24 Rising Tensions

Within the capital city of Viridi and within the 'Viridi White House,' the planetary governor of Viridi; George Wilson leaned back onto his office chair within his private study, his eyesight gazing forward but looking at nothing.

Multiple holographic screens were projected from the desk, all of which displayed multiple different statistics relating to Viridi. In particular Viridi's military and defensive capabilities but after clarifying things with Viridi's planetary minister for defence he could only conclude a grim future for his planet.

However, that would soon change when the doors of his private study opened, giving him a clear view of a rather tall woman who appeared to be in her late thirties. She had long black hair that was tied into a low ponytail and dark brown eyes that would often times appear black instead of brown.

She wore a pseudo exo-suit that took the appearance of a formal business dress that had a golden pin of the U.P.A.'s emblem attached onto it, highlighting her position as a government official.

"Sir, the Platinum Avenger has warped into orbit, and the ship's commander; the deputy director of P.A.I.N.; Melanie Menendez is requesting an audience via transmission with you as well as the planetary ministers. Shall we comply?"

When George heard that piece of good news from that woman; his assistant; the 'personal secretary to the planetary governor'; Zhao Ling, he immediately heaved a breath of relief.

His shoulders which were once tensed up, relaxed upon confirming that not only will around 500 elite confederate psionic operatives be arriving on the planet shortly, but among them will be the 'Silver Sparrow;' Melanie Menedez, an S-class psionic.

"Finally they are here."

After mumbling to himself in glee, he gave Zhao an order.

"Yes! And give them the clearance to land immediately. Any suitable landing pad will do, just ensure that they land as soon as possible. Also don't hold the audience in the oval office, just do it here."

When she heard the contents of George's order, her eyebrows rose in slight shock before she proceeded to question him.

"Not in the oval office? But what about the planetary ministers? Shouldn't they also be present for such a meeting?"

"We don't have time to waste on waiting for the ministers to arrive. Just send them a transmission and patch them into the transmission between me and Melanie. Surely they won't mind. Even if it's just their voices, there still shouldn't be any problems."

In response to George's explanation, Zhao only made a quick nod with her head before she excused herself.

"Understood, I'll see to it sir."

A few seconds later, all of the other screens closed to give George a clearer view of the larger holographic screen before a video call started.

What appeared on the screen was a woman who seemed to be in her late twenties or early thirties and had short, silky, silver-white hair that was cut above her neck and coupled together nicely with her silver eyes.

She donned a bright silver coloured light exo-suit which looked extra shiny under the lighting of her ship's bridge. Like most exo-suits used by elite confederate psionics, there were running lines of crimson red lights running across her suit.

However, the indifferent and uncaring expression on her face reminded him of a bored teen, something which completely betrayed his expectations of the person who was supposed to be the so-called 'Silver Sparrow;' the powerful S-classed deputy director of P.A.I.N.

But George still managed to keep these thoughts within his mind as he made a kind and welcoming smile to the other party as he waited for her to introduce herself.

Soon, after making a short nod, she began speaking.

"Governor Wilson of planet Viridi. I am Melanie Menendez, the commanding officer of this P.A.I.N. expeditionary force and the crew of the Platinum Avenger as well as the acting deputy director of P.A.I.N. May I presume that you currently don't have any time for pleasantries or formalities?

Although what she said was somewhat rude and impolite, especially when speaking to a planetary governor, George also knew that he had no time to waste. As such, he could only reply with an affirmative.

"Yes you may."

Melanie once again nodded before she posed him another question.

"I see. And may I also presume that you have a greenskinned infestation in your midst?"

George was taken aback by her extensive knowledge of the situation. As far as he knew, the orkks only 'landed' on Viridi a couple hours ago and he made it his utmost priority to ensure that the information of the orkks' unwelcome arrival has yet to reach the ears of the general public.

So how was she, a person who spent days warping from the Earth's Solar System to the New Florida System, knowledgeable about the orkks on Viridi?

On the other hand, Melanie seemed to have noticed the shock on his face, prompting her to explain herself.

"If you're wondering how I could be aware of your current predicament, it's thanks to a few special psionics that I have onboard with me on the Avenger. They possess rather 'unique' detection abilities. Although you'll have to forgive me for telling you that the specific details are classified information."

George knitted his eyebrows together in disbelief when he heard her answer. He couldn't stop his sense of disbelief from leaking into his voice when he spoke.

"But I've never heard of such an ability. At least, none of the U.P. psionics that were stationed on this planet before they were redeployed had that ability."

Melanie would only shrug in an indifferent manner before she responded to him.

"I did tell you that it was a unique ability. Besides, it's highly unlikely for the U.P.'s government to deploy psionics who have similar abilities on a mere backwater world within an outer border system."

"Are you implying that my planet is of no importance to you?"

When she heard his question, she still kept an uncaring expression on her face when she answered.

"It's of no importance to your own government. I'm sorry that you have to hear this from me but to your government, your world isn't as valuable as those that held strategic importance either from a military or an industrial standpoint. It's just simple resource allocation... speaking of which..."

She paused for a short while, as if to confirm her thoughts with herself before she resumed speaking.

"You are rather lucky that your government decided to redeploy the psionics stationed here when they did, otherwise I wouldn't even be near here. Granted the American government did redeploy a lot of their psionics from multiple systems so I guess that you were just lucky... but such an event still begs the question."

For the first time, Melanie's expression changed when she spoke albeit only slightly. George didn't know what the specific change was exactly but he did sense it, causing him to feel some sweat drip down the back of his neck.

"What have you Americans been up to in the past few days? Not only did you burden my department and numerous other confederate psionic departments with the task of supplementing your own planets with psionic forces but you won't even reveal where all of those redeployed psionics went."

"I'm sorry but I don't have access to this sort of information."

Although George told the truth, he still expected her to inquire more into the U.P.A.'s motives but to his surprise, Melanie would only once again shrug in an careless manner before she returned to her usual indifferent disposition.

"It's fine. I was just curious and I was getting off-track anyway. What I wanted to ask was if I am right to assume that the U.P. Psionics that were previously stationed here were of a... low standard?"

Knowing that there was no point in withholding the truth, George could only sigh as he answered her question.

"Yes, out of the 500 U.P. psionics that were stationed here, the highest class was that of the D-class and we only had one psionic within that class. Everyone else is only within the F-class or the E-class."

"Sir! Forgive me for my rude interruption but is it really alright to inform a foreign agent of classified military information?"

The one who spoke was Christopher Loranger; Viridi's planetary minister for foreign affairs who only just joined the transmission. He immediately voiced his opinions when he heard George reveal classified military information to Melanie, who is by technicality a foreigner hailing from the Earth's Solar System.

His face didn't appear on the screen and only his voice was present, causing both George and Melanie to be slightly surprised by the sudden appearance of his voice. Before anyone could say anything else however, the screen expanded in size before another female face appeared.

She appeared to be entering into her early forties with long platinum-blonde hair that was tied up into a mid ponytail.

Like Zhao, she wore a pseudo exo-suit that appeared like a formal business dress and had a golden pin of the U.P.A.'s emblem attached onto it. The only difference of her outfit to Zhao was the addition of a red tie.

She held a tense yet prideful expression on her face while she spoke.

"Mr Governor has my approval on his decision to inform Menendez of Viridi military secrets. Besides, P.A.I.N. only acts under the authority of the Intergalactic Terran Confederation which surely wouldn't wish any harm upon any of their client nations. Especially a nation like the United Planets of America."

Hearing the platinum-blonde woman agree with his actions, George couldn't help but nod his head in approval before he thanked her.

"Thank you very much Woods."

That woman was Claire Woods; Viridi's planetary minister for defence so her opinion on this matter took precedence over Christopher's.

Of course, as the planetary governor, it was George who had the final say. Whatever order he gave must be carried out no matter what. Only a select few orders required the approval of the planetary minister for defence before being carried out.

Soon after, the holographic screen expanded again in order to accommodate another minister joining the transmission. This time the person who appeared was a bald man who appeared to be in his thirties. Like the other ministers, he wore a pseudo exo-suit that took the shape of a formal business suit.

He only gave a quick sentence in order to state his opinion.

"I second Woods's notion."

The bald man was Vando Belspoke; Viridi's planetary minister for psionic affairs and the only psionic that was not redeployed from Viridi.

Melanie, seemingly having read between the lines took the opportunity to speak.

"So does that mean that I have permission to gain any insight into the military of your planet? Of course, I only seek information that's relevant to your predicament."

Clair nodded in response as she spoke.

"As long as it is within my power, I am willing to divulge to you any of our planet's military secrets in order to eliminate the orkk threat. Although..."

She hesitated for a short moment before she continued speaking.

"I am ashamed to admit that despite being Viridi's planetary minister for defence I... I lack experience when it comes to orkks... As such, I was hoping that you could provide assistance. Perhaps with methods of how to best deal with the orkks."

Melanie's eyebrows rose slightly before she returned to her usual expression when she spoke.

"Hmmm... I see. Well I guess we'll start with the basics first."

She casted a long glance at everyone present in the transmission before she continued.