Archaeology, Natural Disasters and You [Closed]

[hi_there_aliens]

The trip down revealed that Taleen was going to be of several things, none of which were pleasant. Arid, pale with a light dusting of red from the rocks, and yellow-white grass that extended in plains all the way towards far off mountains . There was a giant gash in the land near the orb landing area, which resolved itself into a massive canyon as the party drew closer. Spider webbing out across the top of the canyon were signs that a civilization had once flourished here. Traces of broken pillars and half submerged buildings, as well as what looked like a downed ship that had embedded itself in a massive building. There was no movement visible amongst the ruins now. As the dry wind blew through the stonework, it would became clear that they were walking into a mass graveyard.

Not somewhere you'd want to spend your vacation.

For some people, this was going to be a field day.

According to the scans and what little records they had, there hasn't been a sentient being around for hundreds of years. The majority of native wildlife had moved out of the area, seeking refuge. The land looked dead already. In the sky above, several specks of light twinkled in the sky, growing bigger with each passing hour. In a few days, it will be raining fire.


[Closed to Daniel, Eleventh Doctor, Sofia, Jamie, Hoshi, Howard, Billy, the Master, River Song, Cassie, Tom]

Comments

[makeherblue]

Thirty-Third peered at the smile, his feelers rubbing together uncertainly. Did the gesture mean anything? He caught a glimpse of those white mandibles, tiny and flat and there, and tried to push down that feeling of nausea.

And yes, bugs could get nauseous.

Deciding he had to be strong and rooted like Captain Eneesh, Thirty-Third bobbed his mantis's head in that jerking motion, pretending that yes, he very much understood everything Tom was doing and he was just that well-traveled. After all, Tom seemed nice enough to him and he was also willing to explain his customs, even if he was rather...well, still compared to Thirty-Third's race. No bobbing or twitching or moving his extra limbs! Tom and his kind could pass for statues, in Third-Third's opinion.

"Tom. What rank is that? You don't seem to have an obvious one like ours," Thirty-Third clicked. He was extra gentle shaking Tom's fleshy appendage, resisting the urge to give it a test squeeze at how squishy it was. Captain's orders and all that. "We've done a few jobs like this, loading and unloading. Mostly stick to our ship and hangers and things. Not used to this much alien contact."

[echoofaperson.livejournal.com]

"Uh, our names aren't ranks. Not like yours, I guess." Or like Yeerks. But he didn't have a rank on the ship. "I'm an information technician, I don't really fit in command rank. They can all tell me what to do." They were Iniss words, sorta. Not exactly a lie, since he'd been doing it too for three years. But it still felt a bit sour on his tongue. He tugged his sleeves over the backs of his hands once the handshake was finished, fidgeting with the fabric nervously. "We have a lot of aliens on the ship, and even before that I was invovled with...a big group of them."

Involved? Enslaved, more like it, but invovled sounded less like he was chattel and more like he had a say in it. He wasn't sure why he wanted to appear less pathetic for the towering alien. "So I guess we have my alien contact than most. It's not always a good thing, big universe and not everyone seems to want to make friends."

[makeherblue]

"Information technician," Thirty-Third repeated. He bobbed and jerked and twitched, as if this was something he could agree with. "Well, we're perfectly reasonable, if you need that sort of warning. I never know how much warnings fleshlings need. But an information technician! We have those!"

It was probably difficult to tell, but Thirty-Third was beaming madly at him. See how those mandibles are twitching like he wanted to take a bite out of him? Or the waving feelers? His species way of signaling his pleasure.

As luck would have it -

"I'm a tech too. If you were my species, we would be hive brothers, you know," Thirty-Third said, pleased. "Now, you must tell me everything you do as a fleshling version. I will help you exacavate if you tell me stories."

Tom, you may have found yourself a new friend.

[echoofaperson.livejournal.com]

The bug seemed either really excited or really hungry. He couldn't tell, but he was going to pray for excited and pretend like the other option didn't exist. He laughed softly, ducking his head a little in response. They moved a while lot, almost like Taxxons. But they were at least a little understandable, unlike Taxxons which always made him long for a can of Raid. "Do you?" Iniss used it as a nice way to dress up spying, but he wasn't a spy here and he would be using it as the literal definition, he was here to observe and to learn what he could. Any stories he told of Iniss activities on Earth or elsewhere would be edited for content, but it felt kinda nice to use Iniss for once instead of the other way around. "What do yours do? Mine gather information to bring it back to the ship, either stuff like this, with empty cities, or watching people, which is all I've done, or by diplomatic engagements, which is for higher ranked people like our commander." He might not be able to do exactly like Iniss could, or feel up to taking the whole mask, but he could at least do this bit.

He smiled, making sure to keep his mouth closed this time. It was easy to forget that showing your teeth might be a human gesture of friendliness, but it might not mean the same to other species. The last thing he wanted was for Thirty-Third to decide "I'd be glad to tell you if you'll do the same, I'd like to learn about you hive as well, Thirty-Third."

[makeherblue]

The bug bobbed his head and motioned for Tom to walk with him. It was a bit difficult to follow Thirty-Third, as he never did quite walk in a straight line, but eventually a pattern emerged as he jerked his way across the camp site. He twitched his head from side to side as he took in Tom's words. Ah, so in a way, Tom was a Thirty-Third too. Sounded about that level of rank. Not too high, not too low, critical for the colony.

He tried to imagine living in a ship full of aliens. Thirty-Third couldn't quite get used to that idea, all those different ideas and no proper hive, and he wasn't even going to get started on the lack of scent markers or hats. Or kilts.

"About the same thing. I'm suppose to keep watch on any news from our rival colonies, their state of affairs, that sort of thing. Send out the scent marker when I think there's something worth reporting. I saw our Queen once." Thirty-Third sounds proud. "But an exchange of information sounds agreeable. Fair."

He turned to look at Tom with a beautiful jewel-like eye, those multi-facets winking with the human's reflection. He didn't think he needed to point out that anything less than fair could be met by force. Aggravating the swarm was hardly a winning life choice. Thirty-Third took several long steps, his claws sounding heavy and yet leaving much smaller prints than Tom, as if he was mincing across the sand like a spider's delicate touch.

[echoofaperson.livejournal.com]

He followed, catching the pattern after a moment and falling into step, watching the foot steps in the sand. The bugs were almost as fascinating as the city, to him. He hadn't had a lot of time to talk with the hosts the Yeerk used, they tended to keep them apart by species. The Doctor was right, there were a lot more interesting aliens in the universe.

"I've always liked learning about other people and places, it'll be nice to get a first hand account of everything. It's very fair." Bargainers. There was a tiny part of his brain that sounded like Iniss that recognized it for what it was. "Besides, we're friends and allies now, exchanging information is better for everyone. Mostly I observed, took notes of what people were doing what, how alliances formed. Reported what I saw." Who might be weak enough. Iniss' job had always left him feeling sour, but it wouldn't be used for that anymore. Now he was just watching.

He smiled. "I haven't ever talked to our Captain, what was she like? Your Queen? How did you manage to see her? I mean...not just anyone can see the president on my world, I bet a queen is the same, right?" Where Iniss would have tried to twist the conversation, Tom was honestly curious, peering at Thirty-Third as they made their way into camp. Fair was the best thing he could offer. He couldn't offer anything less.

Going to close this thread pretty soon so I can do Day 2, if that's okay

[makeherblue]

Third-Third jerked his head from to side to side in his idea of a universal agreeing motion. So even that wasn't changed. The most...expendable didn't get to see their highest ranked, although in his opinion, not just any bug could collect intel. It was something that was both hobby and full-time job. Even if explaining it to bugs like Captain Eneesh might be difficult when all you technically needed was working auditory and visual functions, so he thought he could understand Tom's sentiment.

"I was tasked with delivering a vital piece of data to her -- no time to transfer it to a higher rank. Almost died several times on the way," Thirty-Third said proudly. "Because of me, we were able to wipe out a rival hive with a preemptive strike. I used to be Seventy-Second."

Now give him more data and a few more enemy hives or...intruding colonies on their space and he might even advance enough to Seventeen if he could pull that same thing off multiple times in a row. He supposed Tom had to have something like that in his world. Whatever it was fleshlings with their meaty bits did.

The bug suddenly stopped, his feelers going stock still as he took in something Tom couldn't, and then he burst into twitching motion again. New orders. He would have to catch up with Tom another time, as Captain Eneesh had just made it clear to her crew that it was Work Time Now, Rest Time Later. Thirty-Third clicked and chittered through his mandibles as he prepared to leave.

"I'm sure your time will come, Tom."