"Before I agree to anything, I would like to hear details on how strong the opposing forces are. Also, can someone explain how the division in the Council came about? I think it is imperative that I understand more of the variables involved in the current power struggle." said Kain.
"This will take a while to explain, as there is quite a bit of history involved in your questions. Lavaris is nothing more than the mouthpiece for the military on the Council. The origin of the Council needs further explaining for you to better understand the power dynamics within Bastion. Back at the start of it all, the military panicked due to the number of zombies and monsters attacking the world's cities. They liberally nuked entire cities that were deemed lost. At first, it seemed to work because it gave a brief respite. However, it didn't last long. The radiation from the nukes actually made the surviving zombies even stronger. The nuclear fallout passively increased the strength of the zombies and monsters. When the military realized its mistake, it banned the use of nukes on the battlefield.
The military focused on the use of explosive ordinance that released no radiation as well as laser weaponry, but this wasn't enough to stem the tide. The higher ups in the military ordered a strategic retreat from the cities to preserve its stockpile of bombs and armaments. City after city fell to the wayside. The strategists within the military pushed for the abandonment of Earth. They believed that there were simply too many creatures that were bathed by the radiation wave on Earth and that they would only last a few years before running out of the means to defend themselves.
By the time that humanity was down to its last five cities, the military threw in the towel and decided to evacuate to the moon and Mars. The politically powerful, the elites, and the rich were all able to get a spot on the spaceships. The majority of humanity was left to fend for itself and more cities fell, since the military took most of the armaments and supplies on the journey towards Mars. The moon was manned with a token force to observe the situation on Earth in order to leave open the possibility for reclamation. The scientific division within the military left some of their more brilliant scientists on the moon to run tests.
The abandonment of the military angered the remaining remnants of humanity on Earth. Thus, the Council was formed to centralize the remaining forces of humanity in a last-ditch effort to survive. Thankfully, there were still brilliant minds left on Earth and new technologies were discovered based off humanity's newfound abilities and powers. The invading tide was eventually slowed down and stopped." said Tyrin.
Tyrin purposefully stopped to let Kain soak in the history lesson and to ask questions. He noticed that Kain was dying to ask something.
"How is the military back on Earth then? Did they return from Mars?" asked Kain.
"When the observing military force on the moon saw that the tide was successfully stopped, they returned to Earth. With their superior firepower and armaments, they confiscated the newfound technologies and forced the rarer ability users to join their ranks. They used the excuse that they would be able to further develop the technologies and the individuals.
The Council and the surviving forces within Bastion rebelled against them. A stalemate ensued and negotiations between the two sides began. Ultimately, the military conceded because there were simply not enough people on their side. How could a token force take on an entire city over the long term? Many of the confiscated technologies were returned and many of the rarer ability users were freed. However, the Velyon battle suit technology and the Grandia Academy stayed in the hands of the military.
My Taria Academy was returned to me, but only after the military took copies of all my genetics research. Over the course of the following years, the military regained public approval by "gifting" technologies such as the pylons, gravity plates, azurite, gradius glass, and Velyon battle suits. However, these were only handed out by their representatives, which garnered them enormous influence. These representatives were eventually voted onto the Council.
This is what led to the current schism within the Council. Now that you are caught up to the current situation, Tessa will go over the discoveries made from interrogating Famine." said Tyrin.
"Much of what I am about to say is probably highly classified information. During the process of interrogating Famine, we discovered some sort of psychic lock on Famine's mind. We were able to bypass the lock only briefly, before Famine's mind self-destructed and led to his untimely death. Bits and pieces of what we discovered were enough to cause immense shock. This is what we…"
Before Tessa could continue, Elsa blurted out, "Lady Tessa, before you reveal such valuable information, maybe Kain can reveal how he has multiple powers and the true extent of his abilities. Such would be in accordance with the principle of equivalent exchange."
Tessa frowned at Elsa and wondered what gave her the temerity to speak out of turn. Elsa gave her an apologetic look but still turned towards Kain expecting a response.
Just as Kain was about to respond, Mexxle appeared on Kain's shoulder.
-Kain, here is a lesson that you must never forget. Always keep your trump cards close to your heart. You never know who you can fully trust. (Mexxle)
-Are you implying there are spies among these people? (Kain)
-I am merely providing you with good counsel. Even if there were spies among these people, I would not baby you and point them out. Let me give another piece of advice. You will only be respected if you enforce your will onto others. Why the need to follow the equivalent exchange principle? That is only for parties of equal strength. Do you think the others here are equal to your strength? The answer is an unequivocal no. (Mexxle)
After hearing Mexxle's reply, Kain quickly removed Barton and Desmond from suspicion as he went through life and death experiences with them and they were his blood brothers. He couldn't bear the thought of Sylvia being a spy as she had a spot in his heart. Everyone else here was basically fair game though. He cast a suspicious glance towards Elsa.
However, when Kain thought about the possibility that there might be an ability user that can influence minds, he started getting worried. Kain shook his head and tried to snap out of his suspicions. He wanted to throttle Mexxle for making him feel suspicious towards his brothers and Sylvia.
-I will only ask you this one question and I demand a straightforward answer. None of the riddle bullshit. Are Barton, Desmond, and Sylvia clear of all suspicions? (Kain)
-I assure you, those three are fine. (Mexxle)
Kain sighed in relief. He continued his conversation with Mexxle.
-Even if I can mop the floor with everyone here, they are my allies. Shouldn't I give them something in return for their valuable information? (Kain)
-You still have much to learn in order to regain the demeanor of a true king. Give control of your body over to me. I will show you how a king should interact with others. (Mexxle)
Kain trusted Mexxle and let him assume control. He was still aware of what was going on around him, but it was like he was taking a backseat in his mind.
The others in the meeting were all looking at Kain and waiting for his answer. They noticed that he was deep in thought and then was looking at everyone with an appraising glance. Suddenly, they noticed a blue flash of light appear in his eyes and then disappear again. Afterwards, they felt something was different about Kain.
"I think there seems to be a misunderstanding. I was the one that allowed you to take Famine in the first place. Thus, it would be right to say that I had the highest contribution towards discovering such knowledge. If you withhold such information from me as a bargaining chip, I must seriously reconsider whether the lot of you are worth being allies with.
As for this nonsense of equivalent exchange, let me remind you all that YOU came to ME. Not the other way around. If my show of power against Dominius did not prove my worth to you as an ally, why are you even here? Don't think for even a second that I am just an ignorant youth that came into great power. I will be the one to decide who is worthy of gaining my assistance. If you are simply here to utilize me as a guinea pig or a pawn in your political games, let me open your eyes…"
Kain paused and looked around the room. His presence magnified as a sense of primal fear enveloped everyone at the table. Kain smirked as he saw everyone shivering and then continued.
"This is NOT a negotiation in any shape or form. You are here to convince me why I should help you. If what you have to offer is seriously lacking, we can end this meeting and part ways here. The ball is in your court."