IC

Zhirrzh waits patiently for night to settle in, watching the bushes
carefully to make sure the Edestekai do not discover the polyvox. Once
satisfied, Zhirrzh makes his way carefully back to camp to give a full
report to Brenon.
    That night, after the data is analyzed from the Poly Vox, the group gets around their make-shift map and plans. Under the faint light of a lantern, Raleigh outlines a plan he had been thinking about recently.

"OK, as I see it we need to plan a surprise attack using the "borrowed" explorer. Chances are they never found out what happened to the outpost with no jetcopter. Maybe we will get lucky and there will even be some pirates gone enroute to the outpost as we speak.  So, here is the plan."

"We use our captive pirate and drive through the front door late at night. Minimal guards and they hopefully wont harass him too much. To make sure he doesnt give us up, we put Payne behind him under a blanket and promise the pirate that if he does ferret us out, he will be the first to go."

"From there, we have our hitters in the back under cover. Telgar, Zhirrzh, and Brennon hiding with weapons ready. We give the pirate instructions to pull into the Garage and kill the motor, staying in the drivers seat. At this point, when the pirate techs close the garage door, Payne hits the pirate with a stunner and Zhirrzh, Telgar, and Brennon come out the back of the explorer with needlers and eliminate everyone in the building. From this point we have control of the garage. Brennon relays that info to Raleigh, Bud, and Kahliss in the hills and we will start laying down cover fire on the towers. This is nothing but distraction, however, as the four "insiders" move to building 19 and eliminate the command and control assets."

"If we can harnass the rage of the E's, then at this point we charge them in the front gate and let em loose."

Looking into the faces of the others for a reaction of some kind, Raleigh waits for feedback.

    The evening passes without event. Payne oversees some of the patrolling areas, while BudReeep and Kah'liss venture out safe distances to continue their environmental research. Keeping a close eye on the Edestakai village, it is clear to see that evening is their bedtime, too. After around 10pm there is little to no traffic. This gives only a half-day for the poly-vox to pick apart the language.
    The second day brings a few interesting events. The prisoner made a feeble attempt at escape, but Zhirrzh and Telgar brought him back down before his flight could occur. A certain hustle in the compound preceeds the arrival of a freighter. The ship fortunately comes down from the East and does not flyover the team. From your vantage it appears it is picking up another load of ore for delivery elsewhere. After a few hours, the freighter takes off, disappearing into the sky.
    After the evening falls, Zhirrzh makes his way once again into the Edestakai village. This time, under nightfall, it is much easier to slip in and out. As he reaches the bushes, he uncovers the dirt covering the poly-vox. It is displaying the green light on the primary diode, indicating it has indeed learned a good bit of the language to begin communication. Smiling to himself, Zhirrzh graps the poly-vox and returns to camp.
 Brenon watches through his IR Goggles as Zhirrzh seeminly materializes off in the distance. Coming in at a slow trot. Brenon had ordered a radio silence so the anticipation was nawing at him; 'Was the polyvox successful or not?'. Only time would tell upon Zhirrzh's arrival. Brenon's optimism was low due to Zhirrzh's description of how the Edestekai communicated and wasn't confident that the PolyVox could cut the barrier. So Brenon was pleasantly surprised when Zhirrzh returned with the PolyVox, it's green light blinking, signaling to the user that it had learned the language......
    "It appears to have worked." Zhirrzh said with his head cocked at an angle.
Brenon gently padded his comrad's shoulder. "I appears so. Any trouble this time?"
    "No. All went well." Zhirrzh said, his head was cocked at a different angle this time. The angle changing with every new sentence.
    "Good. Let's get the team together and see what we can do to enlighten these people......"
 
    A few moments later Brenon had called together their team and let them in on the good news. "Comrads..." Brenon said as he held up the polyvox. "Today we will be victorious. Today, we will enlighten the edestekai of the true nature of their 'benefactors' and give them the knowledge to defeat theirs and our enemy. Everyone goes, no one stays. Brenon turns to Zhirrzh and asks, is it possible that we can bring the explorers to their village under the cover of night and hide the vehicles there?"
    Raleigh kills time by giving both explorers a full inspection. He will employ Telgar in this duty as well, part to keep the Enforcer busy and part to have someone to talk to.

As Zhirrzh finally materializes out of the night, a sudden relief washes over him. He knew Zhirrzh could take care of himself but ever since Rolgar and Lyrium's death, he had been a little uneasy. Brennon soon gathered everyone together...
    Brenon turned to Raliegh upon asking the question and realized he wasn't keeping the crew up to speed. This heat truely was getting to him. "OK, here are my thoughts.... we've gotta let the Edestekai know that they're being used. And I propose that we do that by speaking to them in their own language, via polyvox. We'll show them how they are being used and explain technology the best we can to their chief. Depending on how that goes will determine our next course of action. If the Edestekai want revenge and want to revolt, we'll have a hell of an easy time I think taking that base.......or they may determine that this is no fight of theirs and uproot and take off. In either case the pirates will not be able to use the Edestekai to their advantage. Their is just too many of them(Edestekai) and it's unpredictable what they'd do if we attacked the pirates. By notifying them we will hopfully eliminate that unpredictability. I'm hoping the Chief will be pissed off and lend his support in overrunning the base... if not... we'll just have to burn that bridge when we get to it. But I'm thinking we can use the pirate explorer filled to teh brime with explosives and drive it over thee gate and into their power station and finally detonate it...taking out their power. Then we, equipped with IR Goggles, smoke grenades, etc... rampart the base and lay it to waste. Sounds like fun huh?" Brenon added a little wink a the end.
 
"Any ideas, suggestions. Let you voice be heard now................"
     BudRREEPboopboopboop perks up, his pseudopate curved in anticipation as his
membrane emits an odor of curiosity.  "GUURburble," he states, his polyvox
translating, "Intriguing...an opportunity to observe another indigenous
species first hand!"
    Telgar smiles to himself. 'Finally,' he thinks,'something to do besides messing with the blasted Explorer!'
    "Sounds great, Brenon. Let's do it!"
    Eager to prepare, Telgar checks his weapons for the Nth time today. The excitement of an approaching battle once again filling his veins. Enforcers love battle. That much had been instilled in him at the Academy with consistency.
     A devilish grin appears on the face of Payne.  Turning to Bud he
says "The only thing to observe is defeated pirates dying at our feet!"
Turning to Brennon "I have been wating for a chance to put these punks
down like animals for the longest time. Say the word, and I will be
ready." Payne to the party "Guy with the lowest body count cooks
dinner!!!"

    An hour after sunset, the team piles into the 2 Explorers and make their way
to the Edestekai village. After passing some of the outlaying farms with no
event, as you come closer to the center of the village, a few Edestekai
notice the vehicle. Quite a few scurry to the pyramid and enter, presumably
to get attention of the elders/chiefs/whatever. The Explorers stop and the
party exits the vehicles slowly.
    You see about 20 Edestekai, armed with spears, forming a ring around
your vehicles. They are not attacking or making any hostile gestures. One
steps forward from the group. This Edestekai is wearing a red, purple and
white scarf wrapped in a complicated way around the upper part of its body.
It throws a handful of grain in front of the team. The remaining Edestekai
begin chanting, clicking their limbs together, and apparently dancing in a
complex pattern around you.
    This bizarre ritual continues perhaps 10 minutes. At its end, the
scarved Edestekai gestures with it's front leg and begins to head toward the
center of the village. The other Edestekai form a column, with you in the
center. It is apparrent they want you to follow.
    As you approach the pyramid, you get your first opportunity to study its
design and material. BudReeep and Kah'liss take special appreciation at the
architecture. It is a 3 sided pyramid about 10 meters tall. There are no
solid walls; the sides are all made of columns of crystal and rock, leaving
the entire building open to the air. As the procession nears the structure,
another scarved figure appears in the top story and waves the party to a
small dwelling carved into the nearby hillside. The Edestekai that greeted
you clicks loudly and leads you to the cave. The Poly-vox translates a
simple acknowledgement. You are led here - ducking your head at the short
entrance to the cave, you bemoan the idea of sitting for potential hours in
a damp, cramped cavern. However, upon stepping down into the cave, you see
it has been dug out and is quite large - if all of these small-looking
dugouts were built this way, the village's size is very deceiving. The
Edestekai speaks and gurgles, the poly-vox translating to sit. The large
room is lit by candles and small torches. The walls are lined with wicker
shelves, on which sit hundreds of carved idols in multitudes of shapes.
    Finding a place on straw pallets covered with a linen-like cloth, you
sit and wait another 10 minutes until three Edestekai enter carrying trays.
You are each presented plates which contain some bread, a dish that
resembles spinach, and water.
    Finally, another scarved Edestekai enters. He speaks quietly to the
first Edestekai, then steps to the party. Looking at each of you several
long moments with its large eye, the creature speaks.
    [poly-vox] - Welcome......this speech will be hard....may the gods guide
me in this instruction...
    Hearing the robotic translation of the poly vox, the creature regards it
warily. Brenon takes the opportunity. "Hello, I am Brenon Marou. We can
understand each other with the aid of this device. Please continue."
    The translation to Edestekai was equally impressing to the creature. He
looks to the others in the room, who whisper among themselves excitedly. The
Edestekai turns back to you.
    [poly-vox] "I am Li'dke Yu Hw'lts. We are Edestekai. I am priest in this
village, and it my duty to give brief you proper conduct of culture....We do
for -strangers-  as culture #undetermined# Edestekai may be unknown to
strangers...I tell you so gods you will not offend, or will you
#undetermined# Servant of the Gods...."
    The priest continues to give you the culture of the Edestekai. Although
the poly-vox is unable to translate every word, as some of the language
relies on gesture, you can understand the jist of it...
(This gets a bit long, but bare with it....I will also put this on the
site -- I have surrounded the priest's speech with =====  in case you want
to skip down (and in case you Explorers or Techex's get bored and doze off))

This dialogue between you and the priest continues for several hours. The
priest has much to say, and will also answer any questions you have. To
speed things up, I will present all of his information in one post, but
assume the conversation is more a Q&A, with the priest doing most of the
talking...This is a lot of information, some of which you may need, some you
won't. But hey, at least after this long orientation won't get you into
unwitting troubles, like what happened with that Ul-Mor chief who became
offended....

============================================================

   The primary values of the Edestekai are order, fertility, and abundance
of lands and crops, and peace. Edestekai abhor killing and violence, and any
act of violence except in self-defense is strictly punished and requires a
lengthy ritual of purification. Edestekai will defend themselves if
attacked, and have been known to fight with an almost insane fury when their
religious principles are at stake.
 
    BudRREEPboopboopboop rolls backward from his cross-legged sitting position
onto his back and wiggles his limbs in relief.  He gurgles to himself
giddily, and his poly-vox can be faintly heard to translate, "Thank Space!
An oasis of *reason* in this black hole of civilization!"  Bud begins to emit
a barely perceptible odor, akin to peach blossoms...

Edestekai prefer to remain isolated from the other intelligent species on
Volturnus, and would prohibit outsiders from their villages if this did not
conflict with their values of non-violence and peace. Because of these
values, they will tolerate outsiders provided the outsiders do not violate
Edestekai law or interfere with the Edestekai religious rituals. If an
outsider becomes completely accepted into Edestekai society, that
individual's role in the rituals of the race is decided by the High Priest.

Edestekai believe that meat should be eaten only by the gods, and are thus
vegetarians themselves. They intensely dislike the Kurabanda, who hunt for
meat. Edestekai strongly hate the Ul-Mor, because the Ul-Mor manhood ritual
involves trying to kill a <quickdeath> (It was after questioning on your end
you realized their name for 'quickdeath' - BudReeep makes a quick addition
to the poly-vox to substitute the Edestekai name for the beast.

The Edestekai farm the hills of Volturnus. They cultivate fields of a tuber
called morda and several varieties of a grain known as arbon. In addition,
the Edestekai keep large numbers of blotes, docile amphibians about the size
of a dog and similar in appearance to a salamander. Blotes are hosts for a
parasitical fungus called krume. Krume looks something like shelf fungus,
and grows profusely on the skin of blotes. The Edestekai cultivate this
fungus on their blotes and harvest it about every 6 weeks. Edestekai also
use irrigation to create stagnant ponds where they grow a green algae called
squill (you come to identify the 'green spinach' on your plates as squill).

The trisex family is the basic unit of Edestekai society. Nurturers are
expected to remain in the household and perform child-rearing and
maintenance duties. Egg Layers are expected to cultivate crops and assume
general responsibility for maintaining the food supply.  Fertilizers are
free to become skilled workers, artisans, idol-makers or even priests.

Higher social organization is on the village level. A typical village
contains about a thousand Edestekai. Organization above the village level is
in the hands of the elected High Priest and his immediate followers. They
live in the holy city, near the Crystal Stonehenge. Also living in the holy
city is "Justice", a captive Quickdeath.

Religion is the strongest cultural force in Edestekai life. Religious rules,
rituals and beliefs control almost all facets of daily life. There is no
distinction between the government and the religious authorities; in
Edestekai society, the priests are the government.

The Edestekai worship thousands of gods. The gods represent the forces of
nature: sun, moons, stars, winds, creatures, oceans, etc. There are three
gods which are most important among these. The Edestekai believe the Egarit
("Light") and Elenehet ("Darkness") created the world; the sun and stars
would not stay in place; the oceans would not keep to their boundaries, etc.
But then the goddess, Edesti ("Order") intervened and the world in its
present form came about. To crown the creation, Edesti nurtured the "Chosen
Ones", the Edestekai. These she made trilaterally to releft the trilateral
nature of ulitmate divine authority. The lesser gods were then given control
of various areas of functioning in the universe.

The Edestekai believe they have a special mission to magically assist the
gods in the constant struggle against chaos. The gods receive their power
from magical rituals which the Edestekai perform. Most of these rituals take
place on special consecrated grounds, and involve group singing, chanting
and very intricate patterns of dancing. There are rituals for all aspects of
Edestekai life: a ritual of rain, a ritual of planting, a ritual of
harvesting, a ritual to prevent or cure disease, a ritual for protection
from enemies, etc.

Nothing is allowed to interfere with the performance of these rituals at the
proper time, for the Edestekai believe that if the rituals are not performed
at the proper time, there is a chance the gods will lose too much power,
causing the world to end as stars fall from the skies, oceans flood the
world, and all life ends. Non-Edestekai are not allowed to participate in
these rituals. The sacred grounds where rituals are performed may not be
touched or walked upon by any Non-Edestekai.

All religious teaching and ritual is under the control of priests. These are
each equal in authority and power. The supreme ruler of the Edestekai is a
High Priest who lives in the supreme temple near the Crystal Stonehenge.
This High Priest is elected for life by vote of all the other priests.

Sometimes priests see visions or hear unknown voices. The Edestekai belive
these revelations have been sent to reveal the will of the gods. Such
revelations are called True Visions. There is NO appeal from any judgement
made by a priest who has had a True Vision concerning the case in question.
However, the people as a whole must agree that the priest/judge's
hallucination is in fact a True Vision, and not merely a fantasy of the
priest's own creation. Priests who have seen an authentic True Vision are
regarded as living saints.

Each year a certain number of individuals from each village are sent to the
holy city to labor for the High Priest. The pilgrimmage and work time are
considered holy. Any individual who has worked in the holy city is held in
special reverence.

Edestekai villages and houses are filled with idols of the various gods.
Each idol must be given proper reverence. It is a crime punishable by death
to steal an idol belonging to any Edestekai.

The Edestekai legal system is based upon belief in oracles, communications
from the gods. Accused persons are put on trial before judges who are also
priests. Evidence and testimony are taken, but the final decision is left to
the priest, based upon what the priest believes to be the will of the gods.
Accused persons are allowed a special appeal to the gods. If the accused
does appeal, the priest picks a sheaf of arbon greain at random and counts
the number of kernels in it. If the number is odd, this is believed to be a
special sign from the gods that the accused is innocent. If the number is
even, the accused is not only guilty of the original crime, but has offended
the gods by appealing to them to cover up his or her guilt!

The Edestekai believe that their god of justice takes the physical form of a
quickdeath. To the Edestekai, these animals are messengers of the god of
justice and are holy animals. Priests always weare a shawl of quickdeath
hide when hearing a case. A live quickdeath is always kept (in captivity) in
the main Edestekai temple near the Crystal Stonehenge. The capital city lies
many days travel to the west.

Punishments for crimes require the offender to pay back to the person he/she
harms something of equal value to the harm done. In extreme cases, the
punishment may be legalized slavery. The crimes of heresy and blashphemy
carry the death penalty. Death is administered by staking the criminal out
with three stakes to be eaten alive by a quickdeath.

    Upon hearing the lengthy, yet informative, speech of the priest, Telgar's muscles start to relax.
It wasn't that he was sleepy (although he may have if the priest went any longer); it was more off
a feeling of 'finally, we don't have to fight some bizarre creature or perform some rite of passage
to earn the right to talk to someone.' Telgar, for the first time, unfolds his arms, which had allowed
him to have his laser pistols ready to draw at a moments notice if needed be, and simply places
them in a resting position. He looks to Brenon to see what their elected leader and proven diplomat
would say next.
    Zhirrzh sat, listening patiently as the conversation between the team
and the Edestekai progressed. At the mention that "meat should be eaten only
by the gods" nearly caused him to laugh aloud.
    {Only the gods indeed,} Zhirrzh thought disgustedly.
    Yet the conversation continued without a even a grunt from the Yazirian.
Soon though, Zhirrzh began to become bored. He was no diplomat, and yearned
for some sort of physical action. To be outside, hunting, was what he wanted
most at the moment. The food they had given him he could not eat, especially
when he heard where the spinach looking dish came from. Yet Zhirrzh waited
and listened, knowing that was the only thing he could do, and the only
thing he should do.
    Raleigh stood back from the conversation, watching the reactions of the aliens with detached amusement. For once it looked like they wouldnt have to fight one of the indiginous inhabitants of this planet...he only hoped now that he wouldnt have to share an Explorer ride with them either. With a thumb in his belt, he hoisted the big Triax auto rifle to his shoulder and pondered the starry sky outside. How beautiful they were, what with no city lights to obscure them.
    He took some time to admire each one, musing what forms of constellations these primitive aliens may have created. A Quickdeath? Pirate Gods? Who knew. Suddenly a thought occurred to him that his brothers were out there somewhere. He yearned to be home, to see them again and assure himself that Dan's suspicions were wrong...but somehow he knew they would be dead on. Raleigh had no idea that he had already lost one brother.
    Turning back to the conversation, Raleigh hoped that Brennon could somehow sway them to join the fight. He didnt like the odds against the Pirates as they stood now.

    :
    Brenon listens intently as the chief rattles on and on and on. The mentioning of 'quickdeaths' quickly caught his ear and his eyes shot up to those around him...looking to see if anyone was still wearing those clan necklaces the Ul-Mor gave them for killing the quickdeath..... he'd hoped people had thought to take them off when they met this new species.....
    He could tell his crew were getting impatient with the priest's ramblings. But finally they ended and Brenon was struggling with how to approach the subject of Pirates with the priest when finally an idea popped into his head.
    Brenon looks to the priest and speaks, "Thank you my new friend. Your information has proved both interesting and valuable......<pause>....I...wish I could say we came here with good news. But I'm afraid I have some news that may drastically change some things in your society....but before I go into it, I'd like to demonstrate something so that my news might make a little more sense to you...."
    "Telgar, hand me your comm unit......", Telgar immediately takes his comm watch off and hands it to Brenon. As he's taking it off Brenon takes his own off. Brenon hands his Comm device to the Edestekai Priest and moves back about 10 yards.... when Brenon is where he wants to be he turns around and open's a channel to his own Comm device now being held by the Priest. Brenon places Telgar's Comm unit next to the output of the PolyVox and begins speaking, "My friend, you should be hearing my voice now coming through the communications device in your hand." Brenon steals a quick look back, taking in the Priest's reaction. "The device uses something called radio waves to send my voice through the sky.....it also catches radio waves so you can hear them. Radio waves are invisible and can not be seen. Now, you try and speak into it..........." Brenon waits a moment for the priest to speak into the device. "These devices can send voice many kilometers away........and anyone with a device listening can hear it."
    Brenon then returns Telgar's Comm unit and retrieves his own from the Priest. "Next, I'd like to show you another technology..." Brenon motions for Zhirrzh to come near. When Zhirrzh is beside him he points at a belt and harness contraption the Yazirian is wearing, then looks up to the Priest, "The belt and harness he is wearing is called a Camo Screen....basically when it is turned on it renders the user almost invisible. Anyone can wear this and use it's abilities...me, you, anyone.....it is nothing built by the Gods. These items are built by people like you and me. Zhirzzh...demonstrate."
    Brenon watches as Zhirrzh reaches down to his belt an flips a switch. Within seconds Zhirrzh seemingly dematerializes before their eyes, being replaced by a wavy distortion. He begins slowly moving around the room showing off the abilities of the device. For a moment he was lost to all but was quickly picked up again as he left the shadows and moved in front of the group and switched the device off.
    Brenon is sure the priest has questions. He will answer any and all questions here.
 
    Brenon then looks again to the Priest and speaks, "Now....for the news I dread to bring you. your people's religious beliefs are being taken advantage of by the people in the guarded camp just 500 meters away(Brenon points in direction of enemy camp). "How?" you are probably asking? With technology. They are throwing their voices amongst the radio waves for your people to listen too, pretending to be the Gods they are not. They are using your people to mine ore and materials from the ground that they sale for profit. They aren't giving it to the Gods......they're selling it and making money. They look at you as cheap labor and think they control you. They are not Gods, they bleed just like you and me. They make a mockery of your religion and twist your beliefs in order to secure wealth and power. They blaphemy against your Gods, strip your land of it's resources, and rape your peoples beliefs.......... We are here to put an end to their selfish acts of piracy and restore order to the region. Help us in this endeavor I beg you. This is not the only place the pirates have inflicted their sick disease...in other regions they've enslaved races to do the the same work you are doing for them here. What say you?....."
    Amazed once again by Brenon's ability to craftily shape his
words, Telgar tries to hold back a small smirk wanting to appear
on his face. 'Good one,' he muses to himself.
     Payne quietly listiens to what his host has to say.  To him, this is
just the quiet before the storm. It was quiet time like this that
preceeded the Battle of Axsys Prime, a lonely colony just inside the
vast expanse. It was a simple village like this that felt the wrath of
of Colonial Forces against a minor mega corp, whose name vanished from
memory. In his mind's eye, he can see it like it was yesterday. A young
punk soldier, seeing his first action. The village would soon be taken
over by the mega corp. Hours later, the Colonial Forces would have the
mega corp troops trapped in the village. The order was given to raze the
village. Eager soldiers obey. Another order his given to put down the
locals who interfere. After much sensless killing, a village burns and
the smell of death sits in the air like the smell of a nice spring rain.
On this day an innocent man-boy is turned into a ruthless, efficient
killer. Payne continues to concentrate on what the priest is saying,
trying to bury the ghosts of the murdered innocents deep inside his
memories.
    After Brenon finished his display of Frontier technology, the Edestekai
priest looked on with a mixed expression of confusion and impression.
    The priest looks around at the few other Edestekai in the room, who have
become very still and are not meeting the priest's gaze. The priest turns
back to the party, sighs.
    "This is why we have <undetermined> orient you... Your technology is
impressive most and greater than Edestekai know...How does this relate to
Servants of the Gods? We tell you this so as not offend Gods, or Servants of
the Gods. Priests in this village have had True Visions concerning Servants
of the Gods. Voices of the Gods have talked to Edestekai priests in True
Visions. The Gods order Edestekai to serve the Servants of the Gods and do
as they command....While priests find this <undetermined> confusing, several
priests have had same True Vision. This puzzles Edestekai, as we are chosen
race. Servants of Gods are not chosen race. Very cruel Servants of Gods are,
some die. Crops die as many laborers taken to Servants of Gods
work...Priests conclude <undetermined> Gods are testing chosen race
Edestekai, and someday torment will end."
    "While Edestekai impessive with your technology, how you say Servants of
Gods trick us when Priests have True Visions? You blasphemy religion
Edestekai?!"