Mao Mao

STARLIGHT [1980s Coming of Age Sci-Fi]

I am here as well.

Mao Mao's Archives

Name
Gabriela Del Rosario

Age
35

Appearance
Gabriela is still good looking for her age; a 5 foot 2 inches with an athletic triangle body and a sightly straight back. She got her long brown hair from her mother, but she would often tie up her hair into a French braid, and her thin mouth. Meanwhile, she has her father's hazel eyes and his rectangular face. The lips were a combination of her father's short upper lips and her mother's slightly turned outwards under lip, making her whole mouth rather thin. Her nose is straight and narrow. And her jawline doesn't project. A sleeve tattoo of a Japanese demon covered her right arm. It's based on her father's tattoo that he wanted to get during his youth.

She would often be wearing her service uniform which is provided by NATO when she's in charge. Her service uniform contains a navy blue suit coat and optional skirt, a white shirt, and neck tab. Her jacket has a single row of four gold-colored buttons and her rank insignia is the gold sleeve stripes. She's rarely seen wearing the white combination cap that many captains do. Her service uniform made her appear older than she is as many people had mistaken her to be forty or fifty years old. In her private cabin, she often wore a white tank top and gray trousers with gray boots. She sometimes gets her lunch in that outfit.

Personality
Gabriela has been in the military for eighteen years and her personality has changed since that time. Once an out of control teenager, she became a mature woman who made a name for herself. She's a dependable person, who has helped out during the attack on Earth and her time aboard several NATO-U.S ships. But, she isn't the only to ask questions about the mission. She also would take full responsibility for her actions, making her known to be a woman of integrity. She'd rather suffer the consequences of being wrong than lie and be caught. But, she wouldn't cover from another person's mistakes.

Her ambition is to finish this mission and return to Earth famous, but she knew that might not happen. To someone, she had been fear mongering often while talking about politics or other serious topics; however, she claimed that she was just “being a realist.” Gabriela is also able to make the tough decisions in life. She was the captain after all and was loyal to NATO. After her mother's and two other siblings' deaths in the attack, she hated the Martians for what they did to NATO and their citizens; but, she kept the hate to herself and tried to get help before she left for Seattle. With her new role and help, she has able to keep her anger towards Martians under control.

She might lose control if someone kept pushing her buttons and talked about the attack.

History
Gabriela was born in Porto, Portugal to a military family. Her father had been in the military for thirty years. Her mother was the “military mom” as she dealt with five children while her husband was deployed. The five childrens' names are Paulo, Victória, Flávio, Cristiano, and Gabriela. Gabriela was the second youngest and looked up to the middle child, Flávio. He was six years old when she was born and wanted to be like his father. And she looked up to Flávio as a role model than the other siblings.

When she was twelve, Flávio was in the Middle East fighting against ISIL. His vehicle hit a land mine and killed him among with three other soldiers. Her life forever changed when she learned that he died in the Middle East. She not only lost a sibling, but she lost one of her closest friends. As she became a teenager and her growth spurt got out of control, the thought of Flávio gone forever changed her. Gabriela started to smoke weed at the age of fifteen during a party at one of her friend's houses. At the age of sixteen, she didn't listen to her father and mother's advices and her life was going downfall until one night.

Gabriela was in the back seat as her friends were driving while intoxicated. Suddenly, the driver lost control and flipped the car seven times before stopping. Help soon arrived, but it was too late. Almost all of her friends had died on the scene and she was near death as she was dragged to an ambulance. Before they arrived to the hospital, she had died for about seven hours before she woke up on a hospital bed. Her family was thankful that she survived the crash, but she had to stay at the hospital for several months before she could return home. After she came home, she forced on recovery and finishing up school. Then at the age of eighteen, she joined the Navy.

She went to Escola Nava (The Portuguese Naval School) in Alfeite and hoped that she could become a line officer. She learned English, French, and Germany during her time. After getting the naval school done, she was sent to the United States by NATO. She went to the Surface Warfare Officers School and got basic training of warfare at sea, including ship handling, communications, ship maintenance and the ship’s operational and weapons systems. After Surface Warfare Officers School, she received intensive training aboard several U.S-NATO ships. Then, the attack on Earth by the Martians happened. She was aboard one of the ships when several ships started to attack cities around the world.

Gabriela kept her cool and kept the crew mates calm as they tried to stop the attacking, After the fighting between the Martians and NATO stopped, she had learned that Porto was one of the cities hit and learned that her mother and two more siblings died. Her father suffered life threatening wounds and was staying at one of the hospitals. She immediately requested leave and traveled to her wounded father.

She spent as much time as she could before she had to return to work. A couple months after the attack, she was greeted by several NATO officers and requested that they talk. They offered her to be in a classified operation involving the FTL drive, the new revolutionary technology made by researchers. They also showed her the frigate that would install the drive, NSS Intrepid XDS-5. And lastly, they told her that she would become the captain of the NSS Intrepid. Gabriela knew that accepting this offer would mean that she was leaving her remaining family behind, but she would be honoring both her mother's and siblings' memories.

She proudly accepted their offer.

Vignette
Porto was one of the cities that suffered during the attack by Matians months ago. NATO had been trying to help with rebuilding several cities, including Porto. It was the second largest city in Portugal before the attack, now they are the eighth largest. Many of the famous landmarks were either damaged or destroyed, like the iconic Café Majestic and Sé do Porto (Porto Cathedral). Many other sites recognized by UNESCO were being rebuilt by private or public funds, which NATO has allowed for the moment. The city was still busy as Gabriela Del Rosario had left it a couple years ago, but something felt different about the city. She saw construction crews all over the city, rebuilding one area at a time. As she drove beyond the city, she finally saw her old home that had seen better days.

The house was originally built in the early 1900s and then updated by her family in the early 2000s. It had an incredible view of the Ponte Luís I (Dom Luís I) and Douro River. There's also a garden that her mother overlooked when she got the house. Since her death, her husband had decided to get a gardener to manage it. Gabriela went to the garden and saw her father, sitting on the only bench in the area. The day was coming to an end as she went to her father. She slowly placed her hand on her father's shoulder and saw his reaction. He smiled at the sight and gave her a hug as it had been a while since he last saw her.

"O que você está fazendo aqui? Eu pensei que você tem treinamento?" his father asked as she saw her daughter in her formal uniform. She sat down on the bench and told her father to take a seat. She didn't where to start, but she had to tell her father everything. Gabriela only grew closer to her father since her mother died. This was because that he was deployed all over the world, 'proteger o mundo de ameaças' he would often say to his children.

"Fath-." she caught herself as she was speaking English. His memory was getting old and he slowly was losing the ability to speak English. Once upon a time, he was able to speak several languages during his time in the army. From English to Arabic, he studied those languages to better understand the world. The children would often get lessons about English or French when father was around.

She spoke to her father in his native language, "Eu terminei o treinamento, pai. Mas, eu ter sido chamado pela NATO para uma missão secreta."

"A missão secreta?"

"Sim." Gabriela clarified to her father, "Vou dizer-lhe sobre esta missão, mas você deve mantê-lo para si mesmo." He nodded and she started to tell everything that she knew about this mission. From the FTL drive to the ship, she told him about everything that she knew. It took a few minutes and some words had to be repeated, but she felt better that she was telling the truth to her father. As the sun went down and the moon went up, everyone was able to see the stars above them. The lights in the garden turned on automatically.

"Eu sou grato que você me disse. Faz-me sentir melhor." he thanked her daughter as he gave her a hug. A tear rolled down his face as this could be the last time that he would see one of her daughters.

"Todos em nossa família seria tão orgulhoso de você. Estou orgulhoso de você, querida." he cried as he was still giving her a hug. Gabriela kept saying 'obrigado' as she started to cry as well. They cried for a few more minutes as she whipped her tears away and realized the time.

"É hora de eu ir.." she said to her father as she just stopped crying, "Mas, eu não quero deixar você e os outros para trás."

"Eu sei que você não quer nos deixar para trás, mas você já fez a sua se sobre esta missão." he said as he stood up from the bench and grabbed his daughter's hand. They started the walk to the rental car as her father kept speaking.

"Você está fazendo isso para sua mãe, Victoria, Cristiano e, especialmente, Flávio. E eles de lhe disse a mesma coisa que eu fiz para você. E eles de lhe disse a mesma coisa que eu fiz para você. Só não se esqueça sobre a nossa família e não morrer também." he told his daughter that as he opened the car door. Gabriela understood what he meant and she knew that it was time for her to go. Before she got in the car, she gave her father one last hug as she said to him,

"Eu te amo."

Her father hugged her back and responded, "Eu também te amo." She got in the rental car and started it up as she saw her father waving at her. She waved back as she backed the car up towards the street and started to drive away from her home. Gabriela was now looking forward to the future as she knew that everyone in the family would be so proud of her. There was just one more place that she had to stop before leaving Porto for good: the cemetery. It was late at night as the fifteen minute drive from the house to the cemetery was easy. There was no traffic at night and no-one often visited at night besides the night guards.

The car stopped nearby the cemetery and she started to walk towards the tombstone of her mother. The cemetery was empty and dark as she stopped in front of her mother's tombstone. The tombstones of Victoria, Cristiano, and Flávio were right next to their mother's. Flávio's tombstone was the first one up and then her mother's was placed next to his tombstone. And finally, both Victoria and Cristiano's were placed next to their mother as well. Gabriela remembered each and every one of them. Her mother was the greatest cook around and she would always be cooking, because she didn't want fast food in their kids' lives. Victoria wanted to travel around the world and often asked if she could go with her father. Cristiano was a great artist, who would often draw boats when the whole family was at the beach. And there was Flávio, the best middle brother that anyone could have. He always saluted at his father every time that he saw him.

Those memories always made Gabriela laugh as she looked back; but, she saw her teenage self as well. The parties, drinking with her friends, smoking, and playing truth and dare. She managed to push those terrible memories back as she was forced in the present. She started to speak towards the tombstones in English, "I am going to be away for a while. I don't know If I am ever coming back, but I will always honor your memories and our family name. I am joining this mission so I can honor our family and our world. I will be going beyond our system and traveling around the entire universe to answer the questions of life. If I don't come back, I just want to tell you that I will miss you guys. But, if I do come back, I will bring you guys bouquets of flowers."

She placed her hand on every tombstone as she walked pass them. It was a way for her to say goodbye without saying the actual word. She started to walk to her car as it was almost midnight. She needed to sleep before the plane ride to Seattle, but she knew that she won't get any sleep at all.

Black Velvet Sky [Hard SF | Politics/Exploration | Character-Driven]

I will be down for it too. I didn't spend my time on Gabriela Del Rosario for nothing!

Dogs of War - Tactical Espionage Roleplaying

I have posted something for once!

Dogs of War - Tactical Espionage Roleplaying

"Begin Operation Dog Shelter." the man said as the cargo ramp finally opened to revel the clouds and the sea below. It was amazing to look at as Robbert watched the others jump out of the plane and got ready to jump after them into nothingness. The music was still playing as he got ready to jump as he held on his medical pack. His weapons were holstered as he ran towards the nothingness and jumped. The oxygen mask was helpful as he began to descend into the Mediterranean. A few seconds after leaving the plane, Robbert pulled the ring on his parachute and the slow descent began. He tried his best to follow the others, but the winds were giving them hell. They were still far away from the landing spot and he was determined to make it there.

After ten-thousand feet of slowly falling, everyone could see the platforms as a gunfight was heard nearby the southern platform. The team soon found a perfect landing spot on some infrastructure nearby the platforms. No-one could see the land as it was completely dark out unless someone had a night-vision device with them. An explosion erupted and reveled the four men as they descended rapidly into their objective. The mission was simple as mission could be, land near the facility, reach Seth's last known location, and report back to HQ. But, Tyus knew that this 'Seth' guy was bait and the CIA knows more. Regardless of the situation, they had to find out if Seth was alive or dead. He hoped that the footage from the microcameras captured something good during the mission.

Robbert liked the idea of Haolam Haba being used as a place of haven from the war-torn countries; but, he knew that it wasn't the perfect country. It existed, so that Europe didn't have to deal with a migration crisis. Being from the Netherlands, he didn't want to think how his country would of dealt with a migration crisis. The country wasn't as powerful as it used to be in the early 1900s. They don't have the East Indies anymore, thanks to revolts for the locals. Their economy had also seen better days, but it wasn't in total chaos. Robbert was shocked to see that he was the only non-American in the squad. He didn't hate the idea of being with Americans, but he'd rather had most of the squad European than American.

As soon as Robbert landed on the ground, he threw off the harness, and removed his oxygen mask. He put down his medical pack and unholstered his SCAR-H as he checked the surrounding area for any possible threats. After checking for a minute, he realized that he landed away from the landing zone. It wasn't too far, but he still didn't land on the zone. He began his short walk towards the LZ, hoping that he would see one of the three guys. Then, he saw Tyus checking out the surrounding area as well. Robbert walked slowly towards Tyus as he began to say, "Alles komt op zijn tijd."

It was the English equivalent to "He that can have patience can have what he will." It was one of many Robbert's signals that he gave to the squad. He started to use Dutch proverbs as a way to signal the squad that he was nearby. Plus, it helped them learn parts of Dutch as well. He didn't know how the others felt having a Dutch aboard, but then again, they also had Tongan as well. After making sure that he had arrived at the LZ, he started to check the surrounding area with Tyus to see for any possible threats. He reached for his night-vision device and put it on for a moment to see for any threats. He pulled it off and placed it back into his pack quickly.

"I don't see any possible threats near the LZ" Robbert spoke to Tyus as he stood behind him, "But, we can't be too sure."

The waiting game began as the rest of the squad should be at the LZ in any given moment. After that, the mission would finally start and they can see if Seth is a traitor or not.

The 30-Day Song Challenge

Day 03 // A song that makes you laugh

---

Real quick now, don't you bore us
Hurry up and get to the chorus
Dumbed down, they won't ignore us
(Tape slow down
Take 'em to the chorus)

---

Oh my god. This song makes me laugh. If you don't know what you just listened to, then I will tell you. They made a pop song to make fun of pop songs and their pop song is still better than other pop songs out there. Now, I don't have anything wrong with pop music; but, the similarities in each song are there that they told in the song. Hope that helps you.

Era of Succession(Closed)

I finally have posted the collabs!

Era of Succession(Closed)

_{A collab by @The Spectre and @Drunken Conquistador}

The South-East Region
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, they 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.

---

_{A collab by @The Spectre and @POOHEAD189}

The South-West Region
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..."

The 30-Day Song Challenge

Day 02 // A song that helps you clear your head

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And then that word grew louder and louder
'Til it was a battle cry
I'll come back
When you call me
No need to say goodbye

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This song is one of those songs that makes my head fresh again. The instruments are peaceful and calm enough for me to place this song here. There were other songs that I were going to pick out, like Parachute's Crave. Overall, I think that this song has a place for me as the song that can clear out my head of any thoughts. The song is somewhat mournful, but the words are full of hope.

No Turning Back - Into the Abyss

I finally have posted!