Unchosen Champion

Zalanth would carefully follow the directions she had been given, down to the letter. Luckily, she had received a simple request to meet at a specified location, so she would make no mistakes. There was no room for argument or excuse when it came to almost any of the largest or more influential factions, and that was more true for the Blessed Mau Collective than it was for any of the others. Unlike a faction of Demons or Undead, the solitary group of felines had a wider variety of willing agents. It would be better to avoid unnecessary delay.

As a factionless individual, the last place Zalanth wanted to be was the stronghold of any particular faction, especially ones that were powerful enough to conscript her into their service using system contracts. She would have no opportunity to negotiate terms, no matter how much they valued whatever they saw in her. The power disparity between herself and the faction was too great. At the very least, she was thankful they had not descended straight to force from the start, but the fact that she had been summoned was not a good sign.

Nevertheless, she subtly prepared to fight for her life. She thought she’d make humans proud by hanging onto at least a small thought of rebellion.

Before leaving her private compartment for what would inevitably be the last time, she refreshed her braids and donned the limited equipment she smuggled through her exile. A dark silver band protected her forehead, wrapping beneath her newly braided hair. Matching metals lined the lower edge of her ears, clamped to her defined jawline, and rested along her collar bone. Armlets, bracers, and anklets completed the accessories she had kept while the brand new dangling bracelets were stashed away. The subtle battle tattoos that had been carved in her limbs with invisible ink shone with mana if viewed from precisely the correct angle as the arrangement focused her might. She nodded to herself and prepared for her own battle.

She exited through the sliding gate confidently, with her head held high, letting the golden mana-weave silks of her sheer robe hang in the breeze behind her. The accessories she equipped completed the look, melding the dichotomy of her current existence. She had become prosperous, but she was still a warrior at heart.

She glanced down both directions of the muted hallway. The corridor was lit by a series of mana lamps on small platforms beside each room’s gateway, and they each gently hummed in their solitude. She was clearly alone. The guests of the luxury cruise didn’t spend a fortune for a ticket just to hide away in their private compartments, and there were no suspicious characters keeping an eye on her movements from the shadows.

Zalanth marched toward the main lounge, following the tinkling chimes that accompanied the stellar views through the hushed hallways. Her footsteps were silenced by the plush patterned carpeting, but her steady stride was unburdened.

She opened both heavy double doors at once, letting them swing away, and found the scenes of opulence completely unchanged as they washed over her. The affluent continued to be pacified by their delicacies and expensive views. The rumbling in the foundation of the galactic community caused by humans hadn’t reached these heights. They had been a passing fascination at best.

She kept to the perimeter, moving with purpose as she rounded the area and approached the vessel’s main gateway. She only hesitated for a moment before exiting, snatching one last bead of namanin fruit while glancing back to see if any of the guests were paying extra attention to her.

The looks she caught were only the typical leering, impossible to avoid while being a relative giant, and they quickly averted their eyes, recognizing the danger of her aura. Whoever the agent of the Blessed Mau Collective was, she couldn’t spot them.

She stepped onto the utilitarian gateway to be transported to the Lankir Sector’s main hub settlement. A rush of mana that suppressed all of her senses gave her a moment to consider her position and develop a preliminary plan.

If the Blessed Mau Collective sought to turn her into a soldier, would she refuse? As far as fates within the galactic community went, it wouldn’t be a particularly poor outcome. It wouldn’t even be on the bad side of the spectrum. Being a low-ranking member of the Blessed Mau Collective would actually be a relative promotion over being Prime Commander for the Endless Empire. She probably wouldn’t resist, but she felt a small twinge of pride that opposed the idea of restarting from the bottom. Either way, a congenial recruitment was the most optimistic of outcomes, one that she doubted she qualified for.

Other demands were far more likely. If they sought to turn her into a servant or a pet, she would rather be dead. That was one principle that the rebellious humans had firmly exemplified during their sponsorships, and it was a principle she would gladly adopt. It would be a warrior’s death on her own personal battlefield instead. There was no higher being necessary to justify her actions, no deity to lay her life for. It was hers and hers alone after her exile. That was enough.

They could also be after the credits she had accumulated on all of her wagers. She felt like it was unlikely the Blessed Mau Collective of all factions would be the one to make a move so decisively to secure her credits, but it wasn’t impossible. The amount of credits she had gathered was that tempting and paying tribute hadn’t left her stack empty, nor had it canceled her continued wagers.

As her senses finally returned, she reconstituted in the center of a busy terminal, carved from an obsidian-like rock. Beings, the vast majority of which were humanoid, rushed to their destinations across the polished platform while crafters hawked their goods from single person carts parked along the outer edges.

The residents of the settlement had wisely created a merchant zone at the primary entrance and exit of their city, but they sold useless trinkets and consumable items to help commemorate a visit. Anything useful would need to be commissioned in advance from one of the trade houses.

Zalanth ignored the market booths, heading toward the upper district of the settlement territory that loomed in the distance. The city itself was a narrow strip of protected territory, snaking between a series of flanking walls that curved like ribbons along the outer edges. The terminal was in the middle district, so she didn’t have too far to go.

The dim light left deep shadows beneath the eaves of the more immediate black petrified wood buildings. The darkness was exacerbated by the way the buildings loomed out and over the street, blocking the limited natural light from ever reaching the road. They all had wider upper levels than ground floors.

She glanced in the star’s direction, having trouble deciding if it was night or day, before concluding that it didn’t matter. The protective domes shimmered in a way that was meant to confirm security, but she didn’t appreciate how they blocked nearly all of the light and forced the roads to rely on artificial illumination. She continued forward, sticking to the main path that connected all of the districts, unable to behave like a curious tourist.

Guards of the Lankir eyed her with interest as she made her way past their stations. They didn’t shift their positions in the slightest, but they watched her movements carefully. The guards subtly nudged their weapons, fighting their recognition of the natural hierarchy of power’s demand for deference toward her with their sworn responsibilities in keeping the settlement secure.

Zalanth had never had any need for masking her power in the Endless Empire, but if she was going to survive as an independent individual, she was becoming more and more aware of the need for discretion. Guards at the corner of every alley had the same reaction. There was even a gap in the crowd immediately around her at all times. She stood out for many different reasons. Becoming a contractor like Vronk the Prince and the Bloom of Annihilation made more and more sense, though she couldn’t imagine any settlements that would recruit an independent service over one offered by any notable faction.

It only took 20 minutes to reach her destination, and it would have been a relatively pleasant journey if not for her swirling thoughts lingering on the human battles that continued elsewhere in the galaxy. She was left alone in a pocket that hushed conversations as she went by. The brief walk turned into a much-needed confidence boost as her place in the hierarchy was reaffirmed by the other pedestrians. The order of the galactic community hadn’t broken down yet.

She still briefly hesitated outside of the heavy gate that separated the most prominent embassy in the city from the rest. At first, she was only mentally preparing herself, but then she realized there was no way to communicate that she had arrived.

Zalanth considered shouting to announce her presence, but before the thought had fully formed, the gate swung open under its own power. She paused, gazing upon the pathway to a mansion, before stepping inside the property. The air shimmered as she crossed the threshold, revealing the illusion that had been hiding the surprisingly modest official residence. Rather than an entire estate, there was a short tower standing alone in the center of the plot of land.

One of the rare humanoid felines stood at the entrance, dressed formally as if to receive an important dignitary. Before Zalanth could react, thinking she might be in the way of someone else more significant than she was, the female cat bowed graciously and began to speak.

“Greetings, Lady Zalanth.” She hailed with excessive politeness, standing straight after completing her bow. “I am Genevieve Solange Seraphina the Fifth, a humble ambassador from the Blessed Mau Collective, and I have a request for you, if you would accept it.”

Zalanth was unnerved by the formality and respect being presented to her. She tried to avoid falling back on Endless Empire protocol, but outside of that, she had no basis for behavior. She was a complete novice in all areas outside of being a soldier or commander. She wasn’t even sure how the Collective had become aware of her existence, let alone her location.

Genevieve detected her guest’s hesitance and adjusted on her behalf. “Would you prefer to be referred to as Prime Commander Zalanth?” She asked politely, offering far more respect than the disgraced Commander knew she deserved.

“I liked the sound of Lady Zalanth, actually.” Zalanth admitted to her own surprise.

“Of course.” Genevieve smiled, revealing the distinct fangs of her species, glad to get her guest to relax even slightly. “Lady Zalanth, would you be so kind as to provide a service to the Blessed Mau Collective? We would greatly appreciate your expertise.”

Zalanth knew she was in no position to decline, but that the powerful faction was extending so much courtesy toward her had to be a good sign. Maybe she was being given an option to escape.

She decided to play along and see if it was possible to simply decline. She would absolutely become a factionless contractor if she could walk away from this meeting on her own terms. Maybe some human settlement was in need of a combat trainer or a general laborer and sheer luck would guide them to her. No one else would contract her, that was certain.

“I’m afraid I can’t imagine what I could offer the Blessed Mau Collective.” She matched the cat lady’s politeness, unsure what she could offer anyone at this point.

Genevieve’s expression continued to be as pleasant as ever, certainly a positive signal. “Indeed, there is little that we cannot acquire ourselves. However, there is one area in which we believe your input would be of extraordinary value.”

For a moment, Zalanth suspected that the Endless Empire was in deep trouble. Perhaps they had done something to anger the felines in particular, and this was a play to get secrets on her former faction in order to thoroughly crush them. The problem with that theory was obvious, though. The Blessed Mau Collective wouldn’t need any help destroying the Endless Empire.

Genevieve continued, erasing Zalanth’s theory in the process. “We would like you to provide insight on the Humans of Earth. We believe you to be among the foremost experts on them. If you accept a temporary contract, you shall be handsomely rewarded. Discussions are already taking place as we speak.”

Zalanth’s pupils dilated as she finally concluded that this summons was also the humans’ fault. Her next thought was that she knew this would happen eventually, she just didn’t expect it to be so soon, or to involve her specifically. The established powers of the galactic community would absolutely be interested in the disruptive humans. Wasn’t this what she had wanted in the first place? The opportunity to warn someone?

“I suppose I could do that.” Zalanth timidly agreed, though her previous desires felt uncertain as the opportunity was suddenly thrust upon her.

“Wonderful!” Genevieve grasped her hands together before extending one out from her side. “Right this way, Lady Zalanth.” She led the way inside the small tower.

As Zalanth reviewed the contract, doing her best to uncover the catch, she realized that this was a sincere effort to understand humans and develop a preliminary stance for one of the greatest powers of the galactic community. This was an inflection point and she knew it, but she wasn’t convinced that her trepidations toward humans were completely warranted anymore. It might even be time for her to pick a side. Didn’t her updated position in the galactic community default her to advocate for the side of the rebels of Earth?

It only took a few more minutes before Genevieve escorted Zalanth through another high-end runed gateway, and her mind was swirling the entire time. The gate brought them somewhere far across the universe. It was an expense that Zalanth could barely comprehend, even with her newfound riches, though she struggled to appreciate it, due to the circumstances of her adventure.

The sun on this new planet was extraordinarily powerful, and she was forced to raise a hand to shield her eyes. Desert sands extended as far as she could see and the heat radiated from the ground, blurring the land in the distance, giving the whole place a dream-like quality. If it was just a smidgen warmer it would have been intolerable. Instead, as it was, it made Zalanth want to curl up in the shade and take a nap while ignoring all of her concerns.

Genevieve carefully led Zalanth down a white stone path toward a pyramid of thousands of carpeted platforms that had been stacked individually over millennia. Giant statues of felines watched them as they weaved around sleeping cats that basked in the sun on the smooth path, completely oblivious to the world around them.

Others dozed on the statues, their limbs and tails hanging in the heat. Zalanth couldn’t stop herself as she gaped at the different sleeping cats all the way up and down the sides of the enormous monument and all along the trail. Obviously, this was their paradise.

When they finally reached the entrance, Genevieve motioned for Zalanth to enter on her own. Zalanth followed her directions and was immediately confronted by another humanoid cat. “Greetings, Lady Zalanth.” He welcomed her politely from the center of the hallway, completing his own bow. “I am Alistair Sebastian Julius the First, a humble ambassador from the Blessed Mau Collective. Please, come with me.”

Zalanth obediently followed along as they walked into an enormous hollow space that made up the bulk of the area within the pyramid. A fire pit was dug in the middle, surrounded by benches. The seats that circled the pit held a handful of humanoid cats, lounging in various positions, as they debated important topics.

Zalanth couldn’t help but put her head on a swivel as she noted the details in the interior of the pyramid. It was nearly the same as the exterior: covered in napping cats on all sorts of tiny platforms, in hammocks, and hanging over edges all the way up as if they had no fear of heights at all. Small dangling frills were batted by the few that were awake, and the occasional burst of energy would leave several naps disturbed as one or another pranced across the precarious ledges. Others were in secluded nooks, hidden from the rest, and several passively watched as Zalanth entered their domain. It seemed like only a tiny minority of felines opted to evolve their forms and be drawn toward the galactic midpoint. She had never known.

As she approached the meeting, she overheard the elders already discussing humans.

“We must respond with a show of force, Sterling. Cancel the treaty negotiation. It was made prematurely, without a proper agreement.” The largest of the seated cat people articulated gruffly. His long orange hair matched the facial hair that was braided at his cheeks and subtle yellowish stripes ran down what she would describe as his mane.

He eyed Zalanth as she stepped toward them like he was a proper predator. She hesitated, recognizing that he was indeed stronger than she was by the hints of his aura he allowed her to detect.

Undisturbed by her presence, he continued his argument, shifting his attention back to the original subject. “To imitate us like that was a challenge. We shouldn’t respond to insults with cowardly talk.”

“What would you have us do, Tervel?” The man with silver-tipped hair, called Sterling, responded, cat ears swiveling toward the orange-haired man. “They are safe within the incubation period of an assimilation, not to mention they are proving that no one in their bracket will be a match.”

“Call upon our allies to overwhelm them with war declarations! Prove that we aren’t the kind to be mocked!” Tervel demanded. “It hasn’t even been a single cycle. They will crack eventually and we can guarantee such an outcome by forcing them to battle for the entire duration of their assimilation. To stand against both would be impossible!”

“Calm down, Tervel.” A female gently chided from her leisurely position on another bench. “You are embarrassing us in front of our guest.” She added as she gently stroked her own shiny black hair, held in front of her chest. Her cat eyes were locked on Zalanth.

Tervel growled, but stopped talking.

“Welcome, Lady Zalanth.” The one called Sterling finally addressed her directly. “Have a seat by the fire and be warmed, most of us would welcome your insight on the Humans of Earth.” He glanced at the orange-haired man as he spoke and Tervel looked away, rolling his eyes at the casual callout. He was obviously not included with the rest.

“Thank you.” Zalanth stated, keeping her voice steady despite the overwhelming auras of what she assumed were the elders of the Blessed Mau Collective. Human influence at it again, she supposed.

As she took a seat, as far away from the others as possible, the ones that introduced themselves as Genevieve and Alistair quietly joined the group. So much for humble ambassadors, she thought.

“I hope you don’t mind if we skip some pleasantries. I am dying to know what you think of these humans?” Sterling opened up what was sure to be a series of more specific questions with one that could only be answered broadly.

Zalanth fought her desire to dither, answering honestly despite the setting. “Well,” She glanced at the orange-haired man. “I don’t think they should be underestimated.” Zalanth’s pupils dilated as she immediately recognized her mistake, disagreeing so directly with someone of such higher standing, especially by suggesting they weren’t as powerful as they believed, could be a death sentence. They may have stated their desire for her honesty in the temporary contract, but that wasn’t how the galactic community worked at all.

The black-haired woman laughed raucously at her response, sitting up from where she lounged. “Oh, I like her!” She flippantly gestured with one hand toward Zalanth while facing the others. “Recruit her immediately.”

“Calm down, Madelina.” Sterling gently suggested, smiling as well. “Underestimated in what way?” He prompted her to follow up.

Zalanth gulped, continuing despite her fear. “They won’t be defeated in any declarations of war while the assimilation is active. They haven’t demonstrated their power at all.” She concluded, doubling down on her mistake.

Before the one called Tervel could speak up, prepared to argue about the strength of the human faction, Sterling spoke over him. “I agree. They were already a numerous species, and yet they haven’t fielded a single fully-committed army. Their agents have been impressive enough.”

“Hmph!” Tervel snorted, though he held his tongue.

Sterling smiled at Zalanth, silently promising her security before he continued. “There are many of our unrelated cousins on the planet Earth. If Humans are truly the primary species, what kind of relationship do they have with the local felines?”

This time, Zalanth really did pause. What surprised her in his question was the inherent skepticism applied to the system. The brazenness to openly suggest that they had believed the system was mistaken in one of its original assessments suggested a level of distrust she had only been introduced to through the humans themselves.

She blinked absently as her mind swirled with new thoughts and questions about the galactic community. Could it be that the scarily disruptive humans might have natural allies already embedded elsewhere? What did she even know about feline behavior? For all she knew, they could be as difficult to order and direct as the humans, they were just never in the position to be disciplined by anyone outside of their own faction. Was it even possible to herd cats the way that would be necessary to make them Chosen?

Sterling had not so subtly suggested the fallibility of the system with a simple statement. If she still believed in the God Empress, she would have been deeply offended by his question. But if she was honest with herself, she was already leaning toward siding with what humanity represented as they tore down their Gods. Her lack of defense of the system demonstrated that much at least. How valuable was the current order of things, anyway?

Zalanth finally came to a conclusion. She had become a heretic. Let the humans break some rules. It wasn’t her responsibility to make sure they failed to make their mark on the universe. In fact, she wished them luck; may they never be completely subdued.

Zalanth’s expression broke and she returned Sterlings smile, finally ready to reveal what she experienced without the additional baggage of her loyalty toward the God-Empress and a lifetime of unquestioning respect for the system. She was a completely changed person from the Prime Commander that hated the rebellious human Chosen that her God-Empress had saddled her with the task of training. She took a deep breath and she shed the last of her mental baggage, and prepared to pay the penalties that would be enacted upon her for revealing details of the Endless Empire’s campaign.

“Humans won’t be simple to understand.” She began, speaking with more certainty than before. “Nearly half of our Chosen refused to cooperate with their sponsorships, and nearly all of them gave their own individual reasons if they felt inclined to share at all.” Her self-assurance was rising as she felt empowered by the memories of renegade humans casually repudiating her instructors. “Let me share a few that you might find interesting.”

Pertinent to her current audience, she had plenty of examples of humans refusing to remain with the Endless Empire because they had to get home and feed the cats, as if the felines controlled their schedules. She conveniently left out how that same excuse applied to literally every creature family she had ever heard of, from canines to arachnids. Sterling had only asked about felines.

“They treat our cousins as pets.” Tervel grumbled after Zalanth outlined a self-described cat lady’s aggressive resistance to being kept for her orientation. The human had been willing to fight to the death with an obviously superior officer of the Endless Empire in order to avoid missing the specific time that the cats were fed, as if the treats couldn’t be given even a single minute later.

“Nonsense.” Madelina disagreed with a purr. “They serve our cousins appropriately. I for one will welcome our future human friends. Let them treat us the same.”