No one really wanted to fight anymore. The aliens had suffered devastating losses in their attempt to defend the middle floor where they established their main camp. The pescans might not be the best warrior race, but they put up a stiff resistance for the most part. Their elites and the well-equipped troopers that previously served as the crack troops under the command of the great chief of the city-state of Davute had fought especially well! As the best warriors that the pescan civilization had ever produced, they overcame the disparity in technology and sophistication and slain hundreds of human soldiers during the fight surrounding the main entrance! No one had any time to grieve or reflect on the dead. Ves did not allow everyone to relax even though they had broken the bulk of the pescan resistance. As the bewildered troopers prepared to launch a potential assault against the pescans entrenched on the top floor, Ves and a number of other people discussed their gains and options. It was too bad that Ketis' mysterious power-up ended too soon. Ves would have wanted to see her swipe her Heavensword against the formidable transphasic defensive measures that the pescans had set up on the floor above. He looked back over at the civilians where Ketis had gone to. Many of the individuals backed off as if they feared their bodies would get annihilated next by the all-powerful sword goddess. Others did the opposite and expressed their heartfelt gratitude and admiration! "Please teach us how to become as powerful as you, swordmaster!" "Ketis! I would like to discuss a lucrative investment opportunity with you. What do you think about a sponsorship deal?" "I will pay 500 MTA credits if you teach my children how to fight like you! I will pay another 500 MTA credits as a bonus if you can get them to win a junior tournament!" The woman who had killed over a thousand members of a dying alien race treated these words as air. She showed absolutely no interest in engaging with anyone in conversation. Despite her exhaustion, her imperious and sacred demeanor deterred anyone from getting close or barring her way. An invisible circle had formed around her that seemed to act like a force field that prevented anyone from violating her personal space. She only started to relax once she reached the group of civilian Larkinsons. Each of them gave her warm smiles but did not bother her any further as she obviously wasn't in the mood to chat. "Mommy!" Kirian Larkinson left the side of Gloriana and Andraste and ran up to his mother so that she could lift his suited form to her armored chest. "You were so cool, mommy! Can you teach me how to fight like that as well?!" "One day, sweetie." Ketis responded as all of her tough demeanor melted as her maternal instincts rose to the foreground. The civilians had been able to witness the battle through projected feeds. Ketis had clearly dazzled every other combatant due to her heroic performance. Ketis had mixed feelings about her son admiring her performance in battle. She hadn't really fought with her own strength since the Heavensword dropped into her hand. As Ketis indulged in Kirian's fancies, Ves and the other leaders came to a consensus on how to proceed. "It doesn't hurt to try and see if the pescan survivors are amenable to talk." Minister Shederin reiterated his point. "Now that the pescans have lost a lot of leverage, our relationship with them has changed. We are no longer at their mercy anymore, and they know that as well. The only variables we need to take into account is how much mental stability this group has left. If the pescan race is highly emotional and in poor control of their impulses, then the aliens may decide to go down with the ship. We must grant them hope and make credible concessions in order to preserve their hope for a better future." "Is that even possible?" General Verle questioned. "There is obviously no place for the pescans in the Red Ocean anymore. The founders of Davute tried to wipe out their race once, and I am sure that they will be eager to get rid of any potential claimants of their capital planet. Aside from that, the people that the aliens have abducted need a resolution as well. The aliens have killed too many humans. What the pescans have done is unforgivable." Ves frowned and wanted to rub his face. Starting a negotiation with a cornered group of alien remnants was not as simple as it sounded. These were truly the last survivors of a race that had lived for many ages. Their civilization may be short in the eyes of other races, but they still carried a heritage that the humans had almost snuffed out entirely. He glanced towards Major Durant. "What do you think?" The commanding officer of the Davutan guard forces looked a lot more tired than before. Too many loyal soldiers had fallen in battle in the process of taking over this floor. Each of them died for a colonial state that was so new that they didn't even have a chance to experience it properly. "Our overarching duty is to protect the VIPs and civilians under our care." The man said. "I am not entirely opposed to resuming the battle. I can understand the need to wipe out the remaining pescans if they remain stubborn towards us. I prefer not to issue this command if we can help it. Too much can happen during combat. This time, we lucked out because one of your soldiers turned into an angel with a sword. The next time, Great Chief Jaharon may decide to detonate a weapon of mass destruction that he had somehow smuggled into this facility." "The pescans did not bring in weapons of mass destruction." Ves replied. "When Ketis was in her… special state… she was able to peer at the pescans holing up in the floor above us, and she did not detect any hardware that could wipe us out at once. The pescans probably didn't have any time to bring these superweapons to this pocket space." "Hm, you are probably correct. One of the pillars of our original invasion plan was to identify and eliminate any alien weapons of mass destruction in advance. We did not want the original occupants to destroy their own planet in spite. That has already happened numerous times in the past when a colonizing fleet did not respect the resolve of the indigenous population." Seeing that Major Durant did not object to restarting a dialogue with the aliens, Ves decided to put this plan into action. Another curious change that took place was that Ves did not encounter any resistance when he wanted to be the one to talk with the alien. Nobody really cared about this anymore after everything that happened. The enormous display of power from Ketis alone shut down all of the doubters and objectors. This was yet another instance where absolute strength could override any pushback! Ves waited for the technicians to set up an interface to project his body at the entrance to the final floor. The surviving soldiers also had to reorganize themselves and check their remaining supplies before setting up defensive positions around the only entrance. "Meow…" Lucky slowly flew over at one point. Ves turned and grew concerned as he observed the damaged state of his cat. The gem cat truly looked like he had crawled out of a warzone. His bronze-like exterior displayed numerous burn marks and several concerning puncture and cutting wounds. Ves could even see dense and exposed electronic components underneath the deepest holes. Fortunately, Lucky's regenerating properties had already kicked in. The damage to his internals and exterior parts were slowly being repaired through a process that Ves could not explain. The huge quantities of exotics that Lucky ingested before came in very handy. The gem cat would definitely become as good as new after a few weeks of resting. "Meow…" "Don't worry. You can eat anything you find over here. Most of the alloys and exotics here aren't that impressive, but I am sure you can find a few valuable goodies here and there. We probably won't be able to claim the debris and abandoned alien products as our spoils, so don't hold back." "Meow!..." That was all the gluttenous cat needed to hear. Lucky instantly turned around and dove towards the pile of wreckage that used to consist of four giant battle suits. The pescans had concentrated a decent amount of valuable exotics in this collection of gear! "We have completed our preparations, sir. You can start at any moment." Ves smiled and took a quick look at his own appearance in order to make sure he looked presentable enough. He had exposed himself to combat during the most stressful minutes of the battle for this floor. He had almost expended the capacity of the Amastendira in order to take out a lot of powerful threats within his range. He took a look behind his back. A large circular portal was situated in a distant area that the pescans treated with great reverence. This portal could generate a passageway that could safely bring every human trapped inside this prison facility back to normal space without any fuss or danger. Already, a large team of scientists, engineers and other clever people had gathered around this crucial ancient alien device. They all volunteered to study the portal and figure out a way to activate it on the spot so that they could all go home. Although Ves knew that the MTA would eventually come around and find a way to breach the pocket space, he had no idea whether the Association's methods carried any risks. Perhaps a forceful breaching attempt might cause a lot of damage or instability to the pocket space. Instead of waiting for other people to utilize an unreliable method to form a tunnel between the two spaces, Ves would much rather access the primary control room and see whether he could go through the proper exit of this ancient prison. A large projection of his armored form appeared before the entrance. "Hello, pescans. I would like to speak to Great Chief Jaharon. We do not need to fight anymore. Please come out and talk so that we can figure out a way to resolve our differences." Just as predicted, a two-dimensional projection of Great Chief Jaharon appeared a few seconds later. Compared to last time, the alien looked a lot less composed! The leader of the few pescans left alive showed many signs of stress and strong emotional mood swings. This might not be a good sign. [STAB KILL STAB KILL STAB KILL! BLOOD OF OURS STAIN THE SKIES OF DAWN! MURDEROUS INVADERS MUST FINISH STAB AND KILL THE STAR! FINISH US HASTILY AND DO NOT TORTURE OUR TIME! GODDESS OF STAB SHALL KILL OUR BODIES PRESENTED IN RESISTANCE!] Ves inwardly reacted with surprise. Although the alien's faulty translation of standard language made it difficult to interpret the confusing string of words, he could nonetheless pick up the naked fear, anger and despair in the alien's voice. It appeared that the surviving pescans not only became intimidated by Ketis' earlier display of power, but also assumed that she could still exert just as much force as before! Ketis fought in a manner similar to the phase lords of the Red Ocean. The natives of the Red Ocean had very specific ideas on the combat power of a 'god', and that led to a lot of misunderstandings! The pescans had no confidence in their ability to defeat any god, even a human one. Many of their plans became invalid after they mistakenly realized that they had abducted the wrong powerhouse! Ves could take advantage of this as long as he made sure the aliens did not figure out that Ketis was not as scary as they thought. He smirked. "Let's talk."