Unipsi, lovely entity

chapter 2: contact

The Sheridan was landing around the last known position of the esterian ship, however their spacecraft was nowhere to be found.

“commander the scanner are going blind again, a high power jamming signal is preventing them from working. It’s must be the esterian ship trying to keep it’s position hidden.”

Maybe it’s not a standard scout, what is the point of jamming signals. Why trying to hide when you know you can do whatever you want? The more I think about it, the more suspicious I become.

“pass to manual scanning and be ready to switch to mechanical system. If the esterian launch an EMP we must be ready. Those who feel brave enough may follow me, we will try to reach them and capture them. Not too many volonteers, we can’t start a war over a possible misunderstanding”

“commander I don’t think it’s…”

“stop Morea. I know what I’m doing” nope. I don’t, I just don’t want to die without trying a peaceful approach.

“we will try to reach the centre of the jamming signal and see if we can talk us out of this shit. For what I experienced esterian are not stupid. If they can avoid a fight they will.”

Soon after Lis was going out with 20 other leans. 2 heavy tanks with 6 leans each, 4 battle walkers and the remaining geared up with heavy power armour taking a ride on the walkers. It was a small squad but powerful enough to fight off a ship crew, maybe even an esterian one. Under Lis command the squad started it’s march toward the possible ship. It took them 20 minute of pure stress to finally reach something. It was no esterian spaceship but an alien ancient structure. Strange patterns covered the walls of the entrance leading to an underground structure. The door was opened with force by something but it was not an explosive. Why the fuck, did I choose to follow my gut? Why the hell did I even come here. I could have stayed in the army but no, being a scavenger is obviously better. Going in unknown structure full of alien unknown tech, doing unknown things. Yeah great idea. hopefully they already killed everything inside.

“every body set up a perimeter with the tanks, me, the walkers and the other will go in.If we don’t come back in 4 hour we are dead. Get the fuck out of here and call for backups, understood?”

the mood was heavy but leans are no pussies. Dying is part of life, if one must die do it with honour and dignity, die fighting utill even your last tooth is gone in a pool of blood. What was left of the initial squad started to move forward the darkness of the alien structure.

A long staircase leading deep underground in absolute silence. The heavy walker steps echoed though out the alien facility. After 5 minute that seems eternal, the stairs ended leading to an opening with some dim light coming from it. The underground structure was divided in 2 side, one left and one right, with and empty space in the middle. The side where also multilevelled and with the sides open, so one could see from side to side and from level to level. It looked like some fancy storage, probably built for automated flying drones.

People could only move using two platforms. One was already at the bottom, they where on the other one. No railing, so better watch out from falling. The structure was about 50m deep so a fall would be deadly or extremely painful. The one on the bottom must be theirs, now I just have to find a way to use this one. Looking at the structure I think this platform can also move back and forward horizontally. Maybe if we move a bit before going down we could find something useful, or at least a position to put a sniper to look at the lover level. It’s not like they have another way out.

Her thought process was brutally interrupted by a massive explosion followed by something that sounded like a machine dying in pain, if you suppose that machines can feel pain. Then an exclamation, maybe a battle cry echoed in the structure, it was a kinda deep voice.

“Succhiami il cazzo robot di merda!” (suck my dick robot pieces of shit!)

I suppose that's one of the esterian speaking in it’s own language, such a strange combination of sound. But his sound confirm his position, they probably don’t know that we have been following them even here.

“let’s try to be sneaky, we get on the platform and we try to move in order to have line of sight on the esterians. Then you stay there while I try to contact them. If things go south you shoot.”

Lis and this team weren’t new to alien ruins, however this was the first one that was sort of working so it was a completely new world for them. Lis started hitting bottoms on the only things that look like a command panel for the platform. After some push that, touch this and scratch your sweaty face only to realise you have a full helmet, the elevator start moving forward emitting a screeching noise. Fuck, kiss goodbye to our surprise effect. This think must be old as fuck, but it’s still working. I want one, maybe we will be able to take it with us?.

While moving the floor of the platform turned completely transparent like glass, through it Lis and the team saw a small creature in the lowest level. A completely black humanoid figure followed by 4 massive walkers and 8 flying armed drones, all of them where staring at the platform from underneath. No doubt know, that is an esterian. I have never seen such machines, those things look like war machines. Guess I’ll die today if my words don’t work.

After reaching the end of the structure, the squad left the elevator taking position. They could see 2 of the esterian walkers, but the rest had gone deeper inside the structure and there was no way to hit them if not frontally. While positioning her squad Lis saw a small pyramid shaped engraved object, that looked a lot like an alien artefact, so she grabbed it. Well time to go down and see.

With no hesitation she hopped back on the elevator trying to make it go down toward the robot.

The machine started moving in the right direction, each second bringing Lis closer to the esterian walkers left out on guard.

She reached the robot that stared at here, well she thought so can really tell if they are looking at you with their sensors.

“may I go in mister robot?” she said looking at one of the walker. No response from the machine, so she took a step to be immediately have guns pointed at her. Maybe if I step back and put down my weapons I could be allowed in?

She tried so and this time without the weapons, the 2 massive walkers didn’t react. So those are defence robot. Probably the same that shot at the patrol, but why. Maybe they weren’t the first to open fire?

Immense in her mind, Lis kept on going forward through a massive corridor full of broken drones. Must be the ruin defence system, those don’t look esterian at all. Bullet holes, but no cartridges case. Probably electromagnetic weapons, not good. A bit later she reached a room with a big door and finally the esterians were in front of her. Well not esterians, there was only one. So he is alone and he was not a he but a she. The black power armour with hexagonal patterns covered everything but you could guess without to much thinking the sex of the person underneath. She is not looking at me, just focusing on the door, probably she wants to go in. maybe I can speak. Maybe her drone and walkers won’t shoot.

“hi there esterian”

A female kinda deep and a bit robotic voice responded immediately.

“I didn’t shoot first, so get out”

“You see I’m technically in charge of what happened so I would like a more extensive explanation.”

“I think not. I didn’t shoot first, so begone cock sucker I have nothing for you”

The small esterian was just 180cm compared to the 230cm of Lis but it was clearly a concentrate of hatred. This fucking little shit, if those thing wouldn't kill me in an instant I would have already beat the shit out of her.

“I won’t dishonour my family in such a way” she replied but the small esterian was not in the mood for talking.

“I give you 10 second and then I will blow you up”, Lis just couldn't help herself and replied with

“that’s what she said!” the esterian snapped back, turned around as fast as possible pulling out her submachine gun. This movement showed the door command that seems to be messing a pyramid object.

“wait wait wait!! I have this” as she said so, Lis pulled out of her suit pocket the object. She stopped, this is my chance.

“I have this, can we speak a bit and then I will give it to you?”

“how about I shoot you and take it anyway?”

“you won’t do that. I’m a high raked official of the Lean federation and my death would mean war between our people. Also you are illegally scavenging in our domain so you are committing a crime if a lean did not authorize you. If I may add I already worked with your kind and I know that you don’t want unnecessary fight. I have a squad of people outside ready to rush in and make a mess.” please tell me she believed it.

The esterian positioning expressed her doubt even if her body was completely covered. Yes, it worked, now first some questioning about the accident and then I can try to make her work for me.

“how about you give me de key, I don’t kill you and if I feel like I will answer your questions” does she think I’m stupid, without the key she can’t enter right and she wont kill me to take it, hopefully.

“how about you answer my question about the accident and then I give you the key?”

“don’t need that, don’t need you. It just reduce my time on this useless moon.”

Fuck, that’s no good. I have to find a way.

“then what about working for me? I fake to capture you so everybody is happy and then we can use your knowledge and my massive crew to look for new ruins”

the esterian was all but pleased with such a question.

“I won’t work for a cock sucker, I won’t work with a cock sucker neither and I definitely won’t pose as a prisoner for you little puppet theatre. I’m no prostitute that sells herself for money.”

“fuck you dickhead I’m not a bitch! Stop saying that!”

“that’s what a sucker would say”

“then no key, go suck some cock like you usually do maybe they will open the door for you!” the esterian emitted a strange laugh. It was a maniac laugh that could freeze your blood. Fuck, am I going to die like this?

Then the esterian stopped her sinister laugh.

“you are funny, you need balls of steel to even dare to speak to my kind yet you try to even joke and insult me. I like braveness or is it pure madness? So what you want to know” it worked, how the fuck did it work, how the fuck am I alive.

“so I would like to know what happened on the planet”

“nothing much. Go down, open ruins, look for things and a bunch of women in armour show up. Robot stopped them, they think they are after their life and start shooting. Robot fire back with orders to injury and not kill otherwise none would be alive.”

“well they point weapons at you...”

“they can’t speak, robots remember?!?, what should they do write you a sign?”

“make sense. Now to the work part, i have a massive ship with an entire crew, we can use your knowledge about the ruins and you can use our numbers. Then we split 50-50. how about it?”

“no. we split only physical object 50-50 I take all digital information. You provide me with all your information about the ancient alien in you territory and I still keep my autonomy we will be peers. You pledge to never try to inquire my existence or try to obtain information about esterians.”

“I can do that but I need my boss, Dhalia Hakavor, to confirm. We can start with a temporary contract and then go to may home planet to meet Dhalia?”

“ok, give me the key”

Fucking hell, I just have to keep her and all her power is ours. Maybe she is not that bad.

Little did she know that it was just the start of a long series of trouble.