Post by EmperorMyric on Mar 22, 2021 15:49:51 GMT
"Sure hope these coordinates are correct, I wouldn't want to stumble into some minefield over in this part of the galaxy" Margheriti flatly stated, looking over to the helmsman, as if studying his movements. The helmsman calmly responded "I went over them twice, and even had a Mantis go over it as well, we're safely away from where most of the conflicts are in this sector of the galaxy." As if a bag of stone was dropped from the Rear Admiral's back, he relaxed, and moved on with his mission. It was well known about the WRL, the TDA, and then the Davians involved in a war with a loose alliance calling themselves 'AURA'. The name sounded nice rolling off the tongue, but he was worried that his ship may get caught up in a fight with him in the crossfire. These worries soon became null as his safety was assured, eyeing his new console.
"Well then, we need to see what we can sniff out around the TDA, if there's any strategic locations or areas to mine exotic materials, we need to know to give ourselves a boost to the Alliance's trust of us. With the conflict safely away, shall we?" The helmsman nodded, and began their usual procedure, warping to different systems, scanning them and then moving on, compiling sufficient data to bring back to the Empire. It was long, tedius work, but one that rewarded those that had success, promotions and more. Someday, someday he would join that list.
Lost in his daydreams, his fleet arrived into another system, and began their routine, scanning the system, cataloging, until several anomalies came up on sensors, breaking the daydream and grabbing the attention of Margheriti. His fleet soon moved towards the direction of the unusual sensor readings, soon they'd meet the ones that where giving off those signals.
Andraste Amastacia, United Worlds of Alondria Junior Admiral, let her eyes wander towards the coffee boiling in its pot as her ship, the Abla, the last battle cruiser made by the UWA for the sake of the United Fleets. She was only drawn back to reality by her Executive Officer and Captain of the Amastacian Patrol, Elyzabeth Webb. She said,
"Admiral Andraste, we have arrived at our third waypoint. However, it seems that Lieutenant Casandra, who is in command of Caroline and Lieutenant Adrienne in command of Violet, have encountered a foreign fleet entering our sector of responsibility. Orders?"
The Junior Admiral halted and raised her hand, bringing the attention of her XO who said to the rest of the officers who were on the deck, "Attention to the Admiral!"
And they gave her attention, just as she spoke to them,
"I want everyone ready for emergency procedures, both combat and evacuation. XO, I want you to contact the nearest patrol and move on to directing us towards this fleet. Allow us to orbit by half their distance and get all weapons ready. I will assume command of communications."
The officers moved out, carrying out their Admirals orders as the Admiral herself, who wore the traditional silk and leather armored uniform of Senai women, walked towards the communications officer and his men and quickly was handed to her the microphone. The men performed according to their training, allowing the Admiral to go unto the universal channel that could let her speak with the unknown fleet if they could understand her.
As her ship and the rest of her patrol started to turn and make their way towards the unknown ships, she spoke in English,
"This is United Worlds of Alondrian space. You are entering a sector under the jurisdiction of the United Fleets of the UWA. I am Junior Admiral Amastacia and I am, if you value life, requesting that you respond or we will prepare to treat you as a threat. Will you comply?"
He watched as the signals where converted into ship types, those that weren't in any database, from Triarch's nor the Dectrose's Network. Before him where an entirely new species, likely a new nation he stumbled upon. His gaze went over their maneuvers, already they recognized his own ships, and moved to intercept his small fleet. He ordered his helmsman to assume the non-hostile position, with his guns down, below the plane that the other ships where traveling. He was about to send over binary of their neutral intent when the communication opened from the other side, speaking in General quite clearly. "Well, isn't that a nice surprise, we don't even need the translators, Comms officer, open a channel."
With a short pause to listen to the communication from the incoming UWA fleet, Margheriti began to speak to Junior Admiral Amastacia "Yes, we will comply, we are here for exploration purposes, and do not seek to pose a threat. I am Rear Admiral Domenic Margheriti, on the Orian V Cruiser 'Duca d'Nuovo York'. This is Exploration Fleet Delta, in service to the Dectrose Empire. If I may, is there anything else you require to know? If so, I could propose a meeting on neutral ground and sit down with our respective 'cup of teas'."
He smiled softly, his usual demeanor already worming out and aiming to flatter and charm the Junior Admiral, of course, with such a neutral attitude already being shown by his ships, and his compliance, he had hopes that they would agree, and he could discuss some of the more finer things with another race that spoke the same language.
The Senai narrowed her alien eyes at the transmission, choosing to pause as their ships started to already surround Domenic and his Delta fleet. She looked to her officers who all nodded except for her XO who simply said with a lower voice,
"Press them."
To which the Senai took it as a suggestion, making her return to the microphone to reply to him with a sterner voice
"No nonsense please. I will be boarding your ship personally. Do not resist and make sure your men do not harm mine. We will not meet on neutral ground. You are a fleet of an empire and you have entered a sector of a democratic faction. I will ensure that you will go no further until I have met you personally and deemed you safe after this encounter. Again, I am boarding your ship personally. Prepare to be boarded. This is Junior Admiral Amastacia."
And quickly she slammed the microphone down as she grabbed her jacket and put it over herself as the XO followed while the third officer took over. The two commanders made it out of the command bridge as the XO picked up her own wireless communicator to give orders to the Naval Infantry on board the Abla while Amastacia took out her sidearm, a high powered pistol that could fire anti personnel rounds filled with highly infectious diseases and checked to see if it was loaded. It was and she put it back as she whispered to her XO
"Quicker."
His heart skipped a beat for a moment, chills made their way down his augmented spine. There he was, in the same place he wished to avoid his entire career, the one incident he swore to never personally be the one in charge of.
Boarding.
After bringing himself back into reality, and back in command of his vessel, and his fate, he opened up communications again "We will comply with your boarding, if you require it, we shall give you docking instructions to our bays on the ship, I am ordering the shutdown of our engines until you deem us safe to make passage through your sector, Rear Admiral Margheriti, signing off." He had a cold look to his eyes, glazed over even. The bridge crew knew all too well what occurred the last time an exploration vessel was boarded, and in a twisted sense of humor, this ship too, was state-of-the-art. Margheriti was playing the incident in his head, over, and over, and over.
This was the first time his crew had ever seen a full break in his usual flattering, charming personality, he was facing down his largest fear right here, right now. He inhaled, a visual gesture mostly, his lungs where augmented to not require the movement, and exhaled, standing up fully now, his crew quickly stood up to salute, trying to bolster him with confidence. He took it in stride, and began to make his way to the docking bays, to meet with the new arrivals, by his order, the engines cut off, and the Marines that had gone to protect him only carried themselves, no firearms by their sides. He appreciated the gesture they had in keeping close to him, they where reassuring to have, even without weapons.
Her Naval Infantry were heavily armed. Her men were equipped with state of the art UWA-11NI Type One assault rifles, meant for the Naval Infantry and them alone. Each rifle carried by a Naval Infantryman was registered to that persons serial number and no one could ever take it out of their hands unless that person was dead.
As they followed her and her XO towards the docking bays as her ship got closer and closer and closer to the ship, turning off their own weapons as a gesture of trust, the Admiral kept her glare as her hands tightened around the belt which she chose to hold onto to show dominance while her XO was given a carbine version of the UWA-11N1 Type One, loading standard issued rounds capable of piercing through several layers of flesh in no sweat into it.
Now they only had to wait as ten more Naval Infantrymen waited several meters behind them, positioning their own rifles, getting ready to aim at anyone that would appear before them.
And simply, the Senai spoke
"One false move and this one is my kill~"
With his face to the door, Margheriti's mind raced, though his processor hundreds of incidents flashed into his mind, what would happen? What was the worst case scenario? Would they simply shoot him and take his ship? What exactly is going to happen when that door opened? The marine next to him tapped his arm, and he was thankfully pulled out of his mind, and nodded towards the marine, the marine's voice speaking in a synthetic tone as he reassured the Rear Admiral "Don't worry sir, we've got your back."
He knew full well what Dectrothian Marines could do if backed into a corner, even more, the Mantis IIIs around his ship would likely give their lives to protect him. His temples felt fuzzy, his heart beat like a drum against his chest, harder and harder, like war drums on a ship closing in on an enemy. He closed his eyes, drowned out the drumming until there was nought but silence, and opened the door.
Meeting him was the sight of the other's Naval Infantry, posed and ready to strike, he gazed at them for a little while, and pushed himself forward, outwardly maintaining the appearance of a usual Officer, proud and courteous, but inside his mind was gunfire, the rattling of his fears banging around in his head. He kept pressing on, maintaining his posture and stride until he was in a safe distance away, where the other could be heard, and if they wished to approach him they would. His mouth opened, feeling dry like cotton. "Welcome onboard the 'Duca d'Nuovo York', I am Rear Admiral Margheriti of the Dectrose Empire. We are pleased to have you onboard. What shall be the first order of business?"
The Admiral glared at that man, attempting to drive into this....seemingly nervous, handsome, charming....ah, what the hell? She blinked and kept her eyes on him as she approached, stepping loudly with her heels, circling him as she kept her hands away from her pistol, her Naval Infantry keeping their guns aimed at their targets, especially the other Naval Infantry. One could say they were all diverse. Men, women, dark, light, alien and human. Alon, Senai and Syran.
The Admiral then stopped just as she was behind the man and went closer, closer until the strands of his human hair brushed against her nose, letting her smell him. She then quit after a moment and faced him, saying very sharply, like a bayonet was already upon his neck
"Keep silent, Dear Admiral, unless you want to incur the wrath of freedom, unity and democracy. Now...the first order of business....is what I wish for it to be...." She turned to her men and to her XO, nodding. The XO smiled and said loudly and clearly
"Search the ship!"
He maintained silence, his grey, pale skin color easily visible now, contrasting with his brightly lit orange pupils, the glow originating from his augmentations, in fact, they where around his neck, ears and his left temple as well, the combination of technology and man a stark contrast to those that had boarded, and where now searching his ship for.. what? He thought to himself. He could feel the energy of the woman now, in his presence, she had an air of authority, not unusual in this setting, but the way she approached him, even pressed in closer to him, while he remained still and silent, was.. curious.
The two marines on either side of him looked to each other, their bodies and faces covered in powered armor, but with no firearms on them. Their visors glowed with an orange hue, their armor tinted a dark, matte purple, with displays and such glowing in their powered modes. As the teams searched the ship, they would feel the air of the ship to be hot, humid, almost jungle-like. Crew on the ship glanced at the parties now onboard the ship, but on orders tried to pay them no mind. Here and there, they would meet some odd alien, one was tall, thin, with four arms and a thermal suit, not to keep them warm, but cool, incredibly cool.
Yet another was tall, bird-like and walked in a regal fashion, his black, small eyes looking at the boarders for a moment before walking on. And yet another was strikingly similar to a human, only with tribal tattoos all over their face, painted clan markings on their armor, or their personal effects. Finally they would meet a being made entirely of nanites, melting through the walls on it's way to some part of the ship.
Through all of this, and the time that passed, the Rear Admiral kept quiet, and still.
They searched the ship two times. It took them 20 minutes per search. Now the Admiral was satisfied. All this time, she was watching the other Admiral, smiling like a school girl even though her eyes were still as mad as men. She gently said as she noticed her teams returning to their ship
"Thank you so much for your cooperation, Admiral. I am very pleased with you. I can see that you are probably an interesting faction for us to have encountered. Now that I am sure that you are indeed an officer in charge of an exploration fleet, accompanied only by soldiers in order to protect yourself and your men, I may consider your offer of tea. If I may counter that with some wine produced from Veneshia, then I am more than willing to actually accept your kind offer. Now...if you please? Come to my ship and bring some of your closest men with you. Perhaps only five of you? I will be on my way and if you follow me with five men, I will consider that as a yes. Admiral Amastacia at your service."
And she turned around and started to walk, her heels making noise as she returned to her ship.
The change in tone, voice and demeanor slowly set Margheriti at ease, his fears washing away as he slipped back into a comfortable zone, he seemed to visibly relax, now that his fears subsided, and soon his charm and personality took the reigns once more. "We could simply try the tea and wine, I'm sure that a taste of each other's culture will most assuredly led to more fruitful encounters in the future." His voice was like cinnamon in the autumn wind, crisp, warm and inviting.
Looking to his two guards, he gave a shrug, as if accepting to come along with only the two here "If it's all the same, I believe these two have already made introductions, of a sort. We would waste the valuable time that we have to chat and discuss the business at large if I had to re-introduce you again to more guards. Though admittedly, I do need to send one off to gather the needed materials, if you wish to stay onboard my ship for a little longer, I assure you the tea you have will be unlike any other."
He allowed his visage to smile in bliss, his eyes locked to the other now as he looked upon her, as she did to him before, her hair, those eyes gazing back at his own, it was an interesting, if not curious event.
The XO observed him as Amastacia ignored him as she continued walking on into her ship, the XO simply stating
"She means to say yes. Go ahead. You must hurry though. She does not like to wait when it comes to guests. I will go after her now."
And so she went. But Amastacia was taking her time in walking into her ship, swaying her hips, intending to draw that handsome man after her and her...bosom. She stopped to look at him and wink before disappearing into her command bridge.
He stood there, in place. The same place she left him, where she provided quite a view of her culture.. Blinking, he turned to his guard and nodded, and off he left to retrieve the supplies from the mess hall, the Rear Admiral himself slowly took a stride towards the other's ship. Once inside, he looked about, his sensory augmentations detecting the type of air and humidity from the shuttle, and adjusted his lungs to compensate. He had just arrived to an empty seat that awaited him when the other Marine arrived with the goods. Sitting down and nodding to Margheriti.
"All set then, ready when you are, Madame Amastacia." He spoke smoothly, he was in his groove now, deep inside his comfort zone, as he awaited to see what this other race's ships looked like, both inside and out. He could already see the designs of the shuttle, the Naval Infantry and the weapons they carried, and so far, he liked what he has seen thus far.
The glass that exposed the ship to outer space was thick and decorated with some gold, allowing those inside to look at light without worrying about their own eyes. The ship was also very spartan and it wasn't too full of unneeded things. Amastacia was now relaxed, smiling and letting her eyes soften, observing the other Admiral as her XO returned from another chamber, carrying a large bottle of red wine while a petty officer brought some port glasses for them to use for their wine. She also had her XO bring some cups for tea as well on a tray carried by a floating robotic assistant.
Amastacia spoke to him
"Well then, now that we have our wine and our tea, before we begin to drink, allow me to apologize for my course of action. It is our protocol after all to press hard."
Her soft gaze upon him felt to the Rear Admiral like soft pedals of a flower drifting over him, it was quite a feeling, and he was enjoying it. "Had I been made aware before, I would have at least tidied up the ships, and gave you a more formal welcome than what I had provided. But such is life when one performs exploration duties." He bowed courteously, and extended his hand slowly to the Junior Admiral "Madam, I shall let you take the first drink, after all, it is only proper."
In the back of his mind, his processor dissected the fear and actions he had done while under search, now scrutinizing and developing alternatives to how he was. It was irrational, though he mistakenly thought that his ship being boarded was a negative occurrence, but it had lead to some semblance of trust between the two. So much so that the other was even reciprocating his charm and flirtatious attitude.
He blinked, a mere second of time spent going over the situation prior led him to visibly shake his head a small bit, and then proceeded on with his mission. Though he wanted to see what Amastacia would open up the diplomacy with, after she took her sip or the wine or the tea.
Amastacia took the tea, choosing to blow a bit into the liquid to cool it down until it was of proper temperature for her to consume some of it as part of tasting it. She tasted it and then smiled, setting it down and telling him
"Hmmm, I could not guess what kind of tea this is. But I believe it goes the same as the tea back in Alondra does. I love how humans make their tea. However I do not see this in you. Perhaps you are a synthetic? Or a cyborg? Forgive me for saying so but I am honestly at odds at how to see you."
She then offered, on the other hand, wine at her words
"Oh please, taste the wine as I tasted your tea. I believe you will like it."
To be honest, he was pleased that she enjoyed the tea, it was the shavings of the Tuporidious leaf, and it had a sweet, if strong taste to it. The Dectrose would compress them into pill-like form, where it would be dropped into a hot cup of water, and the bag would swell and thus allow the tea to filter out. It was quite nice after a long day, but as he lifted the wine to his nose, inhaling the scent of the liquor before sipping some down, he found that the wine was quite nice, it wouldn't hurt to have a bottle or two on his ship sometime.
Giving a soft chuckle, Margheriti answered her question "Well, our roots came from what you call humans, but since the Tyberous Civil War, we have split from our Meralis kin, and lived on Dearthicon for generations. But, we have since adapted to a more humid, jungle-like environment, as well as near constant precipitation. Which the lack of natural light has lead to our color. The augmentations you see on me, don't take away my 'humanity' but we simply see ourselves as enhanced individuals."
He sipped the wine again "Several new technologies have wiped out the need for most weapons of war, for example, biological and radioactive agents are generally useless against the Dectrose as our augmentations cleanse and destroy such weapons. Illegal narcotics are also quite useless in our empire, as the augmentations screen them out, leading to a great decline in criminal activity. Though most importantly, we have surpassed death, with our cloning technology, enabling us to survive for eternity, if we so choose."
He set down the wine, and gazed at the other "Do not believe that because we are an empire, that we don't treat our people with the most respect and care we can provide. At our very core, we never want to see a race banished to extinction."
She listened, not saying a word while the other one was talking. As a polite and trained woman, she had to listen. And she liked what he said to her. She was truly amazed by the augmentations and she accepted that while they were an empire, they must be treating their citizens, their people, well and with sincerity. And she sensed that this man was not lying to her. She could pick up a lie but with this man, it was like he could be seducing her.
The Admiral nodded at the end of his speech and said to him
"I admire your words. I paid attention to them as best that I could. I accept that you are an empire but are friendly and sincere even to those who do not belong to your right to care for them. I understand. Neither do we wish to see a race gone from the eyes of all life. Only when it comes to the greatest of reasons, would it come to happen.
Nevertheless, how do you like the wine? I see that you have sipped at it quite a few times. I invite you to keep the wine I have given you. It is quite common for my people to have wine with them."
His smile, unconstrained, showed his great admiration for the wine, he picked up the glass with his fingers, hesitating like one would with something valuable, and took another sip "I must say that it is quite exquisite, it has a quality to it that could rival some of our best wines. Alas, our liquor has variety, but true masters of their art are uncommon at times. I would graciously accept an offer to keep some of this wine onboard with me." He set down the glass, and leaned forward slightly, inquisitively.
"But tell me, what is your own nation like? I understand that you must be hard on your stances with empires, and other like government types, but why is this? I'm curious as to what your own nation is like, and their views on xenos, augmentations, and other pressing topics." His stature hung there, leaning towards her, if it had been set in some movie, there would have been a cue by some unseen director's assistant for a slow kiss. Sadly, it was not, but he still stood there in place, like a statue carved by some famous sculptor.
She was excited to tell him everything she knew. Well, everything she was allowed to talk about. She said simply and with quickness
"Our nation is the United Worlds of Alondra. We are a Union between Alondra, Veneshia and Satembi. Satembi however is undergoing some troubles so that is why we are trying to put it to an end and that is why we are trying to secure our frontiers.
Our nation is a democratic nation. We are..."
She noticed him leaning towards her. The XO, who stood by, groaned as the woman froze and said sharply
"Stay away from my space."
Blinking his eyes, he leaned back, finishing his wine and moving onto his own cup of tea "I apologize, please, continue."
She then smiled back and said "We are quite interested in making allies, creating friends. We hope to be in good spirits with you."
"Ah, well, you will be pleased to know that the Dectrose are always welcome to new friends and allies, and as far as being in good spirits, I'd say that our first impression can be forgiven in light of some more diplomatic exchanges." He set down the wine bottle, and picked up his tea "So, I would like to ask you, what do you know of this galaxy thus far and it's inhabitants?" His hand rolled slowly into his pocket, aware of the Naval Infantry likely watching him, and pulled out a small orb, which then glowed with a dull orange light, and a holographic interface appearing in Margheriti's hand.
"We only know of our frontier and our neighbors. We are trying to learn more and we are also sending out explorers. We hope they can all make it safe and sound. We don't want war but we will fight if we have to. And if there is any faction that threatens our democracy and freedom and unity, we will fight and we will kill them all to keep it that way."
She then stopped to look at the orb. She then told her own Naval Infantry "Relax." And then to him "Tell me what is that?"
He tapped the orb a few times, cycling through it's interface "This here is an RAVD Node, what other nations might refer to as a holographic computer. The Dectrose use this and others based on this within nearly every aspect of our Empire." He finally found the file he was looking for, and opened it, across his hand displayed a miniature version of the galactic map, and with it, the locations of several nations, their borders, and those that where known to be in power blocs.
He pointed to the map north of his current position, within the UWA "Here are a few nations we know of that are part of some power bloc, they seem to be at war with these folks here" His finger circled over the Divine Davian Empire. Moving the finger closer to the pipper, he pointed at the map "This is the Three Domains Alliance, we have close ties with them, and they are steadfast allies if we have ever met any, as well, we lie over this way " He rested his finger on the southwestern part of the map, near the edge of the galaxy.
He looked up "I would give this to you as a gift from us, if you have a means of receiving it."
"I do." She said.
She then called her XO who immediately took a small, diamond shaped device that, when she pressed the power button, allowed the device to throw a holographic screen across the air like it was summoning a keyboard and a screen. The XO then said to the man
"I will be the one to take the gift from you using this device. We call it a holoputer. Holographic computer. This one is a portable version. It could house several terabytes of information. Perhaps you can allow me to download a copy of the map into this computer. Or were you saying you would supply a computer to the Admiral herself?"
The admiral spoke
"If that is so, I may take it with gentle hands. I have a robotic assistant to help me receive it."
"I shall send you a copy of our map, we believe that giving another nation our RAVDs is a bad omen, indeed, the one and only nation we had given one to, had been defeated in battle and have disappeared from the galaxy." With a flick of his finger, a copy was sent to the other's device, and he moved his hands across his interface, bringing up several documents "Though, we would like to ask for our nations to sign into a Non-Aggression Pact, this is our first step into friendly, profitable negotiations and alliances between us, with this, we can also talk about Trade and Open-Border Policies."
He was slowly slipping into his more business-oriented personality, being informative and working with the other admiral on making agreements and diplomatic negotiations. But still, he had his charm in his back pocket, ready to come out if the need arose.
The two officers looked at each other, nodded and recited to him at the same time "We pledge, as officers of our Navy and women of our faction, that we will sign this non aggression pact with you. We will also accept trade and open borders."
And immediately, the Admiral reached for the documents and signed them herself alongside her XO.
He smiled widely, signing the documents himself "Splendid, splendid. As Rear Admiral of the Dectrose Empire, I have the authority to act on behalf of the Empire's interests in this situation." He finished, and sent the documents off to Decoroso Command, and was quiet for a moment as he finished his tea. "Now that business is concluded, I would highly recommend paying the Three Domains Alliance a visit, they are quite a nice bunch of people."
He tapped on the RAVD node again, and his debriefing report flashed for a moment before sliding into another folder, ready to open later "So, Junior Admiral Amastacia, would you like anything more for our business, or from myself and my services?" He had moved on to closing statements, following his First Contact Protocol. He wouldn't mind it at all if Decoroso Command assigned him to the UWA as a representative, in fact, he might even recommend it to them.
"Yes. There is one thing I would like. Would you please grace me with some more tea? Give me and you would earn yourself an addict to your finest leaves."
She laughed at herself and then collected her being and told him "I will see to it. And do not worry. I was informed by my own XO that we have made contact with the TDA as well."
Grinning he gave a short nod "I can easily have a shipment of the tea sent to you posthaste, and the TDA are trustworthy, I can firmly state so." He paused, the charm in his voice warming up the local space "Though, please give the Dectrose a visit sometime, I would enjoy showing you what kind of business and enjoyment you can have at Yasashikaze or even on Ari." He and his guards stood up to give a graceful bow, and gathered their things. "I can assure you I would look forward to such."
"I will...see to that as best as I can. However, I believe I may have another affair to take care of. There has been a problem on Satembi. I best hurry in case it is another...rebellion." She said. She stood and reached out to shake his hand, stating "I look forward to such as well. In the meantime, I must do what officers do for their country. Perhaps, though, I could ask you to assist us?"
For the first time, he gave a look of sadness, looking down and to the side as if to avoid the repercussions "Unfortunately, my duties are limited to exploration in scope, Though, if you so wish to have Dectrothian assistance in your conflict, I'd talk to one of our embassies, either within the TDA, Carnaith or by contacting us on Trudchen in the Dectrose Empire. As much as I would like to immediately assist you, my role lies with exploration, and filing in my debriefing of this First Contact."
He looked back towards the other's face "However, if your need is pressing, and your military requires more assistance than usual, I can have Rear Admiral Volynski come to your area with haste. Though until then, I must sadly say my goodbyes." He firmly shook her hand, and smiled just a little "Until then?"
She rose up and smiled. She knew they would not easily help them. After all, this was an internal affair. But at least to her, she could trust him with this. She would look forward to meeting him again and again. She shook his hand as well and said
"Until then. It was so good to meet you. I hope someday we will meet again. Perhaps next time...you will be the one to board my ship?"
"Well then, we need to see what we can sniff out around the TDA, if there's any strategic locations or areas to mine exotic materials, we need to know to give ourselves a boost to the Alliance's trust of us. With the conflict safely away, shall we?" The helmsman nodded, and began their usual procedure, warping to different systems, scanning them and then moving on, compiling sufficient data to bring back to the Empire. It was long, tedius work, but one that rewarded those that had success, promotions and more. Someday, someday he would join that list.
Lost in his daydreams, his fleet arrived into another system, and began their routine, scanning the system, cataloging, until several anomalies came up on sensors, breaking the daydream and grabbing the attention of Margheriti. His fleet soon moved towards the direction of the unusual sensor readings, soon they'd meet the ones that where giving off those signals.
Andraste Amastacia, United Worlds of Alondria Junior Admiral, let her eyes wander towards the coffee boiling in its pot as her ship, the Abla, the last battle cruiser made by the UWA for the sake of the United Fleets. She was only drawn back to reality by her Executive Officer and Captain of the Amastacian Patrol, Elyzabeth Webb. She said,
"Admiral Andraste, we have arrived at our third waypoint. However, it seems that Lieutenant Casandra, who is in command of Caroline and Lieutenant Adrienne in command of Violet, have encountered a foreign fleet entering our sector of responsibility. Orders?"
The Junior Admiral halted and raised her hand, bringing the attention of her XO who said to the rest of the officers who were on the deck, "Attention to the Admiral!"
And they gave her attention, just as she spoke to them,
"I want everyone ready for emergency procedures, both combat and evacuation. XO, I want you to contact the nearest patrol and move on to directing us towards this fleet. Allow us to orbit by half their distance and get all weapons ready. I will assume command of communications."
The officers moved out, carrying out their Admirals orders as the Admiral herself, who wore the traditional silk and leather armored uniform of Senai women, walked towards the communications officer and his men and quickly was handed to her the microphone. The men performed according to their training, allowing the Admiral to go unto the universal channel that could let her speak with the unknown fleet if they could understand her.
As her ship and the rest of her patrol started to turn and make their way towards the unknown ships, she spoke in English,
"This is United Worlds of Alondrian space. You are entering a sector under the jurisdiction of the United Fleets of the UWA. I am Junior Admiral Amastacia and I am, if you value life, requesting that you respond or we will prepare to treat you as a threat. Will you comply?"
He watched as the signals where converted into ship types, those that weren't in any database, from Triarch's nor the Dectrose's Network. Before him where an entirely new species, likely a new nation he stumbled upon. His gaze went over their maneuvers, already they recognized his own ships, and moved to intercept his small fleet. He ordered his helmsman to assume the non-hostile position, with his guns down, below the plane that the other ships where traveling. He was about to send over binary of their neutral intent when the communication opened from the other side, speaking in General quite clearly. "Well, isn't that a nice surprise, we don't even need the translators, Comms officer, open a channel."
With a short pause to listen to the communication from the incoming UWA fleet, Margheriti began to speak to Junior Admiral Amastacia "Yes, we will comply, we are here for exploration purposes, and do not seek to pose a threat. I am Rear Admiral Domenic Margheriti, on the Orian V Cruiser 'Duca d'Nuovo York'. This is Exploration Fleet Delta, in service to the Dectrose Empire. If I may, is there anything else you require to know? If so, I could propose a meeting on neutral ground and sit down with our respective 'cup of teas'."
He smiled softly, his usual demeanor already worming out and aiming to flatter and charm the Junior Admiral, of course, with such a neutral attitude already being shown by his ships, and his compliance, he had hopes that they would agree, and he could discuss some of the more finer things with another race that spoke the same language.
The Senai narrowed her alien eyes at the transmission, choosing to pause as their ships started to already surround Domenic and his Delta fleet. She looked to her officers who all nodded except for her XO who simply said with a lower voice,
"Press them."
To which the Senai took it as a suggestion, making her return to the microphone to reply to him with a sterner voice
"No nonsense please. I will be boarding your ship personally. Do not resist and make sure your men do not harm mine. We will not meet on neutral ground. You are a fleet of an empire and you have entered a sector of a democratic faction. I will ensure that you will go no further until I have met you personally and deemed you safe after this encounter. Again, I am boarding your ship personally. Prepare to be boarded. This is Junior Admiral Amastacia."
And quickly she slammed the microphone down as she grabbed her jacket and put it over herself as the XO followed while the third officer took over. The two commanders made it out of the command bridge as the XO picked up her own wireless communicator to give orders to the Naval Infantry on board the Abla while Amastacia took out her sidearm, a high powered pistol that could fire anti personnel rounds filled with highly infectious diseases and checked to see if it was loaded. It was and she put it back as she whispered to her XO
"Quicker."
His heart skipped a beat for a moment, chills made their way down his augmented spine. There he was, in the same place he wished to avoid his entire career, the one incident he swore to never personally be the one in charge of.
Boarding.
After bringing himself back into reality, and back in command of his vessel, and his fate, he opened up communications again "We will comply with your boarding, if you require it, we shall give you docking instructions to our bays on the ship, I am ordering the shutdown of our engines until you deem us safe to make passage through your sector, Rear Admiral Margheriti, signing off." He had a cold look to his eyes, glazed over even. The bridge crew knew all too well what occurred the last time an exploration vessel was boarded, and in a twisted sense of humor, this ship too, was state-of-the-art. Margheriti was playing the incident in his head, over, and over, and over.
This was the first time his crew had ever seen a full break in his usual flattering, charming personality, he was facing down his largest fear right here, right now. He inhaled, a visual gesture mostly, his lungs where augmented to not require the movement, and exhaled, standing up fully now, his crew quickly stood up to salute, trying to bolster him with confidence. He took it in stride, and began to make his way to the docking bays, to meet with the new arrivals, by his order, the engines cut off, and the Marines that had gone to protect him only carried themselves, no firearms by their sides. He appreciated the gesture they had in keeping close to him, they where reassuring to have, even without weapons.
Her Naval Infantry were heavily armed. Her men were equipped with state of the art UWA-11NI Type One assault rifles, meant for the Naval Infantry and them alone. Each rifle carried by a Naval Infantryman was registered to that persons serial number and no one could ever take it out of their hands unless that person was dead.
As they followed her and her XO towards the docking bays as her ship got closer and closer and closer to the ship, turning off their own weapons as a gesture of trust, the Admiral kept her glare as her hands tightened around the belt which she chose to hold onto to show dominance while her XO was given a carbine version of the UWA-11N1 Type One, loading standard issued rounds capable of piercing through several layers of flesh in no sweat into it.
Now they only had to wait as ten more Naval Infantrymen waited several meters behind them, positioning their own rifles, getting ready to aim at anyone that would appear before them.
And simply, the Senai spoke
"One false move and this one is my kill~"
With his face to the door, Margheriti's mind raced, though his processor hundreds of incidents flashed into his mind, what would happen? What was the worst case scenario? Would they simply shoot him and take his ship? What exactly is going to happen when that door opened? The marine next to him tapped his arm, and he was thankfully pulled out of his mind, and nodded towards the marine, the marine's voice speaking in a synthetic tone as he reassured the Rear Admiral "Don't worry sir, we've got your back."
He knew full well what Dectrothian Marines could do if backed into a corner, even more, the Mantis IIIs around his ship would likely give their lives to protect him. His temples felt fuzzy, his heart beat like a drum against his chest, harder and harder, like war drums on a ship closing in on an enemy. He closed his eyes, drowned out the drumming until there was nought but silence, and opened the door.
Meeting him was the sight of the other's Naval Infantry, posed and ready to strike, he gazed at them for a little while, and pushed himself forward, outwardly maintaining the appearance of a usual Officer, proud and courteous, but inside his mind was gunfire, the rattling of his fears banging around in his head. He kept pressing on, maintaining his posture and stride until he was in a safe distance away, where the other could be heard, and if they wished to approach him they would. His mouth opened, feeling dry like cotton. "Welcome onboard the 'Duca d'Nuovo York', I am Rear Admiral Margheriti of the Dectrose Empire. We are pleased to have you onboard. What shall be the first order of business?"
The Admiral glared at that man, attempting to drive into this....seemingly nervous, handsome, charming....ah, what the hell? She blinked and kept her eyes on him as she approached, stepping loudly with her heels, circling him as she kept her hands away from her pistol, her Naval Infantry keeping their guns aimed at their targets, especially the other Naval Infantry. One could say they were all diverse. Men, women, dark, light, alien and human. Alon, Senai and Syran.
The Admiral then stopped just as she was behind the man and went closer, closer until the strands of his human hair brushed against her nose, letting her smell him. She then quit after a moment and faced him, saying very sharply, like a bayonet was already upon his neck
"Keep silent, Dear Admiral, unless you want to incur the wrath of freedom, unity and democracy. Now...the first order of business....is what I wish for it to be...." She turned to her men and to her XO, nodding. The XO smiled and said loudly and clearly
"Search the ship!"
He maintained silence, his grey, pale skin color easily visible now, contrasting with his brightly lit orange pupils, the glow originating from his augmentations, in fact, they where around his neck, ears and his left temple as well, the combination of technology and man a stark contrast to those that had boarded, and where now searching his ship for.. what? He thought to himself. He could feel the energy of the woman now, in his presence, she had an air of authority, not unusual in this setting, but the way she approached him, even pressed in closer to him, while he remained still and silent, was.. curious.
The two marines on either side of him looked to each other, their bodies and faces covered in powered armor, but with no firearms on them. Their visors glowed with an orange hue, their armor tinted a dark, matte purple, with displays and such glowing in their powered modes. As the teams searched the ship, they would feel the air of the ship to be hot, humid, almost jungle-like. Crew on the ship glanced at the parties now onboard the ship, but on orders tried to pay them no mind. Here and there, they would meet some odd alien, one was tall, thin, with four arms and a thermal suit, not to keep them warm, but cool, incredibly cool.
Yet another was tall, bird-like and walked in a regal fashion, his black, small eyes looking at the boarders for a moment before walking on. And yet another was strikingly similar to a human, only with tribal tattoos all over their face, painted clan markings on their armor, or their personal effects. Finally they would meet a being made entirely of nanites, melting through the walls on it's way to some part of the ship.
Through all of this, and the time that passed, the Rear Admiral kept quiet, and still.
They searched the ship two times. It took them 20 minutes per search. Now the Admiral was satisfied. All this time, she was watching the other Admiral, smiling like a school girl even though her eyes were still as mad as men. She gently said as she noticed her teams returning to their ship
"Thank you so much for your cooperation, Admiral. I am very pleased with you. I can see that you are probably an interesting faction for us to have encountered. Now that I am sure that you are indeed an officer in charge of an exploration fleet, accompanied only by soldiers in order to protect yourself and your men, I may consider your offer of tea. If I may counter that with some wine produced from Veneshia, then I am more than willing to actually accept your kind offer. Now...if you please? Come to my ship and bring some of your closest men with you. Perhaps only five of you? I will be on my way and if you follow me with five men, I will consider that as a yes. Admiral Amastacia at your service."
And she turned around and started to walk, her heels making noise as she returned to her ship.
The change in tone, voice and demeanor slowly set Margheriti at ease, his fears washing away as he slipped back into a comfortable zone, he seemed to visibly relax, now that his fears subsided, and soon his charm and personality took the reigns once more. "We could simply try the tea and wine, I'm sure that a taste of each other's culture will most assuredly led to more fruitful encounters in the future." His voice was like cinnamon in the autumn wind, crisp, warm and inviting.
Looking to his two guards, he gave a shrug, as if accepting to come along with only the two here "If it's all the same, I believe these two have already made introductions, of a sort. We would waste the valuable time that we have to chat and discuss the business at large if I had to re-introduce you again to more guards. Though admittedly, I do need to send one off to gather the needed materials, if you wish to stay onboard my ship for a little longer, I assure you the tea you have will be unlike any other."
He allowed his visage to smile in bliss, his eyes locked to the other now as he looked upon her, as she did to him before, her hair, those eyes gazing back at his own, it was an interesting, if not curious event.
The XO observed him as Amastacia ignored him as she continued walking on into her ship, the XO simply stating
"She means to say yes. Go ahead. You must hurry though. She does not like to wait when it comes to guests. I will go after her now."
And so she went. But Amastacia was taking her time in walking into her ship, swaying her hips, intending to draw that handsome man after her and her...bosom. She stopped to look at him and wink before disappearing into her command bridge.
He stood there, in place. The same place she left him, where she provided quite a view of her culture.. Blinking, he turned to his guard and nodded, and off he left to retrieve the supplies from the mess hall, the Rear Admiral himself slowly took a stride towards the other's ship. Once inside, he looked about, his sensory augmentations detecting the type of air and humidity from the shuttle, and adjusted his lungs to compensate. He had just arrived to an empty seat that awaited him when the other Marine arrived with the goods. Sitting down and nodding to Margheriti.
"All set then, ready when you are, Madame Amastacia." He spoke smoothly, he was in his groove now, deep inside his comfort zone, as he awaited to see what this other race's ships looked like, both inside and out. He could already see the designs of the shuttle, the Naval Infantry and the weapons they carried, and so far, he liked what he has seen thus far.
The glass that exposed the ship to outer space was thick and decorated with some gold, allowing those inside to look at light without worrying about their own eyes. The ship was also very spartan and it wasn't too full of unneeded things. Amastacia was now relaxed, smiling and letting her eyes soften, observing the other Admiral as her XO returned from another chamber, carrying a large bottle of red wine while a petty officer brought some port glasses for them to use for their wine. She also had her XO bring some cups for tea as well on a tray carried by a floating robotic assistant.
Amastacia spoke to him
"Well then, now that we have our wine and our tea, before we begin to drink, allow me to apologize for my course of action. It is our protocol after all to press hard."
Her soft gaze upon him felt to the Rear Admiral like soft pedals of a flower drifting over him, it was quite a feeling, and he was enjoying it. "Had I been made aware before, I would have at least tidied up the ships, and gave you a more formal welcome than what I had provided. But such is life when one performs exploration duties." He bowed courteously, and extended his hand slowly to the Junior Admiral "Madam, I shall let you take the first drink, after all, it is only proper."
In the back of his mind, his processor dissected the fear and actions he had done while under search, now scrutinizing and developing alternatives to how he was. It was irrational, though he mistakenly thought that his ship being boarded was a negative occurrence, but it had lead to some semblance of trust between the two. So much so that the other was even reciprocating his charm and flirtatious attitude.
He blinked, a mere second of time spent going over the situation prior led him to visibly shake his head a small bit, and then proceeded on with his mission. Though he wanted to see what Amastacia would open up the diplomacy with, after she took her sip or the wine or the tea.
Amastacia took the tea, choosing to blow a bit into the liquid to cool it down until it was of proper temperature for her to consume some of it as part of tasting it. She tasted it and then smiled, setting it down and telling him
"Hmmm, I could not guess what kind of tea this is. But I believe it goes the same as the tea back in Alondra does. I love how humans make their tea. However I do not see this in you. Perhaps you are a synthetic? Or a cyborg? Forgive me for saying so but I am honestly at odds at how to see you."
She then offered, on the other hand, wine at her words
"Oh please, taste the wine as I tasted your tea. I believe you will like it."
To be honest, he was pleased that she enjoyed the tea, it was the shavings of the Tuporidious leaf, and it had a sweet, if strong taste to it. The Dectrose would compress them into pill-like form, where it would be dropped into a hot cup of water, and the bag would swell and thus allow the tea to filter out. It was quite nice after a long day, but as he lifted the wine to his nose, inhaling the scent of the liquor before sipping some down, he found that the wine was quite nice, it wouldn't hurt to have a bottle or two on his ship sometime.
Giving a soft chuckle, Margheriti answered her question "Well, our roots came from what you call humans, but since the Tyberous Civil War, we have split from our Meralis kin, and lived on Dearthicon for generations. But, we have since adapted to a more humid, jungle-like environment, as well as near constant precipitation. Which the lack of natural light has lead to our color. The augmentations you see on me, don't take away my 'humanity' but we simply see ourselves as enhanced individuals."
He sipped the wine again "Several new technologies have wiped out the need for most weapons of war, for example, biological and radioactive agents are generally useless against the Dectrose as our augmentations cleanse and destroy such weapons. Illegal narcotics are also quite useless in our empire, as the augmentations screen them out, leading to a great decline in criminal activity. Though most importantly, we have surpassed death, with our cloning technology, enabling us to survive for eternity, if we so choose."
He set down the wine, and gazed at the other "Do not believe that because we are an empire, that we don't treat our people with the most respect and care we can provide. At our very core, we never want to see a race banished to extinction."
She listened, not saying a word while the other one was talking. As a polite and trained woman, she had to listen. And she liked what he said to her. She was truly amazed by the augmentations and she accepted that while they were an empire, they must be treating their citizens, their people, well and with sincerity. And she sensed that this man was not lying to her. She could pick up a lie but with this man, it was like he could be seducing her.
The Admiral nodded at the end of his speech and said to him
"I admire your words. I paid attention to them as best that I could. I accept that you are an empire but are friendly and sincere even to those who do not belong to your right to care for them. I understand. Neither do we wish to see a race gone from the eyes of all life. Only when it comes to the greatest of reasons, would it come to happen.
Nevertheless, how do you like the wine? I see that you have sipped at it quite a few times. I invite you to keep the wine I have given you. It is quite common for my people to have wine with them."
His smile, unconstrained, showed his great admiration for the wine, he picked up the glass with his fingers, hesitating like one would with something valuable, and took another sip "I must say that it is quite exquisite, it has a quality to it that could rival some of our best wines. Alas, our liquor has variety, but true masters of their art are uncommon at times. I would graciously accept an offer to keep some of this wine onboard with me." He set down the glass, and leaned forward slightly, inquisitively.
"But tell me, what is your own nation like? I understand that you must be hard on your stances with empires, and other like government types, but why is this? I'm curious as to what your own nation is like, and their views on xenos, augmentations, and other pressing topics." His stature hung there, leaning towards her, if it had been set in some movie, there would have been a cue by some unseen director's assistant for a slow kiss. Sadly, it was not, but he still stood there in place, like a statue carved by some famous sculptor.
She was excited to tell him everything she knew. Well, everything she was allowed to talk about. She said simply and with quickness
"Our nation is the United Worlds of Alondra. We are a Union between Alondra, Veneshia and Satembi. Satembi however is undergoing some troubles so that is why we are trying to put it to an end and that is why we are trying to secure our frontiers.
Our nation is a democratic nation. We are..."
She noticed him leaning towards her. The XO, who stood by, groaned as the woman froze and said sharply
"Stay away from my space."
Blinking his eyes, he leaned back, finishing his wine and moving onto his own cup of tea "I apologize, please, continue."
She then smiled back and said "We are quite interested in making allies, creating friends. We hope to be in good spirits with you."
"Ah, well, you will be pleased to know that the Dectrose are always welcome to new friends and allies, and as far as being in good spirits, I'd say that our first impression can be forgiven in light of some more diplomatic exchanges." He set down the wine bottle, and picked up his tea "So, I would like to ask you, what do you know of this galaxy thus far and it's inhabitants?" His hand rolled slowly into his pocket, aware of the Naval Infantry likely watching him, and pulled out a small orb, which then glowed with a dull orange light, and a holographic interface appearing in Margheriti's hand.
"We only know of our frontier and our neighbors. We are trying to learn more and we are also sending out explorers. We hope they can all make it safe and sound. We don't want war but we will fight if we have to. And if there is any faction that threatens our democracy and freedom and unity, we will fight and we will kill them all to keep it that way."
She then stopped to look at the orb. She then told her own Naval Infantry "Relax." And then to him "Tell me what is that?"
He tapped the orb a few times, cycling through it's interface "This here is an RAVD Node, what other nations might refer to as a holographic computer. The Dectrose use this and others based on this within nearly every aspect of our Empire." He finally found the file he was looking for, and opened it, across his hand displayed a miniature version of the galactic map, and with it, the locations of several nations, their borders, and those that where known to be in power blocs.
He pointed to the map north of his current position, within the UWA "Here are a few nations we know of that are part of some power bloc, they seem to be at war with these folks here" His finger circled over the Divine Davian Empire. Moving the finger closer to the pipper, he pointed at the map "This is the Three Domains Alliance, we have close ties with them, and they are steadfast allies if we have ever met any, as well, we lie over this way " He rested his finger on the southwestern part of the map, near the edge of the galaxy.
He looked up "I would give this to you as a gift from us, if you have a means of receiving it."
"I do." She said.
She then called her XO who immediately took a small, diamond shaped device that, when she pressed the power button, allowed the device to throw a holographic screen across the air like it was summoning a keyboard and a screen. The XO then said to the man
"I will be the one to take the gift from you using this device. We call it a holoputer. Holographic computer. This one is a portable version. It could house several terabytes of information. Perhaps you can allow me to download a copy of the map into this computer. Or were you saying you would supply a computer to the Admiral herself?"
The admiral spoke
"If that is so, I may take it with gentle hands. I have a robotic assistant to help me receive it."
"I shall send you a copy of our map, we believe that giving another nation our RAVDs is a bad omen, indeed, the one and only nation we had given one to, had been defeated in battle and have disappeared from the galaxy." With a flick of his finger, a copy was sent to the other's device, and he moved his hands across his interface, bringing up several documents "Though, we would like to ask for our nations to sign into a Non-Aggression Pact, this is our first step into friendly, profitable negotiations and alliances between us, with this, we can also talk about Trade and Open-Border Policies."
He was slowly slipping into his more business-oriented personality, being informative and working with the other admiral on making agreements and diplomatic negotiations. But still, he had his charm in his back pocket, ready to come out if the need arose.
The two officers looked at each other, nodded and recited to him at the same time "We pledge, as officers of our Navy and women of our faction, that we will sign this non aggression pact with you. We will also accept trade and open borders."
And immediately, the Admiral reached for the documents and signed them herself alongside her XO.
He smiled widely, signing the documents himself "Splendid, splendid. As Rear Admiral of the Dectrose Empire, I have the authority to act on behalf of the Empire's interests in this situation." He finished, and sent the documents off to Decoroso Command, and was quiet for a moment as he finished his tea. "Now that business is concluded, I would highly recommend paying the Three Domains Alliance a visit, they are quite a nice bunch of people."
He tapped on the RAVD node again, and his debriefing report flashed for a moment before sliding into another folder, ready to open later "So, Junior Admiral Amastacia, would you like anything more for our business, or from myself and my services?" He had moved on to closing statements, following his First Contact Protocol. He wouldn't mind it at all if Decoroso Command assigned him to the UWA as a representative, in fact, he might even recommend it to them.
"Yes. There is one thing I would like. Would you please grace me with some more tea? Give me and you would earn yourself an addict to your finest leaves."
She laughed at herself and then collected her being and told him "I will see to it. And do not worry. I was informed by my own XO that we have made contact with the TDA as well."
Grinning he gave a short nod "I can easily have a shipment of the tea sent to you posthaste, and the TDA are trustworthy, I can firmly state so." He paused, the charm in his voice warming up the local space "Though, please give the Dectrose a visit sometime, I would enjoy showing you what kind of business and enjoyment you can have at Yasashikaze or even on Ari." He and his guards stood up to give a graceful bow, and gathered their things. "I can assure you I would look forward to such."
"I will...see to that as best as I can. However, I believe I may have another affair to take care of. There has been a problem on Satembi. I best hurry in case it is another...rebellion." She said. She stood and reached out to shake his hand, stating "I look forward to such as well. In the meantime, I must do what officers do for their country. Perhaps, though, I could ask you to assist us?"
For the first time, he gave a look of sadness, looking down and to the side as if to avoid the repercussions "Unfortunately, my duties are limited to exploration in scope, Though, if you so wish to have Dectrothian assistance in your conflict, I'd talk to one of our embassies, either within the TDA, Carnaith or by contacting us on Trudchen in the Dectrose Empire. As much as I would like to immediately assist you, my role lies with exploration, and filing in my debriefing of this First Contact."
He looked back towards the other's face "However, if your need is pressing, and your military requires more assistance than usual, I can have Rear Admiral Volynski come to your area with haste. Though until then, I must sadly say my goodbyes." He firmly shook her hand, and smiled just a little "Until then?"
She rose up and smiled. She knew they would not easily help them. After all, this was an internal affair. But at least to her, she could trust him with this. She would look forward to meeting him again and again. She shook his hand as well and said
"Until then. It was so good to meet you. I hope someday we will meet again. Perhaps next time...you will be the one to board my ship?"