darkwolf687

From Stardust, To Stardust

Apollo26 said
Those Lorca are going to be pretty drunk! Also, dont forget about me on Icarus Key!

They are indeed. Their size will help them somewhat, but they are gonna get a nasty shock

From Stardust, To Stardust

STC Syren

Major Voroei rose up from his somewhat hunched position and spoke "Very well". The trio approached the table and took up their positions. A Minor reached out towards the half frozen pitcher of water and lifted it, examining for a moment. He raised his hand, and from his gauntlet projected a small, energy dagger. He carefully held it near the pitcher for but a second, then disabled it. Carefully, he replaced the now melted (and, truth be told, now warm) water upon the table. The Major spoke, but he had switched tongue, which to the Aradites would sound as though he spoke another language entire (Which truthfully, he was). The language was calmer and more rolling than the previous one, the words smooth though carrying authoritative tones. He spoke only for a few seconds and then lowered himself into his seat. The minors remained standing for the moment. The major turned his head back towards the Aradites, switching back to the black tongue for the Commanders translator.
"Forgive me for the imposition of my prayer, Commander. It is..." He paused a short moment "Ah come, we shall not bore you. Tell us the state of your corner of the galaxy!" He raised his hand then lowered it and the two minors sank into their seats. The minor took the wine and stared at it for a moment before pouring it into the Majors cup and handing it to the major, who poured it onto the cups of both minors. There was a shimmer as the trio lowered their shields and began to feast upon the meal, with a paticular taste for meat. They ate somewhat noisily as their mandibles snapped and crunched bones, their large predatory teeth tearing the food apart in their mouths. Whenever one of the Lorca finished the wine, the Lorca sitting next to him would pour another drink. It was a sign of great trust of the part of the receiver.
The major sat back slightly and held the cup in one hand, drinking from it. Then he turned his head to the side, as if listening to something, and spoke
"Conduct it as you feel, Lance Minor, only disturb me should the situation be grave."
He returned his gaze to the commander "Forgive me, I am making a poor guest" He bowed his head slightly to look at the floor, then raised it again "Please, tell us about the affairs in this part of the galaxy. My people are as ignorant as a young Garg pup of these going ons. Our knowledge is to our own sectors, where the dead walk and those who are not dead trust us not."

Nouvelle, Alien Contact.

The Minor frowned as he watched the information play, then tapped a command and spoke to the Major
"We are recieving two more contacts, one from the Terrans and the other from... Valkian. How should I respond?"
"Conduct it as you feel, Lance Minor, only disturb me should the situation be grave."
The Minor tapped a control broadcasting back to the Valk Nation and the Terrans in butchered English
"Operating procedure demand two men with the vessel. Lack available warriors for two meetings. Suggest three way meeting at coordinates on Nouvelle. Transmitting. Will arrive in dropship. Come, know us better!"
The port exit from the hanger slid open and the dropship turned around, exiting through the shields. The bulkhead slid shut behind it, and the dropship began to fly down to the planet, heading for a patch of the counctry side a short distance away from the capital city...

From Stardust, To Stardust

STC Syren

One of the minors scanned his eyes over the Aradite special forces. He wished put that title to test, both for glory and to right this affront to his honour. They would be a worthy foe, indeed, though he doubted fate would be cruel enough to set them on a field, at least within the foreseeable future. Fate however, could be a cruel master
The Major paused for a moment upon hearing the word commander. In the Ghaj, commander simply meant 'S/He in command of the operation'. He wasn't sure of her exact rank, but then he was certain that she wasnt either. The trio of elite warriors followed the 'Aradite' through the ship, and one of the minors paused and examined the icing walls. He tilted his head, then continued on, thankful that his armour was equipped with tempreture regulation. He whispered quite praise under his breath in the honour tongue.
The Major frowned slightly, before speaking again, in a quieter voice to the Commander "Commander Vellais, I would not wish to offend your peoples honour, how must we act at your table?".

From Stardust, To Stardust

New Alas, Station

The Majors and Minors took a few steps forwards and examined the guards, checking their weaponry and armour. The Ultra approached the diplomat, towering over him. "I am Ultra Waro Zukei of the Lorca Ghaj, shipmaster of A Latta O A Ada. Identify yourself" He said, examining the being before him. The being was almost certainly weaker and slowly than him, though he couldnt speak for their senses and accuracy

From Stardust, To Stardust

STC Syren

The Major glanced to the marksmen and followed their gazed to his cloaked comrades. He let out a low growl "Reveal yourselves brothers, they have uncovered you!" He barked, and the air distorted again as the cloaking devices deactivated and the two black armoured figures materialised. One of the minors turned towards the Major
"Forgive us, our recent inertion must have dulled our skills"
"This transgression is unforgivable, in battle you would be dead. As your superior, your failings are mine; You have disgraced me." The minor averted his eyes. though the other turned his face towards the approaching marksman, staring at him.
The Major turned back to the alien officer "Your senses are commendable. Many creatures have failed to detect us." He hunched forwards to bring his head down to her level... and to reduce his size in case those marksmen decided to attack "Aah. My apologies, I do not mean to skip formality. I am Nhas Voroei, a Major in the Special Warfare group and acting shipmaster of the Ardent Inquisitor. I represent the Lorca Ghaj and you would be?" He asked, tilting his head inquisitively, running his reptilian eyes over the marksmen. The two minors glared to their weapons and one spoke
"Your weapons, what are they?" He said, taking a few steps in advance and staring at it

From Stardust, To Stardust

Above Nouvelle
Ardent Inquisitor
Docked

The Special Operation Major turned towards the pedestal that sat beside the command terminal. It flashed a dull blue and there was a hiss as it ejected a small cartridge. He reached up and slipped it into the side of his 'helmet'. For a second, the transparent eye pieces flashed with blue symbols, then settled. He removed the device and replaced it on the pedestal. A moment later, twi of the minors took up positions behind him. There was a shimmer as the trio engaged their shield, and then the minor activated their active camoflague, fading into transparancy. Sudden movements would cause distortion, generally breaking the illusion for any species with developed sense. These Lorca were trained for stealth, however, and were well adapted to the system. Some found such to be dishonourable or even a direct affront to the ways of the Warrior. Others embraced stealth and the ways of the silent hunter.

"Reveal yourselves only when I have confirmed that they harbour no ill intentions" The Major ordered, ensuring his equipment was correctly calibrated.
"Control, open the underside access."

That wasnt a mistake. The ship "docked" sideways, so that the underside access hatch was against an airlock access Generally speaking, most every Lorca ship exited through the underside and/or top. It allowed for maximum usage of space by cramming ships side by side into carriers (Not that many Shipmasters wanted to risk it...)

The circular hatch spun open, a thin shield visible. The Lance stepped through it and took up positiom beyond it. They examined the airlock tentatively, and only the Major spoke
"Already pressurised." He glanced to the readings on his heads up display "Hm. Gravity is lower than on the Inquisitor. Let us hope it does not, but should we be taken down the path of battle, they will likely be weaker than us..." A minor spoke next, out of turn. The Airlock had not yet opened, and their trusted position granted some minor privileges
"You assume they follow our codes of honour. They could have cursed themselves in any manner of ways" He commented, and the Major paused. That was true...
The airlock opened to reveal the room beyond and the major took a few steps forwards. The two minors slipped in with him. He could vaguely make out their shapes, his predatory instincts and armour assisted in that. In some ways, this was a test of perception. Aliens could vary massively, just the diversity on their own world taught them that. They could be as sharp as a Garg or as blind as El-Auro.
He turned to face the officer as she approached the airlock and he studied her intently, tracing her with his eyes and examining the features. There appeared to be variation between this ones build and the others. Different gender, possibly, Was there a form of address?
Did the officer expect that cloth to provide protetion? Even the most crude of weaponry would pierce the chest piece and the head gear. It must be... ceremonial? Or maybe she didn't expect combat. No, there was a battle going on outside, this ship could be boarded, surely she would have donned battle armour. Did they have some code of their own? He 'frowned' slightly and checked over his own jet black armour subconciously. Unlike the standard military, the Special Warfare branch generally kept their armour simplistic, it helped with the active camoflague.
He continued his examination... and couldn't help but feel remarkably shamed. It was a poor guest who knew nothing of his hosts customs... and yet there was no way he could know. It was an illogical shame and yet lingered. Children were raised according to the ways of the warrior, respect was major one. The Shaper in charge of his creche used to deny them food if they failed to show sufficent respect for one of the many sites they would visit or people they would meet. He glanced to the side of his head up display as symbols flashed across it. The Major let out a low grunt, then attempted to greet them in what patches of their tongue they had put together. He bowed his head slightly as he did, a polite greeting, though he did not avert his eyes.

From Stardust, To Stardust

Monkeypants said
That wiki is trashy, bland and hard to use due to formatting. A compendium proper on this site would be far more effective and simple.Just throwing an idea out.

Still this

From Stardust, To Stardust

Monkeypants said
A side note, any chance we can get a compendium thread linked that has our nation sheets? I'm really wanting to read them but have no desire to sift through 2k posts. I just do not want detailed sheets like ISO and I nations to be buried away.

This.

From Stardust, To Stardust

New Alas

The Corvette drifted towards the station, and launching from its hanger was a Gaia Dropship. It was a bulky ship, and appeared to have one large circular entrance on the bottom, supported by a further four. Then, in position on the front, one could make out three weapon ports, the weaponry folded up into the craft at the current time. On its back there appeared to be a larger entrance port, presumably for carrying vehicles. The Gaia glided into the stations dock and paused, hovering above the ground. A faint, blue-purple glow appeared around the five hatches on the underside, which opened. Down from the front four drifted four Lorca. The first two wore non-decorative cobalt blue armour, though several dull symbols of various colours adorned it, and they seemed to vary for each Lorca. The next two wore similar armour, only the shoulder guards continued upwards a few centimeters and grew thinner, and their chest plate had a flew glowing lights on it. Again, symbols adorned their orange-red armour
Behind them dropped down the Shipmaster, wearing silver armour. He wore a headdress of sorts, "crowning" his head, which raised up and split into two parallel prongs, decorated with red markings. His shoulder pads were longer and broad, and the right one appeared to have a small sheet of parchment hanging from it, though from the way it shimmered when he walked it appeared to be a hologram projected from a small metal seal attached to his shoulder pad. On his right hip was a small hilt. It was traditional that those in command would carry their blade on their right hip, and those not in command would carry it on their left. Over his back was slung a long, metallic rifle. He was an "Ultra". They were sometimes assigned the title shipmaster on Corvettes, but generally didn't command anything larger. They were roughly the equivalent of a lieutenant.
The four lower ranking Lorca all carried a small, claw like weapon on their right hip, and the two Majors carried another weapon on their left hip that one could see a crystal of some sorts inserted from the back. There was a small shimmer of some sort over their armour as they walked forwards and away from their dropship

Nouvelle, Space

The Major redirected the transmission back to the Ministry of Contact, and awaited the translation, he received the translation for the first message nd sent a message to the Septonian Ship, "We are the Lorca"

From Stardust, To Stardust

Thought for the day: "Pain is temporary. Honour is forever"

Nouvelle, Space

The Lorca Prowler glided forwards towards the foreign ship, then paused some 250 kilometers away, slowly to a halt remarkably quickly. Although it was a stealth ship, it still had a small hanger that was capable of holding a Gaia dropship (and indeed, was) and as such wasn't too small a vessel. While it was certainly smaller than a combat vessel, it wasn't small enough that one might expect it to decelerate so fast. It turned and began a standard docking procedure, its shields shutting down. It was now close enough that one could make out the detail; it appeared to have two "wings" that were segmented and folded tightly against the craft, their presence betrayed only by small cuts along their perimeter, which were clearly designed to be deployable for some reason. It had several weapon ports and had an undermounted cannon of some sort. Regardless, it wasn't suited for combat. Notably, it didn't appear to have any airlocks; the only ways in appeared to be the hanger and two small circular doors on its top and bottom
Another message was returned to the ship. A stick figure exiting a craft vaguely similar to the alien one and then choking to death. There was a small flashing symbol over it. The stick figure was that of a Lorca, and as such was digitigrade and with stick mandibles. This was followed by a chemical breakdown, by electron number (at least it seemed that way) of gasses. Oxygen appeared to be the primary gas, the one they breathed. The symbol flashed again after it, an awkward enquiry as to whether they would choke the second they left the ship.