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Columbia
High Orbit
A few hours passed after the Gateway had reopened, and not a single moment was wasted as any nearby vessels, be they military or linked to the civilian government had been ordered to converge towards the coordinates of the gate point. At least two vessels of relevance were the closest to the gateway origin point, a science vessel that was outbound for Yukon, the SS Unlimited Curiosity, a fitting name for a vessel with a unique task, and the carrier USS Enterprise.
Captain Davion Hawthorn, an aged, light skinned man well into his fifties simply looked in sheer awe of what laid before him, he and his bridge crew mesmerized by the gate as it maintained itself in a constant flex of activity, as it begun linking itself to the wider galactic network, unbeknownst to the Columbians. The captain shook himself back into reality. ‘Alright people, that’s enough gawking.” Davion announced to the bridge staff, all eyes turning to him. “This is a once in a lifetime event, but that’s no excuse to sit around and do nothing.” He paused as he stepped towards a holo-display of the region, a dark shade of blue dot representing the gate and dozens of green and yellow dots representing friendlies and civilians.
“This little unexpected lightshow drew in quite the crowd, and I’m sure the eggheads won’t appreciate the claustrophobia.” Davion said as he paced around the room. “I want all hands on deck for this, we need our flyboys to set up a perimeter to keep the civvies out from a certain range, allow the eggheads breathing room to study and analyze the gate.” He paused as he returned to his comm and chair. “Jasmin.” He called out to the Shipboard AI, a feminine shape of a young woman materializing before him, her stance seemingly relaxed for a military AI. “Orders, captain?” She asked.
“Have the ship on Combat alert 2.” He ordered, straight forward.
“Can do.” She replied, a with a wink of her digital eye, alerts were sounded throughout the ship. “We expecting any trouble, captain?” She asked, curious of what may emerge from the other side of the gate.
“Maybe, maybe not.” Davion replied, not entirely sure of it himself. “But I don’t want to take any chances.” Jasmin simply nodded in acknowledgement. However, none of them would have time to prepare as the gate began to react in a rather odd manner. It seemed someone or something was crossing over.
The gate seemed to send flashes instead of a standing bright light. The flashes made it seem like a small light show. Until the flashes stabilized and the gate seemed to turn itself off, the glow seemed to stop, and then it reactivated in what seemed like a blink of an eye. The scanners appeared to indicate something had changed, but not what they could discern until the radars showed what had happened. A new fleet previusly not in the system seemed to appear near the gate and began to move.
The fleet was composed of twenty two ships in total. Arriving in the system was a bit shaky as the fleets began to reorganise into formation. The ships seemed armed and ready to fight as they began to move towards the nearest planetoid.
At the head of the fleet, the ship "Black Serpent" led the fleet onwards at the bridge of the vessel the captain, a woman in her 30's with red hair orange glowing eyes her face seemed, with a large gash scar in her face, yet her smile seemed to beam in confidence. Beside her, a man with black hair and silver eyes seemed to exude little emotion, only saying. "Fleet is intact, and i still think it was a bad idea." "Oh please, Teenizorii was nearby, and it was the only time i could convince him to come in this." She replied with him saying. "Ah yes, mantain company of a trader fleet led by Niisha, the war queen, as it explores a new system."
"Hey, if its a empty system, it means a place to set shop if its populated well..." Niisha replied with him saying. "With all respect, its doubtful every system found seems to be populated even, Old Gael, if Teenizorii can be trusted." "I doubt it." She replied as a officer soon replied. "Ship signatures detected!" "Oh, kings guide us. Right take keep us at a safe distance if they get close." The officer nodded saying. "Command Bridge to all ships and staff hear me."
“Captain!” Jasmin exclaimed with an urgent tone in her digital voice. “I’m detecting nearly two dozen new ship signatures coming from the gateway.” Twenty-two new dots appeared on the map, in a worrying shade of red. A flurry of thoughts raced through the Captain’s mind, although he appeared somewhat calm, his inner mind was anything but. The possibility that this was some sort of invasion fleet from beyond the system was a terrifying thought, and with it literally at the doorsteps of Columbia herself. “Jesus Christ..” He mumbled to himself, leaning forward, clasping his hands and arms resting on his knees. He took a deep breath and stood right up. “What’s the status on nearby military vessels?”
Jasmin was quiet for a moment, closing her eyes shut. “Several warships are enroute to the gate…but will take a few hours to even get here.”
“Shit, we’re on our own.” Davion cursed, pacing around. “The best we can do…is simply talk, and hope to God they’re friendly.” He looked to Jasmin with that look in his face, she understood what the next order was.
“Attempting in establishing a link…..” Jasmin was silent once more, as she tried to somehow interface with the comms of the foreign vessels. A few minutes pass before she opened her eyes wide open. “Comms open.” Davion cleared his throat and braced himself. “Attention unidentified vessels, this the USS Enterprise of the Columbian Navy, you’ve entered the sovereign space of the United Republic of Columbia. State your intentions.”
"Captain, we have a situation they are attempting to hail us, it seems." An officer replied to Niisha with a dry tone. "They are?" "Yes, it seems like they are attempting. Their comms are transmitting to us." The officer replied, her second in command soon said. "Orders?" After thinking and looking nervous she then said. "Right, contact warlord Teenizorii it's better to have multiple minds in this rather than one."
"Kill then." His voice was stern and direct with Niisha saying. "What?" "Shoot them we don't know their intentions, and it's better to be safe than sorry." "That's rather harsh and quite impulsive, my lord." She replied with him snorting. Looking around at the screen before saying. "It's safer than to risk it, especially after the debacle with that kid." "This is another star system you think they are the same individuals?" "Knowing the power of the kings and the Monuk of old. A Human warlord may be able, especially without the chaos. That happened in Vusary long ago. It would be quite possible that they can travel with ease between systems." "That's still a theory about the Monuku and followers of Kings of Outrora travelling to other stars." She replied to him saying. "It's still a likely one."
She pondered before saying. "Right, how about a vote? Since it seems we are in an impasse about this decision." He gave a light nod his second also looking to the side she noticed her own second gave a nod he then said. "So be it, those in favour of firing the guns say aye." "Aye," Teenizorii replied with his second saying. "Abstain." He took a look at him she then said. "Against." "Against." She heard her second say. "Decision made it seems." He replied Teenizorii seemed unpleased but gave a nod. "Right, what does the message." "I don't know." Her comms officer said with her asking. "What? How you can't."
"I don't understand a word they are saying, my lady." He replied with Teenizorii sighing. "Different language... the kid he gave us some info, well one of his officers gave it may be the same tongue." "It isn't." A voice in comms replied coming from Teenizorii's comms officer. "What?" Niisha sighed grabbing a comms console simply stating. "Right hail then back..."
A voice soon was heard by the USS Enterprise. "Dinaki, olavi okar mosar di Maskiven Niisha alusa Teenizorii markoani shale"
While it was good that these strangers seemed to be willing to talk, at least they didn’t open fire at the moment, the unfortunate part for the captain, however, was he couldn’t understand a word they were saying. “…This will be dumb question, but did anyone get a lick of an idea of what they’re saying?” His rhetorical question was met with an obvious silence. “Alright, we’ve cleared that up…..I need options people.” Davion said, pacing around the bridge. “Verbal communication is a no go.”
“And we can’t exactly send a party either.” Jasmin contributed. “Could be seen as a hostile action.”
“Any sudden movement could trigger a shooting fight.” Davion said, still circling around the bridge. “We’re on thin ice.”
The bridge officers sat helplessly as they watched their CO quietly panic, a few thinking random ideas on how to communicate with the…aliens? Long lost cousins? Whatever they are. The Comms Officer raised his eyebrows in realization. “Captain!” He called to him. “Maybe…Morse Code?”
Jasmin snapped her digital fingers. “It’s almost universal.”
Davion nodded, although the look of uncertainty was still plastered all over his face. “It’s…worth a shot. Jasmin, send my same message in morse code.”
“Aye Aye, Captain.”
The communication officer Teenizorii listened to the incoming message as he said. "it is like a mess... I know it's a code attempt but I don't understand what they are doing." "What are they doing?" Teenizorii asked looking bored. "Sending a message through what is called encryption systems is a basic form of what is called Molani code but... I don't understand what they are sending?" "Isn't that like... universal?" Teenizorii's second asked with the officer replying. "Only if you have the same written language style or type... theoretically."
On the other ship, Niisha talked to her officer. "So no clue?" "Nope..." He replied with her groaning thinking before rising up from her chair in excitement. "WAIT I KNOW A SOLUTION!" "What?" Her second said with she saying. "When I programmed my first robot I learned math is a universal language. Therefore 0 and 1 may be able to form a rudimentary bridge. We also do that in secret messages so it may work. Try it" "Aye aye.., my lady." The comms officer said thinking what to type besides the phrase to the fleet.
"Meet two ships"
“….I’m getting a response, seems to be a whole different kind of code…ah, binary.” Jasmin said, as she buffered.” Message reads….”meet two ships”, and that’s about it.”
Davion, along with a few bridge crew breathed a sigh of relief, it does seem the possibility of any sort of fighting upon First Contact is slipping further away. “Think you can manage a reply?” Davion asked, the concern being if this was the end of the road for communications. Jasmin let out a little chuckle.
“Please, sir, binary is my mother tongue…..so to speak.” She cleared her nonexistent throat and proceeded to send a stream of 1s and 0s to the visitors. Sending a simple message of acknowledgement with a “Yes, we meet with ship.” With that said, the Enterprise’s engines roared to life as she approached the alien fleet, hoping what was sent to both parties was understood.
In the "Black serpent" the comms officer soon said. "They replied with: Yes, we meet with ship." "Right... i will dock with then Teenizorii will head the fleet out in case of problems." Niisha said sounding confident with Teenizorii giving a nod saying. "It's a fine proposal."
The crew gave nods as the ship began to leave formation and move towards the rest of the fleet her second in command soon commented. "Should i tell the crew to arm thenselves just in case?" She gave a nod he soon went out of the bridge as she sighed leaning back on her commanding chair she soon picked a coin colored blood red as she fliped in the air it landed on head she smiled seeing it saying. "Jale guide me."
The Enterprise would eventually reach what seemed to be the flagship, as both vessels drifted past one another, the engines dying down as the carrier came to a stop, an umbilical stretching out from the airlock, interlocking with the airlock of the Black Serpent.
As this series of events played out, the captain, along with an a small escort of marines had made their way down towards the airlock, once the ships were linked, the airlock doors whistled open to reveal the long corridor that laid before them, Davion face to face, in a way, with the foreign vessel, it truly was a strange experience, one that he will gladly share to no end if he makes it out of this alive.
The flagship from Vusary was large it wasn't unsurprising ships from Vusary were also akin to a colony being rather large albeit their design seemed more crude. The docking process was completed quite normally at least. The doors opened, revealing a barely illuminated hallway leading to the other ship as the smell of industrial smoke could be felt. For the captain, he soon noticed when staring at the glow in the darkness of dozens of eyes. In the barely illuminated room, their eyes glowed into guns aiming at their side of the airlock.
The soldiers had projectile weapons and seemed to have taken the time to fortify their position when they heard the news. They seemed to await a first response as they talked in rushed whispers.
“What the hell…?” Davion mumbled to himself as he saw the glowing eyes of the crew of the opposing ship, it was a strange and somewhat unsettling sight, however that would be the least of his concerns, upon nearly reaching on the other side of the corridor, weapons were trained on them, the Columbian Marines quick to raise their own weapons, much to the captain’s displeasure, he quickly acted, throwing his hands up, hoping the strangers would notice. “Do not shoot! We come in peace!” He shouted.
The standoff seemed to continue for a moment as they mumbled to each other until someone broke rank putting a hand in a rifle and making it be lowered a person with orange glowing eyes began to approach the captain. Her clothes seemed like of an officer albeit it was only noticeable due to the possible medals and ensigns. She had a large gash on her face and red hair, but that was not the only noticeable thing. She was rather tall, probably due to low gravity and her ears were pointy.
Looking at him once up close, she then said in her language. "You are a stranger than I thought." The captain noticed that her teeth were sharp as well almost like razors. She soon broke into a smile and began to chuckle turning her head back saying. "Right boys lower guns please." She made a hand gesture for them as their guns began to be lowered while they looked at each other still somewhat on edge.
"and turn back the lights if you guys may." She replied to the crew as the lights of the hallway turned on revealing the large mob of possibly 20 to 50 individuals all armed of many ages varying from teenagers to adults. At the back, it seemed to be an energy weapon of some kind that the woman groaned saying. "Mulvos please take the Plasma cannon to the workshop if you may?" "But... what if we need it?" the man replied with she saying. "That thing can explode, and I prefer if experimental weapons be used in emergencies." The man seemed to mumble as the large gun began to be dragged back.
Returning her face to the captain she extended her hand to him.
The surprises never ceased coming in as Davion came face to face with what seemed to be humans, all their features seemed to come from straight out of fantasy novels from Old Earth. Davion and the marines standing awkwardly as the visitors began barking among themselves in their, at the moment, indecipherable language. Even if they didn’t understand a work, their actions spoke quite clearly, the Columbian marines easing in as they lowered their own weapons, the captain of the Black Serpent seeming to extend her hand out in what can be assumed to be friendship? Or at least something resembling peace.
Davion let out a deep breath as he returned her kind gesture, giving her a nice. firm handshake that is shared among military officers. Davion nodded to her with a smile to signal his good intentions.
She looked a bit confused at the handshake but the smile and nod gave her a bit of the intent of the gesture she soon smiled giving just a light bow saying something in her tongue with a smile.
The journey across the vessel was quite an experience, the Columbians drawing the gaze of glowing, unique colored eyes wherever they went, and as they ventured to a more secluded part of the vessel, Davion, along with his guards, had noticed something rather odd with the ship. In fact, he first noticed it when he first stepped aboard the ship, there seemed to be children living here, or in actuality, entire families seemed to be living here.
And every now and then, they would pass by entrances that hid something grander in this ship, passing by markets of all places, smelling the pleasant scent of freshly grilled meat of some variety. “It’s practicality a city-sized ship…” Davion mumbled to himself as he gotten a small sample of what sort of culture and people he was dealing with. After what seemed like hours, the group would finally arrive at their destination, a small conference room somewhere deep in the bowels of the gargantuan starship.
The marines stood close to the walls, the captain being the sole figure to take a seat, while his outsider counterpart sat on the opposite end. Once adjusted, Davion quickly reached down for his pocket as he pulled out a small holo-projection device, placing it down as a smaller version of Jasmin materialized. Jasmin trying her best to establish a line of communication between the two parties.
On the other side of the hall, there was the woman he met but also someone on a screen he was obviously on a different ship due to the bridge being displayed on screen. He was a man in his 50’s his eyes were blood red, and he seemed addoned with several dozen war scars, he soon said in his tongue. "A pleasure to see you, my lord or warlord. I am Teenizorii warlord of my fleet, and I think you are acquainted with warqueen Niisha." As her name was called she smiled at their side of the room was a translator he was a man sighing having to translate the entire thing into binary to the other crew.
Jasmin soon relayed what they said back to Davion. He cleared his throat to introduce himself. “Pleasure to meet you both, name’s Davion Hawthorne, Captain of the USS Enterprise, and as flattered as I am, I’m no warlord, just a captain serving his people, although I bet our leaders down on the surface would very much like to meet you.” He said as he paused, allowing Jasmin to translate what he said back to them. “I also like to apologize for our brief misunderstanding, you’re the first people to cross over the gate in five hundred years, so, we got a bit jittery.” Davion said, adjusting himself to get comfortable. “I was simply ordered to watch over the gate by people higher up then me, people who, as said, would love to her from you or your leaders.”
"Understandable lord we had our own run-ups with worry about the gate." Niisha replied letting the translator handle it. Teenizorii gave a nod of acknowledgement he soon said. "Being ready for a fight against the unexpected is commendable. The unknown can bless you with Wanar or a cannon to the face." The translator kept on working when dealing with a meeting with the leaders when said Teenizorii then replied. "As warlords of our fleets, we can speak on our own behalf." Nissha gave a nod soon saying. "As warqueen of my fleet and the Black Serpent, we can speak on our own business same for my partner. Warlord Teenizorii and his fleet" Before anything else could be said Niisha's right hand soon entered the talk saying. "I think they mean the council..." The translator did not send those words since he was instructed only on the two individuals. "The five? They wanna meet the council?" she sounded nervous saying those words.
Teenizorii seemed to think for a bit saying. "I don't know if it's a good idea to talk about then..." The captain soon noticed Niisha make a cut gesture as the assistant translating for them letting the two talk. "... the council recently has been rather silent even after the gate opened they seemed to not send an order they seemed content with watching." Teenizorii continued with Niisha soon saying. "You think they are currently observing? "They have eyes everywhere i would not be surprised if they are observant. But even then, the council knows there are other states they are not prodding our system, and the other kid owning the station is trying to avoid us being tracked back home. So I will guess they don't want to talk unless they feel their hand forced. Too many works at home so to speak they already are dealing with overly ambitious warlords recently in the Malekivian sector." She gave a nod but still protested saying. "Right so what do we say? we don't have leaders and risk the councils ire one day?" Teenizorii gave a gesture saying. "Right translate this."
The aid soon began to translate words again. Teenizorii seemed calm yet reflective. "To reach the council is difficult. Warlords act independently to a large extent as the name indicates, but to talk with the council itself means you either want trouble or caused trouble and to gather in one place is a sign of a grand gathering. I am afraid that getting to the council would be impossible you will have to contend with several hundred men and women who have different agendas and visions."
Davion was rather intrigued with was being kept from him, although out of respect, and to avoid any diplomatic complications, he had ordered Jasmin to omit the private conversation…at least a portion of it. Regardless, Davion, Jasmin, and the marines remained silent spectators before the Warlord and Warqueen turned their attention back to the captain. “This is way above my pay grade…” He thought to himself, what the hell did he get himself into? Who knew making history could be so spontaneous?
“Sounds like a real pain in the ass, if you don’t mind me being frank.” He said honestly, this Council of theirs sounding awfully like an even more chaotic version of the Senate back on Columbia. “Well in that case, to make easier on both of us, looks like you will be the face of your people.” He said as he became more relaxed, leaning back. “I unfortunately can’t do much here, not part of the job description, but I can report back my findings and that will take care of itself.” Davion leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “You’ll probably hear from our leaders real soon after that.”
"Can work there is always business to be made." She replied with a smile Teenizorii remained non-expressive only replying. "Seems interesting." The translator went on to work on a short message it was simple for him.
Davion’s stance and posture became more relaxed as they discussed, it seemed these people were friendly enough, he did get this far at least without a single shot fired, and despite their intimidating appearance and titles, the Warlord and Warqueen seemed to have no malicious intentions since their arrival. Once Jasmin relayed what was said, he leaned back with a slight stretch. “I have to say, this day didn’t go how I thought it would, and quite frankly, I’m glad for-“
“Uuh, captain.” Jasmin interrupted, her sudden and urgent tone being enough for Davion to pick up on. He gave a small little hand gesture to the Warlord and Warqueen telling them “One moment please.”
“What’s going on?” He asked Jasmin, hearing her out.
“I’m getting alerts from the Enterprise and I’m detecting new signatures originating from the Gateway.” She said, which was both intriguing and worrying to say the least. “We need you back on the ship in case of the worst.” Davion nodded to her, turning his attention back to his gracious hosts. “I’m sorry for the interruption, but something has come up, my AI has just alerted me that someone else is emerging from the gateway.” Davion said as he stood up, fixing his uniform of any wrinkles, all the while, Jasmin translated his words. “I apologize for leaving, but I promise you that the right people will hear about you back home, and get a better picture of what’s going on in the galaxy.”
"ai?" Teenizorii asked confused before saying. "Nevermind i think we can..." "Where is the nearest space port then? i am sure we can find someone to talk there. Plus get to know a bit more of the area" Niisha said with curiosity she was not happy with just a meeting a nearby port may be able to have some interesting interactions.
Davion was curious at the Warlord not knowing what an AI was…but for now that was not top priority, too long of a story to tell in short notice, but the question regarding the port was more manageable to answer. “There are few orbital starports, one should be passing by the gate in a few hours’ time. I’ll be sure to broadcast your arrival.” With this said, Davion gave a crisp salute to both officers. “Hopefully we can meet again under better circumstances.” Davion said, nodded both of them as he, and his marine escort left the room, retracing their way back to the ship.
Left alone the two relaxed a bit, their advisors soon leaving as well Niisha said to Teenizorii. "Interesting folks?" "They are less trigger-happy than I thought. A bit different from the folks brought from that kid." Teenizorii replied with an eyebrow raised at her she then said. "Well if we are lucky we can find some profit in the area or just some diplomatic capital so to speak." "Their warlords better be good. But also I recommend you put your fleet on a defensive stance." He replied with her raising an eyebrow, but he soon said. "Someone is crossing the gate." She soon snapped into realisation saying. "Oh... Oh, should we move?" "Just ready yourself for anything. I doubt these people would be very weak against someone coming knocking with ill intent. Even then what are the chances of this happening." Niisha felt nervous soon saying. "Well let us hope the port is far from any engagement" She replied giving a nod as she lifted up the screen turning it off as she headed to the bridge.
Columbia
High Orbit
A few hours passed after the Gateway had reopened, and not a single moment was wasted as any nearby vessels, be they military or linked to the civilian government had been ordered to converge towards the coordinates of the gate point. At least two vessels of relevance were the closest to the gateway origin point, a science vessel that was outbound for Yukon, the SS Unlimited Curiosity, a fitting name for a vessel with a unique task, and the carrier USS Enterprise.
Captain Davion Hawthorn, an aged, light skinned man well into his fifties simply looked in sheer awe of what laid before him, he and his bridge crew mesmerized by the gate as it maintained itself in a constant flex of activity, as it begun linking itself to the wider galactic network, unbeknownst to the Columbians. The captain shook himself back into reality. ‘Alright people, that’s enough gawking.” Davion announced to the bridge staff, all eyes turning to him. “This is a once in a lifetime event, but that’s no excuse to sit around and do nothing.” He paused as he stepped towards a holo-display of the region, a dark shade of blue dot representing the gate and dozens of green and yellow dots representing friendlies and civilians.
“This little unexpected lightshow drew in quite the crowd, and I’m sure the eggheads won’t appreciate the claustrophobia.” Davion said as he paced around the room. “I want all hands on deck for this, we need our flyboys to set up a perimeter to keep the civvies out from a certain range, allow the eggheads breathing room to study and analyze the gate.” He paused as he returned to his comm and chair. “Jasmin.” He called out to the Shipboard AI, a feminine shape of a young woman materializing before him, her stance seemingly relaxed for a military AI. “Orders, captain?” She asked.
“Have the ship on Combat alert 2.” He ordered, straight forward.
“Can do.” She replied, a with a wink of her digital eye, alerts were sounded throughout the ship. “We expecting any trouble, captain?” She asked, curious of what may emerge from the other side of the gate.
“Maybe, maybe not.” Davion replied, not entirely sure of it himself. “But I don’t want to take any chances.” Jasmin simply nodded in acknowledgement. However, none of them would have time to prepare as the gate began to react in a rather odd manner. It seemed someone or something was crossing over.
The gate seemed to send flashes instead of a standing bright light. The flashes made it seem like a small light show. Until the flashes stabilized and the gate seemed to turn itself off, the glow seemed to stop, and then it reactivated in what seemed like a blink of an eye. The scanners appeared to indicate something had changed, but not what they could discern until the radars showed what had happened. A new fleet previusly not in the system seemed to appear near the gate and began to move.
The fleet was composed of twenty two ships in total. Arriving in the system was a bit shaky as the fleets began to reorganise into formation. The ships seemed armed and ready to fight as they began to move towards the nearest planetoid.
At the head of the fleet, the ship "Black Serpent" led the fleet onwards at the bridge of the vessel the captain, a woman in her 30's with red hair orange glowing eyes her face seemed, with a large gash scar in her face, yet her smile seemed to beam in confidence. Beside her, a man with black hair and silver eyes seemed to exude little emotion, only saying. "Fleet is intact, and i still think it was a bad idea." "Oh please, Teenizorii was nearby, and it was the only time i could convince him to come in this." She replied with him saying. "Ah yes, mantain company of a trader fleet led by Niisha, the war queen, as it explores a new system."
"Hey, if its a empty system, it means a place to set shop if its populated well..." Niisha replied with him saying. "With all respect, its doubtful every system found seems to be populated even, Old Gael, if Teenizorii can be trusted." "I doubt it." She replied as a officer soon replied. "Ship signatures detected!" "Oh, kings guide us. Right take keep us at a safe distance if they get close." The officer nodded saying. "Command Bridge to all ships and staff hear me."
“Captain!” Jasmin exclaimed with an urgent tone in her digital voice. “I’m detecting nearly two dozen new ship signatures coming from the gateway.” Twenty-two new dots appeared on the map, in a worrying shade of red. A flurry of thoughts raced through the Captain’s mind, although he appeared somewhat calm, his inner mind was anything but. The possibility that this was some sort of invasion fleet from beyond the system was a terrifying thought, and with it literally at the doorsteps of Columbia herself. “Jesus Christ..” He mumbled to himself, leaning forward, clasping his hands and arms resting on his knees. He took a deep breath and stood right up. “What’s the status on nearby military vessels?”
Jasmin was quiet for a moment, closing her eyes shut. “Several warships are enroute to the gate…but will take a few hours to even get here.”
“Shit, we’re on our own.” Davion cursed, pacing around. “The best we can do…is simply talk, and hope to God they’re friendly.” He looked to Jasmin with that look in his face, she understood what the next order was.
“Attempting in establishing a link…..” Jasmin was silent once more, as she tried to somehow interface with the comms of the foreign vessels. A few minutes pass before she opened her eyes wide open. “Comms open.” Davion cleared his throat and braced himself. “Attention unidentified vessels, this the USS Enterprise of the Columbian Navy, you’ve entered the sovereign space of the United Republic of Columbia. State your intentions.”
"Captain, we have a situation they are attempting to hail us, it seems." An officer replied to Niisha with a dry tone. "They are?" "Yes, it seems like they are attempting. Their comms are transmitting to us." The officer replied, her second in command soon said. "Orders?" After thinking and looking nervous she then said. "Right, contact warlord Teenizorii it's better to have multiple minds in this rather than one."
"Kill then." His voice was stern and direct with Niisha saying. "What?" "Shoot them we don't know their intentions, and it's better to be safe than sorry." "That's rather harsh and quite impulsive, my lord." She replied with him snorting. Looking around at the screen before saying. "It's safer than to risk it, especially after the debacle with that kid." "This is another star system you think they are the same individuals?" "Knowing the power of the kings and the Monuk of old. A Human warlord may be able, especially without the chaos. That happened in Vusary long ago. It would be quite possible that they can travel with ease between systems." "That's still a theory about the Monuku and followers of Kings of Outrora travelling to other stars." She replied to him saying. "It's still a likely one."
She pondered before saying. "Right, how about a vote? Since it seems we are in an impasse about this decision." He gave a light nod his second also looking to the side she noticed her own second gave a nod he then said. "So be it, those in favour of firing the guns say aye." "Aye," Teenizorii replied with his second saying. "Abstain." He took a look at him she then said. "Against." "Against." She heard her second say. "Decision made it seems." He replied Teenizorii seemed unpleased but gave a nod. "Right, what does the message." "I don't know." Her comms officer said with her asking. "What? How you can't."
"I don't understand a word they are saying, my lady." He replied with Teenizorii sighing. "Different language... the kid he gave us some info, well one of his officers gave it may be the same tongue." "It isn't." A voice in comms replied coming from Teenizorii's comms officer. "What?" Niisha sighed grabbing a comms console simply stating. "Right hail then back..."
A voice soon was heard by the USS Enterprise. "Dinaki, olavi okar mosar di Maskiven Niisha alusa Teenizorii markoani shale"
While it was good that these strangers seemed to be willing to talk, at least they didn’t open fire at the moment, the unfortunate part for the captain, however, was he couldn’t understand a word they were saying. “…This will be dumb question, but did anyone get a lick of an idea of what they’re saying?” His rhetorical question was met with an obvious silence. “Alright, we’ve cleared that up…..I need options people.” Davion said, pacing around the bridge. “Verbal communication is a no go.”
“And we can’t exactly send a party either.” Jasmin contributed. “Could be seen as a hostile action.”
“Any sudden movement could trigger a shooting fight.” Davion said, still circling around the bridge. “We’re on thin ice.”
The bridge officers sat helplessly as they watched their CO quietly panic, a few thinking random ideas on how to communicate with the…aliens? Long lost cousins? Whatever they are. The Comms Officer raised his eyebrows in realization. “Captain!” He called to him. “Maybe…Morse Code?”
Jasmin snapped her digital fingers. “It’s almost universal.”
Davion nodded, although the look of uncertainty was still plastered all over his face. “It’s…worth a shot. Jasmin, send my same message in morse code.”
“Aye Aye, Captain.”
The communication officer Teenizorii listened to the incoming message as he said. "it is like a mess... I know it's a code attempt but I don't understand what they are doing." "What are they doing?" Teenizorii asked looking bored. "Sending a message through what is called encryption systems is a basic form of what is called Molani code but... I don't understand what they are sending?" "Isn't that like... universal?" Teenizorii's second asked with the officer replying. "Only if you have the same written language style or type... theoretically."
On the other ship, Niisha talked to her officer. "So no clue?" "Nope..." He replied with her groaning thinking before rising up from her chair in excitement. "WAIT I KNOW A SOLUTION!" "What?" Her second said with she saying. "When I programmed my first robot I learned math is a universal language. Therefore 0 and 1 may be able to form a rudimentary bridge. We also do that in secret messages so it may work. Try it" "Aye aye.., my lady." The comms officer said thinking what to type besides the phrase to the fleet.
"Meet two ships"
“….I’m getting a response, seems to be a whole different kind of code…ah, binary.” Jasmin said, as she buffered.” Message reads….”meet two ships”, and that’s about it.”
Davion, along with a few bridge crew breathed a sigh of relief, it does seem the possibility of any sort of fighting upon First Contact is slipping further away. “Think you can manage a reply?” Davion asked, the concern being if this was the end of the road for communications. Jasmin let out a little chuckle.
“Please, sir, binary is my mother tongue…..so to speak.” She cleared her nonexistent throat and proceeded to send a stream of 1s and 0s to the visitors. Sending a simple message of acknowledgement with a “Yes, we meet with ship.” With that said, the Enterprise’s engines roared to life as she approached the alien fleet, hoping what was sent to both parties was understood.
In the "Black serpent" the comms officer soon said. "They replied with: Yes, we meet with ship." "Right... i will dock with then Teenizorii will head the fleet out in case of problems." Niisha said sounding confident with Teenizorii giving a nod saying. "It's a fine proposal."
The crew gave nods as the ship began to leave formation and move towards the rest of the fleet her second in command soon commented. "Should i tell the crew to arm thenselves just in case?" She gave a nod he soon went out of the bridge as she sighed leaning back on her commanding chair she soon picked a coin colored blood red as she fliped in the air it landed on head she smiled seeing it saying. "Jale guide me."
The Enterprise would eventually reach what seemed to be the flagship, as both vessels drifted past one another, the engines dying down as the carrier came to a stop, an umbilical stretching out from the airlock, interlocking with the airlock of the Black Serpent.
As this series of events played out, the captain, along with an a small escort of marines had made their way down towards the airlock, once the ships were linked, the airlock doors whistled open to reveal the long corridor that laid before them, Davion face to face, in a way, with the foreign vessel, it truly was a strange experience, one that he will gladly share to no end if he makes it out of this alive.
The flagship from Vusary was large it wasn't unsurprising ships from Vusary were also akin to a colony being rather large albeit their design seemed more crude. The docking process was completed quite normally at least. The doors opened, revealing a barely illuminated hallway leading to the other ship as the smell of industrial smoke could be felt. For the captain, he soon noticed when staring at the glow in the darkness of dozens of eyes. In the barely illuminated room, their eyes glowed into guns aiming at their side of the airlock.
The soldiers had projectile weapons and seemed to have taken the time to fortify their position when they heard the news. They seemed to await a first response as they talked in rushed whispers.
“What the hell…?” Davion mumbled to himself as he saw the glowing eyes of the crew of the opposing ship, it was a strange and somewhat unsettling sight, however that would be the least of his concerns, upon nearly reaching on the other side of the corridor, weapons were trained on them, the Columbian Marines quick to raise their own weapons, much to the captain’s displeasure, he quickly acted, throwing his hands up, hoping the strangers would notice. “Do not shoot! We come in peace!” He shouted.
The standoff seemed to continue for a moment as they mumbled to each other until someone broke rank putting a hand in a rifle and making it be lowered a person with orange glowing eyes began to approach the captain. Her clothes seemed like of an officer albeit it was only noticeable due to the possible medals and ensigns. She had a large gash on her face and red hair, but that was not the only noticeable thing. She was rather tall, probably due to low gravity and her ears were pointy.
Looking at him once up close, she then said in her language. "You are a stranger than I thought." The captain noticed that her teeth were sharp as well almost like razors. She soon broke into a smile and began to chuckle turning her head back saying. "Right boys lower guns please." She made a hand gesture for them as their guns began to be lowered while they looked at each other still somewhat on edge.
"and turn back the lights if you guys may." She replied to the crew as the lights of the hallway turned on revealing the large mob of possibly 20 to 50 individuals all armed of many ages varying from teenagers to adults. At the back, it seemed to be an energy weapon of some kind that the woman groaned saying. "Mulvos please take the Plasma cannon to the workshop if you may?" "But... what if we need it?" the man replied with she saying. "That thing can explode, and I prefer if experimental weapons be used in emergencies." The man seemed to mumble as the large gun began to be dragged back.
Returning her face to the captain she extended her hand to him.
The surprises never ceased coming in as Davion came face to face with what seemed to be humans, all their features seemed to come from straight out of fantasy novels from Old Earth. Davion and the marines standing awkwardly as the visitors began barking among themselves in their, at the moment, indecipherable language. Even if they didn’t understand a work, their actions spoke quite clearly, the Columbian marines easing in as they lowered their own weapons, the captain of the Black Serpent seeming to extend her hand out in what can be assumed to be friendship? Or at least something resembling peace.
Davion let out a deep breath as he returned her kind gesture, giving her a nice. firm handshake that is shared among military officers. Davion nodded to her with a smile to signal his good intentions.
She looked a bit confused at the handshake but the smile and nod gave her a bit of the intent of the gesture she soon smiled giving just a light bow saying something in her tongue with a smile.
The journey across the vessel was quite an experience, the Columbians drawing the gaze of glowing, unique colored eyes wherever they went, and as they ventured to a more secluded part of the vessel, Davion, along with his guards, had noticed something rather odd with the ship. In fact, he first noticed it when he first stepped aboard the ship, there seemed to be children living here, or in actuality, entire families seemed to be living here.
And every now and then, they would pass by entrances that hid something grander in this ship, passing by markets of all places, smelling the pleasant scent of freshly grilled meat of some variety. “It’s practicality a city-sized ship…” Davion mumbled to himself as he gotten a small sample of what sort of culture and people he was dealing with. After what seemed like hours, the group would finally arrive at their destination, a small conference room somewhere deep in the bowels of the gargantuan starship.
The marines stood close to the walls, the captain being the sole figure to take a seat, while his outsider counterpart sat on the opposite end. Once adjusted, Davion quickly reached down for his pocket as he pulled out a small holo-projection device, placing it down as a smaller version of Jasmin materialized. Jasmin trying her best to establish a line of communication between the two parties.
On the other side of the hall, there was the woman he met but also someone on a screen he was obviously on a different ship due to the bridge being displayed on screen. He was a man in his 50’s his eyes were blood red, and he seemed addoned with several dozen war scars, he soon said in his tongue. "A pleasure to see you, my lord or warlord. I am Teenizorii warlord of my fleet, and I think you are acquainted with warqueen Niisha." As her name was called she smiled at their side of the room was a translator he was a man sighing having to translate the entire thing into binary to the other crew.
Jasmin soon relayed what they said back to Davion. He cleared his throat to introduce himself. “Pleasure to meet you both, name’s Davion Hawthorne, Captain of the USS Enterprise, and as flattered as I am, I’m no warlord, just a captain serving his people, although I bet our leaders down on the surface would very much like to meet you.” He said as he paused, allowing Jasmin to translate what he said back to them. “I also like to apologize for our brief misunderstanding, you’re the first people to cross over the gate in five hundred years, so, we got a bit jittery.” Davion said, adjusting himself to get comfortable. “I was simply ordered to watch over the gate by people higher up then me, people who, as said, would love to her from you or your leaders.”
"Understandable lord we had our own run-ups with worry about the gate." Niisha replied letting the translator handle it. Teenizorii gave a nod of acknowledgement he soon said. "Being ready for a fight against the unexpected is commendable. The unknown can bless you with Wanar or a cannon to the face." The translator kept on working when dealing with a meeting with the leaders when said Teenizorii then replied. "As warlords of our fleets, we can speak on our own behalf." Nissha gave a nod soon saying. "As warqueen of my fleet and the Black Serpent, we can speak on our own business same for my partner. Warlord Teenizorii and his fleet" Before anything else could be said Niisha's right hand soon entered the talk saying. "I think they mean the council..." The translator did not send those words since he was instructed only on the two individuals. "The five? They wanna meet the council?" she sounded nervous saying those words.
Teenizorii seemed to think for a bit saying. "I don't know if it's a good idea to talk about then..." The captain soon noticed Niisha make a cut gesture as the assistant translating for them letting the two talk. "... the council recently has been rather silent even after the gate opened they seemed to not send an order they seemed content with watching." Teenizorii continued with Niisha soon saying. "You think they are currently observing? "They have eyes everywhere i would not be surprised if they are observant. But even then, the council knows there are other states they are not prodding our system, and the other kid owning the station is trying to avoid us being tracked back home. So I will guess they don't want to talk unless they feel their hand forced. Too many works at home so to speak they already are dealing with overly ambitious warlords recently in the Malekivian sector." She gave a nod but still protested saying. "Right so what do we say? we don't have leaders and risk the councils ire one day?" Teenizorii gave a gesture saying. "Right translate this."
The aid soon began to translate words again. Teenizorii seemed calm yet reflective. "To reach the council is difficult. Warlords act independently to a large extent as the name indicates, but to talk with the council itself means you either want trouble or caused trouble and to gather in one place is a sign of a grand gathering. I am afraid that getting to the council would be impossible you will have to contend with several hundred men and women who have different agendas and visions."
Davion was rather intrigued with was being kept from him, although out of respect, and to avoid any diplomatic complications, he had ordered Jasmin to omit the private conversation…at least a portion of it. Regardless, Davion, Jasmin, and the marines remained silent spectators before the Warlord and Warqueen turned their attention back to the captain. “This is way above my pay grade…” He thought to himself, what the hell did he get himself into? Who knew making history could be so spontaneous?
“Sounds like a real pain in the ass, if you don’t mind me being frank.” He said honestly, this Council of theirs sounding awfully like an even more chaotic version of the Senate back on Columbia. “Well in that case, to make easier on both of us, looks like you will be the face of your people.” He said as he became more relaxed, leaning back. “I unfortunately can’t do much here, not part of the job description, but I can report back my findings and that will take care of itself.” Davion leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “You’ll probably hear from our leaders real soon after that.”
"Can work there is always business to be made." She replied with a smile Teenizorii remained non-expressive only replying. "Seems interesting." The translator went on to work on a short message it was simple for him.
Davion’s stance and posture became more relaxed as they discussed, it seemed these people were friendly enough, he did get this far at least without a single shot fired, and despite their intimidating appearance and titles, the Warlord and Warqueen seemed to have no malicious intentions since their arrival. Once Jasmin relayed what was said, he leaned back with a slight stretch. “I have to say, this day didn’t go how I thought it would, and quite frankly, I’m glad for-“
“Uuh, captain.” Jasmin interrupted, her sudden and urgent tone being enough for Davion to pick up on. He gave a small little hand gesture to the Warlord and Warqueen telling them “One moment please.”
“What’s going on?” He asked Jasmin, hearing her out.
“I’m getting alerts from the Enterprise and I’m detecting new signatures originating from the Gateway.” She said, which was both intriguing and worrying to say the least. “We need you back on the ship in case of the worst.” Davion nodded to her, turning his attention back to his gracious hosts. “I’m sorry for the interruption, but something has come up, my AI has just alerted me that someone else is emerging from the gateway.” Davion said as he stood up, fixing his uniform of any wrinkles, all the while, Jasmin translated his words. “I apologize for leaving, but I promise you that the right people will hear about you back home, and get a better picture of what’s going on in the galaxy.”
"ai?" Teenizorii asked confused before saying. "Nevermind i think we can..." "Where is the nearest space port then? i am sure we can find someone to talk there. Plus get to know a bit more of the area" Niisha said with curiosity she was not happy with just a meeting a nearby port may be able to have some interesting interactions.
Davion was curious at the Warlord not knowing what an AI was…but for now that was not top priority, too long of a story to tell in short notice, but the question regarding the port was more manageable to answer. “There are few orbital starports, one should be passing by the gate in a few hours’ time. I’ll be sure to broadcast your arrival.” With this said, Davion gave a crisp salute to both officers. “Hopefully we can meet again under better circumstances.” Davion said, nodded both of them as he, and his marine escort left the room, retracing their way back to the ship.
Left alone the two relaxed a bit, their advisors soon leaving as well Niisha said to Teenizorii. "Interesting folks?" "They are less trigger-happy than I thought. A bit different from the folks brought from that kid." Teenizorii replied with an eyebrow raised at her she then said. "Well if we are lucky we can find some profit in the area or just some diplomatic capital so to speak." "Their warlords better be good. But also I recommend you put your fleet on a defensive stance." He replied with her raising an eyebrow, but he soon said. "Someone is crossing the gate." She soon snapped into realisation saying. "Oh... Oh, should we move?" "Just ready yourself for anything. I doubt these people would be very weak against someone coming knocking with ill intent. Even then what are the chances of this happening." Niisha felt nervous soon saying. "Well let us hope the port is far from any engagement" She replied giving a nod as she lifted up the screen turning it off as she headed to the bridge.
