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LPGEF Flagship Stn'gr wrote:Intership tightbeam
origin: Rear Admiral Tfenn, LPGNN Stn'gr
destin: LPGNN Khrve
ref: alien vessel sensor profiles
stamp: receipt

Expeditionary Force acknowledges receipt of sensor data re: alien vessels in vicinity. Receipt of diplomatic detachment suit-camera data acknowledged.

LPGEF Flagship Stn'gr wrote:Outbound transmission
origin: LPGNN Stn'gr
destin: Lh'owon space admin bureau heaquarters, Lh'owon 3 L5 point
ref: endcycle scheduled status report
stamp: report

Diplomatic contact continues with alien vessels at previous coordinates. Hypercapable cruisers I'meq and U'qnn standing off at outer solar system boundaries. Further sensor data from Khrve and detached team is appended.

CS Pretty Disposable
R-23

Hmmm... a party. We should crash it.

Some distance away from the gathering of ships (amongst them Freehold, Concord, Khar, and Phfor), a frigate decloaked. It sent out a transmission:

"Greetings from the Collective! We see you're having a party. Mind if we join you?"

Accompanying the audio was an image of a fairly beautiful young female humanoid.

The Thunder's sensors almost immediately picked up the new, suddenly appearing vessel. Targeting sensors followed it, but no further steps were taken.
"Unknown vessel," the ship answered the new guest, "this meetin takes place on the Concord ship. We would be intrigued to meet other, new, races."

Aboard the good ship Ganymede, on their way to dinner...

Commander Northbloom folded her arms behind her suited back, fingers rubbing at the material about her suit's wrists. She looks up to the strange 'Air Mage' beside her. "So, Air-mage Drif'ayn... of the air fleet. Those are interesting designations for a space navy... could you tell me a bit about your people? I'm quite curious." she manages to say, hiding her distaste of many of the races here.

Oh well, he thought. Strange people who ask nicely may get nice answers."Air Fleet (Space) as a designation is a remnant of our past, if you will," Air-Mage Drif'ayn of the Fala'un Council replied and managed not to sound too lecturing.

"You see, there is no ground or oceans as on other worlds. Or to put it better, there is, but it's below an incredibly thick cover of hostile atmosphere, so we started our civilisation on and around the mountain ranges that poke through the clouds. And huge and vast mountains they are, indeed. Transportation relied on air ships or dirigibles or plain-old teleportation. And so did our military. You simply cannot move larger vehicles and contraptions around land. And certainly not sea. So, the 'Aerial Fleet' stuck. We love our traditions, dearly." He chuckled. "As for the Air-Mage..."

He stretched out his hand and a small light point burst to life, then died as the Air-Mage closed it again.. "We are magical people."


Makina's eyes light up briefly, eyebrows arching but a moment. "Ah. A curious planet." she smiles. She stretches briefly, looking up. "Ah, tradition. That... makes sense." she meanwhile considers his 'magical' feat. "As long as tradition doesn't impede progress, I can see why one would want to hold onto it. Magical, you say?" she smiles, lifting her own hand.

With a jesture, a holographic window appears in the air, displaying various images of her planet. Images of towering ivory and chrome buildings, with overgrowths of green snaking along their forms tastefully and in an ordered manner into a violet sky. "Magic is only technology you don't understand." she says with a brief smile.

Eris Drif'ayn smiled back, like someone would smile upon a child, who has thought that it had grasped a concept, but hadn't. He pointed roughly in the direction of his ship. "As you can see, despite our traditions, we have progressed quite nicely. As you seem to have," pointing at the vanishing hologram. "We have technology, too. But pure technology is so, quaint, shall we say? The Universe bows to my mind. Can your technology claim the same?" his voice had aqcuired a slight aggressiveness, but it went away quickly.

"Certainly. Science understands, and technology harnesses the properties of the universe." Makina smiles, her head up. "Everything that manipulates the universe can be explained through observation... and they can be reproduced." she replies. "I think we have more in common than it would appear at first. Especially compared to most here." she gives a glance towards the Khar. "I suppose we could debate this for quite a while too." she says to the silly 'magic' user.

He chuckled. I can't ask a blind to see red. Nor can I expect you to understand, really." He sighed. "It's a long time anyone had. We do not have non-magical folk anymore. It might be possible for you to recreate the feats of magic I can do with just a flicker of thought. But you'd need serious effort to do it. I don't. And believe me, our scientists - and we do have those - have tried for centuries to explain it and bring it to match with scientific theories; there are no positive results so far."

He glanced at the strange aliens in the room. "Yes, I suppose we do have more in common than with others. Might even be a good thing. Who knows?" The Air-Mage then pointed at their vacuum suits. "But I see you don't trust your ships to hold air, do you?"


"Hrm. I suppose we have plenty to teach each other then." Makina Northbloom chuckles softly, still skeptical and looking to the tall being. "Perhaps you needed a fresh perspective on things." Makina says. She glances to her two assistants and her own outfit, sleek white fitting her form. "Ah, you're refering to our uniforms? For centuries, we've used this type of practical garmet exclusively. These suits happen to be air-tight, contain numerous systems and are quite durable." Makina begins to suggest. "It's not that we don't trust our ships... it's that we leave nothing to chance when we don't have to." she says at last,.


"It might be so. We like to learn, if it helps us to advance as a species. " Eris then looked sceptical at the clothes. "Don't these confine you? Why do they have to be air-tight? Can't you just crea-" he paused. "I forgot. Your technology. You do take them off, do you? Or are these your uniforms? I wouldn't like running around in those."


"These happen to be our duty uniforms." Makina smiles patiently to Eris. "They fit and don't hinder movement so nobody's ever seen a problem with having them around." her head turns away. "And we do take them off. It's not like we need to wear these at all times of day, you know." she explains, head back. "So what function does the cape and collar serve? Projecting an image?" Makina carefully refrains from adding 'And making yourself larger to predators', as she can imagine the scolding she'd get for letting that out.

"Hm," he mused, "I see. I doubt these things would be very popular with the fleet..." He looked down on himself. "That is part of the dress uniform." He opened up the coat a bit and let the midnight-black leather of the uniform show. It is, again, tradition."

Makina listened to him speak for a while longer, her arms folded. Tradition-blinded people wielding technology they don't understand... She was almost amused at the thought, when Avatar's voice chirped quietly in her ear.

~Commander, please stay focused. We all have our parts to play.~

With a turn, Makina lifts her head. Right, keep on task. "Then it's settled. Peaceful relations for us both. Now shall we eat? I wonder what's going to be on the plate..."

Two heavy fighters fitted out with reconnaisance pods were currently sweeping the area nearby the improbable meeting of nations and races. High-resolution passive sensors recorded the details of the myriad ships and sampled conversations transmitted. The pilots didn't quite know what to make of this strange meeting they detected but theirs was not to reason why. The spooks aboard the Constellation would sort things out, hopefully.

Some hours later, after the fighters had been recovered and the intelligence analysts poured over the data, a conclusion was reached. "It's a diplomatic dinner party, apparently. Boggles the mind, but there you go." And, data in hand, the ship made a short jump to the edge of the gathered ships and transmitted their hailing call. In Esperanto.

Buccaneer Stealthship Watches in Darkness
Well Outside System Limits of Party Central

"So how many different potential factions does this make in the immediate neighborhood?" Captain Furtran asked.

"Six, maybe seven. Up until we passed number four, it was just absurd enough to be a blatant trap, now its gotten entirely too silly for that." Lieutenant Proalnam replied.

"Right, put us on a quiet path away from the system, and once we're clear, whistle up a Delnathan task group to give them entirely the wrong impression on first contact, along with the nearest ten other stealthships to make sure we know where everybody's going back to."

The ship quietly drifted back into the endless night, emitting exactly as much radiation as your average patch of empty space would.

Just because I can't go out without something flashy:

____________________________
Aboard the monstrous station hidden deep in space that the Concordance calls home, trouble is brewing.

The officers and agents who are planning ops and missions know this, and believe they are the source of the soon to be unleashed trouble. The mindless creatures who lurk deep within the station in a deserted cargo hold think they are going to be the source of the trouble. (At least they would, had they any conscious thought.) Even some dissatisfied rogue elements within the power structure believe they are going to cause trouble. They are all wrong.

Deeper within the station, in the heart of the ancient ship that was the original home for the Concordance, a computer monitoring the reactor has failed. Ordinarily there would be a minor tech watching the critical controls, but right now he's occupied with something far more pleasant. The intellect controlling the computer of the hulk notices that something is wrong and desperately tries to send warnings through the appropriate channels, but unfortunately several crucial wires have long since rotted away, leaving the computer to watch in horror as the reactor goes critical, unleashing horrendous waves of energy into the unsuspecting station. The tech is the first to notice, as the radiation outstrips the heat energy of the explosion and melts his skin and boils the water away in his body. The young female he's with notices a short amount of time later, as the same happens to her.

Within seconds, the inner portion of the station is a seething mass of exotic particles and energy, all of which are trying to escape outwards. The rest of the station only briefly hinders their inexorable progress, and it isn't long before it is riven asunder by titanic explosions, the original helped along by the failures of secondary reactors and fueled by energy stores.

The explosion is powerful enough to nearly instantly annihilate the fleet surrounding the station, which unfortunately consists of most of the Concordance. Within a few minutes, the only testament that there was ever a station here amounts to a few burning husks of ships and a scattering of operatives that were on various planets carrying out missions. The Concordance is gone. The few operatives who survive to return to the site of the station find nothing, and reluctantly return to their home planets. Some, in despair, activate their self destructs, joining their fellows in their fiery fate.

Aboard the Ganymede...

The orders had been placed and the food prepared. The senior staff of the Ganymede as well as the various guests had all been seated. An orientation pamplet was making the rounds explaining food safety and various other traditional customs, such as toasting.
"Ladies and gentlemen, honored guests, tonight may very well be the most important event in all the galaxy. Our world is changing, from this point onward there will be new demands, new challenges and it will be up to us to meet those challenges and face them together. I would like to propose a toast," Jonas raises his glass "to the future."

The Mediator raised a glass in quadruple-jointed fingers.

"To the future."

Starship Ganymede
Half an hour before

A tall, startling beautiful, human looking woman stepped out of the shuttle's hatch. Dressed in a dark grey mid-length skirt, and a dark-grey jacket with gold piping, she stood out from the crowd, especially when she was followed by a combat android. The android looked eminently suited to the task of killing stuffs and breaking things, even unarmed, as it was at the moment.

"Hello. I am an Avatar of Tizona. You may refer to me simply as Tizona. I am a representative of the Collective."

Spyder wrote:Aboard the Ganymede...

The orders had been placed and the food prepared. The senior staff of the Ganymede as well as the various guests had all been seated. An orientation pamplet was making the rounds explaining food safety and various other traditional customs, such as toasting."
"Ladies and gentlemen, honored guests, tonight may very well be the most important event in all the galaxy. Our world is changing, from this point onward there will be new demands, new challenges and it will be up to us to meet those challenges and face them together. I would like to propose a toast," Jonas raises his glass "to the future."

Tizona raised a glass.

"To the future."

Beowulf wrote:Starship Ganymede
Half an hour before

A tall, startling beautiful, human looking woman stepped out of the shuttle's hatch. Dressed in a dark grey mid-length skirt, and a dark-grey jacket with gold piping, she stood out from the crowd, especially when she was followed by a combat android. The android looked eminently suited to the task of killing stuffs and breaking things, even unarmed, as it was at the moment.

"Hello. I am an Avatar of Tizona. You may refer to me simply as Tizona. I am a representative of the Collective."

"Captain Jonas Treia, any combination of those will be fine" he smiled, "it is truely a pleasure to have you here, welcome aboard the Ganymede."

Spyder wrote:Aboard the Ganymede...

The orders had been placed and the food prepared. The senior staff of the Ganymede as well as the various guests had all been seated. An orientation pamplet was making the rounds explaining food safety and various other traditional customs, such as toasting.
"Ladies and gentlemen, honored guests, tonight may very well be the most important event in all the galaxy. Our world is changing, from this point onward there will be new demands, new challenges and it will be up to us to meet those challenges and face them together. I would like to propose a toast," Jonas raises his glass "to the future."

Tizona raised a glass.

"To the future."

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the vessel one of the crewmen was busy checking a sensor grid in the aft section. He was almost finished when he heard a voice from behind him.
"Well," the voice was almost angelic. A woman dressed in what appeared to be a very expensive satin silver dress. Long golden hair ran all the way down her back.
"I, the umm," the crewman suddenly became very nervous, but not for reasons that were immediately obvious, "the Captain has made contact with the Freehold. They uhh, they sent someone. Ah we umm, we ahh... haven't seen, well the Crobuzon aren't here. Umm, is that okay?"
"Oh," she let out a quiet laugh, "that was beyond your control." She smiled and softly licked her lips, her perfume was overpowering, "You've made me very proud. Are you ready for the last part?"
Tears began streaming down his face. "I, I don't know if I can do this." he sobbed.
"Shh," she hushed him, she ran two fingers down the middle of his face, between his eyes, over his nose, his bottom lip flicked back into position as her fingers passed over, "don't be afraid. You're special to us Timothy, so very special. You are part of our plan, the most important part. You have nothing to fear."

Another crewman overheard a voice coming from around the corner.
"Yo Tim, who are you talking to?"
"What?" The woman was gone. "Oh, no one. I was just, thinking aloud." He dried his eyes and went back to work."

The Air-Mage raised his glass.
"To the future." Whatever it may bring us, he thought. The drink even was almost palatable. Now, let's just hope this meeting doesn't blow up in our faces...

Central System Outskirts

A dozen ships dropped obviously into realspace towards the outer edge of what could properly be considered the system, headed by a light capital vessel. A stited message in a number of languages ensued: "Delnathan Delegation arrived/inquire commencement of interaction/peaceful intent."

The quiet insertion of several smaller and far stealthier ships much further out would be nearly impossible for anyone to perceive unless they happened to be in the immediate area.


Forces in-system

1 King Trachnor
1 Service
2 Outriders
4 Pointguards
4 Probes

1 light capital, 3 cruisers, 8 escorts

Forces much further out-system:

5 Informant stealth ships



OOC: Time this whenever seems most appropriate.

Alien Relations Minister Trevilnyi and Fleet-Lord Deroj entered the brightly lit conference chamber with scowls on their metal-infused faces.
The other men and women in the conference room turned to their comrades with expectant faces.

Trevilnyi erased his scowl and looked up and down the wide table. "Fellows, I bring some rather unexpected news. Flotilla K-120, on a anti-piracy sweep of the outer sector, encountered a foreign human goverment formerly unknown to us." He called up a rotating holo image of the cluster, and a blinking red dot indicated the location.
"Flotilla K-120 was warned away from their territorial boundary by a vessel called the 'Celertias'. Flotilla K-120, in accordance with first contact protocol, followed their request, changed course, and informed us of the situation. Nothing else is known. K-120 is still on a holding course and is maintaining defensive formation."

Trevilnyi paused, then continued. "If we are dealing with a foreign, human, and legitimate goverment, I suggest we bring this matter forth towards the entire Felshyn for a vote on opening further relations."
Deroj laughed derisevely.
"We don't know that yet, Commandant. For all we know these are pirates K-120 has been searching for. I suggest we find out more before bringing it up with the Felshyn. I already have a dreadnaught with a full escort on standby, ready to move out at a moment's notice should K-120 need reinforcing."
A young women wearing an elaborate red garment interrupted.
"That won't be necessary, Deroj. Nor will contacting the Felshyn majority. I suggest we keep this to ourselves, and have K-120 communicate further. We should, however, dispatch another scout flotilla and a counselor ship immediately. "
Deroj nodded. "I will inform K-120 of these new arrangements."
--------------------------------

Ship-Master Kravold read the encoded message silently, then spoke to Sispesis through their mindlink. "Continue communicating with the Celeritas. Request background data on their goverment, and give them ours." Sispesis nodded, and opened the comm.

The Khar Captain raised his glass along with his fellows. "To the future." Despite the oddly round shape, he found a way to drink it out of the side of his beak.

He turned to his fellows and a rapid flurry of low-key talk in the Holy Tongue followed, the terse exchanges infinitively harsher than Galstandard West as they conversed as quietly as they could.

Uqlutik paused, and gave a small snapping noise that resembled a polite cough to break the silence following the toasts.

"Before any real discussion over dinner begins, I find it nescessary and hope that I will be allowed to... query? ah! to ask a question."

He gave the slightest pause for effect and then continued. Anyone who wanted to object would have had to be an AI or superhuman, as it was clear he intended to continue:

"I assume that all representatives here represent independant nations and are speaking from their empire's point of view and not that of some nebulous subentity. Am I correct in this assumption?"

"Captain, they have sent us a databurst containing information about their government and are requesting data on the Senate."
"Send them a copy of the diplomatic contact protocols. Has the Highborn deployed the communications relay yet?"
"Aye, sir. The relay has been activated and is transmitting telemetry as we speak."
"Good, forward the data to the Xenos Council and have the relay ping the alien vessel using the diplomatic contact protocols."

Ten lighyears away, in space outside both Avalonian and ASC borders, a newly placed communications relay pinged the ASC vessel that had identified itself as the Merran'kai'tria using the diplomatic contact protocols.

The Captain of the Celeritas hailed the Merran'kai'tria.
"If you desire to seek information about the Avalonian League, the Senate Xenos Council would be the best source. You may use the communications relay that has just signaled you, it will allow you real-time communication with a representative of the Council."

MRDOD wrote:"I assume that all representatives here represent independant nations and are speaking from their empire's point of view and not that of some nebulous subentity. Am I correct in this assumption?"

The Air-Mage looked curiously at the alien.
"Of course I represent my 'Empire' and speak for us. Why should I be speaking for something or someone else?"

"I speak for my people and the Compact Government." Commander Northbloom says, with the Gaian delegation. "But I do not speak for Planet." she says, not drinking the glass yet.

Her head turns a little. "I do hope that is acceptable." she shrugs, taking a cautious sip.

~We're not sure if we count as a 'nebulous subentity... do we?~ Avatar whispered through her earpeice. Makina only smiled.

consequences wrote:Central System Outskirts

"Delnathan Delegation arrived/inquire commencement of interaction/peaceful intent."

"Hi, and welcome to the first Concord sponsored galactic gathering. This automated orientation message has been recorded by Concord staff for your convenience. If you wish to attend tonight's event, please send your team to board the cruiser sized vessel currently 060 DEGREES BY 010 from YOUR VESSEL. Thank you, and have a pleasant day."

"I assume that all representatives here represent independant nations and are speaking from their empire's point of view and not that of some nebulous subentity. Am I correct in this assumption?"

The Air-Mage looked curiously at the alien.
"Of course I represent my 'Empire' and speak for us. Why should I be speaking for something or someone else?"

"I speak for my people and the Compact Government." Commander Northbloom says, with the Gaian delegation. "But I do not speak for Planet." she says, not drinking the glass yet.

Her head turns a little. "I do hope that is acceptable." she shrugs, taking a cautious sip.

"Well," the Captain spoke, thinking for a moment he composed his response, "Concord is hardly a 'nebulas subentity'. If it's our creditentials that concern you then rest assured that any agreements you make with Concord will not be renegged by any 'nebulous overentities'."

Spyder wrote:

consequences wrote:Central System Outskirts

"Delnathan Delegation arrived/inquire commencement of interaction/peaceful intent."

"Hi, and welcome to the first Concord sponsored galactic gathering. This automated orientation message has been recorded by Concord staff for your convenience. If you wish to attend tonight's event, please send your team to board the cruiser sized vessel currently 060 DEGREES BY 010 from YOUR VESSEL. Thank you, and have a pleasant day."

"Will comply/representatives underway/Delnathan environmental requirements incompatible probability 98%/team equipped hostile environment/do not be alarmed."

An unarmed shuttle detached from the largest vessel, and proceeded in-system towards the designated cruiser.

Orgarin snorted at the Khar. "Yes, the Free'old is an independent nation and I do represent its interests. Is that question some kind of insinuation or 'alf-arsed insult?"

Uqlutik considered the creature in front of him. If he turned back to consult with his party, it'd seem like a sign of weakness. This... beast? person?... didn't seem like it would appreciate weakness. Well, screw the Lieutenant and his protocols anyhow., Captain Uqlutik thought.

"None intended. I merely wished to know to extent of authority carried by the representatives present and whether their race was enslaved by a greater power."

He cocked his head slightly and glanced in the direction of one of the humans present. "Ah, by race I meant government. It is hard to remember that the two are not the same among Nevaryutib, even in the presence of examples."

MRDOD wrote:"None intended. I merely wished to know to extent of authority carried by the representatives present and whether their race was enslaved by a greater power."

The Air-Mage cocked an eyebrow at this.
"You can be quite certain that we are not enslaved by anyone." His face split into a feral grin. "And anyone trying to will regret the day he was born."

Tizona cleared her throat.

"Once upon a time, we were servants of a interstellar empire. We were designed to be the final weapon in the Final War. Sadly our creators perished in the Final War. Ever since Operation Ragnarok was implemented, we have had no contact with other intelligences.

"That story sounds familiar," Jonas spoke, "lots of different worlds we've visited have similar tales. Great wars in ancient times. The historians back on Antiga believe that our ancestors all knew each other and at some point were at war."
"Many wars." Callen spoke.