Setting
.
Minimap
northwest |
north |
northeast |
west |
You are here. |
east |
southwest |
south |
southeast |
The Core Worlds is a part of 
New Hadden.
5 Characters Here
Matthias Rueger [15]
Ilsa Reinhardt [14] Belkan who works for the Landwachter and side-by-side with Matthias Rueger.
Savana [8]
Samhain [0] The seventh Shadow. An overdressed shadow with a sense of ire and humour.
Start Character Here »
Again he nudged her, though this time it was her leg proper, and he blinked slowly, taking in the agape expressions present across the table before speaking, "Then, Linde, you may call me Josef." He smiled, "It is only proper, after all." Finally, things were getting somewhere. Perhaps he wouldn't have to fight her to keep her on the world after all.
Josef accompanied the toast, as was proper, raising his glass as well, a feeling of satisfaction settling in on his small victory here. The first step on a long road, no doubt. He simply took a sip of his, however, not wanting to drain the glass as so many of his subjects had done, and set it down with an idle motion. Things were beginning to fall into place...
Linde smiled at him pleased, and placed her hand near his, not quite so bold as to cover his. She murmured quietly to him. "You know, Josef, you would have saver yourself much heartache having asked that some time ago." She teased him. "And an awful lot of my lording.
"You have mentioned so before. You realize after dessert, we'll be completely besieged?" She murmured, amused, and pleased. Talk about an increase in social standing. Glory for the Redwing name to be hand in bunches. And one day, glory for the Kampf name, perhaps. If she could dare dream so big.
Kampf continued to speak softly, preferring this to projecting his voice as he usually did, "Oh, that's inevitable." He blinked at the thought, looking back to the chattering masses as he mentally prepared himself, "But, I'm sure there will be a moment or two afterwards without the throngs..."
"Of course. I can only hope you are the last to leave. Should nothing call you away, I'm almost certain that may be the case." He did have that visiting her thing going for him after all. "And I am sure there will be moments we can escape them."
She was to be the one, that much was sure. She already fit the image of the ideal Scatterran noblewoman, and she was well liked by most and rather amiable. She would make a good matron and Empress. "I can never be too sure, blinded as I am." She had fire in her as well. She didn't lie down for anyone, that much was a necessity -- a good empress wouldn't bow to the first foreigner who dared show their face with some petty might. "I'll just have to keep you nearby to get through the drudgery then, wont I?"
"Of course. But you'll forgive me if I beg of you, that you tell my sister." Linde was not that brave. Liese was frightening in a way that only an elder sister could be. Or perhaps only an elder Redwing could be. Of course, she wouldn't be surprised if he said no.
She would.
She would.
"You need not worry," He said, speaking a little louder with his smile, still playing the role of an affectionate suitor, "It's nothing, and consider it done." He squeezed her hand, slightly, at this, playing it up as much as he could. He knew that Liese held feelings for him, such was part of the reason why he was so pleased that she was absent at the dinner tonight... her infatuation was simply dangerous. However fetching she might be, however, her sister gave her an excellent run for her money, and in much more than simple looks. "A day spent away from the chatter of the nobility would be rather pleasant, as well as away from her prying eyes."
And that was a deal she'd gladly make. After all, spending time with him was no hardship at all. He was a pleasant man, though she was uncertain how much of that was true and how much wasn't. Either way, they could easily spend the day tucked away where Liese would have a difficult time tracking them down. "Of course." She summoned the desert course, and returned the gently squeeze. "I have the feeling, we have much to talk about."
The Empire seemed at ease, for the moment, at least here at home in the Cluster. The peace that had ensued in the wake of the Kobold conflict was a lasting, and deceptive one. The Collective still lurked on their borders, the alien titan ready to strike should the desire arise, and the crusade in Home was about to come to full fruition, Scatter only being a matter of time. Redwing looked over all of this with a pleased eye, glancing over her datapad with an idle flick, moving the statistics up and down, what with most of her official responsibilities out of the way.
Seated behind her desk, the task of signing award documents was completed, though it was somewhat lengthy, and she leaned, head in hand, over the desktop. It's times like these that she almost seemed like a normal person.
Seated behind her desk, the task of signing award documents was completed, though it was somewhat lengthy, and she leaned, head in hand, over the desktop. It's times like these that she almost seemed like a normal person.
The alarms did not ring, the guards were not alerted, and any attempt to do so would fail, thanks to a little bit of wire cutting by a pair of mice. The man was there, not loudly, not obviously. He merely stood where once nothing stood. He was light skinned, with a shock of pitch black hair, and odd glowing eyes. "Archduchess, I believe we need to speak." No warning.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Redwing tensed at the audible arrival of whatever it was that now stood behind her. It sounded to be a man, and knowing the recent turn of events, it was likely an Erutin. She let out a slow sigh, blinking twice as she tried to confront the newcomer, "You have me at a disadvantage, I don't believe I know your name." She slowly, quietly, drew the top drawer of her desk out to get at the sidearm inside. Assassin or no, this guest wasn't announced.
"You may call me The Director." He said pleasantly. "And your ships have unauthorized technology on them." He sounded very pleasant. "The Erutins, after all, no longer govern the use of the Traveler's Jump." He smiled slightly. "I would't touch the gun. And attempts to summon your guards won't work. The cameras see you working at your desk. The guards are not...able to be summoned."
Redwing stopped, blinking as she did. It was an Erutin, one of the former Empire's traitors, and from what she heard, one who thought he was entitled to something. She kept her eyes on her desk, thinking to the saber on her side. The thing wasn't just for show. "You speak as if you want me to do something. Spit it out and be done with it." Given, she was biding time, and she might be able to worm her way under his facade of passivity.
"No doubt that the former Empress...Lady Thistle is it? has complained that the Traveler division is missing? We claimed a solar system. Five planets. While we don't take back what you have developed, I would not develop further on it." The director seemed perfectly calm. "You have a family, correct? Camille, Todd, Adam, Ellis, Randal, and wee sweet Linde?" The man shrugged. "You are highly protected? Are they?"
Thistle had mentioned no such thing, at least not that she could remember. A state of Erutin travelers independent could prove to be quite the problem, however, the Hegemony did enjoy one distinct advantage here, such that was evident by the Director's presence -- they were afraid. Why else would they demand a cessation of the development, or threaten her family? They feared the Hegemony's exponential rate of growth and dogged determination. Redwing took this to heart as she responded, "Cease with your prattle, you only make yourself look to be more of a fool."
The Director smiled. "Alpha team, please prepare." He said and smirkedslightly. "Ready to secure the scientists." The Director seemed to speak into thin air, then tapped her ear. "Direct mental link. Required to be a Traveler." She smiled slightly. "Wing had one too. Thistle...lacks."
Redwing cocked an eyebrow at this, slightly interested in whatever it was this thing had planned, though she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her bow under pressure. She pursed her lips as she waited for him to finish, muttering once he had, "Hmm. Another biological inadequacy your people have suffered." She paused, for a moment, looking to him, "Tell me how it feels to be an inferior being. To rely on technology to even be on a level playing field."
"Alpha team, secure the first group." He said and didn't respond to Redwing. The man merely stood there, wrist held loosely behind him in the other hand He waited patiently. There were seven other groups prepared to go. He had time, and was clad in full armor, so wasn't too worried about being shot. "Beta team, ready."
Redwing awaited his response with a patient glare, looking the man in the eye as he gave his cryptic commands, and she came to a conclusion. They were desperate. They couldn't meet them on the field of battle, not without horrendous losses, and so they had to take the coward's way -- subtlety. She should've expected such from an alien threat, this whole experience really wasn't endearing her to the Erutin, and she tapped her finger on her desk idly as he gave his second order, "I'll take the lack of a response as shame enough. A pity that you have to butcher yourself to fight us, God's gifts are quite obvious."
"I am closer to God than you will ever be, xeno." She muttered the last word with contempt, her face revealing flush at the audacity for the thing to assume that form, "If anything, you are a coward, like the trillions who came before." They were, before the collapse of the Empire, PXT-1183, probable xenomorpic threat number one thousand and eighty-three. It was by chance that they didn't meet the same fate as the other one thousand and eighty-two. "They all prayed to their Gods in the end. It didn't save them."
"I worship nothing. My people might, they are free to. But as for myself? I worship no man, no woman, no supposed god or goddess." He shrugged, pleased he had gotten under Liese's skin. "I will admit he was a great man...who should have been dead a very long time ago. Many hundreds of years ago." The director smirked. "As he was a man...with an artificial life."
Redwing continued to sneer at the creature before her and she refused to respond to him immediately, instead considering her options, pondering whether the coward had their armor to protect them, lacking the will to face a foe with their own might. "He still is. Kampf lives on in death. We will eliminate all of the fools who dare to stand against us in Home, and then turn our eyes to more profitable ventures." She blinked, "I should be flattered, in fact. Your fear of us, to consider us such a threat to kill off all of our intelligentsia involved in the project, speaks volumes." She then moved to sit again, "We'll come to your worlds, eventually, and we'll remember this. I'm sure your people's children will look quite dashing in Belkan uniforms."