The Disruption (IC)

Not too far away from the planet Muthara a small Ruyn-Wrea patrol cruiser appeared from the slip-space. Immediately upon arrival it was scanned and questioned for the clearance codes. Scans revealed that the ship carried name Patriot, and it was returning from a week-long patrol around uninhabited border worlds, but it was two days ahead of schedule. Ship’s captain was immediately contacted about this deviation. Captain’s hazy hologram appeared, and explained that they had encountered an autonomous UFIAI scouting fleet, and the ship’s communications array had taken serious damage during the battle that followed. The signal of the message was indeed weak, and there were several scorch marks and even a hole at the cruiser’s hull. With all the codes in check, and nothing abnormal shown in the routine scans, Patriot was given permission to dock, and was given approach coordinates to the shipyard orbiting the planet for repairs.

Half of the story was right. Patriot had encountered an UFIAI scouting fleet, and its communications array was damaged. The UFIAI fleet however had not been autonomous, but instead in straight control of the Confederacy’s old enemy, AI Absolute. Absolute had managed to disable the ship and erase the Wrea inside the ship’s systems. From the ship’s systems Absolute found several mentions about tightened security around the Ruyn-Wrea colony Muthara , and also some allusions about some kind of meeting. This information promised valuable knowledge to anyone who could sneak in. However, Muthara was one of the new Shield Worlds. While it wasn’t fully finished, its security was already tight, and according to the reports it was still tightening. But here Absolute had a working Ruyn-Wrea ship, and even all clearance codes needed.

So Absolute started to conduct several field conversions to the ship and its crew. With the ship and codes Absolute also needed the captain. Absolute had used the Patriot’s life-support to kill and freeze its crew from alive. Now Absolute located the ship’s captain’s corpse, and did a scan through he’s brains. UFIAI had started to routinely conduct these scans to all captured officials or their bodies in hope of finding a hint from the location of the Orbs. It was a messy operation, including cutting, slicing and several chemical operations. However, Absolute managed to recover enough information to form a base of he’s personality. From that Absolute created a simulation to represent him in case a contact between the ship and real Confederacy ships would be needed. Finally Absolute transferred the Link Node, wormhole link to the Absolute’s core hardware, to the Patriot.

The cruiser Patriot locked on the approach coordinates, and headed towards the shipyard. The scarred ship floated past several heavily armed defense stations and warships. Absolute noticed also some Jorro’kil and Karthunian activity, not that it was surprising. Absolute’s feeling simulations reacted with anxiety as Patriot slipped through the formations of warships, but Absolute isolated them away from the Patriot to achieve perfect focus. The Patriot reached its dock, and gigantic magnetic arms reached to grab the ship. They made a clang that echoed through the empty corridors. Arms pulled the Patriot closer to the station, and finally a fixed com-line was attached. Immediately at the contact, Absolute redirected the com to its simulation, and boarded the station’s systems. Absolute noticed the Wrea inside the system, and quickly, before it had chance to notice Absolutes presence, Absolute captured one of the stations broadband uplinks, and redirected the system to another simulation, simulating the just lost uplink. Through the uplink Absolute reached to the planet below, searching for information about the meeting. Same time at the shipyard dock Absolute fed some bugs to the stations systems to prevent anyone entering the empty ship, causing the boarding ramp to get jammed and airlock to malfunction.

Ecdacious was amused. Hayk heaved a sigh and turned to his men. He was able to see the angry look in Hayk's eye. Finally, the captain issued an order. "Destroy the Chimerosu's ship. Edacious, I need to speak with you afterwords."

Nobody budged, and a smirk grew on Edacious' face. "Well, what!?" Hayk asked, clearly angry. Edacious's tone became sarcastic. "Hmm, well, I dunno, captain. I guess... Well, maybe you're a horrible Nolwikkan. Just like the Chimerosu said. You are a coward, and we'd like to see you enter its ship to prove us otherwise."

Edacious was a powerful warrior from the Dark Regiment, the only Dark slasher-class soldier on the Battle Cry. Hayk had considered killing him before, but was always put off by the fact that the crew was so close to committing mutiny already, and that Edacious was a more experienced fighter then him.

Hatred filled Hayk. "This is mutiny!"

"If anything, captain, you've committed mutiny. Prove to us that we are as valuable as yourself, and I won't get you fired, or killed."

Hayk growled in anger, but only took a split second to decide that he should take the risk.

"Fine! Bring me to this monster's cage!" Hayk's armor fell apart simply by the mental command; he was wearing the latest and most advanced technology. Edacious nodded in approval before summoning escorts to bring Hayk to Ravage's ship.

Within a few minutes, the Captain was floating in a space suit, right beside Ravage's ship. He needed to be let in, and his ultimate challenge would start.

A square hole appeared in the side of the Stealth Strider's seamless hull, allowing the Captain to enter. As soon as he drifted into the airlock, the hatch closed and sealed shut. Air was then returned to the room, before artificial gravity drew Hayk down to the floor. The room was very small, and bright white, with another opposing door across from where he stood. A small hexagon-shaped window was in the hatch, but nothing could be seen past it. Suddenly, it activated, and slid away to reveal a pitch-black hallway, also like a hexagon in appearance, which would most likely render most creatures unable to see. Even though the Stealth Strider was only a small spaceship compared to most, plenty of people had said that it looked much bigger on the inside, although technically, that was hard to tell, considering that nobody could truly make out the dimensions of the rooms beyond the airlock.

While all the rooms had lights in them, Ravage kept a majority of them extremely dim, and in this case, she had turned all of them off just for the occasion of this meeting. She wanted to test this Nolwikkan's courage, and nothing could be scarier than the unknown. A few details, though, were quite obvious. First, that if she had it so dark in the ship, that while the Captain would be completely blind, she would be able to see him perfectly with her night vision. Second, he was alone on a strange spaceship with a mutated Chimerosu that could potentially kill him on a whim. She was using this to test him, as well as to discourage him from making foolish moves to attack her, in case his temper hadn't quite simmered down. For a few moments, the hallway was still dark, until she turned on a few of the tunnel lights, which did not give off much light, and only framed the shape of the tunnel. They would at least prevent him from walking into a wall, and guide him to the open hatch at the other end, which did not have any lights at all to guide him forth. A voice echoed from the other end of the hallway, "Enter at your own discretion." Ravage then activated her camouflage, which was not linked to technology. All Chimerosu could blend into environments at will, and her mutations had only enhanced this gift. She waited by the entrance of the hatch, unseen, to observe the reaction. She wouldn't reveal her face if he was violent. She would kill him if he thought he had a chance of harming her.

The Scave leadership was in a bind. They had hoped to find a helpful species willing to assist them, but it seemed that was too much to hope for in this new galaxy. But, considering their current situation, fighting-or even running-wasn't an option. They agreed with the demands of these new arrivals.

The Mondarian cruisers closed in on the sphere. Three of them docked. Threescore soldiers, a score of rapid-fire droids and a dozen plasma droids soon boarded the station. Captain Gemma also disembarked. The following message was transmitted to the Scave Leadership: All authorities and commanders of this vessel are to report to the main bridge for inspection. All other personnel will remain in their quarters until further notice. Any who try to resist will be executed.

The behavior of these new visitors was starting to worry the Scave leadership. Over the PA system the head of the ruling council replied 'Why are you reacting in this way? What right do you have to request these things from us? We have done you no harm and are new to this galaxy, and by extension you don't even know of us.'

The following reply came back: This is territory belongs to Jiiran, and you have trespassed within his domain. You are in no position to making inquiries. We shall be the ones asking the questions. You shall do as you are told, or you will be destroyed. All of your senior officers will report to the main deck. Captain Gemma will question you there. That is all

Suddenly a very different voice came through in the background. "Now now," it said, "is that anyway treat our distinguished guests?"

Captain Gemma, on his way to interrogate the Scave officers, felt a chill going down his spine. Everyone in the Despot knew the voice of this person, feared throughout the Empire, second only to Jiiran himself.

The voice came through again, no longer in the background. "Greetings, Scave leaders. Allow me to introduce myself. I am High Admiral Fedrin Marr of the Imperial Despot of Jiiran. I hope you'll forgive the roughness of my officers, but security is quite a tight thing around these parts, what with all the recent events that have occurred. If you would please allow me aboard, I'd love to meet you in person and we can all talk this out. If you don't mind, I'll see you on the main bridge of your fine vessel."

Gemma received a transmission from the comm in his helmet. "Captain Gemma, would you please be prepared to meet me on the main bridge? At your convenience, of course. Thank you."

Gemma made his way quickly as he could, sweat dripping down his back. He had not been fooled by the High Admiral's show at courteousness. It was all a facade. It was known throughout the Empire that Marr's cruelty was second to none.

The captain paused for a second, waiting for his eyes to adjust, before cautiously continuing. He noticed the hatch at the other end, but didn't pay much attention to it; he was prepared for anything, including an attack. It was larger then he had expected. With this, it dawned on him that this Chimerosu could be anywhere. Was he going to be assassinated by something like this?

Augh, it doesn't matter. Knowing Edacious, I'll have lost my job by tomorrow morning. He thought. Finally, he reached the hatch, and figured that this Chimerosu would want him to enter it. He slowly stepped inside, and everything went dark.

He stopped, and waited for a few seconds, waiting for anything to happen. "Well?" Asked Hayk aloud. "Are we going to talk or not?"

The lights in the chamber turned on, but they were still extremely dim, kept that way on purpose. Across the room was a small table and three chairs. Two of them had been designed for Chimerosu, and so they were more like benches instead, but the third was for something much larger, and reinforced, as though to support incredible weight. One of the Chimerosu chairs was covered with claw marks, and oddly, there was indentations on the cushions, as though something were there. Ravage stopped using her camouflage, no longer bothering to conceal herself, and her feathers slowly came back into view. Her appearance was similar to a Chimerosu's, but not quite the same. Her horns were thicker, and far sharper, and her hands and feet had extremely sharp talon-like claws on them, a larger than what was normal, and no doubt extremely lethal. Curving spikes ran down her back, and a bony ridge covered much of her face. Her feathers were also different, a deeper shade of blue that was almost black, with an extremely glossy sheen that was somehow threatening. If a usual Chimerosu looked like a songbird, then Ravage was a bird of prey. When she opened her beak to speak, it was filled with extremely sharp teeth, and a tongue that seemed to be forked. Even her eyes were slightly different, although solid blue like most of the species, there was a shade in them that suggested elliptical pupils, although technically nobody could really tell Chimerosu had pupils at all, considering everything was the same color. She wore strange black segmented armor, unlike the traditional silver, and there appeared to be some sort of rank pinned to the shoulder plates, although they were so badly faded it would be almost impossible to make them out. It was obvious, though, that at some point she had been part of the Chimerosu military. She wore fingerless gloves on her hands that matched the attire, three metal bits between the knuckles that were hooded in some way, although their purpose was unknown.

"I am simply erring on the side of caution, sir. I am making sure that you are really here to talk, and not planning on making a hostile move." Her eyes narrowed, and her beak opened slightly, as though in a sneer, "You don't know what I'm going to do, but I don't know your intentions, either, and I'd rather not have you attack me at first sight." She gestured to the second Chimerosu chair across from hers, "Please, take a seat, it is the best I can offer, it has been a long time since I have entertained guests of any species." Clearly, the second chair was linked to the other survivor she had mentioned, although from appearance one could not judge the reinforced one. "I believe we have much to discuss, including how to properly treat your crew."

Although she did not know how the Captain would respond, if he could make out the rank on her armor, he wouldn't be able to argue. It could sometimes be confusing, though, as different races placed different ranks at different levels. Ravage had been referred to as a Lieutenant, but her full rank had been a Lieutenant Colonel, which, compared to most groups, was a rank above a Major, the commanding superior officer of a Captain. Ravage had been a very good soldier, and so it was that she had been promoted twice in a short period of time. She was a superior officer to a Captain, and her position had been earned through hard work, although she still continued to command a single-pilot ship, even though she could command a battle cruiser if she wanted to. Of course, her rank might not matter now, since her people were dead.

The Scave leaders sat around a round table, reports and transmissions from several ships coming in about these new arrivals. The second in line, Kaleda, spoke with obvious irritation in his voice 'We have had two encounters with other species here, including this one, and neither has gone well. I think we should find a way out of this galaxy'.

The first in line-Scelah-looked over at Kaleda, obviously annoyed by his attitude towards their current situation 'That is a wonderful idea Kaleda, but may I remind you that we have few spare parts for our ships and even less fuel? Even if we decided to float in some random direction we would end up in worse shape then we already are before we even got out of this galaxy.'

Gacca, the third in line for leadership, spoke up 'Its obvious this Admiral is just as hostile as the dear Captain, if not more so. We don't have good enough luck for it to be any other way. But, unfortunately, we have to meet their demands. I volunteer to meet them on behalf of the council.'

The room was dead silent after Gacca spoke. The first to speak was Scelah 'Gacca, if you are serious about this, then I give you permission. I will not order it though. Do you understand the dangers of what you ask?' Gacca sighed in resignation 'Yes, yes I do. But they will want someone from the council-too low a rank and they won't accept the meeting. Too high and we risk too much. As such, I should go. This does not place you, or the Second, in danger.' Scelah nodded 'Alright Gacca, you know the way to their requested meeting point.' Gacca turned to leave when Kaleda spoke to him 'Gacca-good luck'.

Xonoc dipped his beak once more, following this with a reply to their greetings.

"Thank you for the welcome, I will take a seat for this discussion." The guard with the insignia immediately started forward towards a chair situated near the end of the table on the left-hand side of the room, and pulled it out. Emperor Xonoc approached it, nodding at the guard before he sat down. The guard returned to his position near the door, and Xonoc looked around at the other members of the table.

"Let us begin."

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The Trooper politely dipped his beak at Lirr and introduced himself. "I am Trooper Njes Hras, your escort." He picked up one of the offered swords, and after satisfactorially examining the blade and hilt, he handed the sword back to the Markovan Admiral. "Very elegant, Admiral. They are fine swords. I admire such weaponry." He looked back at the rest of the Markovans, and then gestured for the Officer with the EMP-activated box to come forward.

"Please place all energy packs or ballistic rounds magazines inside the box, and holster your weaponry. We may then continue to the meeting room where the Executive will speak with you."

"Thank you, sir," replied Lirr, accepting the blade back. "It's been in my family for generations." He swiftly sheathed both swords behind his back. Turning to his crew he gave them a nod. The chamber was filled with the clicking sound of energy units being removed from guns and placed within the provided container. Having complied, the Markovans resumed formation. "Now then," said Lirr, "Njes Hras was it? You are escort then? Escort away, my friend."

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Caprtain Gemma stood on the main bridge, waiting. Ten Mondarian soldiers and two rapid-fire droids stood rigidly to attention nearby. Before long, a door opened, and a Scave entered. Gemma faced the Scave and scrutinized him for a moment. "Are you the leading official of this vessel?" he demamded.

Gacca entered the room. As expected, there was a large military presence and a very demanding commander. However, he didn't seem to know anything about the Scave, so he believed he could use this to his advantage...

'No, I outrank this ship's commander. My name is Gacca, and I am a member of the leading council of the entire Scave race.' None of what Gacca said was false-what they were on might as well be a ship at this point, and the equivalent of its Captain was on the Council, and he was lower ranked then Gacca.

Gemma stood straight, hoping very much to be intimidating. "Alright, then . . . Gacca," he said. I want to know everything. Where did your race come from, what are its capacitites, what are your intentions here, everything!"

"Now now, Captain Gemma, there's no need to be rude to the good Scave."

Gemma stood rigid. He knew without looking who had just entered the room. He just managed to keep from quaking.

Admiral Marr was a fairly tall Mondarian, with an average, yet lean build. At sixty years of age, he might be considered advanced in age, but he was strong and sharp-minded.

With a somewhat casual, yet snobbish air of courtesy, he strode into the room, his helmet tucked under one arm. Striding over to Gemma with a smile on his face, he gave him what most would consider a playful slap, but to Gemma, was warning.

"You are forgetting your manners, Gemma," said Marr. "After all, these people are our guests, right?" With a quiet chuckle, he turned towards Gacca, still smiling, and made an elaborate bow. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am High Admiral Fedrin Marr of the Imperial Despot of Jiiran. Whom do I have the honor of addressing?"

Sentinel Theranis began the speaking. "As all of you know, the front lines of Confederacy territory have seen much bloodshed and destruction in this war against the United Fleets of Independent Artificial Intelligences. Covenant shield worlds have helped to stop their advance. I propose that the Confederacy equip all border systems with new shield technology. In addition, we can take some of these technologies and apply them to our ships, allowing for better defense while retaining offensive capabilities."

"Agreed. We cannot risk an all out attack on them - We must focus on fortification." Grand Admiral Barborin replied. He sat up suddenly, thinking, and then shook his head. "There must be some weakness we can exploit in order to gain the upper hand. Although the UFIAI has factories covering entire planets and a very strong military, they cannot be invincible."

Gacca had been in negotiations before, and he knew this type. He would have to be very careful what he said around the High Admiral. 'I am Gacca, Third in the Line of the Scave Technocracy. We were hoping to establish contact with whatever force inhabited this area of the galaxy, and to then open up diplomacy and trade. We were subsequently nearly attacked for our crimes of communication by a fleet of ships that we now know are from the Imperial Despot of Jiiran.' Gacca maintained a near monotone in his voice, carefully choosing his words to reflect the Scave's view of what had happened without revealing what position they were in.

Marr's eyebrows rose slightly, yet he continued smiling. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Gacca," he said. "I do hope you'll forgive the Despot's actions. You see, security is quite a tight thing in this sector, what with everything that has occurred in recent years. A lot of commotion has been occurring over some sort of powerful orb-like weapon. Perhaps you might have heard about it." Leaning forward, he continued to smile, but his eyes gazed at Gacca intently. "I don't suppose you would happen to anything about orbs, would you?"

Gacca had prepared for this question, even though he had hoped it would not arise. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst had become the Scave's line of thinking in the past years. Luckily for him, he could avoid this question without lying-since a planet isn't a weapon, and they had no orb-shaped starships. 'No, we don't know of any orb-shaped weapons in this sector, or any other sector for that matter, High Admiral'.

"I see," said Marr. For a moment he was silent. "I'd like very much to know more about your people then," he said. "Please, tell me about yourselves. Where exactly do you come from, and what brings you to this sector of space?"

The first thing Hayk thought when he saw Ravage was, This isn't a Chimerosu. Not a normal one, anyway. What happened here? With narrowed eyes, he sat down.

"Well, I can see that I'm outmatched here, so there really is no reason for me to fight you, Chimerosu." He paused before he began to respond to Ravage's other statement.

Ah, my crew... I should have seen this coming.

"I'd assume you've heard a member of my crew over the COM. That was Edacious, the rebellious one. Slasher-Class of the Dark Regiment, the second-highest ranking Nolwikkan on the ship. I've been suspecting mutiny from him for a long time. And, as you can see, this eventually happened."

'We are travelers, and by our estimations we are very far from home.' It was easy to hide things when you tell the truth-lying is an art, but everyone knows how to tell the truth. Refugees are a type of traveler, and they were far from their home system, even their home galaxy. But he didn't need to know that.

Xonoc listened, then spoke.

"While fortifying the worlds we own on the outer front would help to protect them from attack is wise, let us not forget that infiltration is not impossible and advanced protection of the inner planets should also be of concern. A strike from within could do far more damage than that of one on the outer rim. I would wholly support fortification evenly of all territory, but we would have to be careful not to let our funds plummet in doing so." Xonoc placed a hand on the table and retracted his right shoulder, then withdrew the hand.

"War. My people honor it, but I have seen so much else.....I suppose I didn't mention, before I had returned to Irooscin, I was a traveler. Exploring the stars was a great thing, but I had to return, as it is possible to see too much.." He looked down and muttered something that no-one else heard. "The Hive..."

He returned his attention to the rest. "So, I suggest we increase protection of communication lines and the capacity of our response forces incase an attack does happen. Those things are key."

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The Trooper led half of the officers and the Markovans through pathways, down corridors, across intersections and past small stores and restaurants until they arrived at a large door labeled "Xeno Diplomacy D-9" Inside was a large waiting room. Njes encouraged the Markovans to walk inside and take their seats.

The pupil-like shadows in Ravage's eyes seemed to contract into thin slits, and she narrowed them slightly, seeming to frown, "I don't think you can blame your current situation on someone else, sir." She said, her voice somewhat flat, "I may have overheard what he said, but I also heard you call your soldiers cheap, an act of pure insolence that could make a great number of different creatures lose respect for you." Her tail flicked a little at this, "Your men aren't machines, and they aren't mindless beasts, either. They have their own thoughts and feelings, and have chosen a job description that could result in their deaths. That doesn't mean that they want to die, although there's a bit of risk, regardless. You were willing to send them to try to apprehend me, and I would have killed them. I warned you of this, but you acted as though you did not care what happened. The whole mutiny isn't centered around Edacious' behavior, Captain, it is centered around you and your lack of respect and concern for your men. Do you speak to them in such a derogatory way all the time? If I were this Edacious character, I would be struggling to keep myself from tearing you to pieces. You're lucky that he was willing to hold his tongue, but he obviously had inner thoughts he was willing to express once someone called you out for your mistakes."

"You are wise, Emperor." Sentinel Theranis said, tapping his clawed, armored fingers on the table. "War is an interesting beast. It gives us honor, courage, and triumph. However, it will also bring death, suffering, and destruction. War gave us purpose. War killed our gods." He let out a guttural sigh, and uttered a quick phrase in the Covenant's traditional language, which was distinctly similar to that of the Jorro'kil. With that, his helmet retracted into the rest of his body, revealing a metallic face ravaged by scars and burns. The Sentinel sat back in the chair. "I agree with your propositions, Emperor. We must not ignore communications and response forces. With that said, internal conflict, such as insurgents, should be eliminated at once while we are at a war like this."

Barborin nodded, and was about to speak, but stopped himself after looking towards the entrance from which the others had entered. Another Ryun had walked in with two heavy armored guards confidently striding behind him. The figure was clothed in a military outfit decorated with many badges, signifying how distinguished he was within the Federation. A cape was attached at the shoulders, flowing down to his exoskeletal knees. The bottom portion of his body was covered in a robe-like, dark garment. Barborin recognized him instantly.

"Grand Councilor?" He exclaimed, shocked. "What are you doing here?"

"What a warm welcome, Grand Admiral." Grand Councilor Zaroas chuckled, saluting Barborin despite his lower ranking. "Greetings, Sentinel Theranis and Emperor Xonoc." He performed the customary greeting of clasping his hands on his chest - However, rather than a natural Ryun arm meeting the other, an advanced robotic arm did. "You must forgive me, I was running late. If I'm not mistaken, this is about the United Fleets of Independent Artificial Intelligences, correct? Machines..." His voice drifted off as his attention slowly went to that of his arm. Lookg back up, he stated, "Now, you were saying, Grand Admiral?"

Barborin sighed. "I agree with you both. Like you were saying, Emperor, we should be careful not to use up all of our resources. However, I have a solution - A new type of mining drone is in mass production, allowing for mineral resources to be harvested more efficiently. The Federation can provide these to all other Confederacy empires." Looking around, he then said, "We must also understand these machines - How they think, how they operate. I propose we capture and study UFIAI hardware, perhaps strategically taking out a planet to do so. It is critical to know how these AI work. They are all different."

After a while, Admiral Lirr, General Jessic, and the Captain of the ship were called into a special meeting room. The rest were allowed to walk around the station accompanied by Jorro'kil guides to experience soem Jorro'kil culture.

"Thank you very much, my good Sir," said Lirr to the Jorro'kil who brought them in. Taking his seat, he indicated his crew to do the same. Once everyone was seated, Lirr began.

" I have been selected by Emperor Asmir din Ethrin as a representative on behalf of my people to yours. As I'm sure you know, a regiment of our soldiers under the command of Captain Rithslac made contact with a group of your soldiers and attempted to lend them aid. Regrettably, this resulted in the death of the regiment. However, with the help of your soldiers, Captain Rithslac survived."

"That fool," growled Jessic. "An entire regiment dead! He ought to have been decommissioned."

Lirr shot a glare at Jessic. "I believe we have discussed speaking out of turn, General," he said severally. He then turned back to the Jorro'kil. "I'm terribly sorry about that. As I was saying, your fine soldiers saved our captains life, and that is something we cannot overlook. We owe you a debt, you might say."

"In addition to this," he continued, "we have recently begun to move and expand within this particular area of the galaxy, so it is in the Empire's interest to be in contact with the local races. Because of your aid to our captain, not to mention the considerable amount of influence you hold in this sector, we thought it expedient to contact you first. I must say," he added with a smile, "I myself was quite excited to meet you. Rithslac spoke of your people quite highly in his report."

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Marr nodded, still smiling. He could tell that Gacca was not telling him everything, even if he wasn't lying. But this meant little to Marr. This interview was nothing more than a facade. While Marr was talking to Gacca, the Mondarians were very busy carefully scanning the sphere and all of the ships surrounding it. Several of the soldiers that had boarded the sphere were also busy probing any computer terminals they could find, quickly collecting any information they could. Before long, as Gacca was still answering the last question, a soldier gave a small data unit to Gemma. Stepping up to Marr, Gemma cleared his throat.

"Excuse me a moment, my good Sir," said Marr to Gacca. Taking the data unit, he read it quickly, and then handed it back to Gemma. "Thank you, Gemma." He then turned back to Gacca.

"I am terribly sorry to cut short our little conversation, but it is time that we were going."