Engineering Negotiations

Posted on Tue Jul 28th, 2026 @ 9:39pm by Lonian Royal Sovereignty & Lieutenant Anna Esquivias & Lieutenant Camryn Shepard

Mission: Season 6: Episode 7: Crossroads of Destiny
Location: Niea IV :: Pomei Innovation Building
Timeline: MD1, afternoon
1945 words - 3.9 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. Museums, tours, and playgrounds provided various elements of interest to visitors. Lake Arone and Lake Vashe on either side of the city provided ample water activities, such as boating, kite boarding, and swimming. The lakes also left a distinctly humid tang in the air.

No matter where one stood in Pomei, the government buildings were always visible. Standing almost like futuristic castles, each of the four buildings had a holographic image of different crests, one representing each House. When closer to the government buildings, a series of pillars several metres tall could be seen surrounding the buildings, and a faint blue hue gave away the presence of forcefields serving as walls to the grounds.

The transporter beams of Elysium's crew 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.

Anna looked to Camryn and smiled. "Let's go meet our hosts." She straightened her shoulders and strode forward.

After effects of the transporter dissipated, Cam brushed her uniform off and nodded at Anna, "After you."

Dressed in a pressed gold uniform, she carried her bag over her shoulder and walked across the courtyard towards the building.

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. He was excited to see more of the aliens. "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. Are you the engineers from the Elysium?"

"We are," Anna said, crossing her own arms in imitation of his greeting. "I'm Anna Esquivias and this is Camryn Shepard."

With a smile, Phyans nodded in response to the greeting. The Lonian they had on their ship, the one Orin had called Teevs, seemed to have made sure the Elysium crew knew their customs. It was an appreciated gesture. "It is a pleasure to meet you both. I am to escort you to see Lady Relou, and I will be representing Lady Emeyr." With a hand, he gestured toward one of the buildings. "We had a very lovely discussion with your ship's diplomats this morning. Hopefully they informed you of the security checkpoints in the buildings?"

"They did," Anna said. "It shouldn't be a problem. We come in peace. We're happy to comply with your security arrangements."

"That's good to hear. There were protests at the gate earlier this morning, which prompted an elevated security response," Phyans explained, remembering how it seemed to make the protection officers a little tense. "It's to protect the Court but also any visitors of the Court. It's an easy check: if you brought weapons, they're briefly inspected, then you pass through a scanner."

"What were the protests about?" Anna asked with casual curiosity. She did not yet seem especially tense.

Phyans sucked in a breath. He wasn't necessarily tense from the question, but he was being careful with his words. "Oh, just people disagreeing with government decisions. Legislation recently passed that allows for some upgrades to the defense grid, and Lady Sama said it was to make sure our planet remains safe for visitors, but some think the planet is plenty secure and the resources could be used elsewhere. Can't please everyone." They entered the building, which had a scanning arch and guards like earlier reports from Orin's team had mentioned.

"I suppose not," Anna allowed. She still sounded curious but she didn't press the issue.

As promised, the checks were simple, and it didn't take long for them to get to the other side. The walls of the chamber were covered in art, some holographic and others original work on canvases that had been preserved for centuries. The room itself had silver tones, which helped the art stand out. Hovering in the centre of the room was a metallic model of the star system, holographic labels above each planet indicating their names as they slowly spun around the red-tinted star.

Anna looked around, taking in the art. "It's lovely," she commented.

Phyans smiled at the comment. "Lady Relou loves her art. Ah, Consul Nevae!" He led the group toward a woman who was approaching them. Her attire was similar to Phyans', only in shades of silver with red accents. "This is the consul to Lady Relou. Nevae, this is Anna Esquivias and Camryn Shepard from the Elysium."

Nevea smiled at the group, brushing her blonde bangs aside. "Pleased to meet you. Lady Relou has not stopped talking about this meeting. She has so many questions about your people and about your vessel. If you'll come with me, I'll take you to her."

"Of course," Anna agreed as she followed.

Nevea led the way to a meeting room that was also similarly decorated with art. Against the back wall was a waterfall display, only the water was tracking up instead of down. "Your Grace," she said, "the engineers from the Elysium, Anna Esquivias and Camryn Shepard, in attendance with Consul Phyans on behalf of Lady Emeyr."

Relou looked up when the door opened, her eyes sparkling with her anticipation of this meeting. She came around the table, looking over her guests with gentle curiosity. "It is wonderful to meet you! I apologise, I have spent a lot of time wondering what my first question to aliens such as yourselves would be, and I am so curious: how do your people greet each other?"

Cam kept quiet during the whole walk, not out of respect but just processing what she could say. The brochures back home don't exactly prepare her for the expectations to meet alien royalty. In her lifetimes of being decades old and part El Aurian, Cam kept mostly to herself. She avoided diplomats, despite being a very good listener, and stuck solely on the only things that wouldn't talk back. Tech. Unless its an android. Personally, she'd never met Data herself. However, she's encountered multiple artificial life forms that speak with her. Most recently and current for the past year, Avalon.

Listening to Relou speak was like listening to a cool, gentle breeze through the flowers. Cam nodded, her arms remained folded behind her back as she nodded respectfully with questions forming in her head, and replied, "Oh we just say hello, your grace, followed by a handshake."

She wasn't sure if handshakes were acceptable. For now, a respectful distance seemed wise. They were after all, standing before royalty. A simple handshake might be misconstrued as an assault.

One of Relou's eyebrows went up in a quizzical expression. A hand... shake? "How is this 'hand-shake' performed?" She asked curiously.

Anna walked towards Relou and extended her hand. "You extend your hand and you grab on to mine," she said, waiting to continue until Relou had followed her that far.

Relou's expression was briefly quizzical, and she dismissed her guard when he naturally tensed at movement toward his Lady. "It's alright," she insisted to him, before doing as Anna had instructed. A grin appeared on her lips at the alien greeting, "oh, this is so cool!"

Once Relou took her hand, Anna moved it up and down in the normal handshake gesture. "Like this."

TAG Relou

After a round of handshakes, Cam nodded, straightening up while placing her arms on her sides, keeping them visible for the guards instead of folding them behind her back. Not wanting to be the cause of an intergalactic incident, she inquired, "Shall we proceed with the talks? I am eager to get started."

With a nod, Relou gestured toward the table. "Of course, yes." Pull yourself together! she thought to herself. There would be time to learn about their culture later. "Lady Emeyr did inform me that your vessel was quite damaged. We're working on the arrangements for your vessel to visit our repair station, but it would help to know what to anticipate. Would you like anything to drink?" She nodded to Phyans to let him know that he was included in the invitation.

"A chepa tea please, Vaern," Phyans answered, looking toward Relou's attendant. The attendant stood silently against the wall, her attire almost helping her blend in with her surroundings. If it weren't for the soft pink-dyed hair, she just might have blended in.

"Meeka," Anna requested.

“Your specialized or blended or chepa tea would be fine, thank you,” Cam nodded politely, hoping that the tea they offered won’t have any negative consequences on her stomach. However, being part Klingon might help stabilize the effects on her.

Vaern nodded and left to go get the requested beverages. Meanwhile, Relou took her seat and gave the guests her full attention. "So I take it you've heard that we can get your vessel to our orbital repair station? It would help to know if there's any special considerations, such as a particular material. And given the damage to your vessel, I've also been anticipating a replenishment of supplies for any interior repairs you may need to make, correct?"

“Yes,” Cam nodded, procuring a LCARS tablet listing the items required for the Elysium. She placed it on the table and moved it over.

Relou picked up the tablet and read through the list. Some magnetic couplings, conduits, a lot of conduits, materials to replenish the replicator matter supply... much of thw time was spent deliberating over the items, and after maybe 45 minutes Relou gave a nod of agreement. "I think most of this is attainable," she slowly began with a nod. "The replicator matter might be tricky simply because of the quantity you've requested... and benamite..." she looked up at the pair, "I'm not familiar with this material."

"But you do have dilithium?" Anna asked.

Relou looked to Phyans. "Consul, wasn't there a shipment coming in?"

Phyans straightened a little when he was addressed. Out of the corner of his eye, Vaern returned with the beverages. "Yes, your Grace, however they are delayed by two days."

"That's unfortunate," Relou commented. She nodded her head in thanks before looking back to Anna and Camryn. "If you're willing to wait for the shipment to arrive, then we can allocate some from there. There's four other vessels waiting on this shipment to arrive."

Cam nodded, noticing the time. The meeting came to a close as she replied, "Of course. We can wait for a bit, unless there is some way we can do to speed this up? Otherwise, we are fine to wait for the shipment to arrive."

Relou gave Cam a gentle nod. "I will see what I can do. As for the other supplies, we can start preparing them for transport. The first shipment should be ready in... an hour?"

"That sounds wonderful," Anna said.

Cam nodded, folding her arms behind her back. Eager to receive the new supplies, she awaited the next moment.

---

Lieutenant Anna Esquivias
Chief Operations Officer
USS Elysium

Lieutenant Camryn Shepard
Chief Engineer Officer
USS Elysium

Her Grace Lady Relou, and Court
Lonian Royal Sovereignty
Played by Teevs