The Concordat

[Spook]

Spook watched his display as a few Concordat dots departed from the island, the rest remaining around the perimiter.
His frigate slowed to a halt in a cloud bank in the sky above the island. He checked to make sure that the sensor distortion units were still on, and he prepared to drop down to the island by himself. Piloting the ship down would be too much of a risk.
A hatch on the bottom hissed as the ship's interior matched air pressures with the outside world. A platform floated down so that enough room was allowed for Spook to get out.
He swallowed as he looked down at the island below, hesitated for a breif moment, and jumped off of the platform. He did this purely for dramatic effect, as being a ghost, he could just float down. He blended his body in with the sky around him in a hopeful attempt not to be seen by the Concordat troops on the shoreline. He touched down gently on the sandy beach and began to float past the guards stationed there, hoping that they would not detect him.

[GBE]

Chuckling behind his mask, "What you mean to say, is that a group of beings more intelligent than yourself have successfully made you commit genocide on a planetory scale in order to achieve an ultimate power for themselves. You really are as unintelligent as you look. I would like to meet one of these Oracle's. Or, are they in hiding from real combat?" Collator continues to chuckle slightly, all the while a most serious look remains in his eyes, as if he were staring through the Concordat standing in front of him...

[Wamphyri]

~You require sacrificessss?~

~We can provide.~

~Ssshow us with your mind what you desire.~

~I shall bring the lambs and they shall do as we desire.~

~We are coming to you Azaria. Will this caravan do as is required?~

~Nothing short of domination isss acceptable.~

[Till Doyle]

Liessa lets out a sniffle accidentally as Lianna talks about her out loud. Was her sister trying to lure her out? She knew her sister was smart. Almost enviably so. But then, she, herself got what she wanted almost whenever she wanted it. Her sister though, she still had things she could only wish she had.
Shifting so that she was sat against the vent wall, accidentally making a slight bang, she hugs her knees which are up against her chest and gently and quietly begins to rock backwards and forwards.

[Panther385]

Praise... I haven't had much in many a year. Kole pondered for a moment. ~...Yes. I'll do anything in my power to help you.~ Her light blue tail began to wag in a brief sign of happiness. She followed Father out the door, smiling to herself. This may be fun...

[Azaria Matthews]

~I require skins, similar to the cave walls. They must be alive~

Azaria shows a picture of a vessel half completed, a ship that looks like a mere skeleton. The controls, viewscreen and even seats were present, but what was missing was far more vital. There were supports, but as it looked now it resembled a cage. A cage with a large power supply and several weapons, yes, but still a cage.

~There must be two. One inside the bars~ She shows the same image, this time with 'skin' forming the inside walls, the bars still show on the outside. ~One must be outside. They will have nanobots injected into them, it will be able to repair itself quickly should it be damaged. It should be sufficient~

[Swix]

The Draconians marched for several long minutes, completely silent apart from their incessant footfalls. Every one of them was keeping an ear out for any Concordat as well as anything else that might be found down here.

Syllak had Sirel and the other male Sivak in the middle, Aurell and Brev to either side of them. She couldn't afford to lose any of them now.

They halt as they come to a large dark room, full of many doors. Syllak squinted her red eyes at the surroundings.

"Anyone want to make a wild guess which way now?"
_____________________________________________________________
Fade turns to regard him with her own watery grey eyes, as he's observant enough he should notice the miniscule narrowing of them at him.

"It is an Evil Council vessel that was provided me, as it suits both mine and their needs"

Fade turned again to the console, her hand hovering over 'Activate' for the ships Warp engine.

"You mentioned history prior to this meeting of ours. I have told you mine, now you must tell me yours. Our working together requires it"

Fade pressed the button and she ship disappeared into the Warp. It reappeared seconds later, now in orbit around Blackstar.
_____________________________________________________________
Lykaios lets loose what sounds like a cross between a bark and a laugh, his eyes now looking intensely at the 'pest'.

"You would break rules that you want to put me back in that awful place again for violating. You aren't very good at your job, are you, little girl?"

[Laur Doyle]

Lianna sighs loudly as she hears Liessa move and bang about in the vent next to her.

"If she wants to tell me she'll know where to find me. I'm going back to mother and Lex"

Lianna said, standing up and walking back the way she'd come. If Liessa didn't want to talk to her then she could go on moping in the vent until she wanted to tell Lianna what was wrong.

Laurs bright blue eyes carefully watch Lex pause at some of her books, they briefly flicker to see ehich ones had grabbed his attention before moving back to the man her daughter had wanted her to meet.

"You are interested in genetics then?"

Laur asked, now a little curious.

[GBE]

Phase partially narrows his own eyes in return to the minor narrowing by Fade. Not flinching once during the warp, he responds very plainly, "After we parted after the training of Alex, I continued to work. I can continue to exist comfortably. I later travelled to Sanctuary."

Phase pauses as he checks some of the diagnostic scans on the view screen in front of him. "I have spent many years there. I was asked to train new student in the ways of martial arts by ex-employers. I had refused the first time round. However, further consideration allowed me to realise that should I not train them, they would not achieve the right balance.

I had taken on the students, training them on Sanctuary where they have been able to learn philosophies from many scholars, preachers and their comparative others. I have spent the last three years privately with little contact with any others. I have declined many missions. I have not been of good health for those years. I have not recovered my health. However, a preacher has healed the symptoms. This will last for one week, a probability of two. The illness is not curable.

I have a technological organic virus, brought on by my own abilities. My body has begun to become of solidified compounds. I have worked with others, creating a drug to combat this illness and slow it down. There is one theory of a cure, but it requires warping to another dimension. That technology is limited."

Phase continues to check incoming scans, and analyse the ships data. It would prove useful to know its full capabilities should Fade become injured or unconscious.
__________________

Lex turns his attention back to Laur, "My knowledge of genetics is limited. I only have knowledge of the necessary information that would be useful to me. Other than that, my interest in limited. It was my mothers and my fathers insistance that I study such a subject. However, I much readily prefer to study classical music.

I find it odd that a business woman has a lot of texts on genetic research. May I enquire as to why this may be...?" His hand still lingers on one of the books about genetics as his attention is placed upon Laur...

[Swix]

Fade doesn't smile, she doesn't even nod, she simply turns back to the console and begins scanning and collecting data from around here. No Concordat anywhere, which was good, Blackstar was still safe. For the moment at least.

Fade pulls up the data of the single ship from before, the one they'd surmised to have Lex on it, and the report appeared on the screen. Fade took a few seconds to scan it.

"It seems Lex was not alone on the ship. I will see if they had a calculated flight path, or if any other vessels have seen this one"

Fade began to work, calculated as ever. On the screen Phase was looking at, a schematic and list of the ships capabilities appeared on his screen. It was missing things which she wished to be kept a secret, but it was sufficient enough for him to be able to take over on this joint mission, should she become incapacitated.

"You may require this information"

~Bite him~

Fade's eyebrow shot up. Surely in even Zarlerans emotional and furious state she was not suggesting that? And she knew the vampiric symbiot wasn't hungry, otherwise she'd be feeling it too.

"I do not believe that will work"

~What if it does? He could have immortality, like you do~

[Cirrial]

A small, derelict spaceship floats helplessly around the void, its course unknown.

Its engines had long ago run out of fuel, and its hydrogen scoops were destroyed by passing debris. The only thing still working, the life support systems, check that their only surviving cargo is still worth the effort.

Without warning, sparks fly out of a damaged circuit into the life support computers, interfering with the basic query programs and leading the life support systems to regard their cargo as dead.

The entity inside a cocoon of stasis is suddenly ejected - although its own computers and life support systems embedded in its form are quick to activate, awakening the entire being.

A flash of yellow light shines from the abandoned spaceship, and a golden blur flies out of the ship, impacting into the floating organism - revealed to be nothing but machine on the exterior.

The blur becomes an octahedron, a pure geometrical shape, and slowly seems to melt into the tumbling machinery, which can now be viewed as bipedal, with two weapon-filled arms.

[ I don't think we're going to get a good reception. Oh, of course - I'll spare you the details, you're not in a condition to understand what I'm talking about. ]

[ Wake up, Naine. We're here. Blackstar is safe. We will not be for long. So, you may understand why I wish for you to wake up with a little more haste. ]

The AI construct, known only as "Goldie", overrides the inactive systems of the machine it is now a part of, and the body flies towards a nearby Concordat vessel with its jets.

[The Concordat]

"Do not speak of things you do not understand! The Oracles need us as much as we need them. If we were to abandon them, they would not be able to defend themselves. And if they were to leave us, we would be unable to complete the Devine Passage. It is a mutual relationship."

The Veteran surveyed him from head to toe.

"Evidentially something you would never understand. Honestly, who attacks a ship on their own?" the commander grimaced, "As for your question of their combat skills, I believe I just answered that."

------

Spook's blur of a form passed right by the Covenant sentries, who were unaware that anything had occurred.

[Spook]

Spook continued floating up the sandy beach of the island, past the troops stationed there. He continued on into the thick forest surrounding the center of the island. He was sure that the entrance to the Map Room would be well guarded, so he prepared for confrontation, focusing his mind into the state necessary to shapeshift into one of his other more deadly forms.

[Laur Doyle]

"I see"

Laur said, still watching Lex with rapt attention. One of her hands rested on her crossed legs while the other smoothed her hair away from her eyes. Was he perhaps trying to play games with her, or catch her out? It was a genuine question.

"I have a vested interest in genetics, Lex. If I hadn't, I would not be who I am or where I am today. I also have other responsibilities that involve that aspect. However, I'm afraid anymore information than that would put you in a most uncomfortable position, as well as myself. I will not divulge anything else"

Laur put her other hand down, resting it on the desk. She slid off and stood up straighter as she sensed a familiar presence.

Lianna entered the room, looking a little out of breath but none the worse for wear. She stopped and stared at her mother for a few seconds after seeing Laurs warm smile.

Lianna then slowly moved her head towards Lex, hovering with his hand over some book.

"What did you do to mother? She never smiles like that. You must have done something just awful to get her smile like that"

[GBE]

Collator simply stares back at the Veteran, unperturbed by his somewhat pointless mocking, "You mean they are weak without you, and so you allow yourselves to be manipulated. Enlighten me as to what this Devine Passage is. It will save me some time in searching your minds for it." Perhaps it was the light, but it almost looked like a wink from Collator as he finished his sentance. He knew full well he wasn't a fll telepath, but his enemy didn't need to know that. Just in case, he had over-ride programs for the forcefield in case they decided to do something unnecessary to him..
_________________

Phase looks at Fade, "ou are still airing your thoughts outloud. Can your symbiote not read your thoughts, or must everything be aired? It may proove distracting. A distraction will put us at a disadvantage." Tapping a few more buttons. "It appears as though Lex's ship docked at a plante not far from Blackstar. It is likely he is there, or has boarded another ship there. We should investigate. The planet we need to plot a course for is Nanto. The labour trading planet..."
_________________

Lex looks at Lianna a little nervously, he'd upset Laur? That wasn't the impression she'd given him. Turning to look at Laur to see her reaction he let go of the book and quite plainly asked "Have I displeased you in some matter Mrs. Doyle?"