Negotiations, Part 1

Posted on Tue Apr 14th, 2026 @ 11:30pm by Lonian Royal Sovereignty & Legate Andrinn Orin & Major Mattias Richardson [Reece] & Captain Joshua Young [Taylor]

Mission: Season 6: Episode 7: Crossroads of Destiny
Location: Niea IV :: Pomei
Timeline: MD1, midday
2866 words - 5.7 OF Standard Post Measure

The city of Pomei was bustling with activity. Aliens of many races were present, chatting with each other and with locals about certain trades and other business. Street vendors were scattered around, offering food and trinkets. Despite the advanced technology around them, the streets themselves were a sort of cobblestone, preserved and maintained throughout the centuries.

No matter where one stood, the government buildings were always visible. Standing almost like futuristic castles, each of the four buildings had a holographic image of different seals displayed against its walls, representing each House. Surrounding the entire complex were a series of pillars several metres tall, and a faint blue hue gave away the presence of forcefields serving as walls. Guards stood sentry at regular intervals. A crowd of protestors gathered at one of the main gates, and the guards there seemed almost bored of the ruckus.

The transporter beams of Elysium's diplomatic team appeared inside the courtyard, a grassy area with an ornate fountain in the middle and native flowers lining its edges. It sat between the buildings, part of a larger grassy area that gave life to the complex. The air was faintly humid, thanks to the twin lakes on either side of the city, and whatever morning mist had rolled in left dew in the grass that sparkled in the golden sunlight.

Mattias looked around the area from where he beamed in next to Orin. Though things seemed to be as Teevs had promised, he did not relax fully. He had a job to do, and he would see it done. Reaching up, he tapped his commbadge. "Major Richardson to Elysium, Away team beam down successful. Will advise if situation changes. Richardson out." He double tapped his commbadge, ending the call. He then looked over at Orin, nodding once. "On your lead, Sir," he said softly.

Orin nodded as he started to look around at the castles, buildings, and people coming and going. He noticed that several people had stopped to watch the newcomers come in. Orin couldn't help but be a bit excited because this was one of the first First Contacts that he had done in quite some time. Not only that, but it was with a people from a far flung part of the universe.

Looking over at Major Richardson, Orin asked, "You ready for first contact, Major?"

Mattias glanced over st Orin and grinned slightly. "So long as they don't end up shooting at us, then sure." While he didn't see anything that seemed to represent danger in any form, his highly experienced warrior's instinct was quietly warning him that something wasn't right.

"Well, if that happens, it's shoot first and ask questions later. But, I don't see anything bad happening. If Mr. Teevs is any indication, I think we're good," Orin said as he started to make his way towards the location of the meeting of one of the local officials.

Mattias nodded slightly, as he followed Orin closely, his warrior's gaze scanning for any sign of danger.

As Mattias's second, Josh walked a step behind the major but his senses were on high alert as the small group moved from their present location to meet the local government officials.

Someone was waiting for them. A gentleman with a mint green formal jacket and brown accents stood at the edges of the courtyard, and scurried over when the guests arrived. "Welcome to our planet," he began. Crossing his arms in front of him, he extended a formal greeting to the team, "I am Phyans, the consul to her Grace Lady Emeyr. She has anticipated your arrival."

"I'm Legate Andrinn Orin and this is my diplomatic party. This is Major Richardson, head of my diplomatic protection team. It's wonderful to meet you," Orin said as he gave the traditional greeting of the X in front of his arms with his hands out, waiting to see if maybe spoke too soon or if his sign of respect was accepted.

It was always a pleasant surprise when visitors took the time to familiarise themselves with Lonian customs. Not many did it. With a smile, Phyans nodded before he looked around at the party with curiosity. It looked like more than one species was in their group, but he had never seen their kind before. Maybe they were from another quadrant. He stifled his own curiosity, though, since he was just the escort at this time, but he memorised their faces so he could try to spot them later to ask his own questions when he wasn't working.

Extending a hand, he gestured toward one of the buildings. "The Second House is just this way. There is a security checkpoint to enter any of the government buildings, but this is simply our standard procedure."

Orin started walking and as he did, he asked Phyans, "Is it just a normal scan as we enter the building for the security checkpoint? Just so my protection lead and I know? Also, the second house is the....like the administrative house or something similar, correct? We've got a member of your species onboard and he has tried to help make sure we don't make a blunder while we're on your beautiful world."

"Correct, just a normal scan where you walk through an arch. We did receive the weapons declaration, so there will also be a quick verification that any weapons your party brought is what was claimed in the form. As for your enquiry, the Second House is in charge of diplomatic relations. Negotiations, trade agreements, and foreign relations are all Lady Emeyr's responsibility." Phyans raised his brows in surprise as they approached the building. "Not many of our people travel beyond our star system. You were quite lucky to meet one of us out there."

"Yeah, we were glad that we met Teevs though. He definitely helped make sure that we knew what we were doing before we came down here," Orin replied as the group continued onward.

Just inside the building was the checkpoint, consisting of a table for any declared items and an arch about the size of the Elysium's holodeck arches. A faint blue shimmer separated the front door from the rest of the building, which almost seemed bigger on the inside thanks to the architecture. Plenty of natural light filled the space, and off in the distance there was a tour of school children going to their next stop.

The checkpoint was manned by a handful of guards. Their uniforms were dark blue with a silver stripe diagonally across the chest. Only one was wearing a formal-looking silver jacket over the uniform, and she had three pips on her collar. The rest had either one or two pips. On their right sides were hand phasers, and on their right shoulders was the seal of the Fourth House, a design that almost resembled an intricate crosshair with a diamond shape in the middle.

A couple of them were quietly conversing when the guests arrived, and their conversations died off as they realised they had jobs to do. The guard with the silver jacket, already on their side of the checkpoint, approached the guests. Her light brown hair was pulled back into a crisp bun. "Consul," she greeted with a nod of the head. The others shifted toward their respective stations: two at the table on this side of the arch, and three waiting just on the other side.

"Lieutenant Marou," Phyans responded politely. If there were any opinions about the guard presence, they were only in his expression for a second or two before he brushed them aside in favour of duty. "I am escorting guests from the vessel Elysium to see Lady Emeyr."

Marou looked behind the consul toward the group, then glanced down at a datapad in her hand. "With declarations, I see," she read aloud. "Is it alright if we train our newest Sergeant on weapons inspections? It might take only a few additional seconds of your time," she asked, looking up at the group. Her eyes eventually landed on Mattias, easily clocking him as some kind of security detail by the way he held himself. Her expression remained neutral with a hint of curiosity.

Mattias returned the gaze with a dangerous calm. He has stared back at enemy forces more than he could count, and there was something in the woman's eyes that just didn't seem right. However, he figured it just had to do with this being a first meeting with an alien species, so he kept his emotions locked down. He knew that, in an emergency, Orin had a transporter tag attached to his waist, which Mattias could activate at the first sign of trouble.

"Very well," he said evenly as he glanced to Orin, before turning his attention back on the woman in the silver jacket. "Ready when you are."

Something in Marou's expression twitched just slightly as the eye contact came off as posturing. It was like the alien officer had something to prove. She extended a hand toward the table in a silent instruction.

Phyans rolled his eyes at the silent stare down between the two officers. Why did the stuck up guard have to be on duty today? "Right this way," he said with a slightly forced smile, guiding the group toward the table. He knew that security details liked to stay near the people they were assigned to, so he didn't try to separate the diplomatic party. Thankfully, they could all pass through as a group.

Mattias stepped up to the table and started to remove nearly all various weapons that he carried on his person. Nearly all, as he did not disclose everything. Of course, the pieces that he had kept to himself were innocuous in appearance and did not look like traditional weapons.

Onto the table, he gently laid his compression rifle, type two phaser, type one hold-out phaser, combat knife and sets of brass knuckles. Once done, he stood patiently, as he waited for everything to be inspected as instructed.

The two guards at the table were both male. One had two pips and the other had one. When presented with the alien weapons, the higher rank grabbed a scanner and had the lower rank run it down the length of each weapon while explaining what to look for. They compared the readings to what was on a holoscreen, then nodded and let the protection officer retrieve it.

Once the weapons were inspected, Phyans then led them through the arch. The senior guard at the table had programmed the arch to not go off from the weapons.

Marou watched them carefully as they stepped through, offering only acknowledgement that the scans were clear. "Enjoy your visit," she conceded with a subtle head tilt, before turning to address another school tour that was being herded toward the front door.

Orin started walking with the rest of the group as he asked Phyans, "Now, correct me if I'm wrong and to make sure that I understand everything. With the Ladies of each house, we always address them as your grace. Correct? Wanted to double check before heading up to meet her."

"That's right," Phyans confirmed with a nod. "Though I will inform you now that Lady Emeyr isn't as strict on the formalities as the others. As she likes to say, 'we are not competitors, we are solving a problem together.'"

"Well, by the sounds of it, I think I'm going to like this Lady Emeyr. Sounds like we're going to have some good conversations," Orin said as they continued onwards.

It didn't take long for them to get to the meeting room. It was a cosy space with soft, natural lighting, designed for guests to help them feel welcome. At the head of the table was a woman who almost appeared too young for her role. Her blonde hair was loosely pulled back to frame her face, and secured to her head was an intricate golden headpiece, its parts almost giving it a cyberpunk feel. She had on a mint green jacket with a puffy collar and gold accents, and her darker green pants became visible as she stood to greet her guests.

Phyans gave his Lady the formal greeting with a slight bow. "Your Grace, the guests from the Elysium."

Orin was one of the first people to walk into the room and he crossed his arms before bowing slightly. "Your Grace, my name is Andrinn Orin and these are my fellow associates, Major Mattias Richardson, my chief protector. His XO, Captain Joshua Taylor. These two fine people are my fellow diplomats, Consuls Josephine Carlyle-Cragen and Sariel Thane. It's an honor to make your acquaintance."

After getting out of the bow and introducing all of the people from the Elysium, Orin made sure not to directly make eye contact with Lady Emeyr. He remembered what Teevs said about making eye contact and how it might have been considered rude to look at someone in the eyes. Also, Orin made sure that he didn't use any idioms or anything that might be taken out of context.

Emeyr's eyes lit up as the one who identified himself as Orin introduced the party. Ever since Orbital Control had sent in a request for approval, she had been looking forward to this meeting. "The honour is mine. Come, make yourselves comfortable!" She waved them toward the table, and Phyans extended a hand to offer additional guidance. "You've already met Phyans, my consul. This is Lieutenant Velose, my vassal on duty today," she gestured to the female guard in the dark blue uniform who was at rest against a wall, "and my attendant, Meev." The attendant in question had on black pants and a mint green half-sleeve shirt with the seal of the Second House embroidered across his chest. This seal had a more attractive design to it; each corner of the diamond was its own ornate triangle, and in the centre was a solid circle, almost resembling chairs around a table.

With introductions out of the way, Emeyr turned her focus back onto the group, her eyes bright with curiosity. "If it's an accepted practice amongst your species to consume refreshments during conversation, would you like anything to drink or eat?"

"If you've got something light, we'd love to have it. But, we wouldn't want to inconvenience you by making something just for us though. Whatever you've got available would be most generous, your grace," Orin said as he stepped forward, making sure to not look directly in Lady Emeyr's eyes. While he moved forward towards where Emeyr directed the group, Orin was taking everything in as he moved. It was such a beautiful place and he was glad to be apart of the diplomatic envoy.

Mattias stayed right with Orin, not letting him get out of arms reach. As he looked around, he saw a lovely world, seemingly happy people, polite leadership. However, there was something, deep in the back of his prehistoric lizard brain, that told him something was not quite what as they were seeing it. Perhaps it was simply the fact that, the last kingdom he was in, he watched the woman who was now his wife, be nearly whipped to death by her own father, while she was chained up, in the middle of the courtyard square, in view of everyone.

He would not fully relax, until they were all safely back on the ship.

Emeyr waved her hand to dismiss the idea of being an inconvenience. "Nonsense, it is no inconvenience! And please, you may call me Emeyr if you are comfortable. This room is a place where problems are solved together, I don't want formalities to get in the way of that."

Sneaking a glance to Orin, Phyans gave a faint "I told you so" smirk. Emeyr was hands-down the most informal Head of House in the recent government, and surprisingly, it worked more often than it didn't.

Orin couldn't help but smile a little bit when he heard that from Phyans. But, he turned back to a bit of the stoic look he had perfected over the last few decades and centuries.

Turning to the attendant, she said, "Meev, would you please bring the food and beverage sampler for our guests, and my usual? And make sure you, Phyans, and Velose get something too if you wish."

Meev gave a polite nod. "Right away, your Grace." He moved around the room, quietly asking the others in the court if they wanted anything. Velose declined, but Phyans accepted, and soon enough the attendant scurried off.

In the meantime, Emeyr returned to her seat. These people knew of Lonian customs, which was surprising because she had never seen people like them before. Or maybe their own customs happened to mimic Lonian ones? In either case, they definitely understood mannerisms toward a throne, so she took her seat so the others didn't feel like they were being rude. "So, please, share your story. Orbital Control informed us of your arrival and that your ship... I hope I pronounce it right: Ellie-see-ooum?... had sustained damage."

Tbc...