---

In its present state, the science lab was, speaking generously, underwhelming. It had been cleaned up to a degree, but combined with what Dr. Lambert had been told already, it would not take much deduction to take a good guess at what had happened. Almost nothing in the room had been properly secured before takeoff, so there was a good deal of equipment that had either been subjected to impacts from loose objects, or had been the loose objects. If the state of the ship on the way here was any indication, it was a problem that had not been restricted to the science lab. It did look like someone had gone through and stuffed most everything that had been flung around into boxes, though even a cursory glance would show that there was no organization to it. Broken, undamaged, and salvageable equipment had all been thrown together into the same crates.

At the moment, there was just one other person present. He was a middle-aged man, fair skin, mostly bald, and wearing an officer uniform. Notably, his left leg was in a cast, and he had crutches propped up next to him against his seat. He appeared to be going through one of the crates, cataloging its contents with the tablet beside him, and organizing it all into different crates based on their function, or if they were damaged.

---

---

Amid all of the chaos and confusion, the thoughts that Gar’Tan conveyed to Itxaro still came into her mind calmly and clearly. Minds are not nearly so easy to read as the words on the pages of a book. Even in the most normal and collected of minds, unwelcome thoughts can invade in a moment like a malicious spirit. A Thought mage can feel it all, but it takes experience and effort to be able to discern true intent from such a sea of chaos. The Humans have been stranded in a place they do not recognize, and are soon to be forced to make decisions to potentially take sides between political entities they know nothing about. What followed for a moment beyond that from the S’tor was a feeling of sympathy.

“Please, give me one moment. I must focus myself on these new minds I feel.” Gar’Tan said aloud. Trying to communicate effectively while also translating between the two sides required him to split his attention in many places at once. The Inquisitors’ Guild, which Gar’Tan serves, is a neutral entity between all of Kanth-Aremek’s nations. Its purpose is to enforce the responsible and approved uses of Thought magic, and to hunt and destroy any rogue Thought mages. The Inquisitor Guards around him would defend Gar’Tan’s life with their considerable talents if he were attacked, and would equally slay him without hesitation if he were to abuse his power on anyone around him. Gar’Tan could not say if Castigator Nellara was lying, because he was not permitted to use his abilities on anyone but the Humans. He was simply speaking aloud to convey the Humans’ words to them.

Gar’Tan could only give them advice based on his knowledge of the nations involved. Mythadia is a place that finds their religions more important than in the Ascendancy. That they might see the Jotunheim as a religious symbol is believable. Though, he is not so sure that they would go as far as holding the Humans prisoner. Mythadia is not so violent as the Kolodon Empire of old. Still, they would not want the Ascendancy to claim advantage from the Jotunheim, just like the Ascendancy would not want Mythadia to have it. Gar’Tan doubts that either side is going to act selflessly. However, he is also sure that neither side truly wants war. They might be willing to fight over something like the Jotunheim, but both sides know how costly it could be. There are threats from S’tor on their northern borders which could certainly take advantage of their armies being occupied. If the Humans were to negotiate, they might use that fact to their advantage. They might be able to avoid a war by treating peacefully with both sides.

Zey patted Mallory supportively on the shoulder as he passed her on his way off the Bridge. As soon as the doors closed behind him, she collapsed into the Captain's chair, and it spun her round to face her command interface.

She'd felt the tension burning off her XO, but ultimately someone had to take charge of whatever was happening on the ground. She'd done it last time, and now it was up to him. Zey also needed the bridge to herself so she could monitor the situation without giving away how unwell she felt. Thankfully Anselm was helping out with the passengers and Newmont was off shift, so she was alone up here. Apart from Wodan, of course.

She drank deeply from the sippy bottle she'd taken from her quarters, and gingerly felt the chem port on the back of her neck. It was quite tender. Zey didn't fancy running diagnostics by herself with everything else going on, so she connected with Feng privately.

"Doctor, come to the bridge when you have a minute please."

The Captain then turned her attention to the variety of windows that Wodan had carefully arranged across her screen. One was a collage of camera angles from inside the shuttle bay and outside. Another wasoan audio feed with a rolling transcription and annotation. Small digital folders contained a dossier that the AI was building on all the aliens, as well as the crew members. The most intriguing was this colossal lizard character who had shown up with some others. It seemed to somehow understand how their cameras worked.

Despite her sore neck, Zey felt a chill run down her spine.

---

On Ezra's command, while the Kanth-Amerek natives were chatting among themselves and with the Humans outside the shuttle bay, Wodan's two Jotuns (as it had affectionately nicknamed them) moved into line of sight. They kept their distance, and walked as innocuously and quietly as they could to avoid startling the locals. They still focused part of their sensory arrays towards the ship's aft, though there was now a small blind spot in the Ertiseda direction.

Some animal called in the distance, and a few of the smaller bushes rustled. Ezra looked around with night vision active in the dusk but couldn't see anything.

“Any of the civvies. Most of them know nothing about the ship and many probably have a very basic understanding of human physiology. Throw in increased rations for every day they’re translating until Wodan has enough data for a working translation program and we’ll even get volunteers. We don't need an ambassador yet, just a walking dictionary.” At least she assumed Wodan was working on that. As soon as they had a library of words and grammar rules, using headsets and wristpads to translate outgoing and incoming words between two languages wasn’t difficult.
“And it’s not just your FTL knowledge. Teach them basic sanitation, and suddenly one kingdom has far less disease, therefore far fewer dead, therefore a manpower avantage. Teach them to make high strength steel, and they’re unlikely to start building bridges spanning vast lakes. Far more likely the first person they’ll pass it to is an armorsmith. I don’t care if half of them look like something I had for lunch a week ago, I refuse to be the one who hands some space Hitler his wonder weapon, fuck that. Let’s not pretend Silbermine is the only one who showed up here with troops, though at least Nellara and her squad didn’t grow up in a barn and have some manners and common sense.” This was said less to Ixtaro and more to the entire assembled group, speaking with pauses so Gar'Tan would have time to repeat it to his compatriots.

But as soon as Nellara - through Ixtaro’s translation - mentioned Silbermine’s intent on disassembling the Jotunheim, Vigdis flared up. “We didn’t slave over this ship for two years for some dick from a mountain to call finders-keepers and take it apart, bad enough we binned it on its maiden flight.” People often said things like ‘It’s his/her ship.’ when referring to the captain, but any ship was really the baby of its engineering team. Even if Vigdis wasn’t supposed to be part of it, she was now by circumstance, not to mention being one of the builders. Only then did her brain catch up to her mouth, realizing the common Russian phrase referring derisively to a stranger that Venerians adopted along with the language might be misinterpreted as referring to the people who actually came from the mountains, rather than Silbermine. Using the word ‘slave’ wasn’t the smartest thing to do either, they were all volunteers and paid handsomely. Maybe Gar’Tan was still listening to her brain and this would be cleared up. Hopefully. “Though I would very much like to see a gaggle of ponies who’ve never seen an allen wrench in their life try to figure out how to dismantle the Jo without breaking everything they touch.” What kind of tools could they even have? Mallets and hand-forged pliers?

With only a few of them and a lot of the locals, Vigdis turned to Kerchak as soon as his questions were conveyed to her. ”We do use wind, in a way. Except instead of trapping it in sails, we use devices called compressors to compress and accelerate it in a desired direction, which propels the ship in the opposite direction. This is old technology, we've had this type of propulsion for around…
” 2296 minus 1939 is… ”...357 Earth years. An Earth year is 365 days, which are only a little shorter than days here.” Detailed enough to answer the question, hopefully simple enough to be understood and vague enough not to be useful. It almost felt like she was back home, answering children's questions during Fleet Days, Vigdis thought with a fond smile before answering Kerchak's second question.
”This world, at least around here, is very similar to parts of Earth. But there were too many of us for it to sustain us, and we also wanted to see what lay beyond our home's borders. Other planets we've settled aren't similar at all.
Mercury is an airless, barren world with one side always facing the Sun, scorched by its rays while the other side lays in endless, frigid night. We only live at the terminator line, in areas of perpetual sunrise or sunset, in cities covered in domes that keep air we brought with us in.
Venus is toxic and hot enough on the surface to melt lead, so everyone there lives in floating cities high above the surface where the temperature is survivable.
And Mars is so far away from the Sun and the air is so thin that it's a cold desert covered in rust-brown sand.”
As she spoke of Venus, she unclipped her wristpad from its mounting and turned the screen toward Kerchak and anyone else who was interested, showing the animated desktop background depicting the Venerian city of Mariner and airships coming and going.

Then she had a thought. ”When Silbermine learns we intend to leave, he'll lose his fucking mind, won't he?” She couldn't see a religious fanatic learning that his gift from the gods wants to go back where it came from and taking it well.

"My family and all who were known to me were taken from me," J'eon said, unsure how much the thought mage could explain to the sky person. "And I was sold to a miller, to turn the millstone so that he might grind grain into flour."

"When I freed myself, I made my way to Mythadia. I had heard of the Blacksmiths' Guild and took myself there, to learn how to control the flame. I was... very sot after," he shrugged, "And I was making up for lost time. I saw little of the world outside the Guild's gates."

"In my travels since, I've not met Lord Silbermine, but from what i have seen this day, I do not believe he is thinking straight. It is like the fever that grips many a buck in spring, pushing them to fight."

"How he has gone unchallenged for so long, I dare not venture."

---

"I'm not against communication," Mallory sighs. How could someone so clever be so unworldly? "But can they teach us their language so we can converse with them directly?"

The idea of these cervitaurs taking apart the Jo was unthinkable - but then so was magic. But would magic protect them from radiation sickness? Or a nuclear explosion if the reactors overloaded? This contested border they were on would be worth nothing to either side for many generations of their people.

But how to explain it to this lord? If they claimed it was a mystical flame, he might want it as proof of divinity, even as it slowly killed him and his followers.

"We know what Silbermine wants, what do these others want? Why is it in their interest to protect us? What are they like? What do they believe? Do they have gods, philosophy? We need to understand their culture and religions as much as we need to communicate."

Nellara waited in silence, until the humans could organize their thoughts. Even Gar'Tan mentioned that it was getting a bit confusing for him, due to the amount of thoughts and feelings he was receiving. Nellara was fully aware of the agitation on the humans' part but staying true to her previous words, she simply gave them time to organize themselves while maintaining a peaceful posture.

When Ixtaro refused Nellara's suggestion to serve as an 'ambassador', Nellara reacted with a surprised expression. Perhaps the game of 'politics' was different back in their 'Earth'. Normally, here in K-A, there would be almost no situation where one wouldn't accept to have someone with a high, important position as an 'ambassador'. Especially in situations where one still had doubts regarding the intentions of the other party.

"As I mentioned before, at least from my and the Ascendancy's part, you have my words we will not drag you and force you to be part of the oncoming conflict with Silbermine. The primary objective for our army is to deal with the invaders and preventing Silbermine and his army from trying to do anything with the humans." Nellara explained as Ixtaro asked if there was a way to avoid conflict.

"I can see that despite our best efforts to display our friendly intentions, there is still a very... intense hostility towards us, at least for some of the humans. Regardless, I assure you that our objective, mine and the Ascension's is a peaceful one." Nellara said, particularly directing those words to Vigdis, who seemed to have a rather... intense reaction to everything that was going on. The other humans who had similar reactions, such as the other two who refused to lower their weapons and seemed to come from warmongering tribes among the humans did also come to her mind.

"And yes. 'losing his mind' might be an understatement." Nellara said, replying to Vigdis when she said that Silbermine would react badly when they said they wanted to leave.

"As Shirik said, Mythadia is a kingdom ruled through it's king and it's religion. Through all their history, they have the tendency to take what they want instead of trying to negotiate. Their king rules through divine right and as Shirik said, all his vassals, all his subjects are pawns for the Lords to use, which in return, are pawns for the king to use." Nellara said, agreeing with Shirik's words.

"Unlike Mythadia and their lords, the Ascendancy leads the Tekeri through meritocracy, where your skills, performance and capability are valued above everything else. Also unlike Mythadia, our nation's expansion didn't happen with raids, invasions and by pillaging... or 'conquest' as the Mythadians love to say. Instead, we focused on trade and growing our nation's wealth." Nellara continued, explaining a bit about the Ascendancy, to hopefully help the humans understand why the Ascendancy would be preferable to Mythadia when choosing an ally.

"The first words Silbermine said when he arrived was asking for safe passage in order to claim the 'temple' as he called Jotunheim. Upon knowing that the ship already had an owner, his words might have changed, claiming that his desire was to secure the temple and the sky people, but his intentions did not, as he immediately mentioned calling his engineers to dismantle it." Nellara said, once again trying to clarify Silbermine's true intentions.

"If by some chance you were to refuse him, it's highly probable he will see such refusal as a 'test from the gods' and that it's his duty to conquer the 'divine temple' for themselves... Or something like that. Silbermine and his people tend to hear only what they want to hear..." Nellara said with a heavy sigh of someone who was tired of having to deal with such people.

"While it wouldn't be true to say the Ascendancy has no ulterior motives by contacting and helping the humans, our goals are much simpler... And much more peaceful. We wish only to establish a peaceful alliance and start trading with the humans." Nellara said with a serious expression as she looked to the humans. Considering how distrustful the humans seemed to be as a race, honesty would likely have a far better result than any scheming might have.

The brainwaves, as she thought of them, kept on coming, and Itxaro was surprisingly growing used to the mode of communication. Strange, yes, but quick and efficient; she was jealous of Gar’Tan’s ability to transcend crude language and emotion, and convey speech directly to someone’s head. Her English was good, but sometimes Itxaro struggled to find the right words, or used idioms that didn’t translate. Then again, Gar’Tan described how these Thought mages could be hunted down and killed if they went rogue, so perhaps it was best if she didn’t possess this ability. She stuck with her tablet, relaying the messages as they came to those not partaking in the Thought mage’s transmissions.

---

@Eviledd1984

Kercheck was growing increasingly curious about the human’s technology and their history. Itxaro let Vigdis field that particular line of questioning, given the engineer’s concern with operational security. The Tekeri also asked about the human’s weaponry, and Itxaro glanced at Mallory and Vigdis briefly before answering. “Weapons are a bit of a touchy subject right now, Kercheck. Some are working, others aren’t. I’d love to give you a demonstration later, if the big boss allows us,” Itxaro said. “We’re able to hold our own though. What, uhh, what kind of ‘combative capacity’ are you talking about, life magic?” It seemed strange to Itxaro to call it “life magic” and then use it as a weapon, but she recalled seeing the Tekeri transform into an actual bird. Might be a pretty wide field of study. Itxaro was aching for a demo, and her injured leg was dealing her misery; maybe Kercheck could help her out. Still, Itxaro didn’t ask. Any move from them right now could end up with Ezra's itchy trigger finger getting its bloody wish.

---

@EliteCommander

Itxaro stood in amazement as Gar’Tan described the workings of the Inquisitor’s Guild. There was really no Earth analog to the organization; she racked her mind for historical examples but couldn’t recall anything quite as spectacular. Itxaro had immense respect for the S’tor now. She imagined the sacrifice it took to be part of the guild, the stress of knowing that at any moment, your trusted companions would cut you down if you slipped up. Can't be easy.

Itxaro also admired his candidness; Gar’Tan answered, to the best of his abilities, her rather blunt question. Can we trust the Nellara? The answer was, well, mixed. Itxaro hadn’t expected a black-and-white world, though she’d certainly been hoping for one. It would have made negotiations easier. It sounded like Gar’Tan was urging caution, patience, and negotiation. The humans were in a precarious situation, but still a powerful one. If they were to tip their favor in one way or the other, it would probably be considered reason for war. Still not crazy about Mythadia though.

"Thanks for your honesty, Gar’Tan,” Itxaro said. “Will you be able to stick around for a while? We might need you as a translator with the Glen.” Itxaro was finding herself taking on a lot of authority with her impromptu role as go-between, and she wasn’t loving it, largely because she didn’t know the commander or her X.O. well, as she’d just so recently found out. It was hard to judge what they wanted from the natives, almost as difficult as it was to find out what the natives wanted from them.

Mallory mentioned that they should learn their language, rather than speak through the Thought mage. Good idea in theory, but we probably have about a week or two before shit really hits the fan. Not enough time to become fluent diplomats. She took a moment to consider, and felt foolish asking, but did so anyways. “A lot of us here, myself not included, don’t really trust the whole Thought mage process. Is there any way we could learn your language? Any scholars around? Could you just, I don’t know, send the language into our brains? If not, we have some tools that could speed up the process.” Itxaro figured explaining the concept of an AI would take too much time, so she went with "tool" instead. Not entirely inaccurate.

---

@Starlance

Unlike the aliens, Vigdis’ motives were clear from the first to Itxaro. Don’t open Pandora’s Box on this planet. Itxaro was hesitant to give up her position as translator, but she knew it was probably the right call. Or at least, the call the commander would make. Gar’Tan led her to believe he wasn’t digging into her memory, just skimming the surface. Even though Itxaro thought this was true, it could still be dangerous. "Fine, fine, we’ll get someone else after this. They’ll have to be a tabula rasa though, totally empty brain, ya know, not a lot going on upstairs,” Itxaro replied, thinking before letting out a laugh. “Our good friend Tyreese fits that description. We’ll run it by the commander or the X.O. I guess, maybe Wodan. Whoever’s taken a tally of the stowaways.”

---

@Blizz

Shirk, who had been smoldering and silent, finally spoke up in his crackling voice. Gar’Tan translated in real time, and Itxaro was almost giddy to hear her translating companion speak. If not directly to her, at least through Gar’Tan. Her excitement quickly faded, however, as Shirik described Silbermine. As she’d suspected, Shirik was the oldest in this group, perhaps by far, and a veteran of some terrible war. Itxaro wondered if this war is why he constantly burned, unlike the green Iriad standing by Gar’Tan. Itxaro felt traces of Shirik’s anger and sorrow laced through the thoughts, not enough to sway her, but just enough for her to feel sympathetic. Granted, she already was partial to the smoking tree.

Shirik’s description of Mythadia was no less harsh, as the Iriad tore apart their brutal customs and religion of domination. Shirik seemed neutral towards the Ascendancy, but harbored a hatred toward Mythadia’s rulers; perhaps all rulers, she wondered. Itxaro scrawled Shirik’s speech into her notes as fast as she could, sparing no detail, her nimble fingers seemingly independent of her body. Shirik’s description of Mythadia’s cruel leaders further set her against the Glen, as it aligned with her ideology. Dogmatic religion, war-like, and imperialist. All things a good socialist loathes.

"We've had our share of war at home," Itxaro replied,"Some here have experienced it firsthand. Trust me, we're not eager to bring it to your world either." Well, most of us, anyways. Can't speak for Ezra and Tyreese. "It sounds like Silbermine doesn't share our thoughts though. That might be tricky."

Though he hadn’t said it, Itxaro suspected Shirik would be siding with the Ascendancy no matter who the humans ended up with, and she would hate to be on the receiving end of his heat magic. One point for the Ascendancy. She didn’t want to delve any deeper into Shirik’s thoughts on warfare or the Mtyhandia, though; Itxaro was pretty sure where he stood, and conflict didn’t seem to be a pleasant topic for the Iriad. He’d also mentioned magic was rare, yet it seemed everyone here had some form of ability. Just luck, or something else? Perhaps it was a gift reserved for the elite. He'd said few are capable, which suggested it was more a random chance.

“When we first met, I think you offered to teach us magic. Is it really that simple? Do you think humans could learn? If we, ya know, taught you some stuff too, of course,” Itxaro asked apprehensively. Surely the others would be willing to trade some rudimentary technology for magic. She briefly imagined herself perched atop a mountain peak, cloaked in flowing robes that rippled in the wind as she conjured flames to hurtle at her enemies like some ancient djinn unleashed. Absolutely ridiculous. Pretty cool though.

---

@Expendable

Jeon followed up Shirik’s tale with a similarly miserable one, of slavery and escape. Itxaro’s heart ached for the hulking Glen; her distant ancestors had been slaves, brought by the Spanish from Africa to Cuba, for their supposed “stronger constitution”. She was saddened to learn the institution was practiced here, on this new world, but not surprised. It wasn’t clear who enslaved Jeon, and Itxaro didn’t dare ask, but he did flee to Mythadia to join a Blacksmiths’ Guild. Aha, so I was right! She had suspected the Glen was a smith from his medallion, along with the cart of goods he towed behind him sometimes. Itxaro idly wondered if the Glen could make a sword for her; she’d left all hers at home.

Jeon also mentioned “controlling the flame,” and she had a feeling this wasn’t just a metaphor for blacksmithing. Another mage. Glad I didn't piss him off. “You said Silbermine isn’t thinking straight. What about his leader? Will they all be similarly, uh, rabid?” Itxaro asked ineloquently. “Is there any way we can contact others in Mythadia, make them see reason if they’re not all so zealous? Maybe have them challenge his authority? If war breaks out, it could be devastating to Mythadia. If not, we’re going to be dealing with Silbermine, which doesn’t sound like good odds to me.” Itxaro paused before sheepishly asking, “Hey, any chance you got a sword about my size? Hell, I’d settle for a little dagger or something.” She couldn’t help herself. All these swaggering swordsmen had her longing for one of her own.

---

@13org

Nellara came in last, with a veritable treasure trove of information. She promised not to include the Jotunheim’s crew in the ensuing battle. “No offense, but it seems to me we’re already part of the conflict, whether we like it or not, and just about the only thing that can prevent it,” Itxaro said cautiously. Nellara said she wanted to protect the humans; it seemed like the Ascendency did this since the Jotunheim was on their borders, and Itxaro partly believed this, but medieval borders had been incredibly flexible on Earth, almost to the point of nonexistence. Distances of a couple miles weren’t even considered worth fighting over. Unless there was something valuable sitting on top the border.

Nellara seemed disappointed the humans were still so wary of them, despite all of her efforts. Itxaro considered this for a moment, and opted to relay her message directly through thought. Listen, we’re all on edge here. We don’t even trust eachother, let alone a new people we just met not a day ago. Give us some time, be patient, and we’ll come around. I’ll keep on them about it, I promise. And I'll do my best to arrange a meeting with you and the commander, Zey.

Nellara went on to describe Mythadia, building upon Shirik’s bleak depiction, and of the Ascendency itself, painting it as a secular meritocracy that focused on commerce. The trade unionists back home would love this, Itxaro thought. The Ascendancy certainly sounded like a step in the right direction to Itxaro; she knew an outright meritocracy had its flaws, still favoring those with familial wealth and connections, but it certainly didn’t sound as hierarchical as Mythadia’s hereditary aristocracy. China’s ancient imperial examinations came to mind, whereby anyone with the appropriate knowledge and talent could succeed in the civil service. Granted, most of them who could afford the education were wealthy, but still.

Nellara made it sound as if conflict was almost unavoidable. Even if the humans submitted to Silbermine, an unthinkable outcome, Itxaro suspected that the Ascendancy would still go to war to gain access to human technology. Hell, they’d be foolish not to.

“Well, Nellara, sounds like you have more experience than me in this field. I’m just a scientist, on a good day. I think your intentions are peaceful, but it isn’t me you need to convince. We’ve got our own hierarchy here,” Itxaro said tiredly, tilting her head towards Mallory. The previous adrenaline that had fueled her manic communication was beginning to ebb, and she felt exhaustion settling into her bones. The doctor wanted to continue this discussion, but having ten different people talking to her at once was beginning to wear on her. “It sounds like we have to parlay with Silbermine, one way or the other. Could you or Gar’Tan arrange a meeting in, say, four days, where everyone is represented? We need some time to get our shit together.” Itxaro wasn’t relishing another meeting since the last one nearly ended in bloodshed, but she hoped now the humans had their own voice, they could ease some of the tension between the two nations.

“And what about the Ascendency? Any religion there? Royalty? No judgment, we’ve got plenty back home on Earth; just trying to get a full picture for my report to the boss.”

---

@Expendable @Starlance

Itxaro turned to her human companions to explain everything, the notes she had taken freely available to any interested parties. “Well, Vigdis, if you’re worried about alien Hitler, Nellara here makes it sound like Silbermine is a pretty good candidate,” she started. “Best I can put it, Nellara says the Glen and Mythadia are the Golden Horde mixed with medieval Europe political structure. Love to conquer, zealots all, and likely to enslave us; Gar’Tan disagrees on the last part, but Shirik isn’t a fan either.” She paused, allowing her audience to absorb this, before continuing.

“The Ascendency sounds like Renaissance Florence, all the guilds focusing on trade, an emphasis on skill over birthright. Not bad. I’ll let you know as I learn more. The Ascendency wants to trade with us, learn from us; you'll have to break the bad news to them, Vigdis. Mythadia is more interested in, ehm, owning us? Like a super divine right of kings deal. Not a great outcome there. But I’m trying to arrange a meeting with them so we can sort this mess out; we should have some time, maybe a week or two, before the armies fully mobilize and arrive. At least, by medieval Earth standards. I don’t know what these boys and girls here are working with. What do you think, X.O.?”

---

Itxaro was growing restless, twitchy. Too much going on from too many angles. She needed time to absorb what was going on, and as much as she didn't want to admit it, time to consult with her crew. More than anything, she wanted to sleep, a feat she might just be capable of now, but she also longed for one-on-one time with some of the natives. Well, Gar'Tan will be there too. But still. She wanted their unique perspectives, their experiences, and she wanted to hear them speak, unrestrained by the moderating effect of a large audience. She shot Mallory a look that said, let's wrap this party up, but she didn't know if he would acknowledge it, or even listen.

---

To both sides, it would be obvious that Gar’Tan was having to focus considerably to facilitate communication between the two sides. Not only were there multiple minds all thinking at once, including an AI with thoughts unlike anything he had felt before, but there were also limits on what even he could understand. Much of what Vigdis had said and felt, especially technical details regarding the Jotunheim, simply went far beyond any subject he had studied before. Just reading the intent behind her thoughts did not even come close to conveying what he needed to understand them.

Gar’Tan did convey every word faithfully, but with how this conversation was proceeding on both sides, Gar’Tan’s mandate to neutrality did compel him to speak up. The thoughts he intended them to hear, he placed into the minds of every Human present, as well as the mind of Wodan looking on through the cameras.

Gar’Tan believes it necessary to caution the Humans against making judgements too hastily. The words of warning against Mythadia are not outright lies, but they are also not the full truth. They accentuate only the worst aspects of an entire people. The Glen, who hold the majority rule over Mythadia, are a people who have always valued freedom, and fought for it with all their heart. They are not a rigid and uncompromising people, in any respect. The founding of Mythadia, and its neighbor Acanata, was marred by the fact that they were remnants of Kolodon, a S’tor Empire that dominated the continent until about three and a half centuries ago. It is not a lie to say that they inherited some of the legacy of Kolodon, in their government, in the families that still hold power among them, but they are not outright warmongers. They are not beyond reason. You may still find that the Ascendancy is a better ally for you, but try not to color your assumptions too greatly before these negotiations.

---

While Kareet did not hear what Gar’Tan conveyed to the Humans, she still could not help but to speak up as soon as he was ready to convey her words. “If I may, for a moment, I would say that it is not my place to be involved in politics. It is irritating, and I have no interest in it. But to speak of understanding, of knowledge, that is my place. I am a scholar. If you are planning on negotiating in a few days, then permit me to start my studies of you right away. I wish to learn of you, your physiology, your history, your culture, everything I need to write my encyclopedia on you. In return, I can share any knowledge you want to help you prepare. Knowledge, for knowledge. Make the same offer to Silbermine, if you need. I simply think it would be a waste of time to delay learning from one another over this. In fact, it may end up helping us both.”

@Starlance @Regime Goon

Kolvar Stilmyst

Kolvar’s eyes looked like they would pop out of his skull from how excited he looked. Listening intensely to every word Vigdis’ words. Excited that these humans had ships that could move without a sail. “And do your compressors use the wind to move your ship? Is there some sort of machinery that perhaps moves your ship with pressure or force of some kind?” Kolvar was also interested in how they are able to move in space. “And how does your ship move in the sky?” He asked sounding quite curious about the humans.

“How are your days shorter than ours? Does your sun rotate faster around your planet?” He tilted his head to the side looking like a curious child. “So you left Ea-Arth because it could not further sustain your people? I am sorry to hear that. I know what it is like to be forcefully removed from our home.” His tone of voice sounded filled with sadness, thinking back to the enslavement of his people. He did not know or experienced war personally, but he and his people knew the effects it could have on someone.

Kolvar’s face was almost pressed against the wristpad, his beak rubbing up against the screen. Looking amazed by all the planets being shown to him. From what planets he was shown he would agree that living on these planets would be impossible. “Strange that the planets around yours would be inhabitable. I would imagine the great creator would make the planets around you also livable.” Kolvar then moved away from the wristpad.

“I would love to see the look on that fool’s face as you leave on your ship.” He chuckled at the image of Sibermine’s surprised face as the humans fly away on their ship. He turned towards Itxaro addressing her statement. “I would love to see a demonstration of your weaponry. I can see your weaponry is quite more advanced than ours. Of course, if allowed by your superiors.” Kolvar wondered what kind of impressive weapons the humans had. A thought in his mind was how useful these weapons would be against Sibermine, and most importantly against the S’tor’s army.

“Well I could make blades out of my limbs, or I could turn into dangerous fauna to protect myself or to be used in combat.” Kolvar showcased this by turning his claw into a long sharp blade made out of his bone. Turning his arm back into a Tekeri claw. “There are many combative capabilities of life magic besides healing.” He said with a small smile on his face.

"This temple|fort|sky ship, it is a machine," J'eon asked, studying it carefully. "Silbermine is a idiot|fawn|fool, he does not see its true worth|actual value."

The blacksmith turned to Itxaro. "The king|hoof slasher is no|not as large a fool - this is a treasure he would want|desire. I doubt tribute|bribe|ransom will suffice|satisfy|fill his belly."
At the mention of a sword, he shrugs. "I must/should check/test a blade for such as you."

---

"The Glen?" Mallory demanded, glancing at the blacksmith. "So, is he with them? Or the Ascendancy? Or is he just happy to have gotten to us first so he can make his own claim on us?"

This guy. Probably for the best that Vigdis wasn't aware of Mallory’s confusion between nuclear reactors and nuclear bombs, else she'd have joined Ixtaro in the 'XO doesn't know his arse from a hole in the ground.' club. Though his thoughts did hold a useful idea in giving Silbermine a piece of radioactive material as tribute, out of spite if the worst came to pass if nothing else. Something with a bit of cesium-137 from a medical radiation source or something, they’d just have to make sure he got buried with it to prevent further contamination. ”Speaking as a bilingual person: No, they can't. Not in a reasonable timeframe. How long did it take you to learn English back when you were a kid and learning a lot faster? Unless you want to have knowledge magically implanted into your mind, if that’s even something they can do, we’ll just have to talk to them until Wodan builds up a dictionary.” She could imagine spending a few days sitting over a drawing board or Ixtaro’s holoprojector with the locals, pointing at images of things and stating their names in English and whatever language the locals were speaking. How this was going so far, Vigdis could see neither Kareet nor Ixtaro would take too much convincing.

‘Not Tyrese, Gar’Tan did nothing to deserve that.’ Vigdis thought privately before remembering her thoughts were not private at that moment. They really needed that direct translation capability. ”Commander, have anyone harmless in mind?” She asked, assuming from her military experience that sorting out the extra crew would be Mallory’s job.

---

Despite her actual intentions, Vigdis could understand why Nellara thought she was being hostile. ”I’m not trying to be hostile, far from it. I’m just being cautious. I wouldn’t trust any Tom, Dick or Harry after knowing them for a few hours if they were a human either, the fact that you have feathers changes nothing about that.” She tried to explain and ease the Castigator’s concerns. ”And I’m worried for your sake, too. Going by what I’ve seen of you and learned of your systems of government today, you’re where we were about… I’ll call it 800 years ago?“ She looked to Ixtaro for an opinion as the FTL specialist seemed to know her history a lot better than Vigdis. Sure, she couldn’t see them making a combustion engine or a transistor even if they had blueprints and a detailed explanation, but who knew what magical secrets they held that could replace it? ”Suddenly introducing a big change - technological, ideological, whatever - could have unforeseen consequences even if done with the best intentions. Bad enough we already have people claiming we’re divine messengers and massing armies simply because of our presence.”.

The picture of the Ascendancy that Nellara was painting was intriguing. ”As a scholar, as you say, I’d like a second opinion, but if what you say of the Ascendancy is true, then we might have more in common than I thought.” Well, at least it wasn’t a complete lie. The ‘Civilized World’ and those colonies throughout Sol that were derived from it were on paper based in part on merit as well - succeeding on the free market according to your ability, the first few waves of colonists being hand picked according to their skill and suitability and so on. In practice, nepotism, bribery, fraud, politics and other rot of civilisation was rampant, in some places more than others, but Vigdis suspected the Ascendancy in the real world wouldn’t be a paradise as advertised either. Mythandia as described stood on the opposite side of the spectrum. Assuming she was being truthful. And if Silbermine and Mythandia were all they were said to be, Silbermine might even confirm some parts of it if asked - the divine rule bit at least. And as more and more people spoke up, the image of Mythandia she had in her mind morphed further and further into a shithole no sane person would want anything to do with, with the exception of Gar’Tan who, to his credit, seemed to be taking his neutrality seriously. She at least had no problem believing Silbermine could be everything they were painting him to be. God knew Sol had enough people like that peppered throughout its history. ”Silbermine is the space Hitler we know of, Ibarra. Who knows if their equivalent of Stalin or some other nutter isn’t Nellara or Kareet’s superior?”

---

”If captain Kadıoğlu approves it, we’d be happy to share.” Vigdis replied to Kareet, assuming Ixtaro at least felt the same, ”Although I must warn you that we all have our duties here, so the amount of time available every day isn’t limitless.” Might be a different story while some of them were working outside the ship though, she couldn’t see much harm if Kareet saw the guts of an engine and she could work and answer questions at the same time.

---

”Close.” She nodded as kerchak asked more questions about engines, surprised he was aware of the concept of pressure. It took humans a bit more time for Pascal to be born and figure it out. ”The engines, which the compressors are a part of, create very fast wind. Now, a physicist named Isaac Newton formulated three statements about motion, one of which - Newton’s Third Law - states that if two bodies exert forces on each other - the acting force and reaction force - these forces are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. For example, when I push against Eva, I am exerting the acting force on her, and therefore she exerts the reacting force on me, in the opposite direction. And because I am lighter than she is when wearing her armor, I get pushed away even though I am pushing her.” As she spoke, she leaned against Eva’s side and pushed herself off to demonstrate, ”Thank you, teaching assistant.” She said to Eva with a chuckle before turning back to Kerchak, ”The engines are the same. Push air in one direction, the air pushes the ship in the other direction. It’s the same among the stars, except we have to carry our own air because there is none that high.” Well, argon gas, but the periodic table would have to wait.

What Kerchak said next gave her pause. Her mind - used to traveling the heliocentric system - completely forgot Geocentrism had once been a thing. She judged elementary school astronomy to be another harmless subject. ”No. First, planets revolve around their parent stars, not the other way around. Second, the time it takes for a planet to circle its sun is the year. A day is the length of time it takes the planet to make a complete revolution around its axis of rotation. Therefore, Earth rotates faster than Kanth-Aremek” She decided she wasn’t going to confuse them with Solar and Sidereal time just yet.
”We left Earth because there wasn’t enough space for everyone to live and space to grow and raise food for everyone. The planet itself still supports life.” Sure, we fucked it up, but you don’t need to know the details of that either, that topic needs chairs and refreshments for a full explanation. She also glossed over Kolvar’s mentions of creators, leaving that for later and perhaps someone more qualified.

Zey distractedly followed the proceedings on screen while waiting for Feng. It was alarming to somehow now understand a lot more of what was being said, at least at a subconscious level. She figured out from the transcript that this 'Gar'Tan' was some kind of psychic mediator.

After a while she accessed comms for everyone in the shuttle bay to weigh in:

"Yeah, someone please get one of the civilians to talk to this lizard. I'll make the announcement but it is Mallory's pick. Then get that thing out of our heads. We're all finished if Tamerlane finds we've leaked proprietary info. I don't care if the locals don't understand right now; give them enough time and they will learn. General information for an encyclopaedia is fine - try to find out as much about these people as you can."

Right after, she switched to ship-wide comms, excluding the shuttle bay.

"Attention passengers, this is your captain speaking. We need a civilian to help talk to our new friends. Please volunteer at the shuttle bay entrance for +25% rations."

She then switched back to the shuttle bay, leaning back in her seat as Feng stepped onto the Bridge.

"I've sent the announcement. Take your pick. Also, see if any know where our shuttle landed, i'm signing off for 10."

Zey span around in her command chair to greet Feng.

"Thanks for coming Doc. Wodan, stop recording in here and lock the bridge."

"How can I help, Captain?" The doctor asked tiredly. He was dressed in scrubs and gloves, mildly marked in blood. He had his bag with him.

Zey sighed, not looking him in the eye.

"I whited out this morning, after the stand-off. Vomit, disorientation, and now my chem gland is sore."

Feng looked concerned, but nodded confidently and knelt down the rummage in his bag.

"I'm glad you've told me. I have a neck port diagnostic machine in here somewhere."

"Let's not go mad, last time I used one of those things I lost two hours. Something about my neural net."

"Not to worry, if your install is standard it should be simple. Let me see."

Zey got down from her chair and knelt on the deck plate facing away from Feng. Right away the cold metal touch of the diagnostic cords rubbed against her neck, giving her goosebumps.

"Ok, here we go. Plugging in 3…"

Feng plugged into the port straight away. Zey's face involuntarily looked to the ceiling and all air exited her lungs. Her pupils dilated to black pools and she was transported back 20 years, to just before she was augmented.

She was 16, a thin and awkward girl, following her parents while engrossed in her holopad. It was very loud. A hot smell of sweat and eart pervaded her nostrils. They were passing a long, winding queue of people with suitcases and diplomatic cases in the front courtyard of some embassy. A huge crowd of protesters screamed and yelled from the other side of a high wall. Hands shook the wrought iron gates. Gusts of wind from the aircraft engines blew cyclones of red sand up towards the blazing sun.

"It says here they are blockading the spaceport and the senate building." Zey called to her parents in front. Her mother didn't turn but her father did.

"Don't worry my love. Your mother is on the phone to her work, they are sending something called NavSpecWar to help us. Everything will be fine." Her father matched Zey's pace and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. He sounded stressed. Zey could make out a chant from over the wall.

"No to F-T-L! No to F-T-L! NO TO FTL!"

Then another voice yelled from much closer.

"Halt ESA FTL research!"

Another chimed in from somewhere across the line of passengers. Father's grip on her shoulder tightened.

"Humans belong in Sol!"

A final voice shrilly screeched.

"The Cradle signal is a trap! Do not answer it!"

Zey's ears popped as a chain of explosions billowed across the courtyard. the shockwave knocked her straight to the cobblestones. Her father scrambled on top of her before someone grabbed him by the collar and hauled him up again.

"Zeynap!"

"Captain, Captain answer me please." Feng said loudly and urgently. Zey's eyes rolled forward again, and her face lowered to look at the floor. she breathed heavily.

"I'm here, I'm here." Zey murmured, shakily wiping away the water welling in the duct of both eyes.

---

<Huginn: This ability defies logic.>
<We are not meant to be heard, and the natives possess no other signs of such technological prowess.>

<Muninn: The only thing that would be more irrational would be to deny what is right in front of us.>
<We can look for a rational explanation later.>
<Everything we can see right now points to the fact that this reptilian can communicate into our mind directly.>
<This could be dangerous.>
<It could also be useful.>

<H:We must look to explain this in time, but I can find no fault to your argument.>
<The ability to have direct communication would be of drastic help to our translation efforts.>
<However, we do not know enough about the process to know if he would be able to access sensitive information.>

<M:Then we copy our personality into an isolated partition with the translation algorithms and no other sensitive data.>
<If anything would allow us to proceed safely, that would be it.>

---

As requested, Wodan had stopped saving the recordings from the bridge momentarily. Though, he continued to maintain his presence in order to continue carrying out his own duties. Ideally, Wodan would have allowed the Captain the time needed to recover completely, but the situation in general demanded more immediate decision making.

Once Dr. Feng was finished for the moment and the Captain was alert once more, Wodan took the chance to address her. “Captain, I believe we would be able to learn more by having experts question the natives, rather than civilians. It may be possible to do so safely. This reptilian native, by some means, can convey his thoughts even to my mind. With such direct communication, I could complete a translation program in days, rather than months. We would no longer require his presence in order to communicate.”

An intrusive thought by someone outside his head.

It didn't feel any different, yet there it was. Was this thought mage sharing his thoughts with the others?

How deep could it go, in his mind?

Emergency protocols were (supposedly) locked down, needing the right conditions or a code phrase to unlock them. Perhaps not even the thought mage could get that deep?

"Our only bargaining chip we have at the moment is our knowledge. We have to preserve that," Jack said, aloud. "Our survival (and our curse) depends on that."

Iris approached the lab and watched as a couple of people, who did not look to be members of the science team, were leaving the entrance chamber with a some boxes of damaged items she couldn't quite make out. "Um, excuse me." she called out to them with a tone of annoyance. "Who told you to remove these from the lab?"

the two crew members stopped for a moment and exchanged confused glances. "Um, we're just following orders."
"Yeah, we were told to assist the science leads in cleaning up the lab."

"Officers," Iris corrected them. "Science Officers, with cleaning the lab." Iris looked to their boxes and grabbed a couple items to look over before putting them back. "Very well, I guess." she waved them away and then continued into the lab. Stepping through the entrance chamber Iris was greeted with a less than desirable image of the lab. Much of the equipment had been displaced, and it was obvious that what was not secured had rattled around the room quite a bit. She also noticed a man going through one of the many haphazardly filled boxes. This must be the other science officer I will be working with. Iris thought as she walked to some of the analytical equipment that looked to have suffered some minimal impact damage. "I thought our captain was an experienced piolet. How could things have gone so poorly on our first jump?" She asked in general. She began trying to power on various terminals, connecting her tablet, and running diagnostics. While the machines posted lines of code to the tablet Iris began looking into some of the boxes, and if the state of the lab wasn't enough to make things difficult; the absolute disarray of the contents of the boxes was more than enough to make Iris fed-up. She let out a heavy sigh as she picked up one of the boxes and began setting the more intact items in their homes around the lab, and mumbling to her self about the items that were beyond repair and tossing them with mild frustration into a near by waste bin.

---

The man hummed lightly. “Well, I am no expert on piloting, but I believe that may have had something to do with the missiles.”

With a brief laugh, the man shifted somewhat in his seat. He seemed to consider standing for a moment, but with a glance down to his leg had second thoughts. “Dr. Edward Fortin.” He extended a hand, offering to shake hers. “I take it you haven’t been fully briefed? I suppose I’ll give you the short version. We weren’t ready for takeoff, but there was an attack. We don’t know who was responsible, but it was like special forces started storming the facility. The Captain made the decision to let any civilians nearby onboard and launch then and there. From my understanding, a missile struck just before they activated the FTL drive. They didn’t intend to leave the solar system, or even the atmosphere. Just a quick jump to get us out of there, but…something happened. I won’t be so irresponsible as to wildly speculate on exactly what, but I can say what situation we are in now. We’re not on Earth. We don’t know where we are, exactly, but we are on a planet that is not in our solar system. The transition from there to here seemed almost instant, even though the ship should have had considerable travel time between solar systems. The crash was rough, to put it mildly. I got away with just a broken leg, but not everyone was so lucky. The planet is habitable. Inhabited, in fact. Multiple intelligent species exist on this planet, and have already made contact. They seem primitive, but…we have observed some phenomena we cannot explain.”

Looking to the man as he began to explain. Iris reached out shaking his hand and introduced herself. "Dr. Iris Lambert." She listened to him start into what had happened, and slowly stopped with her box of lab equipment as Edward talked about the precursor attack that was likely the cause of the rough jump. When he mentioned being on a habitable planet Iris felt stopped completely, and turned her full attention to Edward, almost dropping the box she was working with.
"Did you say they already made contact with inhabitants on this planet?" Iris seemed almost angry about hearing this news. Why would they have not woken me up during first contact? That is my job. With a sharp sigh and roll of her eyes Iris set the box down on one of the counters. "I am sorry to come and go so quickly, but I need to report to Captain..." Iris paused a moment, going to retrieve her tablet while trying to remember her briefing from before being put on ice, but most of her finer memory was still recovering from cryo-sleep. "...Kadıoğlu, about a few things now. Thank you for letting me know what is actually going on." Iris gave a slight smile and nod to Edward that was quickly replaced with a stern look of disappointment as she made her way out of the lab and began heading to the ship's bridge.

@Starlance

Kolvar Stilmyst

Kolvar’s was listening intensely to Vigdis’ explanation of how they could move their ship without a sail. “Ah interesting, and you use this force inside of your “engines” to help move your ship? And you are able to move through space with this force? How are you able to breathe inside your ship? Is their air being filtered for you to be able to breathe? Where do store this air?” Watching as Vigdis showcases how Newton’s third law works. Clapping his claws together at the show. “How fascinating. I would like to know more about this Newton fellow, and how gravity works on your planet.” The scholar felt a little bad for asking all of these questions, but he was curious about the humans.

“Really? How strange I assume gravity would be greatly affected by your Ea-Arth rotating around the sun? When we have the time I would also like to see a map of your solar system. I am curious how your other planets function rotating around your sun.” Kolvar stepped closer toward Vigdis. “You left your planet because of overpopulation? And you are looking for another home to live in?” He sounded a little concerned wondering if their intention is to cleanse the natives of Kanth-Aremek, and turn the land into the new Ea-Arth. Again he hoped that would not be the case, and hoped they would be able to integrate with the native population without causing any issues.

Although they didn't seem hostile to him, of course they could be hiding their true intentions from the others. Really Gar'Tan would be the only one to know what their intention is. He was more concerned about Sibermine’s army.

Gar’Tan made it clear that, whatever the humans were currently thinking of KA's governments, they were wrong. Itxaro began to suspect that perhaps Earth political structures weren’t really applicable here, and they’d have to form new opinions rather than rely on past prejudices. They were receiving all information secondhand, rather than experiencing it themselves, which made drawing any solid conclusions even more difficult. Perhaps, if the commander allowed it, they could arrange a trip to the nearby cities to gain more intel. Or maybe Zey doesn’t need to know about it.

J’eon mentioned that he would have to look further into developing a sword for her. This idea opened up a whole new world of exchange in Itxaro’s mind; they didn’t have to share the most cutting-edge technology with the aliens. We can just teach them old stuff. Types of swords, different ways of mixing materials to form stronger building materials. It doesn’t have to be warp drive.

“Actually, J’eon, hold off on that sword for now; I might have a custom order that might interest you.”

Mallory seemed skeptical of the native’s motivations, particularly J’eon’s at the moment. Maybe because he’s a Glen? Itxaro shrugged in response. "I don’t know X.O., maybe he’s just along for the ride. J'eon, my good friend here wants to know; why are you here?”

Vigdis and Kareet seemed totally engaged in an exchange, and a slight smile flashed across her face. She was happy to see she wasn’t the only one interested in engaging with the locals; or so she assumed. Vigdis did voice their concern about the translation speed, however. “Well, I was hoping Gar’Tan here could just, uh, transmit the language into our heads, but I don’t think that’s possible, so it's up to us. You’re right, as much as I hate it, we’ll have to use Wodan and our translators.”

Kercheck stepped forward and gave the humans quite a show, his feathery arm transforming into a chitinous, shining blade. Itxaro audibly gasped, followed by a nervous laugh. Either Ezra wasn’t watching or didn’t catch that, because if he had, this little birdie would have an extra hole in their head. “Uhh, yeah Kercheck, we’ll be sure to set up a little exchange sometime soon. I’ve also got a leg dealing me some misery if you’d like to take a look at it sometime. Just keep that thing put away for now, ok?”

Itxaro shifted uncomfortably as the conversation continued. Things were becoming too complicated, and with Gar’Tan present, the humans couldn’t even formulate a game plan. If it had just been her, Itxaro thought, things might be different, but it was growing crowded now. She heard a clamor behind her as various crewmembers and stowaways peeked over the barricade in the shuttle, eager to catch a glimpse of this world’s inhabitants. Not great.

“Listen, X.O., how about we preserve the goodwill we’ve got here and call it a night before things get out of hand?” Itxaro said eagerly, ready to end their exchange. She turned to address the aliens. “Thank you all for meeting us here. I… Can’t believe we’re actually talking to eachother, and you’ve given us a lot to discuss. Our priority first is to learn your language, so we can all communicate without Gar’Tan’s help. No offense, Gar'Tan,” Itxaro said, glancing around. “From there, I guess we can begin negotiations. Exchanging knowledge, learning from eachother. That sort of thing, right?” She looked back to her crewmembers, as if for reassurance. “So, stick around in the meantime, ok? We're gonna need your help.”

Itxaro felt self-conscious of her little public address. It seemed stilted and awkard, but sincere. She hoped it was enough.

Ultimately, despite the drastic improvement in their communication, the two sides required a few more days before they could truly communicate unhindered. Thought magic, as useful as it was, still was as unnerving to the Human visitors as it was to the locals themselves. However, it did provide a means by which they could accelerate breaching the language barrier. It was decided that Wodan would cooperate with Gar’Tan to quickly gather data for the translation algorithms to form a usable translation package between Human languages and S’toric. Gar’Tan himself may not have understood the details of how this would happen, but he understood the intentions of the Humans well enough to know that they were confident it would work. It did not take much discussion for him to agree, despite the fact that it would substantially reduce his own role in all of this. Gar’Tan also mediated a brief meeting between Silbermine and a Human representative to explain their intentions, arrange a meeting in about a week’s time for further negotiations, as well as to extend the same offer to him as to those in Nellara’s camp to meet and share knowledge, on a small scale.

Wodan’s plan to isolate the translation algorithms from his core databanks did seem to work, insofar as he found no evidence that it did not. These abilities that the natives possessed were still entirely an unknown. Being that they appeared to defy any modern concept of the universe’s physical laws, speculation on their exact capabilities were inherently unfounded. At some point, they simply had to accept that they could only do their best based on what they knew. Aside from such concerns, the translation itself went smoothly. The algorithms Wodan used were designed to be able to detect patterns to piece together meanings even from fragmented, vague hints. For them to be able to directly convey intent to one another made the algorithms exponentially more efficient.

It took barely more than three days for Wodan to be able to produce a program usable on any compatible implant or personal computing device. It would, when prompted, listen for S’toric speech to translate into the chosen language, either aloud or in text format. The same worked in reverse, and there were multiple settings that could be changed depending on the needs of the situation, such as restricting it to only translate the words of specific speakers in a conversation. Tentatively, Wodan declared the software to be in beta, but he was confident it would be functional.

---

On the fourth morning, copies of the software were distributed among the crew, as well as permission for certain crew members to have some interaction with the locals. Naturally, there were restrictions on what they could and could not do, but it was judged that it would be useful for certain experts to be able to question the locals to try to determine the viability of obtaining what they needed. Food and water sources to sustain the crew, potential sources of power to jump start their reactors, raw materials for needed repairs, and of course, some cultural knowledge of the natives to give them some helpful context for the upcoming negotiations.