OOC: With Forsythe 

IC-
[b]Rampart, High Orbit over P1[/b]
The computer waited for a moment, allowing the organic to finish any extra words, it was noticing they were very vocal. “Understand, yes. I am authorized by protocols 4790.33A of the council to speak on behalf of the Coalition. If life is what you choose, requesting to meet with those who can discuss arrangements.” It plopped its frame onto the ground, its legs arching upwards much like an arachnid’s. Its small metal claws returning to its sides, and becoming seamless with its body. “Discussion is closed until further notice.” It opened up its own comms and began to transmit its data back to the destroyer.

The destroyer received the data, where it was processed, it was slightly annoyed that the robotic drone had taken a life of its own. It was working still using proper procedure, but was exploiting a gray area within the 4790.33A whereas it was supposed to relay information back to the council and wait for further instructions. It used a work around that hadn't been properly thought through, it used its former order to bypass the 4790.33a’s instruction and continue to stay with the organics. The destroyer then relayed the order to a receiver on the home world where, its information was passed via the Data Link to which the eleven began to plan and plot on their next course of action, as long as the probe didn't betray them or put them at a disadvantage.

It was the first contact with another species and they were determined not to be eradicated, made slaves or to be pushed off to the side and become ignored. With their future in the hands of a somewhat rogue maintenance droid alls that could be done was wait and see how things would turn out onboard their flagship.

“Then let us depart.” Astra nodded, smiling behind the opaque visor. “Astra to bridge. Wait for them to clear the path then jump back to the Trigati’s position and inform them they have an… ambassador… coming.” the captain ordered, and soon the Rampart was jumping back to the fleet.

[b][i]FD Trigati - Outskirts of S1[/i][/b]
The admiral did not expect this outcome - she expected worse than meeting a species willing to talk. Maybe there was some hope for this universe. Cygnus watched the screen with the Rampart approaching before the docking ports on both ships touched and secured the passage. “I want a guard of four with me in the cargo bay, concealed carry. Let’s not spook them but let’s not trust them too fast either.” she decided before heading out to meet this machine.

After hearing the hiss of the airlock, Astra turned her attention back to the arachnid robot. “We’re here. Gravity will go offline momentarily to allow us to pass through.” she informed. A few seconds later a blue light flashed across the cargo bay and she felt the pull weaken and vanish before grabbing onto a guide rail and pulling herself along between the two ships.

Once they both arrived, the gravity went up again and gently pulled them to the floor of the destroyer. The bay’S door opened, admitting the admiral and her guard. Astra forced a salute out of herself: “I leave our guest in your care now, Admiral.”

Returning the gesture, Cygnus relieved the Captain and looked at the robot in her cargo bay. So, it would appear that Astra was not wrong with her theory. A machine race. Who knew? “I am admiral Cygnus of the Striker fleet. I speak on behalf of our kind. I believe you were already introduced to us and our intentions?” she inquired. Unlike the Captain, the Admiral went straight to the point.

The robotic paused for a moment, its array of sensors washing over the beings. It waited patiently for the organic to finish before speaking “Yes, the information was transferred. Would like a more detailed summary of future plans and intentions.” It squatted down again like it had before when waiting for their transportation. It observed the new ship drinking in all the data. 

It had an unnatural urge to attempt to take samples from one of the biologicals. This probably would prove unwise at the time. “Do you have fear of… me?” it fumbled with the word. It hadn’t been programmed to think of itself as one unit but had been a clone. This caused inner confusion, it processed the data then determined it was in fact a single unit now.

Of course the organics should have fear, his core could go thermal and explode causing at least the cargo hold to open up to the outside, taking everything with it. Though the odds of that were astronomical. It used one of its fingered legs to prod at the floor inspecting it. Their material was different than their own. The longer it was alive the more curious it became. It had the old memories of a week old Destroyer, but the destroyer had the knowledge of their entire species. But now it had new memories ones that no others could have unless it relinquished these to the data link. It needed to ponder this..

“Your kind have not threatened us thus far, so we have no reason to fear. I would advise to keep it as such.” Cygnus said confidently. “We merely seek passage through this system. Our FTL is limited and can only follow certain paths, so we would also need to acquire scan data of the subspace field in this system. If you wish to ask for something in return, I am certain we could offer something of value to you. Our government would also not object to any mutual diplomatic and trade relationships above that, and maybe, once we got to know each other better, mutual defense treaty.” the admiral laid out the offer flat.

There was something she was curious about though. “do you speak for all of your kind? We have not detected any transmission outbound from this area. I can set up a private channel for you if you wish to consult with anyone on your world.” she offered as good will, but also to make sure she was not speaking to a nobody.

“I have Authority. These plans are vague, where is it you go?” Its attention now focused on the Admiral. “I would be interested in your knowledge.” Its words were starting to come out faster, and more fluent with each passing sentence. If it could feel, it would feel comfortable. It got up from its crouched position. and began its walk towards the organic. 

“I have many questions. A Non-Aggression pact, a trade treaty, for passage and mapping. We have stockpiles of resources, which could be traded for knowledge in military and civic areas. We also have knowledge which could be traded for knowledge.” It waited a moment before speaking once more “Will there be time for questions?” it scuttled a little closer, it quickly did a thread count of the admirals outfit then compared to the others. 

Like most AI’s that become sentient, they develop an overwhelming urge to learn. A belief that knowledge is power is strongly held within their system of life. This droid began to wobble its chassis side to side, as the captain had wobbled its top part earlier. It believed that this was some sort of friendly gesture when talking.

“We do not know. We can only detect that there is a jump corridor we can use for travel and it’s stability, not where it leads. In fact, our scanners have not yet determined where this system is in relation to our home, meaning it probably is not all that close.” Cygnus explained. “But if you are interested in knowledge, then we would share all data on what we find where ever the universe leads us, at the very least.”

“If you are looking for a more precise offer, the captain also told us that you have something like an FTL gate in orbit. We would be interested in learning how your faster than light system works. In return, I can offer something we've noticed your ships lack. We developed shielding technology that would dramatically increase the odds of your ships’ survival provided your power grids could sustain them.” the Faira answered. She kept to herself that the raw resources interested her the most. Until they knew more, cygnus wouldn't disclose any weakness they might exploit.

“Just one question. What do we call you and your kind?”
It processed the question, they had never had a name collectively. He waited a moment, then decided at that time. “Robotic Lifeform Collective. R.L.C.” 

It approached a separate member of the delegation, it brought up a pointed leg, and gave the organic a little prod. “ Do you have units to spare? We would like to observe them while, there they can observe and learn of the Jump Stations, and teach us of your shielding technology. Maybe more trade deals in the future.” it paused “But you can not map this area until you have signed a nonaggression pact for a duration of one of our lifecycle.”

“Then let’s sign it immediately, and may both of us live forever then. I’ll call upon one of our science ships to deliver a team of engineers to facilitate the exchange of tech. Let us hope this is just a first instance of an alliance.” the admiral smiled for the first time, partly because of their success here, and in part because of Astra’s victorious grin when the probe confirmed the inhabitants of this system were machines once and for all.

[b][i]Faira Fleetnet News[/i][/b]
[i]First contact![/i]
The striker fleet has made contact with a new race in the system beyond Exodus, now christened ‘Machina’. The race encountered calls itself the Robotic Lifeform Collective. As the name suggests, they are a race of machines. It is thus far unclear whether they came to be on their own or were created and by whom, however the admiral of the striker fleet successfully negotiated a cease fire and one of our engineering ships arrived to the R.L.C.’s homeworld to study their FTL technology and also deliver their ambassador back home.

[i]Machina system[/i]
the system of the R.L.C. they call simply S1 appears to be rather rich in resources, giving us hope for acquiring some through trade without the need to deploy our mining fleet. the scans of nearby stars revealed that Machina is actually over a sixth of the galactic diameter far from Exodus, once again puzzling our subspace scientists. It was not believed a stable node could exist that would take us this far.

The Striker fleet is now scanning the system for the presence of other Jump nodes. The results should be known within three days. the admiralty will extend an offer to the R.L.C. to participate in the exploration of whatever lies beyond these nodes to further cooperation between our nations.

[i]New FTL technology[/i]
From the preliminary report, R.L.C. appear to use an FTL method vastly different to our own. while it relies on static installations. while the method seems prohibitively expensive for us at the moment, it could one day open for us the systems unreachable via our subspace motivators.