• Nobles of Null is a forum based roleplay site where sci-fi and magic collide. Here, Earth remains fractured and divided despite humanity reaching out to the stars. Worse still, the trans-human slaves of one major power have escaped, only to establish their own Empire, seething with resentment at abuses of the past. Even the discovery of aliens, though medieval in development, has failed to rally these squabbling children of Earth together with its far darker implications. Worse still, is the discovery of the impossible - magic. Practiced by the alien locals, nearly depleted and therefore rare, its reality warping abilities remains abstract and distant to the general populace. All the while, unseen in the darkness of space, forces from without threaten to press in. For those with eyes opened by insight, it is clear that an era is about to end, and that a new age will dawn.

Reclamation: Chapter 1: Inheritance

Before he could make it within grasping distance of the vessel, the shipyard-turned-hideout made a warning clear.

Dust floated downwards in a rain of grey as a quad-barreled shape emerged its slot in the ceiling. Five domes and the maggot-wriggling camera-eyes cluttered behind them formed a plus sign formation, flanked on four-square corners by tubular barrels of a deep green material flaking off bits of old detritus and detaching biomatter. Long muzzle brakes extended from their tip down to the middle and it was clear by their size, they were meant to stop something larger and meaner than aos si and human alike.

This could not be the only turret with how the whole ceiling shuddered like nervous insects squirming beneath leaves yet it was the representative of the vrexul now. A facet of something larger as com channels began to literally buzz with the appalling, tuneless chatter of some arcane language not spoken by living things but living machines.

An open channel message was playing, one everyone could hear. It was at first little more than gargled, backmasked audio-garbage but soon it was deciphered.

"YOUR PRESENCE HERE IS AN INTRUSION AND WILL BE TREATED AS SUCH. LEAVE NOW OR JUSTIFY YOUR PRESENCE."
 
Lord Wang should consider himself lucky that the HFR's decryption of the Vrexul language was made publicly available. It took him half an hour to request the data, go through his contractors, before it all was usable on his suit's computers. All the while he needed a drone to come in and replenish his oxygen supply. All said and done, the message was hardly surprising. Like ants on human property, these things think they own the place.

"My name is Wang Dai." The Aos Si announced after standing still and thinking. "You have taken refuge in Aos Si spacecraft. My birthright."

"However. Clearly, this is your home now, and I have no intention of removing you from it. Instead, I would like to propose a compromise. I was there when these vessels were built. I know them more than anyone else alive. I have information that may be of use to you."

"Should you cooperate and aid me in returning these vessels to working order, I will help enhance your own utility of them."

His piece of this pie kept getting smaller.
 
"A TITLE THAT IS MERELY WORDS. OUR AGES IN SECLUSION ARE NOT. WE HAVE DWELLED IN THIS SPACE AND MADE IT UNTO OUR OWN. GIVE US YOUR KNOWLEDGE OR YOUR LEAVE."

A few of the ceiling tiles shifted in silent agreement and silent threat. The lights on the ships flickered for a few moments, blinking almost grub-like tubes connected them to holes in the floor deflated and diminished in size. As if the station itself was alive, it pulsed and shuddered as if disturbed in its slumber.

Scans from vessels outside could detect fluctuations in power; the powering of many individual weapon systems and the taxing of its tenuous battery life.
 
"Well, spending time in waiting is a commonality we both share." Wang scoffed. The threat of violence hardly scared him; he was there when the humans torched a city full of inhabitants and systematically hunted down his race. Still being polite to the Vrexul aliens was in his best interests. "I can give you more than just knowledge, depending on what your needs are. But first, I need safe passage into one of the vessels, and I prefer talking to one of you face to face. Of course, I will come alone."
 
The upper left barrel of the quad-turret flashed and a blink-fast bolt of white flew past Wang's shoulder, cracking against the ground and sending fragments of shattered stone and metal in a geyser-like burst. It had been mere inches from his head.

The turret shifted. Its barrels shuffled within their frame. This time, the one that had "missed" was staring him directly in the eye.
 
Wang seethed, his heart pounded, as he stared death straight in the face. Decades and centuries of patience could end in an instant if he wasn't careful. He gulped, throwing his hands up, while he took a step back.

"Easy there now. We are both sapient, rational species; violence is unnecessary." Bastard insects. "If you refuse entrance, very well, I will remain here. However, I do require a promise of something in return for my knowledge." Wang shut off his comms to the rest of the humans.

"Killing me won't do you any good either. Here's a free piece of advise. I am linked to two species outside these dwellings of yours: the Aos Si, my species, and the humans. Should you snuff me out here, they will track down my last known location to this place, and your life will become very, very unpleasant." It was a threat that could very well accelerate his own demise, but he was willing to take the gamble that these Vrexul were too advanced, too rational, to jump to lethality.

"Thus, get those barrels out of my face, and let's talk."
 
"THEN SPEAK. STATE YOUR GOAL AND HOW IT SHALL BENEFIT US."

The weapon pointed directly down before retracting back into the hole it had emerged from as the glow of the ships and the twitching shadows they cast dimmed and diminished. The room returned to being refreshingly still, as if it was just dead rock and not living in every single inch with some sort of biomechanical presence.
 
Now they were making headway. Wang sighed underneath his visor, relief at the retracted weapons. He'll get more time to live.

It was time to reveal his hand to his human allies. The Aos Si turned on comms again to the Hando waiting outside.

"As I've stated, I have human and Aos Si allies." Wang spoke up. "There are humans that are not so friendly to my cause, and that is to reclaim my homeworld." He gestured to the Aos Si vessels. "These would provide me the strategic pieces necessary to make that cause a reality. In return for lending me your homes so I may fight for my cause, not only will you have them returned to you, but you may also benefit directly from this campaign, a resource that all sapients require for their survival amongst the stars: energy. These humans I fight against have spent the last two centuries suckling upon the star in this system and all its fusion fuels, building up great stores of reserves. Should we be able to put them to their knees, you may have it; the liberation of my homeworld is all that I care for."
 
"THIS STATION IS OF VITAL IMPORTANCE TO US. IT HOUSES THINGS OF NOTABLE SIGNIFICANCE, NOT OF AOS SI ORIGIN BUT OUR OWN. WE ARE AWARE OF WHAT YOUR TECHNOLOGY CAN DO AND WHAT A WAR WILL BRING. IF YOU WISH TO FIGHT, WE HAVE NO INTEREST IN YOUR POLITICS. WE CANNOT OFFER THE ENTIRETY OF OUR CAPABILITIES BUT WE CAN ALLOW A DETACHMENT OF COMBAT CRAFT. ONE WE WILL BE WATCHING. SHOULD ANY HARM COME TO ON BOARD VITAL SYSTEMS, WE CANNOT GUARANTEE FURTHER COOPERATION."
 
"Of course. I will ensure the survival of members of your species." Wang frowned. So between the few vessels he'll get from this, as the Vrexul and the humans are both taking their slice of the pie, any protracted conflict with the HFR will be doomed. He'll get one battle at best, one battle that will determine the fate of his ambitions. He could always wait, as he has done before, but the humans are getting smarter. They're making friends with the other Aos Si, turning them towards their cause. Time isn't on his side anymore; if another century goes by and memories of the atrocities fade, he won't have support anymore.

"Still, it's been sometime since I've laid my eyes on vessels like this. I, along with my allies, will require access to the vessels and all their systems." They'll need a thorough understanding of their capabilities, what they can or cannot do. He'll still need to sell this war to these human corpos. They came from the AU, didn't they? If he knew his astropolitics... this might just work. Perhaps the persuasion will not be too difficult after all.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top