Post by Lieutenant Robin Star on Apr 13, 2014 10:02:41 GMT -8
As he waited for a response from the Talon, Robin approached Halsey, “So, what’s the verdict? Will the two techs click?” He asked the engineer. Besides obligation, Robin was genuinely curious. Merging two technologies together was more than just bolts and screws, it was like two cultures joining together but if there was one thing Robin did know about this, it was that he knew it was possible. Starfleet was a shining example of sharing knowledge, to better themselves.
“Lieutenant Star, you are go for dining, have fun.” Said a voice from Robin’s commbadge. The pilot smiled and then made his way back to their current host.
"We will be happy to join you for dinner, Da'n Ma Zeed." Robin said without fear of smiling, as he now knew the Ea'n'Dra to be normal practitioners of the smile. Almost normal, their smiles were a bit more reserved than perhaps a human's compulsion to smile.
Robin made sure to give a low nod as he spoke, without bending his spine. Their custom of respect when mentioning a title was basically a bow without the spine moving and it was reserved for people such as Da'n Ma Zeed, a leader. Robin's best estimate was that the Da'n Ma title was similar to that of Vildar for Etimon, or in other words, a King.
From what little Robin had seen, he wasn't sure of the rest of the away team’s assessment, but the culture seemed to fit with an ancient monarchical style with tall grand architecture, lots of curves and circles. Very few walls were empty and instead, filled with long dark marks that resembled asian calligraphy.
Despite what seemed like a relatively artistic species at first glance, they didn't seem that colourful as their palette seemed rather muted and dry. The only thing that seemed overly bright was the Ea'n'Dra themselves. A common colour of their long flowing hair seemed to be blonde and so far, the only other colour he had seen was black. Their skin had a very subtle gold glow about it and honestly, it made the blonde haired ones look like religious figures... especially with their white robes that looked a lot like bath gowns.
"This way, Lieutenant Robin Star." Zeed gave Robin a brief smile before turning around and leading them into a corridor. The pilot took a deep breath, that was one thing that was bothering him, when they referenced any one of them, it was their full name and rank, always.
Still, that was a trivial thing when faced with the various bundles of nerves he was dealing with right now. He was still amazed that Monroe had effectively put him in charge for a diplomacy mission. Only a month ago he had been strangling Ensign Splint against a window... Maybe Robin had appeared sane enough in his sessions with B'rannon.
So far, things had gone quite well. No mistakes, no embarrassments. The only other particular thing he had noticed with some minor concern and disapproval was Zeed's occasional eyeful interest in Ensign Nivans. Maybe it was because she was blonde? But then, Robin couldn't blame him from a guy's perspective but from a leader perspective, Robin certainly could. This was talk time, not... well, whatever time.
The away team followed Zeed and his group of officials, assistants or whatever they were. He couldn’t help but wonder how many of them had a weapon underneath their robes, they might all be guards for all Robin knew. Some of their names had been exchanged, he remembered them… or rather, he would when he needed to.
They reached the entrance of the building they currently resided in and Robin had to admire the door, or rather gate. It reminded him of what you might expect to see before entering a fancy garden, only this gate was silver and huge, the bars twisted and contorted into a splendid wave of curves, lines and shapes. To him, it looked entirely random, especially because it wasn’t symmetrical but he was sure that to the Ea’n’Dra, it resembled something in their culture, maybe an animal?
“Siata and the guards will remain to escort you to the hall.” Zeed spoke as he stood before the gate, waiting for one of his own to open it for him before pressing onwards and into the bright sunlight. “I will see you there,”
A moment later, Robin was stunned to see what looked like a person by himself zooming across the grand locale around them as if he was flying. The man stopped and stood up from the tiny little vehicle that hovered by itself. If Robin was more familiar with ancient Earth fantasy, he would have described it as a gray ‘modern’ magic broom.
And then Robin watched the ‘king’ get on the vehicle and zoom off towards the second tallest building around… which was pretty tall. Robin wasn’t an engineer but he would imagine that it was about 850 metres tall. The first 200 metres or so looked to be very thick the higher it got, the tinner it got. At the very top it stretched out rather sharply, kinda like seeing a Federation starship saucer section from a distance.
“Now that’s cool,” Robin whispered to the nearest person. It wasn’t very professional but at least he wasn’t jumping up and down, like he wanted to. The idea of small ‘speeder’ like vehicle wasn’t exactly new to him, but maybe it was the nostalgia that hit him, of riding around in hover-shuttles when he was younger, only more slicker and cooler looking, and probably more dangerous.
“Follow me,” Said a tall female blonde. She must be Siata, Robin thought to himself. With that said, they followed Siata across an architectural plain, devoid of greenery except for the small decorated gardens surrounding various statues or buildings. The brick-like pathways were extremely large, big enough for one of the smaller variations of a Klingon bird of prey to skate across it.
As they walked, Robin noticed two things, everyone else walking across the ‘plain’ were in groups, always at least three people and all of them had their hands clasped together in front of them, sometimes covered by their sleeves and others, exposed. Robin wondered what the significance of that was.
After a while, they reached the building or as Siata told him across the way, ‘The Hall’. Robin had to admit, he was both surprised and disappointed that it was just the hall, normally aliens had such interesting fancy names for such things. Robin noticed that the door looked very much like the gate they had just exited from, only this one was a lot taller and in between the gaps was a type of glass.
Siata approached the gate and stood there for a moment before pressing her hand in a seemingly random spot on the wall beside her. And then, the gate opened. Robin glanced at the spot where Siata placed her hand, there was no discrete lines hiding some kind of button or any indication of the sort for the gate to open. Maybe the door responded to heat on a specific area of the wall? Sounded plausible to him.
They all entered into a huge room… now he understood why it was called the ‘The Hall’, because it really was a hall! The odd thing about it however, was that it was essentially empty except for a big table (small in comparison to the room), in the centre. He looked up at the high ceiling, impressed by the height until he noticed a hole at the very top. What was that for? A skylight?
Robin followed Siata to the table, his confusion rising. Where were the chairs? Where was the food? Where was Da’n Ma Zeed? He got here way before they did.
Suddenly, Robin was reminded of a previous away mission, two years ago, even though it felt like another lifetime ago. The other Ea’n’Dra were now positioned in a loose circle formation around the away team. The pilot felt the urge to clench his fists…
“Please, step onto the Ry’n Lif.” Said Siata, gesturing to the table.
Robin forced away the warning bells going off in his head. This was suddenly getting all too familiar. Calm down, Robin… you are not about to be taken hostage and tortured whilst a copy of you runs rampant on the Talon he thought defiantly to himself. Despite his attempt at comforting himself, Robin turned to Diran as he passed him.
“Be on guard,” He whispered before stepping onto the ‘table’.
After everyone else was on the table, Sinata allowed a smile. “Some of you may want to sit down.”
Robin felt mixed feelings about that, knocking people out was a lot easier when they were sitting down… on the other hand, where were the chairs? Sinata then held a hand to her mouth and said something. A second letter, there was a distinctive noise of mechanical movement.
The ‘table’, began to rise.
The pilot was taken by surprise and wobbled on the spot but easily regained his footing. At least now he knew this wasn’t a table but some kind of elevator… without any kind of safety bar… he craned his neck upwards… that was a very very long way up and soon, it was going to be a very long way down.
“Do not worry, no one has been harmed by the Ry’n Lif in fifty Numes.” Sinata said.
Robin hoped that ‘numes’ meant years, or decades. He half expected the woman to say ‘minutes’, which would not be very inspiring. Whilst this was a ‘ride’ Robin could ordinarily enjoy, he was not pleased that his team was on such a thing. At least it seemed like they were being pushed up by something, there was some structural faith there… Robin looked to the side and saw the shadow of their figures and the ‘table’ itself…
There was nothing supporting the table, it was essentially ‘floating’ upwards.
“All the same, we would have liked a little warning as to ensure the absolute safety to my officers…” What was the woman’s title again? “Mu’n Di Siata.”
Siata looked at him with her dark gray eyes, a completely blank expression on her face. Then surprisingly, the tips of her lips curled upwards into a smile that was more broad and lengthier than any he had seen thus far from Da’n Ma Zeed.
“My apologies, Lieutenant Robin Star. Safety is of course, absolutely pivotal.” She said, pleased though given the somewhat reserved nature of their species, it might not have been so obvious except for her prolonged smile. Robin’s ‘complaint’ was something she was sure to pass onto Zeed. It wasn’t a bad thing.
Eventually, the ‘lift’ ascended into the hole and were now effectively, in a more traditional lift, with actual ‘safety’ being provided by the tube’s wall. Robin remembered how tall the building actually was they just entered… it was going to be a long ride but already, he could feel the ‘lift’ increasing in speed.
This wasn’t so bad actually, Robin restrained from grinning at the idea of jumping up… he knew without a doubt that would end badly. Eventually, the Ry’n Lif slowed to a halt as it rose up into the floor of a slightly smaller room than ‘The Hall’ but a whole lot more prestigious.
“Welcome to the Da’n Ma Hoom, the feast is ready.” Said Zeed from the head of a long table, with actual chairs. “Please, sit and eat at your leisure!”
Robin smiled, glanced at the away team and approached the table, wondering where he should sit. He supposed that Zeed would likely want him nearby…
“If I may, I would ask for Ensign Eden Nivans presence by my side,” He gestured to first chairs on the left and right. Robin frowned slightly and noticed that Siata looked somewhat disapproving as well, or maybe that was just Robin’s imagination. He didn’t know Eden but he was still somewhat defensive of her, as he would be with any of his crew.
“Perhaps, you would also enjoy Lieutenant Halsey’s presence to join so you may further discuss the topic your technology being compatible with the Y’angdar.” Robin requested with a smile and with a swift glance at Halsey and Nivans.
Like with Siata, a blank expression appeared on Zeed’s face. “Of course, Lieutenant James Halsey, come and join me for some Na’largh and Paan at my side.”
Robin resisted the urge to give a weird look at the name of that food, at least he hoped that was food. Though, he did give Halsey a smile of encouragement. The pilot then moved to take a seat, near the head of the table so he could listen in on the ‘big’ talk.
After sitting down, Robin looked down at his empty plate and then at the interesting assortment of food. He shrugged and began picking things at random.
At least I won’t be hungry when I get back...
Tag: @xeira, Lieutenant Eden Nivans, @kingshrykull, @nila, @mikoyo
“Lieutenant Star, you are go for dining, have fun.” Said a voice from Robin’s commbadge. The pilot smiled and then made his way back to their current host.
"We will be happy to join you for dinner, Da'n Ma Zeed." Robin said without fear of smiling, as he now knew the Ea'n'Dra to be normal practitioners of the smile. Almost normal, their smiles were a bit more reserved than perhaps a human's compulsion to smile.
Robin made sure to give a low nod as he spoke, without bending his spine. Their custom of respect when mentioning a title was basically a bow without the spine moving and it was reserved for people such as Da'n Ma Zeed, a leader. Robin's best estimate was that the Da'n Ma title was similar to that of Vildar for Etimon, or in other words, a King.
From what little Robin had seen, he wasn't sure of the rest of the away team’s assessment, but the culture seemed to fit with an ancient monarchical style with tall grand architecture, lots of curves and circles. Very few walls were empty and instead, filled with long dark marks that resembled asian calligraphy.
Despite what seemed like a relatively artistic species at first glance, they didn't seem that colourful as their palette seemed rather muted and dry. The only thing that seemed overly bright was the Ea'n'Dra themselves. A common colour of their long flowing hair seemed to be blonde and so far, the only other colour he had seen was black. Their skin had a very subtle gold glow about it and honestly, it made the blonde haired ones look like religious figures... especially with their white robes that looked a lot like bath gowns.
"This way, Lieutenant Robin Star." Zeed gave Robin a brief smile before turning around and leading them into a corridor. The pilot took a deep breath, that was one thing that was bothering him, when they referenced any one of them, it was their full name and rank, always.
Still, that was a trivial thing when faced with the various bundles of nerves he was dealing with right now. He was still amazed that Monroe had effectively put him in charge for a diplomacy mission. Only a month ago he had been strangling Ensign Splint against a window... Maybe Robin had appeared sane enough in his sessions with B'rannon.
So far, things had gone quite well. No mistakes, no embarrassments. The only other particular thing he had noticed with some minor concern and disapproval was Zeed's occasional eyeful interest in Ensign Nivans. Maybe it was because she was blonde? But then, Robin couldn't blame him from a guy's perspective but from a leader perspective, Robin certainly could. This was talk time, not... well, whatever time.
The away team followed Zeed and his group of officials, assistants or whatever they were. He couldn’t help but wonder how many of them had a weapon underneath their robes, they might all be guards for all Robin knew. Some of their names had been exchanged, he remembered them… or rather, he would when he needed to.
They reached the entrance of the building they currently resided in and Robin had to admire the door, or rather gate. It reminded him of what you might expect to see before entering a fancy garden, only this gate was silver and huge, the bars twisted and contorted into a splendid wave of curves, lines and shapes. To him, it looked entirely random, especially because it wasn’t symmetrical but he was sure that to the Ea’n’Dra, it resembled something in their culture, maybe an animal?
“Siata and the guards will remain to escort you to the hall.” Zeed spoke as he stood before the gate, waiting for one of his own to open it for him before pressing onwards and into the bright sunlight. “I will see you there,”
A moment later, Robin was stunned to see what looked like a person by himself zooming across the grand locale around them as if he was flying. The man stopped and stood up from the tiny little vehicle that hovered by itself. If Robin was more familiar with ancient Earth fantasy, he would have described it as a gray ‘modern’ magic broom.
And then Robin watched the ‘king’ get on the vehicle and zoom off towards the second tallest building around… which was pretty tall. Robin wasn’t an engineer but he would imagine that it was about 850 metres tall. The first 200 metres or so looked to be very thick the higher it got, the tinner it got. At the very top it stretched out rather sharply, kinda like seeing a Federation starship saucer section from a distance.
“Now that’s cool,” Robin whispered to the nearest person. It wasn’t very professional but at least he wasn’t jumping up and down, like he wanted to. The idea of small ‘speeder’ like vehicle wasn’t exactly new to him, but maybe it was the nostalgia that hit him, of riding around in hover-shuttles when he was younger, only more slicker and cooler looking, and probably more dangerous.
“Follow me,” Said a tall female blonde. She must be Siata, Robin thought to himself. With that said, they followed Siata across an architectural plain, devoid of greenery except for the small decorated gardens surrounding various statues or buildings. The brick-like pathways were extremely large, big enough for one of the smaller variations of a Klingon bird of prey to skate across it.
As they walked, Robin noticed two things, everyone else walking across the ‘plain’ were in groups, always at least three people and all of them had their hands clasped together in front of them, sometimes covered by their sleeves and others, exposed. Robin wondered what the significance of that was.
After a while, they reached the building or as Siata told him across the way, ‘The Hall’. Robin had to admit, he was both surprised and disappointed that it was just the hall, normally aliens had such interesting fancy names for such things. Robin noticed that the door looked very much like the gate they had just exited from, only this one was a lot taller and in between the gaps was a type of glass.
Siata approached the gate and stood there for a moment before pressing her hand in a seemingly random spot on the wall beside her. And then, the gate opened. Robin glanced at the spot where Siata placed her hand, there was no discrete lines hiding some kind of button or any indication of the sort for the gate to open. Maybe the door responded to heat on a specific area of the wall? Sounded plausible to him.
They all entered into a huge room… now he understood why it was called the ‘The Hall’, because it really was a hall! The odd thing about it however, was that it was essentially empty except for a big table (small in comparison to the room), in the centre. He looked up at the high ceiling, impressed by the height until he noticed a hole at the very top. What was that for? A skylight?
Robin followed Siata to the table, his confusion rising. Where were the chairs? Where was the food? Where was Da’n Ma Zeed? He got here way before they did.
Suddenly, Robin was reminded of a previous away mission, two years ago, even though it felt like another lifetime ago. The other Ea’n’Dra were now positioned in a loose circle formation around the away team. The pilot felt the urge to clench his fists…
“Please, step onto the Ry’n Lif.” Said Siata, gesturing to the table.
Robin forced away the warning bells going off in his head. This was suddenly getting all too familiar. Calm down, Robin… you are not about to be taken hostage and tortured whilst a copy of you runs rampant on the Talon he thought defiantly to himself. Despite his attempt at comforting himself, Robin turned to Diran as he passed him.
“Be on guard,” He whispered before stepping onto the ‘table’.
After everyone else was on the table, Sinata allowed a smile. “Some of you may want to sit down.”
Robin felt mixed feelings about that, knocking people out was a lot easier when they were sitting down… on the other hand, where were the chairs? Sinata then held a hand to her mouth and said something. A second letter, there was a distinctive noise of mechanical movement.
The ‘table’, began to rise.
The pilot was taken by surprise and wobbled on the spot but easily regained his footing. At least now he knew this wasn’t a table but some kind of elevator… without any kind of safety bar… he craned his neck upwards… that was a very very long way up and soon, it was going to be a very long way down.
“Do not worry, no one has been harmed by the Ry’n Lif in fifty Numes.” Sinata said.
Robin hoped that ‘numes’ meant years, or decades. He half expected the woman to say ‘minutes’, which would not be very inspiring. Whilst this was a ‘ride’ Robin could ordinarily enjoy, he was not pleased that his team was on such a thing. At least it seemed like they were being pushed up by something, there was some structural faith there… Robin looked to the side and saw the shadow of their figures and the ‘table’ itself…
There was nothing supporting the table, it was essentially ‘floating’ upwards.
“All the same, we would have liked a little warning as to ensure the absolute safety to my officers…” What was the woman’s title again? “Mu’n Di Siata.”
Siata looked at him with her dark gray eyes, a completely blank expression on her face. Then surprisingly, the tips of her lips curled upwards into a smile that was more broad and lengthier than any he had seen thus far from Da’n Ma Zeed.
“My apologies, Lieutenant Robin Star. Safety is of course, absolutely pivotal.” She said, pleased though given the somewhat reserved nature of their species, it might not have been so obvious except for her prolonged smile. Robin’s ‘complaint’ was something she was sure to pass onto Zeed. It wasn’t a bad thing.
Eventually, the ‘lift’ ascended into the hole and were now effectively, in a more traditional lift, with actual ‘safety’ being provided by the tube’s wall. Robin remembered how tall the building actually was they just entered… it was going to be a long ride but already, he could feel the ‘lift’ increasing in speed.
This wasn’t so bad actually, Robin restrained from grinning at the idea of jumping up… he knew without a doubt that would end badly. Eventually, the Ry’n Lif slowed to a halt as it rose up into the floor of a slightly smaller room than ‘The Hall’ but a whole lot more prestigious.
“Welcome to the Da’n Ma Hoom, the feast is ready.” Said Zeed from the head of a long table, with actual chairs. “Please, sit and eat at your leisure!”
Robin smiled, glanced at the away team and approached the table, wondering where he should sit. He supposed that Zeed would likely want him nearby…
“If I may, I would ask for Ensign Eden Nivans presence by my side,” He gestured to first chairs on the left and right. Robin frowned slightly and noticed that Siata looked somewhat disapproving as well, or maybe that was just Robin’s imagination. He didn’t know Eden but he was still somewhat defensive of her, as he would be with any of his crew.
“Perhaps, you would also enjoy Lieutenant Halsey’s presence to join so you may further discuss the topic your technology being compatible with the Y’angdar.” Robin requested with a smile and with a swift glance at Halsey and Nivans.
Like with Siata, a blank expression appeared on Zeed’s face. “Of course, Lieutenant James Halsey, come and join me for some Na’largh and Paan at my side.”
Robin resisted the urge to give a weird look at the name of that food, at least he hoped that was food. Though, he did give Halsey a smile of encouragement. The pilot then moved to take a seat, near the head of the table so he could listen in on the ‘big’ talk.
After sitting down, Robin looked down at his empty plate and then at the interesting assortment of food. He shrugged and began picking things at random.
At least I won’t be hungry when I get back...
Tag: @xeira, Lieutenant Eden Nivans, @kingshrykull, @nila, @mikoyo