---Next Morning---
Walking onto the bridge with a cup of coffee in hand, I found Lileath gazing out the viewing window at the cityscape below. Asking how my evening was, before I could get a word out, she turned back to with a big grin suggesting she knew all about my bedroom activities last night. Looking at one another for a mont, the goddess began to giggle joyfully before returning to what she had been doing seconds ago. Taking the opportunity to have a heart to heart with her, since it was just the two of us here right now, I wanted to confirm just how much she knew about my real identity.
“Alright Lileath, how much have you been able to ascertain from my dreams?”, I said, taking a seat in my chair, “Give an honest answer, or I am shipping you off to help Yncarne and Yvraine. So you are aware, I can detect truths and lies, even from deities like yourself.”
“Let make one thing perfectly clear, I have no intention of ever deceiving or lying to you, Victor. As my savior, being honest and forthright with you is the least I can do.”, Lileath comnted, glancing over her shoulder at with a serious expression.
Using the Force, and several spells, to judge her statent, everything confird she was indeed being truthful with . Satisfied that I would not have to dissect cryptic phrases and half-truths for answers, I took a sip of my coffee and let her continue.
“Now, to answer your question, I have only seen fragnts of your dreams and mories. Normally your ntal fortitude is impenetrable, but in the presence of your family it lapses just enough for to sneak a peek. I honestly find it heartwarming that you feel that comfortable around the ones you love.”, Lileath said, before quickly getting back on topic, “From what I can gather, you managed to retain your mories from a previous life. Based on the snippets I saw, is it safe to assu you lived on earth in the second millennium, or twenty-first century as it was called back then?”
“Yes, but not the Terra you are sowhat familiar with. I am from the original earth, the real cradle of humanity.”, I admitted, ‘If this is the extent of her knowledge, I can work with this. Letting others find out that I am not from this reality can never be allowed to happen. I am not at the level of fuck you that I can absolutely guarantee the safety of my family and ho world when I am not close by. Until that day cos, this is one secret that I can never share.’
“Interesting… We hypothesized that humans were not natives of our galaxy but never had proof to confirm it.”, Lileath remarked, intrigued by this information, “Now I would like to ask you a question. Having seen glimpses of the power and technology you possess, what exactly is your end goal, Victor? Do you seek to conquer a vast swath of creation, or do you desire power beyond comprehension?”
“My desire is and always has been to traverse the universe from one end to the other. I want to sample everything that reality has to offer, but the bullshit in this region of space has hindered from doing so.”, I complained, taking another sip of coffee, “I cannot properly savor anything if the universe goes to hell in a handbasket, thus I began working to preserve and rebuild things before departing. Unfortunately, my efforts have shouldered with countless additional responsibilities that I cannot simply walk away from now. The Imperium of Man requires my assistance to successfully rebuild after millennia of neglect and stagnation; the Galactic Republic is almost certain to collapse within the next few decades without so guidance from , and here recently I have beco burdened with unifying this region in preparation for the Tyranid onslaught. It is all quite botherso, but if I do not do it, who else will?”
Smiling warmly at , Lileath walked over and plopped herself on my right leg. A bit startled by her continued boldness, I could not fathom what the Aeldari Goddess was thinking. Given her pantheon’s influence over the Aeldari, my assumption was that they held great contempt for other races. Her actions recently though had begun to alter this idea as she was acting far too flirtatious for it to be true. Even taking into consideration the fact that I saved her still did not explain her boldness.
“You are curious why I am being so forward with you, are you not? I can see it plain as day in your eyes.”, Lileath comnted, giving a soft smile, “Ordinarily, even though you saved , I would never be so forward with anyone. The fact is you hold a great deal of honor and respect amongst the fractured Aeldari people. Most have heard about your scuffle with She Who Thirsts and your subsequent triumph over her. The souls you liberated retreated to the various Craftworlds across the galaxy, singing your praises to anyone who would listen. You may not have killed her, but you gravely wounded her and gave the entire race a temporary reprieve from her influence.”
“Are you suggesting you are throwing yourself at for their sake?”, I questioned, uncertain how to feel about that.
“No, I am interested in learning more about the mortal who rose up to protect the Eldar woman he loved. While others would have abandoned her and fled, you chose to stand your ground and protect her, risking your own soul in doing so.”, Lileath stated, “Your dedication and love for your family have moved deeply. The kindness you also show your fellow mortals is sothing the Eldar could stand to learn from. While I do not expect you to accept imdiately, please allow the opportunity to win you over slowly.”
“I do not suppose I have a choice at this point.”, I chuckled, assuming I was stuck with her now, ‘Just please stay like this and do not turn into an Aqua or Ristarte. I do not need more craziness in my life right now…’
Tapping a button on my left armrest, a star chart of Galactic Republic appeared before us. Zooming in on the Lehon System, I was about to initiate a jump there when a call ca in from the Algrandian capital world. Unsure who would be calling from there, I hesitantly accepted the video call and inquired who it was. Receiving a blank screen and no response for a few seconds, my finger was milliters away from the disconnect button when audio and visual started coming through.
“Lord Stark, my apologies for calling you at such an early hour but I have an urgent request to make of you.”, Ambassador Jaliraa Caliza said, embarrassnt painted on her face, “Our holand is unable to send people to retrieve us right now as they are under assault from the Reapers once again. While we await a lull in the conflict to appear, I wanted to use the opportunity to begin searching for my missing crew and subordinates. Could you please take us to the Republic’s capital world, Coruscant? The Algrandians are unable to help us as they are busy preparing to engage a Tyranid fleet that recently appeared in their galactic south.”
‘Now hold on a second, the Galactic Republic is also engaging a Tyranid Fleet in their galactic south as well. Since their southern borders mark the edge of this region, does this an that they are connected?’, I thought, fearing this could be an even bigger issue than people were realizing. “I am happy to offer you a ride to Coruscant, but I must ask a favor of you. The Galactic Republic just recently began a campaign against a Tyranid fleet in their galactic south as well. While it may just be a coincidence, my concern is that what they are seeing now is only tendrils of a much larger Hive Fleet. Could you please alert the Algrandians to this possibility so they can work in tandem with the Republic?”
“Of course, I will notify them imdiately!”, Jaliraa agreed, “One of my staff will contact you when we are ready to co aboard.”
Nodding my head in confirmation, I disconnected from the call and let out a long sigh. Asking Luxion to send word to my grandfather and uncles about this new developnt, he attached the relevant docunts and reports to the ssage before transmitting it to them. Sending an alert out to the engineering teams working across the Imperium of Man as well, they were given clear instructions to report any sightings to their superiors and initiate a planetary evacuation under my authority. Aside from the Emperor of Mankind, anyone that took issue with my order could take the matter up with personally.
---Coruscant, An Hour Later---
Heading planetside with Ahsoka, Bo-Katan, Lileath, and Samus, we personally escorted the Ambassador Jaliraa and her subordinates to where the Senate was temporarily holding their gatherings. Greeting Pad, Satine, and mbers of the Jedi High Council, I let Ambassador Jaliraa explain their current situation to them. Turning pale when they heard about what the Orions and Hutts had done, the two Senators imdiately bowed their heads and profusely apologized. Fearful of the potential political ramifications of this incident, they swore to do all they could to reunite her with the missing crew mbers.
“Just out of curiosity, why exactly is a Primarch of the Imperium escorting a Citadel Ambassador?”, Windu inquired, confused how I fit into this, “Is there sothing going on that we should be aware of?”
“Lord Stark is the one that found us and saved our lives.”, Jaliraa explained with a smile. “The Algrandians would have brought us here, but they are preparing to intercept a Tyranid fleet to their galactic south.”
Nodding their heads, the Jedi Masters turned to Ahsoka with a frustrated expression.
“Not in the report, this information was.”, Yoda comnted. “Include such details you should.”
“It is not her fault; we only requested Lord Stark’s help an hour ago.”, Jaliraa insisted, trying to defend Ahsoka as she had only woken up ten minutes before our arrival.
“Victor giving you a lift here is not the problem. The fact she forgot to ntion your delegation was among the Hutt’s captives is.”, Windu clarified, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
“My apologies, Master Windu and Master Yoda. I thought I had included that in my daily report, but I must have overlooked it.”, Ahsoka said, bowing her head apologetically, ‘I know I told them about the delegation in my daily report. Is soone in the Order trying to get kicked out?’
Accepting her apology, the Jedi Master told her they would overlook the matter this ti. Asking the Citadel delegation to follow them, Windu and Yoda wanted to discuss the matter of their missing people at length with the other council mbers. Suggesting that their colleagues’ underworld contacts may be able to assist them, Jaliraa and her staff thanked us once again before chasing after the two Jedi Masters. Waiting for them to be out of earshot, Satine turned to Bo-Katan and with a giddy smile.
“So, I hear that you and Victor are finally going out!”, Satine giggled like a schoolgirl.
“What the fuck, Ahsoka?! You included that in your report!?”, Bo-Katan snapped, irritated that she put such personal information in her report.
Opening her mouth to assure Bo-Katan that she had not, Satine cut her off by boisterously laughing at her reaction.
“I was joking, Bo-Katan!”, Satine insisted, wearing a smug smile, “The ssage you wrote the other day was far more chipper than usual, so I assud you two finally got together. Congratulations to both of you, now when is the wedding?”
“Damn it, Satine, cut it out!”, Bo-Katan shouted, clenching her fists in anger, “Victor, we should get going before I kill her.”
“Where are you off to now?”, Pad said, trying very hard not to laugh at their antics.
“The Lehon System to check out the Star Forge.”, Lileath answered, unaware of the landmine she had just stepped on.
Turning to , Ahsoka, Bo-Katan, Pad, and Satine all demanded to know what I wanted with such a dangerous machine. With the cat out of the bag now, I pulled out Stormbreaker’s axe head and told them that I wanted to use the facility to reforge the Asgardian weapon.
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