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Thread: [M] Battle of Nessus: Final Battle of the Asmodean War (Holey & Lobo) IC

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    Default [M] Battle of Nessus: Final Battle of the Asmodean War (Holey & Lobo) IC

    Ever since the Asmodean Collective's attack on Station Omega East, the war that followed had been a mess of mismanaged fleets, incompetent commanders, and overall poor execution on the part of the Universal Strategic Alliance. This wasn't much of a surprise to the Emperor of the Imperium Universalum, however, as he already knew that most USA members had only joined in hopes of receiving protection from the Imperial Armada. When it was made clear that they had obligations of their own when the Imperium was attacked by a foreign power, most of them had only scraped together token forces with inferior weapons technology, inefficient ship design, and inexperienced field commanders.

    It had fallen to the Imperium to, once again, carry the weight of the war on their shoulders. Their weaker, less efficient allies were assigned to battle the weaker, less advanced fleets of the Cult of Asmodeus, while the Imperial Armada battled the real enemy with their best ships and most skilled commanders. And so the war proceeded for several years, with a few losses, and a great many victories, until the Asmodean Collective was pushed back to their core worlds.

    Abandoning their colonies, the artificial intelligence organisms that made up the ships and ground forces of the Asmodean Collective assembled together for one last stand at their home star system of Nessus, where the "god" Asmodeus was said to keep its central processing unit deep under the surface of their homeworld.

    To finish off this foe before they had a chance to replenish their numbers... a very real danger, considering how efficiently machine life forms could replace their ranks... the Emperor himself decided to lead the final assault, from the command and control center of the newly built Heaven-class flagship, Purgatory. Though he had a much larger vessel of his own that he could have used, the lack of efficient transportation between Achenar IV and Nessus, combined with the sheer expense of operating the Imperium Invictum, were the deciding factors in leaving it behind. That, and the fact that he would have been announcing to the entire galaxy the fact that he had left the Emerald Palace... a detail that was best kept hidden until after the battle was concluded.

    As the Third Royal Armada prepared to attack, however... he received word that a third fleet was rapidly approaching. Making his way from the Fleet Admiral's quarters in which he had made his residence to the command and control center of the massive flagship, he noted the fact that the crew immediately went down to one knee at his entrance. "Stand up, everyone," he muttered. "I'm an admiral right now, so salute me as you would an admiral, rather than an Emperor."

    At his words, the crew stood to their feet and gave a salute, to which he replied, "At ease. XO, what's the SITREP?"

    "Sir," said a senior military officer whose nametag read "Simpson," "Third party battle fleet rapidly approaching. Sensor reports confirm that these are not Asmodean war ships, Cult of Asmodeus supporters, nor are they Glacian or any member race of the USA. Essentially... they're someone else entirely, though their speed indicates a highly advanced form of FTL travel."

    "Interesting..." the Emperor remarked. If the Asmodeans had obtained a new ally at some point, it would make the battle more difficult... though he could always call for reinforcements if that was the case. "Comms officer, send them a message as follows: Unidentified vessels, this is Fleet Admiral Emperor Donald III of Achenar aboard the Imperium Universalum flagship Purgatory. You are entering an active war zone. Identify yourself, and whether you are friend or foe."
    Last edited by Holeypaladin; 10-10-2018 at 11:29 PM.

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    Nearly one thousand years ago, give or take a few hundred years, a civilization with an unknown past started to take form. Located in sector grid 06, the Concentus Caelestis Custodes is made up of various alien races, ruled specifically by the race known as Seraphkin. Resembling “guardian angels,” the Seraphkin took leadership of the civilization in order to protect the growing and expanding races from themselves and the other dangers within the galaxy.

    The true history of the Seraphkin race actually began some hundred thousand years prior to the formation of the Concentus Caelestis Custodes, but no one in the civilization has any memory of these times. From the time that they could remember, however, the angelic race was made up of only female Seraphkin. There were no men, and there continued to be no male Seraphkin in the civilization to the present day.

    Due to years of genetic modifications, the ruling race created a successful and effective way to cause pregnancies without the help of men, and also ensure that every child born would be of the female sex. This eliminated the need for male Seraphkin civilians, and thus created a female-dominated Empire.

    The reasoning behind the solely female race was due to the illogical beliefs of the original ruler, High Seraph Luni. Without having any memory of men from the past, the woman was forced to shape her beliefs around her observations of primitive civilizations as well as rumors that spread among the people she ruled over. She allowed these unreasonable opinions to become the basis for her own judgment and therefore caused her to believe that men were savage, genetically inferior brutes.

    As her time as High Seraph came to an end, the Seraphkin ruler was forced to pass on her position to her daughter, Irida. Despite her attempts to push her opinions on to her child, the previous High Seraph was unable to fully convince Irida that men were monstrous beings, and the new ruler was determined to learn more about the past and about the males that her mother spoke so poorly of.

    Convinced that she could obtain this information from the inner control system of Asmodeus, Irida gathered a fleet of her best military women to head for Nessus to retrieve the data necessary to learn more about her past. Although there was a war raging between the Asmodeons and an expansionist patriarchy, whom her mother had mentioned times before, the new High Seraph wanted to accompany her fleet in order to observe one of the patriarchies first hand and determine the best way to reform her own civilization.

    As the CCC fleet raced for the Nessus star system, the fleet Commander, Eden, called Irida to the Command Center in order to inform her of an incoming message. The High Seraph wasted no time getting to the Command Center, and Eden played the message that seemed to have been received from an expansionist patriarchy.

    The image of the Emperor that appeared before the two was enough to leave them momentarily speechless, and Irida had to shake off her daze so that she could assess the words spoken by the man. It was rare for her to come into contact with males, and just this simple interaction was enough to have her feeling some things.

    However, she had to keep in mind that her goal was to obtain information from the Asmodeus CPU, and not to ogle over a man that could potentially disrupt her mission. Keeping this in mind, the young woman put on a more professional front while returning her message to Emperor Donald.

    "High Seraph Irida of the Concentus Caelestis Custodes. If you, Fleet Admiral Emperor Donald III, are planning to destroy the Asmodeus CPU, I cannot allow you to do so. The central unit holds information that is crucial to my people and I will do everything in my power to obtain it. I do not know if that makes me friend or foe to you, but that is my purpose here," was the response that returned to Emperor Donald's Purgatory just a few moments after he had sent out his message.



    Spoiler: Irida 


    Spoiler: Rhea 


    Spoiler: Haven 


    Spoiler: Celeste 


    Spoiler: Eden 


    Spoiler: Beatrice 
    Last edited by lobo; 12-06-2018 at 04:58 PM.
    -- lobo

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    The Emperor stood impatiently, waiting for the reply from the incoming fleet. As he waited for their reply, he said, "Give me a good scan of their ships. I want to know as much about our new associates as possible, in case things get serious." So far the approaching fleet hadn't shown signs of aggression, but the sheer number of war ships could be interpreted in an aggressive way... similar to the Third Royal Armada's presence, which was inherently aggressive in nature, given their mission.

    Sensors weren't detecting nearly enough ships to stop his Royal Armada, but given the fact that it was difficult to get a good gauge of the technology of these unidentified ships, it was conceivable that, if they teamed up with the Asmodeans, they could be quite a thorn in his side. It was then that the reply from the High Seraph came through, and the Emperor observed a holographic projection of an incredible beautiful, angelic alien who look no older than a teen. In the Imperium, simply looking like a teen didn't mean that she was one, and he kept this in mind and decided not to assume anything about Irida's actual age, for the time being.

    "If you plan on stopping us, I'm afraid you haven't brought nearly enough warships," he said back to the girl. While the vast majority of his ships had their stealth systems active and were thus invisible at this range to the Concentus.... he decided to just refer to them as CCC from now on.... there were still enough large warships using their active sensors to collect data of the CCC warships to indicate a fleet that was likely larger than anything the CCC had ever seen before.

    "However..." he said, "You still haven't stated how exactly you intend to collect this information from the Asmodeus CPU. Did you come to its aid in hopes of having it share such information with you, or would you prefer instead to collect such data by force?" Smirking a bit, he said, "Or perhaps you were hoping we'd share this information with you after we take it by force ourselves? The Imperium doesn't have any obligation to provide you with jack squat, unless you have something of your own to trade?"

    In truth, Donald III wasn't much of a diplomat, and when it came to negotiations, he tended to be more than slightly heavy handed... particularly when he had so many powerful warships behind him. During their expansion into Sector Grid 05, they had collected information as they could, and there was a bit of data regarding a peaceful civilization protected by Guardian Angels in the Perseus arm... though this was his first time seeing such creatures in person. Still, peace implied complacency, and the Imperial Armada had grown quite effective at warfare over the past decades of expansion.

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    “Highness…” Eden spoke up as soon as Irida’s response was sent back to the Purgatory, her gaze focused on the sensors that revealed large vessels belonging to Emperor Donald’s fleet. “He seems to have multiple large warships. If we decide to do anything rash, it could cost us… but we do stand a chance against his fleet if the situation calls for an attack,” the angelic commander continued, though her words were spoken with slight caution. Aside from the Asmodeans, she had never witnessed a fleet of this size before, but she was confident they could do damage if necessary.

    Keeping her gaze on the area that Emperor Donald’s holographic response would appear, Irida shook her head to the girl beside her. “They’ve come here for the purpose of destroying the Asmodeans, Eden. What is shown on the sensors would hardly be enough to do that...and he doesn’t appear to be an unintelligent man,” the High Seraph responded, taking a moment to truly think over the situation, “Which means we’re only picking up on the ones that he wants us to see, not the entire fleet…”

    “Are you claiming that this man could take down our fleet?” one of the older Seraphkin officers spoke up, seeming very displeased by the words of the High Seraph. “We could defeat his warships with half of what we currently have,” the woman went on to add, upset that Irida would even take into consideration the possibility of Emperor Donald’s fleet being stronger than them. “I’m only saying that we should be cautious, since we don’t even know who this man is or what he’s capable of,” Irida corrected, dismissing the woman as a message came back to them.

    The response from the Emperor confirmed Irida’s suspicions, and started to deflate the confidence she had been attempting to keep a grasp on. She did not plan to take part in the war, nor had she planned on getting stopped and questioned by the expansionist patriarchy. Her original hope had been to sneak in and obtain the information undetected... but now it almost seemed more realistic to offer their assistance in defeating the Asmodeans in exchange for the information she seeked.

    "Something to t-trade...?" the angelic alien repeated quietly as message came to an end, feeling the blood rush to her cheeks at what seemed to have been insinuated by Emperor Donald’s words. Although the Seraphkin race did not have males, most of them still knew what sex was... to a certain extent. Would she really be willing to do such a thing, in order to help her stagnant civilization...?

    Despite the seriousness of the situation, another member of the fleet couldn’t help but laugh as she watched the blush blossom onto Irida’s cheeks. “Looks as though you wouldn’t be so opposed to the idea, Irida-chan,” Haven piped up, poking fun at her close friend just to make her even more flustered. “Th-That’s not what he’s referring to!” the High Seraph was quick to insist, although she was finding it difficult to remove her gaze from the holographic image of Emperor Donald III.

    Straightening her shoulders, Irida took a deep breath in an attempt to ease her blush before she began her next message, “I do not wish to harm anyone; not in your fleet or my own. If making a trade is what it takes to obtain the information that I desire, then that is what I would prefer to do. I can offer to you my girls, as well as myself… to help in your war against the Asmodeans.” As her message was sent, there was an uproar of chatter amongst the girls within the vessel, some angry with her decision while others intended to calm down those who were upset.
    -- lobo

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    The Emperor reviewed the information on the CCC's warships as he awaited the response of the High Seraph. There were numerous large warships among them, indicating that this was no pint-size micro kingdom he was dealing with. According to the reports, however, they were somewhat under-gunned, for warships of their magnitude, yet the sensors were unable to determine the nature of their weaponry, indicating it was something they likely hadn't seen before. Interesting. "Your Royal and Imperial Majesty," came the voice of the sensor operator. "You'll probably want to see this."

    "Show me," the Emperor said. A holographic image of one of the CCC's large warships appeared before him. It was.... quite the aesthetic design, indicating that they had an eye for beauty, and a preference for it even among warships. This wasn't unheard of, as the Surian Empire along with the old Alfaran Kingdom were of similar mind in this regard, but they were only able to get away with such aesthetic designs of warships due to a vast technological superiority over their enemies... which caused the Alfarans quite a shock when they realized the Imperium was even further ahead of them in military technology, prior to their integration into the Imperium Universalum, of course.

    Eventually, he received another message from the High Seraph, and when he looked at the projection of her, it looked as if she was... restraining her embarrassment. Was it so unusual for a monarch in her position to be addressed in such a frank manner? He could only assume she was used to being pampered and treated like a princess everywhere she went, by diplomats and vassals alike, and hadn't spoken to someone of similar status since before she took over the CCC... whenever that was. He still wasn't sure how long she had been reigning.

    Listening to her message, he smirked somewhat and raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" he said. He wasn't sure what to make of Irida offering "her girls" to him. There was little the girls themselves could do against the Asmodeans without the support of their ships, but she hadn't mentioned her fleet at all. "Do you mean to say you wish to personally come over to the Purgatory with some of your crew? Or that your ships will be supporting the 3rd Royal Armada in the upcoming battle? Or... perhaps both?"

    He didn't actually suspect that High Seraph Irida would personally visit the flagship of a foreign empire... and there was a possibility that there had been some sort of mistake in translation. Still, it was necessary to clarify what exactly she meant by her offer... and what all she was willing to risk in order to retrieve this information from the Asmodeans. With that in mind, he decided to up the ante a bit. "Come to me with some of your girls, and offer the support of your fleet in the upcoming battle. After the battle's conclusion, I'll pick out a medium sized warship from your fleet. Give me full administrative access to the ship's computer systems so that I can bring it back to Achenar IV. Do this... and I'll give you a copy of the Asmodeus data records once we have retrieved them." It was a hard bargain, indeed... but he wanted to know just how important this information was to the High Seraph and her CCC.

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    After making her offer to the Emperor, Irida was met with an outbreak of opposition among the older Seraphkin. The women that had worked closely with Irida's mother found it outrageous that the new High Seraph would offer herself, and fellow fleet members, to an unknown vessel... especially one that was lead by a man. "Highness, this choice that you have made not only puts you, our leader, in danger, but everyone aboard this vessel as well. I highly suggest you reconsider the offer you made to that brute," one of the women spoke up through the rest of the chatter, trying to be heard over the other voices.

    "I understand your concern, but my options here are very limited. If we want to obtain the information from before the Blackout, we have to be willing to make compromises," Irida responded, attempting to calm down those who seemed most upset by her decision. "Compromises? Does your compromise take into consideration that this inferior being could be tricking you in order to rape and kill each one of us on this vessel? Is that a risk you want to take?" another voice rang out from the sea of outbursts, giving the High Seraph yet another thing to consider before making a final decision.

    It was then that another message came through to the vessel, and Irida quickly silenced the unruly crew so she could hear the Emperor's response. No one spoke a word as the message from Emperor Donald III was played, and it seemed the Seraphkin were anxiously anticipating how Irida would handle the counteroffer.

    Breathing a quiet sigh, the High Seraph began to pace around the room while she weighed the pros and cons of the situation in her mind. If the Emperor upheld his promise, she would be given the opportunity to closely observe a patriarchy at work, obtain the information necessary for understanding their history prior to the Blackout, and...possibly experience something she may never do otherwise. But most importantly, she would be getting the information she needed to understand the Seraphkin past.

    On the other hand, the Emperor could be planning an attack for when they reach Purgatory, or even when she and a few crew members got aboard his vessel. If she declined the offer, however, she wasn’t sure she could guarantee that an attack wouldn’t occur anyway… So it seemed her decision was an easy one to make. The information was worth dying for.

    Turning to her fleet Commander, Irida finally made her call. "Take us in his direction. Tell the other ships we have a new plan set in place, but to keep a distance. If something goes wrong, I want them prepared to do whatever it takes to bring down his fleet," she instructed, causing yet another eruption of complaints from those inside the Command Center.

    “I hope trusting you is a wise decision,” the High Seraph kept her next message to Emperor Donald short and simple, not wanting to drag it out and allow the man to see the nervous energy she was beginning to feel. She was not confident with the choice she made, but she hoped that keeping the act would be enough to convince the man that she actually was.

    Silencing her crew once again, Irida faced the members within the Command Center to address the situation. “I do not intend to force any member of my crew to join me aboard the Purgatory. I only ask that three of you accompany me in case things turn south and we’re required to fight our way off the vessel,” she explained, glancing at her fleet members as she spoke. To her surprise, three of the youngest members of the crew stood from their seats to go with her to the unfamiliar and potentially dangerous warship.
    -- lobo

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    The Emperor stood still for a time, gazing off into the simulated replica of the space surrounding them. There were no windows in the Command and Control center of the Purgatory, after all, as it was located in the well-protected core of the warship surrounded by multiple layers of reinforced collapsium isometal armor, so that it would survive constant enemy fire even as the rest of the ship sustained heavy damage in the most brutal of engagements.

    It was clear that many of the officers in the C&C wanted to criticize the way he was dealing with the CCC's monarch, but none of them had the courage to speak up. "Beatrice," he said to no one in particular, and yet in response to his word, the holographic form of a young woman who appeared to be in her early teens appeared in front of him, looking at him as if to see what it was he wanted. It was then that the reply from the CCC ship came to him, and he raised a finger to instruct the Cytherean artificial intelligence organism to wait a moment as he reviewed it.

    It was incredibly brief, and somewhat vague... but the impression he got from the message was that Irida had agreed to his demand, surprisingly, though since she didn't say so outright, it made him wonder why. Was this some sort of deception? Was the angelic young woman attempting to confuse him by seemingly agreeing, but not saying so outright?

    Regardless, the fact that the sensor operator was announcing that the CCC flagship was closing in on them indicated that she had every intention of coming on to his vessel. They were already within range of missiles, and would soon be within range of the long-range energy weapons of the Purgatory itself. "It looks like she intends on coming aboard, then," he remarked. "Beatrice, I want you to greet Irida and her escort when they arrive. If they truly are a matriarchy, it might ease their minds a bit to see a female face. Commo girl, patch me in once again."

    As the communications officer complied with his order, the Emperor said, "I'll have a boat bay prepared for your shuttle, provided it's smaller than a Locust-class landing craft. If it won't fit in the boat bay, you can dock with the airlock instead. I suppose I'll be seeing you soon then... Irida." With that, he cut the comms channel, expecting all of his orders to be obeyed as he turned and headed out of the C&C towards the indicated boat bay in order to personally receive the High Seraph's shuttle.

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    Irida looked between the three girls that stood to escort her onto the Purgatory, and the sight of one girl in particular caused her to shake her head. “You know very well that I can’t let you come with us,” the High Seraph sighed, causing the younger Seraphkin to pout. “But Rhea-chan wants to meet the Emperor, too! It isn’t fair for Oneechan to go without her...” the little sister insisted, clasping her hands together beneath her chin before adding a long, “Pleeeease.” Unable to resist the adorableness of her younger sister, Irida eventually gave a small nod to the girl. "Alright...but you must stay beside me or Celeste," Irida caved, ushering the smaller girl towards the military officer.

    "And, you have to be on your best behavior. We need this information and it seems that he will be the most effective way to obtain it," Irida continued, warning her sister just to be sure the troublesome little girl didn't do something to prevent them from achieving their goal. As she finished speaking, however, another message from the Emperor came through to their fleet, and everyone's attention was focused on the holographic image. Yet another blush flared up on the High Seraph's cheeks as the message ended with her name, and her little sister began to giggle at the sight. "Someone is excited to meet the Emperor..." she cooed, causing Irida to immediately deny with a shake of her head. "This is strictly professional, Rhea. I'm going for one purpose and one purpose only..." Irida insisted, despite knowing there were a few ulterior motives to her trip onto the Purgatory.

    Lead by Celeste, the group exited the Command Center to go to the back of the flagship where the shuttles were docked. Entering one of them, Haven was responsible for piloting the ship, and she set their course for the Purgatory. Reaching the large vessel didn’t take more than a few minutes, and just as Emperor Donald had instructed, Haven parked the shuttle in the open boat bay that had been designated to them. "Don't let your guard down. We don't know anything about this man, and if anything starts to go wrong, we return to our shuttle immediately," Irida instructed, tugging her young sister closer as the shuttle door was opened and they were greeted with the sight of... a hologram of a young girl.

    Irida was surprised by the sight, and the High Seraph watched as the holographic girl smiled and motioned for the small group of Seraphkin to exit their shuttle. "It's a pleasure to meet you, High Seraph. My name is Beatrice. Beatrice will be in charge of guiding you through the Purgatory to meet Emperor Donald III," Beatrice spoke as the four angelic aliens exited their ship and stepped onto the unfamiliar vessel. Being greeted by a woman, although young and holographic, did decrease Irida's worries slightly, but the High Seraph was still alert to her surroundings.

    Celeste and Haven remained a few paces ahead of Irida and Rhea as they approached Beatrice, but the High Seraph allowed her posture to remain relaxed as it seemed she didn't have reason to be tense just yet. "Thank you, Beatrice. We'll let you lead the way, then," Irida said, motioning for her small group to follow the holographic girl as she began to guide them farther into the Purgatory.

    "Beatrice," Rhea piped up, managing to slip around Irida to start walking next to the holographic teen. "Is the Emperor as handsome in person as he was on his messages?" the younger Seraphkin asked, causing Irida to squeak out a noise of surprise but she didn't get a chance to chastise the girl before Beatrice was speaking. "Oh, yes, of course. Emperor Donald III is very handsome," she answered without hesitation, leading the girls through the Purgatory and to the area where they would be meeting the Emperor.
    Last edited by lobo; 11-14-2018 at 09:51 PM.
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    As Donald III began making his way towards the boat bay, he was soon met by a tall, muscular man who spoke up with a thick Ferronian accent. "Where are you going, your Royal and Imperial Majesty?" asked the muscular man with a huge sword strapped to his back, who wore the clothing that identified him not only as a member of the Imperial Guard, but as the General in charge of it.

    "Oh, hey Gunther," the Emperor spoke to the man with a shrug. "I figured I'd go greet the High Seraph in person when she arrives. I'll be fine though... I'm pretty sure they won't be bringing any heavy weapons with them, since she sort of agreed to be a hostage, I guess." He had his sword at his side, at least, and was confident in his ability to deal with an alien or ten with his mastery of edged weapons and unarmed combat.

    "Beatrice is going to greet them," the overprotective guard said. "We can await them at the conference room."

    With a sigh, the Emperor said, "Fine... but you don't have to scare them with your oversized battlesuit."

    "The battlesuit stays," Gunther insisted.

    "Then make like furniture or something," the Emperor muttered, turning instead to head towards the conference room.

    ___________

    The corridors of the flagship Purgatory were quite narrow and cramped, focused on economy of volume rather on luxury. Ordinarily the scene of cramped, narrow hallways might appear claustrophobic, but the chameleon systems allowed the walls to be disguised as something else in order to help improve crew morale and give a more pleasant scene, as opposed to reminding them they were in a warship on the front lines of one of the largest wars the Imperium had ever fought.

    The default scenery was that of a scenic forest path, leading to the door in a conference room where the Emperor sat waiting for the Seraphkin guests. Upon entering the room, however, the scenery would shift into that more resembling the throne room of the Emerald Palace back on Achenar IV, complete with holographic projections of elaborate royal furniture. Amongst the progressions stood a large hologram of an elegant armoir decorated the far wall, but inside the hologram lay a fully armored, mechanized battlesuit of the Imperial Guard, complete with an anti-materiel gigaflare cannon with enough power to essentially vaporize a 21st century Earth tank with a single shot.

    Friedrich himself was sitting at the head of a large rectangular table, but he stood as the aliens escorted the room escorted by the holographic projection of the ships AI organism. "High Seraph Irida," he said with a nod to the leader of the CCC, the only face he recognized among the alien girls. "Welcome to the Purgatory. Pay no attention to the fly on the wall... he's only here to ensure my safety." He gave a brief nod in the direction of the only other person in plain sight... a simple looking man wearing a simple garment, which also happened to be the traditional garment of his people's warrior caste, complete with two slightly curved swords on his back and several smaller weapons throughout his garment. The silent man sat on the Emperor's left and gave a single nod to the approaching royals.

    The Emperor himself wore a lighter suit of armor than Gunther's concealed battlesuit, and had a basket-hilted sword similar to a schiavona at his side, along with a shorter blade reminiscent of a cinquedea, and an energy pistol at his hip with a larger opening for firing a projectile of some sort. "Please, take your seats," he said to the girls, going so far as to pull out a chair for each Seraphkin girl before returning to his own seat.
    Last edited by Holeypaladin; 11-26-2018 at 11:48 AM.

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    "Rhea," Irida finally spoke up, reaching out to gently pull her sister away from the hologram despite the fact that Beatrice had responded so kindly to the young Seraphkin. "I know you're curious, but please don't bother Beatrice with questions like that," she chastised her little sister, holding the girl beside her so she wouldn't stray again. "Oh, Beatrice doesn't mind. Beatrice quite enjoys talking about Emperor Donald III," the AI assured Irida, causing the High Seraph to start blushing a light shade of pink. A part of her wanted to hear more about the Emperor, and with Beatrice being so willing to talk about him, she wondered just what she could learn from her. “But we’re getting close to the conference room now, so Beatrice can answer more questions about his Royal and Imperial Majesty later,” Beatrice added, not wanting to begin the conversation before they reached the Emperor.

    It was then that the girls were lead down a long, narrow corridor in the direction of what Irida assumed to be the conference room. Despite looking like they were walking through a forest path, the High Seraph could tell that the walls were much closer together than they were back on her own flagship, and it had her curiosity returning once again. “Beatrice?” little Rhea spoke again before Irida got the chance, only this time the older sister allowed the young girl to ask her question. “This ship is very big, of course, but why does it feel so squished on the inside? Rhea can reach out and touch both walls!”

    As Rhea emphasized her point by stretching out both arms to brush her fingertips against each wall, the sight caused the AI to giggle and she watched the girl for a moment before looking ahead again. “The Purgatory utilizes space efficiently, focusing primarily on military equipment,” Beatrice answered without much of a second thought, enjoying the company of the younger Seraphkin enough to forget that the angelic aliens could still be a potential threat to her and the rest of the members aboard the flagship. “It would be pointless to have large empty space when we need weapons for the war,” she added, figuring that was simple enough to understand.

    Satisfied by the response she got, Rhea fell silent once again as they got closer to the conference room where Emperor Donald was waiting. However, full of curiosity, Irida had her own question to ask. “Beatrice, are you the only woman on this ship?” she asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over them. “No, the Imperial Armada is 32.63% female. The majority are in medical and communications, but there are a few in the infantry as well,” the AI gave an almost automatic response, wanting to provide the guests with as much information as possible. “And what percentage of them get raped?” Haven muttered under her breath, but her words didn’t go unnoticed by the Cytherean. “Approximately one in two-hundred and fifty thousand. Rape is a capital crime in the Imperial Armada,” Beatrice gave an answer to the otherwise rhetorical question, and the four Seraphkin fell silent as they processed this information.

    Finally reaching the conference room, Beatrice guided them through the automatic door before motioning in the direction of the Emperor. “Beatrice has brought the guests, Dad…- er, your Royal and Imperial Majesty…” she started to speak as the Seraphkin entered the room behind her, and just barely managed to correct herself before her nickname for the Emperor could slip. The mistake caught the three older aliens by surprise, but due to their limited knowledge on relationships between men and women, none of them quite understood the implication.

    The four Seraphkin focused their attention on the Emperor as he spoke, and the sight alone was enough to cause the three older girls to blush. None of them attempted to speak as to not interrupt the man, and even Rhea was a good girl by sticking beside Irida and keeping her mouth shut. They all watched as he moved to the empty seats in the room and pulled them out enough to allow space for each girl to sit, surprising them all yet another time. “Th-thank you…” Irida managed to stammer, motioning for Haven and Celeste to take the seats at the ends while she and Rhea sat in the middle two.

    Despite being told not to mind the other man in the room, Rhea couldn’t help but peek towards him out of curiosity, but another presence caught her attention due to her superhuman sensory perception. “Are we not supposed to mind the ninja guy? Or the one in the scary suit of armor?” Rhea asked, which of course caused the remaining girls to look through the holographic armoir. “Is that sort of firepower something you keep around all the time? Or were you worried that we would be a special type of threat?” Celeste couldn’t help but speak, which earned a look of disapproval from Irida.
    -- lobo

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