for nearly two thousand troops. In orbit, as per Ascendancy regulations, a silver, spotless, conical space station a thousand meters in length and a thousand meters in width served as border control both on- and off-planet.
The male docking master, seated in a desk within a windowed room located in one of the station's upper levels, had no reason to fret as a fleet of Ascendancy Star Destroyers dropped out of hyperspace into the system. With ease, he simply picked up his comm and hailed.
"Ascendancy Destroyers, what is your business here?" the docking master asked.
A few seconds later, when there was no answer, the docking master repeated the question.
"We are here to drop off supplies to the surface," a familiar elder Chiss voice responded on the other end.
The docking master raised his brows. He recognized the voice, but couldn't put his finger on who it was exactly. "There is no shipment scheduled today."
"Compliments of the Ruling Houses," the elder Chiss responded. "They felt that your exemplary service here was worth an extra delivery."
The docking master's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Even if anyone in the Ruling Houses thought this - and he doubted it, considering that very little occurred here in this system - he couldn't imagine that an extra delivery wouldn't have been notified ahead of time. The docking master was about to say just that before it clicked in his mind as to who the owner of the voice on the other end was.
"Ambassador Chaf'orm'bintrano?" the docking master asked.
"Yes?" the ambassador's voice returned inquisitively.
"May I ask why you are part of an extra delivery shipment that has gone unscheduled in one of the more remote Ascendancy bases?" the docking master asked. "From what I can recall, didn't you have business with the Killiks in the Reo system?"
"Am I not allowed to partake in this delivery, um... what is your name?" Formbi asked.
"Lieutenant Repar'ala'nali," the docking master answered. "And no, I don't see why you wouldn't be allowed to take part in this shipment; unless, of course, your business with the Killiks has concluded."
"I can assure you, Repar'ala'nali, that my business with the Killiks has concluded," the ambassador replied. "Now, if you will allow us to arrive on Tenupe..."
Something wasn't right, Ralan thought. And the way that Formbi referred to himself; it was as if he had to muster up some kind of will to say it. Ralan knew that he had to stall so he could get an idea as to what was going on.
"May I talk to Admiral Ar'alani first, please?" Ralan asked.
"Why?" Formbi asked.
"I just want to have a word with her, that is all," Ralan answered.
"Any business that you have with Admiral Ar'alani can be addressed to me, as well," Formbi countered.
"Is that so?" Ralan inquired.
"Yes," Formbi said.
"Hmm. Well, if that is the case, then why can I not speak to Admiral Ar'alani?"
Again, another few moments passed before Formbi said, "That is on a need-to-know basis, Lieutenant."
Ralan ground his teeth in frustration. He knew all too well what a need-to-know basis encompassed. Still, he needed to continue playing for time.
"Well, I think I need to know what is going on here," Ralan outright stated.
"You seem frustrated, Lieutenant," Formbi said. "Why is that?"
Instead of answering the ambassador's question, Ralan asked, "Is there anyone else that I may speak to?"
"Of course," Formbi answered.
"Well, may I talk to someone else?" Ralan asked.
"Sure," Formbi said. "Who would you like to talk to?"
"Frankly, anyone but you, Ambassador," Ralan said.
"And why is that?" Formbi inquired.
Ralan sighed. He couldn't play his hand yet; but he knew that Chiss such as Formbi were not as patient as the ambassador currently was. There was something wrong, after all./ Now to find out what exactly.
"You won't allow me to talk to anyone else, would you?" Ralan asked.
"Of course I wouldn't," Formbi responded.
"On a need-to-know basis?" Ralan asked.
"Indeed."
Ralan put his hands in his head to vent a vestige of his frustration before he continued. But before he opened his mouth, a horrifying thought occurred to him. Time to go all in.
"Ambassador, if I were to tell you something, would everyone else in your party also know what I told you?" Ralan asked.
"Yes, they would."
"Even if I told you that what I had to tell you was meant only for the two of us?"
"Yes," Formbi responded instantly. Then his voice became panicked. "Uh, we, uh, I mean, um, no, no, we, uh, they wouldn't know what was said between us. Not at all." During the ambassador's panic, Ralan was able to hear click-clacking sounds that the lieutenant was all too familiar with during the last war that the Ascendancy was involved in.
"Are you sure about that?" Ralan asked, his suspicion gradually turning into fear.
"Yes, why wouldn't you be?" Formbi asked, his voice slightly calming from the panic that had just been present in his tone.
"Good point," Ralan said, thinking quickly as to what he should do next. "If you would just wait an hour, you may deliver your supplies for Tenupe." An hour was just enough for the troops down on the surface to evacuate and return to Csilla; with this much firepower, there was no way that they would defeat the Killiks.
Ralan had no doubt that Ambassador Formbi was a Joiner now. And he wasted no time in pressing the button on his desktop that would transmit a signal that would send a black alert for the troops, which should tell all of them that they needed to evacuate Tenupe ASAP.
"An hour is too long, Lieutenant," Formbi responded. "We need to deliver the shipment now."
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Ambassador," Ralan said as he pressed another button on his desk that would activate the space station's automatic laser cannons. He quickly set the configuration that would set the cannons to fire against the Star Destroyers.
"And why not?" Formbi asked, his tone subtly angry.
"You have a collective mind," Ralan said as he set the alert for everyone to evacuate the station. "You figure it out." Then he closed the communication, shoved the comm in his pocket, and left his office in a hurry.