Swords Sheathed[]
Erik attends the meeting with only his personal guard troopers. Dominic did not need to be there as its purpose was diplomatic in nature. His fury over the loss of men and material was good reason to stay aboard the Raven's Nest. Erik is already trying to figure out how to make that situation right on behalf of the Galaxy Commander. He knows that the Galaxy Commander wanted to speak with Julian but, something was not being said.
A neutral station near the Kathil shipyards was selected and the Prince’s Champion is being ferried there by his own dropship, the Red Sword. It is a small vessel compared to Chancellor Danai’s Warship. But, he is not trying to puff his chest. As the Prince’s Champion, he recognizes the need to end the Capellan invasion of the Capellan March. The Word of Blake is just a handful of jumps from New Avalon.
He departs the airlock and is escorted by an aide accompanied by a couple of Capellan Guards along with his own Honor Guard. They are brought to an observation deck. Entering the room he immediately notices the entire deck is surrounded by glass panels. He can see the magnificent Kathil shipyards in the distance and all around the constellations and nebulas of the galaxy, and the Chancellor’s flagship, the Aleisha Kris just beyond her.
He focuses on the leader of the Capellan Confederation, just ahead of him. The Maskirovka spared no expense in demonstrating the status of their leader. Danai is seated on an ornate golden throne, topped with dragon heads and a magnificent Emerald. Two pillars flank her on each side and behind the throne is what looks like a golden decoration but, is likely a nearly impenetrable barrier. Did they bring the palace with them?
Prince’s Champion Erik Sandoval-Groell slowly approached Chancellor Danai Liao of House Liao. She glares at him, her anger still very alive toward the Federated Suns. For some reason, the two nations continued to meet in diplomatic meetings, then go right back to fighting. At least this time they started the fight on bad information.
With a deep, considerate bow, Erik begins as he rises, “Thank you for meeting with me Chancellor.”
“I am glad someone in the Federated Suns wanted to actually share some relevant information to this conflict.”
“Indeed, Chancellor.” Erik holds up his hand so that one of the Maskirovka Agents can take a data crystal. Snatching it from his hand, the straight-faced agent approaches a nearby terminal. “What I have provided you is a data crystal that will show you information only I and the highest levels of AFFS command have access to. You saw this once already but, now the data crystal will verify the information’s legitimacy.”
She looks at the Agent after looking at Erik for a few seconds. The Agent turns his head toward her, “Chancellor.” Then gives one solid shake of his head to confirm everything was legitimate.
Looking back to Erik, Danai stays silent for a moment, her facial expression softening. How much can I trust this man? His reputation is well known. However, he is presenting as sincere. “Prince’s Champion, you have provided us critical data to prove you were not behind the attack on Sian. I will need your help to stop the fighting on the worlds my forces have invaded.” Danai rises from her seat and approaches Erik.
Stopping a meter in front of him she continues, “We will need to make a joint message to distribute to both our militaries. Now, though, you need to explain the Word of Blake.”
“Yes, Chancellor. I was nearly killed on Point Barrow. But, we bloodied them severely.” Slightly exaggerating my effect on them… “Just as the history books tell, they are vicious. The Shadow Division and Manei Domini was utterly terrifying to our men that faced them.”
“Do you have any idea if there are more…” she trails off, realizing… “The Erinyes was never found, nor Obeedah. Obeedah was supposed to be within Capellan controlled space.” A wave of shock visibly appears on her face as she raises one hand, covering her face. It takes her a few seconds in silence, then she lowers her hand, clasping them back together.
“Chancellor, they blindsided all of us.” Erik tries to sound as compassionate as he can to ease her frustrations. “Let us make this message to stop the fighting, then discuss further national relations. I would say that as long as our forces stop fighting, there is no need for them to suddenly move without a tactically important destination.”
“Your assessment is acceptable, let us begin the script.” Danai responds, holding her hand toward some desks that they will work at for the next couple hours. Luckily it only required a couple takes but, the message was successfully created and couriers are dispatched. Going into the evening, the two leaders have dinner and discuss the situation at hand.
They settle on having some additional meetings before either fleet goes anywhere and Danai ensures the shipyards would repair the Snow Raven vessels while it remains in her control. Luckily for everyone, most of the damage was minimal, the one ship that detonated had been hit at the right angle that the weapon penetrated the hull and detonated explosive components within.
***
A few weeks pass as the Snow Raven’s ships are repaired, with the Capellans taking on the full cost to start making things right. In the meantime, Dominic McKenna accompanies Erik to meet with Danai Liao twice. His very Clan looking appearance visibly caught her off guard in their first meeting. She provided a professional apology for her severe reaction to their arrival. He accepted the gesture graciously, really working on his own diplomatic skills. In their meeting he also explained the chaos that had been ongoing on their way through FedSun space. He made it very clear there was a new enemy to watch out for, Clan Sea Fox.
Dominic still continues to keep the Comstar personnel quiet. Precentor Imala wanted to meet with Chancellor Danai to give the technology to her. The only way to quiet him on Raven’s Nest was to inform him that Danai and Erik agreed to her meeting with Julian on New Avalon as well. Being only two jumps away, the majority of her fleet could get there, recharge, then begin to return to Capellan space. That would be the time to share the data with both leaders to ensure that there would be no chance of a new cause to start fighting.
The time had come for the trio of leaders to jump to New Avalon. It would be quite the meeting as a Snow Raven Galaxy Commander, Capellan Chancellor, Federated Suns First Prince, Federated Suns Prince’s Champion, General Lee and Kitsune Kurita of Nomad Republic, and unbeknownst to all but one of them, Comstar, all assembled on the world. Final checks took place as the jumps began. Erik was unsure of if he would return before Julian but, it was a relieving feeling that this much firepower would be around New Avalon, even if the Blakists did not arrive while it was there.
When the combined Capellan and Raven fleets with those ships under Erik’s command arrived at New Avalon’s system, the situation changed from if they would beat Julian back, to could they save him at all?