\| Divided Paths |/ - Chapt. 3 - Resolute - Biome (IC)

"I see. We have been trying to gather more information on them. If these artifacts are as powerful as we have heard then they could spark up a lot of trouble and not just from races in this galaxy."

Krim sighed and then. "One more thing I must ask. Have you heard any reports of strange black and green ships or ships just disappearing near nepulae?"

Nira perked up a little. "You know, I think I heard something to the effect recently from an Anuran trader who was around recently." She shrugged carelessly. "But then again, a lot of those space travelers tell tall tales. Why, I even heard one that said he saw a monster the size of a Jorro'kil war cruiser zip past his ship, surrounded in a green ball of energy." She chuckled a little.

"You never know that tail could have some truth to it. We have records of quite a number of space dwelling life forms and some of them could grow quite large. I wouldn't be surprised if there were some in this galaxy."

Krim paused for a few seconds and continued: "Anyway the reason I was asking was because we have been getting such reports from traders and so far its been pointing to the fact that another race we know far to well has already found this galaxy."

Suflet Călit smiled at hearing the Nevarzians's words. Though it was likely a very embarrassing and goofy smile. Of all the aliens he could encounter, it just so happened to be the ones that would propel the Nisip forward into becoming a potential massive empire. Just the thought of having all this technology made Suflet Călit want to... to... Well he doesn't know what he would do because he is rarely this happy.

He tried to calm himself down a bit and regain his composure as he said, "I'm glad that our food amount has met your expectations. I cannot wait to see this technology you are bringing."

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Salată, as usual was given the mundane task of orbiting Teren Aspru. She always wondered why give her such a boring task? There's hundreds, if not thousands of other soldiers doing the same exact thing. Did they want her to command these soldiers if the situation called for it? Did the other generals believe she was very important? Or did they question her competence..

She was startled out of her thoughts and almost fell out of her chair by a beeping sound. She frantically held up her gun left right and diagnol before she realized it was the comm. She tossed her gun onto the ground and heard that these aliens want to come down to Teren Aspru!

She didn't know about the Neverzians trade agreement with the Nisip, so she thought this could be her opportunity to prove just how amazing she is. She put one of her three fingers onto the button labled "TALK" and said, "Of course you may land! Allow me to send you an image of the proper location to land your ship, as you may scare some of our citizens who are a tad... paranoid."

After a few seconds, she figured out how to show them a picture of an area right by the food mountain. She knew Suflet Călit was stationed there for some reason. Sending these aliens there would likely freak his paranoid organ sac clean off of his body. "A representative will be waiting for you there shortly," she happily said.

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Meanwhile, on the planet of Siloni...

Emperor Tius looked over his massive city through the balcony in his one-hundred story palace.

He couldn't help but smile as he saw his citizens walk the streets, going to their businesses and whatnot. His citizens. He never stopped thinking about how he had somehow been able to become emperor, as if fate decided it would be so. In the middle of his thoughts, he heard a ring from the communication device behind him.

An, "Emperor Tius, pick up the phone. This is important," came from the device. The voice was scratchy like most Silonians, though this man sounded panicked and yet excited at the same time. In the background he could hear many other voices, beepers beeping, and holograms whooshing around whatever room he was in.

Tius sighed and pushed a button with his claw and yawned, "What is it this time? I'm very busy with important matters that you cannot comprehend." A servent came in and brought a freshly cooked breakfast made with the finest ingredients as the holographic screen came up. "Oh yes, you must be very stressed," joked the other Silonian. If he wasn't Tius's only friend, hed be executed on the spot for that.

"Anyway, look at this," he quickly said, throwing up a picture of many different lines and pictures of stars. "This is a visual representation of the first message we have heard from non-silonians! We're not alone! All of us communication experts and scientists are having a field day here!"

Tius's eye widened, though it hurt due to the idiotic headwear he had to put on every morning. "Gah, I hate this thing," he grumbled, "what are these aliens talking about? Are they talking to us?"

The other Silonian laughed and yelled, "That's the great thing, they're not! They are talking to another alien species! We know what they are saying, but we don't know the exact context of their conversation. Who cares though!? We did it! All those years of staring at monitors has finally paid off!"

Emperor Tius smiled and said, "That is amazing. I shall tell the citizens of your efforts," before closing the communication device. Emperor Tius quickly dressed into his casual emperor clothing and stepped out onto his balcony once more, this time a massive video of him was displayed above him to give the citizens a better view.

"For many years, I have believed there to be an intelligent species out in space! Obviously nowhere as intelligent as you or I, though still intelligent," he said, his voice booming thanks to the hidden microphone in the balcony. That last part got some chuckles and agreements from the Silonians down below.

A message this important did not just broadcast to the rich folk of the homeworld, but even the shanty world most recently occupied by the Silonians. The Silonians sat there in their uncomfortable life-sustaining suits, signaling for others to view the broadcast on the tiny holographic screens.

"Today I have discovered that aliens DO exist! Multiple empires seem to be contacting one another! This means that we too may contact with them and eventually show them just what a REAL empire is! Our entire history has lead up to this one moment, and I will make sure that there is double the history recorded within half the time," he yelled with conviction in his voice.

The best part about this, was not that his friend had found aliens, or that the empire could become massive, but that this crowd cheered. And for once, his name was heard, not in disgust, or forced respect, but genuine love for one's leader.

Meanwhile, the ones who actually discovered the aliens were quite angry and one even broke a computer in the room, due to not being given the credit they deserve for finding these aliens.

It just so happens that the device that one Silonian had broken, was the one that kept the Silonians hidden while they spied on the aliens' conversation. In the background a, "This is Commander Ilinya of the Ryun-Wreae Federation frigate Enigma. We're currently on a patrol run to this sector," could be heard, though none of the scientists there paid any more attention to it, now lost in their anger.

One figure in the bar watched the large female Felinite closely. After feeling satisfied that this was one who suited her purposes, she rose and with sinuous grace slid over to the Felinite.

"You sssseem like ssssomeone I could trussst with a missssion," said sibilant voice behind the Felinite. The creature was a tall, skinny lizard-like creature, clad in close-fitting clothes and wearing a belt containing various odds and ends, suggesting a sort of 'be prepared' strategy. She was long-limbed, and her long bony fingers held clasped in front of her pointed beak were almost as long as her forearms.
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Azra tapped the table thoughtfully. "What exactly can you tell us about this race?"
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Captain Terrin put away the communicator and smirked. "Idiot," he chuckled. "Now let's go see what these creatures are all about. And let me do the talking. No messing up." He glared at Hissin as if everything was his fault.

Suflet Călit was barely finished speaking his last sentence to the Nevarzian, when a dust storm seemed to whip up out of nowhere. Looking up, all present saw the Markovan ship as it descended and landed.

Fluffy's ears perked up. "You have my attention but what would this mission entail?"
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Krim took out a holographic imaging system and turned it on. After scrolling through a number of odd looking creatures it showed an image of a tall bony creature with black and green skin. They had four ears, yellow eyes and a small sharp looking beak and even sharper looking fangs inside that beak. They also had a large number of cybernetic implants.

"They call themselves the Zartoids. They are a race that come from another galaxy far from yours or mine that we have had the unfortunat privilege of meeting. They are a cybernetic race that sees all other life forms as inferior and treat life as if it were there's to do with as they please. These orbs are just the kind of powerful artifacts that would bring them here in a way not unlike an insect to a light source."
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"The Felinites know about us. If they are here it could comprise our whole operation" Said a tall-er Zartoid female in a calm voice that slowly variated into a deep mechanical tone. She was locked in conversation with the  Zartoid Empress.

The Empress replyed in a soft tone: "These artifacts could help us to improve our technology far beyond what we have accomplished. We've been studdying this galaxy for two years now and none of these fleshlings have found out about our activities yet. Have your crew pinpointed the locations of these artifacts?"

"Not yet. The signal is coming from this  galaxy but there is something about the galaxy itself that is throwing off our sensors. Its been this way for the past year but we have at least recorded a considerable amount of data on the fleshlings that inhabit this galaxy and they all seem very inadvanced. We should have no trouble."

"Do not overestimate your abilities. Another incident will put you back on the battlefield and you don't want that. Fleshlings may seem weak but they can be cunning and crafty. Keep observing them and try to break through this interference. Do not let yourself be seen. We are still not prepared for a war with any of the fleshlings that inhabit this galaxy. No unnecessary risks Oria or I will have you demoted." And with that the transmission ended.

Oria exited her quarters and entered the bridge. "Everyone move it. We must find a way past this interference and locate the artifacts. If any ships see us wipe them out and break down the wreckage like the last ones. Better  for us that they disappear so they don't squark back to their race and tell them where we are.

(I was thinking to have someone find them and greet them as usual only to have their ship destroyed but have some escape pods slip by unnoticed)

Zara looked at Fluffy with a smile. "How do you feel about an asssssasssssination? You sssssee, a peaccce conferenccce is currently taking placccce at this basssse." She showed Fluffy a map. It was the base at which the Vathorin and Markovan ambassadors were speaking to the Felinites. "You sssee, a Markovan ambasssador issss talking to your own people at thissss point. The Markovanssss are our enemy, and thissss ambasssador issss one we have tried to kill for awhile. SSSSincccce you are a Felinite, perhapssss it might be eassssier for you to infiltrate and kill thissss individual for usssss. We would pay you well of courssssse."

"This doesn't sound to hard but what currency will you be paying me with, how much will you be paying exactly and how exactly did you learn my race's name?"

Straus was hit by one of the bolts from Dolos' weapon. Though his shielding took the brunt of the blow, he couldn't help but stagger back on the scaffolding, and grab the railing for support. Only his armor was left to protect him from damage, until the shield had time to recharge.
 
Being utterly silent, having experienced being shot before, Straus attempted to make room for Nvarn to squeeze past on the narrow stairs, though he quickly realized the Krathunian had other ideas.
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The Nevarzian looked back at Suflet Călit. His features formed a look of confusion and distrust, though this was hidden by the mask he wore. His reptillian voice was magnified slightly by the microphone on the inside of the mask, and he spoke over the noise of the landing craft.
 
"Who are they? I thought we were alone here." He pointed frustratedly at the Markovan ship. "We.. may not associate well with their kind, be aware."
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Velsen turned around after leaving the scaffolding stairs, and helped cover the other purists with his own weapon. He fired off a few bolts at the shadows above. None of them hit, though they didn't have to, the threat itself acting to deter following.

He motioned for the rest of the purists to follow Dolos, and as Xaer came past him, he stopped the younger purist.

"I will not die for this cause, but I will stand for it as I live. Go, I'll be covering you all the way."

Xaer nodded, then continued onward into the dim depths of the construction.

Velsen was just about to squeeze off another few shots, when he felt something slapped over his nostrils. He dropped his weapon and struggled to take the obstruction off, before falling unconscious and hitting the floor. Any frail creature could not have stopped this easily, as he weighed over 200 pounds.

Azra scanned the holographic image, as did Haslin and Nira. "Not too pretty, are they?" observed Nira.

"Regardless of what they look like," said Azra, "this is certainly worth taking note of." He took out a data unit. "Is it possible I could download this information?"
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Zara shrugged. "It issss good busssinessss to know thesssse thingsssss, but asssss for your payment, will ssssuch asssss thissss ssssuficccce?"

She plucked a small gem from a pouch on her belt. It was about the size of a walnut, and looked perfect in every way.

"You can conssssider that asssss a ssssmall amount of payment in advancccce. We can offer you more than thissssss."
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Najii staggered backwards under the weight of his target. Cursing a little, he paused and looked down. His invisible face split into a large grin, his tongue slithering in and out as he hissed with delight. What luck! He had made a blind lunge, and got just the person whom he wanted. This was going to be most amusing.

He struggled considerably dragging his burden away. However, he felt that it was fully worth the effort. So great was his excitement, he forgot to cover any trails of a dragging body he was carrying away.

Krim frowned. "Sadly their looks are their best quality. And knowing the Zartoids they may have been here for years without anyone knowing."
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Fluffy put on a twisted smirk and examined the gemstone and then scanned it. "Astatine trycarbide. Its very very rare to find a stable isotope of astatine in anything. If you have more of these then I am in. I hope you don't mind if I keep this as a starter fee?"

Suflet Călit stepped backwards some while quickly looking between the Nevarzian and this new ship. His mind began to fill with fearful thoughts.

Who were these aliens? What if the Nevarzians cancelled the trade? What if the Nisip just stepped into a war!? The food would get spoiled! The Nevarzians may enslave the entire Nisipian race! Why did I ever attempt to talk to an alien!?


He would have had a panic attack if not for being somewhat used to being around aliens. Though his face still showed fear, he tried to look like he was not about to wet his organ sac.

The Nisipian soldiers that guarded the food pile quickly came to Suflet Călit's side. Though they were all afraid of a new alien popping up and potentially ruining the new trade, being near one another comforted them some.

"By all meanssss," said Zara. "I assssure you there isssss far more where that came from. Do we have a deal?"
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The door of the Markovan vessel opened with a hiss. Captain Terrin marched out at the head of his company of twelve. Folding his arms, he gazed at the assembled Nisip and Nevarzians with an air of superiority and disdain.

"We were told that a representative would be here to greet us," he said. "Is that one of you?"

The Xikarian leaning against the wall quickly stepped away. After giving his colleague a look, Vise turned back towards the felinite.

"So," He started, "Before the... explosion... What was the think you wanted to ask us? I don't want to be ignorant about something potentially important, you know?"

Silus turned his head away from the Jorro'kil and began tapping his fingers on the surface of the table, deep in thought. This action was the almost sound audible in the chamber - Meris knew that nobody dared make a sound while Silus Koluntus was thinking. After a couple minutes he stopped tapping and glanced back at Meris, the Krathunian's red eyes ablaze. "Do you know who that Jorro'kil I just met with was?" He asked, resuming his tapping as if it were an addiction. "A councilor, from the Resolute Complex. He's been aiding these Purists in their endeavor - Reallocating military resources away from Ekest, providing them with supplies, the usual. I just set up a deal with said councilor to allow the Alkisuns to supply the Purists." Silus cleared his throat, "Do you know why, Meris? Eventually, I'll have control over this group. The councilor supports them, but in doing so allows them to do what they need to with what he supplies them. We will be the ones giving these supplies to the councilor. At any moment I can cut these off and cripple the Purists. Should I deem it necessary, the Alkisuns may be able to simply infiltrate their group and either control it or destroy it. If the Purists become more of an issue, then I can and will send the Krathunian Covenant special operations group. There are a number of military officials that would be very interested in providing me a favor. It will look less suspicious than us, regardless."

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Nvarn's energy shielding took one of the shots from Dolos, the impact being absorbed into the barrier. Unlike Straus, however, he did not stagger from the shot, not even flinching as the plasma hit the shielding. Nvarn took a drastically different approach, as had been expected. Rather than going down the stairs, the Krathunian cyborg tore through the scaffolding with his arms, his augmentations allowing him to do so. He motioned for the others to leave the area of the structure before it collapsed, and jumped down to the floor, quickly advancing on the Purists and firing his rifle with terrifying accuracy.

A small Xliveien scouting ship, made to fit a small crew of five plus a commanding officer, drifts through space rather far from its borders. The navigator turns with a worried look to his commanding officer saying "Lieutenant Avlex sir. I think we maybe lost and from what the pilot told me earlier low on fuel."

Avlex turned to the navigator and sighed. "I new accepting this mission was a big mistake but what am I supposed to say when the most esteemed member of the Tribunal asks you to go on this mission." He then puts his left hand over his face to think for a bit making sure not to knock off his eye piece. "Send out a distress transmission. If anything is out their and friendly hopefully they will be kind enough to help us out." He said to the navigator.

"Yes sir." The Navigator turned to his console and started sending out the transmission. "Help, this is the scouting ship Hexit. We are low on fuel and need assistance."

Tissin jumped down, landing on his feet. Hefting his gun, he fired.

A voice responded to the stranded Xliveiens, "This is Xikarian starship Brady, Strangers, reporting in from approximently four parsecs away. We'll arrive in an half hour." The transition ended rather abruptly, leaving the Xliveiens to wonder what had just contacted them. Another transmition appeared, apparantly from the same ship.

In an amused voice, the Xikarian said, "Respond if you like; it will be a while before we meet in person. We mean no harm; we only look to assist the less fortunate."

"Xikarian?" The Navigator asked turning to Avlex for answers.

Avlex was in a confused state. He didn't actually expect to find aliens and he never expected to find friendly aliens either. He was also questioning why the voice became amused but even if he wanted to refuse their help he didn't really have a choice. "They said they mean no harm. So that is the best that we can get for now."

The navigator nodded and turned back to the console and sent a return message. "Thank you, We will wait patiently for your arrival."

When the navigator was done all Avlex could say to keep the crew calm was, "At least we are not on Xion."

Dolos fired off the last plasma bolt from its pistol and then rushed after the Purists. The pistol was steaming, its cooling systems hissing loudly and spitting steam. The tip of the pistol was bright red, and had melted a bit from the extreme heat. Dolos replaced the depleted magazine with a smooth movement, while glancing back just in time to see the Krathunian cyborg land on the floor, pieces of scaffolding raining down around him. A flicker of worrying went through Dolos’ systems and it was just about to kick more speed from its legs when it noticed that something was missing.

Dolos turned on its heels, changing direction in the middle of a step. Time slowed around Dolos as it fed more power from its reserves to its systems, speeding up its reactions in an imitation of adrenaline rush. It scanned the surroundings with its sensors, looking for the missing purist leader, Velsen. For a moment Dolos wondered if the Purist movement could fend without Velsen, but decided against it. However, the situation was beyond the capabilities of Jorro’kil Astan. This was job for the UFIAI infiltrator unit Dolos.

Dolos discarded the complicated personality emulations, letting its natural, cold calculations take over the systems. The previous feelings of fear and doubt were swept away from the way of probability estimations and combat algorithms. A quick flicker went through Dolos’ disguise as it transformed to active camouflage, making Dolos almost invisible to naked eye and hard to detect for any sensors. This all was done in time Dolos slid to a stop and sprung back towards where it had last seen the purist leader.

Dolos had taken only few steps as it noticed Velsen’s gun lying on the floor. Dolos rushed closer, crouching below the fire exchanged between the escaping purists and their pursuers. As Dolos got closer it soon noticed a faint trail left in the persistent construction dust on the floor. Quickly Dolos started to follow the trail, readying the concealed rail rifle in its left arm.

Suflet Călit became more and more worried as the seconds passed. Though... Why are they asking for a representative? Being a bit questionable distracted his mind a bit from his paranoia. His thoughts cleared slightly, only enough to allow him to wonder why they were asking if he was a representative.

He couldn't think for long though, he was sure that these aliens may not be the most patient considering the way they carried themselves. He quickly thought on his "feet" and blurted out, "Yes I am Suflet Călit, r-representative of the Arenam Coallata which consists of the N-Nisipian race. I am.. glad to meet another species visit our planet!" 

He plastered on his best fake smile and, without looking away from these new aliens, bumped one of the soldiers with his elbow. They quickly got up from their scared stances and did their best to stand as straight as a Nisipian could and bring the butt of their guns to the ground.

In his mind he congratulated himself on how amazingly he carried out his greeting.

"You think these fellows might be unfriendly?" asked Nira.

"Judging from what our friend here tells us, I'm sure they are," said Haslin. He turned to the Felinite representative. "Is there anything more you can tell us?"
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Captain Terrin looked at Suflet and made a rather strange huffing cough. If Suflet had known much about Markovans, he would have realized that this was the sound Markovans made when trying hard not to laugh.

When he got control of himself, he nodded curtly. Hissin noted with discomfort that he did not give the traditional Markovan peace gesture.

"I am Captain Terrin of the Markovan Empire," he said proudly. He looked back and forth between Suflet and the Nevarzians. "Are there two species on this world, or did you have other visitors?"
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Tissin peered curiously. "Where di that one Jorro'kil who was shooting at us go to?" he asked Nvarn.
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Regaining consciousness was a painful process for Veslen. However, waking brought him no comfort. He was tightly bound to a support pillar, and looking him in the eye was the Liirlith.

"Ahhh, good, you are awake," said Najii. His tongue flicked rapidly in and out and his eyes practically glittered with eveil delight.

"A sssswift and blind grab in the dark, but I got jusssst who I wanted."

Straus ran down the stairs as Nvarn prepared to tear through the scaffolding, hoping to reach an appropriate height from which to jump down to the bottom floor. Reaching one of the last few landings from which the stairs turned side-by-side, he volted over the landing, and, careful to keep his knees bent, landed with a thud on the ground. A slight crack appeared in the ground where he landed, and he slowly stood up, recovering quickly from the fall.

He looked around, and only darkness looked back at him. Disappointed, he was about to turn around when he noticed a plasma pistol laying on the ground.

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Velsen titled his head, barely awake. He recognized the alien squatting in front of him, however. "Y-you.." was all he could manage, still somewhat light-headed.

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Kesh Pol listened to the one Markovan talk, obviously an arrogant being.

"Markovan.. Markovan... We have never heard of you." He paused, choosing his words. His expression could not been seen, as his three-eyed mask hid his flat, reptillian face.

"We do not live here.. why are you?" He asked, a tone of suspicion inhabiting his metallic, somewhat dry voice. His guards grasped their rifles tightly, ready to aim them at the Markovans at a moment's notice.

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Meris nodded slowly, taking these new facts in. "I will understand.." He said. He didn't understand at the moment, why they would associate themselves with heathen, but he chose to trust Silus. He knew the Alkisuns were considered criminal, but he always thought of them as of a high quality, certainly not comparable to the filthy Purists.

"If it is your will, I shall not question."

"Are there any other tasks you have for me?"

Tissin looked around, and then noticed the pistol. "Isn't that the gun the one Purist was using?" he asked.
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Najii brought his face close to Velsen's.

"Oh, yessss, it issss indeed me," he said, his rancid breath striking the Jorro'kil in the face. "I have planssss for you, ssssure enough."

He began to stride back and forth in front of his victim. "Like I ssssaid at our firsssst meeting, you and I have ssssome common interessssstssss. You don't want there to be peacccce between yourssssselvesssss and other racccesssss. You'd rather make war."

He paused and gazed at Velsen with a smile. "We want thingsssss to be that way too. It ssssservesssss our purpossssessss much better if you're all fighting each other."
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Captain Terrin shrugged. "We just happened to be passing by. Our mission is mainly in the line of exploration. We stumbled across this world and spoke to someone who promised us that a representative would meet us at these coordinates."

He looked at Suflet again. "Since these ones claim not to be inhabitants of this world, I assume that would would be you then. Am I correct?"

Half an hour later, a ship appeared from the darkness of space. It seemed to be heading towards the Xliveien ship. It was fairly obvious now that it belonged to these so-called Xikarians. It seemed to be originally painted green and yellow, though the time in space has rendered it mostly shades of grey.

The Brady pulled up next to the Xliveien ship, then stopped next to it.

The Xikarian captain spoke again, "We have a surplus of fuel, and are plenty happy to share it. Us Xikarians are friendly; You have nothing to fear about our presence." A hollow tube reached out from the Brady and stopped some distance away from the Xliveien ship.

"Prepare to refuel," The captain said to the Xliveiens.