Shi Lang had Sparrow and Ajax play his second as the three used the onboard Lev-bikes to move through the Terran and headed to the Cig city. Their ship did not land on the ground but kept hovering in the void between the two cities. This was to allow them a better access point and if they were needed to act, the team members left on board could drive the ship and go directly to the spot of action to provide support.

The Cig group had a lot of cities, but when contacted, Ajax was told that all the big leaders, the cig council have gathered in the city because the Strike force had informed them about the arrival of the support team. Shi Lang rode the lev-bike at the fastest speed, the cigs did not believe in harming nature so they only had dirt roads to work as a guiding path, and the lev vehicles could travel on them without any obstructions.

The three people arrived at the city gate in a few hours, and Jill contacted Shi Lang telling him that they will be reaching their destination soon, and the leaders of the Variants agreed to converse with them but they were not given access to enter the city.

The young general replied, “Follow along and reel him in.”

Jill replied, “Affirmative.”

To ease their jobs they were given a set of earpieces that worked as an interpreter and the armor was equipped with a neuro speaker, that allowed them to automatically translate their thoughts into words.

Shi Lang and the other two arrived at the city gate and they were greeted by the leaders of the Cigs right at the gates. Ajax said with telepathic communication, “Boss, these guys are good at kissing ass.”

Shi Lang nodded faintly and Sparrow walked forward and greeted the leaders. The other side was more than welcoming and took them to the administrative office of the city. At least a hundred people greeted Shi Lang in the reception hall of a building that was made inside the trunk of an old tree. This place was enough for at least five hundred people at the same time.

The prime leader of the Cigs was an old man, and Shi Lang had already pegged him for being a cunning old fox. The leaders were mostly older people, but there was a considerable amount of young people, and Shi lang talked with them as if he was a friend they had not met for a long time. The impression he created in front of the youth was going to be used later on, with a small meet and greet session the crowd proceeded to hold a meeting.

…

Jill and Sonic stood in front of a middle-aged man, this person had a wheatish complexion and his health did not seem to be in the pink of it. Raz had his body scanned and found that his body was riddled with traces of malnourishment, injuries, and diseases. His face was angular and his body was slightly on the shorter side, closer to the humans of the past but that could be because of the lack of nutrition.

The most noticeable features were the long ears that were slightly curled and shorter than the average Cig and a bump on the forehead that looked like a cyst.

Raz passed the information using telepathy. Crystal was told to stay on standby and she had a mask on her face. Jill was the commanding officer and she told Crystal to not act without queue. The Variant leader looked at the four people in the armor and wanted to say something when Sonic stepped forward and said, “Hello, are you the leader of the Variant Cig’s group?”

This one sentence shattered the ice between the two parties. Salve was the leader, and he knew more than others how humiliating it was to be addressed as a drig. That word meant Trash in his native language.

Salve nodded and replied in a softer tone, “Yes, Sir. I am Salve, the leader of this city. I welcome you here on Cega for the peace talks.”

Sonic nodded with a slight smile on his face and said, “Leader Salve, this is my captain, Officer Jill. She will be responsible for communicating with you. Also, do not worry, we have read the reports, and we know that Variant Cigs has always suffered because of the people who misunderstood what they did not know. We will definitely help you get over this crisis. We only seek your cooperation.”

Salve was surprised and then he bowed slightly to Jill and said, “I can only thank you. I do not know if your actions are sincere or just a routine to get in the good books, however, in the past eon probably no one has ever called me and my people Variant Cigs, so you have my gratitude. I will talk to you.”

The four people were surprised to hear that, Jill said, ‘Raz, initiate the drone, boss wants a live feed.’

Raz nodded and a camera on his shoulder started to record everything that was happening here and relayed the feed via the ship command module to Shi Lang’s visor. Salve had called for a few people to set up a table and chairs outside the city gates and talk to the Galactic Strike Force team.

Jill sat across Salve, and said, “You can call me Officer Jill. Right now, my superior has gone to Cig city, to deal with the administration there and I assure you that our intention to stop this war is sincere. We do not wish to see this planet end up in a pile of dust, and I guess you feel the same, after all, this is your home.”

Selva nodded and said with a bitter smile, “I know, we all know and hope that we don’t need to go that far, but the other party is not willing to listen. Was it our fault that we were born this way? Why must we be discarded and labeled as trash? Do we lack in any aspect? On the contrary, the variants have qualities that put the cigs to shame.

They have enhanced vision, but we have people who can do more than that. Yet, we are discarded and they even called us terrorists? Our people suffered silently for the past ten years until the prime minister of the Cig Alliance raped a girl. Do you know, that girl was someone who never harmed anyone, yet that man who claimed to have come with welfare supplies broke her.

Are we supposed to take all this humiliation lying down at their feet? Do we not have pride? So until and unless we get what we rightfully deserve, we will not stop. Yes, we have taken the extreme route, but we have never harmed anyone needlessly. The cig hostages in the city, we spared every child, woman, and elders. We share everything we can with them, from food to other supplies.

Tell me are we wrong for finally saying that we have had enough? Yet they claim to be the practitioners of Mercy? If this is mercy then they might as well kill us all once and for all.”

Salve spoke emotionally, and the Terrans heard him. Crystal had clenched her fists and she wanted to scold the Cigs, but Jill held her hand and then looked at Selva as she said, “I understand what you want to say, and I also understand that you are not at fault. However, look at this, on one hand, you have spared those who surrendered and the children, women, and elders were not harmed why must you destroy the entire planet?

Let alone the Cigs, that weapon of yours is capable of ending life in all manners. The animals, the plants, everything will die. Are you and your group willing to be known as a group of people who were insane enough to lose sight of their goal and destroy their home to escape struggle?”

…

A few minutes before Jill and the rest started talking to Salve, Shi Lang was sitting on a huge balcony with the leaders. He asked, “May I ask, why do you not accept them? After all, you all have learned better that even nature evolves and your kin must have evolved from some source, right? Then why push your kin away? It is not like you all can prevent the birth of more Variants by doing this?”

The prime leader was sitting right across Shi Lang, he said, “You do not seem to belong to a civilization where they value the deeds done by the ancestors. This was a decision taken by our elders, and we have to follow it. Whether you like it or not.”

Shi Lang nodded and said, “Then I would like to ask for the opinion of the normal citizens of the city. It is a decision that will change the face and ways of your civilization.”

The prime minister narrowed his eyes and said, “This will take a few days for us to set up.”

Shi Lang smiled and said, “You do not have to worry, the poll has begun while we are speaking, please check your communication devices and you will know.”

The moment the prime minister checked a tab like communication device, his face changed.