[Granian Battalion Ship] [Course: Planet Grania] Deep Space, an empty vacuum surrounded with distant stars and planets orbiting said stars. The artistic design of the planetary clusters and countless nebulas, ranging in different colors, made it one of the best sights in the universe, particularly in the part of the Akrina Galaxy they, the Granians, found themselves. At the moment, two great ships, followed by four smaller ships each, made their way back to Planet Grania after those in the ships had "successfully" taken back planets that belonged to them from their enemies the Ethisians. One battalion had a rather interesting encounter with the Ethisians who managed to set a trap for them. Even though they had lost a large number of their soldiers, they were still victorious in their conquest. None of them were bothered enough to collect the bodies of their fallen comrades since they were young and arrogant, painting a bad reputation in everyone else’s mind which, in the end, led to their death. Aside from having their own fall into a trap, they were also nearly wiped out by a Blood Mutant, not one of their own but one that belonged to their enemies the Ethisians. The underlying fear factor that rocked the surviving Granians wasn’t the fact that they were present before a strong Blood Mutant, nor the fact that they were nearly drained and burned, but it was the fact that the Mutant they fought was a clone and if it wasn’t for that factor, they were more than certain that their own Blood Mutants wouldn’t have survived if faced with a real one. It was by sheer luck that Anya and Jim managed to kill the clone but under any other circumstances, it was clear they wouldn’t have had that much of a fighting chance against it. On the other hand, the second battalion had a form of success on their end. Starting with a simple conquest that was, at first, peaceful without any casualties, they were later found in a situation that claimed the lives of a lot of their soldiers. Thankfully, the Humans on their side managed to cause a dent in the Ethisian numbers, that was until they had momentarily lost possession of their strongest Mutant. Cowering in fear, the Granians, retreated to their ships and counted their losses. Not wanting to confront the Ethisians head-on without the strongest Blood Mutant, they chose to escape but were unfortunately grounded due to the weather conditions in the environment which affected their means of transportation. One thing led to another and the two female Humans fought back and chose to save their own, despite the majority choosing to retreat while they still had the chance. Thankfully, and surprisingly, their strongest Mutant made a comeback and showed one of the most gruesome killings any of the Granians present had witnessed. Even the Humans were shocked with an uncertain type of fear governing their senses. After all of that had happened, the Granians claimed their victory and returned to Planet Grania but that victory came at a cost. The lives of their fallen comrades and nearly losing possession of yet another Mutant had caused a great amount of turmoil in their numbers. For that, a meeting between the higher-ups and the battalion leaders was called for in one of the ships. Not physically present, Lord Grania and Lord Grim used Eneraflux to communicate with Lily and Chris who were in an enclosed room in one of the ship’s many compartments. Heads lowered and bodies bowed, the two waited anxiously while exchanging stories of what they witnessed. "We have him back in our possession, don’t we?" Lily spoke, referring to the part where they managed to get Ace back. "What reason do you have to act so nervous?" "Imagine if we lost him," Chris spoke, choking on the guilt and fear he had building up in his chest. "Do you have any idea what Lord Grim and Lord Grania would do to me?" "It nearly happened," he snapped, his body shaking in fear as he tried controlling his temper. "the fact that it nearly happened is what’s bothering me. Now imagine what Lord Grim and Grania are going to discuss. I haven’t the faintest idea but it could be about what transpired today." "Go on!!" Lord Grim’s voice silenced the two immediately, making them bow in an awkward silence. "Please, by all means, continue. What were you two discussing about?" "We were...we were..." Chris gulped, Lily rolled her eyes and spoke on his behalf saying, "We were just speaking about what had transpired today, Lord Grim. The battle with the Ethisians was much tougher than what we’re used to and..." "Much tougher?" Grim snapped, disgusted by the words Lily used to portray her message. "Has this new generation of Granians really grown that soft? None of you have started the real war yet. All you’re doing is taking back planets from the Ethisians and you dare call it hard?" "Forgive her, Lord Grim," Chris bowed and begged. "she doesn’t know what she’s saying, isn’t that right? Her head was hit in war, that’s all." "Enough of this," Lord Grania approached and the others bowed. Like Grim, he too had a sour expression on his face, and both ’human impersonators’ could tell that it was about the state of the war they just fought. "it has been brought to my attention that you, Chris, nearly lost possession of the Human known as Ace Underwood to the Ethisians. Is that true?" "It’s a yes or no question, Granians," he snapped, but did it calmly. "Did you nearly lose possession over the Human known as Ace Underwood?" "Yes, Lord Grania." Google seaʀᴄh 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵※𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮※𝓷𝓮𝓽 The awkward silence returned as the two waited for their punishments. Lord Grania intentionally kept them waiting as he enjoyed watching them panic with fear and anticipation. "Very well," Lord Grania sighed. "what Grim had said is true. This new generation of Granians is too soft and fragile to face a real war. Most of you were only children when the real battles between us and the Ethisians began." "W-what shall you have us do, Lord Grania?" as quickly as it started, the ’meeting’ between the ’human impersonators’ and their higher-ups ended abruptly. The two were left in suspense, not knowing what their superiors had in store for them. Lily, not bothered by this at all, simply got up and left to rest while Chris paced back and forth, getting lost in his own thoughts while contemplating whether he’d end his life now or not. Yes, it was stupid of him to think that way but given the fact that he saw others get punished for doing things that were not as grave as his own ’mistakes.’ The pressure, guilt, and fear became so great that it resulted in him getting a headache which forced him to rest and calm his nerves. For the remainder of the trip, the two Granians rested and prayed that their higher-ups would have mercy on them concerning the types of punishments they had prepared. "I think it would have been better for me to be in the hands of the Ethisians than the Granians," Chris complained one more time before resting his head on the floor. There were no sleeping chambers on the ship so like anyone else, he picked an unoccupied spot and slept. "these wars...why must I be involved? Couldn’t there be a way to stop both sides and at least bring a stand...still?" ********************** [Location; Planet Grania] The sun set on the large Granian planet with countless ships returning from battle. Some came carrying goods, minerals, and slaves of war while others carried the dead bodies of fallen Ethisians and Granians. Other ships were cargo and trader ships from inhabitants coming from different planets seeking either refuge from the war or a place to hide from the Ethisians. The longer the war waged on, the more the number of refugees flocking in continued to increase, and with that came a little bit of instability, unrest, and hate crimes from the refugees and Granians. To make matters worse, the War was now in favor of the Ethisians. Even though the Blood Mutants were winning colonies back, the Ethisians were destroying the other Granian troops easily, forcing the Granians to sketch new war plans if they wanted to put an end to the Ethisians once and for all. "Not the hero’s welcome I was expecting," Anya and Jim were the first to leave as they witnessed the other Granian soldiers moving towards their respective barracks. Most of them were wounded, severely injured and others were carried on stretchers. That, however, did not compare to the number of body bags that were piled together in preparation for burning later in the night. Even worse, some of the ships returned in horrible conditions with important components either missing or standing on their last legs. It truly was a miracle that they managed to move through space. "Mutants," a Granian who worked in Lord Grania’s palace approached Anya and Jim, offering them a change of clothing with papers placed on top. The papers had words written in an attempted version of English which they both found amusing at first. "Please put this one and follow me. The tides of the war are changing in favor of the Ethisians and it has been voted for the four of you to join the real war." ’Real war?’ Anya questioned while checking the papers. ’Then what have we been doing this whole time?’