Post by Schwieger on May 3, 2022 0:38:34 GMT
Khedurlat, Khenatkem System, Tuvian Arm
Indeterminate Time Prior to the Present Day
"We have to go, they're almost here," spoke the Durlatite. His raspy voice, dry from the choking dust, hesitated. A computer to his side complained through the ordeal, apparently unhappy at the prospect of being shut down. Its complaints were ignored as the last bits of power drained from its circuits while the Durlatite looked out across the room yet again to his non-machine companion.
"Yes, I know," replied the other from the frame of the distant window. "I have everything I think we need," she said. "I am ready when you are." She stepped forward as if to confirm her readiness - a motion that took her gaze from the bustling streets just outside the window. The traffic there all streamed west at less than ideal swiftness; she could only appreciate the distraction from it.
From the opposite side of the room, the other Durlatite nodded. "Let's go," he agreed - while shoving the computer in his pocket - then headed for the door. It opened automatically as he neared. Almost immediately, an arid torrent of wind smothered his face. Sand spilled into the room mere moments later and advanced on the shoulders of the warm breeze. And beyond the door, in the hallway proper, even more sand flowed forth.
"Shit," he scowled, "I thought we had more time..."
Khedurlat, Khenatkem System, Tuvian Arm
Present Day
The vast cities of Khedurlat rested within tombs of sand - the homes and businesses, centers of commerce, industry, and governance - silent as they have been since their fall. With no FTL-capable spaceships or larger presence on the galactic stage, the all-encroaching silence that overtook the civilization was overlooked by many... Until now. The heightened magical activity of nations in the local region sparked reactions within the leyline over Khedurlat.
A pulse was sent out, of images of what Khedurlat once was; lush fields, vibrant city-centres, and dizzying collections of statues and other artistic public works. The visuals flickered in and out, seemingly laced with other less... Inviting scenes. And then, nearly as abruptly as they came, they cut out.
In response to the signal, a team of biologists from the neighbouring nation of Green Corridor was dispatched to investigate. They arrived in orbit over one of the barren cities, the site of where the signal was triangulated to have originated from. Peering down into the sandy dunes below with their sensors, they prepared to land their investigatory team planetside...
The Praetorians were quick to respond to the possible promise of a new species artistic design to add to their collection and were very excited to begin, so excited in fact Magnus sent his last daughter Agripina the Aspectless and two Centurions to investigate this was a rather heavy investment of personnel but the diplomatic and artistic possibilities were well worth it. shortly after their initial departure the small Praetorian research fleet exited the fold and were somewhat dumbstruck by the ball of sand that they found themselves in orbit of
Agripina: "Begin to scan the world 45, this is clearly not what we saw in those signals, 32 Begin to triangulate our coordinates and make sure we arrived to the right location and send a progress report back to Lehon, the Emperor will undoubtedly want to hear of out progress"
45 and 32: Aye, Aspect Ma'am.
While these orders were carried out there was naught for the research fleet to do but wait
Empyria, Capitol of the Imperial Vires of Empyria
“No Eitl, sorry man.”
Eitlium rolled his eyes as he stood up, nodding to the Woman in the Purple Beret. Eitl was a dark skinned man in his late 30’s and today had his normal attire of a worn outdoorsman, a heavy coat, thick Graphjeans, and a fuzzy beard. As he turned around, the woman stood up.
“Wait hold on, I sure as hell ain't going to give you a Purp, but I do have another guy who might be interested. And hey, you do have A point...”
Imperia Spacedock, Economic Center of IVE
Truqtin sighed as he hurled a rucksack in one hand and a Rifle bag in another. The burly blonde in his 50’s stepped aboard a ship labeled “Ultria Industries.” A tech Giant from Imperia herself, specializing in Psionic technologies, most importantly the Non-Matter Inhibitor and other mostly Classified technologies that IVE liked to keep to herself. Truqtin on the other hand had the chance now to have a little blast from the past. A retired Purple Beret, the man was fit as a creme de la creme Purple Beret would be, and as an Omnicron, now held a special role in the mission soon to come. He now stepped into the ship, a rather large one, but it was civilian.
Waiting at the top, Eitl nodded to the man, bringing out his hand, “Truqtin I presume?” Truqtin nodded his head, as he came up to Eitl his imposing height became a bit more obvious. He brought out his hand, shaking his. “We have a lot of work to do, let's get going.”
Khedurlat, Khenatkem System, Tuvian Arm
Jadisi swiped a hologram left of her, obviously much more excited then normal. The Research Ship and an escorting Destroyer just exited Zip, expecting some high civilization. Her face dropped as she saw a grand total of 0 ships near the planet. A few dozen officers on the bridge walked around, confused about what was going on.
“Eitl, this is the right place, or have those astronomer fucks got us again?”
“No this is it Jad, cool your jets, and you're the one on the computers, so ya shouldn't be asking me any questions like that.” Eitl responded, waving to her to keep looking at the sensors. Jad rolled her eyes, obviously unhappy.
“Alright, well, because some of the sensors are still picking up some crazy things I have no clue what is, so we should still check it out, you got anything tough guy?”
“Were literally what, 4 AU away, I’m not gonna feel anything here” Truqtin now stated, leaning on a panel.
Jad sighed, looking at the planet again with FTL sensors, “I don't see any- wait hold on, zoom in on that.” on the Matter Scope, a small fleet of ships crested the horizon of the planet, showing themselves to the Empyrians. “Hey Cap, we got other visitors it seems.”
Eitl nodded, thinking, “Alright, bring this ship to begin investigating the planet, and let the destroyer deal with first contact. Lets just get about our business and not start a space war, aye?”
The two ships now FTL’d close to the planet, on the other side of the planet, and began preparations. The Destroyer circled herself around, the crew now readying for whatever encounter that was about to occur.
the arrival of the Empyrians had been noticed by the Praetorians who didn't make any effort to contact them until they noticed an warship heading towards them, using the just hours ago translated galactic common they learned from a simultaneous first encounter they broadcast some ancient poetry towards the destroyer hoping it to not be a hostile entity as the research vessels while being lightly armed still possessed basic Praetorian Tachyon light weaponry, after they had sent a few stanzas of other popular Praetorian poetry the ship issued a broadcast to the open space the alien ships occupied
"I am the Aspectless Agripina of the Infinite Praetorian Empire, I command these vessels for the Empire and my father the Infinite Emperor. We mean no harm to come from this encounter and simply seek to research the artistic and technological relics of the planet below if they are indeed there. Please keep a respectable distance from our vessels. If you wish to seek an audience with the Aspect you may request to do so through these channels"
Once the broadcast had been sent the bridge crew erupted into action, Praetorian ships were a vacuum which allowed for a friction-less environment for the Praetorians to move quickly about the ship since they had no need for the oxygen or other gas exchange anyways. Agripina was as nervous as the net would allow her to be, this was fairly quick first contact compared to the Empire's first go about in space and this encounter held alot at stake much was to be gained or lost depending on how well this diplomacy went as a small Praetorian patrol was on their way to assist should things turn for the worse
Bridge of the Aulurion Scope
Agripina: "32, Round up a boarding party and prepare to head for the surface, we shouldn't opperate under the assumption that they're thieves or pirates and should begin our exploration of this desert, we will be able to direct your efforts more accurately once the scans have come back to reveal if there's any locations of life or even old structures we can begin our investigation at"
32: "Aye Aspect"
Agripina: "45, how are those scans going? and in fact while you're at it begin to scan those alien vessels, It may behoove us to know of them in the future"
The Empyrian Destroyer spinned herself around, now matching the orbit of the Praetorians, not getting closer, but not getting farther. She held rather large weapons emplacements, and even larger VLS launch weaponry, but none of it was actively pointing at the Praetorians.
Captain Filtria breathed in, and turned on the camera. She donned a crisp Blue on Black Navy Uniform, a few bars on her chest, and other military insignia. Of course, the most noticeable was a perfectly kept Blue beret snapped on her head. From the Holograms perspective, she was a taller Asian woman, standing up with a few turned off hologram boards around her in a semicircle. Blurred out behind her was the back of the bridge, a shade of black and blue stripes, with the outlines of other people skittering behind her.
She was caught off-guard by the poetry, but now spoke in a Captains a beat off the norm,
“This is Captain Filtria of the Imperial Vires of Empyria Blue Berets, DDG-223. We come with peaceful motives and are also here because of these signals, we have other scientific vessels exploring the planet as well. We will keep a respectful distance from your ships as requested. I have no orders to speak with any higher audience of your Empire, but I expect the diplomatic team onboard would like to say otherwise. I am, though, not going to initiate any formal Diplomatic proceeding at this time, as we are only really here to escort the scientific element. I expect that I will receive other requests from our Command shortly which will amend the statement above, so I will keep this line open.”
The Captain looked down, making sure she said everything. She looked back up at the camera, nodding in a respectful tone before ending the feed.
Khedurlat, Khenatkem System, Tuvian Arm
Green Corridor Exploration Vessel
Light chatter drifted from the hangar as two scientists prepared the launch to be sent planetside. One, a pale individual of short stature, unhooked a fueling line and then turned towards the door at the far end of the chamber. Another man entered and gestured towards the craft.
"We have company," Jorg said. The ringing of his boots on the metallic floor muffled some of his words. He walked forward to meet the scientists halfway between the door and shuttle.
The pale scientist wiped his hands off on his coat. A number of tears snaked through the garment; a badge hung from one of the openings, pinned there by some clip. It read Keighton Harrison. "You find something down below?" he said quickly. A grin joined his words at the thought. The world might not be dead after all.
Jorg shook his head. "No," he replied. "FTL exit signatures. Seems at least two different parties are here as well."
A scowl wasted little time in defeating Keighton's grin. "You coming to tell us we need to call this off?"
"Well," Jorg hesitated, "not, well, no. Not quite." He shoved his hand into a free pocket and sighed. "They don't seem to have taken much notice of us yet, but they don't seem hostile. I will keep you two posted, but I thought you guys would want to know."
Keighton thought on the matter for a moment. Then, he nodded. "Better than being surprised planetside by them, I suppose. Alright. We'll go ahead and disembark. If you run into any problems I figure we'll hear about it rather quickly."
For a moment, Jorg seemed nearly as pale as Keighton. But he composed himself, and stuck out his hand. "Good luck," he wished, "I'll see you two in a bit."
"Likewise," Keighton returned the gesture. Turning away from Jorg, he motioned for the other scientist to begin start-up procedures. They went through the various checklists while Jorg watched, and soon brought the machine out of the hangar and made course for the world below.
As they left, Jorg returned to the bridge. One of the officers spoke quickly to him when he entered: "oh you're back, good. We messaged the fleets while you were gone - right before you got back, actually - we're waiting for a response."
"No hostile moves?" Jorg questioned. He sat down at his console and reached for the large cup perched by the edge. Steam wafted outward and warmth graced his hand as he brought the glass to his lips.
"Not yet."
Jorg nodded. "What'd you tell them?"
"Not too much," the officer replied. "Just identified ourselves and explained we're here to investigate the signals."
"Maybe we can work with them, then," Jorg suggested between two particularly long gulps. "Might make things easier."
"Maybe so," the officer shrugged, "maybe so."
The Praetorian vessel responded in the affirmative and mentioned to the Empyrian vessel that the Aspect will be attending the dig team planetside so if they wish to meet with her, they may do so down there while the excavations are taking place. Once that directive was sent the small research fleet released their defensive posture to align more closely with a large settlement they had scanned and found underneath the sand. the sheer amount of sediment muddled their scans so 32 and it's team along with Agripina were sent down from the Aulurian and brought the what would be necessary excavation equipment with them.
The fleet, now commanded by 45 was alarmed at the arrival of yet another vessel of yet another state, this was unprecedented in Praetorian history to have such a random double encounter with 2 separate peoples was both bizarre and worrisome of the tension it might play on diplomacy. however he made sure to issue a response to the vessel anyways
"Greetings, we are 45, Our designation for this encounter shall be... Preacher. We represent the Infinite Praetorian Empire and mean no harm as our vessels are lightly armed. We are simply here for research purposes and wish to examine the art and architecture of the civilization below. The Aspect of this team is currently headed planetside, if you wish to speak to a higher authority than us your best shot would to be to speak with her directly. If you wish to do so we will be sure to let her know, please bring a small, if possible, handheld example of the art of your people so we may examine it after the meeting if you so choose to do so, it is a common Praetorian exchange."
With the common exchange of diplomacy out of the way 45 messaged Agripina through the use of the net of the development in orbit to which Agripina could scarcely hide her shock and excitement at the prospect of meeting three new artistic cultures at once
DDG-224
Captain Filtria responded quite the same to the other scientific craft. While she stated that the scientific element of this expedition might be interested in joining up, they seemed to be doing their own thing.
Ultria Industries Generic Scientific Ship
“Alright, whats the plan?” Jad spun around in a chair, excited now that the science had begun.
Eitl breathed in, thinking. “Alright, Turn on the doo-dads we found to get us here, and I want to find some landing spot on the planet where there is the highest amount of these strange signals. After we go there, we can link up with the other parties and see if there is anymore clues. With the luck Grumpy back there has though, we are probably going to be going exactly where the other 2 groups are going.”
Truqtin rolled his eyes, now looking at the giant screens on the bridge now begin to fill up with graphs and maps pf the planet, as the whole ship began to spew off signals this way and that. The adventure had begun.
Khedurlat, Khenatkem System, Tuvian Arm
Returns from the various scans initiated by the arrived parties returned little beyond the visibly obvious. The world appeared dry, dead, and littered with the crumbling shadows of civilization long gone. Its grander days were clearly passed.
Echoes of the original signal, however, flickered in and out from one the cities. The roofs of skyscrapers poked from the dunes to provide reference with which to map the layout of the area in the absence of penetrative scans. Deeper searches, however, would reveal the extent of their burial; the sand truly was all-consuming.
Golden coffins of land, where emerald life once flourished.
But the aftershadows of the signal, though faint, were clearly discernible from the silence of the world - and cloistered within a forest of some of the tallest structures in the area they resonated, seemingly from the bowels of a large complex.
"Well there's our landing spot," Keighton said, pointing to a patch of sand not far from the spires of the structure. They seemed to be almost like communications towers, only hardier. His eyes drank in the implications of the oppressive scenery. "Looks like we'll have to force our way in," he said then, considering the thought.
His companion scientist chuckled nervously. "There's nothing but sand down there, we can't land on that." He banked the shuttle to get a better glimpse at the rolling dunes. Gusts of wind skipped along with ravenous haste, eager to be somewhere amidst the infinite nowhere. "I'll have to put it on autopilot, have it hover."
"That works," Keighton nodded. He reached for the communicator and it brought Jorg up on the display. "How are things up there with you guys?" he asked.
Jorg's complexion was enough for Keighton. Full colour with a hint of satisfaction dripping behind an outwardly neutral gaze. "Things went well," he said, agreeing with Keighton's assumption, "they aren't hostile. One of the parties expressed interest in opening more formal discourse with us."
"That's a relief," Keighton said. "I'm sure the diplomats will be happy to talk with them."
Jorg nodded. The mention of art was very intriguing, but he lacked official authority to speak on behalf of the Green Corridor. After regretfully explaining this, he went on to offer datalinks to ease exploration down below, and noted the landing zone Keighton had beamed back. Remembering this, he went on: "oh," he said without much segue, "I did offer them datalinks. They should be aware of your positions, so if you want to wait for them, I don't think they will be very long."
Keighton glanced at the time. It didn't mesh well with the local position of the sun. "I thought I reset that damn thing."
"I don't know why you insist on setting it to the local time anyway," interjected the other scientist.
"Oh, you know why," Keighton rolled his eyes. "At any rate, bring us down, will you?" He tensed momentarily, then looked back to Jorg on the comms. "Alright, understood. We can wait for them," he said. "Anything else?"
Jorg shook his head. "No. I don't think so."
Keighton nodded and turned the communicator off. Their machine descended down towards the drifting dunes and came to a hover a foot or two above them. Keighton hopped out first.
The other scientist leaned over towards Keighton. "Let me give this over to the AI and I'll join you down there, one second," he said.
Keighton nodded. The dingy sun hung almost directly overhead and beat down with all the hatred of its advanced age. The shimmering air danced in the heat and hid the horizon behind a mirage, and the glint of the sunlight off the shuttle made the orange glow from the ancient star that much more impressive.
Agripina having been given the information redirected their landing to the area this "Green Corridor" had also set down putting the sleek troop carriers down in the sand the Praetorians extended hardlight ramps from the rear of the ships so equipment and digging teams could offload from the shuttle, their deep crimson light casting illusions of pooling blood in the sand below them as metallic praetorian feet stepped off them silently into the sand below the Praetorians exiting began setting up digging equipment and awaiting at their stations for any further orders once a secure area had been determined and any necessary equipment had been set up Agripina and 32 exited the lead transport. Agripina appeared as any normal Aspect her body resplendent in gold and silver plating seeming bare of the etchings that most of the other Praetorians seemed to be sporting, she wore a purple cloak around her shoulders to protect her from the annoying blowing of the sands as 32 walked behind her. 32 was a Centurion and while not as tall as Agripina stood a good 6 inches taller than the other Praetorians, he had deep etchings in his gold plating inlaid with onyx depicting scenes of Kings and nobles ruling over their people. Having already made contact with them in orbit Agripina awaited the Green Corridor to approach the Praetorians as 32 began ordering them to work and began carefully excavating
Khedurlat
A Vantablack small DropShip found itself turning through the atmosphere, landing by the anomalous structure. A small team of around 10 came off, as well as 2 DOGGO-C’s. The DOGGO’s were civilian versions of the Green Beret Support Robot, now just a bipedal bot carrying a bunch of random shit the explorers decided to bring with them. Seeing the 2 other parties, Eitl led his bunch of adventurers to the entrance to the large structure, and waited outside for the other two parties to come on over and link up. Eitl waved over to them a few times, but the dunes around them and the mirage made it hard to discern what the Empyrians were doing, and vis versa. (edited)
Keighton wrapped a scarf around his nose and mouth. The dry air was almost overwhelming, and he thought it'd be best to avoid inhaling any more dust than need be. His companion said something through his own face covering but the sounds of his comment were muffled by the rustling winds and the strip of cloth keeping them out of his windpipe.
"Looks like our friends are here," Keighton said finally as he eyed the two groups of strangers. An eyebrow crept towards his hairline as he watched the Praetorians in particular. Their machinelike forms were not expected, but then again, he didn't really know just what to expect. "Damn this weather."
"I'm sure it'll clear up soon enough," he companion assured him. "If not, inside it'll be far better."
Keighton's eyebrow remained raised. "Yes, I'm sure," he said. "Anything's better than this out here." He nodded satisfactorily to himself and made his way over to the nearer of the two groups of newcomers - the ones clad in silver and gold. He neared the tallest of the group and waved to them. "Glad you guys could join us down here," he called. "We're working on a way in."
"I think the others may have found a way in," his companion called from some distance away. "They seem to be gathered by some sort of window."
Keighton turned to see. Through the sands he could just about see a distant figure waving to him and the Praetorians. He waved back, just in case they could make out the gesture. Then - turning back towards Agripina - he said: "it looks like we have our way in."
The entrance the Empyrians stumbled upon seemed to be the remains of a skylight. Without power, the interior was dark and swallowed what little light entered it. But it was safe from the shifting sands.
Eitl looked down into the dark chasms from the skylight.
“You know how fuckin far that goes?” Eitl said, sniffing a bit as scrunched his eyes, looking intently.
Truqtin looked down, his glasses flipping through to a night-vision mode and looking down. One of the perks of being Ex-Purp.
“We’ll it's something”
The Praetorians gathered around the skylight 32 and Agripina looked to each other voicing a quick internal conversation across their network before 32 looked back to the boarding craft. Three hovering fairly spiderlike craft approximately one meter across exited the shuttled and made their way towards the skylight, as they neared one could see that each of the tips of their "Legs" ended in some sort of tool each one designed for the Praetorians favorite B&E activity, Breaking and Exploring. One of the drones extended a leg which hummed to life with a short range laser glass cutter to cut a whole neatly into the skylight so as to let in as little sand as possible but also permit entry to the parties present. Agripina spoke to the man seemingly in charge of the Empyrian team
"This would appear to be the way in but it may be a bit more dangerous for your.... inf - organic, forms"
The view into the interior of the structure was bleak; there was no solid ground for quite a far distance. Through their night-vision mode, machinery and other types of hardware could be made out by the Empyrians. It seemed to be fairly open, with a number of hallways that led to closed doors. Whatever they were, they did not appear to be generators or comms arrays, or anything that might have been used to send the signal.
Keighton looked down into the abyss and shuddered. It was dark and far and he didn't think he had enough rope on him to safely make the trip all the way down. He turned to the Praetorians.
"Say," he asked, "do you think your drones might be able to carry us down?"
"Yeah, that might be the best option for us, our Quadrupedal friends here may have a lot to offer, but I'd rather not offer my squishy body into the abyss first, what say you and those drones?"
* * *
The group of explorers made their way deeper into the complex and eventually came upon the source of the signal. The spirit of the planet spoke to them there, telling them of an earlier age, when Durlatites knew the desert and lived with it, before greenery came and blue waters flowed. The explorers told the spirit that worlds change and evolve, and that greenery can exist alongside the desert sands. The spirit thanked them for their kind words and declared that it would give civilization a chance once again.
Indeterminate Time Prior to the Present Day
"We have to go, they're almost here," spoke the Durlatite. His raspy voice, dry from the choking dust, hesitated. A computer to his side complained through the ordeal, apparently unhappy at the prospect of being shut down. Its complaints were ignored as the last bits of power drained from its circuits while the Durlatite looked out across the room yet again to his non-machine companion.
"Yes, I know," replied the other from the frame of the distant window. "I have everything I think we need," she said. "I am ready when you are." She stepped forward as if to confirm her readiness - a motion that took her gaze from the bustling streets just outside the window. The traffic there all streamed west at less than ideal swiftness; she could only appreciate the distraction from it.
From the opposite side of the room, the other Durlatite nodded. "Let's go," he agreed - while shoving the computer in his pocket - then headed for the door. It opened automatically as he neared. Almost immediately, an arid torrent of wind smothered his face. Sand spilled into the room mere moments later and advanced on the shoulders of the warm breeze. And beyond the door, in the hallway proper, even more sand flowed forth.
"Shit," he scowled, "I thought we had more time..."
Khedurlat, Khenatkem System, Tuvian Arm
Present Day
The vast cities of Khedurlat rested within tombs of sand - the homes and businesses, centers of commerce, industry, and governance - silent as they have been since their fall. With no FTL-capable spaceships or larger presence on the galactic stage, the all-encroaching silence that overtook the civilization was overlooked by many... Until now. The heightened magical activity of nations in the local region sparked reactions within the leyline over Khedurlat.
A pulse was sent out, of images of what Khedurlat once was; lush fields, vibrant city-centres, and dizzying collections of statues and other artistic public works. The visuals flickered in and out, seemingly laced with other less... Inviting scenes. And then, nearly as abruptly as they came, they cut out.
In response to the signal, a team of biologists from the neighbouring nation of Green Corridor was dispatched to investigate. They arrived in orbit over one of the barren cities, the site of where the signal was triangulated to have originated from. Peering down into the sandy dunes below with their sensors, they prepared to land their investigatory team planetside...
The Praetorians were quick to respond to the possible promise of a new species artistic design to add to their collection and were very excited to begin, so excited in fact Magnus sent his last daughter Agripina the Aspectless and two Centurions to investigate this was a rather heavy investment of personnel but the diplomatic and artistic possibilities were well worth it. shortly after their initial departure the small Praetorian research fleet exited the fold and were somewhat dumbstruck by the ball of sand that they found themselves in orbit of
Agripina: "Begin to scan the world 45, this is clearly not what we saw in those signals, 32 Begin to triangulate our coordinates and make sure we arrived to the right location and send a progress report back to Lehon, the Emperor will undoubtedly want to hear of out progress"
45 and 32: Aye, Aspect Ma'am.
While these orders were carried out there was naught for the research fleet to do but wait
Empyria, Capitol of the Imperial Vires of Empyria
“No Eitl, sorry man.”
Eitlium rolled his eyes as he stood up, nodding to the Woman in the Purple Beret. Eitl was a dark skinned man in his late 30’s and today had his normal attire of a worn outdoorsman, a heavy coat, thick Graphjeans, and a fuzzy beard. As he turned around, the woman stood up.
“Wait hold on, I sure as hell ain't going to give you a Purp, but I do have another guy who might be interested. And hey, you do have A point...”
Imperia Spacedock, Economic Center of IVE
Truqtin sighed as he hurled a rucksack in one hand and a Rifle bag in another. The burly blonde in his 50’s stepped aboard a ship labeled “Ultria Industries.” A tech Giant from Imperia herself, specializing in Psionic technologies, most importantly the Non-Matter Inhibitor and other mostly Classified technologies that IVE liked to keep to herself. Truqtin on the other hand had the chance now to have a little blast from the past. A retired Purple Beret, the man was fit as a creme de la creme Purple Beret would be, and as an Omnicron, now held a special role in the mission soon to come. He now stepped into the ship, a rather large one, but it was civilian.
Waiting at the top, Eitl nodded to the man, bringing out his hand, “Truqtin I presume?” Truqtin nodded his head, as he came up to Eitl his imposing height became a bit more obvious. He brought out his hand, shaking his. “We have a lot of work to do, let's get going.”
Khedurlat, Khenatkem System, Tuvian Arm
Jadisi swiped a hologram left of her, obviously much more excited then normal. The Research Ship and an escorting Destroyer just exited Zip, expecting some high civilization. Her face dropped as she saw a grand total of 0 ships near the planet. A few dozen officers on the bridge walked around, confused about what was going on.
“Eitl, this is the right place, or have those astronomer fucks got us again?”
“No this is it Jad, cool your jets, and you're the one on the computers, so ya shouldn't be asking me any questions like that.” Eitl responded, waving to her to keep looking at the sensors. Jad rolled her eyes, obviously unhappy.
“Alright, well, because some of the sensors are still picking up some crazy things I have no clue what is, so we should still check it out, you got anything tough guy?”
“Were literally what, 4 AU away, I’m not gonna feel anything here” Truqtin now stated, leaning on a panel.
Jad sighed, looking at the planet again with FTL sensors, “I don't see any- wait hold on, zoom in on that.” on the Matter Scope, a small fleet of ships crested the horizon of the planet, showing themselves to the Empyrians. “Hey Cap, we got other visitors it seems.”
Eitl nodded, thinking, “Alright, bring this ship to begin investigating the planet, and let the destroyer deal with first contact. Lets just get about our business and not start a space war, aye?”
The two ships now FTL’d close to the planet, on the other side of the planet, and began preparations. The Destroyer circled herself around, the crew now readying for whatever encounter that was about to occur.
the arrival of the Empyrians had been noticed by the Praetorians who didn't make any effort to contact them until they noticed an warship heading towards them, using the just hours ago translated galactic common they learned from a simultaneous first encounter they broadcast some ancient poetry towards the destroyer hoping it to not be a hostile entity as the research vessels while being lightly armed still possessed basic Praetorian Tachyon light weaponry, after they had sent a few stanzas of other popular Praetorian poetry the ship issued a broadcast to the open space the alien ships occupied
"I am the Aspectless Agripina of the Infinite Praetorian Empire, I command these vessels for the Empire and my father the Infinite Emperor. We mean no harm to come from this encounter and simply seek to research the artistic and technological relics of the planet below if they are indeed there. Please keep a respectable distance from our vessels. If you wish to seek an audience with the Aspect you may request to do so through these channels"
Once the broadcast had been sent the bridge crew erupted into action, Praetorian ships were a vacuum which allowed for a friction-less environment for the Praetorians to move quickly about the ship since they had no need for the oxygen or other gas exchange anyways. Agripina was as nervous as the net would allow her to be, this was fairly quick first contact compared to the Empire's first go about in space and this encounter held alot at stake much was to be gained or lost depending on how well this diplomacy went as a small Praetorian patrol was on their way to assist should things turn for the worse
Bridge of the Aulurion Scope
Agripina: "32, Round up a boarding party and prepare to head for the surface, we shouldn't opperate under the assumption that they're thieves or pirates and should begin our exploration of this desert, we will be able to direct your efforts more accurately once the scans have come back to reveal if there's any locations of life or even old structures we can begin our investigation at"
32: "Aye Aspect"
Agripina: "45, how are those scans going? and in fact while you're at it begin to scan those alien vessels, It may behoove us to know of them in the future"
The Empyrian Destroyer spinned herself around, now matching the orbit of the Praetorians, not getting closer, but not getting farther. She held rather large weapons emplacements, and even larger VLS launch weaponry, but none of it was actively pointing at the Praetorians.
Captain Filtria breathed in, and turned on the camera. She donned a crisp Blue on Black Navy Uniform, a few bars on her chest, and other military insignia. Of course, the most noticeable was a perfectly kept Blue beret snapped on her head. From the Holograms perspective, she was a taller Asian woman, standing up with a few turned off hologram boards around her in a semicircle. Blurred out behind her was the back of the bridge, a shade of black and blue stripes, with the outlines of other people skittering behind her.
She was caught off-guard by the poetry, but now spoke in a Captains a beat off the norm,
“This is Captain Filtria of the Imperial Vires of Empyria Blue Berets, DDG-223. We come with peaceful motives and are also here because of these signals, we have other scientific vessels exploring the planet as well. We will keep a respectful distance from your ships as requested. I have no orders to speak with any higher audience of your Empire, but I expect the diplomatic team onboard would like to say otherwise. I am, though, not going to initiate any formal Diplomatic proceeding at this time, as we are only really here to escort the scientific element. I expect that I will receive other requests from our Command shortly which will amend the statement above, so I will keep this line open.”
The Captain looked down, making sure she said everything. She looked back up at the camera, nodding in a respectful tone before ending the feed.
Khedurlat, Khenatkem System, Tuvian Arm
Green Corridor Exploration Vessel
Light chatter drifted from the hangar as two scientists prepared the launch to be sent planetside. One, a pale individual of short stature, unhooked a fueling line and then turned towards the door at the far end of the chamber. Another man entered and gestured towards the craft.
"We have company," Jorg said. The ringing of his boots on the metallic floor muffled some of his words. He walked forward to meet the scientists halfway between the door and shuttle.
The pale scientist wiped his hands off on his coat. A number of tears snaked through the garment; a badge hung from one of the openings, pinned there by some clip. It read Keighton Harrison. "You find something down below?" he said quickly. A grin joined his words at the thought. The world might not be dead after all.
Jorg shook his head. "No," he replied. "FTL exit signatures. Seems at least two different parties are here as well."
A scowl wasted little time in defeating Keighton's grin. "You coming to tell us we need to call this off?"
"Well," Jorg hesitated, "not, well, no. Not quite." He shoved his hand into a free pocket and sighed. "They don't seem to have taken much notice of us yet, but they don't seem hostile. I will keep you two posted, but I thought you guys would want to know."
Keighton thought on the matter for a moment. Then, he nodded. "Better than being surprised planetside by them, I suppose. Alright. We'll go ahead and disembark. If you run into any problems I figure we'll hear about it rather quickly."
For a moment, Jorg seemed nearly as pale as Keighton. But he composed himself, and stuck out his hand. "Good luck," he wished, "I'll see you two in a bit."
"Likewise," Keighton returned the gesture. Turning away from Jorg, he motioned for the other scientist to begin start-up procedures. They went through the various checklists while Jorg watched, and soon brought the machine out of the hangar and made course for the world below.
As they left, Jorg returned to the bridge. One of the officers spoke quickly to him when he entered: "oh you're back, good. We messaged the fleets while you were gone - right before you got back, actually - we're waiting for a response."
"No hostile moves?" Jorg questioned. He sat down at his console and reached for the large cup perched by the edge. Steam wafted outward and warmth graced his hand as he brought the glass to his lips.
"Not yet."
Jorg nodded. "What'd you tell them?"
"Not too much," the officer replied. "Just identified ourselves and explained we're here to investigate the signals."
"Maybe we can work with them, then," Jorg suggested between two particularly long gulps. "Might make things easier."
"Maybe so," the officer shrugged, "maybe so."
The Praetorian vessel responded in the affirmative and mentioned to the Empyrian vessel that the Aspect will be attending the dig team planetside so if they wish to meet with her, they may do so down there while the excavations are taking place. Once that directive was sent the small research fleet released their defensive posture to align more closely with a large settlement they had scanned and found underneath the sand. the sheer amount of sediment muddled their scans so 32 and it's team along with Agripina were sent down from the Aulurian and brought the what would be necessary excavation equipment with them.
The fleet, now commanded by 45 was alarmed at the arrival of yet another vessel of yet another state, this was unprecedented in Praetorian history to have such a random double encounter with 2 separate peoples was both bizarre and worrisome of the tension it might play on diplomacy. however he made sure to issue a response to the vessel anyways
"Greetings, we are 45, Our designation for this encounter shall be... Preacher. We represent the Infinite Praetorian Empire and mean no harm as our vessels are lightly armed. We are simply here for research purposes and wish to examine the art and architecture of the civilization below. The Aspect of this team is currently headed planetside, if you wish to speak to a higher authority than us your best shot would to be to speak with her directly. If you wish to do so we will be sure to let her know, please bring a small, if possible, handheld example of the art of your people so we may examine it after the meeting if you so choose to do so, it is a common Praetorian exchange."
With the common exchange of diplomacy out of the way 45 messaged Agripina through the use of the net of the development in orbit to which Agripina could scarcely hide her shock and excitement at the prospect of meeting three new artistic cultures at once
DDG-224
Captain Filtria responded quite the same to the other scientific craft. While she stated that the scientific element of this expedition might be interested in joining up, they seemed to be doing their own thing.
Ultria Industries Generic Scientific Ship
“Alright, whats the plan?” Jad spun around in a chair, excited now that the science had begun.
Eitl breathed in, thinking. “Alright, Turn on the doo-dads we found to get us here, and I want to find some landing spot on the planet where there is the highest amount of these strange signals. After we go there, we can link up with the other parties and see if there is anymore clues. With the luck Grumpy back there has though, we are probably going to be going exactly where the other 2 groups are going.”
Truqtin rolled his eyes, now looking at the giant screens on the bridge now begin to fill up with graphs and maps pf the planet, as the whole ship began to spew off signals this way and that. The adventure had begun.
Khedurlat, Khenatkem System, Tuvian Arm
Returns from the various scans initiated by the arrived parties returned little beyond the visibly obvious. The world appeared dry, dead, and littered with the crumbling shadows of civilization long gone. Its grander days were clearly passed.
Echoes of the original signal, however, flickered in and out from one the cities. The roofs of skyscrapers poked from the dunes to provide reference with which to map the layout of the area in the absence of penetrative scans. Deeper searches, however, would reveal the extent of their burial; the sand truly was all-consuming.
Golden coffins of land, where emerald life once flourished.
But the aftershadows of the signal, though faint, were clearly discernible from the silence of the world - and cloistered within a forest of some of the tallest structures in the area they resonated, seemingly from the bowels of a large complex.
"Well there's our landing spot," Keighton said, pointing to a patch of sand not far from the spires of the structure. They seemed to be almost like communications towers, only hardier. His eyes drank in the implications of the oppressive scenery. "Looks like we'll have to force our way in," he said then, considering the thought.
His companion scientist chuckled nervously. "There's nothing but sand down there, we can't land on that." He banked the shuttle to get a better glimpse at the rolling dunes. Gusts of wind skipped along with ravenous haste, eager to be somewhere amidst the infinite nowhere. "I'll have to put it on autopilot, have it hover."
"That works," Keighton nodded. He reached for the communicator and it brought Jorg up on the display. "How are things up there with you guys?" he asked.
Jorg's complexion was enough for Keighton. Full colour with a hint of satisfaction dripping behind an outwardly neutral gaze. "Things went well," he said, agreeing with Keighton's assumption, "they aren't hostile. One of the parties expressed interest in opening more formal discourse with us."
"That's a relief," Keighton said. "I'm sure the diplomats will be happy to talk with them."
Jorg nodded. The mention of art was very intriguing, but he lacked official authority to speak on behalf of the Green Corridor. After regretfully explaining this, he went on to offer datalinks to ease exploration down below, and noted the landing zone Keighton had beamed back. Remembering this, he went on: "oh," he said without much segue, "I did offer them datalinks. They should be aware of your positions, so if you want to wait for them, I don't think they will be very long."
Keighton glanced at the time. It didn't mesh well with the local position of the sun. "I thought I reset that damn thing."
"I don't know why you insist on setting it to the local time anyway," interjected the other scientist.
"Oh, you know why," Keighton rolled his eyes. "At any rate, bring us down, will you?" He tensed momentarily, then looked back to Jorg on the comms. "Alright, understood. We can wait for them," he said. "Anything else?"
Jorg shook his head. "No. I don't think so."
Keighton nodded and turned the communicator off. Their machine descended down towards the drifting dunes and came to a hover a foot or two above them. Keighton hopped out first.
The other scientist leaned over towards Keighton. "Let me give this over to the AI and I'll join you down there, one second," he said.
Keighton nodded. The dingy sun hung almost directly overhead and beat down with all the hatred of its advanced age. The shimmering air danced in the heat and hid the horizon behind a mirage, and the glint of the sunlight off the shuttle made the orange glow from the ancient star that much more impressive.
Agripina having been given the information redirected their landing to the area this "Green Corridor" had also set down putting the sleek troop carriers down in the sand the Praetorians extended hardlight ramps from the rear of the ships so equipment and digging teams could offload from the shuttle, their deep crimson light casting illusions of pooling blood in the sand below them as metallic praetorian feet stepped off them silently into the sand below the Praetorians exiting began setting up digging equipment and awaiting at their stations for any further orders once a secure area had been determined and any necessary equipment had been set up Agripina and 32 exited the lead transport. Agripina appeared as any normal Aspect her body resplendent in gold and silver plating seeming bare of the etchings that most of the other Praetorians seemed to be sporting, she wore a purple cloak around her shoulders to protect her from the annoying blowing of the sands as 32 walked behind her. 32 was a Centurion and while not as tall as Agripina stood a good 6 inches taller than the other Praetorians, he had deep etchings in his gold plating inlaid with onyx depicting scenes of Kings and nobles ruling over their people. Having already made contact with them in orbit Agripina awaited the Green Corridor to approach the Praetorians as 32 began ordering them to work and began carefully excavating
Khedurlat
A Vantablack small DropShip found itself turning through the atmosphere, landing by the anomalous structure. A small team of around 10 came off, as well as 2 DOGGO-C’s. The DOGGO’s were civilian versions of the Green Beret Support Robot, now just a bipedal bot carrying a bunch of random shit the explorers decided to bring with them. Seeing the 2 other parties, Eitl led his bunch of adventurers to the entrance to the large structure, and waited outside for the other two parties to come on over and link up. Eitl waved over to them a few times, but the dunes around them and the mirage made it hard to discern what the Empyrians were doing, and vis versa. (edited)
Keighton wrapped a scarf around his nose and mouth. The dry air was almost overwhelming, and he thought it'd be best to avoid inhaling any more dust than need be. His companion said something through his own face covering but the sounds of his comment were muffled by the rustling winds and the strip of cloth keeping them out of his windpipe.
"Looks like our friends are here," Keighton said finally as he eyed the two groups of strangers. An eyebrow crept towards his hairline as he watched the Praetorians in particular. Their machinelike forms were not expected, but then again, he didn't really know just what to expect. "Damn this weather."
"I'm sure it'll clear up soon enough," he companion assured him. "If not, inside it'll be far better."
Keighton's eyebrow remained raised. "Yes, I'm sure," he said. "Anything's better than this out here." He nodded satisfactorily to himself and made his way over to the nearer of the two groups of newcomers - the ones clad in silver and gold. He neared the tallest of the group and waved to them. "Glad you guys could join us down here," he called. "We're working on a way in."
"I think the others may have found a way in," his companion called from some distance away. "They seem to be gathered by some sort of window."
Keighton turned to see. Through the sands he could just about see a distant figure waving to him and the Praetorians. He waved back, just in case they could make out the gesture. Then - turning back towards Agripina - he said: "it looks like we have our way in."
The entrance the Empyrians stumbled upon seemed to be the remains of a skylight. Without power, the interior was dark and swallowed what little light entered it. But it was safe from the shifting sands.
Eitl looked down into the dark chasms from the skylight.
“You know how fuckin far that goes?” Eitl said, sniffing a bit as scrunched his eyes, looking intently.
Truqtin looked down, his glasses flipping through to a night-vision mode and looking down. One of the perks of being Ex-Purp.
“We’ll it's something”
The Praetorians gathered around the skylight 32 and Agripina looked to each other voicing a quick internal conversation across their network before 32 looked back to the boarding craft. Three hovering fairly spiderlike craft approximately one meter across exited the shuttled and made their way towards the skylight, as they neared one could see that each of the tips of their "Legs" ended in some sort of tool each one designed for the Praetorians favorite B&E activity, Breaking and Exploring. One of the drones extended a leg which hummed to life with a short range laser glass cutter to cut a whole neatly into the skylight so as to let in as little sand as possible but also permit entry to the parties present. Agripina spoke to the man seemingly in charge of the Empyrian team
"This would appear to be the way in but it may be a bit more dangerous for your.... inf - organic, forms"
The view into the interior of the structure was bleak; there was no solid ground for quite a far distance. Through their night-vision mode, machinery and other types of hardware could be made out by the Empyrians. It seemed to be fairly open, with a number of hallways that led to closed doors. Whatever they were, they did not appear to be generators or comms arrays, or anything that might have been used to send the signal.
Keighton looked down into the abyss and shuddered. It was dark and far and he didn't think he had enough rope on him to safely make the trip all the way down. He turned to the Praetorians.
"Say," he asked, "do you think your drones might be able to carry us down?"
"Yeah, that might be the best option for us, our Quadrupedal friends here may have a lot to offer, but I'd rather not offer my squishy body into the abyss first, what say you and those drones?"
* * *
The group of explorers made their way deeper into the complex and eventually came upon the source of the signal. The spirit of the planet spoke to them there, telling them of an earlier age, when Durlatites knew the desert and lived with it, before greenery came and blue waters flowed. The explorers told the spirit that worlds change and evolve, and that greenery can exist alongside the desert sands. The spirit thanked them for their kind words and declared that it would give civilization a chance once again.