The Mech Touch

The elevator finally stopped after reaching the right deck.

As the elevator doors opened, Mr. Meren led Pearian out into a wider and more well-lit series of hallways.

A greater variety of aliens appeared every now and then as well. The nunsers were still the most ubiquitous ones that Pearian came across. Their large, quadruped bodies were mostly covered up by solid armor, but there were occasionally times where non-combatants moved around in lighter and more utilitarian garb.

He also encountered the occasional puelmers. They looked much more different from the nunsers. Instead of towering over humans, these ball-like aliens were mostly the size of human torsos.

The dozens of small limbs that poked out of their unusually shaped bodies weren't large enough to lift them too far off the ground. This caused their bodies to remain below the wastes of most humans.

Lord Pearian tried his best not to burst out in laughter at the comical sight of these rolling ball aliens.

The puelmers were well aware that they were among the shortest and smallest sentient alien races of the Red Ocean, but they were also incredibly sensitive about this issue.

Ridiculing their short statures was an easy way to start an all-out battle!

Even the relatively tall and aggressive nunsers had learned to restrain their temper around the irritable puelmers. The ones serving aboard this starship probably received special training in order to increase their ability to cooperate with other races.

Pearian encountered a few more alien crew members, from orvens that looked fairly close to humans to weird aquatic fish-like creatures that needed to wear suits filled with water to work on a ship that was filled with air.

The Fractured House of the Collapsing Star was primarily a nunser warship, so her life support systems were mostly attuned to the tolerances of their race.

Baseline humans would probably get poisoned by the air composition of the alien warship, but Lord Pearian's genetically modified body was able to cope with a wider variety of alien environments, so he was able to remain healthy to an extent.

The same probably applied to Jugal Meren.

The cosmopolitan had fallen silent as the two humans walked towards the chamber where the 'housemaster' held court.

The hallways became increasingly larger and the decor became more elaborate. Numerous alien markings, symbols and artwork made it seem as if they had gradually entered a palace of sorts.

"Before we begin your audience, let me warn you that it is best to cooperate." Mr. Meren's artificial voice spoke again. "The Trampler of Stars is not a tolerant or forgiving alien leader. He is used to getting his way by force or submission and he expects the same from you. He has met several humans before you, but each of them have irritated him to the point where he has trampled them beneath his feet. I sincerely hope you will not become his latest human victim."

Surprisingly enough, Lord Pearian did not feel as afraid as he should. He cherished his life and wanted to preserve it if possible, but after suffering so many losses, the guilt and recrimination welling up inside of him caused him to feel remarkably nonchalant about his possible death.

"I would rather die as a human than live as a traitor to my own people." Pearian stated with much more conviction than he had ever expressed in his life.

Smack!

"Fool!" Meren scolded as he slapped the captive scion's head from behind. "Your dogmatic inflexibility will accomplish nothing! It is only by living that you will be able to continue to survive and accomplish your goals. I do not expect a man who has grown up in a society saturated with human supremacists to surrender to an alien warlord, but you should at least show enough forbearance to extend your life for the time being. If you cannot prove to the Trampler of Stars that it is worthwhile for you to occupy a cell in his house, then you will fail at this juncture."

Though Lord Pearian had given up on the belief that he would ever be able to escape the clutches of these aliens alive, he still retained a tiny bit of hope.

Perhaps the cosmopolitan had a point. Pearian just had to remind himself to never cross too many lines.

"We are here." The robed figure stated as they stopped before a circular gate.

Twenty heavily armed and armored nunser guards stood before this entrance. Their resplendent blue and bronze armor and wicked side-mounted cannons caused them to look like a unit of tanks.

Their helmeted heads all turned towards the two approaching humans. The way they were positioned not only made them more intimidating, but also showed that they were incredibly united.

Lord Pearian was ashamed to admit that he feared these powerful aliens. His resolve had already weakened before he met the great nunser warlord himself.

It didn't help that he was bereft of his pioneering fleet, his loyal bodyguards, his personal equipment and his implants!

Almost half a minute passed by until Jugal Meren finally spoke, yet instead of speaking normal human words, he began to speak in the language of their hosts.

"Yahhaughauhaha."

The lead nunser guard seemed to stare down even harder at the two humans. "Yewefewghuuaaah!"

"Yhhuugswafahgvwa. Yuuxzefahnnangoah."

"Yuuahwaa!"

"Eooofgahaa!"

Lord Pearian almost lost his composure as Mr. Meren seemed to get embroiled into an argument against the powerful alien guard.

In his opinion, no human should ever speak in this language. It was utterly alien and sounded like absolute gibberish in his ears.

The best way he could describe nunser speech was that it sounded like evolved cattle noises. The nunsers didn't exactly have the kind of mouth and throat structure to speak more articulate words.

He couldn't imagine how much effort it took for a human to learn a fluent nunser language. Pearian had little doubt that Mr. Meren was speaking nunser words on his own without relying on any translation tools.

Finally, the nunser guards relented. They steadily moved to the side, opening up a channel for the humans to proceed inside.

When Pearian and his human minder passed through the opened gates, he stopped and beheld the central chamber where the Lord of Stars held court.

It did not look like any human court. The space was dominated by a large round pit that sunk into the ground. Dozens of alien guards and high-ranking officers were standing around a large pillar that exhibited a lot of unknown alien markings and symbols.

Standing before the pillar was the Trampler of Stars himself.

Equipped with an even larger and more elaborate armored suit, not a single piece of hide or fur was exposed. High-quality weapons were built into the sides and Pearian could also spot a few elements that were probably responsible for flight.

If Pearian possessed a greater technical understanding of phasewater technology, then he would have recognized that the entire suit of armor was transphasic!

Even though Pearian was still far away from this alien leader, he already felt a cloud of oppression hanging over his head.

The Trampler of Stars exuded power. He was strong in more ways than one, and a part of the captured scion instinctively wanted to make himself smaller.

It took quite a lot of effort for Pearian to keep his back straight.

The two stepped on a ramp and descended into the pit. They continued to move forward, ignoring the silent alien courtiers and officers who answered to the alien leader.

Once Mr. Meren stopped at a respectful distance in front of the nunser warlord, Pearian realized that the Trampler of Stars was at least 50 percent larger than any other nunser.

Even with his high-quality armor adding a lot of bulk to his body, the alien was definitely a giant among his kind!

It was at this point that Jugal Meren began to address the housemaster.

The cosmopolitan did not do so as a human.

Instead, the purple-robed figure slowly bowed, but not out of greeting, but so that he could place his arms onto the deck!

Pearian began to look increasingly more shocked as Meren began to assume a posture that looked outright bizarre!

Mr. Meren bent and shifted his body so that he was able to stand on all four limbs.

He did not do so by going onto his knees.

Instead, he made sure to keep both his feet and his hands pressed onto the deck while keeping his back perfectly straight and his head looked forward!

It became evident that Meren had substantially modified his body as no baseline human could assume such a ridiculous beast-like posture.

The cosmopolitan's arms had to be artificially lengthened in order to make him look more like a nunser!

"Yahehuguaaa!" The cosmopolitan barked with a firm but not too aggressive tone. "Ghuawawha!"

Though Pearian looked absolutely horrified that a human was willing to debase himself in this manner in order to connect with the nunser race, perhaps it worked because the Trampler of Stars did not crush Mr. Meren beneath his hoofs.

Those hoofs were another part of the alien warlord that looked deadly. The armor around the nunser's limbs were thickened and strengthened. Numerous technological features such as retractable spikes allowed the Trampler of Stars to inflict damage with his hoofs in various different ways.

There was no way that Pearian wanted to die by getting crushed by one of those armored hoofs!

After a brief pause, the Trampler of Stars finally responded to the human liaison.

"HUUYUGHAUAAGHAHAA."

The air around the chamber seemed to shake and vibrate due the powerful alien's speech!

Pearian felt as if his entire body was at the mercy of the alien warlord's voice alone!

This was no ordinary nunser individual!

Jugal Meren gazed downwards while lowered his posture a bit further, making it look as if he was offering his complete surrender to the Trampler of Stars.

"Quhhuahahweodh."

This seemed to satisfy the powerful alien leader. The large nunser's intensity dropped to an extent.

'YHWAHWFWEFEHAH. HUUWHFHAHWHWHADFWAH."

"Fuhuwaaohahheoh."

It was at this point that the Trampler of Stars clearly shifted his attention from Mr. Meren to Lord Pearian.

The scion felt as if an apex predator was one step away from harvesting his life. He tried his best to remain as unmoving as possible!

"HUUWHAH."

"Introduce yourself to the housemaster of this homeship." The cosmopolitan that was still 'standing' on all fours interpreted for the alien leader.

"I am Pearian, descendant of the Yorul-Tavik Clan. I hail from the Omter Republic of human space in the Milky Way Galaxy. I am a pioneer who has accepted a mission to assist humanity with the exploration and conquest of the Red Ocean Galaxy."

Mr. Meren translated everything that Pearian said in native nunser speech. The captured scion felt even more disturbed to hear his own message being twisted by alien words. This was profoundly wrong!

"YHYAHUGAHHAW. WERHUAFHWAHAUA."

"Why do you not submit in front of the master of the Fractured House of the Collapsing Stars? Kneel and bow your head in front of the breaker of human cowards and weaklings."

"Never!"

The Trampler of Stars didn't need to wait for a translation to understand Pearian's defiance!

Before Mr. Meren could intercede, Pearian abruptly felt a powerful force pressing down on his body!

"Ahh!"

His weakened body failed to maintain his footing and fell onto the deck in an undignified fall!

His jaw hurt as a part of his head collided against the cold and solid surface. The invisible force acting on his body continued to press it down until he laid almost entirely flat on the deck!

"HHUUWHAHARAWUA. HUWAFAWHHA."

"This generous and forgiving warlord is generous enough to forgive you for your insolence. You humans are uncultured and slow to learn. It is beneath this housemaster to sully his noble hoofs with the worthless blood of your pathetic species."

Pearian gritted his teeth. Though he felt more afraid than ever, he possessed a spark of defiance that kept him from asking forgiveness!