A single, dim, red light shown down on a large, circular table, leaving the room unsettlingly dark. The black stone tiles in the room only added to the shadows and created small echoes of those walking into the room. Click-clack noises ominously repeated throughout the room as what sounded like several people entering under the cover of darkness. Finally, three figures approached the table from different parts of the room and formed a triangle of sorts around it. Long green fingers tapped curtly as more clacking rebounded and filled the room once again.
"Impatient, are we, Murdock?" a trill voice squelched.
"Unlike the two of you," Murdock hissed, "I have real work to do." Murdock leaned forward into the light and bared his knife-like alabaster teeth at the voice still in the dark. His face was not that of a human, but he looked instead like a mantis of some sort with a glossy green hue and a hard exoskeleton. His hands looked like those of a green skeleton, yet the wrists appeared more like a bit on a rachet tool than the other joints on his body. Standing over seven feet tall, he had proven worthy of his position by slaying those in the way on his path to the top and all those that opposed him. As Murdock waited for the other two to join him at the table, his hand would disappear only to be replaced by a two-foot blade made from the darkest black material one could find. In fact, it could only be seen because of the red light, though the sound of air being cut would resonate every time Murdock would switch between his hand or his blade.
"Come on, Murdock," a female voice softly spoke, "It's only we three; there's no need for such anger."
"Petrine," Murdock grumbled, "If you have given me the forces I asked for in the first place, we wouldn't even be having this conversation. Perhaps you and Jahn can actually assist this time."
Jahn's deep voice bellowed, "This is entirely on you and your assessment! We were engaged in other matters, and with your numbers, you should have been able to easily wipe them out." He slammed two of his fists onto the table, each one bigger than a professional body builder's hands. Unlike the leaner mantis body of Murdock, Jahn's body was thick and bulky. Then a pointed tail, bulky like the arms, came over Jahn's shoulder and aimed at Murdock. "You want to tangle; let's go then, unless you're too scared of my tail," Jahn egged Murdock on.
"Enough!" Petrine screamed, her smooth tone becoming demonic, "We're not talking about the past. It's done and behind us. And so help me, if you two can't get along, I'll rip both your heads off and move to the next leaders!" With just a few words, Petrine ended the bickering and returned the room to dead silence. Though she and Jahn were the same height, half a foot or so taller than Murdock, her four arms were pale and slender, almost dainty.
"Very well, Petrine. What would you like to discuss?" Murdock callously replied, breaking the silence.
"I've brought you together, kings, to warn you," Petrine sweetly continued, "You see, these humans are preparing for something. Most likely it's because of that mission you had, Murdock, to reclaim our technology from them."
Jahn shrugged, "So what if they are? They are weak; what can they do?"
"You musclehead!" Murdock snapped, "What if they find other planets with our technology? Or worse, what if they've found us?"
"Didn't you just hear me, pencil neck? They're WEAK! Why should we care?" Jahn yelled back as he got in Murdock's face again.
Petrine raised her voice slightly, "If you two would just shut up for one minute, I will tell you why I'm relaying these facts to you." Murdock and Jahn coughed, pulled away, and returned their attention back to Petrine. "As I was saying, all we know right now is that they're heading off to different systems. The satellite read four ships heading off from the Sol System, probably one in each cardinal direction. Do either of you know whether there is any more of your ancient history lying around between us and them?" Petrine asked them.
"We have training bases on planets scattered throughout the journey from here to there," Jahn conceded, "How far out are they going?"
Petrine brow furrowed, "The sensors don't pick up destination, just passage. Where exactly do you have bases?" She moved her hand up as a hologram appeared from the table. It was a star map centered on their system that had a radius of fifty light years. Jahn gestured and pointed at the map with three of his four hands, indicating a base on those systems.
"As you see, there are too many to send forces to every one," Jahn gloomed, "So what should we do?" Petrine looked over the points Jahn indicated and brought her hand to her chin. She stared in silence, occasionally rubbing her chin, while the other two just watched her, trying to draw assumptions from her cold facial expression.
"This one here? Do we have any troops near here?" Petrine asked as she pointed at a star roughly thirty light years away.
"None of my troops are in that area," Murdock spat, "We're all over here." He gestured to the other side of the hologram.
Jahn shook his head, "None of mine either. Though we aren't far away, so we could always send forces from the home world."
"Jahn, send a battalion of your forces to this system and put them on high alert. Even if we leave now, they will beat us there. I will send a couple of my units with your battalion," Petrine commanded.
"You don't need to trouble yourself," Jahn snarked, "My soldiers will be more than enough to deal with any scouting party the humans may have sent."
Murdock agreed, "Let Jahn underestimate them. I'm sure a battalion will be more than enough."
"I sent units to help cover up your mistake," Petrine scolded, "I will send some this time as well." Jahn growled at this assertion but knew better than to argue with Petrine. Murdock snickered slightly, just enough for Jahn to hear yet not enough for Petrine. "Now, onto more important matters. Have either of you uncovered any more details about our other problem? I have a sinking suspicion they're plotting something," Petrine redirected the conversation.
"Just the same as usual," Murdock complained, "They've effectively halted any expansion to the north. To make matters worse, your seals aren't working anymore, so I lose troops at every attempt we make." Petrine frowned as she turned her gaze to Jahn.
Jahn lowered his countenance, "Nothing on my fronts either; additionally, my troops are also having problems with the seals. Only the east and south remain viable."
Petrine slammed all four of her fists onto the table and roared loudly. Though it was much less physically commanding than Jahn's, the deep guttural note shook them to their core. Her eyes, normally humanoid with red irises, turned solid black and three more sets appeared on her forehead. "Why are you two incompetent fools" she screamed, creating visible shockwaves.
"We're sorry!" Murdock begged, "We're trying our best!"
Jahn cried, "We'll increase the number of troops out in the field searching for them! No stone will be left unturned!"
"No, no, we need to try a new approach," Petrine sighed as the extra eyes disappeared, "Continue the scouring as planned. They're bound to make a mistake sometime. Is there any other news to discuss?"
"Well, there is something I wanted to bring up, an anomaly really. On the report from L25-T2, our sensors picked up something at the very edge of its range. The signal only lasted two cycles, but it was a tremendous signal," Murdock trembled as he reported.
Petrine tilted her head, "A magik signal? How strong was it?"
"From our distance, it was forty-five hundredths," Murdock paused, "Which translates to a real value of."
"Fool! I know exactly what that means!" Petrine yelled in her deep tone again. She raised a hand in the air, and as she did, Murdock was being lifted off the ground. He convulsed and tried to break free, but it was no use. Then a sound like cracking glass started followed by what sounded like a teapot boiling; in truth, this was the sound of Murdock's exoskeleton fracturing and he attempted to scream.
"Petrine, remember, we agreed we wouldn't do this anymore," Jahn's voice trembled, "After Ashnard, we said we were done. That we would accept their limitations as a species." Petrine's hand, which had been balled up, opened and took a deep breath. Murdock fell to the ground, yet he made no sound since he knew this would only further enrage her.
Petrine cleared her throat, "Murdock, you said this occurred while you were on L25-T2, correct? Which direction did it come from?"
"Actually, it was detected during the trip there," Murdock murmured as he clicked a couple times on the hologram. A trip route appeared like 3D map directions as Murdock motioned to the screen. "It seemed to be from L26," Murdock explained, "Do you want us to investigate further or chalk it up to an error?"
"Only two cycles? But it was from L26? How interesting. Let me worry about this incident. It was good of you to bring this up, Murdock," Petrine mused. Murdock bowed his head slightly while trying not to crack his shell anymore.
Jahn cautiously spoke, "Very well, we shall call this meeting concluded. Petrine, I'll make sure to send the ship to your people before we leave for L22." Petrine disappeared into a puff of black smoke and reappeared in a large corridor filled with spider webs. Her four legs resembled those of a giant arachnid yet didn't make any noise walking down the stone hall. She entered a library of sorts and began climbing to the back corner almost immediately. After reading a few pages, she would toss the book onto the floor below. This cycle repeated for a few minutes before she stopped and slowly crept back to the floor. "I knew there would be records of it somewhere," she said aloud, "A four and a half or higher has only been recorded a few times, but each time was recorded in detail." Her fingers flipped through the pages one by one with the pause between each turn growing longer and longer. When she had been reading for five minutes, a knock sounded on the door.
"Lady Petrine, may I enter? It's an orange level piece of information," a woman called from the other side of the door. Petrine waited a few moments before calling back to the person.
"Come in," Petrine coldly replied, "Be quick. What's the information?"
The woman, a spider humanoid like Petrine, bowed, "Ma'am, one of the sensors on L22 has been destroyed. Also, one on L25. The death message from both of them was the same."
"First, an odd signal in L26, now two of our sensors are down light years away from each other," Petrine sinisterly smiled, "I think I found one. Bring me a full report in an hour." The woman rushed away quickly as Petrine began to laugh in a deeper and deeper tone.