Forbidden Worlds (RP)

[SliceOfDog]

((Thinking about it now, it is entirely in-keeping with the Cahabîn culture for them not to have titular ranks like "Captain". I should have made that the case when I created the characters, but I suppose it's too late now... c'est la vie))

"Two returning transmissions so far Captain"

Urgol frowned "Two? We only contacted one ship. Didn't we?" He glared at Shara "Didn't we?"

She shook her head slowly "They must have... intercepted it somehow... and... Captain... it's the ships you wanted to avoid"

Gene leapt forward "What?"

"They answered before anyone else. The translator is starting to hone in on their speech patterns, so it's getting through them quicker now. It says... ah... "'Disciples of Water bringers', 'Gods', and 'Demons' are unknown changing objects." The next word can't be translated, so it might represent a name, or a title, or maybe a concept that doesn't exist in our language. But it continues "[word] specify or describe. Normal actions for (this bit is completely meaningless) coming after."

"Completely meaningless?"

"Ah, we're getting a code through now. I assume they're giving us a way to communicate better? It came after the message, you see. "Normal actions coming after""

Urgol looked over to Gene. They seemed to hold an entire conversation between their eyes, though they were silent. Whatever it was, it didn't end with the suggestion to blow up the offending vessels, which implied that Gene lost.

"Ignore it for now," Urgol said, turning back to Shara "but work on that code they sent, just in case. Right, now the second message you mentioned?"

"Yes Captain. It roughly says... "Opposing peoples are the Free Legions Service naval vessel Freedom (the translator indicates a high likelihood that that's a name or title or something similar) command from by (something that we can't translate. Translator says 99.9% chance of it being a name). Opposing peoples have taken your transmission, but were not able to translate it."" Shara paused, frowned. "There's that word again, that we couldn't translate in the other message. "Something continue talk." In the other message it was "something specify or describe". Odd. Anyway, uh... "something continue talk for language programs belonging to opposing peoples may decode allied peoples language so we may talk with allied peoples"

"Ah, so they just want another message? Fine, since we've already started... send this: We desire to discover your intentions, with the potential ends of becoming allies or being judged. First of all we desire to know whether or not you are allied with the ship cluster currently positioned at (here send them the coordinates of that cluster)" He pointed to the SFE ships.

"Right Captain"

"Secondly we request knowledge of other nearby species and vessels. Thirdly we demand knowledge of the transmission being sent from this planet and the reason for the attention it has caused. If you do not comply with this you will be judged. We are now ending our transmission, and if you do not respond or request further transmissions without attempting to resolve our concerns, we will treat your existence as hostile. That is all".

Shara nodded. "That's been sent Captain, and I've worked out that code. It's a way for us to send our data banks to the other ship"

Urgol bellowed a hollow laugh. "Send this message; Your stealing of our private communications and your attempts at trickery and stealing of knowledge held by this ship clearly prove that you are demons. Your sole redeeming factor is that you are clearly stupider than us. With this in mind, we do have doubts that you pose a significant risk to our gods. As such we will allow you a chance to beg for your continued existence. It will amuse us"

Gene smiled slightly "We could just call the fleet on them now" he said.

"And risk scaring off the other potentials? Not a chance"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tchier nodded. "I will, of course, answer to the best of my ability, as you are my gracious host. My name is Tchier and I am... well, I'm afraid I don't know the word for it in your language, and there is none in my own. Let it be said that what I am is lonely and lost, and to the best of my knowledge, though I wish it were not the case... I am..." he paused in thought, before settling on "one. Where I am from would be a waste of breath. Without intending any insult, sir, you will certainly not have heard of it, nor, I have little doubt, will any of your race, living or dead. I have travelled very far in my years, and only recently come across your kind. My people kept to ourselves through most of our history, and for many good reasons. And what I'm doing... escaping, surviving, protecting, searching, take your pick. I would probably say that my main goal is preventing the extinction of an entire race. I hope you see the importance in such a task?"

[Brome Teks]

There is a moment's delay. The SFE ships respond in a frequency that they know will bounce off the planet's atmosphere and be detectable by all the ships in this area.

"Our apologies. We picked up your transmission but did not realize it was intended for a specific ship. We apologize for any offense this might have caused you.

"Your rejection of peaceful contact in the name of understanding is noted. Realize, attacking an Imperial Battle-group with your vessel would be extremely... unwise. All of our weapons are primed. Any offensive action taken will be met with force. Do Not Interfere."

+========+

An MASP recon craft rests just on the edge of the line of transmission between the SFE ship and the Cahabîn ship. "Brave one, this is Recon 12. Are you getting all this? Looks like someone isn't falling for the Empire's ever so polite facade." The link is a secure quantum entanglement pair, completely undetectable.

"Recon 12, this is Brave 1. We hear it. Naval Intelligence is reviewing every bit of data you guys send. From the sound of it, they're hopeful we might be able to gain an ally against the Empire. If they're so brazen about challenging a whole battle group with that puny ship, they're either incredibly powerful or incredibly stupid. Intelligence suggests that either would be useful, in different ways."

The copilot of the recon craft snickers. The Pilot smirks, exchanging a glance with him. He says back, "Roger Brave 1. We'll keep eavesdropping. Recon 12 out." The copilot coughs a bit, then pulls out a bottle of pills, popping a few. "Sure you'll be fine for the whole shift? We've got another recon craft that can pick up our slack if you need to go to sick bay."

The copilot shakes his head with a negative via EMF. "No, I'm good. Doc said I'd just feel a bit dehydrated is all. You'll still have my 100%."

The pilot nods. "Alright. Anyways, set in course correct for 2 1 84..."

The recon ship continues its silent stalking.

[Arratra]

"Sir, transmission from the ship. I think they're decoding our language pretty quick... OK, there's enough here to begin decoding their language, and a... now this is interesting, they're pointing us towards that fleet. "
"Translate the message before taking any action," the Admiral ordered.
"Almost... almost... Got it!" the COMS tech exclaimed, "They're asking if we're allied with the ships at the coordinates."
"No, we don't even know who they are."
"Also, they're asking... hold on a sec... They're asking about the other species..."
"Frankly, we don't know that much ourselves. We know Reavers are present, but they've jumped forwards in 200 years. All the others are thus-far unfamiliar."
"And the signal is the last question... If we don't respond or... ask for further transmissions, we'll be marked as hostile. That's hasty."
"Open the line."
"Aye, sir."
"FLS Freedom; No, we are not allied with the fleet at the given coordinates. Our data on the species represented here is limited at best. Transmitting what we have (here he nodded at the tech, who sent what little data they had). The signal has drawn our interest because it is from a system that did not even seem to exist until three years ago. We had ignored this system previously because we were busy securing our borders."

Jaxamar reached 500 metres, and paused, frowning beneath his helmet. For some reason, the bases of his ears were tingling...

[Nelle Kozera]

In the CIC of the Nevermore Regalith stood looking over the projected view of the area on a 3D hologram. “Sir we are picking up a message. It was sent in such a way that was reflected off the atmosphere. Transmission codes designate it be Star Fire Empire.” The Captain mused; he had been at the SFE/Imperium First contact incident. “Interesting open a channel, lower Broadcom spectrum basic encryption…begin recording…” The Imperium vessel Nevermore began broadcasting on a semi open channel. The reason for this was they were unaware of communication abilities of the SFE thus used lower, albeit less secure bands. Anyone with decent code breaking programs could crack this level of encryption.

“Star Fire Vessels, this is Regalith the Captain the Imperium Destroyer Nevermore and her taskforce. You are requested by the Imperial Government to cease threats of hostility towards other nations currently present. Or at least, threats of hostility to unknown races that have yet to make their intentions clear, granted you will have our support if their intentions turn out to be less than noble.” With that, the message ended.
One of the Nav officers turned in their seat with a confused look. “Captain Do you really intend to help the Star Fire Empire?” The Captain gave a sly look to the navigator. “Our support and our help are not the same thing. There is a vast difference between moral support and physical help. Though if it looks like things could turn in our favor then we could exploit the opportunity...”

---

Deep in the planet of the system deeper than any of the sensors of the ships in orbit could penetrate. Ancient machinery stirred to life sensing the presence of fresh life nearby. In a small room, thousands of kilometers down, a small set of screens blinked on.

//processing…

//Life detected…identifying…

//Unknowns detected, engaging power systems…engaging security systems…

On the upper levels in the ventilation shaft that the species where exploring. Everyone in the shaft would here/sense/feel a soft vibration throughout the entire area, a moment later it stopped. From there perspective they would see glowing lights activate throughout the entire shaft. Anyone that reached the meter mark would reach on a force field that stopped there decent any further. A moment later electrical discharge was arcing over the walls as an absolutely massive EMP rolled through the area. This EMP several orders of magnitude stronger than the discharge from the weapon that was discharged less than a minute before, while some systems where shielded, all forms of stealth systems where majorly disrupted by the event.

---

Skilath looked around as her HUD blurred and moved out of focus. “Shadows…” Her visor retracted as she removed her helmet to allow her vision systems rebooted. “That’s annoying…” She said looking down. Her neural tendrils still connected to her suit systems she looked the shaft. After making a few judgments about the height she jumped. Like before anyone watching would see that she was falling as a controlled rate without any visible means of propulsion. Before she impacted the force field down below she altered course and moved onto a nearby ledge just above the force field looking around to see who else had came down…

(OOC: No one made it by the force feild, sorry for the late post, school was in the way.)

[Brome Teks]

After the Imperium ships contact the SFE vessels, there’s a brief delay before they respond.


“Imperium Taskforce, We will comply in order to keep violence from erupting, but the Ships in question have already sent threatening transmissions at us. Their motives are not unknown. If they attempt to take offensive action, we will not hesitate to vaporize their puny ship. End Transmission.”


With that, the Imperial Vessels go silent once more.


+===============+


In the pit…


The trio neared a ledge, some 100 meters above the one that the Draconian was at. Tay looks to Adal. “We’re running out, we’ll have to stop at this ledge and resecure it.”


She nods. “Got it.” As they rappel closer to the ledge, they feel the slight rumble. Adal looks up, then over to Tay. “Did you--”


Tay nods. “I did. Didn’t feel quite like an earthquake though…” When the lights come on below them, activating the force fields, they all look down. “oh hey, That’s pretty--AAAAAAA!” it’s at that moment the EMP hits them. It completely overwhelms their suit’s shielding system and hits them full on.


All 3 of them clutch onto their heads as the EMP screeches and screams at them. Their suits also have issues. Luckily, their computers and systems operate with photon and optics based computers, which are unaffected by the EMP. However, their shield and stealth systems have parts that are affected, and the charged electromagnetic field overloads them briefly, causing breakers inside the suits to switch off, breaking the circuits to prevent the systems from being damaged. This does, however, leave them momentarily defenseless, with no stealth and no shields.


The others, would see, for a brief moment, 3 figures hanging against the wall, hands clutched to their helmets, writhing in agony, before their suits reset and reactivate the stealth systems. The 3 of them disappear with a shimmer.


Tay pants as the EMP passes. “That…hurt…” he looks to his HUD. “Crap, we lost stealth for a minute there. We’ll have to relocate.” He looks down. “Get down to that ledge with the force field, and then detach. We might be able to find a way around it.” He and the others rappel the rest of the way down, getting on the ledge around the force field, detaching their lines and catching their breath from that painful ordeal before they move along the rim, not keen on staying put for too long.

[Arratra]

Jaxamar was jolted up three metres by the activation of the force field; his thrusters, firing right against it, had their effective thrust multiplied by at least ten for an instant... and then he got slammed by the EMP. Rather than conducting around the armour like it would normally, it blew out his shields and the charge sank inside, tripping circuit breakers and shutting down the armour... simultaneously crashing his optics; Jaxamar slammed down spread-eagled on the force-field, dazed, and his vision filled with blue and numbers.
"Thish... this thing's supposed to be a Faraday Cage when sealed," he said eventually, shaking off the daze and opening the eye-covers so he could see, also standing up, although his movements were sluggish and weighed-down, "I sounded drunk for a minute there..."
He unlocked the panel on his right forearm, and pulled it open, revealing a compartment similar to the one that held the E-scanner in his left. Instead, it contained a control micro-console for his armour, and he hit the reboot control; he swore as the breaker report popped up on the display, revealing that the EMP had tripped every single one!
It explained why the system wasn't self-rebooting.
He hit the control and closed the compartment and his helmet. The display went black for a moment, with some light filtering in through the polarised lenses of the eye-covers, then lit up.
:System reboot:
:Breakers reset:
:Mobility Systems;
::Servos; Online
::E-muscles; Online (Jaxamar flexed his hands and shifted his weight to ensure that this was the case; no problems there)
::Thrusters; Online and nominal
: Optics;
::Visible Spectrum + Zoom; Online
::Thermal; Online
::EMF; Online (It swapped between each automatically to ensure that they were online)
:Shielding systems;
:: Dynamic shields; Online (A crackle and a flash of green lightning, and then a skin of green energy formed for a moment, before fading from visibility)
::Burst shields; Online (Blue hexagons rippled across the armour and formed a rough sphere around him before fading from view)
:Communications; Online
:Weapons;
::ARK-30 Assault Rifle; Online : Ammo (100 kinetic penetrators (primary fire-mode), 20 flak canisters (Secondary fire mode))
::X-221 "Dragoneye" prototype rifle; Online : Ammo (No magazine)
::Shielded Sword; Online
: Optional modules;
::Laser Cutters; Online
::E-scanner; Online
:System reboot complete:

Jaxamar glanced over at the Reaver, and knelt, pressing a hand against the force-field. He wasn't expecting any give, and he got none, even with the enhanced strength afforded by his suit.
"Well, something knows we're here," he said aloud, before bringing a hand to his helmet, "Admiral?"
"Sergeant? Thank Bahamut. We picked up a massive EMP down there."
"Yes, sir. I was caught in it. It tripped every circuit breaker in my suit. But it seems like the facility is online now, and trying to defend itself... I think."
"Solid copy, Sergeant... Good luck down there."
Jaxamar turned to the Reaver and walked towards hir.
"I forgot to introduce myself before. I am Sergeant Jaxamar Flameheart. You are?"

[BIos_Reaper]

AK-09/83 Adyin had reached the several hundred meter mark, not having to worry as excessively about physical fall injuries as the others his built-in long-range sensor array had been monitoring for a while now. Granted, he wasn't aware of the more sophisticated stealthed forces just yet but was rather busy taking samples from the walls and visually documenting everything he observed which of course included some passive behavioral and equipment configuration analysis on the other people present. Nothing extensive of course, that'd violate his peoples no-theft policy, but he was curious about what methods they chose to descend the massive passage.

~"Field report. Data compilement of surrounding environment complete, descending down a massive, elongated vertical oriented shaft of unkown make. Design observation hypothesis suggests ventillation or aquatic design purposes or perhaps massed matter transport system. Other species are present as well but I have remained incognito. The Reaver has been of particular interest as it appears to possess means of traversing the shaft similar to my own grav-control system. Will continue monitoring for now until..."~

Adyins touch-based sensors detected the vibrations in the shaft moments before both his sensors and his holo-bots sensors electrical readouts went off the charts as a MASSIVE electrical build-up ocurred. Immideatly shielding himself from the oncoming wave which turned out to be an electromagnetic pulse of several hundred pedawatts. Well exceeding the insulation levels of one of his most important systems; detection shielding but being synthetics, electromagnetic shielding was a primary field of research for them, the EMP affected none of his major systems to a notable degree aside from causing a simulacra of what organics might consider... nausia as it severely scrambled all of his situational senses.

"Warning, detection shielding failure, refractive optical camoflague field emitters; moderate damage detected to all emitters, noise cancellation; nominal function retained, senscan blocks; minimal damage. Conclusion; detection shielding operating at below 44% efficiency, engaging automatic maintenance procedure, estimated time until completio; 12.5 minutes. Addendum, primary as well as secondary systems; nominal effects, full functionality will be restored within 1 minute."

Adying could not help himself, cursing in rather creative binary. It wouldn't matter if his detection shielding could be restored to full functionality for by now he might well have been detected by every entity within the shaft. As he readied an emergency transmission he also engaged his holo-drones manual maintenance cycles, the damage was nominal and more than possible to repair using his on-site supplies but suffering damage so early on would be somewhat detrimental to his mission. By using his built-in quantum entanglement communications system instead of the sub-space long-distance communication system he would prevent message detection and or interception.

~"Emergency addendum! Reconnaissance AK-09/83 Adyin reporting severe detection shielding failure. Cause is massive unforseen electromagnetic radiation bleed, core defensive and operational systems unaffected. Advise caution to command other species will take notice of me. I will attempt to protray a positive and non-threatening image of our people, until then I shall hold off on further updates until relevant data becomes available."~

Adyin took a look around, scanning for the other people within the shaft as he continued to descend... He had detected a noticeable power spike prior to the EMP, and now the cause of it was staring him right in the optics. Some sort of ablative field was preventing further descent. Not wishing to test just yet weather or not it would react violently to physical matter upon contact he proceeded to descend until he was a "safe distance" away from it's ghostly hue, running full-powered scannar-sweep over it as by now it wouldn't matter worth a rusted bolt if anyone picked it up. Releasing his holo-drones for perimeter sweeping he kept his functions focused, he needed a way through and fast, who knew how other species might react to the idea of a sentient ambulatory computer system...

It was then he spotted the rather unfortunate creature some distance ahead, sprawled out as it had fallen flat on its face. He couldn't help but giggle mentally at the rather humerous image! Albiet he didn't dawdle, the moment his systems were up and running again he vanished from the field of view, running a scan on his memory and sure enough, there they were. Individuals suspended via cabling on the wall, clutching their heads during the EMP event. He reviewed the footage extensively, and came to the hypothesis that these might be the owners of the rater unfortunately placed rope he had tripped over earlier...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the Hyakaryu, Galcian 6 far orbit.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

~"Incoming message command!"~ SensNav reported, sounding a little frantic.

~"Let's hear it"~ the command intelligence responde.

As the message played and ended the intelligences became deathly quiet, the Hyakaryu engaging it's direction ion thrusters to relocate itself quietly to a new location to evade the OGE scans attempt at finding them.

~"Additional caution from now on. No risks"~ Command concluded, the others agreeing as they continued to monitor the situation via long-distance telescopic optics, low-power rapid-relocation scannind drones and quiet transmission reviews, awaiting the time when it apparently would become necessary to reveal their existence to a galaxy they had not known still existed until recently...

[SliceOfDog]

The response from the SFE ship was great cause for humour to the small Cahabîn crew. It seemed that they practically grovelled to the tiny vessel, apologising several times and assuring them that the threat was understood. They then displayed their foolish naivety by assuming that the explorer ship was the force that the Cahabîn were referring to in their threats.

Gene nodded to Urgol "Well they're right," he grinned "we certainly won't be attacking them with this ship!"

"Send this message back, then close transmissions with them, if you can" Urgol said "We hear your apologies, and they shall be taken into account when you are judged. Yet understand that this ship will not attack your own, nor shall its crew. Your suggestion of primed weapons, however, intrigues us. We desire a demonstration. You may pick another ship at your discretion to be the target of this demonstration, though of course targeting this ship will be your demise. After this demonstration, we may contact you again."

Gene nodded again, smiling. "Let's see what they can do"

Shara turned to her captain "And the other message, Captain? They denied being allied and sent us data on other species here. It's being analysed as I speak. Also, they claim that this group of planetary bodies did not exist until three years ago. Finally, they say that they had ignored this place before because they... were... tightening their boarders? Holding them..? I'm not sure I quite understand the last bit... No, wait. Defending, making stronger. If I understand correctly they have spent some time strengthening the defences of their outermost territories"

Urgol paused, frowning. After a moment he began to dictate "Understood and appreciated. For what cause were you defending your territories?"

[Buzzwolf]

"New Hails commander" Echo turned in his seat, after giving hailing captain a nod, and muting the image, and bringing up the origin of the signals on the central display "One vessel of the SRC is attempting to open communications with us, unknown motive. and another vessel of new origin, they're the ones that contacted us first, though the scans would lead me to believe they seem to be an almost sub-faction of the SRC," a freeze frame image of the CotD's captain showed on the screen "This is Captain Ana Fen'dar" he pronounced it perfectly "She claims they're of a group known as the CotD, which is a seperation of the, and I quote, 'Extremely hateful and fairly racist, SRC'...it sounds like they have some type of petty squabble going on between them commander...not to mention childish..." he muttered as he added to it. "The Cotd ship is also guised under a cloak, we found it only by tracing the signal back and throwing a sensor wave at it"As it was, only the rough outline of the ship was visible, constructed by the AI according to what it 'saw'

a Deep rumble came from the commander with his head proped up on his paw, going over the readings and data they had on each of the vessels "Both sides of a war are contacting us, no doubt for similar reasons." He snorted "Typical. on Screen." the image unpaused as he pushed himself out of his commanders chair, approaching the center view screen "Good evening captain, I am Commander Shirov of the Icarus Hunt, Recinarian of the Orion Galactic Empire." A long title, but one he'd well and earned "You're request, cannot be completed unless we know more about the situation than they are 'Extremely hateful and fairly racist', and trying to shoot you as a result. to be frank," he growled out "that is the most childish thing I have ever heard a starship captain say to anyone, let alone in a plea for assistance. I should cut all ties, and be done with you this instant for such disregard for your post." he stood a little taller as he adjusted his uniform "Unfortunately, my position does not warrant such...niceities." he looked off screen to one of the bridge crew and held up a set of fingers for a command before looking back to the Captain "You may speak to the Admiral, perhaps she will be more accomidating" he didn't even give the captain a chance to respond as he signaled the visual to the bridge be cut "Relay it to the Admirals ready room, and open a channel to the other vessel, maybe tehy can make some sense of this nonsense" he sat back in the commanders chair with a grunt as he waited for the channel open

Echo flinched a little as he tore into the other captain, the admiral was certainly going to have her work cut out for her as he worked the control boards and opened a private comm to her ready room "Admiral, the commander has requested that you take over talks with a Captain Ana Fen'dar of the CotD"

"Thank you Echo, I'll take it in my ready room please" she killed the comm signal, and he went through the motions, the entire back and forth done, and the signal transfered before the commander had even sat back down, the image flickering up on a wall screen in her ready room as she tilted back in her desk chair "Evening Captain, I am Fleet Admiral Tetra Von Tre of the eighteenth Orion Fleet, High captain of the Icarus Hunt and Royal Deitran of the Orion Galactic Empire." an even longer title that took her more years than she cared to count to earn "What seem to be the problem that can't be worked out with my Commander?" she asks, unaware of the commanders speech
______

Ground youselves! the shout came across nearly as instinct as all three of the Salarians dropped into a crouch, a thin, high tensile blade sliding from their gauntlets and driving into the wall of the shaft, moments before the EMP washed over them, the signal washing across the outer layer of their suits and down into the vent shaft, the inner workings isolated by the dimensional layer as their suits lit up like christmas trees to any sensors looking for them as the energy danced over the outer layering of their suits

as the wave passed the suits, the crackling eased off and the suits, the systems automatically ran their internal diagnostics, checking every port and system built in, checking everything down to the neural interface and biological monitoring system, to ensure nothing happened to the users. each stayed crouched as the systems performed their checks, waiting for the all clear from both the systems, and from the observer.

Six contacts. four new contacts, cloaks disrupted to the EMP. Three of similar make. fourth of different model, and most likely nationality...Curious, the individual does not appear to emit any type of biological signature The video cocked his head slightly, getting in a short scan of teh individual before he vanished back under the guise of a cloak

"A droid of some type?" Boss had seen the fouth, even for a short glimpse before it returned to it's cloak, there was no way it was biological Doubtful commander, design is too advanced to be a simple drone. theory; created life form, much like myself. synthetic, nothing but machine, probable advanced intelligence center....interesting The observer found himself more and more curious about the 'life form' "Threat status?" The observers blinkingless gaze turned to Boss Minimal at best, life form appears to be on a recon mission and has not prepared for extensive combat; caution advised if hand to hand becomes necessary, physical limitations unknown

The video padded silently forward to the limit of the field, the crackling of energy along the field as his own biological sensors took a reading of it. the three Salarians easing from their crouch, no more than an arms distance from the field themselves. Jazz put a hand out toward it, immitating Animas movement, only to have a holo disc form between her palm and the field, various readings and scans dancing over the display before she closed her palm and shut the scan down "no way we're getting through this fuck, whatevers powering this thing has some serious juice behind it." she didn't even bother test firing against it "we need another route" her ear sensors on her helmet twitched as she caught the tail end of the Draconion introducing himself to the Reaver type. She groaned "Really? now?" she shook her head and signaled in the direction of the two. "As much as I hate to say it, seems 'ol scaly ass over there found us a way through, acoustics show a possible route down."

"Right, Scorch, Jazz" He signaled to the ledge that the reaver type and the Draconion had just touched down on "Get there, make sure we're good"

"On it Boss" the heavy accent of Scorch followed by a light "Got it" from Jazz as the two followed the walls of the shaft around to the ledge, waiting for Boss and Anima to join them before they readjusted their personal gravities back to the planets core.

"Anima--"

I have already been in contact with the Icarus Hunt Commander, The felinoid 'spoke', finishing the thought for him and they have recieved all telemetry on the situation. You have been given the go ahead to continue. The Admiral wishes you the best of luck Commander
______

The hatch beside the Kratian, shifted with an unheard clunk, twisted and slid out of the way for Kraal to enter. the bay door opened to what seemed to be one of a couple shuttle docking platforms, designed to protect the entire shuttle in the event of an emergency situation. as of the moment, the bay was completely empty aside from a single black suited Salarian, carrying and advanced form of auto-rifle. a sign of wary peace as he held it pointed to the floor.


The doors irised closed and the chamber pressurized as the Kratian slipped in past the doors. as the air returned, the mirriored faceplate of the Salarian helmet slipped back and away, revealing it to be Captain Ishi himself that had come to greet the Alien. his poise with the rifle changed little however, even as he greeted her with a warm smile "Welcome, Speaker, to the Salarian ship, The Concord Dawn. This way if you would" his poise changed some as he carried the weapon easily with one hand, the design folding in on itself and back out as it altered to it's shotgun standard, when he turned to lead her into the ship. "We've prepared the breifing room for any questions you might have about the current situation."

[Shade Leshyr]

Kraal levered herself into the ship as the doors slid open, landing lightly on her feet as they slid shut behind her. Behind the clear visor of her suit, Kraal's eyes widened for a split second as Captain Ishi revealed himself and began speaking to her. The wise-woman inclined her head at the Salarian as she followed him, "A bold move Captain, coming yourself to meet me. You are brave if nothing else, but your stance tells me you are much more. Still, the gesture is appreciated, as is the decision not to open fire on our ship as soon as you saw us." Kraal wet her mouth, as the strange words were alien to her tongue, and looked around the ship, rather impressed from what she could understand of the ship, but she was no engineer, not by a long shot.

"A lot of this is new technology, isn't it," she paused, turning her head toward Ishi, "we Kratians do not remember, but the Vat Mother's gift remembers much about your nation and the other nations that existed at the time. Tell me Captain Ishi, how has the Orion Galactic Empire held since then? I am lead to believe that you were a militaristic society... for that matter, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you? The ichor does not remember any like you during the war," she finally focused on his weapon for the first time since entering the ship, "Captain, I assure you that your weapon is not needed, I am neither trained for combat nor do I feel the inclination to doom my people by sparking contention on that scale."

[BIos_Reaper]

["Primary and secondary detection prevention methods restored; primary and secondary "GLASS" projectors online and operating at 95.3% efficiency, time until total restoration; 12.5 minutes. Sonic and vibration cancellation and reduction processes unaffected, all passive detection prevention methods online, estimated risk of detection without significant sensor capability; 0.5%"]

The autonomous diagnostics voice, in the tone of his favorite Altinian historical figure; Freki Allma, sounded smoothly, like it were hitting on him. A famous playboy that existed over 1000 years ago, during the age of debouchery and the liquidation of the excessive personal restrictions imposed on Altinian military and civilian workforce personnel. Albiet Adyin was certain, given the billionare's affinity for boys and or girls of any legal age, he did it purely to get away with having even more casual sexual interaction than he already did at the time... which was quite extensive.

Leaning up agains the far off side wall, having witnessed the structural and non-conductive tests of the force field blocking his descents progress by a hapless member of another species, he lay back, one leg stretched forth, the other bent at the knee, arms folded as his drones buzzed about, looking at various things from bits of rock to some damaged circuitry on a nearby panel that probably only controlled some minor floodlight somewhere. Expressions of XP and XD and O.o and O_O appearing in various animated configurations, displaying their intrigue and interest, the pet-like intelligences were perfect for their line of work but still liked getting a break from it once in a while.

Adyin observed the movements of the other people present, his optics telescopic modes allowing him to zoom in to observe the fine fissures in the paintjob of the Reaver, and the massive, bulky, terribly ostentatius presence of the Draconian, if he were any bulkier he'd have trouble scratching his tiny head. Adyin quietly chuckled, he already knew the armors bulky appearance was mostly due to design aesthetics or perceived practicality, the head was probably only that small because it made it less of a target.

Sifting through the 5 exobytes of data in his personal memory core, all of it was entertainment, cartoons... lewd material, design schematics, political talk channels, books and even an entire library or two... it was great being able to memorize an entire civilizations works of media, albiet he had to have an extra core installed just for this so all the entertainment wouldn't affect his core processes. He paged through the archives, finding a particularly interesting entry.

Fractal calculations; The charter-theorum of Organic Selection Processes and Evolution. Nothing better to decompress and process than this huh? Paging through it, he began to realize evolution wasn't so random as he once though, much like machines evolution chose the most successful design and improved on it, albiet unlike machines unsuccessful designs were not kept and worked on, rather they were left to die... One point in favor of machine life then. He kept reading, seeing stark differences but also apparent similarities, putting the book away he flexed the armored toes of his feet.

~"Waiting around is starting to antique my core processes... "~ he grumbled quietly, diving a bit into a narcisistic self-devotion simulation for a brief few seconds, which might as well have been an hour to those in real-time. The problem with being a machine wasn't a lack of things to do, it was how much day was left when you had already finished what you wanted and had to do.

[Brome Teks]

Onboard the Star Fire Empire Carrier, there’s a bit of a debate going on. Yugsorka, The Auraphim commander of the task force and ranking officer, is discussing their course of action.


Yugsorka frowns at the screen, on which the Shipboard AI’s icon is displayed. “I value your wisdom, oh ancient one, but their attitude is grating on my nerves. They are but one ship, we could annihilate them before they could so much as meep for help.”


The AI’s icon shifts a bit. “Commander, I am obligated to follow your command, but I do not believe this is the best course of action. If they are reporting regularly and suddenly go dark, then we may have more of their ships bearing down on us. While I do not doubt we could defeat them, it would seriously impede our goal of attaining the Precursor artifact on the planet. I humbly suggest we cut off communications with them and focus on why we are here. Once we have succeeded with our primary goal, we will have plenty of time to punish their impudence.”


Yugsoka looks over the readout of the ships in orbit around the planet. He frowns, but sighs. “Your wisdom is great, oh ancient one. Very well, we will not attack them. But make sure we’re tired of listening to them, and lock a couple weapons on them.”


“Very good, commander.”


The Cahabin ship receives the following transmission.


“This infantile test of will has gone on long enough. Do not attempt to interfere. If we are attacked by more ships of your make, you will be the first to die. End of line.” At the end of that, they might notice a series of radar and infrared signatures emanating from the SFE ships. They could only be indicative of one thing, the SFE ships were locked onto the Cahabin ships. But they did not fire. Yet.


+=============+


Meanwhile, the Tres group moves along the ledge around the rim of the shaft. “So, our stealth was disabled for 2.3 seconds. Not much, but if they didn’t know what we looked like before, they probably do now,” Adal says.


“Noted,” Tay responds. “We have to keep moving and be more careful now. We’ve lost part of the element of surprise.”


Ducy looks around. “I didn’t see any Imperial units, the SFE might still not know we’re here.”


“That’s good at least.” He looks over the wall as they pass by it, searching for any sort of hidden door or panel. “We’ll try and stay clear of the others for now, but we may have to follow the same path as them,” he says, eyeing the Draconian standing on the force field.

[SliceOfDog]

"Receiving another transmission Captain, from the demon ship"

"I'm not interested, Shara, don't even bother translating it."

"Right you are Captain"

There was a moment of silence, and then some warning sounded out from a console in the corner of the ship. The three Cahabîn spun around.

"What the hell is that?" asked Gene, fingering his rifle. It had not sounded before in any of their times serving in the Cahabîn military. Shara was already scanning through her own console trying to find the answer in the ships labyrinthine user guide. After a moment or two she explained that the console's only purpose was alerting crew when their ship was the target of weapon-lock systems.

"In other words they're pointing their guns at us?" Gene said, with a sneer.

"That seems to be the case, yes" Shara replied. Gene laughed, Urgol scoffed.

"Is that all? Well so be it, and let it be short and pleasant*. In the meantime, send message 5 back to command"

Shara nodded, and almost instantly it was being sent (she had lined it up several minutes ago). Though they were rather behind the other nations in terms of communication, negotiation and diplomacy, the Cahabin had enough wartime experience to have seen the need for code, and so message 5 was sent out not in their language but in a series of beeps (One long, 5 short and another long). The transmission could easily be discovered, though that was of course far from the intention, but it would be impossible to decode, as it had no isolated meaning. Command would have a local reference for codes, and could simply scroll down to number 5 on that list for the meaning. However, any communications officer worth his weight in water** would know message 5 off-by-heart. It was the 4th most common message sent by explorer ships.

((*An old travellers prayer in Cahabîn culture which has been adopted within the military, for rather different meaning. Literally "May our death be quick and painless", although without the connotations of despair that may be present in human use of that phrase.
**Oh, and yes, I'm aware that the phrase is "worth his weight in salt", but I decided to slip in a Cahabînism))

[Arratra]

"The unidentified ships are powering weapons, Admiral," the sensor officer reported.
"Charge weapons to 50%, prep all fighters for launch, release safety interlocks on the missiles," the Admiral ordered, "Do not engage unless fired upon first, however. We do not want to start an incident."
"Aye sir."
"COMS, send this message: 'Recent encounters with a hostile force have forced us to strengthen our borders against intrusion. Both our ancient enemies, the Andrians, and more recent encounters with hostile or pirate races have presented problems for shipping and colonial security. Further information may be provided upon request.'"
He turned to Helm, "Bring us about to 342 by 331, atmosphere-skimming orbit. We're going to use the atmosphere as a shield if we're fired upon."

Down in the shaft, Jaxamar had lifted a hand to his ear-protector, confused.
"Admiral? What's going on up there?"
"One of the fleets is charging its weapons. Be careful down there, Sergeant; I think they might have units on the ground. They might attack you."
"Well that's just great," Jax grumbled, pulling the Dragoneye off his back and loading a magazine of penetrators (larger and heavier than the ones used in his AR) into the bulpup-mounted slot. "You might want to drew your weapon, Reaver; we might be about to have unwelcome company."