“Atuho! Hi! What are you doing here?”
Akah was on greeter duty today, and there was a hint of panic in his voice when a familiar ship landed in the main parking area and two very familiar beings stepped out of it. Atuho was accompanied by Tuhis, codename Firespitter, who was the main owner of the Metal-Ice Meteor Pit Stop, located in the middle of the Kinigian Wilderness.
“What’s wrong, little bro? You seem mighty concerned!”
Atuho and Tuhis were Matanaiai, they were Lanex-like beings. Anthropomorphic but also very mechanical, much more mechanical than Akah was. Underneath Akah’s metal-plated armour were bones of calcium, blood and muscles, but Matanaiai were mostly completely metallic, with heavy steel internal frames and bits of purple and black flesh that filled in the gaps between their joints. They didn’t have blood or veins or a heart, instead they had a Heartstone, which, despite the name, was basically a powerful battery, and they had electrical wires running through their bodies that worked as both a power system and a nervous system. However, like Akah, they did wear masks and had the same five-fingered hands, no tails and flat, toe-less feet.
“You’re not infected with Corruption or anything, are you? Do you need help or something?”
“Bro, calm down. We’re fine. We ain’t ‘ere for a bad reason.”
Akah did as he was told. Back when Akah was mortal, he had a big brother called Atuho, who had died a long time ago. It turned out, Atuho and Tuhis, who were originally a team of six siblings, had a little brother called Akah, and that Akah had died during the conflict between the Kronothrax and the Golden Doom. So Atuho considered Lanex Akah to be his little brother reborn, and Akah did somewhat look up to Matanaiai Atuho as a big brother. They looked worryingly similar, after all.
“Oh. Alright… Why are you here then? Is something wrong?”
“Nah, not at all, right, Tuhis?”
Tuhis grunted. While Atuho was mostly a mixture of browns and metals, Tuhis was mostly red and silver all over, with a golden mask strapped to his left arm, and instead of green glowing eyes, Tuhis had a warm orange glow to him. However, all the previous times Akah had met Tuhis, he rarely said much.
“We wish to speak to the leaders of the Thantir.”
“How comes?” Akah asked.
“I want to speak my reasons directly to them, little one. It is not of your concern yet.”
Akah clicked with a bit of annoyance. “I can’t really just let you walk in and speak to them. Retvik and Arkay are on guard duty right now and Litvir and Galyn are busy with patients. And I need a reason before I go and bother Vikalos or Itaviir.”
Atuho patted Tuhis on the shoulder. “Bro, we can tell the little guy. Kinda have to.”
“I do not want to say anything until we have confirmation.”
Akah frowned, then relented. “Can I please at least have a vague reason why you want to speak to the bosses before I go and ask them?”
“Hm. Very well. I want to discuss an alliance with your leaders.”
“Alright, that will do, I guess. Do you mind following me to the waiting area?”
“Of course, lil bro!” Atuho smiled. “Lead the way.”
Akah spun around and marched off, leading Atuho and Tuhis to the larger offices at the back. At the bottom of the building was a waiting room with several sofas. Akah sat his friends down, took a deep breath then headed to the larger office downstairs and knocked on the door. Almost instantly, the door opened up, revealing Vikalos.
“Hello, deary! What’s up?”
“Uh, I have two people here who want to speak to you about alliances and stuff.”
Vikalos looked past Akah, then went back to smiling. “Well, I’m not busy right now, so we can talk. Bring them over and we can have a chat.”
“Uh, alright…” Akah bowed somewhat, then turned around and headed back to Atuho and Tuhis.
“Will they speak to us?” Tuhis asked.
“Yeah, Vikalos said he’s free to talk.”
“Very well. Atuho, please, stay here. I will speak to the Thantir leadership on my own, if that is alright by you.”
Atuho nodded. “Yeah, that’s fine, bro. We already discussed it all. Mind if I chat with lil bro while we wait?”
“Of course.”
Akah led Tuhis to the office. Vikalos took Tuhis inside and closed the door behind him. With a sigh, Akah headed back to the sofa Atuho was sitting at, then sat down next to him.
“Tuhis seems… odd. Uneasy.”
Atuho nodded. “Yeah. He ain’t right. Ain’t been right for a while. Had a buncha Voidborns try and break shit. We broke them, was fine. But Khalia got a bit hurt, so did Elwa, Wena got concerned about safety and Tuhis wants t’change things. We already lost our Akah. Didn’t wanna lose anyone else. Wena was considering just closing down the pit stop completely, Kahlia didn’t like that and insisted we’re fine. Elwa’s still kinda upset. And kinda scared. He definitely got pretty hurt. In ‘is pride at least. I suggested a compromise.”
“A compromise?” Akah was confused. “Do you lot get attacked a lot?”
“Apparently, yeah. We live in the middle o’nowhere, but there ain’t much around. Opportunists see us as an easier target than ‘ere or that new Life Oasis. Folks know to not attack Life Oases. Things kinda quietened down when y’all set up here, but before Savepoint opened up? It was bad. Heck, I probably wouldn’ta even been ‘ere had lil Arkay not stopped a rogue moon from crashin’ into our base. But that’s why I suggested the compromise. Plus, it means I get t’see you more.”
“What… what is the compromise?” Akah asked.
“I suggested that we join you Thantir. Like, same way Kal did.”
Akah blinked, adjusted his mask, then blinked some more. “You… want to join the Thantir?”
“Yeah. We get extra protection, we can spend some time here too, I get t’see you on the regular, and some of ya can come to the pit stop and help there.”
“That…” Akah stuttered, but that stutter turned into a smile. “That sounds awesome.”
Atuho smiled back. “It does, yeah. Fingers crossed, your boss agrees.”
“Honestly? I think he will.”