The bridge of the Imperial Diplomatic Ship Emperor Chutan was a flurry of reports and statuses. Having just dropped out of warp was always a busy time, moreso with this being the first diplomatic mission alongside the Sovereign Vessel Persephone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reports came flooding in<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAll sensor frequencies clear or friendly Captain\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEngineering reports all systems green Captain\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cStandard entry hails only, we\u2019ve been assigned an intercept\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNavigation put us on the intercept, comms forward the path to our escort, All other stations standard alert, we\u2019re in neutral territory best not to spook anyone\u201d Captain Aveli listed off the initial orders. Easy job today, show up eat some food, don\u2019t start a war. The Etrani were warming up to the idea of a trade deal they just wanted a state visit from the royal house. This trip would also serve as a shakedown for the ship Lillian had bought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Suddenly the sensors officer was talking over everyone \u201cCaptain the Persephone is launching sensor drones\u201d \u201ctac com shows them headed for a passive net pattern\u201d Comms added<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shit shit shit, Lillian wasn\u2019t a diplomat she didn\u2019t know her paranoia was a major insult. \u201cAre they at least stealth models? Maybe the Etrani won\u2019t see them\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Comms responded \u201cEven if they are, half of them are broadcasting on public sensor channels, she\u2019s not even hiding it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGet that dumbass on screen\u201d The captain ordered while glancing at her hand, a cordite ring inscribed with all of her vital and personal details, Name, Rank, Next of Kin, Nanite Generation, all information that would be on dog tags, etched into the single most expensive material in the galaxy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Quickly a video of Captain Lillian showed on screen, Long red hair, a grease stained jumpsuit, and was that the warp core behind her? \u201cCaptain Lillian of the Sovereign Vessel Persephone how can I help you\u2026 AVS! What\u2019s up? Trying to make dinner plans already?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI wish, why are you launching sensor drones? If the Etrani see them they\u2019ll think we don\u2019t trust them to keep to diplomatic procedures.\u201d Aveli asked barely holding back the urge the slap the human that hadn\u2019t even bothered setting her wrench down before answering the comms request<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t, that\u2019s why I\u2019m here isn\u2019t it? Otherwise the Emperor never would have approved a foreign capital ship fleeting up with the crown heir\u2019s personal flag ship\u201d Lillian counted off while refilling what looked like a fire suppressant tank \u201cAnyway it\u2019s fine, they\u2019ll complain I\u2019ll pull the public channel drones back, I\u2019ll have a network and they\u2019ll get a diplomatic win.\u201d Lillian put the now clearly fire suppressant tank back in the ceiling her arms and back flexing tight as she shoved it into the holding cage \u201ceveryone\u2019s happy and I don\u2019t have to worry about the pirates on that \u201cempty\u201d station swinging by unannounced. Besides even if they are insulted the Persephone is technically it\u2019s own polity, I\u2019ll just bribe them a fusion generator and call it a day\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aveli knew that would technically work, but it was a cludgy and brutish means of diplomacy. The human had a tendency to swing exclusively between, you are one of mine and I will strip my hull plates to defend you, and I don\u2019t trust you, no I won\u2019t leave my sidearm on my ship even on a temple world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou know that\u2019s going to put this meeting on a bad foot right?\u201d Aveli asked the human that was now washing her face with… ETHANOL? Rocket fuel? Better not to question that decision<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDon\u2019t care, if they didn\u2019t want people being worried about backstabs they shouldn\u2019t have let the pirates set up shop in system\u201d Lillian responded slipping her own Cordite ring back on, Aveli had asked once why she never wore it while working on the ships only to be told to \u201cgoogle\u201d the word degloving. Aveli stopped being offended after that search.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFine, just don\u2019t pick a fight with the pirates\u201d Aveli admonished<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs long as they aren\u2019t slavers or hitting medical convoys, I know the rules\u201d Lillian responded with a smirk<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAny way why were you refilling fire suppressant?\u201d Aveli asked, despite knowing she shouldn\u2019t<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell you see\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The bridge of the Imperial Diplomatic Ship Emperor Chutan was a flurry of reports and statuses. Having just dropped out of warp was always a busy time, moreso with this being the first diplomatic mission alongside the Sovereign Vessel Persephone. Reports came flooding in \u201cAll sensor frequencies clear or friendly Captain\u201d \u201cEngineering reports all systems […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.serialelf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.serialelf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.serialelf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.serialelf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.serialelf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.serialelf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38,"href":"https:\/\/blog.serialelf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36\/revisions\/38"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.serialelf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.serialelf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.serialelf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}