The Ambassadorial Ball

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"Of course I'm comfortable with it. It is actually quite rare for a Curabitur to show it's true form in front of other species."

A powerful and blinding white light surrounded Legatus as she began her demonstration. Within several seconds, Legatus appeared to be gone and in her place was a Nulra. She hoped that the demonstration, disguising herself as the species of the first person she talked to would impress.

"What do you think?" She asked, trying to hide the smugness in her voice
 
Bodjek squinted and half-turned away to protect his eyes as Legatus began to emit a brilliant white light. When he looked back at her, he took a moment to try to blink the greenish-rainbow splotches out of his vision before he truly focused on her. His eyes widened and his mane trembled at the sight. He was eye-to-eye with a lovely orange-eyed female Nulra in her prime, nubile unclothed torso and all. He was unable to resist the urge to lean to the side and see if her tail was bare too, and he quickly regretted it. It was. Her pores were available for all to see. His eyes darted away to look at the nearest door instead of at her. He knew his whole face had flushed violet by now. "I-impressive," he muttered. "I guess since it's a genetic ability, you can't bring clothing with you... Um... How long are you going to stay like that?" He'd already set his plate on the floor and started fiddling with the brooch at his side, pulling his red sash free. She needed to cover up that tail of hers quick. For his own sanity.
 
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"Oh no, I can carry clothing when I shapeshift as it's more of a disguise than a bodychange. The only issue is that I need an image to focus on first. The only image I've seen of a female of your species was the one I'm displaying right now."

She was keeping notice of all the looks he was giving her. She assumed that he simply found the disguise attractive. "I don' intend to stay like this for now, as it was just a demonstration."

The same light surrounded her again and she quickly reverted to her regular Curabitur form. The stares he was giving her made Legatus feel slightly
uncomfortable, but she hoped that the display had moved her one step closer to gaining a potential ally.
 
The only image of a female Nulra that Legatus had seen? "From what, a biology book?" he quipped. But she seemed respectful and quickly changed back into a pale bipedal being once again. He felt himself relax at the removal of the sight that had been in front of him. His mind was clear again. "Just warn me before you turn into a naked girl again, okay?" he said with a nervous laugh in his voice as he fastened his sash back into place. "We don't have many nudity taboos, but the female pores are one of them. Skirts are good." He straightened the sash on himself and sat up straight, now visibly much more comfortable. "That is very interesting, though! I must have incorrectly assumed that you can only take on the body of another being, but it sounds like you could turn into almost anything if you wished. Am I wrong?"
 
"No. It has to the living body of another being." Legatus explained "We gain the ability at the start of adolescence, some are natural experts while others have to be taught. Our ancestors would often play tricks by having two Curabitur shapeshift into each other and trying to convince friends and family that they were who they claimed to be." She smiled, thinking back to her adolescence "I was really good at it, being able to keep up the trick for several weeks until I was found out."
 
Bodjek found himself puzzled. Perhaps Legatus meant to say that she needed a living being as the core of her shape shifting but had the energy to spare to give that being some illusory accessories? He worried at this point that spraining his brain trying to work out the details and barraging his new acquaintance with nitpicking questions wasn't worth it at the moment. He didn't want to frustrate Legatus into leaving so soon after they had met. More questions could wait, as much as it pained a part of him to wait. No, tell me more clearly! was the thought he had to wrestle down. I want to know the mechanics! But politeness and diplomacy came first.

He chuckled at her anecdote. "I can imagine you were proud of that," he said. "It sounds like you've found it a good source of not just learning, but entertainment." He hesitated a moment at the end of the phrase before pointing to himself and donning a questioning look. "Would you like to see my projector in action? It seems only fair to reciprocate."
 
"Another time" She sent over the link before it was closed by Tho'Nakr.

"Sounds like your people holds quite the background" She said and glanced over to the other two Genomians.
"So your species is new to far distance space travel then mister??" She asked curiously and placed the plate on a nearby table. She realized they had yet to properly introduce themselves to each other. knowing names often made talking easier. At least on a friendly level. Good thing the first person wasn't to interested in business and state affairs.
 
"Well I think it's only fair that we both give demonstrations." Legatus smiled "And yes, I was proud of it." She attempted to hide her smugness "I only got found out when other relatives stopped at her house for a visit and I couldn't remember their names. They'd been off-world for several decades studying a primitive and interesting species known as the human race. I can't tell you where they live because I never learned the full details, as a result of being found out of course."

Her smugness was replaced with frustration. Not knowing about the species for many years had always been an annoyance until she was made the ambassador. The humans lived too far away for other expeditions as there was a risk that the Exen would follow any Curabitur researchers.

First his demonstration, then we can talk about the war. I've delayed it for too long She thought
 
" Ah yes of course! Well to start off we are quite psychically adept. As is shown through our eyes and our aura. In fact it is the reason we can move, we float on psychic power. Due to this psychic nature, we tend to be very intellectual. Thanks to that we have scientific breakthroughs nearly every year or so. Our bodies are quite frail naturally, as we lack all skin our outer of any kind. This is countered by our ability to make a psychic shield. The stronger the psychic the stronger the shield. I knew a war hero who once blocked a 700 pound artillery shell, though he had devoted his whole life to developing his psychic capabilities. Asfor our history, we were very War like while we were restricted to our planet. Once we reached space, our entire races philosophy chaged thanks to... well.. my father. He lead us to an age of piece, only going to war when we had to. Of course, we hada few... falling outs with people on our planet, some have run off as reels and are still war like,but there aren't many. Now I lead the worlds in our empire, and that has brought me here." Verain laid back after that long speech.
 
"Indeed we are, our ship that had gotten us here, is a prototype that was developed recently and is the first successful one out of all the ones we tried so far" Karum replied, "I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Karum Bloodlight, the First General of the Clan of Bloodlights, and also personal body guard for Rikon and Freya Bloodlight. The bodyguard part is temporary for now though." The last sentence was whispered. He grinned while speaking as well, being very proud of what he was.

"I see, I see. Well, my species might definitely accept you. Genomians have a slight craving for power and respect it greatly" Rikon stated while nodding slightly. He looked to Freya, she nodded in agreement, "I think we have come to a full negotiation now, our Bloodlights will be sent to your planet with metals and animals, while your people will come to live on our planet, bringing the blueprints for the armor sets."
 
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"Indeed, I look forward to working with all of you." Verain stuck out his hand once more to solidify the notion.
 
"Good to know then" Freya said as she stood up along with Rikon to shake Verain's hand. Rikon was glad to have an ally at this point in time, especially one with a great psychic mind.
 
"Ailya Te'shar representative of the Raptir people" She answered back and nodded. "perhaps i can ask for a tour of your ship later on then?" The woman added with a smile, tilting her head. He was proud of his work and his people. It was even a bit cute. She then noted at the corner of her eye how the two other Genomians rose from their chairs. "Seems they have come to an agreement" Ailya glanced back at Karum. "I guess you will be moving along with them now?"
 
Bodjek merely smiled politely and let Legatus finish her story before he started anything. She seemed to take delight in talking about herself once she was comfortable, and he couldn't fault her for that. But the words "human race" caused him to falter. Memories returned to the forefront of his mind unbidden. Humans. One particular human he had tried so hard to forget.

He stiffened a little and tried not to let on about his thoughts. "Ah, I've studied humankind myself, actually," he said. "I visited their homeworld as my first immersion, for my coming-of-age. I could tell you what I know about them, if you're curious." He wasn't eager to do so, but he would have felt impolite not offering. His face brightened in an attempt to change the subject. "But for now, I've got a projection to show you, don't I?" He thought of turning his projector on, and in response to the thought, a visual interface seemed to appear in his vision, visible only to him. He mentally flicked through the available disguises in his database, wondering if there was a mapping for a male Curabitur, and he was soon pleased to find one and be shown correct. He did not bother with any appearance customization, reasoning that the default unclothed male would be acceptable, at least according to the blurb that accompanied the model. He closed his eyes to concentrate, imagining his body filling in the shape of the Curabitur model. To Legatus' eyes, Bodjek's form would appear to shimmer strangely and then be replaced by a Curabitur, though there would be traces of a peculiar sort of blur in a few spots in her peripheral vision that cloaked Bodjek's extremeties. The Curabitur appeared to open his eyes, smile, and then gesture with an arm. "What do you think? The projection responds to my own movements, so I merely have to mime something and the projection will execute the nearest equivalent."
 
Legatus' jaw dropped.

"Wow...I mean, that's really impressive." She spoke "But I want to hear more about your encounter with the human race, if that's okay with you?" She asked

She wondered if he had any new knowledge, perhaps something that the expedition had missed. She was jealous, almost by the fact that he'd actually been to their home planet but she didn't let it get the better of her. She was there to represent her people and gain support for the war, not to get jelous about the possible knowledge of another species.

She still wanted to know as much as possible about the human race. They fascinated her.
 
Pride for his society's accomplishments swelled within Bodjek for a moment before he allowed the illusion to melt away, revealing a ceremonially clad Nulra once again. But his mood quickly dulled as he geared up to tell what he knew about humans. It wasn't that he disliked the species, not at all, but his only experience with them had ended...badly. It was not something he liked recalling.

"Well, I'm not sure how much you know about them," he began. He held up a hand to the height of his face. "About yea high, body layout very much like yours, except their flesh comes in shades of tan and brown. Eyes are built like mine." He lowered the hand to relax on the ground again. "Short-lived. From a distance, they seem a bit on the aggressive side. But I don't know if I'd call it aggressive so much as...passionate." He dropped his gaze, now looking pensive. Passionate, indeed. But he bit his lower lip and tried to shake that memory out of his mind. "Let's see...very conservative about clothing. And they give live birth. That's all that's coming to mind right now. Forgive me; it's been so long. I was an adolescent at the time." He'd looked up to meet her gaze once more, but his mood wasn't what it had been. An adolescent. I was young and foolish.
 
"Interesting." Legatus replied. She already knew everything that Bodjek had told her but was trying to be polite, after all she needed his support.

"There's something I need to discuss with you. It's one of the major reasons I agreed to the invitation in the first place." Legatus spoke hesitantly, she wasn't sure if now was the best time to talk about the war but she supposed that it couldn't be helped. It was an urgent matter and as she talked it was likely that more of her species were dying.

"These are dark times for my people." She spoke grimly "As I speak we are engaged in a bitter war that we might lose. Losing this war will result in the total genocide of my species."
 
Xharoth strode over to the bar and ordered a large glass of whatever the strongedt they had was. He'd most likely not be affected by it anyway, but the taste would hopefully be pleasing.

He took the glass with a grunt to the bartender, before turning back to the hall. He wondered how he could find someone of interest. He thought about standing in the middle of the room and bellowing his intentions, but he decided against it. Hopefully someone would understand it just from his armored uniform and agressive looks. Just in case, he rested his free hand on the hilt of his blade and started wandering about among the other guests trying to pic up something about anyone at war. He stopped for a bit by someone when he thought he heard of exactly that.
 
Bodjek stiffened as he heard his companion segue into a new topic, initially unsure whether it would have anything to do with humans or not. Apparently it didn't. Legatus spoke of dire times for her people. There was a war going on between them and some other race, he presumed, and it sounded like they were losing. His heart panged at the notion of so many souls being lost, but the notion of war nearly made his stomach churn. War was something his race had taken hundreds of years to quell, and he could still not say it was truly extinguished. It was Nulra nature to look out for oneself, and that still led to skirmishes in some countries. Regardless, their overall sensibility was to avoid conflict, not leap into it.

"I'm sorry to hear your people suffer," he said. "I extend you my sympathies. But what is it that you wish of me?"
 
"We are not a violent race, but the species we are fighting love violence. They take joy in killing."

She paused to compose herself.

"They call themselves the Exen and I think that they are one of the greatest threats to galactic civilization... What I ask of you is any support you're willing to give. There is a very high chance that if the Exen wipe out my entire species that they'll turn their attention to another form of life. I can see it in your face, you don't like violence. Neither do I. In fact, before the Exen first attacked us the last time there was any violence relating to our species we were extremely primitive...My point is that they might target your kind because you're opposed to violence. They want to see a species dedicated to peace turn violent in order to defend itself."

She saw Xharoth listening in and turned her attention to him.

"Can I help you?" She asked
 
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