Asteroid Manifest

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The docking point for all incoming refugees and reports bound for the Guild, always packed and staffed.

Kasi followed happily, the sensation of the gravity was strange, but he enjoyed the new feeling. He bounded along after Akari, jingling as he moved.

Akari led them to a sliding door. Inside was a low hanging table where, instead of chairs, it was surrounded by cushions. In the center of the table, a hibachi was sitting there, so far unused. Akari went to the side of the room, where a small kitchen sat silently, and she began pouring out glasses of water. The room was otherwise cozy, with decorative scrolls portraying multi-tailed foxes, and had one with four creatures on it, a white crane with red feathers, recognizable as Chi-Ji, a black ox, a silver-white tiger, and a jade serpent dancing around a depiction of home planet.

Matt followed everyone a bit uneasily, he decided he liked artificial gravity, and he liked big stable ships that didn't feel like they were ripping themselves apart on takeoff and landing. Yes, big modern ships good.

Kasi stared at all the scrolls. "Are these the celestials?" He asked.

"Yes." Akari glanced over at the scrolls fondly. "I can tell you more about them, if you'd like."

"I would like that." Kasi stared at each scroll carefully, he had no idea what any of these creatures were except the snake, it was the only thing recognisable to him.

"Sit. I shall make tea and steak. Ah!" She grinned happily as Chou and Mandeep wandered in with the dragonlings. "Chou! Mandeep! Come and sit! We shall eat and tell stories and be merry, just as Hoshinoka!"

The hibachi grill was lit. The serpents raised their heads and stared in anticipation as Akari expertly began to prepare the meal.

Matt would find a seat and sort of slump into it. Now they had something resembling gravity he felt a bit better.
And oo food.

Kasi watched everything with careful consideration and child-like facination.

Soon steak strips with rice and vegetables sizzled on the grill and Akari concentrated on kindling the meal. "Now, let's see... there is Yu'lon, the great Jade Serpent and Spirit of Wisdom. Then there is Nuizao, the great Black Ox and Spirit of Fortitude. There's Xuen, the great White Tiger and Spirit of Strength, and finally, as Mandeep apparently knows, Chi-ji, the great Red Crane, and Spirit of Hope. No one really knows where they came from, only that they were born of light and darkness and with creatures the elders call 'Creators of Worlds' and 'Reapers of Souls,' whatever those are."

"Reapers of souls? Sounds.. cheery." Matt remarked.

"They are your gods yes?" Kasi asked.

Akari paused for a bit, frowning slightly. "I would not cal them 'gods' by your standards. They can be corrupted, and can be caught and captured. It has happened throughout wars in our history. Our relationship with them is symbiotic. They protect us, and we protect them. We revere them for their mystical power, and the fact they have been with us more millennia. That is all, really. They are Spirits."

"What happened to your sun?" Kasi asked abruptly.

Matt shook his head.

"That is lost to history." The girl replied sadly, turning over the steak strip that baked above the grill. "The most we know is that our species used to be a space-faring race, but then we met up with another race, and through discourse, war ensued, which ended up destroying our sun. That is all the information that remains."

"Wow. Bet they were pissed it didn't wipe you out then." Matt remarked.

Kasi tilted his head. "I would think that would be something you would want to record down." He shook his head.

"We did." Akari sighed, checking on the tea, "But the War of Stones destroyed much of our past culture..."

"War of stones?" Kasi asked.

Matt tried not to smile. Kasi had no filter, he just asked whatever came into his head. In some ways it was refreshing, he asked what you were thinking but too polite to ask yourself.
"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." He added, aware that any war was likely to be pretty unpleasant.

Akari shook her head kindly at Matt, "If we are silent about history, we will lose it to time. It is good to tell stories." She turned to answer Kasi.

"There used to be two native peoples on Hoshinoka, us, the kitsune, and... Daimajin." She shuddered. "Please do not make me say the name more than I need to!

"Daijamin were creatures of stone. Though they reproduced like any other biological creature, they had skin as hard as stone and could turn fully into stone, like statues. They were hostile creatures, and for many years, our people were subjugated by the creatures of the deep mountains..."

Kasi rested his head in his hands, elbows on the table, listening intently to the story. "Then what happened?" he asked.

"Well, with the help of the August Celestials -- who had also been subjugated and captured by the Daijamin -- the kitsune rebelled, but the damage had been done. Even if we had liberated ourselves, our villages and cities were burned and we had to start anew. No one knows where the Daijamin are now. Some say they are shattered and dead -- Ox scat, in my opinion. Evil never truly dies. Most of us believe they retreated to their deep mountain tunnels, hiding and biding their time until they attempt to take over Hoshinoka again." Akari shuddered, not liking the thought. Chou nodded and murmured in agreement that the thought was terrifying.

"Can you not destroy them?" Kasi asked.

Matt frowned.

"We've destroyed those that we've found, shattering them during their stony sleep, but I doubt we've gotten all of them..." Akari sighed softly. Mandeep frowned slightly as he picked up chopsticks, looking as if he had handled them before as bowls were passed around with chopsticks for everybody.

Matt fumbled with the chopsticks for a while, watching the others before he finally got the hang of it. he was good with his hands.
He politely declined rice and vegetables, after all, he couldn't digest them.

Kasi on the other hand stared at the sticks in bewilderment, couldn't get them to work and so resorted to eating the only way he knew how, with his hands and by tipping the bowl.
"Reduced their numbers at least. Could you not bury them? cave in the mountain exits? trap them in their own caves?" He asked through mouthfuls.

"What caverns we found, we have destroyed, but one can never be too sure if they're gotten one hundred percent, you know...?" Akari sighed as everyone began to eat, Akari shoveling the rice in with her chopsticks like a big spoon. The meat was tender, juicy and grilled with care as the spices and juices seeped out with every bite.

Miss Heny wrote:While Vestia crew relaxed and enjoyed themselves minus Merith of course....

The ship came into a careful landing, ensuring to pass all the security codes as the pilot a Kelishan let autopilot take hold. He softly drumbed his fingers on the dash as he heard his two very odd companions talk. They were gibberish, if you could call it that in their native tongue. He looked at the dash towards a faded photo. Softly he plucked it between his claws before shaking his head. This could quite easily be a fools run. Then again it feels could easily not be.

He heard the clomping of hooves as the two Demars became restless, their reason to there was similar but different. They looked at each nervously as their four arms fidgets while their horse like body twitched. Oh this was going to be Intresting if he guild scanners still worked for their weapons.

Just as with every new ship that enters the Guild's territory, it was escorted by a flock of masses that could only be described as large bluish birds. When the ship landed, Arya and her group was already waiting to greet the newcomers, staring intently at her continuing to grow to do list.

Unfortunately Dagmar has pull the short straw on heading off the ship first, his quilin beside him he calmly walked off. The quilin was around 17 hand tall aquadic dragon horse that held this bored look as it walked with his rider, a six foot tall red head kelishan with visible scaring. Follow behind him though was a rarity.

Two Demar, four arm centaur like creatures carefully disboarded the ship. Standing 18 hands tall by the withers they were easily 8-9 feet tail. One was male, the other female both rather young but knew their duty. On the male wrist was a simple bracelet with a softly pulsing blue gem. The female had a ring on her left main arm hand with a pulsing red gem. The guild's alarms for demonic weapons could go off any moment and neither one had any idea on how they would react.

The kelishan softly sniff the air, catching a faint wiff of someone very familiar that he hasn't smelt in decades.

Arya and another Peacekeeper stood beside her as the newcomers plodded off the ship. Her mouth opened halfway to begin the routine greetings before her eyes flickered upwards, and she stopped. The kelishan was of no surprise - she had seen their kind before, however, the centaurian creatures were recognizable to her only by the elder scriptures within the Archive, writing that spoke of the beasts.

Her eyes narrowed, "I don't believe I'm very familiar with your kin," she broke protocol, gazing at them with wary distrust, "However I know there are those that speak of creatures like you, with untrustworthy blades. Those kinds of blades bear no place among the Guild. Why are you here?"

"We are here due to a prisoner you hold." The male said with a deep bow, "A keeper by the name of Merith. He weilds himself a unholy weapon that needs to be... Removed." He said dryly, "My name is Quia and my female companion is Yyto. The pilot and our ally is Dagmar."

The kelishan absently waved as he warily watched.

Arya nearly choked on her own tongue as she forced a fixed polite smile. "I'm afraid that that information is sensitive. While not classified we don't usually allow random strangers to speak with someone accused of mass genocide and crimes against the Galaxy freely." She passed her gaze over to her subordinate, which seemed to have taken the cue and headed towards Vestia's ship...