Chapter 5, part 2
“…tant…reaking up…” Barely audible before the connection was completely lost but he could easily understand what Captain Asteios was trying to say.
“It seems that there is a problem with our communications.” Lieutenant Allerberger said to the Loroi diplomat in front of him as his eyes adjusted to the light.
“I apologize for that but our ship’s ECM systems automatically jamm all unauthorized inbound and outbound transmissions.” She replied immediately. “They are also slaved to our communications and we can’t isolate them.”
“I understand.” He replied after some thought. “But it is imperative that my team maintains contact with our ship.”
“Please wait.” The Loroi diplomat said before going silent for a few moments, which allowed him to study her under some proper lighting. She looked somewhat different that what the emergency lighting led him to believe. Her skin tone was a light shade of cyan, not the pale white he thought at first. Her armor was skin tight, with a mix of greenish, light grey and dark grey plating that was worn over a black bodysuit; while still shining ruby red lights decorated the base of her neck, her shoulders and her wrists. Her hair was pitch black and if he had to hazard a guess they would easily reach her knees if they weren’t meticulously tied up behind her head. What unsettled him however were her eyes, they were hazel and betrayed a keen, calculative intelligence. The way she looked at him did betray some distrust and weariness but also a targeted and unrelenting fixation as if she was deciding how to toy with him.
If it was one thing that looked out of place on her, the empty holster at her left thigh notwithstanding; that would be the oversized black tiara she was wearing, if he could call it that. It looked more like a crown and it covered most of her forehead while the material it was made of was unlike anything else she was wearing.
“The communications specialist tells me that the only way for your communications to function is to have them routed through our communications systems, is this acceptable to you?”
“If there is no other way then it will have to do.” He replied to the diplomat who kept her expression unchanged and just nodded as she heard that.
“Lieutenant Allerberger, do you copy?” Captain Asteios’s familiar voice came in loud and clear; easily carrying his worry with it.
“Yes sir, loud and clear.”
“Your transmission…it’s not coming from the transmitter at the airlock.”
Matveyev’s Captain commented.
“Yes sir, our ‘hosts’ have told me that their ECM systems are blocking all unauthorized transmissions and they can’t isolate them from their communications systems. I gave them permission to route everything through their systems in order to circumvent that.” He replied.
“I see…”
“Sir, it’s obvious what they are trying to do; I want to play along and have them admit it.” He said after some thought.
“We can’t have them think of us like fools now, can we?” The Captain replied. “Let’s see how the blue elves react to us yanking their chains a little bit.”
“Yes, sir.” He couldn’t help but smirk as he switched the comm. channel to talk to everyone in his team. “Team, our hosts are eavesdropping, describe them the same way as Gomez did when you talk with each other.”
“What? Blue Elves?” Private Hood asked.
“Yes Private and keep our private conversations only in English even when they are near.”
“Yes, Sir.”
It was then that he noticed the two Loroi that slowly walked towards them from their end of the corridor.
“I believe that due to the circumstances our initial introduction could be described as rude and uninformative; I would like to rectify that.” The Loroi diplomat begun. “I am Mizol Torimor Tigomenial; Mizol is the name of my caste, Torimor is my rank within it and Tigomenial is my spoken name which means Shadowcloud. You can address me as Mizol Torimor or Torimor Shadowcloud.”
“I understand, I am Marine Lieutenant Josef Allerberger, Josef is my personal name, Allerberger is my family name and Lieutenant is my rank. You can address me as Lieutenant Allerberger.”
The two Loroi officers stopped a couple of meters behind Torimor Shadowcloud as if waiting; with a quick glance he saw that they were also female and wore a set of armor that had gold and green plates; while their tiaras were smaller than the one Shadowcloud wore. Both of them had side arms holstered, their holsters also worn on their left thighs. One of them, had long silver hair and her armor’s lights were blue while the other had relatively short brown hair and her armor’s lights were white.
“You said that you are a marine lieutenant? Are you a warrior or perhaps a diplomatic liaison?” Torimor Shadowcloud asked with obvious perplexity.
“Although it’s not exactly accurate you can describe me as a warrior.” He replied, swearing that somehow he managed to surprise her with that but she quickly hid her reaction and turned to the two Loroi behind her.
“These are the two officers that will verify what you told me. They are Teidar Sezon Rimilimires.” The silver haired Loroi nodded at that. “and Teidar Sosanol.” The brown haired Loroi nodded in turn.”They are both of the Teidar caste, the ‘Unsheathed’. Teidar Sezon Rimilimires’s spoken name means Razormist and Teidar Sosanol’s means Longblade.”
“Pleased to meet you.” He said while bowing his head slightly but the two Loroi didn’t say anything; in fact they looked perplexed at the gesture.
“It’s one of the Teidar caste’s many traditions to refrain from vocal speech.” Torimor Shadowcloud said after a few moments of silence.
“I see… but if they have a question how will they ask it?”
“They will let me know and I will ask you in turn.” Torimor Shadowcloud replied as if the answer was obvious. He didn’t know what game the Loroi were playing and he didn’t like it one bit but he decided to remain diplomatic.
“Torimor Shadowcloud, we both know that the only concern I had for this inspection was about the safety of my team and the well being of my injured subordinate. You addressed that concern by agreeing that only two lightly armed officers would inspect my team and the airlock before proceeding to escort your injured comrade and those we unwillingly ‘trapped’ back to your positions. Now you tell me that the officers in question won’t talk with us and that they will only talk through you because of a caste tradition. I believe that this will only invite misunderstandings and waste time, time that I don’t want to waste because of my injured subordinate.” He didn’t know how he did it but he managed to keep his voice even through all that.
“I assure you that any possible misunderstandings will be addressed almost instantly.” Torimor Shadowcloud replied instantly.
“Torimor Shadowcloud, throughout human history even the smallest of misunderstandings sparked disasters. I would have preferred it if you had chosen officers that would be ready and willing to communicate with us but I don’t want to waste anymore time arguing about this. If they are to talk through you then I would appreciate it if you were also part of this ‘inspection’.” She seemed genuinely surprised at that and Sezon Razormist frowned when Shadowcloud glanced back at the two Teidar.
“That is acceptable.” Torimor Shadowcloud replied.
“I appreciate it, please follow me.” He said and turned at the spot, even though he didn’t like showing his back at the Loroi behind him.
“Team, change of plans.” He said in English after activating his command channel. “We got one extra blue elf for a total of three. Two of them have holstered side arms and the third is unarmed.”
“Three blue elves sir?” Sergeant Antares asked.
“Turns out that the two they would send don’t like to talk for themselves and so I asked for the diplomat to escort them as insurance. Needless to say I don’t trust them.” He replied.
“Roger that, three blue elves, not to be trusted.”
“Lieutenant the shuttle carrying the rest of your men is at a holding pattern and will be there in less than a minute if you need them.” Captain Asteios reminded him. It was reassuring to know that there would be a rescue party if things went to hell but for some reason he couldn’t shake the feeling that the Loroi behind him were far more dangerous than they looked. All three of them had an air of confidence that only those who knew that they were overwhelmingly stronger than their opponents could posses. He unwillingly smiled for a few fleeting moments when he wondered if any of the tricks the Loroi had up their sleeves would be enough to stop a SHEAP.
Their end of the corridor that was the center of the standoff ended up at what used to be a junction of two corridors. Emergency blast doors closed two of the four paths but the path to the left was open and when he turned he saw the unconscious Loroi who had been sat up with her back against the wall right past the corner and a little further ahead he saw Private Hood tending to Gomez’s injuries.
“Private.” He said as he passed the unconscious Loroi.
“Sir.”
“Any change?” He asked in Trade so the Loroi behind him could understand.
“No sir, he is stabilized and…”
“I am fine sir.” Private Gomez cut in while lifting his head slightly. He was laid with his back on the floor, his suit’s life support system dismounted and placed next to him; bloodied hand prints clearly visible on it and on his helmet next to his head. With a quick glance he examined the wound, Hood had tore up the suit around it so he could have better access to it before applying some basic first aid by using sterilizing coagulant foam to stop the bleeding but all three of them knew that it was a temporary measure.
“I see that you took off your helmet, Private.” Lieutenant Allerberger joked.
“Just following your fine example, sir.” Private Hood replied.
He chuckled and turned to the Loroi behind him who stood over their unconscious comrade, the three of them were looking at each other, with expressions and gestures that were telltale signs of a telepathic exchange between them.
He glanced over at the unconscious Loroi, he didn’t have time to examine her before, with Gomez’s wound and Shadowcloud’s appearance. Now, under proper lighting it was easy to see why Gomez called her a damned blue elf when he first shed some light on her with his flashlight. She had short green hair and her blue skin was of a deeper hue that the other three he had seen so far. She didn’t wear armor like the others but a formfitting green uniform with no discernible insignia, a uniform that was now stained with Gomez’s blood. What really drew his attention was the completely swollen left side of her face.
“Damn Gomez, did you have to punch her that hard?” He joked in English.
“She stabbed me!” Gomez replied with a pained voice.
“It was only a small knife.”
“This ain’t small!” Gomez protested while lifting the bloodied blade that was next to him.
“…You still punched a girl.”
“With all due respect, fuck you sir.” He couldn’t help but laugh at that before turning to the three Loroi who were staring at them.
“I apologize, I was just making sure that he is well.”
“How is he?” Torimor Shadowcloud asked.
“We applied emergency first aid and stopped the bleeding but it is only a temporary measure.” Lieutenant Allerberger replied.
“I see, then we shouldn’t be wasting any more time.” She replied and nodded to Sezon Razormist who squatted in front of the unconscious Loroi and slapped her hard. The Loroi instantly reacted as if someone had thrown a bucketful of iced water on her. She thrashed for a couple of moments before composing herself and looking upwards towards Razormist who just stared down at her. Another telepathic exchange undoubtedly occurred before the banged up Loroi stood up by herself and stumbled back to her kind’s positions. He couldn’t help but notice that they didn’t help her at all through all this.
“Will she be fine?” He asked.
“She is a warrior.” Torimor Shadowcloud replied dryly.
“I see.”
“I have called for our medic to bring a stretcher, she will bring it here the moment our inspection is finished.” Shadowcloud said after a moment.
“Then let’s not waste any more time.” He replied.
“Of course…” Shadowcloud agreed before turning to look at Razormist. “Sezon Razormist asks what kind of weapons did you bring with you?”
“Six laser pistols and a combat shotgun loaded with non lethal munitions.” Sezon Razormist nodded at that.
“She asks why didn’t your team wear armored space suits? Since you already brought weapons with you.” Torimor Shadowcloud asked again.
“It was agreed that wearing combat armors while coming aboard would be seen as an inherently hostile act; light and non lethal weaponry were allowed solely as a last resort for self defense.”
“That is understandable, although we find it hard to believe that warriors would consent to part with their armors.” Torimor Shadowcloud commented.
“We didn’t like it but orders are orders.” He replied and gestured for the Loroi to follow him.
There were a handful of entrances to a variety of empty rooms at each side of the corridor and the two Teidar meticulously checked each and every room before proceeding. After a few minutes of doing that they reached the beginning of another, smaller corridor, which private Westwood and Sergeant Antares were guarding.
“Sir!” Sergeant Antares greeted him.
“Anything new Sergeant?” Lieutenant Allerberger asked in Trade.
“No sir, the… Loroi hasn’t said anything since she told us that a diplomatic officer would come.”
“Carry on.”
The three Loroi that followed him gave studious glances at the two marines before looking at each other.
“Lieutenant Allerberger, I would like for the Loroi in there to be escorted back to the others before we proceed to the airlock. One of them is a civilian and is terrified of this whole situation.” Torimor Shadowcloud said politely but her tone hinted that she wouldn’t like to hear no for an answer.
“Of course, they were never prisoners, we just wanted to avoid any unnecessary complications.” He replied.
“I appreciate it.”
She looked inside the small corridor and after a moment an other gold armored Loroi stood up with a pistol at hand which she quickly holstered. She waited in place for a handful of seconds as an other Loroi appeared behind her, this one wearing only a black body suit.
The two exchanged a couple of glances before they started walking towards them, with the armored Loroi at the lead. Once the two Loroi reached the impromptu group it was easy to see that the unarmored Loroi was terrified, not even glancing at him and the two marines beside him. The other Loroi was surely another Teidar if he was to judge by her armor and her sidearm. She had an exotic shade of amber for hair color, double the length of Teidar Longblade's, looking at the both of them he realized that they both had white lights on their armor. The only thing that seemed odd was that she didn’t have a tiara like the other two Teidar and Torimor Shadowcloud.
“Both of them seem to be fine.” Torimor Shadowcloud said as the new Teidar and Longblade escorted the Loroi civilian back to their positions.
“My men didn’t harm them in any way.” He snapped back in an instant.
“I apologize, I didn’t mean to imply anything, we use ‘seems’ as a formal, polite, term when conversing vocally.” Torimor Shadowcloud replied. “If you wish so, I will try to avoid using that term.”
“I… understand and I would appreciate it in order to avoid misunderstanding each other.”
“As you wish.”
The two groups studied each other from a safe distance as they waited for Teidar Longblade to return before Lieutenant Allerberger realized something.
“Torimor Shadowcloud, you said that Teidar ‘refrain’ from vocal speech, yet the Teidar that just left warned us to stay away from her and informed us that you would approach our position.”
“When she informed me that you told her that you come in peace I persuaded her to do so, hoping to avoid any unnecessary violence.” Torimor Shadowcloud replied.
“Then I will have to thank you because I was the one she warned to stay away from her.” He replied.
“You are welcome, I am just glad that we have avoided the worse.”
“Sir, are all of the blue elves female?” Private Westwood asked in English after a few moments.
“I don’t know, I have only seen females so far, I guess that we will find out soon enough.” He replied.
“Sir.” Private Hood said through the communications channel. “Three blue elves just passed by us, one of them turned and is headed back to you.”
“Stay alert Private, inform me if anything changes.”
“Lieutenant Allerberger, I would like to ask you a question.” Torimor Shadowcloud said when he closed the channel.
“Of course.”
“I have overheard a particular phrase that you and your team have been using in your language and I think that it has something to do with us. What does ‘bloo elves’ mean?” He expected that question but he couldn’t help but chuckle at it.
“Blue is a color and elves are mythological beings that just happen to look exactly like humans, with the only visual difference being that elves have pointy ears, exactly like yours. There are many myths about them but elves are generally described as beautiful, long lived and intelligent people who are masters of all arts, including magic. All of their gifts however made them look down on humans and they always used guile and trickery against everyone they met. The stories always end with humans proving to the elves that trickery doesn’t work and that they shouldn’t be looking down on others because of their numerous gifts."
Chapter 6, part 1:
http://www.well-of-souls.com/forums/vie ... 978#p18978