A Simple Visit (Closed)

[Oncaro]

Landerest, Kingdom of Evenstar

 

When Danica Ambrozije, Supreme Leader of the Republic of Kressnia, had first gotten word of the planet Orbis from the Pords, she hadn't had any real idea what to expect. Now it had been several months since the Kressnians had arrived in the Balkans, and it appeared that things were finally really settling down: More technology from the Republic was being integrated into the PW-1 Colony (now unofficially nicknamed "Kressnian Yugoslavia"), and the natives were rapidly growing accustomed to it and the presence of the Kressnians themselves, who likewise were integrating with the natives quite smoothly. Unlike with how it started with the UMS, where her people had been intimidated by the idea of these huge alien empires compared to their single star system, the Kressnians felt like here, they could actually have an impact on others around them, and it appeared this was the general motivating factor for their willingness to interact with those around them.

 

Danica was thankful for this, as even to her it appeared that the rest of Orbis that was actually occupied by any polity of note except the UMS colonies was either suffering from perpetual terrorist attacks, declaring wars left and right (there was apparently a new crusade going on, for God's sake!), declaring vassalhoods as if the feudal system still existed, having nationwide power outages, or otherwise vanishing overnight and/or reorganizing into some completely different nation in another part of the world, complete with timeline anomalies that it appeared only Danica herself seemed to be aware of, because no-one else seemed to know these things went on and there didn't appear to be any economic repercussions for these events whatsoever. But there did seem to be at least one exception to this utter insanity: The Kingdom of the Evenstar.

 

Danica had first met the current king of the Evenstar at a summit she had held in Kressnian Belgrade months ago, and she had been immediately intrigued by the nation itself, just as much as the king had been surprised to learn that the Kressnians themselves were not, in fact, aliens, but humans.

 

A small, yet powerful Christian nation that held the southern parts of the Iberian peninsula as well as Sardinia and Corsica, she had noted Evenstar to be a nation that she either didn't recognize some ancient human pop cultural influence on (except perhaps the name of the country)-- or outright being such nations-- did not appear to have an utterly ridiculous concept when she thought about it (fascist penguins?!), nor was it suffering from any particular calamities. And so Danica had requested the opportunity to perhaps take some time down the road to conduct a personal visit to the place, simply to be able to take a breath and actually be able to take in and enjoy the fact that she was currently on Earth-- or a version of it-- before going back to the NS-1 universe to resume her duties as Supreme Leader.

 

And with that in mind, as the Kressnian Bellic 907 passenger jet touched down at the local airport of Landerest, the capital of Evenstar, Danica took the time to look as good as she could before exiting the plane with her small entourage. A state visit with full honors this was not, but it wouldn't do for a national leader to not be presentable or professional. She wanted to make a good second impression after all. Here, she was the guest, and for royalty to boot.

Edited November 2, 2016 by Oncaro

[Thalmor]

Royal servants, clothed in their tight, navy-blue leather uniforms quickly danced around the spacious and expensive-adorned dining room. Silverware was organized, candles were lit, and lights were dimmed. Most preparations were already completed hours previous, but last-minute changes were called for. The royal servants were anything but inflexible, and everything so far was looking nice.

 

The table that would sit King Thalmor and Supreme Leader Ambrozije wasn't a regular table. The end of it where both leaders would sit at protruded out slightly in two different directions parallel with each other, with both ends ending in a circular way. This meant that both leaders would literally 'stick out' from the rest of the attendants (some staffers would comment that, from above, it almost looks like a penis and balls- much to a irritation of their superiors, who don't permit such vulgar talk among their subordinates in the name of etiquette). It would be at these two ends that both world leaders would sit at. While they would sit slightly further apart from each other than the other guests will from one another, it wouldn't be a very big issue.

[Oncaro]

Landerest, Kingdom of Evenstar

 

The small Kressnian entourage wasn't discouraged by a lack of transport waiting for them; the airport staff covered it at least partly, and within thirty minutes after their arrival, they were in a pair of taxis that had been called by the airport to take them across the city to the royal palace.

 

Taxis that happened to be rather beaten up, filthy, and (to the shock and horror of Danica's compatriots in the car with her) one of them was blaring loud, utterly vulgar rap music. And that car just so happened to be the one she entered.

 

Oh, shit, thought Andrej, her personal assistant. This isn't going to go well.

 

The Supreme Leader was somewhat particular about her musical tastes-- they knew she mostly enjoyed classical music more than most other genres, for example, and knew that for the most part she found rap as a genre, as well as its descendants from their home universe, to be "utter filth with no substance" or to use a less polite term, "sranje". But she didn't really bother with asking the driver to change the station.

 

To add to it, the driver seemed to be a pimple-faced, greasy-haired Croat who had been living in this city prior to the Kressnian colonization of the Balkans, and all he did was gawk, gab questions at the Supreme Leader in broken Serbian, which was close enough to Kressnian to be understandable and communicable, and barely suppress his leering looks toward Danica herself, clearly wondering what was underneath her suit jacket and blouse. This was ignored with much grace by the Supreme Leader, but not by her aides.

 

Scandalous! Andrej thought, and his comrade Mikhail clearly had the same thought. Utterly disrespectful little shit! If we weren't in a car, I'd--!

 

A look from the Supreme Leader, one surprisingly calm and filled with-- mirth?-- stopped his train of thought. Clearly, absolutely none of this was getting to her. She really did have the patience of a saint sometimes. Or at least she was very good at hiding any seething she might have been doing.

 

Just one more reason to look up to her, Andrej mused, as they finally pulled up to the palace after an agonizing twenty minutes. The rap was still blaring, and to Andrej and Mikhail's horror, there looked to be uniformed men waiting for the group, who likewise looked utterly mortified.

 

Andrej cursed under his breath, but the Supreme Leader... began to laugh, and kept laughing, at the image of how absurd this had to look after that time she spent getting herself ready and presentable. Andrej and Mikhail both thought this seemed a bit out of character; the Supreme Leader was, on most occasions, a consummate professional, rarely given to such open levity while on the job. They had forgotten that this trip wasn't meant to be incredibly serious to begin with, but Danica had remembered.

 

Oh well, Danica thought to herself, still giggling as she paid the driver. It could be worse. We could be covered in shit or something!

 

Shaking her head, she positively beamed and waved at the guards as the gates to the palace opened and she, her aides, and her few bodyguards assembled, and Danica led the way toward the guards, her sleek black heels clicking on the ground with the same assured, confident strides she always had. She was just smiling more this time.

 

My dignity will only be lost if I allow it to be, dammit, she thought to herself, still quite cheerful. And though none of them said it, nor could they read her mind, her entourage was able to understand that loud and clear anyway.

Edited November 4, 2016 by Oncaro