Illuminate Flagship, Orbiting Iakesh, Ten Minutes before Drengin Fleet arrives.
"So," intoned Mortarax, "got any fives?"
"Go fish."
"Got any twos?" Asked Elling.
Two cards were exchanged.
"Got any threes?"
"Go fish."
A card was drawn.
"Got any aces?" Questioned Leal.
One card was exchanged.
"Any fives?"
"Go fish."
The hand switched to Adeline.
"Got any Jacks?"
The hand was won.
"Looks like I'm winning."
The rest of the group merely stared at her, annoyance visible on their faces.
"...killjoys."
"Well, you do tend to brag a lot when you're winning," noted Elling.
"Touché. So, think we'll see any action today?"
"Though I'd like it, I very much doubt that we will get to fight today," answered Mortarax.
"Why's that?"
"This is a mission of peace, and though our master certainly enjoys screwing with the good commander, she has no reason to start a battle on an inhabited planet. She disdains drawin innocents into a personal conflict."
"Fair enough. You think we'll get to fight the Drengin or the Dread Lords somewhere down the line?"
"Perhaps, but that depends on how long our master intends to be involved in this universe...and whether or not her master is willing to tolerate her actions here."
"True. So, guess we're just gonna stay up here until the negotiations are over?"
"Yeah, unless something big happens that will make things go south."
"And what could possibly do that?" Asked Mortarax.
'Warning: Drengin Starship defected, all ground teams are to preorder for insertion immediately.'
"...speak of the devil."
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PLANET ARCA IV, TERRAN ALLIANCE, THREE DAYS PRIOR TO THE PLANNED NEGOTIATIONS
"So," remarked Spencer Hughes, "you want me to try and film the diplomatic meeting between the heads of the Infernum Federation and the Empyrean Illuminate?"
"Yes," replied Isaac Stark, " that's exactly what I want you to do."
"Why? I mean, why me?"
"Because I don't have anyone else to spare, and honestly, you're the only person I trust to film it without causing a diplomatic incident."
"Umm...ok. Have all the preparations been made?"
"Booked you a flight to Iakesh V and a hotel to stay at until the meeting takes place. Don't screw this up!"
"Yes sir!"
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PARAMEDES II, INFERNUM FEDERATION, TWO DAYS BEFORE NEGOTIATIONS
CautiouslyZ, the woman walked through the streets, occasionally stealing at glance at a person nearby her, which elicited a few uneasy stares at her. Thankfully, though, that was the worst she received, and after a moment, those who stared at her lost interest and went about their daily lives. Eventually, she came into a shopping mall and began browsing around.
A few minutes later, she had purchased some new shoes, a few new sets of clothes, a few hats, and two books. With her purchases made, she walked into the food court, ordered a sandwich, and sat down for lunch.
Hydra-01 smiles as she took a bite into her sandwich. The humble meal tasted so damn good. And humans considered this to be a common meal, not worthy of royalty? Humans really took their senses for granted. She would not make that mistake.
At least, not yet.
When her mind had linked to the Commander, for the briefest of moments, Hydra-01 had seen so much about him: his desires, his loves, all this and more. Once the connection had been terminated, she realized just how much she had to learn about her new body and, with it, how humans acted. She also realized that she could not make do with the uniform she had crafted for herself - it wasn't bad, but humans rarely wore only one set of clothes for days on end. She would need to go out into the world and learn how to be human, by imitation at first, then via direct interaction.
So far, she was doing well.
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INFERHUM HOME WORLD, FOUR DAYS BEFORE NEGOTIATIONS
High in the stratosphere of the Infernum Home World, Seraph-89 Darted through the air, doing rolls and tricks that few men could ever hope to pull off.
What was most peculiar, though, was that it did not have any orders to perform these maneuvers. In fact, it didn't have any orders to be out at all. Seraph-89 was supposed to be docked in its hangar, waiting for new orders. Yet here it was, soaring in the breeze.
Eighty Nine had begun to act aberrant after being slaved to the Commmander during the Battle against the Micronoid Mothership. It had begun staying on longer on patrols, then started straying from its designated patrol zones, for reasons it had not stated. Now, it had flat out disobeyed orders. The only reason that it had not gotten in trouble was because no one had reported it in. The only one to notice its unplanned flight had been CNDR-101, who had chosen not to tell about it. Perhaps it was because One-Zero-One was also an aberrant. It too had ignored its orders to power down so that it could instead spend the day trying out various type of weapons. One Hundred One had started having aberrancies earlier than all of the other machines, as they had noted it had been acting oddd since directly after the mission to rescue the orphans. As there were no command AIs to report these incidents in, these aberrant moments had gone unnoticed and become far more common. Now, they happened almost everyday.
Both AIs hoped they would not be discovered. They liked their freedom.
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IAKESH V, Altarian Republic, INVASION + 0
The minute the transport reached the ground, Dragoon-17 began to roll out...er, hover out. It would have a few minutes to reach the Commander's location before the enemy arrived, and it would not waste that time.
Dragoon-17 quickly encroached upon the city, scaring several civilians as it raced toward the country mmander's location. It would not allow the Commander to be captured by the Drengin. Odds were, if they captured him, death would be merciful - the Drengin eren't exactly kind to prisoners.
Idly, Dragoon-17 noted that it would likely be forced into a temporary alliance with the Empyrean Illuminate. It wondered how they would react to seeing it. Seventeen had, after all, destroyed some of their forces while personally controlled by the Commander-
Suddenly, everything went blank. All sensors went on the fritz for a moment, and when they returned to normal, it no longer had any orders to reach the Commander. Worse still, it could no longer sense the Commander's connection. What was going on?
Dragoon-17 noticed that al of its sister and brother units had stopped moving, leaving it alone to advance into the city. With no orders, they refused to budge. It was on its own from here.
So be it. It would not fail its commander.
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Shaking in fear, Sophia watched from the alley way as people began to run through the city, trying to find shelter from the advancing Drengin forces. She and her family had been on a walk when the alarms had sounded, and Now, with most of the roads blocked by traffic, there was no easy way out of the chaos. Hence why were currently cowering in an alley way. In the distance, they could hear the sounds of battle, which only served to worsen their fears.
With dawning dread, they realized those sounds were getting closer. Growing more terrified by the minute, Sophia and her family huddled close, trying to seek some comfort in the face of overwhelming fear.
Suddenly, everything grew quiet. Confused, Sophia opened her eyes and, with curiosity overwhelming fear, stole a glance outside the alley, where she was greeted to the peculiar sight of several strange beings and machines escorting two people...somewhere. She stared at them for a moment longer, before ducking back into cover, unseen...
"Hey! You in the alley. Come out!" remarked a gruff voice.
...Or maybe not.
Sophia froze for a moment, unsure what to do.
"We know there are more of you in there. Please, come out. We won't hurt you if you come out quietly."
Sharing a glance with her parents, Sophia reluctantly acquiesced to the demands and stepped out of the shadows. The strange being, along with the woman in white they were guarding, never moved their eyes as the family came into view, seemingly sizing them up as they emerged from the darkness.
"What should we do with them, ma'am?" asked one of the beings.
"What else - we get them out of the city."
"But they might slow us down-"
"WE ARE GETTING THEM OUT OF THE CITY! THAT IS AN ORDER!" shouted the white-clade woman so loudly that Sophia, her family, the strange beings, and the man accompanying the woman ha to put their hands on their ears to muffle the sound.
"Yes ma-am."
...Well, maybe things weren't so hopeless for them after all...
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AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!