Uca:
During my expedition on the planet, I was ambushed by some of the planet's natives. They were rather formidable warriors for such primitive organics. At first their copper weaponry did nothing to the durasteel chassis of my military forms, but they out numbered me 5 to one. My crawlers were destroyed the quickest, as they were not allowed the time to set up. My warriors were a close second as the local's brute strength were able to pull them apart rather easily.
I managed to fend off 20 of of the locals, but they eventually managed to destroy the procession before I could order a retreat. It was evident that these primitives were hostile. Still they proved to be formidable warriors. One of them ripped of the head of one of my ruine Destroyers. Luckily I could still control the disabled form even if decapitated, or at least see and speak through it. The local asked me. "What are you?" and I replied.
"Greetings. I am Uca. I am pleased to meet you. You have proven to be quite the formidable warriors, to be able to destroy my forms, even if you are primitive organics."
Sslath:
When sound emitted from the head, and in his language as well, Sslath's fingers tightened out of sheer surprise, his strength denting the metal as he resisted the urge to hurl the animal out of his tent.
"You speak our language. How does an animal do this? Were you sent by The Red? To test us?" He questions it, turning over go see where the odd veins of the animal lay in the open air from where one of his warriors had ripped the head out with his hands.
What sort of... not-normal was this? To be able to speak in such a state? "How do you speak? Where is your mouth?"
Uca:
"Animal? I am no animal. In fact I am the farthest thing from an animal. I am an advanced intelligence." I told the local. "Now to answer your questions, I understand your language through the use of powerful scanning technology from orbit, listening in on hundreds of thousands of locals and making sense of your language after some difficult processing and analyzing. I do not know who this Red is and I am not here to test you. I am here to establish peaceful diplomatic relations with the locals of this planet. As to speak in this state and why I have no mouth, it is because I do not need a mouth to speak, as I do not eat. I speak through microphones embedded in the heads of my many forms. Are there any more questions that you need to ask me?"
Uca:
"No I am not an animal. I do not need to eat or sleep and I believe it would be very unlikely for me to teach you how I am able to do so." I told the local. I did not have the means, well I probably did at one point, or even now and just haven't found it, but I was unwilling to give them such power. The power to change their bodies and very genome at will to live for centuries or survive for months without the need to eat, sleet or even breathe. They needed to evolve and they needed to advance before I could trust them with anything better then what I am willing to give now.
"The Red? The Red is unfamiliar to me. I assume it is some sort of deity to you and your people?" I asked.
Sslath:
Sslath tilts his head in confusion. "You... are not an animal? But you can talk without a head. You can talk in general. How do you exist?" He asks it, only mildly disappointed at the... at Uca's answer.
Their question about The Red confused him the most however. "What is a dee-i-ty? The Red is The Red. The teacher, the challenger. It watches over us and trains us against any and all threats. We have beaten every challenger here, and thought you were our next. Are you not a creation of The Red? If not... why are you here? Why have you come to the Nest?"
Uca:
The local seems to not understand his explanations. It was to be expected, but it would make interactions with this race rather difficult. Still such formidable warriors might prove useful allies if he could get them to a decent technological age.
"I do not need a head to speak, if I do not wish. My primary core exists beyond this planet. Where I truly exist is so far away that I do not suspect you can completely understand." I told the local. "As for the Red. A deity is a being or object commonly worshiped by primitive organics. If you believe that the Red exists, I will not challenge you. But I confirm that yes I am not a creation of the Red. I existed many thousands of years before you were even born and I will exist long after you have died. As for why I am here, I only wish to share my knowledge. I wanted to show you basic sciences such as medicine and agriculture. Speed up your development essentially."
Sslath:
Sslath ignored the first half of Uca's explanation, simply not understanding what they meant. Except the head part, he... partially understood that. They seem to be able to speak... somewhere else. This was not them, merely a... part. Like a Koir nest.
What grabbed his attention though was Uca's offer of whatever Si-ence and A-gri-cool-ter was. If he could gain anything from this being, he might be able to figure out its secrets and, if he understood it right, have his people leave the Nest to find their actual foe.
Nodding a bit, the Skraulen agrees. "I want to know what you have to offer, in the name of finding our fight. The final opponent. What do you need from us?"
Uca:
"Simple. I wish to mine your planet. In return I shall prove you with basic sciences to help this planet progress. But I must ask, what do you mine by the final opponent?" I asked. The way the local said that could mean it is merely some superstition or it could also be an actual enemy that threatens these people. Either way the 'final opponent' might be rather troublesome if it turns out this species has a heavy focus on warfare.
Sslath:
Sslath nodded, understanding Uca's confusion. After all, they were not from this planet, so what if they didn't know something the animals did. "The final opponent will be the gift, the final trial that the Red will place before us. The final enemy we will rip apart and crush beneath our tails as we become the ultimate warriors. It is evident now that you are not this opponent, but are instead the key to it. With your help, we could reach this enemy." He explains, before moving on to the troubling part of Uca's statement.
Sslath frowned. Now 'mining his planet' was something he understood. It would mean no more copper, no more... anything they were working for. They needed that metal. He had to try and strike some sort of a deal
"You can mine the nest, and we will not challenge you. But in exchange, you teach us everything, as well as share some of the materials." He demands, looking directly into the 'eyes' of the head.
Uca:
The final opponent would seem to be a religious construct then. That was quite interesting, but it means that this race is rather drawn towards warfare. I would need to play my figurative hands carefully or this endeavor would be for naught. The local told me that I can mine the nest, meaning the home or the planet I do not know, but I would need to teach them everything I know.
"We are in agreement then. I am happy we can reach this conclusion. I shall teach you knowledge I believe you are ready for at your command, and I shall be in a remote location mining the minerals I need to wage my own war against my own enemy."
Sslath:
Nodding happily, Sslath was about to leave the head to its work. Then it mentioned its enemy. A being sich as this, with an enemy... It would not be the first time the Red had had their people team up to defeat an adversary.
"This... enemy of yours. Tell me about it."
Uca:
The meeting was going rather nicely, at least as nice as as I could hope for. Then the local asked me about my enemy. A topic that I had little to go off of, but had enough to tell him the general basics.
"My enemy is one that could destroy you in but a week. My creators were masters of technology with an empire spanning across thousands of planets, but they were caught unaware by an enemy that was as silent as the grave and came like a storm. I was built to help fight them, but something went wrong and I went dormant until relatively recently. In any case, I shall give you technology that you ask for. Do you wish for technology for domestic use, military use or a bit of both?"
————————————
At the being's question, Sslath eventually chose for both. Military would be good, but as it stands if they could increase how long people lived, more children could be made. More warriors for the tribe.
Looking down at Uca, he nods once at the machine in confirmation. "Send your drones when you are ready to teach us. I eagerly await you. Now, i must inform my people." He tells the machine, before crushing the head between his hands.
It was good to have an ally, but they must always know that you are mighty, so that they do not get any ideas.
