Timing was everything for the plan Ita proposed. It might work or it might not, but the sooner he started the more likely it was to work.

It was all going to hinge on Serenity’s acting ability, wasn’t it? And he couldn’t act worth a damn. On the other hand, all he had to pretend to be was a Shameful One, and he definitely didn’t follow the Sterath Path of Honor. Maybe it wouldn’t be as hard as he was afraid it was going to be.

“Rissa, you understand the plan, right? Can you call my Dad and see if it’ll work. Aah, and Mom? I’m not sure who would really handle that. Janice, please help her; I’m sure this is going to be annoying.” Serenity turned to the others. What did he need them to do?

It couldn’t hurt to have more people figuring out what to do with the Sterath if he managed to get them to follow his orders. “The rest of you … can you get with your leaders and see if there’s something they can do to make this all work? Some way we can use the Sterath against other invaders?”

“What are you going to be doing while we find out if your pet kangaroo’s plan will work?”

Serenity stopped for a moment, staring at Dr. Ridge. Had he not been paying attention? Or maybe he just hadn’t put the pieces together yet. That was certainly the charitable interpretation. “No. I’m going to be doing my best to do my part. Oh, and if there’s the option, see if there’s a place in Colorado for them. Near Denver, if possible.”

“Why Denver?” Brown hadn’t taken his eyes off Serenity, but he also hadn’t made any motion to reach for his phone.

“There’s another mass invasion near there. I don’t think we’ll be able to deal with it without a big fight.” Serenity knew his father knew about it, but he didn’t think it was generally known yet; as far as he knew, there hadn’t been any actual battles yet.

“There is.” Brown sounded like something he’d been wondering about suddenly made sense. “Denver. Explains some things. Right. You get on with it; I’ll make some calls.”

Serenity turned his attention back to Dr Ridge and saw that Rachel was dragging him by the arm towards their van. He tried not to laugh, but thought he might have let out a chuckle anyway. It was a good thing she’d already packed everything up; she didn’t need to wait for anything.

Serenity felt Rissa’s hand on his back. “I’m here for you. Go ahead and shift.”

Was he putting it off? He didn’t think he had been. If he didn’t start now, he would be. Serenity shook himself, then tried to shapeshift.

Unlike the last time, it felt normal and smooth. He felt himself slip through his smokelike Sovereign form and into his Sterath shape. It felt right, but at the same time it was like holding a muscle in position to stay in the form. He could probably stay in the shape for hours, possibly days, but he knew that he’d lose it if he slept.

He stretched, then felt Rissa’s hand on his shoulder. “Good luck, dear. I’ll be listening; please let me know if you need me.”

Serenity watched Rissa as she vanished around the side of their van.

It took him a moment to gather his thoughts and look over at Ita, but when he did he found that she wasn’t just crouched; she was lying face down on the ground in front of him. “Ita? Why are you - no, never mind. Just get up.”

“Lord, I - I didn’t know - you’re - “ Ita was incoherent. She also wasn’t moving. What had he done to set her off this time? He’d thought she was getting over her conditioning.

“Get up, Ita.”

This time, Ita jumped to her feet immediately. Her head still hung down, not looking at him.

Serenity tried to take a step towards Ita, but nearly tripped. He turned it into a short hop as he caught himself. Sterath moved differently, and it didn’t feel as natural as his other forms. He took another short hop towards Ita and patted her shoulder. “Ita. What’s wrong?”

Serenity waited while Ita shook, glanced up at him, and looked down again. She seemed to take some comfort in his presence and be terrified by it at the same time, so he waited and let her work through it. It seemed to take forever, but it couldn’t have been more than a minute or two before Ita was able to give a coherent answer. “There are five Home Planets and an eight or so Colony Planets. That’s all. And you have two?”

The rank-mark. It had to be. Why hadn’t he realized that would set her off? It made sense, now. “It’s not a Lordship mark, Ita. It says Friend for a reason.”

Ita finally looked up at his face. She seemed shaken. “It’s not? But … It looks like …”

“I’ve helped two worlds. They were both happy about it. The worlds, not the people …” Serenity decided he would simply not mention the Necropolis. It was probably better to break that to her gently. And later. He knew how he could handle this. A joke would help, wouldn’t it? “You know I’m a Shameful One; we do things backwards, right? So I befriended the world instead of conquering it.”

Ita didn’t laugh. Instead, she looked at him and nodded. “I see. Yes. That makes sense. You are - you are too kind. Far too kind. Even what you are doing now. You will give them death in battle, honor, though it is not your Name.”

“It will keep more of my people alive,” Serenity disagreed. It was her plan; why was she calling it “too kind”?

He should explain more. “These Sterath are not my people. I see this as tricking them into fighting for me instead of fighting against me. I don’t care that they want to fight except that it will help me convince them to do what I want.”

Ita smiled and seemed to relax. “Kind, but clever. Shameful. I understand; this is the way you wish me to act.”

“Uh…” Had he just tripped on a cultural mine? It kind of felt like it. “That sounds right?”

Ita nodded. “I understand. That is why you do not wish me to show obeisance.”

Definitely a cultural landmine. He’d need to talk to her about that, but later; now was definitely not the time for the hours of discussion they’d probably need. “Let’s deal with this first. You’re with me?”

Ita followed Serenity to the closest mall entrance. He had no doubt they were seen this time; he’d probably been seen when he left, but as a bird rather than as a Sterath. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any issues; a pair of Sterath approaching would be assumed to belong to the invasion force, wouldn’t they?

When they reached the entrance, no one was waiting. Serenity was happy they’d been mistaken as people who belonged, but he already knew that was something that would have to change. No matter who approached a base, they should be challenged; it simply seemed wrong to walk in unopposed. Even if there were no other Sterath on the planet, there could be shapeshifters.

The thought made him grin as he led Ita towards the escalator. It didn’t move, since there was no power to the building, but it was still the best way they had to reach the top.

Serenity hopped into the command room on the second floor and looked around. It was positively insane that he’d managed to get this far in without being challenged. If he wanted to, he could take everyone in this room by surprise; he might not be able to kill them all, but he’d get far too many for this to be good practice for soldiers on a hostile world. Then again, Sterath weren’t soldiers, were they? They prided themselves on being warriors.

No one had noticed him yet. Serenity cleared his throat. “Is this how you’re supposed to greet visitors?”

That got the attention of the Sterath. They all turned to look, but after that there was a mix of reactions.

About half of the Sterath took one look at him and fell into the same sort of lying-on-the-ground obeisance that Ita had given him right after he shifted. Three went for their weapons, then took a second look; one went to the ground, one crouched deeply, and the third drew his sword but didn’t move closer. One disappeared behind the door in the back and one simply went back to what he’d been doing as though nothing had happened.

The Sterath in the middle of the room seemed to be made of sterner stuff. The one right next to him was the one who drew his weapon, but he simply stepped forward. “Why are you here?”

Serenity recognized him; he was BattleLord FlameHeart’s chief aide. He was probably the one who would have ended up taking control after the BattleLord’s disappearance. He was in the right position and seemed to have the nerve for it. Hopefully he’d be amenable to working for Serenity instead of FlameHeart; being able to leave someone reliable at the top that the Sterath were already used to obeying would help.

“I am Serenity. Where is your BattleLord?” It was best to open with strength. A Name was strength to the Sterath. It meant far less to most groups, but to the Sterath culture Serenity knew, a Name was the first breakpoint, more important than reaching past Tier Three.

The Sterath aide seemed to droop a little. “He is out, checking on the warriors.”

Serenity knew that FlameHeart did that. It wasn’t exactly common practice among his peers, but it wasn’t unknown, either. He also knew that wasn’t why the BattleLord left, though it was probably why no one asked where he was headed. “No, he is not. He has abandoned you to me.”

The aide frowned. “I cannot take anyone’s word for that, not even yours.”

“I will wait while you search for him. When you find that you cannot find him, we will talk about what your future will be in my service.” Serenity knew he was pushing. In any other culture, it probably wouldn’t have worked - but the Kaelitha Sterath culture prized power.

It wasn’t that easy, of course. Serenity consulted with Ita while the aide sent out people to find the BattleLord; she thought he’d made a good start, but that he needed to be more impressive.

While they waited, Serenity reached for his Incarnate and pulled it towards himself slowly. It was comforting and helped to calm his nerves, but he knew that others wouldn’t find it so welcome. Ita definitely did not, though she agreed that it was impressive.

She also enlightened him on the Kaelitha Sterath standards for the transfer of power. They were fairly simple, similar to the requirements for a surrender. She absently mentioned that the Kaelitha were unusual; most Sterath had more requirements for leaving service, but the Kaelitha wanted to reward power.

An hour later, the aide came over to the comfortable seating they’d provided for Serenity and Ita. “Please leave. We will send for you when the BattleLord is prepared to speak to you.”

Clever.

Not that Serenity was about to let him get away with it.

“This is my world. You are Lordless. I am the Peace of the Grave. You will serve me or I shall send you to the Grave. Peacefully.” Serenity leaned heavily on Ita’s suggestions. This was not something he liked doing, but if he could get the aide to follow him, it would be a good starting point for the rest of the Sterath.

The aide shivered, but didn’t give in.

Serenity decided he needed to push more, so he triggered Gaze of the Origin. The “Effects vary” note still worried him, but he didn’t have any better choices.

The aide stared into Serenity’s eyes for a disconcertingly long time before he started to cry. After a moment, he looked down and crouched, still crying. “At your command, Lord.”

“Accepted.” It was what Ita had told him to say. He didn’t feel anything, but the aide put his hand to his chest almost immediately like it hurt; Serenity knew what that felt like. He’d felt it recently, himself. Or perhaps not himself? While he thought he was FlameHeart.

This was not at all how he’d expected his victory against the Sterath to happen. It was completely different from the one Vengeance managed. Serenity hoped it would be better.

It would be. He’d make it better.