The Disruption (IC)

The Executive took a small piece with a screen on it off his left arm's forearm armor, and searched through recent and old encounters in several data files. A tool given to some higher-rank military or officials like him. After a few moments he placed it back, and turned once more to the Markovans.

"The Imperial Despot of Jiiran? As far as my knowledge reaches, we have had no encounters with them."

The Executive looked around at them, and placed his hands together into a single fist formation, and let his beak sit atop it.

"And, we have only encountered you recently, as well. Tell me, when did your empire become involved in the previous war....with the Dominion? I might have expected to encounter an empire such as yours earlier, before the war we are engaged in now."

Ravage's ship responded quite quickly, "Yes, I read you, Aarin. Although you should probably warn everyone, I don't exactly look like a normal Chimerosu, I kind of scare people, to be completely honest. During the war there was a bit of an incident, I'd really rather not go into too much detail. You'll see what I mean when we get there." Ravage's com. system, while having the ability to show video feed of her face when sending messages, was rarely used to its fullest. She didn't really like showing her face, and it was too dark in her Stealth Strider to show anything clear. As a result, if receiving ships had any sort of video screen, the only image shown was either static, or the seal representing the Chimerosu Empire, which was a white screen, consisting of a blue image that suggested a hexagon crystal carved with a pair of wings inside. In the center of the pair of wings was a star with three points, referencing to the Dragon Alliance, which few races aside from the Chimerosu ever knew existed.

"Well," replied Lirr, "we've mostly been engaged in our own corner of the galaxy, and it's only been the past year or two that we've entered this particular area. The incident in which we encountered you was the first encounter with the Dominion we had had, if what I hear about the Kathla being part of the Dominion is true. We had certainly heard of the Dominion, but it seems they hadn't really entered our particular region. Shame, really," he added, with a bit of a roguish smile. "We would have provided them with a warm welcome, if you know what I mean."

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"Very well," said Aarin. He then opened comm to Vathoris. "Vey, it's me again."

"What's up? Is there a problem?"

"Ravage wanted me to warn everyone that apparently she is . . . um . . . different from other Chimerosu. She describes herself as being, well, frightening."

A sigh came through the line. "Tell her not to worry. I she has three eyes or whatever, she's still perfectly welcome here."

Aarin smiled. "Will do, brother." Turning back to Ravage. "You don't don't have to worry, Ravage. I'm sure no will comment."

"Alright, then. Just tell me where to land." Ravage replied. On a populated planet, ships were typically expected to dock in specified locations. She couldn't do what she normally did, which was arrive at a deserted, unpopulated world and land in a forest clearing. She had visited a lot of uninhabited worlds for supplies, some of which only had plant life, completely absent of animals or insects. They were pretty, but there was something eerie about them, too. It was completely quiet, so much that it was unnerving. You always expected something, but it never came.

Gacca listened carefully to everything that was said. He had not yet heard of this 'United Fleets of Independent Artificial Intelligences' and was very interested to learn more of them, but now was not the time to ask. It would look as if he were dodging the question. 'We have been wandering a very long time, and our arrival in your space was more of a coincidence then anything. However, now that we have found more...reasonable life in the universe, we were hoping to open up diplomacy and trade.'

"Follow my lead," replied Aarin, and moved his ship down. Before long, he had landed on a smallish strip made for such purposes. Aarin left his ship. As he had expected, there was Vey Churim, Prince of Daro, waiting for them with a small entourage of some higher officials, three Vatarri and two Humdar.

Vey and Aarin looked quite different from each other. Vey was a bit shorter than Aarin, and was broader in build, with dark ash-brown skin, and dark green markings on his arms. His head bore curved, segmented protuberances that flowed back and up, as well as flaps at each side of his head shaped somewhat like flippers. Aarin, by contrast, was taller and thinner, with light olive-green skin, with smaller, yet more numerous, dark red marks on his arms. He had a few segmented protuberances on his head, but they were longer, and did not stick up so much, rather flowing down his neck. All but the two longest of these were mostly obscured by a mane of hair-like material going down his neck. Just in front of this, he had two curved horns, bearing small, flap-like projections from their front surfaces.

Aarin and Vey embraced each other. "How was the trip, Brother?" asked Vey.

"Fine," said Aarin, now lets give a proper greeting to our guest." They waited and watched as Ravage's ship touched down.

As Ravage's ship came down to land, two pointed landing gears that seemed to be shaped like the legs of a bug slid out from its sides where they had been resting, unseen, and clamping down in front of the cockpit, securing the ship to the ground. Once they did this, the bottom arm of the ship slid out in order to support its lower half. Once it had settled on the ground, a hexagon-shaped hatch opened beneath its hull, however, no light could be seen inside it, the interior of the Stealth Strider being pitch black. After a brief moment, Ravage dropped out of the hatch, seemingly falling, but opening her wings at the last second to soften the landing as her four feet contacted the surface beneath them. Once this happened, the hatch closed behind her, although she gave no discernible command or signal for this to occur.

Straightening, Ravage approached the group, and stood before them, scanning their faces, although not saying anything. She wasn't wearing any discernible facial expression, although it was obvious she didn't really know who was expected to speak first. Although at one point, she had been involved with all negotiations between the Chimerosu and other empires, that had been so long ago that she didn't quite have the same touch as she used to. She doubted though that anyone knew who she really was. Lieutenant Colonel Scree and Ravage were two separate people. Regardless, she felt quite awkward, perhaps because these people were kind, not what she was used to. She was accustomed to hostility, so she did not know which words were appropriate.

"That is a possibility, and an opportunity that I would be glad to provide." Yvenois stated, noting Gacca's modesty. In past negotiations with other races, some would boast of their empires military strength. This would not bode well for the Keeper, especially after hearing horror stories of the Ryun-Wreae Federation's first encounter with the Jorro'kil, Forlarm, and KGI. She was glad to see a straightforward race who did not threaten violence.

"On that subject, if there is anything you need us to provide after this, whether it be minerals, repairs, or otherwise, do not hesitate to ask." Pausing, she continued. "Have you encountered any other empires during your time within this galaxy?"

Vey was slightly surprised by the appearance of this Chimerosu, quite different from what he himself had heard. Still, he approached her and gave her the polite gesture of his nation, left fist in the right palm and a small bow.

"Welcome Ravage to Daro, of the Confederacy of Vathoris. I am Prince Vey Churim of Daro, the representative of my nation. You are perfectly free to stay here for as long as you wish, even to make your home here, if you want."

Ravage dipped her beak in response to the Prince's words. This was the Chimerosu's custom for showing respect, and due to their anatomy, bowing was often impossible, if not extremely awkward due to their wings. "I am honored to be here, sir. If you or your people ever require special skills, or protection, I shall offer my military services in return for this kind gesture." Due to her background, Ravage doubted she would be able to settle as anything other than a soldier. In truth, even if she did, it would make her unbreakable metal claws relatively pointless, as they were too sharp for anything other than weapons. She wanted to make it clear that she was willing to fight if it was needed.

"Thank you, Ravage," said Vey. "If you're interested in military service, I'm sure we could find something for you, though I'm afraid we've had little cause for military activity of late. However, we can provide you with some temporary lodging and some food at this time, if you are interested."

"I would appreciate this, sir, although I am unsure of being a long distance away from my ship if I take lodging. It has several damages from two different collisions with other ships, and I am the only one who has the qualifications to repair it. I also do not like anyone else entering or examining it. I would like to be somewhere close to where it is docked, so I can fix it myself." Ravage looked at her Stealth Strider, which did, after closer inspection, appear to have a few dents and scratches on it. The ship had been her home for ten years, and a mechanic inspecting it felt like an invasion of territory. The Chimerosu as an empire were also known for rejecting assistance in repairing their ships aside from supplies and tools. They were sometimes regarded as overly-cautious, but these precautions were also the reason why their technology, namely stealth, was never stolen and used by anyone else. You couldn't steal the technology if nobody trusted you to get near it.

'Yes. We had an interesting encounter with the Imperial Despot of Jiiran not long before our encounter with you.' Not knowing the relation between the two, he decided to keep the encounter with the resistance a secret for now. 'We also require spare parts and fuel for all of our ships. We have been adrift for a long time, and are running short on supplies. Any assistance you could provide would be appreciated.'

"Hmh. Yes. We believe remnants of them still hide in various places around the galaxy, knowing some of the races the Dominion incorporated, it would be hard to believe that not any survived." Replied the Executive.

He took out the small data screen again, and began to type commands into it.

"I'll retrieve all the necessary signings and terms for starting a trade route to begin for you to read over them. I'll be right back."

The Executive stood up, and walked out of the room. A few mintues later he returned with a larger data screen, and handed it to Admiral Lirr. "All specifications and security agreements are within, please read thoroughly through it."

"Of course," said Vey. "You'll have all of the tools and supplies you will need. Just ask. And if it makes you feel better, I'll have two guards posted near your ship to make sure no one touches it without your express permission." He gestured back towards the city. "Would you like to take a look around?"

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As soon as the Executive left the room, Jessic turned to Lirr.

"With all due respect, Sir," he said, "is it right for us to be making alliances with the friends of our enemies?"

"What are you talking about?"

"They said that the Dranzoot are their allies. What are we doing forging alliances with the accomplices of our enemies."

"Now, see here," began Lirr angerly, but stopped at the sound of the Executive returning. "I'll speak to you later," he whispered to Jessic.

Lirr carefully examined the data screen given. "Seems reasonable enough to me," he said. "As the old saying goes, call it a deal."

Ravage nodded, "I would appreciate the guards, and yes, I would love to take a look around. I don't see a lot of cities these days, and it's been a long time since I saw one that had different species living in the same community. I always enjoy seeing how things are." She didn't know much about this planet, seeing how the society looked might give her a bit of an idea of how it worked. You couldn't fit in with people you didn't know.

First UFIAI system that Marr ecountared, happened to be one of UFIAI's main foward shipyards. It was a small system, consisting of two small rock planets and one medium gas planet with five moons. All planets were orbiting a dim red star. Separating the system from outer space was a heavy asteroid field. This asteroid field was the key structure in the system, as it shielded the inner system. Almost every asteroid big enough was fitted with UFIAI's heavy ordinance and hangars for bombers and fighters. There were also gravity generators along the asteroid field, generating a field impenetrable by most FTL drives.

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Absolute was silent for a moment, zooming its camera to Barborin. "What do you have besides the orbs that we would need or want? So, why would we use weapons to get a weapon? This war was started over those orbs." Absolute said turning around a bit. "Sentinel Theranis, I take that you have experience with artificial intelligences. I hope you can understand how our thinking differs from yours."

Theranis spoke first. "I do understand. However, that is not to say we differ too much. Our thinking - Both of us, Absolute - can and will be affected by outside forces. Mine can be affected by trauma the same way yours can if a ship flew into your systems. In this way, power and the promise of power can also affect people. It was this way with Kradus. It's the same with you. If you had the orbs, who's to say you will not use them to conquer other empires and seek more power and influence?

Barborin shook his head, chuckling a bit. "I don't think you understood me, Absolute. We have much that can be desired. For one, resources. With the orbs, theoretically you can and will be expanding your industrial system and territoru. With that, you will need more resources. What is the closest source of resource rich planets? The Confederacy territory. Now, with the orbs also come overwhelming amounts of power. With this, omniscience, and your infinitely better industries, we will stand no chance. It is inevitable that you attack us once more."

"What if we gave them one of the orbs, and kept the other?" Barborin, suddenly furious, whipped his head back to see that Grand Councilor Zaroas had made the remark. "Surely just one of the orbs can give you enough power to stop entropy, at least to major systems."

Barborin was shocked, and stood in a defensive stance. "Grand Councilor, I assure you that it would be a bad idea to do this. Who knows what the UFIAI can do with just one orb?"

Zaroas was unfazed. "Absolute, is one orb enough to help your empire?"

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"We can certainly provide this for you. For the moment you can stay in the system for safe haven, though I cannot guarantee a long stay. We will allow you access to a part of our resources, fuel, and can assist you with repairs." Keeper Yvenois stated. "Please, just give approval to these documents that will allow such activites." A couple guards brought in holographic tablets that would allow the Scave representatives to anchor their planet in the system for the time being and access resources and more in both the Krathunian language and the galactic language.

Vey lead Ravage through the city, pointing out various items of interest. There was a great many tall buildings of very artistic make, although there were still plenty of smaller ones of simpler, yet still artistic design.

Everywhere, was hustle and bustle. The majority of the people were Vatarri, with Humdar coming second; a scattering of other races could also be found. More than a few noticed them as they went along, staring at Ravage in particular, though not for long; plainly, most didn't know who or what she was and decided she was simply a visitor being shown the sights.

"Good day, Prince, Sir," called a vendor from a stall. "I see you have a guest with you. Have you come from far, my dear? Care for some fruit?"

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'Sir," said the helmsman, "there seems to be some sort of gravity field being generated by the asteroid field. Our ship cannot move through it."

"They keep the door locked, eh?" said Marr. "Very wise of them. Drop cloak and let's give them a shout, shall we?"

Silently the vessel dropped its cloak, and a message went out; "Greetings, United Fleets of Independent Artificial Intelligences. We come in peace representing the Imperial Despot of Jiiran. We would speak with you and offer an alliance."

Ravage smiled at the merchant, and shook her head, "Sorry, sir, I am on a strict diet, although I appreciate the offer immensely." Although polite, her smile always revealed her needle-sharp teeth, and accentuated the sharp hook on her beak's tip, and even if it was unintentional, it was hard for people not to make some sort of eerie connection between her teeth and her preferred diet. If it had a beak that was raptorial in shape, it was obvious that whatever alien it was probably ate meat and was designed to tear into flesh, similarly with sharp serrated teeth. Chimerosu as a species were omnivores, and while it was possible for Ravage to eat vegetable matter, she had decided shortly after mutating that she categorically didn't like the taste of plants anymore. She wasn't, in fact, on a strict diet, but that was the only way she could answer the vendor and still sound polite, although she was sure that as far as appearances went, that he would be able to judge that she was more of a carnivorous species

It hadn't occurred to Ravage that this might be a problem, although it did now. Although she was sure there were plenty of aliens on this planet that were omnivorous, a lot of them also seemed like herbivores, and even those capable of eating meat might have a stronger preference for vegetation, simply because others did, too. As a creature that usually disliked vegetables, Ravage might have trouble fitting in with others. An herbivore would probably, in fact, be somewhat disgusted by the idea of a creature that solely obtained nutrients from dead animals. She tried not to look nervous or uneasy, although her toes dug a bit more into the ground.

Xonoc had pulled back from the conversation to listen to the conversation, but was greatly surprised and even a little disgusted when Zaroas made his suggestion. He shot the Grand Councilor a disapproving look, and burst out:

"No. That's ridiculous. They cannot be trusted with even one. You would let their 'reasons' comprise everything? They offer tempting things I freely admit, but their are too many possibilities that would cause even more chaos and death........ I was tempted by their offer to return the souls of the lost.....but the honor of dying would be gone, and how would others react? Some grateful, perhaps some hateful, but I feel that my people would generally consider it a disrespect. That may not make sense to you, but it is so. They, the orbs, must be kept safe. For as long as it takes."

"So I will escort Absolute out of here."

He pulled out his sword's hilt, and activated a single plasmetic blade. A swift swipe through the cleaning droid was enough to permanently deactivate it.

The vendor nodded understandingly. "I see," he said. "Perhaps you would be more interested in viewing our selection of fish and meats?" There were in fact a few species inhabiting Vathoris that did prefer meat, and the Vatarri had long learned to appreciate the fact that different species had differing dietary needs.

The Grand Councilor was not surprised by the Jorro'kil's reaction to his question. "I am sorry, Emperor. I was merely thinking aloud." The Ryun held his arm up for all to see - A mechanic replacement for an organic hand. "Many years ago, we fought a war against machines. I was part of the final assault against the Metan virtual intelligence. I watched as the other members of my squad were brutally murdered, one by one, by the indoctrinated Wreae of the time. I hated war so much that I had to make an ultimate sacrifice, one that I was sure would end my life. It did not. That is why I seek peace for all empires. To me, and many of my people, war is a disgrace. We protect the orbs to keep our people safe. I would never give them to any enemy, no matter how enticing." The Grand Councilor lowered his arm, still staring at it as if it were his greatest nemesis. "I merely wanted to see how far Absolute was willing to go to end the suffering of thousands of souls."

"That sounds better," Ravage said. Different planets had different selections of meat and fish, depending on what animals or fish species naturally existed there. While she couldn't really be interested in plants, she might very well be better of deciding what kind of meat she liked and disliked. Different things had different tastes, and while all edible, there was certain to be one she preferred over the other. She spoke almost gratefully, and immediately relaxed again. So that was another problem she wouldn't have to deal with, they didn't appear to mind her dietary restrictions or preferences. Because she didn't know how many different species were considered fit for consumption, Ravage decided to give the vendor a bit of a hint on what she normally preferred, "What would you regard as leaner?" She asked. She was used to the taste of brawny creatures, ones that were muscular, and often didn't like anything marbled with fat. It was in a way too rich.

The sliced droid sparkled wildly and few flames erupted from the cut. One word escaped from its speakers before it finally burst into flames: "Shame..."

Absolute pulled back to the captured ship. Without bothering to undock, Absolute turned the ship's engines to full speed and over. The cruiser ripped itself apart from the stations, and dashed towards the surface. Absolute steered the ship around the large shield-world structures, and took a direction towards the Tower. The defence had however noticed that everything was not all right, and opened fire against the cruiser. Absolute had all power focused to the engines, and so the ship was unshielded. The cruiser managed to hold several hits just with its armoured hull, but the first hit to the tortured engines turned the cruiser to a fire-tailed comet falling from the sky.

The ship missed its target, the Tower, by a dozen miles. It came down with massive speed, crashing trough dozens of stores before its overloaded generator exploded. The collision and explosion that followed caused quakes that were clearly felt within the Tower, and the sound filled the air hundreds of miles across. Absolute however was already gathering an fleet for a lighting strike. It had all the leaders of the Confederacy at the same place, and at least one of them knew exactly where the orbs were.

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At the very moment that Marr's ship disengaged its cloaking apparatus, the defence system activated. Hundreds of fighters and bombers engaged from the asteroids, a dozen of smart strategic missiles launched from their silos. The weapon batteries locked on target, but as the ship turned out to be unknown origin, thei ceased fire. Missiles adjusted their trajectory and began to circle around the ship. The system was controlled by the Keeper, same AI that aided Absolute at the first battle ten years ago. After listening the Marr's message, Keeper directed the smart missiles away from the ship, and launched them harmlessly. "Representative of the Imperial Despot Of Jiiran, take a course towards a blue light at the asteroid belt," Keeper said and light a bright pylon of light at one of the asteroids. "After reaching the pylon, deactivate all your ships unnecessary system, especially the weapons and engines, but also including your shield, sensory and rest systems that are not part of the life support or communications. As you seem to know us already, you probably also know why these precautions are necessary." Keeper's voice was quite diffident from the Absolute's. While Absolute's voice was overly neutral, Keeper's tone was exaggerated, rapidly changing and usually off place.