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King Erik decrees there should be a gala to introduce the new Kingdom of Beautifulthing.   He orders for the preparations to start immediately. 

His staff is preparing the Palace to receive various heads of state and for the gala itself.  The kitchen is all a buzz with learning recipes from the other nations.

King Erik hand writes the invitations himself and sends out a messanger to th other nations.  Now he just awaits for the RSVPS......

Wintermoot sits at his writing table, going through the various pieces of correspondence when he comes across an invitation to a gala in a new nation. Reading through the invitation several times while pondering, he writes out a reply to indicate that he will be attending, along with well wishes to the king of this new nations. Once done with all his correspondence, he sends the replies through courier.

With only 2 days left until the party, King Erik was checking on the final preparations.  The Party Hall was looking perfect.  The kitchen was smelling great with all of the dishes to be tasted.  King Erik was feeling good about this party. 

Just then, a courier arrived with a message.  It was from King Wintermoot.  Erik opened the response and was thrilled to see that his first guest would be the King.  "This will be a great night," Erik thought to himself, "I only hope I get more responses soon"

Among the revolution torn capital city of A Unified Earth, under the watchful eyes of the countless security cameras and intelligence agents, walks a mundane looking postal worker, who is carrying but one letter bound by a wax seal... He proceeds at an achingly calm pace to the capital building and once there carefully plants the letter in an oddly placed postbox a few steps from the main door.

One of the more curious state security guards, having watched this display, quickly opens the box, retrieves the letter and after a brief glance rushes to the lead councilor's inner sanctum. There the de-facto president and head of the council of A Unified Earth is in a meeting with some of the joint cheifs of staff, when the guard blunders into the room and hurriedly passes her the letter she barely gets out a "What the devil!" before seeing the seal, inhaling, carefully opening the note, and reading with utmost interest.

After several moments and without saying a word to the onlookers she pulls blank sheet of paper with pen from one of her pockets and begins to write a response, one to say that she will be attending, and ofcourse graciously apologising for any delay. Then she hands the letter to one of the airforce leaders with orders to have it airdropped safely onto the grounds of King Erik's palace in Beautifulthing.

While inspecting some of the final details of the decorations in the Party Hall, a zoologist came in with the Manofun in a cage.  The national animal is very docile, but can be excitable in certain situations.  The cage was put into the center of the banquet table as a decorative centerpiece.  After the placement of the cage, the nervous zoologist approached the king, she bowed and asked, "Permission to speak, your Highness?"

"Please do, Hanna." King Erik granted. 

'This dropped from the sky in the courtyard, I thought it might be important, " she held out an envelope.  The head of the guards ran to the situation and he grabbed the envelope.  He handed it to another guard and that guard took it outside.

"Garret, I think you are being overprotective. I have sent out invitations to the gala, I am sure it is a reply," the king smiled.

"One cannot be to careful your Highness, and your safety is my only desire in life," Garret responded.  As he was reassuring the king, the second guard returned with the envelope looking none to worse for the wear.

King Erik laughed and took the paper that was in the envelope.  King Erik smiled at the paper and announced that we have another guest for the gala. Things were looking great.

It is the day of the party and King Erik awoke with a smile.  He was very excited to get to know his neighbors in the region.  He crawled out of his bed and stared at himself in the mirror.  He felt old as he stared at his reflection.  While he was staring at himself he heard a knock on the door.  He groaned as he got up from his dressing table and walked to the door.

He opened the door and saw his personal assistant and advisor Marybeth Sharp at the door.  "We have a lot to do today, and you are not even up yet?" she assaulted the king. 

"Getting ready now Maryanne, and it would do you well to remember who you are talking to," Erik replied to her.  He closed his bedroom door and walked to the bathroom and started the shower.

After getting himself ready for the day he threw on a pair of jeans and a t shirt to go and get the final touches on the party underway.  He walked down the stairs and found Maryanne impatiently waiting for him.  "What is first on the list, Ms. Sharp?"

Maryanne rolled her eyes and escorted the king to the kitchen. "Since you missed breakfast, I figured you could do the tasting for the dishes tonight," Maryanne barked.

The day went rather smoothly with the finishing touches.  He saw the reception area was up and ready to accept the important guests attending tonight. Now that all of the details were attended to, King Erik returned to his chambers and started dressing for the evening. He admired himself in the mirror in his tuxedo and the national colors on the sash he wore.  His red hair was in place.

He walked to the door to open it and was startled by Maryanne and the Chief of Security Markus LeMonte standing there waiting on him.  Without a word they escorted the king to the waiting area.  The only thing left now was for the dignitaries to arrive.  King Erik wondered, who will be first?

Having spent the morning managing the affairs of the region, which today mostly involved paperwork, Wintermoot now began to get ready for the gala in Beautifulthing tonight. He dressed out of his shirt and trousers and put on something more appropriate for such an occasion. He then retrieved the package that he got in honour of the new nation and the new king, taking it with it as he climbed the steps from the throne room to the Great Porch, where the rest of his entourage had assembled in wait of the airship that will take t hem to the gala. Personally he would have rather went by ground in a carriage, but his advisers felt that this was just the occasion to use the new airship, which was just recently designed and built based on new technologies.

The party waited for a few minutes, making small-talk before the airship slowly drifted into view and began making way for the castle...in another few minutes, the ship had pulled up beside the Great Porch, and a ramp had been secured for the party to embark. And in yet another few minutes, everyone had embarked and found their seats, and the airship was making its way to the palace in Beautifulthing.

A long motorcade of limousines and humvees approaches the inter-regional airport just outside A Unified Earth's capital city, on-board the central car councilor Hannah checks her watch incessantly, as her advisors and fellow councilors jabber at her like white noise, she's late, and it's all because of the constant back and forth of her seemingly permanent entourage... But finally they were on their way.

At the Airport's governmental heliport the technicians and ground crew are preparing the fastest (if not the most luxurious) twin-blade helicopter for the departure. As the final flight checks are finished, the snake of cars finally pulls up, and the lead councilor hurries forth towards the helicopter, quickly dismissing her regular group of hangers-on for the troop of soldiers engulfed luxurious dress uniforms which are festooned with a myriad of medals, badges and other adornments; her outfit (although expensive) seems horrendously plain in comparison.

They board in an orderly fashion, the engines already spinning up, the councilor is belted in by one of the troopers and just like that they depart. As the vehicle lifts Hannah gazes out the window, looking down at the scene of her advisors still bickering and sighs with relief, she closes her eyes to get some rest for the short trip and thinks to herself "this is going to be a lot of fun".

With his nerves ever growing, King Erik is nervous about meeting the dignitaries.  This is a monumental occasion for the kingdom.  He paces back and forth under the glaring eyes of Marybeth and Markus. 

"Calm down, your Highness," they said in unison.

The airship ride turns out to be much shorter than you would think watching it from outside. Within several hours, it arrives at its destination, and within a few minutes a sturdy ramp had been extended to the ground. Once everyone is ready, Wintermoot moves to the front and leads the procession down to the ground. Once his feet are on the ground, he looks around and follows the directions to the waiting area, where he gets his first look at the dashing King Erik. He stands at the entrance to the area, waiting for formal introductions as is proper at these sorts of functions.

Standing in the courtyard, King Erik sees the lavish airship arrive at the palace.  the sight is one to behold.  He watches intently as the diplomatic party exits the craft.  He watched closely as they approach.  He recognizes the King of Wintreath from the dossier that Marybeth had put together.  He was mesmerized by watching the parade of his party.

When he snapped out of the trance he was in, he wondered where Marybeth had run off.  He scanned the entrance and found her waiting to great the king and his party. She whispered to the crier that announced the guests and then turned to greet the visiting king.

"KING INRIC NORDRIM KESTAR, HIS MOST ROYAL MAJESTY, WINTERMOOT I OF WINTREATH, MONARCH OF THE FROZEN REALM OF WINTREATH, AND PARTY", announced the crier very loudly.

While bowing Marybeth addressed the monarch careful not to look in his eyes, "Your Most Royal Majesty, please follow me and I shall introduce you to our gracious host, King Erik Gustav the First of Beautiful thing."  She turned quickly and led the party to where the king stood staring at the visiting dignitary.

Bowing again, Marybeth began to make the introduction when Erik interrupted her, "Your Majesty King Inric the pleasure and honor is mine. Welcome to our humble lands here in Beautifulthing."  King Erik looked down in a semi-bow to show his respect and hide his nervousness.  "I hope you enjoy what we have to offer you and your party."  A blush spread across Erik's face as he felt it get hotter by the second.

Erik is not used to being so nervous, but he was genuinely taken aback by the presence of King Inric.

Five Fafnirs, Aesir air superiority fighters, suddenly flew over the area at relatively low altitude, easily seen by anyone on the ground. They circled around and flew back in the direction they came from, drawing attention towards an incoming Valkyrie, an Aesir dropship. The dropship approached and landed in a clear area then opened up its bay to reveal seven men and women in suits of power armor, four of which looked highly decorated and sported what appeared to be weapons from the Medieval times while the other two had the standard rifles, knives, and grenades.

The four highly decorated people, who none of which had helmets on, walked out of the Valkyrie first. The three faceless soldiers followed them out, the "eyes" of their helmets glowing a deep red. After a quick surveillance of their surroundings, the group had King Erik identified and moved to his location. Upon reaching Erik, the man at the front of the group bowed his head but didn't break eye contact.

"I am Jarl Aragonn of the Aesir Empire, and these are my three Kommanders. I apologize for the sudden appearance, but by the time I was informed of the invitation, it was already too late to reply. Paper letters don't travel through space very quickly, even when going faster than light."

While King Erik was being introduced to King Inric, some low flying machines flew over the castle court.  This marvel caught the eye of Erik, and he was looking upwards.  After these machines had flown off, a larger Flying machine appeared making Erik look at it in awe.  As he watched the flying machine land and open, he saw a procession exit the machine.  Erik watched as four of the figures started to approach him.  Out of the corner of his eye, Erik saw Markus move immediately in front of him.  In a whispered growl, Markus stated, "I don't like the loos of this."  Still in a trance of the wonders, Erik waved Markus off to the side.

When the Jarl introduced himself, Erik could not help but hold the powerful stare.  Bowing back to the Jarl, Erik stated, "Welcome Jarl Aragonn.  You are welcome here.  I am sorry that the interspace mail was delayed for you.  I am King Erik of Beautifulthing."  Erik found himself reaching out to touch the Jarl's breastplate, "May I?"

A wicked smirk played on the pale face of Nyx, the leader of the isolated, somewhat secretive nation known as Xaraxeaux. It'd be the first time she'd make an appearance outside of her domain, and she wondered what the other leaders of other countries were like. Probably all morons, she thought as she stood before King Erik's palace. They were lucky the invitation had even made it through to her, or else they would not be graced by her delightful presence. She was an odd looking creature, with a slinky 5'1" frame and neon green eyes that were locked on airships above as they arrived. Technology is simply wonderful, isn't it? Long neon green black-tinged hair fell loose around her shoulders, a black fedora sitting atop her head. The rest of her was dressed entirely in black, giving her the eerie appearance of a professional assassin instead of a leader. One would think she were just an oddball commoner if not for the six "royal" androids that surrounded her. "Well, well, well. What a simply divine place this is! I think we might be fashionably late today."

When Nyx and her little entourage arrived where the others were gathering, her unsettling gaze took in the figures of the "important" ones. King Inric, King Erik, and Jarl Aragonn. Hmm. Nyx reached up and took off her fedora, hanging it on one of the droid's heads. "Lose that and I'll have you deactivated when we get back, mkay? Let's put on our best behavior. After all," her eyes darkened. "We don't want to give our new friends too bad of an impression, do we?"

Nyx waved the other androids back, only allowing the one with the fedora to follow her as she drew near the leaders of neighboring countries, a devilish smile appearing on her features.

"An odd request, but proceed. Seeing your technology level, it doesn't appear that you have anything close to the armor that I wear. Inspect it all you like." He then turned to King Inric and did the same bowing of the head. "It's good to see you again, Sir. Apologies for not visiting more often, but keeping Wintreath protected from galactic powers keeps me very busy at times."

The Jarl then noticed some movement heading towards them and turned his head to look. A rather short woman with an android companion was approaching. He turned to face this woman and assessed her appearance. Her outfit, the neon green coloration...must be from Xaraxeaux.

"What interest does the secretive leader of Xaraxeaux have with this Gala? Come to gather information or are you actually going to enjoy yourself?" He asked the question in a friendly joking manner, but in the back of his mind he knew it could be taken the wrong way and was preparing ways to calm the situation should things get heated.