Eternal City Crystal Tokyo
Diplomacy
'There is always a certain degree of nervousness dealing with the Arume,' Lady Mars thought as the black haired woman rode a shuttle into orbit. Rei checked her suit, making sure it was neat but not too revealing, the skirt reaching her knees.
"We're being hailed by the Arume cruiser Silver," the pilot, Ran Mizuno said with a crisp sort of formality, her blue hair falling into her eyes.
Rei sighed at her daughter's overly formal tone of voice. While they had made quite a lot of progress dealing with their issues, things did occasionally flare up between them. "What's the message?" she asked reasonably.
"Standard docking vectors," Ran confirmed then a slight smile teased her lips, "and a request for no males to come aboard."
Rei snorted, "Like we'll make that mistake twice, especially after one nearly gutted Mamoru."
Ran sounded startled as she asked, "It was that bad?"
"We didn't publicize it," Rei admitted as she checked on the security team, "but if Mamoru hadn't been superhuman they'd have killed him."
"They really don't like men, do they?" Ran noted as she studied the large silvery battleship floating in orbit, mentally calculating escape vectors if they needed them. The Silver was over five miles long and three high, shaped with a thin front and bulky rear along with a command and control tower. It also bristled with exotic energy weapons, enough to destroy a city at least.
"They've had some really bad experiences," Rei noted mildly, "and to be honest they regard males as a almost alien species. They've become a 'shoot first then study the corpse' kind of race."
"So if they're that unpredictable why did we let them settle a world under Earth's control?" Ran asked curiously as they were pulled towards a docking port by a invisible tractor beam.
"Because they have a level of military and biological technology rivaling any of the major galactic powers," Rei shrugged.
"Ah," Ran nodded.
"Linna," Rei used the internal systems to contact her, "how are the marines?"
Linna Yamazaki had the helm of her Hardsuit up, the super light weight alloys of her battle armor hugging her body like a second skin as she stood in the bay with seven similarly armored figures. "Pretty good," she conceded as the green armored woman checked her systems over, "I wish we had more time to drill, but I'm satisfied."
"You always want more time to drill," the black haired second in command Hazuki Yumemia noted dryly. Her armor was red and gold as she added, "My only concern is your not taking a honor guard in, ma'am."
"No," Rei said it a bit regretfully, "the Arume do not react well to the appearance of distrust. We don't want to insult them."
"But...," Linna started.
"Besides," Rei pointed out wryly, "if I'm in so much trouble I can't get myself out, we're all probably dead anyway."
"There's a cheery thought," Ran noted. "Coming up to the dock, ma'am."
They slid into the much larger ship's space dock, a force field sealing off outer space and allowing the dock to be filled with breathable air. Ran accompanied Rei to the exit hatch, adjusting her Crystal Tokyo Military uniform as they went.
"Keep in mind that they are seriously augmented," Rei murmured as they waited by the door with the honor guard, "we have no idea how long they've been tinkering with their DNA, but it's been a long time. They're all strong, durable and very fast."
"Hardsuit level?" Linna asked curiously, sliding her green helmet down and activating the heads up display there.
"Close to it," Rei answered as they received a signal to open the hatch.
The Arume waiting for them had the blue eyes and pale skin associated with the race, coupled with what most would consider striking beauty. There were no irregular noses, moles or scars on these ladies, they all were breathtakingly beautiful, in a inhuman sort of way.
"Damn," Hazuki muttered. She had to fight the urge to clamp her hands on her railgun and maintain her supposed calm manner.
"Welcome aboard," the leader of the Arume delegation stepped forward, her short brown hair falling around a lively face, "I am Captain Mari."
"Captain Mari," Rei nodded respectfully then asked, "named after Mari Wakatake?"
Mari smiled warmly, "Indeed, she is a significant contributor to my genome." She gestured, "The Lady Diana of our diplomatic corps is waiting."
"We'll wait for you at the ship," Linna told Rei just like they had practiced.
"Ran, you're with me," Rei said as they fell into step behind the three primary bridge crew officers of the Silver.
"Mari Wakatake?" Ran murmured questioningly.
"One of the humans to marry a Arume," Rei said wryly, "what are they teaching you kids in school these days?"
"I probably dropped out before they covered that," Ran said dryly.
"I am Ekaril Secundus," the black haired officer introduced herself. "Excuse me if I am being improper, but are you two genetically connected?"
Ran opened her mouth for a smart answer, then decided it would be a bad idea. "She is my mother," she nodded towards Rei.
"And... you serve on a ship together?" Mari looked stunned as she added, "You risk a important genetic line like that?!"
"It's part of our culture," Rei said simply.
"Ah," both Mari and Ekaril nodded.
One of the more useful quirks the Arume had developed was a respect for a planet's culture. Probably it was a side effect of their own near stagnation as a isolated people, but they were willing to accept almost anything if it was described as 'cultural.' Rei even suspected that was why they were willing to tolerate men on Earth....
"Here we are," the ship's navigation officer said as they reached a door, one slightly more ornate than most they had passed. "It has been a pleasure meeting you," she nodded, "I am Akane, if you are ever interested in combining your DNA, please let me know."
There was a beat of dead silence as the three Arume left, then Ran looked at her mother. "Did she just proposition us?" she asked.
Rei was blushing faintly, "They have... some rather interesting customs."
"You can say that again," Ran muttered as Rei pressed the button to announce their presence.
Lady Diana looked up with a warm smile of greeting, her golden hair tied up into two buns, her face a bit more impish than most of the crew they had seen so far. "Godmother," Diana rose to hug Rei, "it's been so long!"
'She looks just like the queen,' Ran's eyes were as round as saucers as her thoughts raced. 'Did they do... something, the last time they visited?'
"Yes it has," Rei agreed as she hugged her back. "How is your family?" she asked as they were lead inside towards a comfortable couch and chairs.
"Fine," Diana agreed, "Artemis is doing fine as the admiral of our defense fleet while over-mother Serena is managing the house as well as ever." She waved to the seats, "Sit, please. We have much to talk about."
"I suppose we do," Rei agreed as she casually sat, Ran somewhat more nervously beside her.
Diana looked curious, "And is this your spawn, Ran?"
"Yes," Rei fought to keep from smiling at the 'spawn' description.
'Interesting culture,' Ran thought as they began to talk.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The two women breathed out a sigh of relief as they reached the shuttle, checking in with Linna before getting ready to go. "Just tell me if it's none of my business," Ran had to ask, "but why does Diana look like the queen?"
"They're related," Rei shrugged as she strapped herself in.
"But...," Ran paled.
Rei sighed as they left the Arume ship, watching it move away before using it's Phase Shift technology to transport away. "When we encountered the Arume they were suffering severe genetic damage due to inbreeding. In essence, they had gotten to the point where they were all cousins...."
Ran digested that, "So we provided fresh samples of DNA to help them survive?"
"Taken from volunteers only," Rei nodded, "you can guess who one of the first ones to do so was." She shook her head as the shuttle moved into the atmosphere, "Usagi could never walk away from someone in trouble."
To be continued...
Notes: These are sorta the Arume from Blue Drop, and sort of not. My assumption is their invasion fleet were intercepted away from Earth, and successful negotiations started. The idea they may be suffering genetic damage comes from the matching eyes and pale skins many seem to have....
