Dark Fate, Chapter 102 (Patreon)

Chapter 102 – Greetings

I took the shuttle down to Atlanta in the morning, local time. I wanted to be fresh, and ready for what promised to be a diplomatic shit show. That meant getting down early, and having enough time to relax by the pool before showering, and getting dressed. Of course, I also wanted to have some fun with the girls, so this made for a good excuse.

Eventually, I stepped out of the shower with Talia, and went to get dressed. I wasn’t going to do formal wear, but my normal armor. I’d decided early on that the Kingdom of Ceres would not have the kind of pomp and frills that other nations seemed to collect. No, the Kingdom of Ceres was a martial kingdom, and the closest to ceremonial wear we would get would be a military dress uniform.

That was for official business, of course. I didn’t care what people dressed like in their own homes, but official wear for the Kingdom was always going to be either System arms and armor, or a military-style uniform, though distinct enough from the actual military uniforms that no one would mistake them. The idea was to promote a martial culture in my people, and to try and remove social classes from consideration. Sure, the wealthy were always going to have better weapons and gear than the poor, but the System was a great equalizer, allowing a poor person with enough drive, and skill, to gain power and gear.

The fact that such a setup allowed me to wear my strongest defensive and offensive gear, even when conducting official state events was just a ‘happy accident’, really.

Shortly after 1pm, the first diplomatic vehicles pulled up to my gate. With a mental command, I opened the gate, allowing them to enter. They were still subject to the wards I had in place, but those were no longer the main defense. After all, I couldn’t be here most of the time, and this place was now public knowledge.

Since we had gone public, I had increased the defenses of the mansion, purchasing guards for the grounds. These guards were actually golems, and were disguised as statues of armed and armored creatures scattered around the estate, though two flanked the front door as honor guards. Until a threat was detected, they would stand motionless, and only an [Analyze] skill, or something similar, from an individual with a higher level than they had would be able to discern their true nature.

The first group to arrive was, naturally, a representative from the US government. Obvious, since this was Atlanta, but soon they were joined by individuals from the British, French, German, and Japanese consulates. I had my people guide them all to the living room, which would make for a more relaxed atmosphere than creating a conference room, and offer refreshments.

Once they were all there, I walked into the room, with Lilith at my side. Nodding to all of them, I smiled. “Welcome to my home away from home. I am sure you all have a great many questions, but I wish to be clear on one thing, from the beginning. The Kingdom of Ceres is a martial kingdom, and, as such, we will not bother with flowery language and empty platitudes, hiding daggers behind smiles and wishes of friendship. You might think us barbarians, for not dancing the same dance as you, but I prefer to speak only truth, and expect the same of those I meet, and I have much more respect for someone who admits when they do not know something than a person who tries to plaster over their ignorance with bullshit.”

That caused the representatives to shift uneasily in their seats. I clearly wasn’t what they were expecting. Probably, they thought I was going to try and puff myself up like a warlord in a banana republic, with a chest full of ribbons and medals I’d awarded myself. They’d just have to be disappointed, in that case.

“But, before we get to questions, introductions are in order. I am King Zayn Green, ruler of the Kingdom of Ceres. At my side is my daughter from another timeline, Princess Lilith Moonchild. She also serves as my assistant in these matters. Now, might I have the pleasure of your names?”

This, at least, was something the diplomats understood. The first to speak was the gentleman in a well-tailored suit from the United Kingdom, who so happened to be on the far right of the group. He looked to be in his late forties, but held himself well. “Yes. Well, I am Marley Phillips, Deputy Consul-General for Her Majesty, the Queen of England, stationed in Atlanta.”

I nodded, and said, “A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Phillips,” before looking at the next in line. She was an Elf of some sort, obviously changed in the Apocalypse, so her age was impossible to guess. She wore a business suit, that spoke of practicality, first and foremost, which went well with her German accent.

“I am Lena Baer, Assistant to the Consul-General for the German Consulate-General.”

I nodded to her, as I’d done Phillips, but I didn’t miss the way her eyes glowed momentarily as she introduced herself. Probably some sort of detection skill. I smiled, and said, “A pleasure. Also, you’ll want to practice more with that skill. Eventually, you’ll unlock an improvement that you can spend skill points on to remove that tell.” The look on her face was priceless.

“Well then,” the next in line said. He was a dark-skinned man in a comfortable suit, and spoke with a Brooklyn accent. “I am Jaquon Jones, working with the State Department.”

“Greetings, Mr. Jones. I hope you didn’t have too much trouble with traffic. I know how much fun Atlanta can be at rush hour.”

“Oh, same as always. At least the car has air conditioning. I was afraid I’d melt, otherwise.”

There was a healthy chuckle at that, before the fourth representative spoke up. He was dressed in what had to be a two- or three-thousand-dollar suit, before the Apocalypse, and there were casual signs of wealth and influence, like a jeweled Rolex on his wrist. This was someone who wished others to know their importance, probably as a power play for negotiations.

“I am Jean-Noël Bellegarde, Special Assistant to the Consul-General for French government.”

“Sure, Mr. Bellegard. Nice to meetcha.” The casualness of my tone brought a flash of anger to the man’s face, but he quickly controlled it. Pushing his buttons was going to be fun.

Finally, the last representative bowed at a diplomatic angle to me. She was actually a Kitsune, as one could tell from the fox ears on her head, and the tail poking out from her tailored business suit. “I am Kitamura Ema, or Ema Kitamura, as it is used in the West. I am the Consul-General stationed here in Atlanta to represent the Japanese people.”

“Ah, Kitamura-san, it is a pleasure to meet you,” I said, as I returned her bow. There was no harm in being polite and showing respect to those who offered it first, after all.

Looking back at the others, I waved to the chairs and couches around the living room. “Please, have a seat. This conversation is going to be contentious enough, so we might as well be comfortable, right?” There were a couple grins from those who had come to accept my style, and frowns from the French and German representatives, but soon everyone was seated.

“Well, I guess we should start with the obvious. Your governments all obviously saw satellite imagery of the blast in Libya. And those images most likely saw a shuttle belonging to the Kingdom of Ceres near the scene.”

I held up a hand to stop any questions, and said, “I will answer questions at the end.” As the representatives settled back, I continued, “Yesterday, at just after midnight, local time, a team of operatives from the Kingdom of Ceres conducted a search and destroy mission on a camp near the Tazirbu Oasis. This camp, prior to the Apocalypse, was determined to be an ISIS-affiliated training camp for terrorists. After the Apocalypse, the area appeared to have been covered in haze on satellite images, which I’m sure your intelligence agencies can confirm for you.

“Since ISIS has decried the Kingdom of Ceres as a nation of heathens moving further from the light of Allah, due to our open acceptance of all races, religions, creeds, and orientations, judging only based on merit, there was concern that the terrorists would begin planning attacks at our facilities on Earth, especially once we begin establishing embassies in other countries. To head this off, and gain more intelligence on their plans, a first strike on the training camp was authorized, and carried out. This happened on my personal command.

“In the initial moments of the attack, team members discovered that the camp had become a dungeon, and the haze was a result of a dungeon’s innate ability to disguise its location. Through means unknown, ISIS forces were able to take control of the dungeon, and mold it to suit their purposes, using it as a training ground, allowing their people to gain levels fighting analogues of American servicemen while training for various terrorist activities. This also allowed the terrorists to procure System-based weapons, armor, and materiel, including explosives.

“Because of the inherent danger of such materials getting into the hands of terrorists, and spreading to the wider movement, the commander on the ground ordered that the terrorists be eliminated, and the dungeon destroyed. Following several running firefights, where the team took down many dungeon creatures posing as American soldiers and the one hundred terrorist trainees, the team reached the dungeon core. After defeating the dungeon’s final monster, they used their attacks to overwhelm the dungeon core’s defenses, and shatter it.

“Unfortunately, destroying dungeon cores is not an easy process, and is rarely safe. The destruction of the core destabilized the local mana flows, causing a resonating surge. The team barely had time to get back on board the shuttle and raise shields before the resultant mana surge exploded, resulting in the blast your governments witnessed.”

Jones frowned. “The reports said the blast was nuclear. Can a dungeon being destroyed really be that powerful?”

“Oh, certainly. Dungeons have innate dimensional magics, you know. This allows them to be bigger on the inside, so a dungeon that might claim an area the size of this estate, in the outside world, could be large enough to fit the entirety of the Metro Atlanta area inside it, with room to spare. The destruction of the dungeon causes the dimensional boundaries to collapse, which means that fitting everything back into reality is like trying to fit a basketball into a coffee cup, and the basketball isn’t going to take ‘no’ for an answer. The result is matter turning to mana. If the mana is already unstable, well, you get critical mass, and then boom.”

Bellegarde growled, clearly eager to pounce on me, after I had disrespected him earlier, “And you just decided, on your own, to go violating other countries’ airspace, and letting off explosions of that nature? Without even bothering to try and coordinate with the international community? Without concern for the environmental impact? Do you realize how many treaties you’ve just confessed to breaking?”

I laughed, which did not improve his mood any. “I have not broken a single treaty, Mr. Bellegarde, nor has anyone under my command. Really, I would have expected you to be better informed than that. After all, the Kingdom of Ceres has not, in its entire history, signed any of the treaties I’m sure you were about to name, nor has it ever been a part of any international organizations or groups that you may be thinking of.”

Leaning forward, I said, “Which is not to say that We are unopposed to such things, in the future. Indeed, We will likely be adding the Kingdom to the list of countries who have signed on to the Geneva Conventions, to keep warfare civilized. However, some language would need to be updated. Strictly speaking, the Conventions only apply to humans. Given what we know of the galaxy at large, those rules should be updated, to include the realities of the System, and the fact that humans are not the only sentient life that we know of.”

Kitamura smiled. “An excellent suggestion, your majesty. Speaking of the System, I watched your interview on the Late Show. Perhaps you could give us some more insight on the System, and what you know of these pirates?”