Strendents Chapter 3: Negav

David had never heard of the Strendent Armada before. If nothing else, it confirmed his suspicion that these people were not from the same galaxy.

“They are requesting that we switch to radio communiation,” SCARAB announced. “I do not recommend we do so. Radio waves are much more likely to be intercepted than tachyon signals.”

“No, go ahead and switch,” David said after a moment. “I want to speak to these people in person. Morse code can’t convey anything besides simple text. Keep the beam narrow and focused, and use the minimum power necessary to keep a clear signal.”

“Very well,” SCARAB said. “Signal open and set to appropriate frequency.”

“Excellent. This is David Thorne calling Mapper-7. Do you read?” David said.

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Elsewhere in the jungle, a naga named Shada awoke from her sleep. She had black hair and tanned skin, and the scales of her tail were a rusty orange. There was a faint static spark when her tail shifted. Sleepily rubbing her eyes, she yawned and stretched. She slowly unwound herself from the huge tree branch she had slept on and slithered her way to the ground.

Shada quickly gauged the position of the sun in the sky; it wasn’t as late as she had expected. Something had woken her from her sleep early, but what it was, she had no idea. Shrugging, she slithered off to see if there was anything new about. And maybe find some humans or nekos, a snack would be nice.

After becoming friends with Crisis, Mordal continued his trek in the jungle. He switched on his radar so he couldn't be snuck up on. After fifteen seconds, a red dot appeared on his radar. It wa close. Mordal quickly took out his Spartan Laser to protect himself from a potential predator. He cautiously looked around as he walked, then stopped dead as he saw a gigantic Naga with tan skin, black hair, and rusty orange scales. He quickly hid behind a tree, ready to be attacked. I hope she didn't see me. He thought.

"We read you Mr. Thorne. This is Eric Dawns of the Mapper-7." Eric paused for a moment before continuing. "Your primary communication system is remarkably similar to ours. Considering where we are, what are the odds of that?" A short laugh filled the radio as the Mapper-7 continued to walk on below the trees. N-72 was silent now that the radio communication was up. The AI was now focused on noting every tree, bush, stone, stream, and variations of the above.

With no space to be reached, N-72 came to its own conclusion as to how to derive a coordinate system. It would be as a simple plain. The center point, or (0,0) would be directly under the Star Skimmer's first location. Every additional point would be spread out over a distance of one kilometer each. Sarya was leaning back in her chair, cleaning out her assault rifle, eying every inch with great diligence.

“Yes, that is odd,” David said. “But fortunate. In my time here, I haven’t met anyone with technology similar to that of my culture. The most advanced thing I’ve seen are solid projectile weapons. They’ve got something else though, some kind of power that can replace technology.”

“I’m getting off track though. As I said I’ve been here for over two years. Two years of trying to find a way out of this hellhole. I came close once, and managed to return a colleague back home, but I was interrupted. Anyway, at this point I’d settle for just getting off the surface for a little bit.”

“If you’ve got something in orbit, I request refuge.”

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Out of the corner of her eye, Shada saw something blue bolt out of sight. She scanned the area, seeking whatever had fled just a bare second ago. She couldn’t see anything, but she could sense a faint whisper of electricity, typical of the electronic gadgets humans were fond of carrying. (Being associated with the lightning element, she could sense such things.) She was about to look around a particularly big tree when she was interrupted.

“Oh, hello there! Are you new here?” A cheerful voice asked behind Shada. She turned to see who it was and saw a blonde, smiling naga about the same size as herself.

“Is it that obvious?” Shada asked. The other naga blushed slightly.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.” She said, a little embarrassed.

“It’s quite alright. You’re right anyway, I’m just passing through. My name is Shada,” Shada said.

“I’m Crisis!” the blond naga said, smiling broadly again.

“Its good to meet you Crisis. Do you-” Shada started, but was interrupted when her stomach started rumbling. “Um, do you know where a hungry naga can find some dinner?” She asked.

“Oh, of course,” Crisis said, giggling a little. “There was a group of ten or so heading south a short way from here. Want to go hunting with me?”

“Thanks, I’d like that,” Shada said.

“Oh, I’ve got a friend somewhere around here, a good storyteller. I don’t want you to eat him by accident,” Crisis said.

“Eat him? A human friend?” Shada asked. “Does he happen to wear blue armor of some sort?”

“Yeah, he did. How did you know?” Crisis asked. Shada quickly snaked her tail around the big tree, and used the tip to nudge Mordal out of hiding.

“I saw him dart back there. If he’s your friend, I’ll leave him alone.” Shada said. “I don’t care for those armored ones anyway. They gave me indigestion once.”

“Well the ones at the camp should be better for you. Come on, lets go!” Crisis said, leading Shada away.


(((I hope I did Crisis' personality alright, I was shooting for a bubbly cheerfulness, with just a touch of naive)))

As Masurao was pushed out of hiding, he instantly tucked and rolled, then got up immedately to find Crisis with the other Naga. He heard the Naga say that she would leae him alone, so he was relieved. "Wait!" He shouted as the two nagas began to leave. "May I come with you ladies?"

The crew of the Mapper-7 was not too excited to hear magic brought up again. Especially Sarya. "Nothing can replace an explosive pulse round." Eric was inclined to agree, but there were more important things, such as how David apparently knew a way off this place. "N Seven Two, send the previous message sent to us, along with all following communication to the Star Skimmer. Captain's going to want to know this." The AI quickly set up a subroutine to continue the mapping process as it switched attention to the conversation. Talk of portals as transportation could be delightfully entertaining. "The requested operation is complete Eric. Captain Illidar is getting live feed. I'll patch him through."

On the Star Skimmer, Ilim was standing in the engine room, making a routine inspection, though of his crew, not the machines. The staff working in the room were very attentive to their jobs, even though the atmosphere was poorly lit and pipes and cables were lined up on near every wall, each one heading further back to the other systems of the Star Skimmer. The engine room was quiet. Ilim could never understand how such a violent nuclear reaction could be silent, but that wasn't his job. As N-72's mechanical voice played over the intercom, Ilim became utterly focused on the voice. "Sir, we have made contact with another being of significant technological advancement, he may know something of how to leave this Felarya. We are recording the conversation at the moment." The captain was delighted to hear of such a possibility, but he kept his outward emotions normal and dignified. "I will return to the bridge at once. Keep recording. If possible, request his presence here." There was a brief silence before the AI responded. "He has actually requested safe haven sir. Although he did request an orbital position." The captain sighed as he walked. Technologically advanced and he doesn't even know that this world has a ceiling.

Back on the Mapper-7, Eric continued his conversation with David. "If you know of anyway to get back to your own home, we could pool our resources. We are trying to figure this place out ourselves. As for having a ship in orbit, that's impossible here. Everything above a certain point just vanishes. We don't know to where or how even. However, our priority now is to finish our current mission." Eric paused for a moment before continuing. "Even if you were able to return a friend to his home, I doubt the same method can be applied to an armada frigate. It's going to require time for research. If you want, you can stick with us until we are done here. We're mapping a circular area two hundred kilometers in diameter below the Star Skimmer." A brief laugh filled the radio as Eric thought of something. "If you want to see her, just look up."

(((There’s a ceiling to this world? I didn’t know that.)))

“I had hoped that the barrier wasn’t global. Wishful thinking I suppose.” David said, a little disappointed “Never mind. This speeder is a low atmospheric craft. It has an effective flight ceiling of only a few kilometers. It can go higher, but maneuverability and speed drops exponentially. A risk I’d rather not take on this world; there are many aerial predators. I won’t be able to reach the star skimmer without assistance.”

“If nothing else, when you finish your mission, I could connect to your vehicle and accompany you up. However, I’d prefer to keep moving. Compared to the mapper-7, this speeder is very fragile and light. Her only defense is her mobility and speed. Send me a tachyon pulse when your mission is finished and I’ll be there in moments. ”

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Shada looked again at the soldier, then at Crisis.

“Sure! He can come, right Shada?” Crisis said.

“It’s fine with me,” Shada said with a shrug. Shada wrapped the end of her tail around Mordal and handed him to Crisis. The static electricity coursing in Shada’s tail was enough to make Mordal’s hair stand on end. “You’ll have to carry him, I tend to use a little lightning while hunting. I wouldn’t want to hurt him by accident, or mess up his electronic gizmos.”

“Okay,” Crisis said, taking Mordal and setting him on her shoulder. “Be careful now, and hold on.” Crisis resumed leading Shada towards the camp.

“It is a pity, though,” Shada said, following after Crisis, but addressing Mordal. “I get the feeling that hunting you would have been an enjoyable challenge. Oh well.”

After a few minutes of trekking Shada could see a thin line of smoke and the small glow of a campfire. Crisis turned to her and put a finger to her lips, expressing the need for silence. She began slowly and quietly approaching the camp. Shada, trying her best to emulate Crisis’ stealth, advanced beside her.

Mordal activated his cloaking device. "You can hunt me later if you want, Miss. Shada. Just fo fun, though."

Eric opened the communication again with a confirmation. "Look forward to seeing you then. We have another fifty kilometers to map before we are done here." Normally such a distance would be insubstantial, but for the mapping instruments to work properly, the Mapper-7 had to keep its travel speed below twenty kilometers per hour.

As the Mapper-7 continued along its path, Jackson began to speak. "I'm getting something on the edge of our seismic sensors. Can't determine its size, probably something quite heavy. What shall we do?" The news was not welcome and only brought up recent memories of what happened to the scouting party. None the less, whatever this was it was too far away right now to be a threat. Eric spoke only of the mission they were on. "We will continue with our progress. N Seven Two, if it is about to enter visual range, stop us and activate the cloaking device." The response from the AI was immediate and positive.

Not far from the mapper-7 A giant Obsidian Scaled naga awoke to unfamiliar vibrations. "hmmm breakfast." he stretched and yawned before slithering off in the direction of the strangers. The radio waves in the air acted as a homing signal until they vanished suddenly. "blast..." he then heard metallic footsteps in the distance and smiled, "todays a good day" he mused before continuing his hunt.

“Until then, David out,” David said, cutting the radio communication. He leaned back into his seat as he began steering his speeder onto a new course.

“Well, what do you think?” David asked after a moment. “Do you think that they have the technology needed to rebuild the gate?”

“Unknown. It appears advanced, but I cannot tell if it is enough,” SCARAB said. “It is also a question of whether or not they have the needed tools. Unlikely, unless their star skimmer is a research vessel.”

“Yeah, I know. Still, it’s closer than what we have now.” David said. “Either way, it’ll be good to have a proper base of operations again.

“Yes, but we do not know if- Warning! Large bioform detected within one quarter kilometer twelve o’clock! Class 1 predator.” SCARAB alerted. Class 1, their code for anything that considered humans a delicacy. He risked a glance out the window.

There it was, a massive naga male, with black scales. And much too close for comfort. David seized the controls, hauled the speeded into a new direction, and upped the throttle.

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The campers were, as of yet, oblivious to Shada’s presence hidden among the trees. She was waiting without a sound, barely breathing as she waited on Crisis. She watched the humans intently and hungrily. On the far side of the camp, there was no activity that Shada could see. If Crisis was there, she was too stealthy for Shada to detect her.

The quiet scene suddenly burst into action. Though no noise had betrayed her presence there, Crisis burst forth from the trees into the camp. She grabbed two of the humans in the camp as the rest ran away from her. Running toward Shada. It was her turn now.

Shada emerged from the trees in front of the fleeing humans. As they panicked and scattered, Shada swung her tail around and looped it around the humans, blocking their path. Crisis brought up the other side, and between the two nagas, the humans were completely encircled. A couple of the armored warriors tried swinging their swords at Shada’s tail, but a few mild jolts of electricity was enough to paralyzed them. Shada picked out five of the humans that didn’t have any armor on and simply swallowed them one after the other. She was done before Crisis had even finished toying with her first human in her mouth.

“Ahh, that was a good meal,” Shada said, leaning back against a tree with her hands behind her head. Crisis gulped her first human.

“You’re done already?” Crisis asked, grabbing a second human from the ring made from her tail.

“Yeah, I’m a fast eater,” Shada said, shrugging. “I’ve never really cared for toying with them after their caught.”

“You should try it, it’s fun!” Crisis said, “Here, try it with this one,” She added, holding out a human to Shada

“No, thank you. I’ve had my fair share already. You enjoy him,” Shada said, shaking her head. She leaned back and closed her eyes, waiting for her recent meal to stop struggling.

While Mordal's Naga friends ate, Mordal walked over to where Shada sat, and sat down as well. He was starting to feel different about vore. He started to...like it. He didn't know why, though. All the years he's been in Felarya, he has always feared being eaten. Now, he wouldn't mind it if he was eaten, and not digested.

Suddenly, Mordal's stomach growled. He let out a sigh, and detatched his helmet with a hiss. Holding his helmet with his left arm, Mordal placed his open hand on his stomach. "Damn...There's nothing to eat here...Unless you're a predator, of course.

Dorian heard the speeder leave and let it go, it was too fast for him anyway. instead he followed the sound of the walker until he was close enough to smell the humans inside. "like fish in a can" he said with a chuckle.

"Approach is imminent Eric." N-72's voice played over the intercom with a rather unemotional tone. Eric began to flick switches and turn dials above his head as he vocally went over his actions. "Cutting mapping utilities and reducing power output to minimum percentage. Adjusting facing to meet incoming object." After this brief relay of information, Eric flicked one last switch. "Stealth activated." As the Mapper-7 turned to face the incoming object, its surface shimmered then vanished all together. Soon there was not even a sound to betray its location.

Inside, the entire crew was breathing slowly, staring through the view port as the large spot on the seismic sensors drew nearer. Jackson put his chin in his palm as he leaned forward and Sarya left the cabin towards the back, the sharp click of a magazine sliding into her rifle could be heard as she made her way towards her own supplies. Eric was also staring out of the vehicle, talking now in a whisper. "Captain, we have an unidentified object of significant size moving towards our location. It's movement pattern resembles that of first Felaryan contact sir. We may be coming up fast sir; over."

Captain Illidar had already reached the bridge by the time the message came in. Beads of sweat began to form on the officer's brow, an outward sign of his worry. They still had little idea what this planet housed in the way of life, but the previous experience told them it was far from good. "If the object is what you believe it to be, get out. Cut comm chatter unless it is absolutely necessary. Illidar out." Glancing over his control panel, the captain punched in the frequency the Mapper-7 was using to contact David and sent out a quick message. "This is Ilim Illdar, Captain of the Star Skimmer, ranking officer in the Strendant Armada. We can talk formally later, but you have eyes below the tree line. What is moving on my men?" The captain was hoping the mystery person would still be willing to cooperate with them and Ilim needed information to help his crew now more than anything.

The naga slithered into sight and paused turning his head to listen, he sniffed the air. leaning forward he laid a hand on the ground and felt around "Come on, make one little move, I dare you."

“We are receiving a transmission from the captain of the Star Skimmer. He is requesting data on an unknown entity approaching the mapper-7,” SCARAB stated.

“I’ll do a flyby. You talk to him, tell him what he needs to know.” David said briskly, turning the control yoke. The speeder banked to one side and swung around to fly in the way it came. SCARAB opened a radio channel to the Star Skimmer.

“This is AI construct SCARAB-17 of the CTS speeder. Mr. Thorne is occupied with piloting the speeder. We are approaching the unknown entity.” Outside, in between the tree trunks as they sped past, glimpses of the naga Dorian could be seen. SCARAB brought the sensors of the speeder to bear on the naga.

“Visual contact. Unknown is a large human/snake hybrid. Approximately 26 meters in height. Sentient level intelligence probable. Unknown biological abilities. Class 1 predator. Additional: the entity appears to be attempting to locate the mapper-7 by auditory and olfactory means. The sound of our flight should disrupt the former.”

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“Did you hear that? The little man is hungry,” Shada said, opening her eyes. She looked around a moment, and her eyes fell on some fruit hanging far above in a tree. “Say, are those any good? Shada asked, pointing at them. Crisis nodded, gulping the human she had in her mouth.

“Oh, they’re good, as far as plants go. Mordal might like them,” She said.

“I’ll go get them,” Shada said, rearing up and reaching for a low branch. Grasping it, she swung her tail up and wrapped it around the branch. Slowly, she began climbing up the tree toward the fruit.

Even though she was new to the forest, she was adept at climbing, though most of her experience came from canyon walls. It wasn’t long before she reached the lowest fruit. Pulling off a small branch (really, a twig to Shada) laden with the fruit, she started on her way down. Something faint reached her ear. Pausing, and holding her breath, she listened. But whatever it was, it was gone. Shrugging, she made her way down.

“Here you go,” Shada said, dropping the branch in front of Mordal. “Say, I’m just wondering, how did you meet this little storyteller?”

“Oh, he actually came looking for me, not long ago,” Crisis said.

“Looking for you? That’s unusual. Why, I wonder…” Shada said.

The crew of the Mapper-7 remained silent. Eric and Jackson did not take their eyes off the naga that had entered the area as it searched for them. Each of them had no idea what they were looking at, but neither of them dared to ask the question as of yet. Sarya however, was waiting by the top entry hatch, left hand on the entry switch, the other on an assault rifle. Unlike the pulse rifles that were standard issue, this weapon was slightly larger, and its magazine glowed a light red. N-72 was busy gathering as much data as possible. Approximate weight from the seismic sensors, height from visual data, even movement and speech patterns and began displaying it across the cockpit screens along with text versions of communications from the Star Skimmer.

On the Star Skimmer however, there was a great deal of commotion. A communications personnel shouted across the bridge, "Mapper-7 has visual on the bogey sir!" As soon as they learned the unknown object was a naga, it immediately was referred to as this. Ilim again opened a communications line between himself and the speeder. "Thank you for your assistance David. The Mapper-7 has visual on the bogey. We're going to be dropping altitude. If you need a dock, now's your chance." The captain knew his idea may fail, but it was the best one he had. He didn't want to lay waste to an entire stretch of land, so Ilim hoped intimidation would work. Things here may dwarf humans, but little could dwarf a capitol ship of the Strendant armada. "Bring us to one kilometer in elevation directly over the Mapper-7's position." The response was almost immediate as the crew began to make adjustments. "Adjusting facing and elevation. ETA is five minutes." Ilim frowned at this. It was already proven to them that five minutes in a situation like this could be too long.

Dorian slowly slithered forward, his muscles were tensed slightly, ready to propel him forward. despite his sheer size, the naga was quick to react at the most minute sound or vibration. His hand slid over one of the prints left behind by the walker and he froze. "Marco...."

Mordal smiled gratefully at Shada, got up, amd walked over to the branch with the fruit on it He bent down, grabbe the fruit, and took a bite out of it. A sweet sensation filled his mouth as he ate the juicy fruit. He finished it, and was surprisingly full. He pulled on his EQD helmet. "So, what now?"

off in the forest....

the naga Joanna awoke from her nap, she let out a yawn and immediatley one thought filled her mind, Breakfast. She began sniffing the air trying to pick up the scent of any humans in the area. Once she had finally picked up a smell she followed her nose in the direction of the humans.After she had gone a while she saw a rising pillar of smoke probably from a fire. "Humans" she said to herself and continued slithering.

“What’s going on out there? What’s the snake doing?” David said urgently as he piloted the speeder in a half kilometer wide circle around the naga. Gripping the control yoke tightly, he deftly dodged the speeder around the huge tree trunks.

“The naga is feeling along the ground. I believe it is seeking the mapper-7’s footprints,” SCARAB stated, playing the speeder’s scanners over the area.

“When will the star skimmer get here?” David asked briskly.

“Estimated ETA: approximately four minutes,” SCARAB stated flatly. David swore softly, the naga could be on top of the mapper-7 before then. But what could they do in an unarmed speeder? David had a particle rifle with him, but the highest setting could only cause a nasty blister on the naga’s tough skin. At which point, the naga would spot David and retaliate. Or would he?

“SCARAB, you said the naga was looking, smelling, and feeling for the mapper-7. Did you observe the snake looking for them?” David asked.

“No,” Was SCARABS brief reply.

“Is it blind? Well, that changes everything,” David said “I need you to calculate a safe, straight path through these trees, one where I can reach high speeds. I want to hit Mach 1 right behind the snake’s head.”

SCARAB was silent for several long moments. “Path computed,” It said after a pause. “Proceed to relative point –42.84x, 59.08y, 5.43z.” David didn’t answer, but the speeder banked sharply and sped away from the area.

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“Well, Crisis said you told good stories,” Shada said, leaning back again. “How about telling me, wait a moment…” She suddenly became quiet, listening intently. Faintly at first, but gradually growing louder, the hum of a futuristic engine could be heard. After a moment, a small silvery, teardrop shaped speeder shot through the branches above and disappeared back into the foliage within a split second. The sound of the engine could be heard receding, as a few disturbed leaves gently floated down to the ground.

“I didn’t know you were here Thorne,” Shada said to no one in particular.

“You know what that was?” Crisis asked.

“Not what, but who. David Thorne. A slippery little human, he’s escaped me on more than one occasion,” Shada explained. “Hunting him has been the longest chase I’ve ever started.” She smiled a feral grin. “The most enjoyable one too. Finishing that hunt will be a pleasure.”

“Well, lets go then! I’ll help you get him!” Crisis said.

“No, it’s no use chasing him while he’s moving. In open sky, he can reach incredible speeds. You have to surprise him while he’s staying still,” Shada said. “But later, I’d welcome your help.”

“In the meanwhile, how about you tell me about yourself Mordal.”

Dorian paused and raise dhis head, "sounds like the appetizer." the tip of his tail rose a few feet in the air as he waited, the problem was, the echo of the forest made it impossible for him to know exactly where th espeeder was coming from at such high velocity.

Something else has its attention then? The thought ran through Eric's mind as the naga looking for them changed its facing. There was background noise in the air, most likely from a speeder. "Could that be David?" Jackson spoke, but he was not a fool for doing so. Their voices at this point would not be able to overpower the sound of that speeder. Switching a channel over to the speeder, Eric spoke. "David, is that you we're hearing?" While he spoke, Eric put his hands back onto the ship's controls. He may need to move soon, and according to N-72's still on screen reports, it would take another three minutes and forty five seconds for the Star Skimmer to be overhead.

Mordal suddenly heard something behind him. He quickly loaded is shotgun, and spun around, to find ANOTHER Naga. He looked up to see the Naga's face. She wore a dark blue cloth bustier and a dark blue loincloth made of cloth. She had sapphire eyes, scales, and long bli=onde hair. She was 100-feet-tall, and she was looking at Mordal.

It's him again.... Dorians eyes narrowed and his coils shifted nervosly as the air pressure changed slightly overhead. Closing his eyes, the male unloashed a long fluid note with rolled into a song written in an ancient dead language.