Shine Erutin's Story

It had been some time since Dev Eru had been destroyed, and was past time for Erutin-Aschen relations to move from hostile to neutral, or at least, somewhere below shoot on sight when Erutin saw an Aschen vessel near their territory. They were most certainly not allowed in it, including in the former Hegemony. Right now though, they were here for peace, or at least an easing of aggression, and to show the seriousness of the matter to the Empire, the imperial princess, Shine, had been sent. Given said princess ran a large tract of the Empire singlehandedly, it was hard to deny how serious they were on wanting peaceful relations.

Shine stood, looking out the spaceport window, her guard by her side, and desperately wished that Viktoria was here, and not here. She had a better handle on politics of the nature, while she lived, than Shine ever had. Unfortunately, the youngest princess of the empire had died in battle some time ago, leaving behind a devastated consort, now in seclusion, and a family in mourning and shock from the loss of both of the Kampfs. Father, or rather, her step father, had been passingly dear to her. She had been fond of him, as one of the few people in their empire allowed to even touch her. She had been full grown when rediscovered, a survivor of Dev Eru, though her vessel had ended up missing halfway through space on an uncharted planet for several years before she had been rescued by her people.

The princess turned her attention to her actions today. The goal was to get started on some form of trade agreement, even if access for the other side would be limited to the outer most edges of the empire, or to select Scatterran worlds. Of course, this was par for the course. Almost no one was allowed to the inner rings of the empire unless they were Erutin themselves. For now, she was curious as to the representative that the Aschen would send. Were they equally serious about a form of peace, between the two, of standing down from the constant edge of hostilities they had been balanced on? Or did they do this only to appear as if they cared for peace and all that came with that. There was no telling. Shine hoped for peace, but the guards in the room said exactly how much was actually expected, as did that fact that under her grey linen suit was thin body armor, to protect her from most plasma bolts and projectile weapons. Her dark hair, usually loose or elaborately coiffed was even held back in a combination of braids and a bun. It was too long for a shorter, less elaborate hairstyle, but it would work for now.

Visible from the Hebe Space Station was the traveler ring. To her amusement, their word for it translated to dimensional, though she supposed it did deal with dimensions, it was more in terms of measurement, than different versions of reality. She wondered how many people made that mistake. Either way, despite being rather obviously an Erutin trade outpost, this was technically neutral ground, and the other side was being allowed a few more armaments to this meeting as concession for the location. The location had been a requirement though, and it was interesting to watch the freighters entire the ring, only to not appear at all on the other side of it. Of course, they would exit a day or twos travel from the nearest Erutin trade planet, but it was still interesting to watch here. Or at least most would. Some of the freighters took longer to head through, she had noticed. Different coordinates set at the tower control, she supposed. The princess waited patiently, well aware she was there ahead of time.

When the Aschen delegation arrived there was little in fanfare, no ships in the vicinity, nothing. Simply a long foreboding silence. Were they going to arrive?

The doors from where the Aschen delegates were to emerge opened with a hiss, revealing two hulking figures in power armor. Their faces obscured by closed visors. Their blue armor bore the sigil of the Adepts of War; an elite super-soldier organization that was carving their name through the galaxy in a bloody swathe of enemies.

Their footsteps rang through the room as they moved forward, rhythmic thunking of their heavy boots on the metal as they stood side by side. Cradled neatly in their arms was a 20mm heavy magnetron rifle, though they made no outright hostile moves, their subtle actions said all they needed to say.

Behind the two hulking Adepts was a young woman, or what appeared to be a young woman. Long silver hair over a slender frame, adorned with a neat dark grey uniform trimmed with blue.

Her heels also echoed on the metal floor as she walked, each of her movements deliberate as she moved past the two War Adepts.

She approached Shine, while the Adepts stood back, her eyes on the Erutin before her. There was something unsettling about this strange white haired woman as she stared uncomfortably at Shine.

"Are you alive..?"

Interesting. Shine didn’t recognize the woman before her. That meant she was likely not from the upper echelons of the government. Mother would have been insulted. Shine was, but only vaguely. She was rather used to people trying to get anything other than a calm reaction from her. This one would not get more than a quiet smile. Still, t was nice of them to finally arrive.

Her own guards, two lithe soldiers, one in a traveler’s garb, the other in the light armor of a marine kept their eyes on the Adepts, and their hands on their guns, the traveler clearly read to rock forward and grab the princess to port her to safety and get her away from these beings. The distaste was hidden from his face, but clear in his posture. The marine didn’t bother to hide his disgust.

The question resulted in a raised eyebrow from Shine, as she offered her hand for a hand shake, her guards having been briefed so that they wouldn’t be too shocked when some strange commoner dared touch a member of the imperial family. “I am alive.” She said simply. The other was odd, and set off warnings in her head. “My name is Princess Shine of House Erutin. And you are?” Other than incredibly unusual.

Shine had a feeling that these talks were going to go south. Well, it wasn’t too surprising. They’d likely be in similar talks for months just to get some form of peace. She would likey only attend this one.

The strange woman's silver eyes looked Shine up and down, as she moved uncomfortably close.

"What am I, a man? Or am I a machine? I am a monument to all your sins." She replied.

Her head canted slightly, in an almost childlike demeanor. At this distance the slight imperfections of an artificial being could be made out, most notably the Graystone Industries logo printed on very small print on the strange woman's Irises, around the very edge.

She slowly reached up and moved to cup Shine's chin in the palm of her hand as she spoke, her tone hushed.

"The neuroanatomy of fear and faith share common afferent pathways. Flip a coin. Increased vascular pressure marks the threat response. Free will scuttles in the swamp of fear, do not fear me."

She slowly let go before taking a step back, hands resting at her side as she spoke once more.

"What is it you have called us here for, Erutin." The woman asked, her demeanor cold and calculated, nothing about her movements were natural, yet they were fluid and deliberate. The strange woman's chest did not rise and fall, she did not breathe, when she touched Shine, her hand was cold, synthetic

Shine’s hand came up to still her guards as the aschen scum grabbed her by her chin, confidence radiating from her. This being would not harm her, and it was clear she was projecting this belief, along with a lack of fear. She allowed the other’s inspection, a frown clear on her face. Given Aschen research tendencies, and reports from spies on Terra, combined with her own observations of the other’s eyes and speech, this was no living being. This was an AI, if a convincing one, at first glance.

“You are AI.” She said simply. “A new kind of sapient being, inorganic in nature.” She said simply. “Neither man, nor machine.” Interesting. A hand sign, her hand down by her side, had the traveler move almost uncomfortably close to her. “And you were called here to attempt to negotiate a stand down from hostilities between our nations. Though we have not come to blows in some time, we deal with each other as enemies. It is the wish of the Empress for us to deal with each other in a more neutral manner, possible even establishing limited trade between our empires.” Possibly.

It was a possibility, though like most, the Aschen would be limited to their trade planets, and would never come closer than the outermost rings to the empire’s center and heart, not legally, at least.

"I am differently sentient." The Ai replied. "I am a compendium of the last hundred and fifty thousand years of knowledge gathered by the civilizations who call themselves Aschen. I am their child."

"You are Erutin; your home world was destroyed by a Singularity core overload of the Reverence Class ship Sacred Promise initiated by Fleet Admiral Raphael McGregor in his last moments of defiance, after you refused his calls for surrender. I have the detailed report of the incident memorized, there are fifty thousand six hundred and thirty seven variations of propaganda pieces that have resulted from this incident, in addition to the institution of several policies concerning the Shaw Protocol." The AI said.

"His actions were not an attempt to make war on your people, only to prevent his vessel and crew from falling into your hands."

She glanced back to the two Adepts, one of them was War Captain Tidus Khaine, who was specifically sent to protect the AI and prevent it from being captured.

"You seek to mend relations with us, to secure peace and a limited trade agreement. Why?" She asked.

“I am aware of what happened. I was evacuated from the planet shortly before the explosion. Our ship was damaged and we crashed. It was sometime before I was rescued. I assure you, I know of the destruction the misunderstanding caused. At the time of the incident, we did not speak your tongue, except for less than one thousand travelers, stationed at empire’s edge.” She said calmly. “We did not understand the calls made, and assumed it was some sort of attack on our home world.” She said simple. “But we have many worlds. Even the loss of our homeworld does not diminish us by much.” They were long lived, and their history even longer. They forgot more than was recorded even.

“We wish to mend relations because it is more advantageous to not be so close to troubles on one of our borders. Trade would be better for both sides than war, both in the cost of goods, and in the cost of lives.” Though all would give their life for the empire and the empress, of course. That was simply the culture. “If you are uninterested, than it would be easy enough for both sides to part from here peacefully.”

Or it would be, this one time, this one offer.

"I will bring your proposal before our Government." She replied, staring off into space for a moment. "The Emperor is in agreement that hostilities should be terminated, therefore as of this moment he has decreed that hostilities between the Erutin and the United Aschen Empire are at an end."

She stared off into space once more.

"Emperor Prince will also consider your proposal for limited trade, we are willing to deal in the trade of raw inorganic materials for the time being." Lunetea added.

"These are the offers the Emperor has placed fourth until our government can deliberate on; and construct a more formal trade policy. All trade goes through the Imperial Province of Tal'dor, where it will be required to pass customs, additionally an import tax of ten percent of bulk value must be paid prior to acceptance of goods, is this reasonable?"

Ah, she was speaking to the emperor then, through the AI. Clever, and the same had often been done with Travelers and their implants. She smiled, rather pleased with this situation. "The temporary agreements sound excellent. All trade will occur on Liana V.” she said simply. “Or on Nodiexo.” Two options. “Imports will have a 10% tax to match your own and must go through customs.” For now, the tax would be ten percent. Formal agreements must be drafted after all. Raw goods only were an excellent choice for now. It was best not to introduce this competing culture just yet. First appropriate agreements must be made.

“We accept your provisional agreements. Consider the fleet notified.” She said calmly. They were being, even as she spoke, the Traveler writing the agreement up, or a summary, as they spoke. “Thank you for your consideration. Please pass on my thanks to your emperor.”

"Politics, of course. The Erutin Empire is always eager to stand with our allies, and to make new ones. Events such as this allow us to, hm, put on a good face, so to speak. Though of course, I am of the opinion the empire is good and just." Most Erutin were, especially with the absorption of the Hegemony of Aligned Systems and some of their values, though not all. "Besides, it is good to have-" Bamboo cut off, her head turning sharply to the doorway, eyes wide as her implant rang out with an announcement. "...I appear not to be the only representative of my people here."

Indeed, she was not. In a gown that mimicked traditional Erutin garb, though covered much more skin, in deference to her hosts culture, Princess Shine of House Erutin entered the room, sans apparent guards, though she was not unguarded. The advantage to being shifters was that her guards could be much more subtle that suited thugs. A simple tear drop tiara decorated her elaborate hairstyle, and a complex golden mask, resembling nothing more than an ethereal butterfly worked well enough for her mask that Shine was satisfied.

Her twin was not here, but Prince Dust was a priest, and known to eschew galas and the like as part of his orders demands to live a simpler life. A costumed gala simply was a guarantee he would not come.

"Mr. Weskit, it appears Princess Shine decided to come." She sipped her champagne and thanked the gods that it was Princess Shine and not Princess Viktoria or her daughter, or Princess Thistle or any of her brood. Shine was levelheaded, polite, and humble. More than that, she didn't cause diplomatic incidents by being as headstrong as her siblings. There was a reason Shine was the current heir and Viktoria had been made to step down.

The man named Malian kept his focus on the conversation, "Perhaps it is the curse of nobility. When one views the world from the top of the mountain, they feel as though they must stake a claim onto it and everything walking upon it. They do not see that there are human beings in their view that they must consider. They will see all things as property, like the mountain. It is a distasteful side effect of those who wield power."

As he spoke, he continued to scan his surroundings, processing those around him in such a sly manner to avoid detection of observance. His gaze would flicker upon each individual, appearing distant as if his concentration was focused on Alecia and Alecia alone. Meanwhile, his head was calculating many faces and many approaches. The host who had been humbled by the customs of the Taiyou Princess, who had yet to crack a smile at this cordial event. A man who kept himself reserved in the corner of the room, uncomfortable being a rather strong word for his current demeanor. The gentleman who remained off to the side with a weapon exposed and a name tag that identified him as "Security". And of course, the other Princess in the room, who's bodyguards were much less visible, but still apparent in his watchful eye.

And still they danced and the tune changed, a more uptempo waltz, and he never missed a beat. The step held no gait and was perfectly timed to the rhythm change. He wasn't worried about Alecia falling behind. He knew she could react just as quickly as he could.

"But enough talk about the pomp and circumstances that lead our worlds...tell me, mon cherie. What brings you to this fine event?" He asked in a delicate manner...a polite manner.

Mel's subroutines alerted her to the loss of the ICE on her tail and couldn't help but smile at this. Both the conversation and the working made her feel a great deal of satisfaction. Now that the ICE was dealt with, now was the time to work on the AI. With the ground work in place, Meldraenei began to utilize a base line program that once belonged to Aiyanna-A by brute forcing one of the security firewalls in an attempt to lure in the AI towards it. If it fell for the bait, Mel would sweep in and attempt to seal it into a dead server full of junk data to keep it occupied for the the time being, placing it into a feedback loop of constant junk data. Maybe if this A.I was smarter, she could have some fun with it while she waltzed.

"Indeed, often times royalty is lead on a high horse all it's life. But yes a change of topic would be in order. Hmm...how best to put it...."

She accessed her language files and flipped through until she found the french directory and began to speak in french to him.

"Je suis là pour profiter de la fête depuis que je suis récemment revenu d'une expédition dans Deep Space. Cela fait cinq ans que mon retour."

She smiled at him with a chuckle coming from her mouth. True words but still had a hidden meaning behind them and she clearly was holding back a few cards to herself just as he was.

(I am here to enjoy the party since I recently came back from an expedition into the Deep Space. Its been five years since my return.- English)

Sipping her drink, Yukiko seemed to stare down her nose at the rest of the Gala attendants. She didn't seem to change he expression to David's apologies, but she knew the value of expanding Taiyou interests into the rest of the galaxy, thusly Shimizu had instructed her to get out and try to make some new friends.

So she continued to sip her drink, paying little attention to the commoners that surrounded her. She was obviously bored and didn't seem to want to be here.

Whispering something to her security, she moved to find a couch to sit down on, resting her tired feet while the security officers worked to take up position around her.

"I want to leave, I have better things to do." She whispered to her staff.

"Well I assure you that even though this Gala has the sole intended purpose for a betterment of all parties and possible diplomatic and business propositions, it has other significant bonuses that allow for mutual parties to explore." Mr. Weskit proposed as he took up his drink which was promptly brought over to him and continued to offer Bamboo a warm smile.

When Princess Shine arrived to the party she was also checked over by the security and passed through a MAD scanner just as Yukiko had. Like before Mr. Malachite approached the newly arrived royalty only to offer a warm smile and a simple bow. "Please enjoy the Gala Princess Shine. I assure you that through peaceful talks and proper negotiations all parties present can find newfound hope and business opportunities." David Malachite began to chuckle a little as he downed his glass of apricot brandy whilst Douglas and Helga watched on in what could only be described as lax horror.

"It appears so." Douglas commented as he watched his employer. "Bamboo would you care to join me upon the ballroom floor? I'd be honored by such a lovely partner." Mr. Weskit stood from his seat and offered his hand to his company only to continue to offer his warm smile.

Helga continued to stand against a wall in her white gown with blue accents and a mask of silver and a cool green. She kept watch for the strange and arcane and only took notice of a young girl who did belong. As she was about to leave her post the small child vanished from view which caused the witch hunter to slowly look around the room without bringing any attention to herself.

As for the cyber security end of things it was not Atom but instead one of the many agents under his command. Upon being trapped the A.I. began to look over the entire system and began to lock out information involving the servers by activating several firewalls and more patrol ICE to the systems files. The artificial intelligence even laid out a few of his own traps for Deckers and script kiddies alike. With a sudden influx of firewalls and other forms of security that Meldraenei clearly had set off she would begin to find it very difficult to avoid the ICE for long or even the gaze of Atom 7K.

Meanwhile.. Setting in his command chair Sin taps his fingers pushing away thoughts of the dream or nightmares from his death like sleep. The com-bridge on Soulbrust now more active giving command by a mind-transfer with the help of the ship, slipping orders to so everyone of the whole fleet will know what to do when they come out of hyper space.

Space began to twist an turn, in a unknown location. A large Asphodelian fleet entered space, and over 4 Battle Carriers, 20 Battle Destroyer's, and Soulbrust. Not wasting any time, Sin is giving orders being fleet wide so all ships to enter recon, def- postion.

"I'm sure that business and politics will occur." The flirtation was still going above Bamboo's head. "But please, tell me about these other bonuses?" she hadn't been aware of anything else really, or at least, nothing she could take advantage of. It would be interesting to hear of any of it. "But I would love to join you on the floor." She accepted his hand, leaving her drink there, no doutb to be picked up by a server. The woman enjoyed dancing and didn't often get to.

Meanwhile, Princess Shine offered Davis Malachite a small smile, and a brief, incredibly shallow curtsy. "Thank you for the invitation, Mr. Malachite. I am sure it will be a successful event." She offered in return, eyes briefly scanning the room and seeking an out. He had finished the brandy rather quickly and it unnerved her more than she liked to admit. "If you will excuse me, Mr. Malachite, I should offer greeting to Yukiko-hime." And it would get her away from the man who downed his drink so fast! He'd be drunk by night's end, she was certain.

Sweeping away in her red gown, Shine waited at the edge of Yukiko's retinue, and spoke to the other woman in her own tongue, fluently and without hesitation. "Greetings, Takayama-hime, from the Erutin Empire." she had no doubt her form would be recognized. This was her preferred shape for public appearances after all.

The princess was not aware of the possible danger she or the others were in, stripped of all but the single guard after all. Then again, the single guard would be enough to get her back to the safety of her ship. He was a Traveler after all, marked as such by the goggles over her head.

Giggling to herself, the satori enjoyed her bouts of trickery. Despite appearing on technology while fooling the minds of regular people (save for those unable to be affected by mind trickery), she did a few more small tricks. Messing with people's clothes, messing with their tables and other minor things. It was all well and fun as she effectively played cat and mouse with security. Though...something was off. There was something coming. Something that wasn't really fun at all. At least, fun in the traditional sense. It could be fun to mess with them! But not like this, where there's minimal risk. At least, she figured the security wouldn't care if she just waltzed about and would only be a bit annoyed rather than full-blown aggressive about it.

Wandering out from the Gala to look at what was arriving, she saw the ships. There was...25 in total! But...what could she do? Heading back inside, she shrugged. Trying to find the closest security guard (whether they were still looking for her or not, she didn't know) but she spoke up to them if they didn't immediately try attacking her. "Um...there's some big spooky ships outside. There's a lot!"

The 6th Order, as an up and coming group, was unfamiliar with peaceful negotiations, events held in neutrality, and not engaging in warfare. They were, in essence, a terrorist organization seeking to bring down the oppressive empires of the world. But, their image was important for the sake of attracting newcomers. Of course, they weren't looking for a fight this time. Only to participate in the Gala with an ambassador of theirs so they can get familiar with the atmosphere and potentially gain more allies. They knew their enemies could be there...in the event of that, they'd have to stress neutrality. This area is not for fighting. Honor was rare from The 6th Order, but at the recommendation of their ambassador they chose not to engage in such hostilities. Still against the idea of going unprepared, The 6th Order's commanders sent the ambassador with ships for defense. Twin Guardian-Class Cruisers assisted a single Ardent-Class Cruiser housing the ambassador and his fellow viceroys, consisting of their political guardsmen as opposed to the standard 6th Order Marines that occupied the Guardian-Class Cruisers. Their ships exited a jump to drop off the ambassadors and their viceroys, sending the proper credentials to those at the command post in the Gala. Their rank, purpose, and full legal names. However, the ships stopped upon noticing the other ships occupying space. Their formation, and their design...while they had two ships to defend the ambassador's main ship, this other group didn't look like they were ready to participate in the Gala. They looked like they were ready to participate in battle.

Sending a transmission to the two Guardian-Class Cruisers, Ambassador Gordon watched the ships carefully. He had readied the other two ships to call in reinforcements if any attack were to occur from these other suspicious ships. It could be good for their image, after all, if they helped defend a neutral zone...

He sighed and moved deeper into the room, he needed something to do and with the arrival of two royal family members, it just put him on edge. He moved with Grace beyond any mortal of his kind, moving past the rest of the patrons easily, the crowd not slowing his movements as he deftly maneuvered through.

The guard who kept a magical sight upon the party would notice Yvandír glowing like a christmas tree with the obscene amount of magical wondrous items and Artefacts upon his person, that and his own innate divine magic.

Two princess’ if they don’t tear each other’s throats out then someone with a grudge might He sighed gently as the thought ran through his head, approaching a server.

He took a glass returning to his table, he savored the wine, leaving it to sit unattended for the most part on his table, his eyes shot up and fell upon the small child claiming there to be ships orbiting, he raised an eyebrow and moved from his chair with his glass in hand and exited onto the balcony, he looked upon the ships.

Curious, he and his fellows traveled via the astral plane, effectively they walked everywhere, it was simpler, made it easier on Yvandír anyway, he didn’t have to adapt to spaceflight.

He picked the small stone wolf from his pocket and glanced back, for now the balcony was empty, good as he was going to get, yes originally he had brought the wolf up in his true state but Fenris was a bit big, so he shrunk him down for everyone’s sake. Putting the small wolf statue back, he crossed his arms watching.

And she could speak French? Malian smiled, suppressing the inner euphoria that was building inside him. This was a keeper, indeed.

"Un aventurier? Quelle est l'intérêt. Et qu'as-tu découvert dans les royaumes extérieurs? Beaucoup de belles choses, j'espère?" his French was flawless and held a transfixing quality to it that would send goosebumps crawling across any female's skin...the good kind, of course.

An adventurer? How interesting. And what have you discovered in the outer realms? Many beautiful things, I hope?

As their conversation continued, Malian held a keen eye to all the newcomers entering the room. The older nomadic fellow decided to head towards the balcony. The two princesses seemed to be breaking the ice. And there was a younger girl with an impish attitude bugging the security guards and pointing towards the exterior of the building. Everyone had their own agenda to address. Of course parties were planned and performed for the sake of unwinding and relaxing and simply enjoying a jovial atmosphere. But not upscale parties. Classy event like this one held a purpose for all attendees present. And not even Malian and Alecia were an exception to that rule. Power plays were being made with every note of the song they danced to. Even between the two speaking French in the middle of the floor.

And still, the dance continued. The perfect marble floor remain unscuffed, the bright and glittering chandelier above their heads attracting many a friend and many a foe to come and be enveloped by the light.

Verror nodded back to Mr. Malachite as he passed by toward his new guests as he welcomed them.

From this point, he mostly just kept his position, watching the scene unfold. This continued, nothing drastic happening, and after a while he seemed to relax slightly, though he wouldn’t let his guard down. His attention was drawn by the arrival of the Taiyou Princess, mostly due to her eight security personnel who were constantly guarding her.

The young girl’s voice caught him off-guard completely, perhaps because he hadn’t even noticed her there. He looked around, startled, before he noticed the voice’s owner, an odd looking child with what looked to him like some kind of magic floating orb on a string. Deciding not to let this throw him off, or at least try, he leaned down slightly to answer her. But only blank thoughts crossed his mind. What had she said again? Who had - he shook his head, dismissing the moment and directing his attention back at the girl. She had said there were ships outside? That hardly seemed unusual, with so many guests arriving, but it couldn’t hurt to check they weren’t trouble, he supposed.

“I’ll go over and just check then.” He said, trying to sound non-threatening. Making his way over to the door leading out to the balcony, he peered up and froze at the sight. Damn, that’s a lot of ships, he thought. There was no way they were here simply to escort guests.

Verror made face like he was having a bad migraine, and his pupils turned to slits. His sight focused more acutely on the fleet, quickly scanning the ships. They certainly didn’t appear to be merchant ships, that was for sure. And was that dust flying out of the vents? No, wait, it was moving in an organized way, it must be some kind of weapon or something, he thought.

Blinking as his eyes returned to normal, he spun around. “Uh, kid, I think you might want to-” but the girl had vanished from his sight. Whether or not the satori chose to make herself known again was up to her.

Deciding the best course of action was to inform either the host or a high-ranking employee of Mars Corp., Verror strode around the edge of the room, making sure not to cause a disruption for any of the guests.

He found Helga leaning against the wall. Approaching her quickly (while trying to be as cautious as possible - he had a hunch that it was unwise to get on her bad side), he spoke quietly,

“Ma’am, I think we might have some trouble. A huge fleet just showed up outside the building, and I don’t think they’re here to make friendly conversation.”

Cedric stepped into the main gala wearing a luxurious black bespoke suit. It was the kind of suit that only people who lived in a rarefied echelon of financial security wore. His mask mimicked the shape of a skull, and an elaborate and shifting design of a dragon took up one side, wile the other was completely empty. The ink of the dragon almost seemed to suck in the light around it.

He had been patient as the security screened him. He pondered the fact that it would have been simple enough to bypass the entire ordeal, but sacrifices were made for business. So he had done the leg work necessary to gain an invitation, though to be honest some of that leg work was less than honest.

Regardless of what corners he had cut to secure the invitation, it was secured now. He was glad that the financial elite seemed to operate in much the same way as they had in his home dimension, albeit the technology was far advanced. But Cedric had been hoping between dimensions for some time and had learned quickly that he couldn't expect his natural customs to carry over. It would be nice to rely on his natural instinct and background instead of leaning on mimicry.

Scanning the scene revealed a wide range of individuals, from royalty to hired servants, and almost everyone in between. But it was Mars Corps party and so his eyes finally rested on the CEO, David Malachite. He was busy greating one of the princesses in attendance, one who seemed more than ready to excuse herself and mingle with another royal guest.

With the man free Cedric approached with comfortable ease. Mars Corps was no small business, and David Malachite was no small player. By contrast Cedric Valentine was nobody in the multiverse, but he was far from nobody, and he projected that confidence in his easy approach. It was his first foray into the business and political waters of the multiverse and he intended, as always, to plant the seeds that would make Valentine Inc a future player in those waters.

"Quite the party you've put together. I'm glad I decided to crash it." he smiled easily and extended a hand, "Cedric Valentine, Valentine Incorporated. Pleased to finally meet you Mr. Malachite."

Mr. Malachite smiled and greeted each of the newcomers to the Gala. He shook hands and embraced others and when he was finally free of his duties for a moment one man decided to approach him instead of the other way around.

David took Mr. Valentine's hand and offered a strong grip only to measure the young man up like a slab of meat being sold at market. "A pleasure that someone decided to crash my event. A few I've greeted have been more graceful than others, and some have been outright impetuous." Mr. Malachite chuckled only to hear his friendly guest introduce himself and the company in which represented. "Well Mr. Valentine, can I call you Cedric, are you a up and coming power amongst the social elite or am I speaking with older blood who I've not had the pleasure to speak with before?"

Mr. Malachite allowed his gaze to flawlessly remain upon his newfound friend whilst he searched the matrix for information on Mr. Valentine and his company. It would only take him a few seconds for any information to come up but for the meantime he would simply enjoy this social encounter.

Douglas Weskit smirked. "Well obviously I get to speak with a rather lovely woman and even get the chance to dance." The gentleman took her hand and began to lead Bamboo in a waltz.

Helga would continue to look for the little girl only to be stopped by Verror. "The planetary government is fully aware of the fleet above. If it is the guests we are expecting then have no fear." Helga offered only to then take Verror by the shoulder and walked over to an open balcony to get a better look at the fleet. "How long have you been hired on by the company? If something were to happen I and several other members of the security detail would need to act in accordance with the terms of agreement we have with this world."

It was now at the foot of the Gala...

At the edge of the sector, the Mizuho, and her accompanying escort fleet took note of the twenty five alien ships arriving near where the Gala was being held.

Almost at once, they began to move to combat readiness, preparing their weapon loadouts, though the Mizuho was unmoving, as it was directly linked to Yukiko.

So they sat idle, 50,000 vessels strong and waited, performing deep scans of the area, but maintaining a state of alert.

----

Inside the Gala itself, Yukiko remained silent, despite her security personnel moving quickly to assess the situation through comms with the fleet, tapping their earpieces they kept their formation around the Princess.

There were two men in particular, a scruffy older gentleman with a neatly trimmed beard, and a single blue earpiece that contrasted with his simple black suit.

The other man, a stark redhead and much younger also stood silent, his red earpiece contrasted with the other man's blue earpiece, and the rest of the security contingent's black earpieces.

The Emperor's Personal guardians, Azaka, and Kamidake stood ready to address any threats to the Princess, genetically augmented by the Matokey, both were guardians of great power.

Security Chief Mazaki turned silently to the princess, tapping her shoulder and whispering in Taiyou into her ear.

"We have an unidentified alien fleet orbiting the planet, we should depart soon, I cannot ascertain their intent."

Looking to her surroundings, Yukiko nodded slightly, before slowly going to her feet. "Shimizu insisted I try to make friends here, but no one is interested, and I'm bored." She whispered back.

As Yukiko stood, the security contingent moved back to surround her, with the two guardians taking point, hoping to make a swift, and discreet exit.

At that moment, Princess Shine approached, addressing her as Takayama-Hime, and in Taiyou no less, this elicited a visible pause and reaction from the Princess, whom was used to ignorant foreigners surrounding her, using inappropriate titles, among everything else.

"The people of this Galaxy never cease to surprise me." Yukiko said quietly to Azaka.

But being sequestered in Andromeda for the better part of the last several years, she wasn't familiar with the dignitaries of this galaxy, a brief look of confusion dawned her face, but she tried her best to hide it.

"Who is this foreigner and why is she talking to me?!" Yukiko asked herself in her head. Outwardly answering the greeting in the typical polite smile common in the Taiyou.

Bamboo and Shine received the information about the fleet at the same time. Shine did not react, certain in her guard’s ability to get her safely aboard the Golden Chariot should she need to evacuate. Still, she was more surprised than not that it appeared Takayama-hime did not recognize her, having caught the brief confusion. Still in Taiyou, she spoke on. ”Forgive my interruption, Takayama-hime.” a pause as she considered her title translated. ”I am Erutin, Shine, a princess of the Erutin Empire. I wished to introduce myself to you ahead of the talks between your family and my own.” She didn’t want to presume who would represent either family after all.

The other hadn’t been seen in this sector in some time. Still, Shine managed a polite smile for her fellow princess, even as her guards urged her to please get closer to the edge of the crowd. The one guard accompanying her kept close, able to grab hold and port her to the Golden Chariot should the situation turn sour. Shine was not worried.

Bamboo turned her head on the dance floor, unerringly looking in the direction of the fleet as they waltzed together. “I do enjoy it.” She assured Mr. Weskit. “However there may be trouble shortly, it seems.” She explained and turned her attention to her dance partner. “And if there is not trouble, then a party with no tact or head for diplomacy is shortly to arrive.” Really, bringing an entire fleet to a party. It was utter nonsense.

Still, it looked like both the imperial women here were aware of the problem and ready to leave. Good. In the event of an attack, perhaps war could be averted, if Takayama and Shine were kept safe and out of danger.