Contact [Bendy timed to 3 or 4 days after Lirath]

[fate-favored.livejournal.com]

In the aftermath of the battle at Lirath, Stacy had been severely damaged. Though she still eventually managed to build up enough power to resume course, she was obviously struggling, her pace far slower than normal. She could barely even manage to directly address those who needed to speak with her, instead allowing the more monotone voice of the Warden to speak up wherever she couldn't.

Several days after the battle, however, she once again stopped course suddenly and without warning, and let out a message throughout the ship.

||Notice to all crew members, Daligig Vessel Horizon is approaching. Archon Yavek is requesting to board so repairs can begin on this vessel. Please report to the Obs deck to recieve Daligig personnel and begin briefing. I repeat, notice to all crew members...||

Those going to the Obs Deck to check out the commotion would see the Horizon just out the observation window. It was massive, nearly half as long as Stacy, and likely had enough room for over a million crew members. The ship was colored a brilliantly bright white, with sleek, smooth lines, making the ships the GIA had that the crew had seen in the battle at Lirath seem like ancient relics.

Not long after the crew had arrived at the Obs Deck, bright, crackling lights began to appear towards the far end of the room as figures began teleporting in.

The first to appear were...not the Daligig. Instead, the first figures to arrive were massive, 9-ft tall reptilian soldiers, each decked in thick armor carrying equally massive battle rifles. At their fore stood one of them wearing lighter armor, carrying a tall metallic staff. He appeared older than the other reptillians, and wore a red sash that seemed to mark him of higher rank than the others. He raised the comm unit on his wrist to speak into it.

"Situation green, Archon. It is safe come over."

At that point, more figures began teleporting over, much smaller than the reptilian soldiers that came before. In fact, they were even somewhat shorter than normal humans, the tallest among them barely six feet tall. These were the Daligig, strange looking and varied in appearance. Each of them had devices on their arms, apparently small but powerful micro computers, each with different colors denoting the rank of the wearer. At their side were numerous tiny beings, each barely 4 feet tall, who almost immediately fanned out, obsessively observing and picking at Stacy's techno-organic structure.

Suddenly, one of the Daligig, wearing a dark blue arm unit, stepped forward with a rather grim, serious expression on his face. This, apparently was Archon Yavek.

"Who is in charge here?" he demanded bluntly.

[ooc: Meant to get this up a week ago, but school got the better of me, so sorry, guys! First thread that I put up will be the main expositionary thread, but feel free to make more threads for you characters to react, talk to each other, or try and talk to the Daligig and their companions. Basic info on the Daligig can be found over here.]

Comments

Main thread

[fate-favored.livejournal.com]

[ooc: Tag here for the main exposition stuff. After this thread gets going, you can start other threads for either having characters react or trying to talk to the Daligig.]

[metalwebhead.livejournal.com]

"You're probably looking for our esteemed Captain Leon Kennedy."

Descending from the ceiling was Spider-Man, looking a bit better than he was on Lirath. "Sorry, I'm not his keeper, but if you leave a name and number, I'll make sure he gets back with you!"

Elsewhere...

[hit-girl-mindy.livejournal.com]

Watching in the shadows, Hit Girl takes note of all of this. Obviously no one is going to want to indulge a little girl at this point in time, and anyway, she just wasn't up for talking. The longer she was on the ship, the more she realized the best kind of thing to do was to listen and watch. The soldiers were the first to catch her eye, in some ways more than the Daligig themselves. Of course the Daligig were the true masters, so to speak, they had command and all of that, but it was worth noting they needed protection. It was also worth it to learn what their purpose was, how friendly they might be. All eyes would naturally be on the Daligig, but what about their muscle?

So after a few minutes, she stopped hiding, and walked toward one of the massive creatures. Obviously, she knew she must seem like a dwarf in comparison, and clearly not a threat, but she still made sure her presence wsa known and clearly non threatening.

"So obviously you guys speak common," she said, not knowing what they called the languages they spoke on the ship. "What do you call yourselves?"

Re: Elsewhere...

[fate-favored.livejournal.com]

The leader knew she meant their species and not their name, since few even among the GIA have ever seen one of their kind, as they kept mostly among themselves and the secretive Daligig.

"Glory and Honor," the apparent leader greeted her, slamming a fist against his chest in a sort of salute. "We are Kessek, warriors in service to the Daligig. I am Force Commander Hukkar, and these are my Honor Guard."

[whyarewehere]

Grif, to be completely honest, had no desire to be around the Daligig. It seemed like every time the crew had any kind of contact with these guys, it was bad news alllll over the place.

But still. He was curious. He had to go look at them, and he supposed hanging around waiting for them to show up was an effective waste of time. Besides, the Daligig (from what he remembered, anyway) didn't look all that big or tou-

Oh my god what is that thing.

It was huge.

It was a lizard thing and it was huger than Kang, something was wrong about that.

Grif had actually been half considering giving these guys a piece of his mind, really, but the sight of the reptilian soldiers just kinda stomped down those ideas for the moment. He staaaaaaared.

[fate-favored.livejournal.com]

One of the big reptilian soldiers apparently noticed the guy in bright orange armor staring intently at them.

He gave Grif an awkward little wave.

They seemed friendly, at least.

[futureisclear.livejournal.com]

Ildraniath had watched the little interchange between the crew and the Dalgig commander. Interesting, if also disturbing - it simply reinforced her paranoia and her distrust of their so-called saviors. They came aboard, demanding that the crew fall in line and then... what? Had they expected the mon-keigh to simply bow their heads and give in? Despite her general disdain for all things human (or non-Eldar, really), Ildraniath still gave a grudging respect to the human capacity for stubborn resistance when they felt the need.

But that was not her concern. At least not for now. For now, she was curiously examining the soldiers the dalgig had brought along. Slightly smaller than a mon-keigh Space Marine. How fascinating. Potentially deadly, but she felt sure that if it came to a fight she would be able to handle a group of them. More if Zouichi and Alendian happened to be at her side.

"Tell me, are you their bodyguards?"

That seemed obvious, but it never hurt to check.

[fate-favored.livejournal.com]

The one in the lighter armor, carrying the large metal staff--their leader, apparently--spoke up.

"The Kessek pledged themselves as Vassals to the Daligig long ago. We serve as their soldiers."

[aboutthatevac]

Kerrigan watched as they came aboard. She had her arms folded over her chest. Her hands grasped her own flesh, digging in hard.

She tried to evaluate the Daligig on a tactical level but the personal interfered. All she could picture were a team of Daligig stripping her naked, cutting her open, tampering with her mind just like the Confederacy.

She could hear her teeth grinding together. She felt both disgusted and disgusting. Used and damaged and violated. And those feelings projected, unconsciously, all around her. She pulsed with barely controlled anger.

Kerrigan walked purposefully to the Daligig, addressing the self declared leader of everyone on this ship.

"Care to explain why you experimented on me? I'm sure it was justified by your delusion that it was for greater good."

[fate-favored.livejournal.com]

The Kessek soldiers around Yavek bristled as she approached and spoke, but the Daligig waved them off for the moment.

"I did no such thing. If the previous crew did such things to you, then I am sure they had their own reasons for it."

[saint-sami.livejournal.com]

There they were. The Daligig. Their saviors. And by the looks of it, a lot of the crew were not happy with their arrival. Who wouldn't be when things have gone to hell and back.

But, that wasn't why Sasami was here. Not by a long shot. She wanted answers of her own. She can "hear" Tsunami prodding her on, to approach one of them and find out what's going on.

Brave face, Sasami. They may not answer you if you seem scared. Sasami thought to herself as she attempted to steel herself and approach one of the Daligig.

"E-Excuse me. Can I ask a question?" she said, wishing she hadn't stammered.

[fate-favored.livejournal.com]

Thankfully for Sasami, the Daligig she had chosen to approach was Archite Rekkti, who seemed to be more open than the others.

"Yes?" Rekkti replied. "How can I help you?"

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

Aang was lost in thought as he approached Rekkti. His face was unusually grim.

Leaning against his staff, he asked the female Daligig quietly, "Are you Archite Rekkti? You're the nice one, right?"

[fate-favored.livejournal.com]

"Nice one?" she laughed. "Compared to Yavek, I suppose anyone qualifies, but yes, I'm Rekkti."

[in-venting.livejournal.com]

Sherry watched the aliens with curiosity. Sure, now she'd seen all sorts of weird things (and monsters) but the Daligig sort of reminded Sherry of rubber-band aliens.

She hung slightly behind Leon, listening to the exchange as it got both interesting and annoying at the same time.

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

Allenby could see right away that someone would have to surgically remove the stick from Yavek's ass before she could talk to him. And while the lady seemed less hostile... she was still some kind of officer-command-type. Yeah, nicer, but at the end of the day, the crew would still be useful tools to her more than real people.

She wouldn't get answers from them. Hell, she might even land herself in the brig again, or worse. Instead, she headed towards the soldiers. How much they actually knew, Allenby didn't know, but she was going to try and get at least one question answered.

"Hey there."

[fate-favored.livejournal.com]

"Glory and Honor, friend," the nearest Kessek soldier replied. "How may I be of assistance?"

[azulescarabajo.livejournal.com]

Jaime waited around until the captain and the others had had their say. So now it was his turn. He turned the battered old omnitol over in his hands. The one that had been left for him by himself. He sighed, forced thoughts of other things out of his mind, and stepped up to the Dalgig.

"Excuse me, I have a few questions."

[fate-favored.livejournal.com]

Yavek waved the boy off, motioning for Rekkti to deal with him.

"Yes?" she replied. "How can I help you?"

[syncopath]

One of those aforementioned 'dangers' that Jaime had been so concerned about watched the Daligig's grand entrance with folded arms, looking less than impressed.

"So you're the ones meant to be pulling the strings," the Master said.

[fate-favored.livejournal.com]

"I'm sorry to hear that is such a common impression your crew has of us," replied Rekkti, as Yavek was busy giving out orders to the other Daligig.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

[indeliblepast]

Sumeragi heard the announcement, and headed to the Observation Deck with a stream of other crew members. Maybe, if she was lucky, she could pick up some information by hanging around. Though after witnessing the first little altercation between the Daligig leader and some of the crew members, she decided it was best to just hang around. Head down, look bland - like being in a bar when you didn't particularly want company. She could do that. And those big aliens - Kessek, she thought she caught one of them saying - looked dangerous.

Staying out of notice made it harder to catch the conversations, though. Something about 'chosen' and fate - though she didn't much believe in that herself; the autonomy of crew selection by whoever had done it; and then, that good old military tactic of saying a lot without it actually meaning much. And 'classified'. Nice, popular military word. It wasn't much to go on, over all, but perhaps Setsuna would be able to make greater sense of it - he seemed to be the one who'd collected the most information on this place so far.

[darknight-ren.livejournal.com]

Ren was still on crutches for a few more days, but he at least wasn't in enough pain that he couldn't move around the ship. He watched the whole procession carefully, knowing that this time more than ever, he had to control himself. The testy one could easily sic one of the soldiers on him if he got out of line.

"Can you tell me something?" he asked, in as diplomatic tone as he knew. "We've heard that defeating the Ohm might restore our worlds. Is this true?"

[fate-favored.livejournal.com]

"It's highly theorized, yes," replied Rekkti. "The Ohm have impressive multidimensional capabilities, such as their ability to collapse a reality in on itself. We believe that defeating them might allow us to uncover more of their technology, and perhaps use that to extrapolate a means of restoring destroyed universes."

"Admittedly, it's something of a long shot, but our scientists are confident that it is possible."

[not_the_philistine]

Goliath missed the Daligig's entrance, and their earlier exchanges. Their ship's hold over his sleeping and waking bothers him, but it isn't the only thing.

He briefly sizes up the Kessek bodyguards. It's not often Goliath meets a warrior more physically imposing than him, and they might manage it even without their guns and body armor.

His interest in speaking with fellow warriors is overshadowed by the questions he has for the Daligig.

"I would have a word."

[fate-favored.livejournal.com]

"Go ahead, then," Rekkti replied with a smile. "I guess I've been appointed the impromptu ambassador to your ship, after all."