Again, it is strange times we live in, and these have been sitting in the painting pile for waaaay to long, so I could ignore them no longer, it has been years since I painted an ships of this scale, but it was a fun two day project.
Auran Dominate by Studio Bergstrom, sculpted by Robert “Toaster” Provan. Drew at Studio Bergstrom is one of the nicest guys around, and his products are amazing!
As I was painting these, I wished I had some pearlescent paint, as the more I looked at them, the more I saw nautiloid influences, but hey ho, they're red on Drew's site, so red spaceships they shall be.
My Auran fleet, now need to find a rules set to play them with.
Top view.
Destroyers
Frigates
Cruiser
It's a tooled up beast!
I was tempted to put the guns the wrong way round, but that was getting too Liberator.
Auran battleship. Each red area is five different shades.
She still has hardpoints free!
That's a lot of firepower!
A large, heavily armoured diplomatic drone floated across.
"Sir, your ambassadorial briefing..."
"Why? Why could we not send a drone, the ship AI is far more skilled and intelligent then I."
"First fact, Aurans hate anything robotic, despite this their fleet is almost autonomous. To be honest, we are as surprised as you, to granted an audience with their Emperor is a great honour, not many even survive the formal request process."
"Okay, and why was I chosen?"
"Simply. You're disposable.."
"Eh!"
"The Auran are evolved from something very similar to a nautilus on Earth, except massing at least a ton in adult form. They tried the land dwelling phase, but honestly, they did not enjoy it, got bored and went back to the water, before accidentally discovering air flight by an extension of escaping the water via internal jet propulsion, and an ability to attack threats from the air or underwater developed from there. From there, interstellar flight and system conquest was an easy step for them."
"Go back, explain disposable?"
"You, as a human, are replaceable. Plenty more where you came from. I have you in the A.I. pool as lasting five minutes before being disintegrated. Not hopeful of that, I was hoping for death at first sight."
"What!" What happened to the last ambassador?"
"The last two were eaten, before that, I recall one was dismembered, three were shot, one squashed, and one is now in an asylum on Artaxia Prime. You are out third."
"Choice?"
"No, this year. Meanwhile, it is important to know that if it backs away from you, facing you, they see you as a threat, if they turn around, this is not an insult, they just do not see you as a problem. It is, however, unlikely you will get that far."
"Hold on, these diplomatic deaths, aren't they seen as a provocation? Why are we not at war with them for these insults?"
"We are not at war because we need them more as friends than an alliance. It might interest you to know they do not have eyelids, so eye contact will be long, but do not attempt to stare them out, they consider it an insult. They do not speak, but communicate telepathically, we think. They are certainly capable of communicating with computers via this method. Also, do not mention their colour choices."
"Why?"
"Red and white, it has been commented previously it's a bit Christmassy, and they hate that. Fatally hate it in fact"
"No Christmas, right... "
"Oh no, they celebrate Christmas, they love a good party, just that red and white are the colours of their predatory snake-hawks, and on first contact, they mind probed our humans thoroughly, and know coral snakes are the same colours, so they figured a red and white fleet would be scary."
"Why are we even trying to negotiate with them then?"
"We need their firepower. You will notice their weapons systems are modular, each ship is outfitted with weapons specific to their mission, apart from spinal armaments. Most ships, they cannot even bother adding all the weapons to fill all their hard points, as they can adjust later. Oh, do not try to get in the Emperor's home pool, no matter how tempting."
"Those ships are MASSIVE!"
"Only crewed by one Auran at a time. Anyway, good luck..."
A door opens, and somewhat nervously, he enters.
Twenty minutes later, the door reopens and the Ambassador steps forwards, looking pleased.
"We have their fleet."
"But... But... But... You're still alive? How?"
"The Emperor informs you that he feels the need for a proper fight, and by the way, he also claims he had 20 minutes and me surviving in the pool, so he says pay up! Looks like we will need an offical residence from now on."
Auran Dominate by Studio Bergstrom, sculpted by Robert “Toaster” Provan. Drew at Studio Bergstrom is one of the nicest guys around, and his products are amazing!
As I was painting these, I wished I had some pearlescent paint, as the more I looked at them, the more I saw nautiloid influences, but hey ho, they're red on Drew's site, so red spaceships they shall be.
My Auran fleet, now need to find a rules set to play them with.
Top view.
Destroyers
Frigates
Cruiser
It's a tooled up beast!
I was tempted to put the guns the wrong way round, but that was getting too Liberator.
Auran battleship. Each red area is five different shades.
She still has hardpoints free!
That's a lot of firepower!
A large, heavily armoured diplomatic drone floated across.
"Sir, your ambassadorial briefing..."
"Why? Why could we not send a drone, the ship AI is far more skilled and intelligent then I."
"First fact, Aurans hate anything robotic, despite this their fleet is almost autonomous. To be honest, we are as surprised as you, to granted an audience with their Emperor is a great honour, not many even survive the formal request process."
"Okay, and why was I chosen?"
"Simply. You're disposable.."
"Eh!"
"The Auran are evolved from something very similar to a nautilus on Earth, except massing at least a ton in adult form. They tried the land dwelling phase, but honestly, they did not enjoy it, got bored and went back to the water, before accidentally discovering air flight by an extension of escaping the water via internal jet propulsion, and an ability to attack threats from the air or underwater developed from there. From there, interstellar flight and system conquest was an easy step for them."
"Go back, explain disposable?"
"You, as a human, are replaceable. Plenty more where you came from. I have you in the A.I. pool as lasting five minutes before being disintegrated. Not hopeful of that, I was hoping for death at first sight."
"What!" What happened to the last ambassador?"
"The last two were eaten, before that, I recall one was dismembered, three were shot, one squashed, and one is now in an asylum on Artaxia Prime. You are out third."
"Choice?"
"No, this year. Meanwhile, it is important to know that if it backs away from you, facing you, they see you as a threat, if they turn around, this is not an insult, they just do not see you as a problem. It is, however, unlikely you will get that far."
"Hold on, these diplomatic deaths, aren't they seen as a provocation? Why are we not at war with them for these insults?"
"We are not at war because we need them more as friends than an alliance. It might interest you to know they do not have eyelids, so eye contact will be long, but do not attempt to stare them out, they consider it an insult. They do not speak, but communicate telepathically, we think. They are certainly capable of communicating with computers via this method. Also, do not mention their colour choices."
"Why?"
"Red and white, it has been commented previously it's a bit Christmassy, and they hate that. Fatally hate it in fact"
"No Christmas, right... "
"Oh no, they celebrate Christmas, they love a good party, just that red and white are the colours of their predatory snake-hawks, and on first contact, they mind probed our humans thoroughly, and know coral snakes are the same colours, so they figured a red and white fleet would be scary."
"Why are we even trying to negotiate with them then?"
"We need their firepower. You will notice their weapons systems are modular, each ship is outfitted with weapons specific to their mission, apart from spinal armaments. Most ships, they cannot even bother adding all the weapons to fill all their hard points, as they can adjust later. Oh, do not try to get in the Emperor's home pool, no matter how tempting."
"Those ships are MASSIVE!"
"Only crewed by one Auran at a time. Anyway, good luck..."
A door opens, and somewhat nervously, he enters.
Twenty minutes later, the door reopens and the Ambassador steps forwards, looking pleased.
"We have their fleet."
"But... But... But... You're still alive? How?"
"The Emperor informs you that he feels the need for a proper fight, and by the way, he also claims he had 20 minutes and me surviving in the pool, so he says pay up! Looks like we will need an offical residence from now on."
Sweet! He obviously didn't offer them any Escargot as an appetizer with an appropriate aperitif to break the ice of negotiations. Granted, the Emperor probably already had his fill of his previous served men, and I'm sure that the Ambassador would have preferred an engraved invitation through snail mail, but progress is still progress.
ReplyDelete