NationStates Jolt Archive

The fires burned brightly around the great halls of the Imperial Palace; Servitors and slaves moved swiftly, placing great ornate trays filled with food upon tables; setting out glasses of wine and other, more exotic liquors. At the head of the greatest table; Marcus sat, surveying all with a slight grin; the wry smirk of a man who knows more than he's letting on, and merely wishes to observe what transpires.

He began to speak, and his voice was carried forth, across the vast gulfs of space, beyond the confines of his system, forth to other nations; other worlds. Other worlds that now heard the sound of his chill voice; the resonating sound of his dark, charismatic tones.

People of the galaxy; you are divided, confused; often you strive for nothing more than war. You hold dire misconceptions as to the Chronosian people; the Chronosian race. As such, I invite any who would wish diplomacy and peace between us, to come forth to a grand banquet in honor of peace and kinship. Let all old axes be buried; let all swords be sheathed; let all who would know our friendship come; and bring peace to the galaxy, indeed, to the Universe. Come freely, of your own will; and we shall know the infinite glories of philosophy and discourse; of each other's nations we will learn, of culture and civilisation.

I invite you now; come forth. Let all who wish parlet send forth their own messages. We shall await you

bump

(OOC: Oo, interesting opportunity.)

IC:

It didn't take long for Marcus' mind to be made up. Under the Kellermans the Republic and the Imperium had become enemies, but now he was Emperor, not the Kellermans, and he could make a great alliance out of this.

Preparations had been quickly made, and right away a response was sent saying that the Emperor was en-route to Chronosia Prime for the meeting.

<< Transmission >>

To: Marcus; of Chronosia
From: Korgarein Diplomatic Corps
Subject: Meeting

"We will partake in this venture. We shall dispatch a Diplomatic Representative at once."

Regards,
Korgarein Diplomatic Corps

<< End Transmission >>

Within an hour of the transmission a Dynasty Class Royal Transport was dispatched from a station near Kor't'vek. Onboard was a High level Korgarein Ambassador.

The messages were recieved; the preparations made. A Taledonian was coming; strange, true enough, but an invaluable opportunity. Marcus smiled slightly as he reclined into his throne. A fine opportunity; given the rumblings in the galaxy. Good allies were hard to find; decent pawns even harder; but the Taledonians....The Taledonians had proved themselves adept as potential allies; a terrible shame that the company they kept; vagabonds and fools, who deserved nothing better than being utterly crushed, was so; unenlightened; so unable to embrace the raw power of the Imperium.

By now some time had past and the Geltorid neared it's final destination. It's shields were powered but weapons remained unactive (only has defencive anyway). The ships skipper was a mear Lt. Commander but he was a seasoned vettern from the Wars; diplomatic duty was somewhat new to him however. He stood from his commanders chair as the vessel re-entered the stary void of space. "Tell the ambassador we have arrived. He'll want to be here for this." in a somewhat cranky sounding voice.

A few moments later the ambassador entered the ships bridge in a confident manner. "Commander, have you messaged them yet?" he spoke.

"No sir, not yet, I thought it would be better if it came from you sir." the commander replied.

"Very well, open a channel." A slight noise could be heard as the comm cannel opened.

<<Transmission>>
"This is Ambassador Cro'bokk of the Korgarein Federal Empire. We have come to partake in your meeting. If you would be so kind, please transmit cooridinates for translocation to the meeting area. Thank you."
<<End Transmission>>

Maester Seymour sent a transmission careful to make sure the Neo Zetan goverment didnt pick it up nore trace.

I wish to send someone to attend this gathering. Unlike the Neo Zetan goverment scum we still wish to keep close ties with your mighty empire.

Seymour hand picked Bankotsu to go to this gathering. He was no diplomate tho a warrior. He didnt want to trust such a importent task to a wormy diplomat.

"So, Chronosia's hosting a diplomatic conference. We'll it can't hurt to send a representative. Now who should be sent. Ah, I know Lord Archie should be good."

To: Chronosia
From: Theao, MEA

We are interested in sending a delegate to this conference you are hosting, and shall be sending Lord Archie as our representative.

As the message speed forth, Archie boarded the transport craft and headed toward Chronosia Prime and the location of the conference.

[OOC: Sorry to hijack the thread, but Dance Macabre is a great The Faint album!]

Space seemed to explode as the AH-1033 left probability and entered real space. No sooner had the sleek ship sent it's recognistion code to the SSS-900-C than it was getting a message.

"Hey you two, you're being rerouted."

"Where to?" Tia asked of Simeon.

"To a people called the Chronosians, hold on."

People of the galaxy; you are divided, confused; often you strive for nothing more than war. You hold dire misconceptions as to the Chronosian people; the Chronosian race. As such, I invite any who would wish diplomacy and peace between us, to come forth to a grand banquet in honor of peace and kinship. Let all old axes be buried; let all swords be sheathed; let all who would know our friendship come; and bring peace to the galaxy, indeed, to the Universe. Come freely, of your own will; and we shall know the infinite glories of philosophy and discourse; of each other's nations we will learn, of culture and civilisation.

I invite you now; come forth. Let all who wish parlet send forth their own messages. We shall await you

"Parley? Shouldn't a diplomatic BB team be sent then?" Alex asked.

"None available. Nancia has just been assigned to Dragonsreach. The other's are even further out. Your being temporarily reassigned to the Diplomatic branch. Your to head out immediately. We've got a general location, you'll need to contact them from there."

Alex looked back toward Tia.

"Well we can break the ice", Tia responded to his look, "I'm sure they'll send a proper diplomatic team soon enough."

"Alright, Simeon", Alex said, "We'll head out. Give us a jump point."

The SSS-900-C was a busy space station and it was up to Simeon to monitor all traffic. He sent the co-ordinates for a jump and wished them luck.

Tia moved to the co-ordinates computed the probability jump and entered the rift her engines created. It took several days to traverse, though once they arrived in normal space only a few minutes of real time had passed.

"This is the AH-1033 requesting co-ordinates for the Chronosian meeting. We hail from Central Worlds and have received your message. We look forward to meeting with you." The voice was that of a woman and a standby signal followed the message, showing that they were waiting for a reply.

"Welcome one and all, we offer you gratitude that you would choose to join us in our conference; the Imperium is not without friends; and is not above seeking more friends; for, without friends, where would we be?" A soft chuckle, breaking the monotony of the voice that spoke. "As you may know, in recent times, much has befallen the Imperium; yet we still have strength and honor; we have power and influence, and would invite you to share in our glories. Please prepare for docking."

The immense docking rings about the world hissed and whirred; clamps and fields opening; to allow the vessels access to the core docking facilities; gleaming black metal , spiked and adorned in runes and symbols, spun softly about the slumbering Daemon world; the immense structure of the Imperial Palace and numerous hive cities stretching skyward; the moon that orbited the world, a vast and hissing armory; a vast facility; a ForgeWorld. What the Eldar of old would have called a Vaul-Moon.

This was the heart of the Imperium; this was the centre of an Empire that defied the fates and served the Gods; the pulsing core of a Warp-borne power and soul-bought beauty...

1. I hope nobody minds. 2. I take it this is in the Milkyway galaxy, otherwise I'd take 'a little' long to reach it. 3. Am I correct in assuming that this is in The Eye proper? For now I'm running under this assumption.

Mars

<SEU Subtle Brick> Technically, it's mine...
<GMU Laissez Faire> Technically, it's Khrrck's. You stole it, remember? In any case, there are certain, uh, sources interested in the matter.
<SEU Subtle Brick> Ok, ok. I get it. So, who is going to receive it?
<GMU Laissez Faire> A General Exploration Unit, Ex- Standard Diplomatic Unit.
<SEU Subtle Brick> ... You're not into giving names, are you?
<GMU Laissez Faire> In this case, yes. It's a somewhat specialised ship. A bit of secrecy is necessary.
<SEU Subtle Brick> *Sigh* Oh well. Here you go. It's on the subcraft now accelerating in your direction. Be careful, it dislikes accelerations in the high tripledigits. Already made copies of its general layout, basic construction and properties etc, so we wont lose much.
<GMU Laissez Faire> Gotcha.
<SEU Subtle Brick> Remember, you're now in my debt.

Kuiper Belt

The GEU Love and Peace floated silently in between the many asteorids around as the shuttle - That was all it was - appeared. The details of the trip had already been transmitted via QE, and the ship was actually rather bored - And a little anxious. It had never done anything more than experimental 'jumps'. A trip over the distance in question would be... Interesting, to say the least.

A dumb shuttle, too. Well. So much for some smalltalk.

Transferring the stolen Khrrckian d-sink over to the GEU, then transferring a copy of the GEU's mindstate to the shuttle - It hoped that it wouldn't be so bad as to this being necessary, but precautions were certainly advisable - and it was ready.

Now for the next bit...

It's 'Standard' FTL capacity - Recently developed, and in no way a standard - would require some ages to be spent in transit. Such was, of course, not really acceptable.

And then there was this other option. Developed in secrecy, with the information about it being kept as secret as possible - Which didn't mean much, in DA - its risks considerable - Hence, why organic entities weren't even supposed to use this option - and only usable for rather short-ranged 'jumps' of a sort. But then, one could do a fair amount of jumps in relatively short order.

The Love and Peace sighed. It was all very odd - Parts of the 'technology' it featured weren't really technology, and resembled a more mystical, and, in some odd way, 'magical' outlook, which was something most people in DA - Sans the few drow - considered more-or-less incomprehensible and pointless.

Still, it worked. Somehow. Of course, that the source of this knowledge had been a 'Demon' showing up in DA (Records of the events were scarce and incomplete) didn't really reassure her, either. But then, she'd been choosen as a fellow 'Knowing Entity' because her psychological profile suggested that she could live with the truth - And indeed, all previous tests within a ten-lightyear sector had proven to be surprisingly accurate. Just like her loyality.

About four lightyears could be crossed with every 'Jump' before she'd have to leave the 'Realm', again. Then waiting a little, then jumping again. It wasn't particularly pleasant, or simple. But the first few ships had been lost - A few minds had been lost, too, before they'd figured out that keeping ones' mind in an organic brain was a bad idea when using this form of travel - and nobody in his right mind risked longer 'jumps'.

Love and Peace searched for a proper entry point, and, after spending a few minutes searching, found it. A moment later, reality shifted, and she was elsewhere.

The Chronosians would probably have called it the Immaterium. For the Love and Peace (Or Maria Matsuko, to go by her outside-the-ship name) it was just a damned odd place.

And fairly unpleasant, too.

Ahead of the ship, a 'reply' mentioning the - Supposedly less-than-known (Or expected, come to think of it) - guest was already on its way, essentially tracking back the path the Chronosian message had taken.

To: Chronosia (Diplomatic Corps/Department)
From: Jason Whittaker, Parlimian Diplomatic Corps
Subject: Sending of a Diplomatic Representative.

In accordance with the recently passed Diplomatic Clause 327, I am being dispatched to Chronosia immediately. Our nations have traded fire briefly before, and we wish to end any hostilities that may still remain. An armed escort will accompany me, consisting of one Peregrine-class corvette and twelve marines.

Sincerely,
Jason Whittaker
http://www.nationstates.net/images/flags/uploads/parlim.jpg

The Imperium waited; the Chronosian system alive with ships and signals; and now one from an old foe; an enemy the children of Nurgle had once thought smited from above by pestilant death. It mattered not; these were strange times, once enemies were now brothers and allies; young races were no longer slaves, but friends and fellow Lords of Chaos; to be nurtured and aided to greater power....

Brothers and Sons of Parlim; you are welcome to our land; your escort will, of course, be tolerated, but all weapons shall be checked; and Chronosian security shall be fully present. Do not take this as suspicion; but rather...Caution.

A signal was being tracked; drawn back towards Chronosia; a vessel was coming; this they had fathomed; yet it had not yet sent a signal. Only time would tell its intentions on this day of meeting and celebration.

The small corvette rocked as the large magnetic docking ring detached from its primary hull, dropping it into space. At the engines powered up, glowing a dull blue, thrusters pushed the ship away from the massive space station that was the capital of Parlim, housing over twenty-five million people, the center of government, and a great deal of Parlim's military forces.

Computers beeped, sensors clicked and buzzed, the self checks and primary diagnostics complete. The ship quickly accelerated, maneuvering easily between the other massive vessels docked, passing workers sitting on the outside of them, repairing damaged systems or just lounging about in their environmental suits.

An hour or so later, after dodging the asteroids surrounding the system, a large green dot appeared in front of the ship. Inside the vessel, a faint buzzing filled the cabins as the Wormhole Drive powered. The green dot suddenly exploded, resulting in a massive gateway. Through the portal, the entrance to the Chronosian system was barely visible. Without warning or pause, the vessel plunged into the wormhole, the gateway closing behind it.

The Immaterium

Things got... odd, slowly. The Immaterium was odd to begin with, but as the Love and Peace came closer to its destination, it became worse. Its currents were even more unpredictable, its inherently chaotic nature almost sucking the little craft into it, forever.

The same was true for proper reality, which became ever-less 'real', and acquired more and more of the basic properties of the Immaterium.

The only good thing in all of this was that the little ship didn't have an organic crew. In this form, its mind concentrated in a few cubicmillimetres of computronium spread all over the ship, there was no warpsoul a daemon could care about. It was dead matter, inert, and uninteresting.

And given its lack of a Gellar-field - Something DA hadn't even come close to thinking about, yet alone researching - this was a rather useful thing when it came to doing things like, say, arriving in one piece and (Vaguely) sane.

Last jump. They were always a little unpredictable... The Love and Peace was tossed around by the magnificient currents all around, and almost missed the appropriate place and time to leave this terrible, terrible realm (Maria wondered briefly why she wasn't getting seasick), but eventually the ship made it.

Barely.

Back in reality... It sighed, wondering briefly where it was.

Compare astrometric data... Coordinates... Ah. Well, that isn't too bad, is it?

Only a few billion kilometres from the star her destination orbited. She was presently located at the edge of the system-

And quite possibly in the process of setting off a ludicrous amount of apocalyptic defensive devices.

Wonder how long I'm going to stay alive when I'm not announcing myself... Should probably try it. Or better even, not.

Microseconds ticked by, and the standard Permission-to-Approach burst left the GEU, to ensure survival over the next few, well, days, if all went well.

* Contacting Local Entities...
* Sending Standard Identification Protocols [Nation = Der Angst; Region = N/A; Ship = GEU Love and Peace
<GEU Love and Peace> Well. I suppose that the - Admittedly short - notice regarding my potential arrival, which should have arrived here a while ago, is still remembered? Coming for the diplomatic banquet. My threat status see [Defensive Capabilities Attached]. I suppose I'm eligible for homeworld-approach, given my thoroughly civilian nature. ECMs are (Mostly) down, of course, so if you want to take a closer look - feel free.

Already, the Love and Peace was slowly accelerating towards Chronosia Prime, its pseudo-magnetic drive fields being less-than-impressive, fitting a rather leisurely approach - There was no need to risk significant engine degradation by way of hastening proceedings. C-fractional entries were somewhat inappropriate, anyway.

And a pain to decelerate from, too.

The shuttle bearing Lord Archie flickered into being at the edge of home system of the Chronosian peoples. Sublight engines kicking in, the shuttle sent a secondary message, along the nature of knock at a door, asking for permission to enter, and co-ordinates to travel to.

Meanwhile, Archie was preparing, both physically and mentally for the conference with the chaos worshipping people of the Imperium.

Welcome to Chronosia Prime; data recieved; destination set; docking bay 11. Accessing....Blessed be the ministrations of the Machine God. Runes of initiation annointed and fired; ready thyselves for immediate departure Thus spoke the voice of the Mechanicus to those of Der Angst; and the great yawning mouth of the Docking ring, opened to embrace the vessel as it approached. Marines and Guardsmen lined the halls; as they were to be guided to another docking bay; for departure planetside.

Below them, it shimmered like a jewel in the void; a Daemonworld, ripe with primal energy; a puppet of the tremendous power of it's Master; Marcus De Drakan, who even now waited upon his vast throne; waiting for these diplomats to come forth; from all nations; to meet with him, to taste the...Culture and mercy of Chronosia. They were not monsters from a fairy tale to frighten and terrify; to menace and destroy; they were philosophers, warriors, scholars.

All these and more were the people of Chronosia; no power was beyond their grasp; no pursuit to lofty; and now they would prove it. Whether these guests saw horrors or wonders; they would see a truer side of the Imperium than had ever been known.

<GEU Love and Peace> Ah, ok. Perfect. Received and following.

The things you do to be in time... The Love and Peace spontaneously decided that in order to be there in time (And indeed, it would be impolite to let her hosts wait), a bit more of acceleration wouldn't be entirely inappropriate. Not enough to kill the d-sink, of course, that'd be annoying, but still.

She just hoped that the sun-like anomaly 'cruising' through the system at 0.1c wasn't too much of an annoyance for the locals, with the effects of its drives, or the radiation spewed by stellar dust vaporising upon hitting the (Stretched) hard fields around it, and a variety of assorted nuisances.

Well, apparently it wasn't, and, eventually decelerating again, it finally arrived at the (Fairly impressive, all things considered) docking ring, coming to a relative near-stop before entering it.

Slowly.

Once inside, Maria sighed again. Stupid assignment. Why am I here, anyway? Oh well. Her mind slipped from the ships' internal computronium blocks-and-cans to her (More appropriate, when visiting planetside) bipedal and mostly-anorganic body, leaving only subsapient levels of intelligence on the ship and its pseudo-precious cargo. A rather small body at that - It looked rather petite, and it'd have to be an almost perversely small marine to allow her eyes to be on shoulder-level with him.

Short, black dress, organic-looking, somewhat skinny body, short hair, outright pale skin, a carnation over her left ear, and lots of twinky technology inside her. A few 'insects' around her, flying silently and almost invisible, being of a smaller sort. A butterfly on her left shoulder - It, too, filled with an obscene amount of twinkyness.

Certainly not the kind of fashion usually preferred in Chronosia, but that didn't matter. After all, she wasn't Chronosian.

"Well... That's some security. I'm... honoured? Oh, and I suppose I may follow you, gentleman? I suspect that not being a native, I might need some guidance..." Hum. Those look a little... Creepy. Not very pleasant...

She could see the daemonworld, of course. Granted, she knew very little about them - Though this would likely change over the next few days - but it was still, well...

Actually, it wasn't all that bad, nor impressive. All rather conventional - She had expected something vastly more magnificient. Something like a planet-sized skull or cthulhuesque thing in space, or something. As far as this went, it wasn't exactly as great (Or odd) as she'd expected.

The Geltorid fired its manuevering thrusters which quickly hurled it towards the docking clamps. Fireing its thrusters again it slowed and gently seeted itself with the docking ring. Whooshes could be heard as the airlocks sealed and presureized and the bulkhead doors rotated open.

Standing in the doorway was Ambassador Cro'bokk and two of his aids. Cro'bokk was an older Korgarein of nearly 402 years of age. He had been a military strategist during the wars and his body showed the obveous signs of years of stress. His fleash was pale and the fant sights of black veins running just underneeth as will all Korgareins. He was not a physically pronounced as many others but he was old and many still saw his mind as his strength.

Cro'bokk and his aids, who were still carrieing their side arms within holsters on their side, made there way from the ship to the inner part of the docking ring hoping to be met by a Chronosia Official.

OOC: I'm interested, IC post later.

Tia received the co-ordinates and altered course as Alex stood up from the pilot's couch and moved to the locker in the main room. He took out a contact button and went to his quarters to get his best flight suit. Quickly he showered, dressed and then placed the contact button on his suit.

"Sound check, molar implant", he subvocalized so that only someone standing extremely close could hear him.

"Confirmed", came Tia's reply, "mastoid implant check."

Alex heard her loud and clear as she came through the surgically implanted audio device. "Checking visual, corneal implants", he said as he scanned around the room. Then he squinted slightly and the implants zoomed, opening his eyes wide allowed the implants to zoom out and then he turned off the lights and checked the infrared and light enhancement modes. "Did you get all that?" he asked.

"Perfectly fine, check the contact button", she replied.

"Test, test 5,4,3,2,1, confirm."

Tia confirmed and checked the contact button visuals. "Everything's working fine."

"Alright, E.T.A?"

"Five minutes", she replied.

"I'm heading to the main lock then."

The ship that approached the Chronosian station was delta shaped and long, sleek and graceful. She had rather heavy shielding, though for Central Worlds they were lighter shielding than military issue, though heavier than civilian. She carried no weapons at all and was approximately 500 meters in length.

"Chronosian docking port, AH-1033, Hypatia Cade speaking. Requesting dock number and permission to dock. Please provide instructions and restrictions."

To: The Chronosian Imperium

From: General Edmund Duke, High Commmander, Terran Defense HQ

Subject: Peace talks

We are interested in coming to an agreement with your nation, and, to that affect, we are sending a single Terran Ghost Negotiation team to work out the differences between us, if that is acceptable to you, please respond soonest.

After a few hours of hyperspace a ship all black exited near Chronosia Prime. The ship was the personal battleship of the Band of Seven. When it was usely seend exiting around a none yevon planet then a massicer was the order of the day, But not this time. The ship looked like a Banking Clan Battlecruiser tho larger and and diffrent weapon systems.

Transmission to Chronosia Prime: This is Bankotsu comeing to come to this meeting sent by Maester Seymour. Requesting docking instructions.

(OOC: Sorry about taking so long to respond, have limited internet capabilities at the moment. Anywho, thanks for the "compliments" Chron.:) )

IC:

In a dazzling flash, the battle cruiser Imperator appeared above Chronosia Prime. It's weapons powered down but still showing off their might. The invicible energy shields powered up for only a few seconds more before being shut off.

Send a message down, tell them I'm coming to the palace directly.

With that, Emperor Marcus Antonius departed from the starship in a shuttle and, under the watch of five honour guards, headed down to the planet. The white hull of the shuttle started to glow red as it entered the atmosphere, then subsided as it got closer and closer to the surface. Tho it still glowed red, it was merely the reflection from the fiery furnaces that covered the scorched planet, something the Emperor had never seen. Approaching the palace landing pad, he chuckled a bit as he remembered stories of the past Emperor's trick in which he forced the Daemon Emperor to remodel his throne room.

It would be an interesting visit.

*cough**cough*

*cough**cough*

(OOC - Yeah I think most of us are waiting for replies.)

Marcus sat upon his vast throne; watching with a baleful malignance and a wry amusement as the diplomats arrived and gathered. Their vessels had been docked; their diplomats escorted to the Daemonworld; and brought before him. Black hair tumbled about his ebony skin, as he rose; armor shimmering in the light of countless braziers. At his side; the great blade, Lifesbane, stirred and mewled in it's scabbard; yet he took no heed; instead moving down the stairs, chuckling softly.

"Welcome; friends to Chronosia Prime. I am Marcus De Drakan, Lord and Soverign Emperor of the Chronosian Imperium. I am glad that so many have come; dark are the times when we are villified by less than reputable sources" His eyes passed mockingly over the Taledonian delegate. "And so it is wise of you to come and see a greater side of the Imperium; a more just representation of our kind and kin. We shall, of course, have our parley; our diplomacy and we shall emerge, I am sure, far more gifted with friend and ally."

The flight had been decidedly uneventful (Apparently, the marines and guard were trained to keep their mouthes shut when foreigners were present. Well, also a form of politeness, Maria guessed), and now, well... Now she was standing in front of Marcus De Drakan, still dressed in her short, black dress, her butterfly now on her right shoulder, looking curiously at De Drakan and his shiny, attracting armour.

The rest of her submillimetre-sized entourage was somewhat less numerous than before, as Maria had left a few mosquito-and-smaller-sized pseudo-drones on the docking ring - Most of them near the Love and Peace - for basic security (As if it was necessary) and some naughty things. More specifically, reconnaissance.

Certainly not the most polite of ways, sure. But then, Maria is a little naughty...

Her skinny body relaxes and her pale skin looks almost as if she's busy enjoying one of Nurgle's gifts - It's not like such would actually be possible, given her mostly-machine interior, but the impression is there - and for a moment she seems to be a weee little distracted - She might share some things with her butterfly, or her ship, or the rest of her entourage, or all of them - and then she nods in De Drakan's direction, bowing all so slightly... About as deep as one does to equals, in DA's more hierarchic subcultures.

"I'm certainly honoured to be here, Emperor De Drakan." A quiet chuckle follows. "Well, 'vilified'... I can't speak for the others, but I'm certainly having an open mind. Seeing as we - DA - are not particularly experienced in the greater scheme... I'm certainly looking forward to see this 'Greater Side' of the imperium. And even if there wont be as many friends and allies emerge as expected... Perhaps you'll at least make some new enemies? There's always hope..."

"There is of course, always that hope; though we currently have an abundance of fetid little enemies; paltry insects biting at the hide of an animal so much greater than themselves. You come here almost as though you expect a fight" He grinned softly; the blade stirred in it's scabbard; a hissing, snarling thing; threatening to bite as it sensed the shift in it's masters mood. The Guards about the room did not stir; did not rouse from their almost statuesque slumber, they merely watched as their Master crossed the void between himself and the assembled delegates; eyes fixed on the DA representative.

"Regardless, I welcome you amongst our number; the Imperium will certainly put up with you and your ways while you remain here; and we can only hope that things turn out to be friendly. All fun and games..." He reached up; the great Lightning Talon that graced his armor crakcling with energy and warp-borne flame.

"Engrams dance the air; I sense them; smell them. All about. Spies and sigils; that is what I see" It slunk from the shadows; a metallic monster; a Lord of Blades; glimmering with artificial life and crooning intelligence; a man-machine, even now bestriding the stairs behind the Emperor. Discord; or at least it's Avatar stepped forward. "Such paltry tricks before agents of the Machine God...Brazen. She amuses us."

"Very well Discord. Allow us to introduce our Machine Spirit; a Construct of the Mechanicus, in all his artificial glory. Our...Diplomat with other...Artificial races, as it were"

Maria couldn't help it: She had to grin. "Well, your reputation suggests that a fight isn't impossible, so I considered it appropriate. Besides, aren't the sparks of blades crossing each other, be it metaphorical by way of sharps words, or literally by way of..." She glanced in Lifesbane's direction, smirking, "... metal the most beautiful things one can possibly witness at gatherings like this one? And I'm sure your lord * wont mind the possibility, either..."

The butterfly flapped its wings, slowly, still staying on Maria's shoulder, and watched the blade a little more closely. Had one looked at it - The butterfly - with a microscope, one would have seen the insectoid equivalent of an ironic smile.

"But anyway... A warm welcome, certainly, and I'm thankful. Though of course, my ways..." She giggled quietly, slightly amused. "Well, I suspect that this cultural exchange will become interesting. As will it with all the others, I'm sure." She glanced around, looking at the other guests, her eyes almost bright with anticipation. She was clearly expecting some interesting developments over the course of the next few days.

The voice of the machine spirit sounded, and Maria made a few mental notes regarding its capabilities and character. She wasn't really surprised - Her entourage was small and fairly versatile, but not exactly what one would call 'Stealthy' when one was capable of sufficient resolution or just noticed the occasional dot of odd EM fields and emissions zipping around in the air. Not exactly a demanding task to find and classify her tiny helpers. "Oh, and about them..." A few of the submillimetre-entities flew a little closer to the 'Metallic Monster' - Not all that monstrous, actually. While most of DA followed old standards, the occasional oddity was known to exist, eccentric minds choosing a less-than-human appearance - as if introducing themselves. They were subsentient, of course, and not even capable of holding a complete mind, but still... A few even landed on the smooth surface of the machine. "Well, 'Spies'. More like 'Tools'." She smiled almost teenie-like, though with a hint of more mature amusement. "I suppose that a bit of naughtyness is expected, but it's hardly serious. Fairly civilian models, really. Just like me. Though of course, I'm glad that it amuses you. I love to be delightful." Another slight bow, this one in the direction of the machine, whose emissions and reflections are by now checked by a fair variety of internal twinkyness. No active scans, though - Maria supposes that she should keep a few of her credits until the very end, and prefers to be non-invasive.

Nodding to De Drakan as he introduces her to the machine spirit, she continues. "It's certainly cute. Though, just to make sure - I'm not specifically artificial. This body is, certainly - But my mind isn't. It's pretty common for us to switch bodies, depending on the matter at hand - An anorganic body is rather useless when you want to bear a child, whereas an organic body is of little use when working in the vacuum. And while my people are partly consisting of pseudo-programmed, rather than organic-grown minds, organic and anorganic, ah... Physical presences are interchangeable."

oocness: * Maria's only familiar with Tzeentch. The other chaos gods are unknown. Hence, singular.

Alex looked from Maria to De Drakan and though completely lost by the conversation pretended polite interest. The molar implant only needed subvocalization for Hypatia to hear him and so he wasn't likely to be heard unless someone was close and had exceptional hearing, or other means of listening.

"Tia, have you any idea what they're talking about?"

"Not a clue", came Hypatia's reply in his surgically implanted mastoid receptor.

"Scans?"

"I'm on passive only, so I won't pick up anything down there. I'm not sure how they would react to an active scan. The one near the back, is that a robot?"

"I'm assuming so, but if I understand what the one representative is saying then maybe not."

"Yeah I heard her, curious. She's not organic from what I can gather yet she has a mind. Apparantly they have a technology beyond our own if that's the case."

During his conversation with Tia, Alex kept the same polite interest in thier conversation, waiting politely until they were finished.

After the shuttle landed, the Emperor and the six honour guards that had descended from the craft with him were escorted to the remodeled throne room. The guards made a single line behind Antonius and sat stoically while their leader moved closer to the throne of the daemon Emperor. Peering around the room, he looked for any sign, a burn mark, crumbling in the roof or walls, anything that would hint at some amusement for him.

Shrugging off the insult from the Chronosian with a fake smile, Marcus stood there silently listening to the conversation between the woman and the beast; then to the two others who were lost in it all. Clearing his throat and interupting the two, he opened his mouth and spoke.

I thank you for having us, my Lord, sarcasm was evident in his tone, it's not everyday a most respected nation such as yours calls many nations together to discuss things other than their immeadiate surrender. And a mechanicus also, should yield fruit for the nights events. So, does this greater side of the Imperium have chairs, perhaps even drinks, for it's guests?

Standing there with a high and mighty posture and appearence, he waited for a reply from his adversary. The black crusader against the general. Tho the black armor of obsidian(I'm sure that's how you described it before) was more "tastefull" than the regular white linen tunic Antonius wore under the simple leather cuirass; and the black boots far more sturdy than the common sandals of the Emperor; Lifesbane truly more powerful than the simple gladius that hung at his side, he still stood there every bit as important as the daemon.