“Prime Minister Panolionos.”
“High General Rethais.”
Panolionos, Panos for short, had been the leader of the Torr for a good two decades now. Yes, he was an elected leader, technically, but not by a popular vote like most other races. The Torr heavily segmented their territories into specific states, each state was divided into districts, and each district would elect a governor by popular vote. Those governors would then vote for a minister, and the ministers would then elect a leader, with both governors and ministers nominating and voting along party lines. But a tight small-party system meant that Panos’s ruling Torr For Unity party didn’t have to work too hard to hold onto power.
Right now though, Panos wasn’t sure whether he was annoyed or surprised. He currently had fifty dead Torr on his hands. Yes, they had been doing some pretty bad stuff, running a highly illegal experimental lab, and yes, under the Torr’s laws, had they been arrested, they could have faced the death penalty (unless they paid some very, very hefty fines or made some very, very, very large bribes), but their deaths were quite… weird. Fifty Torr, all killed simultaneously via an aneurysm. Somewhat. Parts of their brains had essentially exploded.
Also caught in the explosion were 49 dead Rethans and a very unlucky Temthan spy. Well, technically, it was just one Rethan. One Rethan that had been cloned 48 times. A cloned Rethan that had telepathy. A Rethan whose clones had been caught trying to assassinate various leaders of other species.
What Panos would normally do would be pretty simple. He’d blame the Rethans, the Lanex, the Temthans, whoever fit the bill, and kill or bribe everyone else to shut up and keep quiet. Considering what had happened at this Torr lab had been supposedly caused by paramilitary Rethan and Skyan interference, blaming them (mostly the Rethans) would be easy. Unfortunately, the lab had been doing cloning, something that was so illegal that even the gods frowned upon it and, worse, the Rethans had uncovered evidence that linked both the labs and their owners to a pretty major member of the Torr For Unity party. Which was why Panos was meeting the High General of the Retha in person, rather than sending an underling.
“So, how’s the arm?” Panos smiled.
“Still a bit stiff…” Rethais grunted.
Panos had met all three of the last High Generals, and he hated Rethais the most. Photis, the previous High General, started off as a pain, but became paranoid in their old age and Panos had wrapped them in his pocket almost. Rethais though was both young and utterly terrifying to be around. Oozing with confidence, but also having the power and intelligence to back it up. Honourable too, which meant that Panos couldn’t just bribe them in some way.
“You understand how both sides are in the wrong, yes?” Panos asked.
“None of this would have happened had you not had a tighter leash on your people and not allowed a cloning facility to exist under your rule.”
Panos’s smile faded. “You’re tetchy today, mister Rethais!”
“It is General Rethais to you, Prime Minister.”
Panos tutted as he wandered over to a counter and quickly made himself a drink. A cold, frothy frappe. He would have offered Rethais a drink, but he only really had tea or coffee and most Rethans avoided all caffeine. Also he didn’t like Rethais. It was clear as day that Rethais didn’t like him back.
“Either way, we’ve got fifty dead Torr. Dead because of a Rethavok.”
“A Rethavok you made from stolen genetic matter, illegally experimented on and cloned.”
The Torr adjusted his tie and smiled. Most Torr wore dungarees or overalls, but ministers and members of parliament also wore shirts and ties.
“Ah indeed, but we have… evidence that… one of those 606th Legion soldiers was there. One that can shadowjump. And that narrows it down to, what, a handful of Rethan/Skyan hybrids? All of whom are in the Legion you bastards all pretend doesn’t exist. And I know you don’t want that information to leak out. At the same time, I have information I don’t want to leak out. So I want to… make a compromise.”
Rethais blinked. “You… want to compromise? What happened to the real Panolionos?”
“Hah!” Panos snorted. “I think a compromise is the wrong word. I actually… well… Are you a betting man, Rethais? Oh. You’re not a man.”
“I do not gamble, no.”
“Shame. But I think you will want to hear my… offer. After all, I can leak this all with ease. Is your old General of Deitic Affairs really old and ill? Rethans tend to live for a while.”
“Fine. Out with it.”
Panos smiled some more. “Simply put, I want to settle this in the Great Arenas. A Torr champion versus one of your fancy Hero Legion folks. If my champion wins, you take responsibility over what happened, you demote and get rid of whatever Rethan you sent, you pay compensation to the families of the dead and we drop the whole assassination mess with an apology and a promise that the Rethavok will do better in the future.”
“And what if we win?”
“You won’t win.”
“And what if we do win?” Rethais repeated themselves. They were well aware that Rethans were notoriously good in arena battles, the real reason the Torr had supposedly higher win rates was because they fought in far fewer matches overall.
Panos shrugged. “Well… if you win, we drop everything. Heck, I’ll even throw you a bone and find a mob boss we can execute. Because no one’s getting any justice out of this, everyone involved is dead apart from the 606th assassin you sent. And whoever the Skyavok sent, but we don’t consider them a threat in any way, and we’re happy to let them be naughty once in a blue moon.”
“Hmph…” Rethais didn’t like this offer at all, it all felt very underhanded. But, annoyingly, the Torr did have the Rethans in a bad position. “Fine. Who did you say we could pick again to represent us?”
“Someone from your Legion of Heroes. Your 1000th Legion, I think? So we can humiliate them.”
“Oh…” Rethais quickly realized something, but they kept that thought to themselves. “Oh. Alright then. Very well. I will accept, but I want all of this in writing first. I will not formally accept or sign anything until my advisors and your lawyers have had a look at the written agreement.”
“Okie dokie!” Panos grinned. Believing that he had the Rethan leader over a barrel, he now felt comfortable offering them a drink. “Coffee?”
“No, thank you…” Rethais grunted. “I will take my leave. I have work to do, and I need to speak to my sibling.”
“Ah yes. Your sibling that you keep as an advisor. Tell the runt that I hope she is doing better. I wish you a safe trip back to your overly square city.”
Rethais took a deep breath and decided to ignore the blatant insults. They knew better than to go low. “Have a good day, Prime Minister.”
“You too, General Rethais.”