trans_9 | Contact [Bendy timed to 3 or 4 days after Lirath]

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.]

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

"Uh, you too." Allenby shrugged. "It's the first time I've seen you guys that we're all supposedly workin' for. Figured I might as get to know you and some stuff directly, right?"

Yeah, no, she wasn't going to bother being sneaky. "So how long've you been a soldier for these Daligig guys?"

"Personally?" he asked. "I have served for nearly thirty five cycles, since reaching maturity, as all Kessek do. As a whole, the Kessek have served the Daligig for millenia, ever since they saved us from destroying ourselves."

"So you guys owe 'em a debt of gratitude?" To serve them as an entire race for that long seemed pretty crazy to her. But maybe they lived for a long time. She had no idea how cycles compared to milennia compared to years... in fact, how the heck was she supposed to compare ages across different planets? Her seventeen Earth years might only be half of one for this guy.

"Has this war with the Ohm been going since you've been in the service? You personally, I mean."

"Yes, if it weren't for them, our people would have killed ourselves before even leaving our home world."

For a race like the Kessek, it meant a lot.

"This war has been waged for a good number of cycles, but I have fought other wars prior to this one."

Allenby winced. "Sounds like you're even worse about fighting than humans are." And considering that the best they'd managed on her world had still involved massive environmental damage and secret arms build-up between nations, that was saying something.

A good number of cycles. Well, that was pretty vague, but not completely. "So what the Ohm are doing to universes, that all started in your lifetime? I mean, as much as you can say that if they're screwin' up time along with worlds."

"Yes," he replied. "Most of the realities that have been wiped out became time-locked as a result, meaning their destruction happened at a fixed point from all temporal perspectives, and that the reality cannot be entered, even by travelling back in time before it happened."

Allenby's face fell. After that melting-clock incident, she had wondered if manipulating time like that was a possibility... just find a device big enough to turn back a whole reality rather than people on a ship, head out there with the mechs, and punt the Ohm back where they came from before they could destroy it all.

"Geez... why do they gotta be so thorough about it?" Allenby put a hand on her hip. "What are they even trying to accomplish, anyway?"

"Even the Daligig do not know," he said. "Regardless, they are an enemy that must be faced."

Not that the Kessek minded having such a powerful enemy. Kind of par for the course with a warrior-race.

"They don't exactly leave us much choice." Allenby decided not to tell this guy that two people on Stacy had made contact with the Ohm. Not because they'd actually got concrete information, but she was among the large percentage of the crew who didn't trust the Daligig one bit and didn't want anything... done to anyone.

"So what do you think of fightin' them? I've only faced them in battle twice yet, but it was damn hard each time."

"They are fearsome and worthy foes for the skill of the Kessek," he replied simply, "but they have no understanding of honor, which makes them dangerous. Not that they aren't extremely dangerous on their own."

Even a Kessek recognized the Ohm as a serious threat, despite their own strength.

"No kiddin'. I hate having to fight them to the death, but when they use their own wounded comrades as shields in battle--!" Allenby clenched her fists. "I don't know. Maybe it's 'cause they're just so different from us, but there's nowhere that it can be right."

She looked up at him curiously. "The fights I've been in and the ones I've heard about--they're all really tough. Even with people and equipment from dozens of different worlds. How is it when you fight them?"

"Difficult, and hard fought," he said. "The Kessek have lost many fighting the Ohm, but our resolve has not wavered."

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

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