Lorem ipsum dolor sit Familia

Even as Faltra was in a state of conflict, the peoples of the world lived their lives. The present threat of the JSDF and the Wyverns were concerns of the Empire, not its citizens, the people worked and relaxed not giving a worry to the advancing armies but worrying about getting food on their tables.

Such was the life of a feudal world, like so many others, this one was no different, taverns littered the land as all peoples of social standings mingled and drank side by side. Though that wasn't the only thing that happened in taverns, rumors and gossip spread through the land by word of tongue.

Such a situation is happening in such a tavern, a bar maid was serving a table as she serves the cups of alcohol, she tells the table of a rumor.

Bar Patron 1: "You really think that bullshit is real?!"

Bar Patron 2: "That's just some tale by an idiot!"

Bar Maid: "It's true!"

As the bar maid bickered with the table, another patron from a table next to them gave a snide remark.

Bar Patron 3: "You sure you weren't knocked out when the whole thing happened?"

Bar Maid: "Don't believe me! See if I care."

At that, both tables laughed as the bar maid walked off to serve other patrons. At a different table, four individuals heard the conversation, these men and women were different from the common patrons of the tavern, the men wore steel-plated armor as the women wore lightly plated armor.

?: "What do you think?"

She was the closest to hear the conversation. Short and brown hair, the woman asked her friend.

?: "What do I think?"

Out of the two men, this one had a less built body yet also looked younger. He had short blonde hair with a small patch of hair on his chin. Picking up his cup of alcohol he comments on the status of the tavern.

?: "The bar is filthy, the beer's nasty, and so is the food."

At that, the older man gazed at his junior and remarked.

?: "Norma, we are on a secret mission to Alnus Hill, and we're talking about a fire dragon."

From the utterance of the mission, the other woman, who had long red braided hair, spoke.

?: "You're too loud."

?: "Ah. Forgive me Princess Pina."

Pina: "You are forgiven, Grey. Hamilton, keep going."

The brunette nodded at the request.

Hamilton: "Right. The rumor's spreading like wildfire. From what the rumors say, a band of mercenaries wearing green uniforms are evacuating the residents of Coda Village, but that isn't the center of the rumor. A group of men clad in grey armor from head to toe killed a fire dragon, there are numerous stories on how these giant men killed the dragon but some say they used magic that conjured the power of the sun to burn the dragon."

Norma: "There's all talks of dragons, from ancient dragons to newborn dragons, and winged dragons, too. A story of giant men wearing steel is just like the rest, stories."

Then the same bar maid who argued with the nearby tables a minute before had walked over to the group.

Bar Maid: "It was a real Fire Dragon, sir."

She said as she placed a pitcher of alcohol on the table.

Norma: "You can't fool me!"

Bar Maid: "I saw it with my own eyes!"

Hamilton: "Would you please tell us more about the Men of Iron?"

Bar Maid: "Hm... I don't know."

Then Hamilton went through her pocket and took out a coin and showed it to the bar maid.

Hamilton: "I believe you!"

Then, like lightning, the bar maid's hand leapt at the coin and placed it into her own pocket.

Bar Maid: "Thank you, young knight! I'll have to tell you a special story, then. When the dragon attacked us that day, they saved us. The Men of Iron had a magical weapon that looked like a large iron pole, rode in a vessel that could travel at speeds faster than anything I've ever seen, but what truly named them 'Men of Iron' is the armor they wore. From what I could see, the armor is stronger than anything imaginable, even the green mercenaries' weapons couldn't pierce it. Many of the stories label the Men of Iron as devils in disguise but the truth of the matter is that the men are actually Angels."

Norma: "Angels?"

Bar Maid: "Yes, Angels. The leader of the giants told us to call them angels instead of Men of Iron. And from the actions of their accompanying mage-"

Hamilton: "They have a mage?"

Bar Maid: "Yes. The Angels had a mage accompanying them. He wore robes of pure white with a symbol on it."

Hamilton: "Could you tell us or draw us this symbol."

Bar Maid: "If you have parchment and something to draw with then I'll gladly draw it for you."

A few moments later and the group gave all the needed materials to the bar maid. As she drew the symbol of the House of Enstinum, the group of knights were quite intrigued at the symbol.

Bar Maid: "Here you go."

She handed the parchment to Hamilton as she looked at the symbol for a good minute.

Hamilton: "And this mage, what could he do?"

Bar Maid: "The mage didn't show his magics, but what I know is that the mage is a great engineer. He repaired many axels in our caravan and even made them better."

Hamilton: "I see. May I ask what happened to the people who were in the caravan with you?"

Bar Maid: "My family and I are one of the few who chose to go live in different areas of the Empire but the rest were sent away to Amarkun."

Hamilton: "Amarkun? Isn't that leagues away from Coda?"

Bar Maid: "Yes, that's true but the Angels sent flying ships with a group of more Angels, though they were tall but not as massive in muscles as the others."

Hamilton: "I-I see."

Pina: "Gods be merciful on us."

_________________________________

- JSDF Base -

As ancient helicopters of ancient Terra flew overhead, the Imperials walked out of the Lux and looked at the JSDF base.

Antonius: "Ancient Terrans, ancient tactics."

Octavi: "A star fortress."

The Imperials lined up to the gate to the base as the natives stayed with them.

- Officer's Office -

?: "Wh-Who told you that you could bring them here! You know what? Don't even mind about the villagers. Who the hell are those guys?!"

Inside an office, Itami stood in front of the desk of his commanding officer, First Lieutenant Akira Yanagida, his outburst had been made because of the news that Itami had refugees with him as well as men clad in armor.

At that, Itami straightened his body and stood firm, Akira put his hands to his eyes as he thought of a way to easily inform the general of these news.

Itami: "They call themselves marines? Uhm. Was it a bad idea?"

Akira: "The villagers might've been a problematic situation but these 'marines' will be a nightmare to tell the general."

Itami relaxed his body as he looked at Akira.

Itami: "What should we do?"

Akira: "That's what I'm trying to figure out! Damnit!"

Akira said as he slammed his arms down on his desk. Itami flinched and went back to straightening his body.

Akira: "What the hell. There's no way to evade it. I'll report your situation with the general."

- General's Office -

Akira: "Lieutenant General, the reports are ready for your review."

Akira stated, before coming to the office, he had been reciting those words, not wanting to show any fear or anxiety when presenting the reports.

General: "Oh? Did we learn anything?"

Akira: "The language barrier is a little troublesome for our forces but we've essentially made peaceful contact."

He then handed the report to the General.

Akira: "Most of them appear to be humans and practice agriculture and forestry. There's more about manufacturing and trade goods in the documents."

The general then flipped to the next page.

Akira: "Every village seems to have a village elder, but we have no detailed information about their political structure."

Akira let out a soft sigh at the end, the general giving a small gaze at the officer.

Akira: "Third Recon Team, First Lieutenant Itami Yoji had arrived with a group of villagers, he hopes to see them have refugee status."

General: "That's a terrible idea, given the already troublesome barrier that is language. We also don't want the people to think we kidnapped these people and spin the narrative. As well, I'm quite disappointed that you wish to evade the topic of these 'marines,' who came from this Imperium of Man, that the Recon Team has made contact with, add to the fact they are here and requesting to meet me."

Akira: "Forgive me, Lieutenant General, I hoped to figure the problem of the villagers first then move to the problem with the marines."

The general sighed.

General: "Let the marines through, I'll speak with them but on our terms, their weapons are to be confiscated with their armor to be taken off."

Akira: "I'll immediately relay the request but onto the problem of the villagers. We can easily explain to any observer, military or otherwise, that the people came to us for refuge and we are simply giving it to them."

The general then relaxed on his chair, his mind a little more relaxed than before.

General: "Alright, fine by me."

- Akira's Office -

Akira: "Give thanks to God today, Lieutenant Itami. The general said permitted for the villagers to become refugees on humanitarian grounds. As well, the general told me to tell you that the marines are allowed to meet with him on terms that their weapons are to be confiscated and their armors to be taken off. You are hereby ordered to provide the refugees and observe them while also escorting the marines to the general. Understood?"

Itami: "I've got to take care of them?"

Akira: "Yeah, so..."

Akira then shot up from his chair and shouted.

Akira: "Get going!"

- Halls of JSDF Base -

Itami walked through the hallways of the base and informed his team of their orders.

Itami: "Kuribayashi and Kurokawa are to go get some rations from the mess. Kurata and Tomita, you guys get tents from the post engineer."

Recon Team: "Roger."

Itami: ""Though before you go, Kurokawa."

Kurokawa: "Yes."

Itami: "You'll inform the marines of the situation."

Kurokawa: "Yes."

They all then went their different ways.

Itami: "Now the paperwork."

Itami grumbled, preparing himself for the mountain range of paperwork he would need to do.

?: "Hey, Itami"

Someone called out. Itami looked to his right and saw Akira.

Itami: "Lieutenant Yanagida."

Akira: "Come with me."

- Somewhere at the Base -

Akira: "You did it deliberately, didn't you?"

Itami: "Do what?"

Akira: "Don't try and fool me. You never missed a single check-in but after the fight with the dragon, you suddenly had comms trouble. You didn't want to be ordered to retreat, right?"

Itami: "Well... uhm, this is another world. Could've been due to a magnetic storm or the ionosphere, right?"

Akira: "You know you lie terribly."

- JSDF Base Entrance -

Mari: "We've been told that your meeting with the general was permitted but on a few terms."

Octavi: "What terms?"

Mari: "Your weapons must be confiscated and you need to get out of your armors."

At that, each of the Wyverns blood boiled, it was tradition in the Legion to never allow outsiders (those not of the Legion) to never see your skin, far more your face, only the most important of times did the removal of one's helm and armor were to be allowed.

Octavi: "Then so be it, if this gives us an alliance with ancient Terra then this sacrifice is but a fraction of what we'd do."

Mari: "Thank you for cooperating. You will just need to hand over your weapons, your armors can be left with your vehicle. I'll have someone stay to look after them."

Octavi: "That will not be necessary, the Lux has a built-in AI that will defend itself as well as the armors around it."

Mari: "Ah, I see. Then please if you may remove your armors, I'll escort you to the general."

Octavi faced his team and glared at them for a few seconds then they all went to the Lux. 5 minutes later and the marines are in their undergarments, most of the marines had hoods concealing their faces while Octavi saw it fit to have his face shown out of respect.

Mari had been waiting at the entrance, the villagers with Rory had been sent to the refugee camp.

Octavi: "We are ready."

Mari: "Then please, follow me."

- Refugee Camp -

As they were ordered, Takeo and Tomita had prepared the tents while Shino unloaded the food she and Mari had gotten from the mess hall. The villagers were all impressed by the display of quick and simple food that Shino had shown them.

Everyone was fixated on the can of rice and chicken but the elf alienated herself.

- General's Office -

When the Imperials went through the base, many of the JSDF soldiers had stood in silence, as if being paralyzed, looking at the 5 large men and the man with a white robe looking all over the base.

Finally after going through numerous hallways and corridors, the Imperials finally got to meet the General.

General: "I am Lieutenant General Hazama Koichiro. You must be the captain of this team."

Octavi: "That is correct. And I presume you are the highest ranking official this side of the portal?"

Koichiro: "If you mean the Gate then yes. You must feel tired after the long ride here, take a seat."

Octavi: "Forgive me but I must decline, your seat is not made for Astartes."

Koichiro: "May I ask what language you use?"

Octavi: "It is what we know as the 'Serpentine Tongue,' our language is mostly believed to have derived itself from the ancient Terran language of Latin."

Koichiro: "But you know of English."

Octavi: "In our terms, 'English' is Low Gothic."

Koichiro: "So there shouldn't be any language barriers in discussing this meeting, right?"

Octavi: "There won't be."

Koichiro: "Then let's get on it."

- Somewhere at the Base -

Akira: "Listen to me, Itami. The Special Region is a treasure trove for us. First off, it is an inhabitable land, second an abundance of untapped resources then as a cherry on top there is no pollution to speak of. We've started to find mineral deposits right outside the doorsteps of the base that could turn the world economy upside down. Now, what you did, it wasn't just bring back some refugees but you made contact with a civilization thousands, if not, millions of years far ahead of ours. And from what the captain of this diplomatic team told you, their civilization spans across nearly the entirety of the Milky Way, just think of the worlds worth of resources we'd have access to. That's a civilization you want to be friends with. Once the government finds out about them, the whole world will eventually find out, offers of power and wealth will be given to those marines just for them to teach us how to make their technology... "

Akira paused as he prepared to say his next words.

Akira: "Is it worth the risk of turning everyone against us?"

Itami: "And if it is?"

Akira: "In politics, the country with the most assets wins, but the country with the best allies will make any resource worthless. This is an extreme example, if we could acquire the resources of the Special Region then add the technology we could gain from the Imperium of Man could give us, we could make a choice like that."

Itami: "Yanagida. All I did was bring some refugees over here and escort a diplomatic team."

Akira: "You've built a relationship of trust and friendship with both. You're the most important person in this base as of yet."

Akira then started to walk off.

Akira: "Itami, in a few days, you'll be given an enormous amount of freedom to act. Put it to good use."

- Lux-Celeritate -

It was night, a few hours had already passed since the diplomatic talks had ended and to say it was fruitful would be an understatement. The deal that the group gained from the talks follows.

________________________

[Treaty of Two Humanities]

This treaty stipulates the Non-Aggression Pact between the Imperium of Man and any forces coming from Earth (Ancient Terra). Any and all peoples who committed an act against the Treaty shall be punishable to the law to the side which they have wronged.

* The actions one could do to attain such a punishment vary from theft, murder, and other similar crimes. Upon this stipulation, the criminal shall be extradited to the wronged side and shall be left for them to decide their punishment.

*All lands southeast of Alnus shall be left to be governed by the Imperium of Man with the rest unclaimed territories such as unexplored continents and landmasses to be claimed by those who found them. Acts of illegal mining, logging and other resource extracting shall be punishable by 20 years in jail or 5 years as a Servus of the Steel Wyverns Legion.

*Adding to the Non-Aggression Pact between the Imperium and Earth, the Techtites, under command of Dux Johann (Lord-Primarch Arturius Imperia's highest ranking official in the Special Region), shall send a contingent of Tech-Engineers and Tech-Seers to speak with Earth engineers and scientists. Each month, the engineers and scientists must be replaced with a new member. A treaty for technology-sharing as well as the banning of sharing of technologies of great import and danger shall be signed at a later date once ties between the Imperium and Earth are officially made.

*Through the following weeks, preparations will be made for the Wyverns to send a unit of men over to the JSDF base to stand as an Honor Guard for the base while vice-versa shall be done.

*Once seen fit, a diplomatic envoy shall be sent to Earth as a token from the Emperor of Man, a request shall be made from the Legion to send a Frater Archon to be seen as a herald of the Lord-Primarch. Vise-versa, Earth, or the UN (as its greatest governing body), shall send a diplomatic envoy to the Steel Wyverns, where they shall be escorted to Serpens Prime and meet with the Concilium Legione (highest governing body of the Legion besides the Lord-Primarch).

All stipulations written upon this treaty are officially ratified with the signing of Lieutenant General Hazama Koichiro and Verbum Dux Octavi Augi. God Bless Earth and may the Light of the Imperium shine over all.

________________________

The Imperials were resting in the Lux while Antonius had requested to be escorted to the refugee camp. Speculations from the team theorize that he is there to 'borrow' some archeotech devices and equipments.

Rumus: "Let's just hope that Antonius doesn't get caught."

Octavi: "One can hope."