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The Empire was in an uproar over the announcement of their new general. It had already been many weeks since the devastating event which resulted in the death of their beloved former general and the grief had been there since, until the new general was announced. Emperor Zeppelin A. Guylos II had officially announced a inauguration to be held only three days ago, and since preparations had been made. It was to be a holiday, a celebration of the strength of the empire.

During those three days rumors of what the new general spread like a wild fire throughout the region. Some claimed he was larger than even the Republic's general, others said he was going to be faster than any man alive. Any rumor bringing glory to this person was spread. Only truth to any of these rumors was the soldier had come from an incredibly secret branch of the military, one that only took orders from the Emperor himself. Nothing was known about this person's personal life.

Pride swelled through empire. It seemed as though everyone in the streets were wearing colors to support their country. Signs were posted in shops and homes praising the strength of the empire. It was over the top, but most of the grief came from the feeling of being weak. The Republic's general was shot but not killed, yet their was killed by a single bullet. Many blamed the Republic for the murder because of this. Those rumors were promptly silenced for the sake of the treaty, but the thought was still there in a few.

The scene of this event would be held in the very yard of the impressive palace of the Emperor himself. A large stage was set up for the Emperor and his closest bodyguards and servants, and of course the new general. The seating arrangement made where who was sitting where obvious. No chair was larger than the cushioned thrown of the Emperor's. From that center piece the chairs slightly got smaller signifying the importance of each person. The closer to the emperor the more important. A chair at the right hand of the emperor was reserved for the new General.

Attendants of the event worked like bees trying to make sure everything was perfect. Balloons, ribbons, flags, everything had to be perfect. Even the guard ZOIDs who stood in the and loomed over the event revived a fair amount of decoration making them seem more festive. The Genobreakers looked fetching in their matching ribbons.

No chairs were set up for the guests, they were expected to all stand in a packed mob and observe the event from the comfort of their feet. Refreshments were served, but had several guards placed to be sure no one went for snacks during the planned speeches. In fact several guards were planted around the event to assure total respect.

People were barred from entering the event until everything was perfect by the Emperor. Once he inspected everything he vanished once again into the palace. From there everyone was ushered into the event. This was to be by far one of the largest gatherings the Empire had ever seen. It was hinted, stressed even, that this event was necessary to attend to. Lest you be labeled a traitor to the thrown. Soldiers especially were ordered to attend the event. They would be the first allowed to enter the yard.

Even as the first people were allowed to enter the yard they promptly took notice of a highly decorated woman standing at the podium standing at perfect attention. She observed the event like a hawk with her sharp blue eye. Her right eye was obscured with a special kind of eye patch. As was her right arm covered with a decorative half mantle bearing the logo of the empire. Her skin was fair, very fair. It helped her rosy lips stand out on her smooth face flawed only by the long scar over her right eye.

The bright morning sun reflected nicely off her platinum blond hair, which would have been the only reason why she attracted any attention at all. Most were too excited about seeing the new General to take notice of her. Oblivious in their own glee.

And thus the inauguration began....

One thing was for certain; there seemed to be an awful a lot of celebrations going on for the Empire as of late, between the 'death of a traitor' and this now. Shun supposed it was good for the moral of the nation, but all the noise and hubub was wearisome. At least this time around it wasn't focused on himself. So in a sense, he was rather glad for the new general to be coming around to take the attention away from the Private.

Though he wasn't one for big parties or anything of the like, he had to show up for this one whether he really wanted to or not. Then again, he was rather curious of who the new General would be anyway. This man or woman, after all, would essentially be his new boss. There certainly seemed to be no end to the various rumors of what people thought the new person would be so he wasn't really expecting any one thing. All he hoped was that they were competent and not some corrupted fool like the soldiers Nick had to deal with during her whole ordeal.

Trying to lay low to avoid having to deal with people, Shun stayed back away from the bulk of the crowd with Bent-Tail at his side. The rat organoid relished all the joy and excitement as usual and a part of him wanted to go out and meet some of these strangers all around. He didn't want to leave his pilot, so for now he was content with just watching the masses mingle about. Just about everyone was talking about the same thing anyway. It was all speculations and wonder really.

Looking past the whole group, the soldier too note of the fancy looking woman at the podium. Was she the new general? Or was she simply there to announce the presence of the new person in charge? He couldn't be certain. Either way, he was hoping things would get started soon. The quicker they began, the sooner it could be done with.

Everyone was able to get in a good half an hour of socializing and refreshments before the ceremonial trumpets were blown. The Emperor always had a loud entrance. Before long a whole orchestra joined the lonely trumpets in playing the national anthem of the Guylos Family. Only different from the national anthem by a few extra notes.

Most people snapped into attention immediately as he took stage and from there his seat. A long trail of servants followed behind him and placed themselves behind his large thrown. After his servants arrived the honored guests arrived and stood by their chairs, not sitting as the Emperor had. The only chair to remain empty was the chair directly to the right of the ruler.

The woman at the podium had respectfully turned her attention to the Emperor and held it there until the long line of 'important' persons had passed. When the Emperor gave her a nod and a flick of his hand, which remained resting on the arm of his thrown, she turned back to the crowd. The other 'important' guests than took their seats.

"Welcome to this special event Granted by our most esteemed ruler. Today we are gathered to unveil our new leader, the shoulders of this nation, our new general." The crowd cheered at those words. "With our general we will show the world that we are a strong nation and that we will not be stopped no matter the circumstances."

Behind the Emperor nodded slowly, but showed no sign of applauding himself. He remained dignified and silent. As did the rest of his servants.

"Without further delay I introduce to you, by the grace of our emperor, our new General, General Wulfgang Amadeus." With that said the woman stepped aside as a much older man approached the podium. He was by far more decorated than the woman. Metals clinked and swayed as he walked. His build was that of an average man, not too bulky but not so skinny to be considered a tooth pick. His hazel eyes hid underneath his thick brown, and graying, brow. When he removed his hat his dark hair, streaked with gray lines, was revealed. His strong chin was clearly visible on his clean shaven face. Every feature on his strong face was chiseled. In fact the man looked to have come from another provence. His bold features stood out among anyone up on the stage.

"It is an honor." he spoke with a strong and very bold voice. "And it is with great honor that I decline this privilege." The crowd burst in a wave of gasps and wide eyes. No one ever had declined an honor. But this gentleman did not stop there. "I decline this privilege and pass it to someone more worthy of the title..... Please, with all do respect, this honor will be passed to my long time companion in arms, Rish Pendragon."

The 'hawk' woman stood there, as the rest of the crowd, wide eyed. In a panic she quickly looked from the Emperor to her former comrade. The Emperor himself seemed shocked by this bold move. No one had denied him his will. Further more, no one had ever appointed a general but himself. To simply pass an honor such as this? It was unheard of.

The crowd fell silent as he raised his hands than rose to his feet. Another unheard of gesture. His guards walked along side of him as he approached the pedestal. Without any words being exchanged he removed one of the medals from the man's decorated coat. The man willingly surrendered this particular medal than stepped back. Rish stepped forward.

"It is with pride that you carry our nation on your shoulders. Bring us strength." He spoke as he pinned the medal on her coat.

The crowd was still bewildered by what had just happened. Rish herself was at a loss for words. A huge weight was just thrust upon her in a most unexpected manner.

Before returning to his seat he whispered something the mic did not pick up. She nodded than turned to face the crowed. A roaring applause rolled through the crowed after the emperor raised his hands.

Rish had to wait for them to simmer down before she continued....

The socializing was fantastic. A good time to relax. Thankfully he managed to get Moe a grape to chew on after explaining to the nice men guarding the table that the guy would squeak through the entire thing. A lie, but it made Talon happy that he wouldn't have a squirming monster on his shoulder the whole time.

He heard his name over the low din. A soft frown creased across his studious face only to turn into a wide and goofy grin. "Ah! Ice. Nice to see you. " He didn't notice the salute like a good goofball and had to catch himself from patting her on the head. His eyes caught another familiar face in the crowd. Shun. He looked about as happy as he was it seemed. "The ever Benevolent One of Grace seems to have pulled out all the stops and gift us with fine drinks for the show. "

More was going to be said, but Moe squeaked a hello to Ranee before the roar of the trumpet and what sounded like some rendition of their national anthem chimed in.

It was grand.

But not as grand as when the grizzled veteran declined the position. Talon took a small sip of his drink then. Moe was whispering hurried hoots, honks, squeaks, and chirps in his ear. . . Hell, it seemed like Talon was frowning. This wasn't a good sign. The woman looked utterly frightened. This really was no way to start something, but with the luck, this was better than nothing. He'd like to speak with Sir Amadeus about this decision. General Pendragon looked to be too confused to make a good conversationalist. But at least the All Knowing One With the Roullete Wheel was good at situations like this. Talon snickered and poiltely applauded at the pinning of the embelm...then awaited for the rest of the speech.

If anything, Talon was grinning rather madly at this turn of events. He figured if this was the worst to happen, then the gods must be favoring them lately. Which wasn't good, but better than some unexpected shooting like that party over at the Republic. Sad day... Ooh! Champagne.... Sip!

As soon as the roars simmered down, with the help of the Emperor's hand gestures, Rish took a deep breath and continued her speech. Because this was such a sudden change of plans she did not have a written speech prepared and had to wing most of it. It would be to awkward to use the speech prepared for Wulfgang.

She spoke of her promises to "keep us strong" and to "prevail through any hardship". Though she spoke more to the soldiers than to the nation itself. About half way through the speech is was as if the masses, to include the Emperor himself, had forgotten about the odd beginning to the ceremony. Wulfgang Amadeus had all but vanished from the audience's view at the beginning of the speech and was already forgotten by the majority. People had stopped shifting around to try and get a better look at him and curious mummers had stopped completely.

Toward the end of the long speech Rish looked out as if now trying to find someone in particular instead of talking to the group as a whole.

"As decried by our great Emperor, I am to select three soldiers to take as my personal bodyguards." The way she spoke made it almost obvious to those three, in some very odd way. "I have reviewed each soldier-" as she had when her and Amadeus were to select his own three bodyguards. "-and have made my choice based upon what I have found." Of course one of the three had been highly recommended by a certain someone. And with the Emperor's approval it was all set.

"Private First Class Talon Beauregard, Private First Class Shun Kuroda, and Cadet Ranee Kaul..." Rish waited for the cheers to cease once again before she continued. "You are required to report to the palace promptly after this celebration is over."

The Emperor nodded in approval before clapping than taking his leave. Rish followed closely behind him, than the rest of the guests on stage after that. The crowed buzzed once again with talk of the events that just took place. Even some of the higher ranking officers in the crowed seemed very displeased at such a low class being requested to become bodyguards for the general. Some even went as far as to say it wouldn't be long before they would have another ceremony like this for the -next- general. The crowed, while not under the guard of the Emperor's watchful eye, quickly turned into a stew of mixed emotions.

Rish joined in the crowed to meet with the people as was tradition. She still seemed very uneasy about the whole situation, yet tried to carry on with confidence.

All went quiet as the new General began her speech, Ranee took note of the few pauses though most of the time she didn't slip up. Ranee held a little more respect for her henceforth. Though Ranee couldn't help but wonder still what Amadeus was thinking.

The mention of bodyguards began, and glancing to Both Talon and Shun she watched their reactions however, when her name was announced, Ranee did her best to keep a straight face she shifted. Ranee had indeed asked for something interesting to happen and happen it did, though typically not in the way she expected and caught her completely off guard. Still she found herself standing straighter once she saw the smile on her father's face. She would make her Noble family proud.

Ranee remained silent until the ceremony was over and the crowd became a buzz with activity once more. Shun started heading over toward them. Ranee glanced to Talon "That was rather unexpected wasn't it."

"Because the Emperor does not wish to go through another assassination of his general." A stern female voice came from behind Talon only moments after his last statement. It was by chance that she had managed to find them in the crowed so quickly. " I can assure you, however, that it was neither I nor Amadeus' intentions to assign body guards. Think of it more as an opportunity to train further than any of your piers."

When she spoke of Amadeus her tone dropped slightly. She was unsure what was going to happen to him now. The emperor welcomed this change with enthusiasm, but that could have been for the crowds sake. He was gone even before she had made her way to the crowd.

The matter aside she tried to hold a calm face for the audience. It wouldn't help moral if she were fretting over something she had no control over.

The sudden appearance of the General behind him was met with a smirk. Cosmic karma loved to rain on his parade. He turned around and gave her a polite nod, raising his glass. "It was a hypothetical statement, Ma'am. May you never need us and the Ancients smile on you. " He wanted to comment on training. . .but that would have been out of line.

Somehow he didn't this this one had the ability to see dodging traps and MRZ's as training. But who knew... "Forgive my rudeness by not saluting you. I hope you don't take offense. It is a celebration after all. We should be happy and relaxed...kinda. " He gave the General a crooked, happy smile. Heck, he even chuckled, then cursed under his breath when Moe decided to almost fall off his shoulder to get a better look at this decorated lady.

Fortunately for all around -Talon excluded- Moe managed to be caught in time, though there was spilled champagne on Talon's uniform from the process. Happy chirps and hoots all around. Oh well... Four hours, a new record for something not spilled on his uniform when Moe was around.