Melisson allowed herself a little smile at Flint's words, girlishly joining her hands behind her. Her bare feet padded on the floor as she followed after the Grand Admiral.
Flint led Melisson through a series of double-doors which opened up to a small yet somewhat impressively decorated room. The oval-shaped expanse was laid out with a lavish deep-green rug, and the walls were adorned sparsely with a few nameless knickknacks, each of them in some way signifying the greater moments in Nepleslia's past. In the center of the room, seated behind a posh table of polished wood, were the four senators of the Democratic Imperium of Nepleslia. In front of the table were a few comfortable-looking chairs, equally exuberant in their appearance.
As Flint opened the doorway, he and the few Britva-clad IPG guardsmen trailed in behind Melisson and took positions around the room. Flint Vanderhuge took it upon himself to stand at one end of the senators table, nodding towards the pair of chairs before the red-haired Mishhuvurthyar, subtly ordering her to be seated.
Melisson returned a silent nod and seated herself. She took a moment to make sure her long wavy hair settled properly and then looked to the senators.
Calero finished his plus-sized can of tea just as the Mishhuvurthyar woman entered. He tossed the can over his shoulder, breathing a little heavily as he did so. His eyes were trained on the video screen rather than the visitor. He reached forward and grabbed another of the five cans he had brought. He finally looked to Melisson as she sat down. "Tea? It's quite good." He groaned and looked back to the video link to Yamatai. The normally chipper man looked quite sober.
"Thank you, but no," Melisson shook lightly her head. "As you may be pressed for time due to events which seem to be moving fairly quickly, allow me to dispense with the formalities and get right to the meat of the matter you've come to discuss. You had questions."
"Not so much anymore," Calero muttered in response before drinking deeply from his can.
"Tea? You're quite masculine, aren't you?" Garza took a sip of his whiskey and bit down on a lemon peel, his eyes trained on the visitor. The Misshuvurthyar were, in his mind, still a threat. But the wonderful appearance of this one caught him quite off-guard. The senator expected some terrible, tentacled monster, not something he'd pay to see naked in some magazine.
Patrino's gaunt expression did not change on his face, his eye's followed the Mishhu woman's movements. He squinted his eyes more and spoke, "Plauge."
The pink-skinned woman crossed her arms - her robe's fabric was entirely too thin and while it was opaque enough to satisfy a measure of modesty, they could sort of guess where her nipples were. "Yes, plague." Melisson eyed the screen. "What would you wish to ask me then?"
Patrino slapped his right hand into his left, "Plauge!"
"...I'm fairly certain it's pronounced pla-gue in Nepleslian." Melisson hazarded, sending Patrino a puzzled look.
“Yes…the plague,” Ed Vanderhuge chimed in, glancing sharply across the table before turning back to Melisson. “Alright, Miss…Melisson. It’s become apparent to us that your accusation of Yamatai…starting the plague might’ve been true. This in itself lends to your credibility a bit, however, I am still not convinced about your reasons for this war with Yamatai. They have been fighting you ever since you and your kind appeared in our space…I find it hard to believe you will just leave after this.”
Under the table, Garza sent a message from his personal communications device to Calero, writing "Hey, you can kinda see her nipples." Putting it away, he simply leaned forward on the table, eying the woman. "I agree with Senator Vanderhuge. What guarantee do we have that your kind won't merely turn around and attack us after Yamatai is weakened?"
The younger Vanderhuge stirred in his seat. "It doesn't add up to me."
Calero's pad chirped, earning it a cursory glance from the Senator, followed by an eye dart to the chest of the Mishhu woman, and a glare to the Nepleslia Prime representative. He went back to his tea and watching the screen.
Melisson set her arms over the table. "Well, you can choose to believe two things, really. The first is that I'm really here along with the Mishhuvurthyar to destroy all sentient life around for a pitiful reason such as 'your suffering serves to makes me stronger' or something; or you can believe that we actually did it for a reason and that once that is all done and that our reason to fight against Yamatai is resolved that we will just be on our way."
"Proof." Patrino waved his a little, his suit wavering on his thin arms.
“Roach ‘s right. Didn’ give us much a’ different impression when yer kind first showed up,” Flint added in when he heard Melissons comment, edging a bit closer to the table as Melisson leaned her arms forward. “In fact, I recall no communication or reason for attack when the Misshu first showed up. Just started firin’.”
"The proof is my word," Melisson huffed. "I mean, how am I supposed to prove that anyways. Also, bear in mind that while I am pretty, popular and smart that it took me some time to really get to learn about your species and get the idea of what was going on, not to mention I was not the only agent of my people involved in this. Communication wasn't our greatest point but the Mishhuvurthyar were suffering and needed help. There were bad guys coming to torment them. The Mishhuvurthyar were made in our image, but the attackers pretty much took the role of evil aliens and we really didn't make much of a distinction between cat ears and round ears, mammary glands and the protrusion between the legs of your males - et cetera. Now, I can, so, I can use a more effective and hopefully smarter approach."
“You don’t need to prove it, per say…we just need some form assurance. You are asking us to join forces with an alien nation that, before now, has always loomed over us and attacked us until we split ourselves from Yamatai,” Ed replied. "...I'm sure you must understand our apprehension, because of this."
"Well, for starters, if I wanted to attack you, I wouldn't come openly - I'd likely take a very ruthless approach like I did back when I conquered the Bard Cluster. Now, I'm revealing myself, exposing myself to Yamatai in the process and I am putting you on alert instead of striking with the advantage of surprise. If you weren't worth talking to in the first place, then I would not."
"But why exactly?" Melisson sighed. "I told you already. A Nepleslian soldier tried to save my life. It made me feel trying might be worth it."
"Name?" Patrino piped.
"Claymere. Juni rank. A yamataian soldier," Melisson answered.
Flint nodded quickly, narrowing his eyes at the mention of the name. It didn’t ring a bell to him. The eldest Vanderhuge turned and pointed to one of the IPG soldiers, motioning towards to door with a single massive hand. The IPG must have gotten the idea, and exited in a huff to attend to Flint’s silent, but not so secret agenda.
"A Nepleslian in the service of Yamatai." Garza sighed, leaning back in his chair. "If you are not aware, most of us in Nepleslia tend to look down upon fellow Nepleslians who joined Yamatai." He pushed his whiskey to the side, not intending on getting drunk at such a meeting."If it was a Yamataian soldier that saved you, why are you seeking to destroy the government he worked under?"
"If I am not mistaken at the time, there was an order which made most Nepleslians stop working in the Star Army of Yamatai." Melisson smiled Garza's way. "This Claymere person decided to stay because he felt that it amounted to more to be fighting against evil aliens whom might - once Yamatai fell - also attack Nepleslia in turn than just come back home and get involved in the war against the Reds; a war which would have him kill other Nepleslians. It was a pragmatic decision as to where priorities were, even if he was mightily pissed at Yamatai's leadership for just being stupid."
Several moments later, the Operator returned, and tapped the Grand Admiral on the shoulder, careful not to use too much strength in a move that might hurt the man. Apparently, the Operator didn't feel like utilizing his vocal cords. He then held up a datapad with a SAoY personnel file displaying a brown-haired Nepleslian. The logo for a ship, the YSS Miharu, was displayed next to it. Much of the rest of the profile was blacked out however, as the vessel was apparently employed by some of the less visible agencies of the Empire. A note at the top of the screen ensured Flint these were just preliminary findings.
Flint snorted as he glanced at the information. “Well, lotta good stayin’ with Yamatai did him.”
“The issue with Nepleslians and Yamataians is a sad but true affair,” Ed said, rolling his head around the ball of his neck slightly before heaving a sigh. “However, it is irrelevant. I suppose you have proved that you don’t mean to attack us now. But, you are asking us to go to war. Yamatai is still a powerful nation, and we have enjoyed good relations with her since our independence. This information, while…unsettling, does not seem to me a good reason to declare a war we might possibly lose.”
Patrino looked over at Ed, "Investigation?"
"Because billions of lives are nothing but a truffle, are they, Mr. Vanderhuge?" Growled Calero, venom dripping from his voice.
"I use words right now," Melisson replied. "Perhaps you can use words in just the same fashion. I want Yamatai's ability to wage war somehow kept in check. I want the races of this region to agree to stopping to resort on aetheric power, weaponry and technology which follows the same concept. If I have what I want, then, there's no reason to keep fighting to force it on anyone."
Ed stood silent and looked to the others for their reactions.
"While I do agree with de-clawing our annoying friends across the galaxy, I do not agree with stopping to resort on aetheric-based technologies." Garza leaned forward, taking another bite of a lemon peel.
“Yamatai won’t give up usin’ aethery shit,” Flint added in his own opinion, from his military supervisor standpoint. “They rely on that shit too much. You could ask, but yer not gonna get anythin’.”
"Consequences?" Patrino asked.
Ed perked an eyebrow. "Yes, what consequences? Aether is free, limitless energy."
"I trust you are familiar with the process of entropy?" the Mishhuvurthyar woman asked.
"Randomness." Patrino nodded.
“…the fuck’s en-trophy?” Flint mumbled at Ed from the side of the table. Eddy merely shook his head.
"Couldn't we just push energy out?" Calero asked, now on his third can of tea.
"The tendency for all matter and energy in the universe to evolve toward a state of inert uniformity." Garza nodded smartly, hiding his PDA with "DICTIONARY FUNCTION" on the screen of it.
"Ah, no. I meant the part about the universe slowly cooling and everything eventually deteriorating through use until a state of disuse is reached." Melisson shook her head. "Aetheric energy is ambient energy drawn transdimensionally. It's like you being in a warm house in the winter season. If someone outside goes and opens the door, then he gets a mild air current which is quickly lost. Meanwhile, the house loses its heat and the people in it get cold. Basically, if you get energy, someplace else doesn't have it."
"Hence, push some out," Calero repeated. "Opening the dimensional rifts we use to bring the stuff here is not hard to do, and neither is transmission of energy."
“But this is happening on another dimensional plane,” Ed replied. “We lose nothing from drawing it, do we not?”
"Something so massive isn't so simple to perform, especially considering the decades aetheric energy was used already," Melisson moistened her lips. "You're aware of the existence of transdimensional devices like Yamatai's TDD - the ones which allow a ship to travel from one dimension to another?"
"Yes, of course." Calero replied, finally engaged in the room, as opposed to the screen. The rest of the room nodded in agreement.
"So, there were ways to weaken the barriers between different dimensions. Now, what would happen if the boundaries between different universe weaken and eventually come to fail? What happens if this not only involved two dimensions, but three or four? I never said aetheric power came from only one dimension. There are eddies in subspace everywhere."
Flint narrowed his eyes. "So, yer sayin' aetheric energy is gonna bust our universe."
"It already did. After all, I'm here." Melisson replied. "The tear is there. Things left alone have a way to fix themselves overtime - the fabric of existence is wonderful like that - but those tears won't heal if they keep being gradually widened. Whta's more, this isn't just restricted to your local region of space. Tears can occur in other dimensions too, and they might get visitors as well."
She smiled. "When i said that another species was bound to stamp us out if we kept on a destructive path, I was being serious. There are things out there which are dangerous for both you and us."
The senator from Nepleslia Prime snorted at all of this. "Perhaps it will help if we simply limited our usage of Aether? I can't imagine that such tears would heal up, albeit slowly, if we were to limit our usages." He then looked across the table at all the senators and back to Melisson. "Looking past this space environmentalism...What are your plans on defeating Yamatai? We are still on our way to matching them, what sort of role would we ever play in any alliance with you?"
Ed contemplated Melissons words for a moment. He wrenched his mouth in distaste at Garza's implication of war...but kept his words to himself for the time being.
"You’ll start caring about the welfare of subspace when catastrophes start happening to the things you wish kept safe," Melisson shrugged. "As for role, mainly, pooling our militaries and making concerted strikes to defeat them. We're only interested in removing Yamatai's ability to wage war, so, we'd prefer mostly concentrating ourselves on their warship assets. Managing the planets would come to you - and that way, you can also be sure that the Yamataian people will be safe from the Mishhuvurthyar."
"I used a divide and conquer approach with the Bard Cluster. We both and pool resources and isolate part of the Star Army of Yamatai and defeat them piecemeal if it comes to that."
“I would still like to ask Yamatai to disarm themselves, first. There is not reason to shed blood if we can avoid it,” Ed answered back. “Perhaps they will relent if we can convince them the implications of continuing the use of aetheric energy…”
"We're dealing with a nation led by a man who murdered over 20 billion people to sit on a throne of power," Calero spoke clearly, once again looking to the vidscreen, "They will not listen."
"Ideally, if your people can try to resort to using actual fuel sources to power what you need, then, you should be able to make do." Melisson added. "Fusion and anti-matter are both viable sources of power. Yes, they won't be able to power the bigger, better armed and protected warships you currently use... but then if the fighting stops, that won't make that much of an impact and you'll have the time to adapt."
Flint snorted in reluctance. "We've been usin' fusion power in everythin' an' we've been doin' just fine. We just started tappin' aether for power. This stuff doesn't affect us."
"Well, there you have it." Melisson shrugged. "Is there anything else?"
"We shall see. Until then...I believe that most of us are convinced to your sincerity, Miss Melisson," Eddy spoke again. "If you are willing to hold up your end of your bargain, I see no reason why we should not try to find a way to rid our universe from this aether problem. It is a distressing matter that calls our entire universe...and we should answer that call, before something happens we will regret."
"In addition, seeing that you've been making overtures to the Fifth Expeditionary Fleet, I'll consent to keeping the Mishhuvurthyar off them," Melisson offered. "If they come to being your allies and that you can make them understand what will satisfy us and make the war end... then we could only gain from it."
"Right...until then, however, I think it would be wise for you to disappear," Ed sighed. "Yamataia has no doubt noticed your presence here, and I do not want anything...unpleasant happen this close to Nepleslian space. We have many things to discuss with Yamatai; if we need you, how can we reach you?"
"Mmm," Melisson raised her index finger to her lips while she thought it over. "There are a few ways. Me leaving a ship here, you sending a ship to the Bard Cluster or me bonding with one of you telepathically would do the trick."
Flint smirked at the mentioned methods. "Leavin' a ship here won' help. Yamatai will find a way to get to it. An' they'd also find a way to stop us from gettin' to the Bard Cluster, once they figure our intentions."
“Grand Admiral Vanderhuge is right,” Ed replied with a contemplative grimace. “Those first two methods leave too much open to be deemed reliable communication. You’ll have to forgive me, though…I am not familiar with telepathic abilities. They are not innate to our race. What are the implications of this method?”
"It's me effectively setting up a way to mentally communicate between two people. My mind isn't digital, but I can still use this process to considerably increase the range of my telepathy to suit such cases. That's actually how I keep in touch with some of my allies without actually having even to open communication with them. If they address a thought to me, I'll hear it. If I address a thought to them, they will know of it."
The senate sat silent for a moment in the wake of Melisson's explanation, each of them more or less considering the same denial. Flint Vanderhuge exchanged glances between the four of them before finally taking the hint. "...well shit, I'll do it. Sounds like a real hoot."
"Good man, good man." Garza nodded, personally relieved he didn't need to. No telling what he might accidentally send from his mind to the woman.
The Mishhuvurthyar woman laughed. "I get it. I have an easier way. Instead of leaving a part of my mind in yours, I'll just leave a part of me as a pet. Here." Melisson brought one hand up with the back of her hand and fingers poised as if to allow a bird to perch itself on it. The air rippled in a similar fashion to how she had appeared earlier and a tough-looking bug landed on it. The critter's turned multi-faceted eyes over to look at the senators and the chewers wiggled a bit.
"..." Garza took one look at the insect, and knew that he would never be able to take care of it. "Flint keeps it."
"Fine by me," Flint shrugged, ignoring most of the warning signs most men would get from dealing with such a dangerous entity. "I've eaten things more menacin' than that."
Melisson set the bug down and it scuttled over to Flint. "It doesn't have any special requirement, but it's part of my mind, so, I'm aware of what it is aware of. It just requires about its bodymass in meat per week and you don't have to do anything to care for it. Just stick it in a box for pets and carry it around as you like."
Hehe..I've eaten wrose,too. Like your mother...hehe. Garza thought to himself, keeping a stern face while watching the bug scuttle over to Flint. "Is there anything else we need to discuss?"
“Meat, huh,” Flint grinned as he picked it up by one of its legs, positioning it onto his palm with a quick flip. “Heh, I already like it.”
The bug remained fairly quiescent.
"I covered what I needed to," Melisson replied. "Oh, there may be two other points. I can't answer for the behavior of Mishhuvurthyar whom are attacked. If, for example, the 5th XF goes and attacks one of my garrisons, the warships under my command will likely defend themselves in the most deadly fashion they can muster to guarantee their survival. Secondly, Yamatai just won a battle in the Great Southern Nebula where they captured some of our ships."
"SAINT can be pretty underhanded, and they might have found a use for those ships," Melisson added. "And so, I will reiterate: anything less than a full-scale invasion will not be me. I fully expect Yamatai will try to poison our partnership if it can."
“We will keep our eyes open.” Ed returned simply.
"Do you require transport back to your vessel?" Calero replied, topping off his tenth can of tea. He was glad the meeting was over...his bladder couldn't handle much else.
"Agreed." Garza stood up from his seat, pulling out his PDA, and turned on the camera function. "Mind if I get a picture of us? For documenting this wonderful act of diplomacy. Flint can join too, I guess..." Garza secretly crossed his fingers, thinking This is -so- going up on my NepSpace
"I can return on my own, same way I came." Melisson turned a coy smile toward Garza. "Should I disrobe before taking the picture or something?"
"I, UH." Roy was caught rather off-guard by this offer. "...Yes."
"It's part of Nepleslian tradition. Yeah." Flint nodded in his most serious face, lips pursed outward in a very matter-o-fact manner.
"Mmm," Melisson gave one or the other a sly look. "The dress stays on... if only to protect the children whom may come to view this NepSpace. You know how sensitive the eyes of children can be." She winked.
Roy nearly threw his PDA against the wall. "WHY DO WOMEN ALWAYS KNOW WHAT MEN ARE THINKING." He despaired, shrugging it off. "Oh well. That's what PictureShoop is for."
Melisson chuckled. The picture was taken soon afterwards and then the alien woman took leave of them, ghosting away. The bug was left behind in Flint's care.
Flint watched intently as Melisson left the same way she arrived. After a second or two of silence from the room, the Grand Admiral turned to the four senate members, bug still in hand. "Shit, you could totally see her tits. Not bad."
"Hey, I got her picture, didn't I? There's plenty enough porn out there to shoop her head onto." Garza Smirked.
