"Eliksni Language"
"Talking"
'Thinking'
Chapter 3: When it rains…
To the occupants of the Kingdom of Vale, the night sky would have seemed ordinary. Just like any other, the stars shone brightly in the sky.
The Moon illuminated the city, of which the Kingdom shared the name of, of Vale.
All in all, it was a peaceful night, the people going about their evenings much as they would any other time of the year.
…
Right up until the point that the burning probe from the Akrilis-Fel shot across the night sky in the direction of the Emerald forest, the roar of the probe shooting across the sky was hard not to miss.
Most would have simply put it down to a shooting star, not common, but not all that rare in the grand scheme of things.
Or they would have, had the probe not disappeared out of sight of the few people looking out of their windows that night.
Still...most just assumed it to be a stray meteorite. Now those were far rarer...in the case that no one had ever really been alive to speak of them.
There was the occasional lump of moon debris which impacted the planet, although records of those events were sketchy at best due to how long ago it was.
There was a small explosion in the Emerald forest as the Probe smashed into the ground, dirt was kicked up and the heat being released from the probe caused the nearest bushes to catch fire.
Unlikely to spread however, the rain earlier in the day would ensure that, thus the forest was in no real danger.
In Beacon Academy however...A man sat in a tower looking at the few camera's closest to the crash site which hadn't been destroyed.
The white haired man raised both his eyebrows in surprise at what he was seeing, the strange cylindrical shape of the object which had crashed into the Emerald forest moments before he planned of going home for the day was unlike anything he had really seen before. The manner of its entry was also rather unusual to him.
"Well then…" The man released a small laugh "That's a new one." he stood up and walked to the window, the smoke from the probes crash landing was now beginning to crest above the tree line "I suppose I should call Glynda...I should probably also brew some more coffee."
He also supposed it was fortunate that the new students hadn't arrived yet, he couldn't very well hide this from them and being the youthful and inquisitive minds that they were, they'd probably rush out into the forest to get a good look at the...whatever it was.
"This really is turning out to be an interesting year."
"Probe has made landfall Kell." Vasgir spoke up "It's beginning to send us telemetry now."
"Hmph?" Adolviks blinked and looked up from his data pad, he would have to thank Vilzak for translating those human books. "Contact Itaklos, Zepis, Vrovkys and Aniksas. Tell them to meet me in the map room and feed the data through to that location." he stood up and cracked his arms "Lets see what this planet has to offer us."
"Yes, Kell." Vasgir nodded his head and spoke into the intercom.
Adolviks turned around and made his way out of the room and through the corridors, with hope this new world would at least be able to offer him something for their ship to try and make it home.
"The probe has begun sending us data." Adolviks announced as the others made their way into the map room. The room itself was rather spacious, although much of it was occupied by supply crates and the actual holo-table itself.
"Good." Zepis nodded his head "Now we shall see where we stand."
"Indeed." Adolviks "Before that." he looked over at Itaklos "I believe you were reading over the data on the star system."
"Yes, I was! Fascinating stuff!" Itaklos chirped "Truly outstanding! Unprecedented! I couldn't believe it!"
"Yes...Neither could we." Adolviks replied with a grim tone "What theories do you have?"
"None!"
"...You're useless aren't you?" Vrovkys muttered under his breath as he placed his hands on the holo-table "I could have told you the same thing."
"As ever, Vrovkys, your insight would put even the wisest of us to shame." Zepis retorted dryly "What other pearls of wisdom can you dispense for us? Perhaps Ether is Ether?"
"Shouldn't you be scraping at the feet of some Servitor somewhere Zepis?" Vrovkys hotly replied "I'm sure they'd be more than willing to put up with your bluster."
"You should watch your tone, you already act like a starved Dreg and I have no qualms making you look the part." Zepis marched towards the smaller Vandal, Vrovkys took it in stride and marched on the Archon with the same intensity.
"Enough, both of you!" Adolviks roared "You whine and scratch like Hatchlings begging for Ether! I expect better of you!"
"...Apologies, my Kell." Zepis hung his head and stepped away from the Vandal "I let my temper get the better of me."
"...I as well." Vrovkys muttered and backed off as well.
Adolviks stared at the pair for a few moments before he turned back to Itaklos "You were saying?"
"I can't give you any conclusions because I can't even begin to explain this Star System." Itaklos exclaimed "It's...It's...It's clinical! A single Star, a single planet and a single moon. If one were to try and create the easiest system for life to flourish, this would be it."
"That doesn't explain the moon." Aniksas pointed out, gesturing to holographic image of the shattered lunar body "A stray clump of rock would wipe out any attempt at life."
"Well, one can't account for outside variables." Itaklos replied "The possible damage of a rogue asteroid impacting it."
"It's not been impacted, it's been shattered." Aniksas retorted "Something ripped that moon apart and only one race has ever carved up planets and moons like that."
"The Darkspawn." Zepis placed his hands on the table and narrowed his eyes at the moon "No...This is far too messy. The damage they inflicted on Earth's moon was due to them hollowing it out to form their caverns. This...This is wanton destruction."
"It's worse actually." Itaklos spoke up "I've been following the moons orbit. Most lunar Satellites are tidally locked. This moon isn't. It actually operates on an asynchronous rotation which differs from the planets rotation around its sun."
The room was silent for a few moments before Vrovkys spoke up "Say it again, but in Eliksni this time."
"The moon orbits independently of the planet's rotation cycle. Meaning...something smashed through it with enough force to send the moon onto its own rotation cycle...and if the orbit is to be followed...It originated from the planet."
There was a shocked silence in the room, even Vrovkys widened his eyes and slumped his shoulders before his gaze locked onto the shattered moon.
"They...They destroyed their own moon?" Adolviks asked before looking down at Itaklos, the Vandal was unusually silent before he spoke in a slightly subdued tone.
"That is the most likely hypothesis so far. Yes," Vrovkys continued to look at the moon before he eventually spoke.
"They're fucking crazies. Probably wiped themselves out. Explains the- go back to the view of the planet." He flicked the image across and back to the planet, he spun his hand and zoomed in on the upper corner of the world "Explains that dark patch, probably scorched land."
"...What does the Probe say?" Adolviks asked, looking down at Itaklos, Vrovkys chortled before releasing a disbelieving hiss.
"Th-the probe!? Are you insane!?"
"Vrovkys!" Zepis growled as he straightened to his full height, Vrovkys whirled on him with a look of complete disbelief.
"No! They blew up their own moon! And you want to go down and scavenge from them!?"
"You did say they might have wiped themselves out." Aniksas pointed out "Any civilisation that can do that to a moon must have some fairly advanced tech."
"And if they aren't gone!?" Vrovkys threw up his hands "You want to just what? Fly down there and steal from them!?"
"Not necessarily." Adolviks interrupted him "Obviously they would outmatch us. Which is why we shall attempt diplomacy should they not be extinct."
"What if they say no?"
"Then we are dead either way." Adolviks grimly put "We're discussing this because we are desperate. We have no means of resupply and no material to repair ourselves with. This planet represents our last hope and if they decide to kill us, at least it will be a fast vaporization than slowly starving to death in the shell of our ship."
"...Fine." Vrovkys "I still maintain that these beings are insane...but I will acquiesce to our situation."
Adolviks nodded and turned back to Itaklos "The probe?"
"Preliminary data is coming through now." The hologram changed to show a top down view of the surrounding area, represented through lines "It appears we have landed the probe in a forest."
"What's that section?" Zepis pointed to the dense cluster of lines and dots "It's different to the forest."
"That...appears to be a city and those are life forms."
The room was silent before Vrovkys slammed his head onto the side of the holotable and muttered out "Bugger."
"And this isn't one of Atlas's stray experiments?" Ozpin asked as he sipped his coffee "I won't get mad, I'm just a little surprised is all."
"Oz, the pictures you're sending me." Ironwood sighed on the other side of the computer screen, he blinked and rubbed his eyes "I don't know anything about this...Brothers, I've never even seen this before and I certainly wouldn't condone any experiment that flew across the ocean just to crash into your back yard."
"I just like to check." Ozpin replied with a smile "I know Glynda will be asking me if I checked with you so I'd like to get this out of the way early."
"Oz, I can have a team of specialists there within a few days." Ironwood offered "It's obviously not from Atlas, I can have my men analyse it. Try and determine its origins."
"No…" Ozpin shook his head "For the moment it seems to be rather harmless. I'll have a team retrieve it and bring it back to the Academy, see if we can't give it a once over first. It did crash in the Emerald forest barely a few miles from us."
"That sounds a little risky, Oz." Ironwood sighed "Just promise me-"
"Yes, yes. I will take every precaution."
"I was actually going to ask that you promise me that you will call me at the first sign of something being wrong. I'll have my best men on a ship and across the ocean before you know it."
Ozpin gave a small smile "I thank you for the offer and I'll keep it open."
"Keep me updated." Ironwood nodded his head and the screen turned black. Ozpin took another sip of his coffee before the elevator doors at the far end of his office opened up and a tired looking Glynda Goodwitch stormed out.
"What is this about Ozpin?" She narrowed her eyes "I don't appreciate getting a call at one in the morning telling me that there's been an emergency situation in the Emerald Forest and then getting no elaboration."
"I see the morning treats you well Glynda." Ozpin hummed as he stood up "Coffee?"
"No...thank you." She pinched the bridge of her nose "Now what's this about and does it in any way relate to the rumours of a shooting star earlier tonight?"
"Well...It wasn't exactly a star, per say." Ozpin picked up a small button and lowered a screen in his office, the screen held static before it showed the dark cream coloured cylindrical probe, about 4 metres in length and 1 metre in diameter sitting in a small crater in the Emerald Forest, occasionally flashing a different colour.
Glynda frowned and looked at Ozpin, the man held up a hand and gave her a serious expression "I have already spoken with James. He has no knowledge of what this might be." he turned and looked out of the window "Quite the mystery."
"I assume the good General wanted to send some soldiers here to claim the item?"
"He did." Ozpin nodded his head "I've temporarily refused him. I was going to get a small team together to retrieve it." he blinked and turned back to Glynda "I believe that Team CFVY is still present, are they not?"
"They are. Although Miss Scarlatina grades will make her have to take lessons alongside the upcoming first years."
"Still." Ozpin pointed out "They are Second Years, or soon to be, I believe that makes them qualified enough to handle the retrieval of this mystery object."
"Very well. When shall I inform them?"
"Let them have a few hours rest." Ozpin pointed out "The Grimm are more active during the night. Second years or not I don't want to risk their safety on a simple retrieval mission in case complications occur."
"6 AM then?"
"6 AM." Ozpin nodded "In the mean time, you should tell the R&D lab they should be expecting a package soon." he sighed "I'll inform the council that we have the situation well in hand."
"Calm down!" Adolviks silenced the arguing group with a roar and threw his arms wide "Itaklos, what more can the probe tell us?"
"The probe is also picking up a great deal of communications both inbound and outbound of the city." The Vandal muttered before his eyes widened and his head titled "That's odd."
"Hm?" Adolviks leaned down and placed his hands on the table "What is?"
"The communications...They aren't being bounced by orbital satellites."
"They aren't?" Aniksas asked in confusion "Then, how are they communicating? Subspace?"
"No, no." Itaklos waved his hands "This is...Peculiar. The scans show a large structure approximately several miles from the probe. It appears to be an antenna of sorts. Sending the signals elsewhere in place of a satellite."
"What can you tell us of the communications array?" Zepis asked, Itaklos blinked and looked back.
"Without us getting closer to the planet for a more, in depth scan I can't be sure but...it seems to me from these early readings and the configuration of the communication beams." He looked back up at the group "It seems they built a giant communications hub because...they aren't advanced enough to build an orbital satellite."
"...What?" Vrovkys scrunched his face up "You mean to tell us that they can apparently obliterate their own moon, but building a satellite is apparently beyond them?"
"Well...That is how it appears to be. Yes." Itaklos muttered "It doesn't make sense to me either."
"Can you intercept the communications?"
"Yes and...They aren't encrypted."
"Why would they be?" Aniksas asked "Its a residential city, they have no need to encrypt their communications."
"Find one." Adolviks told him "Intercept one of the communications and let it play."
"Yes Kell." Itaklos nodded "Searching now."
"Something is wrong here." Zepis whispered to the Kell "This is very suspicious. A civilisation advanced enough to destroy a moon but too primitive to achieve space flight? The probe lands next to the local populace and their communications are unencrypted?"
"I know." Adolviks replied "This whole system feels wrong. There is something going on here that we don't know. With any hope, their communications will shed light on the situation."
"What are the chances we can even understand it?"
"We can search their database. If they aren't bothering to encrypt their communications then we should be able to access their data hubs if they have any. Find the location of an archive and download a portion of their language. Bavrir Prime can run a translation matrix and we can understand what it is they are sa-"
"-o I told her, it ain't my kid." A male voice sounded out, the crew all snapped their attention to it. The shocking thing being that they could understand what was being said "And she has the gall, the gall! To start crying and telling me how faithful she's been and how she'd never betray me!"
"Did she cheat on you?" The second voice, a female one asked.
"Di-did she cheat on me? Did she fuck! The kid had fucking fox ears!"
"T-that was…" Adolviks gasped in surprise, Itaklos spoke up.
"Human, Earth, English Dialect…" He looked over to the Kell "This is...they sound like they're humans."
"Humans!?" Zepis barked incredulously "Out here!? In unknown space? No, we'd have known! Their colonies didn't extend beyond their own system even at the height of their power! This can't be humans!"
"Yet, all data points towards them being humans." Itaklos responded with a shrug "Most unusual."
"What was that he said about the ears?" Vrovkys asked, a more inquisitive tone in his voice "What is a fox?"
"I...Don't know." Aniksas pointed out "Vilzak might. He is somewhat obsessed with human culture. Made several trades and acquired a rather large collection of their entertainment."
"Entertainment?" Zepis parroted in confusion.
"Books and music mainly." Adolviks clarified "Some of them are actually quite enjoyable. He was able to find a vintage motion picture called Spartacus, pilfered during the human collapse along with a large collection of books translated into Eliksni."
"You read them?"
"I've read some of them." Adolviks shrugged "We Eliksni don't have much in the way of literature. Even a few books on tactics as well."
"Tactics?"
"The Art of War by a human called Sun Tzu. Useful. I'll send you a copy."
"Hmph." Zepis nodded his head
Aniksas held a hand to the side of her head "Vilzak, respond. No, we need clarification on something...Yes, it relates to humans...No. Have you ever heard of a fox?...So a human shouldn't be born with their ears?...I see." she took her hand away from her head and looked at the group "Apparently a Fox is some species of rodent. Humans should not be in possession of their ears."
"A figure of speech perhaps?" Itaklos mused "Perhaps 'Fox Ears' implies the child is ugly or their genetics don't match up?"
"Possibly." Adolviks nodded his head "Although the human male seemed to mean it in a more literal example."
"Gene splicing?" Vrovkys suggested "Small rodents typically have heightened senses, perhaps they wanted to incorporate those genetic abilities into their own bodies?"
"We are still working under the assumption that these are humans." Zepis pointed out "How can we be certain?"
"They sound pretty human to me." Vrovkys pointed out "Unless you believe we've stumbled across Cabal?"
"No." Zepis grunted "However humans, out here? I am sceptical."
"As am I." Adolviks spoke out "There was no mention in any human data of colonies beyond Sol. Nor was their any mention of leaving the Sol system. Something is wrong here."
"What do you suggest?" Vrovkys asked, looking up towards Adolviks with a serious expression.
"Itaklos, do you have a reading on the planets atmosphere?"
"I do." Itaklos replied "68% Skotium, 34% Freitine, 0.012% Ceslium alongside several smaller gas components similar to Earth."
"What is the human designation for Freitine?"
"Oxygen. It is in higher quantity here. A nearly 50% increase."
"Preliminary scans of the Fauna?"
"Promising." Itaklos muttered "No current warnings of micro-organisms or infections in the air."
"Can we harvest the local bio-matter to convert into Ether?" Adolviks turned to Vrovkys, the vandal stood up and crossed his arms.
"I would require samples. Scans will only get us so far, I need tangible ingredients to ensure we won't poison ourselves."
"...How far is the probe to the local population?" Adolviks turned to Itaklos, the scientist looked back at the map.
"In human measurements? 3.42 miles." He replied, Adolviks released a small growl.
"Closer than I would like." He turned to Aniksas "We're sending your team in a Skiff. We're still a little over two days from the planet, but be prepared. The moment we are in range, your team is deploying."
"I'll have them ready Kell." She nodded to him, Adolviks turned to Vrovkys.
"Do you have any of your subordinates who could test the bio-matter for conversion?"
"Do I have them? Yes. Do I trust them to do it properly? No." Vrovkys shook his head "I'll have to be down their with them with a field kit."
"Vrovkys. This could be a potentially dangerous situation and you are the only one who had some inkling of medical knowledge beyond killing the wounded. Losing you would be a serious blow."
"It'll be an even more serious blow if some hatchling fool gets the wrong bio-matter and we all end up dead from Ether poisoning." Vrovkys shook his head "I'm not some common Dreg, I can handle myself in a crisis just as well as Aniksas and her squad."
Adolviks took in a sharp intake of breath before he released a sigh "Very well. Aniksas, prepare a Skiff for your departure and ensure your squad is prepared for ground based missions."
"Yes, Kell." Aniksas straightened herself out and nodded her head, Adolviks gave her a grunt before he turned back to Vrovkys "Prepare your tests...and run some drills. It has been years since you shot something that wasn't a comatose patient."
"Tch. I'm not a fool." Vrovkys clicked his tongue and looked away, Zepis let out an amused huff.
"Itaklos. Continue monitoring the probes readings and inform us the second something occurs with the probe that could jeopardize the mission."
Itaklos made several clicking noises before he nodded his head "Yes, Kell."
"I'm going to place the ship in a state of readiness for the duration of our stay. We have no way of knowing if these beings, human or otherwise, have ever interacted with Eliksni before."
"And if they haven't?" Zepis asked and leaned forwards, Adolviks paused and looked to him.
He stared at the ex-Archon before he replied "If they haven't we shall try Diplomacy, if they have...Then we shall try and defy their expectations."
"That is a simple route to end up dead." Zepis pointed out.
"Victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay its price." Adolviks let out an amused breath "If we fail, we die either way, if we succeed? We may be able to cement Eliksni relations with a race that won't end in bloodshed."
"Hmm." Zepis released a hum of acknowledgement "I suppose."
"Drop in, get the plants, avoid the locals and get out? Simple enough plan." Vrovkys spoke up "Don't see much that can go wrong."
"...I believe the humans have a saying in regards to fortune telling such as that." Itaklos replied to him with a slightly dry voice.
"I don't care what they have a saying about."
