“You should bring them with us.” Isani said, he had spent enough time with Adrian and his wolions to become very relaxed in their presence, “The emissaries will be bringing Laas Rett, thinking to impress and intimidate you.” Retsar Isani warned Adrian that the emissaries would be accompanied by Nel Laas Rett, their warrior caste. He told Adrian that these will not be like the people that were in charge on Nuva during the Sowir attack. Nuva was a colony they dumped those who were not good enough for Nelus. He also cautioned him that from what he has seen of human soldiers we were still much more knowledgeable about the ground war in general. But that Laas Rett were trained to protect and were good at fighting in small organized groups. They served as a special police for the entire Consortium. The meeting would be a lot more informal than the first meeting with the Nuvan diplomatic team. As Nelus was in a state of war and humans already had contact with Nel a lot of formalities would be set aside. Which suited Adrian just fine, he could follow the rules and formalities if he had to, but preferred to set them aside.
“Are you sure? I don’t want to antagonize them.” Adrian said.
“If you knew more of our people you would understand that bringing Laas Rett to a meeting of peace, is an insult. You need to keep them off balance, make them understand that you are not going to be intimidated. And that you are not below them in any way.”
“What do you think Iris?” Adrian asked in his head.
“Retsar Isani knows these people better than we do.” Iris answered.
“If you are sure…” Adrian said out loud. He then looked at the two beasts. “Come along then. But do try not to scare anyone, too much.” Akash and Sora trotted to him and released short barking sounds that Adrian knew signified satisfaction that they got their way. Together they started towards the landing bay. In the landing bay they were met with Sahib and his Alpha squad dressed in full battle armor, again per Retsar Isani’s suggestion. Seven of them took positions behind the party, with Sahib coming to walk just behind Adrian. The other 3 squads of his Wolf platoon were in positions outside the landing area. Just in case.
The three emissaries each chose to come in their own private “cruise” ships, yachts. They varied slightly in appearance, but all were around 100 meters long and triangular in shape, with their front narrow and back wide, like most Nel ships. All Nel ships followed similar design, where the ship’s front was narrow and then it gradually widened towards the end, with a few rough corners or edges, any unevenness was curved giving them a sleek look. While Olympus ships all looked boxy, most shaped like irregular cuboids, with weapon turrets clearly visible on the hulls in most cases. Front and middle were usually the same width, with the end of a ship abruptly widening. The dreadnought class ships were the first departure from that look, with their double-headed axe front of the ship then narrower middle and widened Citadel at the back.
A few minutes later, three small shuttles landed in the bay. After the doors were closed and the air pumped back inside the shuttles lowered their ramps and their occupants walked out. The three emissaries wore long robes that were left open in the middle, each in different color, one was red and blue and the other two, green and black, and purple and brown. Below the robes they wore the skintight suits that most Nel wore. The people following them on the other hand, had much different getup. There were four behind each emissary. And they also wore their skintight suits, but over them they had armor, gray in color and of similar make to those of the Sahib’s team, only theirs didn’t cover their entire body. The only parts covered were chest, forearms, groin, part of their tails, and shins. The helmets on their heads covered the back, top, and sides of their heads with the same gray material. While the front was covered in some kind of black smooth material that left the lower part of their face open to air, covering only their eyes and nose. Their armor and suits had lines colored in slight variations in each group, and the groups themselves appeared to be wearing the colors corresponding to the emissary they were following.
Retsar Isani leaned to whisper in Adrian’s ear. “The Laas Rett are wearing the colors of the family house they are protecting. That was forbidden the last time I was on Nelus.”
“What does it mean?” Adrian whispered back.
“It means that families have much greater control on Nelus than I believed. Laas Rett are supposed to police and protect the people, not the families. That’s why they always wear gray. The color of Nelus skies, representing the whole.”
Adrian turned his attention back to the approaching group. The Laas Rett were all focusing on the emissaries and any possible threat. But the three emissaries were openly looking around, peering at everything. And from what Adrian could interpret of their expressions they were not impressed in the slightest. But then Adrian wasn’t an expert in Nel facial expressions. The third emissary, the one dressed in green and black, seemed reserved. With a few more steps brought them standing face to face with Adrian and his party. As the three turned their attention to Adrian they noticed Akash and Sora sitting on their hind legs on both sides of him. Adrian could see their eyes widen and the one dressed in red and blue took a step back. The Laas Rett tensed, but before anyone could react more, Retsar Isani stepped forward.
“Greeting council members.” Isani said, clasping his hands elaborately in front of his chest.
The emissary dressed in red and blue stepped up to him, “Retsar Isani. I would have loved nothing better than to take you under arrest for treason. But the ruling council voted to exonerate you because your actions resulted in the successful defense of a Nel system.” He reached over to his wrist unit and a holographic screen appeared. He did something and a moment later Isani brought his own up and after glancing at it put it down again. Adrian assumed that he received something from the emissary.
“I appreciate the council’s decision. But without the help of the human ships, Sowir would have taken the system and killed everything on the planet.” Isani said.
The emissary smiled in a condescending way and turned to Adrian. “Ah, of course. The people of Nelus give their thanks, for your help in defending Nuva.”
“It was the right thing to do.” Adrian said.
Before anyone could say anything more, Isani spoke. “This is Sestar Niraas of house Sav Ral,” Isani gestured to the lead emissary dressed in red and blue, “And these are Sestar Nimuse of house Jar Tel and Sestar Jusan of house Dai Ven.” He said first gesturing to the female Nel dressed in purple and brown, and then to the one in green and black.
Adrian bowed his head Nel way in a respectful nod, but that of an equal. And Isani continued.
“Council members, this is Fleet Commander Adrian Farkas, commander of the human First Fleet. His companion is Ship Master Paul Isaacs, commander of dreadnought Leviathan.”
Sestar Nimuse and Sestar Niraas bowed their heads in a short dip that conveyed superiority, while the Sestar Jusan matched Adrian’s bow. Adrian’s eyebrow rose at that, he tried to discern what that meant but Sestar Nimuse spoke,
“What is the purpose of those beasts.” She said looking at Akash and Sora, she was obviously not comfortable in their presence.
“There is no need to worry, they won’t harm you. I must admit that I didn’t even realize they were here. They are always by my side and I often forget about their presence.” Adrian lied and brought his hands to rest on the two wolions heads, scratching their ears. And right on cue, they started purring, which sounded more like growling.
Isani stepped close to Sora to prove that there was no danger, “There is no need for alarm Sestar. I have spent a lot of time in their company, and I assure you that they are harmless. Humans often keep animals as pets.”