[snip]

A burst of static was the first thing El got as she ran through the dial frequencies.

El let out a quiet curse in Mandarin as she was met with static. However, more frequencies to choose from there, she thought as she continued an auto scan ..

With a final beep beep, from the computer, a video and audio file came up in a black/green coloring pattern. A suited newscaster like humanoid alien was there and through their UT tie in spoke in the normal alien tongue. =/\= A War to end all wars is promised by the southern MacArm generals! However, I good president Willson assures all good people of the north that a war to end us all will not occur while he is in office. Conventional arms only are what he promises to use and what Dictator Franks has also promised to constrain himself too. Our fight over natural resources and land will continue both say, but we promise in joint unity not to destroy the fragility of our world either. =/\= it said.

“So much for good intentions,” El muttered. Earth was not that far removed from its wars that had devastated much. She understood reasons for war but didn’t yet know enough beyond ‘I want this rock’. “Wonder what kind of resources they are meaning?” El asked Roger. Then, having for the moment forgotten about the girl, was surprised when she chimed in.

At this the final pin seemed to drop for their shocked civilian. Confusion was clear across her face now and she unsteadily rose pointing a finger at El then the computer where the UT sat. “..Why are you ....you using that device to translate?” She demanded.

“Because we’re not from here and don’t want to be here but your war caught us up in it and whatever you are doing we need to figure out and stop or else we’ll not get home,” she snapped back. Then, the radio found something ..

Just as the woman said this El picked up a bit of radio traffic from down the street a quarter mile away. =/\= Squad Season to frontline HQ we’ve secured an officer prisoner. Seems like they are part of the egghead bureau. Requesting permission to grill the egg head here and now and dump his useless weight after unless he has priority 2 or higher intel? =/\= A male voice in the alien tongue said again translated a second later by their UT.

GM CockRoach

El forwarded this to the Captain. She was sure that she had heard it thanks to her patch but wanted to make sure.

“So, the newspapers and news related things we have seen, suggest they want to have a peaceful war, but the way they are actually treating each other, this war is harsh.” Lt. Sanks responded after watching the video.

Lt. Sanks, Linguist

“It is easy to get out of hand,” she said. “Was there some kind of shortage of materials? Strategic resources?” she mused to Roger.

• El, Eng

“If we assume that they are really old school, conventional weapons could mean ones that use bullets, that’s a possibility, they ran out of shells and resources to continue making them, if it’s early energy weapons, the batteries might not have been strong enough to keep the weapons powered.” Lt. Sanks proposed as an answer.

Lt. Sanks, Linguist

Based on what they had seen so far the local populace used a combination of energy and ballistic weapons to varying degrees. The war it seems based on the read outs they had seen and read also seemed to paint a picture of differing ideals clashing on too small a space for both to survive.

GM CockRoach