Lothrak's eyes flew to the Sirthon, his eyes wide as his mind struggled to rationalise what he was seeing. Confusion, rage and offense all burned through the Graxir, flaring up like lit napalm in every Xan-Klar's mind.

In the midst of the human soldiers stood a Sirthon, conveniently hidden behind the one Kormac Telgaiur denoted as 'Ambassador Vidal.' The Sirthon wore similar clothes to the human diplomat, a bag slung over his shoulder, with no collar around his neck or chains around his wrists. Unlike Lady Taneera's servant he saw earlier, this one looked well-fed, his body unmarked by the signs of labour and servitude.

Lothrak had never owned a Sirthon himself, but he had seen them on Tratkalloth and even more of them here on Sirtha Prime. But the sight of a free alien was not what confounded him the most.

What confounded him was the fact that the humans had brought a Sirthon to a meeting with the Xan-Klar. Just sixty years ago, the four-eyed pink-skins had tried to wipe his people from existence so that they could take Tratkaloth for their own. If not for Emperor Skaldrak, the Xan-Klar people would have been destroyed.

And now the humans brought a Sirthon before them?

This ambassador was one of two things – confident or delusional.

Glancing at his fellow knights, Lothrak saw they had not raised their weapons, remaining as still as statues. He could sense they felt the same way he did, but they still did not make an overt show of aggression. Not out of fear, but out of common sense, as such a thing might start a fight with the humans.

And so, Lothrak resolved to do as they did, keeping his armour still, its arms by its sides. However, looking back at the Sirthon and seeing its face again, he couldn't help but place his ocular targeting reticle right over the alien's head. If the yellow-eyed enemy did anything suspicious, he would do so in the young Karugen's sights, and Lothrak would be ready to strike him down.

***

Marcus felt tensions seize within his spine as this happened all around him. On one side of him, Lady Taneera was growling, and in the tail of his other eye, he could see the Orbital Commandos' hands edging closer to the weapons that were on their belts. Ambassador Vidal strolled calmly forth as though nothing was wrong, which made Marcus feel even more uneasy.

"It's an honour to stand in your presence, Lady Lasethri." Vidal said, giving Lady Taneera a slight bow.

Taneera replied in a sour tone, any light in her voice having vanished as she saw Haraq. "Ambassador..." she stated, merely glancing at Vidal before her gaze trailed back first to the Sirthon aide, and then looking up at Marcus. "Tell me, Unborn Brother, do you have any other... surprises for us?"

It wouldn't take a detective to know what she was referring to when her words crackled through the translator.

"No." Marcus replied, meeting her gaze with a straight face and resolute demeanour. "That is all."

Lady Taneera's razor-toothed maw snapped a reply. "Good." She then looked back at Vidal, placing her hand on her hip as her claws slid back into her fingers. "So, Ambassador, what are you here to do?" she asked.

It was a patronising question, but Vidal took it with grace. "To help discuss the purpose of this embassy with you, Lady Lasethri," he replied, speaking plainly but politely. "And also to bring a gift to the Xan-Klar people.

Taneera narrowed her eyes when she heard this. "A gift?" she asked. As she spoke, her eyes trailed back to Haraq, her slit-like pupils examining him with slightly less hatred than before.

"Indeed!" Vidal said happily. Turning around, he pointed to the black bag slung over Haraq's shoulder. Immediately, Haraq removed the bag and opened it, but did not step forward. Instead, Vidal came forward and reached into the large container himself while the Sirthon held it open. Watching this, Marcus turned back to Lady Taneera's house guard to see their reptilian eyes narrowing suspiciously.

The Horusan understood their reaction. A strange and unknown creature reaching into a bag held by their ancestral enemy? Of course they'd be suspicious.

But he couldn't blame Vidal. Trying to open diplomatic ties with a species whose culture you know nothing about couldn't be easy.

A bright flash of light glinting off metal glared into Marcus' eyes, and he twisted back around. Looking straight at Vidal, he saw the ambassador produce a glimmering object from inside the bag – a beauteous shortsword.

Marcus had never seen its like or its equal. Held in a jewel-encrusted scabbard, the cruciform weapon's cross-guard was made from gold-coloured metal, and its handle was wrapped in silver-cord. The blade was only about two feet long, and as the Earther carried it closer to Lady Taneera, the weapon looked more like a dagger when contrasted with her large, muscular frame.

But the most eye-catching detail was the blade's pommel. Formed of gold, it was shaped perfectly to look like the head of a Xan-Klar, every detail captured right down to the smallest scale on its skin.

Marcus couldn't help but be amazed at its workmanship.

A smile beneath his moustache, Ambassador Vidal held out the shortsword, watching as Lady Taneera's three eyes seemed to examine it meticulously.

"What is this?" she asked.

"A gift..." Ambassador Vidal replied. "From the Human Union of Worlds to the Xan-Klar Empire... and of course, Emperor Skaldrak."

Suspicion still glinting in her eyes, Lady Taneera reached out and clasped the blade in her clawed hands, her three fingers and thumb fitting snugly around the handle. Holding it up, it wasn't long before she unsheathed the blade, which slid from its gemstone-studded scabbard with an eerie silence.

The Xan-Klar guards in the background smiled and bared their teeth simultaneously. Lady Taneera merely seemed to smirk.

"Thank you, Ambassador" she said in calm voice. "I will pass this message on to the Emperor." Sheathing the sword in its scabbard, she turned slightly and handed it to a purple-scaled female Xan-Klar, who came forward and promptly took the burden. She walked with her head and tail held low, while Taneera's was held high in pride.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Vidal beamed, happiness and relief glinting in his eyes as he watched this.

"So, Lady Lasethri, shall we walk to the embassy? I would very much like to begin negotiating the terms of diplomacy between our species."

Taneera turned back to him. "As would I." she replied. "However, if I may, I wish to say some final words to Unborn Brother." The turquoise-scaled female glanced at Marcus as she spoke.

Marcus winced slightly at the prospect of continually being used as a go-between at this meeting. He was anxious to get to what he had originally hoped to do and work to defend this meeting while it went ahead. But, as he expected, Ambassador Vidal gave an open smiled and replied with "Of course" to the Xan-Klar's request.

Taneera looked at Marcus, and Marcus wearily looked back.

"Unborn Brother, tell us... what is your true name?" she asked. Behind her, some of the Xan-Klar leant forward slightly, as if listening intently.

"Marcus, my lady. Marcus Winter."

Lady Taneera smiled as she heard this. "I see." She then paused before saying. "Tell me, Marcus, has your Union honoured your accomplishments in defeating the Sirthon menace?" she asked.

Marcus nodded. "Yes, they have."

"Good." Taneera retorted. "We have heard rumours that humans despise their soldiers and warriors, and not honour them as they should." She said, her voice growling as offence came out clear in her voice. "A standpoint as despicable as it is stupid."

Marcus didn't nod when she said that. Even the reward of becoming a Major was something that he didn't ask for or deserve. Instead, he simply said what she would want to hear, in an attempt to save face.

"I assure you, your fears are unfounded, Lady Lasethri."

The Xan-Klar female blinked all three of her eyes. "Good. Because I have a message for you. From someone who always honours warriors as they deserve..."

A strange, alien look crossed her face – one that seemed to mix a smile of pride with an attention-grabbing growl that rumbled in the back of her throat. The noblewoman's grimace made her teeth shine like stars, her jawline moving as she looked Marcus in the eyes and said one sentence.

"... Emperor Skaldrak sends his regards."

Upon hearing those words through the translator, a chill shot up Marcus' spine, and a twinge of fear shot across his face. He tried his very best not to show how he felt, but it was near-impossible to fight the creeping sense of cold dread worming around inside his stomach and closing around his heart.

He hoped, perhaps in vain, that the Xan-Klar had forgotten. 

He was wrong.

"So Ambassador..." Taneera then said, turning to Vidal with a look of quiet satisfaction upon her face. "Shall we?"