「MENACING」
Ah, so it is a member of Verandi, a human, but not a diplomat. It made more sense to Rul if it considered her as a component of the whole- presumably she was the information-finding part. Except independant, a sentient creature that didn't rely on a larger network to think. "I am Euralian." It bowed, head dipping low. The cazek scurried over to its side and climbed up to its shoulder, perching there clinging to the greenish leaves that covered the ambassador like fake clothing. It hummed along as he said, "I am also the planet Rul, if a name is needed."
Euralian. They were those people who had attacked that one planet on the far end of human space. They were some kind of hive-minded plant people. Or something along those lines. Elliot had found all the data on them to be incredibly vague. All he knew was that they were dangerous but this one seemed nice enough.
"I am also the planet Rul, if a name is needed."
Elliot was silent for a moment as she tried to make sense of what the alien had said. "Mr. Rul," She said lowly, pronouncing it 'Rule'. "You said, you were a planet?"
「MENACING」
"Yes. Though, technically, that is not true. The rocks, the waters... They do not live." Rul blinked its eyes in pairs, mechanically. "But what I am permeates it. At the heart, a forest. I extend from ground to the reaches of the atmosphere, and down stretch the roots to where I bring forth the core's heat to warm and power and feed. Every rock sheet, every soil layer, is seeded and woven with the network that is I. The planet, thus, is I." It gestured back at the limp armored petals of the pod, and the massive dark shape of the seedling beyond, which waited outside for commands. "As is the seedling from which this body was born, and the pod which brought it here." The spidery Cazek bobbed on its six long longs. "And this, too, is I. Like limbs, these are simply an extension of I, tools and manipulators of the physical. Even I am but part of the greater 'I'.
Let them learn of I, so that I may learn of them.
There was something really weird about how the ambassador blinked. Again, the scurrying little creature made Elliot want to shiver.
The reporter ignored her feeling and pressed on "So you're like a," Elliot searched for a word that could get the idea cross. "an avatar of the planet? It literally speaks through you, if I'm getting this right? And what did you mean by part of a greater 'I', Mr. Rul?"
The Sword of the Morning
Tyrir let out a short snort, directed at Rasse. With slow, deliberate precision, he lifted a leg and began to scratch his ears slowly for several seconds without replying. After finishing that, he painstakingly arranged himself into an even more comfortable sitting position, a process that took quite a while. Finally, over a minute after the NAH ambassador had spoken, he faced the group again.
Instead of responding to her however, he turned to James instead. " I think that's an excellent idea." He said with malignant silkiness. " I suppose it's up to our hosts..." He glanced at Elena for a moment. " but I would support a Verandi gate at the Cradle."
Only then did he direct his attention to the NAH envoy. He tilted his head at Rasse in an inquisitive pose. " Why do you make such hostile accusations?" He asked with false innocence. " The System's Alliance of Doturi simply wants to ensure no race has greater power at this neutral meeting ground." He indicated Nra'Qus. " The Molo'Qraaat have ships ready to enter the system in moments." He nodded at James next. " Verandi territory borders the station." He looked towards the Kin. " The Kin have a stable... method of transportation... system- quas'kii set up." He looked back at Rasse. " And you said it yourself, you're battlegroup is ready at any time to lend aid."
Tyrir laid back and gave the equivalent of a shrug. " The only race without easy access are the Dotur. A journey from the nearest colony to here would take days. Only with an active fleet here can we help ensure that all races have balanced power." He finished smoothly.
edited 30th Nov '11 5:06:40 PM by rabbitRider
Your legacy shall drift away, blown into eternity, like the sands of the desert.
Zael Tofismet kept his expression neutral as he studied the holograms of the vessels which the Molo'Qraaat and the Verandi humans were commiting to the station's defence; he remained largely silent while the holograms were active, the only sound to escape his mouth being an odd noise not unlike the throat clicks used in some African languages. Such clicking sounds were generally without deeper meaning, but of course only a Kin would know that; if his brief susurration served to confuse some of the other ambassadors, make them uncertain of his thoughts or motives, the Praetor of the Ark Reach Overcolony saw no reason to dispel such confusion—it could work to his advantage, after all.
Interlacing his fingers once again, the Locutus waited for the Doturi ambassador to fall silent, then spoke. "The Ark Reach Overcolony has no reason to oppose the construction of such a gate, ambassador; you have my support in this venture as well."
Back in the hangar, the hatch of the Hadrahkh'tushahn irised open once again; unlike before, when Zael Tofismet and his two bodyguard organisms had disembarked, no ramp descended to the floor of the landing bay and the hatch itself only opened to a halfway position. A creature which looked very similar to the Kin ambassador in terms of appearance—a bald, near-cadaverous humanoid with pallid flesh, oversized eye sockets and a pair of chitinous, digitigrade legs which ended in tripartite feet with large talons—pulled itself out through this narrow apperture; he did not drop to the ground, but rather clung to the side of the ship with his hands and feet, and after a moment he began to scurry along its underside towards one of the three sublight nacelles/landing struts like some manner of human spider.
This being, like the Praetor, was a Kin; Doldorast of Zael he was called, or Zael Doldorast, and he was the pilot, navigator and—by necessity—mechanic of the Kin diplomatic shuttle Hadrahkh'tushahn. He was also very, very tired; thanks to that unexpected bout of turbulence in the capillary network (though given that the Molo'Qraaat were present, Zael Doldorast had to wonder that turbulence had been chance or something else), their journey had taken far longer than it should have to complete and and supplies were rather low. Several other members of the crew had gone into a state of hibernation to get some rest and conserve supplies, but him; Zael Doldorast had spent the entire voyage esconced within his pilot's vesicle, making certain that the shuttle remained on course while travelling through the capricious corridor of otherspace.
Because of this, and because the trip had taken nine heptacycles rather than the projected six, he had had little rest; the pilot had scarcely managed to sneak a few klekkets of slumber in the calmer legs of the voyage. He would have loved nothing more than to vacate his shell and get a few hours of well-deserved slumber, but that would have to wait; it was possible that the turbulence could have put undue stress on the ship's drive nacelles, and he was the only crewman qualified to examine these engines that was not presently in a state of voluntary torpor.
So he crawled his way down the underside of one nacelle, dressed in simple clothing that resembled short shorts and a short-sleaved T-shirt, a pair of toolbelts slung over his shoulders like bandoliers; fighting to surpress his species' equivalent of a yawn, Zael Doldorast popped open a small section of the nacelle's covering and reached inside with one hand. As he did this, the pilot glanced blearily over at a pair of what he assumed were aliens a short distance away; he had no idea what that one with all those legs was supposed to be, but he was pretty sure that the being it was talking to was a human. For lack of anything better to do, he decided to listen in; he might not have had the best grasp of human languages, but he could understand them well enough even if speaking in those tongues was another matter entirely.
The Danse Macabre Codex
「MENACING」
"Avatar?" Rul hesitated, uncertain. There was no such thing as ambiguity in Euralian, for any thought would be instinctively understood. Language complicated things so. "Not... Exactly. This form is but another animal, controlled by I. It is more like a tool, than any representation of I. The mind controls it, and it obeys. I could release it, but its brain is not like your own. It is smaller, the things that I need not removed. If I let it go..." Rul shrugged, the cazek bobbing on the alien shoulder. "I suspect it would go into a long sleep. Or insane, I know not. Best not to test in an uncontrolled environment." With a skittering of legs the cazek dropped off and moved away, towards the shuttle bottom where Zael watched from. It advanced in a curious, circling pattern, front arms raised up like a mantis.
"As for the greater I? I am but one planet of many. They, to I, are also I. It is... Hard to put into words. I... I am in fact four forests. We are one, united in mind, all thinking together, but I am dominant, for I am the strongest. The others obey, and their trees are I. Perhaps there was pain, once. Now, only... Love. It is similar amongst the planets. All are one, thinking together, but individualized... Only the little thoughts like these are individual, because the distances are far too great and Great Eural is sleeping and cannot waken. It is that I who will forever control, and no other. In time, perhaps, even that will fade, and Euralian shall be one once again, all in order of the greatest mind." Rul's voice sounded almost wistful, which was completely deliberate. It cocked its head. "I believe humans call it 'slavery'. It is strange, how different these two percieve the word."
The cazek stopped at the edge of the shuttle's underbelly, scanning the darkness for what it had detected. The spidery creature crept into the darkness, and if Vael wished he could crush it without its knowledge.
-James Stuart-
"Come now, this be getting absurd." James huffed at Tyrir's words. "Now, we all be coming here to organize diplomatic ties between our good countries, not start an arms race."
The Dotur's flattering support for a gate to the Cradle only seemed suspicious in the eyes of the Foreign Affairs Secretary. And the deliberate rudeness to Rasse Sionnach just pushed the wrong buttons on James.
"We be discussing what forces we can pledge to this here station's defense, it's entire defense," James emphasized the last part. "For all the peoples, not any one. I'll remind the table that my delegation has only a few security officers present on the Cradle, The Aoi Tori has already gone yonder and left us in the good hands of this here peaceful assembly." He looked around the table to each representative. "Rather then attempting to one-up each other I motion that we do the complete opposite and limit the number of military vessel, equipment, and personnel each nation be bringin'. A few from each nation among us and just enough to so that their combined might will keep us safe from any unexpected foe."
It took James a moment to realize that through his proposition he had talked over one of the other ambassadors.
"My apologies, good sir." He nodded his head in the direction of Zael Tofismet. "The Verandi appreciate your support. And yours, Ambassador Lyngraal." He said to the Dotur for politeness sake. He then addressed the whole group again.
"Which be bringin' me to my next point; if we are to meet like this on a regular basis then I propose we be institutin' some protocols to follow. Informal meetings are all well and good for a summit now and then, but a regular dialogue should be grounded in proper formality to avoid devolving into a free-for-all."
-Elliot Khanh-
"So, you're not an avatar, you're a..." Elliot could almost feel herself going cross-eyed as she got lost in the Euralian's description of himself (itself?). God, this thing talked so confusingly. Part of an "I" who is also an "I" who mind controlled the "I". Enough, she was editing this part out and referring to him as an avatar anyway.
Elliot noticed the creepy little monster Rul had brought with him has scurrying about again. "Mr. Rul, I see your pet is wandering about." She indicated the cazek scampering under the Kin ship. Kin. There was one over there!
Zael Doldorast blinked and looked up—or rather, down—at the small creature scurrying around beneath the Hadrahkh'tushahn. The shuttle pilot had no idea what the strange jumble of legs was meant to be, save that it was connected in some way to the larger organism with whom the human was currently speaking; was it a pet, perhaps? One of the larger creature's offspring* ? Or, more insidiously, some manner of scout or spy?
If that was the case, its presence here beneath his ship simply would not do; the Praetor would not be pleased if any aspects of Kin technology, no matter how trivial, were gleaned by such an infiltrator. Zael Doldorast might have dropped from his perch on the underside of the ship and ended the inquisitive organism's life right then and there, but he discounted that train of thought soon after it was formed; the human woman appeared to have spotted him, and he had no desire to bring harm to the Ark Reach Overcolony by starting a diplomatic incident—which most assuredly would have been the case, if this curious creature was in fact an ambassador's pet or offspring.
So instead he opted for a less violent solution; he would drive it away.
"Away you go!" he snapped in heavily-accented, halting English, hoping that the creature understood human languages; he sincerely doubted that it understood Kin dialects. "This place is not being for you, little Not-Kin; complex devices and parts of sharpness that safe are not being for curious palps. Away!"
"And what would you suggest by way of such protocols?" Zael Tofismet inquired, his expression inscrutable as always. The Danse Macabre Codex
「MENACING」
Rul glanced where Elliot was pointing, wondering what she meant. "That is not-" it began, before realizing that the human wasn't able to understand what it was. I do not understand them, either, it reminded itself. Perhaps I should simply let the matter be. "I am intrigued by your metal seedlings," it tried instead. "The cazek is simply investigating for I."
The cazek didn't flinch at the Kin's shout, but looked up with its many eyes. In a voice of humming violin strings, it said, "Thaaat iss noo probleeeem. Iiii am expennnndable. Whyyy aaaare youu uuunder this metaal seeeedling?" The drawn out words sounded artificial from the creature, unnatural and forced. But in a way it sounded like the ambassadorform who hardly spared the ship and Kin a glance. That view was covered.
Meanwhile, the pod that had birthed Rul's ambassador had folded up again, the spilled liquid sucked back inside. It shifted its claws with a clicking sound, then began to walk with tiny blind steps towards the wall, getting out of the way of any future boarders. When it reached he bay's wall, it bumped into it with a fleshy sound and stopped cold, settling down to wait.
-James Stuart-
James stood up. He reflexively tugged at the collar of his shirt, something he did when talking for a while. He had just opened his mouth to speak when his palm computer flashed on the table where he had set it. Pressing the main button, he sped through the message that popped up with the holographic screen. Finished, he turned off the screen and looked up to the assembled ambassadors again.
"For starters, I do believe a simple system of waiting to be recognized before speakin' would go a long way in keeping track of who be saying what. At the moment there be only a few of us present" He did a quick head count. "Six, to be precise, but more be coming on the way. I have been informed the ambassador of Euralian has just docked, as a matter of fact." James indicated his PC, "So a show of order among us would be good for stabilizing these meeting once they start getting crowded. I motion for the election of one among us to oversee this discussion, designating who shall speak, for how long, when someone can butt in, an so forth."
-With Elliot Khanh-
The camera swerved with Elliot's head.
"He talks English?" The reporter looked at the Kin pilot with surprise. Surprise that was surpassed only a second later when the animal Rul had brought with him spoke back.
"It talks too?"
edited 12th Dec '11 1:41:00 PM by Parable
Outside the Cradle it was crowded, but silent. Until, of course, the Karada arrived. The darkness was split, tearing open in a bright orange vortex of light and heat and force. And from what had once been emptiness emerged a truly vast, immense spacecraft, and as soon as it had appeared, the fiery storm dispersed into nothingness.
It was a huge grey and orange cylinder, gnarled and broken: it looked as if it had just been savagely attacked. It stretched on, a mile long and a third of a mile in diametre.
Huge spires and spikes of twisting metal turned in a spiral around the central machine, and at the front, a huge dome of dark grey metal 200 metres thick, decorated with intertwining circles of engraved symbols, all illuminated by the faded markings of stale, non-functioning fabluh. For these symbols showed its might, its age, its purpose: it was Bi'Iveguv'Ivemek of the Karada, the Digentymek known as Om. Head ship of Entyive Om, and capital vessel of the vast Karada Ord.
From within it glowed a bright orange, for inside there were 5,000,000 korpers tirelessly working and melting and fixing and breaking. Let alone the ship's gut, which oozed and squirted and pumped fabluh from every corner to every component.
Within the command room, Bi'Iveguv Karada gave a large, toothy grin, 'is' ring of 8 beady eyes watched the screen as it depicted the vast structure. 'Ee' was not a particularly outstanding korper by usual standards: the only thing of note was the array of symbols, similar in design to the ones lining the dome and metal of the ship itself that had been grafted onto 'is' body, and painted in with stale fabluh, diluted so as to minimise the thickness and smell. These showed 'is' rank: ee was supreme, and any git who didn't respect that was in for a world of pain. One of 'is' gits opened up the communicators, senting a transmission to the Cradle.
"Bi'Iveguv Karada, Pard Off Kla! Bi'Pard," he paused to grunt before clicking his tongue against his teeth twice, "Pardmek, Sma'Fragmek," he pointed at the viewer, "Cray... Dull. Pard."
Translation: Bi'Iveguv Karada is here to negotiate with the other and their clan. Much peace, we will sent quickly, ambassador machine and small warmachine. You, are the Cradle. Peace.
edited 27th Dec '11 12:40:08 AM by Eventua
Having caught what the strange ambassador had just said to the human, Zael Doldorast chittered softly to himself in confused contemplation. So this small creature—this Kazz'ehk, if he had heard the bizarre Not-Kin correctly—was acting on behalf of the larger one then, and from the sound of things it that one was in some way an extension of the other. This, at least, was understandable and a strange commonality; to the Kin pilot, the idea of a single mind controlling multiple bodies was hardly a new concept—after all, Zael Doldorast himself was not the shell he presented to the world, but rather the hundreds and thousands of clades which dwelt within it.
Even so, this commonality did little to diminish the creature's alien nature; if anything, such an uncanny connection merely reinforced it in Zael Doldorast's opinion. The pilot shuddered as it began to speak in that unnatural voice, its humming tone causing his clades to vibrate unpleasantly, and in his mind he labeled the Kazz'ek as a potential spy/
"Is not seedling," he corrected, "is being vessel of outer void, for being used as transportation across stars by Kin. I am being under it as I am being keeper for this vessel; long was journey, and I am wishing to sure-make that there is being no damage. Now away you go; expendable say you may be, and great you are possessing of curiosity, but you are to distraction driving me—your curious palps not sated here shall they be."
He hoped that this would be enough to get rid of the creature; he had no desire to make a spectacle of himself and potentially colour the other races' perceptions of the Ark Reach Overcolony by killing it.
Zael Tofismet inclined his head slightly, mulling over the Verandi ambassador's proposal for a moment.
"A reasonable suggestion," he said at length. "If nothing else, such measures should hopefully prevent a recurrence of that incident—or perhaps near-incident would be a better term—we had in the hangar bay earlier. I second this motion."
The Locutus briefly flicked his fingers upwards in sequence, a gesture bereft of any real meaning; as he did so, he blinked once. "Furthermore, in the interest of ensuring that the proceedings are bereft of any bias which could negatively affect the outcome of these dialogues, I, Tofismet of Zael, would put my name forward in candidacy for the position of arbitrator."
The Danse Macabre Codex
The Maid
"I do believe that is an splendid idea Ambassador Stuart. The Lancel approve of such a system" Elena said with a wide smile on her face as she sat, interlacing her fingers as she spoke... and not offering herself as a candidate.
Soon a voice speaking in English relayed a message to the incoming vessel to the Citadel "Understood Bi'Iveguv Karada, the Cradle has received your message. We are sending you right now the docking protocols to land on our hangars... We have a space ready for your landing"
If I'm sure of something it's that I'm not sure of anything.
As the returned transmission kicked in, Bi'Iveguv Karada smiled broadly and clapped 'is' hands a couple of times. There was an awkward pause as the other members of the command room stared at 'im', before 'ee' slapped one of the nearby gits.
"Im!" 'ee' said before grunting loudly. The korper nodded twice quickly.
Before long, a portion of the less well protected 'left' side slid open, and within moments a comparatively small craft had launched itself with great speed and was flying towards the cradle. It was still cylinder shaped, measuring some 15 foot long and 10 foot diameter, and looked very much like a smaller, less well armoured version of the very same ship that had carried it. It had no markings, and to outsiders would've seemed to lack any sort of 'windows'.
It slowed down as it approached the cradle, entering the hanger without any problems as the air sealed behind it: as the room decompressed, the engine shut off and the landing craft simply dropped a foot or two, landing on the ground with a loud crash. Evidently the gits working on it had failed to install proper landing gear.
The pilot sent a transmission to the Cradle where-in 'ee' was biting is lower lip.
"Soz," 'ee' said.
Translation: Sorry 'bout that
An unknowing observer would notice what appeared to be eyes peeking out from every angle, with the front armoured dome containing many tiny, sliding panels from which more of these beady red eyes peeked out.
edited 27th Dec '11 12:42:20 AM by Eventua
—Nra'Qus watched and listened to all this without a sound, save for the minute clicks of his whiskers as they shifted slightly from one position to the next. The Molo'Qraaat'in seemed quite at home where he was parked, nodding slowly with Stuart's suggestion of the Gate. The rudeness towards Sionnach merited a slight upward twitch of both whiskers, but nothing more than that. A few seconds before the Euralian arrival was announced, the green portions of his mask flickered, and his whiskers waggled oddly. His back straightened a little with an audible crackle of chitin hitting chitin. When Zael Tofismet volunteered himself as coordinator of the sessions, his whiskers were brought to point straight at the Verandi ambassador. The monotone this time was genial. —
"Sssince you ssuggested the idea, Verandii Ssstuart, and have indicated your diplomatic position, I nominate You for the position. I could not possibly —"
—The Molo'Qraaat'in broke off, green mask sections pulsating again. His back straightened completely with a loud CRACK, leaving him looking much taller and alert.
—In the hallway, the two grey companions twitched, their masks pulsing. —
— Nra'Qus remained like this for another five or so seconds, before relaxing an inclement, whiskers slowly whirling. The monotone was amused. —
" Apologies, but we appear to be having Koorp as fresssh guests."
-James Stuart-
A few seconds after the old Molo'Qraaat announced the arrival of the korpers, James' computer flashed with the same information.
"That would be Karada, our new korper neighbors." James said. He noted that the mask had flashed again, same as when the Euralian had arrived and assumed Nra'Qus had his radio built in there as well.
James thought hard about his next words. "You flatter me, Ambassador Nra'Qus, and your support is appreciated." The Verandi said. "But my here qualifications for presiding over a body such as this are minimal. I believe one from a more established nation should be headin', at least, our current session."
James was ready to sacrifice some prestige if it helped get on one of the older nations' good side. He bowed towards Zael. "I second your nomination, good sir."
-Elliot Khanh-
Another group did not need computers to tell it the korpers had arrived.
If the ongoing between the two aliens was not so unusual and fascinating, Elliot would probably have found it funny to see the Kin trying to shoo away the spider creature and lecture it at the same time. Then her attention shifted from the Kazz'ek and Zael Doldorast to the hanger across from theirs as a new vessel didn't land so much as drop into the Cradle. Unlike Rul's seedling, which she had never seen before, and the Kin ship, which she only vaguely recognized, the cylinder shaped ship brought instant recognition in her eyes.
"Thank you for your time, Ambassador Rul. You have been rather imformative and I would love to speak to you later." The woman bowed in farewell and almost said the Verandi official parting call only to catch herself. Vive Ver - Uh, good bye." The reporter hurried over to the window separating the crowded Hanger 3 (where she, Rul, and Zael were) and Hanger 4. She was near the Kin ship now, but the insectoid Zael who she was standing by did not disturb her so much as the Kazz'ek did.
"It's a Karada Ord ship." She said as much to herself as the aliens nearby. Karada, the korper ord that had made contact with a Verandi task force patrolling an asteroid belt around a white dwarf near the Tikay System.
Her father had actually been aboard the RVS Nemuri Hime, the ship that first met them.
edited 19th Dec '11 12:48:07 PM by Parable
Onboard the comparatively tiny cylinder shaped transport, the pilot, a git named Jarik, gave a gutteral and screechy yawn, like the sound of metal scrapping against metal. This was tiring and bizarre.
Wot a bunch of weirdos, 'ee' thought, everythin's all borin' an' stuff. Ooh builds everythin' sym-met-ri-kal? An' where're all the gits?!
'Ee' grunted loudly and shook 'is' head from side to side a little, before flipping a switch on the control console. A heavy metal grey door shuddered and spluttered as it opened vertically, forming a lengthy, but shallow, ramp.
Jarik poked 'is' long grey snout and 5 beady red eyes out of the side of the transport, before slowly and awkwardly waving at the strange tall squishy thing stood outside on the clean, smooth metal floor of the hanger.
Everything about this place felt awkward and cold and... strange. It was truly alien, and 'ee' didn't like it at all.
But I aint got all day ta be wastin' gettin' worried... 'ee' thought, before 'ee' picked up the pardmek, stuffed into storage as it was, and plunked it just outside. 'Ee' then flipped a switch on the side, and it began to shake and shiver and splurt and splutter. It looked like a two foot tall mass of orange flesh and grey metal, shaped somewhat like a large rugby ball, albeit with the ends cut off.
Jarik kept 'is' eyes divided, two of them watching the pardmek to make sure it turned on properly, the other three carefully watching the stranger. 'Ee' wasn't sure, but 'ee' had a feeling that Bi'Iveguv Karada had mentioned them before. A specific kind of Off'Gits called 'Ooh'Mans' or some such, and that this one might be a particular Off'Ord. Too be honest, Jarik hadn't been paying that much attention. 'Ee' piloted Git'Entymeks from place to place and delivered cargo, that was 'is' job. 'Ee' wasn't used to missions of grave diplomatic importance.
edited 20th Dec '11 6:15:38 AM by Eventua
「MENACING」
The cazek tapped the floor with its four arms, then began to back away. "Verrry welll. I shalll lleaaave." But the curiousity remained, and its many eyes soaked up as much as it could before it moved fully away.
Unfortunately, Rul could not make sense of this. The bizarre assortment of plates and tubes vaguely resembled organs, but what for? And the legs could be retracted, yet were far too thin to possess muscle... In fact, no where were there signs of veins or other living materials, only the stark gray of metal and the bizarre shiny, inedible material that had been so scattered about the human worlds too- Plastic? Frustrating. No way to know yet whether it was truly a dead, thing or something else... And the Kin... Rul felt no anger, for anger required the hormones and chemicals to trigger it. But Rul did feel a cold sense of knowledge that the Kin had gone against its will, and silently it filed away the creature for further investigation.
Rul snapped back to its ambassador, who watched as the reporter scurried off to investigate the latest find. "Full of energy, these single thoughts are." It wasn't a problem, but now Rul had to find out where to go.
Of course, that wouldn't be hard. The Cazek scurried back over, and another pair crawling from inside the pod joined it as the scuttled out through the hanger doors, going to search through the halls for the meeting. Rul settled for a wait.
Zael Doldorast peered after the Kazz'ek as it scurried away, watching it intently until he was absolutely sure that the creature was gone and not going to come back. With that taken care of, the pilot turned his attention to the vessel which had just entered the adjacent hangar; it was an exceedingly small and ugly thing in his opinion, its ramshackle appearance making it look barely spaceworthy by any definition of the term. Even to the Kin, who by their very nature were used to working in small and confined spaces, such a space ship looked like nothing so much as a flying tomb, a dilapedated deathtrap.
That human who had been speaking with the alien ambassador a few moments ago had drawn close to the Hadrahkh'tushahn, though her attention was clearly on the ungainly newcomer which had just berthed; as such, Zael Doldorast felt no need to chase her away. Seeing that he was unlikely to get any real work done like this, the pilot sealed up the section of the nacelle's cowling which he had been working on, then simply let go of the ship's underside and dropped to the floor; he twisted around as he fell, so that he landed on all fours next to the human, then slowly and casually rose to a standing position so as not to frighten her.
"This dull and beautiless thing is being a vessel of the Karada Ord, you are saying?" he inquired, pointing at the ship in question with a long, clawed finger. "I offer appologies, but I am not being familiar with that race."
At that moment a hatch on the Karada vessel popped open, and a reptilian creature with multiple eyes and clear mechanical elements peered out. Zael Doldorast chittered faintly in distaste, drawing back an inch as the Karada waved in their general direction; it reminded him far too much of the wyrms which menaced the outer colonies of the Ark Reach Overcolony from time to time for his liking.
Zael Tofismet inclined his head slightly in the Verandi ambassador's direction, but otherwise said nothing; the Locutus was waiting to see if anyone else would put forth their candicacy. The Danse Macabre Codex
The pardmek spluttered another time, before stopping entirely: Jarik's expression changed to one of annoyance.
'Ee' grunted. "Nah Slow!" 'ee' then yelled at it before bopping it on the head. "Come on and get a move on, quit sleeping!"
That did it. With a grinding noise it began to unfold: where once it had been about two foot tall, its sides now stretched and peeled and twisted, forming a set of four spidery limbs: these legs were all roughly 3 foot long, causing the whole machine to rise up an impressive 5 feet. At the base there was a long orange tube, ending in a metallic jaw that was eeriely similar to the korpers' own. The jaw had a pair of beady red eyes, and it peered out at the area around. Meanwhile, on the top of the awkward football shaped body was a set of four thin, crooked antennae that met in the middle, the tips glowing a bright orange, almost yellow. Arranged in a ring around the base antennas eight more beady red eyes peered around.
And the whole machine smelled like a combination of burning tires and stale blood. It gave a yawn as it woke up, sounding like it'd been gargling nails for breakfast. And knowing korpers, it probably had.
Jarik nodded with satisfaction at the machine, before popping back into the shuttle. 'Ee' reemerged holding a large, chunky weapon of some sort in 'is' right hand: it had a set of three serrated blades around the long, thin barrel, and a massive circular magazine was shoved into the underside, just in front of the handle. The trigger was a single long lever, and the gun appeared to have a single large, semi-transparent red eye poking out of the left side.
Jarik pointed the gun at the strange newcomer who had just joined the first squishy ooh'man.
"Off'Git, Mehnen Sma'Fragdool. Nah Upevil."
The pardmek, upon hearing these words, coughed a little before speaking as its brain processed the rough translation from korper to common. Its voice was relatively much nicer and smoother than Jarik's, but it would still have sounded rough and unpleasant to a non-korper.
"Uth-er per-son, my small gun. Do not fight."
edited 23rd Dec '11 5:35:37 AM by Eventua
The Sword of the Morning
Tyrir glanced at the Verandi ambassador. He didn't like the human very much, although he couldn't tell if it was due to personal dislike or professional. It wasn't just that he was a human, although it was a factor, but Tyrir plain didn't trust him with any position of authority.
Next, his eyes flicked over to Elena. He liked her, despite her human status, but he didn't like the idea of nominating her. The Corporation already controlled the Cradle, he didn't want them having too much power over the summit. Besides, she hadn't nominated herself, so she didn't seem to want the position.
His eyes drifted over to Rasse... and kept on drifting without a second thought.
The Molo'Qraaat were right out, but Zael... he was a much more attractive option. A fellow opponent of the Molo'Qraaat... a fellow non-human race...
He smoothed the front of his robe. Excellent.
He whistled to clear his throat. " I would like to support the nomination of Tofismet of Zael as arbitrator, in the name of continued peace in the galaxy."
He sat back into chair as the Molo'Qraaat announced that the Kroop had arrived. His squinted, thinking.
The Kroop, or the Korpers, or whatever the confusing horde of organisms called themselves, he often forgot, were a dangerous race, possibly more so than the Euralians, who he believed should be purged with fire. Reports from the Verandi said they were an unorganized whirlwind of destruction, something that made Tyrir and the SAD very concerned.
Still, an even a rabid pyrangek'gir can be useful, if controlled... Tyrir thought with a small smile.
Your legacy shall drift away, blown into eternity, like the sands of the desert.
-James Stuart-
James nodded with approval after Tyrir supported the same candidate as he did. By his count the was three for the Kin, one for himself, and his two human compatriots having not yet voted. Having taken himself out of the running James foresaw the ascendancy of Zael Tofismet.
The Foreign Affairs Secretary was going to wait until the voting was done before speaking again but the doors to the chamber opened and got his attention. For a moment he saw nobody, then looked down and saw some sort of spider creature that reminded him of a creature he had seen on the planet Seralon a long time ago.
The Cazek scampered in and James said, "What in the Lost Worlds is that thing?"
-Elliot Khanh-
"Yeah, certainly not much to look at." Elliot said to the Kin pilot. Entering Hanger 4, Elliot became aware of a smell that reminded her of the fisheries back on her planet of birth radiating from the robot the korper had brought out. Official information (backed up by what Dad had told her) said the Karadas used these robots to communicate without leaving home. She wondered if the living one was a guard or something.
Hurrying over to the alien, Elliot thought of speaking for the camera but decided she could add a voice-in later. Should she talk to the korper or the machine? Both at once? Yes, both at once. "Hello, Elliot Khanh of the Verandi Galactica News Network." She said, looking back and forward to the alien and its metal companion. She made a quick customary bow. "Are you an ambassador to Babel's Cradle?"
edited 28th Dec '11 12:58:10 PM by Parable
Jarik frowned at the squishy ooh'man, with its soft voice and an odd looking 'dool' in its hand. The pardmek looked up at 'im', its neck craning a little as it translated her words.
"Ello, Meh Ell-ee-ot Khan, Meh'Kla Ver-an-di Gal-ac-tick-ah News Net-wurk. Im Pardgit Bah-bell Cray-dull?"
'Ee' scratched 'is' head a little before shrugging and shaking 'is' head.
"Nah, Meh Job..." 'ee' tapped the side of the shuttle, before tapping the side of 'is' head again.
'Ee' gave the pardmek a slight kick, at which point it yelped and the orange light at the tip of its antennas flickered before flaring up with a much brighter orange light. The lights displayed a somewhat fuzzy image of the Bi'Iveguv, almost life-sized, sat in a position of silent meditation.
Karada's 8 eyes peered excitedly at Elliot and Doldorast, and 'ee' raised 'is' arms in a gesture of peace and greetings. 'Ee' spoke and moved, but no sound was generated, before the familiar voice of the Pardmek spoke up again: the audio from the transmission was evidently going directly into its brain.
"Ah, hell... oh. I am Bi'Iveguv Karada of Korpers Karada Ord. Nize to mee-at... ya!"
"Who me? Nah," Elliot responded, trying to be friendly, though the creature that followed the ambassador was a bit unnerving. "I'm tagging along with the Verandi delegation, but Secretary Stuart is our ambassador. Just which nation are you from anyway?"
The newswoman motioned towards his 'ship'. "I don't recognize your craft."