[M] Promethean Galaxy: Dynasties (Holey & Cosmic)

[Holeypaladin]

"What's Glacia like, Uncle?" The teenage girl sitting on his lap had a lot of questions regarding the Glacian Empire. Ever since she had heard that she might be travelling there at some point, it was the only thing she could talk about. Well, that as well as questions regarding the three princes who were going to visit. "Are Glacian princes anything like fairy tale princes? I want to be a fairy tale princess!"

"I've never been to Glacia," said the Emperor, hugging the girl gently, "So really, the stuff you've read is the same stuff I've read. You're best off asking these questions to the princes when they arrive."

"Will they be bringing a princess for me to play with, too?" She asked, with bright eyes.

"I heard they might, but it's uncomfirmed. Again, we'll see when they arrive."

"I'm... a little scared," the girl admitted. "Everyone talks about how Glacia is big and scary and if anyone can hurt us, it's them..."

"No one's going to hurt you," the Emperor assured her. "They know that we can hurt them, too, so they won't risk it. We're trying to build peaceful relations, not war."

"Ok...." she said a bit hesitantly. "I trust you, Uncle Donald!"

"You're a good girl, Katalina. Go get dressed in your prettiest princess dress, ok? They should be arriving soon."

"Ok!" she said before hopping out of his lap and running off to get dressed.

The Emperor himself stood up, securing his sword to his side. Not one to arrive late, he also wasn't one to waste time by arriving early, either. So he waited until almost the exact second to when the Glacian shuttle was due to arrive before heading out to the Emerald Palace landing pad, along with several Imperial guards in their traditional battle gear.

[Cosmic Fury]

"Your Excellencies, we have permission to land." The captain of the Glacian battlecruiser was one of Masamune's personal guards, and one of his best. "Are you ready for departure?"

Masamune and Karl (as he liked to call himself) were the only two members of the Glacian delegation still on the bridge. The two liked to oversee things as they happened, although Karl struck the Captain as someone who tended to micromanage a small task force of skilled people, while his younger brother was a more adaptable commander who relied on his men to get their parts accomplished.

"Proceed as scheduled, Captain. Please patch a message through to Julius, Marin, and Lianna that we are to depart the ship shortly." Masamune left his words at that, but Karl flashed a signal to alert the honor guard as well.

The Captain, behaving with a grace that was typical of Masamune's personal bodyguard, complied rapidly with both orders. "You depart in five minutes. All of your requested items are already on board, and the shuttle is clear for departure."

"Good. We will be there shortly." Masamune made his way down to the shuttle bay, arrayed in his finest clothes. It would be the first time was meeting the Achenaran Emperor, and it would be his first major mission after the disaster that preceded the opening full-scale battles of the Asmodean War. I still remember the lecture I received from Grandfather.

While he was profusely commended for his tactical expertise, he was still reprimanded for the fact that he lost ships in the line of duty, for his apparent refusal to stand up to the otherwise overconfident commander of that expedition. He nearly lost both his ship and his life, and he would never have gotten to enjoy even the little eyesight was coming to him these days.

"Careful. This corridor is pretty dark." Karl was still used to Masamune's blindness, but was still well aware of his slow but inexplicable recovery. His younger brother was making a very rapid recovery (if it could be called that), and was showing signs of being able to move independently in bright light.

"Thanks, but I think I'll be able to manage. I do know this ship intimately. I designed it for my impairments in mind, after all." Masamune took swift but cautious steps forward, using his various senses to tell when the corridor made its various twists and turns.

At long last, they found the shuttle -- with their oldest brother Julius slumbering on one of the couches inside. The latter was dressed in a green-and-gold attire as was his want, while Karl and Masamune sported similar uniforms in red and blue, respectively.

After muttering something terrible about Julius's timing, Karl went to inventory the shuttle down to its last bolt, ensuring that everything was in place. In the meantime, Masamune made his way to the cockpit as the two Princesses arrived with their immense amount of luggage -- most of it belonging to Lianna.

Soon enough, the shuttle departed, and made its way to the planet's surface, where the inevitable delegation would await to witness this historic event -- right at the exact scheduled second.

Before long, the shuttle craft made its landing, and the first out of the small craft was naturally Julius, who was always in a rush to see new things and meet new people. Embarrassed but nonetheless composed, Karl eventually stepped out of the shuttle, followed by the three brothers' two distaff cousins.

Masamune, however, waited until the honor guards had filed out, with his own being arrayed in white-and-gold armor for "ceremonial" reasons. (In reality, it was only a clever trick to brighten up his surroundings enough for him to see others in full detail, as his eyes were still re-developing.)

After Julius, Karl, and the two girls had finally cleared the shuttle along with their guards, the planet's sun started rising higher in the sky... and Masamune made his well-timed entrance. Just as the sun was striking the surface at its best, Masamune stepped out of the shuttle in the midst of his two guards, whose bright armor only accentuated every one of his features -- and enhanced his eyesight.

Knowing that the Achenaran Emperor was likely to be out here to personally greet them, Masamune took a slow and dignified approach, in order to quash any possibility of him botching this meeting as badly as his first battle with the Asmodeans.

[Holeypaladin]

The timing of the Glacian prince's entrance and the lighting might have made for an impressive display to most people... though to the Emperor, it wasn't all that unusual a display, having been used to impressive performances and grand entries in the past. Still, it showed that the prince had put some planning into his arrival, and the Emperor appreciated the amount of time and effort that had gone into a display that was to last a mere six seconds.

"Greetings to you, Prince Julius, Prince Karl, Prince Masamune... and I see you brought Princess Lianna and Princess Marin with you. Your Highnesses are welcome in the Imperial City, and I hope the living quarters of the Emerald Palace are to your satisfaction." The order in which he greeted the royals had little to do with their standing in Glacia... he had instead greeted them from eldest to youngest, male before female; the default sequence for royals of similar standing in the Imperial Court.

The greeting was interrupted as the blonde princess rushed out, in her pretty purple dress and tiara. "Uncle!" she said, wrapping her arms around the Emperor before noticing the Glacians and hiding behind him.

"Please excuse my niece," said Donald III to the Glacians, "She is brand new to Court and is still learning proper Etiquette. Katalina," he said, returning the young princess' hug and looking at her. "How do you greet visiting Royals? Show them you can be polite," he said with a slight smile.

"Umm..." she said, then nodded in determination, as if steeling her resolve. Stepping out from behind the Emperor, she gave a graceful curtsy to the Glacian guests. "Good day," she said, "I am Princess Katalina of House Achenar. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, and I hope we can play together!"

With a deep blush, she immediately went back to hide behind the Emperor again. "How'd I do?" she said in a whisper.

"A good start, Katalina," he said, patting the teenager on the head. "We'll continue to work on it." He chuckled a bit and returned his attention to the Glacians.

[Cosmic Fury]

"I am glad to finally meet you, Your Highness." Masamune was the first to speak, as usual. After all, it was me who orchestrated this meeting in the first place. "We are grateful that you have shown us the honor of greeting us here in person."

As they descended the ramp and Emperor Donald made mention of his niece, Masamune made a light, dismissive gesture at the mention of her behavior. "We all have to start somewhere. I myself nearly did not show up to my first public appearance, because I was that nervous." He pointed to Karl before continuing. "If it wasn't for his sagely advice, I'd likely have run off back to my Grandfather's palace."

Behind him, Masamune heard a faint thud as Karl gave a vicious jab at Julius's ribs for staring at Katalina for too long. Knowing this, Masamune himself took half a second to put the full weight of his disapproval in a very brief but effective glare that reminded his oldest brother of where they were at.

Turning around, Masamune put on his usual, friendly look, making sure that nobody of relevance caught his side glance in time to feel that something was wrong. Distracting our host with our rivalry would be rude indeed, not to mention would deliver a blow to our loose solidarity. Addressing Katalina in a friendly tone, he delivered the most effective statement he could think of on such short notice. "I'm sure that we'd make great friends. After all, if we came all this way and didn't get to know any good people such as yourself, our trip would be such a waste."

In the meanwhile, Karl nodded his agreement, while Julius allowed himself to be completely distracted with all of the new sights and sounds around him.

[Holeypaladin]

Katalina seemed to be completely oblivious to the fact that Julius couldn't keep his eyes off of her. Rather, she seemed confused about something else entirely. With a look of utter befuddlement on her pretty face, she leaned in closer to the Emperor. "Uncle," she spoke in a whisper loud enough to be heard by everyone present, "Did he just call you...?"

Patting her head, Donald III smiled at the girl. "Glacians seem to have a different court etiquette than we do, Katalina. I'm sure the prince didn't mean to address me as if I were a prince as well.... he probably just didn't know the proper way to address the Emperor of the Imperium Universalum." Though many people would have been quite insulted by such behavior, the Emperor didn't seem to care for such formalities much either.

"Oh um..." Katalina said quietly, "It's 'Your Royal and Imperial Majesty,' isn't it?" she said, looking up to him with innocent eyes that seemed eager to be praised and accepted.

"That's exactly right, Katalina," he said as he patted her head, "Since it's a mouthful, I just let people say 'My Emperor' instead. Simpler that way."

"Yes, Uncle.. I mean, My Emperor!" Katalina beamed from being praised and accepted, giggling a bit with excitement and seeming a bit less shy all of the sudden.

"Since we're all friends here, I invite you all to join us for dinner," the Emperor nodded to the Glacians. "Let us first get you settled in to your living quarters, of course. The palace maids and butlers will show you the way... it's easy to get lost in such a large castle if you're unfamiliar with it, after all. But we have a very talented staff that will attend to your every need." He made a gesture, inviting them to come inside.

[Cosmic Fury]

Unfortunately, the girl's intended message came off very poorly with many of the Glacians gathered there. Masamune could sense the palpable tension from both his brothers... and his guards. However, a chance at extracting his compatriots came quickly.

"Princess," Masamune paused, only a shadow of vexation crossing his face deliberately, "In Glacia and its surrounding regions, it is how we address foreigners of any royal or Imperial rank. The use of such a title merely conveys the deepest respect for them, coming from our own station to theirs, without showing a sense of dominance or submission in front of another."

Taking an extra moment as a precaution against some petty verbal jab, he shot a look at Karl to keep Julius and the others under wraps until he figured the rest out. Seemingly though, the foreign Emperor had already read into the situation, and graciously had given them a back door to run out of. Seeing this, Masamune tossed a rather strong gesture of dismissal to the rest of the party.

"My brothers are tired from the long journey, and could use their rest..." Masamune took a long pause, and put a slightly heavier pitch into his words for good measure. "So can our honor guard. They will retire for the evening with my brothers. In the meantime, I'll rest on my own time. We have much to discuss."

Masamune deliberately left out the fact that his former blindness had absolutely destroyed his sleep cycle, not to mention he was already well-rested. Impropriety simply won't do here, anyway. Besides, it's high time I get those guys out of my hair for a few minutes at least. Even with his eyes coming back to life, it was plain to see that there was a stark lack of real emotion behind them... just some sort of vague emptiness that Masamune knew that few could understand.

"Before we proceed into the meat of things, there are, of course, the necessary pleasantries to dispense of." Masamune hoped that his bold move to ditch his entire entourage would win him a few valuable minutes to salvage the poor impressions that both parties seemed to have left on each other. "If it is acceptable to you, I would accompany you further before we depart. I am a person of few needs, and time spent in the company of those I can learn from is time spent well."

[Holeypaladin]

Katalina read a bit into the tension that had been building, and clung a bit tighter to the Emperor as the Glacians proceeded to their room. Once they were gone and only Masamune was left, she looked up at the Emperor with sad eyes. "D-did I say something bad?" she asked.

"Nothing that can't be laughed over in the future," he said, patting her head before nodding to the prince. "It would seem we share some things in common then," he chuckled. "I don't have all that many material needs either... all this" he waved at the elegant palace "is for show... not for my sake, but for the sake of my guests. They have certain expectations, and my people see to them."

Sensing the prince wanted to talk to him alone, he turned to the princess. "Katalina," he said in as kind a way as he could manage, "I bet the princesses would like to see some of your pretty dolls. Why don't you gather some of your favorites to show them after dinner?"

"O-ok!" said the princess, giving him a hug before running back into the palace, nearly tripping over her long princess dress several times in the process. Once she was gone, the Emperor returned his attention to Masamune.

"I sense you have something you wish to discuss," he said the obvious, "I'm all ears."

[Cosmic Fury]

"Here is the short version." Masamune looked the Emperor directly into his eyes. "My Grandfather is dying. He's slowly dying, but dying nonetheless. He plans to retire and pass the throne to a candidate that he deems worthy of succession."

Masamune's gaze nearly averted for a split second, but his willpower returned quickly. "That is the main reason for our trip here. We wish to improve the political situation back home by getting one of us on the throne -- but the truth is that none of us are actually viable candidates on our own."

"You'll figure it out eventually, as everyone with an intelligence service such as the ones our Empires possess will." Masamune's gaze strengthened somewhat, as he continued this potentially embarrassing spiel. "I've spent much of my life blind, and only recently have been recovering my vision. There hasn't been a physically unfit Emperor ever -- and the ones that were broken during their reign always found a fast retirement, such as the one my Grandfather is about to experience. My oldest brother is a brick. He's certainly capable of doing a job required of an Emperor, but only barely and with the help of too much advice for his own good. My brother Karl doesn't have the moral character that our Emperors normally possess. He will certainly be an effective Emperor, but he'll send a lot of people to hell for it."

Masamune's tone steadied, and it was obvious that he hadn't yet arrived at the most mentally nerve-wracking part yet. "We also have different relatives who are being considered for the succession. However, they're going to be terrible rulers for our present times. We were raised to be adaptable and flexible rulers in our own different ways. Julius rules with strength, and for the wisdom part of ruling, he gathers supporters who he tends to listen to, even if it's too much. Karl usually has friends around who restrain him when he's having a darker moment, but other than that he's a brilliant tactician, even if he's almost devoid of most moral principles that normal people cling to."

"As for myself, I've lived most of my life dependent on others to survive -- in return, I make the decisions that only result in mutual benefit for our collective. In some sort of way, the three of us complete each other, and if we were all the same person, we'd be the elected to the Imperial Throne, no problem." Masamune continued, almost without pause. "The fact of the matter is that we're not one person, and the job of the Emperor falls to one person to rule, while everyone else steps aside as he renders his final decisions. "Part of the reason we stepped away from home is to decide which of the three of us makes the best candidate for the job. Regardless of the events that you have planned for our diplomatic visit, we work both alone and as a collective. After we're done with our negotiations, we will end up deciding which of us will be the face of our campaign for the Throne... and I would rather us make friends rather than enemies in our bid for power."

Masamune paused for a significant moment, and sent his bombshell. "Before any of us get started in weeding one another out in pursuit of a leader, we'll need to know the field we've chosen to contend with one another in. I need to know if you'll be able to help us decide our future. In addition, I would very much desire your opinions on us as a people. What are your first impressions? What will we have to work with going forward?"

[Holeypaladin]

The Emperor listened to the prince as he spoke of succession... of Glacian nobility, internal affairs, and the personal characteristics of each of the three princes... included their strengths, as well as some of their biggest flaws. It was... extremely sensitive information in its very nature. If the nobles of Glacia were aware of what he was saying, to the man they considered their greatest enemy, the consequences could be... disastrous.

"You risk everything by revealing all of this to me, your empire's greatest rival. It is... quite bold of you, and I can indeed see why you chose to speak of this in private. If any of my men... or any of yours... get word of this conversation," he chuckled, "Well, I needn't elaborate on the potential consequences, as I'm sure you've taken them into consideration."

"I'm also sure you've considered that my assistance will not come entirely free of charge. I speak not of money, of course... but out of interest for my people. As the people of the Imperium are my primary responsibility... though I'll admit on a personal level, to having some degree of concern for all living beings. Life is, after all, the most scarce and precious resource in the universe."

"My opinions of you as a people are... mixed," he admitted. "We actually have a lot in common, your people and mine. Which is why we tend to be distrustful of you... because you have all of the same ambitions as us, making an inevitable conflict over these ambitions a very real concern. And yet I also agree with the words you have not yet spoken... a war between our people must be avoided. It would bring death and destruction on a level this galaxy does not need."

"However..." he said, "Competition breeds excellence, in a sense. Without a rival, we have no real motivation to move forward, and without conflict, we'll instead seek conflict among ourselves, dividing the great Imperium from within. Which is worse? Educated men know that civil wars cause far more death and destruction than the wars between rival states..."

"The best solution I can come up with," he said, "Is to maintain a situation of rivalry for now, while having assurances that it will not break out into a full scale war. It is a very delicate, fine line... and will not be easy to maintain. But I'm sure you can see it as well, can you not?"

[Cosmic Fury]

"I can see that, but not all rivalries need be hostile, or even other than friendly." Masamune spoke with a grace that was atypical of a Glacian. "As for taking a risk, we take risks all the time to accomplish our goals. What I revealed to you, you were going to find out eventually, whether I told you or not. I merely took the moment that intelligence was revealed into my own hands and used it as a tool."

Masamune thought hard on the Emperor's implications as he spoke of the cost of his assistance. "I understand that your first interest lies in that of your people; it is much the same as ours. That is why I approached you in the first place. Our interests need not always conflict in a violent way, or even one that pits us fully against one another. Rather, a rivalry intended solely for growth in our well-being is something that I advocate as well."

"I can tell that you have designs for growth for your country, and that is something that I will never object to." Masamune chose his next words with care. "It is a goal we share in common, but I would not have that goal lead to barriers that keep our people from interacting and learning from one another... and growing as individuals in the process."

"Regardless of whether or not I take the throne..." Masamune paused, then let loose his goal. "I want my home to become a nation without borders, without boundaries, without barriers to learning and growing. That what I desire for my people... and for myself."