Elven Diplomacy, Dwarven Issues I

"How many are out there?" Selene asked.

"Ten your majesty, all well-equipped… for their era" Jeeves responded. While the elves might have been well armored and capable of holding their own against melee combatants, probably capable of firing off arrows and clipping the wings off a fly, this didn't exactly mean they would win against even one of the maids.

"Your majesty, I'll go see them" Elsei said as she got up with Morlanion attempting to follow. She stopped him. "Morlanion, please, this involves me and shouldn't cause issue for everyone else here." He just stood there at the door and blinked, turning around and looking into the eyes of the empress. That was when she stood up and started walking out, with the others following suit.

"Please let me handle this, your majesty" Elsei said as she glanced over her shoulder.

"Elsei, as much I would like to do so… they are technically in front of my castle. I'd like to know at least why. Personal matters are trumped by political, and they are an unknown that currently have an entire security force aiming high powered weapons at them. Most other establishments with high priority officials would have shot and asked questions later by now." The elf sighed and resigned to the backlash that might cause. The dev didn't care. Her empire, her turf, her rules.

As they stepped outside with the others staying some distance behind, Elsei and Selene stepped towards the gates as they unlocked and rotated out of the way, the blast shielding detaching and sliding into the ground. It was always impressive to those who weren't used to the technology available in the Clockwork Empire to see things like that. On the other side, fifty feet away, were ten high elves, one of which Elsei locked eyes with.

Morlan came up behind Selene who put her hand up for him to simply stay behind her, to let Elsei speak where needed and not get in the way for either of them. Both women walked forward towards the elven group, with weapons trained on them from every direction. They were still considered unknowns, potentially hostile. At least four sniper perches were already tracking their movement, though the elves didn't exactly know what the weapons they were using could do to them. Multiple auto turrets spun up, already getting ready to go hot. If they fired, not just the elves would be destroyed, but the land they were standing on would be gone. They were lucky they were allowed to get this close.

"This doesn't concern you human, just back away and let us take the woman you have captive away from here" they heard as they reached thirty feet. The honor guard came up right behind the empress to make sure nothing got near her, as well as Hrist and Bryn towering over all but the automatons.

"I'm not a slave Mladris, cast that from your mind." The brunette elf had pulled her small curved sword, what looked like it might be an elegant weapon. The dev's scanner registered her as a level 22, tracked her equipment, and verified it as all mithril, Elite quality. There were quite a few skills known, including something that could only be described as Blade Dancing. A small marker automatically appeared with the question mark asking, 'Potential Royalty?' Her armor seemed to solidify the answer, given she had a twinkling tiara draped on her forehead.

Both groups stood their ground, though Selene surveyed the elves with weapons out, each only level 15. "I'm making it my concern given you are currently standing on my front lawn. I'd strongly suggest you put your weapons away, or the castle security will light you up like the 4th of July." Mladris smirked and spit on the ground to insult her.

"Nothing a human can make could ever hold a candle to one of us. Elsei, come with us, the forest has need of you once again. Your people are waiting." They seemed unimpressed, the exact same attitude the Artinian army kept having when the empress's military would show up. It always ended the same way, that is to say quite badly, for the opposing force.

Brazin little bitch, isn't she?

"Tell that to the minefield your currently standing in." Mladris looked down and saw a spider mine just chilling right in front of her. Her eyes went wide as she got ready to strike it, with Selene throwing her hand up. "I would suggest not doing that, it is a mine after all. The whole reason for them existing is to explode obviously." The little walking bomb just sat there, its optics just looking between each elf that had a weapon out. Just one of them was capable of wiping out the whole group… and they were surrounded. The castle was never undefended, after all.

"I'm not going anywhere. I told you, I've made my peace and travel with Morlanion."

"That is simply not an option right now, Elsei. We need you to come with us. It's important." Mladris motioned for Elsei to come with them, but Morlan stepped forward and got between them. Two more of the elves were about to step forward to intimidate, but spider mines popped up and started to glow.

"That means they've gotten ready to detonate and released their safeties, last warning. There won't be enough left of any of you to send back to your forest. They're directional shaped charges, so none of them will affect us." Mladris scowled at the empress, then slowly turned her head and noticed Alpha Team standing behind them, the Medium towering ten feet high and definitely acted as an intimidation factor. She had absolutely no idea how they could have snuck up on them so quietly. Laser designators tracked their chests and foreheads, ready to engage if they did one thing wrong. Shoulder mounts were ready to fire volleys of micro missiles and shotgun blasts. While their optics weren't red, they were yellow and waiting for the order to engage. Special Forces and mines, with castle security watching them. They were either very brave, or very, very, stupid.

Elsei just stood there, motionless and unwilling to help them in the situation they now put themselves. "You would stand next to these humans Elsei? What are you thinking?"

"For the second time, Mladris, I've made my peace after what happened. I live here now. It seems you haven't accepted the fact that I am not a slave, that I am not in need of rescue any longer. Inform the queen I will not be coming back. There is no need to worry about me interfering in the future." The blonde elf turned around and headed back towards the gates, with Morlan glancing back and forth then following her.

"Wait! Wait I say!" Mladris snapped. She continued on. "It's happening again!" Elsei stopped dead in her tracks and blinked. Selene and the Valkyrja simply waited. Morlanion's lover turned around and stepped right next to the empress. "We have need of your skills and experience." Morlan attempted to speak, but the dev put her hand up for him to stay silent as she did the same. This was for Elsei, not them.

"How many?" she quietly asked.

"We know not. We must make haste, there is not a moment to lose. There is a spare great eagle we have brought with us for you to fly." Off in the distance was a congress of large birds with saddles attached sitting and looking around. Twin SAM sites were aiming in that direction, with a variation of missiles ready to fire. Two VTOL gunships were hovering nearby, tracking the whole area. If they went loud, the eagles wouldn't exist anymore.

"If it is as you say, you'll need more help than even me."

"You are all that we have, we'll make do."

"You can ask for help from my empress Mladris." The brunette laughed.

"You expect me to work with them? What has happened to you Elsei?"

"I got wise about the world, Mladris; I've realized that not everything has to follow our stereotypes and racism, classicism that has plagued the aristocracy for so long. The rest of us have no true hatred towards humans. Open your eyes." The royal blooded elf gritted her teeth.

"Are you so blind to all the deaths they have caused? Their attitude towards all that are not them? They are a disease on the world Elsei! How can you forgive all that they have done?"

"Not all of them are that way. The majority of our people realize that. The Clockwork Empire you are currently standing in is completely different from Artinia. I have seen nobility beyond even us. But I guess, things will never change for our people given tradition being so ingrained in all of you because of your mother trying to stick with the old ways. You'll never learn about anything past your forest."

"Our forest, Elsei, have you forgotten you are one of us too?!" The blonde elf sighed and looked down at the ground in thought. A slight wind picked up and brushed her hair past her face as the others just listened. The empress could easily end this, given she could see there was some turmoil in the elf's eyes.

"I will only go if I may ask for assistance."

"You already have it, now let us leave" Mladris said.

"I wasn't speaking of you." Elsei looked at Morlan, who smiled down at her and nodded.

"We already agreed to go wherever the other strides" he told her comfortingly.

"Morlan… I know this may be hard to grasp, but we'll need more than us this time."

"Absolutely unacceptable! The humans cannot enter our forest! Cast that thought out of your-"

"Either I am allowed to request aid from the empire that we are citizens of, or you do this on your own." Mladris was fuming and glaring daggers at her, then at the dev who just stood there, not really caring what she thought of the human woman. The other elves, the elite guard of the brunette, seemed rather aloof and bored.

"You would turn your back on your own people?!"

"I would leave the people who had not one care for the situations they put me in due to 'tradition' to their own defense. Had you all not been so dead set on following ancient law, I might not have left."

"We need you!"

"I come as a 'packaged deal.'" The brunette elf squeezed her hand into a fist so tightly that her fingers might have blood circulation cut off in the gauntlets. She looked as if she was going to charge forward and strike Elsei.

"If they enter the forest, they act of their own accord, with no help from us. Their lives are in their hands, we will not come to their rescue once they know what they are against."

"They already have experience, Mladris. They will do better than we ever could." That hint let Selene know a little of what was coming. It was either a dragon, undead… or a faith eater. Elsei turned to Selene and brought her hand up to her chest. "I know I have no right to ask this of you, your imperial majesty. I am a humble citizen now of your empire, though you allow me to stay in your palace. Though they act in poor taste towards you, even in front of your own home, I wonder if I might beg… would you assist me in this endeavor?" The empress just smirked.

"Elsei, all you had to do was simply ask." The dev took one last look at the elven group glaring at her as she just walked back to the castle gates. "By the way, if they come again brandishing weapons, the security will just end them, just saying. I'm putting up a regular rule to enforce, any form of hostilities from now on is shoot first, ask questions later."

Elsei got a little more information and disputed her mode of transportation with Mladris before following, the rest of the empress's entourage following suit. The auburn-haired woman didn't ask if the elves would be interested in staying in the castle for two reasons, both involved her believing they were massive arrogant dicks. The mines deactivated and allowed the elven group to leave, with Alpha Team keeping an eye on them until they were on their eagles. Even then, the SAM turrets kept a lock as they left.

Brynhildr caught up to Selene and glanced over her shoulder. "I believe she wasn't just asking for your help in a future battle."

"Oh, I know that. She was looking for some shelter from those who feel they are holier than thou, a friendly face that won't treat her like a tool. It seems that's what they think of her from what I can see. I never asked what she did before she got captured and turned into a slave."

"Are you going to ask her?" Bryn asked.

"Eh, if she wants to tell me about it, she will. That's mostly for her boyfriend. Everybody has their skeletons in the closet, not all of us want to show them off or dress them up."

The high elves left to their supposed "hidden" camp, which Selene now already had an ornithopter tracking the entire time. There was even footage that she didn't look at involving where their relief hole was, laundry hanging and tracked their equipment brought in their bags. One of the guards seemed to have also picked up the habit of picking his nose.

As the empress headed back into the palace and sat back down to finish her food, Elsei jogged in just as Bryn sat down. "I must apologize for their actions."

"You weren't the one who was acting all high and mighty. Don't worry about it. It wasn't as if they completely insulted me after all."

"Still, it's just as you have seen from the dark elves… not everyone acts that way, most are fairly open to humans, though unlike our cousins… our leadership is much worse…" the dev took a drink and looked up at her.

"Yeah, they're disconnected from the reality that not everyone fits stereotypes, it will only turn them into isolationists or xenophobes that will keep away from everyone else… or worse, start wars. Mladris needs to really fix that filter on that mouth of hers."

"Food for thought" Elsei replied. "When are we to leave? I'm sure Mladris will want to leave as soon as we are ready."

"Do we need to leave immediately? I mean, do we even need to leave?" the empress questioned. Elsei looked confused at her then realized… she was probably already sending forces to roll in and take out the threat. Selene was a wonder to her, as each time anything seemed to be a threat, she had the full capability to send a combined arms force to take out the enemy. There was no honor or chivalry, no waiting for storms to pass or decent ground to fight on. It was always one goal, to eliminate whatever it was that tried to do harm. To that effect, her military was ridiculously efficient at their job, as shown with the red dragons.

"We… if we wait too long, there may be… casualties… innocents." The auburn-haired woman finished her food just as the others came in after talking amongst themselves.

"Alright, I didn't exactly ask this question before, but I'm asking it now. Intel. Are you referring to casualties from a dragon or what we fought at the abbey? The faith eater to be exact?" she asked as she twisted in her seat and kept her eyes on the blonde elf. Elsei looked at the others just sitting back down and staring at her. The empress had already figured out there were only two things that had recently been fought that Morlan and Elsei knew about, the undead more than likely not to even be considered amongst those two choices. She'd send the intel to 9th Brigade right after.

"The… latter… your majesty."

"Another of those? Elsei, you've fought one before? Why didn't you tell me?" Morlan asked. She couldn't meet his gaze.

"Maybe because she suffers from PTSD due to being there. Last I heard, an entire village was wiped out. That can't have been easy to cope with. What she does and doesn't tell about her past is hers to share, not ours to demand."

"I know that, I just… wait, what is PTSD?" Selene looked at Elsei who seemed to be put on the spot. She was doing her best to keep her composure, but the empress could see the stone shell cracking.

"Let's stop with the questioning right now and finish our meal, alright? It's being taken care of right now, give Elsei some breathing room." Selene reached up and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, then continued sipping her drink. The elf sat down next to Morlanion, who just watched her intently the whole time. She couldn't tell if he was annoyed that she didn't share everything with him about her past or was worried about what was going on in her head.

After lunch, the empress quietly left for the farm as she got an update about some of the mutation research they were doing on trying to get meat trees to become a real thing. What she found, oddly, wasn't exactly what she had in mind.

"A… blood tree?" she asked herself as the automaton farmers continued working nearby, the large plot set aside for the specialized trees allowing four of them to take root. Large sacs that looked like giant pomegranates hung from the branches, seeming to almost glow due to the light, like giant hearts. "Well, this isn't quite how it should have grown…"

The modified dendron seemed to produce the blood as a waste byproduct, not so much as a fruit. One thing she did notice was each produced O-, the universal donor type for any transfusions. It wasn't exactly the universal type for platelets or plasma, but for anyone bleeding profusely or needing an operation, it could be a lifesaver for the hospitals. Even though these trees weren't what they were trying to create, they'd still be quite useful, especially if they could modify the mutation a little to produce AB+ and AB types.

Surprisingly, and to her relief, they were not carnivorous, taking in nutrients and water from the soil. Their roots were massive though, showing that each would need their own plot to extend and thrive. "Have these transplanted to separate plots" the dev commanded as multiple farmers got to work sorting the dendrons to larger spots in the super farm. While the blood would be mostly useless for those who were not immune to magic, it could help with those who could not have a heal spell cast on them, or potentially for those that had to receive transfusions. There could be other uses as well, such as being used in her own custom-built WHO facility for diseases and vaccines.

As Selene left the farm and headed for the research lab, Elsei stopped her just outside the doors. "Hey, you need something?"

"Thank you for stopping the questions. I do not yet know how to answer most of them without… without becoming upset." The elf took a deep breath and tried to maintain her composure.

"Oh, well, sure. Take your time, speak your mind when you feel you're able, not every secret needs to have a light shined on it."

"I appreciate that. I have spoken to Morlanion. He's… worried." They both headed to the corner building set aside for high end R&D. The empress stopped outside and leaned against the wall, even though she was able to just go inside. Elsei did not have access at all, what she would see might blow her mind too much.

"Aaaand… you got him to calm down?"

"I explained what I felt I should, the rest… will come when I have the courage to let another know. My past isn't exactly… er…"

"Sunshine and bunnies?"

"Yes." The dev chuckled and nodded at her response.

"There are things I've done in the past which I am not proud of, not because I was ruthless, but because they are simply embarrassing or painful to tell" Selene told her calmly. There was silence between them as they understood it was golden at that point. Snowflakes started to fall down, very lightly coating the landscape.

"Well I'll be, this is nice." Elsei and the empress looked up and saw the flakes flit around, landing where they could. Everything was very peaceful, despite the automatons now covering up the outside gardens near the palace, placing portable heaters to keep the plants alive.

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas… just like the ones I used to know…

Selene checked her calendar in her Hud, looking for holidays that might coincide with the 24th and 25th. None were seen. It was a little disappointing, even though it was just a way for companies to sell more toys and trinkets.

The season of giving my ass, you bastards just wanted to make more money…

Elsei just stood there and shivered a little. "Ah, you should probably go inside, you'll catch a cold if you don't."

"I will. I had just one question that wasn't answered just yet. I know you are most likely sending your forces to Eil'Ta Forest, but… are we leaving for it as well?" the elf asked as snow fell on her blonde hair.

"I thought I did. Again, do we really need to leave? They'll handle it and head back."

"Mladris is going to not stop until we head there. You… may need to have another argument tomorrow with her about what you are doing."

"I really don't give two shits about what she thinks given her attitude. Look, I promised I would help, and I am. However, things as you have seen work differently around here, especially when my full-time military can easily handle the situation. You're worrying over nothing. They get their assistance; we don't take a trip just to hear royalty bitch about humans being in their forest… at least not yet. Besides, I uh… kind of want to enjoy the first snow" the dev said while pursing her lips together in concern. "Besides, if we did go, it'd be by air fleet, maybe at worst by royal train." Elsei raised an eyebrow.

"You have an air fleet?" she asked, never getting the chance to see it or the Majesty's Grace.

"Two actually, with a third being built. I don't rely on just small craft in the air, land doesn't restrict these ships. I probably could create some landships as well, a land carrier of some capacity." This made Elsei's eyes widen a little before she tried to regain her composure. She hadn't yet seen with her eyes just how effective the empress's soldiers were in a fight beyond the honor guard, only hearing about her 'fighters' taking out dragons. A part of her really wanted to go anyways, just to get a view of what 9th Brigade could do.

"I… see."

"You think I want to not talk to your people. It's not that. The high elves aren't allied with us, no non-aggression pact, no contracts. I really don't want to speak to them just yet until I deal with Artinia, so I have at least some more cards on the table, show them not all humans are dickheads. I'm almost positive they'll think we're all alike given how our screwy neighbors have made enemies of everyone." Elsei seemed to smirk ever so slightly.

"They won't act properly until they understand you aren't trying to be hostile. We are all stupid as you have said."

"At least until we understand what we're doing. I'm more worried they'll think I'm invading their forest and send their own to try and fight the 9th. Better send a nonlethal order to them for any elves now that I think about it…" Elsei moved a little to get under the overhang for the armored sliding door. The empress was already thinking of adding a covered hallway between buildings.

"What if the ruler of the high elves, Queen Ynshael, decides to make an appearance here?"

"Oh god… I really don't need her coming when I'm already dealing with enough as it is. One issue at a time, one annoying ruler at a time."

"But if she does request a meeting, will you allow it?" Selene sighed and nodded.

"I'd probably need King Weren and Princess Silara here for a little assistance, despite Silara still being unwary of me. They've had at least a little time to get acclimated to being in the empire now."

"Understood. Thank you for answering my questions, your majesty." Elsei bowed to her and left for the palace, walking back into the warm home of the empress. Selene chuckled and opened the door to the labs, checking on the testing for the newly designed battle maids, each unique. They weren't quite ready yet, still needing their design to be different from the others. There were also no names ready to give each one, so only testbed prototypes were up and running to see how they handled situations in the battle rooms.

"Why do I get the feeling what she just said was a warning…" Selene said to herself.

31st, November

"This is unacceptable!" Mladris exclaimed, staring at the empress, now allowed to enter the palace as long as they kept their weapons sheathed at all times. Failure to do so… they wouldn't get told again, just fired upon. Selene sat down and read a small article that Delfie had wrote up that would go in the first edition of her brand-new newspaper. It involved the funding that Stafinson had put in for public art to sponsor muralists and sculptors. Surprisingly, it was at least halfway readable in English, even without placing it in her inventory to translate. It seems the journalist had been going to the public school provided to the people.

"It's unacceptable that Elsei isn't being stolen away by you, even though we ended the faith eater threat in your forest? Seriously?" Selene said, raising an eyebrow. "I swear, there's just no making you happy. We fix your problem, you aren't content. Bitch bitch bitch…"

"Elsei is needed back at our palace."

"I will not marry him, Mladris, that is simply out of the question" Elsei said as she drank from her coffee. Morlan glanced back and forth between both elves and seemed worried.

"Wait, what? Marry? Who?" he asked.

"Do the what now?" Selene commented as well. Her eyes didn't seem to leave the article once, only halfway listening to things around her.

"My brother is the prince, Elsei! Why would you turn that away?"

"Because he does not feel the same way, nor do I have any bond to him." Elsei's lover looked at the dev for some help, but she kept reading the article.

"Your mother had said to-"

"My mother had hoped that I might find love, maybe with royalty if it does happen. She said nothing about an arranged marriage." Mladris looked annoyed, as always.

"You were going to marry the prince of the high elves?" Morlan asked.

"It never happened, and events changed how I live my life, you are among those events. It is simple. Besides… it would have never worked out. Mladris, this is over, her imperial majesty has removed that which was threatening your forest." The brunette made to speak again, closed her mouth, and stormed out of the dining room. The empress didn't even notice for a minute.

"Oh, she left. Good. I was tuning her bitching out." 9th Brigade had sent an eco-team to collect samples of plants in the forest to bring back, as ornithopters had detected exotic herbs… the exact same ones that Selene needed for her elixirs. A few seeds were harvested and sent back immediately, followed by the brigade pulling out of the area to not annoy the elves or let Artinia know of their presence. Due to the cold weather and season, she was still missing some key ingredients for the elixirs, but this brought her much closer to the goal of not using potions anymore. In the future, it might be possible to buy some from the high elves if they had a shop somewhere.

Juliet called the empress beaming with pride. Half of the first mass driver was already installed, with video footage shown of the automated process. Most of it was done by robot arms attached to a massive gantry on rails, with very little if any interaction from automatons. The whole process was done quite smoothly as plates and wiring was rotated up and away into the huge diagonal tunnel they had made, with giant electromagnets being hefted up and latched into place. To combat any heat buildup, the system was designed with the walls and magnets expanding out like someone running their fingers on piano keys, depressing and coming back into place once the payload was past that point. Cooling systems were layered into the walls to diffuse heat extremely quickly, allowing multiple shots to be fired.

"We're on schedule for the whole thing to be finished ma'am, just need finalization on some parts produced, testing then installation."

"Good, maybe by the end of the week we can get a pod up there and start getting a small station built" Selene replied over her coms.

"I have a team specialized just for that ma'am, ready to be the first astronauts of our empire."

"Mark down their drone numbers, I want those to be memorialized. I know they are just drones, but still… they are making history here. The first launch will just be a test flight, the second will actually have production of our first station." The design for the first habitable piece of space junk was going to be very similar to the old International Space Station, though much larger to allow future creation of other new designs. The plan was to get it up and running, wait for the space elevator to be built after the second mass driver, build a second small station, then finally get a habitat on the moon.

Once each was completed, she'd finally get a much larger station built along with a mining facility package sent to the asteroid field, with the two smaller stations acting as placeholders to build around then recycle. If everything worked out, she'd be able to shut down almost all mining operations in her empire and let those asteroids pour all those juicy resources back home.

"9th, on your way back, there's an Artinian village just below you on the map. Take it in my name, will you?" There was no need to send Brynhildr out for such a small invasion of their neighbor's territory, as having one of her Generals oversee the battles would only be needed for large operations such as Silvinholm in the very near future.

"Yes ma'am." The order sounded so casual, as if she had asked them to pick up some milk from the grocery store.