Unlike its predecessor, the exploration vessel Lipera had been built as a scientific ship from scratch rather than being a retrofitted transport spare from Mothership Larelei. As such, it was able to perform relatively better in its task, and, most importantly, more safely.It had been nearly twenty years since Sheassze took over the research efforts after dr. Myrayme’s unfortunate passing; since then, she had had the chance to catalogue several planets and more than a dozen solar systems. Though she lacked the same enthusiasm of her predecessor, she was certainly intrigued by the discoveries made during her time at the helm of the Lipera.
“We’re approaching the star, doctor.” One of her assistants called for her, distracting the scientist from her report to the Blood Moons.
Since the route through Bonos had been deemed off-limits for the time being, Elioka had ordered her to continue onward through the middle arm of the Galaxy, hopefully looking for an alternative and safer route that would lead them to the edge. Unfortunately, the survey of the Aludra system had revealed the presence of other unidentified vessels. Following the new security measures, Sheassze had originally retreated from the system immediately, reporting back to Neoilium, but, after analyzing her report, the Blood Moons agreed in sending her back there, with the military fleet on standby in the nearby system, ready to come to her rescue if needed.
The reason for this was that, unlike with Bonos, where the old alien ships, although functioning, showed no life form on board, the vessels in Aludra were shown to contain life signs of some sort through the long-range scanners. Commander Elioka was legitimately concerned of the possibility of some Unforgotten still at large and wanted them to be dealt with as quickly as possible.
“We’re receiving some transmission, doctor, it’s.. it’s...”
Sheassze blinked a few times and frowned, looking at the screen.
“What th-?”
*****************
“You know, Peem.. when you told me, eight years ago, that you wanted to start making utility mechs to speed things up, I knew this would have happened...” sighed Elioka, sipping from her cup, laying on the side of the holographic table, with her legs crossed over it.
A few of the Blood Moons present physically in the room chuckled, taking shots of the modified mech with their omni-tools.
The machine, refitted with grotesquely oversized silicon prosthesis on its chest and lower back was stiffly bending up and down on the side of the furniture, letting out the occasional soulless comment.
“Oh. Yes. Big Mommy. Yes. Show me eternity.”
“I didn’t say it,” continued Elioka. “because then you’d all jump on me, but I could
feel it, you know? Deep within my lekus...” She wrapped the sex-bot in a biotic field and turned it upside down, letting it fall on the ground, where the machine continued its fretting amongst the general amusement of the other asari present either in person or through hologram.
“The only thing I am surprised about is that it took so long for one to crop up, really.”
“It’s.. quite peculiar.” Said Enlikla, hiding a smile.
“Still less horny than your average Matron.” Interjected Peeemsy’s hologram.
“I
know, right?”
“Commander?” When Myrayme called for her, Elioka gestured to everyone to be quiet and turned to the Admiral’s hologram.
“What.”
“We’ve an incoming transmission from Dr. T’somi.”
“Finally!” She left her cup and sat up. “Break’s over, take that thing out of my sight.”
As one of the Blood Moons levitated the mech out of the room, Elioka turned her attention entirely to Myrayme, eager to hear the news.
They had had more than ten years of peace after the destruction of the Unforgotten, discovering that there might have been more survivors had been extremely annoying. If that was indeed the case, Elioka wanted to get rid of them quickly and silently, before they could take hold again amongst the general population.
Especially now that the new colony was expanding, she didn’t want to deal with any internal problems.
“I...” Myrayme looked at something out of view, with a disconcerted look on her face. “
Goddess.”
“What. WHAT.” Elioka walked closer to the hologram, narrowing her eyes. “Have they been attacked?”
“No, it’s not that... They’re not... Wait, I’m forwarding you the file.”
Elioka impatiently looked at the table, only to see a large and grotesque creature take form through the holographic emitter, accompanied by a blubbering series of chirps and hisses.
Elioka was left stuck with her mouth open, not even knowing how to react to that sight, as a crude translation accompanied the ghastly sounds coming out of the alien:
“Hello, fellow space travelers! This is frontier outpost Xlypryth Cho, a government facility under the purview of the Qavborvurg Mandate! We hope our advanced translation software is presenting this message in an understandable format. We’d like to welcome you into our space! We’re ready to assist you in whatever means necessary in your travels. Please, feel free to respond!”
The asari reunited in the command room were reacting more or less the same way, even Peeemsy had put aside her usual tinkering to look at the big, flabby creature.
“The f**k is
that?” finally said one of the Blood Moons.
“Gross.” Added another officer. “Looks like the secret lovechild of a hanar and a f**king yagh.”
“Eh.” Chuckled Imina. “When you put it that way it’s kinda cute.”
“Lol.” Peeemsy shook her head, accompanied by all sorts of other comments from the rest of the Blood Moons.
“Ew, no! What the f**k?”
“I see where she’s going...”
“...aww, poor jell-o freak, all lonely, looking for friends in space...”
“Ah ah!”
“Psh,” Elioka stuck out her tongue, disgusted. “I see some here are keeping with the old asari tradition of f**king on First Contact...”
Another series of chuckling passed across the room while the Commander took back her place at the table and replayed the message.
“I.. have to say. I was not expecting.. this.”
“Oh, you’d know something about it, wouldn’t you, Elio?” asked Peeemsy with a smirk.
“But seriously...” Elioka waved away the quip and spoke louder to calm the rest of the Blood Moons down. “The f**k are we gonna do about this.. thing?”
“I know what Imina wants to do about that thing...”
“F**king Goddess, guys...
focus.”
“Elio,” called Myrayme. “Dr. T’somi is asking what should she do now. Does she have to answer? Approach?”
“
Approach?! F**k
no! It could be a trap.”
“We can’t just not do anything, Elio.” Said Enlikla. “We’re going to risk a diplomatic incident like this?”
“A diplomat- Lani, whoever even
are these people? They could just be drifters, pirates, the f**k I know?”
“Well, they must come from somewhere…” added Sulysy, who had remained quiet for the entirety of the reunion. “...it is.. interesting. But I guess we should have expected the possibility of some form of life in this Galaxy as well.”
“Agreed.” Added Imina, nodding to her. “Though, admittedly, it wasn’t really a priority...”
“We do need to make a statement, Elio.” Continued Enlikla. “Can’t risk making enemies before even knowing who they are. At least for now, then we’ll have time to think what to tell to the people too.”
“Holy s**t!” Elioka cringed. “I totally forgot the people! What are we even gonna tell
them? They’ll just want to go there, start f**king the slugs, I just
know it...”
“We can think about that later, Elio. Right now it’s better to focus on what to answer to these aliens.”
“Right. Well, just.. hm... Tell Clama to keep it on the safe side for now, she can answer and be polite, but keep the distance, and get the f**k off the moment she can, just to be sure. If we’re gonna have diplomatic meetings with these guys, it’s going to be on safe ground.”
“I agree.” Said Sulysy.
“Ya, me too.” Added Enlikla.
“We need to know more, Elio.” Said Myrayme. “They are a new potential threat of unknown magnitude.”
“You think I don’t know?”
“Girls, girls...” Peeemsy shook her head. “...why you all have to be so gloomy? Didn’t it cross your mind that these natives might know stuff about this Galaxy? Stuff that might help us in getting out of it?”
Elioka resisted the urge to facepalm.
How did I not think of that?!
“Right.. still...”she curved towards Peeemsy’s hologram. “...we can’t risk revealing our intentions before knowing theirs. So, moot point for now.”
Peeemsy shrugged, returning to type on her console. “Just sayin’...”
“Go tell Clama what she’s got to do, Ray. We’ll wait for you.”
“Right away, Elio.” Said the Admiral, putting the transmission on hold.
Elioka took back her cup and stretched her neck, looking at the still image of the alien. “Hope everybody has clear schedules, because this is gonna be a
long night, guys...”
