"Speak, Wala. Did Waan send you to reinforce Tas City?" Silae asked, gesturing for the young noble to sit.
Despite his question, Silae doubted Waan would ever allow his prized son to step into such danger.
"No," Wala shook his head after a brief pause.
Confirming his suspicion, Silae pressed further. "This city is far from safe. What brought you here?"
Wala stammered, struggling to find the right words, before finally coming clean and spilling his entire plan.
"A decapitation strike?"
Silae did not mock the young noble's reckless ambition. Instead, he seriously weighed the feasibility of the plan.
He had noticed the movement in the Sharkborn fleet immediately and suspected their destination was Tas City, though he could not be entirely certain.
As the supreme commander of Tas City, a single misstep on his part could cost tens of thousands of lives, forcing him to exercise extreme caution.
If he pulled defenders from the final perimeter and the enemy flagship went elsewhere, the front lines would crumble for nothing.
As for the inner cities, those were not his concern.
While Silae pondered his options, the massive Sharkborn vessel breaking through the atmosphere hurtled straight toward Tas City.
This was no ordinary warship. It was the flagship of the invading fleet.
Silas Trifang personally piloted the vessel, aptly named the Abyssal Lord in true Sharkborn fashion.
With his legions grinding down outside the city for nearly a month, Trifang had grown impatient and decided to bring the siege to an immediate end.
At the very same time, a mysterious guest arrived at the imperial palace in the heart of Menlo.
The heavily fortified gates of the palace were shut tight, with not a single Imperial Guard posted outside.
As Emperor Yinm waited anxiously, a mechanical bat swooped into the hall. "It seems you are finally ready to meet Lord Skygnaw, Yinm."
Ratbat circled above the Emperor, a red light flickering continuously on his chest as if scanning the surrounding area.
"When will this Lord Skygnaw arrive?"
Forced to yield to circumstance, Yinm naturally adopted the creature's title for the stranger he had yet to meet.
"Patience. Lord Skygnaw will be here shortly," Ratbat replied, tilting his head and ignoring the anxiety in the Emperor's voice.
"I see."
Yinm prepared himself for a long wait, but an unusually shaped craft suddenly cut across the sky above.
In the next instant, a crackle of lightning split the air, and a towering, menacing figure appeared before him out of nowhere.
"What happened?"
Yinm stumbled back several steps, nearly losing his footing in shock.
Where had this giant metallic creature come from?
His vision had blurred for only a fraction of a second before the giant materialized right in front of him.
Setting aside Yinm's disbelief, Ratbat dropped to the ground and bowed low. "Welcome, Lord Skygnaw."
He then gestured toward the newcomer with a glance at Yinm. "This is our leader here today, Lord Skygnaw of the Decepticons."
"Ah... Lord Skygnaw, greetings," Yinm stammered, slowly recovering his senses.
Spurred by the bat, Yinm swallowed his unease.
Standing before a giant alien far larger than the Mindborn Empire's greatest mechs, no ordinary leader could remain entirely calm.
"You did well, Ratbat," Skygnaw said, taking a moment to stabilize his footing after warping through space.
Skygnaw offered a brief word of praise before casting his gaze over the surrounding architecture.
"So this is Menlo, the capital of the Mindborn Empire?"
Ratbat had already transmitted the scouting reports, giving Skygnaw a clear understanding of Planet Kugrage's political landscape.
"I merely fulfilled my duty, Lord Skygnaw," Ratbat replied, a hint of excitement lacing his rasping tone. His gamble had paid off.
Having just joined Skygnaw's faction, being entrusted with such a critical mission proved his leader valued his unique talents.
Skygnaw remained unaware of the bat's elaborate inner monologue, or he might have marveled at the creature's imagination.
The Nemesis carried only one specialized reconnaissance agent, leaving Skygnaw with zero alternative options.
"May I ask, Lord Skygnaw... what brings you to Planet Kugrage?" Yinm began, regaining his composure as befitted the ruler of a world.
Accustomed to deference from his subjects, adopting such a cautious and humble tone felt deeply unnatural to the Emperor.
"I am not the supreme leader of the Decepticons," Skygnaw corrected smoothly.
Ratbat had never disclosed Skygnaw's exact rank within the global hierarchy, leaving Yinm to assume that anyone conducting high-level diplomacy must be the faction's ultimate ruler.
"What?" Yinm blinked, though he did not dare look down on the towering giant before him.
"Regardless of your exact title, I must know why you have come to Planet Kugrage, and why you asked to meet me."
As the supreme ruler of the only civilization on the world, Yinm had every right to demand answers.
Skygnaw glanced down at Ratbat. Understanding the signal, the mechanical bat bowed and flew quietly out of the palace hall.
"You are currently suffering under an invasion by an alien species known as the Sharkborn," Skygnaw said, a faint smile touching his metallic lips. "And we Decepticons can help you drive the invaders away."
"What? You wish to help us?"
Surprise washed across Yinm's face once more, quickly replaced by a surge of hope.
Though he had suspected the strangers were connected to the invading fleet, hearing the offer directly stirred a storm of emotion within him.
"And the cost? What must my people give in return?"
Squelching his excitement, Yinm looked up at the towering warrior and pressed for terms.
Long before Yinm ascended the imperial throne, Archbishop Shasi had taught him a core truth: every gift carries a price.
That lesson held true today. He knew better than to believe a giant alien warrior was offering salvation out of pure goodwill.
To the Mindborn, the Decepticons were off-world invaders no different from the Sharkborn.
Skygnaw had no intention of offering charity.
He was no benevolent savior.
"The condition is simple," Skygnaw replied with a cool smile. "I will crush the Sharkborn fleet threatening your world. In exchange, the Mindborn people will become my vassal race."
"A vassal race?" Yinm's expression darkened instantly. He understood precisely what the term entailed. "Impossible! That price is far too high!"
To become a vassal race meant surrendering the fate of his entire species, reducing his people to mere tools driven by a foreign master.
"Is that so?" Skygnaw studied the Emperor, measuring whether the rejection was genuine or merely an opening move in negotiation.
Yinm had dismissed all his guards for the sake of secrecy, putting his own life on the line.
Skygnaw granted him a measure of respect for that courage, but a leader who failed to read the tide of battle was beyond saving.
"Consider your position carefully, Yinm. Your defenders at Tas City cannot hold out much longer."
"Furthermore..." Skygnaw added softly, "I believe you are already aware that a large warship broke off from the enemy fleet in orbit."
"What you do not know is that the vessel is their primary flagship."
"Once that flagship arrives over Tas City, your defenses will shatter in an instant. No one will be able to stop them."
Yinm felt a cold knot tighten in his chest, wondering if the giant was bluffing.
Refusing meant losing their only potential savior, yet surrendering their freedom felt no better than outright destruction.
He was trapped in a painful dilemma, but Skygnaw had no intention of granting him endless time to deliberate.
"I know all about the emergency escape you arranged for your people, Project Seed..."
Skygnaw appreciated the sheer utility of the Cassette Division. Yinm had assumed that banishing Ratbat to another room would prevent eavesdropping, failing to realize that physical distance meant nothing to a trained spy.
"...If you accept my terms, Project Seed can serve as an extra layer of insurance. I can even help you execute it immediately."
Skygnaw delivered the implicit threat without a shred of hesitation. He made it crystal clear that refusal would not only forfeit their salvation, but turn him into another terrifying enemy.
An enemy who possessed all their classified secrets and would not let a single Mindborn escape.
"Very well!" Yinm's eyes flickered with resolve, dropping his hesitation as he agreed abruptly.
"I will pledge my people to your service as a vassal race, but I will only announce it after you destroy the Sharkborn fleet."
In the vast expanse of the cosmos, a vassal race was far from a myth of unconditional loyalty. Given the slightest opening, a subjugated species would be the first to turn on its master.
Skygnaw feared no backstabbing.
The semi-organic, semi-mechanical nature of the Sharkborn had inspired a promising new idea, and if destroying hundreds of thousands of Mindborn soldiers weren't such a waste of potential assets, he would have simply waited for the two sides to slaughter each other first.
From the moment he received Ratbat's intelligence report, he knew the Mindborn Empire had zero chance of repelling the Sharkborn on its own. Their fall was only a matter of time.
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