[center][img]http://orig07.deviantart.net/7646/f/2013/094/e/6/airship_by_terrylh-d60ffmw.jpg[/img]
[sub][h3][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klPZIGQcrHA]Sarabande[/url][/h3][/sub][/center]
[indent][color=lightgray][i]IAF Envoy-class Cruiser Palatine[/i]
[i]The Same Day[/i]
[hr]

The fluttering flag of the Imperial Air Force danced among the heavens. A shock of black and red emblazoned with the roaring gryphons - the symbol of House Skymning rulers of Vangar. The flag was worn and the colors were beginning to fade, a few centuries old at this point. Squatting atop of the upper rigging of the Palatine marking it as the flagship of the Vangar Diplomatic Fleet. Monstrous in its side nearly twenty feet in length made of the highest quality of threads by the finest seamstresses in all of the Imperial Provinces. The pole keeping it rooted in place tugged and buffeted in a groaning protest with every gust of wind. The winds themselves were thick, loaded with thick smoke and ash rising from the paralyzed battlefields that seemed to be not but misshapen clumps of green and brown far below them. 

Colette Van Skymning of House Skymning stood on the observation deck in deep thought. Behind her was the vast expanse that the was the Vangar Empire, an empire which was forged by the blood and sacrifices of her ancestors before her. The empire which her father had ruled since he was but a young man. It was a land of peace and order where crime was punished with a clenched fist and everyone from the lowest of peasants to the highest members of the nobility had enough to eat upon there tables. Ahead of her was the unknown, the Kingdom of Rassvet. A land of great industry, ingenuity but also one of isolation and seclusion. If the books of history she had read in the palace library were to be believed as well it was a land of corruption and greed. Where the nobility dominated their politics to keep the lower classes repressed and below them in rank. A land where the military and nobility ran unchecked by any form of strong leader. There king only a figurehead to sign documents and officiate holidays. A strange land where children as young as ten were taken away from their lives and families to be turned into killing machines. 

So why did the notion of the place excite her so much? It was a simple thing really... boredom. The sweeping vistas of the Vangar empire was too familiar to be of interest to her. Even the [i]Palatine[/i] which was compared more often to a floating mansion or castle rather than a airship had come to become the familiar. When she was younger it's many decks and interlocking hallways were filled with mystery and wonder but over time all the nooks and crannies had been explored, there was no more secretes, only the dull and unremarkable sense of familiarity. Ever still there was a lingering sense of doubt in her mind, maybe the nobles were right, maybe she was only pushing for peace as much as she was because of boredom. Risking the so called 'honor and prestige' of the Empire by reaching out a hand of friendship to the small kingdom that had spit on their offers of peace and unification before.

Maybe they were right.

One thing her critics claimed was undeniably true: she was young and inexperience, the only conformation she needed for that was to look at her reflection cast in the glass panes of the observation deck. Having turned nineteen years of age just a few months prior, a young women looked back at her. Hair black as the night sky falling down to her waist, blue eyes bright and filled with a sense of young naiveté and optimism. There was certainly a sense of beauty about her but it was the cold and distance type that came from the upper edges of nobility. The cutting image of her mother or so she was told to believe. She never knew her mother, having died soon after she was born due to complications from the birth. She knew not the rigors and troubles of rule and politics like her father or her siblings knew. She was always the youngest, the coddled one, her father's favorite. She may of had the best education and training by some of the brightest minds in the Empire but she didn't have the experience, the foresight to do something with it. 

The sound of swishing fabric brought her out of her reverie and back into the present. She turned her head to watch as a lone figure made his way towards her. He was dressed in a crisp and wrinkles uniform of the Vangar Military. Hair grey in color and pulled back into a short ponytail, a thick mustache present upon the upper lip expertly trimmed so that no follicle of hair stood remotely out of line. He walked a decided level of purpose about him soft footfalls echoing across the empty chamber. His name was Ardin Kazmyr, some time ago he was the leading tactician and general of the whole of the Empire. He retired some twenty years back serving in a less prominent role as a tutor to the Emperor's children as a favor to his childhood friend. Uncle Ardin was a permanent fixture of Colette's life and he had always been her favorite tutor. It was upon her request, not her father's for him to accompany her to Rassvet.

"Ah there you are milady. The servants have been looking for you everywhere." Ardin explained as he closed the distance standing next to her gaze focused intently on the horizon. "I should of figured that you would be here. You always did favour the views from up here."

"Yes. My apologies Uncle, I just needed to find somewhere quiet to think. I wasn't really feeling up to being followed around by the whole retinue." She explained, voice tired.

"Something troubling you then?" 

"I just wonder if I'm doing the right thing." Colette responded producing a slow nod of agreement from the older man.

"The terrible affliction that comes with being in a position of authority. As it where. I thought the young miss was certain of her position regarding our current matters in Rassvet." Ardin reminded her. It was true since the wars onset she had been one of the more prolific voices for peace.

"I thought I was certain as well... but maybe the critics are right. Wasn't it you that always told me that war was a necessity needed to fuel the Empire?" She asked looking towards the older man. In return Ardin gave a small smile as he stroked his chin seemingly in deep thought.

"Very true, but I propose to you the words of another wise man" He offered, " - I will do all within my power to ensure the continued prosperity and well being of every man and women beneath me."

"Who said that?"

"Your father, on the day of his coronation." Ardin explained as he placed a hand upon Colette's  "From the first day of his rule, he has been focused upon the well being of the citizenry. This war has produced nothing but bloodshed for no gains to speak of. While some may not like the idea of peace, it may truly be the best course we have available." 

"Even so, all we have done to the people of Rassvet is destroy their towns and set there fields ablaze with fire. Every single offer of peace we have put forward they have rejected for they feel that our terms have never been generous enough."   

"And so it is your job to do what the others can not. An easy task? No. But one that can we be accomplished? I certainly believe so" 

"You make it sound so easy Uncle."

"Like most things. Anyway, we've spent enough time conversing. Captain Rekks desires to go over the security detail one last time. I understand why your father trusts him so much, but can the man ever be persistent."[/color][/indent]