Authors note: So, third chapter, there will be some rather obvious change to canon, o I hope they are not to story breaking for people. The great real meeting of groups is not happening this chapter, but next chapter it shall, so please look forward to it, and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

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"Can you tell us what Zeus is like?"

Both Hestia and Hephaistos looked at Riveria, a high elf from the Loki Familia who was traveling with the Guild forces as a guard for the two goddesses in question, in shock and surprise at her question.

"Why would YOU want to know that?" Hestia asked, the pressure upon the one word causing Riveria, and the Ganesha Familia's Shakti Varna, a human who was the captain of Ganesha's Familia, to wince slightly and look at the petite goddess who, after traveling with her for a few days, came to be known as very capable of rubbing salt on old wounds just right to make people feel utterly miserable, while also was oddly able to make people feel amazing and helpful just as easily.

In that sense she was like a mother, capable of making her children feel any emotion she wished just by picking her words and mannerisms. A terrifying skill indeed.

"We are merely curious," Shakti spoke up simply. "He is not a God we have either met before, only heard distant stories of. And such stories were almost always about his Familia, not he himself."

"Yes, and if we are likely to meet him at this village, I would like to know what we are getting into," Riveria added carefully as the wagon the four of them were in struck a bump in the road, rocking it heavily, though neither Goddess seemed annoyed or even inconvenienced.

"Zeus," Hephaistos began, "Is not someone who can be explained easily. He is a warrior and leader, as well as a manipulator and planner."

"Don't forget a pervert and Letcher as well," Hestia added with a heavy sigh.

"A, Pervert?" Shakti asked, clearly unsure how to take such a revelation. She was but a young girl when the Zeus Familia fell after all. She had never heard of the stories of their action until after the fall.

"Yes, the likes of which could barely be contained in Gekai," Hestia said with a shake of his head. "Flipping skirts, sneaking, or outright walking into the Goddesses Bathes, there was little he would not do in the scale of simple perversity or lecherousness," Hestia paused and then smirked a little. "However, he was also a friend, an ally, a mentor to many. A shoulder to cry on, a friend to listen to your worries, to parade around like fools with. There were few gods who could outright hate him; the most that many could do was be annoyed at him temporarily."

"That is accurate," Hephaistos said with a nod. "Despite being a pervert to many women, he would never force anyone, and had a strong moral code for many other things, including the proper training and teaching of children."

"Training and teaching?" Shakti asked for clarification. "Does that not mean the villagers of this place will be well trained to defend themselves?"

"No," Hestia said seriously. "After YOUR Familia," Hestia said with venom in her voice as she looked at Riveria, "Tricked and slaughtered his Familia and had him banished of all things, I doubt he would do anything related to Adventurers or the dungeon."

Riveria seemed to struggle with her words for a second before speaking. "Lady Hestia, I will not condone what Loki had done, but it was not only the Loki Familia that-"

"And that matters why?" Hestia interrupted her, which was something Riveria was not used to dealing with.

As a level 6, adventurers respected her great, and as a High Elf, other elves thought highly of her as well, not saying anything of her prior, situation in that matter. "Well, I feel that it is perhaps a bit unfair to hate just the Loki Familia when-"she tried to continue, only to be interrupted again.

"You are misunderstanding something, Princess," Hestia said in a strange tone, like she was accepting Riveria's past, but also invalidating it at the same time. "I do not hate just Loki. I hate every single God that did that to Zeus and Hera, and every Mortal that is a part of each of their Familia. We gods may come down to Tenkai for our own whims, but Zeus and Hera never would act in a way to willingly harm mortals, and taught such morals to their own children." She paused for a moment as she blinked and wiped her eyes with her wrist. "Do not act like you are not a part of all that death when you work under Loki, not when I watched Hera crying herself to sleep repeatedly, not when she was crying the names of hundreds of children, many barely in their primes, out of grief, for months."

"Hestia, the past is the past, and while I also feel for our friend and her grief that likely continues to this day, "Hephaistos said softly, her one eye darting to look at Riveria for a second before continuing. "Now we must focus on what we can do now, and that is to find Zeus, protect the village he lives in, and meet with these unknown creatures to find out their intentions and if they endanger the rest of Gekai."

Hestia leaned back on the bench for a moment s she took a deep breath and let it out. Slowly. "Yes, you are right. And we cannot let Zeus get away either."

"Get away?" Shakti asked. "You believe he will flee despite being the one who requested this assistance in the first place? Is that why you both insisted we split off ahead of the main convoy with the smallest wagon and fastest horses?"

"Yes. Zeus has been in hiding, and I doubt he is willing to give that up," Hephaistos spoke up with a nod. "I am willing to bet he plans to leave a day or so before we would arrive at Ristbrook, assuming we managed to leave the mere day after the letter arrived as it did."

"So we travel ahead of the convoy to meet him as he would plan to leave you figure then?" Riveria asked cautiously, not wanting to earn the goddess of the Hearth's ire once more. "Would not he know that others would think as such?"

"No," Hestia said simply as Hephaistos answered more completely.

"Despite how well Zeus was known, there are only a small number of us who could be considered to be truly close to him. Hera and Hestia are sisters and so she knows him well, and the only others in all of Orario who know Zeus well enough to imagine is actions thusly are myself and Hermes."

"But, does that not mean he would expect you at least to know what he would do, Lady Hephaistos?" Shakti asked as she looked at Hestia. "I mean nothing by my words aside from you only have recently descended of course, Lady Hestia."

"That is why, actually," Hephaistos said with a smirk. "He does not know Hestia is here, and normally I would not care to bother with him or leave my Familia. He will not expect the two of us to be the Gods that come to speak to the unknown creatures."

"He probably thinks someone like Ganesha or Hermes would," Hestia said with a shake of her head, before suddenly perking up. "We are slowing down."

It took a second before her words made sense, causing Hephaistos to stand and reach up to the front of the wagon and pull aside the cloth sheet separating the driver from the sitting area. "Sir, why are we slowing, have we arrived at Ristbrook already?"

"No. I apologize Lady Goddess, but the horses are growing weary and must rest and be fed. There is a river ahead of us and I found it appropriate to stop here to give them what they need," the Wagon driver, a young Chienthrope in a guild uniform, answered simply and promptly.

"I see. Will we still arrive at Ristbrook as early as we hoped ahead of the convoy?"

"We will, yes," the driver aid with a nod as the wagon slowed to a stop and he turned around to look, only to blush and then look back forward. "We uh, should arrive late this evening, full day and a half ahead of the convoy if my guess is right."

"Very well, tend to the horses. It would not do for them to be hurt in our haste," Hephaistos said as she turned around to face the other three in the wagon. "As you heard, we are taking a break."

"It's for the horses, I don't mind," Hestia said with a sigh that said otherwise as she stood up to leave the wagon, to stretch her legs.

"Lady, Hestia, allow me," Shakti said as she quickly slid out the back of the wagon and offered a hand to Hestia, who took it with a nod. Riveria and Hephaistos are out of the wagon seconds later and the four of them find themselves sitting by the river, its water moving along calmly and without a care for the world around it.

"Lady Goddesses, may I ask a question about this mission?" Shakti asked as she sat on the grass with Hephaistos and Riveria, while Hestia was sitting by the river's edge, her feet dangling into the clear current.

"You are wondering if we know anything about the creatures we are supposed to be meeting?" Hephaistos asked simply.

"Yes. Lord Ganesh only reference them as, creatures, but I would like to know what exactly we will be meeting if you know. He did not say much about the meeting of Gods."

"That is complicated," Hephaistos admitted with a sigh. "Zeus's letter gave information on them, but it is not something that mortal minds could easily comprehend."

"Then, they are minions of an Evil god? Of Evilus perhaps?" Riveria suggested in worry.

"No, it is not Evilus," Hestia said from where she sat, before very suddenly laying down on the grass, making her assets very well pronounced, and somehow making herself look very much the image of a Virgin Goddess. "Mortals live upon Gekai, and the Gods live within Tenkai but, there is more than just these two places."

"Hestia, I am not sure explaining it to them would be best," Hephaistos warned, earning looks of genuine worry from Riveria and Shakti at the tone she was using.

"They are level six and five, I'm sure they can understand that what we tell them is not told to anyone else save their own Gods," Hestia stated as she sat back up.

"It is not their levels that I am worried about Hestia."

"And, what will we tell them if the creatures Zeus spoke of are what we think?"

Hephaistos looked like she wanted to argue, but instead simply nodded her head and looked at the two adventurers. "There, are other worlds like Gekai."

"Entire, other worlds?" Shakti asked.

"You mean, like with peoples like ourselves?" Riveria added. "With humans, and elves and the like? The so spoken of, Mirror worlds that some less than reputable scholars speak of?"

"No. just as the sun rises on this world, so too do suns rise and set around others," Hestia said as she looked up into the sky. "Each star in the night sky, a possible sun, for a possible world."

The two adventurers looked up at the blue afternoon sky, wisps of cloud overheard moving with the wind as they slowly understood in part what Hestia was saying.

"Every star in the night sky, could be a world, with people on it then?" Riveria asked first, her scholarly elven mind wrapping around the concept quicker than Shakti could. Though she did look very concerned about such an idea.

"Yes," Was Hephaistos's simple reply?

"then, these creatures, they came on that meteor, they could be, from another world?" Shakti asked carefully.

"Yes, though, we have no way to be sure until we meet them," Hestia said as she lifted her feet from the water and then curled them to the side onto the river's edge. "Zeus's letter tells us he believes they are from another world."

"Which is why we must speak to them, and see if we can discover their intentions," Hephaistos finished, leaving the two adventures silent for many moments.

Until Shakti spoke up. "Shouldn't, that be rather simple though? You can speak to them after all."

"It may not be so simple," Hephaistos answered. "We do not know how close to the mortals of Gekai they are. They could be similar, or they could be so utterly different the entire concept of mortal morals and ideals are foreign to them."

"Which is why we need to meet Zeus before he can run and go into hiding," Hestia said as she stood up and walked away from the river and over to the other three. "He has met them already, and he will be able to give us more information in person."

"I understand. Thank you for trusting us with this information," Riveria said with a respectful nod to Both Hestia and Hephaistos.

"The same," Shakti then said as well. "I, do not know what such knowledge means, but I am sure that we are in good hands with the two of you Goddesses speaking to these beings."

"That . . . I hope that is the case," Hephaistos said with a huff as she got up and glanced to thee side. "Our driver is waving to us, it appears we can depart."

"Then let's," Hestia said s she began walking over to the wagon. "The sooner we find Zeus, the sooner we can understand the truth behind what I going on, and hear an explanation from him."

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Zeus did not like running. If he had to run it often meant he had failed something, or someone. The last time he had run, he had failed his Familia, failed his wife, and failed all of his children. But he had run all the same so he could protect one last thing, the child, the last child born of his children, of his Familia. He had ran from those that betrayed him, from those that had destroyed him, all so he could guarantee that Bell could live, when his father, and even his mother could not.

He liked to think that he had raised Bell well enough. The boy had a strong sense of justice, of what was right and wrong, and while he was not the strongest perhaps, if he did ever decide to become an adventurer as he grew older a Falna would make sure he lived long enough, he was destined for greatness like that, and he figured that when Hestia came down from Tenkai in a few years as she was planning, he could join her Familia, could join her and form a Family of his own. While he himself disappeared into the night to watch from a distance.

At least that had been his plan in the long term. It had been a good plan as well. No one came to Ristbrook, the tiny village so quant and safe from the machinations of Familia, but then that Meteor fell, with its creatures carried upon it. The possibilities of what they could be were far too dangerous, and ultimately he had to consider both the village, and Bells, safety and had sent the letter to Orario, knowing trusted gods like Ganesha, Oranos, or even Hermes, would act.

Just he would not be in the village when they arrived.

He hated running, but his plans, watching over Bell and preparing for the worst possibilities, he could not do them if he was sent back to Tenkai, and the fools and monsters that had betrayed him, had sought out the deaths of his Familia, they would wish him back to Tenkai. They would force the matter so they could continue their games and machinations, continue manipulating the world for their own amusement and gain.

So he had to go, had to leave Bell behind knowing that the village would still care for the boy, even though it hurt to do so. Except he forgot one very simple but important thing.

"Grandpa, where are you going?"

That Bell was not a heavy sleeper.

"I am just, reorganizing some things, that is all," Zeus said as he turned to Bell, who was standing in the doorway to the living room of their small home. Still in his day clothes, meaning he had not even gotten into his bed yet.

Which was odd as Zeus had heard him do so. meaning Bell had been noticing how he had been acting.

"That, is a backpack. A tent. Dried meat," Bell listed off as he looked over the gathered supplies that lied on the floor. Then he looked up at Zeus, a look of worry, of hurt, in his eyes. "Are you . . . leaving?"

"What? No, of course not, I am just, preparing. We don't know what will happen with those creatures, so we may need to leave the village quickly, that is all," Zeus lied, feeling the pain in his chest as he did. Lying to Bell was the worst, but it was for the best, even if he did not like it.

"Grandpa, why are you leaving?" Bell asked as he walked into the room, making it clear he even still had his shoes on, and a jacket.

"I told you Bell, I'm not leaving, I'm just making sure we are ready if we need to-"

"STOP LYING TO ME!"

Zeus flinched, actually flinched as Bell Yelled at him for the first time in his entire life. Looking at Bell he then found himself shiver as the boy was looking at him with tears in his eyes and fists clenched. "Bell I-"

"WHY? Why do you keep lying to me?" Bell asked tensely as he stood there almost glaring at Zeus, at the man he called Grandpa.

Zeus was silent for a few seconds before he let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. "Bell, there are some secrets that can't be told. I don't lie to you because I want to. It's to protect you."

"And how does it protect me? How does lying about running away protect me? How does lying about understanding that creature from before help anyone? How does lying about what you are protect me!?"

"Bell, I'm just an old man, I-"

"You are a God aren't you? Why do you even need to lie?!" Bell yelled, finally done holding back.

". . . How, how long have you . . . Known?" Zeus asked very quietly, barely looking in Bells direction, knowing that all the facades he had put up, all the lies he was living, and all the plans he had been preparing for, were crumbling down on front of him, because Bell had been far more discerning than he had given him credit for.

"A, few months now. Those creatures coming and you being able to understand them, just confirmed it," Bell said, holding himself back from either yelling or crying. It was hard to tell at this point with the emotions he was clearly feeling.

Zeus scratched the back of his arms nervously. "Bell I – I was going to tell you when you were older, I-"

Zeus stopped as a knock at the door was suddenly heard, and before he or Bell could do anything the door opened revealing a short woman with dark hair, and a substantially sized chest standing in the doorway. A smile formed on her lips a second later. "Zeus, so this is where you have been hiding."

"H-Hestia? But, you are supposed to be within Tenkai still!"

"Oh, and I am supposed to just stay there for years consoling Hera for all of the loss and suffering of having her entire Familia killed, and having you trick her and make her leave Gekai without you?!" Hestia declared seriously as she walked into the house right up to Zeus.

And slapped him across the face.

It was not a strong strike; in fact it was comically weak. But the mere act of Hestia, calmest, most caring of nearly all of the gods, slapping him, caused Zeus far more pain than he ever thought possible.

"I get it now. You came down early to find him for Hera," Hephaistos said as she stood by the doorway, arms crossed as she looked in at Zeus with a look rare to her face. "Starting your own Familia was just a cover for that, wasn't it Hestia?"

"No, I do wish to, but this is more important," Hestia said simply as she glared up at Zeus. "We are going to have a nice, long, talk. Zeus."

Zeus said nothing as he simply looked at the floor as if frozen, as if unable to move.

Seeing this Hestia turned to look at Bell, who looked about ready to either run away, or lunge at someone, and walked over to him, kneeling down in front of him so that she was shorter than him and not looking up at her. "I'm sorry you had to see that young man. My name is Hestia, the Goddess of the hearth and home. I'm an old friend of his."

"Then why did you hurt him?" Bell asked instantly, looking as if he was going to yell.

"Well, I'm not very strong, so that would not have actually hurt him, at least not physically," Hestia said calmly. "He has done some things, kept some secrets and hurt some people with his actions, hurt his wife with them, so I need to make him understand that."

"He, hurt, grandma then?"

"Yes," Hestia said as the situation made a bit more sense. Then made a lot more as she glanced over and saw the bag of supplies. "You haven't met her I'm guessing, but he has made her very sad, so I came to make him understand that. . . he, was going to hurt you to, wasn't he?"

"Hestia, I wasn't-" Zeus suddenly spoke as he turned to Hestia and Bell, only for Hestia's blue eyes to look back at him and silence him with how hard they looked.

"You were about to leave him to hide from us. And you haven't told this boy anything have you?" Hestia challenged as she looked back at Bell. "You caught him about to leave, didn't you . . . I'm sorry; I forgot to ask your name."

"Bell. Bell Cranel," Bell replied uncertainty, before looking at Zeus, and then back at Hestia. "Lady Goddess, you know him so, he really is a god, isn't he?"

"He is, and we are going to have him explain everything," Hestia said as she looked at Zeus stoically. "Right, now."

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Grand Commander Michel Vance, sometimes simply called General both due to his rank and his actions, walked down a simple path of dirt between buildings of the settlement, eyes glancing side to side and looking over anything and everything ,looking for even the slightest of issues.

luckily there seem to be none, making him take a step to the side as a couple people, a pair of Nyarons, rushed past with boxes of component pieces and steel and ducked into the doorway of a nearby building that was now one of many workshops around the settlement.

The door started closing on its own, but stopped when he took a step toward it and walked through. The building, while not huge, was by no means small. It was filled with rows of worktables covered n saws, mechanical chisels and plates and the like, while to either side of each were tables so anyone working could place their object of work upon them, as well as the resultant pieces of material. Most of the building was filled of these workplaces meant for cutting stone chunks and boulders into properly sized bricks to be used by the whole settlement, but at the back of the building there were a number o tables with other tools, more designed for the slow and artistic cutting and chipping of stone than the simplicity of cutting them to blocks.

"General, are you looking for Ramses?"

Michel turned to his right to see the two Nyaron's standing nearby anxiously, seemingly having paused their finishing of the building the mechanical parts of one of the tables, a large stone saw, when they had seen him.

"No, if I was looking for him, I'd go to his house," Michel stated, knowing that while the man Ramses as one of the best crafters in the settlement, he was also in the middle of raising a family of three daughters, triplets at that. "No, I was more interested in the two of you working as late as it is. Is something wrong perhaps?"

"No, we just didn't manage to finish building this one workspace, so we figured we should before the morning came," the one Nyaron said, while the other simply looked to the side and grumbled.

"And because our sister is being ornery."

"Oh shush,"

"Family issues I take it? Michel asked simply, earning a nod.

"Yeah, she, our younger sister, wants to train to become a guard or a hunter since she's fifteen now. But our mother won't let her," the first Nyaron explained.

"Which, of course, results in the two of them arguing nonstop," the second added with a shake of her head. "Moms just afraid of her dying like dad did."

"Oh, did he-"

"No not recently. He died a few years ago during that Junker raid," The first Nyaron said with a huff. "It's just easier for us to find work and not be home as much as possible right now."

"I see. Well, just don't overdo it, okay?" Michel requested simply, getting affirmative nods from both the girls as he turned and left the building.

"Ah, general!"

Only to hear him being called and turning to see a male android rushing toward him. "Crap, what do you need Porkchop?"

The android scowled at that. "Can you not call me that sir?"

"Maybe. What do you need?"

"Right, uh, Deadbolt is looking for you sir, told me to find you and that it was important."

"Alright, where is he then?"

"At the security building, sir."

"Alright, I'll head over there, thank you," Michel said with a nod as he tuned and bean heading to the security building. As he moved through the settlement he saw a number of things. A family of a human and Moyo with their children eating outside, some children happily playing even as their parents told them it was time for dinner, field workers gathering what they had harvested over the day to bring to storage, soldiers practicing at the shooting range, or dueling in protective gear to hone their skills. It was much the same as he had seen often in the past, but now it was different. There was a great deal less worry on people's faces, less anxiety and uncertainty. Less fear of what could come.

The reason was simple. Mechanoids.

Mechanoids had always been one of the most dangerous of foes upon the Rimworlds. Machines that never tired and never stopped hunting for people to kill, relentless like the old earth terminators. It had long been thought that they were mindless, or perhaps controlled by some unknowable entity of programming, but when they had discovered that the Mechanoids were under the direct control of the Eternal Empire, things had gotten far, far worse.

But here, there were no Mechanoids. For the last month since they had arrived they had used every bit of technology they had, scouring the planet with scanners of every type and form for everything of notice or worth. Some of what they had found was curious or confusing, like a distant tower with a great cave system beneath it that showed up more as a living organism than a network of tunnels, but aside from that and some very large resource deposits, they had found nothing to indicate Mechnoids could be present. There were no distant signals of any kind, no energy sources, nothing in orbit of the planet. It seemed as if the planet had no other civilizations with advanced technology, and if the reports of the nearby village were anything to go by, the tech level seemed to be in the mid medieval era. A fine thing to help guarantee the safety and security of their people.

"Ah General, you are here, good."

Michel looked up to realize he had been caught up in his thoughts and had reached the security building, and that the man named Deadbolt was waiting by the door for him.

Deadbolt, not his real name of course, was a human male of forty four years of age, though he barely looked it. Short brown hair, a simple and sparse amount of five o'clock shadow, and a lean build made him not look like much, but Michel new that the man's muscle was wiry and strong, and that even without the bionics making up his bright green eyes the man was the best shot in the entirety of their settlement. Hell, he was likely the best shot on the entre Rimworld before they had left.

Taking his skills to good use, Deadbolt was the settlements Sharpshooter, the greatest shot, and also the best one to train people in how to use any form of firearm. So of course it made sense that he and his brother, the settlements Blademaster, often acted as the settlements heads of security.

"What do you need Deadbolt?"

"Come, I'll show you," Deadbolt said with a wave as he entered the security building, prompting Michel to follow.

The security building was not an armory as many would expect, but instead was a sort of cross between a police station and a barracks. A small living area was the first thing anyone would see, and down its only hall was a large area of jail cells that had yet to see use, and hopefully never would, and a single other room that as they entered was clear was a surveillance room, connecting to every camera across the settlement and the lands directly around it.

"I see the camera system is working."

"Mostly," Deadbolt answered as he walked over to a desk along a wall away from the lines of computer consoles, most of which were dark. "We're getting some interference with the signals at times, unsure why, but the techs are looking into it. Still need to set more cameras up further away from us too, just in case."

"Is that why you wanted to speak to me?" Michel asked in disbelief

"Hardly. I wanted you here to hear your thoughts on these," Deadbolt said as he held up a folder and placed it on the table beside the desk, letting the pictures slide out of it. "Take a look."

Michel stepped up and pushed the photos apart from one another, allowing him to glance them over. The first that caught his attention was one of the nearby villages. It was a zoomed in shot showing a wagon heading toward the village itself. But the wagon was too small to carry goods, meaning it likely had people. It was odd it was on its own though. The next picture that caught his eye was a large numbers of wagons and carriages all heading down a road like a great convoy. They all had the same marking on the sides of them, which he then realized the first solo wagon had as well.

"Some kind of organization is heading into the nearby village?"

"Yes, our scouts saw them and snapped the pictures. The convoy is well armed, for medievals, but it doesn't seem equipped enough for a merchant convoy," Deadbolt stated as he stepped up beside Michel and pointed to one specific picture of the convoy. "See here, there are a number of people in uniform, but no one else is, and their garb is too varied."

Michel said nothing about seeing obvious signs of not human races among them and looked more expertly at the photo. "yes, I can see that. You figure a sort of, mercenary guard force then?"

"That seems most likely. I'm guessing it's some kind of important local organization like a guild."

"And you figure they are heading here, and just stopping by in the nearby village?"

"Yes, but that isn't the real worry," Deadbolt said as he shuffled the photos around and found one in particular. "Take a look."

Michel did, and he hated what he saw. The photo was a long range shot of an area outside of the mountain range. In the distance he could see a large walled city and tower to one side, but to the other side was a large mass of darkness that the photo's crisp clarity showed to be hundreds upon hundreds of people, horses and wagons. All of them armed.

"And army?"

"That is what the scout that spotted it figured. He took the shot at range, but he said it was clear the army was heading towards this valley. Fast.

"And the only things in this valley are our own settlement, and the other small village nearby, meaning they are most likely after us. Dammit. How long till they reach us in the valley then?"

"Scouts figured a few days at minimum. If they decide to attack or claim that nearby village, maybe another day," Deadbolt stated as he walked over to another table, one that had a computerized map upon its top of the mountain valley their settlement sat within. "We have a few plans drafted for defense already. Gun turrets, traps, minefields, artillery strikes, the basic stuff. But more importantly I'd like you to call a meeting of all of our leadership."

"For what purpose?" Michel asked warily. Deadbolt was a normally good person, but his lack of issues with using far from moral weapon systems, such as poisonous gas or acidic explosives, did make it a bit concerning whenever he wanted to call a meeting

"That army is going to catch up to that caravan at some point. If they both are coming this way, I think we should find out if they are relate, or at the very least warn that nearby village that an army is coming. We don't know if that army is friendly to them after all."

Michel let out a sigh of relief. "And here I was worried you were going to suggest a gun-run against them before we even knew their intents."

"That was only once. Besides, they were pirates and it was obvious," Deadbolt said with a shrug. "Either way, I think we should at least warn those guys. But that is a decision we all have to make together."

"Alright, I get the point, I'll call a meeting for-" Michel topped and looked at his watch, a near ancient model that was older than he would ever be. "-for six this morning. Give everyone some time to get some sleep."

"Cool, I'll be there,"

"I should hope so being that you are he one requesting it," Michel said as he turned to leave with a single thought in his mind.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'I hate meetings like this' Michel sighed to himself as he sat in the meeting with all of the leadership of the Adamant Union. Most settlements on the Rim would have a few people in leadership roles, those who could lead by example and had no issue making choices for many others. Most of the settlements on the old world had maybe three or four at most, and even cities of the Eternal Empire had only a few nobles who acted as their leadership.

So the Adamant union having twelve people in the leadership roles was a bit out there. Though the Unions now massive population at this new world settlement did explain it. It was hard for a mere handful of people to lead thousands after all.

And all of them were in the meeting room, still a simple building of wood with nothing but a table and some lights.

And around it sat all of their leadership.

"So, you want us to contact both a group that could be from a local government, and what could be an army of bandits?" Lilywhite, a young Dragonian woman who was the Farmkeeper of the settlement asked carefully as she stared across the table at Deadbolt. No one knew what her real name was, but everyone agreed her nickname was too effective to care. A lot of the leaders were like that, always being referred to by their nicknames.

"That is correct," Deadbolt said as he leaned back in his chair, the back balanced backwards as his feet were up on the table. Many would consider it an arrogant and foolish thing, but everyone around the table knew of Deadbolts skill.

His brother, nicknamed Slayer, was much more serious as he sat beside his brother with hands clasped in front of him. "We need to know the intentions of the group's on this planet. And since we have no way of contacting them, we need to speak in person, and doing it on our terms is always better."

"What do you mean we have no way of contacting them?" an Android Man called Crevasse, the leader of the settlements mining work, asked in surprise as he glanced around and settled his pale blue eyes upon one person in particular. "Do they not have radio?"

"They do not. Not that we have detected at least," The Moyo man that Crevasse was string at said with a sigh as he casually continued to work on a tablet that was in front of him while pulling some papers out of a big pocket on his, lab coat. He was called Nakua, one of the settlements scientific leaders, one who worked on the generic but important. "We have detected no radio waves, wireless signals, not even engine or power plant emissions, since we arrived. It would appear that the entirety of this planet is stuck, or has simply only recently, arrived in the medieval era."

"Indeed," a Female Moyo beside him, also in a lab coat but with odd red tips to her antenna, said with a grin. "Should make it easy to kill those we need to, but only if we need to." She was called Kraken, and was a Deep Moyo who specialized in weaponry research and creation.

"We should not even be talking about killing people we have not even met yet, especially when they have not done anything to us," A young Nyaron called Slice said with a heavy sigh. She was wearing a Nyaron style combat jacket, but the dust on her shoulder made it easy to tell she had just come from a construction site. Not surprising when she was the head of the bases civilian construction needs.

Unlike her sister beside her, Fartooth, whose specialty in construction was a little more obvious. "True, but we'll know how to deal with them when they inevitably do try to attack us. The security cameras and guns are up, and we have people planting booby traps and warning systems in the mountains around us."

"Please do not blow up another herd of animals if you can help it," A Female android, more often referred to as a Gynoid, by the name of Frolic said. She was the leader of the settlements animal husbandry and training. Even if most of the meat they ate was grown, animals still had many uses, including producing wool, pelts, horn, and training the genetically created ones as powerful additions to the colonies defense.

"They won't, we fixed that issue,"

"We are getting off of topic I think," A Purple tinted Moyo woman said as she passively flipped around a vial in one like it was a fidget toy, despite the vial likely containing something horrible. She had no name that anyone actually knew, but the name she chose of Belladonna told much about her. "The boys in charge of defense wish to meet with these unknown and speak to them, and I say we should. Can't know if our normal toxins or acids will affect them if we do not know their biology after all."

"Stop assuming they will be violent," a young Rakkle man said with a shake of his head. "They could be just looking for trade, and it could be a good thing to welcome such a thing. It could help us fix some of our supply issues." He was simply called Clark of all the simplistic names, though some of the humans knew it was a nigh ancient reference. He was a social butterfly and the social and recreation overseer, but he was also more than capable of hilarious shows of strength.

"I agree with Clark, as well as Deadbolt, slayer and slice," a Female Dryad said from her seat. She was simply named Alraune due to her looks, and while she wasn't technically a leader, she did command all of the dryads that the settlement had from the only Gauranlen Nexus tree they managed to bring with them from the old planet. No one knew how she or the other dryads looked human either, but no one was complaining about their looks, or their sudden influx of intelligence. It made them much more enjoyable to be around.

"Focus at hand please," Michel said with a sigh. "Is there anyone that has a realistic and sensible reason to not attempt to greet at least one of these groups?"

"No, but how will we speak to them?" Clark asked curiously as he glanced at the Nakua. "Aren't you guys still working on a translator for their languages?"

"We have gotten some progress in that regard. The language that village speaks seems to be an evolution of ancient earth Greek, mixed with bit of English and Indian of all things," Nakua explained, prompting Belladonna to comment.

"Dammed load of crap combination of languages that is. Why not throw some Chinese in for good measure why don't they," she said with a shake of her head.

"Actually, we have detected some bits of Japanese as well, though those were from our distant scans, not the listening devises our forces placed in the village when retrieving Petal."

Belladonna simply made a disgusted noise while Alraune spoke up. "Is she doing well?"

Genetically she is fine," Belladonna responded. Physiologically though, she did nearly die from her pods damage and the overactive cryo tech. Dragonians are tough, but her brain has a bit of variance it didn't have."

"She is proving to be slightly more active and a bit less conserved than she used to be," Lilywhite explained. "A little more prone to violence as well, but she doesn't appear to be showing any sighs of dread or fear or horror like can sometimes occur."

"Why would you-" Slayer began to say before something seemed to click. "Right, she your sisters daughter."

"Yes."

"Focus please," Crevasse spoke up in annoyance. "Some of us have work to be doing that this meeting is getting in the way of. Like overseeing some well drilling."

"Yes, let's stay on task," Michel said as he looked at Nakua. "How long until a proper translator can be completed and uploaded into Cortexaugmentors?"

"Hmm. A day until I have a basic one, maybe a week to work out the kinks fully," Nakua answered simply.

"Good. Deadbolt, how were you thinking of meeting them? Did you have something in mind?"

"The first group might head here, but I was thinking we send an envoy, a couple guards and one or two of our more personable to greet them at the village," Deadbolt said as he looked to Clark. "I was thinking Arethusa and lotus."

"A good choice," Clark said with a nod. "As long as the guards were well picked. They are not fighters."

"Of course not, I'd make sure the guards are skilled, and that they would have shield belts at the vey minimum."

"Good."

"Alright, then does anyone have any issues with this going ahead to, at the very least, show some form of goodwill?" Michel aske carefully, making sure to glance at each and every person at the table. When no one spoke up he nodded. "Alright, Dread, Clark, Slayer, get together a group to meet the locals. Nakua, make sure that basic translation program is made and given before they leave. Does anyone have anything else to bring up during his meeting since we are all here? Reports or otherwise?"

"Aside from the Hotsprings have been fully checked over and are safe to open, I have nothing else," Clark said first.

"The crops are all doing well, but if we could get some samples of the local fauna from outside of the settlement it could help in planning or blights," Lilywhite requested.

"I'll have some people prepped to escort some farmers for that purpose," Slayer said with a nod.

"Ah, there is one thing, if your farmers," Belladonna said as she looked at Lilywhite and then Slayer, "or any guards happen to notice any plants that would appear, less than healthy, I would look forward to seeing them. One never knows when what information will be of use after all."

"Yeah, no. No one wants to give you more access to poisons," Fartooth said with scoff. "Not after the Poison ivy acid shell incident."

"Funny, I thought it was highly effective," Deadbolt said with an odd smirk. "It worked quiet well in making those pirates run screaming."

"Yeah, and it made them even more violent for using such weapon," slayer said with a sigh.

Deadbolt merely shrugged, uncaring about the insinuation.

"Right, enough of that please," Michel spoke up with a sigh. "Anything else of proper note?" no one said anything a few moments, letting Michel sigh in relief this time. "Good. Some of you have plans, and everyone has things they need to be doing. This meeting is adjourned."