Shex

BPS Infinite Decorum, Bridge There was a troubled expression on the Captain's face as he was patched through to the local command center in Changsha, Earth, PW-2. "Good sirs." The Captain turned to the pair. "I regret to inform you that the Brotherhood does not have a modern Starbase set up in this region yet. We have only recently established our foothold here, you see, among those who share kinship with one of our many races. Several of the Humans in our ranks hail from a parallel universe to this one, and as such have reunited with their kin who hail from their parallel homeland. In other words, these people have a Starbase in orbit around the third planet, but its technology is still relatively primitive by our standards. We are uncertain whether it can provide sufficient services for your ship. Still, we will begin docking procedures if you wish it." ---------------- Scene of the recent argument, Thirty Minutes later\\ The offending Garthan strolled away, muttering irritated comments to himself, and was followed by a few other Garthan warriors. In the interim, the Shofixti corporal received the next shift, who consisted of mostly humans and Shofixti who might seem less... Irritating to their Sesarin guests. A Vux nurse walked by, and the Corporal addressed her, loudly so that the Sesarin might hear. "How's their prognosis, Shefix?" The nurse stopped in her tracks, and gave the Sesarin a nervous glance before turning to her colleague. "If we knew their biology, I could give you a better picture, Naginata. But as it stands it's not good. They seem stable, but several of the injured crewmen are still complaining about severe pain. Nothing seems to work, not morphine, not cannabis, not hydrocordone. We gave them low doses at first and none of the doses seemed poisonous, but these guards here don't seem to know enough first aid to help us in that regard... I fear that if we don't get to one of their infirmaries soon, the worst may happen..."

Selvas nearly towered over the Sergeant, but he did not budge an inch. "There is pride in death. Warriors who fail to understand this fact are not warriors at all. A Garthan warrior..." He struck his own chest for emphasis. "... appreciates this concept. I doubt only Garthans would express shame and embarrassment if they were in your shoes; those who are warriors would rather die than be in your predicament. We are not your comrades, we are not your people, yet you need our help. You seem to suggest having pride in how your society cooperates. That is admirable. But when your people fail, to lack shame is rather detestable. "Yes, he-" The Garthan sergeant pointed at the Shofixti corporal. "-is my comrade, and on the field of battle we would gladly die for each other. But you are not in battle. Your ship failed its purpose. Perhaps it is easy to stand at attention and glare at passers by, but in so doing you leave your engineers and workers helplessly scurrying about to find solutions. One who fails to provide aid to one's own comrades has no honor! You leave them flailing about without lifting a finger to help." The Shofixti glanced nervously between the two at this point, and slowly backed away while preparing to alert additional troops. ------- The Engineer bowed again. "Understood, Lead Builder. As stated earlier, I will take both of you to our Captain. Perhaps our superiors have already informed him of nearby facilities where we can undertake the procedures you mentioned."

(It is late morning where live.) *Just Woke Up* *Is informed that there is something going on in the thread.* *Looks* *Sees equivalent of a bombed-out bunker with the survivors still yelling at each other.* So, erm. I know that a lot of people are new here, but this discussion / series of complaints is nothing new. If you look down the list of threads on this very forum section you'll find them easily. Now, if this is about the consent rule, it was mentioned earlier but there's a different section called "Organic RP." Yes, it's dead. We mourn. But a friend (Solaris Congress) and I have made an attempt to maintain a thread/story arc that tries to be as non-violent as possible. A lack of consent rule shouldn't be the apocalypse: people should still be able to make interesting stories with the only caveat being "the plot is not preordained." Now granted, the particular exhibition thread might not interest most people for two reasons: 1. No Consent Rule (but then again it's in Organic) 2. Not intended to have violence (although sorry Britannia, sending heavy capital ships is often misconstrued as an act of aggression. You don't even have to shoot, just ask Commodore Perry.) In the end, if people are really frustrated with the consent rule Organic is open for you guys. The only reason why it's dead is because it seems that most people here actually seem to like the Consent Rule. As such these threads complaining about it are kind of redundant. Don't like how the Consent Rule holds you back? Join Organic! Lots of us have been RPing for years and we'd be happy to help you out.

The Vux engineer tilted his body in an ever-so-slight bow. Nodding was anatomically impossible for their species, and he was fairly certain that the 'dance of acknowledgement' would fall on (a) blind eye(s). "Our people are fond of encountering other sapient lifeforms. Your people seemed to be in danger, and we felt it imperative to do what we can. There is the issue of technological differences. If your ship is to be repaired, we may have to tow it to our nearest Starbase.... The only issue is, we don't happen to have one. I'll patch through to the Captain: it seems that the translation software has been routed to the entire ship." ---- The Corporal chuckled. His snout twitched ever so slightly as he laughed softly. "You may have heard the short sound earlier. It signaled that our translation software is working. It is a standard procedure during first contact scenarios, except that none of the ships in our flotilla had a dedicated diplomatic team. Now we can speak your tongue, because we have the technology. Some of your people have gracefully provided us with audio data. The more we talk, the easier it will be to communicate." He made certain to eye her movements. "I guess I need to explain. My people are fond of encountering other intelligent lifeforms. It is why we were so quick to provide aid: most prudent peoples would have probably just kept your ship in quarantine. But we saw wounded, and we felt we had to act. You and I are more alike than you'd think: your ship is probably far from home, and my people have undergone similar crises. Let us try to work together to get you out of this predicament." At this point, one of the Garthan marines began to growl disdainfully. "Being spotted by unidentified aliens in a broken ship. No wonder this one's so tense. How embarrassing." As the pips on the marine's collar revealed that of a Staff Sergeant, the corporal could do little more than give him a hasty warning glare. But surely the insult would not be dismissed.

Finally, a loud ping! echoed throughout the Infinite Decorum. One of the engineers who inputted the data turned towards Selat, and put on a strange device with a microphone that was extended across the length of his snout. The Vux individual began to speak, and words began to appear. They were broadcasted from the Vux engineer's forehead region, all thanks to the device. As Selat stared, the words were clearly in Saesil script. "Can you read what I am saying?" The engineer asked. "We can give you these devices, and your audio input can turn this output into pure audio. If you can read this, then this mission is a success. Welcome to the Brotherhood of Planets' Starship Infinite Decorum, mostly crewed by citizens of the Vux Federal Republic!" The download of the new language was instantaneous: every infantrymen and crewman on the ship was now equipped with Saesil script on the Universal Translator. Strangely enough, the Algorithm took longer this time around, when even the scripts of Zorg, Arilou, and Shadow civilizations had managed to be translated more quickly, but for all intents and purposes it seemed to have been a success. A Shofixti Corporal stared a bit longer at Selvas. Once the ping of the translator's breakthrough was announced, he chuckled softly. "It seems we can finally communicate, warrior. It must be disorienting, finding yourself so far from home. My kind can sympathize."

Federation of Dong Wu, Premier's Palace, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PW-2: Earth Press Release Citizens of the World! We live in interesting times. Factions and armies across the planet are developing new means of war and awe-inspiring technological feats. Beings from the stars have descended upon our world, and all have been touched by these turns of events. For Centuries the Wusian people have hidden behind our great wall, nestled across the north bank of the Chang Jiang River. These fortifications may have served us well, but the tortured screams of our brethren echo across the land. No more. The Wolf Men will gorge upon humanity no longer. We shall advance and sweep their kind from the north! Most of our people have lived here for millennia. We have been lucky to retain our homes for so long. But as the years pass, we have seen refuges from the north and west barreling through, with so many tales of blood and horror. No more. The screams will be silenced. The nation that once ruled over the former Middle Kingdom, the Empire of the Han must be restored. The deaths of millions must be avenged! -------------------- And yet, the first signs of conflict, of legions of soldiers marching upon cities occurred no where near the Chang Jiang. Instead, a number of gunships lifted up from the Wuling Airforce Base, heading southeast, towards the former provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi. The people here were relatively safe from Wolfmen aggression, in fact Thai traders would frequently report that, outside of some bandit strongholds, the majority of the region felt relatively calm compared to the horrors in the Tibetan Plateau. Yet, as the gunships advanced upon what seemed to be the cities of the region, the soldiers sent in this quest of liberation wondered whether those Thai claims were little more than wishful thinking. Perhaps the Wolfmen or worse made it across the mountains and, if so, humanity had to make its stand! Asia may be in ruins, but her people needn't go gently into dark nights!

çƒæµ· (Wuhai), Governor's Fortress Xi set out to embrace their liberators. Across the streets the people were already welcoming the Jen'i'ai. Even if this was a mistake, well, they were essentially dead already. Only a miracle had kept them all from being Wolfmen dinner. But as she attempted to leave the fortress to greet them, a few of her advisors pulled her back. "Milady!" One of them bowed before her. "You cannot surrender our freedom to these beings, no matter how powerful and generous they are! The Liao Empire cannot cease to exist so soon." "It is true that we need benefactors." Another advisor spoke. "But we have a potential one. Rumor has it that there are fellow Chinese people, living far to the south of here. It is said that they have powerful weapons to fend off the wolfmen, but the people live comfortably." ".... And let them stay as rumors. Our kin abandoned us, or else they would have sent reinforcements years ago. But I don't blame them. The wolfmen are a terrible foe and, as strong as our southern kin might be, if they are even still alive, they'd have to constantly fortify their own borders instead of trying to rescue any of us. But these newcomers, they have helped save this land from the abominations. Even if they demand tribute, or more... What other choice do we have? This is not the time for suicidal pride. We can be part of something greater than ourselves. Let us not pray for help that has never come. I will greet our liberators." The old men watched the maiden leave the room. With that, the Liao Dynasty was no more.

One of the engineers noticed the Selat shaking the book vigorously at them. As he turned out of curiosity and some alarm, he received the alleged dictionary. "Say... This might be more than a diary." The Engineer gently took the book. It was a pity that no one had been assigned to Xenolinguistics beforehand but the actual diplomatic team happened to be on the Scent of Elderberries, and their Communications Officer (and fill-ins) would certainly not risk themselves in this particular situation. Bridge crew remained safely on the bridge, ready to force the ship to detach from the Sirvenal and fire upon it at a moment's notice. "Run some scans on this one too." The Engineer commented as he flipped through the book and handed it to the others. "I'm sure we'll crack this soon." OOC: Sooner or later there will be a breakthrough, especially when you have an alleged dictionary. Either that or ships sent to follow Scent of Elderberries will appear and immediately attempt to shield Bane of Ozymandius from the Dreadnought. Honestly, sending that thing is pretty excessive!

Red Star Orbiting Station, Operations Deck, Federation of Dong Wu, PW-2 A single space station came hurling into a likely viewing angle for the newcomers. The station was not particularly advanced, hardly notable by the standards of other, far older stellar powers. It even lacked artificial gravity, and needed to constantly rotate in order to produce a similar effect! On the Operations Deck, the Starbase Commander stood. She had just completed her fiftieth year of life, and for all that time one never heard her laugh. How could there be laughter? Anyone who wasn't some naive child in Wu would be well-aware of the circumstances. Three million people were on this station, not for reasons of wonder at the establishment of living quarters in space nor for the eventual development of a starfleet that could traverse the stars, no, they were here because the Red Star was the only possible Wusian installation that was virtually impossible for the Wolfmen to attack. When Wusians could finally reach the stars, the first thing they did was create a space station that could last for generations, a space station that would never fear Wolfmen reprisal. And as these newcomers approached, staff on the Starbase immediately calculated their trajectory. "Commander... They're heading for the Gobi Desert. That will place them amongst the wolfmen..." It could not be possible! Another would appear amongst the wolfmen and more than likely bring them hell! After all, how could heaven be cruel enough to send some beings that would be in league with such abominations?! At that moment, she finally laughed. Her laughter was loud, and it pervaded the room. A few of her aides who understood the significance of the mysterious vessel's trajectory laughed with her. Perhaps those ships would crash into a den of wolfmen. No doubt the wolfmen would smell new meat and come for them. Finally, unlike the frozen wastes of the North, there would be some other target for those monsters. And so she laughed. "Good, good. Let us observe the situation for now. Do not intercept the unidentified ships, and inform Headquarters. Those monsters may find a new threat coming for them!" ---------------- çƒæµ· (Wuhai), China, Liao Dynasty Remnants For a thousand years, Wuhai was a mere backwater, some particularly large village that the Emperors of Han mostly ignored. There wasn't even a fortress here. But then the Wolfmen attacked. When Luoyang was butchered, when a million people lost their lives to their ferocity, thousands of refugees fled northward, hoping that the ancient citadels of Ye or Shangdang could save them. They certainly tried, but the constant assaults from wolfmen forced every major citadel of note to fortify its walls and refuse any potential breach. Many of these refugees, those who were not themselves victims of Wolfmen strikes at least, eventually fled far enough north to cross the remnants of the Great Wall and what was once Bing province to reach this distant city. Even out here, they were not safe from the maurading, ever advancing horde of the Wolfmen. Still, the Liao Dynasty was strong once. They had managed to conquer as far south as Ye itself. Yet the Wolfmen retaliated, and the Emperor of Liao was torn to shreds in front of his wife. Her fate... Was a most horrific one. Lady Xi Xingyang, a direct descendant of the Liao Imperial Line, found herself the new Governor or Leader or whatever title was sufficient for this little city. Her predecessor had led a small task force to attempt to drive the Wolfmen away from a Gold Mine a few years ago. Neither he nor any of his subordinates returned. They did not have much in this little city: catapults, spears, crossbows (repeating or otherwise), muskets, and rudimentary gunpowder cannons were the best they could field. As all of these weapons could still pierce wolfmen flesh, they had some means of protecting themselves. But Xi knew that she was only delaying the inevitable. The towns her people once traded with to the south had not contacted them in half a decade, and the last scouts who went to observe the closest one... Found mostly bones and the eviscerated bodies of men and children there. The women... Only Heaven knew what became of them. She looked to the heavens. Surely there would be some sign, some glimmer of hope in the sky. Surely, something or someone would come and help preserve what was left of humanity here. If Wuhai joined the ghost towns and ravaged lands of North China... How could she face her ancestors in the Nine Golden Springs? OOC NOTES: Ye, Shangdang, and various other cities still live, but virtually all of them hide behind extremely high walls. Think of Ba SIng Se (if severely depopulated) for the former (as Ye was once a capital of various Chinese Warlords and lesser Dynasties). The latter also lives, and hides behind a giant circular wall. But it has... Changed... If Wusians manage to reach it there are planned scenes of interest, but there are similar cities closer to us.

GIS Bane of Ozymandius "Captain! A signal!" The Communications Officer growled. The Garthan light carrier had been observing the docking procedure carefully, but thus far there had been no complications.... Until now. Command had only sent one other light Garthan Carrier, sister ship to the great Bane of Ozymandius, and a Seedship that had surely reached the Martian Colony by now. And yet now the Bane of Ozymandius was the only thing standing between a flotilla of three massive vessels and the tiny Sirvenal. Even from a distance of 60 km away, the new arrival was practically only its entire length's distant from the three docked ships and the Bane of Ozymandius. At 40 kilometers long, the "Dreadnought" was literally hundreds of times larger than all four ships combined. Even so, Garthans never stood down from a challenge! "Captain, the translation algorithm is not processing the message properly." "Curses, I knew we should have updated them at Sax's Gentle Hand. The Mighty Garthan Imperium has never seen such a species before." "... The latest entry on these ships is vague, sir, but they are believed to hail from the nation of Chernigov. Though that doesn't do us much good." "Put that message on screen, Lieutenant. Stop your babbling!" "Yes, sir." The Communications Officer tapped a few more buttons, and the following appeared on their ship's viewscreen: **Translation processing... Failure. *Best fit* complete.** "Happy Day To Many *bubbles*! *Campers* are most *Frumple*, that is the case! We are *spitting* with offer of *party*. We thank you for *time*. *Big Boss* will stop *spitting*." "Don't tell me, they are Orz?" The Captain's eyebrow ridge rose. "Not quite, sir... But the closest thing the Translator could give us was *Orzspeak.*" "Great, just great. Try formulating a response. Hopefully they can understand us. Use simplistic language if possible." The following transmission was sent in response as the Bane of Ozymandius maneuvered itself so that it stood in between the Dreadnought and the Sirvenal. "No Want Fight. Everything Is Good. There Is An Incident, But It Is Settled. No Need Help. No Want Fight!" Brotherhood staff stood curiously, some directing traffic for the storage of equipment from the Sirvenal. Medical teams simply hand over equipment to their apparent counterparts after the patients appeared stable. "Looks like he's making some sort of diary." One of the engineers commented as he stared at Selat. "See if we can coordinate any of their script with any of ours. Replicate whatever characters they have, and let's see if the Algorithm can sort it out." A few images and scans later, several viewscreens on Brotherhood decks begin to flash as the symbols are analyzed. The database mysteriously begins to boot up Zorg script, as well as script from a few Human languages such as Chinese (Hanzi), Ancient Sumerian, and Ancient Egyptian. The limited information on the latter two was little hindrance for the Computer's translation efforts, although they continued to analyze the script for some time... OOC: You haven't given us the book, so I'm assuming we mostly transferred materials and crew.

Changsha, Capital of the Federation of Dong Wu Earth, PW-2 Ministry of Foreign Affairs A message was received. And within short order, a reply was completed. "Greetings, esteemed Kawaikini people. The people of Wu are glad that you have reached out to us regarding this pressing concern. We will welcome your delegation with open arms, and may we suggest your people meet ours at the Hangzhou International Airport? The flight to Changsha is long, but Hangzhou lies much closer to your esteemed lands." The Minister's aide sent the message with baited breath. While there was no intention of contesting claims to the Phillippines or the Indonesian Islands, it was also unthinkable that anyone would believe Wu would engage in conflict over those distant lands. As for Hangzhou, well, Taipei wasn't quite worthy enough to accept foreign dignitaries just yet...

BPS Exuberant Grooming The Communications Officer on this mighty Vux Intruder, sister ship of the Infinite Decorum and fellow escort for the Bane of Ozymandias, received a most unpleasant transmission. "Negative, Exuberant Grooming. You will be unable to dock with the troubled ship." "You did claim that there seem to be too many casualties for the Infinite Decorum to handle, didn't you? Don't tell me we just attach our ship to yo-" "There's no other way. On the plus side, we just might get the chance to study them too, as I doubt there are enough of them to monitor every patient at once." "Roger that. We'll start the docking process immediately." The Communications Officer cut the transmission, and after a quick report to the ship's Captain this Intruder began to attach itself to its fellow. BPS Infinite Decorum, Docking Chamber The Gurneys came floating in, and as the Selans followed their people into the dock, a few other Engineers attempted to get their attention. They showed the new arrivals a small holo-projector, displaying a wire frame of the Infinite Decorum and, within it, a number of rooms that were glowing red after a number of Gurneys entered each of them. As more Gurneys began to enter the ship, they were suddenly redirected towards another dock on the ship, which further displayed the Gurneys entering the hull of yet another Intruder. "Docking Procedures Complete! Let's get these people to the Exuberant Grooming as well!" As a number of Sesarin followed the patients to the rooms, only to note that they were beginning to get rather crowded, others found the Gurneys continuing towards another dock and, consequentially, entering them to reveal the docking bay of yet another Brotherhood ship. Gurney and escorting medical staff understandably had to dodge more incoming Gurneys and staff from the Exuberant Grooming as more patients were extracted from the Sirvenal.

OOC: Because I realize that I opened a plothole. Beta Caeli II: Rhea, The Grand Source of Suwako's Blessings: Church of Suwako HQ, Universe NS-1 "It was successful, then, the deployment of a cloaked Seedship to PW-2?" "It was. Our sisters have successfully assisted in securing Wu. The abominations who live in North China will find it far more difficult to attack our kin." "Suwako be praised! We may find success! The faithful will spread across that land and bring her Word to those devoid of such Hope." "Elder Sister, the Mucrihadeen have also offered their services. A number have gathered a flotilla that can leave FS-143 immediately." "It is kind for fellow Noble Faiths to offer assistance, but tell them that we have everything under control. I would assume they want to spread Chris' light to Wu as well, but we ought to... Delay... That as much as possible. Suwako needs our Faith more than Chris needs His own followers. We must support our Goddess and ensure that She can thrive from our faith." "As you wish." "Oh, great Goddess, please grant us the strength to protect the lands of Wu and drive the abominations from it. We will spread light and joy in your name, and forever curse the Immortal Thief. Amen!"

(OOC: In which Bro supernatural elements are introduced.) It had been a difficult year. But the people could finally find the time to celebrate. The Northern Barrier had been besieged yet again. Not from the eastern portion, which as the northern ones, the "Amenrians" promised remained at peace, but from the chaotic west. The wolfmen continued to assault the barrier, trying to smash through that wall to strike at the people of Wu. But such attempts were foolhardy. Repeating lascannons scorched the grounds north of this legendarily long fortification, cutting down the furred beasts as they charged. Those feral creatures clearly hoped to feast upon human flesh, but they would not gain that... Luxury. Alongside the Defense Force there had been proposals to endorse an official "Monster Hunter" squad. These men and women, equipped with the far less noisy, far more traditional crossbows and blades of old, would help the public engage abominations that happened to cross the barrier or invade from the west. Chengdu was the edge of known civilization: the ancient citadels of Tianshui, Jinchang, and Tuodong were difficult to contact, although aerial surveillance suggested a constant human presence. It was foolish to attempt to land any aircraft near those former cities, though, as the wolfmen were particularly swift and some were even capable of commandeering gunships and losing them to Wusian defenses. But in the past few months, something changed. The Wolfmen of the west became far more aggressive and, to everyone's surprise, reinforcements had come! ------- Foreign dignitaries and the like were nothing new. Once there had been armored convoys headed down what was once the Tea Horse Road, most of whom immediately surrendering upon arrival in Wu as the sight of thousands of wolfmen descending on armored trucks and tanks was too horrifying for most to cope. The abominations had traveled fairly far south, although tradesmen from the likes of Thailand and India were happy to report that such creatures were not sighted there: perhaps the Himalayas as a whole proved too vicious for them. Even so, the very last convoy that arrived from the Tea Horse Road nearly a decade ago reported the sight of 3 million wolfmen descending upon Lhasa... Such sights proved that the outside world was lost. From the sea, foreigners would come, offering articles of commerce, and as such the Wusian people had gradually began acquiring new means of work and war. Still, the constant barrages by Wolfmen and the occasional technology they happened to capture and wield forced Wu to develop in kind. Their attacks, however, had became far more desperate as of late, and many of the Watchmen wondered whether the wolfmen would finally break through and slaughter every last man woman and child like they did to Luoyang. It was at the greatest moment of doubt, when a particularly lucky group of Wolfmen had captured a few cannons from some place and pierced the barrier, surging through the lands of Wu, that a number of strange metallic constructs fell from the sky. Soldiers emerged, firing rounds of light similar to yet less constant than lasrifles. These warriors from the sky were reinforced by curious groups of young women who, defying basic knowledge of physics, were capable of leaping vast distances or firing beams of light from circles they conjured in the air. The women wore hanfus, the soldiers wore heavy composite armor, and both eliminated the invaders. As such, Dong Wu became affiliated with the Brotherhood of Planets. These new Sky People announced that several of their ancestors also hailed from our land, from alternate universes at least, and that they would help us stem the tide of werewolves and vampires. The latter, thankfully, were far less common. Perhaps creatures like those were capable of civilization like the ones in Amenria, but there were occasional feral ones and those were in league with the wolfmen. The Sky People brought their own religion, the "Church of Suwako," and within their temples they trained these maidens in the art of slaying demonic creatures. Apparently, their powers would eviscerate wolfmen. Thousands of Widows, their happy lives forever shattered by Wolfmen who butchered their Watchmen husbands and fiancees, joined the Church, becoming Priestesses to that God and gaining those powers. They called themselves the White Roses and, with robes white as death, they would engage the creatures and crush them with ruthless efficiency. With Technology and Sorcery the people of Wu will remain strong and free. Proposals have suggested an attempt to liberate the former Province of Guangxi or, as some suggest, attempt a push to Tianshui to save whatever relics or, if Fate has been merciful, whoever remain there. Slowly but surely the lands of the Yellow River will be purged of these monsters, and perhaps our people can frolic upon that Yellow Soil once again!

FINAL CLAIMS AS DISCUSSED: Due to an eagerness to allow players to claim Guangxi province and Hainan Island (additional Chinese coastal regions), I would like to revise my map claims as follows: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hi6yfhpifrsefkr/Wusian%203.png?dl=0 In terms of my nation's lore and narrative, this makes more sense from an alternate history perspective. Wu managed to reach Chengdu, but left the Yunnan province unclaimed. There are two southwest provinces of mine that admittedly are unnecessary, but are there to keep the nation from appearing too fragile ha ha. I am willing to abandon them if I am over the provincial limit.