Melka Luns (Princess of the Kingdom of Wintkin) (Animalistic Humanoid)

  6/14/2031,

  (Eastern Territory, Kingdom of Wintkin)

  (Chesk Village)

  “The translation seal is in place, your highness,” one of her aides said, bowing deeply before standing back.

  “I still think this is foolish.” Icar Nerl stated once again, if he weren't a war hero in the eyes of the masses, his attitude would have placed him in prison long ago; her guards seemed to agree as their eyes followed him in disbelief.

  “I'm tired of having this argument with you,” she said, strapping on her armour. Her battledress was as elegant yet intimidating as she could make it, splicing both her armour and royal garments in a way to show authority yet prestige. “Just have your men on standby in case this goes south.”

  All he did was scoff before leaving Melka to her own thoughts as she prepared for another note in history. “That's if her people win this war.” she mused to herself as a guard approached her. “The Message has been sent, they await your arrival.” Good, now all she needed was the report from her Scouts.

  —-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Their base was anticlimactic. Barriers, tents, and all sorts of stuff were spread about. Their colors were either olive green or sandy tan, truly devoid of aesthetics. Everything is an earthly color…all except for their banner, the flag flapping about in the middle of the base, white and red stripes moved from left to right in straight lines, on the upper left side lay a blue box, in it many white stars sitting in a neat row. Its design was simplistic, it did not hold the complex gold-lined emblems that are so common in the world. That's what made it memorable; its simplistic design allowed anyone, even a kid, to draw it from memory. It is quite interesting to say the least.

  “Your Highness, it's a pleasure to meet you at last. I am Colonel Morgan, the one in charge of all the marines on this side of the…world.” the stereotypical battle-hardened old man said. He wore the earthly camo just like the men that flanked him. Because of that, he did not feel like a noble; those she had meant or known always tried to distinguish themself from the men they commanded, but not him, that might be his style…or their Doctrine.

  Her entourage stiffened as she took his hand, helping her off the horse. “It's Nice to meet you, I wasn't expecting to be greeted by leadership right at the gate.” she said, making sure to get off her steed as elegantly as possible. Diplomacy can always go better for you when you aren't seen as a bumbling fool. Which only brought her mind back to Nerl. Why did he decide to stay back at base?

  “We try to impress, please this way, ma'am.” He says, his raspy voice not giving much in emotion despite his words and tone, she could feel a simmering amount of anger, or even hatred, she didn't notice when he first spoke. Anger that is…understandable. It would be foolish to follow him. But she didn't want to make their negotiations worse with more underlying tension. Looking back, she observed the eyes of her advisor and personal guard. Who looked just as wary as she is. “Lead the way,” she said calmly, her eyes glancing at one of the men behind Morgan. Their grip tightened around their weapon.

  There were way more boxes than she expected to see here. Did this really all come from that one ship? There were enough supplies here to supply an army of 100,000 for a month. Her eyes wandered to a group of Strange metal Wagons that sat neatly in a row, their wheels digging deep into the sand. Its hull held the colors of Green, Brown, and Black. Her gaze seemed to be noticed as her guide spoke up.

  “That's an ACV, an Amphibious Combat Vehicle, some of many armored vehicles in our arsenal.” He said, though it felt like he was bragging about these strange vehicles, combat vehicles, by her people's doctrine, battles are fought on foot. carts, wagons, and any other form of transport is just that, transport, not something to be used in battle. That spot is reserved for beasts of battle, like drakes.

  “It's…Interesting.” she said with a polite smile, making sure not to show too much interest in the concept he had just enlightened her on. How these vehicles fought was beyond her, though. She couldn't help but feel uneasy as the marines all around her stared at her, some with hatred, some with curiosity, but what was certain was that their guard was up.

  After a bit of walking, he suddenly stopped, looking over his shoulder. All she could see was the ocean, and his ship loitering a good distance away from the coast. “Is this where you want to talk?” she asked.

  “It seems your ride is running a bit late. And to address your question, I won't be leading diplomacy on the United States' behalf.”

  “I'm sorry, but I'm confused. Aren't you the one in charge of this ship and its Army?”

  “Oh my apologies, Captain Levinson is the one in charge of the ship, and I am in charge of the marines attached to it. The Captain and I have made an agreement that he will handle diplomacy, in return…well, that's a story for another time. It seems your ride will be here shortly now.” Morgan stated before giving some parting words. “First Sergeant William will escort you from here.” he said, gesturing towards the marine she noticed earlier.

  “O-Okay.” was all she could get out before he was too far away. It is quite obvious that he wanted nothing to do with her. But Melka’s attention soon shifted. Her ears soon picked up the noise of this so-called “ride” approaching. turning, she once again surveyed the ocean, but something new was in it. Another strange craft approached the coast.

  Turning to one of the First Sergeants, she asked but one question. “What is that thing?”

  He gave an exasperated sigh as a show of his contempt before responding. “That's an LCAC, A Hovercraft used for the landing of troops and material,” the Marine bluntly said, once again the mask making sure that she could not tell if he was lying or telling the truth. It was infuriating. But her attention was once again brought back to the LCAC, at high speed, it approached the coast. Its fans roared in protest as it de-accelerated, soon it beached itself directly in front of her, Melka's hands instinctively grabbing the handle of her sheathed blade. Her guards doing the same. After a couple of seconds, it started to deflate itself, its inflatable hull lowering down to allow marines and more of their vehicles to unload. In no time at all, it was empty.

  “It must have taken years to make this thing.” one of her staff members said in astonishment. “It probably took the combined efforts of many blacksmiths to make this.” another murmured, but the conversation quickly died down as a voice talked above them, “Alright, get on.” the First sergeant said, walking up the ramp. With none wanting to delay things further, they followed suit. Before she could take a step, she felt a familiar presence from before. This time, the shadow did not show itself; “it's done, your highness.” the whisper in Melka’s ears said before she felt a letter appear in her hand. “Good, now get out of here before they spot you and all we worked for goes into the fire,” she whispered. There were no words of acknowledgement, just silence showing the shadow's departure.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  She did her best to tuck all her ears down, but the speed at which they moved made the wind slapping at her face all the more unbearable to breathe. “Lucky bastards.” she quietly said to herself. Those masks sure are useful at a time like this. Though thankfully, the speed at which they travelled soon began to slow, as they approached the…Ship, it’s HUGE, how can it even be called A SHIP!!! It's more like a floating fortress; it looked like an average-sized cargo freighter from afar, but up close, it was a towering monolith. Its grey hull is sleek and well managed, with some marks of rust here and there.

  “Prepare for docking.” the staff sergeant said, methodically moving behind them, his weapon unholstered. If they even showed a hint of hostility, they would probably be torn apart, as described by the people of Chesk when an apparent Selvis raiding party got ambushed by them. Then again, they could have been overstating things.

  The LCAC moved behind the ship, where a large door sat wide open like a beast opening its mouth. “What if they just kill us?” one of her personal attendants said, a man by the name of Dykell, his ears lowered to his head. Defiant yet frightened.

  “This would be pretty elaborate and tedious just to kill us.” she said reassuringly, but being addressed by the princess herself only made his nervousness be directed towards her. “They are probably just doing all this as a display to intimidate us, making us come to them instead of finding a place of equal footing.”

  The weird craft docked inside the mental ship, despite there being no windows, the ship remained brightly illuminated, lights emitted by probably powerful runes kept the shadows at bay. Wealth incarnate if they use such powerful runes to just keep the ship's interior bright, most runes give off a low white glow, but this, this is something she's only seen a few times. Even the little things seem to impress her. Melka’s attention was brought back as the large hangar door behind them began to close, leaving them trapped within the ship. It was only after it completely closed was when the marines and other men in the ship began to take off their masks. Their faces finally visible to her. It was slightly reassuring to be reminded of the similarities.

  As she took her first steps on the landing craft, another soldier was before her, this was more ornately dressed in a black and white uniform, gold trimming all along its many edges, upon her head was a hat with an emblem of an eagle coated in silver and gold. “Hi ma’am I am Ensign Jessica Lenare. If you will please follow me, I will bring you to the Captain.” the officer said, her calm and respectful demeanor a contrast to the men she works with. With no other choice, they followed, going deeper and deeper into the ship's many halls.

  —-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The room was suffocating, the windows nonexistent, giving the feeling of confinement. And isolation. Another mental game from them. The table and chairs are simplistic, with not even the smallest of decor upon them, just a slab of metal. Truly showing their ideals of efficiency over Cosmetics and style. Suddenly, one of the marines who guarded one of the heavy iron doors began to open it, allowing a man to enter the room. Just like Ensign Jessica Lenare, who sat in the corner of the room with others who were doing something. He was dressed in a more ceremonial uniform, but this time it was a solid white. “Sorry for the wait.” She quickly got up from the metal chair. Take slow steps towards the man.

  “Pleasure to meet you, Captain Levinson.” she said in return.

  “Nice to meet you, Princess uh…I'm sorry I haven't been told your name yet.”

  “I am Princess Melak Luns of the Kingdom of Wintkin, first in line to the throne under the heavens Forge.”

  “Nice to meet you.” he says, offering his hand towards her, having no idea what gesture he was doing. She just did the same, only for him to grab her extended hand, shaking it for a brief moment before letting go. Moving to take his seat on the other side of the table.

  “So with introductions over.” she says, trying to control the tempo of this discussion. “I would like to formally apologize for our first interaction between our armies, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions.”

  “It's our fault as well. We shouldn't have just blatantly come into your territory, so please let's just let bygones be bygones, the subordinate you…interrogated preferred to keep it that way, if that wasn't the case, we would have had a different conversation right now.” The captain stated.

  “Alright, with that done, let's put the money on the table, shall we. Why are you here?”

  “The truth always gets out eventually, and might as well have it on our terms.” Levinson said after a moment of contemplation.

  “And that means.”

  “That we are not from this world Princess.”

  “What do you mean you are not from this world?

  “Just that, we are not from this world, we were traveling in the waters of the pacific Ocean and then we wake up to this new sky above.” he said in an unsettling calm demeanor as if he had already seen fit to cast hope of going home aside just to focus on the future in her world.

  “And so you suddenly appeared in the Ferlic Ocean.” she said to herself, her ears perking up in thought. If they are lost, her chances of securing this army for her cause are much more probable. After looking through it for a second, she tossed the letter she was given just an hour ago onto the other side of the table. Watching as Captain Levinson picked up, his eyebrow raised.

  “What is this?” the captain curiously said, lifting the envelope.

  “A peace offering.” she said, watching as he opened the envelope. He pulled out multiple thin sheets of glass, upon them were photorealistic renderings of prisoners taken from afar, not just regular prisoners but rather his men tied up and what looked like to be tortured. were shackled up in the open, exposed to the elements.

  “My scouts found your missing squad that I heard about. As a sign of goodwill, I can have my people bring you to them.” she stated. The Hate in his eyes was apparent as he studied the images. His eyes held something colder, more terrifying than just hate; was it vengeance? At that, they had a common ground.

  “What is this?” The Captain asked again, his tone was cold, deprived of the friendly demeanor he had presented just moments prior.

  “A Selvis Encampment we found, they have many of these observation posts all along the more unguarded areas of the border to swipe people for their biggest market within their empire.”

  “Yet this is your territory. Why do you allow them to exist here?”

  “The mountain ranges make it difficult for any proper borders to be made. My mother may own it, but it's difficult to enforce the area, so they make hundreds of these small camps in these unpopulated lands.

  “So like the wild west.” he said softly to himself. “So let's get to the point Princess,” he said after a moment of contemplation.

  “So what is it you want, Captain?” she responded.

  “I want rights to the large ports you may have in your kingdom. In return, we can act as a deterrent to the…war you are fighting, a show of force, but no real military action outside of some spectacles.” Levinson stated, her tail was having trouble hiding her excitement as she heard his words. Making it clear that they are somewhat on the same page.

  “Agreeable, however, I believe I could give you something better. I will give you sanctuary within my nation's territory and its surrounding waters. In return, you conduct military actions against the Selvis Empire and aid my people. Your flag is nothing but an ideology in this world. And I'm offering you the one place you don't have here…A home.” Levinson's Eyes widened at her words.

  “You are lucky we are on a timetable, or else I wouldn't be taking that deal right now.” Levinson said after a moment of contemplation, A more cheerful demeanor came from the man, allowing the atmosphere to relax a bit, her tail straight up wagging for a moment, much to her embarrassment. Though the amount of relief and excitement she feels at this moment is indescribable. This had gone way better than she had expected. Surely the forge father smiles down at her. She barely seemed to notice as one of the ship's crew came up behind the captain, whispering something her ears could easily pick up, “Sir we have picked up a friendly F-18 on radar, details are still coming in.” One of the captain's men whispered into his ear.

  “Let's talk details later, I've got more issues to attend to, thank you for your time, Princess Melka,” he said, getting up from his seat. “Ensign Lenare, feel free to escort them to the deck. I will have A Venom come pick them up.” With those parting words, he left the room.

  “Aye Captain.” The Ensign responded, giving off a salute as he left. The world stage might have just shifted with this stunt she just pulled off. Only time will tell if it will be good or bad for her people.