If you feel like this felt like the imperials got to brag too much about how great and strong they are, while you meekly accepted, do not worry, you will have your chance.
Despite the inquisitor having sent the message first, and having departed on her shuttle long before the message even reached you. You are still by far the first one to arrive on the designated asteroid. Prior to your journey you elected to take a lesson from Thotep, the blind prince, and have several assassin wraiths brought with you on your shuttle. Sliding soundlessly from the bay of the vessel into the rocky crust of the asteroid. Honorable enemies the imperials claim to be. But you after all you have been burned, metaphorically and in actuality too many times to treat such statements as anything but the lightest of promises towards civility. You also take the time to have your ship thoroughly scan the asteroid. A process which while not foolproof would require substantial necron artifice to surmount. Alas that you find nothing of note hidden among the asteroid and thus prepare yourself to treat with the mortal.
For the final preparations for this meeting, you have a miniscule swarm of constructor scarabs emerge from your shuttle to gradually form a rudimentary throne from the rock of the asteroid. Turning the gaze of the serpent upon the throne, you, in a flash of light, rearrange the atoms which form part of the small structure to transmute it into a lump of solid silver. A worthy throne considering the circumstances, upon which you sit and wait while the scarabs continue to add refinement and ornamentation. Lasthule taking up position upon the dais at the thrones base.
The Inquisitor is not overly long in coming after you have completed your preparations. Only a few hours pass before the small shuttle from the imperial fleet begins to land. Its two escort fighter craft breaking off to patrol some distance away, as you had agreed prior. The blocky construct descends to the surface with crude retro thrusters burning, slowly lowering the vessel to land only a short distance from where you have emplaced yourself.
The four figures which descend from the craft are one and all extremely different from each other. First to descend from the ramp, is a bound figure in a rudimentary voidsuit, their visor darkened and shackled at the wrists with their arms behind them. However, they stand straight and proud despite the bonds that hold them. Walking behind the first human come two power armored figures. The larger of the two you assess quite quickly. Larger than any human, though still significantly shorter than yourself, they walk with a grace and fluidity that belies both their power armor and their immense weight. One of the gene warriors the Sautech have fought you surmise, supposedly superlative warriors, equal to nearly any in your armies.
The other figure is significantly smaller, though due to their armor they would still be quite imposing to most mortals not of necrontyr stock. They come unhelmeted, which is a surprise to you upon this airless rock, until you zoom in closer and spot the tell tale refractions of force field technology. She seems a young woman in her early thirties going by your knowledge of human anatomy. Though the imperium's rejuvenation technology renders the question of age to be anywhere between several dozen to perhaps two centuries of age. Her light brown skin denotes an origin from a fairly sun bathed planet and her sharp features, if necrontyr culture is to believed for other races, denotes an intelligent and studious nature. Her features however are set in a hard frown and the embellished "I" upon her black and gold armor show that she is the one with whom you will speak today.
Despite this it is the final figure which captures your attention the most. You had your suspicions but the warrior frame which proceeds behind the other figures shows exactly how the Imperium knew the proper forms of address. Without bearing the traditional Gauss flayer or reaper, the warrior stands tall and straight. Near equal the height to the Gene warrior before it. Looking closer, it also seems to be of finer construction than that reserved for warriors. Silver and gold highlights are marked upon the warriors living metal frame. Though no dynastic mark is stamped upon its features. Not even you note, the emblem of the Triarch. This, you surmise, is a lord doing all it can to not be identified.
Their walk to your throne is not overly long, For you had placed the structure to be equidistant between their planned landing zone and your own. Thus soon the four are assembled before you. It is but a few seconds before the Inquisitor takes the initiative and speaks, first her face a study of calm proprietary. "Hail Levnekh, overlord of the Yulenoth, scholar lord. I am Inquisitor Nadalia, of house Drachus, servant of his will. I have come here to discuss the ways in which our realms may exist in peace. To ensure peace and order in this incredibly small portion of the Imperium. I understand that it is customary among your kind to show that our words are backed with force, therefore. If you speak falsely or act against the spirit of the truce, I have readied messages upon trusted couriers. To reach out to your old foes, the Eldar, two craftworlds lie within reach of your tomb Levnekh, and these I believe, are enemies you would greatly prefer to be kept ignorant of your existence."
You nod as you attempt to read the Inquisitor. Trying to ascertain if she actually has such interesting contacts for an imperial to have. Eventually however you are forced by time and decorum to relent. "A worthy threat" you acknowledge before your straiten. "Hail Nadalia of House Drachus or Nemenessor if your would prefer" you note archly. "I am Levnekh, Overlord of the Yulenoth, the shadow upon the void and servant of no one but myself. I came here in search of conquest but have instead been offered peace. And I have not yet decided whether to grant such a boon. Though, if you speak falsely or plan betrayal, my fleet will see you slain long before you return to your forces. And then, with your forces leaderless, we will crush your fleet and burn this planet and the sector to ash!"
The Inquisitor calmly nods. "A fine threat indeed Overlord. Though to begin discussions I have not come here to threaten but to apologize. The Imperium acknowledges that the Yulenoth in their first meeting with the imperium did do its worthy soldiers a grand favor in slaying the Ork warlord Backstabba, and destroying his raiding forces which had preyed upon Imperial shipping for the previous two years." her voice then turns venomous. "And we regret that this first meeting was made sour by the rash, foolish, and ill thought actions of the former admiral Shreeder. Officially, admiral shredder took ill several months ago. A reaction to his rejuvenate treatments his mendicants have said, a rare, but not unheard of accident. In actuality of course" she motions and the visor of the imperial prisoner lightens, revealing a gaunt but still clearly alive former admiral, within his eyes are shut as he silently whispers to himself. Her tone becomes magnanimous and her smile conciliatory "The imperium offers him as a gift to the Yulenoth, in recompense for our aggressive actions on that fateful day.
You feel a glow of satisfaction within as you look toward the captured admiral. It seems that there were some individuals of culture among the Imperium after all. You gesture toward Lasthule who goes forward to grab the man and bring him to the foot of your throne. "I thank you and the Imperium for extending this peace offering to us. It is acknowledged as a true gift of friendship and shows the possiblility of sincerity in your actions. This is merely a peace offering however.' You lean forward. "I wish to hear of the peace you would offer and what it would entail"
The Inquisitor allows a slight smile to escape her features as she begins answering. "Indeed Overlord. As you may be aware in so vast and powerful a realm as our own, it can take some time for news to travel. It was several years after Shreeders folly that you existence finally came to my attention and I hurried to address the issue. I had originally come to simply offer a peace between our realms. To forestall any future bloodshed of course. However, a state of war has existed between our great nations and both sides have acted accordingly. Therefore the nature of any peace between our two peoples would have to shift to accommodate reality as it now stands.
She shifts herself somewhat and her eyes go distant as she speaks every word clearly and forthrightly "The Imperium is willing to forgive the invasion of its sovereign planets and systems. So long as the following agreement can be reached between our two peoples. Firstly, for a peace to stand, the physical and spiritual well being of all humans within your realm would have to be assured. The Adeptus Ministorum would be guaranteed safety within your space and possess the ability to empower and emplace priests of the imperial cult amongst the humans of these worlds. Secondly, the material wealth created by this sub sector would have to be replaced. Therefore an Imperial tithe of grade Exactis Particular would be levied against the worlds of your realm. A full third of your annual production to be brought forth for the glory of the Imperium. Thirdly, while the Imperium would, in the event of peace, recognize the sovereignty of the Yulenoth dynasty, and prevent any strictly military vessels from entering your space. Barring of course those of the Emperors most holy inquisition. The Imperium would also require that no Yulenoth ships venture forth into claimed imperial space, which," she smirks "is to say, all surrounding space. Unless the Yulenoth have petitioned for the right to leave their sovereign territory, in which case they may do so, only if they have an imperial representative present. The Imperium would also reserve the right to call upon the Yulenoth dynasty for assistance in matters martial or otherwise. For which the Imperium maintains the ability to reward, very substantially indeed. She offers you a placating smile as she continues. In exchange for these requests, the Imperium is also willing to offer boons. We would offer to transfer the vassaldom of the xenos empire known as the Sirane, to the Yulenoth dynasty. To relent from any diplomatic interference in their relationship with the Yulenoth dynasty and support if need be any rebellion in which the Sirane rise up against their rightful Overlord. In addition to this of course the imperium would withhold from gathering the miniscule portion of its tremendous might which would be required in order to combat you. Finally, she finishes speaking and looks toward you expectantly.
You take this is, and indeed have it replayed once within the confines of your own mind at a thousand times the speed at which it had been spoken, to ensure you have understood their full meaning. The Inquisitor makes a strong opening claim, however that is what it is, an opening gambit, from which you can likely negotiate. Or you suppose, you could refute it entirely, the terms are after all quite extreme. Even for merely an opening salvo.
Before you can respond however, the Necron warrior steps forward and announces himself. "Greetings Levnekh, overlord of the Yulenoth. I am warrior frame IX - 00219" he speaks the last part quite sardonically." And I am here to offer reassurance as to the trustworthiness of the humans. I will not name my dynasty for obvious reasons, save to say that you do know of us. Yet i advise you with what little sway I have, to accept the Imperiums offer. Our own arrangement with them is less... equal than that which you may possess with them, yet we have nevertheless made our situation work for us. You lie at the heart of the Imperium, where few indeed can challenge their might. and thus I would advise you to treat with the Imperials as you would any other dynasty. Acting in as much good faith as you do all members of our own kind. Indeed, scholar lord I would say act as famed Mephit'ran, and provide for them the fruits of your service such that all may mutually benefit. Ultimately, such is how my dynasty have acted in their service and I believe both sides can say that they have found the situation to be to our liking.
Well, isn't that interesting, you think to yourself as you nod to the warrior. Who nods in return and steps back behind the inquisitor. "Thankyou for your valued input into these discussions"
The imperials have made an offer of peace that comes close to but is not quite vassalage. You do however believe that you could negotiate a better deal than the one they have proposed. What do you choose
Pick one of the following three options
Please label your choice under NEGOTIATIONS
[ ] Provisionally accept the deal, though argue for a better one . (This will produce options similar to the discussions with Thotep. Though If you do find the resultant deal not to you liking. You still have the choice of war
[ ] The direction of these discussions is not pleasing to you. Reject the offer and return to your fleet.
[ ] Not only are these terms unacceptable, they are also insulting! Attack the Inquisitor presently and begin battle that way. (near certain loss of respect)
(!) Unlocked due to Mindshackle scarab factory.
This option may be taken in addition to any of the above three
Please Label your choice under MINDSHACKLE
[ ] you have a small cache of mindshackle scarabs hidden upon your person. Attempt to infect the inquisitor with them under the eyes of her space marine guard to either make the following battle easier, or to ease negotiations)
(1D100 + Intrigue) (If discovered will trigger significant respect loss)
[ ] Do not utilize your mindshackle scarabs
In addition you have been provided with Admiral Shreeder, the man who stated the second battle of Daeloth 10 years ago. This will have little to no effect on the quest and is simply a character choice
Please label this option as SHREEDER
[ ] Kill him here and now. A summary execution is all he is worth
[ ] Make a grand show of his execution back upon Daeloth
[ ] Release him upon one of your worlds, he has ceased to matter
[ ] Keep him alive and imprisoned forever, as practice for your psychomancers and as punishment for his crimes
1 day moratorium
