Yangfan
Inactive Member
Henry was in a conference room with several engineers, who were wearing an assortment of red, green, and gray Star Army uniforms. Henry was the only white-shirt in the room, as well as the only Nepleslian. The remaining people in the room were mostly Nekovalkyrja, along with a few Geshrins. They were in quiet but intense discussion about the progress of reconstruction and repairs being done on the Tami star fortress. About a dozen datapads, each displaying a roughly sketched schematic, littered the large conference table in the center of the room.
Almost all of the structural repairs had been completed, and life support had long been restored. Most of the important systems were being brought online. But many non-essential and backup systems remained to be fixed, and were competing for the attention of the station’s crew. Even with the assistance of some of the best computers humanity had ever manufactured, brilliant engineers would come up with differing, imperfect designs and solutions. And sadly, even an empire can only provide a finite amount of resources in a finite amount of time.
Shina flowed into the room like a warm spring breeze. She lightly tapped Henry on the shoulder to get his attention, and then whispered something into his ear.
Henry raised an eyebrow upon hearing what Shina had to say. His right cybernetic eye faintly glowed green for a moment as he activated the chronometer inside.
With a look of surprise on his face, he addressed the assembled engineers in the room, “It’s 1351 hours, guys and gals. I’d like to apologize for keeping you here past the lunch hour. To make it up to you, I’m taking all of you out to lunch at the nearest cafeteria. What do you say, people?”
Several of the engineers began checking their watches, while others looked reluctantly at the schematics in front of them, as if debating whether to go eat or to stay here and work some more.
Henry smiled. They were nerds, all of them. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Sensing that the engineers would rather stay here and work, thus depriving her Henry of his meal, Shina sprang into action.
“By the way, did you guys hear? We discovered a new aquatic species on Tami today. Every food outlet on the station is serving them for lunch,” she said.
Most of the Nekos immediately began heading for the door, some of them loudly demanding to be taken to the nearest place where this new seafood was being served.
Seeing that their peers were all leaving, the Geshrin engineers had little choice but to follow along.
The cafeteria that Shina had in mind was not very far away at all. Thus, Henry, his assistant, and his entourage of engineers soon arrived at the place. Even though it was almost 2 in the afternoon, many Nekos could still be seen, feasting on… some walrus creatures?
“What are these things?” Henry said in horror as he stared at the body of something that could only be described as a fat, tusk-less walrus-like creature, with tiny flippers and large pink spots on its back. The body of the poor creature had been cut wide open in several places, and was now sitting on a giant serving tray on one of the buffet tables. A small portion of the creature had already been cut away. The body appeared to have been cleaned, but not cooked. The Nekos had been eating it raw.
“Dunno. We fished’em out of the water today. The biologists said that they weren’t sentient nor poisonous, so we are eating them,” replied Shina, picking up a tray and a plate. The other Nekos were already swarming over the body, using large knifes to hack off pieces and placing them on their plates.
Henry turned around to see that his Geshrin engineers also staring at the grisly scene before them. He began leading them toward one of the buffet tables that weren’t serving seafood, before everyone lost their appetite.
A few minutes later, most of the engineers that had met with Henry earlier had gathered at one of the tables in the cafeteria. Shina energetically waved at the few stragglers to let them know where the rest of the group was.
Most of the Nekos, including Shina, had their plates full of fish, sushi, and slabs of the walrus-like creature. It was also quite obvious that milk were the Nekos’ beverage of choice. Meanwhile, it seemed that Henry and the Geshrin engineers had all suddenly decided to turn vegetarian for the day. Their plates were mostly filled with vegetables, pasta, and diary products.
Everyone began enjoying his or her meal. Most offers and entreaties to try the new addition to the seafood family were politely declined.
Henry was sipping his signature watered-down orange soda when a communications officer walked into the cafeteria and handed him a datapad.
“Hmm,” grunted Henry as he viewed the contents of the message sent to him. He placed a piece of lasagna in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully.
***
FROM: Chujo Kemitha Jeiriel
TO: Taisho Henry Chen
First contact made with advanced species at 1330 hours. HQ notified. Proceeding with standard diplomatic protocols.
***
“Shosa Sasaki, how combat effective is the Tami star fortress currently?” he asked the senior systems engineer sitting across the table from him.
“Sir. Defensive systems are operating at 95%. Weapons systems are operating at 70%,” the Neko replied before slipping another sushi roll into her mouth.
“Good. Make them a priority,” said Henry. He hoped that the aliens’ intentions were peaceful, but it never hurts to be careful. Too many of the space-faring species that the empire had encountered had shown too little interest in diplomacy.
“Expecting visitors, sir?” asked the Shosa.
“That’s on a need to know basis, Sasaki,” replied Henry with a sly smile before resuming his meal.
Almost all of the structural repairs had been completed, and life support had long been restored. Most of the important systems were being brought online. But many non-essential and backup systems remained to be fixed, and were competing for the attention of the station’s crew. Even with the assistance of some of the best computers humanity had ever manufactured, brilliant engineers would come up with differing, imperfect designs and solutions. And sadly, even an empire can only provide a finite amount of resources in a finite amount of time.
Shina flowed into the room like a warm spring breeze. She lightly tapped Henry on the shoulder to get his attention, and then whispered something into his ear.
Henry raised an eyebrow upon hearing what Shina had to say. His right cybernetic eye faintly glowed green for a moment as he activated the chronometer inside.
With a look of surprise on his face, he addressed the assembled engineers in the room, “It’s 1351 hours, guys and gals. I’d like to apologize for keeping you here past the lunch hour. To make it up to you, I’m taking all of you out to lunch at the nearest cafeteria. What do you say, people?”
Several of the engineers began checking their watches, while others looked reluctantly at the schematics in front of them, as if debating whether to go eat or to stay here and work some more.
Henry smiled. They were nerds, all of them. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Sensing that the engineers would rather stay here and work, thus depriving her Henry of his meal, Shina sprang into action.
“By the way, did you guys hear? We discovered a new aquatic species on Tami today. Every food outlet on the station is serving them for lunch,” she said.
Most of the Nekos immediately began heading for the door, some of them loudly demanding to be taken to the nearest place where this new seafood was being served.
Seeing that their peers were all leaving, the Geshrin engineers had little choice but to follow along.
The cafeteria that Shina had in mind was not very far away at all. Thus, Henry, his assistant, and his entourage of engineers soon arrived at the place. Even though it was almost 2 in the afternoon, many Nekos could still be seen, feasting on… some walrus creatures?
“What are these things?” Henry said in horror as he stared at the body of something that could only be described as a fat, tusk-less walrus-like creature, with tiny flippers and large pink spots on its back. The body of the poor creature had been cut wide open in several places, and was now sitting on a giant serving tray on one of the buffet tables. A small portion of the creature had already been cut away. The body appeared to have been cleaned, but not cooked. The Nekos had been eating it raw.
“Dunno. We fished’em out of the water today. The biologists said that they weren’t sentient nor poisonous, so we are eating them,” replied Shina, picking up a tray and a plate. The other Nekos were already swarming over the body, using large knifes to hack off pieces and placing them on their plates.
Henry turned around to see that his Geshrin engineers also staring at the grisly scene before them. He began leading them toward one of the buffet tables that weren’t serving seafood, before everyone lost their appetite.
A few minutes later, most of the engineers that had met with Henry earlier had gathered at one of the tables in the cafeteria. Shina energetically waved at the few stragglers to let them know where the rest of the group was.
Most of the Nekos, including Shina, had their plates full of fish, sushi, and slabs of the walrus-like creature. It was also quite obvious that milk were the Nekos’ beverage of choice. Meanwhile, it seemed that Henry and the Geshrin engineers had all suddenly decided to turn vegetarian for the day. Their plates were mostly filled with vegetables, pasta, and diary products.
Everyone began enjoying his or her meal. Most offers and entreaties to try the new addition to the seafood family were politely declined.
Henry was sipping his signature watered-down orange soda when a communications officer walked into the cafeteria and handed him a datapad.
“Hmm,” grunted Henry as he viewed the contents of the message sent to him. He placed a piece of lasagna in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully.
***
FROM: Chujo Kemitha Jeiriel
TO: Taisho Henry Chen
First contact made with advanced species at 1330 hours. HQ notified. Proceeding with standard diplomatic protocols.
***
“Shosa Sasaki, how combat effective is the Tami star fortress currently?” he asked the senior systems engineer sitting across the table from him.
“Sir. Defensive systems are operating at 95%. Weapons systems are operating at 70%,” the Neko replied before slipping another sushi roll into her mouth.
“Good. Make them a priority,” said Henry. He hoped that the aliens’ intentions were peaceful, but it never hurts to be careful. Too many of the space-faring species that the empire had encountered had shown too little interest in diplomacy.
“Expecting visitors, sir?” asked the Shosa.
“That’s on a need to know basis, Sasaki,” replied Henry with a sly smile before resuming his meal.
