I was practicing boxing when Julian came to tell me about our new visitor. They were from the planet Marxism. He was wondering what they had in mind. We met their leader was called General secretary. He was here to extend a hand of friendship. I met them and they were curious how we were soldiers but had an Empress. Søren interjected, "We all agreed this was our way." He watched as I drank blood. He asked to drink what I was sipping. I gave him the glass. He saw the contents and asked me if this was why we were different. Søren grinned, "We are blood drinkers and flesh eaters." He wasn't perplexed, "We are used to people follow different walks of life. But why would you choose an Empress. Why not a general secretary?" Bjørn stepped forward, "We chose this out of our own personal experience. We don't like to say our leader is a secretary. We feel proud to say we have an Emperor or Empress."
He asked us if we have considered the democratic way of life. Søren explained, "We have seen their plot to divide us. We stand by our way of life. We are united and we wish to remain so." The old man was delighted. He promised he will not interfere with our system. He asked us to join his alliance so we can protect each other. We agreed to learn from each other so we can be safe from harm. I started to recognise them by their outfits. The junior wore a uniform that was either ash and pewter gray. The seniors wore elephant gray or lead gray. They were formal to the point and few dared to crack jokes. They didn't press their agenda after I showed them the trouble we went through. We signed agreements for military coordinated exercises and also to mind our business when it came to our national policy. They decided on a friendly match. We won all of them. They were curious about our coordination. Julian joked, "We just got lucky." They didn't believe a word but they had to no proof.
We also renegotiated with other nations we were friends with. We renewed all of our contracts. We kept going forward. We attended the Senate meeting in Hae. The Kaiser was interested declaring war on some systems he believes was rebelling against the current system. Thankfully we weren't on the list. Everyone voted to implement the trade embargo. We were about to relax when a representative of Niña got up to speak about Marxists. She was upset that they are allowed a seat. Also she was angry we had made a trade deal with them. She demanded we reject the Marxists. The Kaiser made it clear the Marxists are not criminals so who they deal with is none of their business. The furious Niña representative wanted to know what deal we had made. The Kaiser told her to sit down and mind her own world. She was nosing into matters that don't concern the galaxy. She was livid, "They are going to invade us." The Marxist representative got up, "We are not looking to invade anyone. We just made a new friend."
The Niña representative asked him to allow a real democratic election. They had declared the military takeover as a hostile action. But the calm Marxist representative contacted his people and asked them if they had any issues with the military takeover. The answer was simple they were happy to evict foreign influences which were tearing the nation to pieces while they robbed the nation's riches. They are going to take the nations who robbed them to the galactic supreme court and they will retrieve the stolen items. The Niña representative sat back down. She was fuming. The Marxist representative proved the theft and the Kaiser asked the representatives to write a petition to court asking for the return of stolen goods. The representative from Izmeer got up screaming they will be bankrupt if this goes to court. They are hoping to settle this out of court and in private. The Marxist and other wronged representatives disagreed. They said they want full transparency since they were trying to get justice.
So we put in a vote. The majority chose to go to court since some of them had lost wealth to these greedy people. I looked up to see the Queen of Izmeer staring angrily. I had no worries since she is the one in trouble. But fate can change in a heartbeat so I was very careful with my victories. I arrived at the party and the queen's consort of Izmeer came to ask me if I was considering any alliance with the Marxists. I was bored, "No comment." He vented, "They took down a legimate ruler." I grinned, "Your people killed their king and had him replaced with your own puppet. They chose freedom. I am not faulting them" he froze before he walked away. The Kaiser welcomed everyone and asked us to put aside our differences as we break bread. We were about to sit when Hirasabeth spoke, "We don't recognise this body anymore. We will return to our old ways and we will prosper." The Kaiser told her to sit down or she is under arrest since she has no legal authority here unless he wills it.
The next to get up was the sovereign of Aurum. They were humans who paint their skin in gold paint. They made it clear that they are not aligning with the people of Izmeer because they used to be slave traders. If they are going back to it. Then they are relinquishing all trade. All in attendance agreed. So the Queen of Izmeer walked out with her delegation. I watched as she looked back at us. Her eyes froze when she saw mine. She fled in terror. I felt a cold satisfaction. Oleg stroked my arm as the ball continued. He was just as worried as I was. When the party was over a delegate from the Syrus stepped forward to request a moment of our time. They wanted to give Julian and his family an entire planet. They just had to align with them to fight the rest of us. Julian made it clear the werewolves are not going to join them even if they give them the entire galaxy. Julian made it clear, "Our loyalty isn't for sale"
The man asked him to reconsider. Julian snorted, "Stop wasting my time and go harass someone else please." The old man stared as though Julian had slapped him. Oleg simply stated, "We are happy as we are. We are not anarchists who want to watch the worlds burn. So do yourself a favour and leave us alone." The man stomped his feet as he walked away. The Kaiser congratulated us for not joining the bad guys. We simply nod our heads and walked to the parking area to board our ride. The very same delegate from Syrus came again. Julian asked him if he has any problems with his hearing. The man stood still before he started to yell at Julian for missing a very lucrative opportunity. Julian cackled, "An opportunity to kill my family while you profit off other people's riches. I am very happy as I am. So turn around and find yourself an idiot who is stupid enough to believe you" the old man started to say something but I growled. He stopped mid sentence and walked away.
Oleg started laughing and everyone else joined in. We were flying through the traffic when a building nearby our hotel exploded. We had to turn around to a different building till the investigation was over. The authorities took an hour to find the culprit. The culprit was wearing the uniform of Syrus. The officers were very aggressive as he was hauled out of the rooms. We had our rooms checked in case they were going to frame us. We wore gloves and were extra careful. We found nothing was missing and nothing was added. The hotel concierge was kind enough to explain, "The doors are locked so only the guest can access the suite. A staff can get in only when the client is present. Otherwise a cleaning bot will be in the room. We try our best to protect our clients" he bowed before he left. I felt a little safer but I didn't let that distract me either. Kia was staring at the window and I snuck a peek. There was someone in the building across the street. He was using a pair of binoculars to spy us. I called the officer in charge of security and he handled it. The guy turned out to be a reporter.
We left for Void Nova. As always Kirigan and Kaz warmly welcomed us. He had my security search my room for anything unsavoury before I was allowed in. After a quick shower and a change of clothes I went out to implement the usual welfare check. I wore a royal purple robe with smokey embroidery. I wore a copper mask and wore grape purple shoes as I stepped out. I was at the lounge when an imposter came to yell at security. She didn't look like me at all. I told them this is a decoy so they can collect information about me and everyone one of us. Oleg looked perplexed as he stepped forward, "Ma'am I apologise on behalf of my team. I shouldn't have left you. Can I ask how you got here without an escort?" She waved her hand impatiently. I threw a hot knife at her. The impact slashed her wrist and she changed back to herself as she screamed in pain. Kirigan had her stunned before she was moved away. Kai was laughing as she stared daggers at us all. Kaz growled with rage. She jumped in fear
I played pool as Roland and Kai played Foosball. Serena took her turn. The cue ball hit the black ball. The impact had the blue and red ball go in two different directions. One went into a pocket and the other hit the orange ball which hit the green ball. It slowly rolled over till it slid into a pocket. The game continued till it was meet and greet time. I gave all of them hugs and they hugged me back. We talked about everything and they sent their complaints. Some of the guests were rude. I told them if they misbehave them they have the right not to serve them or deport them. They considered it and things went considerably better afterwards. The entertainment room was a huge hall where people sat in curved rows. The singer slowly sang her note. There were performers who danced to her song. Then the stage switched to aerial ballet. My favourite so I leaned forward in my balcony seat to watch it. Oleg was watching me. When we went back to room he commented about my style of aerial ballet. The others agreed as I changed into ballet outfit to practice ballet.