<B>Tion Star Destroyer <I>Erebus</I>.</b>
"<I>Erebus</i> has established position above the most concentrated area of the Noghri villages, Captain," the nav officer called to his superior. He turned to look up at her, barely able to hear himself over the comm chatter from his earpiece. "From our sensor sweeps, there are about less than 20 percent of the Noghri's population remaining."
"Hold here," she replied. "Have my shuttle prepared to be dispatched to the surface to meet their maitrakh. It seems our Coalition friends have taken their fair share of their people and ran off."
The nav officer nodded to her and turned to face the displays he had indicated. Captain Adaala brushed her brown, shoulder-length, braided hair out of her eyes and cursed herself again for not tying it back away from her face. But she hated fussing with herself, considering it too feminine a trait. Being feminine, she was learning, was not the most ideal situation within the Imperium, so she made a concerted effort to appear as unfeminine as possible. She even thought about cutting her hair short. In her heart, she was certain her gender was why she was being held back and utilized to the best of her abilities. Her current assignment, she felt, was proof enough of that.
<I>Of course</i>, she told herself, <I>I've only been assigned to command the <b>Erebus</b> for a few months now, but that still should afford me a measure of respect I have yet to see.</I>
Instead, she found herself on the relatively peaceful and dull-brown planet of Honoghr to establish relations with the Noghri's tribal leaders, as the Black Dragon Empire made themselves the new heirs to their world. Not exactly a dream assignment, and Adaala suspected she had been given the task to meet these alien natives simply because most of her other colleagues, who were senior to her, felt the assignment beneath them. Granted, there was always something of value to learn from new cultures, and Adaala would have been the first to argue that fact to anyone else, but she wondered for the umpteenth time just what could be learned from this debacle.
"Hangar bay has informed your shuttle is ready," a comm officer called to her right.
"Inform Admiral Harker I am on my way to the surface. And have a complement of death commandos await me there."
"Yes, Captain."
<center>*****</center>
<B>The Surface of Honoghr.</b>
The Noghri were waiting for them as they stepped from the shuttle: two of them standing side by side, with two guards by the doors of a large village hut. Adaala glanced at the group, threw an evaluating sweep around the area, and then turned to her First Prime of the death commando team. "Wait here until the Riant tank force arrive, Commander," she ordered him quietly. "Get your men started on a check of the perimeter around the village. I want no surprises while this meeting is going on. If Coalition remnants are here, I want them spotted and eliminated."
"Yes, Captain." He waved his TC-7 heavy blaster rifle in the direction toward the village.
Adaala turned to the head Noghri. "Are you the maitrakh?" she inquired, gesturing at the waiting Noghri. The maitrakh bowed and strode forward toward them.
"I am," the Noghri mewed. "I am named Toax. I am clan leader of this village. Please come inside to proceed with our talks."
Adaala threw a glance at one of the Dameun priests, who had quickly taken position at her side, and together they followed. There was an unusual welcoming ritual, and then the Noghri clan leader led the way into the large hut.
She'd expect that the maitrakh would have managed to round up perhaps a handful of her people for this visit by their new masters. To her surprise, she found that the clan leader had in fact turned out half the village. There were several rows of them, children as well as adults, lining the hut walls from one end to the other. Toax was seated in the clan High Seat in the back of the room with her bodyguard standing again at her side. The guards who'd met them at the entrance stood facing them with a second tier of elders another foot back. Standing with Toax as well, his steel-gray skin a marked contrast to his leader's older, darker gray, was a young Noghri male.
Toax rose to step forward and kneel before Captain Adaala and her entourage. "I greet you, visitors from offworld," she mewed again gravely, spreading her arms out to her sides. "We are honored to make your acquaintances."
"I am honored as well," Adaala replied, nodding her head slightly. "We are representatives of the Black Dragon Empire. We mean you no harm to your clan or your culture. We have simply come to claim what is rightfully ours from the Galactic Coalition. We have no qualm or quarrels against the Noghri people."
Toax rose and eyed her thoughtfully as her bulky frame resumed back upon her seat. "The Coalition were very busy rounding up many of our people and warned about you. They say you are evil. They say you would suppress us," she said. "For a moment perhaps you were related to the Empire. Is this so? Not many of us remain here because of these convictions, but a few of us are quite... stubborn."
"The Galactic Coalition say many things," Adaala said dryly. "But our actions will speak louder than their lies. Our forces are landing here to secure against any oppression from the Coalition. We are not here to suppress you. Your culture will remain intact as is, and your world will become part of our Imperium with all its blessings and protection."
"And will you keep this promise? We have been given many in the past." Toax asked, turning to stare directly at her.
"Yes, maitrakh," she said, crossing the room and stepping around the assembled group of Noghri elders. "The Black Dragon Empire will promise to restore your world as it once was, before the horror the Galactic Empire had delivered in the past."
Adaala shifted her gaze to Toax. "But there is only one small price." The maitrakh stirred, as if about to say something. The Captain folded her hands behind her back, and she subsided.
"In our Imperium, loyalty and honor hold high value, as well as devotion to our beliefs," she said, choosing her words carefully. "You have much to be proud of here. We only wish a few of your people to serve with us aboard our ships as warriors and guardsman. Your reputation of being fearsome warriors is well remembered among the stars. We only wish to partake of this honor to serve alongside. All we ask is your devotion in return for our protection and services."
"I wish to speak with my elders. To discuss what you have offered with them, and to see what you ask is... acceptable."
"Yes, maitrakh, of course," Adaala replied, gesturing to the band of Noghri behind Toax. "We will not interfere." She stepped away and made toward the exit.
The Dameun priest met her. "A waste of time, you think, Captain?" he asked mildly. "You didn't even let me speak of our beliefs."
Adaala glanced at the priest, standing a bit toward the exit of the hut. The Noghri leaders didn't seem to be listening to them, but it would probably still pay to be tactful. "Diplomatically, this is the best method to approach these aliens. I'm sure in due time it will be worthwhile to extend our beliefs once they have settled upon our rule. For now, we need their alliance to ensure us of their loyalty."
"They seem unsettled," the priest told her quietly. "That much I saw in the maitrakh."
She turned to face him. "It is a naturally unsettling experience to face the new heirs of your world, don't you think? They are aware they are few in number and know we have the power to commit genocide if we wished. Therefore, it would be in their best interest to see what we have to offer before they would consider any kind of resistance."
Toax rose from her seat as they finished, and for a pair of heartbeats the air between the Captain and the Noghri was thick with tension. The maitrakh spoke in her atrociously mangled Basic as Adaala turned to face her.
"Your terms are acceptable, speaker of the Black Dragon Empire."
Adaala hinted at a smile. Slowly, Toax resumed her seat. "And to secure our loyalty to your new Imperium, I offer my son, Rux, into your service."
"Excellent," Adaala spoke, shifting her gaze to Rux. "And we are honored to have your son join us." She and the rest of her entourage bowed.
"Your son will return with us," she said. "In the meantime, our forces will provide you with supplies and aide, while we establish a garrison to protect your world and your people. In time, you will see we are not as the Galactic Coalition say we are... just merely misunderstood."
"We look forward to the completion of your words, Adaala," the Noghri clan leader emphasized. "Perhaps this will be the beginning of a new era of our people."
"I wish it so," she agreed.
<I>Perhaps indeed...</i>
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