Divine Confessor's Story

Gabrielle fought the urge to step towards Norrington, determined to give off the appearance that she wasn’t a coward. The fact that she felt intimidated in more ways than one was beginning to wear on her, but it wasn’t bad enough for her to start acting rashly… yet. As long as she could remain level-headed, she wouldn’t do anything that she would immediately regret. The thought of her sister waiting at home for her to come back was also incentive to keep a handle on her mouth. The more she thought about her sarcasm, the more Gabby realized she missed hanging out with Logan. He taught her a lot of things and picked up on almost all of his bad attributes to the dismay of her parents. Tayrn always tried to make Remy see that Logan was a bad influence, but her concerns often fell on deaf ears. Then, after Logan saved Renée and Gabby a couple of times, their mother shut up and just dealt with the bad habits. Then Logan disappeared and the two siblings were left to their own devices. Around that time, she went off to her modeling gig and her sister went off to do her own thing. The first time they had met back up in all those years was when Renée had jumped in front of the bullets meant for Gabrielle. Pushing away her thoughts, she narrowed her eyes towards the hooded figure that made it clear that she felt Gabrielle was being disrespectful.

Great, this is going so fantastically thus far…

Crossing her arms against her chest as the feminine cloaked figure moved closer to her location, Gabby realized that was stupid because it meant she wouldn’t be able to defend herself if possible. With that thought, she dropped her hands down to her side loosely, preparing for anything that might come her way. She was incredibly paranoid and all of the security in the room wasn’t making her feel any better. Inhaling deeply before releasing it, she hoped she was giving off a calm demeanor despite how nervous she truly felt. The woman’s words made her feel like she was in school again, being spoken to like a child just like her teachers used to do. Biting hard on her bottom lip to keep from saying something sarcastic, she instead glanced briefly towards Norrington before returning her attention towards the unknown female. When the woman who soon identified herself as Kianna McGregor lowered the cowl that had kept her appearance hidden, Gabby was glad to see that she at least appeared to be of human nature. Well, that was a plus, right?

“…McGregor…” She said nothing more than that last name, piecing together everything that had been said thus far. She was somehow related to the guy from the bar and Gabrielle began to wonder if this was even going to be a fair talk or if they were biased because of family ties. As if things couldn’t get any worse… Maybe not worse, but strange, for sure.

Her gaze soon shifted beyond the woman towards a child that had appeared out of nowhere, though intelligence indicated he obviously came through the door behind her. Watching him quietly, she followed his movement until he stepped beside Kianna. Arching a brow when he was introduced as Aaron, Gabby couldn’t help but groan when it was revealed that not only was the kid her son, but the Divine Shadow was her husband. Yeah, keeping it all in the family, for sure. This sucked. Just nodding towards the kid, Gabby wondered if they brought him in on purpose to mess with her or something.

Her attention moved back towards the Divine Shadow and shrugged at his words. She never claimed to have discipline and couldn’t help how she reacted when nervous. It was her defense mechanism. The pair of Confessors moved towards her and she narrowed her eyes once again, snapping them towards Mollem. So, now they were threatening her just based on her sarcastic response. Did they even plan on giving her a fair time here or was this all an act? She wasn’t about to change anything about her, especially how she spoke. It probably didn’t help that whenever an authority figure told her to do something, she automatically wanted to do the opposite. She would just blame that on Logan too. Keeping silent, she tapped her fingers against her thigh, mentally noting that he when he removed his cowl, he too appeared to be human. Her right hand slid into the pocket of her metallic blue jacket, immediately twirling the playing cards around her fingers. This kept her calm enough to stop her from immediately smarting off at his offer. Like hell she was going to be doing that.

“Uhh… what? If I have an issue with an Aschen patron, I’ll deal with it on my own, just like I would with any other person causing trouble in my bar. I’m definitely not reporting it or taking the time to go through the Aschen Consulate. I will not treat them any differently than I treat anyone else.” She decided to keep from commenting about his threat to kill her if she didn’t speak to him how he desired. This was stupid.

Mollem silently listened as Gabrielle uttered her rebuttal, an outright refusal of demands that he had through reasonable.

It was then his face darkened, and his pleated cowl was thrown back over his head, as he turned to face Kianna.

"Quaero praecessi etiamsi habere illam occidere." He muttered to her in Anquietas, the known Aschen language.

He then shot a glare to Gabrielle before he turned back towards the throne room, with two Confessors in Tow, he moved towards one of the many doors that had lined the main hall, almost as if he had been pouting.

Kianna shook her head as Mollem slipped from the room, seemingly weary of the whole matter. Truth be told she was as well, but for whatever reason this matter seemed of some importance to Mollem and she would humor him on it for the time being.

"I think you misunderstood," Kianna replied. "My husband asks that you report the individuals," she explained. "Not that they be afforded any special treatment," she added. "If our officers and soldiers are acting in a manner unbecoming of their station, then we need that information to reach the Aschen Consulate so that it can be addressed on our end as well. If our citizens are acting in a way to compromise the tentative peace between our people, then we need to know of these individuals. Surely this is a simple request to help us to ensure that future conflicts are stemmed before they even begin."

She shook her head. "If no one reports these matters, then it is unreasonable for people to assume we know they are occurring and to lay blame that nothing is being done to prevent it."

She chuckled lightly.

"As much as I would like to claim omnipotence, I fear that is a talent that lays beyond me."

Norrington for the first time did something. He turned his head towards Gabby and whispered in a low voice, "Wait, did you ask to see him or vice versa?" If he was close enough his whiskers would probably tickle at the side of her face. And then he was back to being an utterly neutral observer of the ongoing diplomacy.

No, this was beyond stupid. Standing there, growing more exasperated and annoyed that she had even agreed to come, Gabrielle snapped her gaze towards the Divine Shadow as he mumbled some mombo-jumbo towards Kianna. When he shot her a glare, she was nice enough to do the same, resisting the urge to flip him off as well. She figured that would get her fingers cut off and she sort of liked having them around. When he left in a huff, she couldn’t help but wonder what had been said, but knew better than to ask and instead just glanced between Aaron and his mother, fighting to keep from saying or doing something she would ultimately regret.

“Hnnn…”

That was all she allowed herself to do, knowing it was least likely to get her into trouble. The only good thing with him leaving was that he took two of the Confessors with him. That allowed her to relax a little bit more. Though, when Kianna began to speak again, her shoulders tensed up and she felt her irritation rising even more. Tightening her jaw, Gabrielle just shrugged towards the woman, Gabby glanced over at Norrington when he whispered a question towards her. Leaning towards him while ignoring his whiskers rubbing against her cheek, she whispered just as quietly as he did.

“Vice Versa.”

Turning back towards Kianna, she narrowed her eyes, still twirling several cards in the pocket of her jacket. She studied the woman for a couple of minutes, figuring that unless she said what the woman wanted to hear, Kianna would continue to speak to her in the same manner, making it appear that Gabby just didn’t understand what was being asked. Even though she was a sixteen-year-old, she wasn’t stupid and had been the top of her classes. Hell, she even graduated when she was just fifteen. Flexing her jaw, she took in a few deep breaths before deciding to respond accordingly.

“Whatever. And how do you wish me to go about reporting these shenanigans to you? I still think it’s stupid that I have to do that for the Aschen, when I am not being asked to do it for any other group. Maybe they have a better handle on their soldiers and people than you do? Or maybe they just don’t care.” Gabrielle wondered briefly if she was just digging a hole, but at the moment, she didn’t give a shit. When she agreed to go discuss this with the Divine Shadow, she didn’t think it would go in this direction. Well, to be honest, she wasn’t exactly sure what direction it would be going in, but that was probably because she wasn’t politically minded like others.

"You know, you're kind of a jerk," Aaron told Gabby.

His words drew a frown from Kianna, who was attempting to maintain some sense of civility to the conversation.

"That's not necessary," she told Aaron. "Why don't you go on," she told him.

Aaron shrugged and headed off, back the way he had arrived from. Clearly the boy had been spending too much time with Mollem.

With Mollem and Aaron gone from the room, it was just herself and the two confessors that remained as Kianna retook her seat with a thoughtful look. She would have preferred to dismiss the confessors, but she had a feeling that they were here on orders from Mollem to keep an eye on her as much as their guests. Kianna had enough trouble just keeping them out of her special projects division. No, she had no illusions as to who the confessors were reporting to.

"How many other nations do you know with a rather large ethnic population living across the street from your establishment?" Kianna inquired in response to Gabby's own question. "There's no secret that there's been a great deal of bad blood between the Aschen and the Terrans in the past, and these things don't mend overnight. Your cooperation and assistance will not go unappreciated, and I'll see that you're provided any information you need regarding the Aschen Consulate before your return to Terra."

She studied Gabby a moment, and despite Gabby's seeming agreement to the matter, it was plain to see that she was far from thrilled with the situation.

"What can I do to assure you that I have nothing but the interest of your establishment, Wing City, and the improvement of Aschen and Terran relations in mind?" Kianna inquired.

Gabrielle glanced down at Aaron, narrowing her eyes towards him. If he wasn’t a ten-year-old and if she wasn’t in the presence of someone that might flay her, she might have backhanded him across the mouth. Instead she just rolled her eyes and shrugged. What the hell did she care what a child thought of her. Glad when Kianna sent the kid out, the mutant turned her head back towards the other woman, wishing she had never decided to come all the way to Langara. Well, what was done was done and it wasn’t like she could walk out of the doors and take a cab home. What if they never let her go home? Fidgeting a little, Gabby glanced over towards Norrington, wondering if he had a plan if things suddenly went south.

I’m hungry… I wonder if they are going to feed us… Her mind was beginning to wander, which was just reason number five thousand why she should have told Inviere to have Renée go in her place.

Oh man, just thinking about her sister made her realize that the older girl was probably pissed at this whole situation. Well, good, she deserved to be upset after all, she never bothered to let Gabby know she was even alive. The stupid git. Huffing at the thought of being protected in secret, she did manage to realize that it was because Renée probably wasn’t sure if it would be safe to reveal that she hadn’t died. Blinking, she shifted her attention towards Kianna, noting the woman was sitting down once again. Yeah, so she got to sit and they were forced to stand. Some hospitality. Sighing heavily, it was difficult, but somehow she managed to focus in on what was being said. Bad blood? That was putting it very, very, very, very lightly. Well, at least they were planning on returning them to Terra. That at least was a plus.

“I’m hungry. I didn’t know I was supposed to eat before I came… I figured Norrington and I would be fed… and you’ve made us stand all this time with Confessors practically breathing down our necks. Not very hospitable… Oh, wait, that wasn’t what you asked, was it…?” Gabrielle was stalling because she really had no clue how to answer what had been proposed to her.

“Gambit’s is just one small business in a very large City and an even larger planet. I don’t see how telling on the Aschen soldiers or Aschen civilians will do anything to help make good blood between the Aschen and Terrans. In fact, what’s to stop the Aschen from reacting to being reported? I mean, basically I’m doing nothing but tattle-telling on them much like a child would on a sibling. You’re right. There is a ton of bad blood between the Aschen and the Terrans and though I’ve never personally had any bad dealings… thus far with any Aschen aside from what happened in the bar, I can certainly see why there is bad blood. I’m going to do what is best for not just my establishment, but for my customers as well. Maybe the issue stems from the leaders not having control over their people… Maybe that should be fixed first. Why are you so interested in Gambit’s anyways?”

Kianna's expression flickered with the edges of a frown. This girl was near insufferable.

"Very well," Kianna replied. "Have them returned to Terra," she told the pair of confessors finally with a wave of her hand to dismiss them.

Her patience with the girl had worn thin enough to want to simply be done with the matter. She really needed to have a talk with Mollem about wasting their time with petty Terran matters. Surely they had people to delegate this crap too.

Both Confessors silently nodded.

"By your command." At which time they turned to both Norrington and Gabrielle.

"You have overstayed your welcome here, and it is time for you to leave." They said, while one of them nodded and there was a sudden and deafening thunderclap, and the entire Palace shuddered from the sudden release of energies.

Both confessors stepped closer to the pair as the floor shuddered some more, and the large emblem of the Divine Shadow, which was a strange spiral design began to open up to reveal a festering, swirling, and rainbow colored vortex right below the Palace.

The Vortex spun angrily and began to draw air and dust alike into it's seemingly never-ending bowels.

The pair of Confessors stepped forward once more, and began to nudge the pair towards the vortex. Perhaps even roughly shoving them through it.

"We worship his Divine Shadow." The Confessors parroted.

If successful, it would be a speedy return to Terra.
The portal itself was a Bifrost hub, and following a journey that would nearly tear the pair limb from limb, they would be ejected from a swirling vortex directly in front of Gambit's Bar.

Gabrielle narrowed her eyes when the Confessors were ordered to return both her and Norrington to Terra. Just what in the hell was going on? First they were invited here to brainstorm or whatever ways to stop what had happened in the bar from happening again, and now all of a sudden, they were being told to fuck off? She still had no clue why the bar was important in helping make the blood between the Terrans and the Aschen better and apparently instead of answering her, Kianna was just going to send them away. This was reminding her of her childhood all over again, and frankly, that pissed her off. Could she have been more open to what had been asked earlier? Sure, but she couldn’t help how she reacted. Now however, she was just mad as hell at having her questions being ignored. Her fingers continued to twirl the cards in her pocket and she fumed at the woman who should have her face beaten in. Maybe her problem stemmed from the fact that the people she was having to deal with her McGregors and she was still upset with the douche that caused the problems in the bar to begin with.

“You’re shitting me, right? I thought you lot wanted to work with me to stop the incident from happening again. How is that going to happen if you boot me back to Terra before giving me the information I need to report the yahoo’s that cause trouble in Gambit’s? Though, I still would like to know the answers to the questions I already asked you.” Gabrielle moved away from the Confessors as they neared both her and Norrington. She wasn’t budging from this Palace until she got what she had come for or the whole trip would be a complete waste. Maybe this was her fault… yeah, probably was, but she couldn’t help how she reacted. Sometimes she tended to react how she did as a kid, especially under stress. This time though… this time it was biting her in the butt.

When the floor suddenly shook thanks to a super loud thunderclap, Gabrielle couldn’t help but grip the card she had been twirling tight in her hand. It was a defense mechanism, something that she couldn’t help. That was generally why she didn’t keep her hand near anything that could be charged. But, she figured it wouldn’t be a problem in this scenario. Twirling the cards generally calmed her down. Relaxing her grip before anything happened, she narrowed her eyes when the floor shuddered once again. Just what in the hell was going on? When the floor opened, she automatically stepped away from the hole, moving backwards rather rapidly. She had to change her trajectory because the Confessors were trying to push them into the vortex.

“Now, just wait a damned minute! I was told I would get what I needed to report the offenders.” Her fingers were gripping the card again and she wasn’t aware of what was happening until her pocket began to glow. More often than naught, the ability she gained from her father came at the most inopportune time, but that was probably because she never quite worked on mastering it. In her mind, not messing with it meant that it just wouldn’t occur. Of course, that was nothing more than a bunch of bologna. Swearing under her breath, she fought to gain some form of control over the glowing card, though she knew it wasn’t likely to happen. Cursing again, she pulled it out of the pocket and threw it down into the vortex. She wasn’t quite sure what would happen, but at least it wasn’t thrown towards any Aschen.

Out of instinct Norrington had flickered into a shadow for a moment when the floor suddenly changed. It was just a knee-jerk reaction by this point in his life. Not that he was particularly okay with scary floor portals, but it wasn't like he could phase out of existence forever. He stared down into the portal for a moment, trying to gauge how safe it was when out of the corner of his eye he saw a suddenly movement, the card being tossed. His fur almost immediately stood up on end.

The bitch had just thrown an explosive!

Had he thought he could get away with it un-exploded, he probably would have tried to tackle her to ground. But he knew a pack of cards was a pack of cards, and there was no way he was jumping onto that.

"It is clear to me that you have little interest in remaining here on Langara, and your continued being here will only further inflame matters. That bifrost will return you to your planet where you can see to your hunger and weariness," she explained. Admittedly she had intended to have Gabby briefed on matters during her return to Terra, but it would seem that the confessors had more immediate plans for her deportation. "I'll have someone sent through to discuss the specifics with you, if it is your wish to pursue this matter from the comforts of your own world."

She rose then.

"Now if you will excuse me, I have some other matters that need tending to."

Fortunately for Gabby, no one in the room likely had any awareness of what the card was, as it wouldn't detonate until impact. The pavement outside of Gambit's Bar would be a bit worse for wear upon their arrival though - should they enter the vortex.

Kianna meanwhile was heading off in search of Mollem. She had more than a few irate words for the man.

Scrunching up her nose, Gabrielle glanced over at Norrington, recognized the look in his face and immediately felt terrible for what had just happened. How could she explain that it was an accident and she hadn’t deliberately charged a card? She wasn’t that stupid. She only hoped that Kianna and the Confessors wouldn’t see it as an act of terrorism and kill her and Norrington for it. Shifting her attention back towards Kianna, she only nodded, glad that the woman was at least going to send someone down to talk about the specifics of the reporting and all the crap that went along with whatever it was they wanted her to deal. In her mind, she was still hesitant, but as long as they didn’t tell her how to run her bar or make it so she couldn’t kick out who she deemed to be dangerous, well, then it would be fine. If they attempted to do anything else, then she would tell them to piss off and would end the reporting immediately.

“Yes, I would like someone to come discuss the specifics with me, that would be much appreciative.” She stepped over towards Norrington, her fingers no longer inside of her jacket pocket.

Watching the woman leaving the room, Gabby wondered what happened to her card and hoped it wouldn’t land somewhere else in the palace. Hopefully the stupid thing would just be vaporized in the bi-frost and not cause any damage, but she of course had no real idea of how the portal deal worked. Shoving the matter out of her head, she ran a few fingers through her brunette locks and sighed softly. She had a feeling that her bodyguard was going to berate the crap out of her once they got back home and she wasn’t exactly looking forward to that scolding. Shifting her gaze towards the guards, she studied them a moment or two, waiting to be shoved into the portal or whatever.

“Well… I guess we’ll be going then? Will this portal deal hurt? What happens when we go through it? Is it safe…?”

"Just... Move," Norrington said. His voice was a little strained, as if he had run out of patience and was tired and just wanted to go. It was actually the opposite. He was just trying to shunt her out, even going as far as to lead the way, which was just crazy for him. He'd rather throw rocks in and see if they exploded than go first. But... Well the card looked like it went through, so good enough.

As he stepped one foot over the portal he suddenly had a very strange thought. If the Aschen had portals that lead to Gambit's Bar, why didn't they just invade Terra that way?

"Hold your breath." The Confessor said, ignoring the other questions before they moved to shove her into the portal, which would take her on a proverbial roller coaster ride through the fabric of space and time.

After being flung through a multicolored wormhole, they would be tossed out from a festering vortex at the door of Gambit's Bar. It wouldn't be painful, just likely disorienting and rather rough.

Having come back after the rather exasperating deal with Gabrielle, Mollem had quietly returned to his throne to see yet another guest. This time he made sure that the best of the best was present for this meeting, still not entirely trusting Whisper.

Kesslee was standing directly behind the throne, and a pair of Confessors stood at the door, along with six more Confessors standing at the edges of the room.

Mollem silently waited for his guest, checking the time and quietly wondering what everything was about.

Whisper entered the room quietly, escorted by yet another pair of confessors who remained at her side as she approached Mollem. She shifted her eyes briefly as she took note of the rather excessive security precautions before she stopped several paces from Mollem.

"I worship His Shadow," she murmured softly.

Mollem sat in silence as Whisper approached the foot of his throne, and he waited for her to complete her introduction before he spoke.

"Why did you summon an audience with me?" He asked.

Whisper swallowed hard.

"To ask your forgiveness, and your mercy," she replied.

Kesslee slowly moved forward, and a pair of confessors closed in behind her as Mollem narrowed his eyes, and threw his hood over his face, he was anticipating something. Perhaps it was paranoia.

"Forgiveness and mercy for what sins?"

Kesslee nodded slowly. "Summon the Redeemer." He said as Mollem held up his hand, and slowly leaned forward.

"For my actions on Arastel," Whisper replied. "For my treason and heresy."

She knew that he would never allow her to walk away. She could only hope there was some shred of humanity in the man to at least allow her a life here on Langara.

"I understand I'm being reassigned to the Aschen fleet in Isiria," she said. "When I return from my assignment... I beg you to give me leave from the Special Projects Division. I'll live out my life here in the Empire. I'm no threat to you anymore..."

Mollem shifted slightly, and then he held up his hand.

"There will be a price." The Divine Shadow said coldly.

"You will complete your tasks in Isiria, and you will assist in quelling the threat to the Empire. If you suceed, I will send you to the Redeemers so you may seek redemption for your heresy. The Redeemers will carry out the punishment; You will be stripped of your genetics, and your consciousness transferred into a Human, Aschen body. You will then be set free and allowed to live the remainder of your life in peace."

"Once you have been given your redemption, you will live as a Citizen of the Empire, and leave your old life behind."

Whisper closed her eyes against the weight that lifted at Mollem's words. She nodded then.

"Thank you..." she uttered as she bowed her head, and allowed herself to be escorted back out by the pair of confessors at either side.

If the Kalar didn't bring anything from the Archives, perhaps the next thing to be detected, would.

There was a whisper, and then a glimmer of energies that quickly grew brighter. There was a brief distortion in space time continuum before a massive ship belched fourth from the tear.

The ship was roughly twice the size of a Reverence II, discarding the typical bulbous look for a pleated almost insectoid look. This massive vessel seemed to be bristling with the latest technology, Turbo-Disruptor banks swiveling idly while massive 208mm MAC emplacements idly swiveled about.

Once the massive ship emerged from FTL, it was flanked by two easily identifiable Reverence IIs, the Pious Inquisitor and the Minor Transgression.

Each Reverence maintained it's position alongside the massive Aschen ship, which so far made no hostile moves.

----

"We're in position, My Lord." Kesslee said as he turned to face the Divine Shadow. The Divine Shadow simply nodded.

"Set a course for Geosynchronous orbit and ready my personal shuttle." Mollem said calmly.

"Your wish, Our Command." Kesslee said as he offered a quick but deep bow.

Mollem slowly turned to the main viewscreen as Kesslee relayed the order to his suboardinate.

"Terran Triremes and unknown vessels, My Lord. What are your orders?" Another Confessor called out.

Mollem slowly slinked into his throne. "Let them contact us first." Mollem said, while the Gigashadow positioned itself roughly behind the Kalar ship, offering an eerie backdrop.

"Please, send the packet," Tambalo nodded, "perhaps there's something we can do to rejoin you with your fleet." His fingers flitted across a nearby holopad. "I'm sending you the coordinates to Terra, more specifically Wing City, our capital." He looked back up at the screen. "Terra is something of a 'melting pot' world. Races and creatures of all shapes and sizes come to live there... it's a key trading location this side of the galaxy. I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't some Kalar already living on-world." He smiled. "We'd be pleased to receive you and your crew in our city, where you'd be entertained as guests of the Terran-"

A massive energy signature rippled through the Last Hours' scouters as space time began not to bend and twist not far off - a clear sign of an opening wormhole.

"Big bridge, captain," one of the technicians.

"Too big," another said, "must be the Gigashadow. Command told us we'd invited them to watch the inaugurations. Didn't think they'd actually come."

Tambali nodded, turning back to Marshal. "Captain Mallow, as I'm sure your already know, a new ship is about to enter our realspace in a moment. Just standby, this shouldn't take more than a moment."

As the Gigashadow and entourage emerged into the Sol system, the Last Hours would send them a timely hail.

"Greetings, from the Terran National Government," Tambali said, "I trust that the Divine Shadow himself is aboard this ship. We welcome you and your men to Sol. Have you come to see the inaugurations, or are you here on other business?"

"WE GET SIG-" piped up one of the crew, only to suddenly stop when they realized Marshal was glaring at them.

"I am... aware," Marshal said dryly. He placed a paw over the microphone and started giving orders. "Send that data packet, and I want all sensors getting us as much information about the big ship in the middle as fast as possible!"

Crew scattered to their stations where they started slapping as one crew member wandered up and asked, "We'z gonna die?"
Marshal scowled, paw lifting off the microphone. "And to alleviate any concerns!" he roared ferociously into the open channel, his booming voice echoing around the ship and sending the crew member fleeing, "We are not going to die! There is nothing to say that those ships are hostile! If I hear one more sulk, I will have you manxed!"

He cleared his throat, glancing at the microphone before he calmly said, "The data packet has been sent, Captain."

The data would arrive a mix of gibberish, an unfamiliar programming language as to be expected from a species that had grown away from others. But with sufficiently advanced computing it wouldn't be too hard to decipher and before long the rest of the fleet, some one hundred and seventy ships, would be found at the Sagittarius Arm, though only a visual of the ships.

"I will wait for you to finish your business."

As the video link was established between the Terran ships and the Aschen Ships, the Gigashadow remained in place, and rather than the imposing figure of the Divine Shadow, a middle aged brown haired man in a simple yet well kept suit appeared, flanked on either side by his Confessors.

"Emperor's Wish, your command." He said, turning to the Viewscreen, a Confessor nodding.

"Our wish, Heathen's Command." The Confessor said, turning towards the Terrans.

"Indeed I'll be attending the Parliamentary Inaguration, I can be assured that my vessels will be unmolested in the meantime." The Aschen Emperor explained, before he turned to his Confessors. "Position us where directed, and maintain. Prepare my security detachment as well."

He then turned to one of his Confessors, whom pulled up a communication Uplink to the Kalar vessels.

"Attention Unidentified Vessels, this is the United Aschen Empire's Flagship Gigashadow, we mean you no harm but we will defend ourselves with overwhelming force if engaged. Proceed about your business."


Mollem paused a moment, and then turned to Tambali.

"Inform the Authorities in Wing City to prepare for my arrival, I am entrusting my security to your incompetent Government, do not fail me, or your world will suffer."