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Chapter Two

The Anean Star Empire

Haroma System, Haroma Station

NBS Pacesetter, Cadogan's Cabin

December 11, 7996 Haroma Year

The past day and a half was definitely about as uneventful as Cadogan had predicted. They stuck only to the jump gates and the regional gates. They were delayed at Res'Ort, however, as a rather damaged fleet was moving through the system. After Cadogan had pulled up a few reports, apparently the fleet had been engaged with Agebbian ships in a low-level skirmish on the border. That wasn't a good sign, obviously. Casualties were low, damage was low, but the fact the Agebbians struck was a poor sign only 16 years after the last war ended.

From there, it was a normal trip. Cadogan stayed in his cabin for the duration, helping himself to the few books that were left in there for the guest to read. The Pacesetter was definitely a very nice ship, very quick as the name would entail. It was also one of the last Remnora Novus designed ships still in service, with most having been mothballed in favor of Anean designs, and was one of the faster ships as a result. Lightly armored, lightly armed, but fast was the general idea of a Novus ship.

Due to the conflict on the border, Haroma was particularly tougher to get into according to the officers of the Pacesetter. Usually it was just a scan of the ship by an accompanying ASF ship, and then they'd be directed to the station. This time they were stopped, the ship searched by a team of ASF marines, identification of everyone checked, and then they were held for another hour while everything checked out. Only then were they released to head for Haroma Station.

The controller at Haroma Station had given the ship a path to follow to avoid collision with any other ship. A group of three AIs were working Haroma Station, checking and crosschecking the paths being assigned and tweaking them to ensure that there were no problems. With the tens of thousands of ships in the system, most of them docking to or departing from Haroma Station, there was little room for error.

When the ship finally docked, Cadogan gathered up his bags. Before doing anything else, and learning from his last mistake, he put his nanoweave vest on again. Communicator isn't necessary as it hadn't been adjusted to Haroma's central office communications yet, but he wasn't about to get shot again because he forget the vest. He buttoned his suit up, and then rolled his bags out of the cabin. Unlike before, the ship had docked to an actual docking arm. Rather than having to take the elevator, he was able to just roll right through the arm and onto the station.

The two agents that had helped him board the first time now followed him off the ship. He didn't question it though, assuming they were being assigned to Haroma as well. Had he not had psionics, Cadogan likely would have missed the people waiting for him, but he could sense a Tier VIII nearby. He looked to the right and saw one of the particle shields, a black Bureau shuttle, and a single human standing in a suit. When the human turned, he saw the badge on the belt. Cadogan walked toward that human and, likewise, caught the notice of the agent. He approached Cadogan, offering a hand.

"Agent Gavin." The human said as the two shook hands. "Welcome to Haroma. I am Chief Acquarone, head of the Haroma branch." He saw the other two following Cadogan. "All of three of you, get aboard the shuttle and we can be down to the office."

Without another word, they boarded the shuttle. Once in the seats and strapped in, the pilot closed the door and lifted off, exiting the station and making a turn for the planet below. From above, Cadogan almost had to admire Haroma. Gnatha had been fairly heavily polluted, Remnora Novus was a ringworld that was still mostly wilds, but Haroma was the ideal core world. Sustainable population, near perfect integration into the ecosystem, and deindustrialized. Fourteen billion lived on Haroma in the massive cities, but the majority of the surface returned to forests and nature.

They were approaching on the light side of the planet, but one glance to the surface and Cadogan knew their destination was likely on the other side of the planet. Norovona, or at least what Cadogan guessed was Norovona, was below them. Entering the atmosphere at a relatively shallow angle, the shuttle sustained the reentry heat and entered the night side of Haroma. The shuttle continued its descent, and Cadogan stopped trying to figure out where they were on Haroma. He knew little of the coastlines beyond the position of some cities anyway.

He laid back in his seat and closed his eyes, wondering just how long the trip would be until he gets back down to the surface. In the back of his mind, he was wondering just how long the reassignment would be. It then drifted to a few thoughts of Jaylene, but he shook them away. Such thoughts were dangerous while on duty. Instead he thought more about what the assignment would entail, other than the desk work of course.

The distraction of focusing on what his job could was interrupted by the flashing of various colors of lights. Cadogan opened his eyes and looked out the windows into a hologram screen on the side of a building. Given that the shuttle was flying softer now, he undid his restraint to lean over and look at the sights outside. All around the shuttle, and beyond, were just bright lights, lighting up this entire section of the city. The buildings weren't particularly any larger than those on Gnatha, but they were obviously made for a far lower density world. Cadogan almost missed the look of these cities. New Senzovona was nice, but it was very spread out since running out of space wasn't an issue, and nor was most infrastructure.

"Where are we landing first?" Cadogan asked as they continued to fly along.

"Headquarters." Chief Acquarone said. "It's in the Palace District, a wing of the Ministry of Defense."

"No dedicated building?" Cadogan asked, remembering that Gnatha had its own offices.

"No. Haroma has too small of a psionic population for that. However, we do get a very interesting case."

Cadogan tried to figure out what he could be referring to. "What's an interesting case?"

"The Minister of Defense is a Tier IX pyrokinetic, and the Emperor is a Tier III." The Chief said, and noted Cadogan's lack of a reaction. "I asked for you for a reason when I heard what happened and the Director sent out an offer to everyone. I need a high level psionic on hand. I have a lot of IVs and Vs, a few VIs, and I am the only VIII, and now we have a IX with your arrival." Again, there was no reaction, so the Chief went on to what he was planning to say, "Which would you want to cover? They are high-risk targets, and I wanted someone of significant power in control there."

That did catch Cadogan's attention, though he had been listening and considering what was being said. "Cover who?"

"Minister or Emperor?" The Chief said. "As I said, both are high-risk and need supplement to their protection."

Had he been in a right mind, Cadogan still wouldn't have had an answer immediately. Protecting the Minister of Defense would be honorable and quite interesting, but that assignment was until he resigned or was fired or something else. The Emperor though... that assignment was until death of either himself or the emperor. Both would look good on a resume if he ever left the Bureau. "Protected the Emperor" tends to get most jobs.

"I guess I'll go with protecting the Emperor. He probably needs me more than the Minister of Defense, if we're just talking about tiers." Cadogan said after some thinking.

Chief Acquarone tapped something into his datapad. "One detour then. You're landing at the Imperial Palace. The Palace Guard will give you a briefing. I hope you can wear a uniform."

Cadogan had never worn a uniform before, for anything. That statement caught him slightly off guard. "What?"

"You're a Palace Guard for the duration of your assignment here. Still officially a Bureau agent though, so you'll need to keep your badge on you at all times, but you're getting one of the Palace Guard red and black uniforms. Have fun Agent Gavin." Acquarone said with a bit of a laugh. "Upside is Emperor Xaimoungkhoun is a rather nice individual. You'll fit in fairly well I think."

"Outstanding." With the mention of a uniform - particularly with the colors in mind - Cadogan was slightly less enthused about playing bodyguard to the emperor and, probably, the imperial family. "Hold on, the Director told me this would be a desk job." He added, after thinking about it.

Acquarone laughed at that. "Like Haroma's control over that region of space, the Bureau also has little control over here. I don't need you on a desk, I need you in the field. You're too damn powerful for anything else. If he told you you're on the desk, it was an empty threat. However, I need you to adhere to protocol down to the letter. If you mess up, it's both our asses on the line. Understood?"

"Yeah, I get it." Cadogan said. "Thank you."

He relaxed a bit, and finally realized that he was going to be suffering from serious warp lag. On his watch, it was supposed to be midday on Remnora Novus, but it's probably almost midnight here on Haroma now. He drifted off as the shuttle continued on its course and he wanted to catch up on sleep just a bit to try to normalize the internal clock. From what he had studied on the Pacesetter, he was going to have to deal with slightly longer days compared to Remnora Novus; 24 hours on Haroma versus the 22 hours on Remnora Novus. Temperatures were also slightly lower, and there were seasons, and right now Haroma was in the middle of its winter.

A hand shook Cadogan awake about twenty minutes after he fell asleep. The first thing he noticed was the lack of movement, though the engines were still on. Chief Acquarone motioned for Cadogan to step off the shuttle. He stood up and followed the Chief off, grabbing his bags as he did so.

"Just head on in, ask for Captain Vasiliev." Acquarone said. "If anyone asks who you are, just say you're with the Bureau and you're expected. Captain Vasiliev will take it from there." The Chief added as he stepped aboard the shuttle. "I'll be in contact in the morning."

Cadogan let out a sigh, and then looked in the opposite direction, toward a well-lit, ancient building. He stared at it for a moment as he let the location sink in. It certainly wasn't Remnora Novus, and he was now standing on the grounds of the Imperial Palace, home of the Emperor and the imperial family, and center of the Empire's executive branch. Everything important in the Empire started here. Despite having a bit more loyalty to the former Remnoran Empire based on Remnora Novus, he had to admit that there was something quite... interesting to now being tasked with protecting Emperor Xaimoungkhoun, when he had sooner predicted protecting Emperor Boldomar.

Slightly breaking the professional demeanor he had been keeping, Cadogan allowed himself to almost end up giddy with excitement as he approached the Palace. As he walked through the gardens behind the Palace, he noticed a large female polar bear approaching him. He stopped to ask her for direction, since it was the only Palace Guard he had noticed thus far.

"Excuse me, I am looking for Captain Vasiliev." Cadogan said, getting the attention of the bear.

She looked Cadogan up and down, and then laughed. The laugh damn near embarrassed Cadogan. With a thick Vervortian accent, she said, "So you're Agent Gavin then." She was a good three feet taller than him, and just... massive. The warhammer on her back scared him, but he knew it would easily crush anything that she wanted to crush. She offered a hand down to him. "Captain Vasiliev, that's me. Welcome to Haroma."

Cadogan took the hand, which dwarfed his own, and the two shook. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Captain. I will admit, I am not entirely sure what my assignment will entail."

"It's fairly simple. When it comes down to it, you're a Bureau liaison." Vasiliev said as she led him to one of the side buildings, rather than the main building of the Palace. "You will be accompanying the Emperor in all tasks. Your history with the Bureau is well decorated and honorable, therefore your being here is acceptable. Bear in mind, I am naturally cautious around anyone that isn't my own soldier."

She opened the doors into the building, opening into a rather large living area. The walls were a clean, ornate white with gold laid into it, like so many other Anean governmental things, and the floors were a thin plain red carpeting. There were a couple staircases leading up to the upper level. On the railing on the second floor, between the two staircases, were the coat of arms of every Anean noble house since the rise of the Haromian Empire; therefore it was just the Xaimoungkhoun crest and the Welhan crest.

From there, Cadogan looked up, only to see a slightly aged human looking down at him and Vasiliev. "Captain." He said. "I presume this is the new Bureau agent?"

Vasiliev kept walking, heading for the stairs with Cadogan following all the while. "Yes sir." At the top of the stairs, the captain stepped out of the way, allowing Cadogan to approach the man.

Cadogan had already placed who he was anyway, judging by Captain Vasiliev's glaring down at him as he approached. Regardless, the Emperor approached him first. "Welcome to Haroma, Agent Gavin." He offered a hand out to Cadogan, which surprised him, but nonetheless he shook. "Tier IX electrokinetic. Interesting. Nonetheless, it's good to meet you. It's getting late though, so we'll be able to talk more in the morning. I hope you don't mind waking up early, I start my day around six. Anastasia will get you settled in."

That was almost too early for him. He could do it, but it would definitely take some adjustment to ensure he was awake for it every morning. "Thank you sir." Cadogan said, only a bit nervous. He left it at that, not knowing what else to say.

A few things were said between Anastasia and the Emperor in Vervortian before the emperor headed through the only set of double doors and closed them behind him. "I'll show you your room Agent." Anastasia said while taking the lead again and expecting Cadogan to follow.

"Anastasia. I like it." Cadogan said, hoping to come off as sort of friendly.

"Captain Vasiliev will do fine though." She said, having expected him to say something about the name. She led him to the first door on the right after passing the stairs and opened the door. "Emperor said you can take this room. Just set your bags down and get settled in, and I'll find you a uniform size that fits."

"Thank you Captain." Cadogan said while entering the room.

He left the door open as he set his bags down, unzipping them and taking all of his suits out. He kept the hangars for them, and with one hand he could just pick them up and set them in the closet. It was clear this room hadn't been used in quite a while, though it was regularly cleaned he could tell. It wouldn't do, after all, to have a poorly kept room, even if unused, in the Palace.

It was certainly a comfortable room. Decorated the same as the living area, in terms of walls and floors, it was made for someone of status. Everything was rather overpriced, Cadogan figured. He almost didn't want to touch anything, lest he get his peasant germs on things. He couldn't help but laugh at that thought despite knowing that certainly wasn't the case. Nonetheless, he'd be quite comfortable here.

Once the bags were mostly empty, save for a few smaller things Cadogan would get to later, he walked over to the window and pulled back the curtains. His window overlooked the garden, which meant there was relatively little to see through the thick vegetation and the trees. That was a quirk of Emperor Xaimoungkhoun that Cadogan had heard about. Rather than specially designed gardens, the emperor imported plants from around the Empire.

"Here, I have a few uniforms for you to try on." Anastasia said as she entered the room with several different uniforms in hand. "In hindsight, I should have just asked for your sizes, but that didn't come to me. So if you don't mind, could you check the sizes and go with one that fits? I'll get several more for you come morning."

"Do I really need these uniforms?" Cadogan asked as he took one he figured would fit best and looked it over.

It wasn't horrible looking, but the colors were... different. Pants were black, tunic was red with a white stripe down the middle, black dress shirt, dark blue tie, and a gold aiguillette running around the right shoulder. There's also a gold colored belt that would go around... somewhere. He'd have to figure that out. This was why he never joined the military. He hated uniforms and that kind of constant authority.

"Technically no, but then your status as Bureau will be rather obvious. You don't want to be that obvious right?" Anastasia said.

"Director thinks I am going to take up a desk job, so I guess you have a point there." Cadogan said, starting to take the suit off before he stopped. "Right, uh, if you could step off, I'll try it on." Anastasia said nothing as she stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her.

Once out of his suit, which was always easier to get out of than getting it on, Cadogan started to get the uniform on. The first thing he noticed was how heavy the tunic was. A feel of the material showed that it was obviously made for the year-round cold weather of Haroma. He set the tunic aside and changed in the dress shirt first. He'd leave the pants alone, given that he had plenty of black dress pants that were almost the same as the ones the uniform came with. He put the tunic on, finding it fit just as well as one of his suits, which is what he had based his choice on. He tried to button it up, having noticed the gold buttons, but then noticed a zipper. He almost laughed, until he realized that it was probably for rapid removal if needed, such as a combat situation. In that case, it made sense.

"Alright, I think I have it for the most part." Cadogan said.

Anastasia entered the room after he said that and approached Cadogan with a pair of leather boots in hand. He looked toward where he had taken off his dress shoes, and noticed one was missing. How she managed to grab that, he was curious about, but nonetheless it was rather sneaky of her. She set the boots down and put his shoe back by the other one.

"Boots are part of uniform too." Anastasia said, leaving Cadogan to slip into those as well. They were just large enough for Cadogan to get them on, and they ended up fairly comfortable. He had noticed the way Anastasia had dressed, with the pants tucked into the black boots. "There. That'll do. You look good. Go ahead and get that hung up and I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight Agent."

Left alone in his room, and now in uniform, Cadogan walked over to close the door and walked around the room a bit in the uniform getting used to the weight and feeling. Having noticed the tunic, he felt the pants that were provided. They, too, were a heavy, thick material. He'd wear those in the morning, since he figured he'd be out in the cold on patrol or something silly like that.

Cadogan stripped out of the uniform quickly, setting it back on the hangar and hanging it up in the closet. On the desk he had in the room, he placed his badge, pistol, and other small items that he'd need in the morning. A glance at the clock told him it was roughly 10 at night, Haroma time. He picked up the watch from his desk and cursed himself for buying an analog watch set for Remnora Novus. He made a mental note to buy one for Haroma. Or he could finally drop a bit more and buy one of the digital watches that he could reprogram for different planets. He settled on getting one of the solid platinum Haromian watches when he had the time and money to do so.

Comfortable again, even with the slightly cool breeze flowing through the room, Cadogan finally pulled the cover on the bed back and climbed in. The bed was slightly larger than his own at home, but he almost expected that. Either way, he had plenty of room to sleep comfortably.

Haroma III, Gracaria

Imperial Palace

December 12

Cadogan was awoken with a knock at his door. A glance at the window told him it was still dark out, but the clock read 6:00. He had been sleeping quite well, even though it was a new bed on a new world in a strange new life, but he was content nonetheless. Even though he wished for a few more hours of sleep, he still told the person to come in, and the door cracked open. In what little light he had in the room, he could see the colors of the Palace Guard uniform, but it wasn't Anastasia.

"Sir, Emperor Xaimoungkhoun requested your presence as soon as possible." The soldier said. "It would be best to not keep him waiting." With that, the door closed, leaving Cadogan wondering why he was already being asked for.

Not having time for his typical morning cycle, Cadogan turned the light by the bed on and climbed out, stretching as he did so. He got enough sleep to get through most of the day, and he figured it would be a fairly easy day given his assignment. Given that he was actually requested, which was new, Cadogan quickly got his uniform on in just a few minutes and then stepped out of the room. The soldier that had entered was standing outside. With a nod, the soldier led the way through the palace.

They descended the stairs that Cadogan had walked up upon arrival, and stepped out into the cold morning air. The strong wind blowing, combined with the temperature, was well below zero degrees. And yet, while Cadogan shivered under the uniform, the human soldier was almost entirely unaffected. Or he was just used to the cold. Given the way that humanity evolved on Haroma, it was also quite likely.

The soldiers standing guard at one of the double doors at the rear of the palace opened the doors for Cadogan and the other soldier. In passing them and finally entering the Palace, Cadogan took note of the facial protection they had against the cold. Part of him hoped they regularly changed out of their positions and moved around a bit, but dismissed the thought as being an obvious cycle given the weather.

A hall, hidden behind a fairly well disguised wall panel, led behind the regular rooms such as the kitchen and dining room, with staff doors. If the disguised entrance hadn't made that clear, it was rather obvious that guests weren't meant back here. The solder entered the last door on the left before the hall came to an end, and opened it for Cadogan. The room on the other side was clearly a small lounge meant for just a dozen or so people at a time. At one of the tables was the Emperor, with two plates of food. One of his own, and another thus far untouched but still hot.

"Come, sit down." The Emperor said after looking up and seeing Cadogan. "Might as well enjoy a hot breakfast right?"

"I suppose so sir." Cadogan said, only barely restraining the desire to basically jump on the meal. He sat down, and looked around for a moment. "Where is your wife sir? I'd have thought she'd have joined you."

"Left for the AGMC a couple hours ago on an emergency call." He said. "I guess that's part of being a doctor, even when you're empress."

"So it's just usually you here in the morning?" Cadogan asked.

"Usually, yeah." The Emperor said, pausing for a moment before he noticed that Cadogan hadn't even started to eat. "Might as well eat while it's hot."

"I wouldn't want to... stain my uniform." Cadogan said as he tried to just wave it off.

"Nonsense. Anastasia said you don't like uniforms anyway." The Emperor said, with a little laugh as he used Cadogan's own reasoning against him. That prompted Cadogan to start to pick at the plate he had. "So, tell me a little about yourself Agent Gavin."

"Nothing special I guess. Novus, Tier IX, electrokinetic. You knew that much." Cadogan said. "Grew up on Remnora Novus, parents died several years ago, no spouse, and no children. Uninteresting life while working for the Bureau."

"Oh surely there must be something interesting. After all, if you weren't interesting, you wouldn't be here."

"I've been thinking about that. What happened to cause this particular reassignment?"

"I knew you'd ask that pretty soon, so I'll tell it straight. I sort of chose you." The Emperor said, sitting back from his half-finished plate to speak. "My last psionic guard was a Tier IV. I figured that'd be enough. Of course, he overstated his power and got himself killed in a bar fight because he can't hold his liquor and psionics don't work very well when intoxicated. I asked for a Tier IX, because I know you people are well disciplined. I gave the request to Chief Acquarone and told him to find me an available Tier IX. Only a few days later, you get faced with reassignment, and Acquarone jumped on you immediately. Supposedly he told the Director he'd keep you on the desk and knew the Director didn't want you near Remnora Novus. So once the Director approved of the transfer here, it was as simple as the Chief informing me, and my review of your file before I approved."

Cadogan took all that in, sort of surprised by how... planned it was, to a degree. "Hell of a plan you two had. I guess worked out. Why was I given a choice?"

"Between the Minister of Defense and myself?" The Emperor said. "Give the illusion of an unplanned nature, but in the end I knew you'd pick this assignment."

"Interesting. I guess... thank you for the opportunity sir." Cadogan said.

"One issue we have though. Well, two issues. First, my name. 'Sir' I can tolerate, and I have for quite a while, but don't go beyond that. I'd prefer you just called me by name when we're in private." Cadogan was about to ask the name, but was stopped. "Isaiah. Second, I need to know, for a fact, that you won't turn on me. At the risk of sounding like a racist asshole, I know Remnorans don't keep to oaths of loyalty like Haromians do and I am letting you right next to me at all times of the day. I know your word is hardly a confirmation of loyalty, but if you were Haromian I know I could trust that. Where do your loyalties lie Agent Gavin?"

"With the Anean Star Empire and its people." Cadogan said without hesitation.

"That was probably the best answer you could give me. You're a government employee, not a soldier of House Xaimoungkhoun. Your loyalty should lie with the Empire, not within its Emperor." Isaiah said. Cadogan was slightly surprised by Isaiah's response to that. "What? I am not tyrant. I won't force you to hold loyalty to me. It would nice, but I won't force it."

"I was curious though. How long is this assignment?" Cadogan asked, wanting to change the subject just a bit since he had nothing to say regarding this.

"How long do you want it to be?" Isaiah asked.

"I... don't know. I guess I wouldn't mind going home at some point in the near future."

"That's understandable. See, I don't need you at the Palace most of the time I admit. I guess I'd have to ask you to accompany me out in public rather often, otherwise I guess this is probably your easiest assignment yet. Until I know you can operate well and won't turn on me for a bag of catnip, it'll be mostly personal protection assignments."

"Mostly?"

"More on that later Agent. As I said, we'll see where we stand in due time." The look Isaiah had made it clear to Cadogan that he shouldn't press the question anymore.

The rest of the breakfast went along in total silence, with Isaiah finishing just a bit sooner than Cadogan. Toward the end, Cadogan had noticed that Isaiah was picking up the pace just a bit as Cadogan quickly ate. He was hungry, having not had a proper hot meal for quite a while. Even on the Pacesetter he only got processed, mostly cold foods. It was definitely a utilitarian ship.

"Right, I have some paperwork to do for the day Agent." Isaiah said. "Feel free to explore Haroma a bit. I am sure you could use a coffee given this early morning."

"Tea." Cadogan corrected. "Too much caffeine in coffee and it may cause hyperactivity on top of the already heightened energy levels."

"Well, you learn something new every day I suppose. Nonetheless, I'll call for you if I need you." Isaiah set down a communicator on the table, which Cadogan picked up. "And that's a welcome gift for you I suppose." That was followed by a set of keys set on the table, which Cadogan also took. "If you're going to explore Haroma, might as well take my car."

Cadogan flipped the keys around in his hand a few times. "GK Andromeda V?" He said, noticing just a few similar things on the set that Isaiah had handed him.

"Of course. Best car of the line. Why do you ask?" Isaiah said while standing up.

"I have one back home." Cadogan stood up as well.

Isaiah seemed to light up just a bit. "Man of taste and refinement then. Good. What did you get extra with it?"

"Everything."

"Even the leather seats?" Isaiah asked with a grin.

"Of course." Cadogan said. "You should get to work." He added after a short silence.

"Yeah, alright." Isaiah said. "At least I know my car is in good hands. Oh, garage. Head into the west wing entry hall. The stairs leading into the garage are on the far side. You can figure it out from there I am sure. Black Andromeda V."

"Thank you." Cadogan let Isaiah leave the lounge before leaving well through the same door that Isaiah had left through. That door brought him into the Throne Room, and now Cadogan was a little lost again.

Nonetheless, he couldn't help but look around the throne room now. He walked from the side of the room into the center of the room and looked around. The entire roof was glass, allowing the light from the twin stars to come through and light the room during the day. The marble pillars were mostly just for decoration, but provided some support to the roof. Between the pillars, gold statues of the past Emperors were carved out and set atop marble bases. Banners hung from the pillars with various house coat of arms on them, signifying, Cadogan guessed, either the most powerful houses or the founding houses of the Empire. He knew of Welhan, McCovery, Coutant, Origenes, and Mestrat, but the others were unknown to him, and likely now dead houses.

At the end of the throne room was, of course, the throne. The Diamond Throne. Supposedly the throne was taken from the Remnoran Royal Palace following the Azizos Accords. It was, for all intents and purposes, spoils of war despite being taken from an ally at the time. Curious, and since it was the first time seeing the throne in anything other than photos, Cadogan approached the throne. There were no guards in the room. Mentally, he imagined what it must be like to be approaching the Emperor if he were in here. Long walk with the Emperor staring you down, statues of the ancestral monarchs on either side... it had to be intimidating.

Cadogan walked up the couple of steps of the raised platform the throne rested upon, and placed a hand on the solid diamond piece arm of the throne. He wondered just how such a throne was created in the first place. The designs near the bottom caught his attention though. He kneeled down to get a closer look. Carved into the diamond was designs depicting a seemingly ancient battle involving, as far as Cadogan could tell, old flintlock rifles. That, of course, placed the age of the throne to well over two or three thousand years given that it existed since the Exodus, but flintlocks hadn't been used since then. He was sure he wasn't the only one to notice that. As he crawled around the throne, he saw more. It turned from battles on land, to battles at sea with the tall sail ships, and one of the last ones was a clearly a signing of a treaty. If he had to guess, it was clear that it was probably a Remnoran spoils of war of some sort back before the Exodus.

"What do you think you're doing?" A voice shouted, causing Cadogan to stand up quickly, and hit his head on the underside of the throne as it extended outward above him. He doubled over in pain. "Oh shit, I didn't mean for that to happen." The voice said as it got closer faster. Even though he was in pain. Cadogan saw it was just Anastasia. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Cadogan said. "After all, we all have very thick skulls." He tried to laugh, only to groan in a bit of pain. "That definitely hurt quite a bit..."

"I guess that's what I get for trying to make a joke." Anastasia said while pulling Cadogan out of the way of the throne a bit. "It was fine for you to be looking at the throne, it's not illegal or anything."

"I didn't think so, but... damn you got me pretty good." Cadogan said. "I was just looking at the throne room since I'd never seen it in anything other than pictures, and I couldn't help but look at the throne."

"I know the feeling all too well." She helped Cadogan onto his feet. "Here, let's just get something on that injury. Doctor will be able to tell if it's something serious, or just some serious head pain." As he was sort of shuffling slowly, Anastasia sighed and threw Cadogan over her shoulder. In the back of his mind, he thought back to Jaylene, and then laughed aloud despite the pain it caused.

Anastasia kneeled down a bit to pass through a slightly lower doorframe that led into the rear hallway on the other side of the throne room. She walked into the first door on the left this time, entering a small medical bay. Had Cadogan been facing forward, he would have seen the "doctor" walking about. Cadogan was set down on one of the beds while Anastasia got the attention of the doctor.

"I sort of... scared him." Anastasia said. "Hit his head on the throne."

The doctor walked over to Cadogan and he got a better look at her. She was a hologram of a snow leopard in a typical doctor's outfit. "Name?" She said.

"Cadogan Gavin." He said.

"Oh. You're the new electrokinetic. I am Doctor Youlanda Regulski, House Xaimoungkhoun's personal physician. Yes, I am real, just up in the mountains at the moment. Yes, I can still take measurements." Youlanda did a scan over Gavin's body with an actual scanning device, which was being held by the now confirmed hard-light hologram of sorts. "Minor concussion. Excellent work Agent. For a trained professional you get scared too easily."

"I get that a lot." Cadogan admitted. Despite his professional appearance and years of training and experience, he always did get scared easily when he least expected it. Given that he figured the Palace would have no frights, he let his guard down, and now he got himself hurt as a result. Of course, it was mostly his own fault and he couldn't really blame Anastasia. She was trying to make him feel welcome, somehow, he figured.

"I would recommend just laying back and getting some sleep." Youlanda said. "I'll keep a watch on you and make sure nothing more serious develops. You're my only patient of the day, after all."

"That... sounds fine." Cadogan admitted. He had wanted to explore Haroma a bit, but his own health came first. Of course, he had the Emperor's communicator on hand and his keys. Either way, he'd surely be getting a visit from the Emperor. "Welcome to Haroma I suppose."

Anastasia rolled her eyes. "Get better Cadogan. Sorry about that."

"Not a problem Anna." He said, getting a low growl from her as she left. He couldn't help but find amusement in that response.

As Cadogan laid back on the bed, he realized how increasingly accident prone he seemed to be lately. He was shot just a few days ago, now he suffered a minor concussion. At the very least, he had a probably rather good doctor watching over him now. The nobility rarely hired mediocre doctors, and Cadogan knew Youlanda's name from somewhere. She probably won some sort of award at some point.

Cadogan let himself drift off to sleep, as he realized that it was rather convenient given that he had wanted to sleep a bit more when he was woken up. He'd have preferred that it was under better circumstances but there was only so much that he could do regarding that. The last thing he saw was Youlanda coming over and doing another scan just before he fell asleep entirely.