The two delegations soon formed into one congregation, with Ambassador Vidal and Lady Taneera walking at its head. The diplomats walked side-by-side, the human on the right and the Xan-Klar on the left, with their corresponding guard details behind them, and the towering Xan-Klar Knights bringing up the rear. Together, the whole group trailed down from the landing platform, through the hangar that lay behind it, and down a short, sloping road to the city itself. The one that the SOSC 5th Company had not seen since the war's end.

Walking just behind Vidal, Marcus had put his helmet back on and opened channels to his company. Two squads of Orbital Commandos, one led by Leon and the other by Ferro, had jetted off and flown into the city ahead of the diplomats, just as they had planned earlier. Their mission – to comb the rooftops and keep a vigil for anything suspicious.

Inside his helmet, Marcus tapped into the visual feed from Ferro and Leon's helmets, and two small screens flashed to life within his field of view, allowing him to see what has soldiers could see.

But he still knew where he was going and what lay ahead of him. Ambassador Vidal playing with his fingers, and Lady Taneera's tail swaying as it was held high behind her back. He could also hear what they were talking about, but he put it out of his mind.

Not because he didn't care. Because he had a job to do. And besides, he was already beginning to tire of politics.

"Entryway all clear, Major." Leon's voice crackled through the comms. "Covering your approach now."

Marcus affirmed this when he looked at Leon's screen and saw the diplomatic congregation approaching, a small patch of moving darkness dotted with the colour of Xan-Klar scales and with three splashes of red and gold at its rear.

"Copy. Leon, maintain watch until we pass." The Horusan then glanced at the other screen. "Ferro, you jump ahead and overlook the plaza where the embassy is. Sending you coordinates now."

Ferro's gruff voice responded with an "Alright" before he and his squad leapt into the air and soared a short distance before landing on the flat roof of a towering skyscraper.

Seeing everything was going smoothly, Marcus then turned and looked over his shoulder. Amidst the sea of near-black Orbital Commando armour that lay behind him was the pink skin of Haraq, walking amongst his troops... conspicuously surrounded on all sides.

Marcus had put forward to the Sirthon that he should stay with the Commandos for his own safety. And when he saw Lady Taneera's guards glaring at Vidal's aide, or mockingly gesturing to the Sirthon bones they wore as trophies, he felt entirely justified in his actions.

Marcus gazed at the Sirtha Prime native for a moment longer, then turned to look ahead once more, communicating with his troops to make sure this chance to build a lasting peace would not be interrupted. Now was more important than ever for this meeting, and for the galaxy as a whole.

If the Hand of Reclamation were out there, he'd be ready for them if it was the last thing he did.

***

At the back of the procession, Lothrak strode forwards inside his armour, each step he took on his digitigrade metal legs being almost three metres in length as he walked. He was on the right flank of the group, with Qolvar in the middle and Kathonir on the left flank. Lothrak and Qolvar both had plasma greatswords sheathed upon their armour's backs, while Kathonir bore a different weapon. A massive warhammer, one side of the head bearing powerful propulsion rockets while the other bore a colossal spike, long and sharp as a stalactite.

On the haft was engraved a name, chosen by Kathonir and written in the Xan-Klar language.

'Skullripper.'

Walking at the back, the knights had a commanding view of both diplomatic envoys. Not to mention, even through the hull of his armour, he could smell the humans thick, musky stench.

Clearly these ones had been on a starship for a long while, for their odour was immense. Tendrils of reeking odour slithered out of the gaps in their armour and spread their reach But Lothrak bore the humans no ill will, for he could not smell a drop of fear in any of them.

Which was more than could be said for the alien who had intruded upon this meeting.

As the group walked down from the landing area and moved into the streets of Kenostros, Lothrak kept one of his three eyes on the Sirthon as often as he could. Hiding like a coward amidst the Kormac Telgaiur's human troops, the pink-skinned creature remained as part of the procession, despite this being a talk between humans and Xan-Klar. Suspicion, hatred and loathing lingered in the minds of his fellow knights and Lady Taneera's guards, clawing at the Graxir like the talons of a Drakorgan, the apex predator of the Tratkalothan wilderness that Lothrak grew up in.

And Lothrak felt the same as them, his feelings keeping him alert and ready to leap into battle at a moment's notice. He would not let a Sirthon hurt a single Xan-Klar while he was still standing. His oaths as a Warden wold not allow it, and he would not disgrace the order on his very first mission.

If the Hand of Reclamation were out there, he would defend his people with his life if it was the last thing he did.

His finger over the trigger of his rotary blaster cannon, the young knight looked around. They were flanked on all sides by towering skyscrapers, huge blocks of cast stone, glass windows and metal beams that reached up towards the red-tinted sky, constructed in the typical 'slab-tower' design of the Sirthon Republic. A design that Lothrak found to be horrifically distasteful.

He might be a warrior, but he still had a sense of aesthetic sensibility. One the Sirthon clearly lacked.

As the walls of grey enveloped the moving procession on all sides, Lothrak returned his attention to guarding Lady Taneera and the human Ambassador Vidal. Outside, over the clunking of his armour's moving parts, he could overhear the political talk from the two dignitaries, and listened with great interest.

"You see, my lady..." the human started "... the Galactic League is currently operating a policy of gradual disarmament following the end of the Sirthon War. Following in the League's footsteps would undoubtedly bolster the Xan-Klar Empire's relations with its new neighbours."

Lady Taneera eyed the ambassador with contempt. "And would simultaneously leave the future of our species at risk," she snapped back. "Such an action would be a foolish thing for the Xan-Klar people to do at a time like this. With the Hand of Reclamation threatening both our planets and yours, we must militarise and crush these upstarts through law enforcement and military might."

The ambassador listened. "But surely such a vast policy of rearmament is a very costly endeavour?" he asked.

"We can afford it," Taneera retorted. "We must if we are to fight for our survival as a species." After a slight pause, she then asked. "Is this the reason why your Union of Worlds keeps prying into our affairs to learn the size of our military?" the noblewoman asked.

The ambassador suddenly paused, his eyes widening slightly before he replied. "Yes... but purely in the interests of preventing another war-"

"By aggravating your opponents." Taneera interrupted him. "If your Union is so scared of war, it's a surprise that they survived the one against the Sirthon filth." She said those words just loud enough for the human's Sirthon aide to hear them clearly. "The only way to prevent war is to make yourself enough of a threat that none would dare your wrath."

Ambassador Vidal raised one his thin, hair-covered eyebrows, a strange look on his face. Lothrak couldn't sense what the human was feeling, but the expression that the soft-skinned, fur-lipped creature had denoted suspicion and fear.

"Is this why the Kropen Commongood has reported Xan-Klar fleets amassing upon its borders?" Vidal asked.

Taneera nodded. "Indeed. If those evangelicals dare tread a toe into our territory, they will reap the rewards of blood, sulpur and agony."

Lothrak felt a burst of pride within himself as he heard those words pass Lady Taneera's lips. She spoke like a true Xan-Klar, her words strong and her mind resolute. He admired her greatly, but he also respected her station, and now respected her even more as he heard he deliver the demands of the Xan-Klar people in a voice that could captivate nations.

As the group walked on, Lothrak turned his gaze to eye the human soldiers. Unlike the Xan-Klar Razkard Police, who were scanning the streets and the buildings as perfectly-coordinated groups, the humans looked uncoordinated and clumsy by comparison. They were all looking in different directions, sometimes checking places that others in their unit had already checked, their heads twisting left and right as of each one had no idea what their squadmates were paying attention to.

Why were the humans not using their Graxir to help coordinate with each other? Did their bond work differently to that of the Xan-Klar? Or were they just not trained to do it?