NationStates Jolt Archive

The roar of atmosphere was silent at this velocity.

No whisper of sound of the movement of the aircraft; no creak of airframe against wind; no shudder or tremble of bolt against bulk.

The Rivette Conveyer fell quite effortlessly from orbit, arriving after a sharp decceleration at a rather low 25,000ft. The Conveyer, of course, was technically a Fancy, but in the boldest and greatest tradition of the car and aerospace industries, had been upgraded and handed a new name.

The Iluvauromeni Three Star Sigil blazes on it's belly, it's form a sleekly symmetrical teardrop-shape ending with a snubbed conical nose.

As that snubbed conical nose pierced Aerion airspace for the first time, her escorts arrived. The vessel slows considerably, taking the final leg of the journey far more sedately than the thousands of miles she had traversed in just under twenty minutes. On board her, there was no pilot. None was needed.

There were, however, four individuals. All Sentients, but not all strictly Human. Two are close enough - although it is extremely likely that they have Nenya genetic markers from many generations back, since they are all Rihads.

One is not.

The one who is not made a last minute check of her soft, red hair. It was pointless, since it was not real hair, and did not do anything her avatar's neural processes did not tell it to. It was, however, something she felt the need to do. She was close to Human... at least in mind.

And at once, completely alien.

The final individual - Neurat himself - is something of an anomaly. He is, indeed, Nenya. The amber eyes give this away at once. But he lacks the curved point of ear that the rest of his species has; he is also somewhat wider than the average Nenya. Because of this, he is widely viewed as, in fact, being Human - in truth, he simply possessed assertive Human genetic markers amongst his otherwise pure Nenya genetic material.

The only downside was that, despite looking middle-aged, he really was middle-aged. Forty-three, to be precise, and he felt forty-three. He was immuno-deficient, by Nenya standards; he had no amazing powers of recovery if exposed to radiation; and he had no empathic ability whatsoever.

He was, however, lighter and faster than a Human. "Swings and roundabouts," as he had once remarked to his mother. Both of his parents had been Nenyar, but his great-great-grandmother had been Human. And that, apparently, had been enough.

Neurat was not known for politeness nor, in truth, diplomacy. He was known as someone who didn't pull punches; who said what he thought, when he thought it. He was the perfect anti-politician.

"Still haven't figured out why they sent me, eh, Sarah?"

The ASI's eyes twinkled with amusement.

[OOC: On further pondering, you can handle the actual landing as you can do pretty landscape descriptions as well. ;) Essentially, the Conveyer lands the same way the old Fancy did - straight down, very rapid decellerative curve, breakneck speed. She has no wheels, instead using hermetic seals to clamp to the ground.]

The Iluvauromen craft would have been escorted at first over hundreds of miles of forests, part of the old tradition of protecting the Aerionian wildlands and forestlands by Royal Mandate. Even some of the old dictatorial regimes had protected these lands, as the Aerionian history had been one of nomads traveling across these vast lands, the Aerionians were in fact less regionalized and therefore valued the whole of their nation. This was an uncelebrated tradition, however, and beyond environmental restrictions the Aerionians, at least the majority of the urban population of Aerionians, did not bother caring about the environment though recycling was the standard. It was simply considered to be a natural part of the society, take care of the land and ecosystem instead of destroying it, and yourself. However, everything was not totally well with this as many of the cities still had smog. Advances and use of environmental engineering had allowed less damage than normally would happen to the forests, and ecosystems however.

These forests receded into a great expanse of plains, endless flat or gently rolling land below the clouds. This went on for perhaps even more hundreds of miles, until finally in the distance could be seen the massive steel and gray of a megacity. A city that seemed to stretch for miles below the clouds itself, but perhaps this miles of megacity was nothing compared to what those of the ICEL had seen in other nations and even worlds. It was unusual however in a modern technological society, especially one that was capitalist, to have such an abrupt separation between nature, and urban area with some urban and environmental planning to divide the two.

The group descended toward the megacity, toward a place on the outskirts, perhaps a 10 miles from the very clear edge where the constant multi-layered urban expansion ended. On this edge of the city, several elegant looking towers spiraled upward, though not higher than perhaps 30 floors. These most likely contained upper scale residences and buildings that wanted an unadulterated view of the planes and perhaps be close to the Royal Astevane Airport.

The Royal Astevane Airport was what could be called an large regional airport by modern standards, though was nowhere near the size of an International Airport. There were two terminals, one rather large white one which was designed in an artistic modernist style with gently flowing curves, and the other smaller one which was perhaps 2 miles on the other side of the airport which had the same curves but was even perhaps more ornate. One could see where an freeway and tramway ran from the Royal Astevane Airport across the plains into the city.

The escort lead them toward an large round pad on one side of the smaller terminal designed for visitors with advanced aircraft. An covered glass walkway led from the pad into the terminal. Along this walkway flew the Aerionian flag, and the Royal Flag bearing the Royal Crest. In ceremonial nature, a full platoon of 20 Royal Guard stood side by side in two even rows of 10 to one side of the three person greeting party. Others men in plane suits but with patches on their blazers stood to the side, about 8. These men were from the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, which protected and escorted foreign diplomats as well as dealing with diplomatic immunity issues. One of the most popular forms of modern Aerionian music, jazz, there is also to the side the 4 man Royal Saxophone Quartet of the Royal Guard.

As the craft comes to a landing on the pad, many of the participants actually appear and one would sense are a bit nervous. Some had not even seen Elves, much less such strange beings as the ones that might step out from this craft.

It is, then, perhaps deeply fortunate that the Commonality had not sent one of it's less humanoid representatives. At least the four look...fairly...human. Maybe.

It does, of course, depend on how closely one look's.

The side of the Conveyer ripples for an instant before shifting into liquid-state, and flowing to the ground to form a walkway from aeroplane to Earth. Perhaps not surprisingly, the most easily replaced person - in a sense - is the first to exit.

Sarah wasn't offended at the fact that she was easily replaced, however. In fact, it was a point of pride. She could be 'killed' here and just as easily get another body. She doubted that was likely, even with the severely lax arrangements for security. For once, there wasn't even a single member of the security forces (apart from her, that is) accompanying the Iluvauromeni delegation.

All four wear the crisp white of the Iluvauromeni Diplomatic Corps; crisp white clothing that really looks more like an afterthought than an intentionally covering up. The material hugs the figure and form of it's wearers with close clarity.

Still, Sarah mused, as she peered at the faces awaiting, there were some strange things around here. As if on cue...

"Greetings from we to you," Ambassador Neurat was saying as he caught up to her, beaming smile already in place. The man was usually less pleasant, she observed, eyeing the jazz band. "And we're most honoured and humbled to be here," Sarah added, softly.

Perhaps it was inevitable that someone would say something not quite right. Envoy General Di Rihad was the one to say it - no doubt youthful thinking reacting to the tension of the crowd, which was something all of the visitors could sense except Sarah (who could see it). "Wow, big buildings. Don't they fall down every now and then?"

Sarah resisted the urge to cringe.

The Royal Guard stand at attention to the side, their faces appropriately trained in stoicism. As the three ICEL delegates step out of the craft, the saxophone quartet begins playing a unique beautiful moving song together though one with actual cadence. Then as they quiet down as the delegates draw close to the three people greeting the beings from the ICEL.

All three of those greeting the delegates smile diplomatically, politely, but all are different and this is reflected in what even could be sensed about them.

In the front is Princess Ameria Wasterin (Biography Here (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Ameria_Wasterin)) (, with her classy yet fake and coldly cordial personality though she still wears a savvy smile as the group approaches. She does not seem swayed by the fact they are unusual beings, standing with the same overly confident look in her eyes she always has. She wears a simple black gown that drapes around her.
To the right side of her is Antwoine Dalagari, Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is part of the African-Aerionian minority. He is a middle aged male with his hair cut in a short wavy business style. He looks slightly nervous as the group approaches, but seems to wear a sincere cordial smile and gives off the impression of warmth. He has a silent dignity about him, one of kindness but at the same time wisdom. He wears an three piece navy suit, with an silk blue tie with an white diamond pattern.

To the left side of her is an Aerionian, Koarein Matheu the unique native ethnic group that is a mixture of Italian and Arabic in appearance. The Princess is this as well. He is different than the Princess in that he is an Western Aerionian, with brown eyes only. He appears in his 20s, and savvy looking with a similar air to the Princess but he also seems nervous about the approach, and less confident than the Princess. His smile is more obviously fake. This is the Deputy Minister for International Trade of the Ministry of Commerce.

The statement by the Envoy General simply makes the Princess laugh, in an off handed manner, "Yes they do sometimes fall, but not very often." She then speaks in a dignified tone, "I am Princess Ameria Wasterin, sister to His Royal Highness Crown Prince Damoen Wasterin, Acting Monarch. My brother apologizes for not being able to be here, but he has affairs of state to attend to." She turns to the man on her right, "This is the Right Honorable Antwoine Dalagari, His Royal Highness's Minister of Foreign Affairs." And she looks to her left, "This is the Honorable Koraein Matheu, Deputy Minister for International Trade of the Ministry of Commerce."

The Princess states,
"On behalf of the people of the Grand Kingdom of Aerion, I welcome you."

The plot continues..