Space Nations IC . . .

[ArlEammon]

All is well on all fronts for all the empires. A relative, terrifyingly serene calm has settled in the Galaxy for now.

[NM020110]

The Collective takes note that here are no enemies in the area as Sphere 01's construction is completed, after having destroyed the 30 closest star systems for construction materials. As if to celebrate this achievement, thousands of tiny probes (armed with sensitive sensors capable of detecting the full electromagnetic spectrum, a transwarp communication system, and a thermonuclear self-destruct charge) are deployed from the surface of the sphere to enter small portals which appear in front of them.

<action: Deploy three-thousand probes to the nearest systems, one to each star system. Conduct a mediocre sweep (scan the electromagnetic spectrum for activity) and then self-destruct. All data is logged to the Sphere 01 main harddrive. If search is interrupted, detonate.>

[ArlEammon]

(Gughghg curse writer's block)

[Levyathyn]

Skaarrn space, Sector 12...Tactical Ops Command

Staring into his holopanel control grid, T'zel Officer Sha'k nnotices an interesting development. Tapping a few of the keys with his long, clawed fingers, he hissed into his command module. Moments later, Presiding Tactical Chief Mok'elth To'z'tket strides in, his tail flickering as his long steps take him to the panel. A small consortium of communications officers and techs have taken audience.
"<Problem?>" To'z'tket asks, his voice hissing with intent. Nodding once, brielfy, and flicking his tongue out, Sha'k indictes some readings on his grid.
"<I'm getting a remote sensor sweep of systems 12-D, 12-F, and the star system L'alcol.>" L'alcol was a civilian center, with only a minimalistic military presence and few government structures. The only interest could be the munitions factories on it's ice moon, Gran. Thoughtfully, To'z'ktet rubs a finger gently on his nose, then taps it between his nostrils.
"<Contact area officials, put them on full alert. It could be peaceful, so have them send an envoy as soon as possible. Get me a threat assesment no more than a minute later.>" He says as he heads back to his command suite.

-----

Less than twenty minutes later, the Skaarrn envoy approached the idle drone. The sleek vector craft was unarmed, with sensor suites throwing signals back and forth across the smaller vessel.
"<No lifeforms. Sensors, communications...threat detection. It seems like a scout, nothing more.>" Said the crewman. Tapping his throat in acceptance, the deck officer turned to the communications chair.
"<Have we recieved reports from our other sectors?>" He asked. Shaking her head, the comm tech signalled no. Turning back to the front of the craft, the deck officer tapped the viewport open. Screens on the inside hull flickered to life, displaying the external feed of the vessel, oomed in and locked on so he could examine it. Unfamiliar make and model; Not a recognized species. No hostile movements, no weapons save a standard high explosive. Tapping his tail on the floor, the deck officer raised his hand.
"<Activate comms, hailing frequency.>" He said. "<Unidentified vessel, this is Deck Chief Ra'al of the Skaarrn Ascendency. You have entered Skaarrn space. Please, identify.>" He added before tapping the comm off. "<Loop and repeat.>" He added, closing the viewscreen down.

Actions: Skaarrn make contact in proprietary language with unknown vessels. Peaceful resolution possible, but backup plans have been made. Assume similar contact for at least thirty systems.

[NM020110]

Depending on what was used to transmit that message, it's possible that the probe can't detect it. Either way, there is nothing on it that allows it to respond...

The probe explodes (away from any planets or other object, moving away so the debris won't cause many problems) after about three days scanning (assuming that it isn't impeded or attacked, in which case it will explode).

On the second day that the probe is active (in systems where life is detected), a ship ("Consul design 1") with an extensive communications suite, engine (inertialess drive), transwarp communicator, a small nano-bot construction unit, a small diplomat, and another self destruct device. The diplomat (Diplomat design 1) has a transwarp communicator, auditory communicator, radio communicator, infrared scanner, and a self destruct device. Upon entering the systems, the ships will broadcast the message (on all electromagnetic frequencies, using all known encoding methods, in all known languages) "We have come seeking to engage in diplomatic negotiations."

In the Skaarn system, if you used a radio (or other electromagnetic wave) to contact the probe, the Consul ship will instead reply "This is The Collective, seeking diplomatic relations with any civilization present." on the same frequency used to hail the probe.

[Levyathyn]

The crew respond, and when the message repeats, they send it back to command. They then wait for a respons from the 'Collective' in a language they can understand, while TacCom works on deciphering it.

[NM020110]

It cycles through several hundred languages and encryption methods. I'll leave it to Armin as to whether any of them are decipherable.

[ArlEammon]

It cycles through several hundred languages and encryption methods. I'll leave it to Armin as to whether any of them are decipherable.

(It's decipherable)

[Lord_Asmodeus]

The Combine Protectorate Overwatch kept a careful eye on the communications of any other intelligent races they could find. Sending deep space probes through various portals into the solar systems so they could monitor them for any potentially developed species.

[NM020110]

Chances are our probes will meet, then.

[ArlEammon]

Chances are our probes will meet, then.

GM ACTION: Well then, they do.

[Levyathyn]

The Skaarrn ship maakes contact, and then recieves the coded transmission. A full day later, a second probe enters the region and begins communications; The Skaarrn are ready. In other systems, similar contacts are happening. Deck Chief Ra'al tries once more to make contact with this new craft. "<Unidentified vessel, this is Deck Chief Ra'al of the Skaarrn Ascendency. You have entered Skaarrn space. Please, identify.>" He says again.

[Lord_Asmodeus]

The probe is transmitting a message on all frequencies available to it, in a wide variety of languages and codes meant to be interpreted by alien life. It is clear after some inspection that it is completely automated, and can only repeat the signals it has been programmed with, incapable of any real response. The messages all translate roughly to this: "We are the Combine Protectorate Overwatch, we seek contact with alien races and empires not our own. Coordinates for peaceful contact follow" afterwhich there is a sequence of coordinates of various kinds meant to accommodate a wide variety of chart-systems, and the message repeats. Not only this, but the probe is made up largely of sensory equipment, and is constantly collecting data and sending it back to wherever it originated.

[NM020110]

The Skaarrn ship maakes contact, and then recieves the coded transmission. A full day later, a second probe enters the region and begins communications; The Skaarrn are ready. In other systems, similar contacts are happening. Deck Chief Ra'al tries once more to make contact with this new craft. "<Unidentified vessel, this is Deck Chief Ra'al of the Skaarrn Ascendency. You have entered Skaarrn space. Please, identify.>" He says again.
"This is the collective. It is good to meet you, Deck Chief Ra'al."
<The voice lacks any variation of tone and no syllables are stressed. The Deck Chief's name is a playback of the pronunciation used in the first contact with the probe, with the tone and speed altered to match that of the rest of the message.>

The probe is transmitting a message on all frequencies available to it, in a wide variety of languages and codes meant to be interpreted by alien life. It is clear after some inspection that it is completely automated, and can only repeat the signals it has been programmed with, incapable of any real response. The messages all translate roughly to this: "We are the Combine Protectorate Overwatch, we seek contact with alien races and empires not our own. Coordinates for peaceful contact follow" afterwhich there is a sequence of coordinates of various kinds meant to accommodate a wide variety of chart-systems, and the message repeats. Not only this, but the probe is made up largely of sensory equipment, and is constantly collecting data and sending it back to wherever it originated.
The Collective will deploy a Consul and two probes to the indicated area.

[Levyathyn]

Onboard the embassy vessel Tra'aj, Ra'al nods and fires a quick, coded burst to the nearby tac control. This message states that the unknown presence either knows H'skaarrn or learned to mimic it very quickly. "<Explain "The Collective", please. Such a race or alliance is unfamiliar to the Skaarrn. I must let you know that this star system is a distant member of the Ascendancy, and falls under her protection.>"

[NM020110]

"I am an entity of analysis and calculation. More will be made known to you in time. I will assure you that I mean no harm to your civilization."

OOC: As for how The Collective learned H'skaarn; there was a nano-bot construction crew on the Consul. It transferred to the envoy ship during the preliminary round of attempted languages and encoding methods, and built a small (barely visible under microscope) communications device into the ship's computer. With that reference, the language was cracked in minutes.

[Levyathyn]

OOC
I figured something like that.

Ra'al nods to himself, his tail tapping the floor behind him. Entity? He ponders. "<As a diplomatic envoy, I am cleared to brief you on our own Collective, if you will, and to take notes about your own. If you wish, we could arrange a trade of information, or a trade of material goods.>"

[NM020110]

"Very well. I will begin my first offer with this."
<A display comes up on the main viewing window, from a projector that most certainly was not installed on your ship before. It shows a technical readout of a compact (about six inches long) railgun, with technical readings easily comparable (and better in some areas) to the full sized (if slightly outdated) gun displayed next to it.>
"As a parallel offer, I will construct a moderately sized area where peace can be enjoyed, in exchange for knowledge of your culture."

<Action> Deploy one World Eater class ship to a system with no detected civilization. Land it on the largest solid planet and start converting it into a transwarp generator (eating other planets as necessary, so the the portal opened can fit the star, or at least significant chunks of it). Yes, it is "grey goo" in weaponized form to create super-massive structures.

[ArlEammon]

"Very well. I will begin my first offer with this."
<A display comes up on the main viewing window, from a projector that most certainly was not installed on your ship before. It shows a technical readout of a compact (about six inches long) railgun, with technical readings easily comparable (and better in some areas) to the full sized (if slightly outdated) gun displayed next to it.>
"As a parallel offer, I will construct a moderately sized area where peace can be enjoyed, in exchange for knowledge of your culture."

<Action> Deploy one World Eater class ship to a system with no detected civilization. Land it on the largest solid planet and start converting it into a transwarp generator (eating other planets as necessary, so the the portal opened can fit the star, or at least significant chunks of it). Yes, it is "grey goo" in weaponized form to create super-massive structures.

We'll have to discuss Von-Neumans like Grey Goo in the OOC thread.

[Levyathyn]

Onboard the Tra'aj, Ra'al studies the file while the decryption techs break it into something readable. Nodding slightly, he triggers the high-speed 'send-home', a call that's basically a diplomatic distress beacon. In less than twelve hours, they would have reinforcements. Maybe then, when diplomats with more credentials in bargaining than Ra'al did in his command showed up, the real negotiating could begin.

Outside of system B-2X, in the Art'rl cluster

Sector Overwatch Liaison Derkaj taps the glowing indicator, lighting up a control panel. The panel displays area penetration information for the nearby system, B-2X. Noting an infiltrator, Derkaj brings up the assignment control panel. He denotes Task Force Arg'ak is ready for deployment and hovering at the top of his short list. Flicking his tongue out a few times, he keys the Task Force for a small incursion recovery party in the system, and he tells them to go in hot.

Twelve minutes later, the Royv hot drops into the system and immediately sheds a pair of escort frigates. The sensor suit on the Royv immediately picks up the Combine frequency, and lights on dozens of recorded messages in various languages and a few known codes. Task Force Commander K'arm is experienced in field work; He highlights a pair of languages he knows and assigns one of his field agents to decipher the codes. They all say the same thing.


"We are the Combine Protectorate Overwatch, we seek contact with alien races and empires not our own. Coordinates for peaceful contact follow."

Then a burst of information scatters, and K'arm manages to work it into his starcharts. The nearby systems are surprisingly distant, meaning it could be a large-scale empire. K'arm sits at his station and begins discussing tactics with Sector Overwatch.

[Levyathyn]

Sector Control Center; Art'rl cluster

System Controls Officer Pey'j examines the readout on his holo-splay. The Combine Overwatch... he thought. Flicking through some of his files, he came upon a Targeran* report from a recent Skaarrn acquisition. The report did indeed mention the Overwatch. Nodding as he read, Pey'j tapped through the files quickly.

________________________________
/\/\/\/\|TALGERAN 13 REPORT|/\/\/\/\

Thirteenth Talgeran reported; Similar sightings to the other twelve aliens. Ships from the Combine Protectorate Overwatch, as the attackers called themselves, flew down to the surface in force and began holding the planet. The forces were said to have taken hundreds, if not thousands of Talgerans off-planet. They were later discovered in force, hybridied with Combine technology. The Combine has been temporarily moved to the System Watch list, but again, I feel the need to enforce that this could be an elaborate story. The Talgerans have all been executed, as have the remaining seven aliens.

---Commander Rou'ta
________________________________

Pey'j tapped his transmitter. Maybe it wouldn't be a slow week, afterall.

-----

Derkaj nods, then closes the transmitter screen. He relays the other Task Forces and switches them all onto alert. With a single flick of his thumb, he sends out two Assembly Forces, TF Tra'an and TF Jerik. The teams are sent out with orders to assist the Arg'ak in a potentially dangerous situation. Force is listed as a possible response.

-----

Less than an hour later, the two Assembly teams drop into the system. The teams are made up of smaller clusters of assault frigates and a single carrier each; As they near the Royv and the rest of Entry Team Arg'ak, the carriers each deploy screens of Erik'tarn-class fighter-bombers. K'arm opens his comm array on all channels and relays his words into the comm chair's codex. His message is translated into fourteen languages, including five that were used by the probe. "<This message is from the Skaarrn Ascendancy. We have reason to believe the Combine Protectorate Overwatch is a hostile body. As such, we will ask you to leave this sector and all sectors occupied by the Skaarrn until such a time as we may determine you are not a threat. To seek peaceful council, send an unarmed relay ship with your ambassadors or diplomats to these co-ordinates by this time two days from now. K'arm out.>" He says, and switche sthe comms off. His comm chief nods and gives himself a poke on the chin, indicating success. "<And now we wait.>" K'arm says.

[Lord_Asmodeus]

Combine Protectorate Overwatch

The probe in the system, typically, took no actions. The nearby system that was broadcast in the probes message is a small system with a slowly dying star, still millenia from death, and a single outer rim outpost, it had few escort ships mostly meant to scout into neighboring systems if probes were not being effective enough, and to be called in to assist Protectorate ships.

[nolispe]

In the Eagle nebula, a sphere over a hundred thousand kilometers in diameter seems to come into existence. What seems to be a vast clound of light swings out of it, and slides into the vast clouds of hydrogen. the gglittering clound begins to expand in volume rapidly. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of small, micrometer wide dots begin to pop out of the sphere, and vanish just as quickly when a small amount of the light in the clouds runs into them. They reappear moments later at thousands of starsystems across the glaxy, emitting a searching gammawave pulse, and waiting in place to recieve the infomation for a few days before moving on to another.
If sentinent creatures appear, a message is sent out. "I greet you, life forms. I do not intend to harm you, and I would like to recieve your reply. I offer alliance to explore the galaxy together in peace and harmony."
DM, do we find the others?
What formula are you going to use for the multiplication of the replicator energy creatures?

[Levyathyn]

OOC, in character I'm assuming any probes sent to transmit a message will be able to send any recieved signals back to the emission point. This is how the Skaarrn do this, and why it's slow work for them, because it takes more time maintaining comms with their probes. They just assume it's how the universe rolls, so it's what I'm doing as well.

Artr'rl Cluster

K'arm shook his head slowly, side to side, his eyes flicking back and forth. "<This makes no sense. They claim to want contact, but exchange no messages.>" He says. Behind him, his crew chief licks his lips nervously. "Kart'aj K'arm, <now is the time for action.>" Stroking his throat, Ka'rm agrees. "<Fire weapons, remove the probe. Then we shall wait again.>" With no sound at all, plasma clusters in the rear of the ship power up and launch a sealed projectile in an envelope of plasma containment energy. The blast hits the small, unmanned vessel and implodes any shielding, while the explosing shell hammers into the craft and detonates it.

-----

Sector 12, Station Watch [i]Zhu'ul

After much waiting, the Deliberator-class diplomtic vessel Arnj slips into Skaarrn space without a whisper. The vessel sidles up a few hundred meters from the Tra'aj and opens all lines of communication. The long, cylindrical ship is smooth and dull metllic; The cockpit is a small loenge mounted on the front. Halfway through the length of the ship, the spherical bulge of the on-board archives is an obvious indicator of Skaarrn delegates. The ship is rigged with self-destruct, lest Skaarrn history and technology fall into enemy hands. To preserve electronic safety, all of the information is kept in hard copy only. Information needed is simply scanned into the system on a piece by piece basis.

On board the ship, tro'zak-class diplomat Ein stretches his tired shoulder muscles. He scratches the age-worn mottling on his chin with the back of his hand, and speaks. "<Collective Entity, this is Ein of the Skaarrn. I am a diplomat, and have the required privelage of station to trade information and technology with you.>" He says. His H'skaarrn is clipped and throaty, poised tightly and spoken with the maximum amount of grace possible for a reptile. "<The technology you have already provided will surely prove invaluable to the Skaarrn. In trade, I will give you the history of our people and all those under the thousand Skaarrn banners. In addition, our starcharts will be sent over, as will basic information on each system in our territory and the surrounding free-space. Is this trade worthy of the Collective?>" He asks.

[nolispe]

OOC: was that my probe? If so, it is about a micrometer across, so that's some awesome detecting technology you have there.

[Levyathyn]

OOC: It was not.

EDIT: If your probe scans with it's own sensors further than a few thousand meters out and/or relays any information away from itself in bulk, it's detectable, no matter the size. I just don't think there were many in Skaarrn space.

EDITEDIT: The one shot down was the Combine drone.

[nolispe]

/\: Yeah, true.
An unimaginable number of spheres begin to pour out of the gate and take up positions. Around them, time and space themselves beging to be broken down for energy.