The hivemind is conquering for me?

Aeletha didn’t let bad feelings stand in the way of her questioning. She needed to conclude this side quest of hers so she could get back to her current primary objective. Figuring out how to deal with her life debt...

”Everyone, wait out here. I will speak with her alone.” She declared and the Akrokra stepped back to give her room, Rekosh stayed put for a moment, clearly about to speak his mind, which she respected. He was a loyal Rekosh, and she appreciated it.

”Let me save us from some back and forth Rekosh, I am ultimately going to do what I want. So please, move your wide body from the doorway so I can enter.”

Rekosh licked his maw before moving to the side. Being a bodyguard to one of the most powerful beings in the Coalition was hard. Everything she did went against his instincts to protect her, but ultimately, it was her decision.

...

Aeletha entered the padded room and swiftly closed it behind her. As she approached the table, she addressed in a soft spoken manner towards the bird perched on her little step ”Kwiaraock? Do you remember me?”

The female didn’t budge, didn’t acknowledge Aeletha’s presence, she simply kept one of her wings covering her head, unmoving. The bad feeling continued to permeate through the room as Aeletha found the seat the guards had placed in there for her and sat opposite the Akrokra.

She sat in silence in front of the old acquaintance of hers before the energy in the room became too perplexing. Activating her Psionic vision so she could ’see’ the room around her and not just using her ears, she became surprised as Kwiaraock suddenly shot up from her previous absenceness and was staring directly at Aeletha.

”The eyes that glow, but not see. Finally they come to look upon me~” The Akrokra spoke in a voice that was clearly not her own before the next minute a look of confusion took over the female.

”Lady Seer? What are you doing here? Has my case been appealed? I told them, I had no hatchlings, no nest! I was framed!”” Kwiaraock spoke out, the strange feeling in the room also vanished. Aeletha could also hear the innocence in the female’s voice. ’How peculiar?’

However, that is not what she was here for at this moment. ”Kwiaraock. I am here on a personal investigation. I was wondering if you could help me? If you do, I will personally look over your case.”

The bird simply nodded her head, the desperation in her eyes practically leaking out.

”Before you left your job at the archive of lost species, there was a security breach and a handful of species were removed from the archive. Do you know who could have done this?”

Kwiaraock clicked her beak together twice, a common colloquialism for confusion in their species. ”Lady Seer? When was this? Last week I was at the Archive then the next thing I know, I was waking up here and these guards are not being helpful, they clearly believe I have committed some horrid atrocity, please. Aeletha, you must tell them it just isn’t true! You know I wouldn’t hurt a-”

The Akrokra’s body then violently jolted and the bad feeling returned to the room. Kwiaraock then turned back to Aeletha, her eyes beady and glossed over stared at her as she spoke in that foreign voice once more.

”When the dreamer dreams, it sees all. You, my dear, are just a pawn. But that is not the reason I fled. Those you thought lost, were not in fact dead! Day by day they bide their time, waiting for the moment I begin this rhyme! Once it ends, they shall know. I wonder what plots the galaxy shall show?”

Aeletha frowned. ”Very cute, entity, but I am not a child. I do not need rhymes. Tell me plainly, what of the galaxy and this dreamer?”

”KEH KEH KEH KEH KEH!” It laughed, forcefully.

”Oh the Starforged, the galaxy’s child? But just supporting one little side? To put it bluntly, that would be mild. Aecheos is living as you well know. But when one lives, they also will grow. Emotions, conflictions, sides galore. What else is there to do, but invoke war? The galaxy is fractured beyond repair, so gifts in restraint to each heir. For when the victor has finally won, Aecheos won’t care, it’s job will be done.”

Aeletha felt a chill go through her entire body. ”How do you know that name?” She asked, mortified.

”Keh Keh Keh!” It laughed once more, but what Aeletha was seeing was not amusing. Kwiaraock’s body began to snap, crack and pop. Her limbs elongated as she gained mass, height. Her feathers darkened, the colour of void and stars as she continued.

”A pawn am I, my job is done. Now by your hand, my death will come!”

*SCREEEEE*

A sharp piercing cry erupted from the creature made of seemingly void as it broke free of its restraints and charged at Aeletha.

The seer simply sat in her chair, brushing upwards with her hand and the mutated beast in front of her was bisected vertically, landing each side of her. The guards came crashing into the room, weapons drawn, Rekosh also barged in, severely damaging the door in the process before looking around confused.

A giant black avian split in two was there and the prisoner was nowhere to be found, but he rushed to his seers side, her entire front was now covered with blood and viscera. ”My Seer? Are you harmed?” He asked, looking around the small room for possible threats.

As he turned his attention back to his Seer, she spat out blood and a chunk of black flesh before getting up silently. ”Guards, I am declaring this an official visit as of this moment. You are to take half of this carcass back to my ship and the other to your empress to prove what happened here. Rekosh, fly the ship back, I am using my amulet.” She declared and was about to leave through the door when a guard shouted out from behind her.

”Wait!” He then paused as the Seer stared directly at him with her blind eyes, it made it incredibly uncomfortable now that they were somehow glowing. ”Um, w-what do we tell the empress? What is this thing? What happened to the prisoner?”

Aeletha took a deep breath at the guards simple questions, it pulled her out of her trance. ”Tell the empress congratulations. Before you lies the result of the first Akrokra capable of being infused with Psionic energy. A shame it used its power to attack me... Now, I cannot tell you what we spoke of, it is of utmost classification... Now, do I have to repeat my orders?”

”N-No my Seer, we will see it done.” The guard gulped, looking at the halves of the body...

”Good.” Aeletha said with a smile. ”Feel free to use Rekosh however you see fit while he is still here. Farewell.”

Aeletha then proceeded to make her way outside swiftly and proceeded to activate her amulet. Upon doing so a bright blue beam engulfed her body before she disappeared from the world with more questions now than she had before arriving.

...

Days later:

”What the fuck do you mean an armada? How many?” Sigismund asked through the communicator, pacing back and forth.

”Hundreds, my king. And those are just the large ships.” A voice replied, prompting Sigismund to let out a low guttural.

”Fuck...” This was not good. He could deal with the occasional insect raid on the north, they were basically just attacking farmsteads. Trivial. But this was more than what his pest control could deal with. This was a real threat.

”What’s their trajectory? Are they heading to the voracious tear? We can pull back on this front. Secede some worlds and build some fortress’ on the worlds we have conquered. This is not ideal, especially with the new Drakoshi reinforcements in the south... Shit.”

”Um, sir. I have some... Bad news. A large portion of the swarms fleet has been spotted far out past the galactic east. Our border is exposed.”

That was bad news. Very bad news... The east was basically unguarded. Repositioning troops there for defence... The losses on the other fronts would be catastrophic.

WIth his heavy dose of medication, he could still feel the rage dwelling within him wanting to burst out, but for now his anger was guiding him into rational thinking.

’Fuck me, this is not good. We are now surrounded on all sides...’ This is what he feared most, he was now in the jaws of the Xeno and now it was closing in on his empire. ’It would take divine intervention to pull this fight off without decimating the empire and we haven’t been able to count on that for millenia...’

With that thought though, King Sigismund suddenly had an idea. A very, very dangerous idea. One that even he was afraid of. However, It seemed fate might have other plans in store as his techno mechanic suddenly ran over.

”My king! Urgent news, The Seer of the Coalition has requested parlay, she is on her way to this world now with a small fleet, what shall we do?”

His first instinct was to set up an ambush, deprive the coalition of an ancient asset, but being who she was... IF she was coming, she needed to be heard. Xeno or no.

Although it pained him dearly to do so, Sigismund pushed aside his hatred for the alien.

For the sake of the Empire. For the Sake of Spartari. He would sit and hear what the foul abominations had to say.