NationStates Jolt Archive

< Transmission Sent – Northrop-Grumman Central Communications Array >
< Priority Code Alpha >
< Begin Transmission >

Drakomis Nokomis Reign
President and Chief Commander in War
The Galactic Republic of Anagonia

It has come to Chairman Jack O’Neill’s attention that our two nations have
yet to make a formal exchange of technology. He wanted to hold a meeting
with you as soon as possible, but due to matters beyond his control, he
would not be able to attend such a meeting for some time. Instead, he has
chosen me, his wife, to go in his place.

I would prefer to meet with you at the coordinates attached to this
transmission three days from the time this is sent. If this time is to your
liking then you do not need to send a reply. If not, then one will be most
appreciated.

I shall be awaiting your arrival.

Siri O’Neill
The Northrop-Grumman Corporation

< Galactic Coordinates Uploaded >
< End Transmission >

It was a msyterious transmission followed by the senders name shouldn't be that mysterious. However, as Drakomis gazed around this dark room, and up at the one light above him, he felt like cursing himself for not having his suit on. His greenish skin glinted in the light as his eyes told his unsatisfied thinking of all this. He sensed something more beyond the blinding light, but he couldn't tell.

His tail slowly moved behind him in a quick fashion, expressing his discontent. He growled into the darkness, ready to claw anything that dared attack him. His thoughts wondered into believeing he had been tricked. That transporter couldn't lock onto him, nothing could. He was vulnerable.....expect for something on his belt, but that was hidden until someone exposed their idiotic intentions.

Out from the shadows stepped ten guards clad in silver power armor with their faces covered by a thick black visor. Each carried what appeared to be a typical M-16 rifle but the one thing that set these apart was the glowing red crystal near the stock. All ten weapons were pressed against the guards’ shoulders and were aimed directly at Drakomis.

After a moment of silence, one of the guards spoke up in an emotionless tone. “By Corporate Order Seventy-Five, you are now under arrest for two crimes: attempted assassination of the Chairman and his wife and conspiracy to inflict harm against the Corporation as a whole. Both crimes carry an immediate death sentence. Now, since you are not a citizen of the Corporation, we can skip the trial and perform the execution.”

A row of spotlights turned on across the cargo hold to reveal a path to a wall on the far side of the room.

“Mr. Reign, raise your hands up and walk to the wall. When you reach the wall, turn around slowly."

Two of the guards stepped out of the way for Drakomis to walk.

"Now go.”

Drakomis snarled at the sights of the men in armor, wanting only to swiftly attack them for pointing weapons at him. However, once he heard those words, that he had done a wrong he had no knowledge of doing, he almost fell. What did he do to deserve this? Execution? He sighed, doing a wrong to an ally had its consequences, even if he didn't know it.

But death....death felt too extreme.

His hand moved slowly towards the side of his belt, moving away slight a piece of his shirt to reveal what looked like a saber-hilt from some forgotton past. And yet....he thought a moment as he looked around.

No, he would kill these people. He wouldn't slaughter them, no allied blood would be shed. Even if they didn't realize what they would bring. He would stop whatever the weapons were, he knew how. Peaceful outcome....

"Peaceful outcome," he whispered to himself as he followed the light slowly, hands raised...

.....turning around and one hand seemingly ready to reach for something.

The one guard, apparently the leader of the group, chuckled at his good fortune as he led the remaining twelve down the lit pathway to where Drakomis was standing. So far everything was going well for the guards, and they were quite pleased because of it. They even remarked through their helmet’s microphones, which could not be heard without a helmet, how easy it was to arrest this head of state.

Finally, they reached Drakomis and followed their leader’s orders to line up for the execution. They raised their rifles to their shoulders once more and prepared to fire. The leader spoke once again out loud so everyone could hear him.

“Five…four…three…”

Drakomis watched it all, even heard the remarks of the guys in armor. Fear almost overtook him, almost. But he constrained that fear and used it for his good, standing tall and waiting for the moment to strike. Drakomis' eyes closed slowly, waiting for it, waiting to hear the barrels fire. In that instant he would act, and swiftly expose a side never exposed in such a long time.

But then a thought came to his mind. What if this was all a joke? He nearly laughed out loud, it would be a good one. A good one indeed.

“Two…one…FIRE!!!”

At the last second, every one of the rifles moved slightly higher and fired red orbs of energy just above Drakomis’ head. The rifles were not your typical firearms but were in fact intars, specially designed weapons that were designed only to stun a person. The red orbs ricocheted off the metal wall and hit some unknown object on the far side of the room.

Immediately upon firing, the guards lowered their weapons and backed away from Drakomis.

Drakomis, upon hearing the weapons fire, had quickly grasped the hilt and ignited a futuristic lightsaber of gold, wanting to block the shots, but realizing that they were aimed higher than normal. Somewhat stunned by this revelation, he lowered his saber a bit, the blade humming as it moved through the air. His reptilian head tilted, tail wagging with confused interest as the guards backed off.

"What in the world..."

Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. The sound of leather boots striking the floor resonated throughout the cargo hold and increased in volume as they neared. The guards immediately heard it and quickly formed a straight line, shoulder to shoulder. They powered down their weapons and held them muzzle down, at their sides.

A lone figure slowly approached the group from out of the darkness. The first thing that could be readily seen was a reflection of light off the handle of the silver rapier which hung at the person’s side. As the figure entered into the light, the person’s features could be seen more clearly. A female elf slightly shorter than they were and wearing mostly black clothes stood before them. She glanced at Drakomis then turned back towards the guards.

Then she spoke and appeared to be quite annoyed. “I noticed one serious flaw in the execution of your mission. You did not search the prisoner for weapons.”

The leader of the guards attempted to defend his actions. “Mrs. Chairwoman, there was no way he could’ve escaped there were eleven of us and one of him. Besides, it wasn’t like he had a gun or anything dangerous like that.”

“Silence! I did not tell you to speak!” Siri clenched her fists in anger. “All it takes is one mistake to end your life. You will never ever get a second chance in battle. And never get cocky about the odds being in your favor. The amount of people that are on a side at once does not matter. I have been in a great many battles where the odds were against me five to one.” She pointed directly at Drakomis “He could have easily dispatched every single one of you with just his lightsaber. I can see it in his eyes.”

She began to pace back and forth as she thought. “I have had about enough of the stupidity of this group. Tomorrow morning you are going to be shipped out to Rakos III. That will be the final test of your training. If you live, then you will be assigned to security at the capital building. If you die, then so be it.”

One of the guards was startled at this and accidentally dropped his weapon. Siri stopped pacing and glared at him. “You are all dismissed!”

The guards obeyed her and scurried towards the door. Meanwhile, Siri picked up the intar in her hand and with her finger, flicked the weapon on. She then turned the power setting to its highest level and took aim at the last guard leaving. A red orb of energy fired from the weapon and struck the guard in the leg sending him crashing into the other guards as the door closed. In a fit of rage over the behavior of those she was training, she took the intar and slammed it into the ground breaking the stock and throwing sparks all around. She then flung the broken weapon across the room into the dark.

Drakomis' head tilted throughout these proceedings, and noted that he had been used for training. His lightsaber was easily lowered into a mildly defensive stance, and his tail waved back and forth. It was something of an amusement to see another nations ways of training, and hearing that these guards were to be in the Capitol building explained the harsh response. He knew too well of these things, but he was never this harsh.

And that woman, she reminded him of a hardcore sergeant he once knew. He managed to hide a lick across his muzzle, a slight thrum. He was in exile when that occured, and enjoyed every moment of that freedom. After that, he knew Anagonia was worth it all.

A slight chuckle as he brought his mind back to seriousness, he had allowed a temporary weakness to expose. Oh well, she could only utilize that if she went after it.

"Well, a training target? How rude." He twirled his saber.

Siri gradually began to calm herself down and smirked at Drakomis’ comment. One of the things she loved to do was to watch people squirm under stress. She personally had nothing against him but had figured that he would have been an excellent training instrument for her guards.

The twirling of Drakomis’ lightsaber made her slightly wary for she knew that it could easily slice through her rapier. She did not want to take any chance that he might be angry after being used for a training exercise so she barked out a command in her native language. A breeze of air felt on both of her sides was the only confirmation that she had the appropriate security, and she finally settled down to reply to Drakomis.

“Rude? It would depend on how you look at it. Besides, you are not the first person to be used for my training missions nor will you be the last. I actually met my husband, Jack, in a similar way.”

OOC: I'll be leaving this morning to go visit relatives for Christmas up in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. I don't think I'll be back until Monday afternoon or evening so you needn't rush with the replies or anything. By the way, have a Merry Christmas!

BUMP for my lazy butt.

>::BUMP::<

"Courtships are very funny with your people, I take it." He sensed something else, protective of this one. He stood and bowed, turning off his sabre and placing it on his belt. "Honored to be of proper use for your troops anyway."

He would look deeper into the darkness, just out of curiosity. Not too far, however, he didn't want to give his perception away. Even if he didn't fully get what was there, he still wouldn't hurt this one. He sensed some uneasiness, and knew her to be wife to a friend.

Siri carefully watched as Drakomis put away his saber. He did not appear to be a raving maniac and for that she was glad. Maybe now she could trust him a bit more.

“Not typically. Ours was a unique case.” Siri ran her hand down the long blonde ponytail on the back of her head. “Several years ago, Jack and another head-of-state took a fishing trip to what they thought was an uninhabited planet. Well, they had managed to wander onto my training grounds and unknowingly became training instruments. They were ambushed by my rangers and fought back for a short while but were later taken captive. Then, I had a my first conversation with Jack which resulted in a heated argument and him getting stabbed with an arrow and clubbed. The two were then taken back to my settlement where they were treated. When Jack regained consciousness from the clubbing, he and I had a lengthy conversation, this time more rational. Actions were explained, apologies were given, and we quickly became friends. Jack visited me every now and then, and gradually, he began visit more and more. It was mostly every weekend. The times when he was unable to travel, he usually sent a shuttle to pick me up. And to make a long story short, this continued for about a year until we decided to get married and did. Now we have a two year old son.”

"Unique indeed," managing a slight chuckle as he leaned against the back wall, "You two must be closely bonded by now after all that."

He thought for a moment as he sighed, his bodily "expressions" showed nothing of thinking of harm, as his tail just slowly went back and forth as if curious of many things. He was, of course, curious of many things, but nothing too curious to discuss at this time.

One specific curiosity was her talkive stance and mood. Wasn't something he seen someone do right after he exposed a defensive style. Usually took about twenty minutes of talking to get to talk. But her, she relaxed quick, and he knew her words were truth. So, besides the fact many were behind her in the darkness, he could begin to open to her to return her trust.

"Yea, I'm unfortunatly single. Being Eight-hundred years old and not having a mate is kind of a bad thing, especially when you only have an adopted son to pass your knowledge onto. Not saying I don't love him the same, just saying...well, you get the idea." He would somewhat smile at that, but his truth in his personal was made known.

One thing that people had to learn when being around Siri was that she had a unique personality. One moment she could be talking to a new person rather harshly, and the next, she could be chatting as if they were old friends. Most people didn’t expect this sort of thing and were puzzled by it. The reason was that in the three hundred years of her life she had learned to read a person’s body language and speech in order to give her a sense of what that person was like.

Over the past few minutes, she had watched Drakomis carefully and deduced that he was a sensible person, wasn’t “trigger-happy”, had a decent sense of humor, and appeared to be quite curious. She pondered what it could be about but figured there would be time for that later.

“I understand,” she commented as she nodded her head. “I was never married for over three hundred years and never really gave it much thought during that time because I always kept myself busy. I found out though that you have to make time for these things.”

Her mind trailed off for a moment as she wondered where her son was. She hoped that he wasn’t driving the colonel crazy as he kept an eye on him.

“We adopted our son a little over a year ago and is now at the age where he just loves getting into all kinds of trouble. It’s amazing how much you have to hide from a little one.”

Bump for me, cause I'm bust atm

Drakomis smiled in return to her continued gaze, she kept an eye on him. But he noticed she trailed off a bit after some words. Obviously she had much to think about too. Not a big suprise, parents always do, and especially leaders.

"Yea, terrible." He chuckled, "but I must say its great having a partner beside you some of the time. Hard enough training a youngin on your own."

Siri nodded in agreement. “Indeed, I could not imagine raising him all by myself.”

She then paused for a moment and looked around. The cargo hold wasn’t particularly warm because the enviromental systems couldn’t heat such a large space, and it just wasn’t the place for general conversation. Besides, she figured that Drakomis was getting tired of standing.

“I honestly do not think that this cargo hold is all that confortable." She gestured towards the heavy sliding door on the wall near where he leaned. "Perhaps we should go someplace else.”

Nodding, his tail did a spike movement, but otherwise no other expression was made. Standing fully, he bowed slightly, and waited for her to move.

Siri smiled and led Drakomis out of the dark cold cargo hold and into the brightly lit hallways of one of the newest battlecarriers in the fleet. Unlike the previous generation of starships, the interiors were not designed like modern naval vessels. Instead, halls took on a more postmodern look with the walls being covered with various metals to conseal piping, electrical work, and other components. The coloring also changed. In years past, grey was the typical color seen inside of a starship. Now white, light blue, and silver replaced it and gave the look and feel of something that was built by the Ancients.

She walked down the hallway along side of Drakomis while her cloaked security force followed a short distance behind. She turned to him and commented, “We will be going to my quarters. I have all the information there that we need to exchange including the plans for this battlecarrier.”

OOC:

Might be going away for a few days, just a first warning, lol.

IC:

Drakomis admired the way things were built through these halls, noticing that they indeed didn't look like Naval vessels that he was more accustomed to. Sure, it could easily look like a space station. But, the problem was, this wasn't a space station. This was a ship. Seeing it so up close and personal was a pleasure in itself, his Naval Command had been looking for a great Flagship class for the longest time.

He could recall the joy felt throughout the Anagonian High Command when the Battlecruiser class had been built. It was consrtucted to be a flagship, to hold its weight, to force all other opposition down on its knees. It had done just that, and for three-hundred years it had dominated the Anagonian territories, showing the mercy of the Republic, and the extent of its defense to its Brethren. Even when the Battleships of new had come out, Fleet Command didn't like giving up such a prestigeous and highly honorable service.

Hell, High Command even had a fit when the engineers finally refitted the old Heavy Cruiser class. But thats another story, and Drakomis could agree with his High Ranking brethren on the Battlecruiser deal.

This Battlecarrier, however, was something else entirely. Once the Republic High Command had heard of it, they almost went head over heals. The Battlecruiser, albiet the most capable platform in all Anagonian Existance, did lack one thing entirely, even though it did this job well. It lacked the ability to carry and properly maintain massive amounts of fighters over an extended period of years instead of months.

This was an Admirals dream, in all seriousness. A dream for the ages. Drakomis was very pleased, and very eager to hand the plans over to his shipyards. Anagonia had prepared all its resources for this very moment, stocking up, preparing, trying to gain every possible thing to construct TWO in under a year. If thats even possible....but Anagonia could try.

"Very well," he responded, "I have prepared all of Anagonia's capabilities for these ships-" looking around before continuing, sighing a bit- "and what they can bring us." He looked towards her, "I look forward to some productive talks."

BUMP

Hope you get to feelin' better Northrop. Happy New Year buddy.

Siri nodded. “As do I.”

A few moments later, they arrived at the door to her quarters, which automatically slid open. The inside of the main room was a stark contrast with the appearance of the rest of the vessel. It looked nearly identical to the inside of a log cabin. The usual metallic walls were covered by foot-wide logs. The floors were covered in smooth, glossy wood while the ceiling consisted of several log beams. On the far side of the room was a stone fireplace with numerous swords and axes displayed horizontally. The windows had long curtains over them to block the view of space. Two handcrafted armchairs and one long sofa that surrounded a coffee table provided the centerpiece for the room. One thing that could easily be seen was the lack of artifical light. Candles, lanterns, and an old iron chandelier provided only natural light.

Siri gestured to Drakomis. “Please have a seat wherever you like.”

Drakomis' eyes lit up instantly, highly impressed with the elegance of the large room. It looked like a cabin, but in space. Something different for a change, something welcome...something like home. Oh he could have jumped with glee at seeing the centerpieces, but he refrained his excitment with a wide smile, walking softly across the floors as if not wanting to disturb such elegance. Sitting softly on the couch, and easily spreading his tail in comfort, he murred softly, ignoring the fact someone else was here.

He sighed happily as he felt comfort, leaning against the counch and sliding to its side, almost closing his eyes, suddenly remembering someone else was here. He cleared his throat quickly and sat up, sliding to the edge and adjusting just a bit, crossing a leg, and allowing his tail to slide on the magnificent couch.

Murring quietly now, he would talk. "I believe this is..extremely acceptable settings. My how you have a taste for comfort."

Siri smirked. She had never seen anyone react this way to a sofa. To her this was just the same furniture she had for the past year or so. “Thank you. I am glad you like it.” She walked over to one of the armchairs and sat down, resting her elbows on the arms and crossing her legs. “The last three battlecarriers that were built were named after Jack, myself, and Vice Chairman Naelthasser. Each of us were able to furnish them however we liked so I decided to make my quarters resemble the styling of my old home and even took the time to handcarve most of the furniture you see here just like I had done centuries ago.”

Drakomis nodded to her thank you, and got increasingly relaxed to the sofa, and enjoyed the feel and texture of its craftsmanship. He watched Siri with ease, even as she sat and got comfortable herself, listening to her explanation and nodding with interest. Yet, a soft suprised expression befell him as he heard her last words.

Centuries ago? Interesting.

"Yes, I must say they reveal a level of excellence that is most admirable. Good craftsmanship, might I add." Slowly he eased over to her last statement. "Centuries is long enough to...gain such skill, yes? Knowledge and wisdom are oh-so proven to gain themselves."

“Indeed.” She nodded as she looked over at the weapons display above the fireplace. “Having a long life does mean that one can become proficient in a great many skills whether it be swordplay, archery, carving, and painting. I fortunately have had the time to learn those four skills.” She then began tapping her fingers on the wooden arm as she thought for a moment. “Knowledge and wisdom can infact gain over the centuries, but I believe it relies more on the experiences that you have faced than time itself.”

"Indeed," he tilted his head, "much can be gained from experience over a long life, though I must admit the time I have had is not enough for what I still yearn to learn, even-" waving a clawed hand "-experience."

He looked at the weapons mounted on the wall for a moment, remembering his past, then looking back.

"I've missed so much, that I wonder if I still have time at all to learn it."

Siri leaned back in the armchair and took interest in this particular topic. Most of what she had wanted to learn she had already been done, but there were still a few more things that hadn’t. Time was something she still had plenty of though. She hadn't quite reached the halfway point of her race's lifespan. "If you do not mind telling me, what are some things that you would like to experience?"

Drakomis thought for a moment, a serious expression on his face when he looked back. "I believe love is one of them, seeing as I've spent Eight-hundred years looking for something." He sighed, "Maybe even somewhere to settle down, I don't know."

He looked up for a moment, sighing as he comprehend the applications of such. He thought of other things for the moment being.

"Perhaps learning some new skill would be nice, keep my mind sane through it all I guess." He shurgged, "I have my faith and my sword, leader of many worlds, so many situations to take in." He shurgged, "Hell, maybe arhcery again, or someone to spar with for once." He laughed.

Obviously, this topic was full of possibilities.

Siri listened closely to what Drakomis had to say then thought for a minute before she spoke. “I have not done any sparring lately after a little incident where I accidentally gave Jack a concussion. He claims that I get a little carried away and tries to make excuses so he cannot spar with me.” She smirked at that last sentence.

“But on the other hand, archery can be quite enjoyable to learn and very useful skill to have out in the wilderness. I have several types of longbows and even a few crossbows in the storage room if you would like to learn, but first have you had any previous experience in that field?”

Thinking for a moment on how her husband refrained from sparring, he considered that she might be a worthy opponent. Besides, he wanted a good challenge. However, her topics switched from sparring to archery, and he noticably sighed heavily. Oh well, he would think, so much for that.

"Much experience, just no one to shoot with." He shurgged. "Used to be a hunter, so you know. Longbows always a favoriate."

Siri took note of the sigh and had a general idea of what it was about. “I see. Maybe we should go hunting some time. I know of a few places that would make excellent locations.” She readjusted her position in the armchair. “Well, there is not any place aboard to practice archery…yet. But instead, perhaps sparring would not be such a bad idea afterall. What do you think?”

He sat up in the sofa and nodded, his expression was of severe interest. "I believe that would be acceptable. I haven't had a good sparring competition in such a long time."

Siri nodded and eyed Drakomis carefully. “Very well.”

She then stood up from her armchair and pressed several buttons on her metallic bracelet. In an instant, the two were teleported to a large white room in the recreational complex aboard the vessel. The walls and floors were padded and the ceiling was high enough to not be a problem.

“Do you require any protective gear?” she asked.

He looked to Siri, and shook his head, his arm reaching for his lightsaber. He seemed to not even touch it as it flung into his hands, it igniting as he stanced properly as he twirled it.

"I'm sure a lightsaber could not harm you, if so, then I can change weapons."

Siri raised an eyebrow as the lightsaber flew into Drakomis’ hands. She decided that she needed a weapon that could be used against him and walked over to the wall. There, she pressed a button on her bracelet and a panel opened up. Inside was several weapons including a longsword and scabbard which she took out. After switching it with her usual silver silver rapier, she returned to near Drakomis was.

“This is all I need.” She pulled out a seemingly ordinary sword and clenched the hilt with both hands. Suddenly, the blade began to pulse with energy and an electrostatic discharge that resembled lightning bolts swirled around the outside of it.

Drakomis grinned, and without a moments hesitation flew towards Siri with a doward slice of his saber, ment specifically to test her agility. He would hiss as he flung forward, his tail flying behind him easily. His feet remained constant to his forward movement, and would assist as he would twirl to do a slice nearing Siri.

Siri stood still and held her sword parallel to the floor as Drakomis came at her. The slice came at her rather closely for her liking and she swung her sword around to block it. Sparks flew out of the blade unexpectedly as the two weapons hit. Startled slightly at this she slid back from Drakomis quickly.

Drakomis was taken back as well, not expecting to have such a strong force to Siri. She blocked well enough, and with that he would back off a bit and twirl his lightsaber as he slowly paced himself off. He would closely watch her, both hands returning to his lightsaber and his tail would slowly sway back and forth through his concentration.

Siri regained her composure and took a deep breath right before she began to move again. She ran towards Drakomis while keeping her sword in a constant slicing motion, but upon reaching him, she thrust it directly at him as she usually did with her rapier in battle.

She was quick, but not quick enough. He would twist as she would near with her thrust, his lightsaber going from in front to his back, and hopefully hitting her blade at the end of her attack. His tail would remain low as it would gently wrap around a leg then waver to somewhere else. His leg would be position directly to his side, and the other being used as a main supprot as his free hand went behind his back, showing off almost as he grinned.

The lightsaber struck her sword and successfully blocked her attack. Damn, he’s good, she thought to herself as the weapons hit. She then spun herself around as she lept up into the air and sliced at Drakomis.

Hand still behind his back, he would twist to his side, keeping his lightsaber before him as he did a sideways motion with it, hopefully blocking her attack with a quick upward motion towards her slice.

"Come now, I'm only playing."

Her slice was unfortunately blocked, and she landed from the leap a little too hard on one foot at first causing it to nearly buckle under her, but luckily she brought her other foot down and recovered enough to back off from Drakomis. Irritation slowly began to set in, and she just glared at him when he spoke.

"Testing, testing....testing one...two....three!"

He nearly shot to the side as he twsited in mid-flught, landing with his right foot, then combating the reprocussion with his left. He recovered quickly, he sped towards Sirir from the side, his lightsaber blocking his front as it seemed his inetntions were to ram.

Siri was beginning to grow impatient because she had never had anyone last this long. Usually by now, they would be lying on the floor in pain but not Drakomis. When he attempted to ram her, she dove out of the way and shoved the blunt side of the sword horizontally between his legs with the sole intention of at least giving him a shock and knocking him down for once.

Drakomis did indeed fall forward, but at the last moment he made himself roll, and upon hitting the ground he twirled his lightsaber so as keep himself safe from its deadly blade. Quickly rolling to a stand, he would twist back, extend his lightsaber, and slash sideways towards Siri, who hopefully was still recovering...

Siri had barely a chance to stand up when Drakomis launched his counterattack. She made the attempt to reach for her sword to block it, but it was too late. She did not see the lightsaber slice into her, but she definitely felt it. Excruciating pain ripped through her abdomen and right arm causing her to scream out and fall to the floor on her back.

Drakomis twirled his lightsaber twice as he turned and balanced himself with the help of his free hand slamming into the ground. Regaing his composure, and once more doing a nicely done manuver with his lightsaber, he started to walk towards her with a cautious, yet ready, stance. Seeing her pain he knew he had made a hareming blow, but was it a killing blow? Oh, he would know as soon as he stepped closer...

"I see we have a conclusion to this battle....no?"

Siri knew she was fatally wounded as she lay on the floor. The pain still persisted in her arm and abdomen, and she couldn’t move or feel her right arm below the elbow for it was severed at that point. Her breathing was very labored also, most likely from a severe abdominal wound. She didn’t even bother to pay attention to Drakomis and his questions and chose instead to work on snapping her bracelet off of her left wrist with her teeth. It required little effort, and she was able to slide it down to her wrist where she pressed a button. Speaking in her native language, she managed to speak a few words into it before her breathing began to worsen. She had ordered the room to be placed into a lockdown. Doors were magnetically locked, and force fields reinforced all the walls. She then looked over towards Drakomis defiantly and waited for her death. It came only seconds later.

Drakomis twirled his saber once more, then shut it off as he placed it on his side. He quickly went to Siri's side, feeling her neck. She was dead.....oh no. Surely they had some kind of revival technology! But...

"What have I done..." His eyes nearly watered as he realized that he had killed an innocent soul. "My hands," he said, looking at them, "are stained.."

Not more than five minutes later, two people walked in through the sliding door carrying a long sheet of metal between them. They were not wearing what would be considered the typical power armor that was worn by the military or even the any of the police forces. It had a medieval look to it but yet it was black, very rough, and had horns or spikes jutting out of various areas. It covered the entire body, and where the eyes would be, round glowing orbs took their place. The two people paid no attention to Drakomis and set the metal down on the floor. They picked up Siri’s lifeless body and placed it on the metal sheet. Passing by Drakomis again, they walked back out of the door in a fashion reminiscent of a funeral procession. The sliding door then magnetically locked behind them.

Drakomis faced the reality of his situation, he was now in some kind of cell. His punishment would be just for his actions...he shouldn't of used the lightsaber. He sat in a meditative position, and meditated. Time would soon fly by to him, the grief for killing Siri would be consumed by some unknown force. He had to be prepared for whatever was to come.

Seven hours after Siri’s death, a lone figure entered into the room donning a long sleeveless brown cloak. Its head was kept lowered so a hood would cover most of the facial features. The person stopped for a moment then walked over to a spot directly in front of Drakomis and lifted its head. Siri’s face was extremely pale, a temporary side effect of the regeneration process, and her hair wasn’t tied back as it was earlier but was instead was clearly visible around the sides of her head. She gave Drakomis a cold, icy stare and said not a word.

Drakomis looked up from meditation, and saw a pale Siri. For a moment, he was suprised, but his expression faded as he bowed his head, standing. He would not reach for any weapon, instead placing both arms together in front in a Jedistic fashion. He would look her over, then speak.

"I see your back, what will you have of me? Death?"

Siri had an answer for his question. She looked right into his eyes and thrust a long dagger out from under her cloak towards Drakomis’ chest. There was no anger or rage or any other emotion in her raspy voice as she gave him a simple answer. “Yes.”

Drakomis stood firm, his arms spreading for the dagger as it sliced easily into his chest. He could have gasped, and spit up blood, but no expression befell his face either. Nothing, not even pain, shot through his eyes or face. He only nodded in return to her answer, falling to his knees. Darkness befalling him as he felt his heart explode, the other struggling to keep up, then shutting down. Looking up at her expressionless face, he would fall to his side, eyes closed as he felt his soul leave his body...

Siri looked down at the lifeless body with the dagger in her hand and sighed. A small part of her was sorry that she had killed him, but she felt that it needed to be done. She ordered the two armor-clad people, who were the same ones that took her away earlier, back into the room. They lifted Drakomis’ body onto the sheet of metal and took him out to be resurrected in an unknown location back on Earth.

------------------------------------------------------

Several hours later, his body was returned to the battlecruiser and placed upon the couch in Siri’s quarters. He was no longer dead but instead was unconscious from the effects of a sedative. It had been previously decided that he would not be allowed to see any sensitive areas just yet and would be sedated until he had returned to the vessel. While Drakomis was gone, Siri had the time to bathe and dress more appropriately. The color had returned to her face and her voice became normal. She wore a long blue robe with gold embroidery, something similar to what an empress would wear. For about an hour, she stood at the window and gazed out at the stars. Every once in a while she would look back towards the couch to see if Drakomis had awaken.

Drakomis felt....as if....something dragged him back into existance. He felt the cold embrace of his body once more, yet...the coldness was replaced with warming life. He opened his eyes slowly, sitting up as he held his head. He grunted, and shook his head, feeling the force was more grasp his being in a mortal way. Kepping him from leaving....

"Who...what...happened?" He looked towards the goldish robed figure.

Siri turned from the window and replied nonchalantly, keeping her answers short and to the point. “I had killed you almost…” She glanced down at her watch. “…eight hours ago. Then, you were resurrected. Now, how are you feeling?”

"Good," he stood, feeling somewhat woozy, but otherwise standing straight. "Very good. Seems our little spar turned fatal, my apologies."

He would start to walk towards her, looking out to the stars as he stopped at the glass. His tail expressed a sense of unbalancement, adjusting here and there. Otherwise, things were fine.

“You have no need to apologize. It is not your fault. I should have asked you to select a different weapon at the beginning.” She sighed. “I am the one who needs to apologize for my actions during the sparring. I should not have attempted to trip you up using my sword. You could have fallen on your lightsaber. Also the attempt to do so led to my death. I let my impatience get the best of me and for that I am sorry.”

He bowed his head, "You are forgiven, your actions are that of anything I might have done. But I am not here as a High Master, I am here as a Leader. Shall we look past this?"

“Of course.” Siri nodded. “Perhaps we should get down to why I have summoned you here in the first place.” She motioned towards the couch and two armchairs. “Shall we?”

"Deja Vu," Drakomis commented with a chuckle as he went to go, this time, sit on a armchair. "I believe its time to discuss the treaty and its fulfillment, if I am not correct?" He smiled, "I had fun dying, and practicing, of course."

Siri smiled to Drakomis’ last statement as she walked across the room over to a desk and pulled a small wooden box out of a drawer. The box itself was nothing special but what was inside was. She removed a long green crystal from it and walked back over to where Drakomis was. Instead of the armchair, she opted for the couch and sat down. The cushions on it coupled with the softness of her robes made her quite comfortable. She let out a sigh of relief. Then, she removed an unlit candle from the coffee table and set the crystal in its holder. A piece of log slid away from the wall to reveal a small screen which promptly flashed up the technical diagrams.

“I believe this is what you were looking for. All the necessary diagrams are on this crystal.”

SBCV-450 Battlecarrier - Zereul Refit (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/TheQ2005/battlecarrier.jpg)

Dimensions
Length: 9,178 m (9.2 km) - 30,111 ft (5.7 mi)
Width:
-w/ Landing Bays Extended: 3,791 m (3.8 km) - 12,438 ft (2.4 mi)
-w/ Landing Bays Retracted: 2,514 m (2.5 km) - 8,248 ft (1.6 mi)
Height: 1,357 m (1.4 km) - 4,452 ft (0.8 mi)
Weight: 145,000,000 MT

Propulsion:
4x NG100C Ion Drive Propulsion System (Sublight)
2x NG2000C Hyperspace Window Generator - Hyperdrive (FTL)

Armaments:
50 H-PPC Batteries
50 M-PPC Batteries
100 Missile Tubes
500 Gattling L-PPCs

Defenses:
Orbital Shield
Skin Shielding, Mark X
50M Titanium Layer
SuperCon Matrix
ECM/ECCM Suite

Capacity:
3,000 Small Craft and Pilots
150,000 Crew

Drakomis nodded approvingly, consulting something in his robed pocket that turned out to be a pad. He pressed a few things here and there, looking into how well developed his shipyards were, and then grinned widely, which turned into a huge smile on his reptilian face.

"I believe building two of these would be no problem at all, though," his smile fadded, "we could only build one in the quickest time."

A soft sigh, then another smile as he looked at Siri. "Yes, this will do well."

“Excellent,” Siri remarked as she replaced the crystal with the candle and gently placed it back inside the box. Then, she handed it over to Drakomis.

“It sounds like you have everything in order to immediately start construction. Most impressive. But I was wondering, how many do you plan on constructing in all?”

Drakomis looked to Siri with a serious face, "We plan on constructing four, in all. However, only one can be completed without drawing reserve crew. So, of course, one for now. The Anagonia."

Siri nodded to Drakomis. “Good, good. We currently have seven so far: the Zereul which was the prototype, the Thomas Jones, the Kent Kresa, the John Knudsen Northrop, the Jack O'Neill, the Siri O’Neill, and finally, the Shiran Naelthasser. In the future, we might consider building the eighth, the Alakantar O'Neill."

"Hmm, interesting." He smiled, "I only need two at most, you know. We have a very reliable class of ship that has never let us down, and even with the addition of this large vessel, it will be needed and required even more."

He waved a hand during his saying, letting it rest back on the armrest afterwards.

“I see.” Siri leaned her side a little more onto the armrest of the couch to get comfortable. “We had to redesign our entire fleet after the civil war so we have not had a class that has lasted for more than twenty years. Nearly all of the prewar vessels had proven to be out-of-date and all except one capital ship was destroyed in battle. So for the past several years, we have been attempting to do a major overhaul of the entire military. It has been a slow process but it is worth it.”

Drakomis nodded, "Overhauling is a huge process, and what we did was just mainly overhaul the weapons and insides, some of it. Our Space forces are extremely reliable, and we've only had to revamp the Heavy Cruiser chassis to a new one. So, not much to say there."

Siri just nodded for she really didn’t have much to say in the area of the fleets. It really wasn’t her specialty. She was instead concerned with other military matters.

She then rose from her seat and gestured to a small cabinet a short distance away. “Would you care for something to drink? I believe I have some forty-year-old red wine, a bottle of brandy from my homeworld, Guinness beer, and maybe some vodka.”

He nodded, standing to go to the cabinet. "I believe the wine would be excellent."

With a slow combersom walk, one that signaled he was still recovering from the previous events, he walked over to the small cabinet and opened it, looking towards Siri, then seeing the wine bottle and grabbing it. He would stand, grabbing a glass also, and gently pouring it into it. He looked towards her.

"Would you like one?"

Siri walked up to him, slower than usual because she had just gotten up from a comfortable position. “Yes, please.” She waited a moment before she spoke again. “I noticed, back in the cargo hold, that you had a curious look on your face several times while we were in there. Are there any questions you would like to ask me?” She eyed him carefully for any signs of expression.

Drakomis handed her a glass of wine, and he slowly sipped his own. Thinking about her words, he looked back to her. "I believe there are questions, but I'm sure you have so many more!"

His expression showed that he didn't want to dive into it just yet...

Siri took the glass of wine and sipped it while she thought. Hmmm…so he doesn’t want to get into it right off the bat. A little disappointed, she sighed, but then her expression changed to one of curiosity as she asked, “Yes, I was curious about how you performed those moves during the sparring match. That was the first time I have ever seen anyone do anything quite like that.”

Good, good, she didn't press the issue. Perhaps she would get her answers.

He would take a sip, and nod towards her question as he swollowed. "Yes, moves. Well, I don't like to dilli-dally about stuff, so I basically flowed the Force through me to enhance my speed, and used an apparent opening to my advantage. Albiet I did do harm, but I did think you would dodge."

Siri took another sip and pondered. She was slightly confused. “What is this ‘Force’?”

Drakomis smiled, standing to look at her as if she were a child wondering about the universe. "A Great master once described the Force as an energy field created by all living things." He waved a hand, looking around with his head and looking back at Siri. "It surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together."

He took a sip, and continued. "The Force is life, and life is the Force. Some think of the Force as a sentient entity that may be capable of intelligent thought—almost as if it were a sort of God—while others simply consider it something that can be manipulated and used as though it were a tool."

He waved another hand for a descriptive effect, "Two sides light this path. The Light side, and the Dark side." He smiled, seeing her expression. "I could go deep into that, but I'm sure you could research it." He nodded, "However, I can say I am between these two paths, yet leaning more towards the light. I am a High Master Jedi, though I have tought many Sith, which belong, or are supposed to belong, to the Dark Side."

This ‘Force’ was an entirely new concept for her. She had witnessed other forces, mainly gods, at work like the Almsivi and the Daedra but this was something entirely different. She listened carefully to every single thing Drakomis said, clearly showing an interest in it. “This is…new to me and is quite fascinating. I never knew of such a thing to exist. Tell me, does one need to be born specially to…manipulate the Force or can everyone do it?”

He sighed, "You actually have to be born 'Force-Sensitive', in all truth. But...I have known a few that weren't to be able to manage. I have teached many a person and being, and if you are really interested, I can teach you sometime."

He smiled.

“Perhaps.” She took a sip of her wine and thought for a moment. “It would not be a bad thing to have in a sticky situation, but I might not have all that much patience to learn, as you have seen.” Her mind began to trail off again. “Maybe one day…but who knows what the future holds…”

"Indeed," he took a sip, swollowed, and raised his glass. "To the future, then!"

He left the afterwards open for questions.

“To the future.” Siri raised her wine glass then took the last sip of it. As she was pouring herself another glassful she asked, “Speaking of which, what are your plans for the future of the Galactic Republic?”

Drakomis drank the rest of his wine and set the glass down. A soft sigh as he thought, looking at the glass as he twisted it and gazed at its texture and reflective properties. He nodded to himself quietly, then looked to Siri.

"The Galactic Republic? Oh, I don't know, I'm thinking of dissolving it and beginning an Imperial Senate. But thats only if certian things come to pass on other matters, and if the People want it." He made a gesture, "My presidency has lasted for almost Seven Centuries, by the Peoples Voice. Sure, nearly one century was spent away from my People, but that was a Dark Time, an Imperial Time."

He looked back to his wine glass, gently pouring more wine into it. "I can say that I intend to make it stronger, perhaps greater." He looked at Siri once more, "Though I must admit I am happy with the way things are. Mainly because there is no need for Anagonia to reveal its sleeping muscle just yet."

He chuckled with a smirk, sipping some new wine. "Though I must admit I've always wondered what Socalism or Communism might bring."

Siri listened carefully as Drakomis spoke, taking a sip of wine every now and then. “I don’t for I have seen both of those systems at work in other nations and do not like either of them at all.”

She rested her glass on the top of the cabinet and continued, although she began to get a little carried away with it due to her strong beliefs. “They are contrary to everything that the Corporation stands for. Religious freedom. Free economy. Self-reliance. Non-oppressive government. Ever since I took office, I have been doing everything in my power to make sure that nothing like that would ever happen to Northrop-Grumman and for as long as I live, it will not happen.” She took a deep breath and drank a bit of her wine.

Drakomis took a sip, "Calm down, calm down. I don't hate freedom, even if I change governments I would keep their voice above the Governments. They formed it, and thats why their voice is never silenced, in any manner." He huffed, "For God, Independence, and Freedom. That has, and always will be, Anagonia's motto. I may not change it, but even if I do change the Government, it shall never be above the People."

Siri slowly calmed herself down again and nodded. “I am very glad that you feel that way. But I warn you, changing forms of government can be a tricky maneuver. Your enemies foreign and domestic would love to take advantage of the time when the government does not have a solid chain-of-command in place. You must be vigilant and remove these threats whenever necessary. I have encountered a great many subversive forces lurking in the shadows and have dealt with them accordingly." She took a sip of her wine. "You must have eyes and ears everywhere for there is always someone seeking to do you harm.”

Drakomis nodded, taking an actual gulp of his wine, liking its taste too much now to even care. It would take a lot to get him drunk. "My eyes and ears are the Force, which flows throughout the Galactic Republic, perhaps even the Galaxy." He smiled, "I have trained many, and those I train remember me. I know my enemies, and I have few."

“Unfortunately, I do not have that luxury of being able to use the Force. Therefore, I must use all the resources that are available to me to ensure the protection of the Chairman, the Corporation, and the values for which it stands.” She took the glass and drank the rest of the wine, about half a glass.

Drakomis drunk the rest of his glass, and glared at her. "You do realize the moment you sent me the plans, the construction started on the Anagonia."

She refilled the glass with wine and shook her head. “No, I didn’t. But that is rather impressive. It usually takes a couple of months for us to start on any of our capital ships.” She took a gulp and was being to relax a bit more. One of the benefits of being an elf was that it would take much more than what was in that cabinet to get her even remotely drunk.

Drakomis would pour another glass, then stand by the window, admiring the stars as he sighed. He sipped at the wine slowly. "I wonder, however. What is the benefit of this conversation, without you asking serious questions? I sense your desire to question."

She filled her glass up again and walked over next to Drakomis. “You are correct in your assumption, but I sense the same desire to question in you, too.”

"You got me," he smirked as he sipped, "I supposed I could ask what you want with these massive ships. I'm pretty sure you don't need them."

Siri thought for a moment then replied, “Actually, we only would need around three of these battlecarriers for planetary defense. Though, when the first three were built, we were forced into a perilous intergalactic game of chess as we shuffled the various fleets around and at times splitting them up just to defend the home planets while one of the fleets went off to deal with a particular threat. That is why two others were constructed.”

She took a sip of her wine and continued. “The final three were built under my suggestion that the Corporation should have extra battlecarriers for the dual purpose of having a command ship for each of the leaders and the capability to mount a fullscale offensive maneuver.”

Drakomis nodded, "Ah, so its for strategical protective purposes. Understandable, same here." He smiled, "Your turn." He sipped some wine.

She nodded a little and finished off another glass of wine. “Your son, whom you had mentioned earlier, what is he like?”

Drakomis looked away for a bit, a soft role of the eyes as he thought. "Well, he's a very gentleman like Komodren, keeping his peace, and well trained in the Jedi arts." He nodded, finishing his wine, looking at her. "He is very knowledgable, very understanding, and very strong."

“Actually, he sounds a lot like you." She rested her glass on the windowsill and smiled. "Perhaps I will get to meet him one day in the future. I believe we would get along rather well.”

A slight discoloration of red on his green cheek scales could be seen, taking honor in her statement. "I thank you, I tried my best. Of course I told him of his adoption....we could never find them. Either way, he took well to my fatherhood...and I did my best on my own."

He smiled, going over to set his glass down. "He's 34 years old now, quite young for a Komodren."

He thought about another glass while he spoke, "You know, even though I never had a wife, I somehow managed....though," a slight huff, "still looking does help sometimes. It gets lonely after a while."

“Try not to think about it. You won’t do yourself any good if you linger on those things. Besides, I have found out that sometimes the things you wish for will just drop into your lap or rather, your arms.” Siri knew that whatever she said couldn’t change how he felt. He had probably heard all sorts of things similar to what she had said in his eight hundred years of life, so she decided to move onto other things.

“I would like your honest opinion about something,” she said as she poured Drakomis another drink. “What do you think of me? I mean, what kind of an impression do I give?”

Drakomis was taken back by the question, and felt watched as his glass was poured full for him. He looked to Siri with confused, but honest, eyes.

"Well, I sense that you are a person of good stature, someone I could trust." He nodded, "I believe you are beautiful, fitting for a good friend I know." He smiled, "and I would no doubt be trusted to have you by my side in battle."

He would take a short sip, raising his glass in thanks.

“Thank you for your kind words.” She smiled and bowed her head as a sign of gratefulness. “I am not exactly the kind of person who gives off good first impressions. For example, the first time that the citizens actually saw me alongside of Jack, we were announcing that we had gotten married, I managed to kill a man who nearly shot my husband on national television. Even though he was a terrorist that survived the civil war, I still got backlash from quite a few of the people.”

Drakomis nodded, "The truth is told." He smiled as he listened to her words, then started his own. "Well, I would be more confident to have a leader like that, myself. One who has quick reflexes, and can act in an instant with right decisions. Why they rediculed you is beyond me."

“I do not really know why either.” Siri began to pour herself another glass of wine, carefully emptying all of it into the glass. She then set the empty bottle on the side. “But that is all in the past. There is nothing I can do to change it.” She sighed and took a sip.

Drakomis nodded, "The past is the past, the only thing you can do is learn from it and release those things that burdon you." He sighed, "So much of the past is a teaching ground, easily capable of giving you knowledge. Sometimes, even the greatest leaders who have the best potential, can easily be killed just for being good, just for freeing people."

A look in his eyes showed that this related to his past. "I once knew a tyrant, whom then stalked me for many days. It was quite funny how it ended, because I died. Eaten alive, devoured, consumed. You name it." He sipped some wine.

Siri took a sip of her wine. The manner of Drakomis’ death did not surprise her at all for in her lifetime she had seen many dreadful ways to die. Being eaten alive certainly, in her opinion, wasn’t the worst way to go, but it was still pretty bad. “It sounds quite awful, but of course this begs the question: How are you standing before me today? Wouldn’t your body be…in pieces?”

Drakomis too a long sip, "I suppose its because I was brought back by....unearthly circumstances. Its complicated, and kinda long. But-" he sighed "-lets just say that it was the starting point for me to become a High Master Jedi."

She nodded, not really satisfied with the answer but not wanting to hear an overly complicated one either. “I see. What ever became of the tyrant?”

Drakomis sipped some more, "I killed him, plain and simple, after I came back. His empire crumbled, and we were set free again. Basically, I made sure my people were free." He nodded approvingly, "Its been free for over 800 years now."

“You single-handedly freed your people and managed to forge a nation that has lasted longer than anything I have ever seen,” she commented. “Most impressive.” She took a sip of her wine, unsure of where the conversation would lead next.

He laughed, "Yea, sounds impossible, I know." He gukped the rest of his wine down, continuing. "But, yea, that was long ago..."

Siri nodded and finished off her wine. The arm that held the metallic bracelet twitched suddenly not terribly, but enough to be noticed. She looked down at her arm, set her glass down, and turned to Drakomis.

“Could you excuse me for a moment?” she politely asked as she walked towards the other room.

Drakomis bowed his head, "Of course, take your time."

He smiled as he went to sit on the couch, and waited.

Siri quickly walked into what appeared to be the master bedroom and shut the door. Anyone out in the living room could hear what she was saying but most of it was low enough to be undistinguishable except for when her temper flared up. Quite a few words could be understood at that time.

“I…not need…guards…now…I am…You may be…but I can…killed immediately…The Order does not…Damn you!”

Silence filled the room. After a few moments, she opened the wooden door to the bedroom and walked back out appearing to be a little stressed.

“I’m sorry for that.” She slowly sat herself down in the armchair and acted as nothing had transpired. “So now, where were we?”

He cleared his throat and nodded, tilting his head and somehow finding a little loop-hole to engage in a chat.

"I take it that something....bad has happened? Oh my, bad things happen a lot...especialy in...Jedi matters."

“Yes and no. Nothing really to worry yourself about.” She purposefully gave a vague answer. It really wasn’t any of his concern so she didn’t dwell on it and moved on to other things. “What sorts of…bad…matters happen with the Jedi?”

He nodded, accepting her reponse and moving on. "Well, we did have some bad dealings in the beginning with outside Jedi....coming in....and...well...currupting the Good teachings that made our Jedi what they are." He sighed, "It was a helluva time."

“I see.” She nodded. “That is why you need restrictions or barriers to keep the bad outsiders away whether it be a secret location or something different like tests. But unfortunately I am not knowledgeable in your ways so I do not know if such things would work.”

He nodded, "Indeed, but were more cautious these days, so no outside Jedi's are allowed in. We have many of our own anyways." He tilted his head, "I knew how to properly do it back then, I still know how today. But its the way that I do it that would displease everyone." He smiled.

Siri looked up with interest. She always wanted to learn about such things. "What exactly is it that you do?"

Drakomis thought for a long moment, then spoke. "I balance good-" extending one open palm "-and evil-" extending another "-and lead my Nation at the same time. To do this-" he lowered both hands back down "-I use all my resources to mediate on the balance, and engage in leadership responsibilities."

He sighed, "I once used people, yes, and even then I felt my people were being violated. So, once I progessed in my knowledge, in my capabilities, I monitered tha balance, I felt my peoples emotions, I felt for them." He clenced a palm, and the released. "However, when it became too much, I started the balance between Good and Evil, Jedi and Sith basically. Yet I maintained th evil to be Good, not so evil, but not too good. You see, I do not create monsters, I build up people."

He nodded, "I use this balance for the enduring relationship and continuation of all that is Anagonian, all that is my People. I gave them more choices that they desired, and made sure that in those choices they weren't trapped in too much. I helped them become more family, close in Comrade Brethrenhood. I watched them, I trained them, and I ask of them. Never do I demand, unless it is an emergency."

Siri listened carefully to everything Drakomis said. “That is quite interesting,” she commented, although being slightly vague in her reply. It was slowly becoming apparent that she was hiding something. “I, on the other hand, do not balance good and evil. You could say that I use the one to accomplish the other.”

She readjusted herself, crossing her legs. “And I do not ask of people either, I command them. Discipline is essential to maintaining a chain of command. Asking just eliminates any sort of power you have over your subordinates.”

Drakomis smiled, "I once commanded many, but thats military. I ask because I know they will trust me. They are free to respond, for they are not military, but an Order. Being a tyrant means placing fear in command, I do not do that."

She nodded. “I understand. My position in the government gives me full command of all the military and police forces in the nation. I cannot ask them to do anything. I have to command them. Yet, I do not treat them badly except in the few cases where they deserve it as was seen earlier. They do know that I will not needlessly sacrifice them just to make a point.”

“On the other hand, I treat the civilian populace differently. I am more of a motherly figure to them. I ensure their protection, lead them on the path to a brighter future, and punish them when they do something wrong. They may not like some of the things I have to do but I do it for their sakes not my own.”

He smiled and nodded, "I go by my peoples voice, nothing else. Its their country, I just lead the highly important issues."

“I see,” was the short reply that Siri gave. She was not a supporter of a republic or any sort of system where the people had a large voice in the government. She believed that the typical person was too incompetent to operate a government. To her, a monarchy or an empire was most preferable. She then released a slow sigh for she did not want to debate politics with Drakomis and examined the armrests on her chair.

Drakomis started on another subject, "From what I can tell, interplanetary travel is a hard thing to do. What type of systems do you use to comphensate for the distance?"

She shook her head. “It is not that difficult to do. We use an orbital stargate that is four-point-five miles wide to instantly transport whole fleets from one system to another. If we do not feel like using that then the hyperspace window generators with catapult the vessel into hyperspace. Depending on the distance between the two planets, it should not take all that long. Now lastly, we use regular stargates that are twenty-two foot wide to instantaneously transport people and other smaller things to another planet.”

Drakomis nodded, "Well, more advanced than us in a way. We only use Sub-Space drives to get where we need to go. Its an almost instantanious travel, but delays can be in the hours depending on how far or how fast you want to travel through Sub-Space." He grinned, "However, we do occasionally use Sub-Space tactics to get beside enemy ships and blow them to bits before they know whats going on."

Siri nodded, making a note of this tactic in the back of her mind. “All of our vessels possess cloaking devices. Although, they work better for smaller vessels such as bombers and fighters than they do for the capital ships. The sheer size of them makes it difficult to hide the heat and other things that can be picked up by sensors.”

Suddenly, Siri remembered something from her conversation with Jack when he came back from his first meeting with Drakomis and decided that she would have to be subtle about it. “Yes, I have heard quite a bit about your battlecruisers and heavy cruisers from my husband and with their subspace drives, weaponry, and general design, they appear to be quite useful.”

>::BUMP::<

Drakomis nodded, "They are. The very reason their as prooving as they are is because we NEEDED a ship that could match the strength of the Larger ships, even if it is in numbers. So, our engineers devised both classes, based on power and efficency in combat, they were designated Heavy Cruiser and Battlecruiser. Albiet they arn't large enough to be designated as such, compared to most things, but they sure pact a punch, and deserve their right in our Nations history as the most versitile, most trusted, and most relible classes ever concieved by our hands."

He chuckled, "We even have a few ships already docked and on show for their service. Thats how old these classes are."

Siri smiled. “Perhaps, you could give me a tour of these vessels one day. They appear to be old enough to where their problems are already worked out.”

To hell with subtlety, she thought before she replied. “I would certainly like to see these before you give us the technical drawings for them. I believe they would make a fine addition to the fleet.”

Drakomis grinned, "Well we can arrange a visit soon enough. We'll give you the specs for now, fair enough?"

“Perfect.” Siri nodded. “You do not need to rush either. We are not in a hurry to get the plans.” She sighed and rested her back on the back of the chair.

Drakomis bowed his head, "Good, and I'm glad we agree on that."

He smiled, tapping his claws on the couch rest. "You know what amazes me about how we all get along out here? How well we cooperate, and how well we understand each other." He smirked, "Amazing, no?"

“It is.” Her tone showed that she only agreed partially. “But really, we have only known each other for about a half of a day. We have talked about quite a bit since you arrive, but we only know the basics about each other and have not discussed all that much of the past. Besides, it is not like I really know you.”

She cleared her throat and tried to clarify what she meant. “For an example, you can research someone in an encyclopedia, know their entire biography and yet still not understand their feelings, demeanor, thoughts, or their personality. Now for you, I believe I understand your demeanor and personality, but we have only touched on the either of the remaining. Do you understand what I mean?”

Drakomis nodded, and shrugged. "Well, I really don't have much to expose beyond what you see before you. Unless you have any specific questions on what you want to know, I can deal with that. Otherwise, how about I ask you a question..."

He leaned forward, looking at her. "Why were you so interested in recieving the ships.....tell me, because I want to know your use for them."

Siri thought for a moment and explained. “I need battletested vessels for…I guess you could say…internal security reasons. It would be used to intercept communications, deal with any potential threat, remain cloaked when not in use, and quite possibly execute a variety of other unofficial purposes.”

"You mean like using Nuclear Weaponry on unspecific targets, Blasting the crap out of unsuspecting ship, and randomly causing chaos in the enemies ranks." He laughed, "Well, perhaps. But they can do most of that."

She kept a straight face. “Yes and no. They could be used for those purposes, but then again, they may not. It would depend on where I need them and what they are needed to do.”

Drakomis smirked, "You never know, I just like to know things myself. I know too much as it is, especially since I know your borders very well. Haven't gone in, no, just know them."

With her hand, Siri brushed her hair away from her eyes and replied, “Ah, but borders are useful to know but are not all that important. That which is contained within those borders is quite important. You do not know what is there like I do not know what is in yours.”

"Good, because I frankly like the idea of giving you two ships for your use. You seem to know a lot of tactical speech, and if I may continue, I'd like to say that I quite like the idea of having a Battlecarrier. Its an amazing thing. especially when you can have a fleet en-mass to take over those who would dare...oppose...you." He grinned, "Thats one of the usses for these two ship classes too, because if you desired, and had many of the Battlecruisers, you could take out an ISD."

She tilted her head and was a little confused. “You like the idea of giving me those two vessels? I find that quite odd for you to say that. Most people do not trust me with even a butter knife much less a battlecruiser." She leaned forward in her armchair. "Why?”

Drakomis grinned again, "Mainly because your an ally, and because we have our battlecarrier now. Also, I sense I can trust you, not that I don't sense your helpers around here." He looked around, gazing at certian areas. "How did you ever find that technology?"

Siri did not expect this question right then and was a little startled but she tried not to show it. She sat up in her armchair and collected her thoughts. “So you sensed them? I guess that must be another one of your Jedi skills. Well…I would not say that I found the technology, but rather, someone else did. Some of it was scavenged from other nations and such, and a good portion of it was researched.”

Drakomis snarled a bit, and suddenly jumped up, grasping his lightsaber, and did a backflip to land behind the couch in a very unusual fashion. His saber twirled, and went into a slash, stopping just before something and looking to Siri.

"I've noticed them getting too close for comfort....." He glared at her, then back at where his Lightsaber was about to cut...

Siri quickly rose from her seat and stared directly at Drakomis. Anger was slowly building up inside of her and it began to show as she yelled at him. “Put that damned thing away now. There are only two ways they will attack. One is if the order is given. The other is if I die. At the moment, I have to reason to order them to attack you, so put the lightsaber away.”

Drakomis hurfed, and his lightsaber blade slowly went off, and he gave one look to where his blade was to hit, and backed off. Bowing his head in an apology to both the certian individual, and to Siri. He slowly went to sit back down.

"My apologies....I.....was almost killed that way."

She let out a deep sigh of relief and also sat back down. “I am very sorry. I did not know that.” With a wave of her hand, the cloaked guard backed away. “But you do not need to worry about them. They are only here for my protection in case I ever need it.”

Drakomis's toe twitched, as did his tail. He grufed, and nodded. "Thank you, and I understand. That one just came a bit too close when I started mentioning choosy words, and I didn't like that." He cleared his throat, "So, where were we?"

Siri nodded. “I believe we were discussing the guards and their technology. Since you originally brought the subject up, what would you like to know? I am sure you have numerous questions.”

Drakomis nodded, "I do have many questions, specifically how you got them cloaked." He smiled, "That would be a great benefit for my people if we could find our personal cloaking devices that came cheap."

Siri shook her head. “I am afraid that I cannot give you them for it is forbidden to exchange technology, but the Corporation is developing a prototype that will eventually be able to do the exact same thing. The chances are that you will have to wait for that one.”

"I suppose we can wait then, or finish our own prototypes." He smiled, "What weapons do they use?"

Siri slowly rose from her armchair and walked behind the sofa. She pressed a button on her bracelet, and the guard decloaked. The nearly seven foot tall guard in its dark red medieval style power armor remained perfectly still.

“Here we have the standard issue longsword.” She motioned to the sword strapped onto its back. “It is crafted entirely out of naquadah and is nearly indestructible.”

Siri barked out a command in her language, and the guard raised his arm up at a ninety degree angle. A single blade shot out of the space between the top of his wrist and the rest of the armor. “A nasty little surprise, eh?”

“Of course, there are other kinds of weapons that are used like daggers, fifty caliber pistols, zat’nik’atels, plasma rifles, and there is even a space on the shoulder for a plasma cannon.”

Drakomis turned around in his place and nodded to each explanation given. "Interesting, very good, very good." He rubbed his reptilian chin, "I heard that you had some kind of Staff weapon, what are they called? I might be interested in one personally."

Siri nodded. “Yes, we do have staff weapons. I just happen to have one in the storage room. Excuse me for just a moment while I go get it.”

She left the room, and in less than a minute, she returned with a long grey staff weapon. “It is quite simple to use. Press this button on the long shaft…” The end of the weapon split up into four sections. “…and fire it here.” She aimed the staff at the guard and fired. A burst of plasma energy ejected out of the split end and was quickly absorbed by an energy shield surrounding the guard. “That is something I failed to mention. There is a shield that is raised once the guard decloaks.”

He smiled as he stood, "Shields are always good, and your information just wants me to try it more. May I?" He gestured for the staff, and was given it. He smiled, and went from the couch to an open space, and started twirling it.

"Nice weight." He pressed the button for it the end to go back down.

He grinned as he started to twirl himself, jumping to do a flip, twisting in it, landing to thrust the end of the staff to the ground. He did a Backflip, twirling the staff in the flip, and landing to thrust it up in the air, doing a side-swipe, thrusting side ways. He turned around, and twirled it, grasping with both hands, thrusting down and up fastly.

He jumped up one more time, doing a backflip, and landing, standing erect as he did some fancy twirling with the saff, and planted its end on the ground. Finally, Drakomis stanced as if he were a Royal Guard of some unknown Empire, his tail resting finally from the movements.

"I like it."

Siri stood nearby with her arms folded watching Drakomis moving about. She found it quite interesting and made the comment, “You appear to handle a staff weapon quite well. You may keep it if you wish. I really do not need it. Somehow it lacks the destructive power I prefer in a weapon.”

Drakomis smiled, and bowed his head, and walked towards the couch, and sitting down he spoke.

"Thanks, but I do sense something in that tone of yours. Destruction? How nice. I could kill twenty men with this staff alone, and not even use the energy weapon itself." He snarled somewhat, "I don't need power, all I need is a situation, and an opprotunity."

She glared at Drakomis, and her tone changed abruptly to one of irritation. “What? Do you have a problem with my desire to have an effective weapon? I do not have the…agility...that you possess. Therefore I must make up for it with firepower. Is that such a problem?”

Drakomis shook his head, "No. No problem. Your feelings are true."

“I see.” Siri was still irritated but sat back down in the armchair in an attempt to calm down. “You do not need to be so quick to criticize. You know nothing of my past, what I presently do, nor do you know about my plans for the future.” With a slight huff, she folded her arms and waited for his response.

"I can sense more than you think, but to intrude in that depth would be nothing of a honorable Jedi." He smiled, "I do apologize, however, as I did sense somthing OF the past, or perhaps future, in that tone before."

“So you do sense something?” She rested her arms back onto the armrest and looked at Drakomis. “Tell me. What did you see, if you saw anything distinct at all?”

Drakomis smirked, "Empires formed, empires wanted. Your past see's your future as a Queen." He nodded, "You dwell in arcane arts, and lead a Militia of Dark Figures that hide in the shadows."

He smiled, "Thats what I saw."

Siri rested her head on the back of the armchair and closed her eyes. All of the candles in the room lit instantaneously. The flames then turned into something akin to a blowtorch, greatly brightening the room. Then, they eventually began to go dissipate one by one until only a few candles were lit normally.

Still keeping her eyes closed, she asked Drakomis, “Did anything you see trouble you?”

Drakomis sighed, watching her display, the heshook his head, "Not really, its the norm for most leaders anyway. I' not troubled in the slightest, for you don't show the tyrannical seed that most space faring leaders might as well have."

He motioned for the candels, "You seem to have some capabilities."

Her body levitated to a few feet up in the air above the armchair then settled back down into it. “I have quite a few. I could do more, but I prefer to keep this room in one piece.” She opened her eyes and looked right at him. “I am quite sure you have a few questions, don’t you?”

Drakomis shook his head, "Not really, only where you got the powers from." He smiled, "I've seen many exactly like you in those manners, so..." he shrugged.

Siri nodded. “Ah, where I come from, everyone is born with the ability to do such things. Though, some of the various races possess a greater ability to use these powers. But most people chose not to want to learn how to for the work you must put into it requires years upon years of reading numerous books, meditating, and practicing. I have been working at it for a few years so far, but I am not at the level of some of my friends. I know one that has become quite powerful in the ways of necromancy. All of it is quite fascinating, in my opinion.”

Drakomis nodded, "Necromancy, I've heard of it." He smiled, thinking for a bit. "Yes, definitly, I know of it. But why tame such powers when you can just learn to let it flow?"

Siri thought for a moment before she replied. “It is better to have control over the power instead of letting the power flow through you. It can become like a god, and it will begin to control you” She sighed. “I guess you have never seen what happens when it does control you. You lose yourself and become something entirely different.”

He smirked, "That is what we know as the Dark Side. I know it all too well." He sighed and smiled, "I'm not saying to submit to it, but to let it flow, to meditate, and to control yourself with the knowledge that you are using a good part of eternity to live."

He looked away, "Besides, I've seen what it can do when the Dark Side currupts entirely....I do my best to keep my Sith students and apprentices from it, as well as with all of them."

She nodded. “I see. Though, I am certain that the Force does not contain such things as necromancy and teleportation or the ability to summon otherworldly creatures, breathe and walk on water, and restore a person’s health. Does it?”

"Most of those, yes, but it takes YEARS of training and practice, and meditation." Drakomis smiled, "Lots of concentrate to do half of those things, of course. Summoning, I doubt it."

“There appear to be similarities between the two.” She remained silent for a while as she thought. After a minute or two, she said, “You must never tell anyone what you have learned from looking into my mind. I cannot let anyone know of my use of as you say ‘arcane arts’ or my knowledge of the Order.”

"Oh don't worry," he smiled, "I won't tell." He did a dipping motion across his snout, "Closed secret."

He sighed, "So, any questions for ME??"

BUMPzors...

She nodded. "Well, I would like to know why you have decided to rule Anagonia for so long? Why have you not retired long ago?"

"Because I'm old and stubborn, and the people seem to like me." He smiled, "No one has ousted me yet, and the people seem to like my ruling. So, you know." He shrugged.

“That must get boring after a while.” She cleared her throat and crossed her legs to be a little more comfortable. “I imagine you do take vacations every now and then, correct?”

"Correct," he smiled, "I tend to leave my empires control under the command of Oscar Vladinchi, he's an old Russan Comrade that made himself known back when Anagonia was split into Seven Provinces." He grinned, "He came from the Communist part."

"Oh, I see." Siri smiled. "The Vice Chairman is often left in control of the Corporation when Jack and I decide to take a vacation. He does a remarkable job of keeping everything running well, though..." She paused for a moment and looked down as if something popped into her mind. "...for as long as I have been there, he has never taken a vacation. I am not entirely sure why." She raised her head. "But anyway, what do you usually do on your vacations?"

He smiled, "I tend to go to Delphi to relax, or I go to some unknown world to explore. Random things, cause Delphi has the pleasure and the lot, and exploring new worlds has adventure. I tend to do both."

The word "pleasure" came out in such a manner as to describe MANY things.

Siri raised her eyebrows at the way Drakomis said the word "pleasure" and smiled. "Sounds like you enjoy yourself out there. Usually when I want to take a vacation, I either take a camping trip out into the dense forests in the central region of the nation for a week, or I fly a shuttle back to my homeworld to visit old friends. The simpler life is so invigorating. It is quite nice not to be surrounded by technology there."

"Indeed," he nodded, "Technology can he a hamper. Though I must admit I sometimes 'steal' a Fighter and have some fun with them." He coughs and clears his throat. "Anyway, yea, sure is. I do have lots of fun on Delphi, but thats a DESCRIPTIVE and LONG story."

He winked and chuckled.

Siri noticed that Drakomis kept refering to Delphi and slowly was becoming more curious about it. She sat up in her armchair as if to listen to a drawn out explanation. "Since you keep bringing up Delphi, perhaps you can tell me about it..." She paused for a moment. "...and what you do there."

Drakomis was somewhat shocked by her question, and was at a loss of words. Did he mention Delphi THAT much? Oops...

"Well, uh....I....uh..." He kinda gulped, somewhat uneasy, shifting his position a bit. "Delphinians are very....very attrictive. Especially the females. Their a dolphin-like humanoid species, and.....the pleasure they give is unimaginable."

He kinda smiled.

She nodded and started to chuckle. “Ah, I see…well…we do not have any such places around here.” She decided to change topics so as to not put Drakomis in an uncomfortable spot again. “So do you do anything else like fishing, hunting, golfing, or maybe some other sport?”

"Oh, sure!" He seemed to shift back to a comfortable position. "I fish a lot, and I do hunt sometimes. In fact, last time I went hunting we found a new species of sentients!" He smiled widely, "Deer like humanoids, Oscar almost shot one. The Rontian stood up and Oscar had a FIIIIT!" He laughed, and slapped his knee.

“Poor Oscar.” Siri laughed a little. “I have hunted deer quite a few times but never had an experience like that. It probably now makes you look more carefully before you shoot.” She thought for a moment. “I really do not fish. On the other hand, Jack does fish often. But I would not call what he does ‘fishing’. It is more like sitting back with a bottle of beer and fishing pole and relaxing since there are not any fish in the pond he goes to.”

He laughed, "That's what I'd do too somtimes! Though I must admit my beer's strong though, cause when I fish like that, everyone stays away." He smiled, calming down a bit. "When I get stressed, I tend to get strong beer, and go away for a bit."

She sighed. “Unfortunately, I cannot do that when I am stressed because of the way my elven body works. It tends to null the effects of alcohol to the point where it is just like drinking any other drink. Of course that does not leave me with very many options for when I am stressed. I cannot take a vacation every time.”

"Same here," he chuckled, "But thats the good thing about Delphinians, they sense stress and LOVE to help."

“I see.” She raised her eyebrow again. “Well, when I am very stressed, I tend to become quite energetic and…” A small grin appeared on her face. “…Jack just loves to help out when that happens.”

Drakomis snickered, "Well were being very honest with each other, arn't we? I suppose this is good for our two Nations relations, and I'm glad we can be so honest." He smiled and chuckled.

Siri nodded and smiled. “I agree. Though, it is refreshing to be around such honesty again even though the topic was not what one would expect to discuss.” She chuckled again. “Now, shall we move on?”

"Certianly," he smiled, "What is on the agenda right now, any more questions or curiousness?" He chuckled.

She thought for a moment and shrugged. "I honestly do not think I have any more questions to ask. What about you?"

"I suppose I could ask one thing," he looked at her, "Where is Jack exactly?"

Siri smiled. "To be honest, he went fishing. Not because he wanted to relax but because he thought that it would be fun if we met, knowing the way my personality is. It is his way of trying to be funny.”

"Well I wouldn't doubt he's watching us RIGHT now, knowing him." He cleared his throat, "Probably'll have a laugh at how open we were, or he may be plotting to kill me."

He laughed.

She chuckled. "No, I doubt that he is watching us. Though, I can picture it already. As soon as I walk into his office, he will be sitting there behind his desk with the largest grin on his face, and he will ask the question, 'How'd it go?'"

"Wouldn't that be a treat," he chuckled, and sighed happily, sitting back comfortably and strecthing, yawning a bit.

"Anyway, got any questions?"

Siri nodded. "What did you do for a living before you became President of Anagonia?"

"I was a young Komodren with Big Dreams." He hurfed, sighing. "Simple life, simple activities. Nothing more. It was an amazing time for me, and I loved the smell of the Earthian lands." He looked at her, "I once live on Earth you know, before Anagonia went to the stars. I lived a simple life, I lived A life."

He thrummed his claws on the couch, looking at them as he did. "I....actually had a mate back then. I had....someone I loved.....and a child...a beautiful child." He looked....very sad. His Eight-hundred years of life suddenly showing on his face...

Siri was startled at this new information and her face conveyed a look of sadness. “I did not know that.” She was wondering what she should say next, but she had a slight feeling of curiosity and asked softly, “What had happened?”

He sadly looked at her, his voice rasp almost, low. "The very thing that started me into becoming the President, the Chief Commander." A tear went down his scaly green cheek. "I lost all my loved ones during that war for Independence, during the Imperial Incursion.....I lost my life...."

He started to shed more tears now, "To tell you the truth," he put his claws over his face, leaning over as he rested his elbows on his knees, sheeding tears and crying now. "Its all a disquise, all of it is. I lost everything I loved, and my life is for my people now. I have no life now..."

Siri rose up from her armchair and sat down on the couch next to Drakomis. She laid her hand on his shoulder and replied, “I…I am very sorry I even brought this topic up. I did not know that any of this had ever happened.”

She paused before she spoke quietly again. “I know that there is nothing you or anyone else can do to bring them back, but you must look at what you have now. I am not saying that you should not grieve. What I am saying is that you have a son who appears to have grown up into a fine young Komodren, and you have over four billion people that have looked up to you over the past seven centuries for leadership and guidance. I know that cannot replace what you once had, but it is something.”

>::BUMP::<

Drakomis nodded, and sat back up, sniffing, recalling her words and looking to her. "Yea," he said softly, "I know. Its owrth a lot to me to know that what I lost is made up for me taking care of billions of people."

Smiling softly, he wipped the last tear away. "My son's the most important, if anything, I should stay strong for him."

He gave her a soft pat on her shoulder. "Thank you."

She smiled and nodded. “You are quite welcome. Although, this is not the first time I have had to do something like that.”

"Really?"

He looked at her, "So....you've done this before?"

“Yes…yes, I have.” Siri looked down at her hands resting on her lap and began her story. “Three years ago, it was one of the coldest winter days in the history of the Corporation. Everything was covered in three feet of snow and ice, and the temperatures were well below freezing point. While most of the population stayed home from work that day, Jack and I decided to go in anyway. We were at the capital building no longer than fifteen minutes when Vice Chairman Naelthasser runs up to us both and tells us that there is a mother and an infant near death on Hutchison Island, an island south of the mainland that is off-limits to everyone.”

“Jack had them both teleported into the medical facility in the capital building. To make a long story short, the mother knew she was going to die and told Jack and I to take care of her son. Not long after that, she passed away. Then, Jack revealed a side I had never seen before. He coldly told the Vice Chairman to find an orphanage for the infant and walked out of the room when I attempted to ask why. I was shocked by his behavior, followed him back into his office, and questioned him repeatedly. Repeatedly, he refused to answer my question until he had enough and snapped back at me. Apparently, decades before I met him, he was married and had a wife and son. One day, his son found his service pistol in his room and accidentally killed himself. The event plunged Jack into depression and destroyed his marriage. Eventually, he learned to hide the pain and went on working for the Air Force so that he could not face that kind of a situation again.”

“Jack told me this story and then yelled at me to leave. Before I did, I calmly told him what his options were: he could either live in his past, deny the infant a good home, never have any children, and spend the rest of his life sulking in misery or he could move beyond all those horrible memories, provide the infant a good home, and prove to himself that he was not, nor ever will be, a bad father. I left him to think about that and walked back down to the medical facility and waited. Several hours later he came back down and apologized to me. He had the adoption papers already filled out and ready for me to sign them. What I think happened was that in the past, whenever someone asked him about his son and such, he would kindly ask them to change the topic and they always did. I was the first person ever to be forceful and have him open up with his feelings.”

Drakomis listened intently to her story, true in it sowrds. He wtached her expression and heard her voice. He made sure his mind was on just that story, and that time. He would nod and smile kindly after her story, running through his past, and her past.

"You are a good wife, I must say." He patted her shoulder, "He made up for his past on that cold winter day, no?" He chuckled, "Jack's a lucky man to have someone so helpful as you."

He sighed a bit, still keeping the smile, and wtaching her response.

The compliments produced a small smile on her face, and she looked up at him. “Thank you for your kind words. We have been through quite a lot in the five years that we have been married, and I plan on staying with him by his side no matter what happens in the future.”

He somewhat sighed, "I wish I had someone like that, someone like I had...."

He gulped and looked away, rubbing his reptilian eyes and sighing as he looked at his robe, rubbing on it for a few seconds. His eyes stared off, remembering his past, remembering reasons for his present. He let out some breath from his nostrils.

"I remember....becoming a Jedi was my response to my grief, to my suffering, to my torment." His eyes blinked slowly, yet his stare was constant, as if he saw his past life before his eyes. "I remember...that I trained harder than anyone, harder than my brethren, harder than the masters themselves. It was my motivation, my life, to forget my past, to meld myself into something new."

He looked at her, "But in all seriousness, while I have become stronger, and wiser, and better than all those before me.....I still crawl on my sands of life.....and I....."

He somewhat huffed a gentle laugh, looking back down to his lap. "I forgot how to walk."

Siri sighed. She was all too familiar with this subject. “Every one of us has varying amounts of pain that we choose to hide.”

“I think we hide it because we do not want others to think we are weak. This is especially so in leaders. They are afraid that the people might think that they are unstable and are unable to lead properly. Though, I do not believe this is true. It molds us. Make us who we are. Without it, we would all be the same. But when you do have it, you cannot make it ruin your life.”

He nodded, "Wise words, wise words. What else could we have without our weaknesses that give us strength?"

She paused as she thought. “The hope for a better future and the desire to create one. That is what I attempt to do, and I have had some successes, but there is still always that uncertainty."

Always," he responded, "always. The future is what we make it, but we must have the will, and strength, to do so." He sighed, and nodded to himself, and her.

Siri nodded. “I agree.” She put her elbow on the armrest and rested her head on her hand. “I must say though that the future does look like a bright one for both of our nations. What do you think?”

"I suppose not, but my economy is in its high times." He smirked, "Its been hiving a low time and high time lately, so I'm not very excited."

He leaned his head on his hand, and elbow on the couches arm rest. "I can tell ya, many eyes look on the Republic, vultures perhaps. After Eight-hundred years, maybe its starting to die?"

She looked over towards him. “Maybe. Maybe not. Anagonia could be going through one of those low points in its history. We have hit rock bottom twice in our history. The first time was when the starbase plunged into the capital city by the hand of our previous Chairman, John Northrop. It killed three-hundred twenty-five million people and collapsed the economy into a massive depression. Power was non-existent for nearly the entire population. Only with the help of allied nations and the new leadership from my husband were we able to rebuild it as it was before.”

“The second time was during the civil war. The previous Chairman came back and had Jack exiled to another planet. He then abolished all religion, attempted to execute anyone who did not follow him blindly, and enacted martial law throughout the nation. To make a long story short, Jack finally was rescued by Shiran Naelthasser, who would later become the Vice Chairman, and led the resistance forces against the evil government. The final battle, the Battle of Caprica City, was one of the worse land battles in the history of the Corporation. The city was surrounded by the resistance forces while the evil government fortified itself within. The battle lasted several months as the two sides slugged it out in the streets and buildings. Genocide was rampant as the previous Chairman sought to demoralize the resistance forces by filling the stadiums and convention centers with people and then leveling them. Another thing he did when he knew that he was losing was attempt to mess with Jack’s mind by massacring children and leaving their bodies in the lobby of the capital building. When Jack finally did make it to the building with the resistance forces, he nearly went into shock at the sight and then turned into rage as he ran up the forty floors to the Chairman’s office, where she shot the man responsible. After that, Jack could never walk into the lobby anymore, instead, going down to the parking garage every time. I believe that is one of the reasons he had the building destroyed and built an entirely new one.”

“But getting back to my main point, for the second time in our history, the capital city was in ruins and the economy was in a depression for several years as the rebuilding progressed. Fortunately, I was never a witness these things so I can only imagine what they were like. I can say this, we have had too many catastrophes in our forty year history.”

"Yes, I understand." He looked at her, "But its been eight-hundred years....at least Three-Hundred for Anagonia, truthfully. But, as long as I've seen it, as long as I've taken centuries of exile, as long as I've counted, it hasn't been this low, nor has it been higher." He sighed, looking away. "Thre-Hundred years of an empire, can leave an empire gasping for breath."

She sighed a little. “I do not know what to tell you because I am not familiar with the internal workings of your nation nor its people.” She paused for a moment. “Perhaps, it is a sign that something somewhere needs to be changed. Do you have any thoughts on why it is happening?”

Drakomis shook his head, "Nothing that I know of." He pointed a finger up, "I do know for a fact that I haven't had too many interesting issues as of late, perhaps my People are content?"

She nodded. "Perhaps. That is a good sign though. It shows that the people ultimately are happy with the government that exists and like living there.”

He laughed, happily. "I suppose your right, perhaps my people are content with all that they have." He nodded, smiling at her. "You're full of answers, you know?"

Siri grinned and nodded. “Yes, I know. It seems I have a gift for being as they say…a…know-it-all.” She chuckled. “It still is hard to get used to human clichés.”

"Na," he smiled, "You just know the right words." He chuckled and patted her shoulder. "Your alright, you know that?"

"And so are you." She smiled. "There are very few people in this world that count as my friends, but I can say that you are one of them."

Drakomis smiled, extending his hand for a shake. "I'm glad, because I do believe you are one of a few whom I have actually exposed myself to."

Siri shook his hand. "Thank you for being so open to me. Most people choose not to, but you are different than most people, I must say.” She paused for a moment before she clarified. "In a good way."

>::BUMP::<

Drakomis chuckled, "Thanks." He sat back against the couch. "So, should we have any other topics?"

She paused as her mind worked. When he mentioned “exposing”, it reminded her of a question she needed to ask. “I assume you have security forces to protect you. What are they like?”

>::BUMP::<

Drakomis smirked, "Security forces? Now why would I need them? Certianly there's none in here-" his hand waved around "-that your forces haven't seen."

Anyone could tell by his looks that he was outright LYING about none of his forces being here. Of course, Siri would have the positive reinforcement that no one but Drqakomis had been teleported over. Therefore, who else could be around?

Either way, Drakomis knew something that Siri didn't see yet.

Siri simply replied, “I see.”

Though, anyone could tell that she was not particularly pleased with the way Drakomis looked as he answered. She ran through all possible ways that he could have brought security aboard but nothing came to her mind right away. But she reminded herself that she could never be too careful and cleared her throat as a sign for her own guard to stand directly behind her.

“Your looks do not match your words. Perhaps you would want to correct that statement.”