With a tremendous amount of help from Maya. Sorry for forgetting to mention your help Maya.
July 10, 3400
Abandonded Mining Station Aleph-1
Sector CC-21
The mining station was a neutral location, roughly at the exact midpoint between the two nations making for a perfect meeting place. Patrols from both nations could be detected at the very edge of sensor range as the threat from well armed ex-Commission pirates was a very real threat. Besides as the old saying goes “Keep an open mind, and a ready blaster when dealing with the unknown.”. The Refuge understood the rationale behind the caution; they would do it themselves were the situations reversed.
The Refuge had dispensed with the pomp and circumstance of its usual arrival. Procedures had been worked out before hand and the cruisers slid into the agreed upon docking pylons at opposite ends of the station. The diplomats and their security details moved through the station to the centrally located Ops center and it’s adjoining conference room where the meeting was to take place.
The representatives from the Refuge were an Avian who called herself Sapphire and an Aggregate named One for All.
Entering the Ops room almost simultaneously was a striking blond woman dressed in red accompanied by a pair of armored bodyguards.
With a slight bow she introduces herself as Karan Sem’es before motioning towards the conference room and stating. “Well then shall we get started?”
Sapphire and Sem’es took seats at the table, while One for All drove besides. “I believe we should start, as we are the immigrants to this area,” said Sapphire. “We are very much aware of our seemingly abrupt arrival as your neighbors, The full details are included on these holocubes,” and One for All produced them from her cart, “but for a short version, we actually arrived over fifteen years ago, late in December 3384 by human reckoning.”
Karan sits back looking a little non-plussed. “We well know the confused state that the Commissions were in at that time, and we can only surmise the chaos that you must have found yourself in. Though you seemed to have used the situation to your benefit, hiding in plain sight for all those years.”
“Indeed,” said One for All. The voice came from the speakers in the cart. “The sector where we moved the bulk of our population - the one we now call Prime Refuge - had been carefully scouted beforehand and was unpopulated, aside from a few smuggler bases.”
“We came in and hid,” Sapphire commented. “We had fled from our former home, driven out by a war with things that are best described as monstrosities.” Her feathers ruffled briefly in a shiver of remembrance. “Considering our previous experiences, we were terrified of the threats from outsiders. We hid, rebuilt, and gathered what information we could from wrecks, abandoned space installations, and any pirates that happened to stumble upon us. It took all this time for us to decide to let our presence be known.” While she had been talking, a small manipulator arm had extended from the Aggregate’s cart, holding its own small holo-projector. The arm plugged in the Refuge’s holocube and pulled up images...terrible, terrible images. Scenes of battles, destruction almost beyond imagine, and impossible things with no name that lurked in the dark between the stars.
Sapphire saw the alarm in Karan’s bearing. “Don’t worry,” she said. “These...abominations...are far, far distant from here. Our ships jumped away using something we call the Emergency Drive, taking us from our former galaxy to just outside the main bulge of this galactic arm. As for where our home galaxy was?” She held up her wings in a shrug.
“This ‘Emergency Drive’ sounds likes a fantastic device,” said Karan.
“Actually, it is highly impractical unless one needs to go an incredibly large distance in a very short time and has no intentions on every going back,” said Sapphire. “But we needed to do so, which was why we built it, despite its cost.”
“Speaking of, the specifications for constructing the Emergency Drive are included on the holocubes. The cubes should be compatible with your systems, but we can reformat them or make new ones if they are not. I would recommend, of course, using non-networked machines to read those in the event that we made some mistakes.”
“Thank you One for All; rest assured that we will take the appropriate measures to ensure that the information you have so generously offered will not accidentally destroy or cause harm to our own systems.” Karan smiled at the cute little plushie. “Sapphire as a thanks for the information you have provided on yourselves and the circumstances of your arrival and as a sign of our peaceful intentions, I have data files containing information on regional threats. These files have been compiled by our intelligence apparatus and range from locations and strengths of pirate bands near your current territory to briefs on what HInt and the Hiigaran Navy consider the greatest threat in this region.” Karan concludes by pushing a holocube similar in size and shape to the one she had received from One for All.
Karan placed another small object on the table. A hologram of the region popped up and hovered between the two parties, Hiigaran space outlined in light blue while the Refuge’s borders were depicted in brown. Due to the Hiigaran’s lack of knowledge on the exact disposition of the Refuge’s territorial claims their borders were ill defined; The announcement sent across space had given only general coordinates for the claims and a few locations. The hologram zoomed in on a third nation this one marked by green shot through with a sickly purple.
“Your experiences show that you are no strangers to warfare and suffering. We do not have such terrible beings threatening our continued existence here. At least, that have made themselves known to us. We do however have our own share of monsters lurking in the nine vectors.” Karan gestured at the hologram and continued. “They are known as the Karlack Swarm. As far as we can tell they are a single organism with high intelligence, but whose goals are simply to consume and grow.”
Pausing Karan cycles through a series of images showing the Swarm attacking ships, stations and inhabited moons before stopping on the image of a World Eater Mothership and its fleet in the process of consuming a planet. “The Hiigaran people have had the good fortune of not being forced to fight an all out war with the Swarm though their proximity has lead to skirmishes between Swarm organisms and HCN vessels in the Outback.”
Sapphire nodded. “The Karlacks have been a worry for us as well.” She nodded at One for All. The images from the holocube changed to that of a single theme: machines, swarms of them, consuming asteroids.
“We encountered something similar to the Karlacks...before,” said One for All. “They were mechanical instead of organic, but the methods were the same. We called these the Replicators, and they did nothing but reproduce themselves on whatever matter they could find and send back their mass to join the main core.” The images changed to show the main core. It was, for lack of a better term, a structure. An enormous structure, colossal, gargantuan, more superlative as words could describe. It not only ringed its large white star with a thick band but extended out in plates and tendrils larger than planets. It looked as if the Replicators were constructing a Dyson shell.
One for all continued, “Unfortunately, the Karlacks may be worse. The Replicators were not interested in spreading, only gathering to grow the core. The only thing checking the Karlacks’ spread is the constant warring from the surrounding nations, excepting Bragule.”
“A space cancer,” Sapphire interjected. “And only one sector separates them from Grand Junction.”
Karan nodded filing away the information on where the Refuge’s capital was located. “The Diamid was hoping you would understand the threat that the Swarm presents. We had hoped to broach the subject of a mutual defence pact against the Karlack Swarm. While the Swarm’s attention currently appears focused on the Byzantine Imperium that may not always be the case. It would be prudent to have allies in case their hunger turns in our direction.”
“As it would turn out, that was our first priority for this meeting,” said One for All. “Our mission to the Sovereignty will also discuss a defensive pact against the Karlacks.
“We are not as planet-bound as most nations, living mostly in space, so we are not as vulnerable as we could be. The Karlacks, though, still have vast numbers and aggression and could attack at any time, and anything left behind, even rocks, would only allow their numbers to grow and their hunt and spread to continue.”
Karan steeples her fingers thoughtfully before continuing. “We both agree that the Karlacks are a threat, that is something we have in common. Not much perhaps, but I hope for now we can at least be cordial neighbors and maintain what we call a gentleman's agreement to aid one another should the Karlacks aggression seek out either of our peoples.” Smiling at Sapphire she continues. “Hopefully as we get to know each other better we can establish something more formal. Until then I hope you will let us establish trade relationships to foster both an understanding between our cultures and a economical bond.”
“Trade was our second priority,” said Sapphire, with a happy chirp in her voice.
“Then we are agreed.” Karan grinned at her counterpart from the Refuge. “If you don’t mind I would like to learn more about you personally. Your family, people, interests, etc. Though perhaps we should first adjourn for refreshments.”
Results: The Hiigaran Clans and the Refuge enter into a trade relationship and establish a gentleman’s agreement to come to the others aid in case of attacks by the Karlack Swarm.