Late 2322
Somewhere in the Xianglong Ring System, Aboard the Changhong
Pema stepped into the briefing room aboard the marine frigate, feeling the false 1.2 g gravity pulling him towards the main engines of the vessel as they decelerated towards their destination, an icy rock in the gas giant's rings. Occasional plinks could be heard ringing through the walls, as micro asteroids glanced off the armor or completely embedded themelves. Hopefully the lasers were dealing with the most lethal objects in their way.
His helmet in hand, "Lotus" Pema gave his counterpart, Zhaoyun, a nod, who stood on the opposite side of the central table with his own team of four. Zhaoyun and most of the others here were paler than Pema, though they shared similar, Asian black hair, with the occasional dab of colorful dye as personal display. The except was... Anamu, was it, on Zhaoyun's team, an Aos Si, with complexions similar to a human of European descent, uncannily so with uneasy differences, tissue and muscles slightly misplaced that made him clearly alien. Between them was the Vrexul representative, who was undoubtedly so.
The entire briefing room was laid out similar to the bridge, with monitors lining the walls, crash couches, and the central table equipped with a hologram projector. Pema set his helmet on the edge of the table, bringing up a 3D map of the local area. Unlike an asteroid belt where objects were hundreds of kilometers apart, the ring system was dense enough that made mapping and navigation a true nuisance, objects flickering in and out on the live map. A dot circled in red slowly moved towards the flotilla marked by yellow arrows.
"Alright, Heiyi, Lvshi, listen up." Pema announced out loud to the two teams. "Five days ago Space Command got a distress signal, Daqin in origin, from this rock, XL-563." He pointed at the circled dot as the listeners looked on incredulously. "They claim they were attacked by unknown assailants, and were forced to evacuate. Their pirate vessels are now in orbit, awaiting for our arrival."
"A trap, sir?" Pan "Joy" Huan asked from Pema's own team.
"Likely, but the footage provided matches that of Vrexul activity," Pema eyed their alien liaison, "and it seems our friends here seem quite interested in further investigation. Nonetheless, we have our own national security responsibilities to fulfill first. Our escorts will be taking remote control of their vessels before we board and detain them. Then, we'll send drones down to the surface to scout out their base before we deploy. Space Command intelligence says that they were cooperative over the comms, but who knows what the Daqinren are up to."
Somewhere in the Xianglong Ring System, Aboard the Changhong
Pema stepped into the briefing room aboard the marine frigate, feeling the false 1.2 g gravity pulling him towards the main engines of the vessel as they decelerated towards their destination, an icy rock in the gas giant's rings. Occasional plinks could be heard ringing through the walls, as micro asteroids glanced off the armor or completely embedded themelves. Hopefully the lasers were dealing with the most lethal objects in their way.
His helmet in hand, "Lotus" Pema gave his counterpart, Zhaoyun, a nod, who stood on the opposite side of the central table with his own team of four. Zhaoyun and most of the others here were paler than Pema, though they shared similar, Asian black hair, with the occasional dab of colorful dye as personal display. The except was... Anamu, was it, on Zhaoyun's team, an Aos Si, with complexions similar to a human of European descent, uncannily so with uneasy differences, tissue and muscles slightly misplaced that made him clearly alien. Between them was the Vrexul representative, who was undoubtedly so.
The entire briefing room was laid out similar to the bridge, with monitors lining the walls, crash couches, and the central table equipped with a hologram projector. Pema set his helmet on the edge of the table, bringing up a 3D map of the local area. Unlike an asteroid belt where objects were hundreds of kilometers apart, the ring system was dense enough that made mapping and navigation a true nuisance, objects flickering in and out on the live map. A dot circled in red slowly moved towards the flotilla marked by yellow arrows.
"Alright, Heiyi, Lvshi, listen up." Pema announced out loud to the two teams. "Five days ago Space Command got a distress signal, Daqin in origin, from this rock, XL-563." He pointed at the circled dot as the listeners looked on incredulously. "They claim they were attacked by unknown assailants, and were forced to evacuate. Their pirate vessels are now in orbit, awaiting for our arrival."
"A trap, sir?" Pan "Joy" Huan asked from Pema's own team.
"Likely, but the footage provided matches that of Vrexul activity," Pema eyed their alien liaison, "and it seems our friends here seem quite interested in further investigation. Nonetheless, we have our own national security responsibilities to fulfill first. Our escorts will be taking remote control of their vessels before we board and detain them. Then, we'll send drones down to the surface to scout out their base before we deploy. Space Command intelligence says that they were cooperative over the comms, but who knows what the Daqinren are up to."