[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/l85QZ4h.png[/img]

[sub]A collab by [@The Spectre] and [@Drunken Conquistador][/sub][/center]
    [u][b]The South-East Region[/b][/u]
    Captain Ricardi tensed slightly in his seat as the ship re-entered real space. A quick row of calls and acknowledgments immediately followed as the crew finished the routine check ups. Everything was as it should be. Reports from the other ships of the task force said the same.

    With that out of the way, it was now the time to follow through with their mission and locate the source of the new Collective drones caught by the fleet on the AJS-837 system. The sudden appearance of these new drones had created a flurry of worry among the navy's upper ranks. Information about the drones was immediately suppressed as the devices were captured and sent for study while a taskforce, Ricardi's taskforce, was quickly put together to locate and hunt down the source of the drones. The last thing they needed now was a Collective fleet of unknown size hounding their rear while they were on the way to Agonis itself.

    "Captain, sir." One of the esigns called out. "Our sensors have detected a single ship within the system. No known design."

    "Charge weapons, assume offensive formation and move into range. But do not engage." Ricardi ordered. "As far as we know this might be some new ship that the degenerate machines are fielding."

    As the orders were transmitted to the rest of the taskforce, Ricardi felt a large palm grasping his right shoulder. Startled, he looked upwards to see the sickeningly sweet grin of Commissar Afarid.

    "Protocol states that unknown vessels are to be contacted first before any other action is taken, Captain." The Commissar stated, in his usual way of feigned helpfulness. "We wouldn't want to deviate from the protocol, would we?"

    Ricardi groaned internally but kept his expression neutral. If Afarid wanted to shout at the machines crewing the ship, then so be it. "Open a channel to the unknown ship." He ordered 

       The long day aboard the Geyser haven't changed since they got there. Sagar sat at the usual table as he was finishing up his cigar. The documentary crew arrived at the table moments later with their cameras on. Sagar put down his cigar as the cameras came closer to him. He looked at them and asked, "What are you wanting to know now?"

"Nothing much." the cameraman said, "We just want to know the latest information from those drones."

The captain laughed at the request and spoke to the camera, "Well, they are still doing their thing, mate. It takes time for those tiny drones to collect so much information at once. They might already found life and coming back this moment." 

Before the cameraman could ask more question, the pilot ran from his chair to the dining area. He looked like he saw something terrifying as he entered the area. "Captain, something just happened to our drones!" he stated towards Sagar. He rose from and raced towards the control room as the cameras followed them. They were finally execited that there was some drama. 

"Look!" he told Sagar as he went to his chair and flipped to the screen that showed the current state of the two drones. But something was wrong, the screen said that they went offline. The pilot went on to explain, "I was just checking on them as usual and one second they were fine. The next second.... they were gone. Like they were destroyed or worse."

"You think that someone did this?" Sagar asked.

"Yes. I do think so, because." the pliot tried to answered the question, but he was cut off by the alarm. Both the faces of the pliot and the captain went white as they heard the alarms. The documentary crew were both amazed and scared as they kept on filming them. The pliot went immediately to the other screen and saw the incoming ship, thanks to the sensors. He froze.

The captain shoved the crew back from the area as they tried to get a closer look at the screen. Sagar didn't know what to do as soon as the sensors rang out. Then, the commucation screen rang out like some sort of cellphone. Everyone aboard stopped moving as they could felt the room getting warmer and warmer.

The explorer, since he was the captain, went over to the device and pressed the button to answer it. "Hello?" he asked the device, speaking in his native lanauage. 

"That doesn't sounds like any language I've heard before." An ensign muttered as the bridge crew looked to Captain Ricardi for guidance.

"It still could be a Collective trick." The Captain told the Commissar before he could say anything. Turning to the ensign he ordered: "Send the usual cease and surrender message. In Newspeak and Collective code."

Then, he heard some kind of response from the other side. It was in a different lanuage than their official lanaguofficial lanauage. "What the hell is it saying?" one of the cameraman said.

"Shut up." Sagar said out loud as he tried to listen to the voice, but it confused him more. For several seconds, he kept listening until the pliot went over towards him and switched to the Collective code. Things started to make sense as it was some kind of cease and surrender message.

The explorer pressed on the device again and said, "We aren't bad or evil. We are looking for life beyond our home world. We aren't the Agonis Collective. And we are looking for the one nation that calls themselve, The Imperium. Please, allow ourselves to come aboard to explain ourselves. Or, you can come aboard our ship, if you wise. I am just an explorer with no military connection or background. Trust me." 

Soon enough, it translated into the code and the native lanauage.

"A first contact!" Commissar Afarid grinned. "They might even put us in the books for this one, brothers and sisters!"

Ricardi rolled his eyes at that. Considering his options, he decided he wasn't fully convinced that this wasn't some Collective ploy. And sure as hell he wasn't going to allow unknown aliens into a military ship. Neither he would endanger himself by entering this unknown-possibly Collective vessel. No matter how harmless as they looked.

"Tell them to land their ship on these coordinates." He ordered as he sent the coordinates to one of the airless moons of the system. "Keep their weapons powered down and no funny business. Also, prepare a couple shuttles for landing. Get two squads of marines ready and keep all ships on high alert." He turned towards the Commissar. "And you're coming with me."

"Alright, men." he turned towards the crew and went towards the pliot. "You got the coordinates." 

The pliot nodded as he set the ship to follow the coordinates. Sagar walked towards the airlock and looked over at the suits. The documentary crew followed him as he grabbed one of the suits. Sagar looked at the camera and said to them, "Get your suits on. Y'all are coming with me."

Their execitment went to the roof as they set their equipment down and grabbed the suits as fast as they could. They didn't know where they were going, but it was always safe to bring several suits among the trip. In case of any emergency or they land at an planet with no oxygen.

It took several moments, but they made it to a moon. The pliot went to Sagar and gave him the device. He smiled and told the pliot, "If things get too hot, you get the ship out and tell the Federation as soon as possible."

The pliot nodded as he went back to the control room and waited for orders. Soon enough, Sagar reached for the device and pressed the button as he said, "We are here. Don't try anything foolish."

Several minutes later a shuttle flew overhead, circling the group for several moments before landing at some distance. The back door opened and the ramp went down, soon after a squad of Totalist marines, clad head to toe in black and grey body armor along with the signature gas masks. They assumed a crescent formation and advanced towards the other ship, guns lowered but visibly tense. Stopping at a distance, one of them stepped forward with a scanning device in his hand. After a few moments of that, a message is sent and another shuttle lands nearby. 

The ramp opens and another squad of marines marches down. Behind them come Captain Ricardi and Commissar Afarid, the only difference between them and the marines being the rank signs in their arms and officer caps on their heads, strapped over the gas masks. 

The airlock opened as both Sagar and the documentary crew stepped out into the unknown moon. Soon enough, they saw tons of weapons that were pointed to them. That scared both the explorer and the crew as they froze in place. Sagar placed down the device and before he pressed the button, he saw them.

Aliens. This wasn't their first contact, but it was the first peaceful one. The lessons given about the Invasion caused by the Collective could scared everyone from going up in space. But that didn't stop Sagar as he wanted to show to the rest of the world that there could be peaceful aliens out there.

He pressed the button and said, "Hello, you all. We come in peace.."

Captain Ricardi stepped forward, a marine followed closely behind with a device in his hands. 

"You will have to excuse our precautions." The Captain started as the device in the marine's hand translated his words mechanicaly. "But your drones are made with Collective technology, and I would wager that so does your ship. And then you come here and speak in their language."

Sagar nodded his head and said as he pressed the button, "I understand then. You think that we 'working' with those savages. But, we don't." 

His voice suddenly got all serious and upsetting as he lifted his head and looked towards the man. His helmet reveled his face as he looked like he was going to cry angrily. He knew that they looked similar to the description of 'humanity'. He looked back down at the device and pressed the button as he said, "Tell me, what have the Collective done to you and your people?"

"They've attacked us." Ricardi replied, looking straight at the other man while the device translated. "Just like they do to everyone else. But this time they have bitten more than they can chew. As we speak the armies of the State march with little to no opposition through their planets laying waste to all resistance." It wasn't necessarily the whole truth, Ricardi knew, but it was close enough. Besides, it was always goood to make an impression.

Sagar just laughed at his words of victory and conquest of the Collective. He once again pressed the button and said, "How many have they killed? Have the Collective killed your civilians and turned them into soldiers as some kind of sick joke? Have they?"

His left hand made a fist and smashed it at the moon's ground as dust rose up from the impact. "Sorry." he said to the men, "They have done us too many pain that we can't even tell without showing you. If you allow us to, I could get out another device that explains what the Collective did to us."

The documentary crew were filming the whole thing as their camera were mainly aimed at Sagar and the man. They didn't say or do anything beside film the whole thing.

"If you must." The Captain replied. "But by what you said then the Collective was just following its usual patterns."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Laying waste to entire cities, turning civilians into mindless war drones." Ricardi explained. "It's what they do to everyone else."

"Fortunately for us." Commissar Afarid interved, stopping besides the Captain. "They only managed to actually hit two of our worlds, so our losses were only in the low billions."

"'Low Billions?'" he replied that word as if it was some sort of insult before hitting the button. "Unlike you guys, we didn't know anything beyond our world. You're luckly that you were taught that those monsters killed billions and you just said 'low billions' like they are nothing more than tools."

"I have the device at hand, but it would be better if we done the talking inside. This device only works within enclosed envoriment. Your men can come with as well, if you feel like this is all a 'trick played by the Collective.'"

Ricardi sighed and looked back to his men. "Jamshid and W/S-1039 with me and the Commissar." He barked the order, which was unintentionally translated. "The rest of you stay and guard the perimeter." With that he turned back towards the other group. "If you would leade the way, please."

"Thank you." Sagar said as he rose up and grabbed the device. Then he turned towards the crew and pointed towards the ship. The group went towards the entrance of the airlock and stepped inside. It took a minute for them to get inside, but it was worth it. Sagar and the crew entered first as he cleared the area as much as they could. 

He got two chairs and put them close together near the table as he grabbed sat at one. The pliot looked behind him as the aliens entered his ship, but he didn't come out or talk. He just watched the whole thing. The crew set up their cameras to get the perfect shot while Sagar would share their history of the Invasion.

"Sorry if it's small, but it's the best that we could do with the technology that we uncovered from the vessel." Sagar said as he placed the device on the table while pressing the button.

The Commissar and the Captain sat down in the chair as the two marines took position by the door, guns lowered but alert to the situation.

"What are they doing?" Ricardi asked, pointing towards the cameras and the crew. "A-are you recording this?"

Sagar laughed as he looked towards the camera crew and said to them, while pressing the button, "People at home are scared to death of aliens since the Collective attacked us. We want to prove to them that there are more aliens out there than the Collective."

"Are they bugging you?" he asked the man.

"No." Ricardi replied quickly. As everyone else living within Totalist rule, Ricardi was used to the notion of being under almost constant surveiliance, except this time it wasn't the Directorate of Safety recording him. This time however, the cameras made him nervous for some reason. He silently thanked the gas mask covering his face before continuing. "I suppose formal introductions are in order? Unless it's something your people doesn't do?"

"Oh, I forgot to take this mask off." he said to the device as he managed to take the helmet and his features soon appeared. He knew that he could easily be mistaken as a 'humanity'. Beside that fact, he placed the helmet beside him and looked at the men.

He then answered one of the man's question, "My name is Sagar. I am an explorer and I answer to no-one besides myself and my government."

"I am Commissar Huang Afarid and this is Captain Mikhail Ricardi, of the Totalist Navy." Ricardi glared at the Commissar behind his mask but remained silent. It was better to show an united front to these humans. "And what is your government?" The Commissar asked.

"Our government is called, Athistan Federation." he answered Huang's question, "Aren't you guys with the 'Imperium'?"

Both men tensed visibly at the mention of the Imperium.

"That backwards, repressive and exploitative regime." Commissar Afarid started, hate filling his voice. "Has fallen centuries ago, thanks to the Supreme Director. In his place this part of the Galaxy has been taken over by petty warlords, aliens and would be successors. The Agonis Collective is just one of those states."

"Oh." he just said as he learned that the 'Imperium' were long gone. He couldn't think of anything else and waited until they asked another question.

"Were your ancestors Imperial colonists?" Captain Ricardi asked. 

"'Imperial colonists'? 'Ancestors'?" he questioned Ricardi, "What do you mean? We had been on that planet for thousands of years. What kind of question is that?"

"What?" Ricardi asked, confused. "Aren't you humans?"

"Oh!" he said out loud as he held down the button, "You meant 'humanity'! Are we 'humanity'? Sorry about that. Are you guys from 'Earth'? The Collective mentioned that place several times. Do you know what it is?"

"Earth is the birthplace of mankind." Commissar Afarid replied. "Currently its a ravaged wasteland under control by one of the Imperial Warlords. Not even worth the resources it took to conquer it from the local techno-barbarians."

"Oh. Sorry about that." he said as he heard the word 'mankind', "What's a 'mankind'? Are they another species?"

"It's just another name for humanity." Ricardi replied. "That's why many of these Warlords place so much stock in controlling Earth. For the prestige of holding our species homeworld."

"Wait, do you guys think that we are 'humanity'?" he asked the two confused men across the table. "We are called,  Xreihz. There also the Acelop." Harikiran, one of the Acelops, waved at them as he stool by the camera crew.

"I am truly sorry for not telling you that sooner." he said to the men, "I hope that we can move on from this awkward moment."

"You certainly look human enough." Ricardi said to Sagar as the Commissar waved back. "With the amount of cybernetic, biological and genetic modifications around you look more human than many actual humans."

"Anyway, we need to show you this device." he told them as he went into his back pocket and grabbed the disk-like device. He pressed a button and threw it to the middle of the table, which then 'turned' on. A hologram image of his world appeared, Athistan. 

The man spoke again as he held down the button on the other device, "One hundred years ago, Xreihz and Acelop were living in peace. Our government, the Federation, built their first ever space station. After the opening, President Roshawna spoke to all fifty leaders. Things were looking good. We were studying FTLs and augmentations were becoming population. And we always looked like this, by the way."

It showed the planet, then the space station, and finally Cleim. He tried to speak without crying, "Cleim. The 'greatest city in the world'. It was the perfect city that adopted both past and present. Then, [i]they[/i] came."

The next image was a Collective vessel and then video of it crashing to Cleim, it was hard to watch to this day. He closed and opened them up as he explained, "It came out of nowhere. The nearby naval patrol tried to stop it, but we couldn't it. It crashed and had killed about thousands of civilians."

"But, they weren't scared at all. They always had been interested in aliens and the unknown. And this vessel crashing into Cleim was the perfect chance. Even the mayor of Cleim was going to forget the crash landing to the aliens. People gathered at the impact zone to see what had happened."

The next image showed tons of people gathered at the zone and then there was the infamous video of the first contact. He held back the tears as he explained, "A family saw one of the creatures coming out all scared and shy of the cameras. Everyone was filming this moment, thinking it would forever go on the history books. Then..."

He plaused as the creature attacked the child, who reached his hand towards it. "Then..." he repeated the word as tears fell out of his face. He let go of the button and started to cry. 

"I am sorry." he repeated over and over in his native lanuage as he tried to stop crying. As the video kept going, more of the creatures attacked everyone from men to women and their children. It ended as soon as one of them attacked the cameraman. He managed to stop crying for several minutes and then kept going as he pressed the button again, "The hope and dreams of so many were gone in the matter of seconds. In the matter of six hours, about two million people died. Fifteen million died within twelve hours. One day later, the death toll reached forty million."

There was footage of Koriu Bridge being destroyed by the Collective, buildings collapsing, and finally the attack on the airport. He breathed slowly and said, "We were losing and had no hope left until we learned of her. Saroj Bhaman."

An image of her appeared as he went on to explain who she was, "She had survived being trapped inside their vessel and met 'Grana'. An image of 'Grana' appeared as well. 

"She went straight to the airport with some help and tried to tell everyone, but they were following her." he explained, "The airport was destroyed, but she managed to get out of there before the general order the bombs to be dropped."

The video showed the bombs being dropped on both the machine and the vessel. The man wipped away the tears for earlier as he told them, "The remaining military force of the government went straight towards the vessel and attacked it. With no hope left, 'Grana' went to track down Bhaman. Soon, she managed to find her and they talked before she was destroyed. She told her that the Collective will come back once more, because we were 'humans' or something like that."

"After she was destroyed, the death toll finally reached up to two-hundred million lives. That was almost ninty percent of the population of Cleim. And the 'Invasion' lasted several days." he said as images showed the aftermath of the Invasion. He coughed and told them, "We didn't give up after the attack, but we were scared as hell about them coming back. The Federation ensured that they would be ready for their return and used their technology to advanced us beyond our dreams. Now, we have a mission."

He stood up, rasied his fist towards the roof, and said to them, "Our mission is ensure that those savages never bring harm to others, like us."

"But, it looks like that we couldn't even do it." he realized as he sat back down, "They already killed billions. Thankfully, you guys are pushing them back."

The last image was the symbol of the Federation. "I am sure that the Federation is willing to provide you and your allies aid and support in sending them back to hell. You just need to send someone to meet her." The device soon shut off and he grabbed it as he placed it back in his pocket. 

"Sorry about the break down." he said to them, "It's hard to watch the death and destruction. I know sixty million isn't a lot to you, but it was a lot to us back then."

"That has certainly been an elightening experience." Commissar Afarid replied diplomatically. "Very eye opening. As for your offer of support, we will have to bring it to the Board of Directors before anything official is decided."

"Fair enough." he only said as he stood up from the chair and walked towards them. He wanted to know what to do now.

"Now what?" he asked them, "What do we do? This is the first contact that went peaceful and we don't know what to do?"

"Our protocol dictates that we should return and inform our superiors of this recent development. Then the appropriate authorities will enter in contact with your government for further negotiations." Captain Ricardi replied

"Sounds good enough." Sager smiled as he carefully reached out his hand towards the two people, hoping that one of them would shake his hand. "I hope that we would meet again." he told him as he awaited a response. 

"If the Party wills it." The Commissar replied as he took the offer. "Chances are your personel will be meeting with actual diplomats next though."

"Then, I wish you well in your future and the fight against the Collective, Afarid. I will have to report this contact as well." he told him as he left go of his hand and showed them the way out. He thanked them once again as the airlocks closed on them while Sagar waved at them.

The four men made their way back to the shuttles alongside the marines. Once back in the ship, Captain Ricardi made the necessary calls and left the system with most of his taskforce, leaving behind a couple of ships to watch the explorers. Now the situation was out of his hands.

The Geyser lift off from the moon and soon left behind the several ships as it was making it's way back home. Everyone onboard smiled as they found life and they didn't die at all. It would take days or weeks for them to return, but it would be worth the waiting. He didn't even care about the drones.

He was going to be famous over night. But, he needed to release a comm buoy first. Before he left the system for good, he released the only comm buoy they had. It gave him the location of Athistan to the aliens.
[hr][center][sub]A collab by [@The Spectre] and [@POOHEAD189][/sub][/center]
    [u][b]The South-West Region[/b][/u]
       The Union had been within the same system for the last couple since they last launched the drones. It's unknown where they were going, but they were fine. Zemenfes, the famous explorer, looked around the dining area for a cup. On the table, a fresh bottle of Red Diamond was waiting to be opened by Zemenfes. He often drank wine like it was water. 

When he finally found the cup, he raced back towards the table and made his self a drink. He took a sip of the wine as he grinned ear to ear. The first sip always makes a person do that. After drinking for almost thirty seconds, Kirat Ghagrah came out of her room with her camera and placed it on the table.

"So, today's going to be the day?" she asked the explorer, waiting for answer. 

He shook his head as he finished up the wine and said to her, "It might be or it not be."

Zemenfes stood up and went to the control room as soon as he heard his name. He then saw it on the screen, a nearby planet. It was a desert planet, a perfect place for the Federation to set up another colony. The pliot looked at the screen, then back at Zemenfes and said to him, "Should we check it out? It will only take us a few minutes to get near it."

"Alright." the explorer said as he waved his hands all over, "Make it quick. This might be useful to the Federation once we get back home."

Before he left the control room, he shouted for the documentary crew to get ready. Then, he stayed for a moment to watch the pliot drive the ship around. He wasn't interested in the planet, but he hoped that some form of life - that were intelligent - were on the planet.

As the exploratory vessel approached, they picked up some odd frequency on the scanners. Whatever they were approaching, it did not read like any organic world they had ever come across. Suddenly on the comm they heard a low, guttural warbling, before a mechanical translator began to refine the language. 

"Halt, or be annihilated." the deep voice said. Upon further inspection, the planet they were about to orbit had much of it illuminated, as if it were one monumentous city.  In fact, it was mechanical in nature, and various incoming unidentified objects approached slowly, traveling in a well disiplined formation. 

Everyone aboard froze in place as they heard the voice. The explorer didn't know what to do as the ship came to a halt. He didn't know what else to do besides respond to the voice. He got out the device, which was the translator that would translate into Collective codes. Then, he spoke to the voice as he pressed the button, "We have halt. Please don't open fire."

The ships that had approached slowed to a halt as well, hovering just outside range. A holo image appeared before them on the deck. It was a hulking, saurian alien of lean muscle. Well armored and predatory in nature, its 4 mandibles opened as it spoke. "Where do you come from and what is your business in the Auraelian system. Speak quickly and true." 

"We are here to explore life beyond our system. We aren't 'humanity', if you were confused by our appearance." he spoke to the hologram alien. 

A low growl followed. Whether it was from annoyance or consideration wasn't clear. "What system do you hail from?"

"An system that your government official might not even know, Athistan" he answered the alien's question.

"We know of it." the speaker said. He would not explain how, but there had been many areas of the galaxy the Hexanagallions had made note to explore from their sojourn from their homeworld two centuries ago. "Hold, and I will refer your business with my Warmaster..." 

It would be an hour before the Hexanagallion spoke up once more. "If you truly wish to continue, we will allow you to enter Auraelius Prime. If you prove truthful to your claims, you will not be harmed or imprisoned." 

"Alright," he said, "where's 'Auraelius Prime' located?"

"It is the world you were approaching." he replied, and turned the comm off once the confirmation was made. 

Suddenly their ship was caught in an electromagnetic pull, and the ships that hovered around it about faced and flanked it as they were drawn inexorably toward the world that had clearly been forged as an enormous and amored space station. One of the many lights they had seen now glowed all the brighter, and revealed itself to be a docking bay protected by an energy barrier. 

Their ship was able to land safely upon the ground of the docking bay, and once they had exited they would find a contingent of Hexanagallion troops flanking another member of their kind in Silver and Gold war armor. Each stood over 7 feet tall, with cable-like muscles. They had four fingers upon each hand, 4 mandibles, and legs that folded backwards instead of the normal forward as human kneknees were evolved to do. 

With the device at one hand, Zemenfes and the documentary crew were surrrounded by some kind of soldiers. He spoke to the group as he pressed the button, "What do we do now?"

The leader stepped forward, his predatory eyes filled with an intense intelligence. "I am Warmaster Cronoxus. This is the Auraelian system that leads into the greater nation of the Honored Resurgance Forces. I am the voice of the system, as well as 29 other vassals systems. To be here is something unheard of, yet I am curious of your nation as you are curious of ours." 

Despite his beastial, reptilian nature, he stood with his hands behind his back with a dominating yet cultural poise. "You can ask what questions you have of our system, and of our people. I however, would ask why you were looking to this part of the galaxy for your exploration. Were you seeking to contact other nations?"

They were amazed by the large leader as he stood in a dominating poise. The crew caught the footage of the leader as he asked if they were seeking to contact 'other nations'. Zemenfes stepped forward as he wanted answers to the many questions that he had to ask.

"Someone said that they managed to learn about our system-which had been isolated for hundreds of years-and I want to know what that person meant?" he pressed the button as he was asking the question to the leader. 

Cronoxus regarded the human looking man curiously, if such aliens could be described by such terms. He stood silently for a moment, then replied. "I know not of this. I have heard of your people but never visited it myself. Nor have many of our forces for many years. We were not certain that you were still alive and thriving, for this galaxy has many perils. You arriving here, if that is where you are from, would be the first we are hearing of it in perhaps over a century."

"Then you know about the Invasion?" he asked Cronoxus.

"Invasion?" he asked. "If you refer to an invasion in your past, I recall hearing of it once. We are a long lived race compared to many humans, but it was only in whispers. The last few centuries we have expanded into old Imperium space. We were a tad busy, if you will." he chuckled. 

"Have you heard 'whispers' of a nation calling themselves, Agonis Collective." he boldly stated the nation's name. He hated the Collective for what they did to his planet and to Cleim. He made a fist as he mentioned their name.

Perhaps Cronoxus was grinning when he replied. It was often hard to tell with the Hexanagallion mandibles. "We are currently invading the Collective as we speak. The machines are a bold adversary, but they are no match for our noble warriors. It seems they are now caught on two fronts, and their days are numbered."  The warriors behind Cronoxus pressed their fists to their broad chests in unison. "For Honor." they stated.

"Good." he also grinned as he heard that their days were coming to an end, "The Collective deserved all of the pain and suffering that they would get. They were the ones that invaded our planet and killed sixty million people in the matter of days. We call the event, the Invasion."

The Warmaster nodded, taking the news matter of factly. "The Machines are a cruel race, but they are but one of many who deserve destruction in this galaxy. The cleansing has already begun." he said. "I advise you not to go much further into known space if you shy from conflict, for a war has begun that will shift the galaxy into a new age." The Warmaster clenched his fist. "We not only live for combat, but we thriive in it. Even now the largest nations of man pick one another apart, and we prepared to drive through them like a holy lance of fire. But ware, as I have said. To go in further will have you collide into the Totalist nation of heretics, and the Collective you so loathe. It is these two small obstacles we now face before our Honored Forces can fully engage the oppressive nations of man that war with one another."

"'Totalist'?" he questioned.

"Yes." Cronoxus replied. "A Human Nation that assimilates those whom they 'liberate' against their will. A dictatorship that bends the wills of their own population, and those they conquer, to their own designs. We seek to destroy it if they do not cease and desist such acts immediately. They are currently attacking Collective space now."

"Well" he said clearly, "There's no point in using the device then."

 The Warmaster narrowed his gaze. "Explain."

Zemenfes went into his pocket and grabbed the device. He reveled the small disk-like device to Cronoxus. "This device gives more detail into the invasion, how it happened, and who was behind it. Since you got the basic information already, there's no point to share it unless you're interested in the history of our invasion." he explained about what the device does.

"It only works indoors, since it produces hologram images." he added.

 "Ah I see." he said. "Your people seem to have truly been changed by this assult." 
 
 "We have." he stated, "I am positive that our president will be able to support your war against the Collective."

"This is unexpected, but welcome. However, it is the Totalists that are the true thorn in our sides. The Agonis are being decimated on all fronts. Their days are numbered. The Totalists we can defeat as well, but it would take time. Time that we cannot waste on this new menace while the other human nations are vying for power in the center of the galaxy."

"I am not sure about the Totalists. Our president will have to take time to study that nation and other to form her own opinion." he stated as the documentary crew filmed the whole thing going on.

"The Agonis front welcomes you nonetheless. Defer to your leaders. If you would allow, tell me. Do you harbor slaves of any kind, or do you wish to recreate an institution that will be any form of harsh dictatorship? To do so makes us your enemy. To do so, but lie about it beforehand...makes us your worst nightmare."

"Our government is a federation. The fifty nations of our world don't have slaves, because it's illegal. Our government isn't a dictatorship." Zemenfes ensured that ruler, "If you wish to meet our leader, get the comm buoy."

He and the crew started to walking away from the ruler. Before they boarded the ship, he turned to the aliens and said his goodbyes, "May you be protected in the long trip that you decided to take. If not, then we wish you well in the war against the Collective." 

The Union lift off from the landing pad and left the planet as fast as they could to inform the government of this grand discovery. A comm buoy was launched from the ship, giving the location to their home system. Zemenfes was proud to have finally discovered aliens beyond the Federation. This was the first time that they made a peaceful first contact.

Cronoxus escorted them back of course, and he placed his fist upon his chest. "Farewell." he said simply, giving a curt nod. As the newcomers left back to their homeworld, Cronoxus stood for a moment in silence, before pointing to an officer. "Contact Warlord Jex. I have news for him..."