Arawak — Roleplayer Guild

((The Following post is a collab between WrongEndoftheRainbow and Arawak))

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Abroad the Station vented Thoughts off the Line

One moment, the figure wasn’t there. The next, it was. Such were the mysteries of the universe, another puzzle that may never be solved. No matter the case, a yellow robed figure, clad in the same mask as the one that visited the Chairman, was standing next to the Tikalli. The figure looked down at the small creature. It looked to the robot. “Are you looking for a spaceship?”

Ludiki looks up the strange figure about twice her height at its mask, whatever its significance if any, not really sure if it is even in a state of reality or not anymore.  The machine however seems to be aware of it, but is unable to get any words in before Ludiki says “Yes, spaceship, very funny thing your ops do.  Making the trunk walkers appear like this to torment your dissidents.”

“Trunk walkers? If you may indulge my curiosities, who do you believe I am and where do you think I came from? This is not in hostility.” responded the figure, still looking up at the robot.
 
“Unknown entity detected, please evacuate the facility.” The machine mindlessly states.  Ludiki seems to not really be phased at all by that and after a seeming pause in activity, rapidly replies “This joke!  I’ll humor it.  Trunk walkers is simply a term for all the damned humanoids in the galaxy, their legs remind us of trees, everywhere it’s trunk walkers.  It’s baffling as all hell, so many different varieties of trunk walkers out there that there’s theorists who study galactic civilizations who believe that they’re all related evolutionarily.  As for what you are, it’s obvious.  You are some hallucinogenic entity, perhaps using a mind virus.  I was speaking of a new approach to diplomacy that would make the Silent Imperium much more aware of the true natures of the various beings of the galaxy for when the Grand Mission is over.  You know all this, you were clearly aware of what I intended to do since this is all a probe of some sort.  They’re even tricking the machines now.”

“I apologize. Maybe,” the figure chimed as the robes began to oddly deform, an entirely different body shape beginning to emerge as the figure rapidly became shorter, until eventually stopping at about the height of the Tikalli, “this is more preferable. You’ve peaked the interest of our king. May we chat?”

“I see they’re going with a game here,” Ludiki says to the now meter tall figure who now is seeing eye-eye with her, lowering her head as the figure deforms.  The first thing she says the shorter figure is “What are the rules?”

“Rules? Perhaps I misspoke. I only want to chat, no strings attached. May we end the hostilities you insist on keeping up? I come not with a banner of crimson, but a banner of peace,” the figure replied, finally looking directly at the Tikalli. Its eyes were voids, devoid of soul, devoid of anything. An abyss of darkness.

“Peace?  Banners?  Kings?  This is really uncharacteristic of your ops Vlikmir.  Why all the references to ancient cultures?  You haven’t even started demands” A very confused Ludiki replies as the robot starts making requests for monitoring but is consistently getting rejected. The machine, ever more confused blurts “Errors in the system, report to the tech branch immediately.”   

For whatever reason, Ludiki couldn’t help but realize the possibility that this entity that spooked a whole space station may be very real, just maybe it is possible.  The strangeness of this galaxy never ends it would seem.  Peering into the abyssal eyes now in front of her, Ludiki with some hesitance after freezing up briefly asks “... What are you?”

“I have no reason to lie. I am an ancient being. You use artifacts of our design, and you use them to briefly vanish from the material world into our dimension. What the despoilers would do if they found them. That is why I am here, to provide you a warning to propagate,” came the response.

A bit worried of whether or not this was a veiled threat, raises one of her limbs backwards and says “In all fairness our explorer operatives thought you were all dead at the time.  Besides a few traps sprung there was no activity but some wildlife.  Surely your kind has done the same in its time.”

“Indeed, we have. It lead to our deaths. That is why your explorers thought we were dead, because, in material terms, we are. I first appeared to a robot of yours, specifically to force an evacuation and see who was left behind. I will tell you that we have been locked in a shadow struggle with those infinitely your better, and they have come to your galaxy. Warn your Imperium. Warn them to not reveal technology you found from us. Should they decide not to listen, then the tricks and lies they fall for will be their own fault. And should they attack, it may very well be their lives and soon to be lack thereof that will be their own fault. Be careful.”

This being is very real, Ludiki finally realized.  She thinks of it and states with skepticism “The only way those at top would listen to this is with evidence.  Whatever force your society uses I do not know, it’s a field of science that proves ever tedious to tap into without the natural touch, but does it kill you to be observed in a crowd or two?  You’re making this job far harder with all the interference of our monitoring systems you seem to cause. And anyways, if they are coming to kill us all either way then what difference does it make if your tech is used against them?”

The figure responded, “I -- we -- quite prefer to keep to ourselves. We did so for billions of years. But we have become increasingly benevolent on the demands of our king. I will not appear in a crowd. Instead, send a single ship to the coordinates I have placed in the navigation computer of the ship you will be fleeing on. There you will find their way into the galaxy, and there you will be seen. There is no way around the final point, beyond using the devices you took from us. Not a good idea, as then you will grab their focus. I doubt they would attempt to kill you, but they have silver tongues. You would do best to beware them.”

The ambient yellow lights flash a bit as she just blanks out a bit before assuredly saying “Not much problem, evasive maneuvering is common among our craft as well.  And I do wonder how you know Silentspeak.  That is not a easy language to decipher for outsiders.  And somehow these invaders also will speak it?  For it sounds like they will.  Either way seen or not trying to get data on these things sounds like the kind of op this will be.  I'll record everything they say and I believe the ship I am fleeing in has equipment to record in practically every viable wavelength.  This should be easy enough unless they just kill me.  Well, if it comes to that better to die from being blasted than what Vlikmir may have in mind.  I'm only tier-1 but you never know what the team they are sending here will report to him.”

“I speak your language because everything is intertwined magically. Your sciences, each straining in their separate directions, have not yet entered the vistas of reality that hold the world together. We found this vista, and we died for it. But, language is no longer a problem we face. The despoilers you face, they have not yet opened the gateway to the secrets of the universe, try as hard as they have for billions of years. You will not know their language, and they will not know yours. Now, my time is up, and it is your time to go. Go to those coordinates, record what you need, and leave. They will know you were there, but perhaps they may not react.” With that, the atmosphere around the figure warped, seemingly tearing itself apart. Suddenly, the figure was gone, no trace left of it.

In the odd silence that follows, Ludiki looks around with a slight amount of nervousness before heading up the stairs and down the upper corridor to the Hanger where a small reconnaissance craft remains stationed.  The robot has seemingly vanished, but Ludiki feels more relieved than bothered by that as she skitters her way to the somewhat compact triangular craft, crawls in and lifts off through the vertical hanger above, flying up from the lurid crimson of the brown dwarf that dominates the view below as the black speck that is the Vented Thoughts off the Line station becomes simply absent.  The gravity well of this brown dwarf is small enough that it doesn’t take long for Ludiki to get to safe warping distance, but still large enough that a several minutes of trepidation filled her mind as to whether they, or it is watching her.  

With the Brown Dwarf now in the distance, however much it still dominates the views of the sensors she plugs the coordinates given by the figure and blinks away light years just as the investigation team warps in. 

Space Station- The Unwieldily point
@MissingAxis
Sapas the clear eyed, bluish Tikalli is already in the actually quite armed craft.  A long arrowhead shaped craft it is, sleek reflective plating coated with angles optimized to make basic detection systems have as hard a time as possible erstwhile allowing for the real stealth system to project and defend.  It is armed with ionic turrets lined on its rin and missile cannons built to launch missiles far and fast to sting hide on the 'bottom' side of the craft. The interior is cramped as per usual, though not as crampy as it can get in a Tikalli ship.  What makes it bad is that a Tikalli who had been studying the Ouroburos has also been assigned, a rather queer and tall (nearly 4 feet in height!) fellow by the name of Irkin.  At the very least they let him bring his Incindi to make the itching less a problem.  This devotee to alien thinking as much as Sapas may disdain it is what will be needed here.  A quite committed individual to the Grand Mission he is, with a brass-like lining he has given himself around his thorax, forelimbs and abdomen that is of a vanity that makes Sapas reel just thinking about it.  Blowing mist and having a Incidi gnaw at your arm pits are the only luxuries any Tikalli should need.

The devotee, named Iklan starts speaking.

"The Ouroburos may not be trunk walkers, but they certainly are a strangeness of their own." he tells Sapas, "It is why this military frigate has been chosen for this operation despite the diplomatic purpose.  It is crewed with a several other specialists, not just you and me.  The other specialists include Invla, a 3rd cousin removed of mine and Klas who is the least experienced of the group I should warn you.  However the ones at top have requested that we defer to you as command, you are a commander correct?"

Sapas, seated at the central chair tells Iklan "I have lead assassination operations before with my team.  Two of them have also been called here, perhaps for synergy in the field of killing.  By sister Vatir and half related cousin Kors are no less relentless in the field than I, as you will see.  I normally kill, which makes it a surprise they gave that role to be for a diplomatic ops.  It isn't a diplomatic ops is it?"

"I dunno, I am as in the dark about all this as you, if not more."

Sapas twiddles with his needly fingers, tapping his mandibles as he thinks out what is going on. 

"Yes, it is no diplomatic ops.  This operation is connected to the Dominion.  No operation involving the Dominion turns out diplomatic.  Ever.  I would seek to rub myself perpetually into the ground in sheer disgust should this not end in a Chalenion being microwaved, at the very least shot with the actually useful electrokinetic sniper." Sapas tells Iklan as he observes the holographic diagram emerging in front of him of the target system.  Apparently it is a red giant with few planets.  The Incidi peers its knobbish head out a bit in curiosity before going back to licking Sapas between his right limbs.  Marked on the map is the location of the Ouroburos who seemingly has reached out.

Iklan after clittering and chittering in elation at the sight of the hologram begins speaking of it. 

"The Lord of this system is quite controversial from what i've gathered.  There is no telling what to expect.  I am still unclear on them, perhaps when we get there and the translation devices go online new insight can be gleamed in the personal encounter to come."

"If there is a personal encounter." Sapas replies.

"There will be." A charcoal black Tikalli sporting white-blue chilla and cool blue eyes with various geometric etchings lined down his back and abdomen suddenly interrupts, disrupting the whole room. 

"Vlikmir!" Sapas shouts in shock, "What are you doing all the way over here?  I thought they stationed you at the brown dwarf station all the way in the far sectors."

Vlikmir clatters in amusement at Sapas, before telling him "Oh that place, I haven't been there for a month!  I just know how to play them there so well, I just have my cohorts there maintaining my presence.  Look, I am aware we are not of...  Equal eyes as we used to be, but believe me when I say that this mission will be a very personal one for all Tikallikind.  The Ones at Top have more than just this ship involved in what could be the operation that finally reignites the engine of progress towards the annihilation of our great enemy.  I know little of these Ouroburos, but just their mere placement means everything.  This is the kind of environment that shatters civilizations I shall warn, and it shall be beautiful."

Sapas just seems the have contempt for even seeing Vlikmir around these parts, let alone being able to tap its mandibles with impunity still.  Sapas tells Vlikmir "This operation is not going to escalate to those fucking levels for quite some time, I wouldn't worry.  Do not damn this mission with your speech, to that degree from here on out if cooperation is what you truly want than keep silence unless spoken to."

Vlikmir, despite being tempted to reply holds himself from doing so, shrugs and crawls into the tube towards his pod quarters in the upper deck.

Iklan is amused, and says to Sapas "It would seem that eternal rivalries exist all over, the Ouroburos would know.  When we make zero ground all will be fine, they won't fire at as hard."

"Should we start lift off?" The pilot asks with its light blue head and dark blue eyes catching the eyes of Sapas.  

"Yes, all personnel and cargo has been stored.  Engage the stealth shields before blinking, we will reveal ourselves by message and see if they fire upon us before taking evasive maneuvers using the dematerializer they augmented this ship with and altering movement vectors as needed to keep anything from hitting the ship.  Also prime the weapons if they keep insisting on attacking- But only do this if they fire first and show no intentions on clearing the miscommunication, fucking over these Ouroburos now will cause us to get fucked over in the future." Sapas tells the pilot who wiggles its fingers before placing them upon the controls.

"A Dematerializer?  I like that." Iklan tonally whistles.

"Now you see, that is why this Operation will be our last." Sapas disdainfully remarks as he gets out the mist blower and blows some.    

The arrow shaped dark craft lifts off to space and blinks away to his future associate.
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oZode's ghost

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