Ashes to Ashes (FT, ATTN: Kilrany)

[Morningstar Coalition]

((OOC Note:))

First off, just want to say that I may be posting this early to some people. ICly this thread takes place roughly a week after the Hermes Hyperspace gate is installed in the Raysia Prime system.

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NPP-1346-D System - Morningstar Coalition Fleet
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A single destroyer, one of the Spire designs used by TRIAD at it's height, broke off from the main formation of the fleet and took up an outsystem course before engaging it's linear displacement drive and "skipping" away. The Captain of the MCDF "Eternal Spring" was a Marduk who'd chosen the name Hecate. Hecate had not missed the irony when the Shipmind of this new command had introduced itself as Enkidu, however humor was not one of Hecate's strong suits. Instead Hecate was focused on it's mission, namely to locate the Kilrany and open relations with their nation. The intent was to attempt to secure supplies and technology to help the Fleet better establish itself. Hecate fully intended to accomplish it's mission, not out of some hope for glory or recognition, but rather because that was simply how Hecate thought things should be. A soldier was expected to always put forth their best effort and accomplish the mission.

Two hours later the destroyer arrived at the closest Slipstream entry point, and Hecate turned to the Irukan floating limply in the forward Pilot's Pool. "Pilot, do you have the required coordinates for Raysia Prime?"

"Yes sir! Coordinates are locked and Slipstream entry systems are fully charged."

Hecate's insectoid head nodded and turned back to the holo-tank, "Very well. All hands, prepare for Slipstream." Moments after the announcement, the destroyer punched a hole into that region of space called "Slipstream" where cosmic superstrings connected stars, and where properly equipped starships could "surf" those connections to cross the void between in minutes, rather than years...

((OOC Note:))

I have more to post before I need anyone else to get involved. I just need to confirm some things with other players before I can continue.

[Agroprom]

OOC: This is going to get confusing, this is. There is already an RP called Ashes to Ashes kicking about =/

[Morningstar Coalition]

OOC: This is going to get confusing, this is. There is already an RP called Ashes to Ashes kicking about =/

((OOC Note:))

Main difference being that the other "Ashes to Ashes" thread is MT, this one is FT.

[-Raysia-]

<sup>OOC: haha admit it you have to copy all your thread titles

Just so you know, I believe the Kilrany shut down their gate until the civil war ends... I haven't been following it too close, but I think it's still closed.

Also, tag

edit: linky viewtopic.php?f=5&t=9712&p=390506&hilit=Kilrany+gate#p390506</sup>

[Morningstar Coalition]

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Sector JK42 - Raysia System
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The Irukan pilot brought the Eternal Spring out of Slipstream, where there destroyer righted itself in relation to Raysia Prime and began launching sensor drones to get a look at traffic in the system. When nothing out of the ordinary was discovered, Hecate ordered a course set for the Hermes gate in orbit of Raysia Prime.

It was almost two hours later when the HHTC challenged them on communications channels. Hecate plugged into the ship's dataspace and handled the exchange personally. Hecate had been authorized to allow the destroyer to be registered for this mission, so whatever information was requested by the gate's personnel was given. When it came to the paying the toll for passage, the fees were charged to a Capsule Corporation account established to allow the Fleet to purchase from Capsule and Raysia. The final requirement saw the HHTC gate personnel transmitting a message to the Midgard gate in Kilrany territory, requesting the Kilrany grant access for the Morningstar vessel.
Hecate and the rest of the Officers waited in what could be called anxiety for the reply to return. When the local gate's personnel finally passed the message that the Eternal Spring had been granted access, several of the bridge crew gave out audible sighs of relief. If the Kilrany or the HHTC had denied the use of the Hermes gate, the mission would have taken weeks or more, instead of the few days the gate passage allowed.

Finally everything was ready, and under the HHTC's instruction and guidance, the destroyer slid into the gate and was sped on it's journey to meet with the Kilrany...

[Kilrany]

With the apparent hostilities between the Jannarii and Havenic forces over with, the Hermes gate located outside the Damocles barrier network was permitted to come back online for normal operations a few days later. As a result of this, the gate established above Raysia was easily able to make contact, and obtain permission for a ship to make transit.

Despite an arguably unhealthy level of paranoia natural to the Kilrany, there was still an intrinsic level of trust in that if a ship had been granted permission to use a gate elsewhere, then it was not an imminent threat; or at least was not something the Kilrany needed to try and immediately turn into rapidly expanding gasses upon its arrival. This clearly did not however stop them from placing a reasonably sized garrison force in close proximity to the gate, both to ensure the identity of those passing through, and to safe guard the gate from external attack.

The most visible portion of this defense came in the form of four large Cerberus class heavy defense platforms, each one located station keeping three light-seconds above, below, and to the sides of the gate. Comprised of an eight hundred meter tall, roughly cylindrical central spire, one tip of each faced towards the gate while a thick ring sat around its waist, attached by numerous pylons, and giving it an overall diameter of five hundred meters.

As additional visible firepower, twenty of the fifty-meter tall and wide Sentinel class defense platforms sat on a single horizontal plane based off the ring of each large station. Using a simple circular formation, five held an inner ring within half a light-second of the stations, while the outer ring with the remaining fifteen sat at a full light-second’s distance.

There were additional unseen forces, but they ran silent on passive sensors and hid themselves behind cloaking systems, allowing the myriad of clearly visible installations to be their eyes for the moment. As a result, it was one of the Cerberus stations that raised the Eternal Spring as it exited the gate with an audio only signal that featured an even, and almost friendly, male voice, “Greetings to you and welcome. If you are unfamiliar with this particular area of space, please be advised that you are in close proximity to the Damocles barrier network. If you are merely passing through to a nearby destination, please ensure you leave the inhibitor field a wide berth, as it posses a serious risk to navigation. If it is your intent to visit one of our trade stations, please follow the flight plan indicated on the following file. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

Barely before the voice had even finished speaking, a small data file was transmitted containing a very simplistic, three-dimensional map of the immediate area. In it was contained a very rough perimeter for the inhibitor field, which itself was slightly larger then the real thing, as while the Kilrany thought it easily detectable to any decent sensors suite, they wished to take no chances with the rare individuals daring enough it seemed to travel near what currently served as their home system in order to trade.

As was promised, the map also contained a flight path that if followed, would take them in a straight line to the nearest outer position of the field nearly a light-hour away. Here marked on the map just outside the reach of the field was a blue spherical icon identified simply in English as a navigational buoy.

OOC: 'Concept art,' for the Cerberus and Sentinel. General disclaimer, these are clearly not my work.

[Morningstar Coalition]

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Midgard Outskirts - MCDF "Eternal Spring"
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Hecate's insectoid frame rested in the command station aboard the destroyer's bridge, examining the readings from the few onboard sensors the ship possessed. Hecate had canceled the launch of sensor drones after exiting the Hermes gate, on the off chance the launches would be misconstrued as weapons launches. As it was, their "view" of local space was spotty and incomplete, but they made out the general masses of the nearby defense platforms and the Kilrany guardian craft.
When the Kilrany hailed them, Hecate was about to reply however the greeting was brief and did not leave room for a direct reply. Mentally shrugging, the Marduk captain went on to examine the information contained within the data-packet. The flight-plan was simple enough, so Hecate excused the Irukan pilot and dove into the helm controls itself. The destroyer sent a brief databurst to the general Kilrany positions acknowledging the greeting and informing them the destroyer was en-route to the trade station. The databurst also contained a request that if possible, a trade and diplomatic representative be on hand to welcome them.
After that, it was just a matter of waiting till they arrived and docked at the station...

[Kilrany]

Following the recommended flight plan, it would not take terribly long to reach the border of the field and come within a half dozen light-seconds of the object marked as a navigational buoy. Long before then, a simple visual examination or active scan would quite readily reveal its silhouette was much larger than a mere buoy, and in this case it was simply another Cerberus class defense station with many more Sentinels located in a wider grid around it.

As the destroyer closed within five light-seconds of the station, yet another male voice, once again almost friendly, could be heard, “Greetings to you Eternal Spring. Please be advised you have entered the outer defensive perimeter and you will be expected to comply with any orders given to you on your approach to Hephaestus One. At this time it is merely requested you do not stray more than five hundred kilometers out from the path laid out by the navigational beacons for the safety of your vessel. If you have any queries during your trip, each beacon will accept and relay any unencrypted signal for response. Additionally, I have been instructed to inform you that your request for a representative to be present upon your arrival has been relayed and accepted, Tyuchev out.”

Much like the station, the beacons were somewhat more then implied, each being a Sentinel class defense platform set out one every light-second for the thirty light-minutes distance to Hephaestus One. Running with active sensors like the other stations, they did however play their role well enough to ensure no one could accidently stray off the ‘path’ provided.

Much like before, it would not take a terribly long time to reach the station designated Hephaestus One, and long before they did they’d be able to glean visual data of it. Like other Kilrany stations, it featured a smooth exterior without view ports, windows or even lights. Circular in overall design, it prominently featured five large pylons, giving the station a full diameter of five kilometers, while being seventeen hundred meters tall.

Long ago stations such as this had served as shipyards and maintenance facilities, but after the construction of Midgard was completed, they had lost their usefulness and been recycled. With the recent interest in trade after the fateful encounter with the United Alliance of Planets, their design had been repurposed and new stations built, though their ability to repair had not been lost.

Heavily guarded, six Cerberus stations sat in a spherical grid half a light second out from the main facility, backed up by hundreds of Sentinels to flesh out the perimeter. As additional security, passive sensors would readily detect sixteen active sensor emissions from cloaked warships in varying positions around the station and its perimeter.

As readily as the first two stations, Hephaestus One transmitted an unencrypted signal and directed the Eternal Spring to an appropriate docking ring for its size, though in this case it was directed by a female voice. In short order the ship would be docked alongside one of the upper, central pylons, and entry into the station achieved.

Exiting through the docking ring, those coming off the Eternal Spring would find a single Kilrany woman standing in a classical at ease position with long black hair that reached down to her waist. Standing one point nine meters tall, she wore the usual non-descript black uniform seen thus far on all Kilrany personnel.

Behind her, the three meter wide, dark grey corridor stretched out from the entry point fifty meters before it reached what appeared to be a closed blast door. Along the ceiling, there were two small, dome-like objects less than half a meter in diameter.

OOC: 'Concept art,' for the Hephaestus. General disclaimer, this is clearly not my work.

[Morningstar Coalition]

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Hephaestus One - MCDF "Eternal Spring"
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Owing to the capabilities and preferences to it's Marduk commander, the Eternal Spring was manned with a minimal crew, most of the organics instead replaced with Marduk drones to maintain the ship's internal systems. This allowed Hecate, in tandem with the shipmind Enkidu, to command this ship virtually alone. Only the Irukan pilot was needed for Slipstream travel due to the vagaries of that particular method of travel. Hecate preferred the solitude this crew arrangement offered, as well as the methodical order it brought to the ship's functions. At a moment's notice, either Hecate or Enkidu could take control of multiple drones at once, directing and performing like any maestro for a symphony. Still, there were moments that Hecate could not influence the ship and it's crew, such as now.

Hecate had gone down to it's personal quarters, far different from that of an organic. Coffin-like cases adorned one wall in orderly rows, and a large apparatus sat in the center of the room. On one side of this device sat an open casket, while the opposite side held an open slot large enough to fit another casket. As the insectoid machine stepped into the machine between, servo-arms swung down from the ceiling, and began to take the mechanoid apart...
Or at least that is what it would appear to be doing if there had been any uninformed observers. Armored plates were removed, followed by external casings, followed by biological-appearing "organs", and finally limbs. When the Captain was little more than a trunk without even a head, a final casing was removed and the soccer-ball sized Core was removed. During this period of disconnection with it's Frame, the Marduk captain was out of contact with all shipboard systems. The machine's mind had had to trust to the ability of the shipmind Enkidu, and that of Hecate's first officer, a Khyrolii female named Arduuk Jukar.
Totally cut off from all forms of sensory input, the Marduk's mind began to wander, trying to draw upon memory to provide some form of stimulus against the impossible darkness. This was the closest a Marduk came to dreaming, the period of transferring one's Core from one Frame to another. Hecate relived memories from years ago, fighting on dozens of worlds as a freelance mercenary, eventually being recruited by MACE, and working it's way through the ranks. Hecate had made precious few "friends", but plenty of enemies on the long road. Hecate still believed it was the most qualified to deal with the Kilrany, and apparently the Admiralty agreed.

Finally though the transfer process was complete and Hecate's audio-visual sensors came back online as it's Core was plugged into the torso of the humanoid Frame. Hecate watched in cold detachment as the insectoid frame was packed away and this new body's parts were attached and the final casings closed. The final step was application of synth-skin and bio-mimetic faux-hair to the head. Hecate had chosen a female form for this mission, and as the machine stepped out of the transfer apparatus it...
No. She looked at the full length mirror the far wall had become at a mental command. The specifications for this body had been selected from some fiction holo-film. The character had struck a chord with the cold, calculating Hecate; and so the machine chose to wear the form in meeting the Kilrany...


Hecate presented a very different image than the Marduk had before docking. She was clad in her new female-human body, and the same form-fitting white faux-leather suit seen worn by the fictional character Hecate was now emulating. As she strode across the docking arm and approached the waiting Kilrany, sensors other than eyes examined the corridor behind the Kilrany representative, even noting what were likely gun drones or sensor pods likely examining her right back. Extending a hand to her Kilrany counterpart, Hecate's voice carried in perfect emulation of the personae she'd temporarily adopted, "Greetings. I assume you are the representative send to greet us. I am Hecate, and I come representing the Morningstar Coalition fleet. I have been sent by my superiors to begin negotiations with your people on the matters of diplomatic relations and potential technology exchanges."

[Kilrany]

Hecate was not far off on his guess as to the nature of the small domes, no doubt aided as they were identical in appearance; if not size, to their larger cousins that dotted the exterior of the station. They were however using no active sensor suite, leaving the Slavic looking woman in black to be the sole apparent source of wireless signals within the corridor.

With a slight nod of her head, a warm smile played upon the Kilrany woman’s face as she returned the offer of a handshake with her gloved right hand and responded in English, “It’s my pleasure to meet you Hecate. I am Polenova, commander of this station, and yes, I am the representative sent to greet you. Though to be perfectly honest I would have been here to do so anyway for a new arrival.”

Her smile widened slightly at that as she went on, “I look forward to negotiating matters with you, but first; and please don’t take this the wrong way, can you tell me whom it was who informed you of our location? I am not familiar with any nationality or race known as the Morningstar Coalition, and it’s merely protocol that I log the means to which you located us, at which point I can then lead you to a conference room if you’d like to sit down and have any refreshments.”

[Morningstar Coalition]

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Hephaestus One - MCDF "Eternal Spring"
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Hecate engaged a moment's curiousity as she examined the wireless traffic emitting from the Kilrany woman, performing a quick signals analysis to determine type and frequencies of the emissions, however she did not attempt to decrypt any of the traffic. Right now Hecate was simply curious about how the Kilrany mechanoids communicated, not what they were saying. After all of five seconds, visibly covered by shaking the station commander's hand and listening to her introduction, Hecate nodded at Polenova's question. "A wise precaution Commander. You would not have heard of Morningstar prior to several months ago. The Morningstar fleet is the last remnant in this universe of the corporate state you knew as TRIAD Enterprises. We are still unsure how or why it happened, but we have been abandoned by TRIAD, and we have no way to return to our own universe. We are trying to contact any of TRIAD's former trading partners, to secure allies, vital supplies, and technologies we will need to survive here. Now please, lead the way so we can begin our negotiations."

[Kilrany]

Given she had taken few if any steps to hide her continuous communication emissions, there would be little difficulty for Hecate to identify the specific frequency Polenova’s physical avatar currently made use of, especially since there were no other wireless sources at the moment. This would be of questionable use however, seeing as synthetic Kilrany were capable of sending and receiving on a wide range of frequencies with an equally varied number of methods, while favouring no single one in particular, as would soon be seen.

Returning her gloved hand behind her back, Polenova maintained her smile as Hecate replied, but allowed it to shift slightly to something more apologetic in an attempt to show sympathy for their situation. As Hecate finished speaking, this Kilrany Commander snapped back to business, as seemed to be the desire of her guest, and gave a slight nod of her head with a gesture towards the large and heavy-set doors behind her, “Of course, please follow me.”

Leading Hecate down the corridor and through the now opened half-meter thick blast doors; which turned out to be the outer entry point to a large airlock where a deep scan was performed on both of them, Polenova continued to speak, “I must say, we too have been rather curious as to the disappearance of TRIAD Enterprises not long after our initial agreements expired. From the contact reports, I find it difficult to imagine that they’d leave any official assets and personnel behind in their departure.”

Whether she meant any subtle insinuation by this, or was merely unaccustomed to using the English language in idle conversation given its lack of use over the last five thousand years, was difficult to tell. Regardless, she continued after a slight pause, “But any such speculation is not why you’re here though. Now given your association with TRIAD, I would assume you already have an understanding of what it is we have to offer yes? The Quinquevirate still has a restriction on anything considered military grade, but we are not without a suitably wide assortment of stock available for trade.”

As she spoke, they passed through another blast door that opened upon their approach, revealing two figures a distance down the corridor just past a tee shaped intersection. Both where human in shape, but decidedly synthetic as their black frames were covered in what looked like dark grey armoured plates. Each stood two meters tall and seemed oblivious to the walking pair as they looked inside a rectangular gap in the corridor’s wall with their smooth, featureless faces.

As with Polenova, it would not be difficult for Hecate to pick up on the wireless signals emanating from the general direction of these two maintenance personnel, but unlike the Kilrany commander, they were on a lower frequency, and transmitted in short bursts of encrypted conversation barely a fraction of a second in length. What’s more, it would only take a few moments of observation to reveal there were far more sources talking then were visibly evident.

It was at about the same time as Polenova was about to turn down the new corridor with Hecate, detailing a list of supplies and equipment she had immediately available, that a potential source of these additional emissions became apparent.

Abruptly, two of the smaller armoured plates; not much larger then the average human’s palm, located where a human’s shoulder blades would have been on each armoured figure, sprouted eight thin and flexible legs. Just as abruptly they used these to skitter up their shoulders like spiders before moving up along their arms, and into the gap in the corridor’s wall where they disappeared from sight.

Though they could not be seen, if Hecate’s current body had sensitive enough hearing, she could have picked up upon audible bursts of noise in a decimal range below that a normal human being could hear. Short in duration, this method allowed them to circumvent the refracting qualities inherent in the dense Kilrany building material, which had a habit of hindering sensor and communication signals.

Continuing down the new corridor and through yet another blast door, they came upon a larger, open aired room as Polenova shifted over towards inquiring as to what Morningstar Coalition had available for trade.

Four times as wide as the corridor they were just in, this room, featured a number of wide seats, and a platform of sorts that hooked partially around a set of twin rails that disappeared down a long tunnel. It was here on one of the rails that a simple closed tram of sorts sat, ready to carry both of them down this station’s arm and towards its center faster then either of them could have ran the distance, which was saying something given their true nature.

[Morningstar Coalition]

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Kilrany Space - Midgard System - Hephaestus One Station
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As Polenova began leading the way, Hecate carefully kept any of the concern from her face. The Kilrany was sharp with her comment on TRIAD not wanting to leave "Official Assets" behind in their Exodus. Hecate would not be the one to bring that subject up, that was certain, and when the Kilrany brushed it aside in the very next sentence Hecate mentally relaxed somewhat. These Kilrany were too dammed smart, but that should only be expected from fellow mechanoids. "I have been given a briefing on TRIAD's trade contracts, which thankfully were public knowledge or we would be out of luck, as the saying goes. I do have a list of the supplies and commodities most urgently needed by the fleet, however I we have much less information regarding Kilrany technology which may assist us in our survival. You see, much of TRIAD's technology was based on the use of exotic materials native to our home dimension. With access cut off, we can no longer manufacture much of our own technology. We will need to trade with other nations to replace much of our equipment I am afraid."

Hecate paused a moment as they passed the two technicians. Her curiosity finally winning out, the Marduk began running signals analysis on the communications traffic; first trying to determine if it was encrypted, and if not to begin assembling a translation matrix. If their basic communication was encrypted however, then it was unlikely Hecate would be able to simply listen in, and that would be the end of it. The small spider-like mechanoids did not surprise Hecate, and in fact simply reminded the Marduk of the Arks back home.
When the pair entered the tram, for that appeared to be the room's purpose, Hecate sat down and pulled a dataplate out of a pocket in her uniform, passing this to Polenova, "This is a list of the physical commodities we currently have in surplus. I am afraid this selection is quite meager. I remember that your people placed a fair amount of value in data however. Everything from entertainment to historical data I believe? We cannot afford to be as tight-pursed as TRIAD was with our technical databases as well. In short, we are willing to offer you the sum total of all historical, entertainment, and technical data possessed by our nation."

[Kilrany]

When Hecate paused to conduct her communications analysis, Polenova had opted to simply nod her head slightly in understanding regarding the problem of a distinct lack of access to exotic materials faced by Morningstar. By this point the Kilrany Commander was well aware that Hecate wasn’t quite as human as she appeared to be; the results of the earlier sensor scan made this rather apparent, and felt any additional sympathetic overtures would merely be seen as condescending.

It was perhaps interesting to note that it was this knowledge of the Marduk’s true nature; at least to a limited extent, that the maintenance work hadn’t been put off until after the two had walked by. Given both were well aware of synthetics among each other’s ranks, Polenova had felt no need to conceal their presence, granting Hecate the chance to monitor their signals.

Readily providing further evidence that the Kilrany were paranoid to what some might call an unhealthy level, it would be rather apparent that even the mundane conversation between these two technicians and their drones was also securely encrypted. For Hecate though; or anyone else for that matter, this would make little difference, as even if they’d been speaking freely, the simple fact they used a language currently known only to the Kilrany with no reference points to work off of, made it as good as any code for the time being.

This naturally had no effect whatsoever on whether Hecate could address them non-vocally however, as synthetic Kilrany were all readily able to send and receive openly should they chose to. A certain Raysian woman had already demonstrated that this was entirely possible during their first encounter with the Kilrany, during which she addressed the lead Reaper in such a manner, much to his surprise.

Choosing to remain standing after entering the tram, Polenova accepted the dataplate offered to her as the doors closed and the vehicle began moving, “This is quite true. Given we have seen few technologies that we either need, or do not already have, it is information we consider the most valuable. Naturally of course there are the exceptions as TRIAD had managed to show us.”

As the tram moved along at high speed through what seemed to be an unlit tunnel with no discernable sensation of movement, Polenova took a moment to review the pad. It struck her immediately that given Morningstar’s current situation, she could easily take a hard line on trade and milk them for everything they were worth, but at the same time this thought did not appeal to her, especially since doing such a thing usually had a habit of coming back to bite one in the ass later.

Looking back up at the Marduk, Polenova continued, “I see several items here of interest that we will happily trade for Hecate, not the least of which being the data you already mentioned. It is unfortunate though that flatspace devices will no longer be available in large numbers, those were in considerable demand here, and proven a technology most difficult to replicate with any reasonable level of efficiency.”

[Morningstar Coalition]

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Kilrany Space - Midgard System - Hephaestus One Station
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Hecate was slightly disappointed that even routine communications among the Kilrany were so encoded as to make a professional spy blush. It spoke volumes about the paranoia TRIAD had only glimpsed, and now Hecate was witnessing firsthand. Perhaps if she and Polenova had lingered, Hecate might have "spoken" to the technicians, however as she had more pressing issues, Hecate returned her internal attention to the Kilrany commander when she spoke. "The lack of flatspace modules is causing no small amount of difficulty for use as well. Many of our ship designs feature that technology rather extensively, so even though we have managed to broker access to foreign shipyards, we have had to resort to considerably less advanced designs, which in turn means more crew requirements, and more mass for less effect. I have heard rumors that there will be research devoted to attempting to discover an alternative method for creating and sustaining the spatial pockets of flatspace modules. If we manage to discover any breakthroughs, I'm certain the Admirality will consider trading this technology with your people. I am confident that we can arrive at an arrangement which will benefit both our nations Commander. So, shall we get down to business?"

((OOC Note:))

For anyone watching, we're going to intermission here, while Kilrany and I arrange the details OOCly. We'll cut back to things here with the IC conclusion of the negotiations, and continue from there.