NationStates Jolt Archive

Location Unknown

Existence hangs on a never-ending cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth. It is a concept covered by such religions as Buddhism and Hinduism; by science in such systems as star life and the rain cycle; and in history in the rise and eventual destruction of powers. In the universe, change is the only constant. When the wheel of fate turns, you *will* fall off the pedestal you have constructed.

A little known fact, however, is that the true measure of a people is not determined by what they do when their civilization is at the top of their game. Rather, it is determined by what they do when it falls, and if they can survive to rise again.

A flash of light signaled the beginning of activity in an area that had previously been silent. A small metallic predatory bird (http://www.battleclinic.com/docks/files/images/8/80a6921312bcfb60e8f514f53fff3a27.jpg) with a grey and blue hull, and no larger then a Defiant class starship, warped into view, trailed by five small dark sperm-like ships (http://vv8.jetc.org/tech/images/Stop.jpg), each slightly smaller then the bird. They unleashed a barrage of firepower on the bird, striking the hull repeatedly with multiple colors of deadly light. The bird had slowed in speed, allowing the demonic ships to swarm around it. Then, without warning, it unleashed its own fury, striking out against the swarm with lights of its own, doing enough damage to drive two of the enemy ships back behind it.

The bridge of the bird, the AIV Destiny, was small, reflecting both the size of the ship and its combat-oriented design. A single captain’s seat sat in the middle of the chamber, which led down a step to two more console positions, tactical and navigation, which sat side-by-side in front of the viewscreen. On either side of the captain’s seat was a railing, forming a non-barrier between it and the sides and back of the bridge, a further step up. The walls were lined with more console positions. On the left of the captain’s chair sat engineering and communication, while science and security held the right. Behind everything was a small ship schematic computer screen on the wall, flanked by a door on each side. The room was heavily damaged, with rubble and small flames littering the darkened room.

Another blast shook the bridge, causing sparks to fly.

“We’ve lost warp capability. Long-range sensors are down. shields are at forty-two percent and falling. I can’t hold the rear ones for much longer” The officer at tactical rambled. He was a young male, seemingly in his mid-twenties (the same as just about everyone else on the ship looked), but looked as though he was well-experienced at this. The only factor that didn’t mesh age-wise was his lack of hair pigment, as his hair was snow-white….as was everyone else’s hair.

A young woman sat in the captain’s seat, almost shockingly in black civilian clothing instead of a fleet uniform. The only thing distinguishing her from a random civilian who had hijacked the ship was the small tiara in her hair. Tears were streaming down her determined face, but she paid no heed. “Load up the rear torpedo launchers. Take them DOWN”

Multiple torpedoes flew out the backside, the majority of them slamming into the two trailing demonic ships, causing one of them to explode, engulphing the other one in a blast of light. It flew out of the explosion, mostly intact, but with noticeable damage to its hull.

However, the Destiny had its share of bruises and cuts as well, with burns smeared across its wings where weapons fire had beaten past the shields. And the three ships swarming around her weren’t letting up.

“Shields are failing! Ablative Armor is non-responsive” another blast caused the tactical officer to shield his eyes from the sparks emanating from his console. He looked back at the woman in the captain’s seat. “Ideas?”

“Is the ESG still operative?” she asked, holding onto the armrests of her seat as another shake almost uprooted her. The tactical officer nodded. “Then do it!”

A sphere of what could be described as fire surrounded the Destiny like a bubble shield. A few seconds later, it flew off, ramming through the swarming vessels. Two of them overloaded and exploded, while the third veered off, meeting back up with the other surviving vessel. The two of them fired off a barrage of torpedoes, which flew through the shield remnant surrounding the Destiny and struck the already-damaged hull. A magnificent explosion ripped through the metal. The bird seemed to be knocked off-course, the engines no longer functioning as it tumbled about under the explosion’s inertia. Like predators, the two demonic ships moved in…

…as the front nose of the Destiny moved into position by chance, it’s forward heavy weapon charged.

The tactical officer locked onto his targets. “See you in Hades”

Six beams of red light, four from the wing tips, and two from the front nose connected together in front of the ship as one giant beam, which fired forward at the opposing ships as a massive torrent of energy. It swept over the two demon ships, overloading and destroying them, causing shrapnel to fly everywhere. One of the pieces flew for the Destiny.

The tactical officer looked at the woman at navigation beside him. “Uh…evasive action. …evasive action. EVASI—”

“I CAN’T!” she screamed, cutting him off. The large chunk of starship slammed into the left wing of the already battered Destiny cutting the end clear off. Explosions rocked the bridge, causing a crewmember flying back into the railing. Most of the crewmembers fell out of their seats as the damaged bird was flung through the open void of space, totally defenseless.

“Ung…” the tactical officer grabbed onto his console to pull himself up out of the rubble.

“Damage report!” said another man’s voice.

He shook his head, reading what he could off the damaged console. “You don’t want to know”.

“Empress?” asked the woman at navigation…well, on the floor next to navigation. “EMPRESS!” She scrambled over to the floor next to the captain’s seat, and pulled the empress up to a sitting position.

“Any idea where we are?” asked the male voice again. The owner stood up, coughing though the smoke that permeated the dark bridge. All of the lights were out except a handful of floor ones and whatever consoles were still functioning.

“Sensors are totally gone” came a female reply from science. “We could be in the middle of a fleet and never know it”

The first male grimaced. “Charming” Looking at the Empress, he asked, “Orders?”

“What’s the point?” she asked quietly. It was a question no one really had an answer for. “The convoy we were protecting is probably gone by now”

For a moment, the only sounds were that of the ship. The burning embers, the creaking of the hull in the far background, and the sound of static from a few of the monitors.

“It’s over. They’re all dead” she said hopelessly, her eyes having glossed over. “I failed…”

Realizing the empress was having a breakdown, the standing male began issuing orders. “Ok, Xolin, start gathering casualty reports” he motioned at the woman at science. “Sing, you take Empress Atlantia to her quarters” he motioned at the woman holding the empress. “Xol, you give me damage reports” he motioned at the man at tactical. “And Trok, you fix them starting with the ones that will cause immediate danger” he motioned at the man at engineering.

“I’m assuming command” both Xol and the standing male declared in unison. They glared at each other.

“Step down, Sid” said Xol, “I’m senior officer”

“Don’t toy with me, Xol. I’m *not* in the mood” Sid replied.

“Join the club. Stand down”

Sid tightened his fists which were at his sides. “I said I’m assuming command. I am head of Styx Squad and commander of—”

Xol cut him off. “A defunct organization with no formal ties to the Imperial Fleet. I’m senior officer”

Sid made a laugh. “The Imperial Navy no longer exists as much as my squad. I’m taking command, lieutenant”

Xolin motioned at Trok. “I say we just give them weapons and let them kill each other”. He nodded in silent agreement.

Now at the door, Atlantia turned around from Sing, who was helping her out. “Sid’s in charge” Xol’s jaw visibly dropped. “I’m sorry Xol, but Sid has more experience leading”. The two left the bridge, leaving a smug Sid pointing to the tactical console behind Xol. Xol gave a really ugly expression before grudgingly turning around and beginning to collect damage reports.

Exploration was the mandate of the Combine Fleet, to the point where it was very rare for Xithis ships to be required to engage in battle. They were a curious breed, really. Isolationists who wanted to know more about others. Introspective extroverts. Whatever you wanted to call them, they kept to themselves and yet spread across the universe simultaneously, causing a bizarre situation in that many had heard of them but nobody really knew them, and vice-versa.

At this very moment a Talyn-class Lacerator was engaged in just that sort of activity. The abysmally heavily armed vessel had never fired its weapons in anger, and instead busied itself by probing the depths of the unusually large gas giant planet they presently orbited. Lacking any kind of specific orders or objectives the ship had been cruising leisurely across the cosmos until it stumbled upon this most unusual planet; several times more massive than a typical Jovian world, it was on the cusp of achieving fusion - but never quite managed it. Xithis scientists aboard the vessel considered this to be of particular astronomical importance and so the large ship dropped anchor and remained in orbit of the world for several weeks.

As active as a small city, small craft buzzed around their mothership constantly as probes were repeatedly fired from the Talyn only to plunge into the depths of the supergiant planet, gathering detailed information that no mere sensor sweep could gather. Each shred of information led them closer to understanding the nature of things, and they worked diligently to process it all as quickly as they could. Fighters with swept-back, blade-like wings patrolled the area in small squadrons, keeping a close eye on the unarmed ships that now milled around the entire system, whilst the mothership herself kept a constant vigil of the general with her much more powerful sensor suites. Whatever their ultimate goal in life, they were determined to gather every scrap of information they could, and they were well equipped to remain in the area long enough to accomplish that.

Officer Xix was the most experienced of all of the command units, and so had de facto control of the overall mission. He found the information coming in quite fascinating, and took the opportunity to read much of it for himself in-between his official duties. Mainly he concerned himself with tactical data for the region, as ultimately it was the task of the XCTL-916, this vessel, to safeguard the data gathering operation. The fact that it served as an excellent mobile science lab was a handy side-effect, though.

Xix had to admit to himself that he would rather be studying new sentient beings than inert planets, however interesting they were. Ever since the tales of the mammals discovered by their sister ship, the XCTL-281, had filtered through the entire Combine, many crews were eager to make similarly exotic discoveries, and Xix was no different. The crew he controlled were similarly eager, but they knew that patience was the key to knowledge. Only by discovering the necessary conditions required for mammalian life to flourish would they stand a significant chance of discovering anything further.

Which often made Xix wonder why they needed to study gas giants, but apparently they were the key to understanding stars or somesuch. He went with that; they were not on a specific mission to find life, just gather knowledge, and that was what they were doing. But still, a Xithis could dream...

Perhaps today was his lucky day though, as his comrade and hive brother disturbed his protracted musings with new tactical information that may well have been of interest to the dreamy Officer. Even as he heard the clicks on the floor which signalled the approach of another of his kind, he knew that his day was about to take a turn.

"Officer Xix, daily report arrived," Jitixi announced, placing a small translucent sheet of plastic-like material on the table near where Xix stood. The pheromones he expelled were curiously anxious, which was Xix's first clue that this was not a normal report.

Xix took the panel in his spindly digits and pressed down firmly on one corner, lighting the panel up in a strange pictorial dialect. His compound eyes absorbed every trace of the writings, taking a full three minutes to read through it all as Jitixi stood nearby patiently. The tablet detailed extreme-range sensors detecting artificial energy spikes in the middle of nowhere, numerous lightyears from this place. Towards the end of the scrolling text were several images displaying long-range thermal imaging, and what looked to be numerous explosions and engine trails. Under any other circumstances Xix would immediately attribute the energy spikes and explosions to a battle of some kind. But here in the middle of nowhere, they had detected no signs of life and nothing to indicate civilisation. Worth a look?

"How can we?" Xix inquired, referring to the helpless science ships through his body language, and releasing concern.

"We launch all pointers," Jitixi said, implying the remaining fighter squadrons. "And long-range support craft. They hold area well."

Xex considered his words. True, with the support craft and all of the fighter squadrons on patrol, the XCTL-916 could safely depart the area to investigate. Other alternatives included ignoring the information, losing out on valuable knowledge and potentially even putting their operation here in jeopardy in the future, or sending fighters to investigate - a time-consuming journey to be sure without the capital ship's space fold drive technology. Xex liked the first option best, and promptly released a positive.

"We go," Jitixi nodded, releasing excitement and respect as he turned around and scurried off quickly.

***

It took some five minutes for the gravity core of the double-hulled goliath to be brought to optimal output once the order was given, as the ship had allowed it to power down to nominal levels during its stay here. With the gravity core at full power, it began to manipulate the very fabric of space itself. Stars surrounding the craft began to ripple, and stretch from single points of light to long white streaks, as though some great beast had clawed its way through the universe. A hole was torn in space itself, which the ship moved towards slowly, and for a brief moment they stretched so far that it appeared as though two areas of space were existing in the same place, before all of a sudden the stars rebounded back to their normal appearances like elastic.

The XCTL-916 now existed in a different point of space.

Sudden movement from one point in space to another was often disorientating. It took the ship numerous moments to gather together its bearings and triangulate its new position in the universe, and finally it began to make detailed scans of the surrounding area, carefully observing every single object nearby. Sensors identified several clouds of ever-expanding debris fields, consisting of heavy metals and numerous artificial compounds, along with traces of organic residue.

Of particular interest was the drifting hulk of what appeared to be a small, crippled ship, scarred with the wounds of battle and bleeding things which were no doubt important to its continued survival.

Xix was excited and dismayed at the same time as he saw it brought up on one of the imagers. A craft unlike any other, truly the work of aliens. Who built it? What was its purpose? Where had it come from? All these questions and more flew through Xix's mind as the command centre became a hive of activity. Xithis scurried across the massive, three-tiered facility which was buried deep in the heart of the dorsal hull section, conferring with each other as massive amounts of new data was dragged back to their home by the sensors. They hurriedly began to analyse it and draw conclusions.

"Ship of war!" Gthyl announced, releasing excitement. His expertise lay primarily in engineering and advanced technologies, though he tended to allocate himself to tactical roles more often than not - typically on a Xithis ship this involved less work, if nothing else. "Directed energy weapons. Armoured hull. Energy shields. Much damage endured. Victor or not? This cannot determine."

Xix cocked his triangular head and stroked the glossy exoskeleton of his 'chest' as he gazed at the image. Jitixi stood at his side, equally bewildered by what was before them. Ultimately it fell to Xix, the oldest and most experienced, to make a determination. He decided to make a concerted effort to bring some order to the chaos and discover what that craft was.

"Need to scan for life," Xix announced, releasing authoritative pheromones and gesturing urgency. "What kind? Survived? Dead? Dying? Damage scans also."

Gthyl released hurried acknowledgement and demonstrated his mastery of the computer systems. Complete sequences of pictographs and diagrams began to flash across the holographic tactical display which resided at the very centre of the upper command deck. The alien display was drawn with perfect accuracy in wireframe form as the computer began to identify and label what it believed to be key systems. Weapons, shield grids, sensor pallets, engine exhausts. It then determined where the craft was damaged, how badly, where the weakest points where, and attempted to determine whether the craft could be repaired with current resources.

Ultimately it began to plot the interior of the vessel. A red haze was cast over numerous areas of the small ship, indicating the presence of recognised organic compounds. It could not determine whether they were living or dead, but so far as it could tell there were appropriate living conditions within many of the habitable areas of the ship. Finally, it pinpointed optimal arrival positions, with yellow representing the most efficient rescue entry points, and blue representing the most tactically sound entry points.

"Life compounds established," Gthyl said at long last, somewhat stating the obvious as Xix could read the diagram floating before them as well as he. "I maintain arrival in code blue sections. No knowledge of aliens, live or not live."

Jitixi released agreement. "Maybe uncooperative. Maybe even mammals."

Xix concurred. "First, to try communicate."

Xithis linguistics were one particular field of study where they had fallen down. Their utterly different language and methods of communicating had meant that even attempts to learn the simplest of mammalian languages had fallen flat. Thus far a reasonable approximation of what had been identified as a somewhat 'universal' language - known to most as 'English' or 'Basic' - was the only language available to them, and the computer translation matrix was not able to properly include the pheromonal or physical aspects of their language into the outputs. Nevertheless, as the result of many years of painstaking study, it was better than nothing.

Xix released authority, inferring that he would be the one to attempt it. He quickly set the transceiver arrays to broadcast on standard radio, subspace radio, and numerous other methods of transmission, and activated the microphone on the nearest panel. He only hoped that it would work - it was thus far untested, after all.

"I, Xithis Combine XCTL-916, to detect and scan thus. Many devastations of systems. Rescue? Mammals?"

This was as close of an approximation as the computer was capable of outputting. Xix had no way of knowing that it worked at all until some kind of response was received - and then, they would have to hope that the computer could translate back into Xithisi equally well...

The entire command centre went silent as Xithis from all three decks congregated around the main communications facilities, hoping to hear history in the making.

"This place is a mess"

Head engineer for the mission (which was really weird, considering he was more of a weapon's expert), Trok maneuvered his way through the still-smoldering wreckage of Main Engineering, turning over large sheets of metal and other debris out of the way when needed. The crewmembers that had survived the attack were busy pulling out bodies, cleaning debris, and putting out fires. Trok stopped in the middle of the chamber, a few paces away from the offlined warp core.

"This is going to take forever to fix" he muttered, glancing up at the large construct. He looked over at a crewmember working at one of the consoles near him. "What's the status?"

He looked up from his duties and over at Trok. Taking a small Pad with him, he moved over to the head engineer. "Not good. We managed to shut it down before we got a warp-core breach, but it's going to take awhile to recalibrate. And none of us are exactly *skilled* with a warp engine"

Trok nodded. "Right. I prefer the jump engines more myself. You don't have to worry about a leak that can kill everyone and vaporize the ship" he stopped to think for a second. "What's the status of our sensor grid?"

"Short range should be up in an hour...it just got jumbled in the impact. Long range...is going to take a whole lot longer"

"Sir!" another crewmember, this one female, ran up to Trok. He turned around to give her his attention. She had an expression of urgency on her face. "Sir, we've got confirmation of an atmosphere leak on deck six"

"...what?!" Trok's eyes widened. "Didn't the force fields activate?!"

The male crewmember sighed as he handed Trok his padd, which contained a list of damaged systems. "...those are *also* offline"

The female looked at him and then back at Trok. "We've sealed off the section by closing off all doors, but that'll only slow it down. We need those force fields up STAT"

"I'll get my guys on it" the first crewmember sighed, turning to walk away. He began issuing orders to his team.

Trok watched him walk away, then turned his attention back to the woman. "Anything else?"

She seemed to hesitate, wanting to ask a question but not being able to phrase it correctly. Finally, she shook her head. "No sir" she said, before turning and leaving. Knowing full well it was a question along the lines of "what now?", he was glad she *didn't* ask it, as he had no answer. Glancing at the padd, he began to scroll through the extensive (and depressing) list of damaged systems and subsystems.

"This was supposed to be your job, Coros" he muttered to himself sadly, "Not mine"

...

"Here we are"

Sing and Atlantia stood in front of the door to the Empress's quarters. Surrounding them was a darkened hallway, filled with the same fallen debris as the rest of the ship.

"This is fine, thanks" Atlantia said, pulling herself off Sing. "I'm not crippled"

Sing smirked. "I'm just trying to help. Is there anything wrong with that?"

The Empress shook her head. "No. I...I just don't need it. But thanks"

"We all need help, Atlantia" Sing replied, not even bothering with the title. She had known the woman long before she had become the Empress. "I don't think you know how to accept that help"

The two stood silent for a moment, before Atlantia pulled a small rod from her belt, and extended it into a long ornate Trident that was as long as she was. Using it as a semi-walking stick, she moved towards her door, which opened. "I can take care of myself, lieutenant. Good day". The door shut behind Atlantia.

Sing folded her arms, worried. It wasn't often that Atlantia would actually pull rank. She was obviously distressed beyond all reasonable comprehension. She needed someone to talk to. Putting her hands in her pockets, Sing turned and began a slow walk back to the bridge--making sure to take her time as she'd be working her ass off as soon as she opened that door.

...

Damage reports, damage reports, damage reports. That was all that littered the screen in front of Xol. An endless amount of angst, depression, bitterness, and--

A small beeping sound caught his attention. Even more interesting, it was coming from the communications console. He got up and moved over, taking a seat in front of it. "Guys...I uh...I think we got mail"

"...'scuse me?" asked Sid. He and Xolin were on the other side of the room, working at the science console. He looked back at Xol with an expression of slight confusion.

Xol pointed at the communication console. "We got company!"

Xolin and Sid glanced at each other, then at Xol, before rushing over.

"Viewscreen's down. Audio only" said Xol, pressing a button. A series of seemingly random words and noises were emitted from the computer.

"Uh...I got parts of that" Xolin said, confused. "Sorta"

Sid nudged Xol to get up, who did. Sid then sat down into the seat and began fooling with the controls. "It's...some form of basic. Hang on....I think I got it"

A few seconds later, the message played again.

"I, Xithis Combine XCTL-916, to detect and scan thus. Many devastations of systems. Rescue? Mammals?"

"Bless the gods" Xolin said, a huge smile on her face. "Rescuers!"

"Hang on" Sid said again, "I'm going to try sending a message back in basic. I hope they can understand"

"This is Sid, of the Atlantean vessel Destiny. Yes, we...are in bad shape, and...yes...we...are mammals"

Sid seemed slightly cunfuzzled as he spoke that last statement. He looked at both Xolin and Xol, who only gave him shrugs.

Like a harbinger of optimism, a message finally winged its way back to the XCTL-916, demonstrating in one singular transmission not only that there were creatures still respiring aboard the alien craft, but also that their translation matrix worked - if only enough to be understood. While they were hardly going to be writing novels in basic, at last they had a method of communicating with the universe at large to some degree.

Xix spent some time with the computer and a small group of xeno-linguistic experts examining the message; the peculiar inflections, the strange grammatical conventions, and the use of words. After some fifteen minutes they collectively came to the conclusion that the person on the other end of the 'line' was called Destiny, a word which translated to some kind of predestination paradox in commonly accepted temporal physics, and that they were indeed mammals. The ship must have suffered from extensive damage, as its very shape was apparently adjusted in a negative way, and the use of the affirmative word 'yes' implied that they did indeed require assistance.

Wasting no time Xix instructed his colleagues to immediately prepare for translocation, suggesting to them that they take appropriate engineering and medical equipment. Xithis had some experience with a bipedal mammal species previously on the planet designated MH-XCT-02, and although it was extremely doubtful that the two species would be similar, at the very least some of the basic medical supplies would be of some use - even if they had to apply them on their own. No medical nanorobots were equipped, as without being programmed for the physiology of these new creatures, they would be about as useful as ship with no hull.

Jitixi promptly assembled a group of two engineers and one of the resident xeno-biologists from lab six, and hurried them through the equipment supply rooms and into the nearest translocation facilities. The three other Xithis, with engineers named Quixil, Thixnis and the xeno-biologist named Kliktis, milled around nervously as Jitixi arrived. Quixil and Thixnis wore small strap-on packs on the horizontal lower-half of their bodies, whilst Kliktis carried a small metallic briefcase. All of them wore the standard metal bracer on their skinny left arms, which incorporated updated verbal translators, surface-to-ship transmitters, personal shield generators and a host of low-powered sensors, but even with such equipment they were not reassured.

"We sure of breathable air?" Quixil asked of Jitixi as he approached, a sense of extreme anxiety literally lingering in the air all around him.

Jitixi simply shook his triangular head, releasing a hint of amusement. "Sure," he said with an affirmative, and tapped the younger Xithis on the back. He released reassuring pheromones, to which a reluctant affirmative was released. The engineer had only joined the ship's substantial crew complement on their last return to Studium, and this was his first employ since leaving his brooding chamber. Nerves were bound to be alive with trepidation, or at least the Xithis equivalent.

"Translocators charged," a technician announced from an array of complicated computer terminals. The room was particularly large for such a small platform as the one they presently mounted, but considering the nature of the equipment, several areas of the ship were about to experience brown-outs as they were moved from this ship to the other by means of dimensional translocation. None of them were particularly enthused by the idea, especially with the technology still being quite new - it, like Quixil, had only been installed on their ship on the last stop at Studium.

Jitixi released an affirmative for the technician once the four were standing fully on the white platform, who in turn released reassurance. He began to operate the computer controls, with holographic displays illuminating to demonstrate the rising power levels and assorted other readouts too complicated and, frankly, boring to explain. Quixil in particular hunched his upper body over, an instinctive reaction when nervous - his primitive self hoped to protect himself from attack by presenting the stronger side of his exoskeleton to the 'enemy' - as sparks flew from a similar platform on the ceiling above them.

All of a sudden, a frantic series of light bursts blinded them temporarily. A silvery metallic portal, like a blob of mercury suspended in mid-air, engulfed the four Xithis and temporarily hung in the room, before shrinking into nothingness as quickly as it had appeared.



Aboard the Destiny, a similar portal burst open in a corridor closest to the largest concentration of organic compounds they could detect, which promptly shrank into nothing to leave behind the four shiny black Xithis. Quixil looked positively dead, standing there completely motionless, until Jitixi gave him a brisk nudge to shake him out of it.

"Translators on," he instructed the others, and they all popped open a small panel on their bracers, tapping on some small buttons with their spindly fingers. "Shields on," he added quickly, realising they had little idea of with whom they dealt. Eagerly his companions responded.

Once they had readjusted to the new environment they found themselves in - translocation was even more disorientating than space folding - they began to survey their surroundings, not only in the visible light spectrum but also in infra-red and ultra-violet, desperately searching for any signs of life.

[OOC: Sorry for the delay, was busy setting up my new computer yesterday. Also, apologies if there are any significant grammatical errors, I hurried through it so that I could get to the gym before it closes!]

OOC: a slightly smaller post then usual. Celebrating father's day and a full shift at work. Although I have a feeling the posts will be getting a little shorter from here on out anyway.

IC:

The darkened hallway, illuminated through the non-visible spectrum that the four newcomers were using, seemed to be in a wreck. Debris everywhere, with hoses and pipes hanging from the broken ceiling. Faint lights on the corners between the ceiling and walls flickered on and off, if they were even on to begin with. Floor lights illuminated the way as much as they could, but even they were faint. One of the broken pipes seemed to be spraying some form of mist into the air--probably water vapor. A couple loose wires sparked randomly.

In the distance, shouting could be heard. Probably people giving and taking orders in a slight frantic.

"Lay them over here"

"Is he still breathing?"

"He's got plasma burns all over his front!"

"Dead bodies go over there. He's still breathing, damnit!"

The away team had managed to place themselves down the hall from the ship's sickbay, where the bodies were being stacked.

...

Meanwhile, the three on the bridge waited breathlessly for a reply, each of them huddled near the communications display.

"...did they get it?" asked Xolin.

As if to answer her call, the security console suddenly went off. Xol quickly moved himself to the other side of the bridge, and began reading the automated report regarding some sort of transporting occurring on one of the mid-level decks.

"We got company" he said, looking back over at Sid and Xolin. "Four of them, near sickbay. And they aren't mammalian"

The other two glanced at each other, and then back at Xol. "...What are they?" asked Sid. "Reptilian?" he guessed, as reptile lifeforms seemed to be the usual non-mammal carbon-based lifeform to run into.

Xol shook his head. "Insectoid. Like giant ants"

"I don't think we know any ant-like species" Xolin muttered, going over any less-then-usual alien species she knew of in her head.

Sid nodded. "It looks like we got a first contact situation. Xolin, you're with me. Xol, you have the bridge...well, what's left of it"

He nodded, watching the two walk towards and out the door. A moment later, Xol was sitting comfortably in the captain's seat.

bump...will post something as soon as I have the time...

Exhile can be long and formative, but little can squash the human desire for exploration. To this end, it was decided to build a series of starships capable of deep space exploration and precolonization. They were designed to be microcosmic of the society from which they hailed, populated by humans who coexisted with their self-aware, free willed artificial compatriots. The two societies, human and machine, were totally interdependent and, in the eyes of its denizens, they were not merely entertwined, they were one and the same. This peculiar social covenant between creator and creation manifested itself best aboard their starships.

The Mind aboard the General Systems Unit Foundation of Wisdom carefully throttled the giant warp engines to their idle power. The stars around it dimmed from their brilliant, hazy blueshift to their normal white glow as the Alcubierre's curvature around the GSU flattened and resolved into normality. The ship faced into the star system at a 90 degree angle to the plane of the ecliptic; standard survey procedure, as facing the system flat on to the plane of orbits made preliminary surveys much easier. Every aspect of the fall from warp was carefully calculated and recorded in the vast datastores of the Mind.

Within the ship, the Mind spoke to the residents of the GSU in its amiable, soothing voice; "We have exited hyperluminosity into the uncharted system. I will begin preliminary scans and make the telemetry available shortly." There was a great deal of excitement among the humans and mechanoids populating the Science and Stellar Cartography level of the Command Nexus. A group of them hung around a holographic projector as they studied the information on their tablets that poured in from the long-range scans.

"This is great. A whole new star system!," Icarus could barely contain his excitement. He was young, promising, but terribly unfocused. He had a interest in everything and a mastery of nothing, but he made the volunteer cut when the mission began, mostly because of his sheer intellect and enthusiasm.

"Does every new star interest you so, young Icarus? Have you been this enthralled for the past dozen systems we have surveyed?" mused the baritone voice from the seven foot tall mechanoid named Jarl. Jarl has been on many such missions and so was invaluable for his (its?) experience.
Icarus looked confused "Uhhh......yeah?" Jarl chuckled and the great lens of his face looked down at Icarus. The glow of his lens brightened and warmed, implying something pleased or humored him. In his innocence, Icarus didn't understand the humor of his elder.

Lal, an older man with a great deal of experience in understanding the intricacies of sensor telemetry hummed and hawed over his station, calling up data on the projection in front of him. "Say, Icarus, I've got a question for you. But first, check this out." He tapped on icon in space on the projection in front of him and icons sprang up on the holographic projection Icarus and Jarl were studying. "Sensor ghosts, perhaps?" He let that hang rhetorically.

"No, not so localized." replied Icarus, and suddenly he was focused, less awkwad. He furrowed his brow at the coordinates displayed on the projection, tapped some commands into his tablet, and the coordinates he desired dominated the space in front of him. Information streamed across his tablet endlessly. "Spectral analysis suggests the existence of polymers, alloys, and fusion ash in a highly localized area." He studied the telemetry further. Lal smiled, "So, what's that mean?"

Icarus looked up, the glow from the projector reflecting in his pupils, "It means," he said with rare certainty "that this isn't a natural occurence. This is a debris field."
Lal beamed, "Give that man a pat on the back! Jarl, quickly, what's a debris field mean?"
Jarl glowed, "A battle, brother Lal. There was a fight here."

The Mind, listening with intent to the conversation (and every other aboard in the Command Nexus for that matter), chimed in with serenity "Brother Lal, I have arrived at the same concluson and have focused our sensors into the area of concern. There is new telemetry." The holographic projection resolved into an image of an immense alien vessel hovering near a much smaller one. It was clear the smaller vessel had been involved in the previous battle. Lal wondered if the larger was the victor, but the Mind spoke again: "Debris from the field matches the hull material of the smaller vessel, but nothing in the material resembles the larger ship."

Jarl stated the facts, "A third party was involved. Its likely, therefore, that the larger, undamaged vessel is rendering aid."

"Agreed" stated Brother Lal. "Mind, recommend that we begin our survey of this system there. Send a transcript of our conversation with telemetry to Contact."
"I concur," stated Mind, and paused, as if to think, "Contact suggests to initiate communications now. I will adjust course and initiate contact."

The three kilometer long, sleek bulk of the Wisdom accelerated into the star system at 80% light speed, fast enough to convey a sense of urgency, not fast enough to raise too much alarm. The Mind began its broadcast:

This is General Systems Unit Foundation of Wisdom of the Culture of Sunya. We are on a mission of exploration and mean no harm or aggression. Our telemetry suggests that there has been combat here and we wish to render aid, if needed. Please respond.

"This place not optimal," Quixil announced after they had fully absorbed their chaotic surroundings, and released a most definite negative. Jitixi gazed at the younger Xithis for a few moments, desperately trying to detect some minute change in his posture or body temperature which might indicate that he spoke in jest, before ultimately releasing what could only be translated as a 'pheromone sigh' in his general direct.

Fortunately the Xithis were not well versed in the art of sarcasm, which was probably the best response to such redundancy, and Jitixi simply released an affirmative in agreement. It was only when their bracers began to detect sound in the distance and attempt - and ultimately fail - to translate the faint garbled noises. Kliktis lifted an arm and pointed in the direction he believed the sounds to be coming from, and without further communication the four Xithis began clicking their feet against the decks as they hurriedly moved towards them.

As they approached they began to notice a distinct aroma in the air, which although foreign to them was quite definitely the scent of burned flesh. They were positively unsure of what to make of the smell, as their powerful senses found it overwhelming to the point where they found it difficult even to detect each other's pheromones, making communication slightly harder for them. Finally they sighted the first stack of bodies, and numerous creatures milling around to render aid to the wounded thin-skinned mammals. Kliktis in particular found them fascinating; two legs and two arms, standing completely vertically, they had an endoskeleton and only a thin membrane holding their innards... well, in. He promptly began probing them with a small plastic-like translucent panel that he pulled from his case, learning more about their design.

Closer to the source of the strange noises they made, their bracers were better able to translate what was being said - as well as could be done for such drastically different languages at any rate. The more they heard, the better the matrices became, but even now it was clear that the mammals were attempting to help each other.

"Kliktis, you render aid?" Jitixi asked with a concerned release.

"Too alien," Kliktis said, releasing disappointment and regret. "Maybe with further study. For now, I mechanically seal wounds and contain leaks. Ease burning." He released uncertainty with the latter suggestion, as he didn't know enough about their physiology to be confident in any complicated treatment.

"Do the possible," Jitixi instructed him, releasing reassurance. "Quixil and Thixnis; fix and clear." He indicated the sparking cables, leaking pipes, debris and flickering lights; the former three were clearly dangerous, while the latter one would probably help the mono-spectrals perform their tasks more efficiently. Both engineers took welding and cutting tools from each others' packs and scurried off to begin securing sparking wires, fixing whatever lights they could easily get at and stopping the gaseous leaks.

As they became noticed by the mammals hurrying around, Jitixi faced the most difficult task of all - trying to say hello. He quickly made some adjustments to his shiny bracer and then looked up again.

"Officer Xix to speak with Officer Destiny," the bracer blurted out in a mechanical voice, using a rather poor approximation of English with what seemed to be a completely made-up accent. "Xithis Combine XCTL-916 to the rescue many devastated systems, mammals. Comprehend?"

***

Meanwhile, aboard the XCTL-916, the situation was being monitored by the Xithis thanks to the bracers carried by their rescue party. Additionally, the approaching alien ship was detected, and was determined to be of the wrong composition to match whatever attacked this 'other' alien ship. When the approaching ship sent a transmission, Xithis began analysing it. To bide the time, Xix ordered that they repeat the transmission they had previously sent to the being known as Destiny, as he decided that for the immediate moment it conveyed their own intentions well.

OOC: I will be out of town from Thursday until Monday, my next post might take a few days longer then usual.

IC:

The sickbay had been fully over-stuffed, causing crewmen to leave piles of the dead out in the hallway. Even some of the cataloging was taking place out there. Sickbay itself was a mess, but busy as hell as crewmen moved from side to side, bringing the wounded in and putting them down as a panic-stricken doctor barked orders.

At first the crewmen paid no attention to the ant-like creatures, either not seeing them or wanting *not* to see them. Finally however, they could not be ignored...especially as one began talking in a strange variation of basic.

The crewmembers closest to Xix stopped in their tracks, their flight or fight responses frozen in fear.

"Uh..." one of them stammered, "Wh-who are..." A demon? They looked alien enough. Fearsome enough...kinda. Not as many spikes as he had imagined. Why hadn't they attacked? Were they planning on taking prisoners? Specimens?

He began to step back as another crewmember prepared to pull out her pistol.

"Don't fire!" said a voice, coming from the other end of the hall. A man seemingly in his twenties, but with the same white hair as everyone else, jogged over to everyone, accompanied by a woman about his age. "They're on our side. I think" he turned to face Xix, who he assumed to be the leader.

"I am Commander Sid, acting captain of the AIV Destiny" he said, making sure to go slow enough so the translator could hopefully come up with a suitable translation.

...

"Where'd everyone go?" asked Sing, as the bridge doors shut behind her. Xol swivilied the chair around slightly, catching her in his sight. "Sid and his girlfriend went down a few decks to deal with some guests"

"Boarding party?" asked Sing, her tone becoming far more serious.

Xol shook his head. "Nah. I don't think so. Away team. Some ship's offering us aid"

Another beeping noise came from the communications console. Sing moved over to the display, while Xol turned his seat, half-preparing to get up. "What is it?"

"We got a ship hailing us"

"The same one?" asked Xol, getting up. Sing shrugged, not knowing. She pressed the audio play button.

This is General Systems Unit Foundation of Wisdom of the Culture of Sunya. We are on a mission of exploration and mean no harm or aggression. Our telemetry suggests that there has been combat here and we wish to render aid, if needed. Please respond.

Another one, thought Xol. He mused at the slight paradox. In the endless abyss of space, you would be forever surrounded by a collection of various ships if in need of assistance.

"Uh...this is Lt. Xol, of the AIV Destiny. Yeah, we're in some pretty bad shape here...."

Brother Lal was a little breathy and red-faced by the time he reached the Contact Section of the Command Nexus. The Command Nexus was ten decks tall, built on on top the other and staggered tiers of a rice paddy carved into the side of a mountain. The whole arrangement was built under a huge diagonal section of gently curved bulkhead on which an immense holographic projection of the current star system, a map of the galactic sector, and a status indicator of the Wisdom were superimposed in their own smaller windows against the gigantic backdrop of the view ahead. Each deck operated independently, gathering data and managing ship systems all while coordinating with one another via the Mind. In fact, Lal's ten minute, three vertical deck sprint was completely unnecessary. But no lack of ergonomics can contain his enthusiasm and he felt he had to speak directly with the Contact personnel.

Contact was already bustling as the communications received were played, replayed, analyzed in every syntactically imagineable way, and transmissions mapped on every frequency for any other data.

The first message was distinctly alien, its transmission architecture was unusual. But the contents of the mesage itself were perplexing:

"I, Xithis Combine XCTL-916, to detect and scan thus. Many devastations of systems. Rescue? Mammals?"

Lal huddled over the workstation of Taavit, a venerable but energetic woman who wrote the textbooks on xenolinguistic analysis. Lal had already read the message, but he was a cartographer, languages were not his strong suit.

"What does it mean?", he asked, wide eyed and breathless.

Taavit leaned back in her chair, considering her response, and her analytical mind rattled off everything deduced thus far, "Well, they call themselves Xithis. The use of the first person is interesting, especially considering the use of a plural Combine. I'm not sure if they differentiate much between the individual and the whole. Or, they just lack the kind of language processing societies of their technological advancement ought to possess. Either way, I don't think alot of the nuances of their language is nonverbal. The rest of it is a bit confusing. I think they're stating that they've detected and scanned the ship. Scans suggests that their ship is functioning properly, so the damage they speak of must be in relation to the other ship. I think they're asking us if we intend to rescue."

"What's this about mammals?", Lal said pointedly. That was the part of the transmission that really interested him.

Taavit looked up at him, "If they're asking if we are, I think its safe to say they're not. Which means they may need help with the wounded if they're unfamiliar with the physiology of those they seek to aid."

Mind gently spoke,"Excuse me, Taavit, Lal, but there's another transmission, this one from the damaged vessel. Shall I play it for you?"

"Yes, please do." relied Taavit.

"Uh...this is Lt. Xol, of the AIV Destiny. Yeah, we're in some pretty bad shape here...."

The message crackled and broke, implying a damaged transmitter.

"Well, that seems a bit more familiar. Mind, request authorization to compose and send responses on behalf of the ship." Taavit spoke with authority.

"One moment...", Mind paused. Taavit began composing her messages.

Procedure meant that everything must be run through the Mind, who will insure that no other Section has any objections. They typically don't, but every once in a while those guys in Tactical get a little uppity about ship security. But they must have been too busy scanning the aliens' ships weaponry and recreating the battle to say no. Besides, Taavit was respected. Mind spoke again a few moments later, "Go ahead, Taavit. Authorization granted."

Taavit hushed her comrades and spoke into her display. She opted to send an audio as well as visual message, believing a face to a voice was always preferable. Her first transmission was to the Xithis:

Xithis Combine XCTL-916, we are not familiar with the damaged vessel or its occupants. We can lend medical aid and evacuate the ship if necessary. We may also have the capacity to repair it. she paused, uncertain of how to broach this situation, but then resumed the transmission, We find it difficult to understand your syntax. We would like to meet together so that we may better learn to communicate.

She left the transmission to the Xithis at that, hoping they would not take her request to better understand them as a slight. She winced as she replayed the transmission in her head, but hoped it would go over well.

She then adjusted her frequency to that used by the damaged vessel and began another transmission,

Lt. Xol, I am Elder Taavit. What is the status of the Destiny? We can evacuate you if it becomes dangerously unstable. Otherwise, I am sending a medical team to help treat your wounded and we can tow your ship into our Foundry Bay and begin repairs at your discretion.

With that, she ended the transmisson and began contacting other sections to assemble a medical team.

OOC: Ok, back into the fold!

IC:

Xol and Sing took a brief look behind them at the shattered bridge, with mildly depressed expressions on their faces. Broken chairs, burnt out and shattered control panels, loose wires, and a partially collapsed roof--accompanied by a a viewscreen full of fuzzy white which was the main source of light for the dimmed room created a somber scene.

Turning back around, Xol began transmitting the condensed version of the damage report out to the new ship.

"We're ok for now...but we do need some things fixed rather quickly...like forcefield containment. Our boys are working on it as we speak."

He glanced at Sing. "Tell Sid we got more company"

OOC: Glad you’re back!

"We're ok for now...but we do need some things fixed rather quickly...like forcefield containment. Our boys are working on it as we speak."

Taavit relayed the message to all departments involved and an away team was rapidly assembled. The members of the away team were generally younger than those aboard the Command Nexus. Rank existed, but decisions were generally democratic, therefore, all the really important ones were left to those with the only real kind of authority anybody on the Foundation of Wisdom, or anywhere else in the Culture for that matter, truly respected: experience and knowledge. Just like you’d ask a farmer for help with your garden, you wouldn’t ask a soldier for help as to where to take your ship or how to get it there. You’d just ask him where to point the damned thing when you need to blow something up.

As a result, given the nature of the needs of Destiny, the away team consisted mostly of those who could help the most, engineers and medics. Of course, everyone had military training and all carried side-arms, but no one was actually a member of Tactical. They opted not to come, deeming the situation safe enough (and potentially fragile enough) to not send in Marines. The equation was simple: you only send warriors into a war, not an humanitarian mission.

The team of three engineers, three medics, and two machina, Jarl and Io, boarded the sleek corvette. The craft was dwarfed by the cavernous bay it arced out of and raced towards the Destiny. The corvette pulled along side the beleaguered vessel and lowered a sort of metal shroud over a docking portal on the surface of the Destiny’s hull, filling the vacuum with breathable air before opening the portal and shuffling into the corridor. Mateen, the ranking engineer on this expedition, spoke with Tulu, the ranking medic, looking into her black eyes, “Take your team and follow this corridor that way. I’ll give you coordinates.” He moved icons on a holographic projection emanating from a small silver cylinder strapped to the forearm, of his black, armored suit, which they all wore “Initial scans indicate greatest concentration of wounded in that area, assuming their vital signs and brain waves are anything like ours. I’ll take machina Jarl and my team will unload our equipment here before approaching the bridge and assessing the extent of the damage. Be careful, Tulu.” And with that, all parties got to work.

Tulu and her team quickly and silently gathered their equipment and raced off down the corridor toward sickbay. The boots of her and her medics resounded on the deck, while Io’s slow metallic thuds followed them. Despite the seven foot height of the mechanoids, they were mostly composed of a ceramic-polymer composite nano-mechanically interwoven with crystalline threads of titanium alloys, the same sort of stuff used to build starship hulls. The machine people, machina, were therefore durable and lightweight, despite their bulk. And they were indispensable. Io in particular was equipped with a variety of sophisticated diagnostic tools that will enable Tulu and her team to make more accurate diagnoses, and he can assist in field surgeries if necessary. Besides, Tulu had become accustomed to working with the mechanoid. She appreciated his stark, methodical, and abrupt personality. He had an obsession with perfection, and, though he never grew tired or lost his concentration, he always took failure very personally. She was glad he was there.

The medics and Io approached sickbay and, feeling suddenly overwhelmed and somewhat outclassed by a room full of needy, injured people plus a handful of aliens like large insects, Tulu entered the room with her team, who immediately began triaging the wounded closest to the door. Io stayed by here side, towering above her lithe frame, as she approached the chaos, and she spoke to everyone in the room; “My name is Tulu and this is my team. We’re here to help you in this medical crisis, but if you have only light injuries, please see my associate, Io, for treatment,” she gestured to the mechanoid “and he will instruct you on the principles of triage so we can quickly determine individual needs and evacuate the worst injured among you to our ship for treatment.” While she spoke, she began setting up a first-aid station from a case she hauled behind her. “Now, who among you is the doctor here?”


…

After a quick foray to a few other decks to deploy emergency force field generators to cover the much larger gaps, referencing the damage report received by the Wisdom, and then patching a few debris punctures in the hull along the way with carbon fiber patches, Nan-O-Weld, and aluminum foam, Mateen entered the bridge, the doors grinding and squeaking open for him and his team. He looked around the mess, the smells of burnt fabric, flesh, and ozone filled the air. He and his engineers piled into he bridge. He addressed the two humans (?) sitting at the front of the bridge, talking around a pile of snapped ceiling supports, “My name is Mateen, and this is quite a mess you’ve got here. I’ve got your damage report and we brought some force field generators to help quell the hemorrhaging, so to speak. So we’ve got this place somewhat buttoned up, but, pardon my keen grasp of the obvious, but your ship is pretty good and shot up. Lieutenant Xol, is it? Where shall we start? What do you need first?”

OOC: Apologies for the delay. I wasn't actually kept away by anything, I was just suffering from a prolonged case of writer's block! I kept trying to post a response, but I only got a sentence or two out each before being clueless...

IC: Jitixi watched the interactions of the fleshy creatures with curiosity, and repeatedly tinkered with the bracer on his arm in an effort to improve its ability to translate. Each new word, in each new context, furthered the efficiency of the translator, although given the thoroughly alien nature of their language it would never be truly perfect. He remained unperturbed even as one of them reached down for a weapon, which Jitixi only thought of as a peculiar L-shaped object, from a pouch near its petiole - or at least, what Jitixi thought of as its petiole - and he thoughtfully leaned closer to get a better view of it.

The curious Xithis found himself fascinated by the creatures, mentally trying to determine what the tufts of fur on their heads were for, why some of them modelled different shaped bodies than others, and how they managed to move around their heavy bodies on only two limbs without tipping over. Then he began mentally dissecting them, trying to determine what some of the warm areas of their innards were for. It was common-sense for the main brain to be in the head, closest to the main senses, and the thermal energy coming from them made that clear, but did they have a segmented nervous system for each area of their bodies? Why were their chests so warm? One big ganglion, or something else? He could detect a rhythmic beating coming from inside them somewhere, and their alitrunks kept expanding and contracting slightly as though being forced outwards by some internal machinations. It was all quite fascinating, but in the few moments he had to consider it all he came to few conclusions.

He was somewhat concerned that the strong scents of death, decay and burning in this area were making it difficult for him to detect his companions, especially as Quixil and Kliktis had moved out of sight now in their effort to help irrespective of the stares they received. His hearing still worked though, and he turned his head around quickly as he heard a call from behind him. Another of the creatures moved towards them, must faster than Jitixi thought they could move, and spoke to his companions briefly before looking at him. Jitixi promptly adjusted the translator on his bracer to focus in on the sounds coming from its mouth.

"I Officer Sid, serving Officer of AIV Destiny," the translator spewed out moments later. How Jitixi wished they could build artificial pheromones into these things, even though he knew they wouldn't do much good. He contemplated the translation for a moment or two, deciding that their interpretation of the word 'Destiny' might have been wrong, and instead might perhaps be their designation for a ship, or even just this ship in particular. While wondering whether or not that meant this ship could travel in time or not he pushed some buttons on his bracer, causing it to uplink with the computer network on XCTL-916 and update their records appropriately, and set it to translate back into English.

"I Officer Jitixi," the distorted response came. Lifting his arm and pointing in the direction where his companions had gone, he said, "Mechanical Quixil, Mechanical Thixnis, Biological Kliktis. Capable to undamage biological and mechanical devastations."

In some manner he had hoped to identify his companions to them and explain their specialities and what they intended to do, and unbelievable though it may seem that translation was actually an improvement. With each word they exchanged, the bracer and the databases back on their ship with which it related regularly would be able to improve the translations even further. After a brief moment, before giving the aliens a chance to respond, and as numerous other aliens bustled into the room, his curiosity got the better of him. "How devastations occur?"

***

Xix had been hard at work with the linguistics experts, and had managed to translate (they hoped) the message sent to them by the newly-arrived alien ship, just in time for them to send another one. In the meantime he had been studying all the information that their boarding party on the first alien ship had sent back to them, ranging from additional linguistics data to descriptions of their surroundings and scans of the mammals. It was all very fascinating, but as usual he had little time to devote to it before another message came in.

This one was longer and even more complex, but their computer matrices - and the understanding of the linguists - was growing every minute. In just one day they would further Xithix linguistics science more than years of painstaking research ever did, and their tasks here today would allow them to revolutionise computer translation programs in one heck of a software patch.

Quickly they set to work on the second message. While their languages were still largely incompatible with each other they were able to force them into some sort of uneasy metaphorical treaty to facilitate some degree of comprehension. Each mistake they made helped them understand it even more.

"Xithis Combine XCTL-916, thus unfamiliar with damaged vessel or occupants. We borrow medical aid and remove ship necessarily. We possess additional reparations capacity. We locate difficultly to understand your syntax. We thus to contact together to better comprehend," said the computer. It was certainly better than their first attempt, and a little common sense applied here and there let them understand it much easier. Ironically it seemed these aliens were undergoing the same problems as they were, though Xix could not determine whether they wanted a face-to-face meeting, or to touch them - he assumed the former. Once the translation was complete and they finished applying their common sense to it, they updated their translation matrices even further, an update which was quickly applied to the bracers of their boarding party as well.

Xix used his own new knowledge and the updated translation programs to send a new message to this alien ship. "We congregate to your ship promptly, thus expedient resolution to situation achievable. Make compatible computers, facilitate linguistic database exchange, recommend?"

Not well versed in the mannerisms and procedures of alien cultures, Xix and his companion Frithik quickly left the command centre without waiting for an invitation and headed straight for the translocation facilities, donning their bracers along the way. Frithik, aside from originally being a trained Soldier class, was versed in a moderate degree of linguistics and was especially keen on computer software and hardware architecture, qualities Xix felt would be useful on their trip. It wasn't long before a silvery metallic portal burst to life aboard the Sunyan ship and deposited the two Xithis. They had aimed their portal somewhere towards the centre of the ship, believing that to be where the alien command centre would be located, but they had to wait and see if their guess was remotely accurate.

Taavit and Lal raced out of the Command Nexus towards the kilometer long, biome that ran bow-ways up the spine of the ship in an immense bulge formed into the sleek lines of the vessel. The biome was cavernous, and as tall as the Command Nexus itself, and the two were seperated only by an immense armored bulkhead with airlocks between the two. In fact, one would leave the Command Nexus and walk forwad through the biome in order to reach the crew quarters and research facilities at the very front of the ship. The biome was the crowning work of engineering aboard the ship. As impressive technological acheivements as were the warp drive, the dispersed zero-point power system, the Mind, or the devestating hyperluminal ballistic cannons that formed the armament of any Sunyan vessel, the biome was a feat of engineering that was truly loved. A living microcosm, complete with green grass, trees, wildlife, artificial sunlight, and water, real lakes of water. Such a place was necessary for life in space, especially on an extended voyage. Surrounding a small patch of real, living paradise were five levels of mezzanines that contained hydroponica, baths, taverns, and cafes. A community built around a microcosm. The biome was truly the heart and soul of the ship. And it was here, amidst the trees and glades, that the Xithis found themselves.

So Taavit and Lal, while discussing the previous transmission from the Xithi Combine vessel, suddenly received an alert notice notifying them of a peculiar quantum anomaly in the middle of the biome. On studying the anomaly, Lal recognized it as a transfer, the same sort of quantum transaction the ship-board ansibel used to send tachyon communications across interstellar distances without actually crossing the space in between. His own words rang in both their ears as, after reading the message, they realized what this can only be; "Holy shit, they must have some sort of translocating device!" Sending zero-mass subatomic particles through a quantum fold was one thing; sending living, breathing beings (without even knowing where you're going!) is another, and, though they well understood the physics behind the transaction, they had yet to create a machine that could complete the crossing without the need for a similar machine on the other side.

Taavit, Lal, and three TacOps officers in black, armored uniforms, armed, but not brandishing, and a mechanoid TacOp soldier drone ran up through the woods into a smallish patch of grass and ferns where they found the two wayward Xithis. One of the TacOps used his multicorder and, manipulating the holographic projection hovering above his forearm before him, initiated scans and began recording the few awkward moments spent while the group of humans and the two Xithis sort of stood and stared at each other. Birds chirped, trees rustled in the artificial gusts, and artificial sunlight danced through the leaves around them. After what could only be translated, in any language, as an eternity, Taavit finally approached them, palms up and arms held out slightly before her, almost as if in prayer, and greeted the Xithis:

"I am called Taavit. Please allow me to welcome you aboard our ship. I am glad you came so that we can learn to better communicate with each other. I invite you to stay as long as you wish and there is much we can learn from each other. What is your name?"

Sid blinked as the translator began spewing out random words linked together in a vague chopped up sentence structure. He got that "Jitixi" was the creature's name. But...what was a Quixil, Thixnis, or a Kliktis? Sid looked over at where Jitixi was pointing...other crewmembers? He guessed that would be a logical assumtion....but...two of them were...mechanical? Giant android ants? A passing thought of amusement at the increasing absurdity passed through his mind.

The last part was easier to understand. They could fix things. That was good. That was *very* good. But before he could open his mouth, the bug spoke up again.

How devastations occur?

Well, that was a long story. A story about as old as the galaxy, and one that overshadowed every part of Atlantean history. And one that had just led to--once again--Atlantis's destruction.

"We were attacked" Sid replied, opting for the short version of the story. "We were escorting a fleet of escap--er, colony ships. A group of enemy ships swarmed us and took out our warp engines." Correcting his slip, Sid sighed mentally. He didn't want to have to deal with questions about the current apocalypse of his home. Not until he had had some time to deal with it himself.

"Sid, we got company" said a female voice over a small device in his ear. More people looking at our condition. We've given them clearance"

Sid looked over at the group of people and machines now entering sickbay. "Understood"


As this was happening, inside the sickbay a young-looking doctor was running around franticly, trying to do everything at once. He wasn't a full doctor, no. Well, he wasn't *supposed* to be...he had been training under the head doctor, now lying over in one of the "deceased" piles outside.

“Now, who among you is the doctor here?”

Looking up from the computer readout next to one of the beds, he scanned the busy room for whoever had asked that question. His eyes settled on a group of distinctly non-Atlanteans walking into the room.

"I am" he replied, walking over to Tulu very quickly. "Dr. Lakin, and you are?"

...

Atlanteans are of their own species, apart from Terrans and other humans--although still within the same evolutionary tree that seems to operate on most worlds. At first glance, they just seem to be ordinary (possibly Polynesian) humans without any pigment in their hair--with an average hight that is slightly higher then a normal human. But they also have fang-like teeth in the back of their mouths, a little known about third gender, and a flotilla of biological differences.

Xolin listened to the line on Sid's end shut off, and she did likewise before turning her attention to Xol. "So, anything happening?"

He nodded, not turning from the computer panel. "Yeah, the second ship has sent their own people onboard. And I believe we have..."

The doors to the bridge opened, and both crewmembers turned around. "...Company" finished Xol, studying the new arrivals onto the bridge. Listening to Mateen's introduction, Xol's mind scanned the list of what needed to be fixed. They needed warp engines, if they had any chance of catching up with the fleet they had been protecting--if there was anything left to protect. So...engines? But one would need weapons if one was going to be in any position to fight. And...y'know, defensive capabilities. The shield matrix was shot.

"We need help on sensors. Both shortrange and longrange are down" he said at last. "Warp engines are a close second"

One who called himself Dr. Lakin approached in response to Tulu's search for a ship's doctor. She couldn't help but notice the superficial physiological differences between these people and her own. Sunyans were of straight Terran stock, plus a few hundred genofixed alterations to improve things like reflexes, immunity, healing capacity, metabolism and so on. Otherwise, Sunyan DNA bore the stamp of four billion years of evolution on their distantly remembered Terra, and most of the worlds they terraformed for their own habitation ultimately copied Terra's biosphere, utilizing DNA banks reporoduced from those aboard the ancient Arks that carried them from their homeworld. When the ancestors of Sunya left the cradle, they brought its biosphere with them.

Observing Dr. Lakin as he approached, like all the other silver-haired, tall, lithe humans around her, she wondered if the physiological differences between them were enough to greatly complicate her medical aid. Sunyans had limited contact with other races and, though there were some societies within the Culture that had undergone enough genetic alterations so as to practically make themselves a seperate sub-species, xenophysiology was a field in its infancy.

Tulu considered all this in a flash and, looking into Dr. Lakin's stoic yet frantic expression, she pulled back the elastic hood extension of her jumpsuit that covered her hair , ears, and neck, allowing her long-ish dark brown dreadlocks to flow out. Hands clasped as if in prayer, she bowed low to Lakin, said:

"I am Tulu. I have come to render medical aid." she arose and ocked her dark eyes with Lakin's, "We've begun an initial triage so that those who are in need of critical care can be evacuated to the medical facilities aboard our ship. But we have no knowledge of differences in our physiologies. If you have a functioning medical database of your people, machina Io," she gestured to the tall mechanoid as it delicately reset and splinted a broken leg, "can interface with it. Information on your physiology is the most important thing we can have from you right now. I certainly don't want to make anything worse out of ignorance."

The other two medics were delicately placing a very badly burned, but still breathing, crewman onto a sort of collapsible stretcher. They zippered over him a translucent plastic coccoon, which they inflated, and a small machine attached to the stretcher hummed to life. Tulu spoke again, "If all else fails, we can put the most severely wounded into metabolic stasis untill we can transport them to a more advanced facility of your own." A gentle, reassuring smile stretched across her smooth mocha skin, "I assure you my team is highly capable. All we need is information and your expertise."

--------

Mateen and Jarl remained on the bridge, repairing the badly fried sensor circuitry. The other two engineers had been sent down to engineering to map out the extensive damage to the warp generators and begin making repairs to the power distribution network. There was still gravity, so the generators must still be idling, but Mateen reckoned there were tens of meters of fused out plasma conduits all over the ship. By now, the Foundation of Wisdom had moved over the Destiny, hovering like a protective pelican mother over her chicks. The corvette, under Mind control, had made several crossings between the ship to unload more medical supplies, hardware, and spools of superconducting cable to bypass the most damaged sections of the power grid. Outside, several dozen repair drones buzzed around the ship, repairing the external sensor arrays, patching holes, pits and gashes in the hull, and shoring up structurally unsound portions of the vessel. Every once in a while, Mateen stopped to wipe sweat off his forhead, or consult a report on his forearm multicorder. Jarl mapped out the damage to the circuitry within the bridge and injected trillions of nanites into the consoles to begin making repairs. He then started repairing the structural damage to the bridge, and an odor of ozone filled the air while he welded shattered structural members back together. Many of the displays were blown up and burned out, so Mateen bolted a holographic projector over the irreperable sensor console, interfaced it with the now nanite reparied circuitry. A half hour passed before a holographic image, grainy, fuzzy, but functional, was produced to show the location of the Destiny and its two saviours.

Mateen spoke while squatting over a mass of burned out wiring hanging out of a wall panel, like entrails spilled out of a badly wounded creature. He worked quickly and efficiencly, "It's a sturdy little ship you've got here, Lt. Xol. I think our shipbuilders and your shipbuilders would make good drinking buddies. They both like quality." He smiled, continued; "I've got your shortrange sensors up and running, but it'll take hours to recalibrate them precisely. I'll put that off for now. We should have your longrange sensors up and running soon; we've had to fabricate a new array for you so it may be another hour or so. We've got some patches welded over the more serious gashes in your hull, but, to be completely honest, you're looking at some serious time in dry-dock before this thing is combat worthy again. We'll do what we can to shore up its structural integrity and get you flying, but your ship won't be truly whole again until you've spent some time in the Foundry Bay. But that's at your discretion. In a few hours, we'll have your engines up and running, so you'll be free to do what you like at that point."

He paused to complete an electrical splice, replacing bad cabling for new material from the Wisdom casually discarding the fried bit of old. He considered the extent of the damage and new it must have been quite a firefight. By now, Tactical would've collected most of the debris that wasn't outright vaprorized in an attempt to glean more information about who or what attacked these people. He imagined them in the science bay, cataloging everything, trying to understand the hull design of the vanquised alien vessel, the scorches on the Destiny, anything that would give them real, useful information about weaponry, hull design, and so on. If in helping these people, the Sunyans may find themselves making an enemy, they had to know everything they could about the other side, especially how much of a threat they posed.

Mateen spoke earnestly, seriously: "Lt. Xol, whatever attacked you may not take kindly to our charity. Any information you can give us on them would be greatly appreciated." He paused, uncertain how he would be received, he spoke softly and met eyes with Xol; "This damage is intense. They wanted to annihilate you. If I may ask, why?"

Hesitating for a moment, Lakin glanced behind him at his personal office. Her words had done little to calm him down. Expertise? He was in training! He looked back at Tulu, and pointed back. "...This way". Walking over to his office, Tulu would see a few more occupied beds, with the patients all in varying states of injuries. Some of them didn't even look at Atlantean, but rather like a humanoid jackle species, complete with black fur and powerful hind legs. Obviously, the Atlanteans were not the only species onboard this ship.

Lakin pulled a fallen beam that was blocking the door to his office out of the way, and moved inside, beaconing Tulu to come inside. Luckily, the computer terminal inside the office was still functioning, and Lakin went to work, scrambling though ship database, until he came across the two file libraries he was looking for and brought them up on two separate computer panels. One was for the Atlantean species. While very similar to a Terran, the Atlantian blueprint showed some very distinct differences. A third gender (which did little more then supply a few needed ensimes) and a split heart (as in, there were two of them. One for incoming blood, and the other for outgoing after having traveled to the lungs).

The other blueprint, however, was of the dog-like species. Aptly named the "Anubites", their anatomy was much like that of a doberman's--only with a humanoid variation and a bit larger. And of course the opposable thumbs and a modified mouth with which to speak. And of course the larger and more complex brain.

"These are the two species we have onboard this ship" Lakin said, looking up at Tulu.

...

Xol kept himself busy at tactical, trying to fix as much as he could. He wasn't an engineer by any stretch of the imagination, but damnit, that was *his* station. Well...kinda. *His* station was on the Olympia, but he wasn't even sure of that ship had managed to escape the battle. As the fleet flagship and measuring out to be two kilometers in length, it would have been a major target to the enemy forces. But damnit, he was going to fix this. As he was doing this, Xolin had been helping herself to the task of regulating everything that that been happening on the ship. More damage reports, casualty reports, surveillance reports, and just about every other type of report imaginable.

Xol smiled a little to himself as Mateen complimented the shipbuilders. The Destiny was first (and so far, only) of her class, created specifically to combat to Demon threat. Sadly, it had seemed to have come to late to help much, as it had only been present during the final battles of the war, which had consisted mostly of delaying actions and escape fleet escort missions as the main fleet crumbled under the Demon war machine.

Mateen's unfolding report put a more somber feeling on everything, however. Xol knew that a spacedock would be needed...but they couldn't just rest while the remnents of the Atlantean people were being hunted down.

And then the question came. "Why?" Both Xol and Xolin seemed to look down, pondering. Where to start? These people had no idea of the doom that was coming.

"There...are people in and outside this galaxy" said Xol, after a moment of awkward silence. "Older then anyone else. Some live in the core, some live on the fringes, like the globular clusters. And those who live on the edge don't like us who live in the disk. We named them the Demons, after their death-black ships. They've been eradicating species, one by one. The Empire of Zoir was obliterated a few months ago. Then they came for us. No doubt they'll go for someone else soon, once they've regrouped. Possibly the Elarans. Or the Xanthalians. And they won't stop until the galaxy is "cleansed"." He stopped, wondering if he had gotten all the details right. He knew he was missing bits--there was a mass of heavily classified information only the Empress and a few members of the Admiralty knew about that would probably shine a completely different story if released.

Xolin spoke up. "We were escorting an escape fleet from our homeworld. A group of them targeted us and knocked us out of warp. We managed to destroy them all, but our ship...well..." she motioned at the status of the bridge.

"We need warp back. And weapons" said Xol, "We need to find who's out there and protect them before they all die."

He deliberately downplayed the total annihilation of his species, world, and everything he knew, but he figured that Mateen would realize what he was talking about.

Xix and Frithik found themselves dwarfed amid endless greenery, and were thoroughly confused. Neither of them had seen anything like this before, either the biome itself nor what it contained, and both of them released utter confusion at the same time. They had not taken the time to ask what manner of creature lived aboard this particular ship, though apparently it was completely alien, especially if this was indeed the command centre as they had hoped. They were completely surrounded by green growths, unlike anything they'd encountered previously, and through them they could see the heat signatures of what they presumed to be countless different species of animals, whom they assumed to be crew.

"What we do?" Frithik asked, purely perplexed.

"Communicate," Xix said after a long pause. He slowly began to push through some of the foliage and approached the largest thermal signature he could find. Whatever it was he was looking at didn't seem especially bothered by him, and he took some time to fiddle around with his bracer, hoping that the updates it had received had done it some good.

"I Officer Xix, Xithis Combine XCTL-916, congregate thus to facilitate language and expedition," he said to the animal. It turned its head to look at him briefly, and released a few bizarre sounds before returning to whatever it was doing before. Xix released even greater amounts of confusion and began to fiddle with his bracer, which had failed to translate whatever the creature had just said.

"Eloquent dialect," Frithik remarked uncharacteristically, before turning around to look behind him. "Xix, witness!" he said, tapping Xix's shell repeatedly. Xix span around to see numerous tall heat signatures rapidly moving towards them through the foliage, along with one similarly shaped object that had a drastically different signature than the others. Their shapes more closely resembled those described to them by their own boarding party and that of the XCTL-281 years earlier. Had Xix possessed the capillaries and skin necessary he would have blushed as a result of his foolishness. Promptly he turned around and stood beside Frithik and hoped nobody had noticed. These creatures spoke with a much more complex vocal language, which the bracer this time immediately recognised and translated as best it could.

"I Officer Xix, Xithis Combine XCTL-916, congregate thus to facilitate language and expedition of rescue," he repeated to the aliens after a long, uncomfortable pause. "Additionally, Officer Frithik."

***

Jitixi listened intently to the semi-garbled story that emerged from his bracer and pondered what he had been told for a moment. It would stand to reason that the ever-expanding cloud of heavy metals, artificial compounds and organic residue they detected upon arrival was either the remains of their attacker or the remains of their convoy, though Jitixi felt it wise to confirm it either way - if they even knew. For the time being he tried to ignore the arrival of even more aliens, and the additional species he had also noticed from this ship, as his primary task was to assess the situation and remedy it as necessary.

"Attacked..." he repeated anxiously. "Thus, metal cloud of attackers...? Motive? Potential reinforcements? I may provide many mechanicals for repair priorities, willing?"

Tulu listened intently to Lakin’s explanation of the anatomical blueprints and she shortly had Io on the terminal, downloading all the information as could be gleaned before beginning to guide the others in the more complex treatments of the Atlanteans and the Anubites. By now all the serious cases had been placed in stasis. Tulu would have to begin arranging transport back to the Wisdom for treatment.

“Dr. Lakin, thank you so much for all your help,” she said warmly, “My crew will continue to treat your injured. Thus far, we’ve got all the serious cases in stasis, but we’ll need your permission to bring them over to our ship. Our medical bay is very advanced, and we’ll do all we can to save your crew. You have every resource of ours at your disposal. If you like, you‘re welcome aboard our ship with them.”

She consulted a report being sent over her multi-corder. It was a text recording of the conversation Mateen had with one of the Atlantean Lieutenants. The gravity of the situation sank in. She informed her team and they began working a bit faster, more intently, but always attending to their patients needs. Tulu appreciated the effectiveness of their training, and she was proud of her squad.

With that, and the others doing a fine job treating the lighter injuries, she thought fit to introduce herself to the other aliens, one of which seemed concerned over the attack on the Destiny. “I’m sorry I haven’t yet properly introduced myself. My name is Tulu.” she said to the alien that spoke, saying gently “I think our security may be at risk as a result of our interaction here. We’ll have to work closely, and if the destiny will allow your mechanicals aboard,” She looked back at Sid, suddenly feeling deep sorrow for these people. She spoke imploringly to the alien before her, “I feel we should all work quickly.”


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

Taavit, Lal, and the others approached. As they approached the Xithis, one who called himself Xix spoke. The syntax was once again strange, but Taavit immediately recognized the request. She smiled in appreciation of the directness of these aliens and admired their efficiency. We ought to get along well., she thought, as she considered the disdain Sunyans typically had for the pomp and show so common to other humanoids. She imagined were like her own people, if having arrived at the same conclusion by different means: efficiency is key to a functioning society.

Xix asked to ‘congregate’ to expedite a solution to their language barrier and the rescue situation. Taavit smiled, knowing full well it was an intranslatable gesture. “Yes, my brother.”, she spoke, addressing Xix as if she should a Sunyan, “Please follow me.” Taavit, Lal, and one of the TacOps escorted Xix and his comrade through the towering Command Nexus, where they received many a long glance before they exited the far end of the Nexus. Taavit had a section of the science center for her purposes. It was here she had hastily established a center to help these aliens communicate. She then began the process of interfacing her computer with their bracers, where she hoped to augment their translation program. Fortunately, all computers ultimately spoke numerically, so two reasonably sophisticated systems will, with the proper algorithsm, be able to eventually establish a workable link. Mind, like all shipboard computers, was a highly sophisticated, very adaptable, and very creative Personality AI. If anyone could do it, Mind could.

“Xix, our computer is going to communicate with your bracers and gain access to the translation program you created. With it, we will be able to understand your language better if we can see how our words translate into your language. Do I have your permission for this?,” she spoke deliberately, but not loudly. And anxiously awaited their reply.


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

Mateen continued to work while Xol explained the greater problem to him. His multicorder would’ve recorded the entire conversation, which by now there was no doubt a report circulating around the Foundation of Wisdom. Halfway through Xol’s explanation, a small strip of light on his forearm multicorder changed colors from blue to yellow, which indicated a shipwide change in combat readiness. By now, many of his crew would be putting their research on hold and beginning to ready the ship for combat. They would start carrying sidearms and the armories would be distributed. Power would be redirected from science and maritime systems and capacitor banks for the ship’s weapons would be kept charged, as would the warp drive, the cloaking system, and the active deflection shields. The combat drones would be ordinanced and kept airborne. No doubt Tactical had notified the entire crew of this potential threat and a message sent back to Central. He imagined the Central Coucil being apprised of the situation and debating their next course of action. Ships would be mobilized and the fleet put on alert. He hoped they would send a task force. Though sturdy and powerful, a GSU was most definitely not a ship of war.

After Xol finished, Mateen said nothing for a several long minutes. He spoke into his multicorder, reading the TacOps report and requesting more engineers from the Wisdom. As he wrapped up a few splices and closed an access panel, he stood, locked eyes with Xol’s, the blue light of Jarl welding support beams flashing across his eyes, and said, “We’ll do all in our power to repair your ship quickly. If so many lives are at stake, my crew will work quickly so we can help defend your evacuees. But it will be necessary for my people to know all you can tell us about this threat. If we help you, and all you say is true, we may be walking into a situation we are not prepared for…I’m just not sure how well that would go over.”

With that, he continued working. He understood that, if Xol was escorting a fleet of refugees, then this war was not entirely one-sided, and he suddenly felt very frightened for his own people.

Aboard the Destiny, Quixil and Thixnis had been busy welding, screwing, riveting and rewiring bits and pieces all around the immediate area, in an attempt to restore consistent power to the area. Scurrying around with almost robotic efficiency, they communicated with each other almost entirely without words, quickly fixing everything within reach in a systematic fashion. Kliktix, meanwhile, had been busy scaring the locals. Many of the patients he had taken upon himself to deliver emergency triage upon reacted somewhat negatively to him – especially the first patient, whom he approached with a laser welding tool in an attempt to repair the ‘cracked’ parts of his ‘shell’, a mistake he didn’t repeat again afterwards. Using taut polymer fabrics and an assortment of the simplest chemical sterilisers he had to hand though, he had successfully bandaged numerous bloody wounds and prevented them from becoming infected, though given his first experience he dared not attempt anything more complex than that. If nothing else he had assured that they would survive long enough to be treated by someone with more knowledge of their anatomy than he.

Jitixi on the other hand continued the somewhat more challenging task of facilitating communication between entirely incompatible languages. The native of the ship whom had greeted him was somewhat busy with the disaster that surrounded them, but one of the newcomers, who approached him and identified itself as Tulu (Xithis ordinarily identify each other by the unique scents of the secretions in their shells, with names being just a necessary translation for us lowly readers, but in this case Jitixi would have to make an exception) and recommended the immediate deployment of Xithis engineers. Or at least that’s what Jitixi thought it had said.

“Much confirm,” Jitixi said, releasing a strong affirmative. He promply flipped open the controls on his bracer and touched the pad with his spindly digit, requesting the support of engineers from his mothership. Just to be certain, he also pushed a second button, which caused the small touchpad to turn a bright yellow colour – presumably, the colour yellow had the same implications to the Xithis as red did to most other species, for whatever evolutionary reason. He then flipped it shut again gently and looked back up at the Tulu creature with his dull grey eyes. “Mechanicals deploy momentarily.”

The soft white corridors of the XCTL-916 became flooded with a dull, repeating noise – a sort of high-pitched whistle which very rapidly lowered in pitch until it sounded more like a trombone, only to loop back again. Ultra-violet lighting also bathed the walls and the floors, though this was not much of a visible change to anybody who couldn’t see it, which reminded the Xithis of an age-old predator on their homeworld renowned for giving off ultra-violet radiation which in turn heightened their alertness. The ship itself raised its shields, then surrounded itself with an intense gravitational field, and weapons turrets quickly deployed.

Aboard the Destiny, less than fifteen minutes later, numerous other portals deposited a couple of dozen or so Xithis, each armed with a pack full of tools, who began scurrying about in pairs in much the same manner as the two engineers who had already been aboard for a while.

“Mechanicals deploy now,” Jitixi said a moment later to the alien who stood beside him. “What devastations to undamage?”

***

Xix looked at the alien for a moment. It seemed that they wanted to access their bracer computers with their own, which was something of a security risk given their not insignificant contents and their regular link-ups with their mothership. Considering the alien’s request, he popped open the control pad and began chatting away with his more-knowledgeable companion, tapping on the controls every so often as they attempted to download the entire Xithisi pictographic and linguistic database onto the bracer along with the translations and translation matrices they had accomplished thus far, firewall all other files, and then disable its ability to link to the mothership. The resulting linguistic files would of course be notably absent of several untranslatable components of their language, namely the pheromones and physical contact, but hopefully something could be made of the remaining vocal and visual aspects in a collaborative effort.

“Freedom granted,” Xix announced at last. The bracer had begun accepting various connectivity methods, ranging from simple radio to point-to-point hyperspace signals, in an effort to be as compatible as possible. It now ran on a basic operating system for the sake of compatibility as much as security, essentially rendering it as nothing more than a simplistic data storage device. Xix’s speech was now being fed through Frithik’s bracer, as his own was no longer functioning. “Must replace Xithisi data with alien data, to upload home!”

Sid had lost total track of the conversation. Between Jitixi's random garbled version of basic that was losing ground due to the quickly escalating conversation and now completely failed to make *any sense at all*, the continued incoming reports crewmembers would be handing him, and another alien (Tulu was her name? She looked Terran) suddenly planting herself into the conversation with...about security risks?

Uh oh. She knew. Damnit, he didn't want to get involved with it here. Not now.

From Jitixi's response, Sid could only guess that he was sending more machine ants over. Kinda like those robots the other visitors had, he surmised, although he had yet to see one.

Rather then speak, Sid merely turned his attention to Tulu, to which Jitixi had addressed the question to.

...

An awkward silence filled the bridge as no one spoke for several minutes. Both Xol and Xolin slowly went back to fixing things as Mateen began working on stuff again himself. Another crewmember, Sing, had by this point re-emerged onto the bridge after being caught up in a rescue operation a few decks down. She began helping Xol at tactical.

Finally, Mateen spoke up again. Xol looked up from the open computer console he was at, and turned to face the visitor.

"I won't lie. Putting yourself on the line for us will get your people killed quicker"

He stood up, walking over to the science station. Once there, Xol began to call up some data on one of the non-broken screens. "The closer to highly populated systems you are, the safer. Sol seems to be one of the last objectives on their list. I can send you guys all non-classified information about them, but it's not much. We know some of their tactics ,ship class designs, and weapon capabilities, but little of what they actually look like, or their history"

What appeared on the screen was a series of black evil-looking figures with what seemed to be talons and spikes protruding from the main hulls. Some of them would have bits of green or yellow, and the hull would seem to "move" across the design of the ship.

"The most ominous bit we know is that their hulls are made of frozen photons. Photonium. Light-based weaponry is virtually useless against them unless used in ungodly amounts"

As he explained all that, Xol wondered why so much was classified. It was a matter of galactic security...why keep such valuable knowledge out of the hands of the public and other powers?

Jtixi seemed to understand and agree with Tulu's assessment of the situation, and when he gave his confirmation that 'mechanicals' had been deployed, she even detected a faint change in the smell of the air around him. She wondered if these creatures communicated via pheromones, as they seemed to lack experience with vocalization. Tulu pressed on an earpiece while consulting a holographic display from her multicorder. She noticed the change in alert status, but figured there wasn't much for her to worry about. Her directive was to care for the wounded, but she was dealing with a great deal of information on the gradually improving status of the ship as well, relying on constant reports being relayed to her from Jarl as he worked with Mateen in the bridge, and the two other engineers working around the ship. Finally, she responded to Jtixi; "My people, two of our engineers, are working on repairing the ship's power systems on this level, further aft. Have your people meet up with them so that they may be briefed on the situation. Our repair priorities are..." she paused, as the mechanoid Jarl silently filled her in from the bridge as to the repair request already made by Lt. Xol "...weapons and engines. Thank you." She smiled into the alien's dull eyes; "There's a lot of work to be done."

She then turned to Commander Sid because, she had discovered, from reports of other interactions aboard the ship, he was the ranking officer. "Commander Sid, my apologies for our abruptness in introduction, but we take medical emergencies very seriously. I am Tulu, a medical officer of the Sunyan vessel Foundation of Wisdom." She addressed him with eye contact, bowing slightly in deference, and ignoring the constant deluge of information streaming over her multicorder, "I may need to evacuate some of your more severely wounded to our ship, if I may have your permission." She chose not to address the distrubing news of the Demons, as his people called them, that sought their utter annihilation, but to seem as helpful as possible. "Also, our chief engineer in your bridge may wish to apprise you of the situation of your ship. Your Lt. Xol has instructed our engineers to get your weapons and engines ready, and the Xithis engineers will be insuring we get that done as quickly and efficiently as humanly, er," she smiled somewhat at the unintended pun "as possible. Commander Sid, do I have your permission to evacuate your most heavily wounded casualties to my ship for treatment?" She waited for the man to reply.

----------

Taavit graciously thanked Xix for the freedom to uplink with his bracer and recognized his demand for information. She had already ordered mind to prepare a general compendium of basic knowledge as a goodwill gesture.

At Taavit's orders, Mind accessed the Xithis' bracer. Some obvious firewalls had been put in place, many of which could easily be broken, but Mind chose to ignore the almost irresistible urge to try its hand at a completely unknown encryption. Besides, they had blocked it off for a reason, and Mind wasn't about to trample on the goodwill these Xithis have already shown.

"Access....gained." Mind said. "Communicating," Mind performed quadrillions of computations a nanosecond within its quantum architecture as it sought to find mathmatical commonality with the alien machine. Finally, after several long seconds, it managed to create a communication algorithm with which to speak more fluently with the Xithis' machine, "I will now download the Xithis translation software, Taavit....download complete. Processing."

Taavit spoke, "Mind, please give me access to that file." She studied it for several minutes, essentially trying to use their understanding of her language to understand the cognitive model they used to view the universe. It was a kindof linguistic reverse engineering, and it thrilled her. All the while she wrote instructions for Mind to assemble and reassemble the various databases into a syntax they might better recognize.

It was truly remarkeable how quickly the Xithis had deciphered much of their language, even though it didn't seem as though they communicated vocally much, if at all, something she had suspected when she noticed changes in smell when the aliens spoke to one another. But she was here as a translator, not a linguist, and their hastily, though thoroughly, assembled program provided a platform for translation. "Mind, utilizing current computational paradigms of Xithi translation software, modify Sunyan translation algorithm for same. Cross reference Xithi linguistic and pictographic databses with our own. Rassemble all above into current interface and upload."

Mind worked quickly, but this request took several tens of seconds, "Operation complete, Taavit. Shall I upload with the goodwill compendium."

"Yes, absolutely." With that, she turned to Xix and spoke; "I hope that you will find we've modified your translation software into a format that might better help us communicate. Do you understand me better now?"

----------

Mateen stopped some of his work to continue his conversation with Xol; "Lieutenant, any information you can give us will be highly prized. I don't mean to be callous in this, but information is invaluable. By now, our tactical specialists have already begun work on understanding this light armor, this photonium, based on the wreckage they've collected. It will take some work to see if our hyperluminal projectile cannons will have any affect on this armor, or how they could be modified." He wondered what Xol's understanding of ballistics would be, considering these people's reliance on beam weapons, so he began to explain; "We don't use directed energy weapons. Rather, we utilize an extension of our warpdrive technology to fire projectiles at warp speed, usually from a conventional magnetic accelerator cannon. This technology uses the exact same paradigm as a bubble of normal space with a severe curvature around it. When the bubble contacts any mass, the mass disintegrates into subatomic particles, destroying the warp bubble in the process by stealing energy from it. This still leaves the projectiles travelling at hyperballistic speeds, usually carrying some kind of warhead. Though we're limited to the amount of munitions we can carry, we can control the trajectory of the projectile, its speed before impact, and its payload." He thought for a minute, "I don't suppose you would have anything similar to their technology we can test fire on? If our weapons prove to be effective against this stuff, it'd be a lot easier convincing the Central Council to endorse further aid." He grinned; "Otherwise we've got a proud tradition of bucking authority, and I'm sure the crew of the Wisdom will do everything they can to help."

Xix and Frithik stood patiently as the Sunyans worked, shifting around on their four legs occasionally but otherwise remaining motionless. They chattered amongst themselves every so often as they glanced around at their surroundings, but remained mostly focussed on what the aliens were doing. Primarily they were trying to figure out what the heck the room they had originally arrived in was for, though they also discussed the alien architecture of the room they were presently in.

When the one called Taavit finally spoke and said something about a software update, he and Frithik immediately began tapping away at his bracer once again. The new files were scanned for malicious content, promptly uploaded to the mothership, and Xix's bracer was then restored to its factory settings to restore its functionality. A brief pause was allowed as the mothership's network reconfigured and distributed the updated translation matrices to all of the bracers, and once their bracers bleeped to signal they had received new information, Frithik replayed the last sentence uttered by the alien. This time it made much more sense, which wasn't necessarily saying much but it was true all the same.

"Comprehension improved markedly," Xix said at last with a positive gesture with his hand. "Efficiency much respected. In regards of prior misunderstanding, I designated Officer Xix, this designated Officer Frithik, we of Xithis Combine craft designation XCTL-916. Combine to render repair and rescue assistance to devastated aliens. Your intention also, affirmative? Much to learn in regards of how devastations occurred."

***

Jitixi looked down at his bracer as it recorded an update, and suddenly the words being exchanged around him made much more sense. These beings still seemed to communicate without semblance of emotion or intent, but at least now he could comprehend them a little better.

"Repair priorities confirmed," Jitixi said to the alien named Tulu. "Mechanical specialists to repair specified systems promptly. All biological repairs to be left at your responsibility; Xithix knowledge of these anatomies is not optimal." He turned to the 'native' alien, Sid. "For protection of brothers and Combine property, data required on threat posed to continued presence here. Also, tactical status of colony ships you escort - where they located, do they require defence? Much data required."

OOC: Sorry for the crappy post, had to rush it. Might update it later if I get chance.

OOC: sorry for the lack of posting. Been busy. I should have something up by tomorrow.

OOC: It's all gravy, baby, stuff happens. I'll be running around all day tomorrow, so if I'm a bit slow later, y'all just move along without me.

Sid was almost ready to say "no". He didn't want people leaving his ship onto an unknown vessel...especially with his eventual intent to seek out pockets that survived the war. This would only derail his plans further. However, a quick glance back at the beds in sickbay caused him to give a second thought. The dimmed lighting was an unsettling reminder of just how injured the Destiny was. It would take awhile to get back on their feet anyway, and it wasn't like they had full medical abilities on this ship in this state.

Finally, he nodded. "...yes. But I want them identified on their way out. A security precaution". He didn't want to find out he had forgotten someone, or even worse, let this turn into a hostage situation without knowing exactly what he was bargaining with.

He hoped to the GODS this wasn't the prelude to a hostage crisis.

The other alien -Jitixi- was now speaking up again. Ah. He wanted to know about the Demons. And the escape fleet. *wonderful*

"It's a little much for me to discuss right here and now," Sid replied, speaking a little slower then he had with Tulu, "Perhaps I can get one of my crewmembers to transmit our database on the attackers to your ship? Would that be acceptable?"

He waited for the answer before dealing with the escape fleet problem, fearing a horribly convoluted translation if he got too far ahead in the conversation.

...

Xol continued to pull up unclassified information on the Demon threat as Mateen spoke. He stopped to think when he asked about similar technology. While some of the Destiny's weapon, defense, and engine systems were adapted by studying the Demon dreadnought they had found, the creation of a Photonium hull was still a puzzling mystery for Atlantean scientists--and besides that, Xol didn't want anyone punching *another* hull through this ship.

He shook his head and looked down. "The only Demon ship we ever caught was taken to the Sol system...our shipyard in the Kuiper belt, during the final stages of the war. Hades, I don't even know if those even still exist, or if they were wiped out too" Sighing, he looked back at the screen. "The best I can do is just transmit the stuff we *do* know to your ship"

The "caught" bit was an embellishment. In reality, the ship had been *left* there, as a present of sorts. A symbol after the destruction of the Zoir empire that the Atlantean Federation would be the next target...and that no matter how much research was done on it, the Atlanteans would still fall. A highly twisted version of the Trojan Horse.

As he began preparing the transfer of info to Mateen's ship, Xol took a moment to actually think about Hope Shipyards, the ones he had mentioned. Theoretically, it *might* have been the only place to escape destruction, due to its location. The Demons would not have risked all-out war with the Sol system yet, least the entire plan would fall apart. With any luck, it was still functioning, and at least some of the fleet had found their way there.