We're back with Sovlin and co. How is he coping with the Himayans shenanigans? More importantly, how is he doing in his game of space hedgehog chess with his surrogate son?

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Memory Transcription Subject: Sovlin, frustrated and annoyed Federation captain
Date [Local Himayan time]: August 21st, 2136
Dealing with the Krakotl wasn’t nearly as annoying as dealing with the Himayans. They were so cagey with everything that it made me want to pull my quills out. Not to mention Piri constantly covering for Tarva and stonewalling any investigation I wanted to launch. Ugh, I never thought there’d come a day I’d wish to be a sailor again. 

“Sovlin?” Came the voice of my first officer Recel as I snapped back to reality. 

“Y-yes. Sorry I was preoccupied with other matters.” I said, offering a reasonable excuse for my absent-mindedness. That boy had a million other things on his mind, my old age shouldn’t be one of them. 

“Clearly as I have secured victory for the fifth round in a row.” Recel said as he smugly smiled at me. There was no way he-. By the Protector he’s right, he scored yet another victory in our game of Torqureth. I must be slipping in my old age, he never used to beat me at this. 

“You little—. How did you-? How are you doing this?” I sputtered out wondering if there was some secret strategy that Recel managed to pull out of nowhere before I noticed something. “That’s my exact strategy I-.” I said before Recel cut me off. 

“I know. I had a very excellent teacher growing up.” Recel said smugly smiling and crossing his tentacles (cheeky little shit). 

“Ugh. Maybe I should retire already.” I said while rubbing the top of my face. “It’s bad enough my mind is in a million different places now my first officer is-.” I said before a beeping sound emanated from my desk. As I walked over, I wondered who it could be. Maybe Piri finally decided to approve an investigation. 

Looking over it was just as I expected it was Piri and Chairman Nikonus!? Hm that’s odd, maybe the matter was of importance to him but why would he contact me? I know my reputation after the Arxur’s attack on the Cradle and I did appear on Aafa a few times (though that was mostly because I went to pick Recel and his sister up so they wouldn’t have to spend leave time with their family) but why me? Well better respond, maybe he can help with convincing Piri. 

As the screen flickered to the visages of prime minister Piri and Nikonus, I stood up and gave my best salute. “Prime minister, Chairman.” I said as I saw Recel’s face morph into a shocked look. 

“At ease, captain.” Piri said as she gave a dismissive claw gesture. “Unfortunately this isn’t a courtesy call. Chairman Nikonus has personally requested you and your crew for a special mission.” She added. Special mission? I wonder what it is or why Chairman Nikonus would want me to run it. 

“Has an investigation into the Himayans been approved?” I asked hopefully. 

“Not an investigation, per-say but more a look at what the Himayans are up to.” Nikonus spoke up. 

“Though I’m still unsure as to the necessity of that. While I still have my worries about the Himayans, I’ve seen the tests and PD screenings her team has done. They don’t have the taint.” Piri said, once again defending Tarva’s odd behavior. 

“Still though, the Himayans have been without the herd for a long time. The sooner we know their capabilities, the faster we can integrate them into the Herd.” Nikonus responded, laying out the reasonable opinion. 

“Alright, I suppose that’s fair. In any case there's details of this mission Nikonus wants to personally go over with you so I’ll leave you to it.” Piri said before logging off. 

“Before we get started, is there anyone in the room with you?” Nikonus asked, shifting his gaze behind me. 

“My first officer Recel, he’s one of the finest first officers I’ve ever had. I’m sure whatever matters you wish to discuss he can stay in the room with us while we discuss them. With your permission of course.” I said while Nikonus (hopefully) considered my offer. Even if Recel wasn’t captain material yet I wasn’t going to pass up this chance for him to cultivate connections. 

“I’m afraid that won’t be the case. The information I am about to share is classified and can only be shared with a select few.” Nikonus said while maintaining his professional demeanor. 
I looked up at Recel to see him mouth “I’ll be fine.” Well I suppose I can’t argue with the chairman as I nodded towards Recel, signaling him that it was alright for him to leave. As soon as Recel left the room I turned back to the chairman. 

“Now, like I said before, what I am about to share with you is classified at this moment and can only be shared to a select few as of now.” Nikonus said as two others joined the call. One of them was a Farsul in a rugged lab coat and glasses that I immediately recognized as Doctor Voq, one of the leading experts on Predator Disease, while the other was General Ruclin of Cradle Defense Command. “Now what do you know about the Himayans?” Nikonus asked as the two other participants straightened themselves. 

“Very little sir. Only what Hasim, the Krakotl, told me during first contact and what’s been announced by Tarva and her allies. Piri has seen empathy tests and PD screenings that say the Himayans are in the clear.” Recounting everything I knew right down to the tiniest detail. 

“Yes. Almost too clean don’t you think?” Nikonus said, clearly having the same suspicions I had.

“Yes sir, my first officer noted how Hasim seemed almost too professional and rude for the Krakotl we’re used to.” I said, relaying my first officer’s observations. 

“Yes and that brings me to this meeting’s topic. Dr. Voq believes that the Himayans have a more insidious variant of PD in their midst.” Nikonus said as he gestured towards the left side of the screen. Though what Nikonus said troubled me. A new variant hadn’t been heard in centuries if the Himayans had brought it with them, knowingly or not, then this could pose a more serious threat to the Federation. 

“Yes. We haven’t gotten much to go off of but what we do know lines up with this new variant we’ve been studying. It has the exact same symptoms of PD but its tricker to detect hence why we think it slipped past the Zurulians.” The Farsul doctor said as he adjusted his glasses. “We don’t know how many have been infected already but, well our estimates are troubling to say the least.” He added. 

“Does that mean?” I asked not wanting to think about the implications of what that statement entailed. 

“We don’t know who’s infected and who’s not hence why we brought General Ruclin into this.” Nikonus said while gesturing a tentacle to the right side of the screen. 

“Yes, we have contingencies planned in case the prime minister continues to stonewall and denies any evidence we push.” The general said, spines bristling which made me want to know what these contingencies entailed. Though I suppose that was at the General’s discretion. 

“What do you want from me?” I asked, probably already knowing the answer. 

“What Piri and I have laid out. You will head to the Venlil border and report on their military capabilities. However, any conversation you have with the Himayans should be recorded for data purposes. We’ll install the equipment you’ll need at the Kurenon anchorage and supply depot but be discreet. We can’t afford a leak.” Nikonus said, causing me to mull it over. 

“Are you proposing we lie to the herd?” I asked. The danger was there sure but it felt wrong lying to the public. Especially something as big as this

“I wouldn’t say lying to the herd, more waiting until we have the necessary evidence gathered before releasing it to the herd. We can’t risk a panic, especially if the Arxur senses it” Nikonus said. “Think of the stampedes in places like the Cradle while the Arxur swoop in and abduct civilians like what happened the last time the Cradle was attacked.” He added, causing me to flashback to that day. 

 My wife and daughter, ripped to shreds while I watched, the taunting grin of that damn monster carrying the bodies away, and then blackness. I couldn’t let that happen again. I wouldn’t. 

“Say no more, chairman. I’ll get you the information you need and do what I can to prevent this from getting out.” I said, trying my best to suppress the screams from that day while I answered. 

“Good now that that’s settled I believe we have important matters to attend to.” Nikonus said as he, and the others, disconnected the call leaving me sitting there. 

I wasn’t entirely sure about this plan but if I could save my crew and their families from this nightmare then it’d be worth it. Shaking my head as I stood up, I buried the last moments of that day in my head as I made my way to the bridge.
 
Memory Transcription Request: Recel, Patient First Officer
“Oh, so that’s how you do it.” Rumi, one of our new Bridge techs, said with an air of wonder about her (kind of reminds me of when I was learning this stuff).

 “Yeah some of the stuff aboard is in DESPERATE need of an overhaul.” I said, referring to our radar systems glitching out. “I can also show you—.” Though before I could say anything the door to the bridge opened. Turning around I saw Sovlin with that trademark serious look on his face. 

“CAPTAIN, ON DECK!” I announced as everyone stood up at attention and saluted. 

“At ease, we have new coordinates. Set course for the Kureon anchorage and supply depot. We have a mission on the Venlil border and it’s going to be a long one.” Sovlin said. Mission? What kind of mission? Is this about the Himayans?

I looked over at Jemic who shared the same look of confusion. Considering how he was here longer than me, that was a worrying sign. 

I approached Sovlin as the helmsman set course for our new destination. “No offense sir, but what kind of mission at the Venlil border?” I asked. 

At that question Sovlin turned to me and there was something about the look in his eyes. I don’t know if it was sadness or regret but there was something about it that was odd. Was it that call with Nikonus and Piri? “We’re to report on the Himayans military capabilities. Chairman Nikonus and the Federation wish to know more about the Himayans as to integrate them with the herd faster.” Sovlin finally responded. 

I guess that made sense but why did he have that look in his eyes? Was it something that happened during his call? 

“Do you trust me Recel?” Sovlin asked. 

“Of course I do, sir.” I responded, unsure of what to make of his weird question. 

“Then trust this mission we have been given.” He replied before looking over ship reports 

That put me at ease a bit but I couldn’t help but wonder. First Piri and Nikonus call Sovlin out of the blue and now we’re given this mission at the Venlil’s border. Was there something Sovlin wasn't telling us?

We're back with Hasim the birb as he studies the Fed!Krakotl language and deals with his overprotective mom. Also Marcel making his big debut in this AU!

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Memory Transcription subject: Hasim, Intrigued Krakotl linguist
Date [Local Himayan Time]: August 21st 2136
Studying the Federation Krakotl’s language was fascinating. The language clearly had roots in Kilnek, the most common language the Krakotl have, but it also had roots in other Krakotl languages. Navar, Tal’nesh, Tir’javak, and that’s the words I’ve been able to spot in these few paragraphs alone!

“Figured I’d find you up here kiddo” Came a voice to the right of the window I perched myself on. That voice being a very familiar old red head. 

“Uncle Marc!” I yelled as I practically flew off my perch spot and wrapped my wings around him causing him to stumble a little as I barged into him. 

“Woah! Easy there big bird, I just got off the ship.” Uncle Marc said as he righted himself from my barging hug while chuckling. Though there was one thing amiss about that red hair of his as I pulled back and scanned closely.

Oh no. Uncle Marc has THREE whole specks of dandruff. This won’t do, it's time for a Hasim preening special. 

“Gah! I just did my hair on the way over kiddo, I don’t need you to do it.” Uncle Marc said half-laughing as I got to work over his hair. Though it didn’t really matter as I finished up after removing the dandruff. “Bad enough your mom does it, I don’t need you fussing over me too.” He said grinning as he jokingly pointed at me. 

“It’s a form of affection uncle Marc! Krakotl do it all the time with people they consider part of their flock.” I jokingly defended as we both started walking out of the window room/hallway/other viewing area name I was blanking on. 

“So tell me how your little impromptu PR tour went.” Uncle Marc said as we continued walking towards wherever we were going. 

“Aren’t you part of the exchange program? Can’t you just ask your exchange partner?” I asked since well he was in a private chatroom with them. 

“Yeah, but I wanna hear it from you before I hear it from him.” Uncle Marc responded. “Besides I haven’t seen you in weeks, big bird. Can’t I spend some time catching up with my favorite nephew?” Uncle Marc added clearly trying to butter me up (and it was working damn it). 

“It’s been going well. Though the first iteration of the exchange program faced…. Well, setbacks is probably the politest way I can say it.” I said, feathers ruffling as I shuddered at the memory of pulling a Sivkit off the exchange partner he was beating the crap out of (due to an unfortunate term that I don’t want to repeat). Thank the twins we instituted stricter background checks. 

“That bad huh?” Uncle Marc asked as he turned his head towards me.

 
I nodded. “Yep. Let’s just say you’re probably going to be thankful you didn’t join earlier.” I added truthfully. Though there was one other thing I wanted to ask Uncle Marc. “Hey how’s mom, dad, and Sathim doing?” I asked, causing uncle Marc to stop in his tracks. 

“They’re doing fine, though your mom is uh, worried.” Uncle Marc responded which caused me to stop in my tracks too. Oh no. 

“She hasn’t—?” I asked but uncle Marc cut me off before I could finish my question (though in hindsight maybe it was a stupid question). 

“5,696 panicked laden messages on my device alone asking me about you. She’s worried sick despite the efforts of me, your dad, your brother, and Lucy trying to convince her you're fine. Probably didn’t help when the government released everything about first contact, in fact it probably made it worse.” Uncle Marc responded before shuddering at (what was presumably) the memory of my mom’s overprotectiveness. Though from the sounds of things he and Lucy were still talking despite their breakup (which was good). 

“Right, I better message her then.” I said, feathers casting a downwards turn as I realized just what my mom was going to do once I called her. “Probably going to have to do it once a day.”
 
“Eh, more like once every hour. You know how your mom is.” Uncle Marc said honestly as we continued walking before coming upon a big ol door that seemed indistinguishable to all the other doors in the station. 
“Is this where your exchange partner is?” I asked since I recognized the number in this room and the last occupants were rowdy to say the least. 

“Yep. Says his name is Slanek. Never seen him in person but if the other Venlil are any indication then he’s probably adorable.” Uncle Marc said which caused me to turn my head. I know how humans get around anything they find “cute” so I had to warn him off. 

“Hey don’t start petting the guy before getting to know him or getting his permission. Just because humans have weird instincts doesn’t mean you should start petting fully-grown adults. ” I said while pointing a wing claw at him. 

“Hey, hey relax I’m not going to immediately start petting him unlike some other humans you probably dealt with.” Uncle Marc said while putting his hands up not even covering half the weirdos I’ve had to deal with in the first iteration of the exchange program. “Though he does sound pretty nice and funny.” Uncle Marc said with a heartstruck (or at least I think it’s heartstruck) look in his eye. He’s not seriously thinking about dating the guy is he? 

“Isn’t it a bit soon to get back into the dating scene. You and Lucy only broke up back in December?” I said blanking on when the two broke up. 

“November. And no I am not looking to date him. I think I’m fine being single for a little while longer.” Uncle Marc said with a nonchalant shrug he always did when he lied (or at least that’s what my dad says). 

“You sure you got this uncle Marc? The Venlil here have been, well they haven’t exactly been great with every human in the exchange program.” I said changing the subject while remembering the numerous incidents I’ve had to break up with Venlil and humans. Guess whatever version of Kalvnir syndrome they got after the abductions of Skalga didn’t break their spirit. 

“I got this kid. Go talk to your parents.” Uncle Marc said. I wasn’t really sure if he had this but he did have a point. I REALLY needed to talk to mom.
 
At that, I simply nodded and turned to head back to my quarters.

Transcription Advance Request: 3 minutes
Finally settling into my roost, I flick on the communication tablet and put in my mom’s number. The screen flickered to a ringtone while I braced myself for what my mom was going to do. I really needed to get better about calling my parents. 

The comm tablet finally connected me to my mom as it switched to a view of our living room’s wall. Seems like she hasn’t gotten any better with the new tech.“Hi mom—.” Though I didn’t need to say anything else as my mom cut me off. 

“OH MY LITTLE HATCHLING! ARE YOU OKAY? DID THEY HURT YOU? DID ANY OF THEM BULLY YOU?” My mom shouted as she assaulted me with a barrage of questions. 

“Mom, I'm fine! Also you got the camera pointed  the wrong way.” I said, trying to play tech support for my mom. 

“Oh do I? Oh where was the button again? I swear this was easier when we had to record video messages. SATHIM! SATHIM CAN YOU HELP ME WITH THE TABLET?” My mom said as she hopelessly tried to sort the issue out herself while calling for my brother. 

“Mom, I'm right here.” My brother said as I heard the sounds of his footsteps coming from another room in the house. “You just hit the button on the right mom.” He said before the camera flipped towards a view of my mom and the shorter, female plumage laden visage of my brother. 
 
“Hi Sathim. Thanks for helping mom.” I said, giving him a little wave with my wing claw. 

“Hey Hasim. Can’t talk long, fire temple’s got a lot of people with concerns coming in today.” He said, giving a little wave with his wing claw back.

“Still? You’d think people would be less questioning by now.” I responded back.
 
“Yeah but well everything about this “Krakotl Alliance” and the rest of the Federation, well everyone wants spiritual guidance and High Molotok Talvin needs all hands on deck for this one.” Sathim said as his feathers ruffled. “Though the other religious buildings have it worse than ours.” He said referring to all the churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, and other religious buildings in our town. 

“Ah. Tell Talvin I said hi.” I said as my brother left to perform his duties as a fire priest. 

“So how have you been my little hatchling? I can’t imagine it’s been easier for you since you’ve been at the center of this mess.” My mom asked me as I heard the door to our family door open and close signifying my brother leaving. 

“I’m fine mom. Just doing interviews and stuff.” I said as I poured water and not revealing all the incidents that I was involved in. “Uncle Marc came in today as well so that’s great.” I said referring to my most recent interaction. 

“Oh how’s he doing? I never really see him much these days.” My mom said as her feathers perked up. 

“Fine. He just met his exchange partner and from the sounds of things he’s doing fine after him and Lucy broke up.” I said as I picked up my Krakotl language primer thing. 

“Though there’s a weird thing about the Federation Krakotl’s language.” I said as I looked over. 

“It has roots in Kilnek but it also has words from Navar, Tal’nesh, and Tir’Javak. Almost like someone just slammed them together weirdly.” I said as I looked over it again, noting the inconsistencies. 

“Hm, that's weird. How about you send it to me and I can have Tul-vaq look it over. She works for Meier’s administration as a linguist so it’d probably interest her.” My mom said as she took a sip of her Chai. 

“I can send them later. Noah and Sara’s got the new guys who joined running empathy tests so I’m going to help with that.” I said while putting the tablet down. 

“Does that include Marcel? You know how emotional he can get sometimes.” Mom said before taking another sip of her Chai. 

“Yeah but he’s got his exchange partner with him. I think he’ll be fine with that guy.” I said, trying to assuage my mother’s concerns. 

“Oh! Who is he? Is he nice? Does he make excellent food? Do Marcel and him get along?” My mom said, clearly trying to pair Slanek and Marcel up. I swear she does this everytime uncle Marc gets close with someone. 

“I don’t know anything other than that his name is Slanek. You can’t just pair up anyone uncle Marc makes friends with just because you miss him and Lucy being together.” I said, trying to head her off at the wind tunnel. 

“I know but your mother can dream can’t she? Anyway I better let you get back to your work. Don’t forget to message your father.” My mom said before logging off. 

As I sat back the language primer roosted in my mind. Why the hell would a bunch of unrelated Krakotl languages slam into this weird creole language? Sure it's been centuries since our ancestors got abducted but according to the introductory text thing it was always there. But that’s impossible since well my family would sure as hell know if my family spoke THAT. Hell the closest thing we have to this is Himayan creole and that took a decade or two meanwhile this doesn’t even have a pidgin as a base from the looks of things. 

It all came back to one question growing in my mind. What the hell happened to the ones left behind while our ancestors slept?

We're back with Tarva again as she wrangles politics AND being a single mom. Oh did I mention Stynek gets introduced here? Because she's here.

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Memory TranscriptionSubject: Tarva, Tired and Exasperated Venlil politician 
Date [Himayan Local Time]: July 31st 2136
“I told you before and I’ll tell you again Piri. The Himayan Confederacy has strict first contact protocols that say I can’t exactly share anything beyond what they’ve told me.” I said with a (hopefully) not so rude tone to my voice. 

“I know Tarva, it’s just well. Nikonus and the rest of the Federation are just extremely insistent on wanting to meet the Himayans. Especially after you, the Zurulians, AND the Gaians shut your borders and expelled our diplomats.” She said referencing our fairly recent actions 

“I wouldn’t say expelled.” I interjected wishing to correct her version of events. 

“Fine, politely shown the door. But still, Nikonus in particular has been extremely insistent about meeting the Himayans. He’s practically been messaging me and my aides non-stop. I tell him I’m unavailable, he just messages someone else in my government.” Piri said, ranting about Nikonus’ strange behavior.

“Did you show the empathy tests and PD screenings we did? The ones I showed you? I’d have thought that might’ve stated his curiosity a little bit or at least enough for him to stop bothering you.” I said referencing the initial empathy tests we did with a select group of Himayans (all prey or rather omnivorous species) immediately after First Contact. 

“I did and if anything he’s been even more persistent since I’ve shown him those. Even insisted that his own people do their own tests and screenings. It’s like he thinks the Zurulians are liars or incompetent.” Piri said as she gestured wildly in frustration. 

“Well the Kolshians and Farsul have always handled first contact and the Himayans seem to have been abducted by the Takers if their history and timetable is accurate and lines up with ours.” I said pointing out the rational explanation to Nikonus’ odd behavior. 

Either way though I was focused on something else, Piri’s claws. 

I looked at them and they just seemed wrong somehow after what Hasim said during First Contact. Were the Gojid’s claws always used for burrowing and defense or were they used for something else? Were they used for gathering meat as well? 

“Tarva!” Piri practically shouted at me causing me to shake my head as I returned to reality. What were you thinking Tarva, Piri’s your friend. Always has been and always will be. So what if her ancestors may have eaten meat
. 
“Are you alright?” Piri asked with a level of concern on her face I saw only a few times in my life. 

“Yes. Yes. Sorry, I just have a million things on my mind right now. We just set up an exchange program and there was a whole PR tour I did last week.” I rambled before clearing my throat. 

“Anyway that was unfortunately the conditions the Himayans gave and they did offer us some pretty generous economic aid packages to supplement the lost revenue.” I said not wanting to draw attention to the plethora of military advisors that arrived as well. “Stynek especially has been loving the new art supplies she can buy now and is putting them to good use.” I said happily remembering the new drawings she showed me. 

“That’s good to hear. Gets her mind off things after well y’know. Anyway, probably safer than my option anyway.” Piri said, referencing the time she (hopefully jokingly) proposed that we use our positions to get Stynek new art supplies. 

“No offense Piri, but I’m pretty sure we established that was called corruption. I don’t think we’d want a corruption scandal on our resumes" I said as I jokingly sighed. 

“Out of all the corruption scandals in Federation history, “Governor and Prime Minister smuggling art supplies to adorable pup” would be the tamest one people would read. Be easier to cover up too since all we have to do is show Stynek’s sad face and the investigation immediately ends.” Piri said while laughing and demonstrating how shamelessly wrapped around Stynek’s paws she was. 

But before I could respond, I heard a thumping in the vents which could only mean one thing. 
“Sounds like someone’s exploring in the vents again.” Piri said before turning to me. “Meet with you later?” She asked. 

“Yes I’ll meet with you later” Trying my best not to sound too tired before hanging up. Maybe I should try some of that “coffee” Noah was talking about. He said it keeps his energy up. Anyway, time to deal with important matters as I got up and walked towards the vent the noise came from. 

“Is someone somewhere they’re not supposed to be?” I asked teasingly before hearing yet another loud thump. Guess that confirms my theory. 

“N-no. No one’s here Mommy.” Came the voice of my daughter as she tried to (horribly) lie. Guess she’s not getting a career in politics anytime soon (thank Solgalick for that, my little girl is too pure-hearted for Federation politics). “It’s just an echo-echo-echo.” As she once again tried (and failed) to lie. 

“Hmmmmm. Then I guess this echo doesn’t want any of these “truffles” the Himayans brought to my office. Guess I’ll just have them allllllllll to myself.” I said teasingly as I walked back towards my desk where the fake truffles were, knowing my daughter’s obsession with those weird circle candies. 

Sure enough I heard the vent fling open and turned to see my truffle obsessed daughter happily wagging her tail. 

“Truffles?” She asked hopefully before looking around the room and finally realizing the trap I sprung as I walked over. 
 
“Caught you.” I said with a teasing smile on my face and noticing my daughter’s pouty face. 

“Mooooooooooom that’s not fair. You said there were trufflessssssssss.” Stynek said as she dramatically threw her head back. 

“Tell you what, you can tell me why you were in the vents listening to adult conversations and maybe I’ll reduce your grounding time.” I said offering a very fair deal to my misbehaving daughter. “Maybe I’ll throw some truffles in there if you answer truthfully.” I said, sweetening the deal for her. 

“Because I was bored mommy. All you do now is do boring grown-up stuff like meetings and talking and other boring stuff. You keep me in my room alllllllll day.” She said putting special emphasis on that all.

 But she did have a point. My constant meetings and tours left me little time with Stynek. I just left her in her room or with the ever rotating roster of babysitters. I had to make this right. 

“I’m sorry sweetie.” I said as I got down to my daughter’s level. “I know we haven’t spent as much time as before since the Himayans arrived but tell you what, how about tomorrow we have the whole day to ourselves. No boring adult stuff, just the two of us.” I said knowing exactly what she wanted as her eyes lit up. 

“Yayyyyyyyy” She said as she started that little dance the mascots did at Solgully’s land (she always did that little dance when she was happy) as I chuckled a little at her enthusiasm but before I could say anything else the door to my office opened. 

“Hey Tarva, I got—.”Noah said before stopping in his tracks. I told him about my daughter’s aversion to predators since Reln’s death but I guess I can’t fault him for not knowing Stynek was here.

“Eep!” Stynek said as she scampered off behind me, trembling as she clung to my back wool. 

“I’m sorry. I’ll get—.” Noah said while hastily shoving the new masks we gave the humans onto his face before I put my hand up. It was alright. Noah made a mistake and Stynek was getting better around predators thanks to those censored kids movies the Himayans gave us. 

“It’s alright. I can handle this.” I said as I turned back to my daughter, once again getting on her level.

“Hey, hey it’s okay. Noah’s a nice predator, remember?” I said remembering our talk after First Contact. Stynek had been so scared about the humans back then but I stayed with her and talked to her about how the predators amongst the Himayans were nice and weren’t monsters. 

“Yeah.” Stynek responded, still clinging to me. 

“He’s not going to hurt anyone, especially not you. In fact he thinks you're adorable. He even likes your drawings.” I said back. 

“R-really?” Stynek asked warily (though a bit less than before).
 
“Really. In fact he liked them so much he came all the way here to get a gift for you.” I said, knowing that Noah had come up to give me some new art supplies for Stynek having seen her and liked drawings. 

“Yeah. You’d make a really great artist kiddo!” Noah responded enthusiastically, as he got down on one knee. “It’s alright if you don’t want to approach me, I can just leave 'em right here if you want.” Noah added while getting the art supplies out. 

Stynek turned to me again and I put both my hands on her shoulders. 

“It’s okay. If you don’t feel comfortable then Mr. Noah can just set the art supplies out and—.” I said before Stynek cut me off. 

“N-no. I’ll be alright mommy.” She said trying to sound tough despite the fear in her voice. 

Then Stynek took a breath before slowly approaching Noah. Cautiously, step-by-step, she approached Noah. Despite my worries she was doing great. Nervous sure but her confidence had grown since First Contact. She then slowly reached her hand out and took the art supplies. 

“T-thank you Mr. Noah.” She said nervously before speed-walking back to me. 

“Thank you.” I said before Noah walked out of the room, probably not wanting to scare Stynek any further. A tinge of guilt panged in my heart at that. But I couldn’t help my daughter’s fears even if they were understandable.

“Mommy?” Stynek said while pulling at my pants.

“Yes sweetie?” I asked her. 

“Do you think Mr. Noah could paint with us tomorrow? I think I made him sad.” Stynek said. 

“O-of course sweetie. Mr. Noah can draw with us tomorrow.” I said, surprised at Stynek’s question. I guess Noah was full of surprises. 

We're on to chapter 7 and the introduction of our second Federation viewpoint character Recel. Our intrepid squid has to navigate the ultimate test, figuring out how to placate his baby sister and her hunger for gossip.

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Memory Transcription Subject: Recel, exacerbated First Officer

Date [Local Himayan Time]: July 14th, 2136

“Oh come onnnnnnn Recey, can’t you share anything with your baby sister?” Aucel said on the other of the vid-call. She’s been needling me for minutes (though it felt like hours) trying to find out more about the Himayans.

“So you can tell your friends? Is that why you called me while I was getting lunch?” I fired back, knowing my little sister all too well.

“Maybe.” Aucel said, eyes darting around as she lied through that big ol’mouth of hers.

Oh there was no way I was passing this golden opportunity up.

“Oh what a cruel universe!” I say as I put my tentacles over one of my hearts. “My formerly sweet, innocent little sister has turned into a cruel teenager who only calls me, her unfortunate big brother, so she can get juicy gossip!” I say as my sister started silently panicking. “Take me sweet Protector before her best friend Tulandriy posts my humiliation on MyHerd!” I finish as she puts two of her tentacles over her eyes.

“Recellllllll!” Aucey says with her tentacles still covering her eyes. “You know I’d never do that. I just called because I wanted to talk to you about some stuff.” She said as she uncovered her tentacles while I laughed.

“I know. Just doing my duty as your big brother.” I said with a smile on my face. “Now spill it ya little paralarva.” I added.

“Oh well, botany class is going great. Hey did you know the Skulviagn nightshade only grows on the night side of Venlil Prime!” She said, nerding out over her flowers again. I didn’t understand it entirely but Audrey’s enthusiasm for botany really makes up for my ignorance. Or at least getting me to try and follow along.

“-But enough about that.” Aucel said with a “I don’t wanna talk about this but I’m going to anyway” tone in her voice she always had whenever something serious came up. Especially in regards to our other family members. “Uncle Gulronus invited me to another one of those stupid parties again.” Aucel said. Yep, figured that asshat would be involved.

“What did you say?” I said as I shifted into a more “serious big brother” position.

“I don’t know. That I’d look at my schedule or whatever.” Aucey said with a noncommittal shrug.

“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.” I said while trying to sound like I didn’t hate that man’s guts or pressuring her into going to another one of his stupid parties.

“I know. I’ll probably just skip it and make up some excuse. I always hate how stuffy everything is.” She said as she looked away from the screen. “And all anyone wants to talk about is what your doing or whatever. It’s just-.” Aucel said before putting her tentacles over her mouth. “Urrrggggghhhhhhhh.” She grunted out in frustration.

“That bad huh?” I ask knowing the answer.

“Yeah. Pretty much.” She said as she let out a sigh.

“Hey tell you what.” I said. “Maybe I can ask Solvin if he’s got anything juicy about the Himayans. Maybe—.” But before I could continue the intercom sounded off.

"First Officer Recel to the Captain’s quarters. First Officer Recel to the Captain’s quarters.” Came the voice of Sovlin over the intercom.

“Sounds important.” Aucel says.

“Talk later?” I asked.

“Yep.” Aucel responded before she hung up. Surprised she didn’t try to blackmail me into giving her gossip like she did last time. Anyway, better go see what the Captain wants.

Transcription advance request: 2 minutes

I came upon Sovlin’s door, an ornate thing that looked like it was carved from wood, as I straightened myself up. Sovlin always complained whenever my uniform wasn’t straight enough (even the smallest crinkle sent the old man into a lecture). I breathed in before opening the door.

“-am not at liberty to share that information.” I heard as I walked into the room. Again? I swear that was the fifth time he’s watched that recording today. Guess he’s latched onto another conspiracy theory.

“You wished to see me sir?” I said standing at attention as Sovlin jumped and quickly paused the video.

“A-ah Recel. My apologies. I was a bit too preoccupied.” He said as he hastily straightened out his uniform (and he lectures ME when my uniform isn’t straight enough). “I just wished to have another pair of eyes going over the recording in case I missed anything.” He said as finished straightening his uniform before standing up from his chair.

“No offense sir, but you’ve watched it 50—.” I said before Sovlin cut me off.

“500 times today alone actually. Whenever I could, there’s just something about that Krakotl that seems off.” Sovlin said as I realized that yep he had indeed latched onto another conspiracy theory.

“Right. I’m not sure how another pair of eyes could help but I’ll give it a shot, sir.” I said, hoping it’ll pull him back from his latest obsession before he gives Piri another headache to deal with.

As I watched the video again there were a couple things about Hasim, the Krakotl, in the video.

For starters, he seemed unnecessarily curt and rude (though that could be because his superiors gave him a tight schedule like he said). There was another thing though. Hasim lacked any of the haughtiness and arrogance that defined other interactions we had with the Krakotl. In fact he seemed extremely professional (if rude).

“Well for starters he seems extremely professional for a Krakotl and he was a bit too rude.” I said as I looked towards Sovlin as his face lit up.

“Exactly! That Krakotl seemed way too professional compared to the others we’ve interacted with not to mention the rudeness. Do you think the Himayans picked up some form of Predator Disease on their planet? Maybe the taint spread to them thanks to the local predators. They have been separated from the herd for so long. That would explain the rudeness.” He said as he tried coming up with an explanation that sounded like his usual ramblings. I better put a stop to this.

“Or he could just be on a tight schedule like he said and didn’t want another complication.” I said, stating the most logical conclusion based on the evidence presented. “He did say that in the recording.” I added.

“Right, it could be that then.” Sovlin said as he sat on another recliner in his office. “But still, given how long they were gone and how the Takers abducted them they could have some form of the Taint.” Sovlin added which I suppose made a certain amount of sense.

“Well we can’t go marching in there and start kidnapping Himayans. That’d cause an incident to put it mildly.” I said, performing my duties as Sovlin’s first officer while knowing not even Piri could protect him from Tarva’s wrath if that happened (especially if we got her daughter and Va-Fin caught up in the mess). “The best we can do is wait for the results Braylen and Chaeson said would be coming at the Federation summit.” I added trying to appeal to Sovlin’s reasonable side.

“I suppose your right Recel.” Sovlin said as he leaned back on the chair. “But that isn’t the only reason I called you up here Recel. Do you remember that offer I made you last week?” Sovlin said as he leaned forward on the chair as I tried to remember the, oh. That offer.

“I don’t know Sovlin. I appreciate it but that place is still a part of your family and besides Aucey’s still taking Botanical classes in Aafa. I can’t just steal it and flip Aucel’s life upside down.” I said referring to Sovlin’s vacation home near the Kurindal forest range he used before the Arxur well…..

“I don’t really use the place anymore. Besides I think it’d be better for you and your sister to be away from Aafa given how the other members of your family are. Besides, the Cradle does have plenty of great Botany classes.” He responded as I thought it over. Sure it would be great to get away from Gulronus and the rest of my family but again Aucel was loving her Botany classes back on Aafa and it still felt wrong just taking something from Sovlin and his family even if he offered it in the first place. Even if he and his family welcomed me and Aucey into their family.

“I’ll talk about it with Aucel.” I said as I looked up from his computer.

“Good.” Sovlin said. “And I’m sorry. I don’t mean to pressure you into taking it, its just—.” Sovlin added before sighing. “I’m just getting old and I worry about the two of you.” He said, again like the last time he offered. “Speaking of how is your sister doing?” Sovlin asked, thankfully changing the subject.

“Oh she’s doing good. Her Botany classes are going well and…” I said before pausing as Sovlin’s interest piqued. Oh boy, I better strap in. “Uncle Gulronus invited Aucel to another party.” I said before bracing myself for another Sovlin rant.

“Ugh, that man. First he and the rest of your relatives dump you and your sister with your grandfather after your parents die, then don’t bother contacting the both of you after your grandfather dies, and then suddenly want to act like they always loved you after the Arxur’s Attack on the Cradle.” He said as his spines bristled. “Bad enough he left the both of you sitting in a corner alone for your 15th birthday while everyone, including him, wanted to talk to me.” He continued before finally letting out a sigh. “Now you see why I made you that offer.” He finished.

“Yeah but they’re still me and Aucel’s family.” I said trying to excuse the lack of a backbone I showed towards my own family despite how badly they treated me and my sister.

“Family doesn’t do that to you Recel.” Sovlin said, repeating the words he told me after my 15th birthday, before again sighing. “Just promise me one thing.” He added.

“To always be myself?” I asked, trying to gauge what he was getting at.

“I know you're still going to be yourself, you're too stubborn for change.” Sovlin said with a snicker. “Just, you and your sister, just keep looking after each other alright?” Sovlin asked with pleading eyes.

“Yeah I promise.” I said before realizing what I had to ask him. “Speaking of my sister, You think you can share some information about the Himayans as well?” I added hoping it wasn’t too big an ask.

“I’ll see what I can do.” Sovlin said with a short snort. “She didn’t blackmail you again did she?” He added half-jokingly.

“Surprisingly no.” I responded.

“Good, now get back to your duties, first officer.” Sovlin said with a dismissive claw gesture. “I swear I’ll never understand siblings.” I heard him mumble to himself as I walked out of the door.

Though walking back out, the encounter with the Himayans played through my mind. Sure they did seem a bit off but if what Tarva said in her announcement was true, if they really did defeat the Arxur. Maybe this’ll be the chance to turn the tide. Or invite another enemy into our midst.

These questions rattled my mind as I made my way to the bridge.

So a while back I participated in an interesting conversation regarding the Gods of Law being the main threat of the setting instead of the Chaos Gods and ever since I've kind of had this AU where the Gods of Law are the primary threat to Mallus instead of the Chaos gods. To clarify this is less a mirror universe and more of the world being topsy turvy thanks to this shift in the cosmology.

So anyway without further adieu I present:

Law Ascendent: A Warhammer Fantasy AU

"Some say we live in the end of days. To our South, our Empire, Sigmar's greatest triumph, lies broken. Bending the knee to the thralls of the Gods of Law alongside fair Bretonnia. Few now resist their grasp in those forsaken lands. Our Dwarf-Folk allies have been twisted into mockeries of their formerly proud themselves, giving themselves over to the Gods Of Law in the face of the twilight of their empire. Even now the forces of Remus march north looking to extinguish our sanctuary and ally Kislev. But perhaps there is a solution. Something has been whispering and roaring in my mind, telling me to stand up and fight. To give in to my rage. I'm not sure if I should trust this voice but something about it feels soothing, familiar."

-Markus Hesselburg, Imperial Scholar, 2303 IC, the Great War Against the Reman Empire

In one tale, the Great Catastrophe, caused by the collapse of the Polar Gates, lasted for centuries and gave birth to Mallus's greatest threat in the form of the Chaos Gods. This is not that tale. When the Polar Gates collapsed the resulting catastrophe only lasted a mere century ending not with Gods of Chaos ascending to primacy, but Gods of Law. In some ways their temptation is more sinister. They promise a world without uncertainty, without chaos, and where all know their place in a beautiful machine. The Remans fell during the War of the Beard and now claim most of the Old World as either their territory or their vassals.

Now the forces of Order must make unlikely allies if they ever hope to stand against the Forces of Law and save Mallus from a fate of stagnancy and stillness.

The Commonwealth of Kislev
To our south the Remans, to our north the Chaos wastes. Meanwhile we're stuck in the middle standing alongside stuffy Imperials, barbaric Norscans, Beastmen, and the unpleasantness that is the Bretonnians. Sometimes I think the gods laugh at our misfortune.

*-*Nikodem Shevchenko, Kislevite Hunter, 2519 IC

It is often said that Kislev is a land of many people cursed with misfortune and bloodshed. In its early days, Gospedars and Ungols warred over the land before, facing a particularly nasty invasion of monsters from the Chaos Wastes, unifying in the Union of Erengrad as a parliamentary elective monarchy based on the Empire's elective monarchy. Then they spent the next decade or so waging an on-again off-again war against their Norscans neighbors over the Troll Country as well as their Imperial neighbors over Ostland and Ostermark. Once the Remans invaded Bretonnia and the Empire, the Kislevites annexed Ostland and Northern Ostermark while graciously taking in all refugees fleeing north (particularly those with schematics of Imperial war-machines and those from the then newly formed colleges of magic). Now Kislev stands as a proud, diverse land following many gods though tensions run their course in this multifaceted society.

Tensions between the industrious south and the traditional north, tensions between the colleges of magic and the hag and ice witches, tensions between Kurgans and Gospedars. It's all dizzying sometimes but many call it home and would fight fiercely to ensure it remains wild and free.

The Empire of Man
Lots of grumbling about the Remans these days. I don't know why. Sure their taxes are brutal and their insistent proselytizing is annoying but as long as you remain a model citizen and don't cause any trouble like those Sigmarites they burned yesterday they'll leave you alone and keep you safe. Especially from those bloodsuckers to our east and the other rabble in our forests.
*-*Lukas Muller, Stirland innkeeper, 2519 IC

Once there was a king named Sigmar. He united the tribes under one banner against the Greenskin menace and the Remans. However his successor, strong at first, fell to corruption and complacency. This culminated in the Age of Three Emperors where three candidates to the throne of the Empire waged war against each other. Sensing a moment of opportunity, the Remans struck before Magnus the Pious could start his campaign of reunification, burning the city of Nuln and beginning the Great War against the Reman Empire. Now the Empire lies divided. Beastmen and other outcasts of the "New Empire" stalk the forests striking at Reman forces and their collaborators. Cults and other religious secret societies gather away from the prying eyes of Solkian's witch hunters. Sylvania, under the rule of the Von Carsteins, holds out hoping to free the Empire from the Gods of Law.

In the middle of this are the local counts, vying for whatever power and influence they can hold under the yoke of Remus.

The Reman Empire
All we have done is in service to a higher cause. A better World without Chaos and instability. A world guided by the Gods of Law where all know their place and life is full of certainty and wonder. Those who refuse it are blind and corrupt, unable to see the wonders ahead.
*-*Victor Marius, priest of Solkian, 2519 IC

When you look at a Reman city, what do you see? Streets that are always clean, people content and happy, and palaces and temples that always gleam. Look a little closer however and one sees the rot. The streets always remain the same unchanging polish with no dirt and character, the people refuse to be anything but smiling and happy as that would imply corruption, and the palaces and temples bare no offerings or rust as that would imply the uncertainty of change.

Founded during the War of the Beard (or the War of Vengeance) the Reman empire united the southern realms under its boot. However while the Reman Empire itself has achieved its perfect form, others are lost in their own ignorance, blind to the corruption that seeps through their very souls. In the Remans' minds, anything in service to the Gods of Law is necessary to bring about the promised world.

The Kingdom of Bretonnia
The Lady of the Lake was a fool, a charlatan. She promised a false power to gullible fools then ran to her lake when her pawns discovered the true power that lay to our south. A power that doesn't require "quests" or some nonsensical version of chivalry. A power given freely by our lady of purity.
*-*Renoir Durand, Knight of Arianka, 2519 IC

Once Bretonnia was a land of chivalry where knights defended the peasants and land against the depredations of foul foes and fouler plots. Now those knights belong to Arianka, the lady of purity, and purge the land of the "unclean." Peasants grind under the boothill of her knights and nobles backed by Reman legions with witch hunters looking to stamp out the last vestiges of the Lady of the Lake's followers as well as any other "corruption" in the land. However rumors persist that the Lady of the Lake still choses knights amongst a gallant few who see the wretched state of their homeland and wish to change it.

These knights now fight under the Fay Enchantress, looking to free their home from the grip of tyranny and the Gods of Law.

The Beastmen
Yes, we resemble beasts. Yes, we live in the wilds and woods of the Old World. We are many things but stupid is not one of them. That always surprises a Reman legion when they march through the Drakwald.
- Grakkle, Beastlord of the Thundering Hooves Warherd, 2519 IC

Many a tale speaks of the Beastmen's orgins. All have one thing in common, man and beast fused together belonging to both and neither the world of man nor the wilds of nature, doomed to walk between both. It is due to this that they lead a nomadic existence in the world traveling along their beast-paths and taking in any outcast as unfortunate as them. In the lands of the Gods of Law they are hunted while in the lands of the north barely tolerate them. This suits the various Beastmen herds just fine as they move through the world worshipping Chaos undivided, the various nature gods of the world, or their own gods.

Now with the Remans and their vassals baring down into their forest domains, the Beastmen must show them why men fear the forests.

The High Elves of Ulthuan
Malekith's reign of madness taught us much. We are powerful yes, but that power does not come without without cost or weakness. We forsook our allies, let Malekith commit atrocities in our name, and destroyed countless civilizations because of our arrogance and ineptitude. But that does not mean we have to sit idly by while the world plunges into madness.
*-*Avnar Keensight, High Elven spearmen, 2519 IC

Once the High Elves were the mightiest empire in all of Mallus, assured of their dominance after creating the Great Vortex and ending the Great Catastrophe under the reign of Malekith, son of Anerion. However this was not to last as, in a fit of madness, Malekith escalated what was once a minor trade dispute into an apocalyptic war devastating the world. At the War of the Beard's zenith, the High Elves, in their desperation, began conscripting human children who showed magical potential, pitting human tribes and kingdoms against each other, and destroyed any who did not side with them. When revolts broke out at home the High Elven armies mutinied against those that stayed loyal to Malekith and sailed home to put an end to the madness that gripped them.

Now, after a period of isolation, they look to come back to the world not as its hegemon but as one of its protectors standing equally alongside the other races of Mallus.

The Jarldoms of Norsca
The People of the South call us barbarians. Hah! What do they know? Succulent wine? Petty gossip? We have fought monsters since we were babes and charted the world for them. Maybe that's the reason they fell so easily to the Gods of Law.
-Bjorn Gromsson, Norscan warrior of the Aeslings tribe, 2519 IC

Some say the people of Norsca are mad for living in such a desolate place so close to the Chaos Wastes. The Norscans themselves make it a point of pride, after all how can any man claim bravery when they cringe with fear at the weakest of trolls? Proud warriors and even prouder explorers the peoples of Norsca defend their homes and honor with a ferocity few Kislevites can match. Their alliance with the Dwarfs of Kraka-Drak have only made them more prosperous bringing with them magical knowledge and new technologies with them. Of course now the Norscans face their biggest test as the Forces of Law march against them.

But the soft Remans of the south will only find the harsh north waiting for them with sword and shield bared.

The Dwarfs of Karaz Ankor
What do the young ones know? The Gods of Law provided us a way to safeguard our traditions and ways in the face of annihilation. They haven't seen holds torn asunder by ruinous spells and natural disasters. They haven't seen what the Greenskins did to us. When we called for aid it was the Gods of Law that answered not the Ancestor "Gods" no matter what the dishonored Dawi-Zharr say.
*-*Drurbhir Caskhank, Dwarf Smith, 2519 IC

Much like the High Elves, the dwarfs were once a prosperous empire however, unlike the High Elves, the Dawi focused on the world below the mountains. Vast under highways connecting gleaming holds filed with deposits of gold and other gems. Life was perfect, until the War of Vengence and the Time of Woe came. What the High Elves couldn't destroy with their magic; earthquakes, other natural disasters, and Greenskins destroyed. In this desperate hour, the Dwarfs called to any god that would aid them and the Gods of Law answered. Driving back the Greenskins with their daemons, the Gods of Law helped the Dawi keep what was left of their empire but aid comes at a price.

Now the Dwarfs and their once noble traditions have become twisted in service to the Gods of Law. Slayer cults engrave runes of Solkian to their bodies in hopes of atoning for perceived sins, innovation is discouraged, and the very mountains themselves are twisted to serve the newly reforged Dawi. All is right with the world now as the Dwarfs serve new gods to build a perfect world.

Anyway that's all I got for now.

We're out of First Contact people and right into how the Himayans are reacting to their adorable neighbors. Meier in particular has already decided they'll be a headache (he has no idea). Meanwhile the first piece of the puzzle has presented itself.

[FIRST] [PREV] [NEXT]

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Memory Transcription Subject: Elias Meier, Bored Himayan Prime Minister

Date [Himayan Local Time]: July 13th 2136

I swear every damn session. Every damn session of Himayan parliament someone from the isolationist bloc always makes a long-winded speech about how we should stay behind the Stormwall and colonize more of the Cluster. And its always someone from the Echterk party too. Though before I could hear anymore the door to the viewing platform opened behind me.
 
“Miss anything?” Asked the voice of President Ravin. The old Gojid had been PM before my predecessor and despite the ceremonial trappings of his current position he always had been a steadfast mentor and ally of my administration. 

“Nope. The guy from the Echterk party is still going at it.” I said with a world weary sigh. “I swear they always elect someone that really loves hearing the sound of his own voice” I said with (again) a world-weary sigh while he took the seat next to me. 

“I said it before and I’ll say it again, Meier. Get used to the guys from Echterk because they always have a long winded speech ready to go.” Ravin said. But before I could respond the door once again opened. 

“Sirs,” the Sulean aide standing bipedal said. “I need you to come with me.” She added. We both looked at each other before getting up from our chairs and following the aide. As me and Ravin followed her I couldn’t help but wonder what the big emergency was. A pirate outbreak in the Outer Cluster? Did the Dominion come back? My curiosity only heightened once we entered a room filled with Generals and military personnel alongside members of various Himayan space agencies. 

“So quite the crowd here. Anyone want to fill me and Ravin in on what the commotion is about” I said as the group all stood at attention. 

“Sir, the Odyssey made contact with extraterrestrials and….. Well I think it’s better if you see for yourself.” A short-wool Skalgan woman from the Himayan Space Agency with a nametag reading Dr. Erin Kuemper before handing me a set of pictures. In them were the Odyssey crew posing with two Venlil, a Thafki and a couple of aliens that look like teddy bears. The two Venlil were what drew my attention.

“A couple of them look like our Venlil but they have no nose and are their legs knock-kneed?” I asked taking a closer look the Venlil. Then suddenly I remembered something. “It looks almost like-.” But before I could finish Dr. Kuemper cut me off. 

“Kalvnir syndrome. That’s what it looks like.” She said matter of factly. “We don’t know about the lack of a nose but, well we have theories.” She added while looking over a dossier. 
“I assume those theories are why members of the military are here.” I said looking over at the gathered generals and grand admirals. 

“Not entirely, it seems that our new friends are at war with the Dominion.” Came the voice of Himayan Security coordinator, Ralint. “From the looks of things their war hasn’t gone well.” The Tilfish said passing me another dossier labeled “Dominion.” 

Looking it over I was appealed by the information being shown. 62 planets destroyed including several of our homeworlds, billions taken as cattle, and casualties in the billions. 

“Jesus. I thought Himayan intelligence estimated 5 homeworlds when we looked over those blackboxes” I said looking towards General Jones.
 
“We did sir, as it turns out our estimates were severe misjudgments on our part.” The Krakotl woman said while adjusting her glasses. “While their tactics are utterly inadequate for us they’ve been remarkably effective against most of the Federation.” She added while Ralint passed me another dossier labeled “Federation.” 

What we knew about the Federation other than being an enemy of the Dominion was scarce but now that’s changed so let’s see how they’ve—. What the fuck is this?

“General Jones, what am I looking at?” I said looking at the sheer nonsense and incompetence displayed in the dossier. On one end was a complete lack of discipline as soldiers running before the enemy even touched down was not only expected but had watch signs for (shouldn’t basic training drill it out of them?) and on the other was having a civilian paramilitary force armed with flamethrowers partaking in military combat operations. 

“Information on the Federation, particularly their military capabilities.” General Jones said matter-of-factly. 

“I know what I’m looking at, General. I just want to know what the hell even is this mess?” I said while looking at the dossier. “The Federation’s military doctrine just doesn’t make sense, hell nothing in how they run things makes a lick of sense.” I said as I continued looking over everything the dossier was showing me. 

“That’s what’s stumped us too sir.” Came the human voice of General Zhao. “Their entire society seems to be built around this predator/prey ideology.” He said as he let out an annoyed grunt. “Unfortunately, this commitment has turned the Federation into an incompetent mess and worse they’re more likely to kill us than they are the Arxur.” He continued as he once again let out an annoyed rumble. 

“Because we’re predators.” I said before rubbing my eyes.

“Not all of us. The species they consider prey will most likely be considered to have this Predator’s Disease.” General Jones said. Right this mysterious disease that, as the dossier stated, everyone in the Federation is afraid of aside from the Arxur and these “Takers.”

“What’s their treatment policy on this “Predator’s Disease."” I asked, curious what their medical policy for this was like. 

“From what we can piece together, abysmal.” Came the Iftali voice of Doctor Tarnura. “A lot of the facilities seem to have a reputation similar to your people’s mental asylums in the 18th century according to the Federation’s internet. Any patient that comes out is practically a zombie.” She said. “What’s worse is that the list of symptoms is so broad and vague that anyone could get the diagnosis and be sent off to one of those facilities.” She said as I was looking over the symptoms. 

“Sounds like a good way to put away dissidents.” Ravin said. “No explanation, no justification. Just spout off some symptoms on this list and now you have one less problem.” He added with a wry sort of sarcasm I come to know him for. 

“Or anyone different from a norm you set out.” I added noticing how conveniently some of those symptoms seem to land on disorders like ADHD and Autism. Of course now comes the fun part of the job. Making decisions. 

“Alright, General Jones, Grand Admiral Torek,” I said, turning to the heads of Himayan military and naval intelligence. “I want your people focused on the Dominion and the Federation. Any weaknesses, dissidents, and anything we can use against them I want to know about. We may have some friends in the Federation and a diplomatic path open but we’re not about to be caught on the backfoot just because of that.” I said. 

“Raider groups in the 13th armada are already being prepped and mobilized Mr. Prime Minister” the Duertan grand admiral said. 

“And I already have my folks in cyberwarfare trying to find holes in both their cyberspace.” The Krakotl responded. 

“Grand Admirals Fenek and Corlaniy.” I said turning to the grand admirals of the 1st and 2nd armada. 

“Sir.” The Sivkit and Harchen responded. 

“Draw up plans of defense for our new allies, make sure any raiding fleet that tries getting through limps back to their chief hunters.” I said pointing at them. “But prioritize taking prisoners, if there isn’t a dissident movement in the Dominion we’ll build one.” I added. 

“Meanwhile the rest of you, task military advisors for each of their militaries. We’re going to have to unfuck our allies’ military.” I said. “Have all ships enact the Calvin Directive too. The Dominion may know where we are but we can’t let the Federation know where we are.” I added.
 
“What about the Public? Should we release everything?” Came the voice of Dr. Erin. 

“Release everything we have, we’ll need something resembling unity at home. People will want to know what they’re signing up for and what the stakes are.” I said. “But task teams of historians, linguists, and other professionals to look over everything about the Federation’s history especially in regards to these “takers.” I said pushing a picture of a piece of art depicting the abductions. 

Everyone stood up and got to their assignments before me and Ravin turned around and left for our interrupted session. There were gonna be a lot of questions.
 
Transcription Advance Request: 30 minutes 

“So you think those were wise decisions?” I asked Ravin as I poured a bottle of scotch into two glasses. 

“I think those were sound decisions, Meier. Though I do have to ask one thing.” Ravin asked as he took the glass I offered. 

“Hm? What’s that?” I asked curious as to what he was wondering about.
 
“Why did you have teams look into the Federation and the “takers?” I agree they don’t seem on the up and up so to speak but there doesn’t seem to be anything too suspicious beyond–.” Ravin said before I cut him off. 

“Following a batshit insane ideology based on junk science that ascribes evilness to someone because they like steak in the morning?” I asked rhetorically and sarcastically. 

“That, yes.” Ravin responded before taking a sip from his glass of scotch. 

“Well for starters a number of these species only joined up because of these “takers.” I said while once again flipping the dossier to that same painting, a Gojid on a rowboat watching as a big black metallic thing lifts numerous other Gojid into the sky. 

“Yes. What about it?” Ravin said as eyebrows tilted quizzically and spines bristled. 

“Ever noticed that a bunch of them are omnivores?” I asked again while taking the painting in deeper detail. 

“Yes, that is troubling almost like–.” Ravin said before noticing me turning around. 

“Like someone wanted them scared. So scared they’d listen to anyone who comes along promising a solution and stability.” I finished.

“But who would benefit from that?” Ravin asked. 

“Exactly. That’s what scares me about this.” I responded.

Hey everyone we're back with more on the Outer Cluster War and how Himaya fought off the Dominion. Just wanna give a trigger warning to everyone, there is mention of child death and abuse in this chapter and a mention/depiction of a dead body. If you don't want to see it, wait until the next chapter.

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Memory Transcription Subject: Governor Tarva, Anxious and Intrigued Venlil Politician 
Date [Local Himayan Time]: July 12 2136
Hasim, the Kraktol of Noah’s crew, set out the communication tablet on my table. I wasn’t sure how to process what Noah said. Not only had the Himayans encountered the Arxur but they had beaten them back without Federation help. That was something I had never heard of before. Without the Federation we wouldn’t even be able to stand against the Arxur.. But given what I’ve seen of them, maybe I shouldn’t expect anything else. 

The video plays and I could see footage from the cockpit of a star-fighter with two others in view. The environment seemed to be typical of that dull blackness of Space. Well aside from one notable exception. To one side of the craft there was a gigantic astral storm, thunderous and violent yet oddly beautiful. 

“Command, this Tigertail 1 tracking unknown power surge near the Stormwall, looks like a false alarm over” Came the voice of the pilot. Suddenly a beep sounded in the cockpit. “Command this Tigertail 1, I got bogies on radar checking coordinates now.” The voice of the pilot came again. Suddenly the footage sped up until the pilot was at another point at this “Stormwall.”
“Command this is Tigertail 1, seems like my radar is—.” But before the pilot could finish the unmistakable visage of an Arxur ship came into view and started firing anti-ship missiles. “Command this is Tigertail 1, bogies are hostile!  I repeat bogies are hostile! Weapons free!” The pilot shouted as he made evasive maneuvers. 

“That was our first encounter with your Arxur.” Came the voice of Noah. Though the mention of them being “your Arxur” made me curious  but perhaps it's best if I keep silent until later. 

“For that entire first month our military was in a panic, no one knew who they were and they were attacking us. Of course fate had a sick sense of humor because come to find out.” Noah continued before flicking to a new video with a visage I recognized all too well.

“This is Chief Hunter Graznor of the Arxur Dominion, this cluster falls under my sector and by the right of Betterment belongs to me. Surrender or fight, your fate shall be the same regardless.” He said with that same taunting grin he had when he broadcasted capturing my father. 

“After that, well we got organized. We harassed his fleet, luring it to Aznarl’s gate. Turns out the Dominion’s terror tactics were the only thing its military had going for it.” Noah said before skipping to another battle. This time the Himayans weren’t caught off guard as Arxur ships exploded left to right. Though before me or my entourage could celebrate the moment the video skipped again to Graznor, looking haggard and crazed. 

“You think you’ve won!? You think you’ve won!? If I found a way through your Stormwall then the Dominion will as well. Your worlds will burn—.” But before he could continue his ship blew apart though that was small comfort for me given the pain the Arxur continued to cause without him. 

“Afterwards the next month and a half was just us cleaning up whatever remained of his expeditionary fleet. In that time and immediately after we learned several things about these Arxur. The most disturbing thing about them was well… You better brace yourself Governor because we got Arxur of our own.” Noah said before skipping the video over to the unmistakable visage of an Arxur soldier clearing the ruins of a ship. 

“Command this is Sergeant Talznerth, ship is 50% clear just heading to the bridge-.” But before he could finish a voice echoed down the hall. “Hey, help me out with this Sergeant!” The voice of a Gojid figure sounded from down the hall. 

The video then sped up until the pair got the door open. “Command this is Sergeant Talznerth, we got the door open and-.” But Talznerth stopped as he surveyed the room. The bridge was an ugly grey thing lined with the occasional spike on a chair or a skull on a console. However the most striking element was the bodies. 

“Command this Sergeant Talznerth, there are no survivors aboard.” Talzneth said with an empathetic tone I hadn’t heard from an Arxur in my life. 

“By the Protector half of them look starved Sergeant.” The Gojid said. 

“They are starved.” Talzneth said frankly. “By the lords most of them aren’t even adults.” Talzneth said, with an almost outraged tone to his voice before heading over and placing his claw on one of the bodies. “I hope they find some peace after all of this.” The sergeant said with a somber tone to his voice. Almost like he felt sorry for them. But before the video could continue the video paused though the shock had already set in on everyone. 

“Did that Arxur-.” Came the voice of Va-Fin but before she could finish Noah once again stepped into the conversation. 

“Those are our Arxur. Most of them came from a group of countries known as the Morvim Charter back on their homeworld of Wriss. Back then they were at war with a polity called the  Northwest Bloc. When we found out about the Dominion, well let’s just say they weren’t exactly thrilled about Wriss’s new overlords.” Noah said as he continued to drop bombshell after bombshell on us. 

“But the Arxur have never expressed any empathy they’re pred-.” Kam said but before he could continue Hasim stepped forward and spoke up. 

“First off, you already met two “predators” who defied your little stereotype. Second off, you haven’t even met an Arxur that wasn’t a half-starved conscript fighting for their fascist overlords. Third, I eat fish so–.” But before Hasim could continue he was cut off by Noah and Sara staring at him. “Oh. I don’t think I was supposed to tell you guys that yet.” Hasim said, but the damage was done. Everyone (myself included) stared at him in shock. 

“T-that’s impossible.” I said as I stared at him in shock. “T-the Kraktol can’t eat meat. They’re prey.  Their diet has always consisted of fruit and algae and-and-.” I sputtered out as my world just as my head started spinning but before I could collapse Noah caught me and set me down on my chair. 

“It could be possible that the Takers modified them to eat meat.” Came the voice of Braylen as I drank a glass of water on my desk (though it was a tad bit warm). 

“So they, what? Travel light years across the galaxy, abduct a bunch of species, turn a bunch of them into omnivores, and leave one species omnivorous while another gets to still be obligate carnivores.” Hasim said, spreading his wings out dramatically all the while. Though I was a bit too caught up in freaking out about the bombshell Hasim dropped to really pay attention to that weird word.

“Omnivore?” Va-fin sounded out and asked. 

“It means a species evolved to be able to eat both meat and plants, oftentimes with a balance of both being a necessity. In fact I can point to numerous species in that picture that I KNOW are omnivores.” Sara said as she stepped in on our conversation. 

“Oh really, which ones?” Kam said with a scoff (not the best time or the best question Kam). 

“That Gojid woman,” Sara said, pointing to Piri. “That Krakotl guy,” She continued pointing at Jerulim. “That Iftali.” She continued. And on and on it went, Onkari, Duerten, Harchen, Tilfish. Species our history and science said were always prey suddenly being disputed by these newcomers. It was all too much as my head once again started spinning. 

The humans weren’t vicious monsters, the Arxur may not have always been monsters, people I had worked with for years could have once been meat-eaters. My entire world, everything I knew about the Federation, and even the friends I thought I knew were thrown into question. It was all too much as I started to rapidly breath in and out. I didn’t know how to process it as I started to panic.

“Hey Tarva, are you alright?” Noah said as he placed an arm on my shoulder. As I looked over to Noah, images flashed through my mind. Stynek crying at the bed of a father who’d never wake up, me pulling her out of the room as the doctors pulled Relin's life support, and me hugging her until she fell asleep crying. At that final image my panic ended and I clenched my fist. 

Who cares if the Himayans were predator-diseased or prey-diseased? Who cares what happened back then with the Takers? Who cares if some of my friends and colleagues came from species that may or may not have eaten meat in the past? If I could stop Stynek from feeling the pain and fear she felt when we lost Reln then I’d take every chance, take every deal these Himayans had no matter the consequences from the Federation or whoever else. And at that I knew what I had to do and turned my head to Noah.

“I’m fine Noah.” I said before standing up and turning to the bickering group. 

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” I shouted, drawing the room’s attention. “Look, we don't know what happened and that can wait until later. For now we have to prove to the Federation that the Himayans come in peace and that they aren’t Predator-diseased.” I said putting on my “Governor” voice. “We need to gather as much evidence as possible and buy as much time before the Federation discovers our ruse. Hasim,” I said, turning and pointing at the Krakotl. “you said your government’s first contact protocols specified that you can’t share much outside anyone in this room, correct?” I asked the Kraktol who jumped a little. 

“U-uh yeah.” Hasim said nervously. 

“Then we use that. We close off our systems and tell everyone that the Himayans don’t want to talk to anyone but us right now. Then once the scheduled Federation summit commences we show our proof.” I said.

“B-but do you really think they’ll, ya know, like us?” Hasim asked nervously. 

His question raised a good point and given everything I learned, well I don’t think it wasn’t a good question. But right now I knew only one thing about the Federation. The thing I could cling to in the midst of all of this confusion. 

“Yes, I think they will.” I replied back. 

Onto chapter 4 with Hasim bravely being voulntold volunteering to lie to the Federation's face. We also have the introduction of everyone's favorite depressed grumpy Spiky space dad, Sovlin!

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Memory Transcription Subject: Hasim, Impromptu Liar 
Date [Local Himayan Time]: July 12th, 2136
The plan was simple. Tarva and her buddies would respond to the hail then introduce me. I would make up some story about being a dashing lone explorer searching for our people’s home (which was partially true) then they’d hopefully buy it and leave. Now all we have to do is hope it survives contact with the enemy (or frenemies in this case). 

“Governor Tarva.” came the voice of what I immediately recognized to be a Gojid. “We’re here to assist. What is the nature of your distress?” He asked with a relieved tone. 

“I see the Federation sent their finest, the Venlil Republic expresses our sincere gratitude for your response. Unfortunately, you’ve come all this way for no reason.” Tarva said with the most “I’m sorry I fucked up” tone to her voice I’ve ever heard from a politician. 

“By galactic law, that signal is only to be used for an extinction level event. I know you have that conference of yours but you owe us an explanation. A good one.” Came the voice of the grumpy Gojid. “Did you deal with the problem yourself?” He asked.

“Well as it turns out there was no problem but, well you should see for yourself Captain Sovlin.” Came the voice of Va-fin before gesturing me to come over. 

“What do-.” Captain Sovlin said before seeing me come into frame. “A Kraktol? What is the meaning of this? Did an Alliance survey team get lost, again!?” He asked with a look of confusion on his face and spines half bristling. 

“No, my name is Hasim Kulvar, an explorer from the Himayan Confederacy. The peoples of my world were abducted by an unknown species and judging from what those gathered here have said they may be related to these “Takers” your people are afraid of.” I said hoping he’d buy it and move on. 

“Hm yes, the Takers. They came from the stars and abducted my people, your people, and damn near half the galaxy at this point.” Sovlin said. “They’d be as vile as the Arxur and the Humans but we don’t know anything about them and-.” He added but before he could say anything else I cut him off not wanting to hear another word of this “predator” bullshit. 

“No offense Captain but I’m on a tight schedule right now and I’d rather you get any questions you have out of the way.” I said, hoping I didn’t sound too rude. 

“Right, my apologies.” Sovlin said. “First, I apologize for this mess. Tarva was hosting a conference with the Venlil Republic’s neighbors so I’m guessing someone in the Republic’s defense force panicked. The Venlil have an unfortunate tendency towards emotional flightiness.” He said with a dismissive claw gesture. By the twins, this guy was as much an asshole as General fuckface. 

“Now that brings me to my next topic,” Sovlin said before turning towards Tarva. “Why hasn’t the distress beacon been shut off.” He said pointing towards her. 

“We were just about to, then you and your fleet arrived.” Came the voice of General Kam. Guess he wasn’t as big an asshole as I thought (still was an asshole though). “Figured we’d owe you an apology and an explanation.” He added. 

“Right, I suppose that’s fair.” Sovlin said before turning his head towards me. “Now, perhaps you could tell us the location of your homeworld so that the Federation can dispatch a rescue fleet for your people. If the Arxur haven’t found you yet, they will eventually, not to mention the native predators.” Sovlin said with the best “please believe my bullshit” face he could manage with his professionalism. 

“Unfortunately Captain, I am not at liberty to share that information. Given our people’s history, our first contact protocols specify that we are not to share the location of our homeworld or any information leading to our homeworld unless it is with a trusted party. Right now it is the leaders you see before you.” I said doing my best law-fu as I gestured a wing towards the people assembled around the monitor. “As for your concerns, well we’ve been there for a century captain, we’re already well-established and well I think you’ll find out more when my government releases information to the Federation’s  public.” I added. 
 
“Oh. Right my apologies, perhaps you can come aboard my ship then. I can put in contact with-.” He said continuing his “please come aboard my free candy spaceship” spiel before I, once again, cut him off. 

“Unfortunately Captain, I have my orders, head back home and report my findings to my superiors. Surely a man in your position would understand.” I said, trying to appeal to some shared sense of duty. Hopefully I don’t sound too much like an asshole. 

Sovlin said nothing for a few moments, spines bristling before lowering again. I’m pretty sure that means I’m pissing him off. Hopefully he doesn’t do anything too stupid.
 
“Right, I shall return to my patrol. If there’s anything your people need, they shall have a friend in the Gojid Union.” Sovlin said before signing off. 

After a few seconds we all breathed a sigh of relief. Sovlin either bought what we were saying or he didn’t but had no proof. Either way though we might as well call it a win. 

“I swear that man always thinks there’s a plot afoot.” Came the voice of Chauson. “Throw as much evidence as you can, he’ll still see a conspiracy.” He added. 

“At least you two don’t have to interact with him on a daily basis. Why Piri tolerates his antics is beyond me.” Kam said. 

“Well Piri’s judgement has always been astute and he’s never done anything too out of line. Not to mention his heroics at the battle of the Cradle.” Tarva said (presumably trying to defend her colleague’s tolerance of Mr. Spiky grump). “But I will admit he’s annoying.” She added (classic politician move right there). 

Noah and Sara came forward. “Thank you, all of you. You didn’t have to but you did so thank you again.” Noah said, expressing the gratitude we all felt. 

“Eh, any day I can see Sovlin squirm is a good one.” Kam said. 

“And I take back every bad thing I said in my head about you.” I said while putting my wing around Kam’s shoulder. “Maybe. Possibly. Eventually.” I added (I wasn’t letting the little asshole off the hook yet). 

“You’ve been saying bad things in my head about me?” He asked with a look of confusion and hurt on his face. 

“More to the point,” Came the voice of Tarva. “First off, do you still want to be here? We've been terrible hosts.” She added. 

“It takes more than that to scare us off Tarva, but there is one other thing we have to tell you.” Noah said which meant it was time to drop a bombshell. “We already know about the Dominion and the Arxur.” 

“What!?” Came the shocked voice of Va-Fin as Tarva’s (and the other politicians) jaws just about hit the floor. 

“H-how did you even survive?” One of the Teddy bear aliens asked (was it Braylen or Chason?) asked with a look of concern on his face. 

“Well. I think you should buckle up.” I spoke up as I pulled out a communication tablet. “The story of the Outer Cluster War is a long one.” I added as I set it out on Tarva’s desk. 

So given a few posters on here have posted what their own takes on a Spider-Girl series, I thought hey why don't I give this a try? So here's my own little take on a Spider-Girl series starting with the main heroes:

Spider-Girl (Mayday Parker): For starters, she's kind of like Mayday from the comics except she's very much aware of her dad's past as Spider-Man. While she hasn't really developed her powers yet she does want to be a superhero but it was on the backburner compared to her aspirations in basketball. When she finally does get her powers she kind of tries to be a superhero behind her parents back (thinking they wouldn't approve) but they quickly suss out what she's up to (probably not helped by her using the same tricks her dad did). When comes to fighting she incorporates a lot of basketball techniques in her fighting such as a version of breaking someone's ankles (basically using a bunch of high speed maneuvers to cause someone to stumble or fall).

Spider-Man II (Miles Morales): The second Spider-Man and one of May's mentors (alongside her dad since there's no way in hell he's letting her be a superhero unsupervised). He's a sophomore attending Empire State and also the most active Spider-Man (Peter's semi-retired since he's kind of getting old and NYC has plenty of superheroes) in New York. He's also a part of the Defenders initiative which is basically a network of young supers in New York (it was partially Pete and the Avengers idea). He mostly helps May out in finding new applications for her powers or adjusting to new ones that pop up. He's also running around as a member of the Champions alongside his besties Kamala and Sam whenever he isn't needed in New York.

Spider-Man I (Peter Parker): The OG himself. Like I said before, Pete's in semi-retirement since he's getting older and there's a lot of super-heroes running around so he kind of doesn't really need to be Spidey a lot like he previously did. He's a science teacher for Midtown by day and a mentor to the Defenders Intiative by night (mostly for the younger heroes). However whenever he puts the costume back on and starts fighting again he's an utter force of nature (decades of experience will do that to you). He isn't mad that May is Spider-Girl (though he's more mad that she didn't tell him or her mom) and is very supportive of her hero work (though he has to remind her to do her homework or follow her curfew more than once).

Kobold (Normie Osborn): He's pretty much the Sauske of the Defenders. He's a childhood friend of May's (though he goes to a different school than her) and has a massive crush on her that he really, really can't spit out. He has the Goblin serum flowing through his veins due to weird mad science experiments Norman did on Harry though unlike his dad and granddad he doesn't really suffer the insanity they did granting him all the abilities without any of the drawbacks. His superhero equipment is also modified Goblin equipment with the exception of his Goblin board which is pretty much the glider Rami!Harry Osborn uses in Spider-Man 3 (though he kind of uses it like Ekko and the firelights from Arcane). Whenever he's not brooding somewhere he's usually with his best friend Dylan.

Venom VI (Dylan Brock): Normie's best friend and fellow Defender's member. He's also a childhood friend of May's (though she wasn't as close to him as she was to Normie) and is very much aware of Normie's crush on her (he's desperately trying to get him to spit it out). Oh and he's also the latest host of the Venom symbiote since his dad is doing weird time travelling space god stuff as the King in Black. Unlike his dad he's kind of showing more inclination towards being a Lawyer (he gives his friends advice on how to dodge trademark and tried to claim the symbiote was perfect adult supervision to Peter since the thing is 8 billion years old ). Naturally it comes as a surprise to both him and May when they realize that they're technically on the same team.

Scarlet Spider II (Kaine): May's grumpy rich uncle. He doesn't really come around to NYC much but he mostly comes around whenever he wants to spend time with May (mostly excusing it as "taking a break from Dallas"). He's got a sidekick (though he prefers the term associate) in Hummingbird who's just the complete opposite in terms of personality. Naturally when Kaine learns that May is running around as a super hero he's not really happy about it (though he kind of is, he's just not going to admit it).

Scarlet Spider I (Ben Reilly): May's fun rich uncle. He's running his corporation from Yonkers (basically a branch of Beyond that he made indie) and doing damn fine job of it. He's got a suit that resembles his old suit (May thinks its lame, Ben thinks its cool) and is basically one giant homage to Pete's time as a billionaire in the comics. He usually spoils May with gadgets and the like once he finds out she's a superhero.

Onto chapter 3 and Kam is giving Hasim the two-cent tour. Kam is trying his best not to be suspicious, Hasim isn't buying it. How will the intrepid birb figure out Kam and Tarva's plot?

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Memory Transcription Subject: Hasim, Suspicious Himayan Astronaut 
Date [Himayan: Local Time]: July 12, 2136
You know what the worst part about this First Contact was? Being led around by General asshole midget.

First he acts like a jerk when Noah tries to help his friend, then he separates me from my friends with a lame excuse (discussing first contact protocols my cloaca), and now he’s hiding something while acting like he isn’t hiding something . That combined with how nervous his boss and her buddies were, it was all very suspicious. Of course I didn’t want to say anything out loud (Noah’s already bummed about this first contact as is, don’t wanna make it worse for him) but we did have the foresight to grab handy little beepers before we left the ship. A push of a button and we high tail it to the Odyssey. 

“This is Solgalick the Sun-Father, the bringer of light and protector against darkness. It's said that should his light ever falter, the universe would be overrun by demons.” Kam said pointing to an ornate four-armed statue of— wait did he just say Solgalick!? As in obscure background Skalgan sun-god Solgalick? I gave a little snort at that which Kam seemed to notice given the flick of his ear. 

“Is something the matter, Hasim?” Kam asked honestly. 

“Oh-oh it’s fine. It's just--.” I said, clearing my throat. “We got a similar guy on Himaya, the planet we’re from, except he’s a bit more angry.” I said hoping he wouldn’t ask for more details given his freakout over Noah’s smile. 

“Oh how so? I’d love to hear about your people’s culture before the official cultural exchanges begin.” Kam said with what seemed like genuine interest in his voice (though given the behavior of everyone here I couldn’t tell if it was genuine). Though now I have to explain Solgalick’s whole deal while leaving out the gory bits. 

“Well it’s not my people per-se but from the Skalgan people.” I said. “They kind of look like you guys except taller and with a nose.” I added while pointing at Kam’s nose. 

“Oh.” He said while feeling his snout. “That’s an interesting coincidence. But I think it’d be better if we continue with the topic at hand.” He added while having a weird look on his face. 

Well probably for the best given how weird he’s acting. Welp here goes nothing.

“My knowledge of Skalgan myth is a bit rusty but Solgalik realized that the big apocalyptic creation war his predecessors fought made the sun start dying. He was the only one who had the power to keep it alive but he would forever be bound inside the sun. Knowing the oath he swore to the other gods, to protect their people, Solgalik left to do his duty. His beloved wife on other hand was so heartbroken by his fate that she began crying. Her tears froze one half of the world and would’ve frozen the rest if the gods hadn’t imprisoned her within the moon. Learning of this Solgalick raged within the sun causing it to scorch the other half of Skalga.” I finished while leaving out the bit what the other gods did to Solgalik’s wife before dragging her off to moon jail. 

When I turned around Kam had a very uneasy and scared look on his face. Guess the censored version still freaked him out.

“That sounds disturbingly predatory” came the uneasy voice of Kam. 

“Eh, the Skalgans back then weren’t exactly a fun bunch. You’d be the same way when you don’t have modern tech and a thin strip of habitable land” I say with a “you get used to it” candor in my voice. “Though they’ve mellowed out after we all woke up from cryo.” I said which seemed to put the asshole midget at ease. 

“Though I do have a few questions of my own.” I said, putting on my best professional voice, wanting to get to the bottom of their suspicious behavior. 

“Oh I’d love to answer them. What would you like to know?” He said with that same enthusiasm in his voice. Not only that but his eyes seemed to dart towards the hall Noah and Sara were led down. 

“For starters, you, your boss, and her buddies act extremely nervous around my captain and crewmate, why?” I said as my feathers flared a bit and I took a step towards the little turd. Kam’s face seemed to be a mix between shock and confusion.  

“W-well you s-see” Kam sputtered out as what looked like sweat formed on his brow. Gotcha ya little shitbag. 

“Secondly,” I said as my feathers once again flared. “You called Noah and Sara Predators, why?” I said while taking another step towards him. 

“I-it’s our first contact a-and we’re just n-nervous.” He once again sputtered out. 

“Thirdly,” I said as my feathers stayed at half-threat display. “What in the Twin’s name are you hiding from me.” I said finally getting up in his personal space. 

“THOSE HUMANS YOU’RE WITH ARE PREDATORS!”  Kam screamed out, causing me to jump back a little. “I don’t know why you keep being suspicious of us or covering for them but your safe now, the Federation will-” 

“HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT NAME!?” I shouted back, feathers in full threat display mode which caused the little asshole to jump back. “I NEVER TOLD YOU THAT NAME!” I added causing him to shrink a bit. 

“W-we knew about them for a while. We thought they bombed themselves to ash before a Federation survey team got lost and stumbled upon their homeworld of Gaia.” The incredible shrinking Kam said as I backed away. 

Thinking fast I hit the beeper. “That wasn’t so hard now was it?” I said trying my best to act tough (though I probably looked like one of those asshole jocks in those really old movies uncle Marc liked).

“Now I’m going to get my friends. Try to contact your boss and I’ll be back.” I said before getting up real close to him. “And you wouldn’t like me if that happens.” I said before taking off towards Tarva’s office. 

Transcript Time Skip Request: 1 minute
Finally reaching the Governor’s office I busted down the door “Hey guys…..” I say before seeing my friends and Tarva and her buds sitting around a desk with a bunch of news reports depicting people panicking. 

“They thought we were trying to invade them. We kind of figured it out before you hit that beeper.” Came Sara’s voice clearly trying to clear up any perceived misunderstanding. 

“No, they know about humans and they hate you guys for some weird reason." I said waving a wing claw. "They even found Earth.” I added. “They call it something weird, Gaia I think.” I said while pointing at the group in front of Noah and Sara. 

Before Tarva and her buddies could respond Noah turned his head with a very obviously betrayed look on his face (great going Hasim, you made Noah’s day worse even if it was necessary). 

“Is that true Tarva? Is that why you were nervous around us?” Noah asked with a hurt tone of voice. 

Tarva momentarily opened her mouth while (presumably) trying to come up with a good enough explanation. Though before she could find the words. 

“Yes. You’re predators, what else would you be here for other than killing us and having a grand time doing it?” Came a familiar voice from the door signifying the return of the asshole midget, Kam. 

I immediately moved towards the incredibly tiny shithead before Sara got between us while putting her hand up towards me. I put my wing claws up to signify I was backing off. 

“No, no, no! That is not the case at all,” Noah said, trying to convince General fuckface (though it was probably a lost cause). “We mean you no harm. Look if you want us to leave, we’ll leave.” He added with his hands up. 

“Look,” Sara said with an “I’m at the end of my rope” tone in her voice. “All we wanted to do was explore the stars, meet other people like us, maybe find our lost homeworlds not scare you guys half to death.” 

“There are no people like you” growled Kam, increasing my urge to deck his tiny little face with my talon.
 
“Really, because your governor seems happy hanging out with aliens right now, not to mention those guys.” I said pointing at her entourage and then at the picture on her desk with my wing claw. 

“You’re right.” Came the voice of Governor Tarva as she finally entered our conversation. “You are not our first encounter with alien life.” She said, while standing up from her side of the desk.  

“There are hundreds of species like us, we’re all part of a sort of galactic central governing body called the Federation.” As the Thafki, Va-fin piped up, joining our conversation. Wait did she say "The Federation?"

“Why do we bother you then? You’re used to aliens.” Sara asked. “Do me and Noah resemble something from your past?” She added. 

"You’re a predator. A sentient predator.” Growled the little venshit. 

“Okay are “predators,” I say while using air quotes for predators. “that uncommon around here or did we stumble in on a bad day?” I finished. 

“Humans are the third predator species we’ve encountered, the first being the Takers and the second…..” Came the voice of one of the teddy bear aliens pausing as he looked towards Tarva who looked like she was about to start crying.

“T-the Arxur, that’s the second predator species we encountered. T-they’ve done awful things to us.” She said while trying (and failing) to hold back her tears. “Took us as cattle, killed our loved ones, they even–.”Came the voice of Tarva as she started bursting into tears and I had a sudden revelation. These people were the Federation the Dominion was fighting and from the looks of things they weren’t as lucky as we were in the Outer Cluster War. 

But before I could say anything, Noah walked over to Tarva and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. “Whatever they’ve done here, we’re not like that. We’re not going to hurt you, okay?” Noah said while Tarva’s buddies, once again, had their mouths agape. 

“It’s alright, I believe you Noah.” Tarva said while sniffling. “I’m sorry.” She added. 

“That’s the first time you said my name!” Noah said before turning towards me and Sara while smiling (damn it Noah why do you have to be such a loveable dork).  

“Gotta love the small victories.” I said, trying not to ruin the moment and making everyone’s day even worse.
 
“Kam, rescind the distress signal.” Tarva said while standing up from her mini-crying session. 

“Unfortunately I can’t ma’am, the Federation have arrived and are hailing us.” Kam said, causing everyone to go into the “oh shit” mode. 

“Oh shit what the hell are we going to do.” I sputtered out in my panicked induced state before noticing everyone looking at me. "Why is everyone looking at me?" I asked, unaware of what they were thinking.  

“I think I have an idea.” Noah said as he had that “I have a plan” look in his eyes. 

I do not like the sound of that. 

So with the Nu!UltimateUniverse coming to an (unfortunately early) end I decided hey why not have a re-imagining/AU? Now this isn't exactly a "this is how I'd fix it" thing but more of "here's how I'd do things with the most optimal circumstances (unlimited budget, no editorial interference, etc.)." So without further adieu here's the first part:

The Means of Control

Much like what happened in canon, the Maker not only strangled a Golden Age of Heroes in its crib he also gather a council made up of corrupted heroes and supervillains to help him run the world. Convinced that world peace could not be attainable due to human nature, he and the council orchestrated conflicts, wars, and alliances to distract the people and unite them around their respective leaders. Each member takes a turn at being "the rogue state" the other super states rally against. These super-states and their political systems would get more of an expansion on how they internally work and, following the logic of a Deniz Camp interview for Ultimates 1 (for context he said each of the Maker's council represented a different type of domination), which type of domination they follow.

North American Union: Much like what the Ultimates showed, the NAU is pretty much a Cyberpunk technocracy where corporations flat out run everything. Unlike in 616, the political instability of the 60s was much, much worse (for example, I'm thinking of things like an earlier and bloodier Central American Crisis mixed with a few states facing their own version of the Troubles) which only helped enable Howard and other technocrats and corporations to dismantle the US with it dissolving in 1969. On paper the NAU's system was one where, much like what Wren said in Ultimates #16, a perfect, intricate machine that was only scrutable to super-geniuses that took the burden of governance off of the people. In reality though the NAU became a cyberpunk hellscape where corporations ran everything, all services were privatized out the ass, and your best bet is to be a office drone toiling for the execs.

Society of South America: The Society of South America, much like the NAU, faced much worse political turmoil in the 60s. Coups instigated and backed by the South American branches of the Hellfire Club (with a helping hand from the US branch of the Hellfire Club) overthrew most South American nations and set up a unified plutocratic system that unified all of South America under the old money types within the Hellfire Club. The Society itself functions as one giant Caudillo with whoever's in charge of the Hellfire Club (Da Costa by the start of Ultimate Invasion) receiving the cult of personality. The former nations that make up the Society are run by regional branches of the Hellfire Club enforced by the boothill of a death squad.

Children of Eternal Light: The Children of Eternal Light are less a super-state and more one giant religious cult masquerading as a super state. Officially they are a pacifist Buddhist cult that managed to convince the nations of Asia (or at least the parts not controlled by Hi No Kuni and the Eruasian Republic) and Oceania of the Great Gray one's teachings (particularly peace through strength). The truth? The Children of Eternal Light converted people within those governments and killed the ones that didn't take. The place runs like your standard cult with abusive practices, mass financial exploitation, and information control abound. Oh and religions other than the Children of Eternal Light are steadily pushed out of the public sphere.

The Upper and Lower Kingdoms: After the chaos of a failed Egyptian coup, Ra and Khonshu, the supposed gods of Egypt made flesh, took control of the country and began a war of conquest against their neighbors which ended with the country having the borders of the New Kingdom period of Ancient Egypt and the duo retreating from the limelight. However that wasn't all they did as they appointed regional Satraps to govern the rest under the threat of the Moon Knight's boot. A few of these Satraps are the Union of Southern Africa (think a federation of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Nambia, Lestho, Swaziland, Zambia, Malawai, and parts of Mozambique under a techno-apartheid regime), The People's Republic of new Algeria (think Gaddafi's Libya but more batshit), Nigeria, Kenya, the Ethopian Empire, and the New Persian Empire. Of course Ra and Khonshu don't really give a crap about what happens in the domains of their Satraps or how they're run just so long as things aren't too troublesome and the tribute keeps flowing to the Upper and Lower Kingdom.

The European Coalition: Much like what the Ulitmates implied, the place is a neo-feudalist hellscape where the people are practically serfs and Henri's House of Bourbon and their vassals are in charge. People can't really move between countries without special permits given by the lords and nobles that own their lands and usually are expected (and socially pressured) to live on said lands their entire lives. French culture dominates the continent with other European cultures either being politely ignored or being twisted and perverted by the classist twit on top (Captain Britain). Naturally the place sees a lot of unrest once the Ultimates make their debut with a particularly infamous group known as the Flag Smashers being the cause of most of it.

Hi No Kuni: Much like what Ultimate X-Men showed of the place it's practically Japan with some slight differences. Internally its run like the Daimyo system expect the Emperor has a bit more power this time round, the Shogunate is more akin to "supreme General" rather than "Hereditary military dictatorship," and the Daimyo clans act more like the Zaibatsus rather than Daimyo clans. Hi No Kuni also ended up with Imperial Japan's borders through the Eurasian war due to post-war political shenanigans.

The City and the Latvarian territories: The place is essentially the Vatican for the Maker's regime. Its where a lot of stuff is run from and where a lot of his more seemingly benevolent organizations like Damage Control and the Future Foundation are based. The Future Foundation in particular are the ones running the show with the High Evolutionary in charge (with a variant of his GOTG Vol 3 personality because that guy is definitely someone I see someone as petty as the Maker picking to run his version of the Future Foundation). The people here live blissful lives of prosperity and plenty just don't question it unless you want a visit from the squiggly face men.

Eurasian Republic: Officially the place is a "democratic republic" (and I use those quote marks heavily) that positions itself as the successor to the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire while also involving mutants. Unofficially its a neo-Tsarist regime with the Rasputins at the head and everyone else in various states of lower class status. In the eyes of the world its the "official" homeland of mutants after the NAU and the rest of the world exiled their mutant population as well as the designated rogue state of the world (naturally this means mutant rights are even more in the toilet than in 616). Though the official story has a habit of being a lie.

Mutant Enclaves

Unlike what the Maker's council tells the world there are other mutant enclaves aside from the Eurasian Republic and Hi No Kuni. These are:

Genosha: This was the Upper and Lower Kingdom's internal version of the Eurasian Republic where the mutants found within its territory are exiled to but it kind of became a dumping ground for all kinds of mutants after the mutant exile went into full effect. The government is run by mutant collaborators who brutalize the locals and extract tribute in exchange for luxuries and favors.

Madripoor: Less an official enclave and more a general dumping ground for undesirables within the Children of Light. Originally construed as a tax-free special zone and residential area for upper-middle class investors and businessmen it got kaboshed by the resulting Eurasian war and the Children of Eternal Light coming to power. One thing led to another and Madripoor became the unofficial dumping grounds for the "undesirables" the Children of Eternal Light's society. Of course this led to the place gaining a reputation for lawlessness and disharmony, though Madripoor's residents scoff at the notion since its better than being a stuck up cult member.

Muir Island: Officially a coalition designated research site studying weather and ocean currents the place is actually the European Coalition's main mutant ghetto. Here the European Coalition's RCX department study and experiment on mutants in order to figure how best to exploit their powers. The surrounding waters are patrolled by the Black Crusade who kill anyone who tries to get in or mutants trying to get out.

Okkara: Officially Okkara does not exist. Not on any map, history textbook, atlas, or historical record. Unofficially, Okkara does exist and in fact is much older than the Maker's council. During the Bronze age collapse, the nation disappeared into another dimension and then popped up a few years before the Mutant exile with a bunch more stragglers. The Maker set up a bunch of super-tech surveillance systems and automated defenses designed to blow up anything trying to get off Okkara with the biggest guns reserved for the island itself. Once the mutant exile got in swing, mutants were also exiled there en masse.

Santo Marco: The nation of Santo Marco was one of the few nations within Latin America that escaped the outbreak of Hellfire coups though not for long. The Society invaded the nation during the start of the 1970s and proceeded to turn it into a mutant enclave. Nowadays the place serves as glorified factory for Emmanual Da Costa's "blood boys."

Anyway sorry of the wall of text but I thought it'd be an interesting little thing, next installment will be the Maker and his council's enforcement arms.