45 Minutes from the Present

Fleet Admiral Kensei looked puzzled as he read the translated message from the Treecu Emissary. Looking over at his display he calmly asked, “Are you sure the Xenolinguists correctly translated the message? This reads like a threat to our main force.” Himiko shrugged as she replied, “The Software is still in the beta stages, but it is safe to say that they know of our destination and will warn the occupiers of Admiral Kobayashi’s Arrival.” “I see, then for now there is no need to let the treecu know of the location of our main forces, and to disregard the message for now.” murmured Kensei before the Comms officer spoke, “Sir, there’s an incoming transmission addressed to you sir.” “Is the transmission secure?” “Yes, Sir. The Transmission is encrypted by the Zero Cipher.” “Very well, patch it through to my private cabins in five.” Kensei said as he rose from his seat and headed towards the Captain’s Quarters.

20 Minutes from the Present

Rear Admiral Izana Kobayashi sighed as she sat alone in the bridge keeping watch with Archer while the crew ate in the mess hall. The Combined Fleet had taken precautions before jumping into slipspace. These precautions included masking their overall radiation emitted by the Horikoshi-Caproni Slipspace Drive to make it appear as if it was just one giant ship, docking smaller ships to larger ships to hide them from radar/radar equivalent, and ensuring that their less menacing ships took the lead to gauge their arrogance. She had also decided on a meandering route to throw off their trackers which delayed their estimated arrival time by a good 24 hours. ‘Hopefully the people of Yim III could hold out for two more days.’ She thought as the ship hurtled across slip space towards Yim III.

Present

Fleet Commander Kensei was seen looking shocked as he returned to his post on the Himiko’s Revenge. “Did something happen sir?” asked Himiko. “Yes, the Ceres Council* wants to meet the Treecu… Which means we’ll need them on this ship.” Replied Kensei. “I guess we should be honored that the Federation’s top leadership saw fit to message a lowly fleet commander just to set up an intergalactic conference call. Fleet Commander Kensei, Gofer of Ceres Council.”  Joked Himiko. “That’s Fleet Commander Gofer to you Computer.” Countered Kensei “In any case I’m not going to risk the lives of my crew just to comply with their orders. We might as well play the part of the ignorant pirate hunter who happens to receive new orders”. Regaining his composure, he asked, “What is our ETA Himiko?” “2 minutes sir,” replied the AI. “Excellent,” said Kensei as he watched the bridge crew start the process to exit slipspace.

The space 3 kilometers away from the Treecu’s vessel crackled to life. The distortion was barely noticeable in the inky black void as it crackled and shifted matter until it formed a small sphere the size of a baseball. The small sphere seemingly collapsed in on itself before it released a violent shockwave expanding at an incredible rate before stabilizing as a large sphere.
             
  From the dark sphere, a Massive Warship slowly materialized into the Treecu vessel’s view. The massive vessel was the opposite of the Treecu in every sense of the way. It was blocky, and inelegant to the eyes of the beholder. The hull of the vessel was splotched with blast marks and dents caused by battles of old. However, despite its crude appearance the Vessel was not what it seemed. After the vessel exited the sphere, a second smaller vessel exited the cruiser. The Second vessel was triangular, and unlike the larger ship did not have any blaster marks or dents on the hull.
 The “Two vessels” cruised lazily towards the Treecu vessels when Commander Kensei spoke on open frequencies, “Attention Treecu Vessel, Taam Yim. This is the Assault Carrier Himiko’s Revenge. Our leaders have expressed an interest in meeting with you. However, there are certain procedural matters that need to be dispensed with. What is your business with the 501^st Strike Fleet of the Venterran Navy? Depending upon your answer we will either treat you as diplomats or as hostile prisoners. I recommend that you speak honestly and choose your words carefully."

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The Ceres Council is the 12 ruling Administrative Governors elected by the 12 administrations of the Venterran Federation and 1 President who is elected by a popular vote. Unlike the Venterran Council which handles legislation and day to day activities, the Governors are bureaucrats who enforce the laws passed by the Venterran Council and also foreign policy. Only one member of the Council may reveal their face to the general public at any time (Except the President who serves as the face of the Federation).