NationStates Jolt Archive

Ha Dum Space - Edge Of Home Galaxy

A lone Scout (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=10400437&postcount=6) drifted through the inky blackness of the void.

Course plotted?

Affirmative. Co-ordinates in the Milky Way Galaxy have been locked in.

Activate Slipstream Core.

Core on-line. Ready to engage drive.

Initiate Jump to Quantum Slipstream.

The small, yet deadly Scout dissapeared into a swirling vortex that marked the opening of the entrance to the tunnel through Subspace the Quantum Slipstream Core had created.

Two days later - Somewhere in the Milky Way Galaxy

The Scout emerged from the exit of her Slipstream jump. Her active and passive sensors began scanning everything in range. All these energy emissions would also serve to attract any ships in the area, which is something that was wanted. The Ha Dum ship would be able to test its mettle against the locals. Though, if the locals managed to impress the Scout's crew, they may find themselves in a diplomatic situation instead of looking down a gun barrel.

OOC: Oops, forgot to put "Open" in the thread title, so, uh, Bump.

A Battlecarrier Strike Group—the term used for a group of two frigates (in this case two Vespasian Class (http://img489.imageshack.us/img489/8256/frigate1qu.png) frigates), two destroyers (Hadrian Class (http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/930/destroyerdraft7kp.png)), two cruisers (Aurelius Class (http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/7496/cruiser2kg.png)), and a single Augustus Class (http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/8185/heavycruiser2yg.png) heavy cruiser—were performing routine drills around the Barbarous III colony system. The fleet was lead by Grand Legate Egdir Pova.

Pova observed the maneuvers on the control bridge of the heavy cruiser, known as the Apollo. Below his position in the bridge were his officers, who were busy charting the paths of all seven ships on the holoboard, a device used as the staple of naval planning and tactics. All friendly ships appeared on it, as well as any other ships or objects of significant size detected by the sensor arrays.

Pova was surprised when an unidentified ship appeared on the screens. The archives were unable to identify it, so Pova had to find out what it was himself.

“Halt the operation.” ordered Pova. “This ship is of significant size to be a threat.”

Meanwhile, he sent a transmission to the vessel:

This is the Apollo of the Kingdom of Astral Romia. You are about to enter Romian space territory. Please identify yourself and state your affiliation.

(OOC: Edited to add picture links)

OOC: First off, an F.Y.I., using active sensors should be the only way to pick up one of my ships (would look like a sensor void) due to the fact the Photonium they are made of tends to absorb weapon and sensor energy and wouldn't show up at all on passives. Oh, and I didn't think anyone would consider a 153 meter long ship (second smallest I have) a threat (even though it is (gotta love deceptive appearances)).

IC: Bridge

They are attempting communications. Should we ablidge?

First, what kind of ship is it that is attempting communication?

Checking. Redirecting all sensors towards it.

OOC: Not being rude, they first want to know what they are dealing with before sending any communications. Which one of those is the Apollo?

Pova, who was used to quick responses, found himself waiting for this unidentified ship. I'll give them time, he thought. They might be intimidated by the size of the vessels. The Apollo was just over 1.2 km in length, with the smallest ship, the frigate, being 235 meters.

"Sir," interupted a subordinate, "Surely this vessel is small enough to just ignore. It is not directly in our path."

Pova turned to the young centurion who had spoken up. "Son, I know you have heard about the disaster that befell the Ceberus just over forty years ago. But do you know what caused it?"

The subordinate shook his head.

"It was just at the end of the second Civil War, as you know. The Estrellian Resistance Force, who had all but lost their formal army, had begun resorting to terror tactics. One of the last attacks before they breathed their last breath was that attack on the Ceberus. It was caused by an unidentified cargo vessel only ninety meters in length. It was nearing a fleet about the size of this one, but nothing was thought of it because of its size. It began aggressively pursuing us, and we got suspicious but did not try to outrun it. It got up close to the Ceberus destroyer and unleashed some advanced explosives, blowing the ship in half. Most of its one thousand man crew died."

The subordinate was silent in understanding. It was not needed for Pova to continue with the rest.

"Still no match in the archives?" asked Pova, in an attempt to change the subject.

"No, sir."

"Well then, let us see if they send a response."

(OOC: The Apollo is the heavy cruiser.)

OOC: Ahh, thanks.

IC: Bridge

Ship that transmitted the communcation attempt has been identified.

Identify the type.

According to scans of the offenses, defenses, and size, it would have to be a heavy cruiser. Class is unkown. Nation of origin, checking, according to the communication, we are near space claimed by a nation known as Astral Romia.

Interesting. Hold position and prep a Corsair for launch.

Should we respond?

Wait five minutes than send them the prepared text message.

Understood

Exterior

The black form of the Scout slid to a silent stop where she was as her scans continued of the Astral Romian ship.

Messages

The text message sent five minutes after the ship came to a stop:

The Shadows of Ha Dum exist wherever shadows exist. Light cannot exist without darkness. Which do you serve?

OOC: Hope I got the possessive form of the name right.

OOC: Anyone else want to join the party?

“Sir, the unknown vessel has sent a reply.”

“What does it say?”

The message from the uknown ship was repeated to Pova. After hearing the message, Pova was unsure of what to do next. One meets all kinds of nutcases in my line of work, thought Pova. I certainly did not expect some crackpot poet rambling about light and shadows in that ship.

“Apparently he’s asking us who we serve,” said a subordinate.

“Light or darkness?” mused Pova.

“Which one do we serve, sir?”

“Oh, come on. You are being to uptight,” said Pova. “Just say we serve ‘light.’ Maybe we can figure out these people’s intentions by their response.”

“Alright.”

The subordinate sent a transmission to the ship:

This is again from the Apollo. We are unsure of what you mean in your question towards us, but if we must answer, we would say ‘light.’ What is your purpose here?

(OOC: Yes, the possessive is "Astral Romian," but the word "Astral" is more of a formality now since there is only one Romia. Just "Romian" is fine.)

OOC: Okay, got ya.

IC: Bridge

They serve Light.

Did you expect any difference?

Yes, in fact.

Impressive, they were able to surprise you.

Agreed. I can usually expect what someone will say, and I was expecting them to ask us to clarify the difference between the two as all usually do.

Which of course would have been the wrong answer.

True. We'll let these people live a while longer. Open a channel.

Messages

Interesting choice. Its not often that someone is able to surprise me like that. You have choosen wisely. May we approach?

unknown at the time a small ship using cloaking technology was watching the shipcould hold little more then four people...it decloaked as it came closer to the new arrivals ship...

OOC: basicly the ship is a Puddle Jumper from Stargate. (save for i do not think Puddle Jumpers have Hyperdrives) if you need a pick i can get you one.

“Another response sir.” The subordinate read off the message. The Legate was just silent at first.

“What should we do?” inquired the subordinate.

“Let them come close, but not too close. Spread out the formation. These people are odd, and give reason for suspicion as they still have not stated their purpose here, and their explanation as to who they actually are is cloudy at best.”

“Then why are you not more aggressively pursuing answers from them?”

“As a Legate, whose job it is to coordinate forces that may belong to two completely different peoples, I have seen some groups like this one that seem to speak in riddles. I have learned that with these weird types that one should not ask many questions, as they rarely give a satisfactory answer. I am sure that, with a ship of that size, it would take only seconds for us to blast it to slag after the first sign of hostility.”

“Well then, what should I say?”

“Ask them some questions that are worded a little differently from our others, but may still achieve the same answer.”

A new transmission as sent:

You may approach us. If you do not mind us asking, who are you and where do you come from?

The Command-Carrier Pegasus drops out of hyperspace about five thousand kilometers from the group of ships. Upon completing the jump the sensors register multiple contacts, causing the ships sensor network to go to full power and begin active scans automatically.

"Sir," the helmsman said, turning to the Admiral, "This doesn't make sense...the coordinates were all correct but we're nowhere near the target."

"Where are we then Lieutenant?" Admiral Maxwell asked, noting the multiple contacts on the view screen. "Someone get me some information on those ships as well. Shields up and defensive weapons to standby mode just in case."

"Aye, sir," The ops officer replied, "Shields up to full power and defensive weapons on standby. Judging by the designs of the ships as well as the life signs I'm guessing we have at least three differing races out there."

Admiral Maxwell taps a few controls on the arm of his command chair and a comm. channel is opened to all ships. "This is Admiral Jack Maxwell of the DSS Pegasus. We are currently unsure of our location and apologize if we're infringing on anyone's territory. We hit some sort of distortion in subspace while passing through and it caused some damage to our FTL drives. We'd like to request aid but are currently unsure of who is in charge here. I await your response. Pegasus out."

Bridge

Two more contacts detected. One appears to be a modifed shuttle, Puddle Jumper class.

Alteran origin?

No, its transponder I.D. is not of an Alteran nation we are familiar with.

The other contact.

Apparently suffered some error during its F.T.L. transit.

Send both new contacts the standard communcations.

Messages

Transmitted to The Emerald Flame ship and the Nebarri_Prime ship:

The Shadows of Ha Dum exist wherever shadows exist. Light cannot exist without darkness. Which do you serve?

Bridge

The Astral Romia ship has sent a communication.

Contents?

Permission to close has been granted. They also wish to know our place of origin and who we are.

One would think that our first communications would've answered both those questions. Send the relevant part again.

Messages

In response to the Astral Romia message:

The Shadows of Ha Dum are eternal as the night and exist wherever there are shadows. We of the Sernaix are their instrument in the space beyond.

Exterior

The Scout slipped silently through the void. Ever closer towards the Astral Romia fleet.

The subordinate read off the new transmission from the unidentified ship.

“So, sir,” said the subordinate after finishing the transmission, “These people call themselves ‘Sernaix’. They also have an affiliation with someone named Ha Dum, maybe the name of their leader. Do you concur?”

“While your conclusions have some merit, I would not fully trust them yet.” Pova still did not know where these people were from.

“What are your plans for them, sir?”

“We will see what they want and learn a little about them. It is always good to possess knowledge about new civilizations.”

“Well then Egdir,” interrupted a new voice from below. It was coming from another Legate standing by the holoboard. This Legate was of lower rank than Pova. “How close are we going to allow this ship to get to us?”

“Twenty kilometers, max,” answered Pova.

“And do we fire upon them if they do not stop once we tell them to? These people seem incompetent,” replied the other Legate.

“No, simply reiterate our request and back away if they continue. To answer your next question, I do not think we have to worry much about that.”

“Egdir, a strategy is always better than simply mindlessly firing your guns. In the worst case scenario occurs and this ship is hostile, we must have a plan. These people seem to me to not be mentally stable. Muttering about shadows is normally the mark of a madman.”

“Sir,” interrupted the subordinate again, “We have picked up traces of another ship, which is quite large. It has not been given a pass to enter by Romian Alpha Command.”

“Okay, run checks on it and monitor its movements. Pilus,” Pova looked back at the Legate who had asked about their plan. “I will leave you and your men to develop a strategy. I will look at it if it seems that we must engage the smaller unknown ship.”

Pova then readjusted himself so he could get a view on the holoboard of the new larger ship and it’s relative position. The Romian ships on the holoboard appeared exactly as scale models of the real ships, but the two unidentified ships were simple spheres of a diameter that was equal to their greatest possible length based on feedback from the sensors. The sensors had not yet been able to construct a visual representation of either ship.

“We have an incoming transmission from the new ship,” said the subordinate. The transmission from the Emerald Flame ship was played back. “Should I send him a reply transmission, sir?”

“No, I will send it,” answered Pova. “An Admiral deserves another Admiral to speak with.”

Pova settled down in his chair and sent a transmission to the DSS Pegasus:

This is Grand Legate Egdir Pova of the Apollo, representing the Kingdom of Astral Romia. If you are in immediate need, we can send a fighter to escort you to an orbital station of ours in the nearby system. There you can dock and get repairs. However, I will be required to submit some information to Alpha Command, so I must know who you represent.

After Pova had sent off the transmission, he was bugged by the subordinate again. “The Sernaix ship has reached twenty five kilometers away. Shall we tell him to halt?”

“Go ahead.”

The subordinate sent a transmission to the Sernaix:

You are close enough. Stop and let us know if there is a reason you wish to advance closer. What is it that you want?

"Sir the new ship has sent us a transmission."

"lets hear it."

The Shadows of Ha Dum exist wherever shadows exist. Light cannot exist without darkness. Which do you serve?

"hmmm, send this in reply."

we serve neither for to serve would show weakness. why serve when one could be served

Bridge

They want us to stop. Should we?

I see no reason not to. Proceed with their request.

Understood. Halting foward momentum.

They have sent a communications asking what we want.

Ask them if they want to know our goals as a species, a nation, a ship, or an individual.

Understood. Preparing response.

Messages

In response to the Astral Romia message:

Are you asking of our goals on a national, a species, a ship, or an individual level?

“They are asking us whether we are interested in their national, species, ship, or individual goals, sir.”

“While their ship goals were what I had in mind, why don’t we take advantage of their moment of rationality and get some more information. Ask them about their national, species, and ship intentions.”

The subordinate sent back another transmission:

We are interested in your national, species, and ship goals.

Bridge

They are interested in the goals for all levels.

Interesting. Another surprise from these people.

Yes. Either they have quick wits, or just plain lucky.

No matter. They have intrigued me.

Understood.

Messages

In response to the Astral Romia message:

The Jade Shadow's only purpose is same as the purpose of the Sernaix race, to serve the Shadows of the nation of Ha Dum. They breathed life into us, it is only fair.

Bridge

One of the new contacts has responded to our message.

Contents?

They claim to serve neither and feel that serving is a weakness. They also seem to feel it is better to be served.

Its been some time since I met someone that egotistical. You know the standard response.

Messages

In response to the Nebarri_Prime message:

All life serves in one form or another. Be it life or death, light or dark, the only master of all is constant.

OOC: Sorry about missing your post, NP.

OOC: Bump.

“These people sound crazy,” observed the Legate who Pova had called Pilus. They had just heard the latest response. “What is all this supposed to mean? We have asked them several questions, but I fear we have gotten no where.”

“With these people, Pilus, I think we just have to ask the right questions. Not everyone in the universe thinks like we do.”

“Well, I am all for different ways of thinking, but some ways of thinking are just ridiculous.”

“I agree, but while they exist we have to deal with them. Maybe what we have here is simply a conflict of interests. It seems that they have no interest in our people or our nation, but simply what to know what we want, whereas we want to know who they are as a civilization.”

“I hope you do not mind me asking, but how is that relevant?”

“They might want to know our intentions because it might conflict with theirs. I think they have come out here on a mission, not just some scientific exploration journey like our people would be doing. I need to find out what that mission is.”

“I think you are looking too far in to this. Maybe they are just not in their right mind.”

“For insane people, they are awfully consistent. I will personally send a transmission to them.”

Pova once again assumed his position at his seat and tried again to get what he wanted out of these odd people. He sent the following transmission:

What is the will of the shadows of Ha Dum?

After sending the message, Pova sat in silence for a few minutes, contemplating what all this could mean. These people seemed to speak in riddles, and had an affinity for shadows. According to my Literature Professor, shadows are symbols of conflict. They appear when light confronts darkness. The shadow of a tower is where light and darkness meet to battle. Could they be hoping to start a fight? Pova stopped thinking. Surely I am thinking too much of this.

Bridge

At last, we are getting somewhere.

True, but we must nurse this along carefully.

Agreed. Too fast or too slow and we may end up ruining this.

Open a live channel.

Instead of the usual preprepared messages?

Affirmative.

Open Comm Channel

The Shadows of Ha Dum are of ancient origin. The first of the First Ones to return their gaze to this galaxy. The will of the Shadows of Ha Dum, unlike that of the Shadows of Z'Ha'Dum, is currently to know.

The new message from the ship which apparently was called the Jade Shadow was received in the control bridge the Apollo.

“What do you make of this?” asked the Legate named Pilus.

“I am not sure,” said Pova. “Ancient to one group of people may be new to another.”

“I am beginning to think that these are not humans,” said Pilus.

“That is a possibility. I hope they are humans, though.”

Pilus looked again at the message. “They have yet to give us a satisfactory answer. It is always too vague, or does not make sense.”

The subordinate who was running communications interrupted again. “Grand Legate, Alpha Command is calling us. They want to know why we have stopped the drills.”

“Alright,” answered Pova. “Patch me through to them.”

A spherical droid floated up from below and up to Pova. From the top of it, a hologram was projected of Supreme Legate Haron Talbacker.

Pova thrust his arm up in the traditional Roman salute. “Good evening, Supreme Legate. I presume it is evening there right now?”

“No,” responded Talbacker, “It is morning. Although it is hard to tell what time of day it is in this blasted station. I called to find out what is happening to the drills outside the Barbarous III system.”

“We have encountered some lost looking vessels of unknown nationality. I do not fully understand the situation myself.

“Well follow standard protocol. I expect a report sent immediately after our conversation is terminated.”

“Of course, sir. You will be well informed.”

“Thank you. Remember, we are the military, and as thus any infractions upon us send a message to the rest of the universe about Romia. Do not be afraid to open fire if the unknown parties are hostile.”

“I will not, sir.

“You are a competent officer, Egdir. Good luck.”

“You too, sir.”

The hologram was extinguished and the droid floated back down into the thick array of computers, screens, and holoboards.

“Send Alpha command copies of all messages sent and received, as well as a history of our positions.”

“It will be done,” said the subordinate.

“Meanwhile, I will send an appropriate response to the Sernaix.”

Pova sent the following telegram out to the Jade Shadow:

What do the shadows of Ha Dum have in mind for your ship specifically?

Messages - Open Channel

In response to the Astral Romia transmission:

The Shadows of Ha Dum moved on from this galaxy long ago. We are only one of many Scouts sent to these ancestral grounds of aeons past to find out the current state of things.

OOC: Time to do the Bump-cha-cha.

A new winter class starship emerged from hyperspace to survay the system. they found that there were four )I think) races and immediatly brought their sheilds up.

The subordinate read the new transmission.

“So apparently they are on an exploration mission,” said Pilus.

“I will send another transmission,” announced Pova.

The following transmission was sent:

Is there anything that you would like from us?

-+-+-+-+-+-+-

“Sir,” said the subordinate.

“Did they respond already?”

“No, yet another unidentified ship has entered the area.”

“Can you tell anything of it’s affiliation?”

“No. It’s signatures are different than those of both the Jade Shadow or the other large ship we have detected.”

“Send out the standard transmission for unannounced unidentified vessels.”

“I’m on it.”

The subordinate sent out the following transmission to the Waterhelper ship:

This is the Apollo of the Kingdom of Astral Romia. You are about to enter Romian space territory. Please identify yourself and state your affiliation.

"Sir we have another message."

All life serves in one form or another. Be it life or death, light or dark, the only master of all is constant.

"send this in reply."

to serve light keeps one from the dark, and to serve dark keeps one from the light. so we say neither. some things will not serve that witch is to weak, others will be served by what is stronger. still it is better to be served then to serve but indeed the only master of all is constant.

Message to unknown ship:
We are on a exploration mission to map out the galaxy.

The Admiral looks to his ops officer, "Open a channel to the Apollo."

"Aye, sir." He said tapping his console.

"Grand Legate Pova, This is Admiral Maxwell. We represent a small nation called the Dominion of the Emerald Flame from a planet called Earth in the Sol system. We were running a shakedown cruise of our newest vessel, the Pegasus, when we encountered some form of subspace disruption. Though repairs are needed we are in no immediate danger and if you wouldn't mind we'd like to observe the situation unfolding here as we are new to these parts. Pegasus out."

"Sir...the Ha Dum are requesting an answer to a question. They wish to know if we serve light or darkness..." The young ensign at ops looked at him confused.

"Open a channel to them as well then," Maxwell replied as he reviewed the message."

The ensign tapped a similiar string of commands into the console.

"This is Admiral Jack Maxwell of the Pegasus. We serve on the side of light. I would be happy to answer any questions that you may have in the interest of establishing relations. Feel free to contact us with any inquiries you have. Maxwell out."

The Ops officer looks up from the console. "Messages have been sent, sir. Now what?"

"Now, we wait for a response," Maxwell replied, as he stands up and turns toward a door off the bridge. "Until then I'll be in my ready room updating my logs. Let me know when we get a response."

And with that the Admiral strolled off the Bridge leaving his first officer in command.

Bridge

New contact.

Send them the standard message.

One of the second set of contacts, claiming to be called the Pegasus, has replied.

Interesting. They don't seem to have any discernable egos, cautiousness, fear, or any emotion of any kind.

It would appear so from their message.

Messages

Transmitted to the Waterhelper ship:

The Shadows of Ha Dum are eternal. They exist wherever shadows form. Darkness cannot exist without light, and light cannont exist without darkness. Which do you serve?

In response to The Emerald Flame message:

One can never know which side of the equation one truely serves until after becoming one with the universe. A universe defined by balance. Thus one can serve both, and yet neither at the same time.

In response to the Astral Romia message:

Input.

In response to the Nebarri_Prime message:

Nature is a precise balancing act. One can serve neither side of the equation yet serve both at the same time.

OOC: @AR: Couldn't help it. Just watched Short Circuit.

Well, last post for the night.

Reply:
Light as as long as there is light there is never darkness but where there is darkness there is never light. No where in the known univers is without light so in the known universe there is always light. My we ask why you ask this question though.
*after the channel was closed the nanites were readied for a possible attack*

“Sir,” said the subordinate, “The new arrival has sent back a message.” The subordinate played the message back.

“‘We are on a exploration mission to map out the galaxy,’” repeated Pova. “That’s all fine and dandy, but it doesn’t tell us what we want. Send back the standard message.”

The subordinate sent out the following transmission again to the Waterhelper ship:

This is the Apollo of the Kingdom of Astral Romia. You are about to enter Romian space territory. Please identify yourself and state your affiliation.

“Another message, sir, this one from the Sernaix.” The subordinate played the Sernaix transmission.

“I knew the Sernaix would say something like that,” said Pova with a grin.

“These are just some pranksters!” exclaimed Pilus. “They are wandering around and they see some military ships, and they think, ‘Let us have some fun with them.’ They are just sending us stupid little messages and then laughing at how serious we are taking them. I say we tell them to get out of here.”

“You are young for a legate, and have a lot to learn,” said Pova.

“Well what do you propose we do then, oh wise one?”

Pova could understand Pilus’s reaction to these people. Pova was trying to hide his own irritation, and for a moment had considered just telling the Sernaix to go away. “I have an idea,” said Pova finally, “And if they are indeed pranksters, we will quickly find out. Open a direct dialogue link.”

“Yes, sir,” said the subordinate, who was still stationed below. The subordinate entered some information into a computer and then the spherical droid which had projected the hologram of Supreme Legate Haron Talbacker floated back up to Pova.

“This will allow us to communicate more quickly with them,” said Pova.

Pova pressed a button on the droid. Now everything that he said would be heard by the Sernaix.

“This is Grand Legate Egdir Pova. You wished for input, so we will give you a lot of input.”

He pressed the button again. “Set our fleet on a course for Barbarous III. They can follow us if they want.”

Pova pressed the button again, and the link was again open.

“Come with us to our station above the planet Barbarous III. There, you will get plenty of input.”

The button was pressed one last time. “Pranksters would not follow us. If they are indeed pranksters, we will have them arrested.”

“Yes, it will be done,” said Pilus.

“Meanwhile, I will send a transmission to the Pegasus.”

Pova sent the following transmission to the Pegasus:

We are going to be moving out of the immediate vicinity, but we have not forgotten about you. We will be with you as soon as the current situation is resolved. If you need any assistance before then, just tell us.

The messages from the Ha Dum and Romian vessels are redirected from the bridge of the Command-Carrier to the Admiral's ready room. He views them in silence and after a few moments of thought he presses the recording button on his comm panel.
"Grand Legate Pova, Pegasus will hold position until you return then. The damage is mostly to our FTL drive so we're in no rush. Maxwell out."

He presses the record button again and begins speaking.
"Jade Shadow, This is Admiral Maxwell aboard the Pegasus speaking. Your words interest me...So therefore I pose two questions to you. Who do you serve? And what keeps a universe defined by balance from becoming unbalanced? I await your response. Maxwell out."

He hits a few buttons and both messages are transmitted to the Ops station on the bridge. "Ensign...please transmit those messages immediately to the Apollo and the Jade Shadow accordingly. Thank you."

He leans back in his chair and stares at the models of ancient spacecraft on his bookcase, now letting the excitment of first contact with several alien races set in.

Reply:
The point is... WE GOT KNOCKED OUT OF HYPERSPACE BY SOME BLASTED SUBSPACE DISTORTION!!!. sorry about that now you were saying?

Messages

In response to the Waterhelper message:

Good, evil; left, right; yes, no; order, chaos; yin, yang; right, wrong; light, dark. Only words to indicate a balance. Balance is the one thing that Nature serves.

In response to The Emerald Flame message:

It has been a long, long time since any of us have heard such a wise choice in reply to that message.

Balance, it is what makes the universe go round as the saying goes. Wherever their is life, their is death. Nature balances itself in the long run.

As to that which we serve, we serve Nature. Nature, the creator and destroyer of everything that ever was and ever will be.

Bridge

They want us to follow.

Interesting. Readings indicate a possible ammount of disbelief in his voice.

The station could be a trap.

May be true. Though, they won't be able to get in unless we let them in.

Agreed. Perhaps we should send one of the Corsairs to dock with this station instead of docking with it ourselves.

Reasonable suggestion. Proceed with their request, for now.

Open Audio Channel To Astral Romia Ship Apollo

"We will follow you, for now."

The captain thought over his words carefully

Who does nature serve? If thereis to be balance you can not serve either dark or light but both, for if you sever one the other is unbalanced. Fer even light serves dark as it creates it; without it there is no balance, the same goes for dark.

Messages

In response to the Waterhelper message:

Nature is universal. Nature is the universe. Nature is sometimes personified by some cultures in the female form. Nature is that which gives life and can take it away just as easily. Nature serves Nature.

"Sir another reply."

Nature is a precise balancing act. One can serve neither side of the equation yet serve both at the same time.

"send this now."

to answer is pointless, to be silent is foolish. will you answer or be silent?

OOC: just so you know my people are going to be speaking like this to try and confure your people (or something along thouse lines)

OOC: Pretty much the same thing my guys are doing IC'ly at the moment. Its all part of how they judge who they meet (different answers would lead them down one of three paths with the nation they meet (ignore, battle, or peace)).

IC: Bridge

Interesting response.

Agreed.

That ship is about the size of a Corsair. Bring it aboard.

Exterior

A tractor beam shot out and latched onto the Nebarri_Prime Jumper. The small craft would be drawn into physical contact with the Scout's hull which would melt around the Jumper as it passed through the Photonium. If the Jumper didn't try anything during any stage of this process, the people inside would find themselves inside a pressurized room large enough for the Jumper and some extra space around it that appeared to look like the outside of the hull, only with patterns of blue light running over the Photonium instead of grey like on the outside. The room would be large enough for them to exit the Jumper and walk around in, but there would be no apparent means of leaving the room.

OOC: Time to do the Bump-cha-cha.

"Sir they have locked a tractor beam on us!"

"send a coded message through subspace to the Loki or Firestorm to come here, tell them we my be either dead, captured, or guests. then get suited in some Kull Armor in case they try something. but let them pull us in."

"yes sir."

---------------------------------------------

as the Jumper was pulled into the Scout ship the transmission was sent to the Loki and the four crew members of the Jumper put on Kull Armor...

Bridge

The shuttle is inside.

Good. Have the Shipmind send one of the Bots in.

Acknowledged.

"Sealed" Room Containing the N.P. Jumper

A small opening appeared in the ceiling of the apparently sealed room containing the Nebarri_Prime Jumper. The opening was directly above the Jumper's front windows. From the opening, a small spikey ball, reminiscent of Earth's sea urchins, one of the ship's Bots (http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b325/USS_Atlantis_RPG/bot.jpg), drifted down and hovered quietly in front of the Jumper's window. It made no further move, but continued to sit there as if looking in, which is exactly what it was doing.

OOC: Bump.

"Sir we have some tipe of droid out there." said a crew member looking out the window.

"whats it doing?"

"scans show that for the most part it is looking at us, possibly to find out more about us."

"let it look, carry out normal ship acctivities."

----------------------------

a few minutes later the Loki apeared from Hyperspace. the two kilometer(asumming its that big, i have no actual scale so i just made that up) long O'Neill class warship scanned the area. based on data provided by the Jumper the Loki found the Jumpers holder and began scanning it...

The Loki's passive scans would reveal nothing and her active scans would only pick up a void the size and shape of the Scout. This was due to the unique ability of the Photonium to absorb energy.

Interior

The Shipmind used the hovering Bot to attempt to access the Jumper's computers to try to search for the language database. It left a text message on the main screen.

It read: "You know you can come out now."

Aboard the Loki

"Sir our scans arn't giving us any usefull data."

"very well, send the ship a message."

we look for thoughs who are lost. do you keep them?

Inside the Puddle Jumper

the commander of the Jumper sent a message back saying

"what if we don't want to."

Bridge

The new contact is attempting communication.

What do they want?

According to relevant data, I would postulate they are in search of the shuttle.

You know what to tell them.

Understood.

Messages

Text message to the Loki:

Face-to-face meetings are always an important step for First Contact situations. Do not interfere. The shuttle will be released in due time.

Room containing the N.P. Jumper

Two more Bots came down from the hole in the ceiling. The first remained on station, while the other two went around back to try to open the hatch.

A new message appeared on the screen: "Never said it was optional."

With that, the two new Bots tried to hit the external control that would open the hatch with one of their spikes.

Another line appeared under the others on the screen: "Face-to-face is desired."

Aboard the Loki

"it seems best we do not to interfere, yet. send this message."

the lost have been found. we will wait for their retern

in the Jumper

"looks like they want to talk." said a crew member. with that the commander sent the message back saying "we will send one. no more, no less."

"i will go, if you find anything bad has happened to me try to escape if you cannot fire the drones and do as much hurt as you can."

"yes sir."

with that the commander of the Jumper opened the hatch...

Interior

As the hatch opened, the two Bots trying to open it from the outside quickly darted to each side to avoid being smooshed and then one made a dash for the interior of the Jumper. The first Bot maintained its position and continued to act as a relay between the Shipmind and the the Jumper's computer. The third, and final, Bot in the chamber darted foward briefly and then floated backwards a little as if it was trying to lead the Nebarri_Prime commander towards a section of the wall.

Interior

As the hatch opened, the two Bots trying to open it from the outside quickly darted to each side to avoid being smooshed and then one made a dash for the interior of the Jumper. The first Bot maintained its position and continued to act as a relay between the Shipmind and the the Jumper's computer. The third, and final, Bot in the chamber darted foward briefly and then floated backwards a little as if it was trying to lead the Nebarri_Prime commander towards a section of the wall.

as one Bot maid a dash for the Jumper the three inside aimed there Kull Blasters at it. one of them spoke "Keep your bots out of this ship or we will blast is open."

the commander stood between the two bots he thought he should stop the bot from entering the ship but also wished to meet these new people...

OOC: if the Bot does not stop they will open fire

"Sir," The senior Ops officer said, "We have a new contact almost 2 km long. Tech seems to be concurrent to that of the shuttle taken in by the Jade Shadow."

Admiral Maxwell looks at the new contact and sends a message to the new Nebarri_Prime vessel. "Attention new unidentified vessel. This is Admiral Jack Maxwell aboard the DSS Pegasus. If you adjust your sensors to active mode you should be able to detect the Ha Dun vessel, Jade Shadow, which has your people aboard. Pegasus out."

He then goes about configuring a new message to the Ha Dun vessel as well. "I'm beginning to understand. We, ourselves, are explorers on a mission to see what the universe has to offer. I wonder if the same is true of yourselves? And if so where might you originate? I would also wish to arrange some sort of first contact if you would permit it. Maxwell out."

Interior

The Bot trying to gain access to the Jumper stopped moving. Though, it froze in a position that blocked them from being able to close the hatch fully.

The 'guide' Bot continued to try to continue to lead the N.P. commander towards the apparently blank section of wall. It even tried to speed things up by going around behind him and gently nudging him in the desired direction.

Messages

In response to The Emerald Flame message:

The Shadows once called this galaxy home. They choose to split from the Others and leave this galaxy for another. There, they created us, the Sernaix. This Scout, and several others, were sent back to this galaxy to find out how things turned out and to see if any of the Others remain.

If you desire face-to-face, then approach to physical contact with this Scout. The hull will Phase and incorporate you into it, thus allowing direct access between the two without damaging the hull of either.

OOC: I'm too tired to think of a good IC response message (these guys actually send chills up my spine at times).

Oh, and last post for the night (actually, I should say morning (its 3:11 am now)).

Admiral Jack Maxwell gets up from his chair and walks back towards the lift tube.
"Number one, you have the bridge. Have a shuttlecraft prepped, I'm going over."

"Sir, I must object to this," Commander Jordan said, "This goes against regulations..."

"Objection noted Commander," Maxwell cut him off just as the door closed, "Main shuttlebay." The lift responds by moving him down into the lower levels of the ship.
Once he arrives he steps into the shuttle, sealing the airlock and powering up engines. He waits for the ship's airlock to open and then he eases the shuttle out through the forcefield into the blackness and plots an automatic course to the Jade Shadow, taking the time to change into his dress uniform.

The shuttle eases up to the Jade Shadow and takes a holding position, awaiting a tractor beam.

OOC: @TEF: I am assuming your shuttle is no bigger than then Puddle Jumper.

IC: Exterior

A tractor beam reached out and snared the Emerald Flame shuttle. It was drawn in just like Nebarri_Prime Jumper. The occupants would find themselves in a quite similar chamber.

Internal

After the Emerald Flame shuttle was inside, the long wall on the left side of the Nebarri_Prime Jumper dissolved away. Thus, the two chambers became as one double the size of the originals.

"We have a response from the large ship, sir," said the subordinate. He played back the Waterhelper response.

"They seem quite distressed, but still have not given us a competent answer," noted Pova. "Send another message asking about their status but again asserting our wishes."

The subordinate sent another message to the Waterhelper ship:

We still must know your identity and affiliation. If you could please send us that information and also whether or not you need immediate help.

The subordinate spoke up again. “The Jade Shadow has sent a response, sir, simply stating that they agree to follow us.”

“Good, we will let them dock at the station and then have a face to face meeting, hopefully learning something useful about these people.”

The Battlecarrier Strike Group, lead by the Apollo, moved in to the system. The system defense grid was activated, but remained pacified. Meanwhile, a new worry hit the Apollo.

“Yet another ship has appeared, sir, this one is by far the largest yet.”

“My God, another one?”

“Yes, sir. I cannot identify it. It’s external signatures are different from those of both the Jade Shadow and the Pegasus.”

“Send it the standard transmission,” ordered Pova. He glanced down at the holoboard again and noted the enormous size of the vessel. “It is a good thing we are heading in to the defense grid of the Barbarous III system. I would not want to get into an engagement with that.”

The following transmission was sent to the large Nebarri Prime ship:

This is the Apollo of the Kingdom of Astral Romia. You are about to enter Romian space territory. Please identify yourself and state your affiliation.

(OOC: Sorry about my late response. I have been unable to reply.)

by the Jumper

with the bots stoping the commander began to fallow the other bot...

the crew inside the Jumper remained uneasy with the bot so close to the Jumper's entrance.

to DSS Pegasus, we have found what we seek and now we wait


a message was sent then to the Apollo
Commander Astar, I.N.S. Loki, Nebarri Empire. we move where we please

Interior

The section of wall that the Nebarri_Prime officer was lead to seemed to just melt away. Behind it, a corrider seemed to form in the same way. The 'guide' Bot waited for the Nebarri_Prime commander to start walking down it. The Scout's Shipmind had created the corrider through the Photonium and made sure it lead to only one place, the bridge of the Scout. The opening and corrider would remain for the representative from The Emerald Flame to use after he had exited his shuttle.

Bridge

This one is certainly taking his time.

Yes. But we must not rush him. Could be bad for relations.

Agreed. Readings from the Bots indicate they could cause us serious harm, but aren't strong enough to take out the ship before the Shipmind destroys them.

True. We all remember that time when the crew of a Battlecruiser managed to convince the crew and Shipminds of three scouts to go against and betray the Creators.

Yes. The Battlecruiser's Shipmind killed the disloyal crew and the Scouts.

OOC: Yeah...it's about that size.

The shuttle airlock disengaged as Admiral Maxwell stepped out into the large chamber dressed in his full dress uniform, complete with a phase pistol strapped to his side out of caution. He strolls towards the only opening he can see and looks down the passage way. He begins walking towards the bridge of the scout at a brisk pace. "Like they say...All roads lead to rome..." He says quietly as he sees the bot and the Nebarri commander walking ahead of him.

The humble subordinate disturbed Pova again, this time with a message from the Loki. He showed it to the Legate.

“Well, I certainly do not like their attitude. I like assertiveness, but not to the point of foolishness.”

“Should we allow them in to the system should they ask for entry?” asked Pilus.

“If they do want in, we will ask them why. Depending on their answer, we may let them in. I think a seven ship fleet like ours would be able to bring down that behemoth should a conflict occur, and it will be easier with the help of the system defense grid. We would, of course, not want a conflict as we will probably lose some of our ships.” Pova paused for a moment of thought, and then looked back down at the subordinate. “They say that they are from the Nebarri Empire. Do you have any information on them?”

“I am afraid that the kingdom has never come in contact with anyone from the Nebarri Empire before, sir, but we do have some small entries in the archives that acknowledge the nation’s existence.”

“Well, this certainly is suspicious. What could such a large ship be doing so far from its home?”

“It’s presence here certainly is suspicious,” agreed Pilus. “We must ask them why they are here.”

“Agreed. Send a message asking for their reasons for visiting.”

The subordinate sent a transmission to the Loki:

What are your reasons for being here so close to one of the Kingdom’s systems?



Meanwhile, Pova wished to ask a few more questions to the Sernaix before they met face to face at the station. He pressed the button on the droid again and asked “If you do not mind me asking, what are your names?"

"new message from the Apollo Sir."

"it is only natural to ask why we would be."

a message was sent to the Apollo

we search for the lost. as the lost have been found we wait for the lost so retern.

on the Scout


the commander walked down the hall and arrived in the Scouts bridge

OOC: not sure what i would find there...

OOC: NP, TEF, I'll let you say when you get to the bridge. I'll just put down now what you'll see IC'ly.

IC: Bridge

The Shipmind monitered the progress of the two beings through the Photonium corridor. When they reached the bridge, they would see the Sernaix of the bridge crew reclined in chair-like extensions formed from the Photonium. There were no visible controls or displays and the Sernaix in the chairs would look like they were in a state of R.E.M. sleep as they used their body fields to control the ship.

They approach.

Bet they'll be surprised at the bridge design.

Others are always surprised at Ha Dum ship design.

True. Let's watch and see what they do when the get to the bridge.

Messages

In response to the Astral Romia message:

I, the Shipmind of this Scout, am known as Rahi.

OOC: @ALL: All tech and ship info can be found in my National Database (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=10400418#post10400418). Its OOC, so feel free to post comments.
@AR: F.Y.I., but you've been communicating with the Shipmind the whole time.

the commander looked around the bridge. he spoke quitely "not what i expected but i guess i expected it would be that way..."

the commander looked around the bridge. he spoke quitely "not what i expected but i guess i expected it would be that way..."

The moment the Nebarri_Prime officer spoke on the bridge, a form fitting chair rose up from the Photonium of the floor. His 'guide' Bot floated over to it and hovered over the head of it. When he would take the seat, it would recline and take his mind into the local Realm as defined by the Scout. There, he would interact with the crew on a direct mind-to-mind basis.

Admiral Maxwell wonders into the bridge shortly after and he looks around the controless environment. He makes a note of all the crew members appearing in a sleep-like state.

"Hm...must be some form of mentally integrated control systems...Fascinating..." He says, the excitement of meeting a race more advanced than his own is made apparent by the awe in his voice.

He sees the Nebarri commander staring at a new chair that has emerged from the bridge structure and he quietly awaits his own to form.

Admiral Maxwell wonders into the bridge shortly after and he looks around the controless environment. He makes a note of all the crew members appearing in a sleep-like state.

"Hm...must be some form of mentally integrated control systems...Fascinating..." He says, the excitement of meeting a race more advanced than his own is made apparent by the awe in his voice.

He sees the Nebarri commander staring at a new chair that has emerged from the bridge structure and he quietly awaits his own to form.

At the sound of Maxwell's voice, the Scout's Shipmind forms another form-fitting chair for him to use.

OOC: Got to be form fitting (taken from measurements as scanned by the Shipmind), otherwise you would get up with a back-ache from being uncomfortable.

the commander of the Jumper sat down in his chair...

OOC: Understandable.

Maxwell sits in the form fitting chair and leans into it. "I should get one of these on the Pegasus. Well...Now what do we do?"

The chairs would seem to be unresponsive. That is until the two men relaxed and closed thier eyes. Then, and only then, would the chairs shift from the upright position to the reclined position like those of the male Sernaix (http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y195/MistrissDraconia/Character%20Pics/sernaix.jpg) crew of the Scout.

OOC: Bump.

The chairs would seem to be unresponsive. That is until the two men relaxed and closed thier eyes. Then, and only then, would the chairs shift from the upright position to the reclined position like those of the male Sernaix (http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y195/MistrissDraconia/Character%20Pics/sernaix.jpg) crew of the Scout.

the commander thought for a moment. 'well i guess this might work if i did what they are doing...' and so he closed his eyes and tried to relax

the commander thought for a moment. 'well i guess this might work if i did what they are doing...' and so he closed his eyes and tried to relax

The N.P. commander would find himself standing in an open field-like environment berift of his armor. Near-by on this aspect of the Realm was what appeared to be a small building that seemed to have an inside-out double image layered on-top of the original. This building was the aspect of the bridge while the field was the aspect of the Scout.

"well this is certanly interesting." said the commander looking around and heading for the building...

Admiral Maxwell, after observing the Sernaix crew members, closes his eyes and relaxes as well.

Admiral Maxwell, after observing the Sernaix crew members, closes his eyes and relaxes as well.

His mental projection of himself would appear in the same field-like environment at a seventy-five degree horizontal angle from the Nebarri_Prime commander and at the same distance he had started from. In fact, if Maxwell choose to look around, he would even see the form of the unarmored mental projection of the Nebarri_Prime commander.

Of course, before either man could get within a one-hundred yards of the building, a maze sprouted up from nowhere. This represented the Realm's version of a firewall.

OOC: Last post for the night.

OOC: Bump.

OOC: Just an F.Y.I., but there are more ways to get past the hedge maze 'firewall' than just finding the right route through it. I'm waiting to see if you can figure out one of the ways IC'ly.

Oh, and another bump.

OOC: Bump.

OOC: Bump. Where did everyone go?

Basically, a curtesy bump.

OOC: thinking of a way to get past a maze other then clime on top and run across

OOC: thinking of a way to get past a maze other then clime on top and run across

OOC: Its a mentally controlled virtual world. Last clue.

The navigator on board the Apollo informed Pova that they were nearing Barbarous III station.

“Thank you,” said Pova. “I will see if the Sernaix are still behind us.”

He pressed the button on the droid.

“Jade Shadow, are you still following us? We are preparing to dock at the station.”

Messages

In response to the Apollo's message:

We are still here.

OOC: waiting for a reply to this post AR

IC: "new message from the Apollo Sir."

"it is only natural to ask why we would be."

a message was sent to the Apollo

we search for the lost. as the lost have been found we wait for the lost so retern.

------
on the Scout

the commander reached out to feal the hedge...

*Snip*
on the Scout

the commander reached out to feal the hedge...

The Realm would feed his mind all the tactile info on what a hedge should feel like.

OOC: Its kind of like the Matrix, but that's not where the idea originitates from.

(OOC: Sorry for forgetting about that)

The message from the Loki was received by Pova.

“Well, it is vague, but I suppose it is a good enough explanation for now. Ask them if we can help them.”

The subordinate sent a transmission to the Loki:

May we be of any assistance to you?

-+-+-+-+-+-

A deep ring that sounded as if it had come from a large bell filled the control bridge of the Apollo. A voice said, “This is Barbarous III. You have clearance, Grand Legate Egdir Pova.”

Out of the windows of the bridge, the enormous station could be seen. It was a slendor cylinder rounded off out the ends with a ring around the middle of it. The ring was over eighteen kilometers in diameter, and the cylindrical axis was over twenty kilometers tall. Both of these components were very thin, however. The only reason for its massive size was to allow the docking of gigantic capital ships.

“Dock us. Pilus and myself will now prepare to exit and go to our meeting place.” Pova looked down at the Legates gathered near the holoboard. Pilus had stepped on a platform that was raising him up to the exit of the control bridge. “Zurton, you will be given command in my absence, although I want to know about any important situations immediately. I will have my droid with me, so I will be able to quickly relay orders back.”

Pova and the rest of the men gave the Roman salute, and Pova exited the control bridge, with the spherical droid hovering behind him.

The legate named Zurton gave his first order. “Send a transmission to Barbarous III requesting that they arrange a docking area for the Sernaix.”

“Alright, sir,” said the subordinate, and he carried out Zurton’s orders.

Outside the Apollo, the seven ship fleet slowed down. The Apollo slowed down and docked on the ring of the station, and the other ships created a perimeter around the area for security.

Barbarous III sent a transmission to the Jade Shadow:

Please dock. The docking coordinates are included with this transmission.

Bridge

They want us to dock.

Our way, or their way?

They don't know about our way, so we must assume they mean theirs.

Agreed. Lets ask them if they want to know our way.

Acknowledged.

Messages

In response to the Astral Romia message:

Docking location not required. Can attach anywhere without doing hull damage to either. Your choice.

Exterior

The Jade Shadow hovered silently in an area around the station that seemed to have the least amount of ship traffic.

The Barbarous III command received the message from the Jade Shadow.

“Do you think they know what we mean by docking?” asked one person.

“Why wouldn’t they?” asked another.

“Well, according to Pova’s report, these peoples have never before come in contact with Romians. They may not know our technology. I am sure that they can attach their ship to any part of our station, but we wanted them to be able to enter the station.”

“Yes, you seem to be more informed than I. You send them the reply.”

The following transmission was sent:

Where your ship docks does matter. We have requested your coming to the station for a meeting with Grand Legate Egdir Pova, so in order to do that you must leave your ship. This is accomplished easiest by docking at a designated area where one of the gates of the station can allow you to enter.

Exterior
Two long starships materialized out of the void of Slipspace.

One, The Justice Hammer, was clearly a warship, while the other, Prosperity, looked to be a cargo ship.

Interior

Admiral Jack Ray leaned over in his command couch, and activated the mic.

"This is Fleet Admiral Jack Ray of The Justice Hammer, escorting the cargo ship Prosperity to Astral Romian Space Traffick Control, requesting permission to dock with your station to initiate trade, do we have clearence"

As he looked up, he exclaimed, "What in the 'verse is going on here,"

OOC: The Justice Hammer is a Libran Class from the Nickotopolean Shipyards. Also, information about Nation of Origin, Crew, Cargo, and specs are broadcast via the IFF transponder, a special icon would apear on the ship receiving it, allowing them to see the info sent over

for those of you wondering, it is hauling over a million carats of memory diampnds (similar to those in use by the Goa'uld, only more powerful due to the inclusion of quantum as opposed to binary processing(32 positions instead of two))

OOC: Welcome to the party, dude. Lets see if we can fit you into the RP's story line.

IC: Messages

In response to the Astral Romia message:

We understand your docking methods. We are proceeding in the method you wish. We only request an out of the way location where the Scout won't draw much attention from those who need not know.

OOC: @AR:
1.) The paranoia and secrecy are species traits.
2.) Your not going to find any external points to attach an air-lock to (one of the advantages of working with Photonium, everypoint can work as an air-lock).

"Sir, our sensors must be malfunctioning or something, because that black shape against the station is not registering." An Ensign called out from his post.

"Artemis," Admiral JAck Ray demanded, "we need a full of diagnostic of the sensors. Also, I want all systems ready for as full alert, and if you can, tell me what that ship is."

As he spoke, a hologram of Artemis, the Ship AI, apeared, "Aye sir, sensors aren't malfunctioning, but i have no information in my database."

Letting out a huff, the Admiral hit the comm button on his command couch again, and opened a line to the dark ship shilouetted against the station.

"This is Admiral Jack Ray of the Gunship The Justice Hammer, please respond over."

Bridge

Another is trying to contact us.

Details.

Only name, rank, ship type, and ship name were given.

What do they want?

For us to respond.

Curious bunch.

Agreed.

Should we respond.

Yes, but wait some time. Their impatience bores me.

Hehehe, good one.

I know. I haven't told a joke like that in years.

I thought it was an impression.

Ahhh, forget it.

Messages

In response to The American Privateer message:

Who are you? Why are you here? What do you want?

OOC: Bump.

"Sir," the AI called out, "they have hailed us, they want to know who we are, why we are here, etc."

"Thank you for responding, we shall send you the same message we sent to Astral Romian Space Traffick Control,

(ooc: it should sound kinda staticy, klike it is being pulled from ship memory)
'This is Fleet Admiral Jack Ray of The Justice Hammer, escorting the cargo ship Prosperity to Astral Romian Space Traffick Control, requesting permission to dock with your station to initiate trade, do we have clearence'

we would like to know who you are, where you are from, etc. We will reply with the same. Also, I would like to arrange a face to face meeting if possible. Admiral Ray out."

with that, the Admiral flipped a switch to open comm with the Astral Romians, "Astral Romian Space Traffick Control, do we have permission to dock?"


OOC: @HD: you should see an icon in that crazy cyber reality showing all our stats, http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=447888 contains it, it is the second down.

Messages

In response to The American Privateer message:

If you are going inside the station, talk to the owners. Face-to-face already set-up with them. Ask them if you can join.

Admiral Jack Ray sat and stared at the strange ship sitting in front of the station,

"This is Admiral Jack Ray, requesting permission to meet with youre commander face to face," he said to the strange, insectoid ship, "Is there any way to do so?"

Having finished the last one, he flipped the switch again,

"Astral Romia, do we have permission to dock with your space station."

Main Bridge

Commander? What is that?

Using contexual clues and what the Thrall told us, I have to assume he means the one in charge of this Scout.

As in a rank structure?

Correct.

*Laughter*

You'll have to excuse me, but I've never really thought such a thing existed.

You'll be surprised with what we find out here. We've had contact with SeaQuest and they use a rank structure.

SeaQuest, well, their just SeaQuest. We may have a non-agression pact with them, but it doesn't mean I know everything about them.

Good point.

Messages

In response to The American Privateer message:

Ranks, while known to us, have no prevalance in Ha Dum. However, the one in charge of this Scout will be meeting with those on the station. Get the permission of the station's owners and meet him then.

OOC: Where did everyone else go?

OOC: sorry guys...i'm back now. Had a death in the family so i've been away.

He looks at the hedge maze and then back at the Nebarri Commander. "I wonder...If this place is mentally controled, do you think we could just will it to give us a direct path to the end?"

OOC: Bummer. Sorry to hear that.

OOC: sorry guys...i'm back now. Had a death in the family so i've been away.

He looks at the hedge maze and then back at the Nebarri Commander. "I wonder...If this place is mentally controled, do you think we could just will it to give us a direct path to the end?"

"one can only find out if they try." answered the commander

Scout - Local Sub-Realm

A voice, with no discernable point of origin and just seemed to come from everywhere, and nowhere, at once, said, "Welcome to the Local Sub-Realm. This is the Scout's Shipmind speaking. To get to the Mental Projections of the bridge crew, you must get past the firewall. Sorry, I can't help you with that."

"If this is all just a mentally controlled environment then our minds should be able to control it in theory." Maxwell said as he closed his eyes and focused his thoughts on the section of the maze in front of him and willed it to allow him to pass.

OOC: mind over mentally projected matter...here's hoping.

OOC: where is Astral Romia? :confused: :confused: :confused:

"If this is all just a mentally controlled environment then our minds should be able to control it in theory." Maxwell said as he closed his eyes and focused his thoughts on the section of the maze in front of him and willed it to allow him to pass.

OOC: mind over mentally projected matter...here's hoping.

"Right theory," said the voice as nothing happened, "wrong application. You've got to be more creative then that. The Realm is a work of art, treat it as such."

Inside the computer core of the warship, The Justice Hammer, Artemis sat and studied the IFF transponder. She tweaked it, and sent a signal that would allow her to attempt a direct connection to the strange black starship's computer core.

Inside the computer core of the warship, The Justice Hammer, Artemis sat and studied the IFF transponder. She tweaked it, and sent a signal that would allow her to attempt a direct connection to the strange black starship's computer core.

Bridge

The Shipmind is reporting an intrusion attempt.

Seems like they are trying to directly connect with the Realm via the Shipmind. Can their computers handle it?

Not with the way they are attempting it.

Send them a message warning them of the danger.

Messages

Transmitted to The American Privateer ship:

The Shipmind has detected your attempt at trying to directly hook up to the Realm. We are only sending this message informing you that your computer system will not handle the data process and will overload, most likely explosively. Please disist in your attempt. If you wish to experience the Realm, you will meet us in the station and have a representative come aboard.

I appologise for the actions my ship's AI preformed, I asked her to try to find out about you, but I did not understand that she would attempt a direct ship to ship connection. I shall lock out her ability to mess with the IFF transponder, thank you for informing me.

OOC: Imagine Artemis to be very similar to Cortana from the Halo series, in which she can work and think like a normal human, and has free will

OOC: @TAP: Understood. I posted what the Shipmind is in my Database thread, but I'll post it here again.
Shipmind
A Ha Dum vessel's ship functions are controlled by its "Shipmind", the Ha Dum version of a computer. A shipmind is a former Sernaix who refused to enter the "Realm" upon physical death, wanting to continue to experience things outside the Realm.

IC: Messages

In response to The American Privateer message:

Understood and acknowledged. Like was stated in last message, if you, or your Shipmind, wants to experience the Realm, meet us at the dock in the station.

OOC: Where is Astral Romia? He's intwined himself into this RP's story line now.

"A Ship Mind," Admiral Jack Ray asked himself, "What is that?"

"Sir, I caught a brief glimpse of a counciousness in the other ship, maybe it is a hyper advanced AI, If we could, I would like to know how much more powerful I would need to be to create a direct conection with their Computer."

"To the strange ship, in our computing terms, how much power we would require for a ship to ship link up."

Messages

In response to The American Privateer message:

It is not a matter of power, but of capacity. Your circuits and fuses wouldn't have been able to handle the massive flow of data. Only a Node has the ability to connect Sub-Realms to each other and the Realm.

(OOC: Sorry, I have had some real life issues for the past two weeks, but they should not be a problem anymore.)

“Sir, the Prosperity is requesting permission to dock.”

“Grant them permission.”

“Yes, sir.”

The following transmission was sent to the Admiral Jack Ray:

Permission granted. You may dock at any free gate, which there are plenty. Do you need anything from us?



Meanwhile, Pova was getting ready for meeting the Sernaix. He pressed a button on his droid that linked him up with the Barbarous III command.

“This is Pova. Give me a status report.”

A voice from the other end informed him with the details: “We have the Sernaix ship attempting to dock. We have also just granted permission to dock to the ship called the Prosperity.”

“I want there to be someone there to greet those who come out of either ship and guide them to where ever they need to go.”

“Yes, sir, it will be done.”

“Make sure we have a decent but out of sight perimeter around our meeting place. I still do not completely trust these Sernaix.”

“Yes, sir.”

(OOC: Sorry if I forgot something, please tell me.)

OOC: you forgot The Justice Hammer

Admiral Jack Ray sent a new message to the strange ship, "I am about to dock with the Station at Barbarous III, I shall come for a face to face as soon as i finish any entry regulations that the Astral Romians require."

And with that, Admiral Jack Ray stepped off the deck of the ship, accompanied by a mobile holoprojector containing a constant transmitter to connect with the AI, and two of his other deck officers.

They marched to the docking collar, and opened it from their side.

"Hm...Maybe we can make a way over the maze some how...Any ideas Commander?" He said, staring at the maze section in front of him as it stands unmoved by his will.

OOC: Bump.

(OOC: If you want, we can pretend I gave The Justice Hammer permission to dock too and it has already docked.)

As the doors on Jack Ray’s side opened, the doors on the Romian end of the gate also opened. A long, wide hall was revealed. In several parts of the wall of the hall, there were openings into larger storage and repair rooms. Waiting at the other side of the door was Pilus.

“Welcome. I am Lieutenant Legate Tronos Pilus. Welcome to Barbarous III.”

Should the Sernaix Scout dock in the same manner as the other ships, they would find a similar hallway with another officer waiting to greet them. The rooms and halls of the station, and indeed those of all modern Romian vessels, did not look futuristic. Instead, they were given the refined look of stone or brick walls in an elegant castle.

OOC: works for me

"Hello Lieutenate Legate, I am AdmiraL Jack Ray. This is Lieutenant Kelly O'Neill (waves at the man on his left, bearing a white Springfield Bolt Action Rifle) and Yoriko Himura (refrencing the officer on his right). We would like to open discussions with your leaders about the possibilty of opening up trade with you, our cargo ship brought 9 million carats of memory diamonds for the opening shipment."

As he spoke, he fidgeted with the small holoprojector, a look of pleasent surprise on his face.

OOC: the group shall be wearing the following: (A short white jacket with dark blue cuffs and collars, over a dark blue semi tight shirt, with white, loose pants. They are worn with Tan colored boots.
The Admiral will be wearing a large red sash from his right shoulder to his left waste, while the two deck officers shall be wearing a red braid hanging around their right shoulders.)

Exterior

The Ha Dum Scout came into physical contact with the end of the docking pylon. The Photonium hull molded into an air-tight seal around the air-lock and 'phased' into the outer air-lock door.

Air-Lock

The oldest Sernaix on the Scout, as the one in charge of the Scout's crew, stepped through the interface where the Scout's hull had 'phased' into the outer air-lock door and waited for the inner door to be opened.

OOC: @HD how close to my ships did you dock, I want to know wether or not my crew of diplomats would be able to see you as you stepped out.

OOC: @HD how close to my ships did you dock, I want to know wether or not my crew of diplomats would be able to see you as you stepped out.

OOC: I'm leaving that up to AR. Its his station, so he gets to decide where each ship is 'docked'.

"Hm...Maybe we can make a way over the maze some how...Any ideas Commander?" He said, staring at the maze section in front of him as it stands unmoved by his will.

"if we cannot move the maze with our minds, perhaps we can use are minds to give us what we need to pass it, like a weapon or ship."

the Commander though then of a Ribbon Device...

OOC: how tall is the maze anyway?

OOC: Standard hedge maze. So, around the height of a standard human, if not a little more.

IC: Scout - Local Sub-Realm

The Shipmind watched the two men try to figure ways around the maze firewall without having to find the path through.

"Remember," the voice of the Shipmind said from the air to the two, "The Realm is a work of art, treat it as such and you will succeed."

OOC: Bump.

When the gate opened, the Sernaix saw a Romian military officer flanked by subordinates waiting to greet him. The officer and soldiers were dressed like all those in the Romian military: a dark blue coat with gold buttons, gold epaulets that had symbols etched in them to indicate rank (the common soldiers only had one epaulet on their right shoulder), white pants, black boots, and a tricorn hat decorated in gold lace.

The officer waited in suspense to see who would be behind the door, and he was not very surprised to see that it was not human. They said these people were odd.

“Greetings,” the officer said. “I am Lieutenant Legate Borda Paz. Welcome to Barbarous III.”

Barbarous III was a web of halls that connected the different docking gates to the main hall that went around the circumference of the ring and into the heart of the station. Under the main hall was a network of cars for quick transport around the station.

Meanwhile, Pilus listened to Admiral Ray with interest.

“Diamonds?” said Pilus. “I am sure we will be interested. Come, let us find a more comfortable place.”

Pilus then lead the group to the main hall and on to a platform which lowered them to one of the cars. Pilus lead the way in to the car, which zoomed away once all of the occupants were comfortable.

“While we are here,” Pilus began, “would you like something to drink? Are there any questions?”

(OOC: Edit: Admiral Ray probably can not see the Sernaix from where he is, because the ships would have been directed far apart from one another. Everyone will probably get to meet each other at some point.)

OOC: oh well

IC:
"Some Lomin Ale if you have it for me, rice wine for Yahiko, and I am sure Lieutenant O'Neill would like some kinda lager or Dark Beer, Thank you

Well, i would like to know a little more about your form of government, your exports, etc. also, what kinda processors do you use, our memory diamonds can help boost computer speeds, they are kinda complicated, which is why i brought Yoriko, she is in charge of Diplomacy and Science aboard my ship, and as such, she gets no official rank, though all the enlisted still have to take orders from her.

Also, do you have any holo panels, because I should probably get my ship's AI into a holoprojector to help in any negotiations, Naval Regulations require it."

He looked with intrest at the cars, noting the similarity to the subway system he had seen when he was travelling from Senator Bushi's office to the Capital Building the day his military force was created.

Lieutenant O'Neill seemed more interested in the strange walls, "What do you make these bulkheads and decks from, they look just like the stone back home in Erin."

When the gate opened, the Sernaix saw a Romian military officer flanked by subordinates waiting to greet him. The officer and soldiers were dressed like all those in the Romian military: a dark blue coat with gold buttons, gold epaulets that had symbols etched in them to indicate rank (the common soldiers only had one epaulet on their right shoulder), white pants, black boots, and a tricorn hat decorated in gold lace.

The officer waited in suspense to see who would be behind the door, and he was not very surprised to see that it was not human. They said these people were odd.

“Greetings,” the officer said. “I am Lieutenant Legate Borda Paz. Welcome to Barbarous III.”

Barbarous III was a web of halls that connected the different docking gates to the main hall that went around the circumference of the ring and into the heart of the station. Under the main hall was a network of cars for quick transport around the station.
*Snip*

The Sernaix replied, as he bowed in greeting, "I am Whenua."

It was obvious that the forty-year-old Sernaix didn't use his vocal chords that much due to the slight rustiness of his voice. However, as the meeting went on, his voice would return to its normal state.

OOC: Bump.

OOC: Where is everyone, I was hoping this would move a little faster.

OOC: Where is everyone, I was hoping this would move a little faster.

OOC: I just got home from class. Looks like we're the only ones here right now. Why? I don't know.

A few seconds after the requests for drinks were placed, a mug for each person emerged from the wall with the desired beverage poured in to it. Pilus got himself some wine.

“I will be the first to admit that our government is a tangled mess of bureaucracy,” responded Pilus. “It is often difficult to tell the difference between the government and society, especially when looking at the church structure. The three main figureheads of the government are the King, the Prime Minister, and the Pope. We also have an elected senate and several governing bodies within the Church of Romia.

“As to our exports, we primarily export natural resources, such as fuels and metals. I am not sure what our computers are made out of, but I am sure that if you have diamonds we would be interested in them in any case. We can never have too many beautiful stones.”

Pilus was not sure whether the diamonds, if traded for, would actually be used for computers. It was not his field of expertise, but he would make sure that the diamonds would find a knowledgeable owner.

“I think I have a holoprojector,” said Pilus in response to Admiral Ray’s mention of holoprojectors. He fished one out of a coat pocket. It was a small disk that resembled a tabletop coaster and had some buttons on the side. He handed it to Ray.

After hearing O’Neill’s question about the makeup of the station, Pilus said, “They are actually made out of metal, but they are made to look like stone. In some places of the station, they are also made to look like brick or wood.”

Meanwhile, inside the Jade Shadow’s gate, Paz continued to observe the Sernaix named Whenua with interest. He responded, “Welcome. I am sure you do not want to stand here in this hall for very long. Let us go to our meeting area, which will be much more hospitable. Follow me.”

Paz lead Whenua in to a car similar to that in which Pilus was riding. Two other soldiers joined Paz when he reached the car. “This car will bring us to the location where we will meet Grand Legate Egdir Pova. Would you like anything to drink?” Paz asked, hoping that if these things could drink, then they would want to drink something that the station had.

A few seconds after the requests for drinks were placed, a mug for each person emerged from the wall with the desired beverage poured in to it. Pilus got himself some wine.

“I will be the first to admit that our government is a tangled mess of bureaucracy,” responded Pilus. “It is often difficult to tell the difference between the government and society, especially when looking at the church structure. The three main figureheads of the government are the King, the Prime Minister, and the Pope. We also have an elected senate and several governing bodies within the Church of Romia.

“As to our exports, we primarily export natural resources, such as fuels and metals. I am not sure what our computers are made out of, but I am sure that if you have diamonds we would be interested in them in any case. We can never have too many beautiful stones.”

Pilus was not sure whether the diamonds, if traded for, would actually be used for computers. It was not his field of expertise, but he would make sure that the diamonds would find a knowledgeable owner.

“I think I have a holoprojector,” said Pilus in response to Admiral Ray’s mention of holoprojectors. He fished one out of a coat pocket. It was a small disk that resembled a tabletop coaster and had some buttons on the side. He handed it to Ray.

After hearing O’Neill’s question about the makeup of the station, Pilus said, “They are actually made out of metal, but they are made to look like stone. In some places of the station, they are also made to look like brick or wood.”




Yoriko spoke up, "Actually, the diamonds are used specifically for computer processing. If you have ever read book by the 20th century American author Michael Chriton, he describes the quantum technology that our scientists use on the diamonds, I think it was in Timeline. Where we are from, silicon was becoming rare, but diamonds where not as rare as the silicon, so we moved over to diamond processors. Soon, a group of quantum physics scientist discovered a way to use all 36 states of an Atom to hold information, allowing for 18 times the processing that a normal binary diamond chip is capable of, which is twenty times better than the average silicon chip."

O'Neill just kinda shook his head at her techno-babble, and stared more intently at the walls, absolutely positive that they where stones imported from New Dublin, or Ulster. The similarity to real stones made him grab the rifle hanging at his side a little tighter, feeling uneasy about the similarity.

"Any ways," Admiral Jack Ray said, "thanks for the pad," and he connected the transmitter with Artemis in it to the projector. "our government is fairly straight forward. Almost everyone is a member of the Navy or Marine Corps, which is why I am also head of state. Our citizens have a surprising number of liberties for a military dictatorship, just not when speaking with superiors. As for religious matters, we are almost all christians, with Catholics making up the vast majority. Lots of Celts joined are organization after the Battle of Armone. Exports, are steel, and pretty much anything else you can find in an asteroid, though that is really the job of Lord Nial, Lieutenant O'Neill's father. He owns and operates our mining fleet."

As he finished, he activated the holopanel, and out popped a figure of a woman with silver hair in a fur toga, with a bow and quiver on her back, "Hello ," she said in a greek accent.

*Snip*
Meanwhile, inside the Jade Shadow’s gate, Paz continued to observe the Sernaix named Whenua with interest. He responded, “Welcome. I am sure you do not want to stand here in this hall for very long. Let us go to our meeting area, which will be much more hospitable. Follow me.”

Paz lead Whenua in to a car similar to that in which Pilus was riding. Two other soldiers joined Paz when he reached the car. “This car will bring us to the location where we will meet Grand Legate Egdir Pova. Would you like anything to drink?” Paz asked, hoping that if these things could drink, then they would want to drink something that the station had.

"Water will do for now," replied Whenua as he got in the car and took a seat.

Whenua noted the way Paz looked at him.

"If you have any questions about my species, feel free to ask. I have nothing to hide."

"The realm is a work of art..." Maxwell said as he stands there, "I wonder..."
He focuses his thoughts and extends his hand willing a paintbrush to appear in it.

"The realm is a work of art..." Maxwell said as he stands there, "I wonder..."
He focuses his thoughts and extends his hand willing a paintbrush to appear in it.

And the paintbrush appears, exactly as he pictured it in his mind.

"Hmm," said the Shipmind's voice, "I wonder how you think you're going to get past the firewall with that."

OOC: Courtesy Bump

OOC: Courtesy Bump
OOC: Lol. Oh, and time for an bump-off (double lol).

OOC: I hope Yoriko's Techno Babble didn't scare any one off

OOC: I hope Yoriko's Techno Babble didn't scare any one off
OOC: Probably time zone stuff.

“Well,” said Pilus in response to Yuriko’s statements, “I am not sure about our needs for computer equipment. I am still willing to purchase your diamonds however, for experimental tests at least.”

Pilus was surprised to be greeted by the hologram that appeared on the holoprojector he had given Admiral Ray. “Hello,” Pilus said back, hoping it was the right response. “Who is she?”

Meanwhile, in the car with Paz and his men, the Sernaix was poured a glass of water. Paz was not sure what he could ask the Sernaix, but they were quickly approaching the meeting area, so the situation would soon be placed in Pova’s hands.

The car finally arrived. It came to a stop, and the doors opened. Paz and his men got out. In front of them stood Pova in formal military regalia. Pova noticed that his intuition was right. These Sernaix were not human. “Greetings, Whenua.” Pova hoped that he had heard the name right. “I am Grand Legate Egdir Pova. Let us make our way to the meeting room.”

The soldiers started walking off, supposedly in the direction of the meeting room. Pova beckoned Whenua to follow. “So tell me, where are your people from?”

He wills a pallette of paint as well and stares at the maze section in front of them.
"Simple...you said to treat it as a work of art and that is what I intend to do..."

He begins painting on the section of the maze with his brush, combining willpower with artistic skills to bring a door into existance.

*Snip*
Meanwhile, in the car with Paz and his men, the Sernaix was poured a glass of water. Paz was not sure what he could ask the Sernaix, but they were quickly approaching the meeting area, so the situation would soon be placed in Pova’s hands.

The car finally arrived. It came to a stop, and the doors opened. Paz and his men got out. In front of them stood Pova in formal military regalia. Pova noticed that his intuition was right. These Sernaix were not human. “Greetings, Whenua.” Pova hoped that he had heard the name right. “I am Grand Legate Egdir Pova. Let us make our way to the meeting room.”

The soldiers started walking off, supposedly in the direction of the meeting room. Pova beckoned Whenua to follow. “So tell me, where are your people from?”

Whenua responded, "The world on which the Sernaix were created is known as Sycorax. It is not located in this......Milky Way Galaxy. Of course, the Shadows of Ha Dum that created the nation are originally native to this galaxy."

He wills a pallette of paint as well and stares at the maze section in front of them.
"Simple...you said to treat it as a work of art and that is what I intend to do..."

He begins painting on the section of the maze with his brush, combining willpower with artistic skills to bring a door into existance.

The Shipmind snorted with amusement.

"I wasn't expecting you to take it literally," said the voice, "note, if you can bring paint supplies into being, think what else you can bring into existance in the Realm."

“Well,” said Pilus in response to Yuriko’s statements, “I am not sure about our needs for computer equipment. I am still willing to purchase your diamonds however, for experimental tests at least.”

Pilus was surprised to be greeted by the hologram that appeared on the holoprojector he had given Admiral Ray. “Hello,” Pilus said back, hoping it was the right response. “Who is she?”



"This is Artemis, my ship's AI. She serves the role of lawkeeper, and advisor. It is her job to make sure I don't do anything stupid." Admiral Jack Ray responded

"Totally true, if you would have listened to me when we where preforming the ship-based tesseract generator test..." Artemis was cut off by a glance by Admiral Ray

"When a Human dies, there neural tissue lives on for a while latter, we clone that person's tissue, and create large brains. we then send a super powered charge through the tissue to create the base AI, programming is added latter." Admiral Ray smiled in pride, "Artemis is based off my little daughter, who died at the battle of Armone."

OOC: Hello HelloHelloHello

OOC: Where is everyone?

OOC: Where is everyone?

OOC: Waiting for NP, TEF, and AR to respond to my posts.

OOC: Astral Romia needs to check on this more often, seeing as everyone is currently at his station, he is the center point of this RP

OOC: I was going for a looney tunes idea...worked for bugs bunny...lol

He drops the paint supplies. "Worth a shot..." He says thinking about his next plan of attack on the firewall. His mind settles on a small puddlejumper sized shuttle which he tries to will into creation.

The Shipmind snorted with amusement.

"I wasn't expecting you to take it literally," said the voice, "note, if you can bring paint supplies into being, think what else you can bring into existance in the Realm."

OOC: did i not have my commander think (or as some others would say "willing") of a Ribbon Device? or does the shipmind not know how to make them?

OOC: @NP: If you did that, I must have missed it. No, the design would reside in the creator's mind. If one only knows what the exterior looked like and not how it worked internally, that's all one would get.

IC: The craft would appear exactly as it was imagined.

"There's not going to be enough room to land next to the building," said the Shipmind, "plus, its too.....obvious."

A few moments of silence preceeded a blocks of stone rose from the ground in a spiral shape with nothing supporting the second block on up. It apparently led to a whole in the sky filled with light.

"Hang on. I'm coming down."

A figure appeared in the hole blocking the light. The figure started to descend the stairs.

"if we cannot move the maze with our minds, perhaps we can use are minds to give us what we need to pass it, like a weapon or ship."

the Commander thought then of a Ribbon Device...

OOC: here you have it

OOC: My bad. Lets just say it appeared, but you haven't used it yet. Okay?

IC: The figure descending the stairs was revealed as a female Sernaix. Unlike the male Sernaix of the Scout's crew, she could have easily been mistaken for a human, if not for her blue skin pigmentation.

"Sorry about the whole 'voice from the heaven' thing," she said, "it keeps the males in line."

the Commander turned to face the woman "hello, who might you be. well aside from the person who talks to us from wherever, and i don't suppose i could get the resalts i want with this?" he said now holding up the Ribbon Device

The Admiral bows to her. "My apologies...When you said treat it like a work of art, I assumed it was a riddle with the answer in plain sight. Can you assist us?"

"I am the Shipmind of this Scout," she says, "My name is Rahi.

"As for getting past the firewall. You weren't being subtle enough. You can conjur up all the tools and weapons you want, the firewall hedge maze will treat it as it is, an attempt at hacking past the barrior. You've got to be more subtle. Don't go for the obvious methods."

Rahi caused a hill to form and morph into a lawn chair. An umbrella popped up and opened as she sat down.

OOC: Bump.

Ahh, that was a more useful answer than those riddles we exchanged through transmissions, thought Pova.

Pova’s group had arrived in the meeting room. It’s walls appeared to be made out of oak. In the far wall from the door was a massive fireplace. Large oil paintings decorated the walls, lamps modestly lit the room, and comfortable furniture was situated around the room. The final touch to the room was a piano in a far corner. Pova and his men sat down at a long table with many chairs.

“Have a seat,” he told his guest. “I understand that you are on an exploration mission. If you want to know anything at all, just ask.” Pova settled himself and got a drink. “Tell me a little about your culture. What would you say are your cultural achievements?”



Despite Admiral Ray’s seemingly comfortable attitude towards the topic, Pilus could not help but feel disturbed by the Admiral’s story of Artemis. It reminded him of the tragedy that had befell the Romians back when they were on Earth. All of this talk of tissue transplants reminded him of the corporations’ attempts to make the perfect humans. The fact that this hologram was somehow the Admiral’s daughter also just seemed creepy.

The car containing the group came to a stop. Pilus was actually unsure where to go next. He may bring them to Pova, as he was the highest in the chain of command currently at the station.

“What would you want in exchange for the diamonds?” asked Pilus after getting off the car. No matter what they answer, I will probably end up bringing them to Pova anyway. He will know what Seraphia wants from them.

Despite Admiral Ray’s seemingly comfortable attitude towards the topic, Pilus could not help but feel disturbed by the Admiral’s story of Artemis. It reminded him of the tragedy that had befell the Romians back when they were on Earth. All of this talk of tissue transplants reminded him of the corporations’ attempts to make the perfect humans. The fact that this hologram was somehow the Admiral’s daughter also just seemed creepy.

The car containing the group came to a stop. Pilus was actually unsure where to go next. He may bring them to Pova, as he was the highest in the chain of command currently at the station.

“What would you want in exchange for the diamonds?” asked Pilus after getting off the car. No matter what they answer, I will probably end up bringing them to Pova anyway. He will know what Seraphia wants from them.

Admiral Jack Ray looked a little uncomfortable,
"It may sound wierd, but we need vast amounts of Lichens and Moss, Tree Seedling (Deciduos and Evergreen), Wheat and Barley, and pretty much any other cereal or grain crop, with some Irrigation materials. We recently discovered a large planet covered in CO2 and we want to attempt to terraform it, so that we do not have to live inside of New Tortuga. Do you think you could help ud in that regard?"

Ahh, that was a more useful answer than those riddles we exchanged through transmissions, thought Pova.

Pova’s group had arrived in the meeting room. It’s walls appeared to be made out of oak. In the far wall from the door was a massive fireplace. Large oil paintings decorated the walls, lamps modestly lit the room, and comfortable furniture was situated around the room. The final touch to the room was a piano in a far corner. Pova and his men sat down at a long table with many chairs.

“Have a seat,” he told his guest. “I understand that you are on an exploration mission. If you want to know anything at all, just ask.” Pova settled himself and got a drink. “Tell me a little about your culture. What would you say are your cultural achievements?”
*Snip*

Whenua sat in the offered seat.

"Male Sernaix," he said, "are bred to be warriors and not diplomats. So, excuse any mistakes I may make.

"As for your questions. The first one is the easiest. For the second one, you'll have to ask a femal or a Thrall.

"To understand Ha Dum culture, you'll need to know Ha Dum history. I will relate to you as much as I know. To get a more detailed version, you'll have to ask one of the Thralls. Understood?"

Pilus was pleased by what he heard. “Yes, you have come to the right place. We have many of those plants that you named, and would love to trade them to you. We also have terraforming experience, having terraformed seven planets for people to live on and eleven more for agricultural purposes.”

Pilus decided that he would take them to see Pova. “We should find somewhere to sit,” Pilus said. Across the platform from the group, two soldiers emerged from a door they had opened. The doors in this part of the station were traditional hinged doors, not the futuristic doors that slid open like they were in the other parts of the station. This area was created for diplomatic meetings, and was made to look like a comfortable building.

The soldiers saluted Pilus. Pilus then said, “Lead us to Donvia Hall.”

“Yes sir,” said one of the soldiers. They then began walking through a hall that branched off of the platform with the rest following.

“So,” began Pilus, “We can give you the supplies that you need to terraform the planet in exchange for the diamonds. I am sure that we will also be able to help you in your terraforming endeavors should you need our help. Does this sound like a good deal?”



In the room known as Donvia Hall, Pova sat listening to his guest talk about his roles in his society. He did not quite understand what Whenua was talking about. How could Whenua not be familiar with his culture?

“Yes, I understand,” said Pova.

Pova was also rather unnerved by the word “bred”. I wish that I was speaking with someone more important, not a farm animal.

“Well, tell me what you know of your culture, I just want to know about the people that I am talking with.”

Pova opened a drawer in the side of the table and pressed a button. Inside the drawer was an array of buttons. Pova pressed one. Where once there was a smooth table, a crack slowly opened up and out of it floated one of the common XH-4 spherical droids. The opening quickly sealed itself after the droid had emerged, completely disappearing and making the table seem smooth again. Maybe someone else will be able to catch important facts in Whenua’s dialogue that I will miss, Pova thought. The droid floated out of the way, but was recording the conversation.

Pilus was pleased by what he heard. “Yes, you have come to the right place. We have many of those plants that you named, and would love to trade them to you. We also have terraforming experience, having terraformed seven planets for people to live on and eleven more for agricultural purposes.”

Pilus decided that he would take them to see Pova. “We should find somewhere to sit,” Pilus said. Across the platform from the group, two soldiers emerged from a door they had opened. The doors in this part of the station were traditional hinged doors, not the futuristic doors that slid open like they were in the other parts of the station. This area was created for diplomatic meetings, and was made to look like a comfortable building.

The soldiers saluted Pilus. Pilus then said, “Lead us to Donvia Hall.”

“Yes sir,” said one of the soldiers. They then began walking through a hall that branched off of the platform with the rest following.

“So,” began Pilus, “We can give you the supplies that you need to terraform the planet in exchange for the diamonds. I am sure that we will also be able to help you in your terraforming endeavors should you need our help. Does this sound like a good deal?”


Admiral Niall Looked pleased

Yoriko said, "I am sure that we can work this out. We already have four of our Tortuga Class Space Stations in place over the world, with Space elevators connecting them to the planet's surface. We have found that while time consuming, it is a lot cheaper than shuttle transportation. So, what are you offering in price for the plants and support?"

*Snip*
In the room known as Donvia Hall, Pova sat listening to his guest talk about his roles in his society. He did not quite understand what Whenua was talking about. How could Whenua not be familiar with his culture?

“Yes, I understand,” said Pova.

Pova was also rather unnerved by the word “bred”. I wish that I was speaking with someone more important, not a farm animal.

“Well, tell me what you know of your culture, I just want to know about the people that I am talking with.”

Pova opened a drawer in the side of the table and pressed a button. Inside the drawer was an array of buttons. Pova pressed one. Where once there was a smooth table, a crack slowly opened up and out of it floated one of the common XH-4 spherical droids. The opening quickly sealed itself after the droid had emerged, completely disappearing and making the table seem smooth again. Maybe someone else will be able to catch important facts in Whenua’s dialogue that I will miss, Pova thought. The droid floated out of the way, but was recording the conversation.

Whenua said, "As a created species, the Sernaix are only as much as we were made to be. No more, no less. While male Sernaix, like myself, are designed for physical combat down to the genetic structure, females, which look pretty much like the species known as humans except for the difference in skin pigmentation, are more evolved intellecutally(sp?). This makes it so that the males go out and risk their lives on the frontlines of battle and exploration while the females cataloge everything and strategize and the Thralls are the scientists and Creators."

He kept a watchful eye on the floating droid.

“I am sure that your load of diamonds will be enough to pay for the plants and services.” Pilus was not sure whether the diamonds actually were worth the plants that they were giving, but he wanted to show up back at Klaria with a load of diamonds. "If there is any debate over the price of these goods, I can call in a specialist."

The group came to an elevator, which took them up a few hundred meters.



It appeared to Pova that the Sernaix were in their society the equivalent of robots in Romian society. Created by the masters, in this case beings known as Thralls, to carry out the tasks which the masters did not want to do.

“Do the Thralls hold all of the political power in your society?” asked Pova.

*Snip*
It appeared to Pova that the Sernaix were in their society the equivalent of robots in Romian society. Created by the masters, in this case beings known as Thralls, to carry out the tasks which the masters did not want to do.

“Do the Thralls hold all of the political power in your society?” asked Pova.

"As I said, the Thralls are the scientists and engineers. When a decision that effects the entire nation is needed, the Realm is used. However, the Realm is not something that can be described, one must experience it for themselves," responded Whenua, "It is only part of the technology the Thralls helped us develop. The Others of their kind have already poisoned many groups against their entire species."

Maxwell comes up with an image in his mind of the ground next to him turning fluidic and extending over the maze in the form of a bridge. He closes his eyes and attempts to will this bridge into existance.

"Bravo," exclaims Rahi, "very creative. Now, that is what I was waiting for."

She watches as the imagined bridge forms.

Pova straightened himself up. He felt that this conversation was too one-sided. The guests should have a chance to ask questions, too.

“You said that you desired ‘input’,” said Pova. He took a sip of his wine. “What kind of input are you looking for?”

"Our main purpose," Whenua said, "for coming to this galaxy was to see how far the influence of the Others of Z'Ha'Dum had spread. According to the cycles, their thousand year slumber is over and we already know of a few nations fighting against them. I guess you could call this a combined recon and exploration mission."

Pova found it odd that Whenua had no questions at all. He did not even ask if the Romians knew about the Z’Ha’Dum. If Pova was on Whenua’s mission, then finding out if other races knew the whereabouts of the Z’Ha’Dum would be one of his top priorities.

“We have not encountered any of these Z’Ha’Dum that we know of. Are your people at war with them?”

OOC: Just getting warmed up. You asked for info on Ha Dum, so I'm giving all that stuff first before I get to the Q. & A. section.

IC: Whenua said, "The Shadows of Z'Ha'Dum and the Shadows of Ha Dum are in what would be classified as a Cold War currently. The fact that they haven't had contact with each other since the Shadows of Ha Dum left the planet Z'Ha'Dum, their ancestral homeworld.

"But, enough about us. Earlier, you asked me if I had any questions about you. I decided to finish with the info you wanted on Ha Dum before getting to any questions I had. And, I judge that now would be a good time to start with them.

"What would your nation most likely do if the Shadows of Z'Ha'Dum tried to bring you into the fold on their side of natural anarchy?"

OOC: The Shadows of Z'Ha'Dum, a.k.a. the Others, are cannon Babylon 5.

Pova was puzzled by Whenua's choice of words. Why did he say "shadows of Z'Ha'Dum" instead of just "Z'Ha'Dum". Pova assumed that by "bring you into the fold", Whenua meant that the Z'Ha'Dum would try to conquer Romia. As to the meaning of "natural anarchy", Pova had no clue. He would just dismiss that part of the question for now.

"If the Z'Ha'Dum tried to conquer us, we would oppose them," Pova said.

Whenua sighed, "Z'Ha'Dum is a planet. The Shadow species originated from Z'Ha'Dum, however, some broke away from the Shadow Empire to from the nation of Ha Dum.

"As for conquering, the Shadows of Z'Ha'Dum prefer to use subtle means and not direct combat. As one of the First One races of the Milky Way Galaxy, the Shadows have had a long time to develop their tactics. Thus, they would attempt to convert your leaders. Only those who are pure and true of heart and uncoruptable are immune to their wiles."

“I am sure that your load of diamonds will be enough to pay for the plants and services.” Pilus was not sure whether the diamonds actually were worth the plants that they were giving, but he wanted to show up back at Klaria with a load of diamonds. "If there is any debate over the price of these goods, I can call in a specialist."

The group came to an elevator, which took them up a few hundred meters.


All three of the Deck Officers accompanying Admiral Jack Ray stepped into the elevator.

"Well," Admiral Jack Ray said, "Each of the 1 carat diamonds is worth 35,000 due to the amount of processing we have to go through to prepare them for memory storage, but you get almost a terrabyte out of them, so it should be worth it."

The hologram spoke up. "we are willing to pay 1,000 per seedling Redwood, 500 per seedling of any other trees, and 250 per every 500 pounds of shrubs or flowers. 100 per square mile of grass seeds, and 50 per ton of grain seeds. Irrigation, would be around 250 per mile."

"Well, with your leave Ms. Rahi, we'll be heading over to meet the crew," Maxwell says to her, as he prepares to embark across the bridge.

"Well, with your leave Ms. Rahi, we'll be heading over to meet the crew," Maxwell says to her, as he prepares to embark across the bridge.

A fissure of light appears next to the lawn chair. Rahi stands up and steps through as the chair and umbrella 'melt' back into the ground.

"There are a few tricks only a Shipmind can pull off," she says as she steps out of another fissure, that closes behind her, on the other side of the bridge.

“Well, we should not have to worry about the Shadows of Z’Ha’Dum. Our people are noble and pure, especially our leaders. But, just because I am curious, how do they go about converting others?” This item of security would be an important piece of information should a future encounter take place.



After exiting the elevator, the group navigated through some more halls. The halls were wide, generally with a carpeted strip in the middle, flanked by sparsely placed pillars and a floor that appeared to be stone. The walls looked to be marble, and large double-doors were placed at intervals along the halls. The doors were marked with plaques next to them, although they would be unreadable unless one was fluent in Romian. Fortunately for guests, English was the second most common language spoken in Romia besides Romian.

“Okay, let us see what we can give you. XH-4—” Pilus was addressing the robot floating behind him “—access all of the proper databases and figure out what we can give them for their stated amount of diamonds.”

The robot answered immediately after Pilus finished stating his request. Its voice seemed to be half human, half robotic. “Parameters acknowledged. Based on current records of stocks, the amount of units available to discharge to Admiral Ray in exchange for the diamonds would be: —” The robot paused before each item on the list. “25,000 seedlings of redwood. 100,000 seedlings that would fit into the category of ‘other trees.’ Enough seeds to yield 500,000 square miles of grass. 50,000,000 pounds of shrubs. 200,000,000 pounds of flowers. 500,000 tons of grain seeds. According to the worth of the diamonds given by Admiral Ray, there would be enough left over to pay for 360,000 miles of irrigation.”

“Hmm,” said Pilus, obviously displeased at the low figures. “I am sorry that we are not able to muster much, but I hope that you understand that we do not stockpile seeds of trees and grass. We will be able to work out a better deal in the future since you may need more.”

(OOC: Yay, Jolt server worked this time.)

“Well, we should not have to worry about the Shadows of Z’Ha’Dum. Our people are noble and pure, especially our leaders. But, just because I am curious, how do they go about converting others?” This item of security would be an important piece of information should a future encounter take place.
*Snip*

"As I have not witnessed it personnaly," Whenua explained, "I can only go by the stories the Thralls told:

"The Shadows of Z'Ha'Dum look for the greedy, petty, and easily corruptable in a government. Using their telepathic abilities, they gradually get the person in question to trust them and eventually work for them by promising that they will make all their dreams come true. They then use the first person they corrupted as a proxy.

"I don't know much more than that."

OOC: sorry for the long wait, school is giving us more HW all the time

IC:
"Do not worry, that is more than ample for our initial efforts, Lichens and Mosses grow atr amazing rates, and Redwoods are amazing converters of CO2 into O2, our scientists are testing out a new formula that is supposed to accelerate a tree's growth from 10 years to 10 months. This is plenty. We will also offer this new formula when it is ready in a couple months. or so" The Admiral looked pleased, and finished off his Lomin Ale. for the briefest second it contorted a little, and then was back to normal, "That was tart, wow, best Lomin Ale I have had in a while, I must get the recipe, can we add it in to the negotiations."

Yoriko shook her head, while sipping her sake, and O'Neill looked very pleased, waiting for his chance to off up his father's metal mining into the trade deal.

Admiral Maxwell strolled across the large earthen bridge, looking down occasionally, remembering that he is afraid of heights. He looks over at the complex that houses the Sernaix crew and stares in wonder at the level of technology required to create such a realm.

Admiral Maxwell strolled across the large earthen bridge, looking down occasionally, remembering that he is afraid of heights. He looks over at the complex that houses the Sernaix crew and stares in wonder at the level of technology required to create such a realm.

OOC: Ehh, RL kept me away. Sorry for the delay.

IC: Rahi looked at him and asked, "Are you just going to stand there all day?"

OOC: it happens.

IC: "I was thinking about how to go about this. Do I just go up and knock or how should I engage in contact? I'm not used to this type of situation." He turns, speaking to her, "Our people are sort of new to the whole first contact thing..." He trails off as he stands there looking at Rahi.

"Those in the Realm are capable of multitasking to a very high degree," Rahi said in response, "For example, I am monitering sensors, life support, enginges, power regulation, and other things vital to keeping this ship running smoothly, as well as talking to you. And, technically, we've already had first contact when you met me."

"You make a good point Miss Rahi," He said, looking again at the entryway, "Then with your leave I'll head inside and meet the crew."

OOC: Is there some sort of door or is it just an open entryway into the structure?

"Just Rahi, please," Rahi said, "Miss makes me sound old."

OOC: The wall is there, and yet it is not there. Basically, the wall is the door.

"My apologies," Maxwell said, "Rahi it is then. Any idea how I can get inside?" He approaches the structure, looking at the wall for any sort of control or doorframe.

"Like this," she says before walking through the 'wall' like it wasn't even there.

She sticks her head out and says, "Of course you're going to get a more intellectual conversation out of me than these males."

OOC: Curtesy Bump.

"Well...I wont know until I get inside, now will I?" Maxwell said as he follows her through the wall. He looks around the structure with curiousity.

OOC: Thanks, G.H..

IC: Rahi just sighs and rolls her eyes before ducking back in after him.

OOC: so what should I expect to see inside the structure?

OOC: And might I add, Bump

OOC: Sorry for the delay. I've been lying low due to this whole mistaken identity thing in G.P.'s threads.

As for the inside of the structure, pic the Gate Control from the Matrix movies.

OOC: sorry for the long wait, school is giving us more HW all the time

IC:
"Do not worry, that is more than ample for our initial efforts, Lichens and Mosses grow atr amazing rates, and Redwoods are amazing converters of CO2 into O2, our scientists are testing out a new formula that is supposed to accelerate a tree's growth from 10 years to 10 months. This is plenty. We will also offer this new formula when it is ready in a couple months. or so" The Admiral looked pleased, and finished off his Lomin Ale. for the briefest second it contorted a little, and then was back to normal, "That was tart, wow, best Lomin Ale I have had in a while, I must get the recipe, can we add it in to the negotiations."

Yoriko shook her head, while sipping her sake, and O'Neill looked very pleased, waiting for his chance to off up his father's metal mining into the trade deal.
.

He looks around the structure, being careful not to stray too far from Rahi. "So who's in charge of this vessel?" Admiral Maxwell said to Rahi, as he stepped forward a bit, taking in more of the structure.

"The whole crew is effectively," replied Rahi, "with use of the Realm in running Ha Dum ship, the crew effectively becoming one. Though, I, as the Ship Mind, have the final say in major things."

Courtesy Bump

"So then...I should be negotiating with you is what you're saying?" The Admiral asked a tad confused. "And I apologize for my ineptitude in this, but you're only our second first contact."

OOC: Sorry. I forgot about this thread.

IC: Rahi shrugged and replied, "Honestly, via the Realm, you could actually interact with those back at the home world in the home galaxy."

OOC: No prob...I was starting to wonder what happened to you...lol

IC:
"Uh...Could you show me how to do that possibly?" Maxwell said, "As I am sort of new at this Realm technology..."

OOC: Bump

OOC: Sorry. A big storm was messing with power and internet connection.

IC: Rahi winked and said, "I don't know if you'll get in with out an appointment, but you can try.

"If you hadn't figured it out yet, the Realm is a physical manifistation of one's thoughts. Like what you did with the bridge over the firewall maze, for example."