Ember Flames stood still, face frozen in shock at the message she had received on her holotablet, the King himself would be arriving rather soon. She had seen the King once before and only once, when he came to her old village and peacefully integrated them into his Empire, she was proud to be a citizen of the Empire, and during her short time as a citizen she had landed a nice job as a biological researcher and a Doctor, being perfect for the job of going into infectious areas due to her species natural ability to burst into flames hotter than anything natural could produce, a sort of organic decontamination.

She had the hole in her suit from where she had been shot patched as best she could, using latex spray to seal the hole, it was still rather clear it wasn't part of her suit before, but it would do for now, the 'Chief of Police' walked up to her, the androids knowing not to shoot the cops. "So, your King is on his way here, now?" Johnson asked, his eyebrow raised.

Ember Flames nodded. "Yes, soon the King shall grace this small town with his presence, I do hope you remembered the correct way of greeting him I showed you? I would hate for the King to take offense for a misunderstanding, but then again he is rather lax with things like that, regardless its better to be safe than sorry." She said, scrolling through the Empires online news feed to see how the short battle with the Storm Empire had gone. After a moment she nodded and put the tablet away, what she had read was satisfactory to her question about how it had gone.

Chief of Police, Johnson, nodded, his hair fadded and grey, having been the Chief of Police since he was 40, it had been a solid 30 years of being an active part of keeping his hometown of Raspberry safe. "I indeed do remember, Bow, say 'Your Majesty' and introduce myself, from there let the King speak, I do have to say your way of government is rather surprising for us, as a whole." He said, taking a sip from his mug of coffee, something that was in rather short supply now that the stores in town would no longer receive any deliveries of the black gold.

Ember Flames cocked her head to the side, one ear flopping down as her right eyebrow rose, looking down at the small, compared to her, man. "How so? It has been this way for thousands of years, a royal ruler, be it king, queen, prince, or princess, any respectable Kingdom or Empire always has a royal at the head of it all, its always been that way for the most part." She asked with curiosity in her voice.

Johnson did a spit take, dropping his mug in shock, causing it to shatter and splatter his shoes with its contents, he coughed for a few moments, pounding at his chest with a fist before getting his lungs under control and looking back up at Ember Flames with widened eyes. "Did....did you just say 'thousands' of years?" He asked with shock clear in his voice.

Ember nodded. "Yes, the Crystal Empire has been around, 4 thousand years, my species recently joined the Empire less than two years ago, and since then its been nothing but an improvement over our old ways of life." She answered with complete honesty.

Chief of Police, Johnson, was having a hard time processing what he had just been told, thousands of years? By God Almighty this Empire his town was now smack dab in the middle of, was older than his country by quite a lot, he'd never thought an Empire could last for a Thousand years, even when reading history books about Hitler, thinking if he had succeeded in his war effort, that it all would have fallen the moment he was dead, regardless, he'd have to get over the fact this ruler was likely a good deal older than him, so he straightened his hat with the large gold colored badge on it, and he sighed. "Our country is only 242 years old, so, its quite a shock to learn we're now inside an empire thats FAR older than I ever thought possible for a country to be, so that sort of explains why your so much more advanced than us, four thousand years ago I think people where beginning to enter the Bronze Age."

Ember Flames laughed. "Actually it was only about five years ago after the King freed the Empire from the clutches of the Tyrant known as Umbra Queen of Shadows, did advancements in technology go beyond simple crystal based armor and weapons, under the Empires top scientific minds and the guidance of our King, we have become the most advanced Empire on this planet, and soon, other planets, if our current rate of advancement is anything to go from, we already have Faster Than Light starships able to hold the entire population of the Empire if need be."

Johnson stared at Ember Flames for a few moments, before pulling out a small flask he kept for when work got a little to stressful, opened it, and took a swig, the vodka burning as it went down before with a sigh he capped it and with much internal struggle, placed it back into his pocket. "Miss.....our nation only recently landed people on the moon, in 1969, I was eleven when it happened, a small boy, I remember watching it on the small television my parents owned at the time, we have yet to land a man on another planet beyond the moon, and your telling me your empire can go anywhere it wants in the galaxy, and would do so if your King commanded it?"

Ember Flames nodded. "Of course, what the King says, happens, he is the highest authority within the Empire, he has advisors and the like to help him make choices, but if he decides he wants something done, it gets done, he controls all throughout the Empire, his kindness is almost unmatched aside from his brutality to protect his citizens and what is rightfully his, he saved this Empire from a tyrant, he brought it into a golden age, and made us the most powerful to exist, he has done so much for this Empire that to refuse even the smallest request would be seen as an insult to citizens around the Empire, this is my own opinion of course, some will have a different opinion, but mine is the majority, there are a few who get unhappy time to time, sure, but there isn't really much to complain about with how good we got it." She shrugged.

Johnson wiped the coffee that had stuck to his white mustache during his fit of coughing from shock. "I'm....honestly unsure what to think right now, I mean, its not exactly normal for an entire town to just end up on a whole other planet, I'm not certain I'm actually awake right now and that someone drugged me and that I'm having some sort of extremely realistic hallucination at this point." He said rubbing his forehead with a hand.

Ember Flames patted him on the shoulder, having to bend down to do so, since Johnson was only 5'8. "I understand this as well, when I first joined the Empire, I was confused about how it worked, and why everything was done the way it was, since I had come from a simple colony of Kirin, but given a few months to learn, I got used to it, and even to love it, I am sure if you give it a chance and try to learn as well, you will have just as much love for the Empire as I currently do." She said with a honest smile on her face. It was at that moment that a small personal troop carrier, meant to hold perhaps, 35 occupants at most, hovered into view, its engines eerily, to Johnson, silent unlike Earth aircraft would be, and Ember Flames gasped and tried to make herself presentable. Johnson could see she clearly cared about her home, and her ruler, so he patted himself down to get any wrinkles out of his uniform and made sure his gun had its safety on. It had taken 30 minutes but the androids finally stopped trying to destroy any human firearm that got near the Kirin, so long as it was an Officer with the weapon.

As the long stubby looking tube with round port like windows on the sides like some old passenger propeller airliners used to have, Johnson watched as a hatch on the side opened up, and after a few moments, a massive looking person stepped out, in some sort of scifi looking power armor, sort of like that Fallout 3 video game his grandson showed him from time to time, the figure, supposedly the King of the empire his town sat in, was by his estimates, a whopping ten friggin feet tall, Sweet Jesus Johnson didn't want to offend that hulk of a person, if he even was a person, from how Ember Flames as she had introduced herself told him, this guy was a human male. As the King was making his way over, his armors weight became apparent as with each step the sound of metal smacking into concrete grew louder and louder, he was just glad the stage he was on had been made 3 years prior out of concrete to replace the rotting wooden stage the town had been using since its founding 70 years ago, because Johnson didn't think a wooden stage would support that sort of weight.
------------------------------------------Lorenzo's POV------------------------------

As my personal carrier landed I looked into the body mirror I had, making sure my armor didn't have blood or gore on it any longer, it had been polished so the black metal shined slightly when light hit it, and my weapons had been disabled unless I was shot at. It took all of 15 seconds for the carrier to land and so, I stepped out, fearing the worst, an hoping for the best. I saw the small stage that had been set up, Researcher Ember Flames standing next to an elderly looking man in a police uniform, the yellow badge on his hat declaring him the chief, I inspected Ember closer, my helmets visor zooming in, she had been shot in the stomach, that was in the report she had sent, but it seems the cocktail of chems she had taken had done the trick, I'd have her checked out by a doctor specialized in Kirin biology later on however, never can be to safe.

I walked over, and carefully up the concrete steps onto the stage, testing to see if it would bare my weight, and to my surprise, it did, so I stepped onto it and walked over to Ember Flames, and 'Johnson' as I had been told his name was in her report, guy looked about 70 or so years old, damn. As I got within about 7 feet, he bowed to me, the bones in his back audibly cracking and making popping noises. "Your Majesty, I am Chief of Police, Johnson Aberdale, the current guy in charge of the town for the moment, seeing as we have no mayor."

I held up a hand. "You likely shouldn't bow, those cracks and pops didn't sound very painless, if you need I can have one of the medics on the team with Ember, mechanical as they may be, take a look at you to help you with any pain that bow may have just caused you." It was an honest concern, guy shouldn't go around doin shit like that, even if I am a King, old folk shouldn't bow, or kneel, or any of that shit, a simple nod would do, or even a small wave.

Johnson looked surprised for a moment, before nodding. "I will be fine, its not the first time I've bent down to do somethin, and it certainly won't be the last, ain't painful nuff for me to even decide to take pain medication for it, so don't worry about that none." He straightened himself. "Regardless, its an honor to meet you Your Majesty."

I nodded as well and took my power armor helmet off, strapping it to my hip with a maglock. "Its nice to meet you as well, I'd like to begin the process of offering any of your towns residents full citizenship to my Empire, so long as they go through the same process anyone joining would have to, or the option to get on a train to a Kingdom or Empire of their choice, because as it stands, this place is to far out to set up to the Empires water recycling plants, along with the electrical grid, perhaps once a few more cities pop up nearby, then it could be done, but that will likely be months, or more likely, a few years away from happening, and I'm sure your diesel plant won't have fuel for that long."

Johnson nodded. "I understand that, we have enough fuel to last us 25 days if rationed for the plant, and enough water to last awhile if rationed as well, the farm downtown has enough to feed folk for a few weeks after the canned and non canned goods from the stores are gone as well, so people will have about just under a month to decide if they wanna join ya or leave, seein as we ain't a large town, we tend to make most decisions as a community." He shrugged.

I nodded my head. "That's reasonable, you seem to be handling this whole situation rather well, being on another world I mean." That was honest, he seemed to be holding together rather well for all the information he's been told.

Johnson laughed. "Like hell I am! I'm freakin the fuck out, pardon my language, but I'm doin it on the inside, can't freak the town out with the one who's supposed to be the calmest of all in this situation right now, by havin a panic attack and flipping out, I'll get my turn to panic later on when I'm alone in my home, but for now I have to be the definition of calm and collected, less people begin to riot and panic themselves."

I chuckled. "I know that feeling, sometimes I want to just lock myself into my own vault and hide for a century and be left alone to not have to do anything, but heavy is the head that wears the crown as some would say." I looked over to Ember Flames. "Ember Flames, your report and duty has been exceptional for this stressing situation, you are relived of duty and I'm giving you a month of paid vacation should you choose to take it, you have served your Empire well, I'm also requiring you to go to a doctor to get better looked at for that gunshot wound you closed up with the chem cocktail issued to you, just in case."

Ember Flames's face lit up with ecstatic joy, and bowed. "Yes Your Majesty! Glory to the Empire and her ruler." She stood up and pretty much skipped off with joy, causing me to chuckle once again, that was fucking adorable.

Johnson watched as Ember Flames skipped off, almost light as air, she acted as if she had just spoke to the Lord himself and he said she had nice eyes or something of the like, then again from the way she spoke, King Lorenzo may as well be the Lord in her eyes, he shrugged to himself, he'd let people think or believe whatever they wanted to believe in, unlike most folk his age, he knew people had a right to choose what they thought about the divine, and religion altogether.

I looked back to Johnson. "So shall we begin?" I asked with an eyebrow raised.

Chief of Police, Johnson Aberdale, nodded in agreement. "Suppose we should get it done already, keepin people waitin is like settin a lit match near a powder-keg, jus waitin for a disaster to happen." And with that, I stood at the microphone that had been hooked up to speakers on the stage, normally only brought out for the annual Raspberry Harvest Festival, and spoke.

I had put my helmet back on before speaking. "Citizens of Raspberry, today is a day of great opportunity, you have but only two choices, you can join my Empire as a citizen with all the rights and perks that come with it, or you can be given 400 of the local currency and put onto a train to a Kingdom or Empire of your choosing, for there are no other real options, your town being to far to hook into our electric and water systems, and for the fact your vehicles will not have fuel as cars in my Empire are Fusion powered only, no gasoline or diesel."

Several Cameras flashed, either actual cameras or smartphones and even iphones flashing, some holding up to record me as I spoke, before someone spoke up. "Why are there no other options?! What if we want to stay here? This is our home, we can't just up and leave!" A few nods of agreement were seen throughout the crowd of people.

I sighed. "I have gone over almost all possibilities, these two options are your best bets, as you likely know by now, you are no longer on Earth, I have no idea how the hell you got here, or how the fuck I can send ya back, so these are the best options for your town at the moment, your town sits on land I own, and I can not, and will not, permit the use of petroleum based fuels beyond the 25 days your power plant has fuel for, as it pollutes the air and makes it to hot given enough time, I'm not trying to rush anything, you have exactly 25 days to decide, that;s almost a month, which should be plenty of time for you all to get together, and vote on this matter, because regardless of what your choice is, you can not stay here, there is no way it is able to happen, not only because of your limited supply of food, water, and fuel, but because this is land I own, land I had plans for, I can't have you all just building more homes or anything like that, as such I shall leave you 25 days to decide what to do." I took a breath. "For those whom wish to join and wish to do so now, you can speak to the yellow colored android called 1478, You can find it standing outside the police station, just submit your request to become a citizen to him, meaning just ask, and you will be taken to do the proper process at the facility that handles such matters, I eagerly await your decisions." I set the microphone down, and walked off the stage, patting Johnson on the back, careful not to break the guys bones seeing as I was in power armor.

Freddy looked to Fred and Joe. "While you two dorks where busy gawking at him, I realized something rather startling."

Fred looked at Freddy raising one of his eyebrows. "And what would that be bro?" Joe leaned in as well.

Freddy chuckled. "Dudes power armor looked a LOT like the XO-1 from Fallout 4, but clearly much more advanced, I think things are gonna get interesting real soon my guys."

Joe laughed. "I don't give a damn about the guys power armor, I'm gonna sign up for citizenship, maybe I can meet a nice catgirl or somethin."

Fred facepalmed. "Once a pervert, always a pervert it seems with Joe." He said with a bored tone, as if he'd said it plenty of times before.

joe glared. "Oi nimrod, I don't care what you think of me, I wanna get laid by some alien chick."

Fred just nodded. "Of course you do, of course you do." Before walking away with Freddy, leaving Joe alone in the crowed of people now talking amongst themselves.

Author's Notes:

heya all! felt randomly like writing so here ya go, a longer than normal chapter! lemme know how ya liked dis! Secondly what do ya think will happen? will some folk resist leaving the town with protest and violence? or resignation that they have only two choices that don't end with their deaths? If ya liked this, lemme know why, and if ya wanna chat on discord, I have a server for the story now where you will be updated likely right after I post a chapter, so dm me and I'll give ya my discord info so you can add me, and I'll invite ya, as it seems despite setting links to not expire, every time I post one here it goes bad after awhile, till next time, King out!