Nine

Litvain

Astraeus Tower

Starlight Headquarters

Orbital space station

Agartha, Anu Solar system

Divine Federation

7th Y-909 C.E

Admiral Wilcock braced himself in his office while he waited for his next appointment. It had been twelve minutes since he left the Senate assembly, where Senators from various planets within the Federation were debating what to do with the tumultuous colony planet of Lamentias. There were the conservatives who wanted the Federation to harden their stances on the political situations, while the Progressives wanted the Federation to listen to the voices of the people of Lamentias. They were going back and forth to the point that Wilcock got tired of it. Politics was a dirty business that he wanted nothing to do with. These people don't seem to learn. It's been decades since the Uprising since the Fallen Stars struck at the heart of the Federation, and yet nothing had really changed. The only difference was that Starlight now made more of an effort to stay out of politics and stick to their religious duty. This was all thanks to the effort of the Grand Admiral. But Wilcock knew that if nothing was done, the atmosphere in the colony could become a powder keg for something worse than the Uprising. Which was why he had returned back to his office with a plan of action. He sighed as he checked the time again. She was really taking her time. He thought. Admiral Wilcock wished he could return to his Fleet, which should be exploring the Berus Star sea in the Beta Quadrant, but tensions had pulled him here, and most of his officers had been given new assignments. As he thought about his grand adventures before he became an Admiral, the door to his office slid open. Meridien Karajan strolled right in, and the sound of her steps resounded all over the office, bringing Admiral Wilcock's attention to her full figure. Meridien was a beautiful woman with long blue tinted silver hair and light peach skin covered by a blue tunic jacket suit, a black skirt, and black leggings that covered her legs, followed by combat boots. But what was peculiar about her appearance was the braiding of the silver hair that hung in front of her face, hiding her eyes from being viewed, and the braids behind her head that hung past her shoulders. Her lips were scarlet, stretched into a smile as she comfortably took a seat in front of the Admiral. Her behavior made it seem like she owned the place like she was above the Admiral. Normally, the other Admirals would have taken offense to her behavior. Especially when coming later than the supposed time she should have been there. But Wilcock didn't take offense to it. In fact, he wasn't surprised by her behavior. It was something he expected from her and something he had gotten used to. Meridien was not like other members of her Named Family. She had distanced herself from them after graduating from Adonis Academy, and she had carved a name for herself that had nothing to do with her family. As such, she was entitled to certain benefits from Starlight, benefits such as being able to establish one's own Mercenary guild.

"Admiral, it's a pleasure to see you again," Meridien said.

"Thank you. And thanks for answering the call," Admiral Wilcock said. He didn't bother to point out that she was late, and for that, Meridien appreciated the Admiral even more. He was the only one among the upper echelons of starlight that she preferred to work with.

"I only answered because I believe that there might be something in it for me," Meri said.

"As I expected of you," Admiral Wilcock said. Meri bought out a casket from her pocket. She opened it and bought a Vape pen. She inhaled it and then exhaled out the smoke, the orange flavoring filled the room.

"So, Admiral, tell me why I had to leave my ship and come all the way here," Meri said. She made sure to enunciate how much discomfort she was feeling, letting the Admiral know she wasn't happy about leaving her job and being in this suffocating station. Though Meri knew that the Admiral wouldn't request for her personally if it wasn't serious and there wasn't something in it that she could benefit from, running a business wasn't easy these days. Being away from her guild at this moment was not exactly harmonious for her business. 

"An issue has been brought to my attention," Admiral Wilcock said. He pushed his personal pad to her on the desk. Meri took a look at the red circle on the screen. She raised an eyebrow at the Admiral. He returned the look. She sighed, took another inhale from her vape, and pressed the circle. A hologram image popped out, a man dressed in a Starlight bodysuit and armor stared at Meri. His profile was written across the image, and Meri read it within two seconds, though she still had no idea what he had to do with her.

"So what about him," Meri said. "It seems Knight Isarus is a splendid Paladin,"

"Was." Admiral Wilcock said. "Actually, I don't know if he is alive or not. The last I heard from him, things weren't exactly right,"

"You've lost contact with him," Meri said. "What kind of mission was Knight Isarus on?"

"The Hunting dog type," Admiral Wilcock said.

"Huh, just like I was," Meri said.

"And you were so good at your job," Admiral Wilcock responded. 

"What does this have to do with me," Meri said.

"Knight Isarus was on an important mission on Lamentias," Admiral Wilcock stood up from his seat and began pacing around the room. "We had reasons to believe that there were traitorous dogs in there, making things more complicated. Knight Isarus was to hunt those dogs and reveal who they were and their connections within the Senate councils. During his mission, we believe he came across an important intel. An intel so sensitive that he couldn't send it over the network. I wanted him to deliver it himself."

"What happened," Meri asked.

"Last I heard of him, he managed to leave Lamentias and ended up on the closest planet he could find, Litvain," Admiral Wilcock said.

"Litvain. Isn't that the Desert planet that sells-"

"Spices. It's also one of the most important colonies of the Federation," Admiral Wilcock said.

"I've heard nasty rumors about the place," Meri said. "That the conditions are even worse than Lamentias,"

"So have I," Admiral Wilcock said. "I've always wanted to investigate the place, but the planet is considered an SSA tier."

"So it's above us military folks," Meri said. Any case that had to do with SSA was always left to the Clergy folks of Starlight.

"Something like that," Admiral Wilcock said. "Conversion has nothing to do with us Paladins. After all, Our job is to protect the sacred peace of the Federation."

"So let me guess, you've lost contact with Knight Isarus," Meri said.

"Yes, we have." Admiral Wilcock said. "I need you to track him down whether he is alive or not, find the intel, and retrieve it. No matter the situation."

"And what do I get from it," Meri said. Admiral Wilcock pressed the tablet around his wrist, and then there was a ping. Meri took out her Zodiak and checked the message that she had received. She smiled as she appraised the price that the Admiral had sent.

"500,000 Dignir, plus access to the exclusive Interstitial road," Meri said. "This is a wonderful contract. But do you have the authority to grant me access to an exclusive space road? Your not exactly a senator."

"It's a special interstitial road used by starlight," Admiral Wilcock said. "You know full well about it since you've used it. The contract grants your Mercenary guild access to it. And that's 500,000 Dignir on accepting the assignment and another 500,000 upon its completion," 

"Also, I would like it put here that in addition to the special access, I would also like to be given a couple of warships," Meri said.

"A couple of warships," Admiral Wilcock said. "Don't be ridiculous. You're going too far now,"

"Am I now," Meri said. She raised an eyebrow at the Admiral, who stopped his pacing around his office.

"I can't just go around granting Warships like there's a free for all," Admiral Wilcock said.

"You will if you want this job done well," Meri said. Meri knew she was pushing her luck, but she hadn't come this far in her career by not taking risks. From what she had gathered from what the Admiral had revealed to her, this mission seemed really important. Whatever intel Knight Isarus had discovered, the Admiral was desperate to get his hands on. But would that be enough to make him give her what she wanted? Now that was the question-

"Fine. I'll put it in. There are a couple of TK-fighters that have been put out of commission. I can just hand them over to you," Admiral Wilcock said. "So, do we have a deal,"

"Yes, we do," Meri said, accepting the contract on the tab, her eyes gleaming with so much greed thanks to her successful negotiation.

****

Admiral's Wilcock office was located all the way on the higher floor of the orbital station, so in order for Meri to get back to her ship, she had to take the transport lift all the way down. Just as she did to get to the upper floors. The Watchtower was fifteen meters tall and very wide, shaped like a spinning top, and made out of pure Seriphium metal. It orbited around Agartha's Moon, Nanna, a pale silver satellite that also orbited around the massive light greenish planet that was surrounded by four circular rings of construction. Each of those rings served as the planet's self defense mechanism, able to draw power from the planet's core. And that wasn't just it. In addition to the rings and the Watchtower, there were nets of massive self drones arranged like a net that monitored for any sign of danger. It made sense why there was all this security, seeing that Agartha was the heart of the Federation, and the Uprising that happened twenty years ago was still fresh in the minds of the citizens. It was a beautiful planet, Meri thought to herself. She had lived there for thirteen years before moving to Adonis Academy, where she grew up to become the woman she is today. And since then, Meri hadn't returned to the green planet. Instead, she had abandoned the support of her Family, relying only on her strength and cunning, and now she was one of the most dangerous warriors of the Starlight order and leader of her mercenary guild that was taking off. Throughout these past months, she and her people had taken lots of contracts, bringing in the cash which Meri loved more than anything in the universe. And now she had scored a big contract that could push her guild into the S-class, which means more competition, more customers, and more money.

"My Lady, we're ready for take-off," Effie's voice came from the pilot seat of Meri's starcruiser ship, the Dragonfly Essen. Meri was in the kitchen, making a cup of coffee for herself as she studied the layout of the planet, Litvain. Their ship was in the shipyard, where various other ships were docked. She left the kitchen, heading for the pilot section of the ship. The Starcruiser ship was a red and white painted ship, nine meters tall, shaped like a dragonfly. In the center of the ship was a sphere shaped compartment, which was the pilot section, with a long tail. At its sides were the wings of the ship, the left side shorter than the right side. There was enough space inside to house multiple people and the Dragonfly ship was the personal ship of Meridien. This was the ship she had used during her days as a Star Knight, going from one end of the galaxy to the other, hunting both monsters and her fellow Pleiadian dogs that threatened the peace. 

"How long till we get to Litvain," Meri said. 

"Not long," Effie said as they began to activate the ship. The ship began to drive through the runway in the dock and flew out of the station as a beam of light swept through the ship, Xeta-beam energy taking it into the Interspace. 

"Are you sure it's a wise idea to take this job yourself, my Lady," Effie said. They were piloting the ship through the interstitial space between realms in the universe. Flashes of light glared everywhere, the ship sailing above the space road. 

"The admiral would never have given the job to any outsider," Meri said. "And there aren't many paladins that are up to the job nowadays,"

"Sure, but requesting-"Effie turned quiet as symbols turned up on the interface of the ship. The interface showed Meri's ship, which was being followed by other images.

"Seems like we're being followed," Effie said.

"It seems so," Meri said. "Prepare for battle," The sphere part of the ship began to twist, moving in a circle as the wing of the ship moved up while the other wing moved down. And then its speed picked up, blasting through as the enemy ships behind began firing on them. Effie swerved the ship to dodge the attacks, dozens of plasma cannons were raining on them, but thanks to Effie's expert pilot skill, none of the attacks touched them. Meri got up from her seat, gave a nod to Effie, and went to the weapon control seat all the way in the back of the ship. She took a seat, turned the targeting interface on, and took the wheel for the ship's cannon. There were six targets on them, and Meri using her spatial awareness technique, was able to enhance her reflexes and reaction speed. Thanks to her abilities, she was able to shoot two enemy ships down just as the ship went through turbulence. Meri concentrated on the next shot, firing a round of consecutive blasts at the enemies. The last one missed, due to how much shaking the ship was going through, putting Meri off her game. She mumbled couple of words to herself while she tried to target the ship again. But the movement of the ship as Effie tried her best to avoid getting hit by their opponent. Meri took one last breath, her senses concentrating, reaching out to the Odyllic and then just like that, she was able to fire on the last ship. The plasma blast collided against the enemy's vessel, resulting in an explosion of bright light.

"Nice one my Lady," Effie said. Meri smiled at her fantastic efforts, and yet still sighed for she felt a certain way about killing them without the chance of communicating with them. It wasn't unusual o for unknown enemies to come from nowhere and attack Meridien Karajan. Some of the sectors of the Neutral Free zone was a war torn, conflict brewing galaxy, which made it the ideal spot for Meri to settle her mercenary Guild. She had made a lot of enemies over the years, so it wasn't strange for her to get attacked. But what was strange was the fact that she had gotten attacked in Federation territory. The Divine Federation was a utopic, peace-loving civilization that besmirch war and violence. Seeds of wars were stemmed out before they could even sprout. The Uprising twenty years ago was a fine example of the Divine Federation in ensuring the peace of the divine. And ever since then, they have done their best to maintain it. The trillions of souls living within the federation had no idea of the price for their freedom and peace. It was one of the reasons Meri desperately needed to get out of there. Meri wondered if one of her enemies had decided to wait and ambush her while she was back home. She dismissed that as Marauders and pirates couldn't be waiting so close in the heart of the Federation. What made more sense was...Meri left the weapons control room and headed to the Living space where Effie was. She must have left the ship on autopilot and come here to do what she was doing. There was a circle-shaped table with a holograph interface displaying images of each of the ships they had destroyed.

"The ships appear to be a klatio ship," Effie Long'Shah said. Her brown hair was tied in a long braid that covered her back, exposing the pointed ear, revealing her as a member of the Elven race, one of the Nine race across the universe.. Her outfit was that of the Black Lamia scale uniform, a green armor-padded jacket, with black pants and black combat boots. The jacket had the symbol of the guild-a lamia creature with black scales being stabbed by a sword- on the back. Effie was Meri's assistant, her Lady in waiting, and her closest friend. And also very knowledgeable about the various factions of Marauders in the Neutral free zone. "It's an SK-90 fighter jet capable of ripping Adamant like it's nothing."

"How strange that it's here in the Federation," Meri said. Effie bought out the image of Knight Isarus, looking over the mission statement.

"Do you suppose that it wasn't the Klatio," Effie said. "That there was more to it..."

"Anything is possible," Meri said.

"But my Lady...that would mean there's a traitor in Starlight," Effie said.

"There always is," Meri said. She thought back to her hunting dogs days. The day when she was tasked with bringing corrupted officers of the law into justice. Her experience there had led Meri to throw away her family values when it came to their society.

"What kind of information did Knight Isarus find on Lamentias," Effie said. "And why Lamentias of all places," Lamentias was a mining planet known for its mystical resources. Resources that the Federation had been siphoning for generations. It was the first colony project that the Federation had collected after the completion of hundreds of planets that formed the Federation. Lately, things had gone really bad back there with the local people beginning to feel stifled by the Federation. It was also a place where most rebellion forces could spring up. 

"Forget about Lamentias for now," Meri said. "Litvain is sixty lightyear's from Lamentias, so why would he go there when there are other colonies that have full Federation support and are closer to Agartha."

"Litvain is also another colony that's been fighting against the Federation's influences," Effie said. 

"And so are other colonies a lot closer," Meri said. "Litvain is only known for its spices and...."

"It's Tempus warp system," Effie said. A Tempus warp system, huh? Not many planets possess special access to an Interstitial pathway system that allows one to transport from one planet to another. Litvain was one of those planets.

"Was he that desperate he would go to Litvain just to get a shortcut to Agartha," Meri said.

"That intel has to be good," Effie said. Meri glanced through the images of the ships, her intuition spoke to her about what could be behind this. But she didn't bring it up.

"Should I inform the Magistrate that a representative of Starlight is arriving," Effie said.

"We should probably inform them before we arrive," Meri said with a smile. Effie nodded as she proceeded to do just that. Meri didn't know how huge the territory owned by the Federation would be. And since there was the chance that her arrival to the colony state might not go past the notice of the magistrate-the ruler of the colony, Effie didn't want to appear as rude as possible. While Effie was busy doing what she was doing, Meri decided to go to the sleeping area, where she lay on the bed, crossing her leg as she got into a Meditation pose. She took a deep breath, using her breathing technique that she had developed from her academic days. As her breathing got steady, Meri's Odic flow activated, her Od began to circulate throughout her body, infusing each of her muscles, organs, tissue cells and skeletal structure with Odic energy. She kept up the infusion by controlling the rate of her breathing, her technique was also accumulating even more Od from the Odyllic as she stored some of the channeled Od into her Odic core while she channeled the rest into her Odic circulation. If one were to look upon Meri, one would think that she was sleeping. And they weren't that far off. Right now, Meri had entered a trance like state and for the rest of the trip to the planet of Litvain, she kept up this state of consciousness. In the pilot section, after sending the message to the Magistrate like her Lady had instructed, Effie took control of the ship, taking it out of autopilot as she felt a vibration in the Odyllic. Her Lady's presence within the Odyllic was tremendous, massive like a mountain, that if they were to compare hers with Effie, it would dwarf 

Effie's connection to the Odyllic. Her Lady must be meditating, preparing herself for whatever situation that was going to happen in the planet. Better to be prepared than to be caught lacking, with their pants down. A notification came up on the interface, an alert that they were nearing their destination. The ship came out of the Xeta-beam travel, appearing in the outer space sector of the Osa solar system, in front of a brown large size planet that orbit around what looked like a blue supergiant star. As soon as they reached their destination, Meri came out of her trance and approached the pilot section, Effie turning around to greet her lady.

"Litvain," Meri said. "Let's see what you have in store for us,"