Ivan Kal - Sanctuary

“And the other two?” Hana asked.

“They were Hokra Dson and Hokra Gotu, they avoided answering what their purpose was, but I believe that they were either bodyguards or aides, perhaps even spies.” Chung-Ah said.

“Spies!?” Hana exclaimed.

“There is no need to worry, it is something we would do as well. And we are trying to learn everything we can about them just as they are trying to learn everything about us.” Chung-Ah assured her Ship Master.

“Well alright, there isn’t much they can find out, we have them watched around the clock, and they can’t go anywhere without escort.” Hana said.

“There are a few more things that we learned, they greet one another by bowing their heads, they don’t seem to have any kind of class system, everyone appears to be equal. At least that is the impression I got. I also got the impression that they were just as shocked by our appearance as we were. I also believe that we are not the first alien race they encountered, we of course pretended to have met other races. They seem interested in us.” Chung-Ah said.

“Just like we are interested in them. Proceed with caution Chung-Ah, let’s not reveal more about ourselves than we need to, and not a moment sooner than when we have to.” Hana said steadily. Chung-Ah nodded and then she and Travis left the room, leaving Hana to her thoughts.

OES Traveler

“How is it that they look so much like Nel?” Esama asked Hokra Dson. Dson apart from being her aide, was also learned in alien species and interactions. Up until now it meant only the four other races that are the part of their trading Consortium, and the only other races they have encountered in the three hundred years they were exploring space. Or rather, races that were the part of their trading Consortium, the Consortium now being dead at the hand of Sowir Dominion. Nel were the second race from their neighborhood to reach the stars, just behind the peaceful Pouute. The big aquatic race came from a world completely covered in water, they encountered Nel, and started trading and sharing technology. In the next 50 years another two races emerged from their own home worlds. First the Guxcacul, the hideous arthropods, with their pointed exoskeletons, hard carapaces, and dozens of legs concealed gentle beings with pure hearts. Next came Mtural, the race that resembled the Nel closest, at least until they met the Human race. Mtural were nocturnal, hairy bipeds, that breathed the same air as Nel, and could survive in the same conditions. The Guxcacul could tolerate the Nel atmosphere for a time, but they preferred the dry air of their desert world. As each race joined them in space, Nel and Pouute guided them, and raised them up to be their equals, in time their little Consortium expanded to cover dozen of worlds, some individual and some populated by all races. For one hundred years they prospered and slowly expanded. Until they met the Sowir.

When they met them, Sowir have been in space for decades, and had spread to 3 worlds. The Consortium rejoiced to have another race join their ranks. Sowir originated in water, but evolved so that they can survive on land as well, breathing air. They had 7 muscled extremities, similar to Nel tails, that they used to move, The center of their bodies held their major organs, they looked at the world by feeling the vibrations in the air and earth and water. By smelling and touching. They were the strangest life form the Consortium encountered, including the beings of low intelligence they found on some planets they settled. Every member of the Consortium had three things in common. They could all hear sounds, they all had eyes and could “see”, and they all had vocal capabilities, even though not all of them could reproduce each other sounds. It was a common ground, and they built upon it greatly. Soon after the Sowir encountered the Consortium they started attacking them. At first The Consortium was shocked. The Consortium of course had military vessels, there were always those of their own kind that turned to piracy and such. But never had they had a war amongst themselves. Pouute quickly found the way to communicate with Sowir, and called for peace, but their hails were ignored. After the Sowir took one of their planets, the Consortium, seeing no other way turned their military on them. The Sowir were not as advanced as the Consortium. They had no way to perceive light and were lacking in some areas, they had no laser weapons, and soon they were about to be defeated. Seeing no way out the Sowir finally communicated with the Consortium, and managed to spin their attack as a misunderstanding and apologized. Not knowing better the Consortium accepted their apology. And twenty years later the Sowir joined the Consortium. In one hundred years following that decision the Consortium grew. Of 18 worlds that were in the Consortium control, 6 were Sowir only, including their home world, or with other Consortium members being the minority, 5 were joined worlds where each of the other four races had an almost equal number of people. The Sowir technology in time matched that of the rest in the Consortium and when they expanded enough they struck. The first worlds to be hit were those that were shared. And in the next ten years Sowir Dominion conquered all of the 5 shared worlds, slaughtering any who were not Sowir. The attacks on those worlds were a surprise and the Consortium didn’t respond quickly enough. The remaining worlds fought back, but slowly they too started to fall. Sowir had effectively divided the four races. Their hidden fleets blowing through those of Consortium. In another ten years all but 2 Nel worlds had fallen. The other races fate was unknown, they had lost contact with all but the Guxcacul, which were even now fighting a losing six yearlong land battle on their home world, all their other worlds had fallen. Though the last news they had from them was a merchant ship that arrived at Nuva almost a year ago. For all they knew their home world had already fallen. Nuva, the world where they met the Humans, was the world farthest from the Sowir space, being a new colony, barely thirty years old, there were a few representatives from Guxcacul, and a few families of Mtural living on Nuva, and they were probably the last of their kind. Nuva had been in infancy when the Sowir attacked, and had very little in terms of ships to defend themselves. The only reason they survived this long was because they were too far away. And now they were on their own, their home world of Nelus had abandoned them, recalled all their ships. Leaving only those that were built here and those that refused to leave. The home world was hoping to survive on its own. And now they met another alien race. The scars from what happened with Sowir were still raw, and there had been little trust amongst the crews of ships that were sent to meet with this new race. But seeing them in person, looking so much like Nel, made them waver. These Humans were not Sowir, that was for sure. But were they like them was the question now. From the little she talked with their representative, Esama got the feeling that they were not. But she could also see that they were different than the races of the Consortium. The way they talked, the questions they asked, all pointed to someone that was looking for any edge they could find on the Nel. That worried Esama. She was ordered to stay on their ship and observe, see if she could find anything that might help Lanai back on Nuva to decide whether to trust these Humans or not. The Lanai of course didn’t yet know about them looking like Nel, the commander of the ship Esama arrived on will send that information, along with everything Esama learned until now, which was very little. The Humans gave Nel their own communication terminal, which Esama had no doubt they could monitor. They were also given their own quarters on the ship. The first thing they did was check for listening devices, which Esama was surprised they didn’t find. But that didn’t mean there were none. So she engaged a scrambler from her wrist unit as soon as they were left alone in their room, and seated comfortably around the table.