The shuttle's trajectory allowed Kaine to take in the expanse of Starhome.

An incredible achievement in precise engineering it was though a bit on the impractical side.

Strategies played out in his analytical mind until the nearness of the foreign station caused such thoughts to stray and he beheld the structure for the wonder that it was.



The pilots executed the landing superbly as he would have expected given the billions of credits spent to train and adequately supply their vast military machine.


A brief look at the position of the Coalition shuttle allowed him some time to mentally prepare himself. While battle drove most public fears aside, Kaine felt the familiar twinge of adrenaline as he moved towards the ramp that was slowly lowering. Soon he would come into contact with some of the brightest minds the Hapans had to offer. Not to mention, those of the Coalition.

And while the Coalition was a known quantity, the potential was still great for surprises.

From the top of the ramp, the greeting parties became visible and Kaine's eyes glistened with a sudden curiousity about these people.

He smiled faintly to themselves wondering if anyone in the greeting party received sudden thoughts of doing away with a certain Imperial Grand Marshall.

The practical reality overcame his perceptions as he realized that he very well could be walking to his death.

At least I wouldn't die alone.


Strangely the thought comforted him as his boots clicked against the metal ramp signalling his descent.


Everyone was dressed in their best while Kaine merely wore his traditional black uniform adopted by his old 256th. It was a uniform curiously devoid of any frills but for two small plantinum bars on his left breast indicating his rank.

His gloved hands were clasped behind his back as he approached Dakkon Darksword flanked by the Spartan honor guard.

His procession stopped allowing Kaine to advance a few steps ahead, his eyes taking in Dakkon's entourage. There were some government functionaries but no one he had recognized as yet. There was also a slip of a girl hidding just behind the Crown Prince her eyes darting to her lord and her lips whispering.


The rather pompous Hapan Herald turned to his lord and commenced introductions:

"Crown Lord Prince of Hapes, Defender of the Queen Mother, Protector of the Cluster and all Royal Principalities herein, his Royal Majesty Dakkon Darksword,"

Kaine's eyes registered surprise that the Herald had left off a substantial amount of titles and honorifics. He'd been prepared to stand there for twenty minutes before they ever got around to his name.

"May I present, Grand Marshall Simon Kaine, Supreme Commander Imperial Armed Forces.

Kaine winced inwardly at the "supreme" wondering if the Herald threw that in there because he felt a mere 'Commander of Imperial Armed Forces' simply was not august enough to stand before the ruler of Hapes much less command dialogue with him.

Kaine inclined his head slightly to Dakkon and those surrounding him.


The Coalition Shuttle had just secured itself so Kaine stepped aside motioning his honor guard to fall into ranks to receive the Coalition representative.

Ku'un slithered off of the shuttle, his rather simple uniform the only one available yet for soldiers of his race. His small party followed in his wake, with mixed feelings about the unusual reception that awaited them.

Being a mere Vice-Admiral, Ku'un should probably have been taken aback by standing in the presence of two so powerful men, but he was not. He could just about recognize Simon from his old military history classes, but the Hapan was harder to spot. Luckily, the herald stepped forwards and gave another list of titles, along with, eventually, his name.

Once again, Ku'un managed a bow. "A pleasure to meet you both, as you know, I am the Coalition's diplomatic representative to this meeting, meaning I am free to discuss any issues you wish to bring up." There was a momentary pause, as Ku'un examined where they were again. "Quite a place you have here, your majesty."

His escorts caught up with him and fell into line. Not a human was among them, as the Coalition had few of them to begin with, but also because a show of diversity might help the diplomatic procedure along, or at least serve as a conversation piece.

Ku'un extended a rather heavily-washed appendage to the king of Hapes, and gave a short bow.

Darksword sensed the approach of his former bodyguard as she entered the room, quietly awaiting her arrival. He smiled warmly when she finally reached him, accepting her arm.

"Here should do fine, my dear. But perhaps I will present you at a later juncture."

It took only a few moments for Kaine to complete his journey down the plush corridor, the end of which produced the standard series of introductions between the two delegates. Dakkon was listening only passively, his gaze fixed intently upon the man who would lead the Empire. He was more than happy to note the surprise in Kaines eyes at the historically dismall listing of honorifics that lead to the Crown Prince's name, Darksword felt no need to announce his presence anymore than their current environment did so already.

He returned the slight nod sent his way from the Empires envoy and then simply waited as the Imperials moved to allow the newly arrived Coalition ambassador to arrive.

As he caught sight of Ku'un Dakkon was suddenly immensely glad of his decision to hold the bulk of the conference aboard the Queen Mothers traditional home, had it been held on the surface he was afraid that the Hapan people would be immensely disgusted with the alien presented to their patriarch.

Extremely xenophobic, the peoples reaction could have only sent a poor message to the Coalition ambassador, irregardless of how realistic it was.

Much more cosmopolitan in his upbringing Dakkon rarely felt such knee-jerk compunctions, instead reacting to each alien based on their merits.

Eventually the worm managed to slither its way up towards the greeting point to receive its welcome. Once done it bowed slightly before opening the conference by uttering the first words between the groups not through the herald.

"A pleasure to meet you both, as you know, I am the Coalition's diplomatic representative to this meeting, meaning I am free to discuss any issues you wish to bring up.

Quite a place you have here, your majesty."

Dakkon smiled at that.

"Unless the Coalition has come to surrender to Hapes, I am not your sovereign...

You may call me Dakkon."

He paused slightly, then replied to the worms actual statement.

"And thank you. It's been in the family for millenia."

As the ambassador extended his apendage Dakkon paused for a second before accepting the 'hand' in greeting. Behind him some of his retainers tittered, perhaps in disgust, but a sideways look from Zakharov silenced them immediately

Releasing the ambassador Dakkon gestured behind himself.

"The stewards will show you to your quarters."

At that statement two immensely attractive women emerged from amongst the Princes party and made their way towards the delegates.

Each party was to be quartered in the castles west wing, the Vice Admiral on the back side and the Grand Marshall on the front side. Each side had been lavished with every available luxury and upon the bed of each delegate was a personal gift from the Crown Prince himself, a hamburger sized velvet box which, when opened, revealed a fully matured Gallinore rainbow gem.

"I believe we should now adjourn to freshen up, a herald will arrive in approximately 2 hours to bring you to the conference room.

The stewards will remain with you and help get you situated."

Dakkon smiled with finality and nodded to both delegates before turning to walk through his party, Andra still attached to his arm. They parted for their liege and were quick to follow him from the hangar bay.

As soon as the Crown Prince left the stewards gestured to their relative delegates and begun leading them to their chambers.

The formal attendant had given the Grand Marshall and his company a brief tour of their wing on Starhome and by the time the Imperials arrived at their hall and before their respective doors, Kaine had pretty much had all the meaningless trivia regarding the glory of Hapes technology and the brilliance of the leadership provided by Dakkon Darksword he could stomach.

All in all, Simon wondered if the attendant had his lips surgically grafted onto the Crown Prince's ass.

The Imperial party was not large and so a spacious room was easily granted to Kaine as the highest ranking officer and a couple of smaller accomodating rooms for the staff that accompanied him.

He heard a communications unit chirping as he entered the lavishly decorated room and while attempting to locate the unit, he unbuttoned his uniform coming to a bedroom from which the sound was eminating. He answered the hail by activating the unit situated on a wall in front of a large bed that lay in the middle of the room.

Grand Moff Zell's face appeared in the screen and immediately he began his rant.


"Did you take that damn jewel and shove it up the Crown Prince's ass? " the older man growled. "Can I begin targeting the support pylons and set Hapes Royalty back a century?"

Simon noted a personal bar on an adjacent wall from the comm unit and the fact that both were located in the bedroom told him that the Hapans were old hats to the fundamentals of diplomacy. "We just said, 'hi', Zell. No need to declare war."


"He's a prissy, self bloated royal pain in a rancor's ass." Then his rant lost some of it's venom. "Kaine, what the hell are we doing here?" Simon could tell that Zell was bored. It was Regent Hyfe's idea that both men handle the Hapes negotiations which was strange since they were both soldiers and not really diplomats.

The Regent had been acting stranger and stranger ever since the war ended with the Coalition and the Outer Rim Soveriengty.


"Protecting our interests." he turned to Zell, coming out of his reverie and answering the old man's question.


"You can say that? After the gift you wanted to present? I had Gormul whipped in a dungeon to complete the work. And what did the Hapes prick offer? A damn rock!"


Kaine's shoulder shrugged in exhaustion. "The corridor between the Core and the Yaga Minor Proectorate lay just behind the Hapes Cluster. I would very much rather have their Battle Dragons poised outward and standing between us and whoever fancies themselves a destroyer of the New Order."


"Don't trust them!"


"Zell," a little of his tired exasperation was beginning to show, "it was just the initial meeting." He waved off the comm. "And it's way too late for you to be in this mood."


"Well..." Zell drew the comment out. "Excuse the fuck out of me, Graaand Maaaarshaall. Would his lordship..."


A noise was heard beyond the bedroom from an adjoining room and even the transmitters of the comm unit picked it up cutting off Zell's rant.

"What the fuck was that?"

"I.." Kaine's eyes narrowed, surprised at the noise. "don't know. I suppose I am not alone."

"I've ordered the Rashion to target the pylons." Zell stated flatly and then slowly a feral grin began to form. "As soon as you are shot, I'll order her to open fire."

Kaine's wry grin did not reach his eyes as he murmured, "Nice to know I am being backed by the best and the brightest."

Kaine began to move away from the communications unit toward the swivel doors that led into a room that seemed to be entirely comprised of some sort of tile.

He stopped before reaching the double swivel doors and saw nothing.

"Is anyone there?" he calmly asked in a voice of authority knowing he should have had a weapon. The fact that a trigger happy Zell remained safely on the Venerator outside of Starhome gave Kaine little comfort.

The fact that an opportunist like Azrael Zell could use the circumstance to rid Hapes of it's leaders at the price of a mere Grand Marshall was not lost on Kaine either.


And then a door was pushed outward as someone exited the room in a shy manner.


"Fuck me.." whispered Zell over the comm as a young woman stepped into the bedroom.


"Who are you?" Simon asked, slightly annoyed at the intrusion.

The girl was plainly nervous. "L... Lord Kaine. I ... I was to draw your bath.." she responded almost dumbly.

Confusion entered Kaine's mind and Zell barked out a laugh. "Forget what I said about that fucker Dakkon. He's a much farseeing man than I gave him credit for. We would do well to form an alliance..."

"Shut up, Zell." Kaine ground out not taking his eyes off the woman.

He stepped forward, "Do you know who I am?" he asked in a soft yet dangerous voice. Assassins were assassins even if they were pretty.

The girl, however, seemed to lose some of her color and cast her eyes downward. "You are Lord Kaine. All servants of Starhome know the Conqueror of a Thousand Worlds."


Kaine ignored the whispered, 'What the fuck' from Zell and continued, "You're a servant?"


"Sweet Emperor's brittle bones, man!" The old Moff could not contain himself. "If she's gonna draw your bath, there's only one purpose the Crown Prince had in mind when assigning her to your room. Tell him I want three whores of my own." The Grand Moff's insinuations caused the girl to whiten further.


"You're here to have sex?" Kaine simply, flat-out laid it out much to Zell's delight and the girl's growing anxiety.


"Of course she is! When you're done with her.. send her to the Rashion. Conqueror of a Thousand Worlds my ass. I'll show her the Conqueror of the Billion Whores!"


"Zell, for the hundreth time, shut up."


The Grand Moff grinned, "I'll leave you two kids alone. Remember, Marshall, I expect a full report." and the comm unit went dark.


The two people stared at each other until Kaine took the initiative. "You never answered the question. You are here for sex?"


The woman's eyes were those of one who had been caught in a trap. Her voice hesitated, "I.... If that is my Lord's .. wish.". Her eyes remained downcast.


"You are trembling.." Kaine remarked not moving and the girl silently cursed herself at the display. How events had moved beyond what she envisioned would be a quick duty suddenly became much more complicated. If the Imperial demanded her body she had no choice. Her duty to the Crown Prince was clear. To refuse the request of a diplomatic envoy would cast dishonor on the House of Darksword. In fact, if she angered the Imperial in any way, he would be liable to take it out on others for tear asunder any agreement her Prince would want ratified.


But the Imperial had not moved. He merely stared at her and she began to realize he was expecting an answer.


"I... I am sorry, Lord. I am new to this. I.....I am untouched." She fell to her knees knowing that that latter revelation would seal her fate.


"Get up, woman." the Imperial called out softly and turned his attention to pulling his black gloves off. "Just be glad you did not say that in front of Moff Zell."


The man seemed to smile to himself.


The girl was so lost in her thoughts that she did not realize the Imperial Grand Marshall step over to her and raise her back up by her shoulders.

"What is your name?"


The girl could not fathom her good fortune as the man made no attempt to rape her. Her sisters were both courtesans and were very good at their professions having been groomed from their early teens. It was a life of honor to please those that brought pleasure to their Crown Prince and his allies. It was a life with a prospect of great rewards if a courtesan found a wealthy personal patron. But it was a life that did not appeal to her.


"My name is Anya."


The Imperial Grand Marshall's eyes flashed in recognition of some memory but other than that displayed no emotion.


"Well, Anya. Is the bath set?"


"What?.. oh.. Y.. yes Lord."


"I am not a Lord."


"You are Lord Kaine, Lord. Conqueror of a..."

"..a Thousand Worlds. Yes, I heard you the first time. And for the record, I have not conquered a thousand worlds."

The woman looked at Kaine curiously. "To conquer Corsucant is to conquer a thousand worlds." she said with conviction.

Kaine flashed a tired smile, "You Hapans do like your titles. I appreciate you drawing the bath, Anya. You may go."


And Kaine moved out of her way taking off the uniform jacket and laying it on the bed.


The girl, not believing her luck, scrambled for the door and bolted from the Diplomatic Room as quickly as possible.


Kaine did not bother to watch her leave and his thoughts began to turn towards the meeting he would be having with the Crown Prince and the Coalition Representative.

(Really sorry for not posting. To be honest, I flat forgot.)

Ku'un kept any private thoughts about how the Coalition seemed to have gotten the less-impressive quarters to himself. By any other standard, they were definetly luxurious, but if any servant girls had been waiting they had probably seen him and decided it was better risking whatever punishment Hapan reserved for them.

Ku'un's small party of staff, all from the B-list of CIB operatives and Coalition Diplomatic Corp, set up a simple headquarters. The various equipment hummed and whirred around them, although most was for show. Did anyone care if this meeting bore fruit? Why was the Coalition even invited? With intergalactic terrorists foaming at the mouth on one hand, and the Black Dragon Empire marshalling strength on the other, not to mention a half-dozen various diplomatic criseses and smaller problems, Hapes simply didn't fit.

But maybe, that was a good thing. If Hapes didn't fit, maybe that would mean they would continue not-fitting for a long time to come, the Coalition didn't need more enemies. They might even be able to wrangle an ally. If Ku'un could laugh, he would have at that thought. You'd have to really be scraping the bottom of the barrel to ally with the Coalition.

He politely recieved missives from the few superiors available to take his calls, although they were generally too busy to give any reasonable advice. Some useful information on the Hapans was dug up, but none of it Ku'un liked. Their society reminded him of the people of Kegan, a Coalition member, who laboured for a thousand years under the principle of the 'Greater Good' only to find that it was a lie used to line the pockets of those who knew its' secrets. The more affluent Hapans had yet to realize their wealth had to come from somewhere, and those they recieved it from were often less then happy about it.

The rest of the little interlude passed unremarkably, except for a cautious serving of food brought by awkward servants. Ku'un soon realized he and the rest of his entourage were being gawked at, and he derived some amusement by awarding their curiosity with various scary looks and weird alien characteristics, like using a fork as a knife.

Ku'un slithered into his best uniform - the one without the blaster-holes in it - and met his chief diplomatic escort. The escort was a bespeckled Rodian, an expatriot of his home-planet who left it before its' loss in the War.

"H-hello sir, it's an honour to work with you today." his grasp of basic was more or less satisfactory, although his anxiety was evident. Ku'un recognized him as one of the new generation of CIB agents being trained up since the amalgamation of the various agencies into one body. Ku'un nodded, once again with difficulty.

"So you're the one who will tell me which fork to use?"

"Well, there will be more to it then that, b-but I do have a paper here... somewhere... that has the Hapan dietary habits on it. They're mostly pretty..." the Rodian cleared his throat, the embarrasment preventing him from saying whatever it was "...But this is a diplomatic function, so I don't think they'll do anything like that."

Ku'un sighed. "Listen, can you just tell me what they want before we meet them? That'd help. Oh, and what they have that we want."

"Well the H-Hapans do brisk trade, and they control a fairly good area of hyperspace lanes. The Coalition is pretty spread out, and securing those trade-lanes are pretty important. A-also, they seem to want... well... I guess more power. There isn't much in the way of wealth or material possession they don't have in their own boarders, so all they want from others is security and comfort."

"Great." grumbled Ku'un "So we need to assure them nothing will happen to their flying palaces and in return they'll let us use their roads. This feels so... mundane."

The Rodian once again cleared his throat. "W-well, this dossier isn't classified, so maybe there's more to it then that, sir."

"Tell me" said Ku'un as they made their way to the meeting room "what's your name? I can't keep thinking of you as 'The Rodian'."

"Yees Xyilyx, sir."

Ku'un tried a few times to pronounce the last name. "I'll just call you Yees."