NationStates Jolt Archive

A myriad of people were assembled on the shores of Lake Patricia. Dignitaries of all colour, creed and nationality. It was a beautiful summer afternoon. Birds were chirping, sea lions were barking, people were chatting and enjoying a very reasonable party within the Lake Patricia convention center. Sheikh Navarrone, the Overlord of the Allied Vascilian Forces, and his civilian counterpart, President Snake Hortarii, were mingling with their guests. The lush green world of Vascilia was to be the host of the proposed Galactic Assembly, an international diplomatic body that aimed to preventing yet another massive, deadly, war from breaking out again.

Auman has seen its fair share of tragedy. Years of global war and domestic terrorism have left the people tired. It took a generation to recover from a series of wars that the Vascilian people simply refer to is "The unpleasantness" The nation is old, cultured and has matured over the years. It is time to give back to the community, extending an open hand instead of presenting a closed fist.


'I was expecting a better turn out.' Said Sheikh Navarrone as he poured a measure of cream into a cup of coffee. 'I was expecting a better party, where's the booze?' Said Hortarii with a smile. 'For fuck sake, Snake it's only one in the afternoon.' Navarrone put the cup to his lips for a moment, not drinking, just thinking for awhile. He caught the glance of a representative from the Federal Union. Sheikh sighed 'We could have used this thing a few years ago.' Hortarii looked in the direction of the Federal and said 'You're talking about the uh... Attempt at liberating the Galactic Empire aren't you, Sheikh?'

'Yep...' Navarrone was looking over the banquet hall. A live band was playing some classic Aumanii tunes, along with a few requests from the guests. More often than not, they had no clue how to play the requested songs, unfortunately for us they tried anyway. The location was good, great for something like this. The Lake Patricia convention center was a beautiful building, designed to impress foreign businessmen and tourists. There was tons of food, enough to feed half of Liberty City. Navarrone made a point of trying as much of the foreign stuff as he could stomach, most of the time he had no idea how to eat it, ut he tried.

'It's called... What?' Navarrone asked the Chef. 'It's called a hotdog, sir.' Navarrone looked at this "hotdog" and back at the chef. 'It's made out of dog?' Asked Sheikh. 'No, sir. It's just a name. It's not spicy either.' Said the Chef. 'What's with the bread?' Asked Navarrone, continuing his litany of questions.

The party went on as the Aumanii Overlord tried to determine whether or not he should eat this foreign food, he wasn't much for trying new things... He didn't like ketchup much either.

OOC:

So, the party will go on like this until we get a sufficient amount of people to begin with the speeches and the affirmation ceremony. We'll break ground on the new Galactic Assembly building and BAM. We'll be ready to rock.

Well, at least the location is nice, he thought to himself. The lone guard he brought with him (mostly for show) stood fully alert a little behind him, but anticipated no real violence. The young staffer he brought along up from behind.

"Your Imperial Excellency, The Holy Shekhinah requests that you transmit all proceedings according to our usual way." The Sephirot Shavar Katazarov, Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Dersconi Amaranthine Imperium, replied without turning around.

"It's been done, but thank you." His staff aide, a Homach - a human being genetically engineered to be a mathematical and logical genius, whose mind is then uploaded into a machine body with flesh covering indistinguishable from normal human beings - bowed low and wandered off to finish...whatever task he was currently involved with, leaving the Sephirot to meditate on his own.

Of course, he didn't, as he spotted a taco bar somewhere amongst the food, and Shavar never really had the chance to just indulge like a normal person, rather than as an imperial minister and Manifestation of God. Man, they better have some fucking Naga Jolokia. And once that was done, vodka, and a nice discussion with Navarrone. I just hope I don't spill any salsa on the robes.

OOC:i plan to join, i was in the previous tread.
hope you dont mind if i arrive in style...
IC:
above the planet
INN-imperial scott raced towards the planet,it was painted in maroon red with the imperial crest on its side and front,it looked like it was from 1930's England, it soared into the atmosphere,near lake Patricia it swooped down gracefully and hovered an inch off the ground, up close it was obviously far bigger than a train, as tall as a 3 story building, towards the rear of the train a compartment opened and a jumper type transport exited the ship, flying towards the convention center and landing on one of the pads. the rear hatch opened to reveal the emperor of the NERV imperium he was a tall man waring a long greatcoat,his name was ikari technika. after muling around the convention center he noticed a man who looked slightly confused by what looked extremely like a sausage in a bun, he walked over to the man
"so you must be Sheikh Navarrone ,i wouldn't eat that from the roomers i have heard around here, Im ikari technika, i know where we can get a good drink..."

"Good afternoon, Overlord Navarrone." said Gerald Kessler, the Jannarii Foreign Minister. "The King sends his greetings." Mr. Kessler pulled a silver flask from his jacket and presented it to the Aumanii overlord. "He also asked me to give you this. Said something about repaying a debt..."

Inside the flask was the strongest drink available in the Halcyon system, a clear alcoholic drink distilled from toxic plants found deep within the jungles surrounding a large sea on Jannath's biggest continent. Though not technically toxic, the drink was like a kick to the junk and was known to kill people that didn't pace themselves.

"Also, I hope you don't mind, but I arrived on the newest of our Arcola class cruisers, the Ridgewood. It would be swell if you could find the time to tour her before I return to Jannath."


(lol fluidtime)

Navarrone looked at the hotdog and decided it would be best to put it down. 'Thanks for the advice, Emperor Technika.' Navarrone tried his best not to laugh at the mans hilarious accent. Seemingly out of no where, another man thrust a flask into his face and told him to take it in the taciturn dialect of the Jannarii people. Navarrone took it, opened the cap and took a whiff. It smelled like someone had distilled a dead body. He politely took a sip and couldn't help but contort his face, this drink literally caused him pain.

'What did I do to offend the King, Gerry?' He laughed hoarsely, the liquor burned his throat. 'Emperor Technika, it's a pleasure to meet you, here... Have a drink.' Navarrone handed the flask to the newcomer. 'This is Gerard Kessler, I hear you're the foreign minister of Bryn Shander, is that right?' Sheikh shook hands with Kessler and extended a hand to the Emperor as well.

Nyti Briarmarrow smiled , and made her way towards the delegate groups her form like all halfings was slender, her fur was black and her hair purple, her eyes where brown in coloration, her tail was curled up behind her, she shifted her diplomatic uniform slightly. She of course was non human but , but her face and form looked oddly humanoid. She gently bowed and spoke out in a soft voice.

“This type of thing has not been tried for quite a while, My government hopes its successful, as it would provide us a forum to work out our problems rather than fight them out on the battle field. It is a good thing you are doing here, Navarrone”

She bowed again after addressing him turning promptly Dersconi arrivals and the delegate from Bryn Shander she smiled diplomatically and said.

“ Excuse me .... In any case Whilst my government has not always seen eye to eye with both of yours, the UTF sends its greetings and its heartfelt enthusiasm that you two can be here, no part in doubt due to massively efficient organizational skills by the Aumanii government.”


She bowed again, then stood up strait and proudly, she looked over the bunches of food that where being prepared for the arrivals of the other delegates. She raised an eyebrow but shrugged flicking her tail a bit.

the emperor shook each of their hand's as he took a swig of the liquor
"wow, that's rather strong!!, now i think you need to come and sample my peoples favorite drink."
he produced a vile of what looked like vodka and poured it into 4 shot glass's
"this is the best drink from serenity my home,cheers"
the clear liquid was the most hard to find drink in the galaxy,it was a side effect of the fuel source on-bored INN-imperial Scott, extremely strong it sooth's your throat then has similar effects to the pan galactic gargle blaster (like being hit over the head with a gold brick wrapped in a piece of lemon) it also tasted like bubble gum

After successfully navigating the taco bar without spilling anything, the Sephirot casually walked up to Navarrone and Kessler, positioning his large frame between them and the UTF delegation.

"Overlord Navarrone, it is a pleasure to meet you once again.* The God-Emperor Alexei sends his warmest regards, and Kandajr Kazankrov requests that, next time you're in Derscon, you meet up with him once more and go...what's the term...'bar-hopping' with Kandajr." The Homach aide gave him a thick, polished oak box, which the Sephirot then presented to Navarrone.

"This is, of course, a thank you gift and congratulatory gift for managing to pull this damned thing off. It's a gold-plated Nagant revolver with gold-plated suppressor." Shavar, of course, maintained his attention towards the Shanderan and the Aumanii, blowing off and completely ignoring the UTF delegate. He wasn't here to make war, but he wasn't here to make friends, either.

Likewise, the Jannarii foreign minister was too caught up with the Aumanii Overlord and his Dersconi counterpart to pay any attention to the hyperactive tool from NERV or the walking pyre in waiting that was the Fedral delegate.

"Er, I'm not sure what you may have done, Overlord. I believe that it was something about a camping trip and a lake, but the King did not tell me the specifics of what he meant."

It was an unusual order, going to this party come diplomatic summit, but Coredia needed more contacts than its usual supply of Dornalians, Colonials, Chaos (yeech!), Imperials (evil!) and so on. So figured Keitaro Kaneda, the youthful Coredian delegate with an odd combination of black hair and grey eyes. He had the power to make treaties and such through the Power of Friendship and all that jazz, but looking at all the delegates, he wondered if Coredia would ever get anything of the sort. He shrugged off the thought. "Well, no time like the present to try."

At least there was a friendly face in the form of the UTF delegation and he recognized some other faces from his Standard Diplomat's Packet, like the Dersconi ambassador, but didn't recognize the others.

"Hello friends. Keitaro Kaneda (yes, Keitaro is the first name) of the Coredian Diplomatic Corps. His Majesty the Emperor Masaki sends his regards to the delegation. I'm pleased to meet you all." He held out his hand to shake.

Navarrone rubbed his stomach absently. He watched the Emperor pour more liquor and quickly realized that he probably wasn't going to be walking out of here. The Dersconi butted the alleged halfling out of the conversation and produced a firearm. He laughed out loud before accepting the gift and tucking it into his coat pocket. He thought that maybe he should be a little more subtle with his drinking... He was developing a bit of a reputation, so it seemed. When Gerard Kessler explained himself, Sheikh grimaced uncomfortably. 'Yeah, we went camping. Punch was served.' Navarrone rubbed his wrist nervously, he lost his arm on that vacation.

'Leave it to Alexei to send firearms to a peace conference.' Navarrone really appreciated the gift. His last revolver, the one he'd used for years was broken. He claimed it was a mechanical failure that did it in, in reality he was just hitting the guy too hard with it. That was a few years ago now, ancient history from the bad old days.

'Bottoms up, gentlemen.' Navarrone downed his drink, he didn't know if he liked it or hated it. It didn't sit well with his last drink, not at all.

ikari shook Mr kaneda's hand
"its a pleasure too meet you kaneda-sama, send the emperor my regards."
he then proceeded to pour the remaining "vodca" back into the vile

Shavar smiled, happy that he could loosen up a bit. The palace could be so stuffy at times. "Yes, well, the Dersconi are bigger gun nuts than Allanea. The difference being, Derscon has class and dignity."

The Sephirot naturally answered the call for bottoms up, downing the Dersconi "Andre-Allistaire" Vodka, which was really just pure alcohol with some blackberry flavouring, in one shot. This should be a good summit. As his aide took his glass to refill it, he turned to the Coredian delegate.

"A pleasure to meet you, Ambassador Kaneda. It's been some time since Derscon and the Core Worlds interacted. This should change."

The duo smiled as they moved through the crowd. While not the full delegation, as there had been some issues convincing the Draenei that full dossiers on their diplomats were a necessity after the Engle Debacle, they still had the vested authority of respresenting the entire Commonwealth at this. It was generally assumed that no laws would be passed at this time, so it was safe to allow the pair to speak.

One was Priestess Telnira Stagtalker, who had been pulled off of diplomatic duty in Durotar to make way for someone younger to learn the post while she was sent out here. Her body was clad in a white moonsilk dress, as traditional of the priestesses, but the dress itself was decorated with rainbow pearls, forming a scene of a night elf with bow raised high, string pulled back fully. Her only other pieces of decoration were a small silver coronet, which had a small crescent moon attached to its bottom that hung over the middle of the forehead, and a pair of white doeskin boots.

The other was Shanirra Stormdancer, a recent graduate with honors of the Silvermoon School of Diplomatic Studies. She had chosen a sleeveless red dress, the skirt of it kept short at the sides but long down the front and back. The dress itself had rubies sewn into it, each enchanted to give off a fiery glow, giving the woman almost the illusion of being clothed in flame from certain angles. She had chosen red silk gloves that stretched up to the middle of her upper arm, red leather boots that topped at the middle of her thighs, and a gold necklace set with gems enchanted to give off a red glow.

"I didn't know they were letting pets in here," Telnira whispered, indicating the Fedral representative.

"Why not? We'll be bringing the cow later on," Shanirra replied, grinning viciously.

"Ah, hello, gentleman," Telnira said, speaking up as they approached the group, while elbowing Shanirra to keep quiet on the joke.

Mr. Kessler was unaware of Navarrone's injury, so he paid no heed to his strange reaction and downed the shot of the strange man's drink, then shook the Coredian delegate's hand. "Good afternoon, Mr. Kaneda. I'm Gerard Kessler, the Foreign Minister of Jannath. I don't believe that my people are at all familiar with yours."[/i]

Kessler had only been a lieutenant when the Belkan Wars started some twenty years back. Through more than a decade of interplanetary warfare, his bars grew into wings and finally stars before he retired from the navy at the end of the fourth war and final defeat of the communist Belkan regime. Some years later the Belkans and Jannarii had first contact with the New Havenites and managed to reverse engineer their FTL and gravetic technology. That technology opened the stars up to Jannarii and Belkan alike, and lead to the design and construction of the very cruiser that orbited the planet while everyone was busy shaking hands and drinking strange alien brews. Though the Jannarii had only met the Aumanii and Dersconi recently in the grand scheme of things, they were already proving themselves to be respectable peoples. Perhaps this galactic assembly would introduce the Jannarii to new friends and allies. thought the Jannarii foreign minister.

ikari shook Mr kaneda's hand
"its a pleasure too meet you kaneda-sama, send the emperor my regards."
he then proceeded to pour the remaining "vodca" back into the vile
Keitaro felt a bit weirded out at being considered in such high regard by someone he's only met, but he took the hand anyway in politeness. "it's a pleasure to meet you as well. Please call me Keitaro."

Shavar smiled, happy that he could loosen up a bit. The palace could be so stuffy at times. "Yes, well, the Dersconi are bigger gun nuts than Allanea. The difference being, Derscon has class and dignity."
Catching that words, the Ambassador gave a smile. Well, at least this should be a good party.

The Sephirot naturally answered the call for bottoms up, downing the Dersconi "Andre-Allistaire" Vodka, which was really just pure alcohol with some blackberry flavouring, in one shot. This should be a good summit. As his aide took his glass to refill it, he turned to the Coredian delegate.

"A pleasure to meet you, Ambassador Kaneda. It's been some time since Derscon and the Core Worlds interacted. This should change."
"Indeed. Oh, and it's Coredia or Coredian these days. It annoys us when Coreworlds is said these days because makes us think of Coruscant and the like." Keitario smiled. "So what's this Galactic Assembly that's been mentioned in my invitation to here?"

Shirrah Venek El Siddou and Eschen Koton were the assigned diplomatic envoys from TRIAD Enterprises, sent to this welcoming function of the newly constituted Galactic Assembly. Both were trained in the diplomatic corps, and felt at ease as they moved into the crowds of diverse peoples.

Shirrah was a Reikoan, a species of bipedal mammals which closely resembled the Terran family of mephitidae, otherwise known as skunks. Some people familliar with common anthropomorphic recombinants; more commonly refered to as Furs, Morphs, or Anthros, would certainly see a resemblance in the Reikoan species. The shortened muzzle on the elongated skull, small triangular ears on the top of the head, slightly elongated torsos on short legs.
Yes, at first glance a Reikoan looked just like any other anthro-skunk. What was most unique however was the fur pelt. A Reikoans fur was similar in structure to fiber-optic cable, and at the base of each hair was a set of chromatophore cells, which passed the color through the length of the hair. These color-cells were under concious control, allowing a Reikoan to alter the pattern and color of their pelt at will.

Eschen by contrast was a Khyrolii a species far less like common 'anthros'. Vaguely canine, the khyrolii possessed features which resembled several terran animals, all mismatched together. Their overall appearance was canine, with a skull shaped very similar to that of a wolf, however their body proportions and muscle build suggested that of a cheetah. Additionally, the tail was an oddity; the hair grew very short and close to the skin, much like certain felines, however the length of the tail was one and a half times longer than the entire torso. Finally, the fur which covered the body was much longer in naturally held metallic shades, whatever the base color, and seemed to flow like liquid metal.
Another oddity was the fact that this Khyrolii was not humanoid, but instead was a quadruped, moving around on four legs. Their species naturally evolved without the use of hands, or even complex vocal chords, by instead relying on the powers of their minds. All Khyrolii were psionics, with even the weakest member possessing enough telepathy to speak with other psionics, and enough telekinetic ability to lift moderate objects.

For this gathering Shirrah had chosen a modest outfit, made of exotic silks and resembling an Arabian harem outfit, with just enough cloth to conform to public decency among humans. She chose alternating greens and blues for the primary silks, with a touch of pale red here and there. Her fur was patterned to offset the silks where exposed, with random stripes of cyan and sea green. As she padded around, her paws bare and claws making muted clicks on the floor where it wasn't carpeted, she chose small pieces of food and transferred these to a plate she carried. Nodding politely now and then when she caught someone staring, an amused smile crossing her muzzle.

"You might think these people had never seen someone dressed like this. Perhaps it was a poor choice? What do you think Eschen?" Shirrah asked of her companion.

The Khyrolii representative wore only a long vest which hung to her knees, and possessed multiple pockets and pouches for various oddments. Eschen gave a low coughing sound, the small sphere of a translator orb floating beside her gave a chirp before responding, ~I know your people are hedonists, however you might have chosen something more appropriate to a diplomatic function than a brothel.~ Another cough of a laugh before she used her mind to lift a small canape from a passing tray, the small piece of food floating down to where she could snatch it in her jaws. Savoring the flavor for a moment before chewing and swallowing, mindful not to drop any or leave crumbs in her wake.

Shirrah frowned for a moment at her friend, then finally gave a human-seeming shrug and continued through the crowd. "Ah, there is our host! Shall we go introduce ourselves?" Eschen simply nodded before following along beside.

The pair moved easily through the crowd, with Eschen occasionally giving a tiny kinetic nudge when it seemed someone hadn't seen her or was about to step on her. Shirrah gave a polite half-bow when they reached the local dignitaries, "President Hortarii, Overlord Navarrone, it is a pleasure to meet our generous guests. Allow me to introduce myself and my companion. This is Eschen Koton, and I am Shirrah Venek El Siddou. We are the representatives sent by TRIAD Enterprises." Again Shirrah gave a slight bow, while Eschen dipped her head lower to the ground.

"it's a pleasure to meet you as well. Please call me Keitaro."

"then please call me ikari, "



"Ah, hello, gentleman," Telnira said, speaking up as they approached the group, while elbowing Shanirra to keep quiet on the joke.

"its a pleasure too meet you, my name is emperor technika of the NERV conglomerate, and this is Keitaro of the Coredian "

Mr. Kessler was unaware of Navarrone's injury, so he paid no heed to his strange reaction and downed the shot of the strange man's drink, then shook the Coredian delegate's hand. "Good afternoon, Mr. Kaneda. I'm Gerard Kessler, the Foreign Minister of Jannath. I don't believe that my people are at all familiar with yours."

Kessler had only been a lieutenant when the Belkan Wars started some twenty years back. Through more than a decade of interplanetary warfare, his bars grew into wings and finally stars before he retired from the navy at the end of the fourth war and final defeat of the communist Belkan regime. Some years later the Belkans and Jannarii had first contact with the New Havenites and managed to reverse engineer their FTL and gravetic technology. That technology opened the stars up to Jannarii and Belkan alike, and lead to the design and construction of the very cruiser that orbited the planet while everyone was busy shaking hands and drinking strange alien brews. Though the Jannarii had only met the Aumanii and Dersconi recently in the grand scheme of things, they were already proving themselves to be respectable peoples. Perhaps this galactic assembly would introduce the Jannarii to new friends and allies. thought the Jannarii foreign minister.

"Indeed. And perhaps this will be the beginning of a good relationship? We Coredians are a semi-nomadic nation that always seeks friends among the stars." Keitaro said. "What about you?"


The pair moved easily through the crowd, with Eschen occasionally giving a tiny kinetic nudge when it seemed someone hadn't seen her or was about to step on her. Shirrah gave a polite half-bow when they reached the local dignitaries, "President Hortarii, Overlord Navarrone, it is a pleasure to meet our generous guests. Allow me to introduce myself and my companion. This is Eschen Koton, and I am Shirrah Venek El Siddou. We are the representatives sent by TRIAD Enterprises." Again Shirrah gave a slight bow, while Eschen dipped her head lower to the ground.
"A pleasure to meet you." Keitaro nodded. "Keitaro Kaneda, Ambassador of the Coredian Diplomatic Corps of the Semi-Nomadic Coredian Empire."

"its a pleasure too meet you, my name is emperor technika of the NERV conglomerate, and this is Keitaro of the Coredian "
"Charmed." He nodded to the other delegate.

"Keitaro, if you don't mind me asking, what is the story of your nation?" said ikari

The Sephirot maintained a firmly neutral facial expression as he screamed inside of his head. What the fuck is with all of these goddamned furries?! Shavar smiled at the Ambassador.

"Well, Ambassador Kaneda, Coredian it is. And the GA is supposed to be a place where people can get together, formally and informally, and work out differences, mediated by the intergalactic community, without resorting to war and violence. We don't have to get along, we just have to not kill each other."

Navarrone was laughing. He was laughing really, really, hard. 'Oh wow, nice to meet the both of you. My name is Sheikh.' Hortarii was busying himself with one of the Aumanii senators that bothered to come to this thing, but he turned to introduce himself to the "Skunks".

'And where are your people from? I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like you before.' Asked Hortarii respectfully, seemingly capable of holding his racist sensibilities in check. 'I think this is a first contact scenario, Snake. I'll call in the CDC.' Sheikh picked up a strange looking shellfish from the table and looked at it, trying to figure out how to eat it for a moment.

The Sephirot maintained a firmly neutral facial expression as he screamed inside of his head. What the fuck is with all of these goddamned furries?! Shavar smiled at the Ambassador.

"Well, Ambassador Kaneda, Coredian it is. And the GA is supposed to be a place where people can get together, formally and informally, and work out differences, mediated by the intergalactic community, without resorting to war and violence. We don't have to get along, we just have to not kill each other."
An anthropomorphic skunk? Hope she doesn't get riled up... Keitaro thought as he took a second glance at the ambassador from TRIADS. "Sounds like an assembly that Coredia could get along with swimmingly. Our old GFFA alliance's dead and the flies are crawling around its corpse so we'll want someone fresh to join."

"Keitaro, if you don't mind me asking, what is the story of your nation?" said ikari

"Ah, it's a long and sad story. I'll probably tell you later." Keitaro said.

"Ah, it's a long and sad story. I'll probably tell you later." Keitaro said.

"unfortunate, it would seem that all nations have a sad story in there past"

"Holy Jesus what are these goddamn animals..." gasped Gerard in shock as his hand slipped into his coat, his fingers tracing the carving on the ivory handle of his own service revolver. He'd used that gun to personally execute the captain of a Belkan ship captured during a false flag operation during the fourth war, and now he would use it to purge these furry abominations...

No... he thought. This is a diplomatic conference. I can't just start shooting these... creatures...

After quickly thinking of the ramifications of shooting the furries, the foreign minister's hand moved from his revolver to the steel flask in his pocket. Removing it and unscrewing the cap, he took a long swig of the firey drink within. This was going to be a long day.

An anthropomorphic skunk? Hope she doesn't get riled up... Keitaro thought as he took a second glance at the ambassador from TRIADS. "Sounds like an assembly that Coredia could get along with swimmingly. Our old GFFA alliance's dead and the flies are crawling around its corpse so we'll want someone fresh to join."

The Sephirot nodded. "And you'll be in good company, as well. if even one war is prevented with this organization, it would be a success. No one respects the power trade and non-interventionism can really bring anymore. It is always 'expand! expand! until there are no more resources available. And then it is 'Kill! kill!' The Sapient beings never learn, I fear. But this," Shavar commented, waving his hand over the area. "This is a step in the right direction. Millenia upon millenia we choose to ignore history. Maybe this one step in the right direction will allow all sapient creatures to live without needless war."

"Mr Navarrone, i nearly forgot to give you our official gift, if you would like to accompany me to the balcony?"

'The old days are over and I'm glad the alliances are dead and gone. The galaxy was balanced on the razors edge back then. Did I ever tell you guys about the time we organized the assassination of the Emperor? If I told you, I'd have to kill you.' Navarrone was buzzed, those drinks were stronger than he thought and he drank them far too fast. Sheikh sauntered off to the bar and returned with an arm full over domestic beer. He handed them out one by one until two were left. He pulled a bottle opener from his pocket, attached to an absurd number of jumbled keys and popped the tops off the two he had and handed the opener to Kessler. With two bottles grasped loosely in meaty fists, Navarrone proposed a toast.

'To the future of the galaxy, may it never again be marred by faggotry, corruption and bloodshed.' He raised his two bottles into the air and awaited the rest to click with him.

'It's not the smoothest beer, but it's effective.'

"I am Priestess Telnira, official diplomatic representative of the Temple of the Moon for Darnassus, as well as assigned leader of the combined diplomatic mission of the Commonwealth of Eluneyasa. If you have any complaints or questions related to the other diplomats from our nation, I am the person to talk to," the night elf said.

"And I am Diplomatic Sub-Magistress of the Primary Order Shanirra, representative of the nation of Silvermoon and the official second in command of the combined diplomatic mission from the Commonwealth of Eluneyasa. In times when Telnira is not on duty or is busy, I will be available for any of her duties," the blood elf said, bowing a bit.

"We would like to apologize for our leaders not being here; at current, they are handling a number of other duties and cannot be spared for anything offworld. High Priestess Tyrande in particular sends her regret for not attending and has authorized us to deliver a suitable gift; We will, when the building is completed, donate a special sculpture to the building, consisting of a representation of each race that is involved. We hope that there will be enough room for later additions to this, as more races join," Telnira said.

"The sculpture itself will come from Silvermoon, using the finest of blood elf and draenei artisans. We hope that these statues will foster an attitude of peace among the member nations," Shanirra finished. "And, please excuse our wordiness; it is a custom to start with a bit of business, celebrate, and then get back to business when it comes to events like this on our world. That way, if you get too drunk to get back to business, you already took care of part already."

The Sephirot nodded. "And you'll be in good company, as well. if even one war is prevented with this organization, it would be a success. No one respects the power trade and non-interventionism can really bring anymore. It is always 'expand! expand! until there are no more resources available. And then it is 'Kill! kill!' The Sapient beings never learn, I fear. But this," Shavar commented, waving his hand over the area. "This is a step in the right direction. Millenia upon millenia we choose to ignore history. Maybe this one step in the right direction will allow all sapient creatures to live without needless war."
"Sounds like a goal that would be worthy of my people's support." Keitaro said as he glanced at the Jannarii foreign minister's sudden shock at something. "Is there something the matter, Minister?"

"We would like to apologize for our leaders not being here; at current, they are handling a number of other duties and cannot be spared for anything offworld. High Priestess Tyrande in particular sends her regret for not attending and has authorized us to deliver a suitable gift; We will, when the building is completed, donate a special sculpture to the building, consisting of a representation of each race that is involved. We hope that there will be enough room for later additions to this, as more races join," Telnira said.

"The sculpture itself will come from Silvermoon, using the finest of blood elf and draenei artisans. We hope that these statues will foster an attitude of peace among the member nations," Shanirra finished. "And, please excuse our wordiness; it is a custom to start with a bit of business, celebrate, and then get back to business when it comes to events like this on our world. That way, if you get too drunk to get back to business, you already took care of part already."

'That sounds excellent, Ms. Telnira. I picture the Galactic Assembly as a fifty-fifty blend of culture and politics. Like a museum of fine art mixed with the no holds barred tooth gnashing of diplomacy.'

"I'm surrounded by abominations and powerless to do anything about it..." replied Mr. Kessler as he screwed the cap back onto his flask and put it back into his pocket before taking the beer from Navarrone. "I'm not sure I shouldn't just return to my ship and tell the king to cut off all contact with everything outside of Halcyon."

((OOC: Ack, things are moving almost too fast to keep up))

"A pleasure to meet you." Keitaro nodded. "Keitaro Kaneda, Ambassador of the Coredian Diplomatic Corps of the Semi-Nomadic Coredian Empire."


Shirrah smiled politely and offered her hand to Keitaro, "The pleasure is mutual, Keitaro. I hope this is just the first friendly meeting we have among these stars. TRIAD is always looking for trade partners and customers." After which Shirrah turned to examine the other delegates.

Shirrah for her part was looking at the Aumanii Overlord, "A pleasure Sheikh. It is not suprising that we are not known here. My species are called Reikoan, and Eschen's people are the Khyrolii. Both species originate in a universe not directly linked to this one, but instead through a third, intermediary universe. TRIAD Enterprises itself is what might be called a corporate state, and we here in this universe are a branch office established to explore and promote TRIAD's interests here. The opportunity to come here to this function and introduce ourselves to so many different nations was compelling."

The Khyrolii could not help it. She was somewhat uncomfortable among all these aliens who seemed to exhibit varying levels of either discomfort or hostility. Several of them seemed to be tightly mentally shielded, but at least one of them smelled of overt hostility. She did cough out a laugh at the Cordian's passing thought about Shirrah. Eschen had once seen the terran 'skunk', and they did look a great deal like the Reikoan, so she forgave the young man his sentiments. The patently hostile sentiment of the Sephirot however...

"Holy Jesus what are these goddamn animals..."

And that was when Gerard made his untimely outburst, and Eschen simply let her head hang in embarassment and annoyance. Shirrah however was laughing warmly at the mixture of suprise and hostility, evoked from the various dignitaries.
The Reikoan female actually seemed to be enjoying both the attention itself, and the various manners that attention was expressed. "Gentlemen. Surely even this universe suprises in the varied forms of life?"
Accepting the drink offered by Navarrone, then taking a sniff from the bottle before nodding, she'd be able to drink this without worry. Clicking her bottle to whoever offered, then nodding to the toast before taking a sip.

The Eluneyasa suggestion seemed a wonderful addition to this Galactic Assembly, one Shiirah was quick to capitalize on, "An excellent idea Priestess! When time permits, I will be certain to have available suitable images delivered to your artisans of the various species which TRIAD represents."

"I'm surrounded by abominations and powerless to do anything about it..."

Eschen stiffened again and Shirrah turned to Mr. Kessler as he voiced his opinion. Shirrah frowned faintly, "Would it offend you further if one of these abominations were to ask exactly why you feel that way?"

"Would it offend you further if one of these abominations were to ask exactly why you feel that way?"

"Why yes it would. However as much as it disgusts me to converse with you things, if you so wish, I will explain why your kind is so hated by our people."

James Tradenson; the Binarian delegate had only just arrived when he overheard the beast complaining abouts its stance in the universe. "My gods, these creatures need to be taught their place. If only I wasn't here on the Council's order, I'd cut out its throat." Tradenson silently thought to himself with a scowl.

"I'm surrounded by abominations and powerless to do anything about it..." replied Mr. Kessler as he screwed the cap back onto his flask and put it back into his pocket before taking the beer from Navarrone. "I'm not sure I shouldn't just return to my ship and tell the king to cut off all contact with everything outside of Halcyon."
Keitaro shrugged. He wondered what's the story with him and the anthros. Coredian's never had a problem with them. Now Chaos... "I suppose you'll find many in this galaxy that would offend you at first sight. It's the same with us and Chaos, I suppose."

"I sense they have some talent. Guard your thoughts well." He lowered his voice to Mr. Kessler.

OOC: Auman, why did we just make it a galactic assembly? What about the few FT nations in other galaxies, such as Mewsland nearly six million light-years away? What about my idea for an intergalactic assembly? I have too many questions right now.

"Why? Why!? Just look at you! You're a crime against the gods themselves! Animals were not meant to walk among people! I did not watch my comrades die defending the liberty that the gods granted me just for you to come and spit in their faces like this!"

The Jannarii foreign minister again opened his flask and started draining it.

"Overlord, I hope you have more beer."

OOC: Auman, why did we just make it a galactic assembly? What about the few FT nations in other galaxies, such as Mewsland nearly six million light-years away? What about my idea for an intergalactic assembly? I have too many questions right now.

OOC: Because the milky way is better?

OOC: You may want to be careful. A civilization that has an entire galaxy might take offense if you trumpet Milky Way superiority.

OOC: Mewsland, in my sig, there's a link for the IRC channel. You should go there so as to not clog this up with OOC chatter. :)

OOC: You may want to be careful. A civilization that has an entire galaxy might take offense if you trumpet Milky Way superiority.
OOC: *sweatdrops*

IC:

Keitaro's barely batted an eyelash at the raging racists. "Unfortunately, my friends, they do walk amongst us. This place would be a good lesson in learning not to kill each other, yes? It doesn't mean you have to be friends with everyone with happy rainbows or something, after all."

The Sephirot nodded. "The Coredian Ambassador is correct. Regardless of our feelings towards the non-human, this Assembly is designed to prevent wars and conflicts. Do we have to love each other? No. We may still despise. But the goal is to prevent armed conflict, regardless of our disagreements."

"Unfortunately, my friends, they do walk amongst us. This place would be a good lesson in learning not to kill each other, yes? It doesn't mean you have to be friends with everyone with happy rainbows or something, after all."

"When you see something that offends you to the very core with its mere existance, let alone that it has managed to steal the basic things that make humans human; langauge, technology and culture, should make any being shake with rage." James managed to say, with a barely controled growl.

Shirrah took everything in stride with a pleasant smile on her muzzle, while Eschen was doing her best to suppress any aggressive reactions to the hostility sported by three of the delegates. It was clear that any future relations with these three nations would either be non-existant, cold as hard vacuum, or openly hostile. Still, Shirrah supposed that they should at least try the diplomatic approach and find out if any trade was possible before resorting to less... "polite" methods.

Turning to regard the Sehpirot, Shirrah nodded, "Thank you for your words. I would note that in our home universe, there is only a single species similar to humans, and they share the same xenophobic tendancies. Despite this, we have managed to establish formal relations and allow economic trade to occur. It is our hope to establish a similar relationship with your peoples." The last comment offered to the whole group rather than any one delegate.

"However, if species differences cannot be overcome, perhaps you would be more comfortable dealing with a Marduk representative, using a human frame? The Marduk being a species of sapient machines, which can take many physical shells." Offered by way of explaination.

Glancing down to Eschen as the Khyrolii touched her mind, then nodding. The quadruped turned and padded off away from the grouping, while she could only get scattered impressions of emotion from most of the xenophobes, their bodies stank of their hostility. Better that she move elsewhere than spark an interstellar incident.

'That sounds excellent, Ms. Telnira. I picture the Galactic Assembly as a fifty-fifty blend of culture and politics. Like a museum of fine art mixed with the no holds barred tooth gnashing of diplomacy.'

Telnira grinned. "We also hope to prevent things similar to an event in our own history from happening. But, that is not a topic for this kind of discussion."

The Eluneyasa suggestion seemed a wonderful addition to this Galactic Assembly, one Shiirah was quick to capitalize on, "An excellent idea Priestess! When time permits, I will be certain to have available suitable images delivered to your artisans of the various species which TRIAD represents."

"We both thank you," Shanirra said. "And hope to manage to get your peoples properly represented!"

"When you see something that offends you to the very core with its mere existance, let alone that it has managed to steal the basic things that make humans human; langauge, technology and culture, should make any being shake with rage." James managed to say, with a barely controled growl.

It was at this point that the two elves glanced to each other, a look on their faces.

"We heard a similar saying on our own world, before," Shanirra began. "A human who said it. Only, on our world, humans never mastered technology. It was the elves and dwarves and gnomes who mastered it and taught them how, since our races had been old long before the first human had been known. That very human let his hatred so overwhelm him that he lost most of his allies and, in the end, made a deal that only resulted in his death and the deaths of his men. Our history remembers him only because of his folly and the fact his mistakes are why half a continent on our world still lies dead."

"We do not mean to belittle your beliefs," Telnira said. "Only to point out that some of us stole nothing from humans."

Shanirra couldn't help but think, And to this day, we regret it was their racism that forced us to exterminate them to save all other life on Azeroth.

Now it was Keitaro's turn to control his anger. Sentient machines? Sentient machines -Cylons!- destroyed Konoha and dictated peace to the government!

"Sentient droids? Might not go over well." Keitaro mentioned calmly. "Many have suffered under them."

Shavar smiled to himself. This, he thought. Is the ultimate test. If this organization can manage to bring these creatures together and have them NOT kill each other, then it is a success.

The Sephirot nodded to Shirrah. "While we will never agree on many things - indeed, some of us will forever be hostile towards the others - ultimately, this conference is the testing ground for the fate of the universe and all sapient beings. Can we, a group of people whose cultural differences force our irrepairable hostilities, not kill each other? If the answer is yes, then a true Pax Galactica is achievable. If not, then we, forever, are doomed to our meaningless struggles for survival."

"Keitaro, this maybe the only thing we will ever agree upon. Machine are the creations of mankind, and should be treated like any other material object. Anything else is not just highly offensive, but highly dangerous. My people have come close to being enslaved early in our history by them, and ever since, we have made them our creations that we control." James had calmed himself down and regained his cool, by this point, he began to see who else was here.

Standing at the edge of the water, the two figures gazed out over the lake in a peaceful silence, taking the time to admire the scenery. It was quite a tranquil place that was selected for the gathering ceremony, and he couldn't help but wonder if it had been a good choice, given some of the people present.

Whatever his personal feelings may have been, the fact stood that the Holy Imperium had decided to take a more affirmative role in galactic politics, and saw the formation of any sort of a Galactic Assembly as a good place to start.

"Sure is nice here..." The first person, a human male, said aloud. He was of medium height, with short black hair and a pair of glasses resting on his nose.

"Yes..." He replied, folding his arms. "It certainly is." He looked up as a flock of birds flew high over the lake in a perfect V-formation. He turned his head to his assistant. He, by first look, was clearly not of the human race, but of the Tau. He was tall, yet slender, with distinctive blue skin, and two small, slanted eyes. His name, in it's full version, would be something like Por'el Kor'vaa Yanoi Shas'ka, but preferred to avoid such honorifics, instead introducing himself as El'Shas'ka. "Come, Marcus. It seems we've admired the scenery here long enough."

Marcus looked out across the lake for a few precious moments, as if trying to imprint the sight into his memory so he wouldn't forget it. He looked toward the Tau diplomat.

"As you wish." With a second glance, they ascended the slight hill back toward the small crowds of delegates.

The New Havenic Imperator, James Newman, had finally arrived to the assembly after several days of FTL travel in the only available third-rate merchant ship available in the area. The Imperator, supposed to fear no mortal being, had no bodyguards and wore the True Sword of the Imperator to the conference: A Kopis with a red weave wrap and golden pommel with a symbol of the Havenic Sun God (the chief god of that pantheon) stamped flawlessly into the metal, the blade hidden behind a red scabbard with gold feather trim.

The Imperator was wearing his ceremonial armor: a red tunic with gold-trimmed titanium armor plate covering his torso and shoulders (very light and very strong). It wasn't much, but he wasn't expecting to fight a battle against heavily armored opponents in this environment either.

Upon arriving late to the meeting, he made his way over to the buffet table and began looking over the assorted foods prepared for the event.

"When you see something that offends you to the very core with its mere existance, let alone that it has managed to steal the basic things that make humans human; langauge, technology and culture, should make any being shake with rage."

Shirrah was glad that Eschen had already left. She herself could deal with the arrogance and disgust the earlier humans had displayed, but this newest arrival was testing even her patience. The Khyrolii probably would have tried to tear this man's throat out, and as it was she was having a hard time suppressing a frown of disgust, but she managed.

"So your disgust and hatred for non-humans is religious in nature? I have actually seen such sentiment before, and typically it ends the same way. One species believes it is divinely endowed, and thus has a right to oppress or eradicate all other life which does not fit their model of the universe. They aren't people because they aren't human." Shirrah shook her head slowly, her braided mane sliding over one shoulder. "It is an old song sir, one with many endings, and none of them are happy ones."

Gesturing to the Eluneyasa elves, "My universe is like theirs. Humans are the minority, yet they still display an almost cosmic arrogance and sense of superiority. If there is some divine spark in your species, perhaps it is in your capacity to hate. Of course I would say such a quality would be more likely given by some deamon than a deity."

Dismissing James for a moment while turning back to Keitaro to listen to his statement. She was about to respond when James spoke up again.

"Keitaro, this maybe the only thing we will ever agree upon. Machine are the creations of mankind, and should be treated like any other material object. Anything else is not just highly offensive, but highly dangerous. My people have come close to being enslaved early in our history by them, and ever since, we have made them our creations that we control."

"Not all machines are created by humans. And I would like to suggest that perhaps it is the very antagonistic treatment you offered to your creations that caused them to turn against you?" This time the frown did spread across Shirrah's muzzle. Finally she turned to step away to find something to eat, gesturing to the Eluneyasa delegates, "May I speak with you a moment?"

Finally she turned to step away to find something to eat, gesturing to the Eluneyasa delegates, "May I speak with you a moment?"

"I do not see the harm," Telnira said, smiling. "I take it you wish to step away from the others?"

"It was a nice form you had in dealing with him," Shanirra whispered.

"Oh, hush! Leave the man some pride," the night elf quickly whispered in response. "Humans always were a prideful people."

"Not unlike a certain purple-skinned people?" the other teased.

"Of course. Entirely unlike us," the priestess said with mock haughtiness, ending with a wink. "Anyway, we better move quickly... I do not think his patience or capacity for disbelief will last forever."

A single frigate dropped out of subspace into the system, broadcasting its affiliation with RTMR, and that it was bearing the delegates. The ship entered a high orbit and a shuttle descended, unloading a black furred anthro feline in black and purple robes.at his hip was a black katana sheath. A red insignia on his chest marking him as being of the telepath guild. He was escorted by two reptilian guards, each one carried the standard gear of a Red Talons Marine (C10mk2, vibro knife, service pistol, vibro sword), they wore simple black camo fatuiges, sleaveless. Their scales were black with red markings. The telepath made his way to what passed for a reception area, leaving the two guards at the shuttle.

The DCN Heimdall, a three kilometer long Skoffnung class battleship appeared in a flash of light over the planet. A very simple message soon followed.

So thats where you guys have been, be right down.

With that, a single shuttle launched and made its way to the planet below. Star Lord Taredor Arondahim disembarked with only a very buxom female aide, of Arendacilian descent at his side. She wore the usual uniform for a woman who directly served a star lord. A regulation short coat, with an even shorter skirt, all done up in a bright red and white. These were the colours of the High Lord Arondahim and all in his fleet bore them.

Arondahim himself stood at six foot seven, a little on the high of average for a Tannelornian man. He himself was a Star elf, one of the first "batch", and shared the genetic traits of not only the original elves of Tannelorn, but of Arendacilian blood as well. His long blonde hair was kept half out, half in a ponytail and he sauntered in to the meeting like a peacock in full strut. After all, he was the only elf in Tannelorn to have ever made it to the position of Star Lord, which as one of the five absolute rulers of the Divine Celestial Republic, was pretty spiffy.

Also, he was rather excited to see his old friends, the Aumanii who, if nothing else definetely knew how to party. Sighting the Imperator of new haven, whom he vaguely recognised from some state visit or another when he was simply a space lord, one of six rulers of the Grahfsberg, he walked over, and poked him in the ribs. "So whats on the menu?" he said, his hawkish face twisted in to a rather dastardly grin.

Dimi Ysa stood on the shores of the lake, gazing out across the watery expanse with a faint smile flickering across his features, creasing lightly as he basked in the natural beauty of an alien world. He raised a glass to his lips, sipping contentedly at...Something; he wasn't really sure what, pleasant enough anyway. He turned slightly, precisely, to regard the hovering drone-form at his side, channelling the intelligence of the Shipbrain from the orbitting DEV Star Meanderer.

"Well? What do you think?"

"Interesting so far; a nice mix of people. I've observed most of them, but I've yet to talk to any of them. Neither have you, I see."

"Biding my time, friend. Just taking in the sights, drinking in the atmosphere-"

"And the booze."

"And the booze" He chuckled dryly, raising the glass to take another sip. "I'm just getting a feel for this place, these people and this mission." He placed the glass down on the ground, slipping his hands into the pockets of his black trousers. Above this he wore a form fitting black shirt and over that a black coat. His blonde hair was cut short and neat, complimenting his pale complexion, his pale green eyes sparkling. The drone itself was a golden sphere, seamless and shimmering with emotive fields.

"I'm of two minds about it myself. Shall we go mingle?"

"Perhaps in a minute. Let's see who comes to us first, hm?"

'Just shadow them... Who the fuck trained these people in diplomacy anyway?' Navarrone hung up the phone with Zhamssassar Fortress, High Command was growing concerned about the number of foreign warships in orbit. He watched a cat person walk into the room with sword on his belt and earlier that day he witnessed, in shock, the Imperator of New Haven walk in with body armor on. Looking at his own wardrobe, a smart business suit, Navarrone was a little more than just disappointed.

If you feel the need to bring weapons, have the decency to conceal them at least. These people got some real fucking trust issues.' Thought Navarrone, patting at the gold plated revolver he was given earlier. He saw the Imperator shovelling food into his face and laughed. Even being a representative of God made flesh didn't necessarily mean one was skilled in the social graces, Navarrone supposed. He walked up to his good friend and said 'How's it going, Jimmy. What's new in the varied and interesting world of Imperatorial duty?' Navarrone clapped him heavily on the back and extended a hand for him to shake.

Delegate Diyo Sar looked important enough for his duties, dressed formally in what would look like a good attempt at making a tuxedo comfortable, looser, yet still retain the air of formality around it - which was quite shattered by the turquoise fabric the suit was made out of. The rest of his body tried to recover the look of formality behind the suit though - his hair was once a bright copper but was half way through the change of turning into a somber white, and his face already bore it’s lines from a stressful life of clerical work and government duty. Unlike others he had no weaponry, formal or otherwise, on him. Which unfortunately also meant he had nothing to give as a present to the host of this whole shin dig, but it wasn’t like such a young race could present something of value to the old Aumun society.

His bodyguard though, was younger than him. Not a young man for sure, but an adult who hadn’t started to age yet. He seemed as equally as unarmed as the person he was to protect, or to be more precise, he had a solid energy pistol tucked in the pockets of his clothing.

“Now that we’re here,” Diyo spoke mostly to himself, and his bodyguard, “It’s time to say hello to the hosts… Do you happen to know who that is? Anybody?”

The bodyguard just gave the older man a puzzled look.

Nyti, walked up to the Coredian delegation , she ignored most of what she considered idiocy from the other non tolerant nations. She spoke out softly as she ran a hand through her oddly pink hair.


“ Hello Friends of the Federation how are you doing today?”

She said this as she came to a stop a foot away from the Coredian, her eyes lit up almost as they focused around the party looking at every one, Nyti spotted the delegation from Myenya and smiled nodding to them. And making a note in her mind to walk over and speak to him after associating with the Coredians.

Her tail flicked behind her , a diplomatic smile still plastered on her face, she did not care about the entire furries verses human debate as she was neither a furry nor a human. She did not care for the whole thing, though she was disgusted at the lack of tolerance these societies presented here at this ground braking. She softly sighed again waiting for the reply to her greeting to Coredian diplomat.

Shavar watched the New Havenic Imperator carefully. Other than Derscon, it was the only other empire present. Normally, his behaviour would be seen as weak and indulgent, but then again, this was Vascilia. Indulgent was never a sign of weakness, but merely a lack of class. Not that Derscon ever cared about that, what with having Allanea and Auman as its closest allies for a few centuries now.

He quickly spotted Diyo Sar and made his way towards the Regnum delegate, introduced himself as the Sephirot, Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Dersconi Amaranthine Imperium, and led him over to where Navarrone, Newman, and Kessler were, carefully navigating him around the furries and other metahumans. "Navarrone, Minister Kessler, Imperator Newman? This is Diyo Sar of the Veneficus Regnum. I believe you've heard of them, yes?" Shavar ignored the preening metahumans, especially the UTF one, who was clearly acting in such a way as to provoke the racist sentiment hovering over the conference.

"Actually, I have no idea who they or most of the 'people' at this fucking zoo are." stated Kessler rather bluntly. The Wapatoan whisky was starting to have an effect, and it wouldn't be long until he started to get belligerent, probably in the form of saying something that he shouldn't.

"Overlord, do you have any idea when animal control will arrive and take these beasts away?"

Diyo gave a small smile at Kessler’s comment, partly because he found the drunken honesty refreshing amongst the usual political white lies that cluttered up the system, as well as his outright xenophobic view of anthropomorphic species. He wasn’t xenophobic himself, maybe cautious and suspicious at times, but not outwardly hostile. This was probably a cultural differences created by history though, these people might have only known their own kind and found others inferior, but the Pulsatus evolved with dimensional markets around their strongest nexuses - alien races, no matter their shape, tended to have something of value to trade to a world that was rebuilding itself after the Cataclysm.

“I’m not surprised, our people are only now finding the strength and knowledge to start exploring the stars, and our world is in a… precarious area of space. I believe the last alien we came across called it “The fucking Bermuda Expanse” although we have no idea what this means.” The old man would then give a smile, picking up a drink that a nearby servant was bringing him, “It does mean we’re pretty much uncontested for the stars nearby us however - which is a good thing.”

His guard seemed to remain in the shadow of his task, standing a few feet behind Diyo while his eyes continued to look around the room, sizing up everyone that could potentially be a challenge. The former soldier doubted that anything could slip through security (he had to clear his pistol through the host’s security, and only after they examined it and seemed to give it the sort of look that one would give a toy pistol, they handed it back). But this was his first guard duty, and he didn’t want to return with a dead delegate back to Phoebus.

outside near his transport emperor ikari was smoking a large cigar
"incoming call, incoming call, incoming call" his phone barked at him he answered
"ikari speaking"
"sir this is captain black, si we are picking up multiple warships,i thought this was a peace conference"
"it is, but some tend to show off their military might, il inform the host, prepare for evacuation should anything arise"
"yes sir"
he put the phone down and entered the building

“Someone got a promotion ‘cause daddies got friends.” Victoria snorted as she took a sip from the softly vibrating glass in her hand. Her eyes watched Kessler as he slowly began to choke himself on his own torso after his feet, ankles, legs and pelvis had long lodged themselves near his stomach.

“Or rich.” One of her earrings muttered back, though it made no sound. “How such a crass and unrefined fellow got picked as their galactic representative warrants further investigation.”

“I’m not talking to him,” Victoria snapped in return. “He’ll feel me up or something.”

“I wonder if braining him after he invades your personal space could be covered by diplomatic immunity.” The voice pondered aloud, causing Victoria to giggle slightly. “Now go mingle, stop sulking in the corner.”

“Fine.” She sighed, walking towards the group main group.

Nyti looked over to the new arrivals she chuckled sightly her black tail flicking behind her, she decided to go greet them in a friendly manner. She had long pink hair about shoulder length, her form was slender and skinny, her fur was well kept and seemingly silky smooth, he brown eyes focused on the new delegates, as she idly wandered up to them, she grabbed a cup of semi brown liquid and drank from it, her supple soft lips over lapping the edge of the glass as the tangy liquid filled her mouth, she swallowed gently she stopped about a foot away from the new delegation and held out her soft hand.

“Hello there I am Nyti From the United Terran Federation, Its nice to meet you.”

She smiled a fang glinting gently with the liquid she just drank, her voice was soft, diplomatic and polite. She was meeting most of these delegations for the first time, and for now it looked like most where not interested in speaking to her at all. Of course In the end it would only make them look bad and unwilling to open a dialogue with non humans. Idly she sipped from her glass once more awaiting a response, he brown eyes looking over various troops of people humans aliens alike and flashy showoffs. It was not often she had gotten the chance to go out on excursions to represent the Terran Federation.

Her thoughts however raced with how amusing the Bryn Shanderian was being, it made her chuckle inside of her head how such an individual could ever become a diplomat.It was surprising that nation was not at war more often.

But alas she thought she was not there to judge the misgivings and utter idiocy of others, she was there to make friends and talk to people.

Her slender form was accented by the diplomatic uniform she wore, her tail was curled up behind her and her ears folded flag along her head.


A smile was still plastered over her smooth gentle face, while she looked rather petite and harmless at first glace, she would be sure to let any one who tried any thing on her know that it would not be tolerated in a rather painful manner, most likely some thing to do with rendering the individual unable to procreate.

Imperator Newman noted his friend Sheikh Navarrone approaching, picked up a napkin to clean his hands of the little food that had collected on them, and returned the handshake. "Nothing new other than a few dead traitors, my old friend. Actually, there are a lot of dead traitors this time, but what we lost in manpower we will regain in battle experience and strength." Newman noticed a plate of deviled eggs out of the corner of his eye, and was making his move to scoop one up to eat it when more delegates began to approach.

"It would be difficult not to hear about the Veneficus Regnum," the Imperator responded after being introduced to Diyo Sar. "It is an honor to meet you, and please forgive my eating habits as it is refreshing to be outside of the Imperial Court. The atmosphere in that environment is thick enough to cut with the fifteen or so knives of different sizes they supply at dinner when only one is sufficient for warriors such as ourselves." Newman patted the smaller sheathed dagger strapped to the side of his sword's scabbard, a grin prominently displayed on his face.

His Royal Highness Prince Jackson Hector Chandler Gabriel Lockeheart arrived quietly a little bit later than most of the diplomats present, aboard the battle cruiser HMS Powerful, his assigned IFS Navy mover. He descended to the surface in a basic Navy shuttle along with his escort/entourage, four Marines and a Federation Navy Midshipman who was seconded into Imperial service as part of a recently initiated exchanging program. As was his style when attending diplomatic meetings he entered the meeting place quietly so he could look around unnoticed for a second. He reached up with a hand, running his fingers briefly through his short black hair, and then to his neatly trimmed beard as his blue eyes swept the place. The black-and-blue IFSN uniform, with two starts on the epaulettes, was partially obscured by the heavy Navy cloak he had chosen to wear to the summit. Behind him, the Federation Midshipman and the Marines, two of whom were of the “Neko” abhuman species, waited quietly until he moved into the room, falling in with him when he finally moved. He took notice of Nyti and Kessler, and his eyebrows arched up briefly.

‘Might be some trouble there,’ he thought, and resolved to keep an eye on both. He then began looking around casually to find the host of the Assembly.

OOC:

My apologies for the briefness.

FYI, Bryn, before you ask, abhumans are increasingly common in the FT of my nation, and the Marine unit the Prince's escort was drawn from is from Brittany, an Imperial planet which is a hair's breadth from humans being a minority. So no, I'm not trying to annoy you. ;)

The Galactic Assembly had been an idea that had appealed immensely to the Kindai Empire and to its people. Beset by raiders and pirates, continuously fighting wars to drive back the raiding fleets and Akki warlords that plagued their territory, they were a people who desired peace but forced to become as best at war as they could. So when an invitation from such esteemed nations as Auman and Derscon, that even the Empire, not yet fully on the galactic stage had heard of them, came to join the Galactic Assembly, they took it. When the day and time of the meeting was known, they had prepared for the occasion quite well. Seeing fit to thank and honor their newly come....partners, the Emperor of All himself was going to come to this meeting and meet with the other representatives.

So amongst the other ships in orbit that had brought the various members, a single, unarmed freighter painted royal blue was situated and had sent down the shuttle for the Emperor to go to the meeting area. No armed guards were brought and no one had complained. The Emperor was the single most powerful human in the Empire, capable of wiping out entire armies if he chose. If he couldn't protect himself from the possible dangers of this meeting, than no force, military or otherwise, would be able to. He only had an aide with him, a diplomat from the Kumori Corps that housed the diplomats of the Empire. Everything was normal for such a meeting, he was wearing his clothes bearing his rank and title, a royal blue with a red and silver design covering it in the form of a flowing dragon, along with a black tunic, pants and boots. He bore no weapons, as his Kindai abilities would suffice. However, he had changed one thing, something he had never done in his dealings with others. He had put down his hood, revealing his youngish-face, brown hair and golden eyes to all. This was to show he was not better or superior to those in this place, but an equal.

He felt this was important as a first impression. Sensing a cluster of people, although it was battling some sort of hostile energy from a few of the members, he walked over and introduced himself to what he had read as being the Overlord of the Allied Vascilian Forces, Sheikh Navarrone. He held out his hand to him. "I apologize for intruding but I am the Emperor of the Kindai Empire, Kensei. I thank you and those who have founded the Assembly for inviting my people to this. It is good to see someone trying to find a peaceful solution for the galaxy's problems."

Shirrah smiled as the two elven women bantered amongst themselves. The drastic change in emotional atmosphere from the humans was a welcome relief. Moving over to one of the tables and selecting some small entrees, the Reikoan turned back to the Eluneyasa delegates. "I am glad to have the chance to speak with you. Ever since the Fervent Dream came across your damaged fleet, our offices were hoping to meet your people again. We did not get the opportunity to open formal relations at the time, allow me to attempt to do so now."
Shirrah kept an eye on some of the new arrivals, but for the moment she seemed content to leave them be. Truth be told, she simply wanted to avoid stumbling nose first into another group of xenophobic humans. If anyone wanted to speak with her, they could easily find her.

Eschen on the other hand, had had nore than enough of the humans, and sought the relative solace outside. Padding through the grass along the lake shore and letting her public mind drift absently. Most of the delegates inside were either telepaths themselves, or otherwise mentally shielded. Her secondary mission to covertly observe would have to end without results. If she were caught sniffing in one of the human's heads, there would almost certainly be an interstellar incident, which would not look good on her career report, assuming she even survived the event. No, best that she keep to herself out here by the lake for now.

'It's a pleasure to meet you, Emperor Kindei. This party is getting a lot bigger than I had thought it would and it's great to see some old faces around here. While our two nations had never had much to do with one another, we had heard a great deal about yours. If you'll excuse me for a moment, I have a pounding headache. I think I'll go grab some aspirin real quickly. Please, get to know the others while I'm gone.' Navarrone shook hands with the Telrosian Emperor before staggering off to get his brain medicine.

OOC:

I have a pounding headache, I'll post more later.

Side-stepping their way through the mostly human crowds, El'Shas'ka and Marcus began to navigate through the crowds toward the buffet table, stopping only to grab a pair of drinks off of a passing waiter. El'Shas'ka, while not a drinker ordinarily, still recognized the uses of possessing such a drink, if only for the occasional toast. He looked down at the drink. It was a green, thick liquid that sloshed left and right as he walked. It didn't look like it would be winning any awards soon. Hearing a slight gasp beside him, he turned his head, to see Marcus grimacing at the glass.

"Is it not good?" He asked.

Marcus looked up at the Tau, a small grin on his face. "It's no amasec, that's for sure." Was all he said.

Nodding, El'Shas'ka turned his head back toward the table, where he noticed the TRIAD and Eluneyasa ambassadors engaged in conversation. Noticing the same thing, Marcus leaned his head closer.

"Are those who I think they are?"

"It appears so."

"Are we gonna..."

With a simple "Yes" the two Angenterian ambassadors approached the TRIAD and Eluneyasa delegates.

"Forgive my intrusion." El'Shas'ka said, taking a sip of his drink, and masking his grimace perfectly. It really was awful. "But I do certainly believe we are among friends, are we not?"

Telnira could only smile to the skunk-woman, nodding a bit. "Yes, and we appreciate the help of everyone from back then. Even if we lost so much of our fleet in the process. It was a messy process, and we've been so far behind since..."

"I hear we're producing a new fleet," Shanirra said.

"Please forgive us for our talking first. I'm Telnira and this is Shanirra. We're the heads of this diplomatic mission. Unlike a certain other one we won't mention that our group sent out, this one is intended to be entirely serious," the night elf said.

"Ah, welcome!" Shanirra exclaimed as the Angenterian ambassadors approached.

OOC: Short, but meh. Net issues.

Shirrah smiled and stood to welcome the two Angenterian delegates. "Ahh yes, this is good fortune, meeting the representtives of two friendly nations we are already familliar with! My name is Shirrah Venek El Siddou, but you may simply call me Shirrah if you wish, and I represent TRIAD Enterprises at this event. My companion is not present right now, but I am certain you will have the opportunity to meet her eventually."

Taking a bite of what appeared to be a taco, stuffed with some kind of whitefish, Shirrah sat back down and gestured to the tau and human to join them. "I was just thanking Telnira and Shanirra how good it is to see familliar faces. Our offices will be grateful for some time to come for Angenteria's aid to the Fervent Dream."

"So, other than the prospect of wide-spread peace, what draws your peoples to this event?" Canting her head to the side in genuine curiousity.

The Federation Cadet/ Midshipmen was young and tall, his form was slender and well built mostly due to his exercise in preparation for military service he carried what looked like a futuristic flag pole in his hand, it was long and pike shaped at the end, it was a flag with the odd image of a human and alien hand grasping and shaking and the color blue and red on it . His name was Mark Paterson, his rank was cadet third class for the TFSN, he quickly walked over to Nyti passing past the delegate from Bryn Shander he nearly collided with the other trying to avoid a nearby table that seemed to have appeared in his way. A the same time he nearly whacked the Bryn Shanderian delegation through no fault of his own as it seemed he was trying to avoid the oddly placed tables.
He mumbled as he stepped behind Nyti, not wanting to interrupt the delegates talk, he just stood guard.

Nyti was close to most of the delegates still waiting for a response from the ones she just introduced her self to. The halfling looked over to the Eluneyasain delgate and Kindai both, he eyes focusing on them. She spoke out to both of them in a soft diplomatic voice.

“Hello to you both, my name is Nyti from the United Terran Federation, it’s a pleasure to meet you”

The Emperor nodded. "Same to you, Overlord. We have heard much of the Aumanii and would like to get to know you more. You go and get those pills; you seem to have had too much to drink there." As he stumbled off, he noticed the human who stepped forward in Terran Federation uniform. From the briefings he had read, this must be one of the UTF representatives, or due to his weapon, escorts it seemed. The Emperor touched his aide's arm, who started and then came forward to meet the cadet while the Emperor moved to the Bryn Shander representative. The diplomat was a heavily robed figure who wore a dark blue robe with only a purple sash to denote her rank as diplomat.

"Greetings to you, Nyti of the Federation. I am Ylin of the Kumori Corps of Peace, the organization in the military for diplomats. The Emperor means no offense, but he wishes to speak with the other heads of state. If there is anything you wish to discuss or ask about, I will answer that which is in my power and authority to do so."

The Emperor walked up to the Bryn Shander representative and noticed this man was swooning a bit, obviously having drunk a little too much. Putting effort into being cautious, he extended a hand forward. "Greetings, I am Emperor Kensei of the Kindai Empire. I have heard much of your people and look forward to opening relations with such a fine nation."

Nyti, walked up to the Coredian delegation , she ignored most of what she considered idiocy from the other non tolerant nations. She spoke out softly as she ran a hand through her oddly pink hair.


“ Hello Friends of the Federation how are you doing today?”

She said this as she came to a stop a foot away from the Coredian, her eyes lit up almost as they focused around the party looking at every one, Nyti spotted the delegation from Myenya and smiled nodding to them. And making a note in her mind to walk over and speak to him after associating with the Coredians.

Her tail flicked behind her , a diplomatic smile still plastered on her face, she did not care about the entire furries verses human debate as she was neither a furry nor a human. She did not care for the whole thing, though she was disgusted at the lack of tolerance these societies presented here at this ground braking. She softly sighed again waiting for the reply to her greeting to Coredian diplomat.
"I am fine, Ambassador. And you?" Keitaro asked.

Meanwhile, a small, nearly invisible member of the Coredian delegation team was bored. His name is Roger and he's an apprentice to the Jedi Knight in the picture. When a Coredian is cute, small, and bored...strange things seem to happen.

And it helps that joining the prestigious Padawan Pack requires that you be able to prank at least once and get away with it. Young Roger sure wanted to join Travis Masaki's group! But how to do it...

He noticed a soldier with what looks like a splurge gun of some kind, but wasn't sure he could get to the soldier quickly. So he decided to wait for an opportunity...

El'Shas'ka bowed formally, with Marcus following shortly thereafter.

"It is my honor to meet all of you." He gestured to the human to his left. "My is Por'el Kor'vaa Yanoi Shas'ka, Ambassador Moon-Sun in your tongue, I believe. But please refer to me as El'Shas'ka. Such honorifics are quite tiresome." He gestured to the human standing next to him. "And this is my assistant, Marcus Ulrich."

"A pleasure." He said, nodding his head in greeting. He was more concerned with the pretty Night Elf priestess standing adjacent to him.

"As for our presence..." El'Shas'ka continued "...our Emperor believes that Angenteria needs to take a more active role in galactic politics, and believes that the joining a so-called Galactic Assembly is the key to doing so."

The dark robed neko walked idly to the delegation room and found a place to sit in, looking around the room and taking in the various voices. His telepathic ability letting him quickly begin to understand the languages he didnt know. He spotted a a few representatives of nations he recognised, some he didnt. He sighed, taking a glass of white wine and getting up, he moved about the room, mingling with the rest. He moved over to the TFU representative, bowing in the aincient japaneese fashion. "Hello, i'm Isahil, from the Red Talons Mercenary Republic." He smiled a bit, taking a sip of his wine.

"It is nice to meet you, Shirrah, El'Shas'ka. I must admit, our peoples have not had as much contact as we should. This is no fault of any of you; it took our leaders a long time to agree on a course of action related to space, and until then we really had no fleet. It is quite fortunate that we are now able to explore again," Telnira said.

"Our reason for being here isn't just this, but to try to ascertain what areas of the galaxy are inhabitted. We plan to eventually expand beyond our homeworld, and it would not do well for peaceful relations if someone showed up to colonize a world rightfully there's and found we'd planted a colony there. It would be... troublesome, given how we currently plan to colonize worlds, for the damage to be undone," Shanirra answered. "But, we hope that this will prevent any problems from that."

"Plus, the remnants of the Burning Legion are still out there. We've detected... hints that there may be a group of them looking for Azeroth. We hope this will allow us to ascertain where they are," Telnira added.

Prince Jackson finished surveying the gathered delegates in mere seconds. That was all he required. Three decades and plus of service in the Navy had taught him how to make snap assessments of situations. Reasonably sure he knew how to proceed, he walked with an outwardly casual appearance towards the Federation delegate, a cute little pink-haired, brown eyed Halfling.

“Nyti Briarmarrow!” he said, recalling the name from the files to memory. He walked up to the Halfling and pulled her quite suddenly in to an embrace. “It’s been too long. How have you been?”

Letting the Federation diplomat go, he turned to face those she had been conversing with, smiling.

“My apology for this intrusion,” he said. “I am Prince Jackson of the Imperial Federated Systems of Romandeos. This young lady here and I are old friends. It’s been some time since we saw each other. I’m normally more reserved.”

Shirrah listened to the tau introduce himself, taking a half second to run the unusual phonetics through her mind before responding, "A pleasure to meet you Por'el Kor'vaa Yanoi Shas'ka, Marcus Ulrich! Well, since TRIAD is new to these stars herself, we cannot really 'welcome' you, however let me make the attempt nonetheless! I hope that this is just one of many such mutually beneficial meetings between our peoples. Perhaps if there is time permitting, we might indulge in some short discussions of potential trade?" Giving a deep bow, the latter words meant for all the nearby delegates.

"Hello, i'm Isahil, from the Red Talons Mercenary Republic."

One of the Reikoan's ears twitched when she heard a familliar title, and Shirrah turned to look around for the speaker, finally focusing on Isahil. Seeing he was busy with the Federal representative however, Shirrah simply made a mental note to speak to the Sholan man. Then her attention was drawn back to the Eluneyasa pair and she cocked her head to show she was listening. "Would it be alright if I asked how it is you would go about colonizing a new system? It sounds like you are not simply talking about landing colony ships."

Once again she looked over at the Red Talon's envoy, seeing another newcomer arrive and greet the Federal delegate in a very friendly manner. A soft giggle and Shirrah stood up to be seen over the others, and waved Isahil and the other two, "Please friends, come join us over here where the atmosphere is a little warmer." She couldn't help the light barb at the xenophobes on the other side of the room, no matter is they heard or not.

The Belkan representative had been cooped up aboard the Jannari cruiser far too long, and stretched his long legs out of his entry shuttle and took a leisurely pace towards the proceedings. The smell of fresh air was far more pleasant than the strange, alien aromas of the Jannari food and bodies that surrounded him during the trip. The ambassador, Albus DeFortatem, had carpooled, so to speak, with the Jannari. He headed slowly towards the other statesmen.

Nyti smiled to both the red talons and the imperial delgate, she spoke out, her fangs showing as she smiled, her ears folded back on her head, her long pink hair over her brown eyes that focused at the two delegates. She spoke out in a soft gentle voice.

“Hello Prince jackson, It is nice to see you again. It seems we have a quite a ruckus going on here”

She smiled and bowed looking to the RT delegate and saying.

“Ahh yes I’ve heard of you pleasure is all mine..”

Her slender form shifted as he sipped from the glass she took, watching the unpleasant behavior of the other human delegates.

The Federal Officer stood behind her adjusting his uniform slightly, Nyti looked over to the coreidan delegate and the Kindai one responding.

“I look forward to talking with both of you and hammering out any deals we may want with each other”


She smiled again her eyes went bright she loved talking to friendly people, and hoped to push the federation Adgenda.

Telnira and Shanirra exchanged glances before the priestess spoke. "We start by creating a Well of Eternity upon the planet, using waters taken from our own. The energies of the Well of Eternity quickly saturate the entire planet and interface with all life on it. Then, we cap the Well with a World Tree to focus and control the energy output. Removal of the Well would have... extremely disasterous results, as our own experience has shown us."

"And even then, it's too late to undo the changes brought about by it and the planet remains saturated with energy for centuries," Shanirra added.

"Ah, Emperor Kinsei. A pleasure to finally make your acquaintance!"

Turning, the Kindai Emperor would first note the wide mouth of large white fangs, set into the head of a lioness, an ornate tiara adorning her head. Curled across a round disk set into its front rested a small cobra, lazily bobbing about as it tasted the air.

If his eyes managed to stray from her somewhat menacing visage, the rest of her frame was somewhat less threatening. Her lean body was wrapped in a pleated red linen dress which served to conceal a negligible portion of her form, all lit by the warm light of what appeared to be a miniature sun.

The lioness bent slightly at the waist in a token bow, the hint of a chuckle- or was it a purr- forming in her throat. Turning to the Aumani delegate, her grin widened. "Mister Navarrone. So nice to finally meet you, after hearing so much from our subordinates. We have been following your exploits with some interest."

Shavar was disgusted at the UTF delegation. Who the fuck brings a rifle to a diplomatic conference? Now he's deliberately provoking us. I wish Navarrone would just get rid of him. He sighed, downing another glass of Andre-Allistaire vodka and turning to the nearby Otagian delegate.

"Ambassador Sekhmet, a pleasure to meet you. It's nice to see a fellow ESUSer here at the conference." The Sephirot figured that it wouldn't be necessary to introduce himself, as it was absolutely taboo to address a Dersconi Sephirot by his first name, and the fact the Dersconi imperial seal was on his ceremonial armor.

Nyti nodded to the Otagian delegate and smiled bowing and saying to him.

“Hello old friends” She of course meant that their nation where allies, she looked over to the federation midshipmen behind her and whispered.

“Would you please dismantle that thing, it will make people nervous.”

Quickly the midshipmen responded taking the thing apart and putting it in a bag.

Star Lord Taredor pushed past the Imperator, ignoring Sheikh Navaronne for the time being and started to dig in to the food at the table. He picked his way through it until he found something edible. Namely red meat, preferably as close to raw as possible. He was a majestic sight, wearing his standard Star Lords trenchcoat, steel boots and greaves, very loose dress pants, tucked in to said boots and greaves and the most questionable of all. All Star Lords wore the pelt of a lion as a ceremonial cape, replete with the head in place of the standard hood attached to all Knight uniforms. If the Star Lord considered the ramifications of such an outfit while amongst so many anthropomorphs, he didn't show it. Instead he happily ate, with his hands of course, seemingly oblivious to those around him.

He wiped his chin and looked up, scanning the area as a lion might the Savanna during a meal. As he looked to his right he noticed someone near him, then he realised, that at six foot seven, he almost looked right past the human's companion. Short, very short compared to a Tannelornian...and on closer inspection..it had no nose..simply a bladder where one should be. The thing without a nose spoke, introducing itself in some nonsensical alien tongue, before stating a quaintly "old elvish" sounding name. Moon-Sun he thought to himself, Now that is just silly, still its a wonder it can even speak with its deformities. Next to it, a human was introduced as Marcus, its assistant. Taredor was a little bit offended, but didn't really care. After all Arendacilians and elves were not exactly human, close enough to be almost indistinguishable, aside from the ears for elves, and the slightly lengthened canines of the Arendacilians [Tannelornians]. Well that and the good breeding and the general physical health.

He looked around..and saw what appeared to be a talking dog, with its pet Anthropomorph..and a cat-human thing with some Fedral soldiers, which were hastily disassembling a...something. Star Lord Tsaratov once told me about a diplomatic meeting where the feddies pulled out guns and started patrolling at a party.. he thought to himself, eyeing the feddies carefully. He wasn't concerned, and didn't need to be armed to deal with them, but still if they started shooting..he didn't want to be caught unawares.

He noted the people the "Angentarian" delegation was speaking to.. a pair of rather freakish looking elves..and the other a purple hoofed monster. However, at least the three of them had noses. He decided that it might be rather entertaining to see what the effects of Tannelornian cannabis might be on alien physiology, and knowing full well its effect on humans was the sure thing. So he pulled a rather large joint, rolled in leaf out of his jacket pocket and walked straight up to the Angenterian and Eluneyasan delegations. He lit the joint and walked up to Marcus, offering a pull.

"Its good, best in the galaxy really, heard you people talking about magic wells, one of my friends once went to a world where the people did all that sort of thing, well that and a few other things that really shouldn't be mentioned in polite company." he guffawed a bit at the joke then nudged Marcus and pushed the burning joint in to his face. "Pass it on when your done, anyways Star Lord Taredor Arondahim is the name, third lord of the Divine Celestial Republic." the Star Elf looked down on the delegates, with an idiot grin and his hands on his hips.

This was Tannelornian first contact and diplomacy in action. Trusted friends saw the true face of Tannelorn, whereas foreigners and aliens only saw what they wanted them to see. Which was normally something resembling a drunken frat boy at a strip bar. After all ninety nine times out of one hundred it gave them an edge as potential enemies would see them as weak and innefectual. Though Knights of Tannelornian believed in honour on the battlefield, and rarely practiced base subterfuge...Diplomacy was a different matter entirely.

Tannelornians would not lie, but they would indeed say as much as they possibly could, while saying absolutely nothing important. Indeed all Lords of Tannelorn were masters of small talk..with a few noticeable exceptions of course.

Mark had accidentally tripped over himself bumping in to a table, he mumbled as he knocked over a glass it tipped over to the other side.

Nyti just shook her head

Nyti sighed and flicked her tail a bit more, her arms crossed over her chest having finished her drink several moments ago, her fangs showed as she yawned ever so slightly, her purple hair still over her eye, she smiled at Jackson, her eyes slightly lighting up almost as if she was flirting on some level.

As amusing as Nyti thought the cadet was, it was not as amusing as all the drunks at the party, personally liquor was not her thing, but she could at least hold it and refrain from drinking gallons at a time.

Nyti did so as well she continued to wait near the group of non humans her smile gleaming, her thoughts focusing, her form smooth and slender, and her uniform that was blue as a standard federal delegations would be was semi tight over her curves, showing off various parts of her more than others. It had some markings and patches, her shoes where polished black almost as if she was a military officer but she was not. She shifted her uniform with her hands adjusting it a bit, and then running a hand over her silky smooth purple hair , it shined a bit in the light as if it was conditioned heavily.

She looked at the new comer and nodded, a smile across her face again this time it was professional.

As Imperator Newman was schmoozing it up with Sheikh Navaronne, he noticed the scene going on in his peripheral vision and decided to make mention of it. "Clean up, aisle three..." It had been quite some time since the Imperator had ever found himself in a grocery store, so he didn't know if he got the expression right or not, and was hoping Navaronne would have gotten the reference as his nodded in the direction of the idiot handling the anti-riot grenade.

“We’re late.” Bellowed Psaforous Galn over the gouts of steam pouring liberally, though largely symbolically, from every pipe and terminal. “We’re always late to things like this and it’s starting to look unprofessional.” He attempted to flounce, producing a series of ripples throughout his gelatinous form. Idly he whipped a couple of the cat people chained to the iron corset restraining his heaving foot-stomach.

Countless rivets burst, accompanied by the howl of torn metal as the O’oolhn freighter crashed out of the warp above the planet. A couple of the newer slave-creatures were crushed as Galn was hurled forward. Howling with rage he attempted vainly to scrape the worst of the mess of himself with a few flailing tentacles. “Quick quick quick, bring me the hat with the barnacles on it and ready the transporter, I’m going to try and slip in without bringing any undue attention to our tardiness. And once I’m down there take this rust bucket back to the stream, I don’t want anyone with a nicer ride sneering at me over a shared carcass, I get enough of that back home with mother.”
Quickly grooming some of the cleaner parasites off his lower eyes, and batting away the slaves stapling down his helmet he levered himself into position. “Engage the transpaaa-“

“-aargh.” Dread Beast Psaforous Galn, Cohort of the Imperial Court of the Fell Hegemony of the Divinely Exuded O’oolhn, landed amid a small wave of slime, not far from the crowd of intergalactic leaders and assorted diplomats. Looking about him he was pleased to see the bulk of his slaves had made it through the transportation process, he always thought that a man without at least a few creatures cowering in terror before one was not really much of a man at all. Though having no gender to speak of it wasn’t an entirely rational belief. The sun beat down mercilessly, the gravity squeezed his frame, but there was at least one consolation he could smell.

“Are they serving sea lion ? My favorite.”

Galn moved toward the crowd like swell on the ocean, excluding the troupe of bedraggled cat-people wrenched in his wake. He spotted what passed for a familiar visage in the crowd and flowed towards it, waving a few of his tentacles furiously.

“Lord Parsely.” he cried at the leonine form of the Otagian delegate. “Wait that can’t have been right, those mammary growths are much too large for it to be a ‘Lord’ anything, I do wish you people would do away with genders, it’s so redundant, and so underclass.”

A man dressed in a neatly pressed tuxedo and black framed glasses flitted up to the Federal delegation. With a clipboard grasped effeminately in his slender hands and a silver pen clenched in his teeth he asked, with a lisp 'Excuse me sir, but you don't seem to be on "The list", may I ask who you are?' The head waiter was talking to the gentleman with the goo gu- "Flag pole".

'If you're not on the guest list, sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave.' The obviously gay head waiter didn't seem the slightest bit concerned with the Federal cadet, who was clearly not invited to the party, as the convention hall was crawling with Aumanii Shock Troopers, disguised as the various generic dignitaries and politicians that milled about the party.

Navarrone, now with a gullet full of aspirin, had returned to the party. The Otagian delegate, whose name he had trouble pronouncing, greeted Navarrone. 'Yeah, I seem to have a bit of a reputation. I'm glad you could make it to the party. I think we'll be getting started on dinner soon... After that we'll be hearing some speeches. So I hope you brought a Gamestation Mobile or something to keep yourself busy.' Sheikh laughed, making a reference to a popular Aumanii portable video game system.

"Excuse me, sir," said Prince Jackson, walking to the waiter, flanked by his other guards. "But the cadet is not invited, true, but he is in my party. He is serving on a Navy exchange program and was selected to be among my escorts. I can promise you he is quite safe to be around."

He then turned to face the cadet in question.

"Kindly stick by the rest of us, won't you?" he said calmly.

Por’el Neral was one of three people sent by the new Tau Sept to the party, the other a Gue’vesa by the name of Jason, who would be joining him at the actual party, while the other was a member of the air caste who would be waiting at the small shuttle to take them back to the Skether’Qan Class vessel once the party was over (but he was hardly important to their introduction to the party). The Tau was dressed as one would expect of his caste, flowing formal robes in the green, blue, and gold colors of his sept. Other than that he was hard to describe compared to the rest of the water sept, their physic not being the best for making distinguishing features, yet there was no mistaking that he had his own peculiar air and personality around him. Por’el Neral found himself naturally at ease here, serving as a diplomat for much of the third sphere expansion, he was accustomed to humans, their trait, their nature, their weaknesses, and thus he had no fear nor suspicion of them.

The human accompanying him though, was remarkable in the fact he was dressed in what seemed at first glance a throw back to formal Imperial clothing, if it wasn’t for the Tau Sept colors that were brandished on the arms of the regalia instead of the Imperial Coat of Arms. His features were also more easily identified than his alien companion, seeming to be a youngling, barely over twenty years old. With that youth coming the full head of black hair and green eyes that hastily glanced around the room, trying to adjust to all the… xenos… as well as identifying members of his own race. He had heard humors of Imperial cruelty, and he wondered if he would be thrown out from the party to be executed by Guardsmen as soon as they caught the alien taint upon his clothing.

“Fear not Gue’vesa,” the tau would speak to the young human, “Even if there are representatives from the Imperium here, they do not have the authority to harm us in any way.”

“I suppose not, Por’el,” the nameless human said as his eyes caught sight of the other Tau in the party. “There are members of your own race here, a representative from the Empire perhaps?”

“If so, we should try to avoid each other,” he said with a small smirk. “I’m sure our old, trust Ethereal leaders have told them MUCH of our rebellion. Regardless of which, I wonder what Por’Saal had the idea to send a Shas caste to this meeting.”

“I thought your sept would be the last to point out the differences in the castes,” the human said with a small smile as the two walked forward into the party proper, the human’s young form easily reaching out to grasp a drink as well as something to nibble on while the tau went hungry.

“Our system may be more, liberal, than the Empire - but we still acknowledge that our castes have different capabilities that make them uniquely suited to certain tasks. The Por caste is naturally suited for diplomacy, intrique, and working their way through lies and mysteries, while the Shas… Forgive my expression, are suited for hunting down animals or other soldiers than the finer aspects of a conversation.”

“Mmnn… Perhaps,” the human said before taking another bite of the deviled egg he had managed to aquire, continuing to walk side by side with his companion. They were making a point of avoiding what might be a hostile situation with the other Tau, yet not be to obvious - walking off in an angle that would put them on the other side of the room from the Argentinan representatives.

Mark nodded snapping to attention, a crisp clap of his boots and the other end of the flag was heard, he spoke out sharply.

"Aye sir!"

He then turned with an about face and joined the rest of the imperial troop.

Kessler took the emperor's hand and shook it. "Thank you. I'm a bit surprised that word of our planet has spread so quickly. We're still a bit new to this whole interstellar politics thing, so we haven't yet had much contact with many other civilizations yet. Just today I've encountered more... People... than my people have since the stars were opened to us."

It was about then that the Belkan representative finally arrived. "Albus, it's good to finally see you. I take it that you've finally managed to get your land legs back? Anyway, I'd like to introduce you to Emperor Kensei of the Kindai Empire." said the Jannarii foreign minister.

Prince Jackson was ninety-six years old, though due to medical technology he did not look a day past thirty. He had spent the last 46 years working part-time with the Foreign Office as a diplomat, doing this kind of work. Before that, he had served thirty years in the Imperial Federated Systems Navy, eventually bearing a Rear-Admiral’s twin stars before shifting from active duty to the reserve. During all the time he had spent on both careers, he had occasion to learn many things about many species, so he recognized the Federation delegate’s rather flirtatious body language when she spoke to him, not that he minded it very much. She was rather cute, all things considered. Perhaps later, something might develop from all of that… For now, however, he turned to the present issues.

“Thank you,” he said to the cadet. “Try not to go wandering around like that.”

He heard the hesitation in Kessler’s voice before saying “people,” and suppressed a low growl. If there was one thing he did not like about his FO work, it was being required to deal with such people. The man was the Jannarii Foreign Minister, if Jackson's memory was correct.

“The joys of diplomatic proceedings,” he observed quietly, and then turned back to the local who had been insisting the exchanged cadet needed to leave.

Nyti walked up to jackson and spoke out she seemingly budded in to what ever conversation he was having with the cadet, she said softly with a sweet low voice of course it was diplomatic as well.

“Hello.... I take it every thing is going smoothly, despite the...barbarians at the gate?”

She glanced over to Bryn Shanderin delegate almost amused by him in some way then quikcly to jackson, the cadet had settled he placed the flag in the center of the formation and guarded it, it was of course the gide on and in the UTF , even more important in basic , it was necessary to keep your gide-on safe from those other platoons who wish to snatch it right up, it was a manner of honor and pride.

Nyti ‘s tail waved behind her slightly, a grin still over her human like face, she knew jackson was taking notice, how she would proceed would be another question, out of the corner of her eye she saw the cadet diligently guarding the flag he had brought, the flag it self was caught in sort of a wind and started to flap really close to some people.


The place was crowded it was hard to get any clear place that was well displayed to put the thing, so mark just tried to keep the flag from impacting to much on any one near by. Last thing he needed was the wind flapping it in some ones face, that person ending up slipping and falling over a table and braking all that crystal. Or himself while in an attempt to stablize the thing bumping in to some one falling back and crashing over the liquor the Bryn Shanderin and dersconian delegation was drinking.

It wont happen he thought and he kept cool and collective, Nyti waited for a response, he adjusted her uniform once more briskly, the idle gust of wind flowing through her long pinkish hair, her thoughts going on many things not the least of witch was that clumsy cadet. Of course she was no saint her self, the various idioms of all hat and no cattle came to mind when she thought of various racist delegations that seemed to have congregated and formed their own little cess pool of un enlightened self penis worship.


She was a female of course she thought most of the male condition was caused by their insecurities and lack of a certain strength. How ever Jackson nor most of the federation males screamed that at least not obviously. She was pretty sure she would have to dig to find any thing of the sort in them.

Cadet Mark laughed nervously, keeping steady , he wondered why this thing did not have a force attachment to magnetically attach it or latch it to the ground. no of course he did not pack one, he was to busy running laps around the ship for old times sake. In a sarcastic note he thought to himself. His form was well built the light accented it a bit more this time, and his uniform was well pressed and the brass well polished. being an only first year cadet, it was hard he was still getting used to things and he indeed did get the jitters every once in a while. Coming from a small arco from the planet Tyrian it was tough to get used to all these people. He always had a small family, a small group of friends to "chill with" as they would say. He was not used to all these different cultures, he was relived at the fact that Imperials where not so bizarre or alarmingly racist or crude as most of the people here.... He continued to idly think, he also thought various inappropriate thoughts about all the racist homo-phobic allies in a compromising manner.

He suppressed a laugh...

Isahil spotted the slug creature as it entered the assembly. The neko's chained to its girdle causing him to supress a flare of rage. His hand unconciously twitching to rest on his sword hilt. He growled softly, glaring at the creature as it moved. He ignored the urges he was feeling to bounce the gelatinous creature around the room. Instead, he forced down his revulsion and made his way over to the creature. "Greetings, I am Isahil Talindrah of the Red Talons Mercenary Republic." He forced a smile. "Tell me, how many slaves does your empire posess?"

Dimi gazed through the crowd thoughtfully, still sipping his drink. Every now and then he would move, alter his location; the drone ever at his side. He took note of several delegates opinions, of their bearings and demeanors; he saw the blossoming discomfort and tension, flowing like waves throughout the proceedings. He smiled gently, almost bemused by such sentient toil and torment; as though the petty, sanctimonious squabbles amongst them were the squabblings of children, the adorable antics of preening civilisations that still thought the stars cowered beneath big guns and harsh glares.

He had taken a seat, sitting so as to lean forward over the back of it, one hand swaying idly from side to side, the other twiddling his glass between his fingers. Still, he was content simply to watch, to wait, to observe and to prepare. It wasn't so much a question of knowing ones enemies as, being aware of ones surroundings.

"Interesting, isn't it?"

"Oh I'm sure it is. It'll make for good stories back home, at any rate."

"Hm. One or two of them seem especially interesting; I'm just somewhat amazed at the number of..."

"Animal people."

"Animal people; yes. We met so many during that first contact, and it seemed strange enough. Now there seem to be so many of them, so poorly regarded."

"We can't be interfering in affairs we have no knowledge of. The greivances floating around could be entirely justified."

"I suppose we'll see."

"Soon, I'm certain."

"Hmm...Maybe those grey people. The ones with the hooves. They look interesting"

Navarrone, himself, surpressed a laugh for a brief time. He couldn't help it. He fucking laughed. 'What is the deal with all these fucking losers over here? There's a fifteen year old kid who brought a gay alliance flag or some bullshit, bumping into the God damn tables, stumbling into everyone else. Garcon!'

The effeminate waiter approached Navarrone. 'Is that kid on the list, I doubt that very much.' Said Sheikh. 'He is not on the guest list, no. But the gentleman from Romandeos said that he was with them.' Answered the head waiter. Navarrone was extremely disappointed in the behavior of his guests already, but at least Kessler had an excuse. These Federal nerds hadn't had a drop all night. 'Garcon, if they didn't have the decency to RSVP for him, then he is not to be in here. Is that not a reasonable expectation to meet?' Hissed Navarrone.

The head waiter grimaced as he returned to Cadet Mark. 'Sir, I have been informed by the hosting committee that if you had not RSVP'd for the event, you cannot be allowed to be here. I'm going to ask you to leave...' The head waiter looked at the flag before proceeding 'And to take your little thing with you too.' The waiter turned his nose up and walked away.

OOC:

Get that little geek out of my party, Rob.

Galn lurched to a halt as the Talonian addressed him, causing his hemi-spherical form to tip and flow. Several of the eyes that studded the wider bulge of his lower body swiveled to look at his petitioner. Narrow tongues flicked out of gill like mouths positioned seemingly at random across his sides.

“What these?” He asked quizzically, tugging at a couple of the neko slaves. They appeared nearly human in form, dressed in beige loincloths. Large eyes peered wearily from their slime incrusted faces, adorned with large feline ears. Hanging limply below were large, almost improbably bushy, cat tails. “These old things?” Another tug. “Positively squillions I’d say. Nine tenths of the populations don’t you know.” He chortled as the barnacles on his helmet licked at the steam rising from his body. “Say…” said Galn slowly, his eyes narrowing “You look an awful lot like them you know, some of the industrial casters especially, no offense. You don’t,” He paused and rippled his bulk, “You don’t, want one do you? That would be too perfect.”

Psaforous stood, if stood is the right word, at slightly over ten feet tall, with a girth comparable to that of a small car, as he spoke to Isahil Talindrah some of his tentacles on the opposite side from the conversation waved absently towards the trays of passing servers. Who did a valiant job of trying to flinch as they got near to them. He dexterously plucked objects at random, in one case snagging a couple of buttons, and slid them away into his moist recesses.

Isahil forced another smile "well, i was wondering if we might be able to purchase them in bulk from your nation." He rgarded one of them. "They are rather attractive, and we could put them to use in our mining vessels." He said, forcing a sadistic smile to his face. This wasnt the first time he had negotiated for slaves before, so he was quite accostomed with hiding his true feelings.

Ylin nodded at the new arrival, obviously part of the envoy that came with the cadet in tow. She seemed like a nice enough sort, although her strange....biological traits seemed to bring out a vicious response in certain delegates. While she did not care herself, she was not the host, nor did she know the entire circumstance that caused the others to hate other races. So, she merely nodded at the representative and stated. "We will be here for a while, for the dinner and speeches after, so you can contact me about possible agreements then."

As she was discussing with the Terran delegates and any other representatives who came up to speak with her, the Emperor was still talking with the Bryn Shander rep as he heard a strange voice welcoming him. He first spoke to the Shander delegate he had been addressing.

"I understand. The same situation you describe also affects the Empire. We seem to be more known than we expected, although this might be due to our presence in the ESUS alliance." He then decided to see who was talking to him before, after promising to talk to the Belkar delegate. When he turned, he was met with a shocking sight of a lion head and fangs. He merely raised an eyebrow and backed up a little to take in the full sight. He cocked his head to one side, as if curious, as he tried to figure out who this being was but finally gave up when he couldn't remember. "My apologies, good madam, but just who are you? I am at a loss as to what nation you happen to be representing. Although I thank you for the welcome, it is good to meet new people and make friends with those who are willing to talk." He turned when he heard another delegate speak and realized the sign on his armor was that of the Derscon nation, a fellow ESUS nation. He held out a hand, tentatively, to him. He wasn't sure if they liked handshakes or not.

"Greetings, it is good to see another of the ESUS alliance in our number. It is rare to find those who seek peace more than they seek war in that group of nations." This was a fact for any who knew the ESUS. It had plenty of powerful and war hungry nations who would just as easily eat up several small nations than help them out. There was a series of sounds and he turned to see the Federal cadet had nearly dropped his....weapon. The Emperor sighed to himself; why did people bring weapons to this. It only made things more tense. Then came a loud pop and a wave of slime, missing them since they were far enough away, when some slimy....thing arrived and carried with it slaves. Kindei's eyes narrowed. He was not a fan of slavery and had ensured it was taken care of in the Empire but he could not say anything about it in this forum. Not yet anyways.

He finally turned to take the hand of the Belkar delegate, giving an apologetic smile. "I am Emperor Kinsei. It is an honor to meet you." He shook the delegates hand and then turned back to Navrrone when he returned. "I see you are feeling better, Overlord. I hear we are going to have quite feast and then speeches later on. May I ask what each will entail?"

Navarrone was extremely disappointed in the behavior of his guests already, but at least Kessler had an excuse. These Federal nerds hadn't had a drop all night. 'Garcon, if they didn't have the decency to RSVP for him, then he is not to be in here. Is that not a reasonable expectation to meet?' Hissed Navarrone.


ikari walked over to Navarrone
"its a shame, this party was nice at the beginning, how,re you holding up?" ikari said while offering Navarrone a cigar
"i believe that their is a large assortment of ships above the planet, care to take a look up close?"

Navarrone accepted the cigar with a nod. 'It's not the worst party I've been to, though. About those starships, the taxpayer hired people to do that. I'm paid to smoke cigars with gentlemen such as yourself.' Navarrone pulled a lighter out of his pocket to light the cigar with, but then he reconsidered.

'You got any matches, Emperor?'

"yes i do"
ikari pulled out a pack of matches and lit Navarrone's cigar then lit his own
"Iv been to worse party's too,but the sure anarchy here surprises me, there's even some psychics,i nearly forgot there is an official gift for you being transported to this location it should arrive in 3 minutes."
he puffed his cigar casually
"this is what life's all about, smoking cigars, good music,and great drinks."

There was, at this time, no Sutufinai delegation. That wasn't to say however... That there were no Sutfen.

Hidden away in a pair of connected Hotel rooms nearby the convention center, a dozen Sutfen had set up a good two and a half million credits worth of intelligence and espionage systems. From the outside, the polarized windows looked just like any other room. Inside however, one step into the room would show that the once comfortable room was cramped and packed tight with equipment.

The Twelve Sutfen either sat around the room tending to the machines, overwatching the Assembly, or relaxing for their shift. Oneo f the overwatchers chuckled as he looked over from what could be considered a "Microphone". "Sheesh guys," He muttered to his comrades, "Listen t'these guys. What a group of Xenophobes. I'm not sure we should OK a group of agents to go in there. They may consider us Canines and start kicking us!"

There was a brief rumble of laughter about the room before another sutfen looked up, "Heads up, more update information on this TRIAD group. Uploading down." The Sutfen started typing away quietly.

"I'm surprised there are so many Nonhuman species here, even moreso that violence hasn't broken out." Stated one of the Sutfen who was off shift and eating what compared to a military ration and water mixed with a foul tasting powder full of electrolytes.

"Don't be so sure, it's come rather close. Check out some of the facial recognition scans I've run on some of the delegates. Their definitely not happy at times, alot of disdain." Stated one of the fellows working what amounted to high-tech cameras.

...

Overall, the group was here to gather Intelligence and conduct espionage. Sitting in space, wallowing in a gravity well near a Johovian planet was a Stealthed Sutufinai Space Navy "Snoop Boat". It was waiting for the OK from the ground team to deploy the "Delegation", so long as the Assembly was considered worthwhile or 'safe'.

Galn undulated with mirth at the idea of the underclasses performing hard labour. “Your worship, I fear you’ll be sorely disappointed if you expect our pets to exhibit wit or strength, why were it not for their highly developed frontal lobing they’d be animals.” He leaned forward in an attempt to look conspiratorial, though the effect was more like a tsunami of flesh bearing down on the Talonian. “Of course it used to be all the rage to have animals in the underclasses, but you know slaves are much more chic.”

Drawing himself up in what he hoped was a businesslike manner he continued. “I have a… ‘cousin’ who might be able to help you if you’re really looking for some fine O’oolhnorian slaves. He could fit you up with oh simple thousands of hundreds of them, fresh from the exudation chambers. Here,” he snapped a couple of quivering nekos from his girdle. “Take these with you, a sign of good faith, from my people to yours. May our two nations long live in harmony and never apophallate.

The Tau-Human pair stopped on the edge of the conversation with the slug creature and neko, the human seeming to do a cross between a look of disgust and hatred trying to be stimed down, while the tau just looked on with the peaceful, calm look he had on his face since their entrance a few minutes ago. It went on like this until the slug creature was about to present the person with the sword his slaves that the Gue'vesa was about to step forward and start a commotion, luckily the blue skinned hand of the tau prevented him from doing so.

"I think the situation is under control already," the tau whispered so that only his human friend could hear him over the sounds of the party. The sapien just turned on his friend with a look of scorn and fury.

"How can you say such a thing? I thought the tau would be the LAST people in the universe to welcome slavery!" the human, wasn't so careful with his speech, which caused the larger, slimmer tau to nudge him with the elbow of his arm - enough to tell him to quiet down.

"I could question your own species of such a practice, are you aware of what the Imperium does to people who don't make themselves useful? They're turned into cybernetic drones incapable of independent thought."

"And you rescued us from that fate! Of a fate potentially worse if Chaos kept its claws in our sides! Why then, do you stand here to let such a transaction happen?"

The tau would once again nudge him, harder this time. Unfortunately the blue skinned species weren't to known for their physical strength, which didn't quite get the point across to the human. This caused the tau to lean forward and whisper into the gue'vesa's ear, "I do not stop it because the person acquiring those slaves is doing so out of kindness, to free them. He does an admirable job of hiding his true intentions, but his face reads like that of the humans, and thus to an expertly trained eye such as myself, his true emotions bleed through."

The human, still with the look of disgust and hatred, would give a small glare at the tau (perhaps because he let him create a scene for a stupid reason), before turning to walk a few feet away from the older delegate. It was then up to the tau to turn towards the slug creature, the neko, and the slaves with a pleasant smile (or what one would deduce to be a tau's attempt at a calm, pleasing smile), "Please excuse the dear boy. He is new to diplomacy, and is young enough to still hold a naive view of the universe. I am sure he will walk away from this with a lesson learned and be a better diplomat in the future because of it."

Isahil took the four neko slaves, bowing a bit to the slug. "Thankyou, If your cousin could contact our merchant station, we would be glad to make the transaction." Isahil offered a data crystal to the slug. "These are the co-ordinates of our nations trade station. We are nomadic by nature, so we dont have any planets, as for usefulness, most of the mining work is done by nanites, but we do need eyes to watch the systems and make sure things dont go haywire. And its always nice to have someone to get you things while your working." He gave another smile, this time to the tau. "It is understandable, the universe isnt such a happy go-lucky place" He turned back to the slug. "But alas, i must be off, many other delegates to meet with." He moved away from the slug, coffing slightly to resist the urge to vomit.

He could sense the hatred coming from the human standing nearby. He called one of his guards to take the slaves to the shuttle to be cleaned up and given proper clothes and some food. He moved back, walking over to the human that had been accompanying the Tau. "I could sense your hatred for what i was doing... can we talk a bit more privately?" He said, gesturing faintly to the nearby slug.

Meanwhile, the four neko's were taken to the dropship and given a quick scrub down before being given simple uniforms and told to wait in the ambassador's cabin for his return.

"Its good, best in the galaxy really, heard you people talking about magic wells, one of my friends once went to a world where the people did all that sort of thing, well that and a few other things that really shouldn't be mentioned in polite company." he guffawed a bit at the joke then nudged Marcus and pushed the burning joint in to his face. "Pass it on when your done, anyways Star Lord Taredor Arondahim is the name, third lord of the Divine Celestial Republic." the Star Elf looked down on the delegates, with an idiot grin and his hands on his hips.

Marcus was, as sure any natural reaction would be, quite surprised to find some random alien walking up to him and shoving a lit iho stick in his mouth. Not prepared for a smoke, he coughed a few times, pulling the stick out. Re-gaining his composure, he stuck the blunt back in and tooka drag, before pulling it back out, and exhaling a puff of smoke.

"Wow...strong stuff." He passed it back. Apparently, that was all he had to say.

E'lShas'ka tilted his head, wishing he had left to converse with the other Tau, which he had only recently noticed with masked surprise. It had been quite some time since he had spoken with someone from the Empire. Years, in fact. He did want to know how things were going. But it would be impolite to leave at this moment, so decided to wait for a more opportune moment.

"What brings you here, Star Lord Arondahim?" The tau asked, trying to avoid having to deal with the iho stick issue.

Navarrone, himself, surpressed a laugh for a brief time. He couldn't help it. He fucking laughed. 'What is the deal with all these fucking losers over here? There's a fifteen year old kid who brought a gay alliance flag or some bullshit, bumping into the God damn tables, stumbling into everyone else. Garcon!'

The effeminate waiter approached Navarrone. 'Is that kid on the list, I doubt that very much.' Said Sheikh. 'He is not on the guest list, no. But the gentleman from Romandeos said that he was with them.' Answered the head waiter. Navarrone was extremely disappointed in the behavior of his guests already, but at least Kessler had an excuse. These Federal nerds hadn't had a drop all night. 'Garcon, if they didn't have the decency to RSVP for him, then he is not to be in here. Is that not a reasonable expectation to meet?' Hissed Navarrone.

The head waiter grimaced as he returned to Cadet Mark. 'Sir, I have been informed by the hosting committee that if you had not RSVP'd for the event, you cannot be allowed to be here. I'm going to ask you to leave...' The head waiter looked at the flag before proceeding 'And to take your little thing with you too.' The waiter turned his nose up and walked away.

OOC:

Get that little geek out of my party, Rob.

Prince Jackson sighed ever so slightly at the decision and looked back at Mark.

"Head back to the ship, and I'll meet you there in time." Then he nodded at his Marine guards, and two of them escorted the exchanged cadet back out, returning in silence once that was done, at which time Jackson drifted quietly a bit closer to the Federation delegate.

OOC:

Didn't know what else to post, but felt like I needed to post something since he was in my delegate's party.

The human shot a glance back at the Water Caste tau, a small glare still in his eyes as he did so. Of course, the trained diplomat just returned the death glance with his usual, calm, peaceful exposure that was created and trained to put humans those with like mind set at ease... God damn diplomats, an entire sub species of them! Regardless of which, the blue skinned alien gave him a small nod, giving him permission to go off to talk in private. However, the gue'vesa just KNEW that the slight twitch on the lips was something akin to 'don't start an exterminatus now, ya hear?'

Regardless of which, the still antsy human turned to look at the neko, his arms clenched tightly against the suit of his Imperial clothing that it crinkled the neatly folded cloth. "Yeah sure, I could use some time away from Por'el En'kair Neral," he said using the Tau's full name, a small insult between the two yet one the tau didn't seem to mind to much. "Lead the way stranger."

Meanwhile, Por'el En'kair Neral had managed to catch a glance of the fire caste tau looking at him curiously. This, the water caste member felt, was odd - and certainly out of Tau Empire behavior. For one, the Empire proper would never send a Shas to a diplomatic meeting unless it was a Shash'vre bodyguard to a water tau or an ethereal. Then there was the fact that any member from the exiled sept would most certainly not be recognized in any way, shape, or form, and a Shas would be so deeply disciplined that they wouldn't question that order. The culminated suspicions, combined with the fact he no longer had to keep the human out of trouble (he managed to do it anyway), caused Neral to walk towards the small group that had formed around El'Shas'ka, the taller but thinner tau waiting just outside the circle before finding a polite time to step in.

"Excuse me, but if I may be so bold I would like to introduce myself to my compatriat and the rest of you fine gentlemen," the tau spoke with the calm, almost musical tone of his finest english/galactic basic, so gifted where his caste with words and language. "My name is Por'el En'kair Neral, a pleasure to meet you all."

[OOC: My apologies Angenteria, I was exhausted and used the wrong account. XD]

(OOC: No worries.)

Hearing the name of his caste, El'Shas'ka couldn't help but turn his head to see who has spoken, and sure enough, he was greeted by yet another tau standing before him. He smiled politely, truly glad to be conversing with another member of his race.

"Well met." He greeted the newcomer, with similar tone of basic, comparable to water flowing downstream. "I am Por'el Kor'vaa Yanoi Shas'ka, and you are most welcome." He paused for a moment before continuing. "You'll have to forgive me, but I am unfamiliar with your sept of birth. Is it, perhaps, a recent addition to the Empire?"

Shavar glanced around at all the delegates and quietly shot back another glass of vodka. "Well, at least furriness is not spread through the blood."

"Well friend, we were simply passing through this sector of the galaxy when we heard a transmission from some old friends we haven't seen in some time, so we decided to drop in. Good thing too, no one can throw parties like the Aumanii, well except for my good friend Aramar." he offered it to the Tau, continuing to grin. "Don't worry, its not like its alcohol or anything as awful as that, just filled with lots of Seratoniny goodness." he continued to hold it in front of Sun-moon's face, while speaking on an on. "Well you know, came to this party saw a few things..saw alot of...mutants and other freaks and decided you people would be alot more interesting..and I would be alot less likely to get a case of flea's." he chuckled softly. As for mutants and anthropomorphs, Arondahim didn't really care if they were here..if one was trying to bed him however, he might get rather vocal..and physically opposed to it. However, so long as nothing like that happened here, things would be fine and he wouldnt have a new rug.

Shirrah had been silent while the crowd of delegates ebbed and flowed. The most recent human delegates, the subtle and not so subtle ostracizing of the Federal representatives, the horrid slug-like being of a slaver, the woman who strikingly looked like images of the egyptian goddess Bast from old Terra, even the Tau were watched with relative indifference and calm by the Reikoan.

Even those who were relatively nearby seemed to have moved on to other matters. Shirrah did not wish to interrupt their conversations, but did have a few matters to deal with. It was time to make the rounds and attempt to open up trade relations with as many nations represented as possible. It seemed a forgone conclusion that the most xenophobic of the humans would likely outright reject any offers, so Bryn Shander, Binary, and regretfully their hosts the Aumanii were out of the picture. That did thankfully leave a good number of diplomats to speak to.

First was the Eluneyasa elves, and since Shirrah was still sitting right next to them, she simply turned, "Forgive my silence Priestess, Magistress. Things are moving quickly here and there is a lot to take in. Today's festivities may not be the best way to open trade relations, so let me give you this." Pulling a slim datapad out of what had looked like a small purse.
"This datapad contains galactic coordinates to a location where TRIAD has established a waystation for the purposes of interstellar commerce. I hope that sooner or later we will recieve your people there to discuss what it might be that our two nations can offer each other."

Standing up, Shirrah turned to the grouping of Angenteria, Enkair, and Tannelorn, Pulling another three datapads and offering one to each, "Forgive my interruption, I am Shirrah Venek El Siddou of TRIAD Enterprises. I simply wanted to give each of you these, in the hopes it may lead to future trade relations between our nations."

After this the Reikoan began to wander the room, doing her best to avoid xenophobic humans and slimy invertebrates both. Her path eventually took her to approach in turn the Cordian, Dersconi, Talonian, Myenyan, Regnum, Romandeos, Kindai, and Otagia delegates. Each was offered another datapad and as similar speech about wishing for future trade relations.
When at last she had seen to all the delegates she intended to approach for trade purposes, she looked for a seat out of the way to sit back and simply see how the rest of this function played out. For the moment her primary mission had been achieved, she had made official contact with a considerable number of other nations, which would hopefully lead to other trade ventures.

((OOC: I can't seem to keep up with the pace here for the moment. Anyone who's actually interested in doing trade RP with TRIAD is free to send someone over HERE (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=591387) so that trade talks don't disrupt the RP going on here. Shirrah hasn't left, but she's going to be quiet unless someone approaches her first.))

“Well it seems every thing has calmed down so far , so they assigned you to come to this place eh jackson?”

She was semi interrupted by the TRIAD’s seemingly shameless advertising of trade deals.

“I wouldn’t how you say...Trust a nation you’ve never met before, indeed this is the first time we’ve seen this cooperate nation, we’ve not had first contact with them, I wouldn’t be surprised if they where behind recent pirate raids. But alas and alack its your nations choice who to trust not the federations ”

She said it quite loudly bluntly and with a smile, her tail flicked behind her as she noticed the new delegation that seemed to have been late running around with slaves. It wasn’t the federations place to judge other nations or tell them what they could or couldn’t do.


Meanwhile she adjusted her uniform again, making sure it wasn’t looking unsavory, she looked at the imperial delegation with a smile once more, her purple hair was away from her eyes this time as she had adjusted it due to the wind.

The Sephirot fumbled with the datapad curiously. It had been a very long time since he had to deal with a computational device physically before. In Derscon, the unique nature of their sapient technology and organic psionics meant that actual physical interaction with computers had become almost pointless except in the case of overseeing repairs. Normally, users were psionically connected the computer networks.

After finally figuring out how to use it, he took in the information and shrugged. Well, he thought, he's not asking for alliance, and trade is always good. Sounds like it may be worth investigating.

Isahil nodded and lead the man over by the buffet table, refilling his own glass of white wine. "My nation takes a very dim view on slavery... and were it not for the various alliances and political backlash we would use open force to free slaves held by more brutish nations. But we cant. What we can do is put on a fake smile and endure a few minutes of time to free a few hundred thousand souls from a life of hell..." He paused. Smiling a bit as he could sense that the four neko's in the dropship were already in better spirits after conversing with the marines.

"In any case i would enjoy moving on to less morbid subjects. Would your naty have anything of intrest as exports?" He said, his tail flicking from side to side slowly.

The human gave a dry smile as he grabbed a drink, as well as refreshed his plate of food to nibble on, before he spoke. "Perhaps that is true... Personally I can't stand for such injustices, I've seen enough of evil in my childhood. The best thing that happened to my world was the tau coming," he said with a soft nod to Por'el Neral's direction. "They freed us from our chaos overlords, taught us the way of the Tau'va, and freely gave us technology to help improve our lives. Virtually overnight we became a world of slavery, death, rape, an anarchy and became a society that worked towards bettering itself and the rest of the sept. It was an amazing transition for my people."

"I suppose, I just can't believe there are people who haven't been awakened to what's possible for all," he'd say with a soft sigh before taking a soft munch on some food. "Which is why they only allowed me to come to this party with Neral making sure I didn't screw up to badly."


"You have an interesting given name for a por'el, my compatriot," he said with that polite smile before letting it drop slowly.

"Yes, our world of En'kair is a new sept," he'd speak, carefully choosing his worlds. "However, it is not apart of the Tau Empire my friend. We have been exiled from our people for following the ways of Shas'O Vior'la Shovah Kais Mont'yr and Shas'O Vera. All because we believe in a different way to practice the Greater good."

"You have an interesting given name for a por'el, my compatriot."

El'Shas'ka returned the polite smile with one of his own, before nodding. "I was not born in the Tau Empire." He explained. "I was born on Kor'vaa, in Angenteria." He considered, for a moment, of reminding the other tau about how Angenteria and the Tau Empire were staunch allies, but decided not too. And he totally dropped the idea after hearing what the Tau said next.

"Yes, our world of En'kair is a new sept. However, it is not apart of the Tau Empire my friend. We have been exiled from our people for following the ways of Shas'O Vior'la Shovah Kais Mont'yr and Shas'O Vera. All because we believe in a different way to practice the Greater good."

"I see." El'Shas'ka replied, cleverly masking the frown that his facial muscles wanted to form. "My position keeps me away from the happenings within the Tau Empire." He said, trying to avoid discussing how exactly that came to happen, or said 'different belief.' "Through my time away from the Empire, I have found that many species come to follow the Greater Good in their own way. While they many not call it by such an obvious name, the desire to improve and strengthen is universal."

Isahil nodded, refreshing his glass of white wine, as well as grabbing a plate and some orderves. He continued, releasing the glass to float in mid air as he sampled the food. "My people were enslaved long ago, taken as slaves, our telepathic abilities suppressed so we couldnt fight back." He paused, popping a small breaded food stuff into his mouth, chewing and swallowing it down with a sip of wine. "We thre off our bonds, shattering our homeworlds moon in the process. Years later we encountered humans, and our aincient enslavers. We allied with the humans against a common foe. But it was when we were recovering from the massive war that the imperial federation arrived." He paused. sighing. "Even combined with the human forces we were overwhelmed. Any planet that didnt surrender to imperial rule burned... billions were slaughtered, the survivors fleeing in whatever ships were capable. We managed to keep a stable government. We survived by moving between jungle planets, seeking refuge with anyone we could. We banded with others who had suffered the same fate we had. when our numbers grew enough we struck back. We siezed the imperial shipyards, as well as the ships they had stored in orbit waiting for crews. The imperials of course, couldnt stand for their flagship falling into "Pirate" hands. They rained down on our heads with everything they had, but we held them back, for three days before their fleet had exausted its numbers, some surrendering, others fleeing. We moved on teh capital... that was the only time in our history that a planet burned at our hands... We left that galaxy, opting to remain on our ships.... We've had numerous chances to find worlds and settle down, and anyone that wants to is allowed to do so. but those that do are few, and most of them come back unable to bear living somewhere that wasnt familiar and safe..." He sighed, taking a chair and began to take on his plate of food. "Now, we sell our services as the highest trained military force there is... We have yet to encounter another race with the same standards for the common soldier."

“Well it seems every thing has calmed down so far , so they assigned you to come to this place eh jackson?”

She was semi interrupted by the TRIAD’s seemingly shameless advertising of trade deals.

“I wouldn’t how you say...Trust a nation you’ve never met before, indeed this is the first time we’ve seen this cooperate nation, we’ve not had first contact with them, I wouldn’t be surprised if they where behind recent pirate raids. But alas and alack its your nations choice who to trust not the federations ”

She said it quite loudly bluntly and with a smile, her tail flicked behind her as she noticed the new delegation that seemed to have been late running around with slaves. It wasn’t the federations place to judge other nations or tell them what they could or couldn’t do.


Meanwhile she adjusted her uniform again, making sure it wasn’t looking unsavory, she looked at the imperial delegation with a smile once more, her purple hair was away from her eyes this time as she had adjusted it due to the wind.

Prince Jackson looked to the Federation representative.

"Yes, they assigned me to come here. I was in the area and not doing any business at the time."

He paused at that. Yes, she was definitely flirting with him. Something might have to be done about that, before long.

"As to this...TRIAD nation, we shall see. I have seen no evidence they were behind piratical activities anywhere, but the Office of Naval Intelligence does not make me privy to all its investigations. Clearance, you see."

He looked at the item handed to him by the TRIAD delegate. Trade. They had begun asking the Imperial Federated Systems for trade before really getting to know much about them at all. How...forward.

"So," he said, turning back to Nyti. "What's new in the Federation?"

((Placeholder. Sorry I haven't responded yet guys. Muse has taken a sick day today and I have been almost totally unable to muster the creative energies required to write a post. *sigh* I will however get to posting as soon as I can. Again, sorry for the hold-up.))

The Sephirot glared at the Red Talons representative, knowing Navarrone was just as angry beside him. "Good sir, that's a mighty bold and baseless claim to be making, saying your military is the best there is. Are you seriously suggesting that your soldiers are better than the Dersconi Medjinni or, most of all, the Aumanii Shock Troopers? If so, not only are you dead wrong, but there may be some problems."

Navarrone overheard Isahil's story. The last bit made him smile. 'Now, we sell our services as the highest trained military force there is... We have yet to encounter another race with the same standards for the common soldier.' Isahil said, brimming with confidence. Navarrone glanced at Kessler and The Sephirot. He knew both men had considerable military experience and he knew they probably heard Isahil. Aumanii military standards were difficult to meet, most classes have a 85% drop out rate, but Navarrone didn't bother mentioning it.

Navarrone drank a glass of water, his stomach felt sour after swallowing the aspirin, seemingly forgetting that mixing the stuff with booze makes it feel like you were drinking battery acid.

'One of my guys can kill a thousand of theirs. And I am willing to bet on that.' Sheikh nudged the Sephirot like a frat boy.

Shavar tried a glass of merlot instead while chuckling at Navarrone. "Probably. Hell, I'd like to see how many of his "best soldiers in the universe" can stand up to one Ekhaecan."

Sutfen Hotel Rooms

*CLICK*
"BOOM! HEADSHOT!"

The Sound of a bolt racking made half the Sutfen in the room tense before displaying varying degrees of annoyances. Why? Because the bastard had been doing it for the past fifteen minutes. Settled onto a table looking out of the window was the group's overwatch sniper. The massive railgun, which he had assembled a half hour ago, was settled on it's Bipod as he laid behind it, looking through the scope.

Ammunition laid two tables over, still crated. The gun wasn't even ready to fire as the Firing pin was packaged with the ammunition. The Sniper kept centering his Holographic sight on various people's heads at the Assembly and was pulling the trigger. A muffled *click* could be heard as the hammer released on what would have been the firing pin had it been installed. Then he promptly cheered; "BOOM! Headshot!" to everyone's annoyance.

The many Sutfen trying their best to complete their jobs and listen in on conversations as well as study facial and body anatomy that they could see on the various people in the assembly, were of course gritting their teeth as they labored at a tear jerking hard job listening and looking at who knows how many alien species and evaluating them.

The soft click and the exclaimation, "BOOM! HEADSHOT!" Finally snapped Audiographer Jessup Thurall's patience as she got up from her station and snapped at the Overwatch sniper's ear, drawing a goodly amount of blood as she spat out furr and snarled. "Shut up already! We are -attempting- to work here! Not only that you don't have your Ammunition or your firing pin in! Had we actually -had- a Delegate down there... And he or she got in trouble... And you were screwing around and didn't have your ammunition loaded... what would happen then?? HMM? Grow up and get to your job you lazy ass!" Snarled the Audiographer.

With a pained whine and an attempt to move out of the way blocked by the rifle he was playing with... The sniper's ears went back as he shrunk away from the Audiographer and nodded, "Y-Yes Ma'am. As you say Ma'am. O-O'course." Scooting out from the sniper rifle, the Sniper an off to bandage his ear and attempt to re-disassemble the sniper rifle. As it looked, it would -not- be needed.

Snarling infuraitedly, of course, the Audiographer moved back to her station to continue listening to the droning monologues and conversations going on. Amid the snickering of her peers of course. She sighed lightly, shaking her head as she placed the headphones back on and started typing... Saints preserve her sanity.

The Sephirot glared at the Red Talons representative, knowing Navarrone was just as angry beside him. "Good sir, that's a mighty bold and baseless claim to be making, saying your military is the best there is. Are you seriously suggesting that your soldiers are better than the Dersconi Imperial Army or, most of all, the Aumanii Shock Troopers? If so, not only are you dead wrong, but there may be some problems."

Prince Jackson turned calmly from where he was speaking to the Federation representative, a placating expression on his face. In reality, he was annoyed by the remaks the Red Talons delegate had made but he was not prepared to let it get to him as yet.

"Friends," he said, turning first to Sephirot. "There's not a need here to let a little bragging start a fight. This Assembly was called for peaceful reasonings, right? Besides which, brash as his words were, there is nothing wrong with any man taking pride in his people's abilities."

He then turned to face Isahil.

"That being said, sir, you might want to be more careful how openly proud you are."

'Is the assumption in this room that all humans fight as bad as the Coredians?' Sheikh laughed dryly. 'Even your average Federal soldier has more combat experience and fighting spirit than these... Who are they, The Red Talons? Even if the United Terran Federation only seems to fight wars against opponents that are usually about as civilized as a pygmy tribe.' Navarrone turned to Prince Jackson and smiled widely. 'I apologize if it this bothers you, sir. But the Aumanii are proud of their achievements, be they professional, personal or historical. The amount of money that the tax payer puts into our military force, to insure that our armed forces are the best paid, best trained and best cared for in the galaxy makes me doubt the claims of these extra-galactic foreigners, who've yet to earn a reputation amongst us. We are Old Guard, and for that I can never apologize. The bonds that myself and the Sephirot share as warriors are unbreakable and our expressions are a right we earned through extreme sacrifice at our personal expense.' Navarrone removed his artificial arm to prove a point, gesturing at Prince Jackson with it.

'I lost this on a diplomatic campaign. I'm probably more machine than man now a'days and my active military career was only fifteen years. Why, my left eye here, I lost that while on an intelligence gathering mission on Arcturus IV, when we were ambushed in a washroom by a gang of Zandozans. They had sharp teeth, but I have huge guts...'

Navarrone's own pompous sense of martial superiority started to show through as he started on a long tirade about his own past military escapades. Many of his exploits are still classified to this day.

"So," he said, turning back to Nyti. "What's new in the Federation?"


Nyti responded with a swift voice and a smile.

"Not much the usual keeping the peace here and there..."

She sighed at Isahil's boasting responding to Jackson.

"Leave them if they want to fight we should let them. The arrogant verses the arrogant, it should be fun to watch, maybe even the drunks will get in on it"

She laughed out loud at her sharp toung.

OOC: Good job paying attention to the thread. In case you didn't notice yet, there is no post to reference in which you could possibly be commenting on. The fact you even posted and then edited your post without realizing I deleted my post within less than a minute of it being up means you should pay attention more. :P

OOC: Good job paying attention to the thread. In case you didn't notice yet, there is no post to reference in which you could possibly be commenting on. The fact you even posted and then edited your post without realizing I deleted my post within less than a minute of it being up means you should pay attention more. :P

It was up when I finished editing my post. ;)

It was up when I finished editing my post. ;)

OOC: Then clearly, your tubes were clogged.

OOC: Then clearly, your tubes were clogged.

My tubes are always clogged. Everything concerning me is Clogged. lol

Smiling at a job well done, Psaforous looked about him to see where to spread the love to next. As he possessed eyes throughout his body, this merely involved them bulging alarmingly, and swiveling on short fat stalks before retracting into his bulk.

With a snort of glee he saw the most important part of assembly had previously eluded his notice, the buffet. Setting off at a speed remarkable for a monopoidal creature he squeezed between chattering delegates and leaders. Arriving he could barely contain his glee, and a range of bodily liquids, with as many of his tentacles as he could muster he grabbed at the array of delicacies and arranged them in a pile on the ground before sliding over them with a grunt of satisfaction.

Meanwhile, the various strong drinks from assorted corners of the galaxy had combined with the menagerie of abominations and the eating habits of some of the delegates and forced Kessler to the restroom where he purged his system rather violently.

High above in orbit, the sensors officer on the Jannarii cruiser Ridgewood idly scanned the lake and surrounding area with the extensive suite at his disposal. The bio sensors picked up countless fish hiding in the reeds on the southern shore. Using the magnetometer, he spotted an old shipwreck at the bottom of the lake. Intrigued by the possibility of more sunken treasures, he panned the scope along the shoreline. An electric car passed by on the road, its electric motors lighting up brightly on the screen. He followed it for a few hundred meters before noticing an even brighter object showing up. Switching to the IR scope, he could see several humanoids in a room, either gathered at a window or busy building something that had a significant power source or disassembling it. Needless to say, they were most likely up to no good, and even more likely not invited.

"Captain, looks like we've got a hotel room full of spooks with a powerful weapon overlooking the convention center." reported the sensors officer.

"Call the Foreign Minister and inform him." replied the cruiser's commanding officer.

Shortly after, Kessler's pocket began to vibrate. Removing a small handheld from his pocket, he answered the call. Having just finished praying to the god of wine and revelry at his porcelain altar, he was busy wiping his mouth as he received the report from the Ridgewood.

"I see." began the Jannarii foreign minister. "They're not Aumanii, I can tell you that much. The others may not have noticed, but this place is full of Shock Troopers. They would have no need for long range fire support. Whoever they are, they're not here for cake and pie. Take them down, but make it look like fireworks in celebration of the GA. Kessler out. As Kessler hung up his handheld and returned it to his pocket, he returned to the the party.

On the Ridgewood, a series of hatches on the ship's ventral VLS installations popped open. One by one a small swarm of missiles left their cells and shot towards the lake far below.

In the convention center, Kessler stood at the window and watched the lake. "I hear that the Lake Patricia chamber of commerce has planned a fireworks display for us. I think it should be starting soon." stated the Jannarii foreign minister as he sipped something from a martini glass. Several of the others in attendance gathered at the window to watch as the missiles, long since having cut their engines, started air-bursting over the lake and near the hotel. They were amazingly bright and colorful, each one armed with a special flare designed to signal a fleet to attack, retreat, fall into formation, and several other things coded by color. Red, green, yellow, white, and blue, the sky was filled with the bright lights that reflected off the pristine surface of the lake.

While everyone was mesmerized by the flares, however, one extra missile glided towards the hotel, its targeting system guiding it right through the very window that the sniper had been looking through. Within a millisecond of penetrating the large pane of glass, its warhead detonated, spraying the room with burning magnesium and a bright, bright white light.

He'd been standing around for awhile. A nondescript grey suit, a nondescript grey hat, and a lapel pin that resembled.. well, nothing at all. His name was James Willers, and he looked down at his business card. It had probably been a bad idea to bring it, all things considered. The representative from the Realm, he had been brought over by shuttle, and hadn't talked to anyone yet.

Listening, he had found, was much more productive. A few major powers, a few eccentric powers, and a few minor ones. The Galactic Assembly looked to be fairly useless militarily, but no doubt it would help prevent those tiresome wars that eventuated solely because nations failed to do a thorough alliance background check pre-embargo.

He looked over at Shavar.

A Dersconi. Probably one of the only civilized people here. No, that's a little harsh. The Aumanii have more than enough firepower to be considered civilized.

With that thought gone, he sat down, quietly listening and waiting. Eventually someone would come to talk to him, but showing any cards right now seemed a little too forthright, especially for a power like the Realm.

"We have Handheld interce- Shit. Cover's blown! Grab what you can. Fry the rest!" The whole group immediately scrambled into action as they began grabbing what few storage devices they saved their work on. Others were busy putting in the command codes to fry the unmarked Surveillance Equipment (Sutfen Surveillance Equipment is not marked or anything. So as not to lead back to them.).

Time was short, as the call went up calling for a strike... The Intercept Officer swore, "Leave it. Their calling in a strike, it'll be fried! MOVE! MOVE!" The Whole group grabbed what they'd packed and began hauling ass down the hallway. Armed with nothing but four silenced gyrojet pistols... The group was busy hauling ass when the missile hit the room. It destroyed every last bit of sensor equipment, and falling debris inside the building wounded one of the Sutfen. Helping the wounded Sutfen the group retreated out of the building to search for evac. Unable to bring vehicles they had opted for a covert insertion and extraction. They decided to just pack it down the alleyways.

Lucky for them, storage devices were small. They'd left everything else behind. As the Sutfen Espionage team retreated however, the Snoop-Boat had a been oogling the ships in Planetary Orbit. It was in the Gravity well to mask it's gravitic signature. And with a good Two thirds of it's tonnage devoted to stealth-based technology such as heat-sinks and such... It sat there and had in fact noticed the Missile launch that ended with them loosing contact with their Team...

This was duly noted.

OOC: Though, I'd like to point out... Not that I'm going to call you or demand you change your post. That while I wasn't doing anything destructive... Your orbiting an Aumanii planet and at an Aumanii event. The Aumanii (I'm guessing.) planned the even to a T. And your Warship in orbit promptly just started raining missiles down on their planet... Harmless or not.

“Lord Parsely.” he cried at the leonine form of the Otagian delegate. “Wait that can’t have been right, those mammary growths are much too large for it to be a ‘Lord’ anything, I do wish you people would do away with genders, it’s so redundant, and so underclass.”
Sekhmet bared her teeth in an almost believable facsimile of a smile, nodding slightly towards the massive alien. "I believe you may have me confused with my associate, the Lord Ptah. I am Sekhmet, and my compatriot here is the Lord Aten."

The miniature sun paused in its orbit of the lion-headed goddess, bobbing in greeting. "Welcome, Psaforous Galn," its ethereal voice chimed. "It is a rare honor to see a representative of the O'oolhn."

Navarrone, now with a gullet full of aspirin, had returned to the party. The Otagian delegate, whose name he had trouble pronouncing, greeted Navarrone. 'Yeah, I seem to have a bit of a reputation. I'm glad you could make it to the party. I think we'll be getting started on dinner soon... After that we'll be hearing some speeches. So I hope you brought a Gamestation Mobile or something to keep yourself busy.' Sheikh laughed, making a reference to a popular Aumanii portable video game system.
The goddess smiled, taking a seat in midair. "I do believe I can find something here to entertain myself," Sekhmet smirked. "Failing that, I'm perfectly capable of manufacturing my own diversions."

Illustrating her point, a swarm of sunmotes coalesced into a large clay jar, filled to the brim with rich, foamy beer. Lifting the container with one hand, Sekhmet downed a good quarter of its volume in a single pull. Setting it down, she grinned broadly at the Aumani ambassador.

"I'd offer you a drink, friend, but unfortunately divine refreshments mix poorly with the digestive tracts of mortals."

Galn shivered as the voice of Bast met him from a distance, privately he, and many others at the Court dreaded the infrequent visits of the QUETZAL. Frankly, they were creepy.

The miniature sun paused in its orbit of the lion-headed goddess, bobbing in greeting. "Welcome, Psaforous Galn," its ethereal voice chimed. "It is a rare honor to see a representative of the O'oolhn."

He extended his tentacles in a complex pattern toward the sphere as it moved towards him, shrinking and expanding in traditional greeting. “Lord Aten, it is an honour to meet you.” Yanking on the chains around his girdle the slaves prostrated themselves until their heads touched the ground. “They speak of your glorious exploits in hushed voices around the Dias.”

“I formally and humbly extend to you, oh mighty lord, the greetings of my Master, the Lord of All O’oolhn, the Dominus of creation itself. From whom life, and power flows. May his wisdom shine on you and all of us.”

From within his complex set of interflowing lungs he sighed with relief, happy to have completed the task from his creator.

[[OOC: TRIAD: Absolutely no offense taken in any context, Galn is both incredibly odious and oblivious, he won't understand objections to slavery but he also won't notice any snub.]]

Shirrah had been keeping her eyes on the room for a while now, using subvocal comms to consult with the rest of the TRIAD delegation, which were lodged elsewhere. Shirrah herself had been deemed sufficient presence in the actual function, so she was 'point man'. Since her stated 'mission' at this event was to make formal, if however brief, contact with any new nation she could identify.

Going over a mental list, Shirrah had at least introduced herself and offered a datapad to the Eluneyasan, Angenterian, Tannelorn, Enkair, Cordian, Dersconi, Red Talon, Myenyan, Regnum, Romandeos, Kindai, and Otagian delegates. The information on names and affiliations had been obtained through scouring public datanets, as well as simply asking the local staff. Some of the locals had looked at her oddly, but it was tame compared to the open hostility of the Shanderian and Binary delegates.

For the simple fact of their hostility, Shirrah had reported the the Shanderian and Binary nations as unapproachable. After consulting the advisory team, who were in contact with the Branch Offices, the Federal Union had been deemed a risky contact at this time. Also on the list of "Unapproachables" was the O’oolhn, due to their open practice of slavery, one of the few capital offenses in TRIAD territory; formal relations with such a nation would be strained at best, and outright impossible at worst. Victoria, who's name and affiliation Shirrah herself did not know and could not find out, was ignored simply because Shirrah did not even know she was a delegate; the woman had kept to herself since arriving and could have simply been someone else's guest.

That left three identified delegates, and one unidentified newcomer on the list of people Shirrah still needed to approach and offer a datapad to. When the Shanderian ran off, presumably to relieve himself, Shirrah took the opportunity to cross the room and approach Navarrone of the Aumanii.
Smiling pleasantly, Shirrah bowed slightly at the waist, "Overlord Navarrone, I apologize for avoiding my host up till now. I thought it best to distance myself from those in your company who find my existance... unsettling. I will come to the point. My purpose at this event is to attempt to make formal contact with as many nations of these stars as I can. I was told that if the time and opportunity to discuss possible trade relations in detail did not present themselves, I was to offer these datapads to any delegate who accepted them. The device contains the galactic coordinates to a star system where TRIAD Enterprises has recently completed construction of a trade outpost I am told is to be named the "Profitable Ventures". We at TRIAD would be honored if the Aumanii people would care to send an envoy to the station, again assuming that the opportunity to discuss trade does not present itself here."

The Reikoan woman paused after the somewhat long speech to gague Navarrone's reaction, then continued, "Please forgive me, there are actually two or three more delegates I need to speak to, for the same reasons. By chance do you happen to know the name of that gentleman, and his national affiliation?" The question was asked as Shirrah pointed to James Willers, the Realm delegate.

((OOC Note: Happy now Auman? =^.^= New Haven, Belkaros, you two are on Shirrah's "list" of need to approach. Same for Hyperspace Travel, but since his/her post did not indicate official title or even IC national name/title, Shirrah doesn't know who James is, and I don't know what to have Shirrah call him.
I'm in a similar boat with Naggeroth's delegate. There wasn't enough information in the only post for Victoria to operate from. Fenix, no offense intended ICly, but TRIAD *hates* slavery and slavers, and won't have any formal contact with them except the hostile kind. TFU, I figured I'd hold off contacting you here, since you're coming to my station *anyway* on other matters. Bryn, Binary, I hope it's neither a suprise or insult that Shirrah will not be approaching either of your delegates, nor will TRIAD be contacting you two at *this* event.
Finally, I apologize to Cordia, Dersconi, Red Talons, Myenya, Regnum, Romandeos, Talros, and Otagia for not fleshing out your "contacts" better in my last post. I wanted Shirrah to at least hand out datapads to as many folks as possible in a short span of time. Since each discussion would have been a very similar or identical speach, I figured I would just list who all Shirrah went up and said the same thing to. =^.^=
I will end this by saying that if anyone wants to approach Shirrah and expand on the conversation, you're welcome to do so here. Otherwise, I invite anyone here to send some characters out to the Station (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=591387) and we can talk trade there.))

Navarrone gladly accepted the datapad from Shirrah. 'I appreciate this gesture very much, Shirrah. I foresee excellent relations between our peoples.' Navarrone's head jerked towards the sounds of explosions outside the convention center, a split second later Mr. Kessler announced the unannounced fireworks display. The men exchanged knowing looks and Navarrone made like a tree and got the fuck out of there.

Speaking into a cufflink and flanked by a dozen other men in suits brandishing firearms, out of sight of the other delegates, Navarrone said 'Lock down the area, no one gets in or out.' He had a look of determination on his face, like he hadn't worn in a very long time. He reached into his jacket pocket and removed the gold plated revolver that was gifted to him by the Sephirot, checking the cylinder for ammunition. Navarrone stopped suddenly and drew back the hammer on his revolver. He looked over his men before looking dead ahead, out of a pair of glass doors. A swarm of black uniformed troopers were positioning themselves around the exits of all the buildings. Armored fighting vehicles, which already manned checkpoints on all the roads leading into the compound were on high alert, well... Higher alert anyway. Suffice it to say, the whole damn place was swamped with fighting men and police officers. Drones patrolled the air, surveilling the places where it was difficult to place human eyes. Everyone was being stopped and questioned. Thankfully, the delegation was blissfully unaware of the events taking place outside as there was no clear view of the ground below them, some five stories down.

'Someone get me a radio. It's go time.'

OOC:

Of course, snipers have to show up when I'm at work. Forgive the post, I'm tired.

The Sutfen were moving as quickly as possible away from the damaged hotel. One of them was bleeding rather profusely. It gave a slight trail as much as the Sutfen tried to 'field bandage' the leg. They had to find a safehouse, somewhere they could hide and wait for the area to die-down and not look for them. They had to tend to their wounds and hide the information they'd gathered away for later pickup.

They decided to store the small chips behind a brick they'd discovered was loose in a back alley. Marking it with a special tape that reacted to a specific type of Ultraviolet light they were clean of evidence, other than the wound and the fact they had been in the blown up hotel room. But they figured the Ensuing fire and such would cleanse the room... and Probably the rest of the burning building of their being there.

As guards and lock downs became more prevalent, they were finding it harder and harder to get past the roadblocks and keep out of Drone's view. They were further slowed down by their wounded comrade as they tried to figure out something to say if.. No, when... they were caught.

A scout dog was hungrily sniffing away at something, yanking hard on her leash. Her handler adjusted his rifle so it didn't dig into his shoulder so deeply, rattling the contents of his bulbous backpack. The section was following a trail of blood, nothing particularly gorey or telling of serious wound, but still enough for the dog to track. The closer they got, the more frenzied the dog's barking became. The handler was being dragged, handled you could say, down a deadly rabbit hole. The men assumed that the explosion had something to do with Turcosian freedom fighters. What they didn't realize was that it was something far less run of the mill. The search patterns were narrowing out the possible hiding places. More troops flooded in to the region. Terrorist attacks on diplomatic conferences were serious business and not to be tolerated. Hopefully this whole thing would be over without a shot being fired and Navarrone, who was now overseeing the capture of Kessler's conspirators, was now issuing orders through a secure military radio in the managers office.

Back at the party, a trio of men clutching at pistols in their jackets walked slyly up to Mr. Kessler and said 'The Overlord would like to speak to you in his office. Immediately.'

How is it that Kessler knew about this alleged fireworks display when Navarrone himself had never heard of it? Nothing of it what so ever taking place at all in the build up to the conference. Yet all of a sudden an unannounced display of revelry just happens to blow up and set fire to a hotel room, scattering flaming debris all over the courtyard. Thankfully no one had reported any injuries so far and it was believed no one had been in the room at the time, but the damage such an even could do to his reputation if the truth got out would be devastating.

'When you find them try to keep one of them alive for enhanced interrogation. I will be carrying out the duty myself. And make sure the dog gets at them for at least two minutes. Two minutes exactly. That is all, Captain.'

"Very well." replied Kessler. He had been expecting that Navarrone would be wanting to speak with him. Going with the men, the Jannarii foreign minister walked into the Overlord's 'office'.

"Overlord." greeted Kessler as he entered, bowing.

'Some people say I'm paranoid, but that still doesn't mean people aren't out to get me. Kessler, those weren't fireworks. Someone blew up a hotel room across the street from possibly the most important diplomatic conference of the last five hundred years and I can't help but think you had something to do with it. I have the entire list of the days events right here, all of which are now cancelled. And since the hotel in which we were going to hold yourself and the rest of the party in has caught on fire and is now currently burning unchecked, they will all probably have to go home immediately. In fact, we have hoppers on the way here to pick everyone up and make sure they all go home. Except for one person, Mr. Kessler. You. I think you know something and I think you should probably tell me right now.'

Navarrone was just a little bit angry, but he managed to barely hold it in check. He sat at the managers desk, leaning back heavily in his seat, thrumming his fingers on his new revolver.

OOC: Auman, I'm not sure. But... -will- it be possible sometime in the future to retrieve the data Storage devices I've posted about? or is, once this Assembly is over will the planet be locked down indefinitely? As in, no 'tourists'?

"What are you implying, Overlord?" asked Kessler.

"Are you suggesting that my ship called me and told me that scanners had picked up a long range energy weapon in a hotel room facing the convention center? If that were the case, I'm sure you wouldn't suggest that I gave the go ahead on a strike designed to make the elimination of some quite clearly non-Aumanii rogues look like an accident that the chamber of commerce was responsible for. I mean, what would possibly give you the idea that burning a hotel down in a decidedly non-military way to prevent the possible assassinations of diplomats from a dozen nations is something that I would do?" questioned Kessler, feigning offense.

Navarrone glared at Kessler for awhile. He was good friends with Bryn Shander's King Valos, but it didn't mean he had to like this fuck. Navarrone opened the bottom drawer of the manager's desk and reached in for what seemed like an eternity, digging around for some sort of malevolant object. When he was done he produced a bottle and two glasses.

'I would never suggest anything of the sort, Mr. Kessler.' said Sheikh, pouring two glasses of Aumanii Hoarse Bourbon. They call it hoarse because of the obvious repercussions it has on your voice. 'I am suggesting, however, that you may like some bourbon.'

OOC:

I'd like to discuss any possible roleplays of that nature before they take place, Suftinai. Just so we're on the same page about things. Roleplays of this sort are usually best done with some preparation beforehand. Other than that pre-condition, I have no problem with you retrieving that information.

"I should hope not. That would be terrible." said Kessler. "Bourbon would be swell, however. Now that I'm not surrounded by abominations and pigs that eat with their hands, I'm sure that I'll be able to handle my drinks much better as well." replied the Jannarii foreign minister as he accepted the drink from Navarrone.

"You might want to tell your fire department to use a class D fire suppressant or sand rather than water or carbon dioxide systems, as it would appear that the hotel was hit with a magnesium firework."

OOC: auman what happened to our conversation?

As the Sutfen fled,the animals chasing their tails kept getting closer and closer. One of the Sutfen looked up, "Jessup! They have scent on Rillian's blood! They will find us any minute! What do we do?"

The Audiographer looked down at her gun and grit her teeth... Tossing the gun away. "Throw your guns away and keep moving until they catch up with us. I'm trying to think Mikhal, just hell Rillian as best you can." She cased back at the struggling Rillian with his badly mangled leg which had barely been patched up. Those Bandages were still dripping and he suckedi n a pained breath with every of their quick steps despite the help from Mikhal.

As the group ran, their shadows flickering before them as they ran from the towering inferno... The sounds of Dogs behind them howling and barking behind them grew ever closer. They barely got out of the way into the shadows as a Drone with a spotlight swooped overhead. The hurried sounds of voices and the clank of treads from Armored Fighting vehicles were menacing background themes to their horrid flight from near death and destruction. Worst yet, their extraction was sitting nearly a full AU away behind a planet's gravity well.

They didn't even have the information with them that they needed! They were being chased down, hunted like animals and with every step... With every wavering gasp of pain from the one called 'Rillian', every drop of blood... Their chances go slimmer and slimmer as the hope for escape faded before their very eyes.

Yet, with nothing more to do but face certain doom... They charged onward in their hopeless flight, knowing in the end it would be failure.

((OOC: Damn, looks like the party's over.))

**********
Conference Grounds - Lake Shore - Several Minutes Ago
**********

Eschen had been wandering about the conference grounds for a good while now. Ever since leaving the function space to seek some solitude and distance from those... humans. Even back home, she had never gotten along with more than a handful of Gaians, and so far these humans weren't any different. Arrogant, self-centered, xenophobic, hateful creatures!
Pausing for a moment to drink from the lake shore, Eschen looked up as the celebrations began overhead. Settling onto her haunches to watch the fireworks display, then blinking as she realized that the fireworks displays actually seemed to be coming down from the sky instead of up from the ground. Her head tilted in curiosity, then her ears went back in alarm when one of the "fireworks" suddenly veered and slammed into the side of a nearby hotel!

The Khyrolii was on all four feet and running for the conference building by the time the lockdown was announced. The four foot tall, canine/feline seeming alien was trying to get back inside when the Aumanii troops were assembling. She was too late.

Reaching out with her mind and connecting with her telepathic-linked comms, she alerted the advisory team to get out of the hotel immediately! Next Eschen searched for and found Shirrah's mind and sent a warning to the Reikoan.


**********
Conference Grounds - Inside - Now
**********

Shirrah blinked at Navarrone looked over at that horrid Mr Kessler, then suddenly rushed off without answering her question. Eventually she shrugged and put the question of the new arrival aside for later and started walking towards Imperator Newman. Keeping a pleasant smile on her muzzle, she offered her hand in a friendly manner, "Imperatore Newman, it is a pleasure to meet you! Forgive my interruption, I am Shirrah Venek El Siddou of TRIAD Enterprises. I simply wanted to introduce myself and the nation I represent. TRIAD is a corporate nation newly arrived to these stars, and we are eagerly looking for contacts and potential customers and trading partners. Please allow me to give you this, this datapad contains galactic coordinates to a location where TRIAD has established a waystation for the purposes of interstellar commerce. I hope that sooner or later we will recieve your people there to discuss what it might be that our two nations can offer each other."

Shirrah waited for a few moments for any reply the Imperator might have, then politely excused herself, "My apologies, will you excuse me a moment? I see another delegate I need to speak to. Feel free to come find me if you have any other questions however."

Next she approached Ambassador DeFortatem in the same manner, smiling and offering a handshake or a bow before starting her introduction, Ambassador DeFortatem, it is a pleasure to meet you! Forgive my interruption, I am Shirrah Venek El Siddou of TRIAD Enterprises. I simply wanted to introduce myself and the nation I represent. TRIAD is a corporate nation newly arrived to these stars, and we are eagerly looking for contacts and potential customers and trading partners. Please allow me to give you this, this datapad contains galactic coordinates to a location where TRIAD has established a waystation for the purposes of interstellar commerce. I hope that sooner or later we will recieve your people there to discuss what it might be that our two nations can offer each other."

The speech was not rehearsed, but it was identical to the one she had just given the New Havenic Imperator. If the Belkan ambassador had been close enough and been listening, he would know right off that for all her seeming genuine pleasure to meet him, Shirrah had not real idea who he was, and was doing this for show. But then, such was often the case with diplomacy.

Like before, Shirrah waited long enough to listen to any initial comments or replies from Ambassador DeFortatem, and was about to excuse herself when suddenly she blinked, then doubled over, holding a hand to her temple. The force of Eschen's telepathic warning, delivered with such emotion and intensity as to be certain to breach her mental defenses and be heard, had suddenly given the Reikoan woman a splitting headache. A moment's expression of fear and panic crossed her face as she turned to find a window and look out at the hotel where the support team had been staying. The fear grew when she realized that it was this same building which was now quite well on fire.

For the first time in her diplomatic career, Shirrah was at a complete loss for words and actions. For once, she had no idea what to do about the situation...

OOC:

\o/
YAAY! Endless source of excitement!

OOC: The rest of the conference will be taking place at Zhamssassar Fortress after Auman posts.

Kindei was standing in the group of representatives, exchanging dialogue and basically "shooting the shit" as they called it on some worlds, when a person walked up to him and handed him a datapad. The delegate was a one named Shirrah of a TRIAD Enterprises. She offered trade relations between their nations and have given him this. When he glanced at the datapad, he saw it had the location of a trade station where they could send people to conduct trade. He didn't see any reason not to take them up on it; they could use a new source of revenue and trade helped begin good relations with a new nation.

He was distracted, however, as a comment from the Red Talon delegation started off some angered debate at the statement that they held the best soldiers period. The Aumanii and Dersconi delegates were not pleased with this.Navarrone spoke about his people's qualifications, how experienced his friends were and how much he had lost. When he was doing speaking, Kindei quietly spoke. "I do not doubt your experience, my friend. Nor do I claim my soldiers can beat yours in quality. I'd say they are fairly close, but you have more money, budget, experience, and time put into your soldiers. Our worst foes have been the Akki pirates. While it has kept us on our guard and experienced, we have not gone through what you have. And we understand this and respect it. In fact, if anything, we'd like to learn from you, if possible." He gave a smile to Navarrone and the others, enhancing his point.

Whatever would have been said next was diverted as his eye caught the sight of fire and looked to see a building on fire. Some fireworks must have hit it, since he heard them go off after Kessler spoke. But wait...his eyes narrowed. Fireworks do not do that much damage to buildings, and only magnesium ones could cause a fire like that. His eyes narrowed but he kept his emotions from showing. From change of sense in the party, the Aumanii and others knew about it and were dealing with it. He did not know much about the Aumanii but what he did know was that they would not do something like this to scare them or some other tactic.

'Ladies and gentlemen.' Snake Hortarii was speaking through a microphone. 'An electrical fire has broken out at the hotel across the street and for the sake of safety, we've been asked to evacuate for the time being. We have arranged for helicopters to take us to Zhamssassar Fortress where we will continue the remainder of the conference. I hope you don't find the interruption of the party to inconvenient, I assure you that food and drink will be available to you all on the flight to our new lodgings. We have taken the time to inform your governments in the change. If you will all please join me on the roof?' Hortarii wasn't giving up anything with the diplomatic way he spoke. The silver tongued bastard was able to convince an elderly pensioner to give up her last dinar, which he actually did when he reformed the national pension plan.

Shock Troopers, dressed in fine Cyprian suits waited at the door way. They were apparently unarmed, but all of them carried enough firepower to shoot down several aircraft or blast through walls, decimating playgrounds or maternity wards.

----

'You hear that?' A grizzled veteran grumbled to his section master. He'd heard hushed voices just around the corner, in a damp, piss stained alleyway. The section master drew his pistol and flashlight and leaned around the corner cautiously. Crouching low, and with little of his profile exposed, the section master peered around the wall. He scanned the shadows until he happened upon three people tending to a wounded man.

'Get your fucking hands in the air, now!' Shouted the section master tersely, jolting into the alleyway. A section of Shock Troopers followed, arms shouldered and with their tactical lights blazing. They could have just been civilians injured in the blast, but these guys weren't taking any chances.

A cacophony of short and often profane orders came from the Shock Troopers. 'Place your hands on your head, interlock your fingers with your palms facing up. You! Get on your fucking knees, now! I'll blow your god damn head off if you don't listen to me!' The eight man section moved to surround the suspects. The section master stayed to the rear of his men, calling in their location to his superiors. The belching growl of an IFV changing gears could be heard not too far away, presumably moving to cut off the other end of the alleyway.

----

'I'll take note of that, Kessler. The only reason you're not being hauled to the morgue right now is because I trust the nation of Bryn Shander to not fire ortillery into a friendly nation. What is it that your men saw that made you think this was necessary?' Navarrone rattled some ice around in his glass, choosing not to drink the liquor purposely. He considering lacing the booze with a truth agent, but chose against it. 'I ask because the courtyard is littered with debris and I want to know what we should be looking for when the forensic team arrives.' Navarrone assumed it was a sniper, probably Turcosian. He was still pissed off with the means that the Shanderans used and just a little disappointed his counter snipers didn't pick up on what ever it was they had just blown to pieces.

'Drink up.'

"I don't know exactly what they saw, since I was down here. What I do know is that they had several spooks on the IR and bio scopes gathered next to a window overlooking this building with another playing with something that lit up the magnetometer and several other sensors. It could have been a plasma cannon, it could have been a laser rifle, it could have been an AM bomb." explained Kessler taking a sip from his bourbon.

"What was clear is that it wasn't mine, and it sure as hell wasn't yours. Given that we have delegates from a dozen nations, including the Dersconi and that disgusting pig from New Haven, I felt that it was a big enough threat to not only myself but international peace that the spooks should be taken out. Unfortunately I hadn't counted on the morons upstairs to use the magnesium flare for the actual job." continued Kessler as he removed a small case from his jacket pocket. Opening it revealed a chequebook with the royal seal of King Valos printed on it and a small silver pen. "Since it looks like the hotel is a total loss, I will take responsibility and pay for it and all the mess that my shenanigans have caused right now. Just give me a ballpark."

'That hotel is a heritage site. It's over three hundred years old.' Navarrone said dryly, watching Kessler add more zeros to the cheque. 'Well, given your explanation, I'm sure it was in the best interests. Thank you, Kessler. If your story checks out, I'll be speaking to the King about this in a positive light.'

"I see..." said Kessler as he wondered if he should be using scientific notation on the cheque instead. "And how much is the property worth as a whole?" he asked.

When Navarrone was unable to come up with a number, he continued.

"I mean really, if I'm going to be paying this much for the damages I may as well just buy the property. It would be a fantastic place for an embassy what with the GA being built right across the street. I'll just add an additional zero and we can call it even."

'Ladies and gentlemen.' Snake Hortarii was speaking through a microphone. 'An electrical fire has broken out at the hotel across the street and for the sake of safety, we've been asked to evacuate for the time being. We have arranged for helicopters to take us to Zhamssassar Fortress where we will continue the remainder of the conference. I hope you don't find the interruption of the party to inconvenient, I assure you that food and drink will be available to you all on the flight to our new lodgings. We have taken the time to inform your governments in the change. If you will all please join me on the roof?' Hortarii wasn't giving up anything with the diplomatic way he spoke. The silver tongued bastard was able to convince an elderly pensioner to give up her last dinar, which he actually did when he reformed the national pension plan.

Shock Troopers, dressed in fine Cyprian suits waited at the door way. They were apparently unarmed, but all of them carried enough firepower to shoot down several aircraft or blast through walls, decimating playgrounds or maternity wards.
Bemused at the interruption, Keitaro made his way to the rooftop along with the other delegates. There, he could see the fire in all its bright glory. Hmm...quite a big fire for an electrical origin. Still, at least it's nothing like having an attack on a delegate like our curse seem to have inflicted on us.

Meanwhile, his apprentice Roger roasted a marshmallow on a stick thanks to the heat of the fire as they waited for the helicopters. Typical. Coredians certainly enjoy making light of interesting situations like this....

ikari saw the fire before the alarm went,he made for his ship and took off very quickly
"imperial Scott, this is call sign emp01 there has been a huge explosion,possibly artillery, requesting info now!"
"this is imperial Scott, we have information that the rest of the delegation have exited onto the roof, suggest evac?"
"will do, stand by for further intel"
the jumper sped round and landed on the roof of the center the rear hatch opened
"keitaro, i suggest that you and the other delegates get on board" ikari shouted
9 people managed to get on board
"il send help"ikari shouted as the hatch closed,the jumper sped off for the fortress
"imperial Scott this is emp1 send evac jumpers, their isn't enough room in here,also can you get info on the snoopers in the hotel?"

all along the flank of imperial Scott hangars opened and 20 jumpers exited(to help the delegates who are trapped on the roof)they sped towards the conference hall, and took turns landing on the roof

James turned and spoke to the Dersconi delegate?

"Who is that odd man? He seems a little... deranged."

He shook his head, amused.

"But where are my manners?"

He extended a hand.

"I am James Willers, delegate from the Fifth Realm."

[[I... I'm not sure what to say NERV, huge explosion ? [an hotel fire] artillery ? [that's a leap of cognition] his ship ? [since when was that parked nearby] 9 people managed to get on board ? [Does your nation often panic in such a manner, especally when offered transport to a new location because of a seemingly unrelated incident in a hotel building distant from your location ?]

And as for this whole Sutufunia sniper stuff, I personally liked the assembly being held outdoors [as i thought it was] but, that being the case, why would there be [or given that no-one quibbled with sutufunias location why was there] a tall building overlooking such a location. Why would it not have been swept, continuously, how did such a team make it to the planet, and why ? This place was purpose built to host such high sensitvity events and yet there's some dystopian warren of alleys nearby, were there such things near Camp David or Chequers ? Perhaps I missed them.

And Auman, 'enhanced interrogation' ? Really ?]]

PS. My guy is probably too large and heavy to travel by helicopter [again, in FT what place have rotary blades ?] If things don't calm down I'll take the chance to make an exit from this developing waziristan.

EDIT: Yeah, I'm not so bothered by the fact that what has happened is a bit off the wall, just so long as our responses make sense in context.

OOC: Auman, please note... The Sutfen arn't human, and are quadrupedal. =) Please refer to these picture: Pic 1 (http://damalia.deviantart.com/art/Concept-Alien-17635433) - Pic 2 (http://damalia.deviantart.com/art/Concept-Alien-2-17635589) - Pic 3 (http://damalia.deviantart.com/art/Concept-Alien-3-17635765) ... And Fenix, I really think this was all one big overreaction. I was just trying to be amusing in my post... If this spaceship was looking for power output, the room would've glowed pretty well from the surveillance equipment. Had there been a nearby forested hill I'd've bunkered down there. I was just trying to portray my faction in-character.

IC

The Sutfen who were trying to run for it immediately stopped when they were 'finally' caught.The Twelve german-shepherd sized beings easily laid down as the wounded one whimpered and yelped from the pain in his leg. None of them spoke, they laid completely down on the ground, heads on the ground, and covered their heads with their hands. Finally one of them spoke, nearly screamingo ut in a terrified way;

"No shoot! No shoot! Pleas of no shoot!" Cries out the Sutfen who was named Jorran, luckily his parsed and rough english was partially true. Despite being on an Espionage team... He was relatively counted as a 'Newbie', and hadn't been deployed on prior missions to this one. Thus he wasn't the best "Galactic Standard" speaker.

James turned and spoke to the Dersconi delegate?

"Who is that odd man? He seems a little... deranged."

He shook his head, amused.

"But where are my manners?"

He extended a hand.

"I am James Willers, delegate from the Fifth Realm."
"I'm not really sure. Afraid of fire, perhaps?" Keitaro chimed in, overhearing the Hyperspatial Travel delegate. "Keitaro Kaneda, Coredian delegate. Pleased to meet you."

In orbit-
"THEY DID WHAT!!!!" Screamed the captain, standing swiftly as the ship went to condition yellow. "Inform Isahil of whats happened up here. Give me a close view of the assembly..." He paused as the camera's trained in. "It looks like... yea, they hit the hotel nearby... thats still bloody close..."


meanwhile-

Isahil nodded as he looked up at the sky, half ignoring the Enkair delegate as he watched the missiles drop down into the atmosphere and begin to flare. The two marines by the dropship instantly dropping into crouches, rifles up and primed in case any of the missiles even twitched for the delegation. They relaxed a bit when they saw that the only damage was to the nearby hotel. He moved to the helecopters, waving the marines to keep track of his locator. He focused a mental connection between himself and one for the marines. ~Check on the slaves, return the dropship to the ship. wait for my call to pick me up.~ He closed his eyes.

[QUOTE=The Emperor Fenix;14751584][[I... I'm not sure what to say NERV, huge explosion ? [an hotel fire] artillery ? [that's a leap of cognition] his ship ? [since when was that parked nearby] 9 people managed to get on board ? [Does your nation often panic in such a manner, especally when offered transport to a new location because of a seemingly unrelated incident in a hotel building distant from your location ?]

OOC: our nation is very jumpy when the emperor is near danger also his jumper was parked on one of the landing pads also in my first post his ship landed alongside the lake(the jumper exited from a hangar)

'We're going to need more handcuffs.' Said the section master into his his headset. 'What do you mean, you should have eight pairs.' Responded their commanding officer. 'Just bring me more handcuffs and I think we need a medic.' The section commander ordered his men to detain the creatures. As this was going on, three gravitic VTOL aircraft, referred to as "helicopters" in the Aumanii vernacular screamed overhead towards the roof of the convention center, where the indoor party was being held since it started hours before. Sirens blared as the fire department was just recently allowed into the perimeter of the diplomatic summit to extinguish the blaze, class five fire suppressants were authorized, though the hotel was a total write off.

Sheikh Navarrone joined the others on the roof, smoking a cigarette and brimming with confidence. He would inform the others of what had just taken place when they were safe at Zhamssassar Fortress, an isolated military base in the forest of Ur some six hundred kilometers away. Navarrone wondered to himself if whomever organized this sniper attack would think it amusing. He knew, however, that mixing a diplomatic summt and foreign assassins is never amusing.

Navarrone looked over his shoulder and watched a wheeled medical transport come to a lazy stop some distance away. Military police officers were hauling several individuals into seperate police wagons under heavy guard. Medical personnel were attempting to work on an injured alien, but he assumed that since their physiology was completely unknown to Aumanii medical professionals that it would be dead soon. The hoppers landed one by one on the wide helicopter pad and started taking the delegation on board in a meticulous fashion.

A message was sent to the various warships in orbit, informing them of the truth of the matter. A Shanderan warship opened fire on a team of snipers that had somehow managed to penetrate the security cordon, which was assumed to have been heavily manned and tightly patrolled.

'I don't think there's enough room for you and your colleagues, sir. I'm afraid they'll have to stay here as we arrange for alternate transportation for them.' Navarrone of course was speaking to the disgusting sack of shit with the whirling tentacles and generally unfeatured trunk that had decided to bring slaves into a nation that has a keen hatred for the practice.

Navarrone was the last to enter the gravitic vehicles, he was on the same craft as the Sephirot, who was conveniently paired up with the gentleman from Hyperspatial Travel, who he had not gotten the pleasure of an introduction. 'Interesting party, is it not?' Said Navarrone, extending a hand to the man in the suit, which was Cyprian just like his.

OOC:

I never mentioned "enhanced interrogation" once in this thread and I'd appreciate if my musings on IRC or MSN weren't repeated here on the forum. As for the Shanderan missile attack, Sutufinai made his post a few minutes before I had to leave for work and I didn't have time to have them engaged by counter sniper teams which are all over the place. I chose to avoid long winded speeches about security preparations because I was under the assumption that this diplomatic peace summit wouldn't be infiltrated by trained murderers... and slave traders.

[[Placeholder post here [I'm moving so, there'll be a delay] just to say, something along the lines of "oh really, here, have my slaves, they're delicious." and handing them over to Auman, who I'm sure was really looking forward to them.]]

"Oh, alternative transport you say ?" Galn blinked down, at Navarrone in a valiant attempt to look good natured whilst lacking most of the constituents of a face. "Well that seems about alright, I mean, don't eat them all, they're delicious admittedly." With that he snapped off the remaining slaves ringed around him and shoved them limply in the direction of people he perceived to be staff.

"May as well lighten the load a bit." He said, removing his hat to reveal a not too different domed summit equally barnacle encrusted. "Why don't you keep this helmet, as a gift to you as such gracious hosts. it's only a shame was have to go before we got to the sea lion course, I was looking forward to that the most."

Rotating, he heaved himself up onto the helicopter and sat bubbling contentedly.

[[PS. Dashed out something, i'll either fix it up when i get back or just leave it and pretend i meant it all along.]]
[[PPS. I don't see a 'no slaves' on the door, and if people can hop into magically materialising jets and the slightest provocation, representation from the less popular sections of society is not beyond comprehension. As for Enhanced blah blah blah, maybe it was Bryn, i get you two confused sometimes.]

OOC: I'd just like to point out, only -one- of them was a trained killer. lol

On top of that, all of the evidence was destroyed by the superhot metal being sprayed into the room, the ensuing explosion, and the ensuing fire. He was also taking the Sniper rifle apart when people started shooting at him with orbital missiles.

**********
Lake Patricia Convention Center - Outside
**********

Eschen chewed up the ground as she raced for the convention center. Already she could see the Aumanii armored soldiers working to close the place off. As the quadrupedal Khyrolii raced towards them, her translator orb started screaming in Instella, #Let me through!#

Section Master Kardula had not yet been briefed on the exact nature of the security threat, only that he and his men were to secure the entrances and perimeter of the convention center. With swift efficiency typical of Aumanii Shock Troopers, the black-armored forms began setting up weapons emplacements at all the gates and any percieved weak points. One of Kardula's subordinates notified him of a possible intruder coming towards the main gate, where Kardula himself was overseeing things. After getting a bearing from the trooper, Kardula looked out towards the lake shore, and sure enough he could see what at first he took for a very large dog or a wolf, moving very fast. Kardula immediately ordered weapons raised, and was about to give the order when his armor's audio pickups registered something. Was the animal yelling at them? Yes! He could clearly hear the words now, and hesitated. It was just possible that this wasn't some animal, but one of the offworld aliens the GA summit had drawn to Vascilia in recent days. Not all of the offworlders were delegates, but all seemed drawn to the spectacle such an event posed. Kardula ordered his troopers to keep the creature in their sights, but that they were to hold fire for now.

Eschen saw the soldiers raise their weapons, but did not bother to evade or slow down until she actually neared the gates, where she finally slowed down to a slow trot, eventually stopping ten feet from the cordon. When the troopers still did not fire on her, Eschen took the initiative. The voice that chirped from the small orb hovering at her shoulder was intelligble, if a little higher pitched than human, #Let me through immediately! I am Eschen Koton, one of the delegates from TRIAD Enterprises! I demand you let me through immediately!# The Khyrolii was panting heavily, but she held her head high and proud while she waited for the guards to let her through.

Kardula was glad he'd ordered his troopers to hold fire. If this creature was indeed a delegate, and he'd opened fire... Well, his career being over just might be the least of his worries. Stepping forwards to meet with the "delegate", Kardula opened his hand, "If you're truly a delegate, I need to see your passport and invitation papers." The seasoned trooper was not about to simply pass an unknown alien through his post without at least verifying identity first.

Coughing in annoyance, Eschen telekineticly lifted both items out of the pockets in her saddle-packs. The items hovered over and were deposited in Kardula's hand. When the Aumanii soldier went over the documents and was satisfied of their validity, he turned back to Eschen, "As you can see, Mrs. Koton, there is a security situation. We'll arrange for you to be taken to Zhamssassar Fortress for the remainder of the conference."

Eschen blinked at the soldier. The delegates were being taken to another location? What about the TRIAD advisory team? Shaking her head, the orb chirped again, #No! We have additional personnel staying in that building! Looking over her shoulder, Eschen lifted a forepaw and pointed clearly at the Samson Ziggurat Hotel, which was now burning merrily on it's way to oblivion.


**********
Lake Patricia Convention Center - Rooftop
**********

After seeing the hotel on fire, and unable to reach the advisory team by comms, Shiirah had settled into a state of shock. Teegen was in that group, and had been her friend for years. Images of him being found charred beyond recognition haunted her as she numbly was lead away by the Aumanii staff. It wasn't until they reached the rooftop and the wind whipped one of her braids into her face that she finally snapped out of it and realized where she was. Suddenly she struggled with the helpful staff that had been ushering her along, "Wait! No! I need to speak with Mr, Navarrone immediately!"


**********
Samson Ziggurat Hotel
**********

Teegen managed to pull Klesta further into the shower, kicking the door closed at last. Everything had been so sudden, that only now did he have even a moment to reflect on the past minutes events. Four of the team had been asleep in the other room, while the rest of them were monitoring Eschen and Shirrah. Zhania had been a little upset that Eschen had left the conference center, but finally accepted the Khyrolii's excuse after reviewing the recordings of the overly hostile Bryn Shander and Binarian delegates. Even without Eschen there, Shirrah seemed to be coping and dealing quite well with the situation.

Suddenly there was a bright flash and a crack of displaced air from somewhere above their rooms. The next couple minutes were a jumbled collection of images of fire, screaming, more fire, and smoke filling the room. Daniel and Genia had tried to escape into the hallway, but a sudden wash of flames had consumed them both. The rest of the team tried franticly to find an escape route. Teegan didn't know what had happened to the others after the roof collapsed; he must have blacked out, becuase the next thing he remembered was waking up with himself and Klesta laying halfway in the bathroom, and the room beyond engulfed in flames. Teegan hadn't seen anyone else in reach, so he had just grabbed Klesta and dragged her the rest of the way into the bathroom. Working quickly, the Tejhiik wrenched the showerhead off the stall, hoping the water in the pipes didn't heat up enough to boil them alive. With the water spraying everywhere, Teegan hauled Klesta's unconcious form into the shower and kicked the door closed. That was the last thing he did, because shortly afterwards, the adrenalin wore out, and the pain from his wounded leg caused him to pass out again.

Boulevard in front of the Samson Ziggurat Hotel and Casino was littered with debris. Shock Troopers argued with firemen about preserving evidence, firemen argued back about needing room to do their jobs. After an hour the fire was put out, but not after the building became a complete write off. The assortment of slaves that were brought to the event were taken to a police processing center to await the arrival of an agent from Auman's immigration service where their citizenship papers would be finalized and their path toward integration into Aumanii society would begin as full citizens.

By the personal order of Overlord Sheikh Navarrone, no slave would leave Auman as the property of another. Unfortunately, if they chose to leave, the nation would be unable to protect them... Which is why allowing citizenship is necessary.

Before stepping onto the hopper, Navarrone heard the cries of the delegate from Triad. Shirrah urgently pleaded with him about her team that was stationed in the Samson Ziggurat. Navarrone sighed and cast a glance at the smouldering building. 'We have professionals working on putting out the fire. If they're alive, and that's a big if, they will find them and they will be cared for. Now please, get on the hopper.'

James turned and spoke to the Dersconi delegate.
"Who is that odd man? He seems a little... deranged."
He shook his head, amused.
"But where are my manners?"
He extended a hand.
"I am James Willers, delegate from the Fifth Realm."

Shavar chuckled. "This is truly madness. Judging by the security situation, I'm taking a gander that either the hotel was attacked, the hotel had bad guys, or both." He shrugged. "I wouldn't worry about it, though, Auman has fine security. Judging by the lack of explosions in the sky, I'm going to take a guess and say 'both' is the right option, so it was either the Aumanii or the Shanderans that fired on the hotel - it's the only way to explain the lack of ships exploding and falling from the sky. If that deduction is, in fact, correct, then the only reason they would fire on the hotel is if there were bad guys there. So I wouldn't worry." Shavar began to seem distant, but quickly blinked a few times, taking Willers' hand.

"I'm sorry, it's nice to meet you, Ambassador Willers. I am a Sephirot of the Amaranth, Foreign Minister of Derscon. Technically, it's a blasphemy of the highest degree to address a Sephirot by name, punishable by death, but that's mildly silly to enforce outside of Derscon proper. Shavar Katazarov, pleased to meet your acquaitence. And now, I suggest we get on the chopper."

"It's a pleasure, Keitaro. How is Coredia these days? Most of the news channels we get are syndicated by the Empire, so no doubt we miss a lot. Actually, if you'll excuse me..."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Shavar. It's an oddity, not being shot at while at some sort of conference. It makes me feel nervous. Once the first bullet's fired, I might well be able to relax."

He was swiftly met by Sheikh Navarrone upon entering the hopper. He smiled, inclined his head, and shook hands.

"Sheikh Navarrone, I can only presume. Your reputation precedes you. It is quite the interesting affair, though nothing unexpected. I had actually anticipated an attack on a grander scale, as is common in almost any diplomatic meeting. After all, we have aliens and anthromorphs in the same place. I'm feeling a little like attacking myself."

He looked over at the various assortment of aliens and furries, and shook his head. The galaxy had once been such a pristine place. Hopefully, he thought, it could be so once again.

Navarrone smirked and looked slyly around the hopper. 'From what I've been told, since you've already figured out what was going on, that the suspects we have apprehended were "anthropomorphic" in nature. What they were upto in the security cordon? Well that's any body's guess. When we arrive at the fortress I will be speaking to everyone here, especially the furries.' He spoke loudly, trying to be heard over the whine of the engines. Navarrone was a many of many suspicions. It was a hard sell for him to get the senate to allow him to host the Galactic Assembly here in the first place. The civilian government was fully aware of the dangers that lurked elsewhere in the galaxy and were content to remain in the same state of isolationist stagnation that it has been in for the last decade.

Nyti was at a loss this entire situation seemed to be compounding every second, she hurried behind the other delegates towards the awaiting helicopters her pink hair shifting as the wind picked up her form wafted by it she looked at the hotel and shrugged it was a fire nothing more a mere accident, she thought nothing of it. She briskly walked behind everyone, her slender form shifting form light to dark as she passed what ever lighting was provided, she caught up to the coreidan delegation, she looked at Keitaro and started to speak in a diplomatic yet loud voice, she could hear the engines of the choppers from down the hall.

“Quite a sight eh? I really don’t know what all the fuss is about it was a mere mishap. At least we get to see the rest of this country I’ve heard its quite a site.”

By fuss she was referring to the oddly acting delegations from other nations, she quirked a brow watching the NERV arms conglomerate’s delegation seemingly rambling on and panicking about some Improbable unrelated thing, she shook her head turning her attention to going towards a random helicopter she assumed she would be sharing one with another delegate or two. She didn’t mind really she preferred no special treatment. She turned back to Keitaro and added on to her previous statement.

“I do wonder about the sanity of some of these delegates, whilst the host and his allies are racist braggarts at least they don’t ramble on and on about odd things. I could care less either way to be honest.”

She smiled her tail curled up behind her, she crossed her arms over her uniformed chest awaiting the some others before she would board. She thought the ones going on an anti furry tangent left much to be desired in various departments of their forms and mental abilities. This was a perfect state of affairs. Random delegates babbling on and on , with a bit of panicking mixed in, delegations attempting to force their way through things. A fire in a nearby hotel that they would most likely be staying at. An unexplained appearance of solder’s By the scene of the hotel fire and wrecked area.

She laughed to her self a bit at the utter disorder this presented. Of course she would probably find out what happened when they got to the “fortress” until then she thought nothing more of the situation.

((OOC Note: Bad news I'm afraid. Least bad news for me. I and my housemates have just been served with an eviction notice this morning. The notice states that we have till the end of the month to vacate. The landlord is being an ass and kicking us out because on of the roomies received a service dog. Technically, it is illegal to refuse a tenant to own and house a service animal, as it is an ADA violation. Our landlord however is ignoring that and looking for any excuse to evict us anyways.
We are going to be fighting this, however I don't know what is going to happen at this stage in time. I am going to *try* and keep up with things here on the forums, but consider this a heads up if I suddenly stop responding. Even if I can watch, I may not have the time to write replies in a timely fashion. For those who care, please bear with me and be patient. I will return actively as soon as I know what is going to happen.
Thanks in advance for any prayers or well-wishes.))

((OOC Note: Bad news I'm afraid. Least bad news for me. I and my housemates have just been served with an eviction notice this morning. The notice states that we have till the end of the month to vacate. The landlord is being an ass and kicking us out because on of the roomies received a service dog. Technically, it is illegal to refuse a tenant to own and house a service animal, as it is an ADA violation. Our landlord however is ignoring that and looking for any excuse to evict us anyways.
We are going to be fighting this, however I don't know what is going to happen at this stage in time. I am going to *try* and keep up with things here on the forums, but consider this a heads up if I suddenly stop responding. Even if I can watch, I may not have the time to write replies in a timely fashion. For those who care, please bear with me and be patient. I will return actively as soon as I know what is going to happen.
Thanks in advance for any prayers or well-wishes.))
OOC: As a lawyer*, I can say with some certainty that getting the eviction overturned is probably going to be as simple as calling the ACLU or a lawyer that deals with ADA shit all the time and having them get a judge put a stop to the landlord's shenanigans.



*By the standards of some hick counties in East Texas, at least.

The insectoid hoppers flew lazily over Lake Patricia. Clear in the distance rose the spires of the city itself. The glistening glass towers reflected the light of the sun of Ambrosia and were majestic in their beauty. The militaristic nature of the Aumanii people would be apparent to those who bothered to look. The city's many defenses were concealed, hidden by the various monuments and recreational elements that the city itself was known for. Anti-orbital emplacements disguised by the great statue of Overlord Tashkent were surrounded by the large pyramid of stone and crystal that housed several of the nations greatest financial institutions, which were flanked by what appeared to be a cluster of large fountains and reflecting pools. The great Balaklav mountains stood in the distance, framed by great storm clouds and punctuated by frequent bursts of lightning. This, likely to the dread of some of the delegates, is where the party was heading. For on the other side of the Balaklav lay the powerful headquarters of Navarrone and his General Staff, Zhamssassar Fortress.

The the dunes of Farabaksh desert, which Lake Patricia resided, gave way to the passes of the fertile green passes of the Balaklav, which under the span of several minutes gave birth to temperate rainforest. The hoppers, which had been flying upon the nap of the Earth ascended high above the forest of Ur, which was split by veins of maglev rails which all served Zhamssassar Fortress, which itself was so large, and heavily armed, that it was visible from space. The hoppers were joined by three full squadrons of air superiority fighters. The delegates could now hear the pilots of their transports chirping with great frequency to the fortress, their escort or the early warning aircraft that vigilantly patrolled the skies.

High above them rose a pillar of black rock, supported by a series of tubes. The space elevator was one of several that lurched out into the inky darkness of space, receiving resources and manufactured goods from far flung places, such as Platea Sojourn and Arcturus IV. The delegation now entered the most heavily defended region of the most militarized nation in the quadrant. If they weren't safe here, then God help them.

"It's a pleasure, Keitaro. How is Coredia these days? Most of the news channels we get are syndicated by the Empire, so no doubt we miss a lot. Actually, if you'll excuse me..."
"Well, I'd have good news and bad news. Good news is, the Empire is dead. Bad news is, we still have little empires on our asses." Keitaro said. "And Chronosia is still alive, so it's pretty much not that much to celebrate."

'Scuttlebutt is that the Allaneans have it in for Chronosia. Being as Kazansky told me that himself, I'm going to take it as fact. If the Allaneans have the balls to go for their throat, I have a feeling that they won't be problem for us, if they even posed a threat in the first place.' Navarrone leaned forward to better hear the other men. 'I've never heard about the collapse of the Empire, I suppose it seems I need to update the books. With your assistance I would hope, Mr. Keitaro?'

'Scuttlebutt is that the Allaneans have it in for Chronosia. Being as Kazansky told me that himself, I'm going to take it as fact. If the Allaneans have the balls to go for their throat, I have a feeling that they won't be problem for us, if they even posed a threat in the first place.' Navarrone leaned forward to better hear the other men. 'I've never heard about the collapse of the Empire, I suppose it seems I need to update the books. With your assistance I would hope, Mr. Keitaro?'
"Yes. We'll do that as soon as we can." Keitaro nodded. "And just call me Keitaro. Kaneda's my surname, by the way."

Isahil looked out over the landscape, admiring the beauty of the architecture and landscape while he had the chance. He was aware that there were others in the chopper with him, but he was more interested with the view. Noting that where they were going had indeed been identified as a military instillation. He was getting an ominous feeling as they entered the storm on their way to the base.

Filed: 04.31.2812
Service: FNN
Reporter: Ma Xhr
Origin: Boron'Du, O'oolhnia
IWSN: 00986:69473:8361
Header: Revolution In O'oolhnia

REVOLUTION IN O'OOLHNIA

By Ma Xhr

Early in the morning hours, rebel forces of Ghlash Underclass Voivode enter the capital Boron'Du. In a lightning strike that surprised the complacent O'oolhnian forces they marched on the Hegemons Palace. The leader of the rebel forces, a Ghlashian xenotype who called himself Hegemon Tsansora Orn Tsansoraech, released the following statement over the state news service immediately upon completing the putsch.

“Underclasses of O'oolhnia, the B'resh have been overthrown, the Hegemon removed, and we, the Ghlash assume their place. All rights are now ours, all power now ours, tremble before those from whom all life flows. We now assume the name O'oolhn for ourselves and are descendants forever. Return to your stations.”

All attempts at contact with the new administration have failed so far. Though they appear to have smoothly assumed the trappings of state and governance reports from within the Palace is that all members of the previous ruling race, the B'resh, are being executed. Further afield, in the exudation compounds that control the reproduction among all the complex strata of classes in O'oolhnia, B'Resh young are being birthed noticably smaller, without many of their ceratal tentacles.

The Fell Hegemony of the O'oolhn exists many thousands of light years away from federation territory, amid some of the harshest and most inhospitable systems in the galaxy. Virtually barren of mineral wealth of any kind and host to practices of habitual torture and slavery that renders them repugnant, O'oolhnia has remained without official diplomatic relations with the Federation. When asked for comment on the situation a representative from the state department was remarkably frank saying ”I don't think we could care less what happens in that hellhole, they're beyond redemption.”

Life largely seems to have returned to normal in the capital, just a few short hours after a revolution removing a ruling racial overclass that had maintained power for, as best as can be ascertained, more than 200 years. Taciturn citizens refuse any interaction with foreigners, and it is impossible to tell what their opinions of the situation is. One thing at least is for sure, their lives have not changed in the slightest, and things for the B'resh have got a lot worse.

The aircraft followed a vein of defensive corridors, maglevs and highway toward the main spire of Zhamssassar Fortress. Landing lights could be seen in the distance, ushering the delegation towards the main runway of Zhamssassar Territorial Air Base. The hoppers flew straight down the massive runway towards the gaping maw of the Fortresses massive underground hangar facility. Blue sky gave way to black rockrete. The hoppers descended to the ground at the primary receiving facility, where they were greeted by heavy security. Navarrone was the first off his hopper, walking towards some members of the General Staff that had decided to meet the others. Navarrone shook hands briefly with a tall, dark haired man that towered over everyone on the tarmac and spoke lightly with another man who contrasted the first, standing no more than five foot six inches tall, with golden blonde hair.

Navarrone returned to the delegation, which were being attended to by a gang of overly polite military adjutants with a drink cart. 'We'll be moving the planning room. From there we will hammer out the details of the Galactic Assembly. If you'll follow me...' Navarrone gestured towards a massive freight elevator a few hundred meters away. The delegation made their way to the elevator, which took them over a kilometer below ground. Navarrone led them all through a series of winding, labyrinthian corridors. Shock Troopers were busily working, taking care of the nations business, since Zhamssassar was dual roled as both the military HQ of the nation, but also as its primary seat of government. They passed by several impressive areas of the base, like the massive library stacks that contained a copy of every piece of literature known to exist in the galaxy. From the dead sea scrolls to internet for dummies and other assorted cultural museums that the base was host to. Navarrone made a point of avoiding the more martial sectors of Zhamssassar Fortress, instead prefering to escort the diplomats around the recreational areas. They saw an olympic sized swimming pool, a parade ground, where troops were practices drills conveniently enough, the afforementioned library stacks and finally they stopped at a jagged, charred piece of metal. The monument was surrounded by an oval gravel pit, with a simple brass plaque that read...

'In memory of the fallen.' Navarrone read the plaque out loud and turned to the others that had patiently followed him for so long. 'This is a monument. It's simple, it was cheap to make, but I walk by it every day on my way to work. This is a tribute to the millions of people that had died during the first and second Hellespontos Wars. What do you think we are here to accomplish today?'

Navarrone pointed to the monument and said 'This piece of scrap was taken from the remains of an elementary school that was bombed on the very site of the Lake Patricia convention center. That happened twenty years ago. It took us about that long to finally recover from the war and become the nation you are in today. I don't know about you guys, but I know what it's like to survive the sort of unthinkable tragedy that is intergalactic warfare and I wish to never see it come to anyone ever again.'

Kessler had made it a point to stick close to the Aumanii overlord since his 'interrogation.' As Navarrone took the group of diplomats through the stone fortress that embodied the beating heart of the Aumanii war machine, the Jannarii foreign minister paid careful attention. He would need to remember what he saw here when he presented his report to the King upon his return to Jannath. While Jannath and Auman were on friendly terms, they were not allied, and thus had to be monitored closely and with caution. It would not do to be caught flat footed when faced with the most powerful military in the known universe, after all.

"I understand completely." said Kessler after Navarrone explained the monument. "Though I wasn't yet born when the Alvinians beset the whole of Jannath in a bloody war seventy years ago, the rebuilding was still underway when I was commissioned as an officer in the Jannarii navy some thirty years after the war. Entire cities were wiped off the map, their populations of millions never to be seen again. I hope that together we can make these events an little more than a historical relic of ages past, Overlord."

Shavar remained quiet during the solemn commentary over the monument. At no point in the five thousand years of the existence of the Amaranthine Imperium in any of its forms, be it as the Rachekian Empire, Tsardom of Drakos, the Dersconi Empire, or the current Fourth Dersconi Amaranthine Imperium, had the Dersconi been occupied, conquered, or in any way slaughtered or destroyed by a foreign power. In fact, it was often the opposite case; many accounts in history demonstrated the ruthless slaughter of billions of people without a thought as they stood in the way of expanding power.

The Sephirot looked down at the plaque and found himself staring at...himself. The charred and twisted metal distorted some of the light hitting the plaque, twisting his reflection in a grotesque and horrific way. Often, these monuments were all that remained of Dersconi jihads. This charred and twisted metal was Auman's legacy just as it was Derscon's, though for the former it was a rememberance of the fallen. For the Dersconi, it was a reminder of the brutality of their ruthless determination and callous disregard for life. Shavar smiled back at his reflection as it smiled at him. No matter, he thought. Such is the deserved fate of all those who oppose Rachek. The Sephirot glanced up at the metal, and back at his twisted reflection, enjoying the familiar company.

The aircraft followed a vein of defensive corridors, maglevs and highway toward the main spire of Zhamssassar Fortress. Landing lights could be seen in the distance, ushering the delegation towards the main runway of Zhamssassar Territorial Air Base. The hoppers flew straight down the massive runway towards the gaping maw of the Fortresses massive underground hangar facility. Blue sky gave way to black rockrete. The hoppers descended to the ground at the primary receiving facility, where they were greeted by heavy security. Navarrone was the first off his hopper, walking towards some members of the General Staff that had decided to meet the others. Navarrone shook hands briefly with a tall, dark haired man that towered over everyone on the tarmac and spoke lightly with another man who contrasted the first, standing no more than five foot six inches tall, with golden blonde hair.

Navarrone returned to the delegation, which were being attended to by a gang of overly polite military adjutants with a drink cart. 'We'll be moving the planning room. From there we will hammer out the details of the Galactic Assembly. If you'll follow me...' Navarrone gestured towards a massive freight elevator a few hundred meters away. The delegation made their way to the elevator, which took them over a kilometer below ground. Navarrone led them all through a series of winding, labyrinthian corridors. Shock Troopers were busily working, taking care of the nations business, since Zhamssassar was dual roled as both the military HQ of the nation, but also as its primary seat of government. They passed by several impressive areas of the base, like the massive library stacks that contained a copy of every piece of literature known to exist in the galaxy. From the dead sea scrolls to internet for dummies and other assorted cultural museums that the base was host to. Navarrone made a point of avoiding the more martial sectors of Zhamssassar Fortress, instead prefering to escort the diplomats around the recreational areas. They saw an olympic sized swimming pool, a parade ground, where troops were practices drills conveniently enough, the afforementioned library stacks and finally they stopped at a jagged, charred piece of metal. The monument was surrounded by an oval gravel pit, with a simple brass plaque that read...

'In memory of the fallen.' Navarrone read the plaque out loud and turned to the others that had patiently followed him for so long. 'This is a monument. It's simple, it was cheap to make, but I walk by it every day on my way to work. This is a tribute to the millions of people that had died during the first and second Hellespontos Wars. What do you think we are here to accomplish today?'

Navarrone pointed to the monument and said 'This piece of scrap was taken from the remains of an elementary school that was bombed on the very site of the Lake Patricia convention center. That happened twenty years ago. It took us about that long to finally recover from the war and become the nation you are in today. I don't know about you guys, but I know what it's like to survive the sort of unthinkable tragedy that is intergalactic warfare and I wish to never see it come to anyone ever again.'
"Coredia's heart goes out to you, as it too has suffered terrible tragedies as great as you have suffered." Keitaro said solemnly. "Let this monument be a solemn vow to end the horrors of intergalactic warfare and the destruction of entire planets."

Once long ago, Coredia had five Main Planets. Now, two have been destroyed, one by Shivans and another by Death Star. One has transferred control to the Godulans for safekeeping. And two are now under seige. It's as if the universe conspires to destroy the Coredians, one world at the time, or so Keitaro believes...

Galn was worn out from all the tiresome human walking they had been doing, and now there was much droning on and on about genocides or war crimes. Boring stuff that only the weak concerned themselves with.

From deep within his gelatinous form there came a buzzing sound that shook and rippled his 'torso'. The sub-space communicator relayed to him the horrifying news of the fall of the O'oolhnian regime in Boron'Du. The power of his forefathers gone in a split second, his place in the world, upended. With a sinking horror he realised that if he returned to O'oolhnia he would be sure to be executed, probably tortured then executed. His limbs would be ripped from there moorings, his eyes plucked from their sockets. His foot would burned with hot irons and his brain casing probed with hooked daggers until all that remained of his was a drool husk.

Asylum, a word he had often heard bandied around by the primitives that served as ambassadors to the dias. He could seek refuge among these sickening lumpy verterbrates, kin of those that had destroyed his masters rule. Their obsequious moral code would obligate them to protect him from harm, even from his own nation. They would have to take him in, and he would have cheated the retribution of the underclasses.

Then, he looked about himself. Where was he really ? Some rock and spittle construction, barely a grandmothers cave. Surrounded by pale sanctimonious halfwits, concerned only for 'sentient rights' and 'justice'. It would be a fate worse than death surely to be forced to spend the rest of ones days wallowing amid the backwards minds of such a place.

Without warning he snatched up one of his fellow delegates, a black furry creature that would serve to take the place of his missing slaves, tentacles over her mouth and limbs prevented her sturggling or crying out. He Spun upon his axis, called his ship back from the warp stream and dissapeared from the fortress, all within a matter of a second, appearing to implode in upon himself leaving only a roiling column of stinking effluvia. His vessel, immedeately upon receiving him, returned to the stream and its' port of origin.

This marks the end of O'oolhnia, god bless all who sailed in her.

[[OOC: Time me and the UTF delegate spent a little tentacle rape quality time together... delicious.]]

Navarrone's jaw dropped as the tentacle creature randomly snatched up one of the guests, started to ingest it and then teleported away. At first Navarrone wondered how they got past the teleportation scramblers, but then he wondered who just got eaten. 'I... I think we should just get down to business. Please, this way.' Navarrone ushered everyone into a conference room. All the seats had a simple card on them, with each of the delegates names written down. The table itself was crescent shaped, all of the members of the party were seated facing the Overlord, with no individual receiving any perceived place of importance over another. When everyone was seated, Navarrone posed a question to everyone.

'What are we doing here today?'

"Quite simply, Overlord..." began Kessler. "We are laying the foundation for an organization that will enable international conflicts to be averted through discussion before they become wars and result in the pointless loss of lives."

OOC:

Entry approved via IRC convo

IC:

David Paladin simply blinked as he took his seat. The past events had left him speechless and his presence previously unknown. He never was one to make a big scene, make large speeches, or apparently have the dignity to introduce himself properly. His current placement as Grand Admiral over the Anagonian Defense Forces allowed him a diplomatic and political advantage in the Galactic Federation.

He was allowed to represent the interests of Anagonia in both diplomatic and military affairs and when he was far from his home territory he could even act on behalf of Anagonian interests. Thus, as of yet, he found no reason to speak as the interests of the Galactic Federation simply had not matched with any prior event having taken place. David was beginning to think he was here as a poster boy, or some red shirt in a far off sci-fi series.

When Navarrone poised the question, and the subsequent response from the Kessler was made, David saw an opportunity. "I am simply here to show the support of the Galactic Federation for this Assembly," David said breaking the long silence. "It would seem in the best interest of Anagonia to do so."

It was at this moment that a major headache came to Keitaro. A headache borne of the psychic screams of billions dying in an instant. His pain was visible to the others, but he managed to compose himself.

"My apologies, friends. I have suddenly felt the presence of billions suddenly vanish, as if they screamed and were silenced. Something has happened to my nation." Keitaro said sadly. "I wish to be excused to find out what happened."

Please, Force. Not Issus. Anything but Issus!

Navarrone watched as Keitaro interrupted to excuse himself. His jaw would have dropped if he had let it. During the commencement of an organization intended to curb the outbreak of major warfare, there had been an assassination attempt and an apparently world ending catastrophe. While Navarrone had prepared a charter for the Assembly based on the concept of non-engagement and understanding, concepts that he believed were good to hold in foreign policy, it was fast becoming his personal belief that something more pro-active needed to be implemented. However, that would be left between the individual nations of the Galactic Assembly to figure out for themselves, as they were only building a forum, not an alliance.

Navarrone elaborated on Kessler's explanation of the Galactic Assembly by adding ’Yeah, actually, you pretty much hit in on the nose Mr. Kessler. We’re here to prevent the kind of warfare that decimates nations on a daily basis. Through diplomatic, cultural and economic engagement we can find common ground and move beyond the archaic modes of the past that dominated our daily political considerations. We will subdue the threat of war and conquer it with the power of friendship.’ Navarrone passed several copies of a proposed Galactic Assembly charter. It only had one sparsely filled page. It very clearly outlined the organization.

’We are not here to legislate. We are not here to vote. We are here to discuss. The Galactic Assembly is a forum and it is that simple.’

’Sounds basic, doesn’t it? That’s exactly what it is. We aren’t coming into this thing with high hopes, we’re not expecting the Galactic Assembly to do anything more than give us a venue to put forth our thoughts for discussion.’

Isahil exited his transport, having arrived just after the other delegates. He looked around, moving off to the rest of the small group. He looked around, wondering where the slug had gone. He shruged a bit, not really caring. He snagged a glass of wine from the table and nosed his way closer to the host of the evening.

OOC: Doing a bit of a retcon. My nation is now the Telrosian Dominion, and just assume all my previous posts had the characters I will show in this and that it was them. I have OK'd this with Auman.

IC:

Deron felt his trigger finger twitch during the whole ride of the fortress after the disaster of the aborted attack on the Galactic Assembly meeting. He had been wanting to go get his bolter pistol and go hunt down the fools who would dare attack a peaceful gathering, but he knew the Aumanii had that well in hand. If whoever did this was able to fight or evade the Aumanii, than heaven help those going to the meeting. He exited the transport alongside Cathal, the Shade psychic assigned to him for this meeting. Not only was he a better diplomat, but he also could lightly sense the moods and intentions of those around them, giving them a bit of an edge.

They walked into the room and took their seat, with Deron having some trouble due to his large frame and armor. Being a Dominion Space Marine made it hard to fit into seats designed for those much smaller than he. Finally, they brought him a chair, quietly seeing his problem. He thanked the attendants and prepared to see what this was going to be about. He had saw the statue which was the memorial of the wars Auman had gone through and its people lost to that horrible conflict. So his mood was serious and somber and it didn't help that the Coredian representative suddenly clutched his head and then asked to be excused when something bad happened. Deron had only passing knowledge of it, seeing as he had been informed by Intelligence that their allies had sent fleets to the planet of Issus, being conquered by Vorman and something must have happened. He turned to listen to Navarrone and then read the sheet of paper. He grunted as he set it back down. He didn't expect this to accomplish much, seeing the power and pride in the nations involved in this assembly.

"If I may speak, sir, but while I respect the ideas that the Galactic Assembly is just for discussion and open debate on problems we will face, what will behoove those who get involved to bring our problems here aside from their honor and promise? Also, how will we be able to curb warfare with all the new nations and races appearing in our galaxy? We may be able to put an end, or a damper even, on battles between our nations but the constant migration of these new nations, for the most part, is warlike and some may feel threatened by these newcomers."

'It is assumed that any signatory of the Galactic Assembly's mandate has a vested interest in maintaining peace with the others. If not, why are you here? And if anyone here attempts to bring a personal grudge to a meeting, I will kill you myself.' Navarroned hoped his answer was sufficient.

"to business"the NERV emperor said cheerfully as he sat down, this was his favorite part, his least favorite part is and always will be the paperwork.

Shirrah's mind was steeled to finish the mission, despite her emotional state. In true Reikoan fashion, she had bottled her emotions and the associated memories, and pushed them into a mental facet which would deal with the problem at a later time, allowing her concious mind to focus on the Assembly meeting. There would be time enough to deal with the Aumanii and the missile attack on the hotel. Time enough to discover who was responsible for the possible deaths of the advisory team. Time enough to discover what had happened to Eschen while she'd been whisked away to this fortress.

Taking her seat, her tail curled around her waist as she looked over the draft of the proposed charter. Initially, the concept of the Galactic Assembly had been met with limited skepticism in TRIAD offices. TRIAD was reluctant to enter into alliances, as such "contracts" often limited what TRIAD could or could not do, and who they could do business with. This Assembly however seemed to lack any real force, and was purely a diplomatic entity, thus it could be approached with little risk to TRIAD's interests.

Turning to Navarrone, Shirrah raised a point, "Overlord, are you implying that the Aumanii government would be an enforcement arm for the Assembly? Or simply that you will discourage violence taking place on Assembly grounds? Furthermore, will you be opening your lands to establish embassies for the Assembly signatories?"

((OOC Note: Okay, I'm back finally. No, I don't yet know what's going to happen regarding landlord and housing, but roomies and I are looking for Plan B houses. Anyways, I had more written here, but browser ate my post, so I just wrote this. I'll work on getting back into things slowly.))

'What I am implying in full is that Aumanii law will be respected or enforced and that embassies will be essential for this organization. All signatories are free to open an embassy here in Auman. Once every cycle, your ambassadors will meet with me or another representative of mine and we'll... "Catch up"' Navarrone made point of geturing air quotes.

'The Galactic Assembly is intentionally a very loose affiliation. So, unless anyone has any points to make or objections to raise, I here-by declare the Galactic Assembly open for business. You are all free to leave.' Navarrone cast a glance at Shirrah, he would make sure to have a word with it before she left. There were arrangements to be made and reparations to be paid.

Even as others were making their way out, Shirrah remained seated, watching Navarrone. She had no intention of leaving until she had answers to her questions. Finally when the last delegate rose to leave, she settled her chin on her hands and stared across the table at the Aumanii Overlord. "Overlord Navarrone. I have been patient for the good of what we are trying to accomplish here. This Assembly is an important achievement, however now that the formalities are completed, you and I have several things to discuss. Sooner rather than later."