Borderland, outside Colony City
Litvain
Osa Solar system
Pavesa Galaxy
Colony planetary Region
Krios 7th Y-1909
Effie watched as her Lady battled the mysterious being. Her axe flashed through the air, dodging and blocking all the relentless attacks that her enemy was applying. The Unknown being was an Automaton, one of the Nine races and the most irregular race in the universe. And it wasn't just any Automaton either, it was an Advance model of the fourth generation. An Android. The being was dressed in the same white combat gear and cloak as the humans, though its hood was down, revealing a light blue hair and cyan skin color. The Android possessed more than one pair of arms, one more pair extending from its lower half as both hands had a thin blade of energy emitting from it. Meri swung her axe in a horizontal sweep simultaneously as the android quickly got on all six of its appendages, evading the attack. Its mouth opened, and a stream of light particles gathered and a beam of energy shot at Meri. The beam was fast, going at the speed of sound, but Meri used a movement technique to simply evade it, appearing in the air as she gathered mana around the edge of her blade. The beam exploded behind her, breaking through the ceiling.
[Flying Crescent Moon slash] Meri swung the axe, releasing a pressure of compressed air infused with the mana she had gathered. Around its edge was an arcing silver lighting that shot out, taking the shape of a crescent moon which then spiraled and slashed the spot where the Automaton was. The force of the attack sent a ferocious wind pressure around the entire room. Effie felt her leg struggling to stick to the floor as the wind pushed her backward. Meri hovered above, her feet emitting a pressurized platform of mana that kept her in the air. As the dust cleared from the attack, the Android still stood there, its mechanical red eyes gleamed at Meri. The Android, Hephaestion, was done analyzing the Pleiadian female. It had concluded that she was of the Peak Sage realm and yet she was barely putting any effort in her attack. From the way they had fought and the way she had hurt his human companions, Hephaestion had figured out who she was. There weren't that many mercenaries in the Neutral Free Zone who fought like her, and yet had the power to back it up. Meridien Karajan of the Black Lamia scale. But what the hell was she doing here in Litvain? Hephaestion thought. They didn't have the time to wonder about it. Their mission was to protect their important cargo and send them back to Terra, and if she were to stand in their way....then they had no choice but to fight. A bright blue hue of color covered Hephaestion's body, the ground trembling from the pressure he was exuding. Meri noticed the spike in the Odic atmosphere as the Android prepared its next attack-
"What is the meaning of this," A voice interrupted Hephaestion converting its Od into mana. It turned its head to where the voice came from. So did Meri and Effie. On their right, in an entrance that had opened up, was a brown skin man wearing a jackal headgear in a brown shirt and pants. He had a staff in his hands and beside him were two warriors, shirtless with brown skirts around their lower half wielding spears. They wore bands around their wrists and ankles. Hephaestion drew back its mana as Meri floated down in front of Effie. Her eyes studied the Litvain humans that had appeared. They were the original inhabitants of the planets, having adapted to the hot scorching atmosphere of the planets. Meri recognized the bands around their wrists and ankles as Pocket bands. Pocket technology was a well-known technology created by a human scientist through the combination of Magic and science centuries ago. A Magitech that gave the Humans an edge among the Nine race. Meri didn't know the specifics of how the technology worked, but she had seen the power humans had displayed when utilizing it, and it was extraordinary. It allowed a non-Mystic human to be able to use Mystical powers as if they had it in the first place. And those two warriors were Mystics. In combination with the band, their power level should be close to an Ascendant. Though Meri knew she could take them on, she didn't want to take the chance with the Android joining them. That Android was of the same realm as her, or maybe even higher depending on how old it was. It was the real threat.
"High priest Siva," The Android said. It gave a small bow to the native as the priest saw Meri and Effie.
"Lord Hephaestion, I would have thought you would returned by now," High priest Siva said.
"I would have, but as you can see, my men and I have been interrupted by an enemy," Hephaestion said as it turned to look at Meri.
"Has the Magistrate sent another envoy." the priest said.
"I'm not with the Magistrate. I'm from Starlight," Meri said.
"Same thing," Hephaestion said. Meri was surprised to feel the hatred coming off the Android as it spoke. In the Divine Federation, Automatons were thought to be nothing more than Machines, machines created by mortals from metal and circuits as such they were not considered to be truly part of the Race created by the Divine Emperor who birthed the Physical Realm. This was a contentious issue with the Automaton... at least with the newer generational models who had been created with an Awakened consciousness. Artificial Intelligence. Not many Automatons possessed such a thing. Most of them were machines with a program code instilled within them. As long as an order was programmed within them, they were forced to execute it. They lacked free will like the other races. This was one of the issues that sparked the Machine War centuries ago between the Divine Federation and the Automaton's home planet, Ogham. The war had ended with the Divine Federation's win, the planet of Ogham was no more, conquered by the Federation and became nothing more than a building factory for the Federation to build labor forces. She had never met an Android with Awakened consciousness throughout her stay as a mercenary in the Neutral Free zone. She knew they existed but she had always thought of them as machines nothing more. But her fight with the Android had shown her that there was more to the metal folk than meets the eye. She was already using her unique ability, Judgement eye, to appraise the machine and she felt the machine's connection to the Odyllic. The Divine Federation did not consider Automatons to be living organisms, but Meri couldn't refute that the being in front of her was a living thing in one form or another. The Odyllic considered it to be.
"I'm here in search of a fellow Knight," Meri said. "My investigation brought me to this temple, but if my presence here angers you and your god, I will take my leave." Hephaestion couldn't let a member of Starlight go not when they had discovered them. "And I don't care if you're part of the Fallen Stars or not." Meri's words caught Hephaestion off guard. Meri had figured out what group they belonged to. The Fallen Star was an Anti-federation group that had risen to power twenty years ago and caused the Uprising. An event that shook the Federation at its core and since then split the Congress into two factions. There were the progressive factions that Admiral Wilcock belonged to, and in extension Meri, and then there were the conservative factions who cared only for the citizens of the federation. And Meri had suspicion of a third faction, a faction known as the purist faction, an even worse one than the conservative. If the Conservatives cared only for the Federation's citizens, then the purists only cared for those of the Pleiadian race. As Meri and Effie made to leave, the High Priest cleared his throat.
"I know who you are, Meridien Karajan," High priest Siva said. "My god, in his Infinite love, revealed to me in a dream of your arrival. It seems my god wants something from you. I will allow your presence in his temple," Meri raised an eyebrow at that. His god revealed her presence to him. Did that mean his god was still alive? Normally when the Federation acquires a colony planet, their first job is to bring the gods of that planet into the fold or kill them if they resist, then send a proselytizer to convert the people into believers of Annunaki. And though some Litvainians had converted and were good with the new world order, there were still a lot of Litvainians that resisted the Federation rule. Meri knew that like Lamentias when the Federation colonized Litvain, their god was killed. So if he was still alive, then it meant the faith that they had towards their god was unbelievably strong. Meri's eyes swept the temple. The Holy power of this temple was weak, so weak that she could hardly feel any Divine presence, which meant that this temple was just a front. The real temple housing the Jackal god was probably somewhere else.
"Come, let us have tea," High Priest Siva said.
****
The High Priest took them to a different floor below the temple to a new room. Meri was sitting in front of a rectangular table, Effie sat on her left, while the High Priest sat across from her and Effie. His two warriors flanked him, their eyes locked on Meri. She could feel their murderous intent fixed on her, but she ignored it as she picked up the cup of tea that had been served to her. She took a sip, enjoying the lemonade taste that came from it. The High priest smiled as he too took a sip. Siva was glad at the look of satisfaction from the mercenary woman as she sipped the tea. He thought about the sign that he had gotten from his god. Lord Set had sent him a dream of a star descending upon their planet, and the star's arrival bringing with it a great change to their world. When he saw the Pleiadian woman, he knew right then that she was the star his god had shown him. He had felt the presence around her, the way the World's energy-the atmospheric Od- responded to her presence. They made way for her presence within the Odyllic like they were bowing to her. It was a sign of royalty, a sign that her blood possessed the qualification of a Ruler. But from what he could see, she had not yet awakened the necessary conditions to be considered a candidate. And yet she was this powerful. Could fate be smiling upon them? Siva could only hope so.
"Blergh! I can't believe you Flesh folks drink this," Hephaestion coughed as it lowered the teacup from its mouth.
"I still don't know why you're here," Siva said to the Automaton. It scoffed as it pushed the cup away from itself.
"My men are moving the cargoes into the ships," Hephaestion said. "They'll be leaving without me first. And as allies, I can't just abandon you when our enemy is right here,"
"Meridien Karajan is not an enemy," Siva said. "At least I hope she isn't" Meri dropped the teacup, taking a serious stance as she looked at the High priest.
"As a member of Starlight, I'm here in search of a missing comrade," Meri said. "He should have passed through here a while ago,"
"Hmm! Yes, I know who you speak of," Siva said. "Star Knight Isa." Meri's expression brightened when she heard his name come from the Priest's mouth. Siva snapped his hands and one of his warriors produced a wristband from his own dimensional band. He gave it to the priest who pushed it on the table over to Meri. Meri picked it up recognizing it as the dimensional band Starlight gave to their Paladins. "Knight Isa left his band to me when he left us to head towards that blasphemous city."
"Why would he leave his band behind, and especially to you," Meri said. The band was locked and Meri couldn't access its content without Knight Isa's genetic code. Effie could try hacking into it, but there was a chance that it might explode destroying its content.
"When I met Knight Isa, he was in a bad state. Injured and close to death, I took him in and healed him," Siva said.
"I don't understand, why would you help a Paladin from Starlight," Effie said. "I thought you hated them."
"Of course, My people and I despise the Divine Federation and their self-righteous attitude," Siva said. "But Isa didn't seem like the usual Pleiadian. He was a kind, honest, and good man whom I got to know as I healed him. From what I gathered he was of the new generation just like you Meridien Karajan," Another consequence of the Uprising was the birth of Pleiadians born during and after the uprising, being raised a different way from the Old guards. "Before the Uprising, even honorable and righteous Pleiadians were aware of the situation in the colonies and yet, they turned a blind eye to it, as long as their precious peace was preserved. Knight Isa saw the conditions of my people and he didn't ignore it. According to him, the subjugation of colonies should have been abandoned, and cooperation with the locals was encouraged by Starlight." It was true that after the uprising, Starlight decided to reflect on their past actions toward the Federation's treatment of the Colony's planetary regions. To the point that both the progressive factions had gained leadership of the executive branch of the Federation and the military order of Starlight. But that wasn't enough. The conservatives had a foothold on the legislative branch and the religious order. As such, the system before the uprising had barely seen any change. But there were efforts...Meri had been part of that effort. As a hunting dog, a member of the Yaeger Corp, she had done her part in fighting the corruption within the Federation. In a way, she still was even though she got monetary value out of it. After all, to make great change, power is important. And what better way to gain power than to have money?
"So what happened to Knight Isa," Meri asked.
"He decided to head to the city. He wanted to see the state of it, and what role Starlight temple played in the city," Siva said. Starlight temple. As a Paladin, when coming to a planet such as this, Meri should have met up with the Bishop who was in charge of this diocese. Instead, she had met with the Magistrate. I guess I need to return to the city to act as an Adjudicator. Meri thought.
"I still don't get why he would leave his band with you. Why not take it with him while heading to the city," Effie said.
"Knight Isa told me that there was something precious within the band and that in case of emergency, should anything happen to him, I should hold on to it. He believed that comrades of his would come for it." Siva said. "Of course, I didn't believe that Starlight would care for someone as Odd as Knight Isa. But then my god, Set revealed to me your arrival. So I knew that you were here for it." Something precious within the band. Could it be the intel that Knight Isa had gained from his visit to Lamentias? It had to be. What was important was the intel and how it could benefit Admiral Wilcock's plan. The best thing to do was to take the dimensional band, get out of this planet, and return the band to the Admiral. They had ways to unlock the genetic lock and retrieve the items inside. Why should I get involved in whatever is going on in this place? Meri thought to herself. There was nothing in it for her. She had done her part in getting the intel. Her contract was up. She knew that Knight Isarus was dead. The magistrate or the Bishop might have gotten rid of him. It was the only explanation as to why he hadn't returned to get the band or use the Tempus system to return to Agartha. Meri could just turn a...
"Why Father...Why would you dismiss the charges against Orgioncorp," The naïve younger Meridien Karajan yelled at the Judge standing in front of her. "The people of Deneb deserve justice for the things done to them."
"Justice...Justice is what we make of it, my sweet child. And Orgioncorp has the power to turn the eye of Justice blind. What you should curse at was the lack of power on the other side to bring about their ideal justice." The Judge turned away from her, walking away. "That is the only way Justice can be served in this world of ours."
Meri covered her eyes that sparked with pain, the eye that had been imbued with the ability of judgment. She had gained power because Meri believed it was the only way to instill her values in the world. And yet, her mystical power was not enough. So Meri had formed her mercenary guild, so she could use her power to gain monetary power, which was needed to bring about the ideals she was chasing. Meri had a deep intuition that should she go the route of getting involved, she would be one more step toward her goals. She couldn't help the smile that was forming on her lips as she stood up. She had made up her mind.
"I will head back to the city and try to find Knight Isa as it is my mission," Meri said. Effie tried standing up, but Meri shook her head. "No, Effie. You will stay here with the High Priest,"
"But I should be..."
"Sorry, not this time," Meri said. "I need you to be somewhere safe."
"What makes you think the priest would mind your Elven servant staying here," Hephaestion said.
"High priest Siva expects something from me if I'm not mistaken," Meri said. "If he wants me to consider, then it would be best that he should take in my aide under his god's protection while I see to the city of Phetue."
"Of course. I have no problem with Lady Effie staying with us," Siva said. Hephaestion couldn't believe how chummy the priest was being with the Pleiadian girl. The man who despised Pleiadians cycles ago. This Knight Isa must have been something else to have changed his mindset.
"Very well then. I should head back. I have a list of things that I need to do," Meri said. First thing first, Meri decided that she should probably get rid of the bounty that had been placed on her in the city.