Council Chamber

Dustin shifted nervously as Emely adjusted his collar for the second time. The pair of them were stood in an antechamber of the council hall where he would be called to give an account of humanity’s actions, and while the rest of their party were just the other side of the outer door it felt like they were light-years away.

“Stop stressing so much, Sir. We have plans for basically everything, all that we need to do today is find out what approach our adversaries are going to take.” Emely said, stretching up on her toes to kiss him before smoothing out her formal dress. “And in the worst case, Yril’k can knock a hole through the doors and we can run like hell - I think that was what Sammie came up with as our backup plan.”

Stifling a chuckle at the Feliax woman’s words, Dustin squared his shoulders. No matter what happened next, he would give it his best, and so he greeted the clerk who opened the door to usher them in with more of a brave face than he perhaps felt.

The council chamber was vast - a hollow ball like room with a narrow path leading out into the centre where a dais was waiting for Dustin, clearly intended for whoever was addressing the council to speak from, judging by the microphones and translator links built into it’s edge. Around that dais, a range of balconies were either occupied by aliens - Linne and Veil’k were present, although neither gave any indication of greeting - or by vidscreens showing representatives who presumably couldn’t make this session in person for one reason or another.

As Dustin reached the middle of the room, gold light illuminated one of the other booths. “The council recognizes the envoy from Durathis.” The words echoed through the chamber as the translators shifted them into a myriad of tongues for those present before the figure in the booth spoke - and Dustin got his first look at one of the leaders of the opposing faction.

The man - at least, Dustin presumed it was a man - looked off. There was no other way to describe him - he was about the height of an average human, and of all the aliens Dustin had met so far looked the most human-like. It was just that his eyes were fractionally too large and set a little too wide, his smile a little too broad, his face a little too narrow and his hands a little too long - although in the latter case it was due to the extra joints adding an extra few inches to his fingertips. His complexion was pale - but too pale, looking corpse-like in the warm golden glow that surrounded him.

“Ambassador Dustin of Earth, we have called you here to act as representative for your people in discussing a matter of some import.” The figure’s voice, even with the translator overlaying English on top, was nasally and harsh. Dustin fought the urge to shiver - the Durathisian was hitting the uncanny valley with every movement, every gesture and definitely every word.

Seemingly not realizing the effect he was having on the human, the envoy continued. “We are aware of course of your status as proctor and do not call you here lightly. However, in light of disturbing findings in the wreckage of the l’Adra home system as well as first hand accounts from dock workers at Tealioss station we have **** but to investigate further. Envoy Yven, if you would present the charges before the council?”

The gold light moved from one balcony to another, and a short alien that put Dustin rather in mind of an angry badger adjusted her glasses before nodding. “Thank you, Envoy Meruk. In accordance with galactic law regarding the dissemination of weave-drive technology, this council presents the following charges. That humanity, in secret and without authorization did conduct illicit weave-drive modifications, developing the so called micro-drives. That, in violation of council edict on drive distribution humanity did distribute this untested and unreliable technology to the l’Adra due to a misguided sense of appreciation for your uplift, technology which then malfunctioned causing the destruction of the l’Adra homeworld. That, due to the illicit nature of your research program, you did not sufficiently secure it allowing the Yuran to obtain material they were not ready for, leading to the devastation of their species. The council moves to censor humanity for these crimes.”

Dustin blinked as the list of charges was read out. Emely had prepared him for the possibility of this level of insanity, but until now he didn’t think their foes on the council would have tried to take such a ridiculous option. Taking a deep breath, he tried to keep his voice level as he replied with the speech Emely had planned out for him if an occasion such as this were to arise.

“Envoys of the council. Humanity refutes these charges in the most absolute terms. We have filed repeated records for every action we have taken regarding the identification and development of our micro-drives with multiple council species. Moreover, we have supplied the council with records concerning the fleet that attacked the Yuran. Finally, the l’Adra reported clearly about the destruction of their home world along with the attackers there.” He took a breath, waited for a moment, then continued “with this all in mind, I would like to call for a full consideration of all records regarding humanity’s conduct in space. You will see that we are dedicated to establishing friendly relations with the care and consideration that are the legacy of this council.”

There was a murmuring from the assembly, before Linne rose to speak. “We recognize the right of the proctor to request records opened. With that in mind, we call for full council review of records Hu-Earth 17 to 21, 25 to 39 and 57 through 103. Additional records may be requested by the proctor or other parties, but these seem to be the pertinent ones as they contain the interactions the ambassador has had with the hostile entities leading to humanity being named proctor.”

The Durathisian envoy frowned and nodded as the golden light slid back to him. “Very well. However, we request the council also consider records Du-Durathis-Review 7129 and 7140 for an alternative account of these events based on our investigations.”

Dustin bowed at that point as he appeared to have been dismissed, and turned to leave - but before he could do so Emely stepped forward and set a tiny fox-head emblem onto the edge of the dais. The council gave a low murmur as golden light instantly illuminated her face. “The council… recognizes the representative of Feliaxas,” the Durathisian envoy said through what Dustin thought sounded like clenched teeth.

“As my aunt’s envoy is not currently present due to a scheduling issue, I have a request to raise in her stead. In accordance with the sanctuary politic, the Empire of Feliaxas requests a full review of the council envoys due to concerns regarding station security, increased illness among envoys and their staff, and reports of disappearances on the station primus, secondus and alternus. Do we have a second for this motion?” The fox girl’s voice was clear, and rang out over the chamber. Notably, she was also speaking English, to Dustin’s surprise.

Veil’k stood, golden light infusing his booth. “In accordance’k with the request of the Empire of Feliaxas, the Vex’ess hive seconds this motion’k.”

Meruk was still grinding his teeth when the light flicked back to him. “With the support position of council envoy Veil’k and a direct request from the imperial seat of Feliaxas, the motion to review envoys is passed. We will take a short recess to allow the ambassador and his companion to leave, then we will resume to discuss the methods and manner of this review.”

Dustin was amazed - in a single short speech, Emely seemed to have managed to turn what had all the hallmarks of a show trial for humanity into a direct hit on their foes base of power within the council. He wanted to kiss her - but instead opted for the more professional approach of bowing to the assembled envoys once more and leading her back the way they had come. Everything was going well despite the rough start - and so naturally, it was just as they were about to reach the door that one of the council envoys on a remote link screamed, the vidscreen showing a spike of all too familiar black metal protruding from their chest before the feed was cut.