MISSION POST: Shi Maro Space Station - Day 47 - OPEN

[enterprise_npc]

The air was one of breathless anticipation as all off duty personnel - military and civilian, Aian and Marosi - lined the viewports to watch the Starfleet ship come in to dock. Murmurs raced through the watching crowd at her strange design, at the unfamiliar words emblazoned across her hull

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[miss_gaila]

Eventually Gaila wandered away from Creed and into the crowd, smiling at anyone whose eyes met hers but not feeling at all comfortable. Much as she loved parties, this mission bothered her immensely. Finally she paused long enough to accept a drink from one of the staff. "Thank you," she said, and then returned to aimlessly wandering through the throngs of people.

[enterprise_npc]

He'd been moving through the crowd when his attention had been caught by one of their guests who had managed the distinction of standing out even more than the rest. Of course one crewmember was as likely to prove useful to know as any other, but he'd be lying if he claimed that curiosity wasn't at least in part responsible for choosing to stop and speak to this particular woman.

"Welcome to Ravanna," he said, clasping his hands behind his back and inclining his head in the standard polite formal greeting of Aia. "Corporal Varan Andryosha."

[miss_gaila]

Gaila wasn't entirely sure she wanted to engage in conversation, but it was better than wandering around worrying, and perhaps talking to one of the Aians would help assuage her fears. She smiled at the rather handsome man who's introduced himself and mimicked his greeting, clasping her hands and inclining her head. "Thank you," she replied. "I'm Lieutenant Gaila Vro. It's a pleasure to meet you, Corporal."

[enterprise_npc]

"Likewise," he replied, returning her smile. With the introductions out of the way he relaxed somewhat. "Your arrival has been greatly anticipated. This affair is causing something of a stir throughout the system."

[physicalstimuli]

Saval was more or less in his element here, surprisingly enough. He'd always been good at occupying strangers with diplomatic small talk and pretending to be genuinely interested in trivial details. In the interests of blending in with his crewmates and not offending their hosts, he was trying to be a bit more expressive than usual, though that part didn't come nearly as easily as the rest.

He accepted something fizzy and blue from a waiter, took a tentative sip, noted that it had enough sugar in it to knock out a horse, and discreetly glanced around for somewhere to put the glass down. There was very little to eat or drink around here that wouldn't make a Vulcan ill in some way. As far as Saval was concerned, this was the only area in which human bodies managed to be more efficient.

[enterprise_npc]

As one of several tasked with the security of the event, Sgt Leletha Kemet was paying more attention to her own people than to their guests. It was considered unlikely that the Federation representatives would cause any trouble. The home camp, however, was far from calm: someone had brought them here, and it followed that someone stood to benefit from their decision being against the alliance.

Nevertheless, she couldn't help but watch the newly arrived crew with interest, in between scanning the crowd for any signs of aggression from the natives. She inclined her head politely to one man in a blue dress uniform.

[physicalstimuli]

Saval returned the gesture in kind. He'd decided to forgo greeting people with his usual Vulcan salute, in case it turned out to be some kind of obscene gesture to the Aians. He was simply relieved that polite greetings here didn't involve any physical contact--he was never going to be comfortable with handshakes.

She appeared to be wearing the uniform of a sergeant, according to the briefing Saval had studied, but he wasn't quite certain enough to risk insulting her by addressing her incorrectly. Still, it felt disrespectful not to have some title to append to a salutation.

"Your hospitality is very gracious," he said, gesturing with his unfinished drink towards the lavish food and decoration.

[enterprise_npc]

"We hope that the arrangements made for your crew are adequate," she responded after a brief pause for thought. It had seemed prudent to mentally check over the sentence for errors before speaking. The ability to speak Standard well had been one of the criteria for inclusion in the preparations surrounding the negotiations, but she was still not entirely happy with her grasp of the language, especially not in what could be a potentially explosive political situation.

[enterprise_npc]

Shesta Eneth had watched the arrival of the Federation representatives intently from a short distance away. As the crowd dispersed somewhat and it became easier to distinguish individuals, she found she recognised some of the faces from the intelligence they had gathered. It hadn't been difficult to find a veritable mountain of information on the crew of the Enterprise. Sorting fact from fiction had been trickier. It would be interesting to see how successful they had been.

The crowd parted automatically as she made her way to where one of the more relevant individuals to crop up in their intel had been speaking with a young man in red. "Doctor," she greeted him, folding her hands at the small of her back and inclining her head; "Permit me to welcome you to Shi Maro."

[green_psyd]

His conversation with Robert had been necessarily light. It'd been a relief to be able to talk naturally. But, just as he'd hoped, it wasn't long before as soon as he was separated from Leslie a very important figure head of Aia came straight to him. His gut clenched momentarily but he covered it up easily with a smile and only hesitated a little before clenching his hands behind his back and giving a nod.

"High Commander Eneth. Thank you for the welcome. This is fantastic," he said evenly and calmly sparing a look around. It really was magnificent. He clasped his hands tighter, though, to prevent himself from gesturing too much. And wanting desperately to shake her hand.

He took a moment to reflect on the fact that, yes, this was a little exciting.

[enterprise_npc]

"Please do not hesitate to ask if there is anything you require," she replied. Automatically she sized him up as they spoke: he didn't carry himself as one with military training, but his size and build inferred strength enough to be a threat if pushed. Evenly she added, "And if there is anything we can do to aid in your enquiries, please do let us know. We would like for this matter to be settled as quickly as possible."

[green_psyd]

His eyes flickered back to her when she spoke again. He studied her studying him. His smile only got larger. "I'd like that as well," he said. "But these things often take time." He even sounded like he knew what he was talking about, he mused inwardly. "Actually, even though I've read the briefing, High Commander, I was wondering if I could ask you exactly what the-uh-Icarium" hours of practice in pronunciation, thank you very much, "means to your people? Why it's necessary. I'm sorry, I'm a little fuzzy on the details."

He was telling a half truth. He wanted to see the strength of the emotions he was going to be dealing with. If she was going to size him up he better do the same with her.

[vulcan_mind]

If there was anything that Spock had inherited from his father besides the blatant Vulcan genes it was his knack for diplomacy. While he did not waste much time with small talk, he did spend a great deal of time wandering the outside of the party, observing, getting his bearings before delving into conversation. The last thing he needed to be or wanted to seem was unprepared.

Refusing the offers of food, at first, Spock found himself accepting a rather intrepid looking drink. Finding it pleasant, at least from the first tentative sip, he gripped the glass tightly in one hand as he finally left the comfort of the outskirts of the party. Finding someone to talk to - someone free to converse with at the very least - was his primary goal. After all, he wanted to get to know the people of this planet better, if not discuss with his crew members what they have gleaned already.

[enterprise_npc]

A short distance away, the Marosi Second Minister was conversing in carefully neutral tones with High Commander Arin Dren of Aia. Though the tone of the conversation was civil, the two men regarded one another with a mutual air of polite loathing.

[vulcan_mind]

It was considered rude, to humans, to eaves drop and technically it was also rude for Vulcans, but Spock could not help himself. Listening in on the conversation between them was fascinating enough, but he could sense that something was wrong. It was then, he presumed, his position to step in and mediate. "Excuse me, gentlemen, but I seem to be lost. Could either of you direct me toward the facilities?" By which he meant bathroom - this was a tension relieving tactic that he had learned from the Captain. It was worth a putting into action.

[enterprise_npc]

The two men exchanged looks, momentarily united in shared bemusement. "Facilities for what, precisely?" Gened asked after a pause.

[eatabean_bedone]

Keenser surreptitiously tugged at the hem of his dress uniform, having eventually chosen the same course of action as Donnie - standing off to one side and watching everyone else muck through all this 'diplomatic' nonsense. Even the catering staff weren't spared from Keenser's glaring, although of course his glaring would, to most people, look more like a generic blank stare than anything else. It all seemed like quite a bit more fuss than was necessary. Dignitaries, socialites, diplomats... They all operated on a societal level that always left Keenser feeling as though they thought he were somehow beneath them. They were worse than admirals, and very little - in Keenser's opinion - was worse than high-ranking officers.

[transwarp_beam]

Meandering through the crowd with drink in hand and an air of having no particular purpose, Scotty diligently avoided the eyes of anyone who looked even vaguely inclined to talk to him. Thus far he'd successfully managed to avoid having to interact with anyone more influential than the catering staff - and that only in the vital pursuit of a fresh drink - and one disconcertingly bright junior officer. On the whole he considered this a win.

He brightened considerably on catching sight of his favourite diminuative nonhuman, predictably lurking against an out-of-the-way wall. He ambled on over and raised his glass in greeting. "Alright, wee man?"

[eatabean_bedone]

Keenser replied with rather less than his usual verbosity, and considering there wasn't much there to start with, it amounted mostly to a small one-shouldered shrug and an incredibly noncommittal acknowledgment of alright-ness. It was the blasted dress uniform, that's what it was. The minute he was out of it and back into his usual uniform, he'd feel much better. That, and he was still suspicious of the canapes, and he'd very nearly been tripped over by one of the catering staff who'd had the misfortune to be the very person Keenser had chosen to cut in front of in order to get to the prime glowering location by the wall. He wasn't sure what happened to a guest who got a tray of drinks spilled all over him at a function like this, but he imagined it wouldn't be pretty.

[transwarp_beam]

"Enjoyin' yourself that much, eh?" he replied, unperturbed by his second in command's even more uncommunicative than usual demeanour. He set his back against the wall and sipped at his drink as he looked out at the crowd. It certainly wasn't anything he'd define as a party. He wasn't sure what it was, really.