"You can't bargain with them Hemaphrim! You saw what they did to the Vox! An entire race, GONE! Wiped from the face of exhistance! Men, women, children, it doesn't matter to Requiem! They'll purge you if you speak one word too far out of line!" Lothris shouted among the cold confines of the backwater room the trio had agreed to meet up in.

Here stood three leaders of Galactic Empires, huddled like scared little children in some back-alley hideaway on the Igarian United States home world of Vulorik. Lothris was the reigning leader for the IUS, around him he shared the room with two other leaders, both of practically the same people, the only difference being the names of their empires. Logarian Confederate states representative Uklikuh and The Logarian Commonwealth representative Hemaphrim, who coincidentally, just proposed to diplomatically request to be released from vassal hood. The duo were akin to what some would call "Giant Parrot People." Lothris just called them buzzards and got on with his life.

Hemaphrim spoke up quickly, seeming offended at such an outburst. "AND WHAT WOULD YOU PROPOSE IGARIAN? YOU SHARE THE SAME BLOOD AS THEM, IT WASN'T LUCK THAT SAW THEM TO ALLOW YOU VASSAL HOOD. WOULD YOU HAVE US MARCH TO REQUIEM ITSELF AND DELIVER TO THEM OUR DEMANDS? IF WE EVEN GET AS FAR AS ARCTURACUS THAT IS." The giant bird man squawked.  

"If you think that Requiem will release us just because we ask nice, we might as well take up open rebellion!" Lothris riled back.

"AND THAT WOULD JUST GET US GLASSED LIKE THE VOX!" Hemaphrim retorted again with another squawk.

"We must come up with something my fellows.. or else we will either have to subside our grievances with Requiem Subjugation, or risk ending our exhistances under the rain of the Grand Fleets heavy ordinance." Uklukuh chimed in calmly, less bird and more budhist monk in his vocal symphony.

"We must come to a decision, one of us alone will not be equal to the strength of Requiem. Even all of us combined will still have difficulty gaining a foothold militarily as well as diplomatically and if they sense we mean to abandon them.."

"Then the'll come and glass us right in our homes.." Lothris snorted.

"AGREED! IGARIAN.. IF WE COME TO A DECISION UNANIMOUSLY, IF DIPLOMATIC, YOU MUST BRING OUR DEMANDS TO REQUIEM. THEY MAY LISTEN TO ONE LIKE THEM. IF EITHER UKLUKUH OR I APPEAR ON REQUIEM, THEY WILL PURGE US ON THE SPOT WITHOUT HESITATION." Hemaphrim squawked yet again."

Lothris sighed heavily, that was it then? Three entire sectors of people, and the fate of the last of the Logarians rested in his hands. No matter the action taken, for the good of the people under his command, he must overcome the reigns of requiem and free him and his people from the shackles of their reign. The Logarians came second to that.

It was a only a short while longer before Lothris called an end to the meeting, all leaders leaving separately from another, hours apart. Lothris had no need to rush, so he was to leave last, after all, regardless of all the monitoring from requiem, the planet still belonged to him THEM.

---

Somewhere, sometime before, A Male Vox runs with its child in its arms..

He had to keep running, he had to keep her safe, his daughter, his beautiful, wide eyed furry daughter. She had to escape this.. she had to.. He knew where to put her, where she would be safe from the Requiem Soldiers, from their damn ships, from the inevitable glassing the planet would suffer. He knew where she would be safe, and he knew who would keep her safe. There it was! Just over the horizon, the spaceport hung delicately in the sky above the Vox homeworld. It was made by Requiem, the day they invaded and took over. The day they slaughtered thousands of soldiers, elders, and anyone who dare speak out against them. The day the vox fleet rained down upon the planet piece by piece, till all the service was blanketed in the failure.

The Vox were spared any sort of punishment the first time after the interim government agreed to Vassal hood. It wasn't until people started revolting on their own did Requiem decided their lonely star system was no longer relevant to their plans. Now Requiem ships loomed in the sky above the planet, ever watchful of the comings and goings of civilian transports. While they had yet to begin reducing the planet to cinder, the ground teams had clearly decided to start early.

So he ran, harder, faster, he was now in sight of it, a small landing craft, a friend he knew from so long ago, since they were children. He could not speak his name however, he couldn't even stop to greet him, to shake his hand and show him his thanks. He was here as a soldier, a murderer, but he was neither to the Vox. He was a Brother, and a brother he would be forever and always. He could see the human form of him now, draped under a special forces cloak. He knew it was him, even when the gun barrel came to bear on his chest. The Killing blow would not be fired until the child was safe from harm. Twenty Feet. The loud bang of a Requiem Pistol assaulted the Vox's eardrums. A Ricochet pinged off the ground near him, just as planned. More shots assaulted him, growing ever closer to the Vox's body. Five feet, three feet, the weight in his arms was gone, he smiled a feline grin. Another shot rang out, the sound of footfalls rushing from the courtyard of the space elevator. The Vox heard none of it, his feline head set empty by the .50 caliber pistol round that carved a hole through his cerebral cortex.

By the time the Requiem soldiers turned the corner, all they saw was a Special Forces captain, draped in a signature cloak holstering his high caliber sidearm.

"Holy Sh- UH! CAPTAIN SIR! WE HEARD A WEAPON DISCHARGE! Is.. everything alright?" One of the soldiers, A Corporal by the look of his insignia that decorate his brestplate.

"It was a Vox Insurgent... He was attempting to get off world with a registered vehicle, probably crash it into a Hellcarriers bridge and cause a commotion up top, doubt they'd even question such a narrow approach until it was too late.." The Captain hummed. "Burn the Body, my work here is done." he said simply, entering his strike ship and setting the autopilot to return to orbit.

"Yes sir! Good luck Captain!" he heard the soldier ring out again. Excellently drilled, combat ready killing machines. He barely got off the ground before the grief hit him. Lucky he didn't see the flames that would encompass his friends body. He owed that man a debt, and he would do so by protecting the child he gave his life to save.

END OF CHAPTER

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