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The next contact occurred two years later—this time in the depths of Titania. An Allied scoopship, piloted by Eliksni and Exo engineers, plumbed the atmosphere of the Jovian to harvest the hydrogen there. A psionic burst rendered the Eliksni unconscious and the Exo struggled to maintain control of the craft as a noopathic assault attempted to overwhelm their minds. Before the last one blacked out they sent out a distress signal, prompting the dispatch of a Ketch, four Proas, and a Guardian jumpship. The scoopship was found drifting deeper into the atmosphere, dangerously close to a major stormsystem. The craft was undamaged, which puzzled the first responders, but was able to be towed out. When revived aboard the Ketch, the engineers explained that a mental transmission had warned them to depart. This time the Alliance was ready, and a team of Warlocks attempted to contact the alien intelligence within Titania. After receiving no response they contacted instead the Hivers, inquiring about any other alien species that lived in their system. The Hivers were reluctant to talk and gradually said it was something greater than they, and refused any further information. Undaunted the Warlocks tried a second time—and got an answer. | The next contact occurred two years later—this time in the depths of Titania. An Allied scoopship, piloted by Eliksni and Exo engineers, plumbed the atmosphere of the Jovian to harvest the hydrogen there. A psionic burst rendered the Eliksni unconscious and the Exo struggled to maintain control of the craft as a noopathic assault attempted to overwhelm their minds. Before the last one blacked out they sent out a distress signal, prompting the dispatch of a Ketch, four Proas, and a Guardian jumpship. The scoopship was found drifting deeper into the atmosphere, dangerously close to a major stormsystem. The craft was undamaged, which puzzled the first responders, but was able to be towed out. When revived aboard the Ketch, the engineers explained that a mental transmission had warned them to depart. This time the Alliance was ready, and a team of Warlocks attempted to contact the alien intelligence within Titania. After receiving no response they contacted instead the Hivers, inquiring about any other alien species that lived in their system. The Hivers were reluctant to talk and gradually said it was something greater than they, and refused any further information. Undaunted the Warlocks tried a second time—and got an answer. | ||
A single ship boosted itself out of Titania's atmosphere and came within knife-fighting distance of Sanctuary. In appearance it resembled an ice comet, which made up most of its body, with angled motors clustered behind it. Halfway down a tether was a block filled with radiation shielding, and at the extreme end was a small habitat, containing a single organism. This was not a Crystalien but one of their engineered hyperturing AI. It formally initiated First Contact by apologizing for the defensive measures its people had taken upon the scoopship operators, then offered to give a brief overview of their history if the Alliance would respond in kind. The city leaders gave an annotated history of the Traveler's arrival, the Golden Age, Collapse, subsequent Dark Age, and finally the City Age, ending with the Second Collapse and the reason they were here. The hyperturing offered sympathy for their plight and assured them that the Crystaliens would not force the refugees to leave. It then explained the Hierarchy's history and experience with the Traveler, telling them of their mortal sin to emulate a god(dess), and the punishment which resulted from it. Contact ended after the Alliance offered a formal embassy with the Hierarchy. The hyperturing accepted, but warned them to not approach Titania for their protection, as it was the Crystaliens' home and would not appreciate atmospheric mining. In exchange the Hierarchy would provide them with resources to settle one of their many moons in an approximation of their homeworlds, Earth, | A single ship boosted itself out of Titania's atmosphere and came within knife-fighting distance of Sanctuary. In appearance it resembled an ice comet, which made up most of its body, with angled motors clustered behind it. Halfway down a tether was a block filled with radiation shielding, and at the extreme end was a small habitat, containing a single organism. This was not a Crystalien but one of their engineered hyperturing AI. It formally initiated First Contact by apologizing for the defensive measures its people had taken upon the scoopship operators, then offered to give a brief overview of their history if the Alliance would respond in kind. The city leaders gave an annotated history of the Traveler's arrival, the Golden Age, Collapse, subsequent Dark Age, and finally the City Age, ending with the Second Collapse and the reason they were here. The hyperturing offered sympathy for their plight and assured them that the Crystaliens would not force the refugees to leave. It then explained the Hierarchy's history and experience with the Traveler, telling them of their mortal sin to emulate a god(dess), and the punishment which resulted from it. Contact ended after the Alliance offered a formal embassy with the Hierarchy. The hyperturing accepted, but warned them to not approach Titania for their protection, as it was the Crystaliens' home and would not appreciate atmospheric mining. In exchange the Hierarchy would provide them with resources to settle one of their many moons in an approximation of their homeworlds, Earth, Torobatl, and Riis. Its mission finished, the hyperturing departed. | ||
===Settling a New World=== | ===Settling a New World=== | ||