Dario Moterano's Story

Eterna - High Orbit

Space and time bent, and buckled with the arrival of the massive Reverence II Class planetary assault carrier. One digit was all it took for this massive, state of the art warship to reach this strange, undiscovered alien world.

With a brief but brilliant flash that skimmed from bow to stern, the Esteem winked into high orbit. There was no sign of the rest of the strike group, this vessel was alone, orbiting a strange alien world, and centered above what was the dark side of the planet, far enough to have the sun hit the underbelly of the carrier, to those below this massive vessel would take up a fair amount of space in the night sky, and the sunlight reflecting off it's armored hull cast the light that was brighter than that of a full moon.

---

"Sitrep." Hanley demanded as she set her coffee down in frustration, several alarms blaring as the AI Spoke. "No sign of the Strike Group, and our stellar charts do not match with the star patterns, this world is not in Imperial charts either." The AI reported, while Colonel Warren brought up several transparent star charts and laid them over the CIC backlit command table.


"No clue where we're at." He admitted, as Hanley growled.

"All hands set condition two, heightened alert status. If we have inbound I want to know about it." Hanley ordered, and the brightly lit CIC Shifted to an amber color, with an alarm blaring throughout the ship, readying the crew for possible hostilities.

The Admiral then manipulated a large hologram of the planet, with most of it shaded black to denote undiscovered and surveyed areas.

"Get a recon wing of Apollo fighters for a quick survey planetside, and gods damnit get Astrometrics to figure out where the frak we're at!" Hanley barked, her voice carrying over the confusion of her CIC.

From high up in the building of the Greater Eternan Tripartate, a council met. The structure itself was impressive. Generally isolated from cities, the building perched where all three civilizations of Eterna kissed. Half of it fell off a cliff, a waterfall surrounding a plasma tube which lead from the sea to the top of the structure. It was taller than it was wide, hosting on top an orb that was the best of both worlds.

"I've never seen anything like it," The rell ambassador Ulao Asaali was speaking truth. A ship of that magnitude, of that shape, casting that glow. There were many things Eterna had seen, including some more tragic affairs such as high orbit pirate raids, but this was not one of them. The other representatives and ambassadors present murmured agreement.

"So what do we do? Do we contact it, do we wait for it to contact us, what? I mean..." Tony Spark of Cathos wasn't exactly excited, and he was at a loss of what to do. It had been primarily his citizenry from the south, not those from the Atellan Kingdom of the north, who had been effected by the pirate raid years ago. It had left them unsettled. Most had healed, but this wasn't going to help anything.

"I say we wait, until first light," Suggested Dario, Moterano, a representative from the Atellan Kingdoms. He was usually the person they dispatched to here on emergency account. Reasonable, someone who preferred to wait, watch, and then act. He had a tendency to take his time. It was that which annoyed Tony Spark, who let out a huff of air.

They stood around a three dimensional plasma replica of the planet Eterna, showing live updates thanks to the magic of the planet. Two massive, precisely cut crystals above and below, linked with the planet's magic itself, made this possible. It was a piece of equipment not used in most situations, and took a lot of energy to fire up. Over by the control panel, a dark haired woman adorned with crystals watched the three, and listened.

"Oh, oh. No no no, look," Tony pointed to three smaller vessels entering their atmosphere, putting a hand to his mouth. What was that? The three ships did as they did, and it set everyone in the room on edge.

"Would waiting be wise?" Ulao commented, considering their options. There weren't many.

"Would that not be an attempt at contact?" Dario responded, sounding unsure, and rarely enough nervous. Tony shot him a look of surprise, but kept his comments to himself.

"We should wait," Piped up the dark haired woman at the control board. The three turned to look at her, with full attention. She had her eyes fixed on the plasma replica of Eterna. Adding a crystal to the panel, the mini-planet zoomed in on one of the ships within the atmosphere, "I've never seen that before, and so long as it's not provoking volatile activity or raising citizen concern, we should do nothing, and that is my opinion," Xaiani said with a slight bow. Though she had no actual political power, the group she represented here was arguable the most influential of all.

"So, what? What do we do?" Tony was growing impatient, wondering what he was going to tell his citizenry if anything were to go wrong. Surely someone had noticed the ships, surely someone was going to say something, and surely he would be going home to a panic.

"We wait," Dario agreed, very much so less concerned with the potential dire-ness of the situation. He trusted in Xaiani, perhaps more than he should.

"We watch," Commented Ulao, for that was exactly what they would be doing until the next move would be made. All four nodded, and continued to do just that, as Xaiani moved crystals and manipulated the plasma map to show different views.

Hanley waited aboard the CIC, as the black on her holographic display gave way to landmasses, cities, and water as the trio of Apollo fighters began to snap photographs and map the planetary landmass. Everything that wasn't on the Reverence II's scanners were being filled in.

Hanley silently turned to her AI, the flickering female projection standing silently overseeing the planetary hologram before them.

"Initiating surface scans." The AI reported. "Indigenous population detected, threat probability is low, recommend cataloging for future Imperial missions."

Hanley nodded slightly.

"Acknowledged, compile a report so I can read it later, for now, keep communication channels open and see if they contact us." Hanley said, bringing her attention to the status of the FTL Drives.

"Looks like the FTL Will be spooled up soon." She said, checking her watch. "We'll jump when the recon picket returns."

"Yeah, no, I really don't like this," Tony Spark had taken to biting his nails, a habit the rest found trying to hear. In the politicals his sometimes overly human ways had won him the hearts of his people. When it came to actually handling situations he had a tendency to hinder himself. Thinking before speaking wasn't exactly a virtue of his. Dario Moterano rolled his eyes and hoped nobody noticed. A silence stretched between the four, and Xaiani continued to manipulate their view. The entire plasma representation rippled, rapidly reforming to show a jet of some variety zooming over the sea, near a coastline, and above a bunch of mobile water pod boats. It seemed to be going too fast for the average anyone to notice with the naked eye.

"Will this disrupt your populous?" The melodically mechanical voice transmitter of the rell ambassador Ulao Asaali broke the silence. He knew his kind would pick up on that, if any were paying attention. All it took was one to notice anything with the rell. Thanks to telepathy, there were no lies. There were also no secrets, which proved complicated sometimes. Not often.

"Probably? Maybe? Augh, you know what..." Trailing off, Tony Spark resumed biting his nails.

"I doubt there will be a panic," Dario Moterano's voice was smoother than his thoughts. There wasn't much that couldn't be explained and excused away, and space ships from another planet just so happened to be one of those things. He was simply glad the ship was out of view of his kingdom.

Instead it was parked over Cathos. Space trouble always seemed to happen for Cathos.

"Hah!" A nervous laugh from Tony Spark, "You didn't have your people shook by pirate raids, and that's a collaborative project between yours and mine and ours. We're sending crystals off to some other planet for study, and what have we gleamed? Chaos, that's what-"

"Fear should not guide your future," Ulao Asaali interrupted Tony, provoking a sigh from Dario. The rell were very different from the humans.

"And what would you do if they came down to here and, and, and killed everyone! What would you do, hm? Hide under the sea?" Tony Spark's words rang through the room. It was uncomfortable, the quiet that came after such an accusation.

Xaiani watched the three representatives. They avoided each others eyes, staring at the plasma Eterna between them. Dario looked the most uncomfortable, not wanting to take a side but secretly sharing the same concern. Tony was clearly distraught, unnecessarily so in her opinion.

Ulao was remarkably silent and still. Had the rell not helped the humans, time and time again? Had they not aided drastically in the building of their civilizations, offered technology the humans may have never discovered without their jellicient cohabitants of Eterna? Were there not habitable places for the humans under the sea? Had the two species not fully embraced their coexistence?

"We do what's right for Eterna," Ulao said, "As always."

"Should we make contact?" The XO asked, his inquisitive eyes falling on Admiral Hanley, who quietly shook her head. "No, not yet. None of us are either qualified or prepared to make contact with another indigenous civilization, especially one as underdeveloped as this one."

Hanley's fingers moved across a holographic display, typing in Anquietas characters as she established a connection with the larger Aschen datalink.

As she focused on the readout, the AI Chimed in.

"Admiral, I've calculated our position, and mapped current stellar patterns. Point of Origin has been configured, additionally, I have entered coordinates to the Tal'dor System, where we may resume our patrols." The AI reported. Hanley nodded, and pulled up a larger readout of the trio of Apollo fighters.

They had completed their circumnavigation of the planet, and were returning back to the ship.

"Apollo ETA is one millicenton, FTL Will be charged in one point five Millicentons. I have not detected any surface weapon launches, or communications aimed at our direction. I will continue to monitor indigenous communications."

The CIC Crew of the Esteem were hard at work, configuring the ship's FTL jump, and monitoring it's endless monitoring systems. In addition, any ground communications, from television broadcasts to cell phone communications were being listened into by an advanced sensor suite.

"No doubt they know we're up here, if our surface scans are correct... why haven't they made contact?" Eclaire wondered silently to herself.

"So why don't we just, I dunno, try talking to them?" Tony Spark stopped abruptly in his pacing to propose. He had thought not so long but very hard on their current circumstance. There was a ship in the sky. There were ships in their atmosphere. They were silent, staring in the face of who might be their demise. Or, maybe not. Maybe the beings in the sky, who popped by so unfashionably abrupt, meant something less than malicious.

When the next pulse of readings came from Eterna, Xaiani slid a crystal across her panel. There. They now had a full read of the less than familiar craft hovering high above their atmosphere. It took a minute for anything off planet, but Eterna's natural magic was able to reach and read things even farther than high orbit. The four stared at the ship in a mix of horror and wonder.

"Have you considered," Dario Moterano said slowly and with notable exhaustion, "That they can't be talked to? Look at that thing. Sure, we can contact them, but what happens next? Tea?"

Tony Spark shrugged, fixated on the plasma model before them. Tea would be a reasonable outcome, regardless of how improbable at this juncture. They didn't even know if whatever was aboard that thing was human. Did species matter, though, considering the rell?

Ulao, their resident rell, sat silent and still in malcontent. The humans argued enough as it was. They were lucky to have peace between the two nations of land dwellers on this planet, unlike some reports that came back with their science shuttles of unrest between the humans.

"I think tea with the strange alien ship currently zooming all around our everywhere would be great!" His voice dripping with sarcasm, Tony Spark shot back at Dario Moterano- but part of him meant it. Part of him really, truly wanted to contact that great thing in the sky. Part of him wanted to question them, talk to them, see what they had to offer. Dario was looking at Tony Spark as if he were the biggest fool on all Eterna, sea and land combined. Xaiani simply stared forward at the plasma model of the ship rotating slowly before them.

"You'll lead us all to ruin," Dario Moterano responded simply to Tony Spark, as if it were a definite thing. Nobody argued the point, but nobody combated it either. Before the four, the plasma ship glowed.

Ten minutes had gone by without a response from the planet below. Hanley's eyes remained on the flickering displays and the representation of the holographic woman.

FTL Coordinates had been locked into place, and the three Apollo fighters that had managed to circumnavigate the globe had docked within the hangar bay.

"Reports are coming in, Data packages are uploading." The AI reported, as Hanley offered a nod and a slight shrug. "I'll relay the location of this world to my superiors, and they can determine if this world is suitable to be conquered, or to be contacted peacefully." She said, before she turned towards her Executive officer.

"Lock coordinates in, prepare for jump on my mark." She ordered, and the coordinates were entered into the main navigational computer.

This resulted in a tremendous buildup of power within the vessel, as it's gargantuan FTL Drive system began to spool up, a spatial bubble briefly formed around the massive vessel.

"Jump!" Hanley ordered. And then braced herself for the jump.

There was a brilliant flash of light that formed at the bow of the vessel, and in milliseconds, the light skimmed to the stern, the entire thing flashed brilliantly, and then disappeared; leaving nothing in it's wake.

"Can we watch that again, slower?" Ulao Asaali asked Xaiani Rosao. She gave him a slight smile, maneuvering the crystals to rewind the ship's departure and play it much slower than jump speed. The three ambassadors watched intently, each having a different reaction to the ship's jump.

"Wow," Tony Spark was very impressed with the technology. Part of him yearned for it, the part which didn't fear it.

"Oh," Dario Moterano was concerned with why it left, and whether or not it would be back. He hoped not.

"I see," Ulao took in the information and regarded it as just that: information. He would relay it to the appropriate channels within the Rell empire to be dealt with appropriately.

Xaiani reached up to the mass of crystals hanging around her neck, pulling one to her mouth and breathing into it. The crystal changed from a vibrant red to a deep blue. Across all of Eterna, others in the order would notice the change in their linked crystals. The threat was gone, but there was much to be discussed. The future of Eterna depended on it.

For a few more hours, Xaiani played over various capturings for the ambassadors. Tony Spark was especially interested in the technology and the main ship. It was huge and beautiful to him. Dario Moterano seemed to take most note of the patterns of the smaller ships which scanned their surface. He seemed displeased when they zoomed over the Atellan Kingdom. Ulao took in the data, preparing a presentation to his political peers deep under the sea.

Dario sighed, turning the crystal marble containing intel of the foreign ship within it's magic. When the ball was placed on his portable projector, a perfect plasma replica of the thing appeared. He had other crystals in a small pouch in his work case, contaning more intel and models of the visitors.

For now the device was off. Looking at it was giving him a headache. It was entirely puzzling, a strange ship here and gone, their people looking at the planet. If they were even people.

Dario settled back into the basket chair of the bubble shaped plasma pod he was riding in. He was approaching Ensis fast up the Tear and wanted to enjoy some of the ride before seeking council with those higher in power than he.

[As the Fury floated in orbit Snowbund read through the datapacket, a large one, locked in the bridge alone. As far as she knew the droids that they had briefly facted on Arda were after not her but Cynthiana, that and the Mandos had given her information ? This was interetesting to say in the least. She heard, and then felt Cynthiana's sudden Force surge and then heard her screaming, Oh Sithshit.... What now ? Snowbund stopped her reading and stood up just as she heard a pair of hreavy thuds on the windscreen and stared at two droids....

ONG!

Cynthiana struggled to get herself calmed down, OK, it was OK, she was alright, the brief vision of the planet, the syastem, weird as it was, in Wild Space somewhere, Unlike Zakuul which she had hidden on for a few years to evade the Empire belonging to Plapatine before hiding on Kuat, her home world. She took a deep breath and tried to focus as resounding thuds were heard outside and above.

"I think we're going to have com...." She started to say when Kinara spoke, turning to her friend she shook her heasd concerning the holocron "I tried, and every time it just draws unwanted problems, Even when locked, it still lures others to darkness, I have to keep it garded until I can find a proper vault to hide it in. Until then I'm stuck with it." She was thankful however that Kinara did not yet ask how she defeated the three droids the first time as her hands went to her saberstaff before picking up the sack. Going through it carefully she found a item.

A tracking device.

Sithshit....

Kinara gritted her teeth and huffed at Cynthiana's inability to destroy the Sith Holocron. Apparently now that she was well rested it could tempt her; making her lean towards the Darker emotions. She felt this however and was fighting back. She shook her head and walked out of the room, unintentionally bumping into Cynthiana as she passed due to the Holocron-induced little rage.

Once out of the room however she felt okay, and paced back and forth to calm her nerves. She needed another large Saber Crystal to fit her empty hilt; she had three smaller ones already, but needed the last one to complete it and give it the power it needed to contend with Hate-fueled Sith Light sabers.

She heard the clunking on the hull and slowly drew the hilt of her lightsaber again from its place on her belt, thumb hovering over the activator button. Her other hand went to the hilt of the one on her back, and grabbed the handle of the night-stick-like saber. The metal was saber resistant, so she could use it for damn near anything she wanted to.

Spinning the nightstick hilt in her left arm she lowered into a defensive stance, unsure of what to do. "Cynthiana?" She asked, the door still open behind her.

Right before Cynthiana could answer the nearby speaker roared to life "We got company, Sensors are counting half a dozen of the suckers, Droids all of them. I'm also picking up strong Force Signatures from them too! Good luck guys they're in the observation deck, hangon they just sealed it!"

Ok great that meant half a dozen droids were in the ship, and they were drifting. Cynthiana searched through the sack briefly and held u pthe tracking device. Well Sithshit. She grumbled something and then used the force to destroy the tracking device, a brief explosion of electrical power enveloped her hand.

Destruction of a Holocron just wasn't possible, if at all. And Cynthiana knew it, she had tried time and again, but each time, the Darkness within the holocron she carried tried to lure her, tempt her. you name it, it alwayus showed her Visions of what the Darkness could do if it were a destroyed holocron. So she simply made a new layer, more light to contain the dark, Now it was more like the size of a small basketball like rock.

She looked up when she heard her name called by Kinara. At the same time she created using the Force, another layer of light to encase the holocron. Anything to stifle the dark side within the thing. "What ? Great, they're back. And apparently they still want this. It wont work for them." She withdrew her saberstaff from where she set it and snapped on one of the blades. Using it with the Force she sealed the latest holocron layer with the saber, locking it, melting it, fusing mostly.

There, another layer of Light to shield the darkness from getting loose.

Now then, something more important was to be had, turning to Kinara as she turned off her pink blade she asked "Are you alright ? You slept for two days since we left Arda" Otherwise known as Terra, "You had me worried sick!" With the ammount of safeguards Snowbund had thankfully in place, small stuff mostly, it was a matter of time before things got.... crazy

The Agents of Wrath scuttled across the ship's hull like cockroaches. Their azure cybernetic eyes combed the surface with a mechanical scrutiny as they searched for an opening into the vessel. One of the droids finally came across the hatch of an airlock, and it summoned its siblings with a mental ping.

It tossed its brown cloak over its shoulder, revealing a metallic arm. The limb moved fluidly, almost organically, yet the cold durasteel coating the droid's flesh affirmed its nature. A blinding violet light materialized above its wrist. Beta-Seven, for that was its designation in the collective, thrust its clenched fist against the hull with a dull thunk and the light erupted into a piercing blue flame.

A moment passed, and a small section of the door started to glow an angry orange.

<< Infiltration completed in approximately forty-five seconds. >>

<< Acknowledged. >> Another droid stood beside Beta with his feet magnetized to the hull. << Gamma, begin streaming to Repository. >>

Kinara waved away Cynthiana's question. "I'm fine, just hungry. I'm afraid that that won't matter though if we can't get down to a planet and get rid of these ....things." she said calmly. As the sounds of skittering across the hall reached her ears she lowered into a lower stance, and her lip twitched.

The loud pang of Beta's fist clanging against the hatch of the airlock, she blinked and opened a comm-link the Bridge of the ship. "We've got masks on this ship, right? I'm afraid those things are going to try and break in!" She said. She then shook her head. "Screw that, actually....if there's a planet nearby, bolt for it, maybe we can burn them off in the atmosphere!" She said calmly, moving to where she could feel the Droids breaking through the hatch, letting the Force guide her.

Her feet moved quickly and quietly, and as she found the hatch, and took quick, deep breaths, packing her body and lungs with as much oxygen as she could within a short amount of time.

She had a feeling this was going to get rough really quick.

"We're in Orbit of a planet yes, but we dont have any movement..... oh Sithshit no they aren't! Grab something!" Snowbund's hands went over controls in the bridge and the hatch Beta was opened, thankfully the lower level was solid enough, the observation deck was sealed off anyhow. Worst came to worse, Snowbund could activate some ray shields to hold them all in. Even keep air in too if she had to do so.

Cynthiana smirked, "Well, even if I DID give this thing to those droids they'd find it completely useless, lifeless, piece of junk really." she said, she put the pack on then brushed her hands off, her fingers sparked abit from the Force Lightning she had used to fry the tracking device. "Best case scenario, we can take these things on inside the ship, from what I've seen, Snowball added some sparring rooms, and the walls are lined with Cortosis..... Which should help in keeping them out"

Snowbunds voice rang on the comm "They're in, I opened the hatch, good luck, I ray shielded the bridge and the observation decks, Once the airlock closes and cycles, the air will be fine... oh hey we got movement!! Hangon to something!" The Fury lurched briefly as it got underway, the engines going at half power as Snowbund worked to keep her ship under control. There was no time to lose. Apparently something, whatever it was, that was holding them dead in space, was now done with them ? But whyfor ?

And just as the ship lurched it sent Cynthiana dead to the deck, all sorts of medical supplies landing on her with painded grunts, followed by a loud scream as half a block of kolto slammed onto her. Kolto was not just heavy, but when you blew a unrefined keg of it up, it felt absolutely great!