"I'm glad that you are still straightforward. Since the situation is urgent, could you please fill me in on the details?" Erin adapted rather quickly. His tone made it sound like he only had a shallow understanding of these circumstances.
The chieftain didn't find this unusual at all. The military rules inside the tribe were very strict.
Warrick could not leak the details on why he was cornered. However, since he was facing a potential life-or-death situation, he had every right to send out his last farewells.
Since Erin was an outsider, he didn't have access to the Ursidae Tribe's communication network. Of which, facilitates the internal communication channels throughout the entire tribe's territory, and restricts any foreign communications as well. The Planetoids couldn't instantly communicate between the tribe's core, inner, and outer realms because of these automatic interferences.
With that in mind, Chieftain Morack thought that Warrick simply used the network to send Erin a one-way message. As a High Elder, doing that was still within his authority.
Chieftain Morack had long since assumed that Erin and Warrick were not ordinary friends, and the concern on Erin's face further validated these assumptions. In any case, as one of the tribe's chieftains, he had the authority to inform Erin about these confidential details. In doing so, Chieftain Morack hoped to improve Erin's relationship with the tribe.
Nearly half an hour later, after carefully listening to the chieftain's explanations, Erin finally had a general summary of what happened.
After the fall of the outer-homeplanet that was near the spatial channel, the Planetoids got increasingly aggressive. The war in the outer realm intensified.
According to the chieftain's intelligence officers, the leader of the invading Planetoid fleet was currently in an unusual state of mind. It seems that, out of sheer spite and anger, Admiral Zolahm ordered the destruction of every life planet in the Ursidae outer realm.
For the size of his fleet, this kind of goal was both insane and unrealistic. Most of the other Ursidae Tribe elders didn't take this news seriously. Only elders in the Morack Family, of whom were facing the brunt of this attack, were truly concerned.
However, about a week ago, several intelligence officers detected the presence of six additional Planetoid fleets! They were quickly approaching the edges of the Ursidae Tribe's outer-realm.
The tribe's core, inner, and outer realms were like three different layers. The outer realm was the largest layer while the core realm was the smallest. Going past the core realm would lead deeper into the Beastman Universe. Whereas, going past the outer realm would lead to the edges of the Beastman Universe. These edges bordered the Terren Universe. Which was also where the additional Planetoid fleets were invading from.
The news about these incoming Planetoid forces leaked and spread throughout the tribe like a wildfire. The combined firepower of these starship fleets could even threaten the tribe's core realm! Without the full and immediate support of the tribe's core military, the outer realm had zero chances of surviving.
In mere days, the entire outer realm was in a state of abandonment. Countless starships were escaping to the inner realm with zero intentions of looking back. In order to facilitate this migration, many of the tribe's elders were forced to retain public order.
Through the unrestricted use of their spatial channels, the territories of the other six chieftain families had no real issues with their evacuations. This was especially because the incoming Planetoid fleets had not arrived yet.
Unfortunately, the outer realm territory controlled by the Morack Family faced a different story. Their spatial channel had long since been compromised. Its respective entryways were all occupied by Planetoid forces.
Out of pure fear, the neighboring family territories restricted their dimensional gates. Any connections that came from the Morack Family's outer realm territory were outright rejected. Since the Planetoids could occupy the spatial channel entryways, taking control of their dimensional gates was a dangerous possibility as well. Although it would be hard for the Planetoids to send forces through these gates, the main concern was if they tried sending over explosives. There were bombs that could even blow up entire continents!
Furthermore, even with many dimensional gates in the outer realm, very few had the foundation needed to facilitate long-distance connections between realms.
If that wasn't bad enough, these powerful dimensional gates were in a state of inactivity. The dimensional energy needed to start them up was exponentially high. And, even after activation, only wealthy beastmen could barely afford to transport themselves. A vast majority couldn't even afford it at all.
As a result, for the people escaping from the Morack Family's territory, many were ultimately forced into evacuating by space travel. They would have to cross the chasm of deep space that separated the outer and inner realms.
Warrick, as a High Elder under the Morack Family, was ordered to assist the evacuation. He re-grouped with the last surviving military forces in the family's outer territory. Their combined power successfully paved a path for dozens of surviving life-planets.
It was a pity that this success was short-lived.
An SOS signal from Planet Varce eventually reached Warrick and the military commanders of the other starships. Upon receiving this signal, they changed their plans and agreed to reinforce Planet Varce immediately.
Unlike most other planets in the outer realm, this one was very special to the Morack Family. Long ago, when the chieftain families began colonizing the outer realm, Planet Varce was the very first life planet to be fully developed. The technology and defenses on it were comparable to a core-realm auxiliary planet. In a sense, it was like the unnamed capital of the tribe's outer-realm.
When Warrick and the commanders arrived, they dealt with the Planetoid forces around Planet Varce many times faster than expected. This caused some of the commanders to become over-confident.
Warrick grew concerned because their fight was far too easy. In fact, out of all their previous encounters, it was the smoothest. When he tried to report these concerns, the other commanders claimed he was paranoid and stopped him. Planet Varce was incomparable to any other outer-realm planet. The commanders wanted to inflate their war report to make their contributions more outstanding.
Slightly outraged, Warrick used his power as a High Elder and secretly notified the Morack Family's ICC about his concerns.
Sadly, by the time the report arrived, it was too late.
New Planetoid forces arrived and surrounded Planet Varce. The number of enemies were enough to force Warrick and the other commanders into a desperate defensive stance.
As more and more Planetoid reinforcements arrived, this defense slowly started showing signs of cracking. At this point, with nowhere else to escape, Warrick already prepared for the worse and started sending out his last messages.
After absorbing all of this information, Erin stared at the chieftain blankly.
He was impressed at their information gathering capabilities. Erin didn't find this too surprising though. He was literally inside the Morack Family's Intelligence Command Center. The tens of thousands of beastmen officers here were diligently filtering through information like their life depended on it.
Erin's blank stare was quickly replaced by serious eyes.
"How long can their defenses last?" Erin asked.
"As of now, it has been three days since Planet Varce was surrounded. For reasons unknown, the Planetoids are taking an unexpectedly slow approach with their attack. Based on the status reports, if there are no surprises, the planet's defenses should last about five more days." Chieftain Morack answered honestly. There was no particular reason to hide any details from Erin.
"Have reinforcements already been sent?" Erin was curious.
Chieftain Morack had a feeling Erin would ask this and sighed, "Unfortunately, even with our fastest starships, it's impossible to make it there in time."
"I see.." Erin could tell that the chieftain was being honest. Erin closed his eyes and went deep into thought.
The chieftain saw that Erin was thinking seriously and didn't say anything.
A few moments later, Erin opened his eyes again and smiled.
"Since Planet Varce was one of the first outer realm planets, does it have any powerful dimensional gates? Ones that can connect between the outer and core realms?"
Erin's question caught the chieftain slightly off-guard.
"..It does have one. However, it's been inactive for centuries. I do not know if anyone on Planet Varce has the dimensional energy needed to re-activate it." Chieftain Morack answered bluntly. If the gate was still active, it also wouldn't require such expensive 'activation' costs. Only the dimensional energy needed to cross over was required between two active gates.
"Couldn't we just activate it from here?" Erin asked. In his universe, the receiving gate only needed to be in working condition. The energy needed to create a channel usually came from the out-going dimensional gate.
"..That's possible?" Chieftain Morack's eyes went wide.
Noticing Erin's confused gaze, the chieftain quickly explained that his knowledge about dimensional gates was rudimentary. The dimensional gates were all created by the tribe's founding ancestors. By the time Chieftain Morack was born, the ancestor's initial wealth had dried out. The powerful dimensional gates were shut down because the tribe could no longer afford to keep them active. Hence, knowledge about them was rendered useless and was only vaguely passed down.
Because the designs were different, Erin wasn't sure if the gates functioned the same way as the ones he was familiar with. Even so, he insisted giving it a try and the chieftain willingly obliged.
Chieftain Morack delegated powers onto several trusted intelligence commanders before walking out of the ICC with Erin. Although the matters inside the ICC were important, the chieftain decided to adjust his priorities after learning about Erin's intentions.
Right as they approached the starship docks, Erin heard some hurried steps. He looked around and noticed a familiar figure running right behind them.
"Chieftain, honored one." Renald bowed his head before the chieftain and Erin. He was slightly out of breath.
Erin chuckled a little bit, "Good seeing you again Renald. It seems we have a knack for re-uniting."
Chieftain Morack glanced between Renald and Erin before asking, "You know my great-grand nephew?"
"We're acquainted." Erin didn't bother explaining.
Chieftain Morack didn't ask any further and stared directly at the panting Renald. The chieftain's stare implied that if Renald didn't have a valid reason for being here, he would likely be punished later.
"Chieftain, I come bearing bad news." Renald had a somber look on his face. He snuck a glance at Erin and stopped speaking.
The chieftain understood this glance instantly, "It's alright. Speak."
By saying this, the chieftain was expressing a lot of sincerity. Erin appreciated that he was being kept in the loop.
Renald nodded his head and took out a tiny translucent stone from his pocket.
Erin recognized this as a lifestone! In his universe, this type of natural treasure was incredibly popular with noble families and clans. It was even popular during his original timeline.
Normally, these stones glowed a deep shade of red when they were active. However, the one that Renald took out was obviously grey and inactive. It even had a giant crack on its side.
Chieftain Morack saw the empty lifestone and clenched his fists, "..Who did this?"
"Based on the memories sent to the lifestone before it cracked, the offenders appear to be the Planetoids." Renald said this with complete confidence.
"..As for the victim?" Chieftain Morack questioned.
"This.. erm.." Renald paused for a moment. The chieftain notioned him to continue.
"..The lifestone belonged to my cousin." Renald spoke rather quietly.
"..Cousin ..Stuart."
Erin was confused why Renald spoke so slowly. However, when he turned his head to look at the chieftain, he quickly understood why.
Blood was dripping from Chieftain Morack's clenched fists.
Stuart was the chieftain's great-grandson. A member of his direct lineage!
"Impossible, he was stationed deep in the tribe's inner realm." Chieftain Morack paused.
"..Unless."
A revelation hit the chieftain's brain like a thunderstorm. The tribe's inner realm had a lot of abnormalities recently. Even after carefully searching, his family's intelligence officers still couldn't find the source. This news granted him a major clue to fill in the missing pieces. It was very unfortunate that it came at such a steep cost though.
If the chieftain could express his anger with fire, he would be breathing out vicious flames right now!
Both Erin and Renald didn't say anything. They waited for Chieftain Morack to calm down.
A few minutes later, the chieftain finally unclenched his fists. The wounds on his hands were healing at a rate visible to the naked eye. The sight of this led Erin to believe that the chieftain's level was much higher than he first anticipated. As for Renald, he only looked slightly surprised.
Letting out a deep breath, Chieftain Morack turned his head to Erin and said, "Apologies, honored one. My emotions got the best of me. Let's not delay any further."
Chieftain Morack was not foolish. Once the lifestone was cracked, it meant everything was too late. He could only continue forward and avenge his great grandson when given the chance. As a leader, control over his emotions was necessary. He couldn't get too worked up over past events that were out of his control. To him, any mourning would have to be reserved for after the war.
"Renald, come with us. Explain what you saw while we head down to the planet." Chieftain Morack knew that Renald was assigned to monitor the Morack Family's lifestone room. Unlike the other families, who have this type of room located in the depths of their main planets, Chieftain Morack's ancestors decided to place it on their core-homeplanet's first moon instead. He casually took out a communication trinket and assigned a new Morack Family member to monitor the lifestone room.
Since they were already in the docks, it didn't take long for the group to arrive in front of Erin's starship. Erin sincerely welcomed Chieftain Morack and Renald to join him on the Assegai Exodus II. This display of trust helped brighten the chieftain's somber mood.
The guards patrolling the dock watched this scene with envy. As they did their regular rounds, the sight of Erin's starship constantly caught their attention. They were very curious about the interior of a large human starship. None of the guards were even concerned for the chieftain's safety. That's how confident they were in his strength.
After reaching the command center of Erin's starship, both Renald and Chieftain were left speechless. From the intricate details, the both of them could instantly tell that the technology needed to construct this starship was far greater than the technology currently available in the Beastman Universe.
What confused them the most was that there was no crew in the command center. They only saw a tiny, sleeping dragon hatchling on one of the nearby chairs. While the chieftain knew Erin was a Dragon Rider and wasn't surprised, Renald froze in pure shock. He finally understood why Erin was an honored guest.
Since he didn't know where to go, Erin casually asked the chieftain for directions. Chieftain Morack responded, "After entering the planet, head down to the southernmost continent. The dimensional gate is the only thing on that continent."
The answer made Erin pause for a moment. On such an important and heavily populated planet, their tribe's ancestors actually dedicated an entire continent for a dimensional gate? It seemed a little too extravagant.
"Alright then." Erin held back his curiosity since he could see the gate in-person soon. "Please feel free to sit anywhere." Chieftain Morack and Renald simply took the seats closest to Erin.
"AI, set course for the neighboring planet's southernmost region. Scan for a dimensional gate and notify me when it's found."
[Understood. Setting off now. The dimensional gate scans will be sent out upon entering the planet's inner atmosphere.]
A holographic notification screen appeared before Erin while the AI's voice echoed in the background. Because the AI's words were spoken in Erin's mother-tongue, the chieftain and Renald did not understand what was being said. Since there was no other person in the command center, they soon realized that the starship was actually intelligent!
Intelligent starships were extremely rare and valuable in the Beastman Universe! Chieftain Morack realized that he had still underestimated Erin's wealth. The green glow emitting from him became a shade darker. Erin smiled thinking that welcoming the chieftain onto his starship was the main cause for these changes.
In the chieftain's heart, unusual thoughts started sprouting.
'..I think my great grand-daugher is close to his age..'
The chieftain was already thinking about replenishing his family tree.
If Erin knew the chieftain's thoughts, he would probably be sweating bullets right now.