Space Odyssey: Spectre

They walked warily into the war council chamber. The members of the council sat around the table. One from each race that has been incorporated into their governing body. The commander and the imperial guard that were sent to retrieve the ship were unsure how to proceed. This had never happened to them before.

"Commander Sha'kar and Imperial Guard Nila, explain what you meant by 'objective partially completed'. Your claim is nonsensical." The one that spoke up was Char Fondra, he was a Sima.

The Sima were fat and bulky, they relied more on their intelligence and trickery rather than strength and honor. But they had become more vocal since the new High Priestess had been anointed, they hoped to usurp the High Leader's position.

But regardless of politics that would never happen. The Mar'talic and the Accer would never permit such a ridiculous notion. They were the founders of the Victorium and they would never let it fall into control of such a dishonorable race.

Both the commander and imperial guard ignored the council member. Only walking over and kneeling next to the High Priestess' chair. "You rotten-"

"Bite your tongue you disgusting Sima. They report to only the High Priestess, not to you. As they would for all things related to the Xenar. Now shut that hole before I carve a new one into your head." The Accer council member responded with a hint of venom in his voice. The Tacole council member that sat next to the Sima grunted and reached for a weapon that was not there.

The Tacole were originally a subordinated race to the Sima. But when the Victorium came they conquered the Sima and freed the Tacole. They did not know what to do with that freedom, so they went back to serving the Sima.

"Commander Sha'kar, you came back with the Xenar vessel yet you seem to not be happy. As for my Imperial Guard, she has clearly seen better days. Her armor is more damaged than ever and- are you missing a hand!" The High Priestess words caught them all off guard.

The Accer council member more than most. He stood up and walked over pulling Nila's right hand forward. She was missing her hand, medical aid was done to staunch the blood and keep it from bleeding. But it was still clearly missing.

Her red feathers shifted in excitement at the thought of what happened.

"Daughter of mine. How did this happen?" The Accer council member asked, who also happened to be Nila's father.

"With all due respect, esteemed council member. Sit so we can explain." The commander spoke up. The Accer council member walked over to his seat and sat back down.

"Commander?" The High Priestess asked him to continue.

"We arrived as multiple different groups were about to fight. It appeared the first group of humans that we originally saw there were being besieged by another group. This one was searching for the human base that was moved. It was hidden well, but our scanners could still pick it up. So we sent down three dropships in the belief that it would be enough while the rest of our fleet could keep the other spacecraft from interfering. Imperial Guard Nila went down to the planet in the second dropship while I stayed aboard the ship and commanded the space forces." The commander then glanced at Nila.

Nila's feathers shuddered in excitement as she began explaining her part. "We were uncontested until we got close to the base. It appeared the new group of humans from what I believe is called the Crystoph Federation had yet to find the base and realized that we had."

"So they were going to wait till you landed then strike." The High Priestess understood.

"Yes, so I decided we could fly right up to the base and strike quickly. We already knew the humans were mining to the Xenar ship. We just had to complete it and leave a Spacial Link so we could tractor beam it out of the ground and then bring it back with us. But…" Her feathers shuddered again.

"A human from the original group managed to shoot down the lead dropship, while he was in a mecha. We only had a few seconds before it started on the second one, but we managed to get away before it could destroy us completely. When we landed we disembarked immediately but even then the same human in one of those mecha used another kind of weapon to destroy the dropship while not being in sight." She shifted slightly as she composed herself.

"That same human used the same weaponry against the federation to keep them away. While we moved in on foot the federation came from behind, intent on taking away our dead and one of our dropships. In front of us were the humans with weapons that could go through our shields while behind us were waves of humans intent on taking anything they could find. So I came up with a plan and used a piece of human debris from one of the ships and used it as a shield to move up to the base."

She shifted slightly before continuing, "Once I was inside. It was easy enough to sprint past most of the enemies. Only one chased me down while another was guarding the hole that would lead into the ship. I was able to get past them easily enough, but one of them was capable with a sword. Just not capable enough."

"Yet you remained injured." The High Priestess pointed out.

"Because it was the human that had gone aboard the Xenar vessel that was the problem. It was the same human that had shot down and destroyed two of our dropships. The same human that had stood strong and killed many of our soldiers. Even seeing through our trick of invisibility." Now her feathers were really shuddering in excitement.

"When I went down the hole I saw the door to the Xenar ship had been opened. Not by force but on its own. I placed the Spacial Link inside then I made my way down the ship to the ship core where I saw a light. Which is where I saw him crouched over next to the core. I went to kill him by slicing him in half but he dodged to the side." Now her feathers were absolutely ruffling for all in the room to hear. They knew what it meant, Nila was feeling aroused.

"Then I went invisible and tried to sneak up on him. But he still knew where I was and dodged me. We continued to fight. Eventually I ruptured the glowing energy box that he had on him and he used it as a distraction to escape into the hangar. I gave chase but the resulting fight which happened while the ship was being pulled into space resulted in me losing both my hand and one of my blades. I have-" Nila was suddenly interrupted from across the room.

"You lost a sacred blade!" Char yelled from the other side of the table. "You Accer think you are-" He stopped mid sentence as a blade appeared and was held to his throat. The invisible imperial guard with bright blue feathers appears finally. There were many around the room. Not all of them were Accer, it just so happened he was the closest when the High Priestess signaled them.

"Char, I expect you to remember who is in charge. Continue Nila, you were about to say something?" The High Priestess left Char like that for now.

"Yes, I have a recording from my armor. I wished for you to see the fight." Nila then pulled off her helmet and a holographic projection appeared. The Imperial Guard armor records everything as long as it is worn.

The projection showed the fight and the Accer in the room all had feathers shuddering. It was an impressive feat and showed great skill to both catch a blade and to disarm an Imperial Guard, but he had done both in a single move.

"Impressive I would like your complete recorded encounter so I can watch it later. But I see you did not lose your hand then." The High Priestess pointed out while the projection disappeared.

"Yes I lost it later when exchanging blows. Not my greatest moment, I got too excited and he took advantage of a lapse in judgment." Nila was reluctant to share more.

"Okay, but that does not explain why you two are not happy about the outcome."

"I apologize, High Priestess, Nila got excited and skipped over those parts. While she was trying to make her way into the base the human got below into the ship and managed to download the contents of the data core. Which as we have seen with other ships, deleted itself after it was moved. Then after escaping Nila he jumped out of the ship's hangar just after a smaller Xenar ship fell out of it. He then climbed inside and flew the ship down to the surface." The commander explained drawing a gasp from his last claim.

"Why did you not go after the ship?" The High Priestess now understood, she was no longer excited for her childhood friend but more worried about what the humans could do.

"We did not know they had downloaded the information from the main ship and the humans known as the Vexical Empire had pushed out the other humans and had begun coming at us hard. It was either we leave with the main ship or risk possible failure for a smaller one." The commander explained his thoughts.

The High Priestess sighed and leaned back. She agreed with the commander's assessment. But she knew even more, "before you returned I had received reports from commanders along all warlines. Most of them are not struggling to take planets and systems. But the Vexical Empire has been able to repel our first attack. We lost ships and so did they. It appears the Vexical people rely more on ship-to-ship combat rather than those large mecha."

She tapped her finger against the table. Thinking about what to do. Then she sighed, "there is nothing we can do about it now. They clearly knew about the Xenar and have never shown signs of it before. It means they are exceptional at hiding some things. But this human is another thing entirely. We have yet to find a way to operate Xenar craft, spread his image and name. See if we can find out more about him, and tell our people that we want him alive if possible. Just make sure you highlight his dangerousness by noting he went against an Imperial Guard in hand-to-hand combat and won."

The commander nodded before quickly walking out of the room. While Nila stayed kneeling looking at the High Priestess through her partially destroyed helmet.

"Haa… fine. Nila, if he is captured alive you can have him as a mate. But you should investigate human biology, I do not know if they are compatible with Accer. Now go get a cybernetic hand to replace the one you lost and have your armor repaired. Will you need a replacement sword?" The High Priestess was exasperated at her friend's nature. Nila had always wanted a mate that could best her in battle, now she found one.

"Not necessary." Nila held up a weapon that the High Priestess had seen in the holographic video. "I just need to know how to make ammunition for this… and how to fire it. It is remarkably heavy for such a small weapon."

"Hahaha!" That got a laugh out of the High Priestess.