Chronicles of The Omniverse Archived Aschen Sector

Aboard the Firrona, things had become more and more tense. Rashiim had tried his best to keep things pleasant aboard his ship, but more and more often he could hear complaints about the treatment of their ship. The Iarin were less than pleased about the fact that they remained captive of the Aschen.

The captain himself had attempted to bring up their long-range communications on several occasions, but to no avail. All high powered frequencies were being scrambled as they left the vessel. After a time, and at the urging of his crew, Rashiim eventually hailed the Aschen instead, on a frequency he knew would work.

"Aschen in charge, we desire an update to whether or not we will be allowed to communicate with our kin in the far-flung stars."
 
Chloe woke to the sound of the ships alarms. She got out of bed, dressed quickly into her uniform, and began walking towards the ship's bridge. She had joined the Officer Development Program a couple years ago, and was now being mentored by Admiral Harkin.

She was currently on board the PAC Devotion, and they were apparently testing out some new weapon. She had been asleep for most of it, quietly dozing away on her bed. She liked it on-board the ship. It wasn't always quiet or peaceful, but being out here was just amazing. The sheer vastness of space shocked her.

The walk to the bridge was a long one, but she didn't mind. It gave her time to think.
 
Harkin stood quietly in the CIC of the Devotion, one of the many symbols of Imperial Might that spanned across the stars. He was watching the surrounding space, watching as Imperial ships moved into position. The young woman had been assigned as his protege, for this particular tour of duty. It was part of the Imperial Youth, designed to instill leadership skills, as well as calm under pressure among it's cadets.

"Junior Cadet, King. It's good of you to join us." Harkin said, his attention on the holographic monitor in front of him. "Tell me, do you believe in good among xenos?" He asked. "Do you believe their intentions are always pure?" Harkin inquired, as the Comms Officer spoke up.

"Admiral, the Xenos vessel is requesting we allow it to communicate." He said calmly.

Harkin pondered the request, and finally relented to their request, despite the strictures of their quarentine.

"This is Admiral Harkin, to Xenos Vessel Firrona, we had to isolate your communications because they were interfering with our equipment." He lied. "Give me a moment to lower the jamming fields so you can communicate."

"Treachery knows no bounds, King, these aliens are no exception." He said, nodding over to his tactical officer, who keyed in several commands, the jamming field subsequently lowered.
 
The Admiral was asking her a question. "My parents did. Personally I'm... not sure. If they haven't shot us yet, I think we can take a chance." Chloe said, pausing partway through. The truth was, she did believe it. She wasn't sure that the admiral would take it well.

Chloe took in her surroundings, examining every detail. Someday. Chloe thought to herself. Someday I'll be commanding one of these. She had excelled at her school, and was among the top of her class. She remembered walking past the Imperial shipyards, seeing them being built.

"What happened?" She asked, her voice calm and serious. She kept her face straight, and her body rigid. She looked perfectly calm, but she was everything but that. She had never seen a Xeno before. Most of the movies she had watched back home showed them as violent, dangerous, and terrifying. She never really thought that was right though. She actually wondered what they might think of the Aschen. If they didn't watch movies, what were their stories like? She was always liked the thought that no matter where you went, you were never alone.
 
Rashiim responded with a quiet thank you, then turned to his crew. "Prepare the long-range communications. Alert the fleet to send in one of the admirals. We'll need someone who is versed in politics."

He turned back, then paused. Without shifting, he added, "And do it in the dialect of the Foremost. That speech is not in our database, so the aliens will not know it. I do not expect it to be cracked, though keep our message civil regardless. Nothing but truth."

The bridge would fly into motion, crew members stirring to posts, lining up equipment. As panels came to life, the captain smiled. With a small burst of comms chatter, a signal shot from the Iarin vessel into deep space, headed to a fleet outpost for a bounce to the next location. It would take a few days to redirect enough to reach the Iarin fleet command.
 
"I'm going to be your Mentor, you should consider yourself fortunate, not many people get assigned to someone as high ranking as me." Harkin replied, pointing to a spot across the large holographic table from him. "Join me." He ordered, gesturing to the spot once more.

"Several weeks ago we were testing a weapon." Harkin replied, keying in a series of commands as the tactical officer spoke up. "Sir, they've sent an encrypted message, in a language alien to us."

These words caused the Admiral to frown. "As I said, Cadet, Xenos treachery knows no bounds." His voice lowered an octave, and his face got serious.

"All hands, Action stations!" He called out, and as swiftly as his orders were given, the room darkened, red lights flashed, and the Tactical officer called into the intercom.

"Action Stations, Action Stations, set condition one throughout the ship; this is not a drill."

Everything seemed to come to life around them, the entire vessel shuddered as gun emplacements swiveled to life, Harkin was efficient, his hands moving across the holographic screen. "Bring us to grid seven one nine carom two nine three." He ordered, causing the ship to shudder some more. "Notify the Peacekeeper to expect Xenos company." Harkin said, while his gaze moved back down to Chloe.

"There is no right or wrong in our profession. The present changes the past from moment to moment. Only pray for the future to vindicate your action." He said, looking back to the display.
 
Chloe sat down at the table. "When did we encounter them?" She asked. She couldn't believe she had slept through an experimental weapons test, and an encounter with the Xenos. "Think it might have something to do with the test?" She wasn't a scientist, but she was pretty sure that firing a weapon of mass destruction would attract a lot of attention.
 
Aboard the Iarin vessel, things would once more quiet down. The message had been sent out, and all aboard knew that it would get where it needed to go. Unfortunately, none knew if it would be followed up with the arrival of more Iarin vessels, or simply passed along, leaving the crew stuck where they were. It wasn't until several minutes after their transmission that Rashiim noticed the response of the Aschen vessel.

"It would seem that our captors, regardless of what they call themselves, we're not well pleased by our choice to use the dialect we did. A pity that they are so warlike. Without their aggression, they might have known more about our kind, possibly including the language of the Foremost." He smiled, then sighed. With a few motions he directed his crew to leave the bridge and to ensure their guest was kept in check. After the room had emptied, he hailed the Devotion, intending to walk the field of thorns that had apparently sprung up around his ship.
 
"Open link." Chloe said, her heart pounding with excitement. "This is Chloe King of the PAC Devotion, who am I speaking to?" She asked. This was her chance to prove worth to the Admiral.
 
The sudden sound of female vocals confused Rashiim. His last interaction with the command of the Devotion had been to a male, not a female. He shrugged and responded without much fanfare.

"I am Rashiim, captain of the Iarin vessel Firrona. I do not recognize you Chloe King, but you must be some person, for you are King, not Prince. I am wondering what has caused the sudden activity outside of my ship?" He paused for a moment, then continued, feeling the need to explain. "I had an awareness that my vessel was being watched and monitored, but nothing has caused such a major action on the part of your species so far. I am simply wondering what has occurred to cause such frenzy." He relaxed back for a moment, ready for any responses. It still struck him as strange that the Aschen would switch out commanding individuals on him.
 
Chloe was stunned. She was talking to an entirely different species, and they spoke her language. "The Aschen haven't had a good history with...." She hesitated, trying to think of the right thing to say. "...Other inhabitants of the galaxy. The Admiral and I were concerned when you sent out an encrypted message, we could only assume it was for reinforcements. Our natural response, of course, was to prepare for an attack." She paused. "I'm just being mentored by the Admiral, I don't really have any real authority." She was having a real conversation with another, intelligent species. It astounded her of course, but she felt more than just shock and amazement. Chloe felt content, happy that no matter where she went, she would never have to worry about being alone.
 
"Encrypted," the Iarin captain responded. "We sent no encrypted messages. We simply sent a message in our mother tongue. The fact that the dialect is unknown to your species is not surprising, as the negotiations we have had so far have not readily opened themselves to the discussion of the past and what it has provided." He popped his systems over to a holographic image of himself as he stood from his chair. As the hologram flickered to life, he put his hands behind his back, standing in a relaxed, but military stance and showing Chloe that the Iarin were not unlike the Aschen in physical structure. A little off in some areas, perhaps even taller overall, but generally the same bipedal build.

"We are willing to continue negotiations as they were left off, provided we have the assurance that we will not be destroyed. It was never our intent to bring animosity and strife, but simply to explore the galaxy we live within. Your mentor, Harkin Admiral, is unfortunately partly the reason we remain here still. Our message that we sent into deep space was simply our recording of all negotiations so far as they've gone. It is being sent to Iarin home space, with several signal redirects to prevent unwanted visitors near our homeworlds, to ask for someone who is more skilled in diplomacy to come to our aid. Whether they arrive in a small vessel or our largest warship is not known to me or my crew, but I would ask that no weapons fire greet them when they arrive. If they arrive, that is. They may deem us a lost cause, though that would innately spoil relations between our races." He smiled very slightly. "Surely you can see the wisdom of my actions, even if your mentor, and I suspect your command structure entirely, is a bit hesitant to deal with other races."
 
Chloe couldn't believe it. The aliens looked almost identical to the Aschen. She was stunned, and for several seconds she could barely speak. "I believe you, though I can't tell anyone to do anything. You're going to have to convince the Admiral of your intent." She paused. She smiled slightly, amused by this aliens strange method of speech. She wasn't even sure if 'alien' was the right term, considering that the only obvious difference between them and the Aschen was how they talked.
 
Harkin watched silently from the somewhat off center Tactical station, his hands moving across weapons diagnostics in preparation for the arrival of more of these Iarin. He was monitoring the communications in real time between the young woman, and the Xenos.

After a few moments Harkin moved up behind Chloe, his hand moving to the mute icon on the holographic interface.

"Never trust a Xeno." Harkin said calmly, his eyes fixed on Chloe, with a hardened gaze that almost indicated he might have considered disciplining her. "They will talk the sweetest lies, tell you what you want to hear, elicit sympathy for their plight, all in preparation for them to earn your trust, and then it is with that trust that they will exploit your weakness and strike. Always consider their words as lies and deception until they have proven otherwise." Harkin explained, taking his finger off the icon.

"This is the Admiral, why did you transmit our message in an encrypted language? And then you speak to my officer as if you had done nothing wrong. Explain your actions at once."
 
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Rashiim smiled larger as the Admiral addressed him. "Ah, Harkin Admiral, it is good to speak with you once again. I was told the youth here, the language was no more encrypted than how I speak right now. It was simply a dialect that we do not carry within our databases, but rather within ourselves. Like speaking another language, it is not encrypted, just not understood. Should we share negotiations that aid both our peoples, the Aschen may one day learn to speak as a Foremost might. As for speaking to your officer, I had assumed that she was placed in charge of the situation, as there has been little development from the time we were imprisoned by your ruler. Our message was simply the recorded events of those negotiations, sent to Iarin home space. Nothing more, nothing less. All details were included, up to and including the fact that there were several misunderstandings that caused tension."

The hologram of the Iarin continued to stand in the same position at first, but then began to pace back and forth while speaking. Rashiim's tone never once wavered from polite, bordering on pleasant, and when he finished speaking, his hologram returned to the stance from before, mirroring his actions on his own bridge perfectly.
 
"Admiral, I think we can trust him." Chloe said, looking up at Harkin. "If we just go around waving our guns at whatever isn't Aschen, we won't get very far in the universe."
 
It was as if everything went silent at what Chloe suggested, some whispers, some gasps, but everyone for the most part returned to their duties as Harkin stared at her coldly.

"It's gotten us far enough, mind your tongue, Cadet. Aliens exist to destroy the Empire."
 
The exchange happened on the other side of the communications, and Rashiim simply listened patiently. He shook his head at the Admirals comment about empires and destruction.

"Harkin Admiral, I have tried to tell you this before, but the message must not have been understood. The Iarin seek no conquest. We are content with our location and worlds. They are enough for us, and thus the Aschen have nothing to fear. If anything, we desire to trade and to enrich our culture by bringing in your own, albeit at arms length initially." He would have spoken further, commending the female, but he had operated in a para-military structure of command long enough to know when such comments were not desired.
 
Chloe was through with the Admiral. "You're wrong! Seems more like the 'Glorious Empire' you serve exists to destroy everything. Admiral, they killed..." She hesitated, before managing to force the words out. "...They killed my parents! If you choose to serve a hypocritical, idiotic, and self-serving emperor, then fine! But I won't! The 'Amazing Emperor' that you serve is nothing but a liar who kills his own people!" Tears were streaming down Chloe's cheeks, her face was red with anger. No, not anger. It went further then that. It was hate.
 
By now the silence in the CIC of the Reverence II was oppressive. There was no words, only stares from the shocked CIC Staff as Harkin stood there, an indignant expression on his face regarding this ignorant child before him.

"Lieutenant, give me your sidearm." Harkin said flatly, the link hadn't been severed, which meant Rashiim could see everything that was going on.

The Tactical officer removed his disruptor pistol from it's holster, swiftly handing it to the Admiral, who grasped the stock and powered the weapon with a shrill, and audible whine.

"You mean the 'Glorious Empire' we serve." Harkin replied, reaching out and attempting to grab Chloe by the neck, his grasp firm, even suffocating. Should his action be successful, he would shove her against one of the consoles, shoving the weapon against her cheek, the warm induction coils could be felt through the casing of the weapon.

"Let me make something abundantly clear." Harkin said coldly. "You are an Officer Cadet with the Imperial Navy of the United Aschen Empire, you serve our Emperor, or have you forgotten the Chain that Binds?" Harkin asked. "The Regime that killed your parents is not the same regime we serve.

Releasing his grasp, he let her fall, before he turned away. "Enter yourself into corrections, you will be re-educated until such time as I can decide your fate."
 
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