NationStates Jolt Archive

"I am, Pegasus," came the simple reply as Vulpe opened the door. Examination would find he had somehow washed his robes, his sword was polished, the bowl and silverware he had used for breakfast had already been cleaned and put away and the Ambassador seemed quite awake. One would wonder whether he had even slept at all. Vulpe had been dispatched from the Wuin System, on board a ship with it's own times, and once he had received word of his potential assignment he had changed his climate and times in his quarters to reflect that of the planet he might have been heading to. However, since he had left and come to Greywatch Prime, his internal clock had been thrown slightly out of whack and he had achieved less sleep than he normally sought to acquire. Still, one would never know it by looking at the kitsune, he seemed as bright and alert as ever.

"Well, someone took advantage of the facilities. Good to see you up and awake." Pegasus said with a smile while leading Vulpe to the nearby monorail station. After about ten minutes going through a tunnel the train exited out onto a ledge. Far below was a large valley, few buildings could be seen here with the exception of one large slanted structure that seemed to stretch into for a few miles. "Pegasus pointed to the odd construct, "That is how we first got here. The first ship that crashed on this planet. Relatively intact, for what it's worth." The ship was, for the most part, horizontal. but those who took a closer look could see where the ship looked like it had bent and the engines now pointed ever so slightly skywards. After about thirty minutes of going down the ledges they stopped at the next station. Around them were seemingly endless fields of green grass and flowers, and in front of them was the ship that carried the first New Heaven folk to what was now Greywatch. "That will be our first stop." Said Pegasus as he pointed to the ship, "There are four other ships, but this was the biggest. Five kilometers in length, I can only imagine how hard it was to steal this..."

"What is this ship called?" Vulpe asked curiously. More words. "Did it create this valley on impact? And what do you mean, hard to steal? Did the first colonists steal this ship from New Heaven?"

"The ship's name was The Torch Bearer, one of the first explorer ships built. And no, the valley was actually already here, we just got very lucky and happened to land in it rather than the other interesting geographic features of this world." Pegasus hesitated a little before addressing the last two questions, "Yes, we stole them. The Emperor was a harsh tyrant who really only wanted to travel space so he could spread his influence and conquer other races. He regarded science as little more than a weapon to be used on his command. The scientist he used disagreed with him, for the most part... the 'colonists' who came here were actually more like refugees."

Vulpe nodded. "It is a very good thing, then, that the colonists made it here. If this Emperor had continued his expansion, aggressively, he, and all the people and worlds he ruled over would have been utterly destroyed. The denizens of the galaxy do not take kindly to interlopers and especially not invaders, and there are any of dozens of races who would have happily came and conquered in return. By removing themselves from him the colonists were safe from this, at least. Did he send ships after the colonists to kill them or bring them under his control? Tell me the story of the voyage, Pegasus, what happened before, during and after, I am very interested."

Pegasus nodded grimly, "The scary thing is... rumors say the Emperor wasn't completely insane. It's what actually scares people, not New Heaven, but the Emperor himself is said to have some kind of terrible power. Apparently that's the only reason his people haven't yet rebelled." Pegasus began leading Vulpe to the ship, "But on to things that aren't quite as dark. He sent plenty of forces after us, thus resulting in the past wars we've had with them. Say what you will about the Kiixori, but when you need to crush an enemy quickly, they'll do the job happily. I do believe it was the second war with New Heaven in which they began getting involved..." As he spoke, the two passed by a few simple houses and small crowds of people gathering at local restaraunts. "This particular ship is being used as a multipurpose structure. It serves as a shopping center, tourist attraction, research facility, residential area, and a library. From what I've seen in the past, much of the bridge is actually still intact and the ship's logs were saved."

Si listened as they walked. "Stories and rumors, fear and mistrust, lack of and disinformation can often be more powerful than any guns, bombs or dark powers, real or perceived. What, exactly, were the colonists escaping? How bad was it under the rule of this man, was he religiously intolerant, bloodthirsty, uncaring, war-like, power-hungry, or all or none of the above?"

"Hmmm. A religious zealot who believed he was a god, extremely xenophobic. He believed that anyone who questioned his ways should be killed, so there were plenty of executions. Those who were particularly traitorous were killed by his hand, which the logs state was something of true terror. He was extremely aggressive, believing the entire universe was his for the taking, and that his citizens were just the pawns to help him achieve this goal. We know that some of his soldiers actually possess supernatural abilities... most likely cryption, so it's quite possible that he could be a decendant of the Elden, a very powerful decendant. From what communications we've had, the same emperor from the Exodus Period is still alive and well, but you never know. God knows what in particular the colonists feared, but any reason I stated above is enough. Some of the logs do suggest that a superweapon was being built, which is why Greywatch keeps such an eye on New Heaven. I don't think anyone want's to know what such a man could be trying to build."

Shouldn't they?
"Still alive..." Vulpe muttered. "A dictatorship, brutal oppression for the betterment of the state and the ruler. I imagine the exodus of the colonists would have infuriated him. How far advanced were they then, and are they now, if you know? Furthermore, are they still aggressive, still seeking to expand and conquer, or has Greywatch kept them down and contained?"

"They experimented with smaller ships but these particular hijacked vessels were the first of their kind. Hence why he was so angry, we essentially stole the prototypes... and the schematics... and any other knowledge that would have allowed him to simply rebuild. The tech wasn't as impressive but was still something, even if we didn't have our PSR systems..." Pegasus looked to the old ship in front of him, "They currently have two planets. Both of which are strictly human in population, Greywatch keeps an eye on them. Well at least we try, they hate being spying upon, as anyone would, and often try to do things behind our backs. But we've stopped their aggressive expansion, for now at least."

"That is good," Vulpe nodded. "In escaping, the colonists essentially sabotaged the Emperor's attempts to come after them, for a while anyway. I'm glad to hear this nation of New Heaven is under watch and control, more or less. I doubt they would prove too great a threat for most, but war must be avoided when possible."

"Indeed it should. Though, even in their state, we don't take them lightly. To be perfectly honest, we believe their ground forces are superior to our own... at least when you fight them on their home turf." The two were now at the ship itself, "But enough of that, shall we procede inside?" The ship had obviously had some remodelling, fresh paint and a new hull. The area they stepped into looked like a giant mall; all sorts of activity surrounding them. Pegasus smiled, "It was the least we could do. This ship brought us here, so we gave it new life."

"Fascinating," Vulpe looked around. "The closest we ever came was the standard dismantling of colony ships to make structures for colonists and settlers on new worlds, we never used them like this," he spread a hand, "to my knowledge, anyway. Is the ship still serviceable, as a vessel, or has it become one with the planet and degraded to a large building? Also, is this place called the The Torch Bearer, or does it now have a different name?"

"Well... we decided to be creative since the ship itself wasn't banged up enough from the crash to become completely useless. People still lived it after the whole smashing-into-the-surface-of-a-new-planet incident, well the parts that were safe. But no, the ship can no longer be used as an actual craft, the engines had to be modified a bit so they could only be used as generators, the flight controls were dismantled so no one could try anything dangerous. And the ship is now called the Newcomer's Welcome, or so it's called if you still wish to refer to it as a ship. Otherwise people simply call it Fern Valley Central.

Vulpe was still looking around. "A whole city in a ship," he murmured. "Why do people choose to live here, and not in Greywatch Prime?" he asked. "To get away from the noise and activity of the large metropolis?"

"For a few reasons; yes, it is less crowded here than in Prime but also because a few of the first colonists never left the ship behind. There are a few farms aroung the area we haven't seen... this is also the place where we first met the Elden and there are still a few in the area. The ship also serves as a way to get away from city life and get out into the countryside. A nice place to be in general I suppose. I've only been here a few times myself, being a diplomat keeps me busy." He paused as he looked around at all the activity, "Having cities in ships isn't new to Greywatch, actually. I assume you saw the monstrosity that is the Worldslayer? Worldslayers are really not much more than military versions of Worldstarters, our signature colony ships."

"Impressive," Vulpe nodded, "that colonists would be so faithful to their origins, and equally so in your current vessels. Have you made other colonies elsewhere, then? And how exactly did the first colonists meet the Elden?"

"Well, every planet in Greywatch control has something. A colony, some kind of city, research or science center, military center, something to show that it has been claimed." Pegasus led Vulpe up a few escalators as he spoke, they went past many different shops and apartments as they went up. "As for how we met the Elden, they came to us. They were suspiscious of us at first, which makes sense seeing as we came out of the sky in a giant fireball. But after we explained ourselves, and after a few tests to prove we we're Twilight Demons, they more-or-less welcomed us to their world..."

"I see," Vulpe was casually glancing though store windows as they walked, but still listening. "Your first contact with them went well, then. How did you meet the other races who make up so much of Greywatch, the Xarniosi and Kiixori and Leanorians? I know you mentioned the Kiixori assisted you in your second war with New Heaven..."

"We came into contact with the Kiixori during an exploration mission, when we found them, they were already engaged in a battle against another race of aliens. Shortly after, we had to unite in defense against New Heaven as they tried to conquer both of us. We could only conclude New Heaven had spies onboard our ships which is how they learned of the Kiixori and were able to attack us conviniently after we'd finished a battle helping the Kiixori. After the second war, the Kiixori met the rest of the human race on Greywatch as well as the handful of Elden. We worked together, the Kiixori greatly improved our weapondry and fighters, helping us defend ourselves much more efficiently." Pegasus looked around at the different shops as he spoke, "Then, after about 50 years ago we came into contact with the Xarniosi while in a new system. I must say, that was actually very unexpected, we landed on this unforgiving world and set up a very small outpost. About 3 months after arriving our men at the outpost reported seeing something else on the planet. It was shortly afterwards that we made first contact with the first Xarniosi. For a few days it never spoke, it just hung aournd and helped out with things around the outpost. Often upgrading computers and fixing anything that was broken, needless to say we were suspiscous and confused. Thus it always had a human guard with it, it was a week later that it hacked into our network and literally downloaded everything that had to do with our language and then began communicating in English with us. And well, I imagine you can guess the rest of the story. The Xarniosi have greatly helped our technology advance, mainly when dealing with our ships and commnuications as well as our ways of storing data. They created the SCN and helped us create the Greywatch Archives." Pegasus smiled as they walked past a child begging his mother for candy. He shrugged and then continued, "We met the Leanorians a little more recently, about 10 years ago. It was my brother was the one that began the diplomatic talks with them. I do believe that was one of the worlds we decided to send a single team to the surface of, rather than bringing a 30+ kilometer ship through the atmosphere of for colonization preparation. And sending the single team worked so much better than bringing the entire ship. And as I'm sure you know, the Leanorians have helped us learn more about Cryption as well as made our hospitals much more efficient."

"All these races have helped you tremendously in some way," said Vulpe quietly. "Forgive me, but what have you done for them in return?"

"We pull our weight, if we didn't I doubt they'd have anything to do with us. For the Kiixori, they weren't big on diplomacy. One of the reasons they one that first war I mentioned was because we got the hives to work together... for about three months, then they went back to the tribal warfare again. We also helped them build some less... war based ships. And the few of them that sought to escape the constant war were invited to Greywatch. We improved living conditions for many of them by upgrading their hives, well the hives of the groups that didn't seek to kill us on sight. So we were able to do that. The Xarniosi... well we left them alone for the most part, that's kinda all they wanted. Well, that and to learn, they love fiddling around with our tech and making it better. It's like their hobby. They also like traveling on our ships to find new things, and they like to mingle with the other races from time to time. We also helped them lengthen their life spans a little while we were researching their bodies. The Leanorians were happy to see us simply because we belong to the same ancestrial tree... and because we showed them the other Cryptic arts... and because shortly after our arrival on their world, more Elden began showing up. Not to mention the Leanorians lived in a society consisting of small tribes and basic technology before we came. You saw what we did for them." Pegasus smiled, "We try not to be complete dead weight but being human... makes it a little difficult at times. We don't really have too many racial abilities, other than Cryption. And even that's a rarity... Even when the Leanorians used spears and swords, they could still have been considered above us..."

"Mhh-hmm," Vulpe listened. "I take it, just based on what I've seen, that humans make up the majority of the population of Greywatch? They often do, in many mixed nations, and all of them have conflicting ideas and history. Fascinating, really."

"No, there are far more Kiixori than any other race. Humans, I do believe, are second and very spread out. Then its Leanorian, Dragon-kin, Xarniosi, and finally Elden." At this point Pegasus and Vulpe were nearly at the top of the ship. Pegasus led Vulpe onto an elevator which promptly took them upwards, when the doors opened again and they exited, they'd find themselves standing atop the ship itself. Pegasus smiled as a warm wind blew past, "The 'roof' of the ship. You can get a good view of things from up here."

"I'll say!" Vulpe enjoyed the sensation of the wind whipping past them, playing with his longish white hair and whistling though his ears. "I take it the Kiixori have some sort of Queen, or at least a designated egg-layer in the Hives, that makes them so massive in population?"

"Exactly. Well, each hive has a queen. And not every hive on the planet is involved in this war, only four or five of them are. To an extent, I believe that if it wasn't for the war, the Kiioxri would have some serious overpopulation issues." Pegasus looked at the mountains that surround the ship. He could see the oceans of green grass and a few structures here and there in the distance.

Vulpe was silent for a while, staring out across the fields and plains, drinking in the unpolluted, clean air. "Tell me about the dragon-kin," he said, almost distantly, as though his mind were on another plane. "They are the only ones who neither hold a seat on your Council nor, I assume, control a large faction like the humans, Kiixori, Leanorian and Xarniosi races."

Pegasus sighed as he gathered his thoughts on the Dragon-kin. "They were bioweapons in one of the wars against New Heaven. They came before the Hellhounds and the Drones. This took place when Greywatch first began experimenting with genetic augmentations and upgrades. The Dragon-kin were one of our supersoldiers. However, after about ten years, the question arose whether they had rights or not. They weren't machines, but instead they were biological, so it made sense that they should have rights like anyone else. However, the military argued that due to the fact that they were artificial beings... whether they were biological or not held no standing..." Pegasus paused as he looked out over the rolling plains. "After about a year, they were allowed to choose between becoming citizens and staying soldiers. Many of them stayed, simply because they didn't really know how to do much else other than fight. The few that left to become civilians were often persecuted, simply because people tend to hate what they don't understand. But, over time, the Dragon-kin were integrated into society and obtained the rights of every other race."

"What about the Drones?" asked Vulpe. "They may be artifical in ways I don't understand, but they are obviously sentient and self-aware. Field reporters say that they consider themselves expendable, yet as far as I can see they have no rights or citizenship. What is the exact nature of the social and legal status of a Drone?"

Pegasus gave a slightly sour look as he tried to think of a way to describe the nature of the Drones, "The Drones are a little more complex... they were created by the Forbidden Ministry. Because of this, they technically are not products of Greywatch, and thus we have no say in how the FM chooses to use them. They are, for lack of any better way of putting it, weapons. Living weapons, not too unlike a tank controlled by an AI. You are right, they are sentient and self-aware but they are still regarded as little more than a tool to make a job easier. Very few people in Greywatch are aware of the true purpose of the Drones, even fewer are aware that the FM is even a real organization. I can't really go into any further detail, both because Greywatch has very little information regarding the Forbidden and because anything else is most likely classified." Pegasus paused, "As to their social and legal status. They don't often interact with anyone else. They talk to themselves, each other, and the people who use them. If they do interact with society, they act more like machines or robots, from what I've seen. It's a rare sight to see a Drone just standing around in the open trying to mingle. As for their legal status, I honestly don't know. There's very little knowledge Greywatch has regarding them and their creators."

"Ah, I forgot Greywatch and the Forbidden Ministry are not...one," said Vulpe. "Still, I simply don't see the justification. If you are to make artifical soldiers make them droids, make them mindless, soulless clones or anything but a living, self-aware being. To consider them expendable," the kitsune visably shuddered. "All soldiers know what they are getting into when they sign up, and if they die in the line of fire it is to be expected, but such a blantant disregard for life," he shook his head, "is an abomination. They might not feel emotion, I know less about Drones than you do, but they are people nonetheless." He was silent for a moment. "Please don't think I am accusing you of anything or attempting to insult you, I merely seek to express my opinion to listening ears."

"From the little and unwanted contact I've had from the Forbidden Ministry, they really don't care about anything unless it furthers their own dark goals. They're a difficult group to understand, which is why I try to avoid them as much as possible. And of course, they happen to be the kind of people who will find you when they want you..." Pegasus gave a look out at the fields around them, "You've probably never asked a Drone what it considers itself. I bothered to ask one of them, it gave me the response, 'I am the demon of the Greywatch military.'" Pegasus shuddered for a moment, "Since then, I've never been able to look into the empty eyes of those creatures without hearing those words. And to this day, I don't understand why they claim to be our soldiers when they serve us only because their creators tell them to."

"It is good Greywatch is useful to the Forbidden Ministry," said Vulpe quietly. "I do not think your partnership is one that can be broken. A PMC, a seperate branch of government, a secret agency or vigilante organization, whatever it is, the Forbidden Ministry is an intricate part of Greywatch. Have there ever been any...disagreements between the two?"

"I suppose yuo are right about them being apart of us, to an extent at least... though I still find it a little disturbing that part of what gives Greywatch its character and depth is a secret society of puppeteers with a nack for creating some... questionable weapons. But I suppose that is the nature of things..." Pegasus thought about Vulpe's question for only a short moment before responding, "Not that I know of. But, despite the fact that the Forbidden Ministry seems and acts high and mighty and free to do whatever it wishes, I suspect the council still plays a large part in its actions."

Vulpe looked grim. Secret society or not, no organization should have such complete control over a government. Sure, the Forbidden Ministry provided Greywatch with weapons, technology and probably soldiers, but as Pegasus had said, they were free to do whatever they wished. Who knew who really controlled this shadowy organization, what their true intentions were, and how stable any of it, in fact, was.
"There must be some kind of balance of power," Vulpe said. "What control or influence does the council have over the Forbidden Ministry?"

"That's not something I could say I have an answer to. But the fact that the Forbidden Ministry has never stepped out of line suggests that the council is exerting some form of control over the organization's actions. The way I see it, the FM would have to have some kind of leader. I would think the council controls that lead figure and thus the rest of the organization." Pegasus shrugged, "Thier relationship with Greywatch would probably seem much less complex if they weren't so shadowy."

"As I said before, secrecy, misinformation, disinformation, lies and rumors can spread fear, distrust and confusion easily. Your council exerts some kind of control over this leader or leaders, but I question whether this control is complete. Forgive me, but it seems to me that if the Forbidden Ministry were to ever privately acquire a planet they could probably form their own nation, or at least have a very powerful base stronghold for the operations of whatever nature, company, agency, militia cell, vigilante or organization they truly are."

Pegasus had to agree with this comment, the FM wasn't something that openly expressed its nature. Even when it did perform duties for Greywatch, the public never found out about them, the reasons behind the Ministry's desire to help Greywatch was never clear. There was no point in denying that they were a mysterious and dangerous group, the Drones were the physical proof of that. But to what extent they posed a threat to Greywatch? Drones were used in ways most people could never think of. However, despite all this, the only important thing was how loyal the Ministry was. It was time like this that Pegasus half expected a Drone to show up, simply because the FM seemed like the kind of group that would always be listening.
Pegasus thought to himself for a moment, A planet? A group like the Forbidden Ministry is indeed powerful... but would they go that far? Chances are that if they were to obtain a new world for a base of operations, we'd still know about it. Gah! I wish I knew more about them... I've never heard of them having ships or anything of that nature... but then again, the Drones are... He stopped himself. Such thoughts were meaningless to get worked up over. "I suppose that is true. Though, whether we have complete control over them or not, I would at least hope some part of them is loyal to us. Such a mysterious group..." He leaned against the railing and closed his eyes, "If I'm to find anything about them I'll most likely have to visit the archives." He opened his eyes and looked to Vulpe, "Speaking of which, I suppose the Greywatch Archives would be something worth seeing. We have two main sites, one is here on Prime, the other on Xarn. We can see one or the other, or both if you wish." Pegasus straightened up, "And if I'm not mistaken, I haven't yet showed you the bridge of the ship. Now that's something worth seeing."

Vulpe filed what information he had been told about the Forbidden Ministry away for future reference. Such a relationship, he felt, couldn't last before some paranoid official, a mistake or oversight on the part of either Greywatch or the FM when concerning each other, or a major defeat of FM forces would bring the true nature and perhaps even the structure and leaders of the organization into light. But that was not for now.
"What is chronicled in these archives?" he asked, curious. "History, great texts, works of art? And I would like to see the bridge, yes, every species, race and people have different approaches to their command centers. I would like to see the one the colonists used."

"The Archives? Almost anything and everything about Greywatch can be found in the archives. It's part museum, with a few relics and artifacts. A little artwork here and there, but mainly it's dedicated to knowledge." Pegasus said as he led Vulpe back to the elevator they'd come up on. Upon exitting they spent had to spend awhile walking across the familiar elvated walkways. While they walked Pegasus decided to learn a little more about Xiscapia, "So Vulpe, if you don't mind me asking, what is your homeworld like?"

"Physically?" Vulpe thought for a moment. "Varied. My home continent, that of Forworn, the eastern-most continent. To the east of it are hills and platues, and to the west, north, and much of the south it is jungle with many, many rivers. Once you go quite far south, however, past the equator towards the colder reigon, it's only wasteland. Few things grow there, no animals prowl larger than dogs and it is covered in ruins. They are the mystery of Xiscapia, and are spread most heavily on Forworn. only dotting the middle continent of Padga and only a few have been found on the western continent, Slipslah. They were here when we came, structures from some long-dead race or people. I think I have a holo of one..." Vulpe rummaged around in his robes and procured a disk, a full color six-inch holo (http://alletun.deviantart.com/art/Ruins-44377998) sprouting out of it. "That's a somewhat distant one, let me see if I can find a close-up," he muttered, and the image flickered to be replaced by another (http://madmike58.deviantart.com/art/The-Dark-Tower-69822542). "They seemed to like towers, whoever they were..."

"Anyway, Padga is cold and rainy, mostly flat in the middle and to the east, but elsewhere it is thickly forested and to the far north there is a large range of mountains. Our capitol, Rio Casa, is there. To the west is the continent of Slipslah, and much of it is desert, about half. It also has mountains, to the far west, and it's coastlines are beautiful no matter where you go. The north and east are full of fertile farmland, and this reigon has been called the Breadbasket of Xiscapia, because so much of our crops and cattle come from there to feed our population. The south is like the south of Forworn, barren and empty, but with none of the ancient structures we found there. Slipslah is highly industrialized where is can be, and other areas are farmland, so there the population is large but spread out, and many do not choose to live in Forworn. Padga is the population and trade center of both Xiscapia and much of the Kitsune Empire."

Pegasus listened intently to Vulpe's desciption and found he was interested most by the large towers. "Those structures..." he said pointing to the hologram, "Have you explored them at all? It's interesting that they seem to be the only thing still intact. Can I assume that you have found some ancient texts or relics that may explain the disapearance of this other race? And has Xiscapia also spread influence to other planets? Sorry, I should probably be the one answering questions but I would really like to learn more about your people."

"I do not mind, diplomacy is as much about shared learning about each other as one side to another." Vulpe smiled before continuing. "Anyway, that is the strange part: On the inside, all the structures all completely bare. There's nothing left, no texts, no furniture, no tapestries or carpets, just crumbling rooms. In a few we have found large bells, but that is the extent of it. Yes, we have spread to other words, more planets than I think even we know, during the Long Voyage. It may interest you to know these structures are not limited to Xiscapia, but there are twenty or so obelisks on our moon of Kel called the Monoliths of Ash, named so for their color. What their purpose is who built them, when they were constructed and what became of their creators are all mysteries."

Pegasus raised a brow to the description of the tower interiors, "Ruins surrounded by towers with bare interiors... it's almost as if some ancient race was trying to escape something and they just packed what they could and left... or that ancient race was attacked and their towers were pillaged... that is very odd. And there are others? I'm sure the Xarniosi will want to know all about this so they can update the archives." As Pegasus spoke the two came upon a large door which openned automatically, revealing a large circular room full of old, yet intact, consoles and railings; the entire bridge was actually a sphere at the front of the ship. In front of them, the other side of the room was, essentially, a massive window letting in the light from outside. Pegasus walked forward to the command seat that the captain would have once sat in, now it was empty. "I see they did a bit of cleaning up in here." There was no one else in the room, just them.

"We haven't found any signs of battle damage on the structures or area around them, at least none we can detect. We have estimates that the towers and other ruins are over ten thousand years old, well predating our arrival and perhaps even our transformation. Until we can locate artifacts or more recent structures, we cannot begin to unravel the mysterys surrounding these ancient buildings."

Upon entering the bridge Vulpe gazed across it to the massive window, admiring it and the light that shone though. "The Captain and bridge crew must have had quite the view," he murmured. "Obviously this ship wasn't built for combat, though. Amazing that the window did not shatter when the vessel crashed. What is it made of?"

Pegasus turned around the see something on the walls near the consoles, "Hold on, didn't see this before." He moved to the right at first, to where the communications officer would typically sit, "Interesting. From what I'm reading the bridge was practically ripped off as the ship came to a full stop, this actually killed most of the officers, though the captain survived." Pegasus moved to another poster, "Ah, the bridge also went under some changed. Because the ship was deemed as no longer serviceable, the bridge was converted to what we see now. Originally, there were much small windows. These were completely blown out during the rough landing, which contributed to the loss of life." He moved to the side once more, the next poster depicted the bridge shortly after landing, a black and burned room with light filtering in through multiple holes in it. "Well I suppose that answers that, but I imagine you're right about the fact that this wasn't a combat based vessel."

Vulpe gave a somewhat dark chuckle. "True, true. After that," he gestured to the burned-out bridge, "I can see why they would want to reconstruct something different. Do those who live here use this bridge area for anything other than a pleasant view? Perhaps there are still operations and systems still functioning or modified which benefit the citizens?"

"I would think this bridge is more like an exhibit in a museum but... I would imagine other systems on the ship have been modified to track weather. Though said weather center is, I'm sure, located elsewhere." Pegasus walked to the other side of the bridge where the tactical officers would typically sit. "Ah, yes. This particular area is no longer used for much. It was going to be turned into a lounge at one point but people decided again it. The bridge was repaired and kept as close to the orginial as possible, with the exception of the windows, as a tribute to the souls that risked everything to leave New Heaven..."

"Mmmm-hmm," Vulpe was examining a few of the consoles. "Tell me, Pegasus, what do your people think of Artifical Intelligence?"

"Depends on the extent. I know the droids are used in the military as war machines and I've heard of vehicles controlled by basic AIs. I believe the most developed AI in Greywatch would be that of in the archives. It's been talked about before, but not much. I imagine many people in Greywatch are open to the idea, but are a little skeptical as well." Pegasus thought to himself for a moment, "Of course, this only applies to humans. The Leanorians hate relying on droids and machines in general, so I'm sure they'd be very much against it. The Kiixori would probably welcome it if they could get said AI to hold a big gun and shoot it at their enemies. I don't know about the Xarniosi... the Elden wouldn't care too much for an advanced AI because many of them choose to live the simple life. The Dragon-kin, I can't really speak for them either."

"I ask because of the android that was here, or rather on the other planet, earlier. I suppose you don't know of any more advanced A.I. than you described, but it is a task we are undergoing, to make a living, if not organic, being. So far things like emotion have eluded us, and they are loyal only because their programming tells them to be. We have ship A.I.s, but we only use them as a last resort because once they are engaged they cannot be unengaged, it would be the same as murder. You see, the android is an experiment, a person to an extent, but not. I wonder how they would be accepted in normal, well, biological society, especially by those who have not had contact with such before. I daresay the Drones of the Forbidden Ministry are similar enough, but I doubt that the common person has any contact with them, at least not on a regular basis. The issue of rights belonging to a droid, machine or automation is one we've generally agreed on, but we want to know how they would be received by others."

"Ah, I see. So that first contact we had back on Lanoria was a... project of your people? Well, I can say that I've never heard about AI that could control an entire ship. I can, however, say that I agree with you about a Drone being an AI, seeing as it fufills the criteria mentioned in the name, though their internal makeup is far from being that of any machine. But, this really matters not since most people, to some extent, focus more on the outward appreance than what is inside. While I'm sure some would have trouble adapting to regular interaction with such machines, I also assume people would eventually get used to them. I can also say that if people didn't know they were speaking to an android, they wouldn't mind. I would assume that the Xarniosi would be most interested in the issue of advanced AI." Pegasus paused for a moment in thought before continuing, "What interests me is how machines have rights. I suppose I can understand it to some point, seeing as they have an amount of sentience. Forgive me if this sounds like an old way of thinking, but I see machines as tools, something that helps the creator get something done. While I believe giving a machine a personality is quite the feat, it is still an automation created for to fufill specific purpose given to it by its creator. You don't hire it and ask it to do something, you make it and then command it. In a way, it's really nothing more than a slave. The act of trying to create an advanced machine with sentience, life-like appearance, emotions, and maybe even organs... that seems like trying to play god to some extent. Like genetic engineering... but starting with something mechanical instead of something biolgical."

"A project, yes, a long-running project. We didn't actually expect anything to be there, but since there was the android fulfilled it's programming as ordered. Still, in our eyes if something is sentient, if it can think for itself or feel emotions, it deserves all the rights we have, or at least the basic rights all sapient beings are entitled to. A non-sentiant or semi-sentiant droid or automation, yes, they are mechanical slaves that neither feel nor think, when they break down or fall apart we use them to build more, and that is the end of it. But once something is sentient, it deserves to be treated as an equal. True, the android you saw is not paid, and would march to it's death if we told it to, but we take care of it too, and there are encouraging signs, such as questions about society and scenarios about culture he runs. I suppose we all play god to some extent though...how is what you do with the Drones, or those child soldiers, any different?"

"I suppose I can see the sense in giving rights to something with sentience. If it self aware and possesses the ability to feel, I suppose it has some entitlement to make choices. But onto your question of the Leanorians and the Drones. The children you saw choose this route, while their parents do have quite a strong influence, the children make the ultimate decision. Many of them aspiring to be like Leona or any other great Leanorian warrior. Also, and this is just me nitpicking so feel free to ignore this point, the children were born rather than created through artificial means. As for the Drones, once again, they're the product of Forbidden Ministry, though I do see your point."

"Ah, but it is not the choice of the children, really. You said they aspire to become like the great priestess warrior Leona, how many times do you think they heard of her deeds, how often would you believe they were bombarded with the honor, code and glory of a soldier? They are too young," he shook his head sadly, "to be allowed to make such choices for themselves, too malleable. If their instructor told them to go out and kill a person, because he was an enemy, do you think they would? Of course they would, it's what they're being trained and conditioned to do. I do not believe they truly understand what it is to fight, to kill, to see their friends die around them and to survive the brutality of war."

He smiled. "Do not take me for wrong, I am not opposed to war, it is a necessary evil. But I find that I personally object to letting such younglings make life-altering decisions when they have not fully developed in body, mind or spirit."

"One also has to take the past of the Leanorians into consideration. If the Leanorians didn't train their children from a young age, there's a great possibility that the entire race would have died out long ago. The Leanorians used to be separated into tribes, aggresive tribes at that. And the tribes fought, therefore the children had to know how to defend themselves. Now then, as I'm sure you were told on Lanoria, those children are not soldiers, they are still in training. I imagine the only thing they would ever be ordered to kill would be an animal of some kind. Both then and now, the Leanorians have never been a people to rely on farming and herding, they're born hunters. It's a miracle that a few of the tribes actually settled down and decided to allow us to help them build a permenant settlement... but that aside. Also, I can say with some certainty that Leona was probably raised the same way as the children you saw, yet she seems to have turned out fine. Do not think I agree with the use of child soldiers, it seems like a cruel practice, but I am one to believe that people have a reason for doing what they do. And, I also would be even more opposed to the rest of Greywatch walking in and telling the Leanorians they can't do something anymore simply because others didn't like it. From what the Elden have told me, training and even awakening one's Cryptic powers can take years of training. And even more time is used just to hone one's skills in such a way that they actually become useful." Pegasus paused for a moment, "A quick trip to the Archives here in Greywatch. Then we should go to the Xarniosi Archives. From what I've seen in the past, looking up a race in the Archives is like talking directly to a member of that very race in person. That's just how detailed it is. And truth be told, I'm near my limit of knowledge about the Leanorians."

Vulpe finally conceded. He still didn't agree with it, and despite the fact that it was a tradition for the Leanorians, it seemed like it was no longer necessary. But alas, his ways and the culture of his people probably seemed equally, if not more so strange, from the katana to the Church to the history. "So these achieves...do they detail every race in Greywatch, or every race you've ever encountered?"

"Depending on the restriction level, since some things are always classified or can only be looked up by officials and such, you can find anything about everything that relates to Greywatch and was documented." Pegasus said this with a grin. "Quite the achievement of the Xarniosi."

"Such excellent record-keeping is to be commended," said Vulpe quietly. "I will enjoy my visit to these achieves."

With a nod they were off to see the Archives. It wouldn't be an eventful trip. Back across the large, open walkways of the once ship; to the monorail station and onto a train and back to the city. This time, however, they were off to the technology district, which housed the Greywatch Archives. As soon as they got off the moanorial in the technology district, the achives would be quite visible. There was a large silvery pyramid in the distance surrounded by eight towers, each one glowing with a blue light and easily taller than the other structures in the area. Around the towers were several rings of light, though upon close inspection it would be clear the rings were actually holograms; advertisments, random facts, pictures of landscapes and famous people. Pegasus pointed to the group of structures from atop the elevated railway, "That would be the Greywatch Archives." He led Vulpe down to the streets below and from there is it was a good ten minute walk eo the buildings themselves. A plaza surrounded the Archives, there were several gardens and fountains along with street vendors selling food and drinks. Pegasus looked aound a the white stone walkways with a slight smile, "Probably the most beautiful area in the technology district," he looked back at the tall clustered structures behind them, "Definately the most open space in the technology district."

"Who runs and mantains these Archives?" Vulpe wanted to know, "And what is the purpose of those towers? Are they energy generators of some kind?"

"The Xarniosi are the ones who deal with the information that goes into the Archives. To be honest, I'm not sure who exactly runs them. I imagine its a team of overseers consisting of Xarniosi, humans, droids, and Drones." Pegasus looked up at the towers, they were large enough to go inside, but he saw no doors. "This building was completed recently, about a year ago, so I'm honestly not sure. They may very be generators, though I imagine for a strcuture like this, generators would be underground. Perhaps an Xarniosi can answer that question."

"Only a year?" Vulpe seemed surprised. "And how much information has been amassed in such a short time?"

"Information was being gathered before the construction of the Archives even began. We had to go through libraries, ship logs, exploration reports and so on. It was the Xarniosi that felt the project was neccesary and they're the ones who spent the most time collecting and checking the information that would be be placed in the Archives. Meanwhile, the construction and design was mainly carried out by humans, though the other races helped as well. When the Archives were completed, ships were upgraded so that they could access the Archives from anywhere at a moments notice. Ships can also upload reports onto a special server where the Xarniosi can look over the information presented and then decide if and where it should go in the Archives. I cannot begin to guess how much new information has come in since the opening of the Archives due to the galaxy always being so active. But as you probably imagine, quite a bit has been amassed in just a year."

"I can," Vulpe agreed, looking to the silver pyramid building. "I guess this is open to the public, but you mentioned restricted files as well. Does the government, military, or Forbbiden Ministry use the Archives to store information as well?"

"I imagine all but the latter might. The restrictions on files typically go up in levels. These levels are based on things like age, status, profession, and so on. Things like: the full details of the nature of Cryption and how it's developed, or the first use history of the Worldslayer; those most likely be reserved for scientists and millitary officers while watered down versions would be presented to the public. Other things like the complete history of Greywatch's contacts would be public knowledge." Pegasus stopped to get back on track, "But right, as I was saying, I imagine the military and the government would have their own special servers which only they could view. The Council and rest of the government would have the fullest of access, the military would have access to everything not involving governemtn decisions, and the FM would have access to the Archives but probably never upload anything into it because, well, they like to gather information, not give it away. This is of course how I see it being run and I'm sure a librarian would know for sure."

"So, just how complete are these Archives? Can you give me a rough estimation of the total memory? And now that I have come here, now that we have formally made contact, is there a place for the Xiscapians, too, in there somewhere?"

Pegasus gave an uncomfortable look, "Why don't we step inside and I'll let you talk to a librarian? I can only answer your last question, yes. This diplomatic contact will be added to your race's personal section, which was actually established before you came here." Pegasus began leading Vulpe forward, into the pyramid itself.

Vulpe entered the pyramid structure, all limbs inside his robes, orange eyes peering out at everything. Somehow he expected it to be cold inside, with gigantic stacks of manuscripts and books, or maybe thousands of computer terminals. He knew that what passed for Archives on Xiscapia, aside from the regular public libraries, were the old museums in the Churchs, holding many documents and records, not all of them of a necessarily spiritual nature. But this was widespread, nearly every Church had its own, and he didn't think anyone had ever tried to compile all the information into one place.

Upon entering the structure they would both be greeted by a woman sitting behind a desk. To the left and right of them there were more of these desks, one in front of every entrance. In these external halls that surrounded the internal rooms of the archives, there were many statues and tapestries as well as a few replicas of ancient relics. “Greetings, how may I help you?” The young woman behind the desk asked. Pegasus walked forward, “Yes, we’re looking to view the Archives.” The woman nodded, “Identity and ranking please.” Pegasus pulled out a small card from his pocketand handed it to her, “Pegasus Silverkin. Greywatch Senior diplomat, first class. This man here is my guest.” The woman nodded, “I see. Thank you,” she gave the card back to him and reached under the desk to pull out two small, flat crystals. She quickly put them through a machine, typing up information on a computer while she waited. After about a minute she handed Pegasus both crystals, “You may proceed inside.” Pegasus nodded, “Thank you.” He then handed one of the crystals to Vulpe, “Keep this somewhere safe.” He then led Vulpe into the actual Archives themselves.
The structure’s first level was one monolithic room, very much like any other library. A small robot, about half the size of a human head began to follow the two, displaying a hologram in front of them. The hologram depicted a few different pictures of the Archive’s first floor while giving some information about the Archives layout, “Welcome to the Greywatch Archives, floor 1. This is the library area, notable for its archaic look and feel. The shelves here are filled with books on just about any topic one could imagine. Signs hung from the ceiling as well as those on the side of the shelves will allow you to navigate the Library more easily. Above this floor is a food court, while below it is the virtual Archives, the most popular attraction.” The voice coming from the droid was like that from the announcements on airplane flights, friendly but in not in a completely genuine way. Pegasus looked to Vulpe, “Well then, I figured we should see the Virtual Archives. That’s where the excitement really is. But that’s only my opinion; we have some time to look around.” The Droid displayed a hologram depicting a room full of strange looking machines and human-sized pods. “The Virtual Archives require that one be inside a pod. When a person enters the pod, their mind is taken into a virtual reality which allows them to experience the wonders of the Archives to the fullest.”

The crystal vanished into the recesses of Vulpe's robes somewhere, and he calmly followed Pegasus, eyes bright. Upon reaching the first floor and hearing Pegasus's opinion he gave a small shrug. "You're the tour guide, you may show me what you wish in any order you like," he said passively, looking around the massive library. Just this area alone was impressive, the knowledge this place must contain...

Pegasus nodded, "Very well then." He led Vulpe forward, past many shelves crammed with books. They continued on towards the center of the room and a large pad which emitted a blue glow. Stepping onto the pad brought up a hologram which gave options for the different levels in the Archives that could be accessed. Pegasus selected the flor directly below them and they were both blinked to that location. The room they were no in looked like the one in the hologram the robot had presented. It was full of strange and exotic looing machines, each one possessing about six pods. These machines filled the room, many of the pods already had people inside of them. Pegasus was quick to find two empty pods and lead Vulpe to them, "Well, you just get in and I'll see you in Virtual Reality." Pegasus turned and stepped backwards into the pod. "Whenever you're ready..." The pod closed and small mechanical arms could be seen securing Pegasus's head, he gave a confident smile and the machine activated, taking him into the Virtual Archives.

Vulpe blinked. They had VR in the Kitsune Empire, of course, but he hadn't really been expecting this. However, Virtual Reality was an excellent teaching tool, so he supposed it would be his loss if he did not go. Gingerly climbing into the pod he stepped backwards and allowed it to close around him. Almost at once he felt releived, near-forgotten instincts and strange feelings welling up inside of him. He was in his burrow, he was safe, nothing could harm him...
Then the arms clasped around his head, and Vulpe knew no more of that world.

After the VR systems activated, both would find themselves in a vast whiteness. Nothing around them, nothing at all. Pegasus was there, smiling. "Not much at first is it? But it only gets better from here." Pegasus stapped his fingers and the two would now find themselves in space, standing on the hull of a Worldslayer, looking up at Lanoria. "I can only assume the Xarniosi went through a lot of trouble getting all these different enviroments in. But that's a topic for later... is there anything you like to see or know about?"

OOC: The Matrix is a system, Neo...
IC:
Vulpe looked around into the whiteness, feeling a faint sense of vertigo. The VRs back home never did this unless they were experiencing errors, in this field of nothing it was impossible to tell where anything was, there were no defining edges, no shadows, no shapes, infinite nothing. Even space had stars. Then, abruptly, he was in space, on the hull of a starship, a planet which he recognized as Lanoria spinning before him. With a slight sigh of relief he stared at it, getting his bearings.
"Is this system equipped with a historical recreation program?" he asked. "There are times in the history of Greywatch I would like to see reconstructed to the best of the ability of the records, if possible. Can the VR do that? And if so, when and where would you recommend, for starters?"

"Yes, indeed it does." Said Pegasus with a bit of a smile, he quickly became more serious, "I'm not really sure what you're interested in seeing so I couldn't make an accurate at what would be best for starters... I suppose seeing a recreation of one of the New Heaven wars could be a start... since that is where everything, more or less, begins."

Vulpe just nodded. "I can see what it has to show, and you can correct errors or fill in the blanks as we go along. Make it so," he waved a hand in mock grandeur. "To be able to experience history and be there virtually as it happens is an amazing tool. Our educators back in the Motherland love it."

"Indeed, it is a great tool..." Pegasus closed his eyes, "Archive, please simulate the beginning of the first war with new heaven based on all sources. Set location at the central square." Suddenly the two would find themselves in the middle of a plaza. Around them were the not to shabby buildings of an old Greywatch Prime. People walked around in the streets going about their day, cars passed by (petrolium run ones), everything looked like that of not yet futuristic city. Pegasus opened his eyes for a brief moment, "It'll begin soon. Let me warn you now, I've put no censorship setting on this, so some of the scenes you're about to see may be a little intense..." It was a scene right out of history. That day, everything had been so peaceful, but in a few minutes that historical was going to be seen, the first attack made on Greywatch by New Heaven.

"I assure you, I can handle whatever this virtual reality can throw at me," said Vulpe calmly. He wondered what, exactly, was about to happen? An attack, perhaps, by the Emperor's troops? Maybe a public trial and torture? He did not know, and for now he closed off his speculations and simply allowed himself to be immersed in the VR. The answer would come soon, trying to guess it was a futile task, so Vulpe kept silent and still, waiting quite casually in the peaceful city for whatever would be unleashed.

Everything seemed normal for a moment until a blue streak appeared in the distance, behind some buildings. It was soon followed by a few others, until five bright blue lances tore into the sky. The virtual people around Pegasus and Vulpe began to panic; no one knew what was going on. Very soon it was apparent that Greywatch was under attack as three ships appeared in the sky. One of them was clearly on fire and was losing altitude fast, a victim of the blue lances that had been seen a few moments earlier. A minute later a bolt tore through the air and a nearby building wall exploded, showering shards of concrete on the people below. As people began to scream and flee, transports began descending through the clouds, firing off rounds as they came. Within a few minutes, the transports were down and soldiers began to jump out. They were a fierce looking group, each one stood at seven to eight feet in height in their light gray and red, medieval-looking armor. Each one was armed with a large gun, without any hesitation they began attacking everyone on the streets, gunning down men, women, and children without any sense of mercy. “In the name of our God, FINISH THIS!” Came a cry from one of them as he tore through multiple civilians. The people were in panic, trying to dive for cover, though it did very little. The soldiers simply pushed forward as calm as could be, taking out whatever got in their way. The massive weapons they used spat out bolts of energy at high rates of speed while the missile launcher attachments decimated vehicles. Aircraft overhead began dropping bombs on the surrounding buildings and more transports could be seen flying over the city, looking for places to land. Through the entire thing; blood splatters, civilians literally being ripped apart, explosions… Pegasus kept his eyes closed. He didn’t need to see any of this, reading about it was back enough without having to see it. The soldiers stormed past the two invisible bystanders and continued doing their dark deeds. Pegasus opened his eyes for a moment and looked to Vulpe, “These are the horrors of Greywatch’s past. There is still much more to see and assume you wish to continue. There’s still some stuff to cover.”

Vulpe felt sickened as he watched helpless civilians get shredded by the fire, rockets and bombs flipping vehicles and body parts up into the air and buildings crumbling to the ground. He had never seen such horrors, such atrocities, as were being commited before him. "Please," he said a little breathlessly, "let's move on." His words were puncuated by another explosion and more screams as innocents were mowed down under the weapons of murderers.

Pegasus looked up, "Stop simulation. Please begin simulation of 'Battle at the Thatch Stronghold.'" He looked around as the city square morphed into a long road with tall buildings on each side. It was a urban neighorhood, a few Greywatch soldiers stood around as if expecting something. They had sandbags set up as if they were preparing for a fire fight. They looked nothing like the current Greywatch soldiers, instead only wearing gray uniforms and body armor. Many of them had their helmets on, which still left plenty of their faces to be seen behind yellowish visors. One of them looked up and held his hand to his ear, he looked to the other, "We have a contact coming now. Get it set up! C'mon, move!" Pegasus moved to the side, "It's best to stand to the side to take in everything." The soldiers began getting behind the sandbag walls they'd set up, a low rumble could be heard in the distance as some visable blue lights began appraoching. "Its about to begin..."

"Tanks?" muttered Vulpe, moving back with Pegasus. He wondered if this was the same city. "How long ago did you say this happened?"

Pegasus looked up, "Pause simulation." Everything stopped as he thought, "To be honest, it might just be easier if I..." He waved his hand in front of him, summoning up a blue light. "Please load Greywatch history, only include the founding of Greywatch, wars with New Heaven, and the first contacts." The blue light promptly shaped itself into a glowing blue, tranluscent page which exapnded to show the requested information:

Greywatch Present Day
12 Years Earlier: Leanorian first contact
27 Years Earlier: Third New Heaven War
31 Years Earlier: Fourth New Heaven Conflict
39 Years Earlier: First large Xarniosi society found
46 Years Earlier: First Xarniosi society found
47 Years Earlier: Xarniosi first contact
100 Years Earlier: Second New Heaven War
113 Years Earlier: Third New Heaven Conflict
115 Years Earlier: Kiioxri first contact
139 Years Earlier: Second New Heaven Conflict
203 Years Earlier: First New Heaven War
289 Years Earlier: First New Heaven Conflict
400 Years Earlier: Greywatch officially founded
403 Years Earlier: New Heaven Exodus; first contact with the Elden

Pegasus nodded, "I had a feeling I might be getting some history mixed up... but that aside, as you can see, the very first attack took place some time ago, about 300 years..." He looked at the information presented to him, so many conflicts in such a short amount of time.

"So much fighting..." murmured Vulpe sadly. "Three hundred years, it's amazing how your society has progressed. But please, continue with the demonstration," he smiled wanly, "I want to see this though to the end."

"Yes, of course." Pegasus moved his hand over the page and watched as it disapeared. He looked both ways to make sure he remembered where they'd stopped off, "Resume simulation." Pegasus watched as everything began moving again. The blue lights soon formed into a group of very large vehicles. APCs, and heavily armored ones at that, within a few seconds a soldier screemed, "FIRE!!" And two rockets went flying towards the armored vehicles. Both APCs immediately stopped, apparently damaged, but the weapons mounted atop the vehicles were far from unoperational. Each APC was armed with duel gatling cannons which took no time in shredding the sandbag fortress and many of its defenders to pieces. Blood spattered all over the streets as the Greywatch soldiers fell to the barrage of bullets. Pegasus closed his eyes once more, "I wanted to show you this battle because... it's what truly forged our relation with the Elden..." For a moment, Pegasus's words would seem unclear but as the last two soldiers dragged themselves away and the APCs slowly began crawling forward, his words would then become clear. A bolt of lightning, at least that's what it appeared to be, came down right onto one of the APCs, the entire vehicle erupting into flames as the intense electricity tore into the vehicle and instantly superheated everything inside. Two New Heaven soldiers stumbled out of the vehicle, on fire and armor melted to their bodies, the screemed in pain before dying a few moments later. The gatling turret began focusing upward to find the source of the attack only to be struck by a less powerful bolt of electricty. The turret immediately began to fail as the electrical systems inside fried. A man dropped down in front of Pegasus and Vulpe, he had spiky blonde hair and was wearing the armor of Greywatch solider. However, this man was far from human. He looked ahead at the remaining APC and placed his hands together, a stunning electrical buildup began to gather around his body and within a few moments his body was indistinguishable from the electricity surrounding it. He help out his hand, pointer finger facing the disabled APC and fired another powerful bolt of electricity into the vehicle, reducing much of it to molten metal within a few seconds. The man gave a slight smile before pulling out a small comunicator, "This is Jackson, Thatch Stronghold has held, I repeat Thatch Road checkpoint three is standing strong. We have casualties though, we need medics ASAP." With that line the simulation paused automatically. Pegasus looked to Vulpe, "That was the first time an Elden helped us in a military affair..."

Vulpe looked at the displayed Elden, thinking. "He does not look unlike our Elden friend Ghost," he commented. "How many Elden came to assist you during this war? With such power, I would expect that any large number would put such a war to an end quite quickly."

"Hmm, a little bit I guess..." Pegasus muttered, he had read about these events but this was actually his first time seeing them in VR. His previous statements were less based on experience and more based on what he'd been told about the Archives by others. He knew the Archives were good at simulations like this one but, damn, where these simuations realistic. Pegasus came out of his thoughts, "Ah, I won't pretend to know how many came to our aid. Less than a hundred I'd imagine, seeing as this was before many of them realized how dangerous New Heaven was."

"What finally convinced them that New Heaven was a threat?" asked Vulpe. He spread a hand over the frozen cityscape. "This?"

Pegasus sighed, "They joined our caus ewhen they learned they too had a target painted on them. If we were the primary focus, they probably wouldn't have responded like this." He held out a hand to Jackson, "Elden like to be left out of things, or at least that's what could be said when all this started. It wasn't until the New Heaven incident that they became active in our affairs. Of course, it was also New Heaven that made them revert back to their mainly isolationist ways. The reason they spread themselves out and live in smaller communities is so that if another attack were to happen, they won't become a focus." Pegasus shook his head, "It's understandable, with such Cryptic power, New Heaven naturally wants to wipe them out first before touching us."

Vulpe nodded. "Of course. Any invading force would either capture, kill or force into hiding such powerful beings so they could not interfere. But..." He paused. "Their motives are really so self-centered? Did they not help Greywatch because they agreed with her ideals and morals, not only to protect their homes and selves?"

Pegasus shook his head, "It's an entire race, the majority of them were more concerned about themselves, others were not. Vulpe, you may not have noticed it yet and I didn't bring it up... I do not believe Elden can reproduce, that's why we've never seen any Elden children. Once their race dies out, they'll only exist within the Greyknights which Leona spoke of. Even though many of them were thinking only about themselves, some were still willing to sacrifice... and I hold no grudge against those who did not fight, I can understand their survival instinct, especially in their situation."

Vulpe was silent for several moments as he digested this. "I was not aware," he said finally. "My apologies. There will always be those who choose flight and concealment to open conflict, and there fear is," he took a deep breath, "understandable."

"No harm done," said Pegasus, "Again, those are only my thoughts on the matter. I've never actually asked an Elden about if and how they have children, I've just put the pieces together myself. I might be wrong..." Pegasus shook his head, "But, I do believe there is more to see. Now then... I've shown you New Heaven. Is there anything you want to see in particular? We can watch something you're interested in while I think of another piece of Greywatch's history."

Vulpe frowned, thinking over his limited knowledge of Greywatch history. "I would like to see your First Contact with the Leanorians, just over a decade ago, correct?"

"Make it so," said Pegasus to no one in particular. The scene changed from a city to open plains. "Huh, this should be interesting." The two stood for a moment before a transport flew overhead and landed nearby. The back of it opened up and out of it came three Greywatch soldiers, a scientist, and a specialist. "Alright, let's move out." Said one of the soldiers, the others followed as he led them. "This will be a little more interactive." Said Pegasus as he too proceded to follow the group. The group only had to walk a short distance before the first contact was initiated. A golden blur was all that could be seen and the single scientist found herself in a headlock, a sword of light being held to her neck. It was a Leanorian hunter, a male one, and he didn't look happy to see the Greywatchers. He spoke in a cold and demanding voice, "Who are you? Speak now or this one dies." The soldiers immediately raised their weapons, the lead one replying, "Let her go you bastard before I put a bolt through your skull." The Leanorian was much taller than the scientist so the soldier's threat was easy enough to follow up on. Though what got the Leanorian interested was the Greywatcher's speech, it wasn't like that of a demon. He relaxed the hold on the scientist, "I'll ask again, who are you?" The scientist coughed, "We're not hostile, dammit. We're human." The Leanorian looked down at the woman, "Human? Am I supposed to know what that is?" The lead soldier nodded, "Maybe you wanna drop our girl and we'll tell you." The soldier looked back at the others, who began to lower their weapons. "You lower your weapon, I'll lower mine. Deal?" Pegasus watched as the events of history unfolded.

Vulpe watched as the scenerio played out, more-or-less identical to nearly every other FC experienced by most races: A show of arms, cautious discussion, a wary disarming of weapons and finally talks which, depending on how they went, could lead to a war or an alliance and cultural exchange. Obviously the ladder had been the route the Greywatchers and Leanorians took. Still, what had these five been dropped here for? Apparently the Leanorian didn't even know what they were, never mind who they were or why they were there.
And then, what did Pegasus mean by, 'interactive?'

The Leanorian thought for a moment, before lowering his weapon, the soldier doing the same. "Even if you claim not to be hostile, this one stays with me, you step out of line and she dies." The lead soldier grunted, "Fine then, but keep in mind I hold you to the same standards." The Leanorian nodded before lift the scientist and slinging her over his shoulder without any difficulty. "Then follow, 'Human.'" The Leanorian began a brisk walk towards a large rocky area in the distance. The rest of the group began to move, the lead soldier putting a message through his comms system, "Ship, this is exploration team. We've made first contact, natives are skeptical of us, one person is being held hostage to make sure we don't try anything funny." While the Leanorian couldn't hear any of this, just like in the actual events, the message was easily heard by Pegasus and Vulpe. Another message came back to the soldier, "Roger that. Do you require support? And who's been taken?" The soldier quickly put through his reply, "Dr. Hail has been taken. No support needed, these guys seem to be using arcaic tech, animal hide and spears... Interesting note, they speak English. Perfect english at that." A voice came back, "Understood, gather all the data you can. You have permission to reveal any information you need to if it keeps the doctor alive." The soldier nodded to the response, "Understood." With that they continued their trek. Pegasus following the soldiers closely, what he meant by 'interactive' was that nothing was coming to them this time. They'd have to follow the soldiers and go through whatever obsticals the original team did. It was a good twenty minute walk before the entire group reached a valley, the Leanorian turned to face the others and pointed to a large rocky structure some few miles in the distance, "That is where we are going." The Greywatchers nodded and the group continued. Pegasus smiled, "Looks like we a have a little more walking to do." He looked around at the open plains, blue sky, and the valley below, "They really did a good job with this... I'll have to thank the Xarniosi."

Vulpe wondered why everything seemed to be twenty minutes away from the next on this particular planet. Possibly it was as far a Leanorian could run flat-out, ensuring that if something important happened others could easily be alerted by a runner or scout. At the moment, though, he watched the Greywatch team, impressed by how they had kept their cool despite the situation their comrade was being held in. If this had been an Xiscapian party, any negotiations probably would have stalled right there until either the prisoner was released or a fight was started. True, the Greywatchers had both superiority in numbers and, he assumed, firepower, and probably could have blown the hunter's brains out all over the grass before he could have moved, but they had shown restraint. This would lead them where it would, and Vulpe intended to follow them every step of the way.

After a good walk down some steep slopes and rocky paths, the group came to another flat areas and was able to proceed straight to the rocky formation the Leanorian had pointed to earlier. It was a good walk, the whole way the group said nothing, the Greywatch team didn't even try to plan anything in secret using their radios. The hostage was quiet and the Leanorian was surprisingly gentle while carrying her. The rocky structure they reached seemed much large up close than it had in the distance. The rock they'd seen was in the center of a large mud hut village. Multiple other Leanorians watched as the group came in, the Greywatchers shot each other a few looks and the lead soldier put his weapon away while the overs made sure to keep their own pointed down. The specialist move closer to the soldiers, just in case. Children stopped what they were doing to watch, mothers taking any straying children inside, Leanorian males staring the group down. They entered the rock structure a cavern inside was straight but went gradually downward. At the end of this cavern was a large room, there were four other Leanorians in the room. One of them was a large and muscular male, wearing only greeves made from some silvery metal. Two his sides were two nude Leanorian females, his mates. The last Leanorian was a guard with an almost familiar look, she was thin but obviously tough, wielding a spear reserved for only the most deserving warriors. She also had jewelery similar to the kind Vulpe and Pegasus had seen when they visited the Leanorians. The hunter and this other Leanorian, obviously the head of the village, conversed for a moment in another language. The head Leanorian looked to the lead soldier, "What is your business here?" The lead soldier grunted, "How about you let my person go first? You have nothing to worry about, my weapon is put away." The Leanorian laughed, "As if your soldiers wouldn't kill me, demon." The lead soldier tilted his head, "Mind running that by me again? Y'know what?" he looked to the others, "You guys, leave. This just became personal." The soldiers looked to one another before slowly leaving. The leadign looked back to the Leanorian, "You and I need to talk..."

Vulpe looked over the Leanorians. It had been established that the one leading the group was a hunter, and the one the lead soldier spoke to was probably some kind of leader, an elder or chief. But this other one, the female, what was she? The lead hunter, perhaps, or a 'Captain of the Guard', so to speak? The other two were concubines, obviously, or slaves, though Vulpe doubted the ladder. How this would play out remained to be seen: With the other soldiers gone, the Leanorians now outnumbered the humans, and they were in a vulnerable position. The Xiscapian could only assume any talks would have to start now, because if a fight started it would be quite bloody and very short...

The soldier gave a cold stare from behind his visor, "Calling me a demon is a dangerous thing to do, I don't have patience for insults. Nor do I patience for being termed a 'demon' again." The soldier pressed down on the pressure points around the neck area of his armor. There was click and he lifted his helmet, revealing a caucasion skin and brown hair. Vulpe might recognize the familiar face of this Elden but Pegasus wouldn't know him. "I am here as a peaceful emissary of Greywatch, here to explore and meet new races. However," the soldier paused for a moment, "I myself am an Elden. If you think I'll take kindly to being called a demon, you are sadly mistaken." The soldier's red eyes stared straight ahead. The Leanorian leader rose to his feet, "Donot play games with me, your aura reaks of demonic energies. How dare you even use that name to describe yourself." The soldier was suprised but didn't show it, "So you've heard of my kind befo-" It was then that the soldier was struck, a quick backhand delivered by the Leanorian leader sending him straight back, his body twisting through the air before landing in the tunnel used to get him to the room in the first place. The Leanorian stepped forward, "I, Sha'zir kor'ah, will not have the likes of use defile the name of the Elden in my presence." The man slowly rose to his feet, the scientist hadn't said a word the entire time, but just stood in shock as her commander rose from the strike. The man walked forward and visibly moved his lower jaw back into place, "You've made a grave error. I, Redemption, challenge you, kor'ah, to battle. If I win, you will take back your words of what I am and give me back my squad member." Sha'zir smiled, "And if you lose, I will presonally end your life. But you are far from my level," he waved his hand and the female in armor stepped forward, "She will fight you." Red grunted, "Fine."

OOC: TG

Vulpe looked on, eye bright. What was this? Some kind of gladiatorial combat, a duel of honor perhaps? He believed now that the female was the bodyguard of this Leanorian, hence her involvement. But Redemption, this Elden...he was taking quite a risk. He might not be killable, which was what Intelligence reports indicated, but it was suspected that it was possible to incapacitate him for some time, thousands of years, and in any case he had only just met these beings. Then again, Intelligence also indicated that 'Red' was not exactly a pillar of stability, and as an Elden he may not have felt himself to be exactly affiliated with Greywatch. Vulpe settled in to watch the fight play out. Obviously Redemption was here today and quite undead, but the Xiscapian didn't know if the same could be said for the Leanorian. She seemed familiar, though, in a strange way because most Leanorians looked more or less the same to the kitsune. Perhaps he had glimpsed her, in the market perhaps?

The entire group was led through another passage out into another part of the village. This section was much more open and resembled the training area Vulpe had seen earlier. As soon as they were at the training area, the young female turned to face Red, "I hope you are ready," a shimmering aura gathered around her, "Because I am." Red smiled at her, pulling his gun gun off his back and holding it out. He threw the weapon to the side and put his helmet back on. "Give me a moment," he pressed a few buttons on his wrist and the entire suit disapeared. He was dressed ina pair of boots, camo pants, and a black sleeveless shirt. Very quickly he removed his boots and shirt, throwing them to the side with his gun. He placed both hands on the ground for a moment, a few seonds later a transparent shield formed around the pair so that no stray shots could get out of their arena. Pegasus raised an eyebrow, "I've never seen someone use that kind of Cryption." The female Leanorian got into her stance, Red did the same. "Whenever you are ready, demon." Red laughed, "You first, little girl." The girl nodded, "Very well."
She stabbed her spear into the ground and brought her right hand all the way over to her left and then made a quick backhand motion. Red watched as with this motion, several blades of light headed directly at him. He dodged a few but most of the blades still ended up lodging themselves in his torso. He let out a scream of pain, making his opponant smile. Within a few seconds, she was upon him, bringing her foot into his jaw and sending him into the air, but that wasn't where it ended. appeared next to him in mid-air and threw him into the ground. When the dust settled, only the bottom half of his body could be seen sticking out of the ground. She considered this her victory, but decided it best to make sure he was truly dead. "Is that all you have?" Red's response came quickly enough.
Within a second he was already back on his feet and his foot was making solid contact with the girl's stomach, sending her into the barrier at high speeds. She coughed for a moment, "What?" She tried to get up, stumbling as she did so, a suprised look on her face. By this time, many others in the village had come to see the commotion, including the Greywatchers. The head Leanorian watched in awe as Redemption didn't stop, he continued to pound on his young opponant without any sense of mercy. She had very little time to react to his combonations and even less time to make her own counter attacks. The two seemed to be almost equally matched at one point, as the young female quickly began adapting to Red's fighting style. But this fight was far from over. Pegasus watched the battle, "My word, I never imagined a battle is what forged our relationship with the Leanorians. I heard there was friction but..." The battle continued to rage on.

"Such brutality," murmured the Ambassador. "What is this, exactly? A defense of honor on the part of Redemption, or does it apply to both?"

"For Leanorians, this is common for defense of one's honor, or sometimes in opposing someone's decision... at least from what I've heard. But for an exploration squad commander to use it on a first contact mission, and know it, that's beyond unheard of. In fact," Pegasus waved his hand bringing up another glowing blue panel beside him. "I want to know exactly who this man is, as well as his contact information." While Pegasus looked away, the Elden and the Leanorian continued their battle.
It was a long one, consisting of intense physical combat and a lot of Cryptic tactics on the part of the Leanorian. Everyone on the outside watched in horror as Red took in several light-based Cryptive attacks and seemed to recover from them all without any problem. One particularly intense smite skill left Red with half of his face burned off, which he, of course, grew back only a few seconds later. "You're good at this. I've never witnessed your form of Cryption before. Really hurts, too." Red said with a smile, "Now then, taste some of mine." The Leanorian at this point had her spear up and ready. Red inhaled deeply before exhaling collumn of flames at his opponant. She was quick to dodge, diving and rolling out of the way before it hit her. By the time she looked up to face Red he was already in the process to delivering a knee to her face, lifting her off her feet. But before she had any chance to recoil, he pierced her stomach with his hand. She managed to look down and stared at the wrist of her opponant, the hand had already dissapeared inside her. Red effortlessly held her up for a few moments so everyone outside could realize what had happened, he then threw her to the side. His hand soaked in her blood, he bowed to kor'ah, who looked upon the being in front of him with a sense of horror, disgust, and newfound respect.
"This battle is over. I've already determine that your race is able to heal itself as well as use a different form of Cryption. I have already dealt with that accordingly." Pegasus had the same question the people in the simulation did, "Did he kill her?" The barrier faded and Red stood, waiting for someone to respond. Finally, another Leanorian did so, she kneeled over Red's opponant, trying to heal her. The older Leanorian looked up, "Monster, what have you done?!" Red shrugged, "I have infused the wound with my own Cryptic energy, making it resistant to healing and making it much more serious than it normally would be. The Crypic energy will act like a virus and slowly destroy her life enrgy." Sha'zir moved forward, "That was completely unnecissary, monster." Red smiled, "Looks like you still won't lay off the insults. This is complete bull, I doubt Greywatch will want anything to do with your kind. Now give me back my scientist before I actually come for you, and believe me, I will come for you next." Red gave a cold stare and Sha'zir finally looked to the hunter. The hunter promptly dropped the woman who ran over to Red, "This goes against all protocols! What the hell are you thinking?!" Sha'zir moved his fallen comrade, the girls eyes were already glazing over and she was gasping for air. The wound had gone black and one could see the corruptive energy spreading over her fur, making discolored.
Sha'zir, looked over to Red, "Does she need to suffer? Just end it." Red nodded, "Fine, I think I will." He moved to the girl, the other Leanorian moving out of the way. He got down on both knees, sitting in a position that allowed everyone to see what he was about to do. Lifting her head up, he began performing what looked like mouth-to-mouth on the girl. He moved is hand to her wound and after a few moments, the corruption began to recede and the wound began to heal.
Closer examination would reveal what Red was actually doing. A stream of blue cryptic energy slowly flowed from his mouth to hers, obviously it was an ability of some kind. Pegasus couldn't help but get closer, he was intriguied by Red, someone who obviously power and had mastered several different levels of Cryption. The girl coughed as like began returning to her, resulting in an accidental kiss. Red took this as his cue to look up, looking around the reaction from the surrounding group were quite mixed. Horror, curiousity, shock, happiness, anger.... Red only paid attention to Sha'zir, who looked back at him with a mixed expression. "What are you?" Red rolled his eyes, "An Elden, I alreayd told you that." He stood, picking up the girl as he did so, she just stared at him with a look of confusion, slightly blushing. "I am Redemption, an envoy of Greywatch. I was sent to the surface to find intelligent life and make contact with that intelligent life. The hope was that I could establish friendly relations and Greywatch might find a new ally. Obviously that didn't go according to plan, but this doesn't mean you and I need to be enemies. I healed her because I didn't wish to take her life, I wished to make a point. Call me what you will, but I am, and will always be an Elden. Now if you don't want to speak to me, fine, speak to someone else, a proper diplomat. What say you?" He continued to hold the girl in his arms looking at Sha'zir. Pegasus was honestly confused at this point, just who the hell was this man? There were only a few simulations with him in the Archives and apparently no information on him whatsoever.

Vulpe's face has contorted into a grimace of disgust, a reaction similar to that felt by many of the Leanorians. When Redemption mentioned what he had done to the wound, the Xiscapian's right hand moved unconciously to the hilt of his sword, his grimace replaced by a look of sadness mixed with anger. He warily watched the events play out, wondering how in all the galaxy such hostile reactions could have formed an alliance of any kind. He relaxed somewhat when the Elden healed the Leanorian warrior, but he still seemed on edge, despite the fact that all of this had happened over a decade ago and nothing he could say or do now would alter the events in any way. Still, he withheld his own thoughts and opinions for later, noticing Pegasus's confusion. Vulpe had not bargained on his diplomat and guide not knowing who this person was, but the human looked quite lost. Vulpe reminded himself to share the fact that this Elden was Redemption with Pegasus and, if requested, tell what he knew about him.

"I say we should listen." Said another voice, this one sounding very human. A man pushed his way through the crowd, his ebony skin covered in white and blue markings. His blue eyes gave a faint glow as he looked at Red. Red, seeing this new figure, gently put the young Leanorian down and walked over. This other figure was dressed in simplistic robes and carried only a stick for walking. The two glanced at each other expressionlessly, "You're an Elden too," Red said unphased. The other man nodded, "Don-kuro. That was my name several years ago, now I am simply referred to as Sage." Red bowed, "It's been awhile since I met another of my own," he looked to the Leanorians who seemed to know this man. Don-kuro looked to Sha'zir, "This man is indeed an Elden, a powerful one. If he is indeed the envoy of a larger power, we should listen. Any nation that has come into contact with other Elden, and even works with them, is an ally. But it is up to you." Sha'zir nodded, "Very well, Sage. I will heed your advice and listen to what this one has to say." Red's face brightened, perhaps he wouldn't fail this first contact mission afterall. The crowd, at this point, began to disperse and the Greywatch team began calling in for a diplomat and making reports. Sha'zir made his way to Red, looking to the man and then to the Leanorian on the ground, "Whether you're a demon or not, I thank you for sparing her." Red nodded and muttered, "I wouldn't take your child's life. I'm not that cruel."

Vulpe relaxed a little more, somewhat reassured. It would appear the hostilities were over, at least for now. He looked from this new Elden, Don-kuro, to the Leanorian sitting up on the ground, noting that she was the daughter of Sha'zir. He must have been supremely confident of her combat abilities to put her in the ring with an unknown foe like Redemption, but nevertheless it was a flippacy regarding life that Vulpe found distasteful. He looked back to Don-kuro, the Sage the chieften had called him. What, exactly, was he doing here, and what role would be play in the events that ultimately led to the alliance between Greywatch and the Leanorians?

Don-Kuro turned all his attention to Red as the rest of the Leanorians dispersed, leaving only the two Elden and the one Leanorian there. Red looked back to his past opponant, "Girl, what's your name?" The girl looked at him, "L'Elara Okur'Na." Red nodded, closing his eyes in thought, "Okay then, mind if I just call you Leona to make it easy on myself?" The girl nodded, Don-kuro raised an eyebrow, "Making friends?" Red shrugged, "Might as well start somewhere. What is it you want to talk to me about?" Don-kuro nodded, "Straight to the point. I like that in a person. To make it simple, you have more fighting to do." Red sighed, "What the hell? I'm trying to be something besides a soldier here. Why the hell do I have more fighting?" Don-kuro leaned against his stick, "Because that's a universal language. All Leanorian will think the same of you until you prove yourself different. Leanorians are split into tribes, many of these tribes are in constant conflict. Why do you think this girl is so powerful? These children are raised using the Elden method, many of them will be raised into soldiers, hunters, medics.... and they must start their learning from a young age. Both of us were put through the same practice." Red nodded to this, looking to L'Elara, "Yes we were. Alright, what's the plan exactly?" Don-kuro looked to L'Elara, "You need to spread the word of there being people on worlds beyond this one, people who wish to make peaceful contact with all Leanorians. You need to convince others to follow the path this tribe is following. Most will not listen and will see you only as another demonic force, you have to change their minds." By this time, L'Elara was standing next to Red, "I'll help, my tribe holds a lot of power in this region and you'll have a better chance of being listened to if I'm there." Red looked around, "Dammit, more responsibility. Fine then, I'll have some talking to do with the higher-ups and get a green light. Oh how I'm going to get an earful..."

"Quite the task," Vulpe murmured. "There must be thousands of tribes spread out over the entire planet, and he's going to have to fight a warrior from each to convince them of his good intentions." He was silent for a moment. Then, "Did he just call her Leona? Is that the same Leona we met at the temple?" he asked Pegasus.

"Well that explains a few things. It is still a well known fact that not every Leanorian tribe has united and decided to open relations with Greywatch. The city we visited had maybe six or seven large tribes and plenty of smaller ones. The group of bandits we saw was probably from a seperate tribe altogether. I don't even think we've explorered the entire planet for fear we might cause too much of a disturbance." Pegasus said with a nod, "And I imagine having one's champions defeated by this man leaves a bitter taste in one's mouth." Pegasus thought for a moment as the simulation paused, he walked forward to examine the Leanorian that Red had called Leona. "I see no reason for Red to call her that otherwise. She looked familiar, maybe this is why. Her eyes certainly look like that of the Leona we met. I guess this might be how these two first met, not sure how that led to a romantic relationship... but the universe is an odd place. Something tells me we should talk to a Xarniosi about this... they handled the data that goes into this place and I imagine they'd know more about the events then I do." Pegasus looked to the screen he'd summoned earlier and began fiddling with it, "Speaking of which, this simulation doesn't really go any further. I guess it either hasn't been added yet or no one wanted to sit throughout the probably multi-month process of talking to each Leanorian tribe. In which case, I suppose I should give you a heads up of the places we'll be visiting in the not-so-distant future."

"That would be most acceptable," Vulpe nodded, pleased. "Will you be showing me the two worlds from the most recent simulation, or at sometime far in the past?"

"Even better, I can show you the Xarniosi homeworld as it is right now." Pegasus closed his eyes for a moment and the landscape changed. The land around them was like a scene from hell. Red and black are far as the eye could see, the charred and jagged ridges and mountains. Explosions from active volcanoes, the orange glow of lava flows, the darkened sky filled with ash and soot. Noxious gases could be seen spewing from geysers, lightning stuck the ground like rain in the distance. Pegasus looked to Vulpe, "This is the planet we will be going to next. The Xarniosi homeworld is among the most unforgiving planets we have ever been to."

Vulpe looked around, impressed by the realism of the simulation and equally so that any life at all could survive here. "Interesting piece of real estate," he said in good humor, watching a distant volcano spurt magma hundreds of feet into the air. "What caused this world to be like it is? Is it natural, or the result of some war or rouge experiment?"

"I assume natural, but I'm not sure how the Xarniosi would have survived in such a place when they were still... unmodified. I think the world might have evolved into this naturally, it's hard to tell if this is the Xarniosi's true world or if they came here. They certainly don't seem to have too much data on their own pasts, or they don't feel like sharing the story with us." Pegasus looked around, "When we get to this world, you'll probably need to have a biosuit made for you. This planet is very unforgiving."

"It looks it," Vulpe agreed. "How do the Xarniosi survive here at all?"

"Because they are resistant to the elements... so I imagine. They've adapted to this enviroment, many of their structures are located underground. I od know that once you enter an underground facility, you should be prepared to stay there for awhile. When we visit, we'll probably be there for at least a couple of days. Storms make traveling almost impossible... but the Xarniosi have just gotten used to it. I'm sure they could fill in more of the details."

Vulpe nodded approvingly. Underground was a good place for an Xiscapian to be, they were comfortable with it. "Do the Xarniosi procreate? I imagine it would be difficult, especially nearing the end of their biological lives, but I assume they are born and not created?"

"Asexual last I checked. They lost the ability to mate so their bodies had to... adapt to that as well." Pegasus looked to the enviroment one last time before it changed from hellish red to overgrowth green. The two were now standing knee-deep in a swarm. Clicking sounds could be heard, small insects flew by. The entire area was hot and muggy, vines hung from every tree, and very little sunlight got through the canopy which was about twenty feet above them. "And here we are on the Kiixori homeworld, Kiixoran. And if I didn't mention it before, the planet we were just on was Exarnos Prime."

"Ugh!" Vulpe jumped slightly, startled and repulsed. "Some warning would be good next time," he said, gingerly stepping in place, looking down into the mass of bugs. "Do the Kiixori live underground as well, or do they build spires or mounds?"

Pegasus gave a soft chuckle, "Sorry, sorry. I forgot how realistic it gets in here." Pegasus looked around, apparently fine with the sudden change and the muck he was standing in. "Massive hives, both underground and above ground."

"Tell me," Vulpe seemed to be determined not to look at the ground, "before I have to ask one of them, are all Kiixori free and intelligent and sapient? In our experience, beings that are joined in a collective hive-mind are ruled by a few central brains while the vast majority of the population are drones, commanded by the queens or brains. Does the same hold true here?"

Pegasus waved his hand to bring up yet another glowing screen. He began looking over it, "There's one queen and several higher-ups who act as seconds in command. The Queen can control each and every other Kiixori that she has given birth to by use of hive-mind. Higher-ups are given specific groups of Kiixori to watch over and as such also have hive-mind capabilities, though more limited. There are then the workers and soldiers. Both have some amount of free will but are fiercely patriotic and dedicated, as well as very easy to control. Beyond that, no one really understands the Kiixori hierarchy." Pegasus looked back to Vulpe, "That's what the data says here. Oh, and don't worry. As I said, we'll have a custom biosuit made for you so walking around in these different enviroments isn't so distasteful." Pegasus smiled a little, he was obviously used to being in these kinds of enviroments.

"They must number in the trillions," murmured Vulpe. "When I go there, will I be meeting a Queen, or one of the higher-ups? Or will any communications be done though a drone? Finally, which hive will I meet with?"

Pegasus thought to himself, "We'll be going to a blue zone, so we'll probably meet with a Kiixori hive that isn't currently at war. I don't believe the hives actually have names... but that'll be covered when we get to the one of the welcome centers in orbit. They typically have the names of the hives, or at least their sector locations, and they know which areas are dangerous and which ones are safe. Chances are we'll speak through a drone since so much as looking at a queen funny typically gets one torn to shreds."

"Naturally," Vulpe nodded. "How much of the race is actually at war with each other?"

"On and off for the most part. The Kiixori that live in the few dryer areas are among the strongest and most hostile due to lack of resources, but they're so spaced apart that they never really fight. Only in the swamps will you find the constant warfare. At this point, it's really hard to say how many are fighting, way too much chaos." Pegasus looked to the screen again, "We currently believe there are four hives not fighting, two of them are blue zones. The other thirty nine are in warfare."

Vulpe frowned. "If these hives in dry areas have so little resources, why are they strong? And I do know you said before that they might unify in face of a common threat, but it's so hard to imagine all of a race that is at constant war with each other coming together like that."

"Simple. You have one area with many resources being fought over by many different groups. Or you have an area with little resources being fought over by no one. Also, the Kiixori in the dry areas invest in underground hives, are far more resiliant, are far more organized, and are fewer in number than the swamp Kiioxri. They're an odd race, and it's very hard to get specifics on them when they shoot you on sight. As for uniting... there are three things to never do in front of a Kiixori: threaten their queen, threaten their allies, threaten the safety of their hive. The Kiixori are warmongers, but they're not stupid. If an enemy wishes to destroy all Kiioxri, then they will unite for the greater good."

"When have they done so?" Vulpe asked. "In one of your wars with New Heaven?"

"Yes, that would be one of the times. The hives we've spoken to say that there have been other times in the past but they refuse to go further and desrcibe the incidents. We would think they were lying except when we ask them when these conflicts occured, they all give us the same dates. For a race constantly at war, I doubt they would stop to create elaborate lies to tell their allies." Pegasus shrugged, "But, you never know. Anything else you wish to know about them before we go there?"

"How...mm, hostile, are they towards aliens? I mean those who are not Kiixori? I have gotten the feeling that they are rather xenophobic."

"They're no more hostile to others than they are to each other. The only reason they like us is because... well I don't really know why, it may be because we designed their orbital defense grid. They don't mind the Xarniosi because the Xarniosi design technology and aren't very talkative, unless of course they're interested in something. Other thing I forgot to mention, no small talk with the Kiixori. They typically only give you a certain number of questions to ask so best to only ask what's important. They hate the Elden and the Leanorians because both those races have Cryption. They despise the Dragon-kin because the Dragon-kin are the result of an experiment to make suppersoldiers. Chances are, they'll hate you 'just because.' Though if we're lucky, and we get one of the friendlier hives, they'll hate you in secret. Chances are they'll hate me too, because they don't like being bothered with diplomats... or humans who aren't helping them shoot things."

"Twenty questions, huh?" Vulpe sighed. "It makes little difference to me how they hate, quietly or openly, I'm used to it...so long as they don't actually try to harm me. I don't know what to ask, though, if I get a limit. I'll probably stick to pure information exchange, I wouldn't want to upset them with questions about history or politics or religion."

"That may be best." Pegasus looked up, "I can't think of anything else to show you... I guess it may be time to see the Xarniosi in person. Unless there's something else you wish to see."

Vulpe gave an elaborate shrug. "I am ready to meet the Xarniosi," he stated simply.

"Very well." Pegasus closed his eyes, "System, deactivate please." The entire area blinked for a moment, and then the landscape literally shattered around them. They were consumed by an infinite blackness, only to awaken back inside the Archives. The pods deactivated and release the two. Pegasus stepped out and pulled a device from his pocket, looking over it breifly. "Three minutes... well we made some good time. I suppose we should be on our way." Pegasus led Vulpe out of the structure and to the center of the courtyard, he pulled the same device form his pocket once more and spoke into it, "We're ready." The two vanished from the surface and appeared onboard a small frigate in orbit around Greywatch Prime. The captain nodded to the two, "Ready, I take it?" Pegasus nodded and the ship began moving away from orbit. After a few minutes the ship was at a safe range to open PSR. Only mere seconds later, the frigate appeared over another world, this one obviously chaotic. Flashes of bright light came from the obscured suface of the planet. There were only a few stations in orbit around the world, but they were large, very large. The orbital station that the frigate was on course to had a Worldslayer and Worldstarter docked in it. Pegasus pointed to the holoscreen that displayed the Xarniosi homeworld, "Well, here we are."

The world was more or less what Vulpe had expected; what grabbed his attention was the massive orbital stations. "Why are those bases so big?" he asked, studying them. It was hard to tell if they were smaller or larger than Xiscapia's own Protector, but the size was impressive nonetheless. He had not even met one and already the engineering feats of the Xarniosi were evident.

"Worldstarters and Worldslayers are the biggest ships that Greywatch has ever built, typically being somewhere between 30-45Km in length. The Xarniosi are the best technology experts and engineers in Greywatch, so it makes sense that most ships have to come here to get repaired or upgraded. Hence the large obital stations." Said the captain of the frigate. Pegasus smiled without saying anything. The captain looked back to Pegasus, "Sorry, you were going to cover that?" Pegasus shook his head, "Yes, but it's fine. Sometimes it's better to have someone else do the talking." The captain nodded, "Well, we'll be docking momentarily."
The ship began to slow as it pulled closer to the station. Once it was close enough, tractor beams guided it into a hanger and AG clamps docked it. It was a custom hanger, one specifically designed for this particular class of frigate. Exits all over the ship began to open up to allow crew to leave and inspectors to come on. The captain looked to the two of them, "Well, blink network is up. Have a nice visit." Once more the pair were blinked to another location, this time what appeared to be a lounge. There was a large screen on one end, a few holoprojectors, sofas, tables, chair, a few minibars, some snacks laid out. Pegasus looked out the windows to the world below.
Two men entered the room, both dressed in white. "We require you," one of them pointed to Vulpe, the other looked to Pegasus, "You can stay here or follow, your choice. The important thing is that the Xiscapian follow us, he must have a custom biosuit made for him if he wishes to procede to the planet."
Pegasus nodded, giving a odd look to both men, "I'll accompany, if you don't mind." The two nodded and led the group through some corridors to another part of the station. They entered a room that was fully of equipment. There were cryo pods off to one corner, mechanical arms seemed to be constructing something but at the angle the group was at, it was impossible to tell exactly what. There were computers recording all sorts of information as different people sat in tubes filled with some kind of fluid. The amount of technology in this one room would be an incredible sight even for Pegasus. One of the men walked off to a workstation; a small seperate room that had lockable doors and tinted glass. The other man led the pair to a workstation, there was a red circle painted on the floor and around it werer multiple small robotic arms. "You'll have to remove your clothes, this is how were capture the exact dimensions of your body. This is needed to make a suit that fits perfectly. There is also the need to find out how flexible your body is, how run, and many other things. It may seem like a bit much, but all of this data is needed to make a high-quality, functioning suit." The man pointed to a clothing rack, "Please place clothing over there," he then moved his finger over to point at a mirror, "Behind the mirror is a cabinate with some sedatives if you wish not to be awake during the process. Some people, like the Leanorians, hate this process and choose to not to be awake. Your choice." Pegasus raised an eyebrow, there was no real emotion in the voices of these men. They must have done this a lot in the past and must have recieved all kinds of responses from people. "Where should I be for this? I don't want to get in the way..." Pegasus asked, the man looked to him and them pointed to the room the other man had disapeared to, "Go in there." Pegasus nodded and proceded to enter the seperate room.

"I will take no sedatives," said Vulpe, watching Pegasus leave for the separate station. The kitsune stowed his staff and katana in the rack, then proceeded to disrobe. First away came his dark purple and black robes, exposing a two-piece green tunic which came down to mid-thigh, black boots covering the rest. He removed his boots and slid away the tunic, putting them up, now completely naked. Vulpe's body was not the heavily muscled form of a soldier, but more like the slim, fit figure of a dancer, and it was more clear now than ever the natural grace with which he moved, tail curling around his legs. Interestingly, the Xiscapian seemed entirely unashamed, not at all bashful, still carrying himself with the same quiet dignity as before. The Ambassador seemed slightly shorter, about five foot eight, now that his boots and robes were gone, somehow less of an official and more of a person. "Am I to stand here?" Vulpe indicated the red circle with a sweep of his hand, stepping closer to it.

The man noded, "That is correct." Once Vulpe was on the circle, the man turned to the station and motioned for the process to begin. The floor around the circle, as well as part of the ceiling, opened up and what appeared to be hundreds of tiny robotic arms, along with a few larger ones, began to emerge and take Vulpe by the hands, arms, feet, and legs. "Phase 1, begin." A few orbs fell from the ceiling andbegan levatating in specific positions in the air around Vulpe. Scans commenced and the arms began to move Vulpe's limbs to simulate various actions that any normal person who do; walking, running, sitting, grabbing, flexing, even jumping. The smaller arms, using some kind of technology, made sure the body's muscles remained relatively limp. The orbs continued their scans all the way through the ten minute process. After all the initial tests had been done, the orbs stopped their scans and floated back to the ceiling. The arms lowered Vulpe back down and began to retract back into the floor and ceiling.
The man nodded, "That phase is done. Now then, please keep your clothing off and follow me," he led Vulpe to a metalic tub, "This is the next phase. The first layer of the suit will be applied here. I will not lie, many have said that this tickles a little. If you will please lie down in here, we will begin." Some equipment began moving around above them and large tubes of a silvery liquid could be seen.
Pegasus watch with curiousity as the whole process took place. "So what exactly is happening?" The man at the workstation spoke without ever looking up, "We must know his body's dimensions, as well as how flexible it is. There are several other factors that must be worked into creating one of these suits. This next process will be to create the actual exoskeleton layer. A combination of a special bateria, nanites, and some other substances will be used. Once this process is complete, he will have a skin-tight, very flexible, and durable armor. After that, we will begin placing the real armor on, as well as the modifications that will protect him from the harsh enviroment of the world below." Pegasus nodded, "I see."

Vulpe observed it all with a kind of dethatched interest, wondering how many others had gone though the process before him. Thousands, surely, maybe even millions of sentients, human, human-like, and not. When he laid down in the tub he was uncomfortable, curling his tail between his legs and over his stomach and chest, feeling a little bit of strain. Clearly this wasn't made for beings with tails in mind, but he said nothing of it. These men seemed to know what they were doing; he wouldn't tell them how to do their jobs anymore than they would instruct him in his.

The man gave another signal and the tub began to fill with an odd, silvery liquid. "Keep your mouth and eyes closed, please. Don't worry about closing your nose. I also recommend taking a deep breath." The liquid sat for a minute, not doing much, only partly submerging Vulpe. "It's getting to know you." The man said. Then, without much warning, the fluid came alive and began envelope Vulpe until his entire body, down to the fibers of his tail, were covered. For a few seconds he was encased, then the substance began to solidify. A black liquid then began to fill up the tub, it immediately covered up the silvery encasing Vulpe was in. When the enitre process was over, Vulpe was in a gray, skin-tight, flexible armor. "You can open your eyes now, and breathe normally." The armor pulled itself away from Vulpe's head almost instictively, allowing him to see and breathe. "Sorry if that was a little uncomfortable. But now that it is out of the way... the suit you are wearing is alive, in its own way. It isn't completely finished yet, but you can walk around if you wish. You will find your body is far more durable to outside elements now, you will not feel as much pain from injuries... Once it has matured, the suit will become your senses. It will, feel, see, hear, and smell for you. Even if it is completely enveloping you, you will be able to see and breathe the same. It will naturally filter out harmful elements that may be in the atmosphere, and will warn you when there is danger. The exoskeleton you are wearing is apart of you now, but we're not completely done yet." The man stretched out a hand to help Vulpe get out of the tub.

Vulpe took the proffered hand, panting, moving gingerly as if afraid of disturbing the suit that was on him, onto his knees on the floor, head bowed. It was really more like a second skin, quite literally, and he wondered vaguely what he looked like, now. "How..." he gasped for breath, both from lack of oxygen and a little bit of fear and apprehension, looking up to the man.”How long will I have this on for?" The kitsune assumed he'd get used to the stuff and it's wasn't painful or uncomfortable...just different.

“After we finish with the last step, you may deactivate it and put on your clothes. Whenever you activate the suit, your clothing will dematerialize and be placed in a built in storage system as the rest of the suit forms around you. Do not worry about embarrassment as the process of deactivation and activation is so fast, most creatures cannot fully comprehend it.” The man led Vulpe to the third station, a platform that was floating a foot above the floor. The man signaled for Vulpe to get on, as soon as he stepped onto it, is body began to float. The exoskeleton seemed expectant for what was to come next. The man signaled once more and armor began to materialize around and on Vulpe’s exoskeleton. The armor began to fit and attach itself it him on its own, a self building biosuit. After most of the pieces had attached, three small droids came down from the ceiling and finished to the armor. Much of the process couldn’t be felt as the exoskeleton actually numbed the feeling. The odd thing would be the construction of the helmet. The exoskeleton would reform around Vulpe’s head, forcing mouth and eyes closed as the helmet was built, allowing them to open again once the helmet was finished.
From inside the helmet, Vulpe’s view hadn’t changed all that much, he could still see everything just fine. His body was allowed to touch the platform once more. He might find it odd that though he was breathing, the exoskeleton was still covering his mouth, even when he opened it. The exoskeleton had also covered his eyes, but the part that had was perfectly transparent and unnoticeable. The entire suit seemed to speak to him; he would feel much more aware of everything around him. Looking down would reveal the white armor which was now covering his body; it was obviously strong, but still sleek in its appearance. The man in front of him signaled for him to step down. “The armor construction is complete, the only thing we have left to do now is install the proper software. Nothing complex, just your typical motion sensor, radar…” the man pulled out a bracelet and attached it to Vulpe’s right wrist, “…this.” The bracelet molded to fit Vulpe’s arm, then odd rainbow colored lights went over his body for a moment. Suddenly, blue lights on his armor would light up around the joints. A HUD would come up on his visor, displaying the armors current strength. A hologram appeared from his wrist, displaying his inventory, which was empty. “Now then, you’re clothing. You may deactivate your suit by thought and put on your normal clothes. After that, we can proceed to the final step.”
Pegasus had watched the entire process with amazement. “How by the fallen-” The other man looked up, “It’s the Xarniosi, what did you expect? By the way, we already have a suit made for you. The only reason your friend here went through this process is because we’ve never made suits for his species before.” Pegasus nodded, “I see. Then where is my suit?” The man pulled a bracelet from his pocket, “here.” Pegasus took the bracelet and put it on, he felt an odd sensation as the suit scanned his body and began getting familiar with his dimensions. “Just so you know, the suit will treat your normal storage bracelet as a modification. You’ll have a much larger inventory than other people.” Pegasus nodded, “I see. Is there anything else?” The man nodded, “Go out there and join your friend, that way you’ll both hear it at the same time.” Pegasus nodded and exited the room to join Vulpe. The man with Vulpe gave a slight nod to Pegasus as he approached.

"A storage system..." Vulpe murmured, running a hand over the helmet. Orange eyes examined the HUD as it displayed the strength and power of the armor, internal and external temperature, heat signatures, analysis of nearby complex systems and more. After a moment he thought about the suit deactivating, and it did so, leaving him naked once again. Padding over to the rack with his clothes, sword and staff he began to dress, looking over his shoulder to the man. "Hammerspace, is it?"

"If this were a cartoon." The man replied, having actually gotten the reference. Once Vulpe had gotten all of his clothing back on he would feel a slightly odd sensation as the bracelet did a final scan of his body, getting a sense of the clothing and items he was carrying. The man then walked over and squeezed the bracelet, reactivating the armor, "Squeeze to reactivate manually. Now then, please wait, their are programs that must be installed." Soon the HUD began running through basics systems displaying the host's body strength, radar, motion sensor, basic scan abilities, and identification protocols. While all of this was happening, the man walked over the Pegasus and squeezed his bracelet, activating the armor and initiating the download process. "Now then... as you may or may not notice, I have taken the liberty of installing basic combat protocols into your armor and I have activated the 'instictive defense' program. If you're attacked, it really won't matter whether you have combat experience or not, the suit will, to some extent, defend you on its own. Both of you, follow me."
The man led the two to another station with blue circles painted on the ground. Once the two stood in the circle, a light would surround them as their shields began charging. Within two minutes the process of charging would be done. "Please keep standing there. We must now test the recharge." A red light began surrounding the two and a bolt of energy depleted their shield, however after a few seconds the shield recharged on their own. The man nodded, "Good. On your backs are shielding packs, those are very durable items, but if you take too much damage they could short circut and you will lose your shield until they are repaired." On Vulpe and Pegasus's HUDs, they would now see a basic icon of their suits, around this icon was a blue outline diplaying the shield. Below the icon were two percentages, both at 100%, displaying exact shield and armor strength. The man in front of them signalled that they could now step away from the station. "Now then, I will lead you to the armory where you will be able to stock up on the necesary equipment for your journey to the planet below. You may deactivate your suits if you wish, or keep them activated." Pegasus kept his activated, he'd been in a suit like this one before, but it was nowhere near this advanced. He figured he might as well get used to it.
As the man began to lead them to the armory, Pegasus asked, "How much protection will this give?" The man turned around, "You will not be a lightning rod, you will be immune to the intense heat and stronger gravity of the planet below, you will be able to survive in molten lava for short periods of time. When we get to the armory, you will be given equipment such as AG boot, jetpacks, and other things that may be useful. This is a dangerous world, one must be prepared." Pegasus nodded, no wonder so few people came to this world.

Like Pegasus, Vulpe figured it was better for him to get acquainted with the suit now, rather than on the hostile surface of the planet below. If he was going to be spending several days in the thing, he needed to be comfortable in it. "When you said the suit will defend us on its own, partially, how did you mean that?" He inquired. "Will it control our movements in some way, or does it have some kind of field for neutralizing threats?"

“It will meld with your mind and you will literally become one with it. In this state, it will be able to partially control your movements. It’s an odd experience at first… sometimes it is best to meld with the suit on your own, even when not in emergency situations. But we will cover that later. Please follow me.” The man led them out of the room they were in and down a long series of hallways. They went down an elevator at one point and eventually reached the armory, which they promptly entered.
As the group entered the armory, they’d be greeted by the sight of another creature, wearing similar, though obviously much more specialized and advanced, armor. The creature looked up from what it was doing, focusing on the others with green eyes, before looking back down at its work. The man seemed to treat this being as if it was supposed to be there, as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. Pegasus wasn’t really sure what to think, the fact that it looked like no other race in Greywatch but was obviously intelligent was odd. He’d never heard or seen anything like it, yet there it was, minding its own business like anyone else on the station, displaying it had every reason to be there. The strangest thing about the encounter would be that neither Vulpe nor Pegasus’s suits would identify the creature, despite the thing wearing its own suit. There was no identification code, scans showed no heat signatures, there were no life signatures… it was like a hologram, yet reaching out would reveal it was definitely solid.
The man nodded to it, “Jade.” The creature kept going through different parts of the armory, through shelves, containers, drawers, cabinets, and inventory lists until it came upon what it was looking for. It looked to the group, “Hello.” It spoke in a gentle and feminine voice, “Don’t mind me. I just needed something from here.” The man nodded, “Yet another modification? Who gives you permission to come here and get these?” The creature gave a slight smile, “I do a few favors and get them as rewards.” It picked up an odd looking glove and bowed to the group, leaving them to their business.
The man looked to the creature as it left and then looked to the pair. “Now then, you will need the basics.” He went around the armory until reaching a drawer filled with small cylinders with blue lights on them; he brought them back to the pair, two in each hand. “These are Armor Rechargers; they will repair your armor in the event it is heavily damaged.” He pointed to Vulpe’s chest, the heart specifically, “You plug them in here, and then make sure to avoid any more damage. They can be reused multiple times, depending on the extent of the damage.” He handed the objects to the pair and then got something else. He came back with two thick, discus devices and immediately threw them at the pair. Vulpe would feel the sensation the man had spoken of as his armor, almost on its own, reached out and grabbed the device being throw at it, immediately attaching it to his arm; Pegasus found himself doing the same. “That is an example of how your armor reacts to a possible threat, you’ll notice that it also identified the object I threw and found it to be a modification, without me even having to tell you. Now, your suit should be telling you what the device is.” As the man spoke, both would see on their HUDs:
[Arm-mounded Energy Shield: Installed.]
The man nodded, “Can I assume you see it? That’s in case something is coming toward you at high speed and you don’t want to damage your other shield. It can be activated through thought, like everything else I’ve given you. Now then, for the last things. Please follow me.” He led the two to another section of the armory. “Stand there please.” The man moved away and got a few things and came back with two jetpacks. The devices were surprisingly small and sleek for what one would typically think a jetpack should look like. The man moved around the two and installed them on the both men’s backs. The HUD display for Vulpe and Pegasus came up:
[AG Packs: Installed]
The man proceeded to explain, “These are anti-gravity packs. In the case you fall from a high height, use it or your suit will use it for you. It will immediately take you up, wherever it happens to be. Alright, I think with the packs, you won’t need the AG jump boots, unless you really want them. Now…” The man took two devices from his pocket, small orbs, and pressed them into the back of both men’s heads. “Those are the guidance systems for you AG packs… now, it you really must, you can at least control how you go up. That should be everything. Anything else you need will be given to you by the Xarniosi, personally.”

OOC: 'Creature': http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff28/greyknightghost/BlackOp-1.png

The Xiscapian had reached out to catch the disc, and found himself having already caught it. He knew the suit was acting on its own, but it was like it had anticipated his movement. He hoped the thing was sensitive enough to not break his arm if something like that happened at an awkward time.
"Thank you," Vulpe replied to the man, looking at the arm shield. He was quite impressed by the technology; he had never seen anything like it. Must cost a fortune to make these suits. he thought to himself. "Does the armor have an internal communications unit, for speaking privately with other users?" he asked. He wanted to talk to Pegasus...alone. Now, if he could, but later if he had to.
OOC: TG

"Of course. That comes with all suits. If you have someone you wish to contact, you have access to the SCN, Sniper Communications Network, system." Pegasus nodded, "That's good to know." The man nodded, "Now then, let me go check on something, I'll be back in a minute."

"Thank you," Vulpe repeated, and watched as the man left the room. He then turned to Pegasus, looking at his human guide, and now someone he considered a friend, with some curiosity. "Pegasus," the kitsune brought his attention to him, "who and what was that alien, that was in here earlier? She seemed so...familiar, I don't know how to describe it. Like I'd seen her before, or I knew her once, but forgot..." He trailed off, embarrassed to have said this about a total stranger.
OOC: ‘nother TG.

"I honestly don't know, I'd never seen her or her kind before. The other man seemed to know her though, perhaps he'd be the one to ask." Pegasus was curious too, such a creature had not been seen around Greywatch. It was obviously a female, but of what race? "I wonder if the Xarniosi know her, and what these 'favors' are."

"I will make an inquiry when he comes back," Vulpe stated, referring to the man who had helped get them the suits. He had seemed to know the alien, Jade if that was her true name, so perhaps he also knew exactly who and what she was. The air of mystery had piqued Vulpe's curiosity, and now he wanted to find out who this being was.

It was then, as if following a cue, that the man came back, followed by another figure. The figure following the man looked unlike anything else the pair had seen before now. It was a young girl, no older than eleven in appearace. But her left eye was obviously artificial as it was a solid green, her right arm was also obviously mechanical. She looked to the two with a gentle smile, "You can't see it because of my clothing, but my body has been converting for awhile now. I assume I have a few years left... but that is a tale for another day," she looked to the man, "Are they ready?" The man waved his hand as if presenting the girl some sort of offering, the girl smiled. Imidiately, she began doing scans of their bodies, specifically Vulpe's. She wanted to learn everything she could about his race during this visit. Pegasus felt a little uncomfortable, he'd heard plenty about the Xarniosi, seen pictures of them, but it was his first time meeting one in person. The girl turned to walk away, "Please follow."

Vulpe dared not say anything to Pegasus though their secure link; he had doubts about exactly how secure any link provided by another race could be. Though he kept his face clear, inside he contorted with feelings of sorrow, pity and horror for the young girl, ignoring the scanning completly. So young, and doomed to die before she grew much older. Still, perhaps here was a good place to ask his question...
"Sir," he respectfully greeted the man again, "that being, who was in the armory when we walked in...what is she?"

"Jade?" The man said, "She appeared here about four years ago, serving as an engineer. No idea what or who she really is, she left after a few months. Last I checked, she's a bit nomadic, never staying in one place. The only times I see her are when she wants some piece of technology from the Xarniosi for her suit." The little girl smiled, "Jade is quite the mystery. She's been staying here on Exarnos Prime for the past month, helping out. She likes to keep to herself and follows orders without any question... very loyal." The girl began walking away beckoning for the two to follow, "Even we know little of her and her origins. Perhaps if you see her again, you can try your hand at learning about her."

"Perhaps," Vulpe murmured in agreement, following dutifully. No idea what or who she really is...Even we know little of her and her origins. The Ambassador decided to check, when he had the time, all assecible records within the Kitsune Empire and her allies to see if he could dig up anything more. It was a slim chance -the galaxy's a big place, after all- but maybe he could find out something about this Jade character. She interested him in a way he wasn't sure he entirely understood.

The little girl led them through several more corridors and after about fifteen minutes, to a hanger where a special troop transport awaited them. After they were aboard the transport sealed itself tight and began its decent to the world below. The Xarniosi with them sat quietly through the bumpy ride to the surface. Anyone inside could hear the sound of the lightning as it impacted with the shields of the transport. The ride took nearly an hour; luckily, this transport was modified to be comfortable. Pegasus closed his eyes as the transport flew through the hellish environment. Small windows on the transport gave a view of the outside world. It was like everything the VR system had shown, completely inhospitable.
Finally, after a long hour, the transport began to descend and touched down. There was a bit of a thump as it did so. The girl looked back to them, “Make sure you have your suits on. You’ll most likely feel the difference after we step out of the transport’s atmospheric shield.” She led them outside, into the glowing red and dark black of the landscape. It was blurry; a storm had blown in, and with came nearly impenetrable clouds of volcanic ash. The girl with them stepped into the heat and ash, and led them through it to the place they’d be staying. She wasn’t affected in the least, though there was no apparent reason for her immunity. Vulpe and Pegasus’s sensors would identify the heat levels in this area as being beyond dangerous, to say the group was standing in an oven, literally, was an understatement. They reached the habitat after five minutes of walking, it looked like a rock wall, and it was, but as soon as the girl neared it, it opened just enough for the members of the group to slip through one at a time. Once they were all in, they’d find themselves in a small cavern, the wall closing behind them. They were led through the cavern past pools of lava, vents of poisonous gases, and geysers until they reached one very strong, obviously very thick, door. The girl made a stance, stretching her arms out until they resembled the arms of a clock at noon. She then brought her right arm slowly downward until it was at the 3 o’clock position. A hologram came up and asked for her identification, which she entered using the computers that now made up a fourth of her brain. The door creaked open so the group could enter and close behind them once they were through. It was obvious the Xarniosi took security very seriously.
The next area was a bridge across a large underground river of molten rock. The girl didn’t seem to mind the extreme heat of this place, yet the suit would detect no enhancements other than those that were clear due to her transformation. “We’re almost there…” She led them through three more heavy doors and a long set of winding passages, eventually arriving at an elevator. They went down for a minute before finally arriving in front of another door, the door that would lead them to the habitat. Once it opened, they received a blast of cool air and were quickly led inside. They were inside what looked like the lounge back on the station, this was the reception area. Other Xarniosi, showing off their various degrees of transformation, were all standing or sitting around and talking to one another, taking no interest in the newcomers. The girl turned to them and then held out a hand to a nearby sofa, “Please wait here. I will have your rooms prepared and then a guide will come and show you around. Pegasus and Vulpe, is it?” The girl smiled and left, Pegasus didn’t remember giving his name but shrugged it off and took a seat. Apparently, not all Xarniosi would crown around every new and possibly interesting thing that came through the door, both metaphorically and literally. At least that was one stereotype shot down.

Vulpe took the time to quietly observe the other Xarniosi in the room, noting their respective ages and levels of cyborg embracement. Now that he was a bit more comfortable with the suit, he actually rather liked it. It gave the kitsune a feeling of great protection, especially after he had waded though clouds of noxious gases and immense heat as if taking an afternoon stroll on nearly any other planet. He noticed the girl had not only neglected to introduce herself, but also knew their names, but figured one of the men back at the station had told her of them.

After a few minutes wait, a woman entered the arrival area. She had long brown hair that went to her waist and walked with gracefully to the two visitors. "Greetings, Vulpe and Pegasus. I am Harmony 115, one of the guardians of this place. I shall be your guide during your stay here," she said in a gentle and motherly tone. Her normal voice was quite lovely but one listening closely could her the softer, higher pitched, synthetic voice that was in the background. Much of her lower jaw and neck had converted. He legs, too, had been completely converted. A simple X-ray scan using the suit would show that much of her bone structure was in the process of conversion. She gave the two a warm smile, "If you will please follow me." She led them through a series of halls that seemed to randomly change between the prestine white halls one might see on a star ship, and cavern-like passages. It would almost seem like this Xarniosi habitat was still under construction.
Before long, the pair were brought to two doorways. "The bracelets you are wearing are your ID. These doors will only open for you, or a high-ranking Xarniosi official. Though I doubt any high-ranking Xarniosi officials will be visiting you. I have heard that many creature like yourselves prefer to stay in seperate rooms unless they are mated pairs or close friends. Is this acceptable?" Pegasus gave a nod, "This should be fine." She looked to Vulpe, "Is this acceptable?"

"Yes," Vulpe nodded an affirmative as well. Though I doubt any high-ranking Xarniosi officials will be visiting you...hah, excellent tact. he thought sarcastically. Then again, the woman, Harmony 115, was partially robotic, so maybe the conversion had some effect on judgment or memory. Even her name sounded synthetic, eerie despite the meaning of the word. Harmony did not seem to be something the doomed Xarniosi and their changing bodies shared.

"Very well, in thirty minutes I shall return and the tour shall begin. There is something I must do first, apologies." The woman walked off without saying anything else. Pegasus looked to Vulpe, deactivating the helmet, "Well the air here is breathable enough... first time being here so I don't really have too much knowledge of this place." Pegasus looked to his room, it was quite a large space with a bed, living room, and entertainment area all in one. A door led off to the bathroom. It was as if the Xarniosi had studied apartments and trie dto recreate them, doing so almost perfectly. There were even fake windows that would display different types of skies if one so chose, "I guess I'll do some things here while we wait. See you in thirty minutes. Knock if you need anything." Pegasus smiled and went into his room, door closing behind him.

"Sure," Vulpe went into his own room, helmet down, and sat down on the bed, hands on his knees. He had nothing to do for the moment, and he had experienced about a full day already, so he decided to get a little rest before starting the tour. Deactivating the suit he dimmed the lights before crawling under to covers of the bed, not even bothering to clothe himself. The bed was comfortable, soft but firm and conforming to his figure, allowing Vulpe to settle in with a sigh of contentment. The kitsune closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift off, relaxing his limbs as he relinquished control of his body and mind...
OOC: TG

Vulpe's sleep would be different than any other sleep he'd had in the past. He was surrounded by darkness, the darkness of his unconscious state. Then came the feeling of being submerged, water rising, enveloping, surrounding Vulpe. He was sinking, deeper into the blackness of a void that went down for eternity. Then, he reached the bottom, but was still surrounded in blackness. Something else, a hint of white, falling snow, it came down slowly until he was surrounded in it. It was everywhere, contrasting the once dark void he was in. He would feel chilled to the bone, it was like being alone in a harsh and unforgiving winter. Then a voice could be heard, a familiar, feminine, motherly voice calling out to him. “Well well, it looks like I piqued your curiosity. I’m sure you remember my name; Jade.” A figure was standing over him, a smile on its face. It was the same creature seen back on the station, wearing the same suit, the one identified as Jade. “I bet you’ve just been learning everything you possibly can about Cryption, eh? So how are you enjoying Greywatch? It has its up and downs like any other place, huh? Nothing special, at least not in my eyes, but my eyes have seen too much. If you’re wondering how I’m doing this, let’s just say it’s very easy to infiltrate dreams.” The figure stood over him, snow surrounding both of them, infinite blackness wherever there was no snow…

Vulpe stared up at her, orange eyes probing at the unreadable alien face. The Xiscapian sat on his knees, covered in snow, arms wrapped around himself to try and preserve warmth. He'd panicked, at first, he'd had no idea where he was, but now it was clear that none of this was real...maybe. A thousand questions ran though his mind: What are you? Why are you here? Is this Crypton? How did you know about my interest? Why are you doing this? But the simplest, but perhaps the most urgent, rose above all others.
"W-who are you?" he asked, teeth chattering in the chill. He knew her name, she knew he knew her name, so the question went deeper. The inquiry within the question was, Would she answer?

The creature bent down and began to sit, legs crossed, the smile still on her face. Her green eyes pierced him as she looked straight ahead, into his eyes. There was something disturbing, yet gentle, in the way she looked at him. “We covered this already, eh? Jade is the name I was given.” She said nothing else to him, but just kept staring. Then, the landscape around them began to evolve. Where there was blackness, one would now see distant mountains, the pale blue sky, the black barked trees. The two were in a forest, in the dead of winter.

Vulpe stared right back at the creature, eyes locked, his gaze searching but not unkindly. She had declined to answer the question within the question. "Jade." He said the name once, as if tasting it. "I am Vulpe, Ambassador from the Kitsune Empire of Xiscapia." He felt faintly ridiculous, introducing himself like that under these circumstances, but certain protocols had to be upheld. "How did you know about my...interest, in you? Are you telepathic?"

"In my line of work, or at least what used to be my line of work, I have to know people's thoughts before they even think them." She gave a wink, "Even from behind that suit, I can read you're expression, even if its not on your face. I confirm my beliefs by digging deeper; you might have thought you were speaking to Pegasus alone, but I was listening in, completely unseen. You've learned quite a bit about Greywatch, I'm sure both you and your government have already picked up on Cryption, and have wanted to learn more. This is another extension of of the Cryptic art, Vulpe." She said his name with a sense of enjoyment. "As for telepathy... no, Cryption should not be compared with other powers such as telepathy or psychokinesis... it is its own special class of paranormal power. I am a Cryptic being you will never hear of in Archives... in history... because as far as the world, the galaxy, the universe is concerned, I don't exist."

What line of work could that have been? A politician of some kind? A diplomat? A spy?
"If you know what I think and what I feel," Vulpe looked at Jade steadily, "surely you sense the attraction. I don't know how to describe it, nor do I understand it, but it's there, like opposite poles on a magnet. Do you know, my mysterious, non-existant friend? Do you know what the feeling is, and what it means?"

"You possess a love for me. Something budding, something that is difficult for you to understand. To be truthful, it's not something I fully understand either. Like a child falling in love before he fully comprehends what love really is." She reached out, hand stroking the side of his face. "Love is certainly something new to me. The only person who has ever had a bond with me was the one who created me. You met him once, Ghost."

Vulpe shook slightly as her hand caressed his cheek, fingers cool but gentle. He didn't even seem to feel the cold any longer, as the mountains appeared in the distance and the trees solidified around them. "The Elden." Vulpe confirmed simply. "How did he make you?" He asked in a soft voice.

"More specifically, a Twilarai. A gifted one at that. His parents were assassins, never around... he was a lonely child. Twilarai were not a race based on friendship and understanding, they only stayed in groups for safety but nothing more. He was always alone, needing attention, crying out for someone to care. Then, he created me, through means that even I cannot fully comprehend. He gave the shadows around him life, sentience, he infused darkness with a soul, pouring in a little piece of himself, to create me. From that point on, I was his guardian." She kept her gentle smile, "So, I imagine you've led an interesting life. How much have you seen during your time as a diplomat?"

Vulpe tucked away what he had learned, his attraction to a shadow, an echo of another being. Strange that he should find a certain aspect of a singular personality so engaging, but he had little experience in such matters; for all he knew, that was how it happened.
"As I work," he smiled sadly, "you see the heights of sapient compassion and understanding, places and times where technology and belief has made empires from dust. But you also see the lowest, darkest pits, the depths of sentient cruelty and hatred, people and things where the same technology and belief has constructed an engine of violence and terror. I have seen my comrades lifted high on the shoulders of old friends, and peace makers struck down by hidden foes, the births and deaths of people, ideals and entire nations. I have seen a great many things, but I fear my understanding is disproportionate to it, for I do not know the embrace of love. I know of hatred and rage, I know of passion, I know of kindness and generosity, but that one ultimate state remains elusive." He let go of a sigh. "I have gained so much knowledge, so much experience in so little time, but still I have not done all that I can, or felt all that I should."

"Well you should have a full life ahead of you, that's plenty of time to experience what you need to experience. At least you've witnessed both sides of the spectrum, beauty and horror. One needs to see both in order to truly understand the universe. But we can talk in person later... for the moment, its almost time for you to awaken. She stood, snapping her fingers and letting everything melt away, including herself. The dream was over, Vulpe would awaken.

Vulpe woke with a start and a gasp, unexpectedly surrounded by the dim furnishings of his room and the soft, cool (but not cold like the snow) sheets of his bed. He lay there still for a moment, simply breathing, before he sat up. At least you've witnessed both sides of the spectrum, beauty and horror. One needs to see both in order to truly understand the universe.
Could it be said anyone truly understands the universe?
But we can talk in person later...
The Ambassador smiled to himself with genuine warmth. Maybe not, but he thought he might have found a part of it. With a soft sigh he stepped down to the floor, his suit forming around his as he thought of it. Like a dream, his wish conjured at a whim, a flight of fancy...not unlike this occurrence with her, he closed his eyes, seeing her alien but beautiful visage in his mind's eye, but in one case, it was shaped metal; in the other, it was fulfillment of a muted desire that all sapient beings shared.

Pegasus was waiting outside the two rooms, two minutes until Xarniosi came back. Pegasus wanted to see if she'd be back right on the second. And so she did, she stopped in front of him not a second too soon or late. "Where is the other one?" She asked of Pegasus, "Oh, he'll be here shortly." A sigh came from here as she heard this, she waved her hand in front of Vulpe's room door, activating what could be termed as the doorbell. "We await your presence, sir." She said in a kind, patient tone. Pegasus looked over the Xarniosi, Harmony 115 was it? She certainly was very mechanical... it must be the 'enhancement,' he wondered how extensive their affect on the brain was.

"Here, ma'am,"
Vulpe was behind both Pegasus and Harmony 115, standing with the helmet portion of his suit deactivated, hands clasped in front of him. He had wandered out into the hall, seconds ahead of his human companion, to see if he could get the drop on them. Evidently so, but now to gauge her reaction...

Pegasus looked over, "Where have you been hiding?" Harmony 115 didn't say anything but instead just led the men to the first area. The group had to go through a few large, very heavily armored doors before reaching what Harmony wanted to show them first. It was an entire underground garden, very healthy and very well taken care of. The area was massive; flowers, trees, marble pathways, large swaths of green. Pegasus was slightly taken aback by just how much there was here, espscially after seeing the state of the planet's surface. The fact the Xarniosi were able to do this was quite a feat. Harmony 115 looked to the two, "If you have any questions, feel free to ask. When you are ready, we can proceed." Pegasus went first, "How did you accomplish this?" Harmony 115 was silent for a second before answering, "The volcanic nature of the planet provides many nutrients and minerals for plants, it is all a matter of refining. Once we had the correct amount of mineral and nuetrients, as well as the correct materials and equipment for consturcting it, we began the process of creating the garden. It is not an easy process and we had a few mistakes. Eventually we were correct in our methods. We have had to be creative..." Pegasus nodded, Harmony was obviously trying to sound more human by avoiding the long details of the construction. What had happened to her?

Vulpe looked around the garden in surprise, after the drab, sterile nature of this underground facility it had been the last thing he'd expected. He couldn't even begin to guess how the plants were living down here, or what processes the minerals and nutrients had to go though before becoming acceptable for consumption, but it was quite a feat. A little patch of Eden surrounded by Hell.
"Do the plants provide oxygen, or bear edible fruit?" asked Vulpe. He knew that the existence of this place could simply be for the beauty of life, but among machines and half-machines with their cold logic and lack of capacity to appreciate such things, he suspected the garden had multiple purposes.

"This particular garden is more to keep oxygen levels suitble for the newborns when it was first built. We Xarniosi require less oxygen over time due to our transformation. When the Greywatchers came here, they found the gardens we established... relaxing. I personally do not understand what draws creatures to green areas like this, even a few of my kin seem to enjoy doing nothing but looking at the trees. Over time, we have found that taking short breaks from work in areas like this increase efficiency and moral, and thus they have gained a new purpose. If you wish, we can stay here for a few moments, I have made sure the tour schedual is very lax." Harmony 115 paused, "Later on, we will see what the humans refer to as 'farms.'"

"Tell me something," the Ambassador turned his sights from the garden to Harmony 115. "After birth, how long does it take in an Xarniosi's development to produce their first artificial component?"

"In some, though this is rare, they are born with it. Others can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to a year to develop. These nanites are always there... and because our bodies simply absorb minerals from the ground to produce the components, it simply depends on how long the absorbtion process takes to activate."

Vulpe blinked, fox ears perked and eyes widened slightly in surprise. "So if you were in a contained environment, one where you would only come in contact with what was inside it, such as a starship, would you eventually erode it, or does the process only work on living rock? If you were to never touch anything that would cause you to absorb minerals, would it halt the process? Would halting the process actually kill you, or only cause you to stop growing?"

"These nanites will proceed to eat and absorb anything that will produce the materials they need for the process, if they need to, they will take whatever elements they need and form the compounds on their own. We Xarniosi are vassals, hosts for them. We possess little control over the actions of these small machines, espescially in the way of their eating habits. They act mainly on their own; what their original programming was, we do not know. All we do know is that there is no way to stop them from feasting. We do not know what will happen if we were to stop them from feasting. What we want to do is eradicate them from our bodies altogether in one go, and in the process become full biologicals once more. That is our hope. To your first question, yes. We cannot be aboard starships for extended periods of time lest we devour the ship itself. The process is slow but dangerous, when we must work on ships we typically wear special shoes and gloves to slow down the process."

The Xiscapian diplomat sighed. Such a strange, terminal trouble. He considered asking if they had tried to use nanobots or organic bacteria against the nanites, but of course they would have, and failed as well.
"If I understand it correctly, these nanites are literally eating your flesh to produce your machine componets, yes? Like a parasite." He couldn't supress a shudder. How horrible.

"They are eating the enviroment. At the same time, they destroy the flesh because they see it as unnecissary. To the nanites, the flesh and the organs are weak, mortal, and flawed. Machines last longer, and therefor it is logical to sacrifice the flesh to provide space for the mechanical, the host may live longer and do more that way. That is why most Xarniosi will still refer to this process as 'upgrading.' It is a gift, enhanced thought process, speed, strength... even other abilities. But inside the gift is the curse. With the benefits, comes the drawbacks. It is humorous, is it not? They work so hard to make us stronger and yet they kill us at the same time."

"I see nothing funny," Vulpe shook his head. "Ironic, yes, but not amusing in the slightest. It's natural life, warped into mechanical form, present company excepted. You still do not know who caused this, or why it came to be?"

"Within the irony lies the humor of it all. And within the humor lies the similarities. These creatures inside us are both alien and familiar. There is no reason to ask who caused it, we were not the experiments of someone else, we most likely did this to ourselves. Why? That is an answer we do not have. Even you, Xiscapian, are benefitting from what makes the Xarniosi who we are. And once again, I find something humerous about the affair. PEgasus cocked an eyebrow, "What do you mean, benefitting?" Harmony 115 gave a smile, a half-hearted one at best, "Those suits consist of the same nanites that exist within our bodies. Same nanites, same basic technology; different programming, different objective."

This was unsurprising to Vulpe: It made sense, and whatever the nanites could do with one set of programming could be entirely erased with another set. There was no reason to fear. But his question, one of them anyway, had been answered: They had done this to themselves, not, as Pegasus had speculated, the act of another. Why, though, was still a mystery.
"Is that what gives the suit it's "living" qualities, the nanites?"

"No. The nanites are one component of a greater machine. The exact workings of those suits are classified." Harmony held out her hand, the suits the two were wearing instictively reached out for her hand, "Those nanites are not in your bloodstream, yet the suits are still able to control some of your basic motor fuctions... when you are relaxed and allow it. When you truly form a bond with your suit, like the agents of the Forbidden Ministry, maybe then you will truly understand what you're wearing." Pegasus moved forward, "What would you know of the Ministry?" His voice was much less diplomatic and more demanding in tone. Harmony 115 wasn't phased and gave a simple answer, "Plenty."

Interesting. So I'm allowed to wear one of these things, but I'm not allowed to know how it works.
Vulpe found himself surprised at Pegasus's reaction to Harmony 115's comment about the Forbidden Ministry. Vulpe didn't like the FM either, but he didn't see any reason to get so upset about it...then again, he didn't live in a state whose highest levels of power and much of the military was probably controlled or at least influenced by the mysterious organization. He wondered if the Forbidden Ministry had anything to do with the classified status of the suit.
"Does the Forbidden Ministry work here, too?" Vulpe asked quietly, though he believed he already knew the answer.

"Work? I guess it could be described as that. We and Ministry have an understanding. Both of us have our own goals to further, and to achieve these goals we require knowledge, information, technology... we help each other become stronger, and in turn Greywatch strengthens with us. Much of the technology used by Greywatch were concepts that required both the resources of the Forbidden Ministry and the Xarniosi." Harmony 115 looked to Pegasus, "I already know you don't trust them. To be quite honest, not many people who know of them do. They don't have the best of social skills, but they are what they are." Pegasus closed his eyes, "And we're supposed to take your word for it? I don't even know about these advancements they've made." Harmony squatted, "PSR and SCN were created with their assistance. Drones were created with our assistance. The suits were created with their assistance. Much of Greywatch's stealth technology was created with our assistance... the Council trusts the FM because of us." Harmony stood up straight, "They seem untrustworthy because they play by a different set of rules. They make themselves obvious so that they can perform other tasks unseen." Pegasus's expression showed he wasn't following so Harmony continued, "The Drone, an all around, multipurpose... creature which openly helps Greywatch perform basic tasks. We see them all the time, we hear about their abilities, but we never see their masters, the people pulling the strings. Pegasus, you've been on edge ever since you talked to Anderson but have been hiding it, very well I might add. Whenever the FM is mentioned your heart rate increases... you are like most, you can't bring yourself to fully trust the unknown. " Pegasus looked away, unsure of how to respond, unsure of how Harmony knew this, Harmony chuckled, "The Council has been very lax about releasing information about the Forbidden Ministry to the public, and for good reason. Still, I wish they'd at least update senior diplomats like yourself and military officials about Forbidden Ministry happenings. Things could be much simpler that way, though perhaps not as safe. How about this, would you like to speak to a Forbidden Ministry agent directly? I have no idea how many questions they'll answer but I'm sure the experience will be enlightening." Pegasus nodded, this is something he had to see, "How do you know they'll talk?" Harmony shrugged, "Trust me."

Vulpe felt lost, these two acted like they knew each other, and Harmony 115 obviously had extensive data on Pegasus. Vulpe was interested to hear, though he had expected, that the Xarniosi and Forbidden Ministry had jointly developed much of Greywatch's technology. But this being seemed to know more about the FM than was the norm, and now she was offering them a meeting with one of their agents...to put Pegasus at ease and give them a piece of mind? Naturally the visit would go smoother with less suspicion and more trust, but it seemed like an odd move, especially because he couldn't see by whose authority Harmony 115 offered it by. Nevertheless, Vulpe was eager to meet someone associated with the FM who wasn't a Drone...though as the Xarniosi had said, this was probably the visible part while the FM did something else about the diplomat and his guide elsewhere.

"It is in the schedual. If that concludes this matter, then I believe we are done here. Now then, there are other things to see." Harmony 115 led them across the gardens and out another set of armored doors. This time they proceeded down numerous corridors until reaching a lift system. The lift itself was massive, obviously meant to hold more than people. It was a single platform housed in a circular shaft like that of a missile silo. Far above the group were closed doors, obviously this elevator could access the surface. The Xarniosi touched a console near the door and then waited for the lift to activate. After a few seconds, they began to go down, into the depths of the planet. As they went, things slowly started to get hotter; Pegasus tried the count the number of floors they went past, it looked like they'd gone at least 40 floors down. Finally, the lift came to a stop and a door opened for the group to exit. As soon as they stepped off the lift, they were struck by the heat blast; it wasn't dangerous, but it was definately uncomfortable. They were on a raised walkway; below them was what looked like a large powerstation. Massive generators filled the room with their bulk and their endless humming as they fed on the thermal energy that was so plentiful on the planet. Despite the large number of consoles and generators, the only things looking over the entire operation were a handful of small, floating droids, each one the size of a baseball. The droids paid no attention to the group as they walked in, Harmony looked back to the two men, "This is one of the power plants, as you can see. One of the ways we keep this habitat operational."

After a moment of consideration Vulpe activated the rest of his suit, seeking to shield himself from the heat. It was like a energy room on a starship, huge and hot, though he would have expected more people to be around to oversee the regular operations of the machines. Perhaps the Xarniosi would know quickly if something went wrong, and Vulpe wondered how often their machinery or technology broke down or failed. Probably rarely, all things considered.

"There are two of these per habitat, we rely mainly on geothermal energy as it's clean and efficient, not to mention plentiful. You probably didn't see them, but we also have lightning rod posts set up in the electrical storm hot spots of this world. Now then, unless you have any questions, I would like to move on." Harmony looked to the two, Pegasus decided to ask, "I'm only reading seven of these droids. Are they the only ones needed to watch over this facility?" Harmony nodded, "Indeed." Pegasus next question came quickly, "What can they do in the event of a malfuction of some sort?" Harmony pointed to an easily missed compartment that sat near one of the generators, "Inside that storage area are several bodies which the droids can use if they need more muscle. Emergency generators are placed all over the habitat in the case of a power failure and a blink network can be established in the chance of something serious that requires the attention of an actual Xarniosi. Is that all?" Pegasus nodded, "That's all I have to ask. Vulpe?"

"Please," Vulpe waved a hand, "by all means, move along."

"Very well," was all Harmony bothered to say before taking the two back to the lift. They went up three floors before the elevator stopped and a door opened for them. The room on the other side of the door was a large one, full of what appeared to be medical equipment. There were several stasis chambers, medical beds, all sorts of computers and monitoring machines, surgical equipment… Like before, they were on a raised platform looking down. Close inspection would reveal they were looking in upon the Xarniosi, accompanied by several droids, dissecting their dead kin. The table closest to the group had a Xarniosi on it who’s torso was being held open so that others could review the skeletal structure and analyze the organs. “This is one of our research areas. You cannot see it, but there is an atmospheric shield keeping the operation area perfectly sterile and at a constant temperature. It is in places like these that we study our dead and try to understand why the nanites affect different Xarniosi in different ways. We are trying to unlock the secrets of our past in order to improve our future.” Pegasus felt slightly sick, he could understand the reason but he hated seeing things like this. The war simulations in the Archives were enough.

Both human and Xarniosi would hear a sharp intake of breath from the kitsune as he looked down at those on the tables. The Ambassador took a step back, almost panting, eyes wide, before he turned away, disgusted, ashamed or shocked it was hard to tell. The Xiscapian stepped away from the glass, facing away from his guides, head in his hands, a low crooning sound coming from his mouth. It was obvious the vulpine humanoid had been disturbed by what he had seen, though at a far greater level than Pegasus...

"I'm detecting erratic breathing patterns and increased heart rates from both of you. Blood pressure seems to be rising... you are both under stress. May I inquire what the problem is? Is it the corpses? Please, allow me to uplink..." Harmony seemed to stare off into space for a few moments, "Ah, apologies. I was not aware of the effects a sight such as this might have on you. Perhaps it is best if we move one?" Pegasus nodded, looking to Vulpe who was clearly more than a little shaken, he wanted to ask if Vulpe was okay but seemed like a stupid question to ask.

"Thank you," Vulpe gasped gratefully, trying to push the images of the cold, dead beings lying on operating tables, flesh sliced open, from his mind. The memories they ressurected were horrifying, ingrained into his mind ever since he had seen those holos, all those years ago. It was too close, too vivid, wounds that hadn't scabbed over opened to bleed afresh. He knew the circumstances weren't nearly the same, the enviornment, the people, the situation was opposite, polar even, but his first reaction was to view them as the same.
He knew that he would have those sights with him for as long as he lived.

"Very well. The schedual has been changed. Let us proceed to the next area." Harmony took the two back out onto the elevator and it began going up once more. "Please fully activate your suits, we are now going to explore the planet." The elevator kept going up, looking at the top of the shaft would reveal that the top had opened up. The elevator reached the surface and stopped, the harsh enviroment became visible once more. The wind was still blowing hard and lightning could still be seen in the distance. There was also another structure in the distance, a large one. It looked like the tower that had been seen back on the Leanorian homeworld. It was a black spire, going all the way up into the sky until it could no longer be seen. Of course, that wasn't saying much seeing as the sky was so obscured anyway. "Where would you like to go? I figure wandering around the surface may yield some interesting sights and experiences." Mountains in the distance; plains of black, gray, and red; rivers of magma; oceans of molten rock, misery, and fire... all under a bleak and cloudy sky. This place truly was a hell if Pegasus had ever seen one, yet the Xarniosi managed to make something interesting out of it. But Pegasus wasn't sure what he want to see on the surface... "Perhaps... you could show us something interesting?" Pegasu then got an idea, "Is there, by chance anything else on the surface that is alive? Animal, plants and the like?" Harmony thought for a moment, "There are a few plant adapted to this enviroment. Perhaps we could try and find some..."

"What could survive out here?" Vulpe asked from within the confines of his suit. "It seems to me that only life engineered to thrive in such an environment would live."

"Nature engineers life." Was Harmony's response, "Don't underestimate persistance. That's one thing humans have taught us well." With that, they were off into the wilderness, lights activated on the mechanical parts of Harmony's body so that the other two could keep trck of her movements. "A warning to both of you," her voice was now coming through their radios, "If you see something interesting, don't touch it please." After a good hour of nothing but th same landscape, the group would come across something interesting. Thick red roots were hanging over a tall ridge. The roots were long, coming all the way down to the ridge to the group. "And here's our first sample of life on this world. Don't touch this, don't get close to it." Pegasus took a few steps back, "So what is it?"
"Devil root. Very hostile to things around it."
How so? Poison?"
"The plant has enough sentience and strength to swing itself at anything getting too close. More mature ones can lift people and toss them as a form of warning. Its almost more of an animal in that sense but studies show it is indeed, a plant."
"Dangerous plants... I'll keep that in mind. How many of these things are there?"
"Very few, from what we've seen."

"What do they consume?" Vulpe asked in interest. "The ability to move objects would suggest either a carnivorous plant or a burrower trap, but there doesn't seem to be much life around here suitable to be caught and eaten, and the ground appears to quickly change to magma. Nor does it seem as though they would receive food via photosynthesis, the atmospheric conditions suggest a highly inhospitable environment to any solar nutrient-producing life form."

"There's most likely some kind of central hub for the plant somewhere. We believe its growth indicates that the soil in a particular area might be rich in beneficial minerals. Its growth is probably based more on thermal energy than anything else, which could explain why it's so capable of surviving. But it doesn't like to be touched, it has killed people before, it's rare, and it doesn't bother our habitats. This is one of the few things the Xarniosi don't take much interest in... however, if we found a ranger, they could tell you more." Pegasus gave a slight 'huh' at Harmony's words; he, like most, had always heard rumors about Xarniosi studying anything and everything. He had actually wondered why Vulpe hadn't been scanned every possible way and given a complimentery medical examination by now. Perhaps only certain Xarniosi actually strove to gather any and all knowledge rather than the race as a whole. Quite enlightening.

Vulpe chuckled. "A thermal energy collector. How novel." Certainly exotic. "

"I suppose if you give someone enough of something, they'll eventually learn to put it to use. Now then, before this thing tries to grab Pegasus again, let's move on, shall we?" With that, they were off once more, taking about another hour and a half to find something else that could possibly be interesting. They were near a river of magma; across it was a small cave. “We can probably find something in there, if you’re up to it.” Pegasus nodded to Harmony’s statement, “I’m game. But that river might pose a bit of an issue…” Pegasus looked around for something that could be used as a bridge of some sort. No luck, instead he looked ahead at some rocks and boulders which occasionally came to the surface of the magma, only to sink back down again. “Well that looks dangerous,” he muttered to himself. Harmony picked him up with ease, “Your suit will handle the landing so just don’t panic.” Pegasus was about to say something when Harmony tossed him over the river of molten rock effortlessly; without Pegasus having to do anything the suit stabilized his trajectory and he landed on both feet as if he’d been trained to do so. “A little more warning would have been nice!” He yelled from across the way, Harmony shrugged, “You would’ve just stressed out and tensed up. Then it would have been harder for the suit to manage your fall. Speaking of which…” Harmony then grabbed Vulpe and carried out the same process of tossing him over the entire molten river, watching as the suit guided his body to making a 10 point landing. Harmony was pleased; both men were unharmed, albeit maybe a little shaken. She then moved back and got a running start, unlike the two diplomats, she was able to simply jump across the river without any outside assistance. She hit the ground hard, making a decent crater in the process before straightening up. “Shall we proceed inside?”

Vulpe had been so busy laughing to himself at Pegasus's reaction that it came as a complete surprise when his Xarniosi guide picked him up as well. "Wha-" He managed to say before finding himself hurtling over the molten river to land perfectly on the other side, despite his best efforts to flail about in the air like a fool. Only his suit and the desire to look his best in front of his two companions kept the kitsune from crumpling to his knees. "Yes," he mumbled, trying to control his breathing, "that would be good..."

"The suits are quite nice aren't they? You probably haven't noticed it yet but the gravity here is about three times that of Greywatch." Harmony led the two into the cave, it was a little cramped for here but she was able to get through easily enough. Oddly enough, the cave was cool, disturbingly so compared to the rest of the planet. Before long, the group had actually splashed into a bit of water. The walls were covered in a thin, green layer of fungus. A few leafy plants stuck out from the water, each one giving off a soft blue-ish glow.

"Anywhere, life survives..." Vulpe muttered, stooping in the water to examine the shining plants. "Why do these glow like this?"

"Phosphorous in the soil. This particular plant is known as-" another voice cut Harmony off, "Traveler's Beacon. Famous on this world for signalling safe places to rest." The voice came from another, suited in a similar way to Pegasus except dressed in a black and and dark blue suit. The figure held a Longshot, Greywatch's standard sniper rifle, though it appeared to be very relaxed, less of a threat and more of a fellow traveler. Harmony looked to the figure, "Please indentify yourself." The figure responded, "Seeker 001." Harmony connected to the Xarniosi Archive for a moment before acknowledging the response. "Understood. What is your business here, Seeker?" The figure shrugged, "Just doing some exploring." Harmony found it confusing, much of the planet was already mapped out, they certainly werne't close to an unexplorered section. "Very well." Pegasus was curious, someone else, all the way out here. Obviously not a Xarniosi, its suit was masking its real voice, but it sounded human enough.

Vulpe stood fully upright as he saw this newest person, studying him carefully. Seeker 001. Probably a ranger, as had been mentioned, a guardian of the landscape. Harmony 115 didn't seem to be hostile or disturbed towards him (or her or it), so Vulpe just treated the figure to a stare, wondering how he could have snuck up on them like that.

"So who are you really?" Asked Pegasus, not able to remain silent any longer. The figure shrugged, "I simply am."
"You're not a Xarniosi."
"No. No I am not."
"Human?"
"Elden."
"On this world? I didn't think Elden ventured out here."
"I'm the only one."
"Alone?"
"Correct."
"You don't stay at the habitats?"
"This is my home. I am a wanderer. I have been here for a year now, soon I will be leaving."
Pegasus was confused by this figure who'd identified itself as an Elden. The nature of the Elden was always odd but now they were being downright unpredictable.

"Why have you come here?" Vulpe cast a hand around the little cave, like an oasis in the desert. "Wandering is as it is, but all journeys have a beginning."

"Why not? Look around you, this place is probably as close to hell as you can get in the natural world, it's fascinating. I cannot stop... I must always move. Staying in one place for too long... it is something I cannot do. I originally came here just to see a different enviroment but I was amazed to see how much can survive here, on this world." The voice coming from the figure was full of emotion, even though its face was completely obscured. "Alas, I believe my time here may be nearing its end. If there is anything else, I suggest you ask it quick."

Vulpe had nothing more to say. What a strange character. Greywatch seemed to be full of them. The person was full of wanderlust, always on the move, seeing and experiencing everything he could. It was a romantic, noble pursuit, one Vulpe could admire and even envy within his carefully structured, rigorously scheduled life.

The figure stood up and bowed to the group. It extended an arm outwards, "Goodbye. Let us see each other again." One didn't need to see the face of the figure to know it was smiling behind its mask. It then broke apart into hudreds of leaves that proceeded to exit the cave and scattered themselves on the harsh wind. Pegasus said nothing, he couldn't think of anything to say. What was there to say? Harmony had recorded the entire thing, "Interesting. That was a new element."

"No kidding," Vulpe breathed, having turned to watch the leaves drift away on the wind. "What was he?"

"What he said he was, an Elden." Said Harmony, showing no suprise at what just happened. "El Druai Tun. That is the name given to his breed." Pegasus looked to the entrance of the cave and then back to Harmony, "Breed?" Harmony stood and held out her hand, a hologram depicting a girl with long blue hair and blue eyes. Pegasus instantly recognized her, "Wait, that's Kira!" Harmony nodded, "Indeed, she is an Eldenorn Eitar." The hologram changed to show the man both knew as Jackson, "He is a Liut Gisar." The hologram then changed to depict Ghost, "This man is a Twilarai. Elden are not all Elden. Long ago, due to the variety of these creatures, it was decided that they'd be classified as Elden because a majority of them were Eldenorn Eitar. These men and women accepted the new name without complaint. " Pegasus couldn't think of a way to respond, this was never on the records. Finally, after a few minutes, he had a question. "When did this take place?" Harmony turned off the the hologram, "Shortly after the the Kiixori joined Greywatch." Pegasus thought for a minute, trying to gather his next question.

"I don't understand," Vulpe looked from Harmony to Pegasus. "What is a Eldenorn Eitar?"

Pegasus looked at Vulpe and then back to Harmony, unable to answer the question. Harmony continued, "It is simply the name of a race. It is difficult to translate, but 'Eldenorn Eitar' roughly translates into 'Those that walk the Four paths.'" Harmony paused for a brief moment before continuing. "Think of it on a smaller scale.... Elden, Xiscapians, Humans, and Leanorians all develop on the same planet. Now then, imagine that for some reason, the four races lose all ability to reproduce in return for longer lives." Pegasus nodded, understanding the connection Harmony was making to the Elden race. "Now then, for whatever reason, several members of each race die off. Some aliens discover the planet that all these races developed on, and shortly after find that humans make up most of the population. From that point on, instead of trying to identify every race by a different name, all the races (Elden, Kitsune, Human, and Leanorian) now fall under one name: 'Humanoid.'" Pegasus didn't move, it was a shocking realization, stripping away what gave multiple races their uniqueness and placing them all under one banner. He couldn't say anything for awhile but finally wound his question, "Why? Why would they allow us to do that? Why would they give up something that made them unique?" Harmony gave a slight smile, "I could say, but perhaps asking an Elden would be better." She moved to the cave entrance, "We need to move if we're to stay on schedual. Feel free to ask questions as we walk."

If anything, Vulpe was left more confused than before. "What do kitsune have to do with anything?" he asked Harmony. "Our people have never met, to our knowledge, until recently." Which wasn't to say that they couldn't have: The Long Voyage, or Exodus, had spread many colony ships throughout this galaxy, and the kitsune race had spread far wider than scholars on Xiscapia had originally thought.

"You're overthinking this a bit too much. It's meant to be a simple comparison... allow me to break it down further." Said Harmony, communicating while walking. "How many different races of humans have you come into contact with? Or at least, how many races have you come into contact with that identified themselves as humans, or were at least human in appearance?"

Vulpe thought for a moment. "At least a dozen...Alversia, Setulan, Greal, Calaverias, Greywatch, Myenya, Nova Nippon, Tanara, the N-K, Choronosians, Moralites, Sky Kings...many. Why?"

"Ah, fantastic. This makes the explanation much easier. Now then, the various groups you just mentioned, all of them are somewhat similar, are they not? Yes, they all have different backgrounds, different histories, different technologies, all sorts of thing that make them unique. But in the end, they all share quite a few things in common, at least in appearance. Would this statement be correct?" Pegasus stayed silent as Harmony led the two through the hellish wastland. Poisonous gases sprayed forth from the ground several feet into the air.

"Well..." Vulpe hesitated. "Yes, anatomically and psychologically most of them are similar, with only variations in size, weight, sexual or feature characteristics."

"So, what would you think if someone were to label them all as humans? Dropping their racial names completely and deciding that instead of being bothered to acknowledge their differences, instead treating them as if they were all the exact same race. Regarding them only as 'humans,' saying that they are all, essentially, the same and that their differences are not important enough to acknowledge by name."

Vulpe shrugged. "We do; there's enough aliens out there that we don't need to be bothered with the different titles of slight variations in one race."

"Then by all means," started Harmony, "there's no reason that you yourself can't be called human, you only possess a slight variation. What would you think if I simply declared that all races of humans, as well as Xiscapians, Leanorians, Dragon-kin, etc were to simply be known as 'humanoids' from this point forward and nothing more? That becuase of the minor alterations between the different races, there is no point in actually treating them like they're different. That they can all be considered the same race."

Vulpe blinked inside his armor. "There's no need for insults, Madam Harmony. Comparing an Xiscapian and a human is a grievous offense, and I'm sure the Leanorians and Dragon-kin feel likewise. However, I do see the point you are trying to make: Such filing is for the convenience, if not political correctness, of the filer."

"Insult? It was you who just said our races have not talked much until now. I apologize, but I only speak from what I see, I know not of your race's customs, opinions, and so forth. But, you have not heard my main point yet, the reason why we are speaking of this in the first place... Learn this well: the term 'Elden' is nothing more than a made up, meaningless word created to describe the demon-descendants that inhabitted the world now known as Greywatch. You asked what Eldenorn Eitar was; I will say it again, it is a race. That is all. Eldenorn Eitar is a race, just like Xiscapian, Greywatcher, Kiixori, and so on. The creatures that evolved from Twilight Demons are many and there are 50 recorded races, each one is different and unique in its own way. Have you ever stopped to wonder why individual 'Elden' have different abilities? Its because many of them are nothing alike, yet they are all labled as 'Elden.' Why? Simply because there were more of the demon-descendant Eldenorn Eitar race than any other demon-descendant race. Therefor, to keep things simple, all of them became known as 'Elden' so that no one had to be expected to acknowledge their differences. Still following?"

The Xiscapian Ambassador nodded. "Indeed I am, though the comparison seems rather...stretched. Undoubtedly that stems from my own prejudices."

"Well, long and confusing explanations aside... I'm sure we can all agree that there are some things you cannot quite understand until you've truly submerged yourself in a race. Also, I'm sure we can agree that labeling any race based on appearance, or focusing on what makes them alike instead of what makes them different, can.... how would you say it?" Pegasus stepped in, "Ruffle a few feathers?"
"Indeed. But enough of that for now, there are others back at the habitat who can speak of this further and probably make more sense in explaining it. For now, I think it is due time for us to be heading back. The creature I sought to show you doesn't appear to be here right now, no matter. There are still other things to do. Now then, I assume you are both ready?"

"I am," Vulpe looked around the blasted landscape once more. "What was it you wanted to show us?"

"Oh, just an animal that's adapted to live on this planet. I'm sure we have a few pictures of it back in the XA. Now then, let us proceed. Pegasus?" Pegasus was staring at a distant volcano, apprently lost in though, "Hm? Yes?"
"We're returning to the habitat."
"I see, very well."
And with that, the three began the long trek back to the habitat. Harmony took them a different way, into a deep canyon filled with a toxic, yellow gas. Once the group reached the bottom, they would feel the ground rumbling underneath them. "Harmony... where are we?" Ask Pegasus, obviously very comfortable. Harmony shrugged, "Nowhere too important. Just walk calmly and don't panic, you'll be fine. I brought you here because it provides an easier way of getting back to the habitat." Pegasus gulped, he had the feeling something bad was going to happen.

The kitsune himself was not exactly happy with the fact that he was wading into certainly lethal amounts of toxic gas, but everything about this planet made him uneasy, never mind it's inhabitants. Still, Vulpe wondered why Harmony had told them to walk calmly and not panic, he couldn't see anything to panic about-
Unless the entire point was that it was hidden from sight.

A strange sound could be heard within, something along the lines of growling. It was deep and seemed to be coming from all around them. Despite this, the suits didn't seem to pick up anything at all. No life signs, no movement... Harmony seemed to be just fine with everything, no doubt being an inhabitant of this planet hardened one's nerves. Pegasus couldn't help but move closer to Harmony for protect, no doubt they might need it. Odd collections of spectural light could be seen in yellowish mist, the lights seemed to dance and move around the ground. "Just a little further..." said Harmony.

Vulpe moved light on his feet, ready to duck or dodge any beastie that might lunge out at him. He wondered why in all the Forgotten Realms their guide would take them though such hostile territory. Evidently whatever inhabited this little canyon disliked their presence, and there was no doubt in the diplomat's mind that if he chose to run the things would be on him in a second, whatever they were.

"And we're here... but its evidently not." Harmony said with a little annoyance, Pegasus was being mindful to stay close, "What isn't? A vehicle?" Harmony thought for a moment, "We could go with calling it that since that is how we tend to use it. Hold on, I'll call it." Harmony placed both hands on the ground underneath the ground and began to transmit various high and low pitched sounds into hte earth below them. The ground began to rumble, something was right underneath the group. "Ah here it comes, taking a nap I see. Well its time to way up, little one." She stood up straight and face the other two. Behind her the ground exploded as a large thing emerged. Some kind of massive snake, or worm. Its body towered a good 80ft in the air, straight up. It then lowered its head, definately very snake-like, brownish scaled skin, four glowing white eyes, large fangs inside a gaping maw, a forked tougue... it wa slike some kind of creature out of a nightmare. Yet, even though Pegasus was on the ground, thrown back by the force, Harmony stood calmly. The creature's head was bigger than her entire body, it had lowered its head so that the tip of its snout was touching the top of her head. Hell, if this thing want to eat her, it could do so easily. Yet it just sat there, looking as if it was kissing the top of her head, and she didn't mind its presence at all. "Sorry about keeping you in the dark, just wanted this to be a suprise."

Vulpe had been growing steadily more uncomfortable, which climaxed into full-on surprise and distinct fear and adrenaline as the humongous Serpentes burst from the rock, rearing up, causing the Xiscapian to dance away from it, ready to run for his life. Now he backed away until Harmony spoke, evidently not at all alarmed.
"Sorry about keeping you in the dark, just wanted this to be a surprise."
"Surprise?" Vulpe gasped when he'd finally found his voice. "Great Qonn, you know there is such a thing as overachieving. I could have had a heart attack!"

Harmony couldn't help but get the feeling that the emotion she felt was humor. "Well, I think the suit would've taken care of your heart. And by the looks of things, both your heart rates have already begun slowing down on account of the technology you're both wearing." The serpent had slowly worked its way of its hole while Harmony spoke until its entire body was encirlcing them. "Harmony, what the hell is this?!" Harmony walked over to Pegasus and offered her hand, "This is the pet of the Xarniosi. And its also a mode of transportation. Your suits cannot see it, but there is a large collection of natural and Xarniosi constructed tunnels all around and in our habitats, tunnels which are far too large to be considered normal. These tunnels were made by and for this creature, one of the few creatures adapted to life on this planet." Pegasus took her hand, "That's all well and good... but what is it?" Harmony shrugged, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. She approached the creature's head and it opened its mouth as she did so. "Come along, we have to ride inside its mouth. We'll be back to the habitat in a much shorter amount of time by using him." The serpant lifted its tongue, apparently already familiar with this process. Pegasus inched his way over; Harmony was obviously fond of traveling like this and this 'pet' was probably trustworthy, but this was beginning to push the limit on Pegasus's list of things to keep an open mind about.

"In it's mouth!?" Vulpe asked incredulously, not moving, staring into the maw of the creature. "What if it decides we look tasty?"

"Well you can't exactly ride on its back... its uncomfortable and you might end up in more danger than if you were in the safety of its mouth." Harmony could tell both Vulpe and Pegasus were very against this idea. Pegasus seemed a little more willing to bend, a true Greywatcher in that respect. "Alright, since you're untrusting of this gentle creature, I shall answer your question with one or two of my own. How long do you think we Xarniosi have been doing this in order to get so used to it? If you looked tasty, why haven't you been eaten yet?" Pegasus looked to the creature's body, one could probably drive a car inside the thing. Not to mention, it was completely surrounding them, if it really wanted to, it could've already eaten them all and left. Instead, it just sat there, obeying Harmony's wishes. For a moment, Pegasus found himself very interested in their guide. She obviously was knowledgeable about the Elden (rarest race in Greywatch), she seemed to have a strong connection with the FM (most secretive organization in Greywatch), and now this (most extravagent form of transport). Who exactly was Harmony? That would something to look up later.

"This has nothing to do with logic," Vulpe snapped. "Not jumping into the maw of a larger predator is an instinct of any sensible creature. If I get eaten, I'm holding you responsible." The kitsune cautiously walked over to the mouth of the snake, stepping in as if ready to jump away at any moment. He had to admit it was roomy, but he was glad he couldn't smell anything, and the Xiscapian tried not to look behind him down the gullet, or below him at the breathing tube, or at the huge tongue.

"This has nothing to do with logic."
"I disagree."
"If I get eaten, I'm holding you responsible."
"No doubt. At least your suit will protect you from any acids in the belly. Now then, both of you, underneath the tongue, that's the best way to keep yourself from being swallowed."
With the serpent's tongue raised, Harmony simply slid herself into a comfortable position. Pegasus, careful and cautiously followed her, sliding in beside her. Once Vulpe was inside the tongue would come down on the group gently, keeping them in place. The creature, for its rather terrifying looks, seemed to be used to this procedure and was quick to take them back to the habitat. It only have to quickly slide into its hole and access the various tunnels deep below. It knew the way, and after about an hour of being under the serpents tongue, the mouth opened and the tongue lifted, allowing the party members to move freely once more. The light of the habitat was easily recognizable, the entire group had been brought back in one piece like Harmony had promised.

Vulpe had to admit, it was not as bad as he'd expected. Almost like riding an exceptionally bumpy transport, but strapped in tightly if uncomfortably. It was not a pleasant experience, but at the same time he did not find it entirely repulsive, though he moved out and away at the first chance he got as the tongue lifted. "Even if I live to three hundred years," he looked back to the serpent, "I will never forget that. Thank you, my friend." He bowed to the beast.

Pegasus followed Vulpe out and behind him emerged Harmony. All of them were covered in the saliva of the beast, and interestingly enough the one group member that didn't possess a full-body suit of armor seemed to be the most comfortable. Pegasus bowed his head respectfully, "I doubt you can understand me but, thank you. That was an.... interesting experience." Harmony placed placed her hand on the creature's snout, "Alright then. You can go, your meal is prepared for you." Two eyes watched her closely as she spoke and then focused on Vulpe and Pegasus. The creature was obviously intelligent to some degree and its eyes gave the feeling that it actually understood them. The eyes then looked to something else, something on the other side of the chamber. Harmony stepped away and the serpent moved forward into the tunnel in front of it. The room they were in looked like some kind of hub connecting several different tunnels together. There was sound of gentle laughing, a laughing only Vulpe could hear and a voice he would recognize. But no one was in the room with them, and as quickly as the laughing had come, it stopped. Harmony moved past the two, "Come now, we should all get washed off. The tour for today is over so you may return to your rooms, eat, explore, and do anything else you wish... within reason." Harmony led the men into another room where a brief shower cleasened them of impurities. After exiting the shower room the group was in the another hallway. Harmony pointed a door to their left, "That is the cafeteria. Your suits are programmed with the general layout of the habitat as well as important areas so you shouldn't get lost. Vulpe, I recieved a message during the tour that someone wished to speak to you. They said said person would be waiting in the cafeteria for you. I assume they will greet you when they see you. Pegasus, please come with me. There is an urgent matter that requires your presence." Pegasus looked to Vulpe, "It never ends, does it? Well, I'll be back soon. Enjoy your meeting." Harmony quickly led Pegasus off, leaving Vulpe there alone.