'My apologies, I didn't expect the playwright to be in the audience,' Xavier said, before he kissed the actress' hand, 'It is also a delight to meet you. It's the first time I've been, since I just arrived on the capital yesterday. I'm the new ambassador of the Centauri systems to our Emperor.' 'I haven't seen you on stage, I assume you are the lead actress for different plays?' Xavier smiled at her, 'Also written by Mr Belville?'
"We'll see." He chuckles. "You're not afraid that I'll kill you, or destroy your mind like I did to those aliens?"
"Fufu. If you do it, it simply means I was never meant for anything more than what I've currently achieved." Vizelle replies with a fearless grin. "But you won't, since you've said it yourself. You plan to use me to further your goals. And I plan to use you to strengthen my powers. A dangerous partnership, one which I feel you're eager to enjoy." She cooed, her tone turning into a sultry one.
“It was a pleasure to meet you, Sitra. Take care of yourself and I'll see you later.” Eanne gave her new friend a warm smile before boarding the shuttle and leaving the Duke's home. Back at her flagship, Eanne let her servants pamper her before getting back to her duties – she still had three more factions to talk with in regards to the taxes issue... “Good morning, Bec, Delphis.” Eanne greeted her servants like always, then focused on Bec. “Yes, I went out on my own yesterday, and I had a lot of fun,” In more than one way... “But don't worry, from today on I will bring you and a few other bodyguards along whenever I go out.” She promised. “Now let's see if there's anything that requires my attention...” (Nice pictures.)
Elena swore. She did not want to let the ships go, but she was in no hurry to engage it and heave massive losses... There was no good solution. "Damn the XVth fleet admiral." she swore silently. Thrax low opinion on the man was, it seems, too high. Maybe, it was not fair... maybe something happened. She turned to Thrax. "Can we pretend a weakness? An explosion or a flaw, that would make the enemy reconsider their escape?" She asked. "If we could delay the enemy until the XVth arrived..." She suggested. It was risky... but it was the least bloody of solutions. She looked at the display, trying to judge how many enemy ships would they be able to defeat...
"Alas," Horst says dramatically, "Ms Tyne has abandoned we humble stage actors for the big screen, and only deigns to do grace us with her presence once every blue moon." Zara chuckles. "You're an idiot, Horst. I mostly do holovids nowadays, but every once in a while I like to come back and act on stage. Earlier in my career, I did have the misfortune of working with Mr Belville." She smirks.
"Then I think we'll all be grateful that I am unharmed," Hersillia replies, taking his hands in her own and giving them a little squeeze, "Especially since a number of their own soldiers were willing to aide in my escape and repaying them in fire would be quite... rude. " She sighs before adding, "And while I'm flattered you'd go that far for my sake, I suspect you would have been giving the ones who made the attempt on my life what they wanted. An open excuse to reject us and any future peaceful overtures entirely. One thing your father sadly never learned is that sometimes it is wiser to not be the one to throw the first punch."
Bec raises her eyebrows. "That's a nice change." Delphis brings Eanne her terminal, with which she can check her affairs. Spoiler: Roll 40 Unfortunately, the pirate problem on Samodiva has only increased in intensity in the last few days, the military's actions to scout and destroy them having little impact or support.
"Possibly, if they're here specifically to kill or capture you." Thrax nods. "We could lower our shields, make it look like they were destroyed in the fighting, and lure the dreadnought in. We'd have to raise the shields quickly when they fire, or risk being annihilated, but after that," he gestures to the mostly destroyed enemy fleet, "I trust the crew." Looking outside, Elena sees that the enemy have lost their advantage in numbers. Things might still go wrong, but the advantage is on Elena's side.
"You're right." He squeezes back. "Sorry, when I think about you getting hurt..." He sighs. "I"m glad you're okay."
'You two get on like oil and water,' Xavier chuckled, amused by their playful bickering, 'Are you married perhaps or formerly so?' 'I apologise for my ignorance, I am not well versed in holovids, I would've recognised you otherwise, I'm sure,' Xavier said, 'We have our own host of local celebrities and socialites in back home, I'm not well-versed in the culture of the Imperial capital yet.'
"Oh? Is that what I was doing?" Vizelle asked in a ditzy tone, "I didn't realize." She cooed, grinning, "I mean, why else would you imbue such pleasures into simple stones, if you weren't looking for some?"
Eanne frowned as she read the report about the pirates. This is becoming quite the annoyance... After thinking about it and considering her options for a few minutes she sent instructions to try and capture a pirate vessel. Hopefully questioning the surviving pirates or searching through the ship's logs would provide some useful information... As for method to use, she suggested using bait – some ship that looked old and an easy target but was in fact well armed and armored – and then ambushing the attackers when they took the bait. Though she left the final decision to the people who were actually there, as they had a better grip on the situation.
Elena considered the matter for a moment. Much depended on XV fleet... This was a gamble, but also the quickest possible way to end the war. She picked her lips. Fortune favour the bold. "Do it, admiral. Let's finish it in this battle." She gave an order and grabbed the railing. She turned to the crew. "I'm counting on you!" She said to them with a smile.
"Hah!" Zara seems highly amused by that statement. "Married? To him? What, was the town drunk taken?" She chuckles, while Horst makes a mock hurt expression. "No, I'm not married, in particular not to our...friend." Despite the content of her words, the tone is teasing, not insulting, and Horst doesn't seem to be insulted at all, more amused by the banter. "That's fine, many people aren't into vids, especially those who come to see plays." Zara smiles, before Horst says "Well, if you're not well versed, then I say it's our duty to introduce you to our fine planet." Zara rolls her eyes. "In all seriousness, though, knowing your way around the various people here isn't a bad thing for someone involved in politics. If you need help, or just want someone to show you around, feel free to ask."
"Pleasure," he snaps his fingers, and suddenly Vizelle feels herself orgasm without warning, "Is a good method of controlling people." He chuckles, and she feels herself squirt. "I find that it's a better motivator than pain."
She soon gets a response stating that her methods will be implemented, and she'll be informed of the results soon.
'I have to thank both of you for the offer,' Xavier smiled, 'I'm still feeling my way around the palace for now. I never imagined it would have so many different facilities. I mean, who would expect the Emperor to have a theatre, a race track and especially fighting pits in his palace?' 'I suppose, I'll have to dig around for the hidden strip-club, gambling den and spice melange house,' Xavier chuckled, 'Are you two staying at the palace as well or are you only here to see the play?'
Thrax nods, and the crew gives another cheer. The generators give a whine, as the shields power off, leaving the flag ship temporarily defenseless. The dreadnought stops its turn prematurely, and, using its escorts as cover, begins advancing on Elena's ship. "Her main gun's powering up!" A deck officer shouts. "Hold..." Thrax murmurs. "Hold..." Elena sees the railgun grow blue with energy. "Hold...Now!" As the railgun is about to fire, and the dreadnought closes to combat range, Thrax gives the order to raise shields. Spoiler: Shield Roll D100: 15+30 (Elena's speech)+ 20 ('Entertained' Thrax)=65 Spoiler: Dreadnought's Railgun D100: 63 Elena sees the railgun's beam approaching, growing closer and closer, till she's sure that it's going to hit the bridge, and she's about to die, before she sees the blue forcefield surround the ship once more, blocking the weapon. The shockwave sends Elena clean off her feet, but she's alive, some officers helping her up. There's a cheer, before Thrax shouts "Get back to work, bastards! She ain't dead yet!" He looks to Elena. "Ma'am, do we kill her, or capture her?" He gestures to the dreadnought. Spoiler: Do the XVth fleet arrive? D100: 67 Next to the gas giant, Elena sees the XVth fleet drop out of FTL speed, on the other side of the dreadnought. The enemy is trapped.
