All That Glitters is Old

Posted on Mon May 24th, 2021 @ 4:50pm by Commander Raiden Kosugi & Commander Liala Ziyal & Lieutenant Commander Mel Torma & Lieutenant Commander Timia Svidi & 1st Lieutenant Kyle Walken
Edited on on Wed Jul 5th, 2023 @ 10:39pm

Mission: Global Lockdown
Location: Sucarion Palace
2671 words - 5.3 OF Standard Post Measure

Liala had spent the short journey talking to Hayter that she hadn't even realised they had pulled up outside a building of grand scale. Their vehicles were quite comfortable and the speed they went at was barely noticeable.

As the door was opened Liala was offered the first spot of exit and as such she took it.

They were 'parked' at the end of a large walkway, grandiose in its size and not quite to Liala's taste in decoration. On the left side there were various statues of past Presidents standing proud with a pacifying stance. On the right it seemed to show their former Supreme Commanders, that of the military of the planet.

Liala found that a bit strange to have such a dynamic as you walk towards the governing body of the planet but it was sometimes celebrated both the civilian role as well as those that fought for them.

In the centre, just in front of the building stood a golden statue. It stood apart from the rest made of stone and depicted President Novem, the man who started 'The Festival of The New Sun' and led them forward from an uncivilised crime ridden world to a paradise of peace.

"Quite an epitaph." Liala commented as she approached.

The building itself stood so tall you would think even the clouds dared not reach its peak, but it was beautiful. The columns of marble like stone seemed to have a quality that made them appear to be alive, the seemed to move within themselves as if they were a casing, a window into a world of their own. That theme followed as most of the buildings exterior was made of such a material.

"A little... Roman, for my taste." Brenda commented as she regarded the decor of the plaza. She was put in mind of the colosseum in Rome, and the statues that adorned it. Beings who were elevated to the status of Gods, and had towering statues in their likeness. The duality of the civilian and military leadership was of interest, though. "Warrior. Politician. Rare to see them honoured together."

"Statues are bookmarks in history. All depends on the chapter." Mel commented, she herself was captivated by the work put into each statue, neverminded the centerpiece. "Remind me when we get back to the ship to read..."

"... up on these Romans. Humans quote them all too often for it to just be a coincidence."

"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus
Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Caesar answer’d it."

Raiden quoting a verse from Julius Caesar given by Marc Anthony at the funeral of Caesar.

"Oh that was beautiful. Did you make it yourself? Or was that a quote?" Mel asked. "I caught the Romans part in the beginning, and trust me, with all the salads that people try..."

"... to serve me I know the name Caesar. I mean, look, what part of sharp tooth apex predator ancestry makes people think I want leaves with my chicken?" she asked, rhetorically.

"We can discuss that later, though. Again, that was... that was very beautiful Raiden. Thank you."

"You may find many human euphemisms make sense once you read up on the Romans." Brenda offered. "But, to the task at hand."

Raiden responded to Mel, "It was just a quote from Shakespeare and thank you."

Turning his attention towards Brenda, " I take it this is bugging you a bit as well?"

"Everything about this is bugging me. Can't 'quite' explain how. Like a bug zapper - a buzz in the back of your mind, but not enough to identify." The Marine replied. Maybe she was just being paranoid. But then, you didn't have to be paranoid for something to be amiss.

"No need to try to explain." Raiden replied, "I know the feeling quite well." too much of this reminded him of a time a few years back... He shook his head. Not a time to go back in memory lane not at this time.

"Yeah, it's rubbing me the wrong way," John spoke as he and Meeka made their way, slowly in the foot steps of the first officer. He had gotten to chat with her and to be fair, she was level headed, but a hard one to make smile. Still she wasn't a concern. What was concerning was what was before them. But that was the tactical and militaristic nature that came from all that he had known and read up on.

As he made his way closer to Mel, he smirked at one of the forms. "See, I only forced you to have one salad. That was what you said. Didn't expect you to say I forced it on you."

"John Hayter, you said... and I quote... it doesn't count as one bite until both of me tried it." she pointed out. "But we'll settle that never." and with a pair of smirks, the Dalacari form turned their attention towards their destination.

Liala smiled as she heard the crew interact with each other. It was nice to hear as she saw the crew forming bonds with each other.

The delegation of Sucarions were a bit in front and behind them as they walked and Liala was aware of the discomfort of some of her people and dissatisfaction with the answer about the so called 'excitement' from the noise earlier.

They walked up the stairs into the palace and into a grand welcoming room adorned with flowers, pictures and overall it had a very regal feel. Almost like they had walked into a Royal Palace and not a government building. There were hushed conversations that seemed to stop as they entered but quickly their attention was turned to their welcome party as they began to speak.

"Welcome to Sucarion Palace, the jewel of our world. Here we govern, protect and serve our people." A voice spoke proudly.

Such grandness. Such elegance. Such... pomp and circumstance. It made Brenda's skin crawl as she was reminded of home. Reminded of a life she had left behind. Maybe that was what had been nagging at her. Maybe. Her sense of danger was being sparked by a sense of familiarity that was not welcome. On instinct, the Marine took a spot slightly behind, and to the side of Commander Ziyal.

Walken keeps his feelings to himself, it wasn't his place to speak up about what was happening, this planet annoyed him. The NCO followed up on his Captain's movements but placed himself on the main door to guard it but honestly, it was to keep an eye outside it just in case.

"Originally it was called President Novem's Palace, but over the decades, as our expanse of our world and sovereignty grew, we felt that a unified people deserved to share in the culture and history that is of all Sucarions," The proud voice spoke. Before them in what seemed like almost a hall in an old castle, were stairs which lead to three alter like consoles. At the center of the three alters like panels, sat a Sucarion completely decked out in what looked like fancy cloths and metals on his attire. He stood and a see through display, collapse into the alter. "This is when I took the position of the presidency, a couple cycles ago, of the title change to the Sucarion Palace. What do you think of it?"

"Shiny," Hayter blurted out, standing next to Liala. Meeka was between the two ranked officers, who had taken her normal healed position. She sat and panted as she looked at the Socarions before her. There was no fear in her eyes, but observation was her key focus for the time. "All you Commander."

Noah looked happily. This place was beautiful, "I don't get why ya'll are so jumpy. This place is a beautiful. Have ya'll never been in an Art museum?" he scoffed at the group, enjoying the splendor before them. Sure it was weird seeing statues with beards on what clearly were women, but hey, this place was still artful, and he could appreciate that.

Raiden looked around and saw Noah's point. "True it is beautiful, reminds me of the temples in Japan and China. Their own works of art."

"What's the old saying, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder?" Kyle asks aloud.

"That is true, and yes you are correct. What one deems is pretty another finds ugly. That sort of thing." Raiden remarked.

"It is a very impressive building Mr. President, it seems that a huge incorporation of styles exist here. An homage to the past and with what you have said there a hand out for the future of your people. We in the Federation are a unified people, one who are looking forward to welcoming you into our group. We learn from each other, sometimes we argue but most of the time we are honest and open for the betterment of our organization. Thank you for having us here for the final sign off of membership." Liala opened with a bow of respect.

Raiden was hoping that his words weren't too loud to have the dignitary take offense at what he had said. He really didn't want to cause a diplomatic incident.

Though this wasn't something that Hayter was skilled at, he and the rest of the away team followed in the same as Commander Ziyal, bowing before the president. Deep down, he felt that bowing before a so-called elected official like this seemed off, but they were not in Kansas anymore.

Noah almost missed the bowing as he had been staring at one of the statues a little too long. He turned his head and saw all of his companions bowing. He quickly ducked down, chiding himself silently for missing it.

Raiden gave a bow, realizing that he was delayed in doing so, however he kept his eyes locked on the dignitary. There were so many styles of bowing, but he decided to opt for one that kept him alert, so just did the one bowing at the waist.

Mel, on the other other other hand, had none of the real hang-ups that the others demonstrated. A respectful bow from the pair of her.

Kyle quietly scuffs to himself, why would some elected figure need strangers to bow. The marine bows quickly but was back to his position of protecting the main door only slightly more annoyed than he was before.

The reminder of home still in the back of her mind, Brenda had to resist her trained response to curtsy. She bowed, but kept her peripheral vision aware. A frisson shot through her spine. Diplomacy or no, this was a bad tactical move.

Liala noticed the bows from her team and she smiled in towards herself. A bow was her peoples way of showing respect, their greeting of choice where as Humans were more tactile and preferred the shaking of hands for the most part. It was nice though, the team following her lead even if in this instance it was a little misguided.

"We understand you have a festival coming up?" Liala asked. "I'm surprised that our diplomacy teams here did not inform us of this before we arrived?" she asked the man in front of her. His demeanor changed a little but only noticeable to those with a keen eye for body language. "We heard a small pop in the distance before we arrived here..." Liala commented.

"There must have been a miscommunication with your previous diplomats. It would be behoove of you to have this corrected for future communications. We would not want to have a misunderstanding which causes any ill effects," remarked President Meeran as he slowly gestured with his hand before running the other hand over his long grey and black beard. "As for the 'festival, we would be happy to share with you the details of this."

"Your grace," We'shul spoke from the away team's side. The consoler stepped up and took a knee before standing back up. "It is not our custom to share these details with outsiders."

"And you would do well to watch what you say to me, Counselor," the president said. His words seemed mellow but straight forward. This caused We'shul to stand back and bowed one more time without another word.

The casual demonstration of authority reminded the Dalacari that not all republics were governed, policed, and maintained equally. Her own world was fortunate to have such low crime, and almost zero repeat crime. Same as the world here... except that on Dalacar and its holdings the enforcement was handled civilly. Offenders were asked to withdraw and then society determined why they acted that way, and took steps to stop that from happening again...

Here, it seemed, offenders were cowered into submission by a demonstration of force. Oh this didn't bode well. When the counselor withdrew, the twins almost breathed a sigh of relief.

Raiden frowned slightly, the display being played out in front of them. Could there be a bit of a power play going on behind the scenes. He's seen this before, when he worked with other diplomats. He mentally made a quick list as to what he had on him, just in case.


Noah raised his eye brows at the exchange, then glanced over the team, seeing different expressions in response. He could apricate the counselor wanting to preserve the purity of their culture. It was a valid concern, although Noah hoped, an unfounded one. The Presidents curt words in reply however made Noah pay attention. He had a strong voice, one you naturally would listen to, and yet his poorly veiled threat to We'shul made Noahs blood run cold. This was not a man to be trifled with, he had the power to make or break this alliance . They had best step carefully with him.

"Sir, I was hoping to confer with some of your medical professionals, we wanted to ask some questions about your ability to function outside when the s un is high given your sensitivity to the sun." Noah said. "I am not certain if our diplomats expressed that hope." he added.

With that question, that expression of hope to learn new techniques, to make new friends here, there was another loud pop just outside the building that shattered even the smallest silence. Then another, and another.

Liala could see Meeka's ears point straight up at each one, almost as if she was entering her own state of readiness.

Several moments seemed to pass where nothing happened, all stood as if waiting for someone to speak, someone to do something.

Glass shattered, forcing its way into the building and covering some of the away team. Outside there were chants of 'New Sun' being shouted almost in what sounded like a protest as fire could be seen at the base of the palace doors.

Quickly palace guards came in, swooped down to save their officials and start to guide the away team away. There was minor disarray, confused movements from the team as they too tried to get their bearings as the doors burst open.

The local population had descended on the palace, on each other it seemed as well. Beyond in the courtyard the majestic walkway covered in blood, some bodies and rubble from statues brought to the ground. They had what looked like weapons, some with blunt kinds but some of the more organised seemed to have energy, laser weaponry. They looked familiar but not something the Succarions should have had.

They rushed the group, some palace guards getting killed in the process as the away team began to fracture. Hands directing them to move, shouts of anger, of distress.

Chaos had begun.