"We were just about to call you." Selene said, badly pretending to be unbothered.

  "Oh? And for what purpose, I might ask?" The smug general asked.

  "A truce."

  He laughed. It was a sincere laugh at that. "Ha! First time I've heard that one... That's good. We don't ally ourselves with monsters."

  "Ahem." Luan cleared her throat, and the general glanced over his shoulder at her. And they shared a knowing look. He slowly looked back towards their meeting. Then continued speaking.

  "So many Carringtons in the same room. How curious. I notice you are flying the same colors as these Zykra are. Tell me, are you no longer affiliated with the rebel terrorists?"

  "Oh, we're still rebel terrorists," Preston said. "Just not Adlers. We've got bigger things to worry about than overthrowing Puck."

  "Very convenient considering the position you find yourselves in. And what do you call yourselves if you are not with the resistance?"

  Ron leaned forward to look at the little camera at the base of the monitor. "What would we gain by lying? It's not like you'd let us go either way. Not with Zykra here." He said, ignoring his question about their organization's name.

  Selene realized it was true. As discriminatory as it felt, it was technically legal for the IBT to exterminate them for no reason other than them being Zykra. But it was sort of justified considering she attacked colonies when her Zykra-self was in control, so she wasn't too mad about it. Even if it wasn't truly her who did it.

  "Luan?"

  The major was standing very officially and was clearly doing her best to wear a stoic expression.

  "Selene. I see you are comfortable appearing as you truly are now."

  Selene lowered her brow in a conflicted expression.

  "I—I'm not stuck like this; I can change back at any time... Listen, we should meet and talk. Maybe we could—"

  General Desuran laughed once more. "Oh, what a joyous occasion." He leaned back in the chair he sat in, folding his hands across his slightly protruded belly. "Two commanders, a Zykra experiment, and a highly sought-after telepath. All in one room."

  "Desuran," Aboleth said. She still stood at the head of one of the tables, directly across from one of the monitors. "The Zykra are invading in force any day now. If we do not ally ourselves against them, we will have no shot at defeating them."

  "And your proof of this?"

  "Don't pretend you aren't aware of the Zykra's true abilities. We know what the Protectorate is capable of. You know if Selene doesn't conquer this territory, they will. And we're telling you, that deal is off the table. So what does that leave?"

  "Oh? Do I? I do know many things... But my enemies often wish me to know certain things, lies that give them imaginary leverage. How can I be sure this isn't yet another lie, meant to give me a reason not to destroy you?"

  As they argued, Selene still sensed a Zykra presence just outside of her caasioks psyphera's range. It could broadcast her will much deeper into space than she could. And it picked up on things across the length of solar systems.

  She often heard his voice since that day on Cyteen.

  "Ms. Carrington..." A distant Zykra voice called. Dr. Bryant's. Still asking her to face him.

  Ever Ku'senai's hound dog. As much as she hated to admit it, Bryant was very competent. He was always close enough on her trail to remain within psyphera range.

  Selene closed her eyes and focused.

  Then a wave of force emitted around her. It flew outwards like a pulse or deep ocean detonation, tossing everyone from their chairs. Only Aboleth resisted moving.

  The monitors flickered before stabilizing. General Desuran's expression was concerned as he looked to Selene on his own monitor. Her psionic abilities had increased, it seemed.

  "What the hell was that!?" Preston asked.

  Ron and Xaya stood up to their feet slowly, suddenly less confident that the area around them was stable.

  "Selene?" Her dad asked.

  "I've just broadcast my position to the Zykra, and now they're coming to collect."

  Aboleth gave Selene a concerned look.

  "They won't be enough to save you." Desuran said.

  "They aren't meant to. They're meant to buy us time to escape."

  He gave her a skeptical glare.

  Riddick was becoming fidgety. While Luan glanced between the general and Selene.

  "General... She's agreeing to an alliance, perhaps—?"

  "An alliance in exchange for autonomy from the Protectorate, Major. Something we cannot allow. It's against our constitution for our government to stand divided. We haven't entertained a separate nation of law existing for over a hundred generations. Do not forget her swarm's actions either; they have destroyed entire colonies."

  "That was the other Zykra's fault! They overwhelmed my mind, but I'm in control again, and I don't want to serve them anymore!"

  Luan's concerned expression faded.

  "Explain Cyteen then," she said softly. Disappointment was evident on her face.

  Selene would have to explain it in a way that didn't sound as a weak justification of her actions. Luan didn't know. She had no way of knowing. Neither did Desuran.

  "The truth is... it was necessary. I'm not a citizen of the Protectorate and I will do what is necessary to protect my people, even if it means taking from a nation that has attempted to capture me. If anything, I helped you by identifying the illegal cloning ring on Cyteen."

  The general narrowed his gaze on her. The unsaid truth was clear; vigilantee justice was outlawed in the Protectorate regardless. And she could've alerted them to it's existence without it. But that was besides the point. Her actual justification would require her to tell some of the truth, and reveal something that she'd rather not.

  "I needed a new body for the greater good of humanity,"

  At that, Riddick glanced to Luan in confusion as if to say 'what the hell are we even talking about?'.

  "The resistance betrayed me and attempted to kill me by destroying my last one... But I don't die that easily. If the Protectorate had cooperated with me from the beginning, I wouldn't have been forced to use such drastic methods like what happened on Cyteen."

  Though she could hardly blame the Protectorate for their conflicts. It's not like they could just support her regime so easily. Her army was made of alien monsters from their perspective.

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  But neither did she have the opportunity to rest on her laurels. It just went to show war was a confusing, morally gray thing. This was their opportunity to fix that though, and go forward with mutual understanding. If they wanted a truce, this would be the first steps towards that.

  She couldn't help what damage either side did to the other before. They could agree to let the past be the past, and go forward from there. That was her hope.

  "Honesty, at last," Desuran said. "Do you see now, Major? This woman believes she is above the Protectorate, above the law."

  "I do..." Selene said apologetically while looking towards Luan on the monitor. The major was clearly confused by Selene's confidence, the kind of confidence that only absolute certainty could create.

  Bryant and Ku'senai's Zykra were getting closer. They would arrive at any moment. Selene wondered if anyone else ever used an attack by a mutual enemy as a negotiation tactic before.

  Aboleth spoke next.

  "We can coopterate with each other or be destroyed by the Zykra together. Your choice. I'd take my queen's deal..."

  General Desuran looked off-screen for a moment, his eyes widened. No doubt their own detection systems had picked up on the Zykra forces nearing them.

  "Weapons systems, disable their engines. Destroy the Zykra."

  The dozens of battle frigates sprang into action. It only took a moment for their weapons to ready themselves.

  "End transmission." Preston ordered, and the screens went black.

  He and Xaya went up and started giving different orders as they moved for the door. The ship rocked to the side as missiles collided with the ship's engines.

  Selene and Aboleth glanced at each other. There wasn't much they could do; their caasiok were stronger than the run-of-the-mill frigates that surrounded them, but they were vastly outnumbered. At least in terms of large-scale fighters.

  They could do little more than order the Zykra to defend themselves. Bolts of cyan-blue plasma energy pelted the 3 caasioks positioned nearby. Their armor held firm, only breaking up slightly on the surface.

  They could feel their anger and distress, asking them for orders.

  'Defend yourselves. Destroy the battle frigates.' Was all Selene ordered, though she knew it would be a futile struggle. The caasiok's tentacles whipped into action; they flew deeper into the enemy fire.

  The isolated group retaliated on their attackers like krakens from the myths. One had managed to grab the nearest frigate with its tentacles. It pulled itself forward and bit into the frigate with its large maw/hanger entrance.

  Dozens of explosions happened along the frigate where the caasiok's gargantuan teeth penetrated the metal.

  Zykra ground forces began pouring into the fissures created by the teeth, and vespaxyn flew out of the sides of it like an angered beehive. She could see through their eyes and feel what they felt. The death and carnage were already accumulating rapidly. Her hive would take a significant loss today.

  Fury bubbled up in the Zykra queen. The world was ending, and everyone kept treating her like she was the threat. Adler and Desuran. So used to the status quo, incapable of adapting to emergent information.

  Xaya and Preston were gone at this point. Aboleth's pupils flicked rapidly behind closed eyes as she was concentrating on micromanaging the Zykra's actions.

  "Fine. Have it your way." Selene said and started walking from the room.

  Ron ran to block her way.

  "Wait, Selene, what are you expecting to do!?"

  "I'm going to go protect them."

  "I agree with your dad, Selene," Aboleth stated firmly, moving beside him. "I won't deny you'd be a useful asset in the fight, but the odds of you being captured or harmed are too high. Just so that one frigate of dozens is destroyed. I won't lose you again."

  It's true the last time Selene fought, she was captured pretty easily. Ron saw her contemplate and decided to try and help Selene make up her mind.

  "Stay on the ship. It won't be long until Desuran sends a boarding team to capture us alive; we'll do what we can to hold them off..." He put his hands on her shoulders. "I saw you crush ships without so much as moving a muscle. When the resistance first captured you. We could use some of that now."

  That was true, but it could be difficult to use telepathy-based attacks without physically seeing her targets. That would be astral projecting. Something she didn't really understand, and that was Zykra-mind Selene in control then.

  But... she could tap into that side now.

  "Fine... I'll try."

  She hopped up on the table, kicking away a lamp and a stack of papers. And sat cross-legged.

  "Okay, Zykra-mode. Here we go..."

  The ocean of Zykra essence that usually kept itself an arm's length around her mind like a bubble collapsed inwards like a typhoon.

  Instantly the edges of her psyche began to fray and dissolve; her sense of self withered to only a flickering pilot light compared to what it usually was. It was like a dream, or what she was doing before was the dream.

  It was as if a mind much more advanced than her own began obeying her orders. Her power was like a hurricane before; now it was a constellation. Nodes of different potential abilities revealed themselves to her like stars. Channeling her intent through a system much larger than herself.

  She was going to start crushing ships, but she realized that wasn't economical. Instead, she realized something else she could do.

  Ravage

  The aberrant queen ordered.

  A shockwave dispersed from her and passed over the swarm gathered near the ex-resistance vessel. Their bodies began to tremble with power, and their veins began to glow beneath their skin. A vibrant purple color.

  It was Zykra steroids. She had distributed her power through each Zykra within a certain distance of her, that being those gathered here.

  Soldiers cried out in terror as a single scantid ran through their rifle fire, weaving through the halls of their frigate. It was Swiss cheese by the time it finally died mere feet from their firing line.

  And worse yet, the breach had only just opened, and that was only one of hundreds.

  They sliced their way in, clearing the way for others. Their bodies created shelter for the others behind them. A scantid wiggled through his dead brethren and pounced on the first soldier, then proceeded to punch them repeatedly with its many claws, pulling up clumps of flesh or armor at a time.

  "Ah, ahuah!" Someone cried and fired a clip into the scantid. Each heavy-caliber bullet punched itself deep into his flesh but did not penetrate.

  Its multiple sets of slitted eyes looked from the corpse he was mauling to this soldier instead.

  But by then a munloc had climbed onto the pile of Zykra corpses and started shooting down on them. Launching spurs like a machine gun. Ruining their firing line.

  Instances like that were happening within all of the frigates the caasioks managed to breach and deliver forces to; like venomous bites, they would destroy their enemies from within.

  And the caasioks were empowered themselves. Their speed, durability, and attack power all had been increased by at least a third. Wounds began to heal in real time, and the artillery from before wasn't leaving behind as much damage.

  "Excellent work, Selene!" Aboleth said to her. She was standing beside her, but in this state her general sounded far away.

  Selene didn't know how long she could keep this up. It was new, and she felt her power draining away by the barrelful.

  Preston's frigate wasn't putting up much of a fight. Which made sense, as they didn't want to antagonize themselves. Puck could be a lot rougher with them if they gave them any reason to be.

  But Selene had to preserve her forces until Ku'senai's brood arrived, and fighting back was the best way to do that. Thankfully the IBT vessels weren't equipped with more substantial weaponry besides basic autocannons. Jets were scrambling from them now, though, and their weapons had a bit more penetrating power.

  They were bulkier than before. Less equipped for speed and more equipped to sustain direct collisions with the Zykra. The triangular shape was the same as before, though, in all black paint.

  A squad of jets maneuvered beneath a caasiok. The armor was thinnest there, and they've learned this. They strafed. Their cannons flashed like a soundless strobe light in the void of space. Hard rounds, not energy based.

  Chunks and purple ichor spilled out from the caasiok and began drifting in space, leaving a trail behind it. Tentacles quickly began shielding the wound as the jets began to go in for another lap.

  Just then a horde of vespaxyn flew after them angrily.

  "Whoa, man, is it just me, or do they seem faster?"

  A pilot broadcasted to the rest of his squad.

  "They're still Zykra. We've done this before. Split up and they won't be able to—"

  'Splat'

  They collided with a vespaxyn that had positioned itself into their flight path and waited in ambush. The heavy organic flyer broke apart across the jet, leaving heavy chunks clinging to it with loose entrails flapping behind.

  'splat,' 'splat,' 'splat'

  The squad flew into an emergent cloud of vespaxyn.

  "Ha, see! Predictable as ever..." The pilot trailed off as he saw a vespaxyn stinger flinching around on the hood of his jet's chassis. "Don't tell me—" Acid launched from the stinger and instantly melted through the window, spraying all over the pilot within.

  They were more durable than before, so the vespaxyn were able to catch and latch onto the jets.

  One by one they were being disabled.

  "Maybe I could try something else..." Selene thought, but it was taking everything she had to boost her Zykra. Anything more would quickly deplete her. But in the meantime she would explore her options, just in case.

  Suddenly her uncle's frigate bucked to the right—sending her flying off the table. Pulling her from her concentration, and her Zykra would start dying much, much quicker if she didn't keep it up!

  "What the fuck!? I thought they were trying to capture us alive!"

  Aboleth pushed herself up from the ground. "It wasn't them..." She said, tying her wild hair into a ponytail. "It was our old friend. One of Ku'senai's caasiok just grabbed us."

  "Oh. It's really not fun to be on the receiving end of that..." Selene thought for a moment, chewing her lip. "Well, I can't move around! I'll take over command; you kill Bryant!"

  —Selene would pull her forces off the Protectorate; maybe that would convince them to prioritize Ku'senai's brood.

  Her general nodded and left the meeting room. There was already gunfire that could be heard throughout the vessel.

  Ku'senai's brood had boarded.

  Selene could feel the difference between the Zykra broods. Hers had cute and cuddly vibes. The other brood was very much not that.

  Behind the Chapter...

  had to focus on a few things.