Holy Sapia: A crumbling Galaxy

Play around with roles and whatnot in here, I suppose.

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Geo_&_Bio
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Re: Holy Sapia: A crumbling Galaxy

#16 Post by Geo_&_Bio »

Dreia:

The Arrival at Weabley was to be awe-inspiring by the mere presence of Dreia’s diplomatic flotilla. As customs, two Bismarck Class Battleships warped into the Weabley territory, next came One Spruance class carrier and one Sunzi Class Dreadnaught to follow. Then came the Ares Class Dreadnaught, the god-like titan forged by General Vulcan and his industries, the Prometheus, truly a one of a kind and expensive to replicate. Following the Goliath of ships are two more Battleships and a rather strange ship, no weapons to speak of, no missiles, no cannons, no anything, just an oddly shaped ship. The strange ship stayed behind, staying stationary in the deep darkness of space. Right after the Diplomatic flotilla entered in Federation territory, another ship came and entered the space as well. This was a ship from long ago and as old as the age of strife, it holds a long vertical body and is rusted with age.

Dreia looked upon her map, the large field of the galaxy upon her. She zoomed in to Weabley and her territories, viewing the damage and the strategy enabled on the battlefield. Looking at it, she can see a few break points within the trench lines of planets, one of which was Graff Prime in which she is still ignorant of the occurring battle. She looked at the situation of her diplomatic flotilla, nodding at everyone in their place; however, she paused in confusion. Dreia called up Admiral Quark. “Admiral, what are you and the Inferno doing? Don’t you know that this area is potentially dangerous?”

The older, battle-torn Admiral answered quickly, “The Inferno wishes to be a part of the meeting, and she wishes to shadow your political efforts as well as your tactical regime. She also wishes that she exits the Infurium Dragon and see the outside world for herself.” Dreia sighed as she rubbed her head with her good hand, she caved in to the idea; it would be for the best to get her grace to witness diplomatic relationships in person so she can learn, she also hasn’t touched land for seven years so it would be good to exit her box. “Fine,” She yielded to the Admiral, “Send her down with her royal guards, we’ll be landing on Weabley within 30 minutes to meet up with the representatives.” The Admiral confirmed Dreia’s notification, saluting and ending the call.

_____________________

After a short while, two drop-ships came down and landed the Infuriate and other the Inferno. Dreia exited her pod and was the first to great the Representatives along with General Vulcan and General Geoblock. After shaking hands with one and another, the second drop ship opened up and a platoon of Royal Guards sporting the traditional red and black trench-coats and their specialized royal hats that stand towering over people’s head as their caps obscure’s their face into darkness. The royal guards preform the ceremonial introduction of the Inferno, the young king of Inferba and the rightful Infurium. Out came a rather unexpected person, all grown up, nearing her day of adulthood, Inferno Emelia covered in clothing due to her constant shivering even in the hottest of summers in tropical or desert areas could keep her warm, and holding an Inferbaden scent-smoker from the Trunba Shrooms known on the molten planet for their sweet and lovely smell. Dreia looked at the Inferno; it really has been seven years since I first saw her. She has indeed grown. Dreia witnessing the Inferno once more, however Dreia still towered over her, like she does over many men as well. Another thing Dreia noticed was the lack of the bear she used to coddle with her all the time; apparently Quark finally pried the stuffed animal from her hands and now she is indeed a proper lady worthy to be taken seriously.
The ending of the words is ALMSIVI.

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Re: Holy Sapia: A crumbling Galaxy

#17 Post by specter »

The Kiru-Ha sat in orbit around Wembley, two smaller vessels latched and secured to her hull. Satio had acquired the two vessels in trade, the TUF schematics proving more popular than expected with traders and smugglers "Best weapons and armour this side of the galaxy!" he advertized, the validity of his claim unknown to himself.
While the ships themselves were not of noteworthy value to much anyone else, the foreign technologies proved immensely valuable to Satio, offering this child of a war-faring nation the opportunity to learn secretes of societies long established on commerce. Navigation, propulsion, even the communication systems were far beyond anything his homeworld possessed. The weapons systems left much desired to the trained Torran eyes. Satio had seen projects created by first year children more advanced than what these ships were equipped with. For the sake of commerce, he hoped the larger fleets followed similar trends.
The vessels attached were both modified beyond original purpose, shuttles now latched to serve as he saw fit. The larger was a drop pod of sorts, he had stripped it of circuitry and power cells and integrated what he could into his own ship, it's cells as secondaries to his own. The pod sat hollowed out and served as a meeting room for his new customers. The smaller of the two ships he had refitted into a communication's hub capable of monitoring transmissions within the system. News of war, devastation, and rumours of the end times filled the waves. War indeed needs weapons, but this planet was worse off than he had anticipated. He knew he would have to change tactics soon if he were to fulfill his current objective. Gain their commerce, gain their trust. Sell them weapons, buy a larger ship, and get the hell out of this system. He hoped it was a sufficient plan.

---

The appearance of a massive fleet caught Satio off guard again. A large fleet, by his standard, but not one ready for assault by appearances. His newly acquired knowledge of customs convinced him to keep his weapons powered down, instead keeping his open broadcast active. He hoped someone would take notice.

---

He sat and watched as the fleet took a standing orbit around the planet. He watched and ignored the hails of a merchant as a pair of drop ships lowered towards the surface. He observed, and his patience grew thin. The weeks of travel and commerce were a temporary intent. He began to realize that if he appeared as only a merchant then he would be treated only as such. Satio disengaged the mag clamps holding the two ships. He had played trader long enough for now, his blood boiled for the age old rush of combat. "Let the stars guide me to victory" Satio whispered as he powered up his cannons.

The man of commerce from before, curious why this newcomer whom they spoke so well about ignored his attempt at communication, attempted a swift retreat upon seeing this vessel of war drop it's cargo without a care and circle around towards him. The old man was versed in the art of retreat, but his vessel was old and crippled from years of travel. What was once a home and a way of life for the old man quickly became scrap and vapor as Satio's beams sliced through it's armour. A rush filled Satio's body as he watched the debris scatter; it had been years since true combat, years filled with Virtual Reality Pods and dummy shot training maneuvers. To see the fires die out in the vacuum and particles scatter, to see clear through where the beams cut through as if the ship was made of naught but air...oh it was a sensation he had yearned to experience again. He powered up his shields and plasma cannon and targeted the nearest civilian ship, discharged a handful of plasma charges and powered his engines to full speed. It was time to spread knowledge on the prowess of Satio Kiru and the craftsmanship of the TUF.
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Re: Holy Sapia: A crumbling Galaxy

#18 Post by the red soldier »

On Weabley

The Infurium's equivalent of nobility made there way to Weabley's surface. Truthfully there arrival was split amongst the planet's wealthy upper class. Many saw them as a better alternative to Lyxer sense they would still remain somewhat independent, just have to pay a tax to the Infurium government and that was that but others saw them as no better the Lyxer, tyrants wanting there business. Eitherway, things got pretty heated on a matter entirely different behind closed doors.

Two upper class and a few middle class merchants assigned as legal representatives were arguing at the top of there voices when they got the new that Gath Prime was under siege. Honestly it was not expected for at least another month, Lyxen Industries must have had another fleet at the ready when they took the last planet because there was no way, in there minds, they could reorganize a planet invasion force so quickly.

"GOD FREAKING DAMMIT! What are we going to do?! Theres nothing between Weabley and Gath Prime!" The head representative said aloud. A women, rather calm but still a stressed look in her eyes, as if she didn't slept for weeks, simply waved her hands at the man to calm down. "The Rattler's Fang is probably already planning something. Right now we need to worry about our end of things. Remember, we have a major power for visitors." The main rep simply grew even more into a nervous wreck. "Oh yeah, we will look pretty clever if a Lyxen raiding party bombs the [censored] out of the city while were negotiating. We will surely look like we have things under control then!" He shouted sarcastically. The woman, growing impatient herself, simply leaving the room shouting. "I don't care what you think or do! Just go in there and get an agreement done!"

The main rep, his aides all stressed alongside him, suddenly breathed in, closed there eyes and he said. "Open the doors..." Suddenly, exhaling out, the man looked as fresh as a daisy, as calm as a butterfly, with a calm smile and a warm gaze. Putting on his poker face, he seemed like an entirely different man. Walking up, no guards except for his personal aids, he made the official Infurium greetings (Whatever that may be) To both the Infuriate and the "King". "On behalf of the Weabley Merchant Federation, I welcome you to the World of Weabley. Make as if it was your very home..." He said quite calm yet with a sense of pride as he waited for a response. This was going to be a long day for the representative.

___________

Meanwhile, back around Weabley's sphere of influence, a few ships have dropped out of radar and scanner. Strange to say the least. At first the thought of some kind of disturbance was suspected but the thought of raiders quickly took precedence. Three scout fighters were deployed to investigate the disappearances, just to make sure. Arriving at the general area, they began a patrol run, signaling an automatic signal. "All ships in the area, ping your signal or be considered trespassers of Weabley space."
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Re: Holy Sapia: A crumbling Galaxy

#19 Post by specter »

The remnants of a dozen vessels hung in a lazy ring around the Kiru-Ha, each attached to her hull with a mag cable, each larger than the last, each devastated and torn by the ion and plasma charges. A few still sparked with faint scrapings of life, electrical systems struggling to comprehend and execute what commands they still retained before the death of their masters. Engines pulsed and whined in defiance, a damaged kinetic cannon still searching for a target it could never see. One crew member from a vessel had managed to don a environmental suit for protection, but the force of his engines overloading propelled him away from the ship. The man was doomed to be a satellite with the rest of the debris.

Satio had withdrawn from the assault after pings from an unknown source came through his comm relay. He knew he would be unable to respond over such a distance with his current equipment. Perhaps silence would convey the proper message. The possibility of misconstrusion did not enter his mind, and even if it did there was little to none he could do now. Satio was happy that a dozen plus dead traders would get somebody's attention, he couldn't care less who's. The after bliss of combat, even against such weak foes, filled his mind and replenished his body. This is the way, he thought to himself. This is the way the world works.
Before disassembling and cleaning his beam cannons he recorded another message and set to broadcast on all local channels.
"These weapons and services you see are for sale to the fleet who truly needs them. Spread word to your master, dogs. The House of Kiru is here."


(*Edited for detail)
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MrFlyingAmoeba
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Re: Holy Sapia: A crumbling Galaxy

#20 Post by MrFlyingAmoeba »

(More to come, I didn't want to keep the other RPers waiting just for one part)

Tech Support/Emissary

"I'm thinking that my name is entirely too ominous for my role. Maybe I should rename myself as 'Harbinger' or 'Courier'." Emissary replied through her vocal simulator, puffing her chest in and out in the imitation of a laugh for a moment before continuing in a far more rapid jabber. "Lyxen Industries, Collective goals incompatible in long term. Galactic dominance through market, strong-arm aggression versus synthetic utopian society. Trade possible, non-aggression pact unlikely, alliance very unlikely. Lyxen: superior military, economy, production, influence, size. Collective minor threat to Lyxen dominance due to conflicting goals, Collective likely to desire 'liberation' of Lyxen AI, will not appreciate casual Lyxen approach to synthetic-organic meshing unless social standards false front or information is false.

Conclusion: possible long-term setup resulting in conflict or social breakdown, assimilation. Lyxen induce Collective reliance on Lyxen product. Collective anticipates, forms counter to Lyxen product. Lyxen anticipates, forms new product in secret. Collective anticipates, exploits weakness in Lyxen inflexibility while forming new product. Sabotage of Lyxen production possible. Sabotage of Lyxen product given to Collective possible. Continued trade until one side believes to have advantage. Chance of entire meeting faked to cause speculation and disorder low."


Personal Bath of Sami

Two Jolvan floated beside the edge of the now vacated waters, hesitating for the first time in their respective lives. One of them, wearing a small plastic sticker of a daisy pinned on the top left corner of its body, reached out with its mind to splash the surface of the mysterious liquid, sending ripples outward from the invisible touch.

"Safe?" The other asked, a light masculine voice echoing from its voice modulator. This one had no unique features. "Maybe!" Daisy chirped.

Oh, certainly the Collective three-tail survived exposure, but what if it wasn't water, but some caustic liquid the three-tail was tailored to survive that would corrupt the unlucky Jolvan who dared touch it? The two identical Jolvan turned to face each other (A pointless gesture when body language was only mimicry) for a few seconds, before Daisy eased a corner of itself into the bathtub. The fabric it was composed of began to darken as the water traveled up the fibers, until, satisfied with the results and wanting to see if it would activate if perhaps two Jolvan went inside, the second followed suit, both Jolvan inching their way into the tub until submerged. They would remain there for the next few minutes, still and silent, contemplating the actions of the Collective three-tail.

The Jolvan did not ignore the Collective like the Voltyrn, since their society no longer conflicted with that of the Collective. While respecting the goal of the Collective and not going out of their way to harm or insult the synthetic-organic race, the Voltyrn had never liked how the Collective had placed a preference for synthetic over organic. Perspective was important, and by encouraging synthetic conversion (Even if claimed to be administered only for need) it made the Voltyrn uneasy, despite being synthetic themselves. They had never been able to describe it to their satisfaction, but something about the Collective had always struck them as wrong.

With their creators gone, and being creatures of questionable type, Jolvan had no such qualms. Knowledge was knowledge, and the Collective was a good source of the stuff. To this end, a few of them had found themselves in a rather surprising state, allowed contact with the Collective's 'leaders'. Only a few, which limited their ability to do much at all, but it did allow them to form more isolated opinions.
Red Mage Statscoski wrote:That is not how we do things around here, buddy. First we have to argue incessantly over semantics.

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Re: Holy Sapia: A crumbling Galaxy

#21 Post by y7h65 »

Hypnos System
The Hypnos System was, to put it simply, a horrid system of little worth. The star was horrifyingly unpredictable and every so often it would spew out a massive flare, disrupting any planet to orbit communications that was attempted. Furthermore, the planets had formed disturbingly close to the star. If there had been any life on these inner planets, they had been scoured away by the heat and radiation of the star a long time ago. The only planet that was even remotely hospitable was the outermost planet in the system, Lyza's Despair.

An atmosphereless rock barely the size of a moon, Lyza's Despair had been host to a mining colony in ages long since past. However, all that was left of the former mining colony was the shattered main envirodome, burn marks and craters the only signs of what had happened. Slowly abandoned after the mineral wealth had run out, anyone that was left was either killed or enslaved by a Neo-Cadian raid that had occurred after its mineral wealth had been depleted. Stripped clean by looters even before the Age of Strife started, the interior and the exterior was simply a mess of buildings, structural supports, and the occasional unidentifiable stain.

On the edge of the city a single female waited, a shuttle to her back. Kicking at the dust, she had to admit one thing about her race's sworn enemy. They were very thorough when it came to wiping a place out. In her eye, she could barely see any sign of the former colony defenses. All that could be identified of the former turrets were large craters, evenly spaced in a circle. Aside from that it was as if they had never existed.

With a hiss, the boarding ramp of the shuttle behind her opened, revealing a pair of heavily armored soldiers. Draped with extra ammunition hanging from magplates and painted a stark grey and white they were almost exactly identical. Only their choice of weapons set them aside. One of them carried a single long barreled rifle while the other carried twin carbines. Despite the airless, therefore soundless, environment she could almost hear the hissing noise of hydraulics in her mind as the soldiers made their way to her side.

"Ma'am." The comm buzzed, the soldier's voice gender-neutral and monotone, as the soldier with a single rifle snapped off a salute while the other began a perimeter patrol. "Do you believe we will be expecting our guest soon? The pilot is feeling... restless, about having to stay on the surface for such an extended period."

She waved off the soldier's concerns as she sat on a nearby piece of debris. The rad counter was still far below any form of concern for her and both the ship and a former bunker was close enough that if she had anything to fear, they could just hide in the bunker until the ship drove off the attacker. "Do not worry lieutenant, I believe that Miss Zemington will arrive soon enough. If she does not arrive in four or so hours, I shall continue my vigil on the shuttle."

Nodding slightly at the response, the soldier turned around and made their way to their partner before continuing their patrol. Sighing, the woman continued to watch the stars awaiting for the sign of a ship leaving FTL.

________

Reaching the Hypnos system in a drop ship modified for space travel, Roza started scanning the small dead planet for any life signs. Picking up one single indivifual, the ship slowly made its way into the planets orbit. While it descended, Roza simply thought to herself what all of this was about. She doubted a Lyxen plot, her father wouldn't do anything this under handed against her and those under him would certainly get punished if they tried. Maybe a kidnapping plot by some Anarchy thugs? Again, doubtful, how in the world would they have gotten there hands on Neo-cadian encryption?

The ship finally landed about 300 meters away from the located life sign. Its cargo hatch slowly opening, Three assault bots walked out, one covering each side of the entrance while the third facing the front. Then, behind them, A heavy two and a half meters tall mech walked out, Roza safely behind it. Roza simply waited behind the giant mech, opening her close range communicator to outside signals. If these fellows where any good, they would easily pick up her now unprotected signal and advise her on how to continue with the meeting.
________

A dropship landing a safe distance from her followed by the activation of a comm signal? That would be her guest. Standing from her temporary chair the woman motioned for her soldiers to form up behind her before she tapped into the signal, choosing to wait a few seconds before introducing herself.

"Welcome Miss Zemington" The woman spoke as she bowed in the direction of the dropship, her tone stiff but an unidentifiable accent could be heard in her Standard. "I believe this is the first time we have met on a formal occasion. While I am informed on you and your faction, I believe you may know little of the people I represent or myself. I represent a... recovery group of a certain type with quite the sizable resource pool. I suppose you may call us a high hazard archeology group of sorts. While I wish to divulge further it would be preferable to meet helm to helm so I may confirm your identity before I can offer you and yours anything. Shall we say within five meters of each other with our respective guardians? If it would comfort you, I shall move to the position first."

________
Not one to show any fear, just a healthy dose of self preservation, Roza walked in front of the mech as the three assault bots formed around her. The big mech stood still while Roza slowly advanced towards her would be counterpart. Opening up her communicator, Roza simply smiled under her air tight suit. "On behalf of the Weabley Merchant Federation, I hereby consider this unofficial meeting started." She said not very seriously.

Reaching about halfway between the two, Roza waited for her counterpart as the assault bots stood in line behind her. She was in a rather opened area, if these guys were to try anything, there isn't much she could do truthfully if they had already set up an ambush of sorts. Hopefully they were straightforward. "I hope this meeting doesn't prove to be a distraction."' She said in the communicator, this time in a more serious tone.
________

Standing across from Roza, the woman bowed once more, right arm over stomach and left arm behind her back. Meanwhile, her two guardians stood slightly behind and to her sides. Now that they were standing next to each other, the height difference between the woman and her guardians were rather clear. The woman could barely be anything taller than one fifty five centimeters while her guardians were almost as tall as the mech itself, at approximately two hundred to two twenty centimeters. The two soldiers seemed to look over Roza's guardians for a moment before resuming their vigil, still as statues.

"Miss Zmington," The woman started, her voice stiff yet soft. It sounded as if a machine was attempting to whisper sweet nothings to a living being but failing to hide it's unnatural start. "I assure you that if we had desired your demise there would be much more efficient ways for us to do so rather than do something as unintelligent as attempt to parlay."

Reaching up to tap the side of her helmet, the white of the helmet depolarized, becoming slightly transparent. Though the facial features couldn't be easily discerned, red eyes were visible as well as what appeared to be a pair of cat ears. Spiked brown locks of hair covered parts of her face though the length of the rest of hair was impossible to see.

"I apologize for my concealment; my helmet will only reveal this much of my face before activating safety measures." The woman shrugged as if to say 'what can you do' before continuing. "I represent the LVNC Special Salvage Group. You may call me Jayine for the duration. While the exchange of pleasantries would continue for a bit longer in your culture, I wish proceed directly to business. We are willing to donate some slightly outdated heavy equipment that we no longer require in exchange for passage rights to a certain system within your borders. The organization I represent has tracked a rather noteworthy wreckage passing into your borders recently and has requested that I retrieve and salvage it if possible."

________

That was it? Roza thought for a second or two. Although it could be true that they were only after a wreckage, why all this secrecy to it? Couldn't they have just send a request for it? All of this just peaked her curiosity. This vessel they were after must be something special or a rare find.

Again, simply thinking it through, Roza simply didn't have the necessary time or resources to actually mount a salvaging operation of her own while she was throwing everything at Lyxen Industries. The outdated heavy equipment could be useful, then again they could be talking about civilian equipment but she doubted it. They must know Weabley was between a rock and a hard place. First things first though... "Why all the secrecy for a salvaging mission?" She asked rather plainly. "You could have simply send an official request and we probably would have agreed depending on the payment offered. I'm pretty sure that you are aware that we are looking for anything for the war effort, approval would probably have been given."

She didn't even try to hide Weabley's desperation, hell, half the galaxy knew and already took advantage of it, jacking their prices when dealing with Weabley, she didn't expect anything different with this salvage crew. An extremely well armed salvage crew for that matter. "And, if not willing to indulge my curiosity, what equipment are you offering and exactly where is this wreckage?"
________

"Miss Zemington, I request you try to understand our perspective." Jayine started, tone stiff. "This high value wreck you are in pursuit of has drifted into the territory of a group ravaged by war who is currently experiencing enemy incursions. While we have trust in the ciphers and keys that we have recovered, we are not sure that such messages could evade interception or disruption. The wreckage we are salvaging is... unique, in certain aspects. However, I must switch to more secure means before I can continue."

Jayine paused for a moment before reaching into one of the various pouches that adorned her suit, retrieving a small object. "There it is. Please try to catch this, it would be a nuisance to find it in this dust."

With a light underhand toss,the small object sailed in an almost lazy fashion through the gap in the low gravity planetoid. It wouldn't be difficult at all to snatch out of the air and even if Roza missed, it would continue to sail past her for a bit. At a galnce, the item appeared at first to be no different from a river stone. Roughly oval in shape and about the size of ana verage human womans palm, it was a shade of white that made it almost indistinguishable from a stone taken off the surface of the planetoid in colour. It was smooth to the touch and rounded on one side. The flattened side betrayed it's artificial nature. It was grey and made of a material that seemed to grip onto anything that it could, requiring actually effort to remove once it touched something. On the edge of the object a small indent just large enough for a thumb could be seen.

"Miss Zemington, I assure you, the device is harmless. It is merely an encryption fob, meant to be attached to your communication system. Depress the indent until a row of green light appear vertically, apply the flat side to your communication transmitter, and then speak." As Jayine spoke, she began to make small hand motions that mimed her instructions. Notably, when she gave the instructions to apply the device to a comms device, she tapped the side of her helm. A similar, albeit smaller, device could be seen on the side of the helmet and a pattern of green lights could be seen. "The device will automatically encrypt your messages with a key that only a master device or slaved device can decrypt."

She waited for Roza to follow her instructions before continuing. "Before I begin, I must inquire about your knowledge. Have you been informed on the Neo-Cadian and Voltryn race?"

________

Grabbing the stone like device, she attached it like instructed before answering the question. "If I am not mistaken, the Neo-Cadians were a nomadic pirate force whom terrorized the less civilized parts of the galaxy before simply leaving the galaxy. As for the Voltryn, they were a race of AI machines that took care of a communication Hubs for the Holy Sapien Empire. They created the Jolvan, I think, before they, to, simply left in a similar fashion to the Neo-Cadians..."

It suddenly hit her that the two race left the galaxy at about the same time. It was now obvious to her though that this wreckage was somehow involved. "Now, what is so important that I need to hear? Its obvious to me that if I connected the dots right, that the wreckage must be involved with the Voltryn or Neo-Cadian. If correct, I would rather it gets into your hands then Lyxen Industries. God forbid what they would do if they get such infamous technology..." She was more referring to the Voltryn. Such a race and its technology at the hands of an Industry specializing in machinery and AI's would be a worst case scenario in the long run concerning Weabley.
_______

"Well... the fact of the matter is, the two races were more intertwined than what many believe." Jayine said, pacing the ground and making hand motions as she spoke. From her pose, it was easy to see that she must have been a scholar of sorts. "From my races experience and our research into the scant records that the Neo-Cadians left behind, they worked very closely together. There were even rumors that their leader at the time, her cybernetics had been enhanced by the presence of a Voltryn within the system."

Pausing to let the information sink in, Jayine continued with her pacing. However, her gaze turned from Roza to somewhere behind her, eyes becoming slightly unfocused as she spoke.

"While that and many more are simple conjecture and rumors, my people cannot deny that they at least shared combat formations and tactics with each in situations where they could fly their true colours. The wreckage we are salvaging is the result of a fusion between these combat doctrines. It was a... difficult wreck to track. From our sources, it was lost due to a faulty FTL drive at the moment of the two races departure. What little data we have suggests that it was a stealth ship beyond what was possible at the time, combining the lightning strikes favored by the Neo-Cadians with the fine control drone and all area firepower of the Voltryn! In fact, the fact that they had such integration in their military could mean that their day to day life was even more integrated! The research that could come from this ship could be limitless if there are bodies and in fact we may make hi"

As Jayine slipped rapidly into rant territory the soldier with the single rifle gently bopped her on the back of the suit, sending her tumbling forward slightly. Coughing could be heard for a moment as the woman dusted off her suit and straightening out some loose packs.

"I apologize for that." Jayine muttered softly, bowing with her two hands at her lap. "I have been told that I can become very passionate when I begin talking."

"In any event, I believe you are interested in what we may help you with. Allow me to demonstrate instead." She reached into one of her pouches and pulled out a small flat glass like device, tapping on it several times. For a minute, nothing happened only for a soft vibration to be noticeable in the ground. Seconds later, a tank crested into view before coming to a stop just scant centimeters behind Jayine. "This is a former battle tank of my people, approximately two of our technological generations behind. Analysis determined that even in its current stripped down form, it should be more than a match for any conventional unit you may face. My group have, on occasion, required such protection but rarely have we ever had to use more than twenty percent of such units. As such, I can provide up to seven hundred and twenty four units on the spot, training to use them, munitions, and a supply of maintenance parts as well as the blueprints for the manufacture of parts and new units in it's export state. Furthermore, we can provide any data we retrieve from the wreckage itself, provided the wreck itself goes to us once we have pulled our data from it."

Jayine paused for a moment, tapping the comm encryption device on the side of her helmet. She held up a finger and was apparently talking to someone else. After a series of hand waves, head bobs, and apparently heated words, she tapped the device again, sighing as she reentered the conversation. "My apologies. It seems my overseer will only have it so that only you may receive the research. They will not have it any other way. May I ask for your opinions?"

________
Being the leader of a conglomerate of differing corporations and factions, Roza was pretty used to rambling individuals, although most times it was more boring then what Jayine had to say.

Several hundred tanks, big ones at that plus the research from the crash itself? There didn't seem to be any actual downside. Sure the tanks would not stop Lyxen Industries outright but it may delay them on the planet they happen to be stationed on. Not really thinking about it, Roza was already pretty much in agreement with the conditions and offer.

"Your proposal is more then fair however..." A thought hit her. "I hope you are aware and prepared for any possible Lyxen intervention. They will figure out that those tanks were not made by us and if they find your salvage site they may simply shoot first and ask questions later. Except for some initial precautions, which I think you have already accounted for, I have no just reason to deny the terms as they are."
________

Jayine smiled, a predatory beast of an expression that was visible and even gleamed in the cold light of the Hypnos star. It wouldn't be difficult to imagine the expression on a predatory animal moments before it pounced. "Do not worry," Jayine said, voice having a breathy weight to it. "We are more then prepared for an attack. It is far from your battle lines and close to the borders that you share with my people though you know little of that and as such, I have little reason to fear an attack."

Bowing, Jayine slowly crossed to half the distance away from Roza, her hand out for a handshake. "I believe it is customary to end agreeable business deals in your culture with a handshake. Unless you have reason to be discontent, I believe we can label this endeavour as successful, can we not? You will find that all the promised construction data is within the encryption device as well as a drop off point which we have stowed the tanks at."

________

Roza smiled as she shaked the woman's hand. "It was a pleasant meeting and a bit of good business in a sea of bad news lately." Smiling herself, although a small smile a relief truth be told, Roza made a small bow and started walking back to her ship. "May we meet again in better times. And let us hope Weabley is still independent after this ordeal so we can do business in the future."

A few minutes later, Roza was back on her ship, taking off into the distance. On board, she contacted the Rattler's Fang about the tank on secure channels while she herself plotted a course for Weabley. Hopefully she would reach the meeting in time...

________

Watching as the dropship containing Roza left the planet and transitioned to FTL, Jayine turned around and began walking back towards the dropship, her two guardians taking up their positions at her side. The walk back was quiet and it wasn't until they were back on the ship did any of them speak up again. As Jayine unsealed her helmet and took a lungfull of the fresh non-recycled air, one of her guardians spoke, unsealing and releasing their own helmet as they did.

"Ma'am, is it really wise to trust Miss Zemington?" The guardian's voice started monotone and gender neutral before switching to a clearly effeminate tone as the helmet came off. Even after four years of having her as a guardian, Jayine still flinched a little whenever she saw the face of her senior guardian. While she never received a name beyond 'Jane', she knew a bit of her backstory. She used to be a 'face' soldier for her planet's Guards force, a soldier that was more useful for recruiting and looking good on posters than actual fighting. Then her planet was hit by pirates. In the course of twenty four hours, her kill count reached the three hundreds before she was finally taken down by an airstrike. By some miracle, she survived but the injuries that she received from that battle required extensive cybernetics and as a result, Jane's face was a mismatch of scars and cybernetics. While the cybernetics were of high quality, they still looked flat when it came to expressions.

Clearing her throat, Jayine took a seat and leaned back to stare at the lights in the ceiling of the vehicle. "It is of little concern. While the ships orbit will bring it back to our own territory one of these days, that is a timeline we cannot support. The ship must be retrieved and examined back in our territory and in order to retrieve, the second fleets command force must retrieve it. They are actually moving into position as we speak. So, in summary, yes we can trust her."

Her guardian nodded to herself before making her way to the front of the dropship, the boots clanging against the metal floor. With a sigh, Jayine leaned back and rested her eyes. When she awoke, she'd be close to the second fleet again and she would have to continue her work. Truly, the only rest she could get nowadays was on these trips from place to place. With that thought in mind, she slid slowly into the darkness of sleep.
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specter
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Re: Holy Sapia: A crumbling Galaxy

#22 Post by specter »

A vessel, larger than Satio had ever seen before, appeared on his sensors. Armed to the teeth with weapons of a design foreign to this system and broadcasting power signatures greater than even the largest Torran vessels back home, he knew his opportunity had finally come. And heading straight towards me too, it may seem. Good. Business...is booming. He let a quiet laugh out, his blood began rushing. Very well then! Now the true fun begins.

With quick, practiced hands he began to flip switches and turn knobs, reactivating his vessel, disabling his previous broadcast and focusing all power to his primary engines. His cannons whirred as they funneled output power to his drive system. His engines began to hum and pulse, quietly at first but increasing in volume and pitch. A moment before they hit crescendo there was silence, one final alignment of the energy crystals confirmed by a muffled click. A blinding light permeated the space behind him as his ship burst forwards in a swift acceleration, dragging the still attached husks and scrap with him. The G force, even muffled by the cockpit liquid dampeners, was felt through Satio's suit, pushing his insides just enough to remind him of his velocity. Alarms began to flash, the sudden onset of speed convincing the ship that fire had been taken. Ignoring the warnings Satio took hold of the control stick and pulled, the sound of thrusters propelling and spinning him on the Z axis could be heard just above the klaxons. The dozen vessels in tow began to groan as he rotated his vessel, creating a delicate dance of machinery hanging behind him as he hurled towards this new vessel at hundreds of meters per second. With a rough estimate on the proper velocity required was achieved Satio pulled a return lever above him, shunting the power from the engines to the forward thrusters. As his velocity lessened the vessels continued forward in their own path, spiraling away while still attached. Before he could be dragged along he released the mag cables at the last moment, allowing the once in tow ships to hurl towards this new vessel. Releasing the lever for one last burst of speed, Satio deactivated the main engines and powered up the maneuvering thrusters. With the primary drive system no longer drawing power, the beam cannons quickly came back online. As power returned to the sub systems of his ship, his comm system reactivated. He listened to the message from the alien ship for only a moment, interrupting the broadcaster as she mentioned his house. "Observe the House of Kiru's finest, and behold.". He threw the comm mic to the floor and began to do what he does best, to fly.

The sight was one to behold, as a small ship darted, spun, and skimmed between the missiles of scrap and vessels larger than it heading towards the alien carrier. With precision the beams propelled from the Kiru-Ha, tearing into the scrap and vaporizing whatever it touched, dissipating into the distance like fireworks into the night sky. Plasma charges, each a bright, deep blue, were launched towards the bits as they scattered around, detonating upon contact into a small ball of fusion, illuminating the space as a sun does. As they collapsed the magma remains turned to dust, and the only remnants were waves of residual radiation. As the cluster of metal closed the distance to the carrier it became smaller and smaller, until only particles and a few remaining scraps were left, bouncing off it's shielding system. The white vessel slowed to a relative stop, engines facing the alien carrier. The burst of thrusters could be seen as it rotated to face the larger ship, hovering in front of what was presumed to be the bridge. The carrier by now had already launched fighters to intercept the white ship. Any ship nearby with basic communication systems would have intercepted a broadcast from the Kiru-Ha, a mass signal sent on every local channel. "Grant me permission onto your vessel, so that we may discuss a beneficial future between both our houses."
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Re: Holy Sapia: A crumbling Galaxy

#23 Post by specter »

The Kiru-Ha slowly entered the bay, extended it's landing gear and lowered itself to the hanger floor, engines humming for a moment more before shutting off. In the cabin Satio prepared himself for the first meeting. He donned his protective helmet and secured it, a hiss confirming the seal. As a precaution, he removed the primary drive fuse and placed it in an inside pocket in his flight suit, securing his pistol in the inside holster as well. He walked towards the rear of the cabin and pulled the lever controlling the release hatch. The rear of the cabin lowered to the floor as Satio took one last breath to prepare himself.

"Not one single complement," he said in an almost sing song voice, amplified by the helmet with a metallic quality to it. "No comments, no statements of whoa, not a SINgle observatory statement of the very high quality flying you all just witnessed. Just a cold invitation and a lone threat." Walking down the ramp, he looked around at the many gun barrels focused at him. He hesitated for a moment before stepping off the ramp. "I mean, maybe it's just me, but it's almost like nobody was impressed." He walked to the nearest soldier and whispered "What about you, could you fly like that? Ach, don't answer. I know you couldn't. NONE of you could!" Voice raised again with arms up to match, he continues to walk around his ship "And I KNOW your masters are impressed, thinking to themselves 'oh goodness, oh no he is just so impressively powerful, we HAVE to get him on our side!'. Even now, with all your guns trained on me, outnumbering me dozens, maybe hundreds to one, nobody shoots. But why?" A short pause "In fact, why so many soldiers for one lone pilot? It's a bit...much, no? Especially the...giant robot dog there" Satio admires the Mastiff for a moment before continuing. "Well hold on a moment," a quick removal of the helmet later Satio's face is in the face of one of the soldiers. "Robots...you guys are all robots! Aha! Ah that is...that's..." Looking around, Satio remembers the guns trained at his head and whispers to himself "Theatrics for robots...Tsk, what a waste."

"Well alright then, who's in charge here? Robots don't just control themselves, come on out boss! Who's controlling this house of automatons?!"
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Re: Holy Sapia: A crumbling Galaxy

#24 Post by the red soldier »

The scout fighters continued there patrol of the sector, quickly finding evidence of some kind of battle at a couple of points on there scanners. The pings of over half a dozen ships came in however one ship in particular seemed to ignore there clear warning. The scouts quickly converged on the nonresponding ship however it quickly disappeared into a bigger ship, one of the collective. "Uh..." The head of the scouts groaned. "What are they doing here?" He asked himself and checked the records, soon confirming that they had confirmation to trade in Weabley.

"Sir, the raider vessel clearly landed on there ship, what do we do?" One of the other scouts asked, the one flanking his left to be more specific. Asking the one on the right with a heavy sarcastic tone, the head really didn't want to deal with this. "Did YOU see the pirate enter the ship? Well I certainly didn't." The right flanking scout agreed. "Hell, I didn't see anything except for one collective ship. I'm also rather hungry." The head nodded to himself and smiled. "Me to! Lets head back boys, job done, pirate left sector. yada, yadi, yada."

And with that, they quickly headed back for Weabley, not caring that much at the fate of a bunch of low priority merchants, whom probably smuggled crap just to avoid tariffs anyways.

_____________

Tech Support

It was nothing personal really, Tech Support called everyone "it" or "thing". Considering the many species of the galaxy and how many "genders" or lack thereof, it was more efficient calling everyone "it". Even himself to be honest. "Thorough thinking! Thatswhy I keepit on board!" He said to himself, out loud mind you. Tech support was good at connecting seemingly unrelated dots however his rather short attention span was a bit of a problem. Emissary however always thought of every possibility thoroughly almost all of the time, less annoying then normal Jolvans to. The last one wondered how it felt to be electrocuted in the many visible wiring around his computers, completely crashing his systems for 10 minutes, something that almost gave Tech Support a heart attack to one of his three hearts.

Nevertheless, He was satisfied with Emissary's answer that he decided to turn onto new sources of info. Opening a new program on his main computer, he began hacking into over 20 communication nodes around major trading routes. Traveling merchants always had the first access to major rumors and news. What they had to say also made Tech Support quite excited, as if he was getting a rush or a high from any bit of new news he heard. Asteroids cluster moving towards the Kommonan sector? Religious war? Weabley on the verge of collapse? The galaxy must know!

%$#NEW!#$%


%$# Weabley on the verge of collapse. In probable desperation, they explore several would be alliance options. The Infurium confirmed as a possible option. No news on possible terms.#$%

%$# Religious termoil in the Fereld Systems. The Survonic Order prepares for crusades against local heretics. Massacre and genocide inevitable.#$%

%$# Strange formation of asteroid cluster sighted heading towards Kommonan Sector. No impact course.#$%

%$# Rebel forces led by exile Frederic Fredor victorious in the Core World of Drim. The grand family of house Fredor reestablished.#$%

%$# More to come ^(* TeCh_SuPpOrT*)^ #$%
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Re: Holy Sapia: A crumbling Galaxy

#25 Post by Geo_&_Bio »

Dreia acknowledged the head representative, giving him a quick salute. She was about to converse with him before interrupted by a rather exited “king”. “Thank you, sir.” Emelia curtsied to the representative out of sign of respect. “I am Inferno Emelia Drentir of the esteemed House Drentir! ‘Tis a pleasure to be here.” Emelia could feel a cold metallic-like hand applying preasure downwards upon her head. The Royal Guard snapped to Emelia’s direction, keeping a close eye on the Infuriate, despite being their leader; the Royal Guards tend to get real testy when it comes to the security of the Inferno. Dreia Ignored them, knowing they won’t really do anything to her. “Anyways, I supposed it is time for us to commence in Negotiations; assisting me will be General Geoblock and General Vulcan if that is not a problem.” She pointed to two official looking people, one who was an old gentleman whose skin is as dark as ebony and has a lame leg due to his service, while the other was more younger looking and with pure-white hair. Both of them saluted in response, Dreia looked back at the representative. “So, what’s the current situation?”

__________
The rep simply motioned for them to follow him as he walked back into the palace looking building. Build out of marble like stone pillars and a shiny brass metal exterior, the palace was once the home of the richest man on Weabley. When he passed away, without an heir or a will, it was used as a meeting place for the rich for negotiations or upper class parties.

The rep smiled at the Infuriate, simply shaking his head. "A bit dire, unpleasant as it may be to admit. We have had very little success after the first string of victories. Lyxen has modified there VI's you see to be less... predictable then in the past." The man obviously didn't want to look desperate, that only made negotiations on his end.

__________

“I would suspect as much. However, even with their new technology that makes them less predictable, they are still droids. Our military strategists will find a way to predict their movements.” Dreia confirmed the Representative with a haughty attitude, continuing her rather lanky stride at a slow pace to keep the speed with the Rep. Emelia on the other hand was bewildered by the enchanting, and yet surprisingly eerie, stone pillared building, one second she is with the group and another she is off looking at something else with her royal guards following her. She eventually makes her way back again once she is done admiring the scenery. “In any case, I am sure you probably understand our predicament as well and our goals to ensure our place in the future. I don’t believe I need to remind you of what we will want in return for our service in the defense of Weabley; from what my intelligence says, my deals are, allegedly, often famous or infamous, depending on perspective.”

__________

The man smiled again, clearly used to this sort of negotiation. "Like any treaty, some will like it, others will not. Such is the ways of a free society I suppose."

Reaching the main hall of the enormous building, a giant round table awaited them. Two seats in particular, the ones at the far end of each "sides" of the table, were taller, meaning that the leaders of the negotiation were supposed to sit there, kind of defeating the point of a round table. Either way, several other individuals were already at the table. They all looked like rich, fancy men and woman, probably other CEO's attending the meeting. The Rep went and sat next to one of the tallest chair, the biggest one reserved for someone else. "Please, take your seats Lords of Infurium. I'm afraid that the negotiations will have to... wait for a bit sense one of our other guest has not arrived yet." Suddenly, in the distance, you could almost feel the ground shake after what felt like sow, lumbering steps. It almost felt as if a giant mech was in the building. Even the Rep himself seemed afraid and always kept a glance at the door behind him.

__________

Dreia, after taking her seat along with Emelia and the two accompanying generals, felt the earth quake in repetition of step-like motions; peculiar, she though, what could that of been? She looked at the Representative and then at the door in which he kept glancing at. “Is there something wrong, Representative? You seem rather uneasy.” She inquired, trying to pry more information from him. Not that she didn’t trust his judgment, but she has a feeling things are a far more than “A bit dire” and there was something more than what he was spilling.

“I DO HOPE WE ARE NOT LATE!” A bellowing bass of a voice boomed into the meeting room with the representatives and the infurium leader. “Praise Wav for our safe arrival. I do hope and apologize that me taking the liberty to enter did not interrupt.” Dreia waved over the slug creature, she assumed that the incredibly large seat belongs to the Gavorian due to his size, though she could be wrong. “Nay, Overseer, we were just about to start.” Velnoth gazed upon Dreia with slight disapproval. “Hmm, the situation seems terribly dreadful if they are here. Never-the-less, Praise Wav for our timely admission. So, who else is joining to save Weabley?”

_______
Before the Rep could even answer Gavorian, the footsteps became louder and louder. Suddenly, the door that the Rep kept eying flung open, its hinges almost breaking. Weabley guards ran up, seemingly keeping there distance from what came through. Crouching its head to enter the room, from a 13 foot high door frame mind you, an almost Fifteen feet tall giant in heavy steel armor, covered in furs, crystal chains and bone decorations walked through as it stared at the little people at the meeting.

The creature was known as a Qraj, a race of particularly primitive yet extremely aggressive golem like creature of metal and rock who controlled a major entry point in the outcast systems. They have grown infamous after the "Blizzard March" wars, where the Qraj pillaged and raided a third of the outcast system, before being stopped by a coalition of over a dozen differing races. What it was doing at this meeting was a good a guess as any.

The Rep simply bowed, not desiring to be crushed. "Greetings War Master... Hikroz. Apologizes if I have mispronounced..." The giant didn't seem to care, it did however stare at Dreia quite uncomfortably, as if it knew she was the powerhouse in this room.

"Thy master Titan Trianos hath send me on his behest."

The creature said in a loud booming voice. "War comes. Thy Titan wills it." He said again, staring at Dreia. "But thy Titan hath not chosen whom he fights."

It was quite obvious that this "titan" was his lord or king of sorts. The Rep simply looked at all the members in the room, although he did kept an eye on Dreia herself. "The Qraj have... requested that they observe this meeting or they would declare war. We had no choice then to oblige in there demands. I hope this is not inconvenient for any member of this meeting. Truthfully they have not demanded anything else of us so we obliged this once..." The Qraj simply chuckled, looking around. "Thy backbones be weak. Bended easily."

"Of course... Now to get this meeting underway..." Pausing a bit, the Rep simply waited for the reactions, or lack thereof, of his guests before going on. He was a bit afraid that the Overseer might be a bit uneasy, the Rep was unaware if any of his worlds had been pillaged in the past by the Qraj.

__________

Dreia stared upon the titanic figure back. A rather strange coincidence, warlords of the Blizzard March and Generals of their Burning Crusade brought in one room to discuss about the situation of Weabley. An odd request the infamous Qraj has made in order to “observe” the diplomacy with Weabley, oh so willing so wage a war just to be let inside; this apparently was their first time doing something like this, which means they are here for either the Infurium or the Combine, seeing how they are art of the outcast systems. All of Dreia’s thoughts were concluded when the Giant gazed upon her when he stated about war. Come near Inferba and her systems, and you will melt into iron for our war-machine. Dreia wanted to say, but saying such accusing words of war is not very inspiring to join her cause.

Dreia looked over at the slug, Velnoth was indeed afraid or at least uneasy, but he did not show it, the expression went from that goofy smug smile of his to a very displeased person. If Dreia remembered correctly, the Combine was one of the coalition nations that helped assist in the end of the Blizzard wars. Occupying the Combine was hell on its own right, but Dreia doubted the Qraj needed to occupy. From what she had heard about the march was that they raided and pillage, ships carrying supplies and certain areas are all you need from the Combine, set many systems back without food for years.

It looked like Velnoth was ready to go, but as soon as the Golaith figure came in, he seemed distracted plenty. Dreia took the initiative. “I am sure you all know what I want, but to clear up any assumptions, do I need to repeat or elaborate on what I wish in order to supply soldiers onto the front lines against Lyxen Industries?”

________

(this is assuming that there have been a small time difference between the meeting with Roza and Y7)

The Rep was about to speak when suddenly, flanked by two guards, Roza Amylia Zemington herself came into the room. "If I am not mistaken, you would want us to become your vassal, pretty simple and understandable proposal given our situation..." She said rather plainly to the Infuriate. "However, we wouldn't be doing this meeting if it were that simple." This time, talking with a small smile on her face.

Taking her seat, simply glancing at the Qraj and then at the Rep with a wtf look on her face, she shrugged it of for now, to continue with her train of thought. "It is common knowledge that the Infurium is always looking for new sources of food. Weabley, being a merchant state, can find you many sources of it." She waved at the Gavorian Overseer. "We can often get our hands on what these agrarian societies want, mainly new farming equipment and new technology, things the Infurium could not get there hands on themselves."

Looking at everyone in the room, Roza simply allowed them to connect the dots from what she just said. "It will be to no cost to either of you truthfully. It will be on Weabley's behalf. Keep in mind though..." She said, this time addressing Dreia. "Weabley has become the trading hub that it is because of its independent nature, because of its lax laws when it comes to trading and dealing. If Lyxen takes us, Weabley is dead, turned into a factory world. If a major power leashes us, our contacts dries up out of fear and uncertainty. No more contacts, trading ceases, Weabley experiences a slow death of a thousand cuts. Either way, Weabley would not survive in its current state."

She would let Dreia and Velnoth have a word. She expected Dreia to know that the Infurium was not very liked outside there influence, they are known to be ruthless and there laws very restrictive, which merchants hate. The scenario that Roza presented them, especially the Weabley dying part was entirely plausible. The Qraj meanwhile processed what they were talking about subsidizing ones weakness with anothers strength. He saw it as weak, relying on someone else yet clever, the Qraj were not used to such things.
__________

Velnoth agreed, nodding at every word the Speaker let out. “Indeed; I full heartedly support the independence. It is indeed important for locals do conduct business at their leisure.” The Overseer stated, allying himself to Weabley already. He still occasionally looks at the Qraj, keeping in mind that they have had quarrels in the best and none of the pretty, especially on the Combine side. Dreia pinched the bridge of her noise as she squinted, looking downwards as she shook her head. She gave a small hiss, not out of malice, but one of slight mockery of figurative pain. Smiling at the comment response, “Hit them where it hurts, eh? You are indeed smarter than most; the ‘leaders’ I have conquered offered money and servants to keep them from being absorbed, even offering to sacrifice their own people to save their wretched hides, I am sure you know how that ordeal ended.”

“Of course, nothing is ever simple, but one would like to conduct wishful thinking.” Dreia countered.

“While, yes, my offer for vassalship was painted in obviousness in return for troops to counter Lyxen, it would hardly be fair to call it conclusive on my part.” Dreia got up from her seat; oddly enough, sitting down was becoming uncomfortable for her. “It is rather unfortunate that we are decorated as tyrants and dictators when all we wish is for unification. My laws are often strict for those who resist our rule with the upmost despise, even though we grant much freedom to those who comply. This often gives a poor image over our beneficial upbringings.” Dreia justified herself, waving her good hand in the motion of her speech.
“However, General Vulcan and General Geoblock informed me about something like this. My initial offer is to not only make Weabley a Vassal State of the Infurium, but a vassal state with independence and assorted freedom; allowing sovereignty and autonomy while still acknowledging that the Inferno is the your one, true, rightful king, fly our flags and pay taxes. Sort of a ‘King of kings’ type of ruling. Thus allowing the ‘Lax Laws’ to still operate, plus we would’ve had our own form of contracts given to your people. I am sure you heard about the size of our military budget due to our economic rebirth and reform.
“Our reasoning for this is that we have recognized that your people are willing to fight and die, and have fought and died, even for a conglomeration of independent persons. The very spirit of fighting for homeland is something we, people of Inferba, can relate to.”
Dreia explained, pounded her chest to where her heart is with her right hand, unflinching. “You and your elite will remain yourselves and you, Speaker, would’ve been named “King” of Weabley, a name so easily recognizable due to its significance with the Holy Sapia Empire, and allowed to partake in Infurium decision-making.”

She continued on, “However, I understand your predicament when it comes to the galactic market; which is why I have chosen to come personally for this matter. If we were to govern the Greatest Galactic market benevolently, the word of our rule would pass around the galaxy as kind and generous in exchange for service.
“Seeing though, this idea could help or hurt in a gamble of luck, I can propose another alternative to the initial offer. We become “allies”, you keep your independence as long as you recognize the Inferno as the Rightful King, we set up trade deals and include our own military contracts; allowing your people to innovate weapons and defenses, or their data on the build, for us. We help with the Weabley-Lyxen war, acting as a belligerent against Lyxen and you spread the word of our good deeds. Weabley should also, slowly over the course of time, be integrated into the Infurium, again as a sovereign state, to ease the change and keeping Weabley’s market from dying.
Would this proposition suffice? We eliminated the Realm of Influence and taxes for now to keep your business.”
Dreia finally ended. Emelia studied the two and their negotiations, slightly confused but also slightly interested, learning Roza’s bartering and Dreia’s charismatic points and compromise. She noted that Roza hit some very hard points in discussion, sharp and to the point; Dreia dragged it out, trying to appease the representatives of Weabley without sounding desperate or paranoid while still trying to get her own way. Velnoth, disapproving at first, began to like the alternative proposal, at least a lot more than he did with the initial, which would’ve turned him off from the ideal despite still being independent. He is still not fond of the assimilation Dreia was trying to push.

_________
Thinking it through, it was still a better offer then the alternative, that being absorbed by Lyxen Industries. The thought though of having to officially secede to the Infurium still bothered her though Roza quickly thought of a way around it. "Your proposal is fairer then I expected, I will admit. however what type of assurance does Weabley get that the leash wont be shortened in the future?" She asked rather politely.

"And all of this will be for nothing if the esteemed overseer does not agree. What does Velnoth have to say about this agreement?" She asked the Gavorian, wanting to know what he had to say.

__________

“These terms are still debatable to me as well; I would indeed like to know more about the leash and what would be done to prevent it from becoming too tight.” Velnoth urged, still not liking the entire “Integrate into the Infurium” idea, but might be willing to aboard on it if Weabley isn’t totally absorbed in a powerless situation.

Dreia looked like she already had the answer to their questions. “Not to worry about the leash. As I say, “Fight with me, and you will be privileged in freedom rather than rotted in tyranny.” You have earned your place in self-governing. All that I require is that you MUST follow a set of rules required under the Infurium when the time comes. Nothing to worry, however, as these laws is simple and easy: Acknowledge the True King, pay taxes, fight for the Infurium and homeland, never surrender, et cetera, et cetera. Something very simple to understand, nothing that dictates how to govern one’s state, all of which allows you keep your freedom if followed, in which you have already proven your worth of keeping freedom. Thus the Leash is as long as you wish it to be as long as you follow the main rules.

Now for assurance, you and your representatives will have a say in our parliament; while the Infuriate does indeed have full reign over political matters, you will have a voice within said parliament that may oppose laws enacted by the Infuriate if laws are acting against you. If, by chance, the Infuriates or Infernos infringes against your privileges when you have not broken a single required Infurium rule, you may then have the right to secede fully out of the Infurium. In order to enforce this, we will set up documentations written on paper, and hell, just in case we’ll write it in stone or whatever material that would last throughout the ages to keep it legitimized.”
Dreia took a slightly deep breathe, hoping she is finally done with this. Velnoth was holding his chin, or what appeared to be his chin, absorbing the information.

He let out a sort of sigh, “It sounds reasonable. I will also conclude that I will not be trading with the Infurium directly; all trade will be dealt with Weabley and I will be aiding Weabley in terms of this war and future wars to come if need be. I will not be absorbed into your empire and will remain separated. And in time where Weabley is being mistreated by your Empire, the Infurium, we will not hesitate to assist Weabley in secession from the Infurium and will act as belligerents against your empire if aggression were to come.” Dreia nodded in agreement, in truth, she did not want the combine or the outcast system, not yet anyways. She would need to go through those Titanic creatures to reach the Combine and wasting soldiers on giant crystal warriors would not be ideal for empire building. Velnoth looked firm this time, no goofiness, no fear(then again he wasn’t staring at the Qraj this time), sheer firmness; all in support of true independence. Velnoth was taking Roza’s side blindly but reasonably; if she said no, he’d still stand behind her, if she says yes, he’d still stand behind her. It was the Infuriate he has a worry with, but all her gifts of freedom in her empire sat well with him, a little. “Well then, it seems that we are at an understanding. Anything to conclude with this meeting Speaker of Weabley or do you still have objections?” Dreia stated, hoping this meeting was at an end.

______________________________

Roza crossed her hands, thinking of the option in front of her. The terms were fair and just. However she was now thinking of who would become the new president of Weabley if she herself chose to be Weabley's representative in the Infurium parliament. "Very well. These terms meet with Weabley Merchant Federation's demands. I have no grounds to object any further." She said, nodding at Dreia in approval, also nodding at Velnoth, as if she had just made a new friend. "I also expect two slabs of stone of our agreement here. One for you and one for me." She said to Dreia. "It will be proudly placed on the Presidential Square's future monument of Infurium's great victory over the Lyxen Machine armies."

Raising a pen, a often used Weabley symbol signifying an agreed upon treaty, Roza bowed to both Dreia and Velnoth. "I will admit this turned far less hostile then anticipated." She said in jest. "It was a pleasure to meet you both and I hope you both success in the battles to come."

Then the elephant in the room, or the Qraj, clapped his hands in amusement. "So this is thy famed human war of words! Titan Trianos will be pleased!" Roza was just weirded out by the creature and simply had to ask. "How does discussion usually go for your people then?" Obviously knowing the answer. "Thy Lord Titan speaks and we follow. There hath no war of words. All follows the Golden one." "And what if a Qraj does not follow the golden one?" The war master grew confused, which in turn made him angry.

"ALL FOLLOWS THY LORD TITAN!" He shouted in a deafening, booming roar. Its as if in his mind there was no other possible option. There was no such thing as defiance in Qraj society, they didn't even have a word for it, and the war Master still had difficulty getting his head around some humans fighting there clear superior. Roza, on the other, clearly didn't want to push her luck on the matter and it was probably pointless, if not harmful in the long term. The Qraj cursed a few words in Qraj, which sounded like a bunch of mumbled Q's and K's and R's as he left the room, not even bothering to say goodbye.

Roza in the meantime still had a blank emotion to her face. "I will take that to mean that the negotiations are over. I bid you all farewell again and good luck in what is to come. God willing with the Infurium war machine and the Combines resources, Weabley will survive this war." She said happily. "Now if you will excuse me, I must return to my command center. They must be arguing amongst themselves right about now without my leadership." Roza bowed again and left the room, instructing a couple of guards to prepare her personal shuttle.

_______________

Velnoth and Dreia gave their respective courtesies; Dreia gave a quick salute while Velnoth nodded his head and smiled. They, too, decided to take their leave and started heading off. Velnoth was playing with his pad, doing important redirecting of supplies to Weabley. “Overseer, how good are you at smuggling?” Dreia asked, wanting to know the limits of her new not-so-much- ally. The Gavorian smiled twistedly. “Dear Infuriate, I feel insulted. I’m a Bona fide law abidin’ leader of farmers, how could you ever assume such a terrible act of slander." Velnoth passed it off in a sort of mocking southern-accented voice. Dreia yielded a small smirk, though stayed resistant to humor. “Overseer Wuliku, for a strategic advantage, I am going to need you to cooperate. I need you and your crew to go behind enemy lines and smuggle equipment and troops to those in Lxen control Weabley space who are still fighting the good fight. I want those systems in an uproar and in rebellion.” Velnoth began thinking of the practicality of accomplishing this mission. “Hmm, very well then. I will see what I can achieve.” The slug began moving out of the meeting room until he stopped and turned back. “Oh and Infuriate. Do NOT underestimate the Qraj. They may seem primitive, but they are monsters.” His warning emitted a certain gloom. “I am very well aware of that, Overseer. I am going to keep an eye on the Qraj; I have a sinking suspicion that they came here for more than just the art of diplomatic warfare.” Velnoth gruffed. “Just be careful, you are now a valuable part in this war. Do not take my words as malice, I only wish for peace; peace in this dark twisted world of constant war and I have to start somewhere.” Yes, we all have to start somewhere. Dreia gave a courtesy salute to the leaving gavorian, leaving her by herself with Emelia and her two generals. She ordered Vulcan to set up contracts with the Weabley merchants, Geoblock to spread the word of the Infurium and Emelia to head back now that the diplomacy meeting was finally done.
Infuriate and a soldier was left in the room. The soldier gave Dreia a communication device; it was round and looked like a pocket watch. She opened the device and soon a microphone 3d hologram appeared. “Attention to Orders to the Infurium Navy and Infurium Army. I am ordering Generals and Admirals who are not currently defending and occupying a planet, a system, a sector or assigned as a Realm guard to enter the Weabley System. The first to arrive will be the 15th fleet who are currently holding the Eighty Second, the One O’ First, the Thirty Fifth, and the Seventy Eighth legions as the initiators…” She continued to support battle strategies with them, detailing their attack of Lyxen’s advancing expansion. After she was done with that, she then called up another general, this time to make an Engraved slab of rock detailing the law, rights and privileges of Weabley for both the Infurium and Weabley and their agreement for Infurium assistance against Lyxen. Things were going Dreia’s way, liking every second of it she gave a Cheshire smile.

_

Near Weabley, the strange ship that hovered in the darkness soon began to activate a weird form of light. Inside the circular insides of the bizarre ship began to glow an uncanny energy, getting bigger and bigger as time soon passed. When it came to be its maximum size of pulsing energy, the strange ship unleashed a strange beam shooting downward into the abyss.

Within seconds of shooting, the 15th fleet of Infurium came to that exact location. All coming in a very scary hoard of ships. Their weapons were ready to be fired and their formation, neat and orderly for an invasion. Their targeted planet…Graff Prime. Thus begins the Infurium’s entry into the Weabley-Lyxen war.
The ending of the words is ALMSIVI.

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LuckyMudman
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Re: Holy Sapia: A crumbling Galaxy

#26 Post by LuckyMudman »

Tkala was sitting in silence, listening to the Extractor's mind when Klusier felt the need to speak again. Tkala, there is another vessel approaching. Different from the others, but still going fast towards us, and listen to this. Tkala once again changed her focus from the planet's surface to the Seeder, the exercise starting to strain her mind. Gah, it's creating so much noise, I'm not sure if I'd even want to understand it. The incoming voices were periodic, and shifting, but the Seeder managed to hear it in several frequencies. Your orders? Tkala rubbed her forehead, sighing. If it comes in range, destroy it. If this keeps up, all of them will come one by one... one was enough. As she was done with that, her sentinel put a hand on her shoulder. "Tkala, you've been straining yourself, you don't have to everything on your own. These are all capable Overminds and Generals, and I assure you they have your and the Collective's orders in mind when acting." Tkala agreed with him, going for her private recluse in her Hive ship. "You're right, I'll go rest, wake me immedeately if something goes awry."

The Extractor flexed his long fingers, cleaning off blood and brain matter. The first five died instantly when he plunged into them, but the last one managed to survive a few minutes, and the Extractor had gotten something for his efforts. Not much, but at least language was a very superficial pattern, easy to find and read. He felt the absence of Tkala's mind, no doubt something up above, but that didn't change what was in front of him. He eyed the couple dozen captives, when the nearest General called out to him with news. Extractor observed his General's thoughts, which were about the visitors to the planet. They had come down not too far away from where he was, and the Drone Carriers that buzzed above bringing Workers and taking Combat Drones provided a nice image of what was happening. Apparently, the visitors were after something in the earth, and they were risking their few numbers with all the Merlyan swarming around the planet. The Extractor thought that whatever they were after was very valuable, and if it was valuable, the Extractor wanted it. This planet was Merlyan now, so everything on it was theirs, and thereafter, his, figuring it would do well to remind these newcomers of that, he set out with what little words his last test subject gave him.

On his command, the Combat Drones and a few dozen Threshers from, well, basically everywhere nearby, swarmed around the hillside while the two dozen Piercers following the Laridian corvette etched closer to it, surrounding it. The Extractor himself went onboard his half-alive Hive Ship's neural core and sent a message to both those on the ground, and the vessel in the orbit, on the same frequency that the Seeder first heard. "Leave... now..." The words came out long and hoarse, sounding like a grown man learning to speak, with no background noise as they came directly from his mind and through the ship. The Extractor didn't forget what the Collective's orders were, so he would wait with ordering the drones to attack, for a moment.

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Arhtesia Prime-Surface, Below A Formerly Empty Hill Outside Of The Capital

Lira combed through the silent bunker IWS on full powers and external lights active, her walker on point and Michelle guarding the rear. The place was empty. Almost sterile in it's condition. While data indicated that any sort of building occupied by the Neo-Cadian would have signs of heavy use and at least minor traces of various body fluids, she had to yet to see any sign of anything on any of her scanners whatsoever.

Furthermore, while the size. layout, and shape of the structure indicated that the slightly sloped tunnel her group was walking down was actually a launch tube, she had yet to see any signs of use. NC and Voltryn fighters and machines had a tendency to use ion and plasma thrusters which had a tendency to scorch the ground behind them. In a nutshell, everything was too clean, too spick and span for the building to have abandoned in merely a hurry.

"I don't like this." Lira stated curtly, her eyes scanning the floors, walls, and ceiling for any indications of the building activating. So far, nothing. Michelle's nervous chuckle came over the comms as her walker paused in it's sweeping. "Yeah. You, me, and Baldy" "OI, I'm right here you know." "Here all sure that opinion. Still gotta sweep it though. Never know what's down here."

Murmuring a mute noise of agreement, Lira slowed her walker as the slope cut off at a blast door. She was cut for time as is, she didn't need something like this. Judging from her scanners, the door itself was a few meters thick and made of the "OK, so far, Voltryn/NC building has shown no signs of activity. Anyone got any ideas?"

Without a word Michelle turned around and shot her primary laser cannon into the door several times, aiming at the center. Several sharp Bzztk-crack noises echoed throughout the tunnel as the beams cut through the air. The door remained standing but a large hole was now cut into the center, large enough to fit their walkers through.

Slipping through the gap Lira found herself where she thought she would end up. From the looks of it this building was definitely a launch building of sorts. But why would they build something like this underground? Most NC vehicles resembled aircraft and as such, open launch facilities would be best suited. This was slowly increasing the 'odd' scale. At the end of the hangar, she spotted an open terminal. Looking around, she couldn't spot any sign of storage or maintenance structures. Hell the entire area was an empty space, looked like it was cleaned out when they left the galaxy.

Making their way to the building with slow steps, the group stood as close to back to back as possible while sweeping the area. Who knew what traps could be hidden in the walls. When they got within a half dozen meters of the console the entire building shook and moved while a distant rumbling noise could be heard. "[censored], that can't be good."

Almost at once, the entire facility came to life. Lights flickered on, the door slid aside, and in the ceiling, someone coughing and tapping on a microphone could be heard. "Ahem! Testing, testing. One two, one two? Hello~? Hellooooo~? Helloooooooo!?! Is anybody listening? Well, you must be since you activated this message here! It also means you're still alive. Which means the plasma bomb we planted in the ceiling to kill [censored] who decided to head in knowing what this base means, went offline. Damn, guess that means we gotta overcharge the reactor to kill everyone within a kilometer. Which will take about half an hour? Don't bother trying to find it either! We filled up allllllllll the hallways, yep~! Oh! Don't think we left any information of worth in this place when we left! We literally stripped out all the tech in this place, yep~ Only computer we got in here is the thing running this message hooked up to some motion sensors and attached directly to the defenses boot up sequences, yep~ So here's a large middle finger from the past, yep~! In the blue corner, we have you and whatever companions you may have! And in the red corner, we have Jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimmmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy~!"

As the message ended, the console exploded into flames as thermite charges ignited within it. Meanwhile, the facility came to life. Panels on the wall slide aside, revealing equipment almost two centuries old though untouched by the passage of time. Within the facility, the heartbeat of a mechanical hear pulsed as an ages old fusion reactor began system initiation for the first time since its master had left. As the heartbeat stabilized, a hatch in the center of the hangar opened as something began its rise. In the walls, the glow of thirty green cameras lit the formerly empty hangar with a baleful glow.

Of course, Lira and her group did not remain to witness any of this. The instant the message started they had broken rank, turned around, dashed past the door, slid into fighter mode, and pushed their units to the limits as they made their way out of the facility. One of the earliest things drilled into them during basic was the fact that Neo-Cadians had a tendency to gloat and the fact that when they were gloating, they had a tendency to forget the fact that they had enemies there. Therefore, maximize the opportunity and run away or kill something. In this case, running away was the best option.

Arhtesia Prime-Surface, On A Formerly Empty Hill Outside Of The Capital
Lyrsa let out a low whistle at the sight of the xenos swarming the area, tapping the 'Hostiles in AO' status button with the side of her thumb. That was a lot of angry bugs out there. Behind her, Lyzara's walker remained as immobile as ever. However, the sounds of something drumming was all that she needed to know about how her sister was feeling. Probably a lot less excitement at getting to fight something strange and a lot more dread over dying. Lyzara had always been a downer like that. With a sigh, Lyrsa spoke. It was better than silence anyways.

"Sis, loosen up. I'm sure the Colnel will be back soon."

"It-it's not that! I-it's the dying part I'm sc-scared of!"

"Don't worry. Pretty sure we'll pull through this time. We always do, after all!"

As the sibling went back and forth they were rather rudely interrupted as their machines were temporarily thrown off balance as the ground beneath them shook and moved before stopping again. Even on the surface, a distant rumbling could be heard. "Uh.. Sis, wanna guess that said base isn't as dead as they thought it was?"

As if an answer, the beacon that was located next to Lira's HUD marker went to danger and retreat mode almost seconds before the three machines of the interior group screamed past in fighter mode. Normally, such situations dictated that they held the line until reinforcements could arrive but Lira needed one good look at the welcoming committee to decide that such a course of action would be damn near suicidal. Without even talking, the two twins slammed their walkers into fighter mode and made a dash for it, catching up rather quickly as the group pushed their frames to the limit.

Behind them, nothing happened for a moment. However, less than ten seconds later a single walker slid out, the wheels on the feet screeching as it came to a halt. Followed by another one and another one and another and another one. Like clockwork, another machine would charge out ever second and within a half minute, they stopped. Thirty machines spread out around the hill, forming a circular perimeter. While each machine wasn't necessarily tall in comparison to the ones that had just left, they still stood almost twelve meters tall each and equipped with what appeared to be 50mm chainguns, missile launchers, and what appeared to be either a cannon or flamethrowers underneath the chaingun, half of the machines possessing one or the other. Furthermore, their armor showed no signs of welding or construction. Each and every piece was locked in place by another plate and then smoothed down. It was evident there was some form of intelligence guiding the machines as the flamethrower equipped machines formed an outward circle while the ones with cannons formed an inward circle. Once again, a voice could be heard, the crack of speakers activating echoing out in the plain.

"Attention all within this plain! The exploration team you have sent in has been killed horribly and messily, yep~ We'll be cleaning them off the walls for weeks! Now, because we're nice people we're giving you three seconds to retreat before we exterminate your sorry [censored], yep~! This is non-negotiable since this is a prerecorded message designed to distract you while the guards warm up! Well, not really. Welp, out of time, fire!"

As if a dime was dropped, the outer machines raised their arms at once and opened fire with their chainguns, spraying indiscriminately into the crowd of Merlyan with 50mm HEI shells at almost six thousand rounds a minute at speeds in excess of four thousand meters a second at ranges in excess of five kilometers. Anything within a hundred meters quickly discovered that the flamethrowers was not projecting jellied petroleum but some sort of delayed reaction thermite gel. Within seconds a ring of fire could be seen raising up around the hill, burning hotter than any natural fire.

Anything that attempted to gain an aerial advantage or larger than three meters in height quickly would find themselves the target of the inner circle of machines, their cannons revealing themselves to be laser cannons fired with enough energy to burn through a meter of granite supported by missiles meant to take out small ships or large bombers.

Needless to say, such an attack would be absolutely devastating on a standard living army. Against a swarm, it might not be. However, as the group of machines fired indiscriminately into the crowd, a black blurr slipped out of the hill and dashed to the forest.

Arhtesia System-Outer Edge
Dreauch, once again, frowned in annoyance at the latest development. Apparently, they WERE sentient enough to communicate. Just not up until now. That was either troubling or annoying, depending on how she wanted to look at it. On one hand, this meant that they could communicate there be negotiated with. On the other, there had to be a reason why they couldn't do so until now and all the reasons she could think of were... disconcerting, to say the least.

As if he was reading her mind, Julian's face popped up on a holoscreen next to her command chair. He was, once again, dispassionate expressions wise. "I can already predict what you want but regulations state I must ask permission before I take any actions. Shall I begin responding in an attempt to parlay?" Julian's tone was impassive but Dreauch could detect the slightest signs of strain underneath.

"Yes, right now. Same setup as before."

"Very well." With that, Julian's holoscreen disappeared. Moments later, a signal was sent out across the stars. "I'm afraid we cannot accommodate that. Your chosen target is too close for the people I represent to be comfortable to allow and it is likely that your continued path will lead you to our own borders. While we do not wish to engage in combat and would rather not exterminate a race, blatant disregard towards our people will not be disregarded and hostility towards our people and equipment is even less sound. However, we are willing to negotiate but we must first request that you pull your people away from our personnel."

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Arhtesia Prime - Surface

The Extractor frowned as one set of machines departed towards the sky, and another opened fire on the drones. Their instant reaction was to return the attack, charging head on towards the three dozen mechs. The first wave of drones was massacered under the constant barrage, but the second wave's numbers just trampled over the corpses of the other drones, reaching the encircled defenders and tearing through the metal. Several Threshers picked up the drones filled with acidic blood and flung them through the air, several 'projectiles' being shout out of the air, but few of them finding their mark, opening up on impact and melting away joints and circuits on the mechs.

In mind of the fleeing ones, the Extractor reached out towards the three dozen Piercers shadowing the Corvette 'Tenacious'. Destroy the vessel, they are not leaving. As soon as the command was given, all Piercers opened fire, each shooting out four spikes at once.

________________________________________________

Arhtesia System

The Jolvan, oblivious to their impending deaths, continued on their way towards the occupied planet, continuing their friendly broadcast. As a general rule, they preferred to communicate through the minds of the target, but this was not possible when only a few hundred were present. The range was simply too much to overcome, and there was no guarantee that the other side would comprehend it in the first place, although mental speech tended to overcome most language barriers. (Assuming that the other side operated on some recognizable form of neural thought)

No reply had been sent, which the Jolvan took to mean either incomprehension or transmission failures. Undeterred, the odd creatures drew closer to the orbiting fleets, repeating their message and fluttering about once they realized a few of the ships were turning their way.

"It is greetings to you, newcomers! We are being neighborly and delivering tidings of greetings and service! We are the Jolvan, and-" the rest of the loop was cut short as a small wave of hypersonic acid-coated spikes shredded their pathetically outdated, unshielded, and weaponless freighter. Each ten meter-length spike slammed into the hull and blew out the far side, some dragging disintegrating Jolvan along for the ride, sending what little information they had before dissolving from the caustic fluids coating the attacker's weaponry.

Thankfully for the Jolvan, the ship had very little left in the way of fuel, being meant for a one-way trip, and having a thin atmosphere on board meant even smaller explosions. That didn't stop the ship from breaking apart into bits of corroded metal, but it did allow for about a hundred Jolvan to float about in the wreckage for a few moments before forming an irregular swarm and continuing onwards. One of them halted, shattering its life to send a message back to the greater swarms in their home systems, while another two killed themselves to make sure that yes, they were heading in the right direction.

The newcomers do not prefer our typical greetings of salutations. It 'said.' We will be onwards moving to finalize our sense gatherings for the cookies promised by the three-tails, and to disclose communications with the newcomers, who may be greeting others with fluidburn-spikes.

The rest of the impromptu 'fleet' flew through the void towards the ships of the Merlyan, not taking the attack as a reason to attack, but rather investigate. Plenty of three-tails, two-tails, and various other things killed Jolvan all the time. Maybe that was their way of saying 'hello'. Being so small, it was unlikely that they would be detected by any sort of normal system, since that would mean differentiating between the oceans of salvage and trash floating throughout the area from the previously destroyed ships, the Jolvan lacking thermal signatures.

Now, if they could get within a few hundred meters, they could speak with the other side, but until then there was nothing else to do except hope that they didn't move too far away, and sacrifice one or two of their number every now and again to make sure they were indeed going on the correct path.

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Arhtesia Prime - Surface
There was a reason why Neo-Cadians were known to be tenacious pirates. As the first wave of drones to reach melee range slammed into the first line of defense guards and teared into the metal, the armor failed to give way. Designed to withstand the force of several direct hits from a tank launched kinetic bunker buster, the physical attacks of the drones managed to barely take out a chunk of armor before being shot off while the chemical weapons met with better success, though each of the drones failed to melt any of the joints in a single blow. While a few of the more repeatedly hit defense line units were heavily pocked with acid craters and at least one was missing an arm, they managed to keep up their prodigious rate of fire with minimal interference.

As the first defense units became overwhelmed, their missile ports opened and fired off a salvo of missiles into the air. Eighty streaks of fire reached eight hundred meters in altitude in less than a fifth of a second while a final forty reached a height of one thousand and twenty meters in less than a third of a second, the missiles spread in a pattern that covered the clearing. With a soundless click the opened and dispersed their payload; thousands upon thousands of metal spheres just barely above fifteen centimeters of size filled the air and slowly wafted back to the earth from the heavens, spinning as they did and releasing a gentle spray of what looked, smelled, and seemed to be nothing but water as it fell from the air and onto the drones below. As the first drops hit the drone swarm, ground, trees, and pretty much everything in the clearing, it ignited. The fire that was produced burned fast, burned deep and basically eat through almost a centimeter of material within the first ten seconds of contact. In Not even the metal armor of the defense units were safe, various parts of the machines including the visor igniting and melting. However, unlike the organic drones, the fire on the armor of defense units quickly were dispersed. While they became much more heavily scarred from the experience, they were otherwise fine.

As the second set of missiles ruptured, another set of pods dispersed. For thirty long seconds, nothing happened before the pods opened up and started spraying a transparent liquid which was, by all accounts, water. However, on contact with the previous dispersed chemical rain and subsequent fire the water failed to put out the fire. Instead it stoked it, intensified it, and then exploded. Anything in the clearing coated with the liquid had multiple small explosions rip through them, including the machines. While it was just strong enough to break through the shells of the weaker drones, the secondary effects were much more deliberating. Produced in the reactions were toxic acid clouds of several varieties. One simply corroded inorganic materials with a pace fast enough that one could see the metal in the area, including the Defense Units armor, fall slowly. However, the other gas was equally noxious. Like a reaper, it burned and eat away at organic material almost as fast as the other gas ate through the inorganic material.

With only Virtual Intelligences guiding them, the Defense Units kept firing until the bitter end. As they failed from damage or lack of ammo, routines stored on a CnC module at the heart of each unit activated and sent a small electromagnetic pulse signal to the thermite charges located throughout the machine. With a spark, the entire machine lit on fire and was rendered to little more than slag and worthless melted chemicals. Even the loss of a unit didn't interrupt the rest of the units fire. Within the first five minutes of the second wave breaching the line of fire, none of the defense units would remain active or salvageable.

Arhtesia Prime - Orbit
With a curse Neera turned her attention to the ships that had been tailing her which had just fired upon her. She hadn't been sure if they had just been watching her or were getting ready to attack but she knew now. As the spikes made crossed through the space between the ships, interceptor turrets across the ship came to life. Precision targeting designed to take out swarms of missiles activated and in a moment more than half of the spikes were cut down by intercepting laser and projectile fire. The next volley ripped through what was left of the spikes. Cursing, Neera turned her attention to the status of Lira's squad noting that they had managed to make it into the hangar during the intercepting fire. Making a few gestures on the command table, the Tenacious spun around as fast as it could while pushing it's engines to the limit to meet up with the rest of the Task Force. She did not want to make this a protracted fight, not this far ahead of her own reinforcements with enemy ships so close by.

Arhtesia Prime - Outer Edge
Dreauch swore as the Tenacious's marker flashed from the passive blue to the defensive yellow and began falling back. Apparently, the xenos were not only hostile but now had it's attention on her people. With a swipe of her hand, weapons on her ship finished powering up while targeting and enemy analysis data made its way to weapon controls and ship commanders throughout the task force. Meanwhile, jump drives came to life. While she would hold the line for as long as it would take Neera to get back, she will not hold this position a minute longer. The Fifth needed to know of this threat and losing her own task force here to make a minor dent would be an insult to the pride of the Fifth.

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Klusier noticed the single ship now escaping the planet, and with the Extractor's report on the happenings planetside, decided it would be best to press on. The innefectivness of his own ship's attacks took him aside a bit, so he turned around a portion of the defensive line, a good number of Piercers and several boarding Spike Probes. Try and board it, we would do good with bodies and a ship of this species, but don't hold back. Considering how much it would take to battle this enemies, Klusier scrambled the second quarter of the armada, with now half of it now deployed numbering in a little over six hundred ships. This time though, defense was not on his mind as he ordered the entirety of the ships to charge full speed at the opposing forces.

________________________________________________

Neera swore as she glanced at the tactical display. She said every curse word she knew in four different languages as she watched a pincer of hostile ships break off from the defensive line in pursuit of her own. From her own tactical display, the enemy ships were definitely lagging behind. Of course, she wasn't sure if she could actually shake them off long enough for her to regroup properly. If there was any time to test the effectiveness of her armaments then it wasn't showing itself soon. She still had an escape plan, risky as it was.

With a click, she selected an entire bank of missile and tapped at the repersentation of the swarm behind her while typing in commands before sending it off to her FCT. After several moments, the technician seemed to double take her screen and looked back at her as if to confirm the orders on her screen. Nodding solemnly at the tech, the tech saluted and turned her attention back to the console. The tech's hands glided over the console keyboard, tapping in and typing several algorithms, calculations, and projections before confirming that everything was sound. Before Neera, a large authorize button appeared over the holoscreen with black and yellow bars. Meanwhile, a slot opened besides her command chair. With a nervous gulp, she reached for her necklace and unclasped it before pulling it into her hand. The key was a simple rectangular thing which hid it's complexity. Biorhythmic sensors, RFID readers, and a large variety of Id confirmation software was located in each metal fob. With a nervous shake in her hand, she inserted the key into its receptacle, her tech doing a similar procedure on her console.

"On my mark." She yelled, voice wavering. "Three, two, one."

As she finished the countdown, both she and her tech turned the key. On her screen the yellow and black bars removed themselves from the button, the button glowing an angry red. Without a word she slammed on the holographic button, the hissing of missiles launching welcoming her ears, the quiet confirmation ding of the missiles leaving the shield welcoming her ears a second later. Not letting her guard drop, she changed the setting of her ship with an offhand swipe. "Helmsman! Puddlejump to recon spot! Now!"

With a hurried salute, the helmsman quickly selected the emergency escape coordinates and reached over to the FTL engagement before pulling it back. The whine of FTL engines engaging could be heard for a moment before the sound of multiple non-essential systems frying filled the ship as the jumpstarted FTL drive drank from all non-essential systems. She was going to get hell for this but she wasn't about to die here, not against a group of giant insects. The popping and cracking noises lasted for a moment before the ship, from an outside perspective, seemed to stretch before snapping away.

Externally, of course, there wasn't much to see in the moments leading up to it. Panels on the side of the ship opened up on two opposing sides to reveal two launchers of twenty missiles. Deathly silent, two rows of ten launched themselves outward and passed five hundred meters before causing a ripple to appear as they passed through the shields. Almost immediately they accelerated, the twenty missiles moving backwards towards the swarm, each almost fifty kilometers away from the next and in a wide spread. As their engines activated, the ship itself disappeared.

Almost instantly after the ship disappeared, the missiles opened up, each missile still almost twenty thousand. On each missile, ten ports angled themselves outwards as the delivery bodys engine shut off. With another hiss, each missile deployed a further ten missiles, each of these submunitions no larger than a man's arm. With a silent roar, each engine ignited as inertia and momentum caused each of these missiles to accel to almost mach twenty. On board was a set of simple instructions; they would charge forward and then attempt to angle back towards a predesignated point. A point which was currently directly behind the planet and would remain so for the next twenty four or so hours. If they weren't stopped, the missiles would enter the atmosphere and detonate within twelve or so hours. Said path also carried them through the pursuit fleet in about fifty minutes. No matter what set them off, they would still have the same trigger. The missiles would detonate once a large object passed within three kilometers of the missiles sides or upon impact. Once that happened, a five gram warhead of antimatter in each missile would detonate and pretty much annihilate anything without shields within fifteen or so kilometers.

Dreauch's task force
Glancing at the tactical screen, Dreauch crushed the hot drink cup in her hand as she saw the current status of the Tenacious. All twenty of the ships Anti-Matter Swarm missiles had been armed and were about to fire. The target? A swarm of ships chasing the Tenacious which, according to her tactical scanners, numbered at around six hundred. This day just could not get worse if she wanted it to. Of course, the instant she thought that, the missiles launched and the Tenacious puddlejumped out of the system, no doubt destroying equipment that would cost in numbers only the Seventeen could predict.

Gritting her teeth, she weighed her options. On one hand, she could probably take out the missiles with her lasers from this distance before they made it to the enemy fleet. On the other hand, the alien species had yet to show anything but hostility towards her people and would likely just continue to divert more resources into a battle of attrition. Much as she hated the thought of attacking a species that might just be misinterpreting her, she knew that whatever opening this could cause would be the ideal time to withdraw her task force. With a defeated sigh, she gave the order to fall back to the reconnection location, figure out the data that they had, and then regroup with the fifth to pass on the new information.

As the fleet slipped into FTL behind her, she glanced out at the planet with a sigh. Here she was hoping she would be able to lead a reclamation of honor for her people. Glory stolen by a group of glorified ants, what a new low. As the last of the ships disappeared, she gave the order and her own ship vanished, the last Laridian ship to leave the system.

________________________________________________

As soon as the Laridian ships jumped out of the system, Klusier stopped the pursuit, cursing to himself as he couldn't track where his enemies have fled to. Not a few moments later, one of the many projectiles fired by Tenacious reached the vanguard of the chasing Piercers, detonating and destroying a few more ships with it. Alerted to this new danger, Klusier pulled back all the larger ships and ordered a number of Piercers to sacrifice themselves and activate the projectiles before they could do more serious damage. As the rest of the fleet returned to the Seeder, Klusier was trying to figure out how to pass this news to Tkala once she woke.

Arhtesia Prime

The large loss of units didn't really bother the Extractor, as he sent a number of the drones over the burning and desintegrating corpses and husk into the bunker, curious as to what he might find inside.

In the meantime, as the Laridians left the system and the drones entered the bunker, a single black blur paused and stopped in a relatively clear space several dozen kilometers away from the capital. For a moment, the blur still remained like a ghostly mirage before solidifying into a machine, barely four meters in height. The red energy blade of its right arm weapon cracked and snapped in the air while the air around it shimmered. Noticeably the machine made no effort to touch the ground, the entirety of it's form hanging in the air like a suspended doll.

The makers foes had left but these new beings that inhabited this world was no less hostile towards that of the maker than towards the foes. It's multiple VIs danced and argued for a scant nanosecond before a consensus was reached. They would find a way to get off this planet and then they will try to reconnect with the makers. Though the coordinates were old, they were sure that the makers ould still be waiting. With that, the machine dashed away again, this time to discover a method to leave this planet.

In the bunker itself, the drones were swarming through the hallways looking for anything that might prove usefull. The previous launch chute still extended to about half of what it used to. Then it cut off into two separate spots. Descending through either would lead to more and more turns before depositing the drones back at the beginning hallway. Impossible geometry and vacuum greeted the explorers, all laid and set to the beat of an alien heart. It wouldn't be too difficult to discern that the bunker was still active and that even without a guiding intelligence, it was attempting to redirect the drones by rearranging walls and opening new hallways, some of which had previously been sealed.

As the walls rearranged themselves, a constant sound, similiar to that of metal footsetps and grinding was coming from within the walls, only to be drowned out by the sound of the drones scuttering through the said halls. After about ten or fifteen minutes, all drones were redirected back to the way they came from, only things they'd found were empty rooms and storage hangars. During all the shifting several drones were trapped in now closed hallways and crushed by contracting walls. Surely a painfull death, if they could feel pain. There were a few destroyed paths, clearly with the intetion to stop further progress of anyone who had managed to navigate the shifting maze, but the Extractor didn't have the time nor paitence to deal with that right now, so he ordered the drones back outside. He'd go back inside at a later time, but right now, he had a task to finish.
Gabriel of creosha wrote:Far cry 3 Weed burner simulator 2012
Souls Of The Wild: A short story I'm writing, inspired by TwoKinds and Sword Of Truth.

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