Theb-Saar prepared to meet with the Codemasters. Sarah came the previous day with a message, asking them to come if they could today. They agreed and prepared for the meeting. He thought about which Mipedians would come with him to speak with them.
He felt his muscles tensing under his scales. The possible thought that they found the metalists location just increased his moral. He was worried for Peyton and his parents. The news from Sarah was that the other members of the family were also worried for them.
The only thing the king knew was that they weren't mistreated. Still, he knew the metalist king needed them for something. Something that might be to return to the Cothica.
Knowing the history of the humans and the metalists, it wouldn't be for a good reason. Still, nothing seemed to happen on the Cothica so far.
He knew that his nephew Mudeenu would come with him and also Tianne. He wasn't sure if he needed anyone else with him. They had only a few Telebracers. It was best to keep some of them in the castle.
Mudeenu came and bowed down, "I am ready to leave at any moment."
"We only need to wait for Tianne. There is a lot we need to be ready for."
The prince nodded, "Yes. Things went their way for too long. It's time to make them pay for their crimes."
"Patience Mudeenu," Tianne said as he entered the throne room, "We need to plan everything meticulously. We have no idea how their tribe words and how their defenses are organised. They surely have something to see us when we are invisible. Maybe not the same battlegear to see us when we are invisible, but they could have something against us."
In the end, the king decided that the three of them would be enough. Iflar was busy with something else right now and he couldn't distract him with this meeting. He guessed his son would be a bit grumpy about it, but that was the worse he would get for that decision.
Chapter 72: The Plan
The trio of mipedians ported to Chaotic and glanced around. The humans were at their usual occupations as they played their matches, but there was a bit of an uneasiness spreading around. It was something he didn't feel before. There was also no report of it. He could tell that the situation with the metalists affected Chaotic too.
"How come those creatures can't be scanned?" someone asked.
They glanced at the human quietly. They had no time to wait and to eavesdrop. They had to meet with the codemasters. They walked forward.
"Don't think it's a glitch of the scanner. It worked for the other creatures," that person added.
Another human wondered, "What are they?"
"Don't know. Heard rumors they got Peyton. I mean, he didn't show up for a while," a third one commented.
Theb-Saar ignored the uneasiness in his chest. The fact that people who knew very little of Peyton heard rumors that something bad happened to him by the metalist.
Tianne wondered how long before the knowledge of what the metalists truly were would spread around. So far, the creatures and very few humans knew what they were.
Mudeenu noticed the human Remi speaking with Kaz, but he paid no more attention to them. It was obvious that they spoke about something else unrelated to Peyton.
"And I still found nothing about where those elementalists could be," Kaz sighed as he hit his head on the table, "Looks like I just hit a wall so far."
The red eyes of the mipedian king glanced at them.
"Got nothing too. And the m'arrillians gave everything they had to help find Peyton. As for Tom, Maxxor surely got some clues in the same documents they got for Peyton. We can only wait for now," Remi admitted.
"It's worse that he had to go there," Kaz sighed as he looked at his friend.
Theb-Saar frowned a bit. He wondered what they meant by: 'He had to go there.' There was something else going on and it involved Tom. He had no idea what it was, but his priority was to find and to save Peyton and his parents. He took a note to ask them another time. They already were away from the players and walked out of the court room. They walked into a long corridor, guided by a robot. The floating machine escorted them to the room where the codemaster was waiting for them.
"Just one?" Mudeenu asked suspiciously.
"Most of the others are on reconnaissance on the island. They are maximising the information they could collect about the island and its surroundings," the machine replied.
The three creatures nodded. It was best that they had as much intel as possible before doing anything. Still, they wished to have enough and planned an assault or a rescue mission quickly.
The reached the room and saw codemaster Crellan. The strange being sat on his chair and nodded at them, "Welcome. I wasn't sure how many of you would come, but we brought enough chair at least."
The mipedians checked and saw four chairs in front of the desk. There was one too much.
Theb-Saar guessed it would have been Iflar if he wasn't busy, "Thank you for asking us to come quickly," he sat on the chair. It was a bit weird, since it wasn't made for creatures with a tail. Still, it seemed to have been adapted for that part anyway.
"We know you will want us to act quickly with what we found our and know what we know. We also want to rescue the three victims as quickly as possible," Crellan clenched his hands a bit, "It reminded us how we failed to protect the Earth before."
They knew he commented about the m'arrillian invasion.
Mudeenu put them on the subject, "What did you find out about the metalists? You surely have the locations and anything about their defences."
The codemaster waited for the creatures to give their full attention before he answered. He crossed his fingers for a few seconds. Once their eyes rested on him, he answered, "So far, we have little knowledge of the defenses. Imthor said that the large city he found was surrounding by large and tall walls. There was a gate partially opened that give access to the city. They were too many people to even consider to try and sneak in. Which I'm glad he didn't try or think maybe he could," he added to the side. He was still a bit grumpy about the reckless action of the other codemaster. He went on, "There was a castle at the center, taller than the wall. It isn't like your palace of Maxxor castle. It might be made of some kind of metal, but we didn't analyse anything. This is the knowledge of the defenses."
"He didn't see any weapons on the wall or above it?" Tianne asked curiously.
"No. He only checked this out and went to the shore and looked around for what surrounded the island… Thinking back, those islands don't give any clues about their location so far. We know nothing of the island and what's around it."
"Is there a way we could get inside, invisible?" Mudeenu asked.
"We know nothing of the tribe. I wouldn't risk it until we have further intel," the mipedian kind replied before the codemaster could.
Crellan nodded negatively, "We don't know what kind of battlegears they had. We only saw the Telebracers and they upgraded it teleport on Earth."
"He could made stronger battlegears that we know," the mugician commented as he scratched his chin pensively.
"Can they use mugic?" Theb-Saar wondered. He never saw any humans using mugic and neither the metalists. He knew that those two came from the Cothica.
"No. Humans and metalists cannot use mugic, from what the Guardians of the Cothica said," Crellan replied. He wondered if it was actually the case or not. Still, he rather not be completely sure it could be the case. He went on, "This might not be completely correct. They have no idea what the metalists did during all those years… I don't even have an idea how long they were exiled on Perim," he concluded.
"They could learn mugic then," the mipedian king concluded. It was a maybe. They were too much maybe for his liking for now.
"We were never told everything about the metalists. Just a few things and that they were once from the Cothica," Mudeenu commented. He stood up and demanded, "What aren't you telling us about?"
Crellan sighed. He glanced at them, "A few things we know, but not everything. A lot was lost in ruins, never to be fix to get the knowledge of old. We know the metalists used something… something I am forbidden to say, to be the ruler of the Cothica. Eventually, that thing disappeared and the humans fought back. They defeated the metalists, who were too certain of their strength. The power over light the humans has overwhelmed the power of darkness of the metalists. After the war, the remaining of them were sent to exile to Perim, to never return to Earth."
"What can you tell us about their body?" the royal guard asked. He crossed his arms, "Siado report and what we checked from our prisoner gives us the impression that they wore an armor, but we can't take it off. It's their body somehow," he commented.
The codemaster knew that the creature surely struggled to believe that a being could be alive without being made of flesh and blood. Crellan himself was something else, but not alive like the humans, creatures or metalists, "It is their body. They are known, long ago, as the opposite side of the humans. Humans has the power of light, the metalists has the power of darkness for example. Human's body is made of flesh and blood, the metalists body is made of metal and oil. It is the same as you and the humans, but different in some ways. You can consider their body of metal their flesh."
"In other world, threat them like any creatures," Mudeenu concluded.
"Yes. However, don't think you can poison them the same way as a creature. You need to rust them for that," Crellan commented with a small smirk on his face.
That made them sounded more like living armors. Still, it was great to have an idea of what they truly were.
"Can you tell us anything else about the metalists, or we have to wait for more information?" Theb-Saar asked.
"We don't know much. The rest might be best to obtain from the Guardian's of the Cothica. We know as much as they told us."
The king scratched his chin, "Then it might be best to send someone to them and get what they know. We know where is their base," he commented.
The codemaster nodded, "I am not surprise by that."
Mudeenu asked, "Anything about Tom Major? We know he is gone and that he warned Maxxor about it. What is he doing?"
The king nodded, "We know he came to Perim and it isn't his code anymore, for some reason. Can you tell us anything about it?"
"I told very little things to Maxxor. The Guardian's of the Cothica wants this matter to remain quiet, until you find him," Crellan sighed. It was clear he wanted to speak more in the matter.
"Something quite big," Tianne grumbled to himself. He crossed his arms, "And it obviously has something to do with the metalists. Him and his friends trained to master the power of light after Peyton disappeared and the Guardian's of the Cothica showed themselves."
"And he won't tell us anything about that," Mudeenu frowned a bit.
The king gave him a quick glance and his nephew didn't say anything else, "If he could, he would tell us everything, but Crellan were ordered not to."
"Indeed. Unless we are authorised or there are some important changes, I'm afraid I cannot tell you anything else concerning Tom," the codemaster replied.
"I wonder what is the link between Peyton disappearance and Tom disappearance," Tianne wondered. He could guess it might be an indirect one, but there was something tying those disappearances together somehow.
After this, the four continued to talk and the mipedians tried to get more information. Alas, the codemaster was restricted in a few subjects and he told them everything they knew about the island of the metalists. Crellan promised to keep in contact with them if they made any major progression in their exploration of the island.
AC: This is the end of this chapter.
Next: Increase Activity.
King Titanium received reports that his enemies got more active within the island and also reported of some strange elusive things that showed up recently.