As Admiral Rhade stepped aside, the gathered journalists still shouting questions at him, the Home Guard's Press Officer stepped up to the podium. Easily, Racquel Khalid started fielding the questions, filling in the details that they were okay with releasing while evading giving the information that the triumvirs had chosen not to release to the general public. More than happy to have that out of the way, Rhade retreated into the safety of the conclave.
"Do you like explaining yourself to fools who wouldn't have the courage to stand up to the enemy?"
The question drew, Telemachus' attention. Looking to his right, he found the Arteus Alpha standing with Captain Rangor. Despite the current Nietszchean activity, Tri-Laurent had chosen to keep Rangor on Tarazed acting as a liaison of sort of Sigmund Nietze. In Rangor's absence, Tarazed's Pride was patrolling the system under the command of its First Officer.
"It's a necessary part of leading Tarazed's Home Guard," Admiral Rhade replied, refraining to comment on their guests description of the members of the press. He had no doubt, that the description was accurate but he wasn't about to admit to that to an offworlder, even if that said offworlder was another Nietszchean.
"I've seen a lot of Nietszcheans doing what is 'necessary' in my short time here."
"It's called being part of a democracy," Rhade replied. "You learn to balance the good with the bad. The benefits far outweigh the concessions though."
"Captain Rangor shares your opinion," Sigmund commented, even as he pondered the concept once again. Granted, what he had seen had been limited so far, but the Nietszcheans that he had met so far on Tarazed had seemed to be content with the life they had here. Perhaps there was something to be said for democracy after all. Perhaps it wasn't just for the weak. "Though I'm not ready to give up my Pride's autonomy quite yet on what little I've seen."
"No one is asking you to make a rash decision," Rhade told the Arteus Alpha, holding the other man's gaze while keeping his voice even. "Take your time. See what Tarazed has to offer you. Talk with our citizens and then make the choice to join the Commonwealth or even stay here on Tarazed in your own time."
"And do you think you might be able to find some time away from your duties for an informal conversation?" Sigmund asked.
Rhade nodded. He didn't really have the free time, not with his duties as Home Guard Commander and his campaign, but he knew the triumvir's would want him to make time for their guests. If there was any way to bring some of the smaller prides, prides whose lives had been disrupted by the Sbara-Jaguar and Drago-Kazov, into the Commonwealth, then it was an opportunity to make the Commonwealth stronger. It was clear to Rhade that what Sigmund Nietze was most interested in was seeing how he, Captain Rangor and other Nietszcheans fit into the fabric of the Commonwealth. More likely than not, he wanted to be sure he could keep his status and his Pride's identity if he joined into the alliance. Rhade felt it was duty to make the Arteus Alpha see that both were possible.
"Why don't you and your family join my family for dinner tonight? Say six o'clock," Rhade invited, knowing that it would mean a lot of work for Jillian having found out what he could about Sigmund before last night's ceremonial dinner.
"I accept the gracious invitation," Sigmund replied, holding out his right hand.
Reaching out, Rhade grasped the man's forearm in the traditional gesture.
"I'm sure the Admiral has a lot of things on his schedule today," Captain Rangor said, taking a step toward the other two Nietszcheans. "Perhaps you would like that tour of Tarazed's capital now," the Commonwealth Captain suggested.
"Lead away," Sigmund replied. With a nod good-bye in Rhade's direction, the visiting Alpha followed Rangor toward one of the side doors of the Conclave, bypassing the press conference which was being brought to a close by Racquel.
Not wanting to chance getting caught by any of the media, Rhade made his way further into the conclave, his personal guard provided by Tri-Lorn trailing close behind. Exiting from the rear of the building, Rhade made his way to the waiting transport so that he could head over to Argosy Station. Not only did he want to get an update on the status of all the ships currently available to defend Tarazed but he also wanted to make sure he put in an appearance for the Home Guard troops to make sure morale stayed high.
As Rhade told the driver where to take him, he also made a mental note to call his wife and inform her of their dinner guests.
With the sun directly overhead, Genghis Bolivar sought the shade of a rock overhang. He'd been making his way over the Tarazed countryside since he had landed his small ship during the night, pausing only long enough to camouflage his vessel. It would hardly do to have anyone on the planet discover his ship after he had taken such care with landing undetected.
According to his sensor data, Genghis knew he was still quite a few hours walk from Argosy, Tarazed's capital city. His current plan was to enter the city during late evening. He was hoping to have the fading light to his advantage while also not drawing attention to himself as being one of the few people still out and about. Given his current position, Genghis figured he could afford to take a couple hours to rest and eat some of his rations before continuing on his trek.
Sitting with the rock face to his back, Genghis rifled through the small pack he carried until he found a ration pack. Uncertain of how easy or difficult it would be to obtain food in Argosy without drawing attention to himself, or how long his mission would take, he planned on using his rations sparingly until he cared out his objective.
Arriving home that even, Telemachus unsurprisingly found Jillian in the kitchen preparing food. She looked up as he entered a smile on her face.
"Hello, My Love."
"Hello," he told her, walking over and planting a quick kiss on her lips. "I'm so sorry to spring so many dinner guests on you with such little notice. However, I couldn't think of any time I could spend informally with Sigmund Nietze and I didn't think Tri-Lorn or Tri-Laurent would appreciate it if I blew them off. If we can get the smaller prides to join with us, that's fewer potential allies the Drago-Kazov or Sabra-Jaguar can recruit to their side."
"I understand," Jillian assured him. "Thankfully, Libby was able to come by this afternoon and help with a lot of the prep work. I'm almost done with dinner."
Telemachus nodded, grateful to hear that Libby Rangor, a good friend of Jillian's, had been able to help her out. "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Yes, go check on the kids. I sent them out back to set the tables out there. With so many of us tonight, most of them children, I figured we'd be more comfortable outside. Luckily, it seems like it's going to be a pleasant evening."
Telemachus nodded in acknowledgment of the words even as he headed for the backyard. Stepping onto the back patio, he found that it had been wise for his wife to send him out to check on how things were progressing outside. His two eldest were in the middle of the backyard struggling over something. What it was, Telemachus couldn't tell from this distance. Meanwhile, Artemis was dutifully setting the table like they had been told.
"Riley, Sirius, I thought your mother told you to set the table for dinner," Telemachus called to them.
The two oldest children stood still at the sound of their father's voice, though they both still clung to the book they had been struggling over. Both kids looked in their father's direction though it was Riley who spoke up first.
"He stole my journal and started reading out loud from it," Riley complained to her father, giving Telemachus some idea of what was going on.
"It was just some stupid poem about the wind," Sirius said, sounding disappointed having hoped to read something juicer out of his sister's journal.
"It was still private! You had no right to even look in the book!" Riley told her younger brother, giving the book a yank.
Not about to give up the journal yet, Sirius held onto it.
"Sirius, give your sister back her journal."
Sirius did as his father commanded, letting go of the journal. As she was still trying to yank it from her brother's hands, Riley lost her balance and fell to the ground. She glared up at her brother in annoyance, before getting to her feet.
"The both of you get over here and help your sister set the table, and then Sirius I want you to go to your room for a time out. I'll call you when we sit down for dinner."
"For what?" Sirius pouted.
"For not respecting your sister's privacy," Telemachus told him. "She's right. You had no right to read her journal without her permission."
Sirius mumbled something under his breath even as both children headed for the patio to do as their father had told him.
Stepping up behind his youngest daughter, Telemachus leaned over and placed a kiss on top of his youngest's head.
The light was fading fast as Genghis approached the outskirts of Argosy. His timing had been perfect and he arrived at just the time he wanted to. He had already put up the hood on his traveling cloak, obscuring his features. With leisurely steps, he followed a group of teens into the city. At least, he assumed they were all teens, though the group was a mixture of different races and he couldn't be sure of the age. However, the human and Nietszchean were clearly teens.
As he followed the group, he watched them. From their actions, he assumed they were friends.
~This planet is despicable. Nietszcheans chatting casually with kludges, ~ Gehghis thought, his anger rising. However, he couldn't let his anger get the best of him. The idea was to blend in and go unnoticed among the other people of the city.
To do that he would have to turn a blind eye to the despicable actions of the Nietszcheans on this planet.
~Too bad we failed at cleansing this planet.~
As they entered the city, the group of teens turned right. So as too not arouse the group's suspicion, though he doubted any of them were aware enough of their surroundings to notice if anyone was following them or not, Genghis kept walking straight, trying to keep his posture casual and seem as if he knew exactly where he was going.
In truth, though he knew where all the government buildings were, right now he didn't have a destination in mind. Their intelligence didn't include the identity of all the buildings in the city. Before he could formulate an exact plan, he needed to learn the lay of the land - including finding a place to stay.
Spotting a bar on his left, Genghis headed in that direction. Not only could he easily blend in with the crowd in a bar, but its patrons would also tend to be too drunk to give a decent description of a traveler asking questions if anyone came asking later.
Though the natural light was fading fast, torches lit the Rhade's backyard. Children's laughter filled the air as all thirteen kids played a game of freeze tag, one of Sigmund's oldest boys carrying Artemis around on his back so the little girl could be a part of the game.
On the patio, Sigmund and Telemachus sat in two chairs watching the children play while talking. Sigmund's four wives were inside helping Jillian clean up from the dinner.
Telemachus was letting Sigmund direct the flow of the conversation. As he expected, most of the things Sigmund wanted to know was about how the Nietszchean's on Tarazed fit in with the society. The Arteus Alpha was clearly trying to find out how much of Nietszchean traditions and culture the Rhade family adhered to.
"I see you only have one wife," Sigmund commented, having cast a glance toward the house to make sure none of the women were coming back. "Does that mean you've accepted the human's traditions of taking on only one mate."
"Some have," Telemachus answered easily, not at all surprised by the question. It wasn't the first time people had questioned why he had only one wife and it probably wouldn't be the last. "Though you'll find, many of the Nietszcheans here on Tarazed have more than one wife. I am happy with Jillian but that doesn't mean I'm against having multiple mates, or that Jillian expects that of me," Telemachus said, his thoughts resting briefly on the memory of Lucretia who had been killed by the Magog. "However, I haven't found anyone else that I would want to share my life with and if I never do, I'm satisfied with my wife and the children that we have."
"So, with this election your running in, who do you represent - your Pride or Tarazed?"
The blunt question, which to some would have appeared to be an abrupt change of subject, did not phase Telemachus at all. He had been anticipating it to come up at some point during the evening, just as he expected to be fielding the question during his current political campaign.
"I am Majorum Pride," Telemachus told Sigmund. "Nothing will change that, not even learning the truth about my great-great-great-grandfather's role in the first Nietszchean Rebellion. However, Tarazed is my home. I have taken an oath to defend Tarazed with my last dying breath and I will fulfill that oath no matter what. As you have seen, Tarazed isn't just made up of one Pride, nor is it made up of just Nietszcheans. No matter what our ancestors thought or did, those of us who have made Tarazed our home believe in the values and principles of both the old and new Commonwealth. So, I guess in answer to your question, though part of my identity will always be Majorum Pride, I run for the triumvir position as a citizen of Tarazed."
Sigmund nodded thoughtfully at Rhade's answer. "And what if my Pride chose to become Citizens of Tarazed. Would we be welcomed?"
"As long as you and your Pride upheld the laws and principles of Tarazed, yes the citizens of this planet would welcome you. Tarazed was founded as a refuge of those fleeing the chaos that ensued after the fall of the Commonwealth, regardless of species. However, you don't need to become citizens of Tarazed or any other world if you don't want to. The Restored Commonwealth will recognize Arteus Pride as a member world on it's own."
"Even if our 'world' is technically a moon?"
"Even if," Telemachus told him. "With the benefits of being in the Commonwealth, we could even help make that moon more of a home for you, or help you relocate. The mutual protection pact would mean you would have help defending yourselves from Orca and the other Nietszchean Prides but the choice is yours."
Sigmund nodded again and fell silent as he looked out in the yard at his children. He wanted a better life for his children. He couldn't deny that joining the Commonwealth was the best opportunity he'd have to achieve that goal in quite awhile. However, he still had his reservations.
The opening of the patio door signaled the return of the women. With them present, Sigmund steered the conversation to less sensitive topics.
