//------------------------------// // One. Two: Politics 101 // Story: Sins Never Die // by CodenameOne //------------------------------// One. Two Politics101 The heavy wooden doors of the royal dining halls clicked close, the wood thudding together. Captain Kuyaki and Lieutenant Preston stood at the end closest to them, seeing Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Twilight sitting patiently. The long table could easily sit 20 individuals, thus making the three Equestrians look awkward with Celestia and Luna sitting together on one side. “Welcome, Adam. Please, let you and Madison be seated” Princess Celestia said, gesturing to the two chairs set for the humans. The officers did as suggested, both sitting at attention. No plates or other foodware were set before any party present, thus leading Kuyaki to believe that no food would be served, which was fine by him. Flowers were not at the top of his favorites list. “Welcome to the seventh human-Equestrian delegation. All parties present have been properly introduced to each other, and it’s time to get down to business” Princess Twilight Sparkle stated. “First question: what is the UNSC?” Twilight asked. “United Nations Space Corps. The branch of the United Earth Government’s military in charge of outer space. Though we are a military branch we also handle peaceful first-contact scenarios and the discovery and securement of inhabitable and uncharted worlds within the void” Captain Kuyaki explained. “And the United Earth Government?” Twilight inquired. “The governing body of planet Earth, and political system that governs all colonies and inhabited worlds in its sphere of influence.” “And your kind? Humanity? What is their story?” Kuyaki sat for a moment, unanswering. He didn’t know what to say in particular to that question. His species’ history was a long, bloody, and storied. Rich with warfare, suffering, and atrocities. It was also rich with great alliances, happiness, and grand milestones and achievements. It was a mixed story, one that never ended or climaxed. “That’s...difficult to answer, to say the least. We have been around a VERY long time, and to tell all about our race would take hours. If you want the short of it, I can give you this: we are a peaceful race, but we are not pacifists. We can visit the most extreme of violence upon any adversary, foe, or threat to the safety of our race. At the end of the day, warfare is a science to us, and there are always breakthroughs” the Captain explained. “Why haven’t you found a cure to end it?” Twilight simply said. “It’s not that simple. We would love nothing more to end war, but there are some... “patients” out there that don’t want to be “cured”...” Silence befell the room as all present pondered warfare. The Equestrians wondered what it would be to experience war again, as the very notion had been abolished from the face of their earth for a long time. At the same time, the humans thought of what it would be like to finally abolish war from their dictionaries and minds. “Is something wrong...?” Celestia asked after several uncomfortable moments of silence. Captain Kuyaki adjusted his position in the seat and looked up at the Equestrian Princesses, knowing that any number of things could happen once he explained the situation. “For the past twenty years, Princesses, we have waged a losing war against an alien alliance known as the Covenant. This group of aliens from all corners of the galaxy have swept through our outer colonies, burning them to ashes from orbit and diminishing our numbers like butter slowly melting. Despite all our weapons, advancements, ships and numbers, we are losing out to the Covenant” the Captain explained calmly. “We need help... Your help...” -=-=-=-=- It was 7 past 1800 hours, and Captain Kuyaki and Lieutenant Preston were standing next to Pelican V-445 with no way to contact the pilot. Night would be coming on soon, and Kuyaki would like to return to the Kabato as soon as possible. “It could’ve gone worse, right? I mean, we could’ve been exiled from the planet forever” Preston said, sitting on the dock next to the idle Pelican. The Captain stood with his arms crossed, and scoffed. “Perhaps... Still, we can’t afford to take ‘no’ as an answer. We NEED help in this war, Lieutenant. Our special projects aren’t enough; we need more soldiers, period” Kuyaki declared. “You are right, Captain...” Boredom taking over Captain Kuyaki pulled his UNSC combat knife out and started idly picking at the blade, the ergonomic handle and weight feeling good in his hand. The edge had been expertly sharpened. Hoofsteps in the dark caught Kuyaki’s attention and he looked up. The pony was mostly in the shadows, and Adam would’ve thought it was a dock-worker but the presence of both wings and a horn dispelled that notion right quick. The Princess stepped into the light revealing that it was Twilight Sparkle who, despite her best efforts, didn’t look as regal or royal as the two leading Princesses. “Princess Twilight, what brings you here?” the Captain inquired, returning his knife to its sheath, knowing that the presence of serious weapons made Equestrians nervous, especially when their operators are idly playing with them. “Officially, I’ll say it was an emergency delegation if or when I get asked about it. Personally, I want a personal visit to your ship, Adam” Twilight answered, sitting down on her haunches. The light from the sun was finally disappearing beyond the horizon beyond the Captain, making way for the moon to rise. Normally Captain Kuyaki would deny this request immediately, however he was feeling disappointed and thought maybe showing an Equestrian a little tour of his ship would be interesting. “Sure. Why not. One problem, I can’t contact our pilots, and I have no idea where they may be at” the Captain replied, flexing his legs as they were getting sore from standing around for a few hours. “Lieutenant Cromley and his crew? The pilots you always use? Gimme a sec...” Twilight said, teleporting away for a moment. After several seconds she teleported back with all three soldiers, who all doubled over and vomited. “Oops... Sorry, I forgot to mention the teleportation process is very unsettling and nauseating for newcomers. You’ll all be OK” the Princess said as Cromley and his crew recovered. “...We'll talk later about that maneuver. Shore leave is over, soldiers, let’s get back to the Kabato.” -=-=-=-=- With V-445 squared away in its blast-bay all scheduled Pelican flights had ended for the night, leaving Princess Twilight stuck on the UNSC destroyer. She didn’t mind, however, as she was curious to see what it was like to spend a night with the humans. “Your ship is quite large, Adam” Twilight commented as they finished up the tour of the Kabato, which had taken up the past two hours. The Captain had showed her every last corner, and explained to her what every location and what every service was for. The last stop was Captain Kuyaki’s quarters, which was at the top of the elevator they were riding on currently. “I suppose to you it is, Princess. There are much larger vessels in the fleet, though the biggest ones are being pulled back to guard the inner colonies from the Covenant” Adam replied. The elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open, allowing the two occupants to step out and proceed down the short hall to the single sliding door there. The name A. Kuyaki imprinted on the fog-glass. Swiping his ID card unlocked the door, upon which it slid open. “You first, Princess” Kuyaki said, stepping aside. Twilight blushed but nodded, stepping forward and past the threshold of the door. “Please, just call me Twilight” the Princess said, still not used to the attention she gets as a Princess. Before she had ascended only her friends would’ve opened a door for her. “As you wish.” The door slid closed and Twilight Sparkle perused the room, taking in all the odds and ends the Captain had put up, seemingly for display. The bed was quite large for a room meant for a single person, though it could just look big from Twilight’s perspective. Most of the room’s knick-knacks didn’t interest the Alicorn, but there was one above the bed that caught her eye. It was an old rifle, securely mounted via a bracket, and the trigger-guard was covered with a lock. “What is that?” Twilight asked. “A family heirloom. A Mosin-Nagant model 91 rifle. One of my ancestors fought in a conflict known to our species as the Russo-Japanese war against the Russians. Not a well-known war, occurring only around the turn of the century in the year 1904. It has been passed down from father to son many times, and I suspect I’ll keep it for more than sentimental reasons...” the Captain trailed off. “Fascinating” Twilight said, inspecting the old gun as best she could from a distance while Kuyaki went over to his bed and sat down, taking his deck shoes off and resting his feet. It had been a long day for him. “Tell me, Twilight, what was the real reason you wanted to come up here?” Adam asked, leaning back and propping himself up with his arms. The Princess turned around, the look on her face telling of her nervousness. “W-what do you mean? I just wanted a tour” Twilight replied, earning a chuckle from the Captain. “For a politician you are not a very good liar, Ms. Sparkle.” Twilight sighed and sat down on the floor, staring at the tiles between her hooves. She had gone over this a million times in her head but now that it was actually happening...nothing. “Adam...we need your help, too...”