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It was certainly an interesting little scavenging operation in the eyes of the Iammelonians, seeing the grav-lift which they assumed was bringing up all the salvaged and usable materials they could find. With the transports handling the movement of the personnel. An effective operation, but of course what was quite important was seeing that the aliens did seem to be burying the dead respectfully. That certainly made this situation less problematic than it would be otherwise, easing the worries of the crew. The fact they seemed quite displeased about having to do this helped as well, so the crew was more settled now in general.
Ilox meanwhile was listening closely to Baron Mithra, both to make sure she got all the information that was being shared but also listening to see how genuine he was being, as that was important for whether or not he was telling the truth. The fact he was being quite upfront and seemingly honest was a good thing to her, and so she responded, "Well it is good you are at least not happy about having to take from the dead, but I suppose I cannot blame you too much if you do this for the sake of survival. Gathering information is sensible as well, and I can appreciate it in particular given how I am myself now in some unfamiliar space. I know this system, but I do not know nearly enough about the general region to be comfortable. Fortunately for you, we are not enemies, as we are no pirates or servants to any dark being."
"As for your House, seems then you are an alliance of necessity for survival. Rather unfortunate that you had to go through such a bad series of events, and be forced from your homes. For that, I can sympathize. As for this dark entity you describe, the Hydra of the Void, I believe I know what you mean. Only one notable encounter, being with attempted sabotage at some facilities back in our homeland. Trying to kidnap some individuals of interest, broodmothers taken in a battle at this very system in fact. They failed, on both counts. We even have one such Broodmother in this fleet, in a different ship. So we have a little experience."
She then sighed, but Ilox supposed it was a reasonable request, "That is a fair trade, I do suppose. Can't expect this to be one way after all. I'd like to hear more of this miracle, but first I shall speak more of my fleet. We hail from the nation of Iammelon, but as for our House, as you would say, that would be Omnipo. A corporation, technically, but a rather extensive and powerful one. It is now defunct. We are remnants of Omnipo, simply one fleet that has fled a civil war in Iammelon, that the side we joined lost. So we are exiles, and we came here to regroup, repair, and figure out a plan for the future. I have no real idea where our fleet will go or what we will become, but survival is the paramount goal right now. We will find out place in the world some other time. Regardless, we are multi-species, and we do still hold to the ideals of our homeland. But I suppose right now we're looking friends and safety."
Iammelon and House of vengeance
Mitha certainly seemed interested to hear that they were now in unfamiliar water as it were, was their people unfamiliar with this region of space? Truthfully he was happy to just have some common ground. "I am glad that we are not enemies. Truth be told I was not liking our chances up against that fleet back there even if you are currently in dire straights." He says with a more merry tone.
"Our House was originally banded together by that alliance of necessity yes. But now we are of one purpose, and a united hope for a better future." He says as he appreciated that she sympathised with them, to be on more common ground was good. Though to suddenly hear about the enemy. To hear that the evil they swore to hunt down was loose in this galaxy too changed his merry tone. Though to hear that the seemingly invincible hydra was thwarted... It was cathartic to hear that it could fail. It would not make up for the slaughter it brought upon his people... But it would be enough. Now he knew that he couldn't just part ways with these people. He needed to learn everything. The Kell had to hear about this.
Though as he listened to what Ilox had to tell him about her 'House'. This 'Omnipo'... He didn't know what to make of it. He loosely understood what a 'corporation' was by looking into appropriated pirate intelligence and learning about the western parts of the galaxy. Only concerned with generating profits for their goods instead of doing so for the sake and prosperity of all. He couldn't say he liked or understood Iammelon at all. But if they could pull on over on the Void Hydra then he wouldn't argue. "Travellers without a home in need of a safe space to gather your bearings. Sounds familiar." He says with a more merry and bemused tone. "I will tell you about the miracle but it is something... That you would need context for. It isn't something I can explain so lightly. It is best left in the hands of our Lore Keeper... Right now you are looking for friends and safety. I would like to extend a hand for cooperation. You have information my people need to hear, about the void hydra and his connections to this galaxy, in return we can offer excess produce that we don't sell for trade and help in finding a new home. Our people have travelled these western systems for 3 years now since we arrived in this galaxy so we can look for a uninhabited worlds. It is fine if you decline, but I would like to hear more ad get the chance to learn more about your people."
The HIMS Woodrow, an Aquilegia Class Ship of the Line was steaming ahead of the Clipper, IMS Dernby. Both ships had extended their ethersails to catch speed alomg the route to Santo Duraco, but hadn’t extended Etherfoils yet. Asteroids were about, and thusly to prevent damage the ships weren’t entering faster than light travel. The two ships crept along the ether waves. With the crews a little relaxed as they settled into the long journey ahead. But when Black Truth moved in front of the path of the two ships, an annoyed tone came through the radio waves.
“Unidentified ship, this is the HIMS Woodrow, military vessels hold right of way on Imperial Ether Lanes. Depart or you will be boarded and arrested.” Following the radio announcement, the ships still did not stop, but continued forward. Though the Dernby was shifting course to move behind the Woodrow.
The machinery, as far as Filia could tell, indicated the man was indeed alive. A heartbeat, perhaps a little slow, beat across the screen. Seems like they had been put into stasis for some reason. Though the language differences reared their ugly head again, as Filia could not read any of the notes or conditions of the patient. Only a name, Elise Stanislavovna. The woman floating in the suspension tank was wearing a sort of protective suit, but IV units and a breathing apparatus were plugged into her nose and mouth. Though, as everything came online a red light began flashing on the heart monitor. What Filia could read was “Уровни анастезии критически важны, неотложное оживление подлежит“ and thus bubbles in the tank started emanating from the woman suspended in it. She slowly twitched, and opened her eyes. But quickly enough Filia saw her struggling, the woman couldn’t breath! She squirmed in the tank, banging on the glass.
-
Liline started walking the main streets, slowly exploring the cobblestone and crowded streets, eventually jesting to Sephus, “don’t get any ideas for ditching me for one of these... rather well built women.” She halfheartedly let out a laugh, watching a woman nearly two heads taller than each of them, and easily putting Sephus to shame in the physical strength department stroll by. The woman was wearing a tophat that sat at an angle on her head, a grey wool suit, black bow tie tied loosely and left to hang down her chest. She wore a kilt, then tall socks and a pair of black oxfords. Her arms and legs were rippling with muscle, though her face was plump in the cheeks. While this woman was by far an outlier, there were many physically capable among the ranks of the tartan and suit sporting women, and the occasional man who strolled these streets.
But a little while later, Liline came to a small rustic shop. The sign above the door read “Isabelle Livingstone Traditional Craftsmen of Biologically Integrated Clockworks. EST 6708.”
Liline seemed to get a little nervous as she approached the door of this small shop, tucked away on the alleys of the larger avenues. “Well, I may have... not been entirely truthful with you, dear. I’ve come to Cadhainn to get a new arm from the most respectable craftsman.”
Iammelon and Angelarium
Ilox was quite relaxed now, it was good to hear an admittance that Mitha didn't have the capacity to take on her fleet. Just to be sure however, she still had to keep up her own face of partial strength, "The fleet is indeed rather wounded right now, but we are still a war fleet, an experienced one too. Still, it is indeed good that we need not fight, we've fought too long as it is. I'll be happy to finally get in some sleep. Good to hear however that on your side you've got some hope for the future. Don't got too much of that right now, still figuring out what we want. But I've survived this long, so I'm gonna guess I ain't out of the game yet."
It did indeed seem they were in a similar situation, so Ilox was already feeling far less threatened. They likely couldn't waste their strength on attacking fleets like hers. But that bit about the miracle was interesting to apparently hear about, and cooperation was certainly something she needed right now. Not like she had many friends, so she couldn't turn it down. Besides, not like he was asking for things she couldn't give, at least to an extent, "Well that's a pretty good deal for me, friends and assistance would be greatly valued given my current lack of either. Plus it would be nice to hear about your miracle at some point, but I guess that'll happen with your Lore Keeper fellow. In the meanwhile, I can tell you all I know about the Hydra, although I'll tell you ahead of time that I don't know all too much, just the things we have in the databanks and some hearsay. As for learning more about my people, fine by me as well. After all, if one intends to give assistance, it's only reasonable both parties know a fair bit about eachother."
Through all of this Lynek has been listening to everything that has been going on. She didn’t think that this little gamble of the Baron’s would work… But these folks seem the more amicable sort. They certainly were not in the state to argue too with how banged up their fleet is… But Mithra made the right call in calming them down. She gathered that this was why he was a baron and she was still just an Operative.
Mithra seemed very pleased to hear that she was taking up his offer. He didn’t seem put off with the knowledge that she didn’t know much about the Hydra. Trustfully, Ilox likely knew far more than they did about the enemy they swore to hunt down. “Anything you can share about our enemy would be greatly appreciated, even rumours and hearsay is valuable.” He says as he starts to walk back into the grav-lift. There was a moment of static before he started to speak again “I’ glad you took me up on my offer. I might be able to finally learn the common tongue now that I have a good enough reason to stick at it. Plus I’m always interested in learning another culture, something we seldom get to do as nomads.”
Mithra walked back to the bridge while the Crews back on the asteroid's surface started to finish off the operation and delivering final rites to the dead. “Once we’ve tended to the dead and packed up camp I’d be happy to escort you and your fleet back to ours so you can hear of the miracle from the Lore Keeper himself. ”
Ilox was relieved to hear that she didn't need to provide concrete information, these folks really did seem desperate for any info at all on their enemy. She could work with that, and it did mean she could utilize the little information she had. Some of it solid, plenty of it far less so. All the same, it was good that it had value, "Well that is quite good then, means what I do know will be valuable all the same. I suppose I can tell your Lore Keeper or whomever else is interested the things I know." She then chuckled, speaking in a friendly fashion, "It is a good tongue to learn around here, if you want to trade properly! Won't get too far with the major powers in the general area without knowing it. And I'd be quite happy to teach of my own culture, as well as the cultures of those with me. We're a multi-cultural group. Plus, I am certainly interested in your insistence about Houses, and learning about your culture should explain that."
She then paused as she considered that, responding more carefully, "My fleet is not quite in a condition to move right now, the majority of it will stay here in Duxton to repair itself. But this vessel, my flagship, hasn't taken any truly serious damage. It is thus in condition to make a longer range travel. So I can take this vessel to see your Lore Keeper while the rest of my fleet stays here and gets back in shape, and then I'll get to meet your Lore Keeper so he can tell me about this miracle."
So the rest of them would follow later once she found out if Mithra was upfront with his offer and his House was okay to follow around, that is what Mithra took away from what she said. It was perfectly sensible. He wouldn't want to put his people amidst too many unknowns with travelling beside a fleet of Nomad's they don't know. "Understandable, I wouldn't want to land my people amongst some kindly strangers I just met until I got the bigger picture either." He muses before he reaches the bridge "Well I can certainly explain what I can about Houses. You see our race was once made up of dozens of different Houses before the Whirlwind drove us from our original system... Our Houses all had different jobs and purposes. For example there was House of Rains, they were a smaller house but represented a form of religious leadership back before the Whirlwind. They originally came up with a prophecy that announced that our penultimate leader would be chosen by our god 'The Great Machine', blessed with the light. He would come forward and heal and unite all Houses before being crowned the Kell of Kells."
The grav-lift started to buzz with activity as the crews below had finally cleared up the ramshackle defenses they had set up. Including the large gun they placed down there to keep other ships from getting too close. The last of the transports started to board the Ketch too now as the blue beam that touched down on the asteroid's surface retracted, crackling into nothing as it was finally turned off.
From everything Mithra explained just then he said that there was a prophecy that one of his people would become this mighty warrior leader of legend... From the sounds of it this may have something to do with the miracle he was talking about earlier. "It won't take us terrible long to meet up with the rest of our House. An hours trip at most at warp at the earliest. To meet the lore keeper we'll need to go to the Luminesia, a Live Ship we picked up recently. Oh right, a 'Live Ship' is a converted passenger liner we scavenge or buy and use as a place for our civilian population to live and grow agricultural goods and such. Even ether production, though we haven't encountered anything like the natural ether that's in this galaxy... It tastes odd."
Forthammer upon the ether seas they see, a silver-jet-black ship etched with symbols they haven’t seen in the hue of blood. Its shape construed to that similar to a knife with multiple ends. Its cannons slowly traversing to its broadside to aim directly at the Woodrow. Forthammer would fire a barrage at Woodrow deliberately trying not to damage Dernby. Even then if Dernby would attempt to engage evasive maneuvers another ship would arrive from their side, silently waiting for this moment in order to strike by surprise, and strike by surprise Sheepskin did. Unbeknownst to Dernby and Woodrow that a second ship was hiding beyond their horizons, suddenly attacked them out of nowhere.
Sheepskin was treading at moderate speed towards the Dernby’s aft in order to disable their radio communications system as well as shooting its front-facing autocannons at Woodrow to disable their own radio communications system as well in order to stop them from doing any call for help in this expanse of space they are in. Their main goal is to acquire the Kyridium shipment within Dernby’s cargo/storage area, of course, if all goes to shıte they have no choice but to destroy every ship, but even then it’s a win-win situation for both the JRA and those Owlheads that approached the Jarl from earlier.
Ilox gave a nod, as Mithra had figured out what the case was, "Correct, just a common sense precaution. Glad that you understand. Though it also true that my fleet does seriously need some repairs, so that just lends even more reasoning to be cautious." She then listened to him explain the clans, and Ilox could understand what it was. They had a decentralized system where each House specialized themselves, a way to encourage cooperation since each house would need the others as well as prevent one house from monopolizing power. A handy way to make sure nobody overthrew the system until this prophecy of theirs came true. As for the validity of this Kell of Kells, she would have to figure out for herself later when she knew more, "Interesting little system you had then, a bunch of specialists all working together to run a proper civilization. Although that to me also makes me realize you probably had some rather difficult times after this 'Whirlwind' you mentioned, having to pick up after losing so many specialists."
The mighty warrior of legend certainly needed more examination, see how accurate it was. She could already guess that the miracle was the fulfillment of the prophecy mentioned prior, probably in some unlikely circumstance. Lots to figure out, "Guess it is sensible that you wouldn't stray too far from your main fleet as a nomad. After all, you have to keep moving. And that is an interesting way to use a passenger liner, but then again I suppose that is also a requirement of nomad life. You need to grow the food somewhere after all. Although tasting the Ether... I'll just leave that one be. I do have a question however, how big is this House of yours? Sounds to me you're a bunch of remnants, like my own fleet, but of course I don't have an proper estimate as to your houses. Are you big families? Or are you more like mini-nations?"
Tamour gave an affirmative nod at Melyphis's announcement, "Indeed so! I hope you will continue to show the ability for teamwork and team tactics that you have displayed here in the field, working alongside other Iammelonian races and peoples. I haven't a doubt of your abilities to fight, and you have given me proof of your ability to work as a team, your strength and potential are undeniable. This Civil War will be fought and won by the Iammelonian Union, and I know you will all contribute greatly to this. However you are not done learning. Over the course of this war, I hope you see to it that you bond with those you are fighting alongside, because when we win this war, you will be part of the society we are fighting to build. It is time that your people finally join civilization. I already see that you are very much capable of it, some of you are already quite prepared I believe." He gave a look to Melyphis and then Yajana during this comment, as they were of course the ones who best fit that, and then he continued, "In the rest, you can do it. You simply need accept it."
"Now! I will be giving assignments to all of you. Zemia, you will be rejoining your Taurus handler and you will help him train a number of the new Ultarians as part of a newly raised armored fist formation. I believe you are well suited to this unit, given that it is a combination of tanks and heavy infantry. Xernus, you as well will be training some of your newly created kin, in this case the Coralians. I will be calling upon your knowledge in anti-stealth abilities to form a unit specialized in rapidly responding to enemies who get behind our lines, as Omnipo has plenty of troops who enjoy such tactics. You're going to be working with your handler and the Coralians to handle them. Understood?" He then turned to the others, "Yajana, you will of course remain with Mierl. I'll be keeping you with my own personal fleet, as I of course require some reliable individuals to call upon. And Sieg, you I still need to figure out a role for. Until then, you will also be staying with my personal fleet, with Aloni as your handler."
Rovin smirked at that mention, "Ah, family by relation rather than blood, I see. Guess blood doesn't really matter if those are the folks you've known since you were just a young little fox. Nice that you got such pals however." It certainly kept the Human on his toes, but it also signaled to him that he was doing it right, and so he kept at it, his hands continuing to work on her back, and slowly going downwards. He continued to speak casually, "Lots of numbers for that project. Guessing then you were hardly the first generation. As for that... Fascinating, can't say I see you as the pirate type! But I suppose we all need some fun then and there. One day you'll have to show me a picture, I've never done pirating. Only the regular mercenary work and some smuggling, although of course with my morals intact. Well, intact so far at least. Still, got some fond memories from all that, bet you got some as well. Any adventure stand out to you?"
Azultiri beamed at the compliments, clearly quite happy with the praise for her craftsmanship. She took on a big smug smile, proud of herself and shook herself a bit in joy, "Excellent that you can recognize how great this is! Still, thank you Uncle! And it's not even my best work, this is just using the gems and materials I happen to have on hand. One day I'll have to show you what I can do when I put some proper dedication into a project. I can make some good stuff quickly, but a true masterwork takes time. I do wish I had some to show you, but when I do make such efforts it's because I get a request. They pay me for it, I give them the requested item, and we all benefit! Good business model, right? Oh! Mom does have one of my masterworks, it's a custom-build claw-gauntlet. It's suited specially for her front-right claw, and when it gathers power it can either make her slashes cut through anything that isn't Heord Gold or blast out a wave of magical claw blasts! Pretty good if I do say so myself. Maybe I can make something nice and fancy for you one day Uncle!" She then thought on it, and got an idea. It was clearly an idea that Azultiri liked, based on the smirk that appeared on her face, "Actually... Didn't you say you left a kingdom to your daughter? Would this queenly daughter of yours happen to require anything? Say, I don't know, a magical gem-encrusted crown? It's a big show of power and it's fancy, Humans love that sorta thing! Or at least they used to. Has that changed in the last century? Human trends are so transient, they can't even stay consistent for their little lifetimes. It's like they change their fashion styles every mere year or two, like on Avalantus. Wasteful! Anyways, the offer is there!"
"Yes, the Whirlwind made it hard for us over the centuries to try and gather a grasp of what we could do to survive... We do not know what happened to the other houses. It has been far too long... But we fear that wherever they are, they have taken to petty piracy or whatever they could do to survive... The Whirlwind made us desperate scavengers and cut throats barephed of honour or nobility that we possessed during our Golden age. I just hope that what we've been doing in recent years is setting us back on the path to a more noble future." Mithra says as he settles down on his captains chair on the bridge. Lynek standing by his side as the call transfers from his Micro-servitor to the ships main comms so it was an much better picture. Ilox could make out the bridge at large and all of the working Eliksni around the Baron as they prepared to start their departure for the rest of the fleet as it started to pull away from the asteroid.
As Ilox asks the question of how big heir house is, Lynek does look to Mithra as he ponders the question over. "Well you aren't wrong. We are a bunch of remnants all banded together... How would you put it Lynek? This sort of thing is more what your section is about." He says looking to the female standing to the left of his set. She was much smaller than the 7ft tall Baron, being only 5ft tall herself. For a moment she looked mortified under her rebreather to have to answer such a question... But being stubborn about it would get her nowhere. "... We do have big families within the House of Vengeance. One of the more prominent is the Drenan Bloodline from the previous house of Broken Dreams, they have had the most capable leaders in recent history with our leader coming from that bloodline. I would say our kind number... Something over 800 thousand strong with the recent survey that was taken to monitor population growth. All the ships have their own sort of governing bodies with Captains and Barons making up the local council with orders coming down from the Kell of Kells and his Section Council who oversee all major happenings and workings of our people... The section I work for is the Scout section, which is controlled by the Master of Secrets. Our job is to handle the flow of information, finding assets of interest and identifying entities of interest. Not unlike yourselves..." Lynek spoke in a very monotone and methodical way, listing off only what she thought was relevant without exposing exact facts or anything that would endanger the fleet.
Mithra watched Lynek as she explained what she could, he could understand why she wasn't being as transparent as he was up until this point but he still would have preferred some leniency. With that out of the way he looked back towards the holographic projection of Ilox. "Members of the Scout section once came from the old House of Shadow's. 'Honourable thieves' they called themselves. Never took a life but would still be sneak thieves, their moral code I can agree with but their methods... Still. Their intelligence collecting skills and asset acquisition are second to none. Usually." He says as he references the fact that this whole meeting was completely by chance and not something they staged. From the sound of it Mithra didn't much like how the old House of Shadow's conducted themselves, a man of honour having to serve beside thieves... Still he just seems to pick up his cheerful tone again "But I hope that helps clear up your question. We're about ready to start our jump if you are."
Ilox sighed at that explanation of the likely fate of the other houses, seeing more parallels already, "Something I anticipate will occur with my fellow Confederate expat fleets as well. I already know some have gone out and become conquerors, but I would not be surprised if some of the more unscrupulous elements also ditched all their honor in exchange for quick bucks in piracy. I intend to avoid that fate with my fleet, even if it will be more difficult in the short term." She then listened closely as Lynek took the screen, as it was useful information. It did made sense that each group that plenty of local power, as nomads like them likely required such autonomy in their scout fleets and scavenger groups. So she nodded, "Thank you Lynek, that was useful. So a rather large house in that case, but it is interesting to hear about the multiple levels of councils." She did not blame Lynek for being far more careful with information, it was a reasonable way to handle this.
On her own side, Ilox threw out some hand signals to her bridge crew, signaling them to prepare the shup for movement now that the scavenging operation had cleaned themselves up. She then looked back to the communications console, "Honorable thieves huh, quite something. I know some folks with such methods, we had a division in Omnipo quite like them. Quite different from the assassins, information gathering experts. Unfortunate that I don't have any with my fleet, as while I don't very much like their type, they would be quite valuable under the current circumstances. Regardless, my ship is ready to go. Lead the way."
The woman, after a few moments of catching her breath responded by backing away from Filia quite quickly. “W-who are you?!” That voice, something about it was familiar. Like the one from those speakers in the field. The woman, her voice had a striking resemblance to it. “What, torturing me wasn’t enough, now you people are trying to kill me?” She spat water out of her mouth and stood up. “I already told you everything I know...”
-
She smiles, nodding her head and hugging Sephus. She entered the shop, and found an elderly Creach woman. She had mostly grey and white fur around her nose. The black fur strips she had mostly grey if not all grey along her face. She wore goggles with many lenses. She held a soldering iron in one hand. Around her were pieces of wood, some cut, some uncut, some polished, some being stained. Hanging around her were wires, metal fixings, all the trappings of a clockmaker really. She wore a thick leather apron over a blue shirt and brown pants. Though she seemed to perk up hearing the bell on the door ring. She finished her work, set the iron down, and stood up. Her back cracked as she stood, but she approached a counter. Brushing off her apron, “Is that the great Liline Kumar darkening my doorstep?” She sounded happy, a big smile on the woman’s face. “Oh, time for a new arm then?”
Liline smiled, “Yes, yes, you old Codger. How have you been?” The two shook hands.
“Oh, aching. Getting older every day. And I haven’t yet gotten my OAF of an apprentice to actually pay attention.” A previously unremarkable pile of wood scraps and spare metal shifted and a measctha who was hidden under the pile of bits shifted. He jumped up.
“S-sorry, ma’am. I’ll uh, get back to the woodworking...” He jumped up and grabbed a large piece of scrap wood and a knife beginning to carve it.
The creach woman let out a groan,“I swear that boy’ll learn one day,” she waved her hand, “anyhow. Come back in a day, I’ll have your new arm ready.”
She smiled and Liline put a large leather folder on the counter, “just take the money this time, you-“
The badger quickly grabbed the folder, “Aye, I’ll happily take your money. Now that the guvenmet isn’t paying.” Liline seemed a little shocked, “but you...”
“I had to take it before you could take it back.” She smiled and pocketed the money within the folder. Liline smiled and turned back to Sephus and left the small shop.
Mithra, upon hearing that it was likely that her compatriots were also likely to fall to the depths of piracy and lowly murders masquerading as conquers, furrowed his brow upon realising that they were not so different. Something he wished was not so, no one should have to be so desperate as to resort to such deplorable ways of living. Still it was all the more reason to help them in this dire situation so that they do not have to forsake their honour and principles for the sake of merely surviving.
With Ilox's word that they were all prepared and ready to depart, Mithra nodded to a crewman to his left."Then we may get underway." Once the drive was ready and Mithra gave the order to get underway, the Ketch started to turn around with its engines ignited, heading away from the system and leading the way towards the rest of the nomad's fleet.
----
After the two hours of travel with the hyperdrives. The pair of vessels arrived at the current rest stop, the respite of the House of Vengeance's nomadic fleet. From a quick glance around there were hundreds of ships, all of varying class and origin... There were more Ketch's like the one Ilox's ship followed here. But there were some that she would actually recognise. There were several old and decommissioned ships from Iammelon here acting as security to the massive passenger liners they used as 'Live Ships', though they were obviously retrofitted with weapons and armour that did not fit the design too much. Lots of patchwork done to get them combat ready... Ilox and her crew could easily make out lots of combat vessels here that had been found, bought, scrounge up repurposed from corners of western space to fit any varying roles in the House's lacking fleet structure. Aside from the rather pervailent Ketch, that seemed to make up a large bulk of their fleet, there were not many ships that they did not retrofit or make themselves with what they had available... There was even, hilariously enough, a Apex Carrier ship that now flied the house colours as it came towards them with a small screening fleet to greet them.
The carrier was being led by a Ketch and seven cruiser class ships that all seemed to be of the same unrecognisable make... Perhaps a vessel that the house managed to make themselves? [https://imgur.com/csyCHrO]. As they got closer an incoming call was coming from the lead Ketch while Mithra butted in.
"Baron Mithra! You have returned, and with strangers accompanying you. This is good, yes?" The voice that was coming through was female by the sounds of it, they had a much deeper and more authoritative voice than Lynek's dainty and soft one. Mithra responded with a booming heartiness in his voice, clearly this was someone he was acquainted with personally. "Ahhaha! Baroness Tabbina. It is good to see you, I see the Valkyrie has you on screening detail. How did you annoy her this time I wonder. And yes! This is Commander Ilox of their former House OMNI. Though House isn't the right word for it, much less now that it is in an unfortunate state."
"Ho? So this softskin is much like us then? No home to return to? Wading out here in the ethers to find new roots to set down?" This baroness's mannerisms of speech were more cryptic than Mithra's, clearly. There must be different dialects in the fleet... Or maybe it is simply a byproduct of Mithra's fascination with other cultures that his way of speaking is far more profound and well spoken. "Yes I am afraid so, their people went through a sort of infighting and they lost. Now they are much like us, drifting with no home to return to. I couldn't just walk away without offering aid."
"Hah, Mithra has grown so fleshy during his time away. Not a bad thing though, compassion is something we do not show often enough in present times..." With that the Baroness turns her attention to the crew of the commander of the strange battlebarge as she now comes on screen. She's huge! The size difference between Mithra and Lynek was odd but this was strange. This baroness was easily 10ft tall as she lounged comfortable in his chair, clearly defined muscular features shown in the skin fight fabric that seperated the parts of her body armour. "Does Mithra speak truth softskin? It will not affect whether you are let in, Mithra's word is enough. But Tabbina is curious."
Ilox looked over the gathering of ships, noting the composition. The number of scavenging ships didn't surprise her, those were likely essential to the fleet, and of course she had heard about the Live Ships ahead of time, which she understood the purpose of. The other vessels however were fascinating to note, as the presence of older Iammelonian vessels was notable. She even noted one as an old and no longer in stock Omnipo vessel from the company's earlier days of starship manufacturing. That was certainly notable, as that meant these Houses had been interacting with Hoshizorans for either a long while, or at least had come across enough to purchase these old ships. Or seize them from pirates. In any case, the hodgepodge of ship types was fascinating to see, but it did make sense. They were nomads so they had to work with whatever they could get, be they proper vessels or old and outdated things. Still, she couldn't help but smile at noticing the converted Apex Carrier, that was enjoyable to see. Seems the pirates had been the ones hijacked this time, a lovely change of pace.
As for the new voice, this Baroness Tabbina was certainly interesting to see, although her mannerisms already brought up some memories. Her size was Taurus in nature, which confirmed again that humanity was not very tall or muscular in comparison to other species the universe had to offer. What a way to feel small, in a literal sense. Her words however instantly reminded her of another species, specifically Dragons. This wasn't the first time she was called a softskin, but in this case at least it wasn't from a giant, firebreathing, magical lizard. All the same, when she came up on the screen, Ilox gave a simple nod, "Yes, he is quite right, and your assumptions are correct. I am Commander Ilox, the commanding officer of OMNI Battle Fleet Hokaris. Well, former OMNI. I suppose we're just the Hokaris Fleet now. Anyways, he's right. We lost a Civil War back in our homeland of Iammelon, and now we are exiles, seeking a new life among the stars. I came with your Baron Mithra to learn more about your people, since we seem to be in similar situations, which means it would be beneficial if we established a positive relationship to help both of our peoples along. From what I gather, your role is security, is it? Quite similar to my own role prior to the Civil War. Didn't exactly end up leading an entire fleet by choice, but such was the desperation of late war."
Yosgel was surprised on the sudden enraged emotion displayed by the foreigner, but of course he understands. “I understand your anger and I believe it is rightfully justified so you have no need to apologize, and I do also understand the importance of the artifact to your family. We also have our own traditions regarding family heirlooms or important artifacts are deeply embedded on our culture. ” He sighs thinking again and again and again. ” The fact that this tradition is so respected and well-taught to everyone in society that not even hoodlums, burglars or thieves would even think of stealing anyone’s family heirloom, they have dignity of course and stealing one’s heirloom is literally an afront to our gods in a societal sense.” He would then go toward the artifact currently ontop of some sort of metallic plate.
A Whirring sound would emanate from the object, although not vibrating, and as if it was an instantaneous moment, the object is encased in a glass box similar to what was seen before they extracted the object. The artifact still has breathing space to move around and its air preserved to maintain its status. Yosgel would give the artifact enclosed inside the glass box to Lord Fendi and would nod as a sign of respect. “Take the artifact. And yes we only have one single request. Make a replica of it, with the same materials and everything. If it is possible that the materials used will correspond to a specific timeframe as the curators in the museum check the dates of the materials if it matches. We’ll have to find a way to buy some time as our deadline is in 2 days. ” He says before bowing again.
To him it isn’t a hard decision to give away the artifact, he understands the importance. The hardest part how he will return not empty-handed and not risk both of their jobs for not returning the thing that they seeked.
The sudden attack was... unexpected to say the least. The Woodrow sustained damage along its front decks as the barrage collided. The ship had not raised its shields as of yet, and wasn’t prepared for a fight. As the deck sustained the initial barrage, alarms blared out and both ships began to divert course, Woodrow aiming its broadside at the Fonthammer and Dernby sailing in the wake of the Woodrow. By the time the Sheepskin had sailed into effective firing range of the two Imperial Ships, the Woodrow had raised its shields. And further attacks from the front facing cannons were dispersed on the shields. The Dernby was not so lucky, its communication lattice decimated by the surprise attack. The Woodrow by this point fired its first broadside at the attacking Fonthammer. 16 cannons firing at the same time and delivering the 240mm ordinance across the waves. The Dernby, now that it was directly under attack, increased engine power and fired a few shells from their two deck guns at the Sheepskin. These small 3 inch guns would be small, but still packed heavy ordinance. While the Woodrow reloaded and prepared another broadside salvo, they also fired off their compliment of deck guns. The majority of their six inch guns were aimed at the Sheepskin, trying to cover the Dernby with heavy fire support.
To survive as nomads you have to pick up what other races leave behind or at least scavenge what you can. Though in the point of the Apex Carrier this was likely a case of the House defending themselves against an ambush and being more than the pirate bargained for.
As the commander spoke, Tabbina just listened and took in her words as she explains their situation. Though she was impressed how the commander rose to the challenge of leadership "A desperation Ilox will be challenged by, but one she has not let conquer her. You are strong for softskin. You gather correctly, Tabbina's role is security. Though she is not in command of security, a piece of the whole. The one in charge in Baroness Fraph. Commander Ilox will meet her before she and her fleet can roam freely. The atmosphere aboard her ship will be adjusted for softskin breathing. Softskins are not made to breathing the ether like we Eliksni."
Mithra seemed pretty interested in this as he rubbed his chin "Ho? Baroness Fraph, quite the rare treat. She's something of a recluse but she is a great tactician from the House of Broken Dreams. She has helped the House of Vengeance greatly. It's thanks to her that we repelled those Apex cretins and their silly automobiles. I wouldn't worry too much about the atmosphere on our end though, we eliksni can live in most environments as long as we have ether."
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