[@MrFoxNews]
[color=salmon][b][u]Stalicar System, Hocklyn Frontier System[/u][/b][/color]

Two destroyers barreled out of their 'port, and returned to normalspace. For several moments, their sensors and weapons were offline- then they gradually, slowly, came back. Within ten seconds, they could see and shoot again. They scanned, picked up nothing but the usual debris that's often around a trade route jump point- the beacon was broadcasting a Hocklyn-encrypted signal with coordinates to multiple other long-range beacons (Hocklyn beacons allow Hocklyn ships to jump farther than normal, at the cost of all their drives' fuel). A minute later, they pinged the Hocklyn beacon, and three freighters- one with the great ball containers containing liquids or gases, another with the modular container design, and the last with a fixed-design ship that stores cargo inside of the ship, without any modular containers- 'ported in. 

The three freighters, one of them holding a very large load of iridium, the modular holding various other ores and materials, and the ball freighter packing several hundred tons of unidentified gases, immediately moved to the nearest waystation- a stopping point to refuel jump drives after a long point. While a portal doesn't cost any fuel, it takes a great deal of constant energy to keep up, and is extremely expensive. Meanwhile, jump beacons allow for faster travel per fuel unit, and are much cheaper to construct and maintain. And, it also makes a roaring trade for fuel at each of the jump-to systems.

The two destroyers spread out, scanning the system with specialized modules, searching for threats. As they neared the station- it was built between two relatively small asteroids in the asteroid belt around the only system's planet, a gas giant- the destroyers began to get nervous. The station wasn't responding; scopes zooming in took note of a couple hull penetrations, where something had punched through and blown out the air inside multiple rooms. But it was not a problem, yet, because one of the penetrations were where the communications array was supposed to be, the refueling dock looked to be untouched, and there were still some lights on, through the thick windows of some of the hallways and rooms.

So the destroyers took up positions 'round the station, leaving it to the fixed-design's freighter to dock first, and allow its compliment of marines to take care of any trouble. One checked out the multiple stations hovering in low orbit over the gas giant, cloud scoops sucking in precious gases. It was quickly apparent that something was wrong- three of the nine cloud scoop stations were leaking all their gases out to space, a mix of green, orange, and brown pouring from a hole in each of the stations, one of them slowly deorbiting. As it turned about to head back to its charges and its companion destroyer, a mine- similar to Hocklyn design- detonated against the hull, mistaken for debris and the shields paying it no mind because of it. Immediately, the small, powerful ship tore in half, it's relatively weak skeleton torn in two by the mine that blasted straight through it.

Three more mines went off as the ship drifted away from the cloud scoops, tearing it to pieces.

[@Queen Raidne]
[color=salmon][b][u]Huenster System, Hocklyn Home System[/u][/b][/color]
The Hocklyn had no reaction for "Joon" appearing out of nowhere. Rather, he just moved his crystalline face into his best imitation of a smile- which was neither comforting or pretty, since it showed his crystalline pointed teeth- and waited patiently for Joon to get in. He waited a moment for the door to automatically close behind her, and said, [color=salmon]"Ye, of sorts, ye know. Izz moruva tour of our shtuff, ya tick?"[/color] Tick being a sort of slang term, similar to "ya dig?" or "Ya know?" [color=salmon]"Sees, we's been paids to show ye a'ound an' oh! Righty hoe, the lah'dee saids..." [/color]After a moment, the constant waves of radiation stopped- his version of 'closing his eyes.' He laughed, a hoarse, hacking sound, and continued. [color=salmon]"Mah ahpawlah'gees. She said our seeshtuff wudn't make ye feel comf'toebul. That's awl'righty though. I gots autopilot."[/color]

Humming a little tune through his strange accent and somewhat hoarse voice- though probably normal for him- he went about tapping on some buttons and pushing some levers, before saying, [color=salmon]"Inicijuoti maršrutą trylika. Slaptažodis yra kvadratinės šaknies."[/color] He waited for a moment, then the aircraft jerked slightly, before a small ping sounded, and the aircraft started rising. After it reached a hundred feet or so, it accelerated, banking slowly to go towards the terraformer- which was now muted, because of the vehicle's canopy. [color=salmon]"So's I been tol' tha' ye was supposta lern 'bout us or somesuch. I can say right now- we's a slaver empire. Oh, I know you prolly think we gots whips and all thats, but..."[/color] He paused for a moment, before continuing in impeccable, perfect speech,[color=salmon] "The Hocklyn Slaver Empire takes in all the sentient, smart races it finds, and then taketha- gar, takes them- in as a sort of citizen-on-probation. Laws'n'stuff go harder on them, but they don't get whippins, er, they don't get whipped. See, Joon, the lowest of Hocklyns are equal to the highest of other races- but their power may be different. Many influential Lovci and have the ear of the Council, which rules us. Three Council members, who are the leaders of everything, by the way. Don't want to get in their way- they gots some real nice energy swords, they cut people in half for crossin them. Speaking of which, we screwed up our planet so much that we have these massive terraformers everywhere, keeping us from suffocatin."[/color]

He gestured vaguely at the rapidly approaching hexagonal construct, the rumbling going so far as to be unheard, but felt deep in one's chest. The Hocklyn had everything memorized quite well, for having his 'eyes' 'closed.'

[@Zadubadabu]
[color=salmon][b][u]Hostel System, Hocklyn Frontier System[/u][/b][/color]
The primary fleet 'ported into the edges of the system, greeted by a warning broadcast to identify themselves and the foreign vessels in the fleet. Because the ships had used the portable jump beacon contained within the fleet's flagship, most of the smaller ships were completely out of the FTL drive's fuel. Likewise, many of the larger ships were also running low. Because of the relatively long-range jump (They had gone quite a ways out of Hocklyn territory in search of more ideal systems), the entire fleet took a minute to arrive- smaller ships appearing first, then the foreign vessels, then the primary fleet itself. 

After taking up positions around the foreigners, they moved in closer to the extensive FOB (Forward Operations Base) in orbit around the system's solitary habitable planet. Two dwarf planets and a small gas giant were farther out in the system, on the other side of the sun. 

The FOB that they were heading towards was extensive. Because two of the three moons of the planet had relatively geostationary orbits, space elevators rose the relatively short distance to the smallest one, which was in a relatively low orbit around the planet. With a great deal of work, the moon had a great big drydock and a trading hub for the more or less independent miners that went to other systems for resources that the Hocklyn government has yet to lay claim to. A small fleet surrounded it- three destroyers and a cruiser. 

As the fleet approached, the small defense force drifted out towards the outskirts of the planet's gravity well, leaving the fleet to rally with them. After silent discussion between the Hocklyn vessels, small short-range freighters dispatched from the station, rising up to the fleet to refuel the ships, while the flagship of the fleet, the [i]Cyrus[/i] destroyer, the alien ship, and an escort of four torpedo destroyers hugging the aliens, torpedoes armed and very ready to fire at near point-blank range. They let the alien ship dock the hasty jury-rigged port first; on the opposite side of the dock extending from the moon, the flagship and the [i]Cyrus[/i] docked. 

Five minutes later, after a small swarm of construction drones made sure the alien ship's airlocks were sealed with the station's (and that explosive high-penetration devices were planted on their hull where they suspected the engines, reactors, communications arrays, and FTL drive were located), the dock's airlock to the alien ship opened up, to show the Fleet Commander's XO, flanked by Stehlruh'Coluk das Cyrus and a guard, who was wearing heavy armor and was visibly tensed, if you took in the loaded and charged G43 gauss rifle.

Stehlruh was wearing light scout armor, with the Hocklyn's navy colors. Purple alloy plates over shoulders, hips, and midsection, with a titanium chainmail between, wires visibly snaking through the chainmail to power the glowing devices in the middle of each plate. The Fleet Commander's XO was wearing medium infantry armor, which was a layer of titanium chainmail with full-coverage purple armor plates, with a slightly humped back where several fuel cells lay. The light scout armor was much more subtle, with no visible power packs. The guard's armor was full- unlike the other two, his face was covered in a helmet, and with a shield somewhat visibly hovering an inch around him. Stehlruh's face was natural, for their species, though there was a small device on the side of his head, attached to a headset- a small white circle shone on it, with two 'eyes' on it, full circles as the Hocklyn stared at the aliens. A similar device was attached to the Fleet Commander's XO's headset, except the full 'eye' circles were slitted slightly, as if in suspicious. They were devices that were clearly meant to convey their emotions to the aliens.

As the aliens approached from their ship, Stehlruh took a step forward and gave a short bow, while the guard watched impassively, and the FC-XO's emoticon indicator flashed to an angry face, back to suspicious. Stehlruh spoke, saying in his strange, unusual voice, [color=salmon]"Ramus sveikinimai, užsieniečiams. Jei mano vertėjas dirba teisingai, prašome pasakyti šią frazę, mano kalba, kad aš žinau, kad ji tinkamai veikia. Iš kriaušių karalienė vaikšto tarp plieno koridoriuose." [/color]A moment after he finished speaking, a translation spoke from the device: [color=salmon]"Peaceful greetings, aliens. If my translator is working correctly, please say the following phrase, in my language, so I know that it is working properly. The Queen of the Spear walks among the steel corridors."[/color]