Dark Fate, Chapter 187 (Patreon)

Yeah, I'm back! Turned out it was just a 24hr bug. Nothing too bad, but I was barely able to think enough to get a couple hundred words on page yesterday. So, here's the chapter, only a day late!

Chapter 187 – Visit

Well, if there was one thing he could say with certainty, it was that the new North Korean regime moved quickly, when it wanted to. Of course, there was good reason for this. The changes that I had ‘encouraged’ in their new regime were popular with the people, but the elites still needed a bit of persuading. Oh, it wasn’t like anyone was actively opposing the reforms, not since several of the more vocal detractors suffered from terrible accidents involving sharp blades, causing them to be posthumously honored for their contributions to the state.

Frankly, the massive changes needed to make North Korea a functional state could only have happened now. The death of the previous Leader, coupled with the System causing so much chaos meant that changes could be made without it being seen as capitulation or anyone suffering a loss of face. Some people just needed to be forced to deal with the fact that their personal power was going to diminish, no matter what, and the only question was would they still have some power afterwards, or would they be the object lesson shown to others on why getting out of the way of progress was a good thing?

At any rate, once the details had been worked out, Leader Oh Min-Ji was quick to get up to Ceres, and have her first state visit outside the country’s borders. It was a big feather in the cap for both sides. Ceres obviously got to play host to the head of state of a foreign country, which was always big, and Leader Oh got to be forever known as the first international leader to visit Ceres. These were history book moments.

There was a reception in the hangar for her, obviously. Full military-style and everything. Not really my kind of show, but I understood the need to make sure everyone looked good for the pictures. Thankfully, I wasn’t expected to make a personal appearance at the hangar, and could instead focus on making sure everything was ready at the palace for her arrival.

“Master, they’re on approach.”

I nodded to Sun Zhihao, the Slave-Inspector General of my bureaucracy. He was the one ultimately in charge of administration for most of the civilian affairs in the kingdom. Of course, he had originally come to me as a spy from China, hoping to subvert my new kingdom. Unfortunately for him, I’d written provisions in the System contract he signed preventing any such foolishness. It took some adjustment, but now he was quite loyal to Ceres.

I watched as the car pulled up in front of the palace. There were public teleporters and trams to connect different districts, and mana-fueled shuttles moved through each district, offering ease of movement throughout the asteroid. However, that didn’t mean that there weren’t cars. Just that they were all government vehicles or special VIP things. Stepping out of the back of a sedan on Ceres was like stepping out of a stretch limo on Earth.

Oh Min-Ji

Human Female

Level 22 Fighter / Diplomat

Titles: Survivor, Leader

Attributes: STR 24, DEX 12, CON 24, INT 15, WIS 30, CHA 30

Market Value: 6500 gp

To my minor surprise, the Leader was the first out of the car, opening the door herself, before the driver could get to her. That was different from most dignitaries, who used things like that to signal their importance. I knew that Leader Oh worked her way up through the ranks, but this independent, no-nonsense look was refreshing.

The leader herself was not ‘pretty’, in the traditional sense. She wasn’t a statuesque beauty, either. She looked good, yes, but was fairly average, all things considered. Now, her aura? That was interesting. It was more severe than sexy, the imperious type that was fully intent on doing whatever it took to get what she wanted, and wouldn’t take any prisoners. She wasn’t the type of charismatic that caused people to swoon for her, but rather the type that would cause them to line up and follow her into hell itself.

She was wearing a military-style suit, tailored to fit her perfectly. It wasn’t an actual uniform, and wouldn’t be mistaken for such unless one was heavily drunk, but it had the same kinds of lines. I’d heard that North Korea was developing a more martial aesthetic after so much contact with Ceresan forces, but it was still nice to see.

Looking closer, I also noted that she openly wore a pistol on her hip, with a knife tucked into her boot. Since she was level 22, I had to assume that she was capable of using them fairly well, but there were still people who tried to get levels the easy way by paying others to carry them through dungeons and so forth, so I couldn’t say for certain. Still, she didn’t carry herself like someone who was afraid of getting her hands dirty.

“Ah, Leader Oh,” I smiled as I met her at the palace door. “Welcome to the Kingdom of Ceres. I hope you have had a pleasant journey?”

She smiled pleasantly enough at me. “Yes, thank you. The flight up was surprisingly smooth. I know that these shuttles are not like the old rockets from before the System came on, but I was still expecting something a little more violent.”

I chuckled, as I led the way to a sitting room where we could talk privately. “Oh, I know. The first couple times I went to space, I couldn’t believe how smooth it was. Everyone says the same thing. The trick is in the inertial dampeners. They’re what allows ships to not only accelerate as they do, but pull of maneuvers that would leave pilots in traditional aircraft blacking out from the strain.”

“Yes, I was a pilot, before the System. Attack helicopters, for the most part, but I was rated on jets, as well. You could always feel it if you were pushing too hard. These shuttles and your fighters make it almost seem too easy.”

We reached the sitting room, and I took one couch, and motioned to the one opposite, offering it to her. “My pilots tell me it is almost like cheating, yes. I’m more a ‘boots on the ground’ type of fighter, though. Oh, I have the skills to fly, through the System, but there’s a difference between having a skill, and having the proper experience and training to truly use it. I could take the controls in an emergency, but I would never be my first choice for flying in a combat situation.”

Leader Oh’s mouth twitched into a small smirk. “Really? I would have thought you would have jumped at the chance to have your own ‘X-wing’. Or perhaps you’re more of a TIE Fighter person?”

I sighed dramatically. “I made the tragic mistake of allowing my design staff to watch science fiction movies for inspiration, so that they could design fighters and craft that would fit human sensibilities better. There are a lot of ship designs out in the galaxy, and some of them are… deeply unsettling to humans.”

“Like the big ship that yelled at the entire solar system the other week, and now is taking up space in your shipyards, undergoing some kind of refit?”

“Yes, exactly. That kind of ship may have its value in certain types of combat scenarios, but all its advantages pale with the creepiness factor it has to humans. You look at it, and it just feels… wrong. We’d never be able to get a group of humans to effectively crew and fight such a ship. The good fighters wouldn’t be comfortable on the ship, and the ones who would be comfortable are usually too touched in the head to be good fighters.”

“So, an alien ship for an alien mindset?”

I nodded. “Yes, the one piloting the ship is most definitely alien. In fact, more-so than most. Apparently, her mother ran afoul of some entity that was almost straight out of a Lovecraft story. The kind of thing that breaks your mind to try and fully comprehend it. So, naturally, she wasn’t exactly a normal girl for her species.”

Oh blinked, whatever she was about to say forgotten. “Wait, you’re telling me that tentacle monsters from outer space exist, as something other than some pervert’s fantasy?”

“Yes, there are stranger things out there than even Japan can think of. Fortunately, such things tend to avoid well-populated areas, unless some idiot cultist decides to be extra stupid and summon them. However, adventurers delving into dungeons or exploring the far reaches of space and hidden places will stumble across them. Most will just kill you, or devour your soul and use your body as a puppet to lure in more food. The ones that seek to breed with mortals are blessedly rare.”

One of the maids walked in at that moment, and offered a glass of wine to each of us on a tray. Oh’s hand was shaking slightly as she picked up her glass. She took a sip of the wine to try and calm herself, before saying, “Well, I can honestly say that I did not expect to be discussing such things when I came here.”

“Well, I figured that the Kroscyl and her captain would come up at some point, so I did a bit of research. At any rate, pulling the topic back to something more appropriate, it turns out the captain of that vessel is the spouse of one of my designers, so, to keep the woman happy, I gave the captain a Letter of Marque, turning her into a privateer.”

“What, didn’t want to add that ship to your navy? You’ve been taking apart and going over that Incux vessel you captured pretty thoroughly.”

“No. As I said, the Kroscyl is too alien for any of my people to be entirely comfortable around it. And the way that it is crewed is not something that Ceres would allow for its Navy.” I held up a hand to stop the question I knew was coming, “The captain of that ship is a very talented ‘Hivemind Controller’. She turns people she captures into drones which she pilots, operating them like a hivemind. Basically, the Borg, from Star Trek, but with more tentacles.”

“I think I will need something stronger than wine before this is through.”

“Yes, that is a common reaction,” I nodded. “But I’m afraid that you’ll need to wait until you return to your lodgings for anything harder. I wouldn’t want anyone to get the mistaken impression that I was trying to get you drunk and work my demonic wiles on you, after all.”

“To be honest, I half-expected you to do something like that as soon as we met. You do realize that you have something of a reputation, yes? Especially since my people at the embassy tell me the Chinese ambassador is the second foreign official to be carrying your child?”

I chuckled at that. True, I had done quite a lot, and with quite a lot of people. I’d made no secret about being an incubus, after all, and certainly hadn’t hidden what I did. “Well, I’m a sex demon, but that doesn’t mean I have no sense of self control. But that does beg the question of why you agreed to the meeting if you thought that was what would happen.”

“That’s simple,” she said, plainly. “It was a test, to see what would happen. If you used demon magic or some System compulsion to get me to sleep with you, then that would be a betrayal of trust, and would give me leverage over you in the future. You not doing something like that proves you’re more trustworthy than many believe. And it isn’t like there aren’t products on the System Shop that are like magical versions of the morning after pill. A small risk for me, but it gives me the information I need to better lead.”

She paused for a moment, and then said, “And the rumors also say that you are skilled, as only a sex demon could be. So, even if I was wrong about you, there are far worse ways to learn about someone’s true nature.”

I blinked, my brain actually freezing for a moment before all the trains of thought started going at once. “Well, I can’t say that I was expecting that!” I laughed, leaning back against the seat. “If that is how you approach all your official interactions, then I think we’re going to be very good friends, indeed.”