"Welcome to Aenerald, Outlanders."

 
  Muiria paced the room as they waited for everyone to settle in and begin transmission. They were on Aenerald again, home sweet home, and ready to start negotiations with the human leaders. Despite her insistence that it was a waste of time, that the Aenerald leaders would try to do something underhanded, she’d been reassured that it would all work out. She shook her head, pausing when she stood near Akina, murmuring, “This is a bad idea. We should have gathered in my village, where it is secure. They will come, I guarantee it. They will try to find us and they’ll try to kill us.” She told her, quivering slightly, crossing her arms, her expression was one of frustration. Why wouldn’t anyone listen to her, she was second, and she knew dealings with Aeneraldian humans was pointless.
  Not to mention, they were in one of the weakest outposts she had under her command. If it wasn’t for the tree’s deep roots that these buildings were formed from, the human forces would’ve annihilated them sooner; the uneven and unnatural growth these trees had developed made it difficult to travel by machinery. Only with an Elven guide and travel on foot, was one able to find these places. If that wasn’t enough, these buildings were spread few and far between, mainly for refugees to stay when fleeing their homes. Unfortunately, they were also poorly equipped with artillery to fire back should they be discovered and attacked.
  All this and more made the fae-elf begin pacing again.

  “Such a thing is unbecoming, cousin.” A gravelly voice murmured from the doorway. A tall, slender, muscular elven woman stood with staff in hand and appeared to be glaring at Muiria; though this was her usual expression. The younger woman was at her side in an instant, “Cousin!” she breathed, “You shouldn’t be here.” She told her worriedly. “I should not,” Corsa replied calmly, “But word reached me that you were plotting things with strangers behind my back. Whose presence do you bring to our realm?” she asked Muiria, then slowly looked at all who were present that were not from Aenerald. “And what price must we pay to receive such assistance?” she said louder, her voice cold and her eyes calculating. Like her cousin, Corsa was even more distrustful of outsiders. There was already so much loss at the hands of the humans. What if they won and then these so called ‘allies’ turned their backs on them? If the elves weren’t able to deal with the humans of Aenerald, then what made Muiria think they were prepared to deal with these strangers?
  “Cousin,” Muiria said quietly, drawing Corsa’s cold, stony gaze back onto herself, “They hold conference and wish to negotiate. Settle with words, not action. Everyone has seen what goes on-” She took a step back and lowered her eyes, feeling as though she’d overstepped her bounds. Corsa continued staring at her, making the girl feel uncomfortable. When she was through with the stare down, the Elven leader walked forward slowly, her staff touching the ground but not making a sound. “Who then shall I discuss the matters of negotiation? Inform me of your purpose here and what you seek to gain from it.” She told them, never once looking back to her cousin. “And forgive my rudeness, if you will, I am Corsa Skuldnir, leader of the Elves.” She said and looked from representative to representative. “Welcome to Aenerald, Outlanders.”

Akina was fascinated about the whole place, she had never seen anything like this before. There was a lot of beauty of Alus and may wondrous things, but at the same time it was a different kind of beauty. Of course it wasn't to say she had never seen anything like this before, having been well-traveled to other planets and experiencing other cultures. Part of her job was basically to go out of her way to make new friends for Alus, at the end of the day.

Dexus, as per usual kept close to Princess Peach, admiring the scenery. He wasn't alone, as a few armed men and women clearly of Eldarian descent kept a closer guard around her. Peach had also been told to wear a mobile shield generator, though a smaller one used for soldiers. It was just another just in case, they couldn't afford to lose her. This offer, naturally, was extended to other people present. In the back, Dean and Jacob were in typical uniform.

There was a slight scrambling noise as Akina heard on her private radio. "This is Prime One, do we have permission to open to enter the Eleven anchor point?"

"In a moment. Keep checking your grid." Akina said.

"Holding tight then ma'am."

Akina reached into her pocket puling out what seemed to be a crystal, eleven magic seeming to resonate with it, looking to Myuria. "We'll, as allies I think its time for something. I believe it was said elves were on earth, but not as many were seen in the conference. Word got out and the Queen herself decided to come here. Anyway, to see for yourself."

The strange crystal was placed on the ground, and began to glow a bit then sent out a large pulse but it didn't damage anything. Then the other 'guest' began to arrive.

Akina turned to address Corsa when she came, after she was done talking to Muiria. "I am Akina Rosemand, diplomat from Alus. I cannot speak for any of my other friends in my exact words, but our purpose after learning of things here, is shift back the balance of power so people aren't suffering. Me, nor anyone else truly thinks diplomacy will work..but its something of a earth custom not to become as bad as those they fight. We have the technology for a contact without as much making physical contact or letting them know we're even there. It would be foolish, and I think most can agree with meeting up front physically for now."

"In addition, Alus plans to help restore this planet back to its former health, as we've done to other planets in the past. That's a project to undertake fully soon after this conflict

*  *


"This is Admiral Torias of Present Company Fleet, what's the status?"

"Nothing's changed. Keep your distance and keep a eye out for hostiles. Don't want to scare our new guest. Keep in mind of any friendly forces or airborne hostiles. If something as much sneezes wrong, let everyone know. South ground command out."

Torias looked back at his crew as they went about their business in the large airborne ship, or as earth known them as Gale Cruiser. They were basically literally airborne Aircraft Carriers. It was a testament to earth ingenuity and he prided himself to being part of the fleet. He had been a simple naval captain before earth had come up with the first Gale Cruisers; that being years ago. They were constructed with special metals that were lighter then normal, but still heavy. It was armed mostly with missiles and various rail-guns. There was some energy weapons as well that ran on the internal power; though it also depended on the mission.

It also came with the ability to traverse different realms as long as it had an anchor of some sort or at least something to lock onto. Overall, Gale Cruisers were a result of multiple races bringing something to life that had become a comfortable staple of defending earth and the people that lived under her. It showed enough in the various races on board, elf, a few Nosferatu and many more.

The old man watched the clouds pass in the captain's lounge, about to go wander off when they got another incoming message. "This is Prime One to Present Company. ETA for Elf forces from dimensional rift in five minutes or less. Prepare for more radar activity."

"Loud and clear Prime One, carry on." Torias nodded, arms clapsed behind his back as he waited for a moment. It wasn't long before rifts formed and the old man smiled. "Heh. About time. Leave it to the elves to make a entrance if late."

Peach stepped up next to Akina, and bowed politely to Corsa. "Princess Peach Raslend, of Eldar. It is a pleasure to meet you. Me and mine will do everything we can to help." As she spoke, however, the air above the crystal Akina had placed shimmered, before with a burst of magic, a beautiful elven woman materialized. Once she did, she made eye contact with Corsa, a soft smile on her lips. She did not bow, but inclined her head respectfully, as she would if greeting another Queen on Earth; this woman certainly deserved that much respect, if not more.

"I am Hali'nah Irithyl, High Elven Queen and chosen leader of the Elves of Earth; most commonly referred to as 'Queen of the Elves' by others of Earth... but that feels inappropriate here, as I am not your Queen, now am I? You may call me Hali'nah, or Hali if that is your wish." Of course more formal addresses were fine as well, though she honestly preferred speaking to others as equals.

Sitting in high orbit above the planet of Aenerald, dozens of warships of the Patrian fleet sat.  Some were in geosynchronous orbit, others in geostationary posts.  To those on the surface, they were strange new stars in the night sky, some holding eerily still, as if parked directly above cities or, upon their transition to Aenerald in the coming hours, on over-watch of the Earth air-ships far below, while others would seem to move through the sky, always on the same path.  The Patrian fleet was busy creating an accurate map of the planet below, deploying probes and temporary satellites to establish a global positioning system that would allow their troops, and allied forces, to fight and move on the planet below, as well as provide an effective comms-net planet wide.

Other ships moved in small teams in the rest of the solar system; it was a common practice of the Patrians now, and a herald to the days of old.  Much like ancient armies, these ships acted like Outriders, to warn of threats.  Not that they expected much here.

As per the agreements and requirements of this operation, the Patrian delegate who had been present at the meeting on Earth would provide tactical and technical advice in person.  Not long after those new stars appeared in the sky, a shuttle and fighter escort made it's way to the planet below, bound for the Elven outpost where the Earther's would waste time with their offers of diplomacy.

As had had happened on Earth, the shuttle dropped into orbit with one fighter, the others waiting in a holding pattern above, ready to leap into action should trouble arise.  It did not sit well with him that they weren't deploying additional ground forces for this; having a few Araneam tanks and a platoon or five would have eased his mind.  These Elves were foreboding in their own way, but magic and strong sword arms meant little to the Patrian war-machine.  Magic...such a strange thought, that was.

In light of the thick foliage below, the Patrian shuttle and fighter were forced to hover for a time well above the forest canopy, letting the hulls of their craft cool first.  It wouldn't do to set the Elven settlement on fire on their first formal meeting.  The Patrian will was bolstered by the sight of the great forest below; they had already seen parts of the world firmly in the hold of the local humans; the industrial machine had caused havoc on a scale they were all too familiar with.  They had learned too late, and their home world had paid the price.  But it wasn't too late here.

When the shuttle finally lowered into the forest and the waiting Elven settlement below, the Persequator waited above, near the forest canopy where it's camouflage would help hide it from prying eyes.  The shuttle didn't touch down, instead coming to within a few meters of the ground and opening the ramp to the cargo area, where a RS3.R drove out with squealing tires before dropping hard to the earth below.  Aboard was the Patrian delegate, and seven Patrian marines decked in heavier suits of combat armor, rather then the lighter Special Operations suit the escort on Earth had worn.  

The RS3.R's bustlebins and storage spaces carried crates full of equipment that would be used by the Patrians to establish a temporary command and control post; it was felt that having such a position on the ground would allow the Aenerald races to better appreciate the Patrian presence.

Behind the buggy dropped four Accipiter heavy power armor suits, jump jets firing to let them drop to the earth softly.  Payload deployed, the shuttle lifted off again, a great rush of hot wind blowing out from it as thrusters powered up and lifted it out of the forest, where both it and it's escort returned to orbit.  This team would likely be here a long time.

Meeting with Elven representatives, the Patrian delegate and his team were lead to the meeting hall, leaving the Patrian marines outside and continuing on foot.  His rifle was left with them as well, but he kept a sidearm and a bladed machete-like weapon.  They were now on a planet at war, and he would not go unarmed, even somewhere thought secure.  Another painful lesson the Patrians had learned in their last war.

As he entered the meeting hall, he removed the featureless face plate of his helmet.  It slid out and up over the back of the head, much like the the visor helmets of ancient Earth knights.  Much like at the meeting on Earth, he refused to be visibly affected by the sights of this planet and it's peoples.  It was a deeply ingrained lesson of their last war that there was never enough time, and that every moment counted.  Fifty years 'on the ropes' left little room in their style of living for personal time.

The arrival of the Elven Queen from Earth was met with a cocked eyebrow.  The tactical implications of such an ability were obvious.  The presence of so many rulers and important delegates only hammered in the relative 'safety' of his current tasking.  His days of leading from the front were over, it seemed.

"I am Colonel Kenzington.  The Patrian fleet is in orbit now, and ready to commence operations."  There was a moment hesitation, and his artificial eyes lost focus for a moment as he studied the information displayed on his HUD.  "Your Highness.  I am ready to establish a temporary command post to facilitate joint-operations with your forces."

------

Ambassador Schuermeyer arrived ahead of the Earth forces, thanks to Nobus' assistance.  He travelled with a sizable retinue of assistants and soldiers, as well as a Nobus Agent, Inspector Quentin MucCullom.  Their arrival at the Elven outpost was much quieter then that of the Patrian forces, simply transitioning via portal from Earth to there.  Much like the Patrians however, they were met by Elven representatives who led them to the meeting hall where the others were gathering.


Diedrich and his assistants and advisers entered the meeting hall with Nobus Inspector MucCullom.  Unlike Colonel Kenzington, the Earth representatives were a bit more used to formal meetings, bowing to the various royals that had gathered.  "I am Ambassador Diedrich Schuermeyer, your Highness.  I have volunteered to deliver the World Council's terms to the Aenerald humans."


Inspector McCullom nodded slightly.  "There is much doubt that they will entertain the World Council's terms and offers, but it is a formality that must be observed.  I am Inspector Quentin McCullom.  I have been assigned by Nobus as a sort of...special operations option.  Other Agents will arrive in the coming days, baring unforeseen issues on Earth."