Blackgrue and the rim (Closed, First contact)

[BLACKGRUE]

The Socialist Technocratic Union of Blackgrue was on the whole not a superpower in its own right. Having only nine star systems under its direct control, and having only encountered one other power beyond its technological level (which has since disappeared mysteriously). The Union has had to quench its military might by becoming a colonial power, asserting dominance over lesser technologically inclined populations, and fighting the occasional monster that enters the wastes between cities. This was, of course, about to change as the Union, ever eager to expand, sent out scouting vessels to the worlds beyond their borders. One such vessel the AC-116 "Clockwork Condor", a Sparrow class scoutship, entered a star system some 85 lightyears from the nearest Blackgrue occupied territory.

"Skip-drive disengaging." the ship's Engineer informed the rest of the bridge crew. "Translating into real space." The Engineer, a minor spark named Fritz Wunderlich was a no-nonsense sort of man. The engines were his babies and he refused to let anything bad happen to them even if he had lost any ambition to serve on bigger and more imposing vessels.

The captain, somewhat unusually was a female jägermonster named Katya Eisenkraft. She crudely and out of boredom picked her teeth with a dagger as she looked at the ship's readouts. This star was on the blue side of white and had 7 planets, 2 of which may be habitable with a little work. "Brink us in to de inner planets. Nize und easy."

The ship's pilot, a halfclank who insisted on being simply called Seventy Two let out a series of beeps and whirs of acknowledgment. "Entering solar system at three-quarters speed beep Captain."

Finally, sitting in the last seat of the bridge was a small green man. He went by the name of Bijou and was a collector of things on their journeys. He was officially their operations officer, but he liked to think of himself as more the ship's touch of class. "Sending ansible message back to home territory. Command will know we made it here in approximately 4 hours, Captain."

The captain simply nodded in response. "Let's jusht gets commund deir precious leedle scans und den see if ve can gets some shore leave on de fourth planet." she says not knowing what was actually in store for the vessel.

[Quasi-Stellar Star Civilizations]

Rhea system, Coalition Territory

The Rhea System was one of the Coalition's finer systems in the Mid-rim Systems. It was reasonably populated, holding 6 billion people spread out amongst two planets and various stations. It was nothing really special, though. It had a little industrial capability surrounding one of the inner rocky planets and the moons of the three large gas giants hanging around beyond a sparse asteroid belt. Much like Sol in multiple ways.

Yet, the seat of government power in the system, Ike, was plagued with crime. Ike used to be a penal colony situated on the far reaches of the Coalition, but once the Expansion had caught up with it, it was one of the more developed of the new colonies. In fact, it was labelled as one of the most desirable planets to live on.
But that all changed. With the Expansion came the inevitable crimelords seeking to escape the grasp of the major Coalition governments in the Inner Rim and Home Worlds. As such, many of them based their power in Ike, already teeming with former convicts.
One crime lord rose above them all. Akron Eland, leader of the Eland Mob and associated gangs. Eland was the mastermind behind the assassination of the Governor of Ike and the turmoil that followed until his death two years later at the hands of a Utro City Police Officer.
Afterward, the crime syndicates that had dominated Ike fell apart and succumbed to QSDF intervention, restoring order to the world.

Nevertheless, Ike was slowly being restored to its former glory, a symbol of the Expansion. Yet, nobody in the system suspected that it would be the site of another First Contact situation.

---

The QSDF station over Ike, the Raleigh, was tasked with monitoring the activities of the various groups that had splintered off after the fall of the Eland Mob. Each one had fled Utro City when QSDF troops landed to restore order, fleeing to other locations around the system.
Most of them had been taken down and arrested, but some of them still remained. That's why the Raleigh had some of the most advanced communications and monitoring equipment in the Coalition.

Commander Ghiles Correy* was the XO of the Raleigh, supervising the anti-terrorism operation in Rhea. He was, for all intents and purposes, the commander of all QSDF forces in the system.
Which is why when the FTL sensors detected an unidentified incoming mass from near Sagittarius, he was the first to know.

He had been conversing with the Raleigh’s AI, also called Raleigh, when the report came in.
“Commander Correy, it seems the sensors have detected an unidentified mass coming into the system via FTL. As of now, its signatures do not match that of Coalition or other known ships.”
Correy frowned. “Then it’s another civilization coming here. Why do they always pick the most inconvenient times and places to show up?”
“That is unknown, sir. As of now, it’s exiting FTL near Pol.”
“Raleigh, then scramble a Droplet to intercept it before it does anything.”
”Do you authorize violence?”
Correy shook his head. “No, not yet. Let’s see what they want before we do anything that violates international law.”
”Done then, sir. A Droplet has been launched from the Hatteras on intercept with the unidentified mass.”
Correy, satisfied, said. "Please inform me when either a response is made by the ship or when the Droplet gets within a million kilometres of it. In the meantime, I'll be in my quarters."
"Yes, sir."
Commander Correy left his office, departing for his quarters to take a well-earned nap.

---

In the meantime, from the Hatteras, another station of similar size to the Raleigh, launched a single Droplet from its hanger bay over Pol, Rhea's second habitable planet. The perfectly reflective mercury droplet accelerated at a rate of several thousand Gs, inbound for a close pass with the unidentified vessel. Yet, before it arrived, it would decelerate at the same speed, revealing its presence to the newcomers...

Yes, that is a Crucible reference.

[BLACKGRUE]

The Clockwork Condor's acceleration towards the inner planets proceeded at a more modest 500g, giving them a leisurely 19-hour journey into the inner planets. They could go faster, or take a risky short FTL jump to get there but Captain Eisenkraft wasn't in any particular hurry. The scans came in on a few gas giants as the ship flew by. Bijou read them out dutifully eliciting a "Facinatink." or a "Do go on." from the Captain. About five hours after arriving, the captain was halfway standing out of her chair about to take a break when the displays suddenly turned a shade of red. "Captain! We're detecting populations, multiple crewed stations, and a ship on an intercept course, ETA 2 hours."

Captain Eisenkraft sat back down, getting a dusty manual out from under her chair. First contact protocols. She had the whole thing memorised of course, but it was protocol to have it on hand for this sort of thing. "Well boys, eet seems ve're about to make hishtory. The firsht advanced contact since de Easht Coasht Federation disappeared." she says "Turn und burn. Hy vant us in a circular orbit ven dot ship arrives."

The ship turns around and then fires its engines against its previous heading, this time at a brisk 1500gs. The ship's internal gravimetric field worked overtime to keep the crew inside from liquefying. But the field held. Seventy Two jubilantly squeaked "Turn and burn successful beep Captain."

"Goot. Now ven dot ship gets here-" The Captain began, just in time for the droplet to approach into visual range. The captain sat down. "Open a channel." she says and clears her throat. "Thiz iz Captain Katya Eisenkraft uf de Clockwork Condor und de great Technocratic Socialist Union uf Blackgrue. Ve do not come for var. Shtund down you veapons und ve shtund down ours, und ve vill happily accept an escort to you inner planets for peaceful discussions."

[Quasi-Stellar Star Civilizations]

Raleigh Station, Rhea

Commander Correy was awoken by Raleigh's voice. "Commander Correy, arise. We have received a message from the ship. Shall I play it for you?"
His eyes shot open and he bolted upright. "Hold it for a second while I dress, will ya?"
Correy got out of his bunk, quickly rinsed off, and began strapping on his uniform. "Play it now."

"Thiz iz Captain Katya Eisenkraft uf de Clockwork Condor und de great Technocratic Socialist Union uf Blackgrue. Ve do not come for var. Shtund down you veapons und ve shtund down ours, und ve vill happily accept an escort to you inner planets for peaceful discussions."

"I'll be damned. They either speak German-accented English or have a hell of an auto-translator. Raleigh, turn the Droplet around and match course with the Condor. Then send a reply."
"Contents?"
"Greeting, Captain Eisenkraft. This is Commander Ghiles Correy of the Coalition of Intelligences. We will happily power down our weapons and escort you to Ike, the capital of Rhea. We eagerly await your arrival, end message. Make sure the autotranslator is active so there are no misconceptions."
"Is that all?"
"Yes, Raleigh, now alert the Second Defense Fleet to divert one or two Delworms from Moho to the Raleigh, please. We have no clue what the Clockwork Condor or its crew might do when they arrive, so it's best to be prepared. In any case, alert the rest of the crew aboard the station that we're, ah, hosting VIPs for the time being."
"It will be done, sir. Shall I inform the Governor of the situation?"
Correy sighed. "Yes, that will be necessary. But tell him by no means should he take any sort of action that could endanger the discussions."
"Yes, sir."
Correy finished up and strode out of his quarters to the Command Center. Several people passing him in the halls had already received the message from Raleigh and had puzzled looks. But when he passed, they saluted as soldiers do when their XO passes.

Upon arriving at the Command Center, he was greeted by a fellow officer. "Commander Correy, might you explain why we have a First Contact situation on our hands?"
Correy shook his head. "Damned if I know. It seems a ship from a civilization named "Blackgrue" has appeared in the system and is currently in escort by a Droplet here."
The officer, whose nametag revealed her name was Major Remi Korro, responded with a shocked look. "Here? When we don't have any sort of diplomat onboard? What's the ETA?"
Commander Correy pushed past her and announced to the CC, "Quiet down! Alright, listen up. We have a vessel from an unknown civilization en route to the Raleigh, ETA approximately three hours with the clip it's going at. It is escorted by a Droplet deployed from the Hatteras, so we're safe for now. However, as this is a First Contact scenario, I expect you all to either be on your best behaviour or remain out of sight. Got it?"
The room was filled with "Yes sirs" and then the noise of preparations being made and orders being sent.

As the newcomers approached, the Raleigh was prepared to host the discussion for the Rhea system's First Contact situation.

[BLACKGRUE]

The Clockwork Condor banked its considerable wingspan as it came into the Raleigh's part of space. Gracefully, after politely getting clearance, it glided itself into the docking bay on thrusters. Captain Eisencraft had changed outfits to her more formal dress uniform. She adjusted the mostly understated but still noticeable low-brimmed gilded hat that didn't seem to fit the uniform. "I never could get why you Jägers keep wearing those things." Bijou says watching the Captain put on her best face from the corridor. With the Condor being such a cramped space it was hard to do anything without an audience.

Captain Eisencraft grinned her pointed teeth and replied, "Each jäger has to earn deir hat. It's a sign uf our prowess as varriors. Hy von diz vun from a fellow Jäger nemed 'Old Man Müller'. In hiz olden days, he fought in de revolotion. Helped overthrow de Heterodyne boys.". She looked at the small green construct and says "Seventy Two shtays here to hold down de fort. Hy vant de resht uf us to be in tippy top shtate. No incidents on my catch." She gave Bijou a serious look and he returned with a salute and a smile.

"Fritz has told me he's eager to get a look at their tech. That liquid-metal ship that intercepted us moved in a damn hurry." Bijou says as the Captain snapped her fingers and Fritz made his way in line behind her. The ramp at the back of the ship hissed open as they passed through the airlock. Climbing down the ramp, the three of them moved to look around the bay, the Captain in her finery, Bijou in something approximating a suit and Fritz... wasn't covered in engine oil for once.

[Quasi-Stellar Star Civilizations]

Raleigh Station, Rhea

Commander Correy waited in the second entry bay for the crew of the Clockwork Condor to dock and enter the Raleigh. To his right was Major Korro, serving as his Second during the meeting. To his right was a diplomat ship hurriedly sent up from Ike to oversee the meeting. Against the walls on either side were two bots, unarmed other than a security baton. They would be there more to prevent hostilities from arising than anything else, but Correy knew - hoped - that they would not be necessary. This was, after all, a First Contact situation, and positive relations were of utmost priority.

Correy felt a small bump as the Condor docked with the station. He and the others were dressed in their QSN ceremonial uniforms to look the best in the face of the Blackgrueans. The bots, in the other hand, looked the same as ever: 7-feet tall pure black humanoids with square heads and a single light where the eyes would be.
Major Korro stirred. "Sir, what will happen if these talks don't go well? What if we start a war?"
Correy turned to her. "Then you'll be sent to the frontlines, no matter if you're a Merse."
Korro bristled but said nothing as the hatch opened and the ramp slid into view, the occupants coming down into the bay.
Correy stepped forward. "Welcome to Raleigh Station. I am Commander Ghiles Correy, the commanding officer of the station. To my right is Major Remi Korro, my Second-in-command. To my left is the Honorable Iroh Semprien, a trained diplomat from the Diplomatic Corps."
Correy hoped they could understand him, that they simply spoke English rather than some unknown language. It would certainly make things a lot more complicated. Either way, they were here and Correy would try his best to not start an international incident between the Coalition and Blackgrue.

For your information, Commander Correy is Human, Major Korro is a Merse, and Iroh is a Lorth. See the first Overview factbook for information in these species.

[BLACKGRUE]

Raleigh Station, Rhea

It just so happens that they do speak English. Captain Eisencraft, flanked by her two bridge officers, bowed courteously lowering her hat to her chest. "It iz goot to meet all uf hyu. As Hy said on de comms, Hy em Captain Katya Eisencraft uf Blackgrue's Etherial Commund. Hy hef been empowered by my government to speak in firsht-contact situations."

She gestured to her officers as she stood back up, readjusting her hat. The Engineer stepped forward. "I am Fritz Wunderlich, chief engineer. I look forward to discussing technological exchange between our peoples."

Finally Bijou stepped forward and he dipped into an even deeper bow. "Bijou is my name. I've always wanted to meet strange new life out in space. Seems you've granted my wish."

[Quasi-Stellar Star Civilizations]

Raleigh Station, Rhea

Commander Correy smiled and bowed back to Captain Eisencraft. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Captain. I look forward to establishing peaceful relations with Blackgrue for a safer galaxy."

Major Korro stepped toward Wunderlich to shake his hand. "Ah yes, a vital portion to any contact situation. I may be able to help with that."

Iroh Semprien bowed to Bijou in respect. "Greetings, Bijou. On behalf of the Coalition, we are pleased to meet a fellow civilization out there, especially a human civilization. The galaxy is wide, filled with strange creatures, some intelligent and others not, so to find a familiar face warms our hearts."

Correy nodded to Iroh, and said, "If you all would follow me to the conference room, we may find someplace quiet to continue our discussion."
He gestured down a connecting hallway toward a tall door leading into the conference room.

[BLACKGRUE]

Raleigh Station, Rhea

Captain Eisencraft gestured for her officers to follow her to the conference room. All three of the Blackgrue officers take the time to look around. Fritz took out a scanner, only to be slapped in the hands by the Captain. "Vot, hyu vant to offend our hoshts already? Tink, sparky boy, tink!" Captain Eisencraft says to him in hushed tones.

Fritz sheepishly puts the scanner away. "Don't worry." Bijou says to him "There'll be plenty of time to satisfy your curiosity before the diplomatic corps arrives. They might even send Berrington."

All three of them arrive at the conference room and have seats at the far end of the table. Once their hosts are seated, Captain Eisencraft produces a holographic display device from her pocket and sets it on the table. It displays a solar system with the 2nd planet highlighted in a different color. "Thiz iz de Blackgrue capital vorld uf Gruesdotter. From dere, danks to a spacefarink nation dot has since disappeared ve hef developed fashter-than-light travel." the display zooms out and highlights 9 stars "Ve hef conquered nine total syshtems under de banner uf de Union."

[Quasi-Stellar Star Civilizations]

Raleigh Station, Rhea

Commander Correy and the others listened to Captain Eisencraft's explanation of where they were from. He nodded when the display zoomed out to encompass the nine stars, and Major Korro started pulling out her own holo-display and set it on the table.

Correy spoke as the display flickered to life and showed a barren, desert planet. "This is Destrune, our capital world. It is the home of the Merse," he said, gesturing toward Korro, "and arguably the most developed of all our worlds. Destrune is home to a multitude of desert creatures, such as the Delworm." Destrune turned to night, showing extensive city lights and several space elevators stretching into orbit, surrounded by ships buzzing to and from them. "Destrune was first colonized by human settlers from Earth around 670 years ago, and has since continued to be an important world."

The display flicked and showed a grayish-black world with a few inland seas here and there as well as significant volcanic activity. "The planet Lorth, home to a species of the same name," Correy explained, nodding to Iroh. "Lorth is uninhabitable toward carbon-based life forms, being the closest planet to our star. As a result, silicon-based life has taken hold on it, developing a sort of quasi-hivemind."

The display flicked yet again to a pure blue ocean world, with only one small island visible. "Yona, a complete water world, holds an extensive biomass, including the Yonians, another Core species in the Coalition. Yona has seen quite a few conflicts, but the impacts of them are not visible from orbit."

The display zoomed out to encompass the entire system, with the three above planets highlighted. "All three of these worlds are situated in our Core system. As a result, it is an extremely vital system as it helped form the Coalition in the first place."
The display enlarged again, now to a wide view of the Perseus Arm with a section highlighted. "Currently, the Coalition comprises of several thousand star systems, including Rhea, the one we're in now. The majority of this expansion took place over a period of two centuries following a major war against a rival species, the Chalinans."

Correy paused for a moment as the display shut down, and Korro retrieved it. "Is there anything you wish to know about the Coalition, or have we satisfied your curiosity?"

[BLACKGRUE]

Raleigh Station, Rhea

The captain considered her words carefully. These people had a population that easily dwarfed that of the Union. They also seemed to have xenospecies as full members of their society, especially because multiple species evolved in their home system. If they could develop the spark, such a nation would be unstoppable. She decided to ask about how they are governed. If the Valhallans were any indication there would be people with an irrational hatred of the Union's planned economic stance out there in the galaxy.

"The Union has a socialisht economic model." she began "Ve hef found dot capitalism causes far more problems dan it solves, at leasht in our society. How doz hyu Coalition hundle de economic needs uf deir pipple?"

[Quasi-Stellar Star Civilizations]

Raleigh Station, Rhea

Iroh, the diplomat, answered this one. "Well, Captain, the Coalition maintains a generally Capitalist economy in which companies are strictly regulated and taxed. However, the three largest corporations, which we call the Big Three, are able to have one delegate on the Council. Since the dawn of the Coalition, these have been Centauri Corporation, the Cirillian Mining Company, and K'Nar Industries.

"One may think this causes our government to be corrupt and our society to be distopian, but I assure you this is not the case. Rooted in our constitution are safeguards to prevent this from occurring. Our people enjoy many political and civil freedoms many other nations do not have. We provide universal healthcare for all medical issues, welfare for the few who are unable to provide for themselves, and extremely low costs of education."
Iroh paused to let the information sink in, before continuing, "Does this answer your question?"

[BLACKGRUE]

Raleigh Station, Rhea

The idea of allowing that much economic freedom didn't sit well with the captain, but she knew better than to let that show on her face. The fact that they seemed prosperous and not at each others' throats was a sign that they didn't possess the spark, but on the other hand, the fact that their technology seemed to be leaps and bounds ahead of the Union's meant that they couldn't afford to be at each others' throats ideologically. "Hy see. Now... vot if Hy vere to tell hyu uf our Union's mosht valued resource." Her crew looked nervous, but not known to them this was a part of First Contact procedures when encountering a superior technological but friendly force with a spark present, whether the captain thought it was worth the risk she was about to take was irrelevent. The captain nodded to Fritz.

Fritz looked nervously at the assembled delegates and explained, "I... possess a rare mutation that we've only ever discovered among people in the Union." Fritz started cautiously. "We call it the Spark of Invention, and it allows me and people like me to create unique devices that can violate known physical laws. Perpetual-motion machines, ray guns that output more energy than power them, probability distortion fields, etcetera... Because they break physical laws rather than use them these 'sparky' inventions can rarely be reverse-engineered at scale but they are commonly used to supplement our standard equipment..."

[Quasi-Stellar Star Civilizations]

Raleigh Station, Rhea

Commander Correy contemplated this news. Standardized physics breaking? While the EWD was exceptionally good at bending the laws of the universe to their will, they never truly broke. But with this "Spark of Invention", it became much easier if not casual. It seemed the Coalition only had a head start, and the Union would catch up soon enough. Which made it a potential threat, even more so than it already had been.
"That is... surprising. However, while my people may not possess the Spark, we also have experience bending the universal laws to a breaking point. Some of the most vital technologies of the Coalition are based on this bending of laws. For example -" he motioned to Major Korro, who produced a small cube and a small sphere and set them on the table. "- the Synthesizer and the Atomizer. Both of these technologies make us what we are, much like the Spark is to the Union."
Correy retrieved a small fragment of metal from within one of his pockets and set it on top of the cube. Within seconds, the scrap dissolved into the cube, and out one of the faces came a small figurine, seemingly made of plastic. Correy grabbed it and set it upright on the table, saying, "I don't quite understand the technicals of it, but the Synthesizer is basically an atomic assembler. Major Korro may be able to go over it once our people meet with yours.
"The Atomizer, on the other hand, is second only to antimatter reactors in power generation. But following an... unfortunate incident involving antimatter, the Coalition has shunned it and instead used Atomizers."
Correy was taking a major risk by showing these to the Union, especially since the socialists possessed the Spark. Yet, he had long learned that it was better to engage in diplomacy and make allies rather than enemies. The Itzgari were a clear example of diplomacy gone wrong, and Correy wished to avoid another war if he could. If that meant sharing the basic tech of the Coalition, then so be it.
"On another subject, why don't we discuss galactic affairs? Currently, the Coalition has met and absorbed 16 separate civilizations, inducting them into our ranks after diplomatic discussion determined the correct course of action. It is through this we acquired much of our territory.
Other, non-inducted civilizations the Coalition has discovered and engaged in diplomacy with include the Socialist Republic of Mercenaries, Yokron, and the Dwarves of Ferrum. Together, our civilizations have developed the Free World Coalition to combat rising threats such as the Itzgari Empire, whom we are currently engaged in war with.
There's certainly no harm in informing them about the FWC and the Itzgari, Correy thought. But the existence of Li Bai and whatever civilization he came from... that could wait.

[BLACKGRUE]

Raleigh Station, Rhea

Fritz excitedly absorbed the information given. "We also have used antimatter in the past but found it too volatile. Now we use chaos reactors... These use probability manipulation to leach electrons from across multiple universes to use directly as power." he explains "We can also use the probability manipulation to-"

Captain Eisenkraft cuts him off "Dot's enough, Fritz. Ve don't need to discuss our defenses jusht yet." the Captain says. She then listened and nodded "We alzo hef integrated a few less-developed vorlds into our Union, for deir own goot. Bot ve are more dan villink to eshtablish diplomatic ties. Hy'm merely a scout captain, bot Hy took de liberty uf sendink a communique to de Minishtry uf Communications beck at Gruesdotter. They vill be sendink a delegation vit some power to ectually sign tings." She informed them. "Hy tink, however, it vould be beneficial to both our nations if ve exchanged maps, vouldn't hyu?"

[Quasi-Stellar Star Civilizations]

Raleigh Station, Rhea

Commander Correy nodded. "Yes, I believe that is advisable. Exchanging maps would allow us to expand our views of the galaxy and the universe, as well as understand each other on a different level."
Correy pulled out a basic starmap, embedded in a self-decoding disk, and placed it on the table in front of him.
"This disk contains the extend of which the Coalition has discovered. Currently, we have sent exploration vessels across the universe, the furthest point being the Shapley Attractor and the Vela Supercluster."
Correy slid the disk across the table to Eisencraft.

[BLACKGRUE]

Raleigh Station, Rhea

Captain Eisencraft accepted the disk and keys in a few buttons on her wrist communicator. "Our pilot vill be unloadink a brainjar vit our maps from our ship. Please consider dis compoter unit our gift as an exemple uf Blackgrue technology." she informs the table. "So. Dot seems to be enough formalities. How about lunch?" Esencraft says rubbing her hands together.

"Now you're speaking my language, Captain." Bijou says with a wide pointy-toothed grin.

Fritz was about to say something but he held his tongue, he was more eager to see their technology but he knew that the others probably wanted to establish more soft-diplomacy first before he could get a chance. He was able to be more patient as needed. "Yes, lunch."



Back at the ship, Seventy-Two stood up having received the communications on his internal transceiver. He moved to the ship's computer core and removed one of eight brainjars from the core, specifically the backup navigational computer. The cylinder contains a vat-grown brain pulsating and living in a nutrient fluid with electrodes and wires connected to various parts of it. This grey pile of lipids disconnected from the main system and was carried under Seventy-Two's arm as he travels to the ramp and to the landing bay. Seventy-Two set the brainjar down and looked to the nearest security officer. "Beep By order of the captain, this computing unit is our gift to you."

[Quasi-Stellar Star Civilizations]

Raleigh Station, Rhea

Commander Correy started at the mention of "brainjars". There was a reason why the Coalition had prohibited the conjoining of living, organic beings with advanced technology. Only just recently with the rise of Grand Councilor Teren had the ban been lifted. Even so, it was still frowned upon, and cyborgs were usually discriminated against despite several mandates from the Council. But brains in jars? That took the idea to whole other levels.
Of course, his face remained passive as Captain Eisencraft offered lunch.
"Lunch. Of course. We have food synthesizers aboard the station that can synthesize nearly any food you desire, provided the ingredients. Would you like to taste a sample of the Coalition's culture?"
At his words, several aides in the galley began preparing lunch for the table, making sure to include a selection of suitable foods for all in the conference room.



The security officer in question, a Merse just short of 8 ft, looked at Seventy-Two and the cylinder on the ground. "Uh, thank you for the gift. The Coalition, uh, accepts your gift."
The Merse picked up the cylinder and took a look at it. "Weird." He carried it down the nearest hall to the main part of the station where secure storage was for when Commander Correy or someone else important decided to take a look at it. On his way out he motioned for another security officer to take his place.

[BLACKGRUE]

Raleigh Station, Rhea

"Uf course. It's de besht part uf diplomacy." Captain Eisencraft said with as friendly a smile that her jagged-teeth could provide. "A shtation diz close to an inhabited planet iz bound to hef bettah food dan our protein resequencers could make." she comments.

Mister Bijou chuckles at his captain's comment on the matter and adds "I'm sure alien cuisine will go down just fine."

Fritz looked confused at him and said "You're a goblin... isn't it true that you could eat practically anything?"

Bijou looked at Fritz "How could you spark-boys be so smart yet not see a joke when it flies in front of your face."

Captain Eisencraft glared at her crew and said "Boyz." which got them to shut up. "Remember, ve hef company."



At the ship, Seventy-Two saluted the men taking the Brainjar away and climbed back aboard the Clockwork Condor to continue running diagnostics and technical handling. He didn't feel any jealousy about the others talking to the foreigners. He didn't "feel" much of anything since undergoing the procedure to become a halfclank. Instead, he found purpose in doing a technically challenging job, and acting as the pilot for the Condor was technically challenging. Sometimes he even did the FTL calculations in his own head instead of relying on the ship's array of brainjars to do it for him. He hoped negotiations wouldn't take too long so they could be out in space again. That was where he found purpose, or even where he was happy.