Sigma — Roleplayer Guild

Collab between @Oraculum and @Sigma
Aurolia
Capital City of Tanis
Senate Building Landing Pad
Relations between the Aurolian Federation and the Iurrketh-Vraslir Covenant have always varied between neutral to cold, nothing outright or openly hostile, but neither are they allies, reasons related to this, Defense Secretary Uhann Tras was all the more perplexed by this arranged meeting with dignitaries from the Covenant. Flanking him were several armed guards and Admiral Nyxon Vitu, Commander of the Tarin Joint Expeditionary Force, who had previously been recalled temporarily, Tarin being the main topic of discussion. The group stood and awaited for the arrival of the Covenant Delegation.

Most fortunate, their wait wouldn't last very long, radio chatter in orbit had alerted them of the Covenant's arrival. Today was quite a busy day, in addition to the talks with the Covenant, there was the Schäferkin's little surprise peace offering earlier in the day.  "I just pray it goes just as well.." Uhann mumbled to himself.

From the moment the vessel's approach had been detected, its signal had been steadily growing stronger as it approached the planet's surface. Soon, a minute, distant speck in the sky became visible from the landing pad. Curiously enough, however, no sound could as yet be heard approaching from its direction, a circumstance rather uncharacteristic of a spaceship landing. The spot rapidly grew in size, until at length it could be recognised as a vaguely triangular shape with a smoothly recurve upper end; and still its motion was perfectly silent. Itt was not until the vessel, by then distinguishable in its broader details - the lack of angles in its sleek structure, the protruding lateral extensions, resembling the fins of some strange aquatic creature - was less than half a mile away that a subdued humming emanating from it gradually became audible. Bizarrely enough, the sound, though now rendering the ship clearly recognisable as such, did nothing to detract from the otherworldly impression it created. Rather than a mechanical rumbling or the bellowing of reactors, noises it would have been logical to associate with a spacefaring vessel entering atmosphere, the droning was reminiscent of the buzzing of some gigantic winged insect, or the low growling of a hungry beast.

As the craft, having finally reached the landing pad, ceased its diagonal motion and lowered itself along a vertical trajectory, the humming sound ceased, briefly replaced by a soft whirring, not altogether unlike that of rubber transporter bands, which soon lapsed into a new silence, which was only broken when the ship touched the platform with a metallic clang. A few moments later, the rear of the vessel, which was facing the Secretary and his retinue, appeared to split into two even sides separated by a narrow fissure. The opening rapidly broadened, revealing itself to be a symmetrical, two-panelled doorway set into the center of the ship's wall; however, even as it stood fully open, the interior beyond it remained cloaked in impenetrable darkness. It was only when a ramp extended from the doorway's base that a suffused green glow lit the shadowed space, delineating within it several clearly alien figures which presently stepped, if such a term was appropriate, out from the ship.

Foremost among them was an arthropodal Vraslil, its proboscis twitching and darting from side to side as it took in the unfamiliar odors and atmospherically conveyed "tastes" of its new surroundings. Following it were two Iurrkhal, one, slightly smaller than its companion and with its brown pseudo-body veined with grey, sliding at the forefront, with the second, larger and entirely brown one following a few paces behind. Lastly, heralded by a rhytmic series of thundering metallic steps, five roughly humanoid drones, their heads marked only by a single circular blue mechanical eye and their three-digit claws carrying elongated rifle-like weapons of menacing appearance, closed the procession. The group, having descended upon the pad, stopped a few steps from the Aurolians; then, the Vraslil began to chitter and snap in the somewhat disquieting manner peculiar to its species. As it was still speaking, one of the drones intoned in a flat, slightly reverberating artificial voice:

"Greetings, honoured representatives of the Aurolian Federation. I am Swarm-Speaker Xalthil, Adjunct-Administrator of the Iurrketh-Vraslir Covenant; with me have come the distinguished Administrator Aulthellr and Cyber-Coordinator Aavruelt, of the Iurrketh Combine. We bid you a pleasant interaction time, and express the hope that our tractatives may bear results beneficial to us all."

The sight of these beastly and shapeless forms had great unsettled the Defense Secretary, no doubt the rest of his retinue would echo his sentiments, to add on to it, the presence of these humanoid machines were worrisome, the tales of the Great Machine War still echoing throughout Aurolian Socity even centuries later, building onto their great mistrust of thinking machines, but as long as they were obedient to their masters, there won't be much problems. In truth, while Uhann was somewhat afriad of these creatures, he also was quite curious, he had spent little time offworld, and has barely seen or interacted with the either the Vraslil or the Iurrkhal, and despite their strained relations, they've come to Aurolia to offer her assistance in her time of need, the Tarin Stalemate was a fragile one, either side was on the verge of breaching through the other's defenses, time was of the essence, and Uhann was to make great haste if the Federation has any hope in securing Tarin for itself, and of course, sealing away a potential powerful asset for the Concordant.

The Defense Secretary stepped forward from the group to approach the Covenant Dignitaries, clearing his throat before properly introducing himself to their new guests. "Administrators, Coordinator." He begun. "Allow me to formally welcome you to Aurolia, I am Uhann Tras, Defense Secretary of the Presidents Cabinet." He paused as he shown his hand towards the direction of the admiral. "And this gentlemen here is Admiral Nyxon Vitu, Commander of our forces currently stationed on Tarin." The admiral stepped forward. "Charmed." he replied, greeting the guests with a simple bow. 

With that, Uhann turned his attention back to the Covenant Dignitaries. "I must admit, due to our distant relations, we were quite surprised to have your Government offer aid in the Tarin Crisis, I do suppose these times do make for strange bedfellows." He paused once again, a slight cough coming up. "Well, shall we move on? We have set up a private room for our talks, follow me gentlemen."

As Uhann spoke, the drone that had previously translated Xalthil's words emitted a series of clicking sounds similar to those the Vraslil had spoken, interspersed with some low vibrating pulses which, for their strangely organic quality, could not be quite mistaken for the spinning of machinery within its frame. When it finished, Xalthil slightly swayed upon his legs, signifying his assent, and launched into a new sequence of chitterings. This one, however, was far shorter than he previous. Upon it closing, the drone spoke once again:

"Affirmative. Pray do lead on, Defense Secretary of the Administrator's Cabinet."

Some time had passed as the two groups made their way into the Senate building, along their journey, they had garnered the attention of many passersby, Senators and Building employees alike had put a halt to all activities as the Covenant dignitaries followed the Defense Secretary and his escort down a few corridors until they've finally reached their destination, their designated room for today. 

The two guards moved ahead, each of them grabbing hold of a door handle as they pushed through, allowing the group entrance, once all were accounted for, the guards softly closed off the room and as instructed, stood guard at the entrance to ward off any unwanted guests while the talks were in progress. The room was moderately sized, and in the center was a round wooden table with seven seats, the Defense Secretary and Admiral took their seats on the right side of the table while the Administrators, Coordinator and their machines took their place on the opposite end. "So, let's get down to business, shall we?" Uhann said, getting straight to the point of it all. "What can we do for you and what can you do for us?" He inquired.

Having clambered, not without difficulty, upon the unfamiliar contraption, even as the Iurrkhal filled theirs with greater ease given their gelatinous constitution and their escort stood to attention behind what were, supposely, their "backs", Xalthil spoke, with the drone dutifully translating:

"We are aware of the situation on the surface of the planetoid-moon Tarin. As circumstances are now, you are aware, the conflict upon it is isolated. However, the participation of such ponderous forces as the honoured Federation and the Concordat bears certain significant risks. Whilst the honoured Federation doubtless has no intention of compromising system-wide peace, none of us can guarantee for the Concordat and its goals. The Covenant has estimated it likely its goals may include destabilising global absence of conflict. It is in the interest of the Covenant that this should not occur. Doubtless the honoured Federation holds the same beliefs.

The predictions of the Covenant indicate that, if the supposed intent of the Concordat was neutralised at an early point, it would be deprived of a significant tool. Furthermore, elimination of the Concordat from the planetoid-moon Tarin would ensure it would be unable to access its critical, you are aware, natural reserves. This conclusion is doubtless highly desirable to both the honoured Federation and the Covenant.

The proposal of the Covenant is simple. The Covenant will assist the honoured Federation and its ennobled allies in neutralising the armed forces of the Concordat on the surface of the planetoid-moon Tarin. Additionally, the Combine Cyberforce, represented by Cyber-Coordinator Aavruelt, will assist in the necessary military operations. The system-wide activity of the Concordat displeases the Iurrketh Combine, and it is in its interests to neutralise it."

When Xalthil reached this part of the speech, Aavruelt undulated on his seat, twitching his three foremost pseudopods and filling the air with perceivably tense vibrations. The drone continued:

"The intrinsic value of the neutralisation of the Concordat has been expounded. However, the Covenant estimates that the military operations mentioned will involve a significant expense of resources and life of inhabitants. Therefore, the Covenant and the Iurrketh Combine intend to accompany their proposal with a single condition for the honoured Federation. Upon completion of the military operations and cessation of hostilities, the honoured Federation and its ennobled allies are to cede a fraction of the natural reserves of the mineral renthulium extracted from the planetoid-moon Tarin to the Covenant. The mentioned fraction has been calculated not to affect the acquisitions of the honoured Federation negatively, and amounts to an approximate value of three point four nine seven nine percent. Extraction methods will be agreed upon successively. The Covenant and the Iurrketh Combine will issue no further demands and will not interfere with the activities of the honoured Federation.

We trust the honoured Federation will find these terms agreeable."

As the drone finished, the two Iurrkhal swayed and pulsed as if to signify their approval, while Xalthil remained still, save for his twitching proboscis, as he expected a reply.

The two Ishkaan looked to one another, both nodding in approval as they turned their attention back to the Covenant dignitaries. The Defense Secretary stood up. "We do indeed find these terms agreeable." Uhann said. " And we can most definitely arrange your preferred land claims once this terrible conflict can be behind us once and for all."

Xalthil waved his appendage contentedly as the drone reproduced Uhann's words in a form comprehensible to him, and the two Iurrkhal writhed in satisfaction. The Vraslil then replied through his mechanical intermediary:

"We observe the honoured Federation is most capable of appraising selections guaranteed to benefit all. We are pleased. As soon as the honoured Federation will provide the Covenant and the Iurrketh Combine with relevant strategic information, our armed forces will intervene in the conflict. This day marks the beginning of a new, auspicious era."

After some time had passed, thesmall fleet of dropships of the 81st were fast approaching Tarin, maneuvering around a vast mess of shredded starship debris from past battles, the airspace over No Man's Land was a deathtrap for any pilot who came unprepared and lacked the training, most fortunate for the 81st Battalion that their pilots knew what they were doing, unfortunately, they were unprepared for what was to come next.

Caris, not exactly comfortable in his seat, especially not having a clear idea on the outside, lifted the restraints and slowly made his approach to the cockpit, quietly watching from the back of the cockpit, gripping tightly to the co-pilots seat's cushions, observing the outside as the group flew in a close formation, it was both comforting and unnerving that nothing happened yet, that he thought both he and his troops were going in intact, but he knew all too well that the enemy was planning something. Within the instant, one of the dropships furthest ahead of the group was hit by by an unseen Graser beam as it exploded in a brief, but blinding light, before Caris could utter a word, another explosion rocked the dropship as his ship was damaged, the left wing, and thurster, was blown off from the main body of the aircraft, sending it spiraling down towards the surface, the pilots struggled to maintain altitude as they sped closer to Nishir, but overshot their landing as the dropship sped further and further away from the city and into the wastelands, deep in the middle of enemy formations as they made their advance towards the City.

The dropship came crashing down as it kicked up a sandstorm, pieces of the ship's hull peeling off from the heavy friction. The "landing" was not exactly pleasant for Caris, as he was sent ricocheting from within the ship, thankfully, his armor took most of the beating, but was left cut up and bleeding from the experience. 

He laid on the floor moaning, sore from the pain, the few soldiers that were still conscience hastily lifted off their racks and rushed to their captain's aid, lifting him and placing him against the wall.  The effect of the crash had set in as the same soldiers soon collapsed onto the floor, visions becoming more and more blurry. "Oh gods..." Caris mumbled as he came to. "Status!" he mustered the strength to call out his men. An assortment of varied confirmations were heard was heard, seemed everyone was fine, upon closer inspection however, around seven were confirmed dead. Caris stumbled and tripped as he stood up, holding onto the wall as he checked the cockpit, the pilots meeting the same fate, the broken glass and console stained with their blood. "Damn it.."

In the moment, Caris and his present soldiers had all forgotten that they were in the middle of a warzone, the typical sounds of war echoing. "Oh Gods this hurts.." Caris cried out, and was silent for a moment, before facing his men. "Gather your gear and haul ass, we got a long day ahead of us." He scanned his surviving soldiers and pointed towards a pair of fellow Ishkaans. "I need you support me on our trip...I'm not in the best shape to walk on my own for long..." Both nodded, Caris then turning to a human soldier. "You, we need to assess our situation, go checked for any hostiles." 

The soldier replied with a simple "Sir!" before crawling out of the downed dropship, the sun beaming down, blinding him for a brief moment before taking notice of a Union AMMP lumbering over the arid landscape, a sight that would be his last as his head exploded in a bloody mess, his brothers-in-arms caught off-guard at his sudden death. "By the Prophet! We got godsdamn snipers!" 

Well, the situation had certainly escalated, not only have they crashed in No Man's Land, lost quite a few men, elements of the 81st Battalion were now pinned down by an unknown sniper, and from the rather gruesome way their comrade died, this sniper was armed with a Conk-grade Graser Rifle, meaning none of them were safe.

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