Idris-9 [city], Teltobah [planet], Meertomb [star system]
01 July; 16:44:16 Hours
“<Forgive me, Commander,” the soft and angelic voice of Neaveh called from her ivory spire throne that sat at the head of the large observatory, where she held out her golden frosted hands toward Alarik, who stood at the foot of its platform. “For I should have never doubted the wisdom you carry with you.>”
The crimson-skinned swordsmaster smirked. His burning yellow pupils, which were encased in darkness, returned the Golden Voice’s gaze as he assured, “<There is no need of forgiveness, Lady Neaveh - It is the League’s honor to protect the Golden Voice from the prowling Fangs of self-anointed power.>”
“<Please, Commander,” she smiled but quickly raised her hand to shield it, as she cooed, “you flatter me.>”
“<I mean no disrespect, my Lady.>”
“<And I have taken none.>”
Alarik bowed his head slightly before Neaveh expressed her curiosity.
“<You speak as if you know who was responsible for the shot taken upon my life.>”
“<I am.>”
Neaveh now subtly leaned forward in her throne. “<Who are these… cowards?>”
“Shaomhav,” he answered without hesitation.
“<Tell me more of this, this Shaomhav.>”
“<They are merciless assassins illusioned into the self-righteous belief of freedom warriors breaking the chains of, of those who they see as oppressed across the universe, Lady Neaveh,” his brow scrunched and fangs brandished, growling, “They’ve pledged their fealty to a Grand Mane who once was a Knight of the merciless Union that seeks to hang its colors from every perch across the stars.>”
She now leaned back. Her golden index finger rested upon her plump lavender lips while her nostrils flared slightly. The angelic tone her voice carried now shifted into a hissing whisper, “<Predators cloaked in innocence.>”
“<Indeed, but it was the voice that yanked their cover back and revealed their evil to those who could’ve been deceived.>”
A boom erupted as the double doors of the observatory flung open. Alarik quickly spun around; his hands moved to the hilts of sabers sheathed upon his back and belt, but his grip eased as a high-pitched, yelping voice cried out, “Majah? Majah? Majah!”
Neaveh rose. Her eyes grew large as a dark olive-skinned teenager rushed into the observatory. She slid to an abrupt stop, where she gasped, and relief washed over her. There, framed beneath the dome shutter, Neaveh stood haloed by the golden cast of the setting sun.
“<You’re, you, you’re, you’re alive, Majah!>” the girl stammered, as she slowly climbed the platform with tears running down her cheeks.
“<Ohhhhh, of course I am, my sweet Niyuuh,>” Neaveh softly assured her, as she hugged her tightly.
“<I, I, I feared that I had lost you, Majah!>”
“<No, do not fear my eventual inevitability,” she gently held her daughter by the shoulders, and smiled, “for it will thrust you into the very chamber that you were born for!>”
“<Commander!” a deep voice rumbled forth as the four remaining Pillars of the League - Kom, Doerin, Eegol, and Angela marched into the observatory, with Kom asserting, “You must see this!>”
Eegol, a Borlion whose existence translucently exposed his skeletal structure, breathily acknowledged, “<The… stakes… are… rising!>”
Alarik’s eyes narrowed. He skeptically watched as Angela pulled a holo-disc from a pouch upon her belt that she set on the floor in front of him, and tapped. At first, everyone watched a burst of flickering pixels fill the air like dust before they coalesced into a three-dimensional reconstruction. There, they saw surveillance footage hacked from the True Vision observers, which showed Gabe, Maya, and the Fangs exiting the building the shot on Neaveh was taken from.
Doerin, who was a Lumon - his body, a morphic living-energy of bluish-white lava only sustained within his black mail, perched upon Kom’s back and shoulder, said, “<It would appear that the Golden Voice has drawn the ear of quite the listener!>”
“<Quite the listener? Who?>” Neaveh asked with her left eye narrowing while her head clocked back ever so slightly.
“<Him? I, I saw him…” Niyuuh interjected as she pointed to Gabe, and the League all glanced around at each other before Alarik turned to her and growled.
“<What do you mean you saw him?>”
“<On, on the train in,” she again stammered, as she glanced to her mother before back to Alarik, “He passed by me on the car just before the stop.>”
“Ooooooh,” Angela cooed while twirling several strands of her long, wavy, purple hair.
“Mmmmm, <interesting,” Alarik noted as his eyes pinged around in realization, “So the Grand Mane, himself, was present for this attempt on you, Lady Neaveh.>”
“<The Grand Mane? He is this Shaomhav’s leader?>” she inquired.
“<Indeed.>”
“<And he seeks to, to liberate the so-called oppressed?>”
“<That is what their mission claims.>”
“<Commander - I wish to meet with this, this Grand Mane then…” Neaveh said as she stepped back from her daughter and retook her throne, but there, her voice contorted back into the hissing whisper, “Bring him to me!>”