7 Chapter 7

A sprawling set of buildings covering one-tenth of the capital were all owned by the Tribe. The tribe was an umbrella organization for all practitioners in the human race. It was founded back when the earth was the sole bastion of humanity. At the beginning, it was a separate entity from the government, but with years passing and the human race flung far into the stars. The Tribe had become more and more intertwined with the Core World Government.

The Tribe held a vast influence. Only the ones calling themselves hunters were direct subordinates. They took upon them to keep the human sector safe and handle problems that sprung up. A separate division for exploration existed too, but that is another story. The Tribe encouraged hunters to join other groups in addition to the Tribe.

In the biggest building on the Tribe campus was a meeting room. The room was a who's who of the Trylem system. Sect leaders, big business owners, guilds and all other sorts were present. A summon had rung out with a system-level urgency. From the very beginning, the mood had been hushed in the room, but after High Authority Holly had explained everything. The situation was even worse for wear.

The new data on the Trylem IV situation was grim to read. The circumstances were worse than originally thought. They had to do a big push within three weeks. If they didn't get it under control in that time, they would have to bid farewell to at least Trylem IV. The option of complete planetary destruction was the runner up in worst options. Even with full planetary destruction, they would have to evacuate the whole Trylem system. That wasn't a feasible solution.

The only ones with moderate expressions were Hull and the two numbered hunters that had arrived. They both had the same reason for moderate expressions. They knew of this beforehand and wouldn't lose their homes like the others. And of course, they were seasoned veterans of dire situations.

High Authority Holly let the room simmer and digest some of the information. When she heard the room settle into quiet again she spoke.

"The Tribe will nominate a leader for this mission." The room fell into deep silence. It wasn't completely unforeseen the Tribe would recommend a person. Usually, it was after the local leaders couldn't come into agreement. Some of the clan heads with greater power than most were stealing looks at each other to see if the others had smug expressions.

Holly clasped her hands together and gave a tired smile. She had been awake for over twenty-four hours taking care of this situation.

"I nominate Hunter 2 - The Magenta Transcendent as leader of the mission." Pin drop silence followed the announcement. Half a second passed and there was a rambunctious clamor as everyone spoke on top of each other. Everyone was turning their heads wildly trying to find Nella.

They didn't find her, but some of the more perceptive ones laid their eyes on Hull. Giving the audience the perfect time for a breather he stood up. All eyes fell on him and tried to gleam who he was.

"I am here as representative of Nella. She is preparing herself for the mission at hand." Hull said and went to scratch the stubble, but frowned when he found it missing. He gave a bow to the audience and summoned some of the extra energy Nella gave him. It was pretty much a foolproof identification.

He summoned the magenta energy, which formed a weaker version of Nella's constellation. The pressure behind it was the real deal, even if the energy levels themselves weren't.

The first one to speak was a clan leader in her sixties. She had hair black as night falling all the way to her waist. With her chest puffed out, she declared her allegiance.

"I Grellen, as the clan leader of Greywool accept the legendary couple as mission leaders." Grellen said and sat back down again. Hull noticed the quick smug look Grellen gave the other three sect leaders. The others quickly masked their fury over getting bested in swearing allegiance.

The others fell in line quickly. It didn't take long for most of the hall to accept Nella and Hull as their leaders. With that bit, the big part was dealt with. Hull still had more news to share. First, he gave a big genuine smile, he loved to see how respected his wife was.

The hunters seated close to Hull were the ones who understood most how big of a deal this was. They were dancing on clouds in their hearts hearing the news Hull continued to share.

"We have prepared quarters for everyone and their top followers at the Eurjuus hotel." Hull said, beaming. This part was enough to make almost everyone here happy. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity for them already.

"To deal with this threat we will give everyone pills and loaner equipment." Hull continued and you could almost hear everyone hearts beating in unison. They could see Hull had something more to say and leaned forwards in their seats. "When Nella finishes her preparations she will hold multiple lessons." Hull said and the moment he finished saying that, the whole room erupted into cheers. The Eurjuus hotel was something some of the people in the room might afford during their lifetime. Lessons from Hunter 2, were priceless. It was something they couldn't pass. The rumors would bring in additional reinforcements to the cause.

Holly was smiling, when she sat in her seat. It was good luck to have such capable allies during the most chaotic period in her life. Hull hadn't sat down yet, the audience noticed and reigned in their cheers. The chamber fell into silence again, but this time not a somber one. The threat of the Kunaku parasite was all but forgotten, everyone was elated at this opportunity. As Hull opened his mouth to speak, a stray jubilation rang out. The timing hit and everyone erupted into laughter.

The dread of a system-level threat beaten, everyone wore smiles on their faces. Hull's cheeks hurt from the mirthful smiling as he spoke.

"We will move out in a week. See you at the hotel in a few hours."