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Finley lounged in his chair as the incoming surface reports finally evened out beside his initial simulation. Leaning forward to reach an arm out, he switched to a screen that calculated the projected deaths and reclined backwards. The new triage centres began reporting, and he nodded in satisfaction as the projected numbers declined drastically. "That took longer than I expected." Finley switched to another new screen looked through his situation reports and the incoming health data side by side. "Too much to do and not enough time, though."

Swiping his hand against the projected screen, he flipped to the more interesting surface reports. "Seems some old data banks might still be active in the old cities. That's quite the impressive feat of engineering."

"I'll be damned if I let that data bank die." He thought, hitting his com. As he looked through the report while he waited for his reply, Finley quickly came to the conclusion that it might be a good idea to see if he could acquire some drop marines to escort a hostile climate expedition team as we waited for his reply.

"This is Captain Andriet. What can do for you, Commander?"

Finley resolved not to react to her cold tone, deciding to play it safe today to hopefully make things move smoother. "Captain, I have a request. Would you happen to have a squad of marines with hostile climate experience aboard?" Finley asked in a level but friendly voice.

Andriet raised her eye at the man. An attempt to figure out his angle and this new attitude change. "I do not, but I have the knowledge of a team that may fit the bill. What do you need marines for?"

Finley leaned forward and transferred a file. "Energy profile from a data bank. If it's active, we might be able to dig up some of their archives and retrieve some of their lost cultures."

"I don't think you have permission to land anything outside the domes, Mr.Finley." Andriet ventured, knowing full well where this conversation was going.

"You would be correct with that assumption. I plan to ask force commander Ethuci for his assistance with this operation. If all goes well, it could be a great find." Finley returned.

Andriet smirked, knowing well enough how this was going to end. "I'll see if I can round up the drop team. I'll leave you to convince Ethuci. Though, I have a feeling things won't go the way you think they will."

Finley was about to ask Andriet about how best to approach Ethuci. However, before he could even get a word in, she suddenly cut the com. "Well, that went better than expected."

Finley shook his head and hit a few keys to contact the force commander. And now found himself on the waiting end of a holding line, shitty music and all. "The hell is this? The twenty-first century?" Finley said aloud as he sat in his chair and waited... And waited... And waited... Thirty-seven minutes later, Finley finally came face to face with Ethuci.

"What can I do for you, Commander Finley?" Ethuci requested, without a hint of emotion.

Finley sighed, deciding to play a bit at diplomacy. "Force commander Ethuci, it's a pleasure to speak with you again. One of my ships has reported that there may be an operational data bank on the surface, hidden away in one of the old city ruins on the central continent. I would like to request permission to disembark with a squad of specialists, marines, and a division of your own soldiers, in an attempt to retrieve the data."

"Denied, we can handle it ourselves. Send me the coordinates, and we'll send a team to handle extraction." Ethuci replied smugly.

Finley's face twisted in confusion as he eyes the male on his screen. "Do you even have the means to extract that data? I mean, it's been there since your planet froze for how long? How have you not visited the location before?"

Ethuci stood from his chair and took a confident step forward. "I'm glad you asked for once, Commander Finley. I just so happen to have received some rather delightful news from our leader moments ago. With the help of Captain Andriet, we will have our own extreme climate enviro suits along with a fresh print of combat armour ready for our soldiers within three hours. As such, we won't be needing your help at this time. Though, if you wish to assist the landing team I'll be sending to the surface as a test, I may be willing to allow you to accompany them as a consultant."

"Ahh, I see his game." Finley thought, selecting his best team and sending the location data to Ethuci. "My team will defer to your authority, Commander."

"Excellent! I will be expecting you and your team to be ready when the time comes. We'll be in touch."

Finley watched as Ethuci cut the com in much the same way Andriet did and laughed. "The shits conspired against me, did they? Well played." Sending the muster orders to his team members, Finley went about readying himself for a surface expedition.

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Chrarada cut the line with Ethuci and looked at the gathered council members. Many of which were still in shock. "Well, let's make the most of this break, shall we?"

Viscia sat in her chair with wide eyes and a smile, cradling the datapad like a newborn. "I don't think your plan worked as you hoped. In fact, we might have gotten more if we were friendly."

"I'll have to agree with Viscia here. They've done nothing but help. Meanwhile, your plan seems to entail trying to make them as angry as possible." Muldios added.

Chrarada leaned forward in her chair, eyeing the assembled council members with her sharp eyes. "I will not allow us to appear weak or submissive in front of a technologically superior species. That said, I do think a change is warranted. They have given us much and have only asked for friendship and cultural exchange in return."

"Well then, what's the plan? I'm rather fond of that male leader of theirs, Admiral Miles, was it? His build and scent are pleasant. Shall we work on deepening our friendship?" Councillor Rirona replied.

"This isn't your personal claiming meet Rirona. Wait until after we finish to hunt." Chrarada hissed. "I propose we drop the facade and act like proper hosts. Though our luxury food is limited as of now, we can still offer them proper drinks and adjust the room to a more comfortable temperature."

Muldios stood from his chair and looked around the room with a gentle face. "I've been saving a few losus steaks for a special occasion. I can have them prepared as an apology if someone is providing the drinks."

Rirona frowned. "I don't think we need to go that far. Our food stock is limited as is. I'm sure they would be happy with a casual meal."

"I appreciate the thought Rirona, But it's fine. With the new fabricators we can create, we won't be having food problems for much longer. In fact, you might just be out of a job soon." Muldios replied with a hint of sadness.

"He's right. We won't really need someone to manage our food stores for much longer." Visica injected, holding up a fabricator blueprint.

"We'll still need someone to manage our fresh produce. Her job won't be going anywhere." Chrarada interrupted, putting a stop to that line of thinking.

Rirona pouted. "There goes my plan to run away with that male. Regrettable"

Slamming her tail on the ground and expanding her hood for attention, Chrarada spoke authoritatively to the assembly. "That's enough, prepare the refreshments. The meeting will continue in twenty minutes, so we don't have much time."

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Admiral Miles and his diplomatic team sat in the provided guest room just outside the council chamber. Watching as his team busied themselves wiping the sweat off their body with whatever towels or napkins they could find, complaints and murmurs of ungratefulness began to bounce around the room, casting a dark cloud over the talks.

"Alright, that's enough of that. We're here to complete an important mission, and operation 'New Friend' is almost complete. We still need to finish the second portion of the mission and figure out who did this to them and why. So that means exploring the surrounding systems and studying the debris field of Acarro."

Walking around the room in quiet thought, Admiral Miles turned towards his team. "Remember our mission objective. Completion will let us prepare for an attack on our people as well as theirs. So if they ask you to sit in that damn sauna again, you will damn well do it."

Murmurs of agreement filled the room as people began the process of cooling down and hydrating themselves." Sir, we're not sure if the room is bugged. It would be prudent to speak of other things." Ambassador Nicen whispered.

"Oh, they most certainly have this room bugged. They're a very paranoid people. I'm assuming hearing this will help to alleviate some suspicion honestly." Admiral Miles replied, creating chuckles that bounced around the room as the occupants finished cleaning themselves and began to relax.

"Well, I guess that's one way to get them to trust you. I wonder If it'll work, though. Short of showing them the secrets of Luna, I doubt it will be that easy." Ambassador Bria added.

Admiral Miles bellowed with laughter. "No one but the Fleet Admiral and Union President know what the hell is hidden in Luna these days. I feel sorry for the dumb fuck who decided to attack Earth."

Nicen smiled. "Well, I'm a fan of believing the Galaxy knights really do live in a castle on luna."

Groaning, the Admiral took a seat at the head of the table. "They really shouldn't have put up that hard light camo. Sure it's nice to see how the moon looked two thousand years ago. But the conspiracy nuts went insane over that."

A soft clicking of the door announced a visitor. "Greetings honoured Terrans if you would please follow me. I'll be escorting you to the council chamber."

The Admiral looked around the room and noticed the awkward confusion and shrugged, deciding this shift in hospitality was a nice change of pace.

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"We are exiting warp."

"And you're sure Leda is with the fleet now?" Michael asked, looking at the massive object that seemed to scramble any attempts at scanning it.

"I would recognize that monstrosity anywhere. I spent quite a lot of time on that base."

"Oh, so it's like your home then?" Taking control of her ship, Srettia switched to manual controls as her ship began to exit warp.

"It could be considered my birthplace, I suppose."

"So, what's it doing here then, isn't it supposed to be defending Eris? Take us out nice and easy. You don't want to slam on the breaks because you exited too fast." Michael said, keeping a close eye on the star chart as they entered the system.

Srettia slowly began to power down the engines as her ship finished exiting warp. " So Terrans just fly moons around in their space? That's dumb."

"Leda has two rail cannons that extend a fourth of the way through its body. It shoots mass the size of large asteroids as its ammunition. It is not dumb!"

"Okay, it's not dumb." Srettia quickly corrected, realizing she might have found the one thing Jack was defensive about.

"We are being hailed by the Relentless."

Michael poked at the screen, and a picture of a woman with a strict looking face stared back at him. "This is Vice-Admiral Norae. You're back early."

Michael didn't bother beating around the bush and decided to get her attention. "I have a class O-a1 emergency sitting in our cargo bay. I need to talk to the Admiral." Michael watched as the colour in Norae's face drained.

"He's on a diplomatic mission in Aasteran space. You are to remain where you are and await his return." Norae responded, looking off to the side and shouting things the screen didn't catch.

"Understood, I'll stay right here." Michael responded, cutting the link.

Srettia turned to Michael in anger, nearly shouting in his ear. "Why would you say that? My people need to know!"

"What? I'm staying right here, in my crash couch. As long as I don't move from my couch, I"m not breaching orders, right?"

"Yeah, but now we're stu... Ohhhhh!" Powering up her engines, Srettia keyed in the coordinates to the capitol station and punched the warp button.

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Chrarada watched as the servers finished preparing the refreshments for her Terran guests. "Well, let's hope they enjoy our fungus wine. It's no match for their cider, but it's still rather pleasant."

Rirona placed a few containers of dried herbs from her personal stock on the table and smiled. "I would very much like to try a glass someday."

"Well, if they don't like it, that'll just leave more for me." Muldios quipped, stealing a juicy-looking grub off a platter.

Motioning for her team to settle themselves, Chrarada alerted her staff to show the Terran delegation into the chamber. As she did, she quickly shot a quick glance at her peers and spoke gently. "You are free to act as you like, but remember you represent our people." Glancing over to Muldios, she narrowed her eyes. "Try not to act like an idiot."

Muldios gasped in shock and stood in a respectful manner. "I would never!"

Chrarada watched as the Terran delegation walked into the room and held back a snicker as a look of confusion washed over them. "Welcome, esteemed representatives of the Terran Star union. It is once again my honour to host these historical talks between our people."

"Ahh. Yes, thank you for your generosity." Admiral Miles Returned, standing in front of his seat before sitting down.

Chrarada sat down with the Admiral and motioned to the food. "We have prepared a sampling of our food to snack on while we continue our talks this afternoon. I hope it is to your liking."

Admiral Miles looked to Chrarada, then to his delegation, then to the food in confusion. The room was warm but not uncomfortable, the food and water looked appetizing, and to top it off, Chrarada was acting like she was at Leda.

"Bwahahaha, look at them. They're as confused as a losus in Zero G." Muldios bellowed, snagging a few grubs.

Chrarada giggled and motioned to the food. "It's not poisoned. I have come to realize I may have been mistaken with my method of handling these negotiations. This meagre meal is my apology."

Admiral Miles relaxed and decided to grab a plate. "Well, far be it from me to turn down a meal, I'm quite eager to try your foodstuff, honestly." He replied while filling up his plate with a small serving of meat, bugs, moss, and fungus. The Admiral then motioned for his team to do the same.

Pushing a small button, Chrarada summoned a few servers which started pouring a liquid into glass containers. "This is a kind of fungus wine. It's the closest thing we have to what you would call an alcoholic beverage. I hope you find it acceptable."

Hearing murmurs of approval from his team, the Admiral took a sip of this 'wine.' "Oh wow, it tastes like a sweet mushroom wine. Is it too late to trade our fabricator tech for regular imports of this stuff?"

Rirona leaned forward over the table, gaining the Admiral's attention as her eyes darted over him. "You've done much for us. I'm sure our producers won't mind parting with a few barrels as thanks for all you've done for our people. I could give you a tour of their workshop once this is all over if you'd like."

The Admiral smiled and took another sip. "That sounds delightful. I look forward to it."

Muldios chuckled. "Beware our female's Admiral. They are always on the hunt."

The Admiral was about to question the old miner on his usual statement when, unfortunately, an important looking male suddenly burst into the room. Quickly he ran to Chrarada's side and began whispering something in her ear.

Chrarada looked the Admiral in the eyes. Her face turning cold and emotionless. "Admiral, what is a 'Class O-a1' Emergency? It seems your pilot has returned to our system demanding to speak with you."

The Admiral and his entourage stood as one, immediately putting the Aasteran council on edge. "It means he found something that could lead to war."

Chrarada stood and walked towards the door. "Well, Let's go see what he found, shall we?"

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