[h3][i]God-Smiter[/i], Ducal House of Lhim, The Fastness Empyreal[/h3]

[i][url=http://digital-art-gallery.com/oid/120/1600x906_20577_Heavy_Royal_Airforce_Airship_2d_sci_fi_spaceship_steampunk_airship_picture_image_digital_art.jpg]God-Smiter[/url][/i] floated through the void, engines undulating as their natural gravitational fields shifted slightly within their restraints. Firmly locking the engines would have resulted in eventual structural damage as the forces of gravity fought the restraints, which would have made the ship in turn more expensive to maintain. Instead, the engine blocks floated slightly, suspended by massive wires and fields of gravity. At the moment, the primary propulsion remained on the lowest power. Instead, the massive ship jetted out streams of plasma from secondary banks, driving forward at low sub-luminal velocities.

Duke Ngaro Lhim - one of the few gendered K'hlath in existence - tracked slender fingers across the left arms of his chair, making whorls in the dusky smoke that rose from the floor. Candles occupied numerous positions on the bridge, filling the air with heady scents, some of which were derived from highly intoxicating and sometimes dangerous substances. Yet the Duke would have his way and woe betide those who hindered his desires. Sucking in air through the slits in his face, a tremulous sigh escaped, sounding akin to a rustling. Approximately one light-second off lay his destination, the massive fortress known as the Fastness Empyreal. Jagged struts thrust out from the main body of the station, supporting hosts of armaments which could equal that of the best baronial fleets and most of the ducal ones.

A signal flashed on the display of lights arrayed before him, an indication from the Master of Sensors that a section of the shielding surrounding the defensive station had dropped. Minutes passed as the [i]God-Smiter[/i] cut through the avenue left open by the structure, slowly closing in. The coordination-contact sequence initiated as Lhim's vessel ventured within thirty-thousand kilometers of the Fastness. Tremblings jarred the ship slightly as thrusters counter-acted the forward movement of the spacecraft, decelerating at incredible speeds. [i]God-Smiter's[/i] own shielding faded once within a thousand kilometers so as to avoid accidental damage to the Fastness and because even the Baron's were not exempt from arbitrary destruction by the Commander Empyreal should they threaten one of the most important bases in Aramun.

"Akış kurulan bağlantısı, Rab Lhim," spoke one of the Duke's attendants. A human with a translator would have understand the phrase as "Stream connection established, Duke Lhim." Nodding, the Duke rose from the servo-chair before striding quickly through the confines of his ship. His quarters lay but a short distance from the bridge, a multi-room affair that contained a majority of Lhim's personal possessions. Slipping from the command armor which he wore to a ceremonial vestment, the attendants were dismissed as he stepped into the Stream Room. Activating the contraption himself, a procedure with which he was intimately familiar, Lhim exhaled a moment before a fold in space-time carried him into the center of Fastness Empyreal.

Rising from the floor as his body recovered from the arduous transportation method, Lhim surveyed the numerous soldiers and civil personnel flocking around the Commander Empyreal. "A pleasure to see you once again my friend," greeted the aged K'hlath to the duke, making a formal bowing motion to indicate the relationship they shared.

"And you, Commander Vrrm. Now, show me this person of interest you have 'discovered.'" Nodding, Vrrm side-stepped to reveal the captive. A curious creature. 

Cocking his head, Lhim queried, "Tell me, lost one, from where do you hail?"

Standing with his head bow was a short human male, topping out at 5'3". His hair had been shaved until it was nought but a small, ruddy fuzz on the man's head. Green-brown eyes blinked rapidly in a sign of fear. Humans were, in most cases, prohibited from accessing areas deemed of critical importance unless given permission to enter by a K'hlath of important position who held some sort of authority over the area.

"My name is, uhm, Gregor Miran, my Duke of Lhim," Gregor croaked, doing his best to speak the K'hlath language and allowing a translation device to synthesize the speech into a recognizable format. "I never meant to arrive in this system. Baron Mgyar tasked me with exploring an un-charted planetoid in one of the outlying systems. I had overhead a set of coordinates and-and I-"

Lhim raised his right secondary arms in a placating manner, utilizing a more human method of bodily communication to soothe the obviously distressed man. Lowering the appendage once Gregor had quieted, the Duke looked at Vrrm in a contemplative manner. Vrrm's eyes shuttered closed momentarily before the slits on his face flared outwards slightly. Combined with a slight inclination of his head, it was an assent.

"No manner of harm shall befall you, human. It so happens I have need of one of your species. Follow me." Without waiting on the man's response, the massive K'hklath began to journey farther into the Fastness Empyreal, feet clicking against the metal floor. Swallowing, the unsettled Gregor followed hastily, sweat beading on his forehead. Reflecting, he should have simply gone to the planetoid. At least he was away from his harridan of a wife.