The meeting had been almost a month in the making. The very thought of its existence was a secret heavily guarded, and the location of which was only decided hours in advance. Eventhen, there would be no ambassador shuttles, or luxury cruisers, or even ships marked with the seal of any interstellar government agency. When the ships arrived they were all, some form of mining, or shipment vessel, all of which were not out of place in the Hathor Colony system, one of the largest human-run mining operations this side of the universe.
Hathor was a colony that had specialized for almost a decade in deep asteroid penetration mining specifically for elements including palladium, osmium, ruthenium and rhodium. The system received several hundred shipments per month including dozens daily. Specifically, Hathor metal could be found in almost 80% of microchips, engines, and alloys that were sold on the interstellar market.
The delegates arrived carefully, sandwiched back to back with legitimate shipments, ans ushered from their ships appearing as representatives for other electronics and alloy companies, all except for the celex delegation, who came in smuggled in a duffel bag, and the Anin delegation who made their entrance in the guise of bodyguards.
All the delegations were met by the senate leader of the hathor colony. Hathor didn't have a president or prime minister. In fact,its system was, most notably, the only pure democracy in the entire galaxy, and worked that way simply because its population was so small. Even so, they still needed a single person to represent them in intergalactic matters, and that is where their senate head came in. The man, named Jicari, had no real power over anyone else, but he was in charge of leading the meetings and setting the minutes.
And it was he who met each delegation in the hangar, and led them back through a series of tunnels towards where the meeting would be held. Little did the delegates know that, Arcadia's intelligence director Conn, and Ex emperor lord celex were planted around corners in the labyrinth where they would be able to screen each person for void infection as they went by.
Truth be told having Conn and Celex there, was an intelligence nightmare for everyone else, but right now there were more pressing matters in the universe than a few aliens capable of reading people's minds.
Arriving this way, it took the better part of a day to actually get everyone settled, but once it happened there was an impressive collection of delegates, sitting in the open cavern air of hathor colony. The cavern was a series of plateaus jutting out from a sheer rocky cliff face. Overhead the ceiling was so distant, it was trapped behind a soft haze, and the artificial sun gave an almost bluish atmospheric quality to the distant ceiling.
Each ledge was covered in a gentle growth of squishy green and blue moss. An artificial river ran through the center of the small city, which was stacked high instead of wide.
A paradise hidden away inside an asteroid.
It was all very impressive.
A fact which Jicari heard many times from the visiting delegates.
All in all, it was a pretty impressive turnout, there was someone from almost every colony and planet in the system.
Soon-to-be president Kelly, of earth was there, and though she had not yet been voted into office, political experts said that preliminary election polls left no doubt for who was going to win the election. Current president hunt was notably absent. Then of course there were members of the Tesraki economic board, the Bran GA senator, The queen of the Burg, who had come far from the little grub they had installed on the throne not so many years earlier.
Still young and inexperienced, she was accompanied by her royal advisor, zaran, previous consort to the original queen. Then of course there were the Mikes, and the lumins, the Finnari, the gromm, and the Drev.
There was even a smallish delegation of Vrul, though ever since their council had been destroyed, they were still attempting to establish a new system of government, and change their breeding system. As it turned out the government had intentionally been tampering with the life cycle of vrul eggs to artificially create deltas and Omegas. They had recently stopped that practice, but now, producing only alphas, they were having trouble fulfilling less intellectually stimulating jobs.
Basically their government was still a work in progress.
And Emperor Avex himself who rolled his eyes as his father, previous Emperor celex grinned at him from across the room cheekably wiggling his opposable thumbs.
Conspicuously missing were the rundi and the chairwoman of the galactic assembly.
There were others too of course. Some of the delegates here were not entirely representative of their true governments. The Tesraki for instance had reason to believe that some of their leaders had been corrupted by the void, as did the Gromm, and while earth was safe for the moment, it was known that the kymophelia colony had inroads with void sympathizers long before any of this began, and were not represented here.
Even the Martian delegation was missing a few of its key members, as were the Europa colonies.
No one from Noctropolis could be trusted, but that was to be expected.
Of course there were even delegates from the larger interstellar ports, some of which had grown so big they were practically their own planets, but it was a tossup which one of those had been corrupted and which ones had not.
And at the head of this all.
Then there was the Arcadia Triumvirate, who took position as the unofficial hosts of the meeting.
They sat at the front of the room, the strangest group of three people to ever sit together on the council.
There was king games, leader of the Neospartans, and as was Arcadia custom, he wore armor to this meeting, which included a corinthian helmet with long red plume, a golden breastplate, leather gladiator skirt, sandals, and single shoulder red cape. Leaning against his chair was a circular Hoplon shield and spear.
Next to him sat the hybrid Eris. Half human and half starborn, she was the only known hybrid of her kind. Her skin was pale white, the same color as milk, and her eyes were completely black even where there should have been whites. The had incredibly long, dark hair which cascaded down around her in a gently billowing cloud. She was beautiful in a way that might almost have been frightening.
And sitting next to her was Amiral Vir. The man sat straight-backed in his temporary wheelchair. Even sitting down he was tall, and imposing, with broad shoulders and a notably scarred face. His right eye was hidden behind a black leather eyepatch, and despite his young age, his hair had gone white lending him years he had not yet earned. With his mouth closed and his lips pressed into a thin line, he was almost the most imposing figure there, sharp green eye examining the crowd before him. This mystique was only added to by the appearance of his personal bodyguard and wife, the saint of Anin herself who glowed like a blue Gem under the artificial sun, pearl white armor reflecting a prism of rainbow colors in a ring around her.
It was all impressive from the viewpoint of distance and unfamiliarity.
It was Eris who began the meeting, gently floating up from her seat as her hair billowed around her, and with her came a gentle psychic shock that had the room quiet in moments. When she spoke, she did so with both her voice and her mind, filling the room with her thoughts so everyone could hear without anyone having to shout, "Welcome, and thank you all for coming on such short notice. Were the circumstances not so dire, it would be a pleasurable experience to see you all again."
There was a shift around the room.
The queen of the burg shifted large, voluminous wings catching the light of the artificial sun.
"These are dire times, our universe is under siege by forces beyond our control, and we are caught in the middle of that battle. The Makers and the void have been at conflict with each other for thousands of years, the void attempting to turn the tide of the universe back to blackness, and stillness as it was before the architect created his life. The architect and his makers attempt to preserve the universe they have created. Up until recently, the constructs hiding maker children, that being us, were hidden away from the void. It has only been within the last few years that the void has located us, and with the help of their new leader, Kazna they are attempting to corrupt and lead an army that will destroy everything in their path.... We believe the GA has been compromised."
The uproar was almost instantaneous, though it was more out of fear than it was out of anger or disbelief, and it was only when Admiral Vir took slowly to his feet did anyone quiet themselves again. The saint of Anin stepped up behind him as if expecting him to fall, but his legs were firm as he paced to stand next to Eris.
WHen he spoke, his voice was hard and even, strong enough to carry to all the delegates, though it could also be heard through the psychic link eris had established. There would be no confusion about his words, as, Emotion and intention tended to bleed through over the psychic link.
Despite the man's confident appearance, and straight posture, he was concerned.
"Almost three weeks previously, I and a group of my men, discovered proof of a plot to infect the populace with a variant of the original void virus, which includes a void creature itself.... You could call it a form of possession in a way, as the void creature can live inside the body with the Anima host."
Eris provided memories and images to everyone in the room, who all shifted with horror and discomfort.
"The manufacturer was taking place within a steel foundry off of Morzen spearheaded by one of kazna's lieutenants, a previously known smuggler by the name of Noctus. They planned to distribute the elixir by way of the food chain, using pesticides on plants to infect sentient hosts. Luckily for us many of these shipments were caught in time, our most important victory being the Bramble colony. However, this is not their only method of infection, individual vials are being shipped in large quantities to "believers" of the void's cause. Kazna has created a sort of cult following around the void, and no doubt plans to use them as an interstellar terrorist organization to further the void's ends."
As questions arose in the mind of the delegats, they were fed back to Admiral Vir as he spoke.
"I regret to admit that there is not much we can do at this time. However, there is evidence that infection by a void creature does not mean immediate mind control. We believe that a void creature cannot immediately take over the mind that it has infected, though such a thing becomes easier if the person infected was unaware of the infection. Otherwise it seems possible to fight the infection, though our information on that is limited. At this time please be aware of what you are consuming and who you trust, background checks are advised. Eris, Celex, Conn, Kelly and Myself are willing to offer our services in this area with our unique abilities, however we understand if you deem it as too much of a security risk. I wouldn't blame you for not trusting anyone, especially in these times.
A mummer of agreement followed.
"However it is also my belief that the only way we survive this is by working together." He motioned to his side where Dr, krill floated examining the room with a sort of nervous energy that was almost contagious, "Kelly and Celex are both makers who have not returned to revelation, Eris and Conn are Starborn, but I, recently received a surgery to loosen the connection between my body and my anima, giving me access to certain abilities. After much discussion, Dr. Krill is willing to perform the same surgery on those who are eligible." he rested his hands behind his back, "I will be transparent with you when I say, this is all with the understanding that you oppose the void and have no sympathy for their cause. I am not going to stand here and pretend that our ability to read minds is not a significant strategic advantage, and complicates secret keeping, but right now the void is more important to me than whatever issues may arise from this decision."
He raised his hands, "As always questions are welcome, and you are permitted to leave anytime, For the rest of you, we do wish that you join our cause."