Pax Dracon
The Silver City
Imperial Palace, Chamber of the Praetor Council
1135 Local Time

The Young Emperor sighed as he leaned forward in his seat, his craggy brows furrowing in worry and irritation.  The chamber he sat in was dark, a sharp contrast than the well-lit Throne Room where he happily interacted with ordinary folk, soldiers, and Senators alike.  Seated around him were other figures equally concerned by recent events:

High Speaker of the Senate Esteban Vincente-Aguilar, head of the elected civilian government and a silver-haired Human of great idealism.

The Secretary-General of the Terra Nova Enclave, Indira Malhotra, looking as annoyed as ever with what she called 'inane and intolerable...' well... Julianus wouldn't finish her catchphrase.  It was rather rude...

Nakmor Rakox, Warchief of the Sosa Republics, who seemed far more relaxed than one would expect to be in the face of an unexpected invasion in one state and a coup in another compared to some of her counterparts at the table.

Thrrrut, appointed messenger of their Hive, the Carsicoid's mandibles clicking worriedly as they read their datapad over and over again.

Arkous Sadow, a member of the Sinthari High Council well known for his more... esoteric... religious interests and thankfully disciplined personal ambitions as he stroked at the pointed facial hair on his chin (rather uncommon for his species), rather than his facial spurs or tendrils.

Atai Scirrak, Chancellor of the Kri'ghal Commune, and definite true believer of the Revolution that accompanied the Drakari strike against the Old Empire millennia ago.

Warmaster of the Legions Septimia Ostorius, stern-faced as ever and no doubt planning the logistics of a potential counterstrike and which forces to deploy already.

Lord of Admirals Quintus Tessarian, his piercing blue eyes not leaving the reports of for even a moment.

Grand Inquisitor Luther Adams, that damnably unnerving and genial smile present on his graying features.

His family's trusted Chamberlain, Cassian, lightly clutching an ornately carved pipe in his talons as his monocle collated all data uploaded to his administrative implant.

And of course the seven appointed territorial administrators of the seven Praetorates themselves, each of them current or retired military, career civil servants, even promoted bureaucrats from across several resident species of his Imperium.

"Gathered friends," the Emperor intoned as he tapped away at the holointerface to bring up the map of the explored sector, "in the interest of not delaying this any further through ceremony and niceties, believe you all know why we this emergency session of the Praetor Council has been called."  Indira smirked at the rare display of blunt honesty from the ordinarily polite and gentle young Drakari.

"Aye, the invasion of the Cornucopia System by these... 'Venterrans'.  They seem a rather brutal opponent, if the Inquisition's data is to be any indicator."  The Warmaster turned her gaze to Luther, who merely nodded in turn.

"Indeed.  Listening posts have been working 'round the clock in regards to this strange, new enemy.  All relevant, and most importantly confirmed, data has been forwarded to fleet commanders in advance of this meeting."

Arkous scoffed.  "The Stoinians will no doubt hold the line.  Their pride and courage demands that they bloody the Venterrans just enough to force a ceasefire.  What I'm more concerned about are the rumors coming out of Ryccia.  A violent coup against a democratically elected government and its peaceful head of state?  Whose to say this won't lead to the formation of a... remind me, Secretary-General, what is it you referred to the new Stoinian Chancellor as shortly after his election made the news?"

"I believe I called him a fascist piece of human garbage whose nationalism would end up being his downfall."  Indira smirked unapologetically at the red-skinned alien.

"Ah, thank you.  Whose to say this won't lead to a fascist cult attempting to seize full control of a neighboring state?"

(This post was last modified: 08-01-2021, 02:22 PM by Pax Dracon.)

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Thirty standard minutes later

Julianus was grateful that caf was a universal constant for most known species, because by Io's teeth, he definitely needed it.  The Warmaster seemed more than happy to propose putting out the call to all reservists in the Legions to make ready in the event the Stoinian matter with the Venterrans began to spiral out of control, thankfully tempered by the Lord of Admiral's icy calm and Rakox's similarly blunt honesty.

Just as he was about to speak, an alert chimed from the console near his seat, prompting him to look down and chuckle.  "Ah, looks like we're getting a bit of company.  Septimus."

The cheerful smile of the synth's avatar soon appeared in the center of the table, just above the sector's map.  "Something you need, Your Majesty?"

"The Yapatha Prime Minister is on the line.  Engage the holoemitter on his seat."

"But of course!  Shall only take a moment."  Less than that, it turned out.  In the time it took everyone to blink, the semi-transparent image of the metallic-hued alien hummed to life.

"Glad you could join us, Almarien.  We are happy to speak with you," Thrrrut smiled at the man's image, or at least as best an insectoid lifeform could with a set of chittering mandibles.

"Apologies for the delay, my friends.  This week's session of Parliament took a bit longer than expected.  Budget allocation bills are a necessary evil, but Light preserve me, sometimes I wonder if we put too much detail into them atimes."

"No apologies necessary, Prime Minister," Atai smiled at his colleague, "running a government is never going to be easy.  As the Senate High Speaker and our Emperor can attest, no?"

"Makes the Clan Assembly in the Republics look exciting by comparison," Rakox smirked as she downed her third mug like it was water.

Cassian rolled his eyes slightly, pipe smoke curling out from his nostrils.  Centuries of observing similar meetings over and over again seemed to be par the course for the old Drakari.  "As we were, gentlebeings?  Brief reunions and delays aside, there are still matters to attend to.  Such as the reports coming from the Tarassian border zone.  If Naval and Inquisition intel is correct, it is possible that the Tarassians are making overtures towards first contact."

Arkous' brow ridges furrowed, no doubt his shrewd mind was seeing potential opportunities.  "If that is the case, a diplomatic mission would be prudent to ease their concerns of breaking their centuries-long isolation.  The Diplomatic Corps will have to be informed immediately.  Especially considering the misunderstandings that led to the brief skirmish during initial attempts at communication."

"Agreed," Indira said, "though arriving with a military escort will no doubt stir up fears of an incursion among them.  I will call a meeting of my cabinet to begin when I return to the Enclave capital system to put together a proposal."

(This post was last modified: 08-22-2021, 01:14 PM by Pax Dracon.)

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One standard day after the Glassing of Ignis

The flames danced in front of them for several minutes, looping over and over again as they watched the Stoinian colony die.  To say that the air was filled with palpable emotion would have been the understatement of the millennium.

Prime Minister Almarien of Yapath rested his head into his palms, fighting every urge to weep as he watched millions of innocent beings be reduced to cosmic ash and molten rubble.  Secretary-General Malhotra of Terra Nova merely shut her eyes in silent prayer, and Atai Scirrak, alongside High Speaker Vincente-Aguilar and several of the Praetors could only watch in silent horror.  Grand Inquisitor Adams stared at the recording, one part in disgust, one part fascination.  Arkous Sadow, Lord of Admirals Tessarian, Warmaster Ostorius, Warchief Rakox and even old Cassian himself looked like they were barely keeping their anger in check.  The Warmaster in particular had dragged her talons deep enough into the table before her that deep grooves had been carved into wood and metal alike.

Through it all, the young Emperor was silent, terribly silent.  His eyes shut as if trying to process the sheer devastation before him.

"Destroying a Garden-class planet..."

"Thirty million just... wiped out in an instant..."

"So many beautiful songs extinguished... never to be heard again," Thrrut lamented as they held the carapace about their head.

"They cannot be allowed to get awa-!"

"Shut.  It.  Off."  The Emperor said at last, his tone far too cold and even for comfort.

"Y-your Majesty?"  Cassian turned to look at his liege, shaken from his anger in genuine shock at the tone the younger Drakari had used.

"I said shut.  It.  Off."  Julianus opened his molten gold eyes, his rage plain for all to see even as the hologram flowed back into the projector.  "This is not our war, I know, but I will not stand idly by while these Venterrans declare themselves of life."

"Julianus, what are you saying?"  Indira looked at the Emperor with a worried look.

"I intend to give whatever aid we can before involving the Legions.  Warmaster, do you still have your contacts among the Junaian Warrior-Priestesses?"

"Aye, that I do.  Quite a few Chapters, at that.  Why do you ask, my Lord?"

"I believe we have a means of maintaining plausible deniability for a time, even as we put a price on the head of this... 'Fleet Commander Recklez'.  Should the Stoinians request it, though, all options remain on the table."

The Grand Inquisitor rubbed at his neatly trimmed beard for a few moments before nodding in agreement.  "Hmm... that could work.  Between the Bounty Hunters' Guild and the Junaians gunning for Recklez's head, as well as an uptick in sector-wide retaliatory military build-up, the Venterrans may be forced to choose between protecting one of their own and the security of their war effort."

The Warmaster grinned maniacally, rising to her feet within an instant.  "I'll make the call at once."

"Go.  You and Tessarian begin preparations.  Cassian, High Speaker, inform the Senatorial and Palace press corps that there will be an emergency statement on the matter.  This... act of barbarity cannot go unpunished."

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