In a terrain as difficult and confining as this, it was impossible to sneak up on the upper floors.


    No matter how primitive the pescans may be, they knew the importance of paying attention to what took ce outside of their stronghold.


    Ves along with other military leaders carefully observe the live feeds transmitted by the scouts. The feeds showed that hundreds of pescan soldiers began to man the walls and other defenses.


    The indigenous aliens utilized fairly basic but practical weapons for the most part. There appeared to be a higher proportion of energy weapons among the troops, and a distressing number of them were transphasic in nature.


    "The soldiers armed with transphasic rifles need to be eliminated first." Ves advised.


    "Our sharpshooters have already received the necessary instructions." Major Alden Durant of the Davutan guard forces replied. "Their threat towards my men is much greater than your elite guard troops. The second-ssbat armor cannot withstand sustained attacks from weapons of this caliber."


    The good news was that a lot of alien soldiers were armed with more normal-looking small arms. The quality of these pescan troops were much more reasonable, though they could still pose a significant threat if dozens of them concentrated their fire on individual targets!


    "Papa, there are so many of them. Can we win against the aliens?" Andraste asked with a touch of concern.


    In order to allow his children to experience the uing battle on a more personal level, Ves had brought them along here. Everyone else tolerated the presence of the children as they considered it to be another part of the entric nature of the infamous Larkinson Patriarch.


    "Of course we can, pumpkin." Ves turned towards his second daughter and grinned. "If we did not have the confidence to vanquish these aliens, we wouldn''t havee here in the first ce. Do you see all of the projections over here? That is all of the information we gathered on the enemy. Although we haven''t figured out the full details of the pescans, we have confirmed that their tech is still stuck in a fairly primitive state. When the disparity in tech bes too great, the differences in numbers don''t y that big of a role."


    Although Andraste could easily be fooled by this answer, her mother was not as easy to fool.


    He carried Marvaine in her arms as she observed those same projected feeds with much greater concern.


    "You do not know what the pescans have stored in the upper floors. Who is to say that their defenses here are representative of their full measures? This prison facility isrge enough to fitbat vehicles such as tanks. In addition, these fixed defenses are difficult to destroy with small arms alone. We have to rely on heavy weapons to disable them, but they will run out if we encounter too many obstacles."


    He understood these concerns well. "That is just a risk that we have to take. We are not going to allow those uncertainties to put us in a passive position. Tanks may be troublesome, but they are sorge and cumbersome that they cannot navigate through the smaller corridors and entrances of this facility. Fixed defenses may make it hard to press much further, but since they are immovable, we can retreat and regroup without a problem."


    The military officers had already considered all of these variables before. Even if they knew that they would have to pay a price in blood to defeat these formidable threats, they still chose to press on because the price of doing nothing may be far greater in the end.


    As General Verle, Major Durant and the others exchanged their views and adjusted the orders of their troops, an unexpected development urred.


    Upon detecting that the humans had drawn closer, the pescans did not begin with opening fire or anything, but instead sent out a small bot down therge hallway.


    "It''s not a bot." Ves spoke as he analyzed the simple alien construct after he zoomed in. "It is a remote controlled construct."


    His wife nodded in agreement. "It was recently built, possibly within thest hour. The alien that made it possesses great skills, and the tools he used are decent by our standards, but he or she had made it with so much haste that there are too many ws."


    By the time the small head-sized vehicle stopped a fair distance away from the humans around the corner, it began to project a tall, two-dimensional screen.


    The tech was different, but its function was familiar. The screen portrayed a well-dressed pescan male who stood behind a disy of aged stone and wooden ornaments.


    Major Durant straightened his back. "That is Jaharon, the great chief of the city state of Davute! So this is how he has managed to escape our manhunt. He was hiding in this pocket space all of the time!"


    This was not an unexpected development. Ves and General Verle exchanged brief nces with each other.


    "What do you think this is all about?" Ves asked.


    "I cannot say for certain, sir." General Verle softly responded. "This Jaharon alien may be desperate to negotiate a way out for him and the remnants of his race. It may also be that he is preparing to encircle us but needs to stall for time in order to close the."


    Ves did not take the former possibility seriously. These aliens deserved to go extinct for what they have done.


    His side also deployed plenty of scouts and observation devices in the surrounding tunnels in order to guard against thetter possibility. This was one of the reasons why they did not rush towards the upper floor at their best speed.


    The projected alien figure began to speak at this time.


    [HU-MAN.] The tall but oddly-proportioned creature spoke. [WE ASK FOR DISCOURSE BEFORE CUTTING BLADES. PLEASE COMPLY.]


    Great Chief Jaharon spoke in his nativenguage, but it appeared that his people managed to develop a pretty good trantion program over the years.


    Of course, a human-developed trantion program would probably be a lot more effective!


    "I believe that this alien leader is waiting for one of us to step forward and open up a dialogue with him." General Verle spoke up. "Who among us will speak for our group?"


    That was a difficult question.


    Ves looked towards Minister Shederin Purnesse, who had been analyzing every scrap of data that the Davutans had on the pescan race.


    "The pescans have a long and rich tradition of diplomacy and exchanges." The foreign minister said. "Before the arrival of humanity, the city states frequently warred and traded with each other to varying degrees. A good dialogue has eased many potential conflicts. The pescans understand the need forpromise, but it is not guaranteed that these survivors are as rational as before. Their race is literally driven into a corner, so beware of taking everything at face value."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The major of the guard forces was already prepared to project an image of himself in the corridor. "As the highest representative of the Davutan state, I should speak on everyone''s behalf."


    "Wait." Ves ced his armored hand on the man''s shoulder. "Do you have any experience with talking with aliens? Have you ever been put into a situation as dire as this? You are an infantry officer, not a major leader. I have spoken to a lot more aliens in my life. Let me take the lead."


    Alden Durant did not like what he heard. He had given a lot of ground to the Larkinsons, but this was pushing it a bit too far. Although his training did not ount for a scenario as unlikely as this, he generally knew that he must step up and represent his colonial state, however young and fragile it may be at this time.


    "I must insist on answering the pescan great chief this time. No offense, patriarch, but you are not employed by our state. There is no legal basis for you to speak on behalf of our government."


    The man had a good point.


    They argued a bit further but Ves eventually took a step back.


    It would be fine if he managed to produce a favorable result, but if he screwed up here, he would incur a lot of me.


    Ves also couldn''t make promises that he couldn''t keep. The chances were too great that the pescan would issue demands that were uneptable to Davute or the Mech Trade Association.


    "Very well. You can go on ahead."


    It was hard for Ves to let another person y the leading role. He was so ustomed to being the leading figure of any group that he did not feelfortable with surrounding power to another person.


    Major Durant eventually projected a three-dimensional image of himself in front of the indigenous alien leader.


    His image was a lot more realistic and life-like, though he had made sure it did not tower over the image of the alien leader.


    "Great Chief Jaharon. I am Major Alden Durant, a guard officer of the armed forces of the colonial state of Davute. You wish to speak?"


    Durant deliberately spoke in standard humannguage, which was a clever choice as it shifted the emphasis on the human side as opposed to that of the aliens.


    The great chief did not control his body well. The tall humanoid''s body shook as he either possessed a great revulsion towards humans or recognized the major''s uniform specifically.


    [HU-MAN. DIRTY BLOOD SPILLER. BUTCHER OF YOUNGLINGS. CRIMES UNSTACKABLE. GREAT SCOURGE OF THE EXTRAGALACTIC STARS. SON OF UNHOLY BEASTS.]


    Ves and several other humans frowned.


    "Are all pescans like this or is this Jaharon fellow particrly badly affected by the fall of his race?" General Verle wondered.


    "The records that the Davutans have on the pescan race indicate that they are capable of rationalmunication and that they maintain good control over their impulses and emotions." Minister Shederin softly spoke. "For thest surviving great chief to deteriorate to this state is… concerning. His conduct does not bode well for the sanity of the rest of his remainingpatriots."


    Ves wasn''t too sure about that. "It could be an act."


    Once the alien leader reluctantly reined in his madness, he finally spoke more purposeful words.


    [CEASE YOUR STABBING. I AM ATTEMPTING DISCOURSE WITH YOUR CHIEF. RETURN AND AWAIT OUTCOME.]


    Major Durant frowned. "Can you confirm that you are actively negotiating with President Yenames Clive?"


    [NAME KNOWN. YES. WE ARE DISCUSSING.]


    "For what reason did you take us to this prison? What are you demanding in return for our freedom?"


    Minister Shederin jerked his body for a moment. The diplomat clearly didn''t approve of how Major Durant approached this conversation.


    [WE POSSESS NO STABBING INTENTIONS TO YOU. WE PROPOSE SWAP OF YOUR SKINS FOR OUR SKINS. WE ASK OF LITTLE. I DESIRE TEARING YOUR LEFT ARM, BITE YOUR RIGHT ARM, DEVOUR YOUR HEART AND PLANT YOUR BONE IN MY BED TO CALM OUR DEAD. CANNOT. MUST SAVE MY PESCANS INSTEAD. LIFE BETTER THAN DEAD.]


    As Major Durant had a duty to guarantee the safety of his charges, he preferred to obtain a peaceful resolution to this problem.


    The alien leader sounded reasonably enough now that he had regained most of his calm, but what he was asking for was not that simple to fulfill.


    This put the Davutan officer into a difficult position. The man did not quite know how to proceed as he did not want to mess up the ongoing negotiations.


    As Major Durant continued to converse with Jaharon, Ves looked around and saw that many soldiers had either grown bewildered or confused.


    General Verle also noticed what was happening.


    "If we want tounch an attack, we need to do so in the next two minutes." The man silentlymunicated with Ves over a privatemunication channel. "If we wait too long, we will lose all of our momentum, which will make it much harder for us to press forward in the face of determined opposition."


    Ves discreetly nodded. "I understand. Let me think."