They were taken to rooms that were fancy with a window that could look out onto the ground.
"Nahh what is this, you telling me we didn't have to stare at four walls for that long in that cell. Like this is crazy." Masinon said as he walked to the window.
Rixon walked through his door drying his locs. "I mean honestly its a really cool concept with the mesh material blocking light from our side to escape outside."
Kiala glanced at the shared wall between their rooms. "Yea having connected rooms, i can't say i am a fan."
Rixon stood in their living room area. "Look we won't be here long and did it not surprise yall not to see Velo?"
Rel came through the other door. "Yeah, very."
Masinon shook his head and face palmed. "I see what you mean Ki. It seems as though we are all are ready to go so lets get the move on to the dinner hall. Where is the rest of the family?"
Oyric came up behind Rel and hugged him. "They are all outside in the hall, we are waiting on yall."
Rel kissed Oyric and they walked out the door.
"Mann how do you get used to stuff like that, like he just keeps her in his pocket." Masinon said to Rixon as they prepared to walk out.
Rixon took a deep breath and nodded his head because he knew there was no good way to answer that without it turning into something.
The group were escorted to the hall. There the Boss, Zay, Beelo and a couple of the men that had been downstairs when he went to meet her for the first time were already seated. Rixon sat on the opposite side of the table so he could look her dead in the eye. Oyric saved a seat for Sentio to sit next to Rixon and one for Relisis so they could eat together.
"Welcome. What should i call you and the band now?" The Boss said as she sat drinking from her cup.
The room was quiet, almost like there was a knife to everyone's neck if they spoke. Everyone except Rixon.
"You are dining and eating with the Voss Family. But before we continue this I hate having conversations with ghosts. It makes me come off as if I'm crazy. So can you tell me your name so we can actually have a conversation between two parties." Rixon said as he let his locs out of his hair tie and sat back in his chair.
Zay still pissed. "You don't get that info twerp, she is"
"Talonia."
Zay's eyes went wide. Everyone from their side of the table sat in shock because she hardly gave her name out to anyone.
That’s all she shared for the moment and Rixon accepted that to not ruin the dinner and negotiation opportunity. The tension between the two sides of the table had been sitting all through the first round of drinks and into the appetizers. Both families stayed locked in conversation with their own, eyes occasionally drifting across to the other side like scouts checking enemy position. Rixon and Talonia were the worst of it. Every time one spoke to their own, the other was watching, cataloging, measuring. It was two people who understood power sitting in the same room and neither willing to be the first to show anything that resembled a hand.
It was Beelo who broke it, not with intention, but with something small enough that it slipped through before anyone could stop it.
He had been quiet most of the night, seated near the end of Talonia's side, watching. His eyes moved across the Voss family the way a man looks at something he built from scratch and is seeing standing on its own for the first time. Masinon leaned over and said something low in Kiala's ear and she laughed and pushed him away. Relisis reached across Oyric to grab bread and she grabbed his hand without looking up from her conversation with Vena.
Beelo let out a breath through his nose that was almost a laugh.
Rixon caught it from across the table.
Beelo looked up and saw him looking and did not try to hide it. He just gave a small nod toward the two couples and looked back down at his plate like the moment had already said everything it needed to say.
Rixon looked at his family and then back at Beelo and nodded back.
Talonia caught that interaction. Nothing was said regarding it, but the room felt different after that. Not soft. Just less like a standoff.
It was into that changed air that Sentio leaned forward and opened the floor.
"So Boss lady, how did you come about learning of my side of the galaxy?"
The room went silent and allowed her to answer. "Well Doctor, I learned of your home sector because when I was a child my father would tell me stories from our ancestors about those who were the greatest explorers. They took on any challenge and chased anything that seemed out of reach. When they were being explorative they were actually those who first witnessed the Yornkata empire being born. They told everyone that those from sector 5 do not know how to stop and that there is a danger in the air for when they will never understand that everything is not meant to be apart of their empire."
She stood up and began to walk over to a mural on the wall. Doctor Sentio stood up with a quickness once he realized what it was.
"They told everyone these words and burned it into the head of all those who could hear. We have blood that evolves and we are the only ones who can stop the blight of conquest. We see that there is a place in the stars." She said it as they could all see the drawing of them speaking to the king of Delisus, shaking hands and hugging friends and family before they embarked on the journey.
Doctor Sentio began to recite and finish her story. "This place is a place that no blight nor conquest can reach. It is the heavens of the planets that align rarely but alternate often. We will go and create different versions of ourselves so the blight can never truly find a way to stop us."
Talonia went back to her seat as every eye stayed glued to the Doctor who looked like he had seen a ghost. "So i see that the story got passed along with generations. That story here stopped getting passed down because what was once a cool fairytale began to be proved invalid and then a farce."
"So I'm confused." Rixon said as he leaned forward and pulled his locs to the side.
"What are you confused about exactly?" Talonia said as she drank from her wine cup.
"You say these stories and I feel that you are connected to it. What's creating the confusion is why are you sending us to the unreachable place when it looks like you obviously want to be there and get away from this life." Rixon said as everyone looked around and the tension in the room rose once again.
"In safety and courtesy of tonight, honesty is the only thing that won't get anyone killed tonight or less injured.’
“I want you to go because my family was rotten and i knew my family was getting targeted, so i had you go and kill off the lackluster and carefree branches while Yornkata killed the others." She said as she took a deep breath to release the words into the air.
Everyone from her side dropped their eyes to the table. Almost as if they were guilty of something they could not undo.
"Rixon, you know why me and your mom got along so well? Because i wanted to be what she was and she had moments she wanted to be what i was. I wanted to just be in charge of a force that went and traveled wherever they wanted. But you know what i learned, Rixon, is that piracy is not a kids fairytale or more so the story leaves out the sad parts. When i started this family we just went from planet to planet doing what we wanted. Nothing heinous or disrespectful. We at best just killed some punks who thought they could scare us or try to stop us from exploring." She said as she stared into her wine cup almost replaying the events in her head.
"Good times, Talonia." Beelo said it quietly, like the words had been waiting a long time to come out, and the table felt the weight of everything behind them.
"Yea they were. But when you kick people's ass and take care of people they were mistreating, you don't realize how big of a task that is to take care of people at the young age. And crazy enough we went to Helfahcta and we went into a town where we thought we were having fun eating, drinking, and fighting until a person ran up to me and told me one of my family members had taken control of their police department and was killing any citizens who opposed them. And mind you, all this happened in two weeks. When i arrived to the station they treated me like i was the queen and i was appalled. So much death and destruction i could not stand to be around them. I told them they had to from that point on name their own family branch as we could not be associated. But before long my family name was plastered all over the universe and others saw what notoriety and power this gave them and began to create branches. Which only created more of a target for my family of explorers" She said as she drank more of her wine.
"Weak." Rixon said it plainly, his face showing exactly what he meant.
Everyone on her side kept their heads down with fists tight. Looks of anger moved across their faces and tears ran slow.
"Hahaha, you're right that was weak of me to accept them just because they made me richer and gave me more freedom. But guess where i drew the line. When i heard there was a startup family of mine wreaking havoc in the Delisus territories and stations. And that's where i went to die and your cousin and mother saved me. She so me I created this mess and i needed to control it. So that's what i set out to do once she set me free. Me and Beelo made every want to be branch of my family kneel. For a moment things went back to normal, no drug smuggling, trafficking or any of that. But when you are dealing with corrupt souls they will find a way especially when they are enhanced by riches."
"Alright, enough of story time but i do have one question. Zay, those men we killed on the first mission, what were they?" Rixon said as he put his cup down and leaned back.
"They were a trafficking family. That's why it was an extermination mission." Zay said with his eyes still down.
"Understood. Now why do all of you look like you are being stabbed in the heart?" Rixon said as he peered around the table.
"Rixon, it is because they have seen her suffer when they know who she really is. They have seen her turn into something cold while they still get to be hopefuls in some sort of way. You should in this moment learn something as you already know how she feels to do what she has had to do to keep her own family feared and respected." Kiala said as she stared Rixon back with a look that told him to receive it properly.
"You're right Kiala. But with that being said, what is your plan now that you know you are being hunted down by the Yornkata empire. Is this some suicidal last stand?" Rixon nodded at Kiala in agreement before refocusing on Talonia.
"Well something like that, but right now you are talking to her majesty of Lokisana. We have taken this planet as our own and are now the monarchs of it. We rescued all the trafficked women thanks to Zay and his female crew and currently in this building have over 50,000 with an extra 250,000 citizens underground. With over 200,000 orbiting on patrol and in defense. So not suicidal but more so not moving an inch. We are going to do what we can now to protect the people we always wanted to protect. We are too old to be trying to adventure anymore and will stick with our settling down part of life." Beelo said as the men around the table began to raise their heads in support.
"What about Velo?" Relisis said.
The name landed in the room and Beelo went still. Not the stillness of someone who had no answer but the stillness of someone who had to choose how much of themselves to give before the answer came out.
"He betrayed us." Beelo said it low, and then he looked up and his three eyes were flat and cold in a way that was different from anything the Voss family had seen from him. "He will be acting as general of war against us."
The chill moved through the room without anyone choosing to let it.
Rixon felt it and filed it away. "I knew he was hitting a little too hard in that simulation. But now i get to go all out against him." A smirk came onto his face and he meant every part of it.
"No, you won't. Now what did you come here to demand, Rixon? Dessert is about to be served and I would like to be done with this conversation and negotiating." Talonia said as she leaned on the table.
"Look, let us use 50 of your droids and give us three hangars to work out of." Rixon said as he went into negotiating mode.
Talonia looked at him for a moment that was just long enough to mean something. "I'll give you thirty droids and two hangars to start. You earn the rest."
Rixon held her gaze. "Forty and three.I don’t want to be here any longer than i have to be and any people we pick up will be able to come with."
She tapped her finger once on the table. "Forty and three. Done."
"And what is the number of young fighting adults among those who live on the surface. We want all of them to join us and get out of here with us." Rixon held focus.
"500. Done." Talonia said.
"Man hell nahh. I'm calling all this off. You accepted all them terms and you still ain't told me what you want. This must be some awfully stupid and suicidal request you're about to ask of me." Rixon said as he felt the ease of it pressing wrong against his instincts.
"Boom. And he does it again, light on his feet and can think his way out before the answer is said. What i need from you is to go put dents in Velo's forces. We have three objectives that need to be completed within the year to give us the closest thing to a chance." Talonia said as she smirked and regathered herself.
"And after that we are just free to get out of here no matter how long it takes us?" Rixon said in a clarifying tone.
"Yes. Your debt will be clear." Talonia said as she saw the dessert arrive.
"Deal." Rixon said and everyone on his side of the table nodded in agreement.