Neil gave a wave to the powerful and stately man upon his throne. The Duke Æthelwulf gave a derisive snort at the lack of protocol, yet he did not dismiss them offhand either. He seemed even slightly amused, and in truth the Duke was enjoying the fact Sayeeda and Neil didn't go to extremes with their greetings. They did not bow and give falsities, but neither did they seem unimpressed and rude to he and those around them. 

"Yes..." He replied to Sayeeda. "Your employer here has informed me what you have informed him of. Though the details he provided are vague." Cho-Lan shifted in his seat nervously. The Duke continued, grey eyes penetrating. "Regale me with what you and your companion found on X-792b. I want to know what you saw, and how the hell you escaped when none apparently did. I want to know why I cannot communicate outside of the system. Tell me what we are dealing with, by Terra." 

Neil knew it was probably Sayeeda's job to explain more than a few things, but he was about to speak up nonetheless when one of the other Lords interrupted him. "Are we to take the word of some...some backwater mercenary? Your Highness, they're probably in Cho-Lan's pockets, spreading falsehoods and rumors." 

"You will be silent, or I will silence you." The Duke said, the threat cutting through the room and the Lord's sneering visage, causing him to almost appear smaller. If nothing else, the Duke demanded respect when it came to the safety of his world. Once the Duke's gaze returned to Neil, as he had seen his mouth begin to open, he waved him forward. "Continue."

Neil looked to Sayeeda, and stepped forward. "Your uh, your Dukeness. I don't know all of what you've heard, so I guess we should start from the beginning." He cleared his throat. "My Captain and I were being paid to see why there was radio silence at the facility, so we flew out there to check it out. What we discovered was... a Xenos race I've never heard of before. They had...slaughtered or impregnated the entire facility of people. We found none left alive, or I didn't." 

"Impregnated?" Colonel Gerharht asked, though it seemed off to the Duke his loyal guardsmen spoke out of turn.

"What did the Xenos look like?" Rekkr asked, clearly wanting to see if they would be any physical threat. Neil glanced his way, gesturing. "They...placed eggs inside of people's corpses. They were insect-like, but about as large as a person, if not bigger. Fast and incredibly strong. Lots of appendages...they look like a nightmare. They also have organisms that can survive the vacuum of space to transport them, it looks like. We barely made it out. My ears are still ringing." 

"You specified [i]you[/i]." Æthelwulf said, pointing to Neil. His finger then moved to Sayeeda. "Are you suggesting your Captain saw people alive?" 

Cho-Lan pulled at his collar, and the other Lords looked frightened, though it must have been fortunate, for their fear looked to be of the Xenos when it was probably something else entirely.
[@Penny]