The answer Khan was waiting for seemed to have arrived. The Empire's history with the Nak was old, far older than the First Impact. However, its records could become contemporary if Khan added them to his new knowledge.
Moreover, the Thilku lacked the Global Army's in-fighting and political conflicts. They didn't have opposing parties and conspiracies. Their approach was more straightforward, so Khan could obtain unfiltered and transparent information if the Empire granted those authorizations.
Of course, things couldn't be that easy, and one look at Amox revealed complicated aspects of the topic. The Thilku was hesitant and conflicted, telling Khan he lacked the power to authorize such an endeavor.
The reaction was hardly surprising. Khan had merely replaced the old Ambassador but lacked the actual title and the influence that came with it. Also, the Empire's records were classified and often involved secrets about the entire species. Showing them to a human was a ludicrous idea.
"[Khan]," Amox called, his tone showing his internal conflict.
"[I'm not asking for your authorization]," Khan interrupted. "[I only want you to try to request it]."
Amox's confusion intensified when he noticed the confidence in Khan's face. That feeling had no reason to be there, but Khan wore it anyway.
Khan also realized how absurd his request was, but his hunch was hard to ignore. Raymond had to be up to something, and Khan felt to have found the main topic.
Amox didn't understand Khan's reasoning, but forwarding such a simple request was no big matter. The Thilku nodded at the rest of the escort before stepping away and lifting his right sleeve to expose the communication device. An exchange of messages followed, but no one was close enough to read them.
Khan ignored the soldiers during the wait and let his gaze linger on the Nak's replica. Seeing such a vivid puppet of his sworn enemy standing before him felt odd. Yet, strangely enough, his anger didn't flare.
'I'm getting there, aren't I?' Khan thought.
Memories and hypotheses accumulated throughout the years swirled inside Khan's mind. He had learned much about the Nak, but they still felt far away. However, his thoughts soon moved to a different topic, and his attention on his surroundings wavered.
The chase had looked helpless and endless in the past, but Khan now felt to have a shot. Moreover, he had lived with the nightmares for so long that his desperation had become the norm.
Still, the journey there had been troublesome for many reasons, and Khan had paid the price every time. The many injuries, the killings, and the deaths had deeply changed him, and his mastery over alien arts had delivered a blow he couldn't ignore.
'I'm not getting to you in one piece, am I?' Khan sighed.
The sacrifices had been too many, and Khan had constantly distanced himself from his previous naïve self. His very humanity was in doubt now, and he couldn't even see the problem with that.
'What will be left of me at the end of this journey?' Khan wondered, but the sound of familiar steps promptly diverted his attention, returning his focus to his surroundings.
Amox returned to the balcony wearing a serious face. Many would fail to see past his expression, but his mana told Khan everything, including the intense surprise running through it.
"[Captain Khan]," Amox announced, switching to formal titles, "[Come with me]."
Khan showed no surprise or hesitation as he stepped forward to reach Amox. The other Thilku soldiers tried to follow him, but Amox lifted his six-fingered hand to stop them. No words were needed to convey that Khan and Amox had to make that walk on their own.
Amox's stance was stern and serious, so Khan respected his silence and limited himself to following him. The two crossed the huge corridor, ignoring the other balconies, to head directly for a second elevator. The latter was relatively small, and various runes shone on its surface. Still, all of them darkened when Amox pointed his device at them.
Khan recognized those runes. They were high-security measures that could lock down the entire lift if activated wrongly. The elevator seemed to lead to a classified area, and his curiosity inevitably skyrocketed when he stepped inside it.
The silence remained while the elevator did its best to hide its descent. Khan couldn't feel anything from inside it, but his eyes saw past the metal surfaces, confirming the general direction of the machine.
The descent was unusually long. Xiotov's embassy was huge, but technology could easily compensate for that. Khan also confirmed that the elevator was by no means slow, but it still took a while for its doors to slide open.
The environment that unfolded in Khan's vision was far different from the open and windy corridor of the upper floor. The space ahead was slightly narrow and illuminated by soft red lights. The air was also stale, confirming its underground location.
Nevertheless, another detail ended up capturing Khan's attention. His mana core started to convey a now-familiar sensation as soon as his nostrils came into contact with the place's air. The area had Nak, and intensity filled his eyes as he began following Amox.
Khan had seen many alien environments, so he instantly understood the place's purpose. That was an underground lab of some sort, with sealed doors occasionally appearing at the corridor's sides. It was impossible to tell what those rooms hid, but Khan knew one of them had to be Nak-related.
Each door had runes, but they gave no insight about the insides. Still, another detail became clear when Amox approached one of them and let Khan inside. Nothing about that place was supposed to be open to humans.
Khan crossed the open door and found himself inside a giant warehouse illuminated by the same dim red light. Thilku donning dirty tracksuits or other casual clothes stood next to tables, screens, and other machines, often interacting with them through the devices on their forearms.
Khan's arrival made every head turn in his direction, and the palpable tension told him how strange his presence there was. A heavy atmosphere spread throughout the warehouse, and no one dared to move while rounds of inspections unfolded.
There had to be more than twenty Thilku inside that vast warehouse, and the many machines flickering with red shades could distract anyone. However, Khan barely spent a second absorbing the new environment before finding what he was looking for, and his eyes threatened to widen in shock at that sight.
Various corpses lay on the many tables and containers while machines continuously scanned them, sending results onto screens nearby. Automated surgery-oriented tools also dissected flesh and bones in some darker corners of the warehouse. That was in line with what Khan had expected, but the guinea pigs still managed to shock him.
To Khan's surprise, the various corpses didn't add anything new to his memory. He saw Cegnore's wolf-like monsters, a few specimens of their intelligent counterparts, some natives, and even one figure he couldn't forget. The fourth-level warrior he had killed in the underground lake was there, getting dissected by a machine.
As that silent and tense inspection continued, more information landed inside Khan's brain. The corpses showed signs of previous experiments and autopsies. It seemed Cegnore's labs only handed the first rounds of those studies before sending the interesting material to Xiotov.
As interesting as the sight was, Khan soon found himself wondering about his presence there. The warehouse had nothing alive, and only scientists could uncover the secrets behind those corpses. He couldn't even understand half of the results obtained by the machines, so some worry surged into his mind.
Khan was alone deep into the Empire's territory and inside an underground lab. Most of the scientists in the warehouse were second and third-level warriors, too. No one would be able to learn anything if he were to disappear there, and the Global Army would also have to accept any justification the Thilku threw at it.
The instinct to reach for the cursed knife showed its presence, but Khan suppressed it. Yet, his aura thickened, sending an influence only he could sense into the environment. He didn't believe Amox had led him into a trap, but it was better to seize control of the symphony during that stalemate.
Amox was the first to move after exchanging a nod with one of the scientists. He closed the door and waited beside it, leaving the matter in his companions' hands.
One of the scientists moved at that point, stepping forward to approach Khan. The walk was slow, almost careful. It seemed the Thilku could feel Khan's paranoia, making her stop a few meters from him to perform a traditional bow.
The bow brought some reassurance, but Khan's wariness remained high while he responded accordingly. He still didn't trust the situation, and everyone understood his mood.
"Captain Khan," The female scientist exclaimed in a bad accent when she straightened her back. "Thank you for coming here."
"[You can use your language]," Khan replied in an almost-perfect accent. "[I want to avoid misunderstandings]."
Khan's statement conveyed his distrust, but the scientist didn't let it scare her. She remained calm and resolute as more words left her mouth.
"[We would like to propose a deal]," The scientist revealed. "[Lord Rsi has already acknowledged and authorized the terms]."
"[What deal]?" Khan asked.
"[We will open our records about the Nak with you]," The scientist explained, "[And only you]."
"[In exchange for]?" Khan questioned, hiding his interest.
"[Performing tests and studies]," The scientist said. "[On you]."
