Contact [Bendy timed to 3 or 4 days after Lirath]

[fate_favored]

In the aftermath of the battle at Lirath, Stacy had been severely damaged. Though she still eventually managed to build up enough power to resume course, she was obviously struggling, her pace far slower than normal. She could barely even manage to directly address those who needed to speak with her, instead allowing the more monotone voice of the

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[fate_favored]

[ooc: Tag here for the main exposition stuff. After this thread gets going, you can start other threads for either having characters react or trying to talk to the Daligig.]

[metalwebhead]

"You're probably looking for our esteemed Captain Leon Kennedy."

Descending from the ceiling was Spider-Man, looking a bit better than he was on Lirath. "Sorry, I'm not his keeper, but if you leave a name and number, I'll make sure he gets back with you!"

[fate_favored]

Yavek looked up, regarding the strange, costumed man with little interest.

"You can start by letting him along with the rest of this 'crew' know that as of this moment, I am in charge of this vessel while I am here. Is that understood?"

[metalwebhead]

"Woah, wait, WHAT?!"

Spidey dropped from his webline and landed face to face with the Daligig. He was probably no taller than he was!

"Look, listen, I'm not that high up on the food chain and all, but, ah... we kinda have a lot running here. Our own government, our own ship chain of command. Eheh, how come you gotta be in charge when we're doing just fine?"

Elsewhere...

[hit_girl_mindy]

Watching in the shadows, Hit Girl takes note of all of this. Obviously no one is going to want to indulge a little girl at this point in time, and anyway, she just wasn't up for talking. The longer she was on the ship, the more she realized the best kind of thing to do was to listen and watch. The soldiers were the first to catch her eye, in some ways more than the Daligig themselves. Of course the Daligig were the true masters, so to speak, they had command and all of that, but it was worth noting they needed protection. It was also worth it to learn what their purpose was, how friendly they might be. All eyes would naturally be on the Daligig, but what about their muscle

Re: Elsewhere...

[fate_favored]

The leader knew she meant their species and not their name, since few even among the GIA have ever seen one of their kind, as they kept mostly among themselves and the secretive Daligig.

"Glory and Honor," the apparent leader greeted her, slamming a fist against his chest in a sort of salute. "We are Kessek, warriors in service to the Daligig. I am Force Commander Hukkar, and these are my Honor Guard."

Re: Elsewhere...

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Glory and honor," Hit Girl repeated, slamming her fist to her chest. It was a strange greeting, but no stranger than any other things she had seen in the months being here, on Stacy. Why not this?

"I am Hit Girl, on the ship to strengthen myself. I'm curious: why do you serve the Daligig?"

Re: Elsewhere...

[fate_favored]

"Long have the Kessek pledged themselves to the Daligig," Hukkar replied. "They raised us up from being a primitive race that was about to destroy itself in foolish civil wars. It is a matter of honor that we serve continue to our saviors as Vassals."

[outta_this_army]

Grif, to be completely honest, had no desire to be around the Daligig. It seemed like every time the crew had any kind of contact with these guys, it was bad news alllll over the place.

But still. He was curious. He had to go look at them, and he supposed hanging around waiting for them to show up was an effective waste of time. Besides, the Daligig (from what he remembered, anyway) didn't look all that big or tou-

Oh my god what is that thing.

It was huge.

It was a lizard thing and it was huger than Kang, something was wrong about that.

Grif had actually been half considering giving these guys a piece of his mind, really, but the sight of the reptilian soldiers just kinda stomped down those ideas for the moment. He staaaaaaared.

[fate_favored]

One of the big reptilian soldiers apparently noticed the guy in bright orange armor staring intently at them.

He gave Grif an awkward little wave.

They seemed friendly, at least.

[outta_this_army]

That just made this even more confusing.

There was a giant, terrifying lizard guy waving at him.

Grif swallowed.

"...Sup?"

[fate_favored]

"Glory and Honor, friend," he replied.

One of the other Kessek leaned into the first one's ear, whispering something, before he spoke up again.

"My comrade wishes me to tell you she admires the color of your armor. It is admirable for one so small to choose to fight wearing such a prominent and noticeable color in battle."

[futureisclear]

Ildraniath had watched the little interchange between the crew and the Dalgig commander. Interesting, if also disturbing - it simply reinforced her paranoia and her distrust of their so-called saviors. They came aboard, demanding that the crew fall in line and then... what? Had they expected the mon-keigh to simply bow their heads and give in? Despite her general disdain for all things human (or non-Eldar, really), Ildraniath still gave a grudging respect to the human capacity for stubborn resistance when they felt the need.

But that was not her concern. At least not for now. For now, she was curiously examining the soldiers the dalgig had brought along. Slightly smaller than a mon-keigh Space Marine. How fascinating. Potentially deadly, but she felt sure that if it came to a fight she would be able to handle a group of them. More if Zouichi and Alendian happened to be at her side.

"Tell me, are you their bodyguards?"

That seemed obvious, but it never hurt to check.

[fate_favored]

The one in the lighter armor, carrying the large metal staff--their leader, apparently--spoke up.

"The Kessek pledged themselves as Vassals to the Daligig long ago. We serve as their soldiers."

[futureisclear]

"Any particular reason you chose to bind yourself to them?" Ildraniath arched a brow curiously. How free were they going to be with information?

[fate_favored]

The massive warrior regarded her quietly for a while, before continuing.

"Because before they came to us, we were barbaric, and nearly destroyed ourselves before ever having the chance to leave our home world. They saved us from ourselves, granting us the knowledge and foresight to make ourselves better than we were."

"We feel it is merely a course of honor to serve those that did so much for us."

[aboutthatevac]

Kerrigan watched as they came aboard. She had her arms folded over her chest. Her hands grasped her own flesh, digging in hard.

She tried to evaluate the Daligig on a tactical level but the personal interfered. All she could picture were a team of Daligig stripping her naked, cutting her open, tampering with her mind just like the Confederacy.

She could hear her teeth grinding together. She felt both disgusted and disgusting. Used and damaged and violated. And those feelings projected, unconsciously, all around her. She pulsed with barely controlled anger.

Kerrigan walked purposefully to the Daligig, addressing the self declared leader of everyone on this ship.

"Care to explain why you experimented on me? I'm sure it was justified by your delusion that it was for greater good."

[fate_favored]

The Kessek soldiers around Yavek bristled as she approached and spoke, but the Daligig waved them off for the moment.

"I did no such thing. If the previous crew did such things to you, then I am sure they had their own reasons for it."

[aboutthatevac]

Kerrigan's lips formed a cold smile. Her eyes lit with a fire that resembled more the Queen of Blades than Sarah Kerrigan.

"Oh, but you are responsible. You proclaimed your authority over all of us, which means that you were also responsible for the previous crews actions. And let me tell you, no reason could justify this. Do you know what I am? What I was made to be? I am a weapon. The most dangerous weapon of my universe. You may have cut me open and damaged me but I am still dangerous." She was smiling now. "And you thought you could tame me, turn my into your weapon. Do you know what happened to my last 'trainers?' I killed them. I gave one of them a brain tumor. I crushed his brain matter against his skull."

[fate_favored]

Yavek seemed unfazed. For someone so small, he seemed to have some balls.

"Listen, I don't care what you think you're owed. You think I'm going to be cowed by some petty threats? You think you'll get some kind of revenge?"

He scoffed.

"I don't care. Take it up with someone else. I've got more important things to deal with."