STC Syren

By the time the Lorca sat at the table Velka had procured a small cigarette and brought it to her mouth. Looking past the tip of the cigarette she could see the Lorca begin to eat, drinking down wine at alarming rates. She stared with wide eyes for a minute with her lighter in hand, surprised by how much they were actually drinking. Most Aradites didn’t even drink like that, those who did had built up a tolerance over many years. It wasn’t that she was afraid that they would run out of wine, they had more the enough to share with the population of Nouvelle. It was the effect on the Lorca she was worried about, this wine would have to kick in sooner or later. Velka finally got around to lighting her cigarette when her officers entered, more then ready to decompress after a shift. Without much more then a courteous bow and greeting the officers sat around the table and began picking pieces of meet and fruit from the table. Others either pulled out pre rolled cigarettes or began rolling their own, producing a large amount of different colored herbs. 

“ Could I trouble you for some wine sir?” 

a officer said towards the Lorca with the jug, holding out a glass towards him. Soon the room was hazy with sweet smelling smoke and everyone was either eating or talking amongst themselves or to the Lorca, before Velka got up to begin the informal briefing. 

“ The current state of affairs in this part of the Galaxy is…..complicated to say the least. A month ago we encountered another alien race when one of our vessels crash landed on their planet. After diplomacy failed rounds were exchanged and the ship scuttled, we suffered some casualties there.”. 

Velka pulled a small floating probe over to her as she finished, tapping it once to activate the holographic screen. Soon video from the just before the engagement and the following battle played 

“ You can make your own decisions about what occurred there, but for us this was a cause for war. This is the Eternal Union, they seem to be a large military power in the galaxy and have their hands everywhere. Not to long ago we deployed a special reconnaissance team to the planet were orbiting, We found evidence of them there as well”. 
Velka sighed as she thought of the next part, taking a long drag on her cigarette before continuing

 “ As of 0440 this cycle we haven’t heard anything from the team, they were supposed to radio for extract three hours ago. We expect they may have been captured or killed with all the combat occurring around the planet and we will investigate when the situation allows. Currently, there are two other nations in orbit around the planet the Valkarians I believe and the Terran Federation, acting as protectors for the people down below”. Velka paused to pour herself a glass of wine before bringing the cigarette to her lips again, looking to see the Lorca’s response.