Corgan just watched Ace go off on the Comtesse yet again. After the angry rant was over and Ace was gone he started to speak, but was interrupted by a strange Nekovalkyrja. Even more strange was the fact that it appeared to be a male Neko. He had no idea that was even possible without that weird medicine that turns men into women. The thought of such a drug was disturbing to Corgan. What kind of person would invent something like that? He pictured himself as a big buff woman and came to the conclusion he would make a horrible woman.
After his mind stopped wandering he took in what the man said. He pretended to actually know him. "Koga Akemi, right. May I introduce the Comtesse Penelope Dantratten and her older sister Amana." He gestured to each sister as he introduced them. "They were just informing me that the Comtesse's uncle wishes to solidify their ties to Empress Uso by offering her hand in marriage to someone in Uso's court. A scoundrel calling himself the Glass Rose accosted the Comtesse and stole a family heirloom."
Corgan turned to Amana. "I noticed you were mouthing the exact same words the Comtesse used. Is this something you've heard before? Are the circumstances exactly the same or does this Rose individual usually have a more personal interaction with the victims?"
As Akemi appeared and introduced himself, both sisters turned very slightly to get a look at him. The moment he described himself as a business owner, and associate of Uso they turned back to Corgan. Penelope first, then Amana, who seemed to more be sizing him up. Penelope returned to quietly seething, seemingly sticking to her story. Amana on the other hand just turned her remaining eye back to the direction Ace stormed off in.
"Look, a lot of your people are learning about now that most of the things people around here think are important? Probably not important to you." Amana explained, digging her toes into the sand. "Your friend, or guard, or whatever he is? He caused me to lose an eye. I forgive him for it, and in return he storms off like a child and accosts my family. Under normal circumstances, I'd be obligated to challenge him to a duel for that. Whether or not I give a damn about Penny, I'd be honor bound."
Penelope just nodded in the affirmative, sulking slightly still.
"Your people are... Different from us. The Glass Rose? It's something like a game, okay? If one of us gets something stolen from us by someone who's just smarter, or stronger, but not neccessarily 'better', people chalk it up to some mystery rogue gentleman. And they let it go. If you can steal from us, you probably deserve what you get. In Penelope's case? Chances are she was seeing some new lover after your so-called 'Thieftaker General' shot her husband." Amana indicated across the beach, to where Arccos was putting her poncho of office back on.
The Comtesse almost shrunk, taking a step over to her sister and placing a hand on Amana's shoulder, "N-no. It's nothing like that, Amana."
"Someone probably saw that she was with someone else, she probably screamed, he left a rose, and she's playing along because she'd be shamed and ostracised if she did anything willingly... So I'm going to put this in very clear terms. You don't have to marry my sister, she'd probably be happier with her glass rose. At the same time, since you turned up? Outside this city it's chaos all around the Great Green Sea. I handed you that sword and the right to command our army in the hopes that you'll stop treating us like an enemy and invest some sort of effort in helping our people from the dozens of 'glass roses' that are cropping up to take whatever they want... If you don't, chances are that General Lewis won't be the only one to lead a rebellion against you. The next ones will just be smarter."
"I totally have this," Akemi said, eagerly stepping forward and raising a hand to shoulder level at Corgan before turning back to the two wonderful women. This was his moment and he sure was excited but he did his best to be calm, cool and collected. The sisters may have immediately written him off but that wasn't their fault. It was simply how they were taught to behave and they were acting in a moment of desperation so they naturally would only care to appeal to the most apparently powerful person in the situation. The Nepleslian had likely introduced himself better and Akemi was quite grateful for his smooth address and summary as well as Amana's very useful words. The older sister's speech served as an excellent means to set the stage for cutting right to the chase. Besides, part of the man actually liked being ignored. It made what he'd say next more fun to share.
"Well ladies I know I didn't introduce myself in a manner that would make me sound important but I assure you I am so I'd like to have your attention and Corgan's and save everyone a lot of time. I said I was only an associate of Uso but I am essentially a member of her court. I'll be honest with you, she doesn't care about nobles and doesn't fancy herself as titled royalty so she doesn't have a court as you would imagine one. She has said we can do whatever we'd like with you. As a result I'm probably the most valuable ally you can make. I don't work for or under her, I work alongside her for myself and for mutual benefit. I am her ally but I am not totally dedicated and beholden to her. I would like to marry into your planet's aristocracy and work with at least the one noble house I become a part of. I will defend and preserve it and those that work under or with it while the others are potentially stripped of their privileges and land."
The Neko took a moment to further compose his thoughts and raised two hands politely to ask the three to hold on a little longer as he carefully chose his words to continue to be clear and concise. At times like this he was extremely thankful he had a digital brain. "I want to bring peace and stability to this planet by working with the people who used to be in charge. I intend to make whichever house I align myself with the most powerful native entity and to strengthen it with far more advanced technology from space which I will gradually bring to everyone and use to transform this planet into a vastly more beautiful, livable and orderly place."
Feeling pretty good about himself the little aspirant to peerage hoped he hadn't hurt the gracious Garret's mood by possibly ruining an attempt to make the women think they cared about nobility and a class system. He also worried he might have shot himself in the foot by not playing along with their potential perception of Uso's people through their world's paradigm.
Corgan's mood was actually improved by Akemi's intervention. The Neko seemed to actually enjoy this, while Corgan couldn't care less about the nobility. The first interesting thing he had heard was the mention of the chaos surrounding the Great Green Sea and commanding an army. He decided to follow Akemi's lead this time. "What Akemi says is true. We have no nobility, not in the way you do. Uso doesn't care about the nobility. What she does care about is order. If helping your family will stop another rebellion, then I am on board, and so is the Empress. If one of you has to marry one of us, I think Akemi would be a far better choice." He said, ditching the feigned formality he had been struggling to maintain.
"I can't promise the Empress will do anything officially, but I am putting together my own forces. I plan on personally leading them into battle and securing the other cities. We should have a meeting to talk about the specifics. I would prefer to go over the details with just you and your uncle, Amana. You seem like you'll tell me the truth even if it's not pleasant. I like that."
The two sisters would turn to look at Akemi, both exchanging a rather meaningful glance. Both keeping quiet through his whole explanation, before having a weird exhange of shrugs and gestures. Pointing to Akemi, pointing over towards where Ace and Alex stormed off to. Penelope would point a couple of times to Akemi's bare chest in utter bafflement, to which Amana would pat her own chest once or twice, then indicate that Penelope should look lower. The weird way they could communicate wordlessly made it seem that; yes, they really were sisters.
Penelope eventually gave a little sigh, looking to address Akemi. "I don't buy it. That uncouth peasant introduced himself as one thing, then claimed he was of good breeding. I didn't fall for it from him, and I won't fall for it from you. If you're a merchant, don't claim to be your better. And certainly don't claim to be an equal to your Empress."
Amana cleared her throat, signalling that Penelope should turn off the bullshit hose.
"Look. I joined the Regiment so I wouldn't have to deal with titles or stupid kids' games." Amana rolled down her sleeves, straightening her cavalryman's jacket. "I can tell you now that while you aliens have been doing a fine job of stomping out bandits, all you're really doing is riding out to stomp the big bugs. I'm just formally giving you command of everything we have in the hopes that you'll at least come take a look. If you want to buy into the games, I'm sure a lot of Duchesses, Dames, and Countesses are willing to line up to meet your... Uh... Flamboyant friend."
"Out there, there's a lot of places your Lawmen won't step because the resistance from the landowners is too heavy. And there's rampant crime in those parts because we can't bring anyone in for stealing; because if enough people cry to your Thieftaker she just rolls in and shoots the Landowners. I want to work with you so that whatever we're doing lines up with what you want to see. If that's order? We're well in line with what we're hoping for here... So... If you're willing to listen to it, Ambassador? If that's actually a title you're going by? Just... Come meet us at our estate. For a day. You can get there and back really fast as far as I know. We'll gather some people who want to work with you, and you can make a good decision. I can point out the piss-takers, if that's what you want."
Corgan listened carefully to Amana's response, basically ignoring anything Penelope says at this point. He didn't think she had an ounce of intellect in her whole body. Amana seemed to be far more clever. "I am the Ambassador to the I'ee, the insect people you might have seen around here. That was true. The Thieftaker is a friend of mine, I may be able to convince her to let me handle this, that way she doesn't come in and kill the Landowners. I will need to return to the ship and change out of my beach clothes. Some of your people might be interested in joining my Reavers. I will make sure not to harm any of your family, but I can't promise we won't be killing any of the other nobles. If we catch any of them with the rebels they will be killed. Unless you can get them to stand down, in which case it won't be necessary."
Akemi was all smiles and only seemed to adore the fair Penelope more. Her sister likewise unintentionally wooed him in her own way. Their combined sign language was priceless. What a perfect pair he had chanced upon.
Seeing how he was completely obliged with his first speech the man decided to risk making another. "You ladies are extremely lovely and highly amusing. I only look this way because Uso and us came down here to the beach as a casual social event to relax and I wanted to have fun appearing in potentially less than proper attire when I went elsewhere. I can look however I want." Akemi looked at the soldier's outfit and mirrored it minus the wear and tear. Then he looked down for a moment to examine it up close.
"It's very endearing, as are your scars. They give you an immense amount of character and distinction and accentuate the rest of you. Everything I said is true whether you'll believe it now or not. We could go to Uso to verify it but she probably wouldn't care about correcting your misunderstanding without my urging. I would love to work with you and learn the ins and outs of your society and thus how to solve or reduce its problems and elevate the quality of life of all natives."
Akemi couldn't wait to see how the women would respond to what he would say next and his gleeful anticipation ended up plastered across his entire face. "As a sign of good faith I could remove all blemishes and wounds from your bodies and give you a drug that would vastly increase your lifespan and prevent aging." The Neko was thrilled by the idea of getting to appear before primitives as if he was tempting them into a devil's deal. "I could even get you immortal bodies crafted exactly to your specifications but I wouldn't want you two possibly giving up any of the charm you already have when I'm only just growing attached to it. I was told by Uso she left handling nobles to us and the only person I've heard of dealing with you is Arccos and she's casually killing you left and right. I want to be the person who truly takes the time to understand and help you people even when I don't immediately desire something. Others are likely to only care about your plight when convenient."
Amana just nodded to Corgan, not really adding much to it in any way. Seemed as though these terms were about agreeable to her in any case. The only thing she had to append however:
"The sword shows that our people obey you now. If you want them in your Reavers you have them, I can ask for volunteers if that's what you'd like." Amana said, indicating the ornate piece of weaponry she'd handed Corgan earlier. "We're your vassal now."
Penelope on the other hand seemed more interested in Akemi's input. The little Neko seemed far more agreeable to the Comtess' sensibilities at this stage, and to a degree it seemed that she was mutually ignoring Corgan.
"I'm assuming that you'd be charging some significant price for all these regardless. None of you aliens have been particularly forthcoming with miracle cures, or immortality drugs." She seemed to be far more comfortable with berating Akemi than anything else. Seemed that once she'd pegged someone as being beneath her, they were that way for life. Oddly enough neither of them, nor anyone in their immediate entourage seemed to be that amazed by anything Akemi offered or showed. It could be that what they'd seen from Uso and her kind had been enough to convince them that just about anything was possible.
"I suppose the merchant classes have occasionally thrown in to help, though. If you want to work with us you may speak with Jiles, my Valet." She said, indicating a middle aged man nearby wearing a rather smartly pressed suit. Positively sweltering in the bright sun and beach atmosphere.
Somehow Corgan had missed the part where her family's people would obey him now. He would have probably never realized it if Amana never explicitly stated it. "That does make it easier. Yes, I would like some volunteers. They will need to learn how to use our weapons and operate some of our vehicles. If they prove trustworthy I might let them use the big guns. At some point they may need to go to another planet, but they will earn a wage in addition to whatever loot we happen upon." He slowed down, noticing he was starting to ramble. "I'll give all the details to whoever shows up. Who is the commander of your forces? I should meet him if we're going to be working together."
Amana just pointed to herself, "That's me. Captain of the Asantren regiment."
"I think I like you more every time you speak. Strange, with your sister it's the opposite." He grinned. "How many are in your regiment? I will see about getting them a suitable barracks. I'm sure we can make something more comfortable than what you have."
"Roughly nine hundred." Amana said, "We had about three times that earlier this year, but... Well, times are tough."
Akemi's patience was somewhat tested. He was starting to feel completely defeated. He had a feeling he could offer the better deal but Amana had already made up her mind when it came to who she chose and her sister wouldn't even seriously consider his offer at all. Part of him felt like saying something threatening to put some fear into the countess. Another simply wanted to say something to make her understand what she was risking with her behaviour yet that'd likely only make things worse. All he wanted to do was make her believe him. He came with honesty, both in his manner and his words yet he was being punished for it. At the same time no matter how bad he might be treated he refused to wrong the two as he didn't want to ruin anything for the man he just met and he refused to abuse to get what he wanted when they were simply unknowingly rude given their predicament. At least they both sure seemed rude to him when he could give them an express trip to their dearly departed at a moment's notice.
"Well now that the two of you have collectively had your allegiance sworn to my colleague over here I've lost a great deal of my enthusiasm. I'd have fixed you both up completely free of charge but I guess he can do that. I won't do business with you if I have to speak to a servant. If I asked Uso to call me royalty she would do so and if I approached you in a serious manner initially I bet you'd have treated me as such. All I've done is be honest and say we don't use titles. My friend has backed me up on that. We're a group working together, some employed under her and some working with her. I am the latter but that seems lost on you. If you can't treat me with the respect I should be treated with for your own benefit I can only offer you goodwill, friendship and condolences for your husband's passing. Regardless of how you treat me I only wish you well and will treat you that way." Akemi couldn't even smile at this point like he almost always found himself doing lately. He had no room to do anything given his own standards.
Corgan looked at Akemi for a second, trying to figure out some way they could both get what they want. He wasn't sure what Akemi really wanted, though, so he couldn't come up with anything. The least he could do was try to help him out a little. He didn't want to make a bad first impression. "All I can give you is order and the satisfaction of knowing the people who wrong you will be swiftly destroyed. I can't provide the things Akemi has offered you. I would listen to what he has to say, especially if you want the drug he mentioned. No one else will offer that, especially not Uso."
The two women exchanged a little glance, before Amana finally sighed and burst through the culture barrier.
"Yeah, look. The only one who's been selling stuff from space? The one who shot the Comte. So she's pretty much honor bound to remember him by spiting the enemies he had in life. Chances are you aren't her, but there's not much known division between your sheriff, your queen, and just all aliens. You all might as well be the same person for what most people know outside Osman."
"Well I'll be honest yet again despite being punished for it with disbelief and disrespect the first time whether rational or not," Akemi replied, looking to make things clearer still. "I haven't harmed a hair on the head of a single person on this planet. I came here after all the fighting happened. I'm here to make money and friends and I'd like my relations to benefit the planet, not just myself. I'm not here to murder anyone unless I'm killing criminals to establish law and order and to protect my interests."
"You're talking to a woman who until a few months ago would refuse to pay in restaurants because if someone asked her if she wanted the bill it would imply that she might not have enough money." Amana said, with a little grunt of frustration. The whole thing seemed to be enough to finally get the Comtesse to storm off.
"Same time? All this honor bullshit is more or less all that a lot of people have anymore. You come down, you're all better than us. Stronger, faster, able to kill an entire army with a team of nine. Better looking." Amana indicated Corgan's slab of abs, then moved to indicate Akemi's just... Akemi. "Well, I guess better looking. You're able to do things none of us can dream of, and most of us just get killed rather than gaining anything from interacting with you. If some sort of stupid pride in being better mannered, with more history than you is all they have? That's what people cling to... A lot of people ate the barrels of their own guns after you crushed us outside the walls of this city."
Amana stopped to turn to the family valet, retrieving a pair of riding boots and kneeling down to slide them on.
"Aaron Grant was right that aliens were coming to conquer us all. You know why I gave you that saber, offered you our taxes, and invited you to our house? It's because Uncle thought that if you accepted it, then it implied that you were allowing us control over our own army under your command, a right to collect taxes to give to you, and to keep on owning the house Penny grew up in." Both boots on, Amana stood up again. Giving a sharp military salute, two fingers above the brow. "Our history's over, and chances are that none of us will ever have time in the sun again. And that's a bitter pill to swallow."
Akemi huffed. There was still so much explaining to do. In his mind Amana was being far too fatalistic but then again he couldn't fault her for her gloomy outlook given the circumstances. Now more than ever he had to try to set things straight. "I must make another speech," he declared swiftly. "I don't know what you'll get with him but with me I'll preserve your titles, rights and lands or at least give you something in return for whatever you lose." As the Neko spoke he brought a palm to rest upon his nonexistent heart. "With me the sun will continue to shine on you and it'll shine brighter than ever before. I don't want to take anything from anyone. I only want people to be loyal to me and for them to work with me and share in my profit. If they do I'll protect and nurture them like the children I never had." In truth they'd be much more like pets, but Akemi was way more interested in caring for pets than being a father. Well he would like to have at least one bastard child at every spaceport, but being bastards he wouldn't intend to do much to nurture them.
"You don't have to lose anything and what you lose can be replaced with something better. Uso isn't going to claim everything personally for herself. This planet is vast. I imagine we can each carve out our own little kingdoms if we want to so long as we don't fight her. She'd probably find that more amusing than simply going to her for a judgment on everything." He could go on but he had said what was most important to him. Eventually he'd get to clarifying that he took no issue with Penelope abusing him so long as she understood his position. Abuse was something he could bond over and find endearing.
Corgan didn't like feeling like the bad guy. He never expected to end up slaughtering natives for a hedonistic Nekovalkyrja when he joined Ragnarok. It was starting to feel like he was competing with Akemi for the Asantren. "I hadn't planned on taking any lands, and I have no desire to. You'll keep your titles and whatever else you want. I won't even force your soldiers to serve in my forces, only those who are interested. I must have not made myself clear. You can stay in command of your army as long as you take no action against Uso, but I wish you would consider being my second in command." He turned to address Akemi directly. " We don't need to compete, Akemi. What you describe is no different than my goal, except I don't want to be part of the nobility. Can't we both get something from this arrangement? Maybe you can work with the ones who don't want to join me? I don't need 900 soldiers, and some might not even be suited to mechanized warfare."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," Akemi agreed in a calm, relieved voice. "It's entirely up to them to decide but it'd sure be nice if she took back her sword and stopped taking this depressing outlook. If you don't want to personally look after her people's general day to day problems and instead wish to focus on recruiting for a police force and crushing the criminals then she can swear to me and I'll handle mediating and securing things for them while you get all the soldiers you want. Heck she can pledge to both of us in different capacities. She can promise to aid your law enforcement efforts while still having her own army for personal matters like a war with another family."
Amana watched one-eyed as Penelope went her way, chased soon by their valet, before turning to look at the two and crossing her arms.
"Uncle wanted me to surrender to a representative of the new queen, or whatever she's calling herself. Not her partners. No offense to you... 'Sir', but you're not the one with the army of metal men from the sky, as far as I can tell." She clarified, "And ultimately, Uncle's the one who's managing the lands until Penelope remarries... I also have limited patience for it. If you want to talk specifics, you'll have to talk to him. Come to the estate like I said, and there'll be more people there to make this sort of deal with. If you want to talk armies, it's really more our army swearing to do what you say. If you want me or anyone else to join your army? You'll have to come to the barracks and work something more formal out in terms of military alliance."
"I don't think I brought anything that you would deem acceptable to wear. Is there somewhere around here I can get something made?" Corgan asked Amana.
"If you don't have anything, I'm sure we can send you to our family's tailor." Amana added, "If you want some sort of star fabrics to wear, you'll have to bring it yourself, though."
Akemi glowed with eager anticipation of what he'd get put in. He didn't care if it was silly. In fact the sillier and gaudier the better. He started to wonder if the family's tailor would have the resources and style to adequately do his fabulous feminine features and dandy demeanor justice.
"Sounds great. I'd love to get dressed up in whatever attire your people would think best suits me." Once more the Neko's dainty hand was placed upon his chest. "I want to learn, experience and embrace your culture after all. I wish you'd stop worrying about Uso so much. She's probably more concerned with conquering the rest of the planet than managing what she's already taken, hence why we have free reign. It'd sure be nice if you'd try to be a little more optimistic. If you'd like I'll heal all of those injuries of yours at no cost. Maybe then you can have a little more faith in us. You're beautiful either way of course, but you could think of a fresh face as a symbol of fresh relations. We're not all monsters."
"Well, get your doctor or what have you to meet me at my estate. I've got a long ride around the coast ahead of me..." Amana said, turning on her heel to wander away. "Enjoy your day at the seashore, both of you..."