NationStates Jolt Archive

This is an open FT thread.

The Prelude...

The Xenos look somewhat humanoid. They come in many shapes and sizes just like people. The Xenos were one of the first races to reach Earth and interact with human beings. Then, the race resembled large, black insect-ish type critters. (Think ..the movie "Alien")

Intelligent and telepathic, the Xenos befriended some of the humans of the blooming civilizations among Rome and Greece, as well as the natives in Asia and the Americas. Those humans were taken with the Xenos back to their home planet. There, they lived in peace with the alien civilization and the cultures blended into one.

The Xenos became very warlike, and the civilization went to war with itself. For three hundred years, the Xenos warred and destroyed their world. Diseases and atomic weapons ravaged the land.

When finally there was peace, it was unfortunetly too late for Serpentis, which lay in ruin, uninhabitable. And so, the Xenos took to space in an epic oddessy. Traveling in huge starships that were more like floating cities, the Xenos plied the galaxies. They took with them technology of warfare, developed over generations of combat and battle. They would stop at small, inhabited planets to renew the resources onboard their starships, or simply to explore and quelch their desire to learn more about the universe.

Most recently, the Xeno have settled a planet that they have named Solaris, a small earth-like world with blue skies and a healthy yellow sun. It so reminded the Xeno leadership of the legends of Earth, that they could not resist settling and developing the world, calling it home now.

The Xenos have a strange civilization. Their society has certain castes.

Civilians.
These are any Xeno or other lifeform that have not entered governing service of one form or another. They are the workers, the wives, the children, the merchants.

Scientists.
One of the most-important jobs in Xeno society is that of the scientist. They learn and teach, they build and develop. Everything from designing more-comfortable chairs for vehicles, to better forms of intersteller travel, the scientist caste forms a strong, often secretive and strange network within Xeno society.

Warriors.
If the scientists and the civilians are the blood and mind of the Xeno society, then the warriors are the muscle and protective skeleton. The Xenos are a developed species, and free enough with their children as to allow them to choose the warrior destiny at a young age. At age five, Xenos of both sexes are allowed to volunteer for military service. The weaker Xenos are given duties as crew aboard ships or as support roles, while the stronger Xenos are made into full-blooded warriors. Schooled in history, science, math, verbal skills and reading while also recieving military foundations for the next four years, the Xenos produce some of the most-feared and capable fighters the universe has yet to encounter.

The Sexes.
The male Xeno resembles the original species most of all, tall, sleek black alien creatures with tentacles, an armored exoskeleton and a swept back skull. The Xeno are telepathic, and communicate this way in place of the original, gutteral and often-considered barbaric language of their species.

The female Xeno resembles a human female on the surface in every way, short of the natural telepathy. Often quite beautiful, the female Xenos are as aggressive as their male counterparts, and endowed with natural strength, speed and slightly better regeneration than a normal human. (A bone could knit in weeks, as opposed to months.) When a female becomes pregnant, the gestation period lasts between 8 and 10 weeks, at which either a Xeno/human female or Xeno male is born. The growth cycle is greatly increased, and by the time 4 standard years have passed, the Xeno(male and female) is considered mature, although resembling a 12 year old. The Xeno growth cycle is approximately 3 times faster than that of a normal, non-Xeno human.

The average Xeno lifespan is around 125 years.


(New post pending after this.)

((OC- Looks like a new FT Factbook to moi. Welcome to NS Forums by the way. =^^= ))

OOC: Thank you, sir. Doing a follow-up post now.

A pulse of energy..

Silent, brooding, a huge black shape appeared among thestars, showing an outline. It wasn't until it moved beyond the shadow cast by a nearby planet that the sunlight caught on the flat black surface of the warship. Insect-like, smooth and sleek with no windows or visable weapons, the starship gave a forboding appearance.

On the bridge, several Xenos and hybrids (Human appearing females) sat at command stations, monitoring screens and data. A woman looked up, "Jump successful, we have arrived at Nav Point Sixty six seven three. Scanning for lifeforms now."

A large, glossy black Xeno with the etchings of a Fleet Admiral on his shoulder sat at the primary command chair, with a young woman to his right, and an empty chair to his left. The Admiral did not turn his head, but instead visited his thoughts to the girl at his side, ~This is the same type of exploration mission we were on when I captured you, Lieutenant Kamaria.~

The girl looked up to the Xeno beside her with an amuse expression on her face, "I was just thinking the same thing myself, Fleet Admiral Kay." spoken in a quiet, thoughtful voice.

*****
Kamaria was in the training room of the small starcruiser, *SLAM, SLAM* the punching bag knocked against the metal wall. She spun, roundhousing the poor thing as it came flying back at her. Having tired herself out at last, she walked away from it with sweat dripping from her lean, sexy body. Her dark ponytail swayed, just like her hips, catching the attention of a fellow marine plodding away at a treadmill. A little smirk at the man and then she was heading out after grabbing a towel and draping it around her neck. She threaded her way down the narrow corridor leading to the onboard marine crew barracks, and touched the panel to open her door just as red and yellow lights flipped on throughout the ship and a warning siren wailed.

Over the ship's comm system one of the cruiser's bridge crew made their hurried announcement, "Unidentified contact, all marines report to Shuttle Bay Seven. All marines to Shuttle Bay Seven immedietly. This is no drill."

Kamaria groaned, "Jesus.." before rushing into the room and digging her armor out of its bulkhead, climbing into a skin tight bodysuit first, and then strapping on the equipment. She unlocked another bulkhead and retrieved her customized rifle and grabbed for her helmet. Five minutes later she was standing in the shuttle bay at attention among a line of marines dressed like herself. Her Lieutenant, a young man straight from the Federation's academy did a quick head count and then spoke up, "Alright people. This is real. We've come across the USS Pennsylvania. It was the flagship for the League's starship fleet about a hundred years ago. Appearently it was on an exploration mission when it disappeared. It hasn't been seen since. We are recieving minimal power transmission from the ship, indicating it is probably unoccupied. We need to board and look the ship over before our engineers can come across. Load into your transports by squad." He gestures to the half-dozen shuttles in the bay, aimed towards the closed blast doors.

One of the marines spoke up, "Sir? What if we encounter something on the ship? From what you're telling us, it's been floating around for a hundred years and it looks as new as the day it was built. That's not normal."

In reply, the Lieutenant furrowed his brows and looked down at his handheld computer as if searching for answers, "There's nothing onboard..."
*****

The Pennsylvania, in peacetime.
http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/4632/dreadnaught6dp.jpg

Fleet Admiral Kay tapped at a few control studs on his console, bringing up an enhanced scan of this particular solar system. Beside him, Kamaria leaned back in her chair and stretched out her lithe form. Ten children in the past four years and she still had a trim, wonderful figure. "Sir, I've been thinking about the new policy on how to treat unidentified ships. I really think that we need to start trying to communicate with the humans and learn from them. I mean, if you go back to the old days of the Xeno, we visited them thousands of times." As long as she had been with the Xeno, Kamaria now thought of herself as one.

The big black Xeno did not move for a moment, then his sleek head tilted ever so slightly. ~I understand your concerns, Lieutenant and I would tend to agree. Despite what the other commanders might say, my personal policy has not changed. I will not risk this ship and the people on it,~ and that seemed enough. The girl smiled, patted the Admiral's arm and looked towards the large viewing panel set up infront of her own console, watching some sort of movie made aeons ago. Kay communicated with his bridge crew, ~Continue your scans, lower the shipwide alert to level two and maintain readiness. Stand down the F-1s.~

((OC- Really looking nice. Hope this is okay to start here with.. =^^= ))

--

About two Parsecs away, a trio of Ascendancy starships were out on 'short' partol, from the old absorbed United Mankind territories, exploring to find out what they had missed during their tenure ascended.

A chance to regain feeling for old surroundings.

Three Hikari Treeships, all of Destroyer class, bounded about for a few days, listening in on signals from both known and new communication signals. The change in fifteen years was suprising to engage in.

At the moment, they were listening to ones from a system that incuded the name 'Xeno' in it. Enough chatter to garner this unto the Treeships very effective sensors.

"Someone inform Foreign Advisory we may have found something." ..a lady Commander informs, Comm-Techs send the appropriate signals soon after over subspace

The three vessels are informed to make a tenuous first attempt, to see how the Xeno responded. Given the sensitive nature of the universe with the Eternal War at present, the Ascendancy didn't want to involve other new nations if it could avoid it.

But the Ascendancy 'did' want to make new, if discreet friends. The three then plot a Fold Jump for a point just outside the System the Xeno's capital ship lies.

The young lady behind the primary scanner made a notation in her computer before speaking up, "Fleet Admiral, we have contact at approxmiately fifty five million miles, outer edge of this system. Contacts match no known IFF signal."

The Xeno looked to the woman beside him, then replied, ~Very well. Manuver to noon bearing, reduce our profile.~

~Aye aye sir.~ The Xeno navigator settled clawed hands on the control yoke and plotted the movement. A feathering of the huge engines sent the nose of the Pennsylvania drifting until it was pointed directly at the contacts, reducing the scanning profile of the ship down to just that front section. Meanwhile, the Fleet Admiral was already examining the information scrolling across his console screen.

"Sir, sensors are picking up at least three hyper warp signatures. Indications of three seperate warships. Resolving the images now, but we won't be in optimal reolution range for another two minutes." The Pennsylvania's engines were practically on idle as they propelled the huge warship slowly forward.

~Light up our IFF and tell the F-1s to stand by. Send a message to Solaris informing them of the contact, and have the Anzio, Gettysburgh and Iwo Jima sortie to the inner defense corridor around Solaris and Polaris.~ The Fleet Admiral rapped out. Appearently, he had the power to order other warships.

Meanwhile, the titanic ship with its menacing, oddly alien design continued to drift towards the contacts. In a basic, binary code a signal was sent towards the three destroyers, "Identify, identify, you are approaching the Xeno defense corridor. Identify, identify."

"A basic Binary signal?"

The Tech replied to the Commander.. "Aye. Either very basic communication on their part..."

"...or the only. I doubt the later." The Commander then walks back to the fore of the bridge station, the Treeship whitewood panels clunking equal as the sound of wood, as it does metal. She then rubs her chin.

"Well, might as well be good neighboors again. Open a channel, same format. Don't want to offend them with our faces if that's their worry."

Comms complies and Lady Airi makes her best presentation..

:: ~ Hail to the unknown forces of this system. We are representatives of the Gaian Ascendancy, of the Gamma-Echo-XXXII detatchment of the Hikari Grand Fleet Legion. The latter where our ships belong.

Our goverment has authorized us to attempt basic communications with your people, and see if further dialoge can be established. We do intent no harm, and hope for the same as you arrive.

This is Lady Airi speaking. ~ ::

They don't advance, but rather wait at the Oort Cloud line at the outer edge of the system fringe. They had their Fold Drives semi-charged in case it was necessary.

The signal officer tapped away at her console for a few seconds, "Sir we've recieved a return signal. Routing it to your station and to intelligence." A moment later the information scrolled across Kay's panel. Kamaria leaned over to watch, then replied, "Sir, they claim that they are not here to fight. They're keeping their distance. I suggest we use a forward communications array to send them broadband signals. If they try to wire us a program attack or virus, it will be contained in that array."

Kay nodded to Kamaria, then passed his orders on to the signal officer. Two minutes later a broadband message was beamed to the Ascendancy ships, complete with a video feed.

The image beamed to the ships shows a handsome young blonde girl wearing a trim grey uniform that shows off her outline. Despite the beautiful face, something in her eyes suggests you wouldn't want to mess with her. Standing behind her are a pair of Xeno males. Towering over her, glossy black exoskeletons seeming to glisten under the lighting. None of them are armed, but the girl speaks directly into the projector,

"Hail, Gaian Ascendancy. We are the Xeno. If you are here in peace, you will approach no further than thirty AIs from the Solaris system. This is to protect our people, and yours. My name is Major Zale, an official representitive of our people. If you have inquiries, please direct them to me. We wish to know what further business you have, after establishing communications with us, which you have clearly done."

Although her voice is businesslike and forward, it is not hostile. One would imagine her a stern and serious young lady.

Xeno, you got MSN? O.o

OOC: xeno_warmachine@hotmail.com

"Open fire!"
Lasers reached out and touched the large Cruiser, severing nearly half of the ship. It was a Green Sun large Cruiser that was about to be de-armed and decommissioned, stolen by Black Sun terrorists. Captain Locks watched as Vapor missiles soared through space towards his ship. He knew the power of Vapor missiles, one of Green Sun's larger ones could engulf and destroy half a planet.
"Fire the Laser turrets!"
Automatic and manual laser turrets targeted the Vapor missiles and one by one they were destroyed, but one of the damaged turrets missed its mark and the Seeker took a direct hit.
"Sir, buldge decks four and five are eighty-five percent destryoed. We lost two of our MAC cannons and one of our lasers. The Disruptor cannon is offline."
"Fire Quantum torpedoes!"
Green specks of light sped towards the enemy vessel, severing half of it. It floated there as it began to fire lasers. The ship's secondary shields took the blow. They fired a MAC cannon and the enemy ship exploded. The captain made a sigh of relief.
"Send out a distress signal to all nearby vessels and to Green Sun and request immediate repairs. Do not give them access to the Disruptor cannon."
"Aye, sir."

"Open fire!"
Lasers reached out and touched the large Cruiser, severing nearly half of the ship. It was a Green Sun large Cruiser that was about to be de-armed and decommissioned, stolen by Black Sun terrorists. Captain Locks watched as Vapor missiles soared through space towards his ship. He knew the power of Vapor missiles, one of Green Sun's larger ones could engulf and destroy half a planet.
"Fire the Laser turrets!"
Automatic and manual laser turrets targeted the Vapor missiles and one by one they were destroyed, but one of the damaged turrets missed its mark and the Seeker took a direct hit.
"Sir, buldge decks four and five are eighty-five percent destryoed. We lost two of our MAC cannons and one of our lasers. The Disruptor cannon is offline."
"Fire Quantum torpedoes!"
Green specks of light sped towards the enemy vessel, severing half of it. It floated there as it began to fire lasers. The ship's secondary shields took the blow. They fired a MAC cannon and the enemy ship exploded. The captain made a sigh of relief.
"Send out a distress signal to all nearby vessels and to Green Sun and request immediate repairs. Do not give them access to the Disruptor cannon."
"Aye, sir."

OOC: .. what are you blowing up? And.. where?

OOC: >_> Weird.

Lady Airi listened to the return signal, and commented to herself. "They might be a bit too worried about us attacking them. Wouldn't be the first time for stuff like this."

She did get taken in a bit by the male counterparts the female Major Zale had framing her. Interesting species we may have stumbled across. Civilization at least...

She then decides to take the open channel herself. A push of a holo-button on a holographic communications console, made of pure light, solid as a real console. Her face and voice, an apparently normal looking female human Gaian with cropped green hair, replies with..

"I am Lady Airi of the mentioned exploration unit. That is what we are in essence. Our vessels are quite powerful, but if we meant ill intent, we wouldn't have jumped so far away in the first place.

As it is, our objective is simply.

*extends a hand towards the viewscreen* ...friendship. Nothing more.."

She then adds.. "If however we are too much of a threat, we can leave right now. Just say so. You can still reach us by contacting our Outpost on Luna, in the Sol System.

But then, that'd make too short of a visit. Still, up to you." Airi finishes and waits..

OOC: Just thought a dramatic entrence would be appropriate.
IC:
The Captain found that there were few other ships in the area. Long-range scans showed that there was one Gaian ship and an unidentified ship. Green Sun has made contact with the Gaians before and they would surely help.
"Why have we not gotten a response from Green Sun?"
"I believe our long-range communicators are down. We are also incapable of long-range movement. We can't warp without assistance.
"Move at the highest speed we can achieve towards the Gaian and unidentified ship and hail them."
"Aye sir."
The Seeker moved slowly (Relatively speeking) towards the Xenon and Gaian ships. It would take them a number of hours, but as soon as they were in range of hailing them, Captain Locks sent them both a message,
"This is the captain of the Green Sun Large Cruiser Seeker. We have taken heavy damage in a battle and request immediate repairs. We have heavy damage and heavy casualties. Medical assistance is needed."

OOC: Mind if I join in?

((OC- @G.S. - Seemed a touch a wrong place for that. Never mind me though.

@Akaron - Wait till Xeno returns. It's his thread. =oo= ))

--

Airi was waiting for the Xeno response, when Comm-Techs were getting signals relayed from automated comm-orbs that were spread throughout the Milky Way Galaxy.

:: ~ "This is the captain of the Green Sun Large Cruiser Seeker. We have taken heavy damage in a battle and request immediate repairs. We have heavy damage and heavy casualties. Medical assistance is needed." ~ ::

Airi rubbed her chin. She then looks back.. "Fa`kros and Des`ire, go take care of the problem."

As a result, two of the three Treeships soon Fold Jump, leaving behind tine lines of severe brightness, for a moment before dissapearing, and arriving near the strcken GS vessel.

Easy as pie...

OOC: Xeno, mind if I join in?

OOC: Xeno, mind if I join in?

OOC: Go ahead, and Akaron too. This is an open thread.

Com Officer~"Captain, the station has given us a go."
Captain Drakar~"Very well. Full power to engines, take us out of the hanger."

The A.S.V. Rykon is an exploration class vessel with a crew of 510 including officers. With only minimal firepower she isnt much in a fight but she is the fastest ship in the Akaron Space Federation.

Nav Officer~"We are in safe jump distance captain"
Captain Drakar~"Make it so."
Nav Off.~"Heading 143.327 west quadrent"

As the ship completed her jump into this new region the scanners cherped on.

Nav Off.~"Captain, we have ships on our scanners."
Capt. Drakar~"How many?"
Nav Off.~"Im not sure, our scanners are getting strange interfearence from a nearby nebula."
Capt. Drakar~"Does the com system still work?"
Com Officer~"Yes captain."
Capt. Drakar~"Hail them."
Com Off.~"Channel open captain"
Capt. Drakar~"Attention unidentified vessals, this is Captain Ailius Drakar of the A.S.V. Rykon. We are here on a mission of discovery and mean you no harm."

The command crew sat nervously as they awaited an answer from the ships

((OC- Man, my ISP is giving abject connection hell right now. Bear with me with posts for a little while here till my connection shapes up. =--= ))

(OOC: I might be calling it a night soon anyways.)

The reply to the Gaian Ascendancy came quickly this time, seemingly as Major Zale has the authority to speak for the Xenos in this case. She continued to stand before the holo projector with the two big Xenos behind her, like a pair of silent, dark towers.

"Lady Airi, we do not make threats or accusations. We ask only that a minimum thirty AIs from Solaris itself as a show of respect to our soverignity. If you wish to send dignataries or representitives to the Pennsylvania you may do so, and we can send a shuttle to you. We ask that biological or nuclear weapons not be brought on the shuttle. We do have scanning devices, and we will know."

((OC- Actually it's semi-acting better now, though I suspect one of the current ads Jolt is doing is screwing with my connection BIG time. ))

Airi just shook her head. Never mind the fact that the WMD the Ascendancy do use, are far more destructive and effective than the normal crud that the Xeno or other nations consider such.

Airi just shrugged and responded.. "Then send a shuttle. I will send only myself and two guards." ..and she finished. She then looks back at Comms.. "I'll need a RL-Comm Unit."

The Pennsylvania's signal officer plots another notation on her display, "Sir we've picked up another communication. A Captain Ailius Drakar of the Rykon. It matches no known IFF code, and the ship itself seems rather small. They claim to be exploring, and have given almost the exact same 'We mean you no harm' line that this Lady Airi delivered."

Kamaria leaned over from her chair, "Sir, I don't like this. We have three unknowns appearing almost all at once. One seems to be crippled, the other is a warfleet and another exploration class. I reccomend we place Group Leader Andrew and his Wing on alert. I also reccomend we call in reinforcements."

Fleet Admiral Kay tapped in some commands, bringing the 3rd Xeno F-1 Wing online, on standby. Then, he sent orders to Solaris. There, the destroyers LaFayette and Waterloo and frigates Broadsword, Spearhead and Javelin set in coordinates and sat ready for a hyper jump to the Pennsylvania's location.

Major Zale's image would be beamed to Captain Ailius Drakar via holoprojector,
"We are the Xeno. You are free to explore with that ship within five AIs of Solaris. We are currently under discussion with the Gaian Ascendancy, and there is a crippled ship nearby that they are tending to. Please be aware of your surroundings."

Meanwhile, a blast door split into four sections and withdrew into the hull of the Pennsylvania from which emerged a small shuttle with oversized engines. The equivilent of a modern day Lear jet, it's the perfect means for important people to get around. It triggers those big engines and makes its way towards the Gaian Ascendancy ship.

Lady Airi monitored the apparent deployment of a number of Xeno capital ships, a standard defensive maneuver from all looks of it. One that was apparently the result of a paranoia that seemed to be building up.

They 'had' also gotten the communicae from the Akaron. The puzzle pieces fit together all too easily. She realized that a serious lack of trust was present in the Xeno mindset.

She had this habit of rubbing her chin in situations like this.

1. Let the shuttle come and stay the course.

2. Leave and try again another day.

Either way, the Ascendancy didn't have as much to lose. They didn't know how long the war would continue on anyway. As soon as the Eternal War ended in this dimension, the Ascendancy would have to return to the Heavens, quasi-ascended and all.

The Gaians meant what they said. Friendship was the only thing seeked.

Airi thought hard enough, and then looked back. "We'll stay the course. Let the shuttle come.

We can prove who we are."

An Angel God, one Ifurt Hara, the commanding Angel God, of the Angel God Infantry on the vessel, comments.. "And if it seems as problematic as it seems milady?"

Airi just takes, and flips in her right hand, a single Hikari Key Hilt. "I think I can manage. Just ensure the teleporter systems are up to snuff, and Fold drives set if required.

We'll leave on a second's notice if forced."

At that, Ifurt Hara just nods, and they wait for the shuttle to arrive.

Kay brushed a taloned head over his smooth skullplate and considered the tactical situation as two Xeno destroyers and three Xeno frigates appeared in the system near the Pennsylvania. "Deploy first squadron of the Third Wing."

The CAG officer nodded from his console, ~Aye aye, sir. Third Wing, first squadron deploying now.~ And another bay on the Pennsylvania opened up, letting ten Xeno F-1 fightercraft deploy, for now just preforming a Barrier Combat Air Patrol or BARCAP between all of these new ships and the Xeno flotilla.

The shuttlecraft made its way closer and closer to the Gaian Ascendancy destroyer, and in an expert display of handling manuvered into a docking bay. Onboard, there are two pilots and four young female Marines dressed in Xeno battle armor, waiting for the representitives to board.

A Xeno Marine.
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/9187/marine9ad.jpg

OOC: Before I post (probably tomorrow) I wanted to know, would it be alright for one more to join?

The 'docking bay' would more look like the interior of an open air arboretum, as the interior was made of whitewood, spidersilk and other crystalline and Hikari Tree organics, melded together in symetry together. Beyond, many of the further sections seemed to lead to scenery made for planet based views.

Partially obscured by hull decks and supporting struts of wood and noted above, was a mountain valley viewscape from any terran world in the summer time.

Nonetheless, as the shuttle arrives via the belly docking area, into an area obviously larger than it's supposed to be for even a Destroyer class type, Lady Airi and her two Angel God guards arrive via a inter-ship teleporter, and head to greet the shuttle crew.

"A nice ship.." Airi comments on arrival, not the type to lie.

OOC: Before I post (probably tomorrow) I wanted to know, would it be alright for one more to join?

Go for it.

OOC: Cool.

IC: The I.S.S. Carlson (http://www.ussmiranda.com/images/ships/phobos1.jpg), a Phobos class deep-space frigate on a five year exploratory mission was charting the asteroid belt in a near-by system.

I.S.S. Carlson - Bridge

First Officer: "Captain, long-range sensors are picking up multiple F.T.L. signatures in a near-by star system."

Captain: "Hmm, could be a first contact situation. Helm, jump to Hyperspace and take us their."

Helm: "Aye, sir. E.T.A. is two hours."

The Marines are all silent and professional. Their black armor is dull in color, seeming almost to absorb the light. Their movements are fluid and graceful, not at all like the normal locomotion of full power armor. The co-pilot steps into the seating area of the shuttle, which has luxury seating for about thirty people. The co-pilot makes sure that Lady Airi and her two bodyguards are comfortably seated and safely secured, then returns to the front of the ship. A minute later after a startup sequence gets the shuttle into motion, turning to cruise its way back to the Pennsylvania.

Up close, the starship is absolutely huge, and one can see the outline of viewing windows, docking and weapon bays and various other things that can only be guessed at. A bay opens up out of nowhere on the underside of the ship, and the shuttle glides in smoothly to make a flawless landing in the middle of a sizable bay. A few minutes pass as the bay repressurizes, then the two female pilots appear, opening the door of the shuttle and lowering a set of steps down to the deck.

Waiting below is an honor guard of sorts, twenty Xeno marines, both male and female, the male armor is different from the female with the addition of tails, tentacle armor and generally a different body structure. Behind the Marines, there are four Drones.

The Drones are massive. Each one stands at least eight feet tall and most are nine or more, encased in ultra-thick armor, and obviously endowed with great power, the Drones even while standing at attention give off the air of menace and danger. None of the Marines or Drones are armed, however.

Infront of the honor guard, little Major Zale stands at ease with her hands clasped behind her back, wearing a form-fitting black jumpsuit with rank insignia and a pistol belt that is empty. She nods to Lady Airi and her bodyguards respectfully. "Welcome to the Pennsylvania."

A Xeno Drone
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/5158/drone7hp.jpg

The Carlson opened a Jump Point and slipped into the swirling red-orange vortex. She would emerge two hours later via a blue exit vortex fifteen kilometers away from the gathered ships. She would emerge at a seventy-five degree horizontal angle and at a forty-five degree verticle angle from the Gaian ships

Again, the signal officer was told of something via her computer. She tapped away at the keys and then, "Fleet Admiral, we have a new contact bearing an unknown IFF, approximately fifteen kilometers starboard."

Kay stood up, powerful form rippling with annoyance as clawed hands clenched into fists and his head snapped over to glare at the officer. ~This is madness that more could be showing up. Send an inquiry immedietly, Ensign.~

"Aye aye sir." And a message in basic binary would be beamed towards the new contacts,

Identify, identify. You are near the Xeno defense corridor. Identify, identify.

Lady Airi notes the reception, and smiled. She then senses there is no real danger here. Hardly the dumb type or such. As such however, she looks back at the two Angel God guards, and nods.

She then steps forward away from her guards and bows. "From the word of the Holy Council of the Ascendancy Sphere, and the Representia and Senatoria of the Sphere and Confederacy Alliance worlds, I greet you as their representative of many realities of imagination and beyond."

She then stands, and with a teardrop informs.. "Sorry, that was Lady Seto's idea for a greeting. (Personally I wish 'she' was here instead.) In any case, I intend only one objective here.

To learn from you, and give the same in return. Simple as that." ..seemingly inasupicious words that could be taken any way wished.

Messages

In response to the The Xeno message:

This is the Imperial SeaQuestian vessel I.S.S. Carlson, a Phobos class deep-space frigate. Who are you? What do you want?

I.S.S. Carlson - Bridge

Captain Vina Lokai (http://www.ussmiranda.com/bios/crew/lokai.jpg) sat back in her command chair as she read the PADD her First Officer, Commander Filip Adriaan Berkheij (http://www.ussmiranda.com/bios/crew/berkheij.jpg), had just handed her as she awaited a reply to the message they had sent.

Major Zale watched the greeting, and returned the bow with a formal salute. The Xeno simply do not bow. She gestures to a battle-scarred Xeno beside her, who turns and hisses something at the honor guard. As one, the armored forms stand to attention and salute. Major Zale then escorts Lady Airi and her guards from the bay, heading to an elevator. "As you probably realize by now, our commander is anxious about all of the traffic appearing at once here." Her head tilted, as though listening to something, then she continued, "It would seem we have more visitors in this region. I will escort you to the bridge, where we can observe the interaction."

Once inside the elevator, it was a ride up several decks, then a walk through corridors and a few blast doors to reach the bridge, safely buried inside the ship. It's shaped like a small arena, with tiers holding computer consoles and panels, and in the center a CIC with a holo projector system.

Standing near one of the primary command chairs, the impressive form of a big Xeno seemed to be hissing orders at a woman typing furiously on a console, "Aye sir. They claim to be an Imperial SeaQuestian vessel the Carlson, a Phobos class ship. We have no information on this class currently and I am running an intelligence feed now. They wish to know what we are doing here."

The big Xeno hissed again, and Lady Airi and her two bodyguards could catch only a trace of telepathic communication between he and the woman, like hearing a muffled voice whispered between two people.

Message to the Carlson,

"We are the Xeno. You are near the Solaris defense zone. What are you doing here?"

The transmission clearly came from the cluster of sleek, menacing black Xeno warships.

Messages

In response to the The Zeno message:

We were charting a near-by star system when we picked up F.T.L. energy signatures in this system. We came to investigate.

I.S.S. Carlson - Bridge

Captain Loki sighed. It looked like it was just going to be one of those days.

Space

The Carlson backed off a few meters to show that she wasn't there to pose a threat. The starlight gleamed off of her gun-metal gray hull.

Lady Airi waited and watched after reaching the command deck of the warship. She only kept in mind to only comment when asked. She wasn't going to bad mouth anyone by mistake, nor look like they're trying to garner favors.

She was here on her own regard. She dang well knew the meaning of honor in the first place, and more than just to the name of the Ascendancy as well.

So.. she watched stoicly, as events unfold...

The big Xeno commander's black eyes found Lady Airi on his bridge, and his gaze raked over her, seeming to strip away everything and search for secrets, an agenda. Then he was hissing orders to the signal officer, who typed out to the new ship,

To the Carlson,
"There are now five different nationalities of ships in this system. It is our duty to make sure that no misunderstandings occur which could set off some sort of massive event."

Then Kay hissed something to Zale, who translated, "This is Fleet Commander Kay. He is the supreme naval commander of the Xeno, and this is his flagship. He wishes to know what your ships have found out about the Seeker, perhaps why it was attacked, or who attacked it."

Lady Airi only endured the 'raking' without much reaction. She then listened to the hisses, and the translation, and took a moment to form her words carefully.

Finally... "First off, a translation program our earpieces can translate for us, would save on need for second party translation.

As for this Seeker bit, to be perfectly honest, her did not know about such a thing. We were two parsecs away when we detected signals coming from this system, and the name of your civilization came up in signals reception.

Hisses included. After converse with my superiors of the Council, we came here to extend tenuous first contact. We have not come here becuse of anything more than what I have said already.

Whether I am believed, is up to you all, our hosts."

Kay looked towards Major Zale, and a private communication passed between the pair. Then he looked back to Lady Airi, head tilting, hissing, "Those words were not accusation. From intercepted transmissions and course plotting, we have estimated that two of your ships moved to close proximity to the Seeker. My questioning was to find out what happened to the ship in the first place, as we have not had direct communications with the vessel. It was my assumption that your ships would be participating in a repair and rescue mission, while investigating what happened."

The big Xeno turned, his tail swishing the air above the heads of Zale and the guests as he looked at his console. "If this is a case of pirates or rogue factions operating in this sector, then I will be forced to take action for the saftey of everyone passing nearby to Solaris."

Messages

In response to the The Xeno message:

Acknowledged. We had no intention of starting anything around here. It is common Imperial protocall to investigate any signs of a new nation for any possibility of a first contact that can be successfully add someone else the Empire can call an ally.

Transmission to the Carlson,

"That is acceptable. Please be aware of possible pirate or rogue faction activities in the sector. This is not a hunting license, but a warning to be cautious. An event is still under investigation."

Messages

To the Xeno ship:

Understood. While this may not be a pure ship of war, we are quite able to defend ourselves if attacked by any "Space Pirates."

I'm also willing to send over my second officer to represent the Empire in first contact talks.

Airi finally started to get an idea of what Zale and Kay were talking about. She comments.. "One second.." ..and then taps her comm earpiece, and communicates with her Treeship.

After a number of back and forth communicaes, Airi nods and returns focus to the Xeno commanders.. "You mean the vessel belonging to the nation of Green Sun. I see..

..as far as we know so far, their vessel was attacked, by who we do not have exact detail yet, as I sent my two sister vessels to lend assistance, as you mentioned. Such is our standard practice when called for.

When we find out more, you will know more as well. If you wish, we can give you our ship to ship frequencies between our own three vessels, so as to listen in.

I must warn you, the number of realms that have arrived in representative form, only consists of many hundreds, thousands, and even millions of civilizations that comprise the greater cosmos beyond this system.

Like if or not, you 'are' known. I would offer advice to take it all in stride, as your lives are going to be changed forever. Xenophobic actions will shelter you for so long, before larger nations like Chronosia, Abh, Huntear, and others take note.

Also not an accusation, but also advice from one that was part of a realm that was Ascendancy, of one system.

..and helped watch it grow and foster to a realm encompsassing galaxies without end. Not a boast, but rather one that knows that if you ask further questions, larger answers will come. And the questions will never stop.

You'll want to learn so much more, beyond your scope to stop yourselves easily."

Airi then adds.. "But then, if you know such scope anyway, then here comes a larger one anyway."

Zale excused herself as the signal officer waved her over. The two talked in low tones before the Major turned and left the bridge with a pair of Marines following her. Kay continued speaking with Lady Airi, "The communications frequencies are not necessary. We would appreciate it if you could send us a copy of the final report on what happened to the Seeker, however. Even with these so-called 'empires' out there, we take the defense and saftey of our sector very seriously, and do not wish for merchant traffic to be damaged or accosted in any way, as may have happened to that ship."

"As to communications with other civilizations, the Xeno have always been willing to trade, share information and cultural ideals and allow outsiders into our fold. However, I think you understand the suspicion that I must hold in cases such as this, when there are multiple unknown warships in proximity to our defensive zone. Not all civilizations are friendly."

Meanwhile..

Zale made a brief stop at the forward communications array for a holo feed to the Carlson, the young lady standing trim and handsome in her uniform, flanked by a pair of Marines in the video feed.

To the Carlson,
"Sending a representitive is acceptable, we will be sending a shuttle to your craft now to pick up your representitive. If uncomfortable, they may bring guards but must leave behind biological or nuclear devices."

Airi just nods.. "Acknowledged. We nearly lost our own capital system twice in the past few decades. Various wars and all."

She then offers.. "Would it help if we offered to intermediate any further arrvials of other star nations, by taking responsibility for their actions, in our stead?

Not like the worry of our own name means too much to us. There are more important things."

Messages

Lieutenant Commander Lusolic'a will meet you in the hanger bay. As for bioloigical weapons, the only ones we use are the ones nature gave us. And the last time I saw an actual nuclear weapon was in a museum.

I.S.S. Carlson - Hanger Bay

Lieutenant Commander Lusolic'a (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/Kvess/Character%20Pics/Bronze_Dragon_by_jaxxblackfox.jpg), a six foot tall Draconian, was waiting patiently with. Standing behind and to each side of him were two Fluidians (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/Kvess/Character%20Pics/s_8472.jpg). The Fluidians, at seven feet in height each, stood as still as statues, telepathic messages shooting between the two.

I.S.S. Carlson - Exterior

The hanger doors slid open (OOC: Its that little dome at the aft end of the saucer between the Gravimetric Drive Nacelles). The Xeno shuttle would be able to quickly pass through the force field keeping the atomsphere and pressure inside and exit the same way after picking up Lusolic'a and the two Fluidians.

Kay clasped his taloned hands at the small of his back, watching as one of the primary viewing screens showed the image of another shuttle heading out into space towards the distant Carlson. "No, making your civilization responsible for the actions of others will solve nothing in the long run. The Xeno are quite capable of taking care of our own. However, with all of this activity it has made me ponder the wisdom of placing some sort of space station out here, perhaps one system closer to the cluster of inhabited worlds near here. The profits of establishing a station and depot that is within one convient hyper jump of eight or nine different civilizations could prove very worthwhile. That's aside from the cultural exchange."

Out in space, the shuttle approaches the Carlson. A sleek little craft with oversized engines and no appearant weapons. There are mounts for weapons, however. The Xeno do not produce pleasure ships. Once it arrives at the appropriate bay, it settles in and a hatch is opened and a set of stairs lowered. There are two pilots and four Xeno Marines onboard, all female. Probably not to startle these people with the appearance of the Xeno males.

When the Lieutenant Commander and his guards board, one of the pilots will make sure they are all strapped in and safely prepared for the rapid transport back to the Pennsylvania.

Airi shrugs.. "Well, we offered. I also presume you'd prefer to construct your own space station outpost, rather than obtain one of our prefabricated units.

Having thousands of galaxies to govern means a lot of starbases." Airi jokes..

The Fleet Admiral shook his head, looking towards the female. "Negative. It would not suit the specific needs of a Xeno structure, and we have certain design styles that we find most-effective for various tasks. This station would however be open to all friendly civilizations as a forum for communication, trade, transport and even vacation."

OOC: Uh, you haven't met my Octavians, so you don't know how 'interesting' some of my critters can be.

IC: Lusolic'a relaxed in his chair as he waited for the shuttle to finish its return trip. His tail was swishing lazily behind the chair (OOC: I'm assuming that its a design of chair that would permit that (ie, a two-piece chair with a seat and a back)). The two Fluidians, just held on to chairs with their strong arms. They would even have been quite comfortable on the exterior of the shuttle. Fluidians were quite resiliant creatures and could be quite comfortable in the vacuum of space. This reason, and their strength, was one of the reasons that the species was often used as engineers as they didn't need any protective suits when working on the exterior of a ship. Their three-legged body made them quite agile, but, so far, nobody had been able to design a chair they could use.

The shuttle completes its circuit to the Pennsylvania, settling into its original bay. The crew wait a few minutes while the bay repressurizes itself, then the co-pilot gets up and makes her way over to the primary hatch, flipping it open and lowering the set of stairs. At the bottom, the typical Xeno honor guard is waiting. Major Zale, twenty uniformed Marines of both sexes, and five big Drones, which one might realize can only be male.

Major Zale gives a salute as the visitors reach the base of the stairs. "Welcome to the Pennsylvania."

Airi just comments.. "I suspect we're not of much use here."

--

((OC- Last post. My mind is mush for tonight. =xX= ))

The shuttle completes its circuit to the Pennsylvania, settling into its original bay. The crew wait a few minutes while the bay repressurizes itself, then the co-pilot gets up and makes her way over to the primary hatch, flipping it open and lowering the set of stairs. At the bottom, the typical Xeno honor guard is waiting. Major Zale, twenty uniformed Marines of both sexes, and five big Drones, which one might realize can only be male.

Major Zale gives a salute as the visitors reach the base of the stairs. "Welcome to the Pennsylvania."

Lusolic'a grins, showing his teeth, and says, "Glad to be here. I'm Lieutenant Commander Lusolic'a."

The two Fluidians send telepathic hellos as well.

The sleek black Xeno gave Airi an odd look. "I somehow doubt that establishing peacable intentions between two civilizations is useless. Simply because we will not purchase your prefabricated space stations does not mean that we cannot do business at some time in the future."

And when Lady Airi takes her leave, she will find a shuttle waiting, which ferrys her back to her ship safely. The Xeno fleet remains where it is, however, seeming to just brood out there in the shadows cast by planets.

((OC- Like I said, my mind was gone last night.. =^^= ))

--

Lady Airi simply went back to her vessel. It was becoming obvious that words here were not enough for the Xeno. Action was their prefered method of communication.

When she eventually returned to her bridge. She commented to Hara. "They'd do well in the GE. Anyway, lets go look at the problem with the Seeker for ourselves, shall we?"

A few orders later, and the Ana`shra Fold Jumps to meet it's sister Treeships, heading towards the stricken Green Sun vessel.

Major Zale nods to a grizzled Xeno Marine beside her, who hisses at the honor guard. The assembled guard snap to attention and salute as Lieutenant Commander Lusolic makes it to the bottom of the stairs. Zale, a serious woman guides the Lieutenant Commander and his guards to an elevator. "I assume you wish to speak with Fleet Admiral Kay. He is the overall naval commander for the Xeno fleets. He also speaks for the Xeno, as one of their leaders," explained as the elevator shot up through its shaft and arrived at another deck. "Is there an agenda that you would prefer to discuss?"

Lusolic'a, one of the few Draconians able to speak Galactic Standard with barely a trace of a reptilian accent, replied, "If this Fleet Admiral is your government's local representative, then lead the way. As for what we can discuss, we shall see what your Fleet Admiral thinks."

The two Fluidians stood at the back of the elevator with their backs to the wall. They were both a little bewildered that nobody had responded to their telepathic greeting earlier. More telepathic messages flashed between the two and they decided to try again with this Fleet Admiral.

Through several hatches and blast doors and down some corridors they go, until at last they arrive on the bridge of the Pennsylvania. The Fleet Admiral turned to look at the new arrivals, and then communicated to Major Zale, who spoke up, "This is Fleet Admiral Kay, he welcomes you to the bridge of the Pennsylvania and inquires as to why you arrived in so lightly armed and armored a ship, into such a potentially dangerous area."

Lusolic'a snorted, "The Phobos class deep-space frigate is only lightly armed by Imperial standards. The class is armed with eight phasers in four banks and four torpedo tubes. A true SeaQuestian warship, like the Sharlin class war-cruiser, has eighteen Gravitic Neutron Cannons, eighteen Gravitic Fusion Beam Cannons, twenty-four EM Neutron guns, twenty-four EM Fusion Beam guns, fourty-two Electro-Pulse Guns, four Missile Launchers, an Anti-Matter Cannon, and a Mass Driver. And that's an old style ship.

"But we aren't hear to talk about who has the bigger guns. How does starting with a simple star chart exchange?"

The two Fludians had waited for the Lieutenant Commander to finish speaking before sending their telepathic greetings.

The tall Xeno's eyes drifted to the two Fludians, and his head bobbed in recognition to the pair, returning the greeting into their thoughts, before he resumed hissing at Major Zale, who continued to translate,

"The Fleet Admiral feels this is a good idea. The Xeno have been exploring the universe since before humans walked upright. Our scientist caste has databanks upon databanks full of navigational, enviornmental, systematic and exploration data on thousands of systems. He is willing to have our chief scientist Slath provide a package of diskettes with this information."

"Sir, it seems that the unidentified ship is part of a nation of aliens. About the same tech level as us. Our engineers have fixed our long-range communicators and we have minimal warp capability."
"Fine. Hail the aliens, make ourselves known."

From: Captain Locks of the Large Cruiser seeker
To: Xenon ship Philadelphia

Greetings from Green Sun. My ship has tracked a hijakced vessel here and we were forced to engage and destroy it, but we took heavy damage from the fight. We have been able to restore some major functions, but further repairs are necessary to make the trip home. If your nation could help us repair our ship, I will arrange for diplomatic openings between us and a monetary or other compenstion for your troubles.

From: Captain Locks of the Large Cruiser seeker
To: Xenon ship Philadelphia

Greetings from Green Sun. My ship has tracked a hijakced vessel here and we were forced to engage and destroy it, but we took heavy damage from the fight. We have been able to restore some major functions, but further repairs are necessary to make the trip home. If your nation could help us repair our ship, I will arrange for diplomatic openings between us and a monetary or other compenstion for your troubles.

The signals officer looked slightly perplexed, and looked at Kay's back, as he was engaged in conversation with the visitors. Then she saw Kamaria standing nearby, "Lieutenant, sir. We are being hailed by the Seeker. They are calling us the Philadephia and have the following message." She passed over a handheld with the information.

Kamaria examined it, then nodded. "Ensign, return their hail. Inquiry about the condition of their hyper drives. If they can make a short jump, beam them the coordinates to XSS1. They have docking and repair facilities there." The Ensign salutes and turned to her computer to hail the Seeker.

To the Seeker
"We have recieved your message, if you have short range hyper capabilities, please jump to the following coordinates. <coordinates> Our station there can allow a docking and repair your ship. If you cannot jump, we can tow your ship to the location."

Reply:
We can jump that distance. We thank you for your aid and your troubles. Green Sun is in your debt. I'm sure Admiral Jones will be very grateful, but not as grateful as I.

To the Seeker
"We are sending a message ahead. The XSS1 is will deploy an emergency vessel to help your ship with the docking process. They also have a medical team standing by."

From the Seeker
We can dock ourselves, so the emergency vessel is not necessary, but its presence is desired. Our own engineers are ready to work with Xenon mechanics to fix the warp drive and our sensors. If you can spare certain parts, our engineers may be able to repair a few of our weapons, as well.

Moving this part to http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=459670

The tall Xeno's eyes drifted to the two Fludians, and his head bobbed in recognition to the pair, returning the greeting into their thoughts, before he resumed hissing at Major Zale, who continued to translate,

"The Fleet Admiral feels this is a good idea. The Xeno have been exploring the universe since before humans walked upright. Our scientist caste has databanks upon databanks full of navigational, enviornmental, systematic and exploration data on thousands of systems. He is willing to have our chief scientist Slath provide a package of diskettes with this information."

Lusolic'a nodded and said, "I'll make sure that the Carlson sends a shuttle over with data crystals containing SeaQuestian charts, as well as print-outs of those charts in case our computer systems proove to be incompatible."

Major Zale frowned a bit and spoke, "I doubt the systems would be compatiable. Crystals do not sound like something that would fit well into a computer." Meanwhile, Kay was still hissing at her, appearently in reply to it all, which she dutifuly translated, "He likes that idea. If you would not mind, the Fleet Admiral would like you to transfer the hardcopy to our embassy on XSS1. The scientist division there will sort through it and see that it gets delivered to the appropriate individuals."

"Yes," Lusolic'a agreed, "you do have a point there. Though, if you have scanners that can read the molecular encoding on the crystals, we may have a way to make this work."

Major Zale continued on with the translations, "We will need to see. Once you arrive at XSS1, you can provide one of these crystals and a scientist will examine it. We may be able to extract information." She paused, looked at the Fleet Admiral, "Was the exchange of navigational charts the only purpose for your visit, Lieutenant Commander?"

Lusolic'a replied, "Actually, I took the first step. I was waiting to what your next move to be. We could move on to a technology trade. For example, I'm sure you have noticed by now that little device we use to keep the hanger pressurized while the doors are open. Quite a handy tool, don't you agree?"

At that, Major Zale and her commander exchanged a look. "The Fleet Admiral says that such a discussion is best in the hands of the officers at XSS1. He is no merchant, nor a technician. You will find that onboard XSS1 our merchants will be making various Xeno technology available, and it being a free market are probably willing to purchase technologies also. You are welcome to establish a storefront there, if you do not have one somewhere else already."

Lusolic'a nodded, "As you wish. What about diplomatic discussions?"

The Xeno seemed to smile at Zale, who commented, "The Fleet Admiral is no diplomat, sir. I think he would prefer it if such discussions were held aboard XSS1, where we have people waiting for such things."

Lusolic'a nodded, "Understood. So, is there anything else you want to talk about?"

The two Fluidians scanned the Xenos. They had come un-armed, but they were quite capable of using their bodies, which were resiliant to many forms of weapons, as weapons in of themselves.

OOC: Last post for the night.

The Fleet Admiral shrugs, granting Major Zale permission to make small talk with the Lieutenant Commander, generally about Xeno life and where they come from. A few hours later, he's on a shuttle heading back to his own ship, and then maybe to the XSS1 where the real diplomats are.

OOC: Seems like a good time to fade this scene, and move it over to the XSS1 thread.
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=459670

OOC: Does he recieve the co-ordinates for XSS1?

OOC: Does he recieve the co-ordinates for XSS1?

OOC: Yup. 's public knowledge.

OOC: Yup. 's public knowledge.

OOC: Okay, cool.

IC: The SeaQuestian ship opened a Jump Point and left for the co-ordinates of the XSS1 station after the Xeno shuttle had dropped off the Lieutenant Commander and his two compatriates.