[u][b]Pthafh, 2nd moon of Lybaras. Unaffiliated Space
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General Harold Lindsey smiled warmly as the throng of local representatives, officials, reporters, and other types of wealthy and influential grandees entered the reception hall of the Totalist base. Though the military complex was still very much in its early stages of construction, there were enough prefab installations to hold this little event. 

Lindsey himself wasn't a fan of these kinds of displays. But the General recognized their importance of good press. True, the local governments, or at least those that mattered, had already been co-opted into accepting their terms. But the whole process would be smoother if the local population also realized that fighting the State would not be in their interests. It really wasn't going to be that hard of a mission. Tiring, surely, but when all Lybaras' sources of information about the outside Galaxy came from the State, it would be easy to show them just what they needed to see.

Lybarans, Lindsey noted, were actually an offshoot of humanity. Result of one of the many failed colonization attempts of old. The harsh alien environment had done wonders to keep their population low until scientific progress managed to recover a fraction of their lost knowledge. And so they had continued for centuries upon centuries, unknowing of the wider Galaxy. Their true origin relegated to an almost myth. Or that was what the documents had said, Lybaras and many other planets of the Lawless Zone had been being watched by one or other Sub-Directorate for centuries. 

The Zone, as a matter of fact, had never left the minds of the State. When the Collective first attacked, a major campaign to conquer the area was in its planning phase. The only reason they hadn't moved in before was because there was always something bigger on their list. Now, the Generalissimo had decided to finally do something about it before the Collective got the same idea. If this operation worked, the State would have another path to strike against the Collective, Lindsey doubted that the degenerate machines had enough forces to place a strong garrison in the border with the Zone while also fighting a multi-front war. And when the war ended, the State would have a solid foothold from which subjugate the rest of the zone. But those goals were still far from being relevant. For now, General Harold Lindsey was supposed to turn his charm and seduce the locals into the strong arms of the State.

“Good morning!” Lindsey called out, putting up a well crafted front of friendliness and cordiality. By his side, a translator communicated his words to the two dozen or so Lybarans clustered in the middle of the hall. 

“I am General Harold Lindsey and I am to be your host today!” He continued brightly, pointing to himself theatrically, supposedly the locals liked this kind of thing. “So please come along, we've got a busy day ahead of us.”

And with that Lindsey turned around and started walking through the corridors of the base. Taking care to keep his expression and demeanor constantly welcoming and cheery. The Lybaran delegation followed closely behind.

Eventually Lindsey reached his destination, a large-ish briefing room. When the door opened and the General strode inside the battalion of junior officers and aides had already finished setting up the stage for the presentation.

As the Lybarans settled in the rows of chairs arranged for them, Lindsey took his place in the podium right besides the large screen mounted directly on the wall. 

“Alright my friends.” Lindsey called out to his audience. “Settle down cause this is gonna take a while.” He cleared his throat loudly and pressed a few commands on the console. The screen lit up, showing a map of the Eastern Fringe of the Galaxy, with the Lawless Zone at the center.

“This highlighted area is were your lovely planet stands. If we look around we will see that in fact your homeworld stands awfully close to the Agonis Sector.” He placed a few more commands on the console, bringing forth a video. Actual combat footage recorded in JHS-294.

“You see those little figures in the distance, emerging from the fog?” Lindsey asked as the video played behind him. “These abhorrent creatures were the inhabitants of the ruined city you see in the background. Captured and twisted into these abominations by the Agonis Collective.” The General paused, watching the crowd showing the expected reactions.

“Unfortunately for you, Lybaras is just a short jump away from one of their major staging grounds.” He took a sip of water, letting the crowd stew in their fear for a while. “Fortunately for you.” He continued, smiling. “Your governments have already signed the necessaries treaties and compromises to put your planet under our protection. In the interests of fostering a good relationship between us, I will be giving you all first hand information of what truly lays in the stars. And I hope that by the end of our meeting you all will see that cooperation with the Totalist State is the best outcome possible for a first contact.”

[i][u][b]Three hours later.
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It was only when he heard the shuttle's door closing that General Lindsey finally dropped the smile and friendly demeanor. The whole endeavor had left him with a particular distaste for the Lybarans and their ways. But alas, it had to be done. And there was no one else better at this game than him, or at least no one among those trusted by the Generalissimo. Truth be told, this constant stream of meeting after meeting was starting to exhaust him. But Lybaras was just one of the many planets of the Zone that had fallen under Totalist influence. And Lindsey needed to go to every single one of them and pretend to care and cherish these primitive subhumans, then by the Supreme Director he would do it! It wasn't like he had any other choice if the order came anyways.

The General took the cup offered by his aide wordlessly. Starting with a short sip, letting the mix of gin and stimulant powder rest in his mouth for a moment. He wouldn't call the mix exactly pleasant, although it was popular among the higher ranking officers, but it was the only thing that kept him, and many others, soldiering on through their duties. He swallowed, the drink leaving his throat burning and his eyes watering.

The aide handed him a datapad detailing his compromises for the next weeks. More goodwill visits interspersed with the occasional visit to oversee the construction efforts and the transport of his own troops. Too few and too short to be able to actually take things in his hands like he usually preferred. Lindsey would have to trust his subordinates to do the job well. They were competent enough to do this task, he could admit. But trust the pit of snakes that was the officers' corp? Where everyone could be an informant of the DirSaf or pining for your position? That was an entirely different matter.