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"I don't blame you. That colony is sandwiched between the Ka'lu'umil's greatest contemporaries in the north, and is the first stop on the way to New Thorn, and I promise you, Alexios won't lift a damn finger for them if tensions explode and they're caught under fire. The Ka'lu'umil itself is a beautiful nation, but Alexios is the snake of snakes and should not be trusted."
“That wasn’t what I...”
What he meant to say is that the Kauv of New Vordania wouldn’t accept an outcast like him, but he stopped as he continued to listen.
“Wait a minute...are you saying the colony might be in danger?
"Are they in danger? You serious?" Vokkir could see Olrynion already fell into an energised tangent that could not be stopped now, his body language suddenly flared up, and opened. "Mate, Alexios is the most evil f*cking piece of sh*t I've ever met and he flogs the Ka'lu'umil under his shadowy regime. You think Resolution 2B means sh*t? Ha! That lost all credibility when a f*cking Shadowscale was appointed director of PAX." Olrynion seemed to barely even be speaking to Vokkir at this point, just throwing words at him. "Make no mistake, it's a PR stunt, Alexios is a populist, his every public move is to appease the crowd, while Chancellor Gallagher's every move is scripted, and enforced with Junal Tei's sword at his throat. Trust me, these guys murdered the last genuine leader the Ka'lu'umil had and one of its greatest heroes so that they could seize power and make their people love them for it like some sick case of national Stockholm syndrome. They don't give a flying f*ck about your people, they don't even give a f*ck about their own. They'd glass the planet just for a scapegoat."
Clanaka, the officer beside him, and the ten other soldiers made their way over to the facility. After the doors opened, the twelve Arcanstotskans marched to meet Havyard. Clanaka and the officer entered the room first, as the soldiers moved apart yet staying around Clanaka.
“Captain Lars, a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
Vokkir couldn’t understand half of what Olrynion was talking about, but from the way he spoke, none of it sounded good. The Kauv’ok was frozen with fear and concern. Not only was he burdened with a motive to free the rest of the enslaved Kauv, but now he might have to save the colony too. Of course, he couldn’t possibly live among them as an outcast, and yet he’s never held any ill will against his own people, even his own father who banished him, and with all that’s happened to the Kauv since that fateful day five years ago, Vokkir wasn’t about to just leave the survivors to their possible fate.
Lord Odhran takes up a pen and writes his details.
"Anyway." Olrynion coughed to clear his throat, his eyes levelled slightly off base from Vokkir's to the side. "I digress. What did you come for again?"
“Well...it was for joining your team. Lord Vaughan sent me to you.”
"What for, a drink? I'd offer you whiskey but I don't know what'd kill you and what wouldn't." He said as he walked back into his cabin, to the two couches beside a high table with liquor and glasses, Olrynion poured himself one, and fell onto his seat. As Vokkir entered, he would see before him three wide 'windows' displaying the beauty of space in all its glory, nebulae glittering in the distance, and far off galaxies voyaging a sea of stars. The spectacle took over an entire semi-circle of the quarter, it was possibly the most beautiful thing Vokkir had ever seen.
Elana walked out, she breathed in the oxygen-rich air of the planet jungle planet, looking up to see small native birds fly overhead. This was the first world she had even gone to where a breathing mask was not required when outside. The Blue sky reminded her of her home, on Vermell, the green plants, however, did not. The green plants were strange, as if someone had taken algae and plastered it on everything.
Elana held out her hand ready to grasp the one of the young Skyrian, she had learned this was how most Sakoor greet.
Captain Havyard rose from the round table at the center of the rectangular room. The walls were adorned with art from across the Union, both ancient and modern either showing great battles of old or delicate paintings from some of the most gifted artists and thinkers from the United Republic and now Union. There was an large oval shaped viewport above the table itself, which showed the stars above as well as the asteroid field and the Arcanstotskan fleet in the distance. Hidden somewhere close was the Stargazer, who's teleporter chief stood by to quickly evac the captain should the paranoid Arcanstotskans let their paranoia get the best of them.
The Captain approached, his arm extended and black gloved palm open. Clearly a sign of greeting, but he wasn't quite sure if the Arcanstotskan would understand this.
"Well met, Admiral. I am pleased you came."
Vokkir looks out at space as he enters the room. He’s witnessed sights like this before; a slave can see a lot from just being sold to another owner or being moved to another factory. But it never really got old, looking out at the stars and trying to comprehend the massive scale of the galaxy. Far greater than the home he once knew.
“Lord Vaughan said he wanted to know how I handled being under pressure.”
The Skyrian grasps her hand and smiles. "Ko-toy-yah, Captain Elana. I am Fleet Ambassador Watkins, representative of the Sakooran Greater Fleets, and I welcome to New Sakoor. It is an honor to have you here."
"You're a Kauv'ok warrior. Is that a question needs answering? We'll get to it, for now sit with me."
Vokkir sits down in silence. He didn’t want to talk about how he never became a true warrior.
Olrynion sat silently for a moment, allowing the sound of the engine to compensate the soundless void outside. He studied Vokkir's mask extensively.
"Hmm... Blank bone mask. You're an outcast, aren't you? You never took your trial. Unless you did, and you failed." He said with confidence, eyeing Vokkir down as he took a self congratulatory sip of his whiskey.
Vokkir gives him a confused look.
“How do you know my culture so well?”
"I read about it. Your people are no longer the far off galactic speck they used to be."
A knot forms in Vokkir's stomach. He didn’t expect for anyone to dump his past on top of him. It was a burden he already carried for quite some time, so even while it was a heavy burden, he’s gotten used to carrying it. However, it became draining especially during his slave years, so in order to lighten the load, all he could do was ignore them, pushing those thoughts away into some empty corner of his mind. At least, until situations arise where the thoughts come back to him, and the load gets heavy again. And right now, that burden was getting heavier.
“But I didn’t fail...they didn’t accept my trial because I found my own way around the challenge, and they called it a taboo...”
"What did you do?" Olrynion asked. He leaned forward, getting in Vokkir's space. "What made them reject you?" he pushed.
Vokkir seems hesitant to speak, but does anyways.
“The Hunt was meant to thin the herd. Gozima dragons are incredibly dangerous beasts to take on alone and yet my people sent those who have come of age to go hunt them...with nothing but swords, spears, and crude rifles. Only the strongest Kauv could manage to slay those beasts with such primitive tools. I happened to collect weapons from enemies that have invaded us in the past...enemies from beyond our world, enemies with weapons far more advanced than what we had. Tinkering with those foreign guns was merely a hobby that I took on, as I was fascinated with the advanced technology they possessed, but the priests of my village saw it as a harmful obsession. And when I used them in my trial to compensate for my lack of physical strength- at least compared to most Kauv- it was seen as an insult to the traditions that have existed for centuries, so they cast me out.”
Olrynion nodded ever so slightly. What he meant by doing so, however, was not so certain, that is assuming Vokkir even noticed. He did not relent in his ever so forward questioning and demeanour. "And your family? Did they not bother to protect you, or were they also disgraced because of your actions?"
“They cast me out too. I grew up wanting to make my father proud, but after my trial, he wouldn’t dare to call me his son anymore.”
"If your father, and your people were staunch traditionalists, and you knew this. Why did you think you'd pride them with your unorthodox methods? You should have known how they'd react."
Vokkir’s hands form fists, shaking ever so slightly as they tighten.
“I wasn’t born as strong as other Kauv tend to be, which does not bode well in the warrior caste especially. And as the only child in my family, I had to work hard to prove that I was just as capable as the other rising warriors in the village.”
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