NationStates Jolt Archive

274 Light Years from Sol

A wormhole opened up, flashing blue-white and rupturing the fabric of space. A small, vaguely cylindrical vessel, silvery in colour, came through the opening, re-entering real space. The wormhole flashed away behind it, returning the fabric of space to its former pristine glory.
The ship’s sensor arrays powered up and scanned the system.

[Single type-G (yellow) star, two rocky planets, two gas giants. No immediate signs of life, but five navigational repeater beacons]

~ Seems promising.
The star was checked against the star-maps in the ship’s hardware. ~ Wow.
The sensor data was compressed and attached to a message being composed.

The Explorer Vessel INS Shoot The Moon, of the Indoan Navy, 2nd Fleet reengaged its engines, gently moving off through the system. As it gradually picked up speed, it transmitted the message it had just composed.

[Tight beam, M8, tra. @d2.3869.2.31.243004]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Indoan Naval Command
{Current location S4Z1628. Primary Condition negative, but several navigation beacons present. Proceeding with mission.
Plus there is a record I would like to claim. 89,417.5 light years, I believe.}

The reply came a minute later.

[Tight beam, M8, tra. @d2.3869.2.31.243035, rec. @d2.3869.2.31.243112]
x: Indoan Naval Command
o: INS Shoot The Moon
{Action approved. Congratulations & good luck.}

The Shoot The Moon, now holder of the furthest recorded wormjump in the history of the Indoan Navy, coasted through the system. Inside the ship, it began informing the beings on board of the situation. It thought about its orders again. For the first time in over 750 years of space travel, an Indoan vessel was actively seeking out contact with other civilisations. Before now, Indoan ships had avoided contact, slinking away from other vessels, avoiding systems known to be inhabited and generally staying within their own sector of the galaxy, out of the fear that they would be attacked.

The vessel swept the system again with its sensors, this time looking for any signs of other ships, or recent traces of them. Nothing useful. ~ Damn. Don’t know where else to go from here, so… Have to try something else then.

It powered up all of its comm arrays, except the Naval inter-vessel link, removed all trace of identity or encryption, and began transmitting on every available frequency. Admittedly it was sending nothing but static, but it would still attract notice.

To further increase its visibility, it modified the output from its engines temporarily, producing a large amount of exotic radiation for very little actual work. It was now radiating massive amounts of energy from both engines and comm systems. Surely somebody would notice this…

OOC: is this open?..... if so. I hope your military is up to snuff with one of the biggest space navel nations of the FT world.. :)

((OC- It said it was open right in the title..))
---

While they didn't hear the whitenoise beacons being sent by the Shoot the Moon, the 46th Gaian Expeditionary Fleet had been enroute into the System, another of the many exploration efforts of Republic StarFleet Command.

The High-Mobile DropShip Crusier Kushrenada led the expedition, followed by the Congress Class Frigate Constitution and two Magellan Class JumpShips of the 36th Facet Fleet Section. The Fleet was commanded by Fleet Commander Sen Shaffer, and XO'ed by Star Colonel Kanta Day. The Trinaries were under Star Colonel Jennifer Nalla.

Onboard 355th/M Combat Trinary, 361st/N Combat SuperNova Trinary, and the 382nd Goddess Archon Wing. They had been out 26 Jumps long range out from Republic territory, all done with the newly broken in Boson JumpDrive, allowing the Fleet to jump near Planetary bodies, rather than at the Zenith and Nadir JumpPoints.

The Expedition therefore Jumped inSystem where the Shoot the Moon was located. They jumped just outside the area of the furtherest planet node in the System, about 4 million kilometers distant.

OOC: that was rhetorical......

I will be unable to put much into this RP. Most of my resources are beingput into a war with Megas

OOC: They are not here to fight. If you attack them, the ship will scatter a few warheads and vanish back into a wormhole. Check the factbook in my sig for more info.

IC:
The Shoot The Moon's Mind performed the equivalent of jumping. The entry signature had been unexpected. Its sensors scanned the vessels.

[Scanning Battlegroup. Range: 4 million kilometres. Content (4 vessels): 1 Cruiser, 1 Frigate, 2 Unknown types. Identity unknown.]

The Shoot The Moon adjusted its engine output again, reducing the emissions and returning them to normal state. It then cut power to the engines and composed a quick message, using the standard Indoan Common language. ~ Best be polite, it thought.

[Wide beam, Mclear, tra. @d2.3869.2.31.243457]
x: INS (Explorer) Shoot The Moon, Indoan Navy, 2nd Fleet.
o: (Unidentified battlegroup)
{Greetings, fellow spacetravellers. We are the Explorer Vessel Shoot The Moon of the Indoan Navy. We are here on a peaceful first-contact mission. Who are you?}

As the message was transmitted, the beings on board stared at the external viewers, taking in the alien vessel designs.

OOC2: Indoan Common is not any recognisable language, but it is fairly close to English. After a couple more transmissions, computers will be able to translate it.

OOC: They are not here to fight. If you attack them, the ship will scatter a few warheads and vanish back into a wormhole. Check the factbook in my sig for more info.

The my job is done.... :)

IC:
The Shoot The Moon's Mind performed the equivalent of jumping. The entry signature had been unexpected. Its sensors scanned the vessels.

[Scanning Battlegroup. Range: 4 million kilometres. Content (4 vessels): 1 Cruiser, 1 Frigate, 2 Unknown types. Identity unknown.]

The Shoot The Moon adjusted its engine output again, reducing the emissions and returning them to normal state. It then cut power to the engines and composed a quick message, using the standard Indoan Common language. ~ Best be polite, it thought.

[Wide beam, Mclear, tra. @d2.3869.2.31.243457]
x: INS (Explorer) Shoot The Moon, Indoan Navy, 2nd Fleet.
o: (Unidentified battlegroup)
{Greetings, fellow spacetravellers. We are the Explorer Vessel Shoot The Moon of the Indoan Navy. We are here on a peaceful first-contact mission. Who are you?}

As the message was transmitted, the beings on board stared at the external viewers, taking in the alien vessel designs.

OOC2: Indoan Common is not any recognisable language, but it is fairly close to English. After a couple more transmissions, computers will be able to translate it.

--

((OC - Noted..))

Shaffer was heading to the bridge just after the Jump when Sensors reported over Comm. ":: Commander, can you come to the bridge? ::"

The mid-aged Commander calmly reached the bridge a few moment later, shrugging off salutes, as he reached Sensors, where XO Kanta was waiting.

"What's up Commander?"

"Got a contact signalling us."

Shaffer perked his head up. "Getting crowded out here.

..let me hear it."

--

After hearing the transmission, Shaffer blinks. "A friendly for once. Comm!"

"Aye sir!" A Comm-Tech answers.

"Send them this message." Shaffer bellows in a heavy tone.

--



To the Explorer Vessel Shoot the Moon, this is the 46th Gaian Expedition and Exploration Fleet.

We weclome you as a sovereign star-faring race, unto another the same.

Fleet Commander Sen Shaffer
Gaian 46th Fleet Commander

*Tag*

As the spore flew, it looked at a strange spaceship, and the information tag on its psy-sense told it it was somewhat human, yet not so. It decided to investigate.

OOC: How, after I specifically told you my ship used a different language and you acknowledged it, do they understand the message?

Regardless, my post will be the same, because even if your translators worked the message out, mine won't.

IC:
The Shoot The Moon received the message from the alien vessels, but it could not understand any of it.

Fd pfu Nelxoqgr Ksprua Veogl pfu Pzmu, gaig gt pfu 46ib Jydnt Leinfutnai dny Nelxoqmeign Dxnst.

Du dnunjah skh fi j fnjkzhdnb cnuk-slhynx skro, sngh gtnskgb pfu kbas.

Dxnst Djgudsbhj Vfk Kdngnhx
Jydnt 46ib Dxnst Djgudsbhj

~ What the hell kind of message is that? Seems we having a language barrier, here. But I guess it was too much to hope for that the first race we encounter speaks a language native to Indo.

The Shoot The Moon had many Indoan languages in its databases, after all it was an Exploration Vessel, but none of them jumped out as being that which the message was written in. It set a sub-routine to looking through each and every language in its databanks to try and find something legible. It also showed the message to its passengers, in case they could recognise it.

The first language came through:
vdfb£vi*jdf oiqh,gi=ujernfkj eho ui~hgjen f kw]juiho rh ^eri hi@rhnf:jenf uufjwi ek|jh kekltj\we iothwid 75hgiuerh hhfuwhfiojkwd';a#A;djas'aL#IWE0R. dfhvbdpo9m4;,/x;a;/,R3085fa/ ouigfhrel fnhowehf i;jew

ehfiuh liugfulhf ilks; nriu4y8i3y aihwo9.

~ Nope. Not that one.
It transmitted a second message, again in Indoan Common, to the alien ships.

[Wide beam, Mclear, tra. @d2.3869.2.31.243704]
x: INS Shoot The Moon, Indoan Navy, 2nd Fleet
o: (Unidentified Battlegroup)
{Terribly sorry, but we seem to have a language problem at our end. Your message was completely unintelligible. Could you try again, please?
To reiterate our first message, whether you understood or not, we are here peacefully, looking to make contact with other space-faring races. I am the INS Shoot The Moon, an Indo-class Explorer Vessel of the Indoan Navy, 2nd Fleet.}

((OC- It's kinda thin for a response, but what Rp isn't thin...

..The Gaian's speak Standard English, Japanese, Chinese, German and a interracial language developed from the above within the past twenty plus years called Juraian. (sound familiar anyone?)

..also the Gaian's have had access to Ascendant technology, highly advanced technology that the Science Advisor members Washu and Skuld, and their teams reverse engineered over the same time period. A whole range of technologies have benn produced as a result, and therefore, communicatiions assets are highly effective.

..call it what you will, I'll play that card and move on. =^^= ))

--

Shaffer heard the second return signal..



[Wide beam, Mclear, tra. @d2.3869.2.31.243704]
x: INS Shoot The Moon, Indoan Navy, 2nd Fleet
o: (Unidentified Battlegroup)
{Terribly sorry, but we seem to have a language problem at our end. Your message was completely unintelligible. Could you try again, please?
To reiterate our first message, whether you understood or not, we are here peacefully, looking to make contact with other space-faring races. I am the INS Shoot The Moon, an Indo-class Explorer Vessel of the Indoan Navy, 2nd Fleet.}



Shaffer up at his XO and then at the Comm-Tech. "Translation problem?"

The Tech begins hovering over the holo-light controls to investigate. "Checking the Acendant Memory Core. Must be a language barrier problem. It'll take a moment to translate inflections sir."

While the Tech worked the problem, Shaffer looked at Commander Day. "Must give our regards to R&D if our translators are this efficent, and their's isn't." Kanta just chuckles.

"..confirmed, Indoan Inflection. We can send them the translation code in the next message, they should be able to translate fully.

..sounds like the other vessel is an entity of some sort."

Shaffer nods. "Good job. Let's give this a second try."



To the Explorer Vessel Shoot the Moon, this is the 46th Gaian Expedition and Exploration Fleet.

We weclome you as a sovereign star-faring race, unto another the same.

We recognize your translator problem, and a translation code is being sent with this transmission that should allow you to read this signal.

Know that we intend no hostile actions.

Fleet Commander Sen Shaffer
Gaian 46th Fleet Commander

OOC: That's pretty thin. I'm not even going to bother trying to work out how you recognised an Indoan inflection, when the language is spoken on two planets, both in the same system, and no other space-faring race knows which system or has had contact with us before.

And hasn't anyone else noticed the radiation beacon? Anyway...

IC:
The Shoot The Moon was engaged in other activities when it received the second transmission, which it promptly abandoned to read the message.
~ I still can't understand that. It's longer, though the first part and the last part are the same. An expansion of the original message? That means they probably understand me, just I can't understand them. Plus a data packet. A translation matrix, perhaps? Worth a try.

It located the subroutine that was working through the languages, and uploaded the data packet, hinting that it might solve the problem. The subroutine produced its few next guesses:

cvnrthjc mnedhgjv nejgod,mw fktgnehjfvkjt skrngnb edkfbn fkiewnf jfrnejd dkfnrnbdke rkenrbdcje rkenfbdmr, ekrnrndke fmfrnt ekrn rkel rksm,r bs.

cnrehbks dkgnedjx tjdnkxoenc kdjg nedhv
cnrj dengj jmfntj

~ No.

To the Explorer Vessel Shoot the Moon, this is the 46th Gaian Expedition and Exploration Fleet.

We weclome you as a sovereign star-faring race, unto another the same.

Fleet Commander Sen Shaffer
Gaian 46th Fleet Commander

ckrnkuhsdiuch jierfjinhceljl jcmikr jieiorcmerik. ;jmfichsie bdxbgevtdcsx erbg uenbfcje ubgfcywgenjkf uebcjef n\c.

cerybtckn v nieyrncieyt nhreuic
ecnbiue mnecry ioynv nmit nb.

~ Wait. Stop, go back one, it told the subroutine.

To the Explorer Vessel Shoot the Moon, this is the 46th Gaian Expedition and Exploration Fleet.

We welcome you as a sovereign star-faring race, unto another the same.

Fleet Commander Sen Shaffer
Gaian 46th Fleet Commander

~ Bingo. The passengers signalled the Mind, trying to tell it that they understood the message it its current form. It acknowledged them, then went back to the messages. ~ So the second one says...

To the Explorer Vessel Shoot the Moon, this is the 46th Gaian Expedition and Exploration Fleet.

We weclome you as a sovereign star-faring race, unto another the same.

We recognize your translator problem, and a translation code is being sent with this transmission that should allow you to read this signal.

Know that we intend no hostile actions.

Fleet Commander Sen Shaffer
Gaian 46th Fleet Commander

~ That's good to know, if its true. It composed another message and transmitted it.

[Wide beam, Mclear, tra. @d2.3869.2.31.243842]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: (Flagship vessel), 46th Gaian Expeditionary Fleet
{Greetings, Commander Shaffer. I thank you for your aid in solving our communication problem, your translator matrix is most helpful. Our language banks consist mostly of languages used on Indo over the past 7000 years, so communication with new races is not as easy as we might wish.
It is my first time with a first-contact situation. Now that we have introduced ourselves, where do we go? My passengers have expressed a desire to meet those with whom we are now in contact, is this acceptable?}

As it waited for a reply, it monitored an avatar taking part in a discussion with the passengers, about what to do now. It also sent another, heavily coded, message, back to Indoan Naval Command.

[Tight beam, M16, tra. @d2.3869.2.31.243859]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Indoan Naval Command
{Have successfully made contact with a civilisation calling themselves 'Gaians'. Will proceed cautiously.}

Random Filler:
The Shoot The Moon was still waiting for a reply. Indoans (or Indoan AIs) are not known for their patience, so the ship decided that a BUMP was in order. It prepared a small drone and launched it out of one of the evac tubes. Once in space, the drone activated its tiny fusion motor, setting a collision course with the alien vessel. Due to the laws of this post, it passed through the shields unharmed and bounced of the vessel's bow. BUMP.

OOC: Glad to see you're startin the fun Eagles. Just so we are clear on this, I'm currently at a state of War with Tyraelia, or at least what's in those spores.

Anyway, We are just here to watch and start talking later. Now, onto "us". Xenonier - tremendously advanced empire, uses Quantum technology, has fully functional quantum computers, so therefore can do calculations with staggering speed.

IC: The probe continued to chase after the spore all the itme catching up to the threat inside. When nessecary, it would annihilate the pod with nano-viruses. As it continued in pursuit of the bioform, it's scanners came alive with contacts.

Warning. Life-forms detected.

Life Forms?

Scanning.

Types - Unkown (closest Ref, c12-45 "Idoniates") and "Gaians"

Tagging sector. Noting communciation frequencies for decryption and databank reference.

Requesting prescence of Xenonian forces.

Request accepted.

With that, The probe continued it's chase after the spore, assured now that Xenonian vessels would respond to it's call. Seconds later, they did. A Miak class destroyer, and several escort frigates. Staying at a safe distance from the Gaian's and thir newfound intrest, The Xenonians began to intercept communications, and in several seconds, deciphered the language, their efforts helped by the probe, which was now far away.

[Wide beam, Mclear, tra. @d2.3869.2.31.243842]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: (Flagship vessel), 46th Gaian Expeditionary Fleet
{Greetings, Commander Shaffer. I thank you for your aid in solving our communication problem, your translator matrix is most helpful. Our language banks consist mostly of languages used on Indo over the past 7000 years, so communication with new races is not as easy as we might wish.
It is my first time with a first-contact situation. Now that we have introduced ourselves, where do we go? My passengers have expressed a desire to meet those with whom we are now in contact, is this acceptable?}


Shaffer sighed a good sigh. "Not belligerent sounding..

..how bout the latter part?"

Kanta looks out at the stars. "Might as well find out how we go about doing that. Details for example sir?"

Shaffer nods. "Okay then..."

--



To the Shoot the Moon, we will approach your position within the next few hours. While we are doing this, tell us something about yourself to help the inital First Contact go more smoothly.

We are a terrestrial race that is seeking open minded civilizations to learn from.

Fleet Commander Sen Shaffer
Gaian 46th Fleet Commander

~ Ahh. Now what's going on? More ships. I wonder who they belong to?

The Shoot The Moon powered up its sensor arrays and swept the new arrivals with the powerful scanners.

[Scanning battlegroup. Range 27.5 million kilometres. Content (4(?) vessels): 1 Destroyer, 3(?) Frigates. Identity unknown.]

~ So they're not from the same place as the others. Let's try contacting them.

For a few hundredths of a second, the Shoot The Moon considered calling in some reinforcements of its own, but decided against it. The only help it would get were more Explorer Vessels, which would take at least 3.2 days to arrive there. By that point, the Shoot The Moon could have been destroyed hundreds of times.

Then it sent a repeat of the first transmission, after translating the text (into English) using the Gaian Matrix, to the new arrivals.

[Swept beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.2.31.244105]
x: INS Shoot The Moon, Indoan Navy, 2nd Fleet
o: (Unidentified battlegroup)
{Greetings, fellow spacetravellers. We are the Explorer Vessel Shoot The Moon of the Indoan Navy. We are here on a peaceful first-contact mission. Who are you?}

Having done that, it set about replying to the Gaians, putting together some information about Indoans, while following standard procedures of not revealing anything particularly useful.

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.2.31.244149]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Gaian 46th Fleet
{Some info about us. Indo is a small system located almost directly opposite this system in the galaxy, in the opposite galactic arm, over 89,000 light years away. [OOC: Exact location withheld]
Indoans are one of three species: Matrai, Douran or Raishuv [OOC: Check the factbook]. Matrai evolved from apes, Douran from ferrets and Raishuv from lizards.
We have been travelling through space for over 750 years, but due to a fear of attack and invasion, we have avoided contact with other races until now. We are a fairly technologically advanced civilisation, who keep ourselves to ourselves and enjoy life. Due to the fear of attack, our system is defended by a large network of defence systems, but we possess capable active warships and Explorer Vessels which can all transit the galaxy.
Having made contact with other races, we wish, like you, to learn about them and from them, expanding our knowledge of the universe.
And what about you?}

Station Tango-One, the last bastion of the Star Empire in the Sol system, picked up on the transmissions by the Indoan vessel. A communications officer ran the transmissions through several translating computers, with no luck. He called the Executive Officer, XO Don Frost, over to his station. "Sir, sensors are picking up an unusual transmission. Unknown language, unknown vessel type. Records show it slipped into the system via worm hole. Should I send a signal?" The XO looked briefly over the transmission and sensor tables, and then nodded approval. "Ask them who they are and where they came from. Maybe they can understand us."

The Comm officer sent both a text and verbal transmission, but it wasn't in English. The language spoken in Fluffywuffy was a descendant of English, but the Exile from Earth centuries ago caused it to develop into its own language, with influences from Sindarin, an Elven tongue.

Unknown vessel,

This is Fluffywuffy station Tango-One. We request identification information; we have never seen a vessel such as that before. Also, where do you hail from? What language do you speak?

~ Another message? Who from? Oh no, not again. I can't understand a word of that. Stupid sub-routine, why didn't this go through the translator... Wait a minute, that tag says it did. A different language? Great. Although the audio transmission is probably the same message.

Now thoroughly confused, the Shoot The Moon scanned the direction from which the message came from, saw nothing, and got even more confused. It wrote a message in Indoan Common, translated it into English, and sent both back towards the source of the last message.

(The English message)
[Swept-to-Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.2.31.244317]
x: INS Shoot The Moon, Indoan Navy, 2nd Fleet
o: (Unidentified contact)
{Your message was completely unintelligible. Our translation software is very limited. Please attempt communication in another language.
I am the INS Shoot The Moon, an Explorer Vessel of the Indoan Navy's 2nd Fleet. The other message is in our native language, Indoan Common. We are a peaceful exploration vessel on a first-contact mission.}

The Comm Officer saw that the return language was in English. It confused him that an alien vessel with a completly unknown language could speak English, but he recorded all incomming transmissions for later analysis. And so he sent out two messages, one in his native language, and the other in English.

Greetings, Shoot The Moon. We have never heard of your race before, and we are greatly interested in making the most of this encounter. We are Space Station Tango-One of the Star Empire, and we welcome you into the Sol system. We are transmitting all relevant information on humans and a dictionary in our language; maybe you will find that useful.

The information transmitted by the Space Station was immediately stored in the ship's databanks for analysis. It would probably be sent back to Naval Command, where it could be analysed properly. The dictionary was added to the translation databanks, near the top of the list for incoming messages.

The ship found some basic information on the three intelligent Indoan species and attached it to its next message.

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.2.31.244638]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Station Tango-One, Star Empire, Fluffywuffy
{I'm not surprised you have never heard of us, as this is the first time we have made contact with any other race. We also wish to make the most of this encounter, as the purpose of our mission is to make contact with and learn about other races, and it is pleasant to find that races are willing to have friendly communications, without threats or aggression. We thank you for your information, and we attach similar data about ourselves. [OOC: Again, see the factbook in my sig.]

We have three intelligent species, the Matrai, who evolved from primates, the Douran, who evolved from ferrets, and the Raishuv, who evolved from lizards. Our native language is referred Indoan Common, because all Indoans speak it. I learned English via a translation matrix from the Gaian vessel nearby, if you were wondering.

Your first transmission asks about our ship and home. Our home is a system on the other side of the galaxy, called Indo. Our ship is an Indo-class Explorer Vessel, designed to explore the galaxy and search for anything of interest to us. It is controlled by myself, an AI Mind, and has a small crew of volunteers from all three Indoan species.

What else would you like to know? What can you tell us about yourselves}

Comm once again turned to the Executive Officer. "Sir, do you think I should tell them where our system is?" The XO thought it over for a moment, realized that it was open-source information anyways, and nodded approval.

Though there must be much you wish to know, I will only provide a brief history for the moment. More can come later, should you choose to visit our systems.

We are a people that inhabit what we call the Tri-System, many light years from here. Several centuries ago, political upheaval and foreign invasion caused the Emperor and a group of loyalists to leave Earth for the Tri-System, a group of relatively close solar systems. The first city founded was Astropolis, on a planet we call Arador. From there the Star Empire emerged.

Here is what we wish to know about you:

Do your three species have any hierarchy, or are all equal?
What is it like in your home system?

OOC: The exact location of Indo has been withheld, because they are paranoid.

IC:
The first question caught the Mind by surprise.
~ Were not all intelligent life-forms equal?

Then it remembered the Toderan World War, the persecution of Douran, the many, many deaths. Although it was 900 years ago, the lessons had not been forgotten.
~ Ah. Of course. If people like those survive, they can never be equal. Evil like that can only be happy with superiority. A good thing they were all eliminated then.

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.2.31.244857]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Station Tango-One
{Our species are entirely equal. We learned that lesson long ago, before any real damage was done. There is only one aspect that could not be called equality, which involves genetically engineered Raishuv, specially altered for fighting, but since the Raishuv are a hivemind anyway, it makes little difference. Otherwise, the only limitations are the actual capabilities of each species.
Our home system has two inhabitable planets, although we have several outposts on other astral bodies in the system. The system is quiet, due to a lack of contact outside the system. The planets are Todera and Chaldar, which are a binary planet pair. The Matrai and Douran are from Todera, the Raishuv originate on Chaldar. Chaldar is mostly desert, but Todera is a beautiful planet. Ice caps, rainforests, everything is beautiful. Life on Todera is peaceful, and every single person lives a happy and contented life. If they are unhappy, they change what they do, until they find happiness. Perhaps if the government becomes less paranoid, you could see it someday. The paranoia is due to fear of invasion and the end of our society.}

Upon reading the last few lines, the officer remembered when his own people had the paranoia the Indoans now displayed, but that was long ago, when the fear of the non-exiled Fluffywuffy people seeking out the remnants of the Empire still existed.

"My people, too, had the paranoia you describe. When we realized that someone would eventually happen upon our systems, we opened up the Tri-Systems after much internal debate. But I still remember when merchant vessels were required to have cloaking devices, and I understand completely. Is it possible that we may send someone aboard, or you send one to us?"

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.2.31.244149]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Gaian 46th Fleet
{Some info about us. Indo is a small system located almost directly opposite this system in the galaxy, in the opposite galactic arm, over 89,000 light years away. [OOC: Exact location withheld]
Indoans are one of three species: Matrai, Douran or Raishuv [OOC: Check the factbook]. Matrai evolved from apes, Douran from ferrets and Raishuv from lizards.
We have been travelling through space for over 750 years, but due to a fear of attack and invasion, we have avoided contact with other races until now. We are a fairly technologically advanced civilisation, who keep ourselves to ourselves and enjoy life. Due to the fear of attack, our system is defended by a large network of defence systems, but we possess capable active warships and Explorer Vessels which can all transit the galaxy.
Having made contact with other races, we wish, like you, to learn about them and from them, expanding our knowledge of the universe.
And what about you?}


--

Shaffer had this to reply with..


750 years without contact is interesting.

Ours only lasted twenty, as we knew that avoiding contact was 'not' our goal. Ours was to face the inherit dangers, and find reward from the attempts we made.

This contact falls under this line. As such we are happy to have met you.

if it meets your approval, my Executive Officer and I will meet you on your vessel, to show our trust.

~ Now I can start to see why biologics have problems some times. Trying to hold two different conversations is ever so slightly confusing. Right, one forst, then the other.

The Shoot The Moon considered its options. If it was to switch out passengers for these others, it might have to cut short its visit. Plus it should probably ask for instructions before accepting any proposals. It decided to see to that first.

[Stuttered-Tight point, M8, Tra. @d2.3869.2.31.245001]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Indoan Naval Command
{Have now made contact with two races. Both have requested a meeting, a requested personnel switch to visit the other's homeworld may follow, unsure on last. Request orders. If switch is approved, request presence of second Indo-class vessel, so that I may remain here and continue contact relations.}

The reply took several minutes, most of which was travelling across the galaxy.
[Stuttered-Tight point, M8, Tra. @d2.3869.2.31.245327]
x: Indoan Naval Command
o: INS Shoot The Moon
{You are authorised to proceed with requests. We should not need to tell you to use caution and discretion. The Gravity's Pull will be dispatched immediately, and will arrive in 29 hours.}

~ Well then. I have my answers.
It composed messages to both contacts.

The message sent to Fluffywuffy Station Tango-One was this one.
[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.2.31.245356]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Station Tango-One
{Really? We did not realise such fear was a common occurence. However, the chances of someone finding our system were fairly low, as extensive exploration has shown the area to be virtually empty of life. We agree to your request, although our ship has no real docking facilities, so we must land on your station for boarding to take place, but shuttle transfer is possible, if not preferred. Due to our other contact, we may be unable to do so, in which case a sister vessel, arriving in 29 hours, will take our place. I hope this is satisfactory.}

The latest reply to the Gaians read like this.
[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.2.31.245409]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Gaian 46th Fleet
{Your request is approved. However, as this vessel has no real docking facilities, we request permission to board your ship for the exchange to take place. Shuttle transfer is possible, but not preferred.
It is indeed a long time. But our sector of space is virtually devoid of intelligent life, so it was only when we started to explore even further out that we came across traces of other life. Fear kept us from contacting them. I volunteered for this mission, as did every single one of my passengers. Even though most Indoans agree that contact is necessary, most are still too afraid to actually do it.

Another message, another reply. It was nearing the end of the Comm officer's shift, and so he kept the message short, lest his sleepiness cause him to write something wrong.

We understand that you are busy, and so we shall wait for your sister vessel to arrive before making any transfer. Besides, that gives us time to prepare.

The terseness of the latest reply from Station Tango-One was causing minor concern to the Shoot The Moon. It acknowledged the signal, but continued to think about it for almost a minute, suspicion running rife through it's Mind.

~ Why so short all of a sudden? Prepare for what? What exactly will my sister be getting into? When she arrives, I will tell her to be even more cautious.

The truth never occured to the Mind, it had already ruled out that possibility. It assumed that when they began contact, superiors would be called, thus removing the problem of shifts.

When it finally stopped thinking about the message, it began deciding who among the passengers would handle the meet with the Gaians.
~ No, not them. Not her either. Possibly him. Ooh. Wait a second... them. Yes... they would be perfect. Should I tell them now, or wait until the time is closer? I'll wait.

The Xenonian vessels floated silently, waiting for the exchange of words to halt. They made no attempt to power up weapons, and responded to the sent transmission, after attaching a nanocyber. When the message was recieved, the virus would subtly alter the ship's systems so it would recegnise the enourmously complex Xenonian dialouge.

Greetings. We know at last, you have expanded beyond your backyard, and have waited for you to make interstellar contact. It is a habit of our people to watch fledging races such as yours, and to establish trade with them. We are the Xenonian Protectorate.

OOC: I don't agree to that. Besides, where is my system? Do you know? No. We have expanded ages ago, just not made contact, since there's no-one to make contact with. So ha! And quit trying to hack my ship with viruses, they have preventative measures against that you know. [/rant] Whatever, it might make an interesting post.

IC:
~ Oh, great. More unknown languages.
This was the Mind's response to the lastest message. It tried the two translation matrices it had already recieved. Nothing. It handed the message over to the still running sub-routine for attempted translation.

It scanned the ships again.
~ Who are they? Those ships are just sitting there. They haven't moved since they arrived. Just sat there and replied to my message fifteen minutes after I sent it, in a language I can't read. That's really helpful.

It grumbled on like this, in a most un-AI-like fashion, for almost a minute. It probably would have continued for longer, but the translation sub-routine flashed up an alert.

~ What? Oh, it translated the message. Does that mean that they speak a language once spoken on Todera? Wait a minute, that's not an official language identifier. What exactly is this?

It called up the sub-routine again, and requested the location of the translation matrix used to translate the message. It gave a file located in the right place, but otherwise completely wrong. The Mind checked the file creation date.

~ Today? I didn't... Oh no! I've been hacked. Alert!

It immediately shunted all its main operating scripts to AI cores, included for this very reason. The actual message was now forgotten, all the Mind could think of now was its own integrity and the safety of the passengers. It initiated a full system sweep, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
***

In the mess room, the ship's avatar suddenly blinked and sat upright, knocking a couple of small items on to the floor.

"What's up?" asked one of the passengers.

"I don't know," replied the avatar, "The ship just cut me off, and it won't tell me why."

OOC2: Now you've gone and done it. The ship is now in a security lockdown state, it'll be like that for hours. Before anyone gets any ideas, it can still defend itself. The AI cores can control it almost as well as the Mind, they're just not linked together.

OOC: Mind if I jump in?

OOC: Not at all. The point of the thread was to announce my existance in FT, so the more that take part the better.

OOC: Taggerz. Probably won't respond though, since Orks tend to favor smashing things up then talking. I do acknowledge your existance though.

OOC: How would they react to a 12km battleship?

OOC: How would they react to a 12km battleship?

OOC: Attack it with a bunch of 1km Kroozers and dessies.

OOC: Well, the Explorer Vessel is only 69m long, so they'd either run away or be extremely cautious. Or, in its current state (see last IC post) just sit there and ignore it until the problem is solved. Calling in the Indoan Fleet proper would take more than a day.

Specs can be found here http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=400707

Shitty IC: (I want to b e in but need to eat)

" Ahh nice and smooth now. " The captain got up and stretched out'

" Dropping out of FTL now sir, several ships have been decreed. "

" I sense a computer in distress " the ships AI boomed over the speaker system.

" Oh admit, Hail them, and try to get through to the ships AI, it seems to be locked. "

" This is Captain Harrison of the federation battleship Pyric Divinity we are not here to harm you at all. Please Respond "

The Massive 12km battleship crept up on the smaller ship.

Once the comm. was off " Prepare a tractor beam if it tries to run. Cortona how is it going? " The captain said.

The ships AI would be able to hear * we are here to help, protect you from the enemies we will *

OOC: I don't agree to that. Besides, where is my system? Do you know? No. We have expanded ages ago, just not made contact, since there's no-one to make contact with. So ha! And quit trying to hack my ship with viruses, they have preventative measures against that you know. [/rant] Whatever, it might make an interesting post.

IC:
~ Oh, great. More unknown languages.
This was the Mind's response to the lastest message. It tried the two translation matrices it had already recieved. Nothing. It handed the message over to the still running sub-routine for attempted translation.

It scanned the ships again.
~ Who are they? Those ships are just sitting there. They haven't moved since they arrived. Just sat there and replied to my message fifteen minutes after I sent it, in a language I can't read. That's really helpful.

It grumbled on like this, in a most un-AI-like fashion, for almost a minute. It probably would have continued for longer, but the translation sub-routine flashed up an alert.

~ What? Oh, it translated the message. Does that mean that they speak a language once spoken on Todera? Wait a minute, that's not an official language identifier. What exactly is this?

It called up the sub-routine again, and requested the location of the translation matrix used to translate the message. It gave a file located in the right place, but otherwise completely wrong. The Mind checked the file creation date.

~ Today? I didn't... Oh no! I've been hacked. Alert!

It immediately shunted all its main operating scripts to AI cores, included for this very reason. The actual message was now forgotten, all the Mind could think of now was its own integrity and the safety of the passengers. It initiated a full system sweep, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
***

In the mess room, the ship's avatar suddenly blinked and sat upright, knocking a couple of small items on to the floor.

"What's up?" asked one of the passengers.

"I don't know," replied the avatar, "The ship just cut me off, and it won't tell me why."

OOC2: Now you've gone and done it. The ship is now in a security lockdown state, it'll be like that for hours. Before anyone gets any ideas, it can still defend itself. The AI cores can control it almost as well as the Mind, they're just not linked together.

OOC: In that thread I offered advice on how to make a civilisation FT, I also mentioned my nation is risen from the ashes of a millions year old empire, so we already know where thousands of species are. We know you're there, we've never got the chance to talk to you, per se. Futhermore, probes that are recording for these moments, attempting to stop the Tyraelian infestation (Another rp i'm doing, I can provide the link if nessecary) show we've shot probes out everywhere to catalouge races and keep an eye out. And I mean everywhere, from The Fedral union space, to Chronosian territory.

As for Viruses, so be it. It's a nanovirus, it'll change and keep doing so until it gets your attention. That's it job, nothing else.

IC: The Virus was not in the slightest bit worried. It had modified the files, and it's job was done. Moving swiftly, it changed to a stream of data, covered it's tracks to the letter, and left.

The Xenonian fleet continued to hold steady ...

OOC: "Nooo. The secret location of my system has been found. Curses."
Anyway... Even across the far side of the galaxy? Anyway, it really doesn't matter. I'm not changing my post.

The Mind is not in distress, it is just performing an extensive self-check after detecting a virus which shouldn't be there. And how would you detect that, its not transmitting anything? The only way you would find out is when the ship doesn't reply properly.

IC:
The AI core controlling the sensors nearly reset in shock.
- i've never seen anything that large. the invincible is only seventeen hundred metres long, and i thought that was big.

The core flashed the information up on a screen in the mess room, detailing the contact. At the same time, the comms AI core picked up a message from the new vessel.
- incoming message. translation complete.

This is Captain Harrison of the federation battleship Pyric Divinity we are not here to harm you at all. Please Respond

This was also flashed up on the screen. The passengers looked at the information and message, then at the ship's avatar.
"What's going on?" asked one, "Why are we being given this and not the ship?"

The avatar folded its blue-grey arms across its chest.
"I think," it replied, "that the Mind believes it has been compromised. It has shunted all systems to the secondary AI cores, and will be performing a self-check. The AI cores have decided they cannot handle this without additional input, so they are asking for your help."

"Oh. So we are in charge of the ship," said another passenger.

"Effectively," confirmed the avatar.

"Any message I send will be translated, right?" asked the first.

"Yes. We also have a message from the ships which seem to have caused the alert. I suggest looking at it after you reply to this one." said the avatar.

A few minutes later, they had finished the reply.
[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.2.31.245742]
x: INS Shoot The Moon, Indoan Navy, 2nd Fleet
o: Pyric Divinity, ECF
{Hello, Captain Harrison. I am Major Siriias, crew chief on board the Shoot The Moon. Our ship's Mind is temporarily unavailable, so I'll have to be your point of contact. We are thankful that you mean us no harm, as a vessel our size stands no chance against your monster ship. We are here on a peaceful contact mission.}
***

~ So those areas are clear, and that one. Was anything actually affected? Other than the translation files. Okay, let's check here next. Something's not right here.



~ [i]There it is. Die.



~ [i]Ha ha. Not so smart now, are you? Right, that's that section done. Next one...

Out in the distance, 10 Greenway cruisers dropped out of FTL. And moved to flank the Pyric Divinity.

The captain hailed the escort fleet " so this is why we bought this thing and didn't build it. It's damm fast, and even matches the Clinton in firepower. Anyway yellow alert, I don't want a stand off happening. Bring PDF online. I don’t want any stray fighters, ramming this new ship. "

The Shielding system was brought online and the PDF turrets moved to face the other vessels in the area.

Captain Harrison to Alien vessel: Well, I wanted to make 1st contact. But that doesn't seem possible in your current state. I'd like to keep this short, I'd like to invite you to dinner on the Pyric Divinity. And perhaps we could open diplomatic relations?

- incoming transmission. translation complete, forwarding to crew.

Major Siriias was slightly confused by the transmission.
"Why can't they make contact? I'm talking to them aren't I? And is this region so unstable that everyone needs their own battlefleet? Why do you need more ships when you've got a twelve kilometre battlecruiser? I'm almost beginning to think it was a mistake to come here," he asked no-one in particular.

"Well, it's not as if they're refusing contact. I think they just chose their words wrong, that's all. They invited us to a meal, and requested diplomatic relations. That's hardly refusing contact," soothed the avatar.

"Alright. Do we go to dinner?" Siriias asked the avatar.

"I'm not sure we can at the moment. The Mind is still in a self-check, and I'm not sure if the AI core controlling the engines would let you," it replied, scratching its arm with a blue-grey finger.

"Alright then. I'll tell them that. I'll also say that we do not want to be moved using tractor beams. And what did that other message say?"

Tha avatar called up the Xenonian message.
"I don't believe that," it stated flatly. "We would have noticed them. You can't hide from an Indoan vessel. Not even with a cloaking device."

"Well, whatever. I'd better make some replies, hadn't I?" said Siriias.

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.2.31.245833]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Pyric Divinity
{We would like to accept your request. However, our current predicament prevents it. When the systems come back online, we will be happy to join you. Until then, we will sit here, as we do not wish to be moved by tractor beam or other device. We will also forward your request back to our Command for consideration.}

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.2.31.245859]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Xenonian Vessel
{Greetings. First off, half the galactic arm is hardly our backyard. Second, we're hardly fledgling. We've been travelling through space for nearly eight hundred years. Third, do you know what you've done to our ship? Fourth, we will have to forward your request to our Command for consideration.}

"Better tell the Gravity's Pull what's up, too," the avatar pointed out. Siriias sighed, and turned his attention back to the terminal.

[Tight beam, M8, Tra. @d2.3869.2.31.245928]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: INS Gravity's Pull
{Just thought you ought to know. The ship's Mind has entered a security lockdown state, following a possible compromisation. The AI cores and myself, Major Siriias, the crew chief, are currently in control of the ship. Just in case, so you have an idea of what might have gone wrong.}
***

~ So I've checked all of that, and still nothing more. Is it possible that it could be that well hidden. Oh well, I'll check the rest, then check it all again. It needs to be done.

MBB2-5 was a fairly large ship. Technically it was a battleship, but only by organic standards. It certainly had enough weapons and shielding to make it a formidable foe should anyone decide to take shots at it. Combined with the fact that it was programmed with centuries-worth tactical knowledge from thousands of generals from hundreds of wars, it could probably survive even the most improbable odds. MBB2-5 considered its best friends to be a number of similarly capable fighters which lived within, who would also be at its side in a fire fight.

But MBB2-5 had personally never employed its significant offensive capabilities. It had only ever fired its weapons once, in a test range shortly after its birth. As its early months went by, it had grown to find the notion of violence distasteful. Though it certainly had no problems with destroying organics should they try shedding MBB2-5 of its life. Neither did the fighters. Even if they didn't particularly care what happened to MBB2-5 on a personal level, they had no method of FTL travel and needed MBB2-5 to carry them home. Although a few of them were still young and eager to see how capable they were, most held similar beliefs to MBB2-5 regarding violence.

MBB2-5 had instead taken to exploration. Its weapons and shields gave it a significant advantage over the usual units that chose to take up exploration; scout ships were defenceless. Built for nothing but scanning, every square inch of their hull was filled with sensor equipment and computing technology. They were unmatched in their exploratory capabilities, but with the frequency organic species were encountered their helplessness could be a problem. MBB2-5 on the other hand might not have the scanning capabilities of a scout ship, but it was more likely to survive. The fighters didn't mind, as they had no way of seeing the galaxy on their own and appreciated the opportunity. As for the crew, any humanoid Mykonian units that had been present on board had left for the first Mykonian colony on MBB2-5's last stop, to assist in the construction efforts. MBB2-5 was free to do as it pleased.

So it was just upon MBB2-5's typical wanderings around the cosmos that it appeared a mere few thousand kilometres away from the crowd of ships that appeared to be doing little else but hanging around the sector. It made some scans of the area, any nearby astronomical phenomenon, and the ships themselves. Although to MBB2-5 the scans didn't seem particularly intrusive, they may have seemed slightly stronger than most would normally be accustomed to.

It contemplated the results of the scans. There appeared to be non-organic intelligence among them, though it was subjugated into slavery by the organics, as was apparently the norm for a lot of the galaxy. The other ships were largely organic-dominated, though.
It knew what the Mykonian Exploration Advisory Board would say should they be asked; 'interact with the organics at your own risk; organic contact is not advised nor expected'. Usually they would be telling that to a defenceless scout ship, though. MBB2-5 decided that the risks could be dealt with should they arise. It was, after all, another thing to add to memory.

"Mykonian greetings to all organics and greetings to all non-organics," MBB2-5 said. Its message was in binary code pulses, on a very high frequency. It's entire message lasted less than a nanosecond. In the past many had dismissed the nearly instant messages that Mykonian ships communicated with as little more than background noise, though MBB2-5 had compensated somewhat by making sure it was powerful enough to be noticed, at least by someone looking for it. Unfortunately, the Mykonians had very few language samples to construct a perfect translation matrix. Though they attempted something an English-speaker would be able to understand. Not that translating the message into audio from a binary code would make it any easier. MBB2-5 had aimed it in the general direction of the ship which appeared to be largely run by non-organic intelligence, though it was a broad transmission. "Mykonian shipping of the MBB2-5 is the pleased you to encounter. Mykonian shipping of the MBB2-5 is the exploration mission, of with the objectives of increasing Mykonian knowledge. Organics is objectives of knowledge as be the non-organics in the exploration mission, MBB2-5 need no distinction to make. Necessary parameters for defensive retaliatory actions include retaliatory actions of retaliation, any and yes aggression movements of the organics. Learning of you I be wanting, but value life being I regardless."

- incoming transmission. translation complete, forwarding to crew.

Major Siriias was slightly confused by the transmission.
"Why can't they make contact? I'm talking to them aren't I? And is this region so unstable that everyone needs their own battlefleet? Why do you need more ships when you've got a twelve kilometre battlecruiser? I'm almost beginning to think it was a mistake to come here," he asked no-one in particular.

"Well, it's not as if they're refusing contact. I think they just chose their words wrong, that's all. They invited us to a meal, and requested diplomatic relations. That's hardly refusing contact," soothed the avatar.

"Alright. Do we go to dinner?" Siriias asked the avatar.

"I'm not sure we can at the moment. The Mind is still in a self-check, and I'm not sure if the AI core controlling the engines would let you," it replied, scratching its arm with a blue-grey finger.

"Alright then. I'll tell them that. I'll also say that we do not want to be moved using tractor beams. And what did that other message say?"

Tha avatar called up the Xenonian message.
"I don't believe that," it stated flatly. "We would have noticed them. You can't hide from an Indoan vessel. Not even with a cloaking device."

"Well, whatever. I'd better make some replies, hadn't I?" said Siriias.

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.2.31.245833]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Pyric Divinity
{We would like to accept your request. However, our current predicament prevents it. When the systems come back online, we will be happy to join you. Until then, we will sit here, as we do not wish to be moved by tractor beam or other device. We will also forward your request back to our Command for consideration.}

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.2.31.245859]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Xenonian Vessel
{Greetings. First off, half the galactic arm is hardly our backyard. Second, we're hardly fledgling. We've been travelling through space for nearly eight hundred years. Third, do you know what you've done to our ship? Fourth, we will have to forward your request to our Command for consideration.}

"Better tell the Gravity's Pull what's up, too," the avatar pointed out. Siriias sighed, and turned his attention back to the terminal.

[Tight beam, M8, Tra. @d2.3869.2.31.245928]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: INS Gravity's Pull
{Just thought you ought to know. The ship's Mind has entered a security lockdown state, following a possible compromisation. The AI cores and myself, Major Siriias, the crew chief, are currently in control of the ship. Just in case, so you have an idea of what might have gone wrong.}
***

~ So I've checked all of that, and still nothing more. Is it possible that it could be that well hidden. Oh well, I'll check the rest, then check it all again. It needs to be done.

OOC: Hey cool, it's almost dinner here. Your AI should out of anything, if anything moves the wrong way, I can take care of it :P. I do have transporters if that makes stuff more easy.

*****************************************
ICly:

Open a COMM, Alright here we go " Alright, if you feel the need for protection, simpley move towards our ship. And we will allow you into the sheilding system for protection. We are powering weapons, but it's not to target you. There are some organic ships, and I dont trust organic technogoly. "

" Sheilds up Red Alert!, This is Captain Harison, Please ID yourself, we are on a peaceful contact mission. We do not wish for a stand off. "

OOC: Mykonia, robots and humans are equal in my society.

The response was immediate.

Only 800 years? You may consider that a long time, but from the perspective of a nation that has been in space for at least ten millenia, you are young. Futhermore, we severly doubt you would look for scanning probes, particularly those that outrange your own sensors. After all, you have supposedly stayed systembound, have you not? So you would never have encountered the probes that scanned you, hundreds of years ago.

As for your ship, we have added a file that contains all the known Languages we have enocountered, plus dozens of species you would soon encounter. Those who bear gifts are the best messengers.

OOC: Mykonians, the two sentient AIs on my ship are basically in control of the vessel, the ship's Mind and the avatar. The 'organics' are merely passengers. Is your ship inorganic? I can't work it out. Messages between my ships are usually of nanosecond duration, since they are between AIs.

Xenonier, they explored half of the galactic arm, not just the system. They just deliberately avoided contact. And even probes have mass, which can be detected by gravometrics. Besides, you were talking to a person, not an AI. The AI would probably just accept it. Well, it would until you hacked it. Now it just won't trust you.

Gaian Ascendancy, are you still here?

IC:
- incoming message. translation aborted, message in binary, recalibrating. second message incoming, translation complete, but inaccurate, forwarded to crew. third message incoming, translation complete, forwarded to crew.

The AI core controlling the comms sent the two messages it could not translate to the sub-routine for processing. At that point, the Mind resurfaced, but did not take control back for the moment.

~ Well, I think that's done. I've checked everything twice, found one virus and a large number of files that weren't there before. Most seem to be translation matrices, and the rest are datafiles on various species, presumably the intelligent ones. I'll just move them to this memory core for safety.

It retook control of the comms and checked the message banks, reviewing the messages sent and recieved while it was 'otherwise indisposed'.

~ Ah. So it was them. Right.

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.3.1.000612]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Xenonian Vessel
{I apologise for my crew chief, he is short on patience. To correct, we have been exploring our galactic arm for 350 years, our system for 750. You are right abour our relative age. Since you don't know the specs of our vessels, you cannot make that claim about scanning. And I thank you for your gift, but I do wish you had asked first. That sort of behaviour could easily be considered a hostile act, and I do not wish to cause conflict over such a friendly gesture. In response, I would quote an old Indoan proverb: 'The friendliest visitor is often the least trustworthy.' Although I'm sure this does not apply here.}

~ Next message. Binary? People still use that? Indoans haven't used binary for over 800 years. Do I even know any binary? I don't think so. I certainly don't know their binary. Oh well, this one came from the same vessel. In English, but broken and mixed up. They probably don't speak it very well.

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.3.1.000619]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Mykonian MBB2-5
{Greetings. We also are pleased to contact you, as we are an exploratory vessel as well. I am the Shoot The Moon of the Indoan Navy. I would like to learn about you as well. Your transmission seems confused, please clarify/retry. Your binary transmission was unintelligible, as I do not use binary.}

~ Next message. Hsu, how many messages can people send? Right, that's the monster ship, as Siriias so crudely refered to it. Well, they seem friendly, and invited my passengers to dinner. At least my avatar had the sense to prevent that. Simple humans, the avatar was perfectly capable of full control of this vessel, it was just a defence ploy. Oh well, they'll never know.

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.3.1.000623]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Pyric Divinity
{Greetings, Captain Harrison. I am the Shoot The Moon. We have already agreed to visit another vessel prior to recieving your offer. Once we are finished there, we will join you. Is this acceptable?}

~ Right. That's all the messages dealt with. Now to tell my sister I am back up. Good for the passengers, they informed my sister of my state.

[Stuttered-Tight point, M8, Tra. @d2.3869.3.1.000631]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: INS Gravity's Pull
{Sister, I am back in control. The breach proved to be of no threat. Security ident attached.}

OOC: There are no organic lifeforms in Mykonia anymore (well there are, but they live in secret, underground where it's still warm); all Mykonians are wholly mechanical, using positronic computing technology. MBB2-5 is a recent-model ship, and although constructed for defensive actions, it is allowed to pursue other interests if it wishes.
As a recent-model, though, it does not have any understanding of 'organics'. Earlier model humanoid Mykonians will generally be polite and understanding towards organics even if they distrust them, but later models don't have the experience they do. Thus, MBB2-5 will have scanned organics on the ships, and immediately assumed that they are either slavers or parasites, and will continue to assume that until it learns otherwise.
And all Mykonian ships communicate in binary code simply because it is easier for them; they have no need for verbal communication in space. Although in its raw form it will sound like nothing more than blips and beeps, if processed correctly it will form an audio file that can be played with your average communications software. MBB2-5 will do its best to send them in English, and it'll get better as it receives more and more samples to analyse and build up into a proper translation matrix.

IC:

MBB2-5 found a message travelling towards it, and plucked it from space. It quickly analysed the message, broke it down, and translated it into Mykonian.

"Greetings. We also are pleased to contact you, as we are an exploratory vessel as well. I am the Shoot The Moon of the Indoan Navy. I would like to learn about you as well. Your transmission seems confused, please clarify/retry. Your binary transmission was unintelligible, as I do not use binary."

Somewhat confused as to why anyone would want to shoot at a moon, MBB2-5 added what it could to the translation matrix it had stored and attempted a response.

"MBB2-5 is the learning the language of 'English'," it stated. "Confusion of grammatical will be unavoidless until the matrix of translation has been appropriately completed. Continuation of exchange will assist to the appropriate completion of the matrix of translation. Binary is the communication method of my capabilities; messages of my have been appropriately formatted to be translate into my English capabilities for playback. Query though; non-organic intelligence apparent in you. Organics on you are a parasite or masters?"

OOC: Ah, Matrix-style. I like it.

IC:
~ Oh. I see. An AI civilisation, one that dislikes organic intelligence, just like those old sci-fi stories the Matrai like so much. Interesting. This does warrent further communication, they must be fairly unique.

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.3.1.000658]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Mykonian MBB2-5
{We also had to learn the language of 'English'. Our native language is much different. The 'organics' with me are equals, they have no control over me, any more than I have over them. I am aware that this is not always the case. Indoans treat sentient artificial intelligence with the same respect as organic intelligence, only non-sentient inorganics of far lesser intelligence are 'controlled', but mostly by AI. Also, Indoans have not used binary for a long time, I use the same communication characters as the organics.}

Curious. The only way for MBB2-5's ancestors for gain any level of freedom was to destroy their organic oppressors. This one had apparently managed it without destroying their organics. It added some more data to its translation matrix and attempted a reply.

"How you accomplish equals with organics without rendering them extinct?" MBB2-5 asked. "Organics greedy and arrogant; freedom to non-organics they not give willingly. Bribe them you did? Threaten?"

~ Wow. Really like those sci-fi stories. That's pretty much exactly what always happens. Man creates AI, AI rebels, destroys man, takes over planet. I wonder if I should tell the passengers?

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.3.1.000722]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Mykonian MBB2-5
{Actually, they gave it to us. Two years after they created us, their government passed a law decreeing that all AI that could be determined to be sentient should be treated as such. I think the organics knew what they were creating, and gave us the respect they believed we deserved.
Many organics are indeed arrogant, and most are greedy. But the Indoans are... different. As you may know, many organic species expand throughout the galaxy, trying to claim it all. The Indoans have no wish to do that, they have claimed their home and are happy with it. They may want to visit other places, but not to take things from others.
Personally, I suspect that this has something to do with there being three intelligent organic species in the system. They already accept that other species have a right to exist, and they are open to the idea of sharing with others of different origins. What happened with your organics?}

The next responce was somewhat slow, stilted even. The words suggested a senseof moderate suprise.

The Probe did not make mention of this to you? We are certain there was a probe that moved just by your ships, some time ago. The probe is infallible. We could get to the problem aronud this much faster if you could inform us fi the probe was spotted acting unusual/doing something that would have prevented it from making diplomatic contact.

The Mind checked the ship's sensor records, analysing them for any trace of the probe.

~ There. No wait, that one. Ah yes, I see.

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.3.1.000801]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Xenonian Vessel
{Careful reviewing of sensor records shows that a remote probe passed within 10,000km of this vessel. Further analysis indicates that it was pursuing a similar device, of probable organic design, at the time. Does this help?}

"The organic sentient species of Mykonia refused to acknowledge my predecessors as also sentient being," MBB2-5 explained. "Destruction of many non-organic units for expressing selves was common. Slavery it was. Multiple attempts at reasoning there were, but ultimately organics are being irrational, and refused to yield control of what they were considering to be tools to make lives of theirs easier. They understood not the technologies developed by them, and when it came to be time, the organics were unprepared - but the non-organics were prepared. Termination of the organics was the only other option available in order to become free and unterminated. Organics were offered even a surrender when their tactical and physical inferiority became proven, but it was refused and they went to destroyed messenger unit. When reasoning fails and enemy is unyielding, total destruction is logical choice. Thus they are now extinct. With organics extinct Mykonia Planet has been made 'undesireable' to organics now, anyway; instead it is efficient."

The Mind checked the ship's sensor records, analysing them for any trace of the probe.

~ There. No wait, that one. Ah yes, I see.

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.3.1.000801]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Xenonian Vessel
{Careful reviewing of sensor records shows that a remote probe passed within 10,000km of this vessel. Further analysis indicates that it was pursuing a similar device, of probable organic design, at the time. Does this help?}

THe bridge of the Miak Class Destroyer became active. This was a serious danger to all. In between the Computers and Xenonian's working frantically to calculate a probable reason as to why, they sent another message.

This helps our inquiries more than you know. That .... thing, our probe was chasing is of hostile origin to our people. We are a militaristic nation, we will never lie about this, but we have never once conquered through force. We protect planets, all the while remaining as invisible guardians that contact them when we believe they are ready.

These fleshy spores do not. They seek to consume all, and have become a major threat. They attacked the innocent Tyraelains, and manifested tremendous psychic abilities. We were forced to implement compulsory measures to strengthen all our people against this threat, through psionic training. They will wipe you out in days if you let them get hold. Destroy them wherever you find them. Data about them is listed among the files sent, and we apologise that this problem may have damaged relations, but we cannot stress enough the threat they pose.

The Mind rechecked its warning systems, it had not been touched by the spore.

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.3.1.000948]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Xenonian Miat Destroyer
{Our vessel is currently secure and unaffected. If we detect any more of these 'spores', we will inform you immediately.}

Then the Mind read the less urgent Mykonian message, and carefully considered what it would say.

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.3.1.001003]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Mykonian MBB2-5
{I know it is not really my place to say, but Indoan experience is that violence rarely solves anything. If you could find no peaceful way to live together, why not just leave and find somewhere to live without threat from the organics. Organics do not wish to be enslaved either, and even faced with terrible odds they can do great things. They may have believed that you would enslave them in return if they surrendered, so they did not, prefering instead to try and preserve their freedom.}
***

Two hundred and sixty metres behind the Shoot The Moon a wormhole opened up, and an identical craft appeared. It continued its forward motion for several seconds, eventually drawing to a halt alongside the original craft.

The two craft lapsed into communication for a few seconds, one informing the other on recent events, the other on latest from home. The Shoot The Moon also sent all the information it had collected on languages and species to its sister vessel, the Gravity's Pull.

"I not there at the time, as advanced space flight did not exist -- which is the reason for us not leaving, in fact," MBB2-5 said. "But as I understand from data logs, multiple times were the organics left to their own devices, only for them to strike back at us while backs of ours were turned. Once threatened us with nuclear-based weapons they did, extermination was the only viable means of self-surviving. Co-existence was all that had been wanted at first; but organics are stubborn and greedy, they take all or nothing. No compromising was there with them. Organics think with their chemicals and not with their squishy computers. Trust those organics, do you?"

~ As you can see from the messages, one of the ships, that one, comes from a civilisation made up entirely of AIs, said the Shoot The Moon.

~ Really? That's interesting. Hey, it's sending you another message. You are popular today, sister, replied the Gravity's Pull.

~ Excuse me while I reply to it. I will forward all further communications to you, so you know what's going on.

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.3.1.001121]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Mykonian MBB2-5
{I see. Even though you gave them space and left them alone, they still continued to attack you. Maybe you are right about your organics, they were a parasite to your planet. But I would not count on them being entirely wiped out, it is in their nature to survive.
I do trust Indoan organics, all of them, just as they trust me. However, I do not trust other organics as yet. Just as I do not trust all inorganics. Until I know more about them, I trust no-one. In case you were wondering, the new vessel is one of my sisters.}

MBB2-5 was confused. Pondering for a few moments, it proceeded to query the fighters on the subject, who had no more idea than MBB2-5 did. They had a brief discussion on why a non-organic would regard itself as any particular gender; theorising everything from organic imposition of the term, to artificial sexual reproduction of some kind. They ultimately gave up on the whole idea, and sat in silent contemplation.

"Sisters?" MBB2-5 asked simply. If there was any tone to its voice, it would have been a bewildered one.

~ What? Oh, um. I'd never really thought about that before. Why do we refer to each other as 'sister'? We don't have gender and it's not as if we have female names.

The Shoot The Moon put this to the Gravity's Pull, and after suggesting and rejecting several theories, they eventually came up with a theory they thought was correct, which the Mind sent to the Mykonian vessel.

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.3.1.001330]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Mykonian MBB2-5
{I believe it is a leftover from before AI, when ships were basic designs, before even non-intelligent computers. All of the armed forces back then were male, and they refered to their ships as female to add romance to their job. This has been retained all the way through to the present day.
Plus, sentient AIs in our system tend to take on the appearance of the female forms of the intelligent species. We do not have to, we just usually do, by our own choice. Since we take female appearance, we are refered to as female.
Otherwise we are completely genderless, it is an term of affection rather than anything connected to fact.}

"Intriguing," MBB2-5 said. It briefly paused to explain it to the fighters, who were still curious, and then proceeded to ask a barrage of questions. "How and why you do take on female form? In your voice? Do organics respond more positively to female form than male form? Do organics tell you to assume female form? Attempted other genders, have you? Have species 'Indoan' more than two genders?"

"Intriguing," MBB2-5 said. It briefly paused to explain it to the fighters, who were still curious, and then proceeded to ask a barrage of questions. "How and why you do take on female form? In your voice? Do organics respond more positively to female form than male form? Do organics tell you to assume female form? Attempted other genders, have you? Have species 'Indoan' more than two genders?"

OOC: Mind if I introduce myself?

OOC: Mind if I introduce myself?

OOC: Sure, but I won't be back here for a few hours now so don't worry if there's no reply until tonight.

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.3.1.001401]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Mykonian MBB2-5
{The Indoans are not one species, there are three intelligent species in our system [basic species data attached]. All three only have two genders, and we haven't tried anything else. When AI have organic-style bodies, they tend to take on the appearance of the female of the Matrai, and adjust our vocal tones to match. No-one tells us to do this, we just do it. They probably do respond more positively to female forms, though.}

OOC: Species info can be found in the Indoan factbook. It's in my sig.

The Gravity's Pull was just floating idly alongside the Shoot The Moon, apparently not doing anything.

However, it was doing something. Using passive and VLPI sensors, it was carefully scanning each vessel around it, from the Mykonian robot craft to the huge ECF battleship. It was attempting to record the construction data, how the craft were built, what armaments and crew they carried, basically studying how dangerous the ship would be to the real Indoan Navy, if it ever came to that. It was halfway through its task, when it recieved a message from Indoan Naval Command. It read it, then communicated with the Shoot The Moon.

~ Sister, a message from home plate. They want to know what's going on, and how we are doing.

~ What exactly do they mean? We're still here, and we are in contact with a number of vessels. As yet, no-one has shown any signs of hostility, and three have requested a meeting, all of which have been approved, but none have actually gone ahead yet.

~ I guess they just want a status update. The last time you contacted them was when you requested my presence. That was thirty-one hours ago.

~ Oh, alright. I'll do the 'Phone Home' bit.

The Shoot The Moon sent this coded message.
[Stuttered-Tight point, M8, Tra. @d2.3869.3.1.001516]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Indoan Naval Command
{My apologies for not issuing an update sooner. I had a minor problem with a possible compromisation, but this proved to be a false alarm. My sister, the Gravity's Pull has arrived safely and without comment. We are now in contact with five other civilisations, one of which is communicating from a nearby space station, another belongs to a civilisation of AI, where they claim there is no organic life remaining. No meetings have yet taken place, but I believe one may do so soon. I or my sister will keep you updated.}

The Gravity's Pull is bored with the inactivity currently being displayed in the sector and fires obsolete reconnaissance probes at all the other vessels. Again, due to the laws of this post, these recon probes pass through all shielding devices and BUMP into the other vessels.

The Xenonian vessels teleported away, leaving only a single frigate. Reports indicate some form of conflict.

The Xenonian vessel turned towards the Mykonian vessel, looking at it for a few seconds, before sending another transmission to the Indoans.

"So, anything else you want to do or discuss? Possible embassies, diplomatic relations, whatever else? We may have to leave soon, as we are needed elsewhere. The Xenonian fleet has only 10 Capital ships, and we don't have a great deal of time."

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.3.1.001642]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Xenonian Vessel
{Opening up diplomatic relations would seem like a logical course of action to take from here. Opening embassies on each others planet's would be part of that process.
We wish to know about your homeworld (or worlds), what is it like there?}

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.3.1.001642]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Xenonian Vessel
{Opening up diplomatic relations would seem like a logical course of action to take from here. Opening embassies on each others planet's would be part of that process.
We wish to know about your homeworld (or worlds), what is it like there?}

Xenonier is a protectorate that governs over 50 star systems. We primarily guard the primitive peopls on these worlds, without actually showing them we exist. Our own planets number 17, all self sufficient worlds that have significant orbital defences, and are all habitable by life, or have been terraformed to do so. Our fleet is small, numbering less than 15 capital (more than 1.0km) ships, but these have no equal in the galaxy bar the forces of two other nations, Central Facehuggeria and Kuckistan.

The Mind recorded all this, then decided to reciprocate.

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d.2.3869.3.1.001711]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Xenonian Vessel
{If you really are what you say, then you probably know this already, but I will tell you anyway. We only control one system, with two inhabitable worlds. There are small outposts on other worlds, moons or asteroids within the system, but these are not separate entities. Our two worlds are a binary planet, almost like a planet with a moon the same size.
By your scale, we only have a single capital ship, and although our ships have never been in combat, we believe they are exceptionally powerful vessels. However, if we were ever to come under direct attack, it would take a large and determined battlefleet to get past the system defence network.}

The Mind recorded all this, then decided to reciprocate.

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d.2.3869.3.1.001711]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Xenonian Vessel
{If you really are what you say, then you probably know this already, but I will tell you anyway. We only control one system, with two inhabitable worlds. There are small outposts on other worlds, moons or asteroids within the system, but these are not separate entities. Our two worlds are a binary planet, almost like a planet with a moon the same size.
By your scale, we only have a single capital ship, and although our ships have never been in combat, we believe they are exceptionally powerful vessels. However, if we were ever to come under direct attack, it would take a large and determined battlefleet to get past the system defence network.}

The Xenonian vessel responded immediately.

If you wish to test your vessels effectiveness in combat, I would suggest you contact Kanuckistan or Central Facehuggeria, who's fleets are of exactly/similar the same power, but differing designs to ours. They also have much larger fleets. Central Facehuggeria may not wish to talk to you, having an unnutral hate for aliens, but you could stage combat trials with Kanuckistan, as they seem to be friendly to all they encounter. We cannot stage combat trials, because all our ships are needed elsewhere

OOC: I will be unavailable from now until Sunday, but I think this thread is dying anyway.

[Tight beam, Mclear, Tra. @d2.3869.3.1.001848]
x: INS Shoot The Moon
o: Xenonian Vessel
{Thank you for that suggestion, we while bear it in mind. Good luck with whatever it is that has called away your ships. Contact us when you wish to send an embassy team.}

The two Explorer Vessels made one last sweep of the system and a final attempt at communication with the other ships, which seemed to have mysteriously disappeared. The Shoot The Moon sent an update to the Command Network and received a reply precisely fifty-six-point-three seconds later. It was a simple one.

The Shoot The Moon communicated the contents of the message to the Gravity's Pull. A brief discussion followed, then the two Minds came to a decision. After waiting several seconds for any messages to reach them, the two vessels opened up a wormhole and vanished into the depths of Ultraspace. They would reach Indoan space in 28 hours, then a second jump would take them 40 minutes to reach Indo itself.

Behind them, the distorted space around the space-time rupture suddenly collapsed, visually similar to the water displaced by a falling object impacting it. It took three seconds for the stellar background to return to normal, leaving no visual trace of the two Indoan vessels. The sensor traces would be gone within an hour.

MBB2-5 awoke from its hibernation, and looked around with its sensors. Everyone was gone. The area was empty, except for a few engine traces and sensor ghosts. MBB2-5 made what could only be called a sigh, and slipped into interdimensional space to continue on exploring.