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"Uhhh... Ma'am. Deep space sensor probes are detecting incoming warp signal. Weak and sloppy, just like our bogeys."

Kendra flipped the screen to the incoming data and wrinkled her nose as she studied the signal. "Are we sure this is correct? They're only sending one ship?"

"Yes, ma'am, just the one."

Kendra straightened herself in her chair and quickly sent an alert to Admiral Miles and First Tail Chrarada. "Park us at their exit point and have the heavy cruiser 'I Have A Rock' ready to greet them. I want to see what they're up to."

"By us, you mean the entire base... Ma'am?"

Kendra received an update for caution from the Admiral, informing her of his whereabouts and his situation. "You heard me. I want us there, and I want a hard light cloak activated. I want us looking like a rogue planetoid. That way, if they try anything stupid, we'll be ready."

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Ankiah slumped in her chair and rubbed her full belly. Currently, she was watching her guard with mild amusement. "Is it normal for Terran men to cook like that?"

Caithen continued to wobble towards the corner to sit on a nearby stool and shook her head to answer. "Eh, it depends on the person these days. But I get what you're saying. He's a good house husband."

Srettia flopped down on the couch and stretched her legs while yawning. "Isn't he? Mind you. I don't really have a tongue for fine food yet. I mean, I'm used to eating bugs for my protein."

Ankiah scrunched her muzzle as she felt a chill run down her spine."Eww, you eat bugs?"

Caithen sighed and decided it would be best to sit this one out.

Srettia rolled onto her back and frowned at the furry lady. "What's wrong with bugs? They're full of nutrients and easy to breed."

Ankiah was shocked at the flippant disregard for species safety and decided to investigate these claims of insect breeding. "Well, they. Ya know. They're big and have giant teeth and pincers and eat children and kill people who can't properly harden their fur. Why would you breed dangerous things with only the intent to eat? What if they get out and run amok. People could die, you know."

Caithen pinched herself and looked to Srettia, who seemed to be as horrified as she was. "What do you mean, eat children... Like bite them and leave marks... Or like eat whole?"

Ankiah gave the other two females a closer look and noticed they were giving her a funny look. "Uhh... I mean like. Eat, eat. Like how we just ate out food, eat."

Srettia pulled out her datapad, pulled up a picture of the grubs her people consumed, and quickly turned it towards Ankiah. "Uhh, these are the insects my people eat. You're describing monsters."

Caithen nodded and palmed her pistol. "These things are common on your planet?"

Ankiah nodded and studied the small meat lump Srettia was showing her. "Well yeah, as long as you stay in the cities, you're mostly fine. But outside in the forest, they're a problem. However, you can pierce them easily enough with your fur, so as long as you're careful, they're not really an issue. They mostly prey on kids and old people. Well, sometimes they attack in packs and eat merchant caravans too."

Srettia looked to Caithen then quickly made room for Michael as he walked into the room. " So, why haven't you like... I don't know, killed them all?"

Michael sat down and was immediately sent into a state of confusion as Srettia curled herself around him. "Kill all of what? sounds like a bad idea to kill all of something."

Caithen shook her head in a firm negative. "Ankiah's planet has giant bugs that eat people."

Michael ran his arm over Srettia's shoulder and looked to Ankiah, who just sat there, shocked at the sudden realization that this wasn't normal. "Soo... Yeah. Why haven't you killed them?"

Ankiah shrugged and grabbed the display controller. " Pretty sure they keep trying. They breed fast and adapt to the chemicals we use. They send out regular extermination armies, but they always lose a bunch of soldiers and just seems to quiet them down for a few months."

Michael shook his head and picked up his datapad. "I'm going to send this to Admiral Miles. Maybe we can prepare something for when we take you back to your planet."

Ankiah, still dumbfounded at the discovery, fiddled with the display control device. "Well, that's just great. Here I thought you Terrans came from a world worse off than us since you're all so buff and strong. When in reality, you just had it easy."

Caithen frowned and used her implant to switch to a nature documentary. "I wouldn't say that. We have thousands of things that can kill us on our home planet. We only rose to the top of the food chain because Oog, the caveman, had an idea and sharpened a pointy stick instead of having convenient spiky fur like you."

Srettia laughed and nodded her head. "It's true. I've seen the videos."

Ankiah looked to the display, watching as a large animal charged across grassy plains and pounced on another animal, quickly shredding it to pieces. "Ahh, I see... Well, I guess-" Interrupted by her wrist device, Ankiah looked down and groaned in disappointment.

Caithen got up, patted herself down in response to the sound, and looked over to the disgruntled Voktlix. "Well, spiky. Let's get going."

Ankiah curled into a ball and flared her fur. "You can't make me go."

Michael looked to Srettia, who just shrugged and decided to seek Caithen for the answer. "What's up?"

Groaning, Ankiah quickly poked her head out of her quills. "They're trying to force me to see a therapist again."

Caithen just shrugged and sat back down. "Far as I know that stuff can pierce armour, I ain't touching her."

"What's wrong with seeing a therapist?" Michael said, who only looked to Caithen as she just shook her head.

Ankiah slow pulled her head back into her fur and grunted in displeasure. "They're for crazy people. Everyone knows that."

Caithen frowned and quickly threw a pillow at Ankiah, overlooking the consequences of such an action. "Oh, crap! Sorry, reflex....." She said while letting out a nervous laugh as the pillow stuck to one of Ankiah's quills. She then looked to Michael, who just chuckled and grabbed his beer.

Finding herself not in trouble, Caithen continued with her train of thought as she stood once again to gather her things. "Anyway, it's not for crazy people you dolt. I see one once or twice a month, and I bet pretty pilot boy over there sees one too."

Michael nodded and put his beer down. "I haven't seen one since I got to this system, honestly. But I probably should with all that's happened. But, yeah, I used to see one once a week. Flying death traps, exploding mid-air and falling from the sky, being stranded in space with minimal air and food supply. It's nice to get it out."

Ankiah poked her head out of her quills and looked thoughtfully at the two Terrans. "Uhh... Okay... This is weird. Most of my people think it's for the crazies."

Srettia looked at Michael and wiggled her hood at him. "You never told me this. But I guess it would be hard with all that's happened. My people don't really have therapists, so I don't honestly understand what's going on."

Ankiah got up and dusted herself off in embarrassment. "Alright. I will go. But you better not be pulling my tail on this. I'll be mad if you are."

Michael shrugged and took a sip from his beer. "Just go already. Your health is important shit. Though honestly, you would think your people would have a bustling therapist community with the giant people eating bugs and all."

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Yirphayen sighed in frustration as the carbon form sent some odd new form babble its way. Sending another harmony of frustration at the carbon form in response, Yirphayen decided a rest period would do it some good.

Yet, just as Yirphayen was retracting its light to within its core, the other Eaenhreph showed up, making Yirphayen signal its happiness with a note of greetings.

Koma looked at Jack as he took his hard light form and smiled. "Hey, Jack. How was the break?"

"Sufficient. I have come up with an idea, thanks to Michael."

Koma looked smugly at Jack as he went over his notes. "I have translated a few more words. would you like to see?"

"Not yet. If my idea fails, I will humour you."

Selecting an old outfit similar to what Michael wore during his karaoke concert, Jack summoned a stage of hard light and spawned a microphone.

"I will sing to it the song of our people and see how it reacts."

Koma chuckled at the ridiculous idea and sat in a chair. "Alright. Let's see how this works."

Yirphayen happily listened to the Eaenhreph. Its harmony was slightly off, as if it was its very first time attempting proper communication. But it was finally speaking to him. Happily connecting its harmony, Yirphayen finally came to understand the problem with this silent Eaenhreph.

It really sucked at Harmonising...Yirphayen decided it would help the poor Eaenhreph out and began sending signals of harmony origin towards its direction.

Yirpphayen struggled at first. Forcing a harmony without knowing where the Eaenhreph's core was, was very difficult. Charging its core to force the Eaenhreph to harmonize appropriately was a bit taxing, and it seemed the friendly form was, for some reason, in a bit of pain. Deciding that it would be worth its hate and frustration just to talk to another of its brethren again. Yirphan continued to teach the poor Eaenhreph how to harmonize correctly.

After many cycles of teaching the poor Eaenhreph, Yirphayen was excited to finally understand its harmony. "Hello, friend. I am Yirphayen. How does this solar cycle find you?"

Jack focused his thoughts. They were a mess. New information, new words, new ideas. "Ahh, sorry. I am just coming to terms with what you have... shown me. Give me a moment."

Yirphayen let out a happy tune and grabbed the being by its appendage. "What's your name?"

Jack composed himself and chimed back in shock as he shook Yirphayen's hand, seemingly confusing it. "I am Jack. It is a pleasure to meet you, Yirphayen."

Yirphayen let out a happy tune as it mimicked Jack and moved its appendage up and down vigorously. "Ahh, what a fantastic day to meet one such as yourself. Our brethren reside at the nearby solar source. And the torturers are nowhere in sight. What a grand moment."

Koma walked over to Jack. Who had seemingly gone from crazily singing ancient music at the being while it screamed back at him. To copying its very sounds? "What have you found, Jack?"

"I am in direct communication with it. Its name is Yirphayen."

Koma sat down and frowned. "Well. That's actually pretty great... I... apologize for my rudeness earlier."

"Apology accepted. I am sending a translator schematic to the fabricator. Once it is complete, we should be able to understand Yirphayen."

Koma walked over to the fabricator and pulled up the blueprints to study as the printing began. "Shit.. how did you figure this out?"

"It told me."

"Hey! What is the carbon form doing? Will it now stop doing that weird stuff to me?" Yirphayen asked, letting out a low chime of displeasure.

Jack send a reassuring tune back as he turned to face the odd being. "Yes. We are printing off a device you will need to wear... Somewhere. It will help us understand you."

Yirphayen shrunk in size and let out a horrifying screech at the thought of a device being attached to it. "No! I will not wear another!"

Jack looked over to Koma, who was busy covering his ears in pain as blood dripped out and turned to Yirphayen. Quickly he let out a reassuring harmony to the estranged Eaenhreph. " I will not hurt you, friend. I do not know what happened to you. But I assure you this will not harm you. I will wear it first if it makes you more comfortable."

Yirphayen hardened itself and let out a weary chime as Jack picked up the device and placed it onto its core extension.

Jack let out a happy tune and reached his arm out towards Yirphayen. "See, It's just a translator. It will let Koma here understand you."

"I may be here, but I do not trust carbon forms. Where is the friendly one?" Yirphayen asked, letting out a weary song of frustration.

Jack let out a happy tune and slowly passed the translator over Yirphayen. "He is currently resting with his mate. You can place this anywhere on your body. It will absorb your sounds and translate them for the carbon forms."

Yirphayen took the device and brought it past its core extension, placing the object on its body like suggested. "I don't like this."

Koma shot up and ran up to Yirphayen. "I CAN UNDERSTAND YOU! My name is Koma. Hello Yirphayen, It is an absolute pleasure to meet you!"

Yirphayen looked down at Koma and released a tune of annoyance. "Greetings, Koma. I am Yirphayen an Eaenhreph."

Koma happily bounced as Jack calibrated the device Yirphayen had oddly attached to its body. "Alright, Yirphayen, the Eaenhreph. It's my honour to have been a part of this journey with you! Hey Jack, how did this guy do that brain teachy thing to you."

Yirphayen frowned and let out a harmony of confusion at the words and looked to Jack for answers. "I do not understand his terms. What are teachy and guy?"

Jack looked to Koma, who shrugged, and decided to reassure Yirphayen with a calming tune. " Teachy was an odd way of saying teaching, guy is referring to a male of your species."

Once again, letting out a confusing chime, Yirphayen tried to clarify. "What is a male?"

Jack attempted to calibrate the translator some more while reassuring Yirphayen everything was alright. "You know, the gender of a species. So far, we have run into two alien species and thousands of non-sentients. Most have one male, one female. Some have carriers or multiple DNA donors. But most still have genders."

Yirphayen just sang in confusion and understanding as he took in the information. "For breeding purposes? That is odd. We just find someone of like mind and share cores to create a new identity. You should know this"

Koma looked to Jack in astonishment and grabbed his datapad. "Guess that means they're genderless? Two shack up and spawn a new one? Guess I'll continue calling it..... It? For now, until we figure something out."

Yirphayen let out a note of acceptance and turned to Jack. "I don't care what I'm referred to. My name is Yirphayen. As this concept is odd to me, I will be happy with being referred to in a way that does not cause issues."

Jack Let out a happy tune and turned to Koma. "We should report on our success."

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Admiral Miles stood beside Commander Brown. The two being in the command information centre of Leda base as the enemy ship approached. "And they're ignoring hails?"

Kendra looked to Admiral miles and nodded. "Yes, They haven't entered the system yet, so it might be they can't communicate at warp. I mean, their system is pretty jank."

Admiral Miles contained his smile at Kendra's slip and looked at the star map. " Make sure the 'I Have A Rock' intercepts them as they enter the system. I don't want them having a chance to do-"

Chrarada burst into the room, closely followed by Ethuci, who seemed to be lightly bleeding from two small holes in the lower portion of his hood. "I want a full report on what's happening."

"One enemy. It's a small ship in comparison to our own, and we made sure they'll drop out of warp beside Leda and in front of a heavy cruiser." Kendra replied, making sure to speak clearly for the agitated leader.

Chrarada glared at the display as the timer counted down. She didn't like it and didn't want it in her system for even a second. "I want it destroyed. Immediately"

Admiral Miles frowned and moved to bargain with Chrarada. " We will. But I want to attempt communication first. If it doesn't respond to hails within a minute of entering the system, we will destroy it."

Chrarada angrily smashed her tail on the floor and looked to the Admiral. "One minute. Any more than that, and we'll have problems."

Admiral Miles couldn't help but smile at the unexpected response. "Thank you, First Tail. They may be coming here to seek peace or make demands. Either way, I'll let you decide what to do with them."

"You will destroy them. If they seek peace, it would be because they understand that they've picked a fight they cannot win. It's a cowards way out." Ethuci replied, earning himself a smile from Chrarada.

"Exactly. I will not let these butchers get away with what they have done to the Voktlix or ourselves." Chrarada added.

"Or the Eaenhreph." Admiral Miles continued, smiling at the face, Chrarada was now giving him.

"You have succeeded in communication, is it?" Ethuci asked.

Admiral Miles handed over his half-finished report to Chrarada and turned to the countdown. "Just within the last ten minutes. I haven't had time to send you a report due to the current situation."

"Jack again... He is a convenient... Male to have around." Chrarada said as she finished up the short report.

Kendra watched as the countdown reached zero, and the ship exited warp directly where it should have. The gathered beings then began watching as the Heavy cruiser blasted it with standard greetings and requests at communication. The command centre quickly erupted into a frenzy as the enemy ship attempted to move past the cruiser and into the system. "DESTROY THAT SHIP!" Kendra shouted.

Chrarada happily closed her mouth as the quick-thinking Terran beat her to the punch, watching with glee as the 'I Have A Rock' fired its heavy anti-matter lance through the enemy ship, slicing it in half. "Well. I assume this will be your standard response from now on?"

Kendra nodded as she looked to the Admiral. "I'll send some ships into deep space to place more scanning beacons. They won't get the jump on us, Sir. Ma'am."

Chrarada looked to Kendra with an approving smile. "Good. I expect anything out of the ordinary to be reported immediately. Now, how about we sift through the debris as you tell me more about this Yirphayen."

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