Of a Dragon and a Warrior (Private)

[Great New England Confederation]

King William Julie
Boston Starport
Boston
New England

William waited by the Starport gate, he was looking forward to his time away from ruling, he had brought with him the equipment neccessary to rule from afar if it became neccessary, but he genuinely wished for his honeymoon to go uninterrupted. He had recently been bewed, his wife the wonderful Nasaenna, the infamous Dragon Queen of Aellyria. Around him the Starport bustled with activity, thousands, of not millions of people going to and from the Starport, getting onto and off of shuttles offworld to the orbiting starship loading stations, neccessary due to the sheer size of many starliners and civilian ships in use, as well as being a security measure to prevent and lessen the severity of a terrorist attack on a Starport. Unlike normal, he was dressed in a more standard uniform, entirely similar to one a regular Stellar Army officer would wear, barely indistinguishable save for the royal coat of arms that made up the patch that he bore on his shoulder. However he did not plan on wearing it for the entirety, or even a siginificany portion of the honeymoon, and had brought mostly very nice casual clothing, which was already on the loading vehicle, being loaded onto the shuttle that would load it onto their ship directly. He held in his hand a small journal, which he was using to keep a log of events and things that occurred during the trip, and while some would call it antiquated, he called it reliable.

[Aellyria]

Dragon Queen Nesaenna Julie
Boston Starport
Boston
New England


Nesaenna smiled as she saw her husband, King William. He was an amazing man, everything that she could have wanted, kind, handsome, confident, and best of all deadly, which was a real plus for her. She was wearing a cream colored dress and matching shoes. She carried a small white and gold parasol as well, she had had it modified as a self defense weapon if someone got to close they would get burned alive by a chemical she had been working on back during the empire, she called it hellfire. She had decided to make white her color, instead of red and gold. The only red she had now was on her lips, she had kept her dark red lipstick, it fits well with her paler complexion. She was very excited for their honeymoon trip, she had been getting used to the new culture and environment, it was very different than Aellyria, much more industrialized and modern. While Aellyrian was a little behind on the times, as it is mostly farmland. She was curious about the people, but people who didn't know her assumed she was some sort of child, which could be annoying. She reached her husband William, jumping up to hug him, "Darling," she said as she kissed him.

[Great New England Confederation]

William smiled after the kissing and said "My love" he had fallen well under her spell since they had married, though it had not meddled with his ability to rule, or to think. He said "Shouldn't be much longer, the shuttle with our luggage just went up" he was about to say something else when the announcer said "Passengers for H-57-Alpha, begin boarding, departure will begin in eight minutes"

He smiled and said "That's our que" and he led her through the gate, where the polyglass gave an excellent view of shuttles, and sometimes outright small starships, leaving and arriving at the busy Starport, hundreds if not thousands of them, though none of them larger than a small freighter. William led them onto the shuttle, of which the interior easily matched the largest of traditional airliners, though it lacked the windows due to the stress which regularly entering and exiting atmosphere would put on them. He led them to their seats, which were made from a cheap but comfortable synthetic fiber which was also fire resistant. He then asked her "Want the isle seat or the interior seat?"

[Aellyria]

Nesaenna looked around nervously, she had never been in a spaceship before, only ever seen them from a distance. She gripped Williams' arm tightly, "Which seat is safer?" she asked in a nervous whisper. She didn't want to be scared but she was, it was a feeling that she hadn't felt in a long time when she was younger she had despised fear and thought she had killed it. Now she felt like she could express her worries a bit, at least to William.

[Great New England Confederation]

He smiled and said "to be honest neither one is significantly safer, but you will be fine, this vessel has made thousands of flights, and it's not a particularly dangerous flight either, but if it would help, the Interior seat will take a little less of the turbulence"

He then said "There's nothing to worry about, it's just a more exciting and faster version of an airliner that goes higher" he waited for her to take the interior seat, his face giving a comforting smile.

[Aellyria]

Nesaenna smiled back at her husband and took the interior seat. When William sat down, she thought of how wonderful their honeymoon was going to be. She wondered why Aellyria had never invested more into private space travel, she supposed most of the country wasn't interested. She leaned into her husband and whispered about all the things she wanted to do to him when they were alone and in space, blushing while she said them. She had never been a particularly sexual person but that was because she hadn't been given the opportunity while still very conservative in that aspect she was enjoying exploring it with William.

[Great New England Confederation]

William smiled, after buckling himself and her in he said "careful, these shuttles do have fairly sensitive audio sensors to aid with security" he then said "But don't worry, there's to many for them to have picked you up"

William said "Not too long now before lift off" and he placed his notepad in a compartment in the seat in front of him. The shuttles speakers then announced in an artificial sounding feminine voice "three minutes until departure"

[Aellyria]

Nesaenna smirked, "Embarrassed darling?" She asked teasingly a mischievous smile spreading across her face. She held tightly onto William as the woman's voice came on, her first trip in space, she was so excited. She wondered what she would see, a happy look sparked in her eyes as she had an epfiany, she might come back from this trip pregnant, she'd be mother. She'd always wanted kids, she wanted to raise Aeylgarns that weren't damaged like her siblings and ancestors were, no she reminded herself she wanted to raise Julie's.

[Great New England Confederation]

William shook his head and said "No, but I'd rather not let those statements get into the wrong hands."

The shuttles AI then said "Prepare for departure" the shuttles door closed, and a loud clamping sound as the door was magnetically sealed for the trip. William held Nasaenna's hand comfortingly, as the shuttle moved to its launch point. The shutttles AI then came on once again and said "We are beginning departure, ensure that all loose items and persons are secured and seated"

Then the shuttle lifted off the ground, the powerful plasma engines roaring loudly as they pushed the spacecraft into its ascent towards space. A screen gave a view of the surrounding landscape, the city growing ever smaller as the shuttle lifted ever higher and ever faster into the sky.

[Aellyria]

Nesaenna was amazed, the ground was receding extremely fast as they rocketed up towards the void of space. She had never been moving this fast before, nor did she believe she had ever been this high. Her airship was built for high altitudes but the airship was slow and cumbersome, this shuttle was thrusting up towards the heavens at an unimaginable speed. Her brothers had never let her go in aircraft like these, they had been far to protective of her, she supposed it had been more the culture of Aellyria than her brothers not wanting her to grow, it was so different than New England, in Aellyria women had to be protected, there were very few who ever got the respect that Nesaenna had gotten and she had to work hard for that, she couldn't see the culture of Aellyria changing anytime soon, even in a world that she was beginning to see was often run by women. She smiled at her husband, she didn't want to control him as she had often seen other powerful women doing, she wanted to be his partner and equal if she could manage that, and she wanted to raise their children to also strive for that goal. She internally shook her head, she had children on her mind today and she couldn't for the life of her figure out why.

[Great New England Confederation]

William saw her smiling at him, he couldn't help but be curious, but thought better of it as he saw the blue sky transition into the black void of space, and the Orbital Starport cane into view. The massive space station had attached to it dozens of large starships, including a massive Trinity Class starliner, the ship stretching for more than six kilometers. William then spotted the ship they would be taking and pointed it out, saying "there's ours" the ship he pointed out was much more modest in size by comparison to the massive starliner, but it still dwarfed the shuttle, stretching over eight hundred meters, and it carried with it an air of luxury, but there was also the intimidating barrel of its mass driver that poked itself out from the bow of the ship, the horrifically deadly weapon a warning to any would be attacker. On the bow the ships name was imprinted in golden letters, SNS Vindication. William then said "It used to be a warship, but she suffered heavy damage at the battle of Excalibur, and was in drydock when the Imperial Regime was destroyed. She was given to a refabrication company and was converted to the vessel she is now" he then looked at Nasaenna with a smile and said "Your ship"

[Aellyria]

Nesaenna's eyes went wide as she saw the huge starliner, it was massive, easily the biggest ship she had ever laid eyes on. Then William pointed out the ship they were taking, it was smaller than the starliner, but one thing immediately grabbed her attention, the massive cannon barrel jutting out of the bow. It was elegant and deadly, a perfect combination. Her smile turned into a wide grin as William called it her ship. She had never had a starship before, and this one was all hers. She kissed her husband on the cheek, "Thank you, my love, it's more than I could have ever asked for." she said excitedly. She could just imagine the damage that gun could do, it easily dwarfed any damage her airship could do, her airship could destroy a small city given the chance, this ship looked like it could destroy a small country.

[Great New England Confederation]

He smiled and said "I'm glad you like it" as the shuttle approached to dock with the station, it became ever more obvious how small the shuttle was. The shuttle passed by a small Hellwave Class Corvette, however the small ship was still larger than the shuttle, and its weaponry was plainly obvious, the four mass drivers mounted on her bow just barely poking out through the armored front of the ship.

The shuttle docked, with the sound of magnetic clamps locking onto it to hold it in place. William unbuckled them and got up, and said with a smile "Were here, well board our ship and then we will be off" he then said "I hope you don't shy away from traveling at warp"

[Aellyria]

Nesaenna got up and grabbed her parasol, all her other luggage had already been delivered to where it needed to go, but she had insisted on keeping the parasol with her. She laced her arm through Williams as they walked, she rather enjoyed walking arm and arm with him, she loved being close to him and he didn't seem to mind either. She thought on what she could do with the weapons on Corvette, all the things she could burn and destroy. Then she heard William say something about warp, "Whats warp?" she said stumbling over the unfamiliar word.

[Great New England Confederation]

William walked with her, and he said "Warp is a method we use to get our ships to travel quickly without actually moving faster than the speed of light, it works by warping space and time around the vessel, and the ensuing warp 'bubble' pushes the ship along. The ship itself doesn't truely accelerate, which is why the crew isn't sent flying into the wall in front of them when the ship exits warp."

He lead her through the station, to the gate to the Vindication, the gate was already open and waiting for them. There was people going to and from other gates busily, and there was also the occasional Stellar Guard soldier, who served as the garrison and police force aboard the station. He led her to the gate, and onto the ship, were the hall was painted in comforting beige and with a luxury carpet of a red velvet color, though in reality it was a tough synthetic material that was far more durable but still very nice to look at and comfortable to walk on.

Outside the windows of the ship, a massive vessel came into view a few kilometers away, stretching almost as long as the starliner. However there was a significant difference, as this ship was absolutely bristling with weaponry, and had the name SNS Infernum imprinted on its bow along with the seal of the Stellar Navy, and markings indictating that it was the flagship of Battlefleet Homefront. It's massive maingun dwarfed a fair few of the ships that passed it, and it was itself accompanied by dozens of smaller ships which didn't come close to matching the size of the monstrous vessel.

[Aellyria]

Nesaenna tried to wrap her head around that, she shook her head. She couldn't even begin to understand how that worked. Her jaw dropped as the SNS Infernum passed, it was enormous, and absolutely bristling with weaponry. It was much larger than anything she had ever seen before and much deadlier as well. A ship like that could lay waste to whole fleets she imagined. "What is that?" she asked William.

[Great New England Confederation]

William noticed she was talking about the Dreadnaught and smiled before saying "That is SNS Infernum, one of seven Infernum Class Dreadnaughts in service with the navy, and flagship of Battlefleet Homefront" he led her to the bridge of the ship, the door automatically recognizing him, and opening, revealing the heart and command center of the vessel, including a holographic starchart and a holographic viewfeed of everything around them.

The Ships captain saluted, and the helmsman yelled out "His majesty on deck!", and the bridge crew stood and came to attention. William smiled and said "At ease" and the captain said "We are ready to get under way as soon as you give the word your majesty"

William looked to her with a smile and said "Take us out captain"

The Captain smiled and said "Yes your majesty" he then said "Begin departure sequence, and set course for designated jump point"

The ship began to move forward and to the side with surprising agility, slowly at first, but gradually accelerating as it became safe to do so. The Fusion engines of the ship pushing it along far faster than any atmospheric craft could hope to manage.

[Aellyria]

Nesaenna had fallen in love with the ship, it was beautiful, the crew was impressive and she was amazed at the ship's bridge, it was deep within the bowels of the ship which were entirely foreign to her, she always thought it best to have the ships bridge in a place where they could see everything naturally, however they seemed to have bypassed that with video feeds and sensors. She could feel the hum of the engine in the floor as they began to depart, she imagined this was the fastest she had ever gone, she looked up at her husband, smiling at him as they took off.

[Great New England Confederation]

William held her close, and then watched as the sensors feed showed that the ship had reached its designated jump point. The Captain then said "All hands, prepare for warp"

A few moments later the Captain checked a screen and said "Begin warp jump now", one of the bridge crew tapped something and it seemed like the ship lurched forward, though the ship had no such reaction go through it. Soon enough the stars and planets became streaks as te ship began moving extremely quickly.

William thenlooked to her and said "We are at warp, and now we wait until we arrive" he then said "I'll show you our room" he led he out of the bridge, and down the hall to an elevator, and when they had boarded he pressed a button on the screen, and the doors closed, and it began moving very rapidly thanks to the use of hypercoil technology. When it arrived at their floor, the door opened, revealing a hallway with decoratively designed Polyglass windows that showed the space outside of the ship. He then led her to a door made of well decorated titanium-tungsten alloy, and pressed his thumb to a doorbell like button, and it opened, revealing a large an extremely luxurious room, and he said "this is our room"

[Aellyria]

Nesaenna smiled, she loved the room. It was one of the finest rooms she had ever seen, Aellyria had luxury but not like this. Her husband was smiling at her, and her lips turned up into a mischievous little smile. She jumped up onto him, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. "Why don't we christen it?" she said in a whisper, biting his ear gently.

[Great New England Confederation]

William was surprised when she jumped on him, but he had little trouble holding her up. He felt her bite his ear and smiled before saying "We could, though I thought you would want to see the rest of the ship" but he had to admit he was extremely tempted to give in an lock the door for a while.

Then a feminine voice, the ships AI, said "would you like me to lock the door your majesties?"

[Aellyria]

She smiled, her hair falling in her face, "You're right I do want to see the rest of the ship", she said tapping his nose with a finger. Jumping off of her husband and landing gracefully on her feet, she put her parasol down and leaned against the door frame, "So what are we going to see first?" she asked.

[Great New England Confederation]

Willliam thought, and then he smiled and said "There is the recreational deck, of you would like to see it, and there's the viewing deck, but o want to wait before I show you that one" he then had an idea and smiled before saying "There's also the ships onboard extraterrestrial garden"

[Aellyria]

Nesaenna's eyes got wide, she had never seen anything alien, much less a whole garden. She knew that alien planets existed but had never really had the time to worry about them or even think about going to one. "There's an alien garden here?" she said perking up. She was very excited to see this garden, it seemed their whole honeymoon would be full of new experiences.

[Great New England Confederation]

William nodded and said "Yes, it's not quite the old Royal Garden in the old Sherman Palace, but it's pretty good itself" he offered his arm to her and said "And I'll bring you there my beloved"

He couldn't help but smile, since he had married her he had only gotten closer to her. It certainly didn't help that he never knew when she would try to make her love known, as she had just done. He feared the day that she caught another woman looking at him a certain way, but he knew dealing with that fear was well worth it.