Jake and Riojme stood together with the Attendants and Ming and Jang not far behind. From the palace entrance came several Replini to greet them. The one coming first was decked out in elaborate yellow attire and had gold covered horns. Jake knew that he must be the Emperor. The ones following must have been the guards. Jake noted their uniforms and pistols.
He had become familiar enough with Replini pistols from conversations with Black Kingdom guards and Skepre. They were laser-based powered by some really sophisticated fuel cell technology shared by their vehicles. They didn’t have quite the devastating effect that the Attendants microwave pistols had, but they were powerful nonetheless. At a 20 to 1 ratio between Replini guards and Attendants, it was clear that Replini pistols could do quite a bit of damage.
While the Emperor was approaching and Jake was contemplating these things, they got a message from the space station. An orbiting weapons platform had targeted it and was firing a series of massive laser pulses. It was technology similar to the pistols but on a grander scale. Within a few seconds reports came back to them that while the platform’s fuel stockpiles were now depleted, the space station was completely ruined. At least they were safe in the Yellow Kingdom. The Black Emperor wasn’t likely to start a war directly by assassinating the Yellow Emperor.
Before the station was destroyed, the last vacikarce had been dispatched to their location. And they still had their headbands and orbs so at least they could get some more of their exploration mission accomplished before they had to return to Earth.
The Yellow Emperor approached with his skin rippling with red hues. Jake recognized this as an almost familial greeting indicating joy. He began to speak in typical Replini clicks:
“I have a place prepared for you to stay. I am very much looking forward to your time with us. The Black Emperor may not have been entirely truthful with you and I would like to ensure your views of our planet are accurate. My hope is that you will also share information about yourselves and your background with us. Do you require food or rest before we begin?”
Ming was typically spokesman at these events and, as usual, he took the liberty of responding.
“We are also eager to begin learning from you but our escape from the Black Emperor has been stressful. We would like to rest. Could we begin our conversation tomorrow?”
“Indeed we will accommodate you every way we can. I hope my spies in the Black Emperor’s palace have provided accurate information about your accommodations. If there’s anything you need, let me know. Please follow me.”
He led them up the stairs and into the palace. It was the same spacious, plain, impressive layout as the Black Emperor’s place. Apparently the palace design was a standard imitated from a previous dynasty when the planet was unified.
One thing that differed was that the Yellow Emperor kept his guards out in the open and there were many of them. Jake was glad that their contingent of Attendants was accompanying them in case the Yellow Emperor was as dangerous as the Black Emperor.
The Emperor and his guards led them into a room that, to their relief, was fitted with chairs and a bed. Unfortunately, like at the Black palace, instead of normal toilets and sinks, it was also outfitted with many water filled basins to serve as toilets and for washing.
The guards were then posted outside the door to the room and the Emperor left.
