The Sol system, considered something of a worthless backwater by the Coalition of the Milky Way Galaxy; so far removed from any other inhabited systems or trade hubs it hadn't been settled or contacted by the greater galactic community for eons.
The surrounding star systems at this far end of a galactic spiral arm were rich in resources but so far removed from local trade routes they were not deemed profitable. There was also a lack of habitable planets, very few sported atmospheres and biospheres that were compatible with organic life. The systems had become the haven of a small pirate group, darting out of poorly charted systems to raid rich merchant convoys and independent traders. There had also been a small number of scientific research expeditions making visits over the centuries to the lonely planet teeming with life in the Sol system to see how they developed and changed over the years.
There were even rumours that some races had plucked hapless humans off of their world over the years and spirited them away for cheap labour or other nefarious purposes. Mostly the pirates or less then law abiding civilisations who wanted to make a quick buck or reduce their costs. There are even documented cases of aliens disguising themselves to live amongst the humans to learn and experience their culture before returning to space.
Eventually the local Galactic Coalition put together a task force of ships from its members and sent them into the sector to smash the pirates and try to put a stop to illegal activities by Coalition members. It had been a very successful campaign and during the mop up; a patrol by one of the Coalition squadrons started to detect repeating radio signals emanating from the Sol system.
Thinking they'd found someone in the act of doing something they shouldn’t to the protected pre-space age world they diverted to investigate. What they discovered however was that the thriving world was progressing out of its barbaric age into an age of enlightenment and scientific discovery focused on the stars. They appeared to be coming out of a worldwide military conflict, a major disagreement between two differing ideologies. A science ship was dispatched to observe and investigate these changes to their society and update the Coalitions records. However after a shuttle crash in local year 1947, tentative contact was made with the “super-power” nation that had emerged victorious from the worldwide conflict.
A thirty year period of preparation was agreed upon between the Earthian politicians and the Coalition with other Earth governments slowly being brought aboard as time passed. This slow methodical seeding of ideas into the background of the local species culture laid the groundwork for introducing this world to the marvels of space.
Throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s (local Earth calendar) the Earthian governments prepared, culminating with the Humans landing on their satellite “Lunar” in 1969. By 1978 the governments of Earth decided they were ready and stepped forward to reveal the existence of life from other planets to their people. This transitory introduction went well and Earthians started to head out into the Galaxy to explore using technology they purchased from the interested scientists and visiting Coalition dignitaries.
They soon set up several inter-system colonies and resource extraction projects. Those worthless star systems that had been deemed too remote by local races to be of use suddenly had value. With Earth being so remote from usual trade routes the Earthians successfully lobbied for a Fold-Way Gate to be built in the Sol system. It was a massive undertaking but the Humans can be quite resourceful and poetic and made a case that won over several developed species including the Avali Illuminate.
Such gates are rare, building one would be beyond the technical capabilities and budget of most Coalition races. Usually they require the backing of a majority of the local Coalition to even progress beyond the planning stage. That arm of the galaxy was seen as a dead backwater, a desolate area of dead space full of resources but with no easy route to extract them. But with a habitable planet as the core of a new trading hub; those resource rich but isolated systems became a lot more tempting.
With the Avali Illuminates aid and the backing of the Unmizu, Cultarvians and the Ranshalfor a successful bid was made to the Kasvane. The elder race agreed to their proposal and the gate was built in Sol. The new gate came online in 1988 opening the Sol system to the trans-jump teleportation gate network. Powered by the tamed magnetic flux of Jupiter, their largest gas giant, the gate now connected Sol to the Coalition central district. The centre of the massive gate network was also the home of a massive trading hub at PSR B0531+21 or the “Crab Pulsar”, as Earth had named it. With a way open a horde of prospecting ships flew through with the Earth taking a cut of tariffs and tolls for gate access.
With a centralised base for smaller colonies to send their wealth back to, a booming market started to develop. Earth mining colonies sprang up in star systems all around Sol with the Earthians being open to partnering with pretty much any Alien who had a good plan and a willingness to work with them. Wealth flowed into the Coalition through the gate and Earth managed to snag enough of the pie that wealth started to flow home as well though in typical fashion for their culture this wealth wound up in the pockets of Governments, Corporations and wealthy individuals with only a limited amount of this wealth trickling down to the general population.
Even the importance of Earth waned, as the Earthians decided to build a trading station in orbit of Jupiter. Dockyards, cargo stations, fuelling ports all built within easy reach of the gate itself. So by the Earthian year 2012 Earth itself was more of a tourist destination than a centre of galactic commerce. Aliens are a frequent sight on Earth and many aliens now live on the planet making it their home as well as visiting but the majority of Galactic commerce happens out in orbit of Jupiter.
Humanity itself is quite susceptible to the call of the void, the desire to live amongst and travel the stars. Many of them struck off into the universe crewing small ships, acting as representatives of their various nations or going entirely independent. Many humans showed a dogged determination to learn the skills they needed to join alien ships too, voyaging out as part of a crew of mixed aliens on independent traders, science vessels and exploration gigs, often taking the most menial and worst paying jobs just so they could fulfil their dream of living amongst the stars.
Leaning back in his chair Seinu hummed softly as he skimmed over the final pages of his Earth primer. Their recent history since being introduced to the wonders of Galactic civilization had been interesting but the majority of Humanity still lived on Earth. Outside space was sliding past as the Odyssey made its way through the traffic lanes ready for transit to Earth. They were finally on their way. They had left Soopee-31P in the capable hands of the Nesting 7th and flown off into the void.
It was going to be an interesting visit.
Traffic control was its usual predictable self as Roderick worked through his shift, periods of tedium followed by bursts of activity followed by more mind numbing quiet as the next ship prepared for departure. The young human was keeping an eye on the gate traffic screen and as several lights on his display turned green he spoke into the radio, “Jupiter control to the TFG Hansalant, your approach vector is green, you are go for translation.”
The yellow blip on the dark screen in front of him started moving and Roderick lifted his eyes to peer through the reinforced sapphire window and watched the hulking ore freighter fly into view. It was rising up from the holding dock on a tail of orange flame, approaching the left hand side of the great gate-structure. The office of traffic control was a small station floating in space to one side of the gigantic gate. Close enough the controller could also visually watch ships approaching and act as the control centre for the network of drones and beacon satellites that wrapped the gateway to create the infrastructure needed for safe use of the Fold-Way.
It was a monotonous job for most of the time, hours of checking forms and talking to impatient ship captains and managing the queue. But it was worth it for moments like this when a ship was leaving! The Hansalant’s drives cut off, the bulky ore freighter started to coast on its inertia toward the ochre frame of the gate. When it passed the final line of beacons tractor beams emitted by the gate caught it, steadying its course and speed as the gate sprang into life, a whirling vortex of green light filled the gate that then darkened until it was a deep emerald shade and with a sudden pulse of light the tractor beams released the cargo ship and it vanished into the gate, whisking the ship away to central space in the blink of an eye.
It was an efficient but terribly expensive way to travel, and Roderick loved watching the ships leave so this was a good job for him. As the gate spooled down he was already turning back to check who was next in the queue. The gate itself was a fascinating device and no one understood quite how it worked. They were built by an ancient species called the Kasvane, they lived in a marvellous star-system entirely cut off from the outside universe by a shield that shrouded the entire system.
The only way in and out was via a technology they called “Fold-ways” a method of folding space so two points in time became the same location allowing for instantaneous transportation. Their entire world was artificial and able to generate these portals itself so they didn’t need gateways but they also had the technology to build and transport them to other points across the universe. They had a monopoly on these massive transport gates, no one else could build anything close to resembling their level of technology. Even the Avali Illuminate had only been able to make a miniature portal in lab conditions and they had admitted none of the readings they took during their experiment matched the space time anomalies the gates generated.
The Kasvane themselves were a peculiar species, living sapient plant people who came in a variety of types. All of them were however somehow interconnected, a low-level hive mind that wove them all together in harmony whilst also permitting them to display their own personalities. Their planet was also one big forest meshed with the technology of their artificial world on a level that no one else could grasp, a unique blending of technology and nature that was so deep that to the Kasvane their technology may as well have been magic, they thought and their technology did what they needed.
The gates themselves were the largest and most visible manifestation of their technology, they didn’t really share anything else. Even their ships were enigmas but the gates were protected against tampering. They were a strange blend of technological and organic parts and their operating systems were organic based and they would not tolerate being tampered with. Once, centuries ago the Dunkeln had tried to reverse engineer how their gate worked and it had made its displeasure felt by refusing to transport their ships to the galactic trade hub and started dumping their ships into the middle of nowhere between galaxies.
The Kasvane had taken it off them, removing the gate from their system and the Dunkeln economy had collapsed overnight. No one wanted to help them for fear of upsetting the Kasvane more. Their ruler the Choirmaster Alare had made it quite clear they would not tolerate people trying to steal their technology. These days Dunkeln was a backwater planet that barely limped along, they couldn’t even join their local Galactic Coalition, having been expelled for threatening Galactic Commerce. This sanction had another 80 years left before it expired and they could apply to re-join. Their local coalition was keen to show that later generations of the Dunkeln would have learnt from their mistakes and had not wanted to make the sanction permanent. The whole incident was a huge scandal, the Kasvane very nearly took all their gates away over the incident and there was no cheaper way to mass transport raw materials across the galaxy so everyone had been keen to punish the Dunkeln but also leave the door open to show they could grow.
Looking up at the massive gate as it spun back down Roderick smiled happily, he loved watching it work and seeing the ore barges departing. He was about to start processing the exit forms for the next ship in the queue when there was a chime from his controls. The human paused and glanced at the in-coming stream display; it wasn’t unusual for an incoming ship to arrive before the next departure, the gate operated in sequences all the time. The curiosity was the chime, it was a traffic clearance request.
“Ok…” Roderick read the data streaming in, the gate was preparing for an arrival but there was a non standard request to ensure the space outside the gate was clear of other traffic for a radius three times the size needed for a normal arrival.
Roderick checked the current state of traffic and activated the routing beacons to keep a space clear on the right side of the gate and sent back an affirmative.
“What are they sending through,” he muttered to himself as he watched his screens, he lifted his head as the gate flickered into life, it swirled outward with orange light and the mass detection monitor edged right across into amber, “What…” Roderick starred in surprise; whatever was coming through was massive, the tractor system was bringing secondary and tertiary emitters on line ready to catch the incoming mass. He could see the sparkling lines of the motion net forming, a huge hemisphere of overlapping tractor beams that would catch in-coming craft and slow them down.
The gate swirled with light and then in a flash the event horizon opened and a gleaming white and orange ship glided through. Roderick stared in awe as the ship was caught in a net of tractor light slowing its momentum and gently bringing it to a halt. It hung outside the window like a majestic space whale, a sleek, kilometre long oval of Avali design surrounded by a halo of nine smaller drones arranged in a defensive formation.
As the tractor guidance system brought it to a safe stop the defensive drones returned to their mothership and Roderick started smiling in delight. It was the AEV Odyssey; he’d been told by his boss to expect a delegation of Avali diplomats but he never imagined in his wildest dreams that the ship they’d send would be the famous home of the Trail pack itself. Roderick slapped the blinking communication icon and tried to compose his features to put on a professional air as the screen showed him a lime green and white feathered Avali that could only be Captain Selenu.
“Greetings Jupiter control,” she said in a polite manner, “I hope our arrival hasn’t caused you any issues.”
“Not at all Captain,” Roderick said, “Our capture system received your warning in plenty of time, we are bringing you out of the arrival zone,” he ran his eyes over the screen in front of him, “I see you have all the correct Diplomatic passes in place, I am forwarding you a flight path to Earth orbit, please keep your weapon pods retracted the Governments of Earth want to assure you that you are safe here.”
“Thank you Jupiter control, we're ready to depart to Hastalan Waste Removal’s Earth orbital station as soon as we have your permission to depart.”
Roderick ran his eyes over the certificates and travel authorisation the Odyssey was sending him. It was a real high powered sort of visa waiver, Diplomatic immunity, Embassy status and a whole host of notes and instructions on who he had to inform once they arrived and a pre-arranged flight path. Roderick tried not to grimace at the flight path, it forced them to fly at quite a slow speed over the neutrino mass relay built into Europa as a survey station.
“I’m sending you the pre-approved flight path to Earth, due to your large size they'd like to keep you out of the regular shipping lanes and are sending you down the diplomatic route, speed requirements and navigation check points are included.”
“Thank you Jupiter control, we have that now, was there anything else?”
“Roderick looked around the control room then back at the Avali, “Your schedule here says the embassy will be open for tours whilst you are here but doesn't contain dates and times, do you have those to hand so I can inform the right people?”
“Oh yes, sending those over now,” a list of dates and times when the Avali ship would be open for tours was sent over. Roderick saved it, thanked the Captain and gave them permission to embark. He watched through the windows as the massive ship was released from the tractor net and powered away toward Earth. Despite its size it was a graceful, majestic sight to behold and then it was gone, fading into the night. Sighing Roderick turned back to the list of outgoing ore barges, he had work to do but he left the dates for the Odyssey tours open on his screen, one of them coincided with one of his days off, he had a chance, he had to get the shuttle to Earth and get a ticket! He couldn't miss this!
Selenu smiled as the eager looking young human manning traffic control signed off and tapped her controls, ordering the Odyssey to start along the route they'd been provided. As the great ship started to move she reviewed the route and shook her head in amusement.
“Ifelse,” she called and the AI Jakub appeared, his holographic matrix flickering as he clambered along the top of a nearby screen, “Am I reading this right or will our shadow slide right over the Europa detection array.”
“You’re right,” the AI said after analysing the flight path, “I assume they are going to use the neutrino detectors to try and read our neutrino shadow, flying at their approved speed with the primary shields down they will be able to get quite a good reading.”
“I thought so,” Selenu frowned at her controls, “Can you modulate deflector shielding to mask and hide our neutrino return?”
“Yes,” Ifelse replied, “It is still up and active, I can adjust the magnetic charge to adjust our neutrino shadows echo, what would you like us to do?”
Selenu hummed for a moment, chirping softly and dragged a control board closer to herself, “Give me a moment,” her claws tapped across the keyboard, “We can’t let them just brazenly scan our shadow, it may let them learn things we do not want them to learn, let me just,” she tapped in a few more commands then smiled, “Here we go, modulate our deflector shields to send this message.”
Ifelse regarded the configuration of the shields and laughed, “Executing now,” he brought up a screen to show what the detection array would capture. It was quite clever, by using the shields to block certain sections of the hull from emitting neutrinos they could send a message that the sneaky humans would receive when they analysed the Odyssey’s neutrino shadow.
Selenu watched as Ifelse modulated their shields until the only neutrinos passing through the Odyssey would spell the message, “Hello Earth, isn’t the Odyssey neat? Public tours open soon, come and visit us.”
Ifelse laughed as he finished and shook their little head, “They are going to be so angry and yet so intrigued, how many spies are you expecting on the public tour?”
“About sixty to seventy percent of the guests will be spies, the rest will be genuine tourists excited to see an Avali ship,” Selenu grinned, “Ki and Chantelle are going to be doing the tours; Ki is very good at talking nonsense and rambling on about nothing whilst making sure people can’t ask annoying or awkward questions.”
“And Chantelle is very good at hosting people,” Ifelse said with a short smile, “Is there anything you’d like me to do to help the tours?”
Selenu flicked her ears, “Can you reformat the scanners on the airlock we designate for visitors?” she tapped a screen and pointed, “We’ll use the Diplomatic airlock that comes out into the atrium, we want visitors to have a good impression but I expect them all to be carrying spy gear, we need to make sure we trash it without causing a fuss.”
“I will start installing extra scanners now,” Ifelse said with a smile, “Is there anything else you need, Captain?”
“Not right now, please let everyone know we are due to arrive in orbit of Earth in two hours, Hastalan Waste Removal are expecting us and have sent us greetings, please forward them to Seinu’s office.”
The jakub AI chirped in approval and then faded away as they shut off their projection on the bridge, trotting off to take care of matters as Selenu focused on the dot of light in the distance that represented Earth, this was going to be an interesting visit.
Standing in the middle of the pack tent Seinu was surrounded by holographic screens; data and information from the Illuminate Directorate of Foreign Affairs and last minute messages were flowing around him. His eyes were flicking back and forth as he absorbed Ck’akk’s last minute instructions as he tried his best to stand still in the middle of the tent, directing the flow of messages with eye movements being translated by his visor.
Firi and Chantelle fussed around him, his sisters discussing clothing options as they flicked back and forth through a rack of high quality items they had pulled out of the pack wardrobe. Cri was trotting back and forth as well, the vampire bunny carrying in boxes full of accessories and cases loaded with different coloured gadgets and gizmos.
“Seinu arms up please,” Firi said and Seinu lifted his arms, letting his wing feathers drape down as she gestured and said something to Chantelle, the silver and charcoal Avali wasn’t really listening, letting their words wash over him as his visor played a message from the cultural analysis department.
“Seinu what do you think?” Chantelle suddenly asked and he lifted his head to stare at them both.
“Think about what?” He asked, “Just dress me already, I should be in my office. We are already in the Sol system.”
“We need to make sure we get this right,” Chantelle grumbled, “If you’d take more of an interest in fashion you’d understand.”
Seinu lowered his visor and stared at his sister, “Just pick something nice and let's get on with this.”
“Seinu we…” Chantelle started but Firi clamped a paw around her muzzle and shook her head but before she could speak Cri walked over and chirped happily.
“I like him naked,” the vampire bunny grinned up at Seinu, showing off his fangs, “He looks awesome.”
Seinu smiled and lowered his head to nuzzle Cri and received a lick from him, the bunny equivalent of a kiss, “I like how you look too, the new beads are pretty.”
Cri ran a hand down the braided length of his neck fluff which now reached nearly to the floor and was tied together at the bottom by three beads. Black, White, Purple, the same type of beads were also wrapped around the base of his tail which he swished back and forth.
“They match your necklace and bracelets, I love them,” Cri chirped happily, “Lets everyone know we are together.”
“It does,” Seinu smiled and reached out to gently stroke Cri’s thick head fur. Chantelle however squirmed her muzzle free from her sister's grip and glowered, “He cannot go naked, he needs an outfit!”
“I knew you’d complicate this,” Firi said, shooting Chantelle an exasperated look, “If you want him to wear the over the shoulder mantle, he has to wear the ship suit, “Cri pass me that please,” she pointed at an orange collar lying in a box, “Chantelle, pick something that will look good over the top of the Odyssey uniform and then accessories,”
Seinu lifted his arms and let Firi clip the slender piece of fabric around his neck, it shrank gently to fit to his body then flowed down, extending a pattern of mottled grey fabric with orange stripes that followed the contours of his own feather banding. It fit around his waist to leave his skirt feathers free and reached to just below his knees and down to just above his elbows.
A stylised Illuminate symbol in orange was detailed over his stomach, it was the same nano-fabric suit that was officially the Odyssey’s uniform. It could if needed extend to cover his body entirely and form a helmet for going EVA or emergencies. Once the suit was on Chantelle brought over one of Seinu’s poncho style Avali robes. It was a shoulder mantle that went over the head with two large pieces of cloth that hung down the front and back that came to a point at about thigh level. The material was a rich orange plant fibre woven for softness with black edging. They were elegant, stylish and this one was fitted with small crystals along the outside edge that quietly jingled together when he moved.
This was then accompanied by an Earth style beanie hat that covered up most of his mohawk and then Chantelle attached small amber beads to his bracelets and necklace that again jingled gently when he moved. It was a mixture of modern, synthetic Avali clothing with a more traditional fabric covering that would often be worn in a social situation.
“There; do I pass muster?” Seinu asked as Chantelle finished tugging it straight and adjusting the gently ringing crystals.
“I guess,” Chantelle sighed, “But this style of poncho is meant to be worn without the under-layer, it's just not quite right.”
“Well tough,” Seinu said, “I am not wearing wing wraps, besides we learnt in the training material how weird the humans can get about us wandering around naked. With the ship-suit underneath I am covered and this then adds some traditional styles, I agree with Firi it looks fine.”
“You look nice,” Cri chirped, reaching out to take one of Seinu’s paws, reading something on the inside of his visor, “We should go, you have a message from The Avali Ambassador to Earth waiting for you in your office.”
Chantelle hopped from paw to paw and reached into one of the boxes, “Hang on, you need something extra that screams “Avali”,” she hurriedly strung a line of beads from which a series of alternating blue, orange and yellow crystals hung. She fixed it in place so it draped across his chest then stepped back, “Ok this is better, but this conversation is not over, just suspended, you need to take more interest in your appearance.”
Seinu smiled, kissed her on the cheek and hurried out of the tent, making his way across the snow filled dome outside toward the more utilitarian and standard corridors of the ship, “I wish she’d let up on the fashion,” Seinu sighed, “I dress fine she always wants to go overboard.”
“You should just do what me and Cal do,” Cri replied with a grin, “Walk around entirely naked all the time, there aren’t many clothing styles that fit us bunnies.”
“Lucky,” Seinu smiled and headed into an elevator that would take them to his office, “But are you looking forward to seeing Earth? It is the place where Sher met Rowi.”
“Yes,” Cri smiled, “Ki is going to take us down to see some places tomorrow whilst you are all busy with business.”
“Take some photos for me, pick us someplace nice for dinner too, our hope is to come down and join you all for dinner,” Seinu stroked Cri’s headfur then stepped out of the elevator, the gentle chiming of his outfit a pleasant noise to his ears as he made his way into his office. He settled down in his chair, feeling it shift and adjust beneath him to his weight as he started to decrypt the message waiting for him.
“Is this a secret?” Cri asked as he peered over the edge of the desk at the screen, “Do I need to leave?”
“Nah,” Seinu said with a smile, “It is just meeting information from the Ambassador for our upcoming arrival at Earth,” he gestured at the screen as it started to scroll through information, “Hastalan Waste Removal’s local office director is throwing a welcome party tomorrow night and then the day after we'll start our formal discussions.”
“Oooh is it one of those fancy parties with the little snacks on sticks?” Cri asked, “I like those.”
Seinu laughed and glanced across the invitation, “I suspect there will be a lot of important people there, I need you, Firi and Cal in full armour, lets see I will take Chantelle,” he started typing instructions into the ship's pack-chat handing instructions to everyone, “We’ll also need to take a gift for the Director.”
Cri opened his own pad and started to make notes as Seinu started to scan through the guest list for tonight's party. It was going to be full of industry specialists, mostly humans and a few government ministers from various countries. Sighing softly Seinu fiddled with the crystals hanging off his outfit as he considered the list of names.
“Well time to start putting all my training to good use, our first informal encounter with humans will be tonight, the Crown Prince of the United Kingdom and the foreign secretaries of Germany, France and Spain will all be here tonight as informal guests.”
“I still don’t get that bit,” Cri grumbled, “If they are all so eager to meet you why don’t they just meet you?”
“It's the problem with Earth having multiple kingdoms and countries, there is no unified government, if we give favour to one of them over the others get jealous,” Seinu closed the screens and stood up, “So we are visiting an outsider corporation and all of them will slide up to speak to me informally, they are all desperate for the wealth and riches doing business with the Illuminate can bring their planet, but they want it for their country first.”
Cri chirped, “It’s much simpler at home, we share everything with everyone, or we get eaten.”
Seinu placed a paw on Cri’s head fondly, “No one is ever eating you, or Cal or any bunny if I get my way, now we…” he stopped as the door to his office swished open and Selenu walked in with Cal.
“Seinu, Cri,” she said as she closed the door and walked over, “I need to talk to Cri and Cal together, I just received an urgent update from Ck’akk.”
“What is it?” Cri asked with a frown, walking over to his brother as Seinu sat back down in his chair, the magnetic servos whirring as the floating chair took his weight again.
Selenu placed a hand atop both of the bunnies' heads and then glanced across at Seinu, “The Illuminate just received an update from the Ouakkia pack about Babupekkakerok, The Horker King launched a full invasion with the intention of reclaiming his historic rights over the planet.”
“What!” Seinu shouted, sitting upright, ears spreading wide in shock as Cri and Cal went wide eyed and gripped each other's paws.
“According to a Horker press release it wasn’t an invasion,” Selenu sighed, “He was just planning to “station troops” on a planet he already owns.”
“That is nonsense,” Seinu growled, “We checked he doesn’t own that planet!”
“I know,” Selenu rubbed the bridge of her snout, “Rowi and Sher came into possession of information about his plan and after speaking to the Illuminate they took the Iron there to confront him.”
“Wait, Rowi and Sher ran off to face down the Horker King and his army?” Seinu stared at her, “On their own? I mean did they at least take Kig? Or did they go on their own?”
“We should go there ourselves,” Cal said, turning big wide eyes on Seinu “We need to help!”
“It’s a bit late for that,” Selenu said, “It’s all over with but it’s a good thing, somehow Rowi was able to get the Horkers to pull back out.”
Selenu lifted off her hexagonal tech-specs and rubbed Cal’s snout comfortingly, “It’s not all bad news, Daniel was streaming the confrontation live, we can go watch it. In the recording you’ll see the moment Rowi claimed the star system in the name of Illuminate, something that he technically didn’t have the power to do, but the Illuminate are stepping in to approve it. But the important thing is that in the recording streamed live to the MMF website, it's clear the Avali invitation was made to the official spokesperson for the planet as appointed by the Vampire Bunny elders who in this incidence are recognized as the planetary authorities. It seems like Tri and the other village elders have appointed Sher their spokes bunny and he accepted the offer from Rowi live.”
“That’s good,” Seinu said, “But let me guess: the Horker King is contesting it?”
“This is a weird thing, no. He just left,” she frowned, “The Horker King just… got back in his ship and flew off. He says as the planet has developed a free and independent society since he last stationed troops there he recognizes their sovereignty.” the lime Avali shook her head in bafflement, “I’m sure It’s all part of his good PR drive, he has given his blessing to the Vampire Bunnies to make an uplift alliance with whomever they please.”
She frowned at stared at the ceiling, “In a way it was a clever move, as far as anyone outside looking in is concerned, he used to have a colony on the planet that was according to him “Unaware” of the vampire bunnies as they live in such a small part of the planet,” she shrugged, “He was intending to re-occupy the empty planet, discovered oops no there is a sapient species living on the planet and has graciously done the right thing in permitting them sovereignty over their own world.”
Seinu frowned then nodded, “Yeah… that without any context looks like him being a magnanimous and kind hearted egalitarian monarch who respects the rules and other people's right to govern themselves.”
“Indeed,” Selenu frowned, “So he may have been thwarted but he got an even greater prize, good PR, and whilst the Avali can now develop the resources of their planet and help uplift them it’s left him looking really noble and kind.”
“So what happens next?” Cri asked with a frown, “That sounds like… somehow we won?”
“Yeah,” Selenu said slowly, “You won but everyone is a bit on edge watching out for his next move.”
“Do they need anything from us?” Seinu asked quietly, “Or do we carry on here?”
“We carry on here, we haven’t received any other orders from Ck’akk” Selenu said, “In time they will probably want us for our knowledge of bunny society but they have our reports, any half competent uplift pack will be able to work out what they need to do from those.”
“Can we send a message to Sher?” Cri asked, “I want to tell him we support him and everyone back home.”
“Of course,” Selenu said, “I’ll help you prepare that but we have to be quick, the Avali Ambassador’s shuttle is already on-route to meet us.”
“Go,” Seinu said, “Send the message I need to prepare gifts for the Director at tonight's party, I’ll see you all at the shuttle bay to greet the Ambassador.”
The twins hurried off with Selenu and Seinu sank back into his chair, he turned it around to stare out the window, eyes searching the faint pinpricks of light that were the stars, “Look after them all Sher,” he murmured, lost in thought of the many friends he had made back on Babupekkakerok, in his heart he wanted nothing more then to race for the bunny world but he had to deal with Earth and do his job, but he’d do everything he could to support Moumantai Motherfuckers from a distance.
To be continued…