Toys in the darkness (Reserved-Raven_Sparrow)

[Hunter_Tier]

Tier walked among the flight crew of the Vulpine frigate Habitual Lies. Vulpine vessels were created defensively. While on the outside every Vulpine vessel mirrored the old World War II vessels of Germany from Earth. Inside they were built placing the command deck at a more central location within the ship. Making it to where nothing short of a mortal blow would be able to stop the vessel. The drive systems and guns were different too. Plasma cannons and defence guns replaced the antiquated ballistic weapons while the Slip drive systems made the vessels appear as if they were sailing through space with the silvery streaming "spray" that would crease the bow as if the vessel was ploughing through the waves and held an appearance like silvery water at the front of the vessel. Much speculation has went into how Vulpine vessels create this anomaly but no real study has went into this as the Vulpa claim it is simply the archetechureal design of their ships but tests led by other races have failed to produce the same results so far. The command deck was built with a raised platform surrounded with holo panels where the captain operated. The Vulpa believed it imperative that the captain be over their subordinates to be able to observe their actions and have a faster responce time given a situation arose. Frigates were the mainstay as scouts and patrole vessels of the Vulpine fleet as they were faster given their light armor class but relatively heavily armed and sported heat signature cloaking devises and jammer systems allowing the vessel to run silent and confuse enemy tech causing them to be forced to fire line of sight which is still an achievable task but not a favored one.

Tier was a Hunter Knight, a leader among his people. The Hunters were a faction of the Vulpine government while they were democratic by nature the Hunters were ruled by Kings, Lords and Knights, who could invoke martial law given the necessity of a situation but acted more as battlefield dignitaries or striker leaders, able to inspire their troops in combat with their battlefield prowess and their seeming lack of fear to lead their troops into combat rather than send troops in. "What's our situation?" Tier asked the captain who was busy keeping the ship running as silent as possable and the jammers reaching out to touch the various orbital defence stations that held the planet safe with it's two defencive moons. "And... there. Got it. We are completely invisible. Ah, Hunter Knight Tier, it is good to see you sir. As you can see we are still in one piece and they are none the wiser that we are within imminate threat of their airspace." Tier nodded in appreciation of the Captains skills. This particular planet had been a tough nut to crack staying silent for so long and getting past the early warning defense stations not to mention the orbital defence stations with their heavy cannons that could punch a hole right through the center of a Vulpine capital ship. "Very good sir. I'm impressed. So we're completely invisible to them?" The Captain nodded. "Out of their sights and close enough to gut them from tip to tail so to speak." Tier chuckled "Well hopefully that will not be necessary. Send them a radio burst requesting permission to send an armed dignitary planetside to speak with their people's leaders for the discussion of terms of the fabrication of a Vulpine base on this planet for their added defence against the threat of the E.C.A. I will be in the hangar prepairing my mech and awaiting their decision. If they accept I'll head planetside and mingle for a while. If they refuse, you know what to do, the E.C.A. will be here before too long. It's just a matter of time." The Captian nodded gravely and looked down to his radio helmsman and nodded to them to give them the go ahead on sending the short burst signal while e moved the ship to confuse any sensors that may try to track where the signal came from.

Tier made his way to the hangar and approached his mech. It was the standard battle weapon for any Hunter stationed out in space while they did carry their rifles and sidearms this, was probably their favorite by far because of the sheer destructive power and devastation that could be caused by one of these massive machines. Tier climbed into the cockpit and closed the hatch putting on the gloves and helmet provided that sealed to his suit that he had been wearing over his uniform. Hunter flight suites were more streamline allowing for ease of movement and resembled their uniforms that were reminiscent of the black Waffen SS uniform of 1940s Germany. The visor in his helmet acted as the view screen for his mech and as it turned on the screen came alive allowing him the view of the outside. He turned his head and the mech did so as well. He moved his hands and reached behind him feeling the restiance as the mechs hands closed around the battlerifle and he disengaged it from the back of the weapon. Moving the footpedals he walked the mech over to the hangar door and awaited the green light to allow him to launch himself out into space and make his way to the swirling green planet below.

[serpington]

((sound like this could get interesting would you like some more subtle back up? or is this closed?.......either way it's your call. good luck ))

[Raven_Sparrow]

Down On the planet the leaders of the race talked among themselves trying to decide if they should accept. guards stood by at the ready in case the leaders wish to accept. Meanwhile the leader's daughter, Raven, walked in with a curious look in her eyes and looked to her parents "mother,father...I think it'd be in our best interest to accept the offer. The E.C.A will surely kill us if we don't. I know we don't like outsiders but this will work in our favor." the father looked at his child with a softness and gave in to her. "Alright." He looked to a guard "accept their request. Let them come." Raven went to the landing pad with her parents. Guards stood round in case an attack took place. The Lutra were not the most social of races nor the most well known. They have tried to stay out of sight ever since they caught word of the E.C.A.

[Hunter_Tier]

"Order confirmed. Diplomat away. Behave yourself Hunter Knight." The Captain said jokeingly over the mike to which Tier replied. "Yeah, yeah. Just keep this bird under cover and hopefully we can be back with the main battle fleet within the next couple of days." Technically Tier outranked the Captian but it was a show of respect to Tier that he get along with thoes under his command to ease tension and instil trust when the chips are down. He walked his mech over to the launch ramp and stepped onto the pad. The launch light went from yellow to green and the pad rocketed him forward sending past the atmosphere shield and out into the vaccume of space. Ice crystalized and dissapated in a fine thin sheet along the hull of his mech as pressure and condensation left the machine and he felt the weightlesness tug against his flight harness. Tier piloted his mech toward the planet in full view. Vulpine Hunter mechs were rigged with the same cloaking stealth systems that the Hunters had within thier uniforms that could render them pratically invisable though registerable to heat signatures and IFF trackers while moving. At the moment Tier wanted them to see him. He was here on peaceful terms and he honestly wanted to keep it that way. His mech entered the atmosphere of the planet and began to burn fright red as it punched it's way through like a comet before decellerating using rockets and cooling down in the upper atmosphere. He wanted to cool the machine down before nearing too close. There was no telling what was below and civilian casualties would not earn him any brownie points for rushing in and landing like he was on some battlefield somewhere.

Tier brought the mech in softly making a gentle landing on the pad as to not cause too much of a commotion. Warnings and alerts flashed on his screen that the outside enviroment was poisionous and would kill him on contact. Tier was wearing his flight suit and helmet what could keep him alive for three days in the vaccume of space, a poisionous planet wouldn't be too much of a bother to him unless he could not get back to his mech within the third day. He opened the hatch and stood up to bow to the King and Queen and thier royal guard.

The King smiled as Tier rode down on the platform line and said to his pretty wife. "Well, we will see how this dignitary presents himself before we make any accusations. He is kinda strange though...." As Tier approached he bowed again and as he spoke he was real careful to move his lips accordingly and keep his secondary mouth forward without moving his mandables too much to appear as normal as possable. For some creatures, seeing a Vulpa for the first time was a bit of a shock. "Good King and Queen, I am deeply appericeative that you have accepted my offer of peace and willingness to talk. As you all probably know this is not a social mission that I am paying. I am to carry a message and an offer though I wish this kind of discussion to be taken place somewhere more professional if you please. The words I carry hold great weight and do require the upmost attencion." Tier hoped that they would not precive him as a threat though armed as he was. It was just the way of the Vupa with thier Hunter Knights. The King thought this over and looked to his wife. He was fully capable of making the decision but he wanted her input on the matter as well for something as important as this.

[Raven_Sparrow]

Esme,the queen, looked at the stranger with curiosity and cautiousness. Their kind didn't like outsiders very much but that also was because they have never really been visited by outsiders which made them naturally uneasy to them. She looked to her husband as he looked at her and spoke in their own language which Teir could not understand "I know very well his words are important but how can we be sure we are not being put into a trap? Our daughter is good at detecting other peoples intentions but still. I'm willing to hear his words,but i don't want to trust him fully till we know more about what he has to tell us and about this offer". As her mother spoke to her father raven walked up to Teir with a curious sparkle in her purple eyes. Never has she seen a vupla up close,or at all for that matter. She circled around him as if studying him. She had no intention of seeming aggressive or to be seen as a threat to this stranger,but she couldn't help her self. She had never been near outsiders and wanted to take advantage of this meeting. As she came to a stop in front of him she looked up at him making the beads that were in her white hair move back across her jawline. she touched his helmet and her ear twitched. "hello" she spoke with an accent very much close to old Romainain. All of their race had the accent. As Raven said hello and got close to Teir the honor guards tensed up and got ready to attack if necessary. Esme looked at Raven and bit her lip hoping no harm would come to her beloved child. Her father,Alistair, wrapped his arm around her mother giving her comfort and making her relax whispering in her ear "she's alright. let her explore. She's never seen an outsider.She's only curious." Esme nodded as they watched Teir wondering how'd he'd react to the princess.

[serpington]

Marco walked into the hanger in time to see tier's mech disappear into space. "i swear, i hate it when he does that....." he looked across as two other shi-ne-ki personnel quickly slid into small missile like pods with small wings. Marco quickly followed suit, climbing into his own white and black ship. "you two ready? just remember, no weapons till tier shoots first. either of you disobey that and I'll kill you myself." "yea, yea tough guy. you know i could kick your ass." "i still don't see why were here, were assassins not baby sitters." "look, were getting payed by the vulpa to do what they tell us to do. and their telling us to make sure this guy doesn't get himself killed." "you're just saying that cos you two have history." the three ships took off, launching towards the planet silently. two things the shi-ne-ki were known for was their in-comprehendable advancements in technology and their ability to cover up their own existence to the point of myth. the race of pure white foxes were trained from birth by their elders to be assassins, serving the vulpan military above all others. partly because they know where the shi-ne-ki home world is and could wipe them out without a second thought and because they finance the majority of the shi-ne-ki research, which (once perfected) ends up in the vulpan armed forces.

"yea.....we have history.....that's why they put me in charge. so shut it and keep on task." Marco said sternly through the com system as the three ships hit the atmosphere. seconds later the three ships hit termanal velocity before the three pilots hit the boosters shattering the terminal velocity, the poisonous air passing the ship while emitting a loud high pitched whistling screech. "300 feet...200...150...now!" all three pods seemed to open up for a split second before reforming into robotic bio-suits that perfectly fit the pilots body as armour plating matching their standard armour ((think altier from assassins creed one)) including a full face mask and breather. the three forms free fell the last hundred feet, boosters in their feet slowing them down enough for a hot entry without destroying the landing platform. they landing solidly, a loud thud after each one hit the ground "sorry we're late, ((internet issues >_<)) "but hunter knight tier doesn't always let us know where he's going. we are his appointed body guards. sorry if we startled you."

[Hunter_Tier]

Tier turned to his friend and guard and began rubbing tha back of his helmet in a show of embarassment. "Sorry about that. I get a little carried away at times."

[Raven_Sparrow]

Raven jumps at his guard's landing and goes to her parents as the honor guards grip their blaster rifles. Esme looks at Teir and then his guard in a slightly unhappy manor for scareing raven but also for the unnecessary drop in. "lets go to the war room to discuss the matter at hand." she and raven walk away from the platform heading to the war room.

[serpington]

Marco turned to tier once the royals had started walking away "you know you had better be more carefull. another stunt like that and i might just start tethering that run down mech of yours to the ship." as usual his voice sounded completely serious, anyone listening would have sworn he had just threatened tier. but hidden behind the emotionless metallic facemask he wore a large smirk to go with his baby blue eyes. "now lets get going, sir, can't have you screwwing this up on our account. it might look bad on my resume." this time a quiet chuckle escaped the mask as Marco started walking towards where the royals had gone, the two others standing guard, waiting for tier to go inside.

[Hunter_Tier]

"Just remember who's payroll you're on. That heap of crap has saved my tail more times than I care to remember. Besides, you know Vulpine policy. Whoever falls behind, stays behind." Tier said unable to resist a dig at Marco as they walked. He knew leaving the hangar without Marco and his guard was something of a risky move but Tier was still getting used to having to work so closely with someone who was a soldier but also knew his stuff in engeneering. Tier's main objective was to warn the Lontar of the impending ECA arrival while Marco was to keep an eye out for a location to place a Vulpine base while Tier did the negotation and Marco gathered the recourses he would need. They were hopeing for an area away from the Lontar where they could set up a facility without the need for biosuits for workers inside and the use of thier weapons that were made slightly illigal by some races. The Shi-ne-ki and the Vulpa had a very good thing going for eachother. The Shi-ne-ki made weapons, and the Vulpa... paied... too well. No onw knew how many of the monsters there were only that they came from the black hole anomoly known as The Veil and never went back through. They had built massive stations and defence platforms but it was a whispered legend among the Shi-ne-ki and the Eldar that the Vulpa were unable to return through The Veil. That they were stuck on this side of the seemingly one way wormhole and were more consirned with waging thier little war to wipe out the ECA rather than trying to find a way back through.

Tier followed them into the room and looked around. He was more used to the dark wooden paneled walls and coffee on the desk like his people liked but to each thier own. Tier waited for the King Alistair and Queen Esme to begin the breifing by making thier introductions and allowing him the floor to make his proposal.

[serpington]

"oh ho, a lecture on policy from the great hunter knight. what an honer. and don't worry i ain't letting you trash that piece of junk, you and it saved my skin back during the bio-mass project a few years back. he laughed alongside tier "and just because I'm on the same payroll doesn't mean i have to like it." he turned away leaving tier to go inside, he turned back at the last second he turned back sternly "i don't care what happens in there, something bad happens, you call me then the frigate. no heroics this time, you hear me? you go rouge on me and I'm finding the furthest room from the action and locking you in it till it's time for us to go back to base." as soon as he finished speaking a metallic pod landed behind him, two others landing next to the other two shi-ne-ki "it's like watching two lovers argue over who feeds the kids" laughed one of them pressing a hand to the pod which reformed into a hover bike built for the suits, then mounting the ten foot long bike and starting it "lets get out of here before they start kissing." joked the other before doing the same, the two taking off laughing as Marco activated his bike "now if you don't mind I'm going to go kill my subordinates." Marco took off after the others leaving tier to his business.

[Raven_Sparrow]

As Teir walked into the War room he saw it was a large room with a large round table in the middle. There were pictures depicting old  warriors and battles. As the queen and king aproched the table 3 white seats came down from the ceiling and floated as they sat in them. The third waiting for Teir to take a seat. Raven stood behind her parents watching Teir. She was very curious of him and wanted to know him. Alistair then looked at Teir "Take a seat and lets hear what you have to tell us."

[Hunter_Tier]

Tier bowed to them in formal greeting before being seated. "King and Queen, allow me to properly introduce myself. I am the Hunter Knight Tier Deschane. It is a charge that has been placed upon me to protect my people and thoes who would be our allies, we wish to include you among that list of people we can trust. You may or may not know of this or not but there is a force calling themselves the E.C.A. The Earths Corps Alliance. Ever since Earth's government has splintered the E.C.A. has been moving with frightening speed and has seemingly unlimited resourses. What the E.C.A. essentualy are is a group deticated to not just galitic but universal domination. The controle over trade routes, the subigation of races that are not Human, and the exicution of any race that defies them. In the past the eldar races formed the deciding counsil on matters of great importance and decided on issues consirning warfare. The counsil was attacked and has since dispersed into the darkness of space. The Eldar have retreated after suffering heavy losses and wish to appear as defeated. No contact has been able to be established with them in a very long time. The Orks constantly throw themselves at the E.C.A. but the numbers of the Humans are more than the stars in the sky. Thier fleets are vast, and thier troops are limitless. There is still factions of Humans who are loyal to the counsil and have defected from the E.C.A. but they have nownere near the supplies nor the resources to take the E.C.A. alone. No one has, not even us. We have been fighting them on the outer rim of your galaxy but we have sound belief that the E.C.A. know of your people through information gleaned from one of the systems we were just unable to defend. King and Queen you have my sinsearest of apologies but the Yarnia system os no more. We fought alongside the peoples of that system against the E.C.A. in many pitched and bloody battles over a system that does not belong to us and stood shoulder to shoulder with a peoples we never even knew but in the end we lost. We were able to evacuate as many as we could and that was when we learned of your people. We knew if the E.C.A. held that system, it would be only a matter of time before they learn of this one."

Tier licked his lips and geatured to Marco before continuing. "This is Herr Marco of the Shi-ni-ki. He and his have been a great asset to my people and myself. He is a brilliant engineer and fighter and came to us with a proposal to try to help slow the advance of the E.C.A. in this system. Build bases on each planet allowing for Vulpine and allied persionel to have a place to act as a staging area or a command during an assualt. The very air you breath would kill me in under a miniute, the food is toxic, and the local wildlife, from the information we have gathered would tear us to shreds in a matter of moments. We need a place of sanctuary to call our own, a place we can call as ours. Now, as a dignitary I understand interplanetary laws consirning the banning of certain weapons and structures which is why we are willing to pay an alloted amount as lease of the property to establish a base. We are not above paying to use something that is not ours. Good King and Queen I take my leave of the floor and offer it to Herr Marco if he may have anything he may wish to add that I may have forgotton. Sir." Tier said looking over To Marco and nodding to him respectfully.

[serpington]

Marco looked at the royals through the face mask of his armour before quietly whispering to tier "you never told me you had an actual last name....." he stepped forward formally "i have nothing of importance to add to what has been said, but to ask that if you accept the offer of the vulpa you allow myself and my colleagues to find a small section of land to drop off some vital equipment. i was also sent on behalf of of the executive head of research at shi-tech. he wishes to extend the capabilities of the shi-ne-ki pharmaceutical and munitions research projects, he believes that by joining forces the three of our races could push forward our understanding of the finer details of our research. his offer stands wether you join the vulpa or not." with that he bowed formally before turning and walking back to his place behind tier.