Corise turned to the rest of the Kashan Group. Most of them seemed comfortable and ready, except the Colonel, who hadn’t seemed to have recovered from the spaceflight. Though the Colonel was always anxious about flying of any sort. He gave a slight smile at the Colonel’s discomfort.

“Certainly. You will have to forgive some of us; we’re a little tired from the journey. Could you show us to our rooms?” asked the Kashan fleet officer.

The restless Kashan personnel looked furtively at each other. Most of them were hardly tired; they had managed to sleep in their chairs. Corise included himself in that group, though he had probably less sleep than most of them.

“Some of us would probably like to tour the city as well…” noted Corise quickly.

"Excellent. Then I'll adjourn this meeting for now, hold on please." The Prime Minister pressed a small button wired to the underside of the table, and spoke to the open air, "Excuse me, could you put me through to the Hall's head steward?" There was a moment of interference before he continued "Steward? Send a couple of your boys down to my conference room and find space for some guests, will you? Diplomatic envoys to be staying here at the Hall. Also see if we can't find a deserving tour guide for them. Thank you."

"Right away, sir," a dignified butlery voice replied. Shortly therafter the dourly dressed valets arrived to guide the diplomatic envoys to their rooms.

Relieved to be free of the meeting, he let out a long breath and spun his chair towards Ion. "So, what do you make of them?"

"Difficult to say, sir. They look legit, reasonable, and cooperative. But..."

Pro Moon nodded, and spun away again slowly "I know, I know, there's definetly a but. But what?"

"Well, I don't know, sir. Like you said, I'm worried about the hook - things in this galaxy tend to sneak up on you, so if a bunch of nice guys turn up and offer to join the Coalition just like that, my first thought is "What's the hurry?" Why now?" "

"They've given some reasons, though," he replied, stroking his chin. "It's all solid stuff. Pirates, war on their doorstep, proud - if short - history. You can't fault 'em there."

"No I don't. Wether it all checks out is another matter, or if we're not being told everything. Remember when Frelgrin and his team went to Kegan?"

"Yes, I think I remember reading about that one..."

"Well, everyone was nice at first, but it turned out they were haunted by the past sins of a priestly cast long dead in a dark tower sticking out of the middle of the city. Things all seem nice and simple on the outside, then you get inside and it's full of ghosts and past sins and all that. Maybe it's for the best you're going to check it out for us."

"Geeze, thanks for that invigorating send off," murmured Pro Moon. "You've got a hunch something bad's hiding out so good think I'm going first, right?"

"That's not fair, sir, considering you were the one who wanted to go so badly in the first place."

"Yeah, you're right, although that was because I needed a vacation, not because I thought I'd find ancient haunted burial grounds when I got there." Pro Moon checked his watch, and said "It'll be a while before we meet them again. Want to grab a coffee and get started on that joint goverment/military appropriations request? When we're done that, we can sort out some of the details of the trip."

Ion sighed, and said "Yeah, sure, but in a couple hours I have a dinner to attend with the crew."

"Dinner with the wife for me, so we'll try and wrap this one up in a couple hours."

"Oh yeah, that reminds me," said Ion, as he pulled on his jacket "Will you bring your wife with you to Kashan?"

"What? My wife? This is supposed to be a vacation, Ion. That and a chance to scout for ancient lurking societal evil. She'll just want to go sight-seeing."

Days later…

The Skipray Blastboat slowly lifted off the landing pad, carrying the original Kashan delegation. As its wings unfolded, the ship angled upward and ignited its engines. To the casual observer, it might have seemed like the ship was running from the planetary authorities, but in fact, it was exactly the opposite; they were trying to catch up to the Cereas ships already in space. Corise moaned.

“We are late. The escort is already in orbit.”

“Sure,” replied the pilot, “blame it all on me. That’s what I’m here for. I’m the blaming boy.”

“Just so you know,” commented the Intelligence Officer, “I have that audibly recorded. Perhaps we could make a theme song for you with those lyrics.”

The pilot simply shook his head.

Despite the entire Kashan delegation fervently thinking of going home, it had taken days to start the journey back home. Paperwork, with topics ranging from their Skipray blastboat registration to the sanitary conditions on Kashan, had taken days to fill out. By the end of their stay, the mere mention of filling out forms and following procedures had made them moan; It turned out to be a rather poor vacation for the team. However, they would soon be back home, and away from extensive Coalition paperwork, or so they hoped.

“All ships are accounted for. We’re ready for the jump.”

“Slave the navigation systems of all of the vessels to us.”

Since Kashan’s location was only known to its delegation, the only way to bring the other ships would be to provide the information to all their navigation computers, or slaving the navigation computers to the Kashan Blastboat. The Kashan delegation had arranged the latter, saying that it was the best for maintaining their security and preventing a possible information breach. The formation of ships rapidly accelerated and entered hyperspace.
-----------------------------------------------------
Kashan, Fyre Sola System

“Reverting to hyperspace in five, four, three, two, one.”

The bright lines of hyperspace disappeared into a typical starscape, complete with starlight, a sun, and a planet: Kashan. Corise breathed a sigh of relief and wiped sweat from his brow. They were safe. A pair of wraith-like objects flew overhead the convoy, making inspections. A crisp and authoritative voice filled the ship’s cabin.

“Present your authorization codes.”

“This is Skipray Thunderer. We’re transmitting the convoy clearance codes now.”

It took a few seconds for the codes to be cleared through the Kashan network.

“Very well. You are clear to meet up with your diplomatic escort. Stay on the designated course only.”

The diplomatic escort, composed of several squadrons of S9 Deathsabers materialized out of nothingness around the diplomatic ships. Corise only grinned as he imagined the Coalition delegation jumping out of their seats from their sudden appearance. He shook the thought away from his head as they entered the atmosphere. The Deathsabers lost their wraithlike appearance and instead turned into a graceful, glossy black craft.

The convoy’s course took the ships over the Kashan’s temperate wilderness and vast grain farms. Finally, the ships began to directly pass over Solace, the Kashan capital. The city’s layout was highly organized with the centre being the capital building itself. Corise looked out and watched as the gray buildings rose out of the ground, as columns testifying to Kashan’s economical independence and might. The ships passed between the buildings, giving the diplomatic entourages excellent aerial views of the somber city. It was quite different from Cereas in some aspects. Instead of thin, silver-white towers, there were durable Ferrocarbon and Duracrete skyscrapers. Not very aesthetic in the least, but durable to last centuries without major structural rebuilding.

The cityscape thinned out as the Capital with its central square opened up. Kashan did not have a civilian spaceport open to just anyone. There was either the zone for new colonists transports, or the more extensive military bases capable of launching the 600 meter long Seraphs with their starfighter counterparts. Seeing that none of those would be particularly appropriate for the occasion, the capital had cleared out its built-in airspeeder stalls to allow the small diplomatic craft to land.

Corise clambered out of the Blastboat, coming face to face with the white-armored Kashan Defence Troopers charged with the protection of both delegations. He motioned to the craft carrying Pro Moon and walked over with a squad of KDF troops, who in many ways, resembled Clone Troopers. The hatch of the Cerean craft opened and Corise gave a stiff military bow.

Cereans are a mostly spiritual and intellectual race, concerned with matters of the universe and reality or of personal development and triumph. The building of grand spires is more a testament to their reach for knowledge and understanding than a reach for glory and power. Nevertheless, they recognized that outward appearance was a good way to display your inner state, and look wicked cool while you're at it. Any politician worth his salt knew that as well, so Pro Moon descended from his ship in plain blue robes wrapped around him with streaks of red trim. The effect was regal and mystical, good for the foreign dignitary.

"Ah, captain," he said, as he saw Corise bow "Please, rise - we have much to do! I was impressed by your city as we flew overhead, your people have accomplished much in very litte time." An honest compliment, as seeing the organization and planning that had gone into the city impressed Pro Moon. "Normally I would love to tour it, however, it's best if we get started right away.

"As it would be best to start with the people responsible for running this marvellous place, I'm afraid I must use a cliche - take me to your leaders!"

Behind him, a unit of eight Cereans in highly ceremonial, decorated, yet surprisingly functional armor descended from the ship and arranged themselves around him. Noticing the glances they recieved, Pro Moon quickly explained.

"They're my guards, you see," he said. "It's common practice for visiting dignitaries to bring bodyguards of some kind, and the protectors offered by Cerea are very serious about their jobs. I assure you they won't be at all obtrusive in the meetings to come - isn't that correct, men?"

There were some uneasy nods from the masked individuals, which pleased Pro Moon. "That's about as much response as I ever get out of them. Very traditional, very spiritual. All right, captain, I think that should do for quick introductions. Let's move on!"

"That's about as much response as I ever get out of them. Very traditional, very spiritual. All right, captain, I think that should do for quick introductions. Let's move on!"

Corise, clad in his black dress uniform, mutely nodded and led them through an enclosed hallway that would take them directly into the main chamber of the capital building. Because the hallway was somewhat narrow, the delegations with their respective guards were somewhat compacted into a bizarre jamboree; The black-clad Kashan officers with their white armored troops could have been mistaken for an Imperial force while the Cereans, at least according to Corise’s mind, could have been drawn from an alien fashion pagent.

The hallway widened into a white-clad dome, housing various Kashan politicians in elevated concentric circles. The two delegations split up and headed to the centre floor, which was set up to receive the Kashan and Cerean delegations separately for presentations as well as asking and answering questions. Luckily for both of the above parties, that would occur after the treaty had been ratified by the Senate and officially signed into Law by Kashan’s two ruling proconsuls.

“Welcome,” boomed Proconsul Ryan Tier, “honored guests and esteemed allies…”

Corise smirked as he sat down. The Proconsul had just referred to both delegations as being guests and allies. But that was true, on multiple levels of thinking. While Commodore Lucerne had attended some of the cameral meetings, it had been either as an observer or as a presenter for the Kashan Fleet; he was not a very political man, not siding with either the left-winged Pacis Party or the more conservative Justitiam party. His thoughts thrown down as the second Proconsul, Christina Thorn, started her own introductory speech.

“As you all well know, we are gathered here to today to sign an accord bringing the Kashan people into the Coalition, to protect our people from our enemies. It is a day that will long be remembered for either the good or the evil that we do here today. It is not for me to say what is the right or what is wrong; all I can say, is to vote with your conscience and your good sense. Senators of Kashan, you will realize that none of either party’s whips have approached you today. For the good of the Kashan people, we, the Proconsuls, have requested that party lines have no say in the final decision today. Because of the solemnity of this task, it is the wish of Proconsul Tier and myself that you carefully consider your decision. It could lead to our people dying, or it could lead to our people being saved. That is all.”

The young lady stepped down from the speakers seat as the senators privately and electronically voted. It was more for show than anything. Both parties were for the treaty, although both parties had differing views of how far Kashan should play a role within the Coalition. But none of that was included in the treaty. He sat back as the aging Proconsul Tier stepped up to the podium.

“All votes are in. It has been an unanimous vote to join the Coalition.”

There was no thunderous applause. There were no straggling cheers. Solemnity seemed to pervade the room. Some of the senators seemed frozen still as others jotted notes or pulled out questions to ask the Cerean delegation. Both proconsuls went up and signed the treaty as Proconsul Thorn relieved her older counterpart from his post.

“We now pass the treaty down to our Coalition friends for their signing…”

Well that was fast, thought Pro Moon. He'd hoped to get a chance to meet more of the politicians present, or tour the city. For a brief moment his suspiscions were roused - was this perhaps some Imperial plot? Maybe the people of Kashan were hired infiltrators? Even without those doomsday scenarios, a planet that was unready or ill-prepared to join the Coalition could be just as damaging with embarassing political decisions or dangerous diplomatic moves.

These concerns were quickly suppressed, however, as the treaty was passed to Pro Moon. In such dark times, a little trust went a long way. He drew his pen and - upon scanning quickly through the document - gladly signed the treaty, passing it back to Procounsel Thorn. Pro Moon soon realized that more was expected of him, so he rose to speak.

"I'm sorry to say that I personally have not yet had the pleasure of fully touring your magnificent world, indeed many of you I'm meeting for the first time. Despite this, I sign with confidence this treaty to help Kashan rejoin the galactic community on the side of the New Galactic Coalition of Lightside Factions.

"The galaxy is a dangerous place, especially for those nations seeking independance, equality, democracy, and freedom. Armies are on the move again, and major forces gear up for war - some going to any length to secure new footholds, conscripts, and weapons of war. The protection of rights from these warlike factions is the purpose of the Coalition, a congress of individuals working together to seek out and extend their mutual defence to include every world threatened by Imperialism or other such conquering ideologies.

"Membership in the Coalition is, however, no walk in the park. We have many enemies. There are those who despise us meddling in their dark, sordid affairs, those with grudges from past battles, and simply those who oppose the very concept of our independance and defiance in the face of these obstacles. To join the Coalition means becoming their enemy as well as our ally, taking a place in a galaxy divided down very real lines of alliegance.

"Nevertheless, I am flush with pride this day, because you sought us out. Though I have met but a few of your people so far, I have found them eager and willing to face the challenges of this galaxy and preserve their freedom. It has been a long time since a nation came forth of its' own accord to say it was seeking to join, and I feel rejuvinated by the thought that people out in the galaxy still seek to support the cause of justice. Let us now work together to make your proud nation a welcome addition to the Coalition!"

Corise slowly nodded in agreement as the speech went on. There were bits that seemed like propoganda to the close listener, but it was a stirring speech nonetheless. The white chambers of the building echoed with the applause for the Cerean ambassador.

He couldn't help but smirk at the Cerean's first comment. The Kashan people were well aware of the troubles of the galaxy, hence the original isolationalistic founding of the colony to get away from it all. But isolation could not last forever, and the new generation of Kashan wanted to explore and enjoy the rest of the galaxy. Like Pro Moon had said, they were eager; eager for anything except the apparent dullness that was Kashan life.

That eagerness had been further excited by the circulation of galactic holo-news into Kashan via the Kashan Intelligence Agency along with the Kashan Civil Service. New colonists had also helped bring in news as well, ensuring that the truth about the galaxy would be known to the people. While the younger generation could be labelled as warhawks, the many of the original colonists were even more skeptical about the galaxy than when they had first colonized Kashan. But those of the first generation were few because of death simply from old age. Thus, Kashan popular support was primary swept into reopening itself to the galaxy.

Proconsul Thorn managed a reserved smile she typically used at press conferences while being questioned. As the applause quieted down, she stepped forward, drawing the attention of those present back to the podium. She cleared her throat.

"We are honored by your words, Prime Minister. Still, we must work out some more detailed elements with our membership at a later date. In the meantime, we will provide guides to you and your delegation. Tommorrow, the Kashan Defence Force will have its annual grand marshalling of our forces. On the behalf of Kashan, I'm inviting you to join myself in the Execuative Booth to observe them..."

Corise slightly leaned back in his chair, relaxing and beginning to daydream.

"...Since you know Commodore Lucerne reasonably well, he will be your lead guide for the rest of your stay on Kashan. You will have to excuse us, but we have some military appropiation bills that we must discuss, especially as we rally to the Coalition. Commodore Lucerne, will you please give our guests a tour of Kashan now."

Corise solemnly nodded, rose, and turned to the Cerean delegation. The former Kashan delegation along with an element of Kashan Shock Troopers mingled with the Cerean delegation as they walked out of the building. The Kashan Fleet Officer turned to Pro Moon as they reentered the hangar.

"Is there anything specific that you would like to see? I admit that we are primarily a functional society..."

The small party made its' way to the hangars - an unusual mix of the elaborate Cerean delegation and the gruff Kashan troops. Pro Moon stopped, however, before they reached the ships and said "Well, why don't we begin in the city then? If this is your capital, we should surely take the time to explore and see how your people live and work. Perhaps you have some sort of monument or museum dedicated to your original colonization and founding? That would make an interesting stop, but most of all I'd enjoy just going out and stretching my legs after the long trip here, wouldn't you?"

As they were lead towards ground level and the outside, Pro Moon felt a surge of confidence and relief - everything seemed to be going okay. They'd seemed nice, friendly, informative, and fairly glad to see him. A bit solemn, but people tended to get that way when they were trusting their future to people they had only recently met.

The soldiers, especially, seemed proud and distinct. An entire nation founded by soldiers? An interesting concept that had - through history - often yielded interesting results. The Coalition could use the fighting type, and he idly wondered if they might end up involved in the war. Unlikely, but still, their proximity to the theater made it possible. Maybe it was a good idea he was getting his tour now before the dragons flattened it? He quickly banished such cynical thoughts as they reached the doors.

"Well, why don't we begin in the city then? If this is your capital, we should surely take the time to explore and see how your people live and work. Perhaps you have some sort of monument or museum dedicated to your original colonization and founding? That would make an interesting stop, but most of all I'd enjoy just going out and stretching my legs after the long trip here, wouldn't you?"

Corise silently took in the Cerean’s thoughts. There’s not much to show them like that. Industrial progress and the standards of living had always been our main goals. He’s thinking of culture. The only thing remotely dedicated to the colony’s founding is the military and government; things that aren’t exactly the best sightseeing tours. Of course, there is the Sola Fyre National Park and the Fountain of Ardor. That’s somewhat stirring.

“Certainly ambassador. We do have a sort of monument, actually a planetary park, where we have a monument to the founders. It’s not exactly grandiose, but many of the founders are still alive.”

The party passed through several security checkpoints until they reached the duracrete roads of the capital. In front of them were several armored landspeeders along with shock troopers mounted on speeder bikes. It might seem ridiculous to have all of that protection when virtually the entire populace of the planet could instantly be activated into a trained security force, but the Kashan colonists were known for taking no chances. That ideology pervaded throughout the entire way of Kashan life, whether it be the safety precautions within the factories or the multiple back-up systems found on every Kashan manufactured vehicle.

The repulsors of the vehicles activated as the last passengers clamored aboard. The convoy of vehicles started to float around the city as the tour commenced. Corise was a somewhat laconic man, only talking a significant amount when it came to his profession or the government it served. Occasionally, he would appear extroverted among his closer friends. But seated with an alien ambassador and knowing little about the actual city, as he spent most of his time onboard the Seraph or when on planetside, at the Sola Naval Base, he let a junior Kashan diplomatic attaché guide the tour.

“These towers were made twenty years ago as the Kashan industry started to gear up to galactic standard…” stated the tour guide as he referred to the buildings that the diplomatic ships had passed over before landing. “The towers are homes to some of the Kashan people, but many of us prefer to live in smaller houses with our families. That tower, over to your right, is the Sunfire Spindle.”

The Sunfire Spindle was the crowning achievement of Kashan architecture. It was a circular tower that stretched upward as a skyscraper. While the basic design was completely unremarkable, the entire tower had been plated with Mirrsteel and reflective Ceraglass, reflecting the light from Kashan’s sun and moons in a myriad of colours. While it was a dazzling display, the use of Mirrsteel had actually be ordered by the Kashan Government because it had superior structure and environmental resistance compared to the Ferrocarbon and Durasteel materials that composed most of the other towers.

While many of the guards Pro Moon had brought were no doubt working overtime to conceal their boredom, Pro Moon found the tour fascinating. To reach the top of the political heap on a planet meant learning how to be interested by anything.

What to others was just a shiny building became an entire social examination. The city streets were clear indicators of a somewhat spartan and regimented lifestyle that although not devoid of pleasure and beauty, was not obsessed with them either. It was a refreshing change from the narrow peaks and silvery lights of Cerea. He was also quick to note the silence of the captain, letting the diplomatic expert speak instead, but points of pride about home living and feats of industry could still be noticed in the group.

After a while of enjoying the city, however, he began to feel restless. The security seemed excessive, and the long trips they had taken already made him hungry. Through the narrowly opened windows of the vehicle an arresting smell caught his nostrils, and he called out "Hold a moment, can we stop the ride?"

Which they did. They came to a halt outside a restaurent that served... well, whatever it was people ate on Kashan. Pro Moon realized he still didn't know. The smell was inviting, though, and continued to speak to his rumbling belly.

"It's been a long day already - why don't we stop for a quick bite to eat? It'd be my treat." With a smile, he squeezed past the guards to step out of the armored security vehicle and on to the pavement. "Come on! I'm sure a light meal would help us digest the progress we made today? You've got to answer the mystery of Kashan cuisine!"