Earadan Discovery of the Swarms

[Zuko Darkborn]

After the first interstellar mission, the Guild sends several FTL-driven drones out to space, as scouts as well as to take photographs. One of them, with a telescope, catches signals, which scientists at home (who gains the information a month later, due to the still slow information technology) believes resembles a fleet, or rather two fighting each other. To avoid chaos, and due to the high chance of being a misunderstanding, the Grandest Master and the nineteen decides to keep it secret, but is somehow still happen to leak to the public.

This is met with celebration due to the believed confirmation of alien life, but also distress at the supposed conflict. The Purist's Guild starts using this to their advantage, claiming this will always be the horrors of space. They use science fiction books such as the The Call of the Swarms, to showcase the worst case scenarios. The Artists of War finally start gaining more public support, as this shows alien might not be pacifistic in nature. Currently however, they are still not close to the power of the major factions.

To bash the rumors, the government sends Swarmking, the author of the most famous of such books themselves, and who had no turned to more positive scenarios, alongside Starbringer Ship, to discover the truth of the situation. Where this leads will form the future of the Eogons.

[Zuko Darkborn]

The Starbringer is sent to Swarm territory, and attempts to grab the attention of the aliens, in hope for communication.

[Caspoi]

While the battle of space over the planet has ceased this is by no means soothing as the surviving fleet has begun to send what clearly is drop pods onto the planet's surface. Suddenly it notices the signals sent to it and sends five ships of to investigate. They start to circle around Starbringer, unsure how to handle the situation.

[Zuko Darkborn]

The Starbringer starts sending out a large almost flat drone, which ascends into space. This is actually a screen. It starts showing a video of seemingly random colors, followed by moving pictures of Eogons.

[Caspoi]

One of the ships approches the drone and makes some attempts at hauling he drone in, using long tentacle-like appendages for this purpose.

[Zuko Darkborn]

The crew on Starbringer are surprised at he tentacle-like tools. They decide to wait for the alien ships to make some manner of move. Due to the fleet size, the Eogons assumes the Swarms might have met other species, and made proper protocols.

[Caspoi]

After a little while the probe is let out again. Once again the tentacles are let out, this time they start to probe the ship as if wanting to find a spot to penetrate.

[Zuko Darkborn]

The Starbringer are unsure how to deal with this, wondering whether this is an act of aggression or not. They start music on the ship, wanting to experience some manner of art before a potential death. To ensure their sacrifice won't be in wain, they start sending signals to close exploration drones, which, when it comes home, might be decrypted to become footage. They want for the alien ships to continue with whatever ritual this is.

[Caspoi]

The tentacles have found what seems to be the airlock, they start to knock at it, although not so hard that it might break.

[Zuko Darkborn]

The crew discusses what this might mean, and concludes that it might not be a sign of hostility. Anyways, if it is, it wouldn't matter what they did. They open the airlock, and an Eogon fly out. He wears a strange spacesuit, which is 90% artistic design, only the rest practical. Colors and extra horns (which is indistinguishable from the horn-like horn-wear) covers the suit. He floats outside waiting for any further alien action. Before leaving, he had taken pills to not feel any pain, in case of the worst-case scenario (getting captured and eaten/tortued by the aliens.)

[Caspoi]

This caught the Alien ship's attention and one of the tentacles grapple around him and draw him into the ship while the four others stand ready. Inside he is met by a lot of clicking from mandibles as well as a lot of different foreign smells. Before and above him there were a dossen different alien lifeforms, using four legs for standing as well as two for interacting with other objects, some of them had an upper torso while others were more grounded in their build and had their head at the front rather than at the top of their bodies. the primary one of these, a large creature 1 and a half meter tall as well as 3 meters long, had large mandibles that looked unpleasant to be caught within as well as six large eyes and it's forefront appendages seemingly being adapted both to running and handling objects, although the latter seemed to be better for destroying them than picking them up. All of them looked at the Eogon in a strange manner.

[Zuko Darkborn]

The Eogon kept all of the suit on, making it impossible to see his appearance, even his face. Unsure of what to do, he stood silent, while transmitting what he saw to the Starbringer.

[Caspoi]

One of the smaller ones walked forward to him and started prodding him tentatively, it started making a few ckicks with it's mandibles.

[Zuko Darkborn]

The Eogon slowly raises a hand in the air, while the suit starts making a calm, soothing sound. He explains to his transmitter to his ship, "Alien Communication Experiment 1 shall commence."

[Caspoi]

The alien bites into his hand, it is not too hurtful. it responds by making more different smells, either as a response to the sound or to communicate with it's comrades.

[Zuko Darkborn]

The suit's hand part is bitten through, but to the Eogon's surprise, he is not damaged by the air. He attempts to unequip the suit's upper part, revealing a blue-red checkered fur, on a female mammalian. All her four eyes looks the same, an equal pattern of various shades of blue. Her horns are golden, and shaped as a spiral. She stares at the alien who bit her, in anticipation. She gambles on it being the leader, due to taking action.

[Caspoi]

This certainly renewed the interest in her, one of the aliens in the roof of the ship crawled down and begun to look intently into her eyes, it had now been concluded that she must be an animal of some sorts and the largest of the aliens began approaching.

[Zuko Darkborn]

She grows increasingly uncomfortable by the aliens. Standing up to them in itself was a commendable act, but even she, who was known as fearless, didn't have a limitless tolerance. She starts trembling, but attempts to hide this, fearful of this being seen as a weakness. She starts speaking, in long, soft sentences without any real meaning, confident that they wouldn't understand it anyways. The point was rather to show that she had the intelligence to have a language.

[Caspoi]

While the sounds she made had an uncommon rythm judging from it and her body language she was afraid and if she was afraid then she must be prey. Suddenly they all lunged at her from different sides, using their sharp forelegs and mandibles to keep her down and pierce her outer shell and get a hold of her softer parts.

[Zuko Darkborn]

The Starbringer looks for an escape route from the ships, realizing the danger that they brought. One of the scientists says, "Captain, it seems like you were right. They do not only look like the Swarmlings from your book, but they act similar... Next thing we know is that they're some kind of hive-mind with hive queens and all... We should be cautio-"

Captain Swarmking interrupts him. "It seems like there is no escape... They have us in their grasp. Is the message properly sent? Send a message to self-destruct the drones after the transmit it back home. We don't want they to know of our homeworld, at least not before we know of theirs. Afterwards, start self destruction protocols. Emberstone, can you play Storms of the Eldritch Sword on the radio? Ghastborne, show me your illustrations of my new book series... I want to have it on my mind as I die."

Before the alien ships have time do much, the Starbringer explodes, leaving only a perfect cube and scraps as remains.

[Caspoi]

[I do love the irony of the captain who first met the swarm, truly prophetic]

[Zuko Darkborn]

[By the way, the perfect cube might prove to be... interesting...]

[Caspoi]

[Oh, really? And it is certainly not some kind of revenge on the captain's part?]


Startled by the seemingly random explosion the ships approach the cube, one of them hauling it in.

[Zuko Darkborn]

[At least it won't explode.]

The cube is a cubic meter in size. It is made of some dark monotone metal, which keeps the same temperature as its surroundings.

[Caspoi]

One of the swarmlings onboard of the ship has started to try and break it open.

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