The lodge had once more become the unofficial meeting spot for when things that shouldn’t be shared widely were to be discussed. Probably because only people Jake trusted tended to be invited. This time around, things would be a bit different, though, as quite a few people who usually never would be allowed to visit were coming. In part to help build trust and in part to show that Jake had nothing to hide as his healing journey was more or less over.
Later on, he had actively chosen to exclude some individuals, though. That was for when they came to the part of the meeting regarding a certain Nahoom.
Jake didn’t want those affiliated with large factions to take part, as he feared what they were to discuss was something people would feel obligated to report back to their higher-ups. This did mean that even his own brother wasn’t allowed to take part, but this was the best decision in Jake’s eyes.
However, for now, the meeting was one not about the Chosen of Yip of Yore – at least not directly – but about the state of the Milky Way and their plans going forward. Before everyone arrived, though, he and Carmen did have a rather enlightening conversation after Jake asked her about starting a galactic war against another Chosen... and she took his question incredibly seriously as she looked in thought for a while before answering.
”I’m not sure Ell’Hakan wants a war anymore, and I’m even more unsure of how Valhal would respond... but it does feel inevitable a clash has to happen at some point,” Carmen muttered after she’d gotten over the shock of Jake’s proposal. ”We both know some shady shit is going on, with a bunch of gods making plans behind the scenes, so I’m not sure acting too hasty would be smart. Unless you’re fine with potentially ruining whatever plans the Viper is cooking up, that is.”
Jake looked at her for a moment before shaking his head. ”Give me a bit of credit here. I have at least considered that, and I wouldn’t want to do anything without the Viper being on board... and I have a feeling we will soon be able to find out if he is.”
”You mean...?”
”Yeah, I believe that communication to those outside our little universe will open up once our galaxy is done with this event and that we won’t have to wait for the entire damn universe to finish dealing with their own Prima Guardians,” Jake nodded.
Carmen frowned at Jake’s words and seemed to not be entirely sure if that was a good or a bad thing. ”Let’s discuss this again with the others when the time comes... I have a feeling it can’t be as simple as just invading his planet and beating up the guy after your god gives you a thumbs-up.”
”Or maybe it will be,” Jake smiled. Truthfully, he still wasn’t entirely certain he would be able to discuss matters with Villy once the last Prima Guardian in the Milky Way died, but he did feel and seriously hoped it would. He didn’t want to do anything without talking to Villy first, as he knew this matter with Ell’Hakan was larger than mortal matters.
On the other hand... he really did feel done dealing with Ell’Hakan’s bullshit. Even the potentially unintentional bullshit he had spawned in the form of the Desolate Child of Loss. Taking down that thing had cost way too much.
Hours passed as Jake and Carmen shelved the topic for now and just kept talking about other matters – most of them related to combat. Soon enough, it was time for the meeting to begin as everyone arrived one after another, Miranda naturally the first one to get there.
Not long after, Arnold and Eron both arrived, with Caleb and Maria not far behind. Vesperia, Casper, Lillian, the Sword Saint, and even Kindroth also made their way to the lodge as more and more people arrived to discuss the future of the Milky Way. The only notable absences were Jacob and Bertram, who hadn’t been invited for good reason. Carmen was also clearly out of place in the eyes of many due to the official stance of Valhal when it came to the conflict between the Viper and Yip, but no one was going to ask her to leave because of something silly like that.
Jake’s little lodge had never been this full before, and he was happy Hank had made it so large when he’d originally built it. People did have to bring their own chairs, though, as soon they were all gathered. Jake got quite a few looks as he hadn’t publicly been doing much recently, and many probed him subtly, with Jake gladly confirming he was pretty much back to full power and the strongest person in the room.
Miranda was the one to initiate the meeting once they were gathered and the initial greetings had gone out. She looked at the crowd of people who’d helped with this entire system event, with several new faces among them, such as Kindroth, six other World Leaders who represented bigger groups, and even William, who Jake had graciously allowed to take part courtesy of his recent contributions.
”So we would become vassals whether we like it or not?” the woman continued questioning, clearly not happy with the situation. Understandably so, which was why Jake didn’t throw her out of his lodge despite being a bit curt and rude.
”I wouldn’t use that term, but some form of official relationship where you will be under our banner will be established,” Miranda said. ”But let’s not get ahead of ourselves yet. We are far from reaching a point where such official designations are in any way relevant. For now, we shouldn’t focus on what everyone here wants, but what those we share our galaxy with wishes to accomplish.”
Miranda proceeded to explain some of what she had prepared, including some stats and some maps copied from within the Prima Vessel, showing the many planets of the Milky Way, and rather than simply having the colored flags, they now showed alignment. The situation was more complicated than just having those on the side of Jake or Ell’Hakan, though.
Factions like the Court of Shadows, Dao Sect, and many others weren’t truly part of this conflict. Even Valhal wouldn’t usually get involved in a matter like this, and no matter who won, they would more likely than not remain with a powerful presence in the Milky Way. Even if the Holy Church somehow conquered everything, they wouldn’t push out these neutral factions but allow them to keep a foothold.
This also meant that Caleb and Eron wouldn’t directly get involved in the conflict between Jake and Ell’Hakan. They truthfully couldn’t, as they represented their factions and had to remain neutral despite their personal feelings.
Valhal and the Risen were pretty damn involved, though. Valhal because of the shady stuff going on, and the Risen because of the Holy Church. They had already left Earth once, but they were still floating around in the Milky Way and really didn’t want the Holy Church to end up with too much influence, lest they be hunted down. So, even officially, they were on the side of Jake, courtesy of ”the enemy of my enemy is my friend” logic.
As for Vesperia... it truly didn’t matter much to the Endless Empire, who claimed a galaxy. More often than not, the Hive Queens would be forced to leave, but not even the Holy Church wanted to needlessly make enemies with the powerful ectognamorph empire. In many cases, they even assisted the Hive Queens in leaving before claiming their planets, only adopting violence if they saw no other choice.
Miranda had also talked to Jake earlier about her strategy for this entire meeting. At first, she had considered focusing a lot more on Ell’Hakan and his intentions, but she quickly learned that the Holy Church was a far better target.
Earlier, she’d talked about history, and if there was one faction with a historical track record of swallowing up entire galaxies and forcefully replacing any leaders who didn’t bow down to them, it was the Church. Many of the World Leaders who’d joined Earth had done so not because they wanted to ally with them but because they didn’t want to be crushed under the holy boot of the Church and believed Jake’s side had a better chance of allowing them to remain in charge of their own planets – a sentiment Miranda had gladly confirmed once more during this meeting.
The meeting continued, as Jake primarily sat back, waiting for this part to get over so he could get to the section he really cared about where they would really discuss the future of the galaxy. The more he heard, including some parts about what Ell’Hakan was up to, he only became more and more assured that no matter what, one thing couldn’t be clearer:
The Chosen of Yip of Yore had to go... and he only became more and more certain that he would have to throw some holy trash out alongside the fucker.
The wind blew through the barren land as sand was whipped up and formed small whirls. A few smaller critters had begun to inhabit the land once more over the last few weeks as the land slowly recovered courtesy of the Planetary Core fixing the planet.
A mammal about the size of a rabbit was digging through the ground, looking for anything left behind as it found what looked like a piece of bone. If Jake had been there, he would have recognized it as a piece of the Fallen King’s ivory claw, but all the small creature saw was something that could potentially be valuable to consume.
However, just as it moved to bite down on the claw, it stopped itself. The hair on its back stood up straight as it turned tail and ran away as its instincts screamed at it to escape, and just in time, as behind it, the dirt around the claw fragment began to lose its color and turn monochrome.