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The Vok managed to drop in before the shields were thrown up, and so they got past the major defenses and were able to safely grip the station's exterior. However, while they avoided the main defensive measures of the station, they had not gone completely unnoticed. There was indeed a maintenance hatch nearby, but as they drew closer portions of the hull suddenly moved, and from these sections emerged automated sentry guns. They were simple plasma repeater turrets, but their presence showed that Cyboar was not totally unprepared for such a method of infiltration.
Enas was correct, as within twenty seconds Cyboar deployed their defensive fighters. The fighters they brought out were primarily fighter-bombers, meant to be versatile against a range of different opponents. For now however they stuck close to the station, while the main weapons began to open fire with their long range missiles and plasma cannons. Fornt commented, "Best to rush forward, overwhelm them. They're very effective but right now they are outnumbered and outgunned. They'll try to delay as they call for reinforcements, so we should keep the pressure up hard. Besides, we need to keep them from focusing their attention on the Vok."
Filia certainly thought about it, strapping themselves to a bomb was definitely not in the cards. But exploring more of the facility might be a good idea "Looking around might be good. But what do we do about sleeping beauty there? He's in no shape to be moving around yet." She says as sh starts looking for a way to open up the bulkhead.
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Sephus let Liline do most of the talking as he smiled along, now knowing the strange woman's name as sh introduced herself to the pair of them before getting up to take the train the same train that they were. He would have asked himself why she bothered to talk to them but with this town being small and most people preferring to take transport to a much bigger city for protection meant that they may not get many people sticking around aside from the loners, bounty hunters and outdoorsy types that might com here to lay low or have a nice time away like they were. Once the train arrived as miss Duncan left he did nod to her leaving but he got up and picked up what they brought with them as he followed Liline into the train and then into their own room as he sat down on the bench beside her as he sighed softly. "Under an hour huh, well that will be good then. Not enough time for me to nap though."
Once everyone was inside, and once Zemia made sure everything was up and ready to go she spoke out "Okay. The bots no doubt will try and assault us again. Yajana, time for that avatar. Xernus, giant tesla coil! We're securing that win!" Sieg just kept quiet as she kept giving Aloni the stink eye for bringing down her mood. On top of the Hover tank Yaj and Xernus put on the finishing touches as spionic energy roiled and formed over the tank, armour protecting the projectors and engines underneath as well as manifesting lots of armour in front for the moment while lightning discharged off of the new armour as the tank then rushed forward through the breach, if any of the robots were close enough then they would get caught in the mass dischargeof energy that the tank was giving off as it hurried through the hole the team had made before.
Thatcher looked back at Rovin and his mother with a raised eyebrow as he brought the ship up and started to have them leave the supercarrier and then on their way, though seein this guy and his mother being so chummy he couldn't help himself. "So how long are you two going to keep flirting before getting on with it?"
And as can be imagined, Piper's face flushed bright red before she got Thatch in a hadlock and started to give the little brat a noogy. "That's not any of your business you twerp. Just fly and get us home." She says before releasing him and fixing up his hair as he squirms "Fiiiiiine, just stop with the hair."
Piper sighs and looks back at Rovin, her face still flushed despite her composure. "I'm taking you up on that massage if its still alright?"
Well as of current she did outshine any other niece she has, but still he did seem pretty surprised that she was going to fit as many of these gems on to the tailguard as she could. 5 in total, he looked impressed to say the least. "I look forward to watching a masterpiece being crafted before my eyes. It will be a cherished memory." He says as he settles to watching his niece work.
Though as she asks his input on the belt he does speak up. "Good thinking, it will definitely fit with it going under the radar in my human form. Having a flashy golden belt won't help fit in. Other armour parts can look flashy when we come to that. For my tailguard I think I will prefer function over flash, but I would certainly appreciate it looking nice."
The sensation of overwhelming fear and despair didn't phase Jelica much, she knew a despair much deeper than this after watching her homeworld disappear to nothing but space rocks. This chill was nothing to her as she just bared her fangs against the shifting shadows, about ready to try and punch anything that moves close to her that wasn't Yohann before she saw the note. [Surrender? Fat chance of that happening.]
As the black air tries to overpower the both of them, she grit her fangs as she tried to reach next to her to Find Yohann, thought finding nothing and even worse she could not hear Yohann as he called out to her. As it tried to belittle her, mock her and insult her she just grew more angry, being half oni meant that fear took a backseat to lots of rage pouring out of her instead. She felt like she was about to explode before she felt Yohann's hand in hers, she held on tight as she brought him close to her before the wind immediately cut. "What the hell is this cave." She says to herself. Yohann would see that Jelica had moved into her true form, her more muscular crimson and scaled Onithailian form.
As he let go of her hand and the cave started to rumble again, she didn't seem happy about it. She didn't seem as bashful about holding his hand, far more concerned with what the hell was messing with her before. Though, that was before they both looked at the massive 30ft tall figure in the distance. "... So we have to keep holding hands to get through. And now that big bastard is in the way... Why do I feel like we're taking part in some kind of impromtu trail or something."
Echo quietly took the encouragement, though the tin can part would be something he will have to take up with her after all of this is over. Though he looked at the device and saw it wasn't actually doing anything to the bomb. That was before Halfthur spoke up in his head again. "Oh you useless egghead. I'm so going to make Widow hold you upside down by your ankles for this."
Moving inside through the metal wall he then lays eyes on something he didn't think he would be seeing. Another robot like himself and Halfthur never mentioned this... He didn't have any time to yell at her for this. He'd need to deal with this and then the bomb. Hopefully this robot isn't against a peaceful solution, he can't waste more time on needless combat with only tenish minutes left. "You there, identify yourself and state your intent. I have to turn off this warhead."
Mierl and Aloni settled inside the tank, getting comfortable. Aloni was still smiling from getting to Sieg, but she kept herself quiet for now. Additional teasing could be done later, when it wouldn't disrupt the training exercise. The tank meanwhile had become quite the beast, and it was still rather fast thanks to its hovering capacities. With its new psionic armor and great bursts of electricity, it became a great ram. This was quite handy, for as it emerged a group of bots were trying to burst into the garage. This ended poorly for them, as they were instantly slammed into by the tank. Those which survived the impact were quickly put out of commission by the the discharged lightning. One more group tried to stop them, and one more group suffered the same fate. Lacking means to catch up, all the bots could do was try and shoot at the tank as it rapidly gained distance. But due to the armor, this was ineffective. They now had a clean run straight to the exit of the training area, the same location they entered through.
Rovin got similarly flustered as Thatcher called the two of them out on their constant flirting, which he realized the fellow had probably heard for quite a while now. Although that fluster faded quickly as Piper responded, causing the mercenary to smirk at the headlock. He felt it was a suitable response to that snark, and he gave a nod of approval at the exchange. Looking back to Piper, he chuckled and then nodded, "Well the offer was given, so it's only fair that you can have it! I can either give that massage when we get to the planet, but I suppose since this may take a while we could do it here in the ship! Just in a different room with a good spot for it, like a bed. Better to not do it in here, or close to the cockpit. Privacy is preferable." He gestured his head towards Thatcher when he said that, since he didn't want to do such a thing near the teen.
Azultiri beamed at the prospect of getting watched as she worked, clearly enjoying the audience. And of course, the praise was quite handy as well. She nodded her head, beginning her work as she got the leather. She used her magic to grab it, as well as her set of tools. It floated up into the air above her forge, with her magically controlling each of the tools to start shaping the leather into the shape she wanted. She spoke back to Zether as she did so, surprisingly good at multitasking, "Form over flair it is! I'll try to make it fashionable as well, and I'll change up its colors a bit to fit your scales. Perhaps darken the leather? Either way, when the time comes I can make your proper metal armor look very nice! You can make it smooth and sleek, or spiky and scary! With armor, the way it looks directly impacts its effectiveness! Looking intimidating is a nice way to scare the weaker willed, like most soft-skins! Most of them are scared by Dragons already, but you'd be surprised how many are truly terrified by a Dragon in armor! Apparently, they aren't used to us actually wearing full equipment. Silly of them, but I suppose they do have smaller bodies, which means smaller heads! Not much you can store up there. But I guess there are a lot of them, so maybe that's how they make up for it? I wonder what would happen if I mushed all their brain matter into one great glob... Nah, I'll leave that to the weirdo biomancers. The forge is far more satisfying!" Despite her rambling, her magical tools were working at a good rate on the product. The leather was being shaped into the proper form it would need to wrap around a tail, with the straps flying from another box of materials into the mix, soon joining the proto-tailguard. It was not however done, and she started to reshape it again to make room for the five magical gems. She was making five little holes for them, perfectly sized for each gem, so they could be inserted without issue. She got a bit more focused here, narrowing her eyes as she carefully inserted each gem. After one flew in, she used another bit of magic to graft the gems eternally to the tailguard.
”N-No, I thought your kindkin didn’t notice this nebula, I know what you are by appearance through the dataslates I acquired from outside sources.. But I never expected for your kindkin to show up here, let alone this sandscape world.” Unsure what emotions he is supposed to feel, excitement? Fear? Confusion? Curiosity? According to his outside sources, there is no chance that these people will visit them anytime soon not in the long run not even the far future, yet as science dictates, the possibility of it is never zero. His partner would shut him up for the second time by putting her hand on him. ”Apologies for my kin here, he seems to be rather a talkative person when things like this happen. I am Archivist Rhiain Maerpye and this person beside me who im restraining on speaking because he’d probably go on and on, is Yosgel Wirhamni, I can tell much about him but I know he’s acting as my assistant and was a former captain of a ship.”
”Although it is quite unusual, yes even for me, seeing another kindkin in this planet, let alone in the nebula.” She snickers before grabbing Yosgel infront of him, restraining him on the shoulder with one hand and the other on his mouth. ”The thought of life beyond the nebula was a such a stupid idea but then those two kindkin came along… Oh right, regarding on that messagestrike… so you call it transmissions huh makes no sense in our language but okay…” She would harden her grip on him as he struggles further more on trying to get away from her. Her strength is physically seen as Yosgel is having a difficult time prying her arm away from him. ” This person im holding is the one who sent the messagestrike… Fooling around like an idiot in ruins with thousand year old tech and then touches the messagebox’s buttons and sent the transmission. Im sure you didn’t mean to do it deliberately right Yosgel?” Yosgel would be literally shivering in fear as her glow as she looks at him.
”I will see if you keep your word if our operation on this becomes successful, but please don’t make your presence known here much, we have experienced first hand how tenacious the ‘Belldumb’ government acts to protect its sheep.” A puff from his pipe whilst looking at the sky, Sjornpilus interceptors captured from an airbase, can be seen disappearing into the sky. “If you have anything else to tell me, now is the right time, I am a man that sleeps early despite the situation, I trust my subordinates to vouch for me when I am in my slumber.”
The interceptors, retrofitted to be able to fight in etherspace, would dock on one of the two captured Ljomandi-class light cruisers. These light cruisers have been modified extensively to be virtually different from its original class, although there are still aspects of the ship that can be still identified that is is a Ljomandi-class. Cast armor plates have been installed on both sides of the ship, but because of this it would mean the loss of several weapon systems that would be covered by the armor plates. The bow has been chopped in half and a front-facing plethora of a dozen 20cm autocannons has been added. What once was an escort ship has been transformed into a striker craft. The two Ljomandi-class, named “Black Truth” and “Sheepskin” would be holding 3 Sjornpilus Interceptors each, it could have hold 6 but due to the retrofit, it is impossible, but now it isn’t the time for the technicalities as these two ships are on its way to intercept the cargo ship and deal as little damage as possible and capture the ship instead.
Yohann would remain quiet for a few seconds, viewing the cavescape and the surrounding area he realizes what’s going on and would snicker before explaining to Jelica what the hell is happening. “Hahahahaha! I think I know what this cave is trying to make us do, look at those skeletons they are hugging each other or holding hands, is this cave trying to tell that you can’t pass through this cave without holding someone? That’s quite a stupid requirement for this. I wonder how many people without partners have died trying to get whatever the hell is in this cave, ‘ooooh power of friendship look at me go’ power of friendship ain’t the only thing you should be relying, something stronger.” Still snickering.
He winks at Jelica before letting go of her hand, it seems the torrent of darkness stops and instead the massive figure suddenly sparks into life, multicolored veins erupt from the ground connecting to the figure with its eyes glow. Yohann charges at the figure again with his boastful and prideful self in an attempt to show who’s boss. “You’re just a stone statue and its easy to break stone.” A decadent laugh no doubt, no sign of exasperation of that prideful self of his when battling, how peculiar to see this side of him when most of the time he’s a docile and gentle person.
Before he even lands a punch, the statue would swing its sword so fast that not even Jelica or Yohann saw it coming. Yohann would be at the receiving end, but since the sword is dull, it hit him like a truck, a truck if it were the size of a small building. Yohann would instantly impact the cave wall instantaneously. A massive hole in the wall, a dust cloud, some blood splatters and probably a broken spine. Yohann is knocked out cold and miraculously not dead, he’s tougher than he looks. The living statue sets its gaze at Jelica and would being approaching slowly ready to swing its sword.
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“WARNING UNKNOWN UNAUTHORIZED MECHANIZED UNIT, YOU ARE HINDERING THE OPERATION OF THE GREAT JARL REVOLUTION, ANY ATTEMPT OF SUBDUING THIS DEVICE WILL RESULT IN QUICK TERMINATION, PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT IN SUBDUING THIS DEVICE.” The robotic figure would whirr and twist its head like a dog checking its pray. It seems to be devoid of any emotion, sentience or form of self-manifestation of the self. A group of rebels would enter the room without knowing that the mechanized unit is there and the figure would quickly snap onto the group and quickly fired some sort of disk from its wrists… The group suddenly freezes before all of them fall into a puddle of flesh and blood as they are bisected cleanly.
Halfthur is unaware of what’s happening down there and would be busy fighting the other ships that are still somehow standing even with the EMP before, ah of course, not everything in the ships are digital or electronic and can be analog although harder to use. Halfthur attempts to communicate even with a choppy transmission. “E-E *buzz* cc-cc-ccho *buzz* w-wha-wha-wha *buzz, electronic screetching* t-t-t-t’s t-tttak-taking s-so-s-s-so lo-lo-long? Long? *buzz* long? ” ”WARNING UNKNOWN UNAUTHORIZED MECHANIZED UNIT, ILLEGAL OPERATION DETECTED, TRANSMISSION FROM KS BESFRYERER, DESIGNATION: LOYALIST SHIP, CEASE OPERATIONS IMMEDIATELY”
This robot is nothing like, Echo, not even by appearance.
The Vok units reacted, firing off their weapons. Plasma encased in a specialized uranium based alloy, which on impact was -quite- explosive, inciting a miniature nuclear reaction alongside the heat of the plasma itself. They fired quickly and moved quickly, utilizing cover if need be in order to avoid the turrets as they moved to the hatch.
"Initiating primitive countermeasures." Enas remarked, before aiming to flood Cyboar's network with a mass of useless data and white noise. A simple DDoS attack against a threat like Cyboar, something simple that perhaps they wouldn't expect someone to try against them due to their reputation and technology. Enas also moved the ship, rushing it forward towards the designated rendezvous point.
“Then perhaps I should remain with him, and guard him! You go on ahead and explore the facility?” Filia found a small switch that when pressed caused many hisses and creaking noises to spur to life as hinges popped and small mechanical bits whirred to life. The bulkhead opening into three pieces. Beyond the door there was a dimly lit hall, lights slowly flickering back to life.
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Liline lightly kicked his foot as he sat in the car, “Implying you didn’t just wake up from sleep! It’s still morning, and already you want to nap? Is your metabolism that bloody awful?” She smiled and sat opposite him. Taking her seat gracefully, she put her arm behind her head. “Plus it also implies you’d sit there sleeping without keeping me company, how un-gentleman like of you. If I knew my mother she’d be telling me to find a proper gentleman, probably.”
After sitting at the platform for a couple minutes longer, the train lurched away from the station in reverse. Moving to a switcher track so the train could be moved to a turntable and orientated in the proper direction. The mighty engine let out two high pitched screeches from a horn. The train then started to chug away from the tiny hamlet. It wouldn’t take long before the train suddenly stopped puffing smoke from its engine car and instead started venting heat from ports located along the body working. The train gaining speed quite quickly now. Until they raced past the surrounding terrain at high speeds. But from the comfort of the carriage, nothing seemed amiss. Eventually a railwayman came by to check tickets and punch holes in them. And the two were left to enjoy the cabin for an hour.
After such time had past, Sephus could noticed the terrain changing. From the dreary and cloudy grassy hills to sleet covered hills dotted with rocks and boulders, to jagged mountains covered with dense snow! Meanwhile the grey clouds never seemed to go away. The train past through many carved tunnels, each with a unique name. Until they approached a massive railway network. Eight tracks. Other trains zooming by on each side. Approaching or departing from an ornate tunnel entranced. Crowing the tunnel entrance was a huge dragon sculpture. After passing the tunnel, the train heaved into a massive area.
(https://imgur.com/a/MBUwZxX)
The cavern glittered with light in everywhich direction. From the small trams that ran between the segmented communities on the walls and ceiling of the cavern, the bustling civic center and all its dazzling buildings, the sights of passing headlights appearing as tiny dots, or the massive floating artificial stars dotted in the cavern. A place like this? It was a sight unlike any other!
The train’s speaker system activated, “Greetings passengers, this is your alert that the train’ll be arriving in fifteen minutes time. If all passengers could please be ready to disembark by then we’d gladly appreciate it. Stewards will be at the ready to assist as needed. Enjoy your stay in Cadhainn. And mind your step as you get off the train as the ice and snow may have not all melted and walkways could be slippery.”
Jelica looked surprised to see Yohan being so cocky, usually he was so dorky and quiet. She didn't think the males of his species had this much backbone between them all nevermind Yohann having this much. Not that she minded that him was showing some confidence, though she did mind him making an ass of himself with all this tough guy talk. "I mean, It is a magic cave so stuff like this was probably made by someone who lost someone dear to them or somethin- What are you doing?"
She showed some slight concern as he started to saunter over to the statue, but she did just witness him beat down one of her most annoying enemies. So maybe this building sized sword boss wouldn't be too much trouble? Yeah, that thought was shot lived as she watched, or really couldn't see until it was too late, as Yohann was sent flying into the cave wall. It all happened too fast for her to register all at once, though once she saw the blood splatters her heart sank into her stomach. It wasn't until that she could faintly hear him still breathing that she had thought that the blow killed him. Even so her heart stayed low in her chest as she regretted letting him saunter off like that, but above all. Her fiery temper flared in a big way. "How... How dare you...! How dare you hit my Yohann!!" She screams out in fury, blue veins quickly appearing over her crimson red Onithailian body as her Psionic powers kick into gear. His telekinesis flaring up as she aims to twist and snap the rocky wrists on that swordsman statue while her grizzly soul activated, the stone beneath the statue turning to liquid magma before she violently distorts the gravity over the statue to 100x times to have it sink down into the magma faster. "NO ONE GETS TO TAKE HIM FROM ME, I LOVE THAT MORON! SO ANYONE THAT F*CKS WITH HIM CAN CONSIDER THEMSELVES DEAD!! YOU HEAR ME?!"
Echo didn't like the look of this bot the moment it mentioned that it was from the revolution. Which means it was with the crazy rebels that kept shooting at him outside. Looks like I have no choice but to dismantle this robot as fast as I can. That was what he thought before he watched the robot turn a group of rebels into meaty chunks. To which he was pretty surprised. He thought it was on their side. This complicated things, was a third party looking to make sure the nuke goes off? He really had no time for this.
Even as Halfthur tries to get his attention it wasn't like he had time to explain it through the static. Still, best he could do was try to make it retreat. It surely has a self preservation drive right? A mysterious robot from a third party has to... Well time to test it. "I will not comply. Stand down or retreat. If an inferior machine like you engaging me-" He pauses as his digistructor activates, with the new reactor he uses some power to quickly outfit his left arm with a rather powerful tachyon cannon integrated into his exoskeletal structure. "-Will mean immediate and violent termination. Comply. Now"
The Turrets were simple ones, rather well made but not built for heavy combat all the same. They were rapid fire plasma turrets, lacking the explosive power and going more for the sheer heat, meaning they were less capable than the Vok weaponry, but there were a fair few of them. They could be dropped with a few blasts, and their wrecks could then become cover themselves. Still, there were a fair few of them, as they got closer to the hatch. As they got closer they would see that it was sealed, so they'd have to crack it open.
Unfortunately, Enas was wrong to assume Cyboar wouldn't be prepared for that, as it was in fact one of their own favored tactics. The information was dumped with exceptional speed, with an overseer of the network actively monitoring it and removing the data as it came in. But by the very same connection Enas made, they would receive a similar attack. The Cyboar Cyber Overseer, seeing where the white noise was coming from, moved to reroute the flow, modifying their own address so that such data sent to it would be reflected right back to Enas, with the Overseer adding in their own heavy amount of corrupted data to increase the burden. Meanwhile, as the ship moved forward, leading the rest of the group forward, the station began its delaying tactics. First it fired off a barrage of missiles, which were quickly followed by the Cyboar Fighter-Bombers. The goal was to rush down the foe as they went for evasive maneuvers.
Lord Fendi nodded as Rhiain introduced herself and her companion. He was quite calm as she spoke, quite understanding of her surprise and swirling emotions, as they made sense to him based on what she was saying. "You are not wrong to assume that this area is beyond our normal grasp, as under normal circumstances this area is indeed somewhere my people would not tread normally. However, that is not to say we have failed to notice it, or failed to visit it at least once in our long history. We Anubites visited this place once, long ago when our Empire was supreme and we had the time and resources to launch long range expeditions, mapping out sectors of space such as this one. We come from a nebula ourselves, so it was of interest. But that was a long time ago, and so now the only reason I am here is because we were directly called." He paused for a moment, and then decided it would only be fair to return the introductions given that Rhiain had named herself and Yosgel, "I am Lord Fendi Fasuldi, an Anubite Mystic and Archaeologist. It was my family lineage that once came here, so I was bound by my dynasty to come and investigate who had activated our beacon."
He then gave a small smile, shaking his head, "Oh, that tech is not a thousand years old. It is much, much older than that. That tech you touched has outlived multiple civilizations. A surprise it still works, but I suppose we Anubites have always been good at building things to last. Regardless, you are not blamed. You don't need to punish your companion here, all is well. While you may be surprised to see more people in your nebula, I am surprised to see archivists of some sort here at all. When I came here, I brought with me armed soldiers because I was expecting pirates, using this nebula as a cover, and I intended to punish said pirates for defiling Anubite property. I did not believe there was a civilization developed enough in here, given its hostility, but I have been proven wrong. That alone has made coming here worthwhile. You have no need to worry of an aggressive response, as we Anubites value the preservation and identification of the past. Although I will have to ask for the return of the beacon itself. It does belong to my family."
Huh of course. Yosgel’s hunch was right, his informer didn’t give enough information about the Anubites but it seems the Anubites did visit here. A Civilization that surpasses that of the many life forms that have existed here, a species that even surpasses that of the Jotne, thought to be the first civilization… well atleast the first civilization to sprung up inside the nebula… According to the Jotne before “The Burndown” The Jotne would have sleeper ships stationed around and in the nebula, how it did not detect the Anubites is something they should be asked, but even then, the Jotne of the bygone eras would be long dead… But that isn’t the problem right now, the problem is the beacon transmitter’s ownership right now. Yosgel has to think now…
Rhiain would be insulted by that remark of being thought to be pirates, oh well it is understandable since they haven’t ventured this area of space that much. She snickers and grows into a small chuckle. “It isn’t the first time that an outsider said that, but ill give you this, one indisputable fact that we say to all outsiders. The nebula is as deadly as it gets, cosmic phenomenon such as neutron stars and catastrophic ether waves. Our civilization has survived 5 different mass extinctions in its entire history, unfortunately we do not have any solid evidence during what we call the “Black Age” As virtually no remnants of it exist. Poor poor archivists like me really want to find those remains but its too too bad… She sniffles before realizing another thing. ”We aren-“ Yosgel would shut her up, noticing how her carefree attitude would instantly make her trust anyone that isn’t pointing a gun or putting up a threat. ”Apologies for this, but we just certainly met, we simply do not trust you with enough information about our nebula. I hope this isn’t a problem for you as we have another problem that we must discuss instead, certainly you want to see the device first?” He says before unclasping his hand on Rhiain’s mouth.
He invites the visitors inside the room where the device is. The device is on a foldable table they bought along, beside it are several gadgets and tools and some notes scattered around. The other tables around the room are what seems to be other items left by the ancient Anubites. Papers with the writing still somewhat recognizable and other things that are unidentifiable. There are data slates full of data concerning all the items that have been recovered. He sits on one of the tables pushing aside some of the things. ”You know im not in the mood to talk about law and jurisdiction right now. But we simply can’t just give you that beacon transmitter. I do respect how you also value the preservation the relics of a bygone era but this item… This item is something beyond our own history. I hope you understand, all relics are incredibly important, more important than our country actually.
Our museums are literally designed to withstand nature and the cosmic forces itself, located under 2,500 meters of dirt and rock reinforced with military-grade materials and alloys. All of the past relics are stored down there and it has enough room to store all of history if ever needed. The museum serves as our well… how do I say this… like ‘Hello, we we’re here. We existed’ Even if our race doesn’t survive the far future.” He sighs before wiping the sweat off his face. ”The Ancient Aldfenraiss have done the same via the Sunken Library of Semmura literally on the icy glaciers north of our homeworld. They marked their place in history and we intend to do the same, there will be a time where no matter how advanced out civilization something will wipe us all out. Such is the cycle of life. There is saying around here in the nebula after The Desecration as we like to call… Heaven, Hell and Purgatory were atomized as well. So when a soul leaves the body it has nowhere to go, and must remain here, in the Nebuka. A harsh, but not undeserved atonement for our sins, wouldn't you agree?"” He chuckles before getting off the table and re-arranging the items.
“We have to have a compromise, I suggest you have a proposal?”
The Hart masked Elf bowed his head, “We bring you nothing else, pardon. But we will depart, if you do not mind. Our journey back to Cepiuadh is long and our ship small. Verdant Blessings be upon you and your cause.” The Hart performed some kind of antiquated salute, before turning and leaving. The trio retreating deep into the forest from where they came.
The two Bezannian ships were exactly where the elves said there were, undefended. Just exiting New South Dernby’s territory and traveling along the Royal Wind Etherlane towards Santo Duraco.
Zemia was not merciful with her driving of the hover tank, once they were clear of the garage and were already heading back across the course, it was hard for the girls up top not to give a cheer as they break past the drone lines as they shift to defense, focusing more of the power in the barrier to the back to block incoming fire.
Even Sieg couldn’t help but break a smile from how well they were doing despite Aloni’s torment. Though now they were zipping across the battlefield and back to the elevator they came down in. “Okay, Zemia, be ready to turn it around once we get close to the way out. Yaj, Xernus, make sure to keep up that barrier and keep us covered. We don’t know if they have snipers or another surprise planned for us getting this far.”
The others seemed alittle unsure if there was anything else, something Zemia was quick to voice as she moved the tank towards their exit. “Do you really think they have something else planned?”
“It never hurts to be prepared. Besides, the point of the test is to show that we can be professional as well as efficient. You all want to bring me into this new world of yours, then you better act the part.” She finishes her piece with a huff as Yajana starts to change the barrier, making it into a dome that surrounded the hover tank as it moved to park near the way out, allowing everyone out.
Thatch was back to flying the ship again as Rovin gestured to him, the Half sin teen just waved the pair of them off and out of his cockpit. “I can’t focus on flying with you both hovering around, do your smooching elsewhere.” That earned him a bonk on the head from Piper as she groaned “Oh my god, you’re worse than your sisters. At least they all giggle and bugger off first before they start gossiping.”
Piper grumbles as she starts to leave the cockpit, heading out into the main hall. “We’ll head to one of the unoccupied rooms, I’m sure my brother wouldn’t like me going through his and his wife’s stuff. And if I know my nitpicky brother-” She says as she moves down the hall to one of the doors, pressing her palm against the door as the door slides away into the wall, revealing a nice but pretty bland room. Mostly white decor like the rest of the ship. The room was not that big, though there was definitely enough room for 3 people to move with some degree of freedom. There was a large single bed up against the left wall, a wardrobe built into the wall to save on space in front of them, a desk and shelf with some innocuous items on them with a chair tucked into the desk up against the right wall. “This room should do. Oh right. Do you need anything for the massage or?” She says as she looks back at Rovin as she sits down on the bed.
Now that Zether thought about it, as he watched her prepare the leather with her magic and forge, how did they get this much leather? Was there some crazy massive cow out there he didn’t see while they were flying over the mountainous region… No no that wouldn’t make sense for a region like this. A flat grassland would be better for raising cattle or some such equivalent. Though as that thought ended, a whole myriad of questions followed after that. Like, how do you keep a race of dragons fed, is the wildlife in this world just as huge or somewhat close? All these questions, he’ll have to do some research later. For now he will try and not embarrass himself in front of his niece.
As he watched her work while she talked, he had to agree that the notion of a fully armoured and kitted out dragon sounded pretty terrifying. Then again he preferred having a commanding presence and a frightening aura to just looking intimidating. Though that was the more nefarious side of him talking. Though that train of thought about all that human grey matter united as one thinking glob unsettled him, that was thinking along the lines of an overmind If handled improperly that could only spell disaster, so he was immensely relieved to hear that she wasn’t going to delve into that. That was a sin he would rather not have to relive.”Might be best to let biomancers handle all that goopy mess. Best not to sully our hands with inferior materials no?” He says appealing to her better nature as a smithy, and her view on the ‘soft-skins’. “Besides, I’ve dabbled in making something similar. Without going into much detail… It was a messy affair. The soft skins make for decent infantry and workhands but don’t handle being smushed together as a gestalt consciousness very well.”
As Jazmin said she would stay back to guard him, she nodded softly as she found the switch. “Good idea, he likes you better anyways. It’ll be nice for him to wake up and see you instead of my holding his nose closed or something.” She says snickering softly before flipping the switch.
She got up from the console and slowly sauntered over to the bulking and watched as it started to grind and squeal apart, feeling the rush of stale air wash over her face before it was all done. She peeked out into the dimly lit corridor with a lack of enthusiasm before looking back to Jazmin to see that Harlock was still fast asleep. “Jeez he must have worked himself to the bone these past two days… I’ll be right back. Cause I am pretty on edge and I may come back for moral support.” She says as she starts to take some steps out into the hall, looking around and starting to explore carefully.
----------
Seph just softly smirked as she kicked his leg, doing a fake gasp as she said that her would-be mother would say that she should date someone else more gentlemanly like. “How dare, well that is why we don’t send your would-be mother holiday cards. Besides, I was joking about taking a nap. It’s just hard staying active with how cold it is. My species prefer the heat as you know, so cold climates like this make me groggy and seek out heat.” He says as he feels the train start to pull and reverse back the way it came from the platform.
After some time he noticed that the terrain was changing, and while snow was a decent change of pace. It just meant that he was going to get colder. To which he looked slightly mortified “I should have packed warmer clothes.”
Though after that and they entered the underground cavern, seeing the splendor of this gorgeous underground settlement, Sephus was in awe of it, it looked absolutely wonderful. Natural beauty in every direction. “So this is Cadhainn. It was worth the wait.” He says as he starts to get ready to get off as the person on the intercom said that they would be arriving in 15 minutes. “So what are we going to do once we get off?”
Lord Fendi seemed a bit concerned when they mentioned that they had gone through that many extinctions, and of course the fact that in the process much history was lost. It wasn't pleasant information to hear, and would color his stance on the words that would come after. He nodded his head however, "Yes, I understand not being that trustworthy of people you do not know, but I would very much like to see the device for myself. Just to get my own verification." With that, he followed Rhiain and Yosgel to the room.
The Anubite Lord looked over the device for himself, giving it a small nod of approval and then looking to the smaller devices, nodding again. He spoke calmly, more to himself than anybody else, "Yes... This fits the old designs. Quite old, but still functional after all these years. Exceeded lifespan expectations. Good that I came here to check." He then turned to Yosgel and shook his head, "Oh, but you really don't quite understand. I also cannot allow you to keep this beacon. Because this is part of not just my empire's history, but my history. My noble family, the Fasuldi, were the ones who performed this expedition, and built this beacon, so very long ago. So in terms of law, this is mine by inheritance, passed down from generation to generation. So you'll have to excuse me when I must agree that it is quite beyond your own history." He walked closer to the beacon, giving a nod to it again, before turning back to Yosgel.
"As for the matter of preservation, you have an admirable goal there. Your style of museum does sound like a lovely facility, and one that we Anubites would happily approve of. In fact, I would love to visit one. It is good to ensure that even if you pass, others may come across you and learn your history. Whether they are younger than you... Or a race elder than yours that simply outlasted you. However, you do not truly grasp the full picture. I can see it well that your civilization has been impacted by this 'Black Age' you have mentioned, facing down destruction again and again. You are wise to accept death and prepare to simply be remembered. But we Anubites have done far, far more. Your museums are admirable in design, but they lack in the age and care that our eternal Anubite Empire has. The Grand Archives of Tombuiorn are deeper, taller, far more ancient, and hold within them the history of our entire Empire, but also the histories of many other civilizations we have lived alongside, and those we have outlived. And there is no precaution we have not taken for its safety. It is our grand duty, and we have safeguarded those places so extremely that if they were to be ransacked, they would only be so if our entire Empire was ground to dust first. So I hope you will not dare make the assumption that we Anubites are amateurs in the art of preservation. Perhaps you may be doomed in this nebula you call your home, but the Nebula in which the Anubite Empire stands is not nearly so hostile. We will live long, and record much. Such is our fate." He watched as he re-arranged the times, not intervening yet, as despite his tone Fendi was not here for a fight. Too likely to damage important relics.
"Your saying there is... Concerning. Something is remarkably wrong with the spiritual flow of this Nebula if your spirits cannot reach the Judge's domain, and receive their sentencing. Perhaps that will have to be investigated too, in case the Son's influence has gone unchecked within this place, or the Glutton's. It would make sense, considering the apparently normalized mass extinctions..." He shook his head, "No, no. You don't need to hear about that, nor am I qualified to make such a judgement off merely a saying. However, as for your compromise, I do indeed have a proposal. I will be taking the beacon, as well as the physical relics of Anubite origin here. I need nothing else, as only that of Anubite make can I claim as rightfully mine. But while I cannot allow you keep the relics in their physical form, I can contribute to your data. All of your scans, readings, and study may be kept, and in addition to those I will give even more. Original design blueprints for this very style of beacon in data form, as well as copies of the data that the survey team once collected here, many years ago. Names of those that were part of the expedition, and more. For while I am bound by my family's obligations to retrieve my property, there is no reason that I cannot impart upon you written knowledge. Data and words are after all easy to copy, but they still hold great value. Is that proposal acceptable to you?"
As the tank parked, Aloni was the first to get out. She got up and and stretched her back. She then smirked back to Sieg, "Seems somebody is finally getting into it! Knew you had it in ya. Or are you just trying to look good for the Admiral now that we're getting close to the end?" While the Human was smirking, Mierl got out as well with the rest of the group. He was less clearly cocky, and instead more wary. He carefully looked around, seeming doubtful that all was really clear, "Sieg is correct, this is a test. In any case, it is never harmful to be prepared for surprises when walking a battle." He then paused glancing around again, before looking to the ground. Suddenly he jumped back, "Look to the ground!"
The Watrike's warning forced the ambush to begin early, but it would still come rather suddenly. Bursting from the ground, the drones had buried themselves, and now jumped out of the small ditches they had buried themselves into. There were about a dozen of them, less than what the Broodmothers had dealt with before. Armed with rifles and shotguns, they tried to use the element of surprise to open first on Zemia before she could realign her barrier. Mierl however also reacted, tackling one of the drones to the ground, grabbing their shotgun and destroying the drone with it. Aloni quickly shifted from her joking to being more serious. As she was not a Watrike, and so didn't fancy her chances in close combat as much, she simply rolled for cover so she wouldn't get shot. She didn't have a weapon so she'd have to let the Broodmothers handle this.
Rovin once more smirked as Thatcher got the bonk, as he did indeed gossip more than he'd have expected. He went off with Piper, chuckling at the mention of her brother getting annoyed, "Well your brother would be a bit silly to keep important things on a ship used by the rest of the family. Or things you don't want others touching. But then again, based on what I've seen, maybe you need such things for your long trips." He then walked into the room with her, looking around and nodding. He simply gestured to the bed, "This room will indeed do. Don't need anything, just a matter of the hands and using them right. And I am quite good with my hands. All that is required is the setup, just need you to remove the top layer of clothing and then lie down on your front, so I can massage your back. Make sure you get into a spot you find comfortable, and find something for your head to lie upon, like that pillow." He set aside his equipment on the table, as well as his gloves. He then thought about something, speaking back to Piper, "I am going to assume you have a generally similar anatomy to humans, based on your build. At least the important things for a massage, like pressure points and bone structure. But do tell if anything feels wrong, just in case there are such differences. The goal is to relieve stress after all, not break bones."
For Zether, he would have seen a few things that gave some clues as to the answers of his questions. While he had not seen any cows in this region, there were some flat land areas inbetween the mountains more capable of managing livestock. And of course there were starports for imports. As for eating, he would've seen one example of how some Dragons ate, which was with Fulzcatra, who caught fish near the Vudsi Islands. But as for the specifics, he would indeed need to do more research, or go out and see more of the world. He just needed to find the processes.
Azultiri kept up her work as she nodded to Zether. It did seem to work, as her tone was quite in agreement, "As I said, that's for biomancers! And they're weird. Too much messing around with goop, quite disgusting, and it's very dangerous. Might make something dangerous and uncontrollable! Forges are much better, because they don't have minds of their own. A weapon can be dangerous in the wrong hands, but at least it needs to be in hands in the first place! Doesn't think for itself, and so cannot be dangerous on its own. A giant goop monster is not the same. So nope! Enchanted armor is the way for me!" She then seemed to get interested in the fact Zether apparently had some experience in biomancy, "Really now, Uncle? Is that why you want to transform into a human? Somebody has a bit too much interest in soft-skin fleshy bits! But as for being cannon fodder and servants, that's true. They can do that, but they don't work all too well as one. Then again, neither can Dragons! We like being individuals too, and we're good at it. More suited for it too! Oh, and here we go... Careful now." With all the gems now grafted to the tail guard, she then started casting additional magical spells on them. They were less direct spells and more spells for calibration, with each gem's glow growing and then decreasing as she worked. She was making sure their power was suitable, and then began to link the gems to eachother. Small magical streams began flowing between each gem, and the intensity of their glows began to synchronize. Azultiri smiled, and then nodded, "Got it! That was a simple creation, but I think it will work just fine! Try it out, uncle! I linked the gems so they should follow along in transformation process, as well as maintain their full power in both states." She floated the tailguard over to Zether, looking at him with excited eyes.
Jazmin chuckled and just kept an eye on Harlock. Sighing as she just sat still. For Filia, the hallway was slowly returning to normal working order. The lights were turning from a dull orange to a bright white, filling the hall with a buzz. The hall was long and winding, but eventually ended at a fork. There was writing on the wall in another language, not galatic basic. It seemed to be some planetary lingua franca. But there was a red lime that led right and a blue and yellow line that led left. At the end of the red hall there was a door with a small red cross on it. Down the yellow and blue hall there was a locked and sealed room at the end of blue, and a open door at the end of yellow that led into a canteen of sorts. The room was eerily in disarray. Like everyone was in the middle of a meal before jumping to action and running to battle stations, leaving food and trays behind. Opened soft drinks were resting on the tables, metallic trays sat with rotting food.
In the room with the red cross, it was an infirmary. Though there was nothing of note except for a large fixed tube in the back of the lab. Inside the tube was a human being! Suspended in liquid, tubes running into their mouth and nose. There were computer consoles around monitoring them.
-
“Gasp! So you’re the one who’s been ruining all the cards I try and send her.” She laughed, “Well it sounds like you need a better set of warm clothes if you’re so cold! Or carry a personal warming device. Luckily for you this cabin has heating!” Liline was just a blown away by the city they approached. But she turned to Sephus, “Well, I was hoping we could explore the big city! And have a generally good day.” She smiled.
As the train then pulled into the main station on the central plateau, Liline grabbed her things and opened the door of the train cabin. Stepping down onto the platform. The train was covered in snow and sleet, but it was quickly melting due to the warmth inside this cavern. Seemed the Creach were smart on how the city was laid out. Not only was it a warm environment in here, it was like standing in the beautiful sun! No more craggy weather and storm clouds all day long, there were three artificial suns floating in the sky. It was a beautiful warm day! And there were hundreds of thousands of Creach on these platforms. It was a little fascinating not seeing many humans, Fatimazda, or any other species. There was the occasional person of non-Creach origin, but they were few and far between. Liline stepped away from the train and started walking toward the city. Looking back at Sephus, “Well, what do you think?”
\\Intro post - Scavenger Operation - just outside the Duxton system//
In the darkspace just outside of the system known as Duxton. The site of a galactic war memorial that commemorates the War of two Blades, where the Firstborn Empire and its allies faces off against an insurmountable fleet of Zerg and won but at the cost of thousands. On an asteroid just outside of the system is a crashes carrier belonging to the Firstborn empire. A single Ketch was hanging over it as several dropships move down to start up the operation.
A single barron was in charge of this mission, A previous House of Forges Baron that now pledged his loyalty to the Kell of Kells. He hoped that this mission would garner him some favour for this haul but he did not take the act of desecrating a site of battle like this lightly. With how his people were currently trying to consolidate strength it meant that even sites like this had to be potentially useful. Even if they did not like disturbing the dead. The Baron was called Mithra the stormsword, a man of action and honour who fought with an arc claymore and two pistols wielded in his lower arms.
He stood on the bridge, looking down at the projection of the crashed derelict below them while his scavenger teams start to move down into the ship below to see what they can find and bring back anything of interest. "... I do not like this Lynek. Taking from the dead is... Distasteful. And sends the wrong message of our intentions. Are you sure that this is the best place we can scavenge from? Are there no pirates to take from?"
A slender, smaller figure resides beside him. A female of their kind that has the insignia of the Scout section. She stays stood beside his seat on the bridge with all four arms clasped behind her back. "Pirates offer little challenge to one such as you. And you have been chosen by the Master of Secrets to gather information on the other races in this system. Before we become visible to the galactic eye we must understand who will be a foe and who can be a potential ally against the evils we are sworn to hunt."
The Baron brings up his large upper arm to stroke under his chin as he grunts. "The Abyssal Hydra. The Void beast of the ether deeps... I remember helping to lead in the initial charge against his shadowy hordes only for Kell Ramska to tell us to retreat... At the time I would have stayed... But that beast... There was no glory dying before it... If we can find allies against it what will our Kell do?"
"Mysrax does not know, he merely wishes for the information to be available. If the potential allies are just and the Great Machine wills it... Then they will become our allies against the Hydra's evil. I will monitor channels to see if anyone has noticed our activity... Do you wish to go down and see for yourself?" Lynek asks as she lifts her head up to look at the Baron she was assigned to.
As he watched the holo-feed of his teams acting below, bestowing last rights for the dead that were left behind while other teams started to load up unfamiliar tech and supplies that might be useful for trading and studying later on. "I will go down. Turn on the grav-lift to prepare for supplies." He says rising from his seat, he stood a 7ft tall easily as he moved with his claymore perched on his shoulder.
-----
The Ketch's grav-lift opens, leading to a hastily set up pad on the asteroids surface along with some set up defenses including a surface to 'air' laser battery to stop other dropships from landing nearby. The grav-lift ripples as Baron Mithra exits the lift with two captain bodyguards by his side. A captain in charge of this hastily set up camp approaches with a respectful bow "Baron Mithra. I have news. The first of the teams will be coming back with several crates of supplies while others will be coming with weapons and tech of an unknown purpose. It seems to project a field of some sort but we cannot discern its usage."
The baron huffs as he looks over the camp. holding his claymore in one hand as he plunges the tip into the asteroids rocky surface. "I'm sure that crackpot Haekus would love to tinker with all of it. Prepare the lift and instruct the teams to access the ships data stores, grab all the info you can. I don't like to disturb this place more than we have to..." The Captain hurriedly nods as he goes off to a nearby console to relay orders. Several servitors being prepared on the Bridge of the strange alien carrier vessel to access the info they needed... The Baron left to look out into the vast blackness of space above them, wondering what the monster they hunted was currently plotting.
The Alicorns, Iammelon, and Triporea
The gentle hum of the speakers filled the large room. It’s wooden walls draped with portraits of famous politicians and the like. The set of double doors into the room were shut. All the windows had heavy curtains pulled shut and the floorboards creaked with each step taken by the individuals within. The circular wooden table in the center of the room was occupied by thirteen individuals, 10 were Fatimazda, two humans, and a Measctha. All were dressed in grey or black suits of varying styles. A young servant in a black dress and white apron was pouring tea for all those present. The fixed screen placed in a mirror at the opposite end of the room from the table finally returned began the program. The slivery-blue images flickered occasionally, but such was expected from a Kendall & Morgan Projective Screen. As the image came to, a large IBC logo appeared on screen followed by a soft trumpet melody.
“And now, the Imperial Broadcasting Company is proud to present you with the latest news, presented by the Honourable Sir Francis Lloyd.” The screen then cut to images of a man sitting at a square wooden desk with a blank wall behind him. It was a Measctha, he wore a black coat, grey waistcoat, white shirt with a black bowtie. His neckwear was tied loosely in a scholarly knot and the ends tucked under the collar again. He wore a pair of glasses that reflected lights for a moment as the camera panned in on him. The man pulled a small piped from his mouth and set it on the desk in front of him as he spoke.
“Greetings, today the 14th in the Month of Warmth, our empire has had much happen. Two days ago, Némalese Native Minister Sipho Ibaleyo organised a mass protest on the streets of New Herneshire. It is said that the Ikhanda tribesman were able to push past many Colonial Police, wounding 8, and aggressively approach the Governor-General’s Mansion. Governor-General Whitby remained inside his mansion and ordered reserves of native conscripts mobilised from barracks to keep the peace to no avail. While the Ikhanda protestors have no managed to enter the mansion grounds, Ibaleyo issued a brief speech from the steps outside the gates of the mansion. He renounced Her Imperial Majesty and declared a Call to Arms for his fellow countrymen to rise up against Imperial Rule. Shortly after, Ibaleyo was forced to retreat into a crowd as native conscripts, colonial police, and Ikhanda protestors began to clash violently. Colonial Police were seeking to arrest Sipho Ibaleyo on the orders of the Governor-General but were unable to apprehend him. Once police descended on the crowd affairs turned violent. Officers drew their weapons and fired two shots into the air, hoping to disperse the crowd. Instead the crowd entered a frenzy and fighting broke out. In an act of desperation and panic, colonial police fired shots into the surrounding crowd. This escalated the situation and suddenly colonial police found themselves swarmed. 12 officers died in the conflict and 22 Ikhanda were shot. As native conscripts arrived from barracks, crowds finally dispersed and left New Herneshire. The following day Ibaleyo appeared once more in the village of Inkambu and declared that he would avenge the death of his 22 brothers. Now calling for armed uprisings instead of protests. Reports soon came in that armed groups of Ikhanda from all over Queen Shanalotteland began stirring in mass uprisings. Taking the southern port town of Ukukhazi and raiding an army stock house for weapons and ammunition. After that events remain unknown, but IBC affiliates are working tirelessly to bring you more. In other news-“ The screen shut off. A loud and audible groan came from the the table. An orange fatimazda in a grey frock coat sat rubbing his temples.
“I don’t understand how the situation escalated this far. Whitby had explicit orders to leave the conscript army confined to barracks and keep the colonial police out of this.”
Another Fatimazda leaned forward, “well premiership, we knew Whitby had an ulterior agenda to that of our government. Ever since you sacked the Lord Therindown as Colonial Secretary, I’ve finally had a chance to go through the archives. Therindown had been planning on a mass arrest of political dissidents in the colonies. Primarily in Némal, Santo Duraco, and Maharajah. I was able to halt much of these plans, but I believe Whitby had every intention of attempting an arrest of Sipho Ibaleyo.”
Josiah sat upright and exhaled, “bloody conservatives... Who is this Ibaleyo?”
A human male in a black frock coat and suit sat forward, “The home office ran a security report after the incidents occurred. Sipho Ibaleyo is a tribesman from the Northeastern Hemisphere of Queen Shanalotteland, educated at Barkley University in New Herneshire, he served on the Governor-General’s Native Elected Administrative Council as a vocal opponent to Imperial Rule. He was dismissed from his appointment as a councilman three times before being elected again. The chap seems to have taken some personal offense to this sort of thing and now seems driven on being the change he wants.” The members at the table started discussing amongst each other before Josiah put his hands on the table and stood up.
“We’re not going to war.”
“But premiership, it might be our only option.”
“No.”
“Sir-“
“No! I refuse! I will be Pediplain Bound before I sign this country up for another war! We just finalised veteran payments for the Iammelonian Conflict and now we seek to, to drag ourselves back into war? We must resolve this diplomatically!”
“Sir, frankly we can’t. The Némalese people have been unruly for generations. The incompetent conservative government obviously misstepped badly enough that now they’ve incited, what, a fourth major Ikhanda uprising? I’ve been in Her Imperial Majesty’s service as a humble minister for a long time, sir. I know how these things end. Ibaleyo wont want to talk to us, let alone even see a Fatimazda.” The cabinet ministers all seemed to concur and Josiah sat back down.
“This is why I’ve always advocated for the emancipation of the colonies,” he spoke in a defeated tone, “what profit have we from controlling the tribes of Queen Shanalotteland? I see naught. Then again what do I know? I’m only the premier minister of the government.” His eyes turned to the table before his tone perked up again, “I suppose if there’s no other option and the conservatives have mucked relations this poorly what are we to do but fight to maintain the status quo on behalf of the empress? I’m not interested in any campaigns or any volunteer forces. No large scale involvement will be seen unless the people on the streets grab me by the neck and scream in my ear till they run red with blood! Is that understood?” The ministers nodded their heads, “good. Get back to work on our response to the mullteagle bastards. I’ll call Jane and... get advice for limited involvement moving forward. Now out, the lot of you.” Josiah said as he pushed a button under his section of the table, two guards opening the doors to the meeting room from the outside. The ministers stood and grabbed their cases, slowly making for the door. Josiah moved from his seat to a small bureau in the corner of the room, grabbing a telephone handset from a receiver and holding it to his head. “Get me the Ministry of Defence, Chelmsby please. Wood-Josiah, code Orange Bloom. Thank you... Jane... I assumed you heard, I’ve made up my mind... No, no. Limited involvement. I’ve already got an ulcer the size of your ego due to those backstabbing bastards at Mullteagle. I’ll not have a large scale Imperialist military action underwritten in my name. Put together recommendations for Whitby’s successor and for a competent general... He’ll go with a small staff and field anktha conscripts only. I’m not dragging resources from all over the bloody empire... No you cannot be the one to go... I need you here, bad business is on the horizon and the least of my concerns is subjugating people for the nth time... Just get me that recommendation.” He said putting the handset down. Josiah stared out the window onto Redgrave Boulevard, modtly looking at the cobblestones. Admiring the pattern for a few moments to relax himself. He then stood upright again and marched for the door.
Iammelon and House of vengeance
The Jarl would chuckle on how they depart and where they disappear, not even trying to pursue them anymore even if his subordinates will, finding nothing but trees and leaves....
The two ships outside of visual range from the Bezannian ships would become scouting them from afar, tracking their movements and bearing in order to find the right time to strike. Perhaps they should do hit and runs in order to minimize damage or a full-on ramming.. this would have the possibility to destroy the kyridium shipping, but either way, destroyed or recovered are still both good results for the clients that the Jarl talked to. They're too far to do any damage, and if they even shoot once they will alert the ships, perhaps a ramming option would be the best way, but for now, they must see to it that it works, and if it doesn't they have impromptu plans if such a scenario arises from the failure.
'Black Truth' would go first in order to go to the planned location of interception and boarding whilst 'Sheepskin' would stay behind for 5 minutes before heading towards the two ships with its macrothrusters fired up at maximum capacity, if course this is a dangerous maneuver as the macrothrusters haven't been tested before and it may cause overheating on the engine, but they're willing to try out. It will be a matter of moments before 'Sheepskin' intercepts either of the ships and divert their path to wherever 'Black Truth' is.
A battle-damaged fleet slowly moved into the system, still fresh with signs of conflict but still holding itself together. It was an Iammelonian Fleet, bearing the signs of the late Omnipo Corporation. It was smaller than a standard Omnipo fleet, but given the damage on the remaining ships it was quite likely that was due to losing some vessels along the way. As it slowly moved into the system, heading for a nearby planet, an exchange occurred aboard its flagship, the OMNI Battlebarge "Into The Breach".
The bridge of the ship was rather damage in itself, the scars of internal battle still showing. Blaster bolt holes, the cuts of power swords, and multiple bits of left over shrapnel. The Commander of the Fleet, wearing her full power armor, was not unharmed either. There was a giant cut on the torso where a blade had struck, and her helmet's visor was cracked. Still, the bridge was back in functioning order, if in need of repairs, and she looked to her side, "Are we on approach? We need to set up for repairs soon, and this is the only place nearby I could think of that was safe, and may still have some leftover facilities from the war."
A bridge officer, his own uniform cut a little from a close call with a plasma bolt, gave a nod, "Yes Ma'am, Commander Ilox, we're getting close to the Duxton System now. If you're right, we should be getting to the old repair facilities rather soon. Although... The Verdant is detecting some activity out near some asteroids. From what we can tell, a scavenging operation. Looks like this place isn't as abandoned as we hoped."
Ilox sighed, irritation in her voice, "Oh damn it... First it was those Artodeme slavers, then M'hassari corsairs, and now probably some trigger happy scavengers. No rest for us at all. Alright, if they are so willing to rob from the dead then I doubt they are too averse to creating more dead if we show ourselves as easy pickings. We'll have to scare them off, we can't have anybody nearby while we try to get the old repair docks fixed. Too dangerous to work with the possibility of being attacked. Besides, I do have my own obligations to the fellows I fought with who died here. The Civil War may be over, and we may have lost, but there are Iammelonian graves there. Be they formerly Excave or Omnipo, we simply aren't gonna let their bodies get looted. We fought together here as one after all. The other folks we fought with also deserve a peaceful rest too, I suppose. Have the rest of the fleet press on to Duxton, they'll have to get the old facilities online. If these are just basic scavengers, then they'll be willing to listen to the demands of a proper battleship. Might not have to even fire a shot. Let's move, but present the side of the ship least damaged! Showing weakness to scavengers rarely goes well."
The bridge crew all nodded their heads to the Commander, and the Battlebarge's engines turned the ship about while the rest of the fleet stayed on course. It now headed slowly towards the asteroid, aiming to make its presence known but still stay out of range of any weapons they had. A fight was the last thing they wanted right now, so they kept themselves open to transmission as well. Ilox was hoping these scavengers would be willing to talk, as that could delay them long enough for her fleet to get what they needed from the planet.
Baron Mithra stood in the impromptu camp that his people set up around the Grav-lift. Watching as his crew started to loud up supplies while bodies were being brought out of the ship to be laid to rest where they could. This asteroid was really big, thought it lacked an atmosphere which wasn't a problem for them as long as they had enough Ether to breath, so there was no pressure for where to lay the dead to rest. His gaze drifted from the graves to the far off bridge as light flickers from the Servitors accessing the Firstborn database on the vessel and copying everything onto the Ketch's remote network. Mithra didn't like doing all this... It made his flesh itch with unease. Though he was glad that he could give these brave souls their final rites as they laid so far away from home. Never to know the warmth of their sun again... A pain his people have known for countless generations since 'The whirlwind'. A time where insurmountable darkness destroyed their home and doomed them to be nothing more than nomads until a new home would be found... "Next time the master of secrets asks me to do these kinds of Op's I'll tell him to suck on my Ketch's exhaust vent. Taking from those who fought bravely is deplorabl-" Before he could finish his sentence, a small pocket servitor whizzed out from his clothing to display a holographic image of Lynek.
"Baron Mithra we have a problem!" She begins to exclaim before the holographic image changes to the image of the OMNI battlebarge coming towards them from a massive distance away. "We detected a fleet on long range coming into the system. The fleet looked to be damaged and course suggested that they were heading into the system to make repairs. But one of the vessels is not making its way towards us. It appears to be damaged as well but we have no idea what their armaments or specs are... What should we do?"
Time was short, this new vessel didn't match the one they were currently scavenging from but it could easily be one of these aliens allies. Naturally ones allies would look down on people looting them. A sentiment he agreed upon even if it was for the good of the fleet... The easy option here was to simply run with what they had gathered. But too many teams were still inside the carrier, it would take too long to evacuate everyone. "Tell all teams we have possible enemies incoming. Take what they can and move their way back to the Ketch, we may need to fight if things go badly... Do we have info from the alien's database?"
"Hold on..." Several moments tick by as Mithra looks out into the black expanse, watching the distant battle barge grow ever closer to their position. "They hail from some Empire called 'Iammelon'. The logo suggests they're from 'Omnipo'. Whatever that is... Perhaps a house? I don't have a complete translation to work with here... But from the looks of it these guys are advanced. What are you planning?"
Hearing this notion that these 'Iammelon' people are more advanced than themselves. He hoped that they have a form of universal translator like they have come into contact with from their numerous raids on pirates and slavers in the western galactic fringes. So the choice was simple. "I'm going to talk to them of course. I detest what we came here to do no matter the good it can do in the future. Now open a channel."
Lynek was silent for a moment before she opened a channel, she thought that this was a terrible idea. It was far too straight forward, she preferred to do things from the shadows and handle matters in the background... But Mithra was far too straightforward, it wouldn't matter if she did anything to stop his complaining. She had to travel back to the fleet with him. "The channel is opened Baron Mithra."
He held his micro-servitor up so that he could speak into it clearly. He had no idea if these aliens could even translate Eliksni to whatever language they spoke. But he did know some of this 'Basic' that he learned from the pirate databases they took as trophy while returning what they could to the colonies they came from. So he will try and give their translator some slack by trying to correctly use basic alongwith his language.
Though as he started to speak, everything he said in basic was said slowly, he only had a limited knowledge of the language and did his best to learn what he could. But every word he had learned thus far had some significance to him knowing them. Like some phrases."...[Attention] approaching vessel, I am [Baron] Mithra of [the House of] Vengeance. Our scavenging is [not] maliciously done. The [alien dead] that [rest] here are being given [last] rites... [They are so far from their star]. We do this because our [House] needs these supplies, I understand that you may think us as simple scavengers and filth for desecrating the [dead]... I [would] too in this situation. But we Eliksni are not so low... It is an unfortunate necessity... So let us talk."
Yosgel would look at Fendi while nodding on some of his statements with him rather confused on the last long statement he made rather concerning about the souls in the nebula and what seems to be the names of their deities? It’s quite peculiar to hear that but would set it aside for now. Yosgel would tell Fendi that he has to talk to his partner and also his superior about this, but it will be short. The short ramblings can be heard with them being in the corner, with Yosgel and his partner looking at them with short glances from time to time. They did not come with any agreement and so apologized again to Lord Fendi that he has to call his superiors.
Rhaian would be rather interested on the concept of afterlife in Anubite culture and would confident walk towards Lord Fendi, with her seemingly not intimidated by her rank, position, aura or anything. “I’ve overheard about something regarding the afterlife in your culture, maybe you can enlighten me more? I may be a relic archivist by trade by im also a cultural archivist. Our good old friend, Yosgel over there is currently talking to his superiors about it. ” the Anubite can clearly saw the genuine curiosity and thirst for knowledge that Rhaian is emanating. Yosgel would be seemingly distressed this entire time as it seems his superiors are shouting at him on the other line, presumably because they are encountering someone they haven’t met before, it would have been more reasonable if it was the Athaillians or those Bezannians, but an entirely different civilization and then there own tech on the planet? It seems that the organization is now being tested on how they will respond to this and Yosgel has to act the mediator in order for both sides to agree.
Yosgel would wait for the small talk between Rhaian and Lord Fendi to end before he walks towards him. May I excuse you two both, Lord Fendi I have a counterproposal, but don’t get me wrong, im also in the same game with you on your own proposal but my superiors feel different. Our counterproposal’s terms is this, every year we switch ownership of the beacon box, of course this sounds ludicrous but my superiors have told me they will take care of everything, from the hauling to the security and all the expenses, although they only require one trusted Anubite to take charge of the entire operation, keep in mind this is the only time we’re going to allow a foreigner to have a position of power in our own government, since we are somewhat isolationist. He sighs and would drink from his flask, “Apologies for that but this is a situation we didn’t expect to happen so pardon the consumption of alcohol… While we respect the importance of this artifact to you as it is a relic of your family’s history this item is also a relic of a past that we never knew, maybe the Aldfenriss knew about it too but we doubt it. An artifact that surpasses that of 2 civilizations on this planet is something that we cannot let go, and by we, them.” He glances at the machine whilst talking to him then back to Lord Fendi. He paces around the room thinking of something, clearly in distress in irritated on a counterproposal so possible. “Rhaian, do you have a fabricator on your ship? We’ll just replicate the artifact and call it a day.” Rhaian would look at him confused as if he’s dumb. “You know he higher-ups would want to know the authenticity and would check if the material’s age matches with what was reported.” Yeah that’s right, all artifacts are checked for their genuineity, the last time a false artifact was given was only a decade ago and the one who found it was dishonored. “Can we just you know, cover it with the ma-” Quickly stopped by Rhaian as if she knew what he was thinking. “The temple has a discrepancy of some few hundred years against the box”
Yosgel and Rhaian wants to give the artifact to Lord Fendi, but returning empty handed would mean their professions and status in society.
The Battlebarge continued to move forward, and aboard the bridge one of the officers turned to Commander Ilox, "Ma'am, they're opening a communications channel, looks like they are willing to talk after all. I'll patch it through to your command console. They seem to be using the standard trade language, although they don't seem to grasp it all too well... Still, it's enough to be generally understandable, and the translation algorithms can fill in the blanks. To the best of their ability, at least, based on context. Their true language isn't in our records, guess we can assume these aren't Hadasti, Elisians, or anybody else we know. They're new, perhaps a recently emerged civilization?"
Sitting back down in her command chair, Ilox looked to the officer and shook her head, "They don't exactly look primitive. Got a decent grasp of Trade Basic, so they've obtained that information from somewhere. But more importantly, their tech is rather clearly not that amateurish. If I had to guess, they're likely either isolationists, long range scavengers, or nomads. In all instances, we can probably negotiate. Now, quiet down, time to give our response." She gave a wave, and then looked to her command console.
Ilox decided that, to show she wasn't aggressive, she would take off her helmet. After all, a figure in power armor with a cracked visor on the helmet might give off more of a pirate impression, and she didn't want to show herself as such. With her helmet off, she revealed herself as a human female, with long brown hair and brown eyes to match. She hit a few buttons on her console, and gave her response to Mithra, "Baron Mithra, this is Commander Ilox of OMNI Battle Fleet Hokaris. Well, former OMNI. I am willing to talk, although you'll have to forgive me if I am not so trusting of your assurances that you are not desecrating the dead. However I can understand such urgency, as we are also here due to requirement. My fleet is damaged after multiple encounters with pirates, and we intend to repair ourselves on the old facility here. But note that we are still quite well armed and ready for a fight. Your House of Vengeance is not known to me, let's hear some more. And I'd also like to know why you need to scavenge in a system left as a memorial." She was uncertain about how truthful they were being, especially given the rather ominous name of this House, but she would take this chance to talk regardless. Avoiding a fight was important here, especially if this batch of scavengers had many more friends in bigger ships elsewhere who could come and take revenge if a battle broke out.
As the battlebarge grew closer it could see several fighters patrolling around the strange and alien vessel along with what could be some sort of transports came to and from the large ship they all came from while a single light pierced the asteroids surface... A grav-lift. Looked to be that they were gathering up what they could find. The ship was not new, it had it fair share of battle scars that held their own meanings as they were patched up.
Soon they might be close enough to see if their systems weren't too badly damaged to notice the graves and last rites being performed on those they could find in the derelict nearby. It would be then that Mithra would begin to speak again as his translator got him what the aliens said in response. "Scavenging the memorial... A place of honoured dead who fought bravely for countless lives, was not my idea. This sacrilege..." There was venom in his words before he continued. Whether fake or not he certainly sounded genuine about this. "... It is not what my former house stood for. But it is a necessity... Two fold. To gather supplies for trade and ways to aid our fleet. And to gather information on a complete language index and intel on possible allies for the future... As you no doubt think, our house name is an ominous one. It is not without purpose... We name ourselves this because an enemy so vast brought our people to the brink of collapse after we had already faced an extinction level event after our God abandoned us, it drove us from our ancient home long ago. A hydra of the void, a beast so cunning and vile it enslaves all those it see's as worthy. While destroying all others that are weak and not fit to exist." He was more than upfront with her. Something that seemed to get him one of his subordinates yelling in his ear about he shouldn't be telling them so much so carefreely.
Mithra had to admit, he didn't know what to make of these aliens... He knew of their species. He saw many like them amongst pirates and traders... An old word in basic popped into his head. 'Humanity'. "Our House is born from three smaller houses, it was ten years ago. The House of Forges, House of Shadows and the House of Broken Dreams. We came together after being caught in a pirate trap after they hijacked our nursery ships, looking to sell our newborns into slavery without any knowledge of our species biology, and murdering our scouts. We joined forces and sought out the pirate base to destroy them... We fought bravely and reclaimed what they stole. But then it arrived. An immense being, a beast with 9 heads with eyes like sapphire stars all glaring from the vast distance in the infinite black... Wounds in space opened as we were assailed by pale creatures with tubes in their bodies. They all looked so similar to each other..." If Omni had access to the records of when Erox tried to butt in when they stole some broodmothers from Excave after the war, they would remember that the strange flesh soldiers Erox brought were pale flash made clones of human soldiers that touched the strange grey goop that was left around. "Our leaders, our Kells all told us to run as the three of them, the strongest, fiercest and most cunning of us all... They were all killed the instant they started to turn the tide by some vile magic. He destroyed several of our ships before letting us flee. Not even seeing us as worthy enough to finish off."
"Our people would have likely fallen into extinction willingly if our situation grew any bleeker... Until a miracle occured. But I'm prattling now, as my operative from the Scout section is so eager to shout at me. I hope this at least sates your curiosity about our house. I hope I am not being too rude to ask if I can hear about yours." Mithra certainly wanted to avoid getting into a fight here, he wanted to get back so he could chew out the master of secrets for putting him in this situation in the first place.
Fendi was not exactly surprised about the fact he had to go talk to his superiors, as he could guess that the presence of Anubites here rather complicated their mission. As such he was not offended by the fact that this was required, giving a nod of understanding and letting him go off to call without issue. He didn't make any attempts at eavesdropping, deciding it would be rather uncouth, and instead stayed where he was. This of course meant he was easily approached by Rhaian and her curiosity about their concept of the afterlife. Fendi did seem pleased to see that she was interested, as Anubites enjoyed when other races took interest in their theology, "I suppose I can, Rhaian. We Anubites have a rather intimate relation with the afterlife and the souls that dwell within it, for the simple reason that we have our direct connection in the form of spirit mystics. From our understanding, there is a distinct split between the realm of life and the realms of death. Not just one place in the afterlife, but rather a few different planes, with distinct purposes. All with purposes held by four distinct gods, the true gods. Universal beings of total power, completely beyond our perception and comprehensions. As such they have gained titles, as their names are beyond us. The Judge, the Mother, the Son, and the Glutton. All in a struggle for souls and the spiritual balance of the universe, with little regard for the mortals they fight over. Only the Judge aims to maintain universal balance, and we Anubites attempt to maintain spiritual balance. For the sake of the universe. As for the realms of the Afterlife itself, I can discuss that as well." He gestured however to Yosgel as he was waiting, "But I'll have to talk about that another time, as well as talk about more of the gods. Later however, work first."
He then turned to Yosgel proper, indicating that it was alright for him to approach. He clearly was not very happy with that proposal, frowning and shaking his head, "No. Switching ownership over the course of a year is a terrible idea, for multiple reasons. First of all, that is yearly, long range transport for a very old artificial. It is dangerous to its integrity, and it would require more than merely a year in-between transfers to make that workable. Secondly, perhaps you cannot let go because it is ancient to you, but consider for a moment how I cannot come back without it either! I will not be the Fasuldi who gives up family relics to an untrusted foreign power. No offense is meant there, but we simply do not know you nearly well enough to give away Fasuldi property! Your superiors quite clearly don't seem to get it." He then quieted down, sighing as he forcefully relaxed himself. He was still quite stern, but he spoke more calmly now, "My apologies for the out burst, but it does still stand that I cannot give away family property. However I do empathize with your position, and I understand that to your people returning my property is its own type of surrender to a foreigner. That is why I made my previous offer of information. But I would indeed prefer a amicable agreement. So, I cannot allow the box to go, but is there anything else your superiors would be satisfied with?"
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