The Alliance of Dictators

Lenspheria wrote:

His smile remained unwavering at the terms and offerings.

"Well if the culture difference would be a shock we will send humans or easily hidable humanoids. Our more beast like residents, like Granthrk my guard, we hold from this mission. Of course these humans will consist of at least one senior diplomatic officer from each nation in the USSO and two aids as well as one security detail of four per team, provided that is no issue to you? As for meeting your Forepatros directly, perhaps I can have the Minister directly request that the Empress herself join this detail. Why not go all in for this first diplomatic meeting? It will allow our leaders to interact with no middleman as well as get to know each other outside of diplomacy."

"Yes, humans are entirely necessary. Our culture would take quite the shock from such a discovery at this time, so we humbly thank you for the suggestion. As for the diplomatic team, how many nations are in the USSO? It'll be helpful to know a headcount for the expected guests. As well as to open such cultural understandings and all that jazz the press loves to talk about when we let them. And if the Empress were to attend, that would be a great honor indeed. Our Forepatros would be glad to talk with such royalty directly."

Lenspheria wrote:

"As for your team, we can offer residency in the Capitol while our team is in your nation, even if our national leaders meet there is still much to do. They will engage with the Ministry at all levels here within the embassy district or within the Ministry headquarters itself. Naturally we will provide you with room, board and guard at no expense. If your diplomats choose to, we can also hire a guide to the city as well as a translator... should they choose to interact at all. Of no interaction is requested the press will be suppressed and you will be in your compound or the Ministry or ministry vehicles at all times. Of course you may also choose to explore our city at your own leisure with no guide present but... that is inadvisable."

"Having a guide and translator for our diplomats would be very desirable, and would, in fact, be necessary. As they are diplomats, no such secrets need be made for them. I have a limited scope of knowledge I'm allowed, but that is expected, and is for the betterment of Carcathi. The only things they would need limited access to would be included on a message sent with them. So, all would be taken care of. We do like not to trouble other nations unnecessarily. That would be uncouth."

Arkngthamz wrote:

They did not speak when they saw her, and yet they seemed to move as if in conversation, looking to one another. None looked at her.. The golden-eyed elf smiled at her a little, however, and did not speak. She looked to the rest of the council, who had seemingly gotten into an argument, sighed softly, and turned back to the woman. She thought for a moment, then with a little waft of her hand and no small amount of magic, spoke directly into the womans head.

"Hello. I am Counsel Gisthune Tinsaris. I would speak to you in a more direct and...obvious manner, but..." Her mouth opens for a moment, showing a clear lack of tongue; it had, evidently, been removed. She continued. "I am the representative of my people on this Council, though I have not the equality needed to do so, nor the voice required to be heard. They are talking, too, though you cannot hear it. They are being rather impolite hosts." She frowned a little at that, looking to the council and, as if to remind them of their guest, slamming her hand down on the wooden table and bringing attention to some of them. She pointed to their guests, at which point a blue-skinned male huffed a little. It appears he had drawn the 'short straw', and so he opened his mouth to speak, his voice accented.

"Welcome. Names are not important, it is just important to remember that we are the ruling council of our people. 'Lady'...A word for female nobility, correct? Hm. Interesting." He was quiet for a moment, stroking his dark-haired beard thoughtfully. He nodded a little towards someone, again as if in response to something, and looked again to the woman. "Archaeology. Hah!" An amused laugh as he realised the meaning of the word. "You dig around in old places. Like ours. Not quite expecting it to be still occupied, hm? Did you think perhaps to borrow our treasures for your own?"

She rose her head from the bow, facing her eyes towards the golden eyed lady. With a smile of her own, Lia telepathically reached to her mind to simply say, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Counsel Tinsaris." She had little time to say anything else, her focus shifting to the blue man addressing her. "It was quite the surprise to find such an underground wonder, especially one filled with a group of people foreign to me," when she spoke, she moved her limbs frequently, always making little gestures that came naturally. Even her ears, and to some extent her tail joined in the movements. "I did have an intent to take from this place until I found it was filled with life. But, I am not a petty thief, I only take things that have been long forsaken and forgotten. Hm. If I were to desire any of your treasures, I would attempt to gain them diplomatically."

Westbeech wrote:

Radars went mad, the secret police were already on guard, and the air force was on stand-by. Yes, in some ways the boat was expected, but it still was unusual for foreign diplomats or officials to come in by boat, especially one of such a small size. Not to mention the newer ongoings of the family of the dictator and their worries of possible instability in the Vespergalian state in the North.

All the meanwhile, the high command in Westbeech was calmly awaiting their foreign diplomat's arrival in a small convoy just outside the port town. This town, Yuhnoburg, was a common location for Westbeechian military industries to build up their industry, being in the industrial South. It is also the home of the Westbeechian navy, which was stationed closer to Romania for a public show of power for the birthday of the High Admiral. This town, being of such strategic importance, is also an area in which it is common to find many prominent and wealthy Westbeechian officials.

There was a spot prepared for the boat on the customs docks where regular police and customs units waited, but were also closely followed by members of the secret police, wearing civilian clothing to keep themselves hidden. Also in the crowd was the dictator's sister, Maxene. She wore a bright red dress with an armband wrapped around her arm, bearing the flag of Westbeech. Amongst her other possessions were a small experimental pistol, sticks of gum, a pack of cigarettes, and a small remote with a singular button on it.

The parties waited, each unaware of the other's presence, just waiting to be the first to receive the ship that approached the docks.

Gelen's boatship approached the convoy, and after some signaling, were directed to the port where there awaited a party for them. Upon docking, Gelen, preceded by a couple shipspeople, made her first steps onto the pier. She had given the crowd several investigative searches while docking, and now did so again quite quickly. She needed to be cautious, hungry or not. There was a lady with a very loud red dress with an insignia on her arm that caught her attention the most, and was likely intended. Gelen'd speak with her first, and hoped that was the right move. But foremost:

"I humbly thank you for receiving us into your beautiful city," she addressed the crowd general. "I come from the shores of Carcathi, where there is life in bloom and might in blood. We are honored to have been granted access here, and do expect a wonderful time in your lovely lands." With that, she nervously, but meaningfully, approached the Lady in Red. "My name is Gelen Kofford, and I am the Laut-class Envoy sent to open discussions with you. I presume you are the Lady in charge here?" She had only the hintest of a question in her comment. Her stomach turned with hunger. She kept a pleasant face as well she could. She hoped all was well so far.

OOC: Well, never thought I'd be back here again. to be honest, I don't really know why I've come back after a year of inactivity. But I might get back into the RP side of things. This time I'll try to be a little less of a twat. ;)

Planet Hydra wrote:

Her Excellency finished eating and stood up along with her companions.

"I humbly thank you for hosting me, Prime Minister. Oh, and I'd like to apologize for the behavior of my companions-"

Most of the other Hydrans went pale and were visibly surprised at the mention of them. Evangelos, Zinon, and Aleka looked back at the others with raised eyebrows, as they were the only ones who hadn't caused any trouble.

"They think I don't notice; but I always notice. They take their duties far too seriously for their own good. Rest assured, they'll be reprimanded appropriately for their rudeness. Ta-ta!"

She did not even look at the others before following the security and motioning her retinue to follow, most of whom were rather red-faced. Zinon merely sighed and rolled his eyes while the siblings - Aleka and Evangelos - merely snickered to each other at the others' fumbling. With that, the Hydrans left the facility and accompanied their escorts to the city of Vrelm.

Security took them back to the Motorcade, which in turn transported the foreigners to a train station of sorts. Vrelm was on the Cinder Cone island nestled in the middle of the ancient caldera that made up most of the country's landmass, as such, it was across the channel from Xoysa and handled most of its commercial, civil, and military traffic through rail or ship. The Station was relatively clear of pedestrian traffic when th Hydran's arrived, showing the level of coordination between departments in Veradax when it came to these sorts of things. Security elements made sure no one approached the party, and riot police had been strategically placed incase one of the nutcases of society had any genius ideas. At one point the party was able to catch a glimpse of the elusive Lieutenant Colonel in charge of their security. They were lead on the shortest route to the Train to Vrelm, a car had been reserved for their use. The train itself was not conventional at all, it looked like a series of interconnected cylinders nested inside a pipe. At the moment the pipe at the station was open to allow people to board. It was a commuter vac train, best summarized as a maglev that required negligible atmospheric resistance to operate. Being a train for the everyday man, it did not have the luxuries that an Empress would expect, but at least they had a car to themselves. "Apologies for the train car, it's the best we could get on such short notice." one of the agents said as the party entered the train. A minute or so after the Empress boarded, the pipe closed and thee train started off. It underwent a period of rapid acceleration, but ceased rather quickly just before a slow descent began. "This Vac Train runs under the channel separating the cinder cone island from the rest of the caldera there are ones like it all over the nation used for both commercial and civil purposes. The lessons we learned with this sort of transportation system were put to use in our off world infrastructure." one of the agents said when it had leveled out again.

In no time at all they were at the Vrelm station. The people providing the security detail were very different as well, Wolf and Elephant Branch soldiers in full gear with rifles loaded and ready, albeit in a non-threatening manner. Control of the operation was shifted over to the on site officer, who approached the party immediately after their departure. Dressed in a modified version of Veradacian field fatigues was a very obviously synthetic entity with a more masculine form. In fact, it looked like the officer had intentionally been created to look artificial. "Greetings, I am Tactical Officer 06491-Isei. I am in charge of the operation concerning Ambassador Urgost from the nation of Beichte. Before I continue, I have been informed of your attitude towards cyborgs, I assure you, I am not one. I am a Synthetic Intelligence who immigrated to Veradax from the nation known as Despoticania. You may regard me as a machine if it suits your fancy, I will not be offended over it." he said in a very synthetic voice. "Please, follow me, I will take you to the Ambassador." He would lead the party away from the train towards the exit. "It should be noted." Isei stated "That Ambassador Urgost is not the usual diplomat, he is a rather large dragon, which is the reason for the military presence. My nation does not take too kindly to strange objects showing up in its air space unannounced, an unfortunate, but necessary policy." The Tactical Officer did not pay much attention at all to the expressions or attitudes of the majority of the party, being chiefly concerned with the Empress, the concerns of the others were secondary priorities.

Once at street level, they could see that Vreelm was nothing like Xoysa. Buildings were much shorter, with most not even being over four stories, while th city kept the same sense of organization. This was a bit strange for a major industrial city, especially since the Veradacian inclination to put plants wherever plants could be put without sacrificing efficiency ran right in the face of the typical vision of a over industrialized dystopia assigned to advanced nations. The lot were UUrgost was waiting was not far from the particular exit that was chosen, but they took the motorcade for safeties sake. Isei opened thee door for the Empress, presenting thee behemoth lizard standing atop the cracked and bloodied lot to her. The remains of the whales had been dragged off to the side. "Apologies for the mess, we had to feed the Ambassador after his long flight, and he likes his meat raw."

OOC: Apologies to Beichte in advanc, I just assumed that the necessary information to identify Urgost was acquired to save some time. Hydra and Beichte can proceed without me from here, I have no role in this unless things really get out of hand.