You are only neutral as long as you are strong enough to remain so.
Cairo System - Dreknar Confederacy
"Article Eight," the digital translation device, squeaked as the small furred creature tapped its claws across the keyboard with remarkable speed and agility, the Dreknar officer looked up with small dark eyes to ensure that she was listening as the translator carried on, "In neutral ports and territories belligerent war-ships may only carry out such repairs as are absolutely necessary to render them space worthy, and may not add in any manner whatsoever to their fighting force. The local authorities of the neutral Power shall decide what repairs are necessary, hum, and these must be carried out with the least possible delay."
Lauren stood nodding to the small Dreknar officer sitting before her, lecturing her on the articles of neutrality. The rules by which an Imperial prize ship, such as the Farstrider, was permitted to remain in a neutral port such as Cairo.
"Article Nine:" The Dreknar continued, dutifully typing out the articles so that the machine could spit them out to her, knowing that it was painful for the both of them, but the rules had to be clear. The woefully ill equipped Dreknar military couldn't afford to be drawn into the war. "A prize may only be brought into a neutral port on account of un-space worthiness, or want of fuel or provisions. It must leave as soon as the circumstances which justified its entry are at an end. If it does not, the neutral Power must order it to leave at once; should it fail to obey, the neutral Power must employ the means at its disposal to release it with its officers and crew and to intern the prize crew."
Lauren nodded her head, "I understand."
The Dreknar checked his digital readout and handed it to her, "the final article I must make you aware of, is that when war-ships belonging to both belligerents are present simultaneously in a neutral port or roadstead, a period of not less than twenty-four hours must elapse between the departure of the ship belonging to one belligerent and the departure of the ship belonging to the other." He emphasized that by tapping it again into the digital computer, and Lauren got the distinct impression that meant there were Amsus vessels in the Cairo system, "The order of departure is determined by the order of arrival, unless the ship which arrived first is so circumstanced that an extension of its stay is permissible."
"Thank you," She repeated again, shaking the alien's hand.
The gangling fur lined tail swung back and forth behind the creature, twisting and puffing as the Dreknar's face creased into a smile for her, "Interesting times," he replied to her, looking through at the bay in the well appointed and modern space dock, towards the captured Polian Gunship.
Lauren smiled, "We're seeking to make a few repairs, and to re-supply, we should be gone as soon as that is done." She fumbled through one of her pockets slipping out her pill bottle, grunting irritably that she only had a day or so left, she'd have to visit a doctor while on Cairo to refill it, absently she stuffed the pills away and rubbed her brow.
The Dreknar tilted his tail and waved them pleasantly, his claws tapping across the cylindrical keyboard, "We understand, you are actually the first Imperial vessel to make use of our port. Normally it is the Amsus seeking to re-provision, or the Polian Alliance delivering cargo for trade." He squeaked like a guinea pig, "Though I suppose now we have to deliver the same to any Orion vessel that enters one of our ports..."
"What?" Lauren asked in shock.
"Oh, you haven't been appraised of the news," he purred a moment, typing some more for the translator to spit out, "The Denver conglomerate has declared war upon the Amsus Hegemony, while it is only one part of the mighty Orion directorate, we feel that the rest of the Directorate will finally follow through on its veiled alliance with the imperials."
Lauren shook her head in shock, after centuries of neutrality, to actually take a side in a major galactic conflict... Denver?
"You said the Denver Conglomerate?" she asked again in confusion...
"Commander Tevraun," A lithe looking human woman with a steel grey bun, and ornate hair pins protruding from it, swept up towards her in a traditional kimono bound by a rich silken sash, Aoki Yukiko the Imperial Ambassador to the Dreknar Confederacy beamed at Lauren as she swept regally past the Dreknar officer.
Lauren smiled and embraced her, "Yukiko!" she smiled clutching her by the elbows and leaning back to look at the beautiful woman, "I had heard that you volunteered for the diplomatic post, but..."
Yukiko smiled demurely and bowed her head, "Walker-san was very convincing when he asked for volunteers to administer the Imperial Embassies last year, and this seemed a productive way to spend my retirement," she looked out of the window at the beautiful sun soaked world of Cairo, a former Imperial colony that had been ceded to the Dreknar after the fall of the Empire. Beautiful hanging gardens that spilled flowers down over the sides of tall buildings, as canals wound their way through the structures, boats and hoppers skipped too and fro.
"It's beautiful," Lauren agreed with a smile.
"I know I am not the only former Orion Mercenary to have found a purpose inside the Empire," Yukiko smiled again and took in Lauren's BDU's and the pistol she wore on her hip, "But there will be time for discussion later, you must be anxious to use the FTL system to contact your Headquarters."
"They've found a way to lift the FTL embargo?" Lauren asked almost in relief.
"I'll explain more back at the Embassy, will your crew require anything in your absence?" Yukiko asked dutifully.
Lauren nodded, "I have injured, a doctor and hospital access for them would be appreciated."
Yukiko turned to one of her aides, standing patiently gripping his portfolio case over his chest as she uttered some orders in Mandarin, turning back as the aide began to talk into his TAC-link and made arrangements.
Lauren nodded, walking back to the docking tube, where Sergeant Hobbes stood, his hands resting on the slung assault rifle, his fatigue cap pulled low, shadowing his eyes, giving the impression that he wasn't a person to be messed with.
"I am going to go with the Ambassador, Use the FTL comm. and check in," Lauren said, turning so that she could lean in, "Keep an eye on the ship, medical teams should be able to take care of the injured, and Firlotte can use the time to figure out the gunship's systems. Let's try not to piss off the Dreknar too much..." She coughed behind her hand, "But watch out, there are Amsus ships in port."
"Fun, ma'am." Hobbes responded gruffly, "I'll make sure we're locked down here, except for the Dreknar inspectors."
* * *
Lauren luxuriated in the ofurô, sipping sake and enjoying the warm salted water that eased her aching muscles. Her gun sat on the rim of the bath, and pointedly Yukiko, relaxing across from her made no comment on it. It had taken her nearly a year to get used to not carrying a weapon.
It was part of life aboard an Orion ship, especially for mercenary crews. While Tradeliners were relatively safe, the freighters that plied the back routes, servicing rougher colonies and mining stations were no place for an unarmed woman, no matter the species.
"The Amsus are moving ten Hedgehogs through Dreknar space," Yukiko said breaking the quiet that passed between them, "I have Imperial Intelligence agents that report to me, as well as a source in the Amsus Consulate here on Cairo."
Lauren sat up with interest, swimming a little in the large tub, drifting on the warm water, "That's the bulk of their Command and Control fleet." She said with surprise.
"Apparently the Amsus have suffered some kind of disaster with their C&C vessels on the front lines, and are calling for the remainder of the Frigates to make best speed to the Front lines, that means in order to link up with the Amsus fleet prior to its assault on Sentinel Station, they have to take a short cut."
"The Dreknar must be unhappy about that," Lauren knew that while the Dreknar maintained their neutrality, they still suffered at the hands of 'bullying' by the Amsus Hegemony. Fearful of punitive invasion, they often bent the rules of neutrality to appease the Amsus High Command.
Yukiko nodded, "So much so that they have given me the course the Amsus vessels are going to take." Her eyes flashed, "Taine-san could make good use of this information."
Lauren bobbed her head, "Thank you Yukiko, if we can cut the Amsus capacity for deep space scanning, we'd have a decided advantage over them in the coming battle."
"I knew that you would be pleased," Yukiko smiled matronly, "Now perhaps you should tell an old woman all about your adventures," she reached out, gliding through the water for the Sake bottle, refilling Lauren's cup.
"That's a long story," Lauren replied with a slight smile, "Would you believe it all started with Captain Krodan..."
"I remember him," Yukiko smiled, "He was always an arrogant man, he took far too many risks for my liking."
"Well," Lauren said with a slight shrug, "He thought it was a good idea to cut through a raider corridor... We were attacked."
"That doesn't surprise me," Yukiko said smiling sagely, "A freighter alone in their territory, Krodan-san should have gift wrapped his cargo."
"Well the ship was done for, coming apart at the seams, Shale was trying to keep the positive pressure in the section we were in... When out of nowhere this insane man appears with his plucky side kick, wearing an imperial uniform, right out of a bad comic book..."
"Captain Fyad's adventures," Yukiko tittered, "I have read them, they are quite good."
"Yeah tell me about it," Lauren smiled shaking her head at the memory, "If I'd known then what I know now, I should have stayed on Krodan's freighter." She closed her eyes smiling, knowing that in spite of it all, she probably would have gone anyway, and at least she had an interesting life.
"Krodan-san was fat and smelled bad," Yukiko nodded, "it sounds like this hero of yours was a vast improvement."
"Oh I know," Lauren laughed downing her cup, "Too bad he was gay. He has the most adorable boyfriend...had..." she snorted realizing she was a little drunk, "You'll never guess who it is."
Yukiko smiled, "I have no idea."
"The reincarnation of Prince Edward... well a clone... construct..." Lauren huffed, pursing her lips and reaching for more sake, "Talk about the strangest bunch of misfits you ever saw, and some how we have to save the galaxy..."
"What you are you are, and destiny is destiny." Yukiko replied warmly, "You were once a young farm girl stowing away on a freighter just to escape her destiny. And I was once an engineer hiding from mine. Now look at us, you are the First Officer of an Imperial Warship, and I am an Ambassador. Fate wills what it wills, but we will always be us."
"I should have been a fish," Lauren said, lolling her head back and slipping beneath the warm waters, coming up as it ran through her hair, shaking her short blonde hair from side to side and grinning brightly, it had been too long since she had been drunk. Enjoying a bath, a real bath, with a close friend.
* * *
Darien walked around his desk, flipping through papers, squinting at them as he looked up at the distorted holographic image in the middle of his stateroom, "So you're all okay?" he asked again.
The image sputtered, the relay system was still being configured and was giving them difficulty, but he was relieved to see Lauren's face through the projection system. He folded his arms leaning against the edge of his desk.
"We're...Cairo sys..." The audio popped and cut out and in again, "Ambassador Yukiko... repairs..."
Shale turned his head from the image back to Darien, his bushy eyebrows raised, his big arms folded.
"I'm having trouble with the transmission," Darien said stepping down from his desk and looking at the image, "Are you reading this?" He glanced over at Lieutenant Galadriel who was kneeling beside the unit attempting to adjust it to process more of the data.
"...gative... stream... ming." Lauren flickered her hands on her hips staring at him, glancing at someone outside of the pick up radius of the communication system, "Captured... Gunship..."
"What?" Darien took off the Excalibur cap he was wearing and scrubbed a hand through his hair, "I'm not reading that commander..."
Lauren looked frustrated and reached out, taking a piece of paper and scrawling onto it with a pen, holding up 'I captured a Polian Gunship'.
Darien nodded, "good job," he flashed her a thumbs up, "Well done." He realized he was trying to yell, knowing it wouldn't do any good anyway he turned back to his desk, pulling a chart towards him.
"Ambass... Yukiko... tha... ... Amsus ... Trans... Hedge... ...ough ...Dreknar Spa..." Lauren scribbled furiously on her piece of paper, holding it up, '10 Amsus Hedgehogs' scribbling again to make sure he had a list of systems.
Darien looked up at Captain Shale, Shale nodded grimly, marching out of the stateroom without comment, catching a Marine out in the hall and snarling at him to fetch others.
"You are in the Cairo system?" he asked, tapping the chart.
Lauren nodded, "...system... repairs... Dreknar..."
Darien glanced down at Galadriel again who sat up, staring back at him, "Cairo's on the border with Polian territory, its about four jumps from what used to be Kule space, and according to the Imperial archives, that is the most likely location for the Rock of Braal."
Darien nodded and turned back to the image, finding the co-ordinates on the map an tapping them, "I need you to go to Kule space,"
Lauren looked confused, "... are... Kule?"
Darien shook his head, "They're supposed to be extinct. I need you to find the Rock of Braal."
Lauren looked confused, "What?"
"The Rock of Braal," Darien repeated slowly, "I," he tapped his chest, "Need you," he pointed at her, "To find the Rock of Braal."
Lauren bobbed her head, "Find... Rock...Braal... Kule Spa..."
"I'll send you parts and supplies if you send us your co-ordinates," Darien glanced again at Galadriel, "We have the Propylons functional."
Lauren frowned, "Propylons... send..."
"Send what?" Darien pressed.
Lauren rolled her eyes, "...equipment." She pulled out her TAC-link and wiggled it.
"She is asking for comm. equipment." Galadriel clarified.
Darien smiled, "We'll send it right over. I can't arm you, or send you crew while you are in a neutral port but we'll do what we can to get you underway to a point where we can."
Lauren seemed to get the gist of what he was saying, "...bout... Talionis... Arcanis."
Darien shook his head, "We are at war with the Polians. Like it or not, they chose their side, and while I don't like the thought of Lex Talionis armed with Type 9's, there is nothing we can do to stop him at the moment. Proceed to the Rock of Braal..."
Lauren shook her head, "...stand... can't..."
"The Rock of Braal," Darien replied pointing to the image, "You have your orders."
Lauren saluted, though her face registered that she didn't like them one bit, the image cutting off terminating the transmission as Darien folded his arms, taking off the cap he was wearing, and running his fingers over the golden oak leaves on the brim.
"She'll follow your orders," Galadriel reassured.
"I hate having the feeling that I am standing here useless." He confided, looking up and out at the bright flickering star in the Yeji-Sola system. The Excalibur still attached to the repair station; making use of its facilities to undergo some much needed repairs while the Propylon system was being tested.
"You are a Highlord, you can't be out there all the time, there comes a point when you have to trust the people under you to get the job done. We learn that at the Tempus Military Academy," Galadriel said collecting papers from his desk and sorting through the ones she needed, stacking the others next to Darien's log book, noting that Darien's hand writing had gotten smaller, that he'd been making entries that would have normally taken up two pages on a single pages, two lines for every printed line in the book.
She stopped as she glanced over towards the doors to Darien's bedroom, Edward emerging, picking at a set of Darien's clothes that literally swallowed him whole. He looked like a kid that had borrowed his big brothers clothes.
"Where're my clothes?" Edward asked, holding the waistband of a pair of Darien's trousers, "I thought I had clothes onboard."
Galadriel tried to hide her smile, "I'll be on the bridge, skipper."
Darien turned back to Elias and tilted his head, "I had a lot of your stuff put into storage, they should be in one of the cargo bays... I wasn't sure I was going to..."
"You weren't sure I was ever going to come back," Edward replied walking over and taking the hat from Darien's hands and sticking it on his head, narrowing his eyes and getting a shifty grin, "I have a plan..." he said, mimicking Darien, looking up and smiling, "Sorry I couldn't help it."
Darien gestured, "I just spoke to Lauren, she's all right, in the Cairo system, she captured a Polian Gunship."
"Hey, cool!" Edward grinned, "Does she need a hand figuring out how it works?"
"She has Firlotte with her," Darien replied smiling faintly as he recognized Elias's delight at technology, "But if you want to work, without COB... Well I could use your expertise figuring out how to get them incorporated into the ship."
Edward nodded his head, reaching out to run a finger over the plain shirt Darien was wearing, looking down at the dishevelled appearance. "I miss the dragons," he said with a smile, before he looked up again, "You need to listen to me, Darien."
Darien nodded, "I'm listening." He said quietly.
"I need you, Karin needs you, Walker needs you. With the Amsus invasion under way..." Edward sighed, "General Iver dead... the Empire is leaderless, if you don't act they might falter."
Darien stared at Edward, confusion flickering through his eyes, "How?"
"I know," Edward replied calmly, "I just know. I know this as well; you have to bring the Matriarch to Karin... That is very important..."
Darien drew back suspiciously, "What?" he asked cautiously.
"The Matriarch, you, the highlord Kardiac and Walker can stop what is going to happen; only you four can. If you don't, they are going to..." He swallowed, "Promise me you'll do this."
"You have my word." Darien said with a nod.
Edward flashed a smile, unbuckling Darien's belt and slipping it off, noting with a smile that Darien did not stop him, using it to keep his own trousers up, he looked past Darien towards the doors, "Chief Engineer, reporting for duty Captain." He saluted.
Darien returned the salute, "Welcome back to the HMS Excalibur, Lieutenant."
"Oh I expect a promotion," Edward smirked as he walked towards the doors, "Admiral at least..."
"You just like being on top." Darien replied smiling as he turned.
Edward paused and looked back at Darien, "I'll get the drive system working, you can count on me."
"I always do, Admiral." Darien winked as he returned to his desk.