The Calm Before The Storm. (7)

"Latch: Open." They both said at the same time, as if they had practiced it beforehand.

Both Walkers made a strange noise, before Juxtae's one revealed a strange looking orifice, while Vox's one opened its mouth.

The attendants quickly got to work, pulling on large hoses with what looked to be nozzles attached to them, while others ran off and then drove back in strange vehicles with raiseable platforms on them. Within the next few minutes, the Void Walkers had their respective hoses in their mouths, and in a process that looked more akin to feeding than fueling, they received the Essence that they required.

While this was going on, the Chief had already gestured at the Void Lords to follow him, and together with their Knights, they were all escorted by the Enforcers to the Terminal. The Void Lords and their people barely even looked at one another, acting as though the other side did not exist. Meanwhile, Relovan was being both ignored and glared at as the Enforcers all walked together. Due to the urgency and seriousness of the current situation, things were still being relatively contained, however things were still very tense. The group reached the Terminal fairly quickly, streaming in through the doors like an army. The Chief had already alerted all the employees of the situation, which meant that there weren't to be any unnecessary processes to waste time. Something that was mandatory however was the logging of all people visiting the First Planet, which meant that Terminal employees were standing ready with scanners and such.

"I explained this earlier Void Lords; we need to scan you and your Knights before boarding the vessels that will fly us down."

"Just get it over with." Vox barked.

"The Lady wishes to get some rest, so she says the sooner we get this done, the better."

With this being said, the process began, with biometric scans being done. The Chief had also explained that any and all weapons were also to be logged, scanned and flown down in a different ship. The carrying of weapons on the First Planet by anybody other than the Police was strictly prohibited, however the Chief allowed for the weapons to be brought down to the planet in the event of a crisis. Guns, bladed weapons, shields, blunt weapons, throwing weapons and every other kind of weapon one could imagine was being pulled out of clothing, shoes, armour, and more. The Enforcers were overseeing the process along with Terminal Security, and everything was going surprisingly well. Just as things appeared as though the weapon surrender was about to be complete, a tall, rather large Knight dressed in Juxtae's colours appeared to be kicking up a fuss. It appeared as though he was refusing to relinquish an item, and the Terminal employee and Security tied to press the issue, but all he did was get louder.

"How are these classified as weapons?!" He boomed as he became increasingly agitated. "They're gloves, GLOVES! Just try to pry them off my hands!"

"But Sir, they augment Storm abilities – they discharge Lightning…" A rather small looking employee tried to explain.

"They protect my hands; therefore, they are classified as armour, ARMOUR!"

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps approaching from the group of Enforcers caught the attention of not only the Knight and employee, but everybody else as well. Striding forward with all the purpose and confidence in the world, Relovan walked powerfully towards the trio.

"Excuse me…" He said as he got closer. "According to line four, paragraph sixteen, Subsection A of the Arms and Armour Section of the Coalition's Constitution, a weapon is classified as anything that can either cause or assist in causing physical and/or mental damage. Those gloves are able to create Lightning and that Lightning can directly harm somebody. According to the interpretation of this Territory's Constitution, those gloves are considered weapons, and thus have to be handed over."

Relovan was rattling all this off while walking towards the Knight. By the time he reached said Knight, the only sounds that could be heard were the beeping of the Terminal computers and the other ambient noises. He looked at the large Knight, who honestly seemed out of place amongst the other, small and sleight Knights.

"Hand over the gloves, please." Relovan virtually ordered.

"Who in the name of Shaelandria do you thi—"

"The Law." Relovan answered before the question was asked completely. "I am the Law, as are the others who wear this badge on their chests. So long as you are within the boundaries of the Coalition, you shall follow its laws. Now, hand over the gloves… please."

The large Knight looked as though he was about to become aggressive towards Relovan, however he froze in place as he looked beyond the Human and saw his Void Lord approaching with both of her assistants. Relovan then turned and looked at the three of them approach. They actually moved right past him, and Juxtae stopped right in front of the Knight, who went from being aggressive to being timid and respectful. Before he could even say anything, she raised her right arm to his forehead and one of her assistants rolled her sleeve back to expose a thin, dainty looking hand. Timidity and respect quickly turned to fear, and before anybody could say anything, Juxtae's forefinger was pushed into the Knight's forehead. It seemed to phase through the mask and the moment it did, screams rung out in the terminal as streaks of lighting danced around his entire body, before the Knight slumped to his knees. The finger was removed from his forehead, and the woman lowered her arm once more. Her sleeve was returned to its normal state, and the floating woman looked at Relovan.

"The Lady offers her apologies for the actions of her subordinate." The other assistant said. "She says he will also apologise and hand over his gloves after he has recovered from the punishment."

Relovan looked at Void Lord Juxtae and nodded, before speaking.

"Thank you, Void Lord. Please understand that you are all subject to such laws and regulations because of your strength, not in spite of it. If you follow them, we will all emerge from this unscathed, and you will all be able to continue with your respective journeys. However, if you contravene them, we will enforce them."

Relovan said the last line as he looked around at all of the Personal Knights, from both camps with the sort of look in his eye and tone in his voice that screamed of his words being a threat. There was a moment of stunned silence once more, and everybody was taken aback by the sheer arrogance of this Human. He then nodded at the Void Lord once more and walked back to the other Enforcers. The Chief looked at him with a rather large smile on his face, and once tall the weapons had been handed over, he looked at the Void Lords and nodded.

"Well, we don't have to stick around for the process of sorting, boxing and loading the weapons. If you two don't object, we can board the vessel now and make our way down."

The two Void Lords nodded their consent and the Chief reciprocated. They all moved from where they were to the boarding gates to the ship. It was a rather standard Void Ship; however it was completely mechanical and able to traverse through the Void as well as double up as an aircraft. They were using one large vessel, and despite a few grumbles about the order of things, everybody managed to board without much incident. The Personal Knights all sat on opposing sides, as did the Void Lords. The Enforcers were seated behind them all, and after being cleared for takeoff, the vessel did just that and flew down to the First Planet. The flight was uneventful as well as quiet, and they landed not more than ten minutes after they left the Terminal. Relovan, who had been seated towards the back by himself, just watched as everybody shuffled their way off the ship and onto the landing bay. Once they had all assembled outside the vessel, the Chief's thunderous voice reverberated throughout the bay.

"Without wasting any time, the names I call out will be placed in command of makeshift squads just in case. Bibin, Bap, Kim…"

The Adonian Chief rattled off the names of eight Enforcers, none of whom were Relovan, which made more than a few of them snigger and smirk in satisfaction. For his part, Relovan looked as though it didn't matter to him in the slightest. By the time the impromptu squads had been decided upon, the Chief announced that they would all be headed towards the best hotel on the First Planet. It was clear he hoped top class facilities would keep the two sides pacified long enough for their Walkers to be completely refueled. Once the announcement was made, everybody got into position behind the Chief and the Void Lords. Before they had even set off though, Ura – one of the temporary commanders – looked squarely at Relovan and grinned.