NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: Normals rules of etiquette apply, and please, don't trot out your forty-kilometer warship to deal with my lil rocks. Thanks. :)

In the outskirts of the Solar system an asteroid careened through the black depths of interplanetary space. But did it careen? For the ever-present sensors of Sol, who had possibly, if not probably, mapped out every asteroid in the major and minor belts, would note that this asteroid was somewhat large, very large in fact, perhaps 400 km in diameter, and the second thing those sensors would note was that this asteroid was completely new. It had emerged out of…nowhere, it seemed. Materialized out of thin air. Of course, asteroids this large do not materialize out of thin air. No, they certainly don’t. But this one did.

The third thing that would quickly be ascertained was that said asteroid was not in orbit, and yet was avoiding collisions with the countless thousands of its seeming counterparts in the belt. It was moving, but the movement had purpose, direction, intent. It was if this giant rock had sprouted out of nowhere, fully formed, and had grown a brain inside of itself. It was also moving quite fast. The normal orbital speed of an asteroid was 2,000 meters per second, and this one seemed to be moving at an appreciable fraction of the speed of light, and didn’t show any intent to slow on down.
Of course, though this particular asteroid was the first of its kind, others popped up. One near Saturn, another near Jupiter, and a fourth one near Earth, the first one being near Mars.

And finally, there was one more thing someone might notice about these strange objects that masqueraded under the guise of humble belt asteroids. For those in tune with psychic or magical forces of any kind, they radiated something akin to but not exactly the same as wizarding magic or psychic telekinesis. This…field of whatever it was grew denser the closer you got to the center of the objects, and if you imagined that you could see the strange forces the thing was emanating, there would be a fading light show at the places where they had materialized.

No hostile intent could be inferred, or even what, if anything, was motivating the megalithic objects. Very acute visual readings observed lines of bright color crisscrossing and intersecting across the surface of the rock, not integrated into but looking like some sort of net of light drawn across it. For now, the objects paused outside the spheres they had materialized close to, seemingly waiting, perhaps analyzing what, exactly, they had come across. A system held its breath, light-years away.

Jupiter

Business as usual. Was all the Unnecessary Phrase thought, once it noticed the odd rock showing up. She had her reasons to think this way. First contacts were an almost daily phenomenon, As she knew well enough... The sentient mushrooms over Mars, Kaireigh closing in towards Jupiter, and so on. As such, a certain routine had developed when dealing with this kind of arrival.

Vaguely menacing. Was her second thought. On her sensors, the rock looked pretty much like a miniature sun, with hydrogen nuclei and microasteorids impacting and releasing appreciable amounts of energy, flaring up, bright spots easily spotted on her sensors, courtesy of the sheer kinetic energy the asteorid presented with its present velocity.

The idea of this thing impacting into anything important wasn't particularly enjoyable, either.

A few more in-depth scans. Granted, Angstian 'Telepathy' was defined by screwing a little with electromagnetism, and had absolutely nothing to do with psychic fields, a netherworld, exotic energies or whatever other methods to achive comparable results were used by other people.

Still, some sort of... Intersection had to be there. And this was pretty much what it found.

Hummm. Odd, that. Ah, they slowed down.

Unnecessary Phrase sighed, cutting the 'Stop or we will vaporise you' (She wasn't quite certain just 'how' one would have done such with such a vast object, but hey... She was quite a bit into Poker) out of the message she was about to send, and, while sending a small chunk of observed data back to Themisto and Thebe (For Kaenei & Konania to work with), eventually accelerated marginally, heading towards the object in question, eventually shooting off her question, together with a small package of data that should help the object to learn english (She deemed Angstian to be too complicated to be used in a first contact situation).

<Unnecessary Phrase> Who are you? What do you want?

Kel Meralkharant Alpha Rock, Jupiter/Io L2 Point, Jupiter

"What in all the names of God Above is that?"

The question was likely repeated, more or less the same, in command centers across the system; while alien arrivals weren't exactly unheard of - the sheer electromagnetic output of Sol's civilisations made it show up like a beacon to anyone within a hundred lightyears - they weren't something that happened every day.

Or at least, very few of them turned up as asteroids four hundred kilometers across.

Four hundred kilometers! Radukh tsaRega stared at his screens unhappily. That was larger than Alpha Rock, or Far Stone, or a goodly number of moons - and yet it had come in at relativistic speeds, far faster than anything had a right to go.

"Omni-Tek, that space city thing, and now this," he muttered. "Why here?"

"Aeryaghrana reports are coming in, Senekhal," an aide said, "The Arikhenikh and Terran Setnets report similar ... objects arriving at Mars and Earth, and L4 thinks there's one out near Saturn. We should have three-way communications established shortly."

Radukh nodded, and settled down to wait. Before too long, the tattooed visage of Arkhreifane Tanyi ralKeyra of the Star Command appeared on his screens, followed shortly by the immaculate Ksraizenar-Rakhenakh ea Seingult, one of the Tekhat Maraldi's three Markhreifi.

"Arkhreifane, Markhreif. Is there any light you can shed upon this strange arrival?"

"None at all, Senekhal," Ksraizenar-Rakhenakh replied. "The Martian object is too far distant for the Setnet here to aquire a useful reading."

"Some," Tanyi said, "Though not much, and not enough. These asteroids aren't, apparently, of uniform shape, and as yet they appear to be doing nothing of import. The Setnet here in orbit picked up this - I'm transferring the file now."

This was a faint tracery of light across the surface of the rock.

"We've got programs watching and analysing it for signs of patterns," Tanyi continued, "But God Above alone knows what it means, or if it means anything."

"What do you want me to do about it?" Radukh asked.

"Unfortunately, there isn't a lot we can do - against something that large, with the acceleration they've displayed, I daresay the entirety of the Outer System Fleet wouldn't be much good. Or the Inner System Fleet, for that matter.

"I certainly don't suggest Maraldi do anything with the one at Mars, Markhreif. The Defence Fleet is much too small - and given Mars, we cannot afford to weaken it further.

"So; find a ship on the active-duty roster, Radukh - I suggest a Sekhmet or an Avernus - and send it to take a look. A Star Command crew isn't the first contact team I'd choose, but the TESEC ships are out-system. They're to get out of there if it looks hostile, mind."

TSCV Av-005 Delphi, Jovian Orbit - On Approach to Unidentified Jovian Incursion #35

Svedai ralGanahlen watched the object grow larger on her screens with trepidation and not a little annoyance. What was Command thinking, to send an Avernus up to something that big? Why not a Hades?

The Delphi had the advantage, she supposed, of not seeming much like a threat - given that it was under one eight thousandth the size of UJI35. That wasn't much comfort to her, of course. The Avernus' much-vaunted twin gauss cannons would help little here.

But it was not exactly a suicide mission - there was to be no attacking, at least not on the Tsarainese side. It only felt like one.

Command deck of His Majesty's Ship Drop Bear.

Captain Arvid Karlsson rubbed his temples and chewed on the tips of his thick blonde moustache.
"So...you are telling me a four hundred kilometre rock just dropped out of...no-where. And that no-one in this stupidly paranoid system has shot at it yet?"
The foot-tall, dog-like creature he was talking to shrugged, a fairly clever achievement for a quadraped.
"Maybe there's been a rain of peacability and restraint recently and we've just not noticed?"
The Captain looked at his ship's E.I. for a moment until the little creature broke eye contact.
"What, it could happen..." mumbled the E.I, rubbing a small paw on the deck.
"And the Thelasi will make a valuable contribution to the universe as something other than compost." came Karlsson's rejoinder.
The Captain chewed his moustache some more, then leant forward, wagging a finger at the avatar.
"No, whatever this rock has popped into Sol for, it's probably going to get shot at sooner rather than later, which means we should go and take a look before some idiot blows it apart on the "It looked at me funny principle."
The avatar scratched an ear.
"It's a giant rock, how could it look at someone funny?"
The Captain frowned darkly.
"You'd be surprised." he muttered.
The E.I looked at him for a moment, then twitched an ear.
"Oh, and the Marine psykers say the rock is um..."
"Um what?"
"That's all. The chief psyker says there was a light show when it popped out that reminded him of the time he tried peyote."
"I shan't ask further."
Karlsson stood, the avatar skipping aside as the Captain gestured at the viewscreen.
"No, by Freyja, we'll get to the bottom of this rock ourselves! All ahead full!"
"Who are you talking to, there's no one on the bridge but us..?"
"Be quiet and drive Droppie."

When the rocks appeared, it took a moment for the change to be noticed. After all, the Sol System was rather huge, even when one had faster than light sensors and communications.

But the gravitic map of the system had changed, cause whatever else they were, the asteroids were big. The manner in which they moved, of course, suggested ships, or, at least, giant asteroids converted into ships.

Which, when you got right down to it, was rather… paranoia inducing, especially when one considered that they, just in dimensions, were eight times larger than the largest object the Federation had ever put into space that could move under its own power. Assuming an equivalent density, that would make them five hundred and twelve times as massive.

This, of course, meant that they massed in at something over twenty trillion tons. Of course, this was a tiny fraction of the Earth’s mass… but the Earth did not move at appreciable fractions of lightspeed.

So this, naturally, made TacNet very aware of the presence of the objects, especially considering the relative closeness to Federation holdings on Mars and on Earth, not to mention in orbit of those two planets. Of course, being friendly with the Triumvirate brought its own concerns, considering those other two rocks had popped out in the strongholds of that alliance.

The first thing TacNet did was send a flash warning to all ships in the Solar System. That it could do without human intervention or command. Then, of course, the huge linked network of electronic intelligences had to request orders. And it did.

That request quickly worked its way up to the Office of the Imperial President. Within minutes, in fact. Orders came back down.

Flag Bridge, S.P.S. Darkstar, Leaving Mars Orbit

Rear Admiral Ruswick muttered something under his breath as he read the orders. Investigate and, if possible, make friendly contact. Short and to the point. And unfortunately, left absolutely no room for ass covering.

He glanced at the holographic plot which showed the Second Patrol Fleet Task Group, all eighteen ships of it, accelerating out of Mars orbit and towards the huge object. The light codes which displayed his ships were damnably small compared to it, and as they crept closer, Ruswick ordered the visual display turned on.

Which only made it worse. He felt like an ant about to be crushed under a giant foot as the task group slowed to a relative halt with the object.

The small strategic repeater plot showed this happening near all four objects, as the Sixth, Ninth, and Tenth Task Groups of the Federation’s Patrol Fleet moved into position.

At Jupiter, the Ninth would only monitor the Jovian’s communications attempts, and the Tenth, at Saturn, would do the same unless there was no visible response from the Saturnian nations.

But at Earth and Mars, a message sped across the silent night of space, carried on all radio frequencies available, in every language that they knew. First, a sequence of prime numbers. Then came the message. “Welcome to Sol. We bid you greetings. We are curious. Why are you here? Who are you?”

The moonlike rocks whurred to a stop, the net of lights shifted around the rocks, and they seemed to put on the veil of thoughtful silence, contemplating their surroundings.

Atleast, on the outside.

On the inside, they trembled. They could not interpret and translate the two beams of electromagnetic radiation that had been fired at them, and perhaps most importantly, didn't know that they were from different nations, but their own particular brand of sensory abilities began to fathom the Solar System in all its glory.

And glorious and terrible it seemed to the Osage.

Wakonda wa'le.

The message resonated amongst the extrasensory perceptions of all in Sol, though it was intended only for the controllers of the asteroid-like objects.

It was a simple statement that began to fill the inhabitants of the megaliths with fear. They realized that four enormous objects had just intruded on a system whose power was orders of magnitude greater than the entirety of the Osage nation.

The Osage's perception filtered through, a probing amongst something similar and yet not the same as souls, a tally that said to the leaders of the four stones: We just stumbled on a system powerful enough to destroy us in an instant.

This was their first perception. The next was that there were subtly different variations among the capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses of the inhabitants of this system, indicating that they were not all the same (and yet a certain frequency matched the Osage's own, and this was more peculiar than the differences).

The possibility that many different nations made up the immense power they were sensing was not considered at first, and so they took on an air of servile caution.

In a small explosion of that same energy, the moonlike objects vanished once again, into thin air, all to aware that they were floating targets that nonetheless looked intimidating.

But not for long. They were replaced by immensely smaller versions, still rock-like, still traveling at fractions of the speed of light when necessary until parking outside the same planets as the last. Except now there were twelve objects, and they were perhaps only a few hundred meters in diameter at their widest point, which was subjective due to the irregular surfaces. Minus the lines of light, they looked exactly like asteroids.

What had happened? Simple, the Osage had gotten scared and realized that these massive objects weren't exactly friendly-looking.

As the fleet of the Sentient Peoples' drew near, a message flared out from one. But it was not normal. Instead, into the minds of the Angstians, the Federates, the Brittmattians and the people of Tsairaine, it emblazoned itself, searing concepts, not words, into their mind.

The effect was that someone had typed out a message of peaceful intentions, quiet inquiry, and meeting each other in an incredibly complicated language and then ran it through a cheap translator, and finally proceeded to copy and paste it into the minds of the enquiring nations.

It was not normal telepathy. In fact, the Osage were not telepaths. They could not articulate in mind-speak, but they could atleast get the message across (or something resembling a message). They could not penetrate someone's mind if they refused to hear them, but they could politely knock at the door.

And the asteroidal objects began to accelerate very slowly, moving towards the closest ships of those who had attempted contact.

Alexandra blinked in sudden shock. This couldn't be right. Something like this doesn't just happen.

Her Kinesis Class Skirmisher had been sent to investigate the asteroid near Earth. That one tended to be a concern to a nation that orbitted the planet's moon. Psionically infused self-propelled giant asteroids don't just happen, it was clear from the start to the Low Iota Council there was a new species in the neighborhood, one with potent psionic ability.

When they sent off their message, friendly intent did not mix well with how the message got across. Both problems were Alexandra's misdoings, of course: She was too focused on her ship's systems to let the message in, and her attention on the scanner when it did knock the door down amplified it by several magnitudes. The concept was conveyed, all right, but at a volume akin to being inside a drum being hammered by a giant.

When she finally was able to think straight, she realized how fortunate she was the life support wasn't dependant on psionic graft technology. She focused on her neural transmitter, arcing it toward the asteroid. She decided she should try to communicate in a similiar manner, and began sending concepts of a small, friendly confederacy of psionically gifted humans orbitting the nearby planet's moon. Her remainder of focus, other than essential shield levels to avoid debris, was on being ready to receive a response.

The being bowed before the black-robed figure. "Da han ba gi, Irul?"

The figure seemed a bit annoyed, a bit nervous, and a bit angry. "Wei da han, ta 'ta shon ta na?"

"Osage whach pa li bre, Mi wa'le." The figured remained kneeling, his face downcast. It was obviously a message of futility.

"Ho'wei..." The black-robed figure seemed to be in charge, and his seemingly affirming answer was tinged with a spot of doubt. Could there really be that many in one system? Their resources must be immense... He turned, his staff made out of something that looked vaguely like black marble. We must contact the rulers of this vast system, if we are to survive. We must keep A'kada's location secret, for now, he thought, continuing his mental monologue.

He turned to the blue-cloaked figure. "Bi shi..." he hummed again. "On ca li pu." This seemed to end the discussion, and the figure stalked off.

And then was hit by the telepathic symbols from the Urivians [OOC: Urivi? Something else?]. His shock was immense. "Tzi-shu, Hon'ga?" These seemed to be names. How is that possible... Figures were running everywhere, talking amonst each other, all of them thinking the impossible. What are the odds...

Irul Kasaros contemplated this new information, pondering the vast religious, political, and historical significance. But he also thought of the manner in which they had been contacted. It was not the same as the Osage's own brand of power. Kasaros was no mere soldier, he was one of the Ten Generals that were elected to lead the military of the Osage every four years. He was currently in his 344th term. That was a very, very long time. The Osage lived for a very, very long time. So when this new message entered his head, he knew that the power that sent it there was very different from his own. He sensed its essence, probed its power. It is of the mind, not wakon proper. And returned a concept that looked vaguely like two stick figures with arrows under them pointing to each other. One figure seemed to be coming from a circle with lines crisscrossing across it that served as a crude mental projection of the Osage asteroid. Once more it was underlined: The Osage were not accomplished telepaths.

The general breathed deeply. Here we go.

Alexandra grinned, their message came across much easier since she was ready for it. She began sending memories of her training in telekinesis, telepathic communication, and channeling psionic focus through the graft technology that allowed her to communicate on such a level. She also included the concept of not being so accomplished as she seemed, that her power was artificially enhanced by her ship's technology. She then sent a transmission back home:
Non-hostile aliens. Partially psionic, apparently nomadic. Communicate through concept projection. Ready an appropriate diplomat.

OOC: Urivi is how it is generally stated, but Urivian is appropriate too.

TSCV Av-005 Delphi, Jovian Orbit - Velocity Matched to Unidentified Jovian Incursions #36 Through #38

Svedai blinked. One moment, UJI35 had hung there like the very fist of God Above, and the next it was gone.

Bastards, she thought, What is going on here? Someone's playing silly buggers with us.

And then -

"Meralkharikh Setnet reports three objects incoming at c-frac velocities!"

Oh, shit.

"They're slowing - matching velocities relative to Jupiter. Couple of thousand kilometers off - ah. I have them on ship's sensors."

These ones were smaller, at least - not much bigger than a Sekhmet or a Hades, if those were made out of asteroidal rock.

I wish I knew what all this was about. Are they hostile or what? She shook her head, brushing away vague imaginings (like 499,999,999 other people out of every five hundred million Tsarainese citizens, Svedai was as telepathic as a brick).

"Command, advise?"

"Mantain as before, Captain-Commandant. See if they'll say something."

"Yes, sir. Shit, they're moving!"

"Target appears to be the Angstian ship in the vicinity - identified as the Unnecessary Phrase."

Oh God Above, save me from the Angstians.

"Follow them, Captain-Commandant - we need to know what they're about. Be nice to the Angstians."

Psionics and Paranormal Research Core, Pearl, the Sea of Storms, Earth

While the overwhelming majority of Tsarainese might have all the telepathy of a small lump of cheese, there were a minute few who defied the Ascendancy's neuroscience by possessing it - only eight, ranging in age from four to over a hundred.

Because the Ascendancy's highest leaders abhorred the inexplicable, the defiance of logic and pure unadulterated reason, they had long since been shipped off to Pearl, the former submarine base on the bed of the Sea of Storms.

It was no place for anyone to stay overlong, underneath the crushing pressure of kilometers of open ocean. It offended the sensibilities.

"Nurse? Nurse!"

Kinevra tsaLekhaya was much too old for this sort of thing - even with the benefit of yearly rejuv therapy she looked, and felt, ancient, the seeming youth rejuv granted wearing thin around the edges. And for most of her life she'd been, by her own definition, mad as a hatter; it had taken decades for her to learn not to hear the crowds of humanity, decades more to recover.

In a way, it was good to be here at Pearl; the crowded, teeming, screaming throngs that filled the arcologies back in Tsaraine were nowhere to be seen. But her grandson was here too, and that was not good; this place was not the sort of place one wanted one's grandchildren growing up in (but then, neither was Tsaraine, these days - some days she cursed the odd talent which had left her cooped up here, without with she'd be with her happily neurotypical children on Tenebris).

The nurse arrived finally, and Kinevra adjusted her bed so she could sit up.

"Someone is being entirely too loud," she said. "Wakonda wa'le - what does that mean? Make them stop it - I'm an old woman. There's no sense in bothering me."

The nurse shrugged, unknowing, but she went off to talk to someone. Kinevra was satisfied.

OOC: I haven't introduced my happy little band of telepaths before because there'd been no way or reason to. This is nicely ideal - my thanks. The telepath ratio - 1:500,000,000 - is the same as that of the Most Glorious Hack, before immigrants from GMC Military Arms messed up his statistics.

Once again Kasaros wasn't ready for the entering of images in his head. They confirmed what he already knew. He turned the idea, though not the actual word, of psionics around in his head. Highly primitive in some areas to our own, advanced in others, particularly communication. Level is minimum, from what they've shown. Now... The general concentrated his mind. He really didn't like resorting to this crude form of communication, but it really was the only way to get messages across, for now. The idea of Walking into their ship might prove slightly....disturbing, for now, if only for pure shock value.

This time, a stick figure that looked vaguely like a man stood next to another stick figure looking the same. On the right was something that looked like a small child's perception of the Urivi ship, on the left the same image of the circle with the crisscrossing lines on it. As the message hit, the concept of a meeting, though not the word, impressed itself like a bright colored backgroun d in an otherwise mundane painting, so that when the psionic-users of Uriv got it, they would be prodded towards that line of thinking. Definitely not wakondagi. `


And the Tsarainese [appropriate adjective, I hope?]? They were moving in, and to the Osage asteroids, who it must be remembered thought all the ships were part of the same Empire, interpreted this as the concept getting across to the Urivi ship. Concordingly, the asteroid housing the general began to speed towards the Tsarainese ship, apparently with the intent of getting fairly close.

Alexandra got the message, then received a signal from the colony. Kinesis Skirmishers had been deployed to the other rocks, including the fragmented ones at Jupiter. When she was told what they were doing there, she was confused at first, but quickly put two and two together.
"Well, shit."
Thinking fast, she sent the image from the meeting message back, but changed. There were more lines in the circle, which was split up like pie slices. The slices were quickly spread apart, and a new figure appeared under each one. Each of these figures had a group of people behind them. With this new image, she conveyed the concept of a race that was not unified politically.

EDIT: Thanks for the tip, T.

TSCV Av-005 Delphi, Jovian Orbit - Velocity Matched to Unidentified Jovian Incursions #36 Through #38

"Number thirty-six is turning - they're coming this way!"

Oh, shit, shit, a million kinds of shit.

"Command, can you advise?" The Outer System Fleet would be nice about now.

"Make no agressive moves, Captain-Commandant. If they make agressive moves, you're to retreat ASAP to Kel Meralkharant. We don't know what they're doing, and until we do we must assume nothing."

That was all very well for Command to say, holed up safely back in Alpha Rock, but Svedai was the one with several hundred meters of asteroid bearing down on her ship.

OOC: Yes, "Tsarainese" is correct. In Sekhel it's "Tsarainikhi", but that goes poorly into English.

Uriv: You're at Earth, the Delphi is at Jupiter. Bit of a distance there. I'm not sure if your sensors can reach far enough with high enough resolution to see what my ships are doing a half-dozen AU away ...

Two species? Two ships? Kasaros attempted to decipher the message carefully, contemplating.

And then waves of relief swept over him. He looked through windows no one else could see, and noticed the completely different styles and most importantly, markings on the various ships that had responded to the megaliths, and it became clear.

"Tha'le." So....four different nations in this system so far, but if what he was sensing was correct, that still made each individual power orders of magnitude greater than the Osage alone.

Then again. There could only be four...or there could be a myriad. It remained to be seen. So the massive ships could possibly be resummoned, if necessary.

But if Contact #2 had not gotten the message, why where they accelerating towards the asteroid? Curiosity, perhaps?

A booming message echoed across the Solar System again, this time concepts instead of words in the Osage language. The Osage asteroid was in the center, and surrounding it at some distance were crude representations of the various' nations ships, with vague stick figures drawn next to them. Then arrows went from all the people to the Osage asteroid, and again there was this underlying imperative that made people think "There needs to be a meeting" when they received the message. And the asteroid stopped moving near Uriv, and the lines of light that danced across it brightened intensely, hoping to show importance. Near Jupiter, the asteroid continued to move closer to the Tsarainese ship.

And Kasaros put his hand on his temple. Finally, we are getting somewhere.

OOC: Quick explanation, post to follow; the Delphi approached UJI35 (the big rock) and matched velocities - so it was at a fixed position relative to UJI35. Then UJI35 disappeared, and UJIs 36, 37, and 38 turned up. They headed off towards the ship which had made contact - that being the Angstian one.

The Delphi was still matching velocities at this point - going towards the Angstian ship as well, parallel to the Osage ships. Then UJI36, with the general on it, began accellerating towards the Delphi - the Delphi is still going in the same direction it has been, at a fixed position relative to 37 and 38, which are still heading towards the Unnecessary Phrase.

Or so I interpret it.

Ma'varkith nodded as he received the telepathic message from whoever was operating the asteroids. He willed his ship forward, the inertial thrust activating with his desire for forward motion. Ma'varkith reporting, Jupiter orbit. Aliens requesting a meeting of present parties. Docking at specified asteroid. He sent an image of himself and another pilot underneath the same symbol. His image was by Jupiter, the other pilot's image was by Earth. Then, he showed an image of his ship landing, coupled with a concept of desire for knowledge.
"Where to land, where to land..."

As the asteroid got very close to the Tsarainese ship, a bridge of light connected the two, and lines of light began to spread over the ship of Tsaraine until the web of light extended across and around both ships, connecting them.

Then the material of the asteroid twisted and elongated, forming a bridge between the rock and the Tsarainese ship that a man could walk across. Finally, a doorway opened, but the web of light seemed to be just as solid as any wall, and a figure stepped forth, and began to walk on the twisted metal-rock. Hooded and robed, it carried a staff and slowly began to knock on the ship, looking for a door.

It was a rather tall figure, around six and a half feet tall, but otherwise the rather expansive robe cloaked pretty much everything about it. Around Jupiter, the figure waited for a response.

Near the Urivi ship, the metal twisted and elongated and formed a gigantic rectangle just long enough for the Urivi ship to land on. No more messages flew, it was assumed its purpose was understood.

OOC: There are twelve asteroids scattered about Jupiter, Saturn, Earth, and Mars. The one next to Tsaraine is not the same one next to you, Uriv. Enjoy ^_^

Ma'varkith quickly began to manuever the skirmisher into the rectangular tunnel. He received a message to bring his NAC with him so the government could keep up with whatever discussion occured, and he intended to comply. As he neared the end of the tunnel, he began to slow, cautious as to what may be at the end.

The dancing net of light lines closed over the entrance. As the ship slowed, holes opened in the rock, and blue-uniformed figures exited, holding...spears. Granted, they were highly polished, elegant-looking spears, with styled designs on them, but they were still spears.

But the telepaths of the Urivi would be unable to sense anything from said figures. Nothing. No brain activity at all. Whether this was because someone was shielding them, or some other reason, was not immediately apparent, but the figures were deathly silent.

The next surprise was that the blue-cloaked warriors were human. The shortest ones were six feet tall, all their hair was black and their skin was brown, but they were clearly Homo sapiens.

This had been what the leadership of the asteroids had been conversing about. What were the odds that light-years away, a species would develop the exact same way?

The answer was far too astronomical to be even considered. So what did that leave?

It left a giant question mark, is what it left. One that the Osage leaders were dying to answer.

A figure, also in blue but in robes and with obviously more attachments on said robe, indicating high rank, holding a staff of some type of wood, exited from the front (or end) of the tunnel, heading towards the Urivi ship. It was not Irul Kasaros, who now seemed to be contacting the Tsarainese, but it was a higher-up. The man waited, apparently awaiting the opening of the doors of the Urivi ship, his face radiating intense curiosity. He seemed to be chanting some sort of mantra, as well, under his breath, that seemed like orders to the troops, who remained completely unflinching.

"Kakona, Ta'be. Kakona, Ta'be. Kakona, Ta'be. He repeated the phrase every thirty seconds or so, softly and quietly but loud enough so that the spear-wielders could hear him. Still he waited, patiently, for the exit of the Urivi.

The Kinesis Skirmisher's bulbous cockpit opened up, and the Ma'varkith pulled himself out. His uniform was a light gray suit, with a strange pewter metal worked into the trim of the flightsuit. Removing his helmet, he revealed a pale face, straight brown hair, and intensely green eyes. He leapt out of the ship, and used his telekinesis to slow his descent to a safe level as he fell roughly ten feet. After he landed, he looked over the group and began to walk toward them, holding his arm out and displaying an image of them shaking hands coupled with the concept of a greeting.

Psionics and Paranormal Research Core, Pearl, the Sea of Storms, Earth

"Nurse!"

The young woman took her own sweet time in reappearing.

"Eja, esen tsaLekhaya kha?"

"I need to talk to the boys in black, girl. An asteroid wants to meet them."

"Uh ... I'll go find someone, esen. Please wait."

The nurse dashed back out to talk to her superiors. The old woman had been crazy before - might she be crazy again? But Researcher-Commandant Sche'daya sent a call out to Arkhreif ralGhema in The Eyrie, who contacted his counterpart in the Star Command, and truths began to filter down; yes, there were strange asteroids flitting about. No, they didn't know what they wanted. Any help the Arkhreif could render would be appreciated, but Arkhreifane ralKeyra didn't think scientists could be of much help - how did they know that?

That one gave ralGhema pause; the P&P was the most secret of secrets, as was everything in Pearl; the Arkhora knew of it, of course, as did ralGhema himself, but Tanyi ralKeyra was not a Researcher, was entirely too unscientific for ralGhema's liking. But if they meant to go anywhere, she ought to know.

"You're, uh, familiar with the concept of telepathy?" he asked cautiously.

"It doesn't exist, Kyne. Or not in Tsaraine, at least - I don't know about the Federation."

"Um. That is in fact incorrect, you see."

"I see. What clearance level is that, gracious? Righteous?"

"Imperious, actually, so I'm not sure if you should know. Tse kha?"

"Tse kto, Kyne. And your ... telepaths or whatever you have can pick up what these things are saying up in orbit?"

"It's apparently very loud - I think they may be hearing the ones at Jupiter."

"Well. That's an asset you have there, Kyne. Keep me informed, will you? Ainra eka Ruki, what am I to tell the Senekhal?"

TSCV Av-005 Delphi, Jovian Orbit - At docking range of Unidentified Jovian Incursion #36

"Does this count as action agressive enough for you, Command?"

"Negative, Captain-Commandant - the light show doesn't appear to be hampering any of your functions. We've got five Hades en route to your position in case it does, though - hang in there."

God Above! Svedai thought, Will they be saying that right until the moment it blows us all asunder?

"It's ... doing something - Ktoiudh ainra eka Ruki Aestrakhor aseiravda! This cannot be happening."

How can that guy survive in hard vacuum? Why is he not flying off into space with every step? God Above, this makes no sense.

On the Delphi's hull, the PDS lasers swivelled in their sockets, tracking the figure. Designed to shoot down incoming enemy missiles, any one of them was capable of vapourising it utterly - or at least, they should be, unless the stranger was playing foul. Svedai's eyes darted constantly to the weapons controls.

"Captain-Commandant, word from Earth - apparently the Researchers there are testing some kind of high-energy array which can detect whatever these rocks are broadcasting. They say they're friendlies - let him in."

What is this, that the Arkhreifiate of Research and the Sciences can give orders to Command? What in hell is happening here? God Above help me, I'm this close to calling abort on all this.

Instead, she said, "Open the starboard crew airlock. All hands, prepare to repel boarders if necessary."

Things were becoming a tad... Complex, and Unnecessary Phrase, despite having a considerable amount of processing power, was mildly confused.

Her internal security checked for the incoming signals, considered them to be save, let them in, processed them.

Sensors were looking at the sudden vanish of the big, and the return of a number of smaller rocks, decelerating quickly, resulting in a few more sunlike anomalies temporality blinding a few of her sensors.

It was all quite, quite confusing.

Technically speaking, Unnecessary Phrase was a diplomatic vessel. Technically speaking, she was supposed to be able to deal with this kind of situation.

However, practically speaking, she had certain problems when it came to comprehending the... Messages sent back and forth.

Language makes things so much easier...

She was clueless. Of course, there were ways to end this... Cluelessness, unfortunately, they required acts one could possibly consider 'hostile'.

... On the other hand, they had already using a form of at least semi-telepathic communication, and seeing as they had apparently been incapable of using the initial language codes and definitions Unnecessary Phrase had sent, so it was probably less of a problem.

She extended some mildly exotic electromagnetic fields, and sent an image, two brains, each of them being the source of a flow, a current to the other. Fairly easy to interpret, or at least that was what Unnecessary Phrase thought.

She then searched for a few suitable minds, and once she had found them, sent a few gestures that could possibly be interpreted as vaguely peaceful, before she began the actual exchange, implanting basic english while at the same time searching and copying the basic understanding the objects had of their own language.

Of course, it wouldn't be a particularly fast process. It would take time. Nor was it perfect. Learning something over years was still more eficient. Unfortunately, it was also slower. So, for now, she was content with dealing with rough translations and the occasional wrong 'wiring' in the mind. It should be sufficient to speed things up.

Of course, there was the risk of it being considered a hostile gesture. But then... It wasn't too different from the 'communications' that were already sent back and forth, and she supposed that the basic, peaceful (Or at least, non-hostile) intent should be obvious enough. If any problems would arise, she could still cut off.

She was willing to take the risk. It was... Efficient to take the risk.

Surface of H.M.S Drop Bear.

A hatch grinds slowly open. Slowly, because the hatch is vast enough for the 70,000 tonne subCruiser nosing it's way out of the cavernous darkness inside to pass through safely.
The vessel, which the original name of had translated to "Wolf" and now rejoiced in the name "Lupus", cruised towards the closest of the Osagian asteroids, weapons powered down, running lights flashing mathematical constants as the sCN edged onward.

Bridge of H.M.S Lupus.

Karlsson, having returned to his own vessel from his stand at Watch Captain on Drop Bear, continued the argument with Commodore Falcata that had begun almost immediately after the Commodore had been notified of the first contact.
Currently the Commodore was winning.
"Look Arvid, I don't care. Alright? I'm the Commodore here. Droppie is not the vessel to take to a First Contact situation, I don't care what you're about to say, Lupus will approach from here on it's own."
Falcata glowered at Karlsson, swarthy brows drawing together.
"Or do you want to continue this discussion?"
Karlsson, able to recognise a losing battle as well as the next viking-in-uniform, sighed.
"No Sir. Lupus will continue towards the designated object until we're close enough to dock, then our Marine Contact Team and the ship's Psyker will handle it from there."
"Exactly Captain."

o.o.c any problems, bitch me out on irc =)

Flag Bridge, S.P.S. Darkstar, Flagship, Second Patrol Fleet Task Group

The attempt at psychic communication was a mistake, but not one anyone outside the Federation was supposed to know about.

For a second, Rear Admiral Ruswick felt his mind clawing to a halt, as pain exploded behind his eyelids and an alarm sounded in his head. But only for the briefest moment, and then the calm returned. But the memory of the attack remained.

Ruswick blinked his eyes a few times to clear them of the water built up there. They were much smaller rocks now. And as far as he could tell, they were just rocks. That had, after all, hurt like the devil.

He snarled orders. “Weapons free, lock targets. Communications, get me in contact with anyone else to see if they felt that, any of the other ships that are approaching these things.”

It was a long time before a reply came, or at least, it seemed that way to Ruswick, who, by nature, was not a patient man. But eventually it came back that these things wanted to talk, to communicate.

Odd, that. Normally things that came to Sol wanted to blow things up. But then, if they had wanted that, they would have left the big asteroids present.

Now Ruswick was standing by a personnel lock, waiting for the thing to come aboard, and as he watched it on the monitor, hoping it could breathe their air. Or even could live outside the vacuum. But most of all he was wondering…

“How in the name of all that is holy are we going to talk to this thing?” he muttered to the captain of the ship.

“I have no idea, sir.”

OOC: If anyone has a problem with having assumed some level of cooperation with other investigating forces, tough. Assume I cooperated with 'someone' else.

The figure stepped into the airlock, apparently unharmed and breathing good old O^2 like the rest of...mankind. Once again the word seared itself into Lord Kasaros' mind. There were human beings here. What were the odds? He took off his black robe, carefully looking around the chamber, revealing himself as a simple member of the human race. His skin was a bit paler than the other Osage, but with no precedent to go on the Tsarainese would not notice that. His face seemed to have a bit of a smirk built into it, his hair was wild and messy, and he was clearly muscled everywhere it counted, courtesy of the intense physical training every Osage boy grew up with and some continued to advance well into their second millenia. He seemed cautious, leaning on his black staff, a faint red glow emanating from him.

Teshun, the blue-robed figure involved with the Urivi, was thinking the same thing: Men. There were a few subtle differences between the Osage and Urivi, not least of which was that the shortest of the Osage were six feet tall. Their hair was all black or dark brown, and their skin tones ranged from light to dark brown, but there was no mistaking the common identity. What forces had interplayed to bring this about?

Finally, he moved, again saying the words Kakona, Ta'be repeatedly, before finally coming to a halt. "Ha'wei," he said warmly, bowing slightly, the word being one of greeting. The blue-cloaked soldiers around Teshun remained completely still, not even a blink of the eye, before moving to form a rectangular perimeter around the docked ship, ornate spears leveled. Teshun spoke again in Osage, then stopped himself. A flood of relaxation and general at-easiness (if there was such a thing) emanated from the middle-aged man, and then an aura whose color was hard to place but seemed perhaps to be bluish-white with a tinge of multicolor in it curling out around him like a directed gas, heading towards the Urivi. It did not seem malevolent, and Teshun looked both soothing and nervous. The combined gesture of the surrounding soldiers and the strange wisp curling its way toward the psychic might be a bit disconcerting, but the man was obviously trying his best to put his guest at ease.


With the advent of the Brittmattian and Sentient ships, again the Osage data was reformed: More nations. The Solar system was not as scary as it had seemed at first sight. Kasaros knew about every advance in knowledge immediately, and what he knew was this: With more nations, came more diplomacy. Or whatever you preferred to call it. Irul preferred diplomacy, because it was much more polite. Not everyone in the Nonhonzhinga approved, but then, when had the general needed their approval? Never. A smile. There was hope yet for this system.

As for the Brittmattians? The asteroid simply rearranges its matter to form an adequate docking bay for their ship, once again following the procedure so that the ship can dock. It remains silent, waiting for the emergence of new contacts.

TSCV Av-005 Delphi, Jovian Orbit - At docking range of Unidentified Jovian Incursion #36

While it would be a mistake to stereotype all Tsarainese by the Tsakh mould, it fitted Svedai like a glove; raven-haired, pale-skinned, and very tall. The few inches she possessed over the alien (human?) were scant comfort, though.

Normal people don't breathe vacuum. Normal people don't walk in zero-gee. Normal people don't glow red. This is not a normal person. So what is it?

"At ease!" she said, and her crew lowered their taser pistols; the foreigner didn't seem hostile ... not right at this moment, at least. Svedai trusted that someone among her fifteen-man crew could aim and fire fast enough, should it be necessary.

"No sudden moves," she told him (hoping that by some miracle he might happen to speak Sekhel). "Who are you? Why are you here?"

When he made no sign of comprehension, she repeated herself in English, and then clumsy Italian - after which her knowledge ran dry.

Oh, for a Babel-fish right now.

H.M.S Lupus, Deployment Bay #8.

The bay is quiet, the usual bustle of maintenance absent and the only sound a quiet radio left playing whilst a scratch briefing is given to the contact team by the Lupus's esper.
It's a rapid briefing, with the daily popping in and out of existence of new civilisations in Ns-space, first contact training is regularly given to organic Kingdom forces at all levels and the same training for the M.I.R.s is as simple as a brief O.S. update.
The Marines, their briefing complete, file towards the heavy steel doors between them and the "asteroid" that's turned itself into a dock, helmets are sealed, armour as well, the lights dipping down to red while the bay depressurises.
A red light flashes, and the emotionless voice of the ship's A.I. announces complete depressurisation.
Backpack jets are ignited, as the twenty five Marines, and the Psyker they're escorting, lift off from the deck as the bay doors grind open, gently floating towards whatever the inhabitants of these strange asteroids have waiting for them.

Kasaros grinned inwardly. They are nervous.... He looked at the fifteen men around him, their taser pistols pointed at him. Nervous indeed.

Irul Kasaros was one of, if not the most powerful wakondagi in the Osage Empire. What that meant to these Tsarainese was that their ship was going up in smoke if they made any sudden moves. But they didn't know that. They just saw a young man with a staff. Education was in order.

Fifteen men materialized out of the air, holding various melee weapons with the same general type of design as melee weapons on Earth, if the style was completely different. There was one for each Tsarainese crewman.

They were completely unblinking. They did not show any signs of breathing. In fact, they seemed like they were waiting for a command.

Not many wakondagi could summon that many shi'kijin at once. Not many wakondagi could even summon shi'kijin. But Kasaros was special. Kakona, Ta'be.

Now that the playing field is equal..... He dispensed with Teshun's cautious approach with the Urivi, and his aura emanated a single tendril of oddly colored light that surrounded Svedai. Once again he noticed how similar the basic traits of human and human were. But as the light surrounded her, he laughed softly and began to speak, in Sekhel, perfectly accented.

"Greetings, milady. My name is Irul Kasaros, general of the Osage Empire."
------------------------------------

As the Brittmattian ship docked, and the net of light-lines resumed their interplay behind it, entombing it (to use a figurative word only) in the asteroid's field, a single man exits, holding his wooden staff closely. He seemed very old and somewhat tired, but his form radiated power, even if it was less than Kasaros himself, who was still young by wakongi standards. He seemed to be the Osage's response to the Psyker. What came next was more surprising.

Twenty-five hulking forms hunched over to exit the tunnels and then unfolded in all their glory. They seemed forged of pure steel, with two ornate axes in either hand, a purplish flame seeming to emanate from the center of the massive, human-shaped things.

They were, to use a Terran term, golems. They also were about nine feet tall, with that same purple flame emanating from their eyes. They did not seem to have any will of their own, but they weren't simply manifestations of a single man's will, and could not be pulled out of thin air like shi'kijin could. They were, apparently, the Osage's response to the Marines encased in metal, who they obviously viewed as somewhat similar, not seeing the men inside.

Again the older man smiled brightly before sending out that tendril of blue-white light that connected with the Psyker's mind, and he began to speak in the man's native tongue. "Hello, sir. I am Shing'ka, subordinate of Lord Kasaros, general of the Osage Empire."

TSCV Av-005 Delphi, Jovian Orbit - At docking range of Unidentified Jovian Incursion #36

Unfortunately for the Osage, nervous people make mistakes. The adrenalin gets flowing, and nobody has the time to consider every aspect of their actions, when the ape hindbrain is screaming at them to do something now now now!

The general probably should have known better than to summon his demons into such a tense situation; nonetheless, he'd done so.

Svedai saw the sudden appearance of the armed warriors, and the ape hindbrain screamed threat!

"Engage!" she yelled, and fifteen taser pistols ionised paths through the air, spat lightning at the foreigners. Fortunately for interstellar diplomacy, they were set to "stun".

Unfortunately for the Tsarainese, there were now sixteen of the Osage aboard the Delphi, and they didn't know where to aim. But Svedai's own target was none other than Kasaros himself.

TSCV Ha-010 Angra Mainyu, Jovian Orbit - En route to Unidentified Jovian Incursion #36

Captain-Commandant Mordechai keiRuæsind looked at the report just routed through Alpha Rock, and reacted almost instantly.

"Alert condition two! Crew to battle stations!"

OOC: Oh deary deary me.

In the space of nanoseconds, Kasaros heaved a sigh. How...compromising. The shi'kijin engaged, their movements a flurry of action as each one strove only to detain, to the point of getting hurt themselves rather than take an opportunity for a mortal blow. They fought in an almost mechanical way, but it was, nontheless, effective (for those who hadn't fallen, stunned, in the first volley.)

As for Kasaros...Well. He was one of the most powerful wakondagi in the Empire. If it had been an apprentice, even an average to skilled wakongi, the Tsarainese would have been looking at fifteen immobilized warriors and one tasered human.

But this was the 10th general of the Osage nation. The lightning bent around him, forming little circuits around his form as he looked on with amusement. He had hoped the display with the vacuum would have been enough, but apparently not.

The shock dissipated, and Kasaros himself moved quickly, faster than a normal man had a right to, but still aiming for a peaceful settlement. A blurred movement and a strike with the staff was aimed at getting the weapon out of the poor woman's hand. In his nation, physical training was just as valued as manipulation of the wakon. He let it show. If the woman was disarmed, he went no further. Lightning from metal..is this what they channel their own power through?

Again he repeated himself in Sekhel, the white link between the two humans unbroken, his voice amplified through no normal means, repeating that ancient sobriquet of extrasolar nations.

"We come in peace, friends."

TSCV Av-005 Delphi, Jovian Orbit - At docking range of Unidentified Jovian Incursion #36

Svedai felt more than saw the alien's staff knock the taser pistol from her hand. Sight came several seconds later, with the shameful realisation that the man and his things, his whatever-they-weres that he'd summoned from thin air, had disarmed her entire crew.

Oh shit, what in all the names of God Above happens now? Command is going to blow up the ship at this rate.

"Friends? Friends?" Sheer amazement at his presumption overrode shock that he spoke Sekhel. "Funny form of friendship you have, kshi'arkh."

TSCV Ha-010 Angra Mainyu, Jovian Orbit - En route to Unidentified Jovian Incursion #36

"First you tell me they are hostile, now they are possible friendlies?" Mordechai was as confused as a penguin in the steppe right now. "Command, you are making no sense! Provide further analysis."

He was pretty sure that "further analysis" would come to the net result of "we have no real idea what's going on."

OOC: Nanoseconds? I don't know about your shi'kijin, but given that light travels 29.9792458 cm per nanosecond in a vacuum, they'd be moving either above or very close to lightspeed. You may want to adjust that; the article on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second#Multiples_and_submultiples) is useful.

For that matter, a taser "beam" (electric charge travelling down a path of air ionised by a laser) is pretty darn fast itself. That Kasaros can divert it I'm perfectly willing to grant, and the shi'kijin could well be immune to it, but I doubt very much that they could dodge it.

Still, the actual outcome remains the same.

{ooc: I hope you don't mind my wandering in on this}

"you feel that?"
"yeah, my girlfreind is kinda like that, you get anything tyran?"
"yes, I have a message, but there is no record of it ever being received."

" is there any reason why we are headed for that asteroid?
"not really, do you think we should avoid it?"
"no, I think we should take a closer look I just don't know why that particular one."

{ooc: ok, nonhuman race, psychic ability is common, but there is no concious awareness of it. the Pilot's brain is surgically linked to ship systems, giving him memory of the message which the rest of the crew doesn't realise they received.}

OOC: Just Kasaros' thinking, nothing else. The shi'kijin act just like men , I assumed a few would make it past the tasers since you mentioned something about aim. Sorry if it seemed unclear, consider some of your crew still quite armed, and more than a few stunned men on the ground.


A whisper emanated from Kasaros, and the men disappeared, leaving only what looked very much like pieces of paper on the ground. A calm voice exited his throat, filled with benevolence that held no malice in its tone.

"Sorry to have alarmed you," he said, and he took a few steps back, allowing the woman to pick up her weapon, if need be. "I am Kasaros, a general of the Osage nation. Those that were here were.." he stopped, as the magic that allowed him to speak could not translate the word into Sekhel. .."Shi'kijin," he said, leaving the word in his native Osage tongue. He proceeded with the word closest to the concept. "Familiars. They would not have harmed you. They are...bound to me. I suppose much distress has been caused you, and for that I apologize. A tense situation, milady, that should not have devolved." He left unspoken the fact that it was his own action that had caused the situation to develop as it had. A lesser wakongi would not have survived that... It was, in the general's own twisted way, a test. Of capabilities and temper.

He bowed low, cordially. "First impressions are often lasting, I hope mine has not scarred your view of us too much, ma'am. My name is Irul Kasaros of the Osage. May I presume to ask yours?"
----------------------------------

Around the dormant asteroid, the lights continued to play, waiting calmly for the Gelfland ship as they had done for the Brittmattians and the Urivi. They would find the situation similar to the other nations: The asteroid's material bending to form a suitable docking bay, and the reemergence of the light-lines behind it after it landed.

[/b]TSCV Av-005 Delphi, Jovian Orbit - At docking range of Unidentified Jovian Incursion #36[/b]

This man is a general? Svedai thought, struggling to avoid saying something unfortunate. Are these "Osage" somehow lacking in experienced commanders?

She retrieved her taser, but kept it pointed down (which was not to say it couldn't come up, should the man try another damnfool stunt like the last one).

"First impressions can be lasting, esar Kasaros," she replied icily. "For your sake I would suggest not trying that trick again. This is ... not the smoothest first contact attempt I have heard of."

Also far from the worst, of course, but in Svedai's eyes it ranked fairly high up there.

"I am Captain-Commandant Svedai ralGanahlen of the Delphi, a vessel of the Tsarainese Arkhreifiate of the Star Command. Given your mastery of our language, I presume you've heard of the Ascendancy before."

OOC: Thinking at close to lightspeed is also a bit ... eh. Doesn't matter, all told.

"Of course. Perhaps it was a bit rash." An inward smile. Just a bit...

But Kasaros looked confused when Svedai mentioned the Ascendancy. Her nation...?

"No ma'am. This..link I have established between us," he nodded at the twinkling white light that danced across from the robed man to the Tsarainese captain. "It allows you to speak in Osage and me to speak in Sekhel."

"My nation has had no prior contact with this system. Your star is at the heart of our constellation Mi, meaning...student, disciple, or acolyte, and the sun itself is called the soul."

He seemed intrigued at her next comment. "This Ascendancy, does it rule this system?"

"oh, so you are also a visitor to this system?"
yes, we have come seeking a certain object prominent in the early legends of the Ancestors.
"perhaps you may have heard of it, it was in a Trinary star system having at least one planet capable of supporting complex life, that is, beings like myself."

{ooc:do the Osagens have any prior experience with machine-linked organisms, or telepaths that don't know they are?}

TSCV Av-005 Delphi, Jovian Orbit - At docking range of Unidentified Jovian Incursion #36

What is this, Svedai thought, Magic? Actually, that would explain a lot - although this Kasaros seems neither subtle nor quick to anger.

The concept of real magic, alongside telepathy and democracy, was not entirely unknown to the Tsarainese - they'd heard of it, and a miniscule few had experienced it, but they couldn't verify it in a laboratory, and had no idea how it worked.

So their homeworld is somewhere close enough for Sol to be visible to the naked eye. That narrows it down a little.

She laughed aloud at his question - "Rule the system? Absolutely not! The Greater Ascendancy of Tsaraine rules four point eight billion citizens - there are many trillions here in Sol, even accounting for distortions of reality."

Kasaros' mind raced. Four point eight billion people...similar in size to the Osage Empire itself. And yet she said there were trillions here...trillions!

"You are...not the rulers of this system. I see. But if not you...then who has supremacy here? You are a tributary state, perhaps, or a protectorate? Trillions of people...is almost beyond my scope to understand. The Osage Empire is near your size, we have no concept of trillions. Our meager system and star is called A'kada, the Great Fire. The capital rock is called Pahu'ska, and the capital itself is Ta'ko Tonwon."

Windows that no one else can see...

"These..." he waited for his spell to give him the word. "These planets you have are vastly greater than any single object in the Osage nation. Your belt full of unharnessed asteroids, it is similar to our entire system. Pahu'ska is very large, but not the size of the third planet, where wakon is strongest. Where you have planets we simply have Greater and Lesser belts, though our Pahu'ska is one of the largest rocks."

"The Greater Ascendancy is a sovereign state," Svedai replied, "As are the majority of nations here in Sol. We are a member of the Non-Democratic Alliance and obey it's Charter, but that charter guarantees our sovreignity under the conditions of the Alliance."

They have only asteroids? I suppose that's not a problem to people who can walk about in vacuum as if it was a corridor back home.

"Ah, you are a member of an alliance." This seemed to satisfy the general. "One of....many, I presume? And none of these has yet to become hegemon here...interesting." He seemed to withdraw into contemplative thought, and came back for a moment. "Well, if I had my way you'd be giving me libraries full of information on the history of every nation that shares this cramped little system with you, but I suppose the gaining of information can come later." A quiet smile and a curious glance at the taser.

"But I am curious about that. Is that what you channel your wakon through? I must admit it doesn't look much like a staff." He put forth his own staff subconsciously. "And yet electric force came from it all the same." He leaned in a bit, inspecting it closely, obviously immensely interested.

"One of a great many," Svedai confirmed. "Mostly they balance out."

Should I even be giving this wizard information? I have no idea what he wants it for, if he's even telling the truth.

"It's a gun," she replied, confused. "Battery, capacitator, coils, UV laser ... there's nothing special about it."

"Balance of power...I see." Kasaros' face was curiously absent of any emotion now, but something there said that a veritable storm of cogitation was working overtime.

"A gun, you call it." The next string of words from Svedai left him completely in the dark, though he tried not to show it. "Those words are components, then? The electric force is not drawn from you? How very interesting, though I think I prefer the Osage way, myself." A quiet look of dismissal flitted across his face. "You do not use wakon in this system? That seems..odd to us, but then, I suppose the concept of it would probably seem odd to you." What looked to be a younger man shrugged, though the light of wisdom and a curious sense of wizened age shown behind his eyes.

"Ah, but now to more official matters. My ships came here because the Nonhonzhinga felt the potential wakon in this place, found it massive and largely untapped. And now we get here and find a system of trillions, with apparently a delicate balance struck between alliances. So, what now? In a system of trillions, our arrival is probably not momentous enough to warrant the attention of these...alliances, but sooner or later we would like to make contact. And possibly have a small residence here. I presume that with the simple size of the population here all the..planets," he said, digesting the word, "have been thoroughly staked out and claimed, probably with their own delicate power balances already struck, stable and not prone to outsiders." He looked up at the Tsarainese captain, flashing a brief smile.

"So we will have to watch and wait, I suppose. Learn all we can. Opportunities arise, they always do, and I suppose we will find our nitch somewhere, unless you know of any." Another brief smile.

"But in the meantime, miss, have you any questions of me? Concerning the Empire, which seems not quite so imperial now that I have seen its competition, or the ways in which it, or we, or I work?" A good-natured smile. "Feel free to be candid, milady."

"Ye-es." Svedai was now utterly confused by his talk of "wakon" - what was it, background magical radiation or something? "You can't run anything much on bioelectricity save implants.

"And yes, every planet, moon, Lagrange point, and most of the major asteroids are long claimed by one power or another - most wars these days are territorial disputes at heart, especially on Mars and Jupiter - the fourth and fifth worlds.

"And I do have a question - what is this "wakon" thing? You've mentioned it several times, but it doesn't translate."

Irul listened closely, unsure of what a "Lagrange point" was, but still fairly confident that the general sweep of the statement - "Everything's got an owner" was getting across.

The next question shook him out of his reverie, stunning him for just one second. Of course, the concept was so central to Osage life that it hardly made sense to him that it wasn't known here, but of course there was no reason why it should be. This..gun didn't use it, so obviously the nations of Mi had found substitutes.

"Wakon is...energy..." He contemplated for a moment, thinking how best to describe it. "Best to think of it as energy of souls, perhaps. A sort of latent power that permeates through...everything. It's in everything, but not many can harness, bring it out, manipulate it. The power and skill to do so is somewhat genetic, somewhat learnt. Someone who can do so is called a wakongi, and the suffix gi indicates possession. You are thought of as having or owning wakon in excess, able to control it at will. Those who have managed to progress to...higher levels of expertise..." He grinned, "are called wakondagi, and the 'da' indicates..greatness. Wakongi can change it to other forms of energy, and then again into other forms of matter, can do many things with it, including transferring the possession of it into inanimate objects, such as the ke'xtha'tse and, importantly, the wakon'do. The...warriors you saw earlier, the shi'kijin, are but physical manifestations of my own possession of it. Our best linguists tell us that at its very roots, it comes from words meaning 'mystery power', an apt name." As he spoke, he put out one hand, and smiled as lightning danced above it, making geometric patterns before jumping across to the staff in his hand, curling around it.

He stopped, aware that two more words had not translated into Sekhel. "The wakon'do is a sort of gem that has been infused with vast amounts of wakon. There is one at the heart of every Osage asteroid-ship, and it is what allows us to harness the asteroid in the net of lights, breath in it, and...retaliate from it. It also allows for an entire ship to be attached to a wakongi when he sojourns in the Between Spaces." He smiled good-naturedly, and ran his hands through his black hair. "To explain everything about the Osage Empire would require awhile, but I cannot ask for information about your system if I am not willing to provide it myself."

Subconsciously, Kasaros was dwelling on the twin planets Jupiter and Mars. Chaotic, not ordered. Unbalanced and eager for counterweights. Red.

"I see," Svedai replied, although she didn't, really, or only vaguely. Zero-point energy, perhaps? "Our scientists would probably say it doesn't exist - at least, I haven't heard of any serious considerations of anything like that. Some nations possess effects something like that, but not Tsaraine.

"You use it extensively, then? In your asteroids, the ships here and at ... Ah'khada?"

Kasaros shifted uncomfortably. "Yes. It defines life in the Empire, in the A'kada system. Our government is based on it. Only those who pass the Exams measuring wakon-proficiency can vote, and they elect powerful wakondagi into the Nonhonzhinga, which is best described as a Council of Elders. This Council then selects ten supreme generals to head the military, for however long the Council chooses to keep them."

He looked at Svedai intensely. "The asteroids use it, yes. There is a wakon'do at the heart of each one. It keeps the net of lights going, and allows us to retaliate. It also allows us to breath. Certain...uses of wakon are forbidden, one clearly malevolent and the other only to fools. The first is the art of giving skeletal forms half-lives, binding them to your will. The word necromancer comes to mind, and quite a few civil wars have occured when some headstrong wakondagi digs into that use and attempts to gain power. The second is dilation, projecting an object into a smaller or larger space. For example, smugglers could use it to hide illegal goods, or some fool meddling around could create a rabbit the size of a horse, culminating in hordes of giant rabbits overruning cities and causing widespread crop failure. It takes a very powerful wakondagi to perform either, probably only a percentage of the Nonhonzhinga could, but its been done in the past, and we don't want it done again."

"So, these then are the Forbidden Uses. Other than that, Law Enforcement is very good at...apprehending those who fail to use their strength appropriately. Some of the most powerful wakondagi in the A'kada System are head of Law Enforcement."

"As for wakon not existing, ma'am, I think you have seen enough here to prove otherwise." He grinned, glancing briefly at the paper shreds on the ground.

Shing'ka is regarded calmly from behind the glowing red lenses of the psyker's helmet for a moment, then the armour bobs in a shallow bow.
"Marine Psyker Lamellar." comes the measured response, a flick of a power armoured hand settling the troops, understandably restive at the sight of maybe-droids taller than even the M.I.Rs.
Lamellar reaches for the catches on his helmet, unsealing it with a hiss of equalising pressures.
He pauses for a moment, perhaps not totally sure the atmosphere is breathable, even though his suit sensors swear it is, and swear the un-suited man in front of him is within parameters for "Human", but then his mind catches up with his worry and he smiles quickly, before wiping the expression away.
"And the Osage Empire? Well, on behalf of the Kingdom of Britmattia, welcome to Sol System, or at least this particular chunk of it."
Lamellar ran a gauntleted hand over the fine brown fuzz of his hair, looking at the old man and his large metallic friends.
"Um. First contact procedure is rather orientated toward gaining communication, which we've already achieved, so, I'll ask what we can help you with instead, why you've come to Sol?"

The old man smiled. "Seeking ourselves," he said quietly. "Why does any nation enter into great feats of exploration? Why did the first Osage, so many years ago, set foot onto the first in'zhu outside of Pahu'ka? We sensed great wakon here, and we came to make contact with it. Atleast, that is why I am here. Others may have other motives, but for me it remains a journey. The Discovery of Sol will be the defining moment of this millenia, I can foresee."

He stopped, and he averted his eyes. "We have questions that need answering, Lamellar. You are human and so am I. What are the chances, do you think, that the exact same species could come into being in places so far removed from each other? The answer will not be easy to find, hidden behind many layers of meaning."

"My superior, General Kasaros, has two goals for us here. One, information. You have libraries, here, I hope? If we knew the exact location in space of these libraries, that would be sufficient." He looked intensely at the Marine Psyker. "The second is a semipermanent place of residence, a base or a section of land as base of operations here. But Kasaros has been told none is available, so perhaps that is out of the question." He smiled good-naturedly.

"And the last is the simplest - diplomatic ties with the nations of Sol. We are progressing nicely, but we have learned that there are alliance systems here. Our previous contact was of the Non-Democratic Alliance. Perhaps you are a member of one in the delicate balance?" He posed the question inquisitively.

It had been an interesting visit, it seemed near the end, they could almost feel what the owner of the asteroid had been talking about. but it just might have been a reaction to the gravity, something their own ship did not provide them.
For Tyran, it had been a trip to the past, to that time after the incident when MMI was still in it's infancy, and he was just what the mad doctor needed for his latest project. This Wakondagi reminded him of the Doc, perhaps all beings traveled to a new world after death.
{ooc: the ship will now be returning it's prior course (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=422545)}

"A delicate balance?"
Lamellar chokes off a chuckle, closing his eyes for a moment, trying not to laugh at this somewhat...understated...view of Solar politics.
"I suppose you could call it that, yes. We're also members of the Non Democratic Alliance. Amazing you'd run into an other N.D.A member this quickly given how many nations are in Sol, but you're lucky in who you've encountered, if this arrival in our system is as nation-defining as you think, well, rather us than some."
The young man is silent for a moment, trying to decide what's free information and what's not.
He reaches a decision and shrugs, the movement masked by his armour, but still readable as such.
"Your desire for information is admirable, and probably easily sated, we could probably let you use the library in the Tower of Silence, I'm sure the Grand Magus would be very interested in helping. He finds alt-human races fascinating."
He wrinkles his brow as something the old man has said strikes him as odd.
"Strange to find other humans here? Heh, Sir, this system is a locus for any number of "Human Races." I'm not an expert on why, but we're very definitely the dominant reality and species."

Or perhaps not balanced. We are small compared to the sum power of these accords, but...A single grain of rice...

"Others? You speak of your enemies, your opposites in the...somewhat balanced system?" He smiled carefully. "This Non-Democratic Alliance has enemies, then?"


He looks highly pleased at the decision to allow the Osage access to libraries. "Excellent, Mr. Lamellar. I am sure my...superiors will be pleased."

And at the last statement, he furrows his eyebrows and frowns a bit. "There are more humans than simply those of Sol and those of A'kada? Troubling, very troubling. So many of us spread out across the galaxy. The question then becomes: where is the source? where did our race originate?" He smiles at the Marine Psyker. "But that is a question for philosophy and science, not two humble military men in a first contact situation. I am guessing you use maps and coordinate systems to place locations, if you can but give us a book explaining the use of these systems, and then the location of this library, we have ways to get there. We can only go where we know the locations, for to take a Trip in the dark results in almost certain death."

"And if that business be concluded, our thirst for information sated, then our business here is concluded, good sir. I thank you, and your Kingdom, for all that they have provided us."

ooc Excuse my first stumbeling steps

Ic: A launchpad in the mountains, a recognisable shape, a large spire, painted in familiar comercial colours. A flash of fire from benieth it. An audiable countdown on the webcast.

10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Liftoff.

And perhaps the only atempt into space by Stonedeep blazes a trail through the atmosphere with smoking fire, seeming little evolved from the worlds most destructive missiles, only this one carries life. Husband and wife, but for the sake of a nation, any man, any woman.

Orbit, the first views they've had of 'earth' on thier own from above. The only window, a view of the planet, spread out into the distance. A slow rotation from a short burst of thrust.

A view of a thosand shimmering points of light, a dawning realisation, 'others, went up'. These children of earth, speachless of the beauty of the other nations. A silent (ooc ok, not so silent) watcher, of vast stories in the sky before them.

Lamellar nodded.
"Alright Sir Shing'Ka. If you'll hold for a moment..?"
He reaches into an equipment frame mag-sealed to his armour and pulls out a data-slate, light pen clipped to it's top.
Handing it to the Osage, closed-lip smile identical to the one in the first-contact manual, he indicates the light pen.
"Tap that on the darkened bit to activate this. It's got the co-ordinates of the Tower in it, and my Captain is informing the Grand Magus of your incipient arrival, just to be sure he doesn't react poorly to people arriving on his doorstep.
Lamellar looked reflective for a moment.
"Other than that, well, I may as well answer your other two questions myself. Hrm. Reality is fractal in Sol System. There's humans from all sorts of places running around, in addition to ones from various chunks of this galaxy, though saying we're in any particular version of a galaxy, is um...changeable."
He shrugs, a slight whirring of tiny motors accompanying the gesture.
"We deal with it all. The Kingdom itself is on it's.."
Lamellar swiftly counts on his fingers.
"Third world. So it's not really that difficult."
Again the closed lip smile.
"As for the N.D.A having enemies? Hrm. Our greatest challenge is a member of our alliance, but we don't have enemies precisely...too pragmatic in the main. Anyway, I hope that was of help."
He sketches an other bow, waving his men back to the ship.
"Oh and one last thing, if the ravens give you any lip, don't worry. They're just malevolent feather dusters."
The marine waves, then seals his helmet.

"Ahhh, internal troubles." The wizened old man smiles knowingly. "Let us just say that the Osage are no stranger to them, Mr. Lamellar."

He eyes the coordinates. "Very well, I thank you for all your help. This Tower of Silence will aid us in our quest for information, and, as a representative of General Kasaros and the Osage Empire, I'd like to thank you and your nation for everything. I daresay this..Grand Magus will find us on his doorstep sooner than he might think."

He bows slightly, whispers a word in an untranslated Osage, and the great metal ke'xtha'tse flare to life, receding into the interior of the asteroid. Shing'ka raises his arm in what looks starkly similar to stereotypical Native American 'how' greetings, and recedes into the interior chambers as well. A brief glow heralds the sealing of the chambers to the open dock, and the net of lights recedes, allowing the Brittmattians free passage back to their own space lanes. For now, the asteroid remains stationary, as the old man takes his information to the wakon'do, and awaits the arrival of Irul Kasaros.