Jak'hal Comes A-calling

**Encrypted to Lil and Mor and Rol Only**
Jak'hal of the line of J'kutu stalked forward. He walked with an animalistic grace but seemed to be stalking even when jovial of face.

"Ahh cousins I hope you are well. I have seen the entirety of history before returning.
I know the cure is not done. That is allright.

How goes construction of our new K'ias Colony?"

Mor'aye'ahn's golden eyes looked over his family as well as cousin J'khal. They had finally made it away from Hephaestom and now another obligation had come to light.

"Yes I did say that I would help you with creating a planet for our kind. The start of something grand. Now that we have left and that I have time to actually work on our projects I do say that it is time to start working on expanding our territories."

He looked directly to J'khal. "You have traveled enough of time that you should know that I have every intention of keeping my promises, and you should have the missiles that I had promised you as well. Now, I am going to travel back to our colonies and get some more NESA's so that I can make the worlds, that is simply phase one. Phase two is getting our people there, and phase 3 is curing them."

He put a single finger upon his draconic chin as he thought. "I do have more phases but in this the hands of my government must remain clean. And whats more, you J'khal should not openly be seen in these acquisitions if I cannot go through normal channels, you have already been seen as my champion I do not want you appearing as my thief as well. Depending on if I cannot get the technology legally I may have to hire a Pirate."

Lil'ye'ahn was reeling from the double shock before her. He mind raced, full of questions as she looked to her brother. Rol'aye'ahn returns? He had been thought dead, long before she or her brother were even born! Yet he stood before them as if he had known them all their lives. Was he tainted, as Prime had suspected of Viv?

Then there was the trickster Jak'hal. He had not looked so sinister on the Battlecity feeds, but up close she felt a wave of fear. She wished she could tell her brother to break his promise to this man, to take them far away from anywhere he could find them, but she knew her brother. Just a few short weeks ago she had felt so lonely out here with no other K'ias around, now it seemed everywhere she turned, there were more. Not all of them the upright citizens she was used to.

Could either of them be trusted? What was this K'ias Colony Jak'hal spoke of? And the cure, cure for what? She wasn't sure if she'd like the answers, but once she and Mor'aye'ahn were alone, she would get them.

Jak'hal bowed low to Mor. Lil felt another involuntary shudder.
"Yes I can confirm that I have the N.E.S.A. as promised. A truly wonderous piece of technology.
I am sure our enemies in all corners of Known space are jealous."

As Jak'hal turned to leave he stopped for a painfully long moment with his back to them. Then he turned suddenly and said, "I should warn you. The Fleets of Fate have arrived in this timeline. Even the peaceful S.U.A.R.M. will be a target. Keep your little metal midgets safe, they will have a grand future in the New Kias Civilization we are building."

Jak'hal walked towards a nearby wall and disappeared in a flash of red light.

With Jak'hal now gone, Lil spun towards Mor and said...

Lil'ye'ahn spun around to face her brother, he could see her rosebuds again, she'd been having a difficult time as of late keeping that small part of her mask from showing.

"Morey," She said softly, "What is all this he speaks of? A cure? For what would he need a cure? We are K'ias, there is not much that can harm us. A New K'ias Civilization? He would twist our Dream of a peaceful future into a return of the evils and atrocities some of our people were known for in the past. He frightens me, brother. For as much as I wish us to have a true HOME, I fear the cost if we align with him. We've already received a message from the TEA regarding him as a criminal. You've already given him a NESA, and that is cause for concern. You said I give you fresh perspective, please, hear me now. We MUST end this association with Jak'hal, we are judged by the company we keep, and he is not one we should call friend."

She caught Rol'aye'ahn out of the corner of her eye.
"As for You," She snapped, pointing a finger. "You come out of nowhere, considered dead for thousands of years before either of us were even BORN, and have the gal to simply board one of our ships demanding things. We know nothing about you. How do we know you're not tainted by Warmonger, or in cahoots with Jak'hal? Where have you been all this time? Why choose NOW to show up out of the blue?"

Mor'aye'ahn recognized the mixture of fear and anger as her eyes flashed back and forth between silver and green. He knew that his normally gentle little sister could be a powder keg when she felt backed into a corner, something that seemed to be happening all too often as of late.
She stared them both down, waiting for answers.....

Mor'aye'ahn sighed once J'khal had left. Rubbing his fingers against the side of his mask where a human normally had their temple he took in a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"Back before you joined our cause, dear sister, I reached out a hand in friendship to J'khal's daughter. The Temporal Empire boarded the craft during diplomatic negotiations and kidnapped her, I was unaware of her status as a criminal or her father's, it was only after finding out about those damnable wanted posters that I found out he was wanted by them. He offered to help me when friends were few and far between and I accepted his help when Lane Yr decided to start her vendetta against me... he was my choice for the Battle City tournament."

He looked up to his sister and then to the almost forgotten ancestor who showed up out of the blue. He shook his head and thought over what to do with him.

"The cure, Lilley, is to cure our kind of the Zela Poisoning. As you already know when one of our kind is wounded by Zela we no longer are able to produce true K'ias only Annihilators. It is one of the few things that has kept our kind from growing in number these millenia as there are so few of us who have remained untouched by that cursed metal. Until I find a cure our kind can not have children, not true K'ias children, only the Cambion races that our demon possessed fore-bear had created to combat our Falosini spawned cousins."

He looked around. "I thank whatever is out there that sought to bless the SUARM with sentience but they are not a real substitute for our own kind, and I have felt alone for far too long." He looked over at them both once more eyes glancing from one to the other. "I have a great many dreams for us Lil, I have dreams and aspirations, and I will pursue any course in order to achieve them for the greater good of us all. Do I trust J'khal completely, no! But if he truly intends on creating a new K'ias Empire that does not follow the teachings of War-Monger he is welcome aboard any of my vessels."

He stared into Lil'ye'ahn's eyes trying to get the point across. "And if I am damned for it then I trust you to do all that is right by you and by our people."

I walk over in between them and start telling them the reason why i have been sent from the ancestor world. I turn over to the little girl, my cousin, Lil'aye'ahn....

"To answer your question COUSIN, i have been sent back to make sure that YOUR brother doesnt make the same mistake we made the year before the K'ias Wars started. Which is simply THIS!" Stops talking to the little girl and turns to her "bigger" but older brother and says....

"If you launch the cure for your "people" the 2nd K'ias War will start if you do! I am here to make sure that those dont launch and so you dont make the same mistake we tried doing." Inching towards Mor'aye'ahn's face with an ancestor glow coming from his skin. "If you cure them of not being harmed by our one weekness you will release the ancestor army that I have been keeping at bay from coming back into this "galaxy of yours" and just whiping the rest of our race from existince." Turns and looks at Mor'aye'ahn's crew, "So go ahead and launch those missiles, than the ancestors will be coming back with technology you guys have dreamed of coming up with."

Looks back at the little girl and Mor'aye'ahn and calms down and says....

"As far as your J'kahl character there, DONT TRUST HIM YOU DUMBASS!!! He is a terrorist. That NESA you gave him is going to do more harm than good for the future of "your people."

Turns back and walks away glaring at both of them with pure anger and secretly fears the end for his race once again.

Turns back with an evil glare.... "Just remember my cousins, our race was ALMOST able to not die in battle or from old age, that is one of the key parts why the K'ias Wars started!" Turns and walks away.

As Rol'aye'ahn walks away Mor'aye'ahn's upper lip curls up revealing the razor like teeth. Shaking his head he looks back to Lil, looking to his sister and remembering why he has been doing the things he does.

"Our line has had many troubles for countless millennium my sister. All from the mistakes of Mar'un'ga and then those of the other progenitors of our race. The line of Vir is the only one that I can remember that has not had such a stigma put upon them."

He looked back to the direction of Rol and remembered an headache he had once a long time ago that lasted months, it made him feel as if his head were to split apart and waves of annihilation pouring forth from it... After seeing old family he longed for the headache. "I do not fully trust J'khal, but I have heard it said that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter." Staring into space he spoke softly "I wonder if that is how I may be viewed if things go sour."

"Until that damnable Temporal Empire actually takes time from their own busy scheduel and talks to me about my policies I will not halt my actions for fear of a ghostly finger shaking at me from their position outside of time and space!"

Lil'ye'ahn stood there dumbfounded as first Rol'aye'ahn then Mor'aye'ahn walked away. Their answers had only left her with more questions. Still the one thing that stuck in her mind was THE CURE. A cure, the chance to procreate! She had thrown herself into her botany and biology as an outlet to create new life, to quiet the disappointment of knowing she'd never create any of her own kind. It had been so lonely since leaving Ataru. She thought of V'ric, back on the 'Grace and smiled.

The smile didn't last long, as she remembered Jak'hal and his frightening leer. She knew that her brother would continue to align himself with Jak'hal whether publicly or covertly for as long as it took to achieve his goals. She trusted her brother to the ends of the known space and beyond, but could not agree with his decision to trust this man. 'I'll have to do what I can to protect Morey from his own folly, but our people come first.' She thought to herself. 'And what are the Fleets of Fate?' She reminded herself to ask Morey, remembering Jak'hal's warning.

Then there was the words of the ancient to ponder. Another K'ias War? They had been nearly wiped out in the first. She was torn. On the one hand, the cure could bring a revival to their race. Yet, if what Rol'aye'ahn said were true, it could instead lead to their extinction. Her mask slipped lose more, as her oaken antlers slowly extended from her temples. Sometimes it all just seemed to be too much.

She could hear commotion from outside on the bridge, overhearing something about a distress signal and a message from Alco. She shook her head. Never a moment of peace it seemed. As she walked out of the room to see what was going on, she tried to cheer herself with the thought of some quiet time with V'ric. However every time she tried to picture his face, she was instead haunted by the image of Jak'hal, his twisted grin stalking her thoughts......if she never saw him again it would suit her just fine.....