Unchosen Champion

Former Prime Commander Zalanth was feeling unusually restless. Her position as High Envoy of a galactic alliance put a different type of pressure on her performance. She had yet to grow fully accustomed to it, despite the years that had gone by, and at this point there was no more time left. They were finally meeting with the key figures of the entire project, whether she was comfortable or not.

Not for the first time, she considered how much she would prefer to face a clear enemy on an actual battlefield as opposed to attending these diplomatic sessions. Words were too complicated and there was far too much nuance involved in every little action.

The felines were experts in such analysis, naturally reading body language, eye movements, and breathing patterns, even of species completely different from their own, but she lacked their training and instinctive expertise. The Endless Empire purely relied on strength and she had been their cudgel for significantly longer than she had been with the Blessed Mau Collective.

She fidgeted with her ceremonial dress uniform, unsure if it would make the right first impression on the ambassadors of the Lighthouse. The others were in less martial outfits, clearly separating her station from the rest. It made her seem like a military adjutant whose presence was meant to gauge hostility. That, combined with the fact that she was the only member of the delegation of a different species, truly made her stand out. She worried that her appearance would trigger the impetuousness of humanity the same way their sponsorships had, though the felines were significantly more formidable than the officers of the Endless Empire.

"Relax, Lady Zalanth." Madelina cooed with a detached smirk on her face, stroking her own tail as she exercised her patience.

"Sorry." Zalanth responded, trying to stop her fingers from moving on their own. "I was wondering if whoever they send will be intimidated by us."

"There's nothing we can do about that. It's only natural for them to feel inadequate in our presence" Tervel rumbled, the feline leaders receiving essentially the same reception no matter who they met with, though Zalanth was worried for different reasons.

"Besides, with good old Sterling taking the lead here, we just have to standby." Madelina added, attempting to calm Zalanth with a gentle reminder of her current role.

Zalanth took a breath and thanked her, forcing herself to find something else to focus on. She had already gone over every observation she had made on humanity, providing as much insight as any being in the galactic community could hope to collect. There wasn't much she could do about the venue, since that was up to the Blessed Mau Collective, but they had opted for a secluded sand garden that played up some of the best features of the planet. Certainly, the felines would be comfortable, and they would be putting their best foot forward in order to impress their guests.

Behind them, acting as a frame for their position, the largest of the pyramids rose from the sands like a monument of warmth and steadiness. A series of green river valleys snaked toward the shallow rock-dotted lakes at its base, lined with the vegetation that formed between the sparkling dunes where moisture collected during the brief nights.

Anyone presented with the view of the feline capital would be awestruck, but how they suppressed their emotions would say a lot about their abilities in negotiation. Everything was a test, from the moment they arrived to how things concluded. If it was Zalanth, they would have read her thoughts and feelings in a heartbeat. She doubted the humans selected for such a delegation would be as unsophisticated as she was.

Though they stood as they waited, an elegant table had been set along the side. It was more for show than the actual refreshments that had been portioned out. Given the limited time a negotiation of this sort was actually allowed to last, they couldn't actually go through the normal motions. Neither side would want to waste much time eating instead of conversing. If this was a more customary setup, the first negotiation would be a relaxed affair just testing the waters between parties and deciding who would host next, but because the Lighthouse was no longer capable of being contacted, this was the first and last chance for them to come to any kind of understanding. They expected a whirlwind debate or demands and counters.

Their first priority was uncovering the status of felines on planet Earth. The second was gauging whether or not humanity would still become an active player within the galactic community despite the strange circumstances surrounding their integration. The third was contingent on the second; deciding on the nature of future relations between the Blessed Mau Collective and the Lighthouse if they were possible at all. Would they be a threat? An ally? This one meeting was meant to determine so many possibilities.

Unfortunately, Zalanth was too hot to keep it together. She tilted her head, pulling at her high collar, just trying to get a bit more air on her skin. Both suns were fully out, casting their light down upon them. Beyond the perimeter of the garden and the isolation zone established for the meeting, every shadow was occupied by cats lazing about. The unempowered animals were blissfully unconcerned with the meeting that was about to occur. She was jealous.

She had to remind herself that, after so many inexplicable delays, she was standing with the upper council of the Blessed Mau Collective, prepared to receive a diplomatic team sent by humanity. It was all a bit hard to believe. Sterling, Tervel, and Madelina, were with her, though none of them seemed the slightest bit anxious. If anything, they were pleasantly surprised that the meeting was happening at all. Despite all signs pointing to the demise of planet Earth, Zalanth wasn't exactly shocked by their eventual contact either. Only the timing was what she found most suspect.

Compared to the others, she was the only one present that had been entirely focused on Earth, humanity, and the Lighthouse during the intermediary period. The rest had all the other responsibilities with leading a supreme faction within the galactic community occupying their thoughts, so Zalanth reassured herself that her elevated investment was the reason for her agitation compared to them.

They had patiently waited until the end of Earth's projected assimilation period, burning a fortune of credits while anticipating some signs of life at the end of 111 years. However, their entreaty to the Lighthouse remained pending even afterwards. All evidence at the time pointed to the demise of humanity.

She had daily debates with her assistants and the other council members, collecting clues that may or may not point to the survival of life on Earth. A disturbing wave passed through mana at the exact time the assimilation should have ended, the simultaneous disappearance of a minuscule number of low-ranking workers among various factions, and other rumors were too insignificant or too coincidental to really mean anything.

They were all wondering if the lack of direct contact meant the Lighthouse was actually gone or if they simply couldn't afford the fees that would be demanded of them if they were alive. Neither made sense to Zalanth. She was personally aware of the extreme adaptability demonstrated by humanity, and she was doubly sure the founder of the Lighthouse had the funds necessary to make contact. She was forced to take the potentially offensive position that humanity was simply unconcerned with a timely meeting with the Blessed Mau Collective. She couldn't imagine leaving the most powerful group waiting, as if they weren't a priority at all, but she could certainly envision humans doing exactly that. Either way, they were all anxious to get answers.

She had successfully formed a small coalition with nearly a dozen other factions that shared a mutual interest in humanity. None of the other factions were on equal standing to the Blessed Mau Collective, so the fees for a message to any of the others would have been much more reasonable. However, none of them received a response either. It was yet another clue that suggested humans were no more.

Things were just not looking good for the Lighthouse. Meanwhile, life in the galactic community continued as usual. Thousands of wars broke out between rivals while thousands more ended. Events completed and new heroes rose into the spotlight before being dragged down by others. Challenges were issued and fulfilled. Alliances formed, aimed at a common enemy, then broke apart whether the original objectives were completed or not. There were notable complaints that less assimilations were taking place than ever, though that didn't seem to have anything to do with the Lighthouse. Earth had essentially been forgotten by the broader community after more than a hundred years of complete inactivity, its leaderboards a passing fad at best.

Even she began to harbor doubts as time continued flowing forward and humans uncharacteristically avoided introducing themselves. Compared to a bombastic introduction that declared their presence to the community whether they were accepted or not, as she expected, the silence was uncanny.

Zalanth couldn't imagine what it would have taken to wipe out the humans that had quickly come to dominate their assimilation, but with every passing cycle, it seemed more likely that something extreme must have occurred. Rather than be worried about the knockdown effects of humanity entering the galaxy, she was growing concerned about what force could have eliminated them. Maybe there was an even greater danger they should be more worried about than the rebellious humans.

She was careful not to express such alarming thoughts out loud, but in the back of her mind she was envisioning truly apocalyptic dangers being born from the distant reaches of the galactic community. She was inadvertently cultivating a fear of the unknown as her absolute confidence in the system of mana waned more and more.

Then, the entire Collegia Universal faction, one that had eagerly joined the coalition, simply disappeared.

There was no warning. There were no declarations of war, notices of quarantine, or dramatic operations. Nothing had predicted any massive changes and none of the major alliances had indicated that the purely academic faction was even on their radar. The core planet of the inconsequential faction was simply removed from the galactic community. They were gone.

The faction was erased in the same way that the Lighthouse had been. The members who had been willingly participating in her alliance vanished, no longer reachable by any standard means. It was like they had been swallowed by a shadow in the cosmos. Zalanth's terror truly reached a crescendo as she broke down and warned the feline council of her rather dangerous thoughts regarding the vulnerability of the system as they knew it.

It was already many months after the 111 years of Earth's isolation should have ended, and the other members of the alliance were clearly leaning toward the idea that receiving contact from humanity was a lost cause. The only reason they stayed together was for the opportunity to network with the Blessed Mau Collective.

But when one of the factions involved in the coalition was seemingly wiped out, half the factions were finally pushed to prioritize their own safety. The risk of delving into secrets that they were never supposed to know suddenly became too great. Being closely associated with a faction that experienced such a catastrophe made them feel imperiled.

Zalanth couldn't help but feel the same apprehension, wondering if whatever had wiped out the humans of Earth had escaped when the planetary shield disappeared and was now out there, looming among the stars. It was enough to torment her daydreams.

The felines weren't intimidated. If anything, all the oddities only increased their curiosity. The mission stayed the same, and thankfully, their patience was eventually rewarded. The Lighthouse suddenly accepted their pending treaty negotiations after an extra year of delay.

With a sudden whoosh of air, two of the three pending projections abruptly arrived on the opposite end of the isolation zone at the designated time. Both were humans. A suppressed aura washed over and her instincts screeched in terror as she arrogantly pierced its veil.

She felt her pupils dilating, the sense that she needed to flee weighing heavily on her mind. It was like an avatar of domination had appeared before them, and though it arrived with complete nonchalance, it could become dangerous on a level that went beyond the system. She shied away from staring directly and couldn't help but notice that even the representatives of the Blessed Mau Collective had eyes wide while their tails betrayed their unease, flicking with uncharacteristic vigor, though they hadn't been staggered the same way she was.

"My, oh my…" Madelina hummed while Tervel's fangs were subtly exposed.

When Zalanth tried actually inspecting the auras of the guests, absolutely nothing came back. The humans who had arrived were black holes of information. The projections sent by the Lighthouse were specters, haunting the system, rather than proper members of the galactic community, but with her eyes she could see they were real living beings. It was the first documented case of extant life beyond the system they knew.

It took a moment for Zalanth to register that the third registered entity was also present, actually being carried by the one with a horrendous presence. When the younger male human shifted a black cat up to his shoulder, she couldn't believe the audacity of the humans to actually bring a pet cat to meet with a faction of independent felines. It was brazen, to say the least, but with such an overpowering presence, they could get away with even more if they pushed.

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Then, contrary to the crushing first impression, the human held his hands in front of him and shook his fingers out like he was the one being made uncomfortable.

"What the heck? That feels totally weird." He mumbled to his companion, barely loud enough for their enhanced hearing to pick up. "...Like I just got microwaved or something. Are we sure that old system knows what it's doing? We didn't get hit with a bunch of radiation just now did we?"

In contrast, the second human presented himself properly, upright in posture, and dressed for the occasion. He was immediately assessing the party with discerning eyes that gave nothing away while the younger of the pair was distracted by his own experience. It seemed like at least one of the negotiators was an experienced player of social games.

"My fingers are all tingly." The younger one continued when he didn't get a response. "Hey, you don't think anyone is going to do anything weird to our bodies while we're here, do you?"

"Not mine, at least." The older gentlemen declared. "Remember: we're on a time limit here."

The more casual of the two clicked his tongue but nodded, finally registering the feline powerhouses that were in their presence. He briefly glanced at them, apparently only marginally impressed by their strength, before he was distracted by the scenery. Anyone else in the galactic community would have rushed to kneel in front of the elder council members of the Blessed Mau Collective. Instead, his face lit with excitement after he looked away, completely painting himself as a naive childlike creature as he admired the landscape, though his aura made it clear he was a potential nightmare that they would certainly have to make sure to appease.

She couldn't understand their dynamic. It was like humans had sent a godkiller to guard their representative and escort their cat, but the way they spoke made it seem like the roles were reversed.

"This is really a different planet, huh?" The monster tried whispering. "Look Arthur, that's one huge pyramid. Do you think ours were more of those echoes or is it just a coincidence?"

"It's probably just a logical shape for basic construction." The other calmly responded, maintaining an unbreakable air of neutrality. Whether he was truly unimpressed with the development of the Blessed Mau Collective's core settlement or if he was a master of neutrality was unclear.

"They even prepared snacks!" The monster noted, stepping forward as the other finally broke and sighed. Before he was close enough for polite greetings, the younger human waved at the representatives and raised his voice. "Hi there! We come in peace!"

Madelina couldn't help but laugh, though her outburst was ignored by the humans. Instead, the frivolous one suddenly stopped and got serious, pointing directly at Zalanth. "So, what's she doing here?" He demanded. "I doubt the Endless Empire is cool with us."

Zalanth nearly fainted beneath his focused attention, the suppressed aura leaking with his bloodlust. Despite his appearance, he was ready to flip a switch and enter combat with anything anywhere. It was clear to see how he would be a terrifying foe or reliable ally, depending on where they stood with humanity itself. She felt herself staring into the shadow she had imagined looming in the cosmos, eating up whole planets, but it was coming from a human aura.

"Ah! Apologies to our guests." Sterling began, nearly as thrown off by the sudden shift in attention, but far more experienced in controlling his mood. "Please allow us to introduce ourselves. I am Sterling Marius Princeton the Third, current acting leader of the Blessed Mau Collective and these are my equals, Tervel and Madelina. The one you are referring to is Lady Zalanth, High Envoy of the human coalition we sponsored. She is present in that capacity."

"Huh? Zalanth? Why didn't you say so? That completely changes things." The human declared, finally resuming his approach. "I got your gift. Since you're our benefactor, just say the word and I'll take you home with us." When Zalanth glanced at the felines, he continued. "Don't let them scare you, now. The Lighthouse protects its people, and you're certainly included."

Tervel growled, finally unable to contain himself. "Just who do you think you are?"

"Oh, right. Arthur, do the thing." The younger human nudged his companion, completely oblivious or uncaring of the danger Tervel represented.

After subtly shaking his head, the older gentleman cleared his throat and addressed the audience. "Greetings, venerable leaders of the Blessed Mau Collective. I would like to present to you the Unchosen Champion of Ghost Reef, the Icon of Humanity, and the founder of the Lighthouse."

"I knew it." Zalanth mumbled.

"You can call me Coop." The monster added casually, smiling directly at Zalanth in a way that was at least moderately disarming.

"Listen here, Coop." Tervel cut in. "What makes you think you can simply poach from us like that? Lady Zalanth is a part of the Blessed Mau Collective. We are not just any faction."

"If you aren't treating her right, I'll take her. It's that simple. She's earned at least that much from us." Coop responded.

"Then what about her?" Tervel pointed at the awakened black cat that was quietly observing from Coop's shoulders, looking more like an accessory than a living creature. "You think you can flaunt keeping one of our kind like a pet and get away with it?"

Tervel stepped forward, ignoring the fact that conflict with projections would go nowhere, but it was the black cat that responded. She stood up on the human's shoulders, arching her back and hissed right in Tervel's face. It couldn't have been made more clear who she was siding with, and it wasn't with the other felines. Zalanth could barely keep up with the fireworks appearing between everyone.

Madelina laughed again as she pulled Tervel back. "Oh, this is incredible. You won't be separating her from that human, that's for sure. Why don't you hang back until Sterling is done."

"What about you?" Coop questioned Zalanth directly, ignoring the powerhouses by her side.

"Being picked up by the Blessed Mau Collective was perhaps the greatest honor of my life." She admitted candidly.

"Alright, then." Coop acknowledged. "In that case, let's get to business." He decided, moving past Tervel and Madelina to take a handful of the delicacies. After he ate a few, he nodded to himself, seeming to approve of the taste, and let the cat try one.

"First, if you don't mind, could you educate us on your faction's relationship with the felines on your planet." Sterling interjected, sticking to the plan as closely as possible, somehow appearing as unshaken as the more polite human who had been called Arthur.

Coop shrugged. "I mean we're all equals in the Lighthouse, but even before mana came into play we had something of a partnership with housecats." He glanced at Arthur who seemed to agree with his word choice. "I think any human that's lived with a cat knows they run the show." He added as he rubbed the black cat's nose with one hand.

Sterling was listening carefully. "That's excellent to finally hear." He admitted.

"I guess I should add that Earth is extremely diverse. It isn't just humans and cats. We're all getting along." He continued.

As he spoke, he pulled out a narrow container, tore off the top and held it up for the cat on his shoulder. All three of the representatives of the Blessed Mau Collective had their eyes drawn to the obvious treat, unable to resist, though it didn't seem to have the same effect on Zalanth.

Coop pulled three more from his personal storage and tossed them to Sterling. "These are really popular right now." He added. A few seconds later, all three evolved felines were licking the same type of treat as the Earthborne cat, completely pacified.

Coop chuckled to himself as he exchanged a glance with Arthur, apparently satisfied with the effectiveness of the peace offering. "And you said that would be offensive."

"I concede that I was mistaken." Arthur acknowledged. "You have 55 minutes. We are ahead of schedule."

Coop nodded and took a deep breath. "So here comes the heavy stuff." He restarted while all the felines present enjoyed their treats, eyes fixed on him. "The system that has created the galactic community is a giant trap meant to sabotage the development of its members."

Even though Zalanth was anticipating the temerity of humans, to come right out and openly denounce the system with no regard to the axioms of their audience was quite the surprise. Coop was directly challenging the reality of the cosmos with what seemed like unwavering confidence and he didn't even bother to ease into it.

'It's our opinion that you already suspected something along those lines, or else you wouldn't have held out so long to interact with us. Maybe you couldn't articulate the lingering doubt in the back of your mind, but you feel it." Coop stated confidently.

Zalanth glanced back and forth, feeling like maybe humans had been overestimating them. She absolutely had what felt like a splinter appear in her reality ever since humanity had come onto the scene, but she had always associated it with them and their attitudes. He was saying that that discomforting feeling was caused by exposure to the flaws of the system rather than the characteristics of humanity. Certainly, she had grievances, but to go so far as to call it a trap? She wasn't sure.

Coop continued, the seriousness he suddenly presented feeling even heavier when contrasted by his earlier nonchalance. "The galactic community is more like a prison than a society. You are prevented from flourishing with the gift of mana by those who might have been threatened by your ascension. They would have used you to elevate themselves, but they are dead and yet you are still trapped by their system. Those who might poke a hole in the deception are eradicated." He paused to stare directly into the eyes of each of the felines as they obediently listened.

"Your cousins on my planet suffered when the system tried to cleanse our planet to avoid letting someone like me say these things. I can't even tell you exactly how many died. We were lucky to survive at all. But how many species were previously extinguished to maintain the illusion? How many felines?" He questioned, directly addressing the biggest concerns of the Blessed Mau Collective.

As the felines finished their treats, Sterling responded on behalf of the rest. "That is quite the… expansive condemnation… Please forgive me for expressing skepticism, regardless of my true feelings. But even if what you say is true, that we do have a nagging feeling struggling to be articulated, and that you have exposed secrets hidden by the system, what should we do? We are essentially at the top of the galactic community, have significant influence, and other than your testimony, no real reason to yield anything. Within the system, life doesn't get any better than ours."

Coop nodded, agreeing with him. "So, you have a choice between a comfortable illusion and a possibly painful truth. You can join our network and let us help you through the transition of exiting the galactic community, or you can cling to it for as long as you can. As long as you don't oppose us, we don't actually mind either way." He smiled again, his earnestness breaching any possible language barriers. "You're probably not used to it, given your standing, but I'm not here to ask you for anything. I am here to issue a warning. We will be tearing things down, piece by piece, so one way or another, you will eventually be exposed to the truth, but we can't predict how the system will react and it might get harder for you in the future."

"And joining you means we will simply disappear, like Collegia Universal?" Sterling questioned.

"Ah, no, that was more on them pushing the envelope on their own. If you aren't already articulating those doubts we mentioned earlier through technological experimentation, it won't be so abrupt." Coop answered. "You maintaining a connection to the galactic community would actually be more convenient for us."

"So do you not want anything from us?" Sterling wondered after a brief pause.

"Just permission, I guess." Coop stated, pulling out yet another object from his personal storage, this one a gadget that Zalanth couldn't identify. "This is a beacon. If you let me place it, we can get started, but there's no turning back from that point."

Sterling glanced at Madelina, Tervel, and then Zalanth, silently conferring with each of them. Even if Zalanth could form an opinion, she wouldn't have been able to say anything. The whole interaction felt like a fever dream.

"I don't mind leaving this with you while you decide, but just in case you're more like Collegia Universal than you think, it'd be better to have me be here when it activates." Coop added before glancing around at the horizon. "Also, just in case, where is the mana mountain on this planet?"

While Madelina pointed for Coop, evidently warming up to both the human and his cat companion, Tervel surprised Zalanth by speaking up. "Let's do it Sterling. If this human is lying, we'll be able to show why it isn't just a coincidence we have risen to our position." He encouraged an agreement, speaking with overflowing confidence. "In a situation like this, we must be bold."

"I would have liked to get the lower council's input." Sterling admitted.

"I trust him." Zalanth muttered, surprising even herself. "I mean, I trust that humans would strive to escape a trap, and I can't help but harbor my own misgivings toward what is allowed within the galactic community."

Sterling chewed on his cheek, possibly remembering the many times he had exposed his uncertainty toward the system before getting Coop's attention. "Show us this truth, then."

"Alright!" Coop responded, excited to move to the first step.

He fiddled with the gadget for a moment before Arthur just told him to put it on the ground. Coop planted it in the sand at the edge of the garden and the representatives of the Blessed Mau Collective stared at it, waiting for it to do something. Within seconds, Zalanth already felt silly. It was just a metallic stick, propped up by a bit of soil.

Coop cleared his throat as it started to feel like he was playing a joke on them. "Look up here." He suggested, holding a finger up toward the sky from next to his cheek.

As soon as Zalanth tilted her neck, squinting her eyes, a fleet of massive city-sized objects arrived, their forms momentarily eclipsing the suns as they maintained formation. Their sleek curves made it clear they were designed for speed, but the way they suddenly appeared from the distance made it seem like they had practically exploded into existence.

Zalanth could hardly understand what she was looking at. Was it actually possible that humans could travel beyond planets without the system? Had they conquered the void?

"So who wants to be the first to visit Earth?" Coop pinned the moment with an impossible invitation.