Intergalactic Space

Meteor vanishes into nothingness, but you get the feeling they are heading somewhere else.

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

Meteor materializes from the void.

Meteor vanishes into nothingness, but you get the feeling they are heading somewhere else.

Winking into the intergalactic void, the Scylla settled into it's course within the nothingness of the intergalactic void. Marlene didn't seem phased by it, and she continued to walk through the hallway towards CIC.

"I wouldn't say an extra-dimensional entity, I was born on Yellowstone, one of the planets in the system we just left, I'm not an Aschen by birth, the old confederation annexed my home world, and the ones around it. But that's all ancient history."

She came to a stop just outside the CIC, then she stepped into the large central room, the door chimed, and slid open. Inside was a massive control center, various officers moving about from station to station, and every one of them were clad in similar black uniforms.

"I'm, what you could call, an Ascendant, but I'm stuck in human form. I can neither die, nor fully ascend. Every time this body is destroyed, I merely wake up somewhere else, in a new body." Marlene explained, before she came to a stop.

"What puzzles me is why, Our two people have had no contact before now, yet they seem to know everything about us, and prosecute us with a fervent hatred. It's perplexing."

EVE flitted into view at a nearby holographic projector.

"Coordinates entered, thirty-three minute timer set, random jump will execute in thirty three minutes."

"I want to bring you before our government, maybe an understanding can be reached before there's further bloodshed. A voice of reason would do wonders."

Halena half listened to Marlene as she spoke. The other half of her was busy taking in the sights and sounds around her. "Ascendant... What exactly does that mean? What have you ascended, what have you left behind?" She said in a noncommital way, not particularly caring for answers as she inspected the individuals who passed so slowly by in her eyes.

Tolend seemed to somehow step even closer to Halena, all but straddling her in the fork of his legs, he was hovering so close.

At Marlene's question Halena smirked. "Oh that's easy. A primary encounter with Terrans on earth revealed your presence to us. Some bitter individual explained to a spy of ours about how they hated your kind. We did an investigation because if even half of the stories are to be considered true, you would be designated a primary threat. We stole some data from a few companies we found were associated with you, and using that data with a combination of high level scrying and work from the spymasters, we were able to extrapolate the specific nature of your empire. Once we did that, it was determined by the majority of the nobles at court that you were a threat. At that point, we began implementing a plan to eliminate you."

"That's when the Strike Carriers were issued forth. A chance encounter with a particularly entertaining gentlemen provided us with the tools to circumvent your defenses. A shame too, that poor man was so very kind, and when he found out what my people were about, he was very upset. I do hope he got out okay."

"In any case we sent a second team to pull all the information on your weapon systems that we could from the affiliated companies, i'm not sure but I think that line was broken due to a sudden increase in security. In any case, Ilia and the other Strike Carrier's were sent to begin analysis and testing to verify the data we have recovered, as well as to map your territories, catalogue your vessels, the crew commanding them, your planets and a number of other things. That mission is still on going."

"However once that mission is complete, then my father will have the warfleets move in. I'm hoping he'll have Hinoran Freya take the operation, however knowing him and the situation, he's more likely to send Edmund. In any case, once the warfleets move in, they'll begin systematically cleansing planets, burning out all signs of Aschen presence, including history, culture, sciences, and everything else. The goal isn't just to kill all of your people, but to remove all traces of your existence, to essentially wipe the slate clean."

"Now as for me, normally this is something I wouldn't take a stance in as I whole heartedly believe that if your people are a threat then they should be eliminated. However, the evidence and data that has been collected indicates that your people, while not exactly agreeable, are hardly to be considered evil. Whats more, your government has already proven it is both capable of and willing to change. Those two factors alone are enough to warrant a cease fire, at least until we can verify how likely your governement is to turn tracks."

"But I'm afraid that our primary opponent in all of this is not my people, or even yours. The primary obstacle I need to overcome to prevent your people from being destroyed, is time. Every hour that passes in conflict between my people and yours, is providing trillions of nomubytes of data for our militaries highest strategic minds. If we don't find a way to slow things down, the full invasion will commence in a matter of weeks, relative to your perception."

"Which is why I strongly recommend that you have your government present me as a hostage to my people, so that my father will, at least temporarily, pull back Asylian. forces. At the very least the courts will want to verify that I'm really in your custody and not just an illusion being used to fool them."

Halena explains this all in a very matter of fact tone.

Marlene paused a moment to consider her words. "Ascendant, I was able to shed my physical body, and attain a higher state of being as pure energy, through that I was able to obtain complete understanding of the nature of our universe, and perceive all things past, present, and future. I'm not the only one of my kind, and one of our rules was never to interfere with the lower planes of existence." Marlene said, resting her hands on a console.

"I interfered in something, and was banished for it, cursed to exist in a state of half-ascension. Perception being just a fleeting grasp, but I've managed to hone my skills into something greater."

Marlene smiled, and then she chuckled. "The complete genocide of the Aschen people is an impossibility, your king would have to cleanse half the galaxy." She said, turning back around to face Halena. "Not just this galaxy, but others. Our people have settled far, and wide. It's an arrogant notion." Marlene almost laughed as she waved her hand, an apple resting on a nearby console flew into her grasp, and she took a bite.

She started to laugh, it was a hearty laugh that drew the attention of the CIC crew, her mouth full of apple as she chuckled at the Princess in front of her.

"Oh the irony, It's palpable. Wipe out another culture that's different than yours because they're a 'threat'"

Settling back down, Marlene swallowed her piece of apple. "Your Nobles knowledge on the Aschen Empire is gravely dated at best, ignorant at worst. Our government is more concerned with staying in power than conquering a civilization that's.." Marlene paused, twirling around where she stood. "Two to the thirteenth..." Marlene muttered. "That-away." She said, pointing at the far wall of the CIC.

"The Aschen Empire is symbolized by a phoenix, that doesn't mean much to you, but it's a mythological animal that dies in a brilliant show of flame, and then rises from the ashes anew. This isn't the first time someone's tried to wipe the Aschen out." Marlene chuckled again.

"So Princess, how they gonna wipe me out? I've been trying to die for the last two thousand years!" Marlene said again, laughing as she brought a hearty pat down on Halena's shoulder.

"Alright you want brass tacks? Your friend has to go, and by the gods I hope you have some modicum of pain tolerance, because baby I'm gonna rock your world." Marlene said, casting a glance over to Tolend. "You want to make it look real, you're gonna have to take a few licks."

Halena only shakes her head at Marlene. "It would take too long to explain the errors in your thinking, but just try not to underestimate the Asylian Kingdom. That's exactly the worst case scenario that will very quickly lead to a dead end." She looks up then at the half ascendant. "But since you know the nature of our universe, I'll assume that includes a view over time's flow, and therefore you should be able to see exactly what I mean."

Halena then turned to Tolend and in a crisp voice began issuing orders. "Tolend. I need an alteration. Bruises, cuts, and a black eye for good measure. Hold back on the swelling though, I'd like to be able to walk without being escorted."

Tolend, silent as ever, raised a hand, which then melted.

To say it melted is probably not the most accurate explanation. The individual cells of his hand, the individual molecules of his armor, and the general fibers that made up his existence broke their cell walls, and interconnected via fibrous connections. All this was done on a molecular level, resulting in the appearance of his hand melting, and reshaping into a number of reddish black tendrils that reached out and attached to Halena in multiple locations.

What came next was disturbing, As Halena's physical appearance was rapidly rearranged. Her left eye darkened, the surrounding tissue swelling only slightly, giving the very realistic appearance of a black eye. Bruises began forming all across her visible skin, as well as several cuts in various locations. In addition, her hair gained a lanky, sweaty appearance, as though it hadn't been washed in days.

In only took a handful of moments, but when it was done, Halena had transformed in appearance from a royal princess in all her splendour, to a prisoner who'd been beaten and tortured over the course of weeks.

After Tolend finished, and his hand returned to it's former appearance, Halena turned to Marlene and, with a smile that showed she had several teeth missing, said to her "Will this be satisfactory to sell the 'farce' as you called it?"

Marlene quietly raised her eyebrow, She hadn't peered into the distant future, to do so would require months of careful meditation. Her cursory glances into the coming years were somewhat reassuring, but it seemed Marlene needed more data.

"Asylian physiology perceives time differently, I sensed the temporal disconnect when I was in proximity to the station, your mind can process information far quicker than the human mind can, moments stretched to hours."

Marlene pushed herself away from the console, and muttered as the woman's appearance changed. "Well... we aren't exactly ready to make our little video, I still have many questions for you, more for EVE than for myself." Marlene briefly checked the clock, ten minutes had elapsed, which meant there was twenty three minutes left until they performed another random jump.

None the less, Marlene appeared quite intrigued at the level of molecular manipulation this strange entity was capable of. Marlene watched him influence Halena's physical appearance.

"Typically prisoners are deprived of both food, and sleep, you might want to have your friend add that to your changes." Marlene said, tapping her chin, before she started towards the conference room. Interrogation cells wouldn't do here, she would treat Halena as a guest, so long as she remained cooperative.

"So, I need to know what we're up against if this goes south, I'm not so much concerned with what the Asylians are capable of, we'll get into that later, but I need to know precisely what the Asylian Empire knows concerning the capabilities of the Aschen Empire." Marlene said, as she walked, but that path was interrupted by an IIA Agent, whom had been walking briskly to catch up.

"Director." The man said, handing Marlene a simple piece of paper. Marlene's eyes gazed down at the paper, and they narrowed, the Anquietas text read one simple word.

'Shimshon'

Folding the small piece of paper, Marlene approached a door, and gestured for Halena, and Tolend to step inside. Inside the room was a round table with six metal chairs, a sparsely decorated conference room.

"Do you require sustenance?" Marlene asked. "It's going to be a long night, I can have the cook prepare something for us while we talk."

Halena smiled and had Tolend add the necessary changes, changing her face to appear emanciated and sleep deprived.

All the while she continued to respond to Marlene with a cheery and altogether unaffected disposition "I would enjoy some Crab ragu and shrimp lo mein, with a side of fried rice, egg, and mushrooms."

After that she launched into a sort of lecture regarding the information the Asylians have acquired so far on the Aschen. "Firstly, it bears repeating that, while I am royalty, I am only a princess and therefore the extent of what information I have access to is limited by both means and accessibility. What I know may not be the most up to date registry on the current intel collection my kingdom has on your empire."

"That said, the first priority Illia and the other strike carrier admirals were sent out to achieve was intel gathering. I don't know the specifics, but apparently they manipulated an unidentified alien life form into drawing attention on a corporation known to be an affiliate of the Aschen Empire, solar something or other."

"After that, they began researching a measure to counteract your planck fields. Study of the functionality of that system resulted in them determining the best method would be to utilize a traversal system of high speed that does not leave real space. For that matter, they consulted other logs and found an individual by the name of Ean Falcor, whom they approached with the goal of acquiring his 'shock point' drive system."

"After integrating that system, they tested it and found that it allowed for Strike carriers to relocate across distances equal to millions of lightyears in a few hours. It had it's downsides however, mostly that the jumps were direct and could not be done if something was in the way, and that the exact arrival point could be distorted by gravitational fields. Never the less, it did provide the answers they needed to fulfill the second part of their plan."

"To observe Aschen planets, they need only a prior reference from which they can use scrying to spy on the planets. To this end they employed a multiple of measures. First, kidnapping of Individuals traveling off worlds, to make copies of their memories to use as scrying references. As at this time we were attempting to maintain stealth, we would use magic to alter the memories of the kidnapees, and then return them, leaving them with the impression that the whole thing had been but a dream."

"The second method used was a sort of game of catch. Strike carriers would take positions opposite of a world, and then launch through a shockpoint system a single pod containing a single Asylian recon operative. The pod was equipped with a number of sensors, scanners, and other devices that allowed the operative to study the planets they pass over in great detail, while also allowing the pod to seem nothing more than a meteorite streaking past in the distance."

"Another method that was attempted was infiltration of Asylian Operatives into Core Worlds, thankfully I believe that that effort was largely deemed unviable as the unique culture of your planet makes it impossible to blend in with the populace."

"After enough data had been collected to allow for scrying, learning information about your world and it's nature became simple, as the warlocks would simply use spells of scrying to spy on your planets at length. This was used to determine the makeup of your ground forces, economic focus, etcetera etcetera."

"After that, it was decided that even if the planck fields could be shut down and infantry forces directly implanted on the surface of a planet, our ground forces would find themselves largely outmatched by your war adepts. And while our Dragons would be capable of standing on even ground with the adepts, the conflict would still be too even for our liking. To that end, we needed more information on the best way to draw out and isolate as many of your forces as possible. A bleeding operation was to be put in place, wherein we would fight you via a war of attrition that would ensure your ultimate defeat, via a large number of smaller defeats."

"To this end, the Strike Carriers have been engaged in assaulting various locations without providing you time to rest, while also tasked with finding the best methods of countering any adaptive countermeasures you develop. Meanwhile the main warfleets will prepare and, when we determine the best ingress point, will begin a slow march into your system to burn away your empires influence and existence."

"To answer your original question, The Asylian Kingdom currently knows everything it needs to know regarding the makeup and outfitting of your ground forces, as well as the weapons and shielding available to your more common class of warship. We've deduced the capabilities and design of your War Adepts, and in fact gathered enough data on them to construct simulations that will allow our Dragons to become more experienced fighting against them."

"And finally, we've determined the connections of your allies, their armies makeup, their positions in relation to you in the galaxy, and their capabilities. The taiyou are being raided as we speak by the mercenary fleet, with the goal being of creating a growing threat in their territory. At present it's unlikely the taiyou realize that the up and coming shogun in their shogunate is backed by us, but our backing will insure that he is able to not only claim the shogunates, but hold them indefinitely."

"The Matokey have also been studied, and specific countermeasures to their capabilities have been prepared across all ships and fleets, even the Strike Carriers. The moment one of the Matokey ships shows themselves, the plan is to have our vessels strike them with a specially designed quantum virus, based off of my guardian Tolend. This virus is designed to reconstitute and repurpose all organic and inorganic matter it comes into contact with, spreading and consuming all that it touches until it has completely consumed the Matokey Ship. At that point the virus is programmed to drive the ship back, using the memories of it's victims, to the origin point of the Matokey, and proceed to consume them all. As a safety precaution the Virus is also designed to self destruct after twelve macrocycles, approximately forty eight hundred centuries in terran reckoning."

"We've also developed means of counteracting the Continuum, combining our measures of Scrying and Psionic Infiltration to allow us to open World Gates directly into their ships, whereupon our forces will sweep their vessels and eradicate their crew and controllers. Our investigations tell us that their infantry is significantly outclassed by our own, even by virtue of numbers alone."

"So to make an excessively long story short, The Asylian Kingdom has prepared for an extended conflict with not only the Aschen, but all of your allies and any others who may come to your aid." She says with a sweet smile. "But I'm sure you would be able to determine that yourself using your abilities.... I'm actually rather curious, and understandably jealous. Of course Every Asylian is born with neurology that accelerates our perception of time. It shapes our culture and our personalities, seeing as every second going through life we must learn the patience to wait for things to catch up to us. Most Asylians are able to offset this thanks to Psionics, allowing most of my people to communicate from one mind to another, which greatly reduces the amount of time wasted waiting for the soundwaves to travel to our ears. Adding to this is magic, something that almost every Asylian learns and masters at a young age, utilizing it to better convenience their lives. Being able to instantly transport ones self to another part of the world instantly greatly reduces the horribly dull event of walking there, especially when you consider how long it takes to get there."

"I unfortunately was born without either Psionics, nor any magical ability. This is actually very rare among my people, making me something of a pitiable child. I'm unable to connect with my people and share with them my thoughts at a reasonable speed, but instead must rely on the mundane fashion of communication, which makes it difficult for me to make friends. That said, it's even harder for me to communicate with non Asylians, as most of them think so slowly that conversations become almost entirely one sided, as after only a few moments I'm generally able to ascertain exactly what response the average terran will give to any question, comment, or statement I direct at them. In short, it's Boring."

"You on the other hand present a unique opportunity, an individual who, by virtue of your distinct ability, have no choice but to be capable of high speed thought and mental dexterity. Seeing multiple realities and timelines means you have to maintain not only the ability to multitask but also the focus required to properly study the timelines for distinctions, differences, and hidden branches."

"Fascinating" She says, smiling at you with her disguised face. "I can't help but wonder how your ability might be amplified by Asylian neurology, if you were able to process even more significant amounts of data, you may be able to accurately predict the future inside of a year.... We should try it some time."

The sickening sensation of an Aschen FTL jump could be felt by those aboard the Scylla as it prepared for another random jump, Changing it's position to another random point in the intergalactic void, trillions of light years away from it's original position.

This largely went unnoticed by Marlene, as she had grown accustomed to it.

She quietly listened to the information she was being given, it was a treasure trove of intelligence, so Marlene mostly kept quiet, and took notes, occasionally she seemed distracted though, her eyes giving off a strange shimmer as another reality flitted into her perception, even though she seemed distracted, her hand continued to scribble notes in pace with Halena's explanation.


"It seems great care was taken in planning this invasion." Marlene commented. "The ability to perceive the goings on without having to send a physical spy... an ability I thought only I was capable of." The Notations stopped for a moment.

"Asylian Neurology wouldn't be able to handle my abilities, the sheer volume of knowledge, and perception offered by universal understanding is enough to drive any lesser being to madness. I'm not human, I'm not a native born Aschen." Marlene explained. "Ego ani Anquietas." Marlene added. 'I am an ancient'

"I am descended from a race called the Alterans, a vast empire that existed millions of years ago, who became so evolved, so advanced, they shed their physical forms, and ascended to a higher plane of existence. My sister, and I are technically some of the last living Alterans in existence." Marlene said, jotting down a few more things.

"I'm only going to share this with you because I can sense your intent is genuine. Ean Falcor has made contact with us, we've been able to use the intelligence gathered from him to frustrate Illia's preliminary assaults. I know that it is only a temporary solution. Contingencies have been put in place to ensure the Asylians gain nothing from our defeat, that the Aschen People will embed themselves wherever they can. I can see the Asylians going to great lengths to find, and eliminate them, and it's a conflict that would be both prolonged, and bloody."

"Does the word Samson mean anything to you?" Marlene asked. She wanted to see just how far Asylian intelligence went, and if Halena was privy to it.

Xulganak has arrived, coming from The Onyx Galaxy.

Xulganak turned his gaze to the vast expanse between the galaxies of his domain. His eyes and ears, ancient satellites and sensors drifting through the void, peered and searched for anything of note. The archiver lord stretched his consciousness across the stars. It was a mere transition from one node to the next, but anything could catch his attention...

Halena tilted her head at Marlene's statement regarding Asylian Neurology. "Perhaps, but you'd be surprised with what the Asylian mind is capable of. Our ships are outfitted with a specialized control system that takes advantage of our Psychic and magic abilities, allowing us to make calculations, adjustments, strategies and rearrangements as fast as we can think of them. This allows us to vastly outclass enemy vessels in terms of tactical ability. Imagine being able to fine tune your vessels shield response to enemy fire, using only as much energy as you needed, allowing you to put the rest to your weapons systems, while also fine tuning the aim of your weapons to ensure that every projectiles impact strikes with absolute precision and maximum effect. Imagine being able to do this across all ship systems and departments."

She smiled then and shrugged "The capabilities of my people are extensive, especially when a large number of them have gathered together and networked their minds psionically."

"As to the word Samson, I've seen it in reports, but from what I gather, Ilia could only assume it was a code word of some kind. She has people looking into it, The Leaon I think is focusing their efforts on that one."

It was at that moment, a man came in wheeling a cart, two covered metal platters set upon the cart. The Adjutant pulled the domed covers off, Crab Rangoons, Shrimp Lo Mein, and the other assorted dishes were prepared, awkwardly by the ship's cooking staff. The meal was freshly prepared, and unadulterated, even if the men preparing it were unused to dishes like that. Likewise Marlene had a plate placed in front of her, a piece of lamb moussaka, thinly shaved lamb with a cucumber-cream sauce, and a fresh salad that contained olives, peppers, onions, and the like, and Pita bread with a side of hummus. A glass of ambrosia was poured for Marlene, while Halena was provided with a sparkling mineral water.

The Adjutant inclined his head, placed silverware, and napkins in front of them, before he turned to leave.

Marlene sat there in thought, The standard ship staffing methods the Aschen used were a far cry from what Halena described the Asylians of being capable of.

"For a civilization that seems to be quite so advanced, taking such great care to study, and overcome it's enemies. I don't see what they would stand to gain from destroying us. The Aschen are an isolationist people, the Empire hasn't seen any real growth in ages, we hold more claims than we have people to populate them." Marlene took a bite of pita bread, chewing on it thoughtfully.

"Samson was an ancient warrior from ancient Aschen texts from before the exodus from Earth. He was captured by his enemies. In a feat of sheer defiance, he pulled the columns of the temple he had been imprisoned in, bringing the building down on top of him, and his enemies. Killing them all."

"A Species as capable as yours should need nothing from us." Marlene added. "Would your leaders be open to the possibility of surrender? An Armistice? Peace negotiations? What would we need to do to facilitate these negotiations, once we've played our hand with your little plan."

A chirp echoed in the room, and EVE's voice played on the speaker.

"Incoming Bifrost." The AI Reported. "Our guest has arrived." EVE added.

Marlene nodded.

"Very good, EVE."

Halena laughed out loud at the glass of mineral water that was poured for her. She took the glass and set it aside, still chuckling as she did so. At Marlenes looks she shook her head and pointed at it "Carbonized liquids have a curious effect on our anatomy, they function as a hallucinogenic aphrodisiac." She explained, "It has something to do with how our body processes carbon compounds. Inhaling them has no effect, but when absorbed into our bloodstream via our digestive system, well... I'll spare you the details but just know that Carbonized Wine is often served to the bride and groom at weddings."

With that point said, Halena listened patiently to the story that Marlene shared, responding only at it's end with "The mistake Samsons enemies made was imprisoning him, rather than destroying him utterly. That is the philosphy of Asylia. Your people are not presently a threat, and you have nothing that we really need or want. But the fact remains that you could become a threat, and that is enough for the majority of the court at present to call for your destruction."

Halena paused then, taking the time to eat some of her food. She did this for about three minutes, eating with voracious speed suggesting a great appetite. The truth is much farther from that however. Halena could eat the food quickly and still savor the taste, but she also wanted it out of the way as soon as possible so it wouldn't interrupt their conversation. This was also why she had ordered items that were a favorite of hers while also being quite easy to eat quickly.

As the last noodle was slurped into her mouth and swallowed, Halena chose to respond then to the last of Marlenes statements. "At present, the Asylian Court has a majority leaning towards the elimination of the Aschen Empire. I've been able to convince four members of the court to favor preparatory observation rather than preemptive elimination. I've a representative making his way to the Taiyou to try and convince them to turn their attentions away from Assisting the Aschen forces and instead engage the mercenary fleet backing the Shogun in their territories. This is so as to prevent them from becoming involved and escalating the conflict."

"At this time, my plan is to buy time for the Aschen Empire, while establishing relations with the Taiyou, that would then be used to open up a direct line of communication between your emperor and my father." She smiled softly at this "Though the court holds great influence in the kingdom, the king's rule is absolute. And while others may complain or question, they cannot contest his orders. Increasing the number of my supporters in the court is secondary, as it will make it easier to convince my father to call back our forces and sue for peace. To that end, proving that the Aschen have valuable goods and or services that can only be provided by an active Aschen Empire will help us secure your people's status as a viable production economy that Asylia can benefit from. That alone may not be enough however, so I also intend to reinforce the idea of presenting the Aschen empire's history as being identical to Asylias, in so far as being a kingdom that has risen from dark times and conflicts to stand against it's own evils. In this way we could convince some of the members of court that rather than being a threat deserving of being destroyed, the Aschen are a nascent empire that, through Asylian guidance, could prove itself equal to Asylia in terms of honor and integrity. Ergo, the Aschen would be more valuable as Allies than as a footnote in history."

Halena shared all this while eyeying the glass of Mineral water before saying "Could I perhaps get a glass of juice, strawberry or perhaps Pineapple?"

Marlene took another bite of Pita, and hummus, curious indeed it seemed. A hallucinogenic aphrodisiac? Carbon compounds? Marlene sequestered this knowledge deep into her mind as she remained silent, listening to Halena's statements, EVE had registered the new order, and after a moment, the Adjutant returned with both strawberry, and pineapple juices. He set them both on the table, pouring a glass of ice for Halena.

"A Direct line between our Emperor, and your father." Marlene said with a nod, she had been digesting everything given to her, and fortunately she had a great deal of influence when it came to Aschen politics, that much was soon to be revealed as the door slid open once more.

Standing in the doorway was an older man, short hair, almost balding. His facial expression was that of fatigue, like someone who hadn't been able to rest for several days, his eyes sunken, with dark rings around them.

"Princess Halena, meet Lord Isambard Prince, our Emperor." Marlene said, gesturing to the man standing in the doorway.

The man moved carefully to the last empty chair, lowering herself into it.

"We have no desire to continue hostilities, nor do we have the resources for a protracted, defensive conflict. We are stretched thin at current." The man admitted, bringing his gaze to Halena.

"What would you have us do?"

Halena made a thoroughly childish sounding noise, something like a squeak, before taking both glasses of pinapple juice and strawberry juice and draining half of each, before combining the two into a single glass, stirring it, and then drinking the combination. The expression she made thereafter was like one who took a taste of a much beloved desert they had not had in a very long time.

After the Emperor took his seat, Halena settled down and promptly stood and curtsied to him before retaking her own. "First and foremost, an encoded message to your Taiyou allies to convince them to move to engage against the force currently attempting to engage against their shogunate and pull their forces away from aiding you. This action will be noticed by the Asylian command structure, who will investigate and believe it to mean that they have successfully stripped away one of your allies."

"It will also force the Mercenary fleet to pull back their support, slowing and weakening the up and coming shoguns abilities to conquer the region. The Asylian goal is to prolong the length of time the Taiyou are not able to assist you, and so they will narrow the valve, providing just enough aid to the Shogun to keep him from losing outright, but not so much that he can overcome his enemies."

"With this in play, Asylian focus will be removed from the Taiyou and placed Solely on the Aschen and your remaining Allies, enabling my own 'bishop' in the courts to meet with the Taiyou emperor. He is set to establish relationships and work ostensibly to the goal of having the Taiyou pull out entirely from being allies with you, thus removing them from the conflict."

"For appearances sake, this needs to succeed, my man, Dorsun, will endeavor to explain to the Taiyou Emperor the need for the Taiyou to appear to no longer be allied to the Aschen, so that he can then negotiate trade relations and other such things as a smoke screen for his true purpose, bringing the Taiyou Emperor in direct meeting with my father. Once that is done, and Dorsun established as an Emissary, we can begin to work on the second phase of my plan, which is to have Dorsun set up private meetings via World Gate between the Taiyou Emperor and my Father. And you, Lord Prince, will be present at one of those meetings. Dorsun has a very unique gift, an dietetic memory, allowing him to remember everything with picture perfect clarity. With this skill, he is able to open multiple world gates at once without assistance, something that is impossible for all but the greatest of our sorcerers."

"With this ability, all we'll need is to arrange an opportune time for my father and Lord Prince to meet. Despite the ferocity of the Asylian assaults you have no doubt been dealing with, your majesty, my father is a very calm and benevolent individual. I have no doubt that if the two of you were to meet, you'd be able to come to an agreeable arrangement that will end the blood shed and prevent future conflicts."

"In the meantime, we need to further slow the Asylian Assault while also bringing more of the Court to my side of things. Doing so will allow us to ensure that a treaty can successfully be signed, as having the majority of the court under my control will ensure they cannot influence my father into making a decision regretable to our company."

"To that end, displaying video evidence of your 'capture' of me is vital. It will serve as an immediate message to my father that I am actively persuing a plan, while forcing the generals to pull back all forces until an investigation at least can be completed. That will buy us several months, and we need to use that time to compare notes on the economical interests and aspirations of My people against the product and services provided by your people. If we can find something the Aschen produce or serve that the Asylians have a market for, then we can some of the guild houses over to our side. I think genetic research and cybernetics could be a good starting point, as those are both things that Asylia does not have and has not put any effort into researching."

Throughout Halena's explanation, she never wavered in her smile, nor in her peaceful, childlike confidence. And Tolend, who's only reaction to the Emperors entry had been to scan him and, after determining he was not a threat, shift his weight over to his other foot.

"The Taiyou won't likely do anything until their Emperor has recovered." Prince commented, while Marlene nodded in agreement. "Many high level officials of the Taiyou Government were killed, or wounded during an ambush on a diplomatic mission, it's largely paralyzed the Taiyou government, and left it's administration in the hands of the Shogunate, and their youngest princess." Marlene explained, waving her hand as a hologram of Aeka Takayama flitted into view.

"The Daughter of late Emperor Nobuo Takayama, and former Admiral Kendra Shaw." Marlene said, sweeping her hand, as another photograph flitted into view, of a woman that had a lot of Taiyou features, and she was wearing a uniform that was unrecognizable, it was an Aschen uniform from before the rise of the Empire.

"The Taiyou military is massive, and it can easily fight this uprising, and assist us, it's not exactly a gambit your leadership has thought through, but that presents us with a unique opportunity." Prince said, agreeing with Halena. "Astralpolitically, the Taiyou won't lose out on their interests in this galaxy, Our alliance with them is merely one of convenience." Prince added, turning his attention to Marlene.

"Do what you must, Director. I'll do what I can with the Quorum, and the Ministry of Defense to minimize resistance, and loss of life. We'll focus our efforts on mitigating the damage to our infrastructure from Asylian strike forces."

"If there's nothing else, I'll return to Langara." The older man said, while Marlene took another bite of her food. "There's a lot of things I'm sure we can offer." Prince added.

After she finished her food, she waved her hand, and an Adjutant stepped into the room.

"Director, the stage is set, Holding room C." He reported, offering a salute.

The Princess blinked only once at hearing the princes words, her smile growing somehow brighter as he explained the situation. As the prince finished and exited the room, she once again stood up and curtsied to him, before regaining her seat.

Halena looked expectantly at the adjutant who walked in, and excitedly clapped her hands at the Adjutants words "Oh yay, is it time for us to put on the play?" She said with glee, Tolend gave her a look, directed mostly at the back of her head. Halena, in response, said to him "Oh hush, With all the doom, gloom, and pessimism going on, Everyone needs to have a bit of fun now and again, how else do you stave off Naprosis"

Halena turned to Marlene with a wink at that. "Naprosis, btw, is a condition perhaps similar to what you know as attention deficit disorder? For minds that process information faster than others, it's a serious condition that can lead to severe trauma and even insanity. Most scholars believe it's caused by prolonged inactivity and boredom."

"What I'd give for nothingness, silence, but there's always something." Marlene said, dabbing at her mouth with a cloth napkin.

Prince stood up from his spot, and promptly turned to leave, the Adjutant offered a brief salute to the Emperor as he turned to leave, and after a few moments, EVE quietly chirped in.

"Outgoing Bifrost detected." The AI Reported.

The sickening sensation of an FTL jump could be felt once more, and the Scylla executed it's random jump once more, to a destination still in the void between galaxies, but now on the other side of the Milky Way.

"So an idle Asylian mind can go crazy." Marlene grinned wickedly at that statement as she showed Halena out of the conference room. "This will be good to know if I happen to take any prisoners."

Marlene led Tolend, and Halena through the narrow, windy cooridors of the stealth corvette, down a lift that took them a few levels, until they reached a holding cell where two Adepts of War in glossy black armor stood in silence. There was a single camera, with a cameraman making the last calibrations.

In the center of the room was a large platform, where a chair could be seen, cables, wires, and other assorted technology protruded from the chair. There were ankle, and wrist restraints, and a large apparatus that seemed designed to fit over a person's head. The device was well known throughout the Aschen Empire. It was an Aurora chair.



"Your guardian can't be in the pictures, you know this, right?" Marlene said, as she gestured to the chair. "We're going to strap you in. This thing is designed to forcibly extract memories. Obviously we're not going to use it, but I do need to at least turn it on. I need your guardian to do that thingy, and replicate the effects of prolonged Aurora chair use, bleeding from the nose, ears, and eyes should suffice."

If Halena would follow the lead, the Adepts would work quickly to affix her restraints.

"Alright, places." Marlene said, pouring a little theatrical blood on a piece of rebar, and slinging it to spatter the blood all over the room, making it seem as if Halena had been beaten while in the chair.

"Are we ready?"

Halena didn't need to be led to the chair, she excitedly ran into and all but jumped into it (Mostly because it was made for an adult and she was still very much a child in physical stature). As the Adepts affixed everything she gave the order to Tolend who began rearranging her cellular structure again, all while she chattered about the chair "Extracting memories from an Asylian might actually be interesting. We do have a similiar form of interrogating prisoners, but our method is generally based around the use of psionic abilities and magic, but a technological process is far more interesting. I wonder how it parses the neural pathways electro-chemical processes as binary data, or does it have a biological component that facilitates that?" She asked of Marlene as the finishing touches were being applied.

After Tolend had finished, Marlene waved him away and had him stand off over to the side by the camera man. Tolend, for his own part, listened, but was clearly unhappy about it, as his expression became grimmer and his eyes filled with what could only be called irritation.

The very first thing Marlene did was pull her hair back into a ponytail, tying it back with a rubber band. The lighting was set just right, but the finishing touches weren't completed.

"I'll answer your questions when we're done here." Marlene said, as the cameraman held his hand up, and began counting down with his fingers.

It was the moment of truth.

The cameras were rolling, focused on Marlene for the moment as she paced back and fourth across the room.

"People of the Empire, and those who oppose us, namely the Kingdom of Asylia. This transmission is addressed to you, and to all those whom would dare defy the Aschen Empire." Marlene said, her voice a cold, almost deep growl. "This is a warning, that we are everywhere, and our reach is without limit." Marlene said with an almost sadistic grin.

"I present to you!" She called out, before she swooped in like a vulture over to the Aurora chair, gently running her hand across Halena's left cheek, and grabbing her by the jaw to force her to look at the camera.

"Princess Halena Asylia!" Marlene called out, almost cackling. "Recently captured in a daring raid in a nearby space station, the Quantum virus that protected her posed a challenge, but was swept aside with ease." Marlene boasted, letting the Princess's face go as she moved back across the room, and around the chair.

"I delighted in her cries of agony." Marlene said, licking the blood coated rebar. "She broke easily, and it brought me great pleasure to learn all your secrets, to ply her mind, and ascertain exactly how to pick your armies apart." Marlene said, grinning.

"But, the Aschen do not want war, therefore a proposition. You will cease your attacks on our worlds, and we may consider releasing her. However." Marlene added, as the camera focused on Halena.

"If your forces attack another Aschen world, or you attempt to rescue her. I will know, and your precious princess? I'll put a bullet in her skull."

Looking directly into the camera now, standing next to Halena, Marlene narrowed her eyes. "This is your first, and only warning."

The Cameraman raised his hand, and the feed was terminated, Marlene took a breath, and relaxed.

"Hopefully they buy it." She said, nodding as two Marines moved to undo the restraints.

"To answer your question, it maps the neural pathways, and forcibly stimulates, and reads memory centers, bringing them onto that screen. The Process is excruciatingly painful for the subject, and the more they resist, the more likely permanent brain damage will result."

"Neural synaptic data is converted into readable audio, and video data through an AI heuristic process."

With the restraints undone, Marlene extended a hand to help Halena out of the chair.

For her own part, Halena's face immediatly changed from the happy and carefree expression a moment ago to one you would find on a starved, beaten, and abused child who had been subjected to the worst torments imaginable. Her eyes glazed over and became hooded, and she recoiled and shuddered in fear at Marlene's touch.

For those of an empathetic nature, it would be very difficult to see her and think her fear disingenuous. She remained this way until the camera cut off, and immediately went back to smiling cheerfully. "I dunno if the licking thing was necessary, I mean if you were trying to convince the Asylians that some of you are truly barbaric than that would certainly help, but convincing them that doesn't necessarily take much."

She took Marlene's hand and scooted to the edge of the chair before hopping out. "That's very interesting indeed. So to forcibly stimulate it does it use direct electrical shock or an electromagnetic system? Also, your hand is very warm."

She nodded to Tolend who stepped forward at that point, and began undoing the changes to her facial structure to restore her to a more suitable state for conversation.

"It's part of the act." Marlene said, smoothing her blouse, then placing the rebar on a nearby table. "They might try something if they don't think I'm unhinged enough to go through with my plans. A barbarian is unpredictable, you never know what they're going to do next." She explained. "Not that I'm already unhinged enough, knowledge and understanding will do that to a person, no matter how advanced their neural pathways are."

She raised her eyebrow at the warm hand comment, looking down at it, flexing her fingers. There was faint scarring on the knuckles, the skin was callous, and rough.

"A little of both." Marlene added.

"Footage has been edited, and transmitted on a wideband frequency, in both normal space, and subspace." EVE chirped, as Marlene led them out of the room. A look of exhaustion fell across Marlene's face.

"I need to perform my mental rituals soon." She said, rubbing her temples.

The lights in the hallway began to flicker.

After she finished rubbing her temples, the lights normalized.

"The Aurora chair is the latest in information extraction, we used to use a neural up-link directly into the prefrontal cortex, but we found the Aurora chair is much less invasive."