Meaning that if and when he encountered them in the future, they would be enemies and he would have to kill them on the spot rather than risk a second betrayal that he did not see coming.
6
The journey through the portals was boring for the Ren’mak, having to float there without anywhere to fly to, but Plausious knew the calm would end when they reached their destination. He had sent the others ahead so the Neofan in Installation 0193 would know he was coming and assemble…but he wasn’t going to be where they thought he was, for Plausious was using one of the backup portal locations that had probably never been activated in the Temple…and one that could not be blocked from their end given the codes he possessed.
When they finally arrived Plausious saw the catch on the receiving arrays in his Essence vision, then the transfer down through the Essence-infused machinery until they popped back into reality outside a random building in the wilderness in front of a wall that gave no indication it was anything other than stone blocks.
“Stretch your wings and tell me what you see,” Plausious said, mentally interfacing with the hidden portal and using its link with the Temple systems to log the presence of the Ren’mak and have it registered as a permanent non-combatant the way all Neofan were…meaning that even if it attacked a Caretaker unit they would not respond aggressively.
Plausious’s friend said he couldn’t see anything other than trees, but eventually one of the Temple’s machines rose out of a patch of nearby forest and came their direction, resulting in a warning squawk.
“I summoned it,” Plausious said, flying up to the Ren’mak’s position just in case this didn’t work due to reprogramming of the individual units before, during, or after their construction. “It will scan you and log you as an ally, otherwise every one like this will hunt you down assuming you are part of a Hadarak invasion.”
“Did you build all this?”
“Yes we did. It took a very long time, but it’s a place the Hadarak should never be able to find. And if they do, there are an army of these machines to fight them, and more machines to make replacements for these when they are destroyed. That is why you must be labeled as an ally,” he said as the floating Caretaker unit came closer but didn’t stop. Instead it did a flyby and left, sampling a bit of the Ren’mak’s surface tissue with an energy probe that he didn’t even feel.
“Confirm scan upload,” Plausious ordered.
The Caretaker frozen in position and displayed a hologram detailing the Ren’mak’s genetic code and other unique identifiers such as blood vessel location, retinal scan, and size dimensions. All would be cataloged and updated as needed, but as of now the Caretaker was listing the Ren’mak to have equal status to a Neofan…meaning the Temple itself would never willingly harm them, and would act to defend them unless they were in combat against another Neofan. In which case they would stay out of the way and observe.
A flick of a mental command and the Caretaker flew off, leaving Plausious and his friend flying over the treetops with the Ren’mak having to constantly flap to do so while the Reignor remained perfectly still.
“It is done. You can move freely here now, but the other Neofan are still a threat, so stay with me.”
“Always. Where do we go?”
“This is not where Truven will be, nor the Diem. This Temple was taken from Star Force, and they will be on guard for an assault. Our portal arrival will already have been noticed, so I choose to stay here and let them come to us…but let us choose a better spot if we have to fight.”
“Fight in air or on ground?”
“Ground, then into the air later if we need to.”
The Ren’mak took off flying, going straight up to get a better vantage point, and Plausious let him go as he stared across the landscape that very gently curved up rather than down.
“It has been a lifetime,” he whispered to himself. “We have done some truly grand things, but I am still ashamed to bear the name of Neofan. I must cleanse this Temple and claim it for the lightside, along with as many of my wayward brethren as I can. The others must be sent away, for the only other option is their death…but no. Star Force would find another way, and did, but I do not have the luxury of time or resources. I cannot become a prison keeper, but I also cannot become a murderer out of convenience. If they choose to fight, that makes my choice easier, but every one that dies is a failure on my part to assimilate them. I do not know how Star Force does it so easily.”
“I see a landing pad. Wide on top. Flat. Can fight there,” the Ren’mak reported, its voice barely audible from so high.
Plausious flew up to him and confirmed the sighting…barely. “You have good eyes.”
“And you don’t?”
“I can barely see it, but you are correct. It is a good place, and I sense it is empty.”
“How can you sense what you cannot see well?”
“A trick of Essence. Come. Let’s prepare for their arrival,” the Reignor said, flying off towards the bit of Caretaker infrastructure on the horizon.
It took two days before the other Neofan arrived, and they came together, more than 1,000 of them on barges in a large convoy across the forest tops, then encircling the landing platform as the Caretaker units coming and going were dispersed by the arriving Neofan to disappear inside or fly off to other locations where they would be out of the way.
One barge came in
