The Old Army Game.

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Xenonier
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Name: Xenonier

The Old Army Game.

Post by Xenonier »

OOC: Zerstyrendar/Xenonier only, unless you clear it with both of us and come up with an awesome concept to justify such things.

IC:

Her existence was defined by the necessity to kill people. Always.

Oh yes, the metaphorical spear which brought her daily bread was undoubtedly killing people. She could always use the defence that she had the audacity to pick targets from kilometers away, yet the impetuous of the comment remained the same. A Marksman of the Projected Irregularity, while maintaining the preference for long range warfare one might expect from a Sniper, was not always presented with that luxury. Preferably, the idea of ranged combat at extended distances was her specialty - but sometimes you just had to crush them at a much more personal range. Hence, the prevalence of the term 'Marksman' (mark them, then kill them) over Sniper. Not that the terminology altered her own internal conflict any significant deal. She was attached to this little operation in case of emergencies. If either Kaiserlich emerged victorious in a context which threatened to destablise Xenonian plans with both Airavuni and Zerstorendar, she would be the one to end those threats then and there, using any and all means available.

It was a realization which had taken no short amount of time to be accepted, embraced and neutralized by the auspices of the Xenonian personality known as Tenghi. As with almost all Xenonian soldiers, she had spent as significant a portion of time preparing for war as she had locked in the confines of her own mind. Only through careful attention paid to meditation and deep thought allowed for perfecting all aspects of a soldier's mindset, to prepare them as a warrior and. With the reflexes of a Xenonian as they were, the only real margin between instantaneous reaction and hesitation was overcoming the limitations of the Mind itself - a process both Mind and Technology had to embrace, to be entirely effective. Locked within a transportable manipulation field, she had split the attentions of some of her mind into a pair of separate universes - a combat simulation in which she was leading the outgunned, outmanned and essentially doomed rebels of a particularly dodgy science fiction universe involving Death Stars and a lifeless planet marked with one temple in which she could really think. Despite their seemingly contradictory situations, the two combined allowed madam Dyson to feel a sense of wholeness in being and place - reflected by the position she chose to meditate in, sitting, with legs folded.

Aside from all of her operational concerns, The AI of the "Xenonian FTL Network is a Series of Tubes", Gerhaldt had sent her a number of messages, confirming her progress and challenging her to a physical battle. The advantages of multiple bodies were limited to none in the Xenonian protectorate. With all these concerns in mind, it was shaping up to be a fairly interesting period ahead.

Hence, while Kata and Karen were engaged in a rather heated discussion about 'classes' in one of their latest Computational game obsessions. Normally, they would have invited the AI of the ship they were traveling on to join them - but Gerhaldt had politely declined to send a body around (or even to conduct affairs by communication), preferring to discuss details with Tenghi on the military aspects of the operation as well as their little planned meeting - Business and family – Gerhaldt had always been considered one of her greatest friends and a mentor. While both their primary bodies managed the dice, Kata's red-haired trademark form was alternating between holding the rulebook and imitating golbinoid voices as the dice bounced off the starship surface. For now, their mighty quest was developing into a grand epic of affectionate sarcasm, the tale of the mighty Professional Otaku Sir Digby Chicken Caesar-Salad (The perfectly tossed) and her intrepidly perverted companion, Failex the Gnome Illusionist.

"You're always picking the ineffective classes at the cost of operational efficiency, Terkata. Your entire existance is essentially one rather large feint from one cutesy thing to another at any higher powers watching, as I am sure you're aware". Karen made no attempt to keep her slight mothering tone out of her address, the tone acting as both taunting critic and satisfied protector. After all, she was the primary influence behind many Xenonians and their enjoyment of exploding/burning objects - a responsibility and source of pride she wasn't ever about to totally revoke. She had been a demolitions expert for too long to ever hope to wash the memories from her consciousness.

"It's what games are for Karen, maaaaah darrrrrrrrliiiiioooooooooooing.. MPHHHHHHH, MPHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, and then I start setting things on fire. I mean, it's fire Karen. Throwing fire. At some stage in Xenonian evolution, someone - someone meaning you, or someone LIKE you, wanted to set some unfortunate motherfuckers on fire, but couldn't get close enough with a match. It's the spirit of good fun and melted flesh, pure and simple".

Kata's counter was delivered with a nonchalant smile, as she flipped through Identification cards for the many characters she had designed and created. As always, she displayed a certain sense of affection for the older methods of redundancy, shuffling the decks according to as number of equations occupying her mind while Rachel considered how exactly to approach using a Gnome Illusionist. Since the Irregularity had every intention of ensuring that the Zerstorendarians had as little "... It had to be one of those ..." information on their overall Faster-Than-Light travel speeds as possible, the transmit time was set something a little under half an hour. Just enough time for a round or two of their latest planned adventure, between the girls

As to the adventure itself, the army of two had hit upon a small problem of economic shortfall. In a rush to secure equipment before embarking on an old-fashioned dungeon crawl, the pair had spent far too significant an amount of gold on shiny hats, necessitating a collection of monies. Gerhaldt in the meantime, continued to observe the decreasing distance between him and his target, reading reports from all sensors and disseminating that information across the entirety of the Irregularity.

____

Of all the things that might have interrupted Tenghi from her internal monologues, it just had to be a Fender. Abominable machines that they were, hated and despised by anyone with the slightest hint of musical ability when it came to playing a guitar. Of course, this 'Fender' was modified to bear none of the parentage of the company that spawned the outside body – typical of Kata’s approach. Just enough to annoy, supported by the necessary restraint to avoid a clobbering for the insult in the first place.

She was being poked in the back of her head with a Fender. Awoken from her metaphysical pondering, leadership of a rebellion cell (which was finally starting to attain a degree of powerful, testament to her organizational capabilities), because of Kata's accursed modified guitar.

A Fender.



"Absolutely. Delighted to, maam!." Kata's red haired form was positively beaming, her feet straining as she reached out her hand and gave a small wave, followed by a specific finger used in context of a specific salute. Expecting such a manoeuvre, Dyson's hand immediately shot up, fingers pointed up to the sky, to connect with the palm of her head. She only changed both her feeling of resignation to the remaining transit time being forced to put up with this royal nuisance when the same guitar started to play. The seemingly random notes developed from an experiment with prime number timing and insults into a song she knew all too well, prompting a response from the military attaché

Heaven and Hell indeed. She slowly began to stand herself up, taking only a moment to wipe her hair from her face. Now able to look down at the happy young thing prancing in front of her, she reached down and grasped Kata's head lifting her roughly off the ground. Choosing to ignore the idiotic smile that returned her now simmering gaze, she pointed an accusing finger into Kata's face - taking care to pull it back every couple of seconds to avoid Kata's attempts to snap at it with her teeth.

"You noisome runt ...." At the conclusion of the sentence however, Tenghi possessed neither anger nor frustration towards Kata. It was her personality to provoke the ill considered response ... and she showed a remarkable degree of skill at it. Not that any of this would prevent Tenghi from gaining a small measure of revenge for the disruption of her thoughts, however. Ignoring the smaller Xenonian's protestations, Tenghi began a slow stride both out of the internal universes she was currently studying and the 'physical' universe, in preparation for the impending planetfall that would follow. Upon arriving where her fellow Xenonians were starting the concluding stages of their 'game', Tenghi allowed her grip on Kata's smaller form to relax, before the small girl scampered over to hide behind Kata's older body, pausing only to stick out her tongue and throw yet another series of rude gestures.

"Are you sure giving that body an age of fifteen years was appropriate, Terkata? Still, at least you’re paying your usual admirable levels of attention to developing the right pretence of character. Perhaps having a seven year old body might be more akin to your style?". At this suggestion, both of Kata's bodies performed a slight of hand, a waving 'no' gesture with their digits designed to indicate an air of of polite dismissal.

"Sickly-sweet, probably illness-prone and yet annoyingly mischievous and innocent fifteen year olds are more adorable. It has proven to be more disconcerting to the Rendari, which is reason enough to justify the construction and usage of this body in the first place".

It was that statement more than any which brought about a simultaneous agreement between the Xenonian women. After all, a child was something to be ignored - to be shunted into a corner and raised by those deemed inappropriate for other duties, or just a tad unusual. But a teenager was a different issue, the key moment in which the state both considered their young and malleable minds a great asset for lifelong loyalty, as well as a possible breeding ground for less than acceptable levels of intellectually driven anti-establishment sentiment. Nothing would unnerve the rank and file more than a 'little girl' rather than a 'blasted whinging meatsack' (both soundbytes of Rendari thoughts on the issue kindly provided by Ambassador Kimura Deitrich) with the capacity to bite back.

While all three Xenonians may have reached a temporary agreement, it did little to stop the flow of bickering between the three distinct personalities. What did bring about a temporary cessation of communicative hostilities however was their own realisations that the transit time was now upon them. Zerstorendarian sensors would have detected the entry of the Xenonian warship moments ago, which meant hailing procedures had already begun. As the Rendari officers began stating their demands for identification and compliance in short, brusque tones, Karen began to respond with each demand, one by one. Gerhaldt had chosen to take a backseat in the negotiation – if only to ensure there were no inherent issues stoked by the intervention of an impossibly powerful AI. While in Xenonian there was functionally no difference between the computational abilities of an AI or a Citizen – both possessing similar faculties for thought, Karen was communicating in place of Gerhaldt nevertheless. The Irregularity had correctly calculated that the appearance of one the Rendari had known of before would be better received.

It was immediately evident that someone with significant evidence in the power structure of Zerstorendar had given ‘instructions’ on handling the Xenonian presence. Aside from the fact that they had ordered the Miak warship to ‘dock’ from a distance of twenty-five light seconds away, the actual discussion occurring between Karen and the defence officers amounted to little more than a short series of commands. Chief amongst these were“You … you’ve been cleared, damn Xenos. Land here or we’ll …� as Karen cooed and prodded with responses of “of course, dear� “understood, there will be no problems� and “do your collar properly next time, your dishevelled appearance undermines your rabidly nationalistic narcissism� (the last comment drew amusement from many a Xenonian). With clearance for a landing now given, Gerhaldt had already had his game of Polish Roulette with reality to drag in a far smaller, cylindrical vessel for landing and construction – which he then proceeded to ‘move’ all three Xenonian operatives into. Seconds later, the XDF “Xenonian FTL network is a series of Tubes� was gone from the system.

Instantaneously, the discussion shifted in tone, all resources shifted to an analysis of the oncoming war that would impact itself on the Rendari soul. Karen, Kata and Tenghi all evaluated a number of scenarios ranging from covert warfare up to an all out civil war, taking the time to evaluate the primary concerns of each situation. Of particular concern was the loyalties of the Blitzmord – their extensive powers would be decisive in respect to either side’s force multiplication. The timing of the Xenonian embassy was determined with the expectation of the conflict in mind. The Irregularity needed observers on the ground, which provided all the more reason to place an embassy aside from the obvious diplomatic concerns. Naturally, it was Kata who interrupted the academic discussion first, a pulse of thought reverberating over the neuralinks as she set the far smaller vessel on the entry course as per the given Rendari specifications.
“Port 14, eh? Sounds like the bloody tripod room.� At this, Karen fell into a minor fit of childish giggling before managing a coherent reply.

“Well, you would be the one most familiar with the Tripod room. I concur however – this is going to be their way of saying they’re better than us. Exactly as one would expect from their record of diplomacy … quite endearing, when you think about it. So, do you really have nothing to say about it all Tenghi? Not even a consideration of how the Kaiserlich will take the knowledge his own parents have returned? Cmon Tenghi, give us a little poetry from that mind of yours.�

As the silence began to descend into uncomfortable lengths, it was Kata who first began prodding slightly at the edge of Tenghi’s personality, pushing for an answer. When one eventually arrived, it brought yet another moment of silent thought.

“Every stem breaks if bent too far is how the quote goes, I believe.�

Kata’s smaller form was the one who acted to summarise the general Xenonian viewpoint at this stage. Her face broke into a frown – the words Already started, eh … , while the blonde body simply pushed the glasses that now framed her eyes up with a finger.

“At sudden swallows took upon the scene … etcetera, etcetera

I know the lyrics.�

With atmospheric entry beginning, Syukein Terkata took a brief moment to evaluate the appearance of her little grouping – as they would be seen by the Rendari. Her own two bodies (wearing the same as they had in her last meeting with Agents of Zerstorendar, if only to creep them out), another equally tiny ‘Good ol Gal’ with straw hat and long chemise in the case of Karen … and Tenghi, always the uniform. Syukata couldn’t help but smile about it all, while humming to herself.

“ Oh sure this is old, but heh. One of these things is not like the others …

__________

Port 14, Vanderhelm.

In a series of events that ran counter to the usual Xenonian experiences of diplomacy, the landing process itself was not interrupted by any overt displays of power. No bright lights, no overwhelming firepower – not even a ‘chance’ display of a belt of planetary defence systems. It was almost a little underwhelming – Kata in particular, felt that a far greater display of firepower would be necessary in order for the so called ‘diplomatic port’ to live up to the local nickname – Firestarter.

Syukein Terkata’s internal monologue continued unabated the moment both her bodies stepped outside the landing craft, leading the small Xenonian party on. It would take a great deal more than the attentions of the five hundred or so Ravagers who had been waiting to surround them on the walls of the facility to impress her. That sort of force was easily spotted, something the Xenonians had been able to do well before they landed. The presence of what datafiles indentified as the Zerstorendarian Zanekriegerlich and (judging by the disturbance they were creating), three Spectres on the walls was well received by the Xenonians – the first sign of serious business, as one might say.

In response to the welcome, Kata’s smaller body lifted her hands and gave a wave to each side, stopping only to blow the occasional kiss as her older body merely toyed with a dual-screen handheld device. Karen’s stepped out with little speed (and an obvious mass of enthusiasm), lugging what looked to be an small rucksack on her small frame. The backpack appeared to be fairly light to carry, although this hid the actual dimensional trickery occurring within the confines of the bag itself, as well as the actual strength a Xenonian possessed. Pointing in the direction of the Rendari figures on the landing pad, Karen started walking towards where the real fun would begin, Kata trailing behind.

Both Zanekriegerlich and Zanekriegerlich cronies were decked out in what could only have been full ceremonial regalia, with medals, weapons and armour in full display. Those cronies – apparently ten Ravagers and two Spectres, all decked out in varying degrees of shiny, had evidently been preened thoroughly for the occasion. There was a small hiccup of amusement from Karen, who found the inherent irony of being forced to prepare so much for Xenonians was something some Rendari found emasculating. There was even the presence of one Dirk Fettel, something which immediately brought a wide smile and a smirk to Kata’s younger and older bodies, respectively. While the smaller body certainly looked conducive to the idea of running over to Fettel and attempting to hug him, restraint was applied.

Karen however, was the one who chose to address the Rendari leadership. Handing her backpack to Kata’s elder body, she removed her straw hat and tucked it under her arm before approaching the Zanekriegerlich. Before addressing him however, she chose to attend to a small manner of protocol, saluting once and holding it for three point one four seconds. She knew only Fettel, the Spectres and perhaps even the Zanekriegerlich himself could be certain there was no hint of mocking in that salute. Her voice however was soft and articulate, a subtle reminder she had no intention of playing entirely by their rules. Nevertheless, she had her own power and her own timbre, all of which she expected Helgrund to pick up on.

“Zanekriegerlich Helgrund Klaitus … of Zerstorendar.� Karen paused, just to watch the Ravagers stiffen a little.

“Karen Schmidt. Former Daejang of the Ansal Division, once retired. Although it is a colloquial position, you could probably refer to me as ‘Drunk Scottish Tyrant’ of the Xenonian engineering core nowadays. I’m sure you are familiar with Syukein Terkata over there“ – Karen pointed to Kata’s older body, who was now leaning on a Broadsword “ a member of Certain Situations. The one I don’t believe you have met is Tenghi Dyson or .. Teedee, Second to the current Daejang of the Ansal division.� With introductions out of the way, it was onto the smaller details … and then, discussions.

Variating her voice slightly, keeping the knowledge Kata had processed as to the minor hearing differences between Spectres and Ravagers, Karen added one more thing.

“As for your little internal problem … well. We will just have to talk about that, won’t we?�.

“Teedee will be joining us for a chat in a minute; she has a little book-keeping to attend to. Since we felt it would be inappropriate to bring anything particularly large in an effort not to offend your … sensibilities, we’ll leave the manual work to her. Assuming of course, you have no complaints which you intend to voice, or help you want to offer ….� While the expression of the Rendari leader indicated he suspected this meant an entirely different set of ‘ideas’ to the ones in his own head, made no complaints. As it was, ‘Teedee’ was drawing surprisingly little attention from the gunners that surrounded the craft .Or perhaps more accurately, if they had any idea of Xenonians being Xenonians, every gun would be pointed at her head.

Tenghi was sitting perched on top of the landing craft, her feet hanging over the side, adjusting her helmet and holding a rifle in one hand. She had finally chosen to keep with the combat fatigues for the meeting – which surprised Karen. She had expected a little Zettai Ryouki, in truth.

“After all� said Karen, smiling as one with knowledge of the oncoming chaos only can … “She’ll be right�.

At that cue, Tenghi dropped from the landing craft and simply vanished … seemingly disappearing entirely. Before surprise and wonder turned to panic however, she reappeared later at Karen’s side. The more observant Rendari would have noticed that a series of ‘keep out’ signs, connected by tape bearing the same message had sprung up around the boundary of the landing craft.

She was facing the Zanekriegerlich, oblivious to everything else. Both Karen and Kata knew at that moment that her eyes had changed imperceptibly and that the moment greatest concern had arrived. Of course, they were both aware of exactly what would be going through Helgrund’s mind at this moment, but his reaction was something even Xenonians could not predict. She allowed a small imprint of purpose to fall into the contact - a few choice phrases he might one day remember. The process was inherently different for everyone and that was a realisation that hung over all of their minds as Tenghi broke contact. As she stood mute and waiting, her hair changed from black to white, completing the contrast.

Even Terkata’s smallest body lost the smile from her face, momentarily. How on earth Tenghi managed to be all business while looking stunningly beautiful was a trick Kata hadn't ever caught onto.
Last edited by Guest on Thu Aug 14, 2008 6:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Zerstorendar
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Re: The Old Army Game.

Post by Zerstorendar »

Primelich Dirk Fettel, resplendent in a ceremonial steel breastplate festooned with medals and ribbons over a neatly worn black and red dress uniform, found that his hand moved to the not-so-ceremonial railpistol on his belt as Karen transfixed the Zanekriegerlich. The Ravager knew his commander very well, and the particular expression Klaitus’ face took on was a curious one. When Dirk thought about it, it was similar to the one he had worn when he had seen Kessalich Deneve for the first time in years. And with that line of thought, his grip on the weapon tightened in response the still-fresh memory of the enormous betrayal that had taken place in Vanderhelm so recently. After a moment of blazing anger that he was sure Syukata noticed, Fettel’s mind promptly snapped back to reality. The Zanekriegerlich and Tenghi then broke eye contact, and the spell seemed to unwind. The Primelich removed his hand from his weapon and went back to watching Syukata carefully.

Zanekriegerlich Helgrund Klaitus was rather thankful the bond between himself and the Xenonian was broken. It was potent, and had transfixed him utterly despite only last a few seconds. The very concept of any but the Kaiserlich holding such power over him was anathema, but he was willing to forgive this particular act: he had long ago gathered from Fettel’s full (and impressively extensive) debriefing report on the Airavuni Incident that a Xenonian would only establish any sort of mental bond with an outsider as an indication of trust. Or a method of attack, but Klaitus was not paranoid enough to interpret it as such.

For now, he decided he would keep his own counsel on the matter. It seems that with a little prodding, even a person as thoughtful as himself could make new self-discoveries. He supposed it was disturbing yet extremely informative, and decided to thank the Xenonian in his own way:

“Welcome to Vanderhelm, the beating heart of the Mannlich Imperium of Zerstorendar. I should let you know you will be placed under permanent guard and escort while in Zerstorendarian territory, though obviously your yet-to-be-established embassy will be sovereign. Somewhat.� He raised his hand and clenched his fist in a somewhat theatrical display of control, and immediately Fettel, the two Spectres and ten prettied-up (they hated it when he used that particular colloquialism) Ravager Praetorians boxed the four Xenonian bodies in. The four readily went along with the display, and the Zanekriegerlich smiled:

“I’m sure you’ll love it here.� Gesturing for them to follow, Klaitus led the small procession from Port 14 down a winding set of steps outside Vanderhelm. Passing some spectacular masonry and several of the massive pillars supporting the superstructure, the path they took was designed to impress. They were high above the main city of Rend, and the stairs stretched about two kilometers downward in full view. Needless to say, the view was impressive and somewhat vertigo-inducing. Klaitus loved this particular path, and while the massive steps did provide some issues for the smaller members of the Xenonian party he could see they were not intimidated. Indeed, Syukata was looking rather excited, Karen seemed to be halfway between admiration and scorn for the massive structure that towered over them, and Tenghi was somewhat more serious. Well, intimidating them was never his aim. ‘Showing off’ and ‘intimidation’ were two very different things, he mused.

As they walked down the steps, Klaitus talked about the history of Vanderhelm to the Xenonians, who seemed willing enough to listen for now. Fettel studiously ignored their gazes as he marched by Helgrund’s side, and the Ravager Praetorians maintained perfect formation down the steps.

“-fast forward a few thousand years and I live here, in the fortress with such a history. The place that was built under the watchful eye of Tereza herself by ten thousand of the finest Rendian legionnaires and has been home to almost every single influential leader in our history. Quite an honour, which I imagine even an alien can understand.�

Eventually, they reached the bottom of the stairs, at which point the group stopped at its leader’s command. Klaitus turned to the Xenonians:

“I’ll be leaving you here. I was not even required to come this far, but I found you worth talking to somewhat. I’ll be leaving you in the company of the good Primelich.� He then looked up the massive two kilometers of steps that he now had to scale, and grinned: “Besides, I love a good walk. In my position, you do get the luxury of a more flexible training routine.� He turned sidelong to look at Fettel: “I’ve been a little tired of late, but I’m sure I can still crack two minutes.�

With a parting grin, the Supreme Commander of the Army of Zerstorendar then launched himself, cape flying behind him, onto the stairs and began scaling them at the pace a normal man would sprint on flat ground. Syukata’s younger body began to bounce excitedly and clutch at the older body as if to say ‘can we follow him, plzplzplzplzplz?’, while Karen waved goodbye. Tenghi, perhaps feeling somewhat competitive, refrained from doing what she was thinking of doing in respect of the very serious looking supersoldiers surrounding her. Fettel turned and shook his head. He knew they were going to be trouble.

“Xenonians-�, he said to attract their attention, “-, I am Primelich Dirk Fettel of the Zanekrieger, personal liason to the Zanekrieger himself. I am also your…minder in your time on Zerstorendar. Follow me.�

Fettel began walking briskly, and the Xenonians followed while the Ravager honour guard remained behind. Syukata seemed to grow more excited at the prospect of what seemed more and more like a tour with every step. Syukata’s smaller form began asking questions, and Fettel answered so that she would not be as tempted to run off and explore by herself. He knew she would not get lost (there were several Spectres following them, which the Xenonians probably knew), but her unique…visage could cause problems.

While they remained in the vicinity of Vanderhelm and were not in the city proper yet, the area they were in was open to the public and the group was already drawing attention. A pair of excited looking and attractive young women dressed in exercise clothing (junior female bodybuilers by the looks of it) ran up to the group. To Fettel’s chagrin, they payed no attention to the Xenonians:

“Are you really Dirk Fettel, Champion of Tereza and Guardian of the Imperium?� one of them asked nervously while the other tried to contain her excitement. Syukata’s eyes lit up even more as she realized what was happening, the other Xenonians slightly less interested. Fettel’s expression remained serious:

“Primelich Dirk Fettel. Yes.� The girls looked at each other, their smiles growing ever wider:

“Sir Primelich, I-erm, since you’re on public grounds and maybe not on any important business, could you maybe let us take a picture with you?�

“I am on duty.� The smiles on the faces of the young women froze as they searched his face for some sign of lenience, but there was none. Crestfallen, they turned to leave.

“Very well, a single picture. You have ten seconds.� Fettel relented more in respect of the courage it took to approach him than any desire to accept their request. The two girls burst into activity as one of them retrieved a small electronic utility device from under her exercise shirt, quickly pressed a couple of buttons, and left the device floating in the air on a timer as the two of them posed either side of an unimpressed Ravager. With a small ‘click’, the timed picture was taken and then two girls ran off, waving goodbye. Fettel continued to walk, not bothering to check the reactions of the four aliens.

“-As I was saying-, this is the public access wing of Vanderhelm’s extensive grounds. It is also the place chosen for the Xenonian embassy.� They walked a few hundred more metres and emerged in a large, very well prepared marble plaza.

“This will be where you build the embassy. 3 square kilometers and not a centimeter more. The large buildings surrounding your designated space are home to rich fucks. The Zanekriegerlich agreed that if you had to annoy anybody, it might as well be them.� The group walked into the middle of the large space as Fettel continued to talk. Their presence was drawing quite a bit of attention from the well-off citizens living in the area. News spread quickly.

“The building plans must be presented in any form to our designated overseer before you begin. I have no doubt you bastards will find a way to get the building finished in the best part of five minutes, but if your plans are not cleared beforehand I will have the building demolished immediately in the best part of five minutes. There will also be a permanent attaché to the embassy, but I suppose you’ll find out who that poor fucker is soon enough. Remain here to meet with the embassy overseer.� Fettel then took a few steps backward and wordlessly dematerialized, his personal teleporter saving him a walk back to Vanderhelm.

A moment of silence reigned, though the rich crowd of observers were obviously expecting something.

“Well, if it isn’t the Xenonians!�, said a voice that came seemingly from the air around them. “You’ll have to excuse me for this, but I’ve always been a fan of…DRAMA!�
With that, the sound of marching boots and bellowed orders filled the air as a hundred fully-armoured Ravagers appeared from behind one of the large buildings in the area and surrounded the four Xenonians, who all of a sudden looked very small. They were having a good time, of course, as their gazes were suddenly drawn upwards.

On the roof of one of the mansions appeared a man dressed in the robes of a Zerstorendarian diplomat. He sprinted along the roof and made a massive running jump that carried him sailing over the heads of the still Ravagers and onto the flat marble of the embassy’s foundation. The Xenonians would not have failed to notice the small discolouration on his throat that signified a cheap sound-enhancement implant, or the physique of a Ravager, though they probably recognized him anyway.

“I am Kimura Dietrich, member of the Secundlich (senate) and Primus Ambassador, most senior diplomatic officer in this fine nation. I’ve been told that you four want to build an embassy.� He smiled, grabbing a small dataslate from his black robes.

“As I like to say, let’s get this party started!�
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Re: The Old Army Game.

Post by Xenonier »

Fettel’s new status as a celebrity was the first of many incidents to incite a small reaction of mirth from the Xenonian Party. The moment Fettel had satisfied the attentions of that pair, Karen and Kata immediately became caught in an impassionate debate about when, where and how they intended to get their own photographs with the Rendari Neo-Primadonna. It was Tenghi who offered the suggestion everyone found the most amusing however, that the two compete in an no-holds barred competition to see who could come up with the most humiliating recorded situation. Of course, extra credit was awarded for the amount of media attention one could bring to such an event, as well as the degree of anger provoked from Fettel himself.

The Rendari Ambassador’s entrance did much to dispel the attentions of the growing crowd, many of whom seemed to be incapable of deciding upon what to do. Some had minor signs of intimidation, as well as their culturally refined attempts to mask such behaviour; others simply looked antagonistic. There was a general softening of gazes upon noticing Kata’s smaller body, whom was clinging to the legs of Kata’s other form and gingerly poking her head out for a look at the crowd every few seconds.

A crowd of observers was expected - a leaping eccentric, a little less so. At Deitrich's entrance and pre-vault address, it was Karen who ultimately chose to open in dealings with this diplomat. While she spoke, Kata’s smaller body made a few cautious steps out towards the gathering crowd, smiling and waving under the Ravager cordon at the assembled mass of curious onlookers.

“Break anything?

Of course you did, excellent. I am certain you and Tenghi will have many an enjoyable hour spent over drinks as you compare your assorted mission related damage bills; always an enjoyable pastime …� At this suggestion, Tedee merely responded with a wan smile and a series of signals she knew Dietrich would interpret as ‘Pot, Kettle, Black, impudent pains in the rear. Both of them, that is. Multitalented, aren’t they?’

Before that loose end could lead anywhere however, Kata’s eldest vessel decided to direct the conversation to a different direction. She was already absolutely certain that this Kimura would consent to participate in all sorts of wanton devastation as well as knowing when to stop. Although she was a little concerned he might step over (re, crash straight through while yelling to the heavens) boundaries inebriated, it was still a safe deal. This little evaluation, when combined the observation of Dietrich’s superior rank meant the Xenonians essentially had a blank cheque to all sorts of activity. Assuming of course, that he consented – although Kata had already sent a pulse of thought on her ‘doubts’ about that.

“Blank cheque, ladies.�. Her response to Kimura was a little more restrained however, keeping in mind that he could actually hear this conclusion.

“I think we will start this endeavour with a little blind obedience to the rules, Sir Dietrich. Now I am sure you have prepared a shortcut around Fettel’s orders of ‘Pass this with the planning office or I will show everyone my angry face’ but I think we will obey his orders … and in doing so, make him regret ever giving them. Would you care to accompany Karen and myself to this office?� Kata finished with as smile built for mischief, before heading off any concerns about an unsupervised Tenghi.

“Tenghi might come along, although I expect she would prefer to return to our little ride here and secure the transition of our equipment. She is a soldier, a consummate professional and thus, lends herself to the very business of accomplishing goals … and� Kata’s face shifted into a wider smile “– this naturally means we expect her to do all the work, in any condition. �

Upon finishing this sentence and noting Kimura’s cautious, (if enthusiastic) appraisal of the idea, Kata turned towards Tenghi; the Xenonian having broken away from the crowd and the Ravager courdon to stand right in the middle of the boundaries that defined Xenonian embassy ‘space’. The Rendari ‘minders’ had naturally followed her there, but upon realising that she was technically standing on territory they couldn’t complain as much about, they proceeded to give her a moderately larger amount of breathing room. Kata noted that they found her presence rather disconcerting, an observation that made her gleeful.

Pretty girl scares pretty boys. Ah, nothing like good old pre-prepubescent behaviour.

Their opinions of the one they were supposed to be ‘guarding’ became a whole lot more relevant, as well marred by the temporary inhibitor of sheer shock when Tenghi vaunted from the ground with one movement of powerful legs. The surprising acceleration she was afforded put paid to any attempt to halt her movement or even shout a demand for compliance. Nevertheless, the body language of the Ravagers betrayed their observations to the crowd by their expectant body language. They had all upon noting Tenghi finally stop ascending switched to an expectant series of postures, as if expecting her to land and land with considerable force. While the masks hid all of the facial signs, Karen knew they were all grinning inside upon the realisation gravity would eventually take its due.

Tenghi’s next action would have wiped away any smiles from the Ravagers however (despite causing Kimura to grin all the wider and eliciting a number of highly ‘descriptive’ adjectives from the crowd). As she reached the apex of her ‘jump’ and began to descend, the Xenonian agent merely jumped again, as if she was leaping on the air itself. This pattern did not end at a mere one step however, her leaping continued onwards, the only major reaction from the Xenonians being Kata’s smaller form to throw a small cry of ‘return for tea and cake!’ when the Xenonian agent was passing a count of roughly half a dozen air steps. At the conclusion of this, Kata’s elder body spun towards Kimura, indicating the Xenonians would prefer to commence travel to this planning office as soon as possible.

“Now, I do believe we will have a little time to discuss things, or work out which planning official we intend to victimise on our arrival. Please use our presence to humiliate the one you are certain will provide the must … amusing anecdotes.�

With that final request, the two Xenonians waited for the next walk towards their next destination.

Tenghi’s landing was fairly uneventful. While any onlookers might have expected her to land with enough force to rend the pavestones of diplomatic port fourteen apart, no such devastation occurred. Rather, the subtle touch of a foot was the only earmark of her landing, before she approached the landing craft with a resigned posture. The size of the craft presented no setback to the Xenonian’s plans, even if she suspected the following ‘feat’ of strength would unnerve a few onlookers. Nevertheless, it would have created far more issues with the Rendari authorities should Karen or Kata had been ‘entrusted’ to the lug the equipment about.

Slipping a hand under the craft itself, she threw the entire shuttle around twenty metres into the air with a lazy movement of her hand. As the craft appeared to hang in the air and eventually started to fall, Tenghi raised one hand above her head, preparing to catch the weight of the machine evenly across her fingertips. The resultant explosion of thrown dust and waves of noise was enough to disorientate even the boosted abilities of the onlooking Ravagers. Any concerns they might have had in terms of property damage however were unfounded, for as visibility of the craft returned Tenghi was still standing underneath the Xenonian craft, with one eye closed.

Dyson allowed her hair to return to the Black she was most familiar with before carrying the craft through the front entrance. While she was not particularly concerned with the reactions of the onlooking Ravagers, she felt that her small entrance, appearance and leaving would receive a mixed response. Doubtless some would be intruiged, while others would undoubtedly recommend that the ‘damn Xenonian witch and her fucking cheating’ should be on the business end of a battlecannon. Then again, it came with the territory, she expected much the same from the citizenry … and besides, she was not in the business of winning hearts and minds anyway.

That was an assignment for one Syukein Terkata.
;>
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Re: The Old Army Game.

Post by Zerstorendar »

News of Tenghi’s shenanigans traveled quickly. The Kaiserlich was busy drafting plans for a counter-revolution in strategic cities of Zerstorendarian provinces in case his father got the drop on him in that area when a messenger entered the room. The varied military and (non-Blitzmord) intelligence personnel continued their planning as the Kaiserlich received the messenger’s mechanical bow and heard what he had to say.

“Lord Kaiserlich, the Zanekriegerlich wishes you to review this visual log recorded fifty seconds ago.� The messenger, a fully armoured Ravager Praetorian garbed in ornate and massive red and gold power armour, remained a respectful distance from his liege lord while handing the small dataslate over. The Kaiserlich watched the twenty second recording, his eyes betraying surprise and his mouth betraying entertainment.

“Tereza-damn, Xenonians have some real technological witchery. Did the Zanekriegerlich provide a message with this, or did he just think I should be informed?� asked the Kaiserlich curiously.

“He wishes to invite this woman into Vanderhelm tonight.�, replied the Ravager in a grating and monotone voice. However, the Kaiserlich did detect some displeasure in the statement. After the recent defection of a number of supposedly incorruptible Praetorians, the majority who had remained were eager to prove themselves. Kytus understood that technically the Praetorians who had left had not betrayed their oaths by following the ex-Kaiserlich, but also understood that almost nobody could be trusted anymore.

“Very well, tell him he has my blessing. Carry on Praetorian.� The soldier saluted, spun on his heel and left.

Behind the Kaiserlich the fully armoured, massive and omnipresent form of Radec Todou towered over everybody in the room. He was the Kaiserlich’s personal bodyguard and Primus Praetorian, and while the Praetorians were always close to the Kaiserlich, Todou was always one step closer. Under his visor he was expressionless; always stoic, he only focused on the job and rarely spoke unless asked. Always serious, all the time. He was passionate only about the life of the Kaiserlich. The lives and loyalties of the thousands of elite Praetorians under his command did not so much concern him as long as they performed perfectly. As the Primus Praetorian, he commanded the entire Mannlich Legion but did not have time to perform many of the administrative duties his position required, and as such he left much of that to his subordinates. That way, he could better focus on protecting Lord Kytus.

Todou was not well liked by anybody but the Kaiserlich, who was probably the only person in Zerstorendar who really knew him, or talked to him about anything other than business. Radec’s loyalty to the man he served went far beyond a willingness to sacrifice his own life: he would see the entirety of Zerstorendar and all of its people burn before letting the Kaiserlich come to harm. He was a very single-minded individual.

Todou was instantly recognizable, his constant proximity to the Kaiserlich notwithstanding. His armour was similar to that of other Praetorians, but had further decorations on the pauldrons and breastplate etched in silver and gold. The red and gold of the armour itself was also darker than that of his soldiers, and his helm was jet black only interrupted by the red of its eyes. Since he never removed the armour in the sight of others, his armour very much formed a facet of personality and was a factor in how others saw him. Large, impressive, intimidating. However, none of those things was his most distinctive feature.

Primus Praetorian Radec Toudou was widely accepted as the largest man in Zerstorendar, a record not confirmed only because nobody (but the Kaiserlich) had seen him unarmoured. The average Ravager or Ravager Praetorian, fully armoured, was just under nine feet in height and nearly two thirds as wide at the shoulder. While Todou’s bulk and unique armour conformed the same ratio, he was slightly over eleven feet when at his full height, which he always was. Any theories as to the reason for his immense, irregular size were not shared by anybody, and only the Kaiserlich knew for sure. The Blitzmordlich almost certainly knew, but that was to be expected.

The Kaiserlich knew Todou had heard the details of their conversation: Todou had the singular honour of being directly privy to the Kaiserlich’s most private words via an intra-visor audio connection. He never left the Kaiserlich’s presence for any reason, but one in his position had to have perfect and complete awareness of every situation and its contexts. If that included hearing even the most private of his master’s conversations, then so be it.

Todou was an extremely paranoid individual, and it served him well. For example: the loyalty of everybody in the room was assured, yet he was ready to kill each and every one of them in an instant if he was ordered to, or forced to. There was roughly a 99.9989% probability (according to his AI) that it would not be necessary, but it always paid to be paranoid. Todou was displeased that the Zanekriegerlich would bring such a potentially dangerous individual as the Xenonian woman into Vanderhelm, but Primus Praetorian Radec’s job was not to ensure the Zanekriegerlich’s safety. His soldiers would handle any trouble that did not involve the Kaiserlich.

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The Zanekriegerlich nodded as the Ravager Praetorian ran into the room, saluted, gave him the thumbs out, and retreated to take his place as one of the four Praetorians whose job it was to guard that particular door. The door being the entrance to Helgrund Klaitus’ office. It was a somewhat smaller room than somebody would expect from a man of his importance and size, but he liked it that way. Everything was in easy reach from his impressively crafted marble and diamond desk, the centerpiece of the room. Fettel stood at ease on one side of the room. As a newly promoted Primelich and Zanekriegerlich’s personal aide, he had the right to sit or stand at will in his master’s presence. He always chose to stand, despite the comfortably chair Helgrund had appropriated for him. Fettel also had his own office adjacent to this one, but had yet to step foot in it. Nor did the Zanekriegerlich expect him to.

“Primelich, I have a quick job for you. I need you to tell Dietrich to invite that Xenonian that just hefted that ship out of Port 14 to show up at Vanderhelm tonight. She’ll be my guest.�

“Yes sir�, replied the Primelich. He then pulled a small commlink from the belt of his uniform, contacted Dietrich’s own commlink, and held it to his mouth:

“Invite that Xenonian girl you just let run amok at the Port to Vanderhelm tonight, the Lord Zanekriegerlich wants her as his guest.� Fettel then looked over to the smiling Klaitus, who nodded. “And if you’re not at the planning office in ten minutes, I’m going to feed you pieces of that dilapidated fuckhole you call a house through your eyes.� The Zanekriegerlich erupted into laughter. As he calmed down, he gave his subordinate one more order:

“Primelich, I have one more duty for you to perform today- I want you down at the Planning Office, because I get the idea Dietrich will bring the visitors there with the intention of raising hell. You know how the head of the Office gets.� Fettel sighed inwardly, saluted, and left the office. The Zanekriegerlich put his feet up and began wondering how he should welcome his Xenonian guest, while considering potential ramifications of the recent initiation of the Peacekeeper program.

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“Oh ho, I think the good Primelich has caught firmly onto our little game�, commented the First Ambassador Dietrich. “It looks as if we won’t be able to antagonize our intended target quite as easily.� The large, robed man began walking and the two Xenonians followed, several Zerstorendarians cooing as the widely smiling Syukata passed them.

Most of the rich residents, however, were less than impressed to have such a bother in their neighbourhood. They had paid good money to live here, after all. And those boorish Ravagers wouldn’t even let them get a closer look! Ohhh, that Dietrich, nothing but trouble…

The First Ambassador was perfectly aware that these thoughts would be running through the minds of the rich fucks as he made his way through the Ravager patrols back toward Vanderhelm, taking the scenic route. In any nation there were people with money who did not contribute to society on the level that many less well-off than they did, and Zerstorendar was no exception. The ‘rich fucks’ were basically yuppies, and while the majority of the rich in Zerstorendar had earned their money, these people were the lucky few who had managed to secure vast wealth with a minimum of work. There were plenty of exceptions, but this particular district was mostly filled with the yuppie variety. The Ravagers didn’t much care for them, though it was their job to care anyway. Dietrich, on the other hand, just enjoyed messing with them. Some of them even had more money than he did, but it didn’t stop him from routinely trashing the most expensive house in the area to spite them all.

“So as I was saying before, young Dirk will probably be meeting us at the Planning Office. And as a side note, one of you should probably tell that third person, Tengi or whatever it was, that she has an invitation to-“, Dietrich’s voice trailed off as he spotted the Xenonian woman off in the distance, carrying a small shuttle overhead. His eyes widened at first, and then he grinned.

“Oh my, I think that will annoy quite a few people. Zerstorendarian’s can be a tad touchy on the subject of physical strength. I imagine there’s more to it than just strength, but that’s not how it appears. First lesson about my people, dear Xenonians: as a rule we make assumptions very quickly.� Sure enough, there were some annoyed and very muscular-looking types watching the average-sized woman effortlessly carry this small spacecraft to the Embassy grounds. The heads of Ravagers also turned, and Dietrich was certain quite a few of them were considering trying to lift it themselves. He admitted that he would love to give it a shot as well, being an ex-soldier himself, but he also knew that it was well beyond his capabilities. He had a mean bench press back in the day, but he would struggle to lift the weight of a hovercar in his old age. He chuckled to himself, and Syukata seemed to appreciate his internal monologue.

As the unstrained Tenghi passed, unconcerned with her passing fellows, Dietrich stepped in front of her.

“Firstly, you could make quite a bit of money around here in enhanced strength contests. By Tereza, I’d say you could even arm wrestle a Spectre, not that they would consent to such an ‘inefficient use of chronological resource’.� He laughed. “You’ll find them quite boring when you run into them tonight.� Tenghi raised an eyebrow, and Syukata looked thoroughly entertained. “As I was saying; I believe that you met the Zanekriegerlich Helgrund Klaitus back at the Port. He has requested that you meet him at Vanderhelm as his guest tonight. Just show up at the front gate at about 1900 hours and I’m sure he’ll pick you up. I can only wonder why he took an interest in you�, Kimura finished wryly while eyeing the shuttle towering over his head. “Anyway, continue.�

Stepping out of her path, Dietrich continued the walk to the Planning Office with the three Xenonian bodies accompanying him:
“The Planning Office is quite a powerful little branch of our government here. They are responsible for all architectural design and construction in the entire Mannlich Imperium of Zerstorendar, and if anybody has a mind of numbers and pretty pictures it’s them. Like most branches of the government, they have some military importance: it’s the Planning Office that constructs all the military bases, starports, storage bases, heavy weapons silo’s, etc. They know everything about every building used by our military, and you’ll find that they sometimes use Ravagers as their workforce for military-related projects. Things get done much faster that way. They’re very important and very well funded.

But the interesting part is the head of the Planning Office, the Primus Architect. As the queen bitch-“ Dietrich began to smile widely as he continued, “-when it comes to construction of any kind in all Zerstorendarian areas and a massive player in both the military and economy, she is a seated member of the Secundlich, like myself. She’s a very important lady. Pretty, too. Very pretty lady.� Dietrich stopped, and leaned in closer to Syukata as he grinned mischeviously:

“She’s also fucking nuts. I don’t know whether it’s the constant stress of her job or the constant stress of being single, but I’ve never seen her in a genuinely good mood. It takes only a modicum of effort to set her ranting and raving, and you’d be surprised how readily she will bring a blunt object heavily into the face of anybody who antagonizes her�. Dietrich rubbed his temple absentmindedly, then stood up straight and continued walking. “Unlike everybody you have met so far in Zerstorendar, she is not a soldier. However, she seems to pack more testosterone than ten Fettels. Incidentally, when she gets into one of her famous rages, there is only one person who can calm her down.� Syukata and Karen both seemed amused by the implication he was making. He nodded.

“Oh yes, Primelich Dirk Fettel and her get along very well, all things considered. Just don’t mention it to either of them.�

Primus Ambassador Kimura Dietrich continued walking, occasionally stopping to wave at a passing woman as he led the Xenonians to the lair of the Primus Architect.

[center]+++++[/center]

Wearing an immaculate and expensive black, high-collared greatcoat with red trim, high and tight-fitting black reinforced boots and wearing the symbol of her office (a small black medallion depicting a fist grasping a handful of rubble) on a gold chain under her coat, Primus Architect Tyrella Hayste was dressed to impress. When she was working this was her uniform, and she never deviated from it in any way. A Garmannfu women’s tournament champion and ex-Rendian bodybuilder, her figure was about as muscular as it could be while still being considered feminine. Her clothing did not show her physique off, though her bulky chest could not be so easily concealed. Her hair was long, black and tied tightly at the back of her head. Her eyes were green, her skin was pale, her makeup was sparing and her lipstick non-existent. Her height was six foot three. In portraits, she looked very beautiful and the phrase “I bet she fucks like a lion� had been used on many occasions. That sort of talk did not take place around her, as nobody had forgotten what she did years ago to an employee who opened his mouth at the wrong time. Fortunately, paralysis is an easily curable condition in Zerstorendar

How she looked in portraits and how she looked in person were two very different things, however. Her lips were always pursed as if she was on the verge of saying something she would later regret, her eyes were wild with activity, and she almost manic in her movements. For a woman in a society such as Zerstorendar’s, she was remarkably intimidating in person. She would not hesitate to use a torrent of abuse or physical violence to motivate her underlings, for example. Male chauvinism was somewhat muted in her Office not because she discouraged it with rules, but because she was very much an Alpha-male in a woman’s body: she did not hide behind her position but rather encouraged any male or female to challenge her physically or intellectually. And she always won, which was part of the reason she was in charge.

As Fettel had once told her: if she had been born a man, she would have been a very fine Ravager. In the eyes of Tyrella Hayste, Ravagers were examples of the few men she had any respect for. However, their physical enhancements gave them an unfair edge that she was not quick to ignore. That wasn’t to say, however, she wasn’t heavily enhanced for a civilian. She was only thirty nine years of age (incredible for the position she had reached), but she still looked as if she had just turned twenty two. And she would remain so for at least half a century, assuming she resisted the urge to further boost herself.

As Dietrich and the three Xenonians closed in on the Planning Office, built into Vanderhelm but accessible directly from the outside, Tyrella was screeching at one of her underlings for misplacing a datapad. The woman on the floor, still recovering from a vicious backhand, struggled to regain her feet as the Primus Architect ordered a sighing man to find what the previous employee had lost.

The reason people worked directly for Tyrella (assuming she offered them a position) was almost purely because of the massive pay bonuses: Tyrella would pay ludicrous amounts of extra Gelds to those who pleased her, and just because one was being assaulted by her didn’t mean she was displeased with their performance overall. She only wanted the best, and she didn’t mind paying through the nose for it.

Primelich Dirk Fettel stepped into the Planning Office unannounced, something no other man but the Kaiserlich would be allowed to do on Hayste’s watch. Taking a step over the half-conscious and bleeding woman on the ground, Fettel moved to stand behind the raving Tyrella. Clearing his throat to get her attention, Fettel almost-completely silenced her with a gaze:

“Dietrich and the Xenonians will be here soon.� Fettel stated.

“Why the fuck are you here?� she snapped back.

“To make sure you don’t make a mess of things. When I say ‘be here soon’, I mean in the next thirty seconds. And here you are leaving blood on the floor�, Fettel said gesturing to the now standing woman whose cheek was still bleeding.

“Right, well come into my office then and we’ll meet the shits. This is fucking terrible timing, I’m so Tereza-damned busy right now with all the Kaiserlich’s plans I hardly have time to break the faces of those incompetent fucks back there, let alone...� Tyrella turned and headed toward where she did most of her work, talking to herself the whole time. Fettel followed with an annoyed sigh, counting the minutes until he returned to his Ravager barracks. This woman had no self control whatsoever, if she wasn’t so damn good at her job and a good friend he would have put her face through the wall a long time ago. As it was, he only hit her when it was absolutely necessary and with the minimum reasonable force.

Dietrich arrived at the entrance to the Office with the Xenonians in tail. He saw the mess Tyrella had left in her wake, and whistled in amusement.

“Fettel must be here already, then.� he commented to himself.
Last edited by Derscon on Tue Aug 26, 2008 12:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Old Army Game.

Post by Xenonier »

Kimura’s momentary interruption had seemingly no affect on Tenghi’s plans. Other than halting when he stepped in her path and indicating she understood with a slight nod of the head and a a almost imperceptible smile, she gave no credence o invitation itself. If anything, Kimura might have noticed something about the way she carried herself which indicated a feeling of disturbance, or perhaps even melancholy. As he moved away, she continued onwards, also choosing to ignore the gathering storm of attention around her until she reached the embassy itself. Heads turned, words were said, emotions were felt. There were even a few who seemed to struggle against the temptation to step her in path as Kimura had done and start something, but none had risen to such provocation yet. In all truth, it was a considerably more … no, hostile would be the wrong term. As a soldier of the Irregularity, the aftermath of a battlefield was usually literally with emotionless wrecks, people who sought to forget the efficiency of the machine that had cast down everything they had ever known.

These people were alive, their feelings in clear view. Tenghi had been in such a situation many times over, but she still found it refreshing. Too many people became jaded, when faced with the extremes Xenonians could pursue.

The crowd had started with bubble with an umber of feelings about her feat of strength. She could clearly see that while many seemed offended by her abilities, there was a general edge of fear to the reactions. People were aghast not at the strength itself but who performed it, someone they might call ‘average’. Children even looked upon her form with the duelling interpretations of some angel of myth and a nightmare every bit as fearsome as their own parents in a rage. Tenghi’s presence, performing such feats itself seemed to undervalue the very sacrifices all those who lived for strength in Zerstorendar had undergone to wield. Personally, Tenghi found this presumption amusing, if a little naive given all the trials a Xenonian went through. It was the next obstruction standing in front of the ‘embassy’ itself which was next to be dealt with.

And the Naivety continues … .

The crowd had collectively skipped a breath in anticipation of what was to follow. Tenghi’s path was now blocked by another Rendari, the manner of his bearing and physical size indicating a person of considerable financial assets and boosting. More than a few members of the crowd had begun to watch with a perverse sort of anticipation, some realising that this fellow had neither the diplomatic protections Dietrich enjoyed nor a message of ‘importance’ to impart, while others appeared to want him to deck the Xenonian for her temerity. What was a common theme in the feeling of onlookers however was that a conflict was about to begin, judging by the smirk of triumph on the Rendari’s face. He was pointing straight at her head, growling a threat with the smug attitude of the superior.

“You, little girl … are not welcome here.� A few encouragements were uttered from the crowd, along with a cry of ‘You tell that Tereza damned tech-whore, Anton!’

The entire series of events earned another wan smile and nod from Tenghi, as she stopped less than a metre from where he was standing and leaned slightly to the right, as if judging the distances and horizon behind him, or assessing the reaction of the nearby Ravagers. Her right eye responded by changing colour once more, moving through several hues of Purple as she spoke. Her voice was quite unlike the other Xenonians, as heard by a Rendari observer. It was somewhat subdued and monotonous, fading away into the background even as the words were spoken. As with all Xenonians, the emphasis was on the words themselves.

“There is a truth to that ....�

The next moment of movement was one which would certainly have been analysed upon arhcival. Tenghi simply seemed to displace herself, appearing behind this ‘Anton’ and carrying the shuttle with her. There was no indication that she had moved out of Anton’s way, no suggestion that she had made any attempt to avoid him at all. It was if she had walked straight through him, or moved with sufficient speed that none had been able to guess her movements, something the Ravagers looked rather concerned about judging by their stiffening in posture. Of course, an answer as to what trickery she had just used was not forthcoming from Tenghi herself for as far as she was concerned, all the ‘fun’ of diplomacy was in the ‘working’ out of abilities of the other side.

Leaving the crowd to digest the change in pace, Tenghi stepped onto the embassy grounds and placed the shuttle down, face first. She spared one moment to rub her chin as if considering her next course of action before roughly climbing up the side and running her hand through a small gap in the plating near the top. Following this signal, the ‘roof’ of the vessel simply vanished and she disappeared inside the vessel with a nary but a sigh, leaving the crowd to swell in confusion and frustration as to the Xenonian’s plans. Some clearly seemed shocked of her means of dealing with the (now rather miffed) Anton, while others were attempting to exhort the crowd to swarm the vessel, knock it over and “smash a rock into her pretty little witch head, and if she gets back up, use a bigger rock.�

This state of events continued for roughly five minutes, with every moment Tenghi chose not to appear leading to a greater sense of concern amongst the crowd and hence, the Ravagers patrolling the area. Mutterings of concern were rife, but not a single member of the crowd dispersed following Tenghi’s disappearance as they all hung onto the situation, expecting her to reappear at some point. The crowd were so fixated on that spectacle, that only the Ravagers had noticed the sudden appearance of four floating towers, one floating on each ‘corner’ of the ‘square’ of the Xenonian embassy grounds. As attention slowly moved towards those, there were a number of gasps and exclamations, generally of disbelief at how they could have appeared so quickly.

It was Tenghi, who was now standing exactly where she had been before her ‘sidestepping’ antics that brought the series of events to an end. She was standing right in front of Anton whom to his credit, controlled his surprise at seeing the Xenonian reappear far better than the crowd itself. Nevertheless, the moment of surprise allowed Tenghi a moment which she used to tap his shoulder. This movement revealed more of her arm, which had one intricate design flowing along the limb.

“The moment of communication I shared with the Ravager Lich over there indicated his disdain for your socio-economical-political kind. Perhaps you are more than they give you credit for.�

Having now completed all of her objectives that could be accomplished without the completion of planning acceptance on Kata and Karen’s part, Tenghi now walked straight past Anton and sat at the front of the embassy itself. Taking one moment to stretch and shift her gaze to the scare, she extended a hand behind her head and caught an incoming flask that soared through the air, before beginning to levitate some feet off the ground. Looking around the crowd which continued to watch on, she renewed her disappointment at the fear present. Even the children and adolescents present seemed to either want to be shielded, or were shielded from both her gaze and presence – something which Tenghi found herself frowning inwardly about. She posed a question to the audience and prepared for many long explanations ahead.

“I take it the lithe nature of feminine beauty will earn me no favours here. Nevertheless, one must adapt and overcome. Now, I have some time before I go out and meet your famous Zanekriegerlich in person. Who wants to ask me questions?�

__________

The intervention by Fettel only served to further interest Xenonians as they followed alongside Dietrich, keeping up with his ‘guided tour’ of the facilities themselves and considering possibilities for the root cause of the Zanekriegerlich’s interest in Tenghi herself. Eventually deciding upon something to say, Karen raised it with Dietrich himself as they continued to walk to their destination, the occasional interference of the crowd providing Dietrich with plenty of waving. The conversation hinted just enough about what had actually occurred between Tenghi and Klaitus, without defining the actual nature of the … ‘experience’.

“I am sure he sees some sort of military application or concern in discussions with our good Teedee over refreshments. Of course, Kata over there - � Karen guestured to Kata’s smaller form who continued to radiate mirth and happiness “Is going to enjoy anecdotes in which he is convinced of the mistake of biting off more than he can metaphorically chew. She may not be as apathetic or myself or possess Kata’s outgoing nature, but every Xenonian has a very strong personality. You just develop that way, when you have been around for as long as we have. Tenghi always finds a means to be unnerving to people who aren’t Xenonians, although one might say that is something any Xenonian chooses to do. Still, the event should be interesting, I am certain something worth telling around the campfire shall arise�

Aside from these concerns however, Kimura’s guidance had confirmed yet another angle of approach for observation. Christoph’s calculations as always, were proving to be accurate. The Military of Zerstorendar was fused to the industrial and planning complexes at the very base of the society itself, providing an all-too-easily-wrought system by the correct manipulator, to the extent not the slightest amount of surprise had crept into the tone of Kimura’s voice as he had stated it. While neither of them were strictly intending to absolve military matters, it was another reminder of how shockingly vulnerable the entire system could be to the other ‘Kaiserlich’ and his machinations. Nevertheless, military concerns still fell to Tenghi and Tenghi alone … for now.

The moment the extent of this Tyrella’s ranting and raving became apparent to the Xenonian pair accompanying Dietrich, the both of them smiled inwardly. Upon hearing of all the interesting details of their relationship however, Kata’s elder form took allowed a brief smile, while the younger body smiled dumbly, as if professing innocence the crime had already been committed. Both on an intellectual level and a passing of social interest, the opportunity for study and interaction was one neither intended to ignore. Upon reaching the entrance of this ‘lair’ (Kata in particular, found it to be an appropriate moniker given the absolute mess that straddled the front entrance), the Xenonians began to walk inside, expecting to find opportunities for all sorts of trouble. They were not disappointed by the initial outlook on things.

Kata’s smaller form signalled the first sign of interest with something of a mewling yelp and the scampering of feet. As she ran over to the still battered assistant of Tyrella, Kata hopped haphazardly up and down in front of the woman (who appeared exceptionally confused by the whole process) before placing one hand on the researcher’s forehead at the apex of a hop, muttering “It is dangerous to go alone in healing oneself from a critical hit. Take this!� and retreating back behind Kata’s elder body, to let the healing balms do their work. Dietrich seemed to approve, as much a commentary on the dumbfounded struggle of the researcher to muster an appropriate reaction as much as anything else.

Of course, he might well simply be searching for the correct words to say. Something the stricken Rendari still seemed to be struggling to compute for. It was at that stage Karen politely intruded onto her own internal issues by inquiring as to where this ‘Queen of the Alpha Males Brigade’ might happen to have enshrined herself. Despite the beaten façade of this one Rendari, she had recovered enough to grin at the word choice – and Karen respected her for that.

Upon receiving those directions, Karen decided to lead the group on, taking in every detail for both present and further analysis. Of particular interest was the portfolios and designs that littered the place, as designs by both artist and students of an artist provided valuable insight into not only the Artist’s mindset themselves, but also the general nature of Rendari culture. Initial readings further confirmed Christoph’s initial analysis of a Military nature to everything in Rendari society, while Karen and Kata also hit upon what they were certain was a list of reasons for why Tyrella was ‘irreplaceable’ despite existing in a time of intelligent machines. Design elements were analysed, inferences prepared and arguments collated for the incoming discussion that would follow. Having finally reached the office itself, Karen knocked twice, before entering first and looking around at the sight.

Pictured in front of them was a scene only a small amount of analysis was required for to find incredibly amusing. Fettel was standing, Tyrella was seated and judging by the visible strains on both of their sets of muscular postures, Tyrella was evidently directing the majority of her interest towards wriggling free of the much stronger Fettel’s hand on her shoulder. Neither of the Xenonians sniggered, but they were both fully aware that at least Fettel would be expecting them to find silent amusement at the whole list of proceedings; for the man had impressive instincts even in a diplomatic situation outside his normal area of expertise. His posture alone was enough to confirm this assessment, for Fettel appeared to be literally counting the seconds until this assignment was over, along with all the trouble it entailed.

Karen naturally chose to open the proceedings, striding up to the desk and placing both hands on the surface before speaking. She was sure Dietrich would appreciate the irony of her statement. Her faint, almost imperceptible smile implied more than enough of her thoughts about any 'relationship' between Fettel and Tyrella, but naturally left nothing concrete for either of them to work on. If anything, it simply looked quietly self-confident.

“You two look like you would prefer a more efficient usage means of chronological resource.“

Naturally, Kata followed up Karen’s lead with a movement all of her own. As her Elder body gave a small and formal bow to both Fettel and Tyrella (enjoying the response of the both of them stiffening a great deal), before giving a small expression of joy in one shout.

“FETTEL! FETTEL AND IMPORTANT LOOKING LADY!�

With that proud pronouncement, Kata’s smaller body literally flung herself from where she stood (having finally rejoined with the group). Her hands were extended with a clear intent – she wanted a hug from Fettel and be it occurring through her impact with a wall, his (currently shocked) inaction, or some mysterious third force. Tyrella’s initial surprise was evidently replaced by a pair of jousting intentions – half of her seemed to enjoy Fettel being ‘under the gun’, while another more (possibly jealous? Karen and Kata were certainly amused by it) seemed to prefer the concept of belting the incoming Xenonian with the nearest object that was not secured beyond her capacities to rend and tear.

Unfortunately, neither of the Rendari had a chance to put their suspected plans into action.Lata froze in midair and then fell to the ground in a heap, with a strangled cry that ended up sounding rather like an overtly comedic ‘wheee!!’. Kata’s elder form had her hand outstretched and was holding it towards her younger body, both of them now adopting oddly similar (and equally triumphant grins) over the reactions their little stunt had provoked from the two Rendari.

“Had you for a minute there, Fettel. Madam Tyrella also seemed under pressure to suppress her feelings there, I should say..We meet again.�

Karen gave a demure smile, tilting up the brim of her (now present) baseball cap slightly so one of her baleful red eyes could gleam out. It was timed perfectly, enough for Karen’s relatively small figure to allow a moment of triumph or comfort to seep into Tyrella’s disposition, before thoroughly disturbing her with the gaze of someone palpably old. Not that Karen expected her to let it visibly affect her in way, that is. Those sorts of invasive, determination-undermining thoughts were best left to the more private moments of one’s livelihood.

“So, about those plans. They have already been submitted and processed, we need only for you to sign off. The means for construction is in brackets as ‘Teleportation from Xenonian factory world’, since I thought that would save you time and hassle of looking the terms up’.

With that, the Xenonians awaited the inevitable reply. Judging by the combination of indignation, anger and perhaps even amusement starting to appear all over the Primus Architect's face, it would not be long in coming.
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Re: The Old Army Game.

Post by Zerstorendar »

In response to Tenghi’s showcase of her extensive abilities, the crowd had a number of reactions. Mostly, it was anger and annoyance born of a mixture of confusion, jealousy and poor tempers. The Ravager guards, who replaced the policing forces of the Algstern Controllers in the vicinity of Vanderhelm, were more concerned about the possible military ramifications of her possessing such advanced, technology-driven abilities. While they were confident they could track a teleporting foe, they did not fail to notice that her manipulation of space went far beyond simply reappearing somewhere else. After all, Ravagers had their own teleport systems. However, what she was doing bordered more on the magical than the technological. And how was she lifting that thing so easily? They already didn’t like it, but they were also displeased with the lack of restraint the civilians were showing. The Lich’s patience was being sorely tested with the antics of Anton and a few others, who were treating this scumbag alien as if she did not have the Kaiserlich’s personal blessing to be there. If it continued, he would break heads. Public disorder had no place in Zerstorendar, let alone in proximity to Vanderhelm.

Tenghi’s question came as a shock to some in the crowd. Why would she care to answer questions? Did she really think they cared about answers she could give? However, there were a number of more thoughtful types in the crowd who had a very simple question on their minds. The Ravagers were probably thinking the same thing, but it wasn’t their place to engage in question time with the alien. Still, the one question that the Zerstorendarians were definitely going to ask would no doubt help answer Tenghi’s own unspoken question: how did these people think

Anybody who knew a typical Zerstorendarian would have seen the question coming a mile away as a member of the crowd stepped forward, pointing at the grounded shuttle:

“How did you lift that fucking thing?�

The Ravagers kept watching the floating pylons carefully.

+++++

Tyrella narrowed her eyes, her face taking on the expression she always assumed was her coldest and most intimidating. She called it “The Ice Curse� in the Zerstorendarian dialect when practicing it. She took in a deep breath and pursed her lips, and then leaned backward and looked down her nose and the entering party to achieve an air of arrogance she always found empowering. Her chair was raised somewhat so that anybody sitting in her office would be dwarfed by her, though Fettel still towered over her while standing at his full just-under seven feet. Other than the two, Dietrich was the only one who fully appreciated the unique position Fettel was in: nobody else could control Tyrella in a bad mood with the possible exception of the Kaiserlich himself, and that was due to his position of power more than any dominant personality traits. Not only that, Dietrich knew that Tyrella was always alone when she admitted people into her office. If it was anybody but Fettel standing so close to her right now, they would be destined for a trip to the Vanderhelm surgical wing.

But it wasn’t the unique power he held over her that interested Dietrich, but Fettel’s choice to be here with her on a matter that required nothing more than her nod of approval. By now he would doubtlessly be itching to return to his new barracks inside Vanderhelm, but he was forgoing that pleasure to assist Tyrella in controlling herself. Perhaps he wanted to see the Xenonians, perhaps it was loyalty to a friend, perhaps it was simply because she was one of two women he had any real affection for, though he showed said affection to neither.

Dietrich stopped musing as Tyrella’s gaze passed over him. He felt a thrill of stimulation pass over him: as frightening as she was, it was a unique feeling to be intimidated by a woman such as her. She opened her mouth to speak, and he smirked slightly to put her off:

“I am Tyrella Hayste, Primus Architect of the Mannlich Imperium of Zerstorendar. I want to know, in ten words or less, why you are in my fucking office when I have so much Tereza-damned work to do.� Dietrich gestured to the Xenonians to let him handle it, especially the smaller Syukata. Tyrella had been put off by the ‘young’ Xenonians’ display, and even under Fettel’s calming aura she could easily explode. If that happened, there would be no permission to build the Embassy today. As carefree as the Primus Ambassador may be, he never overly antagonized Tyrella when it would get in the way of getting something done:

“These are members of the Xenonian party requested by the Kaiserlich. They are here to construct and man the Xenonian Embassy in the designated space of District H5 of the Vanderhelm public-“

“I fucking know that.� She snapped. “I put it there to piss off the rich fucks. Just give me the plans, I have work to do.� The smaller Syukata smiled up at the frowning Primus Architect, who maintained her gaze but felt a small tingle of what may have been affection.

“And introduce me to these three.� The Primus Ambassador grinned.

“Certainly, Miss Hayste.� She did not react to his tone and Fettel saw fit to loosen his grip on her shoulder. “The smallest one is Syu’kein Terkata, a member of the Xenonian special forces.� The little girl waved, and her bright red (pink?) hair wiggled as she moved animatedly. Tyrella raised her left eyebrow as she leaned over her desk. Special forces indeed. Dietrich continued, gesturing towards the more regular sized blonde woman: “The blonde one is Syu’kein Terkata, a member of the Xenonian special forces.� Fettel leaned in closely to Tyrella and whispered something in her air, no doubt allaying her confusion. Dietrich then pointed to the third Xenonian, a small and scruffy blue eyed girl.

“And this is Karen. She’s more in your line of work, actually.� For the first time, the Primus Architect looked somewhat interested. Knowing her well enough, Fettel decided he could now completely remove his hand from her shoulder. Since he knew her so well, however, he remained by her side. She inhaled through her nose and then spoke once more:

“Show me your building plans.� The smaller Syukata brightened (not an easy feat) and skipped towards Tyrella, obviously planning to use her direct ‘mind-link’ trick. Fettel intercepted, two steps putting him between the diminutive Xenonian and the now-somewhat miffed Zerstorendarian.

“The Xenonians communicate most efficiently using a mind-link of sorts. They can transfer information to anybody they make physical contact with.� said the Ravager over his shoulder.� Tyrella nodded, and once he was sure she understood what he meant Fettel directed Syukata to walk around[/] the desk to take the Primus Architect’s outstretched hand. Once it was completed, he herded the pleased Xenonian back to the group. Obviously mulling over what she had learned, Tyrella seemed preoccupied. She quickly turned her head towards the group:

“Permission granted, you have two days to complete construction at which point I will inspect it. Dietrich, take this Syukata girl back. As for the other one…Karen. I would like a word with you, if you please.� Fettel knew it would simply be a matter of professional interest as Karen was apparently some sort of engineer, and decided to leave with Dietrich as they stepped out of the Primus Architect’s office, leaving Karen under the imperious gaze of her Zerstorendarian counterpart. Whatever they did or said was no longer anything he cared about, the moment of potential crisis was over. When all was said and done, Tyrella had been irregularly sedate. The Primelich sighed inwardly. At least he wouldn’t be around for her ‘calm moment’ hangover.

On their way out of the Planning Office, Dietrich sidled up to Fettel:

“What’s on for this afternoon then, my good Primelich? I have a find bottle or ten of erap that you might-“

“Pass.�, Fettel replied brusquely. He began to split off and make his way towards the Vanderhelm Barracks, but the Primus Ambassador called after him:

“Ah well, enjoy your boring afternoon! I’ll be getting boozed with aliens if you want me.�

+++++

The Vanderhelm Barracks, used primarily by the Ravager Praetorians of the Mannlich Legion, was the finest in Zerstorendar. Only the best Ravagers from all over the Imperium earned the right to train here, where every day they would test their abilities in rigorous training exercises against the even more-formidable Praetorians. The extra enhancements of the Praetorians aside, it was the drive to somehow equal them that made superior soldiers out of the already-elite. There were over fifteen thousand soldiers currently in the Vanderhelm Barracks, a third of whom were off-duty Praetorians: it was not the largest Barracks in Zerstorendar, but it certainly produced the best soldiers.

This was where Primelich Dirk Fettel had been training every day since his return to Zerstorendar, and it was the starting ground for what ex-Kaiserlich Marius Draigan called ‘Operation Rude Awakening’.

Operative Sirius was no longer a Spectre, but he still liked to refer to himself as such. He had no memories of service to Zerstorendar as a member of the Blitzmord, but Marius assured him that this was due to his enhancements since then. The woman he had been assigned to protect for the years after their disappearance, ex-Kessalich Deneve Draigan, assured him Marius was correct: his memories had been mostly erased as a product of the experiments that put him slightly above the level of the average Spectre. While mentally he was not as capable as Indrick, whom Marius was still testing, Sirius believed he could better his counterpart in raw fighting ability. He was built to be faster and stronger than even Indrick, and since his mission of protecting Deneve was now over he could be unleashed on the mission that ex-Kaiserlich Marius truly built him for:

Assassination.

He was not the perfect tool, as a regular Spectre of the Blitzmord is a product of centuries of testing and fineturning. Any enhancement beyond their standard state that did not come from their own training and experiences tended to cause side-effects. Marius’ experiments in creating improved Spectres had been failures for years, but Sirius and Indrick were proof that what he wanted to achieve was possible. Indrick was a supergenius beyond the levels of any known Spectre, while Sirius was stronger and faster. A ‘normal’ Spectre had the thinking power of a high-level AI and the ability to lift a tank and hurl it through the air. Indrick and Sirius, respectively, had the thinking power of the most powerful AI’s in Zerstorendar and could tear a small building out of the ground and throw it over another building. The side effects of these post-optimal improvements were that Indrick was completely insane and Sirius suffered from a number of personality defects that could not be suppressed, as well as muscular spasms. His life span was also drastically reduced: he was, for all intents are purposes, a supercharged Spectre.

His imperfection made him expendable. Sirius was aware of this, but his personality defects did not extend to any sort of concern for his own well being. For the purposes of his mission, it was his skill in infiltration and raw fighting ability that would come into play. Impersonating a Ravager Praetorian was hard enough, let alone killing one and taking his place. While he waited for his chance, Sirius went about his ‘duties’ as a communications officer close to the Barracks’ massive entrance.

Despite the difficulty of his mission, everything had been planned down to the minutest detail from the individual Praetorian he would emulate to his specific enhancements and training. Operation: Rude Awakening would enter its final phase in several hours.

It was almost certain that Zanekriegerlich Helgrund Klaitus would be dead by the end of the night.
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Re: The Old Army Game.

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At the inevitable question offered from the Rendari, Tenghi allowed herself a retaliatory smile before touching her right index finger at the point just below that side's eye. The smile was something she was sure the onlookers would find extremley unsettling, but it did not prevent her from making the gesture in any way. At the conclusion of this gesture, she began rattling off the extensive answer to the question asked by the Rendari onlooker.

"Xenonian bodies are custom made. Battle forms are constructed with the greatest feats of strength in mind, but all Xenonian bodies are manufactured using the same technologies. Advanced microfibral muscle, stress extension, self-repair systems, manufactured composites, super-tensile solids manufactured in dimensions in which we can compress them all the more ... and devices which harness the four major forces to allow us to lift above even the level our modifications imbibe us. Every aspect of a Xenonian body is enhanced and there isn't a single part of my current body which has not been put together from synthetically derived replacements for all organic parts, all of which are naturally subject to a technologically .. and time-locked process of accelerated development. “

“Calling them superhuman would be inaccurate - these bodies are more or less synthetic composites, machines which house a mind. Much more than what you might call ‘human’ or even transhumanism, for that matter.. The level of technology and time which goes into a single body is a exorbitantly high figure - Bodies attract the attention of entire construction facilities, all of which have the energy and power to create many standard designs in moments. We see each and every body as a work of art, a dedication to both the personality of the user and the skills of the artisans. There are a lot of elements which have gone into the construction of a Xenonian, a lot of which I don't think you all have the scientific grounding for me to properly explain. " At this Tenghi paused, reading the intentions of the audience and noting that while they got the general idea, the scale of what it actually meant was something they found difficult to relate towards. With this in mind, she continued to sketch a more accurate mental picture.

"Let me use this example.

Imagine you wanted to create a Ravager. Now, imagine that you had the facilities to construct this Ravager from the ground up - you do not need to adapt an existing Zerstorendarian body for combat, but you could create them from the very foundlings of matter. Money, time, energy - there is no resource limit. Now, imagine that but with welded technology and resources level devoted to each body above anything your technology is currently capable of. The end result is even the 'weakest' Xenonian bodies are enhanced and extended to a degree most races would never be able to consider, and our combat forms are designed with only waging war in mind. Now, do you lot happen to have any other questions? No … well, no matter. Xenonians don’t just lift heavy objects however … sometimes, we do this."

It was at this moment that Tyrella’s acceptance of the plans opened up a use for those pylons. Motioning behind herself, Tenghi gave a soft click of her fingers and soaked up the reaction from the crowd.

The concentration of swirling energy at the end of the four pylons responded immediately after her finger click, leaving absolutely no question as to which action had triggered the process in the first place. At a point of exactly equal distance from all four pylons in the center a crackling nexus of incandescent energy was forming. In reaction to this new ‘arrival’, the crowd shifted between varying degrees of confusion and surprise, while the Ravagers had a moment of panic, followed by their Lich calmly speaking into a commlink and a return of focus to the reactions of the crowd. Evidently whoever was giving the Ravagers their orders was starting to come to terms with the realisation that around Xenonians, unusual occurrences were something one would have to adapt to and perhaps even come to expect. Kata would not be finding things nearly as easy (although certainly more enjoyable) as she had so far if this trend continued.

While at first the nexus of energy only took the form of a slowly-expanding sphere, after around roughly a minute of coalescing which finally started to form a recognisable form. Smiling at the crowd, Tenghi watched the myriad of reactions (the most popular being “It’s a fucking building!� with some amusement, secure in the knowledge that her expression gave enough of a comment towards the people with real power who were watching on. With the shape of the building finally established, beginning to establish itself, the entire process became something ‘concrete’ to the onlookers. As the teleportation nexus finally began to conclude, each of the four pylons simultaneously deactivated before falling to a positioning roughly a foot above the ground; any further purpose they may have played being unknown. With the embassy now ‘finished’, the final product would doubtless lead to many a discussion amongst the socio-economically advantaged.

Karen had designed the structure with a certain element of finesse, all things considered. It was by no means a striking building, with the design being configured and tweaked so as to be somewhat aesthetically pleasing without drawing the attention of a wandering eye. However, the use of orthogonal shapes, rounded surfaces and precise triangulation of certain faces and surfaces would disturb anyone but a Xenonian over time, the reflection of light and shapes subtly bent in the form of optical illusions. The building looked normal, but anyone who was not prepared would feel disconcerted by being in the building. An observer would wander around the halls in peace and comfort, but always feel as if they were being watched, or toyed with. Exactly as intended, just as planned.

Tenghi allowed herself to float to the ground before calmly strolling up to the front door and entering the confines of the building itself. When she emerged some time later, it was clad in a simple, light blue dress and ready for her appointment. Naturally, her looks had not changed in the slightest. Tenghi had a tradition of established behaviour which shunned all forms of ‘look’ augmentation, not that she had ever needed any.

Neither had the size of the oncoming crowd, nor their seeming energy about the whole thing. Despite this curiosity however, Tenghi noted that not one had dared step onto the Embassy area itself following her absence.

“… Okay then, ladies and gentlemen. I’ll be taking my leave now�.

This time however, nobody attempted to stand in her way.

____

The Primus Architect had not only avoided the urges to liquidate Kata’s smaller form, but for a moment she even appeared to soften her attentions on the Xenonian agent. As Kata was known to say, conditions were best described as ‘promising, with a forecast for mayhem on the horizon’. That the mention of alcohol and that the consumption of copius amounts of the substance was apparently on the table only served to further heighten the accuracy of this observation. Kata inwardly promised herself that no matter the means necessary to accomplish them, hijinks would be abound by the end of the day. The more creative a use of Kimura in these she could devise, the better.

Getting into a blinder with aliens, hm? Oh my, I think I’m being challenged to a drinking contest.

Well …


Kimura was turning out to be exactly what Kata had hoped for, a true charlatan. It was even more encouraging to note that many passing Rendari seemed as disturbed and uncomfortable around his presence as her own, an observation formed as her Elder presence conversed with Kimura. Naturally, her smaller body was busy scampering about the nearby locations, being disruptibe. Mulling over the options in her head (and discarding the option of asking for guided tours around the erap brewery – she’d save that idea for later), Kata decided upon simple shenanigans as the most appealing option at this point. Turning towards Kimura and questioning him after they had been shuffled out of Tyrella’s office.

“We’ll have to find something interesting to do with our time. Got any suggestions? The Nightlife will never quite be the same once we’re done, I’m sure. Now … I suppose I should get my guitar�

Kimura’s expression only showed one moment of concern and judging by the massive smile across his face, that small concern was more due the sheer number of options for ‘entertainment’ than anything else.

____

An invitation from the Primus architect was one that naturally implied Karen’s acceptance. Staring up at Tyrella, she got the impression that while this Rendari was unlikely to make any overt underestimations of character, there was the hint that she felt Xenonians were not very serious about their jobs. It was was an interesting observation and doubly so because it provided a valuable insight into Tyrella’s character – as well as a weakness Karen fully intended to use against the domineering woman, should it become necessary. Wearing one of her customary poker faces, Karen looked up at Tyrella and chose to address her in a fairly non-assuming tone, one which carried neither no threat, but implied her own abilities and seniority. Karen wasn’t about to go around acting as a superior in any discussion between those with power, but she had no intention of surrendering her own stature either.

“I assume you have considered what you wish to ask of me? I am sure you are just as hard on yourself as you are on others when you feel time is inefficiently handled, after all.�

The reaction from Tyrella was interesting. She had initially been considering the possibility phrasing her questions so as to not imply any personal interests in Xenonians and Xenonian abilities whatsoever. A moment later however and Tyrella had clearly abandoned that plan, indicating for all the arrogance she was shrewd in respect to her abilities to evaluate a situation. The next few questions would be examples of her discarding all the pretentiousness her position afforded and trusting to the ability to ask blunt questions (and to hell with what the blasted Alien thought of her personal interests!), and Karen was all the more pleased by it.

____

It was a leisurely stroll for Tenghi on her merry way towards her appointment with the good Zanekreigerlich. She had left comparatively ‘early’, with the intention of spending the time investigating (and being investigated) by whomever she ran into.

While Tenghi hardly expected this exercise to be uneventful, she was also beginning to notice a trend in the behaviour of the swirling masses around her. Whever she walked, conversation slowly began to dip, what had been a furious mass of rumour-mongering and discussion turning icily quiet the moment any Rendari realised her nearby presence. This effect was not limited to civilians either; even what she guessed were offduty controllers and onduty ravagers falling silent at her passing and more than a few made the decision to move out of her path long before she approached them. Theirs was a different silence however, one fundamentally different from the xenophobia-tinged-with-fear of their non-military counterparts. It took just one caught conversation for the reason to that to be surmised.

Zerstorendar was already at war, regardless of what the soldiers fighting it knew.

Confirmation of that began with the first pair of talking Ravagers Tenghi observed, listening in on them with her enhanced abilities from a distance well beyond their own range of senses. Intruiging soundbytes harvested from their conversation ranged from

‘There’s no law that deals with this … and if we’re not upholding the rule of law, what is Zerstorendar? The current Kaiserlich must stand.�

“We’re soldiers. Fucking Soldiers, not some rich fuck with a duty for making pretty circles in the air. The very fact we let Xenos like that Xenonian witch alive around her makes me think he’s going soft. Quite frankly I’d love to take a gun and gut tha …�.

to lines such as “A previous Kaiserlich can still be a traitor. We can end him. We will end him. By Tereza, we’ll do it�.

Silence was eventually brought about even to these conversations however, Tenghi’s appearance bringing the ‘disagreements’ between the Ravagers to an abrupt (and perhaps even slightly admonishing) end. She had no intention of returning the hostility, but a moment’s glance and half a smile at that particular Ravager would be more than enough to make him wonder if somehow she just knew what he had been thinking.

Observation of such amusing distractions continued for Tedee all the way on her walk to the main approaches of Vanderhelm. Choosing to approach the monolithic front gates, Tenghi found the stares of the entire guard of Ravager Praetorians never leaving her form as she wandered on through the front door. The constant phases of monitoring continued as the Xenonian soldier made her way through the building itself, slowly moving towards the greeting chamber of Helgrund’s wing. Due to her early arrival, she found the hall ‘uninhabited’ for a few moments, during which Tenghi chose to slouch against a wall, close her eyes and wait.

When Klaitus did enter, she initiated the contact immediately.

“That is a lot of firepower you happen to have trained on this body. Should I be thinking of your undivided attention as an entitlement, an extension of your professional interest ... or an honour?�

And so, the process of figuring out just how important Helgrund was to Xenonian interests in the oncoming Zerstorendari civil war could finally begin. Tenghi felt certain it would be … educational.
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Re: The Old Army Game.

Post by Zerstorendar »

Helgrund Klaitus smiled at the Xenonian’s implication that the powerful weaponry his guards had trained on her was some sort of special treatment. While the four Praetorians, two to accompany the Zanekriegerlich when wandering Vanderhelm and two to guard the door to the adjacent dining room would no doubt be warier than usual at having an alien in such proximity to their lord, they were simply doing their job. The only person who would not get weapons pointed at them when close to the Zanekriegerlich was the Kaiserlich himself, partly because all Praetorians were loyal to the Kaiserlich first and partly because his bodyguard, Todou, would not tolerate anybody pointing a weapon at his Lord Kytus.

“I assure you, Lady Tenghi, it’s for your own safety.� She raised an eyebrow, and Klaitus’ smile widened: “Alright, that’s bullshit. You probably should scare the good Praetorians, they are rather jittery. Now, if you please…� he finished while offering his hand to the smaller Tenghi, obviously expecting her to take it. With a moment’s hesitation that was no doubt intentional, she took it. Klaitus steered her to his side and they began to walk down the massive hallway that formed the epicenter of Klaitus’ living quarters in Vanderhelm. The two Praetorians not guarding the room followed, keeping their weapons trained on Tenghi.

“Actually, Praetorians, it would probably be polite to lower your weapons. I would prefer a lighter mood that will remind me of the last time I got laid.�

“Impossible, sir.� replied one of the massive, red and golden soldiers. Klaitus stopped and turned his head, his expression mischievous.

“I insist. Honestly, is there much of a difference between the time it takes you to fire and the time it takes to aim and fire? Lower your weapons, and do your best not to mistake my order for a request, lads.�

Incapable of refusing direct orders despite their overwhelming reluctance to do so, the Praetorians lowered their arms only slightly. In response, they moved closer to Tenghi and the Zanekriegerlich, who guffawed. Tenghi did not seem at all intimidated to him, and he liked it.

“Can’t complain about the body warmth, I suppose. Lady Tenghi, I can’t say I apologize for the behaviour of my bodyguards, while it is inconvenient I would be more frustrated if they were not doing their job properly. After all, when Marius tries to assassinate me it will be more them than me that will save the day. In fact, I’ll let you in on a secret, Tenghi, since you don’t seem the kind to tattle: when the ex-Kaiserlich, who is a traitorous load of fuck-“ Klaitus seemed genuinely unhappy for a moment before returning to his jovial state, “-last visited, he actually planted the seeds of what could easily be our destruction. Even Vanderhelm is not completely secure these days, what with both sides of the covert war being loyal to Zerstorendar in one way or another. The Blitzmord are useless, and while we do have our own methods of acquiring reliable intelligence without them, they are a ticking time bomb. I keep telling the Kaiserlich something needs to be done about him, but he’s probably right when he tells me Sindri cannot so easily be swept aside. It’s a shame, because he used to be a really good guy. But I digress. I’m supposed to be giving you a little tour.�

He turned a corner, the four of them remaining in a very tight formation. They were now in a smaller hallway with no doors, but instead walls depicting portraits of important-looking Zanekrieger military men.

“This is where all the portraits of my predecessors get hung out to dry. They were crafted by our finest artists, and I think this may be interesting to you. As you can see, our artists do not experiment, do not rely on abstractions to communicate emotion, do not deviate from what is accepted as ‘good art’. It’s all very clean, crisp, designed to look as close to lifelike as possible, technically perfect and in the same style as every other. Except for that one�, he said while pointing to one particular, very-short haired, thoughtful looking man. The plaque underneath said ‘Zanekriegerlich G. Hargrum; Sun Among Candles.’ The picture differed in that the man was pictured with a sunset to his back instead of a flag. “Had a real thing for the sun, he did. He always had to be different. Apparently he was some sort of ‘hard man’, but if you ask me he was just a big sissy. The sun, honestly.�

“Anyway, whenever a Zanekriegerlich dies, we are immortalized here. There are some great men here, though we haven’t seen the greatest one yet. He’s just down here a little further…� As they reached a dead end, a single and larger portrait could be seen on the back wall. It was unmistakably Klaitus; straight-backed, broad-shouldered, immaculately dressed and sporting a massive grin. One hand was raised in the Zanekrieger salute that could be seen in many of the portraits, the other hand was giving a powerful thumbs-up. The plaque read: ‘Zanekriegerlich H. Klaitus; Not dead, is huge.’ Carefully watching Tenghi for some sort of reaction, Helgrund continued: “As you can see, the incumbents also get their own little spot reserved. When I’m gone, I’m sure my plaque will change. Which is a shame, because I think it sums me up perfectly. Now, my lady. Would you like to see something special?� Tenghi nodded, as if to say ‘you’re the boss’.

“Right, well let’s go pay a visit to Vanderhelm Barracks. Watching men like that train should excite a woman of any race….or gender. I’m still not sure how you guys work.�

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The four of them made their way briskly to the barracks, the Zanekriegerlich’s idea of a leisurely stroll only applying to finely tuned supersoldiers. Tenghi would not have failed to notice the monumental scale of the barracks and the feeling of military elitism that pervaded the best soldiers of the best barracks in Zerstorendar. It was not built like an army base, but was rather a massive installation full of gigantic halls, well-designed yet presumptuously sized rooms and constantly training soldiers. There was no relaxation to be seen: anybody who had earned the right to train here made use of every minute they had.

Klaitus directed Tenghi towards a heightened viewing platform of one of the main training rooms, obviously used for occasions such as this. The training room was massive, a hall about four hundred metres wide and five hundred metres long. Half of it was filled with sparring soldiers. Training soldiers were enclosed in sparring simulation chambers of differing sizes, where they could fight in a number of conditions created by the soldiers themselves that could potentially result in their deaths were it not simulated. Helgrund flicked through several different screens on the viewing platform that showed the different simulations being run. He stopped at one in particular, where four Praetorians fought unarmoured against a horde of medieval warriors. They were obviously in the warm up phase (a compulsory protocol, not that they needed to ‘warm up), their incredible speed, power and resilience allowing them to kill fully-armoured knights by punching them into other knights. Helgrund bellowed in laughter as one Praetorian crashtackled a knight from his steed, swung the steed around his head as if it were a mace and killing the horse as well as several enemy soldiers, and then prying apart the steel-barding as if it were paper and bending them into makeshift weapons.

Another simulation, an original one, showed a single fully armoured Praetorian fighting a running battle through the halls of Vanderhelm against a force of massive tracked assault droids whose weapons and armour outstripped those of the lone soldier. He charged through walls to escape the deadly fusillade, using his maneuverability to assault his bulkier enemies from countless different directions, targeting their weakest angles. A shot he failed to avoid took off his left leg, and he stumbled before launching himself onto one of the droids with his remaining leg, energy blades activated. He cut it to pieces and attacked the next droid, losing his left arm in the process. His armour-boosted regenerative abilities struggled to keep up with the damage as he began to slow down, and his lower torso was completely evaporated by enemy fire. He fell the ground and attempted to rise, but was obliterated and his remains crushed by the inexorably advancing droids. A poor performance, but one he would learn from.

Klaitus left a few of the screens active, showing everything from Ravagers firing nuclear projectiles into a mass of similar foes to hand to hand combat against massive biological tentacled monstrosities to running battles in a black nothingness where enemies randomly spawned from nowhere. He nodded, occasionally making sidelong glances towards Tenghi, who seemed to be amused by the screen with the tentacled monsters. She turned slightly to Klaitus and mouthed: "Mekantans?". He continued:

“This is how we do most of our training. Our simulation technology is a mixture of neurological stimulation and AI-controlled holographic illuminations. They are very real, the pain and difficulty of these ‘fake battles’ being felt very keenly by the participating soldiers. The old adage that ‘the mind makes it real’ even applies to an extent if the soldier fights hard enough.� Klaitus smirked. “In fact, if a soldier comes out of the simulations with an arm that refuses to move or partly blind, it means he’s trained well. I remember one time, back in the day, I came out of this killer of a holofight seemingly unharmed. Turns out I was impotent. By Tereza, it’s a good thing I’ve always been a one woman man.� Helgrund looked bothered for a very brief moment, which many people would have missed but Tenghi certainly did not. “Anyway, our simulations aren’t perfect. We have those ‘warm up’ simulations you saw before as they slightly optimize performance. Our tech isn’t perfect, and the soldiers are only able to access about 99.81% of their physical and mental potential without running a warm up simulation of a certain intensity prior to a proper one. It’s all very individual, and we make sure we get the best out of our men. And by the Kaiserlich’s balls, we do.�

In one part of the room, a number of Praetorians split into two groups to play a more advanced version of tug of war. A massive, super-reinforced cable was the rope, and the floor was obviously designed to be massively slippery. As the two teams grabbed the cable and began to pull, a supreme test of balance and strength came into play. A few of the massive men went flying off their feet as the struggle continued. Klaitus laughed again.

“What can I say? We work hard, we play hard. And look just there, it seems even the good Primelich likes a good game now and then�, he said while pointing to one of the Ravagers on the losing side, Dirk Fettel. The Ravager’s face was red with exertion and his gigantic muscles bulged, huge blue veins looking as if they were trying to crawl out of his skin. “Normally, Fettel would wipe the floor with regular Ravagers. He is more on the level of Praetorian when it comes to enhancement, after all. Possibly better. I gave specific orders that the team divisions include two Praetorians for every Fettel, just to make things sporting.� He grinned as Fettel’s feet slipped, the man flipping up into the air and landing on his head. By the time he regained his feet, his team had been dragged over the line. He grunted in anger, and began demanding a rematch through the use of curt gesticulation.

“That’s my Fettel.� commented the thoroughly amused Klaitus.

They remained there fore some time, Klaitus divulging a number of details of elite Zanekrieger training, diverging to tell the occasional story of his own service, and talking proudly of the battle heroics many of the training soldiers had earned. His passion not only for his nation, his position and his own past service as a line officer, and his fascination with the feats of his men, while sometimes masked by irreverence, was made plain to Tenghi. Klaitus was at his truest when waxing nostalgic, and he hoped she would appreciate the level of trust it showed for her to be allowed to listen to his ranting. After all, she had given him a rather bizarre greeting that he supposed signified her trust in him. It was only fair to return the favour and if there was anything he was as a man, it was fair.

“Well, I’ve worked up an appetite just watching these brilliant bastards train. I think you’ll appreciate the dinner I have had prepared for us, I oversaw the menu personally: let me assure you, it’s a menu with some real chest hair. Not human chest hair, of course.� Taking her hand for the umpteenth time and leading her from the barracks while saluting to passing soldiers, Klaitus’ asked a very serious question:

“And over some good food, you can tell me what you did when we met earlier today.�

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Primus Architect Tyrella Hayste was already fascinated by the Xenonian. In some ways, the little slag was just her kind of slag. Clever, calculating, all of that. While her initial statement had done a little to dispel Tyrella’s suspicions that Xenonians didn’t know the first thing about hard, serious work, she wasn’t yet past the point where she could disassociate the Xenonian’s appearance with her abilities. Scruffy, little, blue eyes...yet she seemed to be rather clued in. There was only one course of action: her trademark blunt approach would get her the answers she wanted, and she could draw conclusions later.

“As you know, I am the First Architect of the Zerstorendarian Planning Office, in charge of all construction and infrastructural planning, military or otherwise, in the entire Imperium. I get the idea that you know your shit, and I have two very simple questions with very simple motives: what is Xenonian architecture like, and what do you think of Zerstorendarian architecture.�

The questions were borne of a genuine desire to learn what this alien race’s thoughts were on her favourite subject, as well as hearing an opinion on her own work that would not be bound by the constraints of her society. She was sure it would be educational, but also aggravating. Whether or not she chose to apply what the Xenonian told her, ignore it, or engaged in a vicious debate on the merits of different architectural styles remained to be seen. For now, she simply interlocked her hands slightly in front of and below her nose, looking just over the outstretched index fingers of both hands in what she called “The Learned Inquisitor�.

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“Suggestions, you ask?� Dietrich almost seemed to bounce on his feet at the multitude of options for a good night when one has money, rank, reputation, and a pair of batshit insane aliens as drinking buddies. He was silent for several seconds, obviously struggling with a number of different ideas, and then burst out with what obviously seemed to him as the best thing since the invention of fire.

“I have it! There is a gladiator tavern near here with a public entry night called the ‘Man’s Lands-“ Syukata’s eyes betrayed some interest in the concept of a ‘gladiator tavern’, and Dietrich decided to explain. “Ah, gladiator taverns are a real feature these days. Gladiators have always been popular, mostly enhanced ones, non-lethal feats of strength, skill and endurance appealing to any Zerstorendarian with a spine. I mean damn, just the other night Starcrusher tore off his clothes and strangled his opponent into submission with them. You don’t get that sort of thing in the Zanekrieger Games. But of course, every gladiator has to start somewhere. Starcrusher didn’t just pop into the limelight all of a sudden, he had to get a reputation somewhere. Cue gladiator taverns, where junior gladiators fight in a number of pits, where lots of easily-entertained men and women just like me gather to watch, bet, and have as many drinks as they can afford.� He grinned. “I can always afford a lot of drinks, and the Controllers are usually more patient with me than others. Unless I’m trying to burn the building down, they probably won’t throw me out. I guess they learned the lesson of too much restraint that time I…Anyway, Man’s Lands opens in ten minutes, and there are some promising young gladiators there tonight. I say we head there, get totaled into oblivion, and make our way back to my place to see if we can keep all the rich fucks awake for a while.� His perpetual grin widened. “Who knows what trouble we’ll get into on the way back home?�

Dietrich rubbed his chin for a moment before changing the subject. “Well, you go grab your guitar or whatever. I have to get a few things myself, and I’ll meet you at the Man’s Lands in an hour. It’s all on me, so all you really need is the will to party and the erap tolerance of Tereza herself!� Without waiting for confirmation, he turned and ran in the direction of his home to prepare on whatever way he deemed necessary for what promised to be a memorable sampling of the Rend nightlife.

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Operative Sirius had not failed to notice that the Zanekriegerlich had brought a Xenonian into Vanderhelm for reasons that were his own. To Sirius, it was obvious that she was a soldier. Based on Marius’ briefings on the capabilities of Xenonians and the proposed abilities of their soldiers, she would be a serious hindrance to the assassination and potentially beyond his ability to handle.

Sirius’ mind worked over the options furiously. Infiltrating the Praetorians was to be difficult enough, and the chances of his surviving the mission were slim at best if things did not go exactly to plan. He would have very little time to kill Klaitus and assume his identity, therefore acting as a puppet Zanekriegerlich, even with the Praetorians not aware of his existence. And if the Xenonian was with him, there was no chance the mission could be completed according to plan.

So there were two choices: Abort and continue with Plan A at a later date, which would be the safest way to go about things. However, while Sirius was not quite Indrick’s level of genius, he was still inhumanly perceptive: it was entirely possible that the Xenonian had noticed him somehow. Her full capabilities were still unknown to him, and underestimating her was not something he would do.

Logically, Plan B was the best alternative. Plan B had a lower chance of success, but Kaiserlich Marius had been clear when he said a failed attempt was more desirable than no attempt. Even to his supercharged mind, the entirety of Marius’ Draigans schemes were a mystery to the Spectre: odd orders they may be, but they were orders. Plan B it was.

Operation: Rude Awakening had now changed form, but would move ahead as scheduled.
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Re: The Old Army Game.

Post by Xenonier »

Pointed weapons with no need for Justification. Well, this one certainly had some confidence in his own abilities, as much as he might try and mitigate the effects of one's confidence by assigning 'faith' to his guards. As he offered her a hand, Tenghi paused in motion with her eyes closed at the thought, processing angles and assessing character. Naturally she had no need to close her eyes to perform these tasks, but the moment of ‘contemplation’ served a purpose nevertheless.

“Standard procedure, I suppose. Also, I should add that Toudou doesn’t think too much of me. After all, he’s already placed a ‘request’ that all Xenonians be kept at least a kilometre away from the good Kaiserlich, and covered by at least twelve Praetorians at all times when they enter Vanderhelm. Should I feel honoured by that?“

While the Praetorians had no real interest or reaction to the episode, it drew a wandering (surprised?) eye from Helgrund himself, fading away as the Rendari recomposed himself, gaining control over the subconscious once more. Evidently, there would be questions abound as to their last moment of contact in the later stages of this little meeting, as well as how on earth Tenghi had managed to find out something even Helgrund evidently wasn’t too sure about. Taking his hand at last, Tenghi simply deigned the Rendari to take the lead, guiding her around to wherever he chose.

Leaving Helgrund in complete control over the initial stages of contact was sure to be an illuminating experience, providing Tenghi with many an opportunity for observing his behaviour. Clearly, her decision to travel to Vanderhelm was entirely vindicated (not that this was any surprise) – the Zanekreigerlich was comfortable here, either unaware or completely unconcerned with how much insight Tenghi was gaining from watching him strut about what was clearly the truest home he had ever known. Whenever he looked expectant for a reaction, she kept her ‘answers’ non-verbal, uncommitted and for the most part, circuitous. After the initial few rebuffs, Helgrund smiled at her lack of connection; he was more than sharp enough to notice that it only built up his own sense of expectation for when she did speak, while leaving the Praetorians themselves more than a little off guard. While this was certainly something they did not appreciate, the Zanekriegerlich himself seemed rather exhilarated by the prospect of being in the company of someone who was not intimidated by the significant military presence in any way.

While information that the Initial stages of the oncoming conflict had initiated was hardly a surprising revelation, the recognition of the oncoming conflict was likely to be the information greatest importance the Zanekriegerlich would impart in his little 'tour'. Recognition from the higher tiers of Rendari authority as to the scope of the oncoming Military Operations all but confirmed Xenonian calculations that the initial operations were already underway and had probably been this way for some time. All necessary phases of war which marked the primary stages of escalation - oh yes, this was going to be a serious conflict. To further complicate the current situation, the Blitzmord's own agents in this situation had a quality of curious ambivalence about, implying their own lack of action in the current situation. Certainly the one known as Sindri intended to become involved in the conflict at some point, but Helgrund had also now proven very useful in confirming that the Blitzmordlich worked to his own schedules and criteria. Tenghi was now safely assured she had been correct to show him the memories, they had doubtless contributed to the interest Helgrund seemed to have about her person.

The Depictions of Zanekreigerliches past and present provided the first instance of a reply from Tenghi. She had not missed the continual drive behind Helgrund, a subconscious desire of his own self to surpass the achievements of every other long-dead Rendari fighter in the room. It was clearly a passion which stoked him onwards. Upon approaching the portrait of “Hard Man� Hargrum, Tenghi felt compelled to comment on the Zanekreigerlich’s own dismissal of his … ‘obsession’.

“Solar Deities. Usually associated with good judgment, a commitment to justice and ruthlessness in the height of battle; they are often recognised as a necessity that empowers, a benefit rather than necessity. It is a surprisingly openly subtle choice, for a Military commander. The question of course lies in the fact if this choice of subtlety was a defining aspect of character or an attempt at glory which is ultimately elements of abstraction in symbolism as you claim� and then she smiled, wiping one eyelid before returning to gaze at Helgrund. The gaze maintained the same level of ambivalence, something which the Praetorians made no effort to observe. Before Helgrund attempted to change the subject, Tenghi slipped in one more comment.

“I suppose you could say I am a Scholar and a Fighter. Understanding is sufficient in the Xenonian Defense Forces that we do not mind our Soldiers possessing a little too much time to think on our hands.�

And then there was the Kaiserlich’s own painting, a veritable exercise in everything but artistic restraint. While Helgrund spoke proudly of the eventual immortalisation of his person and the business of plaques, Tenghi kneeled down, staring intently at the plaque itself and leaning over the engraving. When she was certain the Praetorians neither saw nor cared enough about her actions (given they posed no overt threat), she swept one hand across the title. Only the Zanekreigerlich saw the details change to “How about ‘Zanekreigerlich Helgrund Klaitus. In it for the bitches. Still wishing he had that special someone to stress the importance of pulling out’?�, and while the suggestion brought the next few syllables to choke in his throat, no other reference to them was made. Taking the moment to give a small nod towards the suggestion of a visit to the Vanderhelm Barracks as the next location, Tenghi allowed herself to be spirited away once more.

Given Helgrund’s last question before they departed, it seemed that Tenghi would have a little explanation of what one might term a ‘Xenonian’ to perform along the way – the Zanekreigerlich had an expectant look on his face, after all. Perhaps even a little too expectant, as If he was subconsciously aware that an aspect of his character was held together by that very notion.

Tenghi shelved that notion in her memory for further investigation

__________

While the explanation of key aspects of Xenonian society was a tedious process without direct uploading of Data, Tenghi banked on the relative ease with which to pare down the necessary information as well as the assumption the Zanekreigerlich would be a ‘good’ listener; for now at least he seemed to have the ethos of recording every piece of information on all those he met he could, on the hope that data may one day have a use. In that aspect at least, Tenghi supposed it formed some of the reason for why he had taken such an interest in Xenonians. Understanding as a means to raise combat efficiency was the well known central doctrine of the XDF.

“It would be rather pointless to assign concepts of race to a Xenonian and if we chose to make it so, gender would also be rather irrelevant. Every Xenonian exists as an amorphous collection of energy or data, should that route be preferable. Bodies are for the most part, simply forms taken to exist in a physical plane, or in order to accomplish a specific objective. Of course, most Xenonians are for the most part perfectly satisfied with the gender they get – although some doubtless change over as a result of idle curiosity. The rest of the details covering the construction of a body you should no doubt be familiar with, assuming those who were recording me were as consistent as the last lot in passing on information about my capabilities to yours truly and� – She paused, smiled and continued onto the minor implication Helgrund had offered - “Kata doubtless appreciates your use of double entendre.�

Entrance to the training room brought about another long period of pause from Tenghi, allowing Helgrund the directive to continue waxing nostalgic about his nation and his soldiers. In between his commentary, Tenghi punctuated moments with small observations of the training material itself, allowing a wry moment of amusement at the Knight-Cannonball game a few Praetorians were pursuing as warmup, before mouthing “Mekantans?� at the tentacle beasts with a mocking air, a casual sense of disdain. While the two Praetorians seemed shocked that she could even associate Mekantans with amusement, she caught the Zanekreigerlich’s stare just for long enough to see his eyes sparkle at the implication – that she had nothing to fear from the mention of the Mekantan name. While the Praetorians were unlikely to feel ‘fear’ in the traditional sense, evidently there were at least a few threats in Rendari Battle Manuals which had become mythologised enough so as to cause genuine concern on reputation alone. An interesting character ‘flaw’ for supposedly perfect guards, even if it was also an indication of how seriously they took their job.

It was upon the shift of direction towards his assessment of ‘work hard and play hard’ that Tenghi was starting to home in on a structured analysis of key parts of his character. Helgrund Klaitus was (consciously or not) presenting himself as a metaphor for his nation and his words allowed a interesting revelation to come to light. Tenghi was already starting to see an interesting theory start to come together as to the basis of his personality, before he finished the gaps for her. Pausing for the briefest amount of time only to hold a side conversation with Kata as to the hilarity of Fettel going “Prosterior up!�, she set her observations up to an overview process.

A One Woman man? Tenghi’s immediately adapted both pattern recognition algorithms and her assumptions to integrate the new possibilities, drawing together the arbitrary pieces of data in the merest fractions of a second to form a composite whole. Previously, it was noted that the only thing that interested Helgrund to the level of the events of his self and his nation, was aspects of that nation he saw in others when the ‘others’ performed it better. He demanded success with a fervour that went beyond a mere job description, matched with an uncharacteristic eagerness that would not have been expected from such a hardened soldier – which he clearly was. He always demanded better from his troops and saw them as testament to his ability and a means upon which to surpass his own work. Where he could have been distant, he instead chose to embrace a patriarchal figure and judging by the reactions of the Praetorians when he told them to stand down – they viewed his judgment as effectively flawless. Yet, he had displayed ‘weakness’ to Tenghi, recognition of his ‘weakness’ his troops either chose not to recognise, or failed to recognise. The level of competency displayed in the Praetorians and the manner in which they obeyed indicated that the latter possibility was an exceptionally small (Although non-zero) probability.

He was the Alpha Male Figure of the Zerstorendarian Ground Forces – and this meant that he simply had to have transformed any weaknesses into overwhelming strengths. The obsessive drive for success in every aspect was driven by the feeling of failure in some aspect before. Zerstorendar was still a slightly patriarchal society, with the expectation of heirs – which was enough for Tenghi to feel her theory had an accurate measure of the man..

Somewhere, somehow, Helgrund had lost the one chance he felt he had at a family and hence, an Heir. The only one which thus far, fitted his ‘standards’, which had to be almost preternaturally high. An unacceptable failure, one he had been attempting to overcome for the rest of his life.

While she watched him strut about with his saluting and guiding her from the barracks itself For a moment, she was almost reminded of …

Yes. That might be accurate, in her own twisted way

With that thought confirmed, she shifted into a momentarily feral grin, exposing one of her pointed teeth. She pulled herself from listening to the Zanekreigerlich speak just as he finished. The phrase would have had little meaning to the Rendari, but it felt so very appropriate. After all, it was about an accurate a summarisation of the feeling as one can arrive at – even if it was from the lexicon of Earth itself.

“Yttligare Ett Steg Närmare Total Jävla Utfrysning�

Straightening her back from the slight slouch she had adopted, Tenghi changed course again. Her focus shifted, allowing her to look Helgrund in the eyes seconds after she finished speaking, seemingly probing for a response. His eyes seemed to search for something behind her gaze, perhaps even searching for weaknesses; or something similarly bold.

“Of course.�

An interesting Meal ahead, one might say. Particularly given the risk assessment she had conducted of all the Praetorians on their little walkabout. There was one or two in particular that she found interesting, one of the armoured guards just outside the major training bearing an especially emotionless façade even for the expected level of the Praetorians and the other, a communications officer she passed as the Kaiserlich continued to salute his troops on the way out. While in all aspects his demeanour was within acceptable levels (perhaps even too acceptable), she noticed both heat patterns and muscle movements through his uniform consistent with uncontrolled spasms. While he made no attempt to ‘hide’, Tenghi ensured that she continued to observe without ever giving overt attention, enjoying the three hundred and sixty degree field of vision afforded by her extended senses.

It seemed highly unlikely that any of the Praetorians would be ‘defective’, after all. Until she had access to restricted files concerning those soldiers however, there was not a great deal more she could do …

____

The little Xenonian made absolutely no attempt to even acknowledge Tyrella’s question, at first. For an uncomfortable silence stretching into roughly thirty seconds of time, Karen simply stood while thinking, her expression bearing little indication as to what she was actually thinking. When she finally acted however, her answers and actions were moving at a frenetic pace.

“Now … your questions. I might ask one in turn, after these�. Karen stopped for a moment, tapping her fingers across the table and returning Tyrella’s own expression with something approaching irreverent nonchalance, before starting.

“Xenonian Architecture in the classical sense of the term doesn’t exist. Architecture as a term in the linguistic sense was derived from the notion or the concept of building a structure so as to provide shelter. Xenonians stopped needing shelter a long time ago, dear. Beyond the provision and construction of individual structures as per Xenonian desires, doable since all Xenonians have access to the means of production for such things, there really is only one uniting concept. Same goes for military designs.�. She paused, pointing a finger as if daring Tyrella to answer the question, while knowing all along such speculation was never arriving.

“Efficiency. Xenonian designs are only concerned with efficiency, and specialised efficiency at that. This is consistent with the entire military of the projected irregularity. A building is constructed only with the intended purpose in mind. It does not exist to terrify, impress or make a statement beyond that of the intended purpose of the structure itself. Aesthetics, pleasure and so on are worthless, a gross misuse of resources which could ultimately be devoted towards the construction of better equipment, research into superior technology … or just construction of a building which has the advantages of superior engineering. They are cultural symbols because they embodify what Xenonier is, not because they attempt to hype us up beyond what we are, or what we would like to perceive of ourselves. In that aspect, you could say Xenonian architecture is as accurate a summarisation of Xenonier as anything else. Humble enough to remember that those who devote everything to their calling, are inevitably the ones who survive.�. At this, Karen found herself breaking into a wide smile, fully aware of how this philosophy was so very different to the prejudices her own body was designed to bring forth in the average Rendari.

Which of course, was the point. Continuing onwards, Karen moved to answering the second question.

“Not that this means I will be damning of Rendari architecture, as a strict adherence to the previous philosophy might imply. Xenonians are humble Miss Haste, which means we are fully aware our methods only work for us. Matchless efficiency in Zerstorendar while theoretically embraced on the battlefield by your soldiers is an impossible concept. As a society you simply could not embrace the concept effectively. And on this boundary, you’re embracing about as much Efficiency as one can – after all, there’s only so much even one of your station can get away with. Besides, all of the work you have completed in the last eighteen months indicates you’re starting to better come to terms with the extended leash you’re on under the guidelines of Kytus, which is entirely to be expected. I would like to see a little more use of fall ceilings and angles and lighting to create smaller, more efficient buildings which appear as imposing as those Ravagers seem to like circlejerking over, but you have plenty of years in that pretty little body of yours to get that going. Most human architects take many years to complete a paradigm shift, and you have been so busy!� At this point, Karen’s rather excited tone and happy demeanour almost seemed to approach that of a schoolgirl – she was truly performing the exact opposite to the depth of her observations.

“So. Do you like admitting to the Kasierlich or whoever passes your plans that some of your latest designs have become slimmer, more spherical, less emphasis on jarring shapes and perhaps even a slightly organic feel? Why, it is almost as if you’re becoming a little more feminine in the way you go about things ….� (Karen finished this sentence with the barest hint of a wink).

As it was, Karen was keeping the conversation constantly changing tack, changing her tone and word choice so as to jump between admissions of competence, sarcasm and genuine appraisal with a deft quickness. She was aiming to continually upset Tyrella’s rhythm and making absolutely no attempt to hide it whatsoever. Keeping Tyrella off guard was by far the most amusing use of the time, after all.

__________

Kimura’s excited appraisal of the many opportunities open to the ‘pair’ for the night’s investigation of nightlife left Kata with no need for comment. Rather, she simply nodded the head of her blonde form while the smaller decided to just sit on the pavement. While the Rendari sped off home, the two bodies looked at each other, reaching an ‘agreement’ of sorts, before Kata’s elder form took out a roll of string and fabric from … somewhere and handed it to the schoolgirl version. She then turned, waved slightly at nearby onlookers and phased away, moving towards the Xenonian embassy with a speed few would be able to track. Bypassing the crowd that still stood around the building in a similar manner to how Tenghi had previously indicated, she reappeared from the embassy clutching a guitar, wearing a pair of tinted sunglasses and saluting the crowd in a suitably nonchalant manner.

When she rejoined her smaller form (carrying the guitar in a shoulder strap), there was much less of a crowd, and significantly less onlookers. Kata’s smaller form was now putting that string and fabric to use in the form of a brightly coloured kite, flying the contraption above the disapproving eyes of onlookers. While more than a few Rendari seemed to have negative thoughts about it, the ravagers posted no complaint and hence, it was uninterrupted in the lonesome process of ‘brightening’ the sky above With the two now for the most part ‘ready’ to go, they merely awaited the impending arrival of Dietrich and with it, the distinct possibility of all sorts of mischief ahead.

Particularly if there happened to be problems with ... an ‘age’ limit.
;>
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Zerstorendar
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Name: Zerstorendar

Re: The Old Army Game.

Post by Zerstorendar »

“I don’t give a fuck, do it faster or I’ll TEAR-�

The Primus Justice on the other end terminated the link prematurely, leaving Todou fuming. Primus Praetorian Radec Todou curtly punched the deactivation stud on the Kaiserlich’s personal sublink, the holographic medium of choice for distance communication in all of Zerstorendar. As the closest man to the Kaiserlich in terms of proximity, the most superior soldier in the Rendian Empire (as he still called it occasionally) and an extremely high military rank, he not only held a lot of sway with others but also had access to the Kaiserlich’s clout at all times. In this instance, he was using the Kaiserlich’s personal communication devices to threaten the Primus Justice of Zerstorendar with death for taking so long (nine minutes) to pass a general order regarding the Xenonian visitor to Vanderhelm: “Keep her one spherical kilometer from the Kaiserlich at all times or there will be blood. Violence.�

“In all honesty Todou, the only reason the Primus Justice has taken so long in confirming the order is because the Zanekriegerlich isn’t helping him out.�, offered Kaiserlich Kytus Draigan from where he was seated behind Todou, reading a dataslate.

“Klaitus oversteps his duties. Arrogance.� Todou growled dangerously. Kytus smiled.

“No, he is simply more diplomatically minded than you. The Xenonians are a power greater than ourselves, we need to learn everything we can and establish whatever ties we can. My father hasn’t shown his hand yet, but you and I both know he has agents in Vanderhelm, agents we cannot dig out.�

“The Blitzmord.�

“Exactly. With the Spectres no longer functioning for us, our left arm has been broken and we are left only with the massive but rather unparticular arm of the Ravagers.�

“Let me lead the Peacekeepers against the Blitzm-“ Todou began.

“No. Do not mention it again, this is the one thing I’m certain Sindri doesn’t know. As for the Xenonians, I have plans for them. My father has studied them more closely, but our intelligence suggests that many Xenonians have powers that far outstrip those of any Spectre. If they are on our side, then we may not need the Blitzmord. They can help us defeat father, and then we can reorganize.�

“Their power is dangerous! Uncontrollable!� the massive Praetorian protested.

“I trust Klaitus’ judgement.�

“Klaitus is a fool. Incompetence.� Todou stated flatly.

“You go too far.� Kytus’ eyes flashed threateningly, and Todou conceded.

“Then why does he reveal military secrets? Foolish.�

“He reveals only what cannot endanger us, and he does it to gain some measure of trust. As I said, the Xenonians are a tool that can either sit unused, win us the Second Fracture, or blow up in our faces. While Primelich Fettel made all of this possible by initiating contact, the Zanekriegerlich will be the one to continue it. When everything is prepared, I will complete the process.� Todou tensed, the joints of his titantic Powersuit wheezing softly as the massive form inside filled it up slightly more.

“Surely she cannot be let into the Bastion!? Assassination!� Kytus grinned and nodded.

“The fucking girl lifted a shuttle like it was nothing! Dangerous!�

“You think you couldn’t do it?� Todou spluttered, and the Kaiserlich put his hand up before the soldier responded:

“I jest, your own abilities are not in question. I am confident you can handle a single Xenonian, but there will be more than one. I plan to admit a full diplomatic party of them into the Bastion as a sign of good faith eventually.� Todou, incredulous beyond words, remained silent, and Kytus continued: “I assure you, they will not do anything dangerous. They may do something silly, but not dangerous.� Kytus put the dataslate he had been reading the whole time on a desk, attached the cloak of office he had left draped over his seat and marched towards the door, Todou following in his shadow.

“I’m going to talk to Sindri again, see if I can crack him open this time. You may assign as many Praetorians to our detail as you like.�

“Two hundred and forty five would be the optimal bodyguard size for the dimensions of the Blitzmord Command Centre. Reasonable.� Kytus sighed, and turned around. Reaching up into the air, his fully extended hand only just made it to Todou’s head. The Kaiserlich smiled as Todou flinched, unsure of what Kytus was doing. The Kaiserlich then put his arm back down to his side, turned, and continued.

“You’re still getting taller, Todou. We’re going to need bigger doors.�

Primus Praetorian Radec Todou ducked under the large, arched doorframe, unwilling to damage the Kaiserlich’s quarters regardless of his own convenience.

[center]+++++[/center]

Klaitus no longer held Tenghi’s hand but now led the way back to his dining quarters, obviously excited about beginning the meal and engaging in some stimulating conversation with his somewhat mysterious guest. His stride was long and his cadence swift, and before long they arrived back in the wing of Vanderhelm reserved purely for the Zanekriegerlich’s entertainment.

Directing the Xenonian into the guests room ahead of him, he remained outside to briefly talk with the two Praetorians whose job it was to accompany him everywhere.

“I want the both of you to remain out here. It will be a supreme gesture of trust to allow the Xenonian to keep my company without anybody pointing guns at her.�

“Sir! What if-“

“Remain out here. With four guards, nobody is getting in.�

“We’re not worried about anyone getting in, Lord Zanekriegerlich.� Klaitus grunted.

“She won’t hurt me, have no fear of that. Remain out here unless absolutely necessary, or I call for you.� The two Praetorians saluted and moved to take their place opposite from the door, facing the two soldiers who had already been assigned to guarding the door.

He then strode into the room, where Tenghi was waiting patiently. The guest room was large, featuring a number of stirring images and paintings of Helgrund’s choice as well as the usual flags, coats of arms, Romanesque pillars and large, expensive–looking awnings covering a single window. A single dining table dominated the room, fifteen metres or so long and half as wide. A statue of a Ravager next to one of the goddess Tereza, completely to scale, dominated the front of the room.

“That Ravager is me, you know.� Helgrund commented. “Every Zanekriegerlich gets a statue of his armoured self crafted and placed next to Tereza, right here in this room. It always makes me smile to think how much taller us true Zerstorendarians have gotten over ten millennia.� He smiled.

“I should also tell you what a few of these pictures are about.� He pointed to a painting of a massively muscled man lying supine on a bench, straining with a bar loaded with inhuman amounts of weight on either side. Four normal heavyweight men would have no chance of moving the bar and inch, yet the man in the picture had it extended all the way over his head, screaming in triumph.

“Nearly three thousand kilograms. It was a new Capmarch record, not even the men of the 4th Skullstompers had seen anything like it. I was abit younger and stronger back then, but the memory hasn’t faded even a little.� Helgrund’s expression was impossibly proud as he moved on to an even larger depiction of a chaotic battle scene. A huge explosion dominated the picture as a section of a towering enemy fortress exploded, and the trails of both orbital and ground based heavy weaponry could be seen in the corners of the picture. The silhouettes of several hundred, seemingly tiny, soldiers charged into the midst of the massive explosion. Helgrund cleared his throat, almost successfully suppressing the emotion he still felt in regards to this picture.

“That right there, The X Microsiege, biggest battle in the Xivarian War of Pacification. I led five hundred Ravagers into that hellstorm right there, and not one of them even thought to hesitate. It cost most of them dearly, but they are Ravagers after all…� Klaitus put his hands behind his back as he decided which one to show next. He settled on a picture in a place Tenghi would not yet recognize, the Terezan Bastion, seat of the Kaiserlich’s rule. A man who was now unmistakably Helgrund knelt before a different Kaiserlich, Marius Draigan, to receive the ceremonial uniform insignia of Zanekriegerlich.

“1120 Z.S.C., 53 years ago now. As you can see, there is quite a bit of history here. Now you might think that because I have a room specifically designed for entertaining guests I use it often, but that would be wrong: I am not a person who shares my past or my passions with somebody I do not trust. I also imagine you have ascertained my reasons for dismissing my bodyguards so you and I can be alone. Now, feel free to take a seat. Anywhere you like.�

The table was large enough to hold 32 seats comfortably, two at each end and fourteen along the sides. Under Rendari cultural expectations, the female guest should be practical and sit at the closest chair, allowing the male host to choose where he sits himself in response. Tenghi did just that, sitting at the fourth chair from the left. Klaitus nodded, and moved to sit opposite her. On his way to the chair, he clicked his fingers.

Several tracked servant droids, who had been inactive and concealed in a hidden alcove in one of the walls, buzzed out from hiding and delivered numerous large plates of food to the two guests at the determined positions on the table. Some of Zerstorendar’s finest delicacies were featured, including grilled Rapierfang hide, a very leafy, monotonous looking salad that smelled meaty and rather spicy, and a simple potato, meat and onion soup sprinkled with more meat. There was also a wide selection of various meats, such as massive steaks and even more massive chunks of synthesized, tough, highly tangy meat. There were several side dishes, such as small, breadcrumb-encrusted meat popsicles and slices of a very bright, orange meat that looked faintly like a potato chip, but smelled of meat. The Zerstorendarian diet was full of meat and protein, but synthetic nutrients in all the dishes ensured that nutritional deficiency was nonexistent in the modern age. The drinks options included a variety of powerful alcohols, including Primus Ambassador’s favourite Erap, and a number of thick, sweet milky herbal drinks. Some of them smelled a tad meaty. Helgrund grinned.

“We in Zerstorendar like our food, and thanks to the wonders of nutrient synthesis and manipulation, we can have an extremely healthy diet that tastes just like it should, without the side effects of any sort of protein overdose. Basically, we love our meat.� Helgrund indicated that Tenghi should feel free to eat, and grabbed himself an exactly equal portion of everything filling two plates as well as a half-liter of the closest alcohol, and a small cup of a tea-like milkshake.

In between mouthfuls of meat, Helgrund began to talk:

“Right, that’s enough fooling around. I brought you here for a chat over some good food, and I think it’s time I asked a few questions. Firstly, when you and I first met today, you showed me…things. When you touched me, I saw a flurry of images that mean nothing to me.� Helgrund wiped his mouth, and pulled a small metal rod from his pocket that had a number of functions, one being a pen. He pulled a napkin over, drew something on it, then pushed it over to Tenghi. “I would like you to explain what that means.� He then raised his hand as he continued: “But I also have other questions, but I doubt a girl like you will need to write any of this down. Basically, I would like to hear you tell me about your nation’s military, their wars, their successes and failures, your own role in the Xenonian Defence Force and Certain Situations. Tell me everything about Xenonier and war. War is what I do, and I would love nothing more than to hear about how your lot goes about it.�

[center]+++++[/center]

Tyrella remained stoic, not giving the clever little berk the satisfaction of reading her annoyance. The Xenonian was giving her a straight answer, which was nice, but the manner in which she delivered it constantly jumped from critical to soothing, imperious to appraisal. A straight-talker herself, Primus Architect Hayste found the Xenonian’s attempts to throw her off guard annoying and slightly insulting. She imagined that was the intended effect; even this little girl could not possibly assume that she, Tyrella Hayste, could be so easily run in circles. Just because she didn’t talk like an over-excited Ravager recruit flirting with a woman after being told his arms were ‘just gigantic’ didn’t mean she couldn’t understand that sort of thing…

Rearranging her facial features to form the domineering, supremely confident expression so well defined by her raised left eyebrow, known as ‘The Amused Lecturer’ as she considered what had been said. Slimmer, smaller, less angularly defined? It was an interesting proposition, but she could not help but feel that to the untrained eye, part of the intimidation factor would be lost without sheer size in her architecture. After all, she was also in the business of propaganda: when it came to architecture, Ravagers were a bunch of boors and she loved watching their jaws drop whenever she revealed a new, monumental barracks design. As for an ‘organic’ look, that would never fly and she quickly filed that away in her subconscious for ‘fucking retarded ideas’. Still, if this Xenonian had ideas on how to achieve a sense of majesty and intimidation while utilizing space efficiency, it was worth looking into. Tyrella wasn’t sure she could make a slimmer building look larger from the outside unless she made it taller or fiddled with the bordering, which could possibly lead her on a circular path…

Tyrella squinted as Karen mentioned ‘feminine’, and decided she might as well respond.

“Your ideas have merit, even if I should kick you off a fucking roof for that ‘organic’ idea. I don’t have the foggiest how a forward thinker could throw in a completely inappropriate idea like that, but I’ve already seen a precedent being set here in that regard so I’ll let it slip. As for the Kaiserlich, he signs off on my plans but gives me free reign to make sure everything is bigger and better. Making things better but not bigger might cause him to raise an eyebrow if I can’t make a good case. When it comes down to it, it is the citizens and soldiers that have to be impressed, not the Kaiserlich. Fresh out of the womb he might be, he knows when to step back and let people handle the details. But again, in regards to your idea on ‘organic’ architecture, I am under no illusions that the Kaiserlich would fistfuck me to Wrathelm for suddenly becoming so stupid.� Karen’s face lit up at Tyrella’s choice of words, and the Primus Architect refrained from sighing. Little berk.

A small silence followed, and was promptly broken by the massive form of a Ravager Praetorian opening the door and striding into the room to stand in front of Tyrella’s desk. He ignored the Xenonian, but a second Praetorian had his eye on her. Shocked at the interruption, Tyrella pushed herself to a standing position and began ranting at the soldier for his ‘blank-headed fuckwitted impudence!� He stepped forward heavily to lean over he desk and began to talk over her, at which point she subsided reluctantly, more due to relative volume of voice than anything else:

“The Kaiserlich has ordered that you be accompanied by bodyguards at all times from this point forward. Myself and my compatriot will be taking you to your home tonight, and two more of us will be securing your office.� Tyrella looked as if she was about to explode again, and the Praetorian interjected: “This is a direct order from the Kaiserlich, passed down through the Zanekriegerlich on the original recommendation of Primelich Dirk Fettel, and is for your own protection in turbulent times.� With that, the soldier stepped back and remained inside the room at attention beside the door, completely immobile and silent. His fellow closed the heavy door and waited outside.

“FETTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL!�

[center]+++[/center]

In Vanderhelm Barracks, a certain Primelich looked at his personal datapad to check the time, and then continued with his training.

[center]+++++[/center]

Dietrich reached his house at a record pace, his excitement and spending a night out on Rend with a pair of Syukata’s driving him to super-superhuman feats of endurance. Not slowing down even a mite, he charged straight through the front door footfirst in a hail of splintered marble and wood, drawing groans of “he’s doing it again� from some of the nearby citizens still staring at the Embassy. He charged into his house, found his drinking hat (an extremely expensive, antique soldier’s plumed helmet dating back to the Rendian Era), put on his fighting boots (a pair of very large, modified Ravager boots designed to work without a full suit of armour), grabbed his cape, and charged back out the door looking very silly. The moment the crowd saw him dressed as such, they shuffled off to avoid him. He stood in a pile of refuse that used to be part of his house, put his hands on his hips, and laughed.

Making his way back to the rendezvous, he spotted a colourful, flying contraption attached to a piece of string. Kimura circled around the Embassy to find, as expected, the small red-haired Syukata flying a kite. The older form seemed to be wearing a pair of sunglasses and was grasping a guitar. Dietrich leaped towards them, his boots giving him increased foot power, and as he approached the smaller Syukata jumped up and began waving and laughing at him, causing a watching female bodybuilder to blush and swoon. Dietrich smiled wryly as he realized Syukata may even help him pick up some ‘nice’ girls: he was actually rather specific in his taste in women despite his playboy reputation, and he had never in his life unleashed himself into any woman who would fall into his own personal ‘whoreslut hellbitch’ category.

“Right, it looks like we’re all ready. Follow me ladies, we’re off to Man’s Lands for some good old fashioned Zerstorendarian debauchery. I should probably warn you: our definition of ‘debauchery’ involves violence more than anything else.�

With that, the group headed off at a reasonable pace, Dietrich and the smaller Syukata carrying on all the way. By the time they reached the Man’s Lands, rumour of their approach had already spread. The large, half underground stadium/tavern loomed in front of them with a pair of Controllers, members of the Algstern (Zerstorendarian police force), standing out the front. In a nation such as Zerstorendar, where the law was strictly upheld and any sort of misbehavior was confined to inside clubs such as the Man’s Lands, the Controllers were always present to enforce the law on whoever entered or left. There were probably four Controllers inside, as per standard protocol for a gladiator tavern as popular as this, who maintained the peace to a reasonable extent inside and kept contact with their fellows outside. Fighting with certain rules, certain types of gambling and drinking was rampant and mostly tolerated, but brawling, causing damage to the establishment, drugs and attacking the unwilling/causing grievous injury to a person after they had lost a fight was not. The subjective laws of the Zerstorendarian nightlife were well known by anybody who frequented these establishments, and as such there were no warnings: when a person broke one of these laws, they were immediately punished. Punishment involved a beating by a Controller, and the injured person would then be dumped unceremoniously in a pile outside of the tavern where they were legally obliged to remain until the Controllers deemed they had learned their lesson. The pile outside the Man’s Lands was already about eleven people, and the sun hadn’t even gone down.

Dietrich laughed uproariously.

“See? Everybody knows we’re coming, they’re already partying hard!�
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