A long journey's end... (FT)

OOC: This is just a setup post to the story of my nation's introduction. The story I have in mind should allow for everyone who is interested, to get involved. I understand that there are other stories going on so I'm going to take this story slow..

IC:
The roar of the winter winds could be felt across the greater plans the this cold, cold world. The great mammoth-like creatures that for generations have called this planet home where in the winter immigration, moving south while the north rolled into a more bleak climate than it already was. For these simple creatures all was as it always was and likely this was to stay this way. For their world was light-years away from the civilized "known" parts of the galaxy. Fourth planet from their sun, their system was relatively small and the planet itself was the only one that supported life. Far from the inter-galactic hustle and bustle of some parts of the galaxy, this particular system was peaceful. This rarely changed, everything always seemed to remain the same.....and then it happened.

It came in a flash or so it would appear to the naked eye. A bright flash and once gone there was something new, something exotic for which this solar system and the greater galaxy had never seen before....

Spoiler:

It was a starship, an old one by comparison and certainly a vessel that had seen its fair share of travels. It crept into the galaxy almost lifelessly as if there were no life on board the ship at all. Indeed most of the decks of the ships were dark, devoid of life or light. So silent were these corridors that the only sound that did penetrate the silence was the echo of the bulkheads twisting and bending as the ship floated forward. This was almost universal throughout the entire ship except for one particular hallway. It was here, at this very moment that the silence of the ship was broken by the distinctive sound of mechanical parts, moving in perfect harmony with one another and moving down the corridor.

Spoiler:

It was a robot, a mechanical life form whose sole purpose was to serve. Not entirely an Android because it wasn't made to look like its creators nor was it designed to think like them. Instead it was designed to think as they designed it to and so it did. Standing no more than 4 feet tall, it was a relatively small mechanical being as it moved down the corridor of the ship until it came to a door.

Spoiler:

This mechanical wonder opened the door remotely, having access to the control of the door wired into its small frame. A center cog-like wheel in the middle of the door spun and then retracted into the door before the entire door split in two, with either side disappearing into the wall. The robot walked through the doorway and into the room, recording the temperature drop through its internal sensors as it enter. The room was much colder than anywhere else on the ship and while this did not effect the robot's function, it was something of a concern to it as there was a certain level of coldness that needed to be maintained here. Luckily the temperature was as it should be and thus it was no concern of the robot. It moved towards a console not far from the door of the room and much like the door, the robot had remote access to this as well. The screen lit up as soon as the robot was in close proximity of it and began running a foreign script across its screen. In truth the robot was too short to see the screen, instead this same read out was also running across the robots own internal HUD. With everything reading just as it should the robot turned and walked down the length of the room. The walls of the room were flanked by pod-like devices. Ever couple of pods the robot would stop and wipe its hand across the glass-like surface and peer inside.

They were stasis pounds and this was just one of many stasis rooms filled with the organic species that had built the robot and the others like it as well as the ship itself. Humanoid-like organism, they were all locked frozen with their own bio-signs being monitored by the senors of the pods. There were both females and males in the species and many were located in this very room. Walking down the center aisle of the room the robot checked many pods before at last coming to a halt in front of one particular unit. Looking the pod up and down the robot then turned its head in the direction of the control console. Again the console came to life, alien script running across the screen. At the same time the pod in front of the robot also came to life, lights began to change color and the interior of the pod began to glow red. In fact the very temperature of this pod began to elevate far higher than the original temperature. The process took only minutes and when it was done, the door of the pod began to open. Moving forward at first, steam began pouring out and then the door flew upward and out of the way. The robot stood there as the steam began to dissipate until at last there was only the nude, somewhat wet body of a male before him. With the occupant well in its sight now, a wide beam of red light began beaming from the robots head, scanning the body from head to toe. When this was at last done, the robot stepped back.

"Admiral" said the robot in its synthetic voice, (OOC: Think robear burbles from the original Thundercats cartoon for the voice) "Admiral it is time to wake." The man slowly twitched and began moving, his ice cold blue eyes opening and his vision slowly coming to him. His hands slowly raised to this face as he wiped them across it. He said nothing for several minutes, instead taking the time to get his faculties about him. Then slowly he rose from a somewhat leaning position in the pod and tried to stand outside but failed. Collapsing to his hands and knees onto the metallic floor below, his skin cold and still damp was evenl colder than the actual floor and its warmth was something welcoming. Forcing his head up and towards the robot he spoke, his voice still weak and in a language never before heard in this galaxy but one both he and robot clearly understood. "Designation?" he said to which the robot responded "Absolution Prime."

"What is the time?" the man said, still in his bent over position. The robot responded "Its 51 years, 265 days, 22 hours, 45 minutes, and 11 seconds since we left the home galaxy. We have, as estimated, finally reached our destination." The man then motioned for the robot to come forward and after some instruction, the robot helped the man to his feet. Slowly stretching out his legs, he continued his conversation. "Status of the fleet Absolution Prime?" to which the robot responded "Since your last awakening, we have lost two more ships. We lost the Locutus when the fleet dropped out to recharge itself and was forced to rely on a blue giant. The Locutus shields failed and all occupants were lost. We also lost the Dakar in an attack by hostile aliens in the last galaxy before reaching this one. At attempt was made to save the ship but it suffered too much damage, it would not have made the jump, and instead the self-destruct was initiated with all hands lost."

"So we are now down to 50 out of the original 100 of our ships?" the Admiral asked. "That is correct Admiral." Absolution Prime responded. "What is our current status?" the Admiral ask as he began walking towards the console in the room. "The Absolution has just dropped out and is currently on a course for this solar system's star for recharge. We experienced a minor overload in one of our secondary relays seconds after we jump to this system but those repairs will be completed before we reach the star. Once the recharge is complete, we will begin the process of launching galactic probes to begin a detailed mapping process of this galaxy. The remainder of the fleet is in dark space, awaiting our signal to jump to our location." The Admiral stood over the small console and began pushing buttons, reading over the various messages that flashed across the screen. After seeing what he wanted to see he turned towards the door. "Absolution Prime" he said, "Awake the remainder of the senior crew and have them report to the bridge in one hour."

"Compliance" Absolution Prime responded as he began moving down the aisle of the room again. The Admiral then hit a switch on panel near the door, opening the door before him. He exited the room and began walking down the dark corridor of the ship, with each step he took some lighting began coming online. The Absolution, this foreign and exotic vessel who had been sleeping for many years was at last coming back to life.

The probes launched into Burninite space return no data. It is as though they vanished.

Counter probes are spammed back. The probes sent into Rhean space are captured by tractor beams from a nearby Star Destroyer.

(OOC: How long after is this? I have a huge reveal that would be spoiled if anything at all is asked about the Sith.)

Any probes sent to Alpha Centauri would reveal a binary (or technically trinary) system, of which one planet has some settlement. Said planet appears to be in a stage of rebuilding after heavy devastation.

Panzersharkcat wrote:

OOC: How long after is this? I have a huge reveal that would be spoiled if anything at all is asked about the Sith.)

OOC: I'll play off you all, I know there's other stories that will have major impacts going on so I intend to take it slow to give everyone else time to do what they've got to do. I actually intend to have the entire Langaarri Fleet fly through everyone's (or mostly everyone's) space to get to their new homeworld and take the consequences of such actions If that's not a problem that is, for anyone.

(OOC: Sure, if you don't mind having Star Destroyers shoot at you if you fail to answer hails.)

OOC: They'll make sure to answer them then cause they certainly don't want an moment ha ha

The probes that encounter Rutian space have a 50% chance of being destroyed. The other 50% is met with what would appear to be curiousity. Scanning, plus an attempt to communicate with the probe.

The probe that wanders near Esoteric is met with a simple scan from the planet surface. There's several space stations, but the planet doesn't appear to be capable of faster than light travel yet.

The Langarri Admiral had left the stasis room and headed straight for his personal quarters. Still a bit cold from his time in the pod, he eagerly sifted through his closet for his uniform and after making the change, left his quarters for the bridge. Several decks above his current location the Admiral entered one of the transport terminals. Serving the same purpose as an elevator, the terminal was a small room that could fit about 5 of the same species as the Admiral. Unlike an elevator however, these terminals never moved. Instead they worked like a transporter, moving objects from one terminal to another through the ship. Entering the small confines of the terminal, the Admiral flipped through a series of locations provided to him on a wall-mounted terminal before selecting the bridge's deck. The doors to the room closed and in a flash of bright light the Admiral was instantly transported.

Leaving the terminal the Admiral traveled down the sparsely lit deck until he came before a large door, much larger than another of door on the ship. On the wall just beside the door was a control panel and the Admiral keyed in a small combination of buttons. A red light over the door began flashing green and the gears on the door roared to life. Within a few seconds the door began to recede into the room and revealed a second door behind it, one similar to the others on the rest of the ship. He approached the door and hit the pad beside it, opening the door and allowing him entrance into the bridge of the ship.

Spoiler:

Welcome Admiral Varush an automated voice said as the Admiral entered the room. Taking his seat near the center of the room the Admiral began pressing a number of buttons and in doing so, the various controls and monitors began coming to life. Indeed the entire ship came to life as the lights in the corridors came on as well as the various other non-essential systems that were not previously running while the Langarri slept. With the ship somewhat brought back to life, Admiral Varush began looking over various reports and other read outs on his screens at his command chair. He did this for several hours as the ship itself made its way across the photosphere of the local system's star. Doing so, it absorbed material from the star that the ship converted to energy and the ship's core recharged.

By the time this process had completed and the ship returned to a safer orbit around the star the rest of the senior crew had assembled on the bridge, each taking their respective stations and running through their systems and checking each to ensure all were working properly. Eventually Admiral Varush activated a holographic screen which was projected between him and the crew seated at stations in from of him. It showed a read out of some of the probes that had returned data as well as those that were already lost, for reasons unknown. It also had a rough schematic star-chart for the entire Galaxy.

"Well ladies and gentlemen our present position puts us here" the admiral said, pointing to a relatively small area just on the rim of the galaxy. "If our initial data already recovered by our probes in correct, there are worlds that looking promise here, here, and here" the Admiral said pointing to position far across the galaxy from their current location. "While the disappearance of some of the probes in troubling, I don't believe we are in any immediately danger and we can call the fleet to this location. They'll need time to recharge themselves and have the rest of the crews brought out of stasis. I want everyone well awake and alert as we make our journey to a new world. We've already lost too many as it is."

"With all due respect Admiral, I felt leaving the command of the ship to the computer and repairs to the drones would never work" a younger-looking officer replied. " They aren't suited to think of their feet like us organics, we should have had crews manning the ships, more would have survived the trip."

"That may be so, but we cannot undo what is now done" said the Admiral. "We can only push forward and hope we do not make the same mistakes again."

Spoiler:

The crew naturally agreed and began making preparations to receive the fleet. An encoded message was sent to the ships of the fleet that were simply left a drifted in dark space as they waited for the Absolution to call them. Within minutes of the signal being sent ships began appearing, one by one in flashes of light until all 50 ships were now within the confines of the small solar system. Most of the ships were civilian ships, all of similar design. They the bulk of what remained of the Langarri civilization. Guarding them were a grand total of 5 ships, all of the same design and capabilities of the Absolution which Admiral Varush commanded. Taking a defensive perimeter around the fleet, the warships were the first to recharge in the system's son out of necessity for the defense of the rest. Then the Civilian ships got their chance, one by one.

On each ship only the necessary crew were awaken from stasis by the drones on board. The greater bulk of the Langarri people were kept in sleep as supplies were low. The only exception to this was on the Absolution as the members of the Langarri High Council, as seven of them were also awakened. Admiral Varush met with the esteemed leaders of the Langarri people for several hours, reporting not only the situation but also receiving the his orders for the rest of the fleet. Varush was order to lead the entire fleet through the galaxy to the first world on their list of possible new home worlds. The list was relatively small but would hopefully grow as they continued forward and more data was received from the probes. While the ships could make the distance in a single jump from their present location, it was decided that they would instead make smaller jumps across the galaxy. Langarri were naturally curious creatures and the High Council hoped they could come across other species as friendly as they were, species will to perhaps help the Langarri in their search.

When the last of the ships in the fleet were ready, Admiral Varush gave out the coordinates for the first jump. Within a instant, ships began disappearing in the same instance flash of light as they had first appeared. Their destination, while foreign to them, would take to a system just outside Burnation controlled space...

OOC: Although I know there really isn't a N-S-E-W direction in space, for ease of explanation, the fleet will drop out in a system just east of your border Burn. Close enough for detection I hope

A red light flashes on top of what can barely be recognized as a computer screen. Jenova, who had been reading a particularly engaging fantasy novel, frowns dejectedly. Closing the book, she sighs and presses a button on her desk.

"What is it?"

"This is Sensor Command. We have picked up a group of unidentifiable vessels floating near our space."

"Expand please," Jenova responds, suppressing a yawn.

"They appear to be of the same design as the probes we disabled a short time ago, but we have no information on them."

"Do they appear to to be FTL capable?" Jenova asks.

"That would explain how they appeared on our screens rather quickly," the Sensory officer responds, only a little cheekily.

Jenova chuckles and presses another series of buttons.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A small vessel appears in space under 250 kilometers from the Langarri ships. On an open channel, broad frequency, it broadcasts: "Hello, this is Admiral Standrey of Burnination. We mean you no harm. Please identify yourselves and state your purpose."

The Langarri were both surprised and equally curious at the appearance of the new vessel relative to their own location. The fact that it did not fire first was a good sign as far as any of them were concerned. There was a time when Langarri technology was so advanced, that the translation of foreign languages was child's play. Sadly, events in their home galaxy put that time now far behind them and though they hoped to one day return to that apex of power, that was not today.

With the foreign language broadcasting through for the Admiral to hear, he understood that there was no way they could decipher it with the technology they currently had. Instead, Admiral Varush decided to take a chance and transmitted his own message in the hopes that this species could translate.

"Greetings, I am Admiral Varush of the Langarri people. We come in the nature of peace and mean no harm to you or species in this galaxy. We cannot understand your language nor are we equipped currently with the ability to decipher your language. It is my hope that your species has such capabilities and can soon respond......"

If this did not work, the Admiral would attempt to transmit basic mathematical equations in symbol form that would at least provide some basic understanding between the Langarri and this species.

When the Langarri Admiral responds, the computer comes into contact with a previously unknown language. The Universal Translator, though good, isn't perfect. The word 'Langarri' comes through as 'my,' his name comes though simply as 'I,' and some of the other words come through as synonyms. Sentence structure isn't great either, but the UT hasn't had enough contact with the language or the brainwave patterns of the species that speaks it to translate perfectly just yet.

Feeding his voice through the Translator this time, Admiral Standrey responds:
"If I may send a representative to your vessel, our communication will become precise."

The UT translates the sentence into the alien language. There, it probably looks something like this:
"If we give a person to you ship then we can language."

It really requires a better readout of the aliens' brain wave patterns to do any better than that. And any complex ideas probably won't work for a while either.

That a message came back anywhere close to the Langarri language was a relief to the Admiral who worried that the conversation would have to devolve into pictographs and even then, it'd be a gamble if the aliens knew what he was talking about. Though not the best in terms of Langarri syntax, the overall idea that the message was to convey was received. A message was sent back, the Admiral stating that representatives would receive a welcome upon their arrival. Assuming the ship would dock with their own, schematics of the airlock which they wished for the aliens to enter was also sent with the message.

"Make sure the bio-scrubbers are online and fully functional" the Admiral said to one of his engineers. "I don't want an incident with our first encounter with another race."

"As you wish Admiral" the officer said before leaving the bridge. The Admiral then ordered that the shielding around that area of the ship be lowered to allow the vessel to approach and connect. Varush would personally be there to greet whomever and whatever came on board.

Admiral Standrey giggles when they get airlock schematics. His second in command raises his eyebrow.

"They sent schematics for some kind of ship-to-ship docking procedure."

The second in command does grin, but doesn't giggle. "Hey, teleportation is new, even for us."

The Admiral activates his simmershield (a small, personal shield which surrounds his body). Modifying the shield emitter on his wrist, he makes it semi-permeable to air particles. Should keep his personal atmosphere breathable, since the science officer didn't report anything overly absurd over there, like sulfur-based life forms.

"Ready," the Admiral says.

On the Langarri bridge, a ray of light, followed by the appearance of Admiral Standrey, might surprise a few of the crew.

Speaking though the translator, which should get most words and ideas right now that they are in close proximity (excluding any cultural references), the Admiral says, "Hello there."

It had been generations since the Langarri themselves were capable of such travel as instant teleportation, the kind that did not involve site-to-site teleportation between "teleport booths." In their prime, such a feat was consider child's play but such knowledge was misplaced and lost during the centuries of warfare that led them, at least this small faction of their population, to the exodus they were currently still on. So naturally, the appearance of two alien after a flash or light was met with some surprise.

Not really shock or fear, but more of amazement and wonder. After all, Langarri were naturally curious creatures and while that level of technology was beyond their current reach, it was known in their past. Here was a civilization that stood equally, perhaps even surpassed the ancient langarri in their prime. This shock and awe lasted for about a minute or so.

Finally the Admiral stood up from his chair and greeted his guests. Naturally, he'd understood quite well the message.

"Greetings, I am Admiral Varush of the Absolution. We are travelers of the stars that have, for some time now, been on a immigration of sorts. We mean no harm to you, although I do not believe we could even if we tried" the Admiral said with a smile. "We are Langarri and we seek a new home world for ourselves where we might begin again our tattered civilization."

The natural language of the Langarri is soft, and spoken in a very smooth manner. At one time, many species in their original galaxy felt it was like music when it was heard. However, what certainly would have struck the Langarri's guests as most peculiar was the Langarri themselves. Humanoid in appearance, there wasn't really much that distinguished the Langarri from say, humans from earth. Well, that is, except the fact that every Langarri on the bridge had a shade of blonde hair and the most brilliant, almost glowing blue eyes.

Standrey is also humanoid, and a good representation of what all Burninites look like. That is, remarkably human, but with a slightly longer head, and an otherwise slightly smaller average frame. He also moves with slightly more grace than a human would be capable of.

"Welcome to Burninition, Admiral," Admiral Standrey replies with a smile. "We are unaware of your species' biological needs, nor are we aware of which resources your species will require to rebuild its civilization. So we cannot really offer you a specific home world."

Admiral Standrey does not respond to the comment about not being able to hurt them if they tried, though he does glance around the room checking to see if the people there carried weapons. Whether or not they are armed tells him a lot about this species.

His ship also conducts a scan of a Langarri ship to check weapons capabilities; to see how much firepower they're capable of.

"However, if you'll show me more of what you are, I may be able to point you in the correct direction, or even give you a list of promising planets."

The quick visual scan of the room by the Burinte Admiral proved that the Langarri, at least the ones of what he presumed was the bridge of the ship, did not carry weapons. Indeed, as he would have found that very few on any of the ships carried weapons. Scans of the Absolution revealed about a dozen or so weapons turrets, all of which were not active. Their design suggested that they were pulse cannons and were configured in double-barrel and triple-barrel styles. Beyond these energy-based weapons, the ship's only other defense seemed to be its shields, which contoured to the shape of the ship itself.

Bowing, the Captain stepped down from his seat and motioned towards the back of the bridge, to the door specifically. "Please follow me" Varush said as he began moving towards the door, Admiral Standrey followed. Once they passed the threshold of the door and began down the corridor, the Langarri Admiral began the conversation.

"You will have to excuse the stares of my crew Admiral, their generation never witness the type of technology your people seem to possess, a technology once as common among our people as the ability to breathe. We are a race of explorers, a people who long ago decided that the greatest pursue was that of knowledge and dedicated their entire civilization to that end. Sadly it is because of that dedication that we lacked in other areas, specifically self-defense against a species that rivaled our own. We were ill-prepared for a war that came to us and as a result suffered. Our group left our home galaxy in the hopes of starting a new here, rebuilding and reclaiming centuries of knowledge lost to us."

The two had not walked far when they came to a door and Admiral Varush opened the door and showed his guest in. A circular room by design, the walls were plan as was the ceiling and floor A projection device was mounted on the floor in the center of the room and three consoles (all of the same design) were located about a foot or so from the center, making a circle themselves around the center device. Varush approached one of the console and began pressing buttons, activating the holographic projector to display his former home world of Langarra.

"This was Langarra, our home world, a lush green planet with a oxygen-based atmosphere and relatively strong surface gravity field (OOC: Atmosphere thinner than earth and a surface gravity about twice as strong than earth's). We have brought with us a host of vegetation and organic species we hope to seed on a new home world, both of which we have come accustom to for consumption and medicinal purposes. Our ancestors possessed the power to terraform planets however, this was among the knowledge lost during our conflict."

"We have sent out preliminary probes designed to gather basic planetary data as well as map out this galaxy" said the Admiral as he switch the hologram to project a basic star chart of the galaxy. Much of the map was blank with the rest showing only rough data. "We believe we have a few candidates already located including this one of particular interest to us here." Varush pointed to a small system along the galaxy's edge. "What little data we've so far received from the probe suggest only minimal native organic life, none of which are sentient in the sense that they possess any form of organized society. Would your people have any knowledge of this particular planet Admiral Standrey ?"

"No," the Admiral replied, "but I can tell you that in that system, you should find no objection by any other advanced organized society. There are a few of those, most of them friendly."

Gesturing towards the chart, the Admiral shows the general areas for Burnination, Panzersharkcat and Rutianas, but does not elaborate on the cultures or civilizations. He just points out the areas.

(OOC: You can look at the map section of the forums to see the map. You can assume that Standrey didn't show you exact space borders, but did point out the general areas of space for each culture.)

"This is good to know" said Varush, "we intend to make several stop within those general locations. Mostly for the purpose of exploration. We actually will make one more stop inside Burnination, permitting that's agreeable, before leaving it all together. We hope that once settled, we could perhaps make a more permanent relations with your people, if this too is agreeable."

The Admiral moved back in front of the console and changed the hologram projection from the star map to a read out of an element, actually two elements. The imagines were the basic structure of both elements, in visual terms the admiral was sure his counterpart and his people understood. The first was for a super heavy element that has, the Langarri found, superconductor capabilities (OOC: Naquadah). The second was for the structure of material that, when subjected to an electrical current, releases dark energy which can be manipulated. The Langarri new that the second element is generated when solid matter, such as a planet, is affected by the energy of a star going supernova. The material is common in the asteroid debris that orbits neutron stars and pulsars. (OOC: Element Zero from Mass Effect).

"Do your people know of these two elements and materials?" Varush said. "They were in good supply across our home galaxy and much of our civilization is built up these two particular resources. We have some supplies with us but will naturally need more as we progress. Any information would be greatly appreciated by our people."

"Off the top of my head, no, I don't, but the scientists back home definitely will. Provided you are peaceful, which I have observed that you are, and are a race worthy of further friendship, of course you may come visit Burnination. I'm not authorized to make any such agreement, but I'm sure our government would be open to the suggestion."

"That would be most agreeable and I am sure my government would be interested in such a diplomatic mission" said Varush with a smile. "I am merely Admiral of this fleet and like yourself, I cannot speak for the Langarri government. My power lies solely within the maintenance and defense of the fleet as well as the completion of my mission." Varush motioned towards the door and the two exited the room and began down the hallway back towards the bridge from which that had earlier came. While they walked, Varush continued.

"Speaking of my mission, I wonder if you could perhaps answer two final question I have. One is very simply, is there any events that I should be and can be made aware of as I continue to lead my people forward through this region of the galaxy? Secondly, you have spoken of at least two other civilization, can I assume they have, at the very least, the same translation technology as yourselves? The latter is perhaps a more important question as I feel communication will be key if we are fortunate enough to interact with the others you have spoken of."

Standrey chuckles at Varush's enthusiasm. Not that it's funny, so to speak, but it's refreshing.

"There are several races with faster than light travel, like yourselves and us. They should all have some method of communication with you, though in my opinion, ours is best. When you come to Burnination herself, you will likely be given a brief summary of recent galactic history. You'll probably also be given a star map with all of the planets not to visit clearly marked."

(OOC: You can skip that and assume you were given those things, and perhaps choose a planet to begin on. I bet Panzer and Rut want a chance to meet you as well )

"This seems fine then" said Varush as they entered the bridge and began walking back almost to the exact same spots where the two had previously met only a few moments earlier.

"If other species have the capability of communicating with us, even relatively as well as your civilization has shown, then i feel my mind is at ease. Naturally, the last thing I wish to do is cause a galactic incident because I merely misspoke or was misunderstood. It is my hope that once we have found a home world and begin to rebuild our civilization, we will again possess such essential technology."

"I will relay the invitation to visit your home world to my government" said Varush. "The Langarri High Council is the only entity that can make such a decision but I am confident that they will undoubtedly wish to send a representative once we've settled on a new home world. For now though I believe we have taken enough of your time and we ourselves should begin again our journey"

Varush crossed his arms across his chest, his hands closed in a fist, and bowed before Standrey. It was a customary sign of respect, given by Langarri as not only a "hello" but also as a "good-bye." Rising from his bent position he spoke before releasing his arms. "May good health, peace and prosperity be eternal for you and your people Admiral Standrey. I hope to cross your path again on my journey."

Admiral Standrey smiles, and bows his head a little too. "So you all don't shake hands then. Just bow."

"I'm sure they'll cross again sometime," Standrey responds. "Sometime."

He vanishes from the ship, and the Burninite starship that appeared earlier also disappears. The Langarri are once again alone on the outskirts of Burninite space.

Admiral Varush looked puzzled as the Burnination Admiral disappeared.

"Apparently shaking hands is the custom here" one of his bridge officers said with a chuckle. "Such a strange Galaxy we've come across Admiral.

"Indeed" said Varush, sitting back and getting comfortable in his chair once more. "I imagine there is still many wonders and many more strange and unusual things to discover. That said, we've stayed long enough here. If form the fleet to prepare for our next jump, I will enter the coordinates myself. "

Captains throughout the fleet were made ready and about as easily as they all had appeared, all fifty of the ships disappeared in a great show of flashing light. Not shortly after they were on the other edge of Burnination space. Long-range scanners picked up a comet heading across their bow.and the Admiral decided to stop for the moment and let the crew witness the spacial event. Not that it was the first comet the Langarri had ever witnessed, it was the first in their new Galaxy.

After the event had passed Varush pulled up the map, or what little they had of a map of the Galaxy so far. He remembered where Admiral Standrey had pointed at and explained the relative location of other galactic communities. Langarri have perfect eidetic or photographic memory to the point that the Admiral could recall ever flinch and motion his counterpart made as they were in the other room. Looking at the map he could tell that their next jump would put them just slightly over the rough border that had been pointed out.

Of course being as rough as it was explained to him, Varush couldn't know for certain but imagined they would fine out soon. Certainly if the Burnination had the ability to locate them outside their space, the Rutianas could do it as well. Of course the Admiral took it to mind that the rough borders were probably as accurate as any actual map and that when the fleet emerged they'd be in Rutianas space. When the rest of the crew came back from having watched the comet, the Admiral feed in the new coordinates and the fleet made the jump.

In another brilliant flash the fleet of fifty ships, only five of which were military by obvious design, were just outside a solar system in Rutianas space and closing onto the system with relatively slow speed.