----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Followed by her elite crew, Chrarada hastily walked onto her bridge and sat in what the Terrans called a crash couch. It was a change that took some getting used to. However, having all her controls within reach, as well as a multitude of protective features and a few new command screens, was an excellent addition. But the way you had to lean back into it and allow the clasps to fasten around your shoulders and legs was odd. Not to mention they have yet to fix the problem of the rear mesh rubbing inappropriately around the base of her tail.

Pulling up her current fleet list to see seven Aasteran ships readying for their first extrasolar battle, she gripped her new command console tightly and opened communications between her small fleet. "Fall into formation with the Terran assault force. I don't want any sloppy movements."

Using her new command console to link her fleet to the Terran battle net, she fought back a frown as she began receiving orders from the Force Commander. "Guess I'll have to concede command this time." She grumbled. Reluctantly confirming her orders, Chrarada proudly watched as her ships smoothly moved into their assigned positions within the fleet.

Noticing the countdown timer that appeared on her console, she flicked her hand and threw it on the main display, a motion she had learned from a recent briefing. "Status on ship readiness?" A question she was used to asking, unneeded now that she could clearly see the situation within her ship at a glance. However, it seemed to put her crew at ease as they rattled off their system reports.

Grinning sadistically as the timer closed in on zero, Chrarada couldn't help but feel excited as her ship finally entered warp. The chance to engage her hated enemy after all this time, the first of her people to do so. She only lamented the fact Ethuci was not with her.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ethuci, who was definitely not crushing the lift rail as he fought back a scream, sighed in relief as he and his team finally reached the bottom of the long shaft. "You did not answer your com channel!" He nearly screamed at Hezexhel and Finley.

Shrugging, Finley slowly got up and waved the group of terrified snake-lizards over. "Something is messing with long-range com's"

Ethuci huffed and slammed his tail on the ground, cracking the flooring and leaving a heavy impression. "Don't play with me, Terran. I saw the moment we were in range to communicate.

Sighing, Hezexhel looked at the floor and chuckled. "Apologies, commander. The truth is we decided a rest was in order. We did walk upside-down a two-kilometre shaft after all."

Pausing for a moment, Ethuci walked past Finley and Hezexhel. "Let's get a move on."

Watching as the angry commander continued to move forward, Finley looked over to Hezexhel and shrugged, deciding to follow Ethuci as the team moved further into the installation.

The walk was long and winding. Twists and turns, everywhere the same metal hallways, no lights, only the occasional flickering power station as they descended down into the depths of the planet. That is until the group came to what could only be called a blast door.

Ethuci, Finley and Hezexhel stood silently a few meters from the gateway. With no security panel insight, no keyhole, or any other obvious way in. The trio sat dumbfounded at what to do.

Finley began to rummage through the gear the surface team had brought and grimaced. "I guess we could use the laser drill to get through. It would take a while, though."

Hezexhel roughly kicked a stray rock into the door, only to have it bounce off a shield. "So what? We drill through?"

Finley stopped and began flipping through all his scanning spectrums. "Did you guys see that? That door has a damn shield on it."

Ethuci walked over and picked up the rock. Throwing it against the door, he watched closely as the shield flickered and bounced the stone away. " We shoot the shield out and drill through then."

Finley frowned as he finally got a good scan in on the shield. "That is one stealthy ass shield. I don't recommend shooting it out, though. The power grid is bad enough as is, if that shield draws power from it... Well, whatever's in this facility will be lost real quick if you get me."

Ethuci picked up the rock and chucked it at the door again, watching as the shield flickered for a split second and sent the rock flying away again. "We might have to risk it."

Hezexhel lazily picked up the rock and tossed it at the door. "I don't like risking anything inside that facility."

Finley watched as Ethuci picked up a different rock and hucked it at the door again. "The door might be reinforced with more shielding. From the looks of it, paranoia was a common thing for your people even before the freeze."

Ethuci watched as his rock bounced off the shield and slammed into the wall, popping off and panel to reveal some type of command pad. "Ahh, I seem to have found our way in." Walking over, Ethuci eyed the panel closely. "Scanner is telling me it's some kind of bio reader."

Hezexhel shrunk and dropped his rock. " So we're not getting in, even with this panel. No one here would be a match for someone over two hundred years ago."

Ethuci unlocked the clasps on his gauntlet and hissed in pain as the cold instantly bit into his skin. Pulling it off and throwing it at a squadmate, Ethuci quickly pressed his frozen hand against the scanner.

Finley immediately broke out his medical kit and quickly searched for his nanites. Waiting impatiently as the bio-scanner sprung to life and began scanning Ethuci's hand, Finley quietly inched closer, scanning every spectrum he could as he watched in horror as the blood in Ethuci's hand began to freeze. "You're a bloody idiot. You might have just lost your damn hand, you know?!"

Ethuci screamed in pain as the scanner finally finished its task and beeped a merry tune for him. Instantly retracting his dead hand, his squadmate quickly attached the gauntlet and promptly sealed it for him. "Well, It seems to like me, at least." He ground out, his arm hanging limply at his side.

Finley bashed Ethuci over the head with his hand and jammed the nanite injector into his neck slot. "Yea, well, all it cost you is your hand and maybe your arm, good work." Scanning Ethuci's Medical data, Finley frowned and fought back the urge to cancel the mission. "It's not looking good. I'm going to force your suit into active regeneration. You won't have any physical augmentation from your nanomesh, but we might be able to save your arm and prevent any negative effect from the frozen blood."

Finley paused as the speakers crackled, his mind racing as the facility began speaking gibberish to him. Unable to understand what it was saying, he looked over to the world natives and noticed most of them were also looking around in confusion. "So, what's it saying?"

AASTER BIO SIGN DETECTED. WELCOME TO GENE BANK EIGHTY-FIVE.

AASTER BIO SIGN DETECTED. WELCOME TO GENE BANK EIGHTY-FIVE.

AASTER BIO SIGN DETECTED. WELCOME TO GENE BANK EIGHTY-FIVE.

AASTER BIO SIGN DETECTED. WELCOME TO GENE BANK EIGHTY-FIVE.

AASTER BIO SIGN DETECTED. WELCOME TO GENE BANK EIGHTY-FIVE.

Ethuci listened closely to the voice in confusion, his arm forgotten as the nanites went to work. " I have no clue. I've never heard any of these languages before."

Hezexhel walked through the door as it opened, and the voice continued. "Well, it doesn't seem mad. Let's go in and take a look."

AASTER BIO SIGN DETECTED. WELCOME TO GENE BANK EIGHTY-FIVE.

Ethuci stopped as the voice continued and looked at Finley. "Did it just say that this place is a gene bank?"

Finley couldn't help the smug smiled on his face as he joined Hezexhel in stepping through the door. " Care to see what kind of care package your ancestors left us?"

His arm forgotten, Ethuci walked through the door and into the facility.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Michael sat across from the being and listened happily as it chimed at him. "I don't know what you're saying, but I guarantee you, you'll make a fortune just from singing to people."

"It could sell its services as a sleep inducer. It is very soothing to listen to. However, we have been at this for an hour and have made no progress."

"I still don't trust it." Srettia added over the com, making sure to keep an eye on the other sentients hanging in space.

Getting up, Michael motioned for the being to follow him out of the cargo bay. "Let's get you to the hard light suite. Maybe Jack can show you some pictures, and you can learn some Terran standard instead."

"This may work. It also may not. But it is worth a try, I suppose."

Srettia watched nervously as her ship blared warnings as the hard light beings began to gather power. Holding onto the targeting controls, she fingered the trigger tightly. "Uhhh, Jack, any idea what they are doing?" A few shots bounced off the shields causing the ship's inhabitants to be knocked around. "I'm going to blast them, Jack!"

"Do not! They were very low-powered attacks. Considering what they are capable of, I can not see the shots as anything other than a warning of some kind. I do not know what they are up to, but they are. Never mind, they are moving towards the local star. Maybe they were warning us to keep their companion safe?"

Turning into the hard light room, Michael keyed the power and deployed a chair to sit in. "Why are they moving towards the star?"

"Unknown. Food, maybe?"

Diverting power from weapons to scanners, Srettia ran every scan she could over the odd beings. " I think Jack is right. They are just sitting around the star, but their energy is increasing."

Michael opened a children's learning program and started the presentation. "Huh, that's pretty neat."

"I will begin my attempts at teaching it standard."

Michael sat back watched as Jack took his regular body, laughing as the being suddenly chimed an odd sound. "I may not be able to understand what it's saying, but I'm pretty sure you just surprised it."

"Hey, look!" Transferring a live feed to the room for Michael to see, Srettia and Michael both watched as the beings sitting outside the star began to shift between multiple shapes and designs. Each changing from a diamond to their own unique pattern. "They're beautiful... I still don't like them, though." Srettia finished, crossing her arms while continued to watch the show.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

After hours of attempts, Jack had made no progress, and Michael was busy fighting a hard-fought battle against his body.

"Michael was right about the sounds the being made." Srettia thought, laughing to herself as Michael nearly fell out of his chair as he continued his fight to stay awake. "Maybe he could use some of that coffee he always drinks in the morning." Getting up from her couch, she turned to walk down the hall towards the common area.

Moving into the kitchen, she made for the fabricator and keyed in his coffee selection, choosing 'black' flavour, the kind he always got when he woke up in the morning.

"Incoming friendly warp signatures."

Srettia shrugged and picked up the coffee. "Can you tell them not to shoot the pretty shapes?"

"I already have. They have responded in the affirmative."

Walking out of the kitchen with a cup of what Michael commonly referred to as black gold, she quickly walked towards the hard light suite. "Well, that was nice of them to respond so quickly."

"The Force Captain is rather agreeable."

Walking into the room, she looked over to the being who was curiously sitting crossed-legged in the grass, looking more like a Terran than the last time she saw it. "Here, dummy. Don't want to fall asleep on the job now, do you?"

Snatching the cup out of Srettia's hands with gusto, Michael let out a big smile and sipped on his coffee. "Thanks, dear, you're a lifesaver."

Sitting on the ground between Michael's legs, Srettia eyes the unnamed guest with distrust. "I still don't like these things."

Jack looked over to Srettia and frowned. "They have been nothing but friendly since we have arrived at this location... Mostly."

Michael laughed and let out a pleasant sigh from his coffee. "I don't think they're a threat. This one has just been singing to me the entire time."

Leaning into Michael's legs, Srettia looked closer at the alien. "Did. Did it always have that tail?"

Jack paused the slide and looked at srettia. "No, it grew it as you walked in."

Srettia glared as she noticed it also replicated her neck cover. "Well, at least it has good aesthetic taste."

Jack happily resumed the slides, only to have the ship violently quake again, rocking the passengers gently as the inertia dampeners kicked in. "The Terran fleet has arrived, and we have a problem."

Jack posted a screen on the wall for the group to see and pointed. "The Aliens are firing high-powered solar emissions at the Terran ships."

Michael quickly got up and sprinted for the bridge. "What's the full situation, Jack?"

"The Fleet is currently holding position. Their shields are holding, but they have a full weapons lock on the aliens."

Reaching the bridge, Michael took control of the ship and moved to join the Terran fleet. "Think they'll get the picture if we park around the assault force?"

Srettia joined Michael on the bridge, their guest floating closely behind her. "One way to find out." Just as she sat in her chair and Michael manoeuvred the ship towards the Terran fleet.

It was at the moment the alien guest poked Srettia in the shoulder and then to the screen displaying the others of its kind, chiming a quick tune.

"What do you think it wants?" Srettia asked.

Michael pulled a hard turn and commenced a warp skip to the aliens gathering around the sun. "I bet it's out of range to communicate. It uses radio for long-distance transmission, right? No way it can reach the star properly from here." Upon reaching the aliens, their guest quieted, and soon after, the hostilities stopped. "See, no problem."

"We are being hailed by a Captain Julian Becude."

Srettia hit the open com and was met with the face of a rather angry-looking Terran. "This is Captain Srettia Esithn of the Blazing Sun. How can I help you?"

Captain Becude looked at the trio on the bridge through his screen and stood from his couch. "You can tell me what kind of fucking greeting that was."

Michael took over the conversation with a flick of his wrist and a salute. "Sir! It's rather hard to explain, but the short is. The weird shapes around the local star are actually aliens. They're pretty spooked and probably hungry. I think they eat solar energy."

Captain Becude's mood lightened as the realization that he may be a part of the second recorded first contact hit his mind. "That thing on your bridge is one of them then? Well, if you need anything, let me know. I do have a heavy fabrication ship in my fleet."

Michael looked for an answer and only came up with one request. "Uhh, we need a language specialist." Pointing at the guest behind them, who then made a merry tune, Michael shrugged. "Their language is musical, and we aren't making any progress."

Captian Becude looked off to his side and immediately sat in his crash couch. "Interpose us between the energy signatures and aliens. Charge all weapons and shields. Launch all fighters, have bombers hold position around the Golden Meadows."

Srettia quickly looked at her scanners in confusion. "Are we missing something?"

Finishing off his orders, Captain Becude looked at Srettia. "Our Ewar ships have detected incoming warp signatures of unknown a type. They are rather slow and wasteful, fits the bill for our bad guys."

Srettia sent the request to join fleet formations and eyed the Captain. "You will let me join. I have already defeated a number of them."

Captain Becude looked over to Michael and sighed. "If the aliens won't leave, I will reluctantly allow you to join the battle net. Though I'd rather leave this system as we're detecting over six hundred ships incoming."

Michael looked over to Srettia and grinned. "I'm game. Though I'm driving this time, pretty sure you scratched the paint last battle." Taking over the controls, Michael Looked over to his passenger. "Uhh, you wanna come?" Hearing a happy-sounding tune, Michael grabbed hold of the controls and moved to fall into formation with the fleet.

"We are assigned to bomber squadron seven as a heavy escort."

Srettia began going over the weapons controls before freezing mid-function to peek behind her. "Hey, it's, Um, it's in a crash couch now."

Michael turned to look at the funny alien, now floating mid-air and buckled into a blocky-looking couch. "I think I like this thing." He noted, bursting into laughter as it waved a blocky arm soon after.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------