Arrival (FT Closed)

by **Casl** » Thu May 17, 2012 5:19 pm

Arrival

0600 Hours Dark Space Tras Cluster

The Darkness was engulfed in thousands of blinding white lights, bright enough to see from the closest star system within ninety minutes. In the wake of these lights however was nothing their brilliance hinted at, merely space vessels of varying sizes. They were oblong and somewhat spherical, but with flatter feeling and a nearly perfect feeling of symmetry and smoothness. The vessels were a whitish brown, illuminated by a light blue by the glow of their engines.

Planet Esat-Osu System

One hundred of the smaller ships, cruisers dropped out at this planet. They started deceleration and then angled themselves down at the planet. Thirty shot down into the waters, they survived re-entery without a scratch then plunged into the ocean. The ships opened doors that seemed to suddenly appear out of the hull. Two kinds of creatures stated swimming out of the ships, these creatures carried with them huge barrels of white powder, sealed away from the water. The creatures opened the barrels and then the cloud of released powder began to start binding together. The released powder eventually settled into massive hollow pillars with occasional large bubble like chambers. Tunnels connected these pillars, and within an hour there were thirty cities established. It could then be seen a single creature was using some kind of device to manipulate the powders movement.

Planet Sgrad-Lsuya System

Mush like Esat one hundred cruisers dropped out, they did the same thing as Esat, this was a mass colonization effort. But by whom?

by **Dolmhold** » Fri May 18, 2012 11:11 am

Deleted, please ignore.

by **Cheten** » Fri May 18, 2012 1:12 pm

Tsu'chu Cluster,
Tsu'chu Expeditionary Force

Queen Tsu'chu, the youngest of the Checa Queens had matured enough to finally begin her Symphony. A fleet of ships was placed under construction at the space ports on Song, in preparation for the Queens journey. Meanwhile a small fleet of 200 frigates was sent to scout ahead for suitable worlds to create the Cluster Hive, and look for any indigenous life.

`````Each drone was, though independent, a extension of herself and the Queen effortlessly sorted through their collective consciousnesses with ease. As with all Checa Queens she possessed the memory of her mother, and her mothers mother, all the way back to the beginning of the Chunci. Thanks to her genetic memory she could look back on the journey's of her ancestors and 'remember' what kind of planet she was looking for. She needed to find a world that was small enough for for her larger ships to land on without the threat of being marooned. The fleet broke off into 25 flotillas of 8 and began to search for a suitable world.

by **Zepplien** » Fri May 18, 2012 3:12 pm

Military Hiveship 24, Civilian Flotila 2938, Military fleets-classified,
Star System Kreshtiech, Binary Star system
A Neko commander sat on the command chair of the forward Dreadnought, Yamat, named after one of the most powerful Neko provinces before they united under the Technocracy. He looked at a Vika princess as she approached him, she looked at the screens of the ship, finding them hard to see properly and asked "What are we looking at Admiral?" he looked at the screens, and responded "We are entering the star system now, the jungle world has high oxygen content, perfect for your queen. The gas worlds are full of H-3, enough to power the fusion reactors of the combine military fleet for many years." the Princess looked impressed and said "That's a lot of H-3, order the mining ships in." the Admiral had a 'Duh' look on his face and pressed a comm unit "Order the primary heavy fleet to move with the civilian fleet into the orbit of the gas worlds, and have the patrol fleet protect my Dreadnought and the Hiveship." the only response was "Hai Admiral."

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Fri May 18, 2012 3:25 pm

by **Grand America** » Sat May 19, 2012 5:56 pm

The sky was dark, filled with an array of gray clouds, covering the skies entirely, preparing to burst open and drop buckets of water upon the settlements below. People raced to their homes, some more playfully than others. Overall, the planet was quiet. Or, at least, that is how it seemed.

The Horizon Space Port was significantly different from the rest of the settlements. While lights turned off, and people went into their slumber, the lights of the port illuminated brighter, activity suddenly awakening. After a few minutes, a loud noise emanated from the port, as the first ship departed. The SSV Huntress, an Alliance stealth frigate. Not many knew what would be occurring this night, but to most, it did not matter. For all they knew, it was simply the Alliance; probably running a shakedown of a newly built warship. Tests needed to be taken, and they all assumed this was one of them.

They did not notice that the Huntress had been in service for nearly two years. Far less did they notice that this was the warship that constantly ran patrols over Horizon, constantly scanning for dangers to the colony.

That would no longer matter. The Alliance was set in its goal, and, for now, this goal would be kept secret. The only reason it was an Alliance stealth frigate sent, and not heavy cruisers or collections of warships.

"Top secret," captain Collins whispered to himself, reading his mission briefing report. Check out uncharted star systems in an uncharted region of the galaxy. Perfect. Just the kind of job he wanted.

He looked off the side, out the window, and watched as the ship suddenly engaged FTL drives, blasting itself forward.

He put the folder down, and stood up walking towards his console.

"Notify me when we arrive," he said to the Navigators, two decks down.

"Yes, sir!"

He turned off the communicator, and sat back down, staring out into space...

The Huntress suddenly appeared in the blackness of space, near a gas giant of unprecedented size. The pressure would surely obliterate the ship if she attempted to go near.

The ship moved carefully through the system, scanning through, searching for unknown presences in the area. Her sensors were constantly scanning, rewinding, then scanning again, as the ship moved forward.

"Anything in this system?" asked Collins, looking at the scans results. He couldn't find anything of value, but perhaps those freaks down in the War Room disagreed.

"Perhaps, but not that we can-"

Suddenly, the conversation was interrupted by the chief war officer, "Sir, we've detected naval movements in this system."

Immediately, Collins jumped, and responded, "I want this warship to completely disappear off the galactic map. No one knows we're here, and we monitor their actions. Understood?!"

"Yes, captain," they responded, and cut all communications. The ship could still move, but they would move quietly, and completely invisible to anyone not included in the one hundred twenty personnel on the ship itself.

As the ship progressed forward, she continued to travel to the signals they had detected, without being detected themselves.

by **The Azoni** » Sat May 19, 2012 8:51 pm

Iretaria, Aras System
Star Fleet CCCXIV
A.S.S "Ilym" (Illythia-Class Dreadnought)
V'Andioki̱ Rila O'locha

"System analysis shows no organics" said a distinct female robotic voice, which echoed throughout the large expanse that was the bridge of the 1.1 km long Illythia-class dreadnought.

"Continue running scans until a to be determined time, I do not want any surprises" a voice replied. The voice came from V'Andioki̱ (similar to Supreme Commander) Rila O'locha, an older Azoni that was right in the middle of her Matron stage. She was of average height for an Azoni, roughly 1.7m tall with a dark blue skin tone, accented by lavender colored facial markings in a circular pattern around her eyes, similar to Polynesian tattoos found on Tera.

"Yes ma'am" replied the robotic voice once more.

Rila walked down the steps leading from the commander's station down to the main level where the majority of the work was taking place. Artificial Intelligence and Azoni alike were busying themselves around most of the consoles, though a select few (which could be assumed to be higher ranked) paced down the aisles. She stood in the middle of the center-most aisle, staring through the glass panels as the large, Terran-like planet drew closer by each second.

"Initial probes show suitable landing sites near the equator" an engineer said, gliding a few images across a panel, "Forwarding data to other vessels"

The lighting on the bridge dimmed slightly as the ship entered the orbit of the planet, named Iretaria after the ancient Azoni goddess of fertility. The planet was a little smaller then Illythia, making it a comparable size to the Sol System's Mars. Unlike Mars, however, the Iretaria was a tropical world covered in lush forests and warm tropical, fresh water oceans.

This wasn't the first time the Azoni had traveled to the system, nor set foot on Iretaria. Having been to system numerous times since the Terran 6th Century, the Azoni had uplifted the primitive Vra'Ro̱tá, literally meaning "Feathered Reptile Creatures", to the equivalent of the 21st Century Humans, earning the Azoni a goddess-like place in Vra'Ro̱tá culture. Every so often, the Azoni would return to the planet, collect tribute and other resources, and be on their way.

This time was different however. The fleet's job being more ominous and discreet. The fleet's job was simple, subjugate the planet and integrate the Vra'Ro̱tá into the ever expanding Azoni Union. Military force was always an option, but as was usual with the Azoni, diplomatic and peaceful means were always the first option.

"Prepare the holocomm" Rila said to a "young" technician, whom nodded and typed a few keys into a console. Walking over to a small dark blue circle, the outside edge lit up, signaling that it was ready for use. Taking a deep breath, Rila stepped onto it and began to speak.

"Greetings Vra'Ro̱tá" She said in a calm, almost welcoming tone. "I am Senior Commander Rila O'locha of the Azoni Union. We request permission for Senior Envoy Shara Tasir and her diplomatic team to land... Your salvation has finally come" At the conclusion of her sentence, she gave a polite bow and stepped off of the platform.

by **Inaris** » Mon May 21, 2012 12:11 am

Osu System

A Tolsi cruisers Ofla captain looked at his monitor, a message flashed on it. The message read simply "Unknown ships detected at coordinates 89992-082394737-937235823782646 Aras System. You are to send your ship there as soon as possible, investigate and if possible attempt to open relations." The Ofla captain looked over to his Huari navigator and stated, "We have our orders, make the jump, stay a good distance away from the ships recorded location, I want to be well out of weapons range when we arrive.
The navigator replied, "Yes sir, commencing jump in five... Four... Three... Two... One... Jump!" With that the Confederate Tolsi Cruiser was engulfed in white light as it shot out into space.

Aras System

After about a minute in FTL travel the Tolsi cruiser dropped out on the edge of the Aras system. The captain immediately ordered, "Give me a long range scan I want to know everything out there. Also look for any ocean worlds, they will order a cluster wide scout soon enough, we should be reporting worlds as we go, less work for later."
In response a man at the sensor desk replied, "Yes sir running scans!" He paused for a second then continued, "It appears that we have in excess of thirty ships ((I think?))at the planet, which by all accounts appears to be a hybrid water land world that based on emissions has a pre space exploration species, however the ships in orbit beg to differ."
The captain responded, "Patch me through, I will hail them immediately, but my on native speech and computer code, make the transition easy to understand so that we can have a seamless first contact with this species."
The comms operator across the room replied, "Yes sir, Talk now."
The captain began, "This is the Inaris Confederacy vessel Hau hailing fleets of unknown origin over habitable planet. We request permission to enter the system fully and contact you further in hopes of learning about you and your people." The captain motioned for the comms officer to stop the broadcast then he began, "Now we wait, prepare the drives for another jump in case they don't act like we predict."
The navigator responded, "Yes sir."

by **Vipra** » Mon May 21, 2012 12:43 am

Iretaria, Aras System
Uulas Tilür, Capital of the Ta’alik Nation

The Alik were one of the many peoples of the Vra'Ro̱tá, a species steeped in mysticism and warfare, and held the prominent position of being one of the most industrialized nations on the world. Their history was one of men and gods, divine beings that descended from the heavens to guide them on the path to serenity and enlightenment. These beings were said to have begun appear hundreds of years ago, returning time and again to guide the Vra'Ro̱tá people across the world. They were likened to angels, divine and otherworldly, always mysterious and odd in appearance with their smalls eyes, face lacking a muzzle, and featherless skin. They said they were gods; the holy scriptures told of their interventions in the affairs of men, and who was so bold as to refute the word of the gods?

Or so that is what the priests told people. Vükali Enök of Ta’alik was far more jaded than his fellows though.

The Vükali, an equivalent to dictator or president-for-life, was set to paperwork in his office as any man in his position was forced to do. His office was of typical fare, the desk of light wood and the flooring of varnished boards while the walls were painted in bright colours. There were no windows in his office, the leather which he sat in set below the hanging lamp that illuminated the room. Upon the desk, hunched over his paperwork with pen in hand and grumbling about stupid bureaucrats and even stupider activists, Enök signed some papers and threw others into the bin beside his desk.

He was a handsome Vra'Ro̱tá, or so he liked to think, just over six foot two inches in height despite the semi-hunched posture of his humanoid-shaped species. His heads was long and reptilian, a muzzle filled with small and sharp teeth set below two large and dark slit-pupil eyes. Of course from there his appearance took a turn from the reptilian to the avian, with feathers of scarlet and yellow flowing down from the crown of his head to be safely tucked under the jacket he wore. His jacket and suit was of the single breasted variety, a nice earthy brown over a pale blue undershirt, and his pants touched his shoe-clad feet. His hands and his three foot long reptilian tail, the former covered in downy feathers and the latter in longer and harder ones all of the same yellow and red as his head, were not covered by his suit.

The door to his office, an old steel core wooden beast of a thing slammed open. It was such a shock that, acting upon instinct, he already had the pistol in his desk draw in his hand and pointing at the figure in the door before he truly knew what was happening. It was only thanks to his revelation at the last moment that he was looking at his junior aide that he didn’t pull the trigger and end what his mind screamed at him must be another assassin. He drew in sharp and short breathes, putting his pistol down on the table with a shaking hand, “What the fuck are you doing Apaist? I nearly fucking killed you!”

“I- I am sorry your Excellency,” the shorter Vra'Ro̱tá, only five foot eight with blue feathers and wearing a dark grey suit, swallowed hard, “But we received a message.”

For a moment Enök was stunned, “What message? Have the southern tribes made their move?”

“No sir, this message isn’t from the south,” relief washed over the Vükali, “It isn’t from our world.” And suddenly the distress returned.

“What the hell do you mean ‘not from our world’?”

To say Apaist appeared uneasy would have been a rather drastic understatement as he fumbled with his pockets and drew out a PDA, “here sir, the message has been recorded. As far as we know we are the only ones to receive the message so far. The ministry of internal affairs is working to create a cover story for any potential leaks as we speak.”

With a quick snap of his wrist and finger Enök grabbed the PDA, his eyes scanning over the message, “Well fuck me featherless...”

“Sir?”

Enök handed the PDA back, his aide grabbing it almost reluctantly, “Get a message to them as soon as is possible, I will be meeting with the minister of defence and the spooks. Make the message friendly for the love of all that is holy, and tell them we will greet them with open arms. Arrange for them to land at an airbase, one of the distant ones. And if they try anything capture ‘em. I don’t care if every chaplain and cleric on the planet tries to knock down my door, these creatures could have every intent of cooking and eating us as their form of ‘salvation’ or whatever.”

“Yes sir.”

As his aide bolted away to see to his duties Enök slumped into his chair. This was not expected. This was not anticipated or planned for. Now he had to deal with this on top of the southern tribes threatening to remove the entire damn biosphere with their antimatter weaponry. It was not his day, that was for sure. He opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a bottle and glass, pouring the murky and pungent alcoholic fluid it held into the glass and downing it in a single gulp. Well, the world was going to hell and he might as well have a drink if this was his last day on it.

Senior Commander Rila O'locha of the Azoni Union, this is the foreign office of the Ta’alik Nation. Permission has been granted for a diplomatic party to land at Airbase Zeehn Seventeen. Armed escorts shall be present along with a Ta’alik representative. Co-ordinates have been attached.

by **Tuthina** » Mon May 21, 2012 8:12 am

The sudden outburst of lights of the Tras Cluster did not go unnoticed, even for factions that did not had a presence in the region, such as the Futura Sobornost. Despite being a fairly small and technologically primitive country, Futura and her people had been constantly sending out probes, both unmanned or operated by a skeleton crew, to explore the far corners of the galaxy, as well as to discover any potential location for a permanent portal to be created, so that more than a single probe could be deployed. One of these numerous probes, deployed near the Tras Cluster, managed to catch up the strange event happened days ago. Not only did the sudden light blind the optical sensors, the burst of radio waves also saturated the transceiver on-board, and such strange event was filed back to the Sobornost, asking for a detailed exploration.

The inter-planetary network of computers and cyberbrains of the Sobornost proved insufficient to derive any meaningful explanation from the few information collected by the probe. However, it was enough to convince the goddess to order a manned space ship to investigate and, if possible, capitalise on such occurrence for the good of her people. Luckily, the probe also discovered a “weakpoint” of the fabric of reality near a gas giant within one of the systems – places like this eventually became the backbone of the faster-than-light travel of this civilisation.

At the libration point between the gas giant and the main star, there was nothing but darkness, dotted by distant stars and worlds of this sector. However, the points of light slowly wrapped as the fabric of space and time started to be twisted by a force from beyond. As the distortion continued to increase, a black hole – not unlike the astronomical counterpart with the same name – appeared, as the faint lights behind fled from reality into the true void. However, as sudden as its creation, the orb of darkness, after growing to almost a kilometre in diameter, suddenly disappeared in a silent implosion. As the veil of reality retracted from this world, a small space ship appeared out of the void, its silvery chassis reflecting the dim light from the main sequence star.

It was not a very large space ship compared with ones from other civilisations, with the length of the main axis of the ship at about half a kilometre. Beyond the main axis there were two identical tori surrounding the mid-section of the axis. With a diameter slightly shorter than the main axis, they slowly spun in opposing direction at the same speed, ensuring the main axis itself did not turn, while providing the same gravity to the living quarters as on their homeworld. At the end of the axis there was a cluster of white storages, before ending with the main fusion engine of the space ship. In order to dissipate the heat generated by the fusion engine, as well as daily functions of the ship, four slim and curved wings, not unlike ones from the angels in ancient mythology, expanded from the engine towards the dark spaces, each of the thin feathers serving as a heat sink to radiate heat into the void.

Within the bridge at the other tip of the axis, several monitors covering the wall immediately started analysing every bits of information collected from the numerous sensors on-broad, from small cameras that watched most corners of the ship interior, to astronomical equipment such as magnetometer and gravimeter. All these data would be analysed and compiled, before sending back to the home country for further analysis.

“All systems on-line. No immediate external or internal threats detected.” A synthetic woman voice declared several minutes after the arrival, as the various functions that kept the ship functioning, as well as all modular quarters went on-line after the travel through the portal. As a manifestation of the expansion strategy of the theocracy, this ship chassis was fitted with various modules, both in the tori and the axis, to perform their intended function. If this exploration turned out not to be a malfunction of that probe, and was indeed something that could potentially benefit the people, then those modules were all they needed to establish an outpost on a nearby world, as well as opening a portal for more space ships to arrive.

Sitting on the comfortable captain’s chair in front of the wall of monitor and consoles, Vilhelm Ihatov gave out a small sigh of relief, as it seemed that they were not welcomed by any hostile factions or beings at this side of the galaxy. Even though his goddess did not have many enemies, the primitive military technology of the Sobornost meant they were as good as a defenseless tin can floating in the waves of space, and it was not unheard of incidents where pirates used decoys to raid space ships.

“Disable teleportation safety alert.” Vilhelm said in his mind, and the simple order was immediately received by the on-board artificial intelligence. Like everyone living under the rule of Futura, the cybernetic implant within the brain of this man allowed him to communicate with the mainframe of the ship, as well as everyone connected to this local wireless network. As the red warning disappeared from one of the screen, the deep sound of metal gates disengaging their locks could be heard through the chassis of the space ship, as gates between sectors were being unlocked. Even though it was by no means a common accident, the mere chance of having a space vessel being cut in half by defective portals were enough to persuade everyone to install similar airlocks, in case they happened to be the next victim.

“Teleportation safety alert disabled.” The synthetic voice reported. However, it was immediately followed by another report, as a small pop-up screen appeared both at the middle of the main monitor, and at the corner of the sight of Vilhelm. Other than the internal connection, the basic cybernetic implants he received allowed him to see images and objects within his eyes - such entoptic image was very convenient to warn or notify people of important events. “Initial analysis for extra-vehicular environment completed. Do you need to review it?”

“Sure.” He thought, and the small pop-up extended, covering half of his sight with a semi-transparent report. He quickly scanned through it, confirming that there were no obvious dangers lurking around as far as he knew. Combined with the few information the probe received, it did not take long for the mainframe of the exploration ship to identify a possible location of the source of anomaly. It appeared to be a planet within the habitable zone of the star several astronomical units away from the gas giant, and it seemed to be capable of supporting life. All the information pointed towards the conclusion that the mysterious flash was either a signal by a local civilisation, or a colonisation attempt by an unknown civilisation. In either case, it was worth investigating.

“Start up the reaction control system for orientation process. Target the suggested source of anomaly, and notify all personnel before and after the orientation process.” He gave off another order, and let the ship work on itself. With virtually all process of the ship interconnected and controlled by the on-board AI, Vilhelm was not even needed as the team leader, as the robots, as well as their biological counterparts, were capable of doing all the works by themselves with greater efficiency. However, sometimes the judgement of a human, no matter how illogical it might be, was preferred, especially when dealing with other lifeform.

“Reaction control system initiated. This space vessel will be oriented immediately.” The female voice spoke again, both directly into the mind of the leader, and through the interior of the vessel and informed any people on-board. Then, the sound of old chemical engines starting up complemented with the announcement, and the mild shake of the frame could be felt in some corners of the ship.

“Aim the main radio antenna towards the suggested anomaly source, and automatically initiate unknown civilisation engagement protocol after targeting. Inform me of any returning radio message, and begin analysis immediately on background.” Vilhelm gave his last order for the time being. Even with chemical thrusters to adjust the direction of the ship, it would still take a while until the process was completed. Even then, and with the full safe power from the main fusion engine, it would still take they days to reach the target planet. Therefore, there was not much of a need to hurry, as long as he gave the correct order in the correct time.

The parabolic antenna, though, needed less time to orient, and the protocol was immediately initiated. Even with the advanced computational power and superior intellect of the entire Sobornost, communicating with totally unknown civilisation was still a big problem, especially when one wanted to quickly establish a mutual understanding after the first contact. As such, the protocol was designed to maximise the chance of a peaceful and successful first contact. In a nut shell, it was a series of radio signal, with message of varying degree of complexity, from the simplest prime number sequence, to analog video signals, even digital signals encoding words and images, were all sent through the most common wavelengths that one might use - after all, any logical civilisaiton with radio technology would notice some wavelengths were less flooded with background noise, and would be most likely to tune in one of them. Then, while Vilhelm released himself into the weightlessness of the main axis of the ship, the AI on-broad listened carefully for any signals that might be a response - or any incoming attacks aiming for the message they just sent. With enough message received and analysed, it would be able to develop a simple response system based on them, and on which a mutual understanding might be slightly more likely to realise.

by **Inaris** » Mon May 21, 2012 2:31 pm

Osu System-Tolsi Cruiser Jali

The Jali was named after the Ofla home world, and it was a ship that by Ofla standards was beautiful in every way. A Huari would appreciate it but without the lifespan of an Ofla they would never understand why Ofla thought it was beautiful. There were murals on the walls outlining cycles, bright colours lined the walls, a normal eye would see only darkness but the Ofla and Huari saw the murals in all their majesty. They were all focused around life, and death, an eternal cycle the Ofla often studied to find the very meaning of life. They believed in no god, much like the Huari, but they beloved that there was a purpose, very different from the Huari.

The captain was an eight hundred year old Ofla, he was a respected captain who rarely had any dissent in his crew, a fair Ofla by any standard. Usually it was Huari who manned lesser positions, but the ship being named after Jali it was only fitting the ship be crewed by Ofla alone. This Cruiser was in charge of the current colonization of the Osu system, and being in charge the bridge was constantly busy with Ofla floating in every direction dialing in reports and orders to ground builders.

However this all changed when an Ofla comms officer told the captain, "Sir we have an abnormal amount of radio signals on channel five. I am asking our men to stop using it so I can isolate the signal and its origin."
The captain replied, "Do it and inform me once you have a conclusive source and can read the signal."

The comms officer waited for a second then replied, "Sir it appears the signal is coming from a moving object heading this way sir, not terribly far away but certainly not close. As for what it is... I believe it is an information package of growing size and complexity, from a first glance it appears to be alien of origin, likley a first contact signal. It is very similar to our info packages, other than that fact it grows in complexity."

The captain replied, "Send a message back then plot a course to intercept the source of the signal. Actually belay that first order, I wish to record my own message to send."

The Comms officer replied, "Yes sir you can start now."

The captain then began, "Unknown vessel you are entering the Inaris Confederacy’s claimed space. We have received your message and understand its purpose. Be aware we will attempt to intercept your vessel for easier transfer of information. We will be at your coordinates within a minute, please stand by for any further instruction. "

The captain motioned for the recording to be ended and sent then he spoke to the navigator, "Plot us an intercept course, not too close as the antimatter annihilation could give them the wrong idea." The captain paused then spoke to the comms officer, "Send a first contact info packet back, we know about them let them know about us."

The comms officer did this then navigator did as he was told and after about thirty minutes he replied, "Of course sir... Course plotted. Jump on you mark sir."

The captain replied, "Ok, ready... Mark!"

With that the cruiser Jali was engulfed in a white light as it was sent flying through space as FTL speeds. Eventually after a minute of monitoring systems silently the cruiser dropped out right about fifty thousand kilometers away from the other ship.

The captain announced, "Jump complete, arm weapons incase of hostility and patch me through again."

The weapons controller responded, "Arming."

Then the comms officer responded, "Your ready to talk sir."

The captain immediately began, "We have arrived, speak your intentions now and explain your presence in our space."

The crew all waited for a response.

by **The Azoni** » Mon May 21, 2012 5:24 pm

Iretaria, Aras System
Star Fleet CCCXIV
A.S.S "Ilym"
V'Andioki̱ Rila O'locha

The ring lightly dimmed back to black as Rila turned promptly on her heels and stepped off the circle. Rila rubbed her temples methodically as she tried to ease the headache that had set on. Walking briskly back to the main area, she paused briefly to pull out a datapad, entering in some data before precariously setting it at one of the consoles.

It wasn't too long until the three corvettes slowly began to sink down to the surface of the planet, their silver hulls glistening brightly as the light from Aras shone on them. Their weapons were primed and ready though, and their troops were being prepped and loaded onto transports should the Vra'Ro̱tá not follow their Azoni masters and reject their "salvation".

"Matron, numerous messages coming from both the Vra'Rota and an unknown anomaly" the ship's artificial intelligence said in the stereotypical monotone voice of all synthetic beings. "Forwarding Vra'Rota message to Envoy ship and processing and translating communication of unknown origin" There was a brief pause quickly followed by "Processing..... Translating.... transferring message to communication console"

"Acknowledged Victory" Rila replied walking back towards the console she had just placed the datapad on. Typing in a few commands, she quickly accessed the message sent from the Ama'Las. "Victory, send communications to the fleet, tell them to activate shielding and prepare for possible confrontation" She said finally after reading.

"Yes, ma'am..... communication sent" Victory replied

Attention Unknown Anomalies, this is the Azoni Star Ship Illythia of the Azoni Union. You are interfering with official business. Leave the system immediately and conflict will be avoided. This is your only warning.

Iretaria, Aras System
Diplomatic Vessel "Axum"
A'Svetí̱ Atara Telar

Out of the hangar bay of one of the corvettes, a sleek, tri-winged shuttle emerged, descending rapidly towards the base that the Vra'Rota provided. Several minutes later, the bright blue engines of the transport dimmed, and the two side wings folded up as it vertically descended to the blackened tar landing pad that was better suited for helicopters than a space faring vessel.

The silver-white ramp descended with a loud hiss and Senior Envoy Atara Telar walked down, her red shoes making a faint clanking noise as she did so. At 794 years of age, she had just reached the Matriarch stage, allowing her to rely on a variety of insights and observations from the several centuries of diplomatic experiences she has had. Her long, crimson red robes (which is normally what was worn when ever Iretaria was visited) flowed behind as she walked, making her a tad larger then what she actually was. Two Azoni Huntresses followed her, dressed in silver and gold armor that made them look similar to European knights.

It wasn't Atara's first visit to the jungle world, in fact, it was often her job to come to the Vra'Rota homeworld in order to further "guide them down the enlightened path". She cleared her throat and outstretched both of her arms. "Greetings children" She said with a divine tone in her voice. "I have returned once more, this time to complete your journey so that you may join us in the heavens"

by **Vipra** » Tue May 22, 2012 9:26 am

Iretaria, Aras System,
Airbase Zeehn Seventeen

Two soldiers, clad in camo fatigues and holding gyrojet combat rifles, sat on crates within the shade of a looking over towards the designated landing spot. The shade was a blessing, the Zeehn desert being far hotter than any Vra'Ro̱tá typically appreciated. The base itself was numerous tin and aluminium half-oval hangers, concrete barracks, and a tall control tower. The land around and within the base was desert scrubland, various insects of sizes considered far too large by most standards skittering from shadow to shadow and hunting smaller mammals and lizards. The tarmac was worse than the desert though, the dark material causing the air to shimmer and waver above it visibly with the heat of the midday sun.

So the two soldiers, Privates Tanu and Estean, leaned on their rifles and silently prayed for the sun to go down a few hours early. There was a sort of irony in the fact that they were praying to gods that were supposedly coming to visit the base. This was not lost on them.

“So,” Tanu spoke in a dry voice, his canteen long since left as arid as the desert, “What do you think they’ll be like? Wearing all that old armour and stuff they are always portrayed with, or wearing advanced alien garb?”

Estean didn’t even have the energy to glance at his fellow, just speaking in a slow and tired voice, “Probably the former. These are gods, probably have armour of some unobtanium or whatever and have staffs of gold. Also probably cunnies of the same.”

“Not even five minutes and your brain is already in the gutter. Is there anything else you think about Estean? I mean honestly we are about to meet the aliens or gods or whatever and all you can think about is what is in their pants. They don’t even look like us! They have those weird flat faces and no claws, no feathers or scales, not even a tail. I fail to see what is attractive about them unless... Oh wait, you are one of those skin fetishists aren’t you?”

This time Estean managed to muster the energy to laugh, “Nope, but the freakin’ gods show up and you can bet to hell I will take whatever opportunity I’ll get to be able to legitimately say ‘I was the first Vra'Ro̱tá to fuck a goddess’. I could die fulfilled and happy. You can’t say you wouldn’t say no to that opportunity, could you?”

For a long time Tanu was silent, giving his comrade an incredulous look, then finally sighed and slumped forward, “No, no I couldn’t.”

“Fucking right you couldn’t. And look, the Brigadier is getting his shit together. They’ll be here soon, so get ready and appear manly or whatever.”

The duo rose, Brigadier Lestik pacing in the sun in the distance as he fervently checked his watch. Eight men were arranged behind him, each holding a gyrojet rifle and clad in the same fatigues and Estean and Tanu. For their part the duo remained in the shadows, raising their rifles and giving them a final check. Eleswhere, hidden under thermal tarps and camouflaged for the environment, mobile anti-air and missile artillery half-traks sat in wait. One could never be too careful, especially when dealing with deities.

It was hard not be in awe though, despite preparations and knowledge in advance, at the Azoni ship as it glided through the air and touched down upon the tarmac. The Vra'Ro̱tá held their collective breath as the ramp lowered and three forms stepped forward. None of the Vra'Ro̱tá present had seen an Azoni outside of art and picture books. They weren’t exactly as they had imagined, less imposing, less godlike, and generally more normal than the holy scriptures had led them to believe. Still, the fact that they stepped from an interstellar craft granted them significant merit.

The first to fully recover, Brigadier Lestik strode forward. He was bulky for his species, yet still lithe when compared to humans or other races that could put on visibly excessive brawn, and spoke with a voice tinged by the hints of throat decay, “Welcome Azoni, I am glad to be the first of the Ta’alik to greet you. I never thought this day would occur to be honest. And I still don’t. You can drop the whole godly routine, we aren’t sword-wielding zealots any more. Your fancy words will impress the masses, but I am a military man and I’m old, so let’s cut the crap and get down to business. The Vükali is making his way here, so we have some time to kill. If you want you can come with me to my office to discuss matters, or we can go aboard your vessel. If we go aboard your vessel I am sure you will understand that I will be bringing the soldiers behind me with me.”

by **The Azoni** » Tue May 22, 2012 12:37 pm

Iretaria, Aras System,
Airbase Zeehn Seventeen

Atara was a bit taken aback as the Brigadier's words, trying hard not to show the shock and anger that was quickly building up. As quickly as those feelings came, however, they quickly swept away as she fully thought out what his words meant: she could drop the charade. Giving an approving glance to the two huntresses, the pair removed their head-encasing helmets, revealing their blue heads. Atara herself took off her robes, revealing a white skin-tight exo suit with blue stripes on the sleeves and legs.

"In that case then, let me formally introduce myself" Atara said in her best diplomat voice, "I am A'Sveti Atara Telar" She leaned in a bit and spoke in a more hushed tone to the Brigadier "Thank you for pointing that out, saves me a lot of time"

Nodding to the two guards, they quickly slew their pulse rifles over their shoulders, which quickly shrunk down in size. Atara began to walk forward, the two huntresses following at her side. "I think it will be best to wait for your 'Vükali' in your office, Vra'Rota" She said back to them, already a few meters ahead.

by **Vipra** » Tue May 22, 2012 5:04 pm

Iretaria, Aras System,
Airbase Zeehn Seventeen

Well, Brigadier Lestik thought to himself, that went better than expected.

“If you would be so kind as to follow me, my office is this way ma’am,” the brigadier nodded towards the three azoni, “Also, I do not believe I introduced myself. I am Brigadier Lestik Tuva of the Ta’alik Armed Forces. And if you don’t know who the Vükali is, well, you are probably a bit out of touch as to the current political situation,” Her turned and started to walk towards his office, a distant concrete building that displayed obvious air-conditioning boxes, steadying his pace so as to walk alongside Atara and not ahead of her, “So I imagine you’ll be wanting a brief update on the situation which, I imagine, is rapidly degenerating as we speak.”

As they walked Lestik took his cap off and waved it at his face, sending a few precious waves of air his way as the sun poured its excessive warmth down upon the lot of them, “You are probably aware of the basics, the twelve tribes and the political galvanization. If you aren’t you probably should have studied up a bit more before landing. Anyways the two main power blocs right now are us in the north here, there are too many nations for me to mention without going on a lecture but my homeland, the place you stand in now, is practically the de-facto leader of the bloc. To the south are the Penerit, a conglomerate of the tribes down there under one pseudo red-fascist alliance.”

They arrived at the office, the brigadier pushing open the door and holding it open for the azoni before following. The office building was pretty stark, the walls plain white and the chairs plastic with little cushioning, the receptionist at the aluminium front desk sharply saluting Lestik before noticing the azoni. His draw visibly dropped before he could compose himself. His gaze was still upon them as they walked down one of the many halls, finally entering the brigadier’s office itself. It was of the quality you’d expect, a nice wooden desk with a leather chair behind it, a few picture of past Vükali on the walls, and a framed picture of his family on the desk beside a stack of paperwork on a computer monitor.

Lestik took his seat behind the desk, motioning with his hand towards the two spare chairs in the room and inviting Atara to sit, “I won’t bore you with the details or propaganda, but the long and the short of it is that we have a lot of antimatter ICBMs pointing at each other. Things have been worse of late, it has been looking like things might go hot, and you arriving in orbit and popping on down here won’t have gone unnoticed in the south. I’m sure they are working up quite the theories and plans as we speak, none of them good.”

“We have probably twenty four hours before they start really freaking out though, they’re probably just confused as hell right now, so I think I’ll as the obvious questions. Why’d you come here, what exactly do you hope to achieve or gain, and what precisely are you. I hope you don’t mind, but I’m not the type to think you’re angels.”

by **Tuthina** » Wed May 23, 2012 10:56 am

Most of the interior of the space ship was decorated with clean, white walls, with occasional doors leading to either other corridors, rooms, different modules, as well as panels for mechanical repair. Beneath and around each wall, soft white lights shined through the plastic-like material and illuminate the vessel into an aseptic white glow. Since the main axis did not spin like the living quarters, and the main fusion engine had not been started yet, there were no gravity within. Vilhelm flew through the slightly cold air of the ship, his hand holding on a small conveyor belt to guide him towards his destination.

Soon, he arrived at one of the larger doors inside the lower quarters of the vessel. within his eye a translucent panel emerged from nowhere, and he quickly selected it with his thought. The white door quietly slided aside into the wall, revealing the lift chamber behind. As he flew into it, the buttons on it changed slightly, from controlling the door of the lift to the level of it. After another command, the door slided back again, closing the chamber with Vilhelm inside. Then, as the walls started shaking and humming with the sound of the heavy machinery, it slowly but gradually descend from the axis and towards the living quarters.

As he approached the spinning wheels that created the much-needed gravity for daily activity, he started to feel the pull towards the floor returning. He slowly floated down to the floor, landing firmly on his legs, while watching the entoptic diagram showing the small light moving towards the “lower” ground. Because of the sheer distance between, it still take him several minutes before the lift stopped and presented him the living quarters.

Like the main axis, the entire quarter was flooded with the soft and clean white glow. However, there were noticeably more doors on both sides of the wall, as opposed to the clean corridor with occasion doors on all sides of the wall. With gravity holding him firmly onto the ground, the commander could walk from sector to sector, crossing the grey lines that indicate gates and bearings between the parts of the torus. As he approached, one of the few lights on the map marked as “crew” seemed to notice his presence as well, and approached him accordingly, until both of them arrived beside the door marked as “gymnasium”.

The commander stroked his chin and pondered. In most cases like this, ships within the Sobornsot were often only fitted with the minimal crew required for function in case the on-board AI broke down - a skeleton crew, as it was called back in ancient times. Because of that, all crews were assigned the most suitable role according to their will and skills. Once decided, the “soul” of the crew members - memory, thought pattern, values, as well as several more other things - would be transferred from their original body to body that was designed for that specific role, be it commander with increased brain function, or boarding party with a strong physical body and built-in drug dispenser. Because of that, it was not unusual for him - actually, her - to work out in the gymnasium to keep the spirit up and to get used to the body, even though it was highly unlikely her ability would be of any use.

Pressing another non-existent button floating on the door, it retracted back to the (slightly thicker) wall, revealing the arrays of equipment designed to strengthen the body and bodily skills of the users. In order to provide the most comfortable for everyone who worked out here, the air was arid and cool, even when compared with the air of the other parts of the ship. However, the strangest part was that even though the scent of sweat could be smelled by him as soon as the door opened, he could not see her anywhere. The light that located her pointed directly in front of him, but it was obvious that no one was here.

About the faction of second after, Vilhelm quickly realise the implication of such event. However, the implication had already reached him before his slower body could do any action, as the feeling of a cold metal rod emerged on the lower back of his torso. At the same time, the same scent of sweat appeared from behind as well, as another hand held his body against the unknown rod.

“Are you looking for me, captain?” It was a voice of a woman, somewhat deeper than average, although still quite pleasant for the sound alone. However, the arm holding Vilhelm was a direct contrast to the soft voice, as while it was still a feminine arm, the strength packed within was obviously stronger than his, and possibly than most humans as well. After all, that female body was designed for physical strength and close-range combat.

“Well, yes, Theodora Boveta. Now, please release me.” With a dry laugh, Vilhelm asked. Even though the one holding him was not hostile - otherwise, chances were he would already been incapacitated, or even decapitated - the sheer strength were still unnerving, and it was not unheard of that new body - “morph” - could be hard to control when newly grafted in.

After a small nod and another poke from behind, the woman called Theodora quickly released the man within her strong hug, and swiftly moved back to where she was supposed to be. Like most morph of the same design, it was a fairly attractive female body, with the skin of a healthy, bronze-like tone, as well as body lines that suggested its muscles hidden beneath the skin and fat.

What made it different from a “standard” human, though, was the fact that she also processed a tail slowly swinging at ankle level. Incorporated for body balance and control, the tail was covered in some kind of fur to conceal its true shape, as the thought of its naked appearance gave Vilhelm a small shudder. As an addition to this body, Theodora also wore a headdress that had a pair of cat ears mounted on it. While he was pretty sure it was her hobby, the seemingly strange headdress was not entirely pointless, as the pointed ears were built to listen to directed sound with higher sensitivity, and could also be used for echolocation should the need arise - something similar to a sonar. Despite all these reasoning, Vilhelm still could not strung off the speculations that this design of combat-oriented morph was most likely built for advertisement reasons.

“So, how is this new morph, Theodore?” After straightening his clothes, Vilhelm asked casually.

“Theodora. It would be strange to retain a male name when in a female body. But yes, this is awesome! I mean, I had a few augmentations back in my old body, but they are nothing compared with it!” The woman laughed loudly, before punching at the wall to demonstrate her point. While the punch did not bent the wall, it was still clearly a heavy punch judging from the sound and speed from it.

“Of course, it is specifically made for melee combat.” And, like almost all kinds of morphs, people with special fetishes. The captain knew better to keep it to himself, though.

“And it certainly shows! I believe it would not be hard to incapacitate someone within a few seconds! Do you want to try it?”

“No, thanks. It is a bit difficult to work when being pinned down while having a few fractured bones.” He remarked, sarcastically, as Theodora laughed again to his comment. Then, as if all the exercises and practical jokes were not enough, she rode back onto a treadmill again and started running on a speed that would bring down people with normal physique quickly. “Well, you are the commander. So, how’s the ‘work’ we have? We certainly have already arrived nearby, and it seems that we are not blown to smithereens yet.”

“I have sent the first contact message to the anomaly a while ago, and I believe it should be about time we get a response in either radio message or laser beams.” Vilhelm said, as he brought out the timer within his vision. After a few clicks, it appeared within the sights of Theodora as well, along with all the numbers that indicated her bodily strength and its theoretical limits.

“Well, they certainly took their time for that.” She commented, as the clock estimated how long the receiver had prepared for a response should it arrived now.

“It was barely five minutes.”

“What? You mean they do not have AI to do all the heavy works?”

“Radio signal received. The source was within range of the anomaly.” as if it was waiting for this exact moment, the on-board AI informed both of them, as the estimated source of the signal appeared on the star map that popped out right into their face.

“How is the analysis of the signal?” Vilhelm gave Theodora a small smile, before turning towards the AI.

“From the complexity and ongoing length of the radio signal, it is highly possible that the message is of the same type as the unknown civilisation engagement protocol. Decryption and translation of the message has been initiated.”

“Well, at least they are probably not trying to blast us at the moment.” Theodora said, as she ran on the treadmill like it was but a small walk around the station.

“Certainly - ”

“Unknown object detected.” The sudden warning from the ship interrupted their short discussion, as an unknown object appeared out of the void several thousand kilometre from the ship. It did not take long until a more detailed report was broadcast through the local network, and concluded it was most likely an artificial vessel entering normal space.

“ - And they apparently have faster-than-light travel capacity, or very good stealth technology.” Vilhelm continued, before turning towards the AI once more for orders. Perhaps noticing the strings of events happening around, or were just waiting for some actions, Theodora also stopped the treadmill, and reconnected herself into the mainframe after disabling the puppet program she used to trick Vilhelm moments ago.

“Continue the orientation process, but terminate main engine starting sequence.” Vilhelm stopped for a moment to organise his thoughts, knowing that time is of essence now. After all, since they were to be arriving now, the most important thing after reporting back to Futura would be to decode the message from these aliens as fast as possible, and to create an algorithm to translate their language. “Change the priority of decoding the unknown message to high. Focus on basic communications and basic words. As soon as the translation is reliable, translate my message and contact them through our radio.”

A small message box appeared in front of Vilhelm, as the vessel started to implement the string of orders it just received. The captain selected the box with his mind, before his thoughts started to be recorded by it in words and occasion pictures.

We are a space vessel from the civilisation of Futura Sobornost.
We are here because one of our unmanned probes discovered your presence.
We come in peace and mean no harm.
We are now decoding your message, and try to communicate with your kind based on the information provided.
We will open our hanger once you approach us and welcome you.
The interior of the vessel is similar to our home world in lighting, temperature, and atmospheric composition and pressure.

“Open the main gate of the hanger once the unknown vessel approaches.” Vilhelm concluded, before the on-board AI got to work, taking away the box of message, along with the 3D model of him and Theodora’s body. Those would be sent to the vessel once the translation was presumed to be correct.

“Well, let us welcome them, shall we?” Vilhelm turned to Theodora, who seemed to finish her part of ordering as well.

“Sure. I have activated some Furies just in case.” The tailed woman nodded, before they left the gymnasium and headed towards the hanger bay at the main axis.

by **The Azoni** » Wed May 23, 2012 1:17 pm

Iretaria, Aras System,
Airbase Zeehn Seventeen

Atara listened intently as Lestik talked, having been so long since the last visit the talk to the Brigadier's office was welcoming. The planet seemed much warmer then last time, and judging by the lack of steel-armored soldiers, Atara came to the conclusion that they had gone through an industrial revolution within the past 150 years.

The cool air quickly rushed out of the door as Lestik opened it, giving some relief to Atara as she entered the small office. It was much less than what she had expected, especially from one who was of military ranking. Still though, she wasn't one to complain, as this office sure as hell beat the stone chairs that she sat on last time. She smirked a little bit at the receptionist, giving him a polite smile and bow of her head. Her two guards quickly broke off from her and stood at the main hallway that lead back to the Brigadier's room.

The Brigadier's office was a little bit more accommodating to the "higher" standards that were expected of them, albeit it still fell exponentially short. Thanking Lestik for offering the seat, the cool leather was quite a relief to Atara. She stared at the pictures hung up on the wall, though thankfully for her mother's bondmate, she had above average hearing which allowed her to hear every word the Vra'Rota was saying.

"Well that is good that aren't a follower, shows that your brains have developed good enough so that you can question the status quo" Atara said a bit excitedly, taking our a datapad and entering in what she just learned. "I will start with your last question" She continued, slipping the small, see-through pad back into her pocket. "We are the azoni, a mono-gendered specie native to the planet of Illythia in the Teri System, we are capable of reproducing with any lifeform, which lead to our discovery of your race as your specie were capable warriors and your warrior traits were... 'beneficial' to our race as a whole... there is much more I could on about, but too much and too little time"

"Our coming for this is rather simple, we feel that you are finally evolved to your prime, and are ready to join your place amongst the hundreds of other interstellar nations and empires in the galaxy. Of course though, since we are the ones who uplifted your culture past your once primitive, and barbaric state, it would be most wise to join us as opposed to risk you falling to some other nation."

by **Cheten** » Wed May 23, 2012 4:40 pm

Tsu'Chu Cluster, Guenna System, Maal
Tsu'chu Expeditionary Force, 3rd Flotilla

The Planet of Maal, with it's large oceans and green landmasses, had caught the attention of the 3rd Flotilla. They entered geosynchronous orbit facing the worlds largest landmass and began to send down shuttles to test for life.

The Captain stood at the forward observation post looking out at the planet below. He wasn't an ordinary drone, he stood over a foot taller, with better posture and more defined muscles. This was due to the fact that he was raised to be a Shahir, and as such was modified before birth to be stronger than the average drones both physically and mentally.

A small navigation drone approached the captain and stood beside him for a few moments before walking away. To any non-Checa observer nothing out of the ordinary had occurred, but in reality within those moments they had exchanged an entire conversation.

-Captian?-

-Yes?-

-Our scouts report simple plant and animal life on the planets surface, and analysis of the oceans has revealed billions of sea-dwelling creatures.-

-Just as I expected, anything out of the ordinary?-

-Well one shuttle discovered what appeared to be a small pack of beings living in a community of sorts.-

-You mean they've stumbled across a den?-

-No the creatures appear to be living in structures they themselves made.-

-Buildings?-

-It would appear so.-

-Interesting. I'll tell the shuttle to pick up a specimen of the species and bring it back to the Flotilla for analysis.-

This was followed by the captain telepathically informing the shuttle of his orders. He then proceeded to his quarters; He would have to inform Queen Tsu'chu of this as she was focusing on the creation of her Journey fleet and had most likely not heard what he had discovered, but he needed the peace and quite of his room because he was tired, and the Queen was a very far away.

==================================================================================================================================================

by **Vipra** » Thu May 24, 2012 10:43 pm

Iretaria, Aras System,
Airbase Zeehn Seventeen

Brigadier Lestik listened, barely managing to maintain his calm composure at time. They were mono-gendered and could mate with anything? That was edging into weirdness more than a little, but given these were extraterrestrial lifeforms such oddities were to be expected weren’t they? The implication that his race had been chosen for their ‘beneficial traits’ sounds more than a bit ominous to him though. He had no clue how a mono-gendered race would be able to keep a stable population and still take traits from other races. Lestik’s first thoughts were that they ate people, a part of his deeper and more primal brain making him want to panic and get away from the alien witch-woman. A larger part told him that the entire idea was silly. If they’d wanted to eat his people, they would have been doing so since the beginning.

Of course, in light of her last statement, he began to feel his adrenalin once more. There wasn’t just one alien race out there, but hundreds? And his nation, his entire species, was at risk to falling to them. He consoled himself by convincing himself that it must be a ploy, a bluff. But a bluff for what purpose if there weren’t other space faring empires out there? If there weren’t, then surely this ‘azoni’ race would have come the first time and simply never left. The simple fact that they had intentionally uplifted his race was still sinking in, all this other information on top was becoming too much to take in all at once. Lestik had to do his best though, it was his job to look at new situations, assess them, adapt, and then achieve victory.

His skills in that field would hopefully apply as effectively to talking to aliens as it did to bombing runs and precision strikes.

“That’s why you came here then? To get us to sign up as a part of your state? I don’t see that going over so smoothly with many folks. Too many nationalists these days, and the religious folks are going to have a real hard time accepting that you aren’t gods. And to be honest I am still struggling with many concepts here. I don’t have the advantage of long term planning, watching, and goddamn starships like you do. Fuck knows I would feel a lot safer with some ships like yours laden down with some missiles. Would make cowing those bastards in the south so much easier. Anyways, we have time to kill, share a drink with me.”

Lestik pulled open a drawer in his desk, pulling out a half empty bottle of amber coloured alcohol and a couple small glasses. A small drowned centipede swirled around within the bottle as he set it and the glasses down upon the table and poured the sweet smelling fluid into them. He pushed one towards Atara with a clawed finger before picking his own up and taking a sip. The initial taste was not as sweet as it smelled and had a bitter kick, but the aftertaste was stingingly sweet; the harmless venom of the many legged and vicious looking insect imparting its unique flavour to the drink.

The Brigadier coughed slightly, his throat burning with the fluid as it reminded him of the wasting effects of time, “So, your people are mono-gendered? How does that work? And what are some of these other nations and empires you just talked about? And, I expect you have a while script written up for this question but it has to be asked, how would we benefit from joining you?”

He knew that there would be a might big speech about all the advantages of joining, everyone with something to push had a nice pitch, it was all the things that they forgot to mention that mattered and that was what he was listening for.

by **The Azoni** » Fri May 25, 2012 1:09 pm

Iretaria, Aras System,
Airbase Zeehn Seventeen

Atara politely thanks Lestik for the beverage. The amber colored liquid had a distinctly sweet aroma to it, making it somewhat inviting despite the foreign insect floating around inside of the bottle. After taking a sip though, the welcoming sweet aroma was a false flag to the bitter taste the liquor had, so pungent that it caused Atara to cough several times as the brigadier talked.

"Yes, mono-gendered" Atara said in a chocked voice, the liquor still burning the back of her throat. "Our genetics, or DNA really, doesn't have specific instructions to make either a male or female reproductive system... Even after several millenia of studying and research we're still trying to figure it our ourselves. As for your second question, it is hard to guess. Everyday new nations are discovered and old ones fall into disarray."

"There are really no real advantages that I'm sure you could not think of prior to you asking. Gaining of new, extremely advanced technology; several thousand years worth of scientific, medical, etc. discoveries; protection against hazardous other peoples, the obvious things. But in reality, how you benefit is up to yourselves. The more willing and trustful in us you are, the more you are to benefit then if you kept your current ways"

by **Vipra** » Fri May 25, 2012 11:52 pm

Iretaria, Aras System,
Airbase Zeehn Seventeen

Lestik chuckled slightly as the alien woman coughed from the harshness of the liquor. It was hard for the majority of his own species to down, so this alien having trouble was hardly a surprise. He took another sip from his glass and poured himself some more almost to prove that in at least the field of drinking he had an edge. The brigadier didn’t bother with pouring any more for the azoni across from him, he doubted she would be wanting any more given her reaction and instead focussed upon his own glass as the centipede swirled lackadaisically within the bottle.

“I must admit I am amazed you don’t have an understanding of your own genitalia. Of course, most people don’t, so who am I to judge,” Lestik leaned back in his chair, “I imagine being an ‘it’ makes interacting rather awkward with those of us that do have gender. Of course, I imagine most are forgiving given that you wear the monikers of the female sex. People seem to trust women more for some reason, especially those they can have children with.”

Brigadier Lestik closed his eyes and massaged his throat with his spare hand for a moment, the chaffing and harsh grit within his throat reaching a painful tearing pitched before he downed the rest of his glass and drowned out the pain with a further bout of worse pain, “And nations rise and fall so fast you can’t keep track? Sounds like pandemonium if you don’t mind me saying. Rather mind boggling really.”

He decided to move on quickly, speculating about space empires rising and falling seemed to fanciful to really contemplate, “And how are we to trust you? What proof do you have that we won’t be pushed into slavery or treated as second class citizens with our culture and way of life extinguished? There are no real guarantees you could bring with you that wouldn’t have reasonable doubt cast over them, so don’t bother with any. These are issues for you and the Vükali to talk about. What I do want to know is how you are going to appease both him and the southern bastards, we don’t exactly meet eye to eye with them on just about anything and on top of that we have a lot of missiles pointing at each other. Not exactly the best of situations.”

by **The Azoni** » Sat May 26, 2012 2:09 pm

Iretaria, Aras System,
Airbase Zeehn Seventeen

She was grateful that the Vra'Rota didn't pour her any of the centipede liquor. It wasn't that she wasn't a big alcohol fan, it was rather that the liquor was far to contrasting to the normal, usually sweet tastes of the azoni brandies and liqueurs that she enjoyed. The half full glass thudded softly as she placed it back on the table, placing both of her hands on her lap as she continued to listen to Listik speak.

Atara paid little attention to the creature as it spoke more on the "mono-gender" concept. She was more interested in looking at the centipede floating around the bottle then listening to a lizard man go on about something he understood little about. As soon as the topic change, she turned her full attention back to Lestik and nodded understandingly.

"Yes, yes, of course. It is logical to hold doubts when meetings somebody for the first time... at least in your current cycle" Atara said politely. "If you need proof, we can show you other races that have done the same, the Khe'Lash, Human worlds, etc. Of course this all means nothing when you have yet to develop future-than-light travel... something that we can assist you with if you continue to go down your pre-planned path."

"Speaking of which, how much longer is your Vukali going to be? The city didn't seem that far apart when we were descending"

by **Inaris** » Tue May 29, 2012 9:52 pm

Tolsi Cruiser Jali

The comms officer looked up and began, "Sir, we have a communication form the unknown vessel, translation processes are woking quickly so it should not take too long to get a working version... Ok here we go giving it to you now captain."

A small message popped up on the captains data pad.

We are a space vessel from the civilisation of Futura Sobornost.
We are here because one of our unmanned probes discovered your presence.
We come in peace and mean no harm.
We are now decoding your message, and try to communicate with your kind based on the information provided.
We will open our hanger once you approach us and welcome you.
The interior of the vessel is similar to our home world in lighting, temperature, and atmospheric composition and pressure.

The captain replied, " Ok so they found us already, this is likely a contact expedition. Similar to their home planet... Hmm did this information get sent in the first contact message they sent us?"

The comms officer replied, "Yes sir, but if this is correct their conditions indicate drastically low pressure and the lack of any substantial water. These are land creatures sir."

The captain replied, "Interesting... We assumed it possible be we haven't seen any advanced land creatures. Send Ambassador Haijb in an environment tube, arm it with a land weapon, kinetic we want it to be concealed, he might need it yet."

The comms officer spoke into the ship wide com system, "Ambassador Haijb to the shuttle room immediately please, you will be briefed upon arrival."

The captain finished, "Well now we wait."

Tolsi Cruiser Jali- Shuttle Bay

Ambassador Haijb arrived at the shuttle bay and upon seeing the Ofla who was to brief him immediately asked, "What is the meaning of this? I was in the middle of some delicious live Iosu fish?"

The Ofla responded, "Never mind that, this is more important. As you know we went to check on some radio signals we detected, we have now made contact with the ship that sent them and have learned more about their nature. You are to board their vessel in an environment tube and initiate contact. Things you need to know, these are land creatures. We know little about them so be very careful, take as many scans and pictures as possible, if things go wrong your tube is armed with a concealed kinetic weapon, it should work in air."

The ambassador responded, "Oh... Wow, show me to the tube, we need to go with all haste!"

The Ofla responded, "Of course, follow me."

Shuttle

The shuttle looked like a small version of a Tolsi cruiser, the same oval like shape with the same engine arrangement, just much smaller. On the inside was a large compartment for occupants and in the front a single area with various panels on it. The ambassador floated into the shuttle in a large tube that would if the environment wasn't already look black. The shuttle took off toward the other ship. The bay opened as the seemingly perfect smoothness of the Tolsi cruisers hull was interrupted with a perfect circle that slid to the side as the shuttle flew out, then the circle slid back in place and the illusion of smoothness returned.

The shuttle flew to the bay f the other ship, when it hovered above the ground. After a door had sealed the pilot in the passenger compartment was levelled to the local pressure. After this the same circular effect seen on the Tolsi cruiser happened to the shuttle and a door appeared out of nowhere. Out of this door came the Ambassador in a black tube, monitoring every little event, awaiting contact as his tube floated above the now rather wet ground.

Aras System

Incoming message... Displaying:

Attention Unknown Anomalies, this is the Azoni Star Ship Illythia of the Azoni Union. You are interfering with official business. Leave the system immediately and conflict will be avoided. This is your only warning.

The captain of the Tolsi cruisers mood was immediately turned foul. These creatures were clearly not willing to talk peacefully, but if the captain didn't report a success in contact it was clear he might be demoted, first contacts didn't happen every day. As such the captain motioned for his comms officer to send the following, "This is a Tolsi cruiser of the Inaris Confederacy, we will not continue our approach but we will not leave the system. Do not underestimate the weapons of our vessel. We however wish to avoid conflict and merely wish to establish a basic exchange of information before we leave the system. We arrived here on a peaceful surveying mission and will leave on the same terms."

by **Vipra** » Thu May 31, 2012 6:43 pm

Iretaria, Aras System,
Airbase Zeehn Seventeen

Lestik pulled up the left sleeve of his jacket nonchalantly, checking a small leather-strapped watch cinched above his wrist, “The Vükali will be another half hour or so,” he pulled his sleeve back up, “He has to catch a maglev train to Ta’anu and from there take a car here, I imagine the train ride is already done and he is probably on his way here in his motorcade as we speak.”

“And as for proof, we’ll probably need to set up an embassy or something of a similar sort and get a look for ourselves what your civilization is like. But like I said before, not my field to really discuss,” Lestik lazily twisted the empty glass he held in his hand, “What is my field is military matters and the resolution thereof. What I want to know is how exactly you plan to handle the south and all their lovely armaments.”

That was the question most important to Lestik out of all he had asked, and no matter how calmly and carelessly he asked it he ached to know. These azoni, if they aligned with his nation could end the crises and bring the south to heel. Or they could end the south. Either way he would be happy so long as the north remained safe and those goddamn missiles never got within Ta’alik airspace. Yet a large part of him assumed they would withdraw their aid and simply wait it out. The religious texts didn’t portray the gods as the types to intervene in wars, and the gods were based upon these aliens.

by **The Azoni** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 4:21 pm

Iretaria, Aras System,
Airbase Zeehn Seventeen

Atara leaned back into the leather chair, faintly squeaking as she did so. This one was asking too many questions, not that she didn't mind, but at this point it was getting fairly irritating. Things weren't going as she had planned. They hadn't anticipated that they would've developed this far in two hundred fifty years. She couldn't help but think that their uplifting had gone a little too far and had been done far too often.

"If you need any proof then all you would have to do is step back onto the shuttle and look at the recordings." She said, perhaps a bit too irritably. She was silent for a couple seconds. "I'm going to assume that you are hoping that we ally with your nation and territories and assist you in reclaiming the south... Well, I'm going to be rather blunt and say that is out of the question Brigadier. The Union has never interfered in the domestic matters of others and we shall not begin today. I'd imagine that Senior Envoy T'sari will be sent to talk with the south, then we have plans to negotiate between the nations."

She paused, making sure that she wasn't saying too much. "And if that fails, then we will simply have to go with Option 2"

Arrival (FT Closed)

Arrival (FT Closed)

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