Private Gunboat Diplomacy

[Arianna Belasko]

Arrived in: The Viceroy

Wearing: Diplomatic Gown (Looks like This)

Armed With: Subverter's Blade (Red Saberstaff)


Even from the bridge, Arianna felt the unmitigated terror of the crew of the extremely primitive space craft. It was so primitive some of her Model 1 grandchildren felt mean even scanning it...there would be absolutely zero honor in it's destruction.

Arianna had been brought along after a primitive satellite from this world had been captured. House Io didn't think anything about First Contact with such a primitive people, not bound by all those silly Roddenberry Rules. Heck, The Parliament had been extremely interested in what would happen, especially since the asteroid field surrounding their system was rich in precious metals like aurodium...

It had been a slow few months. She had been slowly building House Io's economic infrastructure outward, doing silent business with a lot of planets in Khemost's vicinity. Stretching, Always Stretching.

One Star Destroyer had been sanctioned for the operation. Aboard it were a small army of House Stormtroopers , a team of Diplomatic Nuetralizers busily translating anything they intercepted to better understand the Culture and a whole crew worth of House Citizens from all over the Galaxy.

"Countess?"

The elegantly dressed, pale, blonde Countess of Khemost turned to face the comms officer, a Nautolan man.

"Yes?"

"The ship is attempting to send warning signals back to their homeworks."

"Of course they are. Let them."

"As for the other signature...we've determined it's Sith in origin. Too far to tell what it is though. But it's definitely headed this way.

The Countess smirked. They must have gotten a satellite too.

"This is going to be a very interesting day..." She thought to herself, flesh shuddering and warping be everywhere for a split second.

"Don't increase our speed. We don't want to seem eager..."

This species, Arianna thought. Just rolled snake eyes.

They had not just attracted one group of malcontents but two.

Arianna would have fun picking these people apart and whoever amongst the Sith was unlucky enough to be so far out from their empire...

The Countess rose.

"Prepare the shuttle bay...and my attendants. We must project wealth when we arrive...

Meanwhile...

It was supposed to be a day of hope. For an entire species.

A supreme accomplishment. Launching what by modern standards was an extremely primitive ion engine with a small crew aboard a two stage rocket. Just ten years before it had been primitive chemical rockets making tentative journeys to the moon.

The trip had been planned years in advance. A three month journey around their entire solar system, which had three other planets, all barren and desolate.

They were so primitive they didn't even have artificial gravity.

They were baseline human, save for slightly teal skin due to their diet, clad in in bulky, primitive space suits made with precious metals. Wide eyed, each crew member idealistic for their own reasons.

So when not one, but two different objects...very large objects, were detected entering the system very slowly, this primitive, almost aircraft like vessel, which had barely gotten past the first third had been frantically sending back primitive signals warning them, desperately canceling the trip and trying to hightail it back after being recalled.

But one object was gaining, and gaining fast. Though slow for it's size, it still hopelessly outclassed the primitive shuttle in speed.

Terror increased amongst the crew as their primitive instruments detected unknown energy waves. They were being scanned.

Tadpoles encountering a shark for the first time...


Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

The Arbite-class Cruiser, the Alvaria came out of hyperspace, and as soon as it did, Malum who was sitting lazily upon the bridge leaned forward, two truths made themselves evident to him immediately. First, that this planet before him was where the signal that had dragged him out here had emerged from, second that it seemed he was far from alone, already from this distance he could see the immense size of the star destroyer opposing him. It was no Alliance vessel, thankfully, but it was not as if the Galactic Alliance was the only foe of the Sith Empire these days.

Already, he knew he was at a disadvantage, everyone knew after all what would happen if a cruiser, attempted to take on a battleship. Thankfully, as the second ship emerged out of hyperspace, the Shikkar-class Assault Corvette, the Ragathor, did even out the odds.

Slightly.

Still, what was evident was if this was no merchant vessel, nor affiliated with the Galactic Alliance or from the looks, any other enemy of the Sith Empire, was there truly any reason to challenge it? That was his purpose here after all, even in following the signal it had been in search of targets. It was unfortunate that the Mors Vistra was still undergoing repairs after the climatic battle at Fiviune, for that was certainly the ideal privateering vessel, but until those repairs were complete, his Alvaria and Ragathor would have to do. The beginning of his so-called penance from the powers that be, was not strictly necessary, for after all the trial upon Jutrand would truly decide his fate, but he knew as good as any, that to make certain those elements within the Order who would wish for nothing more than to excise the Tsis'Kaar, root and stem, would bandy onto any excuse necessary for their goals.

So it would be best to make himself useful, to have a record that was as exemplary as it was clean, to make certain all remembered his... his... betrayal of his mistress, rather than the fact that he had loyally followed her all the way to the end.

"Did you?"

His breath hitched at the whisper that sounded deep within the crevices of his mind. The voice that was all too familiar, but the voice which he refused to give name, refused to give acknowledgement of what it truly was.

"Venerandus," Malum intoned, hissing out the name more than speaking it, as he breathed in fresh air, attempting to calm his clamming nerves.

"Yes, Imperator?" His aide-de-camp, cousin, and friend, standing nearby responded, if he was curious at all about the hissing, he made no comment or even visible reaction to it, apart from the softening of his eyes, so similar to his own.

He hated that look of concern.

"Inform the Ragathor that we are leaving, there is no bounty for us he-" He began, and then suddenly hissed, instantly feeling Venerandus hand at his side, his command was interrupted, as the voice in his mind spoke with increased fervour.

"Will you so easily run away from a battle?"

"So doubtful of your chances are you?"

"There were two of you when you slayed me, even with the same odds now, do you flee?"

"Flee from the House of Io?"

It was the last which truly punched the breath out of him. He knew little of them admittedly, only what he had quickly researched after the events of the celebration atop Darth Xyrah's yacht, and then news of bounties being placed upon all members of the Sith Order. One of the many sects of Darksiders out in the galaxy, independent yet all too similar to the Sith, it had been a shotgun marriage of sorts when the House of Io had joined the Sith Empire, and clearly, it had been a messy divorce when they had left.

Malum remembered well the bloodplay, dramatics, and theatre which had heralded their arrival last time.

Well, regardless, it seemed the star destroyer before him, did belong to a foe after all.

He raised his hand, as kindly as he could, waving off Venerandus' concerned grasp, as he stared ahead.

"Nevermind, have the Ragathor advance, deploy all starfighters and starbombers, and put the Guard on high alert, if the House of Io is here, then there must be something notable here." It explained the signal at least, as Malum did not explain to any, how he knew this was the House of Io.

For, after all, he had not known this was the House of Io.

Something else within him had.

Arianna Belasko

 

[Arianna Belasko]

The Countess had diverted to her private, lavish quarters aboard the Destroyer, and prepared an old ritual.

No one in House Io was allowed to send a transmission to Khemost directly. It was always through Proxy.

She drew the circle with Force Imbued ink, and began chanting...

Purple flames erupted in the center of the circle, and a heatwave image of The Battalion appeared, clad in a skintight white catsuit.

"Why have you summoned me, Countess?" The Consort of House Io inquired.

"I've arrived at that planet whose satellite we intercepted." Arianna explained. "I'm about to initiate first contact."

The Batallion folded her arms. "Yes, and?"

"I have....misgivings."

The Battalion sighed. "Out with it."

"Why are we bothering with such an undeveloped species?"

"Your daughter has been given visions by the Brain Demon. This world has something...important..."

"Explain." Arianna demanded.

"I really wish I could tell you, Countess, but you are no longer a member of the Cult."

Arianna's eye twitched, and The Battalion's image staggered back, body bubbling and warping everywhere a split second.

"You may be the new Darth Phyre, Batty, but just remember, I used to be The Cult's Grandmaster also." Arianna warned. "Now...I'm going to ask again. Why. Are. We. Here?"

The Battalion's flesh reset on her body and she looked very cross. Arianna had a positively acidic look, and had to fire warning shots like that every now and then just to remind upstarts that just because Arianna had left the Cult didn't mean she could be defied by them, and it certainly didn't mean they could with-hold information to House Io's bloody CFO.

"Very well. We think somewhere on this world, there is a component to a lost superweapon."

Arianna blinked. "Oh..." she trailed. "Yeah, I can see why you would want that. Well, what about this superweapon. What does it do?"

The Battalion smiled. "How powerful do you think an Interdiction field should be?"

The Battalion canceled out the communication ritual from her side and Arianna sighed.

It was time to greet the new arrivals.


Meanwhile.


"By the Gods! What do we do? What do we do?!" One of the Astronauts, Bral'in'on, a stocky, well built man panicked in the claustrophobic interior of the shuttle as it was dragged into the bay by the tractor beam energy their sensors were too primitive to identify.

The other two Astronauts, equally well built, still in full space suits that were laughably primitive even in comparison to the lowest possible tier of envirosuit on the open market, were equally frightened. Nothing had prepared them for this situation. Absolutely nothing.

The Captain, Val'po'cn, head shaved to signify his leadership, forced himself to think.

"We haven't done anything hostile. Its clear if they wanted to destroy us, they could. I suggest we play it by ear..."

"By ear? What if...what if they want to perform experiments? What if they have probes?" the second in command, Hal'gn'kl protested.

"I didn't sign up for this! I DON'T WANT TO BE EXPERIMENTED ON!" Bral'in'on complained.

"Nobody is gonna get experimented on!" Val'po'cn barked. "We are certified Astronauts! All we have to do is remember our training!"

Hal'gn'kl glowered.

"Our forefathers warned us against getting to curious of the domain of stars. Is this what they meant?"

(Cutaway of Ming The Merciless sitting in an elegant chair by a fireplace)

(Ming The Merciless: If you had known anything about the true nature of the universe, anything at all, you would have hidden away from it entirely.)

"Friends! Look!" Hal'gn'kl exclaimed.

He saw a number of shiny, humanoid metal skeletons and realized to his horror they were some kind of robotic war machines, forming an honor guard outside the shuttle. His fear only increased when he saw a beautiful young woman with strange colored skin and hair in a white outfit that exposed her shoulders waltz in soon after.

"They're waiting for us. They know there is no where to run." Val'po'cn remarked grimly. "Its my responsibility as leader. I'll make the introductions. Stay behind me."

The others nodded, making sure their helmets and seals were secure. No telling what kind of strange disease the alien woman could be carrying.

The Captain opened the hatch and the hiss of the hatch as it unsealed made him break out into fear-sweat.

He stood in front of the others, hating that he had the "honor" of making first contact. Trust me, he was regretting ever signing up for his world's space agency. He would rather have been anywhere except here.

He took the first steps down, and, trembling in his bulky space suit, walked slowly past the skeleton-like war machines, one of whom made a "Bunny ears" gesture as they passed by him, making the other droids suppress a collective snicker.

"I...I am Val'po'cn, of the planet Xev'tn'zxx, Captain of the Great Star Wing I...I come in peace."

Arianna smiled. Though the smile was gorgeous, The captain could have sworn he had never seen something so unpleasant in his life.

"That is a delight to hear. So do I. Permit me to introduce myself. I am Countess Arianna Belasko. Welcome aboard my ship, the Viceroy."

"Vice-roy? I don't understand that term."

"Its another word for official. Leader, in my culture. " Arianna explained. "We intercepted your people's technology in deep space. We grew curious, naturally, thought we would go and introduce ourselves."

The Captain jumped back as her comlink buzzed and she took it out.

"Countess, the other ship is coming in range now. Definitely Sith. Arbite-Class. Not a heavyweight. But its no push-over either. It just deployed its fighters and bombers and is on full advance." the bridge tactical officer on the other side explained.

Arianna suppressed the urge to start violently cursing. Getting into a shooting war in front of a newly discovered species was always a bad move diplomatically, and the Sith commanding that vessel (For she sensed a powerful darkness in the form of Darth Malum of House Marr , albeit she had not yet placed a face to that darkness) likely knew that.

"My friend, It seems we have unexpected and dangerous company..." Arianna emphasized to the captain and his crewmates. "I do regret making introductions to your world under these conditions. Please believe at least that much."

"Bridge. Full speed ahead, If they want to make an impression, then the bastards can fire the first shot in front of everyone." Arianna ordered.

"Now, lets get you fine gentlemen into decontamination." She spoke seductively.

The Captain blinked, wondering if his eyes were playing tricks. Because for a split second, he could have sworn he had seen the flesh on her face wriggling...

All he and the others could do was follow the strange alien down unfamiliar passages...

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

"My Imperator, the Ragathor is in place at the vanguard of the fleet, with the six squadrons of starfighter and starbomber escort, but the Star Destroyer has shown no indication of engaging with us, it seems to be instead, waiting for something," Custos of House Marr, his ageing captain upon the Ragathor, appearing before him in a mix of blue and white, a hologram, intoned back to his superior, dutiful in his words, but both knew silent judgement stayed at its wake, it had not been long since their last risky excursion against a force superior to them, and it had ended disastrously for them, the silent question seemed to ask him... had he learned from the last time? "Its superior range was the foremost concern, that it could destroy us before we could bring our guns to bear, but it seems to have surrendered that advantage, I ask for permission to engage now if that is to be our course, he who fires first will be he who fires last." Such was not always the truth, both also knew, it was an optimistic analysis of their situation, the fact simply was that a Star Destroyer simply had more firepower than either of his ships, which meant they had to consider more unorthodox methods towards victory.

Custos had always taught him that the one who struck first, who claimed first blood likely held the battle within his hands. They had control of the momentum, and the tempo of the deadly dance, as long as one never faulted, never made a mistake, and continued on the offence, that was how one would have victory.

Those who maintained the defence could only expect a slow, agonising defeat

Such principles did exist in ship-to-ship combat to a degree, but it faced an insurmountable hurdle of the fact that enemy ships, even struck first, unless claiming annihilation to an essential subsystem, very much could fire back, retake the initiative, and the battle with it.

Malum strummed his fingers along his armrest, as the engines of his mind turned as quickly as the engines of the Alvaria following behind the vanguard, also came in range of the Star Destroyer. What was this member of the House of Io playing at? Were they unaware of the bounty? Were they simply too concerned with the satellites he had picked up on scan when they had initially arriv-.

There it was, the Star Destroyer once almost a silent, dead, hulk, finally erupted, its engines spewing forth plasma, as it began accelerating.

Speeding towards his squadron.

Yet still, refusing to fire.

It was a response, an equivalent response, where he had advanced without fire, they were doing the same.

It was almost tempting him to do so, if it got any closer, he could attempt a move to cripple the ship.

Yet it was a silent battle of wills, rather than a loud battle of gunnery, as both commanders refused the order to fire.

It would be Malum who broke the deadlock.

"Custos, do not fire," He gave his order, before turning towards Venerandus, "If they refuse to fight, let us conduct some... diplomacy."

---

Appearing as a hologram standing, at the bridge of the Viceroy, was the crimson eyed, raven haired, and dashing figure of Malum.

"Greetings, to the commander of the ship opposing us, I am Darth Malum of House Marr, commanding the Alvaria and Ragathor, representing the Sith Empire. I have been made aware that you are a representative of the House of Io, it would seem then that our allegiances would make us foes, but if we both refuse to fire, we certainly are not acting the part," The hologram paused a moment, seeming to consider his next words carefully, "What is your purpose here?"

Arianna Belasko

 

[Arianna Belasko]

The Countess watched as the scared astronauts were herded into the decontamination chambers. Arianna made certain to order the crew to make sure decontamination took a long time. Right now, she had another fire to deal with.

Her naturally immense vanity made her pull out a mirror to check if her make up (lightly applied: In her youthful state Arianna usually did not need much make-up: she was simply that smoking hot after draining a victim of their energy.) wasn't running.

A beep from her comlink as she headed to the bridge, made Arianna whip the fancy, diamond encrusted device out.

"Countess, The leader of the enemy ship is in range of both us and the planet. The world's satellites and most advanced visual technology is focused on us." came the voice of the bridge tactical officer.

"Good. In that it hasn't turned into a pure chitshow. Bad, in that he was smart enough to not fire on us." Arianna said back as she entered the turbolift, much to the alarm of the young, dark blue uniformed House Io ensign, a Chagrian man.

She smiled pleasantly at him and he gave a small smile back, but the fear could be seen in his eyes. He had accidentally caught her feeding in the past. He was still having nightmares.

He made sure to otherwise look calm and keep at the far end of the turbolift and as she exited out, the comms officer, a Twi'Lek woman with red skin.

"Countess, the leader of the enemy ship sent us a transmission."

"Put him through." Arianna ordered.

Arianna had only a few seconds to process his appearance and name, and the history associated with it. He was high up the empire's food chain, but their own intel officers said he had been on something of the losing end of an internal struggle amongst the Sith. That he wasn't dead meant he was still highly useful, and thus, very dangerous.

"Well met, Lord Malum. I am Countess Arianna Belasko, of House Io, commanding the Viceroy. It is regrettable we meet under such auspices."

Belasko's name would no doubt bring up red flags on his end. For one, she was no less than the adoptive mother of House Io's leader, and a sorceress of terrible strength in her own right. The few attempts by the Jedi to capture her in the past had ended in disaster.

"As for why we are here...My House detected this species, and grew curious. We are in constant search of potential, and don't see a reason to avoid contact with such a young civilization. Especially if trade can be established."

The hunt for resources could easily justify contact. She knew Darth Malum of House Marr would not buy that story (At least, not entirely), but it might hopefully buy House Io some time to verify if there was, indeed, some sort of part to a superweapon hidden on this world: It likely wouldn't be obvious.

"I would so hate to resort to hostilities in front of a new species. Despite our current unpleasantries elsewhere."

She was of course, referring to the wide scale bounties their respective factions had placed upon each other, Empyrean going for the standard HVT type bounty for the most valuable members, whereas Laertia had gone with a more...atypical (psychotic) approach, paying hard money, for easy, soft targets in the Sith Empire's military: low ranking officers and soldiers, aka, the people who greased the wheels of the machine.

After all, you might be able to protect the HVT, but how do you protect all the people the HVT actually depends on? Her daughter was just murderous enough to explore that question.

"Are you here for similar curiosities, or is it my House that draws the aim of your impressive vessel?" she inquired, wondering if she could get him to play the long game (preferably to her advantage) by engaging in diplomacy with the aliens. All that species was doing was likely holding their breaths in terror.

After all, Arianna did so love a diplomacy challenge.

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

He resisted the groan that threatened to leave his lips, it would be just his luck that the Countess of Khemost would be the one facing him. For certain, he knew little of the House of Io, but he did at least know who his enemies were, and certainly, the adoptive mother of Laertia Io counted as a powerful one. There went any theory that the captain of the vessel might have simply been overcautious, too inexperienced to do his job, that might have had him tempted to proceed with the attack.

After all, destroying a star destroyer with what forces he had would certainly be an accomplishment.

And winning the Emperor's favour by claiming his bounty would not be remiss.

Unfortunately, both considerations very much did not stand scrutiny if his foe was Countess Belasko, because it meant her delay in attacking herself, was calculated.

There was something he was missing.

Until he figured that out, he would play the diplomat.

He placed a charming smile upon his features, with eyes glimmering, "Well met indeed, I never thought I would ever have the pleasure of meeting the Countess of Khemost, with a galaxy so large as ours," And in all honesty, he had hoped he never would, "But now that I have, the rumours of your beauty have certainly been understated, I would not be remiss to meeting under more... intimate circumstances." All flattery, even if it was simply a fact that the woman shown on the hologram was objectively attractive.

Even if he felt there was something wrong.

Something he could not quite explain.

He did not believe a word that she said, it was unlikely she would simply give her foe the true reason for why they were here. Even if she was throwing up a very impressive act that almost made him reconsider, after all, perhaps she was just being diplomatic, she had not fired, the explanation was technically sound, and he could likely take it as such and withdraw.

Yet.

Something still felt off, it was just as likely that she had not wanted to get into a gunnery battle specifically to avoid a fight and have him be on his way. After all, a star destroyer alone was a powerful weapon, yet it was a star destroyer alone, unescorted, even if the Viceroy could destroy both the Alvaria and the Ragathor, it would likely be in a sorry state, and there was no guarantee it could limp back to safe harbour.

"I see..." Malum responded, turning towards Venerandus who confirmed that the signal had in fact come from the planet below, and the rather primitive satellites circling the planet's orbit confirmed their technological state.

However, one thing he had noted was the strange craft near the star destroyer, it was empty, but the scanners had reported life within before, its structure even looked as if it was meant to.

The absence... was disconcerting, to say the least.

He might have thought them dead if it was not for the words which the Countess had spoken, she might lie to him of her exact purpose, but to lie of her actions and that, with a straight face, and no other tells, seemed to imply there was at least a fragment of truth behind those enchanting blue eyes.

She had taken hold of the crew then... but why?

"Yes... to show ourselves battling, would likely not be the welcome those below deserve after reaching the stars," Though Malum had to admit they had been supremely unlucky that those they had met were part of the Sith Empire and the House of Io, even as a member of the former, he could admit that his people were far from the most gentle at the best of times.

In answer to her last question, he looked to Venerandus, red eyes meeting for but a second as a silent question passed, quickly Venerandus took Malum's position, having an apologetic look upon his features, looking remarkably similar to Malum, if not shorter, and androgynous, borderline, feminine, as Malum left the frame, "My apologies, Countess, it would seem something of an urgent request has come from Jutrand, to answer your question, it was a signal from the world below that drew us here, we were unaware of the House of Io's presence."

Venerandus Marr was perfectly composed as he was trained from birth to be, yet even he knowing what he knew, could not stop the rogue line of sweat that marred his face.

All the while, within minutes, the Alvaria shot out a projectile, visible to all ships in the area.

It was no weapon.

It was a dropship.

Malum taking an escort of the Guard with him, he decided whatever interest the House of Io had on this world, he would find out, and secure it for himself.

Arianna Belasko

 

[Arianna Belasko]

Arianna smiled with that carefully cultivated aristocratic charm at Malum's flattery.

"Intimacy is always a plus in political interactions..." Arianna replied coyly.

Trust me, if Malum ever got that close it would be a big tall glass of NOPE from start to finish.

She could only be relieved internally that he didn't want a fight. But as he left and his aid took over, the power in her gown allowed her to sense falsehood from him.

"Just as well then. I have communications of my own to attend to..." Arianna said before cutting comms.

"Countess, a drop pod has been launched." One of the crew reported.

"A delegation perhaps..." Arianna hissed in displeasure. "But he doesn't have the astronauts..."

Returning the astronauts, alive, unharmed, would be a very useful diplomatic gesture.

"Tactical, what are our odds if a battle erupts?" She asked.

The tactical officer looked up from the display.

"Our guns, and our armor, give a hefty edge, but we lack an escort. The odds we would defeat our enemy is good, but we would take heavy damage in the process. And our odds would decrease from there should more of his friends show."

"I want those guns ready to fire at a moment's notice. I am going to the surface with our guests and my entourage."

Arianna departed the bridge, confident her crew would carry out her missives once she reached the hangar.

She stopped by her quarters first, retrieving her silvery Saberstaff, testing it's red blades a few seconds before shutting it off and clipping it to her belt before selecting a fine necklace of flawless Corusca Gems and draping it around her neck before heading to the hangars proper.

The Astronauts were waiting for her when she arrived, flanked by a pair of Black Knights in heavy black armor, equipped with Katanas, along with two squads of House Stormtroopers in their custom white armor along with a pair of Diplomatic Nuetralizers , and a single Medical Nuetralizer .

"Hello once again. The time has come to return you three home..." she explained.

Captain Val'po'cn eyed her suspiciously.

"No tricks?"

"No tricks." Arianna promised. Does your species have a "First Contact Protocol?"

"What's that?" he asked.

"Never mind. If I wanted to make a proper introduction to your people, where would I do it and who would I be speaking to once I got there?"

"Well..." the Captain scratched his head. "It would be done at the Great Sunset Hall in the council of Wisdom. It is located at the equator, on an island.

"Can I expect a hostile welcome?"

The Captain shrugged. "My people never even considered the idea of encountering intelligent life. They're all scared, most likely."

"I see..." the Countess purred. "Well, we'll just have to make a good first impression..."

She pulled out her comlink.

"Bridge Crew, this is the Countess. Transmit a friendly message in their language, the simplest you can muster. Tell them we come in peace, and not to fire, and that we will be arriving at their Great Sunset Hall."

"Understood, Countess..."

Arianna gestured for everyone aboard to follow her into the Aurodium plated Lambda Shuttle that was to serve her in a diplomatic capacity.

It was the very epitome of luxury combined with function on the inside and the Countess sat in a special section reserved for her as they descended, heading for the coordinates the Astronauts had given.

"Countess, our scans are picking up a lot of primitive radar tracking us."

"Let them. They won't fire." Arianna replied as the shuttle sped towards it's destination.

She saw an army of people holding primitive cameras as they approached the magnificent golden domed building on a great island picking a spot in a grass clearing close to the building.

"Home again, just as promised..." Arianna told the Astronauts, inviting them to step out of the shuttle first, so that their world could see they hadn't been harmed. Boom. Instant Diplomatic Advantage.

She made sure after the Astronauts arrived to shocked sounding cheers and such that she was the second thing they saw.

Arianna flashed a potent smile as she was beset by camera flashes. Darth Malum of House Marr may have gotten here first, but Arianna had gotten here with leverage...