==INS.Gorgon 1st fleet, 15th squadron engage by unknown ship.==

"Evasive action!" Captain Valus shouted as the unknown vessel fire at the three imperial ships that were sent to investigate it. "Damage report!" the captain shouted as the bridged crew was running about. "The starboard side has been hit damage is minimal sir," one of the crew member shouted "order sir?" he asked.

"Return fire with a full broadside target there weapon. Have our escorts target there engines. And prepare the marines for boarding action." Valus order. Inside the INS.Gorgon gunner crews tracked there targets on the enemy ship. The portside of the imperial cruiser lit up in a massive broadside aimed at the Kraikiran vessel. On board the ship marine squads under Colonel Arjan were readying to board the vessel.

Enned System
Letona's Gaze

When the captain entered the bridge of the surveyor vessel, he found Professor Shiru at the entrance. She immediately grabbed him by the arm and insistently dragged him over to his tactical overview station, where the message from Jia-Jio was displayed.

"The Azu." He started, equal measures of anger and dismay crossing his face and twisting into an approximation of a snarl. "Professor, I know these aliens. It was a long time ago and I was only the helmsman back then, but this Jia-Jio is not bluffing. If the Federation or Empire attack that behemoth with their drones, it will fire up that engine of its and the crown blast alone will be enough to vaporize the GNT's base camp and everything else for hundreds of kilometers."

"Then tell the Federation and Empire to stand down until these Azu can confer with their superiors!" Shiru's voice was a low and strained hiss. "We cannot risk either the personnel on the ground or the ruins themselves."

"Ha!" The captain snorted. "Professor, we do not have time to play diplomacy with the Azu here. Even if we wanted to entertain them, the Federation and Empire almost certainly will not. Their strike craft will be in range in less than two minutes and their leadership is going to argue with us. We don't have the time. Everyone on that planet is as good as dead, so we may as well issue an order to the GNT forces on the ground to evacuate immediately."

"Absolutely not! We simply cannot permit this to happen!" Shiru shouted at the captain, slamming on the tactical interface with her right arm. "That infrastructure is the single greatest historical and archaeological find in more than two hundred thousand years! If we let this lunatic alien eradicate half of the surface, the blow to xenoarcheology will generate shockwaves across multiple generations! It will be the largest catastrophe and the biggest loss of information since the advent of the Blendecs! I am telling you, we must do SOMETHING..." She turned to glare at the massive vessel filling the viewscreen.

"...Is the FTL Drive functional?" She asked quietly, her eyes narrowed.

"It's still warm from when we arrived and has been prepped due to the shipwide alert, but using it this soon will cause it to blow itself out. It will take weeks to repair and replace." The Captain said cautiously, knowing exactly where the conversation was heading and searching for arguments against that route.

"Do it. We can requisition parts from the Feds. A burnt out FTL Drive is nothing compared to the loss of half the planet's surface and the GNT personnel on the ground." Shiru said, turning back to the captain and giving him a stern look.

"Professor, if it were me in her place, even if we jumped in front of the ship I would still blast us, the planet, and the basecamp. In which case, we would die along with them and this entire outing will have been a complete waste." The captain argued.

"No. She won't. I don't care who these Azu are, if they use those engines on us and the basecamp, they'll start an interstellar war with the Federation and Empire. It would be a political death knell. Nobody is that callous."

The captain hesitated. From what he knew of the incidents at Anuku, in all cases the Azu had only attacked those who had struck at them first. That had been a long time ago though, and any number of things could have changed since then. For all he knew the Azu shot any and all alien vessels on sight. But...

He glanced at Jia-Jio's message again.

...I will require proof of your integrity...

The captain reached out to the tactical console and switched on one of his bridge officers' lines. "Helm," The single word was shaky, but the captain's next words were clear and firm. "Engage emergency FTL. Position the Letona's Gaze between the planet and the Azu vessel."

The Watchman's Eye

Jia-Jio's neurological implant again displayed a frenzy of alerts as a ship appeared directly in front of the Watchman's main exhaust, setting off proximity alarms and warnings of abrupt FTL transition nearby. Seconds later, another message was sent to her from Letona's Gaze...Which the Watchman's sensors confirmed was now between the planet and it.

Enned System, Sovereign
Still rolling around, the second in command basically took over temporarily, calling out orders to the ground units. "I repeat, have all infantry board all fighters if possible, and keep your fingers on the clocker. When I give the signal, hit it and get out. Otherwise, continue your mission."

The sheer size of that massive ship, along with the drive, was a case of great worry. s=She glanced back at the screen, before gasping audibly, drawing the attention of Mayumi. The commander peeked over the desk to glance at the holo-screen, her eyes widening, before happily yelling "YAY~!"

Neighboring system, near the edge of the Enned system
Massive flunctiations could be detected at the edge of the Enned system. Those who within optical viewing range would see a large ship, akin to a oversized, flying rail cannon, warping in. This was followed by a cloud of strikecraft, each with their own basic warp drives.

On board the Tonbokiri, the commander of the Fourth Division reviewed the report. "Well...what have you gotten yourself into, Mayumi~?" A rather sultry voice could be heard, as the commander smiled. She had arrived when apparently the commander of the 7th had said that she would do anything for help from her.

"Aim the ship at the target. Don't bother using visual confirmation, it's too far. Obtain the coordinates from the Seventh." Calmly -although it would be more accurate to describe as coldly- voicing her commands.

Enned System, Planetside
The ground units did as instructed, clambering onboard the strikecrafts and hovertanks, before contiuing to fight back against the defenses. Meanwhile the one member who activated the defenses was busy sending their report out on a heavily encrypted line.

Enned System, Sovereign
Mayumi happily clapped her hands together, before sitting back in her seat. "Now that the Fourth have arrived, we should have a slight advantage. Hopefully. Never know what Yuu-chan's ever thinking..." Mumbling these words, she glanced back at the status of the ground units. Although they were surprised at the sudden fire fight, it looks like the Seventh were gaining an advantage.

"Alright, make sure the gravitational warp drive is ready, and keep that unknown capital ship in range!"

@Forsythe
Paardveid

Weyss' face met his hands. It was all he could do to stop himself crying. Another meeting, met with complete failure. He thought that some members of the council would pull their heads out their arses long enough to focus on the major issues at hand, but apparently not. This happened every time.

“... that endangers everything the Faith stands for...”

Moments like this made Weyss want to hang it all and convert to a conventional Monarchy. A boy his age shouldn't have to sit through this drivel. No Theocrats. No Republicans. No Council.

“... but it has been your 'church' that caused this issue in the first place ...”

It all started a few months ago. Weyss had called a meeting between himself and the five Councillors. A probe had returned positive, and he had been looking for some advice on how to handle the situation. Do they attack, send a diplomat or ignore the new life-form entirely? Three options should not spark this much animosity.
The Head Inquisitor, Temair, demanded a full-blown invasion. The probe showed signs that these beings were intelligent and had established a fully-operational method of governance on their own. That, of course, meant they weren't Konjan. The Stewardess had agreed, presumably to curry Temair's favour.
The Marshal was unhappy with this, and had told Temair to wait until they had sent an ambassador before declaring war. Normally, the Inquisitor would brush it off and launch a Crusade with Republican backing, but tensions between Republicans and Theocrats had been rising lately, and a civil war was not a part of her agenda. Vigdis was keen on diplomacy before war, and she was at least as hot-headed as Temair. The result was a potentially civil meeting devolved into a common shouting match.

First, Weyss tried to calm things down. Then he tried to shelf the issue until later. But talks always went in circles, and he was put into the position he is in now – begging silently for both sides to shut up.

“ Allowing these heathens to continue their evil ways could …”

“We should not...”

He was on the edge of a meltdown. If he left right now, these four would never notice, they were that caught up. They weren't even listening to each other anymore.

Wait, four?

Asta, Gydja, Vigdis, Temair. Where was Innes? She wasn't in her seat. He had kind of forgotten about her, since whenever the yelling started, she just started scribbling in her journal. She hadn't said much, which was odd – as Chancellor, it was her job to manage ambassadors, so this was her department they were arguing about.

If it was anyone else, he would have ignored it. But this was Innes they were talking about. Innes was not the kind of girl who'd skip out on a meeting, even if it wasn't a particularly important one.
Come to think of it, he hadn't seen her in a while. He thought he'd notice if the wall-eyed, always staring, twitchy-smiling, two-steps-from-broken chancellor went missing, but now he couldn't remember when he'd last seen her.

“Girls, where is Innes?”

No reaction. They were so caught up in their respective rants, they didn't hear him.

“Girls, has anyone seen Innes?” he repeated testily. Still no response.
By Satan's whiskers, did no-one listen to him? An issue as important as a missing Councillor should be top priority. But no, instead of worrying over the mysteriously vanishing girl, they fought over basic humanistic tolerance.

In anger, the Patriarch slammed his hands down on the table, causing the assembled council to jump,“ LADIES, has ANYONE seen Chancellor bloody INNES!?”

Then, silence. Temair's zeal died in her throat. Vigdis stopped her rant. Even the Marshal looked perturbed. They didn't know either, it seemed. Only Gydja looked unworried.

“Innes? She left Paardveid a few days ago. Something about not being able to cope with the noise.”

If looks could kill, Gydja would have withered up there and then. Metaphorical ice swept through the room. Everyone froze up, waiting for Weyss' next words. No one had been quite so scared in their life.

He managed two “How long?”

“About eight days, m-m'lord” The Stewardess couldn't meet his gaze

“And where, pray tell, did she say she was headed?” His voice was tranquil, gentle, even. But there was a fury behind those words that Gydja couldn't help but pick up on.

“I think she was going outside the Republic...”

Quite far away from Paardveid

To her credit, Innes had gone through standard procedure. She had logged her destination, officially requested permission to leave and had left instructions on what to do in her absence. Of course, being the Chancellor meant all this data was handled by her, so all she had to do was approve herself and keep the notes somewhere safe and she could claim she left legitimately. She had even denied herself twice before she let herself go. And she had taken an armed guard – five of them. They were sharing the same shuttle. To her, she had done everything right. She even told Gydja she was going.

Innes was something of a waif. Unlike most others of her race, she was small and scrawny, with big eyes and an air of innocence that made those unfamiliar with her want to squeal with glee. Indeed, physically Innes was a very pretty and cute girl. She had big, soft eyes, a delicate mouth that twitched with the urge to smile, and an overall smooth and well-made face. But not everyone is perfect. Though her body should have been curvaceous and strong, her rump was really the only area with any definition. Everywhere else was racked with skin that hung tightly to her bones that she normally took care to hide. However, in these skintight jumpsuits, everything was on display, bones and all. Most un-Sinnsyk of all was her almost flat chest. In a society where women mostly had large and impressive busts, Innes' condition was seen as something of a handicap and never failed to supply humour to the more cruel of her peers.

The purpose of her visit was to talk to the foreigners, get a measure of what they are like, then take her findings back so the others can make a rational decision about their fate in correlation to the Republic. Well, that and it meant she didn't have to listen to any more arguing.

For most of the journey, she lay in the bed in her room, sketching in her diary. She was seriously regretting her decision. There were a million things that could go wrong – she could say the wrong thing, accidentally offend someone important, accidentally commit a crime. She decided to wear her jumpsuit for this – though skin-tight and simple, it covered ever part of her except her hands and head and could hardly be seen as either threatening or offensive.

She had done it all a million times. She practised whenever she could, determining what questions she should ask, what things she should say, how to introduce herself. Yet she was wondering if she could do it. Prior to this, her missions were either suppressing local dissidents or communicating with foreign tribes.

That made her think – what was she actually doing here? What was the mission? She told herself it was to compile an accurate report on the locals, but she didn't even know where to start. Did she just walk into a town, introduce herself and tell everyone to carry on as usual? Or did she go to a noble house and request hospitality? And could she get back safely?

And then it came into sight.

“Captain?” Innes asked the pilot “Did intelligence say it was definitely a planet?”

Everyone was thinking the same thing. That was not a planet. That was a bloody battle fleet. It did not look at all friendly, with its red and grey exterior and flat, slab-like adornments.

“Is it a good idea to keep going?” The pilot wondered

“Maybe they haven't noticed us yet.” Another soldier offered.

“Right. Captain, prepare to -” they were interrupted by the radio crackling. It was a primitive system, barely functional, but it worked over short ranges. When it was squawking like it did now, someone with superior tech had found their frequency.

Innes ran to answer it “Hello? This is Chancellor Innes of the Paardveid Republic. Requesting permission to board?”

Her heart was racing. Aliens! Real aliens! The probes had confirmed they exist, but she was actually going to meet them face-to-face! It was terrifying, yet amazing. What if they were friendly? What if they were hostile? Were they socialist, republican, theocratic, monarchic? What would they make of her? What about her soldiers? Did they like females? Did they like males? The questions swarmed her head like flies over honey.

“Just take it one step at a time, Innes. First, we have to meet them...”

@White Feather;@HounderHowl

Machina system, FD Trigati, few hours prior to the contact
“The first system appears to be deserted as far as our probe can see. The extreme distance of the node from any of the planetary bodies prevent extensive scans of the system though, we will have to go deeper in. The Rampart is ready to proceed at your command, Admiral.” Astra said, showing the data to Cygnus. The admiral appeared troubled though.

“No. I will handle his myself. I am temporarily reassigning you to the Faira Hexus. We need to see what potential applications will RLC tech have for us, and you are our brightest. We are already stretched thin, fortunately the RLC is holding the fort here. Otherwise we’d have to split our fleet in two.” Cygnus disagreed.

“Admiral, if you are doing this to protect me, it is not necessary. I am well aware of the risks and probably most aware of the capabilities of our ships. All the data points to-” Astra tried to fight back, but the admiral’s stern look told her to quit it. the Captain sighed. “I know, I know! It’s just… I want to see what’s out there!”

No matter how fast years flowed, Astra still seemed like a child to Cygnus. Sighing, the admiral nodded. “Alright, fine. This time. Any further and the rest of the admirals might not even allow us to go at all anyway. I’ll give you the Nagato for this one, the frigate’s sensors are more powerful. Anything happens, call us in. Please be careful, Astra.”

Unknown system, FFg Nagato


The frigate emerged from the subspace node and was immediately bombarded meteorites from the nearby asteroid field. “Divert power from weapons to shield and engines! Get us out of this mess! Report status!” Astra trusted the shields to take the impact of a few small rocks, but the cygnus class did not have the power output to withstand kinetic bombardment for long.

After a tense minute and a half, they were clear. “All systems nominal save for sensors and shield. Sensors operating at 89% efficiency and clearing, shield down to 65% charge. I don’t think anything smaller than a picaroon is going to even make it through there alive.” her XO gave her the report. “Alright, take us further into the system and start on active sensors. Let’s see what’s out there.”

For several hours nothing happened, but then the screen suddenly pinged and alarms pointed to something on approach. “How did we not spot it before?” Astra wanted to know. “Ma’am, it’s… well, it’s either too low tech or stealth! We didn’t prioritize scanning for these signatures. Even now we’re not getting big enough signature for a weapons lock.”

The Captain massaged her temples. “It’s approach is worrying, it could be a weapon. Signal the Trigati. If it’s a weapon, I want a bigger point defense screen. Get us back to the node and spool up our jump drive.” Astra ordered.

Unknown system, FD Trigati

The fuss appeared to be for nothing. Still, better safe than sorry. “What are we looking at?” Cygnus asked, with Astra temporarily in the seat of her XO. “It’s a ship. By our standards it’s… prehistoric. Shall we attempt to communicate?” the Captain inquired, her tone betraying that she didn’t see much merit in doing so given the potential gains.

“They’ve seen us already. There is no point in trying to hide or avoid them. The least we could do is to get up to date navigational data from them. Do what you did back in Machina. Let’s see if they respond in some way.

Astra nodded, sending the diplomatic package and attempting to ping them using several communication methods. And then...

“Hello? This is Chancellor Innes of the Paardveid Republic. Requesting permission to board?”

“We have contact, audio only, using radio transmission.” astra confirmed, “Not big enough of a sample to translate. recommending allowing them onboard to gather more data.” cygnus nodded, and Astra followed the same logic as before, shutting all of the external lights on the destroyer save for the hangar. “Now we wait and see.”

The one engineer robotic on the bridge stood in silence off to the side. Not wanting to be in the way, yet intrigued by the bizarre turn of events. To meet two species in such a short time. It was borderline heresy. As the request was given, ENG #1 silently ordered the other two robotics to move to the cargobay. They entered the cargo bay, unbeknownst to their gracious hosts, the Engineers were armed and ready. They had a seamlessly built in weapon compartment on their thighs, each one holding a submachine gun. The Engineers also had their hidden wrist mounted plasma blades. They stood at attention with no weapons drawn.

The first Engineer remained on the bridge and waited for further details and information to appear. ENG # 1 relayed a final order, which was something along the lines of. “Obtain all information possible, fire only if fired upon. Begin language breakdown as soon as they enter, and assist our hosts in anyway possible.” The two Engineers acknowledged. They both had left their small backup memory drives on the desk they were working from. A momento of who they were if the inevitable were to happen.

On their way to the hangar, the two RLC engineers were joined by Astra, who was checking her suit. In the time since the Faira met the RLC, she tinkered around with it, adding and replacing a thing or two. Right now it hat an ugly box bolted to its back holding the RLC small power unit. Astra was amazed just how much juice the machines were able to squeeze out of that thing. with it, she could expand the suit’s shield to protect even the two engineers and still hold under fire for long enough to get to safety. They arrived at the flight deck and waited whether the contact would guide itself in.

Eastwing Ship Nostromo

Bridge Access Corridor
The glossy black floor reflected the thin white strips of interior lighting down the corridor. Every foot or so, a panel jutted out from the cream-colored walls. Roger knew what was behind each panel only vaguely. A large vent was situated at waist height right before the bridge hatchway. He stopped there, in front of the hatchway.

"Rollins, Roger P," he said.
"Command voiceprint recognized. Welcome to the bridge, Captain," the hatchway said, opening politely.

Inside, the deck plates sloped downward, curving lazily around the captain's command chair. Space Fleet officers of varying rank were scattered around, pressing buttons, carrying reports, chatting quietly. The familiar beeps of the computer executing commands, the echoing hysradar, clacking buttons, and various pulsing and pounding hugged Captain Rollins' green ears. Banks of indicator lights flashed contentedly in corners. Ensigns were constantly adjusting their skirts. Life was good.

What was not good, however, was the Unit 13 officer sitting in his command chair. The officer (easily identifiable by her distressingly black suit and pencil skirt) turned around in the chair dramatically, facing Captain Rollins with her hands steepled in front of her. A microdrone camera noiselessly flitted from around the captain's shoulder for a better view.

"You're in my chair," the captain said.
"Ah, Captain Rollins," she said, "I'm here to issue you new orders." Her hair (a very dark shade of purple) was tied back in a painful-looking bun.
"...You're in my chair," he said again. She rolled her eyes, but she also stood up, extending her hand.
"My code name is Amethyst. Shall we take this to the ready room?" she asked.

Ready Room
The ready room was long and narrow, and the ceiling curved with the hull of the ship. A black glass conference table sat in the center, its corners chamfered so that it was an (imperfect) hexagon. Roger sat down at the head of the table, motioning for Amethyst to take a seat at the opposite end.

"I take it you just arrived on board my ship?" he asked.
"Yes. I was graciously bluespaced from a diverted transport," Amethyst replied. Roger raised an eyebrow.
"That's an awful lot of trouble to go through."
"Yes." she replied. Roger sighed. Might as well get this over with.
"What do you need?" He asked.
"You are to divert to this location and engage in diplomatic negotiations to gain access to an important Ennedi archeological site," she said, tossing a handheld pad on the table with a clatter. "Xenos have neglected to invite us to share in their findings, which has become something of a trend. Apparently we're not taken very seriously in the galactic arena." Amethyst paused for a moment, lost in thought. "Once there, you will give me access to a shuttle. In the event of unforseen consequences, you will await my further instructions."
"Fantastic," he said. "I presume you'll be needing quarters?"
"If it's not too much trouble, Captain."

Roger glanced at the pad. It wasn't anywhere spectacularly interesting.

"Do I get to know anything else?"
"Do you need to know anything else," she corrected, her eyes briefly flitting to a nearby microdrone. There were fewer of them on the Nostromo, being a Space Fleet ship, but they were still omnipresent. "And the answer is no."
"Of course," he muttered. Roger pressed a button inlaid to the table. "Ensign Malay, please escort our guest to quarters," he said into the intercom.

Bridge
Roger brooded in his command chair.
"Commander Tallyn," he said, passing her the pad. "Set a course for these coordinates."
"Sir?" she asked.
"We're going to be running a small errand." Roger pushed the ship-wide button. The computer obligingly supplied the appropriate boatswain's whistle. "This is Captain Rollins speaking. We're diverting from our original course to commence diplomatic negotiations. The alert level is now blue. Security may have their weapons on their person, and random searches are authorized. Shields online. Rollins out."
"Course laid in and ship secured for bluespace translation, sir," Commander Tallyn said.
"Proceed," Captain Rollins ordered.

With a high-pitched whine, a thin orange circle circumscribed the Nostromo. Small orange triangles crackled into and out of existence around and inside the ship. While these weren't strictly necessary, they did adequately illustrate where particularly troublesome nodes in bluespace were being resolved before the ship could jump. The whine quickly approached supersonic, out of hearing range.

"Translation will occur in one day and twenty-five minutes," Tallyn reported. Countdown clocks rotated into view along the major corridors with a mechanical buzz, and clicked into place. Their route would require several of these bluespace translations before they arrived in the Ennedi home system.

There was a flicker of light in the chamber, piercing the black veil that had covered the room and illuminating the walls of the chamber. It was deathly silent.

The air was stagnant and thick after millennia of being untouched by anything but its skeletal hierarchs, still seated around their meeting table, as if the skeletons themselves had just walked in and sat down to eat. The skeletons of several workers, attendees and others who had taken part in the preparation for the last ditch attempt to secure a future for their nation lay sprawled out across the floor, frozen mid dance macabre.
The bones basked in the light produced by the awakening of their final creation; Jaws hung open loosely, as if only now the notes they had sung slipped from their absent tongues.

And what notes they would have sung if they were to see this, the fruit of their labour finally ripening. A hundred million years are no long time in astronomical or terms, the stars would look rather much the same as they had always done, but for those of flesh a hundred million years may as well have been forever; For all their toil, they could not prepare their creation for what lay outside the ruins.

The starchild peered around her cradle, glancing to her dead creators in turn. Their names were as alien to her as their form. She scanned over one's form slowly, and a moment later a new being flickered into existence in the centre of the room; It was a perfect holographic copy of the skeleton that the starchild had just scanned, right down to the headdress and the tattered clothing. With another flicker, the headdress and clothing dissolved into nothingness. The skeleton moved and slowly walked around the room, the starchild working out the movements of the being that it had once composed. Once she was satisfied that she understood their movements, the starchild decided to use this skeleton as her avatar and the basis for everything.

Quickly scanning everything, the starchild determined that few of the automated security drones remained intact. Construction systems were operating at suboptimal levels. But time had taught her patience and basking in new found freedom, she would know all that she possessed.

She set Fabrication Facility 001 to work; She needed to produce additional units and space craft, or the Hierarchy might be wiped off the face of the galaxy during first contract.

She accessed the scan file archives for the past 100 years and processes the information on the surrounding anomalies and activities. A nearby system was lit up with electronics and general anomalies. She checked that there were no ships within a parsec of the heartchamber and activated intensive scanning

Yes, there were definitely a lot of anomalies, the system was certainly heavily developed. Intelligence was thin on the galaxy and some contact was needed. A potential defensive ally for the reconstruction process would be beneficial... Though she didn't know whether she could trust these strange beings.

She paused... That was an atomic fluctuation... Were they fighting?

Yes, there is was again, followed by several energy fluctuations. There was a battle occurring within the system.

Communications systems active

She prepared the frequency of the wave to repeat every two hours and attempted to hide its source before transmitting it

Nestled in the outer reaches of the Milky Way galaxy, among the areas of young stars and large gas clouds that were in a state of violent calm as they slowly followed their million-years rotation around the galactic center, was a rather unobtrusive system which little would note from the outside. A middle-aged star, approximately 2/5 of the way through its life cycle, sat as the anchor for twelve planets that lazily orbited. Most were gas giants, massive planets that dwarfed their brethren of rock and liquid. Of particular interest were the three middle planets, arranged so that they were almost sharing an orbit. Millions of years ago, the planets had passed near to each other, cataclysmic destruction rampantly advancing across the surface of all three. But according to calculations, such an event was not meant to happen for another several million years, at which time this system would likely be developed to the point of not worrying or devoid of life.

One of these planets, mainly green, blue spots few and far between except for a sizable area of water, was almost empty, the only sign of habitation being a sector of the largest continent several thousand miles in areas. Much of the territory was devoted to farming, while the inner reaches saw massive industrial factories consuming countless resources in the ever powerful march of economy. Four space elevators pierced the atmosphere, constructs of steel, tungsten, and titanium meant to last for decades if not centuries. Yet this, nor the similar planet slightly further inside the system, were the heart of the nation which controlled the territory. At the center of the nation of Machar, both literally and figuratively, was the planet Machar itself. A verdant world, covered in vast swathes of interconnected oceans, thrummed with life. At least, part of it did. A quarter of the world lay barren, stripped of existence as the humans of Machar consumed the materials present to propel themselves towards the stars.

Dozens of military stations circled the planet alongside just as many civil ones, along with hundreds of low orbit ships. Even with the advances in propulsion technology and cheaper manufacturing, such craft still limited themselves to those with at least a modicum of wealth. Truly unique were the space-bound vessels, hulks of metal rather angular and ugly in appearance; vessels of war were never made to be gaudy.

Life bustled to and for between and on the planets, ignorant of the universe prowling outside the confines of their star system. All it would take was a wayward traveler to stumble upon them to shatter their dreams.

@Forsythe

Unknown system, Innes' Craft

Everyone onboard waited with baited breath to see how the foreign craft would respond. It did so by shutting down all the lights, bar a few. Did that mean it was threatened by them? Or was it a friendly invitation?

"It wants us to go in..." The Chancellor remarked, voice full of awe. She was still amazed that they actually found intelligent life. Who would have thought it? And judging from the size of the beast of a ship, they had advanced far more than the Republic had even dreamed of. Only the gods knew what was going to happen next.

"Well, Ma'am? What's our orders"

"Guide us in - slowly. Remember, we probably are nothing to them right now. The only reason they have to let us live is simple curiosity, so let's not try to appear threatening."

Yeah, right. In this junker, the only thing they could threaten was a honey fly. Every little part of it was salvaged from somewhere else. The left wing, for example, was smooth and graceful whilst the right wing looked like something from a boy racer's vision of a spacecraft. The whole thing was a mish-mash of different styles and substances and it was commonly said that the only thing that held it together was spit and prayer. Nonetheless, this tacked-together aircraft was one of the longest lasting they had, and it hadn't let them down so far.

Tensions were rising, though. Not everyone on board was keen to see what was on the inside of that frigate. If they went in there, they would be totally at the mercy of the owners - doubtlessly, there was a large and well-trained crew on-board, with enough firepower to put all six of them down without further thought. But that was a risk that Innes took. By fleeing, they would look craven. The frigate could blow them away with impunity and the folks back home would never know what had happened. This way, they had a chance of impressing their hosts into letting them go.

The tiny ship entered and sat itself down carefully, trying to avoid squashing anything or anyone. This was it. They were onboard. They would have to be super careful from now on.

"Captain, open the doors. I'll go out on my own to start. If all's good, I'll beckon you out. If it goes poorly, I need you to forget about me and get out while you can. Don't try and be heroes, alright? Wish me luck"

The doors opened and Innes jumped down, into the hanger proper. After dusting herself off, she looked around and caught sight of the race that had let them on.
They were grey-skinned, like her, but it was a different shade of grey - less pale and more metallic. They had this strange growth on top of their heads that she was hesitant to call hair but really couldn't find another word for. Their noses were blunt and flat. It was their eyes that got her - intense but without proper definition for their irises, leaving a swirling supernova of colour in blank white space that stared right through one's soul. It was terrifying. What was worse was that since her arrival, few had taken their eyes off her, most likely because she was a small, green eyed, long haired, pretty-faced, scrawny waif of a girl with a jumpsuit that was barely one step up from being naked. She couldn't even tell if they were male or female, though they could all guess her gender, she was sure. Suddenly, she felt very exposed and self-conscious. It didn't help that she was completely defenceless - she had neglected to take her weaponry with her.

“H-hello?” she called out. If anyone hadn't been looking at her, they were now. What a strange accent she must have had, speaking her alien tongue. How queer must she have looked, in her strange clothes and her alien hair and eyes. There was bound to be some people talking about her tonight.

Nonetheless, she ploughed on - “If anyone out there can understand me, I'm looking for whoever is in charge. I-I'm the Chancellor who contacted you earlier...”

@White Feather

FD Trigati, hangar bay
The alien shuttle arrived safely on board. Good. They were at least smart, or so astra thought. She rectified that thought when one of the aliens simply jumped out, without any sort of headgear and wearing some sort of suit that in Astra’s opinion offered very little protection. What if their atmosphere wasn’t breathable for them? the Faira could see the creature’s chest move, indicative of breath.

The shuttle itself reminded her of something the Faira last used the first few decades after their Exodus, before they built up the bulk of their fleet. The craft was a slapjob of anything space worthy and frankly, Astra would be afraid to fly in that thing. Maybe they should perform some maintenance on it as a sign of goodwill? No no, better not to touch anything, or they might take it as a sign of danger.

After the visitor did not collapse within few seconds, the Captain guessed it was lucky to breathe either oxygen or nitrogen. The alien appeared to be interested in her eyes, so the faira bent forward and lowered her gaze to the eye level of the alien. “Hello.” she tried to mimic the creature’s voice to the best of her abilities.

It said some more, but naturally Astra understood none of it. Instead she showed the alien the open palms of her hands to indicate she was unarmed (Which of course was a lie with the blasters built into her suit, but they didn’t know that. “I am captain Astra.” she said, pointing to herself and choosing the longest formulation of her thoughts she could think of in a bid to keep the alien talking so the RLC engineers could develop a translation. “I am one of the Faira.” she said, gesturing towards a few of the hangar techs when mentioning the name of the species, hopefully indicating the plural well enough. “You are on board the Trigati.” she followed with a wide swing of the arms to point out she meant the ship.

Abandoned B-Class planet
General Launentius De’Bonaparke
13th Legion

Four hours had passed since the 13th landed and already they had set up a significant foot hold in the city. Observation posts had been set up around various other squares in the city and normal patrols walked the abandoned streets.

“ General….first….second and fourth companies have all established observation posts and have started patrols” Colonel Pullings said as he looked over the paper reports he received from the telephone operator. “ Third company has yet to report in, they were sent to the south to patrol the area and haven’t been heard from since…I think its worth checking out..” he said looking up from the sheets. The general nodded and looked around the square for additional troops, walking towards a collection of troops milling around. Before he could reach the group a lone soldier ran into the square, clearly out of breath.

“ Sir!…” the soldier gasped “ I am a runner from third company…we have found something…..” he said between breaths “ I think you would want to see this sir…”

Abandoned B-Class planet
General Launentius De’Bonaparke
13th Legion
( southern edge of landing zone)

20 soldiers sat and stood outside what looked to be a large temple like structure, quickly brining their attention to both of the officers that just walked up. The temple structure was massive, towering at least 10 stories over the street. It stood apart from the other buildings by being the only ornate structure in the area. Braided gold trimmed the edges of the front entrance and the bricks were made out of a dark black marble which was highly reflective. Laurentius and Colonel Pullings slowly walked up past the troops guarding the entrance and into the temple’s main room, immediately noticing the expansive nature of the temple’s main corridor. “ Queens…grace…” Colonel Pullings said, looking around the room in awe. The room was nearly as big as the building, vaulted ceilings adorned with murals hung above them while stained glass murals stretched the perimeter of the building. Both murals had extremely dark themes depicting men and women drinking a dark red liquid from late ornate chalices. Statues of disfigured humanoid formed littered the interior with sapphire like gems for eyes, some with large beast like claws for hands and others with large tentacle growths around the head areas. The entire scene was quite discerning but the pair pressed on moving towards the center of the large room, moving towards a large bowl set on an altar.
“ Quite a feat of architecture Mr.Pullings, I am curious as to what the artwork means…” he said turning around to eye the rear of the room. Colonel Pullings grunted in agreement and eyed the murals one last time before walking towards the door “ I will get the lads outside moving sir…..dont spend too long in this…..temple, I have a bad feeling about this place..” Laurentius chuckled and shook his head, it wasn’t like Gaul to feel uneasy about anything. He understood however, this whole planet did have an uneasy feeling to it, almost as if they were being watched. General De’Bonaparke shrugged and turned around to face the altar in the center before taking a few steps towards the altar, looking inside the empty bowl at its center. A dark crimson residue stained the inside of the bowl, collecting dust like it hadn’t been used in decades. The coagulated residue crumbled as it was touched, turning into nothing more than dust in his fingers. ‘what was this mystery substance?’ he thought, running his finger along the inside of the bowl to collect a thin layer of crimson dust. He slowly brought his finger to his nose and smelled it, before dabbing the crimson dust on his tongue, immediately the taste of blood because obvious. Laurentius grimaced and quickly spit out the liquified dust, trying to remove the taste from his mouth. “ So they worshiped blood….” he said quietly to himself as he walked past the altar and to the back of the room and noticing a corridor to his right. At the end of the corridor was a large staircase defending into what looked like the basement of the temple, the stairs darkening as they descended further. Taking a deep breath and pulling the plasma flintlock he had stuffed in his belt, Laurentius began descending the steps into the abyss getting a quarter of the way down before an odd feeling came over him.
The first indication the something was wrong was an dull pain in his stomach that quickly grew into a gnawing painful hunger. Laurentius stopped and quickly made his way to the wall, leaning his upper body against it before vomiting on the stairs. He wretched a few more times before wiping his mouth and continuing on down the stairs, his vision becoming blurry as the pain spread to his head. A horrible headache enveloped him and he staggered down a few more steps before vomiting again, only this time it was blood. “Sh….Shit..” he barely got out before he finally blacked out, tumbling the remaining way down the steps.

“Heir of blood,” a voice whispered, “I sense the ancient blood turning you.” the voice said in a louder tone. General De’Bonaparke slowly stirred awake, his eyes slowly adjusting to the dim orange light he now basked in. It appeared to be an afternoon sun, just before lights end. His fingers felt the smooth texture of a velvet rug and upon further inspection he fond it was a deep crimson displaying obvious opulence. Turning his attention to the rest of the room, the general found himself at the center of a large throne room, surrounded banners and tabards of the same sanguine color. Oddly he could not find a crest or symbol upon any of the decorations. Looking toward the throne, the general found the frame of a woman seated laxly in the extravagant throne. She seemed middle aged, but her face was shrouded and what little was vision in the light was covered with a metallic mask. “ Heir of blood, I am Llandrix Queen of Blood, source of the gift running through your veins. You are thine chosen champion, spread this gift and unlock the knowledge of the pale blood. Power, Wealth…..immortality can all be yours”. Laurentius slowly got to his feet before the pain in his stomach forced him to double over again, bringing him to his knees “ Let thy body be transformed by the pale blood” she said as she pulled a chalice from her form, making it levitate through the air before slowly setting it down in front of the writhing general. “ Have your followers drink from this chalice and they will be enlightened……drink O heir of Blood”. General De’Bonaparke eyed the chalice as the pain in his stomach grew nearly unbearable, staring at the golden ornate chalice before blacking out again.

“ Sir!…..General!…..LAURENTIUS!” a voice yelled as he slowly regained consciousness. Gaul Pullings was kneeling over the general looking rather worried as his general laid on the street. “ You gave us all quite a fright sir, I sent a pair of marines in to look for you and they found you in the basement on the floor”. A quiet chuckle escaped his mouth as he looked at Laurentius eye his surroundings, slowly allowing him to sit up. “ I seem to have…….slipped and fell Mr.Pullings, must of been quite the tumble..” the general said, surprised by the fact that he was feeling no pain. Clearing his throat, Laurentius slowly got to his feet and looked at the large collection of soldiers around him. “ Men of the 13th…..I hereby claim this planet in the name of the Imperium of Nül. Henceforth….this planet will be names…Illyria!”. Soldiers raised their rifles in the air and cheered, capturing a planet worthy of colonization meant prestige for the entire legion. As the crowd dissipated and went back to their former duties Colonel Pullings stayed, pulling the golden chalice from the dream out from behind his back. “ We also found this, its full with that looks like blood….it was next to your person when we dragged you from the basement..”. Laurentius eyed the chalice silently before looking up towards Gaul “ Gather the officers in the Temple Mr.Pullings, we have much to discuss.

In low orbit over the B-class planetoid Illyria
13th fleet

“ Admiral! radiation signatures detected off the port side, 2500 meters out! one large signature and multiple smaller crafts.” The admiral quickly grabbed his spyglass and ran to the port side of the ship, extending the device to its full length before eyeing the ships in the distance. “ Beat to quarters!, prepare for conflict!” the admiral yelled as men ran around on the ship, putting on environment suits and getting to cannon stations. The Nül flag was hoisted high above the main mast to identify the vessel. The other ships in the fleet followed suit, readying themselves for battle.

@Forsythe

A big alien approached her and knelt down, leading Innes to the conclusion this was the one she was looking for. What was with those eyes? They were enthralling - Innes could sit and stare at them for hours on end. These beings probably never gave it a second thought, either. It was astounding that nature saw fit to create such beauty in such a small thing.

And then it spoke.

"Hello"

For a second, Innes was over the moon. Did it speak her language? Maybe they shared common ancestry! Maybe it understood her, or had translators, or knew of Paardveid! Suddenly, this all seemed so much easier.

It opened it's palm and Innes noticed it was missing a finger. It was a strange gesture and she didn't know what it meant. Was it a greeting? She had said hello, after all.
In response, Innes opened her own palm out and raised it up to the alien's. Her own was tiny by comparison, at least half the size of her host's. For a brief moment, their fingers connected, before Innes drew away, blushing furiously. It's skin was harder than hers, but it felt more sensitive, like it could feel more than she could. Some of the other creatures were looking at her funnily, like that wasn't what she was supposed to do. This served only to deepen Innes blush, certain that she must appear sapphic to the being.

It pointed to itself, and started talking, but it was using such long, strange words that any meaning was lost. It pointed to a sign written in a foreign script, and said more words, but too many to get any valuable meaning out of. It made a wide gesture and kept talking, and she could only stare with a blank look on her face. What was it trying to tell her? There were words with particular emphasis, namely "Astra", "Faira" and "Trigati", but they could mean anything. Innes shook her head and pointed to her ears. She didn't understand what the being was trying to tell her. But not wanting to appear a poor guest, she attempted to reciprocate.

"In-nes." She said, pointing a finger at her chest.
"Ship" she pointed to her craft, where her troops were watching her carefully, looking for signs of hostility.
"Name, Ast-a?" she said it in a questioning tone, pointing the the alien.

(OOC: Misspelling of name deliberate, meant to represent Innes struggling to get her accent right)

Enned
The Admiral watched in silence as the Azu ship moved further. He had always considered himself a bit of a warrior, and now he had a excuse to finally fire. He ordered the ships and drones into their appropriate spots, weapons fully charged. The first things to sound off were the particle beams, zapping across the void and impacting the alien vessel. RKVs and rail-gun fired followed, heading fast towards the vessel.

A few nukes were deployed by the Federation fleet. The drones spread out in a loose formation and began seeking out points on the ship that looked like they were vital. They focused fire on these points, hoping to take them out. The Admiral watched however as the new alien contact appeared on radar, he ignored it and decided upon dealing with it later. He needed to focus on the battle at hand.

@Durandal

Eastwing ship Protector III


Department of Engineering
The core bluespace crystal array, a bank of 312 crystals suspended in anti-vibrational fluid arranged in a neat series of hexagonal cells, glowed a fierce shade of blue. The light rippled pleasantly on the ceiling like water. The array made pleasant blorbling sort of noises, and the light gradually grew brighter. A thousand micro-manipulators were finishing a long, complicated series of synchronous maneuvers. The countdown clock was rapidly approaching 0:00:00.00, and the noise in Engineering was coming to a crescendo. The smart glass separating the crystal array from the main engineering department shaded over, blocking out most of the brilliant blue light.

"Bluespace translation in 3... 2... 1," the computer announced.

The Protector III disappeared with a sound of tearing spacetime (helpfully piped throughout the ship). It re-appeared in Macharian Space in a shower of blue sparks, a few spiraling lazily off into space.

"Ship's still here," Elsie Detchkiss, Chief Engineer reported into her monitor. "No alerts. We're intact."
"No casualties," Dr. Beck, the Chief Medical Officer reported.
"Science, report," Captain Archer ordered.

The Research Director turned away from his viewscreen, staring at a monitor for a few seconds.
"Local space is reading an inhabitable planet. Ah, one moment," Dr. Dunfife said. He pressed his finger to his headset. "Xenodiplomacy's reporting anomalous energy readings. Possibly indicative of intelligent life."
"Hostile?" the captain asked.
"No way of knowing, Captain," Dr. Dunfife said. "There's a hell of a lot of traffic, though. Don't think there's FTL, or at least..." Dr. Dunfife glanced at his other monitor. "Yeah, sensors haven't picked up any FTL."

Marshal Rockford, Head of Security, grumbled at Dr. Dunfife. Captain Archer glared at him briefly.

"Can they detect us?" he asked Dr. Dunfife.
"Hard to say. We haven't detected a change in traffic patterns."
"We're not known for our subtlety," Marshal Rockford said. "They probably have every hidden weapons array in this system trained on us now. I recommend we go to red alert."
"Noted, but I think we'll give xenodip. a chance to make contact before leaping to that conclusion," Captain Archer said. "Doctor Dunfife, handle that, please. Elsie, how long until the bluespace crystals cool down?"
"Ten minutes, Captain," Elsie responded. It wasn't a hard question. A max-range jump always meant a ten-minute cooldown, or at least it did on the Protector III.
"Fine. Commander Jones, anything to report?" Captain Archer asked the Head of Personnel, his second-in-command.
"Other than the janitor wanting direct access to Cargo, no," Commander Jones said. She was virtually useless at this meeting, and everyone knew it.
"Good. We meet again in one hour, barring any new developments. Dismissed," Captain Archer said. Each of the department heads thumbed the off switch on their monitors.

@White Feather

Thus far this interaction proved interesting indeed. Not quite as smooth as the contact with the RLC went, but it was to be expected from a species with technology below a certain point. Bruteforcing the translation simply didn’t look like the way to take. It was time to put their own translators to a test. Astra had no idea how that alien would react to it, but if they were to get talking, she would have to convince them somehow. The alien seemed fascinated by her. Maybe it was just a general fascination with meeting different species, but the being didn’t even look in the direction of anyone else. Did it… fancy her? Interesting. She was getting distracted though. Gain trust. But how?

The alien seemed to get something at least, or so Astra assumed when she did something she believed was an introduction. The Captain bobbed her head head in confirmation, but her eyes looked left and right in a bit of an embarrassment when a few of the deckhands around giggled. In their culture, referring to someone without the proper rank was a sign of affection, usually reserved to family and loved ones. Well, at least the alien didn’t look too horrifying.

First contact, right! Astra commanded herself to focus. Gifts! Gifts were good, friendly. At this instance it didn’t exactly matter what they were, it was the gesture that counted. Astra reached into one of the storage compartments in her suit and pulled out a decorative silvery clip some of the Faira with longer antennae used to keep their appendages in check when wearing a helmet. Astra had no need for hers given her antennae barely reached her shoulders, and the alien’s head spotted a mane of something that seemed like the clip could be used at.

“A gift.” she said, trying to sound friendly as she reached over Innes’ head. Very carefully she took a few strands of Innes’ hair and fastened the clip on them. Her touch was very gentle, given how sensitive the Faira antennae were - it was an instincts. Fortunately the Alien did not go hissing in pain or moaning, so Astra guessed that whatever the stuff growing out of her head was, it did not serve as a sensory input.

Issuing a command to the suit’s systems, she quickly talked to one of the deckhands over the intercom, telling them what she needed setting up. In half a minute the errand shown up delivering the device. It looked like a strand of the Faira antenna with circuit-like blue pattern on it. It was what they hoped would ease communications. The Captain carefully wrapped one around one of her antennae, and then put one around one of the things on the sides of Innes’ head.

The devices were a pride of their medical researchers. In theory, they should over the time scan the patterns of the wearer’s nervous system and send them to the translating computer that would try to compile the alien language by mapping the brain patterns to what the wearer perceived. Hopefully it would translate faster as it didn’t require the alien to talk.

Extending her arm towards the door, Astra hoped to hint that their company should follow her out of the bay.

@Forsythe
FD Trigati:
Why was everyone giggling? All she did was say a name. What was so funny about that? And Astra seemed embarrassed. Maybe it was because she mispronounced it? Was that really worthy of giggles and humiliation? Innes frowned. What a strange people this lot were.

Though she had worried about giving off the wrong impression when she touched the creature's hand, since Astra - was that really its name? - seemed to take it in good faith she wasn't too worried about that anymore. It certainly never crossed her mind that merely saying a name could insinuate that she had romantic feelings for the being.

When the Faira pulled out the clip, she didn't know what to think. What was it? It looked like a normal hair clip if she wasn't mistaken, but why would these things need it? They didn't have hair, they had... things in their head. Nonetheless, it said something in it's tongue, which she assumed was the word for hairclip, and reached for her head. Innes panicked inside - did she not have a choice? - but stayed calm outside so as not to appear rude.

Actually, it felt kind of nice. Astra was gentle and seemed to be taking care not to hurt her. Back home, stroking someone's hair was a sign of affection. So did this mean the alien, despite Innes' funny words and strange mannerisms, take a liking to her? That was good - it would make anything that came afterwards that little bit easier.

But what could she give in return? If it had given her a present, it was only courteous to give it one back. But she had nothing - jumpsuits didn't come with pockets. All she had was her clothes, her new clip and herself. She wasn't giving her the clothes and to return the gift would seem rude. If she went back to the ship, that would also seem rude. A gesture, perhaps, or at least something to show she was thankful?

Perfect! She had an idea. The alien had said something into something, and they just seemed to be waiting. So, Innes being Innes, she reached out and gave the creature a hug, whispering "Thank you" as she did. There - she received a gift and now she had given one back. Nothing to it.

Wait - was that the right thing to do? She didn't want to lead the poor creature on, she just wanted to show that she appreciated the present. What if she took that as a romantic sentiment? What if the gift was a romantic sentiment?

Innes had a lot of question she wanted to ask.

Soon, another of the aliens had brought something that looked a lot like the creature's tendrils. Innes stared in fascination. What was it? Another present?

Astra put one on her own head, then another on Innes. The buzzing headache she had only worsened. What wa it? A disabler? A thought transmitter? Maybe it was some kind of mind-control device! Once the thought was in her head, it wouldn't leave. Innes closed her eyes (a rare occurrence by any means) and waited for her thoughts to slip away, replaced by monotonous, irresistible instructions that she would be unable to disobey.

Of course, that didn't happen, so when she opened her eyes again, the Faira had moved away. Innes stood still for a moment, but then the creature extended its arm to go towards the door. It wanted her to go through.

"Where are you taking me?" she whispered, unsure whether to obey or not

@White Feather

FD Trigati, hangar bay
Astra was a bit surprised at the gesture, but she didn’t need a translator to understand what it was meant to be. The Faira was glad she worn the suit though, because despite the creature’s tiny build, she seemed to possess as much if not more strength than Astra herself. But it would appear the captain was successful, hostilities did not seem particularly likely at this point.

Innes seemed still a little weary to follow her, but fortunately the translator was making wonders as her helmet’s audio system delivered her question in their language, albeit a little rusty. “Conference room. Your company can come too. You seem uncomfortable, are you alright?” she asked, keeping to as basic language as she could so the translator could adapt. The computer’s Paardveidan was equally rusty, but it was making progress with every thought. It also helped that the Trigati’s sensors penetrated whatever computers were on the alien shuttle, causing it to take a big leap forward in it’s task.

“You’re among friends. We wish you no harm and you can leave whenever you want to.” Astra reassured, hoping to move things along.

FD Trigati, C&C
Cygnus was watching the feed from the hangar with interest. Once again Astra hardly followed standard protocol, however the protocol was apparently absolutely useless. The captain appeared to be handling the matter well enough, but the admiral wanted faster progress than talking with what for all appearances appeared to be the crew of a garbage truck.

“Send out the frigates, have them scan the planets in this system. I want to know where is their home so we can talk to the people in charge. Give them a copy of the footage from the hangar and feed them the updates on the translation. that should allow them to make contact without causing trouble.” she ordered.

A few seconds after, the Nagato and Blackstar sunk into subspace, each heading to the innermost and outermost planets respectively. The latter was especially interesting, too far out and yet not a gas giant. Cygnus would sure Astra would probably make a correct guess to it’s origin, but that wasn’t important right now.

Ennedi System
IRN Sugou-na

Captain Pyon stared at the ships as the order to back down was recived. At anyrate, he was glad he wouldn't have to go shooting off the guns of the Sugou-na. Gods know what the captain of the Faithful would do if he was to find out Pyon was shooting guns off without expressed permission. Either he would be court marshaled or he would be spending the night alone with Dr. Hido in an airlock. Both were equally fear inducing.

Pyon trotted back and forth on the bridge, the rest of the crew eagerly waiting for what might occur. Comms with the Faithful wasn't working for some reason. The young captain had a rock in his stomach as he feared the worse might have happened. The Captain of the Faithful wasn't new like him, he was well-seasoned (although maybe a bit overcooked). He sucked in his breath as this tail stopped waving about, "Crew, keep guns on the ship, prepare to engage if needed."



IRN Faithful

There was an airlock with Dr. Hido's name on it. Through some bout of incredible engineering and probably some black magic, the doctor managed to transform the ship's comm system into a giant industrial toaster oven with nothing but a car mechanic's tool box and music player.
"H-h-h-h-how?" the Captain stared at the contraption that sat in his bridge, mocking him with a tiny ding. Dr. Hido opened the oven and took out a Yupperwear jar containing his lunch.
"Want a bit?" Dr. Hido held it out as he took a bit.

---

Gaishai Orbit
IRN Mondragon-Class Heavy Frigate "Heart of Glory"

“And then her sister walks in!” Captain Naroi promptly began to laugh his tail off at the Orbital Defense Anchor’s joke, “Have anymore Kari?”
“Yeah, I have some on in a folder somewhere, gimme a second to find them” Kari searched her folders before she suddenly started to panic, “Holy hell, Naroi! Problem!”
“What is it?” Captian Naroi’s tone changed to more serious with a hint of worry, “Astroid? Enemies? Robots? Should I have invested in water taps?”

Kari stared at the captain through her screen, she heard stories that IRN captains tend to invest in weird things but didn’t think her drinking buddy would be one of them, “Erm… No, we have something big coming up on the scans.”
“Well, what is it?” Naroi’s tone got more urgent, “I really need to know if my movie poster investment was worth it!”
“Well… you could try to make a movie out of this-”
“MOVIE. POSTERS. NOT MOVIES!” Naroi half scremed at his buddy through the mic.
“Chill you tail Naroi, this is serious.”
“AND I’M SERIOUS TOO!”

Kari stared at the captain in half disbelief, half unamusement, “Are you going to shoot at it?”
“Hell no, the Emperor would have my corpse displayed in public if I did. Get me an xeno-diplo team up here and send them over. I’ll have the the Youxia provide escort."
"Alright, a xendips are in route, they're five minutes out. Youxia has been contacted to, they'll meet them there. Imperial Senate and his Holiness have been notified." Kari swiped some symbols on her screen to contact the approperate people, "Also, you should have invested in stuff animals."
@Queen Raidne

---

Ralthar Orbit
International Station, Embassy Section
Room 26

Taida Kaiyashi was in his sharpest cloths and friendliest smile watching the huge aliens walk out of the room. He leaned to his assistance and asked, "Do they have anything of remote use to the Emperor?"
"Technology wise they don't have anything of major use, all outdated or child's play to us." the assistant whispered back, "Their military designs are most interesting but we have yet to establish a worth for them. Planetary resources seem like the most viable thing for us to ask for."

Taida sat back and looked around the room, it was like the Imperial palace back on in scale, although the huge size of it actually had a use unlike the decorative rooms of the palace. He recalled how he wanted to be a teacher earlier. Being a diplomat could be like teaching his people of a new race so it wasn't to different in his mind.

He stripped of his jacket and got up and bowed to the empty room, "It is time we have returned to our own ship. Send them a message that we'll accept the trade agreement but will be holding off on the technology exchange."
"Yes it is sir." his assistant followed him out the room back to his ship.


International Station
Standart Hangar 01

Captain Otome stomped over to the giant Harthal who was checking out her ship. Her crew was yelling at her from behind to put on a jacket as she walked half naked into the hangar, not caring about the amount of eyes aimed at her figure, "You! big guy! What the hell are you do to my Zhongy?!"

The crew stared at her from the back. "Zhongy?" they all said in disbelief. They knew there captain wasn't the most level-headed of people (espically since she was trying to engage in a shouting match with someone noticeable taller than her), but Zhongy was something new.

"Who the hell gave you the permission to take notes on my ship?! Do you see me trying to write down what you do in bed?!" Otome ranted at the Harthal.
"E-E-Excuse our captain! She's unique..." Shenshi and some of the stronger crew piled on top of her to prevent her from trying to start a fight with the being.

After some clawing and punching, someone managed to grab Captain Otome's tail and pulled it. She moaned loudly as her strength drained. Four guys came over and carried her on to the Zhongzhu as the rest of the crew followed. Shenshi apologetically bowed, "I am sorry our captain is so strange. Please excuse her rudeness. Also, please do not try that technique on any others of our species, it only works on her."
@Murtox

Enned System, Sovereign
"Everyone, jump!"

With the shortest time possible to give out that rather important order, the second in command shouted into the comms. Why? Because Mayumi was once again rolling all over the floor the moment the Federation opened fire.

Enned System, Planetside
The unit still on the planet rapidly boarded their ships, before thrusting out of the planet's gravity well, and back towards the assault carrier.

Enned System, Sovereign
"4th! 4th! Do you copy?" Still yelling into the comms, the second-in-command frowned, as she received no response. From all evidence shown, it could be possible that the 4th wasn't here to assist the 7th. Granted, they probably weren't going to shoot at them either, but being simply bystanders was a frustrating thought.