[center][h2]SS [i]Vēṭikana[/i], Unknown Space[/h2][/center]

The sound of a hand slamming down on a table resonated throughout the (rather empty) bridge of the SS [i]Vēṭikana[/i], an Orenjiran-designed starship named after the famous Morii flagship that served in the war. In fact, the vessel was actually custom-built to the original plans of the [i]Vēṭikana[/i], something oddly common among sport vessels from the Eight World's Empire. One would expect that the leaders of the war against the Morii would tend to shy away from their designs, but most of the teams that utilized Morii designs came from Abh space.

"MIDWAY!" Yelled Ikuza, an Abh. He was wearing a disturbingly accurate replica of a Morii Empire Navy uniform. The illustration of the wartime Morii Princess [i]Chirana[/i] on the card that he had just slammed onto the table, however, was most certainly not wearing an accurate replica of a Morii Empire Navy uniform. 

"Chirana?" Said Tomred, a Carina, reading the stats listed on the card "Why are we even playing with her in the deck? Everyone knows that she's a complete game-breaker."

"That's nothing compared to Kamikaze!" Yelled a Murtaden named Kamil, who then held up a card showing a cartoonish rendition of the warship [i]Kamikaze's[/i] AI body, which used the ship's two warp rings as an excuse to keep the game legal on Al-Walam. "It would take ten Si'ēnā cards to even have a chance!"

"You had [i]Kamikaze[/i]?" Said Atnana, whose tattoos identified him as a 'Free Morii', unbound by their caste system or social code. "Why the hell didn't you play her?! It's the Battle of Midway Belt, dammit! How can you [b]not[/b] play [i]Kamikaze[/i]?"

"I was going to, but then Ikuza went and slammed down Chirana." Responded Kamil, arranging his cards into a neat stack and placing it in the center of the table. "Why didn't Tomred or I get the Morii, anyways? We were battle thralls at Midway, after all."

Atnana opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by the sudden appearance of the ship's AI in the middle of the table. It was modeled after 

"The realspace drones have intercepted a transmission." Said the holographic body of the ship's AI "It appears to be the mathematical powers of two."

Everyone suddenly forgot about the card game, and quickly stood up from their chairs. A quick nod from Ikuza told everyone what they had to do, and the four others rushed to their stations on the rather small bridge (Automation had long since removed the need for a large bridge crew).

"Not the Primes or the Lasis Sequence?" He said, putting his hand up to his chin "One would expect a species with radio technology would also be aware of basic mathematics. No matter, where is the source?"

"A star system approximately twenty light years from here. I already cut the engines."

"Good, take us in and drop out of FTL."

Mere minutes later, the viewscreens on the bridge reactivated and displayed the vast expanse of space before them. The immense speeds offered by the FTL drive allowed them to cross the almost unthinkably large distance in a matter of minutes, something their distant ancestors couldn't have even dreamed of. Ikuza sat down in the captain's chair in the center of the bridge, interfacing with the ship.

The prime numbers up to one-hundred were immediately transmitted throughout the system, as well as the powers of three up to a hundred. This was the first time in countless millions of years that anyone had directly contacted another species, and after the cataclysm that took their only other chance from them, everyone was on the edge of their seat. Unfortunately, everyone knew that there wasn't going to be a conversation. Being ships built for sport, no starship aside from the preserved Imperial warships had a translator. They'd have to wait for official ships, and of course, the government would probably rather not have a high-school sports team speak for them.

Even so, Izuka ordered another message to be sent. It was unlikely that the aliens had their own translators (after all, Imperial translators were all just copies of software found in the [i]Kamikaze's[/i] databanks), but there wasn't any reason not to see if they did.

"This is the captain of the SS [i]Vēṭikana[/i], we've picked up your transmission. You're not alone."