Bovius

"Well, I'll talk through the door." Phinx said, crossing her arms. Her escorts glanced between each other, eventually deciding to go along with Phinx's apparent plan to stand there.

"How long until things get awkward?" One of Phinx's men asked quietly, "It isn't awkward now?" Another asked.

"Is this normal?" Sonja asked Kris quietly.

Jakki gave a long, stressful sigh. Stubborn, stubborn people...

The skintenna lit up against Jakki's cheek again, and she turned to answer questions. Once finished, she shook her head. "Well...this is a surprise. It's very different than what she would normally ask, but I suppose it is because you're not from here."

She stepped back to allow them a way through. "Parran Saia will see you."

The room was doused in red and white. Curtains fell from the ceiling and stopped just centimeters from the floor, where expensive carpets trailed up to a raised portion of flooring at the end. There stood a regal woman with golden horns curled around her head. Her robes, as red as the rest of the room, floated around her. There was a faint light around the raised platform she stood upon.

"Somewhat, Phinx is a strong personality." Kris told Sonja, "She's a hard ass, but she's a hard ass with our best intentions in mind." Kris said.

Phinx gave Jakki a look, "Understand, I'm just doing my job as much as you're doing your job." Phinx said as she stepped past Jakki. "Got to protect my people on foreign soil." The Invictus leader said.

Phinx's eyes found Parran, the woman raising a single eyebrow. "You must be Parran. I apologize for my paranoia, but frankly, we don't know you, you don't know us. Yadda?" Phinx asked.

Kirin had watched the party of Terrans get escorted into Parran's chambers with idle curiosity from his position a short distance away outside, perched on the edge of a wall surrounding one of the many statues. The long-haired soldier whistled, glancing across to one of the guards. "Foreigners, huh? Always causing trouble." he asked, "Where from?"

The guardsman turned to look to him, raising an eyebrow. "Terra, sir. Aside from one. She's Aschen."

Kirin pulled a face. "Aschen, is it? Y'know, I've never met one of them myself. You think what everyone says about them is true? Heartless, unfeeling... You have to wonder how we got that idea. Have we ever talked to one that wasn't pointing a gun at us at the time?"

"Couldn't say sir." the guardsman replied uncomfortably.

"Of course you couldn't," Kirin sighed, leaning onto his hand dramatically, "I'm sure it's all true, though. They did, after all, point quite a large gun at us." He shrugged, kicking back and leaning against the statue. "I doubt I'll get to talk to her either. A damn shame, I'm curious now!"

Tataea was primarily known as being a gleaming example of Misranan engineering and beauty. Her sweeping, curvy architecture complimented the rolling waves that lapped against her artificial shores. The entire city bobbed and surged, as sky scrapers independent of each-other were gently jostled by waves. A place that was simultaneously sleepy and busy, the floating metropolis thrived on equal parts leisure and fervent business.

There was just one problem on living on an island. When danger came, it was difficult to run. The danger that came on this day emerged at first in the form of a grand, brilliant white portal that twisted its way open smack dab in the middle of the Tataea's tourist centers. At first, onlookers were slow to react, unsure if the apparition was some flashy new show of Misranan magical technology. But when small, glassy shapes of all sizes flew from the opening with meteoric speed, then the running started.

The assorted cubes and tetragons unfolded in mid-flight, turning into angular, crystalline humanoids with needle-like arms and feet. Their faces were flat, black vaults of emotionless drive. The screams of the fleeing turned bloody as these thirty-odd crystal men began to fly off and hunt down stragglers. With cruel efficiency, they sprouted long, angular tendrils from their forearms which pierced the back of the skull, instantly killing the victim as what appeared to be a small, colorful light was extracted.

The bold location of the attack meant that local law-enforcement response would be quicked, but this was an acceptable risk in consideration of the general remoteness of Tataea in general. For now, the grisly harvest continued...

All at once, the grisly carnage suddenly halted. Not that this caused any of the screaming to stop. With precise, organized paths, the black raiders noiselessly flew back through their portal, taking the fresh minds of nearly eighty people with them...

Star Gate has arrived, coming from Villius.

Star Gate has left the area, heading north into Medius.

Jatara Tudeloni materializes from the void.

Suddenly, a swirling vortex appears to the east. You can see something appear in that direction.

Meteor has arrived, coming from Tataea.

Meteor has left the area, heading in into Triumvira.