as written by Krysis, Ottoman, and Sentry
Verena Fleischer had been following the situation as best she could with what access she had to the external cameras. A solid blue glowing ring outlined the sealife-like ship as she accepted what details she and the other psykers nearby were allowed to receive. One of her friends, Uschi, poked her shoulder and grinned, "So, whatcha searching for?"
"Alien life. I'm getting fainter readings from further off, but I don't think it is a problem." Vera gave her friend a sad smile in their reflection. Uschi, or rather, Ursula, was having a difficult time of things. The slightly older female preferred women, but as a psyker she was required to breed. That meant that she was being pushed to marry and have kids, which was still considered the superior way. If she hadn't been so talented, she would have been allowed to love who she wanted to, as long as she surrendered the means to procreate to the state.
"Hostile?" Ursula asked as she wrapped her arms around the noble born teenager's middle and rested her small, pointy chin on the taller girl's shoulder.
"I don't think so. When I search for 'hostility', it fades to almost nothing. I think they are scared we're going to hurt them. Yet a cornered beast will bite, and a race intelligent enough to fly that might do more than just mangle your hand." Vera pointed out, staying very still as she endured knocking the edge off of her friend's desires. The younger female turned her head just a little when her name was spoken, but it made her soft black hair sway into Uschi's face before she finally pulled away to see why she was being summoned.
Uschi gave a shudder as she inhaled the smell of the locks in her face before she whispered, "Be careful, V. It's going to be more dangerous than you know. I got a warning about you."
Verena gave a nod and patted at Uschi's arm before she pulled away. She gave a reassuring smile to her friend before the door shut, ignoring the foreboding feeling that accompanied that knowledge of a 'warning'. After all, those warnings had been had and avoided before.
Through a bewildering array of handlers, the young psyker officer was guided to the side of the captain of the ship. Conversation didn't seem to be necessary, since it was obvious what was going on, but sooner or later Vera would mention, "I can only transport one person at a time, and only to where I can see. If things go badly, that might be important to keep in mind."
____
Menzel paid Verena a small glance as their transport prepped for launch, the captain strapping herself in without much thought. "That could be just enough to pull an officer out of danger, even if it is only where you can see." A few meters could mean the difference between life and death, after all, were it that they were to meet whoever piloted these ships in person - if anyone piloted them at all. The elder woman didn't say much to the other for the duration of their short flight, only bothering to introduce her once they too stood on the bridge of the Eduard Dollmann, the both of them standing before the diminutive, if imposing, Kapitän Metzger. The Zwerg pulled himself away from his preoccupations at the arrival of the other mutant and psyker.
"Kapitän Metzger, this is Scharführerin Fleischer," The Alfar offered, glancing to the psychic Landwächt beside of her. "She might not be the strongest empath but she has... curious talents, ones that can prove most useful in a bind." The man nodded at that, saluting Verena in the imperial fashion before offering his hand to shake, refraining from the naval salute as not to upset anyone's sensibilities, if there were any to be offended. Despite standing a good head shorter than both of the women, his voice proved a hearty bass, hardly impeded by his stature.
"A pleasure, Scharführerin, though I fear we must get straight to business," Togas sighed, his own anxiety audible in his words, if not present in his subterranean features. "We need to know what they're feeling - vague, I know but I don't know how else to put it. Any particular emotions or feelings they might have running through them." Fear, anger, uncertainty, or deceit.
____
"That is easy. They are afraid, uncertain, but not hostile as a whole." Fleischer answered serenely, giving a little smile and a shrug. "The nearest hostiles are barely within range for me to find them at all, and it isn't a strong enough reading for a definite heading. That is to say, not a concern. If I were to make the guess, I would say these people are just lost."
Verena was reluctant to shake hands with anyone, usually, mostly because they knew what she was and expected her to be able to read them when she could not. Unlike many of her profession she did not glove her hands, since the bare skin to bare skin made it easier to 'blink' with a passenger and that was the talent she was most likely to need on the spur of the moment. The young woman gave as brief a clasp of the offered hand as was polite before she let go.
"It would be easier to get a more accurate read if I were face to face with one of them. I can give you a hot and cold type answer on any emotion that I can put into words, but I would be reading their ship as a whole and not necessarily their leaders or anyone relevant. Can a meeting be managed?" Scharführerin Fleischer asked, folding her hands behind her back as she hid how they wanted to shake at the thought of the distance and dangers involved.
____
"What are they doing?"
Ai sat on the observation deck with the grey-muzzled man who spoke out against their captain. This was taking so long. Everyone's shock had turned into worry and confusion. Some were like Ai, curious as can be. Who were these people, who created a thousand lights?
"Perhaps they are debating. After all, verbal communication doesn't seem to be at all possible between the two of us just yet," he replied.
"Well, why don't they come here?"
"Why won't we go over there?"
Ai bit on her lips gently. "Fear?"
The man nodded. "Or they don't know how to board. Their ships are fairly different from our own."
"Should we show them?"
Tapping his chin, the man mused. "Perhaps," he said with a smirk. "The captain will harm you no further. You have more control over this situation than she does."
Too quickly, the girl jumped up from her position and sprinted to the boarding deck. She did not fear like the others. To her, this was the chance they had been waiting months, perhaps years, to take. Their growth had been so stunted due to stubbornness.
People skittered out of her way as she bolted, sliding around corners to the head of the ship. There was hardly anyone down here. "Perfect, perfect," she trilled, sweeping her hands against the walls, letting the Remnant know in her special way to welcome the ships around them.
From the ship's head, a layer of membrane slipped away, spilling a colorful plethora of illumination. "Come over here!"
____
"Visual contact!" An ensign cried out over Metzger's shoulder, drawing the man's eyes as he turned away from Verena and Menzel. "Lights along the lead ship's bow!" Or at least what looked like a bow. Already several weapons officer trained their sights on this new light, everyone thinking the same thought - was this a weapon of some sort? If it was, why wait until now to use it? Were it not for Togas' stern action earlier, one of the weaker captains might have given the order to open fire, but they had been convinced, or coerced, to participate in the Zwerg's gambit.
"Weaponry?"
"... hard to say sir, doesn't look like it's projecting any sort of energy but light." The captain looked back to the psyker, his expression severe, as he asked for her opinion, his phrasing possessing and unintentional double meaning.
"Thoughts, Scharführerin?"
____
Vera moved to look at one of the visual displays that was showing the object in question, reaching out but keeping her hand from actually touching the screen. "Any weapons would glow blue now-- No, it is isn't a weapon. Hostility? Still low. Confusion? Moderate. Fear? Subsided. I think they are waiting for us to make the next move." As Verena narrated the changing 'search', the blue would fade or show up appropriately.
Then she tried something that she didn't put into words, and gave a surprised blink at one bright blue spot near the bow area. She didn't know it at the time, but it was Ai that was shining with hope, and to a lesser degree, the rest of alien ship.
"They can't speak to us directly, Captain, so I think this is the welcome mat. A kind of visual communication. We're being invited, and it would be rude not to accept. Of course I would be honored to go, but perhaps someone with more skill in diplomacy should as well." Then she pointed at the screen, at the glowing blue speck, "And that is the being we should talk to."
Thankfully, Fleischer had perfected her 'finding' talent to only effect what she wanted it to. So she had kept it focused on the image in front of her, and the pieces of the physical ship did not glow with her attention.
____
Both the Alfar and the Zwerg listened and watched with intense, expectant eyes, though it was fair to say that Togas was the more invested of the two, considering this entire task force was his command and his direct responsibility. Part of him was tempted to ask this psyker if she was certain, but her tone, her posture, already told him the answer - even if she wasn't, this was the most they'd gotten so far, and with another of his sighs he looked to the display that Verena pointed to. So there were beings on board these vessels, and the vessels weren't the beings themselves. "Then you're coming, Scharführerin," He murmured, pondering her words as he thought of who all to bring. Of course there would be a marine contingent, a precaution and nothing more, but he didn't want to appear imposing. A single dropship, one fireteam, miss Fleischer and...
The Zwerg looked about his bridge once more, eyes dashing over his officers and eventually settling on his XO. With a brief gesture, he beckoned Edwards over to him, the Azrican nearing soon enough that Eugen could speak. "Edwards, you're in command now." The words struck the dark-haired man by surprise, blinking once or twice before he could speak. "If anything happens to us over there, if we don't come back, you know what to do."
"I... yes, sir." The executive officer nodded, offering his captain a stiff naval salute, which the mutant returned, Metzger turning on his heels as he gestured to the psyker to follow, a nod paid to Menzel as he passed her.
"Get me a squad of Landsers to the third bay - make it ones that are well-behaved."
---
Before too long the captain, along with Fleischer and his escort, were on board one of the Eduard Dollmann's hundreds of dropships, the lumbering craft lifting off of the hangar's floor with a dull rumble. It slipped out of one of the many brightly-lit pores on the battlecruiser's hull, four smaller lights joining it in short order. The fighter escort formed a box around the dropship, guiding her in as she approached the Remnant. Inside the belly of the craft, Metzger glanced over to the lockers that contained encounter suits, hoping that he wouldn't need to put himself inside of one of the things if the atmosphere or pressure inside of these alien vessels didn't match their own.
The marines, at least, were already largely insulated from such troubles in their armor, the opaque, smooth-faced helmets glancing about where they stood or sat. This was just another day for them, he supposed, pulling his beret off and running a nervous hand over his bald crown, silently reassuring himself that this could end well.
____
Ai felt excitement bursting force from her insides. With the bay door open, the Remnant developed a clear wall between Ai and the outside. She spotted the ship from afar. She couldn't smile any wider, lips extending, quite literally, from one ear to the next. The outspoken man joined her, hands folded behind his back. It was like floating, waiting beside him for the inevitable meeting.
"Do you think this was destiny? This feels unreal."
"We haven't even met them yet."
"Oh, but if only they were here now!"
The old man chuckled.
A few others gathered behind them, some as small as Ai, others as titanic as the captain. They all gave their eyes to Ai, who could feel every single one like a needle in her back. She turned around, back against the wall, suddenly nervous. "What?"
At first, no one spoke. They all seemed terribly bewildered. Alas, one small cavedweller came forth, clacking his jaws. "Why did you invite them here?"
"We... needed it. We needed someone."
"There are children aboard this ship," he pushed, his stance threatening. "What will you do if they kill us?"
Ai cringed and closed in toward the wall. "You don't believe I'm one of them?" She looked away, clinging to that light coming towards them. "But they're not here to hurt us! I know it! I... I don't know why, but they absolutely will not hurt us."
________________
Once the ship boarded, if it were to do so, the bay doors would slowly close, and the light would dim to something more manageable to the eye. The membrane between them would dissolve, and everyone would shrink back in fear except for one.
Ai would step forward to greet them, nervous, but welcoming.
____
Lady Verena Fleischer seemed calm as she rode next to Metzger. With one leg crossed over the other and her hands laced on her knee, her serene gaze was focused somewhere beyond the opposite wall. It was hard for her to get into the proper mindset to actually read people. This was assuming that it was safe to read them at all.
As the ship slowed to dock, Vera turned to look at the Zwerg male, "If things go badly, I can get you out, but I need skin to skin to do it. Grab my hand and we'll jump back here."
She gave a regretful glance to the escorting soldiers, then shrugged, "Hopefully, they will not be needed at this time. However, I am not confident in my ability to move a fully armored marine."
Vera stood when the sense of gravity changed to match the stranger's ship, though she was a little off balance at the lower gravity. With a frown of concern, she lifted her hand to point at the door before a word in Austric, 'safe', repeated over the surface, drifting back and forth before it vanished. She didn't realize it was also displayed on the outside as well as the inside.
With a shrug to the Captain, she'd wait for the marines to do their thing before she would go out. Of course, once she saw what they really looked like, even Vera had to just stop and stare, not sure how to proceed.
____
"I understand, Scharführerin." The captain murmured, looking to the psychic aide briefly on the note of escape. The marines knew why they were here, and he knew - or rather hoped - that they saw no shame in their potential demise.
The dropship came into the Remnant as the fighters began to circle around the alien vessel like carrion birds, setting down as lightly as a Niddhoggr could, and rested there, its engines spooling down. The ramp descended, and the marines were the first to exit - titanic, black-clad automatons, wielding weapons of war, fanned out from the loading ramp and established a perimeter. They spoke amongst themselves, the comms in their helmets fairly active, even if they were silent to an onlooker. Silence hung in the air for a few moments after they had fanned out, weapons lowered but still ready, until some silent word was uttered between the squad leader and the ship, and the captain and the psychic made their way down the ramps.
To say that these people were alien wouldn't be far off - Togas himself taking a moment to appreciate that, in comparison, he looked practically Scatterran. But such a petty thought soon slipped from his mind as he neared the edge of the perimeter, seeing that one of these foreigners number had not shrunk away like the others, that the single one stood their ground and even stepped forward. Perhaps that was their leader, or at least the one most willing to speak to them. A firm hand lighted on one of the marine's shoulders that he might slip through their number, the uniformed Zwerg approaching Ai, nervous himself.
"Is this the one?" He asked Fleischer, glancing briefly to her before looking back to Ai, taking the Misranan in for a moment or two, offering her - though he had no inclination of gender or bearing with these xenoforms - a smile as he waited for an answer.
____
Comparatively, Ai was tiny to the hulking Scatterans. At only five feet, she was a mouse vouching to lions. Still, she found her wonder overpowering. Her first look at them answered nothing and created so many more questions instead. She took in a shallow breath and held it. So similar and so different at the same time.
She wasn't quite sure what to say or do. Looking Togas in the eye, she attempted to recreate his gesture. On a Misranan, the overabundance of teeth seemed sinister. When he spoke to the creature beside him, she tilted her head. The language was so strange, but there was no large variance in the noises they made. This couldn't be too difficult.
"Is... is see..." Ai struggled, her words rolling and hissing with the unfamiliarity of the language, but every time she spoke she understood the pronunciation more.
____
Verena's shocked expression faded to wonder when the smaller blue one tried to answer. Of course she had followed the Captain, since she was his safety net. The query/finding of 'who do we speak to?' would briefly highlight Ai in confirmation as soon as the Zwerg male asked, though the instinctive answering that way made the scatteran female's cheeks color briefly.
"Yes. She is the hopeful one with the ability to affect change." Then Fleischer looked around at the others, shifting her weight uncomfortably under the weight of all the emotions leveled in their direction. She had loosened her instinctive shields enough to sense their feelings more discretely, and was starting to wish she had not. "Their fear grows. I think we intimidate them."
Of course, the marines were very intimidating. That was part of why they looked the way they did. However, it did not seem helpful with the situation, since a frightened person, and they did 'feel' rather like people to Vera, was more likely to lash out.
"Should I seek out some of their writing? It might be easier to communicate with them if I can just highlight their words or letters to tell them what you are trying to say?" The psyker gave Togas a curious look, trying to keep her tone gentle, or even peaceful, so not to further alarm their hosts.
____
Ai was tiny in comparison save for only one - the captain, as the Zwerg only stood an inch or two taller than she. Sinister was a strong word, though her maw did give the man pause, doing his best to keep his smile despite the overly carnivorous look of the creature in front of him. Silently did he remind himself that his colleague, his friend, Menzel was just that - a predator, a strictly carnivorous creature, but he had nothing to fear from the Alfar, and neither did anyone who met her. The blue aura, for Eugen didn't quite know what else to call it, that Fleischer put about the young woman also assisted in assuaging his concerns. The mutant officer's eyes moved between Ai and Verena once more before nodding. "I think that might be for the best, Scharführerin."
His mind turned to the fear the Misranans felt, and he pondered that for a moment or two. They were afraid, of their ships, or of the infantry that flanked him and the Psyker, or perhaps even something else. But why would they be afraid when they held the advantage here - they had the entourage outnumbered on a scale he wasn't keen to consider. "Zugsführer," He murmured, glancing to the lead marine as he made an upwards gesture with his fingers, "Your helmets." Some of the marines might have complained at such an order, but it was at least safe to breath here, even if it was a massive breach of protocol. The odd order revealed that the black-clad automatons that had flanked Verena and Togas were men and women of various races and creeds, but men and women all the same.
____
Ai chirped and trilled gently, as though questioning them. Her tail slid against the ground as it lashed, a gesture which communicated a large margin of signals between her kind, but meant little to nothing for the aliens before them.
She turned slowly to gaze at her comrades. "We don't have to be afraid. They have not killed us yet, you see?" She motioned to face the aliens once more, but the sight of the captain pushing her way through the crowd kept her still.
As it always did, the ground shook as the captain entered the room, cautiously approached the aliens, and took her place beside Ai. Eight feet tall, perhaps even more, and she towered above most. She gave her eyes to the Scatterans and the Zwerg before her. Ai held in her breath, ready for something awful. Not the worst, but-
But she wasn't ready for the captain to lower to one knee, tail wrapped around her waist, palms upward. A gesture of complete submission.
____
Vera had been looking around the room, hoping that one of the alien creatures had been carrying something with their words on it. A search had illuminated the script on the walls. When the psyker had refined her search for 'complex writing', that light had gone out.
Before she could explain the situation to her captain, the eight-foot-tall creature had come forward. The emotions felt from the alien captain had Fleischer's hackles up, as it were, and one pale, elegant hand would touch the Zwerg's arm, near his wrist as she fought not to retreat.
After a moment, the young woman gave a faint cough before she could murmur to Menzel, "Frustrated authority, desperate, unstable. It has been a long and fearful trip for these people, and this one is their captain, bearing the weight of responsibility for all these lives." She wasn't aware of her grip tightening on the arm of the shorter male as she tried to unravel the impressions she was getting. She was using that touch as an anchor as she was hunting for the appropriate response to such an extraordinary action.
That it demanded an answer was obvious. Extraordinary too, clear from the reactions of the other creatures standing around. Lost in the surging waves of emotions, it took Vera a moment to pull back and focus on Ai again. There was enough similar there that communication was possible on a more primal level. Maybe Ai wasn't gifted the same way as Vera was, but she had Something that was not just the normal run of things, and so Vera could project a plea for explanation as she asked out loud, "What do we do?".
____
Togas himself wasn't ready for such a display, initially unsure what to make of it before Fleischer offered her insight, blinking in surprise once he realized what this creature - this being - was doing. Some gestures transcended language and culture, that such a being would drop to a knee before him humbled the man, whose mouth was slightly agape as he realized that not only was this first contact with an alien people for the Supremacy, but it was first contact with a folk as desperate and lonesome as his own had been, centuries ago. The wheel of fate had turned and had placed him, a Zwerg, in the position to repeat history. "I..." He began, Eugen losing his words the moment the first was uttered, the weight of the moment before him stunning him into silence.
"... sling your weapons, marines. Those... won't be necessary." At least not today, he felt. Carefully the imperial captain moved to shed one of his gloves, taking but a moment to look to his hand and compare it to the Misranans', not bothering to wonder if it was a common sort of gesture before he stepped forward to his Misranan counterpart. At his full height he stood roughly even with the kneeling figure, whom he approached with some small hint of trepidation, before offering his hand to her, simply to be held. A comforting gesture as the Scatterrans knew it, and were it that the captain would entertain his notion Togas would bring his free hand to softly rest over the captain's.
They were safe now.
____
The captain rose her armored head and fixed on the Zwerg's hand. She became unnervingly still, but one could just see the cogs turning in her head. Very quietly, she clicked her teeth together. In response, Ai peeped.
A moment that lasted several, anxiety-ridden eons in Ai's head passed. Nervousness spidered across her whole body. Only a second had passed before the captain grasped the softness of the Zwerg's hand with her own, and for him it must have been like gripping sandpaper.
Similarly, Ai reached out her hand to Vera, encouraging her with a sprightly whistle. If the gesture was reciprocated, she would find herself gently tugged over to one of the bay's walls.
One by one, the room began to fill with all manner of creature that had been hiding behind the captain. They varied so incredibly from one to the next, some dark colored and meek, other sprouting multicolored fronds, others standing as tall as the captain. There were some constants. Half were fairly feminine, big-hipped, long-legged, while the other half had jutting chins and prominent fangs. Their clothing was minimal. Breasts weren't apparent in any Misranan, so shirts weren't a popular commodity, but there was a plethora of styles among jewelry and sarong hung from braided metal along their waists.
____
Verena also hesitated before placing her soft five fingers in the harder textured grip of Ai. Her right hand still stayed on Togas' forearm, just lightly touching near his elbow. At least, that was where her free hand stayed until Ai drew her away.
Lady Fleischer hesitated, but then tried to copy the encouraging whistle that Ai had given. Naturally, her mouth wasn't made to make the sound, so it wasn't exactly right. Vera was just hoping she hadn't accidentally insulted her guide. A moment later she murmured, "I'm so not trained for this.".
If she had been trained for this sort of situation, she never would have allowed herself to be pulled away from her captain. Vera wasn't exactly sure which of the strange creatures around them were of any gender. Or even if they had the traditional dual-gender structure that she was familiar with. The wide variety of appearances had her staring around in wonder though, holding tight to Ai's hand as she was lead past so many jaws that could bite, and claws that could snatch.
____
Togas sighed in relief at that, no matter how rough the other being's hand might feel, it was a pleasant gesture that seemed to transcend the barriers of communication - at least he felt so. This was a start, but there had to be some manner of communication established, some way for the both of them to be able to communicate effectively, or his command would still regard this matter with a hostile eye. How could he blame them? A people that looked this predatory, in biomechanoid ships? It reeked of the Collective, even if they might not be of their kind.
But he knew that they were not - someone indoctrinated by the faith of the Aboraz would never touch his hand for any reason but to break it. This was a chance for a strategic victory for the Supremacy, a chance for them to not only enrich their nation but win international recognition as a benevolent power, nevermind that Togas might have been laying the groundwork for the induction of a people not unlike his own. The Zwerg had lived terrified, short lives, baking under a miserable sun and hunted by a merciless enemy before being found by the Supremacy, by the Austrans. They owed them everything, and they never forgot that.
The Misranans might not have been quite so desperate, but still did it inspire the captain.
His second hand slipped from the captain's, gesturing that she stand up. There was no need to bow here - he was no lord.
Sentry
As they neared the smooth, translucent wall, Ai let go of Vera's hand and glanced back at her eagerly. Her tail lashed back and forth, made circles and whipped. Then, all at once, she relaxed. She raised her palms, then placed them flat against the wall.
Like before, when she alerted the Scatterans of their presence, the nerves in her skin meshed with the wiring of the ship, twining like plant roots and stretching across the surface. They began to illuminate, burning whitely against the dark hues of the ship's interior. These lines joined together, mingled left and right, curved, cut jagged edges, and eventually, created a picture.
There was a silhouette of a Misranan there, the most average of them all. Lighting up above the figure, words in their own language. "Person," Ai purred to Vera. "Us."
The figure began to move, and a world was opened up before it, filled with towering pillars, an ocean, a jungle, and a red star above. "Home."
Days passed as the red star rose and fell from the sky, until one day something rose from the water. Creatures- no, a ship, just like the one they were in- opened up to the lone Misranan, who clambered inside. The picture began to zoom outward, until everything compacted itself together. There were two spheres: the red sun, and the world it shone its light upon. Ships began to spill from the planet like frogs in boiling water.
A second later, the red sun expanded, then encompassed the entirety of the wall in its angry color. Ai swept the wall gently, and the lights disappeared. She laid her forehead against the frame for support, heavy with the thought.
The story wasn't over, however. One ship raced across the galaxy, and a long scroll of repeating symbols scrolled down the screen. Within, the many living refugees were rich with food and supplies, even in their sadness. As the symbols counted, however, a gloom settled quietly over them. Some collapsed. Some of them had their lights drained.
That show, too, faded. Many different things began to show up now. Objects, gestures, all with words scrolled above while Ai growled and chirped and trilled at them.
The captain, who had stood up at the Zwerg's prompting, stared expressively at the show.
____
"Is someone recording this?" Vera asked vaguely as she watched the show. She was pretty sure that the marines' helmets were sending the feed back to the various ships that had come in response to the initial cry for help. If she was thinking about it, she would have realized that of course it was being recorded. The question should be more about if someone else had a good enough view to make it be worth while.
When the red star expanded and destroyed the planet, Vera winced and reached out to lay her hand on AI's nearest arm in sympathy. Loosing your home was a terrible thing, no matter how it happened. The empath shielded herself well enough not to be overwhelmed by the sorrow of the young one, but the grief was poignant enough to make Verena shed a couple of tears for the lost world and wandering race.
When the symbols and gestures started scrolling, young Fleischer reached out to touch the wall too, highlighting anything that might mean something like, "Slow down".
"Can communicate slow like this." would be the next bits highlighted, if such words or synonyms were available. Then the translation for the precise meaning would form in the blue glow, so not only was Vera able to try to speak to Ai like that, but also she could find out exactly what she was saying. It would possibly even teach the others something about how the Scatteran language was written.
____
Togas remained in the shadow of the show that Ai had set in motion, watching from the other captain's side as the story of the Misranans played out on the wall before them. From what he saw, and what he interpreted, it seemed that their world had suffered a similar fate to his own, and one that all the Supremacy could sympathize with. These people were exiles, just like the Imperials themselves were. The Zwerg kept his breath steady at such a discover, surprised that such fortune would lead these people to them - of all the other powers to encounter, one that might be so sympathetic to their plight.
He was, for lack of a better term, stunned into reflective silence.
____
The signs did slow down, many that had flashed blue as Vera willed. Ai turned to stare at her, her milky eyes widened with a sense of wonder. What was she, this alien, and how was she doing this? With all their ships, how were they also curious at their little speck in the void of space?
One set of noises kept replaying, a phrase that she was determined to get across. Speak for me, she whistled. Teach me.
Every other Misranan in the ship were equally as perplexed. They had never seen this light show before, and the captain had no knowledge that she could. To think that they were still learning. To think that there could be so much they still didn't know.
A pair of more curious, frond-covered, and very blue teenagers set themselves loose from the crowd and approached the Zwerg. They were pointedly older than Ai, but much younger than the captain. Where Ai had the rounded eyes of a child, the captain's were slits in her head. The teenagers had something in between. As far as shape went, their tails were shorter, their armor not chipped, but not as pristine as the young leader that interacted with Vera.
And, like teenagers, they had weaned off of caution and soon became perplexed. One stood right in front of the Zwerg and took in every detail of his face, perhaps a little close for comfort. Another poked at his hat, wondering at its significance.
____
Vera shot a look at Togas, a little panicked, "They want us to talk, but I don't know what to say." She wasn't really paying attention to how her words lit up for Ai in the language of the other race. The psyker had asked for a more diplomatic person to accompany her for a reason, after all.
She might have been raised a noble, and be a telepath, but she really had no idea how other people thought. Add into that her teenage awkwardness and the alien nature of the other race, and the young Lady Fleischer was completely out of her depth. She would gladly translate for someone else though, not wanting to foul up this situation with her inexperience.
____
"... anything," Togas murmured, recoiling slightly as the curious teenage Misranan examined his face, not sure how to take the other's fascination just yet. "I suppose." He smiled for the one looking towards him, though the finger that poked at his beret soon drew his attention, and the mutant slipped the thing from his head, offering it to the other curious Misranan. After a moment or two he made his way over to Ai and Fleischer, pausing for a moment to look to the both of them before speaking to Verena, "Well, if I understood what that... show was about," He only used the term for lack of anything better, the display that Ai had made on the wall, "They lost their world, same as us."
He blinked at the thought once again, letting his mind linger on it for a moment before acting. "Tell them of Scatter and Aüle."
____
Verena hesitated a moment, then pulled up a copy of a children's history book on the holographic display attached to the chip in her arm. She cleared her throat before she started reading out loud about the Zwerg homeworld: Aüle.
As she read, slowly and clearly, the translation was highlighted as much as possible in the language of the race that seemed so alien to her and the other Scatterans. Since the text was meant for teaching young teens, it was a bit vague at some points to keep the tale as uncomplicated and easily grasped as possible, but that meant the words were common and probably on the wall.
Captain Togas himself would get highlighted whenever the Zwerg were mentioned. Which, to the person in question, was like looking through a sheet of blue tinted glass, but had no other sensory effect. The marines and young Fleischer would be lit up for 'Scatterans', until the Zwerg were accepted into the Supremacy in the story, at which point all of the visiting party would be indicated as 'Scatterans'.
____
Though a mere twenty minutes had passed since the woman had started her story, Ai had already begun to understand the structure of their language. The spaces in between the words lengthened as the hairlike cilia within her scalp fell down over her shoulders in white threads. There were moments where time slowed so substantially that it held still. Ai's eyes were intently fixed upon the woman in front of her, listening to every word, yet at the same time she was elsewhere, within her own head, deciphering the meanings behind them.
When the story ended, Ai frowned, snapped from her trance. "You... you..." Her lips warped and puckered, getting used to this strange new way of speaking. "I understand. Understand more if you keep speaking."
Why, even the captain was taken aback, but her surprise was evident only by her subordinates with a sweep of her tail along the floor.
