“Oh, hello again, we did not expect to see you again so soon!” Litvir cheerfully smiled as the Doom Drums landed a small ship in Savepoint’s parking area and stomped towards the main building.
“Hello again, Souldrainer. I am surprised you aren’t too concerned having a trio of spies among you!” Normally Permafrost was the calmest member of the Doom Drums, but, despite lacking a face, he seemed as angry as Pentaflame and Galeforce were.
“Why would we be concerned when we are well aware of their intentions?” Litvir asked back. “The Travellers are not a threat to us.”
“They are subservient to Deathven Himself!” Pentaflame snapped. “They came here not to chronicle the area, but to gather data on one single normal Decay Lord! On behalf of someone too cowardly to do it himself, while having spies within our organization!”
Vaguely annoyed with what Pentaflame was implying, Orion hissed and floated up in front of the colossal magma beast. “Arkay is not a normal Decay Lord, he is behind the destruction of multiple Voidborn cults!”
“Destroying Voidborn cults is literally what half the sects in this eniapent are designed for!” Permafrost shouted back. “Arkay is no damn different! He, like the rest of the Missing and the Thantir in general, is being spied on by the Overlord!”
“And why is this any of your concern?” Orion asked. “You Pentathax do as you please anyway.”
Pentaflame stamped his foot down in anger. “We bloody well do not. We follow every single new protocol and law that Deathven throws at us and then some. Because the Overlord does not like us. We have seen myriads of sects torn apart just because Deathven doesn’t like them, the Thantir saw that themselves, and us Doom Drums vow to not let it happen to the sects that work alongside us! These locals are bloody PURIFIERS. They mean no harm to anyone! And they have a right to privacy, just like we all do.”
Sensing that things were getting a bit too angry, Arkay decided to step in himself.
“Please stop arguing over me. Travellers, you blatantly admitted to us that you came here to report to Deathven that I was alive, and that Deathven was afraid Elkay and I would, for some fucking reason, have kids together. Which isn’t possible because Elkay’s a Rethavok and I’m… something. Doom Drums, I appreciate the offer of protection and you standing up for us, but what’s done is done.”
“No, what’s done isn’t done!” Pentaflame was still pissed off. “There’s still a mole within the Pentathax, and these bastards won’t tell me who it is!”
“We don’t KNOW who it is!” Ziital argued back. “If we did know, we’d tell you. We understand that you’re upset but we genuinely can’t help with the mole.”
“Litvir could probably find them…” Galyn muttered. Admittedly, both the Doom Drums and the Travellers had forgotten that the Tattered Navigators were present.
“Probably…” Vikalos agreed. “Litvir broke through Deathven Sector Alpha anti-psionic security like it was nothing. He’d probably find the mole by accident.”
Litvir crossed his arms and tutted. “You oversell me.”
“Actually… I think they’ve got a point…” Arkay thought for a moment. “Maybe not on your own, there’s… uh, tons of Pentathax Decay Lords. If we made use of Eksi and his efficiency, and maybe had Kuta bolster your strength, it probably wouldn’t be too hard to scan everyone.”
“But also, strategically, if Deathven would insert a mole into the Pentathax, they would put them at a level close to the Doom Drums. We would not have to go through everyone…” Retvik added.
“Hmph…” Galeforce sighed. “We appreciate the offer, but this is not something we want other sects interfering in. We will simply have to let our Master Psion go through everyone. It will take a while but we would rather keep things internal than have a foreign Psion step in. No offence, Souldrainer.”
“Eh, none taken, I am glad you did not agree with Arkay’s insane idea…” Litvir tutted. “I have already dealt with one person trying to kill me over my telepathic prowess, I do not need to make more enemies.”
The Doom Drums all eyed Litvir.
“What do you mean by that?” Permafrost asked.
“Um… I… I was attacked by the Mindeater, because it considered me to be a problematic Psion.”
“Hang on… YOU were the Mindeater’s last target?” Permafrost exclaimed. “And you… survived?”
Litvir nodded over at Arkay. “My darling here saved my life. Sliced the Mindeater’s head off while I was paralysed.”
The Doom Drums all glanced at each other, then turned to the Travellers. “Did… did YOU know about this, spies?”
Ziital and Eta both shook their heads. “We… thought the Mindeater went rogue and was killed by an unintended victim. That’s what we were told.”
“Hah! Unintended… Hilarious…” Litvir almost laughed. “No, I scanned that bastard’s mind, he was there to kill me specifically, and he was sent by someone to do so. Probably because I waltzed through all the security in Deathen Sector Alpha.”
“Oh… Okay… That is… messed up…” Orion muttered. “Yes, sure, you lot are… weird, but… Yeah… Guess we’re going to have to have ANOTHER word with Deathven…”
“Not just you. When we are done with this eniapent, we’re going to have a chat with Deathven too…” Permafrost sighed. “Either way…”
A strange noise interrupted the conversation. Arkay and Litvir both giggled, and Retvik rolled his eyes.
“Litvir, stop changing my notification sound…” Retvik grunted as he reached for his communicator. “Huh. The Missing… i.e. us idiots… have been invited to… some sort of gathering by the Claws of Justice.”
“Who are the Claws of Justice?” Ziital asked.
“The leaders of the Justar…” Vikalos frowned. “Is it the same thing they invited us Tattered Navigators to?”
Retvik nodded. “Yes. Some sort of ‘trinity party’. I believe this is the same thing the Exalted Shifters and the Black Storm were invited to as well. And possibly the Great Blades.”
“And… who are… those two sects?” Ziital was getting new information and wanted answers.
“The leaders of the Ekthris and the Alsyr!” Pentaflame perked up a little. “Fine little ones. Would be good to meet up with them again in a casual manner.”
“Could… could we meet them?” Ziital queried. “We did briefly visit the Justar leaders, and we did also briefly meet the Great Blades, but us Travellers ought to… try and improve relations around here in general.”
“Ziital!” Orion hissed. “We don’t have time for this. We have to report back to Deathven.”
“Of course we has the times!” Eta bounced around excitedly. “Always time for fun! We go! Go and have fun! And learn things! And meet people! Bless them with our presences! Screw silly Deathven. Making friends is more of the importants!”
Orion tutted, then quickly relented. “Fine, fine. But we can’t stay long. We have things to do.”
“YAY!” Eta danced around Ziital and Orion, then dragged Orion off to do… something. Ziital shrugged, then swiftly followed them.
“And vok think that meeting the Travellers is a good thing?” Litvir eventually asked.
“Well, other people do…” Galeforce sighed. “Still, this would be… a pleasant change of scenery.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“Alright… We’d better have a chat with everyone then…” Arkay smiled as he put his arms around Retvik and Litvir. “Gotta arrange who’s in charge while us older folks are gone. We’re gonna have some fun and I get to meet people too…”