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RP: Hidden Sun Clan Dinner with the Ambassador

Nashoba

SARPaholic & Admin
Convention Veteran
Retired Staff
Hanako's World Spaceport

PDS Poku Hapu

Through out the day, the crew of the 'Hand of the Clan" were busy making preparations. This was to be the first time the ship was going to receive a dignitary. In honor of their guest, a rug in the color of the Ketsurui clan was placed between the two planters.

To the left of the entrance behind the planter was a place where musicians would be seated to help provide ambiance.

Tesgi was in the Giana Ruosa or galley as his guest would call it. It was sampling the items that his chef had prepared.

The first was Buvory, one of the meat staples of the clan. The chef had prepared it three ways with various textures and seasonings. At Tesgi's suggestion they had different levels of spices.

After sampling the rest of the items, he gave a series of instructions. The sterility screens on the airlocks would be set to atmopheric only was important. He was not sure how his guest would react if they offered to sterilize her. A dark purple carpet covered the ramp to the airlock. Two of the Blood Guard were posted outside to keep watch.

Once his various orders were done, he went to his office to wait for word when she arrived.

Hanako arrived dressed in her duty uniform, a regal blue double-breasted military jacket with white panel on the torso, worn with a matching regal blue skirt, cadet blue tights, and short glossy black heels. She had a sailor cap on her head with "STAR ARMY" enbroidered across it in gold bullion. She was alone but carried a sidearm tucked away in her gray leather belt as it was considered part of the uniform. Her hair was wavy and teal with two gold hair clips in it keeping her bangs out of her face, and her eyes were big and gold. For an admiral, she looked small and young, but that was the norm for Nekovalkyrja.


Seeing the blue haired Nekovalkyrja approaching, one of the guards walked up the ramp and into the ship. A moment later, a smaller figure emerged from the airlock and walked down the ramp. Tesgi paused to look at his guest, and then walked down the ramp with his natural feline grace. He waited for her at the bottom. He wore a dark brown jendomu, and umatli. He wore a scarf like item that draped around his next that was a very dark puple.

He extended his arms away from his body, and bowed slightly and said, "Greetings Shosho Hanako Ketsurui. You honor my ship and crew by accepting my invitation."

"It is a pleasure to accept your hospitality, Tesgi-san," Hanako replied, giving a respectful bow to Tesgi. "Welcome to Hanako's World. After my ship discovered it some years ago, it was named after me by my superior, Ketsurui Yui. It is an excellent place for recreation and entrepreneurship. A planet for love."

"It says much about your Empire that you can devote a world to such lofty purposes. Sadly, for the foreseeable future any world we settle will be more utilitarian. "

He took a sniff at the air, "It is interesting to smell your air here. It is not often that I had the occassion to stand near an ocean. Shall we enter? I had my crew deactivate the sterilization aspect of our airlock airshield. A common sentiment of my people is passing through the sterilization mist is a test of spirit."


"Please lead the way," Hanako nodded, falling into step behind the Qak'toro man. "You will find Nekovalkryja to be clean and healthy creatures."

Tesgi made a short chuckling sound. "Forgive me Sar-Hanako, I did not mean that your people were not clean or healthy. It is standard policy for our ships to use the sterilization to prevent pathogens from a world getting brought aboard, and possibly brought to World Station. A great plague some 200 years ago ravaged the World Station, since then the protocol has been in place. Now that we are out of the shadows, some of our policies are being modified." he said and walked up the ramp.

Out of habit he closed his eyes as he stepped through the atmospheric shielding. The field yielded easily to him and he entered the airlock.

He walked through the airlock and waited in the hallway.

"As your people have chosen to claim the former worlds of the Mishhuvurthyar, your territory has now greatly increased," Hanako observed as she followed along. "Having Yamatai has an ally provides your people with an opportunity to spread without having to worry much about interference from hostile factions."

"While it is true that our territory is increased, we are only now preparing to launch colony ships to start the settling. There is much work to be done, first ensuring the scourge of the NMX has been removed, then establishing settlements.

Having Yamatai as an ally is a good thing, but even now there are those rouges who enter our space. But our defense forces will take care of them. As for the other empires in this region,the council prefers to wait and see how things work with Yamatai before approaching the others. The politics of some are confusing to say the least. The Neplesalians for example were part of your Empire, but now they seem to hold you in scorn." He answered as he started walking down the hallway.

The air inside the hallway had natural fragrance that was similar to that one would smell in a forest.

"We will take the lift to the upper level. We do not use zero-gravity hallways like on your ships. We have shafts that the crew climbs through. But for guests the lifts are more efficient." he said as he approached a double door. When he pressed the button they parted and a hexagonal elevator car was visible. The interior of the lift differed from the passageway, in that the walls were covered in wooden panels.

A couple of Qaktoro were walking down the passageway, and stopped to watch.

"You are the first Nekovalkyrja to come aboard the Poku Hapu. Your Premier was the first alien to come aboard one of our ships willingly in more than seven centuries. Kindly ignore if some of my crew forgets their manners," he said.

He looked at the two and in his native language said, "I am sure you have duties to attend to, stop gawking like baqli and get to them."

Hanako stepped in the lift. "In time, perhaps this will start the shift of your culture from being salvagers to being an agricultural society," she speculated. "In times of change, your leadership will be put to the test. There are great oppotunities. But opportunities to succeed are also opportunities to fail. In this, I hope for your success. Your people have been good to mine since the first contact, under your guidance," she said. "Thank you for that. Yamatai's place as the strongest power has not done well to earn us friends and thus we especially cherish those we have."

"That is the plan, I know that my kind, that is to say Tula, look forward to living on planets with abundant plant life. I can assure you that as long as Yamatai does not treat us badly, we shall remain friends." He said as the lift closed and ascended.

"Imagine all the food," Hanako smiled.

Tesgi chuckled, "Food is good, but flowers, and trees, their presence is soothing. Perhaps sometime you can visit the World Station. We have plants there that came from our home. But most of the plants that were taken were for what they offered, few for their beauty. We have added some from the worlds we have visited."

When the lift stopped the door opened. There was a hallway that ran to either side, and across located between two structure beams was a pair of doors with the clan heraldry on them. "This is the meeting room, or conference room to use your term," he said walking across. The doors slid open and revealed a large room.

The floor of the room was covered in wood panels that resembled bamboo, along either side of the entrance was a 3 meter long of planter. In each corner of the room a dwarf fruit tree grew in a large pot, and vines similar to the one on Tesgi's left arm entwined on the structural beams. As he walked into the room Tesgi touched the plants and their blossoms opened to reveal that they were Yamataian Bellflowers.

Hanako didn't want to make assumptions about where they would dine so she remained slient.

"I thought it would be good to eat in a casual manner, one conducive to discussion and getting to know each other." He walked over to a pair of resting chairs on either side of a wooden table. There were also a pair of standing chairs nearby.

He put a hand on the curved wooden resting chair. "These are one of the most common form of chair, they can rotate and you can recline the back to a position that is comfortable. Or you can use one of these," he said pointing to the padded stools that were nearby.

The Nekovalkyrja lady sat on one of the the stools. "Thank you. This will be the first time I have tried any foods from your culture. I do not know what to expect."

One of the attending crew members moved the resting chairs away, and Tesgi took a seat on the other one.

"I asked the cooks to prepare a variety of sampling dishes, not know your preferences, and wanting the opportunity to share a number of our delicacies. But first, as host, I have a few gifts, tokens as it were."

A crew member dressed in black clothes brought over two items. Tesgi took the first one and placed it on the table in front of Hanako. It was a crystal carving of a Qaktoro. When Tesgi tapped the top of it an image appeared above it. "This is the first Mui. It was he would brought the first of us from home world to where World Station is now. If not for him, we would not exist. His name was Kotoz Mui 1.5 million of our people left, all that remained out of billions."

"The second gift that tradition requires, I chose something that symbolizes how our people are working together. He picked up a black device that had three crystals protruding from the top of it. The object was about 6 inches tall. He placed it on the table and touched the silver tab on the front of it. The device started producing a strange music.

"These are singing crystals, a relatively new form of entertainment. But what is special is the music itself. It is composed from the energy signatures of the star here in this system. I hope these gifts are acceptable to you."

"You are most gracious. I will cherish these gifts and keep them with my most valuable belongings," Hanako said, taking time to look them over from her seat. She listened to the strange sounds from the crystals. At the moment, she felt unprepared because she did not have gifts of her own to return the gesture.

"The tradition of giving gifts to guests goes back to before we left the home world. Guest are not expected to give gifts. It is about balance. A guest coming to dine honors the host, so the host is expected to give small gifts to acknowledge that, and achieve equilibrium.

So now we can start with something to drink perhaps. Do you prefer non-alcoholic or alcoholic beverages?"

"I would like some of each, please," Hanako replied, hoping to broaden her experiences with the Hidden Sun Clan. "I should mention that I have a winery here on the planet if you would like to visit it and sample its drinks."

"Actually I had hoped to visit it. I am curious about your processes, and the product of course. Are you inviting me Sar-Hanako?" He said gesturing to one of attendants.

The Tula brought a cart over and placed it between Hanako and Tesgi, but far enough away she could stand in front of it to serve from it.

"We will allow our guest to sample the drinks. " Tesgi said.

The attendant picked up a bottle of dark red fluid and pour some into a small shot glass size cup. "This is called Bloodfruit, it is not alcholic, but takes its name from the fruit it is made from. It is a type of cider and spiced with sea spice," Reeov said offering the cup.

She pour another cup and gave it to Tesgi. "Thank you Reeov," he said accepting it.

"You may visit it whenever you like," Hanako smiled. She brought the red liquid to her lips and then tasted a bit of it on her tongue.

The bloodfruit tasted like an apple cider, but with a hint of cinnamon and honey.

Meanwhile Reeov pour a bottle of a dark brown fluid into a bowl and put it on her cart. She then lit the fluid.Flames danced on its surface.

"Then I shall add it to my plans for this world," Tesgi looked at Reeov, "Decided to break out the 'fire rum' I see Reeov. "

"That flaming liquid Sar-Hanako is a dangerous substance in its original form. However, setting it on fire causes a chemical reaction that destroys the toxic properties, and improves the taste. I am told they tried to distribute the purified version and it was not accepted. Apparently the stuff is not as good cold, and letting it burn gets it to the proper temperature."

"I see," Hanako nodded.Once the flames died out, she brought the small bowl to under her nose and gave it a curious sniff. After a moment, she gave it a sip, too. "Interesting!" She sipped a little more. "This is intoxicating," she remarked.

Tesgi smiled, "I am glad you like it. I tend to drink it sparingly, only because of my physical stature. A Qaktoro can easily drink two or three of those. Two of them and I am ready to find a place to nap."

"Perhaps we should have something a bit filling to counter the spirits."

A silver furred Tuoro with bright blue eyes came out carrying two covered dishes.

"My name is Sonti, Sar-Hanako. We have two items for you to sample. She placed them on the table between Tesgi and his guest. She lifted the cover off the first dish, "These are pickled buvory eggs." on the silver plate were four goose egg sized dark purple eggs. "The buvory are a species that we brought from our birthworld during the Norka."

She then uncovered the other dish, "Baked kywiqor with dark sauce. The sauce is I believe the word your people use tangy." On this plate were cooked insects that looked like scarabs, about three inches in length. "Kywiqor are something we found after the exodus."

Sonti placed a small dish in front of Hanako and Tesgi, she put a pair of tongs on each serving dish. Then placed a small two pronged fork on their dishes.

She then stepped back to watch them eat.

Tesgi watched Hanako, "Sar-Hanako, if I may ask, what did you make of the 'Dreamworld? Ship Commander Qoety gave a rather informative report about the Essai. I would like to hear your assessment."

"I feel like the traveling machine-planet presents as much opportunity as it does danger," Hanako answered. "There is so much to learn about it, but the planet and its occupants have been incentivized to take advantages of visitors for their own personal gain in the eyes of the planet's master intelligence. A proper investigation is going to require allies there and a secure base station, I would think. Alternatively, we could pull residents out of the planet's reach where we can converse with them without interference and presure. As for the Essai, I feel like they are a potential threat because they they are both technologically powerful and dangerously inconsiderate of the rights of other beings."

"The Tanoi has decided that the Essai and their machine world are best left alone. Their ability to move interdimensionally makes them too much of a risk. They could bypass defensive lines, and take what they want. Since they were not able to access the Learned Bear's brain, they could not gain information about our location. We have a group of Searcher ships maintaining a safe distance from their incursion site, doing readings." Tesgi replied.

Hanako felt ancy being watched eating. It wasn't something people really did on Yamatai. She humored them, though, sampling all of their offerings...even one of the insects. She tried to picture it as shrimp or crab or something in her mind to help.

Tesgi stabbed one of the insects, he brought it up and took a bite almost half of the insect vanished into his mouth. He chewed it with relish. "I actually prefer these to some of the meats my people eat. But that is also because I am a Tula, and we do not have the same tastes as the Qaktoro."

He picked up his glass and drank some more of the bloodfruit.

"I would like to ask a question about your people if I may. When I met with your Premier she said that you manufacture soldiers. With as many people as you already have. Why must you manufacture them?

Some two hundred or so years ago, the Tanoi lifted the ban on cloning. This was because of the Weakening. Between death and infirmaty, we lost 20% of our people. So we created new Qaktoro, but they were not citizens. The were not property, but were what we call Râyjo Vonai or Bound People. As such they were cared for and protected. With time those that wished were permitted to undergo the Baqnor and become citizens. Others chose to remain as they were.

So you can see why I am curious."

"We create warriors so that the citizens are not obliged to risk themselves. Once our soldiers serve their required time, they can become citizens, too. Currently Yamatai is interested in increasing our population."

"So will you create civilians to accomplish this? Or depend on natural methods. We have lifted restrictions on births in the clan since the New Worlds have been opened."

"Yamatai does not mass-produce civilians, only soldiers," Hanako elaborated.

"That is an interesting distinction. Within the clan we have no such dichotomy. Any member of the clan can be a warrior, and by extension a civilian. Do you have a family Sar-Hanako? I had two mothers, a father and a brother and sister."

"No," Hanako answered, "They died, and later I was adopted into the royal clan."

"No mate then? Mine was killed when the ship I was captured on was boarded by the NMX."

"Not presently," Hanako said. "I suppose one could say I am married to my work for the moment."

"As I am at the moment. So I have been asking you questions, is there something about my people you would like to know?" Tesgi asked.
 
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