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The Vok managed to drop in before the shields were thrown up, and so they got past the major defenses and were able to safely grip the station's exterior. However, while they avoided the main defensive measures of the station, they had not gone completely unnoticed. There was indeed a maintenance hatch nearby, but as they drew closer portions of the hull suddenly moved, and from these sections emerged automated sentry guns. They were simple plasma repeater turrets, but their presence showed that Cyboar was not totally unprepared for such a method of infiltration.
Enas was correct, as within twenty seconds Cyboar deployed their defensive fighters. The fighters they brought out were primarily fighter-bombers, meant to be versatile against a range of different opponents. For now however they stuck close to the station, while the main weapons began to open fire with their long range missiles and plasma cannons. Fornt commented, "Best to rush forward, overwhelm them. They're very effective but right now they are outnumbered and outgunned. They'll try to delay as they call for reinforcements, so we should keep the pressure up hard. Besides, we need to keep them from focusing their attention on the Vok."
Mierl and Aloni settled inside the tank, getting comfortable. Aloni was still smiling from getting to Sieg, but she kept herself quiet for now. Additional teasing could be done later, when it wouldn't disrupt the training exercise. The tank meanwhile had become quite the beast, and it was still rather fast thanks to its hovering capacities. With its new psionic armor and great bursts of electricity, it became a great ram. This was quite handy, for as it emerged a group of bots were trying to burst into the garage. This ended poorly for them, as they were instantly slammed into by the tank. Those which survived the impact were quickly put out of commission by the the discharged lightning. One more group tried to stop them, and one more group suffered the same fate. Lacking means to catch up, all the bots could do was try and shoot at the tank as it rapidly gained distance. But due to the armor, this was ineffective. They now had a clean run straight to the exit of the training area, the same location they entered through.
Rovin got similarly flustered as Thatcher called the two of them out on their constant flirting, which he realized the fellow had probably heard for quite a while now. Although that fluster faded quickly as Piper responded, causing the mercenary to smirk at the headlock. He felt it was a suitable response to that snark, and he gave a nod of approval at the exchange. Looking back to Piper, he chuckled and then nodded, "Well the offer was given, so it's only fair that you can have it! I can either give that massage when we get to the planet, but I suppose since this may take a while we could do it here in the ship! Just in a different room with a good spot for it, like a bed. Better to not do it in here, or close to the cockpit. Privacy is preferable." He gestured his head towards Thatcher when he said that, since he didn't want to do such a thing near the teen.
Azultiri beamed at the prospect of getting watched as she worked, clearly enjoying the audience. And of course, the praise was quite handy as well. She nodded her head, beginning her work as she got the leather. She used her magic to grab it, as well as her set of tools. It floated up into the air above her forge, with her magically controlling each of the tools to start shaping the leather into the shape she wanted. She spoke back to Zether as she did so, surprisingly good at multitasking, "Form over flair it is! I'll try to make it fashionable as well, and I'll change up its colors a bit to fit your scales. Perhaps darken the leather? Either way, when the time comes I can make your proper metal armor look very nice! You can make it smooth and sleek, or spiky and scary! With armor, the way it looks directly impacts its effectiveness! Looking intimidating is a nice way to scare the weaker willed, like most soft-skins! Most of them are scared by Dragons already, but you'd be surprised how many are truly terrified by a Dragon in armor! Apparently, they aren't used to us actually wearing full equipment. Silly of them, but I suppose they do have smaller bodies, which means smaller heads! Not much you can store up there. But I guess there are a lot of them, so maybe that's how they make up for it? I wonder what would happen if I mushed all their brain matter into one great glob... Nah, I'll leave that to the weirdo biomancers. The forge is far more satisfying!" Despite her rambling, her magical tools were working at a good rate on the product. The leather was being shaped into the proper form it would need to wrap around a tail, with the straps flying from another box of materials into the mix, soon joining the proto-tailguard. It was not however done, and she started to reshape it again to make room for the five magical gems. She was making five little holes for them, perfectly sized for each gem, so they could be inserted without issue. She got a bit more focused here, narrowing her eyes as she carefully inserted each gem. After one flew in, she used another bit of magic to graft the gems eternally to the tailguard.
The Vok units reacted, firing off their weapons. Plasma encased in a specialized uranium based alloy, which on impact was -quite- explosive, inciting a miniature nuclear reaction alongside the heat of the plasma itself. They fired quickly and moved quickly, utilizing cover if need be in order to avoid the turrets as they moved to the hatch.
"Initiating primitive countermeasures." Enas remarked, before aiming to flood Cyboar's network with a mass of useless data and white noise. A simple DDoS attack against a threat like Cyboar, something simple that perhaps they wouldn't expect someone to try against them due to their reputation and technology. Enas also moved the ship, rushing it forward towards the designated rendezvous point.
“Then perhaps I should remain with him, and guard him! You go on ahead and explore the facility?” Filia found a small switch that when pressed caused many hisses and creaking noises to spur to life as hinges popped and small mechanical bits whirred to life. The bulkhead opening into three pieces. Beyond the door there was a dimly lit hall, lights slowly flickering back to life.
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Liline lightly kicked his foot as he sat in the car, “Implying you didn’t just wake up from sleep! It’s still morning, and already you want to nap? Is your metabolism that bloody awful?” She smiled and sat opposite him. Taking her seat gracefully, she put her arm behind her head. “Plus it also implies you’d sit there sleeping without keeping me company, how un-gentleman like of you. If I knew my mother she’d be telling me to find a proper gentleman, probably.”
After sitting at the platform for a couple minutes longer, the train lurched away from the station in reverse. Moving to a switcher track so the train could be moved to a turntable and orientated in the proper direction. The mighty engine let out two high pitched screeches from a horn. The train then started to chug away from the tiny hamlet. It wouldn’t take long before the train suddenly stopped puffing smoke from its engine car and instead started venting heat from ports located along the body working. The train gaining speed quite quickly now. Until they raced past the surrounding terrain at high speeds. But from the comfort of the carriage, nothing seemed amiss. Eventually a railwayman came by to check tickets and punch holes in them. And the two were left to enjoy the cabin for an hour.
After such time had past, Sephus could noticed the terrain changing. From the dreary and cloudy grassy hills to sleet covered hills dotted with rocks and boulders, to jagged mountains covered with dense snow! Meanwhile the grey clouds never seemed to go away. The train past through many carved tunnels, each with a unique name. Until they approached a massive railway network. Eight tracks. Other trains zooming by on each side. Approaching or departing from an ornate tunnel entranced. Crowing the tunnel entrance was a huge dragon sculpture. After passing the tunnel, the train heaved into a massive area.
(https://imgur.com/a/MBUwZxX)
The cavern glittered with light in everywhich direction. From the small trams that ran between the segmented communities on the walls and ceiling of the cavern, the bustling civic center and all its dazzling buildings, the sights of passing headlights appearing as tiny dots, or the massive floating artificial stars dotted in the cavern. A place like this? It was a sight unlike any other!
The train’s speaker system activated, “Greetings passengers, this is your alert that the train’ll be arriving in fifteen minutes time. If all passengers could please be ready to disembark by then we’d gladly appreciate it. Stewards will be at the ready to assist as needed. Enjoy your stay in Cadhainn. And mind your step as you get off the train as the ice and snow may have not all melted and walkways could be slippery.”
Jelica looked surprised to see Yohan being so cocky, usually he was so dorky and quiet. She didn't think the males of his species had this much backbone between them all nevermind Yohann having this much. Not that she minded that him was showing some confidence, though she did mind him making an ass of himself with all this tough guy talk. "I mean, It is a magic cave so stuff like this was probably made by someone who lost someone dear to them or somethin- What are you doing?"
She showed some slight concern as he started to saunter over to the statue, but she did just witness him beat down one of her most annoying enemies. So maybe this building sized sword boss wouldn't be too much trouble? Yeah, that thought was shot lived as she watched, or really couldn't see until it was too late, as Yohann was sent flying into the cave wall. It all happened too fast for her to register all at once, though once she saw the blood splatters her heart sank into her stomach. It wasn't until that she could faintly hear him still breathing that she had thought that the blow killed him. Even so her heart stayed low in her chest as she regretted letting him saunter off like that, but above all. Her fiery temper flared in a big way. "How... How dare you...! How dare you hit my Yohann!!" She screams out in fury, blue veins quickly appearing over her crimson red Onithailian body as her Psionic powers kick into gear. His telekinesis flaring up as she aims to twist and snap the rocky wrists on that swordsman statue while her grizzly soul activated, the stone beneath the statue turning to liquid magma before she violently distorts the gravity over the statue to 100x times to have it sink down into the magma faster. "NO ONE GETS TO TAKE HIM FROM ME, I LOVE THAT MORON! SO ANYONE THAT F*CKS WITH HIM CAN CONSIDER THEMSELVES DEAD!! YOU HEAR ME?!"
Echo didn't like the look of this bot the moment it mentioned that it was from the revolution. Which means it was with the crazy rebels that kept shooting at him outside. Looks like I have no choice but to dismantle this robot as fast as I can. That was what he thought before he watched the robot turn a group of rebels into meaty chunks. To which he was pretty surprised. He thought it was on their side. This complicated things, was a third party looking to make sure the nuke goes off? He really had no time for this.
Even as Halfthur tries to get his attention it wasn't like he had time to explain it through the static. Still, best he could do was try to make it retreat. It surely has a self preservation drive right? A mysterious robot from a third party has to... Well time to test it. "I will not comply. Stand down or retreat. If an inferior machine like you engaging me-" He pauses as his digistructor activates, with the new reactor he uses some power to quickly outfit his left arm with a rather powerful tachyon cannon integrated into his exoskeletal structure. "-Will mean immediate and violent termination. Comply. Now"
The Turrets were simple ones, rather well made but not built for heavy combat all the same. They were rapid fire plasma turrets, lacking the explosive power and going more for the sheer heat, meaning they were less capable than the Vok weaponry, but there were a fair few of them. They could be dropped with a few blasts, and their wrecks could then become cover themselves. Still, there were a fair few of them, as they got closer to the hatch. As they got closer they would see that it was sealed, so they'd have to crack it open.
Unfortunately, Enas was wrong to assume Cyboar wouldn't be prepared for that, as it was in fact one of their own favored tactics. The information was dumped with exceptional speed, with an overseer of the network actively monitoring it and removing the data as it came in. But by the very same connection Enas made, they would receive a similar attack. The Cyboar Cyber Overseer, seeing where the white noise was coming from, moved to reroute the flow, modifying their own address so that such data sent to it would be reflected right back to Enas, with the Overseer adding in their own heavy amount of corrupted data to increase the burden. Meanwhile, as the ship moved forward, leading the rest of the group forward, the station began its delaying tactics. First it fired off a barrage of missiles, which were quickly followed by the Cyboar Fighter-Bombers. The goal was to rush down the foe as they went for evasive maneuvers.
Lord Fendi nodded as Rhiain introduced herself and her companion. He was quite calm as she spoke, quite understanding of her surprise and swirling emotions, as they made sense to him based on what she was saying. "You are not wrong to assume that this area is beyond our normal grasp, as under normal circumstances this area is indeed somewhere my people would not tread normally. However, that is not to say we have failed to notice it, or failed to visit it at least once in our long history. We Anubites visited this place once, long ago when our Empire was supreme and we had the time and resources to launch long range expeditions, mapping out sectors of space such as this one. We come from a nebula ourselves, so it was of interest. But that was a long time ago, and so now the only reason I am here is because we were directly called." He paused for a moment, and then decided it would only be fair to return the introductions given that Rhiain had named herself and Yosgel, "I am Lord Fendi Fasuldi, an Anubite Mystic and Archaeologist. It was my family lineage that once came here, so I was bound by my dynasty to come and investigate who had activated our beacon."
He then gave a small smile, shaking his head, "Oh, that tech is not a thousand years old. It is much, much older than that. That tech you touched has outlived multiple civilizations. A surprise it still works, but I suppose we Anubites have always been good at building things to last. Regardless, you are not blamed. You don't need to punish your companion here, all is well. While you may be surprised to see more people in your nebula, I am surprised to see archivists of some sort here at all. When I came here, I brought with me armed soldiers because I was expecting pirates, using this nebula as a cover, and I intended to punish said pirates for defiling Anubite property. I did not believe there was a civilization developed enough in here, given its hostility, but I have been proven wrong. That alone has made coming here worthwhile. You have no need to worry of an aggressive response, as we Anubites value the preservation and identification of the past. Although I will have to ask for the return of the beacon itself. It does belong to my family."
Huh of course. Yosgel’s hunch was right, his informer didn’t give enough information about the Anubites but it seems the Anubites did visit here. A Civilization that surpasses that of the many life forms that have existed here, a species that even surpasses that of the Jotne, thought to be the first civilization… well atleast the first civilization to sprung up inside the nebula… According to the Jotne before “The Burndown” The Jotne would have sleeper ships stationed around and in the nebula, how it did not detect the Anubites is something they should be asked, but even then, the Jotne of the bygone eras would be long dead… But that isn’t the problem right now, the problem is the beacon transmitter’s ownership right now. Yosgel has to think now…
Rhiain would be insulted by that remark of being thought to be pirates, oh well it is understandable since they haven’t ventured this area of space that much. She snickers and grows into a small chuckle. “It isn’t the first time that an outsider said that, but ill give you this, one indisputable fact that we say to all outsiders. The nebula is as deadly as it gets, cosmic phenomenon such as neutron stars and catastrophic ether waves. Our civilization has survived 5 different mass extinctions in its entire history, unfortunately we do not have any solid evidence during what we call the “Black Age” As virtually no remnants of it exist. Poor poor archivists like me really want to find those remains but its too too bad… She sniffles before realizing another thing. ”We aren-“ Yosgel would shut her up, noticing how her carefree attitude would instantly make her trust anyone that isn’t pointing a gun or putting up a threat. ”Apologies for this, but we just certainly met, we simply do not trust you with enough information about our nebula. I hope this isn’t a problem for you as we have another problem that we must discuss instead, certainly you want to see the device first?” He says before unclasping his hand on Rhiain’s mouth.
He invites the visitors inside the room where the device is. The device is on a foldable table they bought along, beside it are several gadgets and tools and some notes scattered around. The other tables around the room are what seems to be other items left by the ancient Anubites. Papers with the writing still somewhat recognizable and other things that are unidentifiable. There are data slates full of data concerning all the items that have been recovered. He sits on one of the tables pushing aside some of the things. ”You know im not in the mood to talk about law and jurisdiction right now. But we simply can’t just give you that beacon transmitter. I do respect how you also value the preservation the relics of a bygone era but this item… This item is something beyond our own history. I hope you understand, all relics are incredibly important, more important than our country actually.
Our museums are literally designed to withstand nature and the cosmic forces itself, located under 2,500 meters of dirt and rock reinforced with military-grade materials and alloys. All of the past relics are stored down there and it has enough room to store all of history if ever needed. The museum serves as our well… how do I say this… like ‘Hello, we we’re here. We existed’ Even if our race doesn’t survive the far future.” He sighs before wiping the sweat off his face. ”The Ancient Aldfenraiss have done the same via the Sunken Library of Semmura literally on the icy glaciers north of our homeworld. They marked their place in history and we intend to do the same, there will be a time where no matter how advanced out civilization something will wipe us all out. Such is the cycle of life. There is saying around here in the nebula after The Desecration as we like to call… Heaven, Hell and Purgatory were atomized as well. So when a soul leaves the body it has nowhere to go, and must remain here, in the Nebuka. A harsh, but not undeserved atonement for our sins, wouldn't you agree?"” He chuckles before getting off the table and re-arranging the items.
“We have to have a compromise, I suggest you have a proposal?”
The Hart masked Elf bowed his head, “We bring you nothing else, pardon. But we will depart, if you do not mind. Our journey back to Cepiuadh is long and our ship small. Verdant Blessings be upon you and your cause.” The Hart performed some kind of antiquated salute, before turning and leaving. The trio retreating deep into the forest from where they came.
The two Bezannian ships were exactly where the elves said there were, undefended. Just exiting New South Dernby’s territory and traveling along the Royal Wind Etherlane towards Santo Duraco.
Jazmin chuckled and just kept an eye on Harlock. Sighing as she just sat still. For Filia, the hallway was slowly returning to normal working order. The lights were turning from a dull orange to a bright white, filling the hall with a buzz. The hall was long and winding, but eventually ended at a fork. There was writing on the wall in another language, not galatic basic. It seemed to be some planetary lingua franca. But there was a red lime that led right and a blue and yellow line that led left. At the end of the red hall there was a door with a small red cross on it. Down the yellow and blue hall there was a locked and sealed room at the end of blue, and a open door at the end of yellow that led into a canteen of sorts. The room was eerily in disarray. Like everyone was in the middle of a meal before jumping to action and running to battle stations, leaving food and trays behind. Opened soft drinks were resting on the tables, metallic trays sat with rotting food.
In the room with the red cross, it was an infirmary. Though there was nothing of note except for a large fixed tube in the back of the lab. Inside the tube was a human being! Suspended in liquid, tubes running into their mouth and nose. There were computer consoles around monitoring them.
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“Gasp! So you’re the one who’s been ruining all the cards I try and send her.” She laughed, “Well it sounds like you need a better set of warm clothes if you’re so cold! Or carry a personal warming device. Luckily for you this cabin has heating!” Liline was just a blown away by the city they approached. But she turned to Sephus, “Well, I was hoping we could explore the big city! And have a generally good day.” She smiled.
As the train then pulled into the main station on the central plateau, Liline grabbed her things and opened the door of the train cabin. Stepping down onto the platform. The train was covered in snow and sleet, but it was quickly melting due to the warmth inside this cavern. Seemed the Creach were smart on how the city was laid out. Not only was it a warm environment in here, it was like standing in the beautiful sun! No more craggy weather and storm clouds all day long, there were three artificial suns floating in the sky. It was a beautiful warm day! And there were hundreds of thousands of Creach on these platforms. It was a little fascinating not seeing many humans, Fatimazda, or any other species. There was the occasional person of non-Creach origin, but they were few and far between. Liline stepped away from the train and started walking toward the city. Looking back at Sephus, “Well, what do you think?”
\\Intro post - Scavenger Operation - just outside the Duxton system//
In the darkspace just outside of the system known as Duxton. The site of a galactic war memorial that commemorates the War of two Blades, where the Firstborn Empire and its allies faces off against an insurmountable fleet of Zerg and won but at the cost of thousands. On an asteroid just outside of the system is a crashes carrier belonging to the Firstborn empire. A single Ketch was hanging over it as several dropships move down to start up the operation.
A single barron was in charge of this mission, A previous House of Forges Baron that now pledged his loyalty to the Kell of Kells. He hoped that this mission would garner him some favour for this haul but he did not take the act of desecrating a site of battle like this lightly. With how his people were currently trying to consolidate strength it meant that even sites like this had to be potentially useful. Even if they did not like disturbing the dead. The Baron was called Mithra the stormsword, a man of action and honour who fought with an arc claymore and two pistols wielded in his lower arms.
He stood on the bridge, looking down at the projection of the crashed derelict below them while his scavenger teams start to move down into the ship below to see what they can find and bring back anything of interest. "... I do not like this Lynek. Taking from the dead is... Distasteful. And sends the wrong message of our intentions. Are you sure that this is the best place we can scavenge from? Are there no pirates to take from?"
A slender, smaller figure resides beside him. A female of their kind that has the insignia of the Scout section. She stays stood beside his seat on the bridge with all four arms clasped behind her back. "Pirates offer little challenge to one such as you. And you have been chosen by the Master of Secrets to gather information on the other races in this system. Before we become visible to the galactic eye we must understand who will be a foe and who can be a potential ally against the evils we are sworn to hunt."
The Baron brings up his large upper arm to stroke under his chin as he grunts. "The Abyssal Hydra. The Void beast of the ether deeps... I remember helping to lead in the initial charge against his shadowy hordes only for Kell Ramska to tell us to retreat... At the time I would have stayed... But that beast... There was no glory dying before it... If we can find allies against it what will our Kell do?"
"Mysrax does not know, he merely wishes for the information to be available. If the potential allies are just and the Great Machine wills it... Then they will become our allies against the Hydra's evil. I will monitor channels to see if anyone has noticed our activity... Do you wish to go down and see for yourself?" Lynek asks as she lifts her head up to look at the Baron she was assigned to.
As he watched the holo-feed of his teams acting below, bestowing last rights for the dead that were left behind while other teams started to load up unfamiliar tech and supplies that might be useful for trading and studying later on. "I will go down. Turn on the grav-lift to prepare for supplies." He says rising from his seat, he stood a 7ft tall easily as he moved with his claymore perched on his shoulder.
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The Ketch's grav-lift opens, leading to a hastily set up pad on the asteroids surface along with some set up defenses including a surface to 'air' laser battery to stop other dropships from landing nearby. The grav-lift ripples as Baron Mithra exits the lift with two captain bodyguards by his side. A captain in charge of this hastily set up camp approaches with a respectful bow "Baron Mithra. I have news. The first of the teams will be coming back with several crates of supplies while others will be coming with weapons and tech of an unknown purpose. It seems to project a field of some sort but we cannot discern its usage."
The baron huffs as he looks over the camp. holding his claymore in one hand as he plunges the tip into the asteroids rocky surface. "I'm sure that crackpot Haekus would love to tinker with all of it. Prepare the lift and instruct the teams to access the ships data stores, grab all the info you can. I don't like to disturb this place more than we have to..." The Captain hurriedly nods as he goes off to a nearby console to relay orders. Several servitors being prepared on the Bridge of the strange alien carrier vessel to access the info they needed... The Baron left to look out into the vast blackness of space above them, wondering what the monster they hunted was currently plotting.
The Alicorns, Iammelon, and Triporea
Iammelon and House of vengeance
The Jarl would chuckle on how they depart and where they disappear, not even trying to pursue them anymore even if his subordinates will, finding nothing but trees and leaves....
The two ships outside of visual range from the Bezannian ships would become scouting them from afar, tracking their movements and bearing in order to find the right time to strike. Perhaps they should do hit and runs in order to minimize damage or a full-on ramming.. this would have the possibility to destroy the kyridium shipping, but either way, destroyed or recovered are still both good results for the clients that the Jarl talked to. They're too far to do any damage, and if they even shoot once they will alert the ships, perhaps a ramming option would be the best way, but for now, they must see to it that it works, and if it doesn't they have impromptu plans if such a scenario arises from the failure.
'Black Truth' would go first in order to go to the planned location of interception and boarding whilst 'Sheepskin' would stay behind for 5 minutes before heading towards the two ships with its macrothrusters fired up at maximum capacity, if course this is a dangerous maneuver as the macrothrusters haven't been tested before and it may cause overheating on the engine, but they're willing to try out. It will be a matter of moments before 'Sheepskin' intercepts either of the ships and divert their path to wherever 'Black Truth' is.
The Battlebarge continued to move forward, and aboard the bridge one of the officers turned to Commander Ilox, "Ma'am, they're opening a communications channel, looks like they are willing to talk after all. I'll patch it through to your command console. They seem to be using the standard trade language, although they don't seem to grasp it all too well... Still, it's enough to be generally understandable, and the translation algorithms can fill in the blanks. To the best of their ability, at least, based on context. Their true language isn't in our records, guess we can assume these aren't Hadasti, Elisians, or anybody else we know. They're new, perhaps a recently emerged civilization?"
Sitting back down in her command chair, Ilox looked to the officer and shook her head, "They don't exactly look primitive. Got a decent grasp of Trade Basic, so they've obtained that information from somewhere. But more importantly, their tech is rather clearly not that amateurish. If I had to guess, they're likely either isolationists, long range scavengers, or nomads. In all instances, we can probably negotiate. Now, quiet down, time to give our response." She gave a wave, and then looked to her command console.
Ilox decided that, to show she wasn't aggressive, she would take off her helmet. After all, a figure in power armor with a cracked visor on the helmet might give off more of a pirate impression, and she didn't want to show herself as such. With her helmet off, she revealed herself as a human female, with long brown hair and brown eyes to match. She hit a few buttons on her console, and gave her response to Mithra, "Baron Mithra, this is Commander Ilox of OMNI Battle Fleet Hokaris. Well, former OMNI. I am willing to talk, although you'll have to forgive me if I am not so trusting of your assurances that you are not desecrating the dead. However I can understand such urgency, as we are also here due to requirement. My fleet is damaged after multiple encounters with pirates, and we intend to repair ourselves on the old facility here. But note that we are still quite well armed and ready for a fight. Your House of Vengeance is not known to me, let's hear some more. And I'd also like to know why you need to scavenge in a system left as a memorial." She was uncertain about how truthful they were being, especially given the rather ominous name of this House, but she would take this chance to talk regardless. Avoiding a fight was important here, especially if this batch of scavengers had many more friends in bigger ships elsewhere who could come and take revenge if a battle broke out.
As the battlebarge grew closer it could see several fighters patrolling around the strange and alien vessel along with what could be some sort of transports came to and from the large ship they all came from while a single light pierced the asteroids surface... A grav-lift. Looked to be that they were gathering up what they could find. The ship was not new, it had it fair share of battle scars that held their own meanings as they were patched up.
Soon they might be close enough to see if their systems weren't too badly damaged to notice the graves and last rites being performed on those they could find in the derelict nearby. It would be then that Mithra would begin to speak again as his translator got him what the aliens said in response. "Scavenging the memorial... A place of honoured dead who fought bravely for countless lives, was not my idea. This sacrilege..." There was venom in his words before he continued. Whether fake or not he certainly sounded genuine about this. "... It is not what my former house stood for. But it is a necessity... Two fold. To gather supplies for trade and ways to aid our fleet. And to gather information on a complete language index and intel on possible allies for the future... As you no doubt think, our house name is an ominous one. It is not without purpose... We name ourselves this because an enemy so vast brought our people to the brink of collapse after we had already faced an extinction level event after our God abandoned us, it drove us from our ancient home long ago. A hydra of the void, a beast so cunning and vile it enslaves all those it see's as worthy. While destroying all others that are weak and not fit to exist." He was more than upfront with her. Something that seemed to get him one of his subordinates yelling in his ear about he shouldn't be telling them so much so carefreely.
Mithra had to admit, he didn't know what to make of these aliens... He knew of their species. He saw many like them amongst pirates and traders... An old word in basic popped into his head. 'Humanity'. "Our House is born from three smaller houses, it was ten years ago. The House of Forges, House of Shadows and the House of Broken Dreams. We came together after being caught in a pirate trap after they hijacked our nursery ships, looking to sell our newborns into slavery without any knowledge of our species biology, and murdering our scouts. We joined forces and sought out the pirate base to destroy them... We fought bravely and reclaimed what they stole. But then it arrived. An immense being, a beast with 9 heads with eyes like sapphire stars all glaring from the vast distance in the infinite black... Wounds in space opened as we were assailed by pale creatures with tubes in their bodies. They all looked so similar to each other..." If Omni had access to the records of when Erox tried to butt in when they stole some broodmothers from Excave after the war, they would remember that the strange flesh soldiers Erox brought were pale flash made clones of human soldiers that touched the strange grey goop that was left around. "Our leaders, our Kells all told us to run as the three of them, the strongest, fiercest and most cunning of us all... They were all killed the instant they started to turn the tide by some vile magic. He destroyed several of our ships before letting us flee. Not even seeing us as worthy enough to finish off."
"Our people would have likely fallen into extinction willingly if our situation grew any bleeker... Until a miracle occured. But I'm prattling now, as my operative from the Scout section is so eager to shout at me. I hope this at least sates your curiosity about our house. I hope I am not being too rude to ask if I can hear about yours." Mithra certainly wanted to avoid getting into a fight here, he wanted to get back so he could chew out the master of secrets for putting him in this situation in the first place.
Fendi was not exactly surprised about the fact he had to go talk to his superiors, as he could guess that the presence of Anubites here rather complicated their mission. As such he was not offended by the fact that this was required, giving a nod of understanding and letting him go off to call without issue. He didn't make any attempts at eavesdropping, deciding it would be rather uncouth, and instead stayed where he was. This of course meant he was easily approached by Rhaian and her curiosity about their concept of the afterlife. Fendi did seem pleased to see that she was interested, as Anubites enjoyed when other races took interest in their theology, "I suppose I can, Rhaian. We Anubites have a rather intimate relation with the afterlife and the souls that dwell within it, for the simple reason that we have our direct connection in the form of spirit mystics. From our understanding, there is a distinct split between the realm of life and the realms of death. Not just one place in the afterlife, but rather a few different planes, with distinct purposes. All with purposes held by four distinct gods, the true gods. Universal beings of total power, completely beyond our perception and comprehensions. As such they have gained titles, as their names are beyond us. The Judge, the Mother, the Son, and the Glutton. All in a struggle for souls and the spiritual balance of the universe, with little regard for the mortals they fight over. Only the Judge aims to maintain universal balance, and we Anubites attempt to maintain spiritual balance. For the sake of the universe. As for the realms of the Afterlife itself, I can discuss that as well." He gestured however to Yosgel as he was waiting, "But I'll have to talk about that another time, as well as talk about more of the gods. Later however, work first."
He then turned to Yosgel proper, indicating that it was alright for him to approach. He clearly was not very happy with that proposal, frowning and shaking his head, "No. Switching ownership over the course of a year is a terrible idea, for multiple reasons. First of all, that is yearly, long range transport for a very old artificial. It is dangerous to its integrity, and it would require more than merely a year in-between transfers to make that workable. Secondly, perhaps you cannot let go because it is ancient to you, but consider for a moment how I cannot come back without it either! I will not be the Fasuldi who gives up family relics to an untrusted foreign power. No offense is meant there, but we simply do not know you nearly well enough to give away Fasuldi property! Your superiors quite clearly don't seem to get it." He then quieted down, sighing as he forcefully relaxed himself. He was still quite stern, but he spoke more calmly now, "My apologies for the out burst, but it does still stand that I cannot give away family property. However I do empathize with your position, and I understand that to your people returning my property is its own type of surrender to a foreigner. That is why I made my previous offer of information. But I would indeed prefer a amicable agreement. So, I cannot allow the box to go, but is there anything else your superiors would be satisfied with?"
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