Spacial Illusions

Chapter Twelve

NOT PROPERLY EDITED

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Callisto stood staring in broiling rage at the carrion flowers as they opened to the morning drab with their ugly petals and disgusting scent of decay. Her mind reeled and raced to process what had just transpired in the passenger cabin a mere few hours ago. It was all so surreal that it felt like a dreamt up delusion or a mirage, anything to convey that it all left her dazed and lost.

Once she realized that Director Striker was calling an attack on the plant she had grown to calling home, she wasted no time trying to find a way to dissuade him and his army. First, she attempted to reconstruct the shattered console and recharge the batteries, but the entire endeavor was a failure from many factoring obstacles. Engines were too rusted to catch a spark, batteries were too corroded from the rains to be a jump starter, the console held the guidance systems and she had no blueprints to help her correct the damage she caused. Giving up on physical return to Earth and the S.T.A.R. Corps, she rummaged through the manifest list of supplies to find any way to send a message alongside her receiver.

"Perfect! Luckily we packed an astral projector and hologram conference generator in the cargo. Hopefully it still works and isn't a rusted pile of junk now." Callisto worked to find all the necessary parts to both machines and to fit them into the space of the now stripped passenger bay. It was a crude job, but once she slid the machines into working gear, they whirred to life and the wall lit with a pale yellow and the motto of the Corps rolled across the screen. Her clawed fingers paused over the icon to initiate the conference. This was the direct line to Director Striker and the Board of Council themselves, if she didn't convince them to stay their invasion then she was going to have to turn on her own commanding officer and entire home world. Was she willing to become a traitor for a people who didn't even want her? Who had banished her and shunned her from the beginning?

Deimos flashed through her mind, how he looked so torn when she refused to fight back against Kasar. Europa and her beautiful wailing through the scores of Nightlight Piranhas in her own world far above the hateful villagers. Ursa and his complete trust in her as his pride partner and absolute equal. Hydra with the faith she has in Callisto to be strong in herself and who she was. The late Cordal with his conviction as an essential part of his beloved people despite her origins. She had to do this, not for her but for them. They needed her, they needed a soldier.

"This is for them." Breaths the girl as she steels her resolve and presses the call icon. It took a few minutes for the signals to connect through the expanse of space, but once they did she was instantly pulled into the circular room of metal and high-backed chairs placed in seven perfectly distanced intervals around her. Seated in every chair was a blackened figure of the Board of Council, each figure has a glowing name above them and a defining feature. From where she stood and moving clockwise it went Council Arawn with wide horns that stretched wide like a bull, Council Cichol sporting wide feathery wings, Council Morrigan with long ears that stuck out at an angle, Council Donn with quills sprouting from their shoulders and neck like a porcupine, Council Crom with a tail periodically swiping across their body, Council Mannanan who's head was an oddly triangular shape like a viper's, and lastly Director Striker himself, his shadowy figure has rounded ears to reminisce his polar bear genes.

"State your name and planet of affiliation." Callisto swallowed her shock and ball of fear in her throat before speaking as clearly as she could.

"I am Callisto Kyuseishu, soldier of the S.T.A.R. Corps Scout Regiment of Earth. I am the last of the Scout Regiment." Every Council member sat back in surprise, Director Striker the only one who didn't visibly react to her words.

"Why haven't you contacted us earlier, soldier?" Callisto turned to face Striker as he spoke, she recognized his voice from the messages and the conversation she eavesdropped on and forced herself to stay calm and not instantly raise hackles.

"We were attacked upon landing, everyone was slaughtered and I was injured. The communications console was broken as well. I was found by some natives and healed."

"You mean to tell me that there is intelligent life on Salutem? Civilized inhabitants?" This came from Council Morrigan, a gruff voice like the bark of a big dog or wolf. Callisto nodded and turned to face Striker, she had to get him to change his mind right now.

"Yes, they are a peaceful people who make their homes in the trees. They aren't as advanced as we are on Earth but they learn fast and can easily integrate-"

"No. We have too many people as it is. We have no need for aliens." The Director's voice broke through her words and silenced the room. Callisto felt her heart stop and slam against her chest and ribcage.

"The people of Salutem are no different than the people of Earth, Director Striker. How can you declare war on a planet of peaceful inhabitants? They mean no harm. All they ask is to be left to their happiness and solidarity." The soldier glared up at S.T.A.R. Corps Director Striker as he sat in aloof smugness. He just demanded that the mutants of Earth invade and destroy the lives of the tree village of Praesidium.

"Those aliens are not my concern, Earth and her populations are. Now, Callisto of the Scout Regiment to Salutem, as a citizen of this planet and a soldier under my command-"

"I stopped being a soldier a long time ago. And those aliens have done nothing to you, you didn't even know they existed until I told you about them. I joined this mission not because I was ordered to, but because I wanted to carve my name into history. But I will not mark my namesake as a murderer of the very first species we have found to be on par with human intelligence! If my legacy is to be the protector of those you refuse to acknowledge, then so be it." The room hissed and flowed with whispers and gossip between the different Board members, like a waterfall heard through a thick pair of earmuffs. The only voice to be heard clearly was Director Striker himself.

"You are rooting for a lost cause, soldier. It is the manifest destiny of us humans to reach out and touch the stars. And if the only way to touch those stars is to sacrifice a few savages, than that is what we must do." Callisto felt her anger towards a man she once admired swell in her chest and wash through her veins with a burning fire. He was proposing mass genocide simply because he wanted what belonged to them. The wheel of history turns, but nothing is ever new.

"Have you read a history book in your life, Director Striker? Manifest destiny is used a mere few pages before a genocide. It's not a motivation, it's an excuse." The room was silent as they reeled from her snappy remark at the Director himself. "You hide behind your S.T.A.R. Corps and your shadowed Council while we get slaughtered and watch comrades bleed through their eyes on a planet that you don't even deserve! Director Striker, you are a coward and a murderer, and I will follow you no longer. I resign my alliance with the Corps. If you attack my home, I will kill you." Hands slammed down against metal and his shadow vanished to expose his face to Callisto, scarred and marred by his genes and rage.

"You have sided with the enemy and if you want to die with the whole disgusting lot of them, then so be it."