Chapter Ninety-Three - Dressed to Impressed

It came as no surprise that someone in the position of Empress or Emperor would run into people that could be considered traditionally attractive.

Honeypots, of course, but also normal functionaries and officers of a high enough income to afford well-tailored uniforms and cosmetic enhancements. Mars prided itself on having a healthy, happy populace, and that often translated into a culture that prized physical health.

Basically, the average Martian was fit and very proud of it, and that meant that they were often also very attractive.

Ivil had been to plenty of high-profile gatherings and met with models and politicians whose entire careers depended on being attractive. Still, what she saw before her at the moment made any Mars Top Model showing pale in comparison.

Aurora was tapping her feet with obvious impatience in the loading area the Sappho was connected to. She was in an opulent, high-fashion ensemble. A fusion of a military uniform and evening gown, with intricate golden embroidery and red, velvety fabric.

The dress had gold-fringed shoulder pieces and a high neckline with a white cravat. The neck seemed designed to keep Aurora's head high, not that she needed it. Large, round glasses were pinched over her nose, which was wrinkled with obvious impatience.

"I like what you did with your hair," Ivil said as she stepped out of the airlock.

"In the time I had? I worked miracles," Aurora said, though her hand did surreptitiously reach up to fix her hair a little more. It was quite voluminous at the moment. Very curly. Ivil wanted to sink her hand into it and pull Aurora closer and...

Ah, right, dinner.

Ivil glanced to the side and caught Twenty-Six's eyes. The woman blushed prettily. "Aurora did it," she said, and it was definitely a compliment.

Ivil smiled and looked her up and down. Unlike Aurora's far more formal dress, Twenty-Six was in something a little less complex. A figure-hugging dress with a plunging neckline--which showed off what there was to show off--and a corseted top. The dress had large, somewhat poofy shoulders and a long, trailing skirt.

"Do you have any idea how hard it was to find something for someone with her proportions?" Aurora asked. "This was the best we could do."

"Sorry?" Twenty-Six said. She cringed. "I'm not the dress sort?"

"You look beautiful," Ivil replied honestly.

"Ah!"

Twenty-Six did, in fact, look very cute! Like some rich noble daughter about to be paraded around for the gentry for the first time. Though...

"Are you wearing boots?" Ivil asked.

"She refused to put on heels," Aurora said.

"She wanted me to wear these... things! They're incompatible parts. I'm not sure they'd even work!" Twenty-Six said. "And it's not like I need to look any taller."

Ivil smiled, then glanced at Aurora who glared right back. "They weren't even that tall, for heels."

"You could kill a man with them!" Twenty-Six said.

"I could kill an Empress with mine right now," Aurora muttered darkly.

The last of them was Pixie. Pixie who stood out next to the other two by being rather plain. Her hair was done up in a simple part, with a tight little beret on, and her dress was... less a dress and more a uniform.

"It's just an old thing," Pixie said. "But yeah, sometimes I have to present myself in more formal company, for work, and it's hard to be taken seriously unless you dress the part."

Ivil nodded. Pixie often played the role of the spokesperson for her own mercenary persona, so that much made some sense.

Her outfit was a dark navy uniform, with a split dress that stopped at mid-calf exposing dress pants beneath. Otherwise, it was a zip-fronted, structured coat-dress with a few metallic accents and a thick belt cinched at the waist. Her cuffs had a few silver stripes, and there were a few more across her arm where a rank insignia might be on a more Martian variant of the same.

Ivil nodded. "Very cute."

Pixie blinked. Then her shy nervousness turned into indignation. "I'm not cute," she said. "I'm a decorated, award-winning pilot."

Ivil nodded. Yes, Pixie was very cute. She could tell that the others thought so as well, even if they weren't saying anything.

"Pixie has boots, and no one's pointing that out," Twenty-Six muttered.

"Dress uniform boots," Aurora said.

They were all-black, faux-leather boots, shiny and new, pretty much exactly what someone in a parade uniform would wear. In fact, they weren't so dissimilar to the boots Ivil had on at the moment. "I think those are fine. It's a matter of contrast, really. Boots are part of the normal uniform, so it's only normal. Whereas boots and a dress does seem somewhat odd," Ivil said. She then glanced at Twenty-Six's side. The young woman had a satchel bag that Ivil knew was filled with tools. She decided not to point it out. "Don't worry. If anyone has problems with the way you're dressed, then they have a problem with me."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"You seemed to have a problem," Twenty-Six said.

"That doesn't count."

Twenty-Six crossed her arms. It wasn't very effective.

"Shall we get going?" Ivil asked. She reached up and adjusted her cape. She wore it partially over one shoulder, draping down until it nearly touched the ground. It was a large, thick piece of cloth with slightly ripped edges and careful embroidery that had been worn out and burned.

It clashed slightly with her pristine, pitch-black uniform, but Ivil liked the message it sent.

Her cape had once been the banner hanging over the bridge of the Pride of Conquering Earth, the Earth Alliance's greatest flagship of the Third Intersystem War. It had a design that incorporated imagery from every nation that was part of the Alliance.

Most galling was a red sphere representing the Earth Alliance's 'ownership' of Mars, a legal fiction that they still clung to even now.

That was the only part of the banner which she had kept. The rest, along with the flagship, was melted slag.

"Let's go. I'm certain that we'll be able to ride down to the old man's place without difficulty."

Sonic Spectre flitted along behind them as Ivil took the front and walked ahead of the others. They crossed through the station, and Ivil glared at anyone trying to take any pictures, or who spent too long staring. Certainly, this many attractive women all together was a rare sight, but it was no reason to oogle.

They reached the grand elevator at the centre of the station only to find the guard tripled. Well over a dozen core-wielders were standing at attention by the elevator, and while most seemed calm and composed, a few of them were sweating bullets.

Ivil imagined that those sweating were those informed of who, exactly, she was. They seemed to mostly be the higher-ranked officers.

Fortunately they were met by the same butler who had greeted her that morning. "Right this way, lady Empress and guests," he said with a bow before gesturing to the opening doors of the elevator.

Ivil led the way in, then positioned herself at the back.

Twenty-Six was the one taking it hardest, though she was soon distracted by the elevator itself. "Why does the elevator have a washroom?" she asked.

"To wash yourself in?" Aurora proposed.

"I mean, sure, but like... that means that there's a water connection? Does it have a tank and filtration system? Do you know how complicated water and waste management is?" Twenty-Six asked. "And to make it mobile like this? I bet there's a lot of variation in the gravity when the elevator moves up and down, and how are the tanks emptied and refilled? Does the elevator need to be serviced daily for that?"

"I'm certain that the inconvenience of having a washroom in the elevator is part of the reason why it's there in the first place," Aurora said. "It's just a statement piece, of sorts." She glanced around the interior, which was mostly polished stone and worked gold. "It's one thing to make an interior seem ostentatious and impressive, it's entirely another thing to actually show off your wealth by having things that ought to be impossibly inconvenient just be present."

"I guess?" Twenty-Six said.

"Yeah, I'm with you on this one," Pixie said. "No one appreciates waste-management until you're in it up to your elbows."

"Yeah," Twenty-Six agreed.

Ivil resisted the urge to smile. If the Jovian Emperor was spying on them now to learn anything, he wasn't coming out of it the winner.

The elevator slowed to a gentle stop and opened quietly into the same hall filled with waiting guards. There were more of them now, and of higher quality.

"This way, ladies," the butler said before guiding them along. "Does anyone wish to make a small stop in a refreshment room before joining the host in the dining hall?"

Ivil shrugged. The sooner this was done with, the better, but she didn't care as long as everyone here was comfortable.

***